Tolland County press., 1883-02-08
ARE TOADS POISONOUS.

In answer to this query, propounded by MT. Herbert Brown in a recent num- Der of Knowledge, decided affirmative may be returned. The toad is venomous, though not in the way that is implied by the general acceptance of that term, as is commonly believed. Nothing can be more harmless than the bite of the com- mon toad-if it can be said to bite, for it has no teeth. But the glands contained in the papillse and rugosities of the skin covering the back, and especially those which can be plainly seen in the form of two bean-like eminences just behind the head, secrete milky, highly acrid fluid, which is exuded profusely on irritation. Indeed, If it were not for this poisonous secretion, the poor toad would fall an easy victim to many enemies, having neither the agility of the frog or lizard to enable it to make its escape, nor the teeth and claws of other reptiles wherewith to de- fend itself. Cats, which are eager hunters of frogs for food, spit and foam at the mouth when they pick up the wrong ba- trachian by mistake, and are often affect ed in similar manner to Mir. Browns St. Bernard frog eating snakes too detect rule. When snake, greatly pressed by
 
 it again immediately afterward, and not unfrequently dies. Those frogs which prey upon their own kind Gas most frogs do) dsspiso their ugly relative from an al- imentary point of view ; and, curiously enough, certain toads which devour frogs share the same antipathy to their race. Except with very small animals, the poi son appears to act rather as local irri- tant than @ tox~mic agent; it has no ef- feet upon the sound skin, but will cause any abraded surface to inhame to sxten- sive alteration, while great pain results from it's application to the conjunctiva or internal mucous membranes. Any one who can overcome his repugnance to the creature sufficiently to put his lips or tongue against the skin of an angry toad will experience an intensely acrid taste i; he should shut hls eyes ill making such an experiment, as the post-occipital glands sometimes emit their secretion in jet Mir. Frank Buckland quotes case which occurred in Oxfordshire, where drunken brute bit toad's head off. Happily, his teeth went right through these glands, and his mouth and throat Immediately be- Came swollen and inhamed to such an ex- tent that his life was in jeopardy for some hours. These characteristics are much more strongly marked in many of the l tropical Bufonia@. My giant toads (bufo ag1a) used to swelter venom when they were taken in the hands in such abun- dance that it would pour off their backs I and drip from them, before they became tame and was thus enabled to collect Q large amount. This species feeds on rats, and it is possible that this copious exuda- ton may serve to prevent their prey from biting them when seized by the leg, O, otherwise awkwardly caught. once put a ''cribo" snake (Dronsicus .tatgitivus) in to box with three of these toads for $ single night, for lack of other accommeda. ten it was fine, active specimen, five or six fret long, and it's movements daring the night SO disturbed them that in tho morning found the floor of the box al awash with fluid. The snake was lying on it's back, apparently dead and, thougl it recovered somewhat on being plunged iuto bath, it survived only few days
 Arthur Stradti,ag, aa Knouledge.