1890-91.] 291 



criminate slaughter of birds on St. Stephen's Day, as guns 

 cannot now be carried without licence. The pets which the 

 lecturer had kept had been very various — dogs, cats, white mice, 

 piebald rats, Guinea pigs, rabbits, snakes, toads, frogs, newts, 

 monkeys, seagulls, spiders, hedgehogs, lizards, tree-frogs, and 

 birds of various kinds. The present paper dealt chiefly with 

 the reptile class — toads, frogs, and newts. The erroneous belief 

 in the venom of the toad was shown by reference to ancient 

 writers, and to the witches' cauldron in Macbeth^ into which 

 a toad was first put. A short description was given of the 

 anatomy of the toad and frog, which are both without ribs, and 

 have instead several muscles by which air is pumped into the 

 lungs ; but, as the heart has only one ventricle, the blood is 

 only partially aerated, and is therefore cold. The tongue per- 

 forms a leading part in the capture of the prey ; it is soft and 

 fleshy, and fastened to the front interior edge of the jaw. In 

 a state of repose its free extremity lies in the back part of the 

 mouth, and is covered with a tenacious, viscous secretion, so 

 that when it touches the prey, the latter so firmly adheres to it, 

 that it is carried back with the tongue into the mouth. There 

 it is in most cases compressed, involved again in a glutinous 

 saliva, and almost instantly submitted to the act of swallowing. 

 The motion of throwing out and returning the tongue is so 

 rapid that the eye can scarcely detect it. Then followed a 

 description of a scene with wasps and toads, and also an amusing 

 description of two toads swallowing the same worm at different 

 ends, at the same time. The supposed longevity of toads, and 

 the stories of their being found in the heart of trees and rocks, 

 will not bear investigation, Dr. Buckland's experiments showing 

 that they will not live long when enclosed without food and air. 

 There is no doubt that toads can exist a considerable time 

 without food, but when they can get it they are voracious gor- 

 mandisers, and devour almost every insect pest. This renders 

 them most useful to the farmer and gardener, for at night, when 

 noxious insects and slugs come out to feed on the fruits and 

 crops, the toad also comes out to prey on them, and quietly 



