The American Toad 



wonderful eyes as he literally " soaks in " the water. In the 

 country in midsummer, when pools and springs are dry, toads 

 very often travel long distances to spend the night on the wet 

 ground about a well of some sort. 1 



In their search for moisture, they sometimes unwittingly 

 fall into wells to lead a most sombre existence, feeding upon the 

 few low forms of life that live there and upon unfortunates who 

 become prisoners in the same way that they themselves did. 

 Release may come if the well has a bucket, but more likely their 

 fate is a tragic one. Their crushed bodies have been taken from 

 pumps into which they have been sucked. They have sometimes 

 been found hibernating in old wells, where they must have been for 

 ten or fifteen years, judging by the amount of debris under which 

 they are buried. 2 



We always have been, and still are, somewhat prejudiced 

 against the coldness of the toad. He is less fortunate than we 

 are, in being wholly, instead of only partially, dependent on the 

 sun for his warmth. On a warm day his temperature may be 

 very high and on a cold day he is very cold indeed, 3 so cold that 

 he may snuggle deeper into his bed and sleep all day. Our epithet 

 " slimy " he does not deserve at all. In fact, he is quite dry 

 and comfortable to the touch, at least he is so when we first 

 take him up. A moment later if we seized him too quickly 

 and vigorously he may be somewhat wet; for among his pro- 

 tective habits is the one of pouring out a colourless, odourless fluid 

 upon the enemy. But even with this he is quite harmless. 4 



In addition to this fluid, the toad has another, which is slightly 

 poisonous, and which is secreted by the skin. This secretion is 

 especially abundant in the parotoid glands, the two large swellings 

 behind the eyes. When the toad is in very great agony as, for 

 example, when he is seized by the teeth of an enemy he pours 

 out this fluid in sufficient quantity to cause it to appear in milky 

 drops on the gland-like swellings. This fluid has a disagreeable 

 effect on the mucous membrane of the mouth, and so protects the 



1 Wild Life near Home, By Dallas Lore Sharp. 



2 J. A. Allen. Amphibia Found in the Vicinity of Springfield, Mass. Proc. Bost. Soc. Nat. 

 Hist., XII, 1865. 



3 Cold-blooded vertebrates have a variable temperature, dependent on the temperature of 

 surroundings. 



* The toad can in no possible way produce warts. 



79 



