Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-11-21
FAEGS, FINS AND STINGS.
An Interesting and Instructive Lecture q
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An Interesting and Instructive Lecture by
Prof. spaid.
Prof A. r. Spaid. principal of the
du Pont School, made an interesting
and instructive address on "fanes,
Fins and Stings' at Breck's Mill Hall,
Friday evening. There were numerous
life like Illustrations, which added to
the interest. In the course of his re-
marks be said;
t'To those who en- 'oy the study Of
nature, .he. hntrachians form an inter
eating class OF animals. In our latti.
tudes these hibernate. But in early
spring they seek the water, the toads
having spent the winter in the ground,
and the salamanders under old logs and
deep beds of leaves, to lay their eggs.
BY the middle Of March I have found
frogs eggs in our ponds, and the toads'
eggs in April. They first deposit their
eggs in jelly-like masses, numbering
only q few, in the case OF the hyas TO
hundreds in that of the common frog.
These eggs hatch within about 10 days,
II the weather is moderately. warm. On
the other hand, the toads lay their eggs
in stripgs, sometimes 80 feet long, W h ch
contain from 5000 to $4,000 eggs. They
average about ID eggs to the inch. The
tadEoles OF the toad are small and
black; those of the frogs are larger and
lighter In color. These are destroyed
by the million. Ponds dry up; fish,
snakes. fowls and aquatic insects prey
upon the polliwogs, while birds, reptiles
and bad boys make the life Of the ami
mails insecure.
The pretty little spotted salamaudeis,
red and green, are not so we'll known,
although o dozen may be found in
rod OF drainage from a spring. Our
tortoises are harmless and interesting.
They also hibernate. During the sum.
mer they live on beetles, Ferries and
toadstools. They are very fond of
cherries, and | have seen three under
one tree at time. In July tho eggs
are Ibid on the ground, and II Is rare
sight to witness the little tortoises as
they break through the shell with their
forefeet. A tortoise | had this sumtner
laid four eggs one every other day, and
! saw two hatch. They grow slowly.
A tortoise six inches long, 10 perhaps
dozen years old. -
Then reference was made to the com.
mon fence lizards, and the subject OF
snakes was taken up. Mr.. Spaid said
OF them; "Our snakes sue hard life.
The Innocent suffer for the sins OF the
wicked. OF every Is snakes found in
our land IA are harmless. Still the
persecution goes on. OF the nine shall
show you tonight two only are danger.
GUS. The others have no poison The
farmers appreciate their value as de.
stroyers of obnoxious rodents and bee
ties. He described some of the feat
uras of particular snakes and gave in.
OF INSTANCES observations. He said
further: The oopperheads, while not
so poisonous as the rattlesnakes, are
really the ones most dreaded of our
snakes. Many persons are bitten by
them, although few Of the bites prove
fatal. The rattlesnaks gives his warn
ing and can be avoIded.''
Further on he said: "Eor the over
worked brain there is no better tonic
! than fishing, for you cannot think
while fishing. Then the river vistas,
the trout brook the flowers and the
! birds are all pauaceas for the weary.
, The smell oil the woods is health giving
to the nostrils of man. How charming
are the ever changing colors OF our
! many beautiful fish. which must be
sean alive to he appreciated. Death
drive5 the iridescence and silver sheen
from their scales. In these views. as
IN all others, you recognize tho value Of
studying nature with the camera You
zee that these fish are not only beauti.
full In color, but in form as WE'LL"
The speaker then went on to sneak
OF honey bees wasps, hornets, and gave
some brief iacts re.ating to their habits.