42 ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 



requiring to breed. The neuter of the hive 

 produces another honey which in addi- 

 tion to supporting themselves, is esteemed 

 by thousands the richest luxury of the floral 

 and insect worlds. 



The toad is another parallel case in some 

 respects. It has a compound nature, like 

 the beetle, only it reaches its last form of 

 existence in a reverse order. The one 

 alters its form from that of a fish to that of 

 a quadruped, to live on land ; and the other 

 alters its form from that of an insect to that 

 of a fish, to live in water. The toad resem- 

 bles both our land animals and the fish 

 tribe. It spawns like the quadruped-beget- 

 ting and the fish-producing, all in the same 

 process. The spawn leaves the female like 

 a thread of clear beads, the ova being 

 dark specks in the middle of each. This 

 thread of beads is sometimes thirty yards in 

 length, warped round the rushes in about 

 five inches of water. The young toads 

 come to life in six or eight days, according 

 to the weather. The glutinous bead sup- 

 ports them before they come forth in swim- 

 ming trim, The frog spawns in the same 



