ON THE MANUSCRIPTS OF GOD 



who sum up with an "Ugh!" their entire 

 reaction on these humble creepers and 

 crawlers have little notion how much beauty 

 they miss by avoiding a closer acquaintance 

 with them. Even our most common brown 

 toad, that obliterates himself in the garden 

 by wearing embossed polka dots in the 

 earth's own soft-brown colors, is an eloquent 

 preacher of the doctrine of adaptation to 

 one's environment. Wandering farther 

 afield, one finds the same doctrine preached 

 in more florid style by frogs whose richly 

 tinted and mottled jackets quite equal the 

 most sumptuous wings of birds, moths, or 

 butterflies. The leopard frog, which is one 

 of the most beautiful in North America, and 

 the Florida tree frog are good examples of 

 nature's knack of doing the same thing in 

 an entirely different way. The latter frog 

 may be green, or brown, distinctly spotted 

 or not, and may be found while the change 

 from green to brown is in process, a condi- 

 tion which emphasizes the spots. 



How can one jump away from a frog, or 

 wish him to jump away, when his royal vest- 



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