No. 2. 



The Common Toad. 



61 



The Common Toad. 



The simplicity and earnestness of the following de- 

 scription, and the kindly feeling, so indicative of the 

 true lover of nature, which runs through it, have re- 

 minded us of Jesse's Gleanings, extracts from which, 

 we have occasionally thrown before our readers. We 

 take it from Bell's very entertaining History of Brit- 

 ish Reptiles, and are glad to have it in our power to 

 place in our columns an article, so well calculated to 

 do away the unreasonable prejudice that is too gene- 

 rally felt against the Toad.— Ed. 



Fe'sv animals have ever suffered more un- 

 deserved persecution, as the victims of an 

 absurd and ignorant prejudice, than the toad. 

 Condemned by common consent as a disgust- 

 ing, odious, and venomous reptile, the pro- 

 verbial emblem of all that is malicious and 

 hateful in the human character, it is placed 

 under universal ban, and treated as an out- 

 law, both by man and boy throughout the 

 country. Should I be able, by the following 

 history of its habits and manners, to show 

 that it is, on the contrary, highly useful, 

 perfectly harmless, inoffensive, and even 

 timid, and susceptible of no inconsiderable 

 degree of discriminating attachment to those 

 who treat it with kindness, it is hoped that 

 some few individuals may be thus rescued 

 from those barbarous acts of cruelty to which 

 the species is almost everywhere subjected. 



The true lover of nature, who, in the 

 simplicity and singleness of heart which 

 always belong to that character, seeks even 

 in the less attractive of her works, for 

 those proofs of wisdom and beneficence, 

 by which they are all characterized, will 

 rather find in their peculiarities, fresh indi- 

 cations of the same discriminating wisdom, 

 and the same never-failing, though often, 

 to the superficial observer, mysterious and 

 veiled beneficence. 



The toad belongs to a family, the slug- 

 glish habits of which are remarkably dis- 

 tinct from those of the lithe and active 

 animals of which the frog is the type. Ter- 

 restrial in its general abode, it requires not 

 the powerful paddles of the latter to propel 

 it rapidly through the water, and its safety 

 consists rather in concealment than in the 

 power of escaping from its enemies. It 

 bears, in fact, the same relation to the frog 

 that the tcrrestial salamander does to the 

 water newt. Like the rest of the amphibia, 

 it becomes torpid during the winter, and 

 chooses, for its retreat, some retired and 

 sheltered hole, a hollow tree, or a space 

 amongst large stones, or some such place, 

 and there remains until the return of spring 

 calls it again into a state of life and activity. 

 Its food consists of insects and worms, of 

 almost every kind. It refuses food which is 



not living, and, indeed, will only take it at 

 the moment when it is in motion : such at 

 least, is the result of my own observations 

 upon the habits of this animal, which have 

 been neither few nor brief The toad, when 

 about to feed, remains motionless, with its 

 eyes turned directly forwards upon the ob- 

 ject, and the head a little inclined towards 

 it, and in this attitude it remains until the 

 insect moves; when, by a stroke like light- 

 ning, the tongue is thrown forward upon the 

 victim, which is instantly drawn into the 

 mouth. So rapid is this movement, that it 

 requires some little practice as well as close 

 observation, to distinguish the different mo- 

 tions of the tongue. This organ is con- 

 structed as in the frog, being folded back 

 upon itself; and the under surface of the tip 

 being embued with a viscid mucous secre- 

 tion, the insect is secured by its adhesive 

 quality. When the prey is taken, it is 

 slightly pressed by the margins of the jaw; 

 but as this seldom kills it, unless it be a soft 

 tender larva, it is generally swallowed alive; 

 and I have often seen the muscles of the 

 toad's sides twitch in a very curious manner, 

 from the tickling movements of a hard co- 

 leopterous insect in the stomach. It will 

 also take earth worms of considerable size, 

 and it is a very curious sight to watch the 

 manner in which the powerful and writhing 

 worm is secured. If the toad happen to 

 take it by the middle, the extremities of the 

 worm are twined with great force and ac- 

 tivity around the muzzle in every direction, 

 in its attempts to escape; but the toad pushes 

 one portion after another into its mouth, by 

 means of the fore feet, until it all disappears, 

 when it is swallowed whole. 



Like the other amphibia, and the reptilia 

 generally, the toad sheds its skin at certain 

 intervals, the old cuticle coming off, and 

 leaving a new one, which had been formed 

 underneath in its stead. There are some 

 very remarkable circumstances connected 

 with this process, which I detailed many 

 years ago to the Zoological Club of the Lin- 

 nean Society, and of which the following is 

 the substance. Having often found, amongst 

 several toads which I was then keeping for 

 the purpose of observing their habits, some 

 of brighter colours than usual, and with the 

 surface moist and very smooth, I had sup- 

 posed that this appearance might have de- 

 pended upon the stateoftiie animal's health, 

 or the influence of some peculiarity in one 

 or other of its functions: on watching care- 

 fully, however, I one day observed a large 

 one, the skin of which was particularly dry 

 and dull in its colours, with a bright streak 

 down the mesial line of the back ; and on 

 examining further, I discovered a corres- 



