

PRESIDENT S ADDRESS. 7 



Reptilian conditions, which some reach more completely 'than 

 others. The Tadpole (Batrachian larva) lives exclusively in the 

 water. It has the large head and expanded tail of the Fish ; it 

 is destitute of limbs and moves through the water by lateral 

 undulations of the body. As growth proceeds two pairs of limbs 

 are developed, the tail is atrophied, and in the adult state it creeps 

 or jumps. According to Boulenger the Amphibians amount to 

 about 140 genera and 900 species, of which 27 genera and 300 

 species are tailed (Urodela) and u genera and 300 species, 

 limbless (Apoda) ; the remainder comprises 105 genera and 300 

 species. The tailless Frogs and Toads (Anura) are more widely 

 distributed than the rest of the Order. They are absent in the 

 higher Northern and the lower Southern latitudes and in the 

 remote Oceanic Islands. Next to the Toad the Frog (Rana 

 temporaria) is the most Cosmopolitan, it reaches North Latitude 

 7odeg. It is met with at elevations of 8,000 feet in the Alps. 

 The Edible Frog (R. esculenta) extends from Scandinavia to 

 Southern Europe and North Africa. The Tree-Frogs (Hylida) 

 nearly related to the Toads, are represented by upwards of 100 

 species, their greatest development is in Central and South 

 America. They are absent in South and Tropical Africa and in 

 the greater part of India. Unlike the Toad the Tree-Frog has 

 teeth in the upper-jaw ; it differs also in the last phalange of each 

 toe, which is expanded into a broad disc, and assists the animal 

 to climb vertical surfaces. 



As in the metamorphosis of the larva of the Frog, its entire 

 organic structure undergoes considerable modifications and the 

 branchial fringes of the fish-character give place to the pulmonic 

 cavities of the reptile and respiration suitable for sub-aerial life. 

 The heart acquires an additional auricle, and the whole system of 

 circulation is changed. The intestinal canal, too, is modified. 

 The skeleton is raised through various changes from the type of 

 a fish to that of a Reptile, especially as to its ossification. The 

 skeleton of a Frog contrasts strikingly with that of the Lizard, 

 which is remarkable for the great multiplication of the vertebra? 

 and for the small size of the limbs in proportion to the trunk, 



