The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1889-01-17
mdnitomof pilot.
THURSDAY, JANUARY II.
AN AnTEDlLuvlAN FROG sToRY.x
Curious Story of q Little Animal Which
Probably Lived Over 10000 Years.

Curious Story of q Little Animal Which
Probably Lived Over 10000 Years.
The daily press has recently devoted
some length to detailing the later his
tory of an old toad, who was only al
lowed to live three days after having
been dug out of the cavity wherein he
had secluded himself for triffe over
twenty thousand years or more, and
how ''local surgeon" endeavoring to
improve on nature. "hoping to enable
him to take food, slit the membrane by
which his mouth was closed, and the
patient unfortunately had not suffi-
cient vitality to survive the opera
ton" The theory has been discussed
as to whether the toad would have
continued to live above ground had he
been left in the natural condition in
which he was found. the length of
whose retirement could only be meas
ured by geological period of time,
and who was returned to his long past
overground life and condition by natur-
al means.
In the Plenty valley, Victoria, some
time in the early 70's, a road party
were making deep cutting through
some clay beds to improve local traffic
facilities. The clay bed was a tertiary
formation; it was hard and of yellow
color. On the clay-bank gum-trees,
some hundreds of years old, were
growing. When about thirty feet be-
low the surface block of this clay in
falling broke into two pieces, out of
which tumbled a little frog, with a
A. I'D Iol hoe
long and one and one-quarter inches
wide. He seemed blind and sleepy,
though showing every evidence of
life; he was apparently as strong as
any other frog of the same size; he was
in no way thin; in fact, seemed to be a
well-nurtured and properly cared-for
frog.
The block of clay was reduced in
size and the frog, with the two pieces
which formed his dwelling, was sent
to the chronological museum, Mel
bourne. Mr.. Newberry, the chief OF
that institution, examined him very
closely, and found that all the natural
orifices of the body had closed com
pletely; in fact, there was of them not
trace remaining. In color the frog
| was a dirty yellow, such as the clay,
without any variation of tinge. Mr..
Newberry sent this creature for identi-
fication to Frederick Mccoy, F. r. S.,
professor of natural sciences. Mel
bourne university. Prof. Mccoy identi-
| fled him as amember of the well-known
| species whose habits were, in times OF
| trouble, such as drought or cold. to
| bury themselves in the earth and re-
| main there until the condition of things
was more to their liking. Members OF
| the species mentioned, however, were
| yellow color notified with brown;
| after the identification the creature
! was again returned to Mr.. New berry.
This gentleman determined to see if
he could by some natural process
educate the sleepy specimen into a
| more vigorous and better understand
! ing of his duties as live frog. He
| was then domiciled in small fernery
| in the museum, and it was decided to
| give him bath every morning, pro.
| ceeding which froggy seemed strongly
to object to, though he swan vigor-
ously while in the water. When put
back into his clay cavity he wriggled
himself about until he found the old
groove. folded himself up, and seemed
most contented. This cavity might be
described as fitting him wherever il
| touched him, that is to say, though
touching him all over the more prom
inent parts of the body, the clay was
| not nodded into the hollows formed by
the folding of his limbs.
After Short while the clay bed was
taken from him and he was put among
the ferns on the mold, into which he
rapidly sank stern first by a peculiar
motion of his hind legs. For his morn.
ing bath he had to be dug up daily,
then back he would go again into Sc.
clusion. In little while two patches
of dust were noticed on his nose; these
were examined by agnifying- glass
I and it was found that in the center OF
each was an infinitely minute hole
| just where the nostrils should be. At
ter enforced bathing and exercise daily
| for about six or eight weeks the dull
yellow skin covering him began to
| come off in small patches; it eventual
ly fell off like the slough of snake,
revealing him, as Prof. Mccoy said he
should be, a nice-looking notified brown
and yellow frog, with bright eyes,
mouth, nOStr1lS, etc.
| After his skin came off, he began to
| like the water, would Jump into it,
| then after swim sit underneath the
| ferns; he gradually showed a liking to
blink in the sun and generally disport-
! ed himself in the manner of we'll
| conducted frog, though he was never
seen to take any food. One day the
door of the fernery was left open;
! whether it was that the Unsuitable de-
| sire for sensation peryading our mod
ern civilization affected him, so that he
desired to see how the world had
wagged since ages agone he had bid it
goodbye, whether it was fer the pur-
pose OF examining other objects of in
tereSt IN the museum, or that he STEP
ped out for refreshments, or with de-
sire to go a-wooing, history has not
been informed; at all events, instead of
meeting the lilly white duck" of the
fable, he came in contact with the mu-
scum cat, who was prowling around,
and before an attendant looking on
could interfere, he was seized by the
cat, who, with him in her mouth, dash
ed through an open window into
shrubbery hard by. and no trace of
froggy was ever again to be found
London Engineering.