152 NATURE-STUDY 



woods and other moist places. Toads appear the most 

 accustomed to dryness, often being found far from water, in 

 gardens, on the lawns, and in dry woods. Tree-toads, as 

 their name implies, live among the foliage of trees. But 

 the necturus, or mud-puppy, found in many of our streams, 

 is an amphibian with very rudimentary lungs, and in adult 

 life still retains its bushy external gills, and does not leave the 

 water. 



The Frog may be taken as the type of the amphibians. In 

 the spring, soon after the first piping and croaking resound 

 in the marshes, visit these breeding places and look for eggs. 

 They will be found in the form of large jelly-like clumps or 

 masses attached to submerged sticks and plants. Bring some 

 home and, placing them in a dish of water, observe the develop- 

 ment of the tadpoles that soon hatch out. Do not place too 

 many eggs in one aquarium. It is better to put only a few in 

 one vessel. A fruit-jar or similar vessel will do very well for 

 the hatching, but a shallow dish, slightly tilted at one end, 

 or a shelving vessel so as to give a variation in the depth of 

 the water, will be better for the development of the tadpoles. 

 Place green algae and other water plants in the water for the 

 tadpoles to feed upon. They will also eat cooked corn-meal. 

 They will not grow unless fed. Frogs are not easy to raise to 

 maturity in an aquarium, but the tadpoles of toads, which in 

 general resemble those of the frog, are more easily raised. 

 Tadpoles are great feeders, and will very soon clean off the 

 algal scum from the sides of an aquarium. The algae should 

 be replenished from time to time. If only a few tadpoles are 

 in an aquarium there is less care in feeding. The children 

 will be greatly interested in the development of the tadpoles. 

 Watch the formation of outside gill branches, the replace- 



