178 



THE YOUNG NATUKALIST. 



man that the only reliable means of getting a horse through a fire, was to 

 boil a toad to a jelly, take out a certain bone, grind the latter to a powder, 

 and mix it up with some stuff from a chemist. The particular bone to be 

 used, name of the chemical " stuff " and method of using this wonderful pre- 

 paration, did not appear in my friend's rather vague directions. 



Probably but few creatures have so many enemies as the toad. Where we 

 find one person tolerate the poor reptile, we find five hundred raising their 

 hands against it. And why is this ? The only answer we can give is simply 

 — because the toad is very ugly. So he is, but he has his good qualities too, 

 and in cases where intelligent observation has taken the place of ignorant 

 prejudice, has been found to be the possessor of a species of intelligence, 

 hardly to be expected from a creature of such a dull, lethargic disposition. 

 Many authentic anecdotes could, however, be brought forward in proof of 

 this. 



On one occasion, I saw the toad so late as the third week in November, 

 but as a rule it retires to hybernate at the end of October. Its winter retreat 

 is usually a hole at the roots of a tree or shrub, and here, torpid and alone, it 

 passes its time till the sun of March warms it to life again. I once saw a 

 spaniel dog in October, burrowing away with great desperation in an ivy- 

 covered bank, and after working away for a short time it unearthed a largish 

 toad, which was buried at the root of a stump. Sometimes the toad will 

 choose as its hybernating place a hollow tree, or heap of stones, and it has 

 been known to climb up the face of a sand pit cutting, find a soft place, 

 scratch away the sand, and burrow a foot and a half into it. When spring 

 came the following year, these toads travelled two miles to find water in 

 which to place their spawn. 



The length of the common toad when full grown, is about three inches and 

 a half. Its skin is covered with warts and pimples. The usual colour is 

 dark brown above, and whitish on the belly. The hue of the upper parts, 

 however, seem to depend a great deal upon the locality ; thus we may expect 

 to find very dark-coloured toads in the garden earth, ruddy coloured ones in 

 gravel, and so on. I have met with very many varieties, browns of all 

 shades, one almost black, another nearly yellow, some of a decidedly greenish 

 cast, and others quite as decided a red. The absence of the sulphur-coloured 

 line down the back, as seen in the Natterjack is a sufficient distinction between 

 the two British toads. 



StandlaJce, Witney t Oxon. 



[Toads have often been observed to frequent sugared trees. This year I 

 have noticed one regularly at a tuft of Bladder Campion (Silene inflata)* 

 taking the insects that came to the flowers. — J.E.E.] 



