LEAFLET XIV.

LEAFLET XIV.THE OPENING OF A COCOON.[18]ByMARY ROGERS MILLER.Among the commonest treasures brought into the schools by children in the fall or winter are the cocoons of our giant silk-worms. If one has a place to put them where the air is not too warm or dry, no special care will be necessary to keep them through the winter. Out-door conditions must be imitated as nearly as possible. If early in the fall one is fortunate enough to meet one of these giants out for a walk, it is the simplest thing in the world to capture him and watch him spin his marvelous winter blanket. Two members of this family of giant insects are quite common in this state, the largest the Cecropia, called sometimes the Emperor, and the Promethea.Fig. 87. Cocoon of the Cecropia moth. It sometimes hangs from a twig of a fruit tree.Fig. 87. Cocoon of the Cecropia moth. It sometimes hangs from a twig of a fruit tree.Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out.Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out.The Cecropia moth often measures five or six inches across—a veritable giant. Its main color is dusty brown, with spots andbands of cinnamon brown and white. On each wing is a white crescent bordered with red and outlined with a black line. The body is heavy and covered with thick, reddish-brown hairs, crossed near the end with black and white lines. On its small head are two large feathery feelers or antennæ. The Cecropia moth emerges from the cocoon, full grown, in early summer, when out of doors. Those kept in the house often come out as early as March. The eggs are deposited by the adults upon apple, pear, cherry, maple and other shade and fruit trees. Professor Comstock says that the spiny caterpillars which hatch from the eggs in about two weeks, are known to feed upon the leaves of some fifty species of plants. One could therefore hardly make a mistake in offering refreshment to these creatures, since they are anything but epicures. The full-grown caterpillar, having spent the summer eating and growing, with now and then a change of clothes, is often three inches long and an inch in diameter. It is a dull bluish green in color. On its back are two rows of wart-like protuberances (tubercles), some yellow, some red, some blue. As there is nothing else in nature which is just like it, one need have no difficulty in recognizing the Cecropia in its different phases.Fig. 89. Cocoon of Promethea moth fastened to a twig with silk.Fig. 89. Cocoon of Promethea moth fastened to a twig with silk.The cocoon which this giant silk-worm weaves is shown in Fig. 87. It may be found on a twig of some tree in the dooryard, but sometimes on a fence-post or equally unexpected place. Inside the cocoon the brown pupa, alive but helpless, waits for spring.Fig. 90. Cocoon of Promethea, cut open lengthwise to show the valve-like device at upper end through which the adult moth pushes its way out.Fig. 90. Cocoon of Promethea, cut open lengthwise to show the valve-like device at upper end through which the adult moth pushes its way out.After the moth comes out it is interesting to examine the structure of the cocoon, and to discover how the moth managed to free itself without destroying the silken blanket (Fig. 88).Swinging loosely from last summer's twigs in lilac bushes, and on such trees as wild cherry and ash, one often finds the slender cocoons of the Promethea moth (Fig. 89). We cannot help admiring the skill and care displayed by the spinner of this tidy winter overcoat. The giant silk-worm which spun it chose a leaf as a foundation. He took care to secure himself against the danger of falling by fastening the leaf to the twig which bore it by means of shining strands of silk. It is easy to test the strength of this fastening by attempting to pull it loose from the twig.The moths which come from these cocoons do not always look alike, yet they are all brothers and sisters. The brothers are almost black, while the wings of the sisters are light reddish brown, with a light gray wavy line crossing the middle of both wings. The margins of the wings are clay-colored. On each wing is a dark velvety spot. The adults emerge in spring and are most often seen in the late afternoon. Their flight is more spirited than that of the Cecropia, which moves very sedately, as becomes a giant.The caterpillars of this species, the young Prometheas, feed during the summer on leaves of wild cherry, ash and other trees. They grow to be about two inches long, and are distinguished from others by their pale bluish green color and yellow legs. They also have rows of wart-like elevations on their backs, some black and shining, four of a bright red and one large and yellow near the hindmost end.The life of these giant insects is divided into four distinct stages: the egg, deposited by the adult moth usually on or near the food plant; the larva, or caterpillar stage, when most of the eating and all the growing is done; the pupa, passed inside the cocoon woven by the larva; and the adult, a winged moth.The life-cycle or generation is one year, the winter being passed in the pupa stage. The insect lives but a short time in the adult stage and the egg stage is but two or three weeks. Most of the summer is devoted to the caterpillar phase of its life.These creatures are entirely harmless. They seldom appear in numbers sufficient to make them of economic importance.

Among the commonest treasures brought into the schools by children in the fall or winter are the cocoons of our giant silk-worms. If one has a place to put them where the air is not too warm or dry, no special care will be necessary to keep them through the winter. Out-door conditions must be imitated as nearly as possible. If early in the fall one is fortunate enough to meet one of these giants out for a walk, it is the simplest thing in the world to capture him and watch him spin his marvelous winter blanket. Two members of this family of giant insects are quite common in this state, the largest the Cecropia, called sometimes the Emperor, and the Promethea.

Fig. 87. Cocoon of the Cecropia moth. It sometimes hangs from a twig of a fruit tree.Fig. 87. Cocoon of the Cecropia moth. It sometimes hangs from a twig of a fruit tree.

Fig. 87. Cocoon of the Cecropia moth. It sometimes hangs from a twig of a fruit tree.

Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out.Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out.

Fig. 88. End of cocoon of Cecropia, inside view, showing where the moth gets out.

The Cecropia moth often measures five or six inches across—a veritable giant. Its main color is dusty brown, with spots andbands of cinnamon brown and white. On each wing is a white crescent bordered with red and outlined with a black line. The body is heavy and covered with thick, reddish-brown hairs, crossed near the end with black and white lines. On its small head are two large feathery feelers or antennæ. The Cecropia moth emerges from the cocoon, full grown, in early summer, when out of doors. Those kept in the house often come out as early as March. The eggs are deposited by the adults upon apple, pear, cherry, maple and other shade and fruit trees. Professor Comstock says that the spiny caterpillars which hatch from the eggs in about two weeks, are known to feed upon the leaves of some fifty species of plants. One could therefore hardly make a mistake in offering refreshment to these creatures, since they are anything but epicures. The full-grown caterpillar, having spent the summer eating and growing, with now and then a change of clothes, is often three inches long and an inch in diameter. It is a dull bluish green in color. On its back are two rows of wart-like protuberances (tubercles), some yellow, some red, some blue. As there is nothing else in nature which is just like it, one need have no difficulty in recognizing the Cecropia in its different phases.

Fig. 89. Cocoon of Promethea moth fastened to a twig with silk.Fig. 89. Cocoon of Promethea moth fastened to a twig with silk.

Fig. 89. Cocoon of Promethea moth fastened to a twig with silk.

The cocoon which this giant silk-worm weaves is shown in Fig. 87. It may be found on a twig of some tree in the dooryard, but sometimes on a fence-post or equally unexpected place. Inside the cocoon the brown pupa, alive but helpless, waits for spring.

Fig. 90. Cocoon of Promethea, cut open lengthwise to show the valve-like device at upper end through which the adult moth pushes its way out.Fig. 90. Cocoon of Promethea, cut open lengthwise to show the valve-like device at upper end through which the adult moth pushes its way out.

Fig. 90. Cocoon of Promethea, cut open lengthwise to show the valve-like device at upper end through which the adult moth pushes its way out.

After the moth comes out it is interesting to examine the structure of the cocoon, and to discover how the moth managed to free itself without destroying the silken blanket (Fig. 88).

Swinging loosely from last summer's twigs in lilac bushes, and on such trees as wild cherry and ash, one often finds the slender cocoons of the Promethea moth (Fig. 89). We cannot help admiring the skill and care displayed by the spinner of this tidy winter overcoat. The giant silk-worm which spun it chose a leaf as a foundation. He took care to secure himself against the danger of falling by fastening the leaf to the twig which bore it by means of shining strands of silk. It is easy to test the strength of this fastening by attempting to pull it loose from the twig.

The moths which come from these cocoons do not always look alike, yet they are all brothers and sisters. The brothers are almost black, while the wings of the sisters are light reddish brown, with a light gray wavy line crossing the middle of both wings. The margins of the wings are clay-colored. On each wing is a dark velvety spot. The adults emerge in spring and are most often seen in the late afternoon. Their flight is more spirited than that of the Cecropia, which moves very sedately, as becomes a giant.

The caterpillars of this species, the young Prometheas, feed during the summer on leaves of wild cherry, ash and other trees. They grow to be about two inches long, and are distinguished from others by their pale bluish green color and yellow legs. They also have rows of wart-like elevations on their backs, some black and shining, four of a bright red and one large and yellow near the hindmost end.

The life of these giant insects is divided into four distinct stages: the egg, deposited by the adult moth usually on or near the food plant; the larva, or caterpillar stage, when most of the eating and all the growing is done; the pupa, passed inside the cocoon woven by the larva; and the adult, a winged moth.

The life-cycle or generation is one year, the winter being passed in the pupa stage. The insect lives but a short time in the adult stage and the egg stage is but two or three weeks. Most of the summer is devoted to the caterpillar phase of its life.

These creatures are entirely harmless. They seldom appear in numbers sufficient to make them of economic importance.

LEAFLET XV.A TALK ABOUT SPIDERS.[19]ByJ. H. COMSTOCK.Of all our little neighbors of the fields there are none that are more universally shunned and feared than spiders, and few that deserve it less. There is a wide-spread belief that spiders are dangerous, that they are liable to bite, and that their bites are very venomous. Now this may be true of certain large species that live in hot countries; but the spiders of the Northern United States are practically harmless.It is true, spiders bite and inject venom sufficient to kill a fly into the wound made by their jaws. But they are exceedingly shy creatures, fearing man more than they are to be feared. If an observer will refrain from picking up a spider there is not the slightest danger of being bitten by one; and excepting a single uncommon species no spider is known in this part of the country whose bite would seriously affect a human being.On the other hand, spiders do much to keep in check various insect pests, and hence must be regarded as our friends. It is, however, from a different point of view that we wish to look upon them at this time. It is as illustrations of remarkable development of instinctive powers, and of wonderful correlation of structure and habit, that we would have the reader study these creatures. The teacher of nature-study can find no more available or more fertile field from which to take subjects for interesting children in the world about us. Let us then put aside our fears and go into the fields and see whether we can learn something of the ways of these spinners.The Funnel-web Weavers.Often on summer mornings the grass of the roadsides and fields is seen to be carpeted with little sheets of glistening silk, the webs of the grass-spider. None were observed the day before; and wewonder at the sudden appearance of this host of weavers. Later in the day the webs have vanished! Have the weavers rolled them up and carried them off? We remember that there was an especially fine one near the end of the veranda steps; we examine the place carefully and find that it is still there, but not so conspicuous as it was. The warm sun has dissipated the dew which rendered visible to our dull eyes the tapestry of the fields. Now that our eyes are opened we can find the webs everywhere and are impressed with a suspicion that perhaps ordinarily we see very little of what is around us.We examine one of the webs carefully and find that it is a closely woven sheet made of threads running in all directions; that it is attached to spears of grass, and supported by numerous guy lines, and that from one side a funnel-like tube extends downwards. If, while we are watching, an insect alights on the sheet, there darts from the tunnel, where she was concealed, the owner of the web, a dark-colored spider; and the insect must be agile if it escapes.If you attempt to catch the spider it retreats to its tunnel; and when you examine the tunnel the spider is not there. You find that the tube is open below, that there is a back door by which the spider can escape when hard pressed.We call those spiders that makes webs of this kindThe Funnel-web Weavers. They are long-legged, brown spiders, which run on the upper surface of their webs; these are usually made on grass, but sometimes they are found in the angles of buildings, and in quite high places.The Cobweb Weavers.The webs that we most often find in the corners of rooms are of a different kind and are made by the members of a family known asThe Cobweb Weavers. In these webs there is not such a definite sheet of silk as in those of the funnel-web weavers, but instead a shapeless maze of threads extending in all directions. Many of the cobweb weavers, however, make their webs in the fields on bushes, and weave in them a flat or curved sheet, under which the spider hangs back downward. The funnel-web weavers run right side up; the cobweb weavers hang inverted. Some of the cobweb weavers do not remain in their webs, but have a nest in a neighboring crack or corner, from which they rush to seize their prey, and sometimes there is a funnel-shaped tube leading to their nest. But these spiders differ from the truefunnel-web weavers in running back downwards on the lower side of their webs.The Orb Weavers.The spider webs that most often excite admiration are those in which the supporting threads radiate from a center like the spokes of a wheel, and bear a spiral thread. Such webs are known as orb-webs; and the family of spiders that make them,The Orb Weavers.Few if any of the structures built by lower animals are more wonderful than these webs; but they are so common that they are often considered hardly worthy of notice. If they occurred only in some remote corner of the earth, every one would read of them with interest.Fig. 91. Nearly completed orb-web.Fig. 91. Nearly completed orb-web.The webs or nets of the different species of orb weavers differ in the details of their structure; but the general plan is quite similar. There is first a framework of supporting lines. The outer part of this framework is irregular, depending upon the position of the objects to which the net is attached; but the central part is very regular, and consists of a number of lines radiating from the center of the net (Fig. 91). All of these supporting lines are dry and inelastic. Touch them with your pencil and you find that they neither stretch nor adhere to it. Upon these radiating lines there is fastened in a very regular manner a thread which is sticky and elastic. This will adhere to your pencil, and will stretch several times its normal length before breaking. Usually this sticky thread is fastened to the radiating lines so as to form a spiral; but a few species make nets in which it is looped back and forth. And even in the nets where the greater part of the thread is in a spiral there are in most cases a few loops near the lower margin (Fig. 91). Examine the next orb-web you find and see whether it is true in that case.Many of the orb weavers strengthen their nets by spinning azigzag ribbon across the center. This ribbon is made by spreading apart the spinnerets, the organs from which the silk is spun, and which will be described later. Ordinarily the tips of the spinnerets are held close together so that they form a single thread, but by spreading them apart many threads can be spun at once, thus forming a ribbon.Some orb weavers are not content with making a simple zigzag band across the center of the net, but weave an elaborate bit of lace in this position.Fig. 92is from a photograph of the center of the net of one of these spiders, which was found near Ithaca.In studying the various kinds of orb-webs one should pay particular attention to the center of the web; for this part differs greatly in the webs of the different species. There is usually ahubcomposed entirely of dry and inelastic silk woven in an irregular manner; outside of this there are several turns of a spiral thread which is also dry; this constitutes thenotched zone, a name suggested by the fact that the spiral line is attached for a short space to each radius it crosses, thus giving the line a notched course. In many cases it is here, on the hub and the notched zone, that the spider waits for its prey; and it is obvious that sticky silk in this place would be objectionable. Between the notched zone and thespiral zone, the part furnished with the sticky spiral thread, there is a clear space, thefree zone, crossed only by the radii. This gives the spider an opportunity to pass from one side of the web to the other without going around the entire web.Fig. 92. Lace-like hub of an orb-web.Fig. 92. Lace-like hub of an orb-web.Some orb weavers do not wait upon the hub but have a retreat near one edge of the net, in which they hang back downwards. While resting in these retreats they keep hold of some of the lines leading from the net, so that they can instantly detect any jar caused by an entrapped insect.When an insect in its flight touches one of the turns of the sticky line the line adheres to it, but it stretches so as to allow the insect to become entangled in other turns of the line. If it were not for this elasticity of the sticky line, most insects could readily tear themselves away before the spider had time to reach them.In running over its net the spider steps upon the radii, carefully avoiding the sticky line; otherwise it would destroy its own net.The rapidity with which a spider can cross its net without touching the sticky line is remarkable.In making its web an orb weaver first spins a number of lines extending irregularly in various directions about the place where its orb is to be; this is the outer supporting framework. Often the first line spun is a bridge between two quite distant points, as the branches of two separate bushes. How did the spider cross the gulf? It has no wings.The bridge building can be easily seen on a warm summer evening, the time at which the spiders are most active repairing their old nets and building new ones. The spider lifts the hind end of its body and spins forth a thread; this is carried off by the wind, until, finally striking some object, it becomes fast to it. The spider then pulls in the slack line, like a sailor, and when the line is taut fastens it to the object on which it is standing, and the bridge is formed.Fig. 93. Nearly completed orb-web.Fig. 93. Nearly completed orb-web.After making the outward framework, the radiating lines are formed. A line is stretched across the space so as to pass through the point which is to be the center of the orb. In doing this the spider may start on one side, and be forced to walk in a very roundabout way on the outer framework to the opposite side. It carefully holds the new line up behind it as it goes along, so that it shall not become entangled with the lines on which it walks; one or both hind feet serve as hands in these spinning operations; for, as the spider has eight feet, it can spare one or two for other purposes than locomotion. When the desired point is reached the slack is pulled in and the line fastened. The spider then goes to the point where the center of the orb is to be, and, fastening another line, it walks back to the outer framework, and attaches this line an inch or two from the first. In this way all of the radiating lines are drawn. The next step is to stay theseradii by a spiral line, which is begun near the center, and attached to each radius as it crosses it. The turns of this spiral are as far apart as the spider can conveniently reach.All of the threads spun up to this stage in the construction of the web are dry and inelastic. The spider now proceeds to stretch upon this framework a sticky and elastic line, which is the most important part of the web, the other lines being merely a framework to support it. In spinning the sticky line, the spider begins at the outer edge of the orb, and passing around it, fastens this line to each radius as it goes. Thus a second spiral is made. The turns of this spiral are placed quite close together, and the first spiral, which is merely a temporary support, is destroyed as the second spiral progresses.Fig. 93represents a web in which the second spiral is made over the outer half of the radii. In this figure,aarepresents the temporary stayline;bb, the sticky spiral; andcc, the fragments of the first spiral hanging from the radii.Fig. 94. Wasp, with head, thorax and abdomen separated.Fig. 94. Wasp, with head, thorax and abdomen separated.Fig. 95. Spider, showing division of the body into cephalothorax and abdomen.Fig. 95. Spider, showing division of the body into cephalothorax and abdomen.Fig. 96. Lower side of cephalothorax of a spider; md, mandible; mx, maxilla; p, palpus; l, lower lip; s, sternum.Fig. 96. Lower side of cephalothorax of a spider;md, mandible;mx, maxilla;p, palpus;l, lower lip;s, sternum.The Parts of a Spider.Fig. 97. Maxilla and palpus of male house-spider.Fig. 97. Maxilla and palpus of male house-spider.Fig. 98. Head of spider, showing eyes and mandibles.Fig. 98. Head of spider, showing eyes and mandibles.Spiders differ much in appearance from the true insects. In the insects the body is composed of three regions: the head; the thorax, to which the legs are attached; and the abdomen or hind part of the body (Fig. 94). In the spiders the head and thorax are grown together, forming a region which is known as thecephalothorax; to this theabdomenis joined by a short, narrow stalk (Fig. 95). Spiders differ also from insects in the number of their legs, spiders having eight legs and insects only six.Spiders have two pairs of jaws, which, except in the Tarantula family, move sidewise like the jaws of insects. The first pair of jaws are called themandibles. Each mandible consists of two segments, a strong basal one and a claw-shaped terminal one, at the tip of which the poison gland opens (Fig. 96). The second pair of jaws is known as themaxillæ. These jaws are situated just behind the mandibles, one on each side of the mouth. Each maxilla bears a large feeler orpalpus. These palpi vary greatly in form; frequently, especially in females, they resemble legs; hence many spiders appear to have five pairs of legs. In the male spiders the last segment of the palpus is more or less enlarged, ending in a complicated, knob-like structure (Fig. 97). It is thus easy to determine the sex of a spider by merely examining the palpi.The greater number of spiders have four pairs of eyes (Fig. 98), but there may be only one, two, or three pairs; and certain cave spiders are blind. The eyes appear like little gems set in the front of the cephalothorax. They are most prominent in the jumping spiders, which stalk their prey on plants, logs, fences, and the sides of buildings.Fig. 99. Spinnerets of a spider.Fig. 99. Spinnerets of a spider.Fig. 100. A group of spinning tubes.Fig. 100. A group of spinning tubes.Fig. 101. Viscid silk from an orb-web.Fig. 101. Viscid silk from an orb-web.Fig. 102. Spinnerets and cribellum of a curled-thread weaver.Fig. 102. Spinnerets and cribellum of a curled-thread weaver.The most characteristic feature of spiders is their spinning organs. The silk is secreted in glands within the abdomen, and while in the body it is a fluid. It passes out through thespinnerets, which are situated near the hind end of the abdomen. There are two or three pairs of spinnerets. These are more or less finger-like in form, and sometimes jointed (Fig. 99). Upon the end of each spinneret there are many small tubes, thespinningtubes(Fig. 100), from which the silk is spun. Some spiders have as many as one hundred and fifty or two hundred of these spinning tubes on each spinneret.Ordinarily the tips of the spinnerets are brought close together, so that all of the minute threads that emerge from the numerous spinning tubes unite to form a single thread. Hence this tiny thread, which is so delicate that we can see it only when the light falls on it in a favorable way, is composed of hundreds of threads. It is not like a rope, composed of separate strands; for all the minute threads fuse together into a single thread. The change in the silk from a fluid to a solid cord, strong enough to support the weight of the spider, must take place quickly after the silk comes in contact with the air on leaving the spinning tubes; the minute size of the threads coming from the spinning tubes doubtless facilitates this change.Sometimes a spider will spread its spinnerets apart, and thus spin a broad ribbon-like band. We have seen a spider seize a large grasshopper which was entangled in its web, and rolling it over two or three times, completely envelop it in a sheet of silk spun from its spread-apart spinnerets. We have already described bands spun by orb weavers across the hub of the net in this way.Fig. 103. Last two segments of hind leg of spider, showing calamistrum.Fig. 103. Last two segments of hind leg of spider, showing calamistrum.It is supposed that the two kinds of silk spun by the orb weavers are spun from different spinnerets, and that the viscid silk comes from the front pair. When this silk is first spun, the viscid matter forms a continuous layer of liquid on the outside of it. But very soon this layer breaks up into bead-like masses—in a way similar to that in which the moisture on a clothes line on a foggy day collects into drops (Fig. 101).There are two families of spiders that have spinning organs differing from those of all other spiders. They have in front of the usual spinnerets an additional organ, which is named thecribellum(Fig. 102, c). This bears spinning tubes like the other spinnerets, but these tubes are much finer. These spiders have also on the next-to-the-last segment of the hind legs one or two rows of curved spines; this organ is thecalamistrum(Fig. 103). By means of the calamistrum these spiders comb from the cribellum a band of loose threads which form a part of their webs.The Curled-thread Weavers.The spiders possessing a cribellum and a calamistrum represent two families, one of which makes irregular webs; the other, those which are of definite form.Fig. 104. Web of a curled-thread weaver.Fig. 104. Web of a curled-thread weaver.Fig. 105. Fragment of a curled-thread weaver's web, enlarged.Fig. 105. Fragment of a curled-thread weaver's web, enlarged.An irregular web of a curled-thread weaver is shown inFig. 104, from a photograph. In this web the framework is of ordinary silk; and upon this framework is placed a band of curled or tangled threads (Fig. 105). An insect alighting on a net of this kind is likely to get its feet caught in the tangled silk, and to be held fast till the spider can pounce upon it. Nets of this kind are found on bushes and on the sides of buildings.There are two quite distinct types of regular webs made by spiders possessing a cribellum and a calamistrum. One is a round web which resembles at first sight those of the orb weavers; but it differs from the ordinary orb-web in that the spiral thread is made of curled or hackled silk. These webs are nearly horizontal, and are usually made between stones or in low bushes; they are not common.Fig. 106. Web of the triangle spider.Fig. 106. Web of the triangle spider.The other type is represented by the web of the triangle spider. This web is most often found stretched between the twigs of a dead branch of pine or hemlock. At first sight it appears like a fragment of an orb-web (Fig. 106); but a little study will show that it is complete. The accompanying figure, by Dr. B. G. Wilder, who first described the habits of this spider ("Popular Science Monthly," 1875) illustrates the form of the web. It consists of four plain lines corresponding to the radiating lines of an orb-web, and a series of cross lines, which are spun by the cribellum and calamistrum. Each cross line is composed of two lines, about1/500of an inch apart. These double lines take the place of the curled threads woven byother members of the family to which the triangle spider belongs. From the point where the radiating lines meet, a strong line extends to one of the supporting twigs. Near this twig the spider rests, pulling the web tight so that there is some loose line between its legs, as shown in the enlarged figure. When an insect becomes entangled in one of the cross lines, the spider suddenly lets go the loose line so that the whole web springs forward, and the insect is entangled in other cross lines. The spider then draws the web tight and snaps it again. This may be repeated several times before the spider goes out upon the web after its prey.The triangle spider is a tiny fellow, and so closely resembles the color of the dead branch near which it rests that it is very difficult to find; its web is more easily seen, though it usually requires careful searching to discover it.The Motherhood of Spiders.As a rule young spiders are forced to shift for themselves, and a very hard time they have; but of this we have not space to write. With spiders, the mother's care is devoted chiefly to furnishing protection to her helpless eggs. These are placed in silken sacs, which are often very elaborate in construction and protected with great care.Fig. 107. Egg-sac of a spider.Fig. 107. Egg-sac of a spider.The most common egg-sacs are those found in the fields attached to stones and pieces of wood (Fig. 107). They are disk-shaped objects, silvery in color, and about the size of an old-fashioned three-cent piece.The egg-sacs of the cobweb weavers can be found suspended in their webs; and those of the orb weavers, in various situations.Fig. 108represents the large egg-sac of one of the orb weavers. This is made in the autumn, and contains at that season a large number of eggs—five hundred or more. These eggs hatch early in the winter; but no spiders emerge from the egg-sac until the following spring. If egg-sacs of this kind be opened at different times during the winter, the spiders will be found to increase in size but diminish in numbers as the season advances. In fact, a strange tragedy goes on within these egg-sacs: the stronger spiders calmly devour their weaker brothers, and in the springthose that survive emerge sufficiently nourished to fight their battles in the outside world.Fig. 108. Egg-sac of an orb weaver.Fig. 108. Egg-sac of an orb weaver.The females of theRunning Spidersnot only make a carefully constructed egg-sac, but also care for the young spiders for a time. The running spiders are the large dark-colored, hairy spiders, often found under stones and rubbish; they are so-called because they capture their prey by running. The females of most of the species (those of the genusLycosa) drag after them their egg-sac, which is attached to the spinnerets (Fig. 109); and when the young hatch, they climb on their mother's back, and are carried about for a time.Fig. 109. Lycosa and egg-sac.Fig. 109. Lycosa and egg-sac.One of the running spiders (Dolomedes) carries her egg-sac with her mandibles until the young are ready to emerge. At this time the mother fastens the egg-sac in a bush, and spins irregular threads about it, among which the young spiders remain for a time (Fig. 110). In the specimen figured, the egg-sac was concealed in the upper part of the web.The Ballooning Spiders.In warm autumn days, innumerable threads can be seen streaming from fences, bushes, and the tips of stalks of grass, or floating through the air. These are made by theBallooning Spiders, which are able to travel long distances, hundreds of miles, through the air by means of these silken threads.The ballooning spider climbs to some elevated point, and then, standing on the tips of its feet, lifts its body as high as it can, and spins out a thread of silk. This thread is carried up and away by a current of air. When the thread is long enough the force of the air current on it is sufficient to bear the spider up. It then lets go its hold with its feet and sails away. That these spiders travel long distances in this manner has been shown by the fact that they have been seen floating through the air at sea far from land.Fig. 110. Nursery of Dolomedes.Fig. 110. Nursery of Dolomedes.

Of all our little neighbors of the fields there are none that are more universally shunned and feared than spiders, and few that deserve it less. There is a wide-spread belief that spiders are dangerous, that they are liable to bite, and that their bites are very venomous. Now this may be true of certain large species that live in hot countries; but the spiders of the Northern United States are practically harmless.

It is true, spiders bite and inject venom sufficient to kill a fly into the wound made by their jaws. But they are exceedingly shy creatures, fearing man more than they are to be feared. If an observer will refrain from picking up a spider there is not the slightest danger of being bitten by one; and excepting a single uncommon species no spider is known in this part of the country whose bite would seriously affect a human being.

On the other hand, spiders do much to keep in check various insect pests, and hence must be regarded as our friends. It is, however, from a different point of view that we wish to look upon them at this time. It is as illustrations of remarkable development of instinctive powers, and of wonderful correlation of structure and habit, that we would have the reader study these creatures. The teacher of nature-study can find no more available or more fertile field from which to take subjects for interesting children in the world about us. Let us then put aside our fears and go into the fields and see whether we can learn something of the ways of these spinners.

Often on summer mornings the grass of the roadsides and fields is seen to be carpeted with little sheets of glistening silk, the webs of the grass-spider. None were observed the day before; and wewonder at the sudden appearance of this host of weavers. Later in the day the webs have vanished! Have the weavers rolled them up and carried them off? We remember that there was an especially fine one near the end of the veranda steps; we examine the place carefully and find that it is still there, but not so conspicuous as it was. The warm sun has dissipated the dew which rendered visible to our dull eyes the tapestry of the fields. Now that our eyes are opened we can find the webs everywhere and are impressed with a suspicion that perhaps ordinarily we see very little of what is around us.

We examine one of the webs carefully and find that it is a closely woven sheet made of threads running in all directions; that it is attached to spears of grass, and supported by numerous guy lines, and that from one side a funnel-like tube extends downwards. If, while we are watching, an insect alights on the sheet, there darts from the tunnel, where she was concealed, the owner of the web, a dark-colored spider; and the insect must be agile if it escapes.

If you attempt to catch the spider it retreats to its tunnel; and when you examine the tunnel the spider is not there. You find that the tube is open below, that there is a back door by which the spider can escape when hard pressed.

We call those spiders that makes webs of this kindThe Funnel-web Weavers. They are long-legged, brown spiders, which run on the upper surface of their webs; these are usually made on grass, but sometimes they are found in the angles of buildings, and in quite high places.

The webs that we most often find in the corners of rooms are of a different kind and are made by the members of a family known asThe Cobweb Weavers. In these webs there is not such a definite sheet of silk as in those of the funnel-web weavers, but instead a shapeless maze of threads extending in all directions. Many of the cobweb weavers, however, make their webs in the fields on bushes, and weave in them a flat or curved sheet, under which the spider hangs back downward. The funnel-web weavers run right side up; the cobweb weavers hang inverted. Some of the cobweb weavers do not remain in their webs, but have a nest in a neighboring crack or corner, from which they rush to seize their prey, and sometimes there is a funnel-shaped tube leading to their nest. But these spiders differ from the truefunnel-web weavers in running back downwards on the lower side of their webs.

The spider webs that most often excite admiration are those in which the supporting threads radiate from a center like the spokes of a wheel, and bear a spiral thread. Such webs are known as orb-webs; and the family of spiders that make them,The Orb Weavers.

Few if any of the structures built by lower animals are more wonderful than these webs; but they are so common that they are often considered hardly worthy of notice. If they occurred only in some remote corner of the earth, every one would read of them with interest.

Fig. 91. Nearly completed orb-web.Fig. 91. Nearly completed orb-web.

Fig. 91. Nearly completed orb-web.

The webs or nets of the different species of orb weavers differ in the details of their structure; but the general plan is quite similar. There is first a framework of supporting lines. The outer part of this framework is irregular, depending upon the position of the objects to which the net is attached; but the central part is very regular, and consists of a number of lines radiating from the center of the net (Fig. 91). All of these supporting lines are dry and inelastic. Touch them with your pencil and you find that they neither stretch nor adhere to it. Upon these radiating lines there is fastened in a very regular manner a thread which is sticky and elastic. This will adhere to your pencil, and will stretch several times its normal length before breaking. Usually this sticky thread is fastened to the radiating lines so as to form a spiral; but a few species make nets in which it is looped back and forth. And even in the nets where the greater part of the thread is in a spiral there are in most cases a few loops near the lower margin (Fig. 91). Examine the next orb-web you find and see whether it is true in that case.

Many of the orb weavers strengthen their nets by spinning azigzag ribbon across the center. This ribbon is made by spreading apart the spinnerets, the organs from which the silk is spun, and which will be described later. Ordinarily the tips of the spinnerets are held close together so that they form a single thread, but by spreading them apart many threads can be spun at once, thus forming a ribbon.

Some orb weavers are not content with making a simple zigzag band across the center of the net, but weave an elaborate bit of lace in this position.Fig. 92is from a photograph of the center of the net of one of these spiders, which was found near Ithaca.

In studying the various kinds of orb-webs one should pay particular attention to the center of the web; for this part differs greatly in the webs of the different species. There is usually ahubcomposed entirely of dry and inelastic silk woven in an irregular manner; outside of this there are several turns of a spiral thread which is also dry; this constitutes thenotched zone, a name suggested by the fact that the spiral line is attached for a short space to each radius it crosses, thus giving the line a notched course. In many cases it is here, on the hub and the notched zone, that the spider waits for its prey; and it is obvious that sticky silk in this place would be objectionable. Between the notched zone and thespiral zone, the part furnished with the sticky spiral thread, there is a clear space, thefree zone, crossed only by the radii. This gives the spider an opportunity to pass from one side of the web to the other without going around the entire web.

Fig. 92. Lace-like hub of an orb-web.Fig. 92. Lace-like hub of an orb-web.

Fig. 92. Lace-like hub of an orb-web.

Some orb weavers do not wait upon the hub but have a retreat near one edge of the net, in which they hang back downwards. While resting in these retreats they keep hold of some of the lines leading from the net, so that they can instantly detect any jar caused by an entrapped insect.

When an insect in its flight touches one of the turns of the sticky line the line adheres to it, but it stretches so as to allow the insect to become entangled in other turns of the line. If it were not for this elasticity of the sticky line, most insects could readily tear themselves away before the spider had time to reach them.

In running over its net the spider steps upon the radii, carefully avoiding the sticky line; otherwise it would destroy its own net.The rapidity with which a spider can cross its net without touching the sticky line is remarkable.

In making its web an orb weaver first spins a number of lines extending irregularly in various directions about the place where its orb is to be; this is the outer supporting framework. Often the first line spun is a bridge between two quite distant points, as the branches of two separate bushes. How did the spider cross the gulf? It has no wings.

The bridge building can be easily seen on a warm summer evening, the time at which the spiders are most active repairing their old nets and building new ones. The spider lifts the hind end of its body and spins forth a thread; this is carried off by the wind, until, finally striking some object, it becomes fast to it. The spider then pulls in the slack line, like a sailor, and when the line is taut fastens it to the object on which it is standing, and the bridge is formed.

Fig. 93. Nearly completed orb-web.Fig. 93. Nearly completed orb-web.

Fig. 93. Nearly completed orb-web.

After making the outward framework, the radiating lines are formed. A line is stretched across the space so as to pass through the point which is to be the center of the orb. In doing this the spider may start on one side, and be forced to walk in a very roundabout way on the outer framework to the opposite side. It carefully holds the new line up behind it as it goes along, so that it shall not become entangled with the lines on which it walks; one or both hind feet serve as hands in these spinning operations; for, as the spider has eight feet, it can spare one or two for other purposes than locomotion. When the desired point is reached the slack is pulled in and the line fastened. The spider then goes to the point where the center of the orb is to be, and, fastening another line, it walks back to the outer framework, and attaches this line an inch or two from the first. In this way all of the radiating lines are drawn. The next step is to stay theseradii by a spiral line, which is begun near the center, and attached to each radius as it crosses it. The turns of this spiral are as far apart as the spider can conveniently reach.

All of the threads spun up to this stage in the construction of the web are dry and inelastic. The spider now proceeds to stretch upon this framework a sticky and elastic line, which is the most important part of the web, the other lines being merely a framework to support it. In spinning the sticky line, the spider begins at the outer edge of the orb, and passing around it, fastens this line to each radius as it goes. Thus a second spiral is made. The turns of this spiral are placed quite close together, and the first spiral, which is merely a temporary support, is destroyed as the second spiral progresses.Fig. 93represents a web in which the second spiral is made over the outer half of the radii. In this figure,aarepresents the temporary stayline;bb, the sticky spiral; andcc, the fragments of the first spiral hanging from the radii.

Fig. 94. Wasp, with head, thorax and abdomen separated.Fig. 94. Wasp, with head, thorax and abdomen separated.

Fig. 94. Wasp, with head, thorax and abdomen separated.

Fig. 95. Spider, showing division of the body into cephalothorax and abdomen.Fig. 95. Spider, showing division of the body into cephalothorax and abdomen.

Fig. 95. Spider, showing division of the body into cephalothorax and abdomen.

Fig. 96. Lower side of cephalothorax of a spider; md, mandible; mx, maxilla; p, palpus; l, lower lip; s, sternum.Fig. 96. Lower side of cephalothorax of a spider;md, mandible;mx, maxilla;p, palpus;l, lower lip;s, sternum.

Fig. 96. Lower side of cephalothorax of a spider;md, mandible;mx, maxilla;p, palpus;l, lower lip;s, sternum.

Fig. 97. Maxilla and palpus of male house-spider.Fig. 97. Maxilla and palpus of male house-spider.

Fig. 97. Maxilla and palpus of male house-spider.

Fig. 98. Head of spider, showing eyes and mandibles.Fig. 98. Head of spider, showing eyes and mandibles.

Fig. 98. Head of spider, showing eyes and mandibles.

Spiders differ much in appearance from the true insects. In the insects the body is composed of three regions: the head; the thorax, to which the legs are attached; and the abdomen or hind part of the body (Fig. 94). In the spiders the head and thorax are grown together, forming a region which is known as thecephalothorax; to this theabdomenis joined by a short, narrow stalk (Fig. 95). Spiders differ also from insects in the number of their legs, spiders having eight legs and insects only six.

Spiders have two pairs of jaws, which, except in the Tarantula family, move sidewise like the jaws of insects. The first pair of jaws are called themandibles. Each mandible consists of two segments, a strong basal one and a claw-shaped terminal one, at the tip of which the poison gland opens (Fig. 96). The second pair of jaws is known as themaxillæ. These jaws are situated just behind the mandibles, one on each side of the mouth. Each maxilla bears a large feeler orpalpus. These palpi vary greatly in form; frequently, especially in females, they resemble legs; hence many spiders appear to have five pairs of legs. In the male spiders the last segment of the palpus is more or less enlarged, ending in a complicated, knob-like structure (Fig. 97). It is thus easy to determine the sex of a spider by merely examining the palpi.

The greater number of spiders have four pairs of eyes (Fig. 98), but there may be only one, two, or three pairs; and certain cave spiders are blind. The eyes appear like little gems set in the front of the cephalothorax. They are most prominent in the jumping spiders, which stalk their prey on plants, logs, fences, and the sides of buildings.

Fig. 99. Spinnerets of a spider.Fig. 99. Spinnerets of a spider.

Fig. 99. Spinnerets of a spider.

Fig. 100. A group of spinning tubes.Fig. 100. A group of spinning tubes.

Fig. 100. A group of spinning tubes.

Fig. 101. Viscid silk from an orb-web.Fig. 101. Viscid silk from an orb-web.

Fig. 101. Viscid silk from an orb-web.

Fig. 102. Spinnerets and cribellum of a curled-thread weaver.Fig. 102. Spinnerets and cribellum of a curled-thread weaver.

Fig. 102. Spinnerets and cribellum of a curled-thread weaver.

The most characteristic feature of spiders is their spinning organs. The silk is secreted in glands within the abdomen, and while in the body it is a fluid. It passes out through thespinnerets, which are situated near the hind end of the abdomen. There are two or three pairs of spinnerets. These are more or less finger-like in form, and sometimes jointed (Fig. 99). Upon the end of each spinneret there are many small tubes, thespinningtubes(Fig. 100), from which the silk is spun. Some spiders have as many as one hundred and fifty or two hundred of these spinning tubes on each spinneret.

Ordinarily the tips of the spinnerets are brought close together, so that all of the minute threads that emerge from the numerous spinning tubes unite to form a single thread. Hence this tiny thread, which is so delicate that we can see it only when the light falls on it in a favorable way, is composed of hundreds of threads. It is not like a rope, composed of separate strands; for all the minute threads fuse together into a single thread. The change in the silk from a fluid to a solid cord, strong enough to support the weight of the spider, must take place quickly after the silk comes in contact with the air on leaving the spinning tubes; the minute size of the threads coming from the spinning tubes doubtless facilitates this change.

Sometimes a spider will spread its spinnerets apart, and thus spin a broad ribbon-like band. We have seen a spider seize a large grasshopper which was entangled in its web, and rolling it over two or three times, completely envelop it in a sheet of silk spun from its spread-apart spinnerets. We have already described bands spun by orb weavers across the hub of the net in this way.

Fig. 103. Last two segments of hind leg of spider, showing calamistrum.Fig. 103. Last two segments of hind leg of spider, showing calamistrum.

Fig. 103. Last two segments of hind leg of spider, showing calamistrum.

It is supposed that the two kinds of silk spun by the orb weavers are spun from different spinnerets, and that the viscid silk comes from the front pair. When this silk is first spun, the viscid matter forms a continuous layer of liquid on the outside of it. But very soon this layer breaks up into bead-like masses—in a way similar to that in which the moisture on a clothes line on a foggy day collects into drops (Fig. 101).

There are two families of spiders that have spinning organs differing from those of all other spiders. They have in front of the usual spinnerets an additional organ, which is named thecribellum(Fig. 102, c). This bears spinning tubes like the other spinnerets, but these tubes are much finer. These spiders have also on the next-to-the-last segment of the hind legs one or two rows of curved spines; this organ is thecalamistrum(Fig. 103). By means of the calamistrum these spiders comb from the cribellum a band of loose threads which form a part of their webs.

The spiders possessing a cribellum and a calamistrum represent two families, one of which makes irregular webs; the other, those which are of definite form.

Fig. 104. Web of a curled-thread weaver.Fig. 104. Web of a curled-thread weaver.

Fig. 104. Web of a curled-thread weaver.

Fig. 105. Fragment of a curled-thread weaver's web, enlarged.Fig. 105. Fragment of a curled-thread weaver's web, enlarged.

Fig. 105. Fragment of a curled-thread weaver's web, enlarged.

An irregular web of a curled-thread weaver is shown inFig. 104, from a photograph. In this web the framework is of ordinary silk; and upon this framework is placed a band of curled or tangled threads (Fig. 105). An insect alighting on a net of this kind is likely to get its feet caught in the tangled silk, and to be held fast till the spider can pounce upon it. Nets of this kind are found on bushes and on the sides of buildings.

There are two quite distinct types of regular webs made by spiders possessing a cribellum and a calamistrum. One is a round web which resembles at first sight those of the orb weavers; but it differs from the ordinary orb-web in that the spiral thread is made of curled or hackled silk. These webs are nearly horizontal, and are usually made between stones or in low bushes; they are not common.

Fig. 106. Web of the triangle spider.Fig. 106. Web of the triangle spider.

Fig. 106. Web of the triangle spider.

The other type is represented by the web of the triangle spider. This web is most often found stretched between the twigs of a dead branch of pine or hemlock. At first sight it appears like a fragment of an orb-web (Fig. 106); but a little study will show that it is complete. The accompanying figure, by Dr. B. G. Wilder, who first described the habits of this spider ("Popular Science Monthly," 1875) illustrates the form of the web. It consists of four plain lines corresponding to the radiating lines of an orb-web, and a series of cross lines, which are spun by the cribellum and calamistrum. Each cross line is composed of two lines, about1/500of an inch apart. These double lines take the place of the curled threads woven byother members of the family to which the triangle spider belongs. From the point where the radiating lines meet, a strong line extends to one of the supporting twigs. Near this twig the spider rests, pulling the web tight so that there is some loose line between its legs, as shown in the enlarged figure. When an insect becomes entangled in one of the cross lines, the spider suddenly lets go the loose line so that the whole web springs forward, and the insect is entangled in other cross lines. The spider then draws the web tight and snaps it again. This may be repeated several times before the spider goes out upon the web after its prey.

The triangle spider is a tiny fellow, and so closely resembles the color of the dead branch near which it rests that it is very difficult to find; its web is more easily seen, though it usually requires careful searching to discover it.

As a rule young spiders are forced to shift for themselves, and a very hard time they have; but of this we have not space to write. With spiders, the mother's care is devoted chiefly to furnishing protection to her helpless eggs. These are placed in silken sacs, which are often very elaborate in construction and protected with great care.

Fig. 107. Egg-sac of a spider.Fig. 107. Egg-sac of a spider.

Fig. 107. Egg-sac of a spider.

The most common egg-sacs are those found in the fields attached to stones and pieces of wood (Fig. 107). They are disk-shaped objects, silvery in color, and about the size of an old-fashioned three-cent piece.

The egg-sacs of the cobweb weavers can be found suspended in their webs; and those of the orb weavers, in various situations.Fig. 108represents the large egg-sac of one of the orb weavers. This is made in the autumn, and contains at that season a large number of eggs—five hundred or more. These eggs hatch early in the winter; but no spiders emerge from the egg-sac until the following spring. If egg-sacs of this kind be opened at different times during the winter, the spiders will be found to increase in size but diminish in numbers as the season advances. In fact, a strange tragedy goes on within these egg-sacs: the stronger spiders calmly devour their weaker brothers, and in the springthose that survive emerge sufficiently nourished to fight their battles in the outside world.

Fig. 108. Egg-sac of an orb weaver.Fig. 108. Egg-sac of an orb weaver.

Fig. 108. Egg-sac of an orb weaver.

The females of theRunning Spidersnot only make a carefully constructed egg-sac, but also care for the young spiders for a time. The running spiders are the large dark-colored, hairy spiders, often found under stones and rubbish; they are so-called because they capture their prey by running. The females of most of the species (those of the genusLycosa) drag after them their egg-sac, which is attached to the spinnerets (Fig. 109); and when the young hatch, they climb on their mother's back, and are carried about for a time.

Fig. 109. Lycosa and egg-sac.Fig. 109. Lycosa and egg-sac.

Fig. 109. Lycosa and egg-sac.

One of the running spiders (Dolomedes) carries her egg-sac with her mandibles until the young are ready to emerge. At this time the mother fastens the egg-sac in a bush, and spins irregular threads about it, among which the young spiders remain for a time (Fig. 110). In the specimen figured, the egg-sac was concealed in the upper part of the web.

In warm autumn days, innumerable threads can be seen streaming from fences, bushes, and the tips of stalks of grass, or floating through the air. These are made by theBallooning Spiders, which are able to travel long distances, hundreds of miles, through the air by means of these silken threads.

The ballooning spider climbs to some elevated point, and then, standing on the tips of its feet, lifts its body as high as it can, and spins out a thread of silk. This thread is carried up and away by a current of air. When the thread is long enough the force of the air current on it is sufficient to bear the spider up. It then lets go its hold with its feet and sails away. That these spiders travel long distances in this manner has been shown by the fact that they have been seen floating through the air at sea far from land.

Fig. 110. Nursery of Dolomedes.Fig. 110. Nursery of Dolomedes.

Fig. 110. Nursery of Dolomedes.

LEAFLET XVI.LIFE HISTORY OF THE TOAD.[20]ByS. H. GAGE.[21]On account of its economic importance, and because the marvelous changes passed through in growing from an egg to a toad are so rapid that they may all be seen during a single spring term of school, the common or warty toad has been selected as the subject of a leaflet in nature-study. Toads are found everywhere in New York, and nearly everywhere in the world; it is easy, therefore, to get abundant material for study. This animal is such a good friend to the farmer, the gardener, the fruit-grower, the florist and the stock-raiser that every man and woman, every boy and girl, ought to know something about it.Furthermore, it is hoped and sincerely believed that the feeling of repugnance and dislike, and the consequent cruelty to toads, will disappear when teachers and children learn something about their wonderful changes in form, structure and habits, and how harmless and helpful they are. Then, who that knows of the chances, the dangers and struggles in the life of the toad, can help a feeling of sympathy; for after all, how like our human life it is. Where sympathy is, cruelty is impossible, and one comes to feel the spirit of these beautiful lines from Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner:""He prayeth best who loveth bestAll things both great and small;For the dear God who loveth usHe made and loveth all."It was William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of theblood, who first clearly stated the fact that every animal comes from an egg. This is as true of a toad as of a chicken.The toad lives on the land and often a long way from any pond or stream, but the first part of its life is spent in the water; and so it is in the water that the eggs must be looked for. To find the eggs one should visit the natural or artificial ponds so common along streams. Ponds from springs or even artificial reservoirs or the basins around fountains, also may contain the eggs. The time for finding the eggs depends on the season. The toad observes the season, not the almanac. In ordinary years, the best time is from the middle of April to the first of May.One is often guided to the right place by noticing the direction from which the song or call of the toad comes. The call of the toad is more or less like that of the tree toads. In general it sounds like whistling, and at the same time pronouncing deep in the throat, bu-rr-r-r-r-. If one watches a toad while it makes its call, one can soon learn to distinguish the sound from others somewhat similar. It will be found that different toads have slightly different voices, and the same one can vary the tone considerably, so that it is not so easy after all to distinguish the many batrachian solos and choruses on a spring or summer evening. It will be noticed that the toad does not open its mouth when it sings, but, instead, the resonator or vocal sac under its mouth and throat is greatly expanded. One must be careful to distinguish the expansion of the mouth in breathing from the expansion of the vocal sac. See the left hand toad in the drawing (Fig. 111) for the vocal sac, and the toad in hibernation (Fig. 121) for the expansion of the mouth in breathing. It is only the males that possess the vocal sac, so that the toad chorus is composed solely of male voices.The eggs are laid in long strings or ropes which are nearly always tangled and wound round the water plants or sticks on the bottom of the pond. If the pond is large and deep, the eggs are laid near the shore where the water is shallow. If the eggs have been freshly laid in clear water the egg ropes will look like glass tubes containing a string of jet black beads. After a rain the eggs are obscured by the fine mud that settles on the transparent jelly surrounding them, but the jelly is much more evident than in the freshly laid egg strings.Secure enough of the egg string to include 50 or 100 eggs and place it in a glass fruit dish or a basin with clean water from thepond where the eggs were found. Let the children look at the eggs very carefully and note the color and the exact shape. Let them see whether the color is the same on all sides. If the eggs are newly laid they will be nearly perfect spheres.Fig. 111. The toad in various stages of development from the egg to the adultFig. 111. The toad in various stages of development from the egg to the adultFrogs, salamanders and tree toads lay their eggs in the same places and at about the same time as the toad we are to study. Only the toad lays its eggs in strings, so one can be sure he has the right kind. The others lay their eggs in bunches or singly on the plants, so they never need be mistaken for the ones sought.Fig. 112. Just hatched toad tadpoles climbing up where the water is better aerated.Fig. 112. Just hatched toad tadpoles climbing up where the water is better aerated.The eggs which are taken to the school house for study should be kept in a light place; an east, south or west window is best.It requires only a short time for the eggs to hatch. In warm weather two to four days are usually sufficient, but in the cool days of April it may require ten days. As the changes are so very rapid, the eggs ought to be carefully looked at two or three times a day to make sure that all the principal changes are seen. If a pocket lens or a reading glass is to be had it will add to the interest, as more of the details can be observed. But good sharp eyes are sufficient if no lens is available.Hatching.—Watch and see how long it is before the developing embryos commence to move. Note their change in form. As they elongate they move more vigorously till on the second or third day they wriggle out of the jelly surrounding them. This is hatching, and they are now free in the water and can swim about. It is curious to see them hang themselves up on the old egg string or on the edge of the dish (Fig. 112). They do this by means of a peculiar v-shaped organ on their heads.Fig. 113. Older toad tadpoles with their heads up.Fig. 113. Older toad tadpoles with their heads up.How different the little creatures are, which have just hatched, from the grown up toad which laid the eggs! The difference is about as great as that between a caterpillar and a butterfly.Tadpoles, polliwogs.—We call the young of the frog, the toad and the tree toad, tadpoles or polliwogs. The toad tadpoles are black. As they increase in size they may become greyish. Those raised in the house are usually darker than those growing in nature.The tadpoles will live for some time in clear water with apparentlynothing to eat. This is because in each egg is some food, just as there is a large supply of food within the egg shell to give the chicken a good start in life. But when the food that the mother supplied in the egg is used up, the little tadpoles would die if they could not find some food for themselves. They must grow a great deal before they can turn into toads; and just like children and other young animals, to grow they must have plenty of food.Feeding the tadpoles.—To feed the tadpoles it is necessary to imitate nature as closely as possible. To do this, a visit to the pond where the eggs were found will give the clue. Many plants are present, and the bottom will be seen to slope gradually from the shore. The food of the tadpole is the minute plant life on the stones, the surface of the mud, or on the outside of the larger plants.One must not attempt to raise too many tadpoles in the artificial pond in the laboratory or school-room or there will not be enough food, and all will be half starved, or some will get the food and the rest will starve to death. While there may be thousands of tadpoles in the natural pond, it will be readily seen that, compared with the amount of water present, there are really rather few.Probably many more were hatched in the school-house than can be raised in the artificial pond. Return the ones not put in the artificial pond to the natural pond. It would be too bad to throw them out on the ground to die.Comparing the growth of the tadpoles.—Even when one does his best it is hard to make an artificial pond so good as the natural one for the tadpoles, and the teacher will find it very interesting and stimulating to compare the growth and change in the tadpoles at the school-house with those in the natural pond.As growth depends on the supply of food and the suitability of the environment, it is easy to judge how nearly the artificial pond equals the natural pond for raising tadpoles. It will be worth while to take a tadpole from the natural pond occasionally and put it in with those at the school-house, so that the differences may be more strikingly shown. There is some danger in making a mistake here, however, for there may be three or four kinds of tadpoles in the natural pond. Those of the toad are almost jet black when young, while the others are more or less brownish. If one selects only the very black ones they will probably be toad tadpoles.Every week or oftener, some water plants, and perhaps a small stone covered with the growth of microscopic plants, and some water, should be taken from the pond to the artificial pond. Thewater will supply the place of that which has evaporated, and the water plants will carry a new supply of food. If the water in the artificial pond in the school-room does not remain clear, it should be carefully dipped out and fresh clear water added. It is better to get the water from the pond where the eggs were laid, although any clear water will answer; but do not use distilled water.The growth and changes in form should be looked for every day. Then it is very interesting to see what the tadpoles do, how they eat, and any signs of breathing.All the changes from an egg to a little toad (Fig. 111), are passed through in one or two months, so that by the first of June the tadpoles will be found to have made great progress. The progress will be not only in size, but in form and action.One of these actions should be watched with especial care, for it means a great deal. At first the little tadpoles remain under water all the time, and do not seem to know or care that there is a great world above the water. But as they grow larger and larger, they rush up to the surface once in awhile and then dive down again, as if their lives depended on it. The older they grow the oftener do they come to the surface. This is even more marked in the large tadpole of the bullfrog. What is the meaning of this? Probably most of the pupils can guess correctly; but it took scientific men a long time to find out just why this was done. The real reason is that the tadpole is getting ready to breathe the free air above the water when it turns into a toad and lives on the land. At first the little tadpoles breathe the air dissolved in the water, just as a fish does. This makes it plain why an artificial pond should have a broad surface exposed to the air. If one should use a narrow and deep vessel, like a fruit jar, only a small amount of air could be taken up by the water and the tadpoles would be half suffocated.As the tadpoles grow older they go oftener to the surface to get the air directly from the limitless supply above the water, as they will have to do when they live wholly in the air.Disappearance of the tail.—From the first to the middle of June the tadpoles should be watched with especial care, for wonderful things are happening. Both the fore and hind legs will appear, if they have not already. The head will change in form and so will the body; the color will become much lighter, and, but for the tail, the tadpole will begin to look something like its mother.If you keep an especially sharp lookout, do you think you will see the tail drop off? No, toad nature is too economical for that.The tail will not drop off, but it will be seen to get shorter and shorter every day; it is not dropping off, but is being carried into the tadpole. The tail is perfect at every stage; it simply disappears. How does this happen? This is another thing that it took scientific men a long time to find out.It is now known that there are two great methods for removing parts of the body no longer needed. In the first method the living particles in the body which are able to wander all around, as if they were inspectors to see that everything is in order, may go to the part to be removed and take it up piece by piece. These living particles are known as white blood corpuscles, wandering cells, phagocytes, leucocytes and several other names. In the other method, the blood and the lymph going to the part to be removed dissolve it particle by particle. Apparently the toad tadpole's tail is dissolved by the blood and lymph rather than being eaten up by the phagocytes, although the phagocytes do a part of the work.Fig. 114. Transforming tadpole of the green tree toad to show the rapidity of tail absorption. (Change in 24 hours. Natural size.)Fig. 114. Transforming tadpole of the green tree toad to show the rapidity of tail absorption.(Change in 24 hours. Natural size.)HVLA—Natural size. Change in 24 hours; 28 mm. of tail absorbed in 24 hours; 11/6mm. per hour. Common toad shortens the tail about1/5mm. per hour.Now, when the tadpole is ready to dispense with its tail, the blood and lymph and the phagocytes take it up particle by particle and carry it back into the body where it can be used just asany other good food would be. This taking in of the tail is done so carefully that the skin epithelium or epidermis is never broken, but covers up the outside perfectly all the time. Is not this a better way to get rid of a tail than to cut it off?If you look at the picture of the disappearance of the tail in the toad tadpole (Fig. 115) and in the tree-toad tadpole (Fig. 114), you will get an idea how rapidly this takes place. It is easier to see the actual shortening if the tadpoles are put in a white dish of clear water without any water plants. The tadpoles do not eat anything while they are changing to toads, so they will not need to be fed.Beginning of the life on the land.—Now, when the legs are grown out, and the tail is getting shorter, the little tadpole likes to put its nose out of the water into the air; and sometimes it crawls half way out. When the tail gets quite short, often a mere stub, it will crawl out entirely and stay for some time in the air. It now looks really like a toad except that it is nearly smooth instead of being warty, and is only about as large as the end of a child's little finger (Fig. 115).Finally, the time comes when the tadpole, now transformed into a toad, must leave the water for the land.What queer feelings the little toad must have when the soft, smooth bottom of the pond and the pretty plants, and the water that supported it so nicely are all to be left behind for the hard, rough, dry land! But the little toad must take the step. It is no longer a tadpole, or half tadpole and half toad. It cannot again dive into the cool, soft water when the air and the sunshine dry and scorch it. As countless generations of little toads have done before, it pushes boldly out over the land and away from the water.If one visits the natural pond at about this season (last half of June, first of July), he is likely to see many of the little fellows hopping away from the water. And so vigorously do they hop along that in a few days they may be as far as a mile from the pond where they were hatched. After a warm shower they are particularly active, and are then most commonly seen. Many think they rained down. "They were not seen before the rain, so they must have rained down." Is that good reasoning?The little toad is careful and during the hot and sunny part of the day stays in the shade of the grass or leaves or in some other moist and shady place. If it staid out in the sun too long it would be liable to dry up.Fig. 115. Toad development in a single season (1903).Fig. 115. Toad development in a single season(1903).1-18. Changes and growth, April to November. 1-13. Development in 25 to 60 days.15-18. Different sizes, October 21, 1903. 9, 14. Different sizes, July 30, 1903.10, 11. The same tadpole,—11, 47 hours older than 10.12, 13. The same tadpole,—13, 47 hours older than 12.Food on the Land.Fig. 116. Toad catching a winged insect.Fig. 116. Toad catching a winged insect, and illustrating how the tongue is extended and brought in contact with the insect. Several other creatures that the toad might eat are shown in various parts of the picture.In the water the tadpole eats vegetable matter; but when it becomes a toad and gets on the land it will touch nothing but animal food, and that must be so fresh that it is alive and moving. This food consists of every creeping, crawling or flying thing that is small enough to be swallowed. While it will not touch a piece of fresh meat lying on the ground, woe to moving snail, insect or worm that comes within its reach!It is by the destruction of insects and worms that the toad helps men so greatly. The insects and worms eat the grain, the fruits and the flowers. They bite and sting the animals and give men no end of trouble. The toad is not partial, but takes any live thing that gets near it, whether it is caterpillar, fly, spider, centipede or thousand-legged worm; and it does not stop even there, but will gobble up a hornet or a yellow jacket without the least hesitation.It is astonishing to see the certainty with which a toad can catch these flying or crawling things. The way the toad does this may be observed by watching one out of doors some summer evening or after a shower; but it is more satisfactory to have a nearer view. Put a large toad into a box, or better, into a glass dish with some moist sand on the bottom. In a little while, if one is gentle, the toad will become tame, and then if flies and other insects are caught with a sweep net and put into the dish and the top covered with mosquito netting one can watch the process of capture. It is very quickly accomplished, and one must look sharply. As shown in the little picture (Fig. 116), the toad's tongue is fastenedat the front part of its mouth, not back in the throat as with men, dogs, cats and most animals. It is so nicely arranged that it can be extended for quite a distance. On it is a sticky secretion, and when, quick as a flash, the tongue is thrown out or extended, if it touches the insect, the insect is caught as if by sticky fly paper, and is taken into the mouth.Fig. 117. Toad making a meal of an angle worm.Fig. 117. Toad making a meal of an angle worm.Think how many insects and worms a toad could destroy in a single summer. Practically every insect and worm destroyed adds to the produce of the garden and the farm, or takes away one cause of discomfort to men and animals. One observer reports that a single toad disposed of twenty-four caterpillars in ten minutes, and another ate thirty-five celery worms within three hours. He estimates that a good-sized toad will destroy nearly 10,000 insects and worms in a single summer.Fig. 118. Two newts feasting on tadpoles.Fig. 118. Two newts feasting on tadpoles.Enemies—The Shadow Side of Life.Fig. 119. In danger from a crow.Fig. 119. In danger from a crow.So far nothing has been said about the troubles and dangers of the toad's life.Fig. 111is meant to show the main phases in the life-history. If one looks at it perhaps he may wonder what becomes of all the tadpoles that first hatch, as only twotoads are shown at the top. Is not this something like the other life-histories? How many little robins or chickens die and never become full-grown birds! Well, the dangers to the toad begin at once. Suppose the eggs are laid in a pond that dries up before the little toads can get ready to live on the land; in that case they all die. The mother toads sometimes do make the mistake of laying the eggs in ponds that dry up in a little while. You will not let the artificial pond at the school-house dry up, will you? Then sometimes there is an especially dry summer, and only those that transform very early from tadpoles to toads are saved.In the little picture (Fig. 118) is shown another source of danger and cause for the diminution in numbers. The newts and salamanders find young tadpoles very good eating and they make way with hundreds of them. Some die from what are called natural causes, that is, diseases, or possibly they eat something that does not agree with them. So that while there were multitudes of eggs (1,000 or more from each toad), and of just hatched tadpoles, the number has become sadly lessened by the time the brood is ready to leave the water.Then when they set foot on land, their dangers are not passed. They may be parched by summer's heat or crushed under the feet of men or cattle. Birds and snakes like them for food.Figs. 119and120show some of these dangers. Is it a wonder, then, that of all the multitudes of tadpoles so few grow up to be large toads?We have so few helpers to keep the noxious insects in check, it is not believed that any boy or girl who knows this wonderful story of a toad's life will join the crows, the snakes and the salamanders in worrying or destroying their good friends.Moulting and Hibernation.There are two very interesting things that happen in the life of many of the lower animals; they happen to the toad also. These are moulting, or change of skin, and hibernation, or winter sleep. Every boy and girl ought to know about these, and then, if on the lookout, some or all of the things will be seen.Moulting.—Probably everybody who lives in the country has seen a snake's skin without any snake in it. It is often very perfect. When the outside skin or cuticle of a snake or a toad gets old and dry or too tight for it, a new covering grows underneath, and the old one is shed. This is a very interesting performance, but the toad usually sheds it in a retired place, so the process is not often seen. Those who have seen it say that a long crack or tear appears along the back and in front. The toad keeps moving and wriggling to loosen the old cuticle. This peels the cuticle off the sides. Now, to get it off the legs and feet, the toad puts its leg under its arm, or front leg, and in that way pulls off the old skin as if it were a stocking. But when the front legs are to be stripped the mouth is used as is sometimes done by people in pulling off their gloves. Do you think it uses its teeth for this purpose? You might look in a toad's mouth sometime, and then you would know.Fig. 120. Snakes frequently swallow toads hind legs foremost, as shown in the picture. This is especially true of the garter snake, which is a great enemy of the toad.Fig. 120. Snakes frequently swallow toads hind legs foremost, as shown in the picture. This is especially true of the garter snake, which is a great enemy of the toad.It is said that when the skin is finally pulled off the toad swallows it. This is true in some cases; at least it is worth while keeping watch for. It is certain that the toad sometimes swallows the cast skin; it is also certain that in some cases the cast skin is not swallowed. After a toad has shed his old skin, he looks a great deal brighter and cleaner than before, as if he had just gota new suit of clothes. If you see one with a particularly bright skin, you will now know what it means.Hibernation.—The toad is a cold-blooded animal. This means that the temperature of its blood is nearly like that of the surrounding air. Men, horses, cows, dogs, are said to be warm-blooded, for their blood is warm and of about the some temperature whether the surrounding air is cold or hot.When the air is too cool, the toad becomes stupid and inactive. In September or October a few toads may be seen on warm days or evenings, but the number seen becomes smaller and smaller; and finally, as the cold November weather comes on, none are seen. Where are they? The toad seems to know that winter is coming, that the insects and worms will disappear, so that no food can be found. It must go into a kind of death-like sleep, in which it hardly moves or breathes. This winter sleep or hibernation must be passed in some safe and protected place. If the toad were to freeze and thaw with every change in the weather it would not wake up in the spring.Fig. 121. Toad in the winter sleep. (Natural size).Fig. 121. Toad in the winter sleep.(Natural size).The wonderful foresight which instinct gives it, makes the toad select some comparatively soft earth in a protected place where it can bury itself. The earth chosen is moist, but not wet. If it were dry the toad would dry up before spring. It is not uncommon for farmers and gardeners to plough them up late in the fall or early in the spring. Also in digging cellars at about these times they are found occasionally.In burying itself the toad digs with its hind legs and body, and pushes itself backward into the hole with the front legs. The earth caves in as the animal backs into the ground, so that no signis left on the outside. Once in far enough to escape the freezing and thawing of winter, the toad moves around till there is a little chamber slightly larger than its body; then it draws its legs up close, shuts its eyes, puts its head down between or on its hands, and goes to sleep and sleeps for five months or more.When the warm days of spring come it wakes up, crawls out of bed and begins to take interest in life again. It looks around for insects and worms, and acts as if it had had only a comfortable nap.Fig. 122. The same toad awake in the spring. (Natural size).Fig. 122. The same toad awake in the spring.(Natural size).The little toad that you saw hatch from an egg into a tadpole and then turn to a toad, would hibernate for two or three winters, and by that time it would be quite a large toad. After it had grown up and had awakened from its winter sleep some spring, it would have a strong impulse to get back to the pond where it began life as an egg years before. Once there it would lay a great number of eggs, perhaps as many as a thousand or two, for a new generation of toads. And this would complete its life cycle.While the toad completes its life cycle when it returns to the water and lays eggs for a new generation, it may live many years afterward and lay eggs many times, perhaps every year.Many insects, some fish and other animals, die after laying their eggs. For such animals the completion of the life cycle ends the life-history also. But unless the toad meets with some accident it goes back to its land home after laying the eggs, and may live in the same garden or dooryard for many years, as many as eight years, and perhaps longer. (See Bulletin No. 46, Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.)Erroneous Notions About the Toad.If one reads in old books and listens to the fairy tales and other stories common everywhere, he will hear many wonderful things about the toad, but most of the things are wholly untrue.One of the erroneous notions is that the toad is deadly poison. Another is that it is possessed of marvelous healing virtues, and still another, that hidden away in the heads of some of the oldest ones are the priceless toad-stones, jewels of inestimable value.Giving warts.—Probably every boy and girl living in the country has heard that if one takes a toad in his hands, or if a toad touches him anywhere he will "catch the warts." This is not so at all, as has been proved over and over again. If a toad is handled gently and petted a little it soon learns not to be afraid, and seems to enjoy the kindness and attention. If a toad is hurt or roughly handled a whitish, acrid substance is poured out of the largest warts. This might smart a little if it got into the mouth, as dogs find out when they try biting a toad. It cannot be very bad, however, or the hawks, owls, crows and snakes that eat the toad would give up the practice. The toad is really one of the most harmless creatures in the world, and has never been known to hurt a man or a child.A boy might possibly have some warts on his hands after handling a toad; so might he after handling a jack-knife or looking at a steam engine; but the toad does not give the warts any more than the knife or the engine.Cows giving bloody milk.—It is a common belief in the country that if one kills a toad his cows will give bloody milk. Cows will give bloody milk if the udder is injured in any way, whether a toad is killed or not. There is no connection whatever between the bloody milk and a killed toad.Living without air and food.—Occasionally one reads or hears a story about a toad found in a cavity in a solid rock. When the rock is broken open it is said that the toad wakes up and hopsaround as if it had been asleep only half an hour. Just think for a moment what it would mean to find a live toad within a cavity in a solid rock. It must have been there for thousands, if not for millions of years, without food or air. The toad does not like a long fast, but can stand it for a year or so without food if it is in a moist place and supplied with air. It regularly sleeps four or five months every winter, but never in a place devoid of air. If the air were cut off the toad would soon die. Some careful experiments were made by French scientific men, and the stories told about toads living indefinitely without air or food were utterly disproved.It is not difficult to see that one working in a quarry might honestly think that he had found a toad in a rock. Toads are not very uncommon in quarries. If a stone were broken open and a cavity found in it, and then a toad were seen hopping away, one might jump at the conclusion that the toad came out of the cavity in the rock. Is not this something like the belief that the little toads rain down from the clouds because they are most commonly seen after a shower?Surveys and Maps.In considering the suggestions made in this leaflet, we thought of the hundreds of schools throughout the state and wondered whether there might not be some difficulty in finding the ponds where the toads lay their eggs, and in finding some of the things described in the other leaflets.The teachers and students in Cornell University found this difficulty in 1868 when the University opened. The great Louis Agassiz came to the University at the beginning to give a course of lectures on natural history. The inspiration of his presence and advice, and of those lectures, lasts to this day.Agassiz, and the University teachers, who had many of them been his pupils, saw at once that the region around Ithaca must be full of interesting things; but they did not know exactly where to find them. Agassiz himself made some explorations, and the professors and students took hold of the work with the greatest enthusiasm. They explored the beautiful lake, the streams, hills, valleys, gorges, ponds and marshes. Careful notes were kept of the exact locality where every interesting thing was found and simple maps were made to aid in finding the places again. Finally, after several years, knowledge enough was gained to construct an accurate map for the use of all. A part of this map,showing only the most important features, is put into this leaflet to serve as a guide (Fig. 123).It will be seen that the University is made the starting point. With a few hints it is believed that every school can make a good beginning this year on a natural history survey of the region near its school-house, and in the preparation of a map to go with the survey.Fig. 123. Simple map showing the position of Cornell University, the city of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, and the roads and streams and ponds near the University. From W. R. Dudley's map in "The Cayuga Flora." Scale, 1 centimeter to the kilometer.Fig. 123. Simple map showing the position of Cornell University, the city of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, and the roads and streams and ponds near the University. From W. R. Dudley's map in "The Cayuga Flora." Scale, 1 centimeter to the kilometer.U. Cornell University.U. L. University Lake in Fall Creek.R. Reservoir supplied from University Lake, and supplying the campus.E. P. East Pond where the eggs of the toad, tree toad, frogs and salamanders are found.F. P. Forest Home Pond. A very favorable place for eggs, tadpoles, etc.Inlet. The inlet of the lake. The lampreys are abundant near Fleming's meadow.Preparation of the map.—It is well to have the map of good size. A half sheet of bristol board will answer, but a whole sheet is better. About the first thing to decide is the scale to which themap is to be drawn. It is better to have the scale large. Twelve inches to the mile would be convenient. Divide the map into squares, making the lines quite heavy. If so large a scale were used it would be advantageous for locating places to have the large squares divided into square inches, but much lighter lines should be used so that there will be no confusion with the lines representing the miles.Locating objects on the map.—The corner of the school-house containing the corner stone should be taken as the starting point. If there is no corner stone, select the most convenient corner. Put the school-house on the map anywhere you wish; probably the center of the map would be the best place. In the sample map the University is not in the center, as it was desired to show more of the country to the south and west than to the north and east.The map should of course be made like other maps, so it will be necessary to know the four cardinal points of the compass before locating anything on it. Perhaps the school-house has been placed facing exactly north and south or east and west, that is, arranged with the cardinal points of the compass; if so, it will be the best guide. If you are not sure, determine with a compass. With it the points can be determined very accurately. Having determined the points of compass, commence to locate objects in the landscape on the map as follows: Get their direction from the starting point at the corner of the school-house, then measure the distance accurately by running a bicycle on which is a cyclometer, straight between the starting point and the object. The cyclometer will record the distance accurately and it can be read off easily. If no bicycle with a cyclometer is available, one can use a long measuring stick, a tape measure or even a measured string; but the bicycle and cyclometer are more convenient and accurate, especially when the distances are considerable.Suppose the distance is found to be one-sixth of a mile due west. It should be located two inches west of the corner taken as the starting point. If the direction were south-west, then the two inches would be measured on the map in that direction and located accordingly. Proceed in this way for locating any pond or marsh, forest or glen. Now, when the places are located on the map, you can see how easy it would be for any one to find the places themselves. While the exact position should be determined if possible and located, one does not often take a bee-line in visiting them, but goes in roads, often a long distance around.In locating the objects on the map, every effort should be made to get them accurately placed, and this can be done most easily by knowing the distances in a straight line.It is hoped that every school in the state will begin this year making a natural history survey and a map of the region around its school-house. The map will show but few locations, perhaps, but it can be added to from year to year, just as the University map has been added to; and finally each school will have a map and notes showing exactly where the toads lay their eggs, where fish and birds are; and where the newts and salamanders, the different trees and flowers, rocks and fossils may be found.If the dates are kept accurately for the different years, one can also see how much variation there is. Indeed, such nature-study will give a sure foundation for appreciating and comprehending the larger questions in natural science, and it will make an almost perfect preparation for taking part in or for appreciating the great surveys of a state or a country. It is believed that if accurate information were collected and careful maps made by the different schools, the Empire State could soon have a natural history survey and map better than any now in existence in any state or country.To the Teacher:It is the firm belief of those who advocate nature-study that it is not only valuable in itself, but that it will help to give enjoyment in other studies and meaning to them. Every pupil who follows out the work of this leaflet will see the need of a map of the region around the school-house. This will help in the appreciation of map work generally.So many of the beautiful and inspiring things in literature are concerning some phase of nature, that nature-study must increase the appreciation of the literature; and the noble thoughts in the literature will help the pupils to look for and appreciate the finer things in nature.It is suggested that as many of the following selections as possible be read in connection with the leaflet:"The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz," by Longfellow.The "Prayer of Agassiz," by Whittier. Professor Wilder, who was present, assures the author that this describes an actual occurrence.This "Silent Prayer" is also mentioned in an inspiring paragraph by Henry Ward Beecher in the Christian Union, 1873.The first part of Bryant's "Thanatopsis," Coleridge's "AncientMariner," Burns' "On Scaring Some Water Fowl in Loch-Turit," and "To a Mouse."Cowpers "The Task," a selection from book vi., beginning with line 560. This gives a very just view of the rights of the lower animals.In connection with the disappearance of the tail, read Lowell's "Festina Lente," in the Biglow Papers. For older pupils, Shakespeare's picture of the seven ages in the human life cycle might be read. "As You Like It," Act II, Scene II, near the end, commencing, "All the world's a stage," etc.Kipling's Jungle Books, and the works of Ernest Thompson-Seton and William J. Long will help one to see how the world might look from the standpoint of the animals.One of the most satisfactory books to use in connection with nature-study is Animal Life, by President David Starr Jordan and Professor Kellogg. This gives the facts that every teacher ought to know in connection with the processes of reproduction.Attention is also called to A. H. Kirkland's Bulletin No. 46 of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and to the Nature-Study Leaflet on the Toad, by Dr. C. F. Hodge, of Clark University, Worcester, Mass.ig. 124. From egg back to toad.Fig. 124. From egg back to toad.)

On account of its economic importance, and because the marvelous changes passed through in growing from an egg to a toad are so rapid that they may all be seen during a single spring term of school, the common or warty toad has been selected as the subject of a leaflet in nature-study. Toads are found everywhere in New York, and nearly everywhere in the world; it is easy, therefore, to get abundant material for study. This animal is such a good friend to the farmer, the gardener, the fruit-grower, the florist and the stock-raiser that every man and woman, every boy and girl, ought to know something about it.

Furthermore, it is hoped and sincerely believed that the feeling of repugnance and dislike, and the consequent cruelty to toads, will disappear when teachers and children learn something about their wonderful changes in form, structure and habits, and how harmless and helpful they are. Then, who that knows of the chances, the dangers and struggles in the life of the toad, can help a feeling of sympathy; for after all, how like our human life it is. Where sympathy is, cruelty is impossible, and one comes to feel the spirit of these beautiful lines from Coleridge's "Ancient Mariner:"

"He prayeth best who loveth bestAll things both great and small;For the dear God who loveth usHe made and loveth all."

"He prayeth best who loveth bestAll things both great and small;For the dear God who loveth usHe made and loveth all."

"He prayeth best who loveth bestAll things both great and small;For the dear God who loveth usHe made and loveth all."

It was William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of theblood, who first clearly stated the fact that every animal comes from an egg. This is as true of a toad as of a chicken.

The toad lives on the land and often a long way from any pond or stream, but the first part of its life is spent in the water; and so it is in the water that the eggs must be looked for. To find the eggs one should visit the natural or artificial ponds so common along streams. Ponds from springs or even artificial reservoirs or the basins around fountains, also may contain the eggs. The time for finding the eggs depends on the season. The toad observes the season, not the almanac. In ordinary years, the best time is from the middle of April to the first of May.

One is often guided to the right place by noticing the direction from which the song or call of the toad comes. The call of the toad is more or less like that of the tree toads. In general it sounds like whistling, and at the same time pronouncing deep in the throat, bu-rr-r-r-r-. If one watches a toad while it makes its call, one can soon learn to distinguish the sound from others somewhat similar. It will be found that different toads have slightly different voices, and the same one can vary the tone considerably, so that it is not so easy after all to distinguish the many batrachian solos and choruses on a spring or summer evening. It will be noticed that the toad does not open its mouth when it sings, but, instead, the resonator or vocal sac under its mouth and throat is greatly expanded. One must be careful to distinguish the expansion of the mouth in breathing from the expansion of the vocal sac. See the left hand toad in the drawing (Fig. 111) for the vocal sac, and the toad in hibernation (Fig. 121) for the expansion of the mouth in breathing. It is only the males that possess the vocal sac, so that the toad chorus is composed solely of male voices.

The eggs are laid in long strings or ropes which are nearly always tangled and wound round the water plants or sticks on the bottom of the pond. If the pond is large and deep, the eggs are laid near the shore where the water is shallow. If the eggs have been freshly laid in clear water the egg ropes will look like glass tubes containing a string of jet black beads. After a rain the eggs are obscured by the fine mud that settles on the transparent jelly surrounding them, but the jelly is much more evident than in the freshly laid egg strings.

Secure enough of the egg string to include 50 or 100 eggs and place it in a glass fruit dish or a basin with clean water from thepond where the eggs were found. Let the children look at the eggs very carefully and note the color and the exact shape. Let them see whether the color is the same on all sides. If the eggs are newly laid they will be nearly perfect spheres.

Fig. 111. The toad in various stages of development from the egg to the adultFig. 111. The toad in various stages of development from the egg to the adult

Fig. 111. The toad in various stages of development from the egg to the adult

Frogs, salamanders and tree toads lay their eggs in the same places and at about the same time as the toad we are to study. Only the toad lays its eggs in strings, so one can be sure he has the right kind. The others lay their eggs in bunches or singly on the plants, so they never need be mistaken for the ones sought.

Fig. 112. Just hatched toad tadpoles climbing up where the water is better aerated.Fig. 112. Just hatched toad tadpoles climbing up where the water is better aerated.

Fig. 112. Just hatched toad tadpoles climbing up where the water is better aerated.

The eggs which are taken to the school house for study should be kept in a light place; an east, south or west window is best.

It requires only a short time for the eggs to hatch. In warm weather two to four days are usually sufficient, but in the cool days of April it may require ten days. As the changes are so very rapid, the eggs ought to be carefully looked at two or three times a day to make sure that all the principal changes are seen. If a pocket lens or a reading glass is to be had it will add to the interest, as more of the details can be observed. But good sharp eyes are sufficient if no lens is available.

Hatching.—Watch and see how long it is before the developing embryos commence to move. Note their change in form. As they elongate they move more vigorously till on the second or third day they wriggle out of the jelly surrounding them. This is hatching, and they are now free in the water and can swim about. It is curious to see them hang themselves up on the old egg string or on the edge of the dish (Fig. 112). They do this by means of a peculiar v-shaped organ on their heads.

Fig. 113. Older toad tadpoles with their heads up.Fig. 113. Older toad tadpoles with their heads up.

Fig. 113. Older toad tadpoles with their heads up.

How different the little creatures are, which have just hatched, from the grown up toad which laid the eggs! The difference is about as great as that between a caterpillar and a butterfly.

Tadpoles, polliwogs.—We call the young of the frog, the toad and the tree toad, tadpoles or polliwogs. The toad tadpoles are black. As they increase in size they may become greyish. Those raised in the house are usually darker than those growing in nature.

The tadpoles will live for some time in clear water with apparentlynothing to eat. This is because in each egg is some food, just as there is a large supply of food within the egg shell to give the chicken a good start in life. But when the food that the mother supplied in the egg is used up, the little tadpoles would die if they could not find some food for themselves. They must grow a great deal before they can turn into toads; and just like children and other young animals, to grow they must have plenty of food.

Feeding the tadpoles.—To feed the tadpoles it is necessary to imitate nature as closely as possible. To do this, a visit to the pond where the eggs were found will give the clue. Many plants are present, and the bottom will be seen to slope gradually from the shore. The food of the tadpole is the minute plant life on the stones, the surface of the mud, or on the outside of the larger plants.

One must not attempt to raise too many tadpoles in the artificial pond in the laboratory or school-room or there will not be enough food, and all will be half starved, or some will get the food and the rest will starve to death. While there may be thousands of tadpoles in the natural pond, it will be readily seen that, compared with the amount of water present, there are really rather few.

Probably many more were hatched in the school-house than can be raised in the artificial pond. Return the ones not put in the artificial pond to the natural pond. It would be too bad to throw them out on the ground to die.

Comparing the growth of the tadpoles.—Even when one does his best it is hard to make an artificial pond so good as the natural one for the tadpoles, and the teacher will find it very interesting and stimulating to compare the growth and change in the tadpoles at the school-house with those in the natural pond.

As growth depends on the supply of food and the suitability of the environment, it is easy to judge how nearly the artificial pond equals the natural pond for raising tadpoles. It will be worth while to take a tadpole from the natural pond occasionally and put it in with those at the school-house, so that the differences may be more strikingly shown. There is some danger in making a mistake here, however, for there may be three or four kinds of tadpoles in the natural pond. Those of the toad are almost jet black when young, while the others are more or less brownish. If one selects only the very black ones they will probably be toad tadpoles.

Every week or oftener, some water plants, and perhaps a small stone covered with the growth of microscopic plants, and some water, should be taken from the pond to the artificial pond. Thewater will supply the place of that which has evaporated, and the water plants will carry a new supply of food. If the water in the artificial pond in the school-room does not remain clear, it should be carefully dipped out and fresh clear water added. It is better to get the water from the pond where the eggs were laid, although any clear water will answer; but do not use distilled water.

The growth and changes in form should be looked for every day. Then it is very interesting to see what the tadpoles do, how they eat, and any signs of breathing.

All the changes from an egg to a little toad (Fig. 111), are passed through in one or two months, so that by the first of June the tadpoles will be found to have made great progress. The progress will be not only in size, but in form and action.

One of these actions should be watched with especial care, for it means a great deal. At first the little tadpoles remain under water all the time, and do not seem to know or care that there is a great world above the water. But as they grow larger and larger, they rush up to the surface once in awhile and then dive down again, as if their lives depended on it. The older they grow the oftener do they come to the surface. This is even more marked in the large tadpole of the bullfrog. What is the meaning of this? Probably most of the pupils can guess correctly; but it took scientific men a long time to find out just why this was done. The real reason is that the tadpole is getting ready to breathe the free air above the water when it turns into a toad and lives on the land. At first the little tadpoles breathe the air dissolved in the water, just as a fish does. This makes it plain why an artificial pond should have a broad surface exposed to the air. If one should use a narrow and deep vessel, like a fruit jar, only a small amount of air could be taken up by the water and the tadpoles would be half suffocated.

As the tadpoles grow older they go oftener to the surface to get the air directly from the limitless supply above the water, as they will have to do when they live wholly in the air.

Disappearance of the tail.—From the first to the middle of June the tadpoles should be watched with especial care, for wonderful things are happening. Both the fore and hind legs will appear, if they have not already. The head will change in form and so will the body; the color will become much lighter, and, but for the tail, the tadpole will begin to look something like its mother.

If you keep an especially sharp lookout, do you think you will see the tail drop off? No, toad nature is too economical for that.The tail will not drop off, but it will be seen to get shorter and shorter every day; it is not dropping off, but is being carried into the tadpole. The tail is perfect at every stage; it simply disappears. How does this happen? This is another thing that it took scientific men a long time to find out.

It is now known that there are two great methods for removing parts of the body no longer needed. In the first method the living particles in the body which are able to wander all around, as if they were inspectors to see that everything is in order, may go to the part to be removed and take it up piece by piece. These living particles are known as white blood corpuscles, wandering cells, phagocytes, leucocytes and several other names. In the other method, the blood and the lymph going to the part to be removed dissolve it particle by particle. Apparently the toad tadpole's tail is dissolved by the blood and lymph rather than being eaten up by the phagocytes, although the phagocytes do a part of the work.

Fig. 114. Transforming tadpole of the green tree toad to show the rapidity of tail absorption. (Change in 24 hours. Natural size.)Fig. 114. Transforming tadpole of the green tree toad to show the rapidity of tail absorption.(Change in 24 hours. Natural size.)HVLA—Natural size. Change in 24 hours; 28 mm. of tail absorbed in 24 hours; 11/6mm. per hour. Common toad shortens the tail about1/5mm. per hour.

Fig. 114. Transforming tadpole of the green tree toad to show the rapidity of tail absorption.(Change in 24 hours. Natural size.)

HVLA—Natural size. Change in 24 hours; 28 mm. of tail absorbed in 24 hours; 11/6mm. per hour. Common toad shortens the tail about1/5mm. per hour.

Now, when the tadpole is ready to dispense with its tail, the blood and lymph and the phagocytes take it up particle by particle and carry it back into the body where it can be used just asany other good food would be. This taking in of the tail is done so carefully that the skin epithelium or epidermis is never broken, but covers up the outside perfectly all the time. Is not this a better way to get rid of a tail than to cut it off?

If you look at the picture of the disappearance of the tail in the toad tadpole (Fig. 115) and in the tree-toad tadpole (Fig. 114), you will get an idea how rapidly this takes place. It is easier to see the actual shortening if the tadpoles are put in a white dish of clear water without any water plants. The tadpoles do not eat anything while they are changing to toads, so they will not need to be fed.

Beginning of the life on the land.—Now, when the legs are grown out, and the tail is getting shorter, the little tadpole likes to put its nose out of the water into the air; and sometimes it crawls half way out. When the tail gets quite short, often a mere stub, it will crawl out entirely and stay for some time in the air. It now looks really like a toad except that it is nearly smooth instead of being warty, and is only about as large as the end of a child's little finger (Fig. 115).

Finally, the time comes when the tadpole, now transformed into a toad, must leave the water for the land.

What queer feelings the little toad must have when the soft, smooth bottom of the pond and the pretty plants, and the water that supported it so nicely are all to be left behind for the hard, rough, dry land! But the little toad must take the step. It is no longer a tadpole, or half tadpole and half toad. It cannot again dive into the cool, soft water when the air and the sunshine dry and scorch it. As countless generations of little toads have done before, it pushes boldly out over the land and away from the water.

If one visits the natural pond at about this season (last half of June, first of July), he is likely to see many of the little fellows hopping away from the water. And so vigorously do they hop along that in a few days they may be as far as a mile from the pond where they were hatched. After a warm shower they are particularly active, and are then most commonly seen. Many think they rained down. "They were not seen before the rain, so they must have rained down." Is that good reasoning?

The little toad is careful and during the hot and sunny part of the day stays in the shade of the grass or leaves or in some other moist and shady place. If it staid out in the sun too long it would be liable to dry up.

Fig. 115. Toad development in a single season (1903).Fig. 115. Toad development in a single season(1903).1-18. Changes and growth, April to November. 1-13. Development in 25 to 60 days.15-18. Different sizes, October 21, 1903. 9, 14. Different sizes, July 30, 1903.10, 11. The same tadpole,—11, 47 hours older than 10.12, 13. The same tadpole,—13, 47 hours older than 12.

Fig. 115. Toad development in a single season(1903).

1-18. Changes and growth, April to November. 1-13. Development in 25 to 60 days.

15-18. Different sizes, October 21, 1903. 9, 14. Different sizes, July 30, 1903.

10, 11. The same tadpole,—11, 47 hours older than 10.

12, 13. The same tadpole,—13, 47 hours older than 12.

Fig. 116. Toad catching a winged insect.Fig. 116. Toad catching a winged insect, and illustrating how the tongue is extended and brought in contact with the insect. Several other creatures that the toad might eat are shown in various parts of the picture.

Fig. 116. Toad catching a winged insect, and illustrating how the tongue is extended and brought in contact with the insect. Several other creatures that the toad might eat are shown in various parts of the picture.

In the water the tadpole eats vegetable matter; but when it becomes a toad and gets on the land it will touch nothing but animal food, and that must be so fresh that it is alive and moving. This food consists of every creeping, crawling or flying thing that is small enough to be swallowed. While it will not touch a piece of fresh meat lying on the ground, woe to moving snail, insect or worm that comes within its reach!

It is by the destruction of insects and worms that the toad helps men so greatly. The insects and worms eat the grain, the fruits and the flowers. They bite and sting the animals and give men no end of trouble. The toad is not partial, but takes any live thing that gets near it, whether it is caterpillar, fly, spider, centipede or thousand-legged worm; and it does not stop even there, but will gobble up a hornet or a yellow jacket without the least hesitation.

It is astonishing to see the certainty with which a toad can catch these flying or crawling things. The way the toad does this may be observed by watching one out of doors some summer evening or after a shower; but it is more satisfactory to have a nearer view. Put a large toad into a box, or better, into a glass dish with some moist sand on the bottom. In a little while, if one is gentle, the toad will become tame, and then if flies and other insects are caught with a sweep net and put into the dish and the top covered with mosquito netting one can watch the process of capture. It is very quickly accomplished, and one must look sharply. As shown in the little picture (Fig. 116), the toad's tongue is fastenedat the front part of its mouth, not back in the throat as with men, dogs, cats and most animals. It is so nicely arranged that it can be extended for quite a distance. On it is a sticky secretion, and when, quick as a flash, the tongue is thrown out or extended, if it touches the insect, the insect is caught as if by sticky fly paper, and is taken into the mouth.

Fig. 117. Toad making a meal of an angle worm.Fig. 117. Toad making a meal of an angle worm.

Fig. 117. Toad making a meal of an angle worm.

Think how many insects and worms a toad could destroy in a single summer. Practically every insect and worm destroyed adds to the produce of the garden and the farm, or takes away one cause of discomfort to men and animals. One observer reports that a single toad disposed of twenty-four caterpillars in ten minutes, and another ate thirty-five celery worms within three hours. He estimates that a good-sized toad will destroy nearly 10,000 insects and worms in a single summer.

Fig. 118. Two newts feasting on tadpoles.Fig. 118. Two newts feasting on tadpoles.

Fig. 118. Two newts feasting on tadpoles.

Fig. 119. In danger from a crow.Fig. 119. In danger from a crow.

Fig. 119. In danger from a crow.

So far nothing has been said about the troubles and dangers of the toad's life.Fig. 111is meant to show the main phases in the life-history. If one looks at it perhaps he may wonder what becomes of all the tadpoles that first hatch, as only twotoads are shown at the top. Is not this something like the other life-histories? How many little robins or chickens die and never become full-grown birds! Well, the dangers to the toad begin at once. Suppose the eggs are laid in a pond that dries up before the little toads can get ready to live on the land; in that case they all die. The mother toads sometimes do make the mistake of laying the eggs in ponds that dry up in a little while. You will not let the artificial pond at the school-house dry up, will you? Then sometimes there is an especially dry summer, and only those that transform very early from tadpoles to toads are saved.

In the little picture (Fig. 118) is shown another source of danger and cause for the diminution in numbers. The newts and salamanders find young tadpoles very good eating and they make way with hundreds of them. Some die from what are called natural causes, that is, diseases, or possibly they eat something that does not agree with them. So that while there were multitudes of eggs (1,000 or more from each toad), and of just hatched tadpoles, the number has become sadly lessened by the time the brood is ready to leave the water.

Then when they set foot on land, their dangers are not passed. They may be parched by summer's heat or crushed under the feet of men or cattle. Birds and snakes like them for food.Figs. 119and120show some of these dangers. Is it a wonder, then, that of all the multitudes of tadpoles so few grow up to be large toads?

We have so few helpers to keep the noxious insects in check, it is not believed that any boy or girl who knows this wonderful story of a toad's life will join the crows, the snakes and the salamanders in worrying or destroying their good friends.

There are two very interesting things that happen in the life of many of the lower animals; they happen to the toad also. These are moulting, or change of skin, and hibernation, or winter sleep. Every boy and girl ought to know about these, and then, if on the lookout, some or all of the things will be seen.

Moulting.—Probably everybody who lives in the country has seen a snake's skin without any snake in it. It is often very perfect. When the outside skin or cuticle of a snake or a toad gets old and dry or too tight for it, a new covering grows underneath, and the old one is shed. This is a very interesting performance, but the toad usually sheds it in a retired place, so the process is not often seen. Those who have seen it say that a long crack or tear appears along the back and in front. The toad keeps moving and wriggling to loosen the old cuticle. This peels the cuticle off the sides. Now, to get it off the legs and feet, the toad puts its leg under its arm, or front leg, and in that way pulls off the old skin as if it were a stocking. But when the front legs are to be stripped the mouth is used as is sometimes done by people in pulling off their gloves. Do you think it uses its teeth for this purpose? You might look in a toad's mouth sometime, and then you would know.

Fig. 120. Snakes frequently swallow toads hind legs foremost, as shown in the picture. This is especially true of the garter snake, which is a great enemy of the toad.Fig. 120. Snakes frequently swallow toads hind legs foremost, as shown in the picture. This is especially true of the garter snake, which is a great enemy of the toad.

Fig. 120. Snakes frequently swallow toads hind legs foremost, as shown in the picture. This is especially true of the garter snake, which is a great enemy of the toad.

It is said that when the skin is finally pulled off the toad swallows it. This is true in some cases; at least it is worth while keeping watch for. It is certain that the toad sometimes swallows the cast skin; it is also certain that in some cases the cast skin is not swallowed. After a toad has shed his old skin, he looks a great deal brighter and cleaner than before, as if he had just gota new suit of clothes. If you see one with a particularly bright skin, you will now know what it means.

Hibernation.—The toad is a cold-blooded animal. This means that the temperature of its blood is nearly like that of the surrounding air. Men, horses, cows, dogs, are said to be warm-blooded, for their blood is warm and of about the some temperature whether the surrounding air is cold or hot.

When the air is too cool, the toad becomes stupid and inactive. In September or October a few toads may be seen on warm days or evenings, but the number seen becomes smaller and smaller; and finally, as the cold November weather comes on, none are seen. Where are they? The toad seems to know that winter is coming, that the insects and worms will disappear, so that no food can be found. It must go into a kind of death-like sleep, in which it hardly moves or breathes. This winter sleep or hibernation must be passed in some safe and protected place. If the toad were to freeze and thaw with every change in the weather it would not wake up in the spring.

Fig. 121. Toad in the winter sleep. (Natural size).Fig. 121. Toad in the winter sleep.(Natural size).

Fig. 121. Toad in the winter sleep.(Natural size).

The wonderful foresight which instinct gives it, makes the toad select some comparatively soft earth in a protected place where it can bury itself. The earth chosen is moist, but not wet. If it were dry the toad would dry up before spring. It is not uncommon for farmers and gardeners to plough them up late in the fall or early in the spring. Also in digging cellars at about these times they are found occasionally.

In burying itself the toad digs with its hind legs and body, and pushes itself backward into the hole with the front legs. The earth caves in as the animal backs into the ground, so that no signis left on the outside. Once in far enough to escape the freezing and thawing of winter, the toad moves around till there is a little chamber slightly larger than its body; then it draws its legs up close, shuts its eyes, puts its head down between or on its hands, and goes to sleep and sleeps for five months or more.

When the warm days of spring come it wakes up, crawls out of bed and begins to take interest in life again. It looks around for insects and worms, and acts as if it had had only a comfortable nap.

Fig. 122. The same toad awake in the spring. (Natural size).Fig. 122. The same toad awake in the spring.(Natural size).

Fig. 122. The same toad awake in the spring.(Natural size).

The little toad that you saw hatch from an egg into a tadpole and then turn to a toad, would hibernate for two or three winters, and by that time it would be quite a large toad. After it had grown up and had awakened from its winter sleep some spring, it would have a strong impulse to get back to the pond where it began life as an egg years before. Once there it would lay a great number of eggs, perhaps as many as a thousand or two, for a new generation of toads. And this would complete its life cycle.

While the toad completes its life cycle when it returns to the water and lays eggs for a new generation, it may live many years afterward and lay eggs many times, perhaps every year.

Many insects, some fish and other animals, die after laying their eggs. For such animals the completion of the life cycle ends the life-history also. But unless the toad meets with some accident it goes back to its land home after laying the eggs, and may live in the same garden or dooryard for many years, as many as eight years, and perhaps longer. (See Bulletin No. 46, Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass.)

If one reads in old books and listens to the fairy tales and other stories common everywhere, he will hear many wonderful things about the toad, but most of the things are wholly untrue.

One of the erroneous notions is that the toad is deadly poison. Another is that it is possessed of marvelous healing virtues, and still another, that hidden away in the heads of some of the oldest ones are the priceless toad-stones, jewels of inestimable value.

Giving warts.—Probably every boy and girl living in the country has heard that if one takes a toad in his hands, or if a toad touches him anywhere he will "catch the warts." This is not so at all, as has been proved over and over again. If a toad is handled gently and petted a little it soon learns not to be afraid, and seems to enjoy the kindness and attention. If a toad is hurt or roughly handled a whitish, acrid substance is poured out of the largest warts. This might smart a little if it got into the mouth, as dogs find out when they try biting a toad. It cannot be very bad, however, or the hawks, owls, crows and snakes that eat the toad would give up the practice. The toad is really one of the most harmless creatures in the world, and has never been known to hurt a man or a child.

A boy might possibly have some warts on his hands after handling a toad; so might he after handling a jack-knife or looking at a steam engine; but the toad does not give the warts any more than the knife or the engine.

Cows giving bloody milk.—It is a common belief in the country that if one kills a toad his cows will give bloody milk. Cows will give bloody milk if the udder is injured in any way, whether a toad is killed or not. There is no connection whatever between the bloody milk and a killed toad.

Living without air and food.—Occasionally one reads or hears a story about a toad found in a cavity in a solid rock. When the rock is broken open it is said that the toad wakes up and hopsaround as if it had been asleep only half an hour. Just think for a moment what it would mean to find a live toad within a cavity in a solid rock. It must have been there for thousands, if not for millions of years, without food or air. The toad does not like a long fast, but can stand it for a year or so without food if it is in a moist place and supplied with air. It regularly sleeps four or five months every winter, but never in a place devoid of air. If the air were cut off the toad would soon die. Some careful experiments were made by French scientific men, and the stories told about toads living indefinitely without air or food were utterly disproved.

It is not difficult to see that one working in a quarry might honestly think that he had found a toad in a rock. Toads are not very uncommon in quarries. If a stone were broken open and a cavity found in it, and then a toad were seen hopping away, one might jump at the conclusion that the toad came out of the cavity in the rock. Is not this something like the belief that the little toads rain down from the clouds because they are most commonly seen after a shower?

In considering the suggestions made in this leaflet, we thought of the hundreds of schools throughout the state and wondered whether there might not be some difficulty in finding the ponds where the toads lay their eggs, and in finding some of the things described in the other leaflets.

The teachers and students in Cornell University found this difficulty in 1868 when the University opened. The great Louis Agassiz came to the University at the beginning to give a course of lectures on natural history. The inspiration of his presence and advice, and of those lectures, lasts to this day.

Agassiz, and the University teachers, who had many of them been his pupils, saw at once that the region around Ithaca must be full of interesting things; but they did not know exactly where to find them. Agassiz himself made some explorations, and the professors and students took hold of the work with the greatest enthusiasm. They explored the beautiful lake, the streams, hills, valleys, gorges, ponds and marshes. Careful notes were kept of the exact locality where every interesting thing was found and simple maps were made to aid in finding the places again. Finally, after several years, knowledge enough was gained to construct an accurate map for the use of all. A part of this map,showing only the most important features, is put into this leaflet to serve as a guide (Fig. 123).

It will be seen that the University is made the starting point. With a few hints it is believed that every school can make a good beginning this year on a natural history survey of the region near its school-house, and in the preparation of a map to go with the survey.

Fig. 123. Simple map showing the position of Cornell University, the city of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, and the roads and streams and ponds near the University. From W. R. Dudley's map in "The Cayuga Flora." Scale, 1 centimeter to the kilometer.Fig. 123. Simple map showing the position of Cornell University, the city of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, and the roads and streams and ponds near the University. From W. R. Dudley's map in "The Cayuga Flora." Scale, 1 centimeter to the kilometer.U. Cornell University.U. L. University Lake in Fall Creek.R. Reservoir supplied from University Lake, and supplying the campus.E. P. East Pond where the eggs of the toad, tree toad, frogs and salamanders are found.F. P. Forest Home Pond. A very favorable place for eggs, tadpoles, etc.Inlet. The inlet of the lake. The lampreys are abundant near Fleming's meadow.

Fig. 123. Simple map showing the position of Cornell University, the city of Ithaca, Cayuga Lake, and the roads and streams and ponds near the University. From W. R. Dudley's map in "The Cayuga Flora." Scale, 1 centimeter to the kilometer.

U. Cornell University.U. L. University Lake in Fall Creek.R. Reservoir supplied from University Lake, and supplying the campus.E. P. East Pond where the eggs of the toad, tree toad, frogs and salamanders are found.F. P. Forest Home Pond. A very favorable place for eggs, tadpoles, etc.Inlet. The inlet of the lake. The lampreys are abundant near Fleming's meadow.

U. Cornell University.U. L. University Lake in Fall Creek.R. Reservoir supplied from University Lake, and supplying the campus.E. P. East Pond where the eggs of the toad, tree toad, frogs and salamanders are found.F. P. Forest Home Pond. A very favorable place for eggs, tadpoles, etc.Inlet. The inlet of the lake. The lampreys are abundant near Fleming's meadow.

Preparation of the map.—It is well to have the map of good size. A half sheet of bristol board will answer, but a whole sheet is better. About the first thing to decide is the scale to which themap is to be drawn. It is better to have the scale large. Twelve inches to the mile would be convenient. Divide the map into squares, making the lines quite heavy. If so large a scale were used it would be advantageous for locating places to have the large squares divided into square inches, but much lighter lines should be used so that there will be no confusion with the lines representing the miles.

Locating objects on the map.—The corner of the school-house containing the corner stone should be taken as the starting point. If there is no corner stone, select the most convenient corner. Put the school-house on the map anywhere you wish; probably the center of the map would be the best place. In the sample map the University is not in the center, as it was desired to show more of the country to the south and west than to the north and east.

The map should of course be made like other maps, so it will be necessary to know the four cardinal points of the compass before locating anything on it. Perhaps the school-house has been placed facing exactly north and south or east and west, that is, arranged with the cardinal points of the compass; if so, it will be the best guide. If you are not sure, determine with a compass. With it the points can be determined very accurately. Having determined the points of compass, commence to locate objects in the landscape on the map as follows: Get their direction from the starting point at the corner of the school-house, then measure the distance accurately by running a bicycle on which is a cyclometer, straight between the starting point and the object. The cyclometer will record the distance accurately and it can be read off easily. If no bicycle with a cyclometer is available, one can use a long measuring stick, a tape measure or even a measured string; but the bicycle and cyclometer are more convenient and accurate, especially when the distances are considerable.

Suppose the distance is found to be one-sixth of a mile due west. It should be located two inches west of the corner taken as the starting point. If the direction were south-west, then the two inches would be measured on the map in that direction and located accordingly. Proceed in this way for locating any pond or marsh, forest or glen. Now, when the places are located on the map, you can see how easy it would be for any one to find the places themselves. While the exact position should be determined if possible and located, one does not often take a bee-line in visiting them, but goes in roads, often a long distance around.In locating the objects on the map, every effort should be made to get them accurately placed, and this can be done most easily by knowing the distances in a straight line.

It is hoped that every school in the state will begin this year making a natural history survey and a map of the region around its school-house. The map will show but few locations, perhaps, but it can be added to from year to year, just as the University map has been added to; and finally each school will have a map and notes showing exactly where the toads lay their eggs, where fish and birds are; and where the newts and salamanders, the different trees and flowers, rocks and fossils may be found.

If the dates are kept accurately for the different years, one can also see how much variation there is. Indeed, such nature-study will give a sure foundation for appreciating and comprehending the larger questions in natural science, and it will make an almost perfect preparation for taking part in or for appreciating the great surveys of a state or a country. It is believed that if accurate information were collected and careful maps made by the different schools, the Empire State could soon have a natural history survey and map better than any now in existence in any state or country.

To the Teacher:

It is the firm belief of those who advocate nature-study that it is not only valuable in itself, but that it will help to give enjoyment in other studies and meaning to them. Every pupil who follows out the work of this leaflet will see the need of a map of the region around the school-house. This will help in the appreciation of map work generally.

So many of the beautiful and inspiring things in literature are concerning some phase of nature, that nature-study must increase the appreciation of the literature; and the noble thoughts in the literature will help the pupils to look for and appreciate the finer things in nature.

It is suggested that as many of the following selections as possible be read in connection with the leaflet:

"The Fiftieth Birthday of Agassiz," by Longfellow.

The "Prayer of Agassiz," by Whittier. Professor Wilder, who was present, assures the author that this describes an actual occurrence.

This "Silent Prayer" is also mentioned in an inspiring paragraph by Henry Ward Beecher in the Christian Union, 1873.

The first part of Bryant's "Thanatopsis," Coleridge's "AncientMariner," Burns' "On Scaring Some Water Fowl in Loch-Turit," and "To a Mouse."

Cowpers "The Task," a selection from book vi., beginning with line 560. This gives a very just view of the rights of the lower animals.

In connection with the disappearance of the tail, read Lowell's "Festina Lente," in the Biglow Papers. For older pupils, Shakespeare's picture of the seven ages in the human life cycle might be read. "As You Like It," Act II, Scene II, near the end, commencing, "All the world's a stage," etc.

Kipling's Jungle Books, and the works of Ernest Thompson-Seton and William J. Long will help one to see how the world might look from the standpoint of the animals.

One of the most satisfactory books to use in connection with nature-study is Animal Life, by President David Starr Jordan and Professor Kellogg. This gives the facts that every teacher ought to know in connection with the processes of reproduction.

Attention is also called to A. H. Kirkland's Bulletin No. 46 of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, and to the Nature-Study Leaflet on the Toad, by Dr. C. F. Hodge, of Clark University, Worcester, Mass.

ig. 124. From egg back to toad.Fig. 124. From egg back to toad.)

Fig. 124. From egg back to toad.)

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