108 MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 



THIRTEENTH WEEK. 



T FIND that gardening has unsurpassed 

 -^- advantages for the study of natural 

 history; and some scientific facts have 

 come under my own observation, which 

 cannot fail to interest naturalists and 

 un-naturalists in about the same degree. 

 Much, for instance, has been written 

 about the toad, an animal without which 

 no garden would be complete. But 

 little account has been made of his 

 value : the beauty of his eye alone has 

 been dwelt on ; and little has been said 

 of his mouth, and its important function 

 as a fly and bug trap. His habits, and 

 even his origin, have been misunder 

 stood. Why, as an illustration, are 

 toads so plenty after a thunder-shower ? 



