Miscellanies. 100 



seen it. From the cavity to the outer edge of the stone at its near- 



all around. 



rfectly 



"I never doubled the correctness of Jennings' statement. All 

 the circumstances seemed to confirm it." 



' No direct evidence on this subject can be obtained, but Dr. T. 

 W. Smith states, that "in 1832, a small boulder of porous red sand- 

 stone was thrown out in digging my cellar at Lockport; and as it was 

 found near the top of the spoil-bank, its position probably had been 

 five or six feet below the surface. On discovering something to pro- 

 ject from this stone, I broke it, and found it to contain a frog, — not 

 living, for it had been exposed some days to the sun; but from its 

 appearance, was probably alive at the time it was thrown out. The 

 stone and frog are both preserved in my cabinet." 



I In the deep excavation beyond (south of) the rock, on the line 

 of the Erie canal, between Lockport and the Tonnewanta, it was 

 several times mentioned to me by the contractors, that frogs ivere ta- 

 ken up alive from considerable depths, entirely surrounded by solid 

 earth. I never happened to be present at such removal ; neither 

 was Dr. I. W. Smith, nor G. H. Boughton, though both well recol- 

 lect the report, and the latter says in his letter to me, before cited,' 

 " I well remember to have been told at the time by Mr. Norton's 

 foreman, in whom I had entire confidence, that such was the fact. 

 That one in particular was found I think more than ten feet down, 

 embedded in the close, firm clay and alive." 



On this subject, Ebenezer F. Norton of Buffalo, (Member of Con- 

 gress, above referred to) in a letter to me dated Washington, Jan. 24, 

 1830, says " In answer to the enquiry respecting frogs and toads, I 

 can only say generally that nothing was more common than to find 

 very far from the surface of the earth, these animals apparently in 

 perfect health and vigor." 



4 1 have collected the foregoing information with the hope that it 

 would be interesting to Naturalists, and that it might induce oth- 

 ers to observe more particularly similar facts. But the evidence is 

 less positive than I had anticipated, and I leave it to be disposed of, 



as shall appear best.' 



I I could procure a certificate from Dr. Stephen Mesher, relative 

 to removing a frog or toad, some two or three feet in solid earth, and 

 which he believes to have been a diluvial deposit. Jonathan Swan, 

 deceased mentioned a similar case to me. 



Vol. XIX.— No. 1. 22 



