THE FROG. 



383 





they never eat any unless they have motion, 

 They continue fixed and immovable till their 

 prey appears ; and just when it comes 

 sufficiently near, they jump forward with 

 great agility, dart out their tongues, and seize 

 it with certainty. The tongue, in this ani- 

 mal, as in the toad, lizard, and serpent kinds, 

 is extremely long, and formed in such a man- 

 ner, that it swallows the point down its throat; 

 so that a length of tongue is thus drawn out, 

 like a sword from its scabbard, to assail its 

 prey. This tongue is furnished with a gluti- 

 nous substance ; and whatever insect it touches, 

 infallibly adheres, and is thus held fast till it 

 is drawn into the mouth. 



As the frog is thus supplied with the power 

 of catching its prey, it is also very vivacious, 

 and able to bear hunger for a very long time. 

 I have known one of them continue a month 

 in summer without any other food than the 

 turf on which it was placed in a glass vessel. 

 We are told of a German surgeon, that kept 

 one eight years in a glass vessel, covered with 

 a net. Its food was at all times but sparing : 

 in summer he gave it fresh grass, which it is 

 said to have fed upon ; and, in the winter, hay, 

 a little moistened ; he likewise, now arid then, 

 put flies into the glass, which it would follow 

 with an open mouth, and was very expert in 

 catching them. In winter, when the flies 

 were difficult to be found, it usually fell away, 



the top of a mangrove-tree, by one of the officers who 

 was with Captain Stedman, when he was sailing up one 

 of the rivers of Surinam in a canoe. When the captain 

 first perceived them, the head and shoulders of the frog 

 were in the jaws of the snake, which was about the size 

 of a large kitchen poker. This creature had its tail 

 twisted round a tough limb of the mangrove, while the 

 frog, which appeared about the size of a man's fist, had 

 laid hold of a twig with his hind feet. In this position 

 they were contending, the one for life, the other for his din- 

 ner, forming one straight line between the two branches; 

 and thus they continued for some time, apparently 

 stationary, and without a struggle. Still it was hoped, 

 that the poor frog might extricate himself by his exer- 

 tions, but the reverse was the case. The jaws of the 

 snake, gradually relaxing, and by their elasticity forming 

 an incredible orifice, the body and fore legs of the frog 

 by little and little disappeared, till finally nothing more 

 was seen than the hinder feet and claws, which were at 

 last disengaged from the twig, and its formidable adver- 

 sary drew it down its throat by suction. The frog passed 

 some inches further down the alimentary canal, and at 

 last stuck, form'ng a knob or knot at least six times as 

 thick as the snake, whose jaws and throat immediately 

 contracted, and resumed their former natural shape. 



The Fire Frog The fire-frog is the least of all the 

 European frogs, hardly ever equalling the tree-frog in 

 size, and is a native of Germany, Italy, and many other 

 parts of Europe, but is not found in England. Its colour 

 on the upper part is of a dull olive brown, the skin being 

 marked with large and small tubercles : round the edges 

 of the mouth is placed a row of blackish streaks or per- 

 pendicular spots. The under parts both of the body and 

 limbs are orange -coloured, spotted or variegated with 

 irregular markings of dull blue. It is from the colour 

 of the under surface of its body that this species has 

 obtained the name of fire-frog. 



and grew very lean ; but in the summer, 

 when they were plenty, it soon grew fat again. 

 It was kept in a warm room, and was always 

 lively and ready to take its prey: however, in 

 the eighth winter, when there were no flies to 

 be found, it fell away and died. It is not cer- 

 tain how long it might have lived, had it been 

 supplied with proper nourishment ; but we are 

 certain, that a very little food is capable of 

 sufficing its necessities. 



Nor is the frog less tenacious of life. It 

 will live and jump about several hours after 

 its head has been cut off. It will continue ac- 

 tive, though all its bowels are taken out; and 

 it can live some days, though entirely stripped 

 of its skin. This cruel trick, which is chiefly 

 practised among school-boys, of skinning 

 frogs, an operation which is done in an in- 

 stant, seems for some hours no way to abate 

 their vigour. I am assured that some of them 

 get a new skin, and recover, after this painful 

 experiment. 



The croaking of frogs is well known ; and, 

 from thence, in some countries, they are dis- 

 tinguished by the ludicrous title of Dutch 

 Nightingales. Indeed, the aquatic frogs of 

 Holland are loud beyond what one would 

 imagine. We could hardly conceive that an 

 animal, not bigger than one's fist, should be 

 able to send forth a note that is heard at three 

 miles' distance ; yet such is actually the case. 1 

 The large water-frogs have a note as loud as 

 the bellowing of a bull ; and, for this purpose, 

 puff up the cheeks to a surprising magnitude. 

 Of all frogs, however, the male only croaks; 

 the female is silent, and the voice in the other 

 seems to be the call to courtship. It is cer- 

 tain, that at these times when they couple, the 

 loudness of their croaking is in some places 

 very troublesome ; for then the whole lake 

 seems vocal ; and a thousand dissonant notes 

 perfectly stun the neighbourhood. At other 

 times, also, before wet weather, their voices 

 are in full exertion : they are then heard with 

 unceasing assiduity, sending forth their call, 

 and welcoming the approaches of their favour- 

 ite moisture. No weather-glass was ever so 

 true as a frog in foretelling an approaching 

 change ; and, in fact, the German surgeon, 

 mentioned above, kept his frog for that pur- 

 pose. It was always heard to croak at the 

 approach of wet weather ; but was as mute as 

 a fish when it threatened a continuance of fair. 

 This may probably serve to explain an opin- 

 ion which some entertain, that there is a month 

 in the year, called Paddock Moon, in which 

 the frogs never croak : the whole seems to be 

 no more than that, in the hot season, when the 

 moisture is dried away, and consequently, when 

 these animals neither enjoy the quantity of 



1 Raesel. ibid. 



