Some curious myths are told of the toad. One says he can live for hundreds of years encased in clay or in stone. No more true of Bufo is this than of Rana, his cousin. Another asserts that his skin, when handled, is productive of warts, and that the fluid he emits, which serves but to moisten his body, for without moisture he could certainly not live, and to protect him from enemies, is poisonous in character. His power to produce warts, we cannot admit. But that the fluid he exudes, if not poisonous to touch, is offensive to animals, there can be no doubt. We are led to this conclusion from the following considerations: Dogs, young animals especially, are prone to attack the toad, but they never want to repeat their experience. The toad’s exudation so affects the salivary glands of the dog as to cause him to froth and foam like an animal with rabies. A case is recalled where a dog, that had taken a toad in his mouth, became almost frantic. This dog never afterwards was well. His whole system apparently had become diseased, and, in less than a year, he had wasted to a complete skeleton, when death relieved him of his sufferings. Another allegation, that the toad has a jewel in his head, has been believed from very ancient times. The story doubtlessly originated from the beauty of the toad’s eyes, the irides being a rich flame-color, which, in the dusk of the even, shine like burnished gems. When hatched the young of the toad are of a jet black color, and are very active. Their changes are made very early and in the same manner as those of the frog. They are quite small when arrived at the perfect toad state. Their legs produced and their tails absorbed, they quit the water and set out on long journeys. Unlike the frog, which is a home-stayer, the toad is a born vagrant. They travel chiefly by night, hiding under stones and herbage during the day. If clouds cover the sky, they take heart and joyously hop forth upon their pilgrimage. During a long drouth they mysteriously disappear, but if a rain comes on they suddenly come out by hundreds, and this has given rise to the tale of a “shower of toads.” Worms, as well as flies, etc., constitute a toad’s bill of fare. After a rain toads and worms, it would seem, are mutually inspired to take their walks abroad, and many an unfortunate worm makes its way into the toad’s maw. Dead insects are at a discount with him, and he views with suspicion anything that shows not the active wriggling principle of life. When winter comes on the toad, like the frog, goes into winter-quarters. Since the young toad reaches its adult size in the autumn, it is forced to pass the first period of its grown-up life in a sleep, or coma, in some hole or burrow which it has found or fashioned in the earth. Sometimes toads creep into rock-crevices, or into hollows in logs and trees, and being found in these places in the early spring are hastily supposed to have been prisoners for many years.