Some curious Animal Weapons. 75 
dragged by, the lizard, with uplifted head, continued 
gazing after it with the greatest astonishment. 
Never had such a wonderful snake crossed its path 
before ! 
Molina, in his Natural History of Chili, says the 
vizeacha uses its tail as a weapon ; but then Molina 
is not always reliable. I have observed vizcachas 
all my life, and never detected them making use of 
any weapon except their chisel teeth. The tail 1s 
certainly very curious, being straight at the base, 
then curving up outwardly, and slightly down again 
at the tip, resembling the spout of a china teapot. 
The under surface of the straight portion of the base 
is padded with a thick, naked, corneous skin ; and, 
when the animal performs the curious sportive antics 
in which it occasionally indulges, it gives rapid loud- 
sounding blows on the ground with this part of the 
tail. The peculiar form of the tail also makes it a 
capital support, enabling the vizcacha to sit erect, 
with ease and security. 
The frog is a most timid, inoffensive creature, 
saving itself, when pursued, by a series of saltatory 
feats unparalleled amongst vertebrates. Conse- 
quently, when I find a frog, I have no hesitation in 
placing my hands upon it, and the cold sensation it 
gives one is the worse result I fear. It came to 
pass, however, that [I once encountered a frog that 
was not like other frogs, for it possessed an instinct 
and weapons of offence which greatly astonished 
me. I was out snipe shooting one day when, 
peering into an old disused burrow, two or three 
feet deep, I perceived a burly-looking frog sitting 
within it. It was larger and stouter-looking than 
