SOME CONSTANTS OF TOAD FAT

The giant toad, Bufo marinus, has become one of the more abundant amphibian species of Puerto Rico since its introduction there more than 30 years ago. It seemed, therefore, the suitable material for a continuation of the author's inves-tigation of amphibian and reptilian fats (Fromm et al., 1954). The pooled fat bodies or livers of animals of both sexes were used either immediately after dis-section of the toad or after several days ' storage in the freezer. The organs were freed of all adhering tissue, washed free of blood with distilled water, ground with plaster of Paris, and extracted with ethyl ether in a Soxhlet apparatus. Both fats were semisolids, the adipose fat being a cream-colored, the liver fat a brown substance. The fat constants were determined by the methods used in the study of caiman fat (Fromm et al., 1957), but the saponification value of the liver fat was obtained by Kehren's semimicro method (1952). The amount of nonsaponifiable matter was found by petroleum ether extraction of the saponified fat as described in the work on caiman fat, but for comparison with earlier results (Fromm et al., 1954), ethyl ether extraction of the saponified whole liver was also applied. TABLE 1 Constants of the fat of Bufo marinus {average values