Book VII. 



THE ESCULENT FROG, TORTOISE. 



1103 



food. Carp seldom afford much profit in ponds of less extent than half an acre ; but tench thrive well in 

 those of almost every size, being often found good in ponds of only a few perches square. Carp, perch, 

 and eels succeed well together ; and also tench and eels. Carp more frequently injure themselves by 

 breeding than tench, though it sometimes happens with the latter. It is not improbable, but that in small 

 ponds it may be the best practice to keep the carp and tench separate. The produce or profit afforded by 

 fish-ponds has not yet, perhaps, been sufficiently attended to in different situations to afford correct con- 

 clusions ; nor is it well ascertained what is the annual increase in weight in fish of different kinds, in 

 different periods of their growth, and under different circumstances of soil and water. Loveden {Annals 

 of Agriculture) states, that in Berkshire a pond of three acres and a half, drawn after being stocked three 

 years with stores of one year old, produced of carp 19;) lb. weight, of tench 230 ditto ; together 425 lb., 

 which sold for 20/. IO5. or nearly 'il. Qs. per acre per ainium. 



7587. The taking <<f cultivated fish is generally done with nets, and sometimes by emptying the pond of 

 water. Whatever way is adopted, only those fit to be used are taken, and the rest returned to grow 

 larger. No fish is taken, or fit to be used, for a month before and after the spawning season, which with 

 most fresh water fish is in April, May, or June. The Marquis de Chabanes proposes to catch fish, both in 

 fresh and salt water, by immersing a burning lamp in an air box with mirrors, and round which he has 

 traps into which the animals are to be entangled, while approaching the light and the multiplied images 

 of their own species. For this contrivan; e he has taken out a patent. Salmon are sometimes caught by 

 torch, light. 



7588. The castration offish has been successfully practised both in this and other countries, and both 

 with the male and female. Castrated fish attain to a larger size, and are in season at any period of ttie 

 year. The mode of performing the operation is described in Rees's Cycloipcedia, art. Fish^ Castration of ; 

 and in the Philosophical Transactions, vol 48. part ii. p. 106. 



7589. Of the amphibia which are or may be cultivated for food or ornament, the prin- 

 cipal are the frog and tortoise. 



7590. The esculent frog (Kkna, escul6nta L., fig. 957. a), though generally despised in this country, is 

 957 yet an excellent article to those who are accustomed to 



it; and there are few Englishmen who have eaten a 

 fricassee of the thighs of this animal in France or Italy, 

 but what would wish to do so again. The body of this 

 frog is green, with three yellow lines, the middle ones 

 extending from the mouth to the anus, with the angles 

 of the mouth distended in a globular form ; the male 

 makes a continual croaking in an evening, especially 

 before rain; when irritated will pursue and destroy a 

 pike. It is rare in England, but very common on the 

 Continent, where it is in season for the table in June. 



7591. The tree frog {Rkna arborea /.., h), is green 

 above, and whitish beneath, with a yellow curved line 

 on the side. In elegance and activity it is superior to 

 every other European species. In summer it resides in 

 the woods, and haunts the trees in quest of insects, 

 which it approaches on its belly in the same manner as 

 a cat to a mouse, and at length seizes with an elastic 

 and instantaneous spring. It is particularly noisy on 

 the approach of rain. In winter it takes up its abode in 

 the bottom of the waters, remaining till the spring in a 

 state of torpor. The noise of this frog is by many con- 

 sidered musical, and it is often kept in houses in Germany 

 both as a curiosity and as a weather guide. It certainly 

 deserves introduction to this country. We brought one 

 from Carlsruhe, in 1828, which has remained in a glass 

 jar covered with gauze at the top, living on flies, till the 

 present day, Nov. 2. 18J0. 

 7592. There are two species of tortoise which might be cultivated ; the common, and the mud tortoise. 



The common tortoise (Testudo grse'^ca. L.fig.958. a) weighs three pounds, and the length of its shell is about 

 958 seven inches. It abounds in the countries surrounding 



the Mediterranean, and particularly in Greece, where 

 the inhabitants not only eat its flesh and eggs, but fre- 

 quently swallow its warm blood. In September or Oc- 

 tober it conceals itself, remaining torpid till February, 

 when it re-appears. In June it lays its eggs, in holes 

 exposed to the full beams of the sun, by which they are 

 matured. Tortoises attain most extraordinary longe- 

 vity, and one was ascertained to have lived in the gar- 

 dens of Lambeth to the age of nearly one hundred and 

 twenty years. It will answer the purpose of a baro- 

 meter, and uniformly indicates the fall of rain before 

 night, when it takes its food with great rapidity, and 

 walks with a sort of mincing and elate step. It appears 

 to dislike rain with extreme aversion, and is discomfited 

 and driven back only by a few and scarcely perceivable 

 drops. 



7593. The mud tortoise (T. lut^ria, b) is common both 

 in Europe and Asia, and particularly in France, where 

 it is much used for food. It is seven inches long ; lays 

 its eggs on the ground, though an aquatic animal; 

 walks quicker than the land tortoise ; and is often kept 

 in gardens, to clear them from snails and various wing., 

 less insect. In fish ponds it is very destructive, biting 

 the fishes, and, when they are exhausted by the loss of 

 blood, dragging them to the bottom and devouring 

 them. The tortoise may be fed on any vegetable refuse, 

 milk, worms, offal, or almost any thing. Linnaeus says 



they are in all things extremely slow, and m copulation frequently adhere together a month, and live 



several days after the head is cut off. {Shaw's Zoology.) 



