o 



THE EDIBLE FKO'J. Ill 



food, habits, and habitats, there is probably no 

 great difference between them, except that the 

 edible frog appears to be more exclusively 

 aquatic. Messrs. Dumeril and Bibron, the authors 

 of a large French work on Reptiles, say that 



It inhabits indiscriminately running or still waters, the 

 borders of rivers, rivulets, or streams, lakes or ponds, salt 

 or fresh marshes, or even ditches and simple pools of water, 

 Sometimes they are seen on the leaves of water-lilies, or on 

 the herbage of the banks, where they love to bask in the 

 warm sunshine ; but at the slightest noise they strike into 

 the water, and do not again expose themselves until certain 

 that all danger is past. 



In the edible frog the toes are cylindrical, 

 and a little swollen at the tips ; the webs of the 

 toes are slightly notched, and do not reach to the 

 extreme tips ; the fourth toe of the hind foot is 

 one-fourth longer than the third and fifth; the 

 nostrils half-way between the corner of the eye 

 and the tip of the muzzle ; the head is triangular; 

 the teeth on the palate are in a line exactly be- 

 tween the nasal openings ; the tongue is broad, 

 lobed, and covered on the surface with scattered 

 warts. On the upper surface of the body are a 

 number of rather indistinct, scattered warts or 

 folds, but the skin on the belly is smooth. The 

 male is furnished with a bladder at the angle of 

 the gape on each side, which when distended 



