' 



NATTERJACK. Bufo calamitn. 



There is no doubt that in many cases a little Toad has crept into a rocky crevice after 

 prey or in search of a hiding place, and by reason of its rapid increase in size been unable 

 to make its exit. As, moreover, the creature is very long lived, it would, by frequent 

 movements, give a polish to the walls of its cell in a few years ; a circumstance that has 

 been employed as a proof of the antiquity of the Toad and its residence. Similar 

 instances are known where the animal has been found enclosed in timber. Here, 

 however, is less difficulty in accounting for the fact, because the growth of wood over a 

 wounded part is often extremely rapid, and has been known to cause the enclosure of 

 nails, tools, and even birds' nests with their eggs. Even in such a case, there is not 

 sufficient evidence to prove that the closure was absolutely perfect, and that the Toad 

 was hermetically sealed in the wooden walls of its cell 



Dr. Buckland made some experiments on this supposed property of the Toad, and 

 inclosed a number of these creatures in artificial chambers, made to represent as nearly 

 as possible the rock and wood in which the imprisoned Toads have been found. None of 

 these experiments met with success ; and in those cases where the Toads lived longest, 

 the plaster was found imperfect. Some of the Toads whose cells were really air-tight 

 died in a month or two. 



It may, however, be reasonably urged that such experiments do not fairly represent 

 the original conditions under which an animal could survive for so long a period, and that 

 in order to carry out the experiment in a consistent manner, the Toads ought to have been 

 procured when very young, inclosed in a chamber with a moderate aperture, and that 

 aperture lessened gradually, so as to prepare the creature by degrees for its long fast and 

 deprivation of air. For a good summary of this subject and a collection of almost 



