which purpose it has the extremities of the toes expanded, with suckers beneath.

The clammy slime with which it is covered, like serpents, serves also to support it among the leaves of the trees in which it lives.

Why was it formerly believed to rain frogs?

Because the young of the common frog living in grass, among bushes, &c. come out in vast numbers, after warm summer showers.—Blumenbach.

Stories of showers of frogs have, however, obtained credence in our times. Mr. Loudon observes, when at Rouen, in September, 1829, 66 we were assured by an English family resident there, that during a very heavy thunder shower, accompanied by violent wind, and almost midnight darkness, an innumerable multitude of young frogs fell on and around the house. The roof, the window-sills, and the gravel walks were covered with them. They were very small, but perfectly formed, all dead; and the next day being excessively hot, they were dried up to so many points or pills, about the size of the heads of pins. The most obvious way of accounting for this phenomenon is by supposing the water and frogs of some adjoining ponds to have been taken up by the wind in a sort of whirl or tornado.”—Magazine of Nat. Hist.

Why does the skin of the frog and toad resemble a bag containing the animal?

Because it does not adhere to the subjacent parts, as in other animals, but is attached to them only at a few points, and is unconnected elsewhere.

According to old Walton, "the mouth of the frog may be opened from the middle of April till August, and then the frog's mouth grows up, and he continues so for at least six months without eating."

Why are toads sometimes found alive inclosed in stones, &c.?

Because the animals have entered a deep crevice of

the rock, and becoming torpid, have been covered with sand, which has afterwards concreted around them. Thus removed from the influence of the heat of spring or summer, and in a place where the temperature continued below the point at which they revive, it is impossible to fix limits to the period during which they may remain in this torpid state.

Such is the explanation of this phenomenon, by Dr. Fleming. An ingenious French naturalist, M. Geoffrey St. Hilaire, thinks it gives a very inaccurate idea of the phenomenon, "to assimilate the state of those beings whose lives are preserved in torpidity to the animals benumbed during winter." According to his theory, we must conclude that "there exists, for organization under certain combinations, a state of neutrality intermediate between that of life and death, a state into which certain animals are plunged in consequence of the stoppage of respiration, when it would take place under determinate circumstances.

Why is "star-shot jelly" so often seen floating on ponds, &c.

Because frogs are then spawning, and this consists of the glaire which surrounds the eggs, brought into this state by a frog having been swallowed by a bird, and the warmth and moisture of the stomach having made the jelly and the oviducts expand so much, that the bird is obliged to reject it by vomiting.

CROCODILE, ALLIGATOR, &c.

Why is the crocodile an object of superstitious terror to the Egyptians?

Because of its immense size and destructive powers, it being the largest animal inhabiting fresh water, attaining to full 30, or, as Norden says, 50 feet in length; notwithstanding which, its eggs are scarcely as large as a goose's. When full grown, it attacks men and other large animals. When taken young, it may be tamed. The armour, with which the body is covered,

may be considered as one of the most elaborate pieces of natural mechanism. In the full-grown animal it is so strong as easily to repel a musket-ball, appearing as if covered with the most regular and curiously carved work.

Mr. Bullock, late proprietor of a museum in Piccadilly, saw, at New Orleans, "what are believed to be the remains of a stupendous crocodile, and which are likely to prove so, intimating the former existence of a lizard at least 150 feet long; for I measured the right side of the under jaw, which I found to be 21 feet along the curve, and four feet six inches wide."

The teeth of crocodiles have this peculiarity of structure, that in order to facilitate their change, there are always two, of which one is contained in the other.

As a proof of the veneration in which the crocodile was formerly held, we are told by Herodotus, that near Thebes and the Lake Maris, the natives select one, which they tame, suspending golden ornaments from its ears, and sometimes precious stones of great value; the fore-feet, however, being secured by a chain. They feed it with the flesh of the sacred victims, and with other suitable food; and when it dies it is enbalmed, and deposited in a consecrated chest.

Various methods are adopted for catching crocodiles. Labat says, 66 a negro, armed only with a knife in his right hand, and having his left wrapped round with thick leather, will venture boldly to attack the crocodile in his own element. As soon as he observes his enemy near, the man puts out his left arm, which the animal immediately seizes with his teeth. He then gives it several stabs in the throat, where the skin is very tender; and the water coming in at the mouth thus involuntarily laid open, the creature is soon destroyed." A still more hazardous method was adopted by Mr. Waterton, who travelled in south America

about five or six years since. Having secured a crocodile of the Essequibo, by a baited hook fastened to a long rope, by the aid of some Indians, "I pulled the animal," says the traveller, "within two yards of me; I saw he was in a state of fear and perturbation; I instantly sprung up, and jumped on his back; turning half round as I vaulted, so that I gained my seat with my face in a right position. I immediately seized his fore legs, and by main force twisted them on his back; thus they served me for a bridle."

On his return home, Mr. Waterton published his Travels; but the jumping on the crocodile was received by his readers as a traveller's story, till its possibility was established by reference to Pliny's Natural History, where it is stated that the natives of Tentyra mount on the crocodile's back "like horsemen, and as he opens his jaws to bite, with his head turned up, they thrust a club into his mouth, and holding the ends of it, they bring him to shore captive, as if with bridles." Other proofs are quoted in the Magazine of Natural History, for 1830.

Why does the alligator differ from the crocodile?

Because the body and tail are more round and smooth than the true crocodile; it is also smaller, and has smaller eggs. Like it, however, it has five toes on the fore feet, and four on the hinder, of which only the three inner ones are provided with claws.

Why do alligators swallow stones when going in search of prey?

Because (as the Indians on the Orinoco assert) they may acquire additional weight to aid them in diving and dragging their victims under water. A traveller being somewhat incredulous on this point, Bolivar, to convince him, shot three alligators with his rifle, and in each of them were found stones varying in weight according

to the size of the animal. The largest killed was about 17 feet in length, and had within him a stone weighing about 60 or 70 pounds.

Why is the cayman neither safe on land nor in water? Because it is driven into the water by the tiger and other enemies; whence it is made to scamper ashore by the porpess, the natural enemy and entire master of the cayman so much so, indeed, that the natives enter the water without fear when the porpess is in sight.

Why was the crocodile formerly believed to be vanquished by the ichneumon?

Because eggs of crocodiles form the favourite food of the ichneumon, wherefore, this portion of its history became mingled in early times with the above fanciful notion. Divine honours were accordingly awarded to the ichneumon by the ancient Egyptians, and it became, and continued for ages, an object of superstitious reverence to a people prone to this symbolical worship of the powers of nature.

Ichneumons are still domesticated in Egypt, where they rid the houses of the smaller animals, and perform the office of our domestic cat.

Why may the hippopotamus be classed with amphibia?*

Because it runs with astonishing swiftness, for its great bulk, at the bottom of lakes and rivers. At one time it was not uncommon in the Nile, but now is nowhere to be found in that river, except above the

cataracts.

The head of a hippopotamus was brought to England about four years since, with all the flesh about it, in a high state of preservation. This animal was harpooned whilst in combat with a crocodile, in a lake in the interior of Africa. The head measures near four

The hippopotamus is, strictly speaking, a quadruped, but its habits being amphibious, entitle it to mention here, especially in connexion with the crocodile, to which it is a ferocious enemy.