224 Marsh. 



" 'Tis only winter's last convulsive grip to hold 

 What he must part with soon " 



then the toad recovers from its torpidity, and sets out to 

 seek a pool in which to deposit its spawn. Sometimes the 

 search is long and tedious, for the summer and autumn 

 hunting expeditions after food frequently take it so far 

 afield that it has to travel several miles before it reaches a 

 pond in which to spawn. 



The toad calls up memories of olden times ; of its striking 

 connection with witchcraft ; of its supposed power for evil. 

 The extent to which this belief was carried a few centuries 

 ago was really most absurd. Even now it has not entirely 

 vanished, for it is a settled belief in the minds of all 

 Kentish boys who live in outlying villages that the toad 

 "spits fire," and that being poisoned is a certain result of 

 touching it. I have often wondered whether the " spitting 

 fire " belief is of recent origin, and whether it has any 

 connection with the part the frog played in the earliest dis- 

 coveries of electrical action. If of older origin, probably 

 the notion originated in the brilliancy of its eye. The 

 belief in its poisonous propensities undoubtedly originated 

 in the fact that the adult toad is able to excrete from the 

 warty tubercles with which the skin is covered a most 

 objectionable fluid, which makes dogs frequently refuse to 

 touch them. However, in spite [of these imaginary evils, 

 the toad is unequalled as a friend to the gardener, and this 

 peaceful and inoffensive creature undoubtedly deserves all the 

 care he can bestow on its preservation. 



But we have been resting long enough on this log. The 

 sun is sinking rather rapidly, and we must push on, or the 

 chaff-bed with attendance may claim us yet. This 



