66 NATURAL HISTORY QF SELBORNE. 



safe and brisk, in a glass decanter. They were taken in the 

 gullies that were cut for watering the meadows. From these 

 fishes (which measured from two to four inches in length) I took 

 the following description : " The loach, in its general aspect, has 

 a pellucid appearance ; its back is mottled with irregular collec- 

 tions of small black dots, not reaching much below the linea 

 lateralis, as are the back and tail fins; a black line runs from 

 each eye down to the nose ; its belly is of a silvery white ; the 

 upper jaw projects beyond the lower, and is surrounded with six 

 feelers, three on each side ; its pectoral fins are large, its ventral 

 much smaller ; the fin behind its anus small ; its dorsal-fin large, 

 containing eight spines; its tail, where it joins to the tail-fin, 

 remarkably broad, without any taperness, so as to be characteristic 

 of this genus ; the tail-fin is broad, and square at the end. From 

 the breadth and muscular strength of the tail it appears to be an 

 active nimble fish." 



In my visit I was not very far from Hungerford, and did not 

 forget to make some inquiries concerning the wonderful method 

 of curing cancers by means of toads. Several intelligent persons, 

 both gentry and clergy, do I find give a great deal of credit to 

 what is asserted in the papers, and I myself dined with a clergyman 

 who seemed to be persuaded that what is related is matter of fact ; 

 but, when I came to attend to his account, I thought I discerned 

 circumstances which did not a little invalidate the woman's story 

 of the manner in which she came by her skill. She says of herself 

 " that, labouring under a virulent cancer, she went to some church 

 where there was a vast crowd; on going into a pew, she was 

 accosted by a strange clergyman, who, after expressing compassion 

 for her situation, told her that if she would make such an applica- 

 tion of living toads as is mentioned she would be well." Now is 

 it likely that this unknown gentleman should express so much 

 tenderness for this single sufferer, and not feel any for the many 

 thousands that daily languish under this terrible disorder ? Would 

 he not have made use of this invaluable nostrum for his own 

 emolument ; or at least, by some means of publication or other, 

 have found a method of making it public for the good of mankind ? 

 In short, this woman (as it appears to me) having set up for a 



