FIRE SALAMANDER. See SALAMANDER.
are generally old vessels filled with combustibles, fitted with grappling irons, to hook enemies' ships and set them on fire. If they are used on a river they are al lowed to be carried down by the current, if they are used at sea advantage is taken of a favorable wind to bear them into the midst of the enemy and set their ships on fire. In ancient times the Tyrians employed them against Alexander, and the Carthaginians •against the Romans. The invention of Greek fire in 673 brought them into more frequent use; and they were employed by the Crusaders at Ptolemais (Acre). In the time of Philip II the Spaniards suffered severely by them on two well-known occasions. The first was at the siege of Antwerp in 1585, when by means of fire-ships Gianibelli utterly destroyed a bridge that the Duke of Parma was attempting to throw over the Scheldt, with the aid of some other vessels which he had prepared so as to explode when they reached the bridge. The second case. was when Lord Howard. of Effing ham used them with such effect against the Armada in 1588. In this case also their use is said to have been suggested by Gianibelli. Fire ships were employed during the siege of Que bec in 1759; on one of these the gallant Dubois de la Milletiere perished. The Greeks in their
war of liberation against Turkey also em ployed them with great success.
or FROG, one of the commoner and more aquatic of the European toads or frogs (Bombinator igneus), so called because of the flame-colored patches upon the bluish-black abdomen. They are one and one-half to two inches long and have many peculiar and interesting habits, and make good use of the colors. "When these toads," says Gadow, "are surprised on land, or roughly touched, they curl themselves into an extraordinary attitude displaying the red of their bellies and throats, and remain so until the danger is past, expecting that the enemy will let them alone after having been shown with what a terrible creature it had to deal' In fact the secretions of the skin arc very poisonous, and not even turtles will eat them knowingly. This toad inhabits north-central Europe, and two other species of the genus are known, one in China. It is called "unke" in Germany. Detailed accounts of the animal may be found in Gadow, H., "Amphibia and Rep tiles" (in (Cambridge Natural History,' Vol. VIII, London 1901).