REPTILES BATRACHIANS DIAGRAM 5 93 



boiled. The tadpoles breathe this air by means of their tuft-like 

 gills. Afterwards they disappear, and the tadpole grows larger, 

 but without changing its form. It lives on water plants ; and at 

 last two legs which are of no use, but which will afterwards be- 

 come the great hind legs of the frog, grow from the end of its 

 body, on each side of the root of the tail. Presently the tail de- 

 creases, and the fore legs appear ; and afterwards the tail disap- 

 pears altogether, and we then see a little frog which begins to 

 grow to its full size. But from this moment its life is completely 

 changed. It has no longer gills, but lungs ; it is obliged to 

 breathe air, and likes to come out of the water ; it lives no longer 

 on plants, but eats insects ; the frog has completed its meta- 

 morphoses. All the batrachians undergo metamorphoses more 

 or less similar to this. In the first stage, they are said to be in 

 the larva state. Frogs are very easily taken with a hook baited 

 with a bit of red rag. They are not eaten in England, but the 

 hind legs of a common continental species are considered a great 

 delicacy in France. 



Toads live on land rather than in water ; they eat small slugs 

 and insects, and are consequently useful animals in gardens, 

 which ought not be destroyed. They come out of their hiding 

 places on damp evenings. If anyone offers to seize them, they 

 fill their lungs with air, and swell. At the same time they dis- 

 charge their urine in order to escape more quickly, and it was 

 thought that they projected venom, but it is no such thing, and 

 the toad is not venomous as is generally supposed, or at least it 

 has no venom except in the small tubercles which cover the skin 

 of its back. But as it has no means of injecting it into the body 

 of other animals, it is not in any way dangerous. The female 

 lays her eggs in the water, and the young ones exactly resemble 

 the tadpoles of frogs ; they leave the water as soon as they have 

 undergone their metamorphosis, and live in damp places. 



There are other batrachians, the shape of which is much like 

 that of lizards, for they have four legs of nearly equal length, 

 and a tail, These are the newts and salamanders. The newts live 



