THE FROG. 



PLATE XL. THE FROG. 



THE external of the Frog is too well known to need a 

 description. Its power of taking large leaps is remarkably 

 great, compared to the bulk of its body. It is the best 

 swimmer of all four-footed animals; and nature hath finely 

 adapted its parts for those ends, the arms being light and 

 active, the legs and thighs long, and furnished with very 

 strong muscles. 



If we examine this animal internally, we shall find that 

 it has a very little brain for its size ; a very wide swallow ; 

 a stomach seemingly small, but capable of great disten- 

 tion. The heart in the Frog, as in all other animals that 

 are truly amphibious, has but one ventricle ; so that the 

 blood can circulate without the assistance of the lungs, 

 while it keeps under water. The lungs resemble a num- 

 ber of small bladders joined together, like the cells of a 

 honey-comb : they are connected to the back by muscles, 

 and can be distended or exhausted at the animal's plea- 

 sure. 



The common brown Frog begins to couple early in the 

 season, and as soon as the ice is thawed from the stagnant 

 waters. In some places the cold protracts their genial ap- 

 petite till April ; but it generally begins about the middle 

 of March. The male is usually of a grayish brown color ; 

 the female is more inclining to yellow, speckled with 

 brown. 



A single female produces from six to eleven hundred 

 eggs at a time ; and, in general, she throws them all out 

 together, by a single effort; though sometimes she is an 

 hour in performing this task. While she is thus bringing 

 forth, it may be observed, that the male acts the part of a 



