Chap. 4. 



REPTILES OF VERMONT. 



110 



FROGS AND SALAMANDERS. 



THE BULL FROG. 



with a naked skin. In their mature state 

 they are provided with lungs ; but before 

 the^r trausformation they breathe by 

 branchiaj or gills. This order may be di- 

 vided into two families. The Frog Fam- 

 ily and the Salamander Family, or the 

 tailless and the tailed batrachians. 



I.— frocTfamily. 



This family embraces the Frogs, Tree 

 Frojrs and Toad. Their common mode 

 of progression is by hops or leaps. 



Genus Rana. — Linnceus. 

 Generic Characters. — Body covered with a 



tnimite leelh ; another iiilerrupled row in die 

 middle of the palate; no post -tympanal glands ; 

 posterior extremities long, and in general fully paU 

 niated ; fingers four ; toes five in number. 



larger and less carinated on the sides; 

 top of the head flattened, scales upon the 

 top small, on the sides large, pentagonal 

 — on the edges of the jaws quadrangular; 

 snout terminated by one plate; a quad- 

 rangular plate on each side of this ; di- 

 rectly back of these a smaller one in 

 which arc the circular nostrils, situated 

 obliquely, pointing forwards; above the 

 two lateral plates, two others are sit- 

 uated ; the first meeting the snout ante- 

 riorly, and the second e.xtending some 

 distance beyond the nostrils behind ; a 

 large plate at the anterior angle of the 

 eye, separated from the nostrils by two 



quite small ones, at the anterior inferior | smooth skin; upper jaw furnished with a row of 

 angle of which is the aperture for 

 the poison ; a large plate over the eye ; 

 two still larger upon the throat. Length 

 37 inches, head 1^, width of the head one 

 inch. Rattles, 6 ; abdominal plates 170, 

 caudal 24. — Storer. 



HisTOKV. — Tliis is the only poisonous 

 reptile known to exist in Vermont; and 

 although Rattle Snakes were formerly 

 found here in considerable numbers, they 

 were mostly confined to a very few local- 

 ities, from which tliey have now nearly 

 disappeared, but still the remembrance of 

 these localities is, in most cases, preserved 

 in the name of "Rattle Snake Hill," or 

 "Rattlesnake Mountain." The Rattle 

 Snake feeds upon young birds, mice, and 

 reptiles. Its poisonous fangs are situated 

 in the upper jaw, and used only as weap- 

 ons of defence ; and as it always gives 

 warning with its rattles before it strikes, 

 cases of persons being bitten by it in this 

 state have been e.xtremely rare, and in no 

 case, within my own knowledge, fatal. 

 The rattles consist of horny portions of 

 the tail loosely attached to one another, 

 and it has generally been supposed that 

 a rattle is added every year, and that the 

 number of rattles indicates the age of the 

 animal. But this is a njistake. In some 

 cases several new rattles are added in a 

 year, and in others none at all. The 

 Rattle Snake has also been supposed to 

 possess the power of fascination, by which 

 it charmed birds and squirrels, causing 

 them to leap into its mouth, but the opin- 

 ion is totally erroneous. The motions of 

 this serpent are moderate, and its body 

 thick and clumsy, in which respect, as 

 well as in the form of the rattles, which 

 are not spiral, our figure is erroneous, 

 beiii"' much too slender 



ORDER TV.— B.VTRACtllA. 



FROGS AND SALAMANDERS. 



Tn animals of this order the heart has 

 but one auricle, and the body is covered 



THE BULL FROG. 

 Rana pip lens. — Lin.NjEos. 

 Description. — Color above yellowish 

 green, approaching to brownish olive to- 

 wards the posterior parts, and sparsely 

 spotted with pale rusty brown ; the pos- 

 terior extremities with a few brownish 

 bars ; head and upper lip green ; tympa- 

 num elliptical, large, rusty round the 

 maririn, greenish in the middle ; under 

 lip, chin and throat yellow ; other parts 

 beneath yellowish white ; nostril mid-way 

 between the eye and the snout, and the 

 distance between the nostrils equal to the 

 distance from the nostril to the snout ; 

 eyes prominent, pupil black, iris reticula- 

 ted with black and yellow ; a cuticular 

 fold from the orbit passes over and down 

 behind the tympanum, and, upon the 

 shoulder, meets another fold i)assing from 

 the mouth along the lower part of the ab- 

 domen ; skin granulated. Length of the 

 head and body of the specimen before me 

 .^).^, posterior extremities 8 ; hind feet fully 

 webbed ; greatest diameter of the tympa- 

 num .7. 



History. — This is the largest frog 

 found in Vermont, often growing consid- 

 erably larger than the specimen above 

 described. It is very common in various 

 parts of the state, particularly in the 

 neighborhood of lake Champlain. It is 

 very aquatic in its habits, being seldom 



