The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-11

these. which can moi have had an
atom of truth in them. did Il -,o;,
deal to preserve the ?!r"'uv We!-
established prejudice agin~t the ':cn-
omous toad.''
In other directions the unfortun-
ate reptile has suffered much Il! the
hands of man. The cIlu:nrl:on las
been ignorantly credited with being
able to subsist on air, but The tad
from time immemorial ha> been r"1-
sidered capable Of dispensing rEea
with that commodity. lin" .'rt-:old
stories Of toads being discovered alive
in solid blocks of stone or coal led
one Herissant, Frenchman, IN the
wear 1777, to make experiments to
discover how much the 'o;>2lun or
garden toad would endure without
diving. He shut up three toad: III
sealed boxes in plaster, and they
were deposited in the Academy Of
Science. At the end Of eighteen
months the boxes were opened, one OF
the toads being dead and the othsE
two living. Nobody could doubt the
authenticity of the facts, SAYS the
historian, but the experiments were
severely criticised, as we'll as the OBJ
servations which they seemed to coA-
firm. It was contended that some air
must have reached the prisoners
through an imperceptible hole, AID
some probability was gwen to tbs
contention by the researches OF DIR.
Edwards, published in 1917. The doc
tor observed that toads shut up IN
boxes covered with plaster and ap-
parently deprived Of air lived much
LONGER than those treated i'll same way
and placed under water. Herlssant>S
critics we're therefore jul;l1leh IN sup
posing that he had failel 10 make his
boxes alright, but no one seems I"
have denied the fact that two OF the
miserable captives were able to live
for year and a half without fo7''
| DR.. Buckland, father Of the famous
Frank, made some much more e1-
haustive experiments upon toads.
Two blocks Of stone were taken, one
Of porous oolite limestone and one OF
compact sillicious sandstone. Twen-
tv-four cells were cut in the stone
and in November, 1925, live toad,
whose weight had been previously as
certained, was placed in each cell. A
glass plate was sealed over each cav
itv and a slate above that, the two
blocks Of stone being buried 3 feet
deep in DR.. Buckland's garden. Elev-
en- months later the stones were dug
up and examined. All the toads IN
the sandstone we're dead, but the
greater number Of those in the lime
stone were alive. All except two,
however, were much emaciated, the
exceptions having actually Increased
in weight, but it was supposed that
these might have been nourished by
some insects which had craWled
through a crack in the glass. The llV-
ing toads we're put back again and
J carefully resealed, but all were dead
before the end Of the second year.
Four others, inclosed in the trunk OF
an apple tree and hermetically sealed
were found deadsat the end of year
In spite Of such apparently conclu-
sive evidence as this we find the Rev
Geo. Young in his theological Sur
vev of the Yorkshire Coast" publish:
ed in 1929, bringing forward several
instances of living toads having been
found within solid blocks Of sand
stone. "We are the more particular
in recording these facts' he obser'
YES. "because some modern phlloso-
pliers have attempted to explode such
accounts as wholly fabulous. - Jesse,
the naturalist, also declared that he
knew man who put toad in Flow
er pot, sealed it up so that no insect
could get in, and buried the pot in
the garden at a great depth. At the
end Of twenty years the flower pot
was dug up, and its occupant was not
only in perfect health, but had grown
almost too big for his residence
There is no doubt that toad can go
longer without food or air than many,
perhaps any-creatures, but that IS
no reason why he should be the victim
of so much gratuitous cruelty. But he
always has been much misunder-
| stood creat11re and one SuppOSeS that