Browse:Frog and Toadfrog (Volume 1, entries 573–575)
Frog and Toadfrog
Volume 1, entries 573–575. Source context: THE DOCTORS AT WORK: REPORTS FROM LAYMEN → DIAGNOSIS. Entries listed under this heading in the source volume.
Entries
Entry 573
A woman in Georgia said if yo' got a pain about chew anywhere, said, take a frog an' don't kill him, but jes' lay him in de palm of yore hand or wherevah de pain wus an' dey tie him an' let him stay there. An' dey say, if he dies, yore poisoned; if he don't die, then yo' are not poisoned.
Entry 574
You kin take and kill a frog and tie it on your hand [or other suspected place] and that frog will turn green if you are fixed and dry up hard; and if you are not fixed, that frog will remain like he is.
A killed frog is described in a conditional test for being fixed; its alleged changes are unverified.
Entry 575
It's a gambling hand - that's what 'tis. Ah did that mahself - like yo playin' numbers - yo' ketch you a toadfrog and take yo' a indelicate [indelible] pencil and jest de numbers you wanta win on, put it on that frog's stomach and ev'ry time dat frog go - it [must] turn and go [jump] - before you gon'a win.
[See also Frog in subsection Hand.]
The informant calls it a gambling hand and claims to have tried it; no winning outcome is established.