336 THE VIVARIUM. 
jersey, and then swallows it. This change of skin takes place at 
irregular intervals. It seems that whenever the animal feels that 
it has become inconveniently dirty, it cleanses itself by sloughing. 
Toads, like Frogs, considering their build, have extraordinary 
powers of climbing. They will frequently, by means of this 
ability, escape from a garden which is surrounded by a high | 
wall. Sometimes they will even climb to and fro. And after 
months of hibernation, they will give proof of their memory by 
going to that part of the wall they had been accustomed to scale 
the summer before. They will not only remember the places 
where they fed, but also the appearance of those whom they had 
learned to regard as friends. Toads generally hibernate under 
large stones and logs, and in holes in banks and in hollows in trees. 
Toads spawn a few weeks later in the spring than do Frogs, 
arranging their eggs, not in masses, but in double rows, or 
strings. The tadpoles of Toads pass through their metamor- 
phoses exactly in the same manner as do those of their relatives 
mentioned above. The larve of the former, however, are rather 
smaller and blacker than that of the latter. 
The Common Toad, which comes from Southern Europe, is 
often of a very great size, and is altogether a most interesting 
animal, and can be bought in this country, when in the market, 
for about half-a-crown. 
Toads, while in confinement, should be provided with plenty 
of garden-mould, into which they can burrow whenever they feel 
inclined. 
Bufo vulgaris is a native of Kurope, Asia, and N.W. Africa. 
Its snout is short and blunt; its tympanum is small, round, and 
frequently indistinct. Its first and second fingers are almost of 
the same length, and its toes are webbed to about half their 
length. There is no fold on the ankle. This Toad is of a 
brownish colour above, spotted or marbled with a darker shade. 
The parotoids have black margins on their outer side. The male 
has no vocal sac. British specimens are generally about 33 in. 
long from snout to vent. 
The Dusky Toad (Bufo lentiginosus), a North American 
Batrachian, is now and then imported into this country, where it 
will live very well in confinement. It is rather a timid animal, 
