ORIGIN OF THE SILVER EEL. 47 



partly from envy, pretended to bite him, 

 when the toad lifted up his head with a 

 jerk, scratched it on the dog's tooth, causing 

 him to run away, lie down, and foam at the 

 mouth for half-an-hour. Oberon made off 

 to his hall as fast as he could (the toad 

 cannot leap after he grows old and large). 

 Looking at the toad, slow and unwieldy in 

 his movements, one is reminded of the pro- 

 verb, " He can neither fend nor flee." This 

 is a mistake, for he is provided with a 

 nauseous scurf all over his skin, which very 

 effectually protects him from enemies, and 

 particularly from the pike in the spawning 

 season. Oberon showed his respect for me 

 by putting his fore-paws on my foot, and 

 looking up in my face with all that was 

 beautiful about him. He always closed his 

 hall door with grass on the approach of 

 winter. After having lived with me for six 

 years, I found him dead, one morning in 

 April. I felt as sorry for him as I after- 

 wards was for my favourite dog. 



The last parallel case with which I will 

 illustrate the natural history of the eel beetle 

 is that of a dark coloured amphibious fly 



