1930 The Zoologist— December, 1869. 



into the bladder jnst menlioned, where it is l^ept in store until the 

 dryness of the skin requires a supply for the purpose of respiration, 

 when it is again taken up and restored to the surface by which it had 

 been first absorbed." — British Reptiles, p. 84. Mr. Bell further states 

 that pulnaonary respiration alone is not sufficient to support life with- 

 out the aid of that of the cutaneous surface. I feel it due to the 

 illustrious naturalists who have made this subject their especial study, 

 to make this very imperfect allusion to the interesting question they 

 have discussed ; and also in some measure to myself, in order to show 

 that I have not overlooked their labours : at the same time I am under 

 the humiliating necessity of confessing that I have not the slightest 

 practical knowledge of a subject which others have studied so deeply 

 and found so interesting. I now proceed to detail more tangible 

 characters. 



The frog has both palatal and maxillary teeth : the palatal are short, 

 slender, sharp-pointed and slightly recurved, the latter character 

 appearing to render the return of their living food difficult or almost 

 impossible ; this is, perhaps, the only purpose for which these teeth 

 are provided, since for purposes of mastication they are useless : the 

 maxillary teelh are arranged in a single series round the upper jaw, 

 and have characters almost exactly similar to the palatal tooth : the 

 tongue is attached to the dilatable skin of the lower jaw for about half 

 its length, and the remaining half is folded back on itself, the ex- 

 tremity which is notched pointing towards the throat, and being 

 appressed to the internal opening of the nostrils, which it appears can 

 thus be effectually closed at the will of the animal. The air taken in 

 at the nostrils passes directly into the lungs. The nose is rounded, 

 almost semicircular, and the gape of the mouth wide. The eyes are 

 bright, and placed either on a level with the general surface of the 

 head or projected at the pleasure of the animal, a character which I 

 noticed as being much more obvious in the edible frog, under which 

 species I shall again refer to it. The back is humped in a very 

 striking manner : this peculiarity is due to the structure of the 

 skeleton, which is without ribs. The fore feet are short and 

 have four toes: of these the second is the shortest, and the third 

 the longest ; the first and fourth are of equal length : there is scarcely 

 any appearance of a connecting web at the base. The hind legs are 

 much longer than the fore legs, and are well adapted both for leaping 

 and swimming : the first toe is the shortest, the second and fourth 



