T3ELONGING to the lower vertebrates is a family of 

 -LJ animals called scientifically Ranidae, but which are, 

 popularly speaking, best known as frogs. They are queer- 

 looking creatures, scarcely met with in Australia and South 

 America, but reaching their highest state in the East Indies. 

 They are capable of enduring great changes of heat and 

 cold, and can live on land as well as in water, provided they 

 have the amount of moisture necessary to preserve the 

 suppleness of their skins. Salt water is fatal to the frog in 

 any stage of its existence. 



Rana clamata, the lusty croaker of the summer pond, is 

 our most familiar species. He may be recognized by the 

 colors of his dress, in which green, bronze, gold and silver 

 play important parts, and by the ear-splitting character of 

 his vocal intonations. The glandular ridges down the skin 

 of his back, together with his strange coloration, singularly 

 fit him for his home. Imitations of the stems of plants are 

 seen in the darker ridges, and their leafage in the green 

 color of his coat. The silver of his vest has the glimmer of 

 the water in which he bathes, and the moist earth seems to 

 have left its stain upon his brownish feet and markings, 

 while the yellow of the several badges that adorn his person 

 in being like the stamens and pistils of the surrounding 

 flowers, and of the hue of many buds and blossoms, adds 

 largely to his protective display. Thus is the frog in his 

 natural haunts protected by his garments, and, unless he 

 stirs or is betrayed by his full, bright eyes or the palpitation 

 of his breast, he is not likely to be observed. 



