90 



The Naturalist. 



on the approacli of wet weather. As I have not personally observed 

 it, and my only authority is the well-known couplet — 



The frog has chang'd his yellow vest/' 



And now in russet coat is drest, 



I shall be glad if some one would state whether frogs do change at 

 such times, and the reason of the change. Frogs lay their eggs in 

 clusters, some of which will fill a pint basin ; each egg is enclosed by 

 a glutinous skin, which has the faculty of absorbing water to a con- 

 siderable extent. This jelly-like substance serves a two-fold purpose : 

 it protects the eggs, and when that task is finished, furnishes the first 

 meal to the infant tadpole. My impression is that fish are deterred 

 from attacking the eggs by this surrounding, I once, put a mass of 

 frogs' spawn into a large glass among a lot of gold and silver carp ; 

 while the eggs were eggs, the fish made no attempt to devour them, 

 but as soon as the young tads began to move in a twitching manner 

 within their covering, the fish attacked them, vigorously tore away the 

 protecting mass, and swallowed the little black morsels till they grew 

 as fat as aldermen. When frogs hybernate, they either bury them- 

 selves in mud at the bottom of a pool, or creep into hollows beneath 

 the bank. 



The toad (Bufo vulgaris) is a living embodiment of the proverb, 

 " Give a dog a bad name, and hang him." According to what was 

 once the almost universal belief, this harmless creature is possessed of 

 qualities and properties beside which the fangs and claws of a tiger 

 shrink into insignificance. He spits fire, his breath is deadly poison, 

 and his touch is so venomous that nothing but instant amputation can 

 save the sufferer from a death more horrible than that by hydrophobia. 

 Such was, and is yet in some districts, the popular opinion of an 

 animal which is, in fact, as harmless as it is useful. " Fine feathers 

 make fine birds," says the old saw : and doubtless the toad owes its 

 diabolical character mainly to its ungainly form and unattractive 

 colours. Like the frog, the toad developes from the egg, through the 

 tadpole to the perfect form ; but toads' eggs can always be distin- 

 guished from those of the frog, for, while the latter lays hers in 

 clusters, the former lays them in ropes, each rope containing two rows 

 of eggs. I have not seen any difference between the tadpoles of the 

 two, nor do I know if there is a distinction ; perhaps someone will 

 kindly say whether they have noticed any difference. 



IsTeither frogs nor toads can live entirely under water, though water 

 is absolutely essential to them ; in fact, they come near realising the 

 showman's definition of an amphibious animal, viz., an animal that 



