The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-03-07

tioning is that the bottom of the pond
must be of soft mud, because when winter
comes the frogs go to sleep until spring.
They burrow into the mud and there re-
main in torpid state as long as cold
weather lasts.
When the last of the ice has gone the
frogs come out of the mud and again take
an active interest in life. Spring is the
season when Mr.. Frog goes a-wooing. He
is homogeneous in habit, and he employs
the allurement of song to excite the tender
emotions of his lady-love. He has a fine
bass voice, by means of which he entices
the coy Miss Frog. A lady frog does not
sing. In the course of time the female
frog deposits in the water small gluti-
nous mass of spawn; it looks like so much
jelly, with balck spots in it. The spawn
may be Matched artificially in suitable
Matching box, but this is hardly worth
while, inasmuch as it will hatch itself just
as we'll If gathered for transfer to an
other pond, care should be taken to break
it as little as possible. 1t will hatch in a
week or so.
Mr.. Lucas, the PSYCHOLOGIST of the Ma
tional museum says that the frog is just
about the most wonderful animal in the
world. 1t starts in life as a vegetable
eating fish, with gills and tail, and turns
into an air-breathing land animal, devel-
oping teeth and becoming a carniverous
quadruped. The toad is a higher animal
than the frog because it gives birth di-
rectly to little air-breathing toads, where
as the frog lays eggs that produce fish
like tadpoles. Mr.. Frog has a skull of
enormous size, with a very small brain
cavity. He has only nine vertebrae in
his backbone-feWer than any other ami
mal-and possesses no ribs at all. Thus
he is obliged literally to swallow by gulps
the air he breathes instead of projecting
his chest like a human being and Great
ing a vacuum for the atmosphere to pour
into. He has joint in the middle of each
foot and also a joint in the middle of his
back. These extra hinges help him i'm
mensely in jumping. If man could jump
as well as a frog in proportion to his
size, he would be able to leap at least 800
yards at a bound.
Forty species of frogs are known in the
world. The largest is the gigantic "bel-
lower" of the Louisiana swamps, which
is said to attain a weight of four pounds I;
the smallest is the tree frog. Ordinarily
only the hind legs of the bullfrog are
eaten, but in New Orleans and also in
France and Germany the animal is serv-
ed whole quite commonly. Anybody who
has eaten frogs legs will testify TO their
delicious flavor. which is somewhat like
that of very tender spring chicken, only
more delicate The legs, after being skim
ned, should be placed in fresh, cold water.
Next they should be drained dried. and
eggs, well beaten up. Finally they must
be powdered over with flour and fried in
plenty of olive oil until they are crisp and
brown. Add a lemon, some red pepper and
serve. Frogs legs fetch ordinarily about
20 cents a pound, but extra big legs are
worth from 30 to 80 cents n pound. They
are considered best in the autumn. lust
before the frogs go into the mud, and after
they have spent long season in fatten-
ing themselves.
II has been alleged that large quantities
of American frogs are shipped to Europe,
but the fish commission experts have
learned that this is a mistake. Dealers
at the Fulton market, I'm New York, told
them that they had never heard of such
thing. II frog farming Is made a sue
cess, however it may be that hind legs
will be exported on considerable scale
before long, inasmuch as they are highly
priced by European epicures Fears are
entertained lest the wild frogs in this
country may be exterminated by the
wholesale slaughter that now goes on
Ruthless pot hunters have invaded their
moist haun.s with spear, shotgun and
scoop net, and thousands of acres which
once Afforded them home are now a
silent waste, not the echo OF single noe
turnal eroak breaking upon the stiffness
OF the air where batrachian choruses erst-