a 
R A N 
KAN 
have been completely impacted or imbedded, 
and without any space for air. 
9- Kami viridis, The green toad is a na- 
tive of Germany and some other parts of 
Europe, and seems to h >ve been first cle- 
Senb d by Valisneri, and afterwards by Lau 
renli,. who m'o ms us that it inhabits the ca- 
vities of wads about Vienna, and is distin- 
guished by its greenish and confluent spots 
on the upp r parts, disposed on a pale or 
whitish ground, and scattered over with tu- 
bercles. Each of the green spots or patches 
is also bounded by a blackish margin, and 
the whole pattern ha; a somewhat rudely 
geographical or map- like appearance. The 
odour of tins species is very strong ; resem- 
bling that of the common black or garden 
nightshade, but much more powerful, so as 
to lid a whole room. The female is of a 
browner cast than the male. In winter this 
species retires under ground, and, like others 
of the genus, frequents the waters at the 
breeding season. 
10. liana dubia, or musica. Of this ani- 
v/. uiuaiou. 
mal a specimen is preserved in the British 
Museum, under the title of rana musica: its 
size is that of a common toad, but the shape 
of the body differs, seeming gradually to de- 
crease from the shoulders to the hind legs, 
somewhat in the manner of the hype or tree- 
frogs. Its colour, so far as can be deter- 
mined from the specimen long preserved in 
spirit of wine, appears to have been a mode- 
rately deep-brown above, and pale or whitish 
beneath, slightly marbled or variegated with 
brown. The whole upper surface is beset 
with distinct oval pustules or tubercles. 
Whether this is the species intended by 
Linnaeus, under the name of rana musica, 
may perhaps be questioned. In the Systema 
Nature he refers to no author or figure, but 
informs us that the animal is a native of Su- 
rinam, and that it has a musical voice. See 
Plate Nat. liist. fig. 344. 
11. liana cornuta, horned toad. Among 
the whole tribe of amphibia, it is, perhaps, 
difficult to find an animal ot a more singular 
appearance than this, which may be regarded 
as of a more deformed and hideous aspect 
than even the pipa, or toad of Surinam, d his 
arises not so much from the general shape of 
the animal, as from the extraordinary struc- 
ture of the upper eyelids, which are so formed 
as to resemble a pair of short sharp-pointed 
horns; while the width of the mouth is such 
as to exceed that of any other species, and 
even to equal half the length of the body it- 
self ''Tho din nf tVip horlv brsfh above and 
_... The skin of the body, both above and 
below, is of a cinereous yellow, striped with 
lines of obscure greyish brown. Along the 
back runs a broad white band, commencing 
at the head, and thence decreasing gradually, 
so as to appear narrow over tiie hind parts: 
it is also beset with small specks like pearls. 
All the rest of the body is rough, with sharp 
spines, except the head, which is variegated 
with white, and the abdomen, which is of a 
deep rufous yellow, i he legs are surround- 
ed by a kind of bands or fillets ; and the toes 
are marked in a similar manner, and resemble 
in some degree the human fingers, and are 
four in number on the fore legs, and five on 
the hind: the hind feet are also webbed. 
The head is very large and thick, and when 
the month is opened, exhibits a broad and 
thick tongue, shaped somewhat like an oy- 
ster, and fastened in front to the lower jaw, 
but loose behind as in frogs; it is also co- 
vered over with papillae. 1 he female agiees 
in all respects with the male, except that the 
mouth is still wider, and the front is varie- 
gated in a somewhat different manner, bee 
Plate Nat. Hist. fig. 3-43. 
Seba seems to have been misinformed as 
to the native country of this species, which 
he imagined to be Virginia ; but the animal 
is now known to be a native oi South Ame- 
rica only. 
12. Rana pipa. This also is one of those 
animals which, at first view, every one pro- 
; nounces deformed and hideous; the general 
uncouthness of its shape being oiten aggra- 
j vated bv a phenomenon unexampled in the 
rest oi the animal world, viz. the young in 
various stages of exclusion, proceeding from 
cells dispersed over the back of the parent. 
The size of the pipa considerably exceeds 
■ that of the common toad: the body is ot a 
I flatfish form; the head snbtriangular ; the 
| mouth very wide, with the edges or corners 
i furnished with a kind of short cutaneous and 
J lacerated appendage on each side: in the 
1 male, however, the head is rather oval than 
triangular, and the parts just mentioned less 
distinct; the fore feet are tetradactylous, the 
toes long and thin, and each divided at the 
tip into four distinct portions or processes, 
each of which, if narrowly inspected with a 
magnifier, will be found to be again obscure- 
ly subdivided almost in a similar manner ; 
the hind feet are tive-toed, and very widely 
webbed ; the web reaching to the very tips 
of the toes. The male pipa is larger than the 
female, measuring sometimes not less than 
seven inches from the nose to the end of the 
body ; the nose in both sexes is of a some- 
what truncated form, like that oi a mole or 
hog, and the eyes extremely small; from 
each eye, in the female, run two rows of 
granules, or glandular points, to the middle ot 
the back ; the whole body is also covered 
with similar points or glandules, but smaller 
than the former: in the male a single row ot 
I granules proceeds from each eye down the 
i back, instead of a double row as in the fe- 
j male: these points or granules are also larger 
than in the female, and gradually decrease in , 
size as they approach the lower part of the J 
back: the skin round the neck, in both sexes, 1 
forms a kind of loose or wrinkled collar: the 
abdomen ot the male is ot a browner tinge 
than that of the female, and is sometimes ob- 
scurely spotted with yellow; but the general 
colour, both of the male and female pipa, is 
’ a dark or blackish brown. 
It was for a long time supposed that the 
ova of this extraordinary animal were pro- 
duced in the dorsal cells, without having been 
first excluded in the form of spawn ; but later . 
observations have proved that a still more | 
extraordinary process takes place ; and that j 
the spawn after exclusion is received into the., 
open cells of the back, and there concealed 
til! the young have arrived at maturity, l he 
female pipa deposits her eggs or spawn at the j 
brink of some stagnant water; and the male j 
collects or amasses the heap of ova, and de- : 
posits them with great care on the back of J 
the female, where, after impregnation, they j 
are pressed into the cellules,, which are at that j 
period open for their reception, and after- j 
wards close over them ; thus retaining them j 
till the period of their second birth; which 
RAN 
happens in somewhat less than three momhs, 
when they emerge from the back of tne pa- 
rent in their complete state. Tiring x. 
time of their concealment, however, they 
undergo the usual change ot the rest ot tins 
genus, being first hatched iroift the e »L'j l 
the form of a tadpole ; tud gradually •jt-M 1 -* ® 
their complete shape some time betoie aw 
exclusion. . . , 
According to Fermin, the pipa is calcu- 
lated by nature for producing but one brood 
of young; and, compared with the rest ot 
the genus, it can bv no means be considers 
as a very prolific animal ; the number ot 
young produced by the female winch T- o 
served, amounted to 75, and were all ex 
eluded within the space of five days. 
RANCIDITY. See Oils. 
RANDOM SHOT,, in gunnery, is a shot 
made when the muzzle ot a gun is raised 
above the horizontal line, and is not design- 
ed to shoot directly or point-blank. 1 he 
utmost random of any piece is about ten 
times as far as the bullet will go point-many.. 
The bullet will go farthest when the piece is 
mounted to about 45° above the level range. 
See Gunnery, and Projectiles. 
RANGE, in gunnery, the path of a bullet, 
or the line it describes from the mouth ot the 
piece to the point where it lodges. If the 
piece is in a line parallel to the horizon, it is 
called the right or level range: it it is mount- 
ed to 45 \ it is said to have the utmost range; 
all others between 00 and 45° are called the 
intermediate ranges. 
RANGER, a sworn officer of a forest, ap- 
pointed by the king’s letters-patent, whose 
business is to walk through his chuige, o 
drive back the deer out ot the purlieus, hr e. 
and to present all trespasses within Ins juris- 
diction at the next forest-court. 
RANGES, in a ship, two pieces of timber 
that go across from side to side ; the one on 
the forecastle, a little abaft the fore-mast , 
and the other in the beak-head, before the 
woul clings of the bowsprit. _ 
RANK, in war, is a row of soldiers placed 
side by side. , 
To double the ranks is to put two ranks 
into one. To close the ranks is to bring the 
men nearer : and to open them, is to set them 
farther apart. 
Rank, the order or place assigned a per- 
son suitable to his quality or meiit. See 
Precedence. 
Rank and precedence, in the army and 
navy, are as follow : 
Engineers’ rank. Chief, as colonel; di- 
rector^ as lieutenant-colonel; sub-director, as 
major; engineer in ordinary, as captain; en- 
gineer extraordinary, as captain-lieutenant ; 
sub-engineer, as lieutenant ; practitioner en- 
gineer, as ensign. 
Navy rank. Admiral, or commander-in- 
chief of his majesty’s fleet, lias the rank of 
a field-marshal ; admirals with their flags on 
the main-top-mast head, rank with generals of 
horse and foot; vice-admirals, with lieute- 
nant-generals ; rear-admirals, as major-gene- 
rals; commodores with broad pendants, as 
brigadier-generals ; captains of post-ships, af- 
ter three years from the date of their first 
commission, as colonels ; other captains 
commanding post ships, as lieutenant-colo- 
nels ; captains not taking post, as majors;, 
lieutenants, as captains. 
