The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-07-07
If MEN WERE BUILT THAT WAY.
he Gould Do Wonderful Things If
Constructed on the Frog Plan.
From the Washington Star

4 CeNSCAC
stitution was on his way thither yesterday,
holding by one hind leg large bullfrog
which he had just captured at the fish ponds
with a seductive bit Of red flannel on fish
hook, when he was accosted by a Star re-
porter, who asked for what purpose the
specimen was intended. In response it was
shown that the captive was a curiosity in
! the anatomical way, having three forearms
on one side of its body, all of full size,
though the creature was not otherwise re-
markable in any respect. The intention was
TO dissect him for scientific purposes, and it
was explained that the freak was very likely
due to the animals having started in life
as two individuals, which had become mixed
up like children Of Little Buttercup," at an
early stage of their being.
The frog has been called the victim or
science, because he is always being dlssected
for the purpose Of seeing how he can get
along without his most essential organs,
how his blood circulates, and how his
nervous system acts, - said Mr.. Lucas. "He
Is selected for such ends not as is commonly
imagined, because his structure is at all
human like, but for the reason that he will
endure being chopped up TO such remark
able extent and still retain life. You can
remove his brain and he will get along
fairly we'll without 1t, swallowing whatever
is put into his mouth and otherwise
behaving as usual, though IN
an automatic sort of fash
ion. In fact the animal will live indefin-
itely under such conditions. as experiment
has shown. If you cut out his lungs he
will not die for long time, because he can
breathe very well through his skin. Human
beings breathe through the skin all over the
body IL a small degree, the blood in the su-
pertctal vessel taking up a certain amount
Al Il
more satisfactorily by the frog Besides,
his nervous system affords an interesting
study under ingenious torture by the anato-
mist, ana the corpusces in his blood being
| remarkably large, that fluid serves for the
instruction of the seeker after medical
| knowledge.
mo, it is not customary to edmini:ter
anRsthetics to frogs while undergoing vivi-
| section. They would render experiments
on the nervous system unsatisfactory. Does
not the animal suffer muchl you ask. Per-
haps. 1t is impossible to know how much.
A great scientific authority has said that
death is the only measure Of pain. A GER
tain amount of pain in itself will cause a
man to die. Chop off mans leg and he is
likely to give up the ghost. Cut off frogs
| leg, and, if bleeding is stopped, the Great
| ure's general health is not apt to be seriously
| interfered with. Descend lower in the scale
and pull off the leg of crab or starhsh; it
will grow another. A turtle is likewise a
victim of science, because it will live
| through all sorts of dissections and its heart
will pump salt and water through its veins
as If it were blood. Varnish frog, without
cutting out its lungs, however, and it will
| die promptly.
The frogs bony system is very simple.
1t has only nine vertebra in its backbone
fewer, believe, than any other animal
| and 1t possesses no ribs at all. Thus it is
| obliged literally to swallow by gulps the air
it breathes instead of rejecting its chest as
we do and creating a vacuum for the atmos-
phere to pour into. Its hind legs are very
peculiar in one respect, the two bones which
| form the heel in man being greatly
elongated, so as to give an extra joint in the
middle of the big 'spley' foot, besides the
pelvis hinges on to the backbone so as to
| give joint in the middle of the back.
| How much these extra hinges assist in leap
ing you can see if you will take a strip of
stiff paper and fold it several times.
Press the folds together and you
| will find that the paper strip
has spring to it. Three or four folds give
a certain amount of spring, five or six
folds make the spring muca stronger, and
every additional fold adds so much spring
| power. 1t is the same way with the frog
which, besides having enormously long and
muscular hind legs, is assisted in jumping
by hinge i'll his back and another in his
foot. which you and l don't have IL you
were built like frog you would think
nothing Of leaping across Pennsylvania
avenue at one hop. In the scientific phrase
the frog is modified for jumping. that be-
ing his method of progression. He has no
knee pan, the bones Of the upper ana
lower leg being connected by a hinge
or cartilage merely. On each hind foot
no has a sixth toe, that has become rudi-
| NaV,fr h. To- F0o hos ,,v,Iwr
each the thumb being absent. Evolution
lists say that in the development of species
the thumb is the first digit to disappear,
next goes the little finger next the fore
finger, and lastly the fourth or ''ring"
finger. Thus they assert the horse originally
had five toes on each foot, loosing four of
them, one after another until now only the
middle toe is left, upon the nail Of which
this animal walks. Similarly to the cloven~
footed beasts have come down to two toes
1.-The frog has huge skull with a very
small brain cavity, and an enormous mouth
for the purpose of swallowing fish, small
ducks or any other prey of size, whole. Dan
Beard, the artist, tells a story of pet frog
he had in an aquarium that attempted to
get away with baby alligator newly i'm
ported from Florida. On coming home he
found Mr.. Frog. who had taken down the
small saurian headsfrst, jumping against
the glass sides of the aquarium in vain
efforts to drive down the tail of the victim,
which was too long to find room inside for
its accommodation. The frog like. the toad,
has its tongue fastened in the front and
loose behind SO that it can capture in
scots by whipping it over and outward
ly. Unlike the toad, however, it has teeth
IN its upper Jaw. The toad is higher ami
NAL than the frog, because it gives birth
directly TO little air breathing toads
whereas the frog lays eggs that produce
tish-like tadpoles, subsequently trans
formed into the final shape The tadpole
breathes through gills like a fish, has a
tail and no legs, and is a vegetable feeder.
The metamorphosis it undergoes is one of
the most marvellous things in nature. If it
were not SO common it would astonish the
world. Think of a vegetable eating fish
with tail and gills turning into an air
breathing land animal developing teeth,
and becoming a carniverous quadrupei.
Isn't 1t amazing when you come 20 consider
it! A wonderful beast is the frog, truly"
| IT PTTZZI VS. COL CTTMENra