140 COMMON TOAD. 



tail. It may be necessary to observe tbat it i* 

 always covered by tubercles, or elevations on the 

 skin, of larger or smaller size in different indi- 

 viduals, and that the general colour of the animal 

 is an obscure brown above, much paler and irre- 

 gularly spotted beneath. The Toad, however, is 

 occasionally found of an olive cast, with darker 

 variegations ; and in some specimens, more espe- 

 cially in the earlier part of summer, the shoulders 

 and limbs are marked with reddish spots, while 

 a tinge of yellow often pervades the under parts 

 both of the limbs and body. 



The Toad arrives at a considerable age ; its ge- 

 neral term of life being supposed to extend to fif- 

 teen, or even twenty years ; and Mr. Pennant, in 

 his British Zoology, gives us a curious account, 

 communicated by a Mr. Arscott, of Tehott, in 

 Devonshire, of a Toad's having lived, in a kind 

 of domestic state, for the space of more than forty 

 years, and of having been, in a great degree, 

 tamed, or reclaimed from its natural shyness or 

 desire of concealment ; since it would always re- 

 gularly come out of its hole at the approach of 

 its master, &c. in order to be fed. It grew to a 

 very large size, and was considered as so singular 

 a curiosity, that even ladies, laying aside their 

 usual aversion and prejudices, requested to see 

 the favourite Toad. It was, therefore, often 

 brought to table, and fed with various insects, 

 which it -seized with great celerity, and without 

 seeming to be embarrassed by the presence of com- 

 pany. This extraordinary animal generally re- 



