NATURAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



115 



come a time when they are in a 

 position to give time to study, the 

 first they will take up and pursue 

 with patience will probably be 

 some subject of this nature, mere- 

 ly for the pleasure of the study. 

 On the other hand, if they have 

 no inclination to work, they will 

 not forget the pleasant hours they 

 spent when they sat listening to 

 some explanation of an object so 

 familiar, which will create a tend- 

 ency to put their hands to the bot- 

 tom of their pockets and act feel- 

 ingly. If children could be taught 

 to see God in Nature and the 

 wonders he controls, without cram- 

 ming the brain with so much the- 

 ory, by giving them a run into the 

 country along with some one to 

 explain, it would conduce a great 

 deal to their general health and 

 happiness. Country Museums 

 want illustrating and simplifying 

 as much as possible. Call a spade 

 a spade, i. e. , give the local name 

 as well as the scientific one. This 

 education would be another great 

 saving to the nation if it were uni- 

 versal. Half the things that are 

 dug up now are only saved by the 

 merest chance, because the men 

 digging do not care what they are 

 striking their picks through. This 

 would be altered altogether if they 

 had been taught in early youth to 

 take notice of the value and inter- 

 est there is attaching, often, to 

 things dug up from the ground. 



Thirty-five years ago Professor 

 Forbes said: 'T cannot help hop- 

 ing that the time will come when 

 every British town even of moder- 

 ate size will be able to boast of 

 possessing public institutions for 

 the education and instruction of 

 its adults as well as its youthful 

 and childish population; when it 

 shall have a well-organized Mu- 

 seum wherein collections of natur- 

 al bodies shall be displayed, nqt 

 with regard to show or curiosity, 

 but according to their illustration 

 of the Analogies and affinities 

 of organized and unorganized 

 objects, so that the visitor may 

 at a glance learn something of the 

 laws of nature; wherein the pro- 

 ducts of the surrounding district, 

 animate and inanimate, shall be 

 scientifically marshalled, and their 

 industrial applications carefully 

 and suggestively illustrated; where- 

 in the memorials of the neighbor- 

 ing province, and the races that 

 have peopled it, shall be reverent- 

 ly assembled, and learnedly yet 

 popularly explained; when each 

 town shall have a library, the 

 property of the public, and freely 

 opened to the well-conducted read- 



er of every class; when its public 

 walks and parks (too many as yet 

 existing only in prospect) shall be 

 made instructors in botany and 

 agriculture; when it shall have 

 a gallery of its own, possibly 

 not boasting of the most famous 

 pictures or statues, but neverthe- 

 less showing good examples of 

 sound art; examples of the history 

 and purpose of design, and above 

 all, the best specimens to be pro- 

 cured of works of genius by its 

 own natives who have deservedly 

 risen to fame. When that good 

 time comes true-hearted citizens 

 will decorate their streets and 

 squares with statues and memorials 

 of the wise and worthy men and 

 women who have adorned their 

 province — not merely of kings, 

 statesmen or warriors, but of 

 philosophers, poets, men of sci- 

 ence, philanthropists and great 

 workmen. " 



How far are we from yet realiz- 

 ing this ideal, and how slowly we 

 seem to progress in so desirable a 

 direction! Still there are many 

 signs that the conscience of the 

 nation is at last awakened, and if 

 we see to it that all the discussions 

 at present filling the air do not end 

 simply in talk, but that practical 

 good shall be the outcome, then 

 our progress during the coming 

 twenty-five years will not be so 

 discouraging. In no better way 

 can this ideal be realized than by 

 an acute recognition of the place 

 Museums should occupy in our 

 natural systems of education. — 

 Thomas Greenwood, London, Eng., 

 in Science. 



The Gopher Frog. 



Through the kindness of Mr. H. 

 G. Hubbard of Crescent City, 

 Florida, I am enabled to make a 

 note on the habits of the "gopher 

 frog, "Rana areolata a'sopus, Cope. 

 This form seems to be so rare in 

 collections that so far the only 

 specimen reported as having been 

 identified with this sub-species is 

 the type in the National Museum, 

 from Micanopy, Florida, and de- 

 scribed by Professor Cope in the 

 Proceedings of the American Phil- 

 osophical Society for 1886. I 

 have been unable to find any pub- 

 lished mention of i'.s habits, which 

 are peculiar. 



It appears to be almost entirely 

 subterranean in its habits, living 

 in the holes and burrows of the 

 "gopher" turtle, Gopher its poly- 

 phemus, in conjunction with it, and 

 apparently on the best of terms. 

 Roughly described, it is grayish 



green, with thirty-five or forty 

 ragged black spots arranged in 

 four or five irregular longitudinal 

 rows on the back, and grading off 

 into smaller spots on the flanks, 

 while the legs are barred with 

 about fifteen half-rings of black, 

 from the thighs to the toes. Be- 

 neath it is white, with the throat 

 marbled with very dark brown. 

 The body is rather flat, with wide 

 head and sharp-pointed snout, and 

 the two dorso-lateral ridges to- 

 gether with indicated folds be- 

 tween them, are greenish brown. 

 The size is about that of a small 

 "leopard frog," Rana pipilus, or 

 the "swamp frog," Ranr palustris, 

 to which last it is closely related, 

 although individuals are said to 

 have been seen weighing two or 

 three pounds. But those must 

 have been huge toads, noticed by 

 persons unable to distinguish be- 

 tween them and the frogs, or too 

 unobserving to make the distinc- 

 tion. Its food has not been ascer- 

 tained, from dissection of the stom 

 achs of freshly captured specimens, 

 but as these frogs are rarely seen 

 away from the burrows, it is prob- 

 able that they feed on the insects 

 living in the burrows, for the holes 

 possess a flourishing insect fauna, 

 to a great extent peculiar to them. 



On cloudy and rainy days the 

 frogs sit at the mouths of the bur- 

 rows — as many as three have been 

 found in a single burrow — but on 

 the approach of a human being 

 dive down out of sight, and as the 

 holes are from 12 to 20 feet in 

 length, and 7 or 8 in vertical depth 

 at the end, digging the frogs out 

 is no easy matter, especially as 

 the sandy soil has a tendency to 

 cave in on the excavator. But the 

 frogs may be successfully angled 

 for with a fishing line and a small 

 hook baited with a grasshopper. 



In the fact that the burrows us- 

 ually or always go down to water, 

 may be found an explanation of 

 the frogs inhabiting them, and the 

 facility of procuring insect food 

 therein may be an additional in- 

 ducement, as well as their being 

 safe hiding places. Nothing seems 

 to be known of the habits of the 

 other varieties of the species, of 

 which also but few specimens are 

 known, Rana areolata areolata, 

 from Texas and Georgia, Rana 

 areolata capita, from Georgia, and 

 Rana areolata circulosa, the'"Hoos- 

 ier frog," found in Indiana and 

 Illinois. It is to be hoped that 

 further observations will be made 

 upon this interesting species and 

 additional specimens collected. — 

 Science. 



