Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1897-03-25

pound, but extra big legs are worth
from thirty to forty-five cents a pound.
They are considered best in the au-
tumn, just before the frogs go into the
mud, and after they have spent a long
season in fattening themselves.
It has been alleged that large quanti-
ties of American frogs are shipped to
Europe, but the fish commission ex-
perts have learned that this is a mis-
take. Dealers at the Fulton market
in New York, told them that they had
never heard of such a thing. If frog
farming is made a success, however it
may be that hind legs will be exported
en- a considerable scale before long, in
asmuch as they are so highly priced
by European epicures. Fears are en-
tertained 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 faunts with spear, shot
Gun and scoop net, and thousands OF
acres which once afforded them a
home are now a silent waste, not the
echo of a single nocturnal croak break
ing upon the stiffness of the air where
batrachian choruses erstwhile ex-
pressed the tuneful mood of nature
This is pity, for the bull frogs of the
United States are the biggest of Their
lind in the world. They are solitary
;.nimals. not seeking each others So
ciety except during the breeding sea
son, when frequently hundreds of them
Will be seen together At that time
they utter the hoarse note from which
they take their name.
A notion of the vast quantity of the
frogs consumed in Europe may be got
from the fact that they are fetched
continually to the city of Vienna from
the country in patches of 10000 to 40, 600
here they are sold to dealers whit
lave Conservatives for keeping them
These Conservatives are big holes ir
the ground about four or five feet
deep the mouth of each covered with
boards and straw. In such pits tbs
frogs never become quite torpid, ever
during the hardest frosts. They gel
together in heaps, and thus Keep them
selves wet by preventing evaporation
no water being ever put with them
Recently attempts have been made to
can frogs legs for market. 1t has beer
d scovered that frogs skin makes a
BEAUTIFUL and most delicate leather
suitable especially for covering books
III former times many salves and other
medicinal preparations were made from,
fl ogs. Frogs hearts were recommen-
dcd by physicians to be swallowed as
pills every morning for certain dis
eases.
If little encouragement were af-
fl rded, many persons doubtless would
take up the business of frog farming
Only the other day Congressman Harry
Skinner received letter on the subjec:
from Colonel r. b. Creecy of Eliza
beth City, N. c. The colonel wrote:
Some of your constituents are dis
posed to raise bullfrogs for profit
Please call at the department of agri-
culture and send me such literature
ae' it can furnish relating to the prac-
tic al part of the business
Frog farming not having obtained
re cognition yet as an agricultural in
dustry, the department of agriculture
possesses no facts with relation to the
matter, and the letter will probably be
referred to the fish commission.
The frog is a favorite subject fol
vivisection. It's circulation and diges.
ticn are similar to the same processes
in human beings. The usual method is
to inject under the skin of the animal q
small quantity of curari poison which
some tribes of South American indians
| use to envenom their arrows. 1t puts
Mr.. Frog SO. fast asleep that he cannol
feel anything. While in helpless con
dition his foot is fastened to a board
so that the blood coursing through the
veins may be observed under the micro
scope. In the veins the red corpuscles
can be seen tumbling along in con.
/ tinuoHs stream, like stones in current
Many other experiments are tried or
the unfortunate creature. such as re
moving his brain, without which h,