[Illustration]
This toad is found all over America; it inhabits swamps and marshy
regions. It is as big as two fists, though its size varies a good deal.
It is readily known by its enormous rhomboïdal parotids, whence it sends
forth a large quantity of poison. Its head is flat, triangular, more
large than long; it shows a strong osseous edge, commencing at the tip of
the muzzle, thence stretching towards the inner angle of the eye, round
this organ, and finally terminating behind the lids. The eye and the
tympanic wall are very large. The trunk, which is very large anteriorly,
in consequence of the large development of the parotides, is covered,
on each side of the dorsal spine, with two irregular rows of large
elliptical or conical bladders; sometimes there are such bladders on the
sides. The anterior extremities do not reach to the end of the trunk; the
posterior extremities reach beyond the muzzle by the length of the fourth
toe. The toes are rather flattened; the first toe is longer than the
second. Its colors are various, consisting of a number of brown spots,
which coalesce on the back, and are separated on the abdomen by yellowish
dots.
The horrible croaking of these animals is well known, and might rouse the
indignation of the most phlegmatic individual.
By exciting the animal, we caused it to spirt its saliva, which we
collected on a little sugar of milk, and at once prepared, by trituration.