I think we may infer that the stories of toads being found alive in 

 rocks and in the hearts of trees arise from the following circum- 

 stances : — Toads when small will often creep into holes in rocks and 

 hollows in trees, and in these situations they may find sufficient 

 food ; being slothful in their habits, and capable of existing upon 

 but little food, and of abstaining from it for a long time, they are apt 

 to remain in their snug quarters and content themselves with what 

 insects, &c., may come to them. In this way they may grow too 

 large to get out of the hole, and live for a great time in it ; when 

 chance discovers them, by the rock being broken open or the 

 wood of the tree cleft, the opening into which they had crept, 

 and which may have been subsequently closed, is then entirely 

 overlooked. 



