166 TOADS FOUND IN KOCKS. 



spot where it can be seized by the muscles of the neck, and passed into the stomach. So 

 rapidly is the act performed, that Mr. Bell has seen the sides of a Toad twitching con- 

 vulsively from the struggles of a beetle just swallowed, and kicking vigorously in the 

 stomach. 



Entomologists sometimes make a curious use of the Toad. Going into the fields soon 

 after daybreak, they catch all the Toads they can find, kill them, and turn the contents of 

 their stomachs into water. On examining the mass of insects that are found in the 

 stomach, and which are floated apart in the water, there are almost always some specimens 

 of valuable insects, generally beetles, which from their nocturnal habits, small dimensions, 

 and sober colouring, cannot readily be detected by human eyes. 



The Toad will also eat worms, and in swallowing them it finds its fore-feet of great use. 

 The worm is seized by the middle, and writhes itself frantically into such contortions that 

 the Toad would not be able to swallow it but by the aid of the fore-feet, which it uses 

 as if they were hands. Sitting quietly down with the worm in its mouth, the Toad pushes 

 it further between the jaws first with one paw and then with another, until it succeeds by 

 alternate gulps and pushes to force the worm fairly down its throat. 



These paws are also useful in aiding it to rid itself of its cuticle, which is shed at 

 intervals, as is. the case with many reptiles and Batrachians. The process is so singular, 

 and so admirably described by Mr. Bell, that it must be given in his own words : 



" I one day observed a large Toad, the skin of which was particularly dry and dull in 

 its colour, with a light streak down the mesial line of its back ; and on examining further, 

 I discovered a corresponding line along its belly. This proved to arise from an entire 

 slit in the old cuticle, which exposed to view the new and brighter skin underneath. 

 Finding, therefore, what was going to happen, I watched the whole detail of this 

 curious process. 



I soon observed that the two halves of the skin, thus completely divided, continued to 

 recede further and further from the centre, and became folded and rugose ; and after a 

 short space, by means of the continued twitching of the animal's body, it was brought 

 down in folds on the sides. The hinder 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 withdrawn, its cuticle was left inserted under the arm, and that of the anterior 

 extremity was now loosened, and at length drawn off by the assistance of the mouth. 

 The whole cuticle was thus detached, and was now pushed by the two hands into 

 the mouth in a little ball, and swallowed at a single gulp. I afterwards had repeated 

 opportunities of watching this curious process, which did not materially vary in any 

 instance." 



Though apparently unfit for food, the Toad is eaten by some nations, and certainly is 

 not more unprepossessing than the iguana. The Chinese, however, are in the habit 

 of eating a species of Toad for the purpose of increasing their bodily powers, thinking 

 that the flesh of this creature has the property of strengthening bone and sinew. 



This animal is extremely tenacious of life, and is said to possess the power of 

 retaining life for an unlimited period if shut up in a completely air-tight cell. Many 

 accounts are in existence of Toads which have been discovered in blocks of stone when 

 split open, and the inference has been drawn that they were inclosed in the stone while 

 it was still in the liquid state, some hundreds of thousands of years ago, according to 

 the particular geological period, and had remained without food or air until the stroke of 

 the pick brought them once more to the light of day. 



Such an account appears at once to be so opposed to all probability as to challenge a 

 doubt ; but if there had been sufficient testimony, even to one such fact, an unprejudiced 

 thinker would be justified in placing it among the wonderful but veritable occurrences 

 that occasionally startle mankind. But there really seems to be no account which is 

 sufficiently accurate to permit of such a conclusion. In more than one case, the whole 

 story has proved to be nothing more than an imposition ; and in others, there is hardly 

 sufficient evidence to show that some crevice did not exist, which would supply the 

 inclosed animal with sufficient air for its narrow wants, and permit many minute insects 

 to crawl into the cavity which held the imprisoned Toad. 



