LIFE IN PONDS AND MARSHES 



305 



"cotton-mouths" for the reason that just prior to strik- 

 ing they widely open their mouths, the mucous lining of 

 which is as white as cotton hence the name. 



It is hardly necessary to state that of all the inhabitants 

 of ponds and marshes, in any part of the country, there 

 are no more interesting group of animals than the num- 

 erous species of frogs. We have a large number of 

 species of frogs in this country ; we have learned a good 

 deal about them, and, it may be added, there is still 



NEST OF A MARSH BIRD 



Many species of birds build their nests on or among the plant-growths 

 of ponds and marshes. This is the nest of our well-known Redwing 

 Marsh Blackbird; it is woven about the blades of a marsh-rush, and 

 contains three eggs. These are pale blue, beautifully marked with 

 black, scraggly lines. 



much to be learned in regard to their distribution and 

 life-histories. Probably the best-known frog is our com- 

 mon bull frog; but in addition we have, living in our 

 swamps and ponds, the leopard frog; cricket frogs; 

 pickerel frogs; the gopher frog; the green frog; the 

 beautiful Drayton's frog of California; the equally hand- 

 some Western frog, and a number of others. Their study 

 is most interesting and instructive, for it is a creature 

 we may readily observe from the egg to maturity, and 

 this has been done in schools, by investigators, and by 

 boys and girls the world over. Indeed, frogs are ani- 

 mals that have been closely studied anatomically, physi- 

 ologically, and forty other ways. 



Frogs are used for food in many parts of the world, 

 and even in our own country their legs are considered a 

 great delicacy. From our experiments upon them and 

 upon larval frogs or tadpoles, we have learned some of 

 the most important facts in general medicine and human 

 physiology ; in biology and physical science, and in chem- 

 istry; and in one instance within the writer's knowledge 



and recollection, frogs were used with remarkable effect 

 in a case at law. It was a murder trial, and a man was 

 charged with poisoning his wife. There were no, 

 witnesses, and no direct evidence of any description, for 

 the deed had been done promptly, thoroughly, and with- 

 out apparent motive. When found, the victim had been 

 dead several hours, and no one had been present when 

 she died. With this slender array of facts, the hope of 

 discovering the murderer seemed quite remote, and the 

 trial likely to be a brief one. The husband was under- 

 going the trial ; the contents of the victim's stomach was 

 before the jury and the court. It was discovered that 

 the couple invariably had a certain cereal for breakfast. 

 Chemists had failed to discover the presence of either 

 arsenic, antimony, or any of the usual poisons used in 

 such cases. At this stage of the preceedings, a young 

 doctor, who had regularly attended the trial, arose in 

 the court-room and requested that he be allowed to make 

 a test; and after the character and profession of the wit- 



SNAPPING TURTLE 



A strange thing about this speices of turtle is that it can only feed 

 under water; it will starve to death with plenty of food within easy 

 reach should it be placed before it on shore. 



ness had been established, this was permitted. Seating 

 himself in the witness-chair, he asked for a small, clean 

 china bowl, which was furnished him. Then, addressing 

 the judge and jury, he said that it had been proved that 

 the contents of the victim's stomach consisted of undi- 

 gested quaker oats, and, taking a package of the same 

 which he had brought with him, he stirred some of it 

 in water in the bowl. Opening another package, he pro- 

 duced a couple of bull-frogs; placing these in the bowl, 

 and, covering the latter with wire gauze, he passed it 

 around for the judge and jury to examine. The frogs 

 were seen to swim about in the most natural manner 



