Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

LOACH

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V16, Page 834 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

LOACH . The See also:

fish known as loathes (Cobitinae) See also:form a very distinct subfamily of the Cyprinidae, and are even regarded by some authors as constituting a See also:family. Characters: Barbels, three to six pairs; pharyngeal See also:teeth in one See also:row, in moderate number; anterior See also:part of the See also:air-See also:bladder divided into a right and See also:left chamber, separated by a constriction, and enclosed in a bony See also:capsule, the posterior part See also:free or absent. They are more or less elongate in form, often See also:eel-shaped, and naked or covered with See also:minute scales. Most of the See also:species are small, the largest known measuring 12 (the See also:European Misgurnus fossilis), 13 (the See also:Chinese Botia variegata), or 14 in. (the Central Asian Nemachilus siluroides). They mostly live in small streams and ponds, and many are See also:mountain forms. They are almost entirely confined to See also:Europe and See also:Asia, but one species (Nemachilus abyssinicus) has recently been discovered in See also:Abyssinia. About 120 species are known, mostly from Central and See also:South-Eastern Asia. Only two species occur in See also:Great See also:Britain: the See also:common Nemachilus barbatulus and the rarer and more See also:local Cobitis See also:taenia. The latter extends across Europe and Asia to See also:Japan. Many of these fishes delight in the mud at the bottom of ponds, in which they move like eels.

In some cases the branchial respiration appears to be insufficient, and the intestinal See also:

tract acts as an See also:accessory breathing See also:organ. The air-bladder may be so reduced as to lose its hydro-static See also:function and become subservient to a sensory organ, its See also:outer exposed See also:surface being connected with the skin by a meatus between the bands of muscle, and conveying the thermobarometrical impressions to the auditory nerves. Loaches are known in some parts of See also:Germany as " Wetterfisch." LOAD; LODE. The O.E. lad, from which both these words are derived, meant "way," " See also:journey," "See also:conveyance," and is cognate with Ger. Leite. The See also:Teutonic See also:root is also seen in the O. See also:Tent. laidjan, Ger. leiten, from which comes " to See also:lead." The meanings of the word have been influenced by a sup-posed connexion with " lade," O.E. hladan, a word common to many old branches of Teutonic See also:languages in the sense of " to See also:place," but used in See also:English principally of the placing of See also:cargo in a See also:ship, hence " See also:bill of See also:lading," and of emptying liquor or fluid out of one See also:vessel into another; it is from the word in this sense that is derived " ladle," a large See also:spoon or See also:cup-like See also:pan with a See also:long handle. The two words, though etymologically one, have been differentiated in meaning, the See also:influence of the connexion with " lade " being more marked in " load"than in " lode," a vein of See also:metal ore, in which the See also:original meaning of " way " is clearly marked. A " load " was originally a " See also:carriage," and its Latin See also:equivalent in the Promptorium Parvul arum is vectura. From that it passed to that which is laid on an See also:animal or vehicle, and so, as an amount usually carried, the word was used of a specific quantity of anything, a unit of See also:weight, varying with the locality and the commodity. A " load " of See also:wheat=4o bushels, of See also:hay=36 trusses. Other meanings of " load " are: in See also:electricity, the See also:power which an See also:engine or See also:dynamo has to furnish; and in See also:engineering, the weight to be supported by a structure, the "permanent load " being the weight of the structure itself, the " See also:external load " that of anything which may be placed upon it.

End of Article: LOACH

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
LO6N 		[next]
LOAF

Site © 2006 - Net Industries