The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-06
GOVERNMENT FROG LORE.

GOVERNMENT FROG LORE.
Forty species of frogs are known in the
world according TO the frog man" of
the Smithsonian institution. who has
given the matter laborious and industri-
Gus attention. and whose authority is the
highest obtainable.
AS this is the frog season It IS inter
esttng To know that the crop promises to
be an unusually large one and that the
market price will not be exorbltant.
Less than quarter Of a century ago
| only a few people ate frogs, but now
almost everybody eats them, and they
| have become a regular and much sought
after market article of food.
The governments frog man will not
| acknowledge that Canada produces finer
frogs than does the United States. but
contends that in the marshes along the
Potomac, the Louisiana swamDs and the
swamps and marshes of New York and
pennsylvania, are to be found some Of
| the finest and largest frogs in the world.
1t Is confessed however, that our Ca
madam friends understand the art of pre-
pairing freq legs for market in a manner
superior to ourselves, and that this has
brought the Canadian frogs into popular
favor. The Canadians simply have the
best of us in thoroughly understanding
the art of skinnlng and preparing for
in havor and size. Frog farming, accord.
ing to the frog man, is sure to become
one Of the most profitable Of all our Small
industries. and he says that there are
already a number of gentlemen engaged
in the business. and that they are max
ing money.
OF the forty species Of frogs known In
the world. the largest of them IS the gi,
gantic "bellower'' found in the swanDs
of Louisiana. This frog grows to four
pounds weight, and Is enc of the choicest
for table use. Next to these come the
Potomac and New York frogs, both large
and Of superior flavor. It Is, however.
true that there is not Il state In the Union
in which fine eating frogs cannot be found
! in abundance. 1t Is claimed that the
''picRings" on the body of a frog are
! just as good as the meat on the legs, but
1t Is said that in the days before the
deluge frogs grew to such immense siZes
that the legs furnished sufficient meat to
satisfy all demands without eating any
other portion, and hence the custom has
been kept up. Geological sharps have
dug up petrifcatiOn and fossils TO prove
that the batrachan grew to be as large
as man, but our present day frog man
gives little credence to sucn stories OF
antiquity.
Inc duUlOHly OF Il IIOS Is SOllGtnllE
wonderful. His legs are great masses Of
muscles, and there is little wonder that
he is a great jumper. No learned ply.
siciSt has ever been able to explain why
a frogs legs VIII be apparently alive
| many hours after the frog Is killed and
the Jumpers" prepared for the frying
pan or spider. A drop of salt sprinklcd
on the legs VIII cause them to culver and
jump about If they were alive It i
supposed to be some stimulating chemical
| Of the nerves not yet altogether deal
When frog Is hurt IL cries like a baby
and when killed it folds its front legs
or arms across its breast and stretches
out its jumpers" In many ways tho
frog is astonshingly like the man in
physical respects, and that IS supposed
to be the reason why anatOmists are CON
tinualIy cutting the unfortunate batrach-
ian up to show mis- muscular structure
and the circulation Of his blood; giving
him poisOns to see now Trey affect him,
and trying 10 find out how long and how
well he can get along without his brains.
his intestlnes or other vital parts. Ex-
periments show that Il frog deprived Of
his brains will live perfectly well for an
indefinite period. eating what is put in
his mouth. and pursuing existence In
sCrt of automatic manner.
Like the owl, the frog has been &C
cepted as a comic animal, and unlike the
toad, which has been set apart with the
bat as q creature Of mystery and even
dread. There is a peculiarly strange sU-
perstitiOn which relates to the stones
in the toads head. For centuries this
stone which every toad is suppos d -
have was believed universally u be a
sure charm against pOisOns and the evil
eye, and ladies and gentlemen common y
wore toad stones as amulets. To deter
mine a real toad stone from a false one
this was done:
Hold your stone before toad, 80 that
he may see it well, and if 1t be a good
stone. the toad will leap toward it t.
snatch 1t from you. for he envitth s.
much that d man should have that stone.
Toad stones were costly. because Of
the unwillingness of the creature to give
up it's treasure. which, even when dying.
1t would swallow to conceal It. One
sure way recommended for securing ~
stone is this: Take a large Old ha toad
and place him on a table upon a red
cloth. watch him carefully all night, and
before morning he will vomit up the
stone.
There are plenty OF these toad stoaei
now in existence. They are said to b.
Of particularly good ivory, and arc shap.
ed somewhat like an acorn cup. Cnfoi-
tunately for the superstition, however,
science has discovered that they are
nothing more nor less than the tech
from the extinct "hump-toothed" shark
a fish that existed IN the remote geOiog-
ical age. and left It's teeth behind It. IT,
find one was sufficiently rare to rend IT
It curiosity. and. inasmuch as it dI1
not look Ike tooth. or anything else In
particular. the mysterious object pass
very well for a toad stone
According to the frogology oH thn frog
man, toads have been found alive In cav
tiles IN rocks. wherein they must have
been inclosed hundreds if centuries before.
There is the best scientific evidence Tor
believing this, and the only theory az
vanced to account for the marvel is thai
they were shut up while in a torpid state.
and remained there for thousands an
thousands of years IN a condition that
implied no waste 10 their bodies, and.
therefore, no need Of nutrition. When
the tools of the Workmen released tn m.
they quickly revived. and awOlSe to health
and lIveliness after their sleep of epoch5.
j S. Van Antwerp.
THE UNELECTED INFANT.
An Unelected Infant sighed out It's little