No. 2 



The Common Toad. — Elrurian Wheat. — Mad Itch. 



63 



absurd. It was highly poisonous, and this 

 not only from its bite ; its breath, and even 

 its glance were fraught with mischief or 

 death. The water which it expels from the 

 reservoir communicating with the cloaca, was 

 supposed to be the urine, as it is generally, 

 indeed, up to the present time, and was be- 

 lieved to be highly poisonous. It is almost 

 unnecessary to add, that this water is pure 

 and limpid, and wholly without any delete- 

 rious qualities. The only circumstance 

 which can be said at all to favour the bad 

 character which attaches to this animal is, 

 that there are situated upon the back and 

 sides, numerous secreting follicular glands, 

 the secreted matter from which is somewhat 

 fetid and of an acrid quality. 



The usual pace of the toad is neither 

 leaping nor running, it is rather a kind of 

 crawl ; and on being alarmed, or threatened 

 with danger, it stops, swells its body, and, 

 on its being handled, a portion of the cuta- 

 neous secretion, which I have just men- 

 tioned, exudes from the follicles, and a dis- 

 charge of the limpid water, which has been 

 before alluded to, immediately takes place. 

 Its quickest movement is an imperfect 

 lea pi 



The general form of the toad is certainly 

 far from prepossessing. The body is puffed 

 out and swollen ; the head large, flat on the 

 top ; the muzzle rounded, and very obtuse. 

 There are no teeth either in the jaw bones, 

 or on the palate. There is above the eyes 

 a slight protuberance, studded with pores; 

 and the parotids are large, thick, promi- 

 nent, and porous, secreting an acrid fluid. 

 Body covered with warts, which are larger 

 above, and more numerous beneath. Fore 

 feet with four toes, not at all palmated; hind 

 legs of moderate length ; the toes five in 

 number, and slightly palmated. The colours 

 are liable to some variation, but are always 

 much lighter and brighter immediately after 

 the removal of the old cuticle; the upper 

 parts are of a dirty, lurid, or blackish grey, 

 with sometimes a slight greenish tinge ; tu- 

 bercles more or less brown; beneath a dirty 

 yellowish white, sometimes spotted with 

 black. 



For the Farmers' Cabinet. 



Etrurian Wheat. 



Respected Editor, — About three weeks 

 ago, I became acquainted with the fact, that 

 Commodore Charles Stewart had grown for 

 the last two years, a wheat of singular ex- 

 cellence, the seed of which he received as 

 a present from a personal friend in Italy. I 

 immediately repaired to his farm in the State 



of New Jersey, near Bordentown, and learned 

 from his farmer, that from nearly five and a 

 half acres sown last autumn, the product 

 was about one hundred and thirty bushels, 

 weighing about sixty-three lbs. per bushel. 

 He further stated, that whilst an adjoining 

 field of grain had been completely destroyed 

 by the winter and depredation of the fly, 

 this perfected itself unscathed. 



This grain differs materially from the so 

 called Mediterranean, being lighter coloured, 

 larger, and more symmetrical in its form, 

 and decidedly possessing more farinaceous, 

 and less glutinous matter. 



This wheat is non-bearded — strong straw, 

 and evidently adapted to first rate land, al- 

 though the land of the Commodore, may 

 fairly be estimated as either second or third 

 rate. 



With this brief and hasty exposition, I 

 would take the liberty of referring such of 

 your readers who may be disposed to expe- 

 riment on a few bushels of this wheat, — 

 having procured six myself — to call at the 

 Seed Store of S. M. Powell, No. 23, Market 

 street, Philadelphia, where if they apply in 

 time, they may be accommodated, as the 

 quantity on hand is rather limited. 



Triticum. 



Mad itch. — This is the name given in 

 the Western States, where it most prevails, 

 to a disease of cattle, commencing with ap- 

 parently spasmodic motions or jerkings of 

 the head, and itching around the nose and 

 base of tlie horns. They will lick their 

 sides and back, rub their heads, and the jerk 

 or hiccup, inflates them with wind almost to 

 bursting. This sympton is not, however, 

 always present. As the itching increases, 

 the animal rubs more furiously, froths at the 

 mouth, and finally, from 12 to 24 hours, 

 dies raving mad. Mr. Simms, of Indiana, 

 afler losing several of his cows by this dis- 

 ease, succeeded in curing the remainder by 

 the following treatment. As soon as the 

 animal was attacked, he gave it as much 

 soot and salt as it would eat. In a few hours 

 he gave fmm three-fourths of a pound to a 

 pound of pounded brimstone or sulphur; and 

 in the morning as many salts. It is the 

 opinion of Mr. S., that sulphur alone would 

 eflect a cure, though he accompanied its ac- 

 tion with salts. The cause of this formida- 

 ble complaint, like that of milk sickness, in 

 the same region, is unknown. — Cultivator. 



Ploughing heavy soils when wet, does 

 more injury than if the team were standing 

 idle. 



