The only species of F. certainly known to be British is that called in France the RED F. (I?. temporaria), which is abundant in most parts of England and Scotland, but is said not to be truly indigenous to Ireland, and to have been introduced into that island in 1696. Its generally reddish color, varied with black spots and patches, readily distin guishes it from the GREEN F. or EDIBLE F. (R. esculenta) of the s. of Europe—some times said also to have been found in Britain—which is olive green, with yellow stripes along the back, and generally larger than the red species. The s. of Europe produces a number of other species, and they are generally more numerous in warmer climates. A. remarkable peculiarity is exhibited by some frogs of tropical countries in a hornlike prominence above each eye. These have been separated into a new genus (ceratophris). The Tree Frogs (q.v.), (hy/a), the most beautiful and interesting of all, have the extremities of the toes enlarged into a sort of cushion, secreting a viscid humor. Several other genera have been separated from the Linnaean genus rana, but there is a strong family likeness among them all.
The use of frogs for food is generally regarded with disguSt in Britain, but it is very common in some of the southern countries of Europe, and they are regarded as particularly delicate. The species chiefly,used as food in Europe is the GREEN F. (rams esculenta), already mentioned, which greatly abounds in ponds and slow streams in France, southern Germany, and Italy.. It feeds chiefly on insects, after which it darts with great agility on the banks, and may often be seen swimming with its head above water, or basking in the sunshine. Frogs are there taken for the market by nets, and by
a kind of rake. 'In Vienna, they are kept and fattened in preserves adapted to the pur pose. In France, the bind-quarters alone are prepared for the table; in Germany, all the muscular parts. They are dressed in various ways, and with various sauces, of which a great part often consists of wine.—The GRUNTING F. (R. grunniens) of the West Indies, a. very large species, 6 or 8 in. long, capable of leaping over a five-feet wall, is much used for food, its flesh being very white and delicate, and is often fattened for the table. It shows a considerable capacity for domestication, and readily becomes familiar.—A species of F. (pyxicephalus adspereus of Dr. Smith) is much used as food by the native tribes of s. Africa. Dr. Livingstone says the Bechuanas suppose it to fall from thunderclouds, because the pools suddenly filled after a thunder-: shower become instantly alive with loud-croaking frogs, which have previously been hidden in holes at the roots of bushes. This species is nearly 6 in. long, and when cooked resembles chicken.
Remains, a genus of fishes of the family lopitiide, to which also the angler (q.v.) or fishing-frog belongs. They are remarkable for excessive ugliness. The head is larger than the body ; flattened, and spiny; the month is very large, with many teeth; the lips are often furnished with filaments; the pectoral fins arc supported by a short stalk or wrist. The skin is naked in some species, scaly in others. The species are numerous and widely distributed, but none of them is British. They hide them selves in the sand to surprise their prey.