﻿I.] THE FROG. 9 



situated in front of the lungs, and not behind them, as in 

 the higher animals. 



Thus, in the trunk, on the ventral side of the vertebral 

 column, the body presents two cavities, a large posterior 

 pleuroperitoneal cavity, and a small anterior pericardial 

 cavity; while neither of these communicates directly with 

 the exterior, there is in the female an indirect communica- 

 tion by the oviducts. 



On the ventral side of the head, the very wide mouth 

 opens into a spacious buccal cavity, the roof of which is hard 

 and firm, while the floor is soft and flexible, except so far as 

 the middle of it is occupied by a broad, flat, for the most 

 part gristly plate, the body of the hyoid bone. Within the 

 lips the upper jaw is beset with numerous sharp small teeth, 

 and two clusters of similar teeth are to be seen in the fore 

 part of the roof of the mouth ; the latter, being attached to 

 the bones termed the vomers, are the vomerine teeth, while 

 the former, attached to the premaxillcz and maxilla, are 

 maxillary teeth. The lower jaw or mandible is edentulous. 



At the sides of the clusters of vomerine teeth are the 

 apertures teamed. posterior nares, by which the nasal chambers 

 communicate with the mouth. At the sides of the back part 

 of the throat two wide passages, the Eustachian recesses, lead 

 into the tympanic cavities, which are closed externally by the 

 tympanic membranes. In the male Rana esculenta the small 

 apertures of the vocal sacs are seen on the inner side of each 

 ramus of the jaw, close to the angle of the gape below and in 

 front of the Eustachian recesses. In the middle of the back 

 of the throat is the opening of the oesophagus, closed by the 

 approximation of its sides except during deglutition, while in 

 the median line of the hinder part of its floor lies a longitu- 

 dinal slit, the glottis. A fleshy tongue, bifurcated and free 

 at its posterior end, is attached anteriorly to the middle part 



