Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-09-02

SO well that the.v buy them by tne
dozen and turn them into their nor
| beds, thus preserving their plants iro ~
insects. Not only in our gardens ar ~,
toads extremely useful, but IN g.,
houses they are valuable aihes, III.
they do no harm to us, but very Mui :.
| to our sworn enemies, such as coon
| reaches, moths, crickets, flies, mus.
auitoes and ants. They need out " :.
see an insect stir. and out flashes ..a
| wonderful tongue. And. Pfes.1.
where is it? Why, down IN the he. .s
throat, landed at the exact spot WDele
the muscles can seize it and pass IL =.
once to the stomach. And so raPiug
is this done that when large lnse1s'
like cricket, grasshopper or Deetle,
is swallowed, the sides OF the toad may
be seen actually switching, from Inc
struggles of it's still lively victim.
Entomologists press our triend lno
toad into their service in mannoI
that is as novel as is is comicai. ihey
catch him at Gaybreak from the heIo
or garden, kill him, and turn his stom-
ach wrong side out in pan OF wafer
Of course all the recently-caught III
sects float to the surface, at the emu
mologists' service. This looks IKE 2
rather cruel method of studying
entomology, does it notp But the truth
is, that the humble little toad is more
expert catcher and discoverer than ms
human superior. and out OF has Fiheu
store-house come treasures In .no
shape of rare and tiny nocfurn3t IN,
sects that but for his industry Woaio
never have been known or ciasslflea ny
our SaVantS.
1t is not alone winged insects tha'
the toad feasts upon. There Is noth.
ing he likes better, for change Oh
diet, than q nice, fat worm, anu -
the children say, lit is as good as
play to see him eating a, worm--one
that wriggles and twists and squ'rms
as if it Knew it had fallen into the
hands of relentless enemy. And IL
is literally the hands of its captor that
are fatal to it, for it would be simply
impossible for the toad to swallow his
wrlggling victim, did he not use his
fore paws exactly as we use our hands.
AS it is, he is subiimely Indifferent TO-
his squirming. He sits calmly down
with it in his mouth, lifts one paw,
and gives it push further into his
mouth, and then he swallows, ana
down it goes, just little way. Then
up comes the other paw for another
push, and at last, by alternate pushes
and swallows, the poor worm van
ishes, and our toad sits quietly at.ease,
with all the satisfaction of full Stom-
ach twinkling in his eyes.
II any one supposes that our friend
the toad is obliged to wear but one SUIT
of clothes all his life, that person is mis-
taken, He orders complete new Quilt
every now and then, of a most expert
work-wOman, one Dame Nature; and
as for his old suit, newell, we will
see how he takes it off first, before dis
posing of it, which he does in a most
unique manner. Dame Nature, work.
ing silently and secretly, as is her way,
makes him a new suit beneath the old
one,. and then kindly helps him to re-
move the outgrown garments, SO to
speak. This done, our toad commences
to undress by rubbing his elbows hard
against his sides, and pressing down.
ward. Directly, the old suit bursts
open along his back, and he keeps on
rubbing until he has worked it all in
folds on his sides and hips; then he
seizes one of his hind legs with his
''hands," and hauls off one leg of his
trousers; and next the other leg is
served. in the same way. Before he
takes off the rest of his suit, he disposes.
of his cast-off trousers by rolling them.
up neatly and showing them down his
throat. Then, by raising and lowering
his head, and swallowing little by little,
he hauls off his coat until he comes to
the sleeves. Grasping one of these with.
the; opposite hand, he drags it off,
wrong side out, and swallows it also,,
rubbing his neck at the same time, so.
that. his, collar, cravat, and, in fact,
every vestige of his old suit, disappears
altogether. Who shall say that the
toad is not marvel of political econ
omy? Who of us, however poor, eats,
up his old clothesP
Our little friend is great stay-at-
home. Indeed, he is SO noted in this,
that wonderful stories have
been told about him regarding it, such.
as his going into a hole in a tree and
staying there SO long that the tree hadt
time to spread its bark over the en-.
trance, and seal up the toad in its tiny
house. There are other STORIES, too.
of a young toad having crept through.
a little crevice into a hollow rock, to
hibernate through the winter, and be-
ing unable to leave it in the spring, be-.
CduSc VI bAo Idplu luCTcdSc III us SlZe..
And yet, in both these cases the toads:
were found alive and hearty, even after.
years must have elapsed since their i'm
prisonment.
Now, these stories are true thus far;
but when you go on to state that these,
toads were Theoretically sealed up.
and lived without food or air, they go
further than the truth warrants. In
every case on record, it has, been
proven that some slight aperture exist
ed, whence both air and insects4could
and did pass in to the prisoner. Golden
Da4s.