THE FROG. 



S81 



they refuse all vegetable food ; their mouth 

 appears furnished with teeth ; and their 

 binder-legs are completely formed. In two 

 days more the arms are completely produced; 

 and now the frog is every way perfect, except 

 that it still continues to carry the tail. In 

 this odd situation the animal, resembling at 

 once both a frog and a lizard, is seen fre- 

 quently rising to the surface, not to take food, 

 but to breathe. In this state it continues for 

 about six or eight hours, and then, the tail 

 dropping off by degrees, the animal appears 

 in its most perfect form. 



Thus the frog, in less than a day, having 

 changed its figure, is seen to change its appe- 

 tites also. So extraordinary is this transfor- 

 mation, that the food it fed upon so greedily 

 but a few days before, is now utterly rejected ; 

 it would even starve if supplied with no other. 

 As soon as the animal acquires its perfect 

 state, from having fed upon vegetables, it be- 

 comes carnivorous, and lives entirely upon 

 worms and insects. But as the water cannot 

 supply these, it is obliged to quit its native 

 element, arid seek for food upon land, where 

 it lives by hunting worms, and taking insects 

 by surprise. At first, being feeble and un- 

 able to bear the warmth of the sun, it hides 

 among bushes and under stones ; but when a 

 shower comes to refresh the earth, then the 

 whole multitude are seen to quit their retreats, 

 in order to enjoy the grateful humidity. 

 Upon many occasions the ground is seen per- 

 fectly blackened with their numbers ; some 

 hunting for prey, and some seeking secure 

 lurking places. From the myriads that offer 

 on such occasions, some have been induced 

 to think that these animals were generated 

 in the clouds, and thus showered down on 

 the earth. But had they, like Derham, 

 traced them to the next pool, they would 

 have found out a better solution for the diffi- 

 culty. 



The frog lives for the most part out of the 

 water ; but when the cold nights begin to set in, 

 it returns to its native element, always choos- 

 ing stagnant waters, where it can lie without 

 danger concealed at the bottom. In this man- 

 ner it continues torpid, or with but very little 

 motion, all the winter: like the rest of the 

 dormant race, it requires no food ; and the 

 circulation is slowly carried on without any 

 assistance from the air. 



It is at the approach of spring that all 

 these animals are roused from a state of slum- 

 ber to a state of enjoyment. A short time 

 after they rise from the bottom they begin to 

 pair, while those that are as yet too young come 

 upon land before the rest. For this reason, 

 while the old ones continue concealed in the 

 beginning of spring, the small ones are more 

 frequently seen ; the former remaining in the 



lake to propagate, while the latter are not yet 

 arrived at a state of maturity. 1 



The difference of sexes, which was men- 

 tioned above, is not perceivable in these ani- 



1 There are various species of frogs, of which we may 

 notice the more remarkable. The Common Frog of this 

 country is called the Red Frog by the French. The 

 Green Frog is the common frog of France, and is the 

 one chiefly used at table. Its thighs are in great request 

 there among the amateurs of good cheer, although in this 

 country a stupid prejudice exists against it. Its colour 

 is an olive green, distinctly marked v/ith black patches 

 on the ba^k, and on its limbs with transverse bars of the 

 same. From the tip of the nose three distinct stripes of 

 a pale yellow extend to the extremity of the body, the 

 middle one slightly depressed, and the lateral ones con. 

 siderably elevated. The under parts are of a pale whitish 

 colour tinged with green, and marked with irregular 

 brown spots. Though not common in England, it is 

 found in great plenty in Italy, France, and Germany. 

 This species seldom deposits its spawn before the month 

 of June. During this season the male is said to croak 

 so loud as to be heard at a great distance. In some 

 particular places, where these animals are numerous, 

 their croaking is very oppressive to persons unaccustomed 

 to it. The globules of spawn are smaller than those of 

 the common frog ; and the young are considerably 

 longer in attaining their complete state, this seldom tak- 

 ing place till November. They arrive at their full growth 

 in about four years, and live to the age of sixteen or 

 seventeen. They are excessively voracious, frequently 

 seizing young birds, and even mice, which, like the rest 

 of their prey of snails, worms, &c. they swallow whole. 



Edible frogs are brought from the country, thirty or 

 forty thousand at a time, to Vienna, and sold to the 

 great dealers, who have conservatories for them, which 

 are large holes, four or five feet deep, dug in the ground, 

 the mouth covered with a board, and in severe weather 

 with straw. In these conservatories, even during a hard 

 frost, the frogs never become quite torpid ; when taken 

 out, and placed on their backs, they are always sensible 

 of the change, and have strength enough to turn them- 

 selves. They get together in heaps, one upon another, 

 instinctively, and thereby prevent the evaporation of 

 their humidity ; for no water is ever put to them. In 

 Vienna, in the year 1793, there were only three great 

 dealers, by whom most of those persons were supplied 

 who brought them to the market ready for the cook. As 

 their spawning time is so very late in the year, those ani- 

 mals that are brought to market before the month of June 

 for edible frogs, are supposed to be either common frogs, 

 or sometimes toads. 



The large water, or Bull-frog, is also edible, having as 

 much on them as a young fowl. It frequently measures 

 from the nose to the hind feet, a foot and a half, or up- 

 wards. Its colour is a dusky olive brown, marked with 

 numerous dark spots, lighter beneath than above. The 

 external membranes of the ears are large, round, and of 

 a brownish red surrounded by a yellowish margin. This 

 species is chiefly found in the anterior parts of America, 

 where, at the springs and small rills, they are said to sit 

 in pairs. Kalm, however, says, that they frequent only 

 ponds and marshes. In Virginia they are in such 

 abundance, that there is scarcely a single spring that has 

 not a pair of them. The inhabitants, who respect them 

 as genii of the fountains, imagine that they purify the 

 water. The women, however, are no friends to them, 

 because they kill and eat young ducks and goslings; and 

 sometimes they carry offchickens that venture too near the 

 pond. When suddenly surprised, by a long leap or two they 

 enter their hole, at the bottom of which they lie perfectly 

 secure. A full-grown bull-frog will sometimes leap three 

 yards. Kalm relates the following story respecting one 



