Entombed animal
Encyclopedia
Entombed animals are animals reportedly found alive after being encased in solid rock (and sometimes coal or wood) for an indeterminate amount of time. The accounts usually involve frog
s or toad
s. The reputed phenomenon, sometimes called "toad in the hole", has been dismissed by mainstream science, but has remained a topic of interest to Fortean researchers.
, Ambroise Paré
, Robert Plot
, André Marie Constant Duméril
, John Wesley
, and others. Even Charles Dickens
mentioned the phenomenon in his journal All the Year Round
. According to the Fortean Times
, about 210 entombed animal cases have been described in Europe
, North America
, Africa
, Australia
, and New Zealand
since the fifteenth century.
At times, multiple animals are said to have been encased in the same place. In a letter to Julian Huxley
, for example, one Eric G. Mackley claimed to have freed 23 frogs from a single piece of concrete while widening a road in Devon
shire. An 1876 report from South Africa
said that 63 small toads were found in the middle of a 16 feet (5 m) tree trunk.
conducted an experiment to see how long a toad could remain alive while encased in stone. He placed toads of different sizes and ages into carved chambers within limestone and sandstone blocks, then buried the blocks in his garden. A year later, he dug up the blocks and found that most of the toads were dead and decayed. A few toads that had been in the limestone (which did contain small pores) were still living. However, Buckland found them all dead after reburying them in the limestone for another year. Buckland concluded that the entombed animal phenomenon was impossible, and most scientists agreed. A writer from the journal Nature
wrote in 1910, "The true interpretation of these alleged occurrences appears to be simply this – a frog or toad is hopping about while a stone is being broken, and the non-scientific observer immediately rushes to the conclusion that he has seen the creature dropping out of the stone itself. One thing is certainly remarkable, that although numbers of field geologists and collectors of specimens of rocks, fossils, and minerals are hammering away all over the world, not one of these investigators has ever come upon a specimen of a live frog or toad imbedded in stone or in coal."
However, some paranormalists have remained interested in the accounts. In his book Unexplained!, Fortean writer Jerome Clark
criticizes the explanation proposed by Nature, saying that it "[assumes] that reporters of the phenomenon go through the world trying to function with what amounts to a chimpanzee's level of intelligence." However, Clark concedes, "Nothing about this phenomenon makes any kind of sense. It seems to defy not only natural but even any conceivable paranormal explanation."
Some of the stories may be based on outright fabrications. Charles Dawson
, the finder, and quite probably the perpetrator of the Piltdown Man
hoax, had some years earlier presented the Brighton "Toad in the Hole" (a toad entombed within a flint nodule), another forgery.
character Michigan J. Frog
, who is discovered inside the cornerstone of a building in his debut appearance, "One Froggy Evening
." A reference to the phenomenon also appears in Dante Gabriel Rossetti
's poem "Jenny," which mentions a "toad within a stone / seated while time marches on."
Frog
Frogs are amphibians in the order Anura , formerly referred to as Salientia . Most frogs are characterized by a short body, webbed digits , protruding eyes and the absence of a tail...
s or toad
Toad
A toad is any of a number of species of amphibians in the order Anura characterized by dry, leathery skin , short legs, and snoat-like parotoid glands...
s. The reputed phenomenon, sometimes called "toad in the hole", has been dismissed by mainstream science, but has remained a topic of interest to Fortean researchers.
Reports
References to entombed animals have appeared in the writings of William of Newburgh, J. G. WoodJohn George Wood
John George Wood, or Rev J. G. Wood, , was a popular English writer on natural history.Wood was born in London, son of surgeon John Freeman Wood and Juliana Lisetta, and educated at home, at Ashbourne grammar school and Merton College, Oxford ; also at Christ Church, where he worked for some time...
, Ambroise Paré
Ambroise Paré
Ambroise Paré was a French surgeon. He was the great official royal surgeon for kings Henry II, Francis II, Charles IX and Henry III and is considered as one of the fathers of surgery and modern forensic pathology. He was a leader in surgical techniques and battlefield medicine, especially the...
, Robert Plot
Robert Plot
Robert Plot was an English naturalist, first Professor of Chemistry at the University of Oxford, and the first keeper of the Ashmolean Museum....
, André Marie Constant Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril
André Marie Constant Duméril was a French zoologist. He was professor of anatomy at the Muséum National d'Histoire Naturelle from 1801 to 1812, when he became professor of herpetology and ichthyology...
, John Wesley
John Wesley
John Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
, and others. Even Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
mentioned the phenomenon in his journal All the Year Round
All the Year Round
All the Year Round was a Victorian periodical, being a British weekly literary magazine founded and owned by Charles Dickens, published between 1859 and 1895 throughout the United Kingdom. Edited by Dickens, it was the direct successor to his previous publication Household Words, abandoned due to...
. According to the Fortean Times
Fortean Times
Fortean Times is a British monthly magazine devoted to the anomalous phenomena popularised by Charles Fort. Previously published by John Brown Publishing and then I Feel Good Publishing , it is now published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. As of December 2010, its circulation was approximately 18,000...
, about 210 entombed animal cases have been described in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, and New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
since the fifteenth century.
At times, multiple animals are said to have been encased in the same place. In a letter to Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
, for example, one Eric G. Mackley claimed to have freed 23 frogs from a single piece of concrete while widening a road in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
shire. An 1876 report from South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
said that 63 small toads were found in the middle of a 16 feet (5 m) tree trunk.
Explanations
Though reports of entombed animals have occurred as recently as the 1980s, scientists have paid little serious attention to the phenomenon since the nineteenth century. During the 1820s, English geologist William BucklandWilliam Buckland
The Very Rev. Dr William Buckland DD FRS was an English geologist, palaeontologist and Dean of Westminster, who wrote the first full account of a fossil dinosaur, which he named Megalosaurus...
conducted an experiment to see how long a toad could remain alive while encased in stone. He placed toads of different sizes and ages into carved chambers within limestone and sandstone blocks, then buried the blocks in his garden. A year later, he dug up the blocks and found that most of the toads were dead and decayed. A few toads that had been in the limestone (which did contain small pores) were still living. However, Buckland found them all dead after reburying them in the limestone for another year. Buckland concluded that the entombed animal phenomenon was impossible, and most scientists agreed. A writer from the journal Nature
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
wrote in 1910, "The true interpretation of these alleged occurrences appears to be simply this – a frog or toad is hopping about while a stone is being broken, and the non-scientific observer immediately rushes to the conclusion that he has seen the creature dropping out of the stone itself. One thing is certainly remarkable, that although numbers of field geologists and collectors of specimens of rocks, fossils, and minerals are hammering away all over the world, not one of these investigators has ever come upon a specimen of a live frog or toad imbedded in stone or in coal."
However, some paranormalists have remained interested in the accounts. In his book Unexplained!, Fortean writer Jerome Clark
Jerome Clark
Jerome Clark is an American researcher and writer, specializing in unidentified flying objects and other anomalous phenomena; he is also a songwriter of some note....
criticizes the explanation proposed by Nature, saying that it "[assumes] that reporters of the phenomenon go through the world trying to function with what amounts to a chimpanzee's level of intelligence." However, Clark concedes, "Nothing about this phenomenon makes any kind of sense. It seems to defy not only natural but even any conceivable paranormal explanation."
Some of the stories may be based on outright fabrications. Charles Dawson
Charles Dawson
Charles Dawson was an amateur British archaeologist who is credited and blamed with discoveries that turned out to be imaginative frauds, including that of the Piltdown Man , which he presented in 1912...
, the finder, and quite probably the perpetrator of the Piltdown Man
Piltdown Man
The Piltdown Man was a hoax in which bone fragments were presented as the fossilised remains of a previously unknown early human. These fragments consisted of parts of a skull and jawbone, said to have been collected in 1912 from a gravel pit at Piltdown, East Sussex, England...
hoax, had some years earlier presented the Brighton "Toad in the Hole" (a toad entombed within a flint nodule), another forgery.
In fiction
Perhaps the most famous example of a fictional entombed animal is Merrie MelodiesMerrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
character Michigan J. Frog
Michigan J. Frog
Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character who debuted in the Looney Tunes cartoon One Froggy Evening , written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones...
, who is discovered inside the cornerstone of a building in his debut appearance, "One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn.The short makes the debut of Michigan J...
." A reference to the phenomenon also appears in Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti
Dante Gabriel Rossetti was an English poet, illustrator, painter and translator. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848 with William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, and was later to be the main inspiration for a second generation of artists and writers influenced by the movement,...
's poem "Jenny," which mentions a "toad within a stone / seated while time marches on."