13* NATURE STUDY 



eggs of frogs and salamanders are in masses of a transparent 

 jelly-like substance whicli is attached to sticks on plants in the 

 water. The eggs themselves are little round bodies embedded in 

 the jelly. The eggs of toads are in strings of a jelly-like substance. 

 These may be obtained during the winter time. Secure some 

 and place them in a jar of water. Put a few eggs in a single 

 jar. Do not have the water very deep. Keep a verj' small 

 amount of green algte in the jar. The development of the eggs 

 into tadpoles, and of the tadpoles into adult animals may be 

 watched day by day with great interest if they are kept success- 

 fully. If the eggs are obtained while in the earliest stages of 

 development, the fact can be clearly seen with a hand lens that 

 the little globule which constitutes the egg is at first a smooth 

 sphere, and then soon it has a crease formed on its surface dividing 

 it into halves, that these again divide and so on till the divisions 

 become so small that they can no longer be seen. Of course the 

 full significance of this fact one would not attempt to teach here, 

 but it is well worth seeing as a fact. Then everj^ step of forma- 

 tion of body, head, limbs, tail, etc., may be noted as the process 

 progresses. 



