Science from an Easy ChairLankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
History
Science from an Easy Chair
Lankester, E. Ray (Edwin Ray), Sir
Natural history; Science
There is, of course, a third group or “lot” of plants on the Riviera,
which consists of those brought from all parts of the world during the
past century, and regularly cultivated and cared for in gardens. The
climate of the Riviera enables the gardener to grow all sorts of
sub-tropical plants in the open air, and a long list of them could be
given. The wonderfully brilliant crimson creeper, Bougainvillia, covers
walls by the roadways, and even the railway stations, with its rich
colour at this season. A delightful book by the distinguished botanist,
Professor Strasburger, describing and picturing in colours many of the
cultivated as well as the wild plants of the Riviera, has lately been
published (in English) at a small price.
The animals which come under the notice of those who go in search of
spring sunshine to the Riviera are far less numerous than the plants.
But there is one which is dear to all, although it makes such a noise
for an hour or so about sunset that some people are irritated or even
alarmed by it. This is the little green tree-frog, Fig. 1, which now
comes forth from its winter sleep, and assembles in thousands—guided by
the “croak” or “call” which is produced by the males. The females have a
very small voice comparatively. I kept two—a male and female—through a
winter in London, and when the spring came the male terrified the
household one night by unexpectedly uttering his cry—loud and sharp—to
which the female replied. “Wharr! biz” is the nearest expression I can
give in letters to the two sounds. After a great many evenings spent in
these rhythmical declamations, the little frogs collect round pools and
tanks, and at last drop from the trees into the water, and there deposit
their spawn. When producing his cry the male distends the skin of his
throat like a balloon. The air is driven alternately from it into the
lungs and back again over the vocal chords, which vibrate with no
uncertain sound. These little frogs are easy to keep in an inverted
bell-jar or in a fern-case, but must be fed regularly with flies and
spiders, which they catch by a sudden dab of the tongue at the moment of
alighting from a long leap on to the glass where the insect is crawling.
They can hold on to smooth glass or leaves by means of their sucker-like
toes (Fig. 1).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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