THE TALE OF THE TADPOLES 



to show signs of a great change. It loses its appe- 

 tite, it becomes much less energetic. The tail 

 begins to break up internally, its muscles and other 

 structures are dissolved, and most of the material 

 is swept away in the blood stream to help in build- 

 ing up a better head. Wandering cells, which are 

 present in almost all animals, seem to play an 

 important part, working like sappers and miners 

 among the debris of the tail, dissolving some of 

 the material, carrying some away. In the course 

 of the great change, the horny jaws are lost, the 

 frilled lips shrink, the mouth changes its shape 

 and becomes broad, the tongue becomes large and 

 movable, the eyes, hitherto hidden beneath the 

 skin, become clearly visible. 



As the tail shortens more and more, the tadpole, 

 rapidly ceasing to be a tadpole, recovers its appetite 

 and feeds greedily on animal matter, sometimes on 

 its younger fellows. The tail is reduced to a short 

 projecting stump, and, apart from this, the adult 

 shape has been reached. Disinclination for a purely 

 aquatic life becomes marked, and the young frogs 

 clamber ashore. As they have lost all trace of 

 gills, they are apt to drown in aquaria unless they 

 have floating rafts to climb upon, or some other 

 means of breathing dry air. 



The Frog's Year 



Before leaving the tadpoles, interesting in so 

 many ways, let us think over the year's life of the 

 frog. Throughout the winter months the frogs 



23 



