, even under the stimulus of
the proffered forty shillings, can scarcely be admitted to be absolutely
conclusive proof of the negative, at least not to us who were not placed
in the painful position of _gullees_. Mr Arthur Hussey of Rottingdean
justly remarks, when presenting some evidence _per contra_, that we
should not think the innocence of a culprit was established by his
asserting, when sundry witnesses affirmed they saw him commit the
offence he was accused of,--that he could produce ten times the number
who would swear they _did not_ see him.

"During the summer of 1846," writes Mr Hussey, "in the formation of a
railroad, about half a mile from Pontefract, in Yorkshire, the works
were carried a 'depth of four feet through a rock betwixt lime and
sandstone, about the junction of the two formations:' the rock being so
firm as to require blasting. 'It is entirely free from beds of any kind,
or what the workmen term "backs," running up it,' but therein are 'an
infinite number of small nodules of a harder quality, entirely
crystallised in the interior.' After blasting, the labourers were much
surprised to find among the fragments several of these nodules, each one
containing a Frog, as many as seven having been counted after one
'shot.'

"These were not casually seen when exposed, and then disregarded, but
were examined in their stone prisons through very minute holes, some
even preserved in that state for a long period. For example, the relator
states of one specimen, 'I kept this Toad in a cellar for about five
months, during which time it ate nothing, and was without light, the
hole in the stone being covered with a piece of clay, and the whole kept
moist and cool with water.' Of another he says, 'The Frog lived only
about a week, as I kept it in a place which I think was too warm for it,
and also not sufficiently dark and quiet. When the Frogs were disturbed
by the shots, their first desire seemed to be to get under shelter of
some stone, or into their old holes again, shewing thereby that sight
was not wanting, and bodily activity was perfect as far as could be
seen. One thing struck me as singular with regard to the Frog I
kept--its fresh, plump, and healthy appearance, its skin being soft and
transparent. One day, when I was holding my finger over the hole in the
stone, it pushed its head between my finger and the sides of the hole,
and drew its whole body after it on to the table, where it appeared more
lik