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THE POPULAR EDUCATOR. 



one producing a frog 1 which has lived even ten years without 

 food or air, without fear of being out of pocket by the proposal. 

 Many of our readers are aware of the experiments made to test 

 such reports, but to others they may be unknown, and we will 

 therefore describe them, as we hope that they will not be repeated. 

 Toads were selected for the experiments, but the results would, 

 doubtless, be true for frogs. A French naturalist shut up 

 three toads in close boxes for eighteen months ; at the end of tht 

 time one was dead, and the remaining two in a dying state. Dr. 

 Macartney buried a toad in a vessel, covered with a slate only, 

 a foot deep in the ground. At the end of a fortnight the creature 

 seemed " all right," and as plump as before. He then enclosed 

 the same toad in an air-tight vessel, and buried it ; in a week the 

 animal was dead, and even much decayed. But the most deci- 

 sive experiment was carried out by Dr. Buckland. He placed 

 twelve toads separately, in twelve holes cut in blocks of soft 

 limestone, and also a like number of toads in twelve blocks 

 of hard, flinty sandstone. Each of the twenty-four cells 

 was covered with a plate of glass, over which a slate was 

 placed, and each cover firmly cemented to its own stone. 

 The imprisoned toads, thus 

 secured, were buried three feet 

 deep on the 26th of November, 



1825. At the same time four 

 toads were deposited in holes 

 out in the heart of an apple- 

 tree, the opening being securely 

 plugged up. Four others were 

 also placed in a plaster of Paris 

 bowl, and completely covered 

 with a luting. The thirty- 

 two reptiles were examined 

 on the 10th of December, 



1826. Mark the result. On 

 that day every toad in the hard 

 atones, all in the tree, two in 

 the plaster of Paris, and all the 

 small ones in the soft limestone, 

 were dead. The remaining 

 two in the plaster were dying ; 

 but several in the pervious 

 stones were in tolerable health, 

 and of these two were actually 

 fatter than when placed in the 

 holes. It is thought that some 

 water had filtered through the 

 more porous stone, and insects 

 had certainly penetrated into 

 one cell. The surviving toads 

 were placed in their respective 



holes for another year, and at THE FROG. 



the end of that period all were 

 dead. Thus, not one toad out 



of thirty-two could live even for two years, when deprived of 

 air and food. Yet there are thousands of people who still firmly 

 believe that toads and frogs can exist for ages without nourish- 

 ment in the heart of a rock. No doubt these reptiles are often 

 found strangely enclosed in hollows of trees and stones ; but if 

 their hiding-places were closely examined, it would often be 

 found that some small opening existed, through which an egg 

 might have been carried by water. The animal, when hatched 

 in its hidden rock-pool would be unable to escape, and an aper- 

 ture, however minute, would admit drops of water and even small 

 insects, on which a frog might live very comfortably for many 

 years. 



We need not inform the reader that one species of frog is 

 eaten in many countries, and is said to be as delicious as a crab. 

 It is called the edible frog, and is not only sold largely in the 

 markets on the Continent, but is known in England also, being 

 found in the fenny parts of Cambridgeshire, where its peculiar 

 croak has gained for it the poetic or ironical name of the 

 " Cambridgeshire Nightingale." 



Has the frog ever been employed as a doctor ? To this strange 

 question we must answer, Yes. In Lincolnshire and the sur- 

 rounding counties it was, and perhaps still is, the custom to use 

 this reptile in curing a baby's sore mouth, called in those parts 

 the frog. The ignorant mother actually thrust the living animal 

 into the child's mouth, holding the struggling frog by its hind 



legs. We hardly know whether to pity the baby or the reptila 

 most. In some parts of Great Britain women believe that 

 stomach affections, and even consumption, may be cured by 

 swallowing a frog alive ! To judge by one case, the revolting 

 remedy was at least harmless ; one of these frog swallowers, 

 a Mrs. Mary Inglis, being alive in 1857, aged eighty years. 

 Some Wiltshire farmers have a notion that live frogs are an 

 excellent medicine for the " cud " disease in the cow, and ad- 

 minister the dose without the slightest regard to the frog's 

 feelings or the cow's tastes. 



Among the various species of frogs that exist, the tree-frog is 

 one of the most peculiar. It is found in Europe as well as diffe- 

 rent parts of America and Asia. Speaking of the tree-frog, Sir 

 Emerson Tennent says : " In the shrubberies around my house 

 at Colombo (Ceylon), these graceful little frogs were to be found 

 in great numbers. They possess in a high degree the power of 

 changing their colour, and one which had seated himself on the 

 gilt pillar of a dinner lamp, was scarcely to be distinguished 

 from the ormolu to which it clung. They are enabled to ascend 

 glass by means of the suckers at the extremity of their toes." 



Literature has not scorned to 

 notice the frog. One of the 

 ancient Greek poets has repre- 

 sented this sedate reptile as a 

 warrior of mettle, in the comic 

 poem, " The Battle of the Frogs 

 and the Mice." The reader who 

 wishes to see how the two 

 singular armies behaved will, of 

 course, study the poem for him- 

 self. The great comic poet of 

 ancient Athens, Aristophanes, 

 named one of his dramas " The 

 Frogs," and all who wish to 

 hear how poetically these crea- 

 tures can chant, and what a 

 first-rate chorus they make, will 

 find their curiosity gratified in 

 that play. The ballad-makers 

 of Queen Elizabeth's time must 

 have seen something humorous 

 in this animal, as they have 

 celebrated his courtship in the 

 once-popular song 



" The frog would a-wcoing ride, 

 With his buckler by his side." 



The reader will not fail to ob- 

 serve the high respect paid to 

 the creature in these verses ; he 

 is provided with a horse and a 

 shield, being, in fact, treated as 

 of knightly rank. The modern 



version of the old ballad is, we regret, less dignified, though 



more domestic 



" Froggie would a-wooing go, 

 Whether his mother would let him or no." 



The heralds, too, have complimented the frog by having some- 

 j times placed his figure as a symbol on knightly tombs. It is 

 supposed by some that three frogs constitute the proper national 

 armorial bearings of France, instead of the three fleur-de-lys. 

 That this is not at all improbable, any one may see, who will 

 take the trouble to compare an heraldic fleur-de-lys with the out- 

 line of a frog laid on its back and having its legs extended. 



We must not entirely pass over the connection of the frog 

 with science. Galvanic electricity is now a mighty agent, stoop- 

 ing to cure " the rheumatics," or whispering a telegram from 

 India. What can that have to do with a frog ? Many readers 

 will surely remember how galvanism was discovered by the con- 

 vulsive movements of a skinned frog, which Madame Galvani 

 had prepared for her learned husband's dinner. The reptile, 

 having been placed near an electrified substance, displayed thai 

 strange muscular excitement which induced Dr. Galvani to 

 investigate the matter. The inquiry ended, as we know, in the 

 great discovery which bears his name. 



Thus, our frog has the fivefold honour of being harmless in 

 habits, interesting for its transformations, useful as food, asso- 

 ciated with literature, and connected with science. 



