RANA, the frog, in natural history, a genus of Amphibia of the order Reptiles. Generic character : body four-footed, tail less, and without any integument but the skin ; hind legs longer than the fore. There are thirty-six species, of which the following deserve the chief attention : It. bufo, the toad, is found in shady and damp situations throughout Europe, and often is met with in cellars, conceal ed in recesses and holes, which it some times prepares for itself, but generally finds already accommodated to its pur pose. In spring it moves towards the water, and lays its ova in a brilliant band of glutinous substance, several feet in length. The ova appear like beads ofjet, and in fourteen days these convolved lar vx are developed and swim about, nour ishing themselves by insects and vegeta ble substances, till their tail disappears, and their legs are formed, and they pass from water to land. The toad is always covered with tubercles, is generally of a dark brown colour above, and a light yel low on the lower parts both of the body and limbs. It lives to a considerable age, surviving, in some instances, even twenty years, and the case of a toad, which arriv ed at the age of forty, is mentioned by Mr. Pennant. This was remarkable, not only for its longevity, but for being in a great degree domesticated. It was in troduced to the table of the family, caught its food, consisting of insects, with great alertness and dexterity, grew to an un common size, would approach on being called by a particular name given to it, and regularly resided in a hole under the gar den steps. The ideas formerly entertain ed of venomous qualities possessed by this animal, and on which the writers of almost every age have expatiated with firm belief, are now ascertained to be groundless, and the toad is regarded as an inoflensive animal, at least with respect to mankind, on whom its touch or bite never produces any serious injury. The small lizard appears, after biting the toad, to experience a temporary paraly sis ; even the mouths of dogs are stated to be somewhat irritated and inflamed by the exudation in the skin of this animal, in a state of alarm and irritation. But
the limpid fluid, which it otherwise dis charges during this state, is said to be free from even the slightest corrosive quality. The exudation of some other species, however, is considered to be highly acrimonious. The statements which have repeatedly been published of toads found living in large blocks of wood and of stone, with no perceivable inlet for the air, and touched on all sides by the substance in which they were in closed, appear to savour of the marvellous, and such representations are certainly not to be credited upon light authority. It is ascertained that a toad will live for many weeks, and even months, in a very small case, or under a pan buried deeply in the earth. A gentleman inclosed three toads in three boxes before the members of the French Academy, and covered these box es with thick mortar, leaving them in the apartments of that Society, and after eighteen months the boxes were opened, and two of the animals were found still living. The eyes of the toad are remark able for their clearness and beauty, and excite sensations of a very different na ture from that disgust and even horror, which its general appearance almost uni versally excites. See Amphibia, Plate H. fig. 2.
The common toad of the United States bears considerable resemblance to this,' but is specifically distinct, as well in the external characters of the body as in its habits : the bufo walks, but that invaria bly leaps. To the toad of the United States deleterious qualities have been at tributed; when provoked or captured, it is apt to eject its urine ; if this falls on the hand or any part of the body, it is suppos ed that warts will be the consequence ; this is a vulgar error, and may have ari sen from the repulsive appearance of the animal, and the wart-like tubercles of its body ; a species of toad in Carolina has been described by Shaw under the name of Lentiginosa.