86 Description of a Fish resembling the Styhphorus. 



their standing on peduncles or footstalks is so much at vari- 

 ance with what occurs in other animals, that I should hesitate 

 little in declaring their unusual form to have been the result 

 of accident or disease. 



As the generic name proposed by Shaw is probably derived 

 from an accidental character, I venture to substitute for it the 

 name of Saccopharynx, in allusion to the pouch-like form of 

 its throat. 



Genus. SACCOPHARYNX. 



Jaws capable of great dilatation. 



Throat wide like a bag. 



Tail flagelliform, tapering away to a point, and beset with 

 many pairs of cirrhi. 



Dorsal, caudal, and anal fins united. 



Cabinet of Dr. Mitchill. 



Observations and Experiments on the Seeds of the Cer- 

 bera Thevetia. By I. B. Ricord Madianna, M. D< 

 Read March 1, 1824. 



Persoon, in his Synopsis Plantarum, enumerates se- 

 ven species of the genus Cerbera ; and the only one which, 

 until the present time, has been suspected of having deleteri- 

 ous properties, is the Cerbera Ahovai. Orfila, in his Toxicolo- 

 gia, mentions that the kernel of the fruit of C. Ahovai is very 

 poisonous, and that the wood thrown into a pond stupifies the 

 fish. He adds, that the fruit of C. Manghas has a sharp and 

 bitter taste, and that its qualifies are emetic. But this learned 

 toxicologist makes no observations on <he other species of 

 Cerbera. 



In October 1S23, being at Guadaloupe, in the parish of 

 Capes terro, I discovered the C. Thevetia. This shrub was 



