AMPHIBIANS. 



359 



Family RANID^. 



Rana temporaria, L. Common Frog. 



Universally distributed and extremely abundant. Ascends to con- 

 siderable altitudes amongst the wetter hillsides. 



The Gigantic Frog of Lightfoot from Arran (Floi'a Scoiica : Ap- 

 pendix of " Caledonian Zoology," p. 47) is only spoken of as a large 

 form of the Common Frog^ and is described. Don speaks of having 

 once — and once only — met with one about five miles east of Arbroath 

 in June 1797. Of it he says: "It was about three times the size 

 of Rana tempoi-aria, the Common Frog " ; and he adds : "I suppose 

 it is an inhabitant of salt marshes, and rare." But Bell (Brit. 

 BeptileSj 2nd ed., 1849, p. 107) at first gave it provisionally the 

 name B. scotica, and figured the comparative skulls of the two ; 

 but later, upon receiving a number of specimens of both sexes, and 

 various ages, of the Scottish Frog, from the late Mr. Wolley, then 

 residing in Edinburgh, resiled from that jyrovisional name, and ad- 

 mitted it again as merely a variety or large form of the Common 

 Frog. Finally, Mr. G. A. Boulenger revised the literature, and 

 likewise leaves it as Lightfoot found it. But again Prof. Philip 

 J. White, discovering considerable numbers of this large Frog in the 

 neighbourhood of Fordoun and Auchenblae, and mistaking it for 

 the next species, R. esculenta (Annals Scot. Nat. Hist., 1896, pp. 162-5), 

 and the facts having been pointed out to him by Mr. Boulenger, 

 himself corrects his earlier impressions ; so, once more, the subject 

 is threshed out (vide op. cit., 1897, p. 47, "A correction.") 



The localities mentioned by Professor White are given in detail 

 in his first communication. I can add nothing further, except that 

 the late Mr. J. Milne seemed to be aware of the Large Frogs, but 

 also was an unbeliever in the occurrence of R. esculenta. 



[Rana esculenta, L. Edible Frog. 



The remarks given above under R. tempoi-aria^ may, I think, be held 

 to dismiss all actual belief in the occurrence of the present species, 

 without going into any detailed writing of the past records, except, 

 it may be, to record that Don vouches for having "seen a few about 

 the lakes," but almost certainly confusing them with the large form 

 of R. temporaria, and even — it is also probable — with the large me 

 which he found in June 1797, "five miles east of Arbroath," and 



