OF 8ELBOKNE. r>i 



The method in which toads procreate and bring forth seems 

 to be very much in the dark. Some authors say that they 

 are viviparous : and yet Ray classes them among his ovipa- 

 rous animals ; and is silent with regard to the manner of their 

 bringing forth. Perhaps they may be ecra pev d>oTo'/eot, efo> 

 8e fooroKoi, as is known to be the case with the viper. 



The copulation of frogs (or at least the appearance of it ; 

 for Swammerdcan proves that the male has no penis intrans) 

 is notorious to every body : because we see them sticking upon 

 each others backs for a month together in the spring : and 

 yet I never saw, or read, of toads being observed in the same 

 situation. It is strange that the matter with regard to the 

 venom of toads has not yet been settled. That they are not 

 noxious to some animals is plain: for ducks, buzzards, owls, 

 stone curlews, and snakes, eat them, to my knowledge, with 

 impunity. And I well remember the time, but was not eye- 

 witness to the fact (though numbers of persons were) when a 

 quack, at this village, ate a toad to make the country-people 

 stare ; afterwards he drank oil *. 



* [The habit of close observation of nature which was so conspicuous 

 in White himself was communicated by his example to many who came 

 within the sphere of his influence. This is shown in numerous instances, 

 not only among his relatives and friends, as is evident in his correspon- 

 dence with his brothers and nephews, but also among his dependents and 

 other humble neighbours ; and there are many indications of his having 

 availed himself of their observations, and thus derived advantage from 

 the habit which he had himself originated. The following account, 

 which I find amongst his papers, is a striking example of this. The ob- 

 server was doubtless no other than his old gardener, Thomas Hoar, a 

 quaint original, who was many years in his service. The account is not 

 in White's handwriting, but evidently written from his dictation, as it is 

 in a boy's hand, and has several verbal corrections, and the diction is his 

 own. It is interesting as the earlier record of a striking fact, long after- 

 wards the subject of careful investigation by Dr. John Davy, recorded in 

 his well-known paper in the ' Philosophical Transactions. The follow- 

 ing is Gilbert White's statement : 



u The benevolence of modern naturalists hath induced them to pro- 

 nounce the toad harmless, in contradiction to the extravagant tales of the 

 ancients concerning its poisonous qualities, which exposed it to many 

 cruelties. But by what I saw the other day, I am convinced it hath some 

 venomous properties, which it exerts in its defence. There seems to be 



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