RIVER GARDENS ; 



The tadpole of the Newt, in its very early stages, 

 is almost indistinguishable from that of the Toad or 

 Prog. As it grows, however, the disparity becomes 

 very evident, their elegantly spreading branchice, or 

 external gills, assume a distinct form, and the tail 

 continues to lengthen, while that of the Prog tad- 

 pole diminishes, till at last, even in their gilled or 

 tadpole state, they become as distant as in their 

 eventually complete form. 



The Prog (Rana viridis), though a perfect 

 aquatic in his tadpole state, is only amphibious 

 when he attains his final development; and while his 

 relative, the Newt, is able to remain in the water, 

 as his element, after he has lost his gills, the Prog 

 becomes more decidedly terrestrial, only seeking the 

 water again in the breeding season. At other 

 times, though he is an expert swimmer, and a most 

 excellent diver, and able to remain long under water, 

 he is, nevertheless, incapable of residing exclu- 

 sively in that element, in which, in fact, he drowns. 

 I have seen a full-grown Prog placed by dealers in 

 an Aquarium, about which he swims till exhausted, 

 and at last stretches out his limbs like any other 

 drowning creature, resigning himself to his in- 

 evitable fate. In this last stage I have seen igno- 

 rant dealers stir him up with a little stick, calling 



