“Long ago people believed all sorts of absurd things about the poor, harmless newt. They were afraid to touch it. Every newt found was killed at once, for it was thought to have a sting and poison bag. Even at the present day many people believe that newts and toads are dangerous animals.” “How can you tell a toad from a frog, Uncle George,” Tom asked. “They are very different from each other, both in shape and in their ways of living. The toad is a fat, clumsy animal. His skin is dull and warty. He does not hop, but crawls or walks lazily along. “He lives upon flying insects, which he catches with his curious long tongue. He gets very fat during summer and autumn. “Before winter comes on, he looks out a snug hole under a root or stone. Here he sleeps the whole winter through. “In spring he wakes up, lean and hungry, and betakes himself to the pond. “The eggs of the toad are laid in the water in long strings, each like a double row of beads. They hang gracefully upon the water weeds, and look very pretty. “The toad tadpoles are very like those of the frog. They go through the same changes. “The toad also casts his skin, but he does not throw it away like the newt. He takes his old, cast-off skin, rolls it up into a neat little ball, and _swallows it_. “The frog’s body is more slender. His skin is slippery. It is not dull and dingy like that of the toad. It is of a bright greenish yellow colour, marked with black spots of different sizes. [Illustration: 1. Frog. 2. Toad. 3. Frog catching a Fly with its tongue.] “The frog can change his colour from light to dark. He has long hind legs which enable him to hop very high on land and to swim very fast in the pool. “He likes the long, damp grass, where he catches flies, beetles, and slugs. “He sleeps through the winter, buried in the mud at the bottom of the still pool. “Like the toad, the frog catches his prey by means of a long, sticky tongue, which darts out of his mouth whenever an unlucky insect comes within reach. “His tongue is fixed to the floor of his mouth just at his lower lip. It is forked at the end. When not in use, it lies folded back inside his mouth and points down his throat.” Exercises on Lesson X. 1. Where are frogs, newts, and toads in winter-time? 2. How could you tell a toad from a frog? 3. What is the difference between young newts (tadpoles) and young frogs (tadpoles)? 4. Write the life of a frog (or of a toad) as if told by the creature itself. XI.—UNDERGROUND STEMS. Uncle George and his three young pupils had been to the woods. After tea he opened the metal box which he carried, slung by a strap over his shoulder, whenever he went out rambling. This box had in it a pond-net and a couple of wide bottles. To-night it was half filled with plants. Before laying them on the table, Uncle George washed the soil from their roots at the tap.