176 THE FARMER AT HOME. 



frog generally lives out of the water ; but, when the cold nights set in, 

 it returns to its native place, always making choice of those stagnant 

 waters at the bottom of which it is most likely to remain concealed ; 

 there it remains torpid during the winter season ; but it is roused into 

 activity by the genial warmth of spring. The croaking of these ani- 

 mals has long been considered as the certain symptom of approaching 

 rain ; for no weather-glass can describe a change of season with more 

 accuracy than this vociferous and noisy tribe ; and we could hardly 

 imagine, that a creature of that size could send forth sounds that 

 would extend the distance of three miles. 



FROST. In Physics, that state of the natural world, in which 

 the atmosphere so absorbs the caloric from bodies on the surface of the 

 globe, as to leave them, more or less, without fluidity or expansion. 

 The power of cold on vegetables is well known ; and though the 

 frosts of severe winters are, on the whole, more injurious to vegeta- 

 tion than those of the spring ; yet the latter are productive of more 

 extensive damage, because their effects are evident almost every year. 

 Frosts act most powerfully on ground newly cultivated, on account 

 of the vapors continually ascending from such soils. Trees recently 

 cut, also, suffer more than others from the spring frosts ; a circum- 

 stance which must be attributed to their shooting forth with greater 

 luxuriance. Hence, likewise, light and sandy soils are thus more fre- 

 quently damaged, than firm and tough land, though both may be 

 equally dry. 



Although it has been generally believed, that frost meliorates the 

 soil, and especially clay -lands ; yet, as ice contains no nitrous parti- 

 cles, such improvements can only be of a transitory nature, by 

 enlarging the bulk of some moist soils, and leaving them more porous 

 for some time after the thaw ; but when the water has exhaled, the 

 ground becomes as hard as before, being compressed by the incum- 

 bent weight of the air. 



FRUITS. Are much used as an article of luxury ; and from the 

 effects they are too frequently seen to produce, they would seem to be 

 by no means of a salutary nature. Looseness, vomiting, indigestion, 

 and even inflammation of the bowels, have been seen evidently to 

 proceed from the use of various fruits. Yet it is pretty certain that 

 the fault has lain not with the fruit, but with the consumer. When 

 fruit is eaten in large quantity, and in an unripe state, when it is 

 forced into the stomach, already loaded with a plentiful dinner oi 

 soup, meat, pudding, and all the items of a luxurious table, there is 

 nothing wonderful in the subsequent intestine war. But when fruit 

 is taken in moderation, of a proper quantity and at proper seasons, 

 no bad effects are to be dreaded. Fruits are evidently useful, and 

 they are kindly sent at the very season when the system, heated and 

 excited by the warmth of summer, stands in need of something cool- 

 ing and laxative to be taken with the food. 



