TOADS. 329 
wishes to possess the powers which will fit him or her to play the 
part of a wizard or a witch, one of these Batrachians must be 
obtained, killed, and its body placed in an ant’s hill, until no- 
thing of the creature but the skeleton is left. The skeleton should 
then be divided and thrown into a running stream, and that bone 
which floats ayainst the current is supposed to give its owner the 
coveted endowment. 
The general form of the Natterjack is like that of the Common 
Toad, except that the body is much less clumsy-looking. The 
eyes are also more projecting, and their eyelids are more raised 
above the surface of the crown of the head. The upper parts are 
more or less thickly covered with irregular depressed and porous 
warts. There isa large gland on each hind leg. The male is 
provided with asubgular vocal sac. The upper parts of the animal 
are of a yellowish-brown or olive-like colour, marked with darker 
shades, especially on the back. The warts are often red or very 
dark red. The legs are marked with transverse black bands. 
There is generally, particularly with British specimens, a yellow 
or golden vertebral line. The lower parts are bluish-white, 
spotted with black, except towards the hind legs, where they are 
dusky and finely sprinkled With small white spots or pimples. 
The colouring of the underneath part of the body, like that of the 
back, however, is very various. B. calamita, when full grown, is. 
nearly 3in. in length. 
These very interesting and pretty little Batrachians can be 
bought in London and other large towns at from 4d. to 6d. each. 
The Green Toad (Bufo viridis) is much handsomer than its 
commoner relative, B. vulgaris. It has a wide range, being 
found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It may be readily 
distinguished from the Common Toad by a fold on the ankle, 
a vocal sac beneath the throat of the male, a more distinct and 
larger tympanum, and by a narrower space between the eyes. 
The Green Toad is olive or greenish above, spotted or marbled with 
a darker shade of the same colour. Sometimes, however, the upper 
parts are nearly immaculate. Below it is of a yellowish-white 
colour, either uniform or spotted with black. B. viridis may 
occasionally be bought in England for a small sum. It will live, 
under proper treatment, for a long while in confinement. It may 
