SNAKE AND FEOG. 179 



of the lower animals as well, conspire to thin the ranks of the Frog 

 fraternity, and to put them in constant peril of their lives. The 

 special terror of the Frog is the common snake, which pursues its 

 victim with relentless perseverance, and will even take the water 

 after it, in the ardour of the chase, and secure the Frog in what 

 may be considered its own element. The Frog appears fully 

 conscious of its danger when pursued in this manner, and utters 

 the most piteous screams during its efforts to escape ; and ac- 

 cording to Mr. Bell, these cries are sometimes continued, not 

 only after the Frog has been captured, but after it has been 

 positively swallowed. 



If any of our readers desire to make proof of the Frog's terror 

 of the snake, they have but to wriggle a walking-stick snake- 

 fashion, after the first of these animals they find in a grass field, 

 and before they have proceeded many yards, the wails of distress 

 that the Frog will raise will abundantly convince them of its 

 alarm. But experiments of this sort are not much to our 

 liking, and we think it is only fair to the Frogs that whoever 

 terrifies them with these imaginary dangers, should hence- 

 forward feel bound to succour them as far as possible from all 

 real ones. 



The great advocate and champion of the Frog family is tne 

 Count de Lacepede ; and certainly they owe a debt of gratitude 

 to this enthusiastic naturalist and true Frenchman for the 

 eloquent defence he has made in their behalf. The only thing to 

 which we take exception in the matter is, the Old Bailey spirit 

 in which it is conducted the disposition, we mean, to revile one 

 poor wretch in order to make out a better case for another in a 

 like predicament. 



M. de Lace'pede is so good as to say, that the prevailing an- 

 tipathy to the Frog is mainly the result of its resemblance to the 

 Toad, and that if this "ignoble being," with its "revolting 

 habits, disgusting qualities, and dangerous propensities," &c 

 &c., had never existed, we should have thought the Frog a very 

 paragon of excellence. Now, besides that all this is not true, it 

 is far too obviously a mere piece of over-strained special plead- 

 ing ; and if the Frogs can only be praised at the expense of 

 their nearest allies, they might as well, we think, be allowed to 

 remain out of favour altogether. It must be borne in mind, 

 however, that M. de Lacepede was a frog-eater, and that in thus 



