76 OUTDOOR STUDIES 
the elm-tree, the whirlwig beetles have begun 
to play round the broken edges of the ice, and 
the caddis-worms to crawl beneath it; and soon 
come the water-skater (Gevris) and the water- 
boatman (WVotonecta). Turtles and newts are 
in busy motion when the spring birds are only 
just arriving. Those gelatinous masses in yon- 
der wayside pond are the spawn of water-newts 
or tritons: in the clear, transparent jelly are 
imbedded, at regular intervals, little blackish 
dots ; these elongate rapidly, and show symp- 
toms of head and tail curled up in a spherical 
cell; the jelly is gradually absorbed for their 
nourishment, until on some fine morning, each 
elongated dot gives one vigorous wriggle, and 
claims thenceforward all the privileges of free- 
dom. The final privilege is often that of being 
suddenly snapped up by a turtle or a snake: 
for Nature brings forth her creatures liberally, 
especially the aquatic ones, sacrifices nine tenths 
of them as food for their larger cousins, and re- 
serves only a handful to propagate their race, 
on the same profuse scale, next season. 
It is surprising, in the midst of our museums 
and scientific schools, how little we yet know 
of the common things around us. Our savans 
still confess their inability to discriminate with 
certainty the egg or tadpole of a frog from 
that of a toad; and it is strange that these hop- 
