73 TOADS. 



Tree-frog, Rana arborea, is of an apple green above, and pale 

 beneath, with a black and yellow line along each side of the body. 



12. The TOADS, Bufo, have a thick-set body, covered with 

 warts, or papillae, from which exudes a viscid humor ; on each 

 side of the neck there is a large, projecting gland, (called parotid,) 

 full of pores, which secretes an acrid humor. Their hind legs 

 are not so much elongated as those of frogs, and they leap badly ; 

 in general they creep rather than walk, and, when surprised, 

 instead of taking to flight, they stop suddenly and inflate the 

 body so as to render it hard and elastic, and cause the skin to 

 pour out a white humor ; sometimes they endeavour to defend 

 themselves by biting ; but their mouth is unprovided with teeth, 

 and their bite is not venomous, as is generally supposed in the 

 country. These hideous and disgusting reptiles ordinarily con- 

 ceal themselves in shady, humid places, from which they do not 

 go out, except at night, or immediately after the warm and abun- 

 dant rains of summer. Like frogs, they feed on small mollusks, 

 worms, and living insects, but they are more terrestrial in their 

 habits ; they betake themselves, in summer only, to pools and 

 streams, where the females resort to deposit their eggs. In 

 countries where the winter is cold, they pass the season benumbed 

 in holes. Their respiration then becomes extremely limited, 

 and the contact of a very small quantity of air with the skin is 

 sufficient to maintain their existence. When placed in situations 

 where ordinary evaporation is very inconsiderable, they can live 

 in this way for a very long time. This explains how it is that 

 toads, which have been enclosed in plaster, or shut up in holes, 

 excavated in stones, are often found alive, after being many 

 months in confinement. 



13. Curious experiments have been made with a view of ascer- 

 taining the fact, (which had been often observed, but generally 

 treated as fabulous by naturalists,) of the existence of living 

 toads in walls, in hollow trees, and even in the interior of rocks, 

 where they had probably remained for years, without being able 

 to escape. Labourers who work in quarries have often met 

 similar instances, on breaking blocks of stone, and they pretend 

 that the toad is found enclosed in the stone on all sides, as in a solid 

 mould, which would lead us to suppose that it had formed around 

 the body, and that the seclusion of the reptile dated from a very 

 remote antiquity; but this opinion is inadmissible, and every 



12. What are the characters of Toads ? How are they distinguished 

 from Frogs ? What are their habits ? 



13. How is it that Toads are enabled to exist, excluded from the atmos- 

 pheric air, shut up in rocks, hollow tree?, &c.? 



