THE EDIBLE FROG. 105 



from the nether world, on a sudden the frog in 

 the pond begins to raise his voice. It is an 

 agreeable tenor. He summons to horary prayers : 

 in a large circle round about him sits the syna- 

 gogue ; when presently a deeper voice, and evi- 

 dently of one advanced in years, chimes in ; a 

 third joins the chant, and the recitative begins. 

 A little while, and a pause ensues ; then the 

 precentor sings again alone, some long-drawn 

 responses follow, when suddenly a hurly-burly, 

 that thrills through every fibre, bursts forth in 

 the air. It lasts some minutes, until single 

 solos, in a minor key, disengage themselves 

 from the scattered tones, which soon break forth 

 again in a stormy chorus. Thus does their 

 music last on throughout the whole night, and 

 may be heard for many miles. Yet this, it would 

 seem, is but gentle music, when compared to 

 the uproar which hums in the ear of the traveller 

 when, on the shores of the Volga and the 

 Caspian Sea, the frogs in myriads celebrate their 

 marriage festivals. The bacchic rejoicings of 

 these orgies absorb everything; all is grown 

 froggish; it is as though the very earth were 

 shaking with the rest, unable to resist the inex- 

 tinguishable laughter." 



The proportion of European frogs found in 

 Great Britain is small. Out of the nine species 

 inhabiting the continent we have but two. The 



