60 INTRODUCTION. 



The second is the supposed showers of frogs and 

 toads, believed to fall with the rain, and to have been 

 carried by a waterspout, some narrators of the 

 phenomenon even stating to have received them on 

 their hats or open umbrellas. But the fact that 

 these so-called showers consist of young frogs, 

 never of larva?, and only occur at the time of the 

 metamorphosis of the common species, when myriads 

 leave the water and conceal themselves in holes 

 and fissures in the soil, whence they suddenly emerge 

 when the rain falls, sufficiently accounts for the 

 phenomenon. Half blinded by the rain, people, 

 startled at the sudden appearance of these legions of 

 tiny Batrachians on the ground around them, actually 

 fancy they feel them falling, the delusion being further 

 enhanced in the case of baby tree-frogs, which, under 

 the circumstances, climb up their clothes. 



The third belief, in live frogs and toads enclosed in 

 stones, hardly deserves refutation, when we know that 

 air, moisture, and food are indispensable to these 

 creatures. If every case could be properly investi- 

 gated, it would be found that the quarry workman, 

 from whom such tales invariably originate, has been 

 the victim of a delusion, and that the Batrachian he 

 fancied to have hopped out of the stone he was break- 

 ing lay concealed close to it unobserved, and jumped 

 from its retreat at the blow of the hammer. 



And, finally, it remains to observe that our Batra- 

 chians do not bite, although some exotic forms do. 

 However, Pelobates, when irritated, assumes a very 

 aggressive attitude, screaming and jumping with open 

 mouth towards its tormentor, as if to snap at him. 

 No doubt these antics, accompanied by a repulsive 

 odour produced at the same time, must act as a 

 protection against snakes and carnivores. The Bom- 

 binator are also believed to startle pursuers by turning- 

 over and suddenly exhibiting the brilliant coloration 

 of their lower surfaces. 



