The Biflory of A N I M A L i iii 
with four legs, and dragons without any legs at all j fome with wings, fome Without % 
fome with ears, and one of Parey’s, indeed, with horns. What we fee under the 
names of dragons fhewn at fairs, and even kept in the cabinets of fome collectors, are 
in general formed by art out of the ray-fifti; and the others, figured and defcribed fd 
pompoufly by thefe authors of general credit, have no better a foundation in nature* 
R A N A. 
H E body of the Rana is broad and fhort, and has no tail ; the legs are four. 
•r ' , * . u... j'- 
Rana manibus tetrada&ylis fijfis , plantis pentada&ylis palmd- 
tis , maxima. 
"The great Rana , with the anterior feet with four divided 
toes , the pofterior with five webbed ones . 
This is the largeft of all the Frog kind; when the limbs are extended, it meafures 
near two feet: the body is often eight inches long, and four or five in breadth; the fore 
legs are fmall, but the thighs of the hinder ones are as thick as a child’s arm : the 
head is large ; the opening of the mouth very wide; the eyes large and prominent$ 
the pupil has a yellow circle round it; the iris is red, and there is another yellow cir¬ 
cle at the verge of it: the ears are large, and of a circular form ; they are fituated 
fideways of the eyes, and a little behind them, and are covered with a fine thin mem¬ 
brane : the colour is a dufky brown, with an admixture of green, fpotted all over 
very thick with oblong, black fpots: the belly is of a dufky whitifh, with a Gaft of 
yellow, and is alfo faintly fpotted. 
It is a native of the northern parts of America : in Virginia the fides of the hills 
almoft all produce fprings ; and near the mouths of thefe there are ufually found a pair 
of thefe frogs, which, when frighted, leap into the little bafin, ufually made by the 
fpring near the opening : they leap to a furprifing diftance, and their croaking is fo 
loud, that it refembles the roaring of a bull, heard at fome diftance; ’tis hence they 
have obtained the name of the Bull-frog : they are very voracious, and frequently 
fwallow young ducks, and other water-fowl, before they have ftrength enough to fhiffc 
for themfelves. 
Rana palmis tetrada&ylis plantis pentada&ylis , digitis 
fummitate excavatis . 5Cf)£' 
"The Rana , with four toes on the anterior , and five on the f;0g, 
pofterior , and all hollow at the end . 
This is a very extraordinary fpecies of frog j the name of a Tree-frog has an odd 
found, yet this kind is nCver found hardly off of trees, and is formed by nature for 
living very eafily on them : it’s body is about an inch and a half long, and three quarters 
of an inch in diameter, fomewhat rounded, and the back in particular very convex : it 
is of a beautiful bright and glofiy green, but has on each fide a longitudinal'ftreak of 
yellow; all the other parts are of the fame bright green with the body, without any 
variegation ; the head is obtufely pointed; the eyes are large, black, and glofiy; they 
ftand prominent, and have a yellow circle round them : the legs are flender, the hinder 
ones confiderably long: the toes are of a very peculiar form and ftruCture 5 they are 
rounded and hollow, opening at the extremities, in the manner of the mouth of a 
leech : ’tis by means of this peculiar mechanifm, in this part, that they are able to 
hold their place on the leaves, and they are fo well conftruCted for this, that they will 
inftantly fallen the animal on a plate of a glafs, or of the moft highly polifiied me¬ 
tal : the creature leaps very nimbly, and to a vaft diftance. 
They are frequent in North America, and in fome of the northern parts of Europe* 
particularly in Sweden : they live on trees and plants of various kinds, but particularly 
on thofe which have large leaves; and their poll ufually is on the under fide of the leaf, 
where they are hid from the birds that otherwife would devour them j they are ufually 
quiet 
I 
