REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 149 



The amphibians and reptiles may live for a consider- 

 able number of years, though our own species are not 

 so ancient as the crocodile, of which the blacks say there 

 are specimens that have sunned themselves on the same 

 sand-bank day after day as far back as the memory of 

 their fathers and grandfathers goes. It seems, however, 

 that the tortoise may live for a hundred years, and toads 

 have been kept in confinement for thirty-six years ; they 

 are not infrequently kept, as they are the most 

 intelligent of the amphibia, and sometimes answer to 

 their names. But the stories of toads living for decades 

 inside blocks of stone must be relegated to the realm of 

 fables. It is true that they can go a long time without 

 food, and a much longer time with little food ; this is 

 due to their almost perfect digestion. But air and 

 moisture are absolutely necessary for them. 



It may happen that a toad falls into the shaft of a well 

 during its nocturnal rambles, and, while its companions 

 hunt and love and rear their progeny in the garden and 

 the field, it is condemned to maintain a pitiful existence 

 on a few insects, and so may become as "old as the 

 hills." 



Even the animal has its destiny. 



