458 



ON THE EARLY STATE 



XXXIII. — Physiological Notice concerning the 

 Early State of the Common Frog. 



By James Wilson, Esq. M. W. S. 

 (Read %4}th January 1818.) 



v7n procuring the spawn of the frogs last spring, 

 <1817), I was struck with a peculiarity which I had 

 never heard mentioned by any one, or read of in the 

 writings of naturalists. It is well known, that the 

 young tadpoles are enclosed in pellucid globular 

 bodies for some days. These bodies are deposited 

 by the frog in one connected string, to the number 

 of many hundreds; but, in the water, they have the 

 appearance of a compact gelatinous mass. This 

 gelatinous substance nourishes the young, and upon 

 it they have been supposed to feed even after their 

 exclusion from the egg, as they are observed to rest 



