TOADS AND FROGS. 



69 



be put in its mouth. When a person handled its jar or objects 



nearby, it showed that it expected food by the way it 



leaped against the end and sides of the jar. To show its 



method of seizing a fly a student would place a tumbler 



over a house-fly on the window pane, 



slip in a bit of stiff paper large enough 



to cover the mouth of the tumbler, and, 



carrying the covered fly to the gem 



jar, whose base was placed towards the 



light, hold the mouth of the tumbler 



against the mouth of the jar and pull 



out the paper, thus permitting the fly 



to enter the jar, as it immediately 



does to go towards the light. 



A glass jar, such as has been just 

 described, is a suitable and convenient 

 means of holding many kinds of small 

 animals for observation. The external 

 movements of respiration in the frog 

 as thus exhibited is interesting to even 

 a young child. Lacking the diaphragm 

 and ribs to make a cavity for the air 

 to rush in the frog fills its mouth with 

 air drawn through its nostrils, and 

 then closing its oesophagus swallows 

 the air into its lungs. This fact explains the incessant slight 

 movement of its nostrils and the conspicuous up and down 

 movement of its chin and throat. 



How the frog captures a fly. 



Questions about the Frog. — In what situations are frogs 

 found ? Why are they seldom seen far from water ? What is 

 their food? How do they obtain it? How do they move 

 from place to place on dry land ? Do they ever walk or run 1 

 How far can they jump? Notice how the shortness of the 



