482 



Marvels of the Universe 



Whether the ground-colour of the under surface of the body is yellow or orange depends, it seems, 

 on what naturaUsts call station ; the yellow-bellied phase li\dng in streams at a considerable eleva.- 

 tion in the mountains, while the orange-bellied form inhabits ponds and rivers in the plains. What 

 may be the meaning of this difference in colouring has not yet been ascertained ; but its existence 

 can hardly be regarded as a reason for including this Toad among marvellous animals, as such 

 " dichroic " {i.e., two-coloured) species are by no means uncommon. 



Neither can I consider the death-feigning instinct possessed by this Toad in a high degree (as 

 shown in the second illustration) as entitling it to a position among the marvels of the world, for 

 this trait is shared by quite a number of animals — from the American opossum to the English click- 

 beetle and dor-beetle— and is also exhibited by the common British Toad, which, as every gardener 

 knows, will often, when thrown on the surface in the course of digging a piece of ground, lie sprawling 



on its back with its limbs 

 as rigid as though in the 

 grip of death. 



One peculiarity of the 

 Fire-bellied Toad is the 

 great size attained by its 

 tadpole, which is further 

 characterized by the un- 

 usual development of its 

 tail-fin. 



And this leads me to 

 point out that in one re- 

 spect all frogs and toads 

 are really some of the 

 most marvellous of all 

 animals ; for what can 

 be more wonderful than 

 the development of the 

 purely aquatic, vegetable- 

 feeding, gill - breathing, 

 limbless, long-tailed tad- 

 pole into the amphibious,, 

 carnivorous, lung-breath- 

 ing, four-legged, tailless 

 frog or toad ? It is, indeed, a metamorphosis paralleled only by the development of the 

 creeping caterpillar into the winged butterfly ; the quiescent pupa-stage being, however, missed in 

 the case of the frog. Most of us have probably noticed the manner in which tadpoles or frogs, 

 after their emergence from the spawn, develop first the hind and then the fore hmbs, while they 

 exchange external for internal gills, and when both pairs of legs are fully formed gradually absorb 

 their long, fish-like tails, tUl they finally leave the water as miniature frogs. 



But this ordinary process is only one of manv marvels connected with the development of frogs- 

 and toads. Many kinds of frogs, for instance, spend their lives in trees, where there is no opportunity 

 for the tadpoles to live in water ; but Nature is not to be beaten by trifles of this kind, and we- 

 accordingly find that the eggs are much larger than usual, thus permitting the whole of the tadpole- 

 time being passed within the egg, and allowing the young to make their appearance in the world 

 as full-blown frogs. Again, a frog inhabiting dry districts in the Solomon Islands, lays eggs of the 

 size of marbles in rocky situations, from which also emerge in due course perfectly-formed frogs. 

 Other tree-frogs take advantage of the moisture contained in the cavities of the boughs or leaves of 



J'/a'fu bij] 



THE FIRE-BELLIED TOAD. 



Many Toads possess the instinct of death-feigning, but tliis 



[ir. .S. Btrridge, f.Z,^. 



species shows thi; 

 method of self-protection in a high degree. 



