﻿286 
  KANiD^l. 
  

  

  by 
  me 
  in 
  Brittany, 
  measure 
  77 
  mm., 
  body 
  23 
  ; 
  width 
  

   of 
  body 
  18; 
  tail 
  64; 
  depth 
  of 
  tail 
  20. 
  Tadpoles 
  of 
  

   the 
  var. 
  ridibunda 
  from 
  Prague 
  measure 
  up 
  to 
  90 
  mm., 
  

   and 
  a 
  specimen 
  from 
  the 
  latter 
  locality 
  111 
  mm. 
  long- 
  

   is 
  recorded 
  by 
  Pfiiiger. 
  

  

  I 
  am 
  not 
  aware 
  of 
  any 
  differences 
  by 
  which 
  to 
  

   distinguish 
  the 
  various 
  races 
  in 
  the 
  larval 
  state. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  Few 
  Batrachians 
  have 
  so 
  wide 
  a 
  range 
  

   of 
  distribution 
  as 
  liana 
  esculenta, 
  for 
  it 
  not 
  only 
  

   extends 
  over 
  a 
  great 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  Palsearctic 
  region, 
  

   but 
  even 
  encroaches 
  upon 
  the 
  Ethiopian 
  and 
  Oriental. 
  

   It 
  does 
  not 
  spread 
  very 
  far 
  to 
  the 
  north, 
  being 
  absent 
  

   from 
  Ireland, 
  Scotland, 
  Norway, 
  and 
  Northern 
  Russia 
  ; 
  

   its 
  northernmost 
  limit 
  in 
  Europe 
  is 
  the 
  59th 
  parallel, 
  

   and 
  in 
  Asia 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  on 
  record 
  north 
  of 
  Mongolia, 
  

   Manchuria, 
  and 
  the 
  central 
  island 
  of 
  Japan. 
  To 
  the 
  

   south 
  it 
  extends 
  to 
  Madeira 
  and 
  the 
  Canary 
  Islands, 
  

   Morocco, 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  Algerian 
  and 
  Tunisian 
  Sahara, 
  

   Tripoli, 
  the 
  north 
  coast 
  of 
  Egypt, 
  the 
  Sinaitic 
  peninsula, 
  

   the 
  head 
  of 
  the 
  Persian 
  Gulf, 
  Northern 
  Persia, 
  Balu- 
  

   chistan, 
  Turkestan, 
  Southern 
  China, 
  Formosa, 
  Hainan, 
  

   and 
  Siam. 
  It 
  is 
  absent 
  from 
  Sardinia 
  and 
  Malta. 
  

  

  It 
  does 
  not 
  ascend 
  high 
  up 
  the 
  mountains, 
  3500 
  

   feet 
  being, 
  according 
  to 
  Fatio, 
  its 
  altitudinal 
  limit 
  in 
  

   the 
  Alps. 
  

  

  Bana 
  esculenta 
  occurs 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  places 
  only 
  in 
  

   England 
  ; 
  it 
  used 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  Cambridgeshire, 
  in 
  

   Foulmire 
  Fen, 
  where 
  it 
  was 
  discovered 
  in 
  1844, 
  and 
  

   Bell 
  assures 
  us 
  that 
  his 
  father, 
  who 
  was 
  a 
  native 
  of 
  

   Cambridgeshire, 
  had 
  noticed 
  many 
  years 
  before 
  the 
  

   presence 
  of 
  these 
  frogs 
  at 
  Whaddon 
  and 
  Foulmire, 
  

   where 
  they 
  were 
  known, 
  from 
  their 
  loud 
  croak, 
  as 
  

   " 
  Whaddon 
  organs 
  " 
  and 
  " 
  Dutch 
  nightingales." 
  The 
  

   species 
  was 
  afterwards 
  re-discovered 
  in 
  Norfolk, 
  

   between 
  Thetford 
  and 
  Scoulton, 
  where 
  it 
  is 
  now 
  still 
  

   very 
  abundant, 
  and, 
  from 
  inquiries 
  made 
  by 
  Lord 
  

   Walsingham, 
  must 
  have 
  existed 
  for 
  the 
  last 
  seventy 
  

   years 
  at 
  least. 
  These 
  frogs 
  belong 
  to 
  the 
  var. 
  lessonse, 
  

   and 
  differ 
  widely 
  from 
  those 
  found 
  in 
  a 
  few 
  other 
  

  

  