Borellus, Bartholinus, Thoner, and Viridet, are among the older authorities mentioning persons who swallowed toads.

Hippocrates speaks of asphyxia from a serpent which had crawled into the mouth.
Borellus states that he knew a case of a person who vomited a salamander.

Plater reports the swallowing of eels and snails.

Rhodius mentions persons who have eaten scorpions and spiders with impunity.
Planchon writes of an instance in which a live spider was ejected from the bowel; and Colini reports the passage of a live lizard which had been swallowed two days before, and there is another similar case on record.

Marcellus Donatus records an instance in which a viper, which had previously crawled into the mouth, had been passed by the anus.
There are also recorded instances in French literature in which persons affected with pediculosis, have, during sleep, unconsciously swallowed lice which were afterward found in the stools.
There is an abundance of cases in which leeches have been accidentally swallowed.