CHAPTER XXVI 

 THE ALLIES OF THE FROG : AMPHIBIA 



Blue dusk, that brings the dewy hours, 

 Brings thee, of graceless form in sooth 



Dark stumbler at the roots of flowers, 

 Flaccid, inert, uncouth. 



EDGAR FAWCETT, A Toad. 



Definition of Amphibia (Gr. amphibios, capable of living in 

 both air and water). The frog belongs to the class Amphib'ia, 

 to which belong also the toads, newts, and salamanders. Am- 

 phibians are cold-blooded vertebrates covered with a smooth 

 or rough, moist skin, in which are numerous mucus-glands. 

 In the immature state amphibians are adapted to a life in 

 the water, and breathe by gills ; when adult the gills are in 

 the majority of cases absorbed, and the animals breathe by 

 lungs. Four limbs are usually present. Nearly all amphibians 

 are oviparous. 



Two out of the three orders into which the class is divided 

 will be discussed here. One of these orders includes the sal- 

 amanders and newts, the other the toads and frogs. 



Salamanders and Newts. The Urode'la (Gr. oura, tail; delos, 

 conspicuous) are elongate forms, with rounded or compressed 

 tail. They are often, but erroneously, called lizards, and 

 resemble the latter only in external form. The eggs are laid 

 usually in the water in strings, or in large masses resembling 

 frogs' eggs, or singly, attached to the leaves of water-plants. 

 Salamanders and newts hatch as tadpoles, which develop into 

 the adult form without a strongly marked metamorphosis. The 

 young of our common eastern species may be distinguished 

 from the tadpoles of the toad, and from those of our vari- 

 ous species of frogs, by their more elongate form, and by 



