No. 516] THE AMERICAN TOAD 



733 



Experiment II 

 Another experiment was made on two toads which 

 were placed in a 7x 7 x 7 inch wooden box that contained 

 some four inches of rather dry clay. A stone was laid 

 on top and the box sunk ten inches in the side of a bank 

 composed of clay and gravel. On the first of March, 

 when the box was dug up, the ground all about it was 

 frozen so hard that it had to be dug out with a pick. The 

 earth in the box had been moist enough to freeze into 

 clods, which were easily broken with the fingers. Both 

 toads were alive, but no. 2 died two days later without 

 showing any other signs of life than the beating of its 

 heart. No. 1 moved her legs feebly as soon as broken out 

 of the clay, had her eyes open in less than five minutes 

 and within ten minutes more she was crawling about on 

 the snow. Only the tips of some of her toes seemed to 

 be frozen, but these never became sore. No. 2, as far as 

 I could detect, was not frozen more than no. 1. No. 1 

 began feeding on the second day and during the re- 

 mainder of the winter showed no signs of hibernating. 



Experiment No. Ill 



For this experiment a 12 x 12 x 24 inch glass aquarium 

 was used in which was placed about three inches of moist 

 earth. Six toads properly labeled were put in the cage, 

 which was kept within eight inches of my radiator. As I 

 was in my room most of the day and slept there at night 

 I could watch them closely. I had a supply of meal 

 worms, and every time a toad appeared it was given all 

 it would eat. They came up usually about 8:30 p.m. and 

 buried themselves by 10:00 p.m. Frequently they shed 

 their skins and went down at once. No. 4 had the habit 

 of only half burying herself and, probably, one fourth 

 of the time was spent thus, but during this time she was 

 rarely found sleeping. 



The weight and sex of each toad was as follows : 



