128 THE PHILOSOPHY 



and a traditionary account of the place and manner In which it was 

 difcovered. 



Thefe, and fimilar fa£ts, are fupported by authorities fo numeroui 

 and fo refpedable, that it is unneceflary to quote them. Many a- 

 bortlve attempts have been made to account for an animal's grow- 

 ing and living very long in the fituations above defcribed, without 

 the pofTibility of receiving nourifliment or air; efpecially as, like all 

 other animals, when put into an exhaufted receiver, the toad foon lofes 

 its exiftence. Upon this fubjeft I fhall only hazard two obfervations. 

 The toad, it is well known, when kept in a damp place, can live fe- 

 Teral months without food of any kind, though, in its ftate of na- 

 tural liberty, it devours voracioufly fpiders, maggots, ants, and other 

 infefts. Here we have an inftance, and there are many, of an animal 

 whofe conftitution is fo framed by Nature, that It can exift feveral 

 months without receiving any portion of food. According to our ide- 

 as of the neceffity of frequent fupplies of nourifhment, it is nearly as 

 difficult for us to conceive an abftinence of four or fix months as one 

 of as many years, or even centuries. The one fadt, therefore, though 

 we are unable to account for either, may be as readily admitted as 

 the other. The fame remark is equally applicable to the regular ref- 

 piratlon of air. The toad, and many other animals, from fome pe- 

 culiarity in their conftitution, can live very long in a torpid ftate 

 without feeming to refpire, and yet their principle of life is not en- 

 tirely extinguished. Hence the toad may, and adually does, live 

 many years in fituations which exclude a free intercourfe with the 

 external air, Befides, almoft all the above, and fimilar fads, muft, 

 from their nature, have been difcovered by common labourers, who 

 are totally unqualified for examining every circumftance with the 

 difcerning eye of a philofopher. In rocks there are many chinks, as 

 well as fiffures, both horizontal and perpendicular ; and in old trees 

 aothing is more frequent than holes and vacuities of different dimen- 



3 fions. 



