Not poi- 
fonous. 
40 TOAD. Clafs If. 
Sweet are the ufes of adverfity, 
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
‘Wears yet a precious jewel in his head. 
But thefe fables have been long exploded: we 
fhall now return to the notion of its being a poifon+ 
ous animal, and deliver as our opinion, that its ex- 
ceffive deformity, joined to the faculty it has of 
emitting a juice from its pimples, and a dufky li 
quid from its hind parts, is the foundation of the 
report. 
That it has any noxious qualities we have been 
unable to bring proofs in the {malleft degree fatis- 
factory, tho’ we have heard many ftrange relations 
on that point. 
On the contrary, we know feveral of our friends 
who have taken them in their naked hands, and 
held them long without receiving the left injury ; It 
is alfo well known that quacks have eaten them, and 
have befides fqueezed their juices into a glafs, and 
drank them with impunity. 
We may fay alfo, that thefe reptiles are a common 
food to many animals; to buzzards, owls, Norfolk 
plovers, ducks, and fnakes, who would not touch 
them were they in any degree noxious. 
So far from having venomous qualities, they have 
of late been confidered as if they had beneficent 
ones. We wifh, for the benefit of mankind, that 
we could make a favorable report of the many at- 
tempts of late to cure the moft terrible of difeafes 
the cancer, by the application of live toads; but, 
alas, 
