TOADS AND FROGS. 71 



take a position at the observer's left to hold or keep the frog's 

 body still on the frog-board. Another child standing on the 

 right uses both hands in keeping the web expanded under the 

 objective of the microscope by holding the toes against the 

 board. The frog's body, leaving out the left hind leg, should 

 be wrapped in cheese cloth which should be kept wet. The 

 frog-board may be a piece of thin, smooth board three to four 

 inches by nine inches pierced with a five-eighths-inch auger 

 about two inches from the middle of one end. The hole 

 should be covered with a thin plate of good mica cemented to 

 the board. The web is extended on the mica over the hole. 

 The left-hand end of the board has to be supported on a box 

 or book the thickness of the height of the table of the 

 microscope. 



Uses of the Frog. — Infer from feeding experiments that 

 frogs reduce the number of troublesome flies and mosquitoes. 

 Some people make soup of the fleshy part of frogs' hind legs. 

 Criticize the cruelty of frogs'-legs collectors, who cut off the 

 legs without first killing the poor animals. 



Comparison of the Frog and Toad, — In guiding children 

 through a comparative study of the frog and toad ask questions 

 that will lead them to discover that the frog's skin lacks warts, 

 and that it has longer hind legs than the toad. The toad is 

 quite toothless while the frog has teeth in its upper jaw and 

 in patches in the roof of the mouth. It is needless to say 

 that no harm can happen to the softest finger from feeling the 

 frog's teeth. Their tongues are similar in front but the toad's 

 is not forked at the free end. Their food and method of 

 feeding are similar. Compare their bodies, hind legs and toes 

 to see why the frog is the better swimmer. Compare their 

 locomotion on dry ground. 



Tree-toads, newts, efts and salamanders may easily be kept 

 in the school-room at least long enough for a general study, if 



