Class III. TOAD. 21 



the fossil tooth of the sea- wolf, or of some flat- 

 toothed fish, not unfrequent in our island, as 

 well as several other countries ; but we may 

 well excuse this tale, since Shakespeare has ex- 

 tracted from it a simile of uncommon beauty : 



Sweet are the uses of adversity, 



Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 



Wears yet a precious jewel in his head. 



But these fables have been long exploded. 



We shall now return to the notion of its being 

 a poisonous animal, and deliver, as our opinion, 

 that its excessive deformity, joined to the faculty 

 it has of emitting a juice from its pimples, and 

 a dusky liquid from its hind parts, is the foun- 

 dation of the report. That it has any noxious 

 qualities we have been unable to bring proofs 

 in the smallest degree satisfactory, though we 

 have heard many strange relations on that point. 

 On the contrary, we know several of our friends 

 who have taken toads in their naked hands, and 

 held them long without receiving the lest in- 

 jury. It is also well known that quacks have Not poison- 

 eaten them, and have besides squeezed their 

 juices into a glass, and drank them with impu- 

 nity. We may say also, that these reptiles are 

 a common food to many animals; to buzzards, 

 owls, the thick-kneed bustard, ducks, and snakes, 



