122 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



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A FASTING FROG. 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



DEAR SIR : Late last autumn, just as 

 the winter was beginning, I drew from 

 our well one evening a live frog. It was get- 

 ting dusk, and, as I was about to pour the 

 water into the teakettle, vay little girl said, 

 " Mamma, there is something in that water" ; 

 so we took a cup and fished Mr. Frog out of 

 the bucket. We put him in a " Mason " quart 

 jar with .some water, and there he has lived 

 all winter without anything to eat, and unless 

 he in some manner drew sustenance from the 

 water, which we changed frequently, I do 

 not know what he lived upon. 



Our frog proved a better weather prophet 

 than De Voe, for he invariably warned us 

 when there was going to be a change in the 

 weather. We had had him only a few days 

 when, one night, after we had retired, we 

 heard a slow, low, grating sound from the 

 sitting room ; for some minutes we could 

 not imagine what it could be ; again it 

 came — a sort of low g-r-r-r; then it oc- 

 curred to us it must be the frog. We won- 

 dered what it meant, for it was the first time 

 he had made a sound, unless when the chil- 

 dren handled him and squeezed him a little 

 too tightly. The next day was cold and 

 stormy, and from that time on we noticed 

 that whenever the weather changed our frog 

 always croaked the night before ; I do not 

 think he ever did in the daytime. Some- 

 times he gave only one croak, but we have 

 counted nine, yet he never croaked very loud 

 nor but one series of croaks. 



When the weather was warmer he would 

 sit up in the water, and if the svm shone he 

 would swim and splash in a lively manner ; 

 but when the days were quite cold and 

 cloudy he would lie in the bottom of the jar 

 entirely under the water, and if it was very 

 shallow would flatten himself out until as flat 

 as one's hand. 



We put in more water and placed a large 

 pebble in the jar to see if he would sit upon 

 that when he wished to be at the surface, 

 but he did not ; he simply floated on the sur- 

 face if he could not sit up with his head out. 



Our frog is a pretty creature too. His 

 eyes are gold with a spot of jet for the pupil ; 

 he has two gilt stripes down the back just at 

 each edge ; his body is gray lichen color with 

 spots of dark wood color, which vary in size 

 and shape, each spot edged with a hair line 

 of gilt ; his sides and the edges of the thighs 

 are of a green tint which shade to white uu- 

 derneath. 



A curious incident occurred the night of 

 Febi-uary 4th. A cup of salt water had 

 been left on the table, and one of the family 



coming in hastily and wishing a drink, with- 

 out knowing what it was, poured the salt 

 water into the frog's jar. The next morn- 

 ing Mr. Frog was stretched out on his back 

 on the top of the water, cold and stiff and 

 puckered up till not larger than my thimib. 

 I took him out of the jar, but he did not 

 move, so I tossed him on the table and let 

 him lie there until I had made the kitchen 

 fire. Then I thought to experiment : I would 

 put him in fresh water ; I did so, and in the 

 course of half an hour I was surprised to see 

 him flop over right side up, although still 

 pretty well shriveled up ; I again changed the 

 water, and in a little while he had apparently 

 resumed his normal condition, and ever since 

 has prophesied for us as before. 



Sarah A. Edenburn. 

 Des Moines, Iowa, March 1, IS'JS. 



DEAN BUCKLAXD AND THE HEART 

 OF LOUIS XIV. 



Editor Popular Science Monthly : 



Dear Sir : A beautiful painting of Louis 

 XIV when a child of five years suggested 

 the relation of the following anecdote, which 

 the narrator a.ssured the writer was au- 

 thentic : 



When the French revolutionists were 

 breaking into the tombs of their kings 

 and throwing the bodies into the Seine, it 

 was found that the heart of Louis XIV had 

 been taken out by the embalmer and pre- 

 served in a leathern sack. The heart had 

 shrunken to about the size of a mulberry. 

 An English officer, at the time in Paris, res- 

 cued the heart and carried it off to England, 

 where it was preserved by a family repre- 

 sented to-day by one of England's most dis- 

 tinguished statesmen, the name being here 

 withheld for personal reasons. The family 

 caused to be made a golden receptacle, with 

 a glass top, to hold this treasure, and it was 

 frequently shown to guests, who were not 

 supposed to open the lid. 



Every one familiar with the history of 

 geology knows the name of Dean Buckland 

 as one of the English fathers of the science, 

 who was also one of the most absent-minded, 

 and late in life became the most eccentric 

 of men, owing to brain disease. Upon being 

 shown the casket he immediately opened it 

 and, before the heart could be rescued, he, 

 according to his habit of tasting minerals (as 

 is the case with all mineralogists), not only 

 tasted it but swallowed it ! Thus disappeared 

 the last remains of the great king. 



J. D. Spencer. 

 Washington, D. C, March '21, ISOS. 



