others, are cut into fine divisions to increase the surface,
whilst those above water are undivided; see Botanic Garden,
Vol. II. Canto IV. l. 204. Note.

Few of the water plants of this country are used for
economical purposes, but the ranunculus fluviatilis may be
worth cultivation; as on the borders of the river Avon, near
Ringwood, the cottagers cut this plant every morning in
boats, almost all the year round, to feed their cows, which
appear in good condition, and give a due quantity of milk;
see a paper from Dr. Pultney in the Transactions of the
Linnean Society, Vol. V.]

"So still the Tadpole cleaves the watery vale
With balanc'd fins, and undulating tail;
New lungs and limbs proclaim his second birth,
Breathe the dry air, and bound upon the earth.
So from deep lakes the dread Musquito springs,
Drinks the soft breeze, and dries his tender wings,
In twinkling squadrons cuts his airy way,
Dips his red trunk in blood, and man his prey. 350

[Footnote: _So still the Tadpole_, l. 343. The transformation
of the tadpole from an aquatic animal into an aerial one is
abundantly curious, when first it is hatched from the spawn
by the warmth of the season, it resembles a fish; it
afterwards puts forth legs, and resembles a lizard; and
finally losing its tail, and acquiring lungs instead of
gills, becomes an aerial quadruped.

The rana temporaria of Linneus lives in the water in spring,
and on the land in summer, and catches flies. Of the rana
paradoxa the larva or tadpole is as large as the frog, and
dwells in Surinam, whence the mistake of Merian and of Seba,
who call it a frog fish. The esculent frog is green, with
three yellow lines from the mouth to the anus; the back
transversely gibbous, the hinder feet palmated; its more
frequent croaking in the evenings is said to foretell rain.
Linnei Syst. Nat. Art. rana.

Linneus asserts in his introduction to the class Amphibia,
that frogs are so nearly allied to lizards, lizards to
serpents, and serpents to fish, that the boundaries of these
orders can scarcely be ascertained.]

[Footnote: _The dread Musquito springs_, l. 347. See
Additional N