THE WAY LIFE BEGINS 33 



In a Cradle of Jelly 



Frog's eggs are laid in a mass of transparent jelly, looking 

 much like the white of an egg. (Plate V.) Each of the thou- 

 sand or more black eggs is surrounded by three layers of the 

 jelly, Figure 2, and together they float near the surface of 

 the water, a clear, buoyant mass among the water weeds. 

 This jelly envelop is also a great protection from possible 

 enemies, as it is so slippery that the eggs cannot readily be 

 picked up or eaten by water-fowl or fish. The globule of 

 jelly aids in the development of the egg by focusing the heat 

 rays of the sun upon it. Frog eggs are black on top and light 

 yellow below. The embryo, the 'forming animal', takes shape 

 in the black portion while the light material below is the food 

 or yolk. In three days after being laid, the head and tail 

 become somewhat distinct, while the middle part remains 

 attached to the yolk. By the end of a week the tadpole em- 

 bryo begins to wriggle and looks like 'an animated comma'. 

 On the ninth day they twist and squirm their way out of their 

 jelly cradles. They remain quiet for at least a few days, 

 attaching themselves to stones and water weeds by a sucker- 

 like organ beneath the head. Frog tadpoles have no mouths 

 for sixteen or seventeen days; they come out of their jelly 

 nests blind. 



Toad eggs are laid, not in masses of jelly, but in double 

 strings, usually draped and hung about the pond weeds. 

 They are smaller than frog eggs and are black all over. Since 

 their development is more rapid than the frog's eggs, they 

 are more interesting to the observer. 



Tadpole Days 



The next three or four months are stirring times in the 

 life of the tadpole. With no parents to care for him, he is 

 surrounded at every turn by enemies that seek his life. With- 

 in, his body is a theatre of opposing forces. One set of growth 

 forces are striving to make of him a larger and stronger fish- 

 like animal, breathing through gills, and swimming with a 

 powerful tail. Other forces set in very soon to reduce his 

 size, to utilize the substance in his tail, to produce limbs and 



