though much lacerated; but instead of blood appeared this milky fluid,
which had an odour of a most singular kind, different from anything I
ever smelt. It is impossible to describe it. It was not fetid, but of
a sickly, disgusting, and overpowering character, so that I could not
endure to inhale it for a moment. I had read and seen a good deal of the
extraordinary powers of revivification in toads, but was not prepared
for what I witnessed on this occasion. I laid this poor animal, crushed,
flattened, motionless, and to all appearance dead, upon a cold iron
plate of the fireplace. He fell over on one side, and showed no sign of
life for a full hour. After that he had slightly moved one leg, and so
remained for about another half-hour. Then he began to breathe feebly,
and gathered up his legs, and his back began to rise up into its usual
form. In about two hours from the time of the accident, he had so far
recovered as to crawl about, though with difficulty. The milky liquor
was reabsorbed, and gradually disappeared as the toad recovered. The
next morning it was all gone, and no mark of injury could be seen,
except a small hole in his back, which soon closed. He recovered so far
as to move about pretty well, but his back appeared to have been broken,
and one fore-leg crippled. I therefore thought it best to give him his
liberty in the garden. But so wonderful and speedy a recovery I could
never have believed without ocular testimony.
"I then tried my third and last Running Toad. I began to keep him on
Sept. 13th. He was a very fine specimen, and larger than the two former.
He fed well, and amused me exceedingly. He was very tame, and would sit
on my hand quite quiet, and enjoy my stroking him gently down his head
and back. Soon after I got him he began to cast his skin. I helped him
to get rid of it by stripping it down each side, which he seemed to
like much, and sat very quiet during the operation. The new skin was
quite beautiful, and shone as if varnished. This Toad lived in a crystal
palace, or glass jar, where I had kept all the others before him. He
took food freely, and his appetite was so good that in one day he ate
seven large flies and three bees without stings. He was particularly
fond of woodlice and earwigs, but would take centipedes, moths, and
even butterflies. Being more active than common Toads, he often made
great efforts to get out of his glass jar. I used to let him run about
the room nearly every day for a short time, and often treated him to a
run in the garden. Toads make a slight noise sometimes in the evenings,
uttering a short sound like 'coo,' but I never heard them croak. Before
wet weather, and during its continuance, my Toad was disinclined for
food, and took no notice of flies even walking over his nose. He would
then burrow and hide himself in the moss at the bottom of his glass
palace. Thus I kept him, and found him very tame and amusing. But after
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