_D. trivittatus_, chiefly in Northern Brazil, has the first finger slightly longer than the second. It likewise varies considerably in its coloration, being either quite black, or spotted with white and brown, or with a whitish forehead and several white patches on the back and hind-limbs. _D. typographus_ of Central America is vermilion red, with small dark marks on the back; the legs are black. The various species of _Dendrobates_ take remarkable care of their young. _D. braccatus_ lives in Brazil in "varzeas," _i.e._ moist but waterless places, and carries its tadpoles on its back, to which they are attached by a peculiar secretion. The same is said to be true of _D. trivittatus_, which sits down in a drying-up puddle, lets the little tadpoles, when they are only 6-7 mm. long, fasten themselves on, and conveys them to a safer locality, where the water is calculated not to evaporate before the metamorphosis is completed. {274}_Mantella._–Both omo- and meta-sternum possess a bony style. The tongue is free and distinctly mitred or cut out behind. The skin is very granular. Several species, in Madagascar, were formerly put into the same genus as the American forms, until Boulenger established the genus _Mantella_ for them. The coloration is strikingly pretty. _M. madagascariensis_ is a rare instance of difference in colour between the two sexes. The male is bluish black, with light blue spots on the belly, while the thighs and the inner sides of the legs are beautifully red. The female is deep black, with a light green spot at the base and in front of the limbs; the rest is coloured like the male. _Cardioglossa gracilis_, quite recently discovered at the Gaboon, has likewise to be added to the Dendrobatinae, on account of the absence of teeth. It is a small, slender, arboreal frog, bearing an unmistakable resemblance to the other genera by its general appearance and conspicuous, contrasting coloration of black and white. PART II REPTILIA "Cada uno es como Dios le hizo, y aun peor muchas vezes." "We are all as God made us and many even worse." SANCHO PANZA, _Don Quixote_. {277}CHAPTER VII REPTILIA DEFINITION AND CHARACTERS–POSITION OF THE CLASS REPTILIA IN THE PHYLUM VERTEBRATA–CLASSIFICATION–SKULL AND VERTEBRAE. The recent Reptiles comprise, broadly speaking, the Crocodiles, Tortoises, Lizards, and Snakes. They are the only Vertebrates which are cold-blooded, breathe by lungs, and have a median occipital condyle. Another equally sufficient diagnosis is the following:–Tetrapoda, with a median occipital condyle, with nucleated red blood-corpuscles, and with complete right and left functional aortic arches. A still shorter diagnosis is:–Monocondylia with a scaly skin.