THE INTELLECTUAL OBSERVED 



MAY, 1864. 



THE NATTERJACK TOAD IN IRELAND. 



BY THE HON. MRS. WARD. 



{With a Coloured Plate.) 



My object in the following remarks on the Natterjack Toad in 

 Ireland is to present to the reader, in a tangible form, a little 

 information which has apparently remained latent for a long 

 time, not reaching the general public, so far as I am aware, and 

 certainly not becoming known to myself till about a year ago, 

 when I learned it in various accidental ways. 



A paragraph appeared in a Dublin daily newspaper, the 

 Irish Times, on October 1st, 1862, headed " Irish Toads and 

 their use." It stated that the rarer British toad (Bufo cala- 

 mita) is an inhabitant of certain districts in the county of Kerry. 

 " These Irish toads," continued the writer, " are very pretty 

 creatures, utterly devoid of that cold slime and general ugliness 

 which render frogs an object of aversion. They are quiet little 

 beings, and are readily tamed ;" and it was added that they 

 would be found very useful in a greenhouse, being expert de- 

 stroyers of aphides and other insects. I did not agree with the 

 writer's denunciation of the frogs ; but I was greatly interested 

 in the statement about the natterjack toad being found in 

 Ireland, as it tended to confirm an anecdote which I had heard 

 in England two months previously. I wrote to ask the editor 

 on what authority the existence of Bufo calamita in Kerry was 

 stated. 



In reply I was referred to the work of Dr. Charles A. 

 Cameron, M.R.I.A., a Guide to the Royal Zoological Gardens, 

 Phoenix Park,* where, at p. 46, I read, "The common toad, 

 (Bufo vulgaris) is a native of England, but is never met with 

 in Ireland, its place being occupied by the natterjack toad 

 (Bufo calamita), which, however, is exceedingly rare, and con- 

 fined to the county of Kerry." The proprietor of the Irish Times 

 * M'Glashan and Gill, Dublin, 1861. 



VOL. V. — NO. IV. R 



