92 RANA HALECINA. 
~ 
~ The nostrils are lateral, and placed half way between the anterior part of the 
orbit and the snout. The mouth is large, and the palate armed with two groups 
of small teeth. The eyes are large and prominent; the pupil is black, the iris of 
a brilliant golden colour, with a longitudinal black band passing through it. The 
tympanum is large, and finely bronzed, with a yellowish spot on its centre. In the 
male, the skin at the angles of the mouth is loose and folded over the vocal 
vesicle on each side. 
The superior surface of the body is bright yellowish-green, marked with ovate 
spots of dark olive, margined with bright yellow: these spots are disposed in two 
rows on the back, and in two others less distinct and less extensive on the sides. 
From the posterior part of each orbit runs an elevated line or cutaneous fold, of a 
bright yellow, terminating near the posterior extremity of the body. The inferior 
surface is silver-white at the throat, and yellowish-white on the abdomen. 
The anterior extremities are bronze-green above, marked with several blotches 
of dark olive, one of which is very regularly found at the elbow; their inferior 
surface is whitish. ‘The fingers are four in number, and distinct; the thumb of the 
male animal is furnished with a tubercle. The posterior extremities are very long, 
bright green above, marked with dark olive oblong blotches and transverse bars; 
the inferior surface is pale flesh-colour and quite smooth, except at the posterior 
part of the thigh, where it is granulated. The toes are five in number, and well 
palmated, but not to their tips, as in the Bull-frog; the fourth is of great length. 
Dimensions. Length of body from the snout to the vent, 3 inches 2 lines; of 
the thigh, 1 inch 7 lines; of the leg, 1 inch 8 lines; of the tarsus and toes, 2 inches 
2 lines. 
GrocrapuicaL Distrieution. The Rana halecina is perhaps the most widely 
distributed of all the Frogs of the United States, and may be regarded as the 
representative of the Common Frog (Rana esculenta) of Europe. I have 
observed it in all the Atlantic states, from the White Mountains of New Hamp- 
