Batrachian Study 181 



III. BATRACHIAN STUDY 



THE COMMON TOAD 



Teacher's Story 

 "The toad hopped by us with jolting springs." AKERS. 



WHOEVER has not had a pet toad has missed a most 

 entertaining experience. Toad actions are surpris- 

 ingly interesting; one of my safeguards against the 

 blues is the memory of the thoughtful way one of my 

 pet toads rubbed and patted its stomach with its little 



hands after it had swallowed a June-bug. Toads do 

 not make warts upon attacking hands, neither do they 

 rain down nor are they found in the bed-rock of 

 quarries; but they do have a most interesting history of their own, 

 which is not at all legendary, and which is very like a life with two in- 

 carnations. 



The mother toad lays her eggs in May and June in ponds, or in the still 

 pools, along streams; the eggs are laid in long strings of jellylike sub- 

 stance, and are dropped upon the pond bottom or attached to water 

 weeds; when first deposited, the jelly is transparent and the little black 

 eggs can be plainly seen; but after a day or two, bits of dirt accumulate 

 upon the jelly, obscuring the eggs. At first the eggs are spherical, like 

 tiny black pills, but as they begin to develop, they elongate and finally 

 the tadpoles may be seen wriggling in the jelly mass, which affords them 

 efficient protection. After four or five days, the tadpoles usually 

 work their way out and swim away; at this stage, the only way to detect 

 the head, is by the direction of the tadpole's progress, since it naturally 

 goes head first. However, the head soon becomes decidedly larger, 

 although at first it is not provided with a mouth; it has instead, a 

 V-shaped elevation where the mouth should be, which forms a sucker 

 secreting a sticky substance by means of w r hich the tadpole attaches 

 itself to water weeds, resting head up. When two or three days old, we 

 can detect little tassels on either side of the throat, which are the gills 

 by which the little creature breathes; the blood passes through these 

 gills, and is purified by coming in contact with the air which is mixed in 

 the water. About ten days later, these gills disappear beneath a mem- 

 brane which grows down over them; but they are still used for breathing, 

 simply having changed position from the outside to the inside of the 

 throat. The water enters the nostrils to the mouth, passes through an 

 opening in the throat and flows over the gills and out through a little 

 opening at the left side of the body; this opening or breathing-pore, can 

 be easily seen in the larger tadpoles; and when the left arm develops, it is 

 pushed out through this convenient orifice. 



When about ten days old, the tadpole has developed a small, round 

 mouth which is constantly in search of something to eat, and at the same 

 time constantly opening and shutting to take in air for the gills; the 

 mouth is provided with horny jaws for biting off pieces of plants. As the 



