278 On the Poison of the Toad. [APHit, 



on the contrary, accuses Gmelin of too much precipitancy in 

 rejecting the belief respecting toad-poison.* Modern naturalists 

 recognise no poisonous species of toad ; even the most formida- 

 ble of the species, to appearance, that of Surinam, is said to be 

 perfectly harmless. 



"If we may venture to offer a conjecture upon this subject, 

 we are inclined to consider the origin of this opinion to have 

 been derived from the frequency with which the toad entered 

 into the composition of spells or charms, into philtres or love 

 potions, and which, like the bat and the owl, most probably 

 derived its magical character from the gloom and sohtude of its 

 habitation. Shakspeare has accordingly introduced this reptile 

 into the witches' enchanted cauldron, in Macbeth. 



" ' Round about the cauldron go ; 

 In the poison'd entrails throw. 

 Toad that under coldest stone 

 Days and nights hast thirty-one 

 Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 

 Boil thou first i' the charmed pot ! ' " 



" This opinion receives further strength when it is considered 

 how frequently poisons were administered under the insidious 

 form of charms or incantations.f 



" It has, however, been shown by late experiments that the 

 toad has, under particular circumstances, the power of ejecting 

 from the surface of the body an acrid secretion which excoriates 

 the hands of those that come in contact with it ; and this fact 

 may perhaps have assisted in supporting the general belief 

 respecting the poisonous nature of this reptile. Pelletier has 

 ascertained, that this corrosive matter contained in the vesicles 

 which cover the skin of the common toad (Rana Bufo), has a 

 yellow colour, and an oily consistence, and to consist of, — 1st, 

 an acid partly united to a base, and constituting ~th part of the 

 whole. 2d, very bitter fatty matter. 3d, an animal matter 

 bearing some analogy to gelatine. — (Medical Jurisprudence, 

 vol. ii. p. 139.) 



[Nbfe.— We have received the above letter from a correspon- 

 dent, which, with the extract from Dr. Paris's Medical Jurispru- 

 dence alluded to, we have no hesitation in laying before our 

 readers. At the same time we must observe, in justice to Dr. 

 Davy (and we are certain our correspondent will agree with us), 

 that no suspicion of intentional plagiarism can attach to him, as 



• See also Istituzioni di Med. For. di G. Tortosa, rol. ii. p. 67, and authorities there 

 cited. 



-f This fact may be illustrated by ancient as well as modern records ; from the poi- 

 soned tunic of the Centaur Nessus, to the treacherous powders of the diabolical Mary 

 Bateman. 



