THIRTEENTH WEEK. 



FIND that gardening has unsurpassed 

 advantages for the study of natural his 

 tory ; 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 misunderstood. Why, 

 as an illustration, are toads so plenty after a 



