TOAD. 
SPECIFIC CHARACTER. 
Rana Bufo. . R. corpore lurido fuscoque. Linn. Syst. Nat. 
Gmel. 1 . p. 1047. 
With a body of a lurid dusky colour. 
Rana palmis pentadactylis fissis, plantis hexa- 
dactylis palmatis 5 pollice breviore. Fn. Suec. 1 . 
no. 253. 
Bufo terrestris, dorso tuberculis exasperato, oculis 
rubris. Roesel. Hist. Ran. p. 85. pi. 20 . 
Common Toad. Penn. Brit. Zool. 3. p. 14. Shaw Gen. Zool. 3. 
p. 138. pi. 40. 
The toad, of all reptiles, is the most detested ; its 
very name excites disgust, and the mere remem- 
brance of its hideous deformity will produce, on 
weak and delicate nerves, that coldness and shiver- 
ing which almost infallibly accompanies its touch. 
We are taught to consider it with sensations of 
loathing, and to regard it with horror. Few of us 
can so far conquer our prejudices as to contemplate 
the only beauty in the animal, its brilliant eyes, 
which are remarkably fine, and, if placed in a less 
hideous situation, would be noticed by every body. 
The toad has long been persecuted for possessing a 
