Page:Natural History, Reptiles.djvu/249

Rh single bound, a space more than fifty times the length of its own body.”

The food of the Frogs in the tadpole condition consists of decaying vegetable matter, though they do not refuse to prey upon animal substances also. In the adult state they feed on insects, slugs, &c., in the taking of which the tongue is principally employed. This organ, which is soft and fleshy, and covered with a glutinous secretion, is fixed to the inner part of the front of the jaw, so that when at rest its tip points backwards towards the throat. When the Frog takes its prey, the tongue, observes Mr. Martin, “becomes considerably elongated, and turns on the pivot of its anterior fixture, being reversed in such a manner that the surface which was undermost when the tongue was lying in a state of repose in the mouth, is now the uppermost, the original position being regained, when it turns on its pivot back again into the mouth. The rapidity with which the Frog or Toad launches this organ at insects or slugs is extraordinary, insomuch that the eye can scarcely follow the movement; never is the aim missed; the prey touched by the tongue adheres firmly, the viscid saliva being very tenacious, and is instantaneously carried to the back of the mouth and swallowed.

“We have often presented slugs on bits of straw or stick to Toads, and watched with surprise the sudden disappearing of the prey, which seemed to vanish from the stick as if by magic.”

The Frogs are endued with considerable powers of voice; their efforts, it is true, are not very musical; a hoarse guttural croaking is the sound