T O A 
frogs has lonji; be?n juftly explccied; but it is filll 
entertained in t5i? tropical countries, not only by 
the favage natives, but by the more refined fet- 
tlers, who frequently add to their own the preju- 
dices and fuperftitions of other nations. 
It would be an endlefs, as well as a difagree- 
able taflc, to enter into all the minute difcrimina- 
tions of thefe animals, as found in the various cli- 
mates of the globe; nor do they appear'in general 
to differ effentially in nature and habits from each 
other: the pipal, or Surinam Toad, however, 
feems to be tf>o fingular an objedt in natural hi- 
ftory to be paiTed over in filence. 
Toad, Su'iiinam, or Pipal, This creature 
is (till more hideous in it's fhape than the common 
Toad. The body is flat and broad; the head is 
fmali; the Jaws, like thofe of the mole, are ex- 
tended, and evidently fitted for digging in the 
ground; and the fl<in of the neck forms a fort of 
wrinkled collar. The head is of a dark chefnut 
colour; the eyes are fmall; the back, which is very 
broad, is of a Ho;hrifh grey colour, and feems to 
be covered with a number of finall eyes, round- 
ifh, and arranged at nearlv equal diftances. Thef." 
eyes are very different from what they appear, be- 
ing in reality the animal's eggs, covered with their 
flieils, and placed there for hatching: they are bu- 
ried deep in tke fkin; and at the beginning of 
incubation, juft begin to appear; but are very vi- 
fible when the young animal is about to burfb 
from it's confinement. They are of a reddifh, 
fhinino; yellow colour; and a number of fmall 
warts, refembling pearLs, are difperfed over the 
body. 
Such is their fituation previous to their coming 
forth ; but nothing is more fingular than the man- 
ner of their produftion. The eggs, when formed 
in the ovary, are fent, by feme internal canals 
which anatomifts have not hitherto defcribed, to 
lie and arrive at maturity under the bony fub- 
ftance of the back : in this ftate they are impreg- 
nated by the male, whofe feed finds it's way by a 
feries of pores, and pierces not only the fkin but 
the periofteum. The fkin, however, is ftiil appa- 
rently entire, and forms a very thick covering 
over the whole Jbrood ; but, as they advance to 
maturity, at difierent intervals, one after another, 
the egg feems to ftart forward, and to projefl 
from the back, becoming more yellow, and at 
laft breaking, when the young one puts forth it's 
head: neverchelefs, it ftill retains it's fituation, 
till it has acquired a proper degree of ftrength; 
and then quits the fhell, but continues to adhere 
to the back of the parent. In this manner the 
Pipal travels, with her fingular brood on her 
jback, in all the different ftages of maturity. Some 
of the ilrange progeny, not yet come to fufiicient 
perfectiooj appear quite torpid, and as yet with- 
out life in the egg; others feem juft beginning to 
rife through the fkin, in one place peeping forth 
from the fliell, in another entirely emancipated 
from their prifon; fome are fporting at large on 
the parent's back; and others defcending to the 
ground, in order to fearch for their proper food, 
&nd in time to propagate their kind. 
Such is Seba's defcription of this fingular pro- 
duction ; in which he differs from Ruyfch, who af- 
firms, that the young ones are bred in the back 
of tlie male only, v/here the female depofits her 
eggs. However, Seba's authority is generally 
allowed to be the beft, though many circum- 
(lances are wanting to compleat his information, 
TOP 
fuch as a defcription of the pafi^age by which the 
egg finds it's way into the back, the manner of it's 
fecundation, the time of geftation, as alfo a hi- 
ftory of the manners of the animal itfelf 
The male Pipal is every way larger than the 
female, and the fkin more flaccid. The whole 
body is covered with puft:ules, refembling pearls; 
and the belly, which is of a bright yellow colour, 
appears as if fewed up from the throat to the vent. 
This creature, however hideous in it's appear- 
ance, is probably entirely harmlefs, like the reft 
of the frog kind; though we are told of terrible 
effefts refulting from it's powder, when calcined. 
This, however, muft certainly be falfe: no crea- 
ture whatever, when calcined, can be poifonous; 
for the fire confumes every particle that could be 
dangerous in this compofition; all animal fub- 
ftances, when calcined, being exaftly the fame 
both in nature and quality. 
TOBACCO-PIPE FISH; the Syngnathus 
Acus of Linnjeus. See Pipe-Pish. 
TOBACTLI. An American appellation for 
a bird of that country defcribed by Nieremberg, 
more ufually denominated Troaftli. 
TOBI ANUS. A name by which fome ich- 
thyologifls exprefs the ammodytes, orfand-eel. 
TOBIS is alfo a name for the find-eel. 
TOCKAY. A fpecies of Indian lizard, diftin- 
guifhed from the other kinds by being entirely 
covered with fpoLs. 
TOCMOL. An appellation fometimcs given 
to the common mole. 
TODTENVOGEL. A name by which Gef- 
ner, and fome others, have expreflfed that fpecies 
of oenanthe known in England by the appellation 
of the ftone-chatter, ftone-fmich, or moor-tit' 
ling. 
TODY. A genus of the p'lcpe : the chara(5lers 
of which are; that the bill is fubulated, depreffed, 
obtufe, ftraight, and befet with briftles ; and the 
feet formed for walking. 
LinnjBus enumerates two fpecies; the green, 
with a red breaft, found in America; and the afh- 
coloured, with the under part of the body yell9w, 
found in Surinam. 
TOE-SHELL. A particular fpecies of fliell, 
called alfo pollicipes. 
TOIMINEIO. An appellation by which fome 
writers exprefs the guainum'oi, or humming-bird. 
The name is fuppofed to be derived from To- 
miino, a Spanifh word fignifying a Grain, as if 
expreflive of the miinutenefs and lightnels of this 
tribe of birds. 
TOP. An Englifli appellation for a genus of 
fiiells, of which Pennant enumerates the follow- 
ing fpecies, all natives of the Britifh coaft: the li- 
vid, the rough, the umbilical, the cinereous, the 
tuberculated, and the land Top. 
TOPAN. An appellation fometimes given 
to the horned-beaked Indian raven, more ufually 
denominated the rhinoceros-bird. 
TOPE ; the Squalus Galeus of Linnsus. Ar, 
tedi diftinguifhes this fifli from others of thefquali, 
by it's noftrils being placed extremely near the 
mouth, and by certain foramina or apertures near 
the eyes. 
The Tope has fometimes been caught on the 
Britifh coafts, weighing twenty-feven pounds, and 
five feet in lengtli ; but, according to Artedi, it is 
frequently one hundred weight. The upper pare 
of the body and fins is of a light cinereous hue; 
the belly is white; the nofe is very long, flat, 
4 ^ and 
