The common frog . Fig. 4.—The Edible Frog {Rcna esculenta). A \ The male of R. esculenta is further to be distin-guished from the male of the common Frog by thefact of its having the floor of the mouth, on each side,distensible as a pouch—the pouches, when distended,standing out on each side of the head. These pouchesare called ** vocal sacs, and no doubt aid in inten-sifying these animals croak, which is so powerfulthat (on account of it and because of the countrywhere they are common) they have been nick-named * Cambridgeshire Nightingales. Specimens III.] THE COMMON FROG. 23 from Cambridges
The common frog . Fig. 4.—The Edible Frog {Rcna esculenta). A \ The male of R. esculenta is further to be distin-guished from the male of the common Frog by thefact of its having the floor of the mouth, on each side,distensible as a pouch—the pouches, when distended,standing out on each side of the head. These pouchesare called ** vocal sacs, and no doubt aid in inten-sifying these animals croak, which is so powerfulthat (on account of it and because of the countrywhere they are common) they have been nick-named * Cambridgeshire Nightingales. Specimens III.] THE COMMON FROG. 23 from Cambridgeshire are preserved in the Fig. 5.—a, Clinotarsus robust us, nat. size ; B, interior of the mouth of ditto. A large South American Frog {Ceratophrys co7ii2ita), 24 THE COMMON FROG. [chap. which devours other smaller Frogs as well as smallbirds and beasts, is noteworthy on account of thesingular bony plates which are enclosed in the skin ofits back: a character which it shares with a smallSouth American Toad {Brachycephalus ephippimn),and which we shall hereafter see to be a point ofspecial interest. A Frog newly discovered ^ (of a new genus butallied to Rand), called Clinotarsus^ has been repre-sented, in the hope that by the v/ider circulation ofa figure of it, it may be recognized, and its habitatso ascertained (Fg. 5). The common Toad {Bufo vnlgaris) is as widely dis-tributed over the earths surface as is Ra7ia is less aquatic than the Frog, and more sluggish inits motions. In shape it resembles the Frog, but ismore swollen, with much shorter legs and a wartyskin. The toes are less webbed, and
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1874
