HORNED TOAD. 165 



the hind feet slightly webbed : each upper eyelid, 

 which rises up into a large and conical callus or 

 horn, is beset with small tubercles : on the sides 

 of the body were, in these specimens, some fulv- 

 ous spots, and some large striated calli, resem- 

 bling, in some degree, the spines on the back of a 

 skate : the edge of the upper jaw was beset with 

 very thickly-placed crenatures or denticulations : 

 the tongue thick, rough, fixed in front, but loose 

 on the back-part. 



Thus the whole account confirms the fidelity of 

 Seba's description and figures, which, from the 

 extreme singularity, as well as rarity, of the spe- 

 cies, seemed, in some degree, to have been con- 

 sidered as dubious. 



Of all animals yet known, this may, perhaps, 

 according to our general or popular ideas of pro- 

 portion and beauty, be considered as the most de- 

 formed : a sentiment, however, merely to be ad- 

 mitted so far as it relates to a comparison with other 

 being-s, which we have accustomed ourselves to 



S> ' 



consider as more perfect. On this subject let us 

 attend to the sentiments of a celebrated writer of 

 the seventeenth century. 



" I hold there is a general beauty in the works 

 of God, and, therefore, no deformity in any kind 

 or species of creature whatsoever : I cannot tell by 

 what logic we call a Toad, a Bear, or an Elephant, 

 ugly, they being created in those outward shapes 

 and figures which best express the actions of their 

 inward forms. And having past that general visi- 

 tation of God, who saw that all that he had made 



