B U F 



Latliam the Civfnnf rhii>tii!/, ai btiiiir an inhabitant of that 

 part (if tde worl J. It is fjxfcilically dilliii^iiiilKd by liaviiiR tlie 

 cire bliii; ; loj;s yellow ; body above dark biowii, beneath 

 reddifti-buff ; eye bnv.va yellow ; tail fafciatcd with pale, and 

 Julkv brown. Gmel. 5cc. Length i.f this bird two tett. 



HUrrOON, a droll, or nnimic, who diverts the public 

 by his pleafanti-ics and follies. Mcnai>e, after Salniafuis, 

 derives the word from liiifo ; a name jriveii to ihofe who ap- 

 peared on the Roman theatre with their cheeks blown up ; 

 that, receiving blows thereon, they might make the greater 

 noife, and fa the people a laughing. Others, as Rhodi- 

 ginus, make the origin of bnfl'oonery more venerable ; deriv- 

 ing it from a feall inllituted in Attica, by K. Eridtheus, 

 called BUPHONiA. 



BulToo'is are the fame with what we otha-wife find deno- 

 minated fcurre, geliifnini, mimilo-^i, mmijleU'i, gol'utrili, jocula- 

 torett bfc. whofe chief Irene is laid at the tables of great 

 men. Gallienns never fat down to meat without a fecond 

 table of buffoons by him. Tdlemont alfo renders panto- 

 mimes by bufl'oons ; in which ftnfe he obferves, the (hews 

 of the buffoons were taken away by Domitian, reftored by 

 Nerva, and finally aboliOied by Trajan. Crevier's Hilt, of 

 the Emperors, vol. vii. p. 45. 



BUFFY COAT, or fize of the blood, in Midldne. See 

 Blood, appearances of. 



BUFO, in Entomology, a fpeciesof Bombyx, that inhabits 

 Germany. The wings are yellowifh, with a broad brown 

 band, and yellow fpots. Fabr. 



Bt;FO, a fpecies of Curculio, that inhabits Siberia. 

 The colour is Kifeous ; wing-cafes (lightly reticulated, with 

 a -white (Iripc in the middle. Fabr. 



BuFO, in Zoology, the fpecific name of the common toad, 

 rana bufo of Linnxus, and other Latin writers. Gmelin 

 adopts the concife defcription of the Linnsan Fauna Suecica, 

 " corpore lurido fufcoque," for this fpecies. But, befides 

 the body of the toad being lurid and fufcons, the back is 

 marked with tubercles, which ought likewlfe to be dillnidlly 

 noticed in its fpecific charafter. The defcription given of 

 it by Rocfel is not amifs, " Bufo terrellris, dorfo tuberculis 

 exafperato, oculis rubris." Hill. Ran. 



Authors make three or four varieties of the common toad. 

 The var. /9 of Gmelin, is lufo calamlta of Laurenti ; the back 

 of this kind is olivaceous with an unequal, clear, yellowifli- 

 red, band down each fide, y, another variety, Laurenti 

 defcribes under the name of bufo virldis, the body being 

 marked with confluent green fpots, and warts : thole warts 

 which rife within the area of the green fpots are of the fame 

 colour, while the reft, which are fituatcd in the fpaces be- 

 tween them, are red, upon a bicoloured ground. J. bufo 

 objletricans of Laurenti is diftinguifhed by being of a fmaller 

 fize than either of the preceding. In A£t. Parif. 1741, 

 this lad variety is dtfcribed under the title of hfo lerrcjlris 

 minor. Independently of thefe, which may be confidered as 

 permanent varieties of the common toad, it (hoiild be ob- 

 fcrved, that different individuals exhibit a great diverfity in 

 their general colours, markings, the lize of the dorlal tuber- 

 cles, and other particulars. The olivaceous hues with darker 

 variations prevail moft commonly. In the early part of fum- 

 jner they are fometimes found with the Ihoulders and limbs 

 "marked with reddidi fpots, and the under parts of the limbs 

 and body tinged with yellow. 



The toad, fays an ingenious writer, is the mod deformed 

 and hideous of all animals : the body is broaJ, the back 

 flat, arid covered with a pimply dulky hide, the belly large, 

 fwaggi.i^, and fwelling out, the legs (hort, and its pace 

 laboured aiid crawling ; its retreat gloomy and filthy : in 

 &ort, its ger.eral appearance is fuch as to (Irike one with 

 I 



B U F 



difgufl and horror. Yet it is faid by thofc who have refolii- 

 tion to view it with attention, that its eyes are fine ; to this 

 it lei ins that Shakfpeare allude?, when he makes his Juliet 

 reinark, " Some fay the lark and loathed toad change eyes," 

 a< if they would have been jitter bellowed on fo charming 

 a ion 'ller, than on this raucous animal. Pennant. The eyes 

 are unco i.nionly beautiful, being furroundcd by a reddilh 

 gold coloured iris, and the pupil, when in a llatc of contrac- 

 tioM, appearing tranfverfe. 



Rana bufo and its varieties appear to be confined exclu- 

 fively to the European continent. It inhabits woods, gar- 

 dens, fields, and damp Ihady places, and frequently makes its 

 way into cellars, or any obfcure receffes in which it may oc- 

 cafionally conceal itfelf ; and where it may find a fupply of 

 food, or a fecurity from too great a degree of cold. In the 

 early part of fpring, like others of this genus, it retires to 

 the waters, where it continues during the breeding feafon, 

 and depofits its ova or fpawn in the form of double neck- 

 lace-like chains or firings, of beautifully tranfparent gluten, 

 and of the length of three or four feet, in each of which 

 are difpofed the ova in a continued double feries through- 

 out the wliole length, having the appearance of fo many 

 fmall jet-black globules or beads. Thefe globules are, in 

 reality, no other than the tadpoles, or larvx convoluted into 

 a globular form, and waiting for the period of their evolu- 

 tion, or hatching, which takes place in the fpace of about 

 fourteen or fifteen days, when they break from the furround- 

 ing gluten, and, like the tadpoles of frogs, fwim about in 

 the water, and are noutiflied by various animalcules, gluten, 

 leaves of aquatic plants, &c. When thefe have arrived at 

 their full growth, the legs are formed, the tail gradually 

 becomes obliterated, and the animals leave the water, and 

 betake themfelves to the furface of the ground. This ge- 

 nerally happens early in the autumn. 



The time of their propagation is very early in the fpring ; 

 at which feafon the females are feen crawling about op- 

 preffed by the males, who continue on them for hours, and 

 adhere fo fall as to tear the lliin from the parts to which they 

 flick. The number of females appears to be greatly difpro- 

 portionate to that of the males iu general. It is afferted by 

 Mr. Arlcott, a gentleman of Devonfliire, who favoured 

 Mr. Pennant with a circumftantial account of a favourite 

 toad kept for nearly forty years in his houfe, and a curfory 

 hillory oi the toads, that he has commonly known thirty 

 males to one female : twelve or fourteen of the former he 

 has feen clinging round a fingle female at one time. But 

 this is even far lefs remarkable than the obfervation of the 

 late Mr. John Hunter, who affured Mr. Pennant, that dur- 

 ing his refidence at Belleifle, he had diffcfted forae huiidreds 

 of toads, and yet never met with a fingle female amongit 

 them. 



That the female toad receives the obfletrical affiflance of 

 the male on I'ome occafions is a faft eflablifhed on the bed 

 authority. Mr. Demours, in particular, has given a full 

 and accurate account of fuch a circumftance in the Memoirs, 

 of the French Academy, that deferves attention. It has 

 been more than once repeated by later writers, but cannot 

 ilill, with propriety, be omitted in this place. The memoir 

 is thus tranflated by Dr. Templeman : 



" In the evening of one of the long days in fummer, Mr. 

 Demours, being in the king's garden, perceived two toads 

 coupled together at the edge of an hole, which was formed, 

 in part, by a great done at the top. 



" Curiofity drew him to fee what was the occafion 

 of the motions he obferved, when two f;.£ts, equally 

 new, furprifed him. The fird was the extreme difficulty the 

 female had in laying her eggs, infomuch that fhe did not 



fcein 



