ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1325 



FREIGHT TRAIN WRECKED BY AN ELEPHANT 



Even after the worm has been swallowed, the 

 toad will keep up his antics, arching his back, 

 puffing out and drawing in his sides, and blink- 

 ing his wonderful golden eyes, while the worm 

 is still trying to escape from its predicament. 

 Spiders, flies, mealworms, grasshoppers and 

 other insects are picked up with the lightning- 

 like tongue, and the capacity of the California 

 toad for this "small fry" is almost limitless. The 

 writer has fed as many as one hundred and 

 twenty meal-worms to a single toad, one by one, 

 and when he tired of counting, the toad contin- 

 ued looking for more. This particular specimen 

 will eat insects out of one hand while being 

 held by the other. When carried about, sitting 

 quietly on the palm of one's hand, it will turn 

 its head when a new direction is taken, and 

 if the hand is slowly slanted, the toad will cling 

 with all his might, instead of hopping off. 



Another specimen was taken to the writer's 

 home one evening, and placed upon the table, 

 where dinner was in progress. It was summer, 

 and the light over the table had attracted some 

 insects, which flew in despite the screens. Some 

 of these alighted on the table, whereupon the 

 family toad proceeded calmly to snap them up, 

 walking around between dishes and paying no 

 attention to anyone. The children of the family 

 immediately proclaimed the toad a satisfactory 

 pet and were loath to part with that specimen. 



ELEPHANT VS. LOCOMOTIVE. 



IT is not often that a wild animal deliberately 

 locks horns with an active locomotive on its 

 own rails. Jumbo was killed by a locomo- 

 tive, but the encounter was not of his seeking. 

 It was an accident. 



Once, however, a vicious bull elephant elected 

 to try conclusions with a whole railway train. 

 In one respect the bad elephant took second 

 money, but the punishment inflicted upon the 

 locomotive and several cars was so great as al- 

 most to justify calling the contest a draw. 



It was in 1906, on the Korat branch of the 

 Siamese State Railway, that a bull elephant dis- 

 puted the right of way with a freight train 

 running at full speed. He charged the charg- 

 ing locomotive, and the result to the train is 

 shown in the accompanying reproduction of a 

 photograph kindly furnished by Dr. E. B. Mc- 

 Daniel, for twelve years the head of the Mis- 

 sion Hospital at Petchaburi, Siam. 



The elephant was killed outright, and buried 

 under the wreckage of the train. The locomo- 

 tive was derailed and sent down the side of the 

 grade ; several cars were derailed and piled up, 

 and, worst of all, two persons were killed. 



Judging from the complete openness of the 

 country; there was no excuse for an elephant 

 on the track, and therefore the charge of the 

 Siamese "Gunda" was wholly gratuitous. 



Snakes and the Mexican War. — Troubles 

 alonff the iNIexican boundarv have resulted in 



