icinable." Other writers bear testimony to the sovereign power of 

 a dried toad in preventing and curing bleeding from the nose. It is 

 stated that English noblemen used dried toads bound upon the knee 

 as a potent remedy for gout. While the medical practitioners thus 

 found the toad to be of service in curing the ills of the flesh, others 

 versed in magic art were supposed to find in it the acme of venom 

 with which to complete their mysterious preparations. 



"Toad that under the cold Stone 



Days and Nights has, thirty one, 



Swelter'd venom sleeping got, 



Boil thou, first ith' charmed' Pot." 

 Of the fables concerning the toad and spider and their alleged 

 antipathy, so common in the early writings, the ridiculous story 

 related by Erasmus will serve as a fair sample. A worthy monk, so 

 runs the story, was once found by his brethren fast asleep with a 

 large toad seated upon his face. Believing the sleeping brother to 

 be in imminent peril, they at once sought means to deliver him, yet 

 none dared touch the toad. A large spider was seen at the window 

 near by ; the sleeping monk was carried to the window when the 

 spider descended and speedily dispatched the toad. Browne, after 

 discussing such absurd fictions, frankly states :" But what we have 

 observed herein, we cannot in reason conceal ; who having in a glass 

 included a toad with several spiders, we beheld the spiders, without 

 resistance to sit upon his head and pass over all his body ; which at 

 last upon advantage he swallowed down, and that in a few hours 

 unto the number of seven." 



So much for ancient European beliefs. Since our toads are con- 

 generic with those of Europe and resemble them closely, and since 

 such superstitions were current at the time of the colonization of our 

 country, it is easy to see how these beliefs were readily applied by 

 the early settlers to our native batrachians Such creations of the 

 imagination seem at the present day scarcely more than ludicrous, 

 yet carefully cherished in an occasional New England family we 

 find fancies equally absurd, such as that touching toads will produce 

 warts on the hands ; that killing toads will produce bloody milk 

 in cows ; that a toad's breath will cause convulsions in children ; 

 that a toad in a newly dug well will ensure a good and unfailing 

 supply of water, or in a new-made cellar will bring prosperity to the 

 household, etc., etc. 



