54 
THE GEELONG NATUEALIST. 
observations have been recorded. The Meteorological Eeports 
are published in this issue as promised. 
"We would respectfully intimate to all taking an interest in 
Natural Science, that the Journal of the Club, "The Geelong 
Naturalist," will be regularly posted to any address, by 
subscribing, 2s Cd per annum. The journal is issued Quarterly. 
The Eee for Membership is 5s. per annum. 
THE FEOa. 
Br H. T. TisDALL, P.L.S. 
Lecture delivered before the Geelong Field Naturalists' Club. 
One of the most familiar noises heard in the country, particularly 
in the evening, is the hoarse croaking of a frog. And yet how 
few of us know anything about this animal. It is said that 
familiarity breeds contempt, and so with the frog. We are so 
used to it that we cannot imagine that it is really one of the 
most wonderful among the higher orders of animals, I mean the 
vertebrates. 
During the first part of its existence it is a fish, a veritible 
fish with gills and tail, without limbs, breathing and living under 
water, feeding on the smaller water weeds or fastening itself 
like a limpet to a submerged bough. Suddenly behold ! a com- 
plete metamorphosis ; it throws off its tail, gets rid of its gills, 
thrusts out two short fore-limbs and two long hind ones, changes 
its tiny mouth with its sucker-like underlip into a capacious 
one well armed with teeth above. In fact it turns into a real 
animal with lungs, limbs and larynx. 
Let us follow its life history, from the egg state into one of 
the masses of spawn that may be seen in any pond, until it is 
enabled to jump about and croak with such vehemence that we 
often wish it had stayed in its mute fish condition. The so 
called spawn is merely an agglomeration of tiny eggs very like 
fowl's eggs except that they are black and white instead of red 
and white, and instead of being surrounded by a covering of 
hard lime eggshell, they are enveloped in a soft gelatinous mass. 
Without going into details it will be sufficient to notice that the 
egg commences its development by a process of segmentation, 
or breaking up into cells. The cells thus formed gradually 
resolve themselves into definite parts or organs, body, tail, head, 
etc. Here we may notice that each egg is at first spherical, 
then ovoid, and so increasing in length ; then by certain 
constrictions this tube-like body forms a distinct head, body and 
tail. Branching tufts next make their appearance ; these are the 
external gills, three pairs altogether. In about fourteen days 
after hatching, the young tadpole pushes its way through the 
