46 
ANIMAL CURIOSITIES 
the hoop-snake being said to hold its tail in 
its mouth and then roll along the ground like 
a hoop being trundled, while the garter-snake 
has been reported to be used by ladies for the 
purpose of holding up their hose. Another 
story still regarded as a probability by some 
people is that snakes enter houses by burrow¬ 
ing beneath the foundations and coming up 
inside the premises. 
The old story of toads being discovered 
alive after having been entombed for ages in 
the midst of a mass of coal, rock, or stone, 
without any communication with the air, 
crops up from time to time, and evidently 
still receives a certain amount of credence. 
Needless to say, no animal can survive without 
a supply of air, and although many reptiles 
can forego food for lengthy periods without 
suffering any ill effects, yet if this abstention 
is too prolonged, death ultimately ensues. 
It is true that toads are sometimes found alive 
and imprisoned within the cavities of rocks 
or some such situation, but when these 
instances have been investigated by com¬ 
petent authorities, it has always been found 
that a means of communication was present 
which admitted air, and even food in the 
form of insect life, although the fissure 
itself was not sufficiently large to allow 
