Some authors say that they are viviparous:
and yet Ray classes them among his oviparous animals; and is
silent with regard to the manner of their bringing forth. Perhaps
they may be ' eso men ootokoi, exo de dzootokoi,(in Greek), as is
known to be the case with the viper.
The copulation of frogs (or at least the appearance of it; for
Swammerdam proves that the male has no penis intrans) is
notorious to everybody: because we see them sticking upon each
other's backs for a month together in spring: and yet I never saw, or
read, of toads being observed in the same situation. It is strange
that the matter with regard to the venom of toads has not yet been
settled. That they are not noxious to some animals is plain: for
ducks, buzzards, owls, stone curlews, and snakes, eat them, to my
knowledge, with impunity. And I well remember the time, but was
not eye-witness to the fact (though numbers of persons were),
when a quack, at this village, ate a toad to make the country people
stare; afterwards he drank oil.
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