MRS. COATE&S BATH. 63 



till they died. Fortunately, the boy was too well taught 

 to believe the man, and his terrors and warnings only 

 afforded the keenest amusement. 



The newt is an interesting animal to keep. In the 

 first place, it is very graceful as it swims, and its pretty 

 colours and brilliant eyes show out much better in the 

 water than on land. Then it has a very curious manner 

 of depositing its eggs, doubling them up in the leaf of 

 some plant, sometimes, though not always, a plant 

 which is growing in the water. There is now before 

 me a blade of grass which I found in the pond. It is 

 neatly doubled in two, and in the fold is one of the 

 little translucent eggs of the newt. When these eggs 

 are hatched, little tadpoles issue from them, almost 

 exactly resembling those of the frog, having similarly 

 large heads, and long tapering bodies. 



They do not show their individuality until their legs 

 begin to appear, when the distinction is at once evident. 

 In the frog-tadpole the hind legs are the first to 

 appear, but the reverse is the case with the newt. As 

 they increase in size the distinction becomes more ap- 

 parent, for the tail of the frog-tadpole is gradually 

 absorbed into the body, while that of the newt increases 

 in length. The newt, in fact, differs but little in struc- 

 ture from the frog, except that it retains its tail 

 throughout its life. I find that in captivity the newt 

 changes its skin oftener than it would do if left at 

 liberty, and that if the water in the vessel in which it 

 is left be changed, the newt generally casts its skin 



