84 HALF-HOURS IN THE CTOEEN LANES. 



when stewed, to taste like the flesh of young rabbits 

 The edible frog occurs in Norfolk, but there is reason 

 to believe it has been introduced there. In the fen 

 districts of Cambridgeshire, however, it seems to be 

 indigenous, but rare. During summer evenings, it 

 is almost certain to make its whereabouts known, by 

 its much louder and more musical note than that of 

 the common frog. This louder note is produced by 

 certain vocal sacs or bladders, placed near the angle 

 of the mouth. Out of the nine species of frog found 

 on the Continent, only two are met with in great 

 Britain ; whilst out of the three species of European 

 toads, two are natives of this country. It will be 

 seen, therefore, that Professor Edward Forbes' view is 

 not without strong evidence in its favour. 



Our Common Toad needs no description. We are 

 sorry that prejudiced ignorance continues to impute 

 to it so much power of inflicting injuries, for this 

 poor creature is regarded, in consequence, as a sort 

 of zoological pariah, to be shunned, stoned, or killed 

 whenever found. It is the type of the ugly and the 

 foul, and our literature continues to hand down and 

 cherish this ignorant idea about the " bloated toad !" 

 All there is harmful about this poor beast is the 

 secretion of the skin, which is acid, and evidently 

 protective. Many a young and playful puppy that 

 has endeavoured to carry a toad in its mouth has 

 found out the properties of this secretion to its cost, 

 and the foaming at its mouth has plainly indicated 

 its disagreeable nature. But, to the dog's master, 



