THE EDIBLE FROG. 59 



An article of trade. 



animals are numerous, their croaking is very op- 

 pressive 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 sel- 

 dom taking 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 conser- 

 vatories 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 tor- 

 pid; when taken out and placed on their backs, 

 they are always sensible of the change, and have 

 strength enough to turn themselves. They get 

 together in heaps, one upon another, instinctive- 

 ly, 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 

 o very late in the year, those animals that are 



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