the archives of the French Academy of Sciences. Upon opening the 

 boxes at the end of eighteen months, two of the toads were found to 

 be alive. Dr. Edwards in 1817 repeated these experiments and found 

 that when the boxes were submerged in water the death of the toads 

 speedily resulted. Backland investigated the matter quite thor- 

 oughly by preparing cavities in limestone and sandstone and confin- 

 ing in them toads of various sizes. These stone chambers were then 

 buried three feet deep in a garden. At the end of thirteen months 

 all the toads in sandstone were dead and a like fate overtook those 

 in limestone before the end of two years. These experiments show 

 that it is possible for the toad to exist for a limited time without 

 food, but throw a shadow of improbability upon the stories of 

 those found in rocks, trees, etc. 



There are authentic ICuropean records of a toad that lived to be 

 thirty-six years old and then was accidentally killed ; it seems prob- 

 able that our American species may be equally long lived, but 

 unfortunately this is a point that apparently has never been noted in 

 our zoological literature. Nearly every old New England homestead 

 has one or more semi-domesticated toads whose age can only be 

 conjectured. The writer has sought in different parts of the State, 

 among families who have long resided on the places they now 

 occupy, for some accurate information on this subject, and from a 

 mass of statements, given in many cases with strong corroboratory 

 details, there may be taken apparently voracious records of two toads 

 that have occupied dooryards in two different towns for twelve and 

 twenty-three years respectively. The histories of these toads have 

 been given me by people of unquestionable veracity, yet I hesitate 

 to present the records as facts, since from the evidence offered 1 

 cannot feel positive that the identity of the toad in either case has 

 remained unchanged.* There can be but little doubt that toads live 

 to a considerably greatei' age than is supposed and we may hazard 

 the opinion that many of them reach an age of at least ten or fifteen 

 years. 



When suddenly disturbed or roughly handled, the toad ejects a 

 colorless fluid from the anus and a milky liquid fiom the skin. This 

 habit is probably the basis foi- the belief that the toad is venomous. 

 The secretion of the skin glands is harmless when applied to the 



* Since writing the above, Mr. F. H. Mo-'-lier, wlio has frequently assisted me in 

 various experiments on the gypsy moth and whose accuracy as an observer can- 

 not be questioned, informs me tliat he has positive knowledge of a large toad that 

 has occupied a dooryard for at least eight years. 

 •)* 



