The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1894-07-01
A CHAPTER ON FROGS
NATURAL HISTORY OF BRANCH OF
THE BATRACHIAN FAMILY.
Habits and Peculiarities Only to BE
Discovered by Close Study-CrOak-
ing a Limited Privilege.


AS you take a walk through the marshes,
when spring is merging into summer, to
gather the marsh marigolds and globe flow
ers, you are half startled by a heavy
splash. "A rat" you say; but you peer
into the watercourse you see a lOng-legged
frog forging his way, just above the mud,
to the center of the stream. You pass on
ward, and from around you, on all sides,
you see frogs spring with quite scientific
header into the water. until you are re-
minded Of some glimpse you may have had
of a public swimming bath on a summer
Saturday afternoon.
You take walk on a moonlight night
under the shady trees by the mill dam, and
suddenly you hear "Wur-ruk, wur-ruk."
The chorus is taken up all around, until
conversation is silenced, and any senti-
mentality which may have existed under
''the moons soft beams is extinguished.
The hurry and hustle of the run up to
town from the summer quarters may have
made the early hours of the night sleepless
From just across the meadows comes the
concert of the frogs, and you appreciate
the lines of Horace in his description of
the Brundusian journey, aptly translated
by Francis:
1.-THE fenny frogs, with croaking hoarse
and Deep
And gnats loud buzzing drive away our
Sleep"
There are, however, times when the croak-
ing rouses memory. Such it snail be now
as the sounds come across the meadow
through the study window.
The frogs are an extensive section of the
batrachians, forming, together with the
toads, the order "Anoura" of that group
An idea of the distribution of this order
may be gathered from Mr.. Mivarts state
ment that at least fourteen kinds inhabit
| Europe and North Asia and Africa north
| Of the Sahara; some 160 are found I'm the
Indian region, more than seventy-five in
| Australia, no less than 3O5 in tropical
| America, and ffty-three in the North
| American region. There is need to
| dwell on the anatomy of the frog, for that
can be found In any manual Of comparative
physiology, but there are some points
which will bear attention.
Every boy acquainted with country life
| knows the tadpole. with its head and tail
so oddly proportional, and the fringe at
| the junction of the two forming tempo
| rary breathing apparatus At first it feeds
| on the. gelatinous. mass in which it dwelt
| as a black speck-unless indeed it was
| fished out by some countryman as a cure
for rheumatism, or gobbled up by the
dainty morsei. Should it escape such en-
| vegetable matter, for the consumption of
which it is fitted by the possession of two
cannbal, and hesitates not to eat it's com
| panions. Many a boy who has left a num-
Der of tadpoles in a glass jar over night has
| been surprised 70 find the number consid-
| erably lessened in the morning If left
| another night there would be further de-
| crease, until eventually only one would re-
| main.
| THE FARMERS FRIEND.
| On leaving the water frogs live on in
| sects-fiies, beetles, etc.--on worms and
slugs. They are among the farmers best
friends and instances have occurred in
which the stomach of frogs, taken from a
field infested with wireworms, have been
found to be full of that pest.
| The frog is so often associated with the
| tadpole in the water that it may be worth
| while to speak of some abnormalities in the
mode of .propagating the species. One kind
of tree frog lays its eggs in the axis OF
| such drops of water as may be lodged there
| from time TO time The young frog has a
| curiosity has been met with in the Solomon
| islands, where the native boys collected fol-
MIR. Guppy a number of transparent gela'
tinous balls rather smaller than a marble
| On the ball being broken open out jumped
a tiny frog about four lines in length
| These frogs never were tadpoles. had nc
signs of gills at the neck; but certain folds
| on each side of the body may prove to be
| peculiar temporary breathing organs. Al
| American tree frog has a curious pouch ex.
| tending in the female over the whole of the
back and opening posteriorly. The eggs are
1
| and developed in the pouch. Another
| American frog from Chill has a very singu
| lar mode of development. The male, and no
| the female, possesses large pouch extend
| ing beneath the skin under the whole sur
| face of the lower jaw and abdomen. On the
floor Of the frogs mouth are two opening:
| leading to il, one on each side of the tongue
The male frog takes his wifes eggs into hi:
| mouth, passes them through the apertures
| into the ventral sac, where they develop
| and pass out into the world through then
fathers mouth again. 1t will be noticed
| habitat
| of the frog is not in or near water. They
| are instances, therefore, of the way ii
| which nature enables creatures to adap
| themselves to the environment.
1t is a popular fallacy that loads are
| hurtful, while frogs are harmless Yet
toads cannot bite because they have no
| teeth, while frogs can bite, because they
have a row of teeth along the margin OF
| the upper jaw. / have, however, often had
| my finger in pet frogs mouth without
any painful result. l suppose that the OBJ
| lection to toads arises from the fact that
| they eject milky fluid from oblong
| prominence behind each eye. Dogs dislike
this fluid exceedingly, and If a toad elects il
into water where tadpoles are kept they
| are strongly affected by it. A frog found
! in the south of France has the power of
eXuding a vapor which smells so strongly
of garlic as to make the eyes water; Tree
frog eating animals, probably because OF
| similar nauseOuS SecretionS. These peculi-
arltes OF frogs ana toads are the neares
approach to the possession of poison or
ganS.
HOW A FROG BREATHES.
Did you ever watch frog breathe? AS II
has no ribs, the action is not accompanied
by the alternate rising and falling of the
chest which We usually associate with
breathing; but the creature swallows the
air, drawing it through the nostrils with
the mouth closed. Frogs throw off carboniC
acid from the skin, that respiration
must be carried on through that also
Moisture is necessary for this, as 1T is from
the gills of a fish, and the frog, therefore
can absorb water through the skin TO
marvellous extent. so that il can take in
half its own weight in half an hour, and il
few hours fully ITS own weight. Tn,
habitat OF the animals is In moist places
! drynesS and dust are fatal 10 them.
have often watched frogs and toads
In the frames Of a garden, take flies
and beetles from the foliage with thei
tongues. and the rapdity with which tn,
insect Is captured is astonishing. The frog.
JoIs,ue Is a curious organ. Unlike mans
which is fastened at the back il is free
there, and fixed In front. In taking an in
sect. the posterior end, which is enlarged
into . kind OF bulb. is thrown forward
turning upon the anterior end as on
hinge. The bulb is provided with visciC
secretion which leaves but little chance o.
escape. Only four exceptions to tht
\ formation are known-one American, on.
- "a Ans ia hay