The Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1885-1886, 1885-10-08
FROGS VITALITY.
POUND ALIVE UNDER THE MOST AS
TONlSHiNG CIRCUMSTANCES.
A Snail in the british NIuseum-The Mud
Gsh OF West Africa-A Toad in the
Wall DR.. RuckIand's Ex-
perimentA



has reopenel the old and vexed question o
the vitality OF the frog. We learn that 6
| hugo piece of ice loft at q residence lii Louis
| vile was split open, and in the confer was {
large frog. The animal was black one, :"
the species known as tho Michigan frog. and
| weighed two pounds or over 1t is further
stated that the ie had been in store fol
| over four year, and therefore the frog lac
been a prisoner all that time in his colo
| quarters. After its reease it was quite
lively, and was maintained for some tim,
in an engine hoa-e near. This case Is very
similar 10 one that occurred more than twt
| years ago in Connecticut, wheia fros hal
| been Imprisoned over sev3n months, ant
| ah"n found was aliv. AM we'll.
| ytwith,tanding ali that has been writtai
| upon the subject, the pas,ibib,!ity vi irJs
existing for any length q: time unier tHe'e
| or similar condition j, stli debate l. IL Is
| aell kncwn, however, that not only fr -
| but othrr reptile AMI insect, can cx i i
| lvfp"l state for mhnthi AM even year
| Tne mai! wh.ci woln up in the British nm
.cnAa. after s!oep al s1;is years, is Il "a t
| il point a she'll which had boon i,.c.iai II,
| ~ the Esyptial desert March - 1875. W.
| snuiinad on Lu n piece of cardboard Ihi cat
| To tho British mu gu II. But, cu.lnl :
enough, the shell unaXpecte lily contained Il
| snail, which hn | retired 81 the inHo-t ra-
| cease5 OF the NhuriS and was consequently
| Unseen For nearly four years after tai
| time the snail remained in Il state OF stuppr.
| but ON March Z, 1919, shove! sign, OF life.
| 1t wni placed in tepii bath, and inmeti-
atoy on touching thu welcome moisture it
| showed increased signs of animation, and
| soon crawleI to tho top of tie bl in
The mud Ash of west Africa known rs the
| |. ri .iren, affords another in atanco of
| long~continued existence III u state OF torpor
| Thi' fish lives in tho sLallow' of tho Gam
| bil river, which, in tho tropical season, j.,
| quito dried up BY marvellous instructive
power it knows when the dry season is al-
preaching, ana digs deep in the soft clay AT
tine bottom Of the pools and there lies in Il
torpid state for months together. althou III
the surrounding nHI be harIonsi into IL
cake. Tho natives dig Ties. fish up Wills
in this state, AMI consider than great ieli-
cacy for taa table Tia nlu! fish do9a not
live without brea!hinr, which is rroTi &c /
for by his leaviu, II small crtiico ct pipe
open from his cell through t.c hGri ma
up to the upper air.
Experiments made in tine past lave gen
orally demonstrated what j, reail, tn, com
mon sense view, that thu frog can not i've
for any protragtal period without air: Not
there can not be the Leaf loubo OF frog
having been found alive IN Tor the most
tonishiDS crcuins tanccs. In the centre of
rocks, generally sandstone and in the heart
of trees, they have frequently been discov
erred. Ambrose Pare, chief surgeon to
Horny Ill of France, relates Il fact Of
which he wa, an eye-witnes-. At his seat
near tho village If MeulDn, lie was over
looking quarryDlln whom he hal en-
plnyei to hreal, some hard AMI large stones.
In tho middle of ono thcy discovered t.
huge toai," full of lite. although there was
mn "a - ~ ltn ,,,rl1 trat hrt tyi
On May 81, 1855 mnSCn nnmel George
Wi un who was engaged III bnlling
Stone wall, came across "A toa |, which, out
of sheer WantonnrFi, be immutoi in the
wall. Sixteen year afterwarl, i'll 1902 it
wa found still alive
At Windsor, in l,D). Il live frog was dug
u, from depth of nua feat below the sur
face. At CnsLlcton, in li7o, many frog
woYc found from five TO six feet below the
surface, apparently dead, but When exp1se
to the air they shovel signs OF animation
AMI became active and healthy. In iiSS
some laborars in digging we'll twenty-five
to thirty fest i'll depth threw ont what APP
p.arSd +, be stones covered with earth
Thee, however, proved to be frog j. and
w,re 50 numerous that many OF them were
cut through with the spades. Being exposed
t. tho ar they soon rsvivsI, but could not
survive tho direct ray; of the sun. "A writer
who wtncs ed this discovery considers they
must have beer covered up many hundreds
of years.
Fairy in 1862 man in Tyr Nicholas
collsry, Cwm Tylery, near Newport fonnI
in the niii'-incl bel of coal 1.-Two frog The |
hole it was found in was not more than
three AMI one half inches in diameter. |
There was SliGht hollow over tho coal |
where it was found; AMI the frog when 10. |
leased commenced moving about, but seemed |
larger and more active noXt day. This was |
300 yards below til, surface. In li3l a toad |
was found in the heart of an old oak near |
Nantz without any visible entrance to it, !
habita ton. Near Caen, in an elm at about |
four feet above the earth and exactly in the
center OF thu tree. II liva toad of middle
size, hut lean. was discovered. When al
opening was made it 'scuttlai away
hastily This troe is also said to have been
firm and sound.
Slmo twenty years ago, in the course of
the excavations that were made in connec-
ton with tie Hartlepool waterworks, tho
work mon found toad imbeddoi in n block
IF magnetism limestone at a depth Of
twenty feet from tho surface. The
loads eyes shono with unusual brillinncy,
anil it was full Of vivacity on its liberation
The rreaturs continued for some time In the
posses lion of Mr.. Spence Horner, the prasi-
lent of the Natural History society, and fos
1 long period was In as lively "a state as
when found. Similar instances might be |
quoted AS having occurred nj Saiksworti. |
ear Sunderland, Mt kilnarnoek at some
]uarric5 near ChetenhanI, aul other place. |
DAILY three years ago there was published a
Instance OF frog hav
ng been discovered in the root OF an oak
REQ Mt least 200 years old near Bhlham,
surrey.
m. nnnly Iu, had