174 THE CANADIAN NATURALIST. [June 



THE TOAD AS AN ENTOMOLOGIST. 



By A. S. Ritchie. 



The principal object of the following notes on the toad as a 

 collector of beetles, is to show Low useful some of the lower 

 animals are to man in his search after knowledge. 



Before entering on the subject, a few remarks on the habits of 

 the toad may not be uninteresting. 



From the earliest accounts relating to this creature it has 

 always been looked upon by the people as ugly, hideous, and 

 venomous, while even supernatural powers have been attributed 

 to it. Thus an old author says : " If the toad burrowed near the 

 root of a tree, every one who ate a leaf of that tree would die, 

 and if he only handled it, would be struck with sudden cramps." 

 Some of the antidotes vecommended for toad venom are the fol- 

 lowing: Black hellebore, powdered crabs, the blood of the sea 

 tortoise mixed with wine, the stalks of dogs' tongues, the powder 

 of the right horn of a hart, cummin, the vermet of a hare, the 

 quintessence of treacle and the oil of a scorpion, mixed and taken 

 ad libitum. 



Even in those days when these elaborate prescriptions were 

 invented some good was acknowledged to exist in the toad. The 

 "toad-stone" is alluded to by Shakespere in the passage: 



" Sweet are the uses of adversity, 

 Which like a toad, ugly and venomous, 

 Wears yet a precious jewel in its head." 



During the middle ages the stone found in the head of this reptile 

 was popularly believed to be possessed of the power of giving 

 warning of the presence of poisons. Fenton, writing in the year 

 1569, says : " There is to be found in the heads of old and great 

 toads a stone they call borax or stelon. This worn in a ring gives 

 a forewarning against venom." Another recommendation the 

 toad had in those days was " its power as a styptic." Supposing 

 any one to fall down and knock his nose against a stone, he could 

 instantly stop the bleeding if he only had in his pocket a toad 

 that had been pierced through with a piece of wood and dried in 

 the shade or smoke. All he had to do was to hold the dried 

 toad in his hand and the bleeding would immediately cease. The 

 reason for this effect is, " that horror and fear constrained the 



