Reptiles. 3849 



it," but therein are " an infinite number of small nodules of a harder quality, entirely 

 crystallized in the interior." After blasting-, the labourers were much surprised to find 

 among the fragments several of these nodules, each one containing a frog, as many as 

 seven having been counted after one " shot." These were not casually seen when ex- 

 posed, and then disregarded, but were examined in their stone prisons through very 

 minute holes, some even preserved in that state for a long period. For example, the 

 relator states of one specimen, " I kept this toad in a cellar for about five months, dur- 

 ing which time it ate nothing, and was without light, the hole in the stone being co- 

 vered with a piece of clay, and the whole kept moist and cool with water." Of another 

 he says, " The frog lived only about a week, as I kept it in a place which I think was 

 too warm for it, and also not sufficiently dark and quiet. When the frogs were dis- 

 turbed by the shots, their first desire seemed to be to get under shelter of some slone, 

 or into their old holes again, showing thereby that sight was not wanting, and bodily 

 activity was perfect as far as could be seen. One thing struck me as singular with re- 

 gard to the frog I kept, its fresh, plump, and healthy appearance, its skin being soft 

 and transparent. One day when I was holding my finger over the hole in the stone, 

 it pushed its head between my finger and the sides of the hole, and drew its whole 

 body after it on to the table, where it appeared more like a skeleton than any living 

 animal I have ever seen, but by degrees it extended itself to its former dimensions." 

 Of the above curious occurrence my only knowledge is derived from the account, writ- 

 ten to a distant friend, of which the substance has now been extracted. The writer is 

 an utter stranger, but he was officially employed in the operations which resulted in 

 the discoveries; and my information leads me to believe his report deserving of confi- 

 dence, for which reason I have not hesitated to offer this abstract for publication in 

 the ' Zoologist.' Since the above narrative was submitted to my perusal, and before I 

 received permission to make this communication, I have read Mr. Plant's notice (Zool. 

 3808) repudiating the credibility of " these marvellous relations." Without expressing 

 an opinion whether or not the Chesterfield quarry-men he mentions desired to impose 

 upon him, it may be suggested, that the failing to meet with a confessedly great rarity 

 within a given (and comparatively short) space of time, no more proves the non-ex- 

 istence of that rarity, than the innocence of a culprit was established by his asserting, 

 when sundry witnesses affirmed they saw him commit the offence he was accused of, 

 that he could produce ten times the number, who would swear they did not see him. 

 — Arthur Hussey ; Rottingdean, March 15, 1853. 



[Having ever warmly advocated inquiries of this kind, and strenuously opposed all 

 attempts to quash such inquiries by the statement that the phenomena were contrary 

 to what ought to be the proceeding of Nature ; I am bound, not merely by courtesy 

 and fairness, but by consistency, to give every encouragement to the expression of 

 opinion on this and every other moot question, and shall be very glad to receive and 

 publish any communication on the subject : at the same time I must beg correspon- 

 dents to make their communications as precise as possible. In almost every statement 

 I have yet seen on this subject, there is an absence of that exactitude which ought 

 always to accompany records of phenomena that are liable to be controverted. — Ed- 

 ward Newman.] 



Note on Large Snakes. — Seeing in your last number (Zool. 3809) a note from Mr. 

 Pickard-Cambridge, giving the dimensions of a snake's skin, 4 feet 2 inches long, 

 which he recorded for its large size, I beg to state that in two instances snakes ex- 

 ceeding 4 feet in length have come under my observation : both occurred here. The 

 XI. S 



