COMMON TOAD. 113 



expels from tlie reservoir communicating witli the cloaca, and 

 the object of "which I have already explained in speaking of 

 the Frog, was supposed to be the urine, as it is generally, 

 indeed, up to the present time, and was believed to be 

 highly poisonous. It is almost unnecessary to add, that this 

 water is pure and limpid, and wholly without any delete- 

 rious qualities. The only circumstance which can be said at 

 all to favour the bad character which attaches to this animal 

 is, that there are situated upon the back and sides numerous 

 secreting follicular glands, the secreted matter from which is 

 somewhat fetid and of an acrid quality. Dr. John Davy was, 

 I believe, the first who ever minutely examined into its true 

 nature. The following is an abstract of Dr. Davy^s observ- 

 ations on this subject. " After adverting to the correctness 

 of the popular opinion respecting the poisonous nature of the 

 Toad, which the professed naturalist has generally rejected, 

 the author proceeds to describe the seat of the poison, which 

 is chiefly in follicles in the skin, and which on pressure ex- 

 udes from it in the form of a thick yellowish fluid, which on 

 evaporation yields a transparent residue, very acrid, and act- 

 iner on the tonsrue like extract of aconite. It is neither acid 

 nor alkaline ; and since a chicken inoculated with it received 

 no injury, it does not appear to be noxious when absorbed, 

 and carried into the circulation. 



" Dr. Davy thinks that the principal use of this poison is 

 to defend the reptile against the attacks of carnivorous ani- 

 mals ; he also remarks, that as it contains an inflammable sub- 

 stance, it may be excrementitious ; it may serve to carry off a 

 portion of carbon from the blood, and thus be auxiliary to 

 the function of the lungs. In support of this idea, the 

 author observes that he finds each of the pulmonary arteries 

 of the Toad divided into two branches, one of which goes to 

 the lungs, and the other to the cutis, ramifying most abun- 

 dantly where the largest follicles are situated, and where 



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