II HABITS AND NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FROG 25 



eral large worms one after the other, often seizing a new 

 worm before having finished the one it is attempting to 

 swallow. According to Fischer-Sigwart, Ranafusca will de- 

 vour large May beetles, employing both fore limbs to push 

 the rough legs of the insect into such a position that the 

 prey can be forced down the throat, an operation which is 

 accomplished only after considerable difficulty. The same 

 observer found that R. fusca would devour large snails 

 {Helix hortensis and H. nemoraiis) after it had been ac- 

 customed to that form of diet by being fed with specimens 

 from which the shell had been removed. After a short 

 preliminary education the frog would catch the snails, of its 

 own accord, and swallow them shells and all, one frog devour- 

 ing six large specimens in succession. According to Fischer- 

 Sigwart, this frog does not ordinarily devour snails although 

 Durigen reports Rana muta as swallowing specimens of 

 Helix as well as species of mollusks devoid of shells. Bees 

 and wasps are eaten with avidity notwithstanding their stings, 

 which apparently affect the frog but little. 



While the frog is a gourmand, he is nothing of an epicure. 

 Almost any sort of living creature is acceptable to him, and 

 even decayed meat when once it is seized is readily swallowed. 

 Both the sense of taste and the sense of smell are apparently 

 obtuse ; if anything is taken into the mouth, it usually con- 

 tinues its course down the alimentary canal. Objects of a 

 too objectionable nature may, however, be ejected. 



In seizing food, the frog usually makes use of its extensile 

 tongue, which can be thrown out of the mouth with surpris- 

 ing rapidity. The tongue is attached by its anterior end to 

 the tip of the lower jaw, while the forked posterior end lies 

 free. In the capture of prey the posterior end of the tongue 

 is thrown forward until it comes in contact with the object 

 when it is quickly withdrawn. The sticky secretion with 



