THE TALE OF TADPOLES 37 



ordinary only they are out of place, out of time, and 

 out of order. 



One of the many careful observers of the annual wonder 

 the metamorphosis of the tadpole gives the following 

 terse statement of some of the more obvious changes : 

 " The horny jaws are thrown off ; the large frilled lips 

 shrink up ; the mouth loses its rounded suctorial form 

 and becomes much wider ; the tongue, previously small, 

 increases considerably in size ; the eyes, which as yet have 

 been beneath the skin, become exposed." 



As the tail shortens more and more, the tadpole, rapidly 

 ceasing to be a tadpole, recovers its appetite and feeds 

 greedily on animal matter, sometimes on its younger 

 fellows. The abdomen shrinks, the stomach and liver 

 enlarge, the intestine becomes relatively narrower and 

 shorter. The tail is reduced to a short projecting stump, 

 and, apart from this, the adult shape has been reached. 

 Disinclination for a purely aquatic life becomes marked, 

 and the young frogs clamber ashore. As they have lost 

 all trace of gills, they are apt to drown in aquaria unless 

 they have floating rafts to climb on to, or some other 

 means of breathing dry air. 



It is difficult to say which aspect of the development 

 of tadpoles is most interesting. As we have seen, it is 

 interesting in its main features as a modified recapitulation 

 of that transition from aquatic to aerial respiration, from 

 water to terra firma, which must have marked one of the 

 most important epochs in the evolution of Vertebrates. 



But it is equally interesting to go into minute detail 

 and notice that the young tadpole's small tongue has not 

 much muscularity about it ; that as the tongue increases 

 in size the muscles also increase, but yet are quite unable 

 to move the tongue, though perhaps of some service in 

 compressing glands ; and that, as the metamorphosis is 



