RIVER GARDENS; 
The tadpole of the Newt, in its very early stages, 
is almost indistinguishable from that of the Toad or 
Trog. As it grows, however, the disparity becomes 
very evident, their elegantly spreading branchice, or 
external gills, assume a distinct form, and the tail 
continues to lengthen, while that of the Trog tad¬ 
pole diminishes, till at last, even in their gilled or 
tadpole state, they become as distant as in their 
eventually complete form. 
The Trog (Rana viridis), though a perfect 
aquatic in his tadpole state, is only amphibious 
when he attains his final development; and while his 
relative, the Newt, is able to remain in the water, 
as his element, after he has lost his gills, the Trog 
becomes more decidedly terrestrial, only seeking the 
water again in the breeding season. At other 
times, though he is an expert swimmer, and a most 
excellent diver, and able to remain long under water, 
he is, nevertheless, incapable of residing exclu¬ 
sively in that element, in which, in fact, he drowns. 
I have seen a fall-grown Trog placed by dealers in 
an Aquarium, about which he swims till exhausted, 
and at last stretches out his limbs like any other 
drowning creature, resigning himself to his in¬ 
evitable fate. In this last stage I have seen igno¬ 
rant dealers stir him up with a little stick, calling 
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