38 



THE YOUNG NATURALIST. 



When froggy wakes up from his nap the following spring he soon makes 

 his way to the nearest marsh or pond. In an old work, entitled " An Essay 

 towards a Natural History of Westmoreland and Cumberland," by a certain 

 Rev. Thomas Robinson, occurs the following curious note. He says, " Rid- 

 ing over the mountains one warm spring morning, I saw infinite numbers of 

 frogs coming out of their winter quarters, which was a vast heap of loose 

 stones. The females were so overburdened with their spawn that the male 

 frogs bore them on their backs ; and in this posture they crossed my way in 

 such numbers that my horse trod several of them to death. Their march 

 was into the next marsh." 



The length of the adult frog is about three inches. The colour above 

 varies from pale yellowish brown to dark brown, spotted irregularly with 

 with dark brown or black ; legs barred or banded with the same. There is 

 a patch of dark brown behind the eyes, and a pale line down each side of the 

 back. It is very liable to variations of colour. Sometimes the under parts 

 will be of a bright chrome-yellow, instead of the usual pale yellow colour, 

 with the spots and bands almost black. Another frog which I once met 

 with in the autumn time was large and most beautifully coloured, being of a 

 rich reddish-orange tint, shaded and varied in a very exquisite fashion with 

 darker colours. The dark patch behind the eye easily distinguishes B. tem- 

 poraries from the rarer species R. esculenta. 

 Standlake, Witney, Oxon. 



CAPTURING AND PRESERVING SPIDERS. 



By the Rev. O. PICKARD-CAMBRIDGE, M.A., C.M.Z.S., &c. 



[Several correspondents having asked for instructions on this subject, the Rev. O. 

 Pickard-Cambridge has kindly given permission for the Reprinting of the following 

 paper which first appeared in the Transaction of the " Dorset Natural History and 

 Antiquarian Field Club."] 



" The study of spiders is peculiarly suited to persons of a sedentary habit, or 

 to those who may love natural history pursuits, but do not desire to form a 

 collection. In this respect the observing of spiders possesses an advantage 

 over the observation of the insect tribes in general, inasmuch as spiders are 

 more stationary, and when found in their hold, corner, or web, do not escape 

 observation by flight, but require only patience in the observer to unfold 

 much of their history and economy. The collector often debars himself from 

 the discovery of many a fact in the habits and life of the object of his search 



