PIPAL, OR TOAD OP SURINAM. 233 



contained a stone possessing many medical as well as 

 magical virtues ; but all these fables have been long ex- 

 ploded ; and, if it cannot be allowed to be agreeable, it 

 has at least been proved to be innoxious. Indeed, instead 

 of possessing venomous, it has of late been thought to 

 have beneficial qualities ; and, according to some authors 

 has been successfully applied to cure by its suction that 

 most dreadful of human maladies, the cancer. 



Like the frog it is amphibious, and lives on worms and 

 insects, which it seizes by darting out its tongue. It 

 crawls about chiefly towards the close of day, in moist 

 weather ; and the young undergo the same changes as 

 the tadpole of the frog. 



During the severity of winter, like all the frog kind, it 

 becomes torpid. It is also endowed with great longevity, 

 and is extremely tenacious of life. Wonderful stories are 

 told of its having been occasionally found inclosed in 

 solid blocks of marble and stone, where it must have lain 

 for centuries, and yet when disengaged showing every 

 sign of life. To dispute every recorded circumstance of 

 this kind, would evince excessive incredulity; yet, if 

 true, it must be allowed that the common laws of nature 

 are palpably violated in such instances. 



There are several varieties of the toad, both the land 

 and the water ; it will be sufficient, however, to particu- 

 larise the following very curious species. 



THE PIPAL, OR TOAD OF SURINAM. 



This creature is more hideous in its shape than the 

 common toad. The head is flat and broad, the eyes are 

 small, the jaws extended, and the back is covered with 

 a number of little prominences resembling eyes ; which, 

 in fact, are the eggs, from which the young are pro- 

 duced by a very singular process. These eggs are in 

 different states of maturity ; and the pipal is seen moving 

 about with her progeny on her back ; some peeping forth 

 from their cells, others just assuming their form, and 

 without life. 



