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 Ghili, says the 

 vizcacha 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 is 

 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 



