134 0UR REPTILES. 



" Walking Toad." It is a matter of history that 

 superstitions and old wives' fables are by no means 

 extinct in Norfolk, and we learn of one connected 

 with the " Walking Toad," which is extant in the 

 neighbourhood of King's Lynn. One of these toads 

 is to be obtained and buried in an ant's nest, where 

 it is to be left for some time. When the flesh is 

 all cleared off by the insects, and the skeleton is 

 quite clean, the shoulder bones are to be taken off 

 and thrown into a running stream. One of these 

 bones will float with the current, while the other 

 will float against it. The latter bone must be 

 secured, and, if kept as a talisman, will confer on 

 its possessor supernatural power. 



The name of " natterjack " is evidently a corrup- 

 tion of the Grerman. In that country they appear 

 to have been first known. We think that natter 

 was probably derived from nieder, Anglo-Saxon 

 naedre, "nether' or "lower," from the creeping 

 habit of the "adder," to which it belonged, under 

 the form of eddre ; and " Jack " from jccger, " one 

 who runs," a very applicable term for such a running 

 reptile as the natterjack. Moreover, words com- 

 pounded of nieder have the signification of some- 

 place or object lying low, and jager or jagd in 

 such a combination would be well applied to this 

 Batrachian. 



Pennant notices of it that " several are found 



