THE FROG. 353 



area was about five feet in height, and plastered and white- 

 washed, as smooth as the ceiling of a room. Upon this sur- 

 face the frogs soon found that their claws would render them 

 little or no assistance ; they therefore contracted their large 

 feet, so as to make a hollow in the centre, and by means of the 

 moisture which they had imbibed in consequence of the rain, 

 they contrived to produce a vacuum, so that by the pressure 

 of the air on the extended feet (in the same way that we see 

 boys take up a stone by means of a piece of wet leather fastened 

 to a string), they ascended the wall and made their escape. 

 This happened constantly in the course of three years." 

 The Tree The Tree Frog of which there are numerous 

 Frog. varieties belongs to both East and West occurring 

 in China and Japan as well as in North and South America. 

 It is not found in England. Mr. Gosse says: "They are 

 very numerous in the damp woods of tropical America, and 

 reside by day in the tofts of those parasitical plants, which 

 form reservoirs for rain-water. The under-surface of their 

 bodies is very different to that of the terrestrial species ; for the 

 skin, instead of being smooth, is covered with granular glands, 

 pierced by numerous pores, through which the dew or rain, 

 spread on the surface of the leaves, is rapidly absorbed into the 

 system, and reserved to supply the moisture needful for cutane- 

 ous respiration. The males make the woods resound through- 

 out the night with their various cries, and, mingled with the 

 shrill chirping of insects, quite banish sleep from the stranger's 

 eyes." 



