CHAPTER XXXVIII 

 TOADS FOUND LIVING IN STONE 



IT is quite true that one should not refuse to entertain 

 the possibility of something almost incredible taking 

 place, simply because it is highly improbable that it has 

 taken place. Also it is important that one should not 

 accept and believe in the reality of the marvellous 

 occurrence, merely because a decent sort of person has 

 asserted that he has witnessed it and is satisfied of its 

 reality. In a previous chapter (p. 117) we have seen 

 how the story of the Tree goose and the hatching of 

 geese from Barnacles was supported by respectable but 

 incompetent witnesses such as Gerard, the herbalist, and 

 Sir Robert Moray, the first president of the Royal 

 Society. There are many equally baseless fancies 

 which are attested by "respectable" witnesses at the 

 present day. 



The statement that workmen splitting large blocks of 

 stone in the quarries have seen a toad hop out of a 

 cavity in the interior of the stone attracted a good deal 

 of attention in the earlier half of last century. I do 

 not know whether it can be traced to any great 

 antiquity. I see no reason to doubt the truth of the 

 statement in its simple form as given above. It has, 

 I have no doubt, repeatedly happened — as letters to 



newspapers and in earlier days serious pamphlets record 



376 



