In the Museum of Natural History at Strasburg, is shown the trunk of a
silver fir-tree, from the forest of Hochwald, at Barr, in Alsatia. The
tree was 150 feet high, with a trunk perfectly straight and free from
branches to the height of 50 feet, after which it was forked with the one
shoot 100 feet long, and the other somewhat shorter. The diameter of the
trunk at the surface of the ground was 8 feet; estimated age 350
years.--_Ibid._

* * * * *


_The Weather by Frogs._

The editor of the _Magazine of Natural History_, in his Notes during a
recent tour on the continent, says, "at Schwetzingen, in the post-house,
we witnessed, for the first time, what we have since seen frequently, an
amusing application of zoological knowledge, for the purpose of
prognosticating the weather. Two frogs, of the species **_R_àna arbòrea,
are kept in a crystal jar, about 18 inches high, and 6 inches in diameter,
with a depth of three or four inches of water at the bottom, and a small
ladder reaching to the top of the jar. On the approach of dry weather,
the frogs mount the ladder; but, when moisture is expected, they descend
into the water. These animals are of a bright green, and in their wild
state here, climb the trees in search of insects, and make a peculiar
singing noise before rain. In the jar they get no other food than now and
then a fly; one of which, we were assured, would serve a frog for a week,
though it will eat from six to twelve in a day if it can get them. In
catching the flies put alive into the jar the frogs display great
adroitness."