OUR REPTILE PETS.* 

 By G. p. Stather. 



The desire to have a pet of some kind is almost universally found in 

 man — both savage and civilized, wild and free. History affords us 

 several remarkable instances of animals converted into pets by persons 

 condemned to long periods of imprisonment. There was Baron 

 Trent, the German prisoner, who tamed a mouse, and made it so 

 attached to him that it is stated to have died, apparently of grief, 

 soon after his liberation. Another celebrated prisoner in one of the 

 fortresses of Holland, had as a pet a tame spider. On watching its 

 habits he could foretell some great change in the weather, and on one 

 occasion his observation of the spider's movements enabled him to send 

 most important information to the Government, and ultimately to 

 obtain his release. Again, we have the record of a notorious convict 

 in France, who was condemned to the galleys for life, and was famous 

 even there for the untractability of his disposition. By some means 

 he became possessed of a rat, which he rendered perfectly tame. At 

 first when discovered, the warders were for killing the animal, but the 

 man's entreaties were so piteous, that the governor allowed him to 

 keep his pet, on condition of his good behaviour. The affection which 

 the convict had for the rat seemed to change his whole nature, and the 

 once tameless brute became an obedient subject, and on one occasion 

 used his immense strength to assist in quelling a meeting among the 

 other convicts. 



The partiality which boys have for rabbits, guinea-pigs, and white 



mice is proverbial ; cats and parrots seem to be associated with single 



ladies of a certain age ; and though the popular fancy does not run 



much in the direction of frogs, toads, newts, snakes, and blindworms, 



' yet these have their admirers, and a study of their habits affords many 



instructive lessons in Natural History. The frog ( Rana temporaria) of 



the five animals mentioned, is looked upon with the least disfavour, 



indeed the feeling entertained for him is in marked contrast to that 



manifested towards his humble cousin the toad. He is indebted for 



this mainly to his more elegant and sprightly appearance ; his skin, 



besides being smooth and shining, is beautifully variegated with 



yellow, bronze, and green, which admirably blend with the colours of 



the weeds and grasses amongst which he spends the chief part of his 



life. According to the old rhyme the frog changes colour somewhat 

 N. S., Vol. vii.— Jan., 1882. 



* Eead before Huddersfield Naturalists' Society, 7th Nov., 1881. 



