6g 
NATURAL HISTORY 
It is strange that tlie matter with regard to the venom of 
toads has not been yet settled/ That they are not noxious 
to some animals is plain ; for ducks^ buzzards^ owls, stone 
curlews, and snakes eat them, to my knowlege, with impu- 
nity. And I well remember the time, but was not eye- 
witness to the fact (though numbers of persons were) , when 
a quack, at this village, ate a toad to make the country 
people stare ; afterwards he drank oil. 
I have been informed also, from undoubted authority, that 
some ladies (ladies you will say of peculiar taste) took a 
fancy to a toad, which they nourished, summer after summer, 
for many years, till he grew to a monstrous size, with the 
maggots which turn to flesh flies. The reptile used to come 
forth every evening from a hole under the garden steps ; 
and was taken up, after supper, on the table to be fed. 
But at last a tame raven, kenning him as he put forth his 
head, gave him such a severe stroke with his horny beak as 
put out one eye. After this accident the creature languished 
for some time and died. 
^ This question has since been set «,t rest. The old prejudice that 
they possess the power of communicating poison by their bite is wholly 
unfounded ; and the fluid which they eject from the cloaca when 
frightened or handled is, in their case as in frogs, pure limpid water. 
The skin, however, has been ascertained by Dr. Davy to secrete an acid 
liquid, not perhaps poisonous, but capable of producing an uncomfor- 
table sensation on the tongue ; a secretion of somewhat similar qualities 
is poured out on the surface of the common land salamander of Europe. 
Mr. Bell has remarked that " the aqueous fluid above mentioned, 
which is thrown out in considerable quantities by a frog or toad on being 
taken in the hand, is held in a double bladder which opens into the 
cloaca ; and this fact is connected with the absorbing power of the skin. 
The cutaneous surface of these animals is now known to serve the pur- 
poses of respiration ; but in order to perform this function, it is necessary 
that it should be kept constantly in a moist condition. When placed 
in water or in a sufficiently damp situation, the surface of the body 
absorbs a considerable quantity of water, which is conveyed to the re- 
ceptacle above mentioned, there to remain as in a reservoir for future 
use ; and if the animal be exposed to a dry atmosphere, the fluid is 
re-absorbed, and again secreted on the surface of the skin, in order to 
keep up its respiratory function. This is the true history of the poison- 
ous liquid of toads, as it is considered, which renders them the objects 
of dread and hatred to the ignorant of all parts of the country." — Ed. 
