Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VII.djvu/519

 FROG Michigan to the Oarolinas, chiefly in thick woods, preferring those of oak; it is active, when pursued hiding itself under leaves; it rarely approaches water except in the breeding season. The crying frog (K clamitans, Bosc.), a slender species, is olive-colored in front, dusky behind, and silvery white below; the total length is 8 in. ; it is very active, and when leaping frightened into the water utters a short loud cry ; it is a southern species, taking the place of the spring frog of the north, and by some thought to be the same. Like all other reptiles, the common frog of Europe (E. temporaries, Linn.) differs from all American species ; the color is generally brown, inclining to reddish or yellowish above, with irregular spots of black or brown, and transverse bands on the legs, and yellowish white below with smaller and fewer spots; the most constant mark is an elongated brown patch behind the eye on each side ; the total length is about T in. ; it is found very generally over Europe. The green frog of Europe (JS. esculenta, Linn.) is of a general greenish color above, with black or brownish marks, and sometimes with three FROISSART 507 Green Frog (Eana esculenta). yellow stripes on the back, and yellowish white below ; the total length is about 8 in. ; it is distributed over Europe, Asia, and northern Africa, and is the species most sought after for food. There are several species of small frogs, principally American and subtropical, belong- ing to the genus cystignathus (Wagler), char- acterized by the almost entire absence of webs to the toes ; for their description the reader is referred to the work of Dr. Holbrook (vol. i.), and of Dume'ril and Bibron (vol. viii.). The ge- nus ceratophrys (Boie) or phrynoceros (Tschu- di) will be described under HOENED FEOG; the tree frogs (hyla, Laurenti) and the peeping frogs (hylodes, Fitz.) will be noticed under TEEE FEOG, belonging as they do to the family hy- ladce. The frogs are considered by Agassiz lower than the toads among anourous batra- chians, on account of their aquatic habits, the persistence of the embryonic webs between the toes, and the non-existence of glands developed in the substance of the skin. The family ra- nida are the most numerously represented of the fossil anourous batrachians, and their re- mains occur in the tertiary and diluvian forma- tions, sometimes of large size. The gigantic cheirotherium or labyrinthodon is placed by Jager, Fitzinger, and Owen among batrachians this immense frog-like animal, with a head 2 or 3 ft. long and the body 10 or 12, first ap- peared in the carboniferous period, was abun- dant in the triassic, and probably disappeared betore the Jurassic epoch. From the facts now ascertained it would appear that the muddy shores and flats of remote geological ages were inhabited by batrachoid forms as strange as the flying pterodactyl or the great ichthyosaurus and plesiosaurus, and that possibly frogs 12 ft. long (like cheirotherium} leaped and croaked in the ancient marshes. FROISSART, Jehan, or Jean, a French chron- icler, born in Valenciennes in 1337, died at Chimay about 1410. His father, a heraldic painter, destined him to the clerical profession. He was scarcely 20 years old when, upon the invitation of Robert of Namur, he undertook to write a history of the wars and adventures of his times. He compiled from the Vraiet chroniques of Jehan le Bel, canon of St. Lam- bert in Liege, the first part of his own " Chron- icles," embracing the period from 1326 to 1340. When this was completed he went to England in 1360, and presented it to Philippa of Hainaut, the queen of Edward III. In 1362 he was made clerk of her chapel (having already taken holy orders), and also her secretary. In 1364 he visited Scotland, where he was kindly treated by King David Bruce, and enjoyed the hospitality of the Douglases. After gath- ering ample materials in Great Britain, he returned to the continent, and in 1366 went to the English court at Bordeaux. Thence he returned for a short time to England, and in 1368 we find him accompanying Lionel, duke of Clarence, to Italy, and, with Chaucer and Petrarch, witnessing in Milan the celebration of the marriage of that prince with the daughter of Galeazzo Visconti. In 1369 he repaired to his native country, where he obtained the liv- ing of Lestines. But the life of a country priest did not suit him, and he attached himself to Wenceslas of Luxemburg, duke of Brabant, who intrusted him with the care of collecting and writing down his rondeaus, ballads, songs, and virelays. To these Froissart added some of his own compositions, and the collection formed a volume with the title of Melyador, or "The Knight of the Golden Sun." But Wenceslas died before the work was completed, and Guy, count of Blois, made Froissart clerk of his chapel, and sent him with a letter of intro- duction and gifts to Gaston Phoebus, count of Foix. After sojourning a long while at Orthez he accompanied this prince's niece, Jeanne do Boulogne, when she went to Riom to marry the duke of Berry. Thence he repaired to Paris, and afterward travelled again through Holland, Languedoc, and other countries. In 1390 he settled at Chimay, having been ap- pointed canon and treasurer to the church there, and, with the exception of the time spent in a visit to England for the purpose of