THE FROG. 353

area was about five feet in height, and plastered and white-
washed, as smooth as the ceiling of a room. Upon this sur-
face the frogs soon found that their claws would render them
little or no assistance; they therefore contracted their large
feet, so as to make a hollow in the centre, and by means of the
moisture which they had imbibed in consequence of the rain,
they contrived to produce a vacuum, so that by the pressure
of the air on the extended feet (in the same way that we see
boys take up a stone by means of a piece of wet leather fastened
to a string), they ascended the wall and made their escape.
This happened constantly in the course of three years.’’
The Tree The Tree Frog of which there are numerous
Frog. varieties belongs to both East and West occurring
in China and Japan as well as in North and South America.
It is not found in England. Mr. Gosse says: ‘‘ They are
very numerous in the damp woods of tropical America, and
reside by day in the tofts of those parasitical plants, which
form reservoirs for rain-water. The under-surface of their
bodies is very different to that of the terrestrial species ; for the
skin, instead of being smooth, is covered with granular glands,
pierced by numerous pores, through which the dew or rain,
spread on the surface of the leaves, is rapidly absorbed into the
system, and reserved to supply the moisture needful for cutane-
ous respiration. The males make the woods resound through-
out the night with their various cries, and, mingled with the
shrill chirping of insects, quite banish sleep from the stranger's
eyes.”

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