us 



ON THE EARLY STATE 



ness of their angles. The tail, likewise, when 

 compared with the other parts, is of a more gela- 

 tinous appearance, and the difference of its texture 

 and colour is then very visible at its junction with 

 the body. 



Upon the 28th of June, being a few days within 

 two months from the time of their first appearance, 

 several quitted their native element, and were found 

 upon the dry ground. On being replaced in the 

 water, they dived once or twice, but seemed, during 

 their short stay on land, to have nearly lost their 

 former power of swimming ; — their specific gravity, 

 too, was changed, as it now required some little 

 exertion to prevent their rising to the surface of 

 the water, when unassisted by weeds or otherwise 

 from below. The tail still adhered, though some- 

 what altered in its appearance. The filmy upper 

 and under border was wanting, and had either fallen 

 off or contributed to increase the growth of the 

 central part, which, although considerably shorter, 

 was now thicker and rounder in its form than it 

 had hitherto been. On the 30th of June, the tail 

 had contracted into a small rounded protuberance, 

 a few lines in length, and the animals themselves 

 then exercised the faculty of leaping with agility. 

 On the 1st of July, this protuberance was scarcely 

 discernible, and the only apparent difference, ex- 

 clusive of size, between the young frog and the 

 adult individual, consisted in the bo$y of the form- 



