THE NEWTS. 



73 



plant until their swimming tail and other organs are sufficiently 

 developed to enable them to enter upon their active life. Their 

 respiration is at first aquatic, by means of gills, which are larger 

 and more feathery than those of the frog. 



As the grqwth of the young tadpoles progresses, you may watch 

 the limbs sprouting and the tail gradually acquiring size and strength 

 to serve them through life. Unlike the frog, the anterior limbs 



Fig. 27. Eggs and Tadpoles of Newts (enlarged). 



a, b, c, d, eggs in various stages ; e,f, g; tadpoles showing the sprouting of limbs 

 and branchiae. 



are the first to sprout, and the legs afterwards. As the lungs 

 become developed the gills gradually disappear, and the young tad- 

 poles become air-breathing animals. During this metamorphosis 

 the body of the tiny creature is sufficiently transparent for you, with 

 a powerful lens, to watch the internal development, which is a study 

 of immense interest. Even what food they take and the process of 

 digestion can be observed through their delicate skin, and you 

 will find them exceedingly voracious little feeders, and also 

 cannibals, unless plentifully supplied with other dainties. To 

 catch young tadpoles with a muslin net, like a butterfly net, is 

 not at all difficult; but to feed them and keep them in health 

 when you have caught them is by no means easy, as they can 

 take only such very small prey. If you venture on the care of 

 them at all I should recommend a large receptacle, a bath, for 



