436 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



toad was discovered to be perfectly well. The 

 same toad put in an air-tight vessel and buried for 

 only a week's time was found to be so very dead 

 that no one cared to make a minute examination of 

 it. Dr. Buckland made some experiments in 1825 

 with the same results. The many experiments, how- 

 ever, have proved that frogs will live and thrive 

 for a considerable length of time if kept moist and 

 damp ; even though they are buried at considerable 

 depth, without any visible food supply and in com- 

 plete darkness. I once kept a large bull-frog for 

 several years. It was one sultry day in the sum- 

 mer of 1879 that I sent a boy down to a Fulton 

 Street aquarium store, to secure me a model for a 

 picture which I had received a commission to paint; 

 the boy returned, bringing with him a most 

 peculiar individual. 



A pair of bright gem-like eyes and a blunt nose, 

 together with a broad, tightly closed mouth, made 

 up a countenance not to be easily forgotten; and 

 his odd-shaped head rested closely upon his 

 shoulders. Add to this a pair of short arms ter- 

 minating in hands of four fingers each and dispro- 

 portionately long legs, to which were attached very 

 broad feet, and you have before you a picture of 

 my model. 



Although a musician by birth and occupation, 

 he is known to the schoolboy as the bull-frog ! The 

 peculiar batrachian whose portrait adorns this book 

 was quite a favorite, in spite of his previous bad 

 character. Although a tyrant and cannibal, he 



