248 



Cratfttrj) of Natural $?f 



I large, black, and roundish ; the latter slender, 



!nnd bordered with a very broad transparent 

 finny margin. Their motions are extreme- 

 ; ly lively, and they are often seen in such 

 ! vast numbers as to blacken the whole water 

 i with their legions. When the tadpoles have 

 i arrived at the age of about five or six weeks, 

 the hind legs make their appearance ; gra- 

 dually increasing in length and size ; and, 

 in about a fortnight afterwards, are suc- 

 ceeded by the fore legs, which are indeed 

 formed beneath the skin much sooner, and 

 are occasionally protruded and again re- 

 tracted by the reptile through a small 

 foramen on each side of the breast, and are 

 not completely stretched forth till the time 

 just mentioned. It now partakes of the 

 form both of a frog and a lizard ; which 

 figure it retains for about six hours ; and 

 then the tail continuing to decrease, it be- 

 I comes quite obliterated in the space of a day 

 ! or two afterwards. The Frog, at length ar- 

 rived at its perfect state, is now seen wan- 

 dering about the brinks of its parent waters, 

 and sometimes in such vast numbers in par- 

 ticular spots, that not only has their ap- 

 pearance given rise to an absurd belief 

 among the vulgar that it occasionally 

 " rained frogs," but various modes of ac- 

 counting for so " extraordinary a pheno- 

 menon" have presented themselves to the 

 minds of those whose duty it was to dispel 

 the unfounded though popular credulity, by 

 tracing its origin and properly explaining it. 

 The Frog, no longer of ambiguous form, 

 now feeds on animal food ; supporting itself 

 on insects, small snails, worms, &c. It prin- 

 cipally lives on insects, for the more readily 

 obtaining of which the structure of its 

 tongue is extremely well calculated ; being 

 1 very long, and so situated that the root is 

 attached to the fore rather than to the hind 

 | part of the mouth ; and, when at rest, lying 

 i backwards, as if the animal were swallowing 

 the tip. By this means it is enabled to 

 i throw it some distance from the mouth, 

 j which is done with great celerity, the bifid 

 and glutinous tip securing the prey, which 

 is swallowed with an instantaneous motion, 

 so quick as to be scarcely perceptible. 



The muscular system of the Frog deserves 

 particular attention. Mr. Broderip observes, 

 " In the Anurous Batrachiaus, the Frogs 

 especially, the muscles of the abdomen are 

 more developed than in the other Reptiles : 

 offering in this particular some analogy to 

 the abdominal structure of the Mammifers, 

 But it is in the disposition of the muscles of 

 the thigh and leg in the Frogs and other 

 Anurous Batrachians, that the greatest sin- 

 gularity is manifested. These, whether taken 

 conjointly or singly, present the greatest 

 analogy with the muscular arrangement of 

 the same parts in Man. We find the rounded^ 

 elongated, conical thigh, the knee extending 

 itself in the same direction with the thigh- 

 bone, and a well-fashioned calf to the leg, 

 formed by the belly of the gastrocnemii mus- 

 cles. It is impossible to watch the horizontal 

 motions of a Frog in the water, as it is im- 

 pelled by these muscles and its webbed feet, 

 without being struck by the complete re- 

 semblance in this portion of its frame to 



human conformation, and the almost perfect 

 identity of the movements of its lower ex- 

 tremities with those of a man making the 

 same efforts in the same situation. By the 

 aid of these well-developed lower limbs, and 

 the prodigious power of their muscular and 

 bony levers, a Frog can raise itself in the air 

 to twenty times its own height, and traverse 

 at a single bound, a space more than fifty 

 times the length of its own body." The 

 difference of sex in these animals is not per- 

 ceptible till they have arrived at their fourth 

 year, nor do they begin to propagate till 

 they have reached that period. Hence, on 

 comparing their slow growth with their other 

 habitudes, it would seem that they live about 

 twelve years ; but so numerous are their 

 enemies, both by land and water, that it is 

 probable very few arrive at so great an age. 

 The Frog is extremely tenacious of life, and 

 will survive for a considerable space the loss 

 of many of its organs. If confined entirely 

 under water, it is still enabled to support its 

 existence for several days : on the contrary 

 it is not so well able to endure the want of 

 water, nor long exposure to a dry air and a 

 hot sun, thovigh it delights to bask occasion- 

 ally in a moderate sunshine : it is therefore 

 particularly careful to secure a retreat where 

 it may enjoy the benefit of shade and a suf- 

 ficient supply of moisture. Frogs are dis- 

 tinguished by a peculiar cry, termed crnakiny, 

 particularly during rain and hot weather, in 

 the morning and evening There are seve- 

 ral other species of Frogs, a few of which it 

 will be necessary to describe. 



The EDIBLE FROG (Rana esculenta), so 

 called from its being the kind most approved 

 of for the table by our nearest continental 

 neighbours, is found plentifully in France, 

 Italy, Germany, and many other parts of 

 Europe, though it is rare in England. It is 

 rather larger than the common Frog, and of 

 an olive-green colour, distinctly and strongly 

 marked on the upper parts of the body with 

 black spots or patches, the limbs being trans- 

 versely marked with bands of the same co- 

 lour ; and from the tip of the nose down the 

 whole length of the back run three distinct 

 yellow stripes. The under parts of the body 

 nnd limbs are of a dull white, slightly tinged 

 with green, and variegated with brown spots. 



EDIBLE FROG. (RANA. ESCULENT*. ) 



The proportion of the limbs is nearly the 

 same as in the common Frog, and the hind 

 feet are very strongly palmated ; but the 

 head is rather larger and more pointed. The 

 Edible Frog is a very voracious animal, and 

 will occasionally seize on young birds, mice, 

 &c., swallowing them whole, like the rest 

 of its prey. The male of this species, during 



