206 NATURAL HISTORY. 
ilar purpose. Like the tongue of that animal, it is dart- 
ed out and returned with such velocity, in catching in- 
sects, that we must be very quick of sight to see the 
thing done. Even the nimble Fly that comes near to the 
\_lazy Toad is not quick enough to escape its tongue. 
4 342. The chief families in this order are, 1. The Rani- 
‘dee, or Frogs. 2. The Bufonidx, or Toads. 3. The Sala- 
mandridz, or Salamanders. 4. The Sirenide, or Sirens; 
and, 5. The Apoda, or Footless Amphibia. 
343. The Frogs, although good swimmers, and found 
in the neighborhood of water, pass most of their time on 
land, catching insects with their tongues. They have 
teeth in the upper jaw. Their hind legs are long, and 
they are therefore good at leapng. The noisy Bull-frog 
is found only in North America. It lives on fish and 
snakes as well as insects. The Edible or Green Frog 
abounds in Europe, and is thought much of as an article 
for the table. In some places it is fattened in “ frogger- 
ies” for this purpose. The Tree Frogs are arboreal, as 
their name indicates. To enable them to retain their 
position easily as: they leap about among the branches, 
their toes have little suction pads, similar to those of the 
Geckos (§ 325), which, to make them the more efficient, 
are always covered with a glutinous secretion. Like the 
common Frogs, they breed in the water, and bury them- 
selves in the mud for their winter’s sleep. 
344, The Toads have no teeth in the upper jaw as the 
Frogs do. They have also shorter legs, and therefore 
have less power of leaping. The skin has wart-like pro- 
jections, from which an acrid fluid is secreted. The Su- 
rinam Toad, which is put by some into a separate family, 
is avery singular animal. It has no tongue, and its hind 
feet are webbed. It is found in dark corners. about 
houses in Guiana and Surinam. Its eggs are hatched in 
a curious way. The male places them in little pits on 
the back of the female, each pit having a lid; and, when 
hatched, the little Toads, lifting the lids, hop out. There 
