164 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



the latter species from one of the specimens sent to me by 

 M. Bibron." 1 



It is a pity that Scottish naturalists did not follow up 

 the suggestion of Bell, and supplement the meagre account 

 given of this animal. 2 The fact, however, remains that frogs 

 which seemed to be distinct from the common species were 

 found in Forfarshire, in the county adjoining that in which 

 I recently discovered them. Whether or not the specimens 

 which I obtained are a distinct variety of R. esculenta or not, 

 I am not prepared to say, but I shall place them in the 

 hands of one more competent to judge. 



Large numbers of the Edible Frog, together with quantities 

 of spawn, were brought from the Continent to England by 

 Mr. George Birney in 1837, 1841, and 1842. "These 

 were deposited in the ditches and meadows at Morton, in 

 some ponds at Hockering, and some were placed in the 

 fens at Foulden, near Stoke Ferry." There seems, however, 

 to have been an impression that the frog already existed in 

 England long before the introduction of Continental speci- 

 mens. 4 



In a recent text-book of zoology 5 the Edible Frog is 

 stated to be " not indigenous in Britain." How came the 

 frog to be in Kincardineshire ? Was it introduced into that 

 county or into any other Scottish counties? If so, when ? 

 There may have been introductions of this frog into Britain 

 of which we know nothing, but there is really no reason why 

 the animal should not be indigenous. Does not the im- 

 pression that the frog is not indigenous in Great Britain 

 seem to depend much on lack of proper observation ? Let 



1 In Ecker's "Anatomy of the Frog," Eng. Trans., 1889, Bell's excellent 

 figures of R. esculenta and temporaria are reproduced without acknowledgment ; 

 and in Milne- Marshall's book, "The Frog," 1895, Bell's figure of the latter 

 species is given, and is there erroneously stated to be "from Ecker." 



2 [In the second edition of Bell's " History of British Reptiles," 1849, p. 108, 

 the author says : " During the last spring, however, I received from Mr. Wolley 

 of Edinburgh, numerous specimens of both sexes, and of various sizes, of the 

 Scottish Frog, and the result of the most careful examination and comparison 

 which I am able to make is the conviction that it is nothing more than a very 

 large variety of the Common Frog, R. temporaria.'''' In this magazine for 1893, 

 p. 202, Mr. G. A. Boulenger, F.R.S., made a contribution entitled "On some 

 Remarkable Specimens of Rana temporaria from Scotland." EDS.] 



3 Cooke, " Our Reptiles," 1865, p. 102. References are here given. 



4 Id. p. 104. 



5 Thomson, " Outlines of Zoology," Second Edition, 1895, p. 555. 



