Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 July 1893 — Honied Toad and Triceratops. [ARTICLE]

Honied Toad and Triceratops.

There has been considerable discussion in the scientific papers of late about the curious habit of the “horned toads,” found in Arizona and Mexico, of spurting blood from their eyes when disturbed. Many witnesses agree in the assertion that the little animals really possess this power. According io one observer, the blood, or the liquid resembling blood, comes from little orifices just above and behind the eyes, and it appears to have a stupefying effect upon an animal covered with it. The horned toad is a strange-looking creature, and in certain ways its appearance recalls one of the most remarkable monsters that in the past geological ages lived in the western part of America—the triceratops of Professor Marsh. This gigantic animal, whose name means “three-horned face,” had its skull inclosed in a bony helmet on the upper part of which, over the were three stout horns. The head of one of these monsters is no less than eight feet long. When a horned toad is laid upon the head of the triceratops the resemblance is quite striking, as if this little modern inhabitant of some of the sandy plains M the West were a miniature reproduction, with variations, of the wonderful beast that, roamed there in ancient times.