TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 443 



although it would probably be unfavourable to serpents and 

 many kinds of lizards. 



Some years ago the author brought eleven toads from this 

 country to Ireland, and as he did not wish them to be propa- 

 gated, on account of the alarm and disgust which many weak 

 people feel towards them, he buried them in a flower-pot co- 

 vered loosely with a slate, to prevent the earth falling in upon 

 them. In this situation he kept them for two years, occasionally 

 digging them up, for the purpose of exhibiting them and making 

 them the subject of experiments. They at length all died during 

 a very hot summer, the ground in which they were buried 

 having become so dry that the animals could no longer receive 

 any moisture ; for although the toad eats many insects when 

 it is at liberty, it will live and increase in size by imbibing 

 moisture alone, for which purpose its skin is provided with nu- 

 merous pores. 



The toad possesses greater powers of repairing the effects 

 of injuries than most other animals. One of the toads which 

 has been mentioned as living beneath the surface of the earth 

 for two years had been subjected to the experiment of having 

 the upper part of the skull removed, and a portion of the brain 

 scooped out. The wound rapidly healed, leaving a depression 

 corresponding to the quantity of bone and brain taken away. 

 The only effect which remained from this injury was that the 

 animal afterwards did not walk in a direct line, but in curves 

 to the one side, a fact which has been observed in other in- 

 stances consequent to injuries of the brain. Dr. Macartney has 

 seen one instance of the same kind in the human subject, the 

 person being incapable of locomotion, except in circles, as if 

 he were waltzing. 



There is one fact in the natural history of the toad which the 

 author believes to be quite unknown, — the utterance by the 

 animal of a musical sound, consisting of one note, so clear and 

 pure that it perfectly resembles that which is produced by 

 striking a piece of glass or some sonorous metal. The season 

 of the year in which this was heard was the latter part of au- 

 tumn. Dr. Macartney concludes by observing that " One ob- 

 ject in studying zoology, and that not an unimportant one, is, 

 by closely investigating the habits of animals, to remove the 

 prejudices and apprehensions which are traditionally handed 

 down to us from those ages in which fable took the place of 

 knowledge. Many of these errors and prejudices with respect 

 to animals exist in the present day, even amongst well informed 

 persons, to an extent that would scai'cely be believed unless 

 our attention had been directed to the subject. In selecting 



