Tadpoles in different Stages of Development.
"Do with it? Study it, experiment on it, put it under the microscope, and day by day watch the growth of its various parts. At first it is little more than a mass of cells. Then I notice that these cells begin to take a definite shape, and blood vessels appear in them. Then the muscles begin to appear."
"Very interesting, I dare say."
"You don't seem to think so, by your tone. But look in this vase: here are several tadpoles with the most apologetic of tails—mere stumps, in fact. I cut them off nine days ago."
"Will they grow again?"
"Perfectly; for, although the frog dispenses with a tail almost as soon as he reaches the frog form, the tadpole needs his tail to swim with; and when by any accident he loses it, Nature kindly supplies him with another."
"Yes, yes," added Syntax, glad to feel himself once more among things of which he knew something; "just like the lobster or the crab, you know. They tear off their legs and arms in a most reckless way, and yet they always grow new ones again."
"Would you like to know what has become of the tails which I cut off from these fellows?"
"Aren't they dead?"