an so rancorously alluded,
had, indeed, caused some consternation to the fellows of----. There had
been a marvellous story going the round of the papers, of a shower of
the inelegant reptiles in question having fallen in some part of the
kingdom. Old women were muttering prophecies, and wise men acknowledged
themselves puzzled. The Ashmolean Society had sat in conclave upon it,
and accounted so satisfactorily for the occurrence, that the only wonder
seemed to be that we had not a shower of frogs, or some equally
agreeable visitors, every rainy morning. Now, every one who has strolled
round Christ-Church meadows on a warm evening, especially after rain,
must have been greeted at intervals by a whole gamut of croaks; and, if
he had the curiosity to peer into the green ditches as he passed along,
he might catch a glimpse of the heads of the performers. Well, the joint
reflections of myself and an ingenious friend, who were studying this
branch of zoology while waiting for the coming up of the boats one
night, tended to the conclusion, that a very successful imitation of the
late "Extraordinary Phenomenon" might be got up for the edification of
the scientific in our own college. Animals of all kinds find dealers and
purchasers in Oxford. Curs of lowest degree have their prices. Rats,
being necessary in the education of terriers, come rather expensive. A
pole-cat--even with three legs only--will command a fancy price.
Sparrows, larks, and other small birds, are retailed by the dozen on
Cowley Marsh to gentlemen under-graduates who are aspiring to the
pigeon-trap. But as yet there had been no demand for frogs, and there
was quite a glut of them in the market. They were cheap accordingly; for
a shilling a hundred we found that we might inflict the second plague of
Egypt upon the whole university. The next evening, two hampers,
containing, as our purveyor assured us, "very prime 'uns," arrived at my
rooms "from Mr S----, the wine merchant;" and, by daylight on the
following morning, were judiciously distributed throughout all the
come-at-able premises within the college walls. When I awoke the next
morning, I heard voices in earnest conversation under my window, and
looked out with no little curiosity. The frogs had evidently produced a
sensation. The bursar, disturbed apparently from his early breakfast,
stood robed in an ancient dressing-gown, with the _Times_ in his hand,
on which he was balancing a frog as yellow as himself.