The common frog . with certainty that such isthe case ; but Mr. Alfred Wallace, in his travels inthe Malay Archipelago, encountered in Borneo aTree-frog {Rhacophorus) to which he considers theterm flying may fairly be applied, and of whichhe says, it is the first instance known of a flying-frog. Of this animal he gives us the following account:— One of the most curious and interesting creatureswhich I met with in Borneo was a large tree-frogwhich was brought me by one of the Chinese work-men. He assured me that he had seen it comedown, in a slanting direction, from a high tree as ifit flew. On
The common frog . with certainty that such isthe case ; but Mr. Alfred Wallace, in his travels inthe Malay Archipelago, encountered in Borneo aTree-frog {Rhacophorus) to which he considers theterm flying may fairly be applied, and of whichhe says, it is the first instance known of a flying-frog. Of this animal he gives us the following account:— One of the most curious and interesting creatureswhich I met with in Borneo was a large tree-frogwhich was brought me by one of the Chinese work-men. He assured me that he had seen it comedown, in a slanting direction, from a high tree as ifit flew. On examining it I found the toes very longand fully webbed to their extremity, so that, whenexpanded, they offered a surface much larger than 111,1 THE COMMON FROG. 35 the body. The fore-legs were also bordered by amembrane, and the body was capable of considerableinflation. The back and limbs were of a very deepshining green colour, the under surface and the innertoes yellow, while the webs were black rayed with. Fig. 15.—The Flying Frog (from Wallaces Malay Archipelago) yellow. The body was about four inches long,while the webs of each hind foot, when fully ex-panded, covered a surface of four square inches, andthe webs of all the feet together about twelve square D 2 36 THE COMMON FROG. [chap. inches. As the extremities of the toes have dilateddiscs for adhesion, showing the creature to l:)e a trueTree-frog, it is difficult to imagine that this immensemembrane of the toes can be for the purpose ofswimming only, and the account of the Chinamanthat it flew down from the tree becomes morecredible. The great group of Frogs and Toads, rich as it isin genera and species, and widely as it is diffusedover the earths surface, is one of singular uniformityof structure. The lorms most aberrant from ourtype, the common Frog, have now been noticed,except that perhaps the maximum respectively ofobesity and slenderness may be referred to. In theformer respect the Indian Toad, Giyp/ioglos
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, bookpublisherlondo, bookyear1874
