148 PROCEEDINGS OF PROVINCIAL SOCIETIES. 



portion of the excavation consisting of, first, a stratum of soil, 18 inches 

 thick; then a mixture of sand and clay, 3 feet thick; and the remaining 

 depth of 6| feet consisting of masses of new red sand-stone, sound and per- 

 fectly formed, somewhat severed by backs and fissures, but still in large solid 

 masses, obliged to be worked away by means of iron bars and wedges, and 

 very frequently blasted by gun-powder. 



Two of the workmen, John Horton and Thomas Tillay, having, by means 

 of an iron-bar, loosened from the solid mass, near the bottom of the said 1 1 

 feet, a piece of rock about 18 inches long, 15 inches broad, and 5 inches thick, 

 it was lifted up by Horton, and thrown by him towards the waggons which 

 were in waiting to' receive the excavated material and convey it to the em- 

 bankment which was forming across the valley of the river Sherborne. The 

 piece of rock, however, did not alight in the waggon, as was intended, but 

 fell by the side of it, upon the bottom of the new-formed excavation, and was 

 by the fall broken nearly through the centre into two parts, which lay upon 

 the ground, about an inch asunder. Thomas Tillay immediately took up one 

 of the fragments and threw it into the waggon, and was on the point of taking 

 up the other when his attention was arrested by the sight of a toad in a ca- 

 vity or cell in the face of the remaining fragment, and, instead of taking it 

 up, he kicked it with his foot, which caused' it to fall out upon the ground: 

 he then called to his companion, and told him that he had found a toad in 

 the stone. Horton having joined him, they examined the fracture of the 

 other piece of rock, and found there a corresponding cavity ; so that when the 

 pieces were put together, although the stone was to all appearance perfectly 

 solid, yet there was an oval or egg-shaped hole in the centre. 



The other workmen, to the number of 30 or 40, soon collected to examine 

 the toad. Its colour, when first seen, was a bright brown ; in the space of 

 ten minutes, however, it gradually lost its brightness, and the bright brown 

 became almost a black. The animal seemed to labour under a severe oppres- 

 sion, as from heat or weight, or both combined, and gasped frequently. It 

 was rather under the usual size ; but it was plump, and ap])arently in good 

 condition. During the day it remained in the possession of the men who 

 found it, and was seen by many persons, and was often exposed to the sun 

 and the warmth of the hand. The head appeared slightly injured, supposed 

 to be occasioned by the breaking of the stone. 



About four o'clock in the afternoon I visited the work?, the toad was 

 shewn to me, and I fitted one piece of stone upon the other, while the toad 

 was in the recess, and found that the rock fitted closely, and observed no 

 appearance of an opening, or fissure of any kind into the cavity, the stone on 

 every side appeared perfectly solid and sound. A portion of the cavity was 

 much more rounded and smooth than the other, being, as I suppose, the 

 lower side upon which the toad had rested. Throughout the whole cavity 

 there was a thin black deposit, or lining ; but this was more visible on that 

 side which was more rounded, and there were evident marks where this lining 

 was scratched off, as by the claws of the toad. 



The cavity was 3 inches long and If inches broad: the two pieces of stone, 

 with the toad in them, were brought to my office that evening ; and I en- 

 deavoured, by closing the fracture of the stone with clay, to exclude the heat 

 and air as much as possible, in the hopes of keeping it alive as long as I 

 could ; this I succeeded in doing for more than three days. During this 

 time, however, it was frequently exposed, as there were many persons 

 who were desirous of seeing it ; but it seemed to be gradually wasting away : 

 the injury in its head also became much worse, and doubtless hastened its 

 decay : it lived, however, nearly four days from the time of its discovery. 



(Signed) THOMAS L. GOOCH, 



Resident Engineer to the London and Birmingham Raihvay Company, 



