Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/809

 TOAD FISH )uv.), each with a single species. In pipa lere are no teeth, and the last joint of the slender anterior toes is divided into four parts. In dactyletlira the upper jaw has small pointed teeth, the tongue is at the back of the mouth, and some of the hind toes have (alone among batrachians) hoof -like claws ; the anterior legs are small and slender ; the D. Capensis (Ouv.) TOBACCO 779 Surinam Toad (Pipa Americana). is found at the Cape of Good Hope and on the Mozambique coast. The Surinam toad (P. Americana, Laur.) has a remarkable and anom- alous mode of reproduction ; the eggs do not escape into the water, but are received by the male, who deposits them on the back of the female and there impregnates them (some authors say that impregnation takes place be- fore tbe deposition of the eggs on the back of the female); the skin becomes thickened be- tween them, rises, and partly invests each egg in a sac or pouch, covered by a thin operculum of dried gelatinous matter, probably a portion of that which originally surrounded the egg; the young go through the usual changes in the dorsal pouches, and emerge perfect toads ; the yolk is large ; the external branchiae disappear at a very early period ; the tail is fully formed in the embryo, but is absorbed before it leaves the egg ; the embryo at this stage is larger than the original egg, so that it must have absorbed something from the pouch of the parent. This animal is commonly found in the dark corners of houses in Guiana, and, though very large and exceedingly disgusting in appearance, is said to be eaten by the natives. TOAD FISH, a spiny-rayed fish of the lopMus family, and genus batrachus (Bloch), so named from its large head, wide gape, usually naked skin, and disgusting appearance ; it is also called frog fish and oyster fish. The head is flattened and wider than the body ; teeth coni- cal, small and crowded on the intermaxillaries, larger on the lower jaw, palate, and vomer; operculum small and spiny ; head, lips, and cheeks provided with numerous fleshy appen- dages ; lower jaw the longer ; first dorsal short, with three spinous rays almost concealed in the skin ; second dorsal and anal low, soft, and long ; ventrals under the throat, narrow, with three rays ; pectorals on short arms of five carpal bones; fourth branchial arch without gills; body generally scaleless; no pyloric caeca; air bladder deeply forked anteriorly, attached to the vertebras by slender ligaments, and muscular on the sides. They hide in the sand and mud of salt water, and occur in both hemispheres, preying on fish. There are more than a dozen species, of which one of the best known is the grunting toad fish (B. grunniens, Bloch), found in the seas of the East Indies ; the skin is naked, smooth, soft and spongy; the head and jaws with numerous cutaneous appendages ; the color is brownish above, mar- bled with darker, below white, fins white with brown bands; it is 8 to 13 in. long, and is said to be eaten at Bombay ; it received its specific name from its making a grunting noise like a pig, from the expulsion of air by the muscular air bladder through the mouth. The common American toad fish (B. tau, De Kay) is much like the East Indian, with half a dozen more rays in the second dorsal and anal, stronger' teeth, more prominent dorsal spines, and rather darker colors ; it is 8 in. to a foot long, light brown, marbled with black, and the fins with black lines ; the body is covered with a copious viscid secretion ; tbe mouth very large, and the chin and cheeks with numerous fleshy appen- dages. It is found from Maine to the gulf of Mexico and the West Indies, on the New Eng- land coast usually in ponds and lagoons con- nected with the sea, in muddy shoal water, or under eel grass and stones. The disgusting appearance of this fish, its slimy body, goggle American Toad Fish (Batrachus tau). eyes, and immense mouth, have generally pre- vented the use of its flesh as food, though it is said to be delicate, palatable, and wholesome ; it is a savage biter, and capable of inflicting severe wounds. Other species are found in the Indian and African seas, and some larger ones with soft scales on the Brazilian coast. TOBACCO, the plant and the dried and pre- pared leaves of Nicotiana talacum and other species of Nicotiana, a genus of the solanace or nightshade family. (See SOLANUM.) The name of the genus commemorates that of Jean Nicot, a French ambassador to Portugal, who in 1560 sent the seeds from Lisbon to France, as those of a highly valuable medicinal plant which was then known throughout Portugal, having been introduced in 1520. The botani- cal specific name, and the common name, come