CHAPTEE Y 



eggs, spawning places, viviparous forms, and 

 peculiar care of young in amphibians 



Eggs 



The eggs of frogs and toads are, in general, like 

 those of the higher fishes. They consist of dark dots 

 that are yolks enclosed in a mass of jellylike matter, 

 which is the " white." This " white " may be all in 

 one great sheet or string ; but in tailed forms, the 

 eggs may be separate, buttonlike masses of " white " 

 — each with a yolk in the center. In the upland frogs 

 and toads, some of wliich do not lay their eggs in the 

 water, the eggs may be separate, and placed singly 

 here and there in crevices. These single eggs are apt 

 to be much larger than those which are laid in masses. 

 In the land-haunting tailed amphibians, the eggs are 

 laid in packets or flat bunches. There is no shell or 

 very tough membrane around the eggs of the amphib- 

 ians, as in the birds and reptiles or sharklike fishes. 

 In the ceecilians the eggs are also separated (Fig. 16). 



The place where eggs of most amphibians are laid 



is in the water, generally a shallow stagnant pool. 



Usually they sink to the bottom or are twined around 



the stems of plants. Among the newts the mother 



80 



