044 



THE AMERICAN NATURALIST [Vol. XLIII 



to the efficiency of the species. It means, simply, that we 

 should require four times as many to do the work, and, 

 with the number of eggs produced, this offers no difficulty. 



Given a pond or even a small pool insured against dry- 

 ing up during the late spring and early summer, and 

 from which natural enemies are eliminated, toads will 

 breed in any desired numbers up to the limits of in- 

 sect food supply. It would probably, however, be diffi- 

 cult or even impossible to find a single farm in the 

 United States or Canada, although suffering severely 

 from depredations of insects pests— not even the agri- 

 cultural experiment station farms— which makes any 

 provision whatever for the breeding of toads. In fact, 

 reports so far gathered reveal the fact that farms in 

 the agricultural states of Indiana, Ohio and Illinois are 

 almost entirely destitute of the species. It is probably 

 safe to infer that the toad has been exterminated already 

 from a considerable portion of the cultivated land in the 

 agricultural states. Is this an inevitable result of drain- 

 ing land, and modern methods of tillage ! If this be true, 

 can any changes or adjustments be made which will per- 

 mit the increase of the species? Will the value of the 

 toad's work warrant anything of the kind? Would it 

 pay to establish special breeding places like our present 

 fish hatcheries, or possibly in connection with them? 



In order to answer these and many other questions we 

 must have the data of the life and work of the species. 

 To gather these in a manner, if possible, complete enough 

 to serve as a guide and basis for practical action is the 

 purpose of Mr. Miller's work. 



The American Toad (Bufo lentiginosus Americanus 

 LeConte) 



The ancestors of the Bufonidas first appear as fossils 

 in the Oeningen beds below the Miocene Tertiary strata. 

 The group now has a wide range, being found in all 

 parts of the temperate and torrid world with the excep- 

 tion of Australia and the oceanic islands. The greatest 

 number of species is found in the torrid regions. The 



