Page:The Book of the Aquarium and Water Cabinet.djvu/155

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—The Ranidæ or true frogs, and the Bufoidæ or toad tribe, contribute, whether in the larva or perfect form, some very lively, entertaining, and instructive specimens. I am sorry that my space is so limited as to prevent the insertion here of such full notices as this subject deserves, and must content myself by assuring the reader that but little progress can be made in the study of Zoology without a patient study of the history of the frog.

During the spring and summer the brooks abound with what boys call or tadpoles; these are the larva of the frog. They may be caught easily, and preserved in jars of growing weed, for observation of their development. I have now (August 18th,) several specimens of Bufoidæ, in which even the first stage of metamorphosis has not commenced, though, since June, some hundreds of toads and frogs have attained completeness in my vessels, many of which are now inmates of the garden, some of them exceedingly tame.

In the egg state we find abundance, during April, in every pond and brook, adhering in gelatinous masses to the under leaves of aquatic plants. The eggs gradually acquire a dark tint, and at last the young emerge, and begin their quiet existence in this first rudimental form. In this state they are very lively in their motions, the eyes are very distinctly visible, and the mouth is