50 THE COMMON FROG. [chap. 



CHAPTER V. 



The third order of the class Batrachia is made up of 

 a few creatures the distribution of which is Hmited to 

 .f the warmer regions of the earth, where one of the 

 ^ genera {Ccccind) comprising the group is distributed 

 over both hemispheres, being found in India, Africa, 

 and South America. Two other genera {Siphonops 

 and Rhinatremd) are exclusively American, while a 

 fourth genus {^Epicrhini) is only found in Asia. The 

 order is called OpJiiomorpJia. These creatures are 

 singularly unlike the frog in external appearance, as 

 they are entirely destitute of limbs and have quite 

 the appearance of earthworms, because they are not 

 only very long and slender, but have also a skin 

 which is soft and naked (fig. 22). By earlier naturalists, 

 and even by Cuvier, they were classed with snakes. 



In spite of this striking dissimilarity between the 

 Ophionwrpha and Anottra, the former are really more 

 like frogs than they are like efts in one important 

 respect. This is because, for all their elongated figure, 

 the tail in them is quite rudimentary or altogether 

 absent. 



The Ophiomorpha would by many be supposed to 



