ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN. 



487 



Our Aquarium frogs subsist largely on live 

 minnows, but they can also be taught to feed on 

 fresh meat, small strips of which are presented 

 to each frog on the end of a slim stick. 



Large specimens have been seen trying to 

 swallow the baby alligators formerlj- kept in the 

 tank with them. For the pond, however, min- 

 nows and tadpoles represent two kinds of foods 

 usually available. Chopped meat placed about 

 the shore of the pond will attract insects and it 

 is said the frogs thus brought in contact with 

 the meat will learn to eat it. The feeding of 

 large numbers of frogs is the chief i)roblem to 

 be worked out. 



As the larger species of frogs may remain in 

 the todpole stage a year or more, the prospec- 

 tive frog culturist can gain time by stocking the 

 pond with large tadpoles collected from various 

 localities. 



Yearling tadpoles are easily obtained. In my 

 frequent canoe trips along the upper Delaware 

 River I have found them swarming in the warm, 

 shallow side channels and had little difficulty in 

 collecting them with a dip net. In such places 

 I have also secured very large adult frogs with 

 the dip net. 



Fish Commissioner Meehan, of Pennsylvania, 

 has recently announced as a result of experi- 

 ments conducted under his direction, that we are 

 wrong in supposing that the bullfrog and green 

 frog remain a year in the tadpole stage. He 

 finds that under cultivation at least, they ma- 

 ture before autumn and further has obtained 

 some evidence that they spawn twice, the tad- 

 poles of the late spawning being probably the 

 ones that remain undeveloped through the win- 

 ter. If this is true it means a distinct advance 

 in frog culture. 



The pond should have a depth sufficient to 

 protect its bottom from freezing, and the bot- 

 tom must be soft enough to permit the frogs to 

 bury themselves for their winter sleep. Bull- 

 frogs will require a deeper pond than other 

 species, but all ponds will need shallow mar- 

 gins, where the tadpoles will not only find 

 warmer water, but readier access to the air, both 

 of which facilitate their development into frogs. 

 If kept in deep water, even in aquaria the tad- 

 pole stage may be indefinitely prolonged. It 



should be protected with a close fence of boards 

 or wire netting not only for the protection of the 

 frogs from enemies, but to jirevent their wan- 

 dering away — a propensity which it is not easy 

 to guard against. 



As in the raising of fishes, it is necessary to 

 separate frogs of different sizes, to prevent can- 

 nibalism. Several ponds will therefore be re- 

 quired and the small tadpole pond will naturally 

 be the first one constructed, while a half-acre 

 pond will not be too large for well-grown frogs. 

 Ponds will need a margin of grass and bushes, 

 since frogs are land as well as water animals, 

 and like the shelter of shrubbery along shore. 

 They should also have the protection of lily 

 pads. 



NEW FUR SEAL SERVICE. 



THE administration of the Pribilof Islands in 

 Bering Sea has recently been transferred to 

 the United States Bureau of Fisheries, and 

 the Secretarjf of the Department of Commerce 

 and Labor has appointed an Advisory Board, 

 which under the general direction of the Bureau, 

 will have charge of all matters of administra- 

 tion with a view to putting the new Fur Seal 

 Service "on the most rational basis possible." 

 !Mr. Charles H. Townsend, Director of the New 

 York Aquarium, has been appointed a member. 

 He was a member of President Cleveland's 

 Bering Sea Commission of 1896-97 and was 

 previou.sly, for several years, the government in- 

 spector of the fur seal rookeries on the Pribilofs. 



FEES FOR MEMBERSHIP. 



The fees for membership in the Xtw York 

 Zoological Society are as follows: 



Annual membership $ 10.00 



Life membership 200.00 



Patron's fee - 1,000.00 



Founder's fee 5,000.00 



Benefactor's fee 25,000.00 



Information and blank forms for membership 

 may be obtained at the Service Building, at all 

 entrances to the Zoological Park, and at the Sec- 

 retary's Office. No. 1 1 Wall Street, New York 

 City. 



