The Vancouver independent. (Vancouver, W.T. [Wash.]) 1875-1910, 1882-05-25
BIS or Natural History.
BY LESLIE RAYNOR.

drifts, hlllsides are bare and brown,
frightened in sunny places near the
rocks with patches of green. Bluebirds
A,are singing in the orchard, maple buds
are swelling, and tonight comes faint
peep-peep. from the. swamps. Johnny
hears it and tells his father, "Spring is
really coming, for the frogs are peeping
over in Swampy Hollow" A few more
days Of pleasant weather bring out the
tardy ones, and at nightfall, all the frogs
are tuning their pipes for a series of open
air concerts.
What have they been doing all winter?
If you could take off layer of mud from
swampy places, and the bottoms of
ponds, you would find frogs, plenty of
them, in kind of sleep which is called
the torpid state. They do not feel the
cold, and there they lie until the ground
thaws, and the warmth of spring wakes
them from their long winter nap.
Frogs are curious creatures. The same
might be said of boys. And one of the
strange things about the latter is that
they, (some of theml like to pelt frogs
with stones. There is story that when
some frogs asked troop of boys why
they tormented them with stones, the
boys answered, "Oh, for fun"
But the frogs said, "What is fun for
you, is death to u.s."
This is, of course, "a fable, but it shows
pretty clearly that whatever causes pain
to any creature cannot be innocent fun.
Suppose now any boy who may happen
to read this, should when he feels
tempted to throw stones at the frogs,
drop his ammunition, and watching for
a while, see how much he can learn
about them and their habits. think
when summer was over, he would find
he had had more satisfactory fun than i
he had tormented the poor creatures.
Frogs belong to that class of animals
called amphibious, that is, they can live
both on land and in water. But while
full grown ones can do this, the babies,
the tadpoles, would quickly die if taken
from the water. Let us see why this is.
And first, get, if you can. some frogs
spawn or eggs, and learn with your own
eyes an interesting lesson in natural his
tory.
You will be likely to find the spawn in
pools, swamps, or uncovered wells in
pastures. It is in such q we'll, really a
deep cask sunk by spring in the
meadow, where often find it in May. 1t
floats on the top in masses as large as the
hand, looking like clear, transparent
Jelly. 1t is not, however, one solid
mass, but can be separated into many
globules or eggs, as large as peas. In
the center of each is dark brown dot.
Put the jelly in cup or glass, letting it
stand on a sunny window sill. The
water will evaporate, so every day or two
fill the cup. You will see change in
the jelly soon. 1t becomes yellowish
Z around the brown speck, and that grows
larger and longer. Presently this seems
to open, as if when the tips of your
thumb and forefnger touched each other,
you should, little by little. draw them
apart until the finger was straight.
The Jelly grows a deepar yellow. and
pretty soon out of each egg will drop q
dark-skinned fellow, with tail fringed
with something very like fins, having
other delicate fringes about the neck,
and such bright specks of eyes. He
breathes by means of gills as rishes do,
and that is why he cannot live out OF
water. Frogs breathe through their
nostrils, and it is also believed that they
draw in air through their thin, smooth
skins.
Little tadpole now looks much more
like fish than q frog. But if no mis-
haps beiall him, if the water isn't pois-
oned so he cannot breathe, if no duck
gobbles up little froggie," the horny
beak will by and by drop off, hind legs
will sprout and grow, and grow. They
are very long you know, and have much
growing to do. Then the fore legs APP
pear with their curious. hand-like claws,
and some fine day he finds himself like
little Bo-peep's sheep-he has lost his
tail! Babyhood is now over. and he is
youthful frog.
Tadpoles generally feed upon leaves
and other vegetable substances, but one
naturalist tells Of their liking for animal
food, even nibbling at the toes of little
boys wading in the pond. Though frogs
can live long time without going into
The water, they prefer moist places. and
in drouth bury themselves under leaves
and shrubs. A shower quickly brings
them out of their hiding places.
We cannot say the frog has q musical
voice, but he makes curious sounds with
it. In Brazil Is . species called the
blacksmith frog, because the sound OF
his voice il like that of hammar ON an
anvil, while in Peru another, with .
grating sound resembling sugar mill,
e called the sugar mill. The male frogs
have deeper and more powerful voices
than the females.
rrnmnvn hor a atorv told ma Whan