THE COMMON TOAD. 115 



f c Don't go near that toad j it will spit at you ! " 

 And how long and earnestly might we plead 

 with such a mother before we could convince 

 her that the toad would do her child no harm ! 



Before adverting more particularly to the 

 habits of this animal, we will endeavour to give 

 a brief epitome of what is known of the secre- 

 tions of the toad, which were in part, perhaps, 

 the basis of the belief in its injurious character. 



Dr. Davy thinks that the principal use of this poison is 

 to defend the reptile against the attacks ,of carnivorous 

 animals. He also remarks that, as it contains an inflam- 

 mable substance, it may be excrementitious ; it may serve 

 to carry off a portion of carbon from the blood, and thus be 

 auxiliary to the functions of the lungs. In support of this 

 idea, the author observes that he finds each of the pulmonary 

 arteries of the toad divided into two branches, one of which 

 goes to the lungs, and the other to the cutis, ramifying most 

 abundantly where the largest follicles are situated, and where 

 there is a large venous plexus, seeming to indicate that the 

 subcutaneous distribution of the second branch of the 

 pulmonary artery may further aid the office of the lungs, 

 by bringing the blood to the surface to be acted upon by 

 the air.* 



The viscid exudation from the skin in this 

 kind of reptile is regarded as a kind of poison. 

 It appears to answer as a defence to an animal 

 which has no other means of defending itself; 

 but, as there are no provisions for inoculation of 



* " Philos. Trans, for 1826," pt. ii. p. 127 



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