Catalogue of the Reptiles of Connecticut. 47 



Order IV. Batbachia. 



Family Ranidce. 



*33. Rana pipiens, Linn., Bull Frog, , common. 



34. R,ana fontinalis, Le Conte, Yellow-throated Green Frog, 

 common. 



35. Rana halecina, Kalm, Leopard Frog, common. 



36. Rana palustris, Le Conte, Pickerel Frog, common. 

 # 37. Rana sylvatica, Le Conte, Wood Frog, common. 



*38. Rana horiconensis, Holbrook, Northern Bull Frog, Ca- 

 naan. 



I have found the popular error quite prevalent, that the venomous snakes are 

 viviparous, while the harmless ones are oviparous. This opinion is of course 

 wholly unfounded, since it is well known that all reptilia are oviparous. 



Allow me to add here, while on the subject of eggs, the singular fact that the 

 egg of the crocodile of the Eastern continent has a thick heavy shell; while those 

 of the alligator, and all those of other reptiles producing eggs in our country, have 

 no shell. I have the egg of a crocodile from Burmah, about the size of that of our 

 common goose, and the shell equally thick and hard. 



*33. The bull frog devours its young in great numbers. One I took this season 

 had his stomach greatly distended with the young of his own species, some as 

 large as five or six inches in length, including the tail, and more than an inch in 

 diameter, some of the largest young frogs with tail and legs attached that I ever 

 beheld. They were not masticated, and very nearly perfect. I have since found 

 another whose stomach contained many little shells, such as Physa, Limnea and 

 Cyclas, with their animals partly digested. Frogs will survive a long time how- 

 ever without any apparent sustenance, except what they derive from the water in 

 which they may be confined. 



*37. The five preceding species are found plentifully in most of our fresh-water 

 streams and ponds. They all occasionally pass over a great extent of land without 

 water, as they choose to move either for change or amusement. I once knew a 

 farmer, if the weather was hot and his oxen disposed to loll, as is not uncommon 

 when much heated, who would send his plough-boy to the nearest brook to collect 

 frogs, and on his return with them the farmer would open the mouth of an ox, and 

 let one or two live frogs leap down, and it served always to cool the ox in a mo- 

 ment, so that he could immediately resume his ploughing without the danger of 

 overheating the ox. I mention this fact here merely with the hope it may be 

 useful to farmers as a means of preserving their oxen from a surfeit or overheating. 



*38. This large frog, I learn from Mr. Munson in North Canaan, was some years 

 since known to inhabit a small locality in that town near the residence of a Mr. 

 Richards, and obtained the name of Richards' frog, being much larger and a dif- 

 ferent color from the bull frog. Back very dark, nearly black, sides green, and 

 belly white. Mr. M. had often seen it, but for several years past it had been ex- 

 tinct. As this place (North Canaan) is not very distant from Lake George, where 

 it was first obtained by Dr. Holbrook, there can be little doubt this frog once in- 

 habited Connecticut. Dr. Dekay remarks that its note is very sonorous and on a 

 lower key than the bull frog. Mr. Munson informed me that the voice is wholly 

 dissimilar to that of our common bull frog. Dr. H. gave the specific name from 

 the Indian name of Lake George — Horicon. 



