The daily morning journal and courier., 1894-11-21
A TOAD AND ITS DWELLING
THE BIG BLAST CAME AND THE
 TOAD WAS SEEN.

THE BIG BLAST CAME AND THE
 TOAD WAS sEEH.
 ItLsy in e Cavity in the Rock That was Close Fit-Torpid and LethargIe It Finally Struggled On-A New York Tribune The ory ViEorousiy Questioned by . New Ha- ven Gentleman.
 :. One of our most prominent citizens writes to the Courier" as follows:
 In the New York Daily Tribune of October 9 find m editorial entitled, "The Mummy Wheat DelusIon," claim ing 1t Is impossible for animals or seeds sealed in rock for any great time to re- tain their vitality. The article is as follows
 THE "MuMMY WHEAT" DELUsIoN.
 Among recent "silly season" topics in the London press was that of mum my wheat" and It's alleged germina- tion. The discussion was, unlike most such, of real interest. for 1t revealed the fact that many people. including some with pretensions to scientific knowledge. actually do believe that grains of wheat taken from mummy cases and thousands of years old have sprouted, grown to stalk. and borne seed. Why not, they demand. when frogs and toads have been found alive after being imbedded in solid rock for thousands of years? And that such animals have thus been found, they have unquestioning confidence.
 Doubtless the one Is as true and as reasonable as the other. But neither has the least foundation in fact If a toad be found imbedded in coal, it must have lived in the carboniferous age, which was probably millions, rather than thousands, of years ago. But all animals of that age have long been extinct, while the toads alleged to have been found are identical in species with those of to-day. So 1t has come to pass that the alleged "mumms grain" which has actually sprouIed and grown has been either oats or Indian corn, neither of which is indigenous to Egypt or was known there in the days of the Pharoahs. In the second place, 1t Is biological impossibility for animals thus to survive, and 1t Is also botanical impossibility for wheat thus to grow, for the germ Is known, by actual observation, to perish in about seven years. And finally, to clinch the matter numerous experi- ments, conducted with all possible care, have proven that toads thus sealed up immediately and invariably perish, and numerous test plantings have been made of grains of wheat, peas, beans, lentils, almonds, peach-pits, olives, dates, poppy seeds, etc., found in num- mics and ancient tombs, of which not one has ever germinated.
 Doubtless, however, people will still go on believing these quaint Actions, until the latter enjoy more prolonged vitality than that ascribed to the toads and wheat-grains. Why not? We have here, in this practical, sceptical country, the perennial legend of live snake in a mans stomach, to the ab- solute verity of which thousands are ready to subscribe. It Is great thing to have a vivid and prolific imagina- tion. or to be posssesssed of unlimited credulity.
 Feeling 1t is not "the thing" for "plain folke" to deny the claims of the learned will simply state fact that came under my own observation, and was observed also by others. When l was & boy of ten or twelve years my father removed ledge of East Haven sandstone (so called) that cropped out in front of our old homestead on the east ern shore off New Haven harbor. An experienced quarryman of those days, William Barnes by name, was employed, who, after having blown off three or four feet of the surface rock drilled down some three feet and put in his last blast. >*
 The rock was shivered and cracked in every direction and in prying out the large pieces he came upon a large sized toad lying in a hole of it's own size, "a tight fit," surrounded by what appeared to be, and no doubt was, solid rock.
 The toad was formed like his brothers, who were hopping Gin those ante-mow- ing machine days) about the meadows, but was mudh lighter in color, having a bleached look and seemed very lethar- gic and unable to hop. His joints seem- ed to sadly need hmbering up. When poked out of his hole he crawled along in weak, disabled manner having a very discouraged look, altogether.
 Now, then, the boy with his senses all alive to the strange in nature, and the men of experience, who for forty or fifty years had made their living by the use of their senses, saw, knew and be- lieved that this toad was exhumed from g. solid sandstone rock; and that it 'lived, and moved and had a being," the Tribune's Biological impossibility' to the contrary notwithstanding.
 Again, if 1t Is "botanical impossibi- lity" for seed to sprout and grow after having been sealed and encased for many years, how is 1t that vegetable life will appear upon the sides of tun- nels many hundred feet from the ~sur- face within a few hours after uncov- ering? Does it come from seed that has been buried for ages, or does it sprout spontaneously upon it's exposure to air?
 "Who knows? Let the knowing ones tell of these things"
 f. ,E
 IN THE PLAINTIFFS FAVOR.
 Miss woods Wins Her Suit Against the