106 



VERTEBRATES: BATRACHIANS. * 



is from three to five feet long, and lustrous black. It 

 runs very fast, and climbs trees and bushes with great 

 ease, where it seeks bird's nests and devours the young. 

 It is feared by most persons, but it is harmless. 



The Rattlesnake, of North America, is found on 

 rocky hills and mountains, and its bite is almost al- 

 ways fatal to men and animals. It has two very sharp 

 fangs in the upper jaw, and these fangs are hollow or 

 grooved, and connected with a bag of poison, so that 

 when the snake strikes them into an animal, the poison 

 is forced into the wound. 



BATRACHIANS, OR FROGS, TOADS, SALAMAN- 

 DERS, &c. 



These are reptiles which have no scales, and which 

 lay their eggs in the water, and the young resemble 



Fig. 177. 



Fig. 176. 



Fig. 179. Fig. 180. Fig. 181. 



Figs. 176 - 1 81 . Changes in the form of a Frog from the time of 

 Hatching. 



fishes more than they do their parents. The young 

 breathe by means of gills, like fishes, but the adults 

 breathe by lungs, like those reptiles which have scales. 

 For example, the young frog or tadpole, when first 



