R D E K IV. 



BATRACHIA. 



Char. 1. The body is depressed, round or elongated, and with or without a tail ; the skin is 

 soft, nalied, or without a shell, and most commonly without apparent scales, (Ccecilia.) 



Char. 2. The extremities vary in number and proportion, or are entirely wanting. The 

 fingers and toes are destitute of nails, and are rarely provided with a horny sheath, {Dacty- 

 leihra.) 



Char. 3. There is no neck distinct from the body, and the head is joined to the vertebra by 

 two condyles. 



Char. 4. There are, in general, three movable eyelids, and no visible external meatus of the 

 ear, though the tympanum is often very distinct. 



Char. 5. The sternum is distinct in most species, but is here joined to the ribs, which are 

 either very short or entirely wanting. 



Char. 6. The heart has a single ventricle, and apparently a single auricle, which is, however, 

 subdivided into two chambers. 



F A M I L Y I . 



RANIDJ]. 



Guar. 1. There are always teeth in the upper jaw and palate, between the posterior nares ; 

 the latter are minute and variously grouped. 



Char. 2. The extremities of the fingers and toes are free^ and never dilated into a disk. 



Char. 3. The tympanum is always visible. 



Char. 4. The males are provided with vocal vesicles at the throat, communicating inter- 

 nally with the mouth, and in some they pass out of openings at the sides of the jaws when 

 distended, but not in others. 



RANA LONGIPES, Nob. 



Stn. — Rana nigricans, Hallowell. Proceed. Acad. Nat. Sciences, vol. vii, p. 96. 



Char. — Remarkable for its size ; much smaller, however, than Ji. pipiens ; color uniform dark 

 brown, with numerous small black spots, and large blotches interspersed over the surface ; sides 

 somewhat lighter, marked with black ; anterior extremities dark brown, or ash color above, 

 blotched with black ; posterior of same color, with numerous transverse black bands ; chin, 

 throat, and abdomen, straw color, shaded with brown ; under surface of extremities yellowish, 

 marked with black ; vomerine teeth in two oblique patches. 



