The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-12-04
A TOAD THAT PHOTOGRAPHS.
An Eastern Man Said to Have Seen
Him Out in the Sierra Madres.


Him Out in the Sierra Madres.
New York Sun
Il believe there are more curious things
70 be seen among the Sierra Madre noun
Jams IN California than anywhere else in
t !!,I country, said native of Pasadena.
Inc oldest toads, most curious lizards
queerest snakes and most inexcusable
spiders live, move and have their being
among the rocks and canyons. and groves
OF the Sierra Madres to saw nothing of the
strange wild beasts that roam that varied
region. / have seen most of the curious rep
Tie life of the Sierra Madres, but have
searched long and fruitleSsiy for a toad
such as an Eastern friend OF mine an anna
teur naturalist, discovered one day which
was the most interesting reptile product,
according to his description of it. vet dis
covered in that region
The place where he discovered the toad,
ne saiu' was on the dry bed of mountain
stream which was filled with huge powders.
as ne and his companion were jumping
from rock to rock he scared his companion
s,,n i Ii,t9 p a NJ by SEEING him by the
arm. @ Ian ana whispering eXcitedly in his ear:
His companion, thinking he was about
10 tread on a rattlesnake or be bounced
upon by mountain lion, felt himself turn
Pdle; but his terror was changed 10 dis
gust when he saw the naturalist take out
ms pocket microscope and, stopping down
apply ii with great caution to what looked
IKE little bump on the boWder they were
standing on. My friends companion was
ABOUT 10 give him a piece of his mind
when the latter assured him that the sun
posed bump on the boulder was not only a
todo, bur such remarkable example of
protective resemblance in nature that he
DelleVed it to be a new species.
"A close examination of the diminutive
cause OF al this excitement showed that, if
IL could take on the resemblance of other
OBJECTS 1t might be located on as perfectly
as IL mad that Of the rock it was then cling
ing TO- It's power of protecting itself against
discovery by foes was indeed wonderful
The rock was of notified gray, the spots be-
ing prominent in hue, and they were re-
produced on the toad with minute exact
ness all over its back and down to the ends
of its toes.
tecuVe resemblance my friend touched Ii. 1t
leaped three feet and alighted on rock
tnat was of a deep red color with Streaks
or white running sinuously through it.
which, being of material harder than the
body OF the rock, had not been worn away
surface. In less than minute the dark
gray spots on the frog began to fade like
the diSSolVing view of a magic lantern, and
before they were gone the red of the other
rock and its tOrtuouS white StreakS be-
gan to show through them. In three min
the rock it was that the white streaks
were not only reproduced, but had the APP
pearance of being raised above the red. Aft
er contemplating this wonderful change in
the toad it was driven off the rock and 1t
landed on one purely white In a short time
as snow. Several other tests as extraordi-
nary as these were made, all with the same
astounding result.
MY friend then, with some difficulty, cap
tured the toad and plaC ed it on a photograph
he happened to have in his pocket. In five
minutes the frogs back bore copy of the
photograph upon it as clear cut as II 1t had
been printed there from the negative"