BATRACHIA. life 7 



interrupted range across the middle of the palate. The males have, on each side, under the ear. a deli- 

 cate membrane, which is inflated with air when they croak. These animals both swim and leap with 

 celerity. 



[One only (B. temporaria) is indigenous to the British Isles.] 



Ceratrop/irys, Boie', — are Frogs with a broad head, the skin wholly or partly granulated, and a horn-like mem- 

 branous prominence over each eyelid. 



Dactylethra— South African species, with pointed toes, those of the hind-feet broadly palmated, and the three 

 internal having their extremities enveloped by a conical nail, of a black horny substance. 



Hyla, the Tree-Frogs, — differ in no respect from the common ones, excepting that the extremity of each of their 

 toes is widened and rounded into a sort of viscous palette, which enables them to adhere to the surfaces of bodies, 

 and to climb trees, to which last they resort, during the summer, in pursuit of insects; but they deposit their eggs 

 in water, and penetrate into the mud in winter, like other Frogs. Several species are decked in the gayest colours. 



The Toads {Bufo, Laurenti) — 

 Have the body thick and squat, and covered with tubercles, with a large swelling pierced with pores 

 behind each eye, from which a fetid milky secretion is expressed ; no teeth whatever ; and the hind 

 limbs but little elongated. They leap badly, and are generally found at a distance from water. They 

 are animals of hideous, disgusting form, the saliva of which has been erroneously considered venomous, 

 as also their teeth, their supposed urine, and even the moisture which exudes from the skin ; [the latter 

 being, in fact, absorbed by the skin, for the purpose of cutaneous respiration, often in great quantity, so 

 that the animal, when seized and taken up, lightens itself by discharging a quantity of this from the anus.] 



[Two species are found in Britain, viz., the Common Toad (B. vulgaris), which progresses more by leaping than 

 crawling ; and the Natterjack (B. calamita), an inhabitant of heaths and commons in the south of England, which 

 has a yellow mesial stripe along the back, never leaps, but creeps with considerable celerity, and utters a chirping 

 cry. Its appearance is less unprepossessing than that of the other.] 



Bombinatoi; Merrem, — only differs from Bufo by having the tympanum concealed beneath the skin. 



JUiinc/la, Fitzinger; Oxyrhynchus, Spix, — has the muzzle pointed anteriorly. 



Alilophus, Cuv. — Muzzle angular, and a crest on each side of the head, extending round the parotid. 



Breviceps, Merrem ; Engystoma, Fitzinger, in part. — No tympanum nor parotid visible externally, an oval body, 

 the head and mouth very small, and feet but slightly palmated. 



Pipa, Laur. — The body horizontally flattened ; head large and triangular ; tongue wholly wanting ; tympanum 

 concealed beneath the skin ; small eyes placed towards the margin of the upper jaw ; each of the front toes split 

 at the tip into four little points ; lastly, an enormous larynx in the male, formed as a triangular bony box, within 

 which are two moveable bones which can close the entrance of the bronchi. 



The longest known species (R.pipa, Lin.) inhabits the obscure nooks of houses in Cayenne and Surinam, and 

 has a granulated back, tvith three longitudinal ranges of larger granules. The male places the eggs of the female 

 upon her back, where they are fecundated, upon which the female returns to the water, the skin of her back 

 swelling so as to form a number of cells, which inclose each of the eggs, and wherein the young pass their tadpole 

 state, until they have lost their tails, and developed their limbs, at which time the mother returns to land. 



The Salamanders {Salamander, Brong.) — 

 Have an elongated body, four limbs, and a long tail, which give them the general form of Lizards, 

 whence Linnaeus left them in that genus ; but they have all the characters of Batrachians. Their head 

 is flattened; the ear concealed entirely by the flesh, having no tympanum, but merely a little cartila- 

 ginous plate over the fenestrum ovale ; both jaws furnished with numerous minute teeth ; two longi- 

 tudinal ranges of equal teeth on the palate, but attached to the bones that represent the vomer; tongue 

 as in the Frogs , no third eyelid ; a skeleton with three small rudiments of ribs, but no bony sternum ; 

 a pelvis suspended by ligaments to the spine ; four toes before, and nearly always five behind. They 

 respire, in the adult state, in the same manner as the Frogs and Tortoises. Their tadpoles breathe at 

 first by gills in the form of crests, to the number of three on each side of the neck, which are siiI>m'- 

 quently obliterated, and which are suspended to cartilaginous arches, that form portions of the hyoid 

 bone of the adult. A membranous operculum covers these apertures; but the gill-crests are never in- 

 closed within a tunic, but float loosely. Their fore-feet are developed before the hind, and the toes 

 appear successively. 



The terrestrial Bpecies (Sakaumdra, Laurenti) have, in the perfect state, a round tail, and only remain in the 

 water during their >tate of Tadpole, which endures but for a brief period, and when they resort to that element to 

 breed. Their eggs are inclosed in an oviduct. Those ot Europe have, on each side of the occiput, a gland analo- 

 gous to ttiat of the Toads. 



The Aquatic Salamanders {Triton, Laurenti) permanently retain the vertically-compress. d tail, and pass Dearly 

 their whole lives in the water. [It is certain, however, that those of Britain all leave the water »: the end of 

 summer, and have then a round tail. The small ones, even with the remnants of their gills still attached, may be 



