CLASS BATRACHIA. 



109 



uralists from the earliest times. The eggs, for instance, 

 of a Toad, are deposited in some warm pool, Avhere they 



hatch into small fish-like larvse, 

 provided with external gills, 



FIG. 187. 



FIG. 188. 



Skeleton of a Frog. 



Tadpole changes. 



FIG. 189. 



which have in the second stage disappeared ; in the 

 third, the hind limbs appear ; in the fourth, the fore 

 limbs ; and, finally, the tail is resorbed, and we have the 

 young Toads, which leave the ponds when the ground is 

 moist, as after a shower, giving rise to the foolish notion 

 that they rain down. 



The Toads are without teeth. A large form found in 

 the northern part of South America, and known as the 

 Surinam (soo re nam') Toad, is at once the introductory, 

 as well as, from its pecu- 

 liar breeding habits, the 

 most remarkable of the 

 order. " As soon as the 

 slimy eggs are deposited, 

 the male quickly places 

 them upon the back of 



the female. Adhering to 

 this, cells soon form 

 around them, and each P*'P *ri <*'<* Surinam Toad. (1 .) 



is covered by a lid. In these cells, the young go through 

 their metamorphoses, until, finally, the covers are broken 



