﻿HABITS. 
  59 
  

  

  being 
  provided 
  with 
  such 
  a 
  mechanism, 
  simply 
  seize 
  

   it 
  with 
  their 
  jaws, 
  as 
  does 
  a 
  newt 
  ; 
  the 
  hands 
  often 
  

   assist 
  in 
  pushing 
  it 
  into 
  the 
  mouth. 
  A 
  certain 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  sand 
  or 
  fine 
  gray 
  el 
  is 
  usually 
  found 
  in 
  

   the 
  stomach 
  and 
  the 
  large 
  intestine, 
  together 
  with 
  

   beetle 
  elytra 
  and 
  other 
  indigestible 
  matter. 
  As 
  in 
  

   many 
  birds, 
  the 
  fseces 
  are 
  enveloped 
  in 
  a 
  muci- 
  

   laginous 
  coating 
  formed 
  in 
  the 
  large 
  intestine. 
  

  

  Although 
  sensitive 
  to 
  cold 
  and 
  retiring 
  at 
  the 
  

   approach 
  of 
  winter, 
  Batrachians 
  do 
  not 
  fall 
  into 
  

   complete 
  lethargy. 
  Hibernating 
  specimens 
  found 
  in 
  

   holes, 
  under 
  heaps 
  of 
  manure 
  or 
  dead 
  leaves, 
  or 
  even 
  

   buried 
  in 
  the 
  mud 
  under 
  the 
  water, 
  are 
  only 
  sluggish, 
  

   not 
  dormant. 
  

  

  Salt 
  is 
  fatal 
  to 
  most 
  Batrachians 
  and 
  to 
  their 
  eggs. 
  

   A 
  frog 
  soon 
  perishes 
  when 
  thrown 
  into 
  sea 
  water. 
  

   Yet 
  Bufo 
  calamita 
  is 
  in 
  this 
  respect 
  exceptional, 
  

   often 
  breeding 
  in 
  brackish 
  pools 
  or 
  burrowing 
  in 
  sand 
  

   strongly 
  impregnated 
  with 
  salt. 
  The 
  same 
  toad 
  is 
  

   also 
  remarkable 
  in 
  being 
  less 
  partial 
  to 
  moisture 
  than 
  

   any 
  other 
  of 
  our 
  Batrachians. 
  

  

  Among 
  the 
  species 
  that 
  remain 
  concealed 
  during 
  

   the 
  daytime 
  or 
  in 
  inauspicious 
  weather, 
  Bufo 
  vulgaris 
  

   and 
  Pelohates 
  lead 
  a 
  solitary 
  existence; 
  whilst 
  Bufo 
  

   viridis 
  and 
  calamita 
  and 
  Alytes 
  are 
  of 
  gregarious 
  

   habits, 
  two 
  individuals 
  or 
  more 
  being 
  usually 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  same 
  hole 
  or 
  under 
  the 
  same 
  shelter. 
  

  

  Brief 
  allusion 
  should 
  be 
  made 
  here 
  to 
  three 
  popular 
  

   behefs, 
  which, 
  although 
  often 
  refuted, 
  still 
  crop 
  up 
  

   now 
  and 
  then, 
  and, 
  curiously, 
  occasionally 
  find 
  cham- 
  

   pions 
  in 
  educated 
  men. 
  

  

  The 
  first, 
  that 
  toads 
  squirt 
  poison 
  at 
  their 
  enemies, 
  

   is 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  fact 
  that 
  these 
  Batrachians, 
  when 
  

   frightened 
  and 
  trying 
  to 
  escape, 
  shoot 
  out, 
  to 
  a 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  distance, 
  liquid 
  from 
  the 
  vent. 
  But 
  this 
  

   liquid, 
  tapped 
  from 
  the 
  bladder, 
  is 
  as 
  innocuous 
  as 
  

   pure 
  water, 
  and 
  has 
  nothing 
  to 
  do 
  with 
  the 
  poisonous 
  

   secretion 
  of 
  which 
  toads 
  are 
  really 
  possessed, 
  but 
  

   unable 
  to 
  squirt 
  out 
  spontaneously. 
  

  

  