HOBBLEDEHO YS. \ ' '.. > Tof 



dignity of all four legs, but these were as yet inconspicuous 

 beside the great tail. In one or two the caudal appendage 

 had already begun to shrink, so that they were neither 

 tadpole nor frog veritable nondescripts, hobbledehoys. 



Thinking that a little excitement and exercise would be 

 good for their constitutions, I amused myself by trying to 

 catch the quaint little creatures, who were there before my 

 very eyes undergoing evolution, for each and every one, 

 although he knew it not, was busily engaged in climbing 

 up his own genealogical tree. One might as reasonably 

 hope to catch the moon as to seize one of the pure tadpoles, 

 who have not yet developed limbs. These, when disturbed, 

 dash about in the water at a pace which would put an 

 East Indian Railway train to shame. While going at top 

 speed they twist and turn in such a manner as would 

 bring tears to the eye of the polo pony. The hobbledehoys 

 were, however, comparatively easy to catch. The advent 

 of the legs entails a great diminution in the natatory power 

 of the tail, and when first formed the former are too weak 

 to be of much service in either swimming or walking. 



Holding one of these frightened youngsters in the hand, 

 one's thoughts naturally turn to Nature's hobbledehoys. 

 What are these incipient frogs but counterparts of the un- 

 gainly human being, aged fourteen or fifteen, all legs and 

 arms, with a voice which a crow would be ashamed to own ? 

 All animals pass through a similar ungainly stage in the 

 course of their life history. There are, however, these 

 differences between animal and animal. In some the 

 change, the transformation, is more marked than in others. 

 Some undergo the transition in public ; others in private. 

 The development of the frog presents an extreme case. It 

 emerges from the egg as a limbless fish, and ends life as a 

 quadruped capable of living for a time at least on terra 

 firma. So complete is the change, that, in scientific par^ 

 lance, the frog undergoes metamorphosis during its pro- 

 gress from youth to age. Why should animals be obliged 

 to pass through this awkward stage of hobbledehoyism ? 



