166 TOADS FOUND IN ROCKS. 



in the 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 convulsively from the struggles of a beetle just swallowed, and kicking vig- 

 orously 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 coloring, 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 con- 

 tortions 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 sin- 

 gular, 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 color, 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 un- 

 derneath. 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 infolds on the sides. The hinder legs, first on one side arid 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 re- 

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

 counts 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, accord- 

 ing 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 unprej- 

 udiced thinker would be justified in placing it among the wonderful but veritable occur- 

 rences 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 in- 

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

 to crawl into the cavity which held the imprisoned Toad. 



