42 THE COMMON TOAD. 



and that it must be hatched in order to produce a 

 living creature. He considers it also as impossible 

 that such animals can be as old as the stones or sub- 

 stances in which they are found ; and rather thinks 

 that a hatched egg, in all the cases mentioned, may 

 have fallen by chance into some small cavity where 

 it was secured from petrifaction. He remarks that 

 eggs, when rubbed over with varnish, so as to be 

 defended from the effects of the air, may be pre- 

 served fruitful for years ; and, therefore, believes 

 that an egg, so secured in the centre of a rock, 

 might retain its activity for thousands of years : 

 hence he concludes that the egg is of great anti- 

 quity, but not the animal*. 



At a period like the present, when so many 

 things are made the subject of experiment, and 

 nature is compelled as it were to discover her most 

 hidden secrets, it is somewhat surprising that she 

 has not been put to the proof in this respect. Such 

 experiments would require little or no expense : it 

 would only be necessary to make a deep hole in a 

 stone, inclose some animal in it, and prevent the air 

 from penetrating it ; or eggs only might be put into 

 the stone. As most of the animals found in stones 

 are of the amphibious kind, it would be proper to 

 study the habits, nature, and mode of living pecu- 

 liar to that class ; and it would be attended with 

 most advantage if several experiments were made 

 at the same time, in order that the state of the ani- 



* Melanges cTHistoire Naturelle, vol. iv„ 



