THE AQUARIUM, APRIL, 1894. 



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DEVELOPMENT OF THE FROG. 



1. Single Egg, Natural Size. 2. A Lump of Spawn (Eggs), as Deposited by the Frog, very much re- 

 duced, i. First State of the Tadpole, enlarged. A. Appearance op the Gills, enlarged, .t. The Per- 

 fect Tadpole, Natural Size. 0. Formation of the Hind Legs. 7. Appearance of the Front Legs and 

 Transformation of the Head. 8. Development of the Lungs and Absorption of the Tail. 9. The Per- 

 fect P'rog. 



WHAT ALLIGATORS ARE GOOD 

 FOR. 



When, as a young man, we lived 

 down South, a fisherman brought sev- 

 eral large, ugly looking live alligators to 

 town, for us. In a little while quite 

 a crowd of spectators had gathered and 

 the question was discussed " what such 

 ugly creatures were good for anyway." 

 The remark made by one of the natives 

 ''that they were created to eat niggers," 

 seemed to be approved of by the ma- 

 jority. The following clipping from 

 an exchange proves that every creature 

 has a function to fulfill in the house- 

 hold of Nature, and that it is only 

 shortsightedness of man when he fails 

 to see it: 



''a valuable saurian." 

 " Now that the alligator is nearly 



exterminated his virtues are recognized. 

 The alligator was never beloved by the 

 people living in the regions where it 

 abounded ; the farmers anathematized 

 it as a destroyer of young pigs, while 

 every one agreed that it was an ugly, 

 useless animal. But since the demand 

 for its skin for valises, pocket books, 

 and a thousand and one such uses, has 

 resulted in the ahnost entire destruction 

 of the alligator the residents of the bay 

 and bayou regions of Louisiana and 

 Florida have discovered the huge sau- 

 rian's value. With its disappearance 

 there has been a great increase in the 

 number of muskrats, rabbits, raccoons, 

 and other mischievous animals, and in 

 some parts of Louisiana, since the dis- 

 appearance of the alligator, these ani- 

 mals have lately become a dangerous 

 pest. The rats burrow through the 



