520 



THE EDIBLE FKOG AND THE COMMON TOAD. 



The iDternal changes are as marvellous as the external. When first 

 hatched the young tadpole is to all intents and purposes a fish, has fish- 

 like bones, fish-like gills, and a heart composed of only two chambers, 

 one auricle and one ventricle. But, in proportion to its age, these or- 

 gans receive corresponding modifications, a third chamber for the heart 

 being formed by the expansion of one of the large arteries, the vessels 

 of the branchiae becoming gradually suppressed and their place supplied 

 by beautifully cellular lungs, formed by a development of certain mem- 

 branous sacs that appear to be analogous to the air-bladders of the 

 fishes. 



The celebrated Edible Frog, or Green Frog of Europe {Rami 

 esculentci), also belongs to this large genus. This handsome species 

 is common in all the warmer parts of the Continent, but in the vicin- 

 ity of large cities is seldom seen, except in the ponds where it is pre- 

 served, and whence issues a horrid nocturnal concert in the breeding- 

 time. The proprietors of these froggeries supply the market regularly, 

 and draw out the Frogs with large wooden rakes as they are wanted. 

 In Paris these creatures are sold at a rather high price for the table, 

 and, as only the hind legs are eaten, a dish of Frogs is rather an expen- 

 sive article of diet. 



We now arrive at another section of Batrachians, including those 

 creatures which are known under the title of Toads, and of which the 

 Common Toad of Europe is so familiar an example. The members of 



this section may be known 



'/'iSl^^^^^^^^^^^^S by the absence of teeth in 



V '^iWiiiiiiP^^^='3^^^te *^^ j^'^^^ ^"^ ^^^^ well-de- 



" ""ifc" ' ' IlillB veloped ears. 



^r- ;||b||IM The general aspect and 



habits of this creature are 

 too well known to require 

 more than a cursory no- 

 tice. Few creatures, per- 

 haps, have been more re- 

 viled and maligned than 

 the Toad, and none with 

 less reason. In the olden 

 days the Toad was held 

 to be the very compen- 

 , dium of poison, and to 



have so deadly an effect upon human beings that two persons were re- 

 late to have died from eating the leaf of a sage-bush under which a 

 load had burrowed. 



In France this poor creature is shamefully persecuted, the idea of 

 Its venomous and spiteful nature being widely disseminated and deeply 



The Common Toad [Bufo vulgaris). 



