HA RD WICKE'S SCIENCE- G OS SIP. 



247 



NOTES ON THE COMMON FROG IN A 

 STATE OF DOMESTICATION. 



IT is only from the real observation of the objects 

 of Nature and a correct record of the same that 

 our natural history can reach perfection, and, as an 

 aid to the same, the following extractive summary is 

 given. Towards 10 p.m. on the 9th of June, 1S86, 

 when searching for insects, I came upon a small frog 

 (Paua tcmporarid), which I believed to be in the act 

 of trying to take some daddy-long-legs that were 

 dancing near by where it was, but it was somewhat 

 disturbed by me leaping over the dyke by the side of 

 which it was. This frog was brought from Gleniffer, 

 near Alt-Patrick Glen. After being about a day 

 among plants gathered at the same time as itself, it 

 was transferred to a house consisting of a cracked 

 chemical beaker ; it was circular, about 3 in. in 

 diameter, and 4! in. in height. The beaker was set 

 on its mouth, and fitted into a perforated tin lid, 

 with the roughness of the perforation outwards, and 

 the whole was set into a small saucer, the inside flat 

 portion of which was somewhat narrower than the 

 perforated lid, and which admitted air, and also water 

 by pouring it into the saucer. This frog was not fully 

 developed ; it seems the frog takes five years to reach 

 full development, and in this case I suppose the frog 

 had seen the end of the second year, and was entered 

 on its third. Four days after its capture, or on the 

 13th, I saw it eating flies that were put in its house. 

 On the 24th, put into its house an earthworm, large 

 geodephaga beetle {Pterostkhus iiiger), a slater or 

 wood-louse {Procellio scaler), one Geophihcs longicomis, 

 and a somewhat crushed centipede, all of which were 

 quickly eaten, save the centipede. On the evening of 

 the same day it ate several snails. On the 29th, put 

 into its house two horse leeches {Hmmopis sanguisorla), 

 one of which was soon down the frog's throat. I 

 watched the creature to see if it would swallow the 

 other leech, and, as I did so, I saw a change come over 

 its eyes — the pupils were enlarged, and they lost their 

 marked pleased expression ; for, by this time, when I 

 came near its house with a chip-box, and began to 

 open it, its eyes became much brighter as it watched 

 me. It did not take the second leech, but even 

 began to look away from it, and the appearance in 

 its eyes still increased ; at length it suddenly stood 

 up on its hind legs, and seemed to put each of its 

 fore feet in the sides of its mouth (but the action was 

 so quick that my eye could not follow it), and it 

 quickly drew out the leech which it had swallowed, 

 and became excited, and turned its back to it, and 

 leaped and trampled on both leeches. I opened the 

 house to remove the leeches, when at once the frog 

 sprang from its house, with one of the leeches sticking 

 to its legs — this attachment of the leech must have 

 only happened as its house was beingopened. Before 

 this the frog allowed me freely to take it in my hand, 



and even sat in my hand to enjoy its water bath in 

 the rush from the water pipe ; but now this is what it 

 would not do, and, as I endeavoured to take it to 

 remove the leech from its leg, it leaped wildly away 

 from me. Amid all the frog's mad leaping the leech 

 stuck to it, drawing itself into a knot, till I, at length, 

 got my fingers on it. After being relieved from the 

 leech it leaped into the window flower balcony, and 

 among the flowers I left it for some time, thinking 

 the fear would leave it. But as soon as I attempted to 

 take it, it leaped as madly as ever, and finally made 

 right over the balcony — a height of three stories. I 

 afterwards found the creature on the ground none 

 the worse, and after being put to its house, and 

 having a cold water bath, it became as tame again as 

 it was, and on the 4th July it took a grasshopper off 

 my finger. Soon after this event the frog seems to 

 have changed its skin, but I was not an eye-witness 

 of the actual change, but for some days the char- 

 acteristic brown marks near the eyes were red flesh, 

 but afterwards the colour was very strongly marked. 

 On the 2nd July, given some slaters and Staphylinidse 

 beetles, alFof which were eaten, save one slater, 

 which remained alive beside it till the 4th, when it 

 died. On the 3rd, given a diet of house-flies, taken 

 with an insect net ; 12th, gave it a small yellow 

 humble bee, which was at once taken into its mouth, 

 and with both its fore-feet wiped it out. On the 13th, 

 given 30 house-flies, all of which were eaten, and also 

 a large tory or grub-worm — i.e. the larva of a 

 Tipula, and at the same time a slater was put in, 

 which chanced to fall on its back ; and, as it lay 

 wriggling, the frog kicked at it with the hind feet, but 

 never ate it. On the 13th, I put in a large moth to 

 it, which with the wings closed measured about I^g in. 

 long, and over £ in. across the tip of the wings. 

 At first the frog seemed afraid of it, and trampled on 

 it, but afterwards ate it. The name of this moth is 

 the dark arches {Xylophasia polydon). On the same 

 evening the frog willingly partook of a smaller moth, 

 the pale mottled willow (Cardarina cubicularis). 

 Afterwards the frog ate eagerly of the dark arches, 

 as on the 26th July, and the 3rd and 4th August, 

 about which time they were very common, and on 

 the 4th, after the moth, it took a large earthworm. 

 On the 17th July it leaped to the top of its house 

 and caught a large flesh-fly ; while, on the 18th, it 

 took a large beetle {Plerostkhns madidus), and in so 

 doing defended its eyes with its forefeet. On the 

 23rd, it got five earthworms, all of which it swallowed 

 so quickly that I could not follow the action with my 

 eye ; short pieces of them were, however, often left 

 hanging from its mouth for a time. After this great 

 feed, I observed several partly decomposed worms 

 lying in its house floor on the evening of the 25th, 

 while, on the morning of the 26th, the frog appeared 

 unwell, being full and blown-like, the skin shining 

 and polished-looking, and its house had a very bad 

 smell, and the glass covered with a white-like matter. 



