98 OUR REPTILES, 



A few days ago a very fine live frog was discovered im- 

 bedded in a large block of stone, at the Lady Lee stone- 

 quarries, near Worksop, Nottinghamshire, now occupied by 

 Mr. J. Ellis. The block was eleven feet below the surface, 

 and the frog on being liberated, jumped about quite cheer- 

 fully, and on being placed in a pond of water, swam with 

 great dexterity. It is supposed the prisoner must have been 

 confined from one to two thousand years. The block of 

 stone had the impression of the frog very distinctly marked 

 where it had lain for such a long period.* 



We liad well-nigh forgotten to associate with 

 these the " true and particular account " of 



Sir Froggy who would a wooing go, 

 Whether his mother would let him or no. 



The climbing powers of frogs attracted the 

 attention of the Rev. C. A. Johns, of Win- 

 chester, and in a letter recently published, he 

 gives the following instances : 



Three several instances, proving that they can and do 

 climb, have fallen under my own notice. These are already 

 recorded in print. A fourth came under my notice on the 

 27th of October last (1863). I was digging for pupse at 

 the base of a large willow-tree in the valley of the Itchen, 

 near Winchester, with some young friends, when one of the 

 party exclaimed, i Look at this frog climbing up the tree !' 

 I quickly ran round to the other side of the tree, and saw, 

 not one only, but five or six young frogs, from one to two 

 feet from the ground, climbing up the rugged bark, and 

 using their front and hind feet just as a sailor employs his 

 hands and feet when ascending the rigging of a ship. .One 



* Retford and Gainsborough News, March llth, 1865. 



