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IX. Observations on the poison of the common toad. By John 

 Davy, M. D. F. R. S, 



Read December 22, 1825. 



Xn every country in which this animal is found, it is con- 

 sidered poisonous by the common people ; and the opinion 

 may be traced back to a very remote antiquity. Of late 

 years the notion has been rejected by the professed naturalist, 

 and placed in the number of vulgar prejudices. Thus, 

 M. CuviER speaking of the common toad, remarks: " Ce 

 sont des animaux d'une forme hideuse, d6goutante, que Ton 

 accuse mal-a-propos d'etre venimeux par leur salive, leur 

 morsure leur urine, et meme par Thumeur qu'il transpirent." 



In this, as in some other instances, the common and long 

 received opinion is w^ell founded, and that of the philosopher 

 hastily and erroneously formed. 



The poison of the common toad, I find, is seated chiefly 

 in the integuments, in follicles in the cutis vera, beneath the 

 cuticle and the coloured rete mucosum. These follicles are 

 largest and most numerous near the shoulders, and about 

 the neck of the animal ; yet they are very generally distri- 

 buted, and even on the extremities. Pressure being applied 

 to the skin, a yellowish thick fluid exudes, and occasionally 

 spurts to a considerable distance. It may be collected with 

 ease in sufficient quantity for examination. It possesses, I 



• Le regne animal distribue d'apres son organisation ; torn, il p. 94. Paris, 181 7. 



