The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-09-07

whnt DIsadvantaSeOus.
CaonGtrS .Iop.aa!.
How long it is possible fol- frogs to livl
without air and food has been a matter o
experiment many times; but in the face o
well established instances like those quot
ed it is difficult to conduct experiment.
that will bc considered as being coucIu
sive character. That these creatures
should be able to live not for centuries on
| ly, but for ages, appears contradictory tt
all reasons aud common sense. lnsomt
cases frogs have been found iu cretaceous
rocks. I'le oldest fossil toad8 and frog;
occur in tertiary rocks. ii, therefore,
those found in cretaceou5 rocks had beer
there from their formation it would be
equivalent TO saying that the live fro.
could be ages and ages older than its fossi
relative. 10 most people such deCiara'
ton would be the height Of absurdity
II thoroughly inquired into it would
probably be discovered that in each case
there was issure i'll the rocks or trees in
which frogs have been found largo enough
Tor the admission Of waterand the embryo
frog which has developed there. II has
been assumed bysome that lie frog natur-
ally contains an acid which By chemical
action on the stone provides that The space
at the frogs disposal shall be as large as
its body. A second hypothesis is that
not the egg, but the primary frog, scarcely
larger THAI the egg i'3elf, falls into the
rock OF tree and continues to grow, deri.
wing air and iood in the form Of email in.
GeCfs from the water that penetrated TO it,
abode. Certain tits that frogs when arti-
lei lily secured in alright aud water
tight vel sells speedily die. EXPERIMENT.
made by members OF the FreuGh
Academy o century ago proved
this. Milne Edwards early in the
present century inclosed frogs in We, sells
impsrvious 10 air, and The creatures
speedily persisted. Three frogs were once
lnciusel III clos box for eighteen
months, at the end Of which time one was
dead and the remainder in dying condi.
ton, DR.. Mccartney buried toad in a
vessel covered with slate about foot
deep in the ground. At the end OF u fort.
night it seemed well and as plump as
before. When, however, be iuClos,a the
same toad in Au alright vessel and buried
/: ii soon died, and NJ tho eud ia week
We much dccayed. DR.. auckland made
some experiment, which are claimed ss
conclusive. He placed twelve tosds Repa.
rately in twelve holes cut in blocks OF
hsrd, flinty sandstone. They were firmly
sealed in. The imprisoned animals were
hurried three isct deep Gu November 20,
1925. At ths same tima four toads were
deposited in holes cut in the heart OF an
apple tree. and the opening securely
plugged. Four others were also placed in
plaster.ot-psris, covered with luting. On
December 10, 1926, all the buried toads
were examined. All in the hard stone
and in the tree aud two in the plgstcr-of.
paris were dead. The remainder were
dying, but some placed in a softer stone
were in tolerably good health, and some
were actually fatter than whom placed in
the holes. From this 1t would appear that
in positions where water can penetrate
frogs may live aud even thrive, although
buried at considerable depth, entirely
away from the light and any visible means
OF subsistence.