426 
cation of this test. The author then adverted to the accounts which 
have been given by various physiologists of the pancreatic fluid ob- 
tained from the different domestic animals which it is usual to 
experiment on when samples of this secretion are required, and con- 
cluded by showing in what respect the secretion of the human pan- 
creas agreed with, or differed from, that of these animals. 
2. On the Acrid Fluid of the Toad (. Bufo vulgaris). By John 
Davy, M.D., F.R.S. Lond. and Edin., &c. 
The author first adverts to the conflicting opinions respecting the 
nature of this fluid, and especially to one of the latest, that enter- 
tained by MM. Gratiolet and S. Cloez, that it is an active poison. 
He next describes some experiments he has made for the purpose 
of testing their conclusion, the results of which are in opposition to 
theirs, and confirmatory of certain ones of his own, showing that 
the fluid is a simple acrid irritant, and as such well adapted to pro- 
tect an animal otherwise defenceless, and, from its sluggish habits, 
peculiarly exposed to danger. 
Incidentally, he makes some remarks on the toad of Barbadoes, 
which, brought from Dominica only a few years ago, has so multi- 
plied as to abound in every part of the island. Its comparative 
rareness in Britain he attributes to two causes : one, the circumstance 
of the very young toad being, as he believes, destitute of the acrid 
fluid ; another, the intolerance of the toad of all ages of severe 
cold, and in consequence, its liability to perish if the winter tem- 
perature be unusually low. 
In a foot-note, he expresses the opinion, founded on one observa- 
tion, that the female toad during the breeding season is without the 
protecting acrid fluid, the male at that time having it in more than 
ordinary abundance, and, from position, whilst the ova are in tran- 
situ, probably defending his mate. 
3. On Gyrolite occurring with Calcite in Apophyllite in the 
Trap of the Bay of Fundy. By Henry How, Professor of 
Chemistry and Natural History, King’s College, Windsor, 
Nova Scotia. 
The mineral gyrolite was first described by Professor Anderson 
of Glasgow,* as a new species from the Isle of Skye ; it is stated by 
* Trans. Roy. Soc. Edin., and Phil. Mag. Feb. 1851. 
