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CHAPTER VIII. 

 THE BRITISH AMPHIBIANS, 



HTHERE are seven species of living British amphibians, three 

 -*- with tails and four without. The tailed ones are the newts, 

 the tailless are the frogs and toads. The toads (Bufo) have no 

 teeth ; the frogs (Rana) have teeth in the upper jaw. The toads 

 are warty on the under parts, and covered with warty protuber- 

 ances on the upper parts ; the frogs, though they may occasionally 

 have a few warts on the upper parts, are always smooth below. 

 This gives us 



ECAUDATA 



1 (Ranidae) 



Teeth in upper jaw; skin of under parts smooth. Rana, 

 82, 83. 



2 (Bufonidae) 



Jaws toothless ; skin of under parts warty. Bufo, 84.. 85. 



To which we may add 



CAUDATA 



(Salamandridae) 



Tail flattened laterally and as long as body. Triton, 86 

 to 88. 



And thus complete the list. 



Here again we have enough for our purpose of identification, so 

 far as our fauna is concerned, but something more formal and 

 detailed is desirable. To begin with What are amphibians ? 

 Amphibians are cold-blooded vertebrates in which the body is naked 

 or has the scales imbedded in the skin. With a few exceptions they 

 undergo a metamorphosis, during the early stages of which they are 

 aquatic. AS a rule they breathe by gills when young and by lungs 



