They spotted, and their eyes remarkably brilliant. move with great agility, leaping to a considerable distance. The feet are terminated in a manner almost resembling fingers. They have a very peculiar croak, which, in places where they abound, is heard to a great distance: from the marshes and lakes in Holland, where they are extremely numerous, the sound may be heard at a distance of three miles. These creatures subsist on insects of all kinds: they catch their prey on the tongue, which is admirably adapted for the purpose, being very long, and furnished with a glutinous matter, which adheres to whatever it touches, and thus the prey is secured till drawn into the mouth. The frog lives for the most part out of water, but when the cold nights begin to set in, it returns to its native element, always choosing stagnant waters, where it can without danger lie concealed at the bottom; in this manner it remains torpid, or with but very little motion, all the winter: like the rest of the dormant race, it requires no food, and the circulation is slowly carried on, without the assistance of air. The frog is very tenacious of life, and will continue to live with his head cut off, even the bowels extracted, and the skin removed. We regret that such cruelties should ever have been practised, and it is impossible too strongly to deprecate the conduct of many ignorant and prejudiced nurses, who impress the minds of their tender charge with sentiments of terror or aversion at the sight of these harmless creatures; impressions which are frequently retained through life, and issue in distressing timidity or odious cruelty. The frog was one of the instruments of divine vengeance on the hardened king of Egypt, and his people; and the great power of God was strikingly seen in making an animal so small and so devoid of every evil qualitythe means of a terrible affliction to his enemies. How easy is it, both to the justice and mercy of God, to destroy, or to save, by the most formidable or the most despicable and insignificant insects. He is the Lord of hosts, and an angelic army goes forth at His command, or a thunderbolt is issued, to punish a sinner or a sinful nation; or frogs or flies, in His hands, prove sufficient instruments of vengeance. The river Nile was an object of idolatry to the Egyptians, and it was made the fruitful source of their calamities. As the frog was in Egypt an emblem of Osiris, or the sun, it was in all probability regarded with superstitious veneration: thus, in several instances the Egyptians were punished by those things which they foolishly revered. The river was commanded to send forth frogs abundantly; and immediately they issued forth in swarms, so as to cover the land, and fill every dwelling house, even the palaces of their kings. When we read of their coming up into the bed-chambers, and ovens, and kneading-troughs, we should understand that their lodgings were not, like ours, upper stories, but recesses on the ground-floor; and that their ovens were not, like ours, built on the side of a chimney, and adjacent to a fire-place, where the glowing heat would frighten away the frogs. Having dug a hole in the ground, in which they placed an earthen pot, which being sufficiently heated, they placed their cakes inside to be baked: to find these places full of frogs when they came to heat them in order to bake their bread, and to find armies of them on the beds in which they sought to repose,-must have been disgusting and distressing in the extreme. The magicians, as in former instances, were permitted to imitate this miracle; but they did not even pretend to attempt its removal. At length Pharaoh was reduced to the necessity of entreating the intercession of Moses and Aaron, promising that he would let Israel go, if he and his people were but freed from this odious plague. Moses, ever willing to hope the best even of his hardened enemies, readily complied with Pharaoh's request, and at his intercession the frogs died out of the land: they were left however, for the people to remove, the more incontestably to evidence the truth of the miracle. It has been considered probable that the putrid effluvia arising from the heaps of corrupting matter occasioned a pestilence which cut off many of the people, as it is said by the psalmist, "He sent frogs, which destroyed them." It need scarcely be added, that Pharaoh hardened his heart, and forfeited his pro mise; and that other plagues were called for, (some of which will come under notice,) and at length the total destruction of the hardened king and his armies ensued. The narrative is recorded, Exod viii. 1—15. and referred to Psalm lxxviii. 45, and cv. 30. The frog is mentioned in the book of Revelation, as representing the false teachers, and other agents of Antichrist; probably in allusion to the impure and stagnant marshes in which they are generated, which resemble the puddle of human depravity, to their slime and impurity, which resemble the corrupting moral tendency of false doctrine; and to their croaking, which is annoying, like the great swelling words and vain contention of those malignant emissaries: "I saw," said John, "three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the of the mouth of the beast and of the false prophet," Rev. xvi. 13, 14. The Snail. The snail is so universally known, that description would be superfluous. It has been well observed, that "the snail wastes itself by its motion, every undulation leaving some of its moisture behind; and in the same manner the actions of wicked men prove their destruction." They may, like the snail, wind about in their movements; but they generally leave a trace behind. They may carry their defence with them," and retire into it on every appearance of danger; they may confidently trust in their own resources, and banish far away the fear of evil: but the principles of ruin are at work within them, and although the progress may be slow, the result 66 |