That the Toad, by common repute "ugly and venomous," should be made a
parlour pet, is passing strange; yet such is the case, and we find in a
letter from Dr. Husenbeth, of Cossey, the following curious instances.
Thus he describes a species, there often met with, the eyes of which
have the pupil surrounded with bright golden-yellow, whereas in the
common toad the circle is red or orange. This remarkable peculiarity
Dr. H. has not seen anywhere noticed. The head is like that of the
common sort, but much more blunt, and rounded off at the nose and mouth,
and the arches over the eyes are more prominent. The most remarkable
difference is a line of yellow running all down the back. Also down each
side this Toad has a row of red pimples, like small beads, which are
tolerably regular, but appear more in some specimens than in others.
The general colour is a yellowish-olive, but the animal is beautifully
marked with black spots, very regularly disposed, and exactly
corresponding on each side of the yellow line down the back. Like all
other Toads, this one occasionally changes its colour, becoming more
brown, or ash-colour, or reddish at times, probably in certain states
of the weather. This species is much more active than the common Toad.
It never leaps, and very seldom crawls, but makes a short run, stops a
little, and then runs on again. If frightened or pursued, it will run
along much quicker than one would suppose.
During the previous summer Dr. H. kept three Toads of this kind in
succession. "The first (says Dr. H.) I procured in July; but after a
few days, when I let him have a run on the carpet of my parlour, he
got into a hole in a corner of the floor, of which I was not aware,
and fell, as I suppose, underneath the floor, into the hollow space
below. I concluded that he could never get up again, and gave him up to
his fate. I then began to keep another Running Toad, which fed well at
first, but after three weeks refused food, and evidently wasted; so I
turned him out into the garden, and have not met with him since. After
more than three weeks, the former Toad reappeared, but how he came up
from beneath the floor I never could conceive, or how he had picked
up a living in the meantime. He was, however, in good condition, and
seemed to have lived well, probably on spiders and woodlice. He had been
seen by a servant running about the carpet, but I knew nothing of his
having come forth again, till in the evening, when he had got near the
door, and it was suddenly opened so as to pass over the poor creature,
and crush it terribly. I took it up apparently dead. It showed no sign
of life; the eyes were closed, it did not breathe, and the backbone
seemed quite broken, and the animal was crushed almost flat. I found a
very curious milky secretion exuding from it, where it had been most
injured and the skin was most broken. This was perfectly white, and had
exactly the appearance of milk thrown over the toad. It did not bleed,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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