it in the water much of the time. "It's 

 something- like a tiny fish with its fringed 

 tail." 



"Yes, but it's a very wobbly tail," re- 

 marked Harry. 



Uncle George laughed and said, "That 

 is because there are no' fin-rays to sup- 

 port it as there are in the tail of a fish." 



"What are those queer little tufts on 

 either side of its neck?" asked Bert. 



"Those are gills or breathing-organs," 

 answered his uncle. "After a while they 

 will be replaced by inside gills, and then 

 when the lungs are developed those will 

 disappear." 



"What a coming-to-pieces thing a tad- 

 pole is !" exclaimed Bert. "Does its tail 

 tumble off, too?" 



"Not exactly," said Uncle George. 

 "The hind legs begin to show first, be- 

 cause the gill-covers are over the fore 

 legs ; as they grow longer, the tail 

 decreases until it finally disappears. By 

 the time all this takes place the tadpole 

 leaves the water and lives on land." 



"How I wish our tadpoles had lived 

 just long enough to have turned into 

 frogs !" exclaimed Bert. 



"If they had, do you s'pose we could 

 have kept them ?" asked Harry. 



"I'm not sure that you would have 

 wanted so many in your yard. Just think 

 how much room dozens of frogs would 

 need. It would have reminded one of 

 the plagues of Egypt, when the ground 

 was covered with frogs and they went 

 into the houses and got into the beds 

 and kneading-troughs," replied Uncle 

 George. "But I am afraid that they 

 would not have stayed in your yard, be- 

 cause frogs like low, moist ground. They 

 might have come traveling back to the 

 pond." 



"But frogs couldn't go so far could 

 they?" asked Bert. 



"I think they could," replied Uncle 

 George. "I remember mv grandfather 

 telling me of frogs traveling half way 

 across the state in search of water. It 

 was in a time of drought and a whole 

 army of frogs got together. They trav- 

 eled mostly by night and they made such 

 a noise that the farm folks were wakened 

 and many were alarmed, fearing the place 

 was being invaded.'" 



"I didn't know that frogs could make 

 very much noise," remarked Harry. 



"There is a frog called the blacksmith 

 frog because he croaks so loudly that 

 the noise is like the clanging of a ham- 

 mer on an anvil, and there's a frog in 

 Peru called the sugar-miller frog because 

 his voice has a grating sound like that 

 produced by a sugar mill," said Uncle 

 George. 



"How do you know so much about 

 frogs, uncle?" asked Bert. 



"Well, the Scientific Club to which I 

 belong made a study of frogs at one 

 time. You seem surprised," he continued 

 as the boys exclaimed, "but frogs are 

 very interesting to study. I have the 

 skeleton of one at home which I shall 

 have to bring next time I come. It's 

 a wonderful little thing. Even man's 

 own structure is found to correspond 

 with it in many respects." 



"Whew!" exclaimed Bert, "I don't 

 wonder we couldn't raise them.. I didn't 

 know they were so wonderful. I thought 

 they were very common things." 



"But they can be raised, my boy," said 

 Uncle George. "In France and Southern 

 Europe it is quite an extended industry. 

 My business may take me to France next 

 year, and if so I'll visit some of these 

 froggeries and tell you all I can find out 

 about them." 



The boys were surprised and delighted 

 to learn that the raising of frogs was 

 really an industry, and Harry asked if 

 frogs were the same all over the world, 

 and they were very much interested when 

 Uncle George told them of a grunting 

 frog in the West Indies five or six inches 

 long, which could jump over a five-foot 

 wall, and of another very large species, 

 much used for food by the natives of 

 South Africa, which is said to resemble 

 chicken when cooked. "Dr. Livingston 

 says that the tribes suppose these frogs 

 to fall from thunder-clouds, because the 

 pools, suddenly filled with water after 

 the thunder showers, became alive with 

 the loud-croaking frogs which have pre- 

 viously been hidden in holes at the roots 

 of bushes." 



At this point Uncle George took out 

 his watch and exclaimed : "Boys ! Where 

 has the afternoon gone ? We must make 



151 



