Frogs and Toads 



probably twofold the jelly forms a food for the young 

 animals when they have consumed all the food in the egg, 

 and also the envelope acts as a protection for the eggs. 

 Frog spawn slips readily through the ringers ; by the same 

 rule it is not easily snapped up by ducks and other 

 creatures anxious to make a meal of such fare. 



The Surinam toad is one of the most curious of all the 

 amphibians, a name, by the way, which does not accurately 

 describe our example, for it is wholly aquatic. In ordinary 

 times this toad is remarkable for the wart-like growths 

 which cover practically the whole of its body. At pairing 

 time, which occurs during the rainy season, the male places 

 the eggs, as they are laid, one by one on the back of 

 the female. Each egg is sticky and so adheres to the 

 spot where it is placed. Then a very remarkable thing 

 happens : the eggs gradually sink into the mother's back, 

 each one into a little pit which is covered by a lid. In 

 time, of course, the eggs hatch and each little lid is pushed 

 up and a young toad surveys the world from its comfort- 

 able resting-place on the mother's back. Thus the 

 mother toad spends part of her life, at anyrate, as a living 

 nursery. 



This habit of carrying the eggs is fairly common 

 amongst the amphibia which do not cover their eggs 

 with jelly, but it is not always the mother who acts as 

 a nurse. A Chilian frog, described by Darwin, rivals the \ 

 Surinam toad for eccentricity of nursing habits. Unfortun- 

 ately, little is known of its life history, but what is known 

 is sufficient to whet the appetite of any naturalist desirous 

 of more information. The eggs to the number of fifteen 

 or so are placed in the mouth of the father frog. When 

 the eggs are in position they are held in a peculiar sac 

 which grows larger and larger to suit the needs of the 

 growing family, till it extends from the unfortunate 

 animal's throat to his groin. So encumbered does the 

 father frog become that all his internal organs are 

 misplaced to make room for his young. Within the sac 



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