NUMBER III 

 THE TALE OF THE TADPOLES 



FROGS are among the earliest heralds of the 

 spring, for although their croaking (in March 

 or earlier) may not be particularly attractive to our 

 ears, it has the same meaning as the nightingale's 

 song. It is a " love " call. Awakening after a 

 long rest and a long fast, the frogs creep out of the 

 mud of the pond and call to one another. They 

 unite in couples, and the eggs laid by the female in 

 the water are fertilized by the male just as they are 

 laid. These eggs form the masses of " frog-spawn " 

 that we see in the ditches and ponds. 



Perhaps we may be fortunate enough to see with a 

 pocket-lens the eggs dividing into two, four, eight, 

 and more cells, as if they were being cut by an 

 invisible knife. Each egg in our common British 

 frog is about a tenth of an inch in diameter ; it is 

 almost entirely black, all but a small white lower 

 pole ; it is surrounded by a large sphere of non- 

 living jelly, corresponding to the white of egg in a 

 hen's egg ; but there is no egg-shell. The whole 

 mass, often of 2,000 eggs, sinks at first, but after- 

 wards floats freely. 



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