48 Gases y Acids, Salts, ^'C. 



to be so many ways for illiterate laborers to deceive them- 

 selves, that I took no further notice of the report. But J 

 have since received an account of a larire dark brown toud 

 being found in a rock of millstone grit, near Whitesborough, 

 which I cannot hesitate to believe. 



The Hon. Theodore Sill, of Whitesborough, who is now 

 a representative in the legislature of this state, employed two 

 respectable masons, whom I well know to be entitled tf) the 

 highest confidence, both for their veracity and good srn^-e. 

 They were Mr. Reuben Wilcox, who has resided ihirtv e.-ght 

 years on his farm one mile south of the village of WhUe-bo- 

 rough ; and his son, Morris Wilcf)X, who is a native of that 

 place, and resides on his farm near his father. I am thus 

 particular, that the curious naturalist may consult them per- 

 sonally, and learn their characters from their neighbors. 

 They gave the follownig account of this remarkable preser- 

 vation. 



While laying the cellar wall of Mr. Sill's house, they had 

 occasion to split a large stone, from the quarry vvhich I call 

 the millstone grit. It was perfectly close grained and com- 

 pact. On opening it they discovered a black, or dark blown 

 spherical mass, about three inches in dinmeter, in a cavity 

 which it filled. On examining it particularly, they found it 

 to be a toad, much larger than the common species, and of 

 a darker color. It was perfectly stupid. It was laid upon a 

 stone, and soon began to give signs of life. In a few hours 

 it would hop moderately, on being disturbed. They saw it 

 in the yard, moving about, moderately, for several days ; but 

 it was not watched by them any farther, and no one observ- 

 ed its farther movements. They laid one half of the stone 

 in the wall, so that the cavity may still be seen. 



The millstone grit, in which this toad was found, is the 

 oldest of the secondary rocks. It must have been formed 

 many centuries before the deluge. Was this toad more than 

 four thousand years old? or was it from an egg introduced, 

 through a minute and undiscovered cleavage, into this cavity 

 or geode, made precisely to fit the size and form of a toad ? 

 I was particular in my inquiry, and learned from them that 

 the whole stone was perfectly compact, without any open 

 cleavage which would admit an egg. Besides, it is well 

 known that the millstone grit is neither porous nor geodife- 

 rous. If this rock stratum was deposited upon the toad, it 

 must have been in aqueous, not in igneous solution ; and the 



