14 



substance t'ouiHl in tlic stoiuachs is grass, Ixjth dvy and fresh. Bits 

 of rotten wood, l)roken acorn shells, seeds of the linden {Tllea 

 americana) and maple {Acer scKxharinnm) and bits of apple parings 

 have also been detected. All these vegetable snl)stances were 

 usually associated witli a lai'ge ([uantity of ants and other terrestrial 

 insects. 



Mineral Mattkk. The nhneral matter foun^l in the stomachs 

 forms slightly more than one per cent of the total contents and con- 

 sists of gravel, sand, and in a few cases, coal ashes. When a large 

 piece of gravel is swallowed it is regurgitated ; this I have provea 

 i)y experiments on toads in confinement. Otherwise the gravel 

 l)asses through the alimentary canal and may be foinul in the cast- 

 ings. Since the toad does not masticate its food, ))ut depends on 

 I he stomach for the whole process of trituration it is probable that 

 the gravel wiien present assists in grinding the strongly chitinized 

 bodies of beetles, etc., yet in the majority of the toads examined 

 there was no gravel present in the alimentary canal although many 

 of the stomachs contained finely ground beetles. A pi'oper inference 

 from the above is that gravel is not essential to digestion in the toad 

 and the writer inclines to the opinion that, as iu the case of A^egetable 

 matter, the presence of gravel in the stomachs is the result of acci- 

 dent rather than of design. ~ May we not have here a hint as to the 

 origin of the gravel eating habit in birds? 



Animal Matter. Animal substances constitute ninety-eight per 

 cent of the total food for the season. They may lie readily sepa- 

 rated into worms, molluscs, crustaceans, myriapods, spiders and 

 insects, the latter group furnishing by far the greatest percentage. 

 It has been found impossible to recognize sutHciently to refer to its 

 proper class, a])out five per cent of the animal food, hence no 

 farther reference will be made to it. 



Vermes. Eai'th-worms, Ltnubricns sp?. constitute one per cent of 

 the whole food. They were found in fourteen stomachs, chiefl}' 

 those of toads killed soon after showers. Doubtless the rains drove 

 the worms to the surftice and thus rendered them easy victims for 

 the toads. Earth-worms in place, as Darwin has so ably shown, are 

 highly beneficial ; out of place, as any greenhouse owner can testify, 

 they are decidly ol)noxious and often injurious. 



MoUnsca. M(j11uscs furnish scarcely one per cent of the total 

 stomach contents, yet it was a pleasure to recognize the common 

 "slug" of tin; hotliousL' and garden. Lim'ir sp?. in several stom- 



