called by zoologists after the Greek name, Batrachia. The author of
the Vestiges of Creation remarks, that the frog is the only animal
that, like man, has a calf on the hinder part of its legs. The
batrachian animals are here all grouped in one case (26). They have
many peculiarities. They are in the first place almost ribless; their
feet are in no way armed; many of the toads have no teeth, and those
of the frog are insignificant for its size; they have no tails;
neither the frogs nor the toads are venomous; the fiery expectorations
of the poor toads are matters of household fable only; and their
croaking choruses have startled many a poor traveller. One variety, in
the case with which the visitor is now engaged, is remarkable. Here
are specimens of the tree frogs that can walk with their backs
downwards on the most polished surfaces, and can slightly change their
colour; the paradoxical frog from Surinam, which is larger as a
tadpole than in its condition of maturity; the Brazilian horned toads;
the American bull frogs; and the Brazilian pipa, the female of which
deposits its eggs upon the back of the male, who carries them about
till they burst from their shells; the repulsive siren of Carolina,
which Mr. J.E. Gray likens to an eel with fore-legs; and lastly, here
is the blushing proteus, which in its native subterranean caverns is
of a pale pink, but when brought to the light of day, deepens into a
crimson blush; this is represented by a waxen model. It is strange
that political and controversial literature, so rich in chameleons,
asses in lions' skins, and other figures for human fallibility and
stupidity, should not contain a few, just a few, varieties of the
blushing proteus.
The visitor has now examined all the wall cases of the second room;
and his way again lies to the west. The third or central room of the
gallery, which he is now about to enter, is to a large class of
country visitors, perhaps the most interesting apartment of the
museum. Herein is deposited a complete museum of the animal life of
Britain, comprehending the beasts and birds native to its soil, and
the fishes that swim in its waters.