28 THE COMMON FROG. [chap. 



smell, but even makes the eyes water as mustard or 

 horseradish does. 



This singular power, together with the acrid secre- 

 tion of the toad, are the nearest approximation to 

 venomous properties possessed by any members of 

 the order, no toad — not even the giant of the order 

 Bufa agiia — being really poisonous. 



A small Frog, b> no means uncommon in France 

 and Germany {Alytes obstetricans), has a very singular 

 habit. The female lays its eggs (about sixty in 

 (number) in a long chain, the ova adhering successively 

 to one another by their tenacious investment. The 

 male twines this long chaplet round his thighs, so 

 that he acquires the appearance of a courtier of the 

 time of James I. arrayed in trunk hose and puffed 

 breeches. Thus encumbered, he retires into some 

 burrow (at least during the day) till the period when 

 the young are ripe for quitting the ^g^. Then he 

 seeks water, into which he has not plunged many 

 minutes when the young burst forth and swim away, 

 and he, having disencumbered himself of the remains 

 of the ova, resumes his normal appearance. 



Certain Frogs (forming a very large group) are 

 termed Tree-Frogs, from their adaptation to arboreal 

 life by means of the dilatation of the ends of the 

 digits into sucking discs, by which they can adhere 

 to leaves. One of them, the common green Tree- 

 Frog (yHyla arborea), is spread over Europe, Asia, 

 and Africa, in the same manner as R. escidenta, 

 except that it is not found in the British Isles. 

 A few toads also have the tips of their digits 

 similarly dilated. Such, e.g., is the case with the 



