The question
possesses for every one a certain degree of interest, evoked by the
curious and strange features presented on the face of the tales. And
it may therefore not only prove an interesting but also a useful
study, if we endeavor to arrive at some just and logical conceptions
of these wonderful narrations.
[Illustration]
Instances of the discovery of toads and frogs in solid rocks need not
be specially given; suffice it to say, that these narratives are
repeated year by year with little variation. A large block of stone or
face of rock is detached from its site, and a toad or frog is seen
hereafter to be hopping about in its usual lively manner. The
conclusion to which the bystanders invariably come is that the animal
must have been contained within the rock, and that it was liberated by
the dislodgement of the mass. Now, in many instances, cases of the
appearance of toads during quarrying operations have been found, on
close examination, to present no evidence whatever that the appearance
of the animals was due to the dislodgement of the stones. A frog or
toad may be found hopping about among some recently formed debris, and
the animal is at once seized upon and reported as having emerged from
the rocks into the light of day.
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