Reptiles. ] 703 



inhabited by this species, the animal, at the proper season, crawls up it, and when ar- 

 rived at the top begins to make its nest. This is done by screwing its body repeatedly 

 round in the sand, until it has scooped a pit sufficiently large ; here it lays from 

 twenty to forty round eggs, generally without a shelly calcareous covering, but covered 

 with a tenacious membrane. Sand is then scratched over the eggs to the depth of 

 six or eight inches, which the tortoise pats down firmly by rising on its hind-feet, and 

 flattening the nest with its anterior extremities. When the sun has hatched the eggs, 

 the young animals force their way out of the sand, and following their own instinct, 

 and the inclination of the slope, roll down into the river. — Featherstonhaughh Canoe 

 Voyage. 



Sagacity in Frogs. — I have read with much interest the curious anecdote of the 

 frogs (Zool. 1643), but finding that I cannot acquiesce in the suggestions of the narra- 

 tor, as to the motives for their conduct, I am now about to examine why, and also to 

 see whether I can suggest anything that appears to myself more probable. In the 

 first place, I am strongly predisposed to consider the frog incapable of the implied 

 degree of sagacity ; both because I cannot recollect to have seen, heard, or read in 

 books of authority, proofs or indications of anything at all equal to it in the frog, nor 

 yet in any of his relations, — toads, newts, lizards, snakes, fish ; and also because even 

 in the hot-blooded animals, whose intellects for the most part seem to be of a higher 

 order, similar instances of sagacity are very rare. Where can we find them at all ? 

 Perhaps here and there in some pre-eminently gifted individual of one of those supe- 

 rior races of animals who are constantly in the company of man, who every day expe- 

 rience his benefits and his power, and who have learned to look up to him and to trust 

 in him for everything. But the frog is none of these : if we allow him to have suf- 

 ficient sagacity, he has nevertheless none of the opportunities necessary for acquiring 

 that knowledge of man and of his nature, which the subjects of our present considera- 

 tion are supposed to have possessed. Even were the knowledge of man instinctive, 

 these frogs showed further very great ingenuity in the plans of action they founded 

 upon this knowledge of theirs: and of their being master of such ingenuity and sa- 

 gacity, we are, I think, entirely without sufficient evidence. And not only do I think 

 him incapable of assisting a friend in misfortune in the manner supposed, if he wished 

 to help him, but I even doubt whether he ever would wish it. Do we know any in- 

 stances of frogs or toads caring for their wounded or imprisoned fellow-creatures? In 

 other classes of animals, no doubt, it is common for certain species to assemble round 

 an injured companion ; but often in anger rather than in love ; and in putting him 

 out of his misery, they show the kindness of their Creator rather than their own. 

 What other explanation then do we give for the facts recorded by Mr. Davis ? In 

 the first place, we declare that because we question the correctness of his views, we 

 are not therefore compelled to give satisfactory ones of our own ; because, upon 

 the general principles of reasoning, this is not required ; and because, in this particu- 

 lar instance of the frog, an animal with whose habits, feelings, and senses, we have so 

 little in common, it is very difficult to explain any part of its conduct. 



But let us consider the circumstances before us. Two frogs are observed acting in 

 an extraordinary manner, close to a spot where some hours afterwards a frog is found 

 imprisoned, in such a way that he was most likely in the same state when the other 

 frogs were seen at liberty. Now, at first, it seems highly probable that he was the 

 cause of the assembling, and of the excited movements of the other frogs. But we 

 must argue from what we already know of the habits of the frog in general, and if we 



