952 The Mink or Hoosier Frog. [September, 
the legs far advanced, and nearly four inches long. Anxious to 
discover if this frog, in its tadpole state, was essentially carnivor- 
ous, I dropped into the vase several small dead fishes. Next 
morning they were entirely consumed except the heads and the 
bones of the back. They always began to eat the soft parts of 
the belly and intestines, and then the rest of the fish.- Thus I 
continued to feed them, and preserved several fragments of ani- 
mals devoured. Several dead tadpoles of R. clamaia were 
given them, the intestines of which were filled with mud and veg- 
etable matter. So thoroughly carnivorous were these little crea- 
tures that no fragment of any part of the body or head was left 
except the engorged intestines. These relics I placed with the 
rest, and have them carefully preserved. I have opened a num- 
ber of these tadpoles, taken from the stream and dropped in cs 
alcohol, and their intestines were often full of the common muddy 
matter found in all species, but on most occasions it was mixed 
with decaying animal matter, and small fish scales were visible 
when the matter was placed on the field of a microscope. I : 
placed the soft vegetable substance, on which R. clamata feeds, 
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in their jar, and they seemed indifferent to it, but as soon as 
dead fish or tadpole was thrown in they immediately gave it their 
the anus, ERS 
d, with all 
as is- 
tad- 
attention, invariably commencing to tear it open about 
and then the rest of the abdomen was quickly devoure 
its contents. I never saw them wrangling over their food, 
always seen among little fish, nor on any occasion did one 
pole chase another. i ye 
It may be justly asked, “ Suppose a number of tadpoles of 
various species were mixed together in a vase of water, how — 
could one species be distinguished from the other t The tad- 
poles are a study in themselves, and it requires long observation, - 
and close inspection, to tell each apart, as they are often so a 
lar in stages that it is no easy undertaking. It would re 
many pages to point out all their differences, and even then the 
unscientific reader would be left in a cloudy labyrinth. How- 
ever, let us point out the characteristics of this species, 4 
it may generally be known. It is Jarger in proporti 
than any of the other American frogs when com 
adult. The following are its measurements imme 
the arms are excluded from the skin, when the la 
greatest length, and is the mean measurement of nine speci 
1 This habit was first observed in the tadpoles of Rana sylvatica by Professor: 
