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BATRACHOMYOMACHIA—BATTANNI
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von Archegosaurus,” Zeitschr. deutsch. geol. Ges. xlviii., 1896, p. 505; F. Broili, “Ein Beitrag zur Kenntnis von Eryops megacephalus,” Palaeontogr. xlvi., 1899, p. 61. (11) “Amphibian Footprints from the Devonian,” Amer. Journ. Sci. ii., 1896, p. 374. (12) “Découverte du plus ancien amphibien connu . . . dans le famennien supérieur de Modave,” Bull. soc. beige géol. xv., 1888, p. cxx, (13) “A Batrachian Armadillo,” Amer. Nat. xxix., 1895, p. 998. (14) C. Gegenbaur, Untersuchungen zur vergleichenden Anatomie der Wirbelsäule bei Amphibien und Reptilien (Leipzig, 1862, 4to); H. Gadow, “On the Evolution of the Vertebral Column of Amphibia and Amniota,” Phil. Trans. clxxxvii. (B), 1896, p. 1. (15) R. Wiedersheim, Die Anatomie der Gymnophionen (Jena, 1879, 4to); W. Peters, “Über die Einteilung der Caecilien,” Mon. Berl. Ac., 1879, p. 924; G. A. Boulenger, Catalogue of Batrachia Gradientia s. Caudata and Batrachia Apoda in the Collection of the British Museum (London, 1882, 8vo), and “A Synopsis of the Genera and Species of Apodal Batrachians,” P. Z. S., 1895, p. 401. (16) “On the Structure and Affinities of the AmphiumidaeProc. Amer. Philos. Soc. xxiii., 1886, p. 442. (17) Ergebnisse naturwissenschaftlicher Forschungen auf Ceylon, ii. (Wiesbaden, 1887–1890, 4to), (18) “The Chondrocranium of the Ichthyopsida,” Stud. Biol. Lab. Tufts Coll. No. 5, 1898, p. 147. (19) G. A. Boulenger, Catalogue, &c., 1882. (20) H. H. Wilder, “Lungenlose Salamandriden,” Anat. Anz. ix., 1894, p. 216; L. Camerano, “Ricerche anatomofisiologiche intorno ai Salamandridi normalmente apneumoni,” Atti Acc. Torin. xxix., 1894, p. 705, and xxxi., 1896, p. 512; H. H. Wilder, “Lungless Salamanders,” Anat. Anz. xii., 1896, p. 182; E. Loennberg, “Notes on Tailed Batrachians without Lungs,” Zool. Anz. xix., 1896, p. 33. (21) “Note sur le batracien de Bernissart,” Bull. mus. belg. iii., 1884, p. 85. (22) G. A. Boulenger, Catalogue of Batrachia Salientia s. Ecaudata in the Collection of the British Museum (London, 1882, 8vo). (23) “On the Development of the Vertebral Column in Pipa and Xenopus,” Anat. Anz. xiii., 1898, p. 359. (24) G. A. Boulenger, “On Hymenochirus, a New Type of Aglossal Batrachians,” Ann. and Mag. N.H. (7), iv., 1899, p. 122. (25) L. M. Vidal, Mem. Ac. Barcelona (3), iv., 1902, No. 18, pl. iv. (26) W. Wolterstorff, “Über fossile Frösche, insbesondere Palaeobatrachus,” Jahresb. Nat. Ver. Magdeb., 1885 and 1886. (27) W. Peters, “Über die Entwickelung eines Batrachiers. Hylodes martinicensis, ohne Metamorphose,” Mon. Berl. Ac., 1876, p. 709; A. Kappler, “Die Tierwelt im holländischen Guiana,” Das Ausland, 1885, p. 358; G. A. Boulenger, “Reptiles and Batrachians of the Solomon Islands,” Trans. Zool. Soc. xii., 1886, p. 51; H. v. Ihering, “On the Oviposition of Phyllomedusa iheringii,” Ann. and Mag. N.H. (5), xvii., 1886, p. 461; H. H. Smith, “On Oviposition and Nursing in the Batrachian genus Dendrobates,” Amer. Nat. xxi., 1887, p. 307; G. B. Howes, “Notes on the Gular Brood-pouch of Rhinoderma darwini,” P.Z.S., 1888, p. 231; W. J. Holland, “Arboreal Tadpoles,” Amer. Nat. xxiii., 1889, p. 383; E. A. Goeldi, “Contribution to the Knowledge of the Breeding Habits of some Tree-frogs of the Serra dos Orgaos, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,” P.Z.S., 1895. p. 89; G. A. Boulenger, “On the Nursing Habits of two South American Frogs,” P.Z.S., 1895, p. 209; A. Brauer, “Ein neuer Fall von Brutpflege bei Fröschen,” Zool. Jahrb. Syst. xi., 1898, p. 89; S. Ikeda, “Notes on the Breeding Habit and Development of Rhacophorus schlegelii,” Annot. Zool. Japan, i., 1898, p. 113; G. Brandes, “Larven zweier Nototrema-Arten,” Verh. deutsch. zool. Ges., 1899, p. 288; L. v. Méhely, “Beiträge zur Kenntnis der Engystomatiden von Neu-Guinea,” Termes. Fuzetek, Budapest, xxiv., 1901, p. 216; G. A. Boulenger, “Ceratohyla bubalus carrying eggs on its back,” P.Z.S., 1903, ii. p. 115; Idem. “Description of a new Tree-frog of the genus Hyla, from British Guiana, carrying eggs on the back,” op. cit., 1904, ii. p. 106; H. S. Ferguson, “Travancore Batrachians,” J. Bombay N.H. Soc. xv., 1904, p. 499. (28) Geol. Mag. iv., ii., 1895, p. 83. (29) “Das Hyobranchial-Skelett der Anura,” Morph. Arb. iii., 1894, p. 399. (30) “On the Structure and Development of the Hyobranchial Skeleton of the Parsley Frog,” P.Z.S., 1897, p. 577. (31) W. G. Ridewood, “On the Hyobranchial Skeleton and Larynx of Hymenochirus,” J. Linn. Soc. xxviii., 1899, p. 454. (32) Morphol. Jahrb. xxiii., 1895, p. 1. (33) G. B. Howes and A. M. Davies, P.Z.S., 1888, p. 495. (34) G. A. Boulenger, “The Poisonous Secretion of Batrachians,” Nat. Science, i., 1892, p. 185; F. Gidon, Venins multiples et toxicité humorale chez les batraciens (Paris, 1897, 8vo). (35) Arch. Ges. Physiol. li., 1892, p. 455. (36) G. A. Boulenger, P.Z.S., 1900, p. 433, and 1901, ii. p. 709; H. Gadow, Anat. Anz. xviii., 1900, p. 588. (37) G. A. Boulenger, “On the Presence of Pterygoid Teeth in a Tailless Batrachian, with remarks on the Localization of Teeth on the Palate,” P.Z.S., 1890, p. 664. (38) Morphol. Jahrb. xiii., 1887, p. 119. (39) P.Z.S., 1888, p. 122. (40) G. A. Boulenger, Tailless Batrachians of Europe (1897), p. 75. (41) G. Tornier, “Pseudophryne vivipara, ein lebendig gebärender Frosch,” Sitzb. Ak. Ber. xxxix., 1905, p. 855. (42) “Unusual Modes of Breeding and Development among Anura,” Amer. Nat. xxxiv., 1900, p. 405. (43) “Brutpflege der schwanzlosen Batrachier,” Abh. Nat. Ges. Halle, xxii., 1901, p. 395. (G. A. B.) 


BATRACHOMYOMACHIA (Gr. βάτραχος, “frog,” μῦς, “mouse,” and μάχη, “battle”), the “Battle of Frogs and Mice,” a comic epic or parody on the Iliad, definitely attributed to Homer by the Romans, but according to Plutarch (De Herodoti Malignitate, 43) the work of Pigres of Halicarnassus, the brother (or son) of Artemisia, queen of Caria and ally of Xerxes. Some modern scholars, however, assign it to an anonymous poet of the time of Alexander the Great.

Edition by A. Ludwich (1896).


BATTA, an Anglo-Indian military term, probably derived from the Canarese bhatta (rice in the husk), meaning a special allowance made to officers, soldiers, or other public servants in the field.


BATTAGLIA, a town of Venetia, Italy, in the province of Padua, 11 m. S.S.W. by rail from Padua. Pop. (1901) 4456. It lies at the edge of the volcanic Euganean Hills, and is noted for its warm saline springs and natural vapour grotto. A fine palace was erected in the Palladian style in the 17th century by Marchese Benedetto Selvatico-Estense, then owner of the springs.


BATTAKHIN, African “Arabs” of Semitic stock. They occupy the banks of the Blue Nile near Khartum, and it was against them that General Gordon fought most of his battles near the town. Their sheikh, El Obeid, routed Gordon’s troops on the 4th of September 1884, a defeat which led to the close investment of Khartum. In the 18th century James Bruce described them as “a thieving, pilfering lot.”


BATTALION, a unit of military organization consisting of four or more companies of infantry. The term is used in nearly every army, and is derived through Fr. from It. battaglione, Med. Lat. battalia (see Battle). “Battalion” in the 16th and 17th centuries implied a unit of infantry forming part of the line of battle, but at first meant an unusually large battalia or a single large body of men formed of several battalias. In the British regular service the infantry battalion is commanded by a lieut.-colonel, who is assisted by an adjutant, and consists at war strength of about 1000 bayonets in eight companies. Engineers, train, certain kinds of artillery, and more rarely cavalry are also organized in battalions in some countries.


BATTAMBANG, or Battambong (locally Phratabong), the chief town of the north-western division of Cambodia, formerly capital of Monton Kmer, i.e. “The Cambodian Division,” one of the eastern provinces of Siam, now included in the French protectorate of Cambodia. It is situated in 103° 6′ E., 13° 6′ N., in the midst of a fertile plain and on the river Sang Ke, which flows eastwards and falls into the Tonle or Talé Sap, the great lake of Cambodia. The town is a collection of bamboo houses of no importance, but there is a walled enceinte of some historical interest. Trade is small and is carried on by Chinese settlers, chiefly overland with Bangkok, but to a small extent also by water with Saigon. The population is about 5000, two-thirds Cambodian and the remainder Chinese and Siamese. The language is Cambodian.

Battambang was taken by the Siamese when they overran the kingdom of Cambodia towards the end of the 18th century, and was recognized by the French as belonging to Siam when the frontier of Cambodia was adjusted by treaty in 1867–1872. In another treaty in 1893, Siam bound herself to maintain no armed forces there other than police, but this arrangement was annulled by the treaty of 1904, by which Battambang was definitely admitted to lie within the French sphere of influence. Under a further treaty in March 1907 (see Siam), the district of Battambang was finally ceded to the French.


BATTANNI, or Bhitani, a small tribe on the Waziri border of the North-West Frontier Province of India. The Battannis hold the hills on the borders of Tank and Bannu in the Dera Ismail Khan district, from the Gabar mountain on the north to the Gomal valley on the south. They are only 3000 fighting men strong, and are generally regarded as the jackals of the Waziris. Their chief importance arises from the fact that no raids can be carried into British districts by the Mahsud Waziris without passing through Battanni territory. A small British expedition against the Battannis was led by Lt.-Col. Rynd in 1880. Under the excitement caused by the preaching of a fanatical mullah the Mahsud Waziris had attacked the town of Gomal. The Battannis failed to supply information as to their