﻿RANA. 
  287 
  

  

  places 
  in 
  Norfolk, 
  which 
  are 
  undoubtedly 
  the 
  de- 
  

   scendants 
  of 
  a 
  nujnber 
  imported 
  from 
  France 
  aud 
  

   Belgium 
  in 
  1837. 
  1841, 
  and 
  1842, 
  and 
  turned 
  loose 
  in 
  

   the 
  fens 
  at 
  Foulden 
  and 
  in 
  the 
  neighbourhood. 
  

  

  A 
  great 
  deal 
  of 
  discussion 
  has 
  taken 
  place 
  as 
  to 
  

   whether 
  the 
  edible 
  froo: 
  is 
  indigenous 
  in 
  England 
  or 
  

   introduced 
  ; 
  and 
  the 
  balance 
  of 
  evidence 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  

   in 
  favour 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  supposition, 
  although 
  we 
  do 
  not 
  

   know 
  when 
  and 
  by 
  whom 
  the 
  Cambridgeshire 
  and 
  

   Stow 
  Beclon 
  colonies 
  were 
  imported. 
  The 
  fact 
  that 
  

   they 
  belong 
  to 
  a 
  race 
  specially 
  abundant 
  in 
  Italy, 
  

   and 
  formerly 
  believed 
  to 
  be 
  confined 
  to 
  that 
  country, 
  

   has 
  suggested 
  the 
  idea 
  that 
  they 
  may 
  be 
  of 
  Italian 
  

   origin, 
  perhaps 
  introduced 
  by 
  the 
  monks. 
  

  

  Within 
  the 
  last 
  ten 
  years 
  large 
  numbers 
  of 
  the 
  

   three 
  forms 
  have 
  been 
  imported 
  from 
  Brussels, 
  Berlin, 
  

   and 
  Italy, 
  and 
  liberated 
  in 
  various 
  localities 
  in 
  West 
  

   Surrey 
  and 
  Hampshire. 
  Berlin 
  specimens 
  (var. 
  ridi- 
  

   bunda) 
  have 
  also 
  been 
  introduced 
  in 
  Bedfordshire 
  and 
  

   Italian 
  ones 
  in 
  Oxfordshire. 
  

  

  Portuguese 
  specimens 
  of 
  the 
  var. 
  ridibunda 
  were 
  

   introduced 
  in 
  the 
  Azores 
  in 
  the 
  beginning 
  of 
  the 
  

   century, 
  and 
  have 
  become 
  perfectly 
  acclimatised. 
  

   The 
  presence 
  of 
  the 
  frog 
  in 
  Madeira 
  and 
  the 
  Canary 
  

   Islands 
  is 
  also 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  due 
  to 
  importation. 
  

  

  Pis. 
  XVI 
  and 
  XVII 
  are 
  reproduced 
  from 
  the 
  Pro- 
  

   ceedings 
  of 
  the 
  Zoological 
  Society, 
  1884 
  and 
  1885. 
  

   The 
  former 
  represents 
  a 
  male 
  and 
  a 
  female 
  of 
  the 
  var. 
  

   ridibunda 
  from 
  the 
  lakes 
  near 
  Berlin. 
  The 
  latter 
  

   represents 
  on 
  the 
  right 
  side, 
  lower 
  figure, 
  a 
  male 
  

   of 
  the 
  typical 
  form 
  from 
  Foulden, 
  Norfolk, 
  and 
  two 
  

   specimens 
  of 
  the 
  var. 
  lessons, 
  male 
  and 
  female, 
  from 
  

   Stow 
  Bedon, 
  Norfolk. 
  

  

  