isa-normaladvance-1909-00248

Description:	248THE NORMAL ADVANCEture that the smaller the chance of reachingmaturity the greater is the number of youngproduced. We see this same fact illustrated inthe case of fishes and insects.The tadpoles hatch out in a couple of weeks,or in a much shorter time if the water be warm.They first devour the gelatinous envelope andthen begin to feed upon the slime and algas ofthe pond. Although the mature toad has noteeth the tadpole is plentifully supplied, havingtwo rows of teeth above and three below. Thetadpoles develop rapidly, the legs appear andthe tail is absorbed, and about the middle ofJuly the metamorphosis is complete. Thelength of the young toad is about a half inch the color is grayish with small dark-coloredspots. The little toads are very sensitive toheat and secrete themselves under stones, leavesand rubbish during the day but let a showercome up and they appear in great numbers.Their sudden appearance after a shower hasgiven rise to the widely credited belief thatthey rain down. Their inability to endure heatindirectly protects them, for at this stage theyare a favorite food of many birds. The toad isnot fully mature and does not begin to reproduce until the fourth year.With the first frosts of the fall the toads suddenly disappear. They hide away beneathrocks, leaves, or in other places where they willbe in some degree protected from the cold, andlie dormant until the warm days of the springcall them out again. Figuier asserts that theymay freeze without being killed. Althoughliving alone through the summer after the mating season, a dozen or more are sometimesfound hibernating together. They may livewithout food for more than a year. M. Herris-ant in 1777 embedded three toads in plaster andplaced them in the archives of the FrenchAcademy of Sciences. After eighteen monthstwo were still alive. Buchland buried toads incavities in sandstone and limestone. Those inthe sandstone lived about thirteen months, andthose in the limestone nearly two years. Manystories are told of living toads being found embedded in.trees, rocks, and various other places,where they must have remained many years—■perhaps centuries but conclusive evidence ofsuch stories has never been produced.The toad has a well developed sense of locality, and uses the same place of concealment yearafter year. From this we know that they mayattain to a considerable age. Kirkland statesthat toads have been known to occupy the sameplaces, one for twelve and another for twenty-three years. A toad, mature when captured,was kept for twelve years. There is an accountof one retreat being occupied by a toad forthirty-six years but there is not positive proofthat it was the same toad.The toad may be considered as a nocturnalanimal, although it is frequently seen in thedaylight. Usually, however, they hide awayduring the day and come out about dusk to seektheir food. This consists of worms, snails, caterpillars, insects, etc. Dead or motionless foodhas no attraction for it only living and movingthings are devoured. The toads tongue is attached in front and free behind, and is coatedwith a sticky secretion so that it adheres firmlyto the food it seizes. In capturing an insectthe tongue is thrown out and quickly drawnback, carrying the insect into the mouth. Infeeding on worms the hands, or fore feet, aremade use of. When food is not over abundant,the toad will feed all night when the supply isplentiful it spends the time alternately feedingand resting. In one night it consumes foodequal to four times the capacity of its stomach.As previously stated, the toad is of great service to man by reason of the noxious insectsand insect larvae it destroys. Should it feedupon beneficial insects it would be to that extent an injurious animal. By careful observation it has been found that 88 per cent of thetoads food consists of injurious insects, insectlarvae, crustaceans, snails and other pests, whileless than 10 per cent is made up of beneficial insects. In addition to these it eats a few spiders,a few earthworms, and a little vegetable matterand gravel probably taken by accident with itsanimal food. These data have been arrived atby carefully examining the contents of the
Source:	http://indstate.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/ref/collection/isuarchive/id/34278
Collection:	Indiana State University Archives

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