32 ORIGIN OF SOCIETY. CANTO i. 



New lungs and limbs proclaim his second birth, 



Breathe the dry air, and bound upon the earth. 



So from deep lakes the dread Musquito springs, 



Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings, 



In twinkling squadrons cuts his airy way, 



Dips his red trunk in blood, and man his prey. 350 



.. 



So still the Diodons, amphibious tribe, 

 With two-fold lungs the sea or air imbibe; 



when first it is hatched from the spawn by the warmth of the season, 

 it resembles a fish; it afterwards puts forth legs, and resembles a 

 lizard; and finally losing its tail, and acquiring lungs instead of gills, 

 becomes an aerial quadruped. 



The rana temporaria of Linneus lives in the water in spring, 

 and on the land in summer, and catches flies. Of the rana paradoxa 

 the larva or tadpole is as large as the frog, and dwells in Surinam, 

 whence the mistake of Merian and of Seba, who call it a frog fish. The 

 esculent frog is green, with three yellow lines from the mouth to the 

 anus; the back transversely gibbous, the hinder feet palmated; its 

 more frequent croaking in the evenings is said to foretell rain. 

 Linnei Syst. Nat. Art. rana. 



Linneus asserts in his introduction to the class Amphibia, that 

 frogs are so nearly allied to lizards, lizards to serpents, and serpents 

 to fish, that the boundaries of these orders can scarcely be ascertained. 



The dread Musquito springs. 1. 347- See Additional Note IV. 



So still the Diodon, 1. 351. See Additional Note V. 



