NATURAL HISTORY MISCELLANY. 787 
of undoubted veracity, that in laying the foundation walls for a 
warehouse in the town of Naples on the Illinois river, a living 
toad was found entombed in the limestone, which on coming in 
contact with the atmosphere soon resumed its wonted activity, 
though torpid when first discovered. 
Having occasion to pass through Naples a few days after- 
wards, I examined the walls of the buildings to see if I could 
discover any clue that might serve to explain so improbable an 
occurrence. I found the walls constructed out of the brown dolo- 
mite of the lower St. Louis, or Warsaw limestone, and observed 
that the rock had been more or less fissured, the fissures cutting 
the strata at right angles to the lines of bedding, and varying 
from a mere line to an inch or more in width. Many of these fis- 
sures had been filled wholly or partially with a deposit of stalag- 
mite, and in some places the exposed surface of the rock had been 
coated for an inch or more in thickness with the same material. 
These facts seemed to me to afford an easy explanation of the 
reported phenomena ; the toad had sought shelter in one of these 
crevices as his home for the winter, where he remained in a dor-* 
mant condition, until the constant dripping of water holding car- 
bonate of lime in solution sealed him in completely. Here he 
remained until he was released by the hammer of the workman, 
which broke the crust of his stony mausoleum, and restored him 
to liberty. Persons who had paid no attention to the manner in 
which limestones are formed, would make no distinction between 
the original dolomite which was formed beneath the ocean, 
eons of ages ago, and the incrusting stalagmite whose formation 
is still going on, and to them it would be all alike, solid lime- 
stone. As these comparatively recent calcareous deposits are of 
very common occurrence, it would not be surprising that living 
batrachians should be found in them, even more frequently than 
they are. 
It would be a matter of considerable scientific interest, to deter- 
mine, were it possible, how long animal life could be preserved 
under such conditions; and if the functions of life are so com- 
pletely suspended during hibernation, as to cause no waste et 
tissue, I see no reason why it might not be preserved for an in- 
definite period, though it is by no means necessary to suppose in 
the case cited above, that any long period had elapsed after the 
entombment of the animal.— A. H. Wortuen, Springfield, IU. 
AMER. NATURALIST, VOL. V. 50 
