Queries and Answers. 103 



of the species from the Ohio have half a dozen varieties more distinct. — 

 J.L. FhiladelpUa, August 16. 1828. 



Winter Quarters of Frogs. — Can you, or any of your correspondents, in- 

 form me what become of frogs during the winter : whether they remain 

 dormant, or whether they die ; if the latter, how the race is preserved ? 

 In crossing meadows, late in the autumn, which are liable to floods, I 

 have frequently observed lumps of a jelly-hke substance lying on the 

 ground, of a yellowish colour, sen^i-transparent, and about as much on a 

 spot as would fill a small tea-cup. For some time I was quite at a loss to 

 what to attribute the cause of it, till at length, upon a closer inspection of 

 one of them, I discovered in it the remains of the head and feet of a frog. 

 Am I right in concluding, from this circumstance, that these substances are 

 the bodies of frogs, which have been decomposed by the approach of win- 

 ter ? Yours, &c. — J. B. Jan. 21. 1829. 



Shower of Frogs. — " As two gentlemen were sitting conversing on a 

 causeway pillar near Bushmills, they were very much surprised by an unu- 

 sually heavy shower of frogs, half formed, falling in all directions j some of 

 which are preserved in spirits of wine, and are now exhibited to the curious 

 by the two resident apothecaries in Bushmills." {Belfast Chron.) Can there 

 be any truth in this strange assertion ? When a boy, I remember having 

 heard of young frogs being found on the top of a church steeple. — G. M. 

 Li/nn Regis, Nov. n. 1828. 



When at Rouen, in September last, we were assured by an English fa- 

 mily resident there, that during a very heavy thunder shower, accompanied 

 by violent wind, and almost midnight darkness, an innumerable multitude of 

 young frogs fell on and around the house. The roof, the window-sills, and 

 the gravel walks were covered with them. They were very small, but per- 

 fectly formed, ail dead, and the next day being excessively hot, they were 

 dried up to so many points or pills, about the size of the heads of pins. 

 The most obvious way of accounting for this phenomenon is by supposing 

 the water and frogs of some adjoining ponds to have been taken up by the 

 wind in a sort of whirl or tornado. — Cond. 



A Tick which moved on a diseased Part of itself. — Some days ago, I ex- 

 tracted a tick from a dog, and flung it into a finger-glass of water. After 

 floating for some minutes, the abdomen seemed to detach itself from the 

 rest of the body, and the insect to move upon this discarded part of itself, 

 as a man walking on a raft. The abdomen of the tick had been very 

 much distended, and wore the appearance of one of those small leathern 

 bottles in which oil-colours are sold to artists, only considerably less in size. 

 I shall be much obliged to any of your correspondents who would favour 

 me with an explanation of this fact, and to yourself for noticing it. I beg 

 to remain yours, &c, — C JB. London, Nov. 3. 1828. 



A Curious Worm. — Sir, Perhaps some of your correspondents can ac- 

 quaint me with the name of a small worm, which I found in my garden in 

 the early part of the summer, and which 1 will attempt to describe. Its 

 length is exactly 5 in. 2 lines, and it is about as thick as a hog's bristle, ta- 

 pering to a point at each end ; its colour was, I think, when alive, something 

 of a reddish brown, except about two lines at each end, which were nearly 

 white. I observed it throwing two-thirds of its body into the air in a very 

 curious manner, with a motion resembling that of the antennae of some large 

 insect. I suppose it to be a species of the Gordiu^, but have always con- 

 sidered the Gordii as water insects, and although this creature seemed to 

 enjoy twisting itself among the herbage, which was at the time teeming with 

 the effects of a long soaking rain, yet my garden is distant from any pond, 

 and enclosed with walls. An examination in a microscope only showed 

 some hundreds of rings, of which the whole body is composed, and enabled 

 me to discover no perceptible difference between the two ends, nor indeed 

 organs of any kind. Upon putting it carefully into the palm of my hand, 



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