106 Reptilia and Amphibia of Cambridgeshire 



from a time when R. esculenta was a normal inhabitant of this 

 country. Fossil or semi-fossil remains from the Fens are 

 unknown. Great numbers of Water-frogs, imported from 

 Belgium and France, were turned loose in the Fens of Foulden 

 and other places in the years 1837, 1841, and 1842 1 . These 

 Foulden specimens, or at least their direct descendants, belong 

 to the var. typica of R. esculenta. Those, however, which 

 have been found in Foulmire, Thetford, Scoulton, and Ches- 

 terton belong undoubtedly to the var. lessonae, which is 

 distinguished by the much stronger inner metatarsal tubercle, 

 while the outer one is almost vanishing, by the proportionally 

 larger fourth toe, and by the general coloration. 



Now begins the muddle. When Mr Boulenger ("Notes on 

 the Edible Frog in England," P. Z.8. 1887, p. 573) had dis- 

 covered that the Foulmire frogs belonged to the var. lessonae, 

 which was then believed to be confined to Italy, he naturally 

 suggested that the English specimens were of Italian origin, 

 perhaps introduced by the monks. But it is now known that 

 the var. lessonae has a sporadic and much wider distribution, 

 it having been found riot only in Austria, Hungary, Bavaria 

 and various other parts of Germany, but also, by Boulenger 

 himself, in Belgium and near Paris. The supposed Italian 

 origin of our frogs has naturally lost its interest by these recent 

 discoveries, but, nevertheless, we must remember that there 

 existed considerable intercourse between East Anglia and the 

 monks of Lombardy, who, to mention only one instance, came 

 regularly to the old Priory of Chesterton, in order to collect 

 their rents. If the frogs were introduced by them for culinary 

 purposes into various suitable localities, their descendants 

 would remain as local as they actually are and as are also 

 the undoubtedly introduced French specimens of the var. 

 typica. On the other hand, if we assume the lessonae speci- 

 mens to be the last living descendants of English natives, it is 



1 Great numbers have within the last few years been introduced from 

 Germany, Belgium and Italy, and have been liberated in various counties, 

 e.g. Surrey, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Bedfordshire. 



