INTRODUCTION 
strings of Toad’s eggs are when (a difficult proposition !) 
they are taken from their native element and held sus- 
pended, the dark chocolate-coloured eggs resembling 
round beads set in a translucent chain of quicksilver. 
Quite the reverse holds good with regard to Newts, as 
they are much more particular in regard to their domestic 
affairs. Newt’s eggs, as a matter of fact, are rarely 
discovered, except by the enthusiastic pond-dipper, as 
each egg is separately enveloped, or wrapped, in a leaf 
which is sealed up until such time as the young tadpole is 
ready to make good its escape. After hatching, the 
Frog and Toad tadpoles breathe by means of gills. 
So also, for that matter, does the tadpole Newt. The 
former cling for a time to the shapeless mass of jelly-like 
substance, which thus serves the purpose of a floating 
raft, but they soon become restless, and wriggle violently 
until they free themselves from their temporary anchor- 
age. ‘They have, like most young people, ravenous 
appetites, and as they eat, so they grow. The head 
assumes a bull-dog-like appearance, they become more 
active as the days pass by, and congregate in shallow 
water in immense numbers so that the warmth of the 
greatest alchemist that ever was—the Sun—shall infuse 
them with energy and gathering strength. At times, the 
margin of a pond is a seething mass of these animal- 
torpedoes, and it is a mercy that all do not come to 
maturity. A great many fall a prey to other tenants of the 
pond, and as by this time the adults have left its precincts, 
the youngsters have perforce to shift for themselves. 
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