60 NEW-YORK FAUNA. 
FAMILY RANID:. 
Body short and broad. Feet (in the young) wanting ; afterwards four, the hind ones long, 
formed for leaping and swimming. Tail (in the young) long, compressed ; afterwards 
wanting. No ribs; vertebra few. Tympanum open. Respiration at first aquatic by 
gills, afterwards atmospheric by lungs. Gills at first external, but withdrawn within the 
chest before the metamorphosis. Impregnation after the exclusion of the eggs. 
This family corresponds with a part of the order Caductbranchia of Bonaparte, and entirely 
with the order Anoura of Bell. It also agrees with the family Hcaudata of Oppel, the order 
Salicutia of Merrem, and a part of the order Mutabilia of Gray. 
GENUS RANA. Linneus. 
Upper jaw with a row of minute teeth ; a transverse interrupted row in the middle of the 
palate. Tongue large, fleshy, notched behind, where it is alone movable. No post-tym- 
panal glands. Hind legs long, palmated; four toes before, five behind. Younc, with 
elongated bodies, and gills ; without feet, and with a long compressed tail. 
THE BULLFROG. 
RANA PIPIENS. 
PLATE XIX. FIG. 48.—(STATE COLLECTION.) 
Rana pipiens. Lin. Syst. Nat. Latreiiie, Hist. Nat. Rept. Vol. 2, p. 153. 
R. id. Hart. Med. & Phys. Res. p. 101. 
R. scapularis, (young.) Ip. Ib. p. 103. 
R. mugiens. Dumer. & Brsron, Vol. 8, p. 370. 
R. pipiens. Horproox, N. Am. Herpetology, Vol. 3, p.81, pl.15; and Vol.4, p.77, pl. 18, 2d Ed. Storer, Mass. Rep. 
p. 235. 
Characteristics. Large. Head green; body greenish olive, with dusky blotches ; legs spotted 
or barred. Length 6 to 12 inches. 
Description. Body robust, smooth. Head very large. Nostrils lateral, very small, mid- 
way between the snout and orbits. Eyes large and prominent. 'Tympanum large and rounded, 
resembling a scale attached to the side of the head. Mouth large, with numerous minute 
acute teeth in the upper jaw. Tongue large and fleshy. Fore feet short, robust, with four 
short toes; the one next to the exterior longest ; all with small tubercles at the joints. Hind 
legs long, more then twice the length of the fore legs. Under surface of the thighs partly 
granulated. ‘Toes largely webbed, with tubercles at the joints ; the one next to the exterior, 
longest. 
Color. Body dusky with a greenish hue, and varied with irregular darker blotches. Head 
green above ; throat yellow or yellowish white ; lower jaw white ; upper jaw green. Pupil 
