1912.] NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 293 



introduced from the squash leaf so that the animal would get the 

 first and fullest effects of the odor ; the result was that the toad went 

 through a series of contortions followed by a short period of stupor 

 similar to that mentioned before. Upon recovery the toad was 

 again removed to the vivarium, where it now lives in partial hiber- 

 nation. 



"A young, red-spotted salamander was affected and killed as 

 easily as the half-grown toad, while for the common field frog a 

 greater number of bugs were required to bring about similar effects, 

 the frogs also being killed. Many experiments with snakes were 

 tried, but no ill effects from the secretion of the bugs were apparent. 



"The odor that the bug secretes is contained in a clear, slightly, 

 greenish liquid expelled from the extremity of the alimentary canal; 

 when it comes in contact with the air the odor is given off almost 

 instantaneously while the liquid remains to evaporate. 



"Further observations showed that toads in confinement would 

 eat squash bugs when very hungry, but we do not think that toads 

 ordinarily devour many of the pests." 16 



It is most obvious that the conditions of these experiments are 

 never even faintly simulated under natural conditions. The con- 

 clusions in the last paragraph, being based on the results of the 

 experiments, are therefore unwarranted. Moreover, they do not 

 agree with the statements of other observers relating to the habits 

 of the toad under normal conditions. Kirkland found Anasa tristis 

 in collected stomachs, 17 as did also Judd and the writer. 



Kirkland briefly records an experiment of his own as follows: 



"The writer once confined for study a large toad in a shaded 

 out-of-door box filled with damp earth. To provide suitable and 

 sufficient food for it was quite a task until an entirely satisfactory 

 expedient suggested itself. A hard bread-crust was soaked in 

 molasses and placed in the cage. Bees, wasps, ants, flies, and beetles 

 came to this bait, and it was most interesting to watch the toad 

 seize the flying insects, often before they had alighted on the bread. 

 Stinging insects, bees, wasps, etc., when swallowed by the toad 

 apparently produced uncomfortable sensations for a short time. 

 Fish-worms when captured by the toad often prove too much to be 

 swallowed at once, and when this is the case the fore limbs are brought 



16 "The Squash Bug," Bull. 89, New Hampshire Agric. Exp. Sta., February, 

 1902, pp. 21-23. 



17 Bui. 46, Hatch Exp. Sta., 1897, p. 26. 



