92 



Bateachians.- 



-EEPTILES.- 



-Batrachiass. 



belief among the vulgar, and will perhaps continue to 

 exist as long as Shakspeare is read. The poor reptiles 

 will still be held up as moral beacons, and bad men 

 will still be 



*' I\Iarked by the destinies, to be avoided 

 As venom toads, or hzard's dreadful stings ! " 



—Henry VI., Fart 3. 



Shakspeare's belief in the poisonous nature of toads 

 seems very strong, so often does he introduce the 

 image. lu Richard the Third, for instance, the Lady 

 Anne, in that " keen encounter of their wits," seems 

 to come to a crisis in her passion, when she tells the 

 " hunchback" as she spits upon him, that— 



" Never hung poison on a fouler toad. 

 (Jut of my sight ! thou dost infect mine eyes." 



and Queen Margaret can find no fitter name for him 

 than 



" That poisonous hunch backed toad.'' 



— Richard III. 



The negroes of Africa, however, have no such super- 

 stition. Knowing from experience that the skin of the 

 toads is cool, from the great amount of evaporation 

 which takes place from the skin, they, as Adanson 

 informs lis, " in traversing tlie burning sands of Sene- 

 gal, are in the habit of applying one of them alive 

 to the forehead for the purpose of cooling it." The 

 reproduction of toads, and the metamorphoses of the 

 young, are in all essential points similar to those of the 

 frogs. Tlie ova, however, instead of being expelled 

 in a mass, are arranged in a double series, placed 

 alternately and perfectly regular. The jelly-like 

 mass in which the embryos are enveloped, forms a 

 continuous line about the eighth or sixth of an inch 

 in thickness, and extending to the length of three or 

 four feet. They are deposited about a fortnight later 

 tlian those of the frogs, and the only dilfcrence in *lie 

 tadpoles is tliat they are darker and smaller. 



Tlie food of toads consists of smaU molluscs, worms, 

 and insects, which must be alive or in motion, as 

 they never touch dead or motionless animals. When 

 about to feed, the animal remains quite still, with its 

 eyes turned directly forwards upon the object, and tlie 

 head a little inclined towards it, and in this attitude it 

 remains until the insect or other animal moves ; when, 

 by a stroke like lightning, the tongue is thrown forward 

 upon the victim, which is instantly drawn into the 

 mouth. So rapid is this movement, that it requires 

 some little practice, as well as close observation, to 

 distinguish the different motions of the tongue. Tliey 

 are for the most part truly nocturnal in their habits, 

 seldom issuing from their sombre retreats till night 

 comes on, or after the hot rains of summer. Toads 

 can live a long time without eating. Instances have 

 occurred, apparently on good authority, of their having 

 been found shut up for years in old walls, hollow trees, 

 or in the substance of the earth, witliout their having 

 been able to get out, and without losing lifo. 



The feet of toads are seldom used for walking. 

 These animals, in fact, only creep, and when they are 

 suddenly laid hoW of or surprised, they do not attempt 

 to seek safety in flight. They stop suddenly, swell the 

 body, render it hard and elastic, distil from the tuber- 



cles on the skin a white and fetid humour, emit a 

 peculiar fluid from the anus, and attempt to bite. 

 Their bite, however, occasions no great inconvenience, 

 merely producing at times a slight degree of inflamma- 

 tion. In temperate countries, or where the weather is 

 cold, toads pass this season of the year in retired and 

 slieltered holes, hollow trees, or spaces amongst large 

 stones, and there, in a state of torpidity, remain until 

 the return of spring caUs tliem again into a state of 

 life and activity. 



Of the Bufonina forty-four species have been de- 

 scribed by Dr. Gtinther in the British Museum Cata- 

 logue. 



THE COMMON TOAD {Bufo vulgaris)~V\AtQ 2, fig. 

 1 — is very abundant throughout Europe, and occurs 

 also in China and Japan. At all times this poor crea- 

 ture has been condemned as a disgusting, odious, and 

 venomous reptile, and has in consequence suffered 

 more undeserved persecution than almost any other 

 animal of the class to which he belongs. As Professor 

 Bell observes, in Great Britain the Common toad is 

 held up as the emblem of all that is malicious and 

 hateful in the human character, is placed under uni- 

 versal ban, and treated as an outlaw both by man and 

 boy throughout the country. " As loathsome as a 

 toad," " the loathed toad," is still the language used 

 in reference to this poor inolTensive animal. In general 

 form it is certainly far from being prepossessing, for 

 the body is puffed out and swollen, the head is large 

 and flat on the top, the muzzle rounded and very 

 obtuse. The body is covered with warts, which are 

 larger above and more numerous beneath, and on the 

 nape of the neck are two thick, prominent, and porous 

 glands called the parotids. Tlie colour is sombre ; a 

 lurid brownish-gray, with reddish-brown tubercles. It 

 is about three inches to three and a half in length. 

 The Toad is teiTestrial in its general habits, and is 

 usually found in obscure and sheltered places. It is 

 nocturnal in its mode of life, coming out in the evening 

 to seek for its food. It is " heavy-gaited," as Shak- 

 speare well observes, and its mode of progression is by 

 crawling, its quickest movement being an imperfect 

 leap. To compensate for this, the rapidity with which 

 it darts out its tongue to seize its living prey is some- 

 thing extraordinary. Insects and worms form its chief 

 suppl}', and generally the animal is swallowed alive. 

 Earth-worms are a favourite article of food, and it is a 

 very curious eight, says Professor Bell, to watch the 

 manner in which the powerful and writhing worm 

 is secured: — "If the toad happens to take it by the 

 middle, the extremitiesof the worm are twined with great 

 force and activity around the muzzle in every direction, 

 in its attempts to escape ; but the Toad pushes one 

 portion after another into its mouth by means of the 

 fore feet, until it all disappears, when it is swallowed 

 wliole." The Toad sheds its skin at certain intervals, 

 and the process as described liy Mr. Bell is rather a 

 curious one. The old skin splits in the middle down 

 the back and along the belly. In a short time these 

 halves become WTinkled, and by means of the con- 

 tinued twitching of the animal's body, the skin is 

 brought down on the sides in folds. The legs are 

 then forced from the old cuticle, first the hinder, then 



