isa-normaladvance-1909-00246

Description:	246THE NORMAL ADVANCESay, Yaller, the fellow at the Mission theother night, said that everybody was everybodyelses brother. Now, since youre my brotherIll divide my money with you and well takeour vacation—and as the graphophone acrossthe street struck up the lively, Barney Carney, he jerked the Yaller-Kid messenger boyby the arm and said, Come, brother, lets go tothe Nickeldom, for a treat.SCIENCE DEPARTMENTThe Common ToadHARRY O. LANNING, 09Every farmer knows the damage to growingcrops due to insects. By the patient work of ourExperiment Station experts many efficientmeans have been devised for combating thesepests, and those remedies are now generallyknown and successfully applied. But naturehas provided the best checks on the increase ofinsects. These are, unfortunately, often butlittle understood or appreciated. It is onlywithin the last few years that the farmers havebegun to recognize the value of birds as insectdestroyers. The awakening to this fact hasled to the enacting of laws for their protection.Almost, if not fully, equal to the birds as a destroyer of noxious insects is the common toad yet to a large majority of those directly benefited, its worth is unknown, while to others it isan object of disgust or even of fear.The toad has always been grossly misrepresented. The early writings of natural historyare a curious mixture of facts and popular superstitions, and in these we find chronicledmany ludicrous fancies concerning the toad. Toit were ascribed great medicinal virtues anddeadly venomous qualities. The myth of thetoad-stone or jewel to be found in its head wasbelieved by the naturalists as well as by themass of the people.Even in our own day all these traditions arestill current, and with them others equally ridiculous. Many believe it brings good fortune tothe house in whose new-made cellar a toad takesup its abode that the toad has power to poisonbabies by its breath and that if you kill a toadyour cows will give bloody milk. How few ofus do not remember how we feared to handle atoad lest we should have warts on our hands!And when out of pure bravado, we did touchone because a playmate dared us, how astonished we were when the warts did not appear!Foolish as these superstitions are, they are,however, known by most and believed by many,while its good works pass unnoticed.The toad belongs to the class of animalsknown as Batrachians or Amphibians, so calledfrom the fact that although not necessarilyaquatic throughout life, most species spendtheir period of metamorphosis in the water andin adult life return to the water during matingseason. The Batrachians constitute a class intermediate in form and structure between thefishes and the reptiles, and include the newts,salamanders, toads and frogs.In all recent forms except the order, Apoda,the skin is devoid of scales, and.is more or lesssmooth and moist. The limbs are typically five-toed. The skull is usually of fewer bones thanin the fishes, and articulates with the first vertebra by two occipital condiles. Lungs arepresent except where secondarily lost. Theheart has three chambers, a ventricle and twoauricles. Most species have metamorphosis,the young living in water and breathing bymeans of gills. The gills disappear when thelungs become functional, except in the lowerforms, in which they are retained throughoutlife.Batrachians are aquatic or semi-aquatic, mostterrestrial species usually living in damp places.Very few can endure prolonged drought. Those
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34276
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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