Beast

Frog


Latin name: Rana
Other names: Agredulae, Calamitis, Frösch, Grenouille, Laubfrosch, Orospo, Rainne, Ranam, Rani, Rayne, Rospo, Rubeta, Toad
Category: Serpent

Land frogs die if exposed to rain

General Attributes

Land frogs can withstand the heat of summer, but die if exposed to rain. Water frogs, when overheated by the sun's rays, dip into a fountain to cool off. Frogs can be green or red, and have a croaking voice that they use to attract a mate. They produce the sound by inhaling to inflate their sides, then compress them to force out a croak. Their eyes shine like lamps. If the bone from the right side of a frog is dropped in boiling water, the water cools and will not boil again until the bone is removed. Its body is full of medicines and poison; while feeding it ejects both, but takes back the poison as a weapon.

Various authors class the frog as a serpent, a fish or a worm. Thomas of Cantimpré in his description of the frog first says it is a worm, then quotes Aristotle to say that it is a fish.

In some cases the description is specifically about the toad, which is here included with the frog. Toads were considered to be poisonous.

Uses Magical, Medical, Alchemical and Culinary

If the tongue of a water frog is placed on the head of a sleeping man, he will talk in his sleep and reveal secrets. Some say this will also happen if the tongue is cut from a live frog a placed over the heart of a sleeping woman. Ashes of a burned frog in a bath will remove body hair. If a bone from the right side of a frog is dropped into boiling water, the water will cool and will not boil again until the bone is removed. Their ashes drunk in water is a remedy for the poison of the sea-hare. If the frog called corriens is thrown into a dog's mouth the dog will be unable to bark.