86 SEVEN-YEAR SLEEPERS 



which air can enter freely. The grubs in the bark and other 

 insects supply him from time to time with a frugal repast. 

 There is no good reason why, under such circumstances, a 

 placid and contented toad might not manage to prolong his 

 existence for several consecutive seasons. 



Once more, the spawn of toads is very small, as regards 

 the size of the individual eggs, compared with the size of 

 the full-grown animal. Nothing would be easier than 

 for a piece of spawn or a tiny tadpole to be washed into 

 some hole in a mine or cave, where there was sufficient 

 water for its developement, and where the trickling drops 

 brought down minute objects of food, enough to keep up 

 its simple existence. A toad brought up under such peculiar 

 circumstances might pass almost its entire life in a state of 

 torpidity, and yet might grow and thrive in its own sleepy 

 vegetative fashion. 



In short, while it would be difficult in any given case to 

 prove to a certainty either that the particular toad-in-a-hole 

 had or had not access to air and food, the ordinary condi- 

 tions of toad life are exactly those under which the delusive 

 appearance of venerable antiquity would be almost certain 

 frequently to arise. The toad is a nocturnal animal ; it 

 lives through the daytime in dark and damp places ; it 

 shows a decided liking for crannies and crevices ; it is 

 wonderfully tenacious of life ; it possesses the power of 

 hibernation ; it can live on extremely small quantities of 

 food for very long periods of time together ; it buries itself 

 in mud or clay ; it passes the early part of its life as a 

 water-haunting tadpole ; and last, not least, it can swell out 

 its body to nearly double its natural size by inflating itself, 

 which fully accounts, for the stories of toads being taken 

 out of holes every bit as big as themselves. Considering 

 all these things, it would be wonderful indeed if toads were 

 not often found in places and conditions which would 



