PROPAGATION OF FISH. 239 



not swallow him. Being some hundreds together, they 

 struck at him as they would at a stick if thrown upon 

 the water, but immediately dropped and let him escape 

 to land. Although I tried the experiment over and over 

 again, they had found out what he was, and now would 

 not touch him. 



To complete my enlightenment, I only wanted an 

 experience which was destined soon to be furnished. I 

 had an aquarium in which were kept, among a quantity 

 of small minnows and other fish, a frog that had ex- 

 panded from a tadpole, together with several tadpoles 

 that were expanding rapidly. The frog had attained a 

 respectable size, and was a great favorite, from the readi- 

 ness and suddenness with which he seized and devoured 

 flies offered to him, and was endeared to our hearts by 

 several hair-breadth escapes, such as jumping out of the 

 aquarium and being lost for days round the room, and 

 even falling out of the window, through the area grating 

 into the cellar. He was wondrously solemn, but had a 

 way of darting on a fly that was invariably fatal. We 

 began to observe, however, that our small fish disap- 

 peared strangely, " leaving not a wreck behind," and 

 always at a time when the frog seemed to have suddenly 

 grown in circumference. This continued till my suspi- 

 cions connected the two together, and one day we abso- 

 lutely saw him seize and swallow a minnow half as long 

 as his own body. His plan was to remain perfectly 

 motionless till his destined prey swam near, when he 

 would make one spring, and devour it at a gulp. In 

 spite of his cannibal propensities, we kept him, although 

 we could often see the shape of a fish under his extended 



