the flefhy appearance of the tail bearing fome refem- 
blance to the body of a fifh ; and from this circum- 
fiance it was prefumed, by thofe who were ignorant 
of its real nature, that it gradually arrived at the 
Hate of a fifh, and from thence reverted to that of a 
frog. That it is really no other than a frog in a 
larva Hate will be evident to every one who con- 
frders its ftrudure; and more particularly if it be 
collated with the tadpole of fome even of the frogs 
of Europe; for inftance that figured on the 18th 
plate of Roefels’ ITiftoria Ranarum, where the larva 
does not fall very far fhort of the fize of fome of the 
fmaller fpecimens of the frog-fdh of Surinam. 
Like our European tadpoles, this animal, according 
to the more or lefs advanced Hate in which it is 
found, is furnifhed either with all the four legs, or 
with only the two hinder ones : it alfo fometimes 
happens that in the largeH fized of thefe tadpoles, 
exceeding perhaps the length of fix or eight inches, 
only the hind-legs appear, while in thofe of far 
fmaller fize both the fore and hind legs are equally 
confpicuous. Specimens of thefe curious animals 
occur both in the Britifh and Leverian Mufeums : 
in the Britifh Mufeum is alfo preferved a fine fpe- 
cimen of the complete or perfed frog, which is 
here reprefented in its natural fize, as is likewife the 
larva or tadpole on the other annexed plate. 
It will readily appear that the tadpole of this frog 
is larger in proportion to the complete animal than 
in any other fpecies hitherto difcovered. It is a 
native of South America, and has been principally 
obferved in Surinam. Dr, Gmelin, in his enlarged 
edition 
