| OCR Text |
Show 78 REPTILIA. to their withdrawing under the skin, where they form the bran· h. These latter are numerous small tufts attached to four c Ire. db · cartilaginous arches, placed on each side of the ?eck, a ermg to the hyoid bone, enveloped in a membranous tumc and covered. by the general skin. The water ~hie~ enters the mouth, .pass1~g th h the intervals of the cartllagmous arches, makes Its ex1t, roug . d · 1 · sometimes by two openings, and at others by one, sttuate e1t 1er m the middle or left side of the external skin, according to the. ~pecies. The hind feet of the Tadpole are very gradually and VISl~ly developed· the fore feet are also developed, but under the skm, through ~hich they subsequently penetrate. T~e tail is. gradually absorbed. The beak falls and discloses the true Jaws, wh1ch at first were soft and concealed beneath the skin; and the branchire are annihilated, leaving to the lungs alone the function of respiration in which they participated. The eyes which at first could only be discerned through a transparent spot in the skin of the Tadpole, are now visible with their three lids. The intestines, which, in the beginning, were long, slender, and spirally arranged, become shortened, and acquire the enlargements requisite for the stomach and colon, for the Tadpole feeds solely on aquatic plants, and the adult animal upon insects and other animal matters. Tadpoles reproduce their limbs almost like Salamanders. The period at which each of these changes takes place varies with the species. In cold and temperate climates, the perfect animal passes the winter under ground, or in the the mud under water, without eating or breathing, though if we prevent it from respiring during the summer for a few minutes by keeping its mouth open, it dies. RANA, Laur. Frogs, properly so called, have a long tapering body; the hind feet extremely long, strong, and more or less perfectly palmated; the skin smooth; upper jaw furnished all round with a row of small fine teeth and an interrupted transverse range of them in the middle of the palate. On each side of the head of the male and below the ear, is a thin membrane which becomes distended with air when he croaks. These animals~leap and swim well. R. esculenta, L.; Rresel. Ran. pl. xiii, xiv. (The Green Frog.) A fine green spotted with black; three yellow streaks on the back; belly yellowish. A common species in Europe in all stagnant waters, and very annoying by its ceaseless nocturnal clamour. Its flesh is a wholesome and agreeable food. The female excludes her ova in bundles in the marshes, &c. BATRACHIA. 79 R. temporaria, L. ; Rresel. Ran. pl. i, ii, iii. (The Common Frog.) Reddish-brown spotted with black; a black band commencing at the eye and reaching across the ear. This species is the first that appears in the spring; it visits the land less frequently than the preceding, and is not so noisy. Its tadpole is not so large at the epoch of its metamorphosis. R. cultripes, Cuv. Every where sprinkled with black spots· feet simply palmate; particulal'ly remarkable for a horny an~ trenchant scale which invests the vestige of the sixth toe. From the south of France. Among the Frogs foreign to Europe we may remark, R. paradoxa, L.; Seb. I, lxxviii; Merrian, Surin. LXXI; D~ud., G~en. X~II, XXIII (The Jakie), whose tadpole acquires a s1ze previous to its complete metamorphosis greater than that of any other species of the genus. The loss of an enormous tail and the envelopes of the body, causes the adult animal to be smaller than the tadpole, a circumstance which ind.uced the earlier observers to believe that it was the Frog wdh~ch. was metamorphosed into a tadpole, or, as they expresse It, mto a Fish. This error is now completely refuted. . T.he J~kie is gr~enish spotted with brown, and is particularly d1stmgu1shed by Irregular brown lines along its thighs and legs. From Guiana. • There are several other Frogs foreign to Europe, some of which are very large and not well determined.( I) Such is R. pipiens, L.; Cates b. II, lxxii. (The Bull-Frog.) Green abo~e, yellowish beneath, spotted and marbled with black.(2) The hmd toes of certain species are almost without a web but still very long.(3) ' ·' (1) A closer examination and a review ofthe numerousBatrachians received at theM useum W·i t h'm a fie w years, compel me to recal my approbation of the work ofDaudin. It is imperfect, and half the figures are taken from altered specimens :d can never serve as guides to the precise determination of species. His Bylre: owever, must ~e excepted; they are much better than his Frogs and Toads. (?) I am convmced that several species are confounded under this name in the Umted States, species which are similar as to size and colour but which among .o t.h er charac. t ers, dt' .ucre r m• t h e relati.v e s1. ze of the tympanum. ' The one i'n which 1Tt h1 s ~argest 1s the mugz·e ns of Me rrem, b ut we cannot depend upon his synonymes. I d~ fig. of Daud. XVll, with a yellow stripe along the back, is a species from Gn Ia. Add· R JJal · S · y 1 R · · 1 · · m~pes, P1X, ' ;- • ttgnna, Daud. XX;-R. virginica, la me.' Seb., I, lxxv, 4, or halecina, Daud., or pipiens, Merr., Catesb. LXX;-R. c mttans, Daud., XVI. N.n. This last species is the young of the Bull-Frog. .O.m. Ed. (3) Rana ocellata, L. Seb. I, l:xxv, 1, Lacep. I, :xxxviii, Daud. XIX;-R.: gigas, \ |
