SOME RESOURCES FOR PROTECTION AMONG 

 REPTILES. 



BY REV. WM. P. ALLCOTT. 



The changes of color in our common tree-toad are rec- 

 ognized in its specific name versicolor. In one found 

 upon a growing orange bush, the upper surface was very 

 green. On a window sill of white the conformity to that 

 color is remarkable. 



Tliese creatures being abundant in the oaks surround- 

 ing my Boxford parsonage, the writer in 1882 tried a few 

 experiments which, unless such work has already been 

 done, may suggest to some one more thorough and ex- 

 haustive study of a matter broader in its relations and in- 

 terest than might at first appear. "What I did was this : 

 Glass jars were lined with leaves, bark, paper or other 

 material. Thus chambers were secured of various colors 

 — gray with the bark of red oak, green with the leaves, 

 6i(/f with decayed birch wood or dead foliage, blue, red, 

 white and black, which we may here count as a color. It 

 was found that a confinement of at least twenty-four hours 

 and sometimes of several days was needful to secure the 

 full change. 



The same toad was successively placed in these different 

 jars. My notes were too meagre and I am not sure that 

 I tried more than one Hi/la. The results were as follows : 

 ill his blue room my patient was very green, and in his 



(71) 



