BATRACHIA. 69 



leg, first on one side and then on the other, was 

 brought forward under the arm, which was pressed 

 down upon it, and on the hinder limb being with- 

 drawn, its skin was left inverted under the arm, 

 and that of the fore leg was now loosened, and at 

 length drawn off by the assistance of the mouth. 

 The whole skin was thus detached, and was now 

 pushed by the two hands into the mouth in a little 

 ball, and swallowed at a single gulp."* 



Accounts of Toads having been avowedly found 

 enclosed in wood, stone, &c., are very numerous; 

 but, unfortunately, the fact has never come suffi- 

 ciently under the observation of scientific men to 

 be properly accredited. The question, however, 

 in our opinion, is by no means - definitely settled. 

 Experiments have been instituted by enclosing living 

 Toads in various air-tight cells, and burying them ; 

 under which circumstances some have survived be- 

 tween one and two years. But such an experiment 

 appears inconclusive, because the Toads being im- 

 mured while active, their imprisonment was unna- 

 tural ; if they had been enclosed when torpid, the 

 results might not have been the same. 



Some Toads in South America, to which the 

 above name is given, differ in form from ours, and 

 still more remarkably in habits. The head is broad 

 and triangular, and somewhat hog-like ; the eyes 



* Br. Rep. 110. t Etymology unknown. 



