140 QUEENSLAND AGRICULTURAL JOURNAL. {1 Fes., 1899. 
Concerning the toad, I find an excellent account of its life history and 
habits in Bulletin No. 46 of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachu- 
setts Agricultural College (U.S.A.), by Mr. A. H. Kirkland, M.S., Assistant 
Entomologist to the Gypsy Moth Committee. This gentleman, whilst disclaim- 
ing any completeness of results of his study of the habits of the animal, has 
rendered a great service by demonstrating the great value of the toad as an insect 
destroyer. As to its poisonous properties, although he shows that the milky 
fluid secreted by the skin glands possesses acrid properties, as proved by the 
discomfort experienced by dogs and cats when they have bitten a toad, I know 
by experience that neither this secretion from the glands of the skin nor the 
posterior colourless discharge have any effect upon the human skin. TI have 
often handled toads, bringing them into the bushhouse; and only a few days ago, 
whilst carrying one into the kitchen to co-operate in the destruction of cock- 
roaches, my hand was covered with these fluids, but I experienced no sensation 
other than cold water would have produced. ‘The toad neither bites, stings, 
nor ejects venom—ergo, it is as harmless as a house fly. 
Now let us see what Mr. Kirkland has to say on the habits of the toad. 
As a rule, it is nocturnal, although it will sometimes venture out during the 
day when tempted by an abundance of food in its immediate vicinity, or, more 
commonly, when the air is full of moisture The toad does not take dead or 
motionless food. Only living and moving insects, centipedes, &e., are 
devoured. Cut worms or other larve, disturbed by the hopping of the 
batrachian, are safe so long as they remain curled up, but immediately they 
commence to travel they are captured. ‘The toad’s tongue, its only organ for 
seizing food, is soft extensile, attached in front, but free behind, and is covered 
with a glutinous substance which adheres firmly to the food seized. So rapid is 
ne motion of this weapon, that a careful watch is necessary to see the animal 
feed. 
That this is correct, the writer has had ample proof. Several insects, 
allowed to run loose near a toad, disappeared like magic, and it was almost 
impossible to observe how and at what moment they were seized. They were 
often taken before reaching the ground by this wily captor. 
Mr. Kirkland attracted bees, wasps, ants, flies, and beetles to a piece of 
bread soaked in molasses. This was placed in a cage occupied by a toad, and 
“it was most interesting to watch the toad seize the flying insects, often 
before they had alighted on the bread.” 
It appeared that stinging insects such as bees, wasps, &e., caused some 
uncomfortable sensations in the toad after they were swallowed. Worms, too 
large to be swallowed at once, are forced into the captor’s gullet by the use 
-of the fore-limbs. 
The toad isa gross feeder, and disposes of enormous quantities of food. 
In twenty-four hours the amount consumed by it equals four times the 
stomach capacity—that is to say, that in the tiine mentioned the stomach is 
filled and emptied four times. In his very careful investigations, Mr. Kirkland 
adopted two methods of establishing the economic status of the animal under 
observation :—First, observation of the feeding habits; second, stomach 
examination. Vield examinations were important, but stomach examinations, 
as Professor Beal says, constitute “the final court of appeal.’”’ In the investi- 
gations on the food of the toad, stomachs were obtained from different parts of 
the State, and more particularly from different kinds of localities—i.e., fields, 
gardens, marshes, plains, hills, woodlands, &e.—during every month of the 
toad’s activity. In this manner 149 stomachs were collected and examined—a 
sufficient number to afford data for some general conclusions. In nearly every 
case the stomachs were examined while fresh, and a small number were 
preserved in formalin for a few weeks before examination. 
In making the examinations the stomachs were split along the outer 
curvature, and the contents washed intoa glass dish. The material thus 
obtained was separated into groups, and the insects or parts of insects and 
animals were identified by comparison with named specimens. The relation 
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