22 
PROCEEDINGS OF SOCIETIES. 
placed it to dry, by hanging it on a nail in the wall of my room. It appeared for 
some days to be drying very favourably, when I was much startled one day by ob¬ 
serving no small commotion among the ants on the floor underneath it; and, on 
looking close, I noticed a number of little creatures jumping about, and in great 
distress, showing evidently that they were not in their proper element; so, having 
placed a tumbler of water, and arranging it in such a manner that they might fall 
into it, as they escaped from the mass, I was soon gratified by observing the little 
creatures swimming about most comfortably. 
On examining the substance they fell out of, I noticed that all the surface ex¬ 
ternally was dry and perfect except the part immediately in contact with the wall, 
where there was a hole through which the little creatures made their way. I had 
this specimen carefully preserved, hoping to bring it to the Society; but, unfortu¬ 
nately, being soon after attacked with severe illness, this, along with many other 
interesting specimens illustrative of the zoology of Ceylon, was lost. * 
I was uncertain at first what to call the little creatures that I had thus rescued 
from destruction, though they presented all the characters of tadpoles ; the idea 
of frogs spawning in the trees being quite beyond my expectation. I was further 
somewhat embarrassed on remarking that those progressive changes which physio¬ 
logists have thught us to expect in the course of the existence of those animals, pre¬ 
vious to their complete development, occurred with a rapidity quite beyond what we 
notice in this country ; for instance, instead of existing for some days as fishes— e.e., 
making use of their branchiae to aerate their blood, they, though amply provided 
with branchiae, soon left them aside; for, after two or three days, I could detect no 
traces of branchiae; and, the day after they were put into the water, I observed 
them taking in air from the surface. 
It has since struck me that possibly the water, which, in this instance, was mixed 
with decayed and putrid matter from the mass above it, was not sufficiently oxy¬ 
genated, and that, had s it been fresh clean water, in all probability the branchiae 
would have continued in use for several days. 
I kept them under observation for five weeks ; and, before leaving Kandy, I had 
the satisfaction of seeing the good condition of my little family of tadpoles. Their 
arms and legs were just beginning to sprout, and, had I had the opportunity of a 
few weeks further observation, I have no doubt but that, on some morning, I would 
have found them jumping about my house, and, perhaps, seeing them on the walls 
or ceiling, have mistaken them for Ghekos or house lizards. Of course, it was not 
possible to determine, from the imperfectly-developed animal, to what particular 
species or variety they belonged ; but I have no doubt, from the fact of finding the 
masses of spawn so high up in the trees as seven or eight feet from the surface of 
the water, that they were deposited there by some Hylus, or tree frog, which are 
abundant in Ceylon. 
Dr. Kelaart, in his list of Ceylon reptiles, mentions five species, and possibly 
there are many more:— 
Fam , Hylidce , Tree Frogs. 
1. Polypedates Leucomystax, the common Tree Frog. 
2. Polypedates cruciger, cross-backed do. 
3. Polypedates Stellula nobis, white-spotted do. 
4. Lemnodytes mutabilis nobis, changeable. 
5. Lemnodytes maculata nobis, brown spotted. 
The first time I had an opportunity of observing these frogs occurred in Newera 
Elba last year. When walking in the jungle, I started one near the stump of an 
old tree; and, before I could seize hold of it, it jumped into a thorn bush, and, 
passing from branch to branch with wonderful rapidity, it was soon out of sight. I 
was greatly struck with the beautiful markings of this frog ; it was of a rich brown 
colour, with bright yellow markings ; its eye was peculiarly beautiful. 
I have a specimen of Hylus by me, which I picked off the leaf of a coffee tree 
growing close to my house in Kandy. It was in the daytime, when these creatures 
always remain quiet; it is in the evening that they assume their activity; and 
among the sounds heard in the jungle at night, the sharp and constant click of the 
Hylus is none of the least remarkable; this specimen was of a tawny colour, 
