Elmore bulletin. [volume] (Rocky Bar, Idaho) 1889-1906, 1893-06-17
ABUSED BY SCIENCE.
HOW THE FROG is USED IN THE
INTEREST or RESEARCH


strueted lie Could Do Same Wonderful
Leaping and Jumping why the Frog
Is Valuable In Experiments
Osteologist l.ueas ot the Smithsonian
institution was on bis way thither, hold
ing by one hind lex large bullfrog which
he had just captured al the tishpouds with
q seductive bit OF red flannel on a tishhook.
when he was aeco~tcd by IA reporter who
asked for what purpose the specimen was
intended In response 1t was shown that
the captive was a curiosity IA the anatom
ical way, having three forenrm- on one
side Of It's body, all Of fun size, though the
creature was not otherwise remarkable In
any respect The intention was to dssect
him for scientific purposes, aud Il WIS ex
planned that the freak was very likely due
to the animals having started Ia life ms
two individuals, which had become mixed
up like the children Of Little Buttercup,
at an early stage OF their being
The frog has been cale, the victim OF
science, because he Is always being dis.
sected for the purpose Of seeing how lac can
get along without his most essential or
gans. how his blood crculates aud how his
nervous system acts, said Mr. Lucas
HE is selected for such ends not, as is
commonly imagined because his structure
IN at all humanlike, but for the reason
that ho will endure being chopped up to
such remarkable extent aud still retain
life
You can remove his brain, and he will
get along fairly well without II, swallow.
Ing whatever is put into his mouth and
otherwise behaving as usual, though in an
automatic sort OF fashion In fact, the AN
imal will live indefinitely under such con
ditions, as experiment has shown u you
cut out his lungs lac will not die for long
time, because he can breathe very well
through his skin Human beings breat he
through the skin all over the body Ia q
small degree the blood in the superficial
vessel taking up certain amount Of oxy
gen. but the function il exercised more sat
isfactorily by the frog
Besides. his nervous system affords an
interesting study under ingenious torture
by the anntomist, and the corpuscles in
his blood being remarkably large that
fluid serves for the instruction OF the seeker
after medical knowledge
FROGS UNDER TIK KNIFE
''No II Is not customary To- administer
anesthetics to frogs while undergoing vivi
section, They would render experiments
on the nervous system unsatisfactory Does
not the animal suffer very muchl you ask
Perhaps. Ii IL impossible to know how
much. A great scientific authority has
said that death is the only measure Of
pain, a certain amount OF pain in itself
will cause a man 20 die
Chop oil mans leg and he Ia likely 10
give up the ghost Cut of "A frogs leg and,
II blec,ling is stopped the creatures gen
eral health is not apt 10 be seriously inter
fered with. Descend lower in the scale and
pull of the leg OF crab or sfarlish, 1t will
grow another A turtle Is likewise vic
tim OF science, because II will live through
all sorts OF dissections, aud It's heart will
pump salt aud water through its veins as
II ie were blood Varnish frog without
cutting out It's lungs, however, aud IL will
die promptly
"The frogs bony system Is very simple
lt has only nns yertebr,R in its back bone
fewer, believe, than any other animal.
and II possesses no ribs at all Thus II is
Obliged literally TO swallow by gulps the
air II breathes instead of projecting its
chest as we do, and creating "A vacuum for
the atmosphere to pour into Its hind leg.
are very peculiar In one respect. the two
bones which form the heel in man being
Joint in the middle OF the big 'splay' foot.
besides the pleyis hinges onto the back
bone, so as 10 give joint in the middle .i
the back.
~ MAN WEIR BUILT THAT wAYt
How much these extra hinges assist in
leaping you can see II you will take strip
OF stiff paper and fold IT several times
Press the folds together aud you will nnd
that the paper strip has "A spring To it.
Three or four folds give a certain amount
OF spring, five or six folds make the spring
much stronger, and every additional fold
adds so much spring power Ii is the same
way with the frog. which. besides having
enormously long aud muscular hind legs,
Is assisted In jumping by hinge In his
back and another in his foot, which you
and don't have.
III you were built like n frog you would
think nothing OF leapiug across pennsyl
vania avenue at one hop. In the scientific
+ phrase the frog Is modified for jumping,
that being his method of progression. lie
has no kneepan, the bones of the upper
and lower Lex being connected by hinge
or cartilage merely. On each hind foot he
has sixth toe. that has become rudiment
ary. The fore feet have only four toes
each, the thumb being absent. Evolution.
+
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. losing four Of
them, one after another. until now only
the middle toe il left, upon the nail Of
which the animal walks Similarly the
cloyen footed beasts have come down TO
two toes
TuR FROG AND Tng TOAD.
''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 a pet frog he bad In an aquarium that
attempted to get away with a baby Alli.
gator newly imported from Florida On
coming home he found Mr. frog. who had
taken down the small saurian head first,
jumping against the glass sides OF the
aquarium In vain efforts 70 drive down the
tail OF the victim. which was too long 10
find room inside for its accommodation.
"The frog, like the toad, has its tongue
fastened in front and loose behiud. 10 that
IL can capture insects by whipping IL over
and outwardly Unlike the toad, however
II has teeth in its upper jaw The toad d
higher animal than the frog. because Il
gives birth directly to little air breathing
toads, whereas the frog lays eggs that pro
duce ashlike tadpoles. subsequently, trans
formed into the dnal shape The tadpols
bresthes through giltz like a fish, has
tail and no legs, and is a vegetable feeder.
"The metamorphosis II undergoes Is one