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CLASS

HOOK

ACCESSION No.

Form 16

THE LIBRARY

OF

THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA

PRESENTED BY

PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND
MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID

THE

BRITISH CYCLOPEDIA

NATURAL HISTORY.

THE

BRITISH CYCLOPEDIA

NATURAL HISTORY:

COMBINING

A SCIENTIFIC CLASSIFICATION OF ANIMALS, PLANTS,

AND MINERALS ;

A POPULAR VIEW OF TUKIR HABITS, ECONOMY, AND STRUCTURE.

THK VARIOUS ARTICLES ARE WRITTEN EXPRESSLY FOR THIS WORK

BY AUTHORS EMINENT IN THEIR PARTICULAR DEPARTMENT.

THK WHOLE ARRANGED AND EDITED

BY CHARLES F. PARTINGTON,

PHOFKSSOR OF MECHANICAL PHILOSOPHY, AUTHOR OK VARIOt'S WORKS ON NATURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL

/^"^HILOSOPHY, &C. <^

COMPLETE IN ~TTIREE VOLUMES.

SECOND VOLUME.

LONDON:
PUBLISHED BY ORK & SMITH, AMEN CORNER, PATERNOSTER-ROW.

MDCCCXXXVI.

LONDON:

BRADBURY AND EVANS, PRINTERS,
WHITEFRIARS.

THE

BRITISH CYC LOPPED I

CETONIID^E (MacLeay). A family of cole-
opterous insects, belonging to the section Pentamera,
and to the sub-section Lamellicornes, forming a por-
tion of the great Linnaean genus Scarabceus, and
corresponding with the section Melitophila of the
Regne Animal. The body is depressed, generally
oval, and gaily coloured ; the head and thorax seldom
cornuted ; the thorax ovate-quadrate, or suborbi-

The Rose-chaffer in its different shapes,
cular ; a corneous plate (forming portion of the sides
of the meso-thorax, greatly developed,) occupies the
space between the posterior and lateral margins of
the thorax, and the external base of the elytra. The
elytra are generally shorter than the body, the
extremity of which is consequently exposed ; the
sternum is often prolonged into a point, thus resem-
bling the Buprestidce; the scutellum is generally
distinct, and the tarsi are provided with equal sized
simple claws ; the antennae are ten jointed, the club
being composed of three joints. The structure of
the mouth, which affords so complete an idea of the
nature of the food of insects, is here remarkable. The
upper lip and jaws, instead of being horny, as in the
majority of beetles, are reduced to thin membranous
plates, incapable of gnawing ; the maxilhp are also
terminated by a very hairy lobe, in the shape of a
pencil, without horny teeth, and are only furnished
with a single palpus. Now, on comparing this
description with the figure of the under jaw of a pre-
dacious beetle, given in our article CARABID^., the
difference will be perceived to be very striking. In
NAT. HIST. — Vol.. II.

the latter, the structure indicates strong biting and
lacerating powers ; but in the Cetonia:, the formation
will serve only for lapping up vegetable juices, and
we accordingly find that some of the species prefer
the sap which flows from the wounds of trees, whilst
others sip, with evident delight, the nectar of flowers.

These insects are distinguished from the family of
cock-chaffers (Melolonthida:}, by the maxillae not being
terminated by several robust teeth as in the latter, by
the upper lip being concealed by the clypeus, and by
the antennae, which are terminated only by a three-
jointed fan.

The green rose-chaffer ( Cetonia auratd) is one of
the commonest, as well as one of the most beautiful,
of our British beetles. It is found, very abundantly,
during the summer months, especially in gardens,
and frequenting the flowers of the rose, elder, peonv,
&(•„ We have also noticed that it is extremely
partial to the privet, having observed a hedge of that
tree, in the neighbourhood of Fulham, completely
swarming with them. They fly well, with a consider-
able humming noise, during the hottest part of the day.
Tliis species is of a fine golden green colour, very
shining above, and of a bright copper colour beneath ;
the wing covers are ornamented, near the tips, with
numerous transverse narrow white markings. Ac-
cording to Latreille, these insects do not attack the
essential parts of flowers, contenting themselves with
merely sucking the honey from the bottom of the
corolla. However, this may be, it appears that
another species of the genus, (the Cetonia hirtd), is
very injurious to the flowers of the apricot in Malta —
an account of its ravages having been published by
M. St. John, in the Magazine of Natural History,
No. XXIII. Of this insect, which the Maltese call
Bouzuff, and the English inhabitants the Botany Bay,
this author observes, " After he has filled himself, he
retires under ground till the March apricot blossoms,
when he emerges, and I am, for two months, obliged
to have people employed solely to pick him off the
blossoms, of which he readily eats the nectary, and
having eaten one he goes to the next ; he is very
active, and flies like a bee. When the roses are in
blossom, these beasts are so fond of them, that you
may take twenty out of one flower, and in ten
minutes as many more — a dark-coloured flower they
never touch." Upon the commencement of this
passage we would, however, observe, that it would
therefrom be naturally inferred, that the writer sup-
posed either that the animal maintained the same form
on emerging in March, as it possessed on retiring
under ground, or, at least, that the grub of the cetonia
A

CEYLONITE — CHvETODON.

had filled itself (it is not stated with what) in an
exposed manner above ground, then retired into the
earth, from whence it emerged in the perfect state in
March. Neither of these ideas would, however, be
correct, because the perfect cetouia only appears
above ground for a short time in spring and summer,
retiring thither again tor the purpose alone of deposit-
ing her eggs, which is"the last act of her existence.
Moreover, the grubs of the cetonia do not feed above
ground, but in rotten timber and wood ; and, indeed,
it is remarkable that the larva and pupa of the com-
mon rose-chatfer are often found under ground in ants'
nests, where, it would seem, they support themselves
by feeding upon the bits of wood of which the nests
are composed, and without being attacked by their
hostile hosts. From this circumstance they are called,
ui some countries, the king of the ants. After remain-
ing two or three years in the larva state, they may
be considered as full grown, when the larva makes a
cocoon of bits of sticks, giuten, &c., in whir*" it
becomes an inactive pupa, and from which, in the
following summer, it emerges.

Some difference of opinion exists as to the food of
the larva of these insects ; some authors supposing
that they feed upon the earth in which they live,
whilst others state that they attack the roots of living
plants ; and by some it is affirmed, that in this state
they scarcely do ai>" mischief to plants, feeding upon
putrescent wood.

This family, which corresponds with Latreille's
section Mcliiophili, is divisible into three sections.
First, the Trie/rides, having the sternum not produced
into a point, the thoracic lateral scales not developed,
and the lower jaws not concealed by the chin. Here
belong the British genera Trichius, Gnorimus, and
Valgus,w\& some others proposed by Mr. Kirby in the
Zoological Journal, and by Messrs. Gory and Per-
cheron in their very beautiful Monographic des
Cetoines, now in course of publication. In this first
section we possess but four British species, which
have been until recently placed in the genus Tiichius,
but the diversity of their habits sufficiently warrants
their separation. Thus the beautiful Trichius fasdatus
is always found upon flowers, whilst the Gnorimus
variabilis not only passes its larva state within the
bodies of decayed oak trees, but is found, on arriving
at the perfect state, on the trunks of such trees.
The Valgus hemipterus, on the contrary, is commonly
found on the ground, where it creeps but slowly.
This, and some North American species, are dis- !
tinguished by the horny spear-shaped ovipositor at
the extremity of the body, which evidently is employed
by them to bore a hole in the earth for the reception
of their eggs.

The second section, Go/iatfudes, is distinguished ;
from the preceding by the large size of the mentum '
which conceals the lower jaws. Here belong various
exotic genera, of whose habits nothing is known,
including, however, some of the largest and most
beautiful species of lamellicorn insects.

The third section, Cetoniides, have the sternum
pointed, and the lateral thoracic plates developed.
Here Belongs the British genus Cetonia (containing
two British species) and various other exotic genera.
CEYLONITE. A mineral which derives its
name from Ceylon, to which island it was originally
supposed to be exclusively confined. It is now,
however, found in considerable quantities in the
rocky beds of the Rhine, and in several volcanic

districts. This mineral is distinguished from SPINEL,
which see, by its semi-metallic lustre, inferior hard-
ness, greater specific gravity,and inferior transparency.
When it occurs in grains, it is apt to be confounded
with tourmaline ; but its semi-metallic lustre, greater
specific gravity, and its not becoming electric by
heating, distinguish it from that mineral.

CH^EROPOTAMUS. A name given by Cuvier
to a genus of fossil pachydermata found in the
gypsum in the neighbourhood of Paris, where it
accompanies the remains of the anoplotheria and
palaeotheria, but is of much rarer occurrence than
either of these. But little of this animal has been
found, excepting the teeth and some parts of the
head. The incisors (if there were any) have not
hitherto been discovered. The canine tooth in the
lower jaw is pointed, and tolerably large, and an
j empty space occurs between it and the first rnolar-
tooth, which is conical, pointed, and slightly com-
pressed, but by no means trenchant ; it has two
thick roots, which separate as they enter the alveolus.
The second molar is rather more compressed, having
also two roots ; and behind its points, which are
blunt, are two other points much lower, and scarcely
projecting, which form a second lobe. Two teeth
follow, which are tuberculated, having four principal
tubercles on the coronal, which is nearly rectangular ;
two smaller tubercles occur in the middle of the
others, and there are some other inequalities about
their bases. These teeth resemble very closely the
third and fourth molar teeth of the babyroussa, and,
generally speaking, teeth of this description indicate
an animal of the swine family ; but no known animal
of this kind has the first molar of this conical form,
and the pecari alone has a canine tooth as small as
the chaeropotamus, and besides is a much smaller
animal than this appears to have been.

From these and other fragments, Cuvier was led
to the conclusion, that the plaster quarries contain
the remains of an animal approximating more nearly
to the genus Porcus, than either the anoplothetium,
or the palaeotherium, which however differed in many
particulars from any species of swine now existing.
He offers as a conjecture, that the dichobunes, whose
feet so nearly resemble those of swine, approached
very nearly to this new genus, and possibly formed
the link between it and the anoplotheria, properly so
called. But one species (the Parisiensis) has hitherto
been noticed.

CH^ETODON— bristle-tooth. A genus of spinous
finned fishes, belonging to Cuvier's sixth family of the
division, or those with scales on the fins. They
obtain their name from the very peculiar form of the
teeth, which are long, slender, and bristle shaped,
ranged in several rows, and bearing some resemblance
to brushes. Their mouth is very small ; their dorsal
and anal fins are covered with scales, not easily dis-
tinguishable from those on the back. They are
exceedingly numerous in the warm seas, and many of
them are so gay in their colours, that they are sought
after with some avidity by collectors, as cabinet fish.
Their intestines are long and large, with numerous
long but slender caeca. The air-bladder is very large.
They are usually found near reefs and rocky shores ;
La Cepede has enumerated forty-two species. Their
flesh is excellent food, and they are much sought after
by the sailors. They are remarkable for their form, and
the brilliancy and variety of their colours. The limits
by which the different species are separated are ill

C H M T O D O N.

defined, so that much confusion prevails in their
nomenclature. They ;ill inhabit ihe seas of tropical
countries, and were unknown or disregarded by the
ancients. The skeletons of some species have been
found, along1 with other ruiiio of the animal kingdom,
in the strata at Mount l.ulca. La Cepede particularly
mentions the remains of the C. vespcrtilio and term.
The (,'. wargiiKthtii appears to prefer the mouths of
rivers, is very common at the Antilles, and its rlesh is
good. The flesh of the C. macrnlepidotus, a native of
the East indies, i's said, in point of delicacy, to resem-
ble the sole. But the most extraordinary species is
the C. roxtmtns, a native of the fresh waters of India.
Dr. Shaw, after informing us that its prey consists of
the smaller kinds of insects, says, " When it observes
one of these, either hovering over the water or seated
on some aquatic plant, it shoots against it from its
tuberous snout a drop of water, with so sure an aim,
as generally to lay it dead, or at least stupified, on the
surface. In shooting at a sitting insect, it is commonly
observed to approach within the distance of from six
to four inches, before it c:;plodes the water. When kept
in a state of confinement in a large vessel of water, it
is said to afford high entertainment by its dexterity in
this exercise ; since, if a fly or other insect be fastened
to the edge of the vessel, the fish immediately perceives
it, and continues to shoot at it with such admirable
skill, as very rarely to miss the mark."

In whatever part of the world they are found, these
fishes are equally remarkable for their singular forms,
their brilliant colours, and their great activity. They
are so remarkable in these respects, that they have
sometimes been described as occupying a similar
place in the tropical seas to that which the parrots
occupy in the tropical forests ; and though, as is the
case with all fishes, their colours fade much more after
death than those of birds ; they perhaps excel the
parrots in brilliancy while they are alive. All their
colours ha>e a metallic lustre, and though some of them
are of one very intense colour, as for instance golden
yellow, ultra-marine blue, or rich bronze, when the
' *h is at rest, yet, when it moves, they are all iride-
scent and sparkle with a gem-like lustre. They are
also exceedingly numerous, both in species and indi-
viduals, and as they keep near the surface, anc
frequently spring into the air, they have a very
brilliant effect. The variety of them is, indeed, so
great, tnat they have hitherto set description at defiance
and a mere list of them would occupy too much space
in a work of this kind. Cuvier divides them into
several sub-genera, of which, and one or two of the
leading species, we shall give very short notices.

I. CH^TODONS properly called. These have the
body more or less elliptic, the spmous and soft rays o
the fins are continued in a curve which is not very
uniform ; the muzzle is differently produced in differ
ent species ; and in some of them the gill-flap is armec
with a small tooth. The spines of the dorsal are
sometimes very much produced. Most of the species
of this sub-genus inhabit the eastern tropical seas
The following are some of the principal genera : —

Chtetodon stria I us, this species is sometimes callec
the zebra, on account of its stripes. It has the heac
and gill-cover armed with the same scales as the back
two openings to each nostril, the vent much nearer the
head than the tail, the caudal fin is rounded. Its
general colours are : — the ground a beautiful yellow
with four or five transverse bands of brown on the
sides, and the pectoral fins black. It is one of the

argest species, and also plentiful ; and its flesh, which
s white, firm, and well flavoured, is much sought after.

Choi todou nnimucidatiis. This species is sometimes
called the black spot ; its distinguishing characters are,
he tail forked, a black band crossing the nape, inclini-
ng the eyes, and extending down to the gill-covers,
and a single large spot on each side of the back. It
s found principally in the North Pacific, toward the
Japan and Philippean islands.

Chcetodon capistratm. This species has the tail
rounded, the black band on the head straighter, and
the black spots on the back surrounded with white. It
is found in the same seas with the former species.

Those which we have mentioned are but a very
few of the species or varieties of this abundant and in-
teresting sub-genus ; but the differences, though con-
spicuous enough, are not very important, as they are
almost wholly differences of colour only.

II. CHKLMONS. This sub-genus has been separated
by Cuvier from the chsetodons properly so called, in
consequence of the peculiar form of the muzzle, which
is slender, very much elongated, and has some resem-
blance to a whistle. The known species are inhabitants
close in shore, and are understood to subsist chiefly
upon air insects.

ChcEtodon rostratus. This is a very beautiful species,
the ground colour being golden and silvery in alternate
bands, with an ocellated spot, black in the middle and
surrounded with white, immediately in the rear of the
dorsal fin; this is the species formerly alluded to as
being dexterous in shooting flies. In consequence of
the beauty of its colours, and the liveliness of its action,
it is often kept in vases by the people of the east, in the
same manner as gold fishes are kept in this country.

Another species with the muzzle still more elongated,
and of a lemon yellow colour with some black spots,
has been described as 'inhabiting the South Sea.

III. HENIOCHUS — Coachmen. This sub-genus get
their common name from one long filament proceeding
from the dorsal fin, and sometimes extending to twice
the length of the body. The form of this filament is
not unlike that of the cord of a coachman's whip.
The following is one of the principal species : —

Cheetodon macrolepidotus. This is a large species,
being sometimes met with of the weight of twenty-five
pounds. Its flesh is very much esteemed ; and its
colours are brilliant, being very splendent, silvery in
the greater part of the body, arid crossed by two
brown bands on each side. Several other species of
this sub-genus are mentioned by systematic writers,
but the accounts of them are not a little confused.

IV. EPHIPPUS — Horsemen. The principal charac-
ter of these is a deep notch between the spinous and
soft parts of the dorsal fin. The spinous part is without
scales. This division is found both on the American
coast and the east, and the species are very numerous.

V. HOI.OCANTHUS. The leading character of these
is a large spine on the angle of the gill-flap, the edge
of which is also toothed. Like the preceding sub-
genus, they are found both in the Atlantic and Pacific.
The species is very numerous, their colours are beauti-
fully arranged, and they are much esteemed as food.

VI. POMACANTHUS. These have the body more
elevated, and their dorsal fin rises higher than in most
of the species. They have been met with only on
the American shores.

VII. PLATAX. These have their teeth closely set,
the first row being trenchant, and each consisting of
three points. Their bodies are very much compressed

A -2

C H A F F E R — C H A L C I D I D M.

or flattened sideways (hence their name). Their fins
are very much elevated and covered with scales, so
like the rest of the body, that they seem a continuation
of it. There are a few small spines on the anterior
edge of the dorsal, and the ventral fins are very long.
The height of the fish, seen sideways, exceeds the
length. There are several species of them, all natives
of the Indian seas ; and they are called sea-bats, and
other fanciful names by the sailors. Some of them
are found in the Red Sea.

CHAFFER. The common English name whereby
various species of beetles are called, evidently adopted
from the German Kafer, which is, however, employed
as synonymous with the whole of the coleopterous
insects to which we have applied the name of beetle.
In Germany, however, from the great richness of the
language, a distinct name is applied to every species
of coleoptera ; but in England, owing to the poverty
of our tongue, and the small degree of attention
hitherto paid to the subject, but very few insects have
obtained vernacular names ; and amongst these we
find the term chaffer almost exclusively applied to
beetles belonging to the Linnaean genus Scnrabceus.
Thus the Melolontha vulgaris (Scar abacus vulgaris of
Linnaeus) is commonly called the cock-chaffer, whilst
the Cetonia aurata (Scarabceus auratus, Linnaeus) has
received the name of the rose-chaffer, &c. Of these,
the first-named insect is by far the most obnoxious,
from its destructive powers, whilst in the larva state,
to grass, &c., devouring the roots. As, however, the
name chaffer is not exclusively applied to this insect,
it will be more convenient to defer its account until
we arrive at its systematic place, under the article
MELOLONTHID.'E. See also COLEOPTEUA.

CHAILLETIACEJ3. A natural order of dico-
tyledonous plants, allied to TerebinthacecE, Rosacea,
and AquilarinecE, containing three genera, and seven
known species. Its essential botanical characters
are : calyx persistent, five-cleft, coloured within,
with an imbricated aestivation ; petals five, alternate
with the segments of the calyx, and arising from the
bottom of it ; stamens five, alternate wiih the petals ;
anthers roundish ; ovary free, hairy, from two to
three-celled ; styles two or three, short, free or
coalescing ; fruit dry, two or three-celled drupes ;
seeds solitary, without albumen ; embryo thick, with
a short, superior radicle, and fleshy cotyledons.

The plants belonging to this order are trees or
shrubs, with alternate, stipulate, ovate leaves, and
axillary white Mowers. They are natives of tropical
regions, and are found in South America, and in the
islands of Madagascar and Timor. The genera of
the order are ChaUlctia, Lciicosia, and Tapura.

Chailletia Toxicaria, or rat-bane, is a branching
shrub, from six to twelve feet high, which grows on
the mountains near Sierra Leone. It bears small
white flowers, and yields a fruit the size of a pigeon's
egg, which possesses poisonous properties. The
kernel is used by the negroes for poisoning rats and
mice. In other respects the properties of the order
are not known.

CHALCEDONY. A mineral much in request
in ancient times, and which appears to have derived
its name from Chalcedon, a miner who first disco-
vered it. Its basis is usually of a semi-opaque
character ; and if we may judge from the descriptions
given by Pliny and some other of the early authors,
it would rather appear that the gems they describe
under this name were of a mare beautiful character

than those we now employ. There are four woll-
known forms of the chalcedony ; the first resembling
a common flint, and is usually found in masses of
two or three inches in diameter. Under this head we
may place the oriental chalcedonies, which are the
only ones of any value. They are found in vast
numbers on the banks of the rivers in all parts of the
East Indies. The second form is of a milky colour,
and is of little value. It is principally found in South
America. The third form is exceedingly dark and
cloudy, and was known to the ancients by the name
of smoky jasper. It is at the present time much used
in Germany, and worked into the handles of knives.
The fourth kind is usually of a yellow or red colour.
It comes from the East Indies, and the Italians
employ great quantities in the manufacture of their
rosaries.

The dendritic chalcedonies, or rnocko gems, are
much prized as ornamental stones. The arborisations
are black, red, brown, or green. The black are the
most common, and most distinct ; the red, on the
contrary, are rarer, and are less distinct, and are
named corallines, from the resemblance of the den-
dritic delineations to coral ; and the green are rare,
and much esteemed. These arborisations appear in
some cases to be owing to iron, in others to man-
ganese and iron. Dutens, Von Moll, Daubenton,
Blumenbach, and Dr. Maculloch, maintain that many
of them are of a true vegetal >le nature. Dutens
says, that if the plants contained in chalcedony are
extracted, and the fragments thrown on burning
charcoal, a bituminous smell is exhaled ; and Von
Moll maintains, that chalcedony sometimes contains
brown and green moss.

Lenz affirms, that the chalcedony found in the
amygdaloid of Deuxponts, contains musci of different
kinds, such as lichen rangiferinus, confervas, and
byssi. And Bliirncnbach says, in a letter to Baron
Von Moll, that though he had hitherto disbelieved
;he occurrence of vegetable bodies in the dendritic
variety of chalcedony, named mocko-stone, yet he
must now admit that it does sometimes contain
3lants, apparently of the nature of conferva. He
observed these in specimens from Iceland and
Catherinenburg. The same celebrated naturalist
maintains, that he found, in the interior of an agate,
the fructification of an unknown plant, somewhat
resembling the Sparganium erectnm,

CHALCIDIDjE. A family of very minute
ivmenopterous insects, belonging to the section
Pupivora of Latreille, and forming Liunaeus's section
Ichnenmones minuti. This family is distinguished
)y the wings being almost entirely destitute of
nervures, and the antennas, which are strongly
;lbo\ved at the extremity of the long basal joint, are
hort, and composed of not more than thirteen joints.
These minute creatures are amongst the most erlective
agents to be found amongst the insect tribes employed
n the parasitic destruction of their larger brethren,
he females being unceasingly employed in searching
or and depositing their eggs in the bodies of other
nsects, almost every order being alike subject to their
attacks. It is, however, to the destruction of the
arvse of lepidopterous insects that their labours are
or the most part devoted. A very common instance
of their proceedings may be observed in the chrysalis
of the nettle-toitoiseshell butterfly (Vanessa urtica-),
which is often to be seen, as it were, bored through
with numerous small holes, whence, instead of the

CHALK.

perfect butterfly, an infinity of minute and beautiful
little creatures have escaped. This circumstance
seems not a little to have perplexed the old naturalists.
How a creature, which ordinarily produced a beauti-
ful butterfly, should, at certain times, produce myriads
of other smaller insects, was one of those hidden
secrets of the creation which they knew not how to
fathom ; and we find even the great Swammerdam
mentioning it as " a thing very wonderful, that 545
flies of the same species were produced from the
chrysalides of four butterflies, so that the life and
motion of these four creatures seems to have transmi-
grated into those of the 545 others ;" and even the
philosophical Ray at first thought that it arose from
some defect or weakness in the caterpillar which
would prevent the perfect development of the but-
terfly ; and therefore, in order that the maxim,
" Natura nihil frustra fecit," should not be defeated,
she stopped short, and formed them into more im-
perfect animals. And in the argument which he sub-
sequently used in his admirable work, " The Wisdom
of God in the Creation," against the doctrine of
equivocal generation, we find the same learned author
thus expressing himself: — " You will say, How conies
this to pass? Must we not here necessarily have
recourse to a spontaneous generation? I answer,
No. The most that can be inferred from hence is a
transmutation of species. One insect may, instead of
generating another of its own kind, beget one of a
different. But I can by no means grant this. I do
believe that these flies do either cast their eggs upon
the very bodies of the fore-mentioned caterpillars, or
upon the leaves, upon which they feed, all in a string,
while those hatching eat their way into the body,
where they are nourished till they are come to their
full growth. Or it may be, the fly may, with the
hollow and sharp tube of her womb, punch and per-
forate the very skin of the ercua, and cast her eggs
into its body. The discovery of the manner of the
generation of these sorts of insects I earnestly recom-
mend to all ingenious naturalists as a matter of great
moment. For, if this point be but cleared, and it be
demonstrated that all creatures are generated unequi-
vocally of parents of their own kind, and that there
is no such thing as spontaneous generation in the
world, one main prop and support of Atheism is
taken away, and their strongest hold demolished,
they cannot then exemplify their foolish hypothesis
of the generation of man and other animals at first,
by the like of frogs and insects at this present day."
In what a striking point of view do the arguments of
this good man appear, now that it is known that the
suppositions upon which some of them were founded
so completely correspond with what takes place in
nature ; the only part of them not being found to
be strictly correct being the idea, that these parasites
laid their eggs on leaves which might be frequented
by the caterpillars, an idea evidently derived from the
general and incorrect principles to which the pre-
sence of blight is usually attributed, and to which we
have alrea.dy alluded in our article upon that subject.
These little animals, of which we probably possess
1500 British species, are highly beautiful in their
form, and their colours vie with those of the humming
birds. We find gold and purple, copper and green,
intermingled in the most elegant order, thus forming
exquisite microscopic objects, whilst many of them are
highly singular in their appearance. In fact, they
appear to be the counterparts of the cercopides

amongst the homoptera, possessing, like them, the
power of leaping to a very great distance, although
their legs are very seldom incrassated. This, how-
ever, is the case in the typical genus Chalcis, of which
we possess several British species, but which, singularly
enough, do not possess saltatorial powers, although
their posterior femora are very large. The genera,
of which the investigation has been greatly neglected
until recently, are very numerous.

CHALK. This universally diffused substance is
too well known to need any particular description of
its external characteristics. We have manifest proofs,
in our own country, that this deposit must have
experienced very considerable changes in its geolo-
gical arrangement by the action of water ; for the vast
beds of gravel which are still employed in the formation
of roads, &c., have evidently been rounded by attrition,
after their separation from the chalk by which they
were originally surrounded. In England, chalk ex-
tends with little interruption from the coast of York-
shire to that of Devonshire, while a series of hills
extends from Wiltshire to the coast of Kent ; and a
branch from the centre of the latter ranges to the
Sussex coast near Brighton. The Isle of Wight basin
comprehends the district between Newport and that
island on the north, Brighton on the east, and Dor-
chester on the west. In Europe, the chalk extends
through France and Poland into Russia, and thence
to the south of Sweden, is said to occur near the
mouth of the Elbe, thence to Flamborough Head in
Yorkshire, and thus completing a circuit which may
be termed the chalk basin of Europe.

Chalk forms, by its extent and distinctive cha-
racters, one of the most remarkable mineral features
of England. It would seem as if a considerable inter-
val of time had elapsed between the completion of the
original chalk beds and the deposit of others upon it ;
for the surface of the chalk at its boundary with the
superincumbent layers, bears marks of having under-
gone, during that period, a partial destruction after it
was consolidated. There is spread over it a stratum
of debris, consisting chiefly of flints washed out of its
mass. Moreover, the surface is irregularly worn into
numerous cavities, of which many are deep and filled
up with the same debris. At the junction of the
chalk with the sand and gravel of the plastic clay
formation, deep indentations are observed on its sur-
face, which are sections of long furrows and cavities,
apparently produced by the action of agitated water
before it was protected by the covering of clay. The
enormous quantity of chalk flint pebbles, completely
| rolled and rounded, which are found in the plastic
| clay to the south of London, show that the chalk
I itself must have been consolidated before that partial
| wasting of its upper strata by water. To this hydraulic
• action, Cuvier and Brongniart ascribe the irregular
1 furrows and ridges on the surface of the French chalk,
j and the Mucdon breccia. The immense scale on
; which this destruction was carried forward may be
| inferred from the vast extent of the English pebble
| beds. That a long period of time probably intervened
between the deposition of the chalk and of its clay
coating is rendered probable also by the total differ-
! ence of the organic remains found in the two strata..
The band of chalk which stretches across the east-
ern and southern counties of England, from Yorkshire
to Dorsetshire, is to be regarded merely as the west-
ern edge of a most extensive tract of this formation.
Stretching from the Thames to the Don, the chalk

C H A M A — C H A M O R C H I S.

occupies the interior area of the great central basin
of Europe. This concavity is bounded on the north
by the primitive mountain districts of Russian Fin-
land, Sweden, Norway, and Scotland ; on the west
bv the transition and primitive chains of Cumberland,
Wales, Devonshire, and Britany ; on the south by
the primitive mountains branching from the Cevennes
in the centre of France, the Alps, with the various
grand groups of Germany, as the Black Forest, the
Rhingau and the Vosges, the Bohemian, Thuringian,
Saxon, Silesian, and Carpathian mountains ; on the
east by the Ural chain and its branches. The chalk
does not rest on the mountains themselves, but within
the area which they circumscribe at a certain distance
from them, an interior area may be traced, over which
the substratum of chalk is believed to extend.

Cuvier and Bronerniart represent the chalk deposit
as forming a sterile soil, and adduce Champagne as a
proof of its being in some cases uninhabitable. In
our own country the population of the chalk district
is certainly less dense than that of many other parts,
but it is usually habitable, and to a certain extent
productive. Indeed we may say that the chalk
valleys are often in this country extremely fertile, of
which the Kent and Surrey hop grounds, and the
downs for pasturing sheep, afford examples. Beech
is the tree best fitted for a chalky soil. The Chiltern
Hills, in Oxfordshire, were anciently covered with
woods and thickets of beech, which afforded harbour
to banditti. The lower beds of the chalk formation
are, with few exceptions, filled with water, which
percolating from above is arrested by the subsoil of
blue clay. Thus are formed the springs and rivulets
which issue near the foot of almost every chalk hill.

It is remarkable that America, both South and
North, seems to be destitute of chalk, Mr. Maclure
asserting positively that it does not exist on that
continent. Chalk is well known to have an earthy
dull fracture, but it occasionally concretes into a hard
limestone. This compact chalk has been used in
building. As tins formation is composed throughout
of a series of homogeneous beds of a tender earthy
limestone, it does not admit of stratiform sub-
divisions.

But the numerous beds of nodular flints, which lie
alternately distributed through the greater part of its
mass, form one of its most curious and essential fea-
tures. They are constantly present in all the upper
portions of the formation, but are frequently absent
in the lower ; affording a criterion by which the two
may be distinguished. Hence the meaning of the
terms upper and lower chalk.

The uses of this mineral are various. The more
compact kinds are employed as building-stones, when
they are used either in a rough state, or are sawn into
blocks of the requisite size and shape ; it is burnt into
quicklime, and used for mortar in different countries ;
it is also employed in great quantities in the polishing
of glass and metals, and whitening the roofs of rooms
in the state of whitening ; in constructing moulds to
cast metal in ; by carpenters and other artisans to
mark with. When perfectly purified, and mixed with
vegetable colours, it forms a kind of pastil colour ;
thus, with litmus, turmeric, saffron, and sap-green, it
forms durable colours. The Vienna white known to
artists is perfectly purified chalk. It is also used by
starch-makers and chemists to dry precipitates on,
for which it is peculiarly qualified, on account of the
remarkable facility with which it absorbs water.

CHAM A. Lamarck, in constituting this gcuus,
has separated from the Linnaean arrangement al.1
such shells as have only a thick oblique transverse
tooth, resembling a lengthened callosity, in general
crenulated or grooved, fitting into a corresponding
cavity in the lower valve. The shell is inequivalve,
irregular, heavy, rough, scaly, or spinous, having the
faculty of affixing itself to other bodies, or to each
other in groups, by means of its lower valves. The
apices are unequal and recurved ; valves with two
distinct distant lateral muscular impressions; ligament
external and inserted. The characters of these shells,
in some respects, ally them to the genus Die-eras, and
in others to the genus Etkerut. They are, most of
them, elegant shells, some with delicate waved or
foliaceous valves, some with spines, and pleasingly
coloured with yellow, pink, and brown. The animal
possesses a suborbicular body, terminated on the
upper side with a sort of hook-mantle slightly opened,
the foot terminated at its extremity by a portion
much narrower than the base ; the superior lobes of
the branchia very short. The following subdivision
of this genus, though not exactly in unison with those
of Lamarck, appear to us natural and well defined : —
1st, The species that are irregular, inequivalve, with-
out lunulae, adhering by the left and largest valve-,
the two summits turning more or less in a spiral form,
the left summit more prolonged than the right, as in
the Chama Lazarus, and in the same division, those
whose summits are prolonged nearly equally, as in the
C. gryptundes. 2nd, The species subequivalve, sub-
regular, with a distinct lunula, the summits but
slightly spiral, adhering by either valve, as in the
C. arcinella. 3rd, The species which are subregular,
half-heart shaped, very inequivalved, the right valve
much excavated, the left valve operculated, one conical
cardinal tooth, smooth on one side, and fitting into a
deep groove on the other valve ; ligament as if double,
the internal portion much thicker than the external,
the muscular impression anterior and very long, as in
the Chama hemicardium.

This genus is extremely difficult to characterise by
any system of teeth or hinge, for each species presents
a particular modification, nevertheless, the last division
named is so peculiarly different from the others, that
without any reference to the animal, it might well
form a distinct genus.

These shells are found in all the seas but those of
the north ; in the southern seas they are more numer-
ous than elsewhere. Eight or ten species are known
in a fossil state. They are classed in the third
class, Acephalopftora ; third order, Lamcllibranchiata ;
seventh family, Camacea.

CHAMvEROPS (Linnaeus). A genus of palms,
commonly called the fan-palm. Linntean class and
order Polygamia Diaecia; natural order Palnue. (ie-
neric character : flowers polygamous ; spatha double,
leathery, interior side bursting obliquely ; florest
sitting and bractiate; calyx three-cleft; corolla of
three petals ; filaments dilated at the base, and con-
nected; stigma three, awl-shaped ; berries three, one-
seeded. This palm thrives best in sandv loam, and
requires moist heat. It is found in the south of
Europe, and all warm countries.

CHAMORCHIS (Richard). A single plant
forming a new genus, formerly called Opkrys Alpina
by Linnaeus. Like other orchises it has tuberous
roots, which are liable to be lost if not planted in
turf, and kept in a station like their natural one.

CHAMPACA — CHARADRUS.

CHAMPACA. The specific, as well as the
Malayan name of the Michdia, found at Malacca
;md other places in that part of India. It is a lofty
ti in her tree, and highly ornamental from its numerous
yellow flowers, with which the spray is covered in
autumn. It belongs to Magnoliacece.

CHARACEAE— Chara family. A natural order
of acotyledonous or cellular plants, containing one or
two genera, and upwards of twenty species. They
are aquatic, leafless, submersed plants, consisting of a
central axis, from which proceed numerous whorled
branches. The axis is composed of parallel tubes,
which are either transparent and flexible, or encrusted
with calcareous matter, so as to become opaque and
fragile. The branches, or leaves, as they used to be
called, are smaller tubes of a similar nature. The
organs of reproduction in this family of plants are
very obscure, but, according to the most recent
observations, they appear to be of two kinds.

1. Globules, of a reddish or orange colour, the
coats of which are composed of triangular scales,
which are at first nicely fitted to each other, and
afterwards separate, when the plant reaches maturity.
On the margin these scales consist of numerous
parallel, colourless, hollow tubes, containing minute
orange-coloured bodies, analogous to the sporules of
other cryptogamic plants, which are easily dispersed
whenever the globules are in any way injured. It ie
to these little bodies that the globules owe their
colour.

2. Minute, sessile, spirally striated, ovate nucules,
which are enveloped in a membrane, have frequently
five projecting points at the apex, and are filled with
minute granular bodies at first distinct, but afterwards
coalescing, and giving rise, when they germinate, only
to a single plant.

These two sets of organs, the globules and nucules,
which are found either upon the same or different
plants, were long looked upon, even by botanists of
the first eminence, such as Linnajus, Jussieu, Decan-
dolle, and Brown, as being true stamens and pistils.
Hence the plants were placed in the phaenogamic or
vascular division of vegetables, and were referred to
the classes Monandria and Atoncecia. The structure
and habits of the characea?, however, seemed to differ
so much from those of the true flowering plants, that
doubts were for a long time entertained as to the
propriety of referring them to that division of the
vegetable kingdom ; and a more careful examination
has led most botanists to believe that they ought to
be considered a distinct order of cellular vegetables.
In consequence, however, of the peculiarity of their
organisation, it is not easy to trace their affinity to
other cryptogamic tribes, and considerable difference
of opinion at present exists on the subject. Professor
Lindley considers them as allied to Conferva;, but has
placed them amongst the Musmidece, or moss-like
plants ; while Dr. Hooker, has placed them beside the
Alga or sea-weed.

The chara tribe are remarkable on account, of many
of the species emitting a very disagreeable fetid odour,
which does not seem to be dependent on the water in
which they grow.

They are generally of a dull greenish colour, and
have roots, which are usually attached to the bottom
of stagnant pools of fresh or salt water. Their stems
are delicate, slender, and sometimes jointed. They
are frequently rendered hard and britilc by encrusta-
tions of carbonate of lime, which are funned >n tin-

outside of the central tube, and are covered by a fine
transparent membrane. These encrustations are not
mere accidental deposits, depending upon the presence
of some extraneous matter in the water in which the
plants grow, but are formed by the vital energies of
the plant, and probably perform an important office
in the processes of vegetable life. The particles ot
calcareous matter, when carefully examined under a
high magnifying power, exhibit various beautiful
arrangements, at one time extending in the form of
parallel lines along the stem, and at other times
forming oval groups, which are attached to each
other like the beads of a necklace. While examining
these in the Chara vu/garis and hispida, Sir David
Brewster found that the plants became phosphorescent
when placed on heated iron, so as to display their
entire outline in the dark. He also ascertained that
each mass of calcareous matter consisted of minute
particles, which possessed double refraction, and had
regular neutral and depolarising axes.

An important and highly interesting physiological
phenomenon has been noticed in some of the chara
family by Professors Amici and Blainville. On
examining the steins of some of the species, more
especially the Chara vu/garis, they observed two liquid
currents, one ascending, the other descending, cir-
culating in the same tube, without being separated by
any partition which could insulate them. The reality
of this phenomenon was completely confirmed, by their
observing distinctly that certain molecules of one of
the currents, being attracted by the other moving in
an opposite directing, were sometimes carried along
with it. The rate of motion is stated to be about two
lines in a minute. The motion is stopped by pressure,
laceration of the tube, or by the application of a drop
or two of brandy.

The characeae are met with in all regions of the
globe, in Europe, Asia, Africa, and America, but they
are most abundant in temperate countries. Some of
the species found in Iceland are said to grow even in
the hot springs of that island.

Nucules of charas, under the name of Gyrogomits,

are found in the marl deposits of the Forfarshire

j lakes, and in the chalk of Montmartre. From these

i fossil remains, it would appear that the characeae were

formed more recently than the ferns and palms.

Trout are said to thrive well in water where charas
' grow, probably on account of these plants attracting
a great number of insects.

The characea3 do not possess any particular known
properties which would render them useful either in
a medical or economical point of view.

The only genera of the order are Chara and
Nitclla. The latter genus is said to differ from chara
in being always transparent, and free from calcareous
matter, in having a single-jointed stem, and the
globules and nucules on separate plants. These
characters are, however, by most botanists not con-
sidered sufficiently constant, and the two genera are
therefore generally described under the common
name of chara. There are eight species natives of
Britain, and of these Chara transluccns is the largest
and brightest coloured. Chara vulgaris, from its
roughness, is used, like some species of equisetum,
for scouring or polishing.

CHARADR1US — Plover. A very interesting
genus of birds, belonging to the order GralMae, of
which the details will be found under the article
PLOVEK.

8

CHARICLEA— CHEESE-HOPPER.

CHARICLEA (Stephens). A beautiful genus
of lepidopterous insects belonging to the family JVbc-
tuidte, and having for its type the rare peach blossom
moth of British collectors, Noctua Delphinii of Lin-
naeus. The anterior legs are armed at the extremity
of the shanks with two shining horny spines ; the
wings are very gaily ornamented with purple markings,
and are about an inch and a quarter in expanse.

CHARLOCK is the English name of the Sinapu
arvensis of Linnseus. It is a tetradynarnous annual,
and belongs to the natural order Cruciferee. No
weed, except the thistle perhaps, gives the English
farmer more trouble, nor causes more injury to his
crops, than this. It springs up with, and ripens seed
before the corn ; consequently much seed is scattered
on the ground by the sithe and sickle in gathering
the crop. Although an annual, it is not easily extir-
pated, as the seed will lie uninjured in the soil for
years ; and when the farmer has lost sight of it for
several consecutive seasons, it will at last come up so
abundantly, that the crop of corn will be choked by
the plant, and covered with the yellow flowers of the
charlock.

CHARLWOODIA (Sweet). A genus of orna-
mental trees, natives of New Holland and New
Zealand, named in honour of G. Charlvvood, F.L.S.,
an intelligent English botanist. Linnaean class and
order Hexandria Monogynia; natural order AsphodelecE.
Generic character : calyx bell-shaped, regularly six-
cleft, withering ; stamens inserted in the throat of
the corolla ; filaments awl-shaped, smooth ; anthers
versatile, cleft at the base ; style filiform ; stigma
three-lobed ; berry globular, three-celled ; cells full
of seeds. There are four species described ; two are
common in our collections, "one with pale purple,
another with blue flowers ; they should be kept in a
very warm greenhouse, as they are tender, or in a
cool part of a stove, and may be increased by cuttings
of the young side shoots. The cuttings must not be
deprived of their leaves, but put into pots filled with
an equal mixture of light loam, moor earth, and sand ;
which compost is also the best soil to grow them in."
Sweet.

CHAR^EAS (Stephens). A genus of lepido-

[>terous insects belonging to the family Noctuidce,
laving the wings more or less notched ; the palpi
are very short, and the antenna; of the males more or
less comb-shaped. The genus includes five British
species which vary considerably in structure, amongst
which the Pkalcena bombyx graminis, Linnaeus, or the
antler moth, is placed. This insect is exceedingly
destructive in pastures, feeding upon grass ; and it is
recorded that in Sweden, towards the middle of the
last century, its ravages were so extensive that whole
meadows appeared white and dry, as though a fire
had passed over them. In England also, at various
but uncertain periods, different parts of the country,
especially the northern counties, have suffered from
its ravages, " spots of a mile square were totally
covered by them, and the grass devoured to the
root." Mr. Wailes has recently published some
interesting observations upon this insect in the Ento-
mological Magazine, noticed upon Skiddaw : at least
fifty acres of which were so completely devastated
and the line of devastation so clearly marked, that
even from the town of Keswick the progress of the
larvae down the mountain could be distinctly noted.
Vast quantities of rooks flocked to the spot to feed
upon the delicious repast afforded by these caterpil-

lars ; but so greatly was the vegetation destroyed,
that even several years afterwards the extent of their
ravages was distinctly visible. " Of course." adds
Mr. Wailes, " the qnality of the newly-grown herbage
was materially improved, thus affording another in-
stance of indirect advantages derived irom insects ;''
and Mr. Haworth in like manner observes, " Perhaps
this apparently destructive scourge of the Swedish
pastures (though happily not of our English ones) is
of more use in the great economy of nature than we
are aware of, by preventing the almost total suffoca-
tion and consequent destruction of the flowering
plants, in giving them an occasional season in which
they may recover themselves to become the food, the
necessary food perhaps, of many insects, &c., which
would perish whenever that became extinct."

The caterpillar is of a brown colour with yellowish
streaks on the sides and back. In the month of June
it changes to a shining brown chrysalis, and the moth
appears in about a fortnight, being of a brown colour,
and having a long pale line along the upper wings
united to two large pale spots in front, and branching
behind into three oblique teeth. We have, however,
met with it later in the year, having captured it at
the middle of August, both upon the Wrekin in Shrop-
shire and Snowdon. It seems indeed to frequent
mountainous districts, and contrary to the general
habits of the family, we noticed it flying with great
velocity in the middle of the day. We mention this
because Mr. Wailes has stated some curious facts to
which it is opposed. He noticed these insects one
morning, about eight o'clock, flying in swarms over
old pastures ; on returning to the spot, a couple oi'
hours afterwards, with his fly-net, not one was to be
seen. The next morning, however, he was early on
the spot, but then also not a solitary moth was to be
seen ; at half past seven he was about to return,
" when suddenly the whole field, as far as the eye
could reach, was once more the scene of their gam-
bols, the eye became bewildered with their motions,
they were lost in the mazes of their evolutions.
Sudden, however, as their appearance had been, their
disappearance was equally so, as with one general
consent at about half past eight they again settled, and
their flight for the morning being over, scarce a soli-
tary specimen was any where to be seen. The moths
flew about three or four inches from the ground, and
apparently very seldom alighted, but threaded their
way most dexterously amongst the long culms of the
grasses."

CHAULIODUS. A genus of soft finned fishes
with abdominal fins, belonging to the pike family.
There is only one known species, an inhabitant of
the waters of America, it is of a bright green colour,
and about a foot and a half long, the muzzle is very
short, but the gape extends as far as the eyes, and
the teeth are strong and powerful, especially two
crooked ones in each jaw ; its habits, and, indeed, its
characters are very imperfectly known.

CHEESE-HOPPER or CHEESE MITE. A
small white fleshy grub of an elongated form, ofim
found in decayed cheese, and which is the larva of a
pretty two-winged fly known by the systematic name
of Piophila (Tyr&phaga, K.) casei. Of this insect
the immortal Swammerdam has left us an interesting
account, and although to unthinking persons it may
appear to be a frivolous subject of inquiry, we find
this illustrious philosopher affirming " that the limbs
and other parts of this worm are so uncommon and

C H E I L O D A C T Y L E S — C H E 1 R O P T E R A.

elegant, and contrived with so much art and design,
that it is impossible not to acknowledge them the
work of infinite power and wisdom to which nothing-
is hid, nothing impossible." It has been a common
error that these insects were bred spontaneously from
the cheese, and epicures accordingly do not hesitate
to eat them with great goiit, thinking them formed
from the best part of the cheese, whereas they are
produced from eggs deposited therein by the parent
lly. These larvae are long, cylindrical, and composed
of twelve rings, the first of which is furnished with
two small bent hooks of a black colour, which serve
not only as teeth, but for feet also, the insect having
no other organs employed as legs. The terminal
segment of the body is covered with a variety of pro-
minent tubercles and little cavities like wrinkles, of
which we shall presently see the use. In our article
CERCOPID.* we have alluded to the leaping power of
this insect, and our figure will give an idea of the
manner in which it prepares to make a spring.

1, the cheese-hopper preparing to spring.
•2, the insect's natural size.

3. 4, the fly to which it is transformed : natural size and
magnified.

When this larva prepares to leap it first erects itself
on its anus, in doing which it is greatly aided by the
prominent tubercles of the terminal ring, which enable
it to maintain an equilibrium. It then bends itself
into a circle, and having brought the head towards
the tail it stretches out the two hooks of the mouth,
fixing them into the two cavities at the extremity of
the body. It then contracts the body from a circular
to an oblong figure, the contraction extending in a
manner to every part of the body. It now suddenly
and with very great violence lets go its hold, the
noise produced by its hooks being very perceptible,
and in this manner the leap is effected, being in fact
similar to the mode employed by the salmon when
they wish to pass over a cataract or salmon leap, as
it is termed. Swammerdam saw one, whose length
did not exceed a quarter of an inch in length, leap
out of a box six inches deep, that is to a height more
than twenty-four times greater than the length of its
own body, but they will leap much higher. Here we
cannot but admire the powers given by nature to j
different creatures, and their limitations, to answer
different purposes, and not for mischief to mankind.
If for instance a power of motion, proportionally
equal to that possessed by this insect, had been given
to the serpent tribes, how much more terrible would
they not have been rendered then, than they are
with their present capabilities? A viper would throw
itself nearly a hundred feet upon the traveller, and
the rattle-snake several hundred. Swammerdam,
after giving a minute account of the external and
internal anatomy of this creature, observes, " Now let
the sharpest geniuses, and men of the greatest pene-
tiation and learning, judge if a creature on the fabric

of which there plainly appears so much art, order,
contrivance, and wisdom, nay, in which is seen the
hand itself of the Omnipotent God, could possibly be
the production of chance or rottenness." The female
fly is provided at the extremity of the body with a
very fine retractile borer wherewith she pierces the
cheese, and is thereby enabled to deposit her eggs in
the wound thus made. Shortly after \\hich the grubs
are hatched, and feeding upon the cheese cause it to
decay ; the fine powder which we perceive, and
which is so highly prized by the gourmand, being
nothing else but the excrement of these grubs, which,
when they have acquired their full size, desert the
cheese, and in three or four days they lose all motion,
grow stiff, become hard, and contract their bodies into
an oval mass not more than half their previous length,
within which the real pupa is inclosed, this insect
undergoing the coarctate kind of metamorphosis, like
the majority of dipterous insects. Alter remaining
some time in this state, the chrysalis becomes of a
black colour, and the inclosed nyrnph breaks that
part of the outer covering \\ hich defends its head into
two parts, and at the same time throws off from every
part of the body a thin and slight membrane which
it leaves within the old case. At first the wings are
scarcely perceivable, the insect, however, runs about
very quickly, and shortly afterwards the wings are by
degrees extended until they assume their full size,
when the insect is fitted for pursuing its duties, which
almost entirely consist in the reproduction of the
species. The fly is about the size of the common
domestic fly, of a shining blackish green colour, the
wings transparent and shining, and the legs varied
with ochreous and black.

CHEILODACTYLES. A genus of spitious
finned fishes, belonging to Cuvier's third family Scein-
o'ides, and bearing some resemblance to the perch
family. They have the body oblong, the mouth small,
numerous spinous rays in the dorsal fin, and the infe-
rior rays of the pectorals continued in a membrane.
There are several species, the greater number of which
are inhabitants of the eastern seas.

CHEILODIPTERA. A genus of spinous finned
fishes, belonging to the perch family. They are all
of very small size, and found in the warmer seas of
the east.

CHEIMATOBIA (Stephens). A genus of lepi-
donlerons insects, belonging to the family Gcometridfe,
and remarkable for their appearance in the winged
state in the depth of winter. Of these the type is
the Phal. geom. brumata of Linnaeus, an insect of
very plain appearance, measuring about an inch in
expanse, of an ashy brown colour, with nearly obsolete
darker waves. It is very common in the neighbour-
hood of London, and may be seen flitting about the
leafless hedges at dusk or by lamp-light, in moderate
weather.

CHEIROPTERA— winged hands. The first
family, or sub-order, of Cuvier's groat order Carnaxsiert,
or mammalia, which feed upon animal matter. Their
most remarkable characters, and the one from which
they obtain their name, is that ot'having the extremities,
the arms especially, furnished with membranes, by
means of which the animals are enabled to fiy ;
although, in a manner much more awkward than that
of birds. A particular account of the action of those
singular creatures, as well as of the habits of the lead-
ing species, has already been given in the article
BATS. Hence it will be necessary, in this phw, to

10

C H E L I F E 11 1 D K — C H E L O N E.

give only a synoptic table, for the sake of reference
to the different genera. There are two tribes in the
family, the bats properly so called, and the Hying bats
and the first admits of sub-division into two groups.
FIRST TRIBE. — Bats properly so called.
First group, chiefly animal feeders.
Genus 1, Vampires. Teeth; incisors £, canines \
grinders f. Canines in lower jaw angular, roots
touching.

Genus 2, Phyllostoma. Teeth ; incisors |, canines ?,
grinders g. Canines in lower jaw parallel.

Genus 3, Glassophagus. Teeth ; incisors £, canines \
grinders £. Canines in lower jaw parallel.

Genus 4, Morops. Teeth ; incisors •£, canines |,
grinders $. Inferior membranes verv lonir, tail of mean
length.

Genus 5, VespertUio. Teeth ; incisors $, canines
grinders |.

Genus 6, Plccotus. Teeth ; incisors $, canines *,
grinders f.

Genus 7, Nycteris. Teeth ; incisors $, canines |,
grinders |.

Genus 8, Rldnopoma. T^eth; incisors §, canines \
grinders £.

Genus 9, Molassus. Teeth, incisors jjj, canines jj
grinders £.

Genus 10, Myopterus. Teeth ; incisors §, canines |.
grinders *.

Genus 1 1, Taphazoug. Teeth ; incisors $, canines |,
grinders |

Genus 1*2, Nuctilio. Teeth; incisors \, canines *,
grinders 3.

Genus 13, Nictivorous. Teeth ; incisors |J, canines
grinders £.

Genus 14, Stenoderrna. Teeth ; incisors |, canines •»,
grinders 4 •

Genus lo, Ithinolophus. Teeth ; incisors f, canines \,
grinders £.

Genus 16, Mcgadcrma. Teeth ; incisors 5, canines |.
grinders |.

Second group, in great part at least, feeders upon
vegetable substances.

Genus 17, Pteropus. Teeth; incisors ^, canines |,
grinders f .

Genus l8,Cephalvtus. Teeth; incisors |, canines |,
grinders |.

Genus 19, Cynoptera. Teeth ; incisors |, canines £,
grinders ^.

Genus 20, Harpya. Teeth ; incisors §, canines *,
grinders ^.

Genus 21, Macroglossut. Teeth ; incisorsf, canines |,
grinders ^.

SECOND TRIBE.

One genus, Galcopithecus, Teeth ; incisors £,
canines |, grinders -J-.

In the above tabular statement, the whole of the
incisive and canine teeth arc mentioned, but only half
the grinders, or. those on one side of each jaw, the
upper number referring, in all the statements, to the
upper jaw, anu the under number to the lower.

CHELIFERIDiE. A family of small annulose
animals, belonging to the class Arachnida, and to our
order Adelarthrosomata, having very much the ap-
pearance of minute scorpions destitute of tails, the
body being oval, depressed, and narrowed in front ;
the palpi as long or longer than the body, in the form
of arms, each terminated by a double claw ; the logs
are of equal size, and shoit, being terminated by two
hook?, and the eyes (two or four in number) are

placed at the sides of the tliorax ; the breast is not
furnished with the remarkable toothed appendages to
be observed in the scorpions. These animal*, brinii
destitute of lungs, breathe by means of lateral trachea;
or spiracles along the sides of the body. By Linnuiiis
the only species of the family known to him, was at
first arranged with the rnites (Acarus), and afterwards
with the harvest-men (Phalanghan), from all of which
however it is abundantly distinguished, and accord-
ingly Geoffroy established for its reception the genus
C/iclifer, whilst Fabricius placed it amongst the
scorpions. Illiger again, neglecting the step taken
previously by Geoffroy, formed the genus Obisium
for this group ; and still more recently Dr. Leach
has not only adopted the genus Chelifer of Geoffroy,
but also that of Obisium for several of the species
which differ from the true chclifers in some respects,
a step which appears to us to have been improperly
taken, as it is evident that Illiger's genus was strictly
synonymous with Geoft'roy's, both having the Cliclifer
cnncroidcs for the type.

As a family, these little animals are highly inter-
esting in respect to the general distribution of the
class to which they belong, exhibiting, as they do,
the appearance of one group, whilst they in reality
belong to another quite distinct. They are found, in
general, in moist situations in moss under stones,
flower-pots in gardens, and in unfrequented parts of
buildings ; they also get into old books, herbariums,
&c., where they feed upon other more minute insects,
such as Atropos lignarius, acari, and occasionally even
venturing to attack the domestic fly, of which circum-
stance various notices will be found in the Magazine
of Natural History. We have likewise captured the
largest species, which we have hitherto seen of the
group, under the bark of trees in Windsor forest, in
the act of devouring even the hard-cased beetle
(Bitoma cretiata}, Goetze also has fed them with
aphides.

According to Linneeus, these animals occasionally
introduce themselves beneath the skin, producing a
painful swelling, and on the information of Dr.
Bcrgius, he states that a peasant had his thigh
pierced during the night by one of these insects,
which formed by the morning a pustule of the size of
a nut, which was very painful. These insects creep
rather quickly, and will, when disturbed, run sideways
like a crab. Roesel states that the female lays small
eggs, of a greenish-white colour, which she forms into
a mass side by side, and, according to the elder
Hermann, she carries this mass about with her be-
neath the body, like some spiders.

The family comprises only the two genera men-
tioned above, of each of which there are various
British species. The type of the family, Phalangium
cancroides of Linnaeus, seldom exceeds one-eighth of
an inch in length.

CHELONE (Linnaeus). A genus of American
ornamental perennial herbs, of late years introduced
into our flower gardens. Linnaeaa class and order
Didytiamw. angiospermia ; natural order Scrophularia.
Generic character: calyx five-parted, persisting;
corolla bell-shaped, bellying, limb two-lipped, the
upper one two, and the lower three-fobed ; sta-
mens, rudiments of five, smooth or bearded ; anthers
ncumbent and oblong ; style bearing a headed
or bilamcllated stigma; capsule two-celled, two-
valvcd ; margins of the valves inflexed ; seeds mar-
rinated or naked. The chelones are pretty showy

C H E L O N I A.

plants, and all grow freely in any <oil. They are
easily propagated by cuttings, placed under a hand-
glass.

CHELONIA. The first order of reptiles in
Cuvier's arrangement. Some of them are land animals,
and others aquatic ; the former being known by the
general name of tortoises, and the latter by that of
turtles. They are all four-footed animals, or quad-
rupeds ; and they are encased in a coat of armour,
usually called a shell, and which adheres to the ster-
num and the ribs.

They have the heart with two auricles, but only
one ventricle, though the latter is divided into two
chambers or cells, by an incomplete partition, which
admits of a communication between the one and the
other. The blood, which returns from the circulation
over the body, is received into the right auricles of
the heart, and that from the lungs into the left ; but
owing to the imperfect division of the ventricle, the
circulation is incomplete, as the blood which has
undergone the action of the air in passing through
the lungs, is in part mingled with that which comes
from the body, and the mixture is returned to the
system, so that only a portion of even that which
passes through the heart is subjected to the renova-
ting influence of the air in the lungs.

In all animals, even those which have the double
heart most perfect, only a limited portion of the blood
passes through the heart at each pulsation ; and the
inferior vertebrated animals, which have a slow cir-
culation and low temperature, have only a portion of
that which passes through the heart sent to the lungs ;
this portion being less and less in proportion as the
general action of the system is more languid.

The structure of a chelonian reptile can be per-
haps best explained by first attending to the most
striking part of its external appearance, the double
buckler in which its body is encased. This princi-
pally consists of two parts, a spinal and a sternal
one ; the first the shield on the buck, and the second
the breast-plate on the under part of the body. Both
of these consist of a number of pieces, which varies
in different species ; and the forms of the plates, and
the modes of their junction with each other, are the
foundations of some of the trivial characters.

A row of these plates ranges down the back of the
animal, and there are others ranged along the sides
of these which, with them, form the disc of the shield.
Of these there are sometimes as many as eight pairs ;
and towards the margins of the breast-plates they
are surrounded by others, usually about from twenty-
one to twenty-five, which form the margin of the
shield. They are more irregular in their forms than
the plates which compose the disc, and are generally
oblong ; the lateral plates are united by sutures to
each other, and also to the dorsal plates, which last
are fastened, but not soldered, to the vertebra. When
the different plates or pieces which form the shield,
rise in a sort of ridge in the middle, they are said to
be cariuated, or keeled ; when they are depressed in
the middle, they are said to be fun-aired ; when they
rise uniformly to the middle, they are called convex
or sub-convex, according to the degree of elevation ;
when they lie over each other like slates on a roof,
they are imbricated ; and when they have the mar-
gins toothed or jagged, they are serrate d. The piece
which form the breast-plate or estcrnal buckler, are
usually about nine in number. They are more or
less firmly attached to the marginal plates of the

shield along the side<.: ; and in general none of the
larts which form these two bucklers, or are attached
;o them, have any motion.

There is one opening between the shield and
jreast-plate anteriorly, through which the head and
'ore extremities of the animal are projected ; and
another at the opposite end, for the posterior extre-
mities and the tail.

The anterior extremity of the blade-bone is arti-
culated with the shield , and there is a connexion
with the opposite extremity, and the breast-plate is
united by a connexion which bears some slight
resemblance to a clavicle. Thus the extremities,
which bear the weight of these animals, are not arti-
culated directly on the spinal column, any more than
they are in the higher orders of vertebraied animals.
In some species the terminal plates, or pieces of the
breast-plate, are capable of a slight motion, so as
completely to shut in the head and extremities, and
protect them from the attacks of every enemy except
man. Those which have this structure and motion
of the shell are called " box tortoises."

In the greater number of the species, the motion
of the extremities is exceedingly slow ; but the power
of moving other bodies is great in proportion to the
slowness of the rate, for one of the larger land tortoises
can get along at its sluggish pace, with the weight of
two or three men standing upon its back. The vertebra1
of the neck are beautifully articulated ; and although
the range of space over which it is capable of moving
is very limited, there is perhaps no animal which
commands with so much certainty and steadiness
the space over which it can move.

There is a sort of frame-work of osseous pieces,
which bears some resemblance to the sternal or carti-
laginous portion of the ribs ; but this has no motion,
nor indeed is there motion in any part of the ani-
mals, except in the head and neck, the tail and the
extremities.

The osseous portion of the chelonia is immediately
covered by the integuments, the scaly plates on the
skin, without any intervening muscles, which are all
placed on the inside, so that in some respects these
appear to be animals turned inside out, or at all
events with the substantial part of the skeleton without
side the organs of motion ; and they are thus in some
respects intermediate between the vertebrated and
articulated animals. There is even a resemblance to
birds, though a very slight one, in the articulation of
the anterior extremity : there is a large bony haunch
which extends backwards, from the articulation of
what may be termed the humeral joint, and which,
in form and position, bears some resemblance to the
coracoid bone in the feathered tribes, only it does not
abut on any solid support at its posterior extremity,
either on the breast-plate, or on the bony frame-work
above alluded to. It appears merely to afford the
shoulder a more firm imbedment than it could other-
wise have.

The lungs of the chelonia are contained in the same
cavity with the rest of the viscera ; as is the case in
all reptiles, they extend into the abdomen, but they
are separated from the abdominal viscera, properly so
called, by a duplicature of the peritoneum. In con-
sequence of the structure of the shelly covering,
which precludes the possibility of breathing in the
ordinary manner, by the action of an elastic thorax
and a diaphragm, the breathing of the chelonia is very
peculiar, and has more resemblance to a sort o*"

12

C H E L O N I A.

drinking than to ordinary breathing-. The whole is
performed by the action of the mouth, at least in all
the species which have the scaly plates irnmoveable.
The os hyoides, or bone of the tongue, is the principal
organ of support in the performance of this somewhat
curious process. When these creatures breathe,
they do not open the mouth, as is the case with most
of those animals which require a more frequent and
copious supply of air. On the other hand, they keep
the jaws firmly closed (and there are no animals
which can close them more firmly), and perform the
respiration by means of the action chiefly of the
tongue. By depressing the os hyoides, they open the
nostrils, and at the same time form an open cavity of
considerable extent in the mouth, into which the air
rushes. Then, when the cavity thus formed is filled
with air, the os hyoides is raised, which closes the
apertures of the nostrils, and at the same time, by
lessening the cavity of the mouth, forces the air into
the lungs, which of themselves perform the operation
of expelling the air after it has performed its function.

It will be seen that this species of breathing has
much more of a voluntary process than that of the
higher animals, which require the operation much
more frequently, and that thus it can be suspended at
the pleasure of the animal. The same kind of respi-
ration takes place in the Batrachia, and indeed to a
greater or less extent in the whole class of reptiles.
See REPTILES.

In the armature of their jaws the chelonia have
some resemblance to birds, and indeed there are
many more structural coincidences between the two
than we would be prepared to expect in animals
which are so different both in their appearance ami J
their habits. Generally speaking, the jaws of the j
chelonia are covered with horny plates, not very I
unlike the mandibles of birds ; but in the texture of
this horny substance there appears to be a general
law in the species — those which have the bucklers of
the firmest texture have the coverings of the jaws
firmest ; while the soft tortoises, which have only a
thick parchment-like skin for their covering, have the
jaws covered with a similar skin. When we say
"shell," in the case of these animals, we must not be
understood to mean shell properly so called, that is,
shell containing salts of lime, which can retain their
form after all the animal matter has been destroyed
by burning ; for even the most compact of their
coverings, the shell of the hawk's-bill turtle, the true
tortoise-shell, of which so many trinkets, and other
little ornamental matters, are made, approaches much
more nearly in substance to horn than to any thing
else with which we can compare it. The chief differ-
ence, indeed, is in the texture, which is not fibrous,
but rather composed of small laminae, which admit of
division with almost equal readiness in all directions.
The substance to which it approaches most nearly is
that of hoofs, more especially the hoofs of antelopes.
But it is really horn, and can be softened and treated
exactly in the same manner as other horny sub-
stances. There is a gradation in the production of
horny substance, which is worthy of more careful
examination and study than it has hitherto met with.
The loosest texture with which we are acquainted is
that of baleen, on the plates of whalebone in the
large Greenland whale. This substance is little else
than soldered hairs, and hairs not very closely or
firmly soldered, as they can be very easily separated
from Ciich other, though even these arc more cusilv

separated into plates than into fibres. From them
there is a gradation ; and it is not a little singular
that we meet with the other extreme of the series in
an aquatic animal, the hawk's-bi!! turtle, and also that
the firmness of texture in thin substance appears to be
in proportion to the sluggishness of living action in
the animals in which it is found. It is also worthy
of remark, that the animals in which this substance
is found are tenacious of life, very much in the ratio
of the firmness of the substance.

Perhaps when we consider the matter physiologi-
cally, we ought to be prepared for expecting this.
The principle of life in animals, of what class soever
they may be, is a principle at variance with or opposed
to the principle by which substances are brought into
contact, and retained there — to all the attractions of
gravitation and aggregation, in short ; and we find
that, in all animals, indeed in all organised beings, the
departure from the common homogeneous structure,
which matter, in obedience to those laws which have
no principle of life in them, invariably assumes, is
always in proportion to the energy of living action in
the animal or the vegetable. The lowest, that is the
least energetic in life, of vegetables and of animals are
the most uniform and jelly-like in their structures ; and
the farther that we ascend in the scale of being, we find
that there is always the more organisation. We find
also that, in proportion as the organic being departs
more from the ordinary laws of inorganic matter, it
costs it the more labour to maintain the life. The
higher animal must breathe frequently ; and its blood
cannot pass a second time into the circulation, or be
able to perform its functions in the body, without
being fully and freely exposed to the action of the
renovating atmosphere ; while, in those creatures in
which life is less energetic, the action of a limited
portion of the blood suffices, and even that may be
suspended for a considerable time at the will of the
animal, and is all but entirely suspended when they
are in a state of hybernation. Even when they are
not in a state of absolute hybernation, these animals
can be kept alive for a considerable time without
respiration. Some of them have lived for at least a
month with the jaws firmly tied together, and the
nose sealed up with wax, in which state they of course
could neither eat nor breathe. As they have not
much free action of air in the mouth, they have little
voice, and the little which they do have is a sort of
murmuring hiss produced by the violent compression
of the lungs by those abdominal muscles which they
use in expelling the air from these organs.

In the mode of bringing forward their eggs to the
period when they are fit for deposition, these ani-
mals have some resemblance to birds ; but the albu-
minous or white part of the egg does not coagulate
with heat. The covering of their eggs also differs
considerably from that of the eggs of birds, the hardest
having more resemblance to indurated parchment or
vellum than to common egg-shell.

Though some of them are inhabitants of temperate
climates, and many take up their abodes chiefly in
the waters, or in rnuddy places where the temperature
is always low, yet they are all unable to bear extremes
either of heat or of cold ; and there are certainly few
species which do not, during some part of the year,
seek the mean temperature by digging into the earth,
or burrowing in the banks. It is even probable that
some of the marine species plunge to a considerable
depth at some seasons of the year, and remain there,

C1I KLONI A.

13

suspended in the water, in a slate of total inaction.
The repose of the inhabitants of the sea is rather an
obscure subject ; but it is tolerably well ascertained
that several species of surface tislies remain for a time
suspended at considerable depths ; and we know that.
several batrachian reptiles, the common frog- for in-
stance, spend their winter in the crevices of springs,
entirely cut off from the atmosphere. While in this
state they have the mouth and also the nostrils com-
pletely shut, so firmly that the mouth cannot be opened
without almost a fracture of the jaws, until the animal
regains its sensibility; and hence the popular opinion
that, during1 a certain part of the year, the lips of
frogs grow together, so that when they cease to feed
they cease to have any opening of the mouth.

The chelonia resemble batrachian reptiles in several
particulars, and in none more than in the form of the
month, and the force with which they can close the
jaus upon each other. Their temporal muscles are
hnU'ed remarkably powerful ; and thou. h a common
turtle has no teeth, it can bite a pretty thick rope
easily in two, or tear it in pieces. From what is known
of the length of time that thev can live exposed to
.itinosphere with the mouth closed and the nostrils
shut up, it is reasonable to conclude that they are
capable of living much longer in the water in the
same inactive state. Not only the shelly covering,
but the whole of the integuments of the marine chelonia
are better adapted for resisting the action of water
than that of the atmosphere ; and this is another
reason which renders it at least probable that they
follow the general law of the family in hybernating
for a portion of the year. Many of their general
pioperties are, however, common to the whole class,
and c;iii be more briefly as well as more clearly ex-
plained in the general article. We shall therefore
devote the remainder of the few remarks to be
made here to some notice of the several genera or
sub-genera, into which naturalists have divided the
family.

SEA TORTOISES, or TURTLES (Chelonia). The
species included in this genus are the largest in size,
and some of them are the most valuable to man in
the whole tribe. They have their shell too small for
allowing the head and extremities to be entirely with-
drawn within it. Their feet, especially the anterior
ones, are much longer than in the land tortoises ;
their terminations are flattened, and the toes united
by membranes, so that they form a sort of fins or
swimming paws. The two first toes of each foot
have pointed nails, which are liable to droo off at a

certain age. The different pieces of which thei
shield is composed do not join each other by sutures
so as to form a continuous shell, like that of the lane
genera, but have portions of cartilag nous substance

)etween them. The marginal pieces arc in part, sepa-
ated from each other, so as to form a series of lobes
A hich correspond in number to the sternal ribs. From
his peculiarity of structure, these animals are not
)erl'ectly rigid ; their bodies "give" a little, which
>f course assists them in making their way through
he water. This genus contains seven or eight known
pecies, of which we shall mention only some of the
more important.

CHELONIA MYDAS, common green Turtle, or eat-
ible turtle. Of all the chelonian reptiles, this is de-
ervedly held in the highest esteem, from the very
lourishing and palatable food which it affords to the
luman race. It is also one of the largest of these
ribes, and it is not less interesting from its habits and
manners, than from its utility as an article of diet.

A full-grown turtle often measures six or seven
eet in length, from the nose to the tip of its short
ail, three or four feet in breadth, and nearly as much
n thickness at the middle of the body. It sometimes
weighs eight hundred pounds. The body appears of
an oval form, and the head is of considerable size in
proportion to the body. The tail is short and thick.
The feet are long, and much better adapted to the
iction of swimming than that of walking. The head,
feet, and tails, are covered with scales. The breast
ilate is shorter than the shield, and has twenty-three
r twenty-four plates disposed in four rows. The
prevailing colour of this turtle's shell, when in its
usual situation, is bright brown, with spots of a yellow
colour, and when the shell becomes dry, the brown

sumes a darker hue.

This species frequents the coasts both of the islands
and continents of the inter-tropical regions, and is
found in great abundance both in the East and West
Indies. It sometimes enters the months of large
rivers, and occasionally goes to some distance from
the shore, into the sheltered woody parts of the coun-
try. It swims with great facility, keeping its head
and part of its shell above the surface of the water ;
but when it fears the approach of danger, or seeks its
prey among the rocks, it dives to the bottom, and
may be seen browsing at its ease among the weeds.
It is said, however, that it does not dive very readily,
as the specific gravity of its body but little exceeds
that of the salt water. When it quits the water, its
motion on the land is rather a scramble than a walk,
and resembles that of seals and walruses among
quadrupeds, except that it is much slower.

The great purpose for which turtles go on shore is
to deposit their eggs in the sand. This process is
generally begun in the month of April, and takes up
several week?, as the eggs are laid at intervals of
about fourteen days. When preparing to lay her
eggs, the female turtle digs a hole about two feet
deep, a little above high-water mark, and into this
cavity she drops about a hundred eggs at one time.
Wrhile thus employed, her attention is so completely
taken up with the business for which she has come
on shore, that a person may easily approach her from
behind and catch the eggs as they are let fall ; but if
disturbed before she begins to lay, she quits the place,
and seeks a more secluded spot. After having depo-
sited all the eggs which she is to lay at one time, she
scratches the sand over them, and leaves them to be
hatched by the heat of the sun. The eggs of this
species are round, about the size of a tennis ball, and
covered with a white skin resembling parchment. It
is said that that part of turtles' eggs, which is analo-

It

C II E LO N I A

gous to the albumen or white in the eggs of birds,
does not coagulate by the heat of boiling water.

As the female turtle lays her eggs at three or four
times, with intervals of about a fortnight, the young are
of course hatched at different periods, the eggs of each
laying require about three weeks before the young
are ready for extrusion. The little animals are of
the same shape with their parent, but have only a
soft covering instead of a shell. As soon as they are
released from their confinement, they make directly
for the water ; and though this be sometimes at a
considerable distance, they shape their course to-
wards it in a straight direction. But a small propor-
tion of them, however, in general reach their natura
habitation, Great numbers of them are seized by
various predacious animals, especially cormorants and
other large birds, which hover about the shore from
Mav to September, for the purpose of seizing such a
desirable prize.

The individuals of this species are often found col-
lected into numerous groups, though it does not appear
that they have much enjoyment ot'a social intercourse,
but are rather attracted to tlnj saint; place by the abun-
dance of their natural food which it alFords. During
the coupling season the male and female seem warmly
attached to each other, and are said to continue
together for near a fortnight.

To what age the green turtle is capable of living,
were it to remain unmolested, cannot be ascertained ;
but it is conjectured, by those naturalists who suppose
the age of an animal to depend upon its size, and
the number of years required for attaining its full
growth, that this species must live for at least a
century. We shall see hereafter that this is no
uncommon age for species of a much more diminutive
size.

Even in the time of Pliny, the taking of turtles for
the tables of the great was practised in the East
Indies ; and if we may credit the accounts of ^Elian
and Diodorus Siculus, the barbarous nations of the
East were accustomed to employ the shields of the
largest individuals as canoes. It is believed that it is
only within these hundred and twenty years that
turtles have been imported into Europe for the
purposes of food.

Various methods are resorted to in different
countries for catching turtles. A very common mode
is, to watch them as they go on shore or return
during the season of laying their eggs, when they are
easily arrested, and, by the united force of several
persons, are turned on their backs, a position from
which they find it extremely difficult to escape.
Several individuals are thus turned, and when a
sufficient number has been thus partly secured, they
are dragged away by ropes, and carried in boats to
their place of destination. This is the method prac-
tised by the inhabitants of the Bahama islands, and
is often employed with success by sailors while
touching at the islands between the tropics during
their long voyages. Turtles are also taken while
swimming in the sea. Some fishers of great dexterity
dive for such as they see at the bottom in the
shallows, and, getting on their backs, press down the
hind part, and raise the fore part of their body, so as
to compel them to rise to the surface, wrun an
assistant is ready to slip a noose over the head, and
thus secure the captured animal. The most common
mode, however, of catching turtles out at sea, is by
means of a kind of spear, or harpoon, with a long

wooden shaft, to which the head of the spear is but
loosely attached. This kind of fishing, as it is termed,
is generally carried on by two men in a small light
boat or canoe. One of those persons manages the
boat, while the other stands ready to dart the spear
into the back of his destined victim. It is not long
before a turtle is seen either swimming at the surface,
or, what is more usual, feeding at the bottom, when
the water is about a fathom deep. Sometimes the
animal discovers the approach of his enemies, and
endeavours to escape, but the men paddle after him,
and generally contrive to tire him out in about half
an hour's chace. The spearman then hurls his
weapon, the head of which, from the peculiar con-
struction of the instrument, generally sticks fast in
the shell, while its attachment to the shaft is secured
by a long string. The animal, thus wounded, again
makes oft', unless he has been so much fatigued in the
chace as to be incapable of further exertion. In
either case he soon becomes an easy prey to his
pursuers.

It is only for its flesh that this species is so much
esteemed, its shell being of no use. In many of the
West Indian islands turtles are exposed in the open
market, and a turtle-steak is there as common as a
beef-steak in Britain. The flesh of the turtle is
extremely nutritious, and is considered an excellent
restorative in cases of debility and emaciation.

Green turtle are perhaps the most delicate, and
certainly the mildest in their manners of the whole
genus. They are, strictly speaking, inter-tropical
animals, being rarely, if ever, found beyond the 20th
degree of latitude in either hemisphere. Within
their range, however, they are very plentiful, and
afford an abundant supply of food to even the rudest
tribes. The New Hollanders, in the northern parts
of that island, which lie within the turtle latitudes,
are very dexterous in the capture of them. For this
purpose they make use of barbed pegs of very hard
wood, which are loosely placed on the end of a pole
of light wood of considerable length. This poie is
made a little thick at the end, over which a loop of
string is passed, the other end of which is firmly
attached to the peg. This they throw as a spear, in
the use of which they are extremely dexterous, and
the peg, taking effect in the cartilaginous covering of
the turtle, remains firm there, while the long handle
disengages from the peg, but remains attached by the
thread, and acts as a float which keeps the turtle
close at the surface, so that they can paddle after it
till it is completely exhausted, and so capture it
with very little trouble. On the north-west coast of
he same island, where the land is almost, or alto-
gether barren, and no inhabitants have hitherto been
seen, turtle come to the banks in great numbers for
the purpose of depositing their eggs, and are cap-
tured by turning them on their backs, in the same
manner as is practised at Ascension, in the South
Atlantic, and at the Gallipagos islands, on the west
:oast of America.

It should seem that volcanic formations, and also
oral reefs, have some peculiar attractions for these
animals ; and it is natural to suppose that they
should, inasmuch as these are the elements of much
greater fertility for those marine plants upon which
.urtle feed, in both of these, than those are in more
earthy formations. Volcanic matter always contains a
considerable proportion of salts or alkalis, and there
s a good deal of animal matter in the substance of

C H E L O N I A.

1A

:he

coral reef. These substances not only act us i the Atlantic coasts of America, but is said not to he

manures to the sea-weeds, but they serve to combine
the earthy particles more firmly together, and thus a
firmer hold is given to the vegetation. This is so
remarkable, mote especially on the reefs, that, after
the lapse of a year or two, substantial rock, with thick
vegetation upon it, may be found in places where the
deep sea line could previously find no bottom.

met with in the South Sea.

Though so much smaller than the green turtle, the
hawk's-bill possesses considerable strength ; and when
attacked, defends itself with much ferocity, giving
very severe and painful bites. It is also more difficult
to secure, as its shield is more convex, and its feet
longer than those of the first species ; so that when
turned on its back, it more readily regains its natural
position. The female begins to lay her eggs in May,
and continues, with intervals, till July. She is said
not to deposit, them in fine sand, but in gravel mixed
with shells. The young of this species very nearly
resembles those of the former.

The eggs of the hawk's-bill turtle are esteemed very
delicious ; but its flesh is unwholesome, and affects
those who eat of it with fever and dysentery. It is
almost entirely for the plates of tortoiseshell that it
is made an object of search.

The use of tortoiseshell was known to the ancients,
but it is only in modern times that the manufacture
of it has been brought to perfection. In selecting the

dnced, sharp at the terminations, and incurvated so as plates, those are preferred which are thick, clear, and
to have some slight resemblance to the bills of birds transparent, and variegated with dark brown, golden
of prcv, and it is called, par excellence, the tortoiseshell j yellow, red, and white. In preparing them for use,

• , • P . 1 ' _ ! j.1 iil CM. A I . I 1. /• 1* 1.1

Chcltmia caretta, the hawk's-bill, or tortoiseshell
turtle. The name of hawk's-bill is given to this
species from the form of the jaws, which are pro-

turtle, because it is from this species that the fine
tortoiseshell used for so many ornamental purposes
in the arts is obtained. The plates or shells of some

the plates are softened in warm water, and then re-
duced to the desired shape, by pressing them in warm
iron moulds. After they are cooled, they are taken

till cool and dry. It is usual to place below them
metallic leaves of such a colour as it is wished should
appear through the transparent part of the shell.
In the Indian and Chinese seas the hawk's-bill turtle

others are occasionally used, but they are very infe- ', from the mould, smoothed and polished. For the
rior both in colour and lustre, and thus they are purposes of inlaying in cabinet work, the moistened
employed only as veneers, through which a coloured plates are pressed perfectly flat, and kept in that state
ground may be si-en.

The hawk's-bill turtle, though of considerable si/e,
is much less than the preceding, tin- largest indivi-
duals seldom weighing more than three or four hun-
dred pounds. The shield is of an oval, and almost ! ;s very plentiful ; and it forms one of the principal
heart-shaped form, slightly sinuated before, and
narrowest behind. The disk is covered with thirteen
plates, that are two or three lines thick, of a smooth
surface, nearly transparent, lying over each other
like tiles upon a roof. The five vertebral plates are
of unequal si/.e and figure, though each is ridged
longitudinally in the middle. That nearest the head

is very large and quadrangular, with a semi-circular
margin anteriorly. The three next plates are hex-

objects of the Malay fishery, which is carried on
through all the eastern archipelago, and along the
north-east coast of Australia. As this species is
valuable only on account of its shell, it is not sought
alter except by nations which carry on trade ; and,
indeed, the capture of it requires a little more dex-
terity than that of the eatable turtle. It. is also very
abundant in many parts of the AVest Indian seas, moie
especially in the gulf of Honduras, where great nuin-

agonal, and have their greatest length across the \ bers are captured. It is sometimes said, that the shell
body. The fifth is pentagonal, with one angle directed is inferior in the western world to what it is in the
backwards, and a little prolonged towards the tail, eastern; but it does not appear that there is much
The eight lateral plates are very large, and of an
irregular pentagonal figure. There are twenty-five
marginal plates, which are so much imbricated as to
give the sides of the animal a serrated appearance.

The colour of all these plates is generally black, with
irregular transparent shades of red or yellow — all of
them together sometimes weigh from four to eight
pounds.

We have been thus particular in describing the
plates of this species, because they constitute its
most valuable product. They form what in Europe
is denominated " tortoiseshell," but which, by the in-
habitants of the West Indies, is more properly called
" turtleshell." The head and neck of the caret turtle
are considerably longer than those of the green
turtle, and the upper mandible projects so much over
the lower, as to give the snout a distant resemblance
to the bill of a bird of prey, whence English sailors
havo given it, the name of hawk's-bill.

This species is found in the Asiatic seas, and on

truth in the saying.

Chclonia Caouanna, the loggerhead turtle. This
species is much more discursive than either of the
two former, and also occurs in higher latitudes. Its
colour is more or less of a reddish brown ; five plates
in the middle of the shield have an elevated crest in
the centre ; the point of the upper jaw is curved ; and
the legs are much longer and straighter than in either
of the two former species. It is a powerful animal,
and very energetical in all its actions.

It is a large species, and is said sometimes to ex-
ceed the green turtle in size. Its head is much larger
in proportion than that of either of the former species.
The mouth, and especially the upper mandible, is also
of considerable size. The neck is thick, and covered
with a loose wrinkled skin, thinly beset with horny
scales. The shield is of an oval form, narrowest
liehind. It is of a yellow colour, with black spots.
The legs, especially the fore legs, are proponion-
ably longer than in many other species ; and both

C H E L O N I A.

the fore and hind feet are furnished with two sharp
claws.

The individuals of this species are most abundant
in the tropical seas, especially about the West India
islands ; but they are also found in the Mediterranean
particularly on the coasts of Sicily and Sardinia.

In its manners, this is one of the fiercest of the
chelonian tribe ; it defends itself with great courage
and activity, both with its mouth arid claws, and has
been known to snap a moderate-sized walking-stick
with a single stroke of its jaws. It appears to be the
most predacious of all the turtles, not only feeding on
shell fish of considerable size, the habitations of which
it easily breaks with its strong mandibles, but attack-
ing the young crocodiles, seizing them by the tail as
they retire backwards into the water. Thus these
annuals instinctively perform an act of retributive
justice. The older crocodiles make a prey of the
eggs and young of those turtles which inhabit the
shores to which they resort, and the turtles in return
seize on the young crocodiles while they are too
weak to defend themselves.

The loggerhead turtle wanders very far from land.
It has been seen apparently sleeping on the surface
of the ocean, about midway between the Azores and
Bahama islands, at a distance of many hundred miles
from land. The female lays her eggs in the sand.

The flesh of this species is coarse and rank, and
eaten only by the lowest classes of the people. Its
body, however, affords a considerable quantity of oil,
which is used for burning in lamps, and dressing
leather. The plates of its shell are too thin for most
purposes, but have been employed in cabinet work.

Chelonia coriacea, the leather-coat tortoise. There
are several varieties of this specios, all inhabitants of
the sea, and some of them found at least occasionally
in the Mediterranean. Their shield, even on the
back, is flexible and leathery, and they have no plates
even on the under part. Their flesh is not eaten,
neither is there any part of them used in the arts ;
but it is necessary to attend to them with some care,
as they have been confounded with some of the fresh-
water tortoises.

GENUS II. TORTOISES (Testudo). These admit of
division into several genera or sub-genera, according
to their appearance and habits ; and the species are
very numerous, so much so, indeed, that we shall not
attempt even to give a list of them. There are at
least between fifty and eighty species, about thirty-six
of which live generally in the fresh water, and the
remainder generally upon land ; but both of them
hybernate in the mud or earth.

The fresh-water tortoises have all the toes sepa-
rated, and generally a crooked claw upon each, though
they are generally more or less webbed, or united by
loose membranes. They have five toes on the fore
feet, and four on the hind ; and the feet are adapted
both for swimming and walking. Their principal
food consists of insects, small aquatic animals and
fishes, and some of them eat voraciously, though all
are capable of long abstinence. Some of them have
the shell more and some less consistent.

European fresh-water Tortoise (Testudo Europeea). —
This species is very common rn the south and east of
Europe, and is found as far to the northward as Prussia.
It grows to the length of about ten inches. Its shield
is oval, not much convex, nearly smooth, of a blackish
ground colour, and spotted over with yellow points

disposed in rays. Its flesh is eatable, and it is some-
times fed with bread and green leaves, but it also eats
insects, common slugs, and small fishes. It is some-
times made use of for clearing gardens of molluscous
pests ; but it does not thrive unless the garden con-
tains a pond of water, and if there are fish in the
pond, it is very apt to lay them under contribution.
Its general progressive motion is very slow, but its
; neck admits of rapid motion, and, indeed, the neck is
the grand organ of motion in the whole order. The
other fresh-water tortoises are chiefly met with in the
warmer regions of the world, though they have more
range in latitude than the sea turtle.

Some of them have no scaly plates either on the
j shield or the breast-plate, but are supported entirely
I by the bones. They have in general their ribs pro-
duced on the margins of their covering, so as to form
i a border which is partially moveable, and of conside-
rable assistance to them when they swim, which they
' do in shallow waters and among aquatic plants,
where it is more difficult to make way than in the
haunts of the sea turtle. They are also among the
most active of the order ; and though they have not
the strong protection of the horny shell, they are
endowed with a degree of activity and courage, which
much more than compensates. They are all inhabi-
tants of the fresh waters ; and, with the exception of
those in the sea, they are the largest animals of the
order. We shall mention only the two principal ones.

Soft Turtle of the Nile (Testudo triunguis). This
species is found principally in that river from which
it derives its common name. Its colour is green,
spotted with white, and the shield on its back is a
little convex. It is an active animal, preying on
young crocodiles, of which it destroys great numbers
It sometimes attains the length of three feet or
upwards.

Fierce Tortoise (Testudo ferox). This is the most
formidable of all the tribe ; and as it has been con-
founded by some writers with the coriaceous turtle,
it is necessary to attend to the distinction between
them. The coriaceous turtle has an oblong body,
covered immediately with a bony shell ; but that
shell is invested with a tough membranous coat
resembling leather, plaited longitudinally, and the
shield terminates behind in an acute point, over-
hanging the tail. The body of the fierce tortoise is
rounder and more convex, and the middle part of
the shield is hard ; but its margin, especially towards
the tail, is soft and pliable, resembling thin sole
leather, and the hind part is rounded. The tail of
the first species is long, and very thick at the root ;
that of the second very short and small. The head
of the former is small, round, and terminates in a
beak, resembling the bill of a bird ; that of the "latter
is proportionally larger and longer, with a long ta-
pering cylindrical snout, having some resemblance
to that of the mole. The coriaceous turtle is an
inhabitant of the sea, is frequently found in the
Mediterranean, and has been seen even on the coast
of Britain. The fierce tortoise has yet been found
otdy in the rivers and fresh-water lakes of America,
especially in Florida and Carolina. The former is a
large species, often measuring above seven feet in
length ; the latter seldom weighs above seventy
pounds.

The fierce tortoise frequents lakes and muddy
rivers, and hides itself among the water plants that

C H E L O N I A.

17

grow at the bottom, from which it is said to spring
suddenly on its prey. This consists of small water
animals, and in some places, more particularly of
young crocodiles, of which this species is extremely
fond. They seize their prey by suddenly darting
forward their long and strong neck, which they do
with great celerity.

This species is among the strongest and most
active of its tribe, and as its trivial name implies, is
possessed of ferocity and courage. When attacked,
it boldly defends itself, rising on its hind legs, and
leaping forward to seize on its assailant ; and if once
it fixes with its jaws on any part, it is scarcely made
to let go its hold without cutting off its head.
Though the fierce tortoise does not form so exten-
sive an article of commerce as the green turtle ; and
perhaps on account of its activity, does not accumu-
late the soft and luscious green fat which epicures
prize so much, yet its flesh is wholesome and is
eaten with avidity, especially by the Indians in those
parts of America where it is most abundant.

The Mud Tortoise (Testudo lutaria). The mud
tortoise is the smallest of the fresh-water tortoises ;
its whole length, .from the snout to the tip of the tail,
seldom exceeding eight inches, while in breadth it is
not more than three or four. It is of a blackish or
dark brown colour. Its tail is nearly half the length
of the shield, and is stretched out when the animal
walks. Hence the mud tortoise has been sometimes
called by the ancients mus aquatilis, or water rat.

This is a very frequent inhabitant of lakes and
muddy rivers in the south of Europe, and in many
parts of Asia. It is very plentiful in France, espe-
cially in the provinces of Languedoc and Provence.
It lives almost entirely in the water, only going on
land to lay its eggs, which it covers with mould.
It moves with a quicker pace on land than many of
this tribe ; when disturbed it utters a kind of inter-
rupted hissing sound. It feeds on fish, snails, and
worms, and often proves a troublesome inmate in
fish ponds, killing many of the fish, and biting others
till they are nearly exhausted from loss of blood.

It has been proposed to employ the mud tortoise
for destroying vermin in gardens ; but it is necessary
to have a pond or large vessel of water for its ordi-
nary residence. With such a convenience, it may
be rendered tame and domestic.

The young of this species, when first hatched, are
not an inch in diameter. They continue to grow
for a long time, and are known to live for many
years.

There are many other species of tortoise, which
inhabit the fresh water, of which we shall only men-
tion the Painted Tortoise ( Testudo picta), which is an
American, and a very handsome species, at least in
so far as colour is concerned. It is smooth, of a
brown colour, and each of the scales is surrounded
by a yellow band, which is broader at the anterior
edge than any where else. It is found in North
America chielly, and is more active than many of
the others, often climbing rocks, and even trees, in
search of insects, which constitute the principal part
of its food ; but the moment that it is observed, it
drops into the water, and so escapes.

The land tortoises have in general the shell harder,
and thicker in proportion to their size than any of
the aquatic ones. In this way they follow a very
general law of all animals, part of which inhabit the
land, and another part the water ; for even the bones

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

of aquatic animals contain a much smaller portion
of salts of lime than those of the most nearly allied
species which dwell upon land.

The land tortoises have the shield on the back
supported by a frame-work of bones, which is united
into one solid structure, so as to admit of little or no
motion in the several parts ; and the sides of it are in
great part firmly soldered to those of the breast-plate,
the whole forming a complete sheath of immense
strength. The legs arc very short, and so are the
toes, which have five on the fore-feet and four on the
hind. The nails or claws are strong and conical, and
well adapted for digging ; but their motion is exceed-
ingly slow. They can, however, move under the
load of a much greater weight, in proportion to their
size, than any other known animals. They are capa-
ble of living for a long time without food ; and, in-
deed, they are the very models of animal endurance.
They are inoffensive in their mariners, and seldom or
never attack any animal, except those insects, mol-
lusca, and worms on which they feed, and many of
them eat green vegetable matter. The greater num-
ber of them, and perhaps the whole, spend part of the
year in a state of hibernation, and bury themselves
in the earth for this purpose. They do not construct
a burrow with an entrance, as is done by the burrow-
ing mammalia, but fairly sink down the body, throw-
ing the earth on the back as they descend. This
process is performed very slowly, but the progress of
it is abundantly sure. In the course of their digging
the head and tail are drawn within the shell, for all of
them have the capacity of bringing both these and
the feet within that covering. Their ascent to the
surface is rather a more curious matter, and one
which cannot be so well observed, but it may be pre-
sumed to be performed by bringing the earth gra-
dually under the feet, and forcing upwards the strong
and convex shield, with that powerful action which
enables them to bear so great a weight. Some of
them have the power of enclosing all the moveable
parts of the body entirely within the shell, by draw-
ing firmly moveable pieces of the anterior and poste-
rior parts of the breast-plate against the correspond-
ing portions of the shield. Those which can do this
are called box tortoises ; and they shut their box with
as much firmness as the whole race are capable of
shutting their jaws. There are a good many species,
but we must restrict our notice to one or two.

The Common Land Tortoise ( Testudo Grcsca). This
species seldom attains a foot in length. It is of an
oval form, with a very convex shield, broader behind
than before. The breast-plate is nearly of equal size
with the shield, and is of a pale yellow colour, with a
broad dark stripe down each side, while the middle
part of the shield is of a blackish brown mixed with
yellow. The head is small, and covered on its upper
part with irregular scales ; the mouth is small, the
legs short, and the feet pretty broad, and covered
with strong ovate scales. The tail is very short,
scaly, and terminated at its extremity with a curved
horny process. It seldom weighs above three pounds.

This species is entirely confined to the land, and
prefers elevated woody situations. It is found in
Europe, Asia, and Africa, and is very common on all
the coasts of the Mediterranean sea, especially in
Sardinia, Barbary, and probably in Egypt. It is not
a little curious that, even in the warmer climates, this
species regularly retires to its subterranean quarters
during the winter months ; thus proving, what we

18

C H E L O S T O M A.

have before remarked, that the hibernation of these
animals does not depend solely on the degree of cold.
It begins to bury itself in October, and usually makes
a hole about two feet below the surface, where it
continues till April.

The males of this species are in summer tolerably
active, and very fierce towards each other. The fe-
male lays her eggs towards the end of June, deposit-
ing them in a hole, and covering them with sand or
mould. They seldom exceed five in number at one
time, and are of a white colour, and about the size of
those of a pigeon. They are hatched towards the
end of September, and the young, when first ex-
truded, are scarcely bigger than walnut shells.

The individuals "of this species live on roots, fruits,
worms, and insects, the shells of which latter they
easily break with their strong jaws.

It" has sometimes been alleged that land tortoises
do not drink ; but this is not correct : they are, no
doubt, abstemious in their drinking, as well as in their
eating, but it is well authenticated that they drink
water, and that they are even partial to milk. They
are very long-lived creatures ; and some of them,
even when removed to a colder latitude than that of
which thev are natives, have remained healthy for
upwards of a century. Their flesh is eatable, and
forms an article of human food in Greece ; and the
Italians eat the eggs, though not the animals them-
selves, at least not generally. Several varieties of
this species are described by systematic writers ; but
they differ little from each other, except in the mark-
ings of the shell.

The Indian tortoise is a large species, of which in-
dividuals have lived, at least for some time, in Bri-
tain. One species, presented to the Zoological So-
ciety of London, in 1833, measured along the curve
of the back four feet four and a half inches ; the
length of its sternum two feet eight ; the breadth of
the same two feet one ; its total weight two hundred
and eighty-five pounds. This individual had lived
seventy-seven years at Port Louis in the Island of
Mauritius. A large specimen from Bengal, which
had died at the gardens of the Society some time
previously, enabled a more careful examination to be
made of its anatomical structure; but the details of
these are not exactly adapted for a popular work.

The Geometrical Tortoise (Testudo geometrica).
This is a very beautiful small species. The shell is
black, and the plates, though of considerable thick-
ness, are flattened into regular discs, which are beau-
tifully marked with yellow rays proceeding regularly
from centres.

CHELOSTOMA (Latreille). A genus of hymen-
opterous insects, belonging to the section comprising
the bees, Mcllifera, family Apidcs, and sub-family
Dasygastres, of Latreille, having the body very long,
narrow, and nearly cylindric, with the mandibles
advanced, narrowed, curved and notched at the tip ;
the labial palpi are composed of a single joint, and
the maxillary palpi are three-jointed ; the marginal
cell of the upper wings is not narrow at its extremity,
and the second abdominal segment of the males is
furnished beneath with a curious horny tubercle, answer-
ing to which is a singular cavity, covered with satiny
down near the anus ; like the division to which it
belongs, the belly is amply furnished with a coat of
down in the females, which serves for carrying the
pollen gathered by the insect, destined for the sup-
port of her progeny. These insects, when asleep,

roll themselves up somewhat like the wood-lice, the
ventral horn fitting into the anal cavity above men-
tioned ; they usually take their luxurious repose in
the middle of a flower, whence the type of the genu§
has obtained the specific name of Apis Jlorisomnis.
An interesting account of the habits of this insect is
given in the Entomological Magazine by Mr. Double-
day, of which the following condensed statement will
not prove uninteresting to our readers. Although
the male is a perfect sybarite, a mere voluptuary, the
female is the very model of maternal industry, her
whole life being spent in providing for her family.
Here we may observe, that in this, as in numerous
other wild bees, there are no neuters, upon which
depend the whole labour of the community; indeed
here no community exists, each bee is solitary, and
each female has to undergo the task of forming and
provisioning its own nest with a sufficient supply of
food for its young when hatched, which does not take
place until the life of the parent has ceased, so that
the young are deprived of that constant attendance,
which the hive bees bestow on their progeny. The
female chelostoma carefully selects a spot in the
posts of trellice, or other out-door wood-work, pre-
ferring the sunny side of those parts which are quite
dry and going a little to decay ; she there pierces a
hole nearly horizontally, about an inch in depth, then
changing the direction, she proceeds perpendicularly,
her powerful jaws being the only tools wherewith
she gnaws her passage through the wood, kicking the
saw-dust out of the hole, passing it from one pair of
feet to the next. This burrow is nearly a foot long,
and in it, when completed, she commences the con-
struction of about twenty cells, which are to be filled
with pollen paste, and in each of which a single egg
is to be placed. As however in the construction of
these cells, and the deposition of an egg in each, the
bee must work upwards, it is evident that the lowest
egg will be deposited first, and will consequently first
arrive at the perfect state ; and unless provision were
made for this circumstance, the first-born bee would
either be compelled to remain a prisoner, in its cell
until its upper brethren had taken their departure, or
it must make its way through the cells placed above
it, which could not be done without detriment to the
inhabitants. Now the bee, exhibiting as striking an
instance of that principle which we call instinct, as is
to be found in any animal whatever, pursues a plan,
not indeed by the operation of any thinking foresight,
and still less being the result of education, which
amply provides against this emergency, by again
changing the direction of her burrow, at the bottom
of the perpendicular part, so as to emerge again out
of the paling. She then closes the hole just above
the lower bend by a partition of fine sand, firmly
glued together by means of a viscid saliva, with
which she is copiously furnished ; then laying at the
foot of the enclosed part a sufficient quantity of pollen
mixed with honey from the nectaries of flowers, for
the support of one larva, in the midst of which she
places a single egg, and closes the cell in the same
manner as she found its bottom. In this manner she
proceeds till she has reached the top of the perpen-
dicular part. The two orifices of the burrow are
then closed up, the lower one with a mixture similar
to that employed in the division of the cells, offering
of course but little resistance to the force of the bees
when arrived at the perfect state. The upper one,
however, being more exposed to danger From rain

CHENOLOBIA — CHENOPODE^.

19

which might enter, and getting into the nest, destroy
the young larva?, is first closed in the same manner
as the bottom one, to which is added a layer of much
larger grains of sand, glued together in a similar
manner, each being tixed in the most convenient
place by the assistance of the mandibles. Notwith-
standing all her care, however, various parasitic
insects contrive to deposit their own eggs in the
cells in the absence of the parent bee, the progeny
of which, of course destroys that of their fosterer,
amongst which the Chrysis ci/nnea, the Ichneumon
manifestator, and the Ftenus jaculator, have been
observed by various authors. The insect whose
proceedings we have here described, varies in length
from one-third to half an inch. It is not uncommon,
and is of a black colour, with ashy hairs; the female,
which is the Apis maxillosa of Linnaeus, has the seg-
ments of the abdomen margined with white.

CHENOLOBIA (Leach). A genus united to
that of Coronuln.

CHENOPODE^E— Goosefoot family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing nearly
thirty genera, and upwards of two hundred species.
It is so closely allied to Amarantacece that, although
the orders are quite different in general habit and
appearance, still, it is not easy to get any constant
distinguishing characters. Professor Lindley justly
declares, that though he is unable to give any good
artificial distinctions, he at the same time cannot
hesitate to keep asunder orders which nature has
obviously divided. This order, which was denomi-
nated by Jussieu Atripliccs, has also an affinity to
Phytolacece, from which it is separated by the
stamens never exceeding the segments of the calyx,
and being opposite to them.

The essential characters of the order are : perianth
monophyllous, deeply divided, sometimes tubular at
the base, persistent, with an imbricated aestivation ;
stamens inserted into the bottom of the perianth, and
opposite to its segments, equal to them in number or
fewer ; ovary single, free, rarely cohering to the tube
of the perianth ; one ovule fixed to the bottom of the
cavity of the ovary ; style two to four cleft, rarely
simple ; stigmas undivided ; fruit membranous, some-
times berried ; embryo curved round a mealy albumen,
or spiral, or doubled together, without albumen ;
radicle next the hilum.

The plants belonging to the order are herbs or low
shrubs, with alternate, sometimes opposite, leaves, with-
out stipules, and small, occasionally polygamous
flowers. They are generally distributed over the
globe, more particularly in extra-tropical temperate
regions, and are found abundantly in the northern
parts of Europe and Asia.

In general they are weeds which are not remark-
able for their beauty, and are not esteemed as orna-
mental plants ; several of them are avoided on
account of the disagreeable odour which they emit.
Nevertheless, many of the species are highly useful
to man, some being cultivated as pot-herbs and
articles of food, others being used medicinally on
account of their tonic properties, and others again
being valuable in a commercial point of view, on
account of the alkaline substance which they furnish.
They are propagated by cuttings, divisions and seeds.
Some of the chief genera of the order are, Ckenopo-
dium, Atriplex, Basella, Beta, Salsola, Salicomia,
Blitum, Spinacea, and Camphorosma.

The genus Chenopodium, goosefoot, whence the

name of the order is derived, furnishes nearly sixty
species, thirteen of which are natives of Britain.
They are succulent weeds, the leaves of which are
usually covered with powdery granules. Chenopodium
Bonus Henricus, good King Henry, wild spinach,
mercury goosefoot, grows abundantly in waste places
and by way sides all over Britain. It is a hardy
plant, of early growth, flowering in August, and is
cultivated in some parts of England, more particularly
in Lincolnshire, instead of spinach. The young
shoots, after being peeled and boiled, are eaten as
asparagus, and possess laxative qualities. The leaves
are sometimes applied to wounds, and are used for
cleansing old ulcers. Chenopodium album, white
goosefoot, is perhaps the most common British species
of the genus. The whole plant is covered with a
white, mealy, unctuous substances which, by age,
becomes dry and chaffy. In a young state, it is
sometimes boiled in place of greens, and is known by
the name of fat ken in some parts of Norfolk. Cheno-
podium rubrum, red goosefoot, is another British
species, which is found in waste ground, and often in
low muddy situations. A considerable quantity of
saline matter exists in the juice of this plant, which
sometimes crystallizes on the surface of the stem.
In exposed situations, the whole plant assumes a red
colour. The plant is said to be poisonous to swine.
Chenopodium maritimum, annual sea-side goosefoot,
has been used as a pot-herb, and is burned in order
to yield carbonate of soda. Chenopodium olidum, or
valvaria, stinking goosefoot, is found in waste places,
and under walls, especially near the sea in many
parts of Britain. The whole plant exhales ammonia,
or hartshorn, and when recent it has a nauseous
taste and a strong offensive smell, resembling putrid
salt fish. The odour remains long on the hands after
the plant has been touched, in consequence of the
greasy pulverulent substance found on the leaves
adhering to them. The medical properties of this
plant are to be attributed to its fetor. It was formerly
used as a powerful antispasmodic, more especially in
hysterical affections. It loses its properties by drying,
and consequently must always be employed in a
recent state. The presence of ammonia, a com-
pound of hydrogen and nitrogen, in this and a
few other individuals of the vegetable kingdom, is
a circumstance well deserving of attention. Cheno-
podium botrys, or Jerusalem oak, a native of the
south of Europe, is filled with a resinous viscous
juice, which stains the hands. The leaves when
bruised emit a strong odour, and were formerly pre-
scribed in the form of a decoction in some pectoral
complaints, such as asthma and catarrh. This species,
as well as Chenopodium ambrosioides, yield an essential
oil, possessing stimulant, tonic, and antispasmodic
qualities. The latter species, which is a native of
Mexico, has sometimes been called the Mexican tea
plant, in consequence of an infusion of it having been
formerly used in place of the Chinese beverage. A
decoction of the plant has been recommended in palsy.
Chenopodium quinoa, a native of Chili, is very generally
cultivated in Peru, its leaves being eaten as spinach
or sorrel, and its seeds as rice. It is also used in the
preparation of a kind of beer. Dombey, on his return
from Peru, endeavoured to introduce the plant as a
culinary vegetable into France, but his attempts were
not followed with success. Chenopodium anthelminti-
cum yields an essential oil, known in North America
by the name of worm-seed oil, which possesses
B2

C H E N O P O D E JE.

powerful anthelmintic properties. Similar qualities
are attributed to the seeds of this plant.

Of the genus Atriplex, or Orache, there are upwards
of forty species, seven of which are natives of Britain.
Atriplex horlensis, garden orache or mountain spinach,
is a native of Tartary, and has been used as a pot-
herb. There are several varieties of the plant, more
or less tinged with red and purple. The seeds are
emetic, and also cause painful diarrhoea. Atriplex
halimus grows on the sea coast in the south of Europe,
and in this country, its silver coloured foliage adds to
the beauty of our shrubberies.

Spinacia olcracea furnishes the true garden spinach.
There are numerous sorts of spinach, which vary in
the shape and size of the leaves, arid the greater or
less pinkiness of the seeds. The broadest and
thickest-leaved varities are the most esteemed. The
seeds are sown in spring and autumn, and grow
readilv in any kind of soil. The prickly sort are the
best tor winter crops, and the round for summer.
Basella rubra and cordifolia are two species of Malabar
night-shade which are found in the East Indies,
Amboyna, and Japan. They bear spinous berries of
a very dark red colour, which are used for staining
calicoes in India. The leaves are eaten as spinach
by the Chinese, and the plants are sometimes culti-
vated as culinary vegetables in the neighbourhood of
Paris.

Seta vulgaris yields the culinary root, well known
by the name of garden beet, which is so extensively
used as a salad or pickle, and from which sugar is
sometimes prepared on a large scale. There are
several varieties of the plant in cultivation ; but the
two chief are the red or purple, and the white with
red bands. Those most esteemed for salad are the
small red and castelnaudary, while the green-topped are
the best adapted for yielding sugar. The larger and
deeper coloured the roots are the better. The seeds
of the beet are sown in March or April, in deep,
well-comminuted soil, and when two or three proper
leaves appear, they are thinned in such a way as to
allow a square foot of surface for each. By the
months of September or October the roots are fit for
use, and they are then taken up and preserved in
sand. Beet-root, when taken in large quantity, acts
as a laxative, but sometimes it proves injurious to the
stomach. The juice of the root and leaves causes
sneezing. Sugar has been obtained in very large
quantities from the beet-root. The plant was for-
merly extensively cultivated in Germany and France
for this purpose, and it is still reared in considerable
quantities. During the late wars, when the sugar
from the British colonies was not allowed to be
exported to France, the beet-root was the only source
from which sugar could be procured, and consequently
its cultivation became an object of national interest
and importance. The usual way in which the sugar
is obtained is as follows : — The roots, after being
washed and cleaned, are sliced and grated down,
and afterwards bruised in successive portions of water,
until all the saccharine matter is dissolved. The
iluid is then filtered and evaporated, and ultimately
purified and crystallised. Besides sugar, the roots
contain water, fibrous matter, mucilage, starch, and
colouring matter. In general they yield from two to
five per cent, of sugar. M. Achard computed that
a German square mile, which is equal to sixteen
English square miles, would produce boet sufficient
to furnish sugar to the whole Prussian dominions.

Sugar, however, cannot be advantageously obtained
from this source, inasmuch, as the expense" attending
its preparation is too great when compared with the
quantity produced. A considerable quantity of beet
sugar is, nevertheless, annually prepared in France.
Beet-roots, when deprived of their juice by pressure
and afterwards dried, may be used in place of malt
in brewing. The beer made from them is said to be
pleasant and wholesome. The leaves of the beet,
when reared in a rich, well manured soil, yield a
considerable quantity of nitre or saltpetre.

Beta cicla, a name corrupted from Sicula, meaning
Sicilian beet, produces a root, not by any means so
large as that of the common beet. The leaves serve as a
substitute for spinach, and the young shoots and
mid rib of the leaves are eaten like asparagus. The
plant grows in great quantity in the south of Germany
and in Switzerland. A large variety has been intro-
duced from abroad, under the name of mangel wurzcL
This variety, on account of the large size of the roots,
is now extensively cultivated in this country. It is
much used for feeding cattle during the winter. In
cultivating this variety, more room is required than
in the case of the common beet, on account of the
size of the root and leaves. The roots are some-
times applied externally as a poultice to ulcers. The
only British species is Beta maritima, a sea beet
which, when boiled, is esteemed a wholesome article
of food.

Most of the species of Salicornia, another genus of
this order, abound on the shores of the Mediterranean,
and two of them are natives of Britain. Salicornia
herbacea, the most common British species, is gathered
when in flower, and pickled in salt and vinegar like
samphire. The whole plant has a saltish taste, and
is eagerly eaten by cattle. Salsola kali, or prickly
salt-wort, is common on the sandy sea coasts of
Britain, and has also been used as a pickle. Salsola
fruiicosa, found on the shores of the southern counties
of England, deserves a place in gardens as being a
hardy evergreen. The Salicornias, Saholas, various
species of Atriplex and Anabasis, as well as the Cheiw-
podiums found in salt marshes, as well as several
other plants belonging to the same natural family,
growing in the south of Europe and north of Africa,
yield, when burnt, a vast quantity of the substance
called barilla, an impure carbonate of soda, which is
used in making glass and soap. The English name
of g/asswort, applied to Salicornia, is derived from this
circumstance. Salsola soda is cultivated extensively
in Languedoc and Spain, for the preparation of
barilla, which is usually exported to Italy and Sicily,
but it is looked .upon as inferior to the Salsola sativa
which grows on the Spanish shores of the Mediter-
ranean. The latter species supplies the Alicant or
Spanish barilla, which is the best that is consumed in
Europe.

The production of soda depends solely on the
proximity of the plants to the sea, for it is from this
great saline reservoir that the alkaline matter is
derived. The same plants, when cultivated in the
interior and far from the shore, yield totally different
products.

The maritime plants employed in the preparation
of soda, differ in different countries, and the quantity
of alkali obtained is very various. Thus, while some
kinds of barilla yield from twenty-five to thirty per
cent, of alkali, others only yield twelve or fifteen ;
and the coarser substance called kelp, obtained

C H E N O P O D I U M — C H E R R Y.

21

from sea weeds, yields only two or three per
cent.

The preparation of barilla is carried on to a great
extent on the shores of the Mediterranean, and there
the seeds of various maritime Chenopodece, are regu-
larly sown in places near the sea. In the month of
September, when the plants have attained sufficient
maturity, they are pulled up by the roots and exposed
to dry, so that the seeds may be collected ; they are
then gathered into heaps, and afterwards burned in
holes made in the ground, or in ovens constructed for
the purpose ; the ashes are constantly stirred, while
hot, with long poles, and a hard mass ultimately
remains, which, when broken into pieces, constitutes
the barilla of commerce. The best sort of Spanish
barilla has a dark bluish colour, is verv heavy and
dry, has no offensive smell, and is covered externallv
with numerous small depressions. That which is
mixed with small stones, and gives out a disagreeable
smell in solution, and is deliquescent, ought to be
rejected as bad. From barilla, carbonate of soda is
easily obtained by lixiviation in boiling water, and
subsequent evaporation.

Carbonate of soda is of great use in the arts and
manufactures, more especially in the formation of
glass, and in the preparation of various kinds of soap.
Glass is formed by mixing soda or potass with sand
in certain proportions, and exposing the mixture to a
strong heat, until the materials are fused ; It is then
moulded into different forms under the name of flint,
crown, plate, and bottle glass. Bottle glass is the
coarsest kind, and is made from river sand, which
contains iron and other impurities, and the common
impure alkali. Crown glass, for windows, requires fine
sand, free from iron, and a pure alkali; white plate
glass, for mirrors, is made from the purest materials.
To the glass commonly called flint glass, some oxide
of lead and manganese is added. Soap is prepared
by mixing different kinds of oil, in a greater or less
degree of purity, with carbonate of potass or soda;
the former alkali being employed in the preparation
of soft, and the latter in the formation of hard soap.
The soap ordered in medicine for internal use, is
formed from the finest olive oil and pure carbonate of
soda.

. The purest barilla, though well fitted for ordinary
manufactures, does not serve for chemical purposes,
on account of the mixture of the sulphates and
muriates of potass and soda. A carbonate of soda,
considerably purer, is easily got by exposing sulphate
of soda, or Glauber's salt, with saw-dust and lime,
to the action of a reverberatory furnace, and after-
ward-: lixiviating and crystallising.

lilitnm is another genus of this order, furnishing
several species, one of which Blitum capitatum, berry-
headed strawberry blite, is a native of Austria. In
this species, after the flowers are faded, the heads
swell to the size of wood-strawberries, and when ripe,
have the same colour and appearance. They are
succulent and stain the hands, and were formerly used
by cooks for colouring puddings. Another 'genus
•jihorosma, receives its name from emitting a smell
of camphor.

From the above account of the Chenopodc<z, it will
be seen that the plants of this order, although they
contribute little to the ornament of our gardens, are
still of considerable importance and interest, when we
omsider the useful purposes to which they ;ire applied.
Many of them are among the most common ,m</.y of

the countries in which they grow, and yet, when pro-
perly used, they contribute, in no small degree, to the
comforts, and even the luxuries of life.

CHENOPOD1UM (Linnseus), vide GOOSEFOOT.

CHERIMOYER is the Anona cherimolia of Mikan,
an excellent South American fruit tree. A majority
of the anonas yield useful and pleasant fruit, but the
cherimoyer is the best of all.

CHERMES (Linnaeus). Under this generic name
were designated, in the Linnaean system of Ento-
mology, numerous minute insects, allied to the
aphides, from which they are distinguished by the
antennte having ten or eleven joints, and by their
powers of leaping. These insects, of which there are
various species, have been termed by the French
Entomologists false aphides. They subsist upon
plants. Geoffroy, however, considering that the
term chermes had been improperly applied by
Linnaeus, gave to these insects the name of Psylla^
derived from the Greek, and having reference to
their saltatorial powers, whilst he employed the name
of chermes, in its more legitimate sense, to denomi-
nate some of the Linnaean species of Coccus, which
had been used as dyes ; the names Chermes, Kcrmes,
or Alkcrmes, having been given b_v the Arabians and
Persians to the Coccus ilicis of Linnseus, which is
found abundantly upon the small evergreen oak,
Quercus cocci/era, growing in the south of France and
other parts of the world, and which has been employed
to impart a blood red or crimson dye to cloth from
the earliest ages, having been known to the Phoeni-
cians before the time of Moses, under the name of
Tola or Thola, and to the Greeks under that of
Coccus. It was with this that the Greeks and
Romans produced their crimson, and from the same
source the unfading reds of the tapestry of the Low
Countries were derived. With a solution of alum it
produces a blood red, but when mixed with the
solution of tin, as brilliant a -scarlet is obtained as
that derived from cochineal. As, however, ten or
twelve pounds of chermes contain only as much
colouring matter as one of cochineal, the latter, at
its ordinary price, is cheapest. Introduction to
Entomology, vol. i. page 321.

As Entomologists, in general, have adopted
Geoffrey's name of Psylla for the insects first above
mentioned, and as the majority of them have not
thought it necessary to divide the Linnaean genus
Coccus, as Geoffrey has done, we shall defer any
further observations upon the Chermes of the latter
author, until our articles upon Coccus and Cochineal.

CHERRY. The cherry is one of our most com-
mon, as well as most beautiful garden and orchard
fruits. Like other wild genera, it has been wonder-
fully improved by art, and many excellent varieties
have been obtained by the art of manual impregnation,
and not a few by accident. In its wild state the cherry
is a lofty tree, producing valuable timber, useful to
the cabinet-maker, turner, and other workers in wood.
The timber is also durable ; a gate-post nude of the
heart of a cherry-tree, lasts as long as one made of
the heart of oak. All the improved varieties of this
tree cultivated in gardens, are more or less dwarfed,
and changed in their manner of growth, as well as in
the manner of bearing their fruit.

A deep sandy loam appears to be the most genial
soil for the cherry ; and some of the sorts, as the
Kentish, for instance, grows and bears well in what
may be called pure sand.

CHERSYDRUS.

The improved varieties cannot be raised from their
seed ; for though these varieties were at first origi-
nated from accidental or artificial impregnation, yet
the effect of the strange pollen appears to be confined
to the progeny following immediately after impreg-
nation, because the seeds of the next generation, that
is, seedlings from the improved variety, retain no fea-
ture of the improvement, but go back to their original
wild character. It seems therefore, in this, as in
other cases of the same kind, that the mixture or
influence of strange pollen, effects a change in the
habit generally, in the enlargement of the leaves
and pulpy covering of the stone, and in the organisa-
tion of the kernel belonging to the flower impreg-
neted, but that this influence on the kernel is not
permament, and ceases after the first year.

But although these improvements cannot be per-
petuated by seeds, they are readily and purely
continued by the common practices of grafting or
budding on their own stocks, or rather upon stocks
raised from the stones of wild cherries.

Cherry trees do not all bear flowers and fruit in
the same manner ; the morella bears on the last year's
young shoots ; and the may-duke and most of the
others bear on shoots, also produced in the past year,
but from the older wood, and so short that they are
called spurs. This difference in the manner of bear-
ing indicates the manner in which the trees should
be pruned and trained. The morella for instance, is
pruned and trained like the peach tree, because they
both bear fruit in the same manner, namely, on the
young shoots of the previous year. The other sorts,
as the may-duke, when planted against walls, or as
espaliers, are trained in the fan manner, or horizon-
tally, or in any other way, that the strength or vigour
of the tree may indicate. A weakly growing tree
should be trained erect, that is, have its branches
laid in as nearly upright as possible ; while a strong
grower should be laid horizontally, or drooping, in
order to cause fruitfulness. As low standards in gar-
dens, or high standards in orchards, cherry trees of
all sorts generally do well if the soil be suitable.
Such trees seldom want pruning, except to cut out
dead wood, or over-crowded branches which press on
each other. Old worn out standards are often pro-
fitably renovated, by having their largest branches cut
back.

In orchards attached to farm homesteads, we often
see cherry trees in great perfection, and yielding a
considerable revenue to the owner. The cherry
orchards of Kent, and other counties near the metro-
polis, are famous for the income derived from them.
The fanners manage their trees well ; and one part
of their practice deserves imitation. They plant
strong healthy stocks in the place where the tree is
intended to stand; and when these are well esta-
blished, graft or bud them with the desired sort. This
is a good practice, and suitable for all other orchard
fruit trees, as well as cherries. Grafting is preferable
for sooner obtaining a spreading head, and for ren-
dering it less liable to be blown off by the wind.
Budding, however, is not so likely to gum at the
place of insertion ; and ultimately forms a perfect
union with the stock, if care be taken to give the first
shoot or shoots the necessary support during the
second and third year after working.

Cherries are much preyed on by birds, and to pre-
serve them requires no little care. In cherry orchards
a keeper must be constantly, early and late, on the

alert, to frighten away the thieves. In gardens, nets
are the best defence; but they can only be used
conveniently against walls, or over espaliers or low
standards. The tree is liable to suffer from the at-
tack of insects. The aphis often settle in great
numbers on the points of the shoots, and not only
prevent a healthy growth, but disfigure the fruit by
the honey-dew which these insects emit. A fumiga-
tion with tobacco smoke a fortnight or three weeks
before the fruit ripens, will kill or drive away the
insects. For this purpose a thin canvas cloth of
sufficient size to cover a tree, in the open air, is re-
quisite ; but it is better to prevent the insects settling
by repeated and forcible watering, than have to drive
them by any such nauseous application as either
tobacco or brimstone.

The delicate blossoms of the cherry, and all other
early-flowering fruit trees, are liable to be withered
and destroyed by dry winds and hot sunshine, as
much as they are by frost. This is the reason that
if they chance to blow in cloudy weather, or dur-
ing a wet time, more abundant crops follow, than
when the blooming takes place under bright sun-
shine. For this reason also, it is, that morella and
other sorts, as well as some kinds of plums, are more
prolific on a north than on a south wall or aspect,
merely because the tender pistil and stamens of the
flowers are scorched before they have performed
their respective functions. This shows that shading
by day is quite as necessary as covering from the
frosts of night. This fruit tree is also subject to be
enfeebled and barren, from its over-abundant flow-
ering ; a circumstance which, if it happens when the
weather is favourable for the flowers, a great load of
small worthless fruit is the consequence ; and if the
weather be hot and bright, every flower will be
withered, because of weakness caused by their su-
perabundance. In this case thinning the buds or
flowers before they blow, or rather as soon as they
burst from the bud, will prevent exhaustion of the
tree, invigorate the reserved flowers, and ensure a
regular crop.

The may-duke forces well ; but they require a
house built on purpose. Dwarf plants three or four
years from the bud, and standards of the same age,
should be planted to fill the house from front to back.
Gentle forcing, very gradually increased, with a con-
stantly moist atmosphere within the house, are the
circumstances indispensable for cherries forced to
yield their beautiful fruit in March and April.

There are many varieties of the cherry now in
cultivation, of which for gardens the following are
particularly suitable, viz. may-duke, graffion, black-
heart, whiteheart, biggaroon, Kensington duke,
Knight's blackheart, and morella. For farm orchards
the Kentish and caroon are the most certain bearers ;
the last growing to a fine stately tree.

CHERSYDRUS. A genus of true serpents found
in Java, and the other isles of the Sunda group. Some
writers have confounded it with Acrochordus, which is
not a poisonous serpent, and has the scales with small
crests, and interspersed with warty tubercles. This
species, on the other hand, has the scales all over the
head and body small and flat, and ensiform in ap-
pearance. This genus inhabits the bottoms of rivers
in the countries above named, and is described as
being very venomous. The chief difference between
it and the other water serpents which are poisonous,
consists in the smallncss of the scales on its head. It

CHERVIL— CHIGOE.

23

has not been positively ascertained whether this spe-
cies is ovoviviparous, that is, whether it hatches its eggs
internally, and brings forth the young alive ; but the
analogy renders this probable, as that is the case with
all the venomous serpents of whose mode of produc-
tion we have any knowledge. The habits of the
aquatic ones are not, however, so easily studied
as those of the land, and even they are but little
known.

CHERVIL is the Chcerophyllum sativum of bo-
tanists. It is a native of Britain, and cultivated as
a salad or pot-herb. It being an annual, the seeds
are sown in the spring, and at several different times
afterwards, where a supply of the tender leaves are
required. It belongs to the natural order UmbelUferce.

CHESTNUT is the Castanca vesca of Thouars,
and the Fagus castanea of Linnaeus. There are
four species, and several varieties of this fine useful
genus in cultivation. As a timber tree it is only
equalled by the oak ; it being equally picturesque in
habit, and as durable when converted to the purposes
of the builder. For coppice wood it is unrivalled,
yielding as quick a return as any other kind of tree
whatever.

It is to be regretted that our early planters — that
is, all those who were prompted by the immortal
Evelyn to improve and adorn their estates and
country seats by planting forest trees, did unaccount-
ably neglect the sweet chestnut. It could not be
from ignorance of the value of the timber, because it
had always been previously used in the construction
of the roofs of public buildings ; nor could it be from
fear that the trees would not succeed in these king-
doms, as, if not the largest, certainly the oldest tree
in England was a chestnut, then and we believe
now growing in Gloucestershire, a tree which was
called "the great chestnut" in the reign of King
John. Nor was the propagation difficult. Seeds in
any quantity could have been had from Spain and
other parts of the continent at any time ; and no
seeds rise more readily, or grow away more vigo-
rously, than chestnuts, provided mice, squirrels, and
jays, can be kept from devouring them while in the
seed-bed. Sowed in a bed of any light soil in the
month of March, not too closely together, and
covered with about an inch and a half, or two inches
of soil, they soon make their appearance, and where
they may stand till large enough to be transplanted
into nursery rows in an open quarter.

The sweet chestnut requires a kind of training in
the nursery, much more than other forest trees do.
They rarely rise with a single stem ; but beside the prin-
cipal stem, which is always the most central, four or five
others rise from the collet, and were they suffered to
remain, would disfigure the tree, if intended to grow
as a forest, or for open grove planting. These super-
numerary stems are, therefore, pruned close off when
first transplanted from the seed-bed ; and, while stand-
ing in nursery rows, all such side shoots from the
lower part of the stem, must be pruned off.

Tin's character and manner of growth of the
chestnut seedlings, and which requires the attention of
the nurseryman to correct in the first stages of their
growth when intended for timber, is the very property
fi>r which this tree is so suitable for underwood.
Here the greater number of stems which rise at once
from the root, not only increase the value of the pro-
duce, but improve the form of the poles, by inducing
a more upright and straight growth.

From the circumstance of many of the principal
timbers in the roofs of our cathedrals being found to be
chestnut, it has been surmised by several writers, that
this tree was once plentiful and of great size in this
country. The only argument against the probability
of this idea is, the present scarcity of this tree in our
parks and natural forests ; for, if they were at any
former period natives, why should this kind of tree
have so suddenly disappeared. The greater probability
is, that when a cathedral was about to be built, all
Christendom was called on to assist, especially when
the Pope could issue imperative commands on such
occasions. And it is most likely, that the beams and
rafters of Westminster and other cathedrals, were
from the forests of Spain and Italy.

As a fruit tree, the chestnut is of little value in
England, it being only in very favourable seasons that
the nuts come to perfection. As an ornamental and
timber tree, however, it deserves the first notice of the
planter ; and as it has been pretty extensively planted
within these last four-score years, another generation,
perhaps, may see chestnut timber as plentiful as the
best oak is at the present time.

Sweet chestnut underwood, judiciously planted on
light loamy soil, and carefully managed, proves a
profitable possession ; the produce being usually fit to
cut every eight or ten years, and sells at high prices.
Hop growers prefer chestnut poles, as well for their
regular form as durability ; and the stools yield great
numbers of stakes and headers for fencing.

CHICK PEA is the Cicer arietinum of Tournefort.
This plant is cultivated in the south of Europe, where
it is indigenous, and is an article of diet among the
poor, but is chiefly used for feeding poultry.

CHIGOE, or, as the English residents in the
West Indies have corrupted the name, Jigger. A
species of insect belonging to the family of fleas,
PulicidcE, but considered by Latreille as probably
forming a distinct genus. The names Nigua, Tungua,
and Pique, have also been applied to this insect, but
Latreille has considered that the first and third belong
to the Acarus Americanus, whilst he gives the Chigoe
as another species of Acarus. Mr. Mac Leay, however,
who, from his residence at the Havannah, must be con-
sidered a more competent authority, states that the
Spanish name for the troublesome Pulex penetrans is
.A%w6r,and the British West India name Chigoe or Jigger.
The habits of this insect are very different from those
of the common flea. According to Stedman it gets in
between the skin and the flesh without being felt,
generally under the nails of the toes, where, while it
feeds, it keeps growing till it (or rather its habitation)
becomes of the size of a pea, causing no further pain
than a disagreeable itching. It will, however, attack
any exposed part of the body ; indeed an instance
has been recorded where it got into the hand. In
process of time its operation appears in the form of a
small bladder, in which are deposited thousands of
eggs or nits, and which, if it breaks, produce so many
young chigoes, which in the course of time create
running ulcers, often of very dangerous consequence
to the patient, so that at times the soles of the feet
are even obliged to be cut away before the patient
can recover, and some men have lost their limbs by
amputation, nay, even their lives, by having neglected
to eradicate these abominable vermin. The moment,
therefore, that a redness and itching more than usual
are perceived, it is time to extract the chigoe which
produces them. This is done with a sharp pointed

24

CHILOCHLOA— CHILOGNATHA.

needle, taking care not to occasion unnecessary pain
and to prevent the chigoe from breaking in the wound
The female slaves are often employed to extract
these pests, which they do with uncommon dexterity,
Tobacco ashes are put into the orifice, by which in a
short time the wound is healed. Here, however, as
in the attacks of most other tormenting insects, we
find that cleanliness is the best preservative, person
who take care to wash their feet often, being but little
subject to annoyance. It is likewise found that rub-
bing the feet over with bruised tobacco leaves is
a preventive against them. Great uncertainty pre-
vailed as to the real nature of this insect until Swartz
investigated its history, and published a short paper
upon it in the Stockholm Transactions, proving that
it belongs to the flea family. He has, however
represented it with a long porrected proboscis.

CHILOCHLOA (Beauvois). This is a genus o:
grasses, formerly known and included under the genus
Phleum. They are mostly annuals, and of no value
as agricultural plants.

CHILOGLOTTIS (R. Brown). A curious
tuberous rooted orchideous plant from New Holland
introduced into our collections about 1823. This is a
pretty hardy plant, and is usually kept in a frame,
planted in turfy moor-earth, or " in the open border
if care be taken to defend it from frost." — Sweet.

CHILOGNATHA (Latreille, MacLeay). An
order of wingless insects, corresponding with the
apterous genus lulus of Linnaeus, and distinguished
by having the body long, crustaceous, and often
cylindric, and the antennae seven jointed, and forming,
in the system of Latreille, one of the two families of
which the order Myriapoda is composed, the other
being formed of the Centipedes, Chilopoda, or the
Linnaean genus Scolojjcndra. These two groups have
many characters in common ; they are equally pos-
sessed of a very great number of legs ; the abdominal
are not distinguished from the thoracic segments, as
they are in true insects. The body, destitute of
wings, is composed of an extensive series of segments,
of equal size, and bearing, with the exception of the
anterior, two pairs of legs, as noticed in our article
on the Centipedes. The Myriapoda somewhat resem-
ble small serpents or nereides, having the legs fixed
close together throughout the whole length of the
body. The antennae are two in number; the eyes
are composed of an union of ocelli, and if, in some
species, these organs offer a faceted cornea, each of
the lenses is much larger and more distinct than in
the true reticulated eyes of insects ; the number of
the legs, as well as of the segments of the body,
increases with the age of the animal. These animals
live, and continue to increase in size for a much
greater period of time than insects; and, according
to M. Savi, two years are required before the organs
of generation become at all apparent. Hence we
may conclude, that they approach, in some respects,
to the Crustacea and Arac/mida, and in others to
the true insects ; but, from the consideration of the
presence, the form and the direction of the tracheae,
they must be considered rather as belonging to the
latter. Mr. MacLeay has united them with the
Anoplura (lice), Tkysanoura ^sugar lice, &c.), and
some apterous vermes into a class, to which he has
applied the term Ametabola.

In addition to the characters first above mentioned
as distinguishing the Chilognatha, it may be mentioned
that the legs are very short, terminated by a single

claw ; two short antennae ; the mandibles are crus-
taceous, without palpi, and three jointed ; but the
more distinguishing character of the Chilognatha is the
position of the sexual organs near the anterior part,
and not the extremity of the body ; those of the male
being placed behind the seventh pair of legs, and
those of the female behind those of the second pair.
These animals walk but slowly, and with an undulat-
ing motion, produced by the progressive action of the
numerous legs ; the majority of them, when disturbed,
roll themselves up into a ball. They feed upon
animal and vegetable substances in a state of decay,
and lay a very considerable number of eggs in the
earth. From these eggs the young are produced, at
first without any appendages to the body; eighteen
days afterwards, however (in the genus lulus, accord-
ing to M. Suvi of Bologna, who has made these
insects the subjects of two valuable memoirs), the
skin is cast, when they appear with twenty-two seg-
ments, and twenty-six pairs of legs, of which, the first
eighteen serve for locomotion ; at the second moulting
the animal has acquired thirty-six legs, and at the third
forty-three ; the body being then composed of thirty
segments ; and in the adult state, the male has thirty-
nine, and the female sixty- four.

A very small species of this group attacks the
strawberry, another the endive, others are found in
moist places, under the bark of trees, &c.

There are numerous species belonging to this order,
some of those from South America acquiring a large
size — the lulus maximus being seven inches long. Of
the British species, Dr. Leach has given a very good
Monograph in the Zoological Miscellany.

This order is divided by Latreille, in his last work,
into three families : —

1st. The Omsciformet, having the body of a
crustaceous texture and of an oval-oblong form,
without pencil-shaped appendages, and capable of
being contracted into a ball ; the under side of the
body being concave. The number of legs is thirty-
two in the males, and thirty-four in the females.
This family comprises but a single genus, Glomcris,
Latreille, the species of which are found under stones,
especially in mountainous and woody districts. This
group is highly interesting to the naturalist, from the
remarkable anology which it presents to certain
crustaceous animals, to which the name of wood lice
has been given. Indeed, so strong is the relationship,
not only in form, size, and general appearance, but
also in habits, that it is no wonder that, by the
majority of British naturalists, who have, in general,
cared too little for more than the outward appearance
of things, the Glomeris marginatus, belonging to the
ametabolous order Chilognatha, should have been
regarded as a mere variety of the Armadillo vulgaris,
aelonging to the crustaceous order Isopoda. We
:rust that better times are dawning on natural history,
as a science, in its legitimate sense, in this country.
For the purpose of comparison we have represented
the two animals above mentioned, from which it will be
seen how close is the proximity between the two groups.
2nd. The Anguiformes of Latreille, having the body
of a crustaceous texture, but of a long and narrow
brm, and unprovided with pencil-shaped appendages.
Here belong the genera lulus and Craspedosoma,
laving the eyes distinct, and Poludesmus in which
hey are obsolete.

3rd, The Pcnicillata of Latreille, having the body
soft, oblong, and furnished behind with small pencil-

C H I L O P O D A— CHINCHILLID^;.

like brushes. The legs are twenty-four in number.
The genus Polyxemts, Latreille, belongs to this family.
The type is found in profusion beneath the bark of
trees.

1, Glomeris marginatus. 2, Armadillo viilgaris.

. CHILOPODA (Latreille; Syngnatlia, Leach).
An order of wingless insects, corresponding with the
Linnasan genus Scolojiendra, and distinguished by
having the body of a leathery-tike texture, and
depressed, and the antennae composed of fourteen or
more joints. See CENTIPEDES and CUILOGNATHA.
Having, in the former of these articles, given an
account of the structure and habits of the animals of
which this order is composed, it only remains for us,
in this place, to give a short sketch of their classifica-
tion.

Dr. Leach, in the Supplement to the Encyclopaedia
Brittanica, has divided this order into three families.

1st, The Ccrmntada: (Inccqnipedes of Latreille's
Cours d' Eutouiologie), having the body proportion-
ably short, with the upper surface protected by eight
plates, and with the under divided into fifteen semi-
segments, each bearing a pair of legs, terminated by a
very long and multi-articulate tarsus. This family,
which is composed of the single genus Cermatia, is
formed of exotic insects, frequently found in houses
under beams or joists of the wood work, running with
great velocity, and often losing many of its legs when
seized.

'2nd, The Scolopendridts^JEquipedes, Latreille), hav-
ing the body, divided both in its upper and under
surface, into an equal number of segments ; the legs
short and of nearly equal size, the posterior pairs
being but little longer than the anterior. Here
belong the true Centipedes, Sco/o/xndra, and the
genera Cryplops and Lithobius, of each of which there
are British species.

3rd, The Geojrfiilidce (united with the latter by
Latreille), and having a very great number of equal
sized legs, the body being narrow and almost filiform,
each segment bearing two pairs of legs. Some species
are luminous, as the Gcophi/ut elect ricus. Figures ol
Geophilus longkvrnis, and of Lit/uAiiis forcipatus, two
British species, serving as types of those two families,
will be found in our article CENTIPEDES.

CHIMONANTHUS (Lindley). A fine orna-
mental flowering shrub, a native of China and Japan ;
Linn&an class and order Icosandria Polygynia ;
natural order Rosacea:. Generic character : perianth
scaled; outer lobes like bractas, inner lobes resem-
bling petals; corolla, none; stamens inserted in the
fleshy throat of the perianthe ; exterior ones perfect
and small ; anthers adnate and two-celled, interior
like threads and downy ; styles several and filiform.
This plant, on its first introduction into Europe, was
called Calycanthus prcecojc ; afterwards described as
Mcralia, by Loiseleur Deslongchamps, in his Flora
Gallica ; but finally named by Lindley in the Botani-
cal Register.

25

This plant is greatly esteemed by the Chinese, not
only for its early flowering and fragrance, but for some
medical extract obtained from it, and which is parti-
cularly available in counteracting the virulence of the
small-pox, so much dreaded by that smooth-faced
people. It is almost hardy enough to bear the open
air in this country ; but as it flowers in winter, and as
Frost tarnishes the blossoms, the best way to see it in
beauty, is to give it a place in the conservatory, or
against a south wall in the flower garden. Mr. Sweet
states that there are three varieties or species in
the London collections, all of which thrive in any kind
of garden soil. The plants are usually raised from
layers, or by young cuttings planted in sand under a
lass, and placed in hotbed heat. Seeds sometimes
ripen in this country, whence seedlings are easily
raised.

CH1NCHILLIDJE. The chinchilla family, an
exceedingly interesting, and, in so far as individuals
are concerned, a remarkably numerous group of
rodentia, or gnawing animals, inhabiting the southern
parts chiefly of South America. The fur of one
species (lanigera), has been known and highly prized
for a considerable number of years ; but it is not very
long since much was known in Europe, either of the
animals themselves, or even of the country of which
they -.vere natives.

It has now, however, been tolerably well ascertained
that there are three distinct species, if, indeed, they
ought not rather to be, as they sometimes have been
considered as separate genera.

They all belong to the herbivorous division of gnaw-
ing animals, and their teeth are adapted for bruising
the hard and dry vegetation upon which, from the
peculiarity of their native regions, they are sometimes
obliged to subsist, as well as on the more succulent
leaves which they can procure in the season of
growth. They are all gentle and inoffensive animals,
spending great part of their time in their burrows
under ground, though in many parts of the plains
their burrows are so very numerous, that the horses
of travellers and hunters are in constant danger of
stepping into them, and throwing their riders, and
fracturing their legs.

At one time they were confounded with the
hamsters (cricetia"), to which they have a good many
points of resemblance ; but still, in their appearance
their structure, and their locality, they are fully
entitled to rank as a distinct family, and a family
which gave no small portion of its original character
to the zoology of the district in which they are found,
Nor is it a little remarkable, that two portions of the
world, which, from the geographical antipodes to each
other, at least, as nearly as any two portions of land
of considerable extent should have a remarkable
coincidence in their mammalia, even although in
climate, as well as in local position, they differ very
much. Siberia, especially the southern parts of the
steppes, which lie near the bases of the Altaian moun-
tains, have, in many respects, a structural resemblance
to the pampas or plains which lie between the Rio-
de-la-Plata, and the southern Andes. Both arc flat,
and composed in great part of sand. Both are, in
many places, burnt up at one season of the year,
and covered with rich herbage at another, and both
are but thinly inhabited, in consequence of the paucity
of their productions as serviceable to man ; but both
contain an immense number of herbivorous rodentia.
In respect of its fur animals, Siberia is, indeed, a sort

26

CHINCHILLID^E.

of union of the two ends of the American continent ;
the woods furnishing animals not very dissimilar to
those which are found, in such vast numbers, to the
north westward of Canada, while the open and arid-
places present us with those of Paraguay, or rather
with animals resembling these in their general habits.
But still there is a great difference in the climates of
the two places ; for, though the southern Andes, on
the parallel alluded to, are subjected to more violent
storms than any part of Siberia, the plains have a
much greater uniformity of temperature, so much so,
that up to the very southern extremity of the American
continent, vegetation retains a tropical character. We
might, therefore, be prepared to expect a considerable
difference between the appearance aud covering of
the animals which perform the same part in the
economy of nature in each of the two. And, accord-
ingly, we find the fur upon the American animals
much more delicate, and not nearly so well adapted
for throwing off snow as that of the Siberians. They
are also more gentle animals ; and they probably
more habitually burrow in the ground.

The characters of the chinchillidae are,— two simple
incisive teeth in each jaw, and four grinders in each
side of both jaws. The grinders, as is general in all
the herbivorous part of the order, have no roots, and
are not produced in the substance of the gum, but
grow, adhering to its surface ; and, as is the case with
all teeth that grow in this manner, they continue grow-
ing during the whole life of the animal. Animals of
this tribe have all to subsist on very hard food at some
eason or other ; and therefore, this constant growth
>f the teeth is a very wise provision for them. The
eeth of the family under consideration have parallel
•lates of enamel and osseous matter ; and their bruis-
ug crowns act directly against each other.

There are three genera, Lagostomus, on the east
<ide of the Andes ; Chinchilla, on the lower slopes of
the mountains, and Lagotis on the western side. The
tfrst genus gets its name of " hairy mouth," from its
remarkably produced whiskers ; the name of the
second is a country name ; and the third is called
" hairy ears," from the large size of these ap-
pendages. The first and third are indiscriminately
called Viscacha; and thus, it is necessary, not to con-
found the one with other. The first, or eastern one
being best known, may be considered as the true
Viscacha, and, perhaps, for the sake of popular distinc-
tion, it may be as well to apply the epithet Peruvian
to the other.

The Viscacha (Lagosiomus trichodactylus) is about
the size of a rabbit. It has also a good deal of the
manners of that animal, only it is much less timid,
and the vast production of grey fur on the cheeks
gives it a very grave appearance. The grinders have
two oblique lamellae in the first three, and three in
the last one, at least in the upper jaw : three toes on
the hind feet, and four on the fore ; thumbs always
wanting ; nails on the toes, nearly straight, and very
strong ; the ears and tail of mean size. The colour
of this species is grey, of different shades, arising from
the points of the individual fibres being of a different
colour from the greater part of the length. The skin
is of no great value as fur, and the flesh is described
as having rather a rank and musky flavour. It is, we
believe, sometimes eaten by the Indians, though there
is little temptation in a country where wild cattle are
to be had for the labour of catching them. The
fibres of the covering of this animal are individually

long, but they are coarse, and so few in number,
that they do not conceal the skin, so that they are
by no means ornamental ; and this inutility of the
animal, both as food and as clothing, leaves it at
peace to multiply to that vast abundance in which it
is found in the plains above mentioned.

Chinchilla (Chinchilla lanigerd). This species is as
remarkable for the delicate texture and closeness of
its fur as the former is for the opposite qualities ; and
of the same individual the colour is about uniform all
over the body, which renders it very available to the
furrier, who can thus obtain an article of large size
without any appearance of patching. The fur is so
well known, that any description of it would be
superfluous ; but we may remark, that, notwithstand-
ing its extreme softness, it adheres very firmly to the
skin. Some varieties of the chinchilla have been
mentioned, but they are at any rate nothing but
differences, and very slight differences, of colour ;
and it is very probable that, as has been the case
with some other animals, a clean skin and a dirty
one have been described as different species.

The leading characteristics of this animal are :
teeth same in number as in the former species,
but they have three oblique ridges in each, and
the front grinders in the upper jaw are divided into
two lobes ; the fore-feet have the thumb complete,
and consequently five toes ; the hind feet have only
four toes, and a rudimental thumb. The ears are
very long, and the tail partakes of a similar cha-
racter. It does not appear that this animal is so
constantly found burrowing as the viscacha, for it
is frequently found lurking in holes of the rocks. It
extends geographically over great part of the neigh-
bourhood of the Andes, both in Chile and in Peru,
and its numbers are very abundant. It is a much
smaller animal than the viscacha, and every way
much more delicate in its appearance ; but the
fineness and closenese of its fur enable it to endure
the cold much better.

Lagotis (Lagotis Cuvieri] has still the same number
and general structure of teeth, but the grinders have
three single oblique lamellae in each. There are four
toes on all the feet, the thumb being deficient. The
nails are small, and a little knife-shaped. The tail is
long, and the ears very long.

In its size, and also in the general shape of its
body, this animal very much resembles a rabbit, but
the tail, which is equal to the whole body, exclusive
of the head, gives it a very different appearance. It
is a jumping animal, and has its hind legs of nearly
twice the length of the fore ones. The bristly hairs
of its whiskers are quite black, very numerous, very
closely set, and some of them more than half a foot
long. The ears are about three inches long, one
inch in breadth, and cut square over at the tips ;
they are almost entirely destitute of fur. The hair
on the fore feet is long and bristly, and almost
entirely conceals the claws. The inner toe on the
fore feet is flattened, curved inwards, and has its
inner margin beset with stiff bristles, which have
nearly the consistency of a small comb. This last
circumstance is not, however, peculiar to it, for it
occurs also in the chinchilla.

The hair of this animal is very soft and downy, of
considerable length, and beautiful in appearance, but
it adheres so slightly to the skin as to render it of no
value to the furrier. The base of the hairs is dusky,
and about a quarter of an inch at the tip, of a dull

CHINESE ROSE — CHIRONECTUS.

white, with more or less of a brownish tinge. Besides
this very soft fur, there are bristly hairs scattered
thinly over the body of the animal, which are of a
black colour. This animal is found chiefly upon the

margins upon those dry and sterile plains which lie
between the Andes and the Pacific, intermediate
between Chile and Peru, though it is met with to a
considerable extent over both these countries. From
the tenderness of its covering, it is not, though a
stronger and larger animal, so able to bear the severity
of winter in the Andes as the Chinchilla, though it is
not so decidedly an animal of the plains as the viscacha
of Paraguay. It is possible that both species may
occur both in the east and the west of the mountains,
though, for great part of the ridge, the summits are so
elevated, the weather upon them so severe, and the
passes so difficult, that they form nearly as impassable
a barrier to all animals that cannot fly as the same
extent of the ocean itself. It is highly probable that
there are more species, or, at all events, varieties of
this family, at one place or another of the country in
which the known ones occur ; but on this, as on very
many other points in the natural history of South
America, our information is still very imperfect,
though it is making a very rapid progress, especially
of late years, and since the Spanish colonies threw
off the yoke of the mother country.

CHINESE ROSE is the Hibisctis rosa Sinensis of
Linnaeus. It is in no way connected with the Rosa
indica, which is a species of the common European rose;
but it is so called because the form, colour, and number
of the flowers of the Hibiscus, when seen at a distance,
resemble, in their native country, the rose tree of
England. This hibiscus is indeed a highly ornamen-
tal plant, and as the flowers are of different tints, even
on the same plant, they are great favourities of the
Chinese, as well as of European residents in India,
who plant them in the shrubberies round their houses.
They strike root readily from cuttings.

CHIOCOCCA (Willdenow). A genus of West
Indian shrubs lately introduced into our collections.
Linnsan class and order, Pentandria Monogynia ;
natural order, Rvbiacece. Generic character: calyx
pitcher-shaped, ti ve-toothed ; corolla funnel-shaped,
throat bearded, stamens included ; stigma entire ;
berry pulpy and two-seeded. This is called the
snowberry-bush, from the colour of the fruit. It is
easily propagated by cuttings treated in the ordinary
manner.

CHIONANTHUS (Linnaeus). Fine ornamental
North American trees and shrubs, common in our
pleasure-grounds. Linnaean class and order, Diandria
Monogynia ; natural order, Oleinee, Generic character :
calyx four-parted, persisting ; corolla tube short, limb
cut into many linear divisions ; stamens have short

27

filaments seated within the tube ; anthers heart-
shaped and erect ; style short ; stigma three-cleft ;
drupe one-seeded. This handsome plant is called
the fringe-tree, from the elegant form and position
of its flowers. The leaves are also large and showy.
Plants are raised from imported seeds, or propagated
bv unif'timr on the common ash.
' CHIRONECTES. A genus of spinous-finned
fishes belonging to Cuvier's thirteenth family, or those
which have the pectoral fins pedunculated. They have
the carpal or wrist-bone so much produced as to form
a peduncle to the fin, which has some slight resem-
blance to an arm, to which the fin itself serves as a
sort of hand. The present genus bears some resem-
blance to the frog fishes, or anglers, which are re-
markable for their grotesque form. They have pro-
minent appendages to the head, which form a crest,
sometimes terminating in a sort of membrane, and at
other limes in a sort of fin. Their head and body are
compressed ; their mouth opens vertically ; their gill-
flaps consist of four rays, and there is no gill-opening,
but a small hole behind the dorsal fin. They have
four gills. Their dorsal fin occupies the whole length
of the back. They are furnished with a very large
swimming bladder. Their intestinal canals are of
mean length and without any caeca ; but their sto-
machs are very large, so that they can, upon occa-
sion, puff themselves up like a balloon.

They are found chiefly in the muddy bays and
estuaries of tropical seas, and, contrary to the habits
of most fish, they do not retreat with the tide. There
are, indeed, few fishes which can bear the absence of
water longer ; for they may be kept on land for two
or three days, with little falling off of their activity.
They obtain the name of frog-fishes, from their hop-
ping along the surface of the mud at low water, very
much after the manner of these reptiles ; and in some
of the bays on the north coast of Australia, where
the violent rains wash the soil into the sea, they
may be observed at low water hopping about in great
numbers. Their pectoral fins, which have a great
deal of muscular action, are made use of as feet on
their march over the mud ; and though they do not
use these alternately in stepping, they can spring to
the height of several feet, and the distance of a yard
or two. This curious mode of marching is by no
means an idle sport with them ; for immense numbers
of insects hover over the mud in those hot climates,
and these fishes spring up and make prize of them.
There are a considerable number of species, which
are chiefly distinguished by the different appendages
to the skin, some of which are spines, and capable of
inflicting rather unpleasant wounds, though in this
respect they are not so formidable as some of the
allied genera. They are by no means handsome
fishes, nor does it appear that they are eaten even by
the rudest people.

CHIRONECTUS. A genus of marsupial ani-
mals, of aquatic habits, and but for the fact of its being
maruspial, while the otters are not, it bears a consi-
derable resemblance to the otter, and is called the
little otter by European settlers in those parts of the
world where it is found.

The characters are : — six incisive teeth in the upper
jaw, and eight in the under ; two canines in each ;
the number of grinders indefinite ; the muzzle pointed ;
the eyes directed laterally ; the ears naked, and mem-
branous ; five toes on all the feet, of which the hind
ones only are webbed ; no nail ou the thumb of the

28

CHIRONEMUS— CHI RO NOME S.

hind feet, but crooked claws on all the others ; plan-
tigrade in walking ; tail cylindrical, covered with
scales, and prehensile. There is only one species
which is often described as the palmated or web-
footed opossum. This species is CHIEONECTPS
YAPAK, the Yapack. It is found in the rivers of
Guiana, and the adjoining1 parts of South America.
It is a small animal, not a foot in length, with a tail
of six or seven inches. The form of the head is long
and pointed, the muzzle very slender, and the ears
large and naked. The tail is naked, with the skin
granulated like shagreen leather, and with scaly
plates on the under side. The ground colour of the
body is greyish yellow ; the upper part being marked
with blackish brown spots. These spots or patches,
which are of large size, give rather an elegant, mark-
ing to the animal. There is one between the eyes,
another on the top of the head, and a third and broader
one on the shoulders, which is continued down the
front sides of the fore legs to the toes, which are
blackish, a fourth of a rounder shape on the middle of
the back, and one on the rump, which extends some
way down the hind quarters, but not to the legs.
Three are united down the back by a narrow dorsal
line. The cheeks, and the under part, are marked
with pale yellow ash, inclining to white. The general
expression of the animal may be judged of by inspec-
tion of the annexed figure.

Chironectus Yapak.

- It is highly probable that, when the banks of the
rivers and streams in South America have been ex-
amined with sufficient care, there may be found many
species ; or at all events varieties of these fresh water
marsupial animals, occupying the same place in the
natural history of that part of the world, as the water
rats and water mice occupy with us. Mention has been
made of some as having been met with both in Brazil
and in Peru, or on the very opposite sides of the con-
tinent. Of these, one is said to have been not more
than two inches, in length. The larger ones, such as
the Yapack, feed in part upon small fishes ; and it is
probable that the smaller ones may live upon water
insects ; but the country in which they have been
seen is so extensive, and has been viewed by scien-
tific eyes at so few points, that all the information
which we have, amounts only to a very rude guess at
its natural history. America is among the latest ad-
ditions to the known parts of the world ; and, in the
southern parts of the mainland and the islands espe-
cially the very abundance with which nature has
endowed it, has been the means of keeping us in ignor-

ance of its natural history. The gold and silver of
the Andes, and the vegetable wealth of the islands
and the alluvial parts of the mainland, have so capti-
vated the bad passions of men, that they have not
attended to the productions and the working of nature
with even half the attention which has been bestowed
upon the most sterile parts of the globe.

CHIRONEMUS. A genus of spinous-finned
fishes belonging to the perch family. They have
seven rays, and are without the crooked teeth which
characterise perches. There is only one known
species, a native of the Australian seas.

CHIRONIA (Linnaeus). A beautiful genus of
undershrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope.
Linna;an class and order, Pentandria Mmwgynia ;
natural order, Gentlanecc. Generic character : calyx
in five divisions ; corolla open bell-shaped, limb five-
cleft ; stamens bearing oblong erect anthers ; stigma
round ; capsule united to the calyx. The chironias
should be in every greenhouse, as they are free
flowerers, and bear purple, or red or white blossoms.
They are easily propagated by cuttings, and require
to be often renewed by this means, as old plants
become irregular in growth, and unsightly.

CHIRONOMUS (Meigen). A genus of dipterous
insects belonging to the great family Tipulidce, and to
the sub-family Culiciformet of Latreille. The insect*
of which this very numerous genus is composed are
of small size, and are often, but inappropriately, termed
gnats, that name being, as it seems to us, more strictly
applicable to the Culicidce, from whose stings, or rather
bites, we have so often cause of inquietude and alarm.
We would apply to the present and other harmless
insects belonging to the former family the name of
Midges. Generally these insects are distinguished by
the beautiful antennae of the males, which are thirteen-
jointed, and form a complete feather, being entirely
enveloped in a pencil of hairs reaching to the tip;
those of the females are clothed with a few short
hairs, and only six-jointed, the terminal joint being
very long. The abdomen is long, slender, and hairy,
the legs long and slender, the anterior tarsi being
often very long, and seldom employed in walking,
and the wings are laid parallel upon the back during
repose.

It is these insects which are so often observed in
fine summer evenings hovering in great swarms over
moist situations, and alternately rising and falling
with a motion somewhat like that of the May-flies,
Ephemera. In the Linnaean system the midges
formed portion of the genus Tipula, which from its
great extent has been separated by modern authors
into numerous generic subdivisions ; they resemble
the true gnats, but the proboscis which in the latter
is so direful an organ is here nearly rudimental.
Like the gnats they reside in the larva state in water,
and are provided with various organs for respiration,
which they continually apply to the surface in order
to procure a sufficient supply of air. The larva of
the common C. plumosus has been observed by
De Geer and others. It is long, slender, worm-like,
and may constantly be seen in stagnant water and
ditches, being of a red colour, whence it has obtained
the name of the blood-worm, its body is articulated,
and its tail is furnished with several short fin-like
appendages for respiration. These larva? form long
cylindric tubes in the banks, in which for the most
r>art they reside, and in which they change to pupae.
An anecdote is recorded respecting these blood-

C H I R O T E S.

worms, which is quite sufficient to prove that, in this
case at least, even a little knowledge of natural history
would not have been a dangerous thing. A medical
gentleman having observed these larvae very numer-
ous in the water of a well, in the neighbourhood of
Cork, considered them to be the true origin of the
common small thread-worm (Qxyuanu vermtcvlofii)
occasionally found in the human intestines, the former
differing only from the latter in colour. Had he,
however, but placed some of these worms in water of
a temperature equal to the human body, he would
soon have discovered that they were not long able
to bear the increased heat of their native element.

Reaumur found the larva? of one of the species in
small brown paper-like cases, attached to various
leaves which had fallen into the water in the Bois de
Boulogne ; the cases were of a flattish spindle-shape,
somewhat resembling an oblong seed, they were
chiefly composed of silk, but Reaumur could not
ascertain whether fragments of leaves might not also
be employed in their composition. We are unable
to decide as to the precise species observed by this
author, but from his description it seems nearly akin
to the C. plumosus. The fore legs are much longer
than the others, and generally carried in an elevated
position by this insect, so that they might easily be
mistaken for antennaj ; moreover, they are generally
kept in continual motion, now elevated, now depressed,
whence the origin of the generic name, signifying a
kind of gesticulation with the hands. The pupa has
the head and thorax united into an oval mass, with
the abdomen long and cylindric ; from each side of
the thorax arises an elegant apparatus composed of
five long finely feathered rays disposed in the form
of a star ; the tail is also ornamented at its extremity
with a fine brush of hair. The fore legs, from their
general length, are inclosed in cases which, instead
of folding upon the breast in the same way as the
shorter hind legs, project from each side of the thorax
in a very peculiar manner. Messrs. Kirby and Spence
have given a very interesting account of the manner
in which the insect, upon arriving at its perfect state,
in which it is destined to pass its life in the air, effects
its escape from the puparium, or skin of the pupa,
the natural clement of which is the water. For the
extrication of the imago it is necessary that it should
remain quietly suspended at the surface, and more-
over that the thorax in which the opening for its exit
is to be made should be at least level with it, and
this is precisely what takes place. By a most singu-
lar and beautiful contrivance, not only is the pupa
which is specifically heavier than water enabled to
suspend itself without motion at the surface, but its
thorax which is the heaviest end is kept uppermost.
This is effected by the property which the centre of
the thorax has of repelling water, hence as soon as
the pupa has once forced this part of the body above
the surface, the water is seen to retreat from it on all
sides, leaving an oval space in the disk which is quite
dry, hence the attraction of the air to the dry part ol
the thorax is sufficient to overbalance the specific
gravity of the pupa. If, however, when the pupa is
suspended at the surface, a drop of water be let fall
upon the dry portion of the thorax, it instantly sink
to the bottom, the thorax which belongs to the heaviest
half being the lowest, but if the pupa be again brought
to the surface so that the fluid is repelled from its
disk, it remains suspended there without effort as
before. Just previous to the exclusion of the fly, th<

dry part of the thorax is seen to split in the middle.
The air enters and forms a brilliant stratum resetn-
jling quicksilver between the body of the insect and
its puparium, and the former, pushing forth its head
and fore legs, like the gnat, rests the latter upon the
water, and in a few seconds extricates itself wholly

Larva, pupa, and perfect Chironomus.
from the puparium. A more recent author has en-
deavoured to throw some doubt upon the mode of
solution of the manner in which the suspension is
effected, asking in reference to that part of Messrs.
Kirby and Spence's statement, which he quotes entire,
which relates to the sinking of the insect when a drop
of water is let fall upon it. " If so, we may ask what
becomes of the power of the thorax to repel water?"
We answer that, although the thorax may possess the
power to repel the water immediately surrounding it
in a quiet and undisturbed state, it does not follow,
and indeed it would be absurd to suppose that it pos-
sessed a power of repulsion sufficiently strong to resist
the increased force of a drop of water let fall upon
the heaviest portion of its body, especially at a period
when the feeble creature is just as it vvere upon the
point of bursting into life ; indeed in support of this
opinion, we again find the same author adopting
another idea of Messrs. Kirby and Spence, namely,
that these midges fly unwetted in a heavy shower of
rain, owing to their quickness of vision, since if the
drops, bigger than their own bodies, fell upon them,
they must be dashed to the ground, although he im-
mediately takes up the idea of repulsion which he
had before thrown down, and " unless it may be that
the drops glide off their wings as they do off the fea-
thers of a duck." — Insect Transformations, 319, 367.
There are nearly a hundred British species of this
genus, some of which are remarkable for the elegance
of their colouring. Many of them form beautiful
subjects for the microscope.

CHI ROTES. A genus of saurian reptiles, which
may be considered as intermediate between the lizards
properly so called and those serpents which have
rudimcntal bones of the extremities. From the cir-
cumstance of having only two feet, this genus, or
we may say, this species, for there is but. one, has
been rather absurdly called lihitana ; but as that is
the proper distinctive name of the human race in
natural history, and as no animal but man is possessed
of what can properly be called a hand, the extremities
of apes and monkeys being merely grasping feet, it
is of course improper to apply the term bimana to
any species but the human race. This animal is the
Lacerta lumbricoidcs of Shaw, but it cannot, strictly
speaking, be considered as a lizard, and it has uo
resemblance whatever to an earth-worm (lumbricits)
in any one respect, except colour. It is one of those
singular animals of which two or three are met with
i'.i Mexico, and which have always puzzled the syste-

30

CHISMOBRANCHIAT A— CHITON.

matists where to place them. The characters are :
the head round, blunt at the muzzle, distinguished
from the body by a simple fold, and covered with
polygonal scales, which are large for the size of the
animal but few in number ; the nostrils and eyes are
not very conspicuous ; the jaws are of nearly equal
length ; the body is long, cylindrical, covered with
rather large four-sided scales, which are similar both
on the back and the belly, and are verticillate or
placed in whirls round the body ; there are only two
feet which are very near the head, well developed,
and each containing five toes with distinct claws ;
and the tail is blunt.

There is only one species, C. Mexicanut, which is
about eight or ten inches long, and as thick as the
little finger. It is marked with about two hundred
and twenty rings of scales, which form a half ring on
the upper part of the body, and another on the under,
meeting each other at two lateral lines, which are
very straight and very definite. There are two lines
of pores on the under part of the body ; the tongue
is a little extensible, and terminates in two small
horny points ; its ears are covered with the skin, and
consequently not visible externally. It is of a flesh
colour, and in this, in its general appearance, and its
being possessed of only one large lung, it approaches
in character to amphisbo3na among the serpents, but
in its skeleton it is very different. The bones of its
two feet are well developed, having distinct blade-
bones, and being supported by clavicles butting
against a small sternum. Thus it can use its two
feet with great dexterity in walking, in climbing, and
in grasping. Altogether this is one of the most sin-
gular animals with which we are acquainted, and the
different parts of its organisation would lead to the
placing of it in very different parts of the system.
The bones are understood, though this point has not
been very well ascertained, to resemble, m their gene-
ral texture, the bones of warm-blooded animals more
than those of reptiles, while the general external cha-
racters bear at least some resemblance to those of the
lizards, and respiratory system to that of the serpents.
This animal is understood to be entirely insectivorous,
and it is perfectly innocuous.

CHISMOBRANCHIATA (Blainville). Second
order of the second class of molluscs, Paracephalo-
phora. The animals of this order possess aquatic
organs of respiration, branchial or pectinated, placed
at the anterior part of the back, in a large cavity,
communicating with the ambient fluid by a large
oblique, anterior slit. Mouth without teeth, but the
lower part furnished with a lingual muscle ; some are
without shells, some are interior or external, very
flat, aperture very large, entire, and without a colu-
mella. This order includes the genera Coriocella,
Sigaretus, Cryptostoma, Oxinoe, Soumatella, and Vc-
lutina. The order is composed of shells, all of which
are marine, and the animal probably herbivorous.

CHITON (Linnaeus, Cuvier, &c.) This singular
mollusc has undergone no change by the arrangement
of modern naturalists; its characters are so well
defined, and possess so few variations, that it cannot
by any possible chance become blended with other
genera. It is a genus perfectly distinct from all
other of the animal series ; they seem to form the
transition from molluscs to insects. The separation
of this genus into small natural groups is attended
with much difficulty ; it may, however, be ultimately
accomplished by careful study of the animal and its

covering. The only certain guide hitherto pursued,
are the sides of the valves, and the number of tooth-
like processes each presents, when detached from
the membranous substance which surrounds them ; the
striae, granulations, punctures, and other external
markings, also assist in classing the species. Lamarck
observes respecting this well known but singular
mollusc, that it seems more like an univalve than a
multivalve, and should only be considered an elon- .
gated shell, with the testaceous portions of it trans-
versely broken by nature, at its first formation, into
a number of distinct moveable parts, in order to faci-
litate the animal's motion. These valves or testaceous
portions may be considered never to vary in charac-
teristic marks, beyond eight in number, though
instances have been met with of specimens with only
seven. These are inserted at the lateral extremities
by certain toothed processes above alluded to, into a
tough ligament surrounding the outer margin, firmly
uniting them together in their proper position ; this
ligament is sometimes fleshy, coriaceous, smooth,
wrinkled, covered with scales, or beset with tufts of
hair ; and in one species Chiton spinosus, it has nume-
rous tubular, slightly curved, long thin black spines ;
a tough internal membrane connects the under part
of the valves or portions, allowing the animal to con-
tract its shell in a globular form or fully to expand it.
When these valves are all united on the animal's
back, they form an elliptical shell, the centre part of
which is more elevated than the rest; the valves
slightly overlap each other, and each succeeding one
is less convex towards the margin. One species has
callous adhesions longitudinally placed on the back
of the valves; some are elegantly marked by the
arrangement of their striae, granulations, &c. The
interior of the valves is generally white, but some are
green, and one species a bright rose-colour; they
adhere to rocks covered by the sea, to the backs of
tortoises, fishes, or other marine objects, and so fast
do they retain their position by exhausting the air
beneath their bodies, that it requires a strong lever to
detach them, frequently breaking tne shell before the
animal can be forced from its position. The name
chiton, is derived from the Greek, and means a coat
of mail. The animal in its structure is not less sin-
gular than the shell; its body is more or less
lengthened, depressed, or sub-cylindrical, obtuse
equally at both ends ; the abdomen provided with a
muscular disc or foot, adapted to climbing, but most
particularly to adhesion ; the back is sub-articulated,
and corresponds with the different valves ; the mouth
is anterior, and beneath, in the middle of a conside-
rable mass; it has neither eyes, tentacula, or jaws, but
it has a sort of straight tongue in the buccal cavity,
bristled with denticules. The organs of respiration
are branchial, and formed by a succession of small
branchiae beneath the turned edge of the mantle,
particularly at its back part. De Blainville places
the chiton in the second class Polyplajciphora, of his
sub-type of Malentozoaria, and he subdivides the
genus into the following well-defined species: — 1st,
Such as are depressed with large valves, carinated,
much imbricated, the intermediate ones present-
ing well marked lateral areas, the limb of the
mantle regularly scaly, without hairy or silky tufts,
as in the C, squamosus here figured. 2ndly, The
sub-depressed species, with valves not carinated,
much imbricated, and without marked areas, the
lateral portions of the mantle covered with a species

CHITON E LL U S — CHLENACE^.

of hair or calcareous tubercles, as in the C. marmo-
ratus. 3rdly, The species, whose form are similar to
the preceding, the valves generally smaller, all the
terminal ones much imbricated, without marked
areas ; the lateral portion of the mantle either quite
naked, or as if coriaceous, as in the C. piccus. 4thly,
The species more or less cylindrical, vermiform,
nearly naked ; the foot very narrow, as if articulated ;
the branchia in the posterior half of the body only ;
the valves very small, often separated or not imbri-
cated, and always visible, as in the C. lacvis, consti-
tuting Lamarck's Oscabrclla. 5thly, The species with
the valves narrower, imbricated, without distinct areas,
the lateral parts of the skin naked or hairy, but
always furnished with tufts of silk or hair, arranged
in pairs, as in the C.fascicularis ; and lastly, Such spe-
cies as are more or less cylindrical, vermiform, nearly
naked, the valves of the shell very small, almost
entirely concealed beneath the skin, with tufts similar
to the preceding section, as in the C. larveeformis,
which constitutes Lamarck's genus Chitoncllus. These
shells sometimes attain a large size, measuring four
inches in length ; but they usually do not exceed
two inches. They are found in every sea, the larger
ones in warm latitudes ; but the shells of the last
division have only as yet been found in Australia.
One of a small size is found on the British coast.
Fossil species are rare, but detached valves are
sometimes met with in the calcareous sand formation,
in the neighbourhood of Paris.

CH1TONELLUS (Lamarck). A species of
mollusc, forming one of the divisions of the genus
Chiton, of De Blainville's system (which see). It
inhabits the coast of New Holland, and from its
external valves never being interlocked, it has the
power of moving laterally as well as forward.

CHITONIA (D. Don). Handsome shrubs and
trees, natives of South America and the West Indies.
Linnoean class and order, Decandria Monogyma ;
natural order, MelastomacecE. Generic character :
calyx of four parts, deciduous ; petals orbicular ;
stigma pellate and hemispheric ; seed vessel four-
celled, four-valved ; seeds two in each cell ; arillo
fleshy and banded. The plants of this genus were
formerly included in the genus Mclastoma, but have
been separated by Mr. D. Don.

CHIVES. A diminutive species of the onion
tribe, called by botanists Allium sckcenoprasitm. It is
not bulbous ; but grows in thick tufts, producing an
abundance of slender delicate leaves, having the true
onion flavour, and very useful in dressed salads,
when small green plants of the common onion are
not to be had. There is, or always should be, a
small bed of chives in the herb border, the leaves
being often useful in cookery, as well for garnish-
ing as for salads. There should also be a few
pots of chives kept in every garden, in order to be
placed in a hot-bed or hot-house, to afford a supply
during winter. In the open ground they require to
be frequently cut off, to induce a fresh growth of
leaves. Chives are propagated by divisions of the
root, and like a shady situation.

CHL^ENIUS (Bonelli). A very extensive genus
of Coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Pen-
tamera, family Carabidcc, and sub-family Harpalldes,
and to that subdivision in which the anterior tarsi
alone of the males are dilated, the basal joints being
large, square, or rounded, or the Patellimancs of
Dejean. The palpi are rather long, with the terminal

31

joint slightly oval, squared off at the tip ; the tooth at
the middle of the chin is bifid, and the three basal
joints of the males are dilated. These insects are
amongst the most elegant species of the family, being-
ordinarily of a fine opaque green colour, and clothed
with a down, whence their generic name ; some few
species have, however, the body smooth and shining.
They appear to be distributed over the whole surface
of the globe ; none, however, are yet recorded to
have been found in New Holland. They emit a
very powerful and disagreeable alkaline odour. The
Count Dejean has described sixty-six species in his
" Species General," but in his new catalogue there
are llo belonging to this genus. There are seven or
eight British species, of which the Carabus marginatris,
Linnaeus, ( Vestitus, Fabricius,) is the most abundantly
met with. Their habits do not materially differ from
the other allied genera.

CHLAMYPHORUS. A genus of mammalia
belonging to the order Edentata; and nearly allied
to the armadillos, though different from them in many
respects. The characters are : ten teeth of uniform
size ; five toes on each of the feet, with nails on the
fore feet very strong, crooked, compressed laterally,
and forming very powerful weapons either for digging
or for defence. The back is covered with a succes-
sion of scaly pieces ranged transversely ; but there is
no shell either at the anterior or the posterior part,
as is the case with the armadillos. These pieces are
attached to the spine only. The animal is not above
five or six inches long ; like the rest of the tribe it is
found in the interior of South America, and it spends
the greater part of its time under ground, for bur-
rowing in which its powerful claws on the fore feet
are well adapted.

CHLAMYS (Knoch). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Tetramcra, and fa-
mily ChrysomelideB, comprising a considerable number
of minute but curious species from Brazil, having the
body short and very irregular above, the head verti-
cal, the antennae short and serrated, and the labial
palpi furcate. Two excellent monographs of this in-
teresting genus have been given by Messrs. Kollar
and Klug ; some of the species have the appearance
of morsels of rough precious stones, being of a rich
metallic colour. In their habits they are, probablv,
herbivorous, like the majority of the family to which
they belong.

CHLENACE^E. A natural order of dicotyledo-
nous plants, containing five genera and eleven known
species. Many authors consider this order as allied to
the mallow tribe, on accountof its involucrated flowers,
and monadelphous stamens. Jussieu however thinks
that, in consequence of its petals coalescing at the
base, and its seeds being albuminous, it bears an afti-
nity to Ebenacece, or the ebony family. The plants
of the order do not seem to be sufficiently well known
to enable botanists to determine their exact position
in the natural system. The essential characters of
this order, as given by Decandolle, are : involucre
one to two-flowered, persistent, varying in form and
texture; sepals three, small; petals five to six, hypo-
gynous, broad, and sometimes slightly coalescing
at the base; stamens sometimes numerous, at other
times only ten ; filaments somewhat combined into a
tube at the base, or adnate with the tube of the
petals ; anthers two-celled, roundish, adnate or free ;
ovary single, three-celled ; style one, filiform , stigma
triple; capsule three-celled, or by imperfection only

CHLID AN THUS-CHL ORION.

one-celled ; seeds solitary or numerous, fixed to the
centre ; albumen fleshy or horny ; embryo green,
central ; cotyledons fbliaceous, waved.

The plants belonging to this order are small trees
_or shrubs, with alternate, stipulated, entire leaves,
and paniculate or racemose flowers. They are almost
all natives of the Island of Madagascar. The genera
of the order are Saccolcena, Leptoleena, Schizoltena,
and Rhodokena. To these Decandolle has added the
East Indian and Mauritian genus Hugonia, which he
considers allied to the order Chlenacece, but differing
from it in being destitute of an involucrum to the
flower. This genus is also allied to Malvacece and
Syttneriacece, but is distinguished from them in having
an imbricated, not a valvate, calyx.

Very little is known in regard to the properties of
the plants of this order. Lcptoltena mult'iflora, and
the species of Schizolcena, are handsome small trees
with fine flowers, while Rhodol&na altivola is a
climbing shrub, with large purple flowers. The genus
Hugonia was named by Linnaeus in honour of Dr.
Augustus John Hugo, of Hanover, who was a great
friend of Haller. Hugonia mystax, a native of Ceylon
and Malabar, is a slender shrub twelve feet high,
with numerous short leafy branches, each of which
bears about its middle a pair of remarkable revolute
spines. The resemblance of these to a pair of
moustaches, is said to have given origin to the specific
name mystax. The plant bears yellow flowers, and
a shining fruit, containing a red tasteless pulp. The
wood has a reddish -brown colour, and possesses an
aromatic odour. The root has been applied exter-
nally to inflammatory swellings, and also to the bites
of the hooded snake (coluber nnja]. Internally it has
been recommended in worms and the febrile diseases
to which children are liable.

CHLIDANTHUS (Herbers). An ornamental
and highly fragrant bulbous plant, introduced from
South America in 1820. Linnaean class and order
Hexandria Monogynia; natural order Amaryllidece.
Mr. Sweet observes of this plant, that it requires no
water when not in a growing state ; and if planted in
the open borders in spring it will flower in the sum-
mer, but must be taken up in autumn, and kept dry
through the winter ; or if left in the ground requires
covering from frost.

CHLORA (Linnaeus). A genus of two annual
plants, one of which, C. pcrfoliata, is a native of
Britain. They belong to the natural order Gentianeee.

CHLORANTHE^I. A natural order of dicoty-
ledonous plants, containing three or four genera, and
a few species. It is nearly allied to Piperaccce and
LaunnccE, but differs from these orders in the absence
of a sac to the embryo, and in having a pendulous
ovule, and opposite leaves with intermediate stipules.

The following are the botanical characters of the
order: flowers naked, spiked, perfect or unisexual,
subtended by a scale ; stamens lateral, if more than
one, connate, definite ; anthers one-celled, bursting
longitudinally ; filaments slightly adhering to the one-
celled ovary; stigma simple, sessile; ovule pendu-
lous ; fruit a drupe, indehiscent ; embryo minute,
placed at the apex of a fleshy albumen, with an
inferior radicle.

The plants belonging to this order are herbs or
under shrubs, with jointed stems, opposite simple
leaves and terminal green flowers. They are incon-
spicuous, and are not considered as ornamental in
gardens. They are found in tropical regions, and

inhabit the hot parts of both the East and West
Indies, as well as South America. They have ge-
nerally an aromatic taste, arid possess stimulant
properties. The chief genera of the order are
Chloranthus, Hedyosmum, and Ascarina,

Chloranthus is the genus which gives name to the
order. The whole plant of Chloranthus oj/icinalis has
a fragrant aromatic odour, which is lost by drying.
The roots of the plants however retain, even when
dry, a smell like camphor, and have a bitter aromatic
flavour. They possess heating and stimulant pro-
perties, and may be used in place of snake-root in
promoting the action of the skin and kidneys. The
root of Chloranthus inconspicuus has the odour of
seneka root, and is said to possess similar qualities.
The leaves of the plant are used in decoction, for the
cure of intermittent fever.

CHLORANTHUS (Swartz). A genus of three
Chinese herbs and under shrubs, bearing green-
coloured inconspicuous flowers, but having an agree-
able scent, for which they are kept in stoves and
propagated by cuttings.

CHLORION (Latreille). A beautiful genus of
hymenopterous insects, belonging to the division Fos-
sorcs, and to the family Sphcgidae, or sand-wasps.
The body is rather long, highly polished, and me-
tallic ; the head broader than the thorax ; the an-
tenna? inserted close to the mouth, and the second
submarginal cell narrow, especially near its union
with the marginal cell ; the tarsal claws have a tooth
near the middle. These splendid insects are above
the middle size, and owe their generic name to the
brilliant metallic green colour with which they are
adorned. The habits of one of the species of this
genus, Sphcx lobata, Fabricius, were observed by M.
Cossigni, who states that it is a rare insect in the" Isle
Bourbon, although very common in the Isle of France ;
it flies with rapidity, entering the houses, flying about
the window-curtains, and creeping into their folds ;
when settled it is easily caught : but great caution must
be used, as it is provided with a sting even more power-
ful than that of the bee, this fly protruding its weapon
to a greater distance than the bees ordinarily do. In
the Isle of France the domestic bees are not observed,
although they abound in the woods of the Isle Bour-
bon ; their rarity in the former instance being attri-
buted to the presence of the chlorions, which drive
them away. M. Cossigni observed an encounter be-
tween a cockroach and a chlorion. After regarding
each other for a moment, the latter pounced upon the
blatta, seizing its head with its jaws, and curving its
body so as to sting the belly of the cockroach. When
it had effected this, it dismounted, quitted its victim
until the poison which it had introduced into the
wound should have begun to operate, when it re-
turned, seized it by the head, and, dragging it along
backwards, deposited it in a hole in the wall. When
its prey is too large to enter the aperture, the chlorion
deliberately clips off its wings and wing-cases, and
even its legs, so as to enable it to force it into the bur-
row. The object of this slaughter is the laying up of
a sufficient supply of food for the future progeny of
the chlorion ; hence, as is generally the case in in-
sects, the task devolves upon the females, and, indeed,
it is this sex alone which is provided with the powerful
sting which is so important an instrument in the ope-
ration. We have detailed a somewhat similar course
of proceeding in the CEHCJSRIDES. See our article
upon this group.

CHLOROPS — CHOANITES.

83

CHLOROPS (Me-igen). Osciiiis, Latreille. A
genus of dipterous insects, belong-in": to the section
Athcric/'ra, and family Muscidce. The head is nearly
spherical ; the legs are of moderate size and thick-
ness, and the body short and not filiform ; the an-
tennae are short, and have the seta not branched.
These insects, which are of small size, are amongst
the most obnoxious of the diptera, attacking various
kinds of corn, and almost equalling in their ravages
the Cecidomyue. They are of small size, smooth, po-
lished, and of a black colour more or less variegated
with yellow. To this genus belong the Musca Frit of
Linnaeus, and the Musca pumilionis of Bierkander,
t>»xjiher with upwards of twenty other British spe-
cies. The first of these insects, although stated by
Messrs. Kirby and Spence not to have been disco-
vered in Britain, is doubtingly introduced by Mr.
Stephens into his Catalogue of British Insects. This
fly, according to Linnaeus, occasionally destroys in
Sweden not less than a tenth part of the crops of bar-
ley, the loss being estimated at 100,000 golden ducats.
The mischief is effected by the insect getting into the
ears. An in cresting account of the chlorops pumi-
lionis is given by Mr. Markwick, with additional ob-
servations by Mr. Marsham, in the second volume of
the Linnaean Transactions. This insect was at first
considered as the Hessian fly, and no small alarm
was produced in consequence thereof ; but the latter
author, by pursuing a series of observations by which
the real species was determined, proved the incorrect-
ness of such a supposition. Early sown wheats are
especially liable to the attacks of this fly, the grub of
which feeds within the principal stem, just above the
root, thereby entirely destroying it ; the root, how-
ever, throws out side shoots, so that the injury is not
so great as it was at first supposed that it would have
been. The perfect flies, as we have stated in our
article on the Cecidomyiae, abound in the autumnal
months*, swarming in our apartments, so that, from the
short-lived existence of dipterous insects in the per-
fect state, it seems necessary that, as the flies are pro-
duced from the early sown wheat in May, there should
be an intermediate generation to produce the autumnal
brood ; direct observation is, however, required upon
this point. This insect is under a quarter of an inch
in length, the thorax having two lateral yellow lines.
The maggot is white and fleshy. It is at the period
when the wheat is about six or eight inches above the
ground (as we learn from a friend who has lately
reared some of those destructive insects), that the
chief injury is committed.

CHLOROXYLON (Dccandolle). A lofty East
Indian tree, called Siuictenia cldoro.vylon by Roxburgh.
It is the green mahogany of the east, and as useful
timber is estimable for many purposes of buildinsr.
Chloroxylon is also the specific name of one of the
West Indian laurels.

CHOANITES. A name given by Mr. Mantell,
in his Geology of Sussex, to a genus of fossil zoo-
phytes, which are very numerous, and appear to hold
an intermediate place between the Alcyonia, properly
so called, and the Ventriculites. They are distin-
guished from the former by their having a central
cavity in their upper part, and, from the latter, by
their being without an external reticulated integu-

* During the autumn of 1834, they literally swarmed ii
mpa tments. even in the immediate environs of London.
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

ment, &c., and possessing a very slight degree of
contractile power. Their forms are various, being
enerally either funnel-shaped, spherical, globular,
or subcylindrical, having a central opening in their
superior part, and appearing to have been originally
composed of a parenchymatous substance, capable of
imbibing moisture, and of contraction in a slight
degree. The base was fixed.

The Alcijonimii Jicus of Linnceus may be considered
as the type of this genus. Parkinson, in his Organic
Remains, describes this zoophyte as follows : — " It is
of the form of a fig, being attached to rocks by
branches proceeding from its smaller end ; the upper
part is a little flattened, and has a cavity in the
centre. Its colour resembles that of tobacco, and its
parenchymatous substance cannot be compared to
any thing better than to nut-galls when well dried."
Org. Rem., vol. ii., p. 96.

The remains of this genus, which were formerly
indiscriminately placed among the A/cyonia,\\ere first
noticed by M. Guettard, at Verest, and at Mont
Richard, in Touraine, and were described by him in a
paper published in the Memoirs of the Academy of
Sciences of Paris, 1757.

He observes that they are of a globular form,
having in many examples the base elongated into a
pedicle. In the centre of the superior part is a
circular opening, generally filled with the substance
in which the fossils are embedded. The cavity is
larger in its upper part than in the lower, and is con-
tinued almost to the pedicle, in some specimens ap-
pearing even to pass through it. From the circum-
ference of the opening, lines may be traced that not
only pass over the whole of the spherical part (where
they form striae more or less distinct), but also pene-
trate the substance of the zoophyte. There is seldom
more than one opening, but instances have occurred
in which three have been found. Very accurate
representations of these fossils are given in Parkin-
son's Organic Remains, vol. ii., pi. 9, figs. 1, 3, 4, 6,
8, and pi. 11, fig. 8.

Three species are described by Mantell. The
first of these, the Subrotundus, is that generally termed
by collectors the Ficoid alcyonite, from its supposed
resemblance to the fig. The surface is smooth, and
entirely without markings, and the cavity nearly
circular. The second, the Flexuosus, is cup-shaped,
the margin of the central depression being marked
with flexuous indentations. The radical processes
are all long and fibrous. This species is very rare,
and, as well as the former one, is found in the
Upper Chalk, near Lewes in Sussex. The Konigil
is the third, and is described as " inversely conical,
externally marked with irregular fibres, some of
which penetrate into the substance of the fossil, and
terminate in openings on the inner surface. The
central cavity is cylindrical, deep, and narrow, and
the base fixed by the radical processes." This spe-
cies is generally enveloped in large irregular flints,
which exhibit but slight traces, externally, of the
body which they inclose. The superior part pre-
sents a convex surface, with a cylindrical body in the
centre, whence interrupted fibres ramify in a radiating
manner towards the margin. Numerous perforations
may also be observed at the base, which, without
doubt, afforded a passage for the radical processes.
They are found in abundance in the loose flints
beneath the turf, near Lewes race-course, and appear
to have been of frequent occurrence in the upper beds
0

CHOCOLATE NUT-CHONDROPTERYGII.

of the chalk, although they are now very rarely found
in the quarries in that neighbourhood.

CHOCOLATE NUT is the Ttieobroma cacao o!
Linnaeus. See THEOBUOMA.

CHOLEVA (Latreille). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Pcjitamcra, and
family Silphidtc. This genus, together with those of C'a-
tops, Ptomaphagus and Myl&chus, form a small group,
distinguished by their small size, and great agility ;
the antennae with the club five-jointed, the eighth joint
being very minute, and the elytra rounded at the tips.
Mr. Spence has published a monograph upon the
group in the Linncean Transactions. The insects
are of dark and obscure colours, frequenting dry
bones, putrid fungi, and vegetable matter in a state
of decay. There are numerous British species.

CHOMELIA (Jacquin). West Indian shrubs,
formerly culled Lrora by Lambert and Swartz. Lin-
naean class and order, Tctrandria Mbnogynia ; natural
order, Rubiacea;. Generic character : calyx tubular,
limb four-cleft, recurved ; corolla tube long, cylindri-
cal, limb in four divisions, spreading points of the
divisions acute ; stamens with short filaments inserted
in the tube ; anthers linear, and somewhat prominent ;
style filiform ; stigma in two spreading processes ;
drupe oval, containing a four-furrowed two-celled
nut, each cell one-seeded. This genus being nearly
allied to the ixoras, also partakes of their ornamental
character.

CHORAGUS (Kirby). A minute genius of
British coleopterous insects, of whose family ento-
mologists are at variance. It is of an ovate form,
with the head deflexed, the antennas long and termi-
nated by a club ; the legs are short and of a moderate
thickness, nevertheless the insect possesses the power
of leaping in a remarkable degree. Mr. Kirby, by
whom it was first described, thought it allied both
to Cri/ptocephalus (from the length of the antennae
and form of the body), and Cis (from the former being
clubbed). Mr. Stephens places it amongst the
PlinidcE, whilst M. Robert has recently figured it as
an Aiithribus, a genus allied to the Bruchidce. It is
found amongst grass and low herbage, but is very
rare.

CHORIZEMA (Labillardiere). A genus of
beautiful shrubs, natives of New' Holland. Linnaean
class and order, Dccandria Monogi/nin ; natural order,
Leguminoscc. Generic character : calyx two-lipped,
upper one cleft, lower one trifid ; corolla keel belly-
ing, wings short, style short ; pod swollen, many-
seeded, nearly sitting. These are extremely neat
greenhouse plants. The C. Henchmannii deserves a
place in every collection. They are propagated by
cuttings.

CHRISTMAS ROSE is the Hellebonu niger of
Linnaeus. One of a herbaceous family of plants in-
digenous to Europe, and long introduced into gardens
on account of their early flowering. The whole of
the hellebores are said to contain poisonous principles
in a greater or less degree, though some of them are
very fragrant. The flowers generally appear before
the* leaves, and are some of the first gems of the
spring. They are propagated either by dividing the
root or by seeds.

CHRIST'S THORN is the Zyziphiu spina Christi
of Willdenow. It is a native of Egypt, and is culti-
vated in our greenhouses, and easily increased by
cuttings.

CHROMIS. A genus of spinous-finned fishes

belonging to the family Labroidrs. Their general
characters are : their lips and intermaxillary bone*
contracted ; a single dorsal fin with two produced
filaments, teeth set like those of a card on the jaw
bones and the palate, their lateral ones intercepted,
the ventral fins produced in long threads. There are
numerous species, several of which are occasionally
found in the British seas. They are not of large size,
but they are esteemed as food. For some detail of
them, the reader is referred to the article LABROIDES.
CHONDROPTERYGII (CARTILAGINOUS FISH-
ES), An order or rather sub-class of fishes which differ
so very much in many of their essential characters
from the rest of the finny tribes, that naturalists have
sometimes described them under the name of reptiles
rather than fishes. But still, how much soever they
may differ from the other inhabitants of the waters,
they are decidedly fishes, only it is not easy to trace
a gradation either from them to the others, or from
the others to them. In some parts of their organisa-
tion they are no doubt inferior to the bony fishos, but
there are some others in which they are decidedly
superior.

They differ greatly in the several divisions of the
sub-class ; but they all possess that general cartilagi-
nous texture of the bones, on account of which the
name has been given them. This character varies
much however in the different genera, so that it is
not possible to frame a general description, so that it
shall be strictly applicable to any one species. In
general, we may say that they have some resemblance
to that division of the soft-firmed fishes, to which
Cuvier very accurately applies the name cf p/eclog-
nathes or " soldered jaws" — because these fishes have
the bones of the mouth united to each other, and
consequently comparatively little motion of that
organ. There is another approximation in that
family to the sub-class now under consideration,
namely, a tendency to produce upon the skin, not
scales as in the other bony fishes, but grains or
tubercles of osseous matter.

The chondropterygii have all the bones, forming
the cranium or cavity containing the brain, united
into a single piece, but still there are markings which
indicate portions resembling those that are united by
sutures in other fishes, though in some these mark-
ings are almost entirely obliterated, and the whole
skull consists of one case of flexible bone. The
vertebral column may be said generally to consist of
one single flexible piece, though in this also there
are differences, some having articulations marked
throughout its length, and even tolerably distinct
apart, while in others, as in some of the cyclostoma,
"round mouths," or suckers, there is scarcely any
indication of a joint even by a simple marking ; so
that these may be regarded as, in their skeleton at
least, being at the very bottom of the scale of verte-
brated animals, and connecting them with some of
the most simply formed tribes in the whole animal
kingdom, the myxine or hag being as much like a
slug or leech as a fish, although it has still the gene-
ral character and economy of a vertebrated animal.

But it is in the general texture of the bone, rather
than its form, that the distinguishing character of
these fishes consists. In all other vertebrated animals
the bones are made up of plates, and these plates of
fibres, which extend in the direction of the length of
the bone, so that the bone is much more easily split
in length than broken across, whereas in the chon-

CHONDROPTERYGII.

35

dropterygii, whatever of osseous matter, or earthy
salts, is funned in the cartilaginous matter, forms in
grains, which are detached from each other without
any appearance of being organised in any direction.

The bones, even of those animals which have the
skeleton hardest and most perfect when mature, are
cartilaginous when they are young, and they ossify
gradually, requiring a longer or shorter time in dif-
ferent races of animals ; but, when ossification begins,
always begins at points, and proceeds from those
points as centres, in lines of definite arrangement, the
characters of which are worthy of more attention than
they have hitherto received. Thus there is in the
cartilage of these animals, a principle by means of
which it can organise the earthy parts of the bone, as
well as produce them, whereas, in the fishes under con-
sideration, this principle seems to be entirely wanting ;
and therefore, though the general cartilaginous basis
of the bone may be considered as a product of organi-
sation, the hard matter which may afterwards be
imbedded in it, is not so imbedded in consequence of
any particular law of organisation. In this respect
therefore, we may with perfect correctness say, that
these fishes are a stage lower in the structure of their
bones than any other verteb rated animals. It seems
also that their cartilage is differently formed. The car-
tilage of the others is to a considerable extent fibrous,
though the fibres are not easily perceptible, in conse-
quence of the closeness of their union ; and we may
suppose that the reason why the bony matter in this
sub-class of fishes is not organically arranged, is the
absence of this structure in the cartilaginous basis.
Therefore, though the term "cartilaginous" answers
very well for distinguishing them from other fishes,
we must not suppose that they have the same kind
of cartilage as the others only without the bony mat-
ter in it ; for their cartilage is not only really but
necessarily different. If it were the same in substance
and in arrangement, it would be impossible not to
suppose that it would ultimately ossify into the very
same kind of bone. If we were not to conclude that
the same preparing substance would, and must, under
the same circumstances, produce the very same
result, then we could come to no conclusion what-
ever, and there would be an end to natural history
as a science.

Imperfect as the bony structure of these fishes thus
seems, it has its advantages. They move more freely
than animals with stiff bones ; they are much less
liable to injury ; and so far as we know, they are
exempted from old age, from decay, and probably
from death, except by casualty.

In all cases where the bones of the vertebral co-
lumn are stiff, the motion of the joints is confined to
certain directions only ; and though some vertebrated
portions, as in the necks of many birds, and more
especially in the chelonia, which have hard shells,
have very beautifully formed joints, and admit of a
wonderful degree of flexure, yet in them the flexure
is produced by every different joint being bent in a
different direction, there being as many centres of
motion as there are joints, and consequently a very
complicated apparatus of muscles for moving them.
The bones of the true serpents (we are of course
speaking of the vertebral column only), and those of
bony fishes, afford instances of motion which is more
free and more general in its direction ; but still the
principal motion is referable to a definite plane in
the clody of the animal. That of the serpents is

vertical, passing through the middle of the back and
the belly, and there is generally a distinct mesial
line along one or both. The bony fishes again are
articulated, so as to have their principal motion in
the horizontal plane passing through the middle of
the sides, which are generally marked by lateral lines.
The joints in these are without processes, upon
which a particular motion can be performed as on a
centre, for they consist of two hollow conical cups,
with their lips applied to each other, and their cavi-
ties filled with cartilaginous substance, so that each
of them may be considered more or less as a universal
joint, though this is modified in different species, in
such a manner as best adapts them to their habits ;
a bone of this kind is obedient to the action of the
general muscular mass in which it is embodied, and
does not need detached muscles for the motion of
every single joint, attached at each extremity to one
of the bones which meet at the joint, in the same
manner as in animals which have the bones articu-
lated upon each other by means of processes and
cavities. The muscles of fishes act between the bone
and the skin, as their two principal points of inser-
tion ; and as the skin is supported externally by the
weight of the element in which the fish moves, much
less muscular exertion is required to produce motion,
than in animals which have the bones with regular
joints.

In the cartilaginous fishes, this facility of motion is
communicated to the whole of the vertebral column,
so that they can move with still less of muscular
effort than the true fishes. Thus they have great
command of themselves in the water, without much
exhaustion of their system ; and as there is at the
same time no positive limit to the growth of their
bones, they are exempted from old age and decay.

This leads us to another peculiarity of their struc-
ture, their respiratory system. The quantity is
proportionately less than that of bony fishes, and
their breathing apparatus is of more simple structure.
In consequence of this, the whole functions of life in
them are carried on with less exhaustion of the sys-
tem than those of the other fishes ; and thus, while
their body is less worn by the operation of living, it
requires less renovation, the principle of life in it is
more durable, they can bear abstinence for a greater
length of time, can feed more voraciously when they
do feed, and more of the substance of their food can
go to the increase of their size. These particulars
vary much in the different divisions or orders into
which they may be divided, and also in the subdivi-
sions, but still they, to some extent, apply to the
whole.

There is this further to be remarked on them gene-
rally, that their organs and manner of reproduction
are much more perfect than those of the other fishes,
that in these respects they bear a considerable resem-
blance to reptiles ; and some of them have even a
physiological, though not a structural, resemblance
to the marsupial mammalia. In describing them
according to their feeding apparatus, which, however,
is much less satisfactory in the case of fishes than in
that of any other vertebrated animals, the most re-
markable circumstances are the absence of maxillary
and intermaxillary bones for supporting the teeth.
But the teeth, though they are without bony sup-
ports, are not the less powerful ; for some of these
fishes, as the shark for instance, have more formidable
mouths than any other animals. The teeth are
. C a

CHRYSALIS.

moveable; and as they are generally in several
rows, they can hold on with one part, and cut and
tear with another ; and if we except those fishes
which feed upon Crustacea or sea-weed, they are per-
haps the only ones which divide their food by the
action of the mouth.

The skin is a very important part of the structure
of these fishes, and may be said to contribute almost
as much to support them in their motions as the bony
part of their structure. Indeed the skin is almost
the only part in which any substance approaching to
the character of bone is formed. Some of them pro-
duce large plates as in the sturgeons (see the article
ACCIPENSER), others hooks and spines, some of which
are very formidable weapons, and others tubercles of
various forms and sizes. The various species of sha-
green which is used for covering boxes and various
other articles are the skins of sharks. These bony
appendages are exceedingly hard in their consistency ;
but whatever may be their form, they partake of the
general character, which \ve have already alluded to
as distinguishing the internal bones — they do not
exhibit a fibrous structure, but are uniform throughout;
and though it is difficult to divide them in any parti-
cular direction, they are equally divisible in all. These
fishes are divided into two sub-orders, those which have
the gills fixed, and those which have the gills free.

WITH FIXED GILLS. In these the gills adhere
to the skin, or rather to the integument of the sac in
which they are contained, instead of being loose at
their posterior edges, as is the case with other fishes.
The water does not therefore pass through the gills
of these fishes as it does through those of others;
neither have they any gill-lid, or operculum, by the
action of which they carry on the operation of
breathing. They have between every two fringes
or leaves of the gills, an opening for the admission
of water, and the outer edge of each gill is supported
by a cartilaginous arch imbedded ia the flesh, between
the openings ; and it is by means of the muscles
acting on this arch, that the process of breathing,
which is a very slow one, is carried on. The genera
and species of this order are much more numerous
than those with free gills. They consist of two
families, PLAGIOSTOMUS, "oblique mouth," or "cross
mouth," the mouth being in the form of a slit under
the snout, which generally projects a considerable
way in front of the opening, arid the mouth, from
the absence of jaw-bones, admits of a great deal of
motion; and CYCLOSTOMUS, "round mouth," from
the mouth being in the form of a sucker, or capable
of turning backwards so as to be on the same plane
all round. Some notice of each of these families will
be given under its name in the order of the alphabet.

WITH FREE GILLS. These have their gills free
at the one extremity, as is the case in ordinary fishes,
and they have only a single gill opening, for allowing
the water to escape. This opening is furnished with
a gill lid; but without any flap. This sub-order
consists of four genera, though all these may be in-
cluded in one family, the sturgeon family. See
STURIONID^:.

Of these two orders or sub-orders, those with fixed
gills may be considered as the most typical ; but both
stand so distinct from the rest of fishes, that, with
the exception of the partial resemblance to plectog-
nathes above alluded to, they must be considered as
forming, not a subdivision of fishes considered as one
class of animals, but as a distinct class of fishes, which

hold a very peculiar place in the structural system of
animals, and also from their numbers perform an im-
portant part in the living economy of the waters.
We must not suppose that there is any thing out ot
nature, in there thus being two distinct classes of
vertebrated inhabitants of the waters, any more than
that there should be different species ; for we have a
similar division of mammalia ; the marsupial animals
being as distinct from the other mammalia, as the
chondropterygii are from the other fishes. We have
mentioned that there are some points of relation be-
tween those second classes of mammalia and of fishes,
and one would be almost led to believe that they
are portions of a different creation from the other
classes, which they resemble in their common eco-
nomy and habits. It is exceedingly difficult, however,
to trace the analogies between sea and land animals,
not only from the great ignorance in which we must
for ever remain as to the details of what goes on in
the deep, but because many links in the chain are
wanting.

CHRYSALIS or AURELIA. Under these terms
is designated the pupa state of lepidopterous insects.
Having already, in our article AURELIA, given some
account of the cause of the application of these terms
to this state, and in one article, BUTTERFLY, detailed
the peculiarities of the chrysalides of the Papilumida>,
we shall here briefly notice some general circum-
stances relative to chrysalides in general, and to
those of moths and hawk-moths in particular, reserv-
ing to the article COCOON our account of the con-
struction of those curious envelopes in which the
insect is often in this state inclosed.

The pupa) of lepidopterous insects entirely differ
from those of every other order of insects, a circum-
stance of some interest as well as peculiarity, since in
other instances we find the pupae of several orders
exhibiting the same general form. In the Lepido-
ptera, however, the various organs of motion of the
future insect are laid along the breast and sides, but.
are folded up under a hard skin, whence they are
much less distinctly perceptible than in the pupae of
other insects. Linnaeus has termed this an obtected
pupa. In general lepidopterous chrysalides are of
an oblong-oval form, obtuse at the head, and gra-
dually becoming narrow towards the tail ; but in
some moihs, as in the Hornby* luna, the form is
shorter, and obtuse at each end. Under this form
the insect appears neither to have legs nor wings, it
seems even destitute of life, taking no nourishment
and appearing like an unorganised mass, the only
sign of life being a slight occasional twitching of the
hind part of the body. The outer covering appears
of a cartilaginous nature ; it is commonly smooth,
but in some few instances it is hairy. From the blunt
extremity of the body are to be observed various
small and narrow compartments, arranged like the
bands of a mummy. These are the coverings of the
legs and antenna?, disposed along the breast, the part
from whence they seem to arise is the head, which
is covered by a piece termed the Ccphalothcca. On
the outside of these narrow bands are to be observed
two broader scales, which, covering the wings, are
termed Pterotheca, arising from the opposite side to
the breast, and which is the covering of the thorax,
or Cytotheca. This is followed by the abdomen-case,
Gastrotheca.

The chrysalis, upon quitting the exuvia of the
caterpillar, is soft and tender ; by degrees, however,

its external envelope becomes hard and friable.
Moreover the surface of the body is at first moist-
ened with a viscid fluid which exudes from beneath
the wings, and the other parts which are inclosed
between these organs, and which becomes thickened
and hardens rapidly, and in so doing glues together
the contiguous parts, which are consequently now
inclosed in an additional envelope, this taking place
within twenty-four hours after the change ; at the
same time also this fluid not only loses its transpa-
rency, but also acquires a colour. Previous to the
hardening of this fluid it is easy to observe as well
as to separate the various external organs of which
the future butterfly is composed, as the anteniiie,
legs, wings, &c. there is this difference, however,
between the chrysalis and the imago, at least of the
butterflies ; in the former state one pair of wings,
the upper, are alone to be observed, the second,°or
inferior pair, being hidden beneath them, the inter-
mediate space in the pupa being filled with this
gummy matter, by which they are at length glued
together; whereas in the butterfly (but not in the
moths, except during flight) the lower pair of wings
are exposed, even when the butterfly is at rest upon
the bosom of a flower.

Reaumur has divided chrysalides in general into
two great divisions, namely, those which, from having
various angular projections upon the body, he has
termed angular chrysalides, and those in which the
body is smooth and unfurnished with these projec-
tions, and which may be termed conical chrysalides,
but which Reaumur calls " feves ;" and it is a curi-
ous circumstance, that all angulated chrysalides
produce butterflies, whilst from the conical chrysa-
lides, with a few exceptions, the various tribes of
moths and hawk-moths are produced ; these excep-
tions being confined to the small butterflies, belonging
to the family Lycamida:. Moreover the chrysalis of
the orange-tip butterfly (Mancipium car da mine's) seems
intermediate between the two groups, having the
body boat-shaped, with a spindle-formed process
arising from the head, as well as the tail. There is
a great difference in the situation of the prominences
and angulated projections, upon the body of the
chrysalides belonging to the first of these divisions,
and in some of the old works of natural histurv, we
find the representations of them fancifully converted
into the singular profile of the human face, the dorsal
prominence forming the nose ! Amongst the conical
chrysalides, there are also various differences to be
observed ; we shall, however, only notice those offered
by the sphinx family, in which the tongue, which in
the perfect state is exceedingly long, is inclosed in
a thickened cylindric proboscis, which stands off
from the breast, and within which the tongue is
curled up ; whilst, in the genus Calophosia, Stephens, a
provision of a different kind is made for the unusual
k'ngth of the organ, by the tongue-case being
recurved upon the breast, in which respect it ap-
proaches the shark moths, Cucullia;.

In our article BUTTERFLY, we have alluded to the
incorrectness of the fanciful notions entertained by
the old naturalists, that insects in their progress to
tiie perfect state underwent a series of real meta-
morphoses. In like manner we may notice, as
conveying' an equally incorrect idea, that the bursting
forth of the butterfly has been adopted as an illus-
tration, fitting to convey a token of one of the
profoundest mysteries of our Holy Religion.

CHRYSANTHEMUM.

37

Oh, start not ! on thy closing eyes

Another day shall still unfold,
A sun of milder radiance rise ;

A happier age of joys unfold.
Shall the poor worm that shocks thy sight,

The humblest form in nature's train •
Thus rise in new-born lustre bright, '

And yet the emblem teach in vain ?

The idea is highly poetical, but the simile is not
correct when the changes undergone by " the poor
worm" have had all of the marvellous stripped from
them by the assistance of direct observation ; and yet
these changes are not, on that account, the less wonder-
ful. To them, indeed, may well be applied the cele-
brated words of the poet—" Truth is stranger than
fiction."

The body of the caterpillar consists of twelve
segments, exclusive of the head and anus, and on each
side of the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, 10th, and
1 1th of these segments, a small oval spiracle or
breathing pore is to be observed, making together
eighteen. In the pupa, notwithstanding the great
alteration which has taken place in the size and dis
position of the segments, we notice, besides the head,
first, a small, nearly square, piece, being the remains
of the first segment, having, on each side, a small
breathing pore ; next, a large dorsal piece, giving rise
to the large anterior wings, which is the second seg-
ment; then a short dorsal piece, giving1 rise to the
second wings, being the third segment ; after which,
follows another short segment, of which the spiracles
are not observable, which is succeeded by seven spi-
raculiferous rings; then comes another ring, with-
out spiracles, and the body is terminated by a plate
covering the anal organs. This description is taken
from a living male Chrysalis, of the splendid large
Emperor moth, Paconia major, an inhabitant of
France.

The Chrysalides of various moths exhibit a singular
circumstance not hitherto satisfactorily accounted for,
but which present an interesting instance of that
parental care, " which nature so conspicuouslv mani-
fests towards the most insignificant (if any'can be
called such) of her productions." The small Eggar
moth, Eriogaster lanestris, is one of the most remark-
able of these species, — doomed to a regular appear-
ance, in the winged state, at the termination of the
cold and nngenial month of February, nature (that
it may not fail and become extinct) reserves a small
portion of it annually, in the pupa state, until the
February following that of its pupation, and some-
times even until the third occurrence of that frigid
month, denying their emancipation all the intermediate
time, and thus effectually securing, by these unusual
means, the safety and perpetuation of an animal, small
it is true, but whose annual existence, at that incle-
ment season, in the winged state, is probably of more
consequence in the intricacy of its great Creator's
plans than we are at present aware of, although He
constantly exposes it to the dangerous vicissitudes of
winter; for

Each shell, each crawling insect, holds a rank,

Important in the plan of Him who framed

This scale of beings, holds a rank, which lost,

Would break the chain, and leave behind a gap,

Which nature's sell' would rue."—Lepiduptera. Britannica.

CHRYSANTHEMUM (Linnaeus). An extensive
genus of herbaceous perennial and annual plants,
valued for their large showy flowers. LinnEeari class
and order, Syngcncsia superflw, natural order, Coin-

88

CHRYSIDID^E.

Generic character : anthodium hemisphe-
lical, scaly ; scales with scarious margins ; receptacle
plain and naked ; seeds oblong and angular. The
geographical distribution of this genus extends over
all the northern hemisphere, from the British isles to
Kamschatka, and from Siberia to Asia Minor. One
of the British species, C. scgetum, was formerly a
troublesome weed in corn, insomuch that land subject
to it was lower rented than that where the yellow
weed was unknown. By careful hand-weeding, how-
ever, the plant is now almost banished from all well
cultivated fields. Several are admitted into the flower
garden ; and since the introduction of the Chinese
half shrubby species, every greenhouse, garden, and
court-yard, are ornamented with them. Few plants
have engaged the attention of florists more than this,
and they are now as much admired, and as much cul-
tivated in England, as they are in China. Two
monographs have been published of the C. Sincnse,
the first by J. Sabine, Esq., S.H.S. of London, and
the second by the late A. H. Haworth, Esq. Ac-
cording to Mr. H., there are above fifty different
species or varieties, all of them handsome, and some
of them splendid flowering plants. They are what
are called half-hardy, that is, if planted in the open
ground, their stems, like those of other perennials,
are killed down to the ground in winter ; but the
aggregated roots survive with but a very slight pro-
tection, whence the flowering stems of the next
summer are produced.

There are various methods of cultivating the
chrysanthemum. The easiest, perhaps, is to plant
them close under a wall, to which the stems are
trained during their growth. They may also be
planted singly in the flower borders, and the shoots
kept tied to a stake as they advance in height. But,
as the plants flower very late in the season, a circum-
stance for which they are much prized, they require
assistance from heat, either reflected from a wall, or
applied in some other way, in order that the flowers
may be sufficiently forsvard to blow before the frosts
set in.

Young shoots separated from the old stool, or
cuttings made of the earliest shoots, are soon esta-
blished as individuals, and in this state grow much
more luxuriantly tlian if they had been left on the
parent stool. These young individuals, being more
robust in habit, produce larger flowers, and these in
greater abundance.

As the flowers are terminal, that is, produced on the
points of the shoots, they cannot appear until the
stem has gained its full height, which is sometimes,
when trained to a wall, six or eight feet ; and when
allowed to grow so tall, and kept in pots, are very
inconvenient in a greenhouse. To counteract this
tendency to run up, and to have low bushy plants
and a plentiful bloom, a judicious practice has been
had recourse to by some florists with the best effect.
This is by layering the strongest shoots, in the
months of June and July, into pots of light rich com-
post, plunged in the ground at a proper distance
round the stool, and in a shady place. The point of
the layered shoot is thus furnished with a new system
of active roots, which are competent to perfect the
further elongation of the shoot, with its terminal
bouquet of flowers ; and these, though quite perfect
as to form and colours, are never quite so large as
would have been borne by the shoot if it had not been
layered at all. Each stem bears a branched head of

flowers ; and if a few only are wished to be as large
as possible, they may be thinned by cutting off all
the inferiors before they are too far advanced.

There are other ways of dwarfing the chrysan-
themum besides layering them as above described.
Starving them in poor sandy soil, in diminutive pots,
and allowing but short supplies of water, will chock
luxuriance ; but this is always at the expense of the
beauty and size of the flowers.

CHRYSIDID.E (Leach). A family of hymeno-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Pupivora, and
distinguished, not only by the exceeding brilliancy of
the colours of the insects of which it is composed
(whence the origin of the name which signifies golden
flies), but also by the antennae having thirteen joints
in both sexes, the basal joint being the longest, so as
to form, at its extremity, an elbow with the remaining
joints ; the mandibles are narrow, curved, and pointed ;
the lower wings are destitute of nervures, and the
abdomen of the females is terminated by an articulated
retractile ovipositor, composed of several of the
apical segments of the body, the abdomen itself
appearing to be composed of only three or four
segments. The under surface of this part of the body-
is concave ; so then, when the insect is alarmed, it
contracts itself into a ball, like a wood louse, leaving
the wings only exposed. These insects are adorned
with the richest colours, the thorax being generally of
a fine blue colour, and the abdomen of a polished
coppery flame colour ; they fly, in the hottest sun-
shine, about old walls and palings exposed to the sun,
with very great agility, seeking entrance into the
burrows of other insects, in the nests of which they
deposit their own eggs, in the manner of the cuckoo-
bees. See CuculhuE. M. St. Fargeau has observed
the proceedings of the female of the species Hcdychrum
rcgium, which, in general, selects the nests of Mega-
chile muraria, a wild mason bee. Having entered one
of the nests of this bee, head foremost, it drew back
and turned itself round for the purpose of introducing
the hind part of its body into the nest, walking back-
wards. The bee, however, arrived at this critical
juncture with a supply of pollen paste, no sooner,
however, did she perceive her enemy than she pounced
on it and seized it with her jaws ; like the ChrysuMtE
in general, however, it immediately rolled itself into a
ball, so that the jaws df the bee, although very power-
ful, were not able to affect the least wound upon the
polished cuirass of the Hedychrum ; she, however, cut
off the four wings of the latter which were undefended,
and then let it fall to the ground. She then visited
her cell with some inquietude, deposited her store of
provision, and retutned to the fields for a further
supply. No sooner, however, was she gone than the
Hedychrum, which had, during the interval, remained
rolled up, unrolled itself, crept up the wall, and quietly
deposited its eggs in the cell, from which it had just
previously been precipitated, placing them in the
midst of the paste against the walls of the cell, which
prevented the Megachile from perceiving it.

De Geer found the Chrysts vricans, in the resinous
ll of the pine, whence he surmised that its larva
had been nourished upon the larva which had been
previously inclosed therein, having observed at the
aottom of the cell of the gall, an empty cocoon, com-
posed of loose silk, which the Chrysts had pierced in
order to make its escape.

This family comprises the genera Parnopes, Chrysis,
Stilbum, Euchrceus, Pyria, Hcdychrum, Elawpus, and

CHRYSIPHIALA— CHR YSOCHLORIS.

Cleples. The genus Ckrysis has the mandibles with
one small tooth, the labium rounded and entire, the
maxillary palpi much longer than the labial, and the
thorax not narrowed in front.

There are about thirty-five species of this beautiful
family found in this country, two-thirds of which
belong to the last mentioned genus, of which the
Chrysis iqnita of Linnaeus is the type.

CHRYSIPHIALA (Ker). A Peruvian family
of bulbous herbs, introduced within the last fifteen
years. Linnaean class and order, Hcxandria Mono-
gynia ; natural order, AmaryUideas. Generic charac-
ter : perianth tubular, tube contracted in the middle,
limb erect, and expanded like a funnel in six divi-
sions ; corolla shortened interiorly, toothed, and
bearing the stamens ; filaments awl-shaped and erect ;
anthers incumbent ; style thickly spindle-shaped be-
low ; stigma club-shaped ; capsule three-celled, three-
valved, and many-seeded. This genus was called
Stenomison by Herbert, and Pancratium by Ruiz and
Pavon.

CHRYSOBALANE^E. The cocoa-plum family.
A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
nine genera and upwards of thirty known species.
By some botanists the order is considered as a section
of Rosaceai, to which it is undoubtedly allied. It has
also an obvious affinity to Amygdalece, but differs in
having irregular petals and stamens, and a style
proceeding from the base of the ovary. By the
former of these characters, as well as by the cohesion
which exists between the ovary and the calyx, the
order may be said to approach Leguminoscc, but the
position of the styles and ovula, and the relation
which the odd lobes of the calyx bear to the axis of
inflorescence, are sufficient to distinguish the two
. orders.

The following are the botanical characters of
Chrysobalanccs : calyx five-lobed ; petals more or less
irregular, either five or none ; stamens definite or
indefinite, irregular in size or position ; ovary soli-
tary, free, its stalk cohering on one side to the tube
of the calyx ; ovules two, erect ; style single, arising
from the base ; stigma simple ; fruit, a drupe one
or two-celled ; seeds usually solitary, erect ; embryo
with fleshy cotyledons, and no albumen.

The plants referred to this order are trees or
shrubs, with simple alternate stipulate leaves, and
flowers in racemes, panicles, or corymbs. They
grow in tropical countries, and are found chiefly in
the warm regions of Africa and America. A few
species are supposed to exist in Equinoctial Asia,
and one is said to be found as far north as the
pine-barrens of Georgia, in America. In the latter
country, however, it is to be remarked, that the
climate is much warmer than in most countries lying
in the same parallel of latitude. The order furnishes
some esculent fruits, but none of the plants appear
to be possessed of any particular medicinal properties.
The genera are, Chrysobalanus, Moquilia, Corcepia.
Acioa, Parinarium, Grangeria, Licania, Thclyra, and
Hirtella.

Chrysobalanus Jcaco is an irregular shrub, eight or
ten feet high, which grows iu South America and in
the West Indies, in situations not far from the sea.
It bears small whitish flowers, and yields a fruit the
size of a plum, which is sometimes of a white, at
other times of a yellow, red, or purple colour, and is
eaten in the \Vt-st Indies under the name of cocoa-
plum. It has little odour, and a sweetish taste. The

39

root of the plant is astringent, and has been used as
such medicinally. Chrysobalanus hdcus resembles the
lemon-tree, and is found in the maritime parts of
Sierra Leone. It yields an esculent fruit the size of
a plum, which is sold in the markets.

Parinarium cxcclsum, found on the mountains of
Sierra Leone, supplies an insipid fruit, eaten by the
negroes under the name of the rough-skinned or
grey plum. The kernel of the fruit of P. campestre
and montanum is said to be sweet and edible.

Grangeria Bourbonia is a tree the size of an oak,
with entire leaves and small flowers, found on the Isle
of Bourbon.

Hirtella Americana. A tree twenty-five feet high
found in Cayenne and Guiana, is furnished with a
reddish bark, and has its branches covered with fine
hair. Some of the species of this genus are tall trees
of the tropics, which support themselves on other
plants.

CHRYSOBALANUS (Linnteus). This is a
West Indian fruit tree, called the cocoa-plum. It
belongs to the class Icosandria Di Pentagynia, and
to the natural order Hosaccte.

CHRYSOBERYL. A very beautiful mineral, of
a yellowish-green tint, which derives its name from
a Greek word, indicative of its peculiar hue. It
sometimes exhibits a milk-white opalescence, which
appears in general to radiate from the interior of the
mineral, and reflects much light. It is seldom found
crystallised ; but the primitive form is a prism of 104°.
41'. The most frequent secondary forms are those

Fig. I.

Chrysoberyl.

in the accompanying figures. Fig. 1, is a short and
broad six-sided prism, or ihick table; fig. 2, a very
short and broad six-sided prism, acuminated on both
ends with six planes, set on the lateral planes, and
the orifices truncated.

This mineral occurs in Brazil, in alluvial soil with
the topaz, or in sand-stone with the diamond. Some
are also procured from the United States. The beds
of the rivers in Ceylon occasionally present this
mineral ; it is there sometimes found in conjunction
with sapphires, rubies, and tourmalines. The finest
specimens of the chrysoberyl employed in this country
for the purposes of the jeweller, are those imported
from South America.

CHRYSOCHLORIS-Golden-green Mole. A
genus of carnivorous mammalia, belonging to the
division which feed on insects. The generic characters
are : two incisive teeth in the upper jaw and four in the
under, the cheek teeth stand high, arc separate from
each other, arid have the form of triangular prisms.
Their muzzle is short and turned up ; their fore feet
have only three claws, of which the exterior one is

40

CHRYSOCOLLA— CHRYSOMELID.E.

very large, pointed, and crooked, and serves them for
digging their way rapidly under ground ; the hind
feet have five claws on each, which are of moderate
size. Their habits are similar to those of the common
mole ; but their organisation is very different. The
clavicle is much more slender than in the mole, while
the first rib is on the contrary much thicker and very
long. The blade bone is also large, arid the humerus
is nearly three times the length of that of the mole.
The fore arm is also supported by an additional bone.
Indeed there is no animal in which the shoulder is
better articulated for powerful motion than in this
genus, small as are the animals. There is but one
species which is well established, the golden mole
of Southern Africa (C. Capensis), but this one has
occasioned no small trouble to those naturalists who
make colour a principal character, and describe
animals from museum sepcimens.

This species is a very small animal, considerably
less than the common mole of Europe ; in consequence
of its subterraneous habits it is not very frequently
seen ; and in respect of colour it is as perplexing as
the cameleon. We believe that the real colour, that
is the colour as seen in light which is not refracted,
is brown ; but, different from all other mammalia,
this small animal has the same metallic reflections in
its fur which are observable in the feathers of many
birds, the range of these colours being from a deep
golden yellow, or rather a sort of bronze red, to a
bronze green ; and as all animals which have the
metallic reflections lose them when dead and dried,
the stuffed skin of this one conveys no idea of what
the living animal is like. Hence it has been described
as if of different colours and has been attributed to
different parts of the world, as to America and Siberia.
There are many districts of these parts of the world
which are still very imperfectly known, and the habits
of those small burrowing mammalia render it very
difficult to ascertain what are their numbers ; and
therefore the subject is one upon which mistakes are
unavoidable, as there may be many species in those
unexplored countries of which no individual has been
seen. This animal has no apparent tail, no external
concha to its ears, and no visible eyes, until they are
forced open by direct experiment. Its snout is formed
with a movcable citrtilaginous rim, and by means of
this and its powerful fore-paws it gets along the
ground with considerable celerity. In Southern Africa
it is nearly as troublesome in rooting up gardens with
its subterranean passages as the common mole is with
us. Its time and manner of breeding, and its general
habits, farther than that it is a dweller in the earth,
are little known ; but it is ascertained that the female
has two mammae situated in the groin.

This species has sometimes been confounded with
those animals which are properly styled rat-moles on
account of their having the habits of moles, at least
in so far as burrowing is concerned, while they are
rodent or gnawing animals in their general structure.
Those which have this compound character may be
considered as in so far omnivorous, eating indiscrimi-
nately small animals and succulent vegetable matter,
whereas the cheek teeth of this genus are wholly or
chiefly of an insectivorous character ; and therefore
it only disfigures those grounds in which it makes its
runs, and does not eat the fibres of vegetable roots.
Though a small and obscure animal, this is remark-
able for its beauty, if it were possible to preserve that
beautv iu the dried skin. Its colours have already

been mentioned, and we may add that the texture of
its fur is more delicately soft, and also more beautiful
in its lustre than that of the mole. It is worthy of
remark, that these small burrowing animals are neither
soiled by mud nor readily wetted bv water.

CHRYSOCOLLA. A genus of molluscs esta-
blished by De Montfort, but united with the genus
Polystome/la, of which it forms one of the divisions.

CHRYSOCOMA (Linnaeus). A genus of yellow
flowering shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, and
herbs, natives of Europe and North America. These
plants are the goldylocks of our gardens, and belong
to the natural order Composites, propagated by cuttings
and division of the root.

CHRYSOLITE. This mineral is characterised
by its pistachio green colour. It is brought to Europe
from the Levant, and is said to occur in upper Egypt,
on the shores of the Red Sea, and in the Isle of
Bourbon. The chrysolite has a considerable degree
of lustre and transparency ; but it is one of the
softest of the precious stones, hence jewels of it be-
come dull on the surface, if the slightest attrition be
employed.

CHRYSOMELID^ (Leach). A very extensive
family of coleopterous 'insects, belonging to the sec-
tion Tetramera, and sub-section Cyclica of Latreille,
which latter group is almost identical with the Lin-
naean genus Chrysomela, but which, from the amazing
number of additions made thereto since the days of
the great Swede, it has been considered necessary to
separate into three divisions, namely, the Galerucicke
(Galerucitte, Latreille); Ckrysomelidce (Chrysomel'mes,
Latreille); and CassuHdee (Cassidarice, Latreille. See
CASSIDA). These groups are conjointly characterised
by having the body of a small or but moderate size,
and of an oval or rounded form, being seldom elon-
gated. The antennae are seldom so long as the body,
and filiform or gradually thickened towards the tips ;
the thorax is sometimes as wide behind as the base
of the elytra ; the three basal joints of the tarsi are
dilated and spongy beneath, forming a kind of
cushion; the legs are of a moderate length, but
rather thickened, especially in the part termed the
femur or thigh, which in the hind legs is sometimes
greatly incrassated, as in the turnip beetles (Halticce)
and some others. Generally speaking, these insects
are of sluggish habits, frequenting plants and vege-
tables, upon the leaves of which they feed both in
the perfect and larva state ; being during the latter
period of their lives of a soft fleshy consistence, with
six legs, and emitting a viscid secretion, which
serves to affix them to the objects upon which they
are placed. It is here also they are transformed into
pupie, the posterior part of the body being affixed to
the leaves, &c., and surrounded by the cast skin of
the larva. In both these preparatory stages, the
body of the insect is ornamented with various colours,
and in the perfect state we find nearly the whole
group distinguished by their highly polished and
metallic tints, whence the origin of their name, which
signifies golden beetles. When disturbed, they im-
mediately fall to the ground, folding their legs and
antennae along the sides of the body. It is, however,
in tropical climates, where vegetation reaches its
greatest luxuriance, that these herbivorous insects
abound; and to so great an extent, that from the
state of our collections, we should feel inclined to
average the Linnaean chrysomelae at, at least, one-
eighth of the whole order of beetles.

CHRYSOPHRIS — CHRYSOTOSUS.

41

Lalrcille has arranged the groups of which this
division (Cyclica) is composed, from a consideration
of the various habits of the larvie, as follows: — 1st,
those which cover themselves with their own excre-
ments (Cassidce}. 2nd, those which reside in portable
cases (Clytkra, &c.). 3rd, naked larva;. 4th, larvae
living' in the interior of leaves, feeding upon the
parenchyma (Haltica) : but it is to be borne in mind,
that this mode of distribution must be cautiously
regarded, since the Galerucidcc, to which the Halticce
are referable, are naked, and it is by no means de-
cided that the larvae of the latter are internal feeders.

The three divisions or families above mentioned,
may be readily distinguished by the following cha-
racters : —

1. Cassidid(E. Antennae arising close together, con-
cealed at the base by the thorax.

2. Chrysomclidce. Antennae remote from each other
at the base.

8. Galcracidce. Antennae close together at the base,
and not concealed by the thorax.

The family Chrysomelidu; have the body oval, more
or less tending to a globular or an oblong shape ; the
antennie are generally slightly thickened towards the
tips, and the legs are nearly of an equal size. These
beetles, notwithstanding their small or but moderate
size, are amongst the most beautiful of coleopterous
insects ; they are highly polished, and their colours
are greatly variegated, green and gold, bine, purple,
and crimson, being very conspicuous in the majority.
Some of the species are social, as that found upon
the leaves of the willow (C. vitellince}, the larvae of
which feed in regular rows along the leaves. These
larvae have the body thick and fleshy, and terminated
by a fleshy tubercle, which is employed as an addi-
tional seventh leg. The larvae of one of the largest
British, species (C. populi}, emits a disagreeable
scent, a yellow oily fluid being discharged from
the limbs when the insect is disturbed. Some of the
larvae undergo their transformations under ground.
The pupaj, which does not present any peculiar cha-
racters, is of an oval form, and affixed by its posterior
extremity to the leaves, the perfect insect making its
appearance at the end of several weeks, or occasion-
ally in a few days.

The family comprises two very distinct sections.
1st. Those having the head but slightly deflexed
and exposed to view, the antennae seldom exceeding
half the length of the body, and slightly thickened to
the tips, with the body of an oval form. Here belon^
the genera Phaedon, Melasoma, Ckrysomcla, Helodes,
and Timarcha, all of which are British ; and Coltupit,
Podontia, Phyllocharis, Doryphora, Paropsis, Trocha-
lonota, Cyrtonus, which are exotic.

The genus Chrysomda, as restricted in the latest
works, is distinguished by having the palpi somewhat
hatchet-shaped, the thorax transverse, the elytra se-
parated, and the body furnished with wings. The
tibia> also have a tooth or tubercle on the outside
near the extremity, fringed with hairs. There are
nearly thirty British species of this elegant genus, ol
which the Clirysomela sanguinolenta of Linnaeus is one
of the most common examples; it is about one-third
of an inch long, of a blue-black colour, with the
elytra widely margined with red.

The second section of this family comprises those
species which have the head vertically immersed into
the frontal cavityof the thorax, so that the body form
a kind of thickened cylinder, having the anterior part

cut oil' perpendicularly. The antennae in the majority
an; almost as long as the body, and slender to the tips.
Here belong the genera Cryptoccpkulus, Eumolpus,
Colaspis, and Clythra, all of which are British, toge-
ther with Cklamys, Lamprosoma and Euryopc, exotic
jenera. The second genus comprises the Emffotput
itis, Fabricius, a species which has become distin-
guished by its ravages upon the vines in the wine
countries of Europe ; its larva appearing in the
spring, and devouring the leaves of this plant, as well
as the young buds, as soon as they appear on the
stems ; it also gnaws the footstalk of the bunch of
grapes as soon as it is exposed, causing it to droop
and die ; sometimes however the shoot is sufficiently
strong to survive the injury, but the grapes in these
bunches are of small size on that part which cor-
responds with the injury, in consequence of. their
receiving but a small portion of sap. The perl'ect
insect is of a black colour, and pubescent, with the
elytra, the base of the antennae and tibiae, of a reddish-
brown. The genus Clythra has the antenna; very
short and serrated ; the larva; reside in tubular ense.^
of a leather-like texture, which they bear about with
them. There are several British species.

CHRYSOPHRIS. A genus of spinous-finned
fishes, belonging to the gilt-head family SPAROID^E,
under which some notice of the genera composing
that family will be found.

CHRYSOPHYLLUM (Linnzeus). West Indian
fruit trees of large size, yielding useful fruit called the
star apple. Linnaean class and order Pcntandria
Monogynia ; natural order Sapotca:. Generic charac-
ter : calyx five parted ; corolla bell-shaped and rotate ;
limb divided into five spreading petals ; stamens
inserted in the tube of the corolla ; stigma almost
sitting, peltate, and of ten lobes ; fruit, a round apple
of from five to ten cells, each containing one seed
covered with a bony shell. The foliage of these
trees is beautiful, for which they have a place in our
hot-houses ; but they never arrive at that amplitude
to produce their fruit. They are increased by cuttings
like other stove plants.

CHRYSOSPLENIUM (Linnjeus). A genus of
three species of plants, two of them British, and
frequently found on wet boggy ground, and known by
the trivial name of golden saxifrage. They belong
to the tenth class of Linnaeus, and to the natural order
Saxifragcce.

CHRYSOTOSUS. A genus of spinous fishes,
belonging to the mackarel family, of which the
characters are : a total absence of teeth, a single
dorsal fin furnished with spines, the body compressed,
the scales remarkably small, and the eyes placed late-
rally, with the exception of the coryphenes to which
they are nearly allied, this genus is one of the most
beautiful that inhabits the ocean. There is one spe-
cies which is occasionally met with in our seas, though
it is a ranging fish, and therefore is but rarely caught.
When a specimen is met with, its beauty draws a
considerable degree of attention, and therefore it has
had many names bestowed upon it. It is the ophah
of Pennant, the Zeus imperialis of Shaw, and the moon-
fish of other writers. It is a fish of considerable size,
and so much compressed, that when seen laterally its
figure is nearly round. Its caudal fin is white, and
very much forked ; its dorsal fin is very elevated and
sithe-shaped ; its ventral fins are very long ; and
all the fins excepting the caudal are bright red. The
ground colour of the bodv is a beautiful violet,

42

CHTHAMALUS — CICADA.

marked with white spots; but the colours vary a good
.deal with the light in which the fish is seen. The
b.tck, as turned away from the light, appears a beau-
tiful blue with silvery spots, while the rest of the
body reflects an endless variety of brilliant colours.
Its habits, further than that it is a very discursive
fish, are very little known, and we believe not more
than a single specimen has been met with at one
time.

CHTHAMALUS (Ranzani). The shells of this
genus are extremely flat; the coronary part with its
sides much thicker at their base and formed of six
pieces, as in the Balani, areas nearly equal ; the
internal division short, a membranous stem or support ;
the opening tetragonal, with nearly equal sides,
surrounded by a membrane to which is attached
horizontally, an operculum, composed of four pieces,
slightly pyramidal. Only two species are known of
this shell ; they inhabit the Mediterranean sea, and
are classed in the family Balaiudea. They appear an
intermediate genus between the Balanidcs with pyra-
midal opercula, and those with horizontal opercula.

CIBICIDES(De Blainville). A species of shell
of which only one species has yet been described.
The C. refulgent, nevertheless, is so strongly charac-
terised, that it merits the rank of being considered a
genus. Shell trocho'ide, very much flattened, and
umbilicated with the chambers visible and radiating
from the centre on one side, conical but not spiral on
the other ; the aperture linear, through the height of
that side. 1st class Cephalophora ; 3rd order Poly-
ikalaniacea ; 6th family Turbinacea.

CICADA (Linnaeus; Cicadariae, Latreille). A
group of insects, which, in the 1, inna.au system,
formed the genus Cicada, but which, from the great
increase in the number of the species, and the great
variations in structure which they exhibit, has been
formed, by modern entomologists, into several distinct
families, each consisting of numerous genera. They
are characterised as a division of the order Hemiptera,
and sub-order Homopterita (Kirby), by the minute
size of the antennae, which are of a conical form and
terminated generally by a fine bristle, and these organs
have never more than six or seven joints ; the tarsi
have only three joints ; the wings are concealed by a
pair of hemelytra or wing covers which, however,
during flight, perform the offices of wings, being of a
similar consistence throughout their whole extent, in
which respect they differ from the Cimicidtz or bug
tribes, in which the wing-covers are composed of
two distinct kinds of membrane, or rather of corium
and membrane ; the proboscis, which is employed in
wounding and sucking the juices of plants, arises from
the under side of the head, near the fore legs ; the
hind legs are adapted for leaping ; and the females
are furnished with an apparatus well fitted for depo-
siting their eggs, being composed of two saw-like
organs, somewhat similar to those of the true saw-
flies, Tentkredinidte.

These insects, which from their saltatorial powers
have acquired the name of tree-hoppers, are amongst
the most celebrated of the lower animals. They were
known to the Greeks, who were accustomed to keep
them in cages for the sake of their song, under the
name of Tetrix, and they form a favourite theme in
the verses of every Grecian bard from Homer to
Anacreon. " Sweet prophet of the summer," says
the latter, addressing one of these insects, "the
muses love thee, Phoebus loves thee, and has given

thee a shrill song, old age does not wear thee out,
thou art wise, earth-born, musical, impassive, without
blood, thou art almost like a god!" The hiero-
glyphics of Egypt, in like manner, give evidence of
the attention with which these insects hud been
observed ; and in which, from their organs of sound,
which were supposed to be placed upon the back and
not at the moutli, they were emblematically represented
as the ministers of religion. Aristotle, who named these
insects Tetrix, says that that they have no mouth,
but a kind of tongue placed beneath the breast, and
serving to suck up the dew. He likewise distin-
guishes two kinds of tetrix, the larger which sing,
which he calls " achetes," and the smaller, which arc
silent " tettigonion or tettigonia ;" cicadrasta; in Latin.
The eyes were supposed to be very weak, for Pliny
adds, that if the finger be placed close to them, they
will creep upon it as though it were a leaf; this
however is certainly incorrect, for it is well known
that when they are approached, they use both their
wings in flying and legs in leaping, in order to get
out of harm's way. The female, says Pliny, is pro-
vided with a pointed instrument or auger, which
pierces the earth, reeds, stems of the vine, &c.,
when the insect wishes to deposit her eggs. The
pupae of these insects have very little the appearance
of the perfect flies ; the body is thick and heavy, and
the fore legs very large, with the anterior thighs
greatly incrassated and toothed. They were called
by the Greeks Tetligometrte, or the mother of the
cicadas. Diodorus informs us that these insects do
not exist in the district of Locres, because Hercules,
annoyed by their chirping, prayed the gods to deliver
the country from their noise, whereupon his prayers
were heard. Several Eastern nations eat these in-
sects ; the males before coupling, and the females
after impregnation, are most relished. Isidore of
Seville, doubtless misled by the frothy matter in
which the larva of the Cicada (aphroplwm] spumaria
is found, says that the Cigales or cicadse spring from
the saliva of the cuckoo. " Cuculorum nascuntur
sputo," Orig. lib. xxii. cap. 8. The organs by which
the chirping of the cicadae is produced, have been
well described by Reaumur. They are placed on
the under side of the body, between the base of the
hind legs and the abdomen, and consist externally of
a pair of large flattened plates of a horny texture,
varying in form in the different species. When
raised, they are found to conceal a large cavity par-
tially covered with membrane of a much more delicate
nature than the external covering, with a horny plate
in the middle, placed horizontally along the bottom ;
the sound is, however, produced by a bundle of mus-
cles still more internally, and when these strings are
pulled and suddenly let go, even in a dead specimen,
the sound is produced as well as though the insect
were still alive , the sound issuing through an opening
contrived on purpose, somewhat analogous to the
sound hole of a violin. It is to be observed however,
that it is only the male insects which are provided
with this apparatus, the opposite sex being destitute
thereof, and consequently silent ; hence the couplet
of the Rhodian bard, Xenarchus, not over-famed for
his gallantry to the fair sex,

Happy the cicada lives

Since they all have voiceless wives.

Great diversity of opinion has been entertained of
the music of the tetrix or cicada ; this however may

CICHORACEjE — CICINDELID^E.

perhaps be accounted for, from the circumstance of
several distinct species having been comprehended
under the same name, varying in their powers of
song: thus a cicada sitting upon a harp was the
usual emblem of music, which appears to have had
its rise from the following legend. Two rival musi-
cians contending upon the harp, a cicada settled upon
the instrument of one of the artists, and supplied the
place of a broken string, and so secured him the
victory ; and in Surinam these insects are also called
harpers or lyre-men. By others, however, they have
been held in less estimation ; thus Virgil tells us that
they burst the very shrubs with their noise. Some
of our translators have indeed adopted the very com-
mon error, that they were insects of a very different
family. Thus Dryden (Georgic iii. p. 510) sings —

When creaking grasshoppers on shrubs complain,
although from Virgil's words

Et cantu querelac rumpent arbusta Cicada,

Georgic iii. p. 328,

it is evident that the insects now under consideration
were alluded to. In like manner Dr. Shaw tells us,
that the " cicada is perpetually dunning our ears with
its most excessively shrill and ungrateful noise."

The curious apparatus with which the females are
provided, for enabling them to make slits in the
branches of trees for the purpose of depositing their
eggs therein, has somewhat the appearance of two
long narrow files, pointed at the end, moving with a
separate or alternate motion, and supported by a
broader back entire piece. This apparatus in the
larger species is about half an inch long, and is ordi-
narily concealed within the terminal rings of the
abdomen on its lower surface. The situations upon
the twigs on which the eggs are placed, are easily
recognised by the little inequalities upon the surface,
placed one after the other. Each hole contains from
five to eight eggs.

The preceding observations have reference to that
portion of the Linnaean genus which were termed
Mannifera, and comprises the modern family CicadicUe.
The divisions established at the expense of the for-
mer group (together with that of the Linnsean Fulgorce,
which are so intimately allied to the former, that
some of the Linnsean cicadae are now placed in
the family of which Fulgora is the type) are as fol-
lows: 1st, the Cicadidee, having the antennae six or
seven-jointed, and the ocelli three in number. This
family corresponds with the genus Tettigonia of
Fabricius, and comprises only a single genus, for
which the Linnsean name cicada has been retained.
Latreille, in several of his recent works, proposed
several other generic divisions, but they have not
been adopted. We possess in England only one
species belonging to this family, which has been
supposed to be the C. hcematodes, but which Mr.
Curtis has figured under the name of C. Anglica. It
is met with in the New Forest. 2nd, the Fulgoridee,
having the antenna; three-jointed, and inserted close
beneath the eyes, with a long terminal bristle ; TWO
ocelli ; legs formed for leaping ; no musical drums ;
the head is often produced in front into a nose. See
FULGORID^:. 3rd, the CermpidtB, having the an-
tennae of similar form as in the second family, but
inserted between the eyes and the head, which is not
rostrated. See CERCOPIDJE.

CICHORACE.E. See COMPOSITE.

CICHORIUM (Linnaeus), is the succory of

43

English authors ; a common plant, found by the sides
of fields and highways, and is sometimes cultivated
for sheep food. It has large bright blue flowers, — •
belongs to the class Syngenesia ol Lintneus, and to
the natural order Composites. There are several
annual species, one of which, a native of India, is the
well known salad plant called Endive (for the cultiva-
tion of which see ENDIVE), long cultivated in gardens
everywhere. In some places on the continent of
Europe, the roots of the succory C. intybus, are,
when full grown, taken up, cut in small pieces, dried
in an oven, and afterwards ground and used instead
of coffee.

CICINDELID.E (Leach). A family of coleo-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Pentamera
and tribe Adcphaga (Gcodcphaga, see CAIIABIDA:)
being placed by modern authors at the head of the
Coleoptej-a, from the circumstance of the external lobe
of the maxillae being converted into an additional
pair of feelers, forming the internal maxillary palpi.
The jaws are very powerful and horny, with several
strong teeth ; the maxillae are terminated by a move-
able spur ; the lower lip is hidden by the chin, and
the eyes are very large and prominent ; the legs long
and slender, and the wings generally developed.

This family comprises nearly twenty genera, one
only of which is found in England, namely, Cicindela,
the remainder being in fact extra European, and
consequently very little being known respecting their
habits. Of these insects, which, from their ferocious
habits, as well as from the spots and markings with
which they are ornamented, have obtained the name
of tiger beetles, there are only six or seven British
species, although the genus comprises more than one
hundred and twenty. Of these British species the
most common is the C. campestris, an elegant insect,
having the body of a fine green colour, with several
white spots on the wing covers. Nothing can exceed
the metallic brilliancy exhibited by these insects,
when on the wing in the hot sunshine. They appear
early in the spring (we have seen them flying this
morning, April 8th, in the Horticultural Gardens) ;
on approaching them they immediately take wing,
exposing the upper surface of the abdomen, which is
highly polished, and ornamented with the most beau-
tiful colours. Their flight is however but of short
duration ; they, however, rise again immediately as
you again approach them. The great rapidity of
their motions, renders escape impossible to any luck-
less insect which they may attack. We have noticed
that this insect emits a fine rose-like scent. Some
of the species seern to make but little use of their
wings, as in the British species, C. Gcrmanica. The
female of the C. campeslris is distinguished by a small
black spot on each elytron, not far from the base, and
near to the sutural line.

The most complete account hitherto published
relative to the transformations of these insects, is
contained in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles.
The larva? reside in cylindric burrows of great depth,
which they excavate in sandy situations, at the mouth
of which they generally station themselves, the head
of the larva occupying the mouth of the burrow.
They are about an inch long, rather depressed and
narrow, composed of twelve rings exclusive of the
head, and the anal segment. The head is furnished,
like the perfect insect, with a pair of very powerful
hooked jaws ; the legs are six in number, and com-
paratively strong. The reader will smile with us at

C I C 0 N I A.

the following account given of one of these larvae
described by Dr. Kidd " with an eye to science."
" Oh such a beauty ! the Parcae, sweet creatures,
the Eumenides, gentle turtle doves, were lovely in
comparison. Aspect vicious ; temper ferocious ; eye
infernal ; jaws diabolical, stuck on the wrong way
like a h'gure-head shipped looking aft; head big;
back humped ; the hump adorned with two hooks." —
Rustictis, in Ent. Mag. The description given ol
the jaws is correct, and affords a curious instance ol
adaptation of means to an end, of which insects exhibit
such numberless examples. One cannot at first but
wonder what can be the cause of these jaws being so
singularly stuck on the head, being in fact turned
upwards, instead of downwards as is the ordinary
custom in insects ; but when we consider the habits
of the insect in conjunction with the peculiarities of
its structure, our wonder ceases ; the insect takes its
station at the mouth of a cylindrical burrow, in the
hope of seizing upon the stray beetles and flies; now
if the jaws were in the ordinary position, the insect
would be compelled to throw back its head to a dis-
tance beyond its powers, were it to attempt to snap
at its prey when creeping over or near the mouth of
the burrow ; but as the jaws are placed, it is enabled
to effect this without the least difficulty. The two
hooks upon the back of the eighth segment of the body
are also especially worthy of notice, as it is by their
assistance that the insect climbs up and retains its
situation at the mouth of its cell. The amusing
author above quoted turned up one of these larvae, in
order to watch its proceedings. " When first un-
earthed he was monstrous sulky, and lay twisted in a
kind of half kink, for all the world like a pot-hook ;
but he soon found the inconvenience of this, and set
to work to make another hole, for which he used his
feet and jaws, loosening the sand with his feet, and
fetching it out with his jaws," (he might have added
that the back of the head being rather concave, is
employed as a basket for carrying up the loosened
particles) ; " in this way he got down about half an
inch, and then adroitly hanging himself to the edge
of the hole by the hook (hooks) in his back, he con-
tinued his labours in this droll position ; at last he
got quite out of sight, and as he did not come up
again, I concluded he was taking a nap after his
labour, and so I would not again disturb him." The
perfect insects are very common in most sandy
districts. They abound in the neighbourhood of
London, and the circular orifices of their burrows
may be seen in all directions, on the sunny sides of
gravel pits, &c.

CICONI A — STORK. A genus of birds belonging
to the Cultrirostral division of Cuvier's order of
Echas&iers, which answers nearly to the Grallce of
other naturalists; for the relations see the article

BlRD.

The storks are a very interesting race, whether we
regard their size or their habits; and in those coun-
tries where the rains are periodical, much of the
country laid under water for a time, and numerous
animals remain left by the subsiding waters, which
would taint the air if they remained and were decom-
posed there, they perform a very important office in
the general economy of nature. They are all more
or less migratory, and, with the exception of the colder
latitudes, are found on the low grounds in almost
every part of the world, though the true storks are
mostlv confined to the eastern emit incut.

The characters are : bill long, straight, stout, even,
cylindrical, in the form of a lengthened cone, acute,
cutting ridge, rounded, of equal height with the head ;
the under mandible slightly bent up; nostrils longi-
tudinally clel't in the horny substance, and placed in
a groove ; eyes surrounded with a naked space which
does not communicate with the beak ; legs long, and
furnished with four toes, of which the three anterior
are connected at the base by a membrane, and the
hind has its first joint resting on the ground ; wings
of moderate size.

Storks live in marshy situations, and feed principally
on reptiles, frogs and their spawn, as well as on fish,
small mammiferous animals, and birds. In many
countries they are a privileged race, being cherished
and protected, on account of the noxious animals
which they destroy. They mou'.t in autumn, migrate
in large bodies, and are easily tamed. The youny of
the first year do not very materially differ in appear-
ance from the full grown birds ; but they may still be
recognised, on their return in spring, by the dull black
and white of their plumage. The sexes are not
dissimilar in appearance.

Storks have no voice, properly so called, though
when they are irritated, or otherwise strongly excited,
they contrive to make a clanking noise, by beating
the edges of their mandibles, which are very hard
and strong, against each other; when they do this
they place the head in rather a singular position ;
they recurve it backwards, until it is nearly parallel
with the back, and leaning on it. In this position
the upper mandible is undermost, and held firm by
the posture of the neck, while the under, which is
now uppermost, beats much more easily and forcibly
against the other than if the bill were in its natural
position, as in this case the weight of the mandible
aids the stroke, while it acts against it in the other.
It does not appear that the muscles which move the
under mandible, strong as they are, would be capable
of performing this singular sort of cymbal playing, if
the weight of the organ were not brought to their
assistance ; for as the bird brings its head back to the
natural position, the sound gets lower, and when it
snaps with the bill in the natural way, no sound is
produced.

Storks are birds of long flight and powerful wing,
and they rise high and proceed gracefully upon their
long aerial journeys ; on the ground their march is
rather slow but stately, their steps being long and
measured. As is the case with most birds of the
order, they carry the foot forward simultaneously with
the leg, and this sort of locomotion is owing to a
peculiar system of articulation. To the same mecha-
nism the storks are indebted for the faculty of sleeping
upon one leg, holding the other bent, and often even
suspended rectangularly. The pleasant story told by
Boccaccio, of the gentleman and his cook, affords an
agreeable illustration of this habit of the stork : a
roasted stork had been ordered for dinner, and the
egs of this bird being the most substantial as well as
he most juicy parts of it, the master was of course
anxious to have them for his own use. But there was
another claimant : the cook had a sweetheart, and
she was so urgent for a leg of this stork that the gal-
ant cook was constrained to cut it off and give it
ier; when the mutilated stork made its appearance
on the table, the master, in a great rage, sent for the
uok, and charged him with having purloined the leg.
Storks have but one leg, sir,"said the cook with the ut-

C I C O N I A.

45

most composure ; " and if you will condescend to repair
with me to the bank of the river to-morrow morning,
I will convince you of the fact." Morning came, the
river was visted, and sure enough there was a number
of storks, all of which appeared to have but one leg.
" There they are, sir," said the cook, " and you see
there are no more legs than storks." " Hoo ! " said
the muster, upon which every stork displayed his
other leg. " Now," said the master, " have not I
convinced you what a cheat you are ?" "I beg your
pardon, sir," said the cook, " not one of these storks
put down his other leg till you cried ' hoo,' and of
course if you had cried ' hoo' to the stork yesterday, he
would have put down his other leg too." We shall
now give some account of some of the principal
species.

WHITE STORK (Ciconia alba). White, with the
orbits naked and crimson ; quills and upper tail-
coverts dusky green. The irides are brown ; and the
feathers on the breast long and pendulous. Length
about three feet and a half; extent of wing upwards
of six feet ; size about that of a turkey. The young
have the black of the wings tinged with brown, and
the bill of a dusky red. A pure white variety, called
Sterchi by the Bulgarians, is found in the valley of
the lower Danube.

From the familiarity of their disposition, and its
other moral habits, the stork is one of the most popular
of littoral birds, and has been generally regarded as
the friend of man, attached to his dwellings, nestling
on roofs and chimneys, catering on the banks of the
most frequented rivers, in cultivated fields, and almost
in gardens, not even shrinking from the bustle of
crowded cities, taking up its abode in towers, and
everywhere respected and welcomed. In Holland
it is protected, because it checks the multiplication
of reptiles in the marshes and humid flats ; the Vau-
dois cherish and venerate it for its friendly offices;
the Arabs, in like manner, treat it with the most hos-
pitable regard ; and the Turks and eastern tribes
consider it as a sacred bird, which they are forbidden
to kill. At Constantinople, accordingly, the storks
build their nests in the streets ; but in other countries
they generally prefer a lofty situation. A mussulman
cannot patiently bear to see one of them molested;
and the ancient Thessalians made the killing of them
a capital crime. The Moors, too, religiously abstain
from offering violence to them ; and hence the valley
of Monkazem appears to be the resort of all the storks
of Barbary, which, in this district, are more numerous
than the inhabitants.

The white stork is of gentle manners, easily tamed,
and manifests a sense of cleanliness. Although it
has a pensive and even melancholy air, it occasionally
indulges in gaiety and pastime, associating even with
children, and partaking of their amusements. " I saw
in a garden," says Dr. Hermann, " iu which the chil-
dren were playing at hide and seek, a tame stork join
the party, run its turn when touched, and distinguish
the child who was to pursue the rest so well as, along
with the others, to be on its guard." Among the
engaging attributes of these birds have been justly
reckoned gratitude, conjugal fidelity, and filial anc
parental affection. They seem in fact to be very
sensible of kind treatment saluting, with a noisy flap
ping of their wings, the houses whose inmates hac
given them a friendly reception during the preceding
season, and repeating the same ceremony on taking
leave. With wonderful constancy the same pai

eturn to the same haunts, and join in mutual and
ond caresses after their long voyage. The tender
affection which the stork manifests towards her young,
las been proverbial even from remote antiquity. She
eeds them for a considerable period, nor quits them
ill they are strong enough to defend themselves, and
o provide for their own subsistence. When they
)egin to flutter about the nest, she bears them on
icr wings, and protects them from danger ; and she
las been known rather to perish along with them
han abandon them to their fate, an affecting instance
of which was exhibited in the town of Delft, in 1636,
vhen a fire broke out iu a house that had a stork's
lest on it, containing young that were then unable to
ly. The old stork, returning with some meat for
hem, and seeing the danger in which they were
exposed, the fire having almost reached the nest,
nade several attempts to save them, but, finding all
n vain, she at last spread her wings over them, and
n that endearing attitude expired with them in the
lames. Young storks have also often been observed
to lavish the most affectionate and assiduous cares
on their aged and infirm parents ; and the ancient
Greeks, observant of this striking instinct, enacted a
aw to compel children to support the authors of their
xistence, and the guardians of their infant years.

The stork is capable of sustaining a lofty flight,
and of performing long journeys even in tempestuous
weather. When on wing it pushes its head straight
forward, with the feet extended backward. It returns
to Alsace about the end of February, to Switzerland
in the course of March, and to Germany early in
May, but it rarely visits this country. If a pair on
their return find their former nest deranged or demo-
lished, they repair it with sticks, rushes, and other
plants that grow in moist situations. It is usually
placed on high roofs, the battlements of towers, and
sometimes on the tops of tall trees, on the brinks of
streams, or on the projection of a precipitous rock.
In France it was formerly customary to lay wheels
on the roofs of houses to induce them to build on
them, a practice which still exists in some places.
In Holland boxes are placed on the roofs of houses
for the same purpose. The hatch consists of two,
three, or four eggs of a yellowish sordid white, larger
than those of the goose, but not so thick. The male
sits on them while the female is abroad for food.
The young make their appearance in the course of a
month, when the parents diligently search for and
carry to them the proper aliment, which they disgorge
from their gullet or stomach. Both parents never
leave the young at the same time, but while the one
is ranging in quest of food, the other keeps watch,
standing on one leg in the manner above described,
and with its eye steadily fixed on its charge. When
the young first break the shell, they are covered with
brownish dosvn ; and their legs are so weak that they
are not able to move in the nest in any other way
than by shuffling about upon their knees. Wrhen
their wings begin to acquire strength, their mothers
accompany them in easy flights, though it is rather
too much to assert, as is sometimes done, that they
literally tench them to fly. There is no teaching, in
the ordinary sense of the word, among animals of any
kind, either in motion or in voice. The supposed
teaching in walking or flight is merely the old ones
keeping company instinctively with the young ; and
the teaching of music is simply rivalry in that impulse
which occasions the song.

46

C I M B E X.

In some places storks nestle very thickly together,
but they always live in the greatest harmony. At
Bagdad there are hundreds of nests, on the houses,
the walls, and the trees ; and among the ruins of
Persepolis, there is a stork's nest on the top of every
nodding fragment and mouldering column.

About the month of August they begin to move
from their more northerly haunts ; and they move
sooner in moist and cold seasons than in dry and
warm ones. Previous to their departure they assemble
in very numerous flocks upon some plain, and hold
a conversation in that peculiar clanking of their bills
of which we have taken notice. The motion of the
mandible while this is performing is very rapid, and
the clattering which they make is considerable.
Sometimes they meet, break up, and meet again,
before they take their final departure. When they
do move off, it is done in perfect silence, and often
during the night ; and they also arrive in silence, so
that neither the beginning nor the end of their jour-
neys is often noticed. They rise rapidly to a great
height, and as they utter no sound when on the wing,
they are seldom observed when passing over the
plains. But on the mountains they are more easily
seen ; and the flocks of them which are observed
from such points of view are often very numerous.
Shaw, the traveller, mentions having seen flights of
them passing over Mount Carmel in their flight
northward from Egypt, a mile in breadth, and taking
three hours before they all passed over the point of
observation. In Asia and the east of Europe they
are very numerous, ranging into Siberia, into Russia,
and even into Sweden ; and they do not seem to be
much affected by the cold. Those which breed in
the north, in the early part of the season, generally
have another brood in Egypt and the other southern
countries ; but they do not all quit these southern
latitudes ; and some of them are stationary in the
east of Asia, and in some of the Asiatic islands, as
well as in the north of Africa. In all their characters
and habits they are very interesting birds ; they may
be said to be almost tame in a state of nature ; and
they live in confinement without any apparent incon-
venience, or even much reluctance ; but confinement
3s obviously contrary to their habits, as they do not
breed in that state, and whenever animals cease to
obey this, the strongest impulse of nature, we may
safely conclude that the state is not one for which
nature designed them. It is also worthy of remark,
that, generally speaking, these animals, which will
jiot breed in confinement, and therefore cannot pro-
perly be domesticated, are never of so much use to
man as those which breed freely. Notwithstanding
the tale of Boccaccio, the stork is very far from being
a bonny Jiawke, even to the most perverted epicure ;
for its flesh is not very nutritious, and it is at the
same time far from being savoury ; therefore, there is
but little temptation for taking the bird out of that
state of nature in which it has so many interesting
points.

THE BLACK STORK (Ciconia nigra). The black
stork measures about three feet in length. The
upper part is blackish, with metallic reflections ; and
the lower part of the breast and the belly white.
The naked space round the eyes, and that on the
neck, and also the bill, are crimson : and the feet are
deep red. The colours of the young are different,
the upper part being blackish-brown, with reflections ;
the feathers on the head and neck brown, with red-

dish borders ; and the naked skin round the eyes and
on the neck, and also the feet, are olive green. In
consequence of this difference of colour, the young
birds have sometimes been described as a different
species, under the name of the brown stork.

Though these two birds agree in their general
characters, the habits of the black one are, in many
respects, the reverse of the white. Like that it is a
ranging and migrant kind ; but, instead of resorting
to towns and inhabited places, it seeks those which
are lonely and sequestered. Its haunts are the remote
and inaccessible marshes, and the borders of lakes
which are seldom visited. It is found in considera-
ble numbers in the more sequestered parts of the
Alps, always on the borders of the waters, where it
subsists, at least in part, by fishing. It hovers over
the surface, and occasionally plunges down to snatch
its prey. It occurs in Poland and Prussia, and par-
tially in Germany, also in some parts of France ; but
it is very rare in Holland where the white species is
very plentiful. Indeed it seems to shun not only the
peculiar haunts, but the countries which are most
frequented by its congener. In Britain it has occurred
.only as a very rare straggler.

It builds in trees, in the depth of the forests ; and,
as is the case with several others of the larger birds
of this division of the order, it appears to prefer fruit
to any other trees, no doubt because it can stand on
the horizontal branches which these send out, much
better than on the sprays of deciduous trees. The
eggs are from two to four, of a dull greenish white,
with some blotches of brown, which do not appear to
be constant. Though these birds sometimes fish,
fishing is not their peculiar, or even their principal,
resource. They feed upon reptiles, mollusca, insects,
the smaller ground mammalia, and also upon any
animal remains or offal which they can procure.
They are voracious birds and appear to migrate
after their food rather than in consequence of any
other instinct. On their long journeys they are birds
of very lofty flight ascending upwards till, notwith-
standing their large size, they are barely, if at all,
visible. They may be partially tamed ; but there is
little inducement to tame them, as they have not the
interesting manners of the white storks, and their
flesh is even less palatable.

THE AMERICAN STORK (Ciconia magnari) is de-
scribed as differing from the white stork of the eastern
continent chiefly in having the bill of an ash colour.
It is white, with the wings and upper tail-coverts
black ; the irides white, and the feet red. It is about
three feet in length. Its principal locality is said to
be to the eastward of La Plata in the uninhabited part
of the pampas. Some of the accounts state that it
breeds in confinement, but this is contrary to the
general habit of the genus.

A few more species and varieties have been men-
tioned, such as the small black stork of Northern
Africa, and the purple stork of India ; but the ac-
counts of them are a little confused. Some notice of
the great stork of India, which is an allied species,
will be found under the article ADJUTANT ; and the
Jaribus will be noticed in the article MYCTERIA.

CIMBEX (Olivier : Crabo, Geoff.> A genus of
hymenopterous insects belonging to the section
Securifera, and family Tenthredinidce, and forming
together with the several sub-genera which have been
separated from it by Dr. Leach, (Zareza, triJtiosoma,
Abia, clavettaria\ a section in that family distinguished

C I M E X- C I N C H O N A C E .E.

47

by having the antennae short and knobbed at the tip,
and composed of only four, five, or six joints ; the wings
are large, with the costal and sub-costal nerves of the
upper pair soldered together ; the spurs of the tibia;
are blunt, and the joints of the tarsi are provided
beneath with spongy cushions. These insects are
amongst the largest species of the saw-Hies, whose
curious economy in the formation of the eells for the
reception of their eggs and the apparatus with which
they are furnished for forming these cells will be sub-
sequently related. They are produced from large
fleshy larvae which greatly resemble the caterpillars of
lepidoptera, whence they have been termed by the
French entomologists "fausses chenilles," but they are
provided with a greater number of legs, the true cater-
pillars not having more than sixteen, whilst the larvae
of cimbex have twenty-two, the eleventh segment of
the body being alone destitute of these organs. It is
acurious circumstance that larva1 so closely resembling
eaeh other, as those of cimbex and some of the moths
belonging to the family Noctnidcc, should produce
insects so totally different. In their former state they
both feed upon the leaves of the same tree, and their
whole appearance is so similar that it would be impos-
sible for a person unused to entomological pursuits to
conceive which of the two would produce the moth,
whilst in their perfect state no two insects would be
found more unlike, in characters, habits, appearance
and structure. The transformation of two of the
largest species, Chnbcx lutca and ni/lvanim. have been
observed by Lyonnet, whose excellent figures, pub-
lished in his posthumous researches, represent the
entire structure of the insects in great detail. The
larva- of the former, having obtained their full growth,
descend into the earth in the month of July, where
they form cocoons of a very firm consistence, in
which they undergo their change to the pupa state,
the rlies making their appearance shortly afterwards.
CIMEX (Linnaeus). A group of insects of very
considerable extent, forming in the Linnaean system
a single genus under this name, belonging to the
order Hcmiptera. In the modern system of entomo-
logy, this group has been divided into numerous
distinct families, each comprising various genera and
sub-genera, and the whole has been raised, under the
name of Geocorisa, or land bugs, to the rank of one of
the three divisions of the heteropterous portion of
the order Hcmiptera, the two other divisions havin
for their types the genera Ncpa and Notonecta of
Linnaeus. As a group, therefore, the Gcocorisa, of
Linnsean cimex, is distinguished by the antennas
being exposed, longer than the head, composed of
four or five joints and inserted between the eyes,
near to their inner margins. The tarsi are three-
jointed, the basal joint being often very small,
the body is of an oval or oblong form, the legs
are formed for running, the wings are membrana-
ceous, not longitudinally folded, and covered, when at
rest, by a pair of wing-covers, of which the basal
portion is of a leather-like consistence and opaque,
whilst the extremity is membranaceous and more
transparent, the thorax or rather the prothoracic
segment is of a large size and performs the office of a
thoracic shield as in the coleoptera, whereas in the
homopterous division of the order it is small ; the
wings and wing-covers when at rest are horizontal or
at least bv.t slightly inclined — sometimes, as in the
bed-bug, they are entirely wanting. The mouth con-
sists of an elongated and articulated proboscis, includ-

ing several fine setae which are employed in wound-
ing vegetable or other substances upon which these
insects feed. Latreille has divided this group into
various families, or rather sub-families, to which the
following names have been applied :

1st. The Pentntomidcc, having the antennae five-
jointed, the rostrum four-jointed, the labrum or upper
lip long and transversely striated.

2nd. The Core/dee, having the antennae four-jointed,
the rostrum four-jointed, the second joint longer than
the third, the ocelli at the same distance from each
other as from the eyes.

3rd. The Lygceidce, differing from the latter in
having the second joint of the rostrum shorter than
the third, with the ocelli placed near the eyes. The
species are of small size and obscure colours, and are
generally found in the ground.

4th. The Capridee, being destitute of ocelli, and
having the terminal joint of the antennas very slender
and the rostrum four-jointed.

5th. The Cimicidae (Membranacece, Latreille),
having the rostrum very short, and only two or three
jointed, the labrum short and not striated.

6th. The Reduviidcc, having- the rostrum very short,
but exposed, curved, and of considerable strength, and
the head is narrowed behind into a neck.

7th. The Acantkiid<E, having the rostrum three-
jointed, but long and straight, the body of an ovaJ
flattened form, the head not narrowed into a neck,
and the eyes very large and prominent. These
insects are of small size, very active and frequent the
borders of streams.

8th. The Hydrometridee, having the body long and
narrow, the four hind legs generally inserted at the
sides of the body, so as to be employed in skimming
on the surface of the water.

Under the word BUG we have made some general
observations upon the habits and transformations of
this group of insects, as well as upon the fifth of the
families given above. Referring our readers thereto
we shall consider the present article as one relating
rather to the modern classification of the Linnaean
Cimices, and shall therefore only add that M. De
Laporte has lately published a valuable work upon
this branch of the hemiptera, in which various other
sections of inferior value are given, in the Magazin
de Zoologie of M. Guerin.

CINCHONA (Linnieus). A genus of two species
of Peruvian trees or shrubs, yielding the famous
Jesuits' bark, so celebrated as a febrifuge. Linnwan
class and order Pentandria Mtmogyma; and natural
order Rufriacete. Generic character: calyx five
toothed; corolla funnel shaped; limb of five spread-
ing parts ; stamens attached to the tube, sometimes
included; anthers linear, two celled, bursting length-
ways ; style simple ; stigma cleft, capsule two celled,
many seeded, opening in the middle ; seeds winged,
with a notched margin. The bark is obtained from
the trees in their native country, and exported in
great quantities to all parts of the civilised world.
These plants have long been introduced into British
collections, but are still rare. Ripened cuttings strike
root under careful management, in moist heat.

CINCHONACEvE— cinchona family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing two hun-
dred and twenty three genera, and upwards of nine-
teen hundred species. This order has been by many
authors denominated Rubiacece, on account of the
genus Rubia or madder, having been included undei

48

CINCHONACEjE.

it ; as however this genus is more properly referred
to a distinct order, Stellate, the name Rubiaccce is no
longer applicable. The order is allied to Composite,
but differs in the mode of its inflorescence, in its
stamens not being united, and in its ovary having
•two or more loculaments. To Apocynca: it also bears
a considerable relationship, but is easily distinguished
by the aestivation of its corolla, its inferior ovary and
the presence of stipules. Caprifoliaceae is also quoted
by authors as an allied order.

The order Cinchonacea; is thus characterised:
calyx adherent to the ovary, simple, either undivided
or with a definite number of divisions ; corolla of one
piece, superior, tubular, with a definite number of
divisions equal to those of the calyx, and with a
twisted or valvate aestivation ; stamens arising from
the corolla, equal in number to the lobes of the
corolla, and alternate with them ; anthers oval, two
celled ; pollen elliptical ; ovary inferior, usually two
celled, crowned by a disk ; style single, sometimes
partly divided; stigma simple, sometimes divided
into a definite number of parts ; fruit interior, bac-
cate, capsular or drupaceous, two or many celled ;
seeds definite or indefinite, in the former case erect
and ascending, in the latter attached to a central
axis ; albumen copious, horny or fleshy ; embryo
straight or slightly curved; radicle turned towards
the hilum ; cotyledons foliaceous.

The plants included in this order are trees, shrubs
or herbs, with simple, entire, opposite or verticillate
leaves, and panicled or corymbose flowers. They
grow in the hotter parts of the world, and are said to
constitute a twenty-ninth part of the whole flowering
plants of the tropics. They are nearly allied to each
other in their properties. The barks of most of
them contain an astringent bitter principle, which
frequently possesses febrifuge virtues, and the roots
of many of them are emetic and purgative.

This order has been divided into twelve distinct
sections : 1. Cinchonece, or true cinchona tribe, in
which the capsule is two-celled, with a septicidal
dehiscence, the cells containing many winged seeds,
and the stamens being five or more. This section
includes the genera Cinchona, Exostemma, Pinckneya,
Naucleya, Uncaria, &c. 2. Gardenietz, in which
the fruit is fleshy, iridehiscent, bilocular, and the seeds
are not winged. In this section are included the
genera Gardenia, Sarcocephalus, Genipa, &c. 3. He-
dyotidecE, in which the capsule is two-celled, with a
loculicidal dohiscence, the cells being many seeded,
and the seeds not winged. Examples of this section
are seen in the genera Hedyotis, Condaminea, Macro-
cremum, Portlandia, Oldenlandia, &c. 4. Iserticce, in
which the fruit is drupaceous, and is provided with
from two to six nuts as in Iseiiia, Metabolos, &c. 5.
HamcliacccE, of which the fruit is a many celled, many
seeded berry, as is seen in the genera Hamelia, and
Labicea. 6. Cordierece, in which the fruit is a many
celled berry, each cell containing a single seed, as in
Cordiera. 7. Guettardaccce, in which the fruit is a
drupe having from two to ten nuts inclosing smooth
seeds. Examples are seen in the genera Guettarda,
Morinda, Vauguiera and AntiiThcea, 8. Pcederuas,
having a bilocular, indehiscent fruit and a fleshy albu-
men, as in Ptfderia. 9. Coffeacecs, or coffee tribe, in
which the fruit is a bilocular berry, and the albumen
is horny. This section is illustrated by the genera
Coffea, Ceplidclis, Siderodendron, Chiococca, Ixora, and
Psychotria. 10. Spennacocca, in which the fruit is

somewhat dry, inclosing two or four nuts, and trip
stigma is bilamellar, as in Spermacocca, Borrcria, ami
Richardsonia. 11. Anthospermeee, in which the fruit
is somewhat dry, and the stigma elongated and hairj ,
as in Antliospermum. 12. Operculariece, in which the
fruit has one loculament and one seed, with a bival-
vular dehiscence, as occurs in the genus Opercitlarin.
To these sections many botanists add another, Stel-
late, including the genera Rubin, Galium, &c., which
are met with in northern latitudes. This section is,
in our opinion, with some propriety reckoned a
distinct order, and, as such, will be noticed by us in
the course of this work.

In treating of the nine important plants which are
met with in this highly interesting order we shall
commence with the genus Cinchona, Twhcnce the name
of the order is derived. This is a very extensive
genus, the species of which are, however, as yet im-
perfectly known, nothwithstanding the labours of
Mutis, Zea, Tafalla, Ruiz, and Pavon, Humboldt, and
Bonpland, and the valuable monographs of Vahl and
Lambert. It holds an important place in Medical
Botany in consequence of furnishing Peruvian bark.
There are three species mentioned in the British
Pharmacopoeias, Cinchona lancifolia which furnishes
the pale bark of the shops, or the brown bark of com-
merce, Cinchona cordifolia which supplies the yellow
bark, and Cinchona oblongifolia which is the source of
the red bark. Besides these there are several other
species of cinchona which produce medicinal barks,
such as Cinchona ovalifolia, Magnifolia cxcelsa, Ferru-
ginea, Velhsii and Remigerana.

The cinchonas inhabit chiefly those districts of
South America which are situated on the west of the
Andes : some are found in Brazil, and one, Cinchona
excelsa, grows in the East Indies. They are found at
a considerable elevation, generally from six to eight
thousand feet above the level of the sea, and require
a mean temperature between 59° and 62° of Fahren-
heit. They are handsome evergreens which attain a
great height, and, when allowed to grow, acquire a
considerable thickness of trunk. The stripping of the
bark, an operation which is now performed on a
very large scale, prevents the trunks of the trees from
acquiring the same diameter as formerly. Some
doubts have also been entertained as to the probabi-
lity of the supply of cinchona being kept up, in con-
sequence of no pains being bestowed on the cultiva-
tion of the trees, which frequently die after being
deprived of their bark.

The bark is generally taken in the dry season dur-
ing the months of September and December, and it
is known to be in a proper state, when, on raising a
portion of it, the air gives it a reddish colour. After
removal from the tree, it is dried and separated into
different sorts so as to be fit for exportation. The
younger the branch is the more the bark is quilled
or rolled ; sometimes, however, it is quilled by the
application of heat.

The cinchonas have been divided into those spe-
cies having hairy, and those having smooth, corollas,
tlie former being decidedly febrifuge, the latter not.
Among the former are the species, lancifolia, cordifolia,
oblongifolia, ovalifolia, Braziliensis, excelsa, &c. while
the latter have been lately included under a distinct
genus to which the name Exostemma has been given.

Cinchona lancifolia, pale bark, so called from the
colour of its powder, is tfound on the declivities of
hills in Peru, between 4° and 5" of north latitude,

CINCHONA CEM.

and attains a height of thirty or forty feet. This
species, from being the first introduced into Europe
by Condamine, has been called, by Hnmboldt and
Bonpland, Cinchona Condaminc. The bark of this
species generally occurs, in commerce, in the form of
small tubes or quills, which are covered with a rough
epidermis on which numerous lichens grow. These
lichens are of importance, as indicating the peculiar
quality of the bark. The bark, bearing lichens of
the genera Grapkis, Lccanora and Usnea, is esteemed
good. These lichens ought to be scraped off' before
the bark is powdered tor use. There are several
varieties of pale bark, imported from Loxa and Gua-
naco, of which the chief are, the quilled bark of Loxa,
or Cascarilla do Loxa, the grey bark of Loxa, the
bark of Lima, and the Havannah bark.

Cincliona cordifolia, yellow bark, is a handsome
tree, which grows abundantly on the mountains of
Loxa and Suiita Fe, in the fourth degree of north,
latitude, at an elevation of six or seven thousand
feet above the level of the sea. The bark of this
species is thicker, less quilled, and more woody and
fibrous than the pale bark. It is frequently com-
pletely devoid of epidermis, and more especially
when not quilled. There are two varieties of the
bark in commerce, the Calisaya or royal yellow bark,
and the orange yellow bark. The yellow bark is less
astringent and more bitter than the pale bark.

Cinchona oblongi/oha, red bark, grows in new Gre-
nada, near Maraquita, in the fifth degree of north
latitude. There are two varieties of this bark, the
smooth red bark, or the quina roxa, or colnada of
commerce, and the warty red bark of Santa Fe de
Bogota, which is considered by some authors as the
produce of Cincliona magnifoKa.

Cinchona or Peruvian bark has been long known
as a febrifuge, and seems to have been employed as
such in Peru at the time of the Spanish conquest;
but no accurate accounts are given of the time when
it was first used. Among the many fables which
have been circulated in regard to this bark, it has
been stated that its efficacy in fever was accidentally
discovered by a person afflicted with ague, who drank
the water of a stream into which a cinchona tree had
fallen, and to which it had impaited its virtues.
The Jesuits in early times used to distinguish the
different kinds of trees by chewing their bark, and it
is said that they were attracted by the peculiar bit-
terness of the cinchona, and employed it in the cure
of disease. On this account it long retained the
name of Jesuits' bark. The name cinchona is derived
from the circumstance of a cure having been effected
by means of the bark, in the case of the Countess of
Cinchon, lady of a Count who acted as Spanish
viceroy in Lima, from 1629 to l.'i.'Ji).

Cinchona bark, on its first introduction into Europe,
met with great opposition from medical men, who
were prejudiced against it chiefly on account of its
novelty. Its failure too in the cure of many diseases,
for which it was at first extolled as an infallible
remedy, would lead physicians to doubt its efficacy
in any disease whatever. After careful observation
und repeated trials, the powers of cinchona were at
length fully ascertained, and its reputation as a re-
medy of great importance was completely established.
It soon became an important article of commerce,
and was admitted into the materia medica. It is now
extensively used all over the world, and large quan-
tities are annually imported bto Europe from Guay-
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

aquil, Lima, Loxa, Buenos Ayres, Carthagena, Santa
Martha, and other parts of South America.

The value of Peruvian bark has frequently led to its
Adulteration ; a considerable degree of care and atten-
tion are required in its selection. By inattention to
this, and the consequent employment of spurious barks,
the true article has often been brought into disrepute.
Good bark is dense, heavy and dry, not musty or
spoiled by moisture, and a decoction of it is red
while warm, and becomes paler on cooling. Barks,
which are simply internally bitter or astringent, or
merely mucilaginous, whose surface is smooth or of a
dark colour, whose fracture is fibrous, and internal
colour white or grey, are bad, and ought to be rejected.
The means of distinguishing good bark were of
reater importance formerly, when the bark was con-
stantly used in substance, than now-a-days, since the
discovery of the active principles of the bark. For
this important discovery we are principally indebted
to the labours of French chemists, although Dr.
Duncan, formerly professor of materia medica in the
University of Edinburgh, was undoubtedly the first
who suggested the existence of a peculiar principle
in bark. By the researches of MM. Pelletier and
Caveutou, it has been ascertained that there exist in
cinchona two alkaloids, to which the names of cin-
chonia and quinia have been applied, and which
possess in a concentrated degree, the properties of
the bark itself. These alkaline substances exist in
combination with a peculiar acid called kinic acid,
and their quantity varies in the different kinds of
bark. According therefore as we wish to procure
the one or the other, we must select a particular sort
of bark for the purpose. Pale bark yields chiefly
cinchonia, and the yellow furnishes quinia, with a
small proportion of cinchonia, while in the red bark
both these substances exist in nearly equal propor-
tions. It will be seen that thus the barks are not
only distinguished by their colour, and the other
characters formerly noticed, but also by their che-
mical constituents. Besides these alkaloids, bark
consists of kinate of lime, fatty matter, red colouring-
matter, tannin, yellow colouring matter, gum, starch,
and lignin, or woody fibre.

By a particular chemical process we are able to
separate the active principles of the bark from all the
impurities which exist in it, and in this way obtain
most valuable articles of materia medica. To procure
cinchonia, the pale bark is powdered and boiled in
water, along with a quantity of sulphuric acid or oil
of vitriol. This process is repeated several times
with fresh portions of acidulated water, until all the
soluble matter is extracted. The decoctions thus
made are evaporated and mixed with newly-slaked
lime, which forms an insoluble sulphate of lime, and
carries down the cinchonia as a precipitate along with
it. On adding boiling alcohol to this precipitate
after it is dried, the cinchonia is dissolved, while the
sulphate of lime is left ; and the former is afterwards
procured in a crystalline state by evaporation, and
may be purified by the addition of animal charcoal,
and a second solution in alcohol. When thus ob-
tained in a pure state, cinchonia is a white, crystalline
salt, having a bitter taste, nearly insoluble in cold
water, and requiring 2,500 times its weight of boiling
water for solution. Owing to this insolubility it does
not act powerfully on the animal frame, unless in com-
bination with some acid, such as the sulphuric. The
kinic acid, w:ith which cinchonia is combined in the
D

50

bark, has no particular medicinal properties ; it
merely renders the alkaloid more soluble. The sul-
phate of cinehonia is sometimes used in medicine,
but it is much inferior in tonic power to the sulphate
of quinia, which is prepared from the yellow bark.
In order to procure the latter salt, the yellow bark is
treated in a similar manner to the pale bark, in the
preparation of cinehonia, being first boiled in acidu-
lated water, then mixed with quicklime, in order to
precipitate the quinia, which is little soluble in water,
but which is easily dissolved in alcohol, and after-
wards combined with sulphuric acid. There is thus
formed a pure white salt, which crystallises in the
form of silky needles. This sulphate is now in ge-
neral use, iu consequence of possessing all the tonic
and febrifuge properties of bark, in a concentrated
state. It is capable of being administered in large
doses without producing nausea, and is much more
active and powerful than the bark itself. It is now
manufactured on a large scale, both in this country
and in France. In the year 1826, no less than 1593
hundred weight of bark was used by four chemists in
Paris, and 90,000 ounces of sulphate of quinia or
quinine were produced in France the same year. It
is sometimes adulterated with white sugar, starch,
sulphate of lime and boracic acid.

Bark is employed medicinally as a stimulant tonic,
astringent and antiseptic. It is administered either
in the form of powder, infusion, decoction, tincture or
extract. The sulphates of cinehonia and quinia are
chiefly employed in the present day. Bark and its
alkaline preparations are used extensively in the cure
of intermittent fever, being given in large doses
during the intervals or intermissions. When given
in substance, bark is best administered in milk, which
completely covers its flavour, provided the doses be
swallowed the instant it is mixed with the milk.
Bark is also used in other febrile diseases, in rheuma-
tism, in dysentery and chronic diarrhoea, in gangrene
or mortification, in various passive haemorrhages,
in scrofulous states of the system, in stomach com-
plaints, in tic douloureux, and in various nervous and
convulsive diseases. It is also used as tooth powder,
and has a beneficial effect in strengthening the gums.
Cinchona and its preparations ought not to be admi-
nistered when there is any marked inflammatory
tendency, or when there are any symptoms of an
affection of the liver.

Acids in their concentrated state, white vitriol,
lime water, corrosive sublimate, tartar emetic, rhubarb,
and several other substances, form precipitates with
cinchona, and cannot be administered in conjunction
with it.

We shall next notice the genus Coffea, which con-
tains thirty-five known species, some of which are
cultivated in Europe. Coffea Arabica is the most inte-
resting: of the species, on account of furnishing the
well-known article of diet called Coffee. It is an ever-
green tree, originally a native of Arabia and Ethiopia,
whence it has been transplanted into different quarters
of the globe. It seems to thrive best in hilly dry soils,
with a mean temperature of 70° or 75°. The tree
grows to the height of fifteen or twenty feet, and has
an erect trunk, two or three inches in diameter. It
bears pure white, sweet-scented flowers, and roundish
berries, the size of a cherry, of a dark red colour
when fully ripe, and containing two seeds. These
seeds are somewhat oval, convex on one side, flat and
furrowed longitudinally on the other. They are

CINCHONACE.E.

covered with a membranous endocarp, to which the
name of parchment has been given, and which has
been by many botanists improperly styled an arillus.
The common beverage of coffee is made by the de-
coction or infusion of the roasted seeds, the part
roasted being the hard or horny albumen.

Coffee has been introduced in comparatively recent
times, and was totally unknown to the earlier nations,
such as the Greeks and Romans. It is stated that
in Caffa, a district of Ethiopia, where the coffee tree
grows abundantly, the seeds were at a very early
period employed as an article of food. According
to Raynal, the coffee-tree was introduced from Ethi-
opia into Arabia, towards the end of the fifteenth
century. Whether this statement be correct or not,
it is well known that the tree has been long cultivated
in the neighbourhood of the Arabian town of Mocha.
From Arabia, coffee was early brought to Europe,
,and its property of producing wakefulness, and
preventing sleep, seems, in the first instance, to have
been the circumstance which led to its use.

Coffee-houses were established in Persia about the
middle of the fifteenth century. From thence coffee
was carried to Cairo, and ultimately to Constantinople,
where it was publicly sold in the year 1554. In both
these last mentioned cities, the use of coffee was for
some time prohibited, on account of peculiar religious
scruples. These however were soon overcome, and
the beverage came to be universal!}' used, particular
persons being appointed by government to superin-
tend the preparation of it. In the beginning of the
seventeenth century coffee found its way to Venice'
and in 1644 we find that it had reached Marseilles*
The celebrated traveller Thevenot brought it to
Paris in 1G57, and in 1672 a coffee-house was opened
in that metropolis by an Armenian named Pascal,
who subsequently established one in London.

About the middle of the seventeenth century,
Daniel Edwards, a Turkish merchant, brought to this
country a Greek servant, named Pasqua, who under-
stood the mode of roasting and making coffee, and
who afterwards kept a coffee-house in George Yard,
Lombard Street. Coffee now becoming an important
article of commerce, was included in the statute-
book, and a duty of fourpence was laid on every
gallon of coffee made and sold. In the time of
Charles II., in consequence of various political meet-
ings taking place in coffee-houses, an order was issued
that they should be shut up ; this, however, was very
soon rescinded. Ray says that in 1688 London rivalled
Grand Cairo in the number of its coffee-houses.

From the extensive use made of coffee it became
an object of importance to cultivate the tree, and
accordingly we find that the Dutch, so early as 1690,
transplanted the coffee tree from Arabia Felix to
their settlements in Batavia. Their example was after-
wards followed by the French, who introduced the
plant into their possessions in the Antilles. Coffee
becoming an object of interest to most nations, the
tree was soon cultivated in most parts of the East
and West Indies. Its produce is now known all over
the world, and may be said to have become one of
the necessaries of life. It may be here stated that,
though the coffee tree thrives well in the West Indies
and the other parts of the world into which it has
been transplanted, still the fruit it produces in these
countries is not equal in flavour to that furnished by
it in Arabia, and Mocha coffee still maintains its
eminence in the market.

CINCHONACE^E.

hi the coffee plantations the trees are raised from
coeds, and are afterwards transplanted into nursery
lines. The plantations are situated on the sides of
hills or mountains, and the trees are generally ten
feet apart. The produce of a good tree is said to be
one or two pounds of berries. These berries when
fully ripe are gathered and put into a particular kind
of mill, in order to be deprived of their outer pulp.
The seeds are then soaked in water, and are subse-
quently well dried before being deprived of their
parchment or membranous covering by means of a
machine called the peeling-mill. They are afterwards
subjected to the action of a winnowing-mill, which
removes any loose pellicles -which may be mixed with
them. In this state they constitute the raw coffee
beans of commerce, which require to be roasted and
ground to powder before being fit for use. In this
country the roasting is performed in cylinders, which
are made to revolve over a charcoal fire, while in
France this operation is performed generally in open
pans. In Turkey a sort of coffee, called Sultan's
coffee, is prepared from the fleshy mass which covers
the seeds. It is said to be less heating than common
coffee, and to possess gently laxative properties. The
Arabs and Turks use great quantities of coffee.
They prepare it very hot, and drink it without sugar
at all periods of the day. The Mohammedans in
India are also great coffee drinkers. They think
that it allays nervous irritability, and prescribe it in
cholera. The French use more coffee than the
British ; their coffee too is stronger, and is sometimes
mixed with a large proportion of warm milk. Coffee
has been a favourite beverage of many great men,
Napoleon, Frederick the Great, Voltaire, and Leib-
nitz, were particularly fond of it. The quality of
coffee is greatly dependent on the roasting ; if too
little done, it is heavy and has scarcely any flavour ;
if too much, it has a disagreeable burnt taste ; whereas
when the heat is properly regulated, it acquires a fine
aroma, and becomes a most agreeable article of food.
Coffee is frequently spoiled by being long boiled, in
which case it is deprived of its fine flavour and
strength, in consequence of the aromatic oil which it
contains being dispelled. It is best prepared by
pouring boiling water through the powdered coffee
on a strainer, and various ingenious machines have
been contrived for the purpose ; one of the most
curious of which operates on the principle of a
vacuum, formed beneath the coffee to ensure the
rapid passage of the boiling water through the stratum
of the ground berry. By this process coffee is per-
fectly made, and the aroma extracted in a few
seconds. Coffee ought to be used immediately after
it has been roasted and ground.

The coffee trade has increased much of late, and a
large amount of capital is employed in its production
and transport. The consumption of coffee in Britain
has increased greatly, more especially since the reduc-
tion of the duty in 1825. At present the duty charged
is sixpence per pound on British Plantation, nine-pence
on East India, and one shilling and three-pence on fo-
reign coffee. In the year ending January 1831, the
quantity imported into this country was 40,952, 1 63 Ibs.,
and the quantity exported, 28,087,994 Ibs. The chief
countries from which coffee is imported are, Arabia,
Java, Sumatra, Brazil, and the West India islands.
The quantity annually supplied by Arabia is said to
be 14,000,000 pounds. The consumption of coffee
over the world is thus stated : —

T\ • • «**»»•

Great Britain ...... 10,000

Holland and Netherlands .... 40,200

Germany and the countries round the Baltic 32,000
France, Spain, Italy, Turkey in Europe, and

the Levant '28,500

America 18,500

Total . 129,200

Coffee is recommended medicinally as a stimulant,
astringent, and antiseptic. When taken internally it
diffuses a grateful warmth through the frame, soothes
the system, and at the same time revives and sharpens
the intellectual powers. From its property of pre-
venting sleep, it is particularly useful to those who
trim the midnight lamp. It produces all the effects
of stimulating liquors, without confusing the ideas or
inducing intoxication. In some peculiar constitutions
it causes such a degree of irritation, accompanied
with tremors and other disagreeable symptoms, that
its use cannot be persevered in. When taken imme-
diately after dinner, coffee seems to promote digestion,
and it is one of the best substances for removing the
disagreeable effects of opium or morphia, as well as
for dissipating sick headachs arising from the previous
use of stimulating liquors. In spasmodic asthma, Sir
John Pringle recommended coffee without milk or
sugar. Raw coffee has been used as a tonic in inter-
mittent fevers. A decoction of it has been prescribed
at Naples in chronic inflammation of the eyes, and
the vapour produced during the process of roasting
has also been useful iu the same disease.

Coffee may be imitated by roasting rye with a few
almonds. Roasted wheat and rye were lately much
used by the poorer classes in Britain. In India,
roasted rice has been used as a substitute for coffee ;
and in Europe, the roasted seeds of the common
yellow water-flag have also been employed for a
similar purpose.

According to MM. Robiquet and Pellctier, coffee
contains a peculiar principle called caffein, a volatile
concrete oil, gum, albumen, a white sweet oil, a
bitter principle, and an acrid resinous matter. During
the process of roasting, tannin and a peculiar acid
are developed.

Coffea Mauntlana is another species of this genus,
which is found in the woods of the Isle of Bourbon.
It furnishes also a kind of coffee.

Coffea Bengalcns'is is an erect shrub, found in
Bengal, which flowers in the hot season, and yields
fruit in the cold. It bears white flowers, which are
succeeded by a small black berry. Its seeds are
inferior in quality to those of the Coffea Arabica.
Several other species, such as Coffea raccmosa and
ZanguebarifE, produce seeds which may be used as
coffee.

The next genus deserving notice is Cephaelii,
containing upwards of thirty species, the most im-
portant of which is Ccphaclis ipecacuanha. This is a
perennial plant, found in the humid shady woods of
Brazil, and other parts of South America, and is of
great importance as furnishing a valuable article of
materia medica known by the name of Ipecacuan.
This medicine is procured from the root, which was
first introduced into Europe as an emetic, towards
the middle of the seventeenth century, by a physician
named Legras. The plant, however, which yielded
the root, was not known until Brotero, Professor of
Botany in the University of Coimbra, in Portugal,
D2

52

CINCH ONAGER.

published an account of it in the Linnsean Transac-
tions under the name of Calicocca Ipecacuanha.
Decandolle has since discovered that the plant be-
longs to the genus Cephaelis, and has retained the
specific name Ipecacuanha, which is the Peruvian
name of the plant, and is derived from /;;/, signifying
root, and Cacuanha, the name of the district where
the root is procured.

There are three kinds of ipecacuan root known in
commerce — the brown, or annulated ; the black, or
striated ; and the white. The first of these, which is
exported from Rio Janeiro to Portugal, is the true me-
dicinal Ipecacuan of this country, and is the root of the
Cephaelis ipecacuanha. The root of this plant is creep-
ing, three or four inches long, compact, irregularly
twisted and knotted, and about the size of a goose-
quill. It is not a continuation of the underground hori-
zontal stem, but the offsets from that part of the stem.

The black, or striated ipecacuan, is the root of the
Psychotria emctica, a native of Peru and Isew Grenada,
where it is much used as an emetic. It used to be
exported from Carthagena to Cadiz, but is now
seldom brought to Europe, as its action is much less
certain than that of the brown ipecacnan. This
root is not knotted like that of the Cephaelis.

Another root, under the name of white ipecacuan,
is sometimes introduced into commerce. This is the
product of a totally different plant, Richardsonia
JBraziliensis, and is known in Brazil under the name
of Poaia Crauca. It has a pale whitish colour, a
nauseous odour, and a very acrid taste. The roots of
various species of Cynanckum, Viola, lonidium, and
Euphorbia, are also imported under the general name
of ipecacuan, and mixed with the root of the true
species. They all possess emetic properties in a
greater or less degree.

By recent analysis, it has been ascertained that
the properties of ipecacuan are owing to the presence
of an alkaline substance, to which the name of emetin,
or emetia, has been given. In the brown ipecacuan,
there are sixteen parts of this substance in the
hundred ; in the striated, fourteen ; and in the white,
only five or six. Besides emetin, the true ipecacuan
contains oily or fatty matter, wax, gum, starch, gallic
acid, and woody fibre. Emetin exists almost entirely
in the inner ligneous, and not in the outer or cortical
part of the root. The mode of procuring emetin is
as follows : — Separate all soluble matter irom the
powdered root of ipecacuan by cold water ; evaporate
the solution to a certain degree in a water bath ; add
sub-carbonate of magnesia in excess, and afterwards
evaporate to dryness ; then add strong alcohol, which
dissolves the emetin and resin ; evaporate this tinc-
ture to the consistence of an extract ; dissolve in
water and again evaporate. In this way emetin is
procured, mixed with some impurities. It presents the
form of brown semi-transparent scales, having a bitter
acrid taste.

Another mode of preparation is, by first adding
ether to the powder of ipecacuan, in order to dissolve
the fatty matter ; then boiling the resin which remains
in alcohol, and afterwards treating it with magnesia.
By this means emetin is thrown down, which may be
dissolved in alcohol, and then evaporated, so as to
obtain crystals.

In order to purify emetin, add an acid, and then
an alkali, mix with animal charcoal, dissolve in
alcohol, and evaporate.

When obtained in a pure state emetin is a white

pulverulent, alkaline substance, scarcely soluble in
cold water, soluble in alcohol, and not in ether.
In doses of a grain to three grains it produces
copious vomiting, and it has been distinctly proved
to be the active principle of ipecacuan.

Ipecacuan has been much employed in medicine,
and has been exhibited in the form of powder, in-
fusion and wine. Its chief use is as an emetic, for
which purpose twenty or thirty grains of the pow-
der, and from half an ounce to an ounce of the
wine, are usually given to adults. In small doses
ipecacuan produces sickness, and acts as a gentle
laxative, while in still smaller doses it stimulates
the stomach and promotes digestion.

As an emetic ipecacuan is preferable to common
tartar emetic in cases where vomiting is to be pro-
duced at the same time that the stomach is to be
strengthened in a certain degree, and also in cases
where any bowel complaint exists.

Emetin acts more rapidly than ipecacuan in pro-
ducing vomiting, and its effect is generally followed
by sweating and a tendency to sleep. Ipecacuan
is also used to produce sweating, more especially
when combined with opium, constituting the powder
commonly known by the name of Dovers powder.
As an expectorant it is also frequently employed, and
lozenges are made of it which are useful in coughs
and catarrhs. A full dose of ipecacuan sometimes
checks an accession of fever, and is useful in inflam-
matory eruptive diseases. In nervous diseases, bowel
complaints, and cases of poisoning, the powers of this
medicine are often called into action. Ipecacuan
loses much by keeping, especially when exposed to
light.

The genus Psychotria contains nearly 180 species,
some of which deserve to be noticed. They are
chiefly West Indian plants, bearing white flowers,
and sometimes exhibiting a very beautiful foliage.
Psychotria emetica has been already alluded to as
furnishing the black or striated variety of ipecacuan.

The root of this plant differs from that of the cephae-
lis, in its cylindrical form, and in having contractions
or strangulations at moderate distances with inter-
vening striated spaces. Psychotria herbacea also
supplies a root having emetic properties. The seeds
of this species are used by the negroes in Jamaica
instead of coffee. Pyschotria noxia is accounted
poisonous in Brazil. Psychotria nitida has received the
specific name of Mapouria, because the mapouris, or
wild cows in Guiana, feed on its leaves and branches.
Psychotria involucrata is aromatic when dried or
bruised, and an infusion of its leaves is used in asthma.
One of the species, Psychotria parasilica is found grow-
ing as a parasite on the trees in the West Indies.

The genus Ejcostemma has been separated from
cinchona in consequence of the corolla being smooth
and the stamens projecting beyond it. It contains
nineteen species, most of which grow in the islands
of the Gulf of Mexico and on the American conti-
nent. Exostemma caribceum and floribundum yield
bitter barks, which are sometimes mixed with the
true cinchona. By analysis the bark of the latter
species is found not to contain any trace of quinia, or
cinchonia. .

Rondeletia febrifuga yields a fever bark which is
used at Sierea Leone, and barks of a similar kind are
furnished by Porthmdia hexandra, Macrocnemum co-
rymbosum, cuspidaium and aitstrale, Guettarda coccinea
and Coutarea hcxandria. Portlandia grandiflora. a

CINDUS — CINNABAR.

59

native of North America, yields a bark, called Quina
nova, which is said to possess febrifuge properties.

Chiococcaracemosa is a creeping1 shrub, like jessamine,
the root of which is known in Brazil by the name of
Cainca. This root is met with in commerce under
the form of rounded pieces two or three feet long, the
thickness of a writing quill, and striated so as to resem-
ble the root of Psychotria emetica. According to ana-
lysis the root yields a substance analogous to emetin,
which seems to be its active principle, and has been
denominated caincique by the French. The root is
used as a cure for the bite of poisonous serpents, and
from its purgative properties is administered in
dropsies and visceral obstructions.

Nauclea or Uncaria Gambir yields a lightish,
brown, bitter, and very astringent extract, called
Gambir or bastard catechu, which consists almost
entirely of gallic acid and tannin. It is obtained at
Malacca by boiling the leaves of the plant, and is
used by the Malays as an astringent. It is also
chewed by them along with the betel-leaves.

The bark and root of Antirhoa vcrticillata are
used in the Isle of Bourbon for checking haemorrhage
Richardsonca rosea and emetica, Manetlia cordifol/a,
and Spcrmarocc fcrrugincn arid poai/a furnish emetic
roots. The bark of the roots of Morinda umbellata
and citrifolia is used in the East Indies for dyeing red
and brown. The leaves of the former species are
combined with aromatics in cases of diarrhrea.
Morinda royoc is used in dyeing and in making ink.
Hedyotis imibellata is used in India for dyeing nan-
keen. Wcbera tctrandria is a thorny bush met
with on the Coromandel coast bearing a reddish
brown edible fruit, the size of a small bramble. A
decoction of the leaves and root is used in India
in dysentery and in cases of worms: the leaves are
sometimes put into curries. The leaves of Oldenlan-
dia umbellata are considered by the Indian doctors as
expectorant, and are used in asthma. They are used
hi cutaneous diseases, and for the cure of poisonous
bites. The root is employed at Masulipatam for
dyeing cotton red. Gardenia Jhrida is highly odori-
ferous, and is made into hedges in Japan. Its seeds
dye yellow. Gardenia Rothmanna is chiefly fragrant
during the night. The fruit of Gardenia dumetorum,
when ripe, looks like a small yellow apple. It en-
closes numerous strong-smelling seeds which, when
bruised, have the property of intoxicating fishes.
The fruit, when powdered, acts an emetic, and the
bark of the root is used as an astringent.

Gcnipa Americana bears an esculent fruit which is
much esteemed in Dutch Guiana. Sarcoccphahts
escidcntuR yields a high flavoured fruit, which has the
appearance of a pineapple without a crown. Several
species of Gardenia also yield succulent fruits which
are used as food.

Ixora pavetla is valued by the Hindoos on account
of the beauty ot its flowers. Its fruit is green, and is
often employed as a pickle. The genus Siderodendron
receives its name from the hardness of its wood, which
is said to resemble iron. In the species of this genus
the corolla is often changed by an insect into an
oblong bag, half an inch in length, fleshy and hollow
within, and ending in a point at the top. Pinckncya
Mffen4,geBga bark, is a low tree of the United States,
huving a soft wood and bitter inner bark, which has
been used successfully in tiie cure of intermittent
fever.

We have thus given an extended view of the natu-

ral family of Cinchonacese which forms so important
a part of the vegetable kingdom. In whatever way
we regard this family, whether as furnishing remedies
which have contributed in no small degree to alleviate
the sufferings of humanity, or as supplying some of
the most valuable luxuries and necessaries of life, we
must allow that it well merits attention, and occupies
a high place among the numerous vegetable tribes
which are scattered over the surface of the globe.

CINARAS (Leach). The genus Gymnokpat of
Cuvier. This shell consists of five narrow valves, so
widely placed that they do not cover the whole of the
animal ; to compensate for which they are enclosed
in a membranous bag, a continuation of which forms
the peduncle ; it is of a greenish colour, with six
longitudinal black stripes, three on each side ; it has
an anterior opening for the passage of the animal's

tentacula or arms. First class of the sub-type Hcma-
tupoda, first family Lepadicea, of Blainville's system.
The Cinarrts Cranchii is here figured.

CINDUS. See DIPPER.

CINERARIA (Linnaeus). A very numerous
genus of herbs, undershrubs, and shrubs found in
almost every part of the globe. Linna'an class and
order Syneenesia snpcrfiua; and natural order Com-
posites. Generic character : anthodium simple, and
in many parts ; receptacle naked ; pappus roughly
pilose. The cinerarias are all pretty flowering plants,
some of them singularly beautiful, and well worth
cultivation. The undershrubby species are easily
propagated by cuttings, and the herbaceous sorts by
division of the roots.

CINNABAR. This name is given to two very
different minerals, which in their external appearance
nearly resemble each other. The dark red cinnabar
occurs massive, disseminated, and in flakes and crys-
tallised. Its primitive form appears to be a rhomboid,
and by attrition it yields a scarlet-red streak.

Bright red cinnabar, or native vermilion, occurs in-
small quantities in beds and veins; in the latter, it is
found in considerable quantities in Bohemia. Asia
also produces this mineral, but South America may
be considered as the principal source whence it
is derived for commercial purposes. Cinnabar occurs
in considerable quantity in the province of Antioquia,
in the Valle de Santa Rosa, east from the Rio Canca;
in the mountain of Quindiu, in the pass of the cen-
tral Cordillera, between Ibague and Carthago, at the
extremity of the ravine of Vermellon : and in the
province of Quito, between the village of Azogiic and
Cnenca. The cinnabar is not only found in round
fragments, mixed with small grains of uohl, in (he
alluvial soil with which the ravine de Vermellon, at
the foot of the table-land of Ibague Vicjo, is filled,
but the miners know the vein also from which the
torrent appears to have detached these fragment*,
and which traverses the small ravine of Santa Anna.
Near the village of Azogue, to the north-west o£

54

CINNAMOMUM—

Cuenca, the mercury is found, as in the departmen
of Mont Tonnerre, in a formation of quartzy sand-
stone, with a clay base or cement. This sandstone
is nearly 4592 feet in thickness, and contains bitu
minous wood and mineral pitch.

Compact hepatic cinnabar has a colour between
dark cochineal-red and lead-grey. In its chemica'
constituents it differs very materially from the mineral
last described ; as, in addition to the mercury and
sulphur found in those bodies, there is usually a con-
siderable quantity of carbon, combined with silica,
alumina, oxide of iron, copper, and water.

Cinnabar is distinguished from red silver by the
red streak it affords on paper, and also in being
entirely volatilised when heated ; from red orpiment,
by the colour of its streak, that of red orpiment being
orange yellow ; and from red leadspar, also by the
streak, that of the lead ore being lemon-yellow.

It appears from some of the ancient naturalists,
that the term Minium was derived from the name of a
river of Spain ; and there are several passages in Pliny,
which show that the term " minium" was applied to a
corresponding substance with our cinnabar. He says,
that almost all the minium in use at Rome came from
Spain, and that the ore was sent over from Spain
sealed. He also says, that those who were employed
in reducing minium to powder, wore loose bladders
over the face, lest they should inhale the dust, the
effects of which were very pernicious. This custom
is also observed at the present day, by those who are
employed for a length of time in triturating prepara-
tions of mercury. The term cinnabar was originally
applied to the drug commonly called dragon's blood,
which is of a dull red colour ; it was afterwards trans-
ferred to the ore of mercury now under consideration.
See MERCUKY and SILVER.

CINNAMOMUM (R. Brown). A new genus
of useful and beautiful evergreen exotic trees separ-
ated from the old genus Laurus of Linnaeus. It
contains the true, and the base cinnamon ; the
camphor tree, and six others having botanical dis-
tinctions, which show their non-affinity with the
laurels. They are kept in our stoves but require
much attention to keep them healthy. They must
be kept in a pretty high temperature ; not over
watered in winter, and at all times, their pots require
to be well drained, lest the soil with which they are
potted become soddened. They are propagated by
ripened cuttings, having their leaves on, potted in
sand, and covered with a striking-glass on heat.

CINNAMON-TREE is the Cinnamomum verum
of 11. Brown, formerly the Laurus cinnamomum of
Linnaeus. This is the tree which yields the spice so
called. There are eleven other species of it distri-
buted over the islands and south east corner of the
continent of Asia. Some of them are found in Japan,
and most of them in the southern provinces of China.
But it is on the islands of Borneo, Java, Sumatra, &c.,
and as far west as the island of Ceylon, that the true
cinnamon tree is found, and the spice of finest quality
manufactured. It is obtained from the young shoots
and branches of the tree, which are about half an inch,
more or less, in diameter. The united layers of
inner bark, between the cuticle and wood, is the part
collected ; and as, when longitudinally incised from
top to bottom, it shrinks spontaneously away from the
wood by the heat of the sun ; it is of course, easily
collected and sorted for sale. The inner bark of the
C. cassia is collected in the same way and sold as a

distinct article of commerce ; but this, and the inner
bark of several of the other species are too often
mixed with, and sold as the true sort.

CINQUEFOIL is the Potentillafntticosa of Lin-
naeus, a British plant, found on moist boggy places in
different parts of the country. Its flowers are yellow,
and rather showy, for which it is sometimes admitted
as a shrubbery plant in pleasure grounds. Cinquefoil
belongs to the natural order liosaceee,

CIONUS (Clairville) . A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Tetraviera, sub-
section Rhyncophora, and family Curculionidce, or the
Weevils. The species of which this genus is com-
posed, although small in size, are very beautiful in
their appearance, being nearly globose in form, with
a moderately long curved snout, the thighs are thick-
ened and dentated beneath, and the antennae are ten
jointed, and elbowed at the extremity of the long
basal joint ; the elytra are ornamented with alternate
stripes, having the appearance of tesselated work.
The species are found in the different states upon
various plants, particularly the water betony. The
type of the genus is the Curculio scropliufarits of Lin-
naeus; it is nearly one-fourth of an inch long, the larva?
of which is covered with slime, which enables it, being
unprovided with legs, to walk steadily upon the
leaves by the mere lengthening and contracting the
segments of the body. There are five other Brtish
species.

CIRC^EA (Linnaeus), A genus of three species of
plants, two of them British. They belong to the second
class and second order of Linnaean botany, and to the
natural order Onagrarue. The C. lutetiana inhabits
damp shady places, and is sometimes a troublesome
weed in shrubberies. It is the enchanter's night-
shade of English botany.

CIRCLE ACE^E. The enchanter's nightshade
family. A natural order of dicotyledonous plants,
containing two genera and twelve known species. It
is nearly allied to Onagrarite, but differs in having a
large fleshy disk, which fills up the tube of the calyx,
as well as in the binary division of its flower, and in
its solitary erect ovules. By some authors, however,
it is considered a section of Onagrarus, It bears
also an affinity to the order Haloragece. Its essential
characters are : calyx superior, tubular, with a two-
parted limb ; petals two, alternate with the lobes of
:he calyx ; stamens two, alternate with the petals,
'nserted into the calyx ; disk large, cup-shaped, filling
up the tube of the calyx, and projecting beyond it ;
ovary two-celled, with an erect ovule in each cell ;
style simple ; stigma emarginate ; fruit capsular, two-
celled, two-valved, and two-seeded ; seeds solitary,
rect ; no albumen, The plants belonging to this
order are . herbs or shrubs, with opposite, petiolate,
cordate, or ovate leaves, and racemose flowers. They
are found in shady places in the northern parts of the
world. They do not possess any known properties.
The only genera of the order are Circcea and Lojiezia.
Circcea is named after the enchantress Circe, from its
supposed use in incantations. It contains three species,
wo of which are natives of Britain. Circeea lutetiana,
common enchanter's nightshade, is frequently met
with in our woods, and is also found in the woods of
'anada and Nepal. Circeea alpina grows in wood
and stony places, near the side of lakes, in the north
of England and Scotland.

The genus Lopezia has been named in honour of
he Spanish botanist, Lopez.

CIRCELLUM — CISTINE^I.

55

The various species are chiefly elegant annuals,
some of which are cultivated in gardens.

CIRCELLIUM (Latreillc.) A genus of coleo-
pterous insects belonging to the section Pentamera,
sub-section Lamel/icoriics, and to the family Scara-
Indac. The body is hemispheric, convex, and with
the abdomen nearly semicircular, the lateral mar-
gins of the thorax are not produced into an angle
in the centre; the scutellum is merely rudimental ,
the shield of the head is cut, at its anterior margin,
into several teeth. The type of this genus is the
Ateuckus Bacchus of Fabricius, an inhabitant of the
Cape of Good Hope, an insect nearly allied to the
sacred beetle of the sun, worshipped by the Egyp-
tians, and of which a representation may be seen
on the outside of the Egyptian-hall in Piccadilly. —
The new species of this genus which we have figured
in our plate of Beetles, is contained in the extensive
collection of the Rev. F. W. Hope, president of the
entomological society, whose museum is opened with
the greatest liberality to the student ; to whom we
beg to return our thanks for the loan of this and the
other new and very rare species figured in our plate ;
and by whom the insect of the present genus has been
named CircelliumLyceits(or\e of the names of Bacchus)
in allusion to its close affinity to the Circ. Bacchus,
from which it differs in its large size, and in the dif-
ferent form and appearance of the teeth of the cly-
peus. It is an inhabitant of Sierra Leone and has
not been previously described.

CIRRH^EA (R. Brown), A curious little plant,
introduced from China, formerly called Cymbidium in
the Botanical Cabinet of Loddiges. It is a gynandrious
plant, and belongs to the natural order Orchidecc.

CIRRHIBARBUS, a genus of spinous-finned
fishes, belonging to the family of Gobioides, and nearly
related to the blennies. The characters are : the
teeth in many rows, and closely set ; a small tubercle
over each eye, and each nostril ; three large fleshy
barbs on the point of the muzzle, and eight on that
of the lower jaw. There is but one known species ;
it is a native of the Indian seas, and all over of one
uniform yellow colour.

CIRRHINES. A genus of soft-finned fishes, with
abdominal (ins, belonging to the carp family ; bavin
some resemblance to the gudgeon, but with more
elevated dorsal fins, and long filaments at the middle
of the upper- lip. There are two known species, both
Indian.

CIRRHITES. A genus of spinous-finned fishes,
belonging to the perch family. They have crooked
teeth, one dorsal fin, the gill-flap toothed, the gill-lid
with a soft flap ; the last rays of their pectoral fins
are thick and not divided. There are several species
of them, all inhabitants of the Indian seas.

CIRRHOBRANCHIATA . (Blainville). A mol-
lusc having the organs of respiration in the form oi
numerous long filaments, supported by two radical
lobes above the neck. Shell sub-tubular, rather conical
throughout its whole length, and open at both extre-
mities. Second class, Paracephatophora ; 5th order,
Nttoleobranchiata,

CIRSIUM (Vaillant). A very extensive genus ol
herbaceous plants, chiefly European. Linnaean class
and order, Syngcnesia JEqualis; and natural order
Gomporitts. Generic character : scales of the antho-
dium spinous ; receptacle dry and bristly ; pappus
sitting and deciduous. So numerous are the species
of this genus, that botanists have divided them into

seven sections, the more easily to study and arrange
hem in herbariums. Before this was done, many of
the species were supposed to belong to the genera
Cnicus, Carduus, Serratula, &c. They are a tribe much
more interesting to the botanist than to either the
florist or the general lover of plants : their hostile
thistly appearance renders them unenviable.

CIS (Latreille). A genus of coleopterous insects
of doubtful situation, and comprising about a dozen
British species of small size, having the body of an
ovate-oblong form, convex above ; the antennae are
short, and terminated by a three-jointed club, the
joints not being soldered together as in the Boslri-
chidce; the tarsi are composed of four joints, the last
of which is longer than the rest united. The species
are found in boleti, in which also the larva? reside. It
has been considered nearly allied to the death watches
(Anobhim}, whilst Latreille placed it widely apart
amongst his Xylopha^a. The type of the genus is the
Anobium boleti of Fabiicius, ofachesnut colour, with
the legs and antennae lighter coloured. Its length is
about one-sixth of an inch. It is found very abund-
antly during the summer. This genus may, be
instanced as containing some of the obscure but not
less available agents in supporting the great harmo-
nies of nature. The boleti are the natural results
of putrefying vegetable matter, and the species of the
present genus material!}' assist in again turning to
decay the decay-loving boletus.

CISSAMPELOS (Linnaius). A genus of hot-
house and greenhouse climbers, natives of different
and warmer parts of the world. They arc dioecious,
and belong to the natural order Mcnispcrmacces. Those
in our collections are easily increased by cuttings.

CISSUS (Linmtus). A genus of evergreen tropi-
cal climbers, long inmates of our hothouses. Linntean
class and order Tetrandna Monogynia ; and natural
order AmpelidecE. These plants are of no great beauty,
and therefore not very generally cultivated.

CISTELID^E, a family of coleopterous insects,
belonging to the section Heterdmera, and sub -section
Stcnclytra, nearly allied to the Helopidce, from which
they are distinguished by having the margin of the
head not produced over the base of the antenna, which
are consequently expos, -d; the jaws terminate in a
simple point, without any internal teeth ; the claws of
the tarsi are denticulated beneath. The perfect in-
sects are found upon i'.ovvers, and amongst the leaves
of various trees, and it is supposed that they pass
their preparatory states in the softer wood of trees ; the
larva of C. centtnboidcs is found in the moist and de-
caying parts of oak trees.

The genera introduced by Latreille into this family
(which, Mr. Stephens has united with the Hehpidee),
are Lyttronychus, Cistela, Mycclocharhm, and Allecui,
to which the last named author has added another
British genus Eryx. The species are of small, or but
moderate size, not exceeding one-half or three-fourths
of an inch in length.

The genus Cistcla is distinguished by the thorax
being broadest behind, nearly semicircular ; the jaws
entire, and the body of an oval form. There are five
British species, of which the Chrysvmcla ccramboules
of Linnaeus may be considered as the type.

CISTINE/E— Cistus or Rock-rose family. A
natural order of dicotyledonous or exogenous plants,
containing four genera, and nearly 160 known spe-
cies. It is allied to the order Violacece or Violaricce,
and was formerly confounded with it, but it differs in

CITRUS.

its indefinite stamens, and inverted embryo. It also
bears an affinity to BixinacE and HypcricinecE, but is
distinguished from these orders by its mealy albumen,
the absence of dots in its leaves and the structure of
its fruit.'

The essential characters of the order are : sepals
five, persistent, unequal, two outer ones smaller, three
inner, with a twisted aestivation ; petals five, caducous,
equal, wrinkled in aestivation, and twisted in a direc-
tion opposite to that of the sepals ; stamens indefi-
nite, hypogynous, distinct ; anthers ovate, two-celled,
inserted by their base ; ovary distinct, one or many-
celled ; style single, filiform ; stigma simple ; fruit
a capsule, three to five-valved, occasionally ten-valved,
one-celled, with the valves, bearing a single longitudi-
nal placenta, or three to five-celled, with dissepiments
proceeding from the middle of the valves, and touch-
ing each other in the centre. Seeds indefinite in
number.

The plants of the order are shrubs, or herbs with
viscid branches, simple, opposite or alternate leaves,
and racemose flowers, which are very fugacious, and
are of a white, yellow, or red colour. They are
chiefly found in the south of Europe and north of
Africa. A few are met with in North America, while
in South America and Asia the order is scarcely known.

The rock-roses of our gardens give a good idea of
this order, of which they form the chief part. Their
properties are little known. Some of them yield a
resinous substance possessing tonic and stimulant
qualities. They are principally cultivated as orna-
mental plants on rock-work.

The genera of the order are Cistus, Heluinthemum,
Hudsonia and Lecha. The two latter are exclusively
North American genera.

The genus Cistus gives name to the order, and is
derived from a Greek word, signifying a box or cap-
sule, on account of the peculiarity of its seed-vessel.
There are twenty-eight species of cistus, most of
which are showy plants, flowering freely. Cistus cre-
ticus is an elegant shrub, which grows in dry rocky
places in the island of Crete, in Syria, and in several
parts of the Archipelago. It was first cultivated in
England in 1731. Its flowers, which are of a beauti-
ful purple colour, open at sun-rise, follow that lumi-
nary in its course, and fall off in the course of the
evening. From this species, as well as from Cistus
ladanifer, laurifoliws, &c., there is collected in the east
a resinous matter known by the name of ladanum or
labdanum. This substance is procured by drawing
lightly over the shrub a kind of rake to which leathern
thongs are attached in place of teeth. By this means
the unctuous juice which covers the plant is collected,
and is afterwards scraped off with a knife. There are
two kinds of ladanum met with in commerce, one in
masses more or less voluminous, of a blackish brown
colour,and soft consistence, the otherin rolled piecesof
a drier and harder texture. This gum-resin, when pure,
exhales an agreeable balsamic odour, and has a bitter
aromatic taste. When burnt it diffuses a thick white
smoke, and a pleasant perfume. As it occurs in com-
merce it is generally impure, being mixed with other
resinous substances, and with fine ferruginous sand.

Ladanum is used in France as a tonic and astringent
in catarrhs, dysenteries, &c., and it enters into the
composition of some stimulating plasters. It is now
rarely used in medicine, and is chiefly employed in
fumigations, and in the formation of various perfumes
and cosmetics.

Cistus villosits'hsLS large purple flowers.which are very
ephemeral, falling off the same day they expand. A
succession of fresh flowers come out daily for several
months.

CITRUS (Linnaeus). The well-known and highly-
valued orange tree. Linnsean class and order Poly-
adelphia Polyandria ; and natural order AurantiacecE.
Generic character : calyx pitcher-shaped, in three or
five divisions ; petals five, often more ; stamens
compressed, variously united at the base ; anthers
oblong ; style cylindrical ; stigma hemispherical ;
fruit a berry of many cells, pulp composed of juicy
bladders ; cells containing seeds. It is scarcely ne-
cessary to observe, that the various species of this
genus are among the most beautiful, most fragrant,
arid most useful of fruit trees. The warmer parts of
the temperate zone appear to be the favourite cli-
mate of the orange ; but, even between the tropics,
they come to great perfection, provided the station is
high enough above the level of the sea.

Whether the wild lime in the jungles of India be
the original stock from which all the numerous va-
rieties of the orange have been, in the course of time,
derived, is a question admitting of no certain answer.
The limes in India, and other places, are exactly
alike, and bear the same relation to the orange that
the crabs in the woods of England bear to the apple.

The lime, lemon, orange, and shaddock, are the
most remarkable of what are called species ; but be-
tween the lemon and the shaddock, there are innu-
merable varieties called citrons, especially in Italy :
and of both the lemon and orange, there are many
varieties, differing in flavour, in bulk, and in shape
and colour.

This fruit tree differs from all others, in bearing
two crops of fruit at the same time in different stages
of their growth towards perfection ; — that is to say,
the young fruit of this spring 1835, do not ripen till
late in the autumn of 1836, and it sometimes happens
that flowers appear before the ripe fruit are gathered.
On this account it is that the orange tree is impatient
of frost ; as there is always some fruit on the tree,
which would be injured by severe cold. In all coun-
tries where the orange or lemon is cultivated, and
which may be subject to the least degree of frost,
precautions must be taken that the trees be defended
from it. In Britain, and in other northern countries
of Europe, orange trees are kept either in green-
houses or conservatories, more as ornamental than as
fruit trees. For the latter purpose their culture is
unnecessary ; seeing that the fruit are so cheaply
procurable from the south of Europe. Not but that
their culture to the utmost perfection is practicable in
the northern latitudes, for orangeries exist in many
places, where the affluent proprietors prefer plucking
mature fruit from their own trees, rather than depend
on the supplies from St. Michael's or the south of Spain.

As all the best varieties of the citrus tribe are truly
artificial or accidental creations, they cannot be repro-
duced from their seed. In this respect they are
exactly like our garden and orchard fruits ; and,
therefore, must be perpetuated by grafting or budding.
The strongest stocks which can be raised from the
seeds of any of the varieties are always preferred.
Those from the lemon, or what is called the Madras
citron, are found to be the best for the finer sorts of
sweet oranges. The seeds should be sowed in the
previous summer ; potted off singly, as soon as pos-
sible, and forwarded so as to be ready to take the

CIVET.

57

graft in February or March. Soon as grafted, they
should be placed on a dung hotbed under a glazed
frame. Here, if in a proper moist temperature, the
grafts will soon take, and grow away to be fine little
plants by the end of summer.

Orange trees do well in tubs or boxes, in which
they may be kept for many years, and until of
considerable size. This is particularly convenient,
where it is necessary to house the trees in winter.
They require a loamy soil enriched with rotten dung ;
and as they do not require to be often shifted, top-
dressings of sheep or cow dung are given on the top
of the soil in the pots or boxes.

Where houses are built expressly for the purpose
of fruiting orange trees in this country, the trees are
trained to a trellis against the back wall, planted as
standards along the middle, and as many kept in
boxes as will fill every part of the house. The tem-
perature of the house should be regulated according
to that of the season ; never lower than 45° in winter
nights, and about 60° after sunset in summer. At all
seasons they should have as much fresh air as possi-
ble, so as it is not too chilly ; and sprinkling fre-
quently with tepid water is of service to free from
<!iist and discourage insects, to which orange trees are
very subject. One species of coccus is a common
pest ; and after it has formed its scale to breed under,
•cannot be displaced without using the back of a knife,
or sharp point of a stick. Indeed a stick pointed at
one end, and a bit of sponge fixed to the other, must
be frequently used to keep the trees clean.

One very important part of the management of
orange trees, in order to have large and well-flavoured
fruit, is the timely thinning the flowers and fruit, after
the latter are fairly set. The tree is naturally ex-
tremely fruitful, and if neither flowers or fruit are
mercifully thinned, the tree becomes stinted, and will
neither produce healthy shoots nor sizeable fruit.
The supernumerary flowers are saleable, and fetch a
high price among perfumers. In the neighbourhood
of 1'aris vast numbers of orange trees are cultivated
for their flowers only ; and in this country there can-
not be ;> more agreeable ornament than an orange
tree, while in flower, placed in the entrance hall of a
mansion.

The shaddock, or pommelmoc, as it is called by the
Portuguese, is the largest, both as to size of tree and
fruit, of any of the tribe. In India, when seen loaded
with fruit nearly ripe, it is certainly a magnificent
object : the deep green glossy foliage, forming a dense
background to the large bright yellow fruit scattered
over the exterior of the branches. A full-sized fruit
is not less than five inches in diameter ; and, though
less juicy and more acid than the orange, it is much
sweeter and less acid than either the lemon or the
lime. The shaddock is a dessert fruit ; and so loosely
are the vesicles composing the pulp attached to each
other, that they are separated by the fingers, and may
be eaten singly like grapes. Their qualities are con-
sidered anti-scorbutic ; and homeward-bound Eu-
ropean ships usually lay in a store of them with which
to proceed on the voyage ; they, however, require to
be suspended singly in net bags, as they do not keep
long if laid together in a locker. The lime in its
wild state is, when young, a very prickly, rigid look-
in •_' ^hrnb; but becomes almost or wholly spineless
when old, or when domesticated. Its juice, however,
is, perhaps, superior to all others for medical and
culinary purposes.

The Chinese, who may be called a nation of gar-
deners, possess many varieties of the citrus, and
especially some excellent oranges. Their mandarin
variety is a very superior fruit, and has the singular
property of discharging the rind from the-pulp when
fully ripe. These oranges are very plentiful, and
may be purchased very cheap in the streets of Can-
ton in the season (spring), provided the seller be
allowed to strip the fruit and retain the rinds, of
which they make some specific use. There are also
several varieties, differing in the size and flavour of
fruit, manner of growth, size of leaves, &c., many of
which are already in European collections.

CIVET — Viverra. A genus of carnivorous mam-
malia, placed by Cuvier last in that division of
digitigrade carnivora, of which the dog may be
regarded as the type ; and intermediate between the
foxes and hyaenas in the system. They have three
false grinders on each side of the upper jaw and four
in the under, the front ones of which are sometimes
shed. There are two moderately large tuberculous
grinders above, only one below, and two projecting
tubercles on the interior side of their foremost car-
nivorous tooth below. All the rest of the grinders
have their crowns more or less tuberculous. The
tongue is beset with horny papillae, harder and more
pointed than in the hyaMias, but not so much so as
in the cats. With the exception of one of the sub-
genera, there are five toes on all the feet, the claws
on which are sharp and more or less retractile, but
they are not very crooked. The legs are generally
short in proportion to the length of the body ; and
the greater number use the elasticity of the arched
spine to aid them in springing on their prey. Under
the tail there is a scent bag, which secretes an unctuous
matter, which is, in some of the species, rather
abundant, has a strong musky scent, is much valued
as a perfume by the Orientals, and once formed an
article in the materia medica of Europe, under the
name of civet. It is now excluded from the list of
medicines ; and it got a place in that list formerly,
probably for no better reason than the old dogma,
that " whatever seemed to have active qualities, and
for which no other use could be found, must have
been intended for curing some disease." In addition
to this matter, of which the scent, when it has any,
is generally musky, there are, at least in some of the
species, two smaller openings, situated in the same
part of the body, from which a dark-coloured fluid of
a very disagreeable scent is discharged.

When we consider the appearance, the structure,
and the habits of these animals, we find it somewhat
difficult to determine to which of the other families
they have the nearest resemblance. In their general
form, their style of walking, and also in the posses-
sion of the anal scent bag, they bear no inconsiderable
resemblance to the pole-cat or martin family ; many
of them have also much of the air and not a little of
the manners of the hyaenas ; some of them also have
slightly the appearance, and all have a good deal of
the manners of the smaller cats ; they also, in their
form, the feet excepted, bear some slight resemblance
to the badgers ; nor is it impossible to trace points
of resemblance between them and the dogs. But
still they have a distinctive character of their own ;
and though the different sub-genera and species vary
a good deal from each other, it is easy to trace a
family likeness among them all. But it is much more
easy to trace this likeness than to say in words in

58

CIVET.

vvhat it consists, because it is a likeness of the whol
character of the animals as made up of structure
disposition, and habit, rather than of any one of th
elements which form that character.

They are all nocturnal animals ; their eyes close
to a vertical line in the pupil, like those of th
Common cat, and, as is the case with that animal
they all glisten in dull light. Some account of thi:
glistening of the eyes of nocturnal animals may b(
found in the article CAT ; and we may here add, tha
the reason why the eyes of the same animals do noi
glisten in bright daylight, is the necessary contraction
of the aperture of the pupil by the action of the light
upon it. In this case, the quantity of light which
gets admission to the eye is very small ; and there-
fore the portion of it which the eye reflects, is noi
equal to that reflected by objects illuminated in the
common way ; but when the animal is under the
shade, if that shade is moderately obscure, the eyes
glisten just as much during the day as during the
night.

Animals of this genus are not entirely carnivorous,
but can, when necessity urges them to it, feed upon
vegetable matter, of which they prefer sweet and
succulent fruits. Their proper food, however, may
be regarded as being animal much more than
vegetable, because the carnivorous character not
only predominates in their teeth, but is more strongly
marked in them than in any animals except the
hyaenas and cats. They are very expert in catching
birds, upon which they spring much in the same
manner as cats do ; they also catch mice and other
small animals with much dexterity, and in some parts
of the world some of the species are kept in houses
for this purpose. They have, however, other habits
in their feeding, different from those of cats, for they
are great destroyers of eggs. During the day, the
greater number of them are exceedingly indolent,
and sleep almost the whole of their time. Others,
however, are more of diurnal animals, and follow at
least some of their prey by coursing. They are all
animals of tropical countries, or at least of countries
bordering on the tropics ; they are wholly natives of
the eastern continent and the adjacent islands. There
is not above one species met with in any part of
Europe, and that species is confined to the warmer
parts of the south, and is far from being numerous
there. Africa, India, and the Oriental isles, more
especially the latter, are their head quarters, and it
does not appear that a single species has been met
with in Australia, or in the remote isles of the
Pacific. From their indolent habits, and their short
legs, they cannot be expected to migrate far in quest
of food, and therefore they need hardly be looked for
in places which are subject to seasonal barrenness.
They are not aquatic animals, however, but frequent
the banks of streams, the wood-lands, or the open
glades, preying generally upon the smaller reptiles
and the eggs of the larger in the first of those places,
on birds and small quadrupeds in the second, and on
the smaller lizards in the third. They are usually
divided into three sub-genera — Civets, Gennets, and
Ichneumons, and perhaps there are some other sub-
genera which may be added.

CIVETS. These have the scent bag large and
deep, divided into two cavities, and producing
abundantly the unctuous substance, which has a
more musky scent in this genus than in perhaps
any other. There are at least two principal species,

the civet and the zibeth, which names have, however,
exactly the same meaning, though the animals differ.
The civet is found chiefly in Africa, and in the south-
west of Asia ; the other species in the south-east ;
and it is probable that there are several varieties of
the latter,

Civet. This animal is often in common language
styled " the civet cat" but the name is of course
inapplicable, except in some slight resemblance in
the manners, in the fur on the body, and in the form
of the tail.

Civet.

This species measures about two feet three or two
Feet four from the muzzle to the tail, and it stands
from ten inches to a foot in height at the shoulder.
Its muzzle is produced and pointed, but not quite so
much so as the fox ; the ears are short and round ; the
hair on the body is long and coarse, and that which
ranges along the line of the back and the upper part
of the tail, forms a sort of crest, which is turned back
towards the neck ; the ground colour is bright
jrownish grey, with various spots and bands of
jlackish brown, and the dorsal crest of the same
colour ; the head is whitish, with the exception of a
spot round the eyes ; the cheeks and chin are brown ;
he naked part of their nose is black ; the legs and
inder part of the tail are brown, the hair on the
brmer especially being much shorter than that on
he body ; the tail on the upper part is partially
annulated.

The most remarkable peculiarity in the anatomy
of the civet, is the organisation of the bag containing
ts peculiar scent. It opens externally by a narrow
:left, situated between the anus and the parts of
generation, and is exactly similar in both sexes,
rt'hich renders their apparent difference but trifling.
This cleft conducts into two cavities, which might
sach of them contain an almond. Their internal
urface is slightly covered with fine hair, and pierced
ivith many holes, each of which conducts into an
>val follicle of very slight depth, the concave surface
f which is again pierced with innumerable pores.
The odoriferous substance comes from these pores,
"t fills the follicle, and when this is compressed, it
iroceeds from it something in form like vermicelli,
nd enters the larger bag. All these follicles are
nveloped by a membranous tunic, which receives
uuiy of the sanguineous vessels ; and this tunic, in
ts turn, is covered by a muscle which comes from the
ubis, and has the power of compressing all the
ollicles, and with them the entire bag to which they

CIVET.

are attached. By means of this compression, the
animal gets rid of the superfluous part of its perfume.
Besides this odoriferous matter, there is another
secreted, which assumes the form of stiff' silken
threads, and is mingled with the first. The civet
has besides a small hole on each side of the anus,
from which a blackish and very foetid liquid issues.

The odoriferous substance produced by the civet,
and to which the animal owes its common name, forms,
especially in the east, an object of considerable
commerce. Its virtues are greatly vaunted, accord-
to Baron Cuvier, among- the French, though, as we
have already said, its medicinal reputation is now
wholly exploded.

The tail of the civet is composed of twenty-five
vertebrae, which forms a difference between it and the
zibeth, which has only twenty-two. We must not con-
found the sluggishness of this animal during the day,
with incapacity of motion, at those times when
its habits require it to move ; for this sluggishness by
day is common to all animals which prey by night ;
and those which pursue their prey with the greatest
ardour and success, are generally the most quiet dur-
ing the periods of their repose. The civet is lithe
and agile, and capable either of springing like a cat,
or of coursing its prey like a dog, and it indiscrimi-
nately catches birds and small quadrupeds. Failing
these, it attacks fruits, and also the fleshy roots of
plants. They inhabit plains and hills which are
rather dry, and seldom drink. In many places of
Africa they are kept and bred in a domestic state for
the sake of their perfume, which still forms a consi-
derable article of trade. The female has four mammae,
but seldom produces more than two or three young.
The period of gestation has not been well ascertained.

Zihctli. This species is much smaller in size than
the civet, and smoother in its covering ; but it is
longer on the legs. Its length is about fifteen inches
exclusive of the tail, and its height about a foot. It
has no crest of prominent hairs along the ridge of the
back ; the ground colour of its fur is yellowish grey,
marked with numerous black spots, which sometimes
run so much into c;tch other, as to form nearly con-
tinuous lines along the sides. The tail is black above
throughout its whole length, and pale grey on the
under side, which is also the colour of the belly. The
sides of the tail are marked with cross bars of black
and grey ; the throat and breast are white, and so are
the ears, a small spot in front of the eye, and the sides
of the upper lip. The throat and breast arc whitish,
but marked on the sides with a very conspicuous arch
of black, proceeding from the hind part of the ear,
and returning to the breast, but not meeting there, so
as to form a complete collar. Within the arch there
is a spot in the shape of the letter V, with its point
directed towards the ear.

This animal is most plentiful in the Eastern islands,
where it is often kept in a domestic state, in the same
manner as the civet is in Africa. When fed properly
it is a very peaceful animal ; though it is strongly
made and very active when in a state of nature.

It is probable that two distinct varieties, if not
species, of these animals, both natives of the Eastern
islands, have been mixed up in the descriptions of
this one. This species is called Taitggahmg by the
Malays, and the other is called Rasse, the latter being
by far the more slender of the two, and having the
line on the forehead straight, the muzzle more pointed,
the head and neck much smaller, and the ears much

nearer to each other. It is a very active animal,
very difficult to be tamed ; will not breed in confine-
ment, and therefore, in order to procure its perfume,
which is highly prized in the east, it has to be captured
and confined in a cage. It is probable that there arc
other varieties, or even species, besides these, but
their history is obscure ; and, as the colours are known
to be variable in the same species, and as they all
have the same structure, and nearly the same habits,
the distinctions of them are of minor importance.

GENNETS. These have the sac in which the
scented matter is produced much smaller than the
civets, and though they have the musky smell, there
is no visible secretion, at least in any sensible quantity.
The pupil of their eyes contracts more completely to
a vertical line in the light than that of the civets, and
their claws are more retractile, nearly as much so, in
fact, as those of the cats, only they are not so much
crooked, and the paw is not so well adapted for being
either a striking or a clutching weapon.

Common Gi'nnct. In its general appearance, the
gennet bears no inconsiderable resemblance to the
common pole cat, only it is rather longer and stouter,
has the line of the forehead straighter, the muzzle
much thinner, the ears larger and more naked, the
feet stouter and the tail longer. It is covered with
two sorts of hair, the longest about half an inch in
length on the body, and a whole inch on the tail.
The tips of the hairs are, in some places, black, others
grey, and others reddish, and the tail is marked with
fifteen rings, alternately white and black, with some
cloudings of red.

This is a western animal, having a very consider-
able range in latitude, namely, from the south of
France to the extremity of Africa. They sleep, or
doze in indolence, during the greater part of the day,
but are particularly alive during the night. They
have many of the habits of cats, and are sometimes
employed as substitutes. They breed in confinement,
and the period of gestation is understood to be about
four months.

Many other species of this sub-genus have been
described, and it is probable that the Rasse of the
Eastern isles should have been included in the num-
ber ; but the history of the greater part of them is
perfectly obscure, and therefore, not adapted for
popular purposes.

ICHNEUMONS. These have the anal bag large and
simple, with the anus in the middle of it. They have
the hair short on the head and the feet, the toes semi-
palmated, and they are generally found near the
banks of rivers.

Common Ichneumon. Many marvellous stories
have been told of the blessing which the ichneumon
bestows upon Egypt, in the destruction of crocodiles
and serpents on the banks of the Nile. A little more
accurate information has, however, taught us to
believe that the crocodile is by no means a dangerous
neighbour to the human inhabitants of Egypt, neither
are the serpents on the banks of the Egyptian river
very remarkable for their deadly qualities ; and, there-
fore, the ichneumon has lost much of its celebrity ;
and in the service which it renders to man, it must
take its station below the domestic cat, though it is
sometimes used as a substitute for that animal. The
ichneumon is rather of a timid disposition, except
against mice and small lizards ; and, though it attacks
the eggs of the crocodile and of other large reptiles
with great courage, or, at any rate, avidity, there is no

60

CLARKIA -CLASSIFICATION.

authenticated instance of its having ventured within
reach of the jaws of the crocodile. The ichneumon
is not so indolent during the day as the other sub-
genera, and therefore it has more attraction as a
domestic quadruped. It is easily tamed, remains
willingly in a state of domestication, and not only
obeys the call, but readily follows the footsteps of
those who are kind to it.

It is rather a small animal, about fifteen inches in
length and eight in height. Its colour is deep brown,
so mottled with dull white, and sometimes with grey,
that it is not easily described. There are five toes on
each foot, the thumb is very short and apparently
useless. All these toes are armed with strong and
crooked claws. The sole is naked and covered with
a very fine delicate skin. The eye has a long trans-
versal pupil, but no other particular character. The
nose passes the lower jaw, but is not moveable.

When the overflowing of the Nile drives the wild
ichneumons from the banks, they sometimes resort to
the towns and villages, to levy contributions on the
poultry yards and pigeon houses (pigeons are exceed-
ingly abundant all along the banks of the Nile), or to
join in the labours of scavengership with the foxes and
hyaenas ; but these animals not only take the lion's
share of the offal, but very frequently include the
ichneumon .itself in that devoted portion.

The described members of this sub-genus are still
more numerous than those of the former, but they are
subject to the same uncertainty. Their haunts and
habits are all so nearly alike, that any one of them
serves to tell the tale of the others in every respect,
save in external appearance and in locality. The places
which they frequent, are, in all parts of the world,
those in which there are periodical floodings of water ;
and the principal office which they appear to perform
in the economy of nature, is that of destroying the
eggs of aquatic reptiles, which are, in general, so
very numerous, that if they were all to be hatched
the young could not possibly find food.

CLARKIA (Pursh). A beautiful little annual,
lately introduced into our flower gardens from North
America. Linnajan class and order Octandria Mono-
gynia ; and natural order Onagrarice. Generic cha-
racter : calyx tubular, limb four-cleft, three of them
often cohering ; petals inserted in the calyx, claws
with one tooth on each side, limb of three lobes ;
stamens alternately sterile and fertile, the latter op-
posite the gashes of the calyx ; anthers linear, two-
celled ; style filiform ; stigma of four lobes, somewhat
like petals ; capsule cylindrical, furrowed, and four-
celled. This plant was hailed on its first appearance,
not only as a stranger, but for the elegant laciniated
figure and position of its petals. It readily ripens
seed, which only requires to be sowed in the open
borders with other hardy annuals in the spring.
The original plants had purple flowers ; but we have
already a variety with white or very pale purple
blossoms.

CLARY. Is the Salvia sclarca of Linnaeus. This
is a biennial, and cultivated for seasoning soups, &c.
There are two other species of clary, viz. Horminum,
of which there are two varieties, namely — the red and
purple-topped, and Verbcnaca the vervain-clary.

CLASSIFICATION. The productions of nature
are so numerous, and the progress which the combined
and continued efforts which men of all nations and in
all ages have made in the knowledge of them, is so
small, compared with what we are compelled to be-

lieve still remains to be known, that the life of man,
measured against all that has to be learned in order
to obtain even a superficial knowledge of the works of
nature, appears more disproportionate than measuring
a single moment against a thousand years.

Knowledge, of whatever kind it is, in order to be
true and therefore useful, must begin as we ourselves
begin, that is at the point of absolute ignorance ; and
therefore, if we go to the details, and attempt to know
the single subjects one by one, our lives would be
spent before we had mastered all which is to be met
with upon a single acre of ground in a state of nature.
All appears in a state of confusion to our untutored
observation ; and therefore we, in that state, abandon
the study as hopeless, and fall back upon our merely
animal appetites as our only means of enjoyment.

This we find to be the state of mankind in all coun-
tries where the light of science has never came ; ami
yet in the few matters which they do understand, we
find that these men of limited information are superior
rather than inferior to ourselves. The senses of the
savage are always more acute than those of men who
are civilised and informed ; but there is no principle
of progression in them — they do not advance ; and
we have no reason to suppose that the inhabitants of
any scienceless country were one jot better informed at
the time when they were first visited by European
adventurers than they had been in the hundredth
generation previous to that event.

Not only this, but it does not appear that there is
any general tendency in them to profit by the ex-
ample of their more scientific visiters, unless there has
been a beginning made before the arrival of them.
No doubt there are some rude people, to whom the
intercourse of civilised men has given an impulse, and
we cannot, perhaps, cite a more striking instance of
this, than the case of the New Zealanders ; but they
were begun — had taken some steps — rude no doubt, but
still in the way of improvement — before they were
visited by Europeans. On the other hand, where
there has been no beginning, the savage is consumed
before the march of civilisation, instead of being
aroused and instructed by it. The Indians of North
America have faded to a remnant much faster than
can be accounted for by any direct oppression with
which they have met — though that has no doubt been
severe enough in many instances. When we turn our
attention to other parts of the world, be those parts
what they may, we find that there is no exception to
this ; but that the longer these rude tribes have
been in the neighbourhood of civilised men, the more
have they fallen off in character, and declined in
numbers.

There is much information involved in these truths,
simple as they are ; for they show that the ignorant
cannot arrive at knowledge of any kind by the means
and the process by which that knowledge has been
originally accumulated ; and also, that the way of
obtaining possession of the knowledge which has been
already acquired must be different from that whereby
additions are made to the stock.

The record of knowledge is the index, as it were,
while the original discovery is the labour of the book ;
and every one must have felt the advantage that there
is in consulting a book by the help of a well-arranged
index. An index to the words of any one book is
most convenient for consultation, when it is arranged
in alphabetical order ; but an index to the productions
of nature requires a different form, because each of

CLASSIFICATION.

61

these singly has a story to tell, to which story, until it
lias been known, no name or other word can be any
guide. In this case the best, and indeed the only
index that can be of use is, an inde.v of relations, — not
an index to the individual facts or subjects, but one
which shall, from the knowledge of one fact or sub-
ject, guide us to a second, from that second to a third,
and so on. These relations apply equally to n~hnt
exists and to what happen*, and they are the means
of knowledge, and not knowledge itself — the instru-
ment, not the end. For knowledge, like every thing
else, must be of the same kind with its beginning, and
be stable or unstable according to the foundation on
which it rests. Whether we seek to be informed,
relative to the productions of nature simply as they
exist, or the phenomena or changes which they dis-
play in the course of time, we must have a beginning
in addition to our index of relations. Our progress,
to use a homely expression, is by means of a bridge,
of which facts are the piers, and relations the arches ;
and though we cannot pass over by means of the piers
without the arches, yet the arches can have no sup-
port but the piers.

There are two sets of persons, each of which are in
possession of one of these elements of knowledge
without the other ; and for this reason they may be
both said to be ignorant. Common observers have
the piers of the bridge without the arches ;-and men
who have studied the systems in the books have the
materials of the arches, but want the piers for support-
ing them ; and thus, to them, the arches are no arches
at all. Their case is much more hopeless than that
of the former class ; because, just as piers can exist
without arches, while arches cannot exist without
piers ; so facts, accurately observed, are sound know-
ledge in the exact proportion of their accuracy and
to the full extent of their number, whether the pos-
sessor of them know the relations between them or
not. But still, the piers, notwithstanding all their
stability, will not carry one across the river, uidess
they are brought so near to each other as to become
stepping stones, which can be the case only in the
thallows. Thus, though the matter-of-fact man is not
so utterly ignorant as the mere theorist, he is still not
in a condition to make advances in knowledge by
means of the knowledge he already possesses ; and
it is the capacity of converting the knowledge which
we h.ive into the means, and the certain means, of
obtaining more, which is most valuable.

Clauificaiion, m the natural history sense of the term,
always has reference to beings or existences, and not
to phenomena or appearances ; though appearances
are used as the means of classification ; and any clas-
sification is valuable in proportion to the kind of
appearance, or character as it is called, which is
made the basis of it. The doing of this must depend
upon the knowledge and judgment of him who makes
the classification ; and as the classification is the
real instrument in the acquiring of knowledge, it is
essential that the man who attempts to make or to
alter a classification, should possess the most extensive
information, and the most sound and scrutinising
judgment, upon this very simple and obvious prin-
ciple, that he who does not intimately know, and
justly and impartially estimate all the characters
(that is the known characters) of every individual
which the class includes, is riot prepared for giving a
useful or even an honest judgment, as to what should
be the common character of the class.

This applies to all classifications, and to all the
paits, primary, intermediate, or subordinate, of which
they are made up ; and in the subordinate parts,
those which come as near as possible to the specific
distinctions, in which we consider things as identical
in their natures, and differing only as individual ex-
istences, it is necessary to be more accurate, and to
see farther than in the grand and primary divisions.
In these cases, no man has a title to alter any classifi-
cation, unless he is fully prepared to justify his altera-
tion through every step and stage upward to the
simplest division which can be made of natural sub-
stances, or even up to the simple fact of existence.

And it is especially necessary to impress this truth
upon all who are only beginning the study of nature,
or who have made but little progress in it. The
beginnings of science, though mere molehills in
reality, seem mountains in the eyes of the com-
mencing student ; and they seem the more so, the
more earnestly and even the more honestly that he
enters on the study. If we may use the expression,
the eye of the mind begins the study of any thing
with microscopic power, which magnifies to a very
great extent ; but as the quantity of knowledge
accumulates, the magnifying power diminishes, and
after a long life spent in scientific pursuits, individual
objects sink down in their importance, and appear
insignificant in comparison with the number and mag-
nitude of the whole. Hence it is, that those men
who are the best qualified, and therefore the best en-
titled to make or to alter classifications, always set
about making such alterations with the greatest caution
and reluctance. And, paradoxical though it may
seem, it is nevertheless true, that all the war of
systems, and all the wranglings about classifications,
which have so often disturbed, and we fear we may
add demented, the scientific world, especially natural-
ists, have really been waged by parties, not altogether
dissimilar to those who are said to have fought the
first pitched battles recorded by the poets of antiquity,
"the frogs and the mice, the pigmies and the cranes."

With the desire of impressing this truth fully be-
fore us, we shall not venture to suggest any particular
classification, or any modification of one which exists,
but shall confine ourselves to a very simple outline
of the meaning of the term, and of the advantages
which are derivable from the right use of it.

Nature is so wide a field, that no one science can
be made to embrace the whole of it with any thing
like precision ; and therefore when we speak of natu-
ral history in the proper sense of the words, we mean
little else than a catalogue raisonne of a considerable
number of sciences, with some slight sketch of their
relations to each other. This may be considered as
one primary step of classification, the beginning, as it
were ; and under it we are not called upon to do
much more than to explain clearly what we mean by
subject or being, and what by appearance or pheno-
menon. Some view of this, as it applies to the sub-
jects to be known, will be found in the Introduction
to this work ; and all that remains would be to men-
tion the names of the different branches of science,
as applied to the knowledge of those subjects.
This is, however, unnecessary, because it would be
impossible, without occupying more space than we
can devote to it, to make it the vehicle of much
meaning. The three primary subjects are, matter
which neither grows nor lives, growing matter, and
living matter. The first is a very extensive subject,

62

CLAUSILIA — CLAVIJA.

and stretches in range beyond all but the very
simplest and most elementary observation. It goes
to the sun. to the planets, and it speculates to the
stars ; and in all those regions which form so mighty
a volume, that the earth is but a point in its humblest
page, all that we can know is distance, magnitude,
mass, motion, and mutual influence of one of those
bodies upon another. From this vast height, in the
extreme of which we are lost in the infinitude of great-
ness, we descend downward to air, and water, and
solid matter, whether in larger or smaller masses, and
to every thing, in short, which goes to the composi-
tion of our earth, and which is not immediately under
the influence of vegetable growth or animal life.
Nay, our inquiry into mere matter includes the sub-
stance of which all plants and all animals are formed :
and we can and do speak about the component parts
of them, while they are entire, and growing, and
living, just as though these component parts were
separate portions of dead matter. Nor do our in-
quiries stop even here, for it is the province and the
business of the student of dead nature, to extend his
observation, and apply his reasoning, from the most
distant mass to which the line in the balance can be
applied, down to the very verge of the primary atom,
the smallness of which makes it as inscrutable to our
knowledge as it does the magnitude of the other ex-
treme. Within these boundaries there are situated
all the sciences which are physical, including chemi-
cal science among the number ; and in this grand
division, the name of natural history is not generally
applied to any thing but to the description of those
individual masses of matter which can be distinguished
from each other by their peculiar characters. But
still this humble portion has its use in the system,
though taken singly that use is very limited.

Vegetables and animals are less extensive in their
scope, because we find them only on the surface of
the earth or in the waters ; and their situations are
generally such as that we can go all round them and
examine them, and study their progressive histories
in time as well as their momentary appearances.
Therefore we have many more characters in the case
of them, and thus it is here chiefly that classification
becomes of the greatest value, and where the abuse
or the captious use of it is calculated to do the most
mischief. Accordingly much time has been devoted to
the classifying of plants and animals ; and the result
of this labour, though of course, from the very nature
of the case, not altogether or even nearly perfect,
has made so much progress as to be highly valuable
to the student, by being to him an instrument by the
skilful application of which he can acquire more
knowledge in a few days than he could without its
assistance acquire in a life-time.

The individual classifications applying to both of
these departments will be found in the notices, gene-
ral and particular, of the subjects themselves ; and as
it would be contrary to the nature and object of a
popular work to teach system-making, being the very
subject which people should specially avoid attempt-
ing, we do not feel that more words are necessary.

CLAUSILIA (Lamarck). This characteristic
name was, in the first instance, given to shells in
which the entrance of the opening was closed at a
certain depth by a moveable ovate testaceous lid,
performing the office of an operculum, and supported
by a thin elastic pedicle inserted in the columella.
This lid closes upon the animal when it retreats within

its dwelling, by means of the pedicle acting as a
spring. Lamarck has not been able to ascertain that
all the examples he has given of this genus are so
provided, but naturally concludes they should be, and
has constituted the genus from the other constant
and similar characters to be observed in them, the
most remarkable of which is that of the termination
of the last whorl being quite detached from the base
of the shell. The aperture is ovate or rounded, its
edge entire, and the margin reflected outwards.
These shells are all of them terrestrial, fusiform,
slender, and the summit rather obtuse, to which may
be added, though not mentioned by Lamarck, that
the opening is occasionally dentated The structure
of the animal is similar to that of the helix, but having
the first pair of tentacula very short. About twelve
recent species are known, the greater number of which
are European, and found particularly on the borders
of the Mediterranean. Several are also known from
the American archipelago. Second class, Para-
cephalophora ; first order, Pulmobranchutta : third
family, Limacinea.

CLAVAGELLA (Lamarck). This genus of
shells was unknown to Lamarck in a recent state.
He considered it an intermediate species between
the Aspergillum and the Fistulana, differing from the
former by having only one external fixed valve, the
other free and internal, and from the latter, which has
no perforations at the larger extremity ; this shell has
also an appearance of small projecting tubes at one
extremity round the disk, similar to those of the
Aspergillum. Sowerby, in his Genera of Shells,
No. 13, has described the only recent species of this
genus supposed to be known. It is classed bv
Lamarck between the genera Aspergillum and
Fistulana.

CLAVATULA (Lamarck). A mollusc, united
to the genus Pleurotoma by De Blainville, as being
no other than a species of that genus.

CLAVIGER (Preysler). An extraordinary genus
of coleopterous insects, nearly allied to the family
Pselaphidce, having the elytra shorter than the ab-
domen, and truncate ; the antenna? thick and six-
jointed ; the eyes are wanting ; the maxillary palpi
very minute, and apparently without articulations ;
and the tarsi are three-jointed, the last joint being
furnished with a single claw. These curious little
insects are not above one-eighth of an inch in length,
and are found under stones in dry situations ; they
are likewise often met with in the nests of ants.
M. Muller has published a good monograph upon
this genus in the third volume of Germar's Maguzin
der Entomologie, as has also M. Aube, more recently,
in M. Guerin's Magazin de Zoologie. M. Dalman
has described another genus, even more remarkable
than the foregoing (to which, however, it is intimately
allied), under the name of Articcrus, and which was
discovered by him embedded in the substance so
often mistaken for amber, namely, gum ammo*. The
antennae are composed of a single long cylindrical
joint.

CLAVIJA (Ruiz and Favon). A South American
tree, which, when cultivated in a dwarfed slate in our
hothouses, forms a very healthy ornamental plant.
Linnaean class and order, Pentandria Moiwgi/nia ; and
natural order, Myrsmcce. Generic character : calyx
five-toothed ; corolla bell-shaped, limb in five lobes ;
stamens shorter than the corolla, on a cup round the
seed-vessel ; berry having a free central placenta.

CLAYTONIA — CLETHRA.

63

This plant was called Theophratta by Linn&us and
other botanists. It flowers frequently, though the
little purple racemes produced from the stem are not
very showy. The foliage, however, is handsome.

CLAYTONIA (Willdenow). A genus of tube-
rous rooted perennials and curious annuals from
North America. They belong to the fifth class of
Limucus, and to the natural order Portulacece. The
annual and perennial species are sowed or planted in
the open air, and thrive best on borders of moor-
earth.

CLEAVERS. A very common British plant, the
Galiuii/ aparinc of botanists. It receives its name
from its seeds, leaves, and slender stalks, being armed
with honked hairs, which cling or cleave to every-
thing. It is, moreover, called goose-grass, from gos-
lings being particularly fond of the leaves soon as
they are hatched. It is a troublesome weed to the
farmer, it being difficult to separate the seeds from the
samples of corn. When these seeds are seen among
corn, they are called burrs by the millers.

CLEM ATIS( Linnaeus.) Herbaceous and shrubby
climbers, found in manydifferent parts of the world. Lin-
nasan class and order, PolyandriaPolygynia; and natural
order, Ranuncnlacca:. Generic character : calyx of
four to six sepals ; nectary, none ; stamens fixed
below the gerrnen ; filaments, dilated at the apex ;
anthers, two-celled ; style persisting, downy ; cary-
opses tailed. The clematis, or virgin's bower, or
traveller's joy, is a well-known European plant. It
is this plant which covers our hedges in the autumn
with that grey feathery substance, by which it has
also gained the name of " old man's beard." It is
most abundant, and grows with great vigour, in chalky
districts. The presence of chalk at a great depth
under the surface is often pointed out by the exist-
ence and growth of the clematis. It is an embower-
ing plant, and soon takes possession of the whole
head of any plant it can lay hold of; the petioles of
the leaves acting like tendrils, by curling round the
twigs of the plant which lends support. Almost the
whole tribe are attractive one way or other ; and
some from the easy flowing position of their branches,
and elegant tassel-like flowers are much and deserv-
edly admired. The C. florida, single and double ;
the vilict'lla, and crtmpanijtora, are fine plants, and
merit a place in every flower garden. The hot-house
species require plenty of space to flower well.

CLEODORA (Lamarck, CLIO PYUAMIDATA ; Lin-
naeus). A molluscous animal, but the posterior end of
its body is covered by a firm, somewhat cartilaginous,
straight, and transparent shell, like an in verted pyramid,
or in the form of a spear, truncated and open at the
upper part, of a distinct shape in different species, and
not opened laterally, or at the posterior end, as in the
genus Hyalcea. The body of the animal is length-
ened, conical, more or less depressed, divided into
two parts, as in the Hyalcva; two tentacula, two eyes,
and two swimming organs at the anterior part ; the
posterior conical. It differs but little from the
J/i/a/cea, next to which it stands in the first order,
Aporobranchiata ; first family, Thecosmnata.

CLEOME (Willdenow). A genus of undershrubs,
perennial and annual herbs, mostly natives of Ame-
rica. Linntean class, Tetradynamia ; and natural
order, Capparidtw. Generic character -. calyx of
four sepals, the fourth inferior ; petals unequal,
ascending, three nectariferous glands at the base ; sta-
mens man}', but only a few fertile ; filaments inserted

in the calyx, declining ; anthers, ovate and erect ;
style, simple ; stigma, headed ; pod, slipitate or sit-
ting, one-celled, and two-valved. These plants
flower and ripen seeds readily ; they are easy of
management, potted in light rich soil, and may be
increased bj cuttings when they fail to produce
seeds.

CLERIDjE(Nob. ; TILLID^E, Leach). A family
of coleopterous insects belonging to the section
Pentamera, and sub-section Serricornes, distinguished
by the dilated tarsi ; hatchet-shaped palpi, toothed
jaws ; the antennae are more or less serrated, and often
thickened at the tips ; the eyes are notched inter-
nally, and the thorax is generally narrower than the
elytra ; the body is elongate, sub-cylindric, and of a
firm consistence. These insects, in the perfect
state, are often found upon flowers ; many of the
species, however, are only met with under the bark
of rotten trees, where they have resided in the larva
state. They are of a moderate size, and are gene-
rally handsome insects, being much variegated in
their colours.

The larvae, which have hitherto been observed, are
carnivorous in their habits. The genera are Clcrus,
Geoffrey (Trichodes, Fabr.) ; Cylidrm, Tillus, Prio-
cera, Axina, Eurypus, Thanasimiisopihis, Clerus, Nc-
crobia, Corynctcs, and Enoplium.

The first-mentioned genus is distinguished by hav-
ing the labial palpi terminated by a hatchet-shaped
joint ; the basal joint of the tarsi is nearly as large as
the following, and the antennae are terminated by a
three-jointed club, the last joint of which is alone ter-
minally produced intoanangle. There aretwo British
species belonging to this handsome genus, namely, the
Attelabus apiarins of Linnaeus, which is blue, the
elytra red with blue bands, the extremity being also
blue. The larva of this insect is found in the hive
of the common bee, where it devours the larvae of
this useful insect, and thus occasions much injury to
the hive. It is, however, very rare in this country.
The other is the Trichodes alvearius, Fabr., very much
resembling the preceding ; but the region of the
scutellum is blue, and the extremity of the elytra red.
Its lame resides in the nests of the mason bees
(Otmia) feeding upon the grubs of these insects.

CLERODENDRUM (Limueus). Shrubs and a
few climbers, mostly natives of eastern Asia. Linnsean
class and order Didynamia Angiospermia, and natural
order Verbenacca:. Generic character : calyx five-
toothed ; corolla, tube elongated, graceful, limb spread-
ing, of five equal lobes ; stamens protruding, widely
parted ; anthers incumbent, bursting transversely ;
style long, filiform ; stigma acute, and cleft ; drupe
tetrapyrene, embraced by the calyx, one-seeded.
Some of this genus are splendid flowering plants, and
all are more or less ornamental. They are all easy
of propagation by young cuttings, or pieces of the
roots. Some of the species increase themselves by
suckers.

CLETHRA (Linnanis). A genus of handsome
hardy shrubs, natives of North America, and a few
greenhouse species from Madeira. Linna^an class
and order Dccandria Monogynia, and natural order
Ericecc. Generic character : calyx five-parted,
persisting ; petals five, spatnlate, concave, longer than
the calyx ; stamens inserted in the receptacle ; fila-
ments like hairs ; anthers inversely egg-shaped,
opening at the apex ; capsule invested with the calyx,
three celled, cells full of seeds. The hardy clethras

64 CLIDEMIA— C

are usually planted in light loam, mixed with two-
thirds moor earth, and are very suitable shrubs for
the flower garden, and are increased by seeds or
layers. C. arborea is too tender to bear the open air
of this country, and is usually treated as a greenhouse
or conservatory plant. The other species, from the
same island (Madeira), require similar treatment, and
mav all be propagated by cuttings.

CLIDEMIA (D. Don). A genus of tropical
shrubs, separated from the genus Melastoma, to which
they are nearly related, though not so fine flowering
plants as some others of that fine natural order. The
clidernias are remarkable for hairiness over their
leaves and stems.

CLIFFORTIA (Linnseus). A genus of shrubs
from the Cape of Good Hope, some of which have
been long cultivated in British collections. They are
Dicecious, and belong to the natural order Rosacece.
They are cultivated more for the variety of foliage
they give to the collection than for their flowers,
which are not attractive. Young shoots strike root
readily under the ordinary management.

CLIO (Lamarck). A naked molluscous animal,
of which only three species are named. The charac-
ters of this animal are not sufficiently well known to

be described with certainty ; it belongs, however, to
the family of Gymnosomata. The species here figured
is the Clio bnrealis.

CLISIOCAMPA (Curtis). A genus of lepidop-
terous insects, belonging to the family BombycidcB,
distinguished by its robust thick-set bodvi short but
powerful wings, which are rather acute, and its short
curved antennae; the palpi are of very small size,
and the spiral tongue is entirely wanting. These
insects are known to collectors by the name of Lackey
Moths, a name which they have gained from the
gaudy stripes of various colours, with which the
caterpillars are ornamented. The perfect insects are
of moderate size, seldom exceeding two inches in
expanse. " The larvae of C. neustria" observes Mr.
Haworth, " are one of the greatest pests our fruit
trees labour under. They are sometimes quite defo-
liated by these voracious caterpillars, and covered
over with their noisome webs. The female moth,
when she deposits her eggs in autumn, agglutinates
them in the neatest manner imaginable, all in close
and symmetrical contact, round a twig of about one
year's growth. These, hatching a little after the
foliation of the tree in spring, do not separate, but
live in one society, and form themselves one common
web, which they enlarge from time to time, as they
find necessary to accommodate their increasing sizes,
communicating at length to the almost defoliated
tree, a very sickly and disagreeable appearance. The
best way of destroying them, and all other tree
feeding caterpillars, is to shake the branches violently
either with the hand or a pole with a hook to it ;

L I S I O C A M P A

this brings them quickly to the ground, where they
are easily destroyed. Poultry, if admitted, will pick
them up with avidity." — Lepidoptera Britannica, p.
129. This insect is of a reddish-ochre colour, having
a darker band across the middle of the anterior
wings, margined on each side with a paler colour.
It is very abundant, appearing in July and August.
In certain seasons, however, from some unknown
cause, it is much more rarely to be observed. It
likewise attacks other trees. Thus Mr. Jenyns says
of it, " The pest of our hedges, which in some seasons
are entirely stripped of their leaves by the larvae, and
laid as bare as in the depth of winter." The oak,
sweetbriar, sloe and hazel, are also subject to its
attacks. The precise manner in which the eggs are
so symmetrically deposited by the parent moth, has
not been observed, but the form of the eggs them-
selves are admirably adapted for their spiral position,
being in the form of a funnel-shaped wine-glass with-
out a stand, so that when they are placed together
in an arched form, they fit as precisely as the arch
stones of a bridge, and the cement with which they
are covered is so hard, that we have repeatedly
slipped them off the branch without breaking the
coil. We have also noticed that, although the out-
side of the eggs is of a dark colour, occasioned by
exposure to the atmosphere, smoke, &c., yet the
partition between each egg is beautifully iridescent.

It may also be mentioned, that as this cement is
neither soluble in water, " nor in any other liquor, "
says Swammerdam, "which I have tried," they are
well defended, in their exposed situations, against the
wintry blasts and rains.

The curious motions of these caterpillars have
attracted considerable attention amongst the obser-
vers of nature. Bonnet, who noticed a nest of
caterpillars, evidently of the lackey moths, observes,
" I remarked that the sound of my voice appeared to
incommode them, for when I spoke they briskly
agitated, with repeated jerks, the fore part of the
body." He is disposed, nevertheless, to suppose thu
it was not by any power of hearing, but by the deli-
cacy of their touch, that the sound of the voice was
communicated to them. On the other hand, the
author of Insect Miscellanies has suggested that this
jerking motion was for the purpose of producing a
rent in the skin near the head "as it was more
remarkable just before their moulting than at any
other time. This also, as it happens, was the very
period when Bonnet made his observations, as he
expressly says, ' some of them had undergone, and
others were about to undergo, their first moult.'"
Mr. Stephens, however, seems to refer their jerkings
to atmospheric causes. "In changeable weather, I
have observed," says he " that all the individuals
which happen to be resting on the outside of the
nest, simultaneously and repeatedly elevate the an-
terior part of their body." For our own parts, we
feel inclined to refer these motions to another causo ;
it will be seen that it is the larvae on the outside of
the nest which thus jerk themselves about ; we would
therefore suggest that it is for the purpose of defend-
ing themselves from the attacks of, and driving away
any wandering Ichneumon fly, that they thus keep
themselves in constant motion.

The other British species, Bombyx caslrensis, is
much more rare than the preceding, which it nearly
resembles. It is figured by Mr. Curtis in his British
Entomology, plate 229.

CLISIPHONTE — CLOVE.

CLISIPHONTE. A genus of shells constituted
by De Montfort, and united by De Bluinville with
the genus Lenticulina. It is only known in a fossil
state, and is a microscopic shell.

CLITHON. A genus of shells established by
De Montfort, and now united to the genus Nerita, of
which it forms a subdivision.

CLITORIA (Linnaeus). A tropical genus of
leguminous climbers, with pretty little papilionaceous
flowers, which are produced abundantly if the plants
are allowed heat enough. They sometimes ripen
seed, from which young plants are raised ; or in
default of them, they may be renewed by cuttings.

CLIVEA (Lindley). A lately introduced hexan-
drious plant from the Cape of Good Hope, named in
honour of the present Duchess of Northumberland.
Generic character : flowers in an umbel ; perianth
tubular, six-parted, deciduous, parts connivent, the
exterior shortest ; stamens inserted in the tube, equal
with each other, and with the tube ; anthers versatile ;
style filiform ; stigma trifid ; berry of one seed. This
plant has some resemblance to CyrtantJuu; but
differs from that genus in having versatile anthers,
and a one-seeded berry. The bottom of the stem is
but very moderately bulbous ; grows best in rich
loam, and requires a temperate part of the stove to
flower in. As it has already ripened seeds in this
country it will no doubt soon be in every collection.
It was called Imatophyllum by Dr. Hooker till it
flowered, and was described by Dr. Lindley.

CLIVINA (Latreille). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Pcntamcra, family
CarabidcB, and sub-family Scaritides. These insects
are of small size, narrow form, with the thorax sepa-
rated from the elytra by a narrow peduncle ; the fore
legs are pal mated, and formed for burrowing. They
are found under stones, at the roots of trees, in
damp situations, beneath rejectamenta of floods, &c.
There are two British species, one of which, the
Tcncbrio fossor, Linnaeus, is about a quarter oi
an inch long, and of a black pitchy colour. By
the French entomologists, the genus Dyschirius o
Panzer, &c. is united with the preceding; it is
however, distinguished by the globose form of the
thorax, and some other characters. There are about
a dozen British species ; of the latter, some of whicl
are amongst the smallest insects belonging to the
CarabidcE ; they are found on the sea-coast, the banks
of streams, &c. Their habits are very voracious
preying upon other insects.

CLOTHO (De Faujus). A fossil shell of an ova
form, subregular, longitudinally striped, equivalve
subequilateral hinge, formed by one bifid tooth, hook
shaped, rather larger on one valve than the other
the ligament external.

CLOUDBERRY is the Rubus chamcemorus o
Linnaeus. This plant is found on the mountains i
the north of England and Scotland, and is a lov
bramble-looking undershrub. It belongs to the na
tural order Rosace<B.

CLOVE or CARNATION is the Dianthu
Caryophyllus of botanists, and the improved variet}
of the clove of florists. It ranks as the chief of stag
flowers, as it combines elegance of form with variet
and delicacy of colours, and to these is added th
most delightful fragrance. No plant requires mor
of the florist's attention than the carnation ; to hav
flowers in the greatest perfection, new plants must b
raised every year. Not but that old plants \\\
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

ontinue to yield flowers for several 3 ears; but these
eing those of branches, are never so large or so tine
s those on the central stem of a maiden plant.
5foung plants are obtained by layering the lower
ranches of the last year's layers ; and though these
e only the points of the secondary shoots, yet when
eparated from the parent stock, they become as
ndependent beings, and ten times more vigorous
and amplified, than if they remained on their original
oots.

The cultivation of choice carnations forms a prin-
;ipal part of the florist's business. They have distinct
names ; and the superior sorts, especially if they are
new, sell at high prices. New varieties are obtained
"rom seed ; but very finest age or prize flowers occur
)ut as one in a thousand inferiors. A seedling of pro-
mising merit, may, by judicious culture, be advanced
to rank with the best ; and it is by accident, and such
means, that our present stock of fine carnations have
jeen in course of time obtained.

The standard choice sorts are perpetuated by an-
nual layering. This is performed about the time, or
soon after the plants are in flower. If cultivated as
stage flowers, they are kept in pots, and of a pretty
arge size, in order that their branches may be conve-
niently layered. If cultivated in beds, there they
are also layered ; because there must be an annual
supply of young plants, as well for beds as for pots.

Carnations are layered like other plants : the lower
branches, which would not flower till the following
year, (supposing them to be left on the parent stool)
are chosen ; an incision is made with a keen pen-
knife, entered a little below the third or fourth joint
from the top, and passed up the middle of the shoot
as far as the next joint. This separated piece is
called the tongue, and when the little piece below
the bottom joint is cut square off, it is ready to be
fixed in the soil. In layering, a little fresh compost
is usually laid round the plant to receive the layers.
In this, little furrows are made, and in which that
part of the layer between the tongue and the root, is
bent down and firmly lixed by a little hooked stick.
The layer is then covered with about three quarters
of an inch of the compost, and at the same time the
point of the layer is gently raised upright, taking
care that the tongue be kept apart from the place
whence it was cut, and pressing the soil pretty closely
over and around the point of the layer, to keep it in
place.

New roots are soon produced at the lower end of
the tongue, and towards the end of September are
fit to be taken from the stools, and planted in beds or
pots previously prepared for them.

Some florists are very curious in forming their
carnation compost; mixing together many different
substances, as loam, sand, leaf-mould, and rotten
dung of various kinds. Such a compost may be very
suitable ; but many successful cultivators use only the
freshest maiden loam, made sufficiently rich and
porous by a third part of thoroughly decomposed
stable or old hot-bed dung. In this, carnations, whe-
ther in pots or in beds, thrive and flower in the
highest perfection, provided they receive all other
necessary treatment.

The management of carnations consists, not only
in placing the layers in suitable soil, but in taking
care that, if potted, the pots be well drained, so that
water may not stagnate within, which would mate-
rially check the growth, and spoil the beauty of the
E

C L O V B R.

flowers. Water must be always supplied moderately,
and without excess of either moisture or dryness.
The layers, when taken off the stools, are first placed
in small sized pots, and usually shifted twice into
larger, before they are brought to flower. The most
perfect cleanliness, keeping free from weeds, and
defending against snails, slugs, earwigs, and woodlice,
are all indispensable through the whole course of
their growth. When the stems are advancing to
flower, they are often attacked by the green-fly or
aphides ; these must be banished by tobacco smoke,
or some other means not hurtful to the plants.
Props must also be fixed, to tie the stems to as
they advance in height ; and as several flower-pods
will appear on the same stem, all but the topmost, or
the two topmost, should be cut off; this is for the
purpose of encouraging the principal flowers to bloom
in greater beauty and amplitude.

In order to assist the flowers to expand regularly
and handsomely, florists exercise certain manipula-
tions, which are exclusively their own ; these are
called hooping and cording. The calyx or flower
cup is liable to burst irregularly, that is, it will be
rent lower down on one side than on the other ; to
prevent this, two expedients are practised : the first
is causing the divisions of the flower-cup to open
equally, by assisting the backward ones with the
point of a penknife ; and the second is by hooping,
that is, by fixing a band of matting or soft string
round the middle of the flower-pod, by which means
the divisions of the calyx are made to burst regularly.
These precautions regulate the bursting of the calyx ;
and in order that the corolla, or coloured petals of
the flower, may be expanded laterally and symme-
trically, circular cards (having a hole in the centre
to embrace the calyx) are fitted on immediately be-
hind the spreading petals of the corolla, the card
acting as a support to the petals, which naturally
incline to fall back. By these means the petals are
exhibited in a plane ; their tints and the form of the
plant are seen to the best advantage, and when so
dressed up by the skill of the professional florist, are
certainly objects of great beauty.

These practices are only followed by flower fan-
ciers, who exhibit their flowers at shows for prizes ;
and at which there is sometimes the most intense and
lively competition.

CLOVER. The English name of several species
of the Trefolium of botanists. The botanical name is
given because the leaves are ternate, that is, three
leaflets on each footstalk. Some writers have sup-
posed that some one species of this genus is the
shamrock, or emblem of the Holy Trinity, the tria
juncto in uno, used by St. Patrick in explaining that
doctrine, when preaching to the first Christian con-
verts in the kingdom of Ireland. Others, and with
more reason, have suggested that the true shamrock
is the Oxalis acetosetta, or wood-sorrel, so common
everywhere in the groves of Ireland. It is true that
there are several species of trefoil indigenous to Ireland
as well as Britain, but none of them present the triune
character so symmetrically as the leaves of the wood-
sorrel ; and besides, many of the trefoils being agri-
cultural plants, they may have been originally exotics,
and naturalised since the time of the patron saint of
Hibernia.

Three of the trefoils are the most valuable acquisi-
tions of the British farmer. Without them he could
not make meadows of his arable fields in the short

space of two or three months ; without them he could
not secure large ricks of winter fodder from off fields
which, in the previous summer, had borne a heavy
crop of corn, and which will bear even a more valua-
ble burden of wheat in the summer following. These
clovers are the red, the white or Dutch, and the
yellow flowering or black-seeded trefoil.

The red is the most luxuriant grower, and most
useful as a forage plant. It is either sown alone (at
the rate of about eight or ten pounds to the acre) or
mixed with rye-grass and a little of each of the white
and yellow sorts in the following proportions per acre,
viz., of red four pounds ; of white, Dutch, and yellow,
two pounds each ; and of rye-grass, three half-pecks.
These well mixed together are sown with great
regularity by experienced seedsmen, either immedi-
ately after barley or oats are sown and rolled down,
or upon young wheat in the spring. In the first case
one tine of the harrows covers the seeds sufficiently,
and when sown upon young wheat the roller only is
employed to bury the seed.

When 'red clover is sown alone, one summer's
crops only are taken from it, because being a biennial
it yields little or nothing in the third year of its stand-
ing. When sown with barley it rises therewith in
the first year ; much of it is mown with the barley,
and makes the straw excellent winter fodder for beasts,
and the stubble affords good nibbling for sheep during
the cold season. In the second year it is fit to mow
for hay in June, and, if not depastured after that time,
a second crop may be mown and made into hay
about the end of September. But if the second crop
be reserved for seed, it is allowed to stand a month
longer. Soon as the second crop is cut or grazed off,
the clover-ley, as it is called, is immediately ploughed
and sown with wheat. Red clover does not prosper
if sown too frequently on the same field ; the farmer
therefore, in whatever course or routine of culture he
pursues, always endeavours to have the crops of this
clover sown at as distant intervals as possible. The
intervals under ordinary management are either four
or five years, that is, under the four or five course
shift ; but by sowing red clover alone in one course,
and the white and yellow sorts with rye-grass in the
next, lengthens the intervals to eight or ten years.
This, as well as all other sorts of herbage intended
for hay, should be mown just before they are in full
flower.

The white or Dutch clover, otherwise called honey-
suckle, is a perennial, and an invaluable plant in all
pastures. And when a clover-ley is intended to re-
main down more than one year, an extra quantity of
this species, say five or six pounds, must be sown on
each acre. It is a creeping plant, hence the name
Trifolium repens, but when sown with the others it
rises to the height of fifteen or eighteen inches, and
makes excellent sheep hay.

The yellow clover or common trefoil is also a
valuable agricultural plant, and for all purposes its
properties are much like those of the Dutch. It is
however of quicker growth, and, if sown on a clean
fallow in June, will be fit to be eaten off by sheep
before wheaUseed time, a circumstance of the greatest
importance to light land farmers. Besides the three
sorts of clover above mentioned, there is another
pretty extensively sown in laying down permanent
pasture. This is the Trifolium medium, or cow-grass ;
it resembles the red clover, but is a perennial, and of
a much more diminutive growth. It does not appear

CLOVE TREE— C NET HOC AM PA.

to be relished by sheep, as rank tufts of it may be
seen when all the surrounding herbage is closely
eaten down.

A new variety of trefoil (not of the cow-grass how-
ever) has lately been introduced under the name of
T. incarnatum, or scarlet trefoil, which bids fair to be
a useful agricultural plant ; and no doubt many of the
species of this family or varieties of them exist, espe-
cially on the continent, which are yet unknown to
farmers, but which if known might be of great import-
ance in improving our sheep pastures.

CLOVE TREE is the CaryopJiyllus aromaticus of
Linnaeus, a native tree of the Molucca Islands, culti-
vated for its flower-buds, a valuable spice known by
the name of cloves. The tree is of a middling size,
rising to the height of twenty feet or more ; and as
the flowers are collected by hand-picking, many
labourers must be employed to get together the large
quantities annually imported into Europe. Specimens
of the clove tree are seen in our hothouses, but they
are rare, owing to the difficulty of keeping them
through the winter. They, however, may be increased
by cuttings under proper treatment.

" CLUYTIA (LinnseusX A genus of evergreen
shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope. Linnaean class
and order Dicecia Monadelpkia, and natural order
EupkorbiacefE. Generic character : flowers dioacious ;
calyx five-parted ; petals five ; five glands, alternat-
ing with bifid or trifid appendices seated below the
germen ; stamens collected in a column, diverging ;
anthers fixed by their back, and two-celled ; styles
thrice divided, and reflexed ; fruit three-berried. This
genus has white flowers and is rather ornamental ;
they are free growers and increased by cuttings.

CLYTHRA (Laicharting). A very extensive
genus of coleopterous insects, belonging to the section
Tetramera, and family ChrysomelidcB, and distinguished
from Cryptoccphalus, to which it is nearest allied, by
its longer and more cylindric body, the shortness of
its antenna?, which are serrated along the inner margin
from the third or fourth joint to the tip. The head
is often very large in the males, with the jaws
stronger and more advanced in front, and the fore
legs longer than in the opposite sex. There are
about seventy species of this genus, described or
indicated in Dejean and other works; of these not
more than five are inhabitants of this country, in-
cluding the typical species Chrysomela quadripunctata,
Linnaeus, about five lines long, of a black colour, with
the elytra yellowish red, each having two black
spots. Its larva resides in a leather-like case,
which it drags about with it. That of Clytra longi-
mana lives in an oviform case, apparently of a calca-
reous or earthy substance, joined by a gummy cement,
and covered with red hairs, the origin of which
Huber, who first discovered them, could not account
for.

CLYTUS (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Tetramera, and
family CerambycidtE, and distinguished by its globose
thorax, and the shortness of its palpi, which are
terminated by a large nearly triangular joint. The
body is long and nearly cylindric. The antennae are
not so long as the body, differing in this respect from
the majority of the family. The species are of
moderate size, and are for the most part .elegantly
marked with bands of various contrasted colours ;
amongst them may be mentioned the wasp-beetle,
(Leptura ^trietis, Linnaeus), a very common British

species, found during the hot summer months in gar-
dens, hedges, woods, upon umbelliferous flowers, and
particularly upon the trunks of trees, within which
they have passed their preparatory states. This
species is generally nearly half an inch long, black,
with the thorax and elytra banded with gold colour
There are five or six other British species ; some
however, appear to have been imported from America
in timber, and found alive in this country.

CNETHOCAMPA (Stephens). A genus of
lepidopterous insects, belonging to the family JSom-
bycidcE, and nearly allied to Clisiocampa, from which
it differs in having longer wings, which are " slightly
reversed, obscurely diaphanous, antenna; short,
slightly curved, bipectinate in the males, serrated
in the females ; abdomen of the latter sex with
a woolly mass at the apex." But it is in the inter-
esting economy of the two remarkable species of
which the genus is composed, that the more striking
characters are to be found ; the first of these is the
Bombyx processioned, Linnaeus, a native of Europe,
although not yet ascertained to tie British. It is
about an inch and half in expanse, with the wings of
an ashy brown colour, those of the females having
an obscure band, and of the males with three dusky
streaks. It is to Reaumur that we are indebted for
an account of the curious economy of the larva1 of
this species, to which he gave the name of the pro-
cessionary. They are found congregated in societies
of six or eight hundred on the oaks, forming, when first
hatched, a temporary nest on the branches ; this they
abandon from time to time, forming a larger camp
until they have attained two thirds of their growth,
when they unite their labours and construct one
general nest, attached to the trunk of the tree, about
eighteen inches long, composed of a greyish silk,
resembling the bark on which it is attached, or rather
appearing at a distance like a mass of lichens, being
in shape like an irregular knob or protuberance, rising
from the surface of the tree not less than four inches ;
between the trunk of the tree and the silken cover-
j of the nest, an orifice is left which serves for
the egress of the inhabitants, which takes place in
the curious manner, whence the specific name has
originated : towards sunset, when the colony go in
search of food, with a regularity of the most asto-
nishing nature, a solitary caterpillar first appears at
the head of the procession, and by whose movements
;hose of his followers are regulated ; three or four
then follow in a line, one by one, the head of one
touching the tail of the preceding ; then follow an
equal series of pairs, next of threes, and so on as far
as twenty or thirty ; the order however is sometimes
varied, by the leader being followed by two, then
;hree, and so on. They remain amongst the leaves
eeding during the night, generally returning before
morning, although some may be occasionally found
during the day in masses, heaped one upon another
out of the nest. The larvae shed their skin several
imes, and in doing so, disengage the numerous short
lairs upon the surface of the body ; hence Reaumur
tells us, that ladies to whom he exhibited the nests
upon the oak, were shortly afterwards affected, their
necks, which had been bare, being covered with
troublesome tumours, occasioned by the hairs lodged
upon them by the wind. In like manner Reaumur
suffered severely for several days, from having
;ouched the caterpillars with his naked hands,
jeing ignorant of the cause, and having rubbed his
E2

68

COAL — COAT I.

eyes with his hands, he brought on a swelling of the
eyelids, so that he could scarcely open them.

It is in this large nest that the caterpillars undergo
their pupa state, and indeed become winged insects.

The other species, Bombyx pityocampa, feeds upon
pines and firs in the larva state, during which it is
less perfectly social than the preceding ; its proces-
sionary habits are nearly similar, but its powers of
annoyance are much greater. In this respect this
insect was known to the ancients, no less than two
enactments of the Roman senate prohibiting its use
under severe penalties (see BUPRESTID^E), being
accounted a deleterious poison, the hairs even occa-
sioning a very intense degree of pain, heat, fever, &c.
A single specimen of this insect is contained in the
British collection at the British Museum.

COAL. The origin of this bituminous substance
will be traced under the general article, GEOLOGY ;
and we purpose confining ourselves, in the present
place, to a concise view of the four principal species.
These are brown coal, black coal, cannel coal, and
glance coal.

Brown coal is imperfectly bituminous ; in all its
varieties it is fibrous, and in some of them its
•vegetable origin is so complete, that the remains
of trunks and branches of trees are almost perfect.
Brown coal burns with a weak flame and disagreea-
ble odour. It is found in alluvial strata, and in some
others of comparatively recent origin : it is subdivided
into four varieties, viz. bituminised wood, earthy
brown coal, compact brown coal, and moor coal.

Black, or slate coal, which is the foliated coal of
some mineralogists, is very bituminous, and is used
for economical purposes ; it includes several varieties.
It may, however, generally be said to be of a black
colour, having an iridescent tarnish, and a highly
resinous lustre.

Cannel coal is chiefly found at Wigan, in Lanca-
shire, but it is more or less abundant in most collieries.
It is very brittle, of a shining lustre, and burns
quickly, leaving only three or four parts in the one
hundred of ashes.

Glance coal is of a dark iron black, and has a
bright metallic lustre. It burns without smoke, and
emits no sulphureous or bituminous odour. It gene-
rally consists of comparatively pure carbon, with some
silica or alumina, and a small portion of oxide of iron.
There are three varieties of glance coal ; the con-
choidal, the columnar, and the slaty ; the last of which
is again subdivided into three varieties, anthracite,
Kilkenny coal, and Welsh culm.

Jet or pitch coal is generally of a velvet black; it
occurs massive, and sometimes in the shape of
branches, with a regular woody structure. It has
a brilliant resinous lustre. It is used as fuel, but the
finer and harder pieces are worked into trinkets, under
the name of jet.

What is called a " coal field," or district, or some-
times a " coal basin," may be regarded as a concavity,
varying greatly in extent from a few to many miles,
and containing numerous strata or seams of coal of vari-
ous degrees of thickness, alternating with sandstone and
clays, and soft slate or shale, containing impressions
of vegetables, and sometimes the remains of fresh
water shell-fish. The parallelism of these strata is
generally well preserved. The whole arrangement
is seldom any where quite horizontal, and never ver-
tical, but always more or less inclined. Beneath
each stratum of coal, there is often one of soft

clay, which rarely contains the organic remains
of the overlying shale ; and although the alternating
strata of coal be very numerous, it is seldom that
more than three or four will afford profitable occupa-
tion to the miner. The upper seam is commonly
broken and impure ; and few beds, less than two or
three feet in thickness, are followed down to any
great depth. The depth of the mines will of course
vary considerably, according to the inclination of the
strata, the time they have been worked, and other
circumstances. Our deepest mines are in the counties
of Durham and Northumberland, and the thickest
beds are found in Staffordshire.

COATI (nasua). A genus of carnivorous mam-
malia, belonging to the division Plantigrada, or those
which walk on the entire soles of the feet. They are
found only in America, and there are but two species,
the chief distinction of which is one of colour.

Their characters are : six incisive teeth in each
jaw, two canines and six grinders on each side. The
canines are of very peculiar form. They are not
conical in their section, as is the case with those of
other carnivorous animals, but flattened externally
and internally, with a slight ridge on the inner sur-
face, and trenchant anteriorly and posteriorly, so as
to bear some resemblance to the teeth of the sharks,
only they are not serrated in their trenchant edges,
as the teeth of sharks are, and they have true roots
inserted in alveoli, in the same manner as the teeth
of other mammalia. They have three false grinders,
the first one conical in both jaws, the two following
ones tuberculous, and resembling those of the bears ;
the most striking external character, however, is that
of the snout, on account of which they have obtained
the generic name of nasua " nosey." This member
is very much produced, extending fully an inch iu
advance of the incisors in the upper jaw, and being
furnished with powerful muscles, resembling those
that give motion to the snout of a pig. There is
considerable difference, however, between the use of
the elongated snout in the pig and the coati ; and
there is a corresponding difference in the organisation.
Both snouts are adapted for digging, or routing up
the ground, and perhaps, for the size of the animal,
the snout of the coati is, in this respect, the more
efficient instrument of the two. But the snout of the
pig is the organ which guides that animal to its
subterranean food, and accordingly the extremity of
it is remarkably well furnished with nerves, being in
fact the most "sensitive part of the animal, and pos-
sessing a delicate sense of what is called touch, as
well as of smell, which last does not appear to be
very acute in the pig family. The snout of the coati,
on the other hand, is destitute of nerves, at least in
the portion which projects beyond the upper inter-
maxillary bone; and thus the animal has perhaps
less feeling in this particular organ than in any other
soft part of its body. In its substance it resembles
not a little the cartilaginous pads which are found on
the feet of many animals, and which, being little
sentient themselves, are adapted and intended to
protect the more sentient parts from external injuries.
These pads are immoveable, being mere appendages
to the skin, and not provided with any peculiar
muscles ; but the snout of the coati is not only very
moveable, but the animal keeps it continually in
motion, even when it is not used for its proper pur-
pose of digging ; so that one would be led to think
that it does so, merely to prevent the snout from

COB.EA— COBALT.

stiffening for want of use. This is indeed simply a
digging nose, and does not appear to perform any
other function, at least in the lengthened part of it ;
and therefore it is not only a peculiarity in the
animal kingdom, but it is perhaps one of the best
foundations of generic distinction in the whole of
zoology.

Animals of this genus have five toes on all their
feet, the three intermediate ones being the longest,
and the thumb or inner one the shortest of the
whole. These feet are furnished with sharp and
crooked claws, which are not at all adapted for dig-
ging; and indeed, though the animal dwells in
burrows, it appears to excavate those burrows entirely
by the action of the nose, and it is probably the only
one of the mammalia which does so. The soles of
the feet are furnished with tubercles, one very large
One, answering to the three middle toes, very soft in
its substance, but rendered adhesive by having the
surface divided into smaller tubercles. The pupil of
the eye contracts in the daylight to a transverse line.
The ears are short and rounded ; the tongue is soft
and extensible like that of the bears, to which indeed
these animals have a very considerable resemblance
in their general character of being among the most
omnivorous of the sub-order. The body is very
long, as compared with the legs, which are not only
short in their absolute length, but appear still shorter
when the animal walks, in consequence of the whole
sole being applied to the ground. The tail is of the
same length as the body, of nearly equal thickness
throughout, and when the animal walks it is carried
recurved over the right in the same manner as in
many of the monkeys. The hair over the whole
body is thickly set, and of uniform length. The
head is much elongated, and bears no inconsiderable
resemblance to that of a fox, only the continual mo-
tion of the cartilaginous snout gives a very singular
expression to the animal.

These animals are chiefly found in the forests o
South America, where they assemble in small packs
and make their burrows or nestling places under the
roots of old trees. This habit is a necessary conse-
quence of the peculiar form of their digging instru-
ment; for as the snout necessarily digs by an upwar
motion, it is obvious that it cannot dig so as to leave
a firm roof, as is the case with those animals which
dig downward or laterally with the paws ; indeed, i
is quite evident that an upward digging animal couk
not possibly get under a roof of earth at all, unless
it were to burrow in the face of a perpendicular
bank, and these animals are found in the dry forests
nuher than by the margins of the waters. It is saic
that they often undermine the trees to such an extent
that when even a moderate wind comes, they are
overturned in great numbers; and thus the coatii
serve, to a very considerable extent, as foresters o
woodmen, in cutting down, or which comes to thi
same thing, uprooting those trees which have begun
to encumber the soil. They are by no means inexpert
as they climb, and pursue birds, and also rob nests in
the trees. Contrary to the general habit of climbing
mammalia, they descend the trunks of trees head
foremost, and they do this in consequence of a pecu
liar mode ^hich they have in reversing the hind fee
externally, and thus suspending their weight by thei
crooked claws. It is said that in a state of nature
there are many more males produced than females
and that the bachelor coatis live solitary in the woods

As their motion on the ground is very slow, and
s they are incapable of digging so as to bury them-
elves, they are easily taken, and they do not refuse
o live in a state of confinement, in which indeed
hey are very tame, and fond of being caressed,
hough they do not follow their masters, or show
nuch attachment in return. While feeding, they are
uspicious animals. They use their fore-paws as hands
n feeding, and also in dividing their food, so as to fit
t for being received into the mouth. They are very
estless and inquisitive in their manners, continually
moving about.

As already mentioned, there are only two species,
joth natives of South America; and it is doubtful
.vhether even these are any thing else but varieties
differently coloured, but the differences of colour is
very considerable. These two species are the red
and the brown.

The red Coati has all the parts of the body of a
jright red, with the exception of the muzzle, the ears,
the soles of the fore feet, and some spots or bands on
he tail, but the ridge of the back is darker than the
rest, and has a blackish tinge. The muzzle is greyish
black on the upper part, and grey on the sides ; and
there is a white spot surrounding each eye. The
covering is everywhere of very thick and rough hair,
which consists of two sorts. The colours appear to
be subject to considerable variations. The smell of
the animal is strong and offensive.

The brown Coati is still more variable in colour
than the red ; but its most constant character is
described as being two white lines, which extend
along the sides on the back of the muzzle, and meet
the circles which surround the eyes. The most de-
cided character, however, is described as being the
different number of mamma; in the females, the red
having five pairs, and the brown only three ; but it
does not appear from all the information which we
possess, that the number of young in the red is equal
to that of the mammae, as is the case with most of
the animals of South America. We are, however,
in a great measure ignorant of the manners of the
coatis.

COB^EA (Cavanille). A Mexican ornamental
climbing perennial, common in greenhouse collections.
Liunxan class and order Pcntaiidria Matio^yiiia, and
natural order Cobccacea;. Generic character : calyx
bell-shaped, five-cleft, peltate at the base and per-
sisting ; corolla bell-shaped, five-lobed, lobes three-
cleft; stamens declining, filaments twisted; stigma
three or five-cleft ; capsule inversely egg-shaped, from
three to five-celled, all the valves opening, seed imbri-
cated and margined. This plant having large purple
flowers, fine foliage, and a free grower, is a great
favourite, especially for hiding the columns in a con-
servatory, or covering the back wall of a greenhouse.
In the summer months it grows well in the open air,
and quickly forms a bower over any kind of trellis or
veranda, which it may be desirable to cover with
verdure and showy flowers. As it ripens seeds, new
plants are easily raised, or it may be increased by
cuttings in moist heat. The C. scandcns was formerly
included in liiqnoniacete, but now forms an order by
itself.

COBALT. This metal is rarely found pure in a
native state. The cobalt from Tunaberg in Sweden
is combined with sulphur ; in other cases it is mine-
ralised by arsenic ; and both of them much resemble
iron pyrites in form and colour. At one plu-. •

7U

C 0 B I T I S.

Hungary, cobalt occurs combined with sulphuric acid,
forming stalactites of a pale rose colour. The hexa-
hedral cobalt pyrites occurs principally in Norway
and Sweden. This may be considered as one of the
most common species of cobalt, and is that from
which the cobalt of commerce is principally obtained.
It is peculiarly distinguished by its silver-white colour,
great hardness, and weight. Octahedral cobalt pyrites
occurs in Cornwall, and in several parts of the conti-
nent of Europe.

This mineral derives its name from one of the
superstitions peculiar to the German miners, where it
was first found. The great mines in that country are
still supposed to be haunted by evil spirits, named
" Kobolden ;" and those minerals which had the appear-
ance of rich ores, but which in reality afforded nothing
valuable, were considered as the production of these
spirits, and were hence named Kobold. A large pro-
portion of the cobaltic ores, now so well known to
the scientific mineralogist, were thus, through the
ignorance of the miners, thrown away as useless,
under the name of kobold or cobalt.

COBITIS (Loche). A genus of soft-finned fishes,
with abdominal fins, belonging to the carp family, the
characters of which are : the head small, the body
elongated, the skin covered with small scales, and
having a copious mucous secretion ; the ventral fins
placed far backwards, and over them one small dor-
sal ; the mouth, at the end of the muzzle, small in the
opening, and toothless, but furnished with fibres, and
having the lips so formed as to serve for a sucker ;
the gill-openings very small, and furnished with three
rays only. The lower bone of the pharynx strongly
toothed ; they have no caeca, and their air bladder is
very small, adhering to the third and fourth vertebrae
of the spine. There are several species, three or four
of which are natives of the fresh waters of the more
temperate parts of Europe. They are very small
fishes, and of minor importance, though the flesh of
some of them is considered a delicacy. Only two of
this genus are mentioned by ordinary writers on
British fishes.

TIic Locke (C. barbatula), is found in some of
the clear running streams of the southern parts of
Britain. It is a small fish, only about four or five
inches long, and of a yellowish colour, clouded and
spotted with blackish-brown, and the under part
white. The mouth is very small, with a beard or
filament at each corner, and four in front of the
snout. It spawns early in the season, about the
month of April. Its flesh, though small in quantity,
is of a good flavour. This species lives only in run-
ning streams ; but still Frederick I. of Sweden, con-
trived to have it transported to that kingdom, to
serve as a bonne bouchc at his royal table.

The Groundling (C. tcenia) is rather smaller than
the common loche, and is distinguished from it by a
forked spine under each eye, which is moveable.
The ground colour of this species is orange, and the
spots black. It is not known in so many parts of
England as the other, probably because it is in no
estimation for the table. It inhabits running waters,
and is found lurking among stones.

The pond Loche (C. fossilu). This is a much larger
species, attaining sometimes the length of about a
foot. This species inhabits still waters, such as ponds
and ditches, in the sludge and mud at the bottom of
which it buries itself to a considerable depth, and
will continue to live there for a long time, when the

water is frozen, or when it is dried up. This specie*
has two cirrhi or barbules at the mouth. It is long
and slender, and beautifully striped across with brown
and yellow. Its flesh is not only in small quantity,
but of indifferent quality, soft and of a disagreeable
smell ; but the fish is, notwithstanding, often kept in
glasses as a matter of curiosity.

The beauty of its colours, and the liveliness of its
motions, form part of its attractions ; but not the
only, or, indeed, the principal ones. It is exceedingly
sensitive to changes of the atmosphere, and therefore
it serves as a sort of barometer, or rather " weather
wiser." We might refer this property of it, from the
habit which it has of burying itself in the mud, as the
same habit is attended by similar sensitiveness in
leeches and several other creatures. It seems indeed
to be a pretty general law of nature, that animals
which live in the mud at the bottom of waters are
much more delicate to atmospheric impressions than
those which inhabit nearer at top. Of this we have
a remarkable instance in the common eels, which,
even in the warmest parts of England, descend the
rivers, and bury themselves in the mud and sludge
of the estuaries, during the winter months, while
many of those fishes which inhabit much nearer the
surface, actually ascend the rivers at the same season.
There is no doubt something physiological in this
habit of eels, and that they seek the high temperature
of the top of the brackish water, in order to bring
forward their spawn ; but still, as this act is purely
instinctive, and not the result of any speculation or
design in the eels themselves, it must be dependent
on natural causes, and the only cause to which we
can assign it, is the influence of atmospheric change
upon their bodies.

The pond loche appears to be more susceptible
than even the eel. When the weather is boisterous
they come to the surface, and seem to partake of the
turmoil of the atmosphere, by driving about with
great rapidity ; and from the lightness of their make,
and the liveliness of their motions, their appearance
is very interesting. On the other hand when the
weather is cold and sullen, they sink down to the
bottom of the glass, and remain in a state of complete
repose. It has been said, and alleged and proved
by positive experiment, that these fishes are in the
constant habit of swallowing air, which they discharge
from the vent, converted into carbonic acid gas.
This allegation is so contrary to the general habits
of fishes, who do not even breathe free air, and so
different from the habits of all animals in the fact of
discharging carbonic acid from the bowels, that it
would require to be established by very nice and
very frequently repeated experiments.

Three-bearded Locke (C. tricirrhatd). This species
has been found in the running brooks about Rouen,
about the time of the vernal equinox, with the milt
and roe in a state of great forwardness. It is reddish-
brown on the upper part, with small spots of a darker
colour ; and the under part, together with all the fins
except the dorsal and the caudal, are clear straw-
colour ; these two fins are blackish.

Several species of loche are mentioned as inhabiting
the brooks and tanks of India ; and there is little
doubt that there are many species yet to be disco-
vered in various parts of the world. It appears, from
the remains of fish imbedded in the earth in a fossil
state, that this genus was very abundant in former
times ; for even the species with which we are at

COBURGHIA— COCCINELLID.E.

71

present acquainted, as living inhabitants of the fresh
waters, are found imbedded in the earth, though
only, we believe, in fresh water formations. Indeed
from the habit which these fishes have of burying
themselves in the mud, we might easily conclude that
small and feeble as they are, they are much more
likely to be preserved in the soil, than more powerful
fishes, v hich have no such habit ; for we have only
to suppose that the return of the water to their tem-
porarily dry haunts is accompanied, as it often must
be, with a mass of stones and gravel of considerable
thickness, in order to see how they must frequently
be buried in the earth to such a depth, as to be
equally beyond the power of escape, and the chance
of decomposition. By attending to the habits of
those animals, which are found both in a living and
a fossil state, we are often enabled to make the past
and the present history of the animal kingdom throw
light upon each other.

COBURGHIA (Sweet). A hexandrious bulbous
plant introduced from South America, which was first
called Pancratium incarnatum by Kunth, but described
and figured in Sweet's Flower Garden, and re-named
by the author in honour of Prince Coburg, now king
of Belgium.

COCCID./E (Leach ; Gallinsecta, Latreille ; genus
Coccus, Linnaeus). A family placed by Latreille in
the order Hemiptera, and sub-order Homoptem, but
considered by De Geer and some of the most recent
French entomologists as forming the type of a distinct
and very anomalous order. The species of this
family, which are generally called scale insects, are
of small size, having, in the winged individuals, short
legs, with only two joints to the tarsi, end a single
hook at the extremity of each. The male is destitute
of a mouth, but is furnished with two large wings and
a pair of small appendages behind the wings, resem-
bling the poisers of the diptera ; the abdomen also in
this sex is terminated by two or more slender fila-
ments. The antennae are moderately long and filiform,
the number of joints not exceeding eleven. The
females on the contrary, in their perfect state, are
amongst the least perfectly organised of insects, ap-
pearing only as an inert scale-like mass, destitute of
legs or antennae, and affixed to the bark of various
trees and plants, which consequently appears, from
the number of individuals collected together, to be
covered by a vast number of galls of an oval or
rounded form ; these are, however, female cocci
affixed to the plant. In their early stages, however,
these insects are smaller and more active, having
much the appearance of tiny red tortoises, and feed-
ing like their parents upon the stems or leaves, which
they pierce by means of a long and sharp rostrum,
which goes to the very centre of the shoot, causing
the sap to flow in abundance, or bleeding the plants
as it is termed, and by which means great injury is
done, especially to the vines, which are liable to be
much infested v«ith them, and which are thereby
sometimes rendered barren. In this state they con-
tinue growing in size for some time, but the period
soon arrives when the sexes undergo a very singular
difference in their transformations. All the insects
now affix themselves to the surface of the plants or
stems, the little activity which they had previously
possessed entirely ceasing. The males discontinue
to increase in size, and if one of them be opened
carefully, a small and elegant chrysalis will be found
within the old skin of the larva ; the females, how-

ever, continue to increase in size until they are many
times larger than the other sex, the margins of the
body being glued down to the plant, the body being
by degrees distended by a very great number of eggs
until nothing more than the upper and under skins of
the insect remains. Soon afterwards the male fly, of
a very elegant form makes his appearance, and being
unprovided with any means of taking food is adapted
only for continuing the species. Alter impregnation
the female commences the deposition of her bag of
eggs, but the mode in which this is performed is quite
unlike what takes place in other insects ; immediately
beneath her body is a layer of white gummy matter,
in the midst of which the eggs are deposited, and
which prevents them from sticking to the rind of the
bark, so that they are pushed by degrees beneath the
body, which at last becomes nothing more than a thin
covering composed of the upper and under pellicles,
under which are now to be found the eggs which
had before been between them. The female then
dies, and the young ones when hatched make their
way from beneath this scaly covering, again to
perform a like succession of ravages. These insects
are often so injurious that various plans have been,
resorted to for destroying them, such as scraping
the bark, washing it with soap and water, or a decoc-
tion of bitter aloes, &c.

Some of the species of this family are highly prized
for the fine red dye which they afford, amongst these
the most valuable is the cochineal insect (Coccus cacti
of Linnaeus), an inhabitant of Mexico, where it ia
cultivated upon a species of opuntia. In our botanical
article CACTE^E is given an account of its habits, &c.
In the last part of the Annals of the Entomological
Society of Paris, we find it stated, that the French
colonists of Algiers have undertaken the cultivation
of the cochineal with great success. There have
been three generations of the insect in the course
of a year and a half, and in a very short period
1000 square feet of cactus will be inhabited by this
precious insect, so that it may be fairly said to
be acclimated in that colony as we find Algiers
now termed. Another species, Coccus adonidum, is
very abundant in our hot-houses, where it does
much injury to the vines ; it deposits its eggs in an
envelope of white cottony matter. Dr. Kidd has
published an interesting account of it in the Entomo-
logical Magazine, vol. ii. We have already, in our
article CHEHMES, given a notice of the distribution of
this genus, and shall therefore only here mention, in
addition, that various other genera have recently
been proposed by M. Gene, in the Fauna del Regno
di Napoli ; and that in the curious allied British
genus Darthesia, the female does not lose the power
of locomotion, the male having the abdomen termi-
nated with numerous long and very delicate white
hairs.

COCCINELLIDjE (Latreille). A family of
coleopterous insects belonging to the section Trimera,
and including the insects familiarly called lady-birds,
lady-cows, &c. The body is nearly hemispherical,
the thorax short, transverse, somewhat lunate, the
antennae are very short, and terminated by a com-
pressed inarticulate club, the terminal joint of the
palpi is large and hatchet-shaped, and the tarsi are
composed of only three joints, of which the second is
deeply cleft. This family corresponds with the Lin
ncean genus Coccinella, and comprises an extensive
series of small but pretty insects, having the body

72

COCCOLOBA— COCHLEARIA.

ornamented with spots and marks of various colours,
amongst which black, yellow, and red are most con-
spicuous. They appear early in the spring, and are
amongst the earliest of our youthful recollections ;
they creep but slowly, although they fly well, and are
found upon various plants, especially those infested
with aphides ; hence the injury done by the latter
insects has by ignorant persons been attributed to the
coccinella, whereas so far is this from being the case,
that the last-mentioned insects feed, on the contrary,
upon the aphides both in the larva and perfect state,
and never (ouch the vegetables infested. The eggs
are laid in patches on various kinds of leaves in the
midst of the aphides, and are of a bright yellow colour.
The larvae when hatched are accordingly in the midst
of their food. They are -very active, provided with
six legs. The body is depressed and elongated, gra-
dually narrowed behind to a point, and furnished at
the extremity with a fleshy tubercle which is employed
as a seventh leg, and by which on assuming the pupa
state they attach themselves, with the aid of a gluti-
nous secretion, to the under side of leaves, where
their skin by degrees wrinkles up, the body of the
pupa being much shorter than that of the larva. The
imago is produced in about twelve or fifteen days.
There are several broods in the course of a year ; the
service which these insects render to the agriculturist
must be very great when the vast myriads of coccinellae,
which are occasionally noticed, are taken into con-
sideration. In the " Introduction to Entomology," we
find various statements relative to their appearing, in
certain seasons, in immense profusion, especially upon
the sea coast, to the no small alarm of the superstitious,
by whom they were regarded as forerunners of some
direful evil, and who were, of course, ignorant that
these little visiters were emigrants from some neigh-
bouring hop-ground, where each had slain his thousands
and tens of thousands of the aphides, which, under
the name of the fly, so often blasts the hopes of the
hop-grower. In France they are regarded as sacred
to the Virgin, and are accordingly called Betes de la
Vicrge ; Vachcs a Dicu, &c. Even the hop-growers
are beginning to be sensible of their services, and
hire boys to prevent birds from destroying them. It
may also be mentioned that it is an easy thing to
clear a favourite plant from the destructive aphides
by placing upon it several larvae of the lady-cows, or
of some of the aphidivorous flies, which may constantly
be found in the midst of the plant-lice upon other
neighbouring plants. When these insects are touched
they immediately fold up their legs, and emit from
the joints a yellow mucilaginous fluid of a very
disagreeable odour, and which in the common seven-
spotted lady-bird, C, septem-punctata, has been con-
sidered as a remedy for the toothach. The variations
in colour exhibited by some of the individuals of the
same species is very striking, and has caused great
confusion in the systematic description of these insects,
varieties having been regarded as species, and vice
versa; moreover, individuals of different colours are
found coupled together, but the result of this kind of
union has not been observed.

The genera belonging to this family are Chilocorus,
Coccinella, Splusrosoma, Scymnus, Rhyzobius, and Caci-
cula, all of which are British. Latreille likewise adds,
in the Regne Animal, two other genera, Lithophilus,
which is nearly allied to Triplax, and Clypeaster, which
is more naturally placed by Mr. Stephens with Pha-
lacrus, &c.

The genus coccinella is distinguished by having
the elytra smooth, without rows of punctures, and
destitute of pubescence, and the thorax is angulated
behind. There are about thirty species of this genus,
varying in length from one-third to one-eighth of an
inch, nearly all of which are subject to a very great
variation in colouring. The type of the genus, and
one of the largest and commonest species, is the
C. septertt-punctata of Linna3us, mentioned above, and is
of a red colour, the elytra having seven circular black
spots.

COCCOLOBA (Linnaeus). A genus of fruit,
timber, and ornamental West-India trees, belonging
to the eighth class and third order of the sexual sys-
tem, and to the natural order Polygoni-ee. Generic
character: calyx five-parted, persisting, and at last
becoming thick ; corolla none ; filaments awl-shaped -r
anthers twined ; style spreading, nut one seeded ;
berry included in the persisting calyx. Most of these
plants have very large leaves ; one of them, C. sativa,
is called the sea-side grape, because it yields eatable
fruit. Some of them grow well in our stoves and are
increased by cuttings.

COCCULUS (Boschin). A genus of East-Indian
climbers belonging to Hexandria Trigynia, and to the
natural order Menispermaceee. Generic character :
calyx of from three to six bractea-likc sepals ; corolla
of three or six petals ; nectarium of six scales ; sta-
mens opposite the petals ; filaments awl-shaped ;
anthers two-celled. Fruit drupaceous one-seeded
berries. The C. indicus is a well-known drug, and
forms a considerable article of commerce, and for one
purpose or other is used in great quantities in this
country. Its hot acrid quality is useful in medicine ;
and it is said that it is also used by the compounders
of stimulating liquors. Several of the species are kept
in our hothouses, and propagated by cuttings.

COCHINEAL FIG is the Opuntia cochinillifera
of Haworth. It is an icosandrious plant, and belongs
to the natural order OpuntiacctB. This opuntia is a
native of South America, and the plant on which the
coccus insect is found, and when collected and dried,
forms the famous cochineal dye. For this purpose it
is extensively cultivated in its native country, and
has been carried to other parts with a view to the
introduction of the insect also, but with only partial
success. The plant is easily transported, as we have
already had occasion to state. It grows well in our
greenhouses, and no plant is easier propagated, as every
joint of the stem will strike root if kept in dry earth.

COCHLEARIA (Tournefort) is the scurvy grass
of English herbalists. It belongs to Teiradyiutmia,
and to the natural order Cruciferee. The C. armoracia,
or horse-radish, is a well-known and extensively culti-
vated condiment in cookery, and is perhaps as profit-
able a crop as can be grown by the market gardener.
A piece of ground judiciously planted with horse-
radish yields in the third and fourth year afterwards
a vast number of marketable roots.

As the under-ground stem is the only useful part
of the plant, the object of the cultivator is to have
this as large and long as possible. The most com-
mon and successful method is trench planting, and
which is performed in the following manner: the
ground to be planted is divided into parallels, marked
by the line and spade, two feet wide each. The
earth of the first trench is dug out and thrown or
harrowed to the opposite side to fill up the last. The
sides of the trench should be worked upright, and to

COCHLEOCTONUS— COCOON.

73

the depth of full sixteen inches. The bottom should
be broken up either with spade, fork, or mattock.
On tliis, when duly levelled, two rows of set* are to
be placed six inches from each side of the trench,
which will leave a twelve-inch space between the
rows. The sets may be put six or eight inches apart
in the rows, and when the first trench is thus planted,
it is filled with the earth from the second, breaking it
well as it is thrown on the sets. The second trench
being thus opened, the bottom stirred, and planted
similar to the first, is filled with the earth from the
third, and so on to the end.

The sets are inch-pieces of old roots. Some writers
advise the crowns only to be chosen ; these are cer-
tainly to be preferred, but any sound part of the root,
whether great or small, will do for sets. From each
set a single shoot is produced, and which after two
or three years' growth is fit for use. As the shoots
rise in rows one foot apart, they should be carefully
taken up one after another, beginning at the first. In
doing this it is usual to replant the vacant ground as
the digging up proceeds, so that the plantation may
be kept constantly furnished and productive ; for as
the spot chosen for the growth of horse-radish in
private gardens is always some bye corner of the
garden or orchard, it is seldom necessary to change
its place.

Horse-radish may also be planted by a dibber of
sufficient size and length, after the ground is trenched.
The holes are made by line, and the sets dropped in,
pressed to the bottom, and covered with fine sifted
earth. Another mode of culture is by planting crowns
or sets in shallow trenches, and earthing up the plants
by covering them over eight inches deep in the win-
ters of the second and third years ; by this plan very
large stems are obtained. There is yet another
simpler method sometimes practised. The sets are
dibbed on the surface of prepared ground ; these
produce a strong descending root, which in the second
or third year is large enough for use.

Horse-radish seldom produces perfect seeds, because
the principal energy of the plant is directed to enlarge
tlie root, it being a law of vegetation that when seeds
are produced plentifully the root is diminutive, and
vice versa. Planting may be done any time during
winter or spring ; and as the leaves do not appear till
near midsummer from deep planted sets of new plan-
tations, it is usual to take a spring crop of radish,
lettuce, or spinach, off the ground before the horse-
radish comes up.

COCHLEOCTONUS (Meilzinsky). A genus
of coleopterous insects, belonging to the section
Pentamera, nearly allied Jo the glow-worm family
Lampyrida:, and established for the reception of the
large wingless and unwieldy females of the long pre-
viously established genus DRILUS, which see.

COCHLOSPERMUM (Kunth). A genus of
lofty trees found in Mexico and India. Linnaean
class and order Monadclphia Polyandria, and natural
order Tcrnstrccmiaccae. Generic character: calyx
first in five parts, afterwards very much divided;
stamens inserted in the receptacle ; seed-vessel a
utriculus, containing one seed. These trees were
considered by Linnaeus and Willdenow to belong to
the genus Bombax, from the East Indian one pro-
ducing a substance like cotton, hence it received the
specific name of Gossipium.

COCKCHAFFER. A common insect, bein
the Scarabacus melolontha of Linnaeus, or the Mc-

lolontha vulgaris of modern authors. See MELO-

LONTHID^E.

COCKROACH. A well-known domestic, dis-
gusting insect, systematically distinguished under the
name of Blatta orientalis. Full details of its habits
will be found under the article BLATTIDA:.

COCKS'-FOOT GRASS of agriculturists is the
Dactylis glorneratus of Linnaeus. It is a strong-grow-
ing British grass, and is always chosen as one of those
to be sown in forming permanent pastures. It is
next to the rye-grass for earliness, and having strong
roots, produces a thick tuft of succulent leaves, very
suitable for early lambs.

COCKSPUR THORN is the Cratcegus cnugaUi
of Linnaeus. It is a North American plant, and has
long been cultivated in this country as a shrubbery
ornament. There are four or five varieties ii- nurse-
ries, and, like all the genus, admired for their snowy
blossoms in May. They are mostly propagated in
this country by grafting on the common whitethorn.

COCOON. The envelope of silken or other
materials, formed by the larvae of many insects, im-
mediately previous to their assuming the pupa or
chrysalis state. Perhaps in no department of our
knowledge of the lower tribes of animals, is there so
much skill, or so much of that faculty which we term
instinct displayed, as in the proceedings which cha-
racterise the formation of these envelopes. All
larvre, however, do not make these coverings, the
cause of which is at once obvious ; the pupa of the
grasshopper or cockroach, dragon-fly or cimex, is an
active animal, continuing to enjoy all the habits of
the larva?, and consequently not needing any other
defence than it possessed in its former state, but in
other insects the case is entirely different ; the pupa
state being one of inactivity and total helplessness,
and in which the insect is consequently subject to
the attacks of any stray bird or mouse, or not less
voracious insect, which would feast with as much
avidity upon the soft and creamy substance of the
newly formed chrysalis, as the Romans did upon the
cossus, which was a large insect in the earlier stage,
and which is considered to have been the larva of
the goat moth (Cossus tigmperda). Hence the neces-
sity, not only for retreat to some quiet and unobserved
corner or hole, but also for a covering for more com-
plete concealment and defence. At this time many larvae
accordingly make their way several inches deep into
the earth. Here, or concealed under leaves, moss,
or other like matter, many insects become pupae, with
the mere precaution of fastening the substances which
conceal them together with a glutinous secretion from
the mouth ; but others are far more careful, forming
for themselves an entire covering, composed either
of silk spun from their own mouths, or of silk united
with the adjacent materials. Some few larvae, how-
ever, as those of the ant-lion (Myrmclcon), and the
lace-winged aphidivorous flies (Hemerobiiis), have the
spinning apparatus placed at the extremity of the
body.

Some cocoons are formed simply of a few threads,
spun into an open work case, which permits the in-
closed insect to be plainly perceived through the
meshes ; this is the case with the gipsy and satin
moths (Hypogymna dispar and Leucoma salicis), &c.
Such is also the case with the cocoons of some of the
weevils and chrysomelidous beetles. The cream
spotted tiger-rnoth (Arctia villica, see vol. i. p. 550),
is more careful, forming a much closer cocoon, but

74

COCOON.

which, nevertheless, permits the inclosed chrysalis to
be seen through the small meshes. This cocoon is
moreover defended, by being formed in the middle
of a bunch of leaves ; and here it is interesting to
notice, that those caterpillars which are furnished
with a short supply of silk, are nevertheless very
anxious to conceal their slight cocoon in the
most effectual manner, by attaching together with
silken cords the adjacent leaves ; sometimes two or
three being drawn together, so as to meet at the
edges, and sometimes a single leaf being pulled out of
its natural position, so as to form a complete covering
to the cocoon. Sometimes, moreover, several cater-
pillars unite together, so as by their combined strength
to secure several leaves more firmly together, within
which they then, in company, undergo their transfor-
mations. Even many caterpillars, which spin a very
compact cocoon, resort to the same kind of manoeuvre,
rather, we should presume, as a means of support than
of defence. Other curious means are adopted by some
larvae, for the purpose of rendering their slightly
formed cocoons more opaque ; thus by some a kind of
paste-like matter is secreted from the anus, which,
being applied by the head upon the entire inner sur-
face of the cocoon, hardens and forms a powder,
which completely answers the intended purpose ; it
is probably a similar secretion which gives to the
chrysalides of the Catocalce the fine purple bloom,
which we have mentioned in our account of that
genus. Others^ again, as the caterpillars of the gar-
den tiger moths, rub off the hairs from their bodies,
with which they are so plentifully supplied, that they
have obtained the ordinary names of woolly bears,
and spin them into the substance of the cocoon in a
very ingenious manner, so as not to permit the ends
of the hairs to stand upright in the inside of the
case, which would, of course, fret the newly disclosed
chrysalis.

The more perfectly constructed cocoons, however,
such, for instance, as that of the silk-worm, consist
apparently of two distinct portions, externally a loose
gauze-like covering, and internally a closely woven
and compact ball of an oval form. As the insect
works from the out to the inside of its case, the
former is of course first spun, but the whole is formed
of a single thread, disposed in two different ways ;
and here may be noticed the interesting circumstance,
that although the threads of these cocoons are fas-
tened together with gum, they are yet so slightly
adherent, that they may be easily unwound ; if their
union were more perfect it would be impossible to
divide the thread, which is as easily unwound as that
of a ball of cotton, but it is one of the essential quali-
ties of the gummy matter with which the thread is
coated, that it dries very quickly, so that no sooner
is it emitted from the spinnerets, than it is almost dry,
before it reaches the layer of threads upon which it
is about to be placed. According to Malpighi, six
distinct layers of silk are distinguishable in the cocoon
of the silk-worm, but Reaumur suspects there is often
a greater number ; be this however as it may, a single
thread may be unwound from it more than a thousand
feet long.

Many interesting instances of the manufacture of
rarious kind of cocoons, not only composed of silk,
but also of silk and other materials, as leaves, moss,
earth, &c., are detailed by Reaumur and De Geer,
and which are introduced into the " Introduction to
Entomology.' and the " Insect Architecture." We

trust, therefore, that our readers will feel more
interested in the two following instances, to which,
together with the account of the proceedings of the
Sombyx Promethea (see vol. i. j). 748), we shall
confine our notice of this branch of the subject, pre-
mising only, that much remains to be discovered, and
that a wide field of interesting inquiry is open, for
the investigation of those who prefer looking at the
workings of nature, to the mere getting together of a
collection of specimens.

The first of these instances is recorded by Lyonnet
in his posthumous researches lately published, and re-
lates to the Tinea scqueUa of Fabrichis, a very small
moth, having the upper wings of a white satiny ground,
from the base to the middle, with darker markings
formed of small scattered black dots. Its caterpillar
is extremely small, not exceeding one-sixth of an inch
in length, and is found on the under-side of oak leaves.
Lyonnet, who had observed the proceedings of many
caterpillars in forming their cocoons, nevertheless
says of this, that it "emploie une addresse incon-
cevable" in forming its case, which is of a white
colour, and of a long oval form, having its upper
surface ornamented with seven upright ridges. Unlike
most cocoons, however, it is applied along the under
side to the leaf upon which it is placed, so that it
forms only an arc of a circle. The first step taken
by the larva is to erect about a score of small upright
silken palisades, arranged in an oval position all
round its body ; these are in no ways employed in
the construction of the cocoon itself, and seem only
to be erected to defend the larva whilst working.
Near to one end of this inclosure, the larva now
commences its cocoon in the manner represented in
the following figure.

,l>LLLLLk

L- ^ttlSfSsc H^fei^S^^. I

The mode in which the ridges of this cocoon are
formed with perfect regularity, is indeed inconceiv-
able. Some idea may however be obtained of it from
the twa following figures.

Here M, i, E, represent three longitudinal ridget,
and MI, IE, the intermediate space; the caterpillar
commencing at E, extends a thread to H, from H to i
forming an angle, from i it then proceeds to K, and
from K to H, forming another acute angle, and then
from H to T, and T to i, forming another obtuse
angle. It then proceeds in the same manner from I

coc

to M, as it had from E to i, and in this manner pro-
ceeds until it has nearly formed half its case, when
turning round, it begins at the other end, and at
length unites the two halves together, " thus inclosing
itself," as Lyonnet says, "en une jolie cage" of net-
work, which occupies only half an hour in the con-
struction, but which is subsequently rendered much
more firm by a strong layer of silk within.

The other instance which we propose to notice, is
that of another small moth (Microsetia ruficapitelln),
the larva of which forms the curious lines of a brown
colour, often to be noticed upon rose leaves, by eating
away the internal fleshy part of the leaf, leaving the two
surfaces entire. When full grown it eats its way out
of the leaf, and crawls down the branches and stem,
until it has found a convenient place to fix its cocoon,
which is formed by stretching out its body, and
attaching a thread to the branch ; it then crosses its
body to the other side, and there fastens it. By
proceeding thus on all sides, keeping the hinder part
of the body fixed, it forms the upper part of the
cocoon, or that exposed to the weather, which is
convex, and generally circular; the under part is
oblong-shaped to hold the pupa, and much smaller
than the upper, which projects considerably beyond
it on all sides, so as to form a defence against the
rain, somewhat after the fashion of a parasol. At
one end the threads are not interwoven, and leave a
space through which the pupa can force a passage.
This remarkable cocoon is very flat, and at first of a
pure white, but soon assumes a dark colour. It is
formed towards the end of October, and the moth
appears in the middle of the following May. It is
an elegant little creature, the upper wings being gold
coloured, with the extremity purple, and the head
red. The expansion of the wings is nearly a quarter
of an inch. E. W. Lewis in Entom. Mag., vol. i.

COC OS (Linnaeus). A genus of palms, and cer-
tainly the most useful of all of them to the inhabitants
of the countries where the trees naturally grow.
Linnaean class and order Monaecia Hexandria, and
natural order Palmcc. Generic character : flowers
androgynous, that is, male and female are on the same
plant ; calyx of three sepals ; corolla of three petals ;
stigmas sitting ; drupe fibrous, shell with three pores
at the base ; kernel equal in thickness, and hollow ;
embryo within the pores at the base.

This magnificent tree gives a peculiar character to
the scenery of the country to which it is indigenous.
The vast number of the trefcs crowded together, the
height and equal diameter of their branchless stems,
the spreading tuft of fronds which crown the head
like an immense umbrella, together with the bunches
of fruit suspended from among the footstalks of the
fronds, forms altogether a spectacle the most imposing.
The coast of the beautiful island of Ceylon, and that
of Coromandel from Cape Comorin to Balasore at
the mouth of the Ganges, is embellished with groves
of cocoa-nut trees at shorter or longer distances from
each other. To the voyager along these shores, the
tree under notice is certainly the most prominent
feature, and when he lands and enters a grove of
them he feels astonished at their numbers and height.

The tree serves many purposes of the inhabitants.
The regular form of the stem makes it easily convert-
ible to the purposes of building, fencing, or the like ;
and though the grain is exceedingly porous and
coarse, the wood is notwithstanding very durable.
The leaves or fronds make excellent thatch for their

OS. 75

huts ; the outer covering- of the nnt, after being
macerated or soaked in water long enough to dissolve
the pulpy cellular matter, leaves the mass of fibres,
after some further preparation, fit for spinning into
cordage, coarse wrappers for packing, and many other
purposes. The shells are easily manufactured into
various sorts of cups, &c., and converted into button-
moulds, for which last purpose the substance is suit-
able, except that it discharges a brown colour when
used on white or light coloured garments. When
the nut is quite ripe, by opening one or two of the
bottom pores, a fine pleasant flavoured fluid issues
which is called " milk," and when the nut is split, a
part not so fluid as the milk, nor so solid as the
kernel, and easily scraped off with a spoon, is called
the "cream," accounted a delicacy. Next follows
the kernel, serving for more substantial food, and
which many partake of as diet.

But the principal use of the tree to the inhabitants
of India is the refreshing beverage drawn from it. and
after fermentation drank under the name of " toddy.1'
To obtain this, a part or the whole of the raceme of
fruit is sacrificed. Soon after the fructification appears
and begins to bend downwards below the fronds, the
point is cut off, and to the stump is slung a pitcher-
like vessel to receive the flow of sap from the wound.
When one vessel is full it is replaced by an empty
one, and this is continued so long as the sap flows
freely. The place where this drink is manufactured
is called by the English " a Toddy Tap," and where
any one may be supplied with a draught on very low
terms. The labourers who attend the bleeding of the
trees have perhaps a score or two under the operation
at the same time, so that considerable quantities are
got together in a large vessel to be fermented at
once.

This drink is most suitable for labourers and tra-
vellers in such a warm climate, for while it allays
thirst it does not inebriate, a circumstance of no small
advantage to the tippler, as almost all are inclined to
be in that thirsty land. But here the art of the dis-
tiller is brought into action : an ardent spirit may be
drawn from the toddy, which serves for other and far
less sanatory purposes than merely quenching thirst.

Another valuable extract is procured from the
cocoa-nut, namely, an useful oil, which is manufactured
and sold at a reasonable price. The Cingalese, it is
said, have a mode of extracting some nutritious mat-
ter resembling sago from the heart of the stems, but
the process has not as yet been clearly detailed.

The cocoa-nut has the property of keeping sound
for a long period ; it has consequently been readily
transmitted to every clime where it has a chance of
succeeding. Already the West Indies and other
warm parts of America possess the cocoa-nut in
abundance, and from thence and other places Europe
is supplied with the nuts in great plenty. It may
here be asked, how do the almost naked natives
manage to climb those lofty and branchless trees so
readily? This is a very simple though expert ma-
noeuvre. The climber first binds his ankles together
with a soft bandage, the toes turned outwards, so that
the hollow of each foot may cling to the circular sur-
face of the tree. His head and upper part of his
body is raised through a strong collar of rope which
surrounds both the body of the tree and that of the
man. This collar is rather slack and held on each
side by the hands, the body being sustained by that
part of the rope which passes round the climbers

76 CCELIOXYS-

loins. The first movement is leaning back on the
collar and lifting the feet one step upwards, next by
a sudden spring of the body towards the tree he jerks
up with his hands at the same instant that part of the
collar on the opposite side of the stem, by which he
gains a higher hold. These alternate movements
enables the climber to raise himself to the height
of forty or fifty feet or more in a few minutes. The
empty vessel which is slung at his back while he
ascends is exchanged for the full one at top, and the
last brought down to be emptied. The climber de-
scends by reversing the movements he employed in
ascending with considerable celerity and in perfect
security. Without this mode of climbing it would be
impossible to get either toddv or the nuts when
wanted, applying ladders to such lofty trees is totally
out of the question, for they could not be used in such
woods.

The cocoa-nut plant is raised from the nut and
kept in hothouses, but requiring much room are in-
convenient in such collections.

CCELIOXYS (LatreilleV A germs of hymenop-
terous insects, belonging the division Aculeata, sub-
division Mellifera, and family of the bees, having the
scutellum bidentate, the wings with only two complete
sub-marginal cells, and the body destitute of pollini-
gerous organs ; the abdomen, moreover, is of a conical
shape (whence the derivation from the Greek of the
generic name) ; in the males, also the extremity of this
part of the body is toothed, and in the females it is
cleft and gaping. From the want of organs for col-
lecting pollen, these insects are evidently parasitic ;
indeed the Count St. Fargeau states, that it is chiefly
in the nests of several of the woolly-bellied bees,
Megachile, Anthidium, Osmia, &c., that, cuckoo-like,
they lay their eggs. The genus, although containing
not more than a dozen species, is distributed over the
different parts of the world. They are often to be
found on flowers. There are three or four British
species, including the type, Apis conica of Linnaeus,
the female of which differs so much from the male,
that it was considered by that author, as well as
Fabricius, as a distinct species. It is of a black
colour, with the abdominal segments margined with
white.

CCELOGYNE (Lindley). An orchideous genus
from the East Indies. Linnaean class and order
Gynandna Monandria; and natural order Orchidece.
Generic character : sepals distinct, spreading, the
exterior ones oblongly egg-shaped, interior linear ;
labellum hollow, three-lobed, fringed, double crested,
and articulated with the column ; column kneed and
winged ; stigma two-lipped. This, like its congeners,
has curious flowers, grows well in loose turfy moor
earth, and does better in a frame or pit than in a
house. It may be increased by division of the root.

COFFEA (Linnams), is the tree which yields the
fruit, of which the favourite beverage, coffee, is made.
Linnaean class and order Pentandna Monogynia;
natural order Rubiacece. Generic character : calyx
small and five-toothed ; corolla funnel-shaped ; throat
naked ; stamens protruding ; stigma divided ; berry
two-seeded. This celebrated plant is named from a
place where it grows spontaneously, namely, near the
town of Caffa, in Arabia. It is now extensively
cultivated in many of the European colonies, both
in the East and West Indies; and indeed in
every climate suitable to its growth. The tree is
middle sized, of a light regularly branched habit,

COLEOPTERA.

and formal outline. The berries are collected by
hand, dried, and manufactured till fit for use. The
coffee plant thrives well in our stoves, and if allowed
plenty of pot-room and water, with the necessary
temperature, flowers and fruits abundantly. It is
increased by cuttings, which, according to Mr. Sweet,
come into flower sooner than seedlings.

COLCH1CUM (Linnaeus), is the meadow saffron
of English writers. It belongs to the sixth class and
third order of the sexual system, and to the natural
order Melanthacece. The meadow saffron or colchi-
cum are bulbous rooted plants, and found in many
parts of Europe. Their flowers have a strong external
resemblance to those of the crocus, though they differ
much in botanical character. One is a native of
Britain, producing the flower in autumn, and followed
by its large foliage in the spring. They are chiefly
met with in meadows of diluvial soil ; but are not
esteemed by farmers as a pasture plant, from the
supposition that the leaves are injurious to dairy cows.
A powerful medicine is prepared from the bulbs.
The garden varieties and species are increased by
seeds or offsets.

COLEOPTERA (Aristotle, Linnaeus; ELEUTHE-
RATA, Fabricius). An order of insects of very great
extent, having the wings inclosed in a case, composed
of a pair of scaly pieces, meeting along the back in a
straight line. The wings themselves are of a large
size, and of a membranaceous texture, and when un-
employed are shut up in several transverse folds, the
first of which occurs beyond the middle, These
scales are termed elytra, and shutting upon the back,
they conceal the upper surface of the abdomen, as well
as the wings, from view. The insects themselves are
for the most part known by the name of beetles,
although the term is not exclusively applied to them.
Thus The blister-fly (Cantharis) is a coleopterous in-
sect, as well as the turnip-fly (Haltica nemorum). If
we examine a butterfly, a bee, or a dragon-fly, we
shall at once perceive that the elytra of the latter do
not exist as such, but that their place is occupied by
a pair of large wings, of similar consistence with the
following, and being equally with the latter destitute
of folds. Comparing these insects with any coleop-
terous insect, as for instance a cockchaffer, it will be
easy to perceive the latter distinguished by the
following character. Wings two, membranaceous, folded
transversely beneath tivo horny elytra, which character
precisely corresponds with the Greek name Coteoptera,
and the Latin one of Vaginipennes, given by the
Latin naturalists to these insects. As, however, we
attend to more minute differences of structure, we
perceive the necessity of still more rigorously fixing
the limits of our groups, by the employment of other
characters, without which we should confound the
locust, the grasshopper, the cicada, and the cimex,
with the coicoptera ; and indeed in the early works
of the great Swede, Linnaeus united the two former
insects, together with the generality of those which
form the modern order of Orthoptcra, with the beetles.
And even in his last work, we still find the earwig
united with them, although the others were separated
to form the ill-assorted order of Hemiptera, which
order Linnaeus had at first well defined, to comprise
only those species which have an elongated tubular
rostrum, articulated and bent beneath the breast.
Now the coleoptera, as well as the orthoptera, differ
from these in having the mouth formed of jaws and
other organs for mastication. If therefore to the

COLEOPTERA.

77

above character we add, mouth with jaivs, all doubt
as to the admission of the hemiptera is removed. An
attentive comparison of the wings and wing covers,
Would unquestionably have led to the same result;
but that now mentioned is not only much more
simple and uniformly existent, but is also evidently
dependent upon much more important considerations
than the form of the wings and elytra. In like man-
ner the differences existing between the oral organs
of the coleoptera and the orthoptera might be resorted
to, but another and more important character is at
hand. Thus the orthoptera, in their passage to the
perfect state, undergo no other change than the
casting of the outer skin, and the gradual develop-
ment of organs of flight, whilst in the coleoptera the
metamorphosis is complete, and the pupa state quite
inactive. Hence by the addition of the character,
jutantorpkans, <>•• raihcr pupa, incomplete, we have three
leading characters, which will not only separate the
coleoptera from the fly, the butterfly, the cimex, &c.,
but also from those insects which have been by some
authors united therewith. It is to be observed, how-
ever, that the first of the above characters does not
exist throughout the entire order ; thus in certain,
although few instances, both wings and elytra are
entirely wanting, as in the glow-worm and the female
drilus; in others the elytra, though existent, are
soldered together without any wings being concealed
by them, as in many of the Carabidce, Klapsidte, and
other terrestrial darkling beetles, which have no use for
wings. There are in like manner to be found ex-
ceptions to the transverse folding of the wings, in
the Buprestldce and some of the longicorn beetles,
whilst in Meloe one elytron partly laps over the
•other, and in Sitaris, Rijnpliorus, &c., the suture is
not straight, the elytra not shutting together, whilst
in Atrctctocerus, Molorchm, &c., the wings are not
covered by the wing covers, from the reduced size
of the latter. Still there are sufficiently strong indi-
cations of direct affinity between all these insects,
and others belonging strictly to the order, so that it
is impossible not to perceive that they equally belong
to it, although -they form exceptions to one out of
several of its leading characters.

Scarcely any branch of natural history has been so
much investigated as this order of insects ; indeed
many students, as well as amateurs, have exclusively
•devoted themselves to this group. The amazing
variety of form ; the richness or agreeable disposition
in their colours ; the great number of modifications
which their external organisation presents to our
view, and which consequently afford so many addi-
tional aids towards their classification; the circum-
stance that these animals generally surpass in size
the remainder of the class to which they belong, and
the ease with which they are preserved, owing to the
greater consistence of the outer covering, all tend to
render the coleoptera interesting to the student ; but
to these circumstances may be added the vast extent
as regards the number of species contained in the
order. It would, indeed, be difficult correctly to
judge of the number of these insects, distributed over
the surface of the globe, each arrival from foreign
climes bringing hosts of novelties to our cabinets
and not only is it from the little frequented countries
either of the old or new world that these importations
arc derived, but every year adds considerably to the
lists of our indigenous species, by the discovery o:
umlcscribed beetles. Many persons have hence been

nduced to believe, that a new creation was constantly
*oing forward, or that from the admixture of species,
ivbrids were produced. The latter is a difficult
question to solve, but analogy, derived from well
authenticated and long known species, induce us to
object to such an idea. In order to account for this
ntroduction of novelties, it is to be noticed, not only
that the number of actual collectors of insects is
wonderfully increased, as well as the modes of col-
lecting greatly improved ; moreover, in all our large
maritime and commercial towns, the productions of
foreign climes are to be found in great abundance,
and with them are evidently introduced an immense
number of wood, plant, or grain-feeding insects, which
in favourable circumstances multiply and become
acclimated amongst us ; hence it happens that the
vicinity of large towns exhibits a richer list of species
than more thinly peopled districts.

It is however unquestionable, that the coleoptera
exceeds in point of number of species, any other
order of insects, although the diptera and hymen-
optera, now that more attention is being bestowed
upon the minute species, are not far behind the
beetles in point of numbers. The French collections
are estimated to contain not fewer than 30,000 dis-
tinct species of coleoptera, and it is by no means
improbable that at least '20,000 more are contained
in the cabinets of other countries, wanting in the
former. Thus 50,000 species may be considered as
actually existing in our collections ; and when it is
known that immense tracts of country in Asia, Africa,
North and South America, New Holland, and the
Islands of the Southern ocean exist, from which not
a single insect has been received, we may without
exaggeration conclude that there are from 100,000
to 150,000 species of beetles in existence. This
number, however, will scarcely be considered over-
rated, when it is further mentioned that in our own
little island upwards of 3,500 native species have
been actually described.

In the series of insects the coleoptera also seem
to possess a certain degree of superiority, which
places them in the foremost ranks of the class to
which they belong. An eminent French naturalist,
M. Marcel de Serres, has not indeed adopted this
opinion ; the orthoptera, whose anatomy he has pro-
foundly investigated, being in his ideas entitled to be
placed at the head of the class, his opinion being
founded upon a consideration of the superior develop-
ment of the locomotive organs. Latreille however
has considered that too much weight has been given
to this character, and has suggested, from a general
consideration of their comparative anatomy, that the
coleoptera are the most perfectly organised of insects,
and consequently as being entitled to the highest
rank.

We will now proceed to give a rapid sketch of the
external anatomy of these insects. The body consists
of the head, a large segment which has been generally
termed the thorax, two short inconspicuous segments
which support the wing covers and wings, and the
two posterior pairs of legs, and which form a portion
of the true thorax ; and lastly, a continuous series of
rings which compose the abdomen, and which are
not furnished with locomotive organs. The head is
generally of a rounded form, furnished with a pair of
antennre, extremely varied in their form in the differ-
ent familes, but which in the majority consist of only
eleven articulations; they often differ in the sexes.

COLEOPTERA.

those of the males being larger, longer, or laterally
more developed than in the other sex, The eyes,
which are always composite and facetted, are gene-
rally larger and globular in the carnivorous species,
as well as in those which, from the slowness of their
habits, have great need of defence against their
enemies. Some species have been asserted to possess
the simple eyes (ocelli'), observed in the hymenoptera,
&c. ; but Latreille does not consider that any species
possesses these organs ; and indeed, as he is induced
to suppose from a comparative examination of the
eyes of insects, that the presence of these ocelli is
an indication of optical weakness, their non-existence
in the coleoptera seems to confirm his opinion of the
superiority of these over other insects. The mouth
consists, as in all masticating insects, of an upper lip
(labrum, «), a pair of horny jaws moving horizontally
(mandibles, b), two other jaws (maxilles, c) of a less
firm consistence, but more complex in their organi-
sation, bearing a palpus (rf) or feeler, and furnished
moreover with a lateral lobe, which occasionally
assumes the appearance of an additional palpus, and
lastly a lower lip (labium, e), furnished with a pair of
palpi (/), and implanted upon a broad horny basal
piece, which is termed the chin or mentum (g).

The thorax, as usual, consists of three segments,
but the first of them, or the prothorax, is so much
developed at the expense of the second and third,
that the only conspicuous part in the meso-thorax
(or second segment), is the part usually termed the
scutellurn, whilst the meta-thorax (or third segment)
is reduced to a short and almost obsolete ring, giving
support to the pair of wings and the third pair of legs.
The legs articulate with the posterior extremity of
the segments, to which they are attached beneath, by
means of a short piece termed the trochanter, which
in the hind legs is more voluminous, forming indeed,
occasionally, a large plate, sometimes moveable, but
at others soldered to the segment, of which it appears
to form a part ; indeed in the water beetles, the large
trochanters of the hind legs have been mistaken by
some of our first entomologists for the sternum ; this
piece is followed by another email joint, the coxa,
which is succeeded by the femur or thigh, which is
the strongest part of the leg, and the tibia or shank,
a piece generally of nearly equal length with, but
more slender than, the preceding, the last portion of
the leg consisting in an articulated piece called the
tarsus, the number of articulations of which varies
from three to five. The abdomen is attached to the
meso-thorax by its entire breadth, its inferior portion
or the belly being always more solid in its consistence
than the upper surface, owing to the latter being
defended by the wing covers; it is moreover pro-
vided on the under side with only six segments,
whPst on the upper seven or eight are visible. In
gome insects, however, as the rove beetles (Brack-

elytra), which have the abdomen for the most part
exposed, the upper surface is as firm as the lower.
The additional segments of the body, two or three
in number, which are to be observed in the body of
the larva, compose, in the perfect beetle, the organs
of generation.

The metamorphosis of the coleoptera, or rather its
character, as derived from the state of the pupa;, is
termed incomplete. The larva resembles a soft fleshy
worm, having the head and upper surface of the tho-
racic segments scaly, and provided with six legs,
attached in pairs to the three anterior segments of
the body. The head of the larva exhibits, in an un-
developed manner, nearly all the parts of the mouth
of the perfect insect. In the place of the facetted
eyes, are to be seen a number of small granular
tubercles, which somewhat resemble the ocelli of the
hymenoptera, &c., being often six in number on each
side of the head. The jaws are much more developed
than the other parts of the mouth, which is doubtless
owing to the circumstance, that it is in the larva
state that the greatest supply of nourishment is taken
by the insect. The antennae are very small and
conical, and generally only four-jointed. The more
inactive and concealed these larvae are, the more they
exhibit the appearance of a worm ; those of the more
carnivorous species are generally more alert, and in
the rove beetles we have seen that they exhibit very
much of the appearance of the perfect insect. The
extremity of the body of these larvae is often furnished
with a fleshy retractile tubercle on its under side,
which is employed as a seventh leg. When the
larva has attained its full size, it generally burrows
into the earth, where it hollows out an oval cell,
within which it is transformed into an inactive pupa,
of an uniform whitish colour, with the wings and legs
folded upon the breast. The pupae of some of the
species are, however, naked, as in the Chrysomelidce,
whilst others, as Clythra, pass this state within the
case which had served for their abode whilst larvae.
The duration of these transformations, the habitations
and economy both of the larvae and perfect insect,
varies, as may well be supposed, in so extensive a
group, in the different families and genera. Arrived
at their last state, they possess their full degree of
development, and now the reproduction of their
kind is their chief employment.

Compared, however, with many other tribes of
insects, as for instance the bees, ants, wasps, ant-lions,
&c., none or but very few beetles present in their
habits any of those extraordinary traits of instinct
which have so much engaged the attention of obser-
vers in every age and country ; still, however, even in
this respect they are not without interest, as we have
already seen in the articles CICINDELID^E, COCCINEL-
LID.K, CERAMBYCID^E, &c., and as we shall have to
show in many other instances.

Hardly any coleopterous insect has been employed
in the arts, but it is questionable whether some of the
species might not be rendered useful. The meloe
and the coccinella emit from the mouth and eyes a
gummy fluid of a fine yellow colour, which might be
employed in painting. The former insect is of a
large size, and sufficiently abundant for experiment,
if some of our celebrated chemists would not think
the subject beneath their notice. In like manner tho
Mylabris, Cantharis, or Carabus, might furnish an use •
ful extract of a fine colour. We have already in our
articles upon these insects given an account of their

COLIAS — COLIUS.

79

medicinal properties. It is not improbable that many
other species possess similar powers. Less useful
but highly ornamental, the metallic coverings of many
species may be and indeed have been employed in
decorating various kinds of trinkets, giving an effect
equal to that of gold or precious stones of every
shade. By the Indians they are employed to deco-
rate the head-dresses and necklaces, as well as for
earrings, fee. ; and we have seen, in a large
\varehouses in London, entire dresses decorated
with the elytra of the Suprcstis chrysis. The larvae
of the Coccincllidte are eminently serviceable in
checking the swarms of Aphides, whilst the Stiphida:
and many other insects, by feeding upon decaying
vegetable and animal matter, are active agents in
keeping up the regular succession of changes in the
creation.

The coleoptera have been divided in different
manners by various authors. By Linnasus the con-
struction of the antennae formed the character upon
which the sections were established, but the distribu-
tion more generally adopted by modern authors is
founded upon the number of joints in the tarsi, as
follows : —

Sect. 1. Pentamera, all the tarsi having five joints.

Sect. 2. Hetcromera, the four anterior tarsi having
five, and the two posterior having only four joints.

Sect. 3. Tetramera of the French authors, having
apparently only four joints in each tarsus.

Sect. 4. Trimera of the French authors, having
apparently only three joints in each tarsus.

It is to be observed, however, with respect to the
two latter groups, that there is a minute rudimental
joint at the base of the terminal joint which has been
overlooked, and which renders the names Tetramera
and Trimera incorrect ; still the general structure of
the tarsus in these two groups is so well marked that
we have not hesitated to adopt them ; and, secondly,
that the section Dimera founded upon an incorrect
examination of insects supposed to have only two
joints (the Pselap/iidce, see BRACHELYTRA) is equally
incorrect, and consequently rejected.

COLIAS (Fabricius). A genus of lepidopterous
insects belonging to the section D'mrna and family
PapUionidce, or true butterflies, having the hinder
wings extended beneath the abdomen, so as to form
a kind of canal on which this part of the body rests,
the claws of the feet are small and bifid, each having
two equal sized hooks ; the palpi are short and very
much compressed ; and the antenna; are terminated by
an elongated conical club, gradually increasing to the
tip. The anterior legs, which in some of the butter-
flies are of a small rudimental size, are here fully de-
veloped. The caterpillars are fleshy and cylindrical,
without either tubercles or the fleshy forked tentaculae
which arm the neck of the larva? of the genus Papilio.
These butterflies, which formed portion of the Lin-
naean section Danai candidi, are more gaily coloured
than the allied insects composing the genus Pontia,
including the common white butterflies, being espe-
cially distinguished by the bright yellow or orange
colour, which in a remarkable degree pervades the
whole group, thus evidencing the curious fact of the
prevalence of peculiar colours in peculiar groups of
animals. The genus is likewise interesting on account
of another peculiarity. " Several papilionaceous
insects," observes Mr. Stephens, " are remarkable for
their periodical or irregular appearance, and none
more conspicuously so than the insects of this genus.

The cause of this interesting phenomenon appears
inexplicable, its solution has baflled the inquiries of
entomologists, and several speculative opinions have
been advanced thereon. By some persons their
sudden increase has been attributed to the previous
failure of their natural enemies, the ichneumons and
the soft-billed birds ; by others to an increased tem-
perature ; others again suppose that their eggs lie
dormant till called into life and vigour by some extra-
ordinary latent coincidences. But all these opinions
are mere conjectures, and they do not sufficiently
clear up the difficulty, which is rendered more obscure
from the fact that several of the insects, especially
Cynthia cardui, appear constantly in some parts and
periodically in others." — Illust. Brit. Ent. vol. i. p. 10.
The genus is a very extensive one, as regards the
exotic species, but great confusion has occurred
respecting the English ones. Thus whilst Stephens
gives four, Curtis admits only two. We will not
enter into the points involved in the determination of
these questions at issue, further than to mention that,
besides several other minor points of inquiry, the
limits of specific variation, as well as the geographical
range of insects (two most interesting subjects), are
both included therein.

COLIUS — Coly. A genus of birds, regarded as
being wholly or chiefly granivorous, and as such
ranged by Cuvier in the conirostral division of his
great order Passeres. All the known species are
African birds dwelling chiefly in bushes and thickets,
and we are but little acquainted with their manners.
The name signifies " little crow."

The characters are : the bill thick, short, stout,
convex above, flat below, a little compressed towards
the point, upper mandible lapping over the edges of
the lower one ; nostrils small, basal, lateral, round,
partly covered with feathers, and pierced in the horny
substance ; feet of mean size, with four toes, three to
the front, united to the first joint, external toe longer
than the tarsus, the hind toe short and reversable,
and the claws very crooked ; the wings very short,
the first quill merely rudimental, the second shorter
than the third which is the longest in the wing.

These birds are confined to the tropical regions of
the old continent, though they, or others very much
resembling them, are also met with in Australia.
Being bad fliers, and capable of only short flight,
these birds seldom venture out of the shade of the
trees, but prefer running along the branches, which they
do with great dexterity. They are said to eat buds
and fruits, and to refuse insects ; and therefore they
are very annoying to various kinds of cultivated fruits,
and are attacked with great avidity by cultivators.

From the weakness of their wings, these birds are
incapable of making long migrations, or proceeding
to any considerable distance from the woods in which
they have their principal residence and where they
build their nests, as the structure of their feet is not
well adapted for walking, any more than their wings
are for flight. They live in societies, and every bush
contains a considerable number of families which
build their nests close to each other in the very centre
of the bush, which is done to protect their young
from birds of prey. The eggs are three or four in
number, in each more of a reddish or brownish colour
according to the species. When it is not nesting
time, these birds repose perching ; and it has been
said that, in order to sleep the more soundly, they
suspend themselves by their claws with their head

80

COLLET ES— COLOUR.

downwards, the descent of the blood to which stupifie
them so much that against morning- they are easily
captured. It does not appear that there is muc
truth in this ; for the vascular system of those animal
which repose in an inverted position is always s
contrived that they can bear that position withou
any injury. As many as eight species of these bird
have been described, varying in length from about
foot to half that measure, and differing considerabl;
in colours ; but the particulars of them are too imper
fectly known to be of much interest to the genera
reader.

COLLETES (Latreille). A genus of hymeno-
pterous insects belonging to the section Aculeata, sub-
section Mellifera or bees, and the family Andrenidc
or short-tongued bees. The insects composing thi
genus do not live in society, and consequently then
are no neuters ; the basal portion of the lower part o
mouth (nientuni) is long, but the fleshy part at its
extremity is short and bilobed, having two latera
fleshy and slender appendages ; the upper wings
have three complete submarginal cells, of which the
second and third are of nearly equal size, each
receiving a recurrent nerve, and the body is hairy
This genus of bees, of which there are three or four
British species (including Apis succincta, Linna?us, the
type of thp genus), presents several interesting pecu-
liarities both of structure and habits. In our first
volume (see pp. 361, 862) the mouth of the hive bee
is figured, the terminal parts of which will be seen to
be of a very elongated form ; but in the genus of bees
now under consideration these parts are so very short
that in this respect it much more nearly approaches
the wasps than it does the bees, and accordingly Mr.
Kirby places it at the commencement of the family.
And here we may take the opportunity of correcting
an error which unavoidably occurred relative to the
figures above referred to. At p. 362 three views of
the mouth of the bee are given in the progress of
gradual extension. These should have been suc-
ceeded by the figures of the " bee's mouth " in p. 361,
which represent the same organs still more completely
extended, but which were accidentally misplaced, so
as apparently to illustrate the structure of the mouth
of the larva, after the description of which they are
placed. In the left hand figure of the two last men-
tioned, the tongue and its various parts are more
protruded than in figure 3, the different organs on the
left side of the figure being laterally extended, whilst
the right hand figure represents the mouth at its
greatest possible extension.

The peculiarity above noticed in the structure of
the mouth of the colletes, seems calculated, as Mr.
•Kirby well observes, in his invaluable monograph
upon the English bees, to assist it in the construction
of the membranaceous cells, which the wise Author
of nature has instructed it to form for the reception
of its eggs ; an account of which, from the work of
Reaumur, he introduced into his monograph, without,
however, having been himself fortunate enough to meet
with the nests. The author of this article has been
more successful than Mr. Kirby, having more than once
discovered the nests, and reared the colletes, and can
therefore testify to the correctness of Reaumur's account.
Our nests were, however, found in hot sandy banks,
thus differing (perhaps from a difference in the species)
from those observed by Reaumur. They make their
nests, as the latter author informs us, in the earth that
fills the vacuities of certain stone walls ; some of

them choose a northern aspect sheltered by trees ;
these nests are cylindrical, and consist of from two to
four cells, placed end to end, each of which is shaped
like a thimble, the end of the second fitting into the
mouth of the first ; the cells are not all of an equal
length, some being five, others only four lines long ;
their diameter is about two lines. The cylinder usually
runs in a horizontal direction ; but sometimes, from
the intervention of a stone or other obstacle, it takes a
different course, so that the last cell or cells form an
angle with the first; it is distinguished by transverse
bands of different colours. The cells are composed
of many layers of a very thin and transparent mem-
brane ; the red colour arises from the substance with
which they are replenished, this is sometimes nearly
liquid, at others it is merely a paste made of pollen
and honey. After the larva is hatched, it soon im-
bibes all that is liquid, and when arrived at its full
dimensions, it quite fills its cell ; it resembles the
larva of the hive bee. Whence these bees procure
the membrane with which they form their cells, our
author could riot ascertain, but he conjectures it to
be a secretion of the insect, analogous to that used
by many others for similar purposes. Grew, in his
Book of Rarities, gives the history of a bee supposed
to belong to this genus, from the similar nature of
the cells, which he says are admirably placed for
warmth and safety, &c., lengthways one after another,
in the middle of the pith of an old elder branch, with
a thin boundary betwixt each bag ; whilst Willoughby
seems to have noticed their nests in similar situations
to those which we have found, namely, in sand banks ;
where he says they burrow, making holes like worm
holes.

COLLINSIA (Nuttal). A genus of handsome
annuals, natives of America. Linnaaan class and
order Didynamia Angiospcrmia, and natural order
Scrophularintz. Generic character : calyx bell-shaped,
five-cleft, persisting ; corolla personate, back of the
tube gibbous; upper lip erect and cleft, the lower
one trifid, the middle division forming a hollow keel ;
stamens bent downwards, in the hollow of the corolla ;
anthers placed parallel ; style two-lobed ; capsule
two-celled, four-seeded, and four-valved. These are
elegant plants, and if seeds are procured may be

treated like hardy annuals. If sown in the autumn,
hey will flower early and ripen seeds in the following
ummer.

COLLINSONIA (Linnaeus). A genus of tall
growing herbaceous plants, belonging to Diandria
Monogynia, and to the natural order Labiate. Being
lardy, they grow in any common garden soil, affect-
ng a moist situation, and are increased by dividing
he root.

COLOCASIA. The specific name of a large
Igyptian arum, cultivated in that country for its
uberous roots. It is common in our hothouses as an
rnamental plant, the leaves being large and hand-
ome.
COLOUR is one of the external characters, by

which all objects, whether animate or inanimate, may
>e distinguished; therefore in every department of
atural history, it is an important element in classifi-
ation and description.

In zoology the species and varieties of many animals
re principally determined by the colour or colours
vhich they exhibit ; in botany, notwithstanding the
nfluence of climate, change of seasons, soil, situation,

and other incidental circumstances, every species of

COLOUR.

81

plant has naturally determinate colours, by which it
may be recognised ; and in mineralogy, each species
of mineral presents a particular colour or suite of
colours, by which it may also be identified. In
meteorology, the aerial tints, the meteors, and the
atmospherical phenomena peculiar to certain coun-
tries, can only be appreciated by a correct perception
of the different colours which characterise their ap-
pearance ; while in hydrography, a similar power of
discrimination is necessary, to describe the varieties
of colour which occur in the seas, lakes, and rivers,
which adorn while they fertilise the surface of the
earth. Hence every naturalist should be well ac-
quainted with the philosophy of colours; he should
be able to discriminate them accurately ; he should
know the effects which their several combinations
will produce ; and should understand the circum-
stances by which they may be modified or entirely
changed.

The colour of all natural bodies, whether we con-
template the gorgeous hues of sunrise or sunset, the
iridescent plumage of a bird, or the tints that varie-
gate the petals of a flower, must be derived either
from the light of the sun, or else be inherent, like
any other property of matter, in the substance of the
bodies themselves, the light in that case being only
the passive medium through which their effect is
communicated. The majority of philosophers concur
in ascribing their origin to some change in the con-
stitution or condition of light, yet their opinion
concerning the manner in which this change takes
place, must depend entirely on the views they enter-
tain concerning the nature and properties of light.
On this subject two theories are at present very ably
maintained by their respective advocates ; the one
termed the Newtonian or molecular; the other
the undulatory theory of light; each of which is
signally ingenious and beautiful in detail, ancP alike
supported by men of the profoundest mathematical
skill. According to the Newtonian or molecular
doctrine, light is presumed to consist of an infinite
number of very minute particles of matter, which
proceed in a continuous stream from the sun, or any
other luminous body, and which, impinging on the
nervous filaments of the retina, with such rapidity, as
to allow of no sensible intermission of the impression
they excite, induce the sense of vision. On the other
hand, according to the undnlatory hypothesis, light
is supposed to consist simply in the undulations of
an exquisitely subtile and elastic medium or ether,
which pervades the whole universe. The waves of
this medium, according to the impulse communicated
to them by the action of what are called luminous
bodies, reach the nerves of the eye and excite the
sensation of sight, in the same manner as the sensation
of sound is excited in the nerves of the ear by the vibra-
tions of air. In the history of science, never perhaps
were two theories proposed to explain the same pheno-
mena, in which the evidence in favour of each appears
to be so fairly balanced ; yet to understand how either
may be applied to explain the origin of colours, we
must revert to certain properties of light which are
immediately connected with this interesting investi-
gation.

Whether the molecular or undulatory theory be
adopted, light is observed to move in straight fines,
until intercepted in its progress by passing from a
medium of one density into a medium of another
density; or until interrupted by impinging against

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

some semi-transparent or opaque body. In passing1
from air into water, the rays of light on entering the
fluid are observed to deviate from their previous rec-
tilinear direction ; they appear to become bent, and
this deviation from the straight line is called the
refraction of light. Hence when an oar is immersed
in water, it appears distorted on account of the rays
of light by which it is seen being refracted or bent,
on emerging from the water. The extent, however,
to which the light deviates from the rectilinear direc-
tion varies in different media ; thus, as the atmosphere
which surrounds the earth, is denser in its lower
than in its upper regions, the light of the sun, in
passing from the rarer into the denser strata, becomes
more and more bent or refracted ; so that it descends
to us in a vertical curved line, for which reason the
moon and stars appear to us at a greater altitude
than they really are; for which, in astronomical and
trigonometrical observations, allowance is always
made. The rays of light, however, are not refracted
if they fall perpendicularly on the denser medium ;
hence the refraction becomes less as the sun ap-
proaches to the zenith, and increases as it descends
towards the horizon ; accordingly, in the blaze of
noon the sun's rays are reflected with silvery and
dazzling whiteness from the surface of the waters,
w-hereas towards evening, as the sun gradually sets
its rays, falling obliquely upon the waters, the waves
become illuminated with all the beautiful prismatic
colours of the refracted light. Again, when light
impinges upon any solid body, it is either almost
entirely transmitted through it, in which case the
body is transparent, or it is reflected or driven back
at a certain angle, just as a marble after striking
against a wall is reflected, or driven off again ; and this
is what is termed the reflection of light. The surface
of metals which are highly polished, or glass quick-
silvered at the back to prevent the transmission of
the rays, are the best reflectors ; as are also all white
surfaces. When the earth is covered with snow,
and all objects are shrouded in the same wintry gar-
ment, the snowy crystals reflect the sun's light so
vividly in all directions, as to excite acute pain iu
the eye, an inconvenience much complained of by
navigators, who have endeavoured to explore the
dreary solitudes of the Polar Regions. Even the
Esquimaux, and other natives of those snowy wilder-
nesses, are obliged to protect their eyes from this
reflection of the solar rays, by a sort of wooden shade
which is commonly worn among them. To these two
properties — refraction and reflection — we owe the
uniform diffusion of light through the atmosphere ;
indeed, had the atmosphere, instead of possessing
regions of different density, consisted of an unlimited
homogeneous medium, the sun, the moon, and the
fixed stars, would have appeared to shine in a firma-
ment of darkness ; so exquisitely adapted is the air
we breathe, and the sunbeam which illumines our
path, to the general economy and beauty of the
universe. There is yet, however, connected with
air, water, and other media through which light may
be transmitted, a curious property to be noticed ;
viz. when they are sufficiently dense, they absorb a
great quantity of the light which enters into them ;
in other words, the light which falls upon such trans-
parent media, is greater than the quantity which is
either refracted or reflected, so that a portion in some
way or other becomes suppressed or lost. For this
reason, owing to the absorption of the refracted light,
F

82

COLOUR.

objects become quite invisible at a certain depth
below the surface of water. So also on the top of
the Andes or Alps, many more stars are visible to
the naked eye, than in the vallej's or plains below ;
because their rays having to pass through a smaller
«xtent of air, less of the light which they impart
becomes absorbed. These facts are recognised, and
different explanations of them proposed by the sup-
porters both of the molecular and undulatory theory
of light, and require to be remembered in studying
the colours which different natural bodies assume.

It was known to the ancients, that the light of the
•SUB might be so acted upon by different objects, as to
exhibit a variety of colours ; thus Aristotle ascribed
the appearance of the rainbow to the reflection of the
sun's rays on the falling drops of rain ; and Seneca
states, that if the sun shine through a triangular piece
•of glass, the colours of the rainbow will be displayed.
Indeed the exhibition of colours by the prism had
often been made previous to the time of Sir Isaac
Newton; it remained, however, for that illustrious
philosopher to examine the phenomena more criti-
cally, and deduce from his analysis, more definite and
important inferences than had been previously at-
tempted. His method of proceeding was simple,
and may be readily understood. In the first place
he darkened a room, admitting through a hole in the
window-shutter only a small quantity of light, which
was reflected upon the opposite wall. He then,
taking the triangular piece of glass or prism, inter-
posed it in the course of the sunbeam, and observed,
that instead of being simply directed out of its course,
and forming the same circular image which it had
previously done upon the wall, an oblong image of
the sun appeared, presenting seven different colours.
This surprised him, and he states that it " excited in
him a more than ordinary curiosity to examine from
•whence it might proceed ;" accordingly, apprehensive
that some unevenness in the glass or other incidental
circumstance might have occasioned a deception, he
repeated the experiment in a variety of ways, yet
always with a similar result. He then began to think,
that what appeared to be white light must in reality
be composed of these seven different colours; to
determine this more satisfactorily, he took another
prism, and so adjusted it as to refract the light in a
contrary direction, so that the primary or different
coloured rays were again blended together, upon
which the white light was reproduced. Hence he
inferred, that what seems to be homogeneous white
light, is a combination of seven different coloured
rays, — red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and
violet; and he then proceeded to examine these
different colours separately. In so doing, he allowed
each particular colour to fall on a second prism, and
observed that when refracted it was not, as before,
drawn into an oblong image, nor into any other
colour, wherefore he concluded that each of the seven
primary rays of light possessed a specific degree of
refrangibility, and that there is an immutable corre-
spondence between the refrangibility of each ray, and
the colour it possesses. This comprehends what is
meant by the different refrangibilities of the rays of
light ; for it was observed that the red was less re-
frangible than the orange; the orange than the
yellow ; the yellow than the green ; the blue than
the indigo ; and that the violet was the most refran-
gible of them all. The different colours so exhibited
form what is described as the solar spectrum ; but it

is to be observed, that by Sir Isaac Newton's analysis
no lines or boundaries between the different colours
were perceptible ; the colours appearing to be shaded
off by imperceptible gradations into one another,
and he determined their relative proportions by the
individual length or spaces they occupied. It has
since been ascertained by Dr. Wollaston, aided by
Fraunhofer, that when the prism is perfect, and the
light admitted through a very small aperture, the
spectrum received on a sheet of white paper will
exhibit the prismatic colours, divided by an indefinite
number of dark and sometimes black lines, which in
all spectra formed by solar light, preserve the same
intensity and relative positions, so that they may be
esteemed fixed points for ascertaining the refractive
powers of different media. It is worthy however of
observation, that they differ with the species of light
employed, the spectra of the moon and brighter fixed
stars, exhibiting lines peculiar to themselves. Further-
more, it appears that Sir Isaac Newton erred, in not
observing that the relations of the coloured spaces
must be considerably modified by the angular magni-
tude of the sun, or luminous body, or the aperture
from which his spectrum was obtained; hence his
proposition, " that to the same degree of refrangibility
ever belongs the same colour, and to the same colour
ever belongs the same refrangibility," proves to have
been incorrect. The researches of Sir David Brew-
ster have indeed effected a still further analysis of
the solar spectrum. Taking advantage of the property
which certain coloured media have, of absorbing one
or more of the primary rays, this accomplished philo-
sopher has succeeded in reducing the colours of the
spectrum to three, viz. red, yellow, and blue; the
orange in the spectrum of Sir Isaac Newton, he
found to be occasioned by the mixture of the red
and yellow rays ; the green bv the mixture of the blue
with the yellow rays. His investigations appeal* to
have established the following facts concerning the
composition of the solar spectrum. 1. White light
consists of three simple colours, red, yellow, and blue,
by the combinations of which all other colours may
be formed. 2. The solar spectrum consists of three
spectra of equal length, beginning and terminating at
the same points, viz., a red spectrum, a yellow spec-
trum, and a blue spectrum ; all other colours in the
spectrum are compound colours, each consisting of
red, blue, and yellow light, in different proportions.
3. A certain quantity of white light, incapable of
being decomposed by the prism, in consequence of
all its component rays having the same refrangibility,
exists at every point of the spectrum, and may in
some points be exhibited in an isolated state.

However the number of colours in the solar spec-
trum may be thus reduced, the variety of effect pro-
duced by their blending with each other can scarcely
be brought down to analytical computation. Hence
Professor Powell observes, " That a question often
asked as to the number of primary colours can only
be answered with reference to the sense in which it is
asked. If it be meant to apply to the number of
tints distinguished in the spectrum, this will be a
matter of individual judgment to different eyes.
Newton distinguished seven, others four, others three,
but perhaps most observers would admit that it is
impossible to fix on any number, since the light ap-
pears to go through every possible shade of colour
between the deep red and faint violet. If we under-
stand the question as applying to the number of

COLOUR.

83

definite points or rays, to each of which a different
refrangibility belongs, their number must be considered
as infinite. The general view now given of the con-
stitution of light, according to the molecular theory,
will enable us to understand the explanation it assigns
for the different colours observed in nature.

The principle on which all bodies are supposed to
derive their colour is briefly this, that the particles of
which they are composed" absorb some, and reflect
other of the primary and different coloured rays
which enter into the composition of white light.
The red petal of a rose is presumed to absorb the six
other coloured rays, and reflect only the red ray;
the blue flower of the harebell to absorb the six other
and reflect only the blue ray ; and so on with all
objects that reflect the different primary rays disco-
verable in the solar spectrum. Those bodies which
reflect several of such rays appear of various colours ;
those which reflect them all appear white, while those
which absorb them all appear black ; and the absorp-
tion and reflection of the different coloured rays
depends, according to the hypothesis of Sir Isaac
Newton, on the magnitude of the particles of which
the body is composed. Thus the azure colour of the
sky is caused by the particles being very small ;
the green colour of vegetables depends on their being
somewhat larger ; " the green of vegetables," says
Pemberton, one of the most perspicuous of Newton's
commentators, " our author judges to be of the third
order, partly from the changes they suffer when they
wither, turning at first into a greenish or more perfect
yellow, and afterwards some of them into an orange
or red, which changes seem to be effected by their
tinging particles growing denser by the exhalation of
their moisture." The change of colour, therefore,
which any plant, mineral, or other substance, may
undergo, either from the action of light, heat,, or vital
or chemical changes, is presumed to depend on some
alteration which takes place in the size of its compo-
nent particles, which causes other of the primary rays
to be reflected. Instead, however, of the mere size of
the particles determining the inflection of one or more
of the coloured rays, Sir David Brewster supposes that
the particles of bodies, solid, fluid, or aeriform, have
a specific attraction for the particles of light ; if they
exercise a simultaneous and proportional action over
all the simple rays, then the body is colourless or
transparent ; if they exercise a specific attraction only
over some of the simple rays, then the body exhibits
a determinate colour from the reflection of the other
rays, whether blue, yellow, or red. The colours pro-
duced by the refraction and reflection of these primary
rays are especially observable in the rainbow, in solar
or lunar halos, in the glaciers that, crown the summits
of the mountains in Switzerland, and at sunrise or
sunset upon the surface of the ocean. Hence too
the colour of the sky, the blue and violet rays being
most refrangible are more copiously distributed
through the atmosphere than the other rays, while
the red rays being the least refrangible are not so
frequently transmitted ; on account, indeed, of their
diminished refrangibility, the most favourable con-
dition of the atmosphere for their refraction is obvi-
ously when the least vapour or moisture is suspended
in it, and accordingly it is a popular observation that
a red sky at sunset is a sign of fine weather the next
day. In accordance too with what has been noticed
concerning the disposition of certain media to absorb
light, the air or vapours suspended in it are observed

often to absorb the red rays ; hence the fiery aspect
of the sky at sunrise or sunset, and the flame-coloured
masses of clouds which are often seen dispersed even
to the zenith.

But this is not all, for, independent of the colours
of natural bodies thus arising Irom the absorption and
reflection of the primary rays, Sir Isaac Newton
referred the colours of the feathers of birds, the wings
of insects, the scales of fishes, &c., to the same cause
as the colours exhibited by thin plates. It was
ascertained by Boyle, and afterwards by Dr. Hooke,
that when substances which appear to be opaque are
reduced into very thin layers they display the most
beautiful colours. This may be familiarly exemplified
by the bubbles of the essential oils, spirit of wine, tur-
pentine, or soap and water, which, as they become
gradually thin, exhibit the most varied and brilliant
tints. So also is it with solid substances. Glass
may be blown so thin, or mica split into such fine
films, as to display the same lively colours ; and on
the same principle, the delicate filaments of a feather,
the exquisitely fine membrane of an insect's wing, or
very thin scales, exhibit similar radiant hues.

The colours, however, of the plates vary according
as the rays of light fall upon them ; when viewed
obliquely, they are not the same as when viewed
direct, for which reason the colours in the peacock's
tail change as the bird changes the posture of its
tail in respect to sight. Hence also the delicate
plumage of the little humming bird displays the
most exquisitely varied rainbow hues, so that when
numbers of them are seen together flitting about a
flower, or wantonly describing eccentric gyrations in
the sunny air, the perpetual shifting of the colours, as
the position of the bird varies, has a most dazzling
and brilliant effect. The beautiful colours in the
interior of shells are referrible to the same cause,
as are also the colours of mother-of-pearl, which,
when examined under a powerful microscope, presents
a surface covered with minute stria? and parallel
waving lines. The explanation of this phenomenon,
given by Sir Isaac Newton, was this, that a portion
of light is reflected from the upper surface of the
thin plate, whether of glass or any other substance ;
and that the coloured rays are refracted from the
adjacent under surface. According, however, to
the modern theory, which ascribes the effect to the
doctrine of interference, the light reflected from the
second surface of the plate interferes with the light
reflected from the first, and as these two pencils of
light come from different points of space, they must
reach the eye with different lengths of paths ; and the
resulting tint arises from the combination of the pencils.

The Newtonian molecular theory of light, therefore,
refers the origin of colours, first, to the decomposition
of white light, and the absorption of some, and refrac-
tion and reflection of one or more of the primary or
different coloured simple rays ; second, to the inter-
ference of light by very thin plates or fringes, the light
in both cases consisting of subtle material particles
emitted by luminous bodies.

According to the undulatory theory of light, a very
different explanation is given concerning the origin
and nature of colours ; yet before stating the doctrine
it inculcates, we may observe that all the properties
and phenomena of light above referred to, its refrac-
tion, reflection, and absorption, are upon the undu-
latory hypothesis satisfactorily explained. As the
undulations of the ether are propagated in a rectilinear
F2

84

COLOUR.

direction, on reaching a solid body, part of the undula-
tions must proceed forward into the interstices of the
body, and part, as from a new centre of motion, are
transmitted back into the air; in the former case they
are refracted, and the amount of refraction depends
entirely on the diminished velocity of the propagation
of the undulations within the refracting medium ; in
the latter they are reflected ; furthermore, when light
is absorbed, the ethereal waves are presumed to be
broken and scattered in dispersed undulations through
the interior of the body (Herschel) ; hence the ordi-
nary properties of light may by either theory be
explained ; there are, however, certain phenomena,
or appearances which light may be brought to exhibit,
which are explicable only upon the undulatory theory,
one in particular already adverted to is what is termed
the interference of light,

It was shown by Arago and Fresnel, that when two
diverging beams are made to cross at a very small
angle, instead of giving rise to a double illumination
at the point where they mix, they exhibit a space
striped with alternate black and bright bands. Here,
therefore, we have the paradoxical result of two con-
spiring rays of light, producing absolute darkness,
which is inexplicable by the molecular or Newtonian
theory ; but which is a direct consequence of the
theory of undulations, according to which it is obvious
that when two waves, propagated from different origins,
meet in such a manner that the hollow of the one
coincides with the elevation of the other, and the
elevation of the one with the hollow of the other,
the two waves must obliterate or destroy one another.
Accordingly, the point remaining at rest, where the
antagonism occurs must appear dark, the agitation of
the ethereal medium being necessary to affect our visual
organs with the sense of light and colour. Upon this
interference of light the beautiful phenomena of pe-
riodical colours, or those exhibited by thin plates,
appear also to be dependent. In this case a new
divergence is given to some of the waves, while others
pass on unaltered.

According, therefore, to the undulatory theory,
colour is an effect produced by the vibrations of the
ethereal medium, which affects us when in undulation
with the sense of light, and the difference of the
colours so produced depends on the greater or lesser
frequency of the vibrations, the whole scale of colours
from violet to crimson lying between vibrations which
are four hundred and fifty-eight million millions, and
seven hundred and twenty-seven million millions in a
second ; a proportion it may be observed smaller than
the ratio of undulations which takes place in the
production of perceptible sounds. As in sound the
pitch or note is determined by the frequency of the
aerial pulses, so according to the undulatory theory
the colour is determined by the frequency of the
ethereal pulses.

1. WHIT*.

1. Snww white is the characteristic colour of the whites,
being free of all intermixture it resembles new fallen snow.
Animal, breast of black-headed gull ; vegetable, the snow-
drop ; mineral, Carrara marble.

2. Reddish white (snow white, with a minute portion of
crimson red and ash erey). Animal, egg of grey linnet; vege-
table, back of the Christmas rose ; mineral, porcelain earth.

3. Purplish white (snow white, with the slightest tinge of
crimson red and Berlin blue, and a very minute portion

Whichever of these theories be adopted, the natu-
ralist should acquire the power of discriminating with
accuracy the distinction between every variety of
colour, however blended, otherwise his descriptions,
whether of animals, vegetables, or minerals, will be
imperfect. It is true, that the majority of mankind
readily distinguish the more obvious colours, red,
yellow, blue ; but the combinations these may assume
are so numerous, and the tints so delicate, that they
cannot be adequately appreciated excepting by a
practised eye. Hence an artist will perceive beauties
in a landscape which escape the notice of an ordinary
observer. It is desirable therefore that the naturalist
should commence his studies by learning to distin-
guish accurately the different colours of natural bodies ;
he should apply to each of these a definite and correct
term, expressing even the very shade it may present ;
and he should know how the simple and elementary
colours may be so combined as to produce the suc-
cession of tints observable in shells and minerals, in
the plumage of birds, the petals of flowers, and which
bathe with beauty at sunrise or sunset the earth, the
ocean, and the heavens. He will find that the colours
which adorn the face of nature pass in suites into one
another ; nor can any thing be more exquisite than
the effect produced by their blending together in
mutual harmony. The eminent Werner directed his
attention to forming a nomenclature of colour, which
has been adopted by Professor Jamieson, and adapted
to the study of botany, zoology, and meteorology, bv
Mr. Syme. The original suite of colours was by-
Werner fixed at seventy-nine ; but finding the num-
ber defective when applied in the study of zoology and
botany, it was extended by Mr. Syme to a hundred and
ten. " The method of classification adopted by Werner
was," says Professor Jamieson, " simple and elegant.
He placed together all those varieties which contained
the same principal colours in a preponderating quan-
tity, and he then arranged them in such a manner
that the transition of the one variety into the other,
and of the principal into the neighbouring colours
was preserved, so that by mere ocular inspection any
person, accustomed to discriminate colours correctly,
can analyse the different varieties of colour which
occur in the mineral kingdom." In this system as
improved by Syme, there are ten principal colours,
each of which contains one that is called the charac-
teristic colour ; thus snow is the characteristic colour
of white, velvet-black of black, Berlin-blue of blue,
emerald-green of green, &c., and this characteristic
colour is so placed in the scale that, ascending or
descending from it, we may trace the colours which
are connected by transition. The following is the
mproved nomenclature of the Wernerian system by
Syme ; it explains how the gradations of colour are
produced, and illustrates them individually by refer-
snce to some animal, vegetable, or mineral *.

of ash grey). Animal, junction of the neck and back of the
kittiwake gull ; vegetable, white geranium ; mineral, arragonite.

4. Yellowish white ( snow white, with a very little lemon
yellow and ash grey). Vegetable, hawthorn blossom ; mineral,
chalk and Tripoli.

5. Orange coloured white (snow white, •with a very small
portion of tile red and king's yellow, and a minute portion
of ash grey). Animal, breast of white owl, or screech owl ; ve-
getable, large wild convolvulus ; mineral, French porcelain clay.

6. Greenish white (snow white, mixed with a very little

• Syme on Werner's Nomenclature of Colours.

COLOUR.

85

emerald green and ash grey). Animal, vent coverts of the
golden crested wren; vegetable, polyanthus, narcissus:
mineral, calc. sinter (forms the transition of white into
green).

7. Skimmed milk white (snow white, mixed with a little
Berlin blue and ash grey). Animal, white of the human
eye-ball ; vegetable, back of the petals of the blue hepatica;
mineral, common opal.

8. Greyish white (snow white, mixed with a little ash
grey). Animal, inside quill feathers of the kittiwake ;
vegetable, white Hamburgh grapes ; mineral, granular lime
stone.

9. Ash grey the characteristic colour (snow white, with
portions of smoke and French grey, and a very little yellowish
grey and carmine red). Animal, breast of long-tailed hen
titmouse ; vegetable, fresh wood ashes ; mineral, flint.

10. Smoke grey (ash grey, mixed with a little brown).
Animal, breast of the robin round the red portion . .
mineral, flint.

11. French grey (greyish white, with a slight tinge of
black and carmine red). Animal, breast of the pied wag-
tail. . . .

12. Pearl grey (ash grey, mixed with a little crimson red
and blue, or bluish grey with a little red). Animal, backs
of the black-headed and kittiwake gulls ; vegetable, back of
petals of purple hepatica ; mineral, porcelain jasper.

13. Yellowish grey (ash grey mixed with lemon yellow,
and a minute portion of brown). Vegetable, stems of the
barberry ; mineral, common calcedony.

14. Bluish grey (ash grey mixed with a little blue).
Animal, back and tail-coverts of the wood pigeon; mineral,
limestone.

15. Greenish grey (ash grey mixed with a little emerald
green, a small portion of black and a little lemon yellow )»
Animal, quill feathers of the robin ; vegetable, bark of ash
tree ; mineral, clay-slate wacke.

16. Blackish grey (ash grey with a little blue, and a por-
tion of black). Animal, back of nuthatch ; vegetable, old
stems of hawthorn ; mineral, flint.

III. BLACKS.

17. Greyish black (velvet black with a portion of ash
grey). Animal, breast and upper part of the back of the
water hen ; mineral, basalt.

18. Bluish black (velvet black, mixed with a little blue
and blackish grey). Animal, largest black slug ; vegetable,
crowberry ; mineral, black cobalt.

19. Greenish black (velvet black, mixed with a little
brown yellow and green). Animal, breast of the lapwing;
mineral, hornblende.

20. Pitch or brownish black (velvet black, mixed with a
little brown and yellow). Animal, guillemot, wing-coverts of
the black cock.

21. Reddish black (velvet black, mixed with a very little
carmine red, and a small portion of chestnut brown). Animal,
spots on the wings of the tiger moth, breast of the pochard
duck; vegetable, berry of the fuchsia coccinea; mineral,
olivine ore.

22. Ink black (velvet black, with a little indigo blue in
it). Vegetable, berry of the deadly nightshade ; mineral, oliviue
ore.

23. Velvet black (the characteristic colour of the blacks,
colour of black velvet). Animal, mole, tail-feathers of the
black cock ; vegetable, black of red and black West Indian
peas ; mineral, obsidian.

IV. BLUES.

24. Scotch blue (Berlin blue, mixed with a considerable
portion of velvet black, a very little grey and a slight tinge
of carmine red). Animal, throat of the blue titmouse;

vegetable, stamina of single purple anemone; mineral, blue
copper ore.

25. Prussian blue (Berlin blue, with a considerable portion
of velvet black, and a small quantity of indigo blue). Animal,
beauty spot on wing of the mallard drake ; vegetable, stamina
of bluish purple anemone; mineral, blue copper ore.

26. Indigo blue (Berlin blue, a little black, and a small
portion of apple green). . . . Mineral, blue copper ore.

27. China blue (azure blue, with a little Prussian blue in
it). Animal, rynchites nitens ; vegetable, back parts of
gentian flowers ; mineral, blue ore from Chessy.

28. Azure blue (Berlin blue, with a little carmine red).
Animal, breast of the emerald-crested manakin ; vegetable,
grape, hyacinth, gentian ; mineral, blue copper ore.

29. Ultramarine blue (equal parts of Berlin and azure
blue). Animal, upper side of the wings of small blue heath
butterfly ; vegetable, borage ; mineral, azure stone or lapis
lazuli.

30. Flax-flower blue (Berlin blue, with a slight tinge of
ultramarine blue). Animal, light parts of the margin of the
wings of devil's butterfly; vegetable, flax flower; mineral,
blue copper ore.

31. Berlin blue (the pure or characteristic colour of
Werner). Animal, wing feathers of the jay; vegetable,
bepatica ; mineral, blue sapphire.

32. Verditter blue (Berlin blue, with a small portion of
verdigris green) Mineral, lenticular ore.

33. Greenish blue, the sky blue of Werner (Berlin blue,
white, and a little emerald green). . . . Vegetable,
great fennel flower; mineral, turquois, some fluor spar.

34. Greenish blue, the small blue of Werner (Berlin blue
with white, a small quantity of grey, and a hardly perceptible
portion of red). Animal, back of blue titmouse; vegetable,
small fennel flower ; mineral, iron earth.

v. PURPLES.

35. Bluish lilac purple (bluish purple and white). Vegetable,
blue lilac ; mineral, lepidolite.

36. Bluish purple (equal parts of Berlin blue and carmine
red). Animal, azure blue butterfly ; vegetable, parts of white
and purple crocus. •

37. Violet purple, violet blue of Werner (Berlin blue,
mixed with red and a little brown). . . . Vegetable,
purple aster; mineral, amethyst.

38. Pansy purple (indigo blue, with carmine red and a
slight tinge of raven black). Animal, chrysomela Goetcin-
gcnsia ; vegetable, sweet-scented violet ; mineral, Derbyshire
spar.

39. Campanula purple, the characteristic colour (equal
parts of ultramarine blue and carmine red). . . . Vegeta-
ble, Canterbury bell, campanula persicifolia ; mineral, fluor
spar.

40. Imperial purple (azure and indigo blue, with carmine
red, about equal parts of each). . . . Vegetable, deep
parts of flower of saffron crocus; mineral, fluorspar.

41. Auricula purple (plum purple, with indigo blue and
much carmine red). Animal, egg of largest bluebottle or
ilesh fly ; vegetable, largest auricula; mineral, fluor spar.

42. Plum purple, the plum blue of Werner (Berlin blue,
with much carmine red, a very little brown, and an almost
imperceptible portion of black). . . . Vegetable, plum ;
mineral, fluor spar.

43. Red lilac purple (campanula purple, with a conside-
rable portion of snow white, and a very little carmine red).
Animal, light spots of the upper wings of the peacock but-
terfly ; vegetable, red lilac, pale purple primrose ; mineral,
lepidolite.

44 Lavender purple, the lavender blue of Werner (blue
red, and a little brown and groy). Animal, light parts of the
spots on the under wings of the peacock butterfly ; vegetable,
dried lavender flowers ; mineral, porcelain jasper.

45. Pale blackish purple (lavender puiple, mixed with a

little red and black) mineral, porcelain

jasper.

COLOUR.

VI. CRKEN9.

46. Celandine green (verdigris green and ash grey).
Animal, phalsena margaritaria ; vegetable, back of tussilugo
leaves ; mineral, beryl.

47. Mountain green (emerald green, with much blue and
a little yellowish grey). Animal, phalaena viridaria ; vege-
table, thick-leaved cudweed, silver-leaved almond, actynolite
beryl.

48. Leek green (emerald green, with a little brown and
bluish grey). . . . Vegetable, sea-kale, leaves of leeks
in winter ; mineral, actynolite.

49. Blackish green (grass green, with a considerable por-
tion of black). Animal, many small insects ; vegetable, dark
streaks on the leaves of Cayenne pepper; mineral, ser-
pentine.

50. Verdigris green (emerald green, much Berlin blue,
and a little white). Animal, tail of the small long-tailed
green parrot . . . mineral, copper green.

51. Bluish green (Berlin blue, and a little lemon yellow
and greyish white). Animal, egg of the thrush ; vegetable,
under disc of wild rose leaves ; mineral, beryl.

52. Apple green (emerald green, mixed with a little
greyish white). Animal, under side of the wings of the
green-broom moth.

53. Emerald green, the characteristic colour of the greens
(equal parts of Berlin blue and gamboge yellow). Animal,
beauty spot on the wing of seal-drake . . mineral,
emerald.

54. Grass green (emerald green, mixed with a little lemon
yellow). Animal, scarabeus nobilis; vegetable, general ap-
pearance of grass fields, sweet sugar pear ; mineral, ural, mica.

55. Duck green (emerald green, with a little indigo blue,
much gamboge yellow, and a very little carmine red). Animal,
neck of mallard : vegetable, upper disc of yew leaves ; mine-
ral, ceylanite.

56. Sap green (emerald green with much saffron yellow,
and a little chestnut brown). Animal, under side of lower
wings of orange-tip butterfly ; vegetable, upper disc of leaves
of the woody nightshade.

57. Pistachio green (emerald green, mixed with a little
lemon yellow, and a small quantity of brown). Animal,
neck of the eider drake ; vegetable, ripe pound pear; mineral,
chrysolite.

58. Asparagus green (pistachio green, mixed with much
greyish white). Animal, brimstone butterfly ; vegetable, vari-
egated horse olive geranium ; mineral, beryl.

59. Olive green (grass green, mixed with much brown).
. . . Vegetable, foliage of the lignum vitae ; mineral,

epidote olivine ore.

60. Oil green (emerald green, mixed with lemon yellow,
chestnut brown, and yellowish grey). Animal, animal and
shell of common water snail ; vegetable, nonpareil apple from
the wall; mineral, beryL

61. Siskin green (emerald green, mixed with much lemon
yellow, and a little yellowish white). Animal, siskin ; vege-
table, ripe Colmar pear, Irish pitcher apple ; mineral, mica,
from the ural.

VII. YELLOWS.

62. Sulphur yellow (lemon yellow, mixed with emerald
green and white). Animal, yellow parts of large dragon fly ;
vegetable, various coloured snap-dragon; mineral, sulphur.

63. Primrose yellow (gamboge yellow, mixed with a
little sulphnr yellow, and much snow white). Animal, pale
canary bird ; vegetable, wild primrose ; mineral, pale coloured
sulphur.

64. Wax yellow (lemon yellow, reddish brown, and a
little ash grey). Animal, larva of large water beetles ; vege-
table, greenish part of nonpareil apple; mineral, semi-opal.

65. Lemon yellow, characteristic colour of the yellow
series of Werner (a mixture of gamboge yellow, and a little
ash grey). Animal, large wasp or hornet ; vegetable, shrubby
goldylocks, fresh lemon peel ; mineral, yellow orpiment.

66. Gamboge yellow, characteristic colour of thyme. Ani-

mal, wings of goldfinch, canary bird; vegetable, yellow
jasmine ; mineral, high coloured sulphur.

67. King's yellow (gamboge yellow, with a small portion
of saffron yellow). Animal, head of the golden pheasant;
vegetable, yellow tulip, cinque foil. . . .

68. Saffron yellow (gamboge yellow, with gall-stone
yellow, about equal parts of each). Animal, tail coverts
of the golden pheasant ; vegetable, anthers of saffron crocus.

69. Gall stone yellow (gamboge yellow, with a small
quantity of Dutch orange, and a minute proportion of honey
yellow). Animal, gall stones; vegetable, marigold apple.

70. Honey yellow (sulphur yellow, mixed with chesnut
brown). Animal, lower parts of the neck of the bird of
Paradise; . . . mineral, fluor spar.

71. Straw yellow (sulphur yellow, with much greyish
white, and a little ochre yellow). Animal, some Canary
birds ; vegetable, oat straw ; mineral, calamine.

72. Wine yellow (sulphur yellow, mixed with reddish
brown and grey, with much more white). Animal, body of
silk moth ; vegetable, white currants ; mineral, Saxon topaz.

73. Sienna yellow (primrose yellow, with a little ochre
yellow). Animal, vent parts of the tail of bird of Paradise ;
vegetable, stamina of honeysuckle ; mineral, pale Brazilian
topaz.

74. Ochre yellow (sienna yellow, •with a little light chesnut
brown). Animal, vent colours of the redstart; . . .
mineral, porcelain jasper.

75. Cream yellow (ochre yellow, mixed with a little
white, and a very small quantity of Dutch orange). Animal,
breast of teal drake ; . . . mineral, porcelain jasper.

Till. ORANGE.

76. Dutch orange (the orange yellow of Werner is gam-
boge yellow, with carmine red). Animal, crest of golden
crested wren ; vegetable, common marigold ; mineral, streak
of red orpiment.

77. Buff orange (sienna yellow, with a little Dutch
orange). Animal, streak from the eye of the king-fisher;
vegetable, stamina of large white cistus ; mineral, natrolite.

78. Orpiment orange, the characteristic colour (about
equal parts of gamboge yellow, and arterial blood-red).
Animal, the neck ruff of the golden pheasant, belly of the
water newt ; vegetable, Indian cress.

79. Brownish orange (orpiment orange, with a little
hyacinth red, and a small quantity of light chesnut brown ).
Animal, eyes of the largest flesh fly ; vegetable, style of the
orange lily ; mineral, dark Brazilian topaz.

80. Reddish orange (buff orange, mixed with a considerable
sortion of tile red). Animal, lower wings of the tiger moth ;
vegetable, hemimeris, buff hibiscus. . . .

81. Deep reddish orange (Dutch orange, mixed with
much scarlet red). Animal, gold fish, lustre abstracted;
vegetable, scarlet Lymington apple. . . .

82. Tile red (hyacinth red, mixed with much greyish
white, and a small portion of scarlet red). Animal, breast
of the cock bullfinch ; vegetable, shrubby pimpernel ; mineral,
K>rcelain jasper.

83. Hyacinth red (scarlet red with lemon yellow and a
minute proportion of brown). Animal, red spots of the

ygseus apterous fly ; vegetable, red on the golden rcnnette
ipple; mineral, hyacinth.

84. Scarlet red (arterial blood red with a little gamboge
yellow). Animal, scarlet ibis or curlew, mark on head of

d grouse ; vegetable, large red oriental poppy ; mineral, light
red cinnabar.

85. Vermillion red (scarlet red with a minute portion of
)rownish red). Animal, red coral insect ; vegetable, love

apple ; mineral, cinnabar.

86. Aurora red (tile red with a little arterial blood-red
and a slight tinge of carmine red). Animal, vent coverts of

COLOUR.

87

pied woodpecker; vegetable, red on the naked apple; mineral,
red orpiment.

87. Arterial blood red ; the characteristic colour of the red
series. Animal, head of the cock goldfinch ; vegetable, corn
poppy, and cherry . . .

88. Flesh red (rose red mixed with tile red and a little
white). Animal, human skin ; vegetable, larkspur; mineral,
heavy spar, limestone.

89. Rose red (carmine red with a great quantity of snow
white and a very small portion of cochineal red) ....
Vegetable, common garden rose ; mineral, figure stone.

90. Peach blossom red (lake red mixed with much white)
. . . Vegetable, peach blossom ; mineral, red cobalt ore.

91. Carmine red, the characteristic colour of Werner (lake
red with a little arterial blood red). . . . Vegetable,
raspberry, carnation, pink; mineral, oriental ruby.

92. Lake red, the crimson red of Werner (arterial blood
red with a portion of Berlin blue). . . . Vegetable, red
tulip, rose officinalis ; mineral, spinel.

93. Crimson red (carmine red with a little indigo blue).
. . Mineral, precious garnet.

94. Purplish red, the columbine red of Werner (carmine
red with a little Berlin blue and a small portion of Indigo
blue). Animal, outside quills of terico; vegetable, daik
crimson officinal garden rose ; mineral, precious garnet.

95. Cochineal red (lake red mixed with bluish grey) . .
Vegetable, under disc of the decayed leaves of none-so-pretty -,
mineral, dark cinnabar.

96. Venous blood red (carmine red mixed with brownish
black) . Animal, venous blood ; vegetable, musk flower of
dark purple scabious.

97. Brownish purple red, the cherry red of Werner (lake
red mixed with brownish black and a small portion of grey).
. . . Vegetable, flower of deadly night-shade ; mineral,
red antimony ore.

98. Chocolate red (venous blood red mixed with a little
brownish red). Animal, breast of bird of Paradise ; vegetable,
brown disc of common marigold.

99. Brownish red (chocolate red mixed with hyacinth red
and a little chestnut brown). Animal, mark on throat of red
throated diver . . . mineral, iron flint.

x. BROWNS.

100. Deep orange-coloured brown (chestnut brown with a
little reddish brown and a small quantity of orange brown).
Animal, head of pochard; vegetable, female spike of cat's-tail
reed . . .

101. Deep reddish brown (chestnut brown with a little
chocolate red). Animal, breast of pochard, neck of teal-drake ;
vegetable, dead leaves of green panic grass ; mineral, brown
blende.

102. Umber brown (chestnut brown with a little blackish
brown). Animal, moor buzzard ; vegetable, disc of rudbeckia

103. Chestnut brown, the characteristic colour of the
browns of Werner's series (deep reddish brown and yellowish
brown). Animal, neck and breast of red grouse; vegetable,
chestnut; mineral, Egyptian jasper.

104. Yellowish brown (chestnut brown mixed with a con-
siderable portion of lemon yellow). Animal, light brown
spots on the guinea-pig, breast of hoopoe . . . mineral,
iron flint and common jasper.

105. Wood brown (yellowish brown mixed with ash grey).
Animal, the common weasel, light part of feathers on back of
snipe; vegetable, hazel nuts; mineral, mountain wood.

106. Liver brown (chestnut brown with a little black and
olive green). Middle parts of feathers of hen pheasant and
wing coverts of grosbeak. . . . Mineral, semi-opal.

107. Hair brown (clove brown mixed with ash grey).
Animal, head of pin-tail duck.

108. Broccoli brown (clove brown mixed with ash grey
and a small tinge of red). Animal, head of black-headed
gull . . . mineral, zircon.

1 09. Clove brown (ash grey mixed with a little blue red
and chestnut brown). Animal, head and neck of male kestril;
vegetable, stems of black currant bush ; mineral, surface of
rock crystal.

110. Blackish brown (composed of chestnut brown and
black). Animal, stormy petrel, wing coverts of blackcock,
forehead of foumart . . . mineral, mineral pitch from
Neufchatel, moor coal and bituminous wood.

The colours which may be thus recognised in the
animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms, are liable
to undergo many changes which appear determined
by the influence of light, heat, change of seasons,
climate, age, food, soil, and certain chemical actions
to which all inert matter is constantly liable. It
appears to be a provisionary law that animals, sub-
jected to be preyed upon by other animals, assume
the colour of the soil or medium by which they are
surrounded. Thus rabbits appear of the colour of
the soil in which they burrow, arid the colours of the
scales of fish vary according to the colour of the river
beds over which they swim. It has been shown by
an intelligent naturalist that when perch, gudgeon, or
minnows, are confined in water, the bottom of which
rests upon different coloured soils, the scales of the
fish gradually change their colour, and assimilate to
that of the soil (Stark, in Jamieson's Journal, vol. ix.
p. 329, 1830). A still more remarkable exemplifica-
tion of this provisionary law may be observed in the
colour of the eggs of birds. Those birds whose nests
and eggs are more exposed to the view of their ene-
mies than other animals, lay eggs which are of the
colour of the objects by which they are surrounded ;
thus the partridge, pheasant, and other birds which
lay their eggs among grass without any regular nest,
present us with eggs of a greenish colour, so that
they escape the detection of rapacious birds ; while
those which nestle in holes, as the woodpeckers'
wrynecks, water ousels, and swifts, present us with eggs
of a pure white, which, if exposed, would be immedi-

ately perceived by their enemies (Ibid, vol. viii. p. 130,
1829). The most curious fact, however, which the
naturalist observes is the change of colour which
plants and animals, under various circumstances,
undergo. These too are often of singular contrast ;
thus the flower of the blue crocus frequently changes
into yellow, the blue columbine to red, the blue violet
to white. The changes too during inflorescence are
often very remarkable ; thus the flower-buds of the
scorpion grass (Myosotis palustris] are delicate rose
colour, but they turn to a bright blue as they open.
It is well known that the plumage of birds, and the hair
of quadrupeds, are subject to remarkable changes of
colour, determined obviously by the influence of
season, climate, age, food, and other incidental cir-
cumstances. As winter approaches, the ptarmigan
begins to change colour, and gradually, about the
month of February, becomes perfectly white. As the
summer, however, returns, black spots appear upon
the feathers, which gradually expand into a reddish
brown until, in summer, the bird resumes its mottled
brownish colour. The change of the human hair from
a dark colour to grey or white is a matter of daily obser-
vation, and known to be caused by grief, and also by
old age. The hair of the unfortunate Louis XVI. of
France became quite grey during the night previous
to his execution ; so also, on the authority of Madame
de Campan, did that of the unfortunate Marie
Antoinette the night previous to her unhappy death.
And to what are these changes of colour referrible ?
the explanation will depend entirely on the theory of

CO LTS'-FOOT— COLUBER.

/»lour adopted. If we accept the Newtonian o
molecular theory, we must conclude that some change
takes place in the size of the particles of the bodies
whether hair, feathers, or flower petals, which causes
an alteration in the absorption and transmission o
the primary rays ; thus in the case of the autumna
leaf, when no longer nourished by the usual circula
tion of the sap, its particles undergo a change which
cause it to absorb the green rays which were before
reflected, and reflect the red, orange, or red rays
which were before absorbed. To this theory, how-
ever, Sir David Brewster does not assent ; he con-
siders it probable that these tints are caused by two
different juices on each side the plant, which exert a
different affinity over the primary rays. " The colours
of vegetable life," he observes, "and those of various
kinds of solids, arise, we are persuaded, from a specific
attraction which the particles of these bodies exercise
over the different coloured rays of light." As au-
tumn therefore advances, we are to presume that the
juices of the leaf change; there is a difference in the
secretion, and consequently in the attraction of the
primary rays. It must, however, be confessed that
this is a mere hypothesis, it is overturning one theory
by another equally undemonstrable, for where is the
proof that any such affinity exists as is here supposed ?
Lastly, if we adopt the undulatory theory, we must
conclude that the change of seasons, age, climate, &c.
causes such a change in the particles of bodies as
induces a greater or lesser frequency in the undulations
of the etherial medium, now producing the violet and
now the crimson colour.

However veiled in obscurity may be the laws of
light and colour, the different colours which irradiate
the world, are of eminent importance in the general
economy of nature. The colour of different soils
influences their fertility, the darker soils absorb, and the
light reflect the solar rays. The varied shades of green
presented by grass, herbs, and the foliage of trees,
relieves the surface of the earth from a monotony
which otherwise would have been painful to the eye.
The gaudy plumage of birds in tropical climates pro-
tects them from the direct heat of the sun's rays, wnich
are reflected from their feathers in brilliant rainbow
hues. Animals, which are guided principally by the
sense of sight, are attracted to their prey by the colour
which now exposes and now conceals them from their
view. The vulture perceives chiefly by its colour its
prey at an almost incredible distance; and whales are
attracted by their colour to the molluscae on which
they feed. The disposition, therefore, of the colours
of natural bodies is in strict unison with that harmony
of design which is manifested throughout the universe,
and which reveals itself, especially to the naturalist,
in every path he is tempted to explore.

COLT'S-FOOT is the Tussilago farfara of Lin-
naeus. It is a medicinal herb, and a very troublesome
weed to the farmer of damp clayey land. The flowers
come forth early in the year, and long before the
large roundish leaves. Deep and repeated ploughings
in the spring months is the only method of destroying
the roots and preventing it spreading.

COLUBER, a genus of ophidian reptiles, belong-
ing to the division of true serpents which are not
venomous ; and exceeding in number any other genus
of the order, and, indeed, every genus of reptiles.
They are of course without fangs or moveable teeth
adapted for inserting poison into wounds ; and, there-
fore, they are either simply swallowing serpents, or

crushing serpents, according to their size and strength-
They have large plates on the belly, and a double row
of plates on the under side of the tail, by which they
are readily distinguished from the poisonous serpents ;
but the number of species in the genus itself is so
great, and the distinctions between some of them are
so slight, that they can hardly be brought into any
intelligible order without a degree of minuteness of
detail, which is quite incompatible with the nature of
a popular work ; and which, though it could be accom-
plished, would be of little value to any but those who
make this very difficult class of animals a particular
study.

In disposition and habits they all very nearly re-
semble each other ; but they differ greatly in size, in
strength, and consequently in the sort of prey on
which they live. Their head is generally flattened,
of an elongated oval form, having the muzzle blunt
and beset with a few tubercles ; the head is covered
with large plates, about nine in number. Their tongue
is forked, and they move it with great celerity ; and
from this probably has arisen the vulgar notion of the
tongues of serpents being darts with which they can
inflict envenomed wounds ; which notion, though it
has found its way pretty largely into figurative writ-
ing, is of course wholly without foundation. The lips
of these serpents are usually covered with scales rather
larger than those on the body. The teeth in the jaws
are numerous, and generally much hooked, and they
assist in the process of swallowing. In some of the
smaller species the skin is very tender, but in the
larger ones it is correspondingly strong. That of the
head and throat, in particular, admits of great exten-
sion ; but when the scales are removed, and it is
tanned into leather, it is compact and thick, and very
durable. The scales upon them all are imbricated,
and generally speaking they are lozenge-shaped, and
the marks of them give a very peculiar appearance to
the tanned skin.

The whole of the genus are oviparous, and most
of them deposit their eggs in the ground to be hatched
by the heat of the sun. Those eggs are elongated
ovals, with the ends of equal thickness, and covered
with a whitish membrane about the consistency of
parchment, which is flexible at first, but which hard-
ens by exposure to the air. The young, while in the
egg, floats in an albuminous fluid, something similar
to that which surrounds a chick in the egg ; and it is
Furnished with a true umbilical cord, which is attached
to the belly a little in advance of the vent. All the
species of this genus are understood to change their
skins as is the general habit of serpents.

Both from their form, and the power and vora-
city of some of the larger species, these animals lie
under the general denunciation which the civilised
world appears to have pronounced upon the whole
serpent tribe. Whether this arises from the meta-
)horical allusion to the serpent, as the symbol of temp-
ation in the book of Genesis, it is of little consequence
o inquire ; neither is it worth while to go into a
brmal refutation of the vulgar notion that serpents
walked on feet, before the catastrophe above alluded
o ; and that, in consequence of their deceitful con-
luct, they were subsequently doomed to crawl on
heir belly. We may just remark that a serpent is no
more a mutilated creature than any other member of
he animal kingdom ; and that, all footless as they are,
heir powers of locomotion are, especially in many
members of this genus, very efficient and also very

COLUBER.

graceful. If we were to take the degradation of the
serpent, in point of shape, in a literal sense, we would
also require to take its feeding in the same. Now,
the metaphorical denunciation against the serpent is,
that it shall "eat dust" as well as crawl on its belly ;
and we know from observation, that there is no ser-
pent whatever which subsists upon this species of
aliment. By far the greater majority of serpents prey
upon live animals of some description or other ; and
the part which they thus perform in wild nature is a
very important one, especially in warm regions, where
the production of small life is so abundant and so
rapid, that, were it not for some such a race of beings
as the serpents, the system of nature could hardly
be carried on.

It may not be amiss, as tending in part to remove
the obloquy under which this order of animals lies, and
the horror which the vulgar have in general of them,
to mention very shortly the meaning of the word " ser-
pent" in the passage above alluded to. It means " self
conceit," or a following of one's own appetites not only
without any regard to right and wrong, but with a
knowledge that the gratification of the appetite is not
right ; and the denunciation is directed not against
any species of ophidian reptile, but against this figu-
rative serpent — the corruption of the human heart, or
the perverseness of human actions. " Upon thy belly
shall thou go," is the declaration of what we perceive
every day to be true ; namely, that they who once
break through the laws of justness and propriety in
the gratification of their bodily appetites, lose their
intellectual character, and become the slaves of their
own animal propensities, for the whole of which the
belly is often used as a figurative and certainly a very
appropriate expression. So also the eating of dust
means nothing more than that those who thus degrade
their intellectual nature, and become mere animals in
habit, can have no possession, and no feeling of the
value of any possession, except what is connected
with gross material indulgences, the figurative name
for which, is very often the dust of the ground ; and
this dust, in the sense in which it is thus used, is a
very appropriate name — it means vegetable mould, or
that species of earth which is most favourable to the
growth of plants ; and we need not add that this
mould is the primary element in the support both of
animals and of vegetables, the only substances which
can gratify the appetites of man.

These remarks are not foreign to the subject in
hand, because the genus coluber contains those ser-
pents which are more generally distributed over the
world, most numerous, most beautiful in their colours,
and most disposed to remain near the habitations of
man, and we may almost say absolutely court human
society. Though they belong to different classes of
animals, differ much in their forms, in their mode of
production, and in their way of life, yet, if we take
those differences along with us, we shall find that
there is a considerable analogy between those serpents
and the cats. They inhabit different kinds of places
no doubt ; and, generally speaking, they are better
swimmers, and much more aquatic in their habits than
the feline race, but they resemble these in the facility
with which they glide through tangled places, and the
certainty with which they capture small quadrupeds,
birds, and other little animals, especially different
kinds of mollusca, which would not leave a single
green leaf in the more humid brakes of the warm
latitudes, if it were not for the labours of these ser-

pents. Those places are very generally so close and
tangled, that nothing but a serpent can penetrate
them ; and thus, though there are many large birds
which ply diligently as scavengers in the tropical
countries, they can only prey in places which are
comparatively open ; and thus, though they might
and do pick up the dead bodies of those small ani-
mals, which are subject to casualties during the vio-
lence of the season, and also catch a good number of
strays, they leave what may be considered as the
nurseries of small animals wholly untouched ; and
thus the serpents become the true regulators of their
numbers.

When we compare the species of this genus with
each other, and take along with them the boas, which
though they have distinctive characters in the systems
of natural history yet very much resemble the colu-
bers in their habits, we find that though there is not,
strictly speaking, a polar race, as there is in the cat
tribe, yet there is, as in these, an increase, both in
numbers and in size and strength, as we approach
those regions of the world where the action of life,
both animal and vegetable, is at a maximum.

A very little reflection will suffice to convince the
reader that there can be no species of serpent well
adapted for inhabiting the land in the extremes of the
polar countries. Serpents are covered with scales,
which, even admitting that they are composed of the
same materials as fur or feathers, are, from the very
fact of their being in solid plates, while the others are
loose and flocculent, much better conductors of heat.
The consequence is, that serpents are capable of en-
during only a limited range of temperature, in which
respect they bear no inconsiderable resemblance to
scaly fishes, and no attempted domestication would
probably succeed in enabling a serpent to accommo-
date itself to difference of climates, or of seasons, to
any extent at all comparable with that of which furred
and feathered animals are capable ; neither would it,
perhaps, be possible to preserve them in a state of
activity during those seasons of the year at which they
are naturally dormant. We shall, however, be better
able to notice those physiological characters of ser-
pents which adapt them to different latitudes, and to
peculiar localities, when we have the whole class be-
fore us in the general article OPHIDIA ; therefore we
shall only farther remark that in the north-west of
Europe, the species of coluber are very rare, that they
increase as we proceed southward and eastward, and
probably extend farther into Siberia than they do in-
to corresponding climates into western Europe. In
those northerly places, however, the individuals are
of small size ; but in the Oriental Archipelago, they
rival if they do not exceed the Boas of the American
continent ; and, though many of the stories told of
them must be considered as exaggerated, yet it is cer-
tain that in Java, and the adjacent islands, they are
very formidable animals capable of crushing deer and
goats to death in their folds, and of swallowing an
animal several times the diameter of their own body.

All the members of the genus are, indeed, remark-
able for their capacity in swallowing. Their jaws, of
which nearly a corresponding description will be found
in the article BOA, are capable not only of opening
till the whole gape is a plane, but of considerably
more distension both ways, by means of the elastic
cartilage which unites the different bones of the jaws.
The smaller species subsist upon frogs, small lizards,
mollusca, mice, and other little animals. And in

COLUBER.

situations where they abound, and are not destroyed
in consequence of the superstitious prejudice there is
against them, they are useful in clearing the vicinities
of houses of many troublesome creatures. They are
also generally expert in climbing trees, and almost all
of them are excellent swimmers. They are not abso-
lutely aquatic, but they prefer moist situations ; and
the very large ones are seldom found at a great dis-
tance from the water.

There are some idle stories believed by the coun-
try people of those places where serpents of this genus
are common, such as that they suck the milk of cows,
whose mammae they reach by twiningup theirhindlegs,
and that by holding on with their teeth while they suck,
they occasion disagreeable wounds. Jt does not, how-
ever, appear that there is any truth in these stories, any
more than there is in the other allegations, that they
are apt to creep into the mouths of persons who sleep
in the open air near their haunts, and if they do not
choke them by sticking in the throat, prove very
disagreeable inmates of the stomach. This prejudice
is a very old one, and we find it continued to the pre-
sent day; and it has not always been confined to the
mere vulgar, but was eagerly laid hold of by empirical
practitioners in pretended medicine, during those
periods of the history of that most extraordinary art,
when it was not deemed necessary that the doings of
the doctor should have any connexion whatever with
physiology or with common sense, but that he had
the better chance of success the more he was opposed
to both.

That these animals are fond of creeping into holes
is certainly true ; but the mouth of a warm-blooded
living animal is not the most likely lodging-place for
them ; first, because the temperature would be too
high for them ; and, secondly, because the gullet of
an animal is the gate of death to everything which
enters ; and if it were possible to imagine that a savage
could once get a tiger or a boa constrictor fairly down
his throat, indigestion apart, he would feel no more
trouble from it than from any dead substance. There
neither is nor can be any living creature in the sto-
mach of an animal, but such as can naturally breed
there ; and of parasitical animals (Entozoa) which are
found in the alimentary vessels of other animals, the
majority, if not the whole are found in the intestinal
canal farther down than the true digestive stomach.

In temperate countries none of the colubers attain
a very large size ; but they are often very beautiful
in their colours, and very lively and graceful in their
motions. The sound of all their voices is a sort of
hiss, sometimes very sharp, but varying considerably
in tone in the different species. When the weather
begins to get cold, they retire to their holes, where
they remain dormant till the spring ; and they are not
much seen abroad even in the warmer months. In the
warmer part of the season, indeed, they seem to re-
quire a good deal of exposure to the sun before they
recover from their torpor ; for then they are abroad
and active in proportion as the weather is hot and
sunny ; but it should seem that, beyond a certain de-
gree, the heat of the sun is not so favourable to them.
This must, however, in no small degree, depend upon
the nature of the climate, and the consequent adapta-
tion of the species.

The number of species, and even of sub-genera,
into which these reptiles have been divided, are so
many, and have been so differently arranged by dif-
ferent authors, that the details of them would 'convey

no popular information. The simplest view that can
be given of them is a division into four sub-genera :
Python, Hurria,JDipsas and Coluber, properly so called,
and it is the last of the sub-genera of which the species
are so numerous, and many of which are natives of
temperate climates.

PYTHON. This sub-genus very closely resembles
the boa, except that the plates on the under-side of the
tail are double, whereas those in the true boas are
single. The largest species of this genus is the great
coluber of the Sunda Isles (Coluber Javanicm], which
is called " Ular sawa, or the water serpent," by the
Malays. It does not appear, however, to be exclu-
sively an inhabitant of the waters, though it is gener-
ally found near the rivers, or in marshy or humid
places. It is a large species, sometimes attaining the
length of thirty feet ; it kills its prey by crushing, and
is the boa constrictor of the eastern world. There are
one or two other species of this sub-genus, named by
systematic writers, and both described as being much
smaller than this one ; but it does not appear that,
unless in so far as size and strength are concerned,
they differ much in their manners ; and, from the long
life, slow growth, and annual change of skin, and many
other circumstances, together with our general igno-
rance of the habits of the more powerful serpents, it
is no very easy matter to say what is a species, and
what is not.

HUKRIA. This sub-genus is altogether doubtful,
being probably founded upon an imperfectly formed
species of the other; and its specific distinction, which
is that of having the scales at the root of the tail
single as in the boas, but those toward the point
double as in the colubers, is not of much importance.

DIPSAS. This name, which is given to an Indian
serpent, which is black marked with white rings, is
not a very happy one, in as much as dipsas was the
Greek name for a fabulous serpent (or one that we
may presume to have been fabulous), the bite of which
occasioned death by thirst in the person bitten. This
species, which is quite harmless, has been confounded
with a species of viper of the same country, which is
poisonous. The body of this serpent is compressed,
not so thick as the head ; and the scales along the
back are larger than those on the sides, and form a
sort of elevated crest.

COLUBER. Of this sub-genus there are about 147
species mentioned by the systematic writers on Ophio-
logy (or the natural history of serpents considered as
a class), and many more are named and probably exist,
at the same time it is not impossible that two or three
names may, owing to accidental differences of appear-
ance, have been given to the same species. The his-
tory of so many species, none of which differ very
murff in their manners, could hardly be treated in a
popular manner, even if the particulars were all well
known. But that is far from being the case ; so that
we must content ourselves with brief notices of a few,
both of the European species and of those which are
met with in other parts of the world.

Common Snake (Coluber natrix, Natrix torquata),
this is the most generally distributed, and on that ac-
count the best known, of all the European species. —
It is also the only one, or at least the principal one,
which is found in Britain, not unfrequently in England,
but much more rarely in Scotland. It grows to the
length of three or four feet : its back is of a dusky-
brown colour, with two stripes formed of a succession
of black spots, running the whole of its length ; and

COLUBER.

91

these are crossed by irregular spots of the same
colour which are very numerous. The belly is dusky
with a tinge of blue ; and there is a spot of yellow,
with a three-cornered one on each side of the neck.
These last-mentioned spots compose the collar, from
which the species gets the name of torquata, or ringed.
The head is flattened, and the muzzle rounded ; and
the head has four rows of large scales, two in the first
row, two in the second, three in the third, and four in
the fourth. There are seventeen scales in each jaw :
the scales on the sides are very small and smooth,
without any keel or projection in the middle. There
are about 120 plates on the belly, and from fifty to
sixty pairs on the under part of the tail. The eggs,
which are about eighteen or twenty in number, are
deposited in dunghills, hotbeds, and other places where
they have the advantage of heat from the fermenta-
tion of vegetable or animal matter.

This species is chiefly found in humid places, near
the margins of waters, and it takes readily to the
water, and is rather an expert swimmer. Its food
consists of mice, frogs, insects, and molluscous ani-
mals. It is a harmless and even gentle creature, and
capable of being tamed, in which state it shows not a
little attachment and affection ; and gives evidence that
it was intended for some useful domestic purpose , for it
is a law, and a very beautiful one, in the animal king-
dom, that every animal, of whatever race it may be,
and whether an inhabitant of the land or the water,
which courts the society of man, or even shows no
positive reluctance and desire to escape, is in some
i way or other useful to man, or might be rendered so,
if man would study its nature, and attend to the func-
tions which it is capable of performing. But the
harmless nature, and the gentle manners, and even the
'Usefulness of this animal, have not been sufficient to
iprotect it from a full share of that very unfounded
prejudice which people generally have against the
whole of the race. Even the Bard of Avon, who is,
generally speaking, as superior as a naturalist as he is
is a poet, has helped to perpetuate the animosity with
which this gentle creature is attacked. This is the
;'' water" or "ten" snake, which formed one of the
ingredients of the "cauldron of diablerie," prepared
,Dy the witches, in order to shake the soul of the
»tern Macbeth, and torment him before his time :

Fillet of a fenny snake.

In the cauldron boil and bake.

This species of serpent is delicate in its nature, and
! lot found in the colder or more elevated parts of the
•Country. In Scotland, it is very rare, and confined
.0 some of the warmer districts of the south ; and
ilthough there is a Scotch name for it, there is not a
3aelic one, so that it never can have been common,
t>r even known in the Highlands of Scotland, where
here is a name for the poisonous viper. But although
t has not been found in the eastern parts of the
riighlands, there is some reason to believe that it is
ty no means rare in Argyleshire, and in some of the
nore southerly of the Hebrides, where the climate is
nild and humid. It is also said to be rather common
a many parts of Ayrshire, near the coast, especially
bout the hills of Dundonald. But as, in Scotland
specially, where snakes of any kind are of rare occur-
ence, and in many places of which, the people will
ot eat eels because of their snake-like form, every one
hat can be discovered is instantly killed, and killed
•ith the stigma attached to it that it is a poisonous

viper, or adder, as it is called in that part of the
island.

One specimen, differing in its characters from the
common species, is mentioned as having been dis-
covered in the south of Scotland, near Dumfries, the
plates on the belly of which are stated at 162, and
those on the tail eighty. The colours were at the
same time paler than those of the common snake, and
the dorsal scales without any mesial crest as they
have in that species. But the specimen was a very
small one, not above five inches in length, and no
mention is made of any other instance of its occur-
rence within the island ; so that it is impossible to
form any positive conclusion respecting it. The hisr
tory of British reptiles is a subject which stands in
need of far more extensive and more careful investi-
gation than it has hitherto met with ; but from the
peculiar haunts, the retiring habits, and the long
hybernations of most of these animals, the study of
them is attended with peculiar difficulties.

Coluber coronella. This species is not uncommon
in the northern parts of France, and seems to resemble
the Dumfries-shire specimen rather more than the
Austrian snake does, with which Dr. Fleming, in his
account of British animals seems disposed to class it.
This one is represented as being of small size, and
with all its scales perfectly smooth ; the upper part
of the body bluish, with two rows of lenticular black
spots ; the flanks are of a pale reddish colour, clouded in
some places with darker ; and there are two triangular
spots of yellow at the back of the head, which is of
an oval form, and covered with very large scales for
the size of the animal.

Coluber viridiflavus. The green and yellow snake
is a very beautiful species, very abundant in the south
of France, and especially in the country around Bor-
deaux. The size varies from two to five feet in
length ; its head is large, its under part is of a delicate
lemon yellow, and the scales on the upper part are
alternately intense black and very brilliant green,
variously marked in different specimens, but always
very rich and beautiful. The tail is longitudinafiy
marked with black and yellow. This species is very
expert in climbing trees, and in capturing small birds,
and plundering their nests ; it is a very delicate crea-
ture, and killed by the slightest blow on the back.

Coluber Austriaca. Though this species was first
discovered ia Austria, and named after that country,
it is, perhaps, more abundant in the south of France,
in Spain, and in some parts of Italy, than it is any
where to the northward of the Alps. The upper
part has the ground colour of a reddish grey, marked
with five small lines behind the eyes, a bar across the
back of the head, and two rows of alternating spots
along the back, which are brown and blackish. The
lower part is iron grey, clouded with darker. Its
scales are entirely smooth, and the upper part has a
shining lustre. It is but a small species.

Coluber viper'mm. This species is found in the
south of France, in Spain, and in Italy. It is of a
brownish-grey colour above, marked with a zig-zag
line of spots down the back, which are yellow in the
centre, and black at the extremities ; there is also a
row of very small spots along each side. The under
part is mottled with black and grey.

Coluber tclragonus. This species, as its name
indicates, has the section of the body of a quadran-
gular form. It is small, rarely attaining a foot m
length, and is not so common as many of the other

COL UM BELL A.

species, though it is met with in some parts of France.
It is a shining serpent, with smooth scales, greenish
grey on the upper part, with a row of black dots along
the dorsal line, and two parallel ones on the sides.
The lower part is yellowish.

Coluber quadrilineatus, the four-striped snake. The
Coluber elaphis of Shaw is the largest of all the Euro-
pean serpents, and is generally understood to be the
boa of the ancients. It is yellow on the upper part,
marked with four longitudinal lines of brown, or
black, and this part of the body has a soft velvety
appearance ; the under part is black, and glistens
with a lustre resembling polished steel. The scales
on the back are carinated, but those on the flanks
are smooth.

Coluber flavescens. This is the Esculapian ser-
pent, Coluber Esculapii of Shaw, but not the Escu-
lapian serpent of Linnaeus. The species to which he
gave that name is a native of America, and of course
could not by any possibility be known to the ancient
Greeks. This species is very common in Greece, in
Italy, and not rare in some parts of France. It is
thicker in proportion to its length than any of the
European species, and its hiss is much stronger and
louder. It is an active animal, and preys equally on
the land and in the water, gorging itself while success-
ful, until it is unable to move. Jacquin mentions one
that was killed while in the state of semi-dormance,
in the stomach of which there were five small birds, a
common lizard, and a mullet, which, substituting turtle
for lizard, formed three courses worthy of an alder-
man ; and in procuring which we must naturally sup-
pose that this rapacious serpent had laid the air, the
earth, and the waters, under contribution within a
very short space of time. The colour of the upper
part is of an earthen grey, with a longitudinal band
of a darker shade on each side ; the scales nearest the
abdominal plates are white, with black borders on
their under edges. The belly is whitish mottled with
grey.

Coluber meridionalis. This species is found in
Provence and the adjoining parts of the South of
France. The ground colour above is greyish, with
large ash coloured spots on the top of the head
behind the eyes, and with four lines of smaller ones
along the sides. The spots on the back run into
each other two and two ; but those on the sides are
all separate. The extremity of the transverse plates
is black, the middle white, marked with black spots.
This is a very small species, and not so common as
some of the others.

Coluber Girondicus is greyish, with smooth scales,
the sides of which form brown bars across ; the belly
is damasked with yellow and black ; the head is
compressed, and there is a cross mark on the top of
the head. This species has been observed on the
banks of the Gironde, where it attains rather more
than two feet in length.

Coluber sanguinolenta. This species has also been
observed on the banks of the Gironde. It bears some
resemblance to the Esculapian serpent, but it is
smaller, and its colours are differently marked. It is
brownish ash, mottled with round spots of reddish
brown with black centres, which give it the appear-
ance of being spotted all over with blood, hence its
specific name. Its scales are carinated, and its head
is large and broad.

The preceding list is considerable, and yet we have
no reason to suppose that it includes more than a

fraction of even the European species, of this very
extensive genus. In various places of the South, ana
even in the central parts of the country, colubers arc
mentioned, differing much both in their forms and
their markings, from any of those which we have
noticed ; but the accounts of them are very vague ;
and so little is known of the habits of the animals,
and the changes of appearance, from age, season, and
sex, to which they are subject, and also of the varie-
ties, climatal or otherwise, into which they are apt to
run, that we must speak of them with great caution
and shall only farther observe of this genus, as
European, that it offers a very wide, and far from an
uninteresting field of inquiry, to those who are fond
of natural history, and who have the means of scruti-
nising with due attention those wild and semi-aquatic
placest|in which members of the genus are most likely
to be found.

In other parts of the world the species are still
more numerous than they are in Europe, and some
of them attain a larger size. They may all, however,
be considered as swallowing serpents, rather than as
killing their prey by crushing it to death, though
many of them have considerable strength in their
folds. They are all perfectly harmless to man, and,
generally speaking, of very great service to him, both
in the protection of his growing crops, and his maga-
zines of grain. In warm countries the depredations
committed by birds, are beyond any extent of which
we, of these mild latitudes, have any idea. They
come, one hardly knows whence, in flocks which
absolutely darken the air, and are quite sufficient to
consume the whole crop on a large plantation in the
course of an hour or two. In many parts of India,
indeed, and in other tropical countries, one of the
severest species of field labour which the people are
called upon to perform, is that of protecting their
crops from the birds. In such countries stages are
erected by the sides of all the little cultivated
patches, and the youth are kept continually on the
alert, hallooing and shouting to scare away the winged
plunderers, which are to a verv great extent noise
proof. In those countries, at least in places where
part of the land is under crop, and kept irrigated, so
that there is a succession of insects from the supply of
water, birds nestle and breed at all seasons ; and
were it not thai there is some means of keeping down
their constantly augmenting numbers, they would
very speedily obtain the mastery of all nature; for
we have evidence in various parts of the animal
kingdom, that individual strength is of no avail
whatever against combined numbers, be the indivi-
duals as weak as they may. We have proof that the
antelope, the buffalo, nay even the lion himself in
wild nature, may be starved to death by the invasion
of the locust ; and we sometimes feel in our own
country, that the checking of vegetable action for a
few days, and the consequent tendency to a saccha-
rine state of the juices, will destroy the crop of our
orchards in very brief space. Now when we consider
that birds are individually much more voracious than
locusts, although the latter ply a very willing tooth,
yet we must admit that those means by which the
excess of the smaller feathered creatures is kept down
in tropical countries, is among the most beneficial to
man ; and this is a labour which snakes of this genus
are incessantly arid successfully performing.

COLUMBELLA (Lamarck ; VOLUTA, Linnaeus).
These shells were classed by Linnaeus with the genus

COLUMBINE — COM BRETACE^.

Valuta, from which they are, however, very distinct,
having the interior part of the right lip or margin
gibbous or thickened, rendering the aperture narrow
and waved, and by having also a very small thin ellip-
tical operculum, which latter circumstance, Sowerby
observes, allies this genus to that of Ricinula. The
shells of this genus are short, small, rather thick, often
striated transversely, and much varied in colour ; in
some respects they appear allied to the genus Mitra.
There are plaits on the columbella, it is more or less
notched, and without a canal. The animal is not
completely known, it is of the second class Parace-
phalophora, first order Siphonobranchiata, first family
Siphonottamata. These shells inhabit the seas of hot
countries ; about eighteen species are enumerated by
Lamarck, and one fossil by De France.

COLUMBINE is the Aqttilegia vulgaris of Lin-
naeus. It is a native of Britain, but has a good many
foreign associates. Their flowers are of very re-
markable structure and bright colours, for which they
have (bund their way into every flower garden.

COLUMELLI ACE.E. A natural order of dico-
tyledonous plants, which has been formed by Mr. Don,
and which contains only a few genera as species. It
is allied to Jasminea, and corresponds with that order
in the structure and aestivation of its corolla, in its
bilocular ovary, and in the structure and dehiscence
of its capsule ; but it differs in having an adherent
ovary, a perigynous disk, an undivided stigma, and
an inferior capsule with many-seeded cells. The
essential characters, as given by Don, are : calyx
turbinate, superior, many toothed ; corolla rotate, five
to eight partite, with a convolute aestivation ; stamens
two ; anthers linear, one to two celled ; ovary inferior
two celled, with an indefinite number of ovules ; style
simple, declinate ; stigma capitate ; disk perigynous
fruit, a two celled, many seeded capsule ; seeds
ascending.

The plants belonging to this order are shrubs, trees
or herbs, with opposite entire leaves, and solitary
yellow flowers. They grow in Mexico and Peru
Their properties are as yet unknown. The chie
genera of the order are, Columellia and Menodora.

COLUMNEA (Limweus). A genus of under-

shrubs and climbers, natives of the West Indies

Linnaean class and order Didynamia Angiospcrmia, am

natural order Scrophularince. Generic character

calyx in five parts ; corolla tubular, limb erect, am

two lipped ; upper lip hollow, elongated, and gibbou

above the base, with acute reflexed segments on eacl

side ; lower lip spreading, and entire ; stamens unde

i the upper lip ; anthers two celled, and placed clos

together ; fruit a two celled, many seeded, berry

I These are pretty flowering plants, and easily propa

I gated by cuttings struck in sand ; they are, however

I easily lost if over watered or kept in a damp part o

the stove.

COLUTEA (Linnaeus). A genus of ornamenta

' shrubs, natives of the south of Europe. They belon

to Diadclphia Dccandria, and natural order Legum

\ nosee. Generic character : calyx of five teeth ; stan

dard furnished with two callosities at the base ; kee

obtuse ; stigma on the side and under the apex of

crooked style ; pod on a footstalk, inflated, mem

branaceous. This plant is called bladder-senna i

English lists, and is a favourite shrubbery genus, •<

they flower abundantly, and ripen seeds, by whic

.j they are propagated.

COL YMBETES (Clairville). An extensive genus
coleopterous insects belonging to the section
'entamera subsection Adephaga, and family of the
ater beetles, Dytiscidce. The species are of an inter-
icdiate size, and oval form. They frequent ponds,
rooks, and other standing as well as running water ;
ley are found throughout the year, but are most
bundant in the spring and summer months ; they
wim with great agility, and may often be seen in hot
reather to quit their native element and rise to a
onsiderable height in the air with the assistance of
leir large wings. There are upwards of thirty British
pecies, including the type Dytiscus striatus, Linnaeus ;
tiey are generally distinguished by having the tarsi
omposed of fivejoints, the four anterior in the males are
iilated into an oblong plate, the antennae are as long
s the head and thorax, and the scutellum is distinct.
COM ARUM (Linnaeus). A British plant found
m most bogs, commonly called marsh-cinquefoil. It
•elongs to Icosandria Polygynia, and to the natural
)rder Rosacea. This plant was called Potentilla
vmarum bv Scopoli, an Italian botanist.

COMBRETACE^E, the myrobalanse family. A
natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing eigh-
een genera, and upwards of one hundred species. It
s allied to Myrtacea and Onagrarice, agreeing with
.hose orders in the structure of the embryo and flower-
It also bears a strong affinity to Santalaceae and El<sa-
gnecB among the monochlamydeous plants.

The essential characters of the order are : Flowers
hermaphrodite, rarely polygamous ; tube of the calyx
adherent to the ovary, limb four or five-lobed, decid-
uous ; petals either wanting, or from four to five in
number, arising from the orifice of the calyx and alter-
nate with its lobes ; stamens inserted into tlie top of
the tube of the calyx, double in number to its lobes,
rarely equal or triple ; filaments distinct, awl-shaped ;
anthers two-celled, bursting longitudinally ; ovary one
celled, with from two to four ovules, hanging from the
extremity of the cell ; style one, slender ; stigma
simple ; fruit, a drupe, berry, or nut, one-celled, one-
seeded, indehiscent, and often winged ; seed pendu-
lous, without albumen ; cotyledons leafy.

The plants belonging to this order are trees or
shrubs, with alternate or opposite stipuled leaves, and
terminal or axillary spikes of flowers. They are found
solely in tropical regions, and grow in various parts
of India, Africa, and America. They possess in
general astringent properties.

The order has been divided into two sections : —
1 . Terminaliea:, corresponding to the Myrobalanece of
Jussieu, in which the cotyledons are rolled spirally,
calyx five cleft, petals wanting, and stamens ten in
number. This division includes the genera Termin-
alia, Bucida, Conocarpus, &c. — 2. Combretece, the true
combretum tribe, in which the cotyledons are thick,
plaited longitudinally, calyx from four to five cleft,
petals from four to five in number, and stamens varying
from eight to ten. This section comprehends the
genera Combretum, Quisqualis, &c.

The genus Terminalia contains thirty-six known
species, many of which are important in a medical and
economical point of view. Terminalia vcrnix furnishes
a caustic poisonous juice, which is used in China as a
varnish. The fruit of Terminalia bellerica, is rather
larger than a gall-nut when dried, and is administered
as a tonic and astringent. Terminalia chcbula grows
in the Malabar woods, and attains the height of eigh-

04

COMBRETUM— COMBUSTION.

teen or twenty feet. Its bark and fruit possess power-
ful astringent properties, and are much used by the
Hindoos in arts and manufactures. The flowers are
also used in powder, to check bowel complaints. The
bark of Terminalia alata is met with in the Indian
bazaars. It is of a reddish brown colour, has a strong
astringent taste, and is used in Ceylon in febrile cases.
The juice of the leaves is poured into the ears for the
purpose of allaying the pain of earach. The bark also
dyes black, and the wood is used in building, and in
the formation of boats. The kernel of the fruit of
Terminalia latifolia is edible, and a decoction of the
root of the plant is exhibited in Jamaica in cases of
diarrhoea. The kernel of Terminalia Catappa has the
taste and virtues of the almond. It also yields an oil
which is used as an article of food. The tree supplies
valuable timber. Its bark and leaves yield a black
pigment, with which the Indians dye their teeth, and
which is sometimes used in the formation of Indian
ink. The fruit of Terminalia citrina is about the size
of a French plum, and is made into a pickle. Ter-
minalia angiistifolia furnishes a resinous substance,
similar to benzoin.

Laguncularia racemosa is one of the plants called
mangroves in Brazil, and is used in Rio Janeiro for
tanning. The bark of Sucida Buceras, known in the
Antilles by the name of French oak, is also used for
a similar purpose.

The genera Combretum and Quisqualis furnish some
of the most splendid climbing plants of the tropics.
When suspended from the trees in these regions, their
white, crimson, and yellow flowers have a peculiarly
showy and striking appearance.

COMBRETUM (Linnaeus). A fine genus of
ornamental climbers chiefly natives of Africa. Lin-
nffian class and order Octandria Monogynia, and
natural order Combretacece. Generic character : calyx
funnel formed and four lobed ; petals four, inserted
in the calyx ; so also are the stamens, and opposite
the petals ; anthers two celled, and burst longitudi-
nally ; style pointed ; fruit like a nut, containing one
seed, and winged ; seeds pendent. This beautiful

fenus is of but late introduction into our collections,
n 1818 there were but two species, at present we
have at least thirteen. They all thrive well in the
compost usually made for stove plants, namely, loam
and moor-earth. All the species may be increased
by cuttings or layers.

COMBUSTION, SPONTANEOUS. There
are many facts which lead to prove the existence of this
extraordinary natural process. In ordinary cases the
combustible substance is set on fire by its temperature
being artificially raised by friction, percussion, or the
application of some other burning body. Then heat
and light are evolved ; the body takes fire, and this
is what is termed combustion. It arises from the
particles of one substance entering into chemical
combination with the particles of another ; thus pit-
coal or fire-wood entering into combination with the
oxygen of the atmosphere yield a vast quantity of
light and heat ; and the more rapid the combination
is which takes place, the more vivid is the light, the
more intense the heat. Fkme, therefore, is the vola-
tilised matter of the combustible body entering rapidly
into combination with the oxygen or gas that supports
the combustion. In the case of a candle, the tallow
or wax is converted into vapour, which enters into
combination with the oxygen of the surrounding air,

and becomes heated to whiteness. The flame is a
film of this hot white vapour, enclosing within it a

Quantity of the same vapour, which, when the outer
1m is consumed, comes in contact with the oxygen,
and is in its turn consumed. Hereby the flaine is
sustained, and as the supply of vapour diminishes as
it ascends, the flame tapers to a point Several sub-
stances undergo combustion at a very low tempera-
ture. Phosphorus at the common temperature of the
air undergoes slow combustion ; it emits a white
vapour, is luminous in the dark, and is gradually con-
sumed. When combined with a certain quantity of
hydrogen it forms a gas, which is so highly inflam-
mable that it bursts into flame the moment it comes
into contact with the atmosphere. The illuminating
and heating qualities of the coal gas and oil gas are
well known ; they require, however, to be ignited
before combustion takes place. The sources of com-
bustion, or the circumstances which excite the com-
bustible body into a state of combustion, are numerous
and sometimes not easily determined. The cause of
subterranean fires and volcanoes has been referred to
the decomposition of pyrites or the metallic sulphurets
which exist below the surface of the earth. Indeed
the disengagement of heat is a constant result of
chemical action ; it is always evolved whenever a
substance without change of form passes from a rarer
into a denser state ; as when a gas becomes a liquid ;
or a liquid solidifies. In fermentation so considerable
a degree of heat is often evolved that visible combus-
tion ensues ; hence stacks of hay, turf, flax, hemp,
&c., when put up wet, frequently take fire. The light
and heat emitted during combustion vary with the
nature of the combustible substance ; the flame some-
times being white, yellow, blue, orange, or deep red ;
and the heat often very low, though the substance be
ultimately consumed. Several bodies seem to con-
tain light as a constituent, which in escaping renders
them luminous, as if surrounded by a lambent flame,
varying in colour according to the body whence it
arises. The minerals which possess this property are
called phosphorescent, as fluor spar, or phosphate of
lime. Many animal substances part with their con-
stituent light when they begin to putrefy ; thus
different kinds of meat and fish, as the haddock,
herring, mackerel, when putrefaction commences,
appear luminous in the dark. The source of the light
and heat given out during combustion is not well
understood ; many consider the phenomenon entirely
electrical. The combustibility of bodies, or their dis-
position to combine with a greater or less rapidity
with oxygen, or any other gas which supports
combustion, varies considerably. Many animal and
vegetable substances in decomposing give rise to a
combination between phosphorus and hydrogen,
which produces the gas above referred to, which
ignites immediately it comes in contact with the
atmosphere. This is the cause of the ignis fatuus or
will o' the wisp, which is charged with the sin of be-
traying weary travellers into bogs and quagmires.
The secret, however, is that such places abound with
animal and vegetable remains undergoing putrefaction.
The mysterious visitants have been detected rising in
the form of air-bubbles to the surface of the earth or
water, and suddenly taking light. Their flickering
motion too may be ascribed to the agitation of the
air by which they are surrounded ; so that these faery
torches are by the stern exorcism of science divested

COMBUSTION.

&5

of all their supernatural character. Other inflamma-
ble gases have been often found existing1 in nature in
a free state, and have been collected in large quanti-
ties. In the western part of the State of New York,
forty miles from Buffalo, and two from Lake Erie, a
village is lighted by its native gas. On removing an
old mill, bubbles were seen to rise which were found
to be inflammable. A company was then formed, a
gasometer constructed, and upwards of a hundred
burners were supplied with this gas. In China, near
the town of Thsee-Lieou-Tsing, springs of inflamma-
ble gas have been found. If, according to M. Imbert,
a torch be presented to the orifice of a well when the
tube full of water is coming up, it inflames and pro-
duces a jet of fire from twenty to thirty feet high.
These springs are employed for heating and lighting
all the salt-works in the neighbourhood. Bamboo
pipes carry the gas From the spring to the place where
it is intended to be consumed. These tubes are ter-
minated by a tube of pipe-clay to prevent their being
burned. A single well heats more than 300 kettles.
The fire so obtained is exceedingly brisk, and the
cauldrons are rendered useless in a few months.
Other bamboos conduct the gas intended for lighting
the streets and the different apartments in houses ; so
that nature has herself supplied this place with a
complete establishment of gas-light. It is added that
in winter the poor people, in order to warm them-
selves, dig the sand to the depth of a foot ; they
then set fire to the gas arising from the hollow so
formed, and sitting round it warm themselves as long
as they feel inclined. They then fill up the hollow
with sand, and the fire goes out. This singular cir-
cumstance arises from there being a vast number of
coal mines in this district, which contain so much
coal gas that it escapes into the strata around them.

When we consider the changes which are constantly
taking place in the interior of the earth, it is by no
means surprising that inflammable and sometimes
poisonous gases should be evolved ; it is, however,
very remarkable that inflammable gas has sometimes
been generated in the bodies of living animals. It is
recorded that on opening the body of an ox, which
had been some time sick, an explosion took place, and
the flame, which rose to the height of more than five
feet, scorched severely the butcher and a little girl
who stood near him. A case was read by M. Bally
to the Royal Academy of Medicine at Paris, of a
man who, having been admitted into the Hotel Dieu
ill with typhus, died emphysematous, that is, with air
effused in the tissue below the skin, and when the
skin was punctured a gas escaped, which was set on
fire by the flame of a candle. It burned for some
time ; the flame being blue at its base, white at its
summit, and as the body presented no signs of putre-
faction, the air having been effused below the skin
before death, it was inferred that it must have been
generated during life. Another case, which was wit-
nessed by Leduc, is related by Deneux ; it is that of
a lady from whose body during life a gas proceeded,
which took fire and exploded. It is therefore certain
that inflammable gases may be developed in the
human body during life ; and this fact has been
adduced in explanation of that curious phenomenon,
the spontaneous combustion of the human body.
The assertion that the human body may of itself take
fire and, with the exception perhaps of a few frag-
ments of bone, be entirely consumed, appears so
marvellous that the occurrence may well be at first

doubted ; yet on inquiry we shall find that such a
mass of evidence exists in proof of its having taken
place, that the doubts and suspicions of the most
sceptical must be set at rest. In the Transactions of
Copenhagen we read that, in 1692, a woman of the
lower class who for three years had used spirits to
such an extent that she could take no other nourish-
ment, having sat down one night on a straw chair to
sleep, was consumed in the night time, so that next
morning no part of her was found, excepting the skull
and the extreme joints of the fingers. In the Annual
Register for 1 763, the case is recorded of the Countess
Cornelia Bandi, of the town of Cesena, who died in
a similar manner. This lady was in her sixty-second
year, and well all day until night, when she began to
feel a little heavy. After supper she went to bed,
and, having talked two or three hours with her maid,
fell asleep, upon which the maid servant left the room,
closing after her the door. The next morning, on
going to call her mistress, she found her corpse in
this deplorable condition. Four feet distant from the
bed was a heap of ashes, two legs untouched, stock-
ings on, between which lay the head, the brains, half
of the back part of the skull and the whole chin
burned to ashes, among which were found three
fingers blackened. All the rest was ashes which had
this quality, that they left in the hand a greasy and
offensive moisture. The air of the room had soot
floating in it, and from the window a greasy yellowish
fluid trickled. Of two candles on the table the tallow
was gone, but the cotton left some moisture about the
feet of the candlestick. The bed was undamaged,
the blankets and sheets being raised on one side, as
when a person gets out of bed. This case was pub-
lished when it took place by Bianchini, the prebendary
of Verona ; it was also attested by Scipio Maffei, a
learned contemporary of Bianchini ; and finally con-
firmed to the Royal Society of London by Pauf Rolli.
The narration is followed by an inquiry into the cause
of the conflagration, the result of which is that it was
not from the lamp or a flash of lightning, but that the
combustion began spontaneously.

Vicq. d'Azyr, Lair, Kopp, Dupuytren, and Marc,
have related a number of other cases, from which,
taken collectively, the following inferences have been
deduced : —

1. Spontaneous combustion is a calamity almost
peculiar to the old and feeble ; and those who have
suffered have in general been habitual and excessive
indulgers in alcoholic liquors.

2. Women seem peculiarly prone to it : thus of
seventeen cases collected by Kopp sixteen occurred
to females, while the eight cases mentioned by Lair
were all females.

3. The flame is of a lambent and flickering nature,
of a blue colour, and not readily communicable to
other inflammable bodies. Water not only does not
extinguish, but frequently gives the flames additional
activity.

4. The combustion proceeds with extraordinary
rapidity ; the decomposition of the entire body being
usually effected in a very short space of time.

5. The trunk is generally entirely consumed ; but
portions of the skull and extremities have been occa-
sionally found left.

6. A strong and peculiar empyreumatic odour is
generally exhaled during the combustion, and upon
adjacant objects there is found a greasy, moist, and
fetid fuliginous deposit.

C O M E S P E R M A— C O M M E L I N E JE.

7. Winter is the season during which spontaneous
combustion is most liable to occur, and it seems cer-
tain tnat the combustion in many cases has arisen
spontaneously, or without the contact of any ignited
body.

We are not aware that any analogous phenomenon
has been observed among the interior animals, or in the
vegetable creation. The luminosity of insects — such
as the glow-worm, fire-fly, lantern-fly, and of medusae,
which often illumine large tracts of the surface of the
sea has however been supposed to arise from the slow
combustion of some combination of phosphorus
secreted from their fluids. It is not difficult to under-
stand that the human body, when saturated with
alcohol, may be the subject of such chemical changes
as will render it combustible. There is a large quan-
tity of phosphorus in the bones, and in other parts of
the body, and it is easy to conceive that the excess
of hydrogen introduced into the system by alcohol,
may give rise to such a combination as will evolve
the perphosphuretted hydrogen, a gas which, as
above explained, takes fire spontaneously; and hence
also, water which is composed of oxygen and hydro-
gen does not extinguish the flame, because it becomes
decomposed itself, and its hydrogen uniting with
another portion of phosphorus, increases the quantity
of the inflammable gas. This theory is by some physi-
ologists thought inadequate to explain all the phe-
nomena that occur, and they therefore have recourse
to the calorific power of the electrical fluid. We
apprehend, however, that the above explanation is the
most satisfactory, and therefore give it a decided pre-
ference. The most remarkable fact connected with
spontaneous combustion is the rapidity with which
the body has, in most cases, been consumed. It is
well known that the ancients, in the ceremony of cre-
mation, or the burning of the dead, used vast quanti-
ties of fuel ; and, to expedite the process, added oil,
fat, ointments, perfumes, £c. ; yet, notwithstanding,
the body was not consumed for a considerable time.
Hence Achilles is described by Homer as having at-
tended the burning of the bodyofPatroclus throughout
the whole night. We also know that in the execution
of those unhappy persons who were condemned by
the inquisition to be burnt to death, a prodigious
quantity of combustible materials was required ; yet,
in most of the instances of spontaneous combustion,
the body, without any fuel, and in the space of a very
few hours, appears to have been almost entirely
reduced to ashes. Were not such cases attested by
the most competent and unimpeachable authorities,
they might well be doubted ; who, however, can pre-
scribe limits to the mysterious operations of nature ?
It is easy for the ignorant or the indolent to be scep-
tical, and deny the possibility of every occurrence that
has not fallen within the narrow sphere of their own
personal observations ; the better informed and more
philosophical mind, however, will pronounce no such
rash judgment, but will pause, and attentively and
patiently examine every phenomenon which appears
to be well attested.

COMESPERMA (Labillardiere). A genus of
evergreen shrubs, natives of New Holland, Linnaean
class and order, Monadelphia Octandria, and natural
order Pnlygalece. Generic character : calyx of five
sepals, deciduous ; two of the sepals wing formed ;
corolla of one petal, three-parted ; middle segment
somewhat cup formed, often imarginate ; stamens two
bearing anthers ; style tubular ; capsule wedge shaped,

two celled, and two seeded. Admirable greenhouse
plants, which thrive well in light loam and moor-earth*
but should never be too much soaked with water ; to
preventwhich perfectdrainageof the pots is necessary:
increased by cuttings.

COMFREY. Is the Symphytum officinale of Lin-
naeus. It is a very common British plant found grow-
ing on the banks of wet ditches. Some of the species
have tuberous roots, and all are perennials. The
rough comfrey, a native of Mount Caucasus, intro-
duced about 1799, has been lately cultivated as an
agricultural plant ; the leaves being found an agree-
able and nutritious green food for cows. The culture
is only eligible, when no other agricultural plant can
be conveniently raised.

COMMELINA (Linnaeus). A genus of ornamen-
tal herbaceous plants, chiefly natives between the
tropics, and belonging to the third class of Linnaeus,
and made a distinct order by Jussieu, under the title
of CommelinecB. Generic character : — involucrurn
double and cupped ; calyx of three sepals ; corolla of
three petals, one or more of the petals often abortive
or wanting ; stamens three, fertile, with three inter-
vening glands, crossed ; stigma simple ; seed vessel
three celled, three valved ; seeds one in each cell.
These are pretty blue flowering plants ; they may be
increased by seeds which ripen frequently, or by divid-
ing the root. Some of them flower in. the open air
during summer ; but if such have tuberous roots, they
must be taken up before winter, and kept in dry sand
out of the reach of frost.

COMMELINEjE. The spider-wort family. A
natural order of monocotvledonous plants, containing
nine or ten genera, and upwards of eighty species.
It is allied to Xyrldece, and also to Restiaceee.

The essential characters of the order are : perianth
of six divisions, in a double series, outer tripartite,
somewhat resembling a calyx, inner petaloid, with
the claws of the petals sometimes cohering at the
base ; stamens six or fewer, hypogynous, some of
them either deformed or abortive ; ovary three-
celled ; style one ; stigma one ; capsule two or
three celled, two or three valved, the valves bearing
the dissepiments in the middle ; seeds often in pairs,
inserted by their whole side on the inner angle of the
cell ; embryo flat and circular ; albumen fleshy.

The plants of this order are herbs, with leaves
which are usually sheathing at the base. They in-
habit marshy ground in both hemispheres, and are
chiefly found in the East and West Indies and
Africa. None of them are known in Europe except
in cultivation. Many of them are elegant plants,
sending forth beautiful clusters of blue, reddish, or
white flowers. The first-mentioned colour is the
prevailing one of the order.

The chief genera arc, Commetina, Calliaia, l)i-
chorizandra, Tradescantia, Cartonema, Cytnwtis, and
Aneilema.

The genus Commelina was named in honour of
two Dutch botanists, called Comrnelin. It contains
nearly thirty species, some of which are showy, while
others are mere weeds.

Callisia repens is a West India plant, remarkable for
its shining leaves, which are edged with purple.

Tradescantia axillaris, or axillary spider-wort, is a
native of the Malabar coast. A decoction of the plant
is considered in that country as a useful remedy in
dropsy and in flatulent affections of the bowels.
Some of the species of this genus, which is found in j

CO MOCLADIA— COMPOSITE.

9?

Jamaica, are looked upon as antidotes to the poison
of spiders.

COMOCLAD1A (Linnaeus). A genus of large
West Indian timber trees, belonging to the third class
and first order of Linnanis, and to the natural order
TercbinthacecE. Generic character : calyx of three
parts ; corolla of three elongated petals ; stamens
short ; style none ; stigma simple and sitting ; drupe
of one seed. These trees have been described by
Sloane, Swartz, and Jacquin ; but they are of too
large growth for cultivation in our stores.

COMPOSITE. Composite Family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing between
three and four hundred genera, and upwards of four
thousand species. It is a very extensive and import-
ant order, and is at once recognised by the cohesion of
its anthers, and its capitate flowers. On account of
the former of these characters, the order has been
denominated by some authors, Synantherce. It is
allied to Calycereee and Dipsacece, but differs, from
these orders in not possessing a pendulous ovulum,
and in its anthers not being free.

The following are the characters of the order : —
tube of the calyx adnate with the ovary ; limb of calyx
either wanting, or membranous, or divided into bris-
tles, chaff, hairs, or feathers, called pappus ; corolla
regular and funnel shaped, or irregular and ligulate,
sometimes two lipped, generally four or five toothed ;
stamens four or five, alternate with the teeth of the
corolla ; anthers cohering in a cylinder ; ovary in-
ferior, one celled, with a single erect ovule ; one
style ; stigmas two, either distinct or united ; fruit, a
small, indehiscent, dry pericarp, crowned with the
limb of the calyx or pappus ; seed erect, without
albumen ; embryo straight ; radicle directed to the
hilum.

The plants belonging to this very natural order are
herbs or shrubs, rarely trees, furnished with flowers
(called JJoscuU, or florets) which are collected into
dense heads on a common broad receptacle, and are
surrounded by an involucre. Their leaves are alter-
nate or opposite, without stipules, and usually simple.
Among the flowers there exist frequently leafy or
chaffy appendages, called bractcas. The Composite
are not in general cultivated on account of their
beauty, but the order includes several showy and
ornamental garden plants.

The order has been variously subdivided by dif-
ferent botanists. In the Linnsean or artificial arrange-
ment, it is included in the class Syngenesia, and is
divided into sections, according to the sexes of the
florets on different parts of the same head. Thus the
first section is Polygamia izqualis, in which all the
florets are hermaphrodite, or furnished with both sta-
mens and pistils. The second section is Polygamia
superflua> in which the florets of the disk or centre
are hermaphrodite or perfect, and those of the ray or
margin are furnished with pistils only, but all pro-
ducing perfect seed. The third section is Polygamia
rustranca, in which the florets of the disk are perfect,
while those of the margin are neuter or destitute of
pistils, as well as stamens, and the fourth section is
Polygamia necessaria, in which the florets of the disk
have stamens only, while those of the ray have pistils
only, so that both are necessary for the production of
perfect seed.

Jussieu, in his natural arangement, has divided the
Compositse into three sections ; I. CynarocephaletB,
or the artichoke tribe, in which all the florets are
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

flosculous or tubular ; II. Cichoracca:, the succory
tribe, in which the florets are all ligulate or strap-
shaped ; III. Corymbiferce, the corymbiferous tube,
in which the florets of the centre are tubular, while
those of the circumference are ligulate.

Cassini, Lessing, and Brown, have devoted parti-
cular attention to this order, and have divided it into
a great number of sections. As these divisions are
too minute to be interesting to the general reader, we
conceive that it is unnecessary to enter into any
details with regard to them. In the observation's
which we propose to make on the order we shall
adopt Jussieu's division, which is the most simple,
and the best adapted for a work like the present.

Composite plants are found abundantly in all parts
of the world, and are said to constitute almost one-
twelfth of the known vegetable productions of our
globe. In different countries, the proportion which
the Composite bear to the other pha:nogamic plants
varies considerably. Humboldt states that they con-
stitute one-seventh of the flowering plants of France,
one-eighth of those of Germany, a fifteenth of those
of Lapland, a sixth of the North-American Flora, and
one-half of those of America within the tropics. They
form only a sixteenth part of the Flora of jNew Hoi-
land, and the same proportion of the Flora of Mel-
ville Island. In their relative increase and decrease,
they do not appear to follow any general law of cli-
mate. It may be stated generally that the Cicho-
racece are chiefly found in cold, and the Corymbiferce
in warm regions. The Composite are herbaceous
in the colder quarters of the globe, and become
shrubby as we approach the equator.

If we examine attentively the plants belonging to
this vast family, we shall find that they are not only
naturally grouped together by their structure, but that
they also agree remarkably in the medical properties
with which they are endowed. They are all more or
less tonic and stimulating ; they contain a bitter,
extractive, milky principle, and a volatile oil which is
often solid and concrete, and has a strong resem-
blance to camphor. Each of the Jussieuan subdivi-
sions of the family present some distinguishing pecu-
liarities in their properties, and we shall therefore
notice them separately.

I. CYNAUOCEPHALE^E. The plants in this sub-
division of the order possess intensely bitter proper-
ties, owing to the presence of much extractive matter,
and they act chiefly as tonics. By cultivation, how-
ever, this bitterness is much lessened, and the plants
in some cases become edible. The volatile oil, cha-
racteristic of the family, is not very abundant in this
division. Under this division are included the genera,
Cynara, the artichoke and cardoon, Carduus, Cnicus,
Onopordum, Carthamus, Arctium, Carlina, Ccntaurea,
&c.

Cynara Cardunculus, common cardoon, was origi-
nally a native of the south of Europe and north of
Africa, but is now found in various parts of the world.
It bears the climate of Britain veil, and is said to
have been cultivated at Holyrood palace so early as
the year 1683. It is an ornamental plant in a shrub-
bery or large garden. It abounds in the vast plains
or pampas of the Cordillera, in South America, and
its growth in that part of the world is said to be very
rapid. It is stated by a recent traveller in South
America, that on the pampas, cardoons shoot up to
the height of ten or eleven feet, and come into full
flower in the course of a single month. The road
G

98

COMPOSITE.

and view become completely obstructed by them, and
their prickly stems form a barrier of a most impene-
trable nature. The same traveller remarks that,
though it would be an unusual misfortune in military
history, yet it is really possible that an invading army,
unacquainted with that country) might be imprisoned
by these plants before it had time lo escape from them.

There are several varieties of cardoon which are
cultivated as culinary vegetables. The seeds are sown
in a deep light soil about the middle of April, and by
the end of October the plants have attained their full
size, and are ready for blanching. This operation is
performed by binding the leaves close together with
a wreath of hay or straw, and covering them with
earth for a month or six weeks. The stems and
m,id-ribs of the leaves are stewed, or eaten as a salad.
They are also boiled in soups. The florets of the
cardoon are used in Buenos Ayres and in France
instead of rennet, for coagulating milk.

Cynara scolymus, the common artichoke, has been
considered by some as merely a variety of the car-
doon, depending on the cultivation. This opinion
requires confirmation, and as yet we have not sufficient
data to enable us to come to a satisfactory conclusion.
The artichoke differs from the cardoon in its broad
spineless leaves, its humble growth, and its large
fleshy heads. The plant comes originally from the
south of Europe, and was cultivated in England so
early as the year 1580. It is capable of sustaining
great and long-continued drought. In the hot season of
1825, it was almost the only vegetable to be got in the
neighbourhood of Paris for three or four weeks in the
months of July and August. Once in the seventeenth
century, and again about 1739, most of the artichokes
in England were destroyed by frost, and recourse was
had to France for a new supply. There are several
varieties of artichoke in cultivation, the chief of which
are the green or French. The globe and dwarf globe
artichokes are propagated by suckers, in the months
of March and April- They require a light well-ma-
nured soil, and are planted in rows four feet distant,
and two feet apart in the rows. They produce a few
heads the h'rst season, and a full crop the next ; and,
if well manured, they will last for five or six years.
In winter, the plants are covered with dung about a
foot thick, which is removed in March and April
when the ground is dressed. The artichoke, in its
wild state, is more downy and spinous than when cul-
tivated in the kitchen garden ; the heads also are
much smaller.

The heads of the artichoke are gathered in the un-
ripe state before the flower expands, and are boiled in
salt and water until all the parts are soft which are
capable of becoming so. The scales are then taken
off one by one, and their lower part being dipped in
a mixture of butter and pepper, all the fleshy part is
sucked off. Very little is obtained in the way of solid
food, the butter forming the chief part of the dish.
After the scales are taken off, there remains the re-
ceptacle or bottom, with a mass of unexpanded florets
and bristles, called the choke. The latter being re-
moved, there remains the proper receptacle or cul
which is the most valuable part of the artichoke.
Many people are very fond of artichokes. In France
and Italy they are much more used than in this coun-
try, and they are often eaten in those countries in a
raw state.

Artichokes contain little nourishment, but they are
easily digested, and hence are sometimes useful for

convalescents. They possess diuretic and diaphoretic
properties. The root is bitter, and is considered by
the Arabians as laxative, while the gum which it fur-
nishes is classed by them among the emetics. The
receptacles of the artichoke may be preserved during
the winter, by being blanched in hot water, and care-
fully dried.

The genera Cnicns and Carduus include most of the
thistle tribe. These two genera are distinguished from
each other by the pappus being feathery in the one,
and only rough in the other. Thistles are propagated
with amazing rapidity, on account of the down at-
tached to their seeds, by means of which they are
easily carried by the winds in all directions. They
are a very troublesome set of plants, and prove a great
annoyance to the farmer. Ever since the time that
the Almighty pronounced this sentence on the earth,
" Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth tothee,"
these weeds have continued to infest the ground, and
man has been forced to eat bread in the sweat of his
brow. The Cnicus amensis, or creeping thistle, is one
of the most difficult to extirpate, in consequence of
the numerous deep roots which it puts forth. These
noxious weeds, however, although at first sight they
might appear to be of no use, have important pur-
poses in the economy of nature, affording by their
seeds and leaves nourishment to numerous tribes of
birds and insects with which the earth is peopled.
Some of the thistle tribe are also turned by man to
useful account : the footstalks of their leaves, and
their receptacles, being used by him as food. The
flowers of several of the species ate used in Europe
for curdling milk.

The handsomest native species of thistle are, Car-
duus nutans, Cnicus eriophorum, and heterophyllus. The
first of these is said to smell powerfully of musk in
warm weather, more especially in the evening, and
hence it has been called musk thistle. Cnicus erio-
phorum, woolly-headed thistle, is so named on account
of the large quantity of woolly matter which is inter-
woven with the scales of the involucre. Carduus Man-
anus has been denominated milk thistle, on account of
the milky veins on its leaves. The root and leaves
are very bitter, and the expressed juice was formerly
used in dropsy, jaundice, chronic rheumatism, and
intermittent fever. Qrwpordum acant/iium, common
cotton thistle, although not belonging to the true
thistle tribe, and but rarely found in Scotland, is still
commonly cultivated as the true Scotch thistle. Its
seeds are much eaten by birds, and are not so liable
to be blown about as those of the other thistles al-
ready noticed.

Carthamus tinctonus, safflower, is a native of Egypt
and eastern countries, and is cultivated in many parts
of Europe and the Levant, on account of its flowers,
which are dried and exported in large quantities, in
order to furnish a deep yellow dye, like saffron. The
flowers furnish two colouring principles very important
in dyeing ; one soluble in alkalis, presenting various
shades of red, and another soluble in water, of a yel-
low colour. The first is employed particularly by the
Chinese, to give different red tints to silk, and bears
the name of Carthamitc. When mixed with finely
powdered talc, it is used by the Parisian ladies as a
cosmetic rouge, under the name of vegetable rouge,
or lake of Carthamus. The plant was introduced into
England in the year 1551, and in 1683, twenty-five
acres of ground in Gloucestershire were sown with its
seeds. In Spain it is grown in gardens for the pur-

COM P OSI

99

pose of colouring soups, and the Jews in Poland em-
ploy it much in their viands. The seeds are purga-
tive, and have been recommended in dropsy. Though
bitter, they are eaten by birds, especially by parrots,
and hence they are sometimes called parrot grains.

Carthannts lanafus is used by the women in the
south of France and Spain for distaffs, and hence it is
denominated distaft' thistle.

Arctium lappa, common burdock, and Arctium Bar-
cfowa.which seems to be merely a variety with a downy
calyx, are well known on account of the hooked scales
of their involucre, by means of which the heads fasten
themselves most pertinaciously to clothes and the
coats of animals. The seeds are oily and bitter, and
the whole plant possesses diuretic, diaphoretic and
aperient qualities. The root contains carbonate
and nitrate of potass ; and a decoction of it has been
used as a substitute for sarsaparilla, and administered
in cutaneous and rheumatic affections. The juice of
the leaves mixed with oil forms a liniment which has
been used in dressing wounds and ulcers.

Contoured benedicta, blessed thistle, a native of the
Grecian islands,is accounted a stomachic, and its seeds
are used to produce perspiration. An extract from
the plant has been recommended in the catarrh of
children. Centaurea calcicrapa,commoi\ star-thistle, pos-
sesses febrifuge virtues. Its roots were formerly con-
sidered useful in calculous complaints, and its leaves
and flowers were prescribed in ague. Centaurea cyanus,
corn blue-bottle, has been sometimes employed medi-
cinally. The juice of its flowers is used as a kind of
ink, and stains linen of a blue colour.

Carlina acanthifolia is a wholesome article of diet.
Carlina acaulis has black woody routs, an inch in
thickness, the upper part of which, as well as the re-
ceptacle of the flowers, may be eaten. The flowers of
Ech'niops strigosus'Ave used in Spain for tinder.

II. CICHORACE.*. Most of the plants of this tribe
yield a milky juice, which is bitter, astringent, and
slightly narcotic. To this juice they owe their medical
properties ; and, when it exists in great quantity, the
plants may be looked upon with some degree of sus-
picion. Many of the CtchoracecE are employed as arti-
cles of food, either in a young state, Before the bitter
narcotic juice is fully formed, or in a more advanced
state, after being blanched. By cultivation a great
change is often effected in their qualities.

The chief genera included in this sub-division of
composite plants are, Cichorium, the succory and en-
dive ; Lactuca, the Lettuce ; Smtchus, Leontodon, Scor-
sonera/fragopogon, Hicracium, Apargia, Lrtpsana, &c.
Cic/ioriitm intybus, common wild succory, is met
with chiefly on gravelly and chalky soil, in several
parts of Britain, and is very abundant on the con-
tinent. It bears numerous large bright but pale blue
flowers, which close during the night, but expand on
the first approach of morn. The plant was eaten by
the Ptomans, and is still used as an article of food in
France. The seeds are sown in July, and the plants
are allowed to grow six inches apart. In winter the
roots are takeu up and packed in a warm cellar among
earth, the upper portion being the only part exposed.
In this situation, young leaves are quickly produced,
in a blanched state, fit for being used as a salad. The
leaves and root are very bitter in a wild state, less so
when cultivated. The juice of the fresh leaves acts
as a tonic, and a stomachic syrup is prepared from
them. The root, when dried and roasted, has an agree-
able bitter flavor, and is used on the continent as a

substitute for coffee. At one time when the latter
article bore a high price in the market, succory was
much used in France, and it is still employed in that
country, although it certainly wants the fine aroma of
the Arabian grain. The herb in a luxuriant cultivated
state, is an excellent early fodder for cattle.

Cichorium endivia, common endive, is a native of
Japan and China, and is cultivated in gardens for the
purpose ot furnishing the salad which bears its
name.

The genus Lactuca, lettuce, furnishes several spe-
cies, three of which, Lactuca virosa, strong-scented
lettuce ; scariola, prickly lettuce ; and saligna, least
lettuce, are natives of Britain. Lactuca virosa, wild
or strong-scented lettuce, yields a milky juice, having
a disagreeable and well-marked narcotic odour. In its
medical properties and effects, it bears a considerable
resemblance to many of the SolanecB. An extract is
prepared from it, which is used as a substitute for
opium. A large quantity of this plant was cultivated
about a year ago in the neighbourhood of Edinburgh,
by a celebrated druggist of that town, and the con-
crete juice procured from it was sold extensively in
the London market.

Lactuca sativa, common lettuce, is another species
of the genus. This plant has been cultivated in gar-
dens, almost from time immemorial, and its native
country is not known. There are several varieties of
cultivated lettuce. The leaves of all have a 1'resh,
watery, and somewhat bitter flavour, and are used
much as a salad. Lettuce thrives well both in tem-
perate and warm regions.

The inspissated juice of this, as well as the former
species, is called lactucarium, and was first introduced
into notice by Dr. Duncan of Edinburgh. This sub-
stance is called by the French physicians thridace,
from the Greek word for lettuce. Although lactu-
carium is procured from both species of lactuca, still
the lactuca virosa yields it in greatest quantity. The
juice, which exists chiefly in the vessels immediately
under the cuticle, ought to be collected at the time
when the plant is in flower, and the mode of procedure
is as follows : — Transverse incisions are made succes-
sively in the stems of the plants, and the white or
, rnilky juice, which exudes copiously, is scraped off. It
j is then put into glass or porcelain vessels, and allowed
to concrete by exposure to the air. It thus assumes
a brown colour. The thridace of the French is pro-
cured by expressing the juice, and consequently it is
not so pure as the British lactucarium.

Lactucarium varies much in purity, according to
the season, as well as the mode of its preparation. It.
often contains a great quantity of caoutchouc, which,
of course, interferes much with its properties. It lias
much of the taste and odour of opium, and exerts a
soothing anodyne effect upon the system. Duncan,
Young, Scudamore, Bidaut, and Francis, have used it
extensively in the cure of diseases. It may be adminis-
tered in most cases where the use of opium is indicated
in doses of five, ten, or even twenty grains. It would
seem not to produce the prejudicial effects which often
attend the use of opium. The narcotic principle of
lactucarium has not yet been procured in a separate
state. No morphia could be obtained from it. Lac-
tucarium has also been used as a diuretic in cases of
dropsy and water in the chest.

The soporific effects of lettuce have been long
known. Galen is said to have used it much in the
decline of his life, on account of constant wakcfulncss.
G2

100

COMPOSITE.

The seeds of the lettuce also possess narcotic quali-
ties, and the leaves when boiled in water have been
used as soothing poultices.

Lactuca quercinu, Palmata and Intybacea are culti-
vated by the French as salads.

Sonchus oleraceus, common sow-thistle, possesses
diuretic and laxative properties. The young tender
leaves of this plant, as well as those of Sonckus arven-
sis and palustris,a.Te eaten as greens in some countries.
In Rome and Florence, Sonchus tencrimus is used as
a salad. Swine are said to be fond of these plants,
and hence the English name soiu-thistlc, which has been
applied to them. Sonchus Alpinus bears numerous
large blue flowers, and is the rarest British species.
It is found only in one or two stations in the Gram-
pian range.

Leontodon taraxacum receives the names of Dent
de Lion, Dandelion, lion's tooth, from the deep tooth-
like divisions of its leaves. The plant has a con-
siderable degree of bitterness, but when blanched like
endive, it may be used as a salad. The tender young
leaves, in consequence of being less bitter, are often
used for this purpose. The root resembles a carrot,
and yields a bitter milky juice, which loses its bitter-
ness by drying. When roasted, it is used by the com-
mon people in some parts of Germany as a substitute
for coffee. Medically dandelion acts as a tonic and
diuretic. The expressed juice of the leaves is said to
be useful in chronic cutaneous diseases, and in abdo-
minal obstructions. In jaundice and diseases of the
liver it has also been frequently employed. The plant
is a troublesome weed, and is extirpated with great
difficulty.

The genus Scorzonera derives its name from the
Catalonian word for a viper, the plant being consi-
dered in Spain to be a remedy for the bite of that
reptile. The root of Scorzonera Hispanica, garden or
Spanish viper's-grass, is carrot-shaped, about the thick-
ness of a finger, and bears some resemblance to the
body of a viper. When deprived of its outer skin,
and boiled or stewed, it forms an agreeable article of
food. The plant is said to possess diuretic, stimulant,
and sudorific qualities. The ge.nusTragopogon, goat's-
beard, furnishes several species, three of which are
natives of Britain. Tragopogon pratensis, common
goat's-beard, bears yellow flowers, which close every
day before noon. Tragopogon porrifolius, salsify or
purple goat's-beard, has a long, fleshy, white root,
possessing a mild sweetish flavour, which was formerly
used in Britain as an article of food. The plant bears
large purple flowers, which close before noon, or in
rainy weather.

Several of the plants belonging to this section of
the Composites, act as horological flowers, their petals
expanding and shutting regularly at particular hours
in the day. We have examples in the common goat's-
beard, the common succory, the common sow-thistle,
dandelion, and various species of Hieracium or hawk-
weed. These plants act thus as silent monitors, warn-
ing us of time's rapid flight. To use the poet's lan-
guage—

" In every copse and sheltered dell,
Unveiled to the observant eye,
Are faithful monitors who tell
How pass the hours and seasons by.

" The green -robed children of the spring

Will mark the periods as they pass,
Mingle with leaves Time's feathered wing,
And bind with flowers his silent glass.

" See Hieracium's various tribe

Of plumy seed and radiate flowers,
The course of time their blooms describe,
And wake or sleep appointed hours.

" Broad o'er its imbricated cup

The Gou.tsbe.ard spreads its golden rays.
But shuts its cautious petals up,
Retreating from the noontide blaze.

" On upland shores, the shepherd marks

The hour when, as the dial true,
Cichorium to the towering lark
Lifts her soft eyes serenely blue.

" Thus in each flower and simple bell,

That in our path betrodden lie.
Are sweet remembrancers who tell
How fast their winged moments fly."

III. CORYMBIFEIUE. The plants belonging to this
subdivision are in general very active in their qualities,
and supply various therapeutical agents. Like the
other Composite, they contain a bitter principle , and
in the composition of many of them we find large
quantities of volatile oil and camphor. To the
existence of these substances we trace the powerful
aromatic odour which many of them emit, as well as
their stimulating medical properties. The principal
genera included in this section are, Anthemis, ehamo-
rnile ; AchillaEa, Helianthus, Absinthium ; Artemisia,
wormwood; Tanacetum, tansy ; Balsamita, Matricaria ;
Calendula, marigold ; Arnica, Inula, Tussilago, Gna-
phalium, Senecio, Dahlia, Bellis, &c.

Anthemis nobilis, common chamomile, is a perennial
plant, found native in the southern counties of Britain.
It is cultivated in gardens for the sake of its flowers,
which are easily rendered double, and are used medi-
cinally. The plant diffuses a highly aromatic and
agreeable odour owing to the presence of a blue
volatile oil, which may be procured by distillation.
Besides this oil it contains camphor, gum, resin, and
a small quantity of tannin. An infusion of the flowers
is used as a tonic, stimulating, diaphoretic drink. It
is also employed as a febrifuge, and has been admi-
nistered with success in slight agues. It produces
vomiting, and is useful in aiding the effect of other
emetics. Chamomile is used as a remedy in spas-
modic diseases* such as hysteria and colic. The
flowers are applied externally as a discutient and
emollient.

Anthemis cotula, stinking chamomile, is another
British species, which is found in waste places, in
corn-fields, and by way-sides. The whole plant emits
a very disagreeable fetid smell, and is said to blister
the hands of those who gather it. On examination
with the microscope, it is found to be covered with
small glands, which probably contain an acrid fluid.
The plant is a stimulant, antispasmodic, and is used
in nervous diseases.

Anthemis pyrethrum, pellitory of Spain, is a native
of Spain, Barbary, and other warm countries, but
bears the ordinary winters of this country well. The
root, when pulled up and applied to the hand, com-
municates a peculiarly cold sensation. When chewed
it produces a copious secretion of saliva, and a prick-
ing sensation in the tongue. It is used in toothach,
headach, and palsy of the tongue. It contains vola-
tile oil, gum, and muriate of lime.

Anthemis tinctoria, ox-eye xihamomile, supplies a
beautiful yellow colour, and is used in dyeing.

AchilltEa millefolium, common yarrow or milfoil, is
found abundantly in pastures and by way-sides in
this country. From its astringency it is used in the

COMPOSITE.

101

Highlands for the purpose of healing wounds. The
root has been proposed as a substitute for snake-root.

AckillaEa ptarmica, sneezewort yarrow, when dried
and powdered, is employed as an errhine. The root,
when chewed, produces salivation.

Achillfsa nana, and several other species, are used
by the inhabitants of the Alps to give an aromatic
flavour to vinegar.

Helianthus annuus, common sunflower, is a well
known border annual, which receives its name from
the popular supposition that its large heads of flowers
follow the sun in its course. The plant is common in
gardens, and was originally brought from Peru. The
whole plant, but especially the flower, gives out a
thin resin resembling Venice turpentine. The seeds,
when roasted, are used as a substitute for coffee, and
an edible oil is procured from them.

Helianthus tuberosus, Jerusalem artichoke, is a native
of Brazil, but has been naturalised in most countries
of Europe, and is cultivated on account of its use in
rural and domestic economy. The root of the plant
consists of oblong tubers, which are used as a substi-
tute for potatoes, and form a wholesome and agreeable
article of diet. The roots are very productive. Be-
tween seventy and eighty tons of tubers are said to
have been obtained in one season from a single acre
of ground. When boiled, the roots have a sweet
taste similar to the artichoke. The plant may be
reared on very poor soil with advantage, but its roots
are not so much employed as the potato, on account
of the latter containing more nutritive matter in its
composition. Chemical analysis has shown that a
peculiar principle, similar to that which is found in
the dahlia, exists in the root of the Jerusalem arti-
choke. The roots when subjected to fermentation
yield a spirituous liquor.

Absinthium officinale or Artemisia absinthium, com-
mon wormwood, is an aromatic bitter plant, common
in Great Britain. It contains a large quantity of a
green volatile oil. The plant possesses tonic and
stimulating qualities, and is used to increase the
action of the stomach, as well as for the cure of inter-
mittent fever. It is frequently given to expel worms.
It is administered in the form of powder, in doses of
one or two scruples, also in infusion, and as a wine
and a tincture. The green liquor called, in France,
ran <f absinthe, and employed by gourmands to increase
their appetite, is prepared from the plant by the
addition of alcohol and subsequent distillation.

Artemisia is another genus of this order. It differ
from Absinthium in the want of hairs on the receptacle.
It includes several species, four of which are native
of Britain.

Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort, is not so bitter and
aromatic as Absinthium, and has a less powerful action
on the human frame. It is a stimulating tonic, and
exerts a peculiar action on the uterine system. Its
root has been recommended iu epilepsy. In some
parts of Sweden the plant is used in place of hops to
increase the inebriating quality of malt liquors.

Artemisia dracunculus is a native of Siberia, but is
commonly cultivated iu gardens. The leaves have
an aromatic fragrant taste, and are used as an ingre-
dient in pickles and salads. An infusion of the plant
in vinegar forms a good fish-sauce.

Artemisia Santonica or Judaica, wormseed, is founc
in Arabia, Judea, and the countries in the north o
Africa. The heads, seeds, and upper twigs of thi
plant, mixed with those of another species found ii

'ersia, and called Artemisia contra, are known in
commerce by the name of Semen contra or Sementina.
There are two varieties of Semen contra, one coming
rom the Levant, and the other from Barbary. The
irst is the best, and held in greatest repute. It is
chiefly administered as a vermifuge in doses of twenty
or thirty grains mixed with calomel or rhubarb.

Artemisia abrotanum, southernwood, is a perennial
shrub, a native of the south of Europe, but common
n gardens. It has a strong smell, and yields a fine
jreen tincture. It is administered as an anthelmintic
and sudorific, and is also employed externally as a
fomentation. In the form of lotion or ointment it is
applied to cutaneous eruptions, and is said to prevent
the hair from falling off.

Artemisia Chincnsis, mugwort of China, furnishes the
moxa used by the Chinese as a cautery. This is a soft
woolly substance, prepared from the young leaves of
the plant by beating them, when thoroughly dried,
and rubbing them in the hands till the fine fibres only
are left. A little cone of this substance is laid on a
diseased part, previously moistened, and is then set
on fire at the top. It thus burns slowly down, pro-
ducing a dark spot on the skin, which ultimately
sloughs and produces an eschar. This mode of treat-
ment is much used in eastern countries. The moxa
used in this country and in France is generally made
of cotton or linen rag, dipped in saltpetre, and rolled-
up tightly in a circular form. It is frequently em-
ployed as a powerful means of counter-irritation in
diseased joints, &c.

Tanacetum vulgaris, common tansey, is a well-
known native plant. It has a strong, disagreeable,
aromatic odour, and a bitter pungent taste. Its stimu-
lating qualities are owing to the presence of a great-
quantity of essential oil. It is administered in the
form of powder and infusion, as a remedy for worms
and gout ; and it is praised as an anti-spasmodic by
some authors. The young leaves are sometimes em-
ployed to colour and flavour puddings.

Balsamita snaveolens is often cultivated in gardens.
It has a strong odour, and possesses stimulating anti-
spasmodic qualities. When steeped in oil, it is looked
upon as a good application to wounds and bruises.

Balsamita vulgaris, costmary, from being put into
ale, sometimes receives the name of Cost-ale.

Matricania chamomilla, wild chamomile, has proper-
ties similar to those of the true chamomile. It is, how-
ever, much less powerful, and is now seldom used.

Pyrethrum Parthenium, common feverfew, lias stimu-
lating aromatic properties, and is employed in various
fluxes.

Calendula qfficinalis, common marigold, is a well-
known showy ornament of gardens, even that of the'
humblest cottager. It was introduced into this coun-
try, from the south of Europe, in the year 1573. Lin-
naeus says, that its flowers expand from nine in the
morning till three in the afternoon —

' The Marigold that goes to bed with the sun,
And with him rises weeping."

Its flowers are used in some parts of England to
give colour and flavour to soups, and a distilled water
and a kind of vinegar have been prepared from them.

Arnica montana, German leopard's bane, is found
on the Alps and Pyrenees, as well as in various parts
of Germany, Sweden, and Lapland, and was first cul-
tivated in Britain in 1759. The flowers are of a

102

C O M P T O N I A.

yellow colour, and contain an odoriferous resin, bitte
nauseating matter, yellow colouring matter, gallic acid
gum, albumen, and some salts. In its recent state
the plants excites sneezing in those who smell it. The
flowers and root are used medicinally.

The plant has a bitter, acrid, and nauseous taste,
and possesses stimulating properties. It produces a
peculiar effect on the brain and nervous system, giv-
ing rise to headach, spasmodic motions of the limbs,
and difficulty of breathing. It has been used in inter-
mittent fever and dysentery ; and of late has been
prescribed in palsy, blindness, and various nervous
affections. It is administered in the form either of
infusion or powder. The dried leaves are sometimes
used as a sternutatory in place of tobacco. When
given in too large doses, arnica excites a feeling of
anxiety, shooting and burning pains, vomiting, giddi-
ness, and insensibility. In these alarming symptoms,
vinegar is said to be the best remedy.

Inula Helenium, elecampane, is one of the largest
herbaceous plants of Britain. Its root contains albu-
men, a volatile concrete oil like camphor, and a pecu-
liar starch-like matter called inulin, which does not
gelatinise on the addition of hot water, but remains in
the form of powder. Elecampane is tonic, stimulant,
and diuretic. It is sometimes prescribed in the form
of infusion, powder, or wine, at the conclusion of
catarrhal affections.

The young branches of Inula crithmifolia are sold
in London as a substitute for samphire. Pulicaria
dysenterica, common flea-bane, a plant found in
marshy places in Britain, is sometimes recommended
in dysenteric affections. Spilanthes olcracea has a hot
penetrating taste, and is one of the most powerful
anti-scorbutics which we possess.

Santolina c/iam(scyparisnus, cypress-leaved lavender
cotton, has properties similar to tansy, while Solidago
virgaurea, common golden rod, is diuretic, aperient, and
vulnerary.

Eupatorium perfoliatum, known in North America
under the name of Uoncscl, possesses important tonic
and diaphoretic properties.

Eupatorium Ayapana is celebrated for its power of
curing the bites of serpents ; and Mikania Guaco is
used in Spanish America for a similar purpose.

The various species of Guaphalium and Xerantke-
mum constitute the plants commonly known by the
name of Everlasting. Coreopsis tintoria is a very
handsome border annual, and Chrysanthemum Sinense
is one of the handsomest autumnal flowers. Asters,
Christmas daisies, or star-worts, although not of much
beauty, are prized on account of their flowering late
in the season. China asters are familiar to all as an-
nuals.

Bellis perennis, common daisy, so abundant in every
pasture, is too often despised on account of the fre-
quency of its occurrence. How different are the feel-
ings with which this plant is contemplated by natives
of Britain, when resident in countries where the daisy
is not indigenous. How many pleasing and delight-
ful associations does it in such circumstances awaken,
when, perchance, it springs up along with other exo-
tics ! Among some English earth, in which seeds had
been conveyed to Dr. Carey in India, there sprang
up to his great delight the daisy ; and this he per-
petuated as an annual, raised by seed preserved from
season to season. The feelings excited in Dr. Carey's
mind by this incident are beautifully depicted by
Montgomery in his " Daisy in India."

Thrice welcome little English flower !

My mother -country's white and red,
In rose or lily, till this hour,

Never to me such beauty spread ;
Transplanted from tliine island bed,

A treasure in a grain of earth,
Strange as a spirit from the dead,

Thine embryo sprang: to birth-

Thrice welcome little English flower I

Of early scenes belov'd by me,
While happy in my father's bower,

Thou shalt the blithe memorial be;
The fairy sports of infancy,

Youth's golden age and manhood's prime,
Home, country, kindred, friends, with thee,

I find in this far clime'

Thrice welcome little English flower!

To me the pledge of hope unseen j
When sorrow would my soul o'erpower,

In joys that were, or might have been,
I'd call to mind how fresh and green

I saw thee waking from the dust;
Then turn to heaven, with brow serene,

And place in God my trust.

Tiasllag(. farfara, coltsfoot, is common in moist
clayey soils in this country. The flowers appear early
in spring before the leaves. The plant is mucilagin-
ous, bitter, and astringent, and in the form of infusion
is used in chronic catarrhs, accompanied with cough
and expectoration. The leaves are sometimes smoked
like tobacco, for the relief of asthmatic complaints.
The down, or cottony web covering the leaves, is used
as tinder, and as a styptic for slight wounds.

The flowers of Petasites vu/garis, common butter-
bur, are of a pale flesh colour, and grow in the form
of a thyrsus. In consequence of the plant flowering
early, it is placed by the Swedes near their bee-hives.

The species belonging to the genus Senecio, or
groundsel, are found in every part of the world, more
especially in South Africa. Hiimboldt has observed
that they are very numerous in the upper regions of
the Andes, just below the limits of eternal snow. The
flower buds and young tops of the leaves serve as food
for birds, and canaries are particularly fond of them.

The genus Dahlia is named after Andrew Duhl, a
Swedish botanist, and a pupil of Linnrcn?. Dahlia
superflua, is a native of Mexico. Till the peace of
1814, this plant was much more cultivated in France
than in Britain. It has now become a very fashion-
able plant in this country, and is considered one of
the finest ornaments of our gardens. The flowers are
showy, and continue to expand late in the season.
There are numerous single and double varieties of
the dahlia ; the former being procured from seeds,
the latter from cuttings, graftings, and divisions of the
roots. The roots are taken up in winter and kept
dry, and are again planted out in April. Benzoic acid
's said to exist in the dahlia.

From the remarks which have been made on this
jomprehensive order, it will be seen that it contains
)lants possessing valuable medical properties, and
hat it also furnishes many of those vegetables which
are used for culinary purposes. Whether we regard
;he vast number of species which this family contains,
:heir wide distribution over the globe, or the highly
mportant qualities with which they are endowed, we
must consider it as occupying a distinguished place
among the various tribes of vegetables which diver-
sify the surface of the earth.

COMPTONIA (Banks). A North American
deciduous shrub, named in honour of, and to perpe-
tiate the memory of Henry Compton, bishop of
London, an indefatigable collector of useful plants in

CONANT HERA— CONG JIOLOGY.

the early part of the last century. Linncean class and
order Mdruecia Triandria, and natural order Amen-
tacccE. Generic character : — male catkin cylindrical,
loosely imbricated; scales one-flowered; perianth of
two leaves ; corolla none ; filaments three, forked ;
anthers six, two valved. Female catkin ovate, thickly
imbricated ; scales one-flowered ; perianth of six
leaves ; styles two, like hairs ; nut one-seeded. The
leaves of this shrub are somewhat like those of fern,
it thrives on light sandy loam and moor-earth, and is
increased by layers.

CONANTHERA (Ruiz and Pavon). A genus
of Chilian bulbs, belonging to Hexandria Monogynia,
and to the natural order Asphodeleae. Though not so
.splendid as others of the same class and character,
they are, however, interesting, and well worthy culti-
vation. Mr. Sweet observes of this genus — " We
believe that this and some other nearly related ones,
would succeed better if out in a frame, on a warm
border, and be covered with a mat or other covering
in severe weather, than they do in pots."

CONCHACEA. The eighth family of the third
order LameUibranchiata ; third class, Acephalnphora,
of De Blainville's system. It includes the genera
Cardium, Donax, Tcllina, Lucina, Cyclas, Cyprina,
Maclra, Erycina, Crasxatcllu, Venus, Venerirupis, Co-
rrtffinji/iaga, Clotho, Corbula, SpluBna, and Uxgulina.
The shells of this family are all of them bivalve, and
constitute a numerous portion of the most beautiful
molluscs. The general characteristics are : — the shell
nearly always regular; perfectly closing; equivalve,
the summit recurved forward ; the hinge, dorsal and
complete, that is, with teeth and ligament, either
exterior or interior, short and swollen ; two distinct
muscular impressions.

The mantle of the animal is closed in front, above,
and backwards, where it, is prolonged by two tubes
more or less long, extensible, either united or separate,
the abdomen constantly furnished with a f;>ot, varyin;
somewhat in form, which is its onl v organ of locomotion.
All the animals of this family live concealed in the sand
or mud, at a greater or lesser depth, but they have
the faculty, and sometimes quit that situation; this is
effected by contracting the foot, which then acts as a
spring, arid they are propelled forward. Their
natural position is with the valves downwards when
concealed in the sand, and they then move forward
by slow degrees, in which operation the foot acts as a
lever to assist their march. Under the respective
names of the genera composing this family, the parti-
cular description of each species will be found.

CONCHOLEPAS (Lamarck); PATELLA LEPAS
(Linnaeus). By many naturalists, this singular shell
has been considered a Patella, wilh which it was
classed by Linnaeus, from which it is most widely
different, by many characteristics, and particularly by
two distinctions, that of having a spire and being an
ojiercnlated shell. This error may, hi some degree, he
itr'.;<uinted for, by supposing that great man had only
••nined an injured specimen of the shell, in which
the extremely small spire h;u! been worn off, that being
:iontly the case, the shell being generally much
wormed ; and, as he paid little or no attention to the
animals of shells, the opercnlurn, no doubt, was never
seen by him. Brugniere, observing the spire, classed
this shell with the Jinccinri, a fir more natural associ-
ation : this he did also on account of the slight notch
at the base ; but Sowerby has yet more properly con-
sidered it allied to the Purpura. From these consider-

103

able doubts exist in our mind of the propriety of
separating them. Lamarck classed this genus imme-
diately following that of Monvrcros, from having two
teeth at the base of the right side instead of one ; but
what he termed teeth, are no more than the continu-
ation of two external thickened ribs, which, being
flattened and broad, in no respect resemble the tooth
of the Moiioccms, which is a distinct sharp-pointed,
round, slightly convex point, and very differently
situated with regard to its position on the shell.
Lamarck's description of the shell is : — shell oval,
inflated, half spiral, the summit inclined obliquely cm
the left side, columella flat, aperture very ample,
oblique, longitudinal, and with a slight notch at the
base ; two teeth at the lower part of the right margin.
To this we must add some other striking and constant
characters. The small spire is formed of three whorls,
the apex pointed ; it is nearly concealed by the very
widely expanded aperture, the left side of which is
greatly reflected, and forms a sharp angle above it ;
the right lip crenated at the base ; the exterior pre-
sents transverse grooves, or slightly formed ribs
diverging from the apex to the margin, and imbricated
with small scales and a horny operculum very closely
resembling that of the Bnccinum or Purpura. \\e
conclude the animal to be altogether unknown, not
having met with any description of it. Of this singular
genus the only species known is from the coast of
Peru, and is here figured. In beauty, this shell has little

Concholepas Peruvianus,

to recommend it, but, to the conchologist, it presents
much interest, as it is one of the well-defined instances
of the links of connexion existing throughout the
classes and genera of shells ; it illustrates that system
of gradation which, sooner or later, will complete one
general chain, and explain many phenomena, well
grounded in theory, but badly accounted for by
examples. In the system of De Blainville, this genus
is placed in the second class Paracephalophora ; h'rst
order Siphonobranchiata ; second family Entomasto-
nuita- it immediately follows the genus Purpura, and
precedes the genus Sirombus, but it is not unlikely that
it will ultimately form a division of the first, from
which we consider its separation as only temporary.

CONCHOLOGY. Under this title, or that of
TESTACEOLOGY, naturalists have hitherto compre-
hended a systematic arrangement of shells, whether
marine, fluviatile, or terrestrial : it is the science by
means of which that branch of natural history is dis-
tributed into genera and species. The title concho-
lotry has, however, been somewhat misapplied, hav-
ing been used in a less extended sense than its etymo-
logical meaning implies ; since corichylion does not
express a shell only, but the molluscous animal, whose
body is altogether protected— merely partially covered

104

CONCHOLOGY.

with a shell, or possessing portions of shelly matter,
concealed under its skin, or in its folds, to defend
certain organs most liable to external injury from their
exposed situation. Such of our earlier naturalists as
merely studied an arrangement of shells, detached
from their parent architect (as was, in fact, the case
with nearly all of them), have in many cases, and
should in every one, have designated their systems
by the term Testaceology, which is more appropriate,
as not admitting any perversion of the meaning
they attached to it, and clearly expressing its
derivation and object — Testa, the Latin word for
a shell ; and Logos, a Greek word, meaning a
discourse or treatise on the subject to which that
word is added when descriptive of a science. The
Greek writers on natural history also used the term
Ostracology, which has the same meaning, and is con-
sidered by many authors far preferable, not being a
compound of two languages, a fault but too frequently
observable in the terminology of all works on natural
history. Until within about the last half century,
nearly every author on this branch of nature has
written exclusively on the arrangement of shells,
detached from the animals inhabiting and constructing
them ; this, with very little exception, continued down
to the period when the immortal Linnaeus, who may
be styled the father of systems, among others, formed
one of Conchology, but, like his predecessors, it was
based entirely on the form of the shell, and his genera
composed from the characters it presented. This
was done with considerable judgment, and many of
his descriptions are extremely accurate, so far as
regards external configuration, but in theory,- this
system is wholly artificial, and consequently bad. It
is true he seems to have felt it so to a certain extent,
since he has made some reference to the analogous
animal which he imagined to have belonged to the shell ;
these he placed amongst his Zoophytes, but he still
took no other guide than the form of the shell, and
made but few inquiries with respect to the supposed
inhabitant. The impulse given throughout Europe
by his system, and that of several other eminent
naturalists, led to an extended view of the subject ;
their attention became drawn to the anatomical
investigation of the animals themselves ; and the sub-
ject presented an interest never before experienced ;
accounts were published of the result of these inquiries,
gradually producing a different method of viewing the
classification of molluscous animals ; and Pallas may
be considered the head of this new school, as, in fact,
it was from his M'iscellanea Zoologica that the first
germ of improvement was derived in the arrangement
of shells, since grown into its present form, though as
yet, in many respects, only in its infancy.

Before this, all the systems descriptive of testace-
ology, were as imperfect as an arrangement of the
feathers of birds would have been in ornithology, or
the scales of fishes in icthyology, were writers on
these objects of the creation to have confined them-
selves alone to a systematic arrangement of those
parts, without a reference to the animals of which they
are merely necessary portions. Cuvier, that great
master of nature, feeling the importance of the subject
and the want of such an arrangement, directed the
vast resources of his giant mind to the accomplish-
ment of the only conclusive classification that can be
formed ; he improved upon the hints thrown out by
previous naturalists ; surmounted the difficulties they
could not overcome, and was the first to complete a

general systematic classification of shells, built upon
an investigation of the animals themselves, in which
the families were ranked according to their structure
and habit, as far as they were known, or could be
safely decided upon by analogous reasoning. Thus,
by taking nature as his guide, he has created a system
that will stand the test of time as being the most
natural, and consequently the best that can be fol-
lowed. Like every human effort it has its errors,
but they are fewer in number, and more those
of observation than of theory. Prior to this period
little more had been effected than to point out a
tolerably lucid arrangement of shells themselves, with-
out any other guide than that of the external con-
figuration they presented, a system perpetually subject
to error, because it is not natural, and one which has
occasioned the innumerable inconsistencies of Linnaeus.
There is no one at all an observer of natural history
but will confess, that the apparent freaks of nature,
in her productions, are so unaccountable, particularly
in conchology, that they never can be depended
upon as secure indications, when unsupported by a
knowledge of their causes. This can only be ac-
quired by a careful and repeated examination of the
animals constructing the shells, and who form their
habitations after such a fashion as is best adapted
to their wants and security. Nature never oversteps
the bounds which the necessary conditions of existence
prescribe to her ; but, when she is unconfined by
these conditions, she displays all her fertility and
variety, never, however, departing from the smallest
number of combinations that are possible in the
essential modifications, though apparently sporting
with infinite caprice in all the accessory parts. In
these there seems no necessity for a particular form or
disposition ; it even frequently happens that peculiar
forms are created without any self-evident utility. It
seems sufficient that they should be possible, that is
to say, that they do not destroy the harmony of the
whole ; in proportion, therefore, as we turn our atten-
tion from the important organs of animals, to those
whose functions are less so, we discover increasing
variations. But when we arrive at the surface of the
bod}', as in shells, where the nature of things requires
that the parts least essential, and the injury of which
is least dangerous, should be placed, it becomes so
considerable, that all the labours of naturalists have
not yet been able to give us an account of them.
Among these numerous combinations, there are
necessarily many which have common parts, and
there is always a certain number which exhibit very
few differences. By the comparison, therefore, of
those which resemble each other, we may establish a
kind of series, which will appear to descend gradually
from a primitive type ; a consideration of these have
formed the foundation of the ideas some naturalists
entertain of a scale of Being ; the object of which is
to exhibit the whole in one series, commencing with
the most perfect, and terminating with the most
simple kind of organisation, or that which posses
the least numerous and most common properties, so
that the mind passes from one link of the chain to the
other, almost without perceiving any interval, and, as
it were, by insensible shades. These observations
may generally apply to the study of natural history
in all its branches, and is particularly evinced in the
classification of shells adopted by modern naturalists,
from the structure and organisation of their inhabi-
tants : it constitutes that striking advance in the science,

CONCHOLOGY.

105

which distinguishes it from the Linnsean school, in
which a knowledge of the animal was not at all studied.
In the present slate of zoology, the shell and its archi-
tect must be coupled together, and Conchology, as it
was formerly understood, can no longer, with pro-
priety, express the system it now embraces, and which
the French naturalists expressively call Malacology,
a term meaning a treatise on soft animals — a title
so satisfactory that we cannot do better than adopt
it. Under the article MOLLUSCA, we shall more fully
explain the principles of the system, at present \ve
will confine ourselves principally to Conchology, in
the light it has hitherto been viewed — that of a
description of testaceous bodies. It may be well here
to observe, that we have indiscriminately used the
word mollusc as applied to shells as well as to their
inhabitants, throughout all the articles in this work,
treating of that branch of natural history. In this we
are sanctioned by the authority of several eminent
English naturalists.

To persons who are collecting shells and forming
cabinets of them only as beautiful objects of creation,
the system of Linnaeus may answer as well as any
other, since they feel no interest in the scientific
arrangement of the species, or those wonderful pro-
gressions which mark the connecting links of genera,
families and species with each other, changes fre-
quently only to be accounted for by an adaptation of
parts to necessity. Indeed, were it possible to pre-
serve the animals who have formed the various species,
they would present no attraction to the eye, nor add
any value to the shells that contained them ; but the
impossibility of doing this renders the researches and
reasoning of naturalists the more valuable. It may,
indeed, to mere collectors of shells, appear wholly
uninteresting, but a moment's reflection would con-
vince them, that when we attempt to raise a part
of the mysterious veil thrown over the works of
nature, in order to acquire some knowledge of her laws,
we then derive a new satisfaction in contemplating
their operations ; so that without being ourselves
either anatomists, physiologists, or naturalists, in an
extended sense of their meaning, we cannot fail of
having our attention roused to examine many facts,
extremely curious in themselves, which the shell alone
exhibits, and the mind, once excited into action, seldom
rests until it is satisfied. By pursuing a subject to
its utmost limit, generally speaking too, the more
difficult the task becomes, the more ambitious we are to
surmount it. The mind may, indeed, for a time, flag and
fed fatigued by over exertion, but such are its elastic
faculties, that they may be deemed indefinitely
expansible ; to say at what point knowledge will stop
is utterly impossible, we must not, therefore, reject as
useless such portions of it as we cannot immediately
understand, but relying on others more advanced
than ourselves, endeavour, by every possible exertion,
either to corroborate their assertions by our own
observation, or, by following the guide given us, to
pursue the inquiry still farther. In this point of
view, surely the amateur of shells must desire to
have his collection arranged according to some-
thing like a natural system, and we cannot too fre-
quently impress on the young naturalist's mind, the
necessity of observing most attentively the indi-
cations so often furnished by nature, many of which
are very generally overlooked, and altogether despised
as useless, from their being but slightly defined :
these are, nevertheless, the natural indices to much

information, and though not in every instance con-
clusive in themselves, may always be deemed the
safest and best guides we can follow in pursuing an
unknown tract of inquiry, to which the main road is
concealed, or not generally attainable.

The modern systems of Cuvier, Lamarck, and
other naturalists of that school, embracing, as we have
stated, a knowledge of the animal as the foundation
for the classification of its covering, have by many been
found fault with on account of the multiplication of
genera, which appears to them unnecessary and difficult
to comprehend ; but such in fact is not the case : on the
contrary, the study of testaceology is greatly simplified,
and the learner's progress considerably facilitated by
confining within a narrower compass the too widely-
extended genera of Linnaeus, and re-modelling those
he had blended together in the most confused manner,
whether with regard to the form of the shell and its
habitat, or the functions and structure of the animal,
a reference to which he merely glanced at. By the
information now obtained, from an anatomical investi-
gation of these singular creatures, we are enabled
to distinguish between them by certain more or less
strongly marked generic characters peculiar to each, and
to place their dwellings in a natural series of classes to
which this knowledge can alone conduct us. If it be
said that the increased number of genera obliges the
student to charge his memory with a greater num-
ber of sometimes hard names, it cannot much sig-
nify, since a knowledge of the whole catalogue can
only be acquired progressively. To the disciples of
the Linnuean school, the argument still less applies,
since they have only to add the newly-constituted
genera to those they already know, all of which
have been retained by modern writers, only, as
before remarked, more naturally distributed, as will
be shown under the article MOLLUSCA, in which a
comparative view of the two schools, and the changes
that have taken place, with the reasons for so doing,
will be more fully, and, we trust, satisfactorily ex-
plained.

We will also here observe, that we have, in some
degree, deviated from the beaten path of an alpha-
betical publication, by including in this article much
matter that might more properly be deemed ref'er-
rible to the article SHELL. We have done so in
order to render the subject more comprehensive and
more readily understood by many of our readers, who
doubtless have much to learn before they can derive
any pleasure or sound instruction from the study of
this branch of natural history in a systematic form.
A considerable time must elapse before the article
SHELL can make its appearance, though various
matters relative to it are continually given under their
particular head in our alphabetical arrangement ; and
to those who have not made Conchology their study,
many terms technically used to explain portions of the
subject, would be incomprehensible, and the science
rendered doubly difficult to understand ; but by
now including a glossary of many terms, established by
modern naturalists in the description of parts of shells,
their relative position, and their connection with each
other, — some account of their growth and distribution
in nature, — a rapid view of the history of Testaceology,
as we here continue to call it, down to the period
when the necessary corrections of the Linnaean sys-
tem required that change of classification which
includes the animals with the shells, the science
became more properly designated Malacology, — we

108

CONCHOLOGY.

think the student's progress will be much facili-
tated ; he will advance, as it were, imperceptibly in
the study of this interesting pursuit, till he arrives at,
and is capable of understanding the subject in its
embodied form of a system. The imperfection of an
alphabetical arrangement in publications like the pre-
sent one will thus be partially obviaterd, and the tri-
butary information, in a great measure acquired prior
to its being consolidated into one mass.

Systems were formed for masters, not for the
scholar ; for what student would have courage, in
the first instance, to wade through a ponderous
tome, each page teeming with unutterable terms, to
expound which would require the concentrated learn-
ing of a polyglot dictionary, and if ever puzzled out,
would, many of them (not to say most of them), be
found to have but little reference to the thing in ques-
tion— to give no descriptive assistance, but to have
been coined from the author's caprice or particular view
of the object before him. Let us not, however, be
understood as finding fault with the necessary scien-
tific nomenclatures established by long usage : did
they not exist, it is obvious that the simplest object
Could not be explained without 'great circumlocution ;
neither can we object to their being expressed in the
most universal language known — the Latin tongue,
since a knowledge of that opens the high road of
mental communication with all the civilised nations of
the world, enabling scientific men to converse and
interchange their ideas or opinions, though living dis-
tant as the poles asunder. But we do seriously depre-
cate the affectation some authors exhibit of display-
ing unnecessary erudition in their nomenclature — of
applying profound learning to trifling objects, and,
what is worse than all, of giving names and terms that
have no reference whatever to the subject matter ;
this needlessly embarrasses the student, by leading
him far out of his road, and a name which should
assist him like a sign-post on his way, pointing out
the shortest path to some other place of inquiry, be-
comes his greatest impediment — of no use whatever,
if not understood, and if comprehended, is perhaps not
at all explanatory of the subject. An opposite species
of affectation has been recommended by some modern
writers in this country, that of anglicising all terms of
science. But it is quite impossible so to simplify sci-
entific study, as to do without a generally-received
nomenclature in some language or other, and, as we
have just observed, the Latin, from its universality, is
the best of all others ; but let every newly-coined term
be strictly confined to its plainest expression, and its
meaning always explanatory of the object to which it
is applied : without this is attended to, it is " fighting
flies with spears." A system is a completion of the
whole subject, and can no more be properly under-
stood at first sight than a watch or any other compli-
cated piece of machinery depending upon its subordi-
nate parts for the production of one perfect result ; it
must be studied step by step, and the more easy the
path is rendered by removing difficulties, the more
inviting the progress will become. Cuvier observes,
" that the formation of systems is the object of natural
history, properly so called. Anatomy receives them
as it were reaxly made. The latter takes its first direc-
tion from the former, but it. is not slow in reflecting
back the light it has received. By applying a system
of natural history to comparative anatomy, we are
soeeilily enabled to discover whether it deviates from
the path of nature. The object of every good method

is to reduce a science to its simplest terms, by reducing-
the propositions to the greatest degree of generality of
which they are susceptible. A good method must
therefore be such as will enable us to assign to each
class, and to each of its sub-divisions, some qualities
common to the greater portion of the organs. This
object is to be attained by two different means, which
may serve to prove or verify one another. The first,
and that to which all men will naturally have recourse,
is to proceed from the observation of species to unit-
ing them in genera, and to collecting them into a
superior order, according as we find ourselves con-
ducted to that classification, by an examination of
the whole of their attributes. The second, and that
which the greater part of modern naturalists have
employed, is to fix beforehand upon certain bases of
division, agreeably to which beings, when observed,
are arranged in their proper places. The first mode
cannot mislead us, but it is applicable only to those
beings of \vhich we have a perfect knowledge ; the
second is more generally practised, but it is subject to
error. When the bases that have been adopted
remain consistent with the combinations which obser-
vation discovers, and when the same foundations are
again pointed out by the results deduced from obser-
vation, the two means are then in unison, and we may
be certain that the method is good."

Many whom we unhesitatingly call ignorant per-
sons, not knowing the benefit mankind has derived,
and must yet reap, from the study of natural objects,
overlook totally, or but lightly value the wearisome
preliminary steps — the never-ceasing patient investi-
gation by which these advantages have been acquired,
this knowledge gained. Such persons have considered
Conchology particularly, as undeserving the rank of a
science, its study beneath the serious attention of a
highly-cultivated mind, and affording nothing beyond
the gratification attendant on the possession of pleas-
ing objects to the eye, or to that vanity which fre-
quently springs from the exhibition of an elegant and
costly taste, not attainable by our less fortunate
neighbour. To them let it be said, that the contem-
plation of objects created by Him whose beneficent
wisdom caused all these things to be ; of Him who
has formed nothing in vain ; of Him who in "six days
made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that "in
them is," cannot either be useless or beneath the dig-
nity of the most enlightened man, the utmost extent
of whose education can only teach him how little he
can ever know of all that is yet to be learned. In
natural history especially, we are always to a great
extent dissatisfied with whatever we perform, for
nature proves to us at every step that she is inex-
haustible ; but this, nevertheless, augments our enjoy-
ment, as we proceed onward in our pleasing task — as
each difficulty is surmounted, a new impulse is given to
our exertions, till we are ultimately rewarded by being
able to read the book of nature in its proper language.
Happily, the researches and writings of some few scien-
tific men have of late years given a zest to the study
of natural history never before experienced, by clothing
it in the simple language of truth, enabling us, while
cozily placed by our fire-sides, to wander in imagina-
tion through the scenes they so glowingly describe.
We live for a time in every country ; in every clime,
we seem to travel along with them in their sometimes
perilous journey, to share their dangers, and to parti-
cipate in the satisfaction of having surmounted them.
Who can read works like those of Audubon, Water-

CONCHOLOGY,

107

ton, Wilson, and many others, without feeling all this,
and much more ? And though some twinges remind us
that years have rolled their weight upon us since we
brushed the morning dew, \ve are nevertheless carried
back to the halcyon days of youth, when, as we
bounded through the daisied mead, all nature seemed
decked in never-fading beauty, by such writers, the
rich, the marvellous storehouse of nature is opened,
her treasures displayed to our eager view, and from
" nature we look up to nature's God." It has been
gravely asserted, that wretched beings have existed,
called Atheists, and that the investigation of nature's
works has led to infidelity in some persons. We doubt
the existence of the one, and utterly deny the possi-
bility of the other ; but should such a species of frenzy
for a moment obscure the light of reason, paradoxical
as it may appear, we fearlessly prescribe, as the only
certain cure, the very supposed cause of the malady ;
and say, let the sufferer apply himself fearlessly to
the study of natural history, in all or any portion of its
branches, believing, as we most conscientiously do,
that a good naturalist can never be a bad man. Con-
chology, it must be confessed, does not, unfortunately,
present all those inviting charms in its study that the
other portions of the creation do. Wre cannot become
intimately acquainted with the habits and manners of
creatures inhabiting the profound depths of the ocean,
in which the works of nature, generally speaking, are
more known by accident than any other source of
information ; where, too, no regular train of reasoning,
from an observation of these animals in their native
element, can be pursued, beyond that afforded by an
examination under the most unfavourable circum-
stances, of a very small portion of the teeming
myriads that exist unseen ; and until the endless inge-
nuity of man shall have invented some sub-marine
mode of conveyance — some omnibus, that will trans-
port us safely and speedily to the nethermost pole
and back again, enabling us to travel in " that world
that lies below the now smooth and glassy surface of
the deep, and the now wild and tremendous action of
its waters, to contemplate the varied forms, qualities,
and habits of its animated tenants, their subjection to
man, and their subserviency to his use," or to realise
the poet's dream, by beholding those scenes — where

The floor is of sand, like the mountain drift,

And the pearl shells spangle the flinty snow ;

From coral rocks the sea-plants lilt

The boughs, where the tides and billows flow;

The water is calm, and still below,

1'or the winds and waves are absent there ;

And the sands are bright as the stars that glow

In the motionless iieldx of upper air ;

There, with its waving leaf of green,

The sea-flag streams through the silent water.

And the crimson leaf of the dulse is seen

To blush, like a banner bathed in slaughter ;

There, with a light and easy motion,

The fan coral sweeps thro' the clear deep sea";

And the yellow and scarlet tufts of ocean

Are bending like corn on the upland lea,

And life, in rare and beautiful forms,

Is sporting amid those towers of stone,

And is safe when the wrathful spirit of storms

Has made the top of the waves his own ;

And when the ship from his fury flies,

Whore the myriad voices of ocean roar,

When the wind-god frowns in the murky skies,

And demons are waiting the wretch on shore,

1 hen far below, in the peaceful sea,

The purple mullet and the gold fish rove,

Where the waters murmur tranquilly

Through the bending twigs in the coral grove.

PliRCIVAL.

Till all this can be witnessed personally with as
much ease as we can depict them mentally, our pro-

^ss in acquiring a perfect knowledge of this science,
in its extended sense, will necessarily be extremely
slow and uncertain. We must depend principally, if
not altogether, on the information derived from authen-
tic sources. This we should confirm by every pos-
sible opportunity, neglecting nothing likely to assist
our doing so, however insignificant it may at first sight
appear. More is really learned by the application of
common sense, though only to a limited extent, than
all the systems written could impart to beginners in
the study of natural history ; for, by actively exer-
cising our reasoning faculties, we determine, upon the
strongest grounds of rational deduction, many facts
but slightly defined, or wholly invisible.

We have not, most of us, the opportunity of
examining with our own eyes some of the molluscous
animals that are within the reach of other persons,
many of whom, unfurtunately, know not how to
benefit from the opportunity ; we are therefore com-
pelled, in numberless instances, to take for granted
every traveller's tale, until the truth or fallacy of
it is confirmed by subsequent information ; but so
inherent is the vice of fiction, that very little reliance
can be placed upon many of the strange sights they
see. Mankind is also so fond of novelty, or whatever
partakes of the marvellous, that the every-day's
observation of nature's operations is neglected ; we
are even too indolent to examine and reason for
ourselves ; we prefer gleaning imperfect ideas from
fanciful accounts of nature, in our closet, to the
delight of perusing her works in the rich volume
every field opens to us. This obviously leads to the
erroneous conclusions entertained by book-naturalists
and book-makers, among which are some (and those,
too, professing to instruct the rising generation) who
have recently published a poetical description of
certain shells sailing together in little fleets— -one
valve expanded to catch the passing breeze that
wafts them o'er the unruffled bosom of the vasty
deep — of others that may be supposed to pass their
leisure moments in playing at leap-frog with each
other. But these, like all other tales conjured up by
the magic wand of fancy, are more entertaining than
true, and must be condemned in works whose object
should be to clothe facts in the simplest garb, divest-
ing them of the tinselled ornaments of fiction, which,
though they may dazzle for a time, shortly sink
before the light of truth, and are rejected as worth-
less. Another serious evil arises from these pretty
nursery tales, that of casting a doubt upon every
other assertion, however well founded in truth.

An instance may here be adduced of the ease with
which some of the interesting operations of nature
can be witnessed in the portion of creation now under
our consideration, and amply repay us for the trouble.
It is afforded by the humble, persecuted, but most
beautiful of our native molluscs, the snail (Heli.v
ncinomliiC), the little creature we barbarously crush
beneath our feet, considering it a common enemy to
horticulture. When we examine its wonderful for-
mation, its tenacity of life, its reproductive powers,
an instructive lesson may be furnished to the concho-
logical student, most satisfactorily explaining- ihe
growth of the vast proportion of similarly constructed
shells in other genera, and 'enabling him to under-
stand by actual observation, and the evidence of his
own reason, some of nature's steps in this branch of
her works ; he may easily watch the various changes
that take place from the slight viscous covering with

108

CONCHOLOGY.

which the animal's body, in the first instance, is
coated, or, as it were, merely glazed, till that sub-
stance becomes a consistent firm shell, finally fashioned
into a painted palace adapted to the form and use of
its inhabitant. It needs no logic to prove, that
wherever creatures are endowed with a long en-
durance of life and great reproductive powers, great
purposes are assigned to them. The contemned
snail does not, therefore, merit the ill treatment it
constantly experiences from man ; and if we for a
moment reflect upon its good services, and overlook
its bad ones, we are bound to confess the former
greatly outweigh the latter. It is viewed as a destruc-
tive marauder in our trim gardens ; but we forget
that we have invited its inroads by placing, within a
comparatively limited space, a choice selection of
dainty food even to the pampered appetite of man,
but altogether irresistible to a snail. In the open
fields, or the widely expanded forest, this little
creature performs useful purposes in conformity to
the ends of its creation ; one of the most important of
which is that of assisting in consuming the exuberant
productions of nature, which, without its operations,
would encumber the surface of the globe, check the
progress of future vegetation, and interrupt that
perpetual harmony of system, which has wisely
ordained that the extinction of life shall not be felt,
but its devastations become supplied by succeeding
generations, each of their kind, whether vegetable or
animal. In countries w,here vegetation is too luxu-
riant to be trained by art to the use of mankind, cover-
ing immense tracts of land with impenetrable gloom,
not only snails, but other species of terrestrial molluscs,
achatina, bulinas, &c., are found, some of a very
large size, proportioned to the magnitude of the
duties they have to perform, and in these situations
their voracity is said to be most extraordinary —
stripping the loftiest trees of their verdure in an incre-
dibly short space of time. Shall we then grudge it a
slender portion of our superfluous luxury, without as-
certaining, by actual examination and rational reflec-
tion, that this little creature was not merely ordained
to devour our choicest fruit, but that it has also a duty
to perform by consuming, in a far greater proportion,
other things in the vegetable world that would, with-
out them, prevent the full completion of the very ob-
ject for which we ignorantly destroy a principal agent.
The well-established fact, that the eggs of these
animals have been absolutely baked, during six
months, under the scorching rays of a tropical sun,
without destroying the germ of life, proves, could no
other facts be adduced, that nature has vested in
these creatures certain important uses and powers
far beyond our short-sighted views ; and it must lead
a philosophical mind to conclude, that in this in-
stance, as well as in many others equally remarkable,
we stubbornly close our eyes to the good that is
forced upon us. We think we hear it said, that in
advocating the cause of snails, we have never had the
mortification of seeing our ripe and delicately-painted
peaches disfigured by their hungry propensities. Be
that as it may, we have also observed, that they, like
ourselves, when no such treat presented itself, were
content with humbler fare, and as industriously as
voraciously consumed other objects, to us useless, or
noxious as food, never deserting the purpose of their
existence, though that end is not yet fully revealed to
us. As an article of food, they are entitled to our con-
federation j for, though they form no part of our gastro-

nomic delicacies, they nevertheless were considered
such by the Roman gourmand ; see AMPULLARIA; and
even down to the present day, snails form an important
article of nourishment and commerce in Germany,
France, Spain, Italy, Turkey, and the Levant. This
digression leads to a conclusion, constantly to be
drawn by every reflective mind, that from the colossus
of bivalves (the Tridacna gigantea) whose inhabitant
would satiate the " sharp-set appetites of an hundred
men," down to the shell less than a grain of sand, each
is endowed with similar mechanical powers and
bodily faculties, adapted to its sphere of action in the
place it is destined to occupy, the one and the other
playing an equally important part in this crumbling
theatre of mortality, and forming so many connecting
links of the chain that binds together the invisible
operations of nature under the directing wisdom of
Omnipotence.

We hope to be able to point out many useful, as
well as pleasing results, derived from the study of
Conchology, and to give an interest to it beyond the
commonly-received opinion of it. In the first place,
it is inseparably connected with geology, or the
formation of the earth, and a study of the one must
necessarily contribute to a more perfect knowledge
of the other, since shells, from a period before time
was, have constituted so large a portion of the earth's
matter. In their fossil state they have been elo-
quently called by a late writer the only true medals
of creation now extant. He says, " by these medals
we are taught that innumerable beings have lived, of
which not one of the same kind does any longer
exist ; that immense beds, composed of the spoils of
these animals, extending for miles under ground, are
met with in many parts of the globe ; that enormous
chains of mountains, which seem to load the surface
of the earth, are as vast monuments, in which these
remains of former ages are entombed ; that though
lying thus crushed together in a rude and confused
mass, they are hourly suffering those changes by
which, after thousands of years, they become the
chief constituent parts of gems, the limestone which
forms the cottage of the lowly peasant, or the marble
which adorns the splendid palace of the prince."
To this may be added, that the local indications they
furnish enable us to ascertain, with a considerable
degree of precision, the indentity or the superposition
of the different strata of the earth's formation, to
distinguish between the various geological changes of
the antediluvian world, and to account philosophi-
cally for many of those natural phenomena which
the mutations of this planet have produced, changes
which, without some knowledge of conchology, must
have remained, if not altogether unaccounted for, at
least less easily understood. Indeed, it is to geolo-
gists that we are indebted, in a great measure, for
having rescued conchology from the obscurity into
which it had nearly fallen as a science. The ex-
tremely minute characters existing between fossil
shells, or between them and recent species, required
an extended knowledge of the subject, including the
structure of the animal, as well as its dwelling ; and
it consequently became necessary to establish some-
thing like well-grounded principles and given rules to
guide them in their delicate researches, or to assist in
resolving the extremely difficult problems they have
undertaken to explain. To the physiologist and
anatomist, a study of the animals, the architects as
well as inhabitants of these beautiful productions of

CONcrroLOGY.

109

nature, presents an interest beyond the mere scale of
enjoyment which a contemplation of them enlarges.
It leads him, by analogous reasoning in comparative
anatomy, the more clearly to understand some of the
laws and economy of animal life, and to account for
many of those paradoxical causes of vital existence
which these inferiorly organised creatures illustrate.
Of the benefits derived by mankind from shells, or
rather their animals, less is probably known at this
moment than could be wished, or might be expected ;
they will only be developed by time. As articles of
food, numberless species are well known. We need
scarcely mention the oyster, for which our native
shores have so long been famous ; since, so far back
as the beginning of the second century, the Roman
poet Juvenal, while satirising the epicure Montanus,
thus speaks of them : —

" He, whether Circe's rock his oysters bore,
Or Lucrine lake, or distant Richboro's shore,
Knew at first taste."

These, with muscles, cockles, scallops, &c., form a
considerable branch of commerce and wealth to the
enterprising fisherman ; an account of which will
be amply given in the alphabetical arrangement.
Many other species of shell-fish might also be enu-
merated, affording an agreeable and nutritive food
to nations compelled by local situation, uncon-
genial climate, or ignorance of civilised improve-
ment, to seek from ocean's bounteous store, a natu-
ral and never-failing source of subsistence, frequently,
indeed, the principal, if not the only one within their
reach. In the days of Roman epicurism we have
already enumerated snails and oysters, to these
may be added Echini and Balani, for we are told,
that at the famous supper given by Lentulus when
he was made Flamen Martialis, or" Priest of Mars,
these and other shell-fish formed a part of the delica-
cies presented to the guests ; and Pennant satirically
observes, they seemed to have been eaten by the holy
personages, priests and vestals, invited on the occasion,
as a whet for the second course. The Echinus, how-
ever, is a crustaceous and not a testaceous mollusc, as
we shall explain under its description : we have tasted
both this and the £ar>iacle,but not possessing Roman
stomachs, or perhaps from the want of classical cooks,
we confess they appeared anything but eatable to
our vulgar taste. As baits to catch fish, many species
of shells are used ; we have, ourselves, captured many
a bright mackerel and whiting with no other lure than
a small piece of mother-o'-pearl suspended from the
hook. The amphibious mammalia, sea-birds, and
even many fishes, derive a large portion of their sus-
tenance from shell fish, which tends to check, with-
out destroying altogether, the innumerable broods
hourly brought into existence. Except as food, shell-
fish contribute but little to supply the other wants of
mankind. The Pinna marina does, it is true, furnish
with its byssus, or beard as it is commonly called, a
silky filament, in sufficient abundance to be fabricated
into gloves, stockings, and some few other articles of
wearing apparel, but not in such quantities as to
render them articles of general use, or commercial
speculation, beyond the value attached to them as
museum rarities. The Janthina, Buccinum, and other
shells, indicate the presence of a strong colour-
ing matter, and a species of Purpura produced the
highly valued Tyrian purple dye, which formed
a very costly article in the catalogue of Roman

extravagance ; but the same colour being now ob-
tained by the chemical effects of mineral or vegetable
matter, at a trifling expense, has, of course, superseded
its use. In early treatises on medicine, shells ranked
as useful agents ; they, however, now form no part of
the pharmacopoeia, common chalk being equally effica-
cious. In countries where the manufacture of glass
is either unknown or too expensive to be generally
used, a shell of the genus P lacuna is substituted to
the present day, its extremely thin valves permitting
the rays of light to pass partially through them. With
these, in China and Japan, the windows may be said to
be glazed. As a commercial circulating medium,
shells have been employed on the coast of Africa,
where sealed bags of the Cyprea monela (money cowry)
form tallies for certain sums ; thus exchanging hands
in the trading operations of uncivilised nations, as an
equivalent for coin, and redeemable by the party issu-
ing them with the same good faith that notes are
honoured by the firm on which they are drawn. As
articles of luxury and decoration, shells, from the most
remote period of history, have afforded personal
ornaments, in various ways, lo civilised and savage
people. With some they are distinctive marks of rank,
arid in the idolatrous worship of India, some species
are consecrated to ignorant superstition, by those
" who sit in darkness and who see no light." The
Avicula margaritifera, commonly called the mother-
of-pearl oyster, is universally well known as yielding
that beautiful iridescent substance, from which num-
berless elegant and useful trinkets are fashioned by
skilful workmen. It must be observed, however,
that the beautiful colours, like those of the Opal,
which they resemble, are not the effect of any pig-
ment or colouring matter, but occasioned by the
mechanical arrangement of the molecules, or atoms
of matter, constituting the lamellar substance of the
shell, being so distributed as to become capable of
decomposing the rays of light, and reflecting the
exquisite prismatic hues which all pearly or nacreous
shells exhibit. On this subject the philosophical
experiments of Brewster and others are highly
interesting. It is the animal of this shell, or a dis-
eased condition of it, which produces that modest but
highly coveted jewel, the Oriental pearl, the pride of
Europe's fairest daughters, or Afric's sable children —
the gem that decks a monarchs brow, or graces native
innocence. In sacred writing, pearls are frequently
named as things of inestimable value. " No mention
shall be made of coral or of pearls, for the price of wis-
dom is above rubies ;" and in Matthew,our Saviour said,
" The kingdom of heaven is like a merchantman seek-
ing goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl
of great price, went and sold all he had and bought
it." Poets of every nation, but particularly those of
the eastern nations, have compared the objects of
their dearest affections to pearls, as the most invalu-
able things known, its Persian name Mervarid, or
globe of light, being constantly used in the hyper-
bolical language of oriental poetry. Our native
poets have also frequently alluded to pearls ; upon
the latin name of which (Margarita), Drumrnond, in
his poems, 1656, classically puns in the following
lines —

In shells and gold, pearles are not kept alone,

A Margaret here lies beneathe a stone ;

A Margaret that did excel! in worthe,

All those bright gems the Indies dothe send forthe.

Several other species of shells, both marine and

110

C O N C H O L O G Y.

fresh water, also produce pearls — the Pinna marina,
Tridaciia gigas, Unia, Mussel, &c. ; they are, however,
far inferior in beauty and value, though Suetonius in-
forms us that the pearls found in Britain were so highly
extolled at Rome, that they mainly influenced Caesar's '
invasion of our sea-girt isle, and though his ambitious j
views were only in part realised by the attempt, he !
did not lose sight of one of the inducements which !
led to it, and a buckler, richly decorated with British '
pearls, was placed on his return, in the gorgeous !
temple dedicated to Venus Genetrix, as a trophy of '
his mad ambition, and an imperial offering worthy the
sea-born goddess. The rivers and seas of Ireland,
Wales, and Scotland still yield pearls ; even to a late
date fisheries of them have been established, but the i
produce is comparatively of so little value that it no '
longer repays the speculator. A remarkably fine
Welsh pearl is said to have been presented by Sir
Richard Wynne, of Gwyder, to Catharine, Queen of
Charles II., and still to hold its place in the regal
crown of England.

In the alphabetical arrangement of this work, pearls
will be more amply described, and an account of
the Oriental pearl fisheries given.

Having enumerated some of the known benefits
mankind derive from shells, whether as food, ornament,
or otherwise, it will be proper to point out such as
are injurious, or so considered in certain points of
view, that is, so far as their habits tend to defeat the
industry or ingenuity of man ; but here, as in the
instance of the common snail, we feel called upon to
enter a philosophical protest against treating them
indiscriminately as destructives and enemies. The
evil they commit is certainly manifest, but it is con-
fined to a very limited circle— it may be everywhere
checked, or prevented by care or art — while the good
they perform, being unseen and extended over an
immense space, passes unheeded, and, in the present
stage of our knowledge of natural history, is not
appreciated as it should be ; let it, however, be
remembered, that there is an eternal fitness of things
which requires that the decrease of various portions
of creation should, in some degree, keep pace with
their otherwise superabundant growth, thus balan-
cing the account of nature's dealings, and regulating
the expense of life. Extensive mischief is doubtless
committed by that insidious little animal the Teredo,
which recklessly wends its way in ten thousand tortu-
ous paths, through the hardest oak, or toughest teak,
rendering them like sponge, and destroying their
texture as supports to submarine erections, occasion-
ing, in certain localities, dangerous consequences ;
piles, jetties, piers, and vessels, long stationed in some
climates, are subject to their ravages, from which
fatal accidents have resulted. It is not in human
nature thus to witness the destruction of the noblest
\vorks of our ingenuity, without condemning the
agents that have effected it ; but these are no more
than additional illustrations of the fact, that it is for
man's ultimate benefit such occurrences should take
place — they give a stimulus to his industry — set his
wits to work — teach him to counteract the evil com-
mitted against his immediate interest or convenience,
and often create a far greater eventual benefit than
he could at first sight discover. The wise man only
becomes so by not despising the humblest information,
he is constantly examining, inquiring, or reasoning on
everything around him ; and some of the greatest
efforts of genius have been perfected from the indica-

tions furnished from apparently trivial causes, over-
looked at first from their insignificance. Another of
the number of shells but little loved by mariners, is
the Balanus or Barnacle, whose numerous broods
spread themselves in thick congregations, sometimes
as it were incrusting the bottoms of ships, and their
sides below the water mark, to such an extent, that
her progress through the pathless sea becomes seri-
ously impeded : the watchful sailor baffled in his
best exertions, and the wealthy speculator disappointed
in his nicely calculated hope of gain. To conclude
our list of commonly called destructives in conchology,
we shall add the Photos, and other of the penetrating
genera of shells, whose habitations are formed in
calcareous, and even stony matter, wood, &c., there
performing either good or evil according to the par-
ticular circumstances of their situation and the pur-
poses of their being, which are, if well considered,
probably more beneficial than prejudicial to mankind.
Shells are abundantly distributed over ever}* part
of the globe, from the polar regions to the torrid and
inter-tropical zones, increasing in number, size and
colour, as they recede from the one and approximate
the other, a fact equally to be observed in the other
works of creation. Heat and light, as we shall here-
after explain, possess such a prodigious influence on
these productions, that the most beautiful, whether
marine or terrestrial, are those inhabiting tropical
climates. It may be said, that no part of the world
is divested of shells, either terrestrial, marine, or
fluviatile, and the number of their species is always
proportioned to the extent of their peculiar location
or habitat ; we may also ascertain that nearly all the
families exist in the different zones of the globe,
though the genera and species of some are far more
numerous in one zone than in the other. To attempt
a detailed account of the geographical localities of
the different genera, would not only be extremely
difficult, if not totally impracticable, but would occupy
a larger space than can conveniently be allotted to
the subject in a work like the present one; we will,
nevertheless, point out a few leading facts with regard
to the habitat of shells, which will serve as a general
illustration of the localities of their congeners. In
the high northern latitudes shells are not numerous,
and the species most usually found are of the genera
Terebratula, Mya, Pandora, and some of the Solens ;
they are not, however, equally abundant in all the
northern seas. The Ostrea, Avicula, Orbicitla, Crania
Terebratula, Haliolis, Pecten, Patella, Area, l.'nua
Mactra, Pholas, Salanus, Cardium, Teredo, and Helix
are everywhere found in greater or smaller numbers
as the degree of latitude varies ; the Clavagella
Aspergillum, and Fistulana, appear confined to the
equatorial zones ; the Vulsella, Perna, Chama, Crc-
natula, Trigonia, and some of the Cardia, inhabit the
southern zones ; the Harpa, Tcrebra, Cassis, Plcuro-
toma, Mactra, Strombus, Conus, Oliva, Ovjila, Cypra'a,
&e., principally inhabit the inter-tropical regions ; the
Tridacna has not yet been met with anywhere than
in the Indian archipelago: the Argonauta, Nautilus,
and Spirula, mostly dwell in the torrid zone. With
respect to terrestrial species of shells, it may be
observed generally, that they are more numerous —
higher coloured, and of a larger growth, in the
southern and eastern regions, than in the northern
and inter-tropical. Our Helix ncmoralis, field snail,
is, however, a remarkable exception, as its colours vie
with those of its congeners in any other country, and

C O N C H O L O G Y.

Ill

in point of size, some species of European Helix ex-
ceed those of the warmer latitudes ; the Tcstacclla may
be said to live almost underground ; and hot springs,
and the bituminous waters of the Dead Sea, are not
without testaceous inhabitants. Extremely interest-
ing conclusions will, sooner or later, be drawn, as the
science of malacology becomes better understood ;
respecting the diminution of species, the limits of
their variations, and to what extent the individuals
are modified by local circumstances in the places they
inhabit. Many shells are of a very large size, while
others are invisible to the eye. In the formation
and arrangement of collections of shells, merely as
objects of natural beauty, they cede to no portion of
nature's productions ; and, unlike every other branch,
they possess this immense superiority, that with a
very moderate degree of care, they may be preserved
comparatively uninjured for centuries, losing nothing
of their substance, and but little of their colour.

How truly the naturalist, Pliny, says — " What can
be more wonderful than to view nature in all her
irregularities and sports in her variety of shells ; such
a difference of colour and of figure do they form, flat,
concave, long, lunated, drawn round in a circle, the
orbit cut in two ; some are seen with a rising on the
back, some smooth, some wrinkled, toothed, striated,
the point variously intorted, the mouth pointed like a
dagger, folded back, bent inwards ! All these
creatures, and many more, furnish at once novelty,
elegance, and speculation. While I thus contem-
plated nature, she wrought in me a persuasion that I
should look upon nothing as incredible that related
to her." What, indeed, can surpass the freaks and
vagaries exhibited by nature in this portion of the
creation ? For, whether we admire the graceful
symmetry of some, or the grotesque deformity of
others, the delicate sculpture, or the rude furrows,
the exquisite pencilling and vivid tints, or the bold
marking and sombre hue of shells, we are lost in
admiration, and the contemplative mind is roused to
adore the infinite wisdom that has called all these
creatures into existence, and the interest they excite
induces us to attempt in some degree to account for
their uses. Thus conchology is raised to a more
important rank in the march of intellect than it has
hitherto occupied in public estimation. We hourly
begin to develope new features in its study leading
to philosophical results never before contemplated ;
and though our progress is so much restricted by
circumstances, it will be rendered the more secure
from being progressive, and founded upon repeated
observation ; we are involuntarily led to assign
causes for the effects, and some insight is gained
into phenomena that at a first glance appeared most
marvellous. Marvellous in truth they must always
remain as regards the power and wisdom that gave
them life, and invested them with given functions in
the scheme of creation. It is, however, to their
mechanical structure, if we may be allowed the
expression, that our remark applies. In this the
exercise of that most invaluable of all gifts, common
sense, combined with the tolerably accurate observa-
tion of our visual organs, is all that is necessary to
those who have not had the additional advantages of
an education directed to the improvement of these
observations upon anatomical data. This is, how-
ever, of the less importance in conchology, treating it,
as we now do, as a separate science, and solely
applicable to shells, in which point of view nine-tenths

of our readers will value it, if they value it at all ;
but they must not forget that, as a science, it is most
incomplete, imperfect, and artificial ; if the animals
themselves are not to be studied in connexion with
their coverings, for they ought not, and cannot pro-
perly be separated., without violating every principle
of natural history, and rendering this branch no more
than a classification of differently-shaped pieces of
carbonate of lime.

It being demonstrable that shells are formed on
the model or naked body of the animal construct-
ing them, every portion or inequalty of surface these
bodies present must necessarily cause either depres-
sions or protuberances on the exterior of their shells
corresponding with them ; whereas, in the simple
snail, these do not exist, or in other shells which have
only little elevated knobs, or regular grooves, bands,
&c., we easily may conceive how the surface of the shell
corresponds with the exterior of the animal's body : and
when we examine shells constructed like the Scalaria
preliosa (Wentletrap), or the Harpa (Harp), and
others of a similar character, we observe the cover-
ing of an animal whose periodical increase is distinctly
marked by the lip or termination of each addition to
its original size. This forms what may, for the sake of
description, be termed ribs, when placed longitudinally
from the apex to the base, as in the Harpa, or rings, as
in the Scalaria ; and here we only want the opportunity
of ascertaining the time occupied in constructing each
of these additional portion?, to determine the age of
the shell. This remark also applies both to bivalve
and univalve shells. But when we examine a shell set
with spines, or foliated processes, we for a moment
hesitate to believe that such was formed in the
animal's body ; and here the exercise of common
sense is necessary to explain, in the absence of the
animal, that which appears inconsistent with the
theory laid down ; our reasoning faculties are called
into action, and we observe, that in the early stage
of growth, many species of shells differ widely from
their mature formation, many instances of which may
be named in the genera Strombns, Ptcroceras, Ranellrt,
CuprcEa, &c., not to mention numerous bivalve shells
whose valves are variously provided with spines,
arched scales, &c. When such are met with, it is
obvious that their formation has been caused by the
necessity the animal feels of having certain corre-
sponding organs protected, either wholly or partially.
In the first period of growth, these organs, not having
reached the full term of their development, the shelly
matter extended no further than was required, for
nature, in her operations, never squanders the mate-
rials she employs to cany them into effect ; she
always adopts the shortest way of going to work,
having no ulterior object to guide her course than
necessity ; but that hard taskmaster never drives
her from an uniform progress. Combined with the
strictest economy both of time and matter, everything
in creation hastens on, by regular stages, to iis
utmost state of perfection or maturity — there stops —
ever after sinking into gradual decay. The purposes
of its animal existence daily become more feeble, till
they are altogether extinguished by death. Thus, in
the genera we have just named, the claws, spiny
processes, or terminal bands, could not have been
formed from a calcareous deposit on the body of the
animal, properly so called ; but we can easily account
for their formation, particularly if we have the advan-
tage of examining the young and the adult shell at

112 CONCHOLOGY.

the same time. In the Pteroceras, here figured, for
example, the young shell, instead of the elongated

Young Shell.

Adult Shell.
PTKROCKRAS SCORPIO.

points, has open, waved prolongations, which, as the
organs they then covered increase in length, become
lengthened, and finally closed altogether, as the
animal, after attaining its maturity, finds it no longer
necessary to go on building, but then retreats into
its dwelling, and the very organs most serviceable to
complete it not being any longer in constant action,

Murex tenuispina.

rra«e to grow, and, on the contrary, diminish in size,
and very frequently disappear altogether. In other

genera, the Murex, &c., we see regularly-formed sets'
of spines, or foliations, at given intervals, round the
spiral form of the shell. Each of these, it is quite
clear, formed previous terminations, and became
successively closed as the increased size of the animal
required more room. These additions go on with
the greatest regularity, and correspond accurately in
all the species, with the exception of some few, which
may be considered sports of nature, and not generic
distinctions. By counting these periodical additions,
we come to the same conclusion regarding their age
as with the Wentletrap. We can indeed say that
such a shell is not an adult one, by counting the
number of varices, but it has not yet been determined
what period of time is necessary to complete the
standard measure. Helices, and their congeners,
never form a thickened lip until their full growth is
attained. Double-lipped shells have been described,
but they are extremely rare. We shall point out the
mode adopted by nature in forming the snail shell,
in which it will be seen, as before stated, that it ia
formed on the animal's body. It is equally certain,
though not so easily proved by observation, that those
shells which have claws, as they are termed, such as
the Pteroceras present, or foliations and spines, as the
Murices exhibit, must depend wholly on the form of
the skin of the mantle and its age, by means of which
these were formed, its lobes, prolongations of portions
of the mantle, the organs of respiration, the head,
oviduct, &c. ; each producing, by their habitual uses,
the spines, claws, canals, and other parts of the ex-
ternal covering of the animal. If the edges of the
mantle of the animal are even, the termination of the
shell is the same ; if waved, so is the external edge.
Where digitations of the mantle exist, they are
equally protected, and become, as we have stated,
claws or spines ; tubular in their early growth, but
rendered solid by repeated deposits of testaceous
matter, exuding from the mantle in certain propor-
tions, till the period of its full maturity. The animal
then declines ; its dwelling is sufficient for the pro-
tection of its body ; the wants of its life in seeking
food, or in moving from one spot to another, during
the completion of its growth, require an extension of
those parts, at first but slightly defined, and they are
not in the full exercise of their adult functions ; but
these extended organs in youth are much greater
in proportion, and frequently more numerous, than
they are in the stage of decrepitude, when they begin
to disappear, and the activity of their offices gra-
dually decline, being no longer required to complete
most of their destined operations. As a general
deduction, we repeat, it appears quite certain that
the spines, tubercles, and claws of shells, however
solid they may be met with, have all of them, at first,
been channelled or grooved, to defend certain ex-
posed organs in those which have the canal or slit
on the under side, and they are by far the most
numerous, having been produced by the digitations
of the mantle ; while those which have the slit on the
upper side, as in the Purpura and Venus Dione,
(Linnaeus) appear, on the contrary, to have been
produced by the concavity of an appendage to the
mantle, which projected on the outside.

Nothing certain appears known of the age of
shells, though we have just remarked that certain
stages of growth are marked by signs of the shell
being then finished ; their growth probably in many
species, under favourable circumstances of climate

CONCH O LOGY.

113

and food, continues for a definite period ; with
regard to the animal, whose increase of bulk requires

increased accommodation in its shell, as would
appear particularly in the genera we have already
named, and in all the other genera whose varices,
whether spinous or foliaceous, seem placed at stated
intervals, some being found at the half turn of the
whole circumference of the shell, others at a quarter,
some one third, and some perpendicular to the base ;
others at the sides of the shell, giving it a flattened
or ventricose appearance, according to the position
of these previous terminations, which, it must be
again observed, are formed of the vitreous, and not
lamellar substance. In bivalve shells, also, the period
of growth may be traced by their striae, and they
seem also to have a limited extent of increase, as,
generally speaking, the various genera attain a tole-
rably uniform size. Their age is, however, more
strongly marked by the thickness of the valves, and
the internal muscular impressions, than any other
guide. The valves of shells having a continual
tendency to fly open, in consequence of the elastic
ligament situated at the side of the hinge, which
operates as a muscle, it was necessary that the
animal inclosed should have the power of closing
them at pleasure. There are, therefore, according to
the different genera, alwa3rs one or two muscles fitted
for this purpose. In the oyster there is only one
muscle of this kind, situated near the centre of the
shell, behind the liver, and in the middle of the cloak.
It is inserted into both valves, and by its contraction
brings them together with an astonishing force, equal
to the pressure of many hundred pounds weight.
The same mechanism prevails in the 1'er-na, Avicula,
and Spondylus. In young shells these muscles leave
a fainter impression than in old ones, in which the
increased substance of the valves render them deeper.
They are, as it were, always advancing more towards
the edge of the valves, not that these muscles are
ever displaced entirely, but new portions of them are
formed as the animal finds it necessary to occupy a
convenient position in its dwelling ; the posterior
parts of the muscle become inactive, and die away,
whilst others replace them on the anterior part, and
so on during the life of the animal. These muscular
impressions also afford an excellent guide to the
genus of animal to which a shell belongs, where no
other opportunity presents itself of judging. The
difference which exists ia the size of shells of the
same species, particularly in such as have not the
strongly marked lip, or other final termination, is
very remarkable. It does not appear easily accounted
for, but a similar anomaly exists in every branch of
natural history ; and it may therefore be attributed
chiefly to the strength and constitution of the ani-
;mal, being always proportioned to the favourable
or unfavourable situation of its habitat, and the
goodness of its nourishment in peculiar situations.
Another extraordinary occurrence is, the elongation
of the spires of some univalve shells, in which the
whorls do not touch each other, but appear drawn
out like a coiled spring. The Scalaria and Helix
are those in which that lusus has been observed,
though it is very rare ; but the greatest monstrosity
of all, the most inexplicable freak of nature, is dis-
played in such shells as are sinister or heterostrophe,
that is, having their whorls turned to the left instead
of the right. This can only be accounted for by the
viscera of the animal presenting a change in their

• NAT, HIST.— VOL. II.

position, which of course is followed in the formation
of the shell, this is to be understood, but the former
baffles inquiry. Such a phenomenon might therefore
occur in every species of mollusc, and does so in
numerous instances ; but some of the genera, parti-
cularly of terrestrial shells, are more commonly left-
handed than on the contrary. These, however, do
not, in the opinion of the author of this article, con-
stitute anything beyond a variety or sport of nature,
though constantly occurring in some genera.

The probable number of shells in a recent state,
can only be guessed at ; as, in addition to the species
already known,, naturalists and travellers are con-
tinually increasing the amount by new researches ;
but judging, which may fairly be done, from the
immense beds of the vestiges of former testaceous
animals, we may conclude, that living examples exist
in countless myriads.

The mode of production is various ; some of these
creatures are viviparous, or bring forth their young
alive, as is the case with most of those which inhabit
bivalve shells, multivalves, and even some of the uni-
valves, while others, which form by far the greater
portion of such as are known, are oviparous, or
produce their young from eggs. The animals con-
structing shells, do not, generally speaking, exhibit
any known affection towards their progeny, though
many possess that wisdom termed instinct, in deposit-
ing them not only in secure places, but especially
where food, the first want of nature, will be amply
supplied, without much trouble to obtain it. Adarison
mentions that the female of the Voluta gondola of the
Linnaean school, collects its young for some time
together in the fold of its foot, 'and the female of the
oviparous Paludina also carries its young some days
on its shell. Species of the Succinum, Purpura, and
probably many other genera, whose eggs are pe-
dunculated, or having a stem, are. attached, at their
exclusion, to the neighbouring substances. The
Janthina, which is always found floating, surrounds its
shell with eggs ; the snail and others of its congeners
conceal their eggs in the hollow of trees, beneath stones,
in damp places protected from the sun ; the Ocythoe,
of the Argonauta, appears to place its eggs at the
bottom of the shell it inhabits ; muscles attach their
youna: by means of their channelled foot ; and Balani
do ihe same with the long tube which terminates their
oviduct. Most other molluscs lay their eggs as chance
directs ; and it is possible, from the viscous matter that
surrounds them, they are enabled to adhere to marine
substances, where, at the period of their development,
they find themselves the most advantageously placed
according to their future wants and habits. By far
the greater number of eggs produced by molluscous
animals are mucous ; some are horny, and some are
covered with a calcareous coating, resembling those
of birds, as is the case with one or more species of
Achatina and Bulinus. In one fact all naturalists
agree, that whatsoever the mode of production,
whether from an egg or otherwise, the shell is formed
on the body of the young animal proportioned to its
then bulk ; the increase this shortly requires, and the
consequent necessity of enlarging its shelly dwelling,
we will now explain. For this purpose the common
snail shall be our preceptor ; its example holds good
with all shells, being formed of spiral convolutions,
whether they are aquatic or terrestrial. The princi-
pal use of shells is, doubtless, to cover the animal
entirely when in want of such a protection, or merely
H

114

CONCHOLOGY.

to defend certain delicate organs most subjected to
injury. Some writers have considered them analogous
to the bones of other animals, although its formation
and growth arc widely different, since it serves as a
base or support to the muscles which are attached to
its internal surface.

Reaumur, to whom we are indebted for numberless
interesting and accurate observations of the pheno-
mena of nature, thus describes the increase of shell
which takes place after the development of the animal
and its progress of growth : — " The enlargement of
shells after this period is owing to successive additions
of calcareous and animal matter, independent of any
organised structure. When a testaceous animal is
about to enlarge its shell, the common snail for
instance, and its body has become too large to be
covered securely, it projects a portion of its body from
the opening ; it then attaches itself to a wall or other
solid substance, and the naked part is soon covered
with the fluids which are excreted from its surface ;
the pellicle, or covering, which they produce, when
the fluid dries, is, at first, thin and elastic, but gradu-
ally assumes more consistence, and becomes at last
similar to the whole part of the shell. If, in this stage
of the process, a bit of the shell is broken off and
removed without injuring the body of the animal, the
skin of the snail is soon covered with a fluid which
gradually thickens and becomes solid. In about
twenty-four hours after the operation a fine crust may
be observed, which constitutes the first and external
layer for repairing the breach that was made ; at the
end of some days this layer becomes thicker, and in
ten or twelve days, under favourable circumstances,
the new piece of shell has acquired the same thick-
ness as that which was removed, but it never unites
in the same way, being only as it were a plug. If,
after the broken piece has been removed, particularly
if the fracture is made near the edge of the opening,
the animal is not supplied with a sufficient quantity
of nourishment, its bulk is soon diminished, and
now finding what is left of the shell equal to com-
pletely cover its lessened body, no exertion takes
place for the production of a new portion. It is
obvious, snails, &c., cannot enlarge in volume but by
the augmentation of the whorls, and that each previ-
ous turn of the spire remains the same in length ;
these make a great difference in the size of the shell,
by the last and additional one, each being calculated
to contain nearly double that of the preceding one ;
but in many shells, both marine and river, the last
whorls of the spire, compared with the preceding ones,
greatly exceed this proportion. In some, the external
opening is twelve times greater, or from eight to
twelve : this depends entirely on the increase of the
animal's body, and the duration of that increase.
Those testaceous animals which have only a few turns
in the spire of the shell are of this description ; to the
former belong such as have a greater number of turns ;
the growth of shells, being proportioned to that of the
inhabitant, proceeds almost imperceptibly. In most
shells this, however, is marked on the convex side
with lines, more or less fine, giving the shell a fibrous
appearance ; these are called striae, which may be
traced through the whole of the shell, in bivalves and
in the longitudinal direction of those which have a
spiral form ; they cannot receive any addition without
that progress being discovered on a minute examina-
tion. These inequalities must become visible, for the
smallest addition of testaceous matter which is made,

must be attached to the old part of the shell, and con-
sequently, must be more elevated than the former ;
whatever be its thickness, the increase, or rather the
interruption of the growth is thus distinctly marked;
and they have some degree of analogy with the
different shoots of trees, checked by the cold of winter
or advanced by the heat of summejr, as is remarked
in such shells which live on the land, or inhabit rivers
in temperate regions ; in these the shell is not
enlarged during those seasons ; it is otherwise,
however, with regard to its thickness, for that is con-
tinually going on, from the constant exudation of
small quantities of fluid from the animal's body ; this
addition is generally marked also by a fresh coloured
stripe or band, darker than the present one."

That which appears certain is, that the growth of
shells is extremely slow, and that their inhabitants are
able to exist a very long period without food, parti-
cularly such as can screen themselves entirely from
exterior circumstances, as is the case with the Helix.
This is the more remarkable as the animal has not
a stock of fat to exist upon as in some hybernating
animals ; that substance never existing in molluscs.
Numberless instances of this could be adduced, and
among others proving the tenacity of life in snails,
the writer has received some of their species closely
packed with marine shells from the Mauritius, which
the day after their being unpacked were discovered
wandering about, apparently uninjured by their con-
finement. Some lived ten days, but a want of proper
food, or more probably an uncongenial climate, then
killed them. Another instance is recorded in the
Philosophical Transactions, of snails having resumed
their wonted habits, after having been imprisoned in
a cabinet fifteen years ; this is not, however, vouched
for by the writer of this article.

These remarks are so easily corroborated by every
day's observation, that they need not be enlarged
upon, and those who are disposed to examine some of
nature's interesting operations, will do well to begin
with such as are not attended with philosophic cruelty ;
and as the formation of the snail's shell illustrates the
growth of all similarly constructed habitations, a more
attainable object cannot well be pointed out.

Having, as we think, explained the mode of increase
adopted by the animals of a large proportion of the
various genera of shells, we will now shortly describe
a difference which exists in another very extensive
division, called, by some naturalists, porcelain shells,
on account of their smooth surfaces and high polish,
resembling china-ware, in these there are two sets of
colours, disposed in a parallel direction to each other.
The external range of these colours is owing to a
peculiarity of structure in the animals which inhabit
them, different from that of other testaceous animals,
and to an operation which does not take place in
other shells. In these shells the colouring matter
seems to be always deposited in two different ways,
and at two distinct periods. In the first process,
when the body of the shell is formed, the colouring
matter is excreted from the glands in the body of the
animal, and it is arranged according to the disposition
of those glands. At this period the shell is only of
a very moderate thickness, much less than it after-
wards acquires when completely formed. On -the
external surface of the shell thus formed, another layer
is deposited, which is more compact than the former,
in some places thicker than in others, and usually
variegated with different colours ; the external shell

CONCHOLOGY.

115

being thus completely covered with the second layer
the original colours are concealed, and if the same
shell were examined at the different periods of its
growth or increase, it would appear like two distinct
species. In the genus Cyprcea (common cowry), this
is strikingly visible ; the young shell is thin ; the
spire formed by its convolutions very distinctly
marked, and the toothed, or grooved aperture, not at
all indicated : in this stage it closely resembles some
species of cones, and by early writers on concliology
has been so classed. As the external deposition of
matter continues, the thickness of the shell increases,
the spire becomes less and less, till it is altogether
obliterated, and an indentation is formed on the part it
occupied, by the repeated coverings it has received ;
the matter also undergoes a change of quality ;
becomes more glassy or transparent, for it is to be
remarked, that when a shell has attained the largest
growth it is susceptible of, the skin of the animal
appears to produce a greater quantity of calcareous,
and less of the gelatinous matter ; the atoms com-
posing it are no longer in regular layers or leafy, they
have become extremely compressed and neaped
together, their structure vitreous, and assuming a

i? Shell.

Adult Shell.

RJBA EXANTHEMA,

brilliant polish, from the continual friction of the parts
of the mantle, as they pass constantly over the surface
of the shell during the life of the animal ; this is
observable in all univalve shells, most particularly so
in the cowry and its congeners ; each addition to the
rolled form of the shell is rendered thicker, and, when
it has reached its full period of maturity, the lips of
the opening are become extremely thick, and with
those grooves which admit certain portions of the
animal's body to pass through. Thus, the different
modes of increase may readily be understood, and it
is plainly quite distinct, from that which we have
described as taking place in the snail and similarly
constructed shells, in the one, a shell may familiarly be
termed built by small additions of matter to its first
formation, placed as it were in lines, edge to edge, as
any thin substance would be rendered wider by care-
fully laying a coat of varnish on its edge, adding various
others in succession, as each previous one becomes
hardened ; while in the porcelanous shells, the depo-
sition of matter is layer upon layer, over the whole

surface of its broadest expanse, or in more scientific
terms, stratum super-stratum.

The lamellar structure of shells may easily be dis-
covered by exposing the common oysters, and such as
are so constructed, to the action of heat, when the
animal matter which cemented the calcareous layers
is destroyed, and they are shown in a foliaceous form.
The fracture of the shell is another fact illustrative ot'
its formation ; an oyster never breaks short off, but in
thin scales or portions, while the snail and bivalve
shells break short off in the direction of their additions
to the edge of the shell, some more readily than
others, according to the density of the matter com-
posing them. In the matchless Museum of the Royal
College of Surgeons, there are some beautiful prepar-
ations of shells and madrepores, in which the calcare-
ous portion of matter has been absorbed by a chemical
process, not affecting the animal matter, which remains
exhibiting the precise form of the shell, by far the
greater proportion of which it constituted. The
chemical analysis of shells has been carefully made,
and its general result proves them to be formed of a
gelatinous matter hardened by a calcareous salt. The
species which contain the largest portion of animal
matter, appear to be those of a fibrous and pearly
structure, in these exist sub-carbonate of lime and
coagulated albumine. Mother-of-pearl itself is com-
posed of sixty-six parts of the first and thirty-four of
the latter. The shells of oysters contain much less
animal matter, and that which does exist, more
resembles a gelatinous substance ; Vauqueline dis-
covered in it sub-carbonate of lime and phosphate of
of lime, with sub-carbonate of magnesia and oxide of
iron.

The Patella (limpet), which is formed of an ex-
tremely compact lamellar structure, approximates the
most, in its chemical composition, those shells, which
are, in general, vitreous, or, as it is termed Porcellanic ;
these contain only a small proportion of animal matter,
but a very large one of sub-carbonate of lime, without
any traces of phosphate or sulphate of lime. Human
chemistry has brought to light many wonderful pheno-
mena, and has gone some length in elucidating them ;
but great as these discoveries have been, they are no
more than as distant planets in the wide-spread firma-
ment, when compared to the operations incessantly
performing in nature's laboratory. By the aid of
chemistry we may, indeed, decompose nearly every
substance in nature — dissolve some of them into air —
collect the gases again, and prove, by the test of the
most accurate weights, that no portion of the original
bulk is lost, though rendered invisible to the eye ; it
is therefore, almost demonstrable, that the globe
weighs no more at this moment than it did at its first
creation, the destruction of some portions of it con-
tributing to the formation of others, nothing being
lost. But here, human science stops ; we cannot take
the elementary atoms and fashion them into a rude
oyster or rough pebble ; in this the master touch is
wanted, all the accumulated wisdom of ages past, or
of generations to come, can do no more, can go no
farther, than to approach nearer and nearer, by slow
degrees, the impenetrable barrier eternally fixed be-
tween omnipotent wisdom and finite judgment.

Another constituent portion of many shells is an
external covering called the epidermis, the precise
use of which does not appear satisfactorily explained ;
it is evidently the epidermis of the animal's skin
beneath which the shelly matter has been deposited

116

CONCHOLOGY.

This epidermis is formed of a dried mucus, or horny
matter, forming1 a covering more or less thick — in
some shells it is more or less united, in others thick
like fur, or disposed in ridges. In bivalves this part
is formed of the same substance as the ligament, and
sometimes totally envelopes the valves, as in the Mt/a,
Solen, &c. Its growth keeps pace with the increase
of the shell, whether it afterwards remains upon it or
not.

The opercula of shells, though not absolutely a
portion of them, nevertheless belong to the animal
possessing them, and which, in the modern arrange-
ment of Malacology, must be studied with their cover-
ings ; these interesting parts have been scientifically
treated by Mr. Gray, F.R.S. ; they tend greatly to
assist in the classification of molluscs, to point out
their structure, peculiar habits, and to form an admir-
able guide to localities, otherwise without positive
indications.

The colouring matter of shells may be said not
properly to belong to them : it is always extremely
superficial, and is produced by the coloured pigment
secreted on the surface of some portion of the animal's
body ; these are coloured atoms, deposited above the
calcareous matter, and are of a different nature, since
they form no necessary portion of the shell's strength,
disappearing under circumstances of age, injury by
artificial heat, the application of acids or other causes.
The colours are always more vivid in young animals,
and the recent portions produced by them. Anatomists
have proved, that it is only the limb or anterior edge
of the animal's mantle which produces these colouring
molecules, for, if a hole is made in any other part of
the shell than at its edge, the reparation is made with
matter quite colourless, and forms a white spot. In
the snail (Helir ncmoralis'), which is so elegantly zoned
with bands of black upon a yellow ground, it may
easily be seen that the portion of the animal's body
corresponding with these, presents a tinge of that
colour, so that a fracture made there, on the extreme
edge of the shell, is restored by a similarly coloured
portion to that injured or removed, provided the
broken part is altogether removed, otherwise, we see
in the snail, inhumanly crushed to a shapeless mass,
repeated proofs of the reparations made by the animal
being perfectly colourless, every where but at the lip
of the shell ; in this state examples may occasionally
be met with, so industriously mended after what was
deemed a total destruction of the animal, that its shell
appeared made up of numberless patches, as variously
disposed as Harlequin's jacket.

Though we have no certain proof that all other
shells, whose coloured zones run spirally from the
summits, are similarly formed, analogous reasoning
authorises us to draw that conclusion ; but with
species whose colouring matter is externally deposited
in oval, square or irregularly formed spots, and parti-
cularly where the transverse bands, or stripes, are in
the direction of the additions to the shell's growth,
that is, perpendicular from the summit to the base,
the analogy is not so evident-; without we subscribe
to the doctrine of some naturalists, that there is a
change, a displacement, either regular or not, in the
colouring parts of the animal's mantle, under peculiar
circumstances of structure, constant and undeviating
as any other of nature's laws. These phenomena
admit, however, of much speculation, arid can only
be explained by a long series of accurate observa-
tions of the animals themselves in the different

stages of their growth, a thing so difficult to come at,
and requiring a particular train of study to benefit
from, when within our reach, that we must content
ourselves with well-grounded supposition, in the
absence of positive proof.

We have just, said that the coloration of shells is
constantly superficial ; this, however, must be qualified
when speaking of such shells as we have described
under the name of porcelanic, the cowry, and some
species of olive. The formation of the cowry hav-
ing been explained, it is obvious that, during the
animal's young state, the colouring matter is external,
and proceeds from the same causes as in other
shells. This coloration is due to the edges of the
mantle, and is gradually made as the animal increases
in size ; but, probably at a later period, when it has
attained its complete maturity, the cutaneous append-
ages on each side of the animal's body, when it climbs,
are elevated on the bick of the shell, depositing that
vitreous or glassy ivory coating, which gradually
thickens it, and at the same time leaves a colouring
matter, constantly presenting a different disposition to
the first. It must then be admitted, that the upper
part of these cutaneous lobes possess intervals where
the pigment is coloured, imbuing the cretaceous
matter exhaled from them ; and, as it is very unlikely,
indeed almost impossible, that these spaces or inter-
vals in the development of the lobes, should exactly
cover the part on which the colour is deposited a
second time, it is easily to be conceived that the
markings are necessarily irregular, and can never
exhibit either bands or any other running design. An
examination of the leopard cowry, in its adult state,
will render this subject easily understood, and in the
map cowry, though a more rare shell to meet with, it
is yet more strikingly illustrated ; in this, the space not
touched, or totally covered, by the cutaneous lobes of
the animal's body, is distinctly marked by well-defined
lines, distributed in various curves like the face of a
map, from whence its appropriate name. This is
visible in the common and other cowries, but not so
strongly marked.

We must also remark, that the colouring matter of
some shells is occasionally on the internal surface, of
bivalves in particular. In these exceptions to the
general rule, the effect may be attributed, we think,
to the matter deposited, and it appears to be produced
by an impregnation of colour, gradually extending in
depth as well as surface, occasioned probably by some
humour of the animal's body, produced in any organ,
the immediate contact 6f which with the shell, tinges
it of the colour of that secreted fluid. This appears to
apply to the yellow and brown interior of some univalve
shells, which certainly is caused by the liver of the
animal being in contact with them ; the JantMna is
also coloured by similar causes. It may, however,
be generally asserted, that it is extremely rare to find
the component strata of shells otherwise than white ;
they are, however, sometimes, as has been stated,
both externally and internally, tinged with colouring
matter.

We said that light and heat exercise a prodigious
influence in the colouration of shells, as well as it
does in the other portions of creation. All such
as are inclosed in the interior of the animal, in holes
of wood, chalk, or in other situations from whence
they never emerge, are constantly white; but another
more striking example may be adduced from certain
bivalve shells, which being fixed more or less h^rf-

CONCHOLOGY.

117

rontally, even where one valve is not attached to any
substance permanently, the lower side is always
colourless ; the Spondylus, many Pectens, and some
other genera, fully illustrate this fact. Shells inclosed
in sponge, or other foreign bodies, are invariably
colourless. It must, therefore, be admitted that one
lobe of the animal's mantle not receiving the exciting
action of light, produces no colouring pigment, and
the contrary with regard to the other ; or perhaps the
pigment itself only becomes coloured by the action of
light on the fluids of the animal's circulation, so that if
the shells were removed from the place of their habi-
tation, and their position reversed, there would be a
consequent change in the coloration of their valves,
which is exhibited in some species of the Pleuronecta.
It may generally be remarked, that those shells the
most exposed to the action of light and heat, are
invariably the most brilliantly coloured. The Helices,
which are terrestrial animals, in fact, vary the most in
colour, and have them of the most vivid tints ;
but when they inhabit the umbrageous shades of the
forest, they become paler, and less distinctly marked,
than the same species living in open situations ; the
coloured portions of the shell itself are more intense
than those partially concealed of the samfe hue.

Almost every colour of the rainbow is to be met
with in shells, varying in their degree of intensity ;
the most common, however, are the brown and fawn ;
green is incomparably the most rare, the peculiar
markings of these colours depending upon the ana-
tomical structure of the animal secreting them, cannot
so clearly be understood as we could wish ; indeed,
the causes are as yet very incompletely known, but
they are infinite in their combinations and variety,
and baffle the skill of man to imitate. What can
exceed the beautiful pencilling of the Cones and
Volutes, or the vivid hue of their colours, and those
of many other genera too numerous to be here
named.

It being understood that shells are the protecting
coverings of the animals formingand inhabiting them,
that they are of various forms, corresponding with
the naked body of the animal ; more or less thick, ths
fracture either short or lamellar, and constantly at-
tached to the body of the animal ; we shall now pro-
ceed to explain some of the technical considerations
connected with the study of the science of Tcstace-
ology, without any reference to its enlarged view,
which will be entered upon under Malacology. In
the first place, considering these bodies in a general
point of view with regard to their structure, the first
divisions of shells may be considered between those
that are called true or false. A false shell (pseudotcsta*)
is that not belonging to a molluscous animal, or rather
a shell composed of small polygons, placed side by
side, the whole forming a hard, brittle, calcareous
envelop, as in the Echini. A true shell is that which
is formed by laminae or strata, each one placed beneath
the previous one, the most recent and considerable
being the last internally deposited, the smallest in
substance and the oldest in formation being the exter-
nal ; this applies to every species of shell, whatever
may be its form, or the number of pieces composing it.
A general study of that form occasions another divi-
sion between such as are tubular or not, but little
explanation is necessary to point these out, as every
one will easily recognise them from such as are spi-
rally formed. The nontubular shells are divided into
such as consist of one piece— these are the univalves ;

the sub-bivalves are those consisting of a principal and
an accessory part ; bivalves are all those consisting of
no more than two pieces ; tubivalves are such shells
as have two principal pieces, with an accessory one ;
and the multivalves are such as have a greater number
of portions or pieces. A valve is therefore a calcare-
ous portion of shell, varying greatly in point of form,
either concealed within the animal's skin, or protect-
ing a greater or smaller portion of the animal s body.
Multivalve shells are of three descriptions ; those that
are composed of transverse pieces, as in the Chiton ;
those that are formed of five valves, or more, symme-
trically arranged to the right or to the left hand, some-
times placed in the form of scales united together by
means of the animal's skin ; these form a division
established by De Montfort, under the title of dissi-
valvcs, as occurs in the genus Anatifera; ; and, lastly,
those shells in which the pieces or valves are placed
in a circular manner, as in the genus Halamts and its
congeners, which form Lamarck's sub-coronals. Tubi-
valve shells are those composed of two principal
valves, as in bivalves, properly so called, but sur-
rounded or enveloped by another piece in the form of
a tube, which, nevertheless, cannot be considered as
another valve ; this is observed in the genera
Teredo, Fistulana, &c. Bivalve shells are such as
their name indicates, formed of two pieces, these two
pieces notwithstanding being only one cover or dwell-
ing for the animal inhabiting it; they are nearly in
every instance placed on the sides of the animal, and
connected with each other, inasmuch as the functions
of the animal are double, and those which apply to
one valve apply equally to the other. Where the valves
are not entirely similar in their configuration much
error has been occasioned ; and Linnaeus considered
the Lingu/a an univalve, having seen only one valve, in
the genera Orlncula, Cliama, and some others ; the
dissimilarity of the valves, were they not well known
to naturalists, might lead to similar false conclusions.
Sub-bivalve shells are those in which, besides a piece
analogous to that which constitutes the univalve
shells, there is a second more or less perfect— cal-
careous or otherwise*, closing more or le*s completely
the aperture of the shell, which piece is called the
operculum.

Univalve shells merely present one constituted
piece, no matter what its form, or how differently it
may be modified in the different species ; it altogether
forms an asylum for the animal in cases of repose or
danger, or, as we have already stated, protects such
organs of delicate sensibility at are the most exposed
to accident. An univalve shell may be completely
tubular, or entirely concealed in the animal's skin.
Having drawn these distinctions, we will proceed to
examine each of these species of shells, commencing
with the most simple, and going on to the most com-
plicated structure ; but, in the first instance, we will
define the terms derived from the analogous habits of
each, which consequently apply equally to univalves
as well as to bivalves. Shells, no matter what num-
ber of pieces compose them, must be considered as
alike in various circumstances common to till, which
we will rapidly examine. From the situation in which
Molluscs are found, they have been distinguished into
terrestrial ; rluviatile, or those inhabiting fresh water ;
and marine, or those dwelling in salt water.

Terrestrial are such as are found on land, and are
so organised as not to be able to exist in a tluid ; they
breathe air only.

118

CONCHOLOGY.

Such only are known in the division of univalves
and sub-bivalves, as it is quite impossible that bi-
valves or multivalves, which are tenanted by aquatic
animals, breathing water, should be found on land.

Terrestrial shells are generally very thin ; their
exterior surface usually smooth, presenting no other
inequalities than the striae, indicating the different
stages of growth, sometimes with pilifonn prolonga-
tions of the epidermis, but never with spines, or other
protuberances properly so called ; their internal or
external surface is never pearly ; their aperture is
always entire, particularly in the adult state, with the
right side of the lip thickened into a ridge more
or less turned outwards.

Fluviatile shells comprehend all those that live in
fresh water, whether stagnant or current ; some of
them are found in the three first divisions of shells,
•viz. the univalves, sub-bivalves, and bivalves, but
none are yet known in the multivalves ; the number
of fluviatile shells is considerable compared with the
others, and is confined to a very few families. So
amongst univalves, the greater number known have
the aperture entire, either operculated or not, but
above all in the last group. One or two genera, at
the most, have it grooved, though very slightly, as in
the Melanopsis, and there is perhaps only one genus in
which it is patelliform, like a Limpet. The bivalves
of this section only belong to three or four families ;
the only ones known are those of the Mytilus, Sub-
mytilus, Chama, &c., and even then it is often a single
genus, or a solitary species. Fresh water univalves
and sub-bivalves arera'general thin, since they belong
to swimming animals ; their external surface in gene-
ral finely striated, without bands or varices, but some-
times with spines ; and when there is an epidermis,
it is always very thin. One of their general characters
is that of having their aperture entire, but the Mela-
nopsis forms an exception to the rule, not only in that
respect, but as being often of a considerable thick-
ness : thus the distinction between fresh water uni-
valves and sub-bivalves is less easy than in the
terrestrial. Fluviatile bivalves are nearly in the same
case ; it has, nevertheless, been remarked, that whe-
ther the substance be thick or thin, they have nearly
always a rather thick epidermis, the valves shut
completely, they are more or less pearly within, and
the summits decorticated in most species.

Marine shells may be said to exist of all families,
except those of the snail, and other of their congeners,
and of the first section of the Submytilus among the
bivalves. Their characters are opposed to those of
the two first sections. Thus the univalves, and even
the sub-bivalves, are in general much thicker, and
more frequently marked with ridges, varices, and
spines. Their aperture also differs from the preceding,
by being very frequently channelled, and bordered on
the right side by a simple or complex ridge. They
are sometimes pearly on the inside ; the epidermis is
often scaly, piliform, and, generally speaking, totally
different from either the fluviatile or terrestrial
species. Marine bivalves are in general more rough
on their exterior, with more strongly defined striae,
grooves, and rays ; their epidermis is less smooth, even
thinner, and usually of a very different form from that
of the fluviatile shells. With regard to the parts of
rivers, lakes, and seas, in which molluscous animals
live, they are sub-divided into littoral and pelagic
shells ; the littoral are those, either univalves,
sub-bivalves, bivalves, or multivalves, which inhabit

more or less constantly the sides or banks of rivers,
lakes and seas ; the pelagic are, on the contrary,
those molluscs always inhabiting the deepest parts of
the sea, in consequence of which they are the most
difficult to come at, and but generally only known
through accidental circumstances. There is not,
however, any permanent distinguishing character
for these shells, so as to enable the naturalist to
decide, by an examination of the shell only, to what
habitat it belongs. A moderate degree of experience
will, nevertheless, give certain rules going far to
establish the fact, without any knowledge of the
animal. There is not, either, any indications on the
shells themselves to point out such of them as are
found embedded (in some instances it is difficult to
say how) in wood, stone, &c. As a general defini-
tion, these are called (Terebrantes) borers or piercers,
and distinguished from each other, as Petricolce, or
Lithodom<£, when found in calcareous substances, of
a more or less hard texture, as with the Pholodes,
&c. ; Xylodomce, or Lignivorce, when they have
established their habitations in wood, as is the case
with the Teredo: Arenicoke, when they inhabit the
sand ; Lutricol<£, when buried in the mud of rivers,
ponds, &c. -An observation may, however, be here
made with respect to such of the penetrating molluscs
which inhabit hard bodies. They are only to be met
with in some families of bivalves, and a tolerably
uniform indication may be discovered in the larger
and more rounded form of their anterior extremity.
It is also pretty easy to distinguish, by certain marks,
such molluscs as are more or less fixed in their local
habits. These shells may be divided, in consequence,
into those being (Natantcs) floating, that is, inhabited
by swimming animals. They are then wisely con-
structed of a very thin light substance, which is
beautifully exemplified in the Argonauta, Janthina,
Sulla, and others.

The Libcrce, or free shells, are such as are more
solidly constructed, and presenting no sign of ad-
herence, or power of attaching themselves to sub-
marine or other bodies. This is the case with the
greater proportion of shells.

Adluzrentes, or adhering, when they are altogether
immovable, or only possessing the power of moving
in a very limited space. To the extent of their
attachment, these are denominated

FixtE, or fixed, when their attachment is by means
of the adhesion of the substance of the shell itself, as
is the case in univalves with the

Hipponix ; in the bivalves with the Spondylus,
Oyster, Chamae ; and in the Balani among the
multivalves.

Radicate, rooted, when the adhesion is effected by
means of a tendinous part, as is the case with the
Terebratula and Lingula in bivalve shells ; the
Atiatifce in multivalves. This Linnxus improperly
designated intestinum, an error perpetuated by Bru-
gniere, who translates it intestine. This adhering
portion is often marked in the shell, but it is some-
times indicated by a hole or groove in one of the
valves ; and lastly, molluscs are called Obtecta, or
hidden, when they are concealed at a certain depth
in a distinct tube, to which they adhere, or remain
loose, enveloping the animal altogether, as in the
genus Fistulana and its congeners. We will here
describe the position of the shell as viewed by modern
naturalists, in describing the various names ascribed
to its differen^ parts. In this a well-marked and

C O N C H O L O G Y.

119

extremely rational change has taken place Since the
revision of the Limuean school ; and it is now the
more useful, as it tends to facilitate naturally the
connection we deem inseparable of the animal and its
dwelling, which forms the leading feature of the
science of Malacology. Our present object is, how-
ever, confined, as we have already premised, to the
shells themselves, as detached portions ; and before
we proceed to the nomenclature of the science, the
following easy guide should be well retained in the
student's memory. It will be the more readily
understood by an examination of the accompanying
descriptive figure ; or we may at any time observe
the march of our garden snail as a living guide to the
subject. In uniAlve shells, it is easily conceived
that they must have had a point or portion from
whence they progressed in growth, a base which is
its actual termination in its final stages of increase,
or in its adult state of maturity, with an intermediate
state between these, which may be called the body
of the shell. This portion sometimes possesses an
almost imperceptible cavity in such as are extremely
depressed, or altogether flat, in which they partake
greatly of the character of one valve of a bivalve
mollusc.

PLRITROTOMA BABTLONICA— a, the canal j 6, the nearly closed
umbilica; c, the left or intestinal edge or lip; d, the right or
external lip; e, the notch or slit; /, the sinus ; g, the belly;
h, the turns or whorls of the spire ; i, the sutures.

Linnaeus, of the old, and Lamarck, of the modern
school, placed the shell they were about to describe
on the opposite extremity to the summit, its only
natural position when separated from the animal, but
with the aperture fronting the spectator. Modern
naturalists, on the contrary, place the shell as it is
found on the animal when proceeding on its march,
that is, with the spire towards the observer, the
summit consequently upwards and behind, and the
opposite portion, or the base, as it is generally called,

in front and beneath. In this mode of examining a
shell, it is clear that the right and left side app.y
equally ; but the one so called by Linnaeus is now,
by reversing the position of the shell, exactly the
contrary of modern authors. The right of the old
system is the left of the modern, and vice versa. The
terms, inferior siid xttpcrior, in the description of the
aperture and its edges, are necessarily replaced by
the terms, anterior for the first, and posterior for the
second. The apex, or summit, is that part from
whence the shell first proceeds, or, more properly, it
is the commencement of the spire. This portion may
be altogether flat, or very salient, straight or vertical,
or directly leaning backward, to the right or to the
left, or even forward. It may be pointed, mamillated,
entire or carious, and even sometimes hollow, as in
the Bulla. Thus the summit is altogether planus, or
flat, as in the Chinese limpet ; peracuttts, or very
salient, as in the Vermetus ; verticalis or vertical, as in
the Patella or limpet, whence Linnaeus has called it
(vertex;) narginalis, and sub-marginalis, as in the
Crepidula ; rctroversus, depressed backward, as in the
Navicella ; aiitcversus, the converse to the latter
position, as in certain species of Patella, and, above
all, in the Emargiiwla ; sinistralis, or left-handed, as
in the Ancylut ; dextralis, as in the Capulus ; acutus,
pointed, as in a great number of shells ; mamillaris,
mamillated, or rounded, as in the Volutes ; integer, or
entire, as in the greater portion of shells ; cariosus,
eroded, or carious, as in the Bulinus ihiara ; tnmcattts,
or decollatus, as in the truncated Bitlinus, and several
other species of turriculated mojluscs ; umbilicatus,
utnbilicated, hollowed, sunk in, as with the Ihtlhi and
their congeners, as also with certain species of
Ammonites and Planorbis, but then the «pex is lateral ;
tcrcbratus, pierced, as in the Dentulium. Basis, or
the base of a shell, is that part which is usually
opposed to the summit, and in which the aperture is
formed. Under this name, however, \ve do not
understand that which Linntcus and his disciples have
designated as the base of a shell ; for in fact, accord-
ing to their view, it is the extremity, pointed or not,
which is opposite to the summit, and they made it
so, because, according to their method of designating
the different parts of shells, they placed this one ver-
tically, the summit above and the aperture behind.
In the present school, the base comprehends all that
part which rests more or less obliquely on the back
of the animal. Sometimes this base is very large
and round, amp/a, rotunda, as in the Trochus, which
gives them the form of a reversed one ; sometimes
it is parva, small, as in the Tcrebra, Subula, &c. It
may be extremely elongated, elongata, as in the
Cyprcea, &c. ; and it is formed entirely by the
aperture, as in the Pate/la sigaretus ; but many other
molluscs more frequently have their base formed by
a portion of the last turn of the spire.

The direction of the base, which is usually in that
of the opening, also offers some considerations
deserving notice ; it is altogether perpendicular to
the imaginary axis of the shell in the Patella,
Solarium, &c. ; it is almost entirely in that of the
aperture in the Oliva, Cyprcca, &c. ; in other shells, it
is more or less intermediate.

That portion of shells termed the body occupies
the whole space between the summit and the base.
It is most frequently hollow, and not only serves as a
covering, but also contains the whole, or a part of the
animal's body.

120

CONCHOLOGY

Sometimes the name of disc (discus] is given to the
base of shells, as in the Haliotldea, but it is then
only the last turn of the spire which is comprehended
under that name.

In a certain number of shells, the body part is not
inclined in any direction, either to the left or right,
forward or backward, and it is not at all excavated ;
the shell is then truly a flat shell, symmetrical in the
Sepia, &c., and not symmetrical as in Pate/la Sinensis.
It frequently occurs that the base and the summit
are united by a portion not curved in any direction,
but more or less excavated. These we have already
designated as shells covering the body of the animal
altogether. This occurs in the Patella, Emarginula,
and particularly in the Dentalium ; most frequently,
however, the body of the shell is formed by its con-
volutions in their various directions, whence they are
properly called spirivalve (spirivalvee). To illustrate
this familiarly, suppose all univalve shells to be of a
conical form, more or less elongated, the Dentalium,
for instance, and imagine it flexible ; if this be rolled
up, or curved from the posterior part forward, and
I'rorn the top to the bottom, positively in the same
vertical plane, the result would be a discoid shell,
compressed from the right to the left, the summit of
which can only be visible in the same direction, and
the axis of which is everywhere equally transversal.
Such shells may be called rolled up (revolutce). An
example strictly in point may be found in the
Argonauta and its congeners ; but the Planorbes,
though in some respects analogous, are in fact only
sub-revolutce.

The principal distinctions, and the various modes
in which shells are rolled, consist in their greater or
less degree of perfection. They are called arched
(arcuata) when the shell presents only a slight curve,
as in certain species of lielemnite, and as in the
Dentalium. Curved (curvata), as in the Ammonocera-
tiles, the shell presenting a much more circular curve.

Half-coiled (semi^revolttta), when the shell is so
curved as that the turns of the spire do not touch,
which occurs in the Spirula, presenting a spiral coil
on a plane.

Coiled (revoluta), when the turns touch each other,
as is the case with the true Ammonites (per-revolutcc'),
when the spiral turns penetrate each other in such a
way that the last conceals all the others ; which is
illustrated by the Nautilus.

If, on the contrary, the revolutions of the spiral
cone are formed tranversely from left to right, as
placed on the animal, such shells are termed invo-
luted (involute), or, as Linnaeus calls them, convoluted,
convoluted. In these species the base is nearly the
whole length of the shell, as well as the aperture, and
the axis of revolution is necessarily longitudinal.
In fact, shells are scarcely ever completely involuted.
Those which the nearest approximate that form are
the Ovulae and Cyprece. Sometimes the shell does
not form a complete turn, as in the Sulla, and then
the aperture is as large and as long as the shell itself.

The greater proportion of univalve shells are,
however, intermediate with the two above-described
formations ; that is to say, the body of the shell is the
result of an oblique revolution from right to left, and
from the lower to the upper part, if we proceed from
the bottom to the top ; or, on the contrary, which is
more natural, if we view the shell according to its
progress of growth. Such are the true spiri-valve,
or turbinated shells.

The name of spire (clavicula) is given to all that
portion of the shell which is formed by the revolution
of the spiral cone. Sometimes the last turn of the
spire, which is usually the largest, is distinguished by
the name of body (corpus) ; the part corresponding
with the aperture is the belly (venter) ; that which is
opposed to it is the back (dorsuni) : to all the other
parts of the shell the term clavicula applies. By far
the greater number of molluscs terminate on the
right side of the animal ; some, however, which we
have pointed out, terminate to the left ; and this
circumstance distinguishes the sinister from the dex-
tral shells, dextrae and sinistrorsce.

Having thus pointed out some of the leading
distinctions which characterise the plan of formation
presented by shells, we shall briefly enumerate the
scientific terms applied to the position of the shell
with regard to its inhabitant, leaving the general
nomenclature to an alphabetical arrangement.

Dorsal (dorsalis) shells are such as are placed on
the back of the animal. Of these there are only
examples to be met with in the univalves and sub-
bivalves ; and in the Chiton among the multivalves.

Ventral (ventralis) applies to shells placed beneath
the animal's belly. The genus Ombrella may be
supposed so situated.

Dorso-ventral (dorso-vcntralis) are shells composed
of two pieces, the one on the back, the other beneath
the belly, as in the Terebratitla, Lingula, &c., and
others of the class Palliobranchiata.

Bilateral (bilateralis) are those of which the com-
ponent parts are, one on the right, and the other on
the left of the animal, as in the Ostrea and its con-
geners, which occurs in all the class of the Lamelli-
branchiata.

Perisomatic (perisomatica), when the pieces forming
the shell beyond the number of two, surround the
body of the animal, as occurs in the Balanus, Anatifa,
and their congeners, constituting the class Nenia-
topodes.

External or internal shells have been so called from
anatomical investigation of their position with regard
to the animal. External is applied to nearly all
shells which cover the skin of the animal, and it is so
obvious, that no further explanation is requisite.

Internal shells are those in contradistinction to
the generality, which are partially covered by some
portion of the animal's skin, more or less thick. The
shell is then, for the most part, very thin, flat, or only
slightly revolved. It is constantly of a pale colour,
and does not ever possess an epidermis. No ex-
amples of these are found out of the order Poly-
thalamacea, or many chambered shells, as also of the
single chambered, or Monothalamacea order. Cer-
tain species of Mya may also be presumed so situated
as to be properly termed internal shells.

The terms applicable to the structure of shells
depend upon the solidity and arrangement of matter
composing them. Thus shells are called solid (solida)
when they are heavy and capable of resisting con-
siderable violence, such as the Mitres and Olives in
univalves, and the Spondylus, Crassatina, Pectina,
and other of the bivalves ; fragile (fragilis), when on
the contrary.

Thick (crassa), generally understood to apply to
the valves rather than to the whole shell.

Thin, papyraceous (tenuis, papyracea), when the
shell is excessively thin.

Transparent (translucida), when such thin shells

CONCHOLOGY.

121

permit of the rays of light to pass partially through
them, as is the case with the Carinaria, Anatina, &c.

Lamellar (lamellosa) or foliaceous (foliacea), when
the strata of matter are not compact and solid, par-
ticularly towards the edge of the shell, as in the Oyster.

Fibrous ( fibrosa), when the shell fractures in a per-
pendicular direction, from its summit to the base, as
in the Pinna.

Nudu, or naked, as in shells whose surfaces appear
highly varnished : the Olives, Cowries, &c.

Corticated (corticata). or epidermata, when the
edges (of the stria of increased growth) form on the
surface of the shell, an envelope more or less thick,
the appearance of which occasions their being distin-
guished as furry or scaly.

The chemical composition of shells separates the
species into such as are sandy (arenacete), in which
the calcareous molecules are not united with each other,
so that they may easily be reduced to small portions
or grains, as in the grey snail.

Cretaceous (cretacece) or chalky, when the super-
abundance of calcareous matter, renders the shell
extremely friable, as in the Tubicola.

Horny or membranaceous (membranosce') when, on
the contrary, the mucous matter constitutes nearly the
whole of their substance, as in the Apfysia.

The colours of shells, as of everything else, does
not admit of any misunderstanding, and must be ap-
plied according to the ideas each one forms of their
degree of intensity. They are infinite in their com-
binations, though not a very important consideration,
as they do not affect any peculiar arrangement ; they
may, therefore, be noticed under two heads. Super-
ficial (snperficialis] as in shells, externally coloured, as
most species are ; or imbued (imbvtui) as in shells,
where the colouring matter penetrates the substance,
such as the Janthina and others.

The system of coloration, or as it is more familiarly
termed, the marking of shells, gives rise to the follow-
ing generally used distinctions. It is uniform (uni-
formis) when equally distributed over the whole
surface of the shell ; or variegated (variegala), on the
contrary, when the colouring matter is variously ar-
ranged, and these differences of marking are called
fasctated, ribboned (fasciata], when the zones or bands
are of a different colour from the groundwork ; it may
be fasciated longitudinally, when they run from the
summit to the base, folio wing the direction of the whole
of the spire. In bivalves this is distinguished by
radiated or rayed (radiata) ; or, if in the direction of
the stria', which mark the shell's growth, they are
termed transverse (transversalis) ; lineated (lineata)
when the coloured bands are closely placed, like hair
lines, as in the B ulla physa ; lettered (scripta), when
the bands are more or less waved or broken, resem-
bling Arabic characters, as occurs in some of the
volutes. Tesselated (tettelata), when the system of
colouration presents large spots.or other shaped marks,
comparable to inlaid marble or mosaic work. When
these markings are round, or nearly so, they are
called spotted (maculatd), and when the spots are dis-
posed in bands, the shell is said to be ribbon-spotted
(fascio-macnlata); when the spots are very small, re-
sembling rly-marks, they term it dotted (punctata),
and fatcio-puttctata, when these minute dots are dis-
posed in bands.

Of the general form of Univalve and Sub-Bivalve
Shells. — In considering the general form of Univalve
shells, without paying attention to the distinction of
their uarts, certain terms are used which, although

rather vague, must necessarily be known. The first
distinction regards the equality or inequality of the
two sides of a shell of any form whatever, separated
by a fictitious axis drawn from the summit to the base,
or from one extremity to the other. A symmetrical
shell is one whose valves are perfectly equal, and a
non-symmetrical shell, such as has its valves unequal,
thus the shell of the Argonauta, the Lippet, &c., are
symmetrical ; the Sigaretus, and many others, are non-
symmetrical.

A flat shell (plana,) is that which has no cavity ;
tubular (tubulosa), that of which the diameter is con-
siderably less than its length, as in the Dentalium ;
recovering (aperient), that which is conical, and with-
out a spire, properly so called, and so placed on the
animal as to be easily taken off, as with the Limpet ;
spiral (spiralis], that which is more or less twisted in
various fashions, as we shall more fully explain here-
after ; but for the moment we will continue to define
some terms belonging to the shell examined as a
whole. It is called discoid (discoided), when it resem-
bles a disc, and which, considering the manner in
which the spire is evolved, we call rolled up, as occurs
in the Ammonites; depressed (depressd], such as are
oval, or rounded very flat, the spire very short, as the
Sigaretus. The same name is sometimes employed to
designate certain shells whose last whorl, or the body
of the shell, enlarged by lateral bands, appears flat-
tened from the top to the bottom, as in the Ranella ;
globular (globosa or ampullacea), that in which the
diameters are nearly equal, occasioned by the great
development of the last whorl of the spire, which is
much larger than that which preceded it, as in the
Ampullaria, &c. ; oval (ovalis), when the longi-
tudinal diameter is rather longer than the trans-
verse, as in the Cowries, Olives, and many others ;
bordered (marginata), when the edges are of a greaer
thickness than the rest of the body, as in some species
of Cowry, &c. ; navicular (navicularis), some shells
which, reversed on the back with the aperture up-
wards, have some resemblance to a little boat, as in
the Argonauta ; pyriform, when one of the extremities
is inflated and rounded, and the other pointed in the
form of a short tail, as in the Pyrula.

Claviform, club-shaped (clavata), when the body of
the shell is short and inflated, and the anterior part
narrow and lengthened, as in the Murex haustellum
(Linnaeus). Beaked (ro$trata\ when it is terminated
at its two extremities by a prolongation of the form of
a beak, as in the Ovula birostris (Lamarck). Conical
(conica), when one of its enlarged extremities is as if
it were cut square, the other being pointed and form-
ing the summit; when it is the summit itself of the
shell which forms the summit of the cone, it is then
called a turbinated shell, as in the Trochus, and the
Turbinella ; and it is called conical or conoid, when,
on the contrary, the summit of the cone is at the an-
terior part of the aperture, as in Cones, properly so
called. Cylindrical (cylindrica), when the shell is
lengthened, and nearly of the same size throughout,
as occurs in most of the involuted shells, such as the
Olives, &c. Fusiform, spindle-shaped (fusiformis), such
as are swollen in the centre, and pointed more or less
at the two extremities, as in the Fiisus. Turriculated
(turriculata), those that are very much elongated, that is,
whose longitudinal diameter is much greater than the
transverse, which depends on the manner in which
the spire is formed, as in Turritella. After this short
explanation, univalve shells may be considered with
regard to the distinction of each of their parts. A con-

122

CONCHOLOGY.

^deration of the different terms applied to the spire,
and other parts of univalve shells, would lead into a
description of terms generally used in every element-
ary treatise on conchology ; but as it would occupy
a larger space than can be devoted to the subject
in a work of this kind, we will proceed to point out
some of the leading characteristics of bivalve shells,
as we have already done with the univalves. And
here, as with them, we will first of all point out the
established position from which the relative terms are
taken, which is here figured.

Fig. 1.

Fig. 2.

Fig. 3.

Fig. t, a, b, length of the shell; e, d, height; e, lunula,
above which is the summit; rf, the ventral or inferior edge.

Fig. 2, the line across marks the thickness of bivalves.

Fig. 3, a, anterior extremity ; b, posterior; c, d,e,f, muscular
impressions; g, lower edge of the left valve.

Viewing, therefore, a bivalve shell, composed as it
were of one piece, we shall explain that which is un-
derstood by long, elongated, cylindrical, transverse,
thick, compressed, or very thin. We have already
assumed as a point from which we shall invariably
depart, that we suppose the shell covering the animal
and walking away from the observer (although in fact
many of these molluscous animals do not move from
the place in which they were born) ; some others, it is
true, assume positions in which the head even is down-
wards, when the shell would be placed on its edge, in
such a way that the summits would be nearly always
upwards, and very rarely forward, with the ligament
between the summit and the observer. In this posi-
tion the part opposed to the summits will be inferior,
and the two extremities of the diameter perpendicular
to this direction, will be one anterior and the other
posterior. Linnaeus, Brugniere, Lamarck, Bosc, and
many other naturalists, have described shells alto-

gether imagined in an opposite position, that is to My,
resting on their summits, the aperture upwards, and the
ligament forward. According to this position, the
height of a shell will be taken from the vertical dia-
meter extending from the summits, or from the liga-
ment to the inferior or abdominal edge, supposed to
touch the place on which the shell rests ; that is the
length with Linnaeus and others. The thickness,
(crassitude), will be indicated by the transverse dia-
meter of the most inflated part of the two valves,
whence the right valve will really be that which cor-
responds with the right side of the animal, and the
same with the left. We should then name the back
of the shell, or the superior margin, that which in fact
corresponds with the back of the animal in which or-
dinarily the summit is placed, but still more frequently
the ligament. The opposite side will be the abdomi-
nal side, or inferior margin, that is its real base. In
this light Cuvier and others have viewed the position
of bivalves, but it is the reverse with Linnaeus, Lamarck,
and many other naturalists.

The circumference of the shell, or the line which
unites the four points just mentioned, forms the
margins of the shell ; in this position it would be easy
to understand what is meant by a long bivalve, &c.
It is long (longa) when the horizontal diameter is
much greater than the vertical, as in the Pholas, Mya,
&c. ; it is a transverse shell of the Linnaean school.
Height(«#a),in a contrary sense, as in the Vulsella. Oval
(ovalis), when one of the diameters is but a little longer
than the other, as in the Venus. Round (rotundata),
when the two diameters are nearly equal, as in the
Pectens. Thick (crassa), when the transverse diameter
is as great as the others, upon which depends the
depth of the valves, as in the Cardium. Compressed,
thin, very thin (compre&sa), when this diameter is more
or less small in proportion to the others, as in the
Tellina. Cylindrical (cylindrica), when the longi-
tudinal diameter being very great, the two others are
nearly equal, as in some species of the Solen. Navi-
cular (navicularis), when the diameter, antero-posterior,
being evidently much larger than the two others, the
latter are nearly equal, which gives the shell a fancied
resemblance to the hull of a ship, particularly when the
dorsal margin is straight, as in the Arks. Cordiform,
heart-shaped, (cordiformis), when seen from behind, in
front, or at the side, it offers some resemblance to
the received form of a heart, as in the Isocardia, &c.
Triangular (triquetra), when the shell is as if truncated
at its anterior extremity, but much more frequently at
its posterior, so that a horizontal section, made of the
whole shell, would form a triangle, this is illustrated
in the Trigoida, Donor, &c. Tongue-shaped (lingui-
formis), when it resembles the form of a tongue, as in
the Vulsella. Rostrated, beaked (rostrata), when the
posterior extremity is much narrower than the anterior,
as in several species of Tellens. Truncated (truncata),
when it is, positively, as if one of its extremities were
cut off, as in several species of Donor. Eared (aun-
culata), when the margins of the shell, towards the
summit, are more or less dilated into certain portions,
termed ears. Inauriculated, when only one of these
appendages occurs. These ears are equal, or unequal,
when of the same size, or differing from each other
in size ; they are spiny, when their inferior margin
appears toothed ; obliterated, when they are but
slightly angular, as in the Lima.

The valves may be regular or irregular ; they are
regular when they present an uniform shape, totally
independent of all exterior bodies, as is the case with

CONCHOLOGY.

123

most bivalve shells ; on the contrary, the valves are
irregular when they assume the shape of the substance
to which they adhere, such as the oysters — Anomia,
&c. This occurs with both valves in some instances, as
the form of the upper is necessarily modified by that
of the lower valve : whether the valves are thick or
thin, is so obvious, that no particular term is necessary.
The valves are plaited (uiflexa), when they form an
angle or fold projecting a*, their inferior part, as in the
Tellens. Each valve, regular or otherwise, may
really be compared to an univalve shell, in general
very flat and covering the animal, but instead of being
placed on the back of the animal is situated at its
$ides ; there must, therefore, exist a summit and a
base, an external convex, and a concave internal
surface. The summit of a bivalve shell is termed the
beak, or tip (apex), and it is from that point the growth
of the shell commences. Considering its general
position, always bearing in mind the animal which it
cover*, it is oral or buccal (oralis), when it is at the
anterior extremity of the valve, which is rarely the
case ; an exam pie, however,is exhibited in thespondylus,
oyster, &c., and this is commonly called the spur or
heel. It is dorsal (dorsalis), when it corresponds with
the back of the animal or the superior margin of the
shell, which is ordinarily the case with shells in general ;
in this case it may be antero-dorsal, when placed more
forward than backward in the length of the valve ;
mediii-dorsaL, when in the middle ; and postcro-dorsal,
when mure backward than forward ; anal or posterior
when situated at the opposite extremity to the mouth,
as in the Terebratula, Lingula, &c.

It is also from the relative position of the summit
of the bivalve shells, that the characters are indicated
by equilateral, sub-equilateral, or in-equilateral. A
valve is said to be equilateral when the cephalic sum-
mit is exactly in the middle of the side on which itis
placed, so that a perpendicular line drawn through
would sub-divide it in equal portions, as is seen in the
Pfctcns. Sub-equilateral, when there is only a slight
difference in its position, either backward or forward,
In-equilateral, when the difference between the two
sides is more considerable, and consequently the
summit becomes either antero-dorsal or postero-dorsal.
The direction of the summit offers also some character
designated by particular terms ; it is the most frequently
a little curved or inclined forward, but it is also some-
times entirely vertical, or in the direction of the
diameter of which it forms one extremity, and it i
more rarely inclined backward ; and in some species
the summit has a tendency to assume a spiral form, as
in univalves. It is variously named in scientific terms
according to its being — ear-shaped, spiral, recurved
entire, callous, &c., for which, as before, we refer to
the treatises on this subject. The external face of the
valves offers several characters important to know, it
is either convex or flat, which needs no explanation
it is full (plena), as in the Tridacna ; bordered (mar-
ginata), when furnished with a projecting rim ; toothec
or serrated (dentata), when the circumference is
furnished with what may be here termed teeth, as in
the tridacna, cordiform, crescent-shaped, lanceolate
oval, oblong, superficial, &c., according to its resem-
blance to a heart, as in some of the species of Venus,
The internal surface of the valves presents also many
characters deserving attentive consideration, but not
easily described without illustrations, that would here
occupy too great a space. The valves are right hanc
or left, according to the position of the animal as we

lave already placed it ; they are equivalve,when exact-
y corresponding in size, depth, and general form, as
exists in most of the bivalves ; sub-equivalve, when
he difference between the two valves is not very con-
siderable, as in certain species ofPcctens; in-equivalve,
when there is a very visible difference, either in the
ibrm, size, or other particulars. Linnaeus has named
;he smallest and flattest valve the operculated one, as
m the Gryphcea; but, for the reasons we have stated,
it is mis-applied. The valves of bivalve shells, placed
in opposition to each other, often touch at every
point of their circumference, in which case they are
termed closed (clausa), when not thus everywhere
united, they are said to gape (hians). In the first
instance, the closing of the valves may be simple by
approximation, or they may be shut by the insertion
of the opposite notches, grooves, teeth, &c., with which
many are furnished. In bivalves having a partial
opening in the circumference of the valves, more or
less considerable, it is, for the most part, only posterior,
or both anterior and posterior to a certain extent, as
in the Solens, the Pliolas, and many other species ;
sometimes it is inferior, and more or less anterior or
medial, as in the Arks, Muscles, &c., and it is some-
times anterior, and superior, as in the young examples
of the Tridacna. Another point ot view, perhaps
more important than most of those which we have
described, is the peculiar mode in which the valves of
shells are united to each other ; these are three in
number, one belongs exclusively to the animal,
depending upon the use of certain muscles or bundles
of muscular and elastic fibres, which are carried trans-
versely from one valve to the other ; these leave an
impression on the internal surface of the valve, the
study of which has been pointed out as important in
deciding the genus of a mollusc, without any previous
knowledge of the animal. The second mode of
union also belongs properly to the animal alone, and
although much less than the first, it leaves also its
indices, or traces, very perceptible in the excavations
of different forms in which it is attached, this is
named the ligament (ligamentum) ; it consists of a
mass, more or less considerable, of horny fibres,
elastic, and covered with an epidermis, carried from
side to side of the valves. Some bivalve shells are
met with entirely without a ligament, properly so
called, as in the Orbicula, Pholas, and others, in which
it is not distinct from the general epidermis, as in the
Pinna, but most frequently bivalves possess a liga-
ment ; this is simple (simplex) when there is only one,
as in the Venus ; and the greater number of bivalves,
double (duplex), when there are two ligamental pro-
cesses, the one posterior, as in certain Tellens, w hence
they are called amphidesma, or when there exists one
external, the other internal, as in the Mactra. Mul-
tiple (multiplex), when there is a series more or less
considerable, as in the Perna, and, perhaps, even in
an inverse position, in the Arks. The position of the
ligament, with regard to the summits, is thus defined :
anterior, when placed in front of them as in the
Donax; medial, when immediately beneath the apices ;
posterior, which is the most usual, when behind the
summit ; antero-posterior, when both backward and
forward, occupying an extended space, as in the Arks
and their congeners. The position of the ligament,
as it is externally visible or not, distinguishes it into
external (externum), when visible, which occurs with
most bivalves ; deep (profundum), when it is so deeply
placed, that it is scarcely perceptible on the outside;

124

CONCHOLOGY.

as in the Venus, zig-zag ; internal, when it is positively
altogether concealed, as in the Mactra, Crassalclln,
and to a certain extent in the oyster. As to its being
flat, round, short, long, &c., it speaks for itself.

The last mode of connexion between the valves of
shells is called the hinge (cardo), which may be de-
fined as a particular arrangement of differently formed
prominences, or cavities on each valve corresponding
reciprocally with each other. Authors call that the
thickest portion of the circumference of the valve in
which most frequently these cavities or teeth are
situated ; this is the cardinal margin (margo cardinalis) ;
the cardinal blade or ridge (disscpimentum cardinalis) is
that portion of the edge which exhibits the teeth.
Examining shells with regard to this arrangement,
they are called toothless (acardis) when no trace
exists of cavities, projections, or ligament, but of these,
perhaps, only one example can be offered, it is the
Lingula, When there is only one protuberance on
the part termed the hinge, more or less elongated
and irregular, it is called callus (callosa). When the
cardinal ledge, instead of being vertically placed, as is
in most instances the case, is horizontally enlarged
by a projection fitting into a corresponding cavity,
placed beneath the summit of the other valve, or
under a similar projection, Linnaeus called it dens
vacuus or depressns ; but erroneously, not being a true
tooth, and only serving for the insertion of the liga-
ment. In all other shells provided with a true hinge,
it is necessary to observe if it is exactly similar on
each valve, in the first instance, it is termed therefore
similar (similis), and in the second dissimilar. The
position of the hinge, generally considered, also re-
quires some particular denominations, which are nearly
the same as applied to the summits ; oval, dorsal, anal,
&c., as they may be situated on the back, posterior,
anterior, &c. In the different portions of the hinge
it is formed complete by means of eminences and
cavities, the one called teeth, the other indentations
(fossula) ; when the hinge is formed by one tooth or
protuberant portion, as in the Mya, it is called the
Sinus by Linnaeus. These eminences or correspond-
ing cavities with relation to the summit may generally
be denominated in the same manner as the entire
hinge. The cardinal teeth (denies cardinales) are those
placed immediately beneath the summits, and are
usually the principal ones. The lateral teeth (denies
laterales) are, on the contrary, those of less importance,
and more or less separated either before or behind
the summit ; those placed nearest to the lamella are
called dens anticus; and the dens posticiis are those
on the side of the ligament or shield, thus reversing
the Linnaean position. The direction in which these
teeth are placed distinguishes them into vertical, ob-
lique, longitudinal, divergent, or convergent. In the
Lyrena they are nearly vertical, oblique in the Venus,
longitudinal in the Cardita, divergent or convergent,
according to the point of view taken from the summit,
as in the Mactra. The mode of junction of these
teeth establishes the terms inserted (intrans}, which
is where one penetrates between two others. Alter-
nate (alternus), that which crosses another obliquely,
as in the Cardium; articulated (inscrtus), when the
hinge formed by them is produced from a reciprocal
arrangement inverse on each valve, as exists in the
greater number of bivalves. The particular form of
the teeth is expressed by lamellar (lamellosa) or lon-
gitudinal when they are very long ; and much com-
pressed if short or thick ; when on the contrary, straight

or curved, simple or bifid, smooth or striated, accord-
ing to circumstances, too obvious to need further
explanation. The number of teeth is sometimes
important to observe, though they are not always
uniform in the same species of molluscs. In multi-
valve shells, according to the modern system of clas-
sification, such as were included by Linnaeus from
being more or less complete tubes, which might
accompany or even entirely envelope the two valves
of a bivalve mollusc, were by him sometimes
called accessory pieces, have been excluded, and only
those completely visible are so called. Multivalve
shells are constantly produced by animals which may
be called intermediate between the mollusca and the
entomozoria, while those of the Pholas, Teredo, &c.,
are true malacozoaria.

They are also very few in number, and it is scarcely
necessary to dwell particularly on the denominations
of their parts, as the greater portion of them are the
same as those of bivalve shells ; they may be called
with regard to the position of their parts or valves,
articulated, lateral, ante or post lateral, dorsal or ven-
tral, but one group established by Lamarck, under the
name of coronal or sub-coronal molluscs, requires a
more particular notice. In these the portions consti-
tuting the shell being disposed regularly round a com-
mon axis, are firmly knit together by their margins,
so as to form a complete cavity or space in the centre,
closed or open inferiorly, and shut superiorly, by a
small number of pieces of various forms, the total of
which is called their operculum, or lid ; the form and
number of principal pieces, as well as those thus
termed the operculum, varies so much that they merit
distinct terms to designate them. The support (basis)
is always monotomous, and may be simply membran-
ous, irregular, or patelliform, in which case it may
easily be confounded with the Limpet. The terminal
or operculated portion is at least ditomous, because
it is always in pairs and symmetrical, but then each
lateral piece is most frequently divided into two valves,
the one dorsal, the other ventral, according as they
correspond to the analogous coronal pieces. This
operculum is called articulated, when it evidently
touches the coronal portion ; it is inarticulated when
entirely surrounded by the membranous portion of
the aperture. The principal portions of these shells
have occasioned their being called coronal, because
they form a sort of crown round the body of the ani-
mal. The number of pieces forming what is termed
the operculum usually amount to six, but they vary
much sometimes, being only four in the usual state of
these valves ; each is divided on its surface into two
triangular areas, the one in relief, the other hollow.
And in the interior of these it is found that they are
doubled in their superior or anal half by a vertical
plate or separation, the extent and form of which is
very important in distinguishing this singular species
of shell. A reference to the article Balanus will also
point out some other peculiarities not yet satisfactorily
explained. Upon this subject, as well as many others
connected intimately with the study of the science of
conchology, we have been constantly tempted to en-
large ; but a want of space must preclude us from
dwelling longer, as a volume might be written, filled
with ingenious hypotheses, and well-grounded deduc-
tions ; our object, as has been more than once stated,
being to induce a deeper research in others, raihor,
than to broach our own opinions, or to write a volumin-
ous treatise on the subject. So numerous are the pub-

CONCHOLOGY.

125

Hcations adapted to every stage of the study, that
those who have leisure to pursue it may take it up in
any part of its progress. We flatter ourselves that we
have, as concisely as the nature of science will admit,
given an outline likely to prove serviceable to the
student, without entering abstrusely into that portion
of it which can only be interesting to the more finish-
ed naturalist. Having, in this place, confined our-
selves more particularly to shells, as objects detached
from their parents, much more remains to be said of
them as properly connected with the animals; and this
will be attempted under the articles MOLLUSCA and
MALACOLOGY. We will now proceed to give a rapid
sketch of the history of the science, or at least that part
of it which includes the arrangement of shells alone,
without any or very little reference to the animals.
In which point of view, nearly all the naturalists of
former times have written, and it may not be found
useless or uninteresting to name the most celebrated
authors, beginning from a very remote period of time
down to that at which the science has assumed a new
and higher order of claim to the attention of man-
kind.

That the study of natural history, and Conchology
as a part of it, was not deemed beneath the notice of
philosophers and statesmen in the enlightened ages
of Greece and Rome, is proved by the valuable
works still extant, the earliest of which is that of
Aristotle, who flourished 322 years before the birth
of Christ. It may be deemed a precious monument
of accurate observation, and justly entitles him to
the immortal name of the father of natural history.
Like every other of his writings, this branch exhibits
profound wisdom, and, even to the present day, his
outlines of a systematic arrangement have been fol-
lowed, and many of the genera of shells retained by
succeeding authors. He first established the two
great natural orders of univalves and bivalves, viewing
shells, precisely as they are now considered, to be
testaceous bodies, consisting of so many pieces or parts.
The first were therefore termed Monothyra, the second
Dithyra. To these he added a third order, in which
were included the turbinated shells. Of these three
orders he commenced a generic arrangement, dis-
tinguishing between their terrestrial or aquatic
habitats, and even the immobility or locomotive
power of the different species. These he separated
into the ciiietica or acineta. When we consider the
period at which this great man existed, and the
isolated nature of his labours, comparing them with
I the information he possessed in natural history, we
may be truly astonished at his sagacity and wisdom.
Though the acquirement of human knowledge is
slow and progressive, Aristotle's Ostracodermata pre-
sents a valuable scheme of shells, and the sound well
defined basis of all subsequent systems. Nor was the
Macedonian philosopher the only great man of anti-
quity whose mind was alive to the study of natural
listory, and whose more important labours were
liversified by its inviting charms. Pliny, -(Elian,
A.theniuus, and Cicero, were each of them enthusiastic
laturalists, and have left valuable proofs of their
iccurate observation of nature's productions, particu-
arly in that branch we are now treating of. But this
I tudy, like all other liberal pursuits, was neglected in
he darker era that succeeded, at least no evidence
o the contrary has survived to this period ; but in
fter ages, when the mists of Gothic ignorance, which
lad so long obscured the western horizon, dispersed,

the light of science dawned, and Conchology not
only revived, but was encouraged by men eminent
"or learning and a superiority of mental acquirement,
the admiration and envy of past centuries. Pliny,
who lived in times more favourable to the cultivation
of science (A.D. 80.), added but little to the informa-
tion he derived from the writings of Aristotle. He
certainly has added considerably to the number of
species at that period described. The shores of the
Roman empire, the Mediterranean, and Red Sea,
presenting a rich field for the enterprising concholo-
jist, he described, with great fidelity, the form and
external aspect of shells, in which he has been
followed by succeeding naturalists. But his arrange-
ment was unphilosophical — his descriptions unsatis-
factory— and he discovered but little matter import-
ant to the science beyond that which had long before
been pointed out by Aristotle. Passing over the
dark ages succeeding Roman greatness, in which
science was degraded and ignorance deified, we
find, to the end of the fifteenth century, little to
instruct or interest us on this subject. Vicentius, in
1494, treats of the genera Murex, Ostrea, and some
S'dices, but without any systematic arrangement ;
and he has done no more than borrow from his pre-
decessors, adding most largely from the superstitious
absurdities of his days. In the sixteenth century,
Belen, Rondeletius, and other authors, added some-
thing more to the information transmitted from the
earlier ages. Their works, however, merely described
new species, or pointed out what they considered a
more natural arrangement of shells, many of them,
however, venturing upon a general systematic classi-
fication materially different from the first outline
sketched by Aristotle. We will therefore come to
that period when Daniel Major may be considered
as the first author who really occupied himself with
a distribution of shells into a systematic form. This
will be found in an Appendix to a Treatise on the
Genus Purpura, by F. Columna, in the German
language, under the title of Ostracologia in Ordinem
Redactn, printed at Kiel in 1675. This appendix
contains synoptic tables pointing out a natural asso-
ciation of genera established on the species observed
by Columna, and consequently very few in number.
To Major we are indebted for the division of uni-
valves and multivalves, among which he places the
bivalves.

In 1681, our countryman, Grew, in his Museum
llegium, a descriptive catalogue of the Royal Society's
collection, has published a systematic and synoptic
table of the genera of shells, in which he includes all
the testaceous envelopes of animals, and, without posi-
tively employing the present received terms of the
science, established divisions of the single, double,
and multiple shells, corresponding with our univalve,
bivalve, and multivalve genera. In the first, he
separates such as are rolled on a fictitious axis from
those not so constructed ; these are again divided
into the species whose spires are visible or not, as
in the Nautilus, Cowry, &c. By this arrangement
it is obvious that Grew distinctly pointed out those
clear indications of animal structure forming the
greater number of our present genera.

Sibbald, in 1684, in his Scotia Illustrata, goes back
nearly to the divisions of Aristotle, principally con-
sidering the habitat of the shells, dividing them into
terrestrial and aquatic, and the latter into marine and
fluviatile species.

126

CONCHOLOGY.

Lister, in 1685, still followed a similar arrange-
ment ; but, having the advantage of examining a
far greater number of shells, his treatise is conse-
quently more complete. His work, Historue sive
Synopsis Methodica Conchyliorum libri quatuor, ap-
peared in parts, and continued down to 1688. It
contains, besides, a great number of plates, faithfully
drawn and engraved b)' his daughters, the intro.
duction of a distinction between the equality or
inequality of the valves. He also appears the first
to have attached a proper importance to the con-
sideration of the hinges of bivalves.

Tournefort, an eminent French botanist, who died
in I 708, attempted to facilitate the study of shells,
which he designated under the general name of
Testacea, defining them as the envelopes of certain
animals possessing the hardness of a tile, or baked
earthen vessel ; but his method was only known for
the first time by a work of Gualtier's, published in
1748. Tournefort substituted the names of Monotonia,
Ditama, and Polytoma, for those of the present day.
Among the Monotonies he established the distinction
between the univalves, properly so called, and the
spirivalves and fistulivalves, and his generic charac-
ters are considerably guided by the form of the
aperture. In his class Ditoma he is said to have
been the first to establish a division between the
bivalves that closed perfectly (Clausa) and those
which partially gaped (Hiantes). He also paid atten-
tion to the position of the hinge. In his Polytoma
he, however, confounds the Echini and Balani,

Rumphius, in 171 1, described a considerable num-
ber of shells from the Indian seas, but he did not add
much to the science of Conchology. He did not
even separate the bivalves from the multivalves ;
and with respect to the univalves, he considered them
simple or turbinated, as distinguished by Aristotle. He,
nevertheless, indicated some well-defined divisions,
such as the Strombus, Foluta,and the porcelanic genera.

Lang, in 1722, proposed a new but partial con-
chological distribution, merely treating of marine
shells ; but notwithstanding the pompous enuncia-
tion of his work, which is too long to be here
inserted, he added very little to Lister's arrangement
beyond examining the equality or inequality of the
valves, arid the relative positions of the summits. He
also paid rather more attention to the form of the
apertures in univalves, and of the summits of bivalves,
in these he likewise established a division of anoma-
lous species.

J. Ernest Hebenstreit, in 1791, published a disser-
tation, entitled, De ordinibus Conckyfiorum Methodica
Ratione instituendls, in which there are but few impor-
tant novelties. He, nevertheless, among the univalves,
pays more attention to the spine than his predeces-
sors had done ; and in the bivalves, his first division
is characterised by the presence or the absence of the
hinge, as then considered.

Phillip Breyn, in 1830, first drew the attention of
conchologists to a distinctive character of shells, up
to that period overlooked, this was the number of
cells or separations in univalves, whence proceed the
names polythalamia and monothalamia.

Gualtieri, an Italian author, in 1742, published a
work which still possesses some degree of reputation,
from the great number of shells figured. They are,
however, but indifferently executed, and fall far short
of modern illustrations. As a work of scientific refer-
ence, it includes all, or nearly so, that his predeces-

sors had introduced in the way of classification, with-
out adding much improvement or novelty; we shall
not, therefore, dwell upon it, but merely observe, that
though he indicates many generic divisions, they are
not established on a solid basis, and have afforded but
little to guide subsequent writers.

D'Argenville, in the same year, published in France
the first edition of his work, De rH'istoirc Naturellc
eclairde dans Deux de ces Parties Principales, la Litho-
logie et la Conchyliologie, a work like that of Gualtieri's,
much admired for its plates, but containing little scien-
tific improvement to recommend it. In nearly all
he has done, Lister's system was his guide, and
when he ceased to consult or follow that authority,
he has invariably made matters more obscure, though
he is most unjustly critical in his observations on that
author.

Klein, immediately after D'Argenville, published a
work entirely systematic, but without the advantage
of good illustrations. His object appears to have been
that of overturning and changing all Linnams attempt-
ed to establish ; this being unsupported by the reasons
of subsequent writers, render his work a mass of confu-
sion and little worthy of reference. He certainly pro-
posed, rather than established, a great number of
genera since adopted ; but the characters assigned to
them were so vague, and so badly circumscribed, that
his writings have nearly fallen into oblivion. His clas-
sification of the Echini, however, merits praise as being
the first attempt, though extremely deficient in exe-
cution.

Adanson, in 1757, published his voyage to Sene-
gal, and, although the first editions of Linnaeus' Sys-
tema Naturee had already appeared, we place his
information in a point of priority, because it appears
quite evident that great naturalist must have derived
a considerable portion of his general fixed principles
of conchology from Adanson ; he also may, more
properly, be considered a writer on malacology, since
he examines shells, with their animal architects. By
this much innovation was introduced into the science
of conchology, properly or abstractedly so called in
this article. Thus, besides an elaborate study of each
of the parts of shells, and a description of the charac-
ters, he may be said to have formed a distinct system
for each. Among other novelties in conf.rmation of this
he divides bivalve shells according to the number of
their muscles, or their attachments ; and above all, he
has introduced the consideration of the operculum, an
important feature of the science, up to his time alto-
gether neglected, or nearly so, by subsequent authors.
From this consideration, he established in the Helices
two marked sections : the first, univalve snails ; the
second, operculated species, which he considered,
though very erroneously, as forming the gradation to
bivalves. He appears also to have been the first who
classed the Patella, with the Chiton, his section of mul-
ti valve conchs containing only the Pholas and the
Teredo.

Linnaeus, in his first edition of the Systema Naturee,
proved that he was not master of this part of natural
history ; but in the edition following Adanson's work,
he exhibited the possibility of applying the same
principles which he had discovered and so advanta-
geously employed in botany. He, nevertheless.created
no very novel consideration in the first divisions; nor,
indeed, in the secondary ones, since he divides shells
into multivalves, with which he begins, and in which
he places the Chiton; bivalves and univalves, after-

CONCHOLOGY.

wards sub-divided into turbinated or not turbinated ;
but he has the lasting merit of having introduced, in
the description of their characters, in their circumscrip-
tion, and in the creation of a conchological language,
that brevity and clearness which will ever entitle him
to be considered the model and master of systematic
naturalists, from which nothing can obviously detract,
except the bad taste and unaccountable feeling which
but too frequently marks his nomenclature — setting
modesty at defiance, and making greybeards blush.

About this period Martini commenced his gigantic
book, which was continued and completed by Chem-
nitz in 1788. This we consider rather as a collection
of the figures of shells, than as a true system of con-
chology, the arrangement partaking of Gesner and
Lister's plans, with regard to the first divisions ; and
the others formed from the habitat of the animals, he
nearly follows the Linna:an system, and his great
divisions may be considered simple, and not breaking
their natural gradations in any very remarkable de-
gree. As a work containing a greater number, and,
generally speaking, more correctly drawn illustrations
of shells, nothing combining these united advantages
has ever yet appeared ; its great price, however, will
ever render it a work of luxury more than utility.

Dacosta, in 1776, published an original, and, it may
be said, true system, under the title of Elements of
Conchology. It differs evidently but little from that of
Linnaeus, though he attaches more importance to the
predominant characters drawn from the form of the
aperture in turbinated univalves, and the hinge of
bivalves ; he is the first writer who suggested the pro-
priety of changing many of those terms used by Lin-
naaus, of which we have already pointed out the inde-
cency; he has also considerably augmented the number
of genera of that naturalist, each of which are illustrat-
ed by tolerable figures ; but though his work may be
deemed highly instructive, he has not introduced into
the science any very strikingly new consideration.

We pass over in silence several authors, such as
Mu'ller, Born, and others, who have added little or
nothing to the science of conchology, in our present
view of it. Those of them who have examined shells
with reference to the animal, will be noticed hereafter,
and we then come to the French School of Concho-
logy, in which it appears to us more has been done
than in any other, towards raising the study of this
interesting portion of creation into its well-merited
rank of natural sciences ; and we must be permitted
a slight digression from the immediate article under
consideration, to state, that although we are not wed-
ded to the system of any one author, blind to the
faults of all, or insensible to the improvements of time,
we must, nevertheless, adopt some rule of conduct,
some guide for our opinions, and we do not hesitate
in preferring a system, matured as it now is upon the
admirable model furnished by Cuvier, and other great
naturalists, his disciples: like every human effort it is
incomplete, often erroneous, but as a whole, the most
perfect yet constructed ; and, from being founded on
the broad basis of truth and common sense, will last
to the end of time, becoming more confirmed by every
day's experience of its correctness.

Brugniere, in 1792, is the first author we shall
name, as having taken the lead in forming the modern
science of Conchology. We must all along be under-
stood to allude to it, more particularly as relative to
the consideration of shells as isolated bodies, the
view we have confined ourselves to in this article.

Brugniere closely followed Linnceus, but it is dm; to
him to acknowledge that he has much more clearly
characterised and circumscribed the genera, which
has necessarily led to considerable increase of their
number. Death having deprived the world of the
benefit that would have resulted from his labours early
in the commencement of his scientific career, the small
number of genera he lived to describe will prove the
justness of his reasoning. His characters were well
defined, clearly explained, and, what is extremely im-
portant in this as well as every other study, they are
perfectly consistent with each other. He may be con-
sidered the first naturalist who has introduced into
conchology that exact precision of detail so necessary
to be observed, particularly with reference to those
minute indications required in a comparison between
recent and fossil shells ; in other respects he does not
claim much praise as having introduced any very
marked improvement in the Linngean system.

De Lamarck improved upon his friend Brugniere's
method considerably, not only by considering the shell
as a part of the animal constructing it, according to
the opinions of Guettard, Adanson, Geoffrey, Miiller,
Poll, Cuvier, De Ferussac (father and son), De Blain-
ville, and others, but by the great number of new
generic divisions, a more rigorous terminology ; and
by the introduction of the muscular impressions in
bivalve shells, as the base of one of their prin-
cipal divisions, which, in 1810, was adopted by
Ocken. Lamarck, nevertheless, fell into the error of
classing the Chiton with the Patella. In general it
may be observed that he has entirely departed from
the divisions of previous conchologists, established
upon the number of pieces composing the shell ; and
that it is rather the combined form of the shell which
he examines, to establish his four first divisions into
sub-spiral, cardiniferous, sub-coronal, and vermicular ;
and, in fact, he could no longer admit the univalves,
bivalves, and multivalves, since he places the Chiton
amongst the sub-spirals, which certainly no one wishing
to arrange a collection of shells would have thought
of. In this arrangement, Lamarck has, if possible,
placed shells too closely in scientific connexion with
their animal inhabitant, which, though it renders the
subject far more interesting to the philosopher and
anatomist, occasions the science to become more dif-
ficult to those who have the same motive for studying
it, and merely look at it as a mental relaxation from
other worldly pursuits. During the period that was
occupied, in bringing to perfection and publishing
Lamarck's system, other conchologists followed Bru-
gniere's extended view of the Linnsean system, and
Donovan, Montagu, Bosc, &c., published their arrange-
ments.

Denys de Montfort, in 1808, brought before the
public his Systematic Conchology, including only the
univalve shells ; but he carried his generic subdivisions
to a ridiculous excess, by wishing too narrowly to
define extremely minute characters ; this, doubtless,
arose from his having been the first author who thought
science demanded the description of microscopic shells ;
but though his work, were it generally useful, might
easily be modified, it is not considered an authority
at this time. Many of his genera are, nevertheless,
adopted.

De Blainville, a French naturalist, and an excellent
anatomist of Cuvier's school, published his first clas-
sification of shells in a memoir read at the Philomatic
Society in 1812. This was founded on a reference to

128

C O N D Y L U R A.

the animals, and not their simple coverings; but he
has the merit of having, for the first time, introduced
a consideration of shells in a new point of view, that
of forming the essential protection of the organs of
respiration, from whence followed, to a certain extent,
the general form and position of them ; and thus, by
combining as it were the double function of the shell
and the animal, to be able to pass easily from the
one to the other, by calling the attention to the indi-
cations of a new character, founded on the symmetry
or non-symmetry of univalve shells, with regard to the
respiratory organs. He also replaced the Chiton with
the univalves, and in many other instances has ad-
duced very satisfactory reasons for having re-united
many of the genera of Lamarck and other naturalists,
improperly and needlessly sub-divided by them.

This brief sketch of the progress of conchological
study, as a science, must be considered extremely in-
complete, since we have professedly named only a
small portion of the labourers in that field, and only
such .as have in some degree attempted a new system-
atic arrangement of shells alone: to have enumerated
each new idea, each novel alteration in the progress
of time since the days of Aristotle, would have occu-
pied space allotted to more interesting matter, and
could not have conveyed any useful information, par-
ticularly to the scholar ; to have given a mere catalogue
of authors, and the various views they have taken on
the subject, for the same reason is useless, and as Con-
chology in future must be combined with a reference
to the animals constructing shells, the system will be
described moreamply under the article MALACOLOGY.

The object of this work is to point out briefly all that
may be deemed solid information on every branch of
natural history, and not to enter into controversial
points of opinion, or to wage war against those with
whom we may have the misfortune to differ. Every
man has, doubtless, a right to his own set of ideas, but
it is deeply to be regretted, when his ignorance, or its
offspring, vanity, induces him to question with acrimony
another's different view of the same subject ; to split
hairs with cannon balls, and to write all men down as
asses, who presume to differ with him in opinion.
This, unhappily, but too frequently is exhibited by
modern naturalists, and it is the more remarkable,
since the study of natural history should lead to every
good feeling of human nature — unite mankind in one
common cause, and contribute to one great end — that
of adoring the Author of all these marvellous produc-
tions ; the least of which, if properly received, would
humble the pride of the most arrogant of mortals ; by
proving to him, that the ingenuity of ages can only
produce clumsy imitations of anything bearing the
imprint of Almighty wisdom.

CONDYLURA. A genus of mammalia, belong-
ing to the insectivorous division of the order Car-
nassier, and, in general habits, bearing some resem-
blance to the moles, but differing from them in many
particulars. The most, striking of the external pecu-
liarities is their tail, from the appearance of which the
genus has obtained its name. It is formed with a
series of nodes or enlarged round protuberances
(condyles], which give it some resemblance to a neck-
lace of beads.

The characters are : six incisive teeth in the upper
jaw, of which the two in the middle are very large,
bent into a sort of spoon-shape on their inner sides,
and with their cutting edges a little oblique ; the two
external incisors, in this jaw, are conical, and bear

some resemblance to canines. There are four incisors
in the under jaw, which project forward with a curve,
and give a sort of spoon-shape to the exterior part of
that jaw ; also, to each side of the upper jaw there are
three false molars formed, each of two plates of
enamel, and having pointed tubercles on their inner
edges, and a groove on their outer. There are four
false molars in each side of the lower jaw. The
canines in the upper jaw are large and strong for the
size of the animal, but those in the lower are very
small. They have no appearance of external ears,
and their eyes are remarkably small ; their fore-feet
are short and broad, with five toes upon each,
furnished with claws well adapted for digging in the
ground. The hind-feet, which are longer and more
slender, are also each provided with four toes.

This genus of animals is understood to be peculiar
to North America, and in its habits to bear a very
considerable resemblance to the moles of the eastern
world, that is to say, they spend the greater part of
their time under ground, and are understood to sub-
sist chiefly upon earth worms, earth insects, and larva.
Two or three species have been mentioned, but only
one is known with certainty, and of its manners we
know but little.

Star-nosed Condi/lure (Condyhtra cristata). This is
the Sorex cristatus of Linnaeus, but it is more nearly
allied to the moles than to the shrews, and therefore,
the name is inapplicable. The knots on the tail and
also the very remarkable form of the termination of
the muzzle, readily distinguishes this from any other
animal. The muzzle is very long, supported in the
centre by an axis of bone, in the same manner as the
snout of a pig, and like that, it has the nostrils central
in the extremity, so that we may conclude that its
sense of smelling is of considerable service to it in the
finding of its food ; but the extremity of the snout is
very different from that of any other animal. It is in
the form of a star, consisting of cartilaginous rays
which are rose-coloured, have their surfaces granu-
lated, and are about twenty in number ; two on the
middle of the upper part and four on the under, are
much longer than the rest. All the points of which
this star-like rose is composed, are moveable at the
pleasure of the animal ; but from the peculiarity of
their form, we may naturally suppose, that this
description of digging instrument, though it may
make its way faster than the entire snouts of other
digging animals, cannot force its way so readily
through compact mould, and thus, the animal is
adapted to those alluvial deposits in the American
forests, which are formed rapidly, consist in great
part of leaves, and are very spongy in their texture.
It is possible that some of the elongated filaments
may assist the animal in feeling for its food under-
ground : but we are not so well informed of its habits
as to be able to decide upon particulars.

The feet bear some resemblance to small hands,
they are broad, naked, and covered with scales ; and
the'nails, though longer than those of the mole, are
more slender and not so trenchant on their under
sides, which farther shows that this animal is adapted
for making its way through softer soil than that with
which our moles have to contend. This is still farther
indicated by the structure of the hind feet, which are
long and slender, differing in form from those of most
other of the smaller burrowing animals, whether of
Europe or any other part of the world. All the
phalanges of the hind toes are free, so that the sole of

CONDOR—CONIFERS.

129

these leet consists of the metatarsal bones only. This
structure of foot enables the animal to spread out its
hind toes till they are as wide apart from each other
as those of a free-toed bird ; but whether the animal
uses the extensive resistance which it can obtain by
this means, in pushing through soft earth or through
tangled vegetables, has not been ascertained. The tail
is remarkable i'or having transverse folds of the skin,
corresponding to the different vertebrae, and in the
intervals, between those folds, there are long hairs
more thinly set than in any other part of the body.
The colouring of the fur upon the body is nearly the
same as that of the common mole, and it is glossy, and
difficult to be soiled or wetted while the animal is
alive ; but its texture is not so delicate as that of the
fur of the European mole. The whiskers do not
spread out to the sides as in most small animals, but
project forward. On the feet there is a large mem-
branous scale on the inner surface, and a few scattered
hairs on the outer. In its general form this animal
indicates more activity in motion, though probably
less strength in proportion than the mole ; but its
manners are so imperfectly known, that no very good
account of its economy can be obtained. It is not
large, being about four inches long in the body, and
with a tail about half that length.

Condylura longicaudata. This species is still less
known than the former; it inhabits the northern
parts of America, but whether exactly the same kind
of places as the other is not said. It is without the
nasal crest; the tail is rather longer than half the
body ; the fore feet are similarly formed to those of
the moles, but the hind feet are long and slender.
The feet are scaly, thus indicating a digger in the
ground, an inhabitant of watery places, or both.

The time of pairing, the period of gestation, the
number of young, the state in which they first appear,
the length of time that they are suckled, their age at
maturity, the length of their lives, and all of what may
be termed their domestic history, is entirely unknown ;
neither are we able to tell, with any certainty, what is
their principal function, or the importance of that
function in the general economy of nature.
CONDOR. See VULTURE.
CONIA (Blainville), Asemus (Ranz), a genus of
mollusc, separated from the family balanides in con-
sequence of a particular combination of the number
of pieces forming the tube. The shell is conical, de-
pressed, the coronary part formed of four pieces only,
more or less distinct, nearly equal, and usually striated
from the summit to the base, with or without distinct
areas. The support is flat, very thin, or altogether
membranous. The operculum articulated, pyramidal,
composed, as in the balani, of two pieces on each side,
moveable, or as it were soldered to each other.

The genus has been subdivided into the species
whose valves are pectiniform, with the areas and the
divisions very distinctly marked. The second divi-
sion includes all those in which the valves are but
little or not at all distinct, and without any traces of
areas. The animal is precisely the same as that of
the balanus.

CONIFERJE. The fir family. A natural order
of dicotyledonous plants, containing twenty or thirty
genera, and nearly two hundred known species.

Considerable discrepancy of opinion existed for a

long time among botanists in regard to the structure

of the conifers; ; but the researches of Richard and

Brown have dispelled all difficulty on the subject,

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

and have enabled us to comprehend fully the organi-
sation of this most interesting family. The order oc-
cupies a place intermediate between the cellular and
vascular plants. To the former it is connected by
means of Lycopodiaceae, with which it agrees in the
aspect of the stem and leaves, and in the nearly total
absence of spiral vessels ; while it is connected with the
latter through the intervention of the oak, willow, and
birch tribes, with which it agrees in having an amen-
taceous inflorescence. It bears a very strong affinity
to Cycadccc, resembling this family in the form of its
naked ovula, in its mode of inflorescence, in the ar-
rangement of the veins of the leaves, in the imperfect
formation of the spiral vessels, and in having the
vessels of the wood perforated by numerous holes.

The name Coniferce is derived from the fruit, which
is in the form of a cone. The essential characters of
the order are : Flowers, monoecious or dioecious :
Sterile flowers, monandrous or monadelphous, each
floret consisting of a single stamen, or of a few united,
collected in a deciduous catkin about a common
rachis ; anthers two or many-lobed ; pollen large : Fer-
tile flowers, generally in cones, sometimes solitary ;
ovary in the cones spread open, and having the ap-
pearance of a flat scale destitute of style or stigma,
and arising from the axil of a membranous bractca ;
ovules naked, in the cones in pairs on the face of the
ovary, having an inverted position, in the solitary
flowers erect ; fruit consisting either of a solitary
naked seed or a cone ; seeds with a hard, crustaceous
covering ; embryo in the midst of a fleshy and oily
albumen, with two or many opposite cotyledons.

The plants belonging to this order are resinous
trees or shrubs with branched trunks, and linear, rigid,
entire leaves, furnished with parallel veins, and some-
times sheathed at the base. They are found in va-
j rious and very different parts of the globe ; some in-
habiting the cold regions of the north, and others
growing in the hottest parts of the Indian Archi-
pelago. They abound in the temperate climates of
Europe, Asia, and America, and many species are
furnished by the Australian continent.

The order has been divided into three sections :
I. AbictinecE, the pine tribe, including the genera
Abies, fir or spruce ; Pinus, pine ; Larix, larch ; Cedrus,
cedar ; Cumiinghamia, Dammara, Araucaria, &c. II.
Cupressincce, the cypress tribe, comprehending the
genera Cuprcssus, cypress, Junipcrus, juniper, Thuja,
&c. III. Taxincee, the yew tribe, including Taxus,
yew, Ephedra, Podocarpus, &c.

All the species of this extensive family are raised
from seeds. The cones are gathered in winter and
exposed to the sun, or the gentle heat of a fire or kiln.
In this manner the scales are opened, and the seeds
easily taken out. The cones of the Scotch pine, the
common spruce and larch, require kiln heat ; while
those of the Weymouth pine, silver fir, and balm of
Gilead fir, give out their seeds easily without the aid
of artificial heat. So long as the cones are kept close
! the seeds remain uninjured, and they ought not be
opened long before the seeds are sown, otherwise
germination is apt to be prevented. The seeds are
sown in the months of March and April, in soft
rich soil. They ought at first to be screened from
\ the sun and protected from birds. They require a
covering of earth, varying from one-fifth of an inch
to an inch and a half. For the spruce fir one inch
is required, for the silver fir, and balm of Gilead
fir, the depth of soil varies from one-half to three-

130

CONIFERS.

quarters of an inch, while for the American species
one-fifth only is requisite. The seeds of most of
them, except the stone pine and a few others, come up
very soon. They are thinned and put in rows at the
distance of four or five inches, and three or four in
the row. After being a your in these rows, they are
removed to others two feet distant from each other.
After being two years in the seed-bed, and having at-
tained the height of six or seven feet, they are finally
planted out, and great care is requisite in the removal
not to allow the roots to be long exposed, for though
the plants are hardy when grown up, they are very
tender when young. Fir plantations should be regu-
larly thinned from the time the trees are six or seven
feet high, until they attain the height of twenty or
thirty feet. At this time the trees, if they are Scotch,
spruce, or silver firs, ought to be at least twenty feet
distant from each other. Larch firs require more
shelter, and ought to be. a little closer. Firs, in gene-
ral, require plenty of room, in order that their branches
may expand fully. They cannot be pruned, on ac-
count of the large quantity of sap which they contain,
and which flows freely from the slightest incision,
weakening the tree much, and sometimes stopping its
growth for several years.

Various resinous products are furnished by the fir,
pine, and larch tribe. They may be divided into — 1,
those which are yielded by spontaneous exudation,
such as Briancon manna, &c. ; 2, those which are
got by making wounds into the wood through the
bark, as the various kinds of turpentine ; 3, those
obtained by decoction, as the essence of spruce, and
4, those procured by lire, as tar and pitch.

The common oil of turpentine of the pharmaco-
poeias is procured by distillation, and is the product of
several species of pine. It is a transparent, limpid,
volatile fluid, having a hot pungent taste, and a pow-
erful odour. It is highly inflammable, and is lighter
than water. Its propenies, in general, are of a sti-
mulating nature, and it is much used in medicine. It
acts upon the bowels, and increases the secretion of
urine, imparting to it a smell of violets. In large
doses it is particularly beneficial in tape-worm. It is
also used in epilepsy and in inflammation of the
bowels. When given in large doses, it produces
temporary intoxication. Externally it is employed in
palsy, nervous pains and spasms, and in burns. It is
also said to be useful in checking bleeding. It has
been lately employed, with great success, in the pro-
cess of boring or cutting glass, as it is said that a
common awl may be forced through a plate of glass,
provided oil of turpentine is kept constantly applied.

The residuum of the distillation of oil of turpentine
receives different names according to the mode in
which it is conducted. When the distillation is per-
formed without addition, and continued till all the
essential oil is driven off, then there remain
colophony ; but if water is added to the mass while
fluid, or thoroughly blended with the rosin by
agitation, then we procure yellow rosin.

In procuring tar, a conical cavity is dug in the earth
which communicates with a reservoir at the bottom
and billets of fir are then placed so as to fill the cavity
and form a cone above it. The mass is then kindlec
at the top, and covered over with turf. In this way
the combustion goes on slowly, and all the liquefiec
tar accumulates at the bottom. By boiling the tar
for a long time, all the volatile matter is driven oft'
and a substance called pitch is left.

Tar or pitch ointment is applied externally in ring-
worm and various cutaneous diseases. Tar water has
)een recommended as a diuretic and sudorific. Tar
umigation has been considered beneficial in consump-
ion, by promoting expectoration.

Cedrus Libani, cedar of Lebanon, (Pinits Cedrus of
Linnaeus,) is a native of the coldest parts of the moun-
:ains of Libanus, Ainanus, and Taurus. In these
places the tree formerly grew in large quantities. The
i'orest of Lebanon was famous in the days of Solo-
mon ; and in his time cedars were said to be " as tho
sycamores that are in the vale for abundance." Now-
a-days, however, cedars are by no means common in
Palestine. A few still exist, some of them nine feet
in diameter.

The cedar is a large, wide-spreading tree, not so
lofty as is frequently represented, and as Milton
would make us believe, when he says —

Over head upgrcw,
Insuperable height of loftiest shade,
Cedar, aiid pine, or fir, or branching palm.

The timber of the cedar is very indestructible, and
was anciently much used in the decoration of temples.
In the temple of Apollo, at Utica, some beams of
Numidian cedar are said to have been 1200 years
old. This wood was also employed in forming sta-
tues ; and it is supposed that the famous statue of
Diana at Ephesus was constructed of it. The wood
was also used in embalming and in preventing putre-
faction. The tree yields a saccharine resinous sub-
stance.

The cedar was introduced into Britain in 1683;
and in some parts of England, as at Witton Park
and Zion House, it thrives well. In the Garden of
Plants at Paris, there is a fine specimen of the tree
which was planted by Jussieu.

The cones of cedar must be kept for a year before
the seeds are taken out, on account of the softness of
the seeds and the resinous matter with which they are
surrounded. The cones are imported from the Le-
vant, and the seeds retain their vegetating powers for
many years.

Cedrus dcodara, sacred Indian cedar, grows on the
high mountains of Nepaul and Thibet, at an elevation
of 10 or 12,000 feet above the level of the sea. It
is regarded with veneration by the Hindoos, and fur-
nishes durable and valuable timber.

Juniperus communis, common juniper, is common in
many parts of Europe. A dwarf trailing variety of it
is found on the mountains of Wales, Scotland, and
Ireland. It is an evergreen shrub, furnishing a hard,
reddish wood, which serves for veneering. Its bark
is made into ropes. Its berries are imported in con-
siderable quantities from Holland and Italy. They
have a strong, disagreeable smell, and a warm, pun-
gent, bitterish taste. They consist of essential oil
and sweet mucilaginous matter. This oil, which is of
a green colour, is separated by distillation, and give.-,
the peculiar flavour and properties to Hollands. Gin
was formerly made in imitation of Hollands, by the
addition of juniper ; but it is now made from whiskey
rectified on turpentine.

Both the berries and the tops of the juniper are
used medicinally. They possess tonic, stimulant, and
diuretic properties. These qualities are owing to the
essential oil which they contain. An infusion of the
tops has been used in dropsy. The juniper is the
badge of the clan Murray in Scotland.

Juniperus sabina, common sa\ ine, is a low evergreen

CONIFERS.

131

shrub, found native in the south of Europe, and fre-
quently met with in gardens. Its leaves have an acrid
bitter taste and a strong smell, and the whole plant
yields an essential oil, which possesses very active
qualities. The general properties of the plant are
stimulant and diuretic. It is prescribed sometimes in
cases of worms and gout. An ointment prepared
from the leaves, of a green colour, and having the
odour of the plant, is used as an issue to promote the
discharge from blistered surfaces.

Juniper us Virginiana, red or Virginian cedar, is a
tree of great size and beauty. It sometimes grows to
the height of forty i'eet, and furnishes valuable timber,
which is used for parts of buildings, and other im-
portant purposes. It is found in North America and
the West Indies. The heartwood is of a red colour,
and moderately soft, and is used in the formation of
common cedar pencils.

Jiinipcrii.i o.i' ./red ms, sharp cedar, or brown-berried
juniper, is a native of Spain, the south of France, and
the Levant, and was used in ancient times in the for-
mation of statues. Its wood furnishes, by distillation,
an empyreumatic oil, called cedar oil, which is used
as a vermifuge, and as an article of veterinary medi-
cine.

Juniperus lycia yields a gum-resin, similar to oli-
banum.

All the junipers are raised from seeds, which ought
to be sown in a light soil as soon as they arc ripe.

Another important genus of this extensive order is
Cuprcssus, or cypress.

Cupressm xcmpcrvircns, common, evergreen or fune-
real cypress, is a native of Cyprus and Crete, and
grows on Mount Ida. It is common in old gardens,
and is often planted in clumps of evergreens. In
consequence of the gloomy hue of the leaves, branches
of it were formerly placed before the doors of the
deceased, and were used at funerals. It furnishes a
valuable and durable wood, which resists the attacks
of insects, and is used in Crete, Malta, and the Levant
for the purposes of building. The tree was planted
by the Moors round their palaces, and by the ancient
and modern Romans in their villa gardens. The
doors of St. Peter's, which lasted from the time of
Constantine, for a period of 1 100 years, were made
of cypress wood. This is supposed to be the wood
of which the ark was made, and called in the scrip-
tures Gopher or Shittim wood. Cypress wood was
used by the Greeks in the time of Thucydides for
the coffins of their eminent warriors, and we find the
chests of the Egyptian mummies sometimes made of it.

Cuprexsus thyoides, white cedar, is a middle-sized
evergreen, found native in North America and China.
In the United States it occupies large tracts of coun-
try, denominated cedar swamps. Its wood is soft, of
a red colour, and diffuses an aromatic odour.

TfU'tis baccata, common yew, is a native of Britain,
the northern parts of Europe, and North America.
It is frequently cultivated in pleasure grounds, and
used to be clipped and fashioned in a most fantastic
and remarkable manner. From being considered a
lasting emblem of immortality, it was frequently
planted in churchyards, and the sight of it is conse-
quently apt to excite gloomy and melancholy ideas.
Pennant mentions a yew in a churchyard in the High-
lands of Scotland, at the entrance of Glen Lyon, the
remains of which measured fifty-six feet and a half in
circumference. In Wales and Ireland twigs of the
yew-tree are often carried at funerals.

The yew was formerly looked upon as possessing
poisonous and deleterious properties, and was said to
prove fatal to an\' one who slept under its shade.
Hence it acquired the appellation of " deadly yew."
These notions, however, are now found to be totally
erroneous. The berries of the yew, which are of a
red colour, are quite innocuous, and do not possess
the poisonous qualities formerly attributed to them.
The leaves, however, are found to possess slight nar-
cotic properties. The wood of the tree is red, hard,
and beautifully veined. It is used by cabinet-makers,
and was in early times imported in large quantity for
the purpose of making bows. It was in those days
planted extensively to furnish bows to our warlike
ancestors,

Who drew,
And almost joined the horns of the tough yew.

In later times, since archery is less practised, the
cultivation of the yew is less attended to.

The tree is propagated by seeds. It is well known
as the badge of the clan Fraser.

Thuja occidcntalix is the common arbor vitac of our
gardens. It is a native of Canada and Siberia, and
sometimes acquires the height of thirty or forty feet.
The first specimen of the tree brought to Europe,
was planted in the royal garden at Fontarableau. in
the reign of Francis the First. The wood is used in
the formation of boats and inclosures, as well as in
the construction of houses. In England it is fre-
quently used by turners. The leaves are said to have
bec:i pre.-i'riljed in rheumatism. Another species,
Thuja orienlalis, is found in China. Thuja ar licit I at a,
or jointed thuga, yields a yellow brittle resinous
substance, having an acrid aromatic taste, to which
the name of sandarach is applied. It is employed as
a varnish. This resin is stated by some authors to be
a product of the common juniper.

The coniferous or cone-bearing plants found in
Australasia are chiefly included under the genera,
Araucaria, Dammar a, Dacrydium, Cunninghaima, and
AKiiigin.

Araitcaria. or Altingia excelsa, Norfolk Island pine,
is an immense tree, which sometimes attains the height
of two hundred feet, with a circumference of thirty
feet. The wood which it yields is not valuable, on
account of its want of durability and solidity. Its
bark yields a resinous substance. It does not thrive
well in the open air in this country.

Species of the genus araucaria, similar to this,
would appear, by the researches of fossil botanists, to
have existed formerly in Britain. Araucaria Dom-
beyi or imbricafa, is a South American species, the
wood of which is valuable, and its seeds are eaten as
articles of food when fresh.

Dammara oncntalis, Dammar pine (PI mis Dant-
mara of Lambert), is a native of Amboyna, and fur-
nishes a peculiar resinous matter. Some say that
liquid storax is procured from it. Dammara Australis,
Cowdie pine, or Kawic-tree of New Zealand, attains
the height of two hundred feet, and yields a light
compact wood, free from knots. Dacrydium ta.vifoliinti,
or Kakaterro, another New Zealand pine, is said to
equal the Cowdie pine in height. The branches of
this pine yield spruce.

We have thus endeavoured to describe some of the
plants contained in this extensive order. They are
of great interest and importance to man, both on ac-
count of the valuable timber which they furnish, and
12

132

the useful secretions which are procured from them.
Woods and forests, both in cultivated and savage
countries, consist in most instances of trees belonging
to this family. They are remarkable for their size,
the rapidity with which they grow, and the majestic
appearance which they present. They are almost
invariably natives of the northern, although occa-
sionally found in the southern hemisphere, and may
be said to supply, by their dense persistent leaves, the
place occupied by the evergreens of warmer climates.

CONIROSTRA, one of the divisions into which
Cuvier arranges his great order of Passerine birds,
and which expresses generally that the bills of such
birds are more or less of a conical form, that is, thick
at the base, and tapering to the point. For a more
particular account of the propriety of using the name,
and of the place which the birds hold in the system,
see the article BIRD.

CONIUM (Linnaeus). Is the well-known and
dreaded hemlock. The spotted hemlock of this coun-
try is accounted highly poisonous, though it is useful
in some cases when applied outwardly. Two of the
South American species, namely, the C. arracacha
and the C. moschatum, are both cultivated there for
the sake of their large parsnep-like roots, which are
useful articles of diet among the natives. The arra-
cacha is now under a trial of naturalisation in this
country, with the expectation that, if hardy enough for
our climate, it will prove an important addition to
our stock of culinary vegetables.

CONNARACE^E. A natural order of dicotyle-
donous or exogenous plants, containing five or six
genera, and between twenty and thirty known species.
This family is by some authors looked upon as a dis-
tinct order, while by others it is considered merely as a
section of Terebinthacece. It is nearly allied to Legu-
minoscc, from which it is distinguished by the radicle
being at the extremity most remote from the hilum.
From Burseracece, Cassuviece, and other terebintha-
ceous orders, it differs in the total want of resinous
juice.

Considered as a separate order, its essential cha-
racters are : Flowers hermaphrodite, rarely unisexual ;
calyx five-partite, regular, persistent; petals five, in-
serted on the calyx, with an imbricated, rarely valvate
aestivation ; stamens ten ; filaments usually monadel-
phous; carpels five, one-styled, distinct, sometimes
solitary by imperfection ; seeds erect, from the bottom
of the cell, in pairs or solitary, with or without albu-
men, often axillate ; radicle superior, at the extremity
opposite the hilum ; cotyledons thick and fleshy in
the seeds without albumen, foliaceous in those with
albumen.

The plants belonging to this order are trees ,or
shrubs, with terminal and axillary flowers, in racemes
or panicles, and compound alternate leaves, without
dots or stipules. They are found in the tropical
regions of Asia, Africa, and America. Little is
known in regard to their properties.

The chief genera of the order are : Contiarus, Om-
phalobium, and Cnestis.

CONOCARPUS (Jacquin). A genus of shrubs
and trees, natives of the West Indies and South
America. Linnaean class and order Pentandr'ui
Monogynia, and natural order CombretacecE. Generic
character : flowers in a head ; calyx pitcher-shaped,
five-cleft, and deciduous ; stamens five (ten), inserted
in the calyx ; anthers heart-shaped, two-celled, burst-
ing lengthwise ; style and stigmas simple, scaly,

CONIROSTRA— CON OP I D jE.

corky, one-seeded. This is called the button-tree
in Jamaica, and has been many years in European
collections. It thrives in a mixture of loam and
moor earth, and is propagated by cuttings.

CONOCEPHALUS (Thunberg). An exotic-
genus of orthopterous insects, belonging to the section
Sallatoria, and family of Gryllula; (Leach), or grass-
hopper, with long slender antenna?.

CONOLITES (Lamarck). A fossil genus ot
molluscs. The shell is nearly straight, or only
slightly curved, the sides very thin, the cavity filled,
through its whole length, by a succession of simple
chambers, increasing from the first to the last, which
is at a great distance from the opening ; the siphon
is central or marginal. The genus is subdivided into
four species, but the distinctions are extremely minute,
and considerable doubts exist as to the propriety of
separating it from some others of the family Ortho-
cerata. Authors have variously named the species,
which confirms the difficulty of distinguishing them.
De Montfort calls one Acheloite, another Amimomius,
and a third Tluilamnhts.

CONOPID^E (Leach). A family of dipterous in-
sects, belonging to the section Athericera, having for
its type the genus Conops of Linnaeus, and distin-
guished by the mouth being elongated into a slender,
pointed, and elbowed proboscis. The nerving of the
wings is very simple, and resembles that of the do-
mestic fly. The family comprises the genera Cephcnes,
Conops, Zodion,and Myopa, having the body long and
narrow ; and Buccntcs, Proscna, and Stomoxys (form-
ing the family Stomoxyda: of Meigen and Stephens),
having the body short, and very much resembling the
common fly.

The structure of these different genera are very
diversified, as are also the habits of such as we are
acquainted with. The larvae of conops are stated to
reside in the abdominal cavity of the humble bee
(Bombm}, and St. Fargeau states, that he had noticed
the conopides introducing themselves into the nests
of wasps, so that he supposes that the larvae of the
former, in all probability, subsist upon those of the
latter. Latreille also says, that Conops rujipcs has been
observed in a recently developed state, with the w ings
still soft, to come out of the body of a bombus. An
apod larva found in the body of the stone humble bee
(Bombus lapidaria], and considered by Latreille and
others to have been that of the same species of conops,
has been made the subject of a valuable memoir by
Messrs. Audouin and Lachat, contained in the first
volume of the Memoirs of the Natural History Society
of Paris. The conops, when arrived at the perfect
state, frequent flowers, as do also the zodions and
myopic. M. Robincau Desvoidy has informed M. St.
Fargeau, that a larva which he had found in the body
of a caterpillar produced a fly of the latter genus. —
In like manner the larvae of Bucentes, observed by
De Geer, had been reared in the chrysalis of a moth,
although the perfect insect, as well as the prosenae,
live upon flowers. The genus Stomoxys comprises
that tormenting insect which is so often mistaken
for the domestic fly, and which does not cease its
irritating attacks until the first frosts of winter.
The name of the genus indicates the cause of this
irritation, being derived from the Greek, and signify-
ing sharp mouth ; the proboscis being very acute and
horny, so as to enable it to puncture not only the skin
of man, but also the tougher coats of the ox and horse.
After it has filled itself with its sanguinary repast, the

CONOSPERMUM-CONUS.

wound docs not at once close, but continues to bleed
for a time. The common species (Stomoxyt calcitrans)
is most abundant in autumn, hence the origin of the
common error that at this period of the year the do-
mestic fly is most tormenting. Some individuals of
this species (probably impregnated females) hide them-
selves during the winter, becoming torpid, sometimes
its many as a score may be found packed closely to-
gether in the stumps of old trees, especially in situa-
tions where a moisture has exuded which has probably
served for their food, or upon which they will feed
when they regain their activity. M. Desvoidy has
united the Stomoxydce with'the Muscidce, and has
formed the Stomoxys irritam into the genus Heema-
tobut.

CONOSPERMUM (R. Brown). New Holland
ornamental ever-green shrubs, belonging to Tetrandria
monogynia, and to the natural order Proteaccae.
Generic character : calyx tubular, gaping ; upper
segment hollow at the base ; anthers three, side
one halved, the upper two lobed ; stigma free ; nut
inversely cone-shaped, crowned with rigid hairs.
These plants have narrow heath or yew-like leaves,
and therefore add variety to the green-house collec-
tion.

CONOVULUS (Lamarck ; a Volute of Linnteus).
One of its species has also been classed, by Lamarck,
with the genus Tornatella ; both of them are now,
however, placed with the Pcdipes, in the second
family Auriculace<s,tirst order PulmobrancMata, second
class Paraccphalophora. The shell is thick, ovoid,
sub-involved, the spire very short, the last whorl
much larger than all the others united ; the aperture
long, oval, or linear, the edges not united, the external
one sharp and thin, internally dentated ; one or two
dccurrent plaits at the columella, one of which serves
to separate the two portions of the animal's foot.
The animal, according to Adanson, is known. Several
fossil species are mentioned by De France, which are
classed with the genus Tornntclla.

CONULARIA. A fossil species of mollusc, of
which the Conn/aria Sowerlni is an example ; it is,
however, a badly defined genus and should not be
placed with the Orthocerata of the modern school,
except as being greatly similar in structure to many
of its species.

CONUS (cone) — (Linnaeus and various modern
authors). Shells of this extensive and elegant genus
are generally so well known to every collector, that
it were needless to say their name is derived from
the resemblance to a cone. The genus comprises
not only the most beautiful, but also the most numer-
ous of the class which comprehends the spiral uni-
valves. Among them are many of high price, even
at the present day, when the rarity of certain species
is less than it was a few years since, from the increased
researches made in this branch of natural history, and
from the competition in our sale-rooms becoming less
in proportion. Cones constitute a very natural and
easily distinguished association of molluscs, including
an almost endless number of species and varieties;
but few other shells can, by possibility, be confounded
with them. To a casual observer, some others, how-
ever, present a striking resemblance ; the cowry
(Ci/prcea), in a young state, has been mistaken for a
cone, though it is then very thin, and all cones are
thick and heavy, and one author, of little repute it is
true, has confounded a species of the genus Qliva with
the cones The most remarkable and distinguishing

character of this genus is, the shell having the
whorls compressed and rolled over each other, the
outer one being visible, and the upper edges of thu
previous evolutions only seen with a suture or groove
between them. These spiral elevations form the
spire, which is sometimes nearly flat, convex, more or
less produced, and occasionally even slightly concave ;
the extremity of the whorls coronated, smooth, or
tuberculated. It results from the form of the shell,
and the spiral cavity (which contains the animal)
being compressed in its whole length, and the larger
part near the spire, that they may strictly be called turbi-
nated shells attenuated towards the base ; the aperture
is narrow, effuse at the base, never dentated or the
axis plaited, and the outer lip smooth and sharp ; it
does, however, sometimes present a slightly waved
appearance in certain species, particularly at the
anterior extremity, which may there be called plaited
obliquely. Lamarck has divided this genus into two
sections, the first including the coronated cones, the
second, those with a plain spire ; but this genus, like
other very numerous ones possessing but few varia-
tions of character, requires a more natural association
of its species, as a guide to which, the peculiar struc-
ture of the spiral whorls, in addition to the more or
less elongated form of the shells, might safely be
adopted by the naturalist.

Lamarck and all subsequent writers have omitted
some particulars tending to exhibit, more strongly, the
peculiar characters of this elegant shell ; theapertureis
terminated, at the upper part, in a notch, more or less
distinct, admitting the protrusion of an organ of the
animal, and occasioned also by the suture or separation
of the external whorl from the spire ; beneath this appears
a slight callosity, running round the interior of the shell.

The form of the shell is extremely various, some be-
ing rather thin, cylindrical, and oval, others short and
wide, some with a spire very much produced, while,
in others, it is nearly flat and truncated, either
mucronated, coronated, tuberculated, or with flattened
or convex whorls ; the exterior more or less covered
with minute granulations ; some are quite smooth, and
others transversely grooved or sulcated ; all the
species may be presumed to have an epidermis,
which, in some, is very thick and has a tufted appear-
ance. Adanson, whose veracity has never been
impugned, asserts, that these shells are closed by a
very small horny opercul urn sub-spiral, with a terminal
summit; but of some hundred specimensofconeswhich
have passed through our hands, no one ever has been
met with by us possessing an opercul um. The
animal constructing this shell is of a lengthened very
compressed form, rolled round like a riband wound
up on its own axis ; the mantle is extremely thin, not
projecting beyond a rather small foot, of a lengthened
oval form, larger in front, where it is bordered by a
transverse groove ; the head is very distinct, the
tentacula cylindrical, with the eyes situated near
their summits, which are setaceous ; the mouth is
placed at the bottom of a rather long labial trunk, the
tongue is rather short, although salient in the visceral
cavity, and bristled with two rows of long styliform
hooks.

The following distribution of species has been
made by French naturalists, and it is tolerably
natural, though admitting of some reformation. The
first division consists of those cones which have the
form of the body regularly conical, with a projecting
spire, not coronated or tuberculated, as is the case

134

C O N V A L L A R I A.

case with the Conus generalis ; the second, such
as have a spire salient or projecting, but with its
whorls coronated, projecting, or flat, as in the
Conus imperialis. In these examples we may
point out the reasons why we differ with such an
arrangement ; taking as our guide the formation of the
spire, it is obvious that the animal constructing the
C. generalis has an organised portion of its body imme-
diately under, and upon which the spire was formed,
different from that which exists in a similar position
in the C. imperialis, where the knobs or coronated
processes are so distinctly defined, and can only arise
from corresponding elevations of the animal's body ;
on this account, therefore, we would suggest the sepa-
ration of all species having a distinction so clearly
marked : it cannot, it is true, in any way change the
classification of the inhabitants, since they remain
precisely the same in all their organs, though those
organs differ in form, length, and particularly in size,
it is, therefore, from the modifications of these at the
posterior part of the animal's body that the spire
exhibits its various characters. The substance of the
animal's body, that is, its being of an uniform thick-
ness throughout its whole length, or its being in some
parts thicker than in others, constitutes the difference
that exists in the external form of the cone, by which
it is rendered more or less perfectly conical, globose,
elongated, or compressed, and the peculiar manner
in which the animal's flat riband-like body is rolled
up distinguishes the length of the spire. This may
be easily understood by the familiar illustration of a
narrow roll of paper, one end of which is more or less
drawn out, so if we imagine that roll to possess at one
end convex portions at stated intervals, these would
form the corononated or tuberculated spire ; and were
the roll of paper more or less convex throughout the
whole of its breadth, the loosely formed cone made
from it, would be rendered globuse in proportion to
that convexity, whether in one part of its folds, or
uniformly in every part. Many cones are also granu-
lated on their exterior, some grooved, and others
variously sculptured ; these variations are easily
understood, as corresponding with similarily formed
portions of the animal's body. See CONCHOLOGY.
They, we also think, should tend to point out the
natural association and progressive links of the species.
The third division made by the French naturalists is,
that in which the species are but little elongated,
more oval, the spire rather projecting, pointed, and
not coronated, as in the Conus textile; the fourth, such
species as have the spire apparently coronated, and the
form of the body sub-cylindrical, as in the C. geo-
graphus ; the fifth includes the species much elongated,
cylindrical, a salient spire, the aperture resembling
that of the genus Terebellum, that is, angular at its
posterior portion — this is exemplified in C. mitratus,
C. nussatella, and others.

In these subdivisions it must again be pointed out
that they are to be considered with reference only to
the classification of the shells themselves, the animal
itself always remaining one and the same species in
all. It belongs to the second class Paracephalophora ;
first order Siphonobranchiata ; third family Angyosto-
mata.

Lamarck ennumerates 181 recent species, more
are, however, now described ; they are the most
abundantly found in tropical climates, and like many
other molluscs become more rare as they approach
the northern hemisphere, where none exist, and only

four, or perhaps five, species are to be found in the
Mediterranean. Fossil remains of the genus are not
uncommon, and are widely distributed, never being
found in masses, as frequently occurs with other
genera of molluscs.

These shells are unquestionably the most elegant
of all the various known genera ; their form is always
graceful ; they present, in their coloured portions,
every possible shade, including that of green, so rarely
found in other molluscs, and the diversity of marking
in the different species baffles description or correct
imitation.

Though it forms no part of this work, properly
speaking, to point out present, or former rarities of
the species of molluscs, we cannot, however, avoid
trespassing upon the space allotted to our subject, by
briefly pointing out some of those which, from their
extreme beauty, will ever retain a marked preference.
At the head of which must stand the well-named
cone (Contis cedonulli), in all its varieties; the C.
aurisiacus, and the varieties of the Conus ammiralis are,
nevertheless, scarcely inferior in beauty. One species
has long preserved a reputation it probably merits
more from its great rarity than its extreme beauty —
it is the Conus gloria maris, for though it is a most
elegant mollusc, there are some varieties of the Conus
textile which approximate it so closely, that we onlj
consider it a variety of that species. We have
named these cones as a few of the mo>Jt rare
and beautiful known, but amongst the most common
numbers exist, which, if equally rare, would rival them
in elegance of form, colouring, and pencilling.

In the records of conchological extravagance, it is
stated that some examples of rare cones have been so
strongly competed for by amateur collectors, that one
hundred pounds have been given for them ; it is,
indeed, within our own knowledge, that twenty
pounds have been paid for a fine specimen of the
cedonulli and aurisiacus cones ; and even at the present
period they could not probably be bought under half
that amount. Th« somewhat trite adage of a " fool
and his money being soon parted," does not, how-
ever, in this instance, more particularly apply, than in
a thousand others ; from the earliest ages of history
mankind have been often known to sacrifice, not only
immense sums, but every moral duty towards their
fellow creatures, to acquire possession of an object not
attainable to others on the score of riches or vanity.
To a certain extent, wealth must ever command
an indulgence of this or any other bad passion ; but,
happily, the satisfaction of doing good so much pre-
ponderates, that instances of selfish extravagance are
hourly becoming less conspicuous. The blind gifts
of fortune are dispensed with a liberal, discriminating
judgment, by those who enjoy a superfluity of them,
and are blessed with minds so constituted, as to
appreciate the sacred duties which rank or wealth
impose upon them, by alleviating the sufferings of
beings less fortunately placed in the scale of worldly
enjoyment than themselves.

CONVALLARIA (Linnaeus). The C. majali*
is a British plant, and one of the most valued of the
British flora, under the name of Lily of the Valley.
Linnsean class and order, Hcxandria Monogynia; and
natural order Smilacete. Generic character : corolla
tubular, limb six-cleft ; stamens joined to the tube ;
filaments awl-shaped ; anthers erect, and somewhat
egg or heart-shaped ; style columnar ; stigma headed.
Berry of three cells, each containing several seeds.

C O N V O L V U L A C E JE.

135

The simple beauty of the smooth fresh green leaves,
surrounding and serving as a background to the ele-
gant racemes of pure white nodding flowers, is a con-
trast which enhances the value of both. Those who
are the least sensible of the beauty of flowers, appear
charmed with the simple elegance of the lily of the
valley. So much has it been cultivated in every gar-
den, that two varieties have been already obtained,
namely, the red flowering and the double ; all of which
are easily increased by division, and will thrive in any
shady place.

CONVOLVULACE.E. The bindweed family.
A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
upwards of twenty genera, and between two and
three hundred known species. Its plaited corolla,
and climbing habit, are the characters by which this
order is best distinguished from all others. It bears
an affinity to Cordificfic- in its shrivelled coulcdons,
and it is also allied to /'<,•/, nd IIydn>l<

Its essential chancters are : calyx with five
divisions, persistent ; corolla mqnopetalou?, hypogy-
nous, regular, the limb five-cleft, generally plaited
and deciduous ; stamens live, inserted at the bottom
of the corolla, and alternate with its segment? ; ovary
single, two to four-celled, rarely one-celled, some-
times in two or four divisions, with few definite erect
ovules ; style one, often divided at the apex, some-
times as far as the base ; stigmas obtuse or acute ;
capsule one to four-celled, the valves corresponding
to the angles of a free dissepiment, bearing the seeds
at its base, sometimes without valves, or opening
transversely; seeds with a small quantity of mucilagin-
ous albumen ; embryo curved ; cotyledons wrinkled ;
radicle inferior.

The plants belonging to this order are herbs or
shrubs, which are usual! v climbing, milky, smooth, or
with a simple pubescence. Their leaves are alternate
undivided or lobed, without stipules, and their in-
florescence terminal or axillary. They have fre-
quently showy flowers, which expand beneath the
influence of bright sunshine. They are found twining
round other phmts, or creeping among weeds on the
sea-shore in the tropical regions of the globe, and are
by no means abundant in cold climates. Their roots
abound in an acrid milky resinous juice, possessing
purgative qualities. Some of them are employed as
articles of food.

The chief genera of the order are, Convolvulus,
(W;/.s/Viw, Ipomcea, Cuscuta, Evolvulus, Argyreia,
Falkia, and Rftzia.

Convolvulut, bindweed, is a very extensive genus,
and includes some species which are prized on
account of their beauty, or the valuable products
which they furnish.

Convolvulus, or Ipomcea jalapa, is a climbing peren-
nial plant, found near Xalappa, a town of Mexico.
It was first brought to Europe in 1610. The root of
the plant furnishes (he medicinal jalap. It is a
tuberous egir-shaped root, which, when fresh, is white
and lactescent, but, as imported, is generally covered
with a blackish wrinkled bark. It is sometimes
brought to this country in the form of thin transverse
slices, having a greyish colour internally. The
tubers, when sound, are compact, hard, and heavy,
and break with a resinous fracture. They have a
nauseous taste and smell, and seldom exceed a few
ounces in weight, with a diameter of two or three
inches. When powdered, jalap has a yellowish grey
colour.

The roots of common bryony, the marvel of Peru
(MirabJ&s jalapa), and of other species of convol-
vulus, are often mixed with those of the true jalap.

Jalap has been ascertained by analysis to consist
of resin, extractive matter, starch, vegetable albumen,
woody fibre, and various salts. A substance has lately
)een obtained from jalap possessing powerful purga-
ivo properties, and which, from being considered its
active principle, has been denominated Jalapine.
The observations made in regard to it however, are
not as yet satisfactory.

The properties of jalap reside chiefly in the resin.
When administered in small doses, of ten or fifteen
grains, this medicine is an effectual, safe, and mild
purgative ; but when given in large doses it produces
griping, watery evacuations, and may even excite
inflammatory action. Camphor is one of the best
substances for preventing its griping effects. It is
frequently prescribed in combination with calomel
and cream of tartar. When mixed with two parts of
the latter salt, it constitutes the compound jalap
powder of the Edinburgh Pharmacopoeia.

The watery extract of jalap possesses the proper-
ties of the root in a weak degree. The resin, by
itself, produces distressing symptoms, without much
eii'eet in evacuating the bowels. Diluted alcohol, or
proof spirit, dissolves almost all the active ingredients
of jalap.

The root of Convolvulus pan.dural.us is used in the
United States as a substitute for jalap.

Convolvulus team-mania (scammony), is another
climbing species of bindweed, found in the Levant,
Syria, and Turkey, and growing abundantly on the
mountains between Aleppo and Latakia. The roots
of this plant are three or four feet long, and nine or
twelve inches in circumference, and when cut yield
a milky juice, which concretes, and forms the gum-
resin known in medicine by the name of scammony.
The following is the mode in which the gum-resin is
collected : — The earth being removed from the upper
part of the root about the month of June, an incision
is made obliquely across it, and the milky juice which
exudes is allowed to flow into a shell or cup placed
at the lower end of the cut. Afcer the vessel has
been left for twelve hours, it is removed, and the
concrete juice is taken out. Each root yields only a
few drachms. The produce of several routs is then
collected, and put into packages or drums, as they
are called, which weigh from 75 to 125 pounds. The
best scammony is brought from Aleppo. An inferior
sort is exported from Smyrna in the form of cakes,
like wax, packed in chests. This would appear to be
the produce of another plant, Pcriploca scammonium.

Scammony is frequently adulterated with sand,
ashes, and the juice of other plants, such as ci/nanclnim,
monspeliacum, &c. The Smyrna scammony is said
to be sometimes an entirely artificial compound, con-
taining no real scammony whatever.

Pure Aleppo scammony occurs in the form of
light, spongy, friable masses, having a heavy di--
a»reeable smell, a bitter acrid taste, and a blackish cr
dark grey colour. When broken, it exhibits a smooth
somewhat shining fracture, and when powdered is of
a light grey, or whitish colour. Scammony consists
of resin, gum, and extractive matter. It possesses
powerful purgative qualities, which reside in the
resin, of which it is chiefly composed. It is ad-
ministered in doses of five or ten grains, and is
frequently prescribed in combination with calomel,

136

CONVOLVULUS— COPPER

jalap, cream of tartar, and sulphate of potass. It is
sometimes triturated with sugar or almonds, and is
then said to be mild in its operation. It is often used
in cases of dropsy and worms.

Both scammony and jalap, when rubbed externally
oil the skin, produce purgative effects.

Convolvulus arvensis, small bindweed, is common in
corn-fields and by the sides of hedges in Britain. Its
flowers are small and rose-coloured, and it has a
white-jointed root, which runs deep into the ground,
and is difficult of extirpation. It twines round wheat
and other kinds of grain, and is a troublesome weed
in cultivated grounds. Its presence is said to indi-
cate in general a dry soil. Its juice is slightly
purgacive, and its blossoms give to water a deep
yellow colour, which is increased by the addition of
alum and alkaline substances.

Convolvulus, or Calystegia septum, great bindweed,
is another indigenous species, which is much larger
than the preceding, and produces showy white
flowers. The inspissated juice, in doses of twenty or
thirty grains, is said to be purgative.

Convolvulus, or Calystegia Soldanella, sea-side bind-
weed, is the only other British species. It is common
on sandy places by the sea-shore. Its root is long
and creeping, and its flowers few, large, and rose-
coloured.

Convolvulus batatas, skirrets of Peru, Spanish
potatoes, or the common sweet potato of Europe, is
a native of the East and West Indies and of China.
It was first brought to Spain from the West Indies,
and its root used to be imported into this country as
an article of food. Its root is the potato of Shak-
speare, and the writers of his day, at which time our
present potato (Solatium tuberosum) was scarcely
known in Europe. In tropical countries it is still
cultivated like the potato. Not only its tubers, but
also its young leaves and shoots, are boiled and
eaten. The root of Convolvulus edulis is also fre-
quently used as food.

The roots of Convolvulus Jloridus and scnparius
produce sneezing. The wood of the latter species,
which grows in the Canary Islands, is remarkable for
its fine rose-like odour. Convolvulus repens is em-
ployed as a pot-herb in the East Indies and China.
Convolvulus turpethum (turbith or turpetli), is a native
of the East Indies, and furnishes a root which has
been used medicinally as a cathartic. A resinous
matter is obtained from it. Convolvulus Malabaricus,
a native of the Malabar coast and Cochin-China, is
considered in India a valuable horse-medicine. The
genus Ipomcea consists of twining stove plants, which
are easily cultivated, and flower very readily. Up-
wards of one hundred species are described by
botanists. They are remarkable for the beauty of
their flowers, which, though they are individually
short-lived, yet they are succeeded so rapidly by
others, that there are few more showy ornaments of
the forests in warm countries, or of stoves in our own.
Ipomcea tuberosa is a plant of great beauty and frag-
rance. In Jamaica it is evergreen. It is thickly
covered with leaves and large flowers, and is a
beautiful ornament of arbours. It yields a milky
juice, which, when concrete, resembles scanimony.
Ipomcea inamoclit is a beautiful annual. Its root is
used as a sternutatory.

Cwtcuta — dodder, a genus of leafless plants, which,
after germinating in the ground and deriving nourish-
ment from it, become parasitical, and attach them-

selves to some plants in the neighbourhood. Tiiei'r
stalks twine round these plants, contrary to the sun's
apparent motion, or from right to left, sending out
from their inner sides little papillae or tubercles,
which attach themselves to the bark of the supporting
plant, and finally become firmly and intimately united
with it. They then derive their support and nourish-
ment from the plant to which they become attached.
Cuscuta Europeea, great dodder, is found in Britain
on nettles, flax, &c., and produces flowers of a pale
yellowish rose-colour. Cuscuta epithymam, lesser
dodder, another British species, is found on furze,
heath, and thyme. It is distinguished from the pro-
ceding species by having a scale at the base of each
stamen.

CONVOLVULUS (Linnaeus), is the very sig-
nificant generic name of all that family of plants called
bindweed. They belong to the fifth class and first
order of Linnaeus, and, as we have already stated in
the previous article, give a title to an order in the
natural system. This genus is spread over every part
of the known world, and appears in every degree of
bulk and beauty, and of every grade as to duration ;
some are annuals which embellish our flower borders
for a few months.and then disappear; somearc biennials,
but the great majority are perennials. They are nearly
all either creepers, twiners, or climbers ; many are trou-
blesome weeds, though the flowers of all are »no,wy.
They are all easy of cultivation, and thrive in almost
any kind of soil. This genus, though still very nume-
rous, was formerly much more so, many of the species
having been separated, and added to the two con-
•enerous genera of Ipomcea and Calyttegia,

CONYZA (Linnaeus). A genus of shrubs and
herbaceous plants found in many and distant parts of
;he world, and known by the common name of flea-
sane. Linnsean class and order Syngenesia supcrflua,
and natural order Composite. Generic character :
anthodium scaly ; receptacle naked ; florets of the
ray trifid, or somewhat two-lipped. The fleabane is
a British biennial of no great beauty ; the foreign
are mostly of like character. Some of the shrubby
species are kept in greenhouses, where they are easily
increased by cuttings treated in the usual way.

COOKIA (Sonnerat). A genus of fruit tree indi-
genous to China and the neighbouring countries, and
called by the natives wampee. Linnaean class and
order Decandria monogynia, and natural order Auran-
tiacetE. Generic characters : calyx in five parts ;
petals five, white, and villous ; stamens filaments
linear; anthers roundish, apple imperfectly two-celled,
one seed in each. The tree has been long in our
collections, and grows well in a large pot, in loamy
soil. From what we have experienced of other
Chinese plants, such as the tea-plant, camellia, and
others, it may be expected that the wampee may
bear our winters if planted against a south wall, and
be allowed sufficient protection against frost.
COOT. See FULICA.

COPPER. The mineralised ores of this metal
are very numerous, and it is found in a native state
in many parts of the world. Native copper occurs
in a variety of forms, massive, dendritic, granular,
and crystallised in cubes, octohedra, &c. This mine-
ral is accompanied by several other substances, as
the ores of zinc, and occasionally of lead ; sometimes
of tin, silver, and arsenic, with quartz and fluate of
lime, and calcareous spar in abundance. It is met
with in Cornwall, the Hartz, Saxony, Sweden, and

COPRIS— CORIARIE.E.

18?

in America, but the native coppers of Japan and
15razil are usually alloyed by gold. It is commonly
accompanied by quartz, heavy spar, and calcareous
spar, except in Cornwall. Mineralised by a certain
proportion of oxygen, it forms a beautiful mineral,
called the red oxide of copper, which assumes a great
variety of forms, all of which may be traced into the
regular octahedra ; but with an increased proportion
of oxygen, it assumes a black hue, and is mostly
pulverulent.

The foliated and compact red copper ore occurs in
different veins in the mine of Huel Gorland, in Corn-
wall. All the veins traverse granite, and three of
them, viz. the North Lode, the Great Gossan Lode,
and the Muttrel Lode, afford the red copper ore.
In the North Lode it is associated with fluor spar.
In the Great Gossan Lode it occurs in considerable
quantity, and is occasionally intermixed with native
copper ; higher up in the same vein there is abun-
dance of fluor spar, sometimes intermixed with
arsenical pyrites, and copper pyrites. In the Muttrel
Lode the copper ore is occasionally accompanied with
'•opper glance, or vitreous copper ore, black oxide of
copper, olivenite, arsenical pyrites, quartz, and fluor
spar. It is also found in several other mines. Small
portions of this ore occurs, along with native copper,
in the trap-rocks of Nalsoe, one of the Faroe Islands :
also in the mine of Aardal in Norway, and Garpa in
East Gothland, in Sweden. It occurs but sparingly,
and along with native copper, in the Kemmclsberg, in
the Hartz ; near Freyberg, along with native copper,
ochry-brown iron ore, lamellar, heavy spar, and quartz.
In Asia this ore of copper occurs in the Uralian chain
of mountains, and also in the mines of Kolywan. In
America it is principally found in Chili and Peru.
Both the blue and green carbonate of copper are
found in a native state, the latter under the name ot
MALACHITE, which see.

COPRIS (Geoffroy). A very extensive genus ol
coleopterous insects belong to the section Pentamera
and sub-section Lamctticornes, and family Scarabidae
having the body large and thick ; the antenna? termi-
nated by a three-jointed fan-like club ; the head anc
thorax often armed with powerful horns, especially
ia the males j the scutellum appears entirely wantin
and the four posterior tibia; arc strongly dilated anc
obliquely truncate at the extremity. The Coun
De Jean enumerates eighty-four species of this genus
which are for the most part inhabitants of the warme
quarters of the globe, especially frequenting Africs
and the East Indies, where they are important agents
in the economy of nature, the eggs being buried in
the excrement of various animals, within which the
larvae feed and the beetles are perfected. The species
which we have figured in our plate of beetles, from
the collection of the Rev. F. W. Hope, is the Copris
isidis of Savigny, one of the largest insects in the
genus, of a black colour (as indeed are all the species'
with reddish hairs in front of the thorax ; it is fron
Egypt. There is only one British species, the Scara
bains tunaris of Linnaeus (the Scarabasm emarginatu
of Fabricius being merely the female). It is of ;
black colour, with the single upright horn in th
middle of the head in the male. It is nearly an inch
long, and may be occasionally found emerging frorr
holes made in the ground beneath cow-dung, am
taking flight towards sunset.

CORALLIFERA, a numerous order of marine
animals belonging to the class POLYPI, which see.

CORDIACEyE. A natural order of dicoty.e-
lonous plants, containing six or eight genera, and
ipwards of fifty species. It is closely allied to
BoraginecE, and by many authors is looked upon as
a section of that order. It is distinguished, however,
)y its general habit, its plaited cotyledons and dicho-
omous style. It bears an affinity also to Convolvu-
lacece, from which it differs in its inverted embryo and
drupaceous fruit.

The essential characters of the order are : calyx
nferior, five-toothed : corolla monopetalous, with the
imb in five divisions ; stamens alternate with the
segments of the corolla, out of which they arise ;
ovary superior, four celled, with a pendulous ovule in
:ach cell ; fruit a four-celled drupe ; embryo inverted ;
:otyledons plaited or shrivelled longitudinally ; seeds
without albumen.

The plants belonging to the order are trees with
panicled, bracteate flowers, and alternate rough leaves
without stipules. They are found in tropical regions
in both hemispheres.

They generally yield emollient and mucilaginous
fruit, but little is known in regard to their properties.

The chief genera of the order are : Cordia, Varronia,
Gcraschanthus, Ccrdana, Cordiopsis, and Mffnmsi

Cordia mi/xa is a large tree, growing in the East
Indies, and yielding a yellow-coloured fruit the size of
a cherry, which is eaten by the natives. The bark of
the tree is tonic, and is used in Java in cases of fever.
Its wood is tough and solid, and is employed to pro-
cure fire by friction. The leaves are bruised with
those of Dxiura mctcl, and applied to the forehead in
headach. A kind of glue is prepared from the fruit.

Cordia aebestcnn is a very ornamental tree, on
account of its large tubular scarlet flowers. Its wood
is odoriferous when burnt ; a small bit of it put on a
pan of heated coals will perfume a whole house.
From the juice of the leaves, with that of a species of
fig, the inhabitants of Otaheite procure a fine red
colour, with which they dye their clothes. The fruit
of this and the last-mentioned species are commonly
known by the name of sebesten plums. These are
occasionally brought to Europe in a dried state, and
their pulp is said to act as a laxative.

Cordia collococca is called in India clammy cherry
or Turkey berry tree. Its leaves are used in that
country to feed poultry.

CORIARIEJS. A natural order of dicotyle-
donous plants, containing only one known genus and
seven species. It is allied to Ochnaceee, but differs in.
having no style, and in its stigmata being long, linear
and distinct. It also resembles Rutacea; the rue
family, and has some affinity with Connaraccce. The-
essential characters of the order are : flowers either
hermaphrodite, monoecious or dioecious ; calyx five
partite ; petals five, fleshy, with an elevated keel in
the inside ; stamens ten, of which five arise between
the lobes of the calyx and angles of the ovary, and
other five between the petals and the furrows of the
ovary ; filaments thread like ; anthers oblong, two-
celled ; ovary on a fleshy disc, five-angled and five-
celled ; no style ; five long awl-shaped stigmas ; five
carpels which are one-seeded, and close together
when ripe ; seed pendulous, without albumen ; embryo
straight ; radicle superior ; cotyledons fleshy.

The plants belonging to this order are : shrubs
with opposite square branches, opposite entire leaves,
scaly buds, and terminal racemes, which arc leafy at
the base. They are found in various parts of the

138

CORMORANT.

world ; in the south of Europe, in Peru, New Zealand,
and Mexico.

Coriaria is the only genus of the order.

Coriaria myrtifolia grows in hedges, and thickest in
the southern parts of Europe and in the north of
Africa. Its leaves and young branches are astringent,
and are used in dyeing black and in tanning. The
plant yields a poisonous fruit, which has proved fatal
on some occasions. Several soldiers of the French
army, in Catalonia, were stupefied by eating it, and
some died from its effects.

its leaves are said to be sometimes mixed with
those of senna. According to M. Guibourt, this
adulteration is detected by the infusion with hot
water, having a pale yellow colour and astringent
taste, by a white precipitate being thrown down by
gelatin, a blue by sulphate of iron, a black by nitrate
of silver and nitro-muriate of gold, and a gelatinous
compound by caustic potass,

CORMORANT (Phalacrocorax], a genus of sea-
birds belonging to the family of Totipalma:, or those
which have the hind toe included in the web of the
foot, as well as the three front ones. The structure
and action of a foot of this kind will be found noticed
in the article BIRD ; so that we need not repeat it
here. In their general characters, this genus is
nearly allied to the pelicans, and were included in the
same genus by Linnaeus and his followers ; but Cuvier
has very properly separated them, as they are so dif-
ferent both in structure and in their general economy,
that the same description will not apply to them, and
when that is the case there ought always to be a
separation of genera.

Cormorants are sometimes called sea ravens, or sea
crows, and they have nearly the same voracity as the
land ravens, though their prey and manner of catch-
ing it are both very different. Cormorants generally
fish near the shores, and are more frequently on the
wing over the water than at rest upon the rocks.
When they pursue their prey in the sea, they do not
hesitate in coming near inhabited places ; but when
they fish in the fresh waters they choose more lonely
haunts. They catch their prey, which consists wholly
or chiefly of fish, by the middle with the bill ; and as
they cannot easily swallow it from this position, or in-
deed if it is presented to the gullet in any other way
than head foremost, they throw it into the air and
seize it with great dexterity as it falls. All birds
which fish along the surface of the water, and indeed
all animals which swallow their prey without masti-
cating or dividing it with the teeth, are dexterous at
this mode of turning a fish.

This is one of the most remarkable instances of
adaptation with which we meet in nature, and
ought to teach us to look for the intelligence "of
the creature somewhere else than in the creature
itself, is the fact that the action performed in this
perfect manner by the organised animal is not the
result of the organisation, neither is the organisation
the result of the action. A cormorant does not
catch fish by dashing into the water, and following
them to a greater or less depth, as may be neces-
sary, because its feet, its wings, its bill, and all the
other parts of its organisation are fitted for such pur-
poses, any more than it throws the fish up into the air,
because it has a knowledge that the fish will come
down in a more manageable posture for swallowing
than that in which it is seized by the bill. As little
can we say that the bill has or can have any controul

over what its organisation shall be, for the organisa-
tion precedes the action in the order of nature. The
instinct follows the race, and is true to it ; which we
find is not the case cilher in knowledge or in action
with us. Therefore, when we examine the UK in-
curious functions which are performed by the low- r
animals (as we term them), we meet with far morn
striking evidences of Almighty wisdom ami power
than we do in the case of human conduct. There arc-
no productions which assist us more in the forming of
these general views than those birds which seek their
food in the waters ; and as the cormorants find their
food by skill and energy, not by craft, there are few
sea birds better worthy our attention.

The characters of the genus are as follows : — The
bill long, or of mean length, compressed, rounded in
the culrnen, straight for the greater part of its length,
but much hooked at the tip of the upper mandible,
and having the extremity of the lower one truncated,
so as to act against the hook. The base of the bill
has a small cere, and the naked skin is continued on
the throat, and partially also on the face. The nos-
trils are at the brow of the bill, in the form of longi-
tudinal slits, and barely visible. The legs are stout,
the tarsi short, and rather inclined toward ends other.
The hind toes are turned inward, and included in the
web of the feet ; the outer toe is the longest and
strongest in the foot ; the claws are not large for the
size of the foot,and that on the middle tre i< looihed
on the edge. The wings ate of rather more thctn mean
length, and they arc rather pointed, the second quill
being the longest. They are not, however, formed
for whirling and turning rapidly in the air ; and the
rounded extremity of the tail further shows, that
whirling in the air is not one of the principal actions
of the bird. There are several species : —

P. carbo, the common cormorant, or great cormo-
rant. This species is common on the British shores,
and in some places it moves inland to the lakes which
are near the sea, or to the larger rivers, which have
long tideways. In these last situations, it is often

CORMORANT.

found standing or nestling on trees; but as a sea-bird,
its place of repose and nestling is the rocks.

This is a large bird: three feet in length, nearly
five feet in the extent of the wings, and weighing as
much as seven pounds ; but this must be considered
as the dimensions of a lartre specimen, and the sizes
are apt to vary. Length of the bill about five inches,
and of a dusky colour for the greater part of its length,
but with the cere yellow ; tarsi, toes, and webs sooty
black ; irides bright green. The plumage varies a
little with the season. General colour, greenish black,
with black margins to the feathers on the back, and
a line of ash colour on the scapulars. In the breeding
season, the neck and thighs are mottled with small
white feathers, and there is a crest of long green
feathers on the back of the head. In winter these
feathers fall oft', and the general tint of the upper part
becomes rusty. There is also a white gorget on the
neck, which becomes much duller in the colour during
winter.

Though these birds are generally found in remote
and inaccessible places for their nests, such as high
trees and detached rocks, they are social with each
other, and many nests are often found in the near
vicinity of each other. The eggs are three or four in
number, of about two ounces in weight, greenish white,
and with the surface of the shell rather rough.

Though cormorants are industrious and successful
fishers, and as such thin the waters of their finny in-
habitants to a considerable extent, yet they pursue
their fishing with peace and good order, and never
interfere with or annoy any other birds. It can be
tamed very readily ; and a detailed account of one in
a domesticated state may be found in Montagu's
Ornithological Dictionary.

The common cormorant extends to the very coldest
parts of the northern hemisphere, being found in
Greenland. Wherever, indeed, there is an open sea,
and high rocks to afford the resting place which the
birds most affect, there is never any want of cormo-
rants, though in such places they are forced to shift
their quarters with the season. They are driven
not merely by being frozen out, but by the unusual
departure from the coast of those fish on which they
feed ; so that, if the movements of cormorants and
other fishing birds were properly attended to.it would
throw very considerable light, not only on the natural
history of the inhabitants of the waters, but on the
seasons at which fishing for the different kinds of the
finny race can be carried on with the greatest success,
and where every species should be sought for, when
it disappears from any particular spot. All oviparous
fishes, and they comprise the kinds which are most
valuable to man as food, spawn on the banks or
shores, or in the estuaries of rivers ; and the young
remain for a considerable time near the shore before
they betake themselves to the deep water. Much of
the spawn is detached and brought to the surface, or
washed to the water line on the shore, where it forms
a very considerable part of the food of terns and other
skimming birds, and also of those birds which pick up
their food, by running along the sands. Therefore,
we find these birds on the shore, and in the full ac-
tivity of breeding and nest building where the spawn
is deposited. Cormorants and other fishing birds come
later, after the fry have attained a considerable size,
and their breeding time comes on when the numbers
and size of the young fish on the coast are a maxi-
mum as taken together. When the spawn is gone,

and the young fishes have attained considerable size,
the skimrning birds which, by this time, have reared
their broods, find it necessary to disperse themselves
over the ocean. The fishing birds, properly so
called, have then the shores in a great measure to
themselves, arid, as the weather suits, they may be
seen driving about with great activity. But their
time for dispersing comes in the end, and they scatter
more widely along the shores than the skimmers, as
they are larger birds, and individually consume more
food ; and it is on such occasions as this that the
cormorants, which are perhaps the most voracious of
the whole, betake themselves to the fresh waters,
though, where these waters are large, and abound
with fish, cormorants sometimes choose their breeding
places on the trees near such waters, in the manner
that has been described already. When they nestle
on the rocks, or even when on trees, they do not, as
is the case with many other birds, return to the same
rocks, but shift about from one to another.

When they are not employed in fishing, and espe-
cially when they have fished to the full expansion of
their wide and swelling stomachs, they sit down in a
state of very dismal repose, and at other times they
may be seen by dozens together, drying themselves
on the rocks, with their wings spread out as flat and
as motionless as if they were dead carcases which had
been placed there by human art.

As food, the cormorant, though a large bird, is of
little or no value ; the smell of it is very rank and
offensive, and the flesh, dressed in any of the common
ways, would suffice to turn the stomach of a Green-
lander or an Esquimaux. But, in some of the northern
islands, the young are eaten, and even relished as a
sort of dainty, after having been buried for twenty-
four hours in the earth, which is said to remove the
bad flavour of the flesh, and also to make it tender.
Soup made of them in this manner is said to taste
soniel/ting like hare-soup ; but we should be a little
sceptical of the fact, though good soup may be made
with ant/ thing in it as one ingredient, which is not of
so positively offensive a nature as to spoil the rest.

When regal amusements consisted more of field
sports than they do in these days, there was an office
of the royal household of England, known by the
style and title of " Master of the King's Cormorant.*;.''
Whether such an office may not still exist, and be
exercised under another name, is not a point which
writers on natural history are called upon to settle ;
but it is certain that, in those comparatively rude and
primitive times, cormorants were trained to catch
fish, and prevented from swallowing what they did
catch by a tight collar of leather put round the neck.
They were not difficult to train, were expert in then
labour, and docile and easily managed.

P. graculiis (ihc Shag, smaller cormorant, or smaller
sea-crow). This species is much smaller than the
former, and it is also more lightly made, and more
active, found at more places of the coast, and more
constantly there. The action of the shag upon the
water, on a fine breezy day, when the smaller fishes
are near the surface, is very amusing, and even
graceful. It floats with wonderful buoyancy in the
air, twitches down to the water with the rapidity of
lightning, and sometimes passes clean through the
unbroken surge, and appears upon the wing on the
other side.

The shag is subject to considerable varieties in
size ; and, as the young are without the crest, and

140

CORNER— CORVUS.

the old ones lose it in winter, we generally find the
shag1 and the crested shag described in the books as
different species. There is, however, every proba-
bility that they are the same.

Besides size and colour, the most remarkable
difference between the shag and the cormorant
consists in the number of feathers in the tail, which
are only twelve in the shag, and fourteen in the
cormorant. The tail of the shag is also larger,
more wedge-shaped in the general outline of the
end ; it is also more graduated (ctugee\ that is, the
ends of the feathers appear like a succession of steps,
as they do in the tail of the magpie. The size, as we
have said, varies, but the longest of them that have
been measured is about two feet six inches in length,
three feet eight inches in extent of wing, and weighs
nearly four pounds. The shag is very abundant in
the regions of the arctic circles, and* is a bird of
passage in the eastern countries of Europe. It has
much the appearance and manners of the preceding,
although the two species are not observed to consort.
But they are alike greedy and voracious, and after
having overgorged themselves, they are often found
on shore in a drowsy and torpid state ; but when the
torpor is over, they appear again on the water, where
they are extremely alert, and not easily shot, as they
dive the moment that they perceive the flash of a gun,
and take care afterwards to keep out of its reach. In
swimming they carry their head very erect, while the
body seems nearly submerged. From the circum-
stance of their feathers being not quite impervious to
water, they do not remain on that element very long
at a time, but are frequently seen flying about, or
sitting on the shore, flapping the moisture from their
wings, or keeping them for some time expanded, to
dry in the sun and the wind. They nestle in the
clifts of rocks, or in trees, the female laying two or
three whitish eggs, much elongated, and of nearly
equal dimensions at both ends

P. Sinensis (the Chinese Cormorant). The tail of
this species consists of twelve feathers, like that of
the shag, and it is described as being intermediate
between that bird and the common cormorant. It is
blackish brown on the upper part, whitish, and
spotted with brown, beneath, and the throat white.
The irides are blue, the bill yellow, and the feet
blackish. This is the Leut-ze of the Chinese, who
instruct it in the art of supplying its owner with fish.
On a large lake, Sir George Staunton and his party
saw thousands of small boats and rafts, on each of
which were ten or a dozen of these birds, which, at a
signal from the owner, plunged into the water, and
returned with fish of a large size. They appeared to
be so well trained, that it did not require either ring
or cord about their throats to prevent them from
swallowing any portion of their prey, except what the
master was pleased to return to them for encourage-
ment and food.

There are many species or varieties of cormorants
in different parts of the world, especially in the south,
but their habits are everywhere nearly the same.

CORNER— The cornel family. "A natural order
of dicotyledonous plants, containing five genera and
twenty-six known species. It is closely allied to
CaprifoliaceeE, and is by many botanists considered as
belonging to one of the sections of that order. It
differs, however, in its valvate aestivation, the number
of its stamens, its single style, its drupaceous fruit, and
its fleshy albumen. By the same characters it is dis-

tinguished from the order IlamamclidctE, to which
also it bears an affinity.

Its essential characters are : tube of the calyx
adnate with the ovary, limb four-lobed ; petals four,
oblong, broad at the base, inserted on the top of the
tube of the calyx, regular, with a valvate aestivation ;
stamens four, inserted along with the petals, and
alternate with them ; anthers ovato-oblong, two-celled ;
style filiform ; stigma simple ; drupe baccate, crowned
with the limb of the calyx ; seed pendulous and soli-
tary ; albumen fleshy.

The plants belonging to the order arc : trees or
shrubs, rarely herbs, with opposite, entire or toothed
leaves, and capitate, umbellate, or corymbose flowers.
They are found both in the cold and warm regions of
Europe, Asia, and America.

The genera of the order are : Cornm, Aucuba, &c.

Cornux sanguined, wild cornel tree, dogwood, grows
commonly in Europe and in the northern parts of
Asia. It is likewise found native in Britain. It
bears greenish white flowers having an unpleasant
smell. Its berries arc of a dark purple colour, and
like every other part of the plant are very bitter.
An oil has been obtained from them which has been
used for lamps. The bark of the older branches is
dark-red, and the leaves assume this colour before
they fall. The wood is hard, and makes good mill-
cogs, bobbins for lace, tooth-picks, &c. It also
furnishes excellent charcoal which is used in the pre-
paration of gunpowder.

Cornus florida, American or Virginian dogwood,
generally attains the height of twenty feet, with a
diameter of four or five inches. The flowers arc
small, of a yellowish colour, and are surrounded by a
large involucre, composed of four white floral leaves.
This involucre constitutes all the beauty of the
flowers. The wood of the tree is hard, compact ami
heavy, and is susceptible of a fine polish. It is used
by carpenters. The inner bark of this arid another
species, Cornus sericea, is bitter, and is often used in
North America as a tonic. In the United States,
these barks are frequently prescribed for the cure of
intermittent fevers. The young branches of the
former species, when stripped of their bark, and
rubbed with their ends against the teeth, render
them extremely white. A good scarlet colour is
obtained from the bark of the more fibrous roots.

Cornvs Succica, dwarf-cornel, is found in Europe,
the northern regions of Asia, Kamtschatka, Greenland,
Lapland, and North America. It in also met with
abundantly in mountainous pastures in Scotland and
the North of England. It is a herbaceous plant,
from four to six inches high, bearing an umbel of
dark purple flowers. Its fruit has a red colour and a
sweetish taste, and is used in the Highlands to create
an appetite. The other genera of this order do not
require to be particularly noticed.

CORVUS (Crow, or perhaps, in the more ex-
tended sense, Corvido!, the crow family), a very
numerous, widely extended, and well-known tribe of
birds, belonging to Cuvier's conirostral division of
Passeres, and in the natural classification, or that
which is founded upon the general habit in feeding,
and not the mere structure of the feeding apparatus,
to the order of Onimvora, or birds which are indis-
criminate in their food, subsisting upon animal or
vegetable matter, recent or putrid, according to
circumstances, and thus being fitted for inhabiting
almost every latitude on the face of the earth.

C O R V U S.

MI

The general characters are : the bill short, more
or less compressed or flattened on the sides, sharp
and trenchant in the cutting edges, slightly curved
towards the point, stout in its whole structure, and,
though not a tearing instrument, like the beaks of
birds of prey, generally very efficient both as a
thrusting and a cutting one ; the nostrils are at the
base of the bill, of an oval form, open, and defended
by bristly hairs or stiff feathers, which project a
little way forward over the base of the bill ; the feet
have four toes, three directed to the front, the middle
one shorter than the tarsus, the whole three divided
to their base*, and one toe behind. The tarsi and
toes are in general stout, and in some of the species
they are provided with powerful claws, which are
crooked, and serve for seizing and wounding their j
prey. The wings are in general long and pointed;
the second and third quills are, however, shorter than
the fourth one, so that the wings are not of that
form which is best adapted for turning readily in the
air, and preying on the wing in that element.

Cuvier, following the general organisation, both
external and internal, was induced to include in the
crow family three races of birds, the crows properly
so called, the birds of paradise, and the rollers.
Some account of the second of these will be found
in the article BIRD OF PARADISE, and we shall give
some notice of the last in the article ROLLER ; so
that the present article will be restricted to the crows
properly so called, though strict systematists divide
them into several genera, more certainly than are
required for popular services, and probably more than
strict science would warrant.

There is no question that Cuvier's union of the
three races which have been mentioned into one
group is warranted by the general organisation ; and
it is equally true, that those who form arrangements
upon external differences, without any regard whether
these differences go farther than the mere surface or
not, may make many subdivisions of a race so
numerous, so widely distributed, and subjected to so
many differences of food and climate as the crows
unquestionably are. But, if we are to view the pro-
ductions of nature in a popular sense, that is, in that
sense in which they are calculated, with the least
labour on our part, to throw light upon the natural
usefulness of each other, we must adopt something
like a middle course, so as neither to group too
largely, nor to subdivide too minutely. Now, when
we look at the three great divisions of which Cuvier
forms the group, we find that each of them has, as it
were, a different place in nature, is regulated by, or
under, the controul ot circumstances different from
those which regulate the others, although we cannot
always say distinctly what those circumstances are,
or how they operate.

We find, however, that the birds of paradise are
confined to a very peculiar situation on the globe,
namely, the isles to the south-east of Asia, which have
their climate, their seasons, and the greater part of
their natural productions, peculiar to themselves, and
not to be met with in any other part of the world.
The rollers are not so confined or peculiar in their
geographical distribution, but still they are found
only in temperate latitudes, and in places which are
well wooded and rich. Neither of them is, therefore,
a race of birds which we can take along with us in
our general tour of the world, or rather, which we do
not need to take along with us, as in one or another

of their species we find them in every clime \vhich we
can visit. They are in the extreme north, in the
middle latitudes, and also in the extreme south, and
they are thus generally distributed always in propor-
tion as they are more decidedly typical of the order.
It is possible for a European to go where he can claim
acquaintance with hardly one vegetable production,
with few mammalia, few birds, and few fishes, and
even where his own species seems, in appearance, in
language, and in manners, more strange to him than
any other inhabitant of the earth, even where the
greater part are comparatively new. But a crow,
and especially a raven, is instantly recognised as an
acquaintance wherever it is met with, so that its
appearance puts man in mind of his home, even
though it is at the Antipodes ; and, if there were no
other charm about the birds than this universal
memory which they afford, it would be sufficient to
recommend them to our grateful notice and our
careful study.

Generally speaking, the genus Corvus are all sober,
and even sombre in their attire, but there are a few
exceptions ; and even in the most dull garbed ones
there is a beautiful compactness in the plumage.
Their feathers appear to be better tempered to the
elements than those of almost any birds, and thus
they are enabled to keep very constantly stirring and
beating about on the wing ; so that, though many of
them are remarkably social in their habits, firmly
attached to the same places, and returners to their
habitual dwellings every night, yet, taking them
altogether, they range more in search of their food
than almost any other birds ; and, as they are more
generally distributed over the globe than most birds,
so they are more spread over individual countries,
notwithstanding that there is a certain kind of
locality which each species appears to prefer to
every other.

It is not a very easy matter to judge of the
relative degrees of what we call sagacity or wisdom
in birds, neither is it very easy to speak upon the
subject without some chance of falling into error,
because the inexperienced animal is just about as
wise as the experienced one, and thus their wisdom,
or whatever else we may call it, has a different
origin, and is of a different nature, from that which is
accounted wisdom in us. But still we cannot help
comparing the degrees of this animal's sagacity as
they display themselves in different animals ; and it
is not the less valuable to make these comparisons,
that we do not know the nature and origin of that
which we thus compare. The fact is, that this
comparison of one degree with another, without any
primary standard, is far more general than its op-
posite. When we say degrees of heat, of light, of
moisture, of growth, or even of magnitude, we do not
speak in terms of an absolute standard — we merely
mention observed differences ; and if we do this in
the case of mere physical existence and its attributes,
we cannot reasonably hope to be better informed,
and more at home, when not merely life, but the
degree of sagacity connected with life, is the subject
of inquiry. Estimating them in this way, we may
say, with no small degree of confidence, that the
crow tribe are the most intelligent of birds ; and
when we consider that they are, in one or other of
their species, cast upon the world generally for their
means of support, instead of being confined to those
places where a peculiar food for them is produced, we

14-2

C O R V U S.

illicit expect them to be possessed of this kind of
sagacity.

Great acutencss of senses, and what, as compared
with birds which are made fur one place only, we
may consider as remarkable habits of attention and
observation, are necessary for this purpose ; and
accordingly, we find that these are possessed to an
extent of which we have very few instances in birds,
and of which it is not very easy for us sometimes to
discover the nse. There is certainly a perception of
brilliancy of colour in these birds, and they make an
election between substance and substance upon this
principle alone, for which it is difficult to account
upon any notion that we have of the supplying of
their animal wants. Thus, for instance, if there are
two little pieces of potter's ware, of the same size,
shape, and consistency, and if the one side of them,
as is often the case in coarse brown ware, be white
and glazed, and the other not, if they are left in a
magpie's way, one with the glazed side upward, and
the other with the unglazed, the chance is, that the
magpie will carry off the glazed and shining one, but
certainly no: the other; so also, if a shilling and a
halfpenny are left in the way of the same bird, the
shilling will likely be carried off, and the halfpenny left.
If we were to argue this last election upon the principle
of experience, or cause and effect, as those principles
regulate our conduct, we should be apt to conclude
that the magpie is not only fond of money, but a
judge of the value of it. This cannot, however, be
the case, inasmuch as, in times of her greatest famine,
the magpie never thinks of fetching from her store of
cash, or other valuables, wherewithal to purchase
food, but beats the bushes with the same assiduity as
if her coffers were empty.

The fact is, that these birds have a very strong habit
of what we must call not merely observation, but
curiosity in observation — a means, though it is
impossible for us to say in what it consists of, judging
of the appearance of things, and selecting one in
preference to another on account of appearance only,
and without any reference to intermediate usefulness
in the supplying of any present want. Wild or tame,
we find that animals of this family are always prying
about, and that they not only perceive what is
immediately beside them, but have no inconsiderable
degree of knowledge of what is going on in the world
around them ; and though this vigilance renders
them very wary of real danger, and very expert in
the avoiding of it, it gives them a degree of self-
possession much greater than that of most birds, and
this seems to be one of the principal grounds upon
which the whole race are so much more easily tamed,
than from their cautious and wary dispositions we
might be led to expect. In the case of most birds we
require arts of taming, and in many the birds cannot
be kept without the confinement of cages ; but in the
case of almost any species of this genus, we have
only to feed them well, and they not only feel at
home, but tender us their services in doing what they
can to drive off other intruders.

Another remarkable quality of this, and some of
the allied genera, is the great readiness with which
they can be made to articulate, that is, to imitate
the sounds of the human voice. This is so well
known, that many people keep the birds in con-
sequence of the habit they have acquired of repeating
words ; and a foolish piece of ignorance is sometimes
productive of a good deal of crueltv in this particular

case. It is a vulgar belief, that they speak more
plainly when their tongues are split, and much pain
and annoyance is often occasioned to them by the
performing of this operation. Now, there cannot be
a piece of more gratuitous cruelty ; for every one
who knows anything about the structure of birds is
perfecily aware that their tongues have nothing to do
in the production or the modulation of those sounds
which they utter, whether natural or acquired. The
organ of voice in birds is at the bronchial end of the
windpipe, and whatever of articulation they give
forth is generated there, though the wind-pipe and
mouth may act as a sort of trumpet in increasing
the volume of sound, or otherwise changing the pitch
of it.

Birds of this genus acquire a very considerable de-
gree of interest, when we come to reflect on the part
of their character now stated ; and also when we lake
their usefulness into the account. Some of them at
some seasons commit depredations upon the property
of man, arid destroy numbers of the eggs and young
of bird?, and aiso of the young of some matumalia,
upon which man sets a value; but these arc nothing
to the good which they do in return ; and it is doubt-
ful wliethtM1, without the labours of birds of this genus,
any country could lie profitably cultivated, not only
in so far as concerns plants which are reared for the
sake of their seeds or grains, but also as concerns the
meadows which are to be grazed. In some districts
of Britain it has been felt by experience that the ex-
termination of rooks is any thing but a prudent mea-
sure ; and, although in many districts a price is set
upon the head of the raven, it is questionable whether
there be much more wisdom in that. The raven is,
in a state of nature, one of the most retiring of the
genus, because his habits arc different from those of
many of the rest ; and, therefore, as is the case with
the more powerful and predatory creatures of all
classes, the raven retires naturally from those places
where he is not immediately wanted. In the rich
agricultural districts, and the wholesome and abun-
dant sheep-walks, where all the stock is in good condi-
tion and free from disease, the raven levies no contri-
bution, except upon such members of wild nature as
do not fully participate in the benefit of man's culti-
vation, and, indeed, he seldom makes his appearance
at all. It is generally said, in places where ravens
are abundant, and where their manners should be
best known, that among domestic animals, even in
their young and helpless state, the raven scents no-
thing but disease. Now, it is well-known that in
countries which are poor, badly cultivated, and sub-
ject to great variations of winter weather and winter
feeding for domestic animals, those animals are not
only liable to become diseased in the spring mom Is,
but many of their diseases very speedily infect the
rest, till mortality becomes very general. These dis-
eases, when they come to the infectious stage, are
generally diseases of the alimentary canal, and before
they come to this stage, the muscular strength is gene-
rally so far subdued that if they are out of doors at
pasture, the diseased ones are not able to accompany
the healthy, or even to rise up when they have lain
down. It is in this stage that both sheep and cattle
in exposed situations become ravens' food ; and, in-
deed, in which they attract the notice of these birds ;
and when they attack calves or lambs, it will gene-
rally be found to be those that have been dropped by
weakly mothers which are incapable of rearing them.

C O R V U S.

143

Thus, it will be found upon examination, that in most
cases where there is a raven's portion, and a raven to
take it, there is more advantage to what remains in its
being so taken, than if it were left. We might easily
go over the whole list of these Corcidte, of which the
habits are known with any degree of certainty, and
show in a similar manner that, in a natural point of
view, and even in reference to man's artificial modes
of culture, they all do good, and not evil ; but the
limits within which we must confine this part of the
subject, forbid us from saying any more, however in-
teresting it might be to follow up the details. We
shall, therefore, only farther mention the leading cha-
racters of a few of the principal species, taking those
first which are best known in our own country, and
commencing with the more powerful ones.

Connts corax (the raven) is the largest and most
powerful of all the species, measuring fully two feet
in length, at least four feet in the stretch of the wings,
and having the tail very firmly feathered, and equal
in length to half the body. The plumage over the
whole body is black, but glossed with blue reflections,
which in certain lights give a very peculiar colour,
which is known by the name of raven-grey ; and in
the extreme north the tint is apt to become paler
than it is in warmer climates, and sometimes occasions
the description of the bird as two species, whereas all
over the world it appears to be the same, without any
thing that can be regarded even as a variety.

The raven lives in the wilds rather than in the
woods, though it nestles in the latter, and builds at a
very considerable elevation ; and even on the ground,
when it does not find other places which are better
suited to its habits. When it has a proper choice,
however, it prefers the ledges and clefts of rocks, not
so high up. or in general in so exposed situations as
those in which the eagle builds her eyrie, but rather
on the margin of the cultivated grounds, or at all
events in places where the vicinity affords plenty of
food for it and iis brood, which are very clamorous
for their meals, and very voracious in the devouring
of them. The gape of a young raven is very ample.
The nest is funned externally of sticks, and lined with
various matter?, such as wool or hair. The eggs vary
in number, rarely exceeding five, and being very often
not more than two. They are of a sort of oil-green
colour, with some markings of brownish ash. Ravens

are very attentive to their young and the old ones,
which are understood to pair for life, that is, while both
live — for no birds remain in widowhood, but pair
again (if they can) when the season conies round — are
very much attached to each other ; they are never far
apart, and if danger overtakes the one the other gene-
rally makes its appearance, and is not slow at giving
assistance. The wariness of the raven makes it very
rarely a prey to the stoop of the eagle, or the stroke of
the more powerful falcons ; and, at close quarters, these
are not more than a match for the raven, if, indeed,
they are as much. In some cases which have come
within the knowledge of the writer of this article, a
trained falcon (a peregrine, not a jer) has struck at and
clutched a raven, but the raven so returned the clutch
that, if assistance had not been given, the falcon would
never have struck another bird ; for, between the two,
it appeared to be very equally " claw for claw," as the
saying is, and it is doubtful whether, if human aid had
not come to the falcon, the two would not have been
found dead together.

In former times ravens were by no means rare birds,
in many, indeed in most parts of the British islands,
and in various parts of the country, there was an alle-
gorical saying, " every rock has its raven," but they
are now comparatively rare in England and in the
south of Scotland, though there are some in even the
eastern parts of the highlands, and more in the west
highlands and the isles, where, in consequence of the
greater abundance of humidity, and the consequent
superiority of growth and abundance of life, they are
by no means rare. From the first ridges of secondary
hills at the south side of the base of the Grampians,
there is, indeed, no want of ravens in most of the waste
places, except in the more bleak and uninteresting
moors, where there are no spots within many miles
properly adapted for being their nesting places. In
that part of the country they seldom if ever build in
trees, because the principal woods there consist of
pines, in which there is not much game suitable for
the raven. But in the high and rugged rocks, espe-
cially when they have a southerly exposure, and
copses and rich patches of land at the base, they are
never wanting. In ravens' weather, that is, when the
sky lowers and portends storms, or after the storm
has just passed, they may be seen upon the more open
parts of the woods, sitting on a dark mass of stone
and eyeing the desolation around them with keen and
cautious glance ; and they sometimes vault up to a
considerable height, and scan the wide and wild land-
scape from the top of the sky. They are not the most
abundant of the crow tribe which we meet with in
these lonely places, and they are not so social or so
lively in their manners as most of the others ; neither
do they, in all probability, commit so many depreda-
tions on the nests and young of those birds which
breed in the heaths and upland morasses as some of
the others. But when you pass near those rocky
places which are their favourite haunts and hiding
places, it so happens that though you do not always
see the raven, the raven always sees yon; and he will
steal along, by the side of your route, in the tractless
desert for many miles, though when you get a sight of
him, he appears always to be leaving you, and hop-
ping away to a place in which he himself may be safe.
This is done most readily and habitually when there
is no sun, and the whole scene wears the dusky hue of
the raven. And, though he appears to be always on
the retreat, if you sit down vou will soon find him

H4

C O R V U S.

perched on some stone, with his tail towards you, but
with the head turned back, and attending with the ut-
most watchfulness as to whether you are or are not in
motion. If you make any demonstration against him,
he will get on the wing with much apparent pain and
difficulty, and seem as if he were marching off; but
he has a curious way of "sideling" on the wing, by
means of which he moves in the lateral direction, and
gains on you at the end of his flight, even although
he has seemed to be retreating all the time. If you
wish to watch his manoeuvres in the most perfect man-
ner, or to tempt him within the distance of a shot, the
best way is to lie down at full length on your back,
and remain motionless. In such a case, if he is at a
long distance when you take up your position, he will
gain considerably on the wing, by more bold and de-
rided flight than if you are merely sitting. But under
no circumstances will he use the wing for the full ex-
tent of his reconnoissance ; he will alight at a consi-
derable distance, and even if you are so motionless
that he feels confident of making a prey of you, he
will still approach you in perfect conformity with the
tactics of a siege, never upon the direct line, but at an
angle, working by traverses more and more oblique
as he comes nearer, so that when you observe him in
motion, he is always as if he were passing by and re-
garding you with a mixture of fear and wonder. When
he turns at the end of his traverse he stands for a short
time as if he were irresolute, and at a loss which way
to go, and seems studiously to avoid any appearance
of design in his movements. But if you remain quite
motionless, he will come very near ; and should you
allow yourself to doze during his crafty approach, the
chance would be that your awaking might cost you
an eye ; and thus it is better for you to " have an
eye" upon him. If you are provided with fire arms,
and are inclined to add the useless carcass of a raven
to the museum on the barn wall or the stable-yard at
the inn, you may, if you have patience enough, make
sure game of him ; but if you fire and miss him, or if
you start up when he is very near you, he mounts the
sky, soon clears your horizon, and though you wait
ever so long you see him no more.

The raven, when taken young, and the young, in
consequence of their clamour, are easily discovered
and procured if the nest is accessible (and when it is
not, they often fall headlong and are found yelping
in their discordant tone among the bushes), is easily
tamed, and may be turned to account both as a
scavenger and a watchman about tan-yards and other
places where there is offal calculated to attract strangers.
When these approach, the raven "gives tongue,"
or rather throat, and if they venture upon his ground,
he appears to hop away with one of his legs crippled ;
but, watching his opportunity, he contrives to jerk
himself, like a dart, at the enemy, and as his bill is
both strong and sharp, a blow of it will send off a
large cur howling. These tame ravens take fancies
to, and against, persons, and other animals, for which
it is by no means easy to account. Without any
apparent difference of treatment received by them-
selves, they will welcome one party, appear to play
with them, and never offer any violence ; while there
are others that they will strike and bite with great
bitterness, even when they are fondled,

Ravens, though so voracious, that their name has
been generally applied to all who are greedy of food
or of any thing else, and not over nice as to the
means by which they procure it, are capable of bear-

ing hunger for a very long time. They are so hardy
that even in the wildest places, and those where they
are most abundant, a dead raven, unless one which
has been killed by man, is a very rare sight. They
are also understood to be very long-lived, but the
number of years is not ascertained. They must, how-
ever, be subject to some casualty, as the increase in
numbers, in proportion to that of the eggs, is very
small. There are ravens in most quarters of the
world, if the state of the country is suitable to them,
and there is little climatal difference, further than that
those which are found in the high polar latitudes are
pale in the colour.

We may farther mention as distinguishing features
of this species, that the tail is very much rounded ;
that the feathers on the throat are narrow, sharp
pointed, and raised ; that those on the back part of the
neck are soft and silky ; that the bill and feet are black,
and that the irides of the eyes consist of two circles
of colour, the outer brownish, and the inner pale
smoke grey.

Corvus coronc, the carrion crow, or common black

crow. This species is much smaller than the raven,

being only about twenty inches in length, twenty-six in

the extent of the wings, and eighteen ounces in weight ;

and as birds, to be equally well winged, should have

the wings in the proportion of the cube-roots of their

weights, it is not, in proportion, a bird of so powerful

flight as the raven. The plumage of this species is

entirely black, with few or no metallic reflections, or

with them, of a dull green colour; the feathers on the

throat being small and narrow, and the webs, toward

| their points, loose and flocculent ; and the tail not so

t much rounded as that of the raven. Still, the bird

I has more the air of the raven than that of any other

' of the family, so that it may, except in colour, pass

i fora miniature of that bird, with the exception of the

I gloss of blue on the upper part of the true raven.

The carrion crow, as its name imports, is a foul
and miscellaneous feeder. No garbage comes amiss
j to it, however rank ; and it is by no means shy in the
i search of the offal of all sorts. For these reasons it
is sometimes called the "dung-hill" crow, and, in
Scotland, the "midden" crow; and it is the crow,
throughout England. It is very generally distributed ;
but as the individuals are not in the habit either of
flocking on their pastures, or of assembling in numbers
to the same herding places, they do not make the
same appearance as some of the other members of
the genus.

Carrion-crows nestle in trees, generally in more
retired places, and farther apart from each other than
rooks. They generally pass the summer in extensive
forests, from which they occasionally emerge to pro-
cure subsistence for themselves and their infant brood.
They feed on flesh, eggs, worms, insects, and various
kinds of grains; but they are particularly fond of
carrion. In spring, they greedily devour the eggs of
partriges and quails, and are so dexterous as to pierce
them and carry them on the point of their bill to their
young ; even fish and fruit are not unsuitable to their
palate. They often attack the eyes of dying animals,
destroy weakly lambs, and, when pressed with hunger,
will even pursue birds on the wing. They are noto-
rious for the havoc which they occasion among game
and poultry, and in rabbit warrens, where they kill
and devour the young. When hens lay their eggs in
hedge bottoms, or farm-yards, crows are often caught
in the act of devouring them ; but when they happen

C O It V U S.

145

to be satiated, they will frequently hide their food till
hunger becomes more urgent. They have been
observed to ascend with a crab to a considerable
height and let it fall on a rock to break the shell, and
then instantly pounce down upon it and bear it away
for immediate consumption. In like manner, a friend
of the late Dr. Darwin saw, on the northern coast of
Ireland, above a hundred crows preying at once on
mussels which they despatched by a similar process.
Near the Cape of "Good Hope they have been seen
to dispose in the same way of land tortoises. We
read too of an ill-starred philosopher, in ancient times,
who was killed by an oyster impinging on his bald
•pate,, which a crow had mistaken for a block of stone.

During the winter, these birds consort with the
rooks and hooded crows, and sometimes intermingle
with the latter, so as to give rise to a hybrid race. In
this season, numerous flights of various species of the
first genus assemble about our dwellings, keeping
much on the ground, sauntering much about the flocks
and shepherds, hovering near the tracks of thelabourers,
and sometimes hopping on the backs of pigs and
sheep, with such apparent familiarity, that they might,
be mistaken for domestic birds. At night, they retire
into the forests to lodge among the large trees, resort-
ing to the general rendezvous from every quarter,
sometimes from the distance of nine miles all around,
whence they again sally out in the morning in quest
of subsistence. As long as this association lasts,
the hooded and carrion crows nre observed to grow
very fat, while the rooks continue always lean. To-
wards the close of winter, the latter also remove into
other regions, whereas the carrion crows resort to the
nearest large forests, where they pair, and seem to
divide their territory into districts of about three
quarters of a mile in diameter, each of which is
allotted to the maintenance of its appropriate family,
an arrangement which is said to subsist inviolate
during the lives of the separate parties. The female
lays from four to six eggs, of a bluish green, and
marked with large and black spots, of cinereous grey
and olivaceous , and weighing about five drachms each.
She sits about three weeks, during which time the
male supplies her with food.

The carrion crow often wages war with the lesser
species of hawks ; but it is especially courageous in
the breeding season ; nor will it suffer the kite,
buzzard, or raven, to approach its nest with impunity.
The young do not finally break off connexion with the
parents till the commencement of a new brood. As
they naturally attack small game, when wounded or
exhausted, they have, in some countries, been bred
for falconry, as in Turkey, where gentry of inferior
quality paint them of different colours, carry them on
their right hand, and call them back by the frequent,
repetition of the syllable hoob. Although their flight
is neither easy nor rapid, they generally mount to a
very great height, and indulge much in a whirling
motion. Their croaking in the morning is said to
indicate fine weather. As they are exceedingly
cunning, have an acute scent, and commonly fly in
large flocks, it is difficult to get near them, and still
more so to decoy them into snares. Some of them,
however, are caught by imitating the screech of the
owl, and placing limed twigs on the high branches
of a tree ; or they are drawn within gun shot by
means of an eagle-owl, or such other nocturnal bird,
raised on perches, in an open spot. They are
destroyed too, by throwing to them garden beans in

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

which rusty needles are concealed. They arc like-
wise caught by cones of paper, baited with raw flesh.
As the crow introduces his head to devour the bait,
which is near the bottom, the paper, being besmeared
with bird lime, sticks to the feathers of the neck, and
he remains hooded ; unable to rid his eyes of the
bandage, he rises almost perpendicularly in the air,
the better to avoid striking against any thing, until,
quite exhausted, he sinks down, always near the spot
from which he mounted. These, and other modes of
ensnaring crows, are chiefly practised in the winter
season, when the ground is covered with snow or
bound up in frost, for then they more readily approach
human habitations, and seek to pick up some subsist-
ence from the dung of animals that have passed along
the highways. But many of them are killed, at all
seasons, in various parts of the continent, by strewing
overthe grounds which they frequent, pellets of minced
meat, mixed with the powder of nux vomica.

The carrion crow appears to combine the disposi-
tions of two or three other species of the genus. In
form, in colours, and in its predatory habits, it resem-
bles the raven , in restlessness and disposition to
hoard, it has considerable analogy to the jack-daw ;
and in the last of these particulars, as well as in its
general cunning, it has some traits of the magpie. It
follows the general habit of the whole race in being
easily tamed, and taught to repeat words without
much difficulty. But still, it has peculiar characters,
and belongs to a certain description, or a certain state
of countries. It is not a bird of the perfect wilderness,
an inhabitant of the open moor or the cliff; neither is
it most favourable to those places which are in a high
state of improvement. Wooded tracts, which arc
rather warm and fertile, but somewhat in a state of
nature, are the localities in which it is most abundant;
and if we are *o assign it a topographical position,
we may say, that its locality is intermediate between
that of the raven and that of the rook. The raven,
the carrion crow, the hooded crow, and the rook, may
be considered as the typical crows, at least in Europe ,
and their localities are, the hooded crow, the raven,
the carrion crow, and the rook, gradually approaching
nearer the cultivated grounds.

Corvus comix, the hooded crow, or, in some parts
of the country, the " hoody." This species is con-
siderably larger than the black crow ; being about
twenty inches long, forty in the stretch of the wings,
and upwards of twenty ounces in weight, so that,
with the exception of the raven, it is the largest of
the crow tribe found in the British islands. Its
localities are more peculiar than those of many of the
others, but it is very generally distributed over the
globe, and in some places of almost all latitudes it is
the crow. In England, with the exception of some
of the moors in the north, it is a winter visitant, not
making its appearance before October, and departing
in the spring. But in the north it is much more
common, and continues all the year round. In the
Lowlands of Scotland it is rather rare, though not
quite unknown in any district ; but in the Highlands,
beyond the line of regular cultivation, it is almost the
only crow that is known, with the exception of the
raven. It is a strong bird and a powerful flier, and
ranges over the moors and mountain bogs, levying
very heavy contributions on the nests and young of
ground birds, which breed in those places ; and when
the snow is on the ground, so that it finds but little
food irdand, it resorts to the shores of the sea m.d
K

C O R V U S.

picks up whatever it can find in that all-producti\<>
locality.

It is easily known by its colour, which is smoke
grey, with the exception of the head, throat, wings,
and tail, which are black, with reflections of a green
colour, but more inclining' to blue than those of the
black crow It is the contrast of the black on the
head with the grey on the back which procures for
this species the name of the hooded crow. The hood
is not so conspicuous in the female as in the male,
because the black is not so deep nor the grey so
pale ; but the common opinion that the female is
without the grey is not correct. The bill is black,
but rather paler at the tip, strong and arched in the
culmen, bearing a considerable resemblance to that
of the raven. The feet are also black, the skin of
the tarsi being plated. In the grey parts the shafts
of the feathers are black, and the grey is subject to
considerable varieties of shade, depending, in part at
least, on the latitude and the season ; and albinos, or
at all events, specimens in which only the shafts of
the principal feathers are black, are occasionally to
be met with.

Though this species appears in England only in
the winter, it is not to be considered as a regular
climatal migrant retiring from the northern latitudes
during the winter ; for it winters as far to the north
as the Faroe Islands, and the isles on the coast of
Norway, where the shores remain clear of ice during
the winter. Those which resort to England and
other champaign countries of Europe, where they do
not remain during the summer to breed, must there-
fore be considered as driven from the wilds of Lap-
land bv the want of food. The resort of ground
building birds to these wilds during the summer is
very great, and hooded crows find an ample supply
of provisions in the eggs and callow young ; but
when the snow falls, or there is not scope and food
for them all on the sea-coast, numbers seek their way
to more southerly climates.

But it must not, on the other hand, be considered
that these birds have any partiality for northern lati-
tudes, other than that they find food plentiful there
in the summer season ; for they are very generally
distributed in all places where there is food for them ;
and they are the common, or at all events the most
frequently seen species of crow in many parts of
India, especially in the wild districts near the Runn
of Cutch ; and we may remark that, generally speak-
ing, where hooded crows remain in large numbers to
breed, in whatever latitude it may be, carrion crows
and rooks are rarely to be met with. The absence
of timber, in such collections as to admit of rookeries,
and of such closeness as to hide the nest of the carrion
crow, may be partly the reason of this ; but still it is
doubtful whether it will account for the whole differ-
ence. The hooded crow is, for instance, the only
crow known in the Shetland and Orkney Islands,
and in those wild districts both of the highlands of
Scotland and of Ireland, where there are no timber
trees ; but there are also well wooded districts in the
highlands, in which, though hooded crows are abun-
dant, not a single rook or carrion crow is to be seen,
though in the lowland districts, distant only a few
miles, rooks are abundant, and hooded crows appear
only as stragglers. A person passing for the first
time from the land of rooks to that of hooded crows,
which is nearly synonymous with passing from the
country of lowland Scotch to the country of Gaelic,

is apt to imagine that tne crows speak a new language
a< \\ (-11 as the people ; for the sound of the ruuk, if
not musical, is at least loud and clear, while that of
the hooded crow is at once hoarse and feeble, as if it
were a jackdaw attempting to mock the croak of a
raven.

Where opportunities offer, the hooded crow breeds
in the pines and other large trees, in default of which
it nestles in the cavities of rocks. The female, which
is rather smaller than the male, and of less lively
hues, usually lays four, five, or six eggs, of a greenish
blue, marked with many spots of blackish brown. It
pairs during the whole of the breeding season, and
both parents are much attached to their offspring.
They are remarked for their double cry, of which
one is hollow and well known, and the other shrill
and somewhat resembling the crowing of a cock.
When other food is wanting, they will eat cranberries
and other mountain fruits ; in open fertile countries,
they live much on grain, worms, and carrion ; but
they often resort to the sea shores/and prey on the
various animal matters thrown up by the tide. Frisch
observes that they are expert at picking fish bones,
and that when water is discharged from ponds they
quickly perceive the fish which are left in them, and
lose no time in darting on them. They not only
attack the eyes of lambs and diseased sheep, but of
horses that have got entangled in bogs. In the Faroe
Isles, where they abound, they are particularly mis-
chievous, picking the seed from the fields, digging up
the newly-planted potatoes, destroying the barlev
before it is ripe, and carrying off goslings and duck-
lings, or the fish which is hung up to dry, to their
young.

Corvus frugilegus (the Rook). This species, which
is to the inhabitants of well cultivated countries the
most interesting of the whole genus, is about the
same length as the hooded crow ; but it is lighter
made, and, when full grown, rather longer in the
wings. Its bill too is of a character entirely different,
being nearly straight, and having much less of the
predatory character than that of any of the three
species which have been mentioned. Its bill is bluish
black, with a portion of the skin at the base bare of
feathers in the full-grown birds, and covered with a
scaly scurf of a whitish colour; but in the younir
birds this portion is covered with feathers, which an;
projected a little way over the base of the bill. The
whole of the plumage is black, but glossed with re-
flections of purple, violet, and blue, which are very
rich and beautiful when the bird is in good condition.
The legs and claws are also generally of a black
colour. Sometimes, however, but not very often, these
birds are subject to variations, not only in the plumage,
but in the bill, the claws, and the naked skin. Some
are pure white, others piebald, others yellowish, and
in these cases the bill, feet, and claws, are generally
of a flesh red, but there is always a trace of darker
colour in the principal feathers of the wings and the
feathers of the tail. Specimens which have these
varieties of colour cannot be considered as permanent
varieties, and they do not perpetuate their colours in
their proareny, neither is it known whether they breed,
though it is presumed that they do not. These
variations are very rare, compared with the numbers
of the birds; and their cause is altogether unknown.
The rook is a native of most of the temperate regions
of Europe, but is not found much farther north than
the south of Sweden, where it breeds, but from which

C O R V U S.

147

it is driven by the severity of the winter. In Russia
and the tf est of Siberia, it is far from rare, emigrating-
early in March to the environs of Woronetz, and
mingling- with the common crows. In England they
are stationary, but in France, Silesia, and many other
countries, most of them are birds of passage. In
France they are the forerunners of winter, whereas
in Siberia they announce the summer. Their flights
are sometimes so dense as to darken the air, being
frequently joined, not only by the common crow and
jackdaw, but also by troops of starlings. Every
spring they resort to breed on the same trees, prefer-
ring the loftier branches, and building sometimes ten
or twelve nests, which are one above another on the
same tree, whilst a great many trees thus furnished
occur in the same forest, or rather in the same district.
They seek not retirement and solitude, but rather
settle near our dwellings. When a pair are employed
in constructing the nest, one remains to guard it,
while the other is procuring the suitable materials ;
for otherwise the structure would, it is alleged, be
instantly pillaged by the other rooks which have fixed
on the same tree, each carrying oft' a twig to its own
dwelling. Rookeries are sometimes scenes of violent
contests between the old and the new inhabitants,
whether the intruders be of the same or of different
species. A pair which had in vain attempted to
establish themselves in a rookery at no great distance
from the Exchange of Newcastle-upon-Tyne. having
been compelled to abandon their purpose, took refuge
on the spire of that building ; and though con-
stantlv interrupted by others of their own species,
succeeded in completing their nest at the top of the i
vane, and reared their young, apparently regardless
of the noise of the people underneath. The nest
and its inhabitants were in course turned round by
every change of wind, and yet the parents persevered
in maintaining the same position for ten years, when
the spire was taken down. As soon as rooks have
finished their nest, and before they lay, the male
besrins to feed the females, which receive their bounty
with a fondling tremulous voice, fluttering wings, and
all the little blandishments that are expected by the
young while in a helpless state. This gallant deport-
ment of the males is continued through the whole
season of incubation. The female lays four or five
eggs, which are smaller than those of the raven, but
marked with broader spots, especially at the large
end. After the young have taken wing there is a
general deserting of the nest trees, but the families
return again to them in October to roost, and to
repair their dwellings. On the approach of winter,
however, they usually seek some more sheltered
situation at night, but generally assemble first in the
usual place, and then fly oft' together. Their autumnal
exercises of departing on their foraging excursions in
the morning, and returning in the evening, are familiar
to ordinary observation, and have been well described
by White and others. Though the forest may be
said to be their winter habitation, they generally visit
ilicir nurseries every day, preserving the idea of a
family, for which they begin to make provision early
in spring, the business of nidification being usually
accomplished in the month of March.

The rook has but two or three notes, and makes no
great figure in a solo ; but when he performs in con-
cert, which is his chief delight, these notes, though
rough in themselves, being intermixed with those of
tue multitude, have, as it were, their ragged edges

worn oft', and oecome harmonious, especially when
softened in the distant air. So marked is their dread
of a fowling-piece, that the country people allege they
even smell gunpowder ; but, if the gun be carefully
concealed from their view, a person with his pockets
full of gunpowder may approach very near them.
Among the favourite articles of their food is the grub
of the chafer, or beetle, which, if allowed to multi-
ply unchecked, would lay waste whole meadows and
cornfields. It must not be dissembled, however, that
rooks themselves are sometimes very injurious to new
sown wheat, just when it begins to germinate. The
severity of winter, when accompanied by a heavy fall
of snow, sometimes drives them down to the sea-shore,
where they are observed to feed on small shell-fish,
particularly the common periwinkle. Having raised
these last into the air, to about the height of fifty feet,
they let them fall among stones, stooping instantly
after their prey. If the shell is unbroken, they lift it
again and again ; and when the wind happens to carry
it out of the perpendicular direction, they toil much
and gain little. Frauds in the mode of procuring their
livelihood, as well as in that of building their nests,
are sometimes attempted among them, but which,
when discovered, meet with instant and condign
punishment. Indeed we can scarcely doubt that these
sagacious birds have ideas of property, unknown to
many of the inferior animals, as each pair, year after
year, assert their claim to the same nest ; and an at-
tempt to invade them, on the part of others, would, as
often happens, be punished not merely by the ag-
grieved individuals, but by the combined efforts of the
society, which clearly proves that they consider it as
an offence against the community. When tamed they
evince both confidence and attachment.

The young of this species are, by some, reckoned
good for the table, but those habituated to better fare
will probably esteem them somewhat coarse. In order
to be at all edible, they must be skinned, and, even
then, they are exceedingly bitter, and not very nourish-
ing ; but the abundance in which they may be had
where there are extensive rookeries, renders the shoot-
ing of them when they are " branched," that is, when
they have left the nest but not taken to the wing,
rather a favourite exploit with the more humble de-
scription of sportsmen. The sport is, however, both
cowardly and cruel, not greatly superior to that of
shooting pigeons from a trap ; and the lamentations
which the parent birds make over their slain progeny
are not only painful to hear, but have a very strong
expression of reproach in them ; and the feelings
thereby produced are not lessened when we consider
the perfect confidence with which rooks congregate
near human habitations, and the great services which
they render to the cultivator.

Corvus monedu/a, (the Jackdaw), or steeple crow,
called in Scotland the kae, which is very nearly the
sound of its natural voice. It is about fourteen inches
in length, twice as much in the stretch of the wings,
and weighs about nine ounces. The head is black,
the nape of the neck is smoke grey, the back greyish
black ; the wing-coverts and secondary quills black,
with violet reflections ; the under part bluish black ;
the bill and legs also black, and the i rides whitish grey.
This species is noisy, and, when tamed, it is mischieT
vous ; but in its general habits it resembles the rook,
in rarely plundering the nests of other birds, but rather
feeding upon insects,worms, and various sorts of se,ed<«.

The jackdaw, though it affects peculiar localities,
K2

148

C O R V U S.

and chiefly towers in cliffs, is not absolutely confined to
such places, even in its nest-building. It is also very
generally distributed over Europe, stationary in some
countries, but migrant in others, without any uniform
regard to difference of latitude. On the extreme
north of Europe it is indeed only a summer visitant,
there being no food for it in the winter. In Sweden
it is found pretty far to the north. It winters about
Upsal, and passes the night in large flocks in ruined
towers, especially those of the old town. It is common
all over Russia and Western Siberia. In the south
of Russia, and in Great Britain, it is stationary
throughout the year ; but in France, some parts of
Germany, and other places, it is at least partially
migratory, though a number of them continue in
these countries during summer. Such of them as
migrate form themselves into large bodies, like the
rooks and hooded crows, whose phalanxes they
sometimes join, continually chattering as they fly.
Yet they observe not the same periods in France
and in Germany, for they leave the latter in autumn,
and appear not again till the spring, after having
wintered in France. In general they frequent old
towers, ruined buildings, and high cliffs, but they also
occasionally breed in the holes, and even on the
branches of trees, especially if in the neighbourhood of
a rookery. In some parts of Hampshire, owing,
probably, to the want of towers and steeple?, they
frequently build in the burrows of a rabbit-warren ;
and in the Isle of Ely, from a similar cause, they
take up their abode in chimneys. Their nest is
made of sticks, and lined with wool and other soft
materials, and the eggs are generally five or six,
smaller and paler than those of the crows, of a bluish
or greenish ground, spotted with black or brown.
After the young are hatched, the female watches,
feeds, and rears them with an affection which the
male seems eager to share. Some authors affirm that
they have two broods in the year, but this, we have
reason to believe, is by no means uniformly the case.
During the season of courtship they prattle inces-
santly, woo each other's society, and even kiss.
Even in captivity they refrain not from these marks
of tender attachment. Many pairs usually nestle in
the same neighbourhood. They feed principally
upon worms and the larvae of insects, and are very
fond of cherries. Their voice is shriller than that of
the rook or crow, and appears to be capable of
different inflexions. They are easily tamed, and
seem so fond of domestication as seldom to attempt
their escape. They may be fed on insects, fruit,
grain, and even small pieces of meat. With no great
difficulty they may be taught to articulate several
words ; but they are mischievous and tricky, and
will secrete not only portions of their food, but pieces
of money and jewels.

Corvus pica, or Pica melanoleuca (the Magpie).
This is a species with lively colours, the peculiar
attitudes, the prying disposition, and the familiar
manners of which every body is acquainted with. Its
length is about eighteen inches, but great part is
taken up by the tail, and the body is rather short and
round ; the extent of the wings is about two feet, and
they are broad and rounded, and better adapted for
ascending and descending than for long flights, upon
which the bird flies with rapid movements of the
wings, and apparently with difficulty. The weight is
about nine ounces ; the bill and legs are black ; and
the irides deep and bright brown, which gives very

considerable expression to the eye. This is altogether
one of the most beautiful of British birds, and if it
were not so common it would be very much admired
Its colours are black, with purple and green rciitr
tions ; the scapulars, breast, belly, and inside of the
wing-feathers, white ; tail lengthened and wedge-
shaped ; the black, especially on the feathers of the
wings and tail, exhibits, in certain dispositions of the
light, very fine reflections of green, blue, purple, and
violet, a circumstance of which superficial observers
are little aware ; nor can he who has only examined
a dirty specimen, in confinement, form any adequate
notion of the native beauties of the bird. It is about
eighteen inches long, twenty-four in extent of wing,
and weighs between eight and nine ounces. The
female differs from the other sex only in being
somewhat less, and having a shorter tail. Among
the more remarkable varieties to which it is occa-
sionally liable, we may notice that of whiteness
almost pure, cream or buff colour, and white streaked
with black.

The magpie is generally diffused in England,
France, Germany, Sweden, and most of the countries
of Europe ; and it also occurs in Asia as far as Japan,
in China, as well as in Siberia, Kamschatka, and the
adjacent islands, whence it has possibly passed into
the northern parts of America, for it is seen, though
rarely, in Hudson's Bay, and on the borders of the
Mississippi. In Europe it is found as far north as
Wardlines, and as far south as Italy ; but it sel-
dom abounds in hilly regions. Being smaller than
the rook, and with wings proportionally shorter,
its flight is neither so lofty nor so well supported ;
neither does it undertake long journeys, but only flies
from tree to tree, at moderate distances ; yet it is
seldom at rest for any length of time, but skips and
hops about, and shakes its long tail almost incessantly.
Though naturally shy and distrustful, yet it is seldom
found remote from human habitations. Magpies
generally continue in pairs throughout the year ;
and if they sometimes unite into small flocks, it is
only for some temporary purpose. They are clamour-
ous and mischievous, reject hardly any species of
animal food or fruits, and devour grain when nothing
else is within their reach. They will prey on birds
caught in snares, on nestlings, rats, field-mice, young
poultry, leverets, feathered game, carrion, fish, and
insects. Lambs, and even weakly sheep, they attempt
to destroy, by first plucking out their eyes. They are
notorious pilferers and hoarders, and will conceal
either provisions, or any glittering objects, with great
address, pushing them into holes until they are no
longer visible. Their winter store of food is usually
collected in the middle of a field, and is sometimes
indicated by two of the species contending for the
hoard. Though crafty, they arc also familiar ; and
though naturally addicted to chatter, they are still
more so when tamed and attached ; so that, especially
when taken young, they may be taught to pronounce
words, and even short sentences, and will imitate any
singular noise. In their natural state they proclaim
aloud any apparent danger, insomuch that no fox, or
wild animal, can appear without being noticed and
haunted ; and thus even the fowler is frequently de-
prived of his sport, for all birds seem to know the mag-
pie's alarming chatter. The nest, which is placed on
the top of a tree, in a thick bnsh or hedge, and some-
times at no great distance from the ground, bespeaks
much skill and artifice. The male and female work at it

C O R V U S.

conjointly, or alternately, beginning in February, and
usually continuing their labours for six weeks or two
months. It is, for the most part, constructed on a
fork, or on a junction of branches, and composed of
twigs, young shoots of trees, and a thick covering of
leaves, strengthened outwardly with long and flexible
sticks, plastered over with mud, the upper part being
covered with thorny branches, closely matted, so as
to secure a retreat from other birds intruding, a hole
being left at the side scarcely large enough for the
admission and egress of the parent birds. The inside
is furnished with a sort of mattress, composed of the
fibres of roots, wool, and other soft materials, being
only six inches in diameter, whereas the whole edifice
measures at least two feet in every direction. Should
the eggs be destroyed, the female abandons a con-
struction which had cost her and her partner so much
trouble, and will lay a second, and even sometimes a
third time, if again disturbed, the number of eggs
diminishing at each hatch. On these occasions she
does not build a new nest, but takes possession of,
and refits, an unoccupied one that has belonged to a
rook, or else finishes one of those imperfect structures
which are occasionally to be found in her neighbour-
hood, as if purposely reserved fur cases of emergency.
But, if unmolested, there is but one brood, which
generally consists of seven or eight. The eggs are of
a bluish or pale green, spotted with brown, and
cinereous. The male and female incubate alternately,
and in the course of about fourteen days the young
are brought forth blind, and continue so for some
•days. The parents rear them with great solicitude,
and for a considerable length of time. During winter
nights, magpies assemble in great numbers in some
coppice or thicket to roost, but they separate again
in the day-time. When the young are taken from the
nest for training, they may be red with bread, curdled
milk, or new cheese. Their flesh is considerably
inferior to that of the young rook. In almost every
country, the appearance of the magpie is, in the
minds of the vulgar, associated with superstitious and
ominous notions.

The prying, pilfering-, and nest-plundering propen-
sities of the magpie, sometimes subject it to a little
temporary inconvenience at tiie hand? of boys,
especially where it has young in a thick tree near
the house. An egg is emptied of its contents by
blowing, and then filled with bird-lime, and laid in
some place where it may be seen by the mag-pie ; and
as li Madge" has all her eyes about her, and knows
most of what is within the range of her observation,
the exposure of the egg out of doors is as easy a
matter as the concealing of it. She soon approaches,
watchful of any one who may be observing her, but
intent upon the egg. After a hop or two in various
directions, to see that all is safe, she dashes her bill
into the egg, in the usual way of carrying the
larger kinds of eirsrs to her brood ; but as the shell is
already broken, the bill penetrates up to the eyes,
and the shell adheres, and acts as a blind. She takes
flight, however ; but, as she cannot see her way, she
iiie> bumping against the twigs, and often cuts a very-
ridiculous tig-ure before she can so disentangle herself
from the shell and the bird-lime as to be able to see
her way.

When magpies are holding those councils, or
" folkmotes," for which they are so remarkable, a
scene of great consternation ensues among them it
one of the more powerful hawks come in sight, or if

a falcon is flown over them. All chattering and hop-
ping is instantly at an end, unless there are bushes into
which they can creep ; and when they are within
reach of no such shelter, they remain motionless on
the ground ; though, in places where large hawks
frequently appear, they select their rendezvous in
some spot which is closely surrounded by broom or
furze, or some other»cover. As long as the hawk or
falcon remains in sight, the whole powers of the mag-
pies seem to be absorbed in the dread of it; for they
may be knocked down with a stick with little attempt
to escape, or taken with the hand without offering
any resistance. But we must close our notice, for
there is really no end of the stories that might be
told of this very curious bird.

Corvus glandariiis (the Jay). In some rospects the
jay stands nearly in the same relation to the magpie
that the carrion crow does to the rook. It is a wood-
land bird, never found in open and treeless places,
and very seldom near houses. In the woods it
chooses the thickest shades ; and though its chatter
is often heard, it is less frequently seen than almost
any other bird of the same size and equally numerous.
It occurs in all parts of the British islands where
there is cover for it, and it has an original name both
in Welsh and Gaelic, both of which have the same
meaning, " wood-screecher," or " wood-screamer;"
and some systematists have made it the type of a
separate genus, under the name Garrulus.

The jay varies a good deal in size with the nature
of its haunts, being much smaller in Scotland than in
England. Its mean dimensions may be taken at
about a foot in length, eighteen or nineteen inches in
the stretch of the wings, and about seven or eight
ounces in weight.

The bill of the jay is' dusky, the legs brown, and
the hides of a glistening pearl grey, which gives a
sharp and irritable expression to the eye. The head
is whitish, with black streaks, and the "feathers on the
top of the head are loose, and form a crest which is
erectible at pleasure. The body is wine buff, or a
mixtuie of yellow, red, and brown, so melted into
each other, that the whole effect is not easily
described. The lesser coverts of the wings are pale
bay ; the greater coverts are marked with traces of
black and rich blue. The secondary quills next the
body are bay, with black tips, the next two are
entirely black, and the remaining ones are black,
tinged with blue, and having white on their outer
necks, near the base. The rump and tail coverts,
both upper and under, are white, and the tail
feathers black. These birds, though they keep in
the cover of the woods, are very active and very
voracious. They are omnivorous, consuming great
quantities of nuts, mast, wild cherries, peas, and
other products of the wood and its vicinity ; they are
also great robbers of the nests of smaller birds, and
they sometimes kill and eat the birds themselves, and
also mice, and the larger insects. They are in fact
always prying about in the warm season, and very
often eating. It is usually said that they are in the
habit of hoarding their vegetable food against the
season of want ; and it may be true, for there are a
good many more birds which form magazines than we
are usually in the habit of giving credit for being so
provident. But, in the case of the jay, this is not
easily established by actual observation, as it is by no
means easy to see what they do ; and though they
are found making free with a store, it cannot, on

150

C O R V U S.

account of their habits, be thence inferred that this
store is their own. In confinement they do conceal
their surplus provisions, but they at the same time
pilfer and hide substances which can be of no use to
them as food ; so that no certain conclusion can
thence- be drawn of what they may do in a state of
nature ; and magpies and jackdaws both hoard and
steal when in a domesticated state, and yet we do not
hear of their stores of provisions being met with when
they are in the wild state. In winter, too, at least in
the colder parts of the country, jays are understood
to be, for the greater part of their time, in holes of
trees, or other places of concealment, in a state
nearly dormant. It is not supposed that they actually
hybernate, but they are rarely seen at that season
when there are no leaves on the trees to conceal
them ; and when they do make their appearance in
winter, it is only on very mild days.

When any danger appears, the jays set up a
screaming, and as their chattering is loud, and they
all take up the note, they alarm the whole tenants of
the wood, and thus, by acting the part of sentinels,
make some sort of return to other birds for the
depredations which they commit on their nests. On
some parts of the continent they are partially migrant,
and where this is the case they partially flock, though
their flocks can hardly be called societies. In Britain
they are more stationary, generally remaining in the
same places, and rearing two broods in the course of
the season. They choose the most close and con-
cealed parts of the trees for their nests ; and, both
for general habitation and nesting, they prefer young
woods, in which the trees are branched down nearly
to the ground, to those which have tall and clean
boles. Rooks and jays may be found in the same
forest, but not in the same part of it. The nest is
not so elaborate a structure as that of the magpie.
It is broad, and rather firm, as well as carefully
concealed ; but it has no dome, and is shallow, and
without any very soft matters in the lining. The
etrgs vary from four to seven, are smaller than those
of the pigeon, of a greenish-grey colour, with olive
spots. The time of the incubation is understood to
last about two weeks.

When the jay has grown to maturity in the wild
state, it is very shy as well as cunning, and can hardly
be reconciled to confinement by any means ; but
when it is taken voung, it is very easily tamed, and
very docile, though even then it appears at times to
be very impatient of the confinement of the cage,
against which it breaks its feathers, and often does
itself more serious injury. But it articulates readily,
can be taught a number of tricks, and therefore, in
many parts of the world it is kept with much attention.
Its voice is flexible, and it is capable not only of
articulating words, but of imitating the voices both of
other birds and of several of the mammalia. For food
it is of little value, as it is both tough and of bad
flavour ; but on some parts of the continent it is
eaten, after having undergone the double culinary
process of being first boiled and then roasted. Even
if it were good, the labour of obtaining it in Britain
would be far more than its value ; but on the
continent it is more easily obtained ; and though it is
not in request for the table under its own name, it is
said to be sometimes double-cooked, as above-men-
tioned, and then introduced as a thrush.

Corvus graculus ( Chough). This species, which is
the Cornish crow, the red-legged crow, and

various other names, is an inhabitant of peculiar
localities, but these localities are situated in many
latitudes, and they are sometimes on the sea-coast, and
sometimes inland. In all places, however, it appears
to be a rock-bird, though not an inhabitant of all
rocks indiscriminately, or even of all rocks which ap-
pear to be in themselves of nearly the same character.

In Britain the chough is found only on, or very
near, the coast, and on those coasts only which are
washed by the Atlantic and the Channel, and not
upon these, if there are not rocks or lofty ruins to
serve it for nesting-places. Dover and Cornwall,
some parts of Wales, and a few spots on the west
coast of Scotland and the Hebrides, are the British
localities of the chough. It occurs as far to the north
as Norway, and in the rocky mountains of central
and southern Europe, in the Alps, the Pyrenees, &c.
It is also found, at least at some seasons of the year,
in places where there are few or no rocks, being par-
ticularly abundant along the banks of the Nile in
Egypt, when the inundations begin to subside, and
the supply of reptile food becomes abundant ; but it
does not breed on the banks of that river.

The chough is black, with a tinge of violet ; and
the bill and legs are red. The irides are hazel.
The bill is differently shaped from that of any of the
previously mentioned species of the genus, being
longer in proportion, more slender, and bent for
nearly the whole length, though only slightly. It is
also much weaker, being brittle, and therefore not
adapted for the hard labour to which the bills of
some of the others are subjected. Of course it is
used for different purposes, and the form and texture
of the bill, together with the character of the haunts
in which it is chiefly found, may help to guide us to
the particular nature of its food, and consequently to
the part which it performs in the economy of nature.
The character of the feet is also of some importance ;
they are very stout, or at least clean made for the
size of the bird, and the claws are crooked and sharp,
partaking a little of the prehensile character.

Chough.

Thus the bill of the enough is not adapted for
digging into the ground, or for pushing and breaking
hard substances, like the bills of most, others of the
genus, nor are its feet adapted lor scraping ; it must
therefore be a surface feeder, and its food animal or
soft vegetable matter, or both. There are many
small animals on the bank of the river which has
been inundated, for the mud in such places, if the

C O R V U S.

151

climate or even the weather for the time is hot, becomes
absolutely alive ; and there are many similar creatures
on the ocean strand, where the ebbing and flowing of
the tide occasions something like an inundation, and
its departure twice every day. Besides the animal
food which it finds in those places, the chough is said
to be very fond of those wild berries which are gene-
rally abundant in the humid or marshy parts of the
uplands, and these furnish it with at least a seasonal
supply. Scopoli mentions that choughs feed much
upon juniper berries, which, as they take a long time
in growing, and are in several successions upon the
bushes at the same time, continue ripening for a
longer period, and are ripe more in the dry season
than the annual crops ; and they are followed by the
vacciniums and other berries of swifter growth and
shorter harvest. In this the chough follows the same
practice as the crows in the mountainous parts of our
own country, which may be seen in the mountain
marshes and other places which abound with berries
after the nesting is all over, and there is little for them
to plunder in the more dry and heathy parts of the
moors.

Choughs take a good deal of care in the construc-
tion of their nests. These are usually formed in the
crannies of the rock, about midway up the cliff, so as
to be out of the reach of danger both from below and
from above. There are a good many materials used,
sticks to form the frame-work, and then a copious
lining of wool, hair, or other soft matters, as may
happen to be within the reach of the birds. The
eggs are usually about four or five in number, rather
larger than those of the jackdaw, of a dull white
colour, with spots of ash colour and pale brown,
which are most abundant at the larger end.

Choughs seldom come abroad in stormy weather,
but they are much on the wing when it is fine, flying
high to and from their feeding grounds, and often
uttering their cries, which are more shrill and wailing
than those of jackdaws. They are very easily tamed,
and get familiar and even attached to those with
whose appearance they are familiar ; but they are
not fond of strangers. The difference of their notes
to those they know and those they do not are worthy
of attention to their acquaintances. Their tones of
address are soft and even coaxing ; but they utter a
very harsh alarm note when any one whom they do
not know approaches them. As is the case with all
the race, they are very apt to steal and secrete pieces
of money and other shining substances ; and in cot-
tages, where sticks are burnt, they are apt sometimes
to seize little pieces which are on fire at one end,
and fly about with them in a way not altogether safe.
CorvuA cart/ocatactes(t\ie SpottedCroworNutcracker.)
This species is not uncommon on the continent of
Europe, and it generally appears there in flocks ; but
in Britain it occurs only in straggling specimens, and
that very rarely. It is a very handsome bird, about
the size of u magpie, or about thirteen inches long,
and a foot and a half in the stretch of the wings.
The general colour of the body is dusky brown, all
marked over with triangular white spots. The crown
of the head, the wings, and the tail, are blackish,
the latter marked with white at the tip, and the middle
feathers with the ends of their webs ragged and in-
complete.

There are some points of resemblance between the
nutcracker and both the magpie and the jay; but
the bill is of a different shape, the mandibles Icing

straighter, blunter at the point, and of unequal length-
Its attachment to localities is also different. It
comes not near houses, like the magpie, neither does
it d-vell in thick woods and copses on the rich grounds.
It is more of a mountaineer, seeking the forests upon
the elevated slopes, nestling in holes, and finding
the chief part of its food in the kernels of trees, nuts,
acorns, beech mast, the seeds of the coniferae, and other
vegetable substances, which, in consequence of the
hardness of their envelopes, remain on the ground as
a store for nearly the whole season. The hardest of
these it can readily break, and it is for this reason
that it is called the nutcracker. From the retired
nature of its habits in keeping to the wild woods at
that season when the knowledge of it would be most
interesting, very little is known of the domestic eco-
nomy of the nutcracker ; and all that is known in
Britain, save the mere appearance and colour of the
bird, judged of from a casual straggler or a museum
specimen, is at second hand. It is alleged by Klein,
and some other of the continental describers, that
there are two varieties, or even species, in the Alpine
forests of central Europe — one with the bill strong
and angular, and the tongue long, and forked ; and
another with the bill rounder and weaker, and the
tongue also divided at the tip, but much shorter than
that of the former. It is further said that the one
with the angular bill and the long tongue fairly breaks
the shells of the nuts, while the other merely pierces
them and extracts the kernel through the opening.
Their nests are in the holes of trees ; and when they
do not meet with these to suit their purposes, they
are said to make them, or at all events to work them
to the desired shape ; but, as we have already noticed,
their habits are imperfectly known. The eggs are
said to be about five or six in number, of a greyish
fawn colour, and marked with spots of clear brown.

The nutcracker is not understood to have so much
cunning, or to be so much of a thief, as the magpie
or the jay, though it is described as still retaining
the omnivorous character, and sometimes varying its
food by making a meal of another bird, the skull of
which it very quickly hammers te pieces with its
powerful bill. Adult birds of this species are said
not to be tameable, as they obstinately refuse to take
food ; but young ones can be tamed with nearly the
same facility as others of the genus. In confinement
they are said to be given to hoard and pilfer like the
rest of the tribe, but whether they have this habit
when in a state of nature is not known.

On the continent this species is very generally
distributed, being found not only on the wooded
mountains of Europe, but in Siberia, as far as Kamts-
chatka. Seasonally they leave the woods, and appear
in considerable flocks, and in the flocking season they
are often seen both in Germany and France.

There are very many foreign species, either be-
longing to this genus or very nearly allied to it, in
almost every part of the world ; but we have not
room for even a mere catalogue of the whole ; and
their manners, in so far as they differ from those of
the species already noticed, are so little known that
they could not easily be made interesting to the
general reader. We shall therefore close this very
iinpei feet sketch by a mere notice of one or two of
the most remarkable species.

Cirri'its cristutus — Garrulus cristatus of Cuvier (the
Blue Jay of America). This is a very beautiful spe-
cies, resembling, in manv of its habits, the common

152

C O R V U S.

jay of Europe. It is very generally distributed over
at least the more temperate parts of North America ;
and we cannot bring it so well before the reader as
in the language of that prince of all ornithologists,
Alexander Wilson.

" This elegant bird," says this eloquent child and
worshipper of wild nature, " which, as far as I can
learn, is peculiar to North America, is distinguished
as a sort of beau among the feathered tenants of our
woods by the brilliancy of his dress ; and like most
other coxcombs, makes himself still more conspicuous
by his loquacity and the oddness of his tones and
gestures. The jay measures eleven inches in length ;
the head is ornamented with a crest of light blue or
purple feathers, which he can elevate or depress at
pleasure ; a narrow line of black runs along the
frontlet, rising on each side higher than the eye, but
not passing over it ; back and upper part of the neck
a fine light purple, in which the blue predominates ;
a collar of black, proceeding from the hind head,
passes with a graceful curve down each side of the
neck to the upper part of the breast, where it forms a
crescent ; chin, cheeks, throat, and belly, white, the
three former slightly tinged with blue ; greater wing-
coverts, a rich blue ; exterior sides of the primaries,
light blue, those of the secondaries a deep purple,
except the three feathers next the body, which are of
a splendid light blue ; all these, except the primaries,
are beautifully barred with crescents of black, and
tipt with white ; the interior sides of the wing-feathers
are dusky black ; tail long and cuneiform, composed
of twelve feathers of a glossy light blue, marked at
half inches with transverse curves of black, each
feather being tipt with white, except the two middle
ones, which deepen into a dark purple at the extre-
mities. Breast and sides under the wings a dirty
white, faintly stained with purple ; inside of the mouth,
the tongue, bill, legs, and claws, black ; iris of the
eye hazel.

" The blue jay is an almost universal inhabitant of
the woods, frequenting the thickest settlements as
well as the deepest recesses of the forest, where his
squalling voice often alarms the deer, to the disap-
pointment and mortification of the hunter ; one of
whom informed me, he made it a point, in summer, to
kill every jay he could meet with. In the charming
season of spring, when every thicket pours forth har-
mony, the part performed by the jay always catches
the ear. He appears to be among his fellow musi-
cians what the trumpeter is in a band, some of his
notes having no distant resemblance to the tones of
that instrument. These he has the faculty of changing
through a great variety of modulations, according to
the particular humour he happens to be in. When
disposed for ridicule, there is scarce a bird whose
peculiarities of song he cannot tune his notes to.
When engaged in the blandishments of love, they
resemble the soft.chatterings of a duck, and while he
nestles among the thick branches of the cedar, are
scarce heard at a few paces distance ; but he no
sooner discovers your approach than he sets up a
sudden and vehement outcry, flying- off, and screaming
with all his might, as if he called the whole feathered
tribes of the neighbourhood to witness some out-
rageous usage he had received. When he hops
undisturbed among the high branches of the oak and
hickory, they become soft and musical ; and his
call of the female a stranger would readily mistake
for the repeated screakings of an ungreased wheel-

barrow. All these he accompanies with various nods,
jerks, and other gesticulations, for which the who e
tribe of jays are so remarkable, that with some otaer
peculiarities they might have very well justified the
great Swedish naturalist in forming them into a
separate genus by themselves.

" The blue jay builds a large nest, frequently in the
cedar, sometimes on an apple tree, lines it with dry
fibrous roots, and lays five eggs of a dull olive,
spotted with brown. The male is particularly care-
ful of not being heard near the place, making his
visits as silently and secretly as possible. His
favourite food is chestnuts, acorns, and Indian corn.
He occasionally feeds on bugs, caterpillars, and
sometimes pays a plundering visit to the orchard,
cherry rows and potato patch ; and has been known
in times of scarcity to venture into the barn, through
openings between the weather boards. In these
cases he is extremely active and silent, and, if surprised
in the fact, make his escape with precipitation, but
without noise, as if conscious of his criminality.

"Of all birds he is the most bitter enemy to the owl.
No sooner has he discovered the retreat of one of
these, than he summons the whole feathered fraternity
to his assistance, who surround the glimmering solitaire
and attack him from all sides, raising such a shout as
may be heard in a still day more than half a mile off.
When in my hunting excursions, I have passed near
this scene ot tumult, I have imagined to myself that
I heard the insulting party venting their respective
charges with all the virulency of a Billingsgate mob ;
the owl meanwhile returning every compliment with
a broad goggling stare. The war becomes louder
and louder, and the owl at length, forced to betake
himself to flight, is followed by his whole train of
persecutors, until driven beyond the boundaries of
their jurisdiction.

" But the blue jay himself is not guiltless of similar
depredations with the owl, and becomes in his turn
the very tyrant he detested, when he sneaks through
the woods, as he frequently does, and among the
thickets and hedge rows, plundering every nest he
can find of its eggs, tearing up the callow young by
piecemeal, and spreading alarm and sorrow around
him. The cries of the distressed parents soon bring
together a number of interested spectators (for birds in
such circumstances seem truly to sympathise with
each other), and he is sometimes attacked with such
spirit as to be under the necessity of making a
speedy retreat."

Corvus Canadensis (the Canada jay) is by no means
so showy a bird as the former. It is described as
being " eleven inches long, and fifteen in the extent
of the wings ; back, wings, and tail, a dull leaden grey,
the latter long, cuneiform, and tipt with dirty white ;
interior vanes of the wings brown, and also partly
tipt with white ; plumage of the head low and pro-
minent ; the forehead and feathers covering the
nostrils, as well as the whole lower parts, a dirty
brownish white, which also passes round the bottom
of the neck like a collar ; part of the crown, and hind
head black ; bill and legs, also black ; eye dark
hazel. The whole plumage on the back is long,
loose, unwebbed, and in great abundance, as if to
protect it from the rigours of the regions it inhabits.

"A gentleman of observation, who resided for many
years near the North River, not far from Hudson, in
the state of New York, informs me that he has parti-
cularly observed this bird to arrive there at the

CORYPH.ENA.

153

commencement of cold weather; he has often re-
marked its solitary habits; it seemed to seek the most
unfrequented shaded retreats, keeping almost con-
stantly on the ground, yet would sometimes, towards
the evening, mount to the top of a tree, and repeat its
notes (which a little resemble those of the baltimore,)
for a quarter of a hour together ; and this it generally
did immediately before snow or falling weather."

Corvus ossifragus (the fishing crow). This is
another North American species, which is worthy of
notice on account of the peculiarity of its habits.
They are wholly aquatic birds ; and are scavengers
upon the numerous and productive waters of that
part of the world, especially of those which are near
the coast. They are birds of powerful wing for their
size, and furnished with large and crooked claws.
They hover along over the surface of the waters, and
are ever and anon twitching down to seize in their
claws any dead fish or other garbage that may be
floating. They are most abundant in the southern
part of the States, where the waters are more pro-
ductive ; they are understood to perch and nestle in
high trees near the waters ; and they are very com-
mon about fishing villages and fishing stations. It
does not. appear that they depend much on the land
for their food, or in any way injure its cultivated
produce. The following is the description : — they are
sixteen inches in length, and thirty-three in the stretch
of the wings ; black all over, with reflections of steel
blue and purple ; the chin is bare of feathers around
the base of the lower mandible. Upper mandible
notched near the tip, the edges of each turned in-
wards about the middle ; eye very small, placed near
the corner of the mouth, and of a dark hazel colour ;
recumbent hair or bristles, large and long ; ear
feathers, prominent ; first primary little more than
half the length, fourth the longest ; wings when shul
h within two inches of the tip of the tail ; tai
rounded and seven inches long from its insertion
thighs, very long; legs, stout; claws sharp, long am
hooked, hind one the largest, all jot black. Male anc
female much alike.

besides those which \vc have noticed there are
many species or varieties in different parts of the
world ; but the manners of them all arc very
similar ; and it is exceedingly probable the climata
varieties of those which are common with us, have
been described as different species.

CORYPH^ENA Coryphene; the dolphin of the
ancients. A genus of spinotis-finned fishes, with ab
dominal fins, situated immediately under the pectorals
and thus referrible to the thoracic fishes of the Lin
mean system ; but included in the mackerel family
(Soofnber6idce) in Cuvier's structural arrangement
They are numerous, and vary much in size, in colour
and in several other of their external appearances
but their generic characters are well made out, am
there is a good deal of similarity in the habits of then
all. The leading characters are : — The body corn
pressed, elongated, and covered with very small scales
the head short, and truncated on the upper part ; th
gill-lids smooth, and with seven rays in the gill-flap
the dorsal fin beginning immediately behind the head
and ranging the whole length of the back, its ray
of nearly the same flexibility throughout the whoL
length, but. those of the anterior part have no articu
l;ti'n>:i. All the members of this genus arc pelagi
fishes, enjoying free range of the wide sea, in the dee]
water rather than over the banks, remaining an

eeding near the surface. They arc generally splcn-
iid in their appearance ; and in point of colour, at
east, they are among the most beautiful inhabitants
the deep. The brilliancy of their colours vanishes
n death ; so that it is impossible to form any idea of
hem from museum specimens, how carefully soever
hese may be prepared and preserved.

This holds, indeed, with regard to all the more
splendid fishes; and, as the tints and lustres which they
display, have a transparency about them, which does
lot belong to even the finest colours of land animals,
so they have an evanescence, which renders it impos-
sible to form any idea of them, unless when they are
seen alive and in health. Those of this species, in
particular, pass through a number of beautiful rainbow
;ints, while they are in the agonies of death ; and this
was one of the reasons why the luxurious Romans
were so very fond of having coryphenes at their
sumptuous entertainments ; they did not, however,
serve up these fishes, at least in the first instance, in
the style in which fishes are served up at the tables
of modern epicures. The}' brought them to table
alive, so that the company might enjoy the luxury of
seeing them die. After this they were withdrawn,
cooked, and brought back again as an article of food.
Coryphenes are most abundant in the tropical seas,
though some of them are found in the Mediterranean,
but there are none in the polar seas, or, indeed, in
very high latitudes, though it is probable that they
extend farther into the southern hemisphere than the
northern. They are remarkable for energy of life ;
and the radiant and finely varying tints which they
display are living lustres, and add greatly to the
beauty of the wide soas.

When they are coursing over the sea in shoals,
which they generally do, though the shoal is never
of wearisome extent, and the bright sun of the tropi-
cal sky is beating on them through a thin and con-
tinuallv varying stratum of water, and when they
themselves are shooting along with the rapidity of
flashes of lightning, they form an exhibition, than
which there are few more beautiful in nature. Indeed,
gorgeous as are many of the flowers in tropical coun-
tries, and gay as are many of the birds, their colours
do not refract, and decompose, and reflect the light
and return it in such an endless variety of tints, all
liquid, as if they were molten in the element in which
the creatures live, as is done by the fishes.

The sublimity of the wide sea, and the steady trade
wind soon palls upon the sense ; and, as there is little
to be done on board ship in such places, and the heat
is relaxing to Europeans, a passage there would be a
very dreary matter, were it not for the sporting of the
fishes, and of the long-winged birds, which rival the
coryphenes in seeking their prey over the extensive
ocean.

In such situations a shoal of coryphenes presents a
rich treat to the spectator ; nor is it by any means a
passing glory, like a meteor in the sky, to be viewed
only for a moment, and talked of afterwards as a thing
of memory. They keep company with the ship for
days, and even for weeks, ranging along for hundreds
of miles ; and, though the rate of sailing is consider-
able, it is in fine weather nothing at all to the speed
of swimming in the coryphenes. They play round
and round the ship, now shooting a-head, now getting
astern, on the starboard at one time, and on the lar-
board at another. In every position of themselves
and the light they are brilliant ; but in no two posi-

154

CORYPHvENA.

tions of eitner one or the other are they exactly the
same. At one time they are gold, at a second eme-
rald, at a third sapphire, at a fourth amethyst ; then
they are carbuncle and ruby, and so on through every
imaginable colour, named or unnamed ; and in all they
have that radiance which we have mentioned as.among
living creatures, belonging only to the inhabitants of
the deep. Nor are these uniform changes of the
whole shoal ; for as they do not all maintain the same
posture, the same attitude, or the same depth in the
water, the whole of this variety is given to the eye at
once, so that it seems as if every varied beam into
which the utmost radiance of a tropical sun can be
divided were in continual play over them.

Then there is another part of the accompaniment
which, though it has not all the innocence of this
beautiful display of varied colours, is not without in-
terest in its own way. These fishes cannot perform
their rapid motions, so much exposed to the action of
the sun, without considerable waste of their system ;
for it is a law of nature, that powerful action, of what-
ever kind it may be, requires support and renewal of
substance in proportion to its energy. Hence the
coryphenes are exceedingly voracious, and it is their
voracity which makes them follow the ship with such
persevering assiduity. Not, of course, that they ex-
pect to eat the ship ; though they are not very par-
ticular as to the quality of what they swallow ; but
there is always some sort of fat thrown overboard, and
this forms the chief attraction which ships have for
those fishes that follow them.

It is singular how such an opinion of the acuteness
of smell in fishes could have originated, as the parties
have evidence of its falsehood constantly before their
eyes. Every one knows that there is nothing pecu-
liarly tempting to the olfactory nerves of a trout, in
an artificial fly or an artificial minnow, and yet, when
skilfully managed, these are as successful as real baits.
The very fishes in question too, and indeed the whole
mackerel family, seem to hesitate so short a time about
smells, that a bit of scarlet rag, tin plate, bright shell
or brass button, is taken by them just as readily as
any other bait. Even in some of the soft-finned fishes
wh'ich seem to have the olfactory nerves a little more
developed, there appears to be an equal incapacity of
distinguishing between what is food and what is not.
When the workmen were occupied in erecting the
light-house on the Bell- rock, they found the water
over some parts of that rock so thick of whitings that
they literally concealed the bottom for an extent of
many yards"; and they were as voracious as they were
numerous, and as heedless as either; for the men had
only to tie a crooked brass pin to the end of a bit of
string, and so draw up whitings in any quantity they
chose. But to return to the coryphenes.

All that these fishes can glean from the refuse thrown
overboard from a ship would, of course, not support
the millionth part of their number ; and consequently
they must be provided with other food, otherwise they
could not exist in nature. One staple article with
them is the flying fishes (see EXOCETUS), which they
pursue with nearly the same assiduity as the porpoise
pursues salmon, but with much greater success and
more splendid effect ; and, if any comparison could be
instituted between land predatory animals and sea
ones, one might say that the porpoise more resembles
a bear on the pursuit, and the coryphene more a leo-
pard ; for the porpoise is ugly in its colour, and lum-
bering in its motions, while the coryphene is swift

and beautiful. In both cases the prey, when the case
becomes one of extremity, attempts to escape by leap-
ing out of the water ; and, though the salmon falls
instantly, and, generally speaking, into the mouth of
its pursuer, while the flying-fish can keep in the air
a little, as if it were supported on wings, yet its flight
is short, and it not only increases the chance of being
captured bv the coryphene, but also subjects itself to
as great danger from another enemy, the albatross or
some other pelagic bird. Thus, it appears, that the
flying-fish has rather an under share of piscine enjoy-
ment. It is usually said that fishes, exempted from
the burden of themselves in the air, and also from the
vicissitudes of that element, have really nothing to
do but enjoy one continual feast by eating one an-
other ; for which feast their amazing fertility affords
a plentiful supply, in which all that man takes for his
use is not missed.

It is not supposed that the flesh of any species of
corypheno is poisonous; but, from the fleetness of their
motions it is hard, dry, and tasteless, yet that of many
of the species is eaten.

Cuvier divides the genus into several sub-genera,
which we shall barely notice : —

CORYPHENES, properly so called. These have tlio
body compressed, the head very much raised, the pro-
file arched, the outline descending very rapidly to the
muzzle, the eyes situated very low down, teeth on the
palate as well as the jaws, and they are of larger size
than the others. Their dorsal fin, which is very hand-
some, extends all the way from the nape to the tail ;
the caudal fin is forked in some, straight in others,
and in others again rounded or pointed.

Coryph&ne hippuris — common coryphene. This
is the largest species of the whole, attaining the length
of at least five feet. It occurs in the Mediterranean,
and also in the oceans near the tropics. Its dorsal fin
is long, with its edge nearly parallel to the line of the
body, and the fork in the tail is deep. The back is
bright sea-green, mottled with small orange spots ;
the belly is silvery ; the lateral line yellow, the dorsal
fin bright sky-blue, with gold coloured rays ; the
caudal fin greenish ; and all the remaining fins yellow.
This species is the dolphin of the ancient fables.

Three or more species have been enumerated by
systematic writers, as belonging to the forked-tail
subdivision of true coryphenes ; but it is exceedingly
difficult to determine what is a species, and what is
not, in fishes which are so active and so highly co-
loured ; and, as the difference between the one and
the other does not appear to relate much either to
structure or to manners, it is comparatively of little
importance. The statement usually made is, that
those species which occur to the south-eastward of
Asia are brighter in colours, smaller in size, and even
more rapid in their motions, than those which occur in
the Mediterranean and the Atlantic ; but their mo-
tions are so flat, and they are so seldom seen, that we
cannot come to any positive conclusions respecting
them. We may, however, just mention one or two of
the most beautiful of this species.

Coryphcena aurata (the golden coryphene). This
species is found in the Indian seas, is very rare, and
has not been met with of so large a size as the cory-
phene of the Mediterranean. Its dorsal fin is shorter,
and all blue without the gold-coloured rays. The tail
is deeply forked, and all over of the colour of polished
gold. The body consists of an endless variety of
brilliant colours, which it is not possible to describe.

C O T I N G A.

1*5

Coryphana Boryi. Tliis species is described as
inhabiting- the intertropical part of the Atlantic, and
as differing in its shape from both the former, it being
enlarged at the middle, so as to approach the form of
the rlat fishes. It has not been found more than two
feet in length ; and it is reported as affording more
savoury food than the others.

It is described as being the most beautiful of all
the h'shes. The dorsal fin is high at the fore part,
and gradually diminishes to the tail. It is of the most
brilliant ultra-marine blue, marked with bright lines
of rich indigo blue. The upper part of the head
is a rich brown, passing through very fine tints of
omerald green on the back into golden yellow on the
sides and tail. The margin of the yellow is delicately
marked with greyish ; and the belly is silvery. All
the fins, except the caudal and the dorsal are yellow.
The caudal is deeply divided, or rather it consists of two
separate fins attached to the extremity of the animal.

CoryphcEiia chrysurus — golden-tailed coryphene.
This species is found in the south sea. Its body is
very elongated. Its tail is of a remarkably brilliant
gold colour, the back azure, the dorsal fin blue, spot-
ted with yellow, the under part silvery, and all along
the upper part marked with lenticular spots of deep
blue, very numerous, and placed irregularly.

Coryplicpna lutea — yellow coryphene. This species
is described as being an inhabitant of the Indian seas,
chiefly yellow on the upper part, and silvery on the
under. Both this and the species immediately pre-
ceding, are described as being most assiduous in cap-
turing the different species of flying fishes. The
species with the tails straight or rounded, or lancet-
shaped, have chiefly been observed in the eastern
yens ; and it is probable that they ought not to be in-
cluded in this sub-genus, and some of them not in this
genus at all.

CENTKOLOPUS. This division of the genus have
two spinous prominences in front of the dorsal fin,
but the spines are so short that they can be felt only
by pressing the finger pretty strongly against the skin.
Their bodies are compressed, their scales small, their
head longer than that of the true coryphenes, but ob-
tuse at the muzzle. One species of this division has
acquired some celebrity, at least it possessed some
in ancient times on account of its attendance upon
vessels. This is,

Coryph&na pumpilux, so called as it forms part of
the cortege or train of the ship. It is about a foot in
length, diminishing in thickness towards the tail, feels
greasy to the touch ; its back is marked with yellow
bands, and there are golden yellow stripes above the
eyes resembling eyebrows. This species is found both
in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic.

LEPTOPODES. This division, like the former, has
dorsal prominences barely discoverable by the finger ;
but it differs in having the dorsal and anal fins run-
ning into each other, so as to form a pointed tail. —
There is only one known species (Leptopodes Ater),
which is a little fish, feeble, and timid. It is found in
the Mediterranean, in the deep water, during the
greater part of the year, but approaches the shore
about the month of August for the purpose of spawn-
ing. It is about six inches in length ; the general
colour is deep black, with violet reflections. Its muz-
zle is rounded, its eyes small, with golden irides. In
the spawning season it might be taken in any quan-
tity, but its flesh is soft and insipid, and good for
nothing.

There are many important particulars to be learned
from the careful study of those pelagic fishes which
range far and wide over the sea ; and no species of
them are calculated to afford us more information in
this respect than the mackerel family ; because they
live more exposed than almost any other fishes, and,
therefore, they serve better as indexes to the general
economy of nature in the sea. But in proportion as
their manners and the influence of varying seasons
upon them are important, they are difficult to be
studied ; because the sea is a wide surface, of which
man can see but a small part at once, and we do not
meet with the same inhabitants, or even the same
water, when we twice visit the same spot.

CoSSUS. A genus of lepidopterous insects,
belonging to the family HEFIATIDA:, which see.

COT1NGA — Ampelis. A genus of American
birds, belonging to the fly-catching tribe of the
dentirostral division of Cuvier's great order Passeres,
and ranged between the fly-catchers properly so called
and the bee-eaters. These birds were ranged by the
elder ornithologists, along with many others, in a very
extensive genus, but they have been since subdivided.
The cotingas, properly so called, all inhabit the rich
and humid forests of America. They are conspicuous
for the rich colours of their plumage, in which purple
and blue are the prevailing tints.

The characters are : (,he bill of mean length, a little
depressed, higher than wide, three cornered at its
base, flattened at its point, moderately hard ; upper
mandible convex, with a ridge on the culmen,. and
notched towards the point, which is curved ; the
inferior mandible a little flattened on the under side ;
nostrils at the sides of the base, round, half closed
with membrane and by some silky feathers ; feet of
mean size, three toes to the front, one behind ; the two
outside, in front, united to the second ; and the hind
toe the same length as the outer one ; wings rather
short, the first quill shorter than the second, which is
the longest in the wing.

As restricted by Cuvier, the genus Cotinga is a
very peculiar one, and does not contain a very great
number of species. The birds which compose it are
all of a wild and retiring character, shy and silent,
having nothing in their conduct or their sounds at all
corresponding to the brightness of their covering.
They are found only at those parts of America which
have a strictly tropical climate, and even in these,
they are confined to moist and shady situations which
abound with insects, though they are also understood
to live, in part, upon soft and sugary fruits. They
are not, however, so destructive to plantations as
many other birds that have the same mode of feeding ;
but though they are retiring, and also confined within
geographical limits, they are not absolutely stationary ;
yet, the only object of their little voyage is, to arrive
in certain places at the epoch in which the fruits they
subsist on are mature. In Guiana, the spots in
which they most delight, in those seasons when they
are seen near habitations, are humid places. It is an
error to suppose that they are destructive to the rice
grounds. From the peculiar conformation and absence
of solidity in their bill, it is impossible that they can
be granivorous birds. According to Sonnini, the
inhabitants do not eat their flesh, and if the stuffed
specimens often arrive in Europe in a bad state, this
is not the reason ; it is rather, because the feathers
not being very adherent, the tender skin requires a
degree of care in its preparation, which is not always

156

C O T T U S.

bestowed upon it in America. The size of the
cotinga varies from that of the raven to that of the
song thrush. The colours of the females are, in
general, much less rich than those of the males ; their
plumage is, indeed, frequently dull and dusky. The
habits of these birds, and the facts concerning their
reproduction, are very imperfectly known ; many
species, however, are known to make their nests on
the loftiest trees, and lay four or five eggs.

As the same parts of the forests in which these
birds nestle, are inhabited by climbing quadrupeds,
which are much disposed to plunder both eggs and
young, the birds take the precaution of building at
heights, and under circumstances of concealment,
which make their broods pretty safe, not only from
quadruped enemies, but from nest-plundering birds,
of which there are many species in the luxurious
forests of tropical America. Thus, the cotingas, in
their quiet way, contrive to get on as well in their
domestic economy as the most noisy tenants of the
forest. Their general history is a short one : they
live in the very richest places of the world, feed well,
wear handsome clothing, dwell in secure habitations,
and take as little fatigue as they possibly can. We
shall just mention one or two of the species.

Blue Cotinga. — Plumage bright azure, with the
exception of the head, neck, and breast, which are
rich purple ; the quills and coverts, and also the bill
and feel, are black. These are the colours of the
male bird , and the length is about eight inches and
a half. The female is of a blackish brown with
purple reflections on the under part, and each feather
slightly bordered with white. Head and under tail-
covert red. The young, while in their nest, in plumage
resemble the female. This species is found in Guiana.

Brazil Cotinga or Blue Riband. — This is a very
beautiful species, rather smaller than the former. Its
upper part is exceedingly bright azure blue ; the
under part rich violet purple, with a band of black
crossing the breast, the quills, and the coverts. The
bill and feet are black. The young have the under
part marked with small flame-coloured spots.

There are three or four species more, which appear
to be tolerably well defined and established, and
there are some others which are doubtful ; but, as we
have already sard, there is not much of interest in the
manners of the birds, nor would there be more to the
general reader in merely running over changes or
markings of colour, however beautiful.

COTTON, is the name of the plant, as well as of
the filaceous substance produced by the Gossypium,
Herbarium, Vitifolium, &c., of botanists. Linnsean
class and order, Monadetphia Polyandria, and natural
order, Maloacea:. Generic character : involucrum
large, three-cleft, persisting, segments heart-shaped ,
calyx goblet-shaped, five-toothed ; petals inversely
heart-shaped ; stamens united in a cylinder ; anthers
kidney-shaped ; style columnar ; stigmas three or
five ; seed-vessel three-celled and three-valved ; seeds
enveloped in wool. It is almost unnecessary to ob-
sewe, that this is one of the most useful plants known,
and not only to the warmer parts of Asia, where it is
cultivated, but to every other part of the civilised
world, whether favourable to its culture or not. As
an article of commerce and manufacture, it rivals the
fleeces of the northern latitudes, and perhaps employs
as much, or more capital, than any other branch of
trade whatever. For further particulars, see MAL-
VACEAE.

COTTUS (Bull-head). A genus of spinous-finned
fishes, belonging to Cuvier's division of Jouet
cuirassees, or fishes with hard plates on the cheeks,
and which he ranks immediately after the perch
family. The relations of the family will be pointed
out shortly in the article HARD CHEEKS, and more
at length in the general article FISH, so that we shall
only, in this article, have to notice the generic
characters, adding some short notice of the species,
particularly of such as are British.

The most general description which can be given
of this genus of fish is, — that they are all very small
and very ugly, and, at the same time, of little or no
use to man ; but, from their very general distribution,
they must answer some important purpose in the eco-
nomy of nature, and there is little doubt that they are
also of much indirect importance to the human race,
in affording food to larger and more valuable fishes.

The generic characters are : the head large and
depressed, furnished with hard plates on the cheeks,
which are variously armed with spines and tubercles :
two dorsal fins ; teeth in the advanced part of the
vomer, but none in the palatal bones ; six rays in the
gills, and three or four only in the ventral fins. They
have no air bladder.

The head is disproportionately large, flattened, and
has the eyes turned upward, which gives them an
unhandsome appearance ; their colours also are very
dull, and their skin is, in general, covered with a
mucous secretion, so that they slide through the
fingers of those who offer to catch them. They are
found both in the fresh waters and in the sea, but the
greater number are inhabitants of the fresh waters,
and these have the head always smooth and only
one spine on the gill-lid. They are, though small,
lively and active fishes, lurking under stones and in
small holes of the banks and bottoms, from which
they issue with great rapidity, and seize fry-worms,
the larvae of aquatic insects ; but as some of them
inhabit fresh water and others salt, and as the ones
that have these different haunts have also necessarily
different manners, it will be desirable to treat each
species by itself. Of the enumerated species, at least
five are natives of Britain ; and as, though they are
not of much value in an economical point of view,
they are of some curiosity as subjects of natural
history, we shall give some notice of each of them.

Coitus gobio, the river bull-head, miller's thumb,
tommy logge, and various other names. This species
seldom exceeds four inches or four and a half in
length ; its head, though flattened, is broad, but its
body is very slender. It is pretty generally distri-
buted over Europe, being Tound in most of the small
streams of fresh water from Italy to Russia ; but it is
found only in gravelly places, or, at least, where the
water is not impregnated with peat, and, for this
reason, it is not general in Scotland or in Ireland,
except in the north-east part of the country, where
there are no peat bogs. Its flattened head and hard
cheeks enable it to poke itself under stones ; and
thus, as its motions. are veryquick.it is not seen
without some difficulty. Those who are curious in
tracing the origin of popular names, suppose it is
called the bull-head in consequence of the size of its
head, though it probably receives this appellation as
much from its wrinkled front. " The miller's thumb"
has given rise to various other speculations. Some
have said that the thumb of a miller derives a parti-
cular shape, resembling that of the head of this fish,

C O T T U S.

157

from his thumbing the meal to try if it is properly
ground. But it is prohable that the mere i'act of the
fish being found preity generally in mill-streams may
have given origin to the name ; tor the head of the fish
is more like the thumb of a cobbler than that of a
miller. As this species is greasy to the feel and
insipid to the taste, and as it contains little flesh, good
or bad, it is not eaten in this country; but it is said
to be eaten in Italy ; and that, in some parts of the
north of Europe, it is hung up, exactly balanced, in
order that by the direction of its head it may tell how
the wind sets, which, of course, it does not do unless
exposed to the wind.

The particular characters of this species are : the
mouth wide, the jaws of nearly equal length, with
numerous pointed teeth in both jaws, and also on
the anterior part of the vomer ; the head spinous ;
pupils of the eyes dark blue, irides yellow; gills
ending in a flattened point ; a membrane between the
two dorsal fins ; rays of all the fins spotted ; upper
part blackish brown ; sides lighter, spotted with black,
under part white. This species deposits its spawn in
summer.

Coitus bubalis (father-lasher, long spined-cottus).
This is a very formidable looking fish, and from its
shape, its numerous spines, and a variety of other
peculiarities in its appearance, it is a fish of some
interest. It belongs to the cold seas rather than to
the warm ; and though it is rarely met with on the
British shores of more than from six to nine inches in
length, it grows much larger in the extreme north,
and the natives of Greenland are said to make a sort
of soup of it, similar to that which is made of the
haddock in Scotland. In ordinary cases the father-
lasher expires the moment it is taken out of salt
water and put into fresh, but by gradually passing
through the brackish water it is said to be able to
ascend the estuaries for the purpose of depositing its
spawn, which it does about the month of January. It
is by no means uncommon on the British shores, and
is frequently left, at low water, in small pools among
the rocks, and when it is attempted to be caught by
the hand it puts on rather a formidable appearance,
by distending its gill-covers, erecting the spines, and
making motions as if it were disposed to strike right
and left at any one who might attempt to seize it.

We know not what may be the cause, but there
are many parts of the east coast of Scotland where
this fish is more fequently found dead on the beach
than any other species; and as we have generally
met with its body upon gravelly beaches where the
current runs strong, it may be that it gets entangled
iimong the stones and stranded, or that the want of
an air-bladder may prevent it from managing itself
well in turbulent water.

Notwithstanding the frequency of the dead body
of this fish on the places of the coast that have been
alluded to, it is by no means a delicate fish, but on
the other hand remarkably tenacious of life. It is
well observed by Mr. Yarrell, in his work on British
fishes, now in course of publication, that the large-
ness of the gill-openings of fishes, cannot be the only
cause why they die soon when taken out of the water.
All fishes which have the gill-lid armed with erectible
spines, have more power over it than those which
possess no such armature ; and we may naturally
conclude, that they are able to move these with less
derangement to the fibres of the gills when 'these are
not supported in water.

The head of the father-lasner has some resem-
blance to that of a lurking predatory quadruped, with
its ears laid backwards against its neck, and prowling
for prey. The eyes are very near to each other, and
the sight directed vertically, their colour, black pupils
with yellow irides, gives them a little the air of
those of a wild beast ; and this is further heightened
by the elevation and straightness of the frontal ridges.
These ridges are continued quite to the nape, where
they end in two spines ; there are also four spines
upon the pre-operculum, of which the upper one is of
considerable length ; one on the scapula, and a clavi-
cular one on each side, and two on the nose. The
colour on the upper part is dark brown, mottled with
red brown, the under part is white. There has been
some confusion between this and another marine
species, although in appearance there is a good deal
of difference between them. This other species is —

Coitus scorpius (the sea scorpion, or short-spined
cottus). This is also an inhabitant of seas far to the
north, and understood to grow to a larger size in cold
latitudes than in those which are more temperate ; and
though it is not very likely, still it is possible that it
may seek the more southerly haunts for the purpose
of spawning. With us it is about the same size as
the other, and it is found abundantly in many parts
of the shore. In its general appearance it holds a
sort of middle place between the river bull-head and
the father-lasher. The head is large, more elevated
than that of the bull-head, with a prominent ridge
between the eyes and the snout, and a spine on each
side of it. There are no spines on the nape, but
there are three short ones on the pre-operculum, and
two on the operculum itself. The colour is nearly
the same as that of the former species, but the shape
of the fins is different, and the ventral fins are
attached, posteriorly, to the belly of the fish by a
membrane. It is understood that this species spawns
much later in the year than the father-lasher, which
latter species spawns in January.

Cottus quadricornus. This is also a northern species*
being much more frequent on the northern shores of
Europe than in the temperate countries, though it is
by no means rare on some parts of the east coast of
Britain ; and it is understood that this is about the
last fish that is met with in the extreme north. There
are four horned tubercles on the upper part of the
head, from which it gets the name of four horned. It
has three spines on the pre-operculum, and one only
on the operculum. The body of it is more elongated
than that of the other species ; the head is brown,
with some red on the gill-covers, the sides yellowish,
and the belly white ; the fins are finely clouded and
mottled. It grows to be a little larger than any of
the others, at least it grows longer ; but it is seldom
used unless as a bait for other fish.

This species comes much more rarely on the
British shores, so as to be taken in the pools at low
water, than any of the former; but it is not unfre-
quently met with by the fishers for sprats.

All the marine species of this genus are under-
stood to be voracious, and to feed chiefly upon the
fry of other fish, and upon small crustaceous animals,
which last they catch in great numbers among the sea
weed. They cannot be considered as giving any
very striking character to the places which they
inhabit, inasmuch as they arc but of diminutive size,
do not crowd in numerous shoals, and are of little
value. They have, however, a distinct geographical

168

COW-UUNTING.

locality, and therefore, they -must, in so far, form an
index to the general economy of nature in that
locality, if we could but once become acquainted
with their manners.

The allied tribes which used to be included in the
same genus, but are now separated from it, differ in
some of their characters ; but it may not be amiss
here to mention one of them which is still popularly,
at least, considered as a bull-head. This is,

Aspedorus Europceus, the armed bull-head or pogge,
the characters of which are : the body eight cornered,
covered with scaly plates, and tapering toward the
tail. The head thicker than the body, snout with
red coloured spines, and teeth in both jaws, but none
on the vomer. Two distinct dorsal fins, but smaller
than those of the former species. This is a northerly
fish also ; but in summer it is found in most of the
sandy bays, near the mouths of rivers on the east
coasts of Britain : it is small, not above six inches in
length, but its flesh is described as being firmer and
better than that of the true cotta.

COW-BUNTING, or CATTLE-BIRD (Molo-
thrus pecoris, Swainson). " There is one striking
peculiarity in the works of the great Creator," observes
Wilson, the historian of the birds of the United States,
" which becomes more amazing the more we reflect
on it, namely, that he has formed no species of animals
so minute, or obscure, that are not invested with
certain powers and peculiarities, both of outward con-
formation and internal faculties, exactly suited to
their pursuits, sufficient to distinguish them from all
others; and forming for them a character, solely and
exclusively their own. This is particularly so among
the feathered race. If there be any case where these
•characteristic features are not evident, it is owing to
•our want of observation ; to our little intercourse with
.that particular tribe ; or to that contempt for inferior
Animals, and all their habitudes, vvhich is but too
general, and which bespeaks a morose, unfeeling, and
unreflecting mind. These peculiarities are often sur-
prising, always instructive when understood, and, (as
in the subject of the present article,) at least amusing,
and worthy of being farther investigated."

"The American cattle-bird, the subject of the present
memoir, is a small bird, about the size of the European
sky-lark, and belongs to the natural family Sturnidte,
or starling tribe ; forming one of the many connecting
links between that family and the Fringillidce, or
finches. It is closely allied to the troopials (Aglaius},
or the genus to which the common red-winged black-
bird (as it is locally called) of North America belongs ;
but is even more finch-like, or rather bunting-like, in
its form, and so very peculiar and remarkable in its
habits and history, that it cannot exactly be classed
in the same division with any other known species.
The form of the bill is very nearly that of the true
bunting (Emberiza), but straighter, and more starling-
like in its outline ; and the general shape of the
body is about the same as that of the troopials,
only rather more finch-like ; its length is about seven
inches, and extent of the wings eleven inches. The head
and neck are of a very deep silky drab, and the upper
part of the breast a dark changeable violet ; the rest
of the bird black, with a considerable gloss of green
when exposed to a good light. Tail, slightly forked ;
legs and claws glossy black, strong and muscular ; iris
of the eye dark hazel. The female is, all over, of a
brown colour, somewhat paler underneath, and the
young male birds are, at first, altogether brown, and,

| for a month or more, are naked of feathers round th«
eye and mouth ; the breast is also spotted like that
of a thrush, with light drab and darker streaks. IB
about two months after they leave the nest, the black
commences at the shoulders of the wings, and gradually
increases along each side as the young feathers come
out, until the bird appears mottled on the back and
breast with deep black and light drab. At three
months the colours of the plumage are complete, and,
except in moulting, are subject to no periodical
change. The sexes also are alike in size, and do not
exhibit, in this respect, the remarkable disparity
which is observed in all the troopials.

" The most remarkable trait in the character of
this species is, the unaccountable practice it has of
dropping its eggs into the nests of other birds,
instead of building and hatching for itself, and thus
entirely abandoning its progeny to the care of
strangers. More than two thousand years ago, it was
well known, in those countries where the bird inhabits,
that the cuckoo of Europe (Cucu/us canurus'j" — See
CUCKOO — " never built herself a nest, but dropt her
eggs in the nests of other birds ; but, among the
thousands of different species that spread over that
and other parts of the globe, no other instance of the
same uniform habit has been found to exist," (save,
however, in one or two other species of L'HCHI'US,)
" until discovered in the bird now before us. Of the
reality of the former there is no doubt ; it is known
to every school-boy in Britain ; of the truth of the
latter I can, myself, speak with confidence, from
personal observation, and from the testimony of
gentlemen, unknown to each other, and residing in
different and distant parts of the United States."

These are the words of Wilson ; and, as those of
an original observer are always far better than any
abstract that can be made of them, we will here copy
his description of the habits of this singular species at
some length, intending also to give a rather detailed
account of those of the European cuckoo ; the pecu-
liarities of the one being found to throw not a little
light upon those of the other. " The circumstances,"
he continues, " by which I became first acquainted
with this peculiar habit of the bird are as follow : —

' I had, in numerous instances, found, in the nests
of three or four particular species of birds, one egg
much larger, and differently marked from those
beside it ; I had remarked, that these odd-looking
eggs were all of the same colour, and marked nearly
in the same manner, in whatever nest they lay, though
frequently the eggs beside them were of a quite
different tint ; and I had also been told, in a vague
way, that the cow-bird laid in other birds' nests. At
length I detectfd the female of this very bird in the
nest of the red-eyed fly-catcher, which nest is very
small, and very singularly constructed ;" (a neat
pensile nest, hung by the two upper edges, and very
firm and durable). " Suspecting her purpose, I
cautiously withdrew without disturbing her, and had
the satisfaction to find, on rny return, that the egg
which she had just dropt, corresponded as nearly as
eggs of the same species usually do, in its size, tint,
and markings, to those formerly taken notice of. Since
that time, I have found the young cow-bunting, in
many instances, in the nests of one or other of these
small birds. I have seen these last followed by the
young cow-bird, calling out clamorously for food, and
often engaged in feeding it ; and I have now. in a
cage before me, a very fine one, which, six months

CO W-B U N TI NG.

159

;vtro, I took from the nest of the Maryland yellow
tliroat, &c. * * * I claim, however, no
merit for a discovery not originally my own, these
singular habits having' long been known to people of
observation resident in the country, whose informa-
tion, in this case, has preceded that of all our school
philosophers and closet naturalists, to whom the
matter ha?, till now, been totally unknown.

" About the twenty-fifth of March, or early in
April, the cow-pen bird makes its first appearance in
Pennsylvania from the South, sometimes in company
with the red-winged blackbird," (or troopial, Aglains
pheeniceus,) " more frequently in detached parties,
resting, early in tiie morning, an hour at a time, on
the tops of trees near streams of water, appearing
solitary, silent, and fatigued. They continue to be
occasionally seen, in small solitary parties, particu-
larly along creeks and banks of rivers, so late as the
middle of June ; after which we see no more of them
until about the beginning or middle of October, when
they re-appear in much larger rlocks, generally accom-
panied by numbers of the red-wing*" (troopials) ;
" between whom and the present species there is a
considerable similarity of manners, dialect, and pcr-
.sonal resemblance. In these aerial voyages, like
other experienced navigators, they take advantage of
the direction of the wind, and always set out with a
favourable gale.

# # * # •

" From the early period at which these birds pass
in the spring, it is highly probable that their migra-
tions extend very far north. Those which pass in
the months of March and April, can have no oppor-
tunity of depositing their eggs here," (in the United
States,) " there being not more than one or two of our
small birds which build so early. Those that pass in
M-.iy and June are frequently observed loitering
about solitary thickets, reconnoitering, no doubt, for
proper nurses, to whose care they may commit the
hatching of their eggs and the care of their helpless
orphans. Among the birds selected for this duty are
the following. * * * The bluebird"
(Sialia Wilsonii}, " which builds in a hollow tree; the
chipping sparrow" ( Emberizoides socialis], "in a cedar
bush ; the golden-crowned thrush-pipit" (Scturus auri-
i-aj)illns\ "on the ground, in the shape of an oven ;
the red-eyed fly-catcher" (lrirct> olivacetis), "a neat
pensile nest, hung by the two upper edges on a small
sapling or drooping branch; the yellow-bird" (or
American gold-finch, Carduclis luteus], " in the fork of
an elder ; the Maryland yellow-throat" (Triclias per-
sonntus, a little bird somewhat allied to the European
hedge chanter), " on the ground, at the roots of
brier bushes; the white-eyed fly-catcher" (flreo
Noveboracetuit), " a pensile nest, on the bending of a
vine; and the small blue-grey fly-catcher" ( Culicivora
cterulcn), " also a pensile nest, fastened to the slender
twigs of a tree, sometimes at the height of fifty or
sixty feet from the ground. There are, no doubt,
others to whom the same charge is committed ; but
all these I have myself met with acting in that
capacity.

" Among these, the yellow-throat and the red-eyed
fly-catcher appear to be particular favourites, and the
kindness and affectionate attention which these two
little birds seem to pay to their nurslings, fully justify
the partiality of the parents.

" It is well known to those who have paid attention
lo the manners of birds, that, after their nest is fully

finished, a day or two generally elapses before the
female begins to lay. This delay is, in most cases,
necessary to give firmness to the yet damp materials,
and allow them time to dry. In this state it is some-
times met with, and laid in by the cow-bunting ; the
result of which, I have invariably found, to be the
desertion of the nest by its rightful owner, and the
consequent loss of the egg thus dropt in it by the
intruder. But when the owner herself has begun to
lay, and there are one or two more eggs in the nest
before the cow-bunting deposits hers, the attachment of
the proprietor is secured, and remains unshaken until
incubation is fully performed, and the little stranger
is able to provide for itself." There is a little here at
variance with the habit of the cuckoo of Europe,
which is, always to destroy whatever other eggs
there may be in a nest into which she introduces her
own ; any eggs, therefore, which are ever found
together with that of the cuckoo, have usually not
been laid till after its deposition ; never, in fact, but
in cases where the cuckoo had been disturbed, as she
sometimes is by the proper owners of the nest, before
she had had time to finish her operations ; an instance
of which was once observed by the writer of this. —
See CUCKOO.

" The well known practice of the young cuckoo of
Europe," continues Wilson, " in turning out all the
eggs" (?) " and young which it feels around it, almost
as soon as it is hatched, has been detailed in a very
satisfactory and amusing manner by the amiable Dr.
Jenner *, who has since risen to immortal celebrity in
a much nobler pursuit, and to whose genius and
humanity the whole human race are under everlasting
obligations. In our cow-bunting, though no such
habit has been observed, yet still there is something
mysterious in the disappearance of the nurse's own
eggs soon after the foundling is hatched, which
happens regularly before all the rest. From twelve
to fourteen days is the usual time of incubation of
our small birds ; but although I cannot exactly fix
the precise period requisite for the egg of the cow-
bunting, I think I can say almost positively, that it is
a day or two less than the shortest of the above-
mentioned species ! In this singular circumstance we
see a striking provision of the Deity ; for, did this egg
require a day or two more, instead of so much less,
than those smaller eggs among which it has been
dropped, the young it contained would, in every
instance, most inevitably perish ; and thus, in a few
years, the whole species must become extinct. On
the first appearance of the young cow-bunting, the
parent being frequently obliged to leave the nest to
provide sustenance for the foundling, the business of
incubation is thus necessarily interrupted ; the dis-
position to continue it abates ; nature has now given
a new direction to the zeal of the parent, and the
remaining eggs, within a day or two at most, generally
disappear. In some instances, indeed, they have
been found on the ground near, or below, the nest ;
but this is rarely the case.

" I have never known more than one egg of the
cow-bunting dropped into the same nest. This egg
is somewhat larger than that of the blue-bird" (that
is to say, about the size of that of the yellow-bunting
of Europe), " thickly sprinkled with grains of pale
brown on a dirty w hite ground — it is of a size propor-

« See Philosophical Transactions for 1788. Part 11.

1(30

COW- BUNTING.

tionahle to that of the bird" — the European cuckoo's
is not.

" So'extraordinary and unaccountable is this habit,
that I have sometimes thought it might not be
general among the whole of this species in every
situation, that the extreme heat of our summers,
though suitable enough for their young, might be too
much for the comfortable residence of their parents ;
that, therefore, in their way to the north, through our
climate, they were induced to secure suitable places
for their progeny ; and that, in the regions where
they more generally pass the summer, they might,
perhaps, build nests for themselves, and rear their
own young, like every other species around them.
On the other hand, when I consider that many of
them tarry here so late as the middle of June, drop-
ping their eggs, from time to time, into every con-
venient receptacle ; that in the States of Virginia,
Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania,
they uniformly retain the same habits ; and, in short,
that in all these places I have never yet seen or
heard of their nests, — reasoning from these facts, I
think I may safely conclude, that they never build
one ; and that in those remote northern regions their
manners are the same as we find them here.

" What reason nature may have for this extra-
ordinary deviation from the general practice, is, I
confess, altogether beyond my comprehension. There
is nothing singular to be observed in the anatomical
structure of the bird that would seem to prevent or
render it incapable of incubation" (nor is there in
that of the European cuckoo). " The extreme heat
of our climate is probably one reason why, in the
months of July and August, they are rarely to be
seen here ; yet we have many other migratory birds
that regularly pass through P&insylvania to the
north, leaving a few residents behind them, which,
without exception, build their own nests and rear
their own young. This part of the country also
abounds with suitable food, such as they usually
subsist on. Many conjectures, indeed, might be
formed as to the probable cause, but all of them that
have occurred to me are unsatisfactory and incon-
sistent. Future and more numerous observations,
made with care, particularly in those countries where
they most usually pass the summer, may throw more
light on this matter, till then, we can only rest satis-
fied with the reality of the fact.

" This species winters regularly in the lower parts
of North and South Carolina and Georgia ; I have
also met with them near Williamsburgh, and in
several other parts of Virginia. In January, 1809, I
observed strings of them for sale in the market of
Charlestown, South Carolina. They often frequent
com and rice fields, in company with the red-winged
troopials, but are more commonly found accompany-
ing the cattle, feeding on the seeds, worms, &c., which
they pick up amongst the fodder and from the excre-
ments of the cattle, which they scratch up for this
purpose"; which, be it remarked, is often the habit
of the European starling (Sturuus vulgaris). " Hence
they have pretty generally obtained the name of
Cow -pen-birds, Cow-Mrds, or Cow-blackbirds. By the
naturalists of Europe they have hitherto been classed
with the finches, though improperly, as they have no
family resemblance to that tribe sufficient to justify
that arrangement," &c.

" Respecting this extraordinary bird," says Wilson,
" I have received communications from various

quarters, all corroborative of the foregoing particulars.
Among these is a letter from Dr. Potter of Baltimore,
which, as it contains some new and interesting facts,
and several amusing incidents, I shall, with pleasure,
lay before the reader, apologising to the obliging-
writer for a few unimportant omissions which have
been anticipated in the preceding pages." The limits,
however, of this Cyclopaedia will not. allow us to
transcribe the whole of this highly interesting com-
munication ; we will select only a few of the more
important facts, but we heartily recommend the reader
to peruse the original, the details of which evince a
habit of patient investigation, and a degree of philo-
sophic caution, which naturalists in general would do
well to imitate.

" The cow-pen finch differs, moreover," says the
writer, "in another respect, from all the birds with
which I am acquainted. After an observance of many
years, I could never discover anything like pairing
or a mutual attachment between the sexes. Even in
the season of love, when other birds are separated
into pairs, and occupied in the endearing office of
providing a receptacle for their offspring, these birds
arc seen feeding in odd as well as even numbers, from
one to twenty, and discovering no more disposition
towards perpetuating their species than birds of any
other species at other seasons, excepting a promiscu-
ous concubinage which pervades the whole tribe."
The same obtains in the European cuckoo. " When
the female separates from the company, her departure
is not noticed ; no gallant partner accompanies her,
nor manifests any solicitude in her absence ; nor is
her return greeted with that congratulatory tender-
ness that so eminently characterises the males of other
birds. The male proffers the suine civilities to any
female indiscriminately, and they are reciprocated
accordingly, without exciting either resentment or
jealousy in any of the party. This want of sexual
attachment is not inconsistent with the general eco-
nomy of this singular bird ; for, as they are neither
their own architects nor nurse of their own young,
the degree of attachment thut governs others would
be superfluous. *

" By a minute attention to a number of these birds
when they feed in a particular field in the laying
season, the deportment of the female, when the time
of laying draws near, becomes particularly interesting.
She deserts her associates, assumes a drooping, sickly
aspect, and perches upon some eminence where she
can reconnoitre the operations of other birds in the
process of nidification. If a discovery suitable to her
purpose cannot be made from her stand, she becomes
more restless, and is seen flitting from tree to tree, till
a place of deposit can be found. I once had an
opportunity of witnessing a scene of this sort, which
I cannot forbear to relate : — Seeing a female prying
into a bunch of bushes in search of a nest, I deter-
mined to see the result, if practicable ; and knowing
how easily they are disconcerted by the near approach
of man, I mounted my horse and proceeded slowly,
sometimes seeing and sometimes losing sight of her,
till I had travelled nearly two miles along the margin
of a creek. She entered every thick place, prying
with the utmost scrutiny into places where the small
birds usually build, and at last darted suddenly into a
thick copse of alders and briers, where she remained
five or six minutes, when she returned, soaring above
the underwood, to the company she had left feeding
in the field. Upon entering the covert, I found the

COW- BUNTING.

161

nest of a yellow-tnroat" (Tr'n-has jwrwiuitus}, " with
an egg of each. * * * In the progress
of the cow-bird along the creek's side, she entered
the thick boughs of a small cedar, and returned several
times before she could prevail on herself to quit the
place ; and upon examination, I found a" species of
"sparrow sitting on its nest, into which she no doubt
would have stolen in the absence of its owner." We
may have occasion to refer to these observations when
we give the natural history of the European cuckoo.

"'The deportment of the yellow-throat on this
occasion is not to be omitted. She returned while I
waited near the spot, and darted into her nest, but
returned immediately and perched upon a bough
near the place, remained a minute or two and entered
it, again, returned and disappeared. In ten minutes
she returned with the male. They chattered with
great agitation for half an hour, seeming to participate
in (he affront, and then left the place. I believe all
the birds thus intruded upon, manifest more or less
concern at finding the egg of a stranger in their own
nests. Among these, the sparrow* is particularly
punctilious, for she sometimes chirps her complaints
for a day or two, and often deserts the premises alto-
gether, even after she has deposited one or more
egg.<." Many small birds will indeed eject an alien
egg from (lie nest. " The following anecdote will show,
not onlv that the cowpen finch insinuates herself
slily into ihe nests of other birds, but that even the
most pacific of them will resent the insult. A blue-
robin had built for three successive seasons in the
cavity of a mulberry tree near my dwelling. One
day, when the nest was nearly finished, I discovered
a female cow-bird perched upon a fence stake near it,
with her eyes apparently fixed upon the spot, while
the bulkier was busy in adjusting her nest. The
moment she left it, the intruder darted into it, and in
five minutes returned and sailed off to her companions
with seeming delight, which she expressed by her
gestures and notes. The blue-bird soon returned
and entered the nest, but instantaneously fluttered
back with much apparent hesitation, and perched
upon the highest branch of the tree, uttering a rapidly
repeated note of complaint and resentment, which
soon brought the male, who reciprocated her feelings
by every demonstration of the most vindictive resent-
ment. They entered the nest together, and returned
several times uttering their uninterrupted complaints
for ten or fifteen minutes. The male then darted away
to the neighbouring trees, as if in quest of the offender,
and fell upon a cat-bird," (Orpheus felivox,) " which he
chastised severely, and then turned to an innocent
sparrow that was chanting its ditty in a peach tree.
Notwithstanding the insult was so passionately re-
sented, I found the blue-bird had laid an egg the next
day. Perhaps a tenant less attached to a favourite
spot would have acted more fastidiously, by deserting
the premises altogether." We know, indeed, from
direct experiments, that when the egg of a stranger is
placed into a nest before any of the owner's eggs had
been deposited, the nest is most usually forsaken.

Some interesting observations follow, upon the
nature and disposition of the various birds into whose
nests the cow-bird's egg is commonly deposited, with
some remarks on the curious fact, that the eggs of the
owner of the nest are never hatched, as those always
are which accompany the cuckoo's egg. We need

* A very different bird from the sparrow of northern Europe.

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

not here transcribe all the detail of facts that is given,
but will come at once to the writer's conclusion.
" How do the eggs get out of the nest ? Is it by the
size and nestling of the young cow-bird ? This can-
not always be the case ; because, in the instance of the
blue-bird's nest in the hollow stump, the cavity was
a foot deep, the nest at the bottom, and the ascent
perpendicular ; nevertheless the eggs were removed,
although rilled with young ones ; moreover a young
cowpen finch is as helpless as any other young bird,
and, so far from having the power of ejecting others
from the nest, or even the eggs, that they are some-
times found on the ground under the nest, especially
where the nest happens to be very small. 1 will
not assert that the eggs of the builder of (he nest
are never hatched ; but I can assert, that I have
never been able to find one instance to prove the
affirmative. If all the eggs of both birds were to
be hatched, in some cases the nest would not hold
haJf of them ; for instance, those of the sparrow, or
yellow-bird. I will not assert that the supposititious
egg is brought to perfection in less time than those of
the bird to which the nest belongs , but, from the
facts stated, 1 am inclined to adopt such an opinion.
How are the eggs removed after the accouchement of
the spurious occupant? By the proprietor of the
nest unquestionably ; for this is consistent with the
rest of her economy. After the power of hatching
then is taken away by her attention to the young
stranger, the eggs would be only an incumbrance,
and therefore instinct prompts her to remove them.
I might add, that I have sometimes found the egg of
the sparrow, in which were miniatured young ones,
lying near the nest containing a cow-bird, and there-
fore I cannot resist this, conclusion. Would the
foster parent feed two species of young at the same
time ? I believe not. I have never seen an instance
of any bird feeding the young of another, unless im-
mediately after losing her own. I should think the
sooty looking stranger would scarcely interest a
mother, while the cries of her own offspring, always
intelligible, were to be heard. Should such a com-
petition ever take place, I judge the stranger would
be the sufferer, and probably the species soon become
extinct. Why the lex natitra; (•(jnxcrcalrijc should
decide in favour of the surreptitious progeny is not
for me to determine."

It will be seen upon a reference to our article
CUCKOO, that the ingenious writer was wrong in
some of these suppositions. We need not, however,
here forestall our account of the various facts which
we have to give concerning that interesting bird ; but
proceed now to copy Wilson's description of a cow-
bunting,which he reared in confinement, and must then
conclude our long account of this very singular species.
" In the month of July, I took from the nest of the
Maryland yellow-throat, which was built among the
dry leaves at the root of a brier bush, a young male
cow-bunting, which filled and occupied the w hole nest.
J had previously watched the motions of the foster
parents for more than an hour, in order to ascertain
whether any more of their young were lurking about,
or not ; and was fully satisfied that there were none.
Thev had, in all probability, perished in the manner
before mentioned. I took this bird home with me,
and placed it in the same cage with a Red-bird," (or
Cardinal grosbeak, Guanca cardinatis,) " who, at first,
and for several minutes after, examined it closely, and
seemingly with great curiosity. It soon became cla-

162

COW- PARSNEP — CRAB.

morous for food, and from that moment the red-bird
seemed to adopt it as his own, feeding it with all the
assiduity and tenderness of the most affectionate nurse.
When he found that the grasshopper which he had
brought it was too large for it to swallow, he took the
insect from it, broke it in small portions, chewed them
a little to soften them, and with all the gentleness
and delicacy imaginable, put them separately into its
mouth. He often spent several minutes in looking
at it, and examining it all over, and in picking off any
particles of dirt that he observed on its plumage. In
teaching and encouraging it to learn to eat of itself,
he often reminded me of the lines of Goldsmith —

" 'He tried each art, reproved each dull delay,
Allur'd to 'fav'rite food,' and led the way.' "

The sight, however, of a young helpless nestling
operates wonderfully upon the instinctive feelings of
most birds, however dissimilar may be the species, of
which a very striking instance has been already given
in our article BOTTLETIT.

" This cow-bird," continues Wilson, '• is now six
months old ; is in complete plumage ; and repays the
affectionate services of his foster-parent, with a fre-
quent display of all the musical talents with which
.nature has gifted him. These, it must be confessed,
are far from being ravishing ; yet, from their singu-
larity, are worthy of notice. He spreads his wings,
swells his body into a globular form, bristling every
feather in the manner of a turkey coek, and, with great
seeming difficulty, utters a few low spluttering notes,
as if proceeding from his belly; always, on these oc-
casions, strutting in front of the spectator with great
consequential affectation.

" To see the red-bird, himself so excellent a per-
former, silently listening to all this guttural splendour,
reminds me of the great Handel contemplating a
wretched catgut-scraper. Perhaps, however, these may
be meant for the notes of love and gratitude, which are
sweeter to the ear, and dearer to the heart, than all
the artificial solos or concertos on this side heaven."

Here we cannot but remark that the males of nearly
all sorts of polygamous birds exhibit some sort of
curious display in uttering their notes. Thus, the
grouse (Tetrao), spread their tails and strut, whilst
the nearly allied, but monogamous, ptarmigan (Lago-
pus\ do nothing of the kind. Almost all birds that
spread out their plumage, like the peacock and turkey,
are polygamous. Indeed, birds that never pair are
generally distinguished by supernumerary feathers, or
by having particular parts of their plumage unusually
produced. Thus, the Ruff (Machetes pugnax] is the
only known species of the sand piper and plover tribes
which is polygamous; and it is the only one which is
distinguished in summer by a remarkable develop-
ment of feathers about the head and neck. So the
bitterns are the only known polygamous birds of the
heron kind, and these are similarly distinguished. The
bustards also are polygamous, and the males of these
have accessory plumage in summer ; and common
poultry are polygamous, the males of which have many
feathers of their much produced. But the rule does
not invariably obtain : many pheasants and polyga-
mous species of ducks exhibit no kind of display, and
the monogamous partridges are not thus to be distin-
guished from the polygamous quails ; and inversely,
in certain humming-birds and others, which are known
to pair, the males have a very splendid display. The
rule, however, is sufficiently general to allow of its
being worthy of remark.

COW-PARSNEP is the Herackum sjihondyUum
of Linnaeus. This is one of our largest herbaceous
plants, and known by the provincial name of kex or
kexes. It is very common in damp meadows, and as
its seeds are always shed when hay is made, it is liable
to usurp too much room in the turf. Grazing the
meadow for a few consecutive years is the .best way
to get rid of it, because the leafy point of the stems is
nibbled off by the sheep as soon as they shoot up. It
is a very coarse plant in hay, though it docs not,
appear to be ungrateful to cattle. Cow-parsley is
another Heracleum, but which is a native of Siberia.

COWSLIP is the Primula verts and vu/garis of
Linnaeus. If any one plant is better known than
another it is this; every child knows the cowslip ; and
notwithstanding its being so common, and in favour-
able spots in such great profusion, it is always welcomed
and admired. There are several unnoticed varieties
of this plant; and it is allied to a numerous family, of
which the auricula, polyanthus, and primrose are the
chief; all which are described under the proper names,
and in that of the natural order to which they belong.
A kind of wine is made from the flowers of the cow-
slip, which, it is said, is particularly efficacious as a
febrifuge.

CRAB. The ordinary English name by which
many of the larger species of the Crustacea are dis-
tinguished, and to which in the Linnaoan system the
name of Cancer was applied. The term however is
not exactly synonymous with the latter name, as the
lobster, cray-fish, shrimp, prawn, &c., formed portions
of the LinnsDan genus. Since the time of Linmvus,
however, the study of these animals has greatly in-
creased, so that the two Linna^an genera, Cancer and
Monoculus, have been raised to the rank of a distinct
class composed of several orders, one of which, the
Decapoda, or ten footed Crustacea, comprises two
principal divisions, the Brachyura, or those of a
broader form and with short tails, and the Macronra,
having an elongated form and a more developed
abdomen. In the former division, the animals known
by the ordinary name of crabs are placed, whilst the
latter comprises the other species above mentioned ;
still, as if to show the total disagreement of the ordi-
nary terms in natural history with their scientific
limits, the king crab of the tropical seas belongs to a
totally different order of Crustacea than either of those
above mentioned, whilst even the hermit crab belongs
to the macroura.

Crabs are for the most part marine animals, fre-
quenting the rocky shores of the ocean, and having
the body generally broader than long, although in a
very few instances the reverse takes place. As,
however, the general structure of the crabs will be
found detailed under the article BKACHYDRA, we
shall here confine ourselves to a few general observa-
tions upon the habits of the order. We regret their
paucity, owing as it is to the very slight attention
which has been paid to the habits of marine animals.

This class of animals, as compared with that of the
true insects, is very limited in its extent, but many of
the species far exceed in size any of the great division
of annulose or ringed animals, whilst some of them
are very minute. They are found in all latitudes,
but are more abundant in the warm and temperate
climates than in more northern regions. Some genera,
as Ocypode, Gecarcinus, Uca, Grapsus, &c., frequent
more southern regions, being found in nearly equal
latitudes in the different parts of the old and new

CRABRO— C R AM BE.

work'.. Others, as the true crabs, Partunns, &c, are
more generally distributed, extending from the equator
to the polar circles.

The local habitations of these animals are, however,
very varied. Some few species of crabs penetrate to
a considerable distance inland, but are compelled to
return to the sea at the period of coupling and ovipo-
sition. Other species, although having the form of
the marine crabs, do not, emit the fresh water, as in
the Tflphusff. Again, amongst the marine species,
the majority do not quit the shores, whilst others are
found at great distances in the high seas, where they
can rest only on the floating banks of sea-weeds so abun-
dant in the tropics. And even in those species which
frequent the coasts, the same situations arc not con-
genial to them all; some, as the Dorippe and Inachi,
reside at great depths of the sea, from two to four
hundred feet, whilst others keep continually at the
surface of the waters, passing a great part of their
existence upon the shores continually washed by the
waves. Some species, again, frequent only the rocky
parts of the coast, abounding in madrepores and diffi-
cult of access, whilst others prefer sandy shoals, in
which they bury themselves.

Amongst the land crabs some species, as the
Ocypodc^ make deep burrows, at the mouth of which
they ordinarily take their station after the fashion of
sentinels, whilst some, as the Raniiuc, prefer more
elevated places, and sometimes even mount the roofs
of the huts of the Indians. The crabs are, moreover,
the most active animals of the class with reference to
their powers of walking, although the Maaroura cer-
tainly excel them in swimming. In those crabs which
run fastest the eight hind legs are alone employed,
and arc terminated by strong pointed hooks. They
walk with the same facility, forwards, backwards, and
from side to side, indeed in all possible oblique direc-
tions. They will also ascend inclined planes, and
even almost perpendicular surfaces, provided these
planes be not quite smooth. Many, as the Ocypode
and (irrarrini, are noted for their rapidity in running;
indeed it is said that a. man at full speed would be
unable to overtake them. Many species of crabs
walk with much less agility than the others, being
more decidedly aquatic. They are therefore provided
with dilated legs, having the margins furnished with
rows of hairs, which are thence converted into natural
oars, and by the assistance of which these species are
able to perform the same motions in the water as the
others do on the shore, and in equally varied direc-
tions. Such are the Podophlhalmi, ^'lututcc, Portuni,
&c., which have hence acquired the name of shuttle
crabs, Cancer vocans.

Crabs are in general very courageous, and when
their retreat is cut off they stretch out their claws,
and endeavour to nip with them, which they do
with much force, owing to the size of these parts.
Some species, in shutting these claws with violence
and rapidity, produce a strong sound ; and as they
hold their claws in the air with which they make
this noise, they have fancifully obtained the name ol
Calling Crabs.

Crabs, fcs well as the generality of the class Crus-
tacea, feed upon animal matter, especially when in a
state of decomposition. Dead bodies, floating upon
the surface of the waves, or cast upon the shore by
them, are immediately covered with these animals,
and there is every reason to suppose that they are
attracted by their powers of scent, although the seat

of this sense is not known. Some of the carnivorous
crabs even attack living prey, and fight fiercely in
order to procure it. In these combats they often lose
their claws, which are however soon reproduced, but
they never attain the same size as previously. This
reproduction of the limbs is one of the most curious
circumstances connected with the class, and respect-
ing which we shall give further details in our obser-
vations upon the class. In like manner \v.: shall
reserve the account of the transformations which
these animals have recently been asserted to undergo
by Mr. J. V. Thompson, in his valuable Zoological
Researches, as well as an account of the periodical
moulting undergone by them.

CRABRO (Geoffrey). A genus of hymenopterous
insects synonymous with CIMBEX.

CRABRONIDjE (Leach). A family, or perhaps
rather a sub-family, of hymenopterous insects belong-
ing to the section Aculcata and subsection Fossores or
false wasps. The head is large and nearlv square,
seen from above; the antennae often gradually
thickened at the tips ; the abdomen oval or elliptic,
broadest at the middle, or narrowed at the base into
a peduncle. The insects introduced into this family
may be divided into two distinct sections with refer-
ence to their natural habits,which are verv interesting :
first, the true burrowers, which form their own nests,
either in the sand or in decayed rotten posts, and
similar situations ; these have the fore-legs in gene-
ral armed with strong spurs to enable them to perform
their laborious operations in the construction of their
nests ; and, secondly, the species which are destitute
of these spurs, and which consequently being unable
to make their own nests, deposit their eggs in the
nests of the other species, and in which the parent
fly has already deposited a supply of food consisting
of other insects, upon the bodies of which, as well as
also (in all probability, although the point has not yet
been decided) upon the real inhabitant of the cell, the
larvae hatched from the eggs thus surreptitiously
introduced into the cells feed. The genera are, Try-
poxylon, Latreille, which provisions its nest with
small spiders ; Gorytes, which are considered para-
sites ; Crabro, which generally burrow in wood, and
provision their nests with the caterpillars of small
moths found upon the oak, as well as with dipterous
flies*. Some of the male have the anterior tarsi dilated
into a curious circular plate ; Stigmus and Pemphrcdon,
which burrow in sand, one of the species of the latter
burying numbers of plant lice for the food of her
future progeny ; Mellintis, All/son, Psen, Philanthus,
the larva of which is supplied with bees ; and Cer-
ceres (which see for a more detailed account of the
habits of the last two genera).

CRAMBE (Linnaeus). A genus of herbaceous
perennials, one of them a native of Britain, and
known by the name of sea-kale. These plants belong
to the class Tctradynamia, and natural order Cruciferae.
Sea-kale is found wild on sandy shores, and as it
rises with large succulent shoots and unexpanded
leaves early in the spring, had been long used as a
substitute for young cabbage by the country people
in those places where it was plentiful. Near four-
score years back it was brought, though partially,
into garden culture ; but was in little esteem till about

* We liave just noticed one of the species of this genus flying
rilont; with a crane fly, larger than itself, the legs ol' which It
had previously cut off.

L -2

164

CRAMBUS — CRANBERRY.

1794, when being then found to be no bad substitute
for forced asparagus, particularly at the best tables in
the city oi' Bath, it came suddenly into high repute,
and consequently has been extensively cultivated
ever since as well in public as in private gardens.
The ease and certainty with which it may be forced,
so as to have a regular supply throughout the winter,
is an additional recommendation, and especially, as it
is found to be a suitable supper dish for persons of
weak constitutions, and who cannot, at that meal,
partake of any kind of animal food.

The plant may be grown luxuriantly in any soil,
provided it is loose enough ; but its excellence, as a
condiment, depends not on its bulk, but on its mild
flavour, and therefore means must be taken to grow
it in the poorest soil, even pure sand, in order that
the naturally rank cabbage flavour may be corrected.
Sea-kale is usually cultivated on beds or borders
in any open part of the garden. The body of the
bed may be composed chiefly of sea or river sand, to
the depth of twelve or fifteen inches. The surface of
the bed may be four or five inches lower than the
general level of the ground when the seeds are sown
or when roots are planted, and then covered with an
inch of pure sand. When seeds are used, they are
dropped along the middle of the bed in patches, two
feet from each other, three or four good seeds
together. If they all rise, reduce to two or three at
each place, and in the future management, it should
be endeavoured to keep the crowns of the plants
always as low and near together as possible, for the
purpose of covering them with pots or otherwise,
when necessary.

The roots, particularly on the upper parts, are
thickly studded with buds, so that, notwithstanding
the annual loss of the crowns, other shoots are soon
afterwards produced from below. This peculiar pro-
perty of the roots rentiers a new plantation of sea kale
easily made, and which will come as soon into use as
if seed had been sown. Either method may, there-
fore, be followed ; and before the winter sets in, the
plants will have arrived at a considerable size. All
the shoots have a tendency to rise, and the crowns
which are to be relied on for the following year's crop,
will remain an inch or two 'higher than the surface
after the leaves are shed. This circumstance requires
that the crowns be covered with an additional layer
of sand, through which the young eatable shoots will
protrude in the spring of the following year. If it
be wished to have any strong stools, refrain from
cutting any in the second year; but if the plants have
grown vigorously the first year, a few dishes may be
taken without injury.

Many schemes have been practised to induce an
early growth of the shoots, because, if the kale do not
come in before asparagus.it will be but little esteemed.
Deep coverings of pure sand, of coal culm, of decayed
light dung or leaves of forest trees, to the depth of
a foot or more, have all been used with various
success. One of the most common modes is covering
the crowns with large garden flower pots, and heap-
ing around and upon these, a ridge of hot stable dung
that has been previously prepared by frequent turnings
to dissipate the rank steam and heat. The heat im-
parted from the covering excites the plants into
action, and by this means sea-kale may be had in
any of the winter or spring months, provided the
beating substance be applied seven weeks before the
hale is wanted.

Other and equally efficient plans for forcing the
crop have been executed. Single rows of plants are
put in along the middle of two-feet-wide beds, having
two-feet-wide alleys between. The alleys are dug
out to the depth of eighteen inches, and the sides of
the beds are kept up by open or pigeon-holed brick-
work. Six or seven weeks before the kale is wanted,
any required length of the beds have the alleys filled
with hot dung, and the crowns being covered with
pots, hand glasses, or wooden troughs, made for the
purpose, and covered over the crowns with additional
coverings of mats in severe weather, brings up the
shoots expeditiously and in their purest state, neither
tainted by the effluvia of the dung, nor discoloured or
soiled by any matter in contact with them. Neither
air or light are necessary to the shoots ; perfect
blanching not only improves its appearance when
dressed, but its flavour also in a considerable degree.
It may be repeated, that its excellence entirely
depends on the poverty of the soil in which it is
grown, and its perfect etiolation. Sea-kale may be
raised on very rich soil and of very great size ; but
few ladies could sit at the table on which it is served
up.

But this plant may be conveniently forced in pots,
either in a hot-house, hot-bed, or even in any warm
corner of a kitchen. Large pots are filled with stout
roots among light earth or sand ; another pot of the
same size is inverted over the first ; in this dark
prison the shoots are produced, equal in delicacy,
though not in quantity, as they can be by arty other
means. The proper temperature for sea-kale experi-
ence has taught is about 55° of Fahrenheit.

CRAMBUS (Fabricius). An extensive genus of
small lepidopterous insects, respecting the family of
which there is some uncertainty, Mr. Stephens placing
them in the Tineidce, Mr. Curtis in the Pyralidte, and
Latreille forming them into a family termed Crambitcs.
They are very active, abounding in pastures, and
amongst grass, upon the stalks of which they generally
rest with their heads downwards and their wings
very closely applied, in a convoluted manner, to their
bodies,so that they were originally termed close-winged
moths, their appearance being nearly that of a cylinder.
They take flight very readily at our approach, but
soon settle again. The upper wings are long and
narrow, their antennae simple, the labial palpi are
stretched forwards, the maxillary spiral tongue is long
and slender, and the maxillary palpi very distinct and
raised in front. There are nearly forty British species,
including the type Phalcenn Pascuella, Linnaeus. Some
of them are so exceedingly abundant that scores are
disturbed in certain situations at every step. We do
not remember ever to have met with them in such
abundance as in the month of August on the exposed
sides of the Hill of St. Catherine, at the back of the
Isle of Wight. Their colours are pale, and they are
often ornamented with silvery markings.

CRANBERRY, is the Oxycoccus Palustm of
Persoon, and the Vaccinium Oxycoccus of Linnseus,
a common British plant, found on turfy bogs. The
fruit of this plant is very generally employed as a
kitchen article for tarts. Both the British and
American long-fruited cranberries are gathered for
sale, and large quantities are annually imported from
North America.

The late Sir Joseph Banks advised the garden
culture of the American species, and several gardeners
have been extremely successful in the attempt. Much

CRANE FLY— CRASSATELLA.

165

depends on the possession of a suitable site to grow
the cranberry. A piece of turfy bog-, by the side of
a pond, is the natural situation ; or an artificial
border of bog-earth may be formed, on which there
may be no fear of the plant succeeding. This latter
project, however, can only be justitied by comparing
the cost of home-growth with that charged by the
retailers of the fruit in this country.

CRANE FLY, one of the names by which the
larger species of the dipterous insects belonging to
the family Tipitliclat are generally termed ; they are
also called daddy long legs, tailors, &c. They are
very abundant in pastures, especially at certain sea-
sons of the year, as at the end of the summer, when
they rise in swarms on being approached. Their long
le<rs are of great service to them in enabling them to
make their way through the long grass, but these limbs
are so slightly attached to the body, that they fall off
at the least touch, and the insect flies off, leaving them
in the hand when seized, with as little apparent care as
though nothing had occurred. Now if this violent
deprivation of the limbs were to happen in the higher
animals, what would be the result ? Is it not certain
that death would be the result ? And is it not equally
clear, that as this does not occur with the insect, that
the general construction of the two sets of animals is
so. completely distinct, that it is impossible for us to
judge with precision as to their feelings or senses,
which, in all probability, (may we not rather say,
absolutely necessarily,) are quite distinct from our
own ?

The long legs of these insects are likewise very
useful to them at the period of depositing their eggs,
at which time the body is carried in a perpendicular
position, supported by the legs ; the abdomen is
terminated by an acute point formed of two horny
spines, between which the eggs are protruded. This
ovipositor is thrust by the insect into the earth, in
which the eggs are placed, and as each female lays
several hundred eggs, it is curious to see it when
engaged in this operation, raising its body up and
down, laving an egg each time its tail touches the
ground. In this manner it proceeds for a considerable
space without ever assuming an horizontal position.
The larva; hatched from these eggs are fleshy grubs
without less, having the mouth furnished with two jaws,
and several other organs, and the tail armed with several
spines. These larvae are very injurious byattacking the
roots of the herbage, amongst which they have been
hatched, and causing the plants to die. And as the
eggs are placed so close together, it is not surprising
that the larvte are exceedingly numerous, when this
is the case, the whole surface of the ground is of
course entirely stripped. When these larvae have
attained their full size, they are transformed into
quiescent pupie, which, previous to assuming the
perfect state, perform the same manoeuvre of pushing
part of their bodies above the surface of the earth, just
as we have described the proceedings of the cossus,
the cause of which is the same in each case.

CRANE'S BILL is the Geranium of most authors.
This well-known genus is found inhabiting the
northern parts of Asia and Europe, with a few
stragglers in North America and South Africa.
Nearly twenty species are found in Britain, the
principal part of which are herbaceous perennials.
Many are ornamental, but none are useful ; at least
their virtues are unknown. See GERANIUM.

CRANGON (Fabricius). A genus of crustaceous

animals, belonging to the order Dccapoda, section
Macroura, and family Palannonidce, having for its type
the common edible shrimp (Cancer Crangon, Linnaeus ;
Crangon viti'gftris, Fabricius). The two anterior legs
are terminated by a moveable claw ; the second pair
of legs are didactyle, slender, and rather longer than
the preceding ; the rostrum of the shell is short, and
the shell itself smooth ; the abdomen is rounded ; the
wrists not annulated, and the legs not provided with
a basal appendage. There are several species of this
genus, but the most common and best known is that
above mentioned, and which is found in great pro-
fusion swimming in shoals near the shores with great
agility upon their backs. Immense numbers of them
are eaten, especially by the inhabitants of the western
coasts of Europe. They are caught by means of a
large open net, held at the end of a long stick, by
women and boys, upon our sandy shores. They are
are also employed as a bait for several kinds of fish.

CRANIA (Cuvier, Lamarck ; ANOMIA, Linnaeus).
Linnaeus included this in his genus Anomin, from
which Bruguiere first separated it, pointing out its
distinctive characters. The shell is inequivalve,
nearly round, and most generally affixed by its lower
or inferior valve. The three indentations, or holes,
which are on the internal surface of this valve, appear
only to penetrate it, in consequence of the violence
necessarily used to detach it from the substance to
which it affixes itself by the external surface. La-
marck, therefore, does not consider them to be the
apertures through which the animal protrudes certain
muscles, in the manner of the Anomia cjihippium, but
merely depressions or cavities in the lower valve of
the shell, while it remains closely adhering to any
marine body. These holes or cavities give the shell
the appearance of a human skull. In some respects
it seems allied to the Terebratukp, while the form of
it, and being affixed by the inferior valve, would indi-
cate an alliiince with the genus Orbicuhi. The writer
has seen this shell attached to the root of the red
coral, but very rarely with both the valves perfect.
In Sowerby's genera of shells, this genus is ably and
very minutely described.

Another distinction between this genus and the
Orbicnla is, that the latter are only held in the fis-
sures of rocks, or slightly adhere to them by some
muscular fibres of the animal, while the Crania has the
whole of one valve in immediate contact with the
object to which it adheres.

The animal is not sufficiently known to be accu-
rately described. The Crania personata is the only
species of this genus known : it is so named from its
resemblance to a mask. It is classed by De Blain-
ville in the third class Acephalophora, first order Pal-
tiohraiichiata.

CRASSATELLA (Lamarck; MACTRA, Gmelin).
A great affinity exists between this genus of molluscs
and those of the Mactraand Lulraria, it having, like
them, the ligament of the valves internal, and attached
to the primary cavitits of each valve ; but when closed,
they fit exactly, and do not gape as in those genera.
In some species the ligament is partially visible on
the exterior, but less so than in the genus Amphidcsma.
The shells of this genus are generally thick and very
ponderous — whence the name ; they are striated lon-
gitudinally, denticulated, regular, subtrigonal, equi-
valve, inequilateral, the summits clearly defined, and
evidently curved forward, the lunule and corselet very
distinct ; hinge very large, sub-similar, formed by two

CRASSINA— CRAT/EGUS.

cardinal teeth, divergent, separated by a deep cavity;
two muscular impressions round, distant, united by
the marginal ligula, without any trace of posterior
sinuosity ; the impression of the retractor muscle dis-
tinct. There are eleven species described, all from the
Australian seas, and it is somewhat remarkable that
many fossil species are found in France, and no where
else.

CRASSINA (Lamarck; ASTARTE, Sowerby). In
appearance this shell resembles a small crassatella,
being thick and solid, the valves closing in every part,
but it is distinguished from it by the position of the
ligament. It cannot either be mistaken for a species
of venus, since, on a comparison, it is found to pos-
sess not more than two teeth on each valve, and even
appears to have but one, very large, on the left valve,
the other projecting but slightly. The shell is or-
bicular, transverse, equivalve, sub-inequilateral, and
closed. Hinge with two divergent teeth, and two on
the other very unequal. Ligament external, and
placed on the longest side. The name of this genus
has been properly changed by Sowerby, several spe-
cies of this mollusc having been described under that
name, previously to Lamarck's adopting that of cras-
sina, a circumstance he either overlooked or was ig-
norant of. The Venus Danmoniensis of Montague
illustrates this genus.

CRASSULA (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of
greenhouse succulents, natives of the Cape of Good
Hope, Linnsean class and order, Pentandria Penta-
gynia ; and natural order, Crassulacece, Generic
character : calyx tubular, and five-parted ; petals
connected at the base, and bearing the stamens ;
five nectariferous scales below the germen ; seed-
vessel five-pointed, bursting inwardly, many-seeded.
The crassulas are mostly what are called under, or
half shrubby plants, with thick fleshy leaves, and
many of them bear showy flowers. Like all other
succulents, they thrive best in a dry soil, mixed with
lime rubbish, to allow of water draining quickly away
from the roots. Cuttings strike readily, if allowed
to dry for a day or two after they be cut, that the
fresh wound may be somewhat dried before placing
in the soil.

CRASSULACE^E— the house-leek family. A
natural order of dicotyledonous or exogenous plants,
containing nineteen known genera, and nearly three
hundred species. In its succulent stem and leaves
this order resembles Cactca: and Portulacece. It bears
an affinity to SaxifragecE and Illecebrece, but differs
from these orders in its hypogynous scales. There
is no instance of a double flower in the order.

Its essential characters are : sepals from three to
twenty, more or less united at the base ; petals equal
to them in number and alternate with them, inserted
into the bottom of the calyx ; stamens inserted with
the petals, either equal to them in number and alter-
nate with them, or twice as many, those opposite the
petals being shortest ; filaments distinct, awl-shaped ;
anthers of two cells bursting longitudinally ; a hypo-
gynous nectariferous scale at the base of each ovary ;
ovaries of the same number as the petals, opposite to
them, placed in a circle, distinct, one-celled, tapering
into stigmas ; several one-celled carpels opening lon-
gitudinally and internally ; seeds attached to the
margin of the suture, varying in number ; albumen
thin, fleshy ; embryo straight ; radicle turned towards
the hi hi in.

The plants belonging to this order are succulent

herbs or shrubs with fleshy entire, or pinnatifid
leaves, and sessile cytnose flowers which are often
unilateral

They are found most abundantly at the Cape of
Good Hope. They are also met with in Europe,
North and South America, Siberia, the East Indies,
and New Holland. None of the species inhabit the
West Indies. They grow on dry arid situations,
such as naked rocks, old walls, and sandy plains, where
there is scarcely any other kind of vegetation. They
imbibe nourishment by their whole surface, and do
not depend for it on the soil in which they grow. In
their properties they are refrigerant, and sometimes
acrid.

The chief genera of the order are, Crassula, Sem-
pervivum, Sedum, Cotyledon, Umbilicus, Ttilcea, Globrir
lea, Rochea, and Rhodiola.

Of the genus Crassida there are several species,
some of which are cultivated in our greenhouses on
account of their beauty.

The genus Sempervivum (live for ever) derives its
name from the tenacity of life which is exhibited by
its species. Sempervivum tectorum, common house-
leek, is frequent on the tops of cottages in this coun-
try, and is often regarded by the country people with
feelings of veneration. Its leaves are cooling and
astringent, and when mixed with lard or oil are
applied to burns, and wounds. They contain malic
acid combined with lime. The fishermen of Madeira
rub their nets with the Sempervivum glutinosum in
order to render them hard and durable.

Sedum telephium, orpine, or live-long, is common
on borders of fields and near hedges in Britain. It
was formerly considered valuable as a vulnerary.

Sedum acre, biting stone-crop, or wall-pepper, is a
common British plant. All parts of it are acrid and
pungent. The expressed juice is emetic and purga-
tive, even in small doses. The plant has been used
as an antiscorbutic. In Germany it is applied to
swellings of the joints, sometimes with considerable
benefit. It is a plant which botanists find great diffi-
culty in drying. It will continue to vegetate under
great pressure applied at a high temperature. Its
vitality must be destroyed by being dipped in boiling
water before any attempt is made at exsiccation.
The young shoots of Sedum album are boiled and
used for food in some parts of France. Sedum
rupestre and reflexwn are cultivated in some parts of
Holland and Germany for the purpose of being mixed
with lettuce as a salad. The leaves of the Umbilicus
pendulinus, wall pennywort, are applied externally
as a cooling remedy. Rhodiola rosea, rose root, is so
called in consequence of its large root, when dry,
yielding a smell similar to that of roses. It is com-
mon on wet rocks in different parts of Britain, par-
ticularly on the Scottish mountains. It is sometimes
cultivated in gardens, and is the badge of the clan
Gunn.

CRAT^EGUS (Linnsus) is the generic name of
the well known hawthorn. It belongs to the twelfth
class Icosandria, and to the natural order Rosaceat.
The species are mostly natives of the colder parts of
America and Europe. The common hawthorn is one
of our most beautiful wild shrubs, and universally used
as a hedge plant, making an excellent fence, it being
self-defended by its thorns, as well as by its stubborn
and hardy constitution. There are six ornamental
varieties of the common hawthorn, one or two of
which bear red or crimson flowers, and which when

CRAT.EVA— CREPIDULA.

167

in bloom arc most attractive objects. The fruit of some
of the species, as the azarole, are esteemed in the
dessert in the south of Europe, and many are cultivated
as ornamental plants in shrubberies. The common
sorts are propagated by seeds, the ornamental species
bv gvat'tiiis: on the common.

CRATJBVA (Linnaeus). A genus of East and
West Indian ornamental trees. The fruit of one
species in the West Indies is called the garlic pear,
from some similar quality. Linmean class and order
l}odccandria Monogynia, and natural order Cajyparideee.
Generic character : calyx of four sepals, deciduous ;
petals clawed, limb often deflexed ; stamens inserted
in a glandular disk surrounding the germen ; filaments
very long ; anthers linear, and somewhat curved,
margined at the base ; germen on a long footstalk ;
style none; stigma sitting; berry many-seeded.
These plants are kept in our stoves; thrive best in
u rich soil, and are propagated by cuttings.

CRATERINA(Olfers; STENEPTEKYX, Leach). A
curious genus of dipterous insects belonging to the
section Pupipara (or the order Omaloptfra of Leach),
and family Hippoboscidce, or spider flies, and dis-
tinguished from Hippobosca by having the wings
very long, and so narrow that it seems impossible
that they can be employed by the insect as. organs
of locomotion. This family of' insects is very curious
both in their habits and structure. The females,
instead of laying their eggs in the usual manner,
retain them within the body, not only until the
larva is hatched, but also until it has attained its
pupa form, in which state it is deposited by the
parent fly. These insects are parasitic upon various
animals. The only species, however, of which the
present genus is composed (Hippobotca Hirundirus,
Linuams), infests the swallow, arid, from its large size
and the number of individuals sometimes observed
upon a single bird, it is evident that they cannot be
otherwise than exceedingly troublesome, and even
dangerous to this poor bird. The structure of the
mouth is very remarkable ; it is formed for suction,
and comprises several acute bristles.

The nests of the swallow are also equally infested,
the insects sucking the young birds as soon as
hatched.

CRAY FISH. A crustaceous animal, belonging
to the order Decapoda, and section Macroura, and
forming the genus Potamobius of Leach, although
Desmarets and others unite it with the lobster in the
genus Astacns. See ASTACID^E. An idea of this
animal may be obtained from our figure.

Cray-fish.

^ The cray fish is found in the fresh waters of
Europe and the north of Asia. It. secretes itself
under stones and in holes in the banks, from which
it only comes forth to take its food, which consists of
molluscous animals, small fishes, and decaying animal
matter. It is said to attain to the age" of twenty

years, its size gradually increasing all the time, as
each year, at the end of the spring, it sheds its outer
covering, shonly after which it is found encased in a
fresh coat as firm as the old one, and much enlarged,
sometimes having increased as much as one-fifth in
its size.

The female deposits her eggs two months after
impregnation, these she retains for a considerable
time beneath her abdomen, keeping them in such
situation by means of a viscid matter with which
they are covered, and by which they are attached to
the false, or swimming legs, with which this part of
the body is furnished in its under surface. These
eggs, increase in size before the exclusion of the
young, and are exceedingly numerous. The young
ones, when hatched, are extremely soft and small,
and entirely resemble their parent, beneath the
abdomen of which they shelter themselves for
several days. The flesh of this auimal is much
relished, and various medical properties have been
attributed to it, which it is very questionable if it
really possesses. It has been remarked, that those
which are caught in clear and running streams are of
a better taste than those found in stagnant waters
and in lakes. They are caught by sinking a net, or
spiny faggots, in the middle of "which a piece of
putrid meat is placed. We well remember the
delight with which, in our schoolboy days, we could
escape the trammels of Bonnycastle and Virgil, and
go groping, with our shirt-sleeves tucked up, in the
holes in brooks where the cray fish were met with,
and can therefore speak from experience of the
sharpness of the bite which they can inflict with
their claws. The tops of their claws were, in bygone
times, employed in medicine, being considered as a
valuable absorbent when pounded. Their place is
now supplied in our pharmacopoeias by the carbonate
of magnesia.

CREN ATUL A (Lamarck ; OSTREA PICTA, Gmel.).
This mollusc constitutes a very remarkable genus,
somewhat resembling the Myttius, but by the great
similarity of the hinge it seems more nearly allied to
the Perna. There is, however, even here a distinct
and peculiar difference ; the hinge of the crenatula is
composed of slightly concave callous crenulations,
whence its name. These receive the ligament, while
in the Perna the hinge consists of parallel truncated
linear teeth, or rather rib-like joints corresponding
and opposed to the opposite ones, the ligament being
inserted only at their interstices. Shells of this genus
are thin and extremely delicate ; of a foliated texture,
resembling the Placuna, Avicula, and similarly con-
structed molluscs, more or less irregularly formed ;
the valves are flattened, foliaceous, and no distinct
opening for the byssus ; the summits anterior, gaping
backward ; one muscular impression only, which is
subcentrical.

The animal is not yet described, but it properly
differs but little from that of the Perna, which must
be considered its immediate congener by analogous
reasoning ; seven or eight species are known \n the
different seas of hot countries, but the most part are
found in Australasia.

De Blainville classes it in the third class Acepha-
lophura, third order Lamcllibranchiata, first family
Oatracea.

CREPIDULA (Lamarck; PATELLA, Limneus).
This shell is one of the number of those confounded
by Linnaeus with the Patella, which it only resembles

168

CREPIDULINA — CRICETUS.

in being apparently constantly fixed to one spot, as
the form of their base assumes the shape of the sub-
stance to which they adhere ; an examination of the
animal, however, clearly distinguishes the genera.
The shell is an oval or oblong, with a much depressed
concave exterior, the spire inclined obliquely to one
side, the margin entire, and the opening partially
closed horizontally by a partition, giving it the
appearance of a half-decked boat; some have angular
longitudinal ribs on the surface, others have them
armed with spines or prickles ; they never possess
an operculum, which marks a strong distinction be-
tween them and the Navicula, The portion of testa-
ceous matter, partly closing the aperture, is placed
between the mass of the animal's viscera and the
posterior part of its foot. The muscular impression
is in the form of a horse-shoe. A very natural associa-
tion of species will be found as follows : such as have
the shell thick, quite flat, and the summit not spiral,
as in the C. porcellana, the next being nearly of the
same form, but very thin and with an epidermis, and
the last such as are nearly round, C. garnotus, and
the summit subspiral, C. subspirata.

There are probably ten or twelve species described
and about six fossil; they are of the second class
Paracephalophora, third order Scutibranchiata, second
family Calyptracea.

CREPIDULINA (Blainville ; CRISTELLAJUA,
Lamarck). All the shells of this genus were united
by Lamarck in his genus Cristellaria. The greater
number of them are microscopic, and figured and
described by Fichtel, who devoted much time and
attention to these minute molluscs. The shell is oval,
lengthened, a very small spiral summit ; the last turn
very ample, oval, nearly straight through its whole
length, and closed by a diaphragm of the same form.
The Nautilus planntus may be considered the type of
the genus. Interesting as these small shells doubtless
are, as illustrative of the connecting link in the great
chain of relationship between the molluscous animals,
and important as they must ever be as exhibiting in
miniature all the same parts and functions as shells do
of a gigantic structure, they nevertheless will only be
valued by those who are anxious to investigate nature \
under every difficulty, and generally speaking to little
advantage, since where one species admits of being
seen by the power of ordinary optical instruments,
there are thousands that are never seen at all but by
the use of the most costly microscopes.

CREPIS (Willdenow). A genus of herbaceous
uncultivated plants, mostly annuals, and mostly
natives of Europe. The flowers are yellow, a good
deal like those of the hawkweed, of course they belong
to the natural order Composite.

CRESCENTIA (Linnaeus). A genus of West
Indian trees remarkable for their large fruit. LinnEean
class and order Didynamia Angiospennia, and natural
order Solancee, Generic character: calyx in two
parts, equal, deciduous ; corolla, bell-shaped, bellying,
limb two lipped, and of four or five lobes, upper lip
short and crenated ; stamens, rudiments of five ;
anthers two-lobed ; style bearing a bilamellated
stigma ; fruit like a gourd, large, one-celled, many-
seeded, no placenta ; seeds compressed and round.
This is called the calabash tree in the West Indies ;
the shell of the fruit being made into various kinds of
vessels. The plants are in our collections, and chiefly
valued for their fine foliage. They may be propa-
gated by cuttings struck in moist heat.

CREUSIA(Leach). These molluscs, like the genus
Pyrgnma of Dr. Leach, are th« only two genera known
to possess four valves, and the operculum to consist, of
two pieces only. Linnaeus classed them with his genus
Lepaa. They are in general small shells, affixed to
madrepore or other marine substances, of an orbicular
or conical convex form, composed of four unequal
valves united, but distinctly marked by a suture at the
divisions, the operculum bivalve and internal ; a con-
siderable calcareous support penetrating the substance
to which the animal attaches itself. They belong to
the family Jial-anitlcx, and the animal partakes of the
same functions. All the species of this family are so
extremely singular and interesting, that it is much to
be wished some naturalist, within reach of observing
them in a living state, would direct his attention to a
careful examination of these animals. In our opinion
it would throw a very important light on the organi-
sation of other molluscs, and those imperceptible gra-
dations of change, so remarkable and so unaccountable
in their structure, many of which may certainly be
traced to necessity, but what has created that neces-
sity, at present remains a mystery.

CRICETUS, hamster, a genus of rodent mam-
malia, resembling the rats in some particulars, but
differing from them in many others. Their teeth are
nearly the same, but their tail is short and covered
with short hair, and their mouths are furnished with
cheek pouches, in which they can carry a store of
provisions to their subterranean retreat. The charac-
ters of this genus are : larger than the rat ; reddish grey
above ; black in the flanks and underneath, with three
white spots on each side ; its fore feet arc white, and
there is also a white spot under the throat, and another
under the chest. There are some individuals entirely
black. This animal, so agreeably varied in colour, is
one of the most hurtful which exists, in consequence
of the quantity of grain which it gathers, and with
which it fills its holes, which are at times nearly seven
feet in depth.

The hamster is confined to the northern parts of
the eastern world, and is most abundant in those
places which bear a resemblance to the extensive
plains to the westward of Rio de la Plata, in South
America. In Europe, it is not found to the westward
of the Rhine, but in proportion as the sandy plains
are approached, it becomes more numerous. One
can easily understand why this should be the case ;
and that it should be so, is a very wise provision of
nature ; for were hamsters abundant in the most fer-
tile parts of the world, in those which are best adapted
for cultivation, and, therefore, most valuable to man,
such places would soon be rendered desolate, so
rapidly do these animals increase in number, and
so great are the ravages which they commit.

In a state of nature, the hamster partakes not a
little of the ferocious disposition of the rat ; and it has
been alleged, that when in a state of confinement they
have been known to prey upon each other, as is done
by rats, moles, and some other burrowing animals.
Still, however, the principal part of its food consists
of vegetable matter, a store of which is laid up for at
least part of the inclement half of the year, though the
probability is that it hybernates the other half. It digs
with great facility ; each burrow it forms is composed
of two entrances, one which conducts to an oblique
canal, at the entrance of which the animal throws out
and accumulates the earth which it is forced to re-
move, the other which serves as an exit to a vertical

0 R I C E T U S.

169

canal, which is the true entrance to the burrow. These
two canals conduct to a greater or less number of par-
ticular excavations of a circular form, which, accord-
ing to the age of the animal, are from about one to
five feet in diameter, and communicate together by
horizontal conduits. One of these excavations is the
retreat of the hamster ; it is furnished with a good bed
of dry herbs, and it is here that the females bring
forth. The other excavations constitute the maga-
zines of provision.

Every animal has its own burrow. The males have
usually but two openings to theirs. The females form
several by vertical conduits, especially when they
have young ones. The burrows of the old indivi-
duals sometimes embrace a considerable extent; they
descend to four or five feet in depth, and frequently
contain many bushels of corn and other grain. They
are sought out with great care, as much to collect
what they contain, as to destroy the animals which
form them, and which, when they are numerous, cause
great devastation in the harvest. In the environs of
Gotha, it is said, that in a single year eighty thousand
of these have been killed ; they are discovered by the
quantity of earth accumulated at the entrance of their
oblique excavation. These rodentia are not merely
granivorous, they will also eat rlesh, and often devour
one another when they meet. Thus it is that, like
the most ferocious animals, they live in a solitary
manner, and never seek each other but at the season of
love. Tlie particulars of their reproduction are not
precisely known. The rut, it would appear, takes
place many times during the spring, summer, and
autumn months ,- the gestation of the females lasts
four weeks, and occurs three or four times in the year ;
there are usually fro:n six to twelve young ones, which,
after a very short lactation, quit the mother to go and
dig, each for itself, a burrow, and live by their own
resources. These notices apply to

The COMMON HAMSTER ( Mas cricctm of Linnaeus);
but the animal is so numerous that a little more
minute description may not be improper, and in the
first place the characters of the teeth : of the three
grinders with which each side of both jaws are fur-
nished, the first in the upper jaw has three pairs of
roots, and three pairs of tubercles divided by trans-
verse furrows ; the second has two pairs of roots, and
two pairs of tubercles. The first in the lower jaw has
five roots and five tubercles, and the two which fol-
low in this jaw have fovir roots and four tubercles.
The crowns of the teeth are, however, liable to be
worn down with age ; but, from their peculiar struc-
ture, and their numerous insertions into the jaws, the
teeth of these little animals are very powerful for their
size, so that they can readily bruise and divide the
very hardest of vegetable substances. The eyes are
rather small, very round, have a rounded pupil, and
stand prominent. The ears are large, and rounded
in the naked part. The nostrils open on the sides
of a small muzzle, divided by a vertical furrow, which
is prolonged across the upper lip ; and the lower lip
is so small that it scarcely covers the incisive teeth.
The size is nearly the same as that of the brown rat,
and the chief differences, except in colour, are, that
the head is considerably larger, and the tail much
shorter. The front, the upper part of the head, the
sides of the body, and the upper part of the rump, are
dull yellow, mixed with ash colour, the hairs being
annulated with yellow and ash, and black at the points.
The sides of the head and neck, the lower parts of

i the flanks, the outside of the thighs, and the
lower part of the rump, are reddish. The point
of the muzzle, the lower part of the cheeks, and the
feet, are of a very pale yellow, of which colour there
are three large spots on each side of the animal. The
throat, the breast, part of the fore legs, the inside of
the thighs and legs, are deep maroon, passing into
black.

There is something very remarkable in the accumu-
lation of fat upon this animal. As it inhabits exposed
and arid places, where but little rain falls during the
summer months, it might be expected not to accumu-
late external fat, like the bears which live in covert,
and the marmots which, as mountaineers, live near
the snow, and are subjected to the variable weather of
the alpine summer. But, contrary to the usual habits of
animals which are understood to hybernate, the ham-
ster is found with a much greater quantity of fat, in-
ternally, in the spring months than in the autumn

This has been ascertained by direct observation of
the most careful naturalists, who have had the best
opportunities, and, therefore, it must be received as
a truth ; and, when along with this, we take into
consideration the hoarding propensities of this animal,
the argument against its hybernating is considerably
strengthened. We believe, also, that few of the in-
habitants of low and open places, have a hybernating
character, though many of them keep to their burrows
during the winter ; and we have the evidence of hares
and some other rodent animals in our own country,
which do not lay up stores of provisions, as proofs
that they are in best condition during the s\ inter. The
hamster digs its burrow to a considerable depth ; and
it is generally in soils which are sandy, or otherwise
so formed as that the cold of winter does not pene-
trate them very deeply ; and as, when the storm
breaks, the transition is from cold to heat at once,
without any of those prolonged contests between
spring and winter which render more alpine climates
so trying to animals, we may, perhaps, conclude that
the hamster does not actually hybernate, though it re-
mains in a state of inactivity, and thus not only exists
but gets fat upon its accumulated store during the
cold weather. In Siberia, during the months of March
and April, when the temperature of the atmosphere
was very cold, Pallas found that hamsters taken out
of their holes had a heat of J0;3" of Fahrenheit's ther-
mometer; and that others which were dug out from
under the frozen earth, in the very depth of winter,
had a temperature equal to that of the human body in
health, or varying from 91° to 99°.

These are curious facts, and can hardly be recon-
ciled with the notion of dormancy during the winter,
although that were not doubtful upon the analogy
above stated, that animals of the exposed plains are
less exposed to hybernation than those which inhabit
more sheltered places. As this is rather an important
point, we shall lay before the reader, some of the evi-
dences as derived from the observation of animals
which are known to hybernate. The celebrated Hunter
informs us, on the authority of Jenner, that the tem-
perature of a hedgehog, in the cavity of the abdomen
towards the pelvis, was 95°, and at the diaphragm was
97° of Fahrenheit, in summer, when the thermometer
in the shade stood at 78°. Professor Mangili states
the ordinary heat of the hedgehog a little lower, at
27° of Reaumur, or about 93° Fahrenheit. In winter,
according to Jenner, the temperature of the air being
44°, and the animal torpid, the heat in the pelvis was

170

CRICHTONITE — CRICKET.

45°, and at the diaphragm 48A°. When the tempera-
ture of the atmosphere was at 20°, the heat of the
animal in the cavity of the abdomen, where an inci-
sion was made, was reduced so )o\v as JJO". The same
animal, when exposed to the cold atmosphere of 'JC°,
for two days, had its heat at the rectum elevated to
93°, the wound in the abdomen being so much dimi-
nished in size as not to admit the thermometer. At
this time, however, it was lively and active, and the
bed in which it lay felt warm. As the heat of this
animal descended to 30°, when in its natural state of
torpidity, and when there was no necessity for action,
the increased temperature may in part be ascribed to
the wound, which called forth the powers of the
animal to repair an injury, which could not be done
below its standard temperature.

Many similar experiments have been made, and the
result of them all is, that the winter temperature of
the hamster does not warrant the supposition that,
however still it may be during the winter, it ever ac-
tually hybernates. For, contrary to what is the case
with animals which do hybernate, the temperature of
the hamster is as high at mid-winter, as that of the
average of animals during the summer, and, indeed,
higher ; and, though the fact has not been sufficiently
examined, it agrees with analogy that, with equal
action, any animal should be warmer in winter than in
summer; although the temperature of every animal
will, of course, sink when that animal remains inactive.

That the temperature of this animal should have
been found a few degrees higher in March and April,
than it was earlier in the season, is no proof of com-
ing from a state of dormancy, though it is a proof of
some action ; but the probability is, that this increase
had a physiological cause, and was connected with
the breeding of the animal. This part of the subject
is however obscure, and we want a good deal of care-
ful observation, before we can come to any just con-
clusion on the very important subject of the seasonal
changes of temperature to which animals are subject,
both on account of their own nature, and of the cir-
cumstances under which they are placed.

Throughout the wide range of territory which it
inhabits, the hamster is subject to very considerable
changes of colour ; and, it should seem that, as it
habits more northerly, it fades more into a white
colour, and this, again, is in favour of its not being
dormant in the winter.

Besides the common species, which is well known,
and of which the fur is much used, though not very
valuable, there are various smaller species described
by Pallas and other naturalists, who have examined
the northern parts of Eastern Europe and of Asia. —
As the manners of these do not appear to differ much
from those of the common species, our notice of them
shall be brief.

SAND HAMSTER (Criceti/.i arenarius). This species is
said to inhabit mere to the southward than the other,
and it is much smaller, not exceeding three inches and
a half in length. It has the head oblong, the muzzle
pointed ; the extremity of the nose tumid, and reddish
coloured ; white mustachios, very furry, and longer
than the head ; lips very small ; ears large, oval, and
yellowish ; all the upper part of the body of a pearl-
gray colour ; the under part, including the flanks, the
feet, the tail, and even the claws, pure white. It in-
habits the sandy plains, feeding on the roots of vari-
ous plants which grow in these places, and also on the
seeds of others. This is a nocturnal animal

Cricctus accedula is considerably srnallar than the
hamster. It has the nose rounded, and slightly covered
with I'ur, divided by a furrow which also divides the
upper lip. The lower lip, and angles of the mouth,
are enlarged, and the cheek pouches are very large,
extending down both sides of the neck, as far as the
shoulders. The mouth, nose, and coverings of the
pouches are white, the rest of the body greyish yellow
on the upper part, and greyish white on the under.
There are two or three other species, but they are
small, and not of much general interest.

CRICHTONITE, a mineral of a velvet black co-
lour, so named by Bournon in honour of Dr. Crichton.
It occurs crystallised, usually of a very acute rhom-
boidal form, and is found in primitive rocks, along
with octohedrite, in the different countries where that
mineral is found.

CRICKET. The English name applied to several
species of insects belonging to the oriler Orthoptcra
and family Achetidce. Thus the common house
cricket is the Acheta domeslica, the field cricket,
Acheta campestris, and the mole cricket Gryllotalpa
vufgaris (Gryllus Gryllotalpa, Linnaeus). All these
insects are evidently distinguished by the chirping
creaking kind of noise which they produce, whence
evidently the origin of the English name. It should
be borne in mind, however, especially when consulting
foreign works upon entomology, that the criquets of
the French authors are different from those of our
own language ; our crickets being by them com-
monly called Grillons, (and scientifically Gryllus,
whereas they ought decidedly to bear the name of
Achetce, being the Linnaean Grylli Achet<E,~) whilst
the name of Criquet is given to the true locust family,
the Locusta of the ancients, and the Gryllus Locusta
of Linnaeus. We cannot conceive why authors who
have done so much for the science which they have
so assiduously cultivated, should yet persevere in so
evidently incorrect a nomenclature.

The cricket family is distinguished from the locust
family, as well as from that of the grasshoppers,
having long antennae, by having the wings and v» ing-
covers carried horizontally when at rest. The former
extending beyond the latter in slender fillets, and the
latter having a small circular space covered with a
glassy membrane in the males, which is employed in
producing the noise whence the insects have derived
their name. As the females are destitute of this,
they do not possess the power of chirping ; the tarsi
are composed of only three joints.

As the family AchetidcE was omitted in its alpha-
betical situation, we have thus given its characters
under the popular heading, rather than omit them
altogether. The genera are by no means numerous,
namely, the Acheta, Gryllotalpa, Tridactylus, and
Myrmecophila.

In Acheta the legs are slender and formed only
for running and leaping ; the females are provided
with a long and slender exserted ovipositor at the
extremity of the body, and the antennae are very long
and slender.

The house cricket (Gryllus dmnesticus, Linnaeus;
Acheta dmncstica, Fabricius), is too well known to
need much description. It is of a yellowish buff
colour, varied with brown, and frequents the interior
of our houses, especially where fire is continually
kept, burrowing behind the chimney and grate, and
multiplying in such situations to such an extent, that,
independent of their disagreeable chirping (which, as

C R I C O S T O M A T A — C R I N O I D E A.

171

" dc gustibus non est disputant! urn," is nevertheless (
liked by some persons), they become from their num- !
bers a perfect nuisance, flying into the candles and
ilnsliin"- into people's faces, according to White. In
families, at such time?, they are like Pharaoh's plague
of frogs, in their bed chambers, and upon their beds,
and in their ovens, and in their kneading troughs.
The strong chirping noise which the males make is ,
occusioned by a brisk attrition of their wings, the j
glassy parts above mentioned acting like the parch-
ment covering of a tambourine. This noise is chiefly
produced at dusk, and during the night, although
occasionally it may be heard during the day. The
insect, however, is certainly a nocturnal one. As their
presence in a house is regarded by some persons
as ominous of ill luck, whilst others as firmly believe
them to be prognostics of good, they may be espe-
cially referred to as a proof of the absurdity of those
superstitious feelings which we trust the diffusion of
knowledge is fast driving away. Their food, according
to White, consists of crumbs of bread, yea^t, salt, and
any kitchen offal or sweepings. Latreille, however,
savs they thrive well in houses infested by cock-
roaches, "upon which they feed, and they will certainly
eat their own species when placed in confinement,
but we should scarcely think this natural. They are
very fond of moisture, preferring the moist mortar of
new buildings ; they will also gnaw holes in wet
woollen stockings and aprons hung to dry; and one of
the best modes of catching them is to place phials or
(.(her vessels half filled with beer, milk, broth, or the
like, for being always eager to drink, they will crowd
into the vessel and be drowned. They bring forth
their young at all times of the year, as young ones
may be found even in the winter months swarming on
the hearth not larger than fleas.

The field cricket, Achctn campcstris, is a much
rarer animal than the former ; it is of a black colour,
with the base of the wing-covers yellow, the head is
lartre, and the hind thighs red underneath. It burrows
at the side of footpaths in hot situations exposed to the
sun, making deep holes, at the mouth of which it sits,
in order to seize upon stray insects which are its food.
The mole cricket is a curious animal, deriving its
name from the similarity both of its structure and
habits to the mole. The antenna? are short and
slender, and the fore legs very broad and notched,
being very powerful and well adapted for burrowing
under ground ; the abdomen is terminated by two
long slender and hairy bristles. This insect, which,
with sonic trifling variations in structure, is found all
over the globe, is an inch and a half or two inches
long, nearly cylindric, and of a brown colour.

it is a noxious animal, committing much injury in
gardens and cultivated ground, burrowing a short
distance beneath the surface, with the assistance of its
large palmated fore legs. In this manner it loosens
the roots of vegetables, upon which indeed it is said
to subsist. Latreille however thinks, that it feeds
upon underground insects or worms. The noise
made by the male insect (and which is only heard
during the night or at twilight), is said to be agreeable.
The female forms in the month of June or July a
subterranean chamber of an oval form, quite smooth
internally, and about six inches deep, in which it.
deposits" from two to four hundred eggs. The nest
with its curved entrance somewhat resembles a flask
with a bent neck. The young when hatched live for
some time in society.

CRICOSTOMATA (genus Turbo of Linnaeus).
This is the name given to the second family of the
second order Asiphonobranchiala, of the second class
Paracephalophara. It may be observed that this family
is scarcely to be distinguished from the Linnusan
Truchtix, which in fact is blended by almost insensible
distinctions with his genus Turbo, and it is only,
therefore, with a view of assimilating his labours as
much as possible with the modern school, that the
family Cricostomata has been established. This is only
one of many instances which this work will exhibit of
the veneration justly paid to that great naturalist's
judgment, from which present authors presume not to
ditt'er, without pointing out conclusive reasons, and
manifest cause for so doing.

A general description of these shells is, that they
are of a variable form, but the aperture always nearly
circular, and completely closed by a calcareous or
horny opereulum, the whorls of the spire few in num-
ber, and the summits sub-lateral.

The animal consequently is variable in form, but
this applies rather to its exterior and some of its pro-
portions, than in anything material in its organisation,
which is the same in all the family. The animal ap-
pears always phytophagous ; a small portion of them
naturally breathe air, and the greater number of the
aquatic species are marine. The various genera of this
family will be noticed in their alphabetical arrangement.
CRINOIDEA. There is perhaps no result more
extraordinary in the annals of modern research, than
the discovery of the very remarkable and various
changes which this our planet has evidently under-
gone, as indicated by the successive development
;uid subsequent destruction of beings once animated,
whose existence could never have been even suspected
by us, had not their remains been still preserved in a
fossil state. Whole tribes of animals seem to have
been called into being, and after having for a certain
period peopled the earth, appear to have gradually
ceased to exist, in consequence of certain unknown
causes which must for ever elude our inquiries, giving
place to others of totally different forms, which in the
course of subsequent ages were in like manner destined
to pass away, their situations in the chain of animal
life being replaced by other and possibly more
perfect creatures, until we at length arrive at a point
at which the inhabitants of this earth differed but
slightly from the varied productions of the present
time. Among these none are more remarkable thaa
the remains now under consideration, not only on
account of their curious forms, the beauty of their
articulations, and the complicated nature of their
structure, but also from their having evidently been.
among the earliest inhabitants of this world. Hence
the}' are so far removed from the present order of
animated nature, that although immense ranges of
rocks may literally be said to be formed of the mine-
ralised remains of different species entombed in them,
but five or six fragments of one of these numerous
species have hitherto been found in the recent state.
Their fossil columns and joints, however, from their
frequent occurrence and singular forms, attracted the
notice of naturalists at an early period, and they
consequently acquired names founded either upon
certain superstitious ideas, or upon a fa'ncied resem-
blance to other bodies, and the uses to which such
bodies were applied. Thus we find them termed
"giants' tears," " rosary beads," "fairy stones,'' "wheel
i stones," " entrochites," while the star shape of the

172

C R I N O I D E A.

angular columns, occasioned them to receive the
names starstone, asterice, &c.

By some these bodies were considered as inorganic
filtrations, similar in their nature to stalactites. By
others they were looked upon as the vertebral joints
offish, or as portions of some unknown species of coral.
While others, who had more accurately observed the
column and its termination, compared them to plants,
whence they obtained the name of the stone lily, in
consequence of the shape of the superior extremity of
some of these remains, which very closely resembles
a flower of that kind. They were at length con-
sidered as appendages to star fish, and were therefore
supposed to have probably belonged to the Aateria,
and as it was thought probable that they might yet
exist in unexplored parts of the ocean, researches
were anxiously set on foot to discover them in a
living or recent state. At length a portion of an
animal was found which bore a strong resemblance to
the asterial columns so frequently found in the Lias
and Oolite, and which, upon further investigation,
appeared to possess an absolute identity of generic
characters. Linnaeus classed this species under his
genus his, calling it Isis asteria. Lamarck, however,
finding it did not agree in its characters with that
genus, removed it to his genus Encrinus, terming it
Encrinus caput Medusae.

The fossils were however found to admit of at
least two generic divisions, distinguished by the shape
of the vertebrae. The one, the Encrinus, having them
chiefly of a cylindrical form, and the other, the
Pentacrinus, in which the vertebrae are principally
pentagonal. Under these names, various species
were formed, and which are described by Parkinson
as the lily, cap, turban, stag's-horn, &c. encrinites.

Since that time this family has been most ably
illustrated by the researches of Mr. Miller, who, in his
" History of the Crinoidea, or Lily-shaped Animals,"
has reduced these remains into genera and species, in
the most satisfactory and scientific manner.

By him these numerous and interesting remains
of animals of former times, which were before loosely
described under the appellations of Encrinites and
Pentamnites, are classed as the members of one
distinct and peculiar family, distinguished as the
crinoidea, or lily-shaped animals. The members of
this family are placed under four principal divisions,
comprising nine genera, each containing several
species, most of which were before that time very
imperfectly described, and some of which were even
utterly unknown.

The name Crinoidea is derived by him from a Greek
word, signifying lily-shaped, and he defines the general
character of this family as " an animal wilh a round,
oval, or angular column, composed of numerous arti-
culating joints, supporting at its submit a series of
plates or joints, forming a cup-like body, containing
the viscera, from whose upper rim proceed five
articulated arms, dividing into tentaculated fingers,
more or less numerous, surrounding the aperture of
the mouth, situated in the centre of a plated integu-
ment, which extends over the abdominal cavity, and
is capable of being contracted into a conical or
proboscal shape."

In his first division, the joints, which form the in-
ferior cup-like body of the animal, articulate with
each other, whence the name Articulata given to this
division, which contains three genera : Apiocrinites,
the pear-like lily-shaped animals, having two species ;

Encrinites, the true lily-shaped animals, containing
one species ; and Pentacrinites, five-angled lily-shaped
animals, comprising live species.

In the second division, the plate-like joints forming
the cup, containing the viscera, articulate imperfectly
with each other, from which circumstance it receives
the name Seiui-articulata. In this division he has but
one genus, the Pateriocrinites, or vase-like lily-shaped
animal. Of these he describes two species.

His third division he names Inarticulala. In this
the plates adhere by sutures, lined by muscular in-
teguments.

These he divides into Platycrinites, broad-plated
lily-shaped animals, six species ; Cyatlioainitcs, or
cup-like lily-shaped animals, four species ; Actynocri-
nites, or radiated lily-shaped animals, three species ;
and Rkodocrinites, or rose-like lily-shaped animals,
one species.

The fourth division contains those having the joints
of the pelvis anchylosing to the first columnar joint ;
this has one. genus, the JSugeuiacriiutes, of which but
one species was then known to exist.

Since the publication of Miller's work, many new
genera have been discovered, many of the species
have been subdivided, and the genus Af)iucrinile.i, in
particular, has been very fully elucidated by the
researches of J. Channing Pearse, Esq., F. G. S., who,
in a highly interesting paper, " On the Oolite forma-
tion and its contents, as shown in a quarry at Bear-
field, near Bradford," lately read before the Geological
Society, but not hitherto published, has exhibited
evidences of the most profound research and minute
inquiry, joined to a close attention to the scientific
arrangement of these bodies, highly creditable to his
talents and observation ; and as the information con-
tained in that paper is perfectly new and also of great
interest, some account of his labours may not prove
uninteresting.

The first species of Miller, viz. : the Ajjiacrinitet
rotundus, is the one to which the observations of this
gentleman more particularly apply. This he pro-
poses to divide into three species. He was led to
form these distinctions from his peculiar advantages
in living upon the spot where these remains are found
in great abundance, and consequently being able to
procure them in greater perfection than any collector
had hitherto been enabled to do. In their generic
description, he states them to be composed ot a root
or .pedicle, from which rises a round column, having
at the top a pear-shaped head, which supports arms
and fingers, containing a series of cavities in their
interior, which he considers as having contained the
stomach and alimentary canal. The whole animal is
composed of a vast number of flat joints or plates,
which articulate with each other by lines radiating
from the centre, which are, as it were, dovetailed into
the next joint, and in like manner receive the radii of
that joint. He supposes that they were covered
externally with an epidermis, or skin, which was
muscular, by the contraction of whose fibres, lateral
motion in every direction was produced, by which
means they were enabled to search for food wherever
it might be found within their reach. The root or
pedicle consists of a number of concentric laminae,
forming a cone, which surrounds, the central column,
the base being placed at the lower part, or at the
point where the animal attached itself to rocks, &c.,
and, by forming a sort of buttress or support to the
column, added very materially to its strength.

C R I N O I D E A.

173

These plates appear to have been secreted from
the edges of the joints, at the points of articulation
with each other ; and he mentions a specimen which,
having been injured, exhibited this secretion actually
going on in the form of little globules attached to
many of the joints at their articulations, and he sup-
poses that this animal, when injured in any part,
performed the restorative process by exuding the
matter in question in the manner just described.
These pedicles are found of various sizes, some
not exceeding a quarter of a line in diameter, others
being at least two inches ; sometimes a number are
found together, either attached to corals, shells, or
other hard bodies, or, as most frequently, to the rock
itself. This junction of the pedicles, in many speci-
mens, produces the appearance of a number of
columns emanating from one common root, but by
making a section they are all found to be separate
animals, as the columns may then be perceived to be
perfectly distinct from each other, passing through the
mass, each surrounded by a cone formed of concentric
laminae, which cones, by the exudation before men-
tioned, have, outwardly, become so intermingled with
each other, as to form apparently but one mass.

The longest animal of this kind met with by this
gentleman, he describes as composed of 158 joints,
forming a column about ten inches in length, the cir-
cumference of which diminishes slightly above the
pedicle, but continues of the same size (viz. about an
inch) until it arrives at the upper part, where it ex-
pands to the extent of four or five inches. The seat
of the greatest motion appears to have been about the
centre of the column, which is shown by its increased
strength of articulation in that part, exhibited in the
radiating grooves being very deeply marked, whereas
in the upper and other parts, where but little motion
was required, these indentations are exceedingly
minute. This column is composed of rings which
are thicker at the circumference than at the centre,
each being perforated in that part with a round hole,
and thus the lenticular cavities formed by the juxta-
position of the plates are connected together.

The head consists of the enlarged columns, to
which are attached five wedge-shaped joints, five-
inferior and five superior costal joints, and five bones
called scapulae, to which are articulated ten arms,
which are furnished at their sides with a number of
feelers, forming a sort of fringe. The upper or colum-
nar joint has five radiating elevated ridges upon its
upper surface, between which are the attachments of
the five wedge-shaped joints, which are triangular
and flattened at the lateral edges, being the points
where they are articulated with each other, having
two equal articulatory faces at their upper surfaces,
divided by an elevated ridge, above which the five
inferior costal joints are placed, which are also of a
triangular shape, and are connected with each other
by lateral attachments, and present a cavity above,
which receives the superior costal joints, which in like
manner receive the scapulae. It appears probable that
an intervening muscular organisation existed between
the articulating faces of the joints, from the wedge-
shaped ones upwards to the scapulae. There is also
a gradual approximation of their internal and external
edges, and this, joined to their circular arrangement,
produces a conical cavity with the apex downwards.
Mr. Pearse suggests that this was probably closed
above, as that of the pentacrinite, with an integument
composed of a membrane covered externally with scales

of an angular form, forming the cavity of the stomach ;
between the wedge-shaped joints five canals are also
found passing from the lower part of the stomach, each
of which terminates in an opening on the external sur-
face, the mouth of which is marked either by a depres-
sion or an elongation which sometimes extends to the
distance of an eighth of an inch, which openings he
supposes to have been the mouths of the oviducts.
To the superior surfaces of the five scapulae are
attached the ten arms, which appear to have consisted
of at least forty or fifty joints, shaped like a horse-
shoe, which are articulated to each other, and gra-
dually diminish in size ; as they approach their upper
extremities a small perforation penetrates each joint,
as before described in the vertebral column, through
which foramina it is possible the vessels for their
nutriment, or the ligaments by which they were
attached to each other, had their passage. The arms
have also a groove running the whole length of their
inner surface, while the outward one is of a rounded
form, and to the holes of each joint of the arm is
attached a finger whose joints are at first round, but
afterwards grooved at their external edges, and which
are also perforated. Each arm when perfect must,
according to this description, have had from forty to
fifty fingers attached to its sides, placed alternately,
and thus presenting a fringed appearance.

He names his first species Apiocrimtcs globosus from
its having the head in a very globose form. It is
shorter than the other two species, and the irregulari-
ties on the surfaces of the joints, which were probably
produced by muscular contractions, are very faintly
marked.

The inter medius has the head elongated, with no-
corresponding lessening in the circumference, or thick-
ening of the joints,which are thin and deeply crenated,
and the muscular impressions, as in the globosus, but
faintly shown.

The Elwigatus is distinguished by the head being
very greatly elongated in many specimens, tapering
down nearly to the centre of the column ; the plates
are also at least three times thicker than those of the
other two species. The column is also of much
greater length, without any corresponding diminution
of circumference. The development of the various
articulatory surfaces is also very strongly marked, and
the plates have a tendency to become more acute at
their edges, than in the other species. The radii on
the surfaces of the plates of the column are so slightly
marked as to be scarcely visible, and on each of the
surfaces of the joint a central depression is found,
which is occasioned by the joint becoming at once two-
thirds thinner at that place than the surrounding por-
tion. This is also seen slightly in the two other species.

Such is a summary of the account given by Mr.
Ghanning Pearse, the whole of which deserves the
particular attention of all those who make organic
remains their study.

The geological distribution of the Crinoidea is also
highly interesting. They occur in all the formations,
commencing with the transition limestone, in which
impressions and portions of these animals have been
found. Their great depot, however, is in the moun-
tain limestone, in which no fewer than twenty of those
described by Miller are found, together with many of
the new genera and species not known to him. They
are also abundant in the lias, in which, however, seve-
ral of the species found in the lower formations dis-
appear, and others of hitherto unknown genera occur.

174

CRINUM — CROCODILE.

Some, as the Apiocrin'des rolundus, are found in the
oolitic formation alone, while Apiocrinitet cfliptirnx
occurs only in the chalk, and another, supposed to be
the Penlacrini/es rapid Medusa;, appears to have con-
tinued from the deposition of the lias until the present
lime, forming one of those links between a former
state of existence and the present appearance of ani-
mated nature, of which so few are to be found even
after the most patient and laborious research.

CRINUM (Linnceus). A genus of magnificent
bulbous stemmed plants, natives of warm latitudes in
all quarters of the world. Linnaean class and order,
Hexandria Monogynia; and natural order, Amaryllldcre.
Generic character : spatha including many flowers ;
germen either sitting or on a short, pedicel ; perian-
thium tubular at the base; limb regular, spreading,
six-cleft ; segments alternately furnished with a nail at
the point ; stamens inserted into the tube, erect ; fila-
ments awl-shaped ; anthers incumbent. This is one
of the most stately of its order ; the roots, stem, leaves,
and flowers of most of the genus are all ample, and
consequently require large pots, a rich loam, and
much head-room to grow in perfection. They flower
frequently in the stove, and are propagated by off-
sets which they occasionally produce. But if suckers
are not produced naturally, the plants may be easily
made to send them forth plentifully, that is, by cutting
down the stem to prevent flowering. The C. amabile
is one of the largest and most valued of the genus,
and not so much for its frequent flowering, as for its
rich and powerful fragrance.

CRIOCERID.E (Leach). A family of coleop-
terous insects belonging to the section Tctramera, and
forming the subsection Eupoda (LatreilleX having the
body of an elongate form, with the head and thorax
narrower than the abdomen; the antennae filiform,
or thickened towards the tips, inserted in front of the
eyes, which in some are entire and round, whilst in
others they arc slightly notched in the inside ; the
head is deeply inserted into the thorax, which is
cylindrical or transversely square ; the abdomen is
large, compared with the rest of the body. The tarsal
joints, with the exception of the last, are furnished
beneath with cushions, the penultimate (or rather
the antepenultimate) being bifid or bilobed ; the hind
legs are greatly dilated in some of the species, whence
the term of the subsection is derived. These insects
are essentially herbivorous in their larva and imago
states ; many prefer the lily tribe, upon the leaves
•of which the larvae feed. Those of the Donaccee
feed within the stems of various aquatic plants upon
which the perfect insect is found very abundantly.
The species are for the most part of small size, but
elegantly ornamented with various colours. Latreille
divides the family into two tribes.

First, the Sagrides, having the mandibles termi-
nating in an acute and entire point, and the lower lip
deeply cleft ; the hind legs are generally very large.
Here" belong the Brazilian genus Megahjnis and
the Chinese and African genus Sagra, together with
Orsodachna.

Second, the Criocerides, having the mandibles trun-
cate at the tip, with two or three strong teeth, and
the lower lip entire. Donacia (which see). Ma-
croplcea (Htemonia, Meig.), Crirtceris, Zettgopfiorn
(Auchenia, Latreille). all of which are British, and
Petauristcs and Megascelis, exotic genera.

The genus Crioceris is distinguished by having the
antennae short, the maxillary palpi filiform, and the

hind legs not differently formed from the anterior.
The eyes are notched, the hind part of the head i*
narrowed into a kind of neck. The insects of this
genus live upon liliaceous plants, asparagus, &c., and
make a slight noise when handled ; their larvse also
feed on the same plants, to which they hold tight Iv
with the assistance of their six short legs. The body
of these larva; is short, thick and fleshy ; and in order
to guard themselves from the attacks of their enemies
and the changes of the weather, they forma covering
of their own excrement, similar to that constructed
by the larva; of the Cassida: (which see). When ihcv
have acquired their full size they descend to the
earth to undergo their transformation.

Reaumur has given the most complete account of
the proceedings of these insects. The figures referred
to by Mr. Curtis do not represent a merdigerou*
species as described by him. There, are seven British
species, including the type Chrysomela mcrdigera
fLinueeus) which is found upon the white lily. The
larva of tiie pretty asparagus beetle, C. asparagi does
not form an excrementitious tent*.

CRISTARIA (Schumacker). This genus of shells
was constituted by Schumacker, but has since been
united with the genus Anodon, of which it must only
be considered a division. The shell is oval, rounded,
gapingattheends.vvith something resembling a crest at
the summits, and a long longitudinal callosity, divided
into two plates by a linear cardinal indentation.

CR1THMUM (Linnaeus) is the generic name of
the British maritime plant samphire, found on rocky
shores, and cultivated in some places and disposed
of for pickling. It affects a very light sandy soil,
and belongs to the natural order Umbell'i/erce.

CROCODILE — Crocoditus. A genus of saurian
reptiles, forming, along with the alligator and the
gavial, a well marked and very distinct family, the
largest, most powerful, and the only ones which are
in any way dangerous to the human race. Some
account of the more remarkable species of alligator
will be found under that title, in its order in the
alphabet, so that we shall have here only to notice
the two remaining genera, the account of which we
shall be enabled to shorten, by bringing them both
into one article.

The characters of the whole family are : size verv
Iarg6; tail flattened on the sides; fore feet with five
toes, hind with four, of which the outer one is with-
out any claw ; all the feet are more or less webbed ;
a single row of teeth in each jaw ; the tongue fleshy,
flat, and so much attached to the sides of the under
jaw, that the ancients supposed it to be wanting ; the
back and tail covered with large and strong scales of
a square form, ridged at the middle ; and a crenatcd
scaly crest along the tail, forming a double row at the
basal part; the scales on the under part arc square,
but small, smooth, and without any keel.

The mouth of these reptiles is a very formidable
instrument, although it does not answer all the de-
scriptions that have been given of it. The lower jaw
extends farther back than the upper, so that there is
room for the insertion of very powerful muscles, both
for opening and for closing this jaw, the motions of
which are as extensive as they are powerful. It is
not true, however, that these animals have a motion
in both jaws, as was believed by the ancients, and is

* At the present time (middle of June) the asparagus, which
has been left unnut iu our garden, is swarming- with this insect,
not only in its perfect state, but also in that of the larva.

CROCODILE.

175

still asserted in some of the works on natural history ;
and it is easy to see that such a motion would do
them harm rather than good.

There are some of the serpents which can not only
turn both jaws till they are in the same plane, but
distend the opening considerably beyond the mere
measure of the two jaws, when they have occasion to
swallow large prey. But the mouths of these serpents
do not form an analogy for the mouths of the
crocodile family. In serpents, the mouth is generally
only a swallowing apparatus, and those which capture
large prey are cither poisoning serpents, which kill
by the fangs, or crushing serpents, which kill by the
folds. The crocodiles, on the other hand, are biting
animals, which kill with the mouth ; and such animals
would have little or no power if they had a motion
in both jaws. The action of muscle against muscle
in an animal, would be the least profitable way in
which it could exert its strength, as the effect would
be only equal to the difference of the exertions after
the stronger muscle had forced the weaker one to a
state of rest; and thus, the animal would lose an
effort equal to double that made by the weaker
muscle. There are no such mechanical bungles as
this in nature ; and it is a good rule in judging of the
truth of what is alleged of any animal, to consider
whether that which is alleged is consistent with the
utmost perfection of mechanical skill — the producing
of the greatest effect by the least exertion ; and if this
is not the case, we may rest assured that that which
is alleged is not true.

The nostrils of the crocodile are formed externally
of two slits which cross each other, the angular pieces
between serving as little valves to close the aperture
when necessary ; they lead by a long canal through
the palatal and sphenoid bones to an opening in the
back part of the mouth ; the ear closes externally by
means of two fleshy lips, which close it like valves;
the eyes have a third eye-lid ; and there are under
the throat two small holes, which lead to glands
secreting an unctuous matter which smells very
strongly of musk. So abundant is the quantity of
this matter, and so powerful its scent, that in warm
countries, where crocodiles are abundant, they per-
fume the whole country around the rivers.

The vertebra in the neck of the crocodiles are
furnished with a sort of false ribs on the sides, which
hinder flexure in that direction, and thus the animal
cannot turn its head very readily aside, or even turn
its body (for animals which have the neck stiff
always have difficulty in turning laterally). But the
crocodile can turn the neck very readily, so as to
elevate the head till the line of it forms less than a
right angle with that of the body ; and it can also
move the head very rapidly from this elevated posi-
tion to one rather lower than the horizontal line.

These motions of the neck answer better with the
habits of the animal than if they had been in the
other direction ; for the crocodiles do not pursue their
food either along the banks of the rivers or in the
water, They are liers in wait, as is the case with al
large and heavy animals of predatory disposition
unless it be those species which have the wide sea
for their field of chace. The crocodile is a powerfu
animal even upon land , but its chief scene of action is
in the water, where it watches by the places to which
land aniinals come to drink, with only the point of the
nose above the surface ; and as, at these times, it is
perfectly still, other creatures approach near it with-

out being aware of their danger. When the animal
omes sufficiently near, the mouth of the crocodile
opens rapidly to a great extent by the bending back-
wards of the head and upper jaw upon the joints of
the neck as a centre of motion, and the moving of the
under jaw in the other direction upon its own articn-
ation. Thus, in the opening of the mouth, there is
a motion of both jaws from each other ; and when
they are again closed, the upper jaw does descend to
meet the lower one ; but the motion of the upper is
not against that of the lower, as they are not articu-
lated on the same centre or the same bone. Hence the
peculiar motion increases the force of the bite instead
of diminishing it ; as the bite is given with both jaws,
which, when they come to a state of rest, the upper
offers a point of solid resistance to the under.

CROCODILES, properly so called (Crocodilus}. The
name "crocodile" is Greek, and means that which
cries, yelps, or screams, along the bank of the river.
The true crocodiles are the most powerful and fero-
cious of the race. The characters in which they
differ from the gavials are : the muzzle oblong and
depressed, the teeth of unequal length, but the four
front ones below do not fit into holes in the upper
jaw, as in the alligators. There are several species or
varieties; and there are in the West Indies, in the
rivers of the larger islands, some which have the
muzzle of the crocodile form.

CROCODILE OF THE NILE (Crocodilus Niloticus).
This is the animal which is meant whenever the
crocodile is mentioned without any farther explana-
tion. It has long been known, and there are few
animals of which so many stories have been told.
There is not much use in repeating any of those stories,
though we must not judge of the animal altogether
from what is observed of it in Lower Egypt, which is
the most northerly latitude in which it is found, and
therefore it must have less energy than those in the
south. With the exception of the elephant, the
rhinoceros, and the hippopotamus, the bulk of the
crocodile perhaps exceeds that of every terrestrial
animal ; no fishes frequenting fresh water equal
it, and but a few species of those belonging to the
seas. The largest are not less than thirty feet in
length, and one of only half that size is five feet in
circumference ; the body stands low on the ground,,
and the animal universally presents a dull and sluggish
aspect. Nevertheless, its motions in pursuit of prep-
are not slow ; and the difficulty which it finds in turn-
ing is the surest means of escape on land ; its agility
in water is infinitely greater.

These facts are better illustrated when the animal
is roused to action. Its natural abode is in the water,
for scarcely one fourth of its existence is passed on
the earth ; whence those narratives which affirm that
it lives entire months without that element, are not
easily to be credited. The muddy edges and thick
reeds of slow and tranquil streams are its favourite
haunts ; and it sometimes descends rivers to within
the flowing of the tide. On leaving them it advances
always with a slow pace, nearly in a straight line, its
belly frequently dragging on the ground, and its head
commonly elevated before it. However, it is seldom
seen standing, and its chief enjoyment seems to be
lying in a state of absolute quiescence. When in
pursuit of prey, it swims gently and silently, just on a
level with the water, until it approaches' the place
where some terrestrial animal comes to quench its
thirst. Then curving its tail, it strikes the animal a

176

CROCODILE.

violent blow, which is invariably in the direction of
the water, and at the same time towards its own
mouth. Should the animal surprised be of large size,
such as an ox or a horse, the crocodile adopts another
manoeuvre, in seizing it by the nostrils, and forcibly
dragging it under the water to be drowned. When
a tortoise is seized, the crocodile raises its head above
water, and with the inconceivable strength of its jaws,
crushes the shell in pieces. Men, and particularly
negroes, are said to be its favourite prey, and it is
greedy after the flesh of dogs ; and hence, the negroes
that hunt the crocodile are accustomed to beat the
dogs on purpose that their howling may attract it
from its haunts. The prey being drowned, is con-
veyed to some sub-aquatic hole or receptacle, and
left to putrefy before it is devoured ; but the crocodile
cannot feed in the water ; it would then, as is usually
credited, experience the same fate as its victim ;
therefore, except small fishes, the prey is always
carried to the land. Its structure also is such, that it
must rise to the surface once in an hour, or hour and
a half, for breathing. Nothing that it once seizes can
escape ; it never quits its hold ; even strong levers
forced between the jaws for that purpose have proved
ineffectual ; and, shaking its prey to pieces, it is
swallowed without mastication. Much has been said
of the stratagems employed by the crocodile to seize
its prey ; that it lies like a log on the banks of rivers,
or floats inactive on the surface, and then springs
forward whenever the victim comes within its reach.
This may be partly true, though it appears under
many exaggerations ; for it is well authenticated,
that it remains motionless until considerable objects
are quite close and evidently within its reach, then
it leaps upon them. The agility of the crocodile is
not so great, even when in pursuit of prey, that a man
may not escape at tolerable speed, more especially
by frequent deviation from the straight path. The
blow with the tail, suddenly given, is principally to be
dreaded, and the irascibility of the animal when
attacked, or the female at the head of her young.

It does not appear that the crocodiles are so numerous
in the lower part of the Nile as they were in ancient
times, and the few that do appear are now not much
dreaded there — but farther up the river where the
climate is wanner. But Lord Prudhoe, while travel-
ling in Sennaar, between the black and white Nile, in
the averaged latitude of about 14° north, found that
they were much more formidable ; and during his
BOJOUfhJng in the country several of the natives were
carried oft' by them ; and the banks of the river were
in many places so musky in their smell as to be very
offensive.

Crocodiles are oviparous, and the eggs are but
small in proportion to their size, not being quite so
large as those of a goose. They are, as is the case
with the eggs of reptiles generally, equally thick at
both ends, they are covered with an envelope which
hardens in the air, but it contains very little carbonate
of lime. The males are more numerous than the
females, and fierce battles ensue between them in the
pairing time. These battles of gallantry are generally
decided in the water, and they are accompanied by
the most dismal bellowing that can possibly be
imagined ; this noise is said to resemble that both of
the bull and the bittern, but to be much louder and
more husky and dismal than either.

The female digs a cavity in the earth, in which she
places her eggs, in a circular form, in successive layers,

and with portions of earth between, the whole being
afterwards covered up.

This nest is generally placed in a dry hillock, and
the earth is gathered up, so that on the average, the
eggs are about ten inches below the surface. This
being done, the mother abandons them to be hatched
by the heat of the sun ; yet instinct prompts her
frequently to revisit the spot as the term of exclusion
approaches. She then testifies uncommon agitation,
roaming about the place and uttering a peculiar
growling, as if to awaken her hideous offspring to ani-
mation. The period of maturity being at length
attained, the nascent crocodiles answer to her solici-
tude by a kind of yelping like puppies. A hollow
murmur in return denotes her satisfaction, and she
hastens to scrape up the earth with such anxiety, that
several of the young are generally crushed under her
unwieldy body. Having withdrawn them from their
nest, the mother leads them straightway to the
neighbouring water; but now her utmost vigilance is
required for their preservation, for, unlike the instinct
with which she is animated, the male, silently approach-
ing, will frequently devour them before she is aware
of her loss. He perpetually seeks their destruction ;
and the watch of the female over her young i? pro-
tracted for three months from their first appearance.
An opinion is prevalent that the crocodile continues
growing during its whole existence, that it lives to a
great age, and that the utmost limits of its si/.e arc
scarcely known ; whence, in addition to well authen-
ticated instances of some being twenty-five or thirty
feet in length, others are reputed to attain the enor-
mous dimensions of fifty feet. Though we are not
enabled, from positive and conclusive evidence, either
to corroborate or to controvert these facts, the observ-
ations of the naturalist already cited, throw consider-
able light upon the subject. Where animals live in
a state of uninterrupted warfare, we are aware that
there is little probability of their either attaining their
extreme dimensions, or the utmost duration of life ;
and with respect to the latter, we are inclined to
ascribe a much longer period to those that dwell in
the waters than is usually allowed. The crocodile of
the Nile, banished to the most southern parts of
Egypt, is permitted to live undisturbed, and there it
is universally admitted to increase to the largest size,
far exceeding what is seen in other countries.

Were not the fecundity of the more powerful and
destructive animals repressed, either by the attack of
open enemies, or their own liability to perish, they
would speedily overrun the earth. It is thus that
almost all are confined within moderate bounds ; that
destruction is ever commensurate with multiplication,
and sometimes by its preponderance entire species
become extinct. Many animals have inhabited this
island, of which there have only been fossil remains
for ages ; and an authentic record has preserved the
period when the last of a noxious race was destroyed.
In certain places, once infested by the crocodile, it is
now totally extirpated, and in others its appearance is
rare. In its earliest stage we have seen that it is liable
to perish, either from being crushed to death by the
female or devoured by the male. A species of
tortoise frequenting the Nile, makes incredible havoc
among the young. The hostility of the ichneumon
has been related from times of remote antiquity ; and
though we cannot agree that it proves destructive of
the crocodile itself, we at least know that it devours
the eggs. In this manner, the numbers of so formi-

CROCUS — OR () TALUS.

177

liable a creature, when less capable of defence, are
diminished ; hut after having attained its utmost
power, different means repress it* vor.icitv, and other
enemies are on the watch for iis destruction. Al-
though the crocodile drags its prey under water to
extinguish life, we have already remarked, that it
mu«t resort to shallows or the land to feed upon it ;
and in like manner, when attacked by the sword-fish
or shark, it is easily vanquished, for on opening its
mouth in resistance, a torrent of water rushes in, and
it is drowned. Of all the enemies, however, which
the crocodile has to dread, the most inveterate is
man. By a perpetual and sanguinary war carried on
against it in almost every country, and by the various
devices adopted for its capture, the race is prodigi-
ously reduced. But it is no easy matter to overcome
an animal endowed with such uncommon strength,
and \\hose hide in general is impenetrable by a leaden
musket ball. It is, however, more vulnerable in the
belly, and a bullet discharged down the throat or into
the eyes is fatal. Even harpoons or spears will
penetrate the body and inflict mortal wounds, if
thrown by a skilful 'hand.

As the habits of the different species of true
crocodiles do not vary much, except in so far as
depends upon difference of size and strength, and
difference of activity, which is always greater the
wanner the climate, a mere enumeration of the
remaining ones will be sufficient.

ST. DOMINGO CROCODILE (CtocodUiii acviiu). The
muzzle of this species is longer in proportion than
that of the former, more pointed at the extremity, but
enlarged at the base. The scaly plates on the back
are ranged in four line?, the lateral ones anterior and
with verv elevated crests. This species is exceedingly
common in all the rivers and marshes of St. Domingo,
and most of the other large West Indian islands. It
has been confounded with the crocodile of the Nile,
also with the caimans of the American continent, and
its manners correspond exactly, though there are some
differences in its external structure.

TWO-CKESTKD CROCODILE (Crocodllns bifitrcatus).
This is the crocodile of the east, and is more abundant
in the island-; than on the main land of Asia. It has
been seen as far to the southward as Timor, but it
does not appear to have been hitherto found in
Australia. It is reported, however, as being more
discursive in the water than any of the other species,
so that it has been met with a good way out at sea.
It is browner than the Egyptian crocodile, and the
dark spots upon it are more distinct.

Crocodiles have been observed in all the great
rivers of Africa, and in the streams and marshes of
the oriental islands, and also in the larger rivers of
the extreme south of Asia, differing considerably from
those now mentioned, although only in a few unim-
portant particulars. But the manners of the whole
race, wherever they may occur, or however they may
differ from each other in a few external particulars,
are so much the same that, for popular purposes, any
further account of them is unnecessary.

GAVIALS. The distinguishing characters of the
pavials, at least in point of shape, are these : the
mu/y.le slender and very much elongated; the teeth
of nearly equal length, the fourth in the lower jaw
passing into notches and not holes in the upper jaw ;
the hind feet are dentated on their external edges, and
the webs reach to the roots of the claws ; two large holes
are perforated in the cranial bone in the rear of the eyes,

NAT Hisr.— VOL. II.

which are perceptible through the skin. The most
remarkable physiological character consists in these
animals being much more aquatic than either the true
crocodiles or the alligators. They repose on the
mud in the shallows ; but their food consists almost
entirely of fishes, aquatic reptiles, and other living
productions of the waters, seldom meddling with any
warm-blooded creatures and never with man. There
are only two known species, both of which are inhabit-
ants of the south-eastern parts of the old continent.

GAVIAL OF THE GANGES (Lorigirostra Grtngetica).
This species appears to have been known to the
ancients, who describe the Ganges as containing two
sorts of crocodiles, one harmless and the other not.
This species is of course the harmless one. The other
species is the little gavial (L. U-nuirostra' , which is
hardly known except as a museum specimen.

CROCUS (Linnanis). One of our commonest,
earliest, and most favourite garden flowers. It be-
longs to the third class of the sexual system, and to
the natural order Iridcce. The crocus is found wild
in different parts of Europe, three of them in Britain,
one of which is the cultivated saffron. The garden
varieties are numerous, and all are very attractive.
No flower is so sensible of the effects of light and
heat as the crocus. Its petals expand during the
day, and close at night. But they will expand at
night under the light of a lamp or candle ; or if
placed within the influence of the heat of afire, though
shaded from the light of it, the petals open as readily
as they do in bright light. The crocuses are mostly
summer sleeping plants, particularly the spring
flowering species ; and when the spring growth
ceases, the tubers are usually taken up and kept in a
dry place till the early spring, when they are again
planted where they are intended to flower.

CRPSSANDRA (Salisbury). A splendid flower-
ing evergreen shrub, found in India. Linnaean class
and order Didynamia Angiospermia, and natural order
Acanthacete. Generic character : calyx of five un-
equal parts, supported by three bractes ; corolla
salver-shaped, of one lip, which is large, flat, and five-
lobed; stamens within the tube ; anthers one-celled ;
capsule two-celled, two-valved ; seeds netted. This
genus is called Hwrachia, by Jacquin, and Rut'llia,
by Andrews. The stove management of these
plants is easy ; they flower frequently, thrive in light
rich soil, and are propagated by cuttings.

CROTALARIA (Linnaeus). So called because
the seeds of the genus rattle in the pods like Krotalons,
or castanets. Many of the species are annuals and
natives of warm climates. Linnsean class and order
MonadcIphiaDccandna,'d.\\(\ natural order Lcgi/ininosd'.
Generic character : calyx two-lipped, five parted ;
vexillum or standard large, and reflexed ; keel
pointed ; tube bearing the stamens ; style downy ;
pod on a pedicel, oblong. The shrubby species of
this genus have been long cultivated in our hothouses ;
they flower freely, and sometimes ripen seeds ; but
in default of these, cuttings may be rooted in sand
under a glass in hotbed heat.

CROTALUS — Rattle-snake. A genus of ophi-
dian reptiles, belonging to the poisonous division of
the true serpents, and to that subdivision of them
which have poison-fangs, unaccompanied by any
other teeth. They are the typical serpents of this
subdivision, and form a tribe, consisting of Crotalus
properly so called, which have a rattle, or instrument
of sound upon the tail; and Trigonacephalus, tri-
al

178

CROTALUS.

angular-headed serpents, which have not, but are
fully as formidable as the others. With the viper
family, which consists of more genera than this one,
all poisonous, but of smaller size generally than the
Crotali, and diffused over a greater variety of
countries, these serpents make up the whole of the
division.

It will be proper, therefore, to preface our brief
notice of some of the more remarkable species of
thes« formidable reptiles by a very brief sketch of
the peculiarities which distinguish them from all the
other serpents.

Their upper maxillary bones are very small, without
any teeth, but having upon a long peduncle on each
side, which answers to the external pterygoid process
of the sphenoid bone, a very sharp tooth, which is
perforated longitudinally by a canal, through which
the deadly virus of the animal is injected into the
wound made by the tooth. These two teeth are the
poison-fangs of the animal ; they are very sharp at
the points, rather slender in proportion to their
length, and awl-shaped, or adapted for inflicting
punctured wounds only, and not for tearing or lacerat-
ing, so that the wounds which they inflict are not cal-
culated to do much mechanical injury to their victims.
Indeed, this addition would be quite superfluous, as
the poison is of itself sufficient to kill almost any
native animal of the places where these serpents are
found ; and it is a law of nature never to waste any
power in the creatures which she produces, whatever
may be the functions which they are called upon to
perform. When the reptile is in a state of repose,
these two deadly weapons are folded down into
grooves in the gums ; but when it is excited, they
are erected, and their points so borne, that they are
the first part of the reptile which strikes its prey. It
is not the tooth which moves upon its peduncle ; it
is the maxillary bone which moves, and brings the
fang into a proper position for wounding, at the same
time that it has firmness enough for inflicting the
wound. The virus is secreted by a gland of con-
siderable size, situated on each side of the head,
immediately under the eye ; and the same muscular
action which forces the tooth into the body of the
prey compresses the reservoir of venom, and so
forces it through the canal of the fang into the
wound.

All venomous serpents are ovoviviparous, that is, the
eggs are hatched internally, and the young brought
forth alive ; so that, whenever the eggs of a snake
are met with in the ground, it may always be known
that the snake is a harmless one. It is on this
account that they have been called " vipers," which is
a contraction of vimpara.

As the deadly virus with which these reptiles are
armed, dreaded as it is, and fatal as it has proved in
many cases, is nevertheless given to them for their
own good, and not for the injury of other animals,
excepting in so far as these serve as food to the
reptiles, we might naturally suppose that both the
crotali and the vipers must feed upon large game,
that is to say, upon game which they would not be
able to manage without these formidable weapons.
Accordingly, we find that the mouths and gullets of
all of them are capable of great extension.

The heads of these serpents are large backwards,
BO that there may be room for the apparatus which
works their deadly fangs, and admit of the dilatation
of their great gape. Their eyes are also fiery, and

they are altogether irascible in their aspect, aod
seem to partake all over of some of the deadly virus
with which they are armed, and by the help 01 which
they procure their food.

But we must not blame them for all this. Their
peculiar structure, and the places in which they seek
their food, do not enable them to strike it down like
the birds of prey, nor to course it, or sprint,-- on it, like
the predatory mammalia. We have also an example of
the same sort of conduct in man, and we have it most
remarkable in the very parts of the world where
such creatures are most abundant. The poison with
which the natives of the interior of Guiana, of
southern Africa, of some of the Asiatic isles, and
other places, prepare their darts and arrows, is
almost literally man playing the crotalu?, in that
feebleness of his proper powers, or rather of the proper
cultivation of them, which makes the savage stand to
the civilised man in nearly the relation in which the
serpent stands to the lion and the eagle. It must be
admitted that civilised man, with his powder and
shot, is not much better than the crotalus with its
poison ; and then there is this weight in the scale
against him, that he discharges his stroke against his
own species, and when the action is not to produce
him a meal, which the reptile never does.

These poisonous serpents are not supplied with
either the activity or the strength of the species
which are not poisonous. Their movements -are
slow, and. their dispositions tranquil, and they never
appear to use their weapons unless when compelled
thereto either by necessity or by fear. They are all
inhabitants of the American continent ; and some of
them, though the winter is much colder than in the
the same parallel of Europe or Asia, are found much
farther to the north than any serpent of nearly the
same deadly venom is met with in the eastern
continent. Those which are found tar to the north
(and, though they are not abundant, they arc not
altogether unknown in Canada) are abroad and
dangerous only for part of the year, and remain in
their holes in a torpid state while the severity of
winter lasts ; but in the tropical parts of the country
they are never torpid, though they remain in hiding
places, or are, at any rate, inactive during the rains.

The very high temperature of the summer month?,
even in those places of North America which are cold
in the winter, and also the abundance of food, and of
undisturbed caves for their residence, are no doubt
the reasons why they are found in such northerly
localities in that part of the world.

In the true crotali which have the rattle, or
sounding apparatus, on the tail, there are considerable
varieties, so that no specific character can be founded
on the number of pieces of which this instrument
consists. The pieces or bells consist of truncated
pyramids and hollow collars, both of the nature of
scales ; and when the animal puts its tail in motion,
these rattle against each other. As these do not
contain any living part of the animal, but are mere
appendages to the tail, the last ones are apt to
drop off, just as is the case with the spine or claw
which is sometimes found adhering to the skin of the
lion's tail in the centre of the terminal brush. It
does not appear that this rattle is of any use in the
economy of the animal, or, which comes very much
to the same thing, the use of it is not known. It
cannot, as has sometimes been alleged, be of much
use in warning other animals of the appearance or

C 11 O T A L U S.

179

presence of the serpent, and thus enabling them to
ina«.e their escape, tor the serpent must be one of
very iarge size, and also very much excited, in order
to be heard at the distance of four or five yards ;
and on the ordinary slow march of the animal it
makes very little noise.

The smell of these serpents is exceedingly offensive,
even when they are alive, arising1, as is supposed, from
the rapidity with which the flesh of those animals on
which they feed putrefies from the action of the virus
upon it. This virus is not a poison when taken into
the stomach of other animals, and there is no reason
to suppose that it is such when taken into the digestive
organs of the reptiles themselves, while the effect to
the bitten animal is a general putrefaction of the
body, and we must suppose that this extends to the
reptile also ; and we have proof that it does, for the
dead bodies of all the poisonous serpents putrefy very
rapidly, and are exceedingly offensive to the smell
during the process. Serpents which are not absolutely
poisonous, but which swallow their prey entire, and
in large quantities at a time, as is the case with the
boas,' pythons, and other great crushing serpents,
have the same kind of sniel!, though it is not perhaps
quite so offensive as that of the crotali.

Hence it should seem that there is a power of the
decomposition of animal matter about all the true
serpents, whether it is concentrated into a direct, and
local poisoning apparatus or not ; and this great power
of decomposition appears to be necessary for the
animals, as they have not the means of separating
the digestible parts of their food from the indigestible
before it is taken into the stomach ; neither do they
appear to return any of the indigestible parts in
castings, as is done by owls, and various other birds.

The crotali, and the other members of the subdi-
vision, require the stimulus of the warmest climates
and seasons to call forth their energies, and even the
common state of the hottest countries does not, upon
ordinary occasions, seem capable of rousing them to
their full powers. It has been matter of observation,
that they have more than common activity, and are
more dangerous than ordinary, when the air is in a
highly electric state.

This is less or more the case with all animals, and
even with the human race, protected as they are from
at least some of the vicissitudes of nature by artificial
means ; and it is very worthy of remark, that those
serpents are the animals which are at once most
strongly excited by the physiological circumstances
of their own nature during the times they are in
action, the most dependent upon high temperature
for their activity, and the most energetic when most
exposed to an electric state of the atmosphere. We
have here the facts brought together in the instance
of the very same creature, that the energy of life, the
intensity of heat, and the excitement of electricity,
increase and decrease together; and, if this is not
proof that the three principles are one and the same,
only differently modified, by being exerted through
different combinations of matter, it proves to a de-
monstration that they are very closely related.

Serpents of this subdivision do not climb trees,
neither do they move about with the flexible graces
and waving motions of the harmless serpents. When
they are on the march, they proceed in a straight
course ; and when they lie in wait for their prey,
they all assume that position which is so well known
under the name of the " adder's coil." Every one

who has seen a lurking adder, must be aware that
the centre of this coil, or spiral, contains the head
of the serpent, that the head is elevated to some
length, in order to give the animal a view of what-
ever is around it, but that the greater part of the
body is coiled level on the ground, and that it is the
uncoiling of this spiral, acting very nearly in the same
manner as the unbending of the spring of a watch,
which gives them their impetus. If the enemy, or
rather the prey, is of large size, they are worked into
a corresponding degree of irritation ; their eves
gleam — their cheeks are inflated — their lips are pulled
tight — their large gape is opened to the full extent —
their fangs are erected, ready to inflict the fatal bite,
and their lengthened tongue is lolled out, as if in
mockery of any defence which may be offered against
that terrible poison with which they are armed.

But though upon the appearance of large prey, and
especially of danger, they are excited apparently to
madness, and their whole body quivers as if they
themselves were under the influence of some terrible
stimulus from without, yet there is method in their
madness, and they will not spring upon any animal
which they are unable to swallow, unless they are
reduced to extremities by impending hostility ; so that
it will be found that the greater number of those who
are bitten by these serpents, are either bitten in con-
sequence of treading unawares upon them, or for
making an unskilful attack. The most poisonous of
them, if it sees a man or other large animal, when on
its ordinary march, will get out of the way as fast as
possible, and conceal itself in the nearest cover ; but,
if it is coiled, and waiting for prey, and especially if
its prey is in sight, it cannot be expected to quit its
position without showing resentment ; for there are
few domestic animals which, when hungry, suffer
themselves tamely to be driven from their food.

Birds which feed on the ground, various reptiles,
squirrels, rats, and, generally speaking, all mammalia
not larger than hares (according to the size of the
individual serpent), form the common prey of the
crotali. As they are no climbers, and as their motions
on the ground are so slow and so much in the straight
line that they would have little chance of capturing
any prey by pursuing it, they necessarily have re-
course to springing from the coil ; and, in so far as
animals of different classes can be compared, they
bear no inconsiderable resemblance to the cat family,
only these spring from the crouch, Awhile th* poison-
ous serpents spring from the coil. But it is worthy
of remark, that the more powerful cats which spring
upon large prey, invariably work themselves into a
state of great excitement before they throw them-
selves upon their prey ; and it is not less worthy of
remark, that the cat family are remarkable for the
excitability of electric action in them ; and it is pro-
bable that it is an instinctive effort to lessen the
annoyance of atmospheric electricity, which induces
the common cat to wet its fur, or wash its face as it is
usually expressed, in electric states of the air.

The power of fascination which these serpents have
over their smaller prey, has been so often mentioned,
as to leave little doubt that it is in a great measure
true ; and they are not the only animals which, upon
sight of their mortal enemies, are rendered quite help-
less by excess of fear. That they themselves can be
charmed by musical sounds seems also to be esta-
blished upon pretty good authority ; and for this also
there are precedents among the other animals ; indeed
M '2

160

C R O T O N.

there is perhaps no animal but which may be turned
from its momentary instinctive impulse, and brought
to simple attention by one combination of sounds or
another ; and it will readily be understood that if
once this is done, the former impulse of the animal is
gone for ever, and cannot return without a return of
those circumstances which, according to the general
.nature of the animal, give rise to that particular
impulse.

This is a most important point in animal physio-
logy, and one which ought never to be lost sight of ;
and it explains many circumstances connected with
the conduct and apparent characters of animals which
otherwise would be perfectly anomalous. Upon this
principle very many of those marvellous stones which
are told of animals leaving their natural instincts, and
sparing that which it is constitutional for them to
devour, which have often been attempted to be
explained by something approaching to human saga-
city, to grateful memory, or to both in the animals,
can be much better explained as arising from the fact
of the animal having no speculative sagacity and no
suggestive memory at all, but as being mere creatures
of the moment, incapable of drawing inferences from
the past, and of forming plans for the future. The
fascination of their prey by serpents, and the charming
of serpents themselves by human art,of both of which,
as we have said, there is no reason to doubt, at least
to a very considerable extent, evidently arise from
the withdrawal of the animal's senses from its object;
and keeping them bewildered ; and as it requires a
much greater effort to work one of those poisonous
serpents up to the proper pitch of attacking, than it
does most other animals, it is easy to see that if it is
once withdrawn from ils purpose, it cannot so easily
return to it, but must require the same time, and the
same train of excitement as before. Perhaps we may
have occasion to enlarge a little upon this very curious
subject in an article FASCINATION.

From the difficulty, and also the danger of observ-
ing these creatures in their native haunts, the genera
and species are in a very unsettled state, and it would
be foreign to our purpose to attempt an adjustment
of them, even though we were in possession of the
means ; we shall therefore merely mention one or two
of the leading ones, remarking that, if the rattle is to
be considered as a generic distinction, some other
name should be invented for the whole family or' the
poisonous serpents of America, which are, generally
speaking, of much larger size than those of the east,
and also more deadly in their virus. In the meantime
we may consider them al! as crotalL

BUSH MASTER. This species is perhaps the most for-

Bush- master,
midable In point of size and also in deadliness of bite.

It is found in the humid thickets of the woods nt
Guiana, and does little harm when left at peace ; but
it is a very formidable creature when attacked. The
preceding figure of it in the act of starting from its
coil, will give some general idea of the form and
bearing of all the family. This one attains the length
of live or six feet ; and in those large specimens the
poison fangs are nearly an inch and an half in length,
very sharp, and thus capable of inflicting a mortal
wound in a very large animal, from the depth at which
they can discharge the virus.

COMMON RATTLE SNAKE (Crotahts horridux). This
is the more northerly species. It was formerly found
six or seven feet long ; but it has been so much
hunted since the colonisation of North America, that
it is not now met witli of so large size. It is not
dangerous to man or domestic animals, unless attacked,
or trod upon accidentally ; and the smell of it is so
offensive to most animals, as to make them avoid the
bushes in which it is lying hid : pigs are the only
animals which venture to invade their retreats ; for
the olfactory nerves of the pig are not only proof
against all sorts of smells, but the peculiar nature of
his skin and the lard under it is such, that the fangs
even of a rattle snake are innocuous to the animal
who gobbles up the serpent as a bonne Louche wherever
he can find it.

The remaining species, with the exception of the
small spotted crotalus, which is found in the arid
plains to the westward of the Mississippi, and so
southward into Mexico, and the yellow serpent of the
West India Islands, are not so clearly made out as to
warrant our giving a popular account of them under
their specific names, as these have been framed from
museum specimens, with very little knowledge of
what the animals are in wild nature, and sometimes
in ignorance of the part of the world of which they
are natives. Indeed it has sometimes happened that
a serpent has been given to very nearly the antipodes
of his native locality ; thus, as we had occasion to
mention in the article COLUBER, an American serpent
has been described in the systems as the Esculapian
serpent of the ancient Greeks ; and by way of imtking
matters worse, even some of the crotali have been
represented as coming from Ceylon.

There is much to be learned before the history of
reptiles, even in Britain, shall be worthy the name of
a science, or rather a scrap of a science, tor the
reptiles in our islands are so few ; and therefore when
we consider the vast extent of the localities of tropical
serpents, the obscurity of their manners, and the
apprehensions that most people have of them, we
almost despair of seeing for many centuries anything
like even a tolerable system of this singular branch of
living nature, — a branch which, from its intimate
connection with the most fertile spots, and the greatest
energy both of animal and of vegetable life, would
doubtless, if rightly understood, fmnish one of tiie
best keys to those general operations of nature, which
stamp their most prominent characters upon the
different regions of the world. For one cr two
general observations we must refer the reader to the
articles OPHIDIA and REPTILE.

CROTON (Linnaeus). A tropical genus of shrubs
so called, because the seeds resemble ticks. Linnsean
class and order AfoitfeciaMonadel/rfiia&fid natural order
Euphorbiaceee. Generic character : male flowers,
calyx five-parted ; petals five, with glands between
each ; stamens numerous ; filaments free and awl-

CROTO'PHAGA— CRUCIFER^.

181

shaped ; anthers oblong and erect ; female flowers,
calyx of five parts; petals none; styles three, twice or
inany-clefted ; seed-vessel three-berried. The greater
number of these plants are uncultivated ; one, the
6'. tinctoriu, is cultivated in the south of Europe for
the dyer. Those kept in our stoves are admired for
their variegated leaves ; of which the late Mr. Sweet
mentions a curious circumstance, namely, that unless
the plants are grown in " a mixture of pure peat
earth and sand, the leaves will soon become green,
and lose all their variegation."

C RO TO F H A G A — Ani. A genus of omnivorous
zygodactylic birds, natives of the tropical parts of
America, of which the. characters are : the bill short,
thick, arched, and with a trenchant ridge on tiie cul-
men compressed laterally, angular at the sides, and
without any notch ; nostrils lateral, near the base
of the bill, oval, and open; fret long and strong,
the tarsi a little longer than the outer toe ; wings
short, the first, second, and third quills gradually in-
creasing, the fourth and fit't.h the, longest in the wing;
and the tail long, rounded, and composed of eight
large and strong feathers.

From this form of the wings and tail, it might be
inferred that, these are not birds of long iiight, neither
do they prey upon the wing. They have some of the
structural characters of our magpie, but the feet are
formed for more habitual perching. They are, how-
ever, much more social birds than the magpies, and
have none of the crafty and suspicions manners of
tiii'se cunning birds. They are social birds, and are
always found in small Hocks ; but they prefer the
open plains, and perch on the tops of bushes, or often
upon elevated hillocks. They are familiar, and not
afraid to perch on the backs of cattle when grazing,
in order to pick off the insects with which these are
often very much infested in warm countries. Their
voice is not very musical, and it has been compared
to the sound of steam issuing boiling from a kettle ;
but, like the sound of the rook, it is better in concert
than solo, and it is in concert that it is generally
heard, as it is rare to meet with one of the genus
single, and as rare to hear one cry without its being
instantly joined by another.

Though the companies of these birds which are seen
together are not so numerous as those of the rooks, yet
they are even more social than these,the most social of
all our omnivorous birds. Rooks build in the same tree,
but this genus breeds in the very same nest, and old
and young may be seen enlarging the nest when the
latter are to begin the cares of a family. The nest is
substantially made in the large fork of a close bush
or tree ; the materials are dry twigs, interlaced and
lined with fine vegetable fibres. The sides are well
raised, and the diameter of the structure is often a foot
and a half. The eggs are three or four in mi mber, of a dull
greenish colour; and from the community of the nest,
it must often happen that the eggs of different mothers
are mixed during the incubation. Still that does not
disturb the amity of these very social birds. They
feed upon maize, rice, and other different sorts of
grain, and upon fruits, as well as upon insects and
their larvae, and worms.

There are two species : C. major, about the size
of a jay, and C. minor, about the size of a blackbird.
The plumage of both is black, with some reflections
of purple and green.

CROWE A (Smith). A genus of shrubs from
New South Wales, named in honour of J. Crowe,

a celebrated botanist of Norwich. Linnsean class
and order Decandria Monogynia, and natural order
Rutdcca:. Generic character : calyx five-cleft ; pe-
tals five, oval, spreading ; stamens inserted under the
disk, bearing the germen ; filaments flat ; anthers
two-celled, united to the interior sides of the filaments ;
style almost none ; stigma fleshy and somewhat
lobed ; disk flesh}', bearing the germen ; capsule
containing five single seeds. This is a favourite
greenhouse plant, as it flowers throughout the greater
part of the year. It cannot bear over-watering, and
requires plenty of free-air. It is propagated by
cuttings.

CROWFOOT, is \\ie Ranunculus acris of Linmrus,
and the butter-cup of the British meadows. It is a
very prevalent weed in grass land, in consequence of
the flower stem not being relished by cattle, so that
the seeds are annually shed where they grow. To
extirpate them is a tedious labour, as each individual
plant must be rooted out with a forked spud. It is
said that if eaten by cows it gives a bitter flavour to
butter, but this requires confirmation.

CRUCIANELLA. See CROSSWORT.

CRUCIFER^E— Cruciferous family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous or exogenous plants, con-
taining ninety-eight known genera, and nearly one
thousand species. It is a very natural family, and is
allied to Capparidece, Papaveraccce, and Fumariaceee,
from which orders, however, it is at once distinguished
by its tetradynamous stamens. Its essential characters
are : sepals four, deciduous, two often gibbous at the
base ; petals four, in the form of a cross (heiice
the name cruciferous), alternate with the sepals ;
stamens six, of which two are shorter, solitary, and
opposite to the lateral sepals, while four are larger,
in pairs, alternating with them ; ovary superior, two-
celled ; style single ; stigmas two, opposite the pla-
cenUe ; green glands at the base of the germen and
stamens ; fruit a siliqua, or silicula, two, rarely one-
celled, two-valved, the valves separating from the
placentae, rarely valveless, one or many seeded ; seeds
attached in a single row by a funiculus to each side
of the placenUe, generally pendulous, and without
albumen : embryo with the radicle folded upon the
cotyledons.

The plants belonging to this order are herbs, which
are annual, biennial, or perennial, rarely suffruticose.
Their leaves are alternate, and their flowers are
usually yellow or white, and grow in corymbs or
racemes. They arrow in greatest abundance in
Europe, nearly one hundred and twenty species
being found in the northern and middle European
countries, and one hundred and eighty on the
northern shores and the islands of the Mediterranean.
Numerous species are also met with in Asia Minor,
Persia, the northern coast of Africa, Siberia, India,
New Holland, and North and South America.
Besides species whose locality is not well known, or
which are common to different countries, we have
about one hundred in the southern, and eight hundred
in the northern hemisphere. In the temperate zone
the number of species amount to six or seven hundred,
in the frigid to above two hundred, while within the
tropics little more than thirty have been detected.
The Crucifercc arc included in the class Tetradynamiu,
the fifteenth of the Linnaean, or artificial system.
This class is well characterised by having four long
stamens and two short. It is divided into two orders ;
first, Siliculosa, in which the fruit is a roundish pod,

182

CRUCIFERvE.

or pouch, as is seen in Honesty, Shepherd's Purse,
&c. ; second, Siliquosa, in which the fruit is a very
long pod, as is seen in wallflower, gilliflower, &c.
Decandolle and others have divided the order into
sections, according to the mode in which the coty-
ledons are plaited or folded, and the position of the
radicle in relation to them. The following are the
sections founded on these characters : —

I. Pleurorhizece, in which the cotyledons are flat,
with the radicle lying upon their edges,as in the genera
Mathiala, stock ; Chetranthus,vfa\\-fio\ver; Nasturtium,
cress; Barbarea, Arabis, Cardamine; Lunaria, honesty;
Alyssum, rocket ; Draba, Cochlearia, Thlaspi, Iberis,
candytuft, &c..

II. NotorhizecB, in which the cotyledons are flat,
with the radicle lying on their back, as is seen in the
genera Hesperis, dame's-violet; Sisymbrium,Erysimum,
Camelina, Senebiera, Lcpidium, Isatis, &c.

III. OrthoplocefB, in which the cotyledons are
folded lengthwise, as in Brassica, cabbage; Sinapis,
mustard ; Diplotaxis, Vella; Crambe, sea-kale ; Rapfia-
nus, radish, &c.

IV. SpirolobetE, in which the cotyledons are coiled
up spirally, as in Bunias and Erucaria,

V. Diplecolobces, in which the cotyledons are bent
double, as in Heliopkila, Subularia, and Brachycarpcea.

This is a most extensive order, including many of
our valuable esculent vegetables, such as cabbage,
raddish, sea-kale, and cress, and some articles of
materia medica, as mustard and scurvy grass. In it
too we find some plants used in the arts, such as
woad, and others which are cultivated in gardens on
account of their beauty, such as stock, gilliflower,
wallflower, candytuft, rocket, &c. In general cruci-
ferous plants are antiscorbutic, stimulating, and acrid.
The pungent taste and powerful odour which many
of them possess are owing to the presence of a vola-
tile oil, which is easily procured by distillation. The
properties of the plants vary according to the quantity
of this oil which enters into their composition.
When by cultivation the plants are made to contain
a large quantity of mucilage and water, their acrimony
is either altogether destroyed or much diminished, and
they become agreeable articles of food. A similar
effect is produced by blanching.

Cruciferous plants contain sulphur and nitrogen in
their composition, and during the process of decay
give out an ammoniacal odour, similar to that evolved
from animal substances. In consequence of the nitro-
gen which they furnish, the plants of this order have
been used in place of the horns and hoc fs of animals
in the manufacture of Prussian blue. Their seeds
abound in a fixed oil, which is often expressed and
put to important uses.

In their botanical, medical, and chemical characters,
vhe cruciferae exhibit such an analogy and uniformity
hat it is needless to dwell long on the individual
/enera and species. We shall notice a few of the
most interesting. The genus Sinapis furnishes several
important species. Sinapis nigra, common mustard,
is found under hedges and in waste places in many
parts of Britain. Its seeds furnish the mustard of
our tables. They are very acrid and stimulating,
and when reduced to powder and mixed with vinegar
and crumb of bread, they form rubefacient cataplasms
known by the name of sinapisms. When applied
externally these are useful in causing a rapid deter-
mination of blood to the surface of the body, and in
rousing the energy of the circulation. If kept applied

for a considerable time they will even produce inflam-
mation and vesication. The powder or flour of mus-
tard is sometimes administered as an emetic in the
dose of a dessert spoonful. It has been given suc-
cessfully in cases of cholera and gout, and in intoxica-
tion threatening apoplexy. The seeds of mustard,
according to chemical analysis, yield a fixed and a
volatile oil, vegetable albumen, mucilage, sulphur,
nitrogen or azote, sulphate and phosphate of litnc,
and silica. The fixed oil is bland and insipid, and is
obtained by expression. The cake which is left con-
tains all the acrimony of the mustard. This acrimony
is owing to the presence of the volatile oil, which is
procured by distillation.' Sinapis alba, white mustard,
is frequent in waste places in Britain, and is well dis-
tinguished by the long beak which terminates its
pods. Its seeds are whiter and more mucilaginous,
less acrid, and not so large as those of the last spe-
cies. They were formerly employed to stimulate and
strengthen the tone of the stomach. In a young
state the plant is eaten under the name of mustard
along with cresses.

The seeds of Sinapis C'hinensis are considered by
the Hindoo and Mahometan practitioners as stimu-
lant, stomachic, and laxative. Sinapis arvensis, wild
mustard or charlock, is one of the most common
weeds in corn fields.

O'er the young corn the charlock throws a shade,
And clasping tares cling round the sickly blade.

The next genus we shall notice is Nasturtium or
water-cress. Nasturtium officinale, formerly Sisym-
brium nasturtium, common water-cress, is a perennial
plant frequent in all the brooks and rivulets of this
country. Its leaves remain green during the whole
year, but are in the greatest perfection in spring. They
have an acrid taste and a somewhat pungent smell
when bruised. By drying or boiling they lose their
sensible qualities entirely. When fresh they are ex-
tensively used as an excellent and wholesome salad.
Since 1808 this plant. has been much cultivated in the
neighbourhood of London. Large plantations of it
exist at Uxbridge, Gravesend, in Hertfordshire, and
other parts of England. It has also been raised in the
vicinity of Edinburgh and Paris. In its cultivation a
constant supply of running water is required. The
expressed juice contains the pungency and slight bit-
terness of the plant, and has been prescribed in doses
of an ounce or two as a gentle stimulant and diuretic.
It enters as an ingredient into antiscorbutic syrups
and wines.

Cardamine pratensis, common meadow lady's smock,
is abundant in moist meadows, where it is rendered
conspicuous by its large blush-coloured flowers, which
are sometimes double. It is used in the same way as
the water-cress. It was formerly looked upon as a
diuretic, and given in doses of one or two drachms
twice or thrice a day. It has sometimes been recom-
mended in nervous diseases, such as epilepsy.

Sisymbrium officinal*.', formerly Erysimnni officinale,
common hedge-mustard, is another indigeneous plant
found in waste places and by way sides every where.
The leaves of this plant do not possess the pungency
of those of the other cruciferous plants. They are
slightly acid, and arp employed as tonics. The herb
is used by singers to cure hoarseness and strengthen
the larynx.

Brassica oleracea, sea-cabbage, is the origin of the
common garden cabbage, of which there are nume-

CRUSTACEA.

183

rous varieties, such as, cavalier cabbage, Savoy
cabbage, Brussels sprouts, early dwarf cabbage,
sugar loaf cabbage, red cabbage, cauliflower, and
broccoli, &c. (See articles BROCCOLI, CABBAGE, and
CAULIFLOWER.) Cabbage was formerly employed
as a remedy in diseases, but is now confined entirely
to domestic uses. In Germany it is made to undergo
a degree of fermentation, and forms what has been
denominated Saner Kraut or Clitm-croittf. The red
variety of cabbage is sweet and mucilaginous. It is
used tor pickles, and has been prescribed in chronic
inflammations of the respiratory organs.

Brasxica napns, rape or cole seed, is cultivated on
account of the oil produced by its seeds, which, after
being pressed, are made into cakes, and are used as
manure, or for feeding cattle. The oil is used for
lamps and domestic purposes.

Bmssica campcstris, grows spontaneously in the
fields all over Europe, and is also extensively culti-
vated. There arc several varieties of this species,
among which may be mentioned the rutabaga, or
Swedish turnip.

Brassica Rapa supplies the common turnip, so
abundantly cultivated both in gardens and in fields.

Raphanus satirus, common radish, was originally a
native of China and southern Asia, but has now be-
come naturalised all over Europe. There are sixteen or
twenty varieties known to gardeners. Some of these
have globular turnip-like roots, and a rose or white
colour externally, others have elongated, spindle-
shaped roots, while a third set are known by their
black and wrinkled exterior, and their extremely
pungent taste. The latter are denominated black or
Spanish radishes.

Sepidium laf /folium, broad-leaved pepper-wort, has
a hot acrid taste, and produces a redness of the skin
when applied to it. It is a powerful antiscorbutic.

Lcpidium sativum, common cress, is a well known
salad. The seeds are sometimes made to germinate
on cloth or wool moistened with water, or a solution
of chlorine, and kept in a moderate temperature.

Lcpidium oleraceum grows in New Zealand, and is
prized there as a remedy for sea-scurvy. It resembles
lettuce in taste, and acts as a moderate aperient.

Lcpidium piscidium is used by the natives of the
Society Islands, for the purpose of catching fish by
inebriating them.

Cochlcaria offiandKs, common scurvy-grass, is
abundant on the sea shore, as well as on elevated
mountains in Britain. Its leaves yield a heavy
volatile oil, one drop of which dissolved in alcohol i
sufficient to communicate the odour and taste of the
plant to a pound of wme. The plant, as its name
implies, is antiscorbutic.

The roots of Cochlcaria armoracia, common horse-
radish, have a pungent flavour, and are used as a
condiment to roast beef. They are prescribed medi-
cinally to promote the flow of saliva, and have been
recommended in cases of palsy of the tongue. An
infusion of them in cold milk forms a safe cosmetic.

Crambe maritima, sea kale, is a native of the sea
coast in several parts of Britain, and is frequently
cultivated in gardens. When blanched it is esteemec
as a culinary vegetable.

Ixntis tinctoria, dyers' wood, is scarcely indigenous
in Britain. It is cultivated on account of the dye
which is produced from its leaves, and which is usec
as a substitute for indigo. In consequence of the
cheapness of the latter, the cultivation of woad is no

onger profitable. The ancient Britons used this
)lant to paint their bodies of a blue colour.

Camelina saliva, gold of pleasure, is cultivated in
lermany, on account of the oil which it yields.

The seeds of Erysimum chciranthoides are used by
ountry people to destroy worms.

The dried root of Dentaria diphylla is used by the
Americans instead of mustard, under the name of
jepper root.

Barbarca QUCECOCC, early winter cress, is the Ame-
rican or Belleisle cress of gardeners.

Without dwelling longer on this extensive family,
and attempting to notice all the species which are
jrized in the kitchen or the flower garden, we think
,hat we have already sufficiently illustrated its pro-
perties, and shown its importance and value among
;he other vegetable tribes.

CRUSTACEA. One of the three primary divi-
sions or classes into which articulated animals provided
with articulated legs, are divided. They are distin-
guished by having the head generally confounded
with the thorax, and respiring by branchiae or gills
placed at the sides of the body, beneath the hard
covering or shell in which they are encased. The
larger and better known species are those marine ani-
mals known under the ordinary name of shell-fish, and
in the Linna?an system they composed two genera
alone in the apterous order of insects, namely, Cancer
and Monocuhta. They are a group of animals hitherto
but little attended to, either as regards their structure
or habits, although several observers stand out in op-
position to this observation. Thus Aristotle devoted a
chapter to their history, in which much fabulous mat-
ter is of course introduced ; and in the time of Hip-
pocrates, a certain number of them were known as
useful in medicine. Rondeletius, Belon, and Gesner,
&c. published various descriptions of them, illustrated
by rude figures ; but it is to Swammerdam, Willis, and
Roesel, that we are indebted for the first attempts
to illustrate their organisation. Brisson, perceiving
the impropriety of allowing these animals to remain
amongst the true insects, first separated them, forming
them — together with the Myriapoda and Amchnida —
into a class intermediate between fishes and insects,
thus taking the first step towards a natural distribution
of the articulated animals. Fabricius and Latreille,
by accumulating many valuable materials relative to
them, assisted greatly towards the same end, but it is
to the immortal Cuvier that we are indebted for the
first separation of the Crustacea as a class within its
strict limits.

Since this period Lamarck and Leach, as well as
Latreille, occupied themselves in an especial manner
towards the elucidation of this class, and formed its
contents into various natural groups. Jurine, Straus,
Shaw, &c., by their microscopic investigations, have
greatly assisted in diffusing a knowledge of the
smaller animals, whilst Savigny, Audouin, and Milne
Edwards, have studied with great success the oral and
internal anatomy of the Crustacea. In our own coun-
try the recent observations of Drs. Johnstone and
Fleming, and the beautiful work of Mr. J. V. Thomp-
son, have shown that the subject is not neglected
amongst us ; and very lately another observer has en-
tered the field, S. Hailstone, junr., esq., whose descrip-
tions of various species found on the southern coasts
of England, published in the Magazine of Natural
History for May, 1835, prove him to be no indifferent
naturalist.

184

CRUSTACEA.

The Crustacea, regarded under the different rela-
tions exhibited by their organisation, ought unques-
tionably to occupy an elevated range in the annulose
sub-kingdom. They ought not, indeed, to be far re-
moved from the Arachnida and insi-cts, which, like
themselves, have a symmetrical body encased in a-
hard corneous covering, performing the offices of an
external skeleton, and with articulated legs, eyes al-
ways apparent, sexes distinct, &c. They are, how-
ever, evidently much farther removed from the Anne-
lida, in which the body is destitute pf true articulated
limbs, the eyes wanting, and the generation often her-
maphrodite. These last, indeed, in many respects in-
ferior both to the Crustacea and Imecta, seem to be
more nearly allied to the intestinal worms, and Epizo-
aria. With respect again to the fishes with which
they are vulgarly associated, their relations are very
trifling indeed*; but with the mollusca, especially such
as the Cephalopoda, there is much greater affinity, so
that they might naturally be placed after them in the
series of animals ; but as we find other m.ollusca, such
as the Gasteropoda and Acepliala, still less perfectly
organised, we should either be compelled to intro-
duce the Crustacea, in the midst of them, or to place
the mollusca either after the entire group of annulosed
animals, as the ancients did, or before the Crustacea, as
the more recent zoologists have done ; and this latter
step is confirmed by the observations of Latreillc, who
has proved the existence of the great affinity between
certain of the least perfectly organised fishes, and the
most perfectly organised mollusca, as \\\Q Cephalopoda.

The following are the characters by which the ani-
mals of this class are distinguished from the other an-
nulosa. Animals destitute of internal vertebra? having
white blood ; the body divided into various segments
(differing in number), encased in a crustaceous en-
velope, and provided with articulated legs, respiring
by means of branchiae or branchial plates, ordinarily
annexed to the base of the legs or lower jaws, having
a distinct heart, furnished with visible vessels, with
legs, of which the number is generally five or seven
pairs, and always destitute of wings ; head generally
confounded with the thorax, furnished with two pairs
of antennae, and a pair of mandibles (often palpi-
gerous) ; two pairs of lower jaws, and three pairs of
foot-jaws (the two posterior pairs of which are trans-
formed into two additional pairs of legs, when there
are seven pairs of the latter organs) ; mouth also fur-
nished with an upper and lower lip, or rather a tongue;
the external pair of foot-jaws (see figure of the under-
side of the body of Carcinus moenas, vol. i. p. 722,)
performing the office of a lower lip ; eyes two, facet-
ted, often borne upon footstalks ; sexes distinct ; sexual
organs placed either at the base of the legs or the
extremity of the body.

The class which we are now considering may be
considered as taking the place in the ocean which in-
sects occupy on land. They are very varied in their
forms, as well as size, some of them being in fact the
giants of the sub-kingdom to which they belong, whilst
others are of a microscopic minuteness. Some species
are of a globular or oval shape, others square, whilst

* A celebrated zoologist recently requested a friend who was
going a long sea-voyage, to bring him home all the fishes he
could procure. "Yes," was the reply," I will catch you all kinds,
from a whale to a shrimp;" neither of which, as every person
acquainted with the slightest outlines of zoology well knows,
are fishes.— We mention this anecdote to show that a little know-
ledge here would not have been a dangerous thing.

a few are linear and elongated , some again have the
body quite flat, others are compressed, and in a tew
the covering of the body, instead of being hard and
crustaceous, exists in u softened and menibranaceous
state.

These animals possess the ordinary senses which
the inferior animals are gifted with, although, from t'ne
great modification in their structure, as compared with
that of the vertebrated higher animals, it is difficult,
and, indeed, often impossible for us to assign them to
their legitimate organs. That they taste is evident
from the fact that they are not indifferent to the kind
of food which they meet with, and which, indeed, they
seek with much assiduity. The very complex organi-
sation of their mouths, the development of which far
surpasses that of, insects, must doubtless be regarded
as affording the seat of this sense. The organs of
sight are very distinct, in the greater number existing
as facetted eyes, borne upon footstalks, often of a very
great length, as in Podopli thalmus; often, however, they
are sessile, that is, not elevated upon the surface of
the head or shell. The structure of the eyes of these
animals has lately been studied very minutely by M.
Muller (Ann. Sc. Nat., July 1829). The sense of
touch, from the hard envelope in which these animals
are encased, must in all probability be greatly dimi-
nished, especially in the more crustaceous species. —
The circumstance that they are provided with two
pairs of antennae, as well as several pairs of palpi at-
tached to the jaws and foot jaws, seems to favour the
opinion that this sense is transmitted by means of
these organs. The sense of hearing has not been dis-
tinctly proved to be possessed by these animals ; it
has, however, been supposed that the seat of this sense
was placed in an excavation observed at the base of
the external pair of antenna; in certain of the larger
species, as the lobster, &c.. in which cavity it has been
stated, that a small sac filled with fluid exists, in the
midst of which a nervous thread was fixed ; it is cer-
tain, however, that the aperture of this cavity is closed
by a membrane, and that in some cases th'ere exists
(as in Maia} a small crustaceous organ or moveable
operculum, the use of which appears to be to distend
the membrane which shuts the orifice. Of the distinct
existence of the sense of smell we are also equally igno-
rant, although from analogy we are led to believe that
it is possessed by these animals. Its seat is also un-
known, although Rosenthals and Robineau considered
that it existed in a pair of small orifices at the base of
the internal pair of antennae.

Annulose animals having the vertebrae as it were
external, are necessarily prevented from undergoing
a similar mode of growth to that which distinguishes
those animals which, having the vertebrae internal,
acquire an increase of the external softer portion of
the bodv, without any obstacle to its addition ; but.
the solid shell of the crab may readily be conceived
to be an unsurmountable obstacle to its growth, which
nevertheless takes place from year to year. Nature,
therefore, has removed this obstacle in a curious
manner. The caterpillar casts its skin several times
before it becomes a chrysalis, the crab in like manner
undergoes an annual moulting ; but it may well be
conceived that the complete shedding of a crustaceous
envelope like that of the crab, must be a far more
remarkable operation than the slipping of a thin
membranous skin like that of a caterpillar. The prin-
ciple is, nevertheless, the same in both cases. When,
however, we consider that not only the shell but also

CRUSTACEA.

185

the covering of all the most delicate organs, such as
tci; °yes, antennae, and even branchia: is shed at the
same time, we find nut less grounds for astonishment
and wonder. The minute Crustacea, whose growth is
very rapid, change their coats at very short intervals
of time. Thus Jurine observed that the young
Daphnes moulted eight, times in seventeen days, but
amongst the large species, such as the crabs and
lobsters, this only occurs otiee a year. When, there-
lore, at the end of the spring, the Cnmlnccn having
previously obtained such an increased supply of
food, as to make their shells too confined for the
increased size of their internal organs, they cast
their entire skeleton as we may term it. Previous to
doing this, they appear sick, languid and restless,
seeking some secluded place, in which they may
securely remain until their new covering shall have
attained a sufficient consistence. In easting their
shells it is difficult, at first sight, to conceive how it is
possible that the enclosed claw, for instance, can be
so completely drawn out of the old covering, through I
the narrow part by which it is attached to the body, :
so as to leave the shell of the claw entire, and attached
to the cxtivia of the body, in which state they are
constantly found. The new shell, however, is at first
quite soft and membranaceous, so that we may thereby
account for this, circnhrttance, without adopting the
opinion of the fisherman, that the lobster pines so
much before moulting, that the Mesh of its large claw \
is reduced to the size of a goose quill, which enables, !
it to draw its parts through the joints and narrow
passage next the body. Still it is evident, that the
forcing of the inclosed claw, even if ever so soft,
through so narrow a passage mu^t IK; exceedingly
painful. It is to Reaumur that we are indebted for
our knowledge of the precise circumstances connected
with this curious phenomenon, that distinguished author
having imprisoned several cravfish about to moult in
pots pierced with holes placed in running water. It
is said that it is easy to perceive when the period of
moulting is approaching, by pressing the backs of the
animals, when the shells yields readily to the pressure
of the finger, not offering that, resistance which is
common to them. The animals then beat their legs with
violence against each other, the body is in a complete
agitation, the membranes between the segments being
greatly distended, so that the shell is raised consi-
derably from the abdomen, the membrane bursting
which connects them. By degrees the entire shell
and external covering is shed, and in the course of
two or three days, or even twenty-four hours, the new
skin has acquired its proper consistence.

Another circumstance of a still more remarkable
nature, occurs in the animals we are now treating
upon, namely, the reproduction of the claws and legs
when accidentally broken off. In some species, indeed,
the limbs are so slightly attached, that the least
touch causes them to shed them. In like manner it
is said that lobsters fear thunder, and are apt to cast
their claws on a great clap, and that they will do the
same on the firing of cannon ; so that when men of
war meet a lobster boat, a jocular threat is used, that
if the master does not sell good lobsters they will
salute him. In the course of a (lay or two the naked
skin exposed by the wound, is found to be covered
with a reddish pellicle, which soon assumes a convex
surface, grows longer, becomes conical, increases in
size, and splitting, exposes to view a soft body, com-
posed of the same number of parts as had been lost.

This soon gains the consistence of the remainder of
the body, but never acquires the size of the limb lost
although at every subsequent moulting of the skin,
its size increases more rapidly than that of the rest of
the limbs.

This curious phenomenon involves, in a singular
manner, the principles upon which the moulting of
the skin of the annulosa takes place. We are taught
that the wings of a butterfly exist in the caterpillar
state, and that the legs of the larva of a grasshopper
envelope the legs of the perfect insect ; if, therefore,
we admit the theory of Swammerdam, founded upon
these statements, — that every larva at it first exclu-
sion, contains within itself the germ of the future
imago and of all its envelopes, which, successively
presenting themselves, are thrown off, presenting to
view the next internal envelope, we shall be com-
pelled to establish another theory tor the Crustacea,
similar to that of Dr. Heroldt — that the successive
skins of the larva, pupa case, imago, and its parts and
organs, do not pre-exist as germs, but are formed
successively from the rete mucosum. Reaumur has,
indeed, attempted to explain the causes of this re-pro-
duction of limbs ; inquiring, if, at the base of each leg,
there may not be a provision of new legs, as in
children there is a tooth under the milk tooth !
We are surprised that so acute a reasoner as Reau-
mur should not have perceived the incorrectness of
such a supposition. It is perfectly natural that the
milk teeth are one day destined to fall, and it is
natural that their places should be occupied by fresh
teeth, which are accordingly provided. But it is per-
fectly unnatural — merely accidental— that the lobster
should lose its claws ; and it is equally unnatural to
suppose, that nature should have provided a series of
organs which, in the majority of instances, would be
totally useless, depending only upon accident for their
casual development.

The female Crustacea, after impregnation, deposit
a vast number of eggs, which, in many instances, are
retained beneath the abdominal portion of the body,
whilst in some, as in the opossum shrimps (fifytit),
the sea wood-lice (Isopoda), they are retained in a
kind of sub-thoracic pouch, and in others they are
placed in a membranaceous bag, or pair of bags,
dependent from the base of the abdomen, as in the
Cyclops, Branchipus, &c. It has been generally stated
in all works upon this class, that with a very few
exceptions, the young, when hatched from the eggs,
closely resemble their parents in form ; these ex-
ceptions occurring in Cyclops, the young of which
were regarded by Muller as belonging to two dis-
tinct genera (Amymome and Nauplius], Argidiis, and
Branchipus. Indeed, Dr. Leach, one of the chief
investigators of this tribe of animals, has assigned it
as one of their principal characters, thai they undergo
no metamorphosis. Mr. J. V. Thomson of Cork has,
however, lately published a series of memoirs, in
which he has announced as an " important discoccry,
that the greater number of the Crustacea do actually
undergo transformations. The circumstance of the
Crustacea being supposed to pass through no inter-
mediate form, has been brought forward heretofore as
one of the arguments for their separation from insects ;
but although the fallacy of that opinion may diminish
the number of characteristics which distinguish these
two tribes of animals as distinct classes, there yet
remains those depending on the anatomical structure
of their respiratory and circulating systems, which are

186

CRYPTANDRA.

quite sufficient to render their separation permanent.
It may also be observed that the changes presented
to our notice in the Crustacea, are quite peculiar, and
of a totally different description from those of insects."
Mr. Thomson then proceeds to notice the different
extraordinary animals known to naturalists under the
name of zoea. which, from their peculiar structure,
had greatly perplexed systematic crustaceologists,
and states, " It will no longer be a matter of surprise
that all the leading naturalists of the present day
should have been at a loss how to dispose of zoea in
their arrangements of the~crustacea, when it is known
that this singular type is not a perfect animal, but
merely the larva or imperfect state of the crab ! and
not as had been imagined an animal sni generis."
Subsequently our author states, amongst other circum-
stances, that he, " succeeding in hatching the ova of
the common crab, during the month of June, which
presented exactly the appearances of Zoea Taurus,
with the addition of lateral spines to the corselet, the
Crustacea then indisputably undergo a metamorphosis,
a fact which will form an epoch in the history of this
generally neglected tribe, and tend to create an
interest which may operate favourably in directing
more of the attention of naturalists towards them*."
And as the zoeas are aquatic animals furnished with
swimming organs, Mr. Thompson concludes that the
circumstance of the young of the Crustacea being thus
natatory, enables us satisfactorily to account for the
annual migration of the land crabs of the West
Indies to deposit their eggs in the water. We have
thus given Mr. Thompson's observations at some
length, because the facts, if fully established, are
highly interesting, and sufficient to raise Mr. Thompson
to a very high rank amongst naturalists. It is pro-
per, however, to state, that Dr. Rathke has, in a series
of microscopic observations, far more elaborate than
any hitherto published by Mr. Thompson, clearly
shown the gradual development of the cray-fish within
the egg, and which, upon bursting into life, possesses
all the form of its parent, whilst the Rev. Lansdown
Guilding has expressly stated that the land crabs do
not undergo any metamorphosis (Mag. Nat. Hist.,
May, 1835), a statement which we can fully confirm ;
thus, two examples in the great divisions of Brachyura
and Macroura are shown to militate against Mr.
Thompson's assertion, that the Crustacea universally
undergo metamorphosis ; and, as the organisation of
those two animals is so completely analogous to that
of the common crab (the young of which Mr. Thomp-
son affirms to be a zoea) and the rest of the Decapoda,
we think that analogy strictly warrants us in assuming
that Mr. Thompson must have fallen into some
fundamental error in his observations. We look
forward, with great interest, to his promised continu-
ation of these memoirs, which have been too much
neglected by naturalists.

Various "modes of distribution of this class hare
been proposed by different crustaceologists, which it
would occupy too much space to detail ; we shall,
therefore, proceed to give a short sketch of that
which appears to us to be the most natural hitherto
published, namely, that by Latreille in the second
edition of the Regne Animal, premising only that we
have omitted the fossil tribe of Trilobitcs, which will
form a distinct article, and that the distribution of
Mr. Edwards, founded primarily upon the manduca-

tory or suctorial nature of the mouth, appears to »fi
to be less natural than that given below.

CLASS CRUSTACEA.

Section I.MALACOSTRACA. Shell of a solid consistence ;
legs ten or fourteen ; mouth with a labrum, two
mandibles, four maxillae, six or ten (according to
the number of legs) foot jaws.

Sub-section 1. PODOPHTHALMA. Eyes on footstalks.

Order 1. Decopoda. Legs ten; foot jaws ten;

branchiae in a cavity at the sides of the thorax ;

divisible into two sub-orders.

Brachy ura (short tailed crabs — See BRACK YURA).

Macroura (lobsters, &c. — See BRACHYURA and

MACROUUA).

Order 2. Stomapoda. Branchiae not inclosed be-
neath the shell at the sides of the thorax ; legs
more than ten.

Sub-section 2. EDRIOPHTHALMA. Eyes not elevated
on footstalks.

Order 3. Amphipoda. Body compressed; mandi-
bles palpigerous. See AMPHIPODA.
Order 4. Laewodipoda. Abdomen rudimental, with
only the rudiments of one or two pairs of
appendages. See CAPRELLA.
Order 5. Isopoda. Body depressed ; abdominal
appendages flat and plate like ; mandibles not
palpigerous.

Section 2. ENTOMOSTRACA. Shell not solid; legs
variable in number ; mouth very variable.
Order 6. Branchiopoda. See this article and its

divisions.

Order 7. Pacilojioda. Mouth suctorial, or desti-
tute of mandibles and maxilhv, but defended
bv the ambulatory legs which perform this
office. Divisible into the sub-orders Xiphosura
(or king crabs), and the Siphoiwstoma (or fish
parasites). See CALIGIDES.
As these kinds of tabular sketches are best eluci-
dated bv references to figures, we will direct our
readers for an illustration of the Decapod Bnichyum
to Vol. 1. p. 722, for a figure of Carcinus mcc-nas; of
the Decapod Macroura, to p. 167 of this volume, for a
figure of the Cray-fall ; of the Amphipoda, to Vol. I.
p. 95, for a figure of Gammarus Pafi.v, by mistake
called Pernys, which is the Comphium iongicorne ; of
the L(Emorii/ioda, to Vol. I. p. 691, for a figure of
Caprella Phasma; of the Ixojjoda, to Vol. II. p. 25,
fig. 2, representing Armadillo vnlgaris ; of the Bran-
c/noj)oda, to Vol. I. p. 626, representing the Brine
Shrimp; and we here figure the Argulus foliaceus,

* Zoological Illustrations; p. 9.

1, the animal magnified ; 2, one of the large anterior sucking
feet; 3, the rostrum) 4, natural length.

belonging to the order Pcecilopoda (sub-order Sipho-
nostoma}, an account of the habits of which will be
found under the article CALIGIDES. The remaining
classes Stomapoda and Xiphosura, will be illustrated
in subsequent articles.

CRYPTANDRA (Smith). A genus of curious
shrubs from New Holland. Class and order Pen-
tandria Monogynia, and natural order Rhamncee.

CRYPTODIBRANCHIATA.

187

Generic character -. calyx of five sepals ; corolla '
tubular, five-cleft, in the throat of which there are
five hollow scales concealing the stamens ; stigma
tritid ; capsule three-valved, seeds three. These
plants were introduced into our collections twelve
years ago ; and thrive well in the greenhouse, potted
in loam and moor earth. They are propagated by
cuttings without difficulty.

CRYPTODIBRANCHIATA (De Blainville ;
CEPHALOPODA, Lamarck, Cuvier ; SEPIA, Linnaeus).
These molluscs form the first order of the modern
system of Malacology — or that science which treats
of soft bodied animals, without bones or articulations ;
some, however, possessing internal testaceous portions,
and by far the greater number external shells or
coverings, varying in an infinite degree of form ; the
intermediate links of affinity between these singularly
organised creatures, mark those interesting changes
which take place throughout the system, many of
them to be satisfactorily proved by analogous reason-
ing, to be the consequence of necessity arising from
peculiarity of circumstance or situation.

This order of molluscous animals, as far as is yet
known of them, includes species of the type, possess-
ing the highest and most perfect organised parts and
faculties of all the mollusca ; they enjoy all the ani-
mal functions of seeing well, hearing, moving with
ease and rapidity from one spot to another, of pur-
suing and seizing their prey ; and they even appear
to possess something like a feeling of attachment to
each other. It having been remarked by an accurate
observer of nature, whose observations we have fre-
quently been permitted to quote, on these animals and
molluscs in general, that he has remarked and repeat-
edly made the experiment of placing other molluscs
v> ith members of the Cephalopoda, and always found
they were driven from their society, and obliged to
congregate in a different part of the same space to
which they were confined ; observing also, that when
one of these intruders presented itself, or had wan-
dered outoi'its assigned limits, the Common Cuttlefish
particularly, exhibited, as it were, immediate signs of
uneasiness. That peculiar breathing kind of motion,
which resembles the exhaustion and filling of their
bladder-formed bodies, became more rapid ; their ten-
tacular appendages much agitated ; and, in a few
seconds, the whole of the family were in motion, oc-
cupied in driving the stranger from amongst them, all
united as it were in a common cause against the sup-
posed enemy. Their movements, however, upon thi
/occasion were by no means rapid ; on the contrary,
they seemed guided by a regularity of purpose gene-
rally understood to themselves, and it might almost
be imagined directed by a recognised commander —
they never assailed the intruder, each after his own
fashion surrounding it promiscuously, but clearing a
passage, left ample space for retreat ; and then, from
the nearest to the most distant point, they closed in
and prevented its intrusion. In this movement much
purpose was exhibited, for the Sepia: did not form them-
selves into a solid mass, but each of them appearing to
have a place allotted to it, moved nearer to the sphere
of action, with something like regularity; each one pre-
pared and in motion, but not going far from the spo
in which it had been reposing : the impulse of alarm
appeared general, but rather to excite caution thar
anger, though the result invariably was the same, tha
of precluding the stranger from entering into thei
congregation. These observations were made on i

part of the Dutch coast, where some acres of marsh
land were overflowed each tide ; and the situation
being, doubtless, favourable to these creatures, their
numbers were countless — the whole space exhibiting
a palpitating moving mass of creatures, in some parts
so closely packed as to have the appearance of form-
ing but one animal. Professor Kops, of Amsterdam,
visited the spot in the summer of 1816 ; and his inte-
esting remarks on this occurrence form a paper read
it an academic meeting in Holland. The following
?ear, however, the same spot was deserted, and not a
ingle sepia to be seen there.

The body of the animals of this order are enveloped
and partly free, in a very thick mantle, expanding into
a wide opening at its anterior side ; the edges free,
and detached all round, looking like a sack or opened
Bladder, without any trace of muscular abdominal disc,
or of a foot ; this body is most generally naked, either
unprovided with solid internal parts, or inclosing a
shell or other hard substance ; sometimes provided
with an external substance or testaceous portion, co-
vering or sheathed in the body. This is never com-
posed of two opposite valves, its shape is extremely
various ; it is placed dorsally, and serves as a shield
or protection to some of the more delicate organs. The
animal is completely inarticulate, provided with a
very large head, more or less projecting ; this presents
ibur or five pairs of conical tentacular appendages at-
tached at their base to a kind of skull which envelops
the brain, and are furnished with suckers used for
prehension : these arms are disposed in a circular
order, in the form of a coronet. The mouth is alto-
gether anterior, elongated or tubular ; armed with a
large pair of horny teeth in the form of a parrot's beak,
acting vertically against each other. The mantle is
diversified ; the gills or organs of respiration various ;
rarely symmetrical, lateral, and concealed in the sac ;
the circulation is double, one particular, the other
general ; the heart unilocular, sometimes with the au-
ricles divided, and very distant ; no medullary cord
along the body, but provided with a few scattered
nerves and ganglions.

This oxler includes the genera Octopus in the first
family, and the second family Dccacera, contains the
Lvligo and Sepia. They are abundantly found in the
seas of all countries, and probably larger and more
numerous in those of warm latitudes, where marvel-
lous stories are related of their gigantic structure ;
they, however, are so much involved in ignorance and
mystery, resting only on the uncorroborated testimony
of incompetent judges, that though we are not in a
position to contradict them positively, we are unwil-
ling to receive them as well-established facts. Not
that we absolutely reject the possibility of much we
have heard respecting them being true, for every in-
stant of our existence brings to light new discoveries
in the animal kingdom, elucidating the phenomena of
nature ; and we have constantly had occasion to re-
mark, that marvellous as many of the tales of olden
times at first appeared, they more or less have origin-
ated in a simple matter of fact, distorted or magnified
by subsequent narrators, and disguised at all times by
ignorant credulity, which eagerly adopts that which
cannot easily be disproved. We are, however, as we
have just stated, cautious without being incredulous ;
never forgetting that Bruce's Abyssinian beefsteaks
drove him from society, and broke his heart by slow
degrees. We have also the assertion before our eyes
of a recent delightful writer, who says he is really

188

CRYPTOCEPHALUS — CUCKOO.

fearful that his truth would be doubted if he were to
relate some of the scenes he had witnessed ; and he
has actually confided his information to such only as
know his integrity, leaving future travellers to conHrrn
his assertions. We can fully appreciate this feeling,
and honour it ; but were all mankind to be actuated
by similar delicacy, no progress would be made in
elucidating the phenomena of nature — science must
cease to advance, and ignorance become perpetu-
ated. First impressions are readily received, and fre-
quently remain deeply impressedi but a well consti-
tuted mind hesitates to admit them, without having
minutely weighed the mass of evidence for or against
them, and exercising a sound discretion as to its
worth.

It would be travelling far out of our prescribed
path, to enumerate the thousand instances we might
easily adduce, in which a description of nature and
her operations would be treated at first sight as the
idle dream of a disturbed imagination, or a tale of
poetic fancy. This applies to every portion of crea-
tion, but to none more universally than to entomo-
logy; in which the insect transformations, their habits,
and their ordained purposes, have become additional
proofs of omnipotent wisdom, through the laborious
investigations of a host of eloquent writers on the sub-
ject, from an early period, down to those of the vene-
rable Kirby and others of our own time. With such
examples, we dare not reject any thing as impossible
to the Architect of nature ; but we are slow to give
implicit credence to all we hear, unsupported by the
clearest concurring testimony.

Cephalopoda — the name given to these animals by
Lamarck, Cuvier, and other modern naturalists — is de-
rived from two Greek words.implying the feet socalled,
being placed on the head. Cryptodibranchiata means
the animal's two branchiae being concealed. Ceplialopod
is, however, the commonly received term, and is more
expressive, as indicating a character which readily
strikes the senses, without requiring any additional
information from anatomical examination, to guide the
first step towards a system of classification.

CRYPTOCEPHALUS (Geoffrey). A genus of
coleopterous insects of considerable extent, belonging
to the family CHRYSOMELID*:, which see," having the
antennae long and slender, head small' and vertical,
the body short, thick, and cylindric, and legs formed
for walking. They are of a small size, seldom reach-
ing half an inch in length. Their form is not elegant,
but they are compensated by the beautiful colours
and markings with which they are adorned. They
are found upon flowers in the hot sunshine, and feed,
both in the larva and perfect state, upon vegetable
matters ; destroying the young buds, they do not cut,
but macerate, and occasion them to dry up" arid
fall. When disturbed they have recourse to artifice
by folding their antennae and legs close to the body,
and counterfeiting-death. At a late meeting of the
Entomological Society of France a larva found in an
ants' nest, enclosed in a solid case, was described, and
which was considered to be that of a species of this
genus. M. Gene of Turin has also published some
interesting observations upon the larva? of the Crypto-
cephalus. Dejean, fourteen years ago, enumerated
seventy species, since which the number has greatly
increased. There are about twenty inhabitants of
this country, amongst which the type, Chrysomela
sericea of Linnaeus, is one of the prettiest species,
being of a fine silky golden green colour with black

antenna? ; it is about one-third of an inch long, '.nd it
found upon umbelliferous plants in June.

CRYPTOSTEGIA(R. Brown) is an East Indian
genus belonging to Penlundna Digi/nia, and to
the natural order Apocynea:, according to Sweet and
Sprengel, but to Asclepiade<e, according to Lindley.
The C. grandiflora is a beautiful climber, and thrives
well in the common mixture of loam and rnoor earth,
and mav be propagated by cuttings struck in sand.

CRYPTOSTEMMA (R. Brown). A genus of
syngcnesious annuals from the Cape of Good Hope,
and belonging to the natural order Composites, The
species require to be treated likti tender annuals, that
is sown on a gentle hot-bed, and, when strong enough,
planted out in the open borders in May. They are
handsome flowers, and deserve to be in every flower
garden.

CRYPTOSTOMA (Leach). A mollusc whose
body is tongue-shaped, in a great degree formed by a
very long arid thick foot, narrower in front, chan-
nelled on both sides, and extending considerably
beyond the twisted visceral mass, which is very small,
rather convex on the upper side, and about a third of
it covered with an internal shell extremely similar in
every respect to the Sigarctus properly so called ; the
mouth is very small and concealed beneath the anterior
and superior fold of the foot, towards which its four
grooves diverge ; from this very singular position of
the rnouth the genus has been named. There arc
two tentacula pedunculated at their base, eyes iiat
ascertained, and one great branchial comb. There
are only two species of this genus described, both
from India, but it is not improbable some species of
Lamarck's genus Sigarctus will be discovered to
belong to it. It is placed in the second class Para-
cephalophora, second order C/iismobraiichiuta, family
Limdcineq.

CRYPTOSTYLIS (R. Brown). A genus of New
Holland gynaudrious plants introduced into this coun-
try about ten years since. Like other Orchidtc, the
flowers are curiously shaped, and of a dark brown
colour. The bulbs or rather tubers are connected in
a bundle, and thrive best planted in a frame, or,
according to Mr. Sweet, on a warm border, where, if
they are only protected from frost iu winter, they will
survive and flower finely. Their favourite soil is
turt'v moor earth, loam, and sand.

CTENISTES (Reichenbach). A very minute
genus of coleopterous insects belonging to the family
Pselaplndce, having the palpi as long as the head, with
the extremity of the second, third, and fourth joints
armed laterally with an acute spine. They are
nearly allied to Bryajcis.

CT ENOPHORA (Meigen). A handsome genus
of dipterous insects belonging to the section Nevio-
cera and family Tipulidce or crane flies, distinguished
by having the antenna? beautifully feathered in the
males ; these organs moreover are thirteen-jointed in
both sexes. In other respects they are very nearly
allied to the daddy-long-legs, or true tipula. They
are found in damp situations, amongst herbage, &c.
The larva? resemble those of the Tipula;, and live in
the decaying matter of trees, &c., where they change
into pupa?, having the body armed with hooks. There
are eight British species, the type being the Tipula
pectmicormtt Linnaeus.

CUCKOO (Cuculus, auctorum). A most interest-
ing genus of zygodactylous or yoke-footed birds, or of
those which have the toes situate two before and two

CUCKOO.

189

behind. This, however, by the way, although very
generally accepted, is by no means a satisfactory
division, as it contains a great variety of birds which
have otherwise very little or no resemblance : the
( nckoos, the parrots, the woodpeckers, and the
toucans, together with several other very dissimilar
forms, are here brought together and included in one
order, which have hardly a single character in com-
mon ; and even the foot, which forms the sole basis
of the classification, is extremely different in many of
the genera, as a comparison of this organ in the
woodpeckers and parrots will abundantly show. It
has been commonly designated a climhing foot, but in
some of the families it is never used in this manner ;
anil, in the birds which we are now about to describe,
the chief purpose of this conformation appears to be,
to give additional firmness to the grasp, the centre of
pressure being, in the cuckoos, exceedingly forward.

In this genus the bill is somewhat compressed, of
moderate length, or about as long as the head, and
.slightly curved, the lower mandible following the
curve of the upper; the nostrils are basal, round, and
margined with a prominent and naked membrane ;
the gape of the month is very wide, but the gullet is
small, in the common species not large enough to
admit the ringer. The wings are of mean length,
pointed, having the first quill-feather short, and the
third longest ; tail rather long, always more or less
wedge-shaped, and strongly fortified by coverts. The
tibiae are clothed with long feathers, as in many of the
diurnal birds of prey ; the tarsi short and feathered a
little below the joint ; the two front toes are joined
together at the base, and the two hinder ones entirely
divided, the outer hind toe being partly reversible.
The character of the plumage is firm, and they carry
an immense deal of feather in proportion to their
size, and the hues of the more typical species are, in
general, rather sombre, mostly ash-colour or dusky
on the upper parts and breast, with the under parts
lighter and barred across ; in the immature state they
incline more to rufous, and are every where transversely
barred with a darker colour ; this latter being also the
mature plumage of one or two of them. A few small
species, however, from the Cape, nearly allied in some
respects to the former, have the upper parts of the
most brilliant emerald green, these being among the
most truly splendid of the feathered race.

The trite cuckoo to which the typical appellation
Citt-i/un is now restricted, are all natives of the eastern
cor tinent, but America produces species very closely
al'n'd in structure to these, which we shall have
o ration to mention as we proceed, but which differ
'.oo essentially in their general economy to be included
'in the same generic division. One of these, the
Coccyzus Crtro/inenxis, having been driven out of its
regular line of migration, and winged its way across
the wide Atlantic, lias now occurred several times
during the autumn months in this country, and has
consequently found its way, as an accidental straggler,
into the long catalogue of species which occur in the
British islands.

The common European cuckoo (Cuculits canorus,
or singing cuckoo) is a bird about the size of a small
pigeon, or rather appearing: of that si/.e from the very
great quantity of feathers with which it is clothed.
Its bill is blackish brown, yellowish at the base ; the
corners of the mouth and the rim around its eyes
bright orange ; the irides gamboge yellow ; gape
orange red. Its head, neck, breast, and upper parts

are of a deep bluish grey, darkest upon the wing-
coverts. The whole of the belly, thighs, and under
tail-coverts whitish, with transverse black bars.
Inner webs of the quill-feathers with oval white spots.
Tail black, with a few white oblong spots along the
shafts of the feathers, which are also tipped with
white. Legs and feet lemon yellow.

The Common Cuckoo.

The above is the adult livery of the male bird ;
and the mature female differs only in being always
more or less marked upon the breast -and sides of the
neck with rufous bars, somewhat similar to those of
the young.

The well known vernal call note of this species,

its

" Note of fear,
Unpleasing to a married ear,"

is generally first heard in the south of England about
the second week in April, sooner or later, however*
in some measure according to the temperature of the
season ; for, if the weather continue cold and bleak,
though the birds have made their appearance, their
note is but very seldom repeated. This call note is,,
indeed, at all times very much affected by the state of
the weather; during a long continuance of drought
it gradually becomes more and more hoarse, till, at
length, it seems to be uttered with considerable effort,
and the first syllable of it is often broken into two or
three ; but no sooner does the wind veer to a rainy
quarter, than, before even a change is visible in the
sky, it immediately softens, and is pronounced quite
musically and distinct. We are at present in some
doubt as to whether this cry — cuckoo, is common to
both sexes ; but the writer of this article inclines
rather to assume the contrary, at least, till it can be
positively shown, from the examination of a female
that had been heard to sing, that this really is the
case : generally speaking, he is pretty confident that
the hen bird does not utter the note.

There is, however, another cry, which certainly
is repeated by both sexes, though most frequently
by the female cuckoo ; it may be expressed by
the sound cul or cuil, repeated several times in rapid
and continuous succession, and it is invariably uttered
either when the bird is upon a tree, generally the
moment before it takes wing or immediately after,
sometimes the one and sometimes the other ; this note
very closely resembles one or two passages in the
nightingale's song, and we may always calculate upon
seeing the bird flying immediately after hearing it.
The other and more generally known note — cuckoo,
is alike repeated either when the bird is perched or

190

CUCKOO.

as it flies across a field ; sometimes, also, during the
night. Some sound and accurate observations upon
this species are contained in the following unsophisti-
cated doggrel ; they apply, however, only to the
adult cuckoo, for the young of the year do not leave
us till the month of September.

" In April,
Come he will ;
In May,

He sings all day ;
In June,

He changes his tune;
In July,
Off he'll fly,
But in August,
Go he must."

The alteration of the note in June is, as we have
already staled, entirely dependent upon the weather,
which, at least in the south of England, where the
rhymes are current, is usually very hot and dry
during the month of June. Quaint and homely little
sayings such as these, simple as they may at first
sight appear, are often great aids to the memory, and
have mostly been put together by persons of -much
observation and discernment. Those who study
practically natural history, have very often occasion
to admire and commend their accuracy.

The most curious, wonderful, and extraordinary
circumstance in the natural history of this bird, and
that upon whicli all its other peculiarities depend, is
;the strange, and at present quite unaccountable habit
which it exhibits, of invariably depositing its eggs in
the nest of some other species, at no time, nor under
any circumstance whatever, constructing a nest and
hatching its wvu eggs like other birds ; the same is
also said (and is probable) of the other typical species
of Cuculus, but at present this requires some confir-
mation. The American and other Coccyzi, which,
•except in having rather a stronger bill, and in being
-a little longer in the tarsus, approximate very closely
to the true cuckoos in their general structure, build
nests and tend their progeny like the other feathered
tribes around them. The only decided and well
authenticated instance of a similar deviation from
ordinary rule, occurs in the cattle-bird or cow-bunting
(Malothrus pecans, Swainson) of North America, a
bird of the starling family, and of which a rather
detailed account (chiefly taken from Wilson's Ame-
rican Ornithology) has already been given in its
alphabetical -situation in this work. That species,
however, from its abundance and much greater fami-
liarity, is easily enough studied, and its various pecu-
liarities are all much more satisfactorily elicited than
are those of the European cuckoo. The latter is one
of the very shyest of the shy ; its history has been
much obscured by scribblers, and we are a great
deal indebted to chance observers for the facts that
have been brought together concerning it.

Like the American cattle-bird, the European
cuckoo (as indeed might be anticipated) does not
pair, nor, according to the common acceptation of the
term, is it a polygamous species, but all of them
live together in a 'promiscuous state of concubinage.
Tied down by no duties of incubation, they are
perhaps bound to no particular spot, but wander
without control throughout the summer. This the
naturalist of Selborne alludes to in one of his poetic
effusions —

" And listen to the vagrant cuckoo's tale."

- Yet, though it be undoubtedly difficult in places

where cuckoos are abundant to identify any particular
individual, unless, indeed, it be an albino, or otherwise
conspicuously distinguishable, we are inclined to think
from repeated observation, that each cuckoo does
generally confine itself within a certain range. The
male probably locates himself i?i a particular situation
in a spot congenial to his habits, where food is to be
obtained plentifully ; and if a sufficient number of the;
other sex there answer to his call, he probably does
not wander far from the place. We have arrived at
this conclusion, from having observed always* Certain
number of these birds in a particular spot. The
female cuckoo, however, may probably sometimes
wander a considerable distance when searching for a
suitable nest to deposit her egg in.

Strangely enough, the number of eggs which the
cuckoo lays in the course of a season, has never beeu
very satisfactorily determined ; which might easily
enough be done, by dissecting a sufficient number of'
females during the spring and summer months.

" It is possible," says Montagu, " that some may
lay two lots of eggs during their stay with us, but
then we have reason to believe there is a considerable
space of time between the first and second lot. In
two or three females, dissected at the time they first
began to lay, we could only discover four or five eggs
that could possibly' be laid successively ; from the
smallest of which, to what may be termed the
secondary eggs, there was a' sudden break oft', not a
gradual decrease of size." A young cuckoo of the
preceding year (known by not having entirely thrown
off its nestling feathers), which the writer of this
examined on the twenty-second of May, contained in
the ovary three largely developed eggs, which un-
questionably would have been laid on the following
consecutive days ; there were also sixteen or eighteen
others (besides a multitude of small ones) enlarged to
the size of mustard seeds, but a competent physio-
logist* is of opinion, that these would not have been
laid the same season, their increase of size being
occasioned by the determination of blood to the
parts ; they presented no vascular appearance, and it
is probable that, after the breeding season, they
would have diminished to their former minutenessf.

. The cuckoo's egg is remarkably small for the size
of the bird, hardly equalling in this respect that of the
skylark ; it is therefore somewhat in proportion to
the small nests into which it is commonly introduced.
Those parts, also, qua martinis tribmmtnr, are at all
times most disproportionately small in this species,
even less than in the common sparrow ; but whether
this has any connexion with the size of the egg
is difficult to determine. The American coccyzi,
according to Wilson, have the egg " proportionable
to the size of the bird," and it would therefore perhaps
be worth while to notice further the internal structure
of the males of these. The egg of the common
cuckoo is usually of a very oval form, of a reddish
white, thickly sprinkled over and blotched with rufous
and darker brown spots, which are rather more
numerous at the lar»er end ; like most other eggs,
however, it is subject to some variation.

Contrary to the usual opinion, the female cuckoo
appears to deposit her egg into the first suitable nest
she happens to find, whatever may be the species of
bird to which it belongs, whether granivorous or (like

» W. YarreU, Esq.

t The ovary in question is now preserved in spirits.

CUCKOO.

191

herself) insectivorous ; and it is one of the most curi-
ous facts in natural history, that many of the smaller
finches, which never themselves touch any sort of in-
sect food, and even bring up their own young exclu-
sively upon softened vegetable food ejected from their
own craws, will, notwithstanding, rear np the young
cuckoo upon caterpillars and othe.r insects. A case is
mentioned in the " Magazine of Natural History," o'f
a young cuckoo being brought up by a pair of com-
mon linnets ; and another, in which a pair of green
grosbeaks were the foster parents. In the " Field
Naturalist's Magazine," also, for January, 1834, the
following highly interesting fact, bearing on this sub-
ject,is recorded. — "A cuckoo was foundjust feathered,
in the nest of a hedge-chanter. It was immediately
taken from thence, and placed in a cage containing a
hen canary. The birds agreed perfectly well ; but
what is most singular, when the proper food for the
cuckoo (small caterpillars, &c.) was placed in the cauv,
the canary fed its young charge with that, although
she herself kept to the hempseed, &c., to which she
had been accustomed." It would appear, however,
from the results of a great number of experiments
which the writer of this has instituted upon this sub-
iect, and in which, from the great difficulty of procur-
ing a number of cuckoo's eggs, those of the skylark
were cruelly employed, as being both in colour and
size somewhat similar to them, that an alien egg, sur-
reptitiously introduced into a nest, is very frequently
ejected from it. by the rightful owners. The writer of
this has tried this experiment upon a very great num-
ber of species ; has placed the alien egg along with
other eggs, has taken the latter away and substituted
it singly in their place, and has placed it in many
newly-finished nests, before any other eggs had been
deposited in them, and he has continually observed
the same result. He thinks, therefore, he may fairly
conclude that the cuckoo's egg also is very frequently
turned out by the birds into whose nests it is depo-
sited. He can only thus account for the excessive
rarity of its occurrence, although the birds are every-
where seen abundantly, and though he has counted
upwards of fifty eggs, of different sizes, in the ovarium
of a single cuckoo.

It is indeed stated oy Mr. Hoy of Norfolk, a gentle-
man well known to naturalists as a most accurate and
clo?..' observer, that " it appears to be usual for the
birJs, in whose nests the cuckoo may have deposited
a't egg before they may themselves have begun to
'ay, to cast out the cuckoo's egg;" and as that gentle-
man has bestowed particular attention upon the
phenomena of this interesting bird, he has doubtless
observed some instances to warrant this remark. He
mentions, however, one case in which the contrary
was observed. " On one occasion," he says, " I had
observed a cuckoo during several days anxiously
watching a pair of wagtails building ; I saw the
cuckoo fly from the nest two or three times before it
was half completed ; and at last the labour of the
wagtails not going on, I imagine, so rapidly as might
be wished, the cuekoo deposited its egg before the
lining of the nest was finished. The egg, contrary to
my expectation, was not thrown out ; and on the
following day the wagtail commenced laying, and as
usual the intruder was hatched at the same time with
the rest, and soon had the whole nest to itself." This
instance seems to favour the opinion that the cuckoo
possesses the power of retaining her egg in the oviduct
considerably longer than is the case with birds in gene-

ral ; and it is possible, as has been suggested to the
writer of this article by a distinguished physiologist, that
the nervous excitement of the bird, whilst wanting to
lay, may have the effect of preventing the immediate
development of the egg next in succession. There is
not the slightest reason, however, to suppose with
some that the egg is ever quickened in the oviduct by
the heat of the parent bird ; for were such ever the
case, it would of course be necessary that it should
be deposited in a nest upon which the owner hud
begun to sit, which the cuckoo of course would be
unable to do, as she never drives a bird off its nest,
but sneaks into it during its absence. It is hardly
necessary perhaps here to remark, that after the vital
action within an egg has once commenced, a very
short suspension of the necessary degree of warmth is
sufficient to destroy the embryo. No instance, how-
ever, has been yet recorded of the cuckoo's egg having
been found addled.

The common cuckoo's egg has been known to
occur in the nests of the following British species,
viz., the blackbird, songthrush, skylark, green grosbeak,
linnet, chaffinch, hedge-chanter, different pipits and
wagtails, yellow and reed bunting, redstart, robin,
reed warbler, hedge warbler, and grasshopper warbler;
but in at least nine cases out of ten, it is found either
in those of the common or the shore pipit (Anthus
pratensis and A. obscurus), or in that of the pied water-
wagtail (Motacilla domcstica, M. alba of Linnaeus),
and somewhat less frequently in that of the hedge-
chanter (Accentor modularis); the chief reason of
which, in the opinion of the writer of this, is that
these birds are not so much in the habit of turning
out an alien egg as the others are ; he has known,
however, the hedge-chanter to eject a lark's egg that
was placed along with its own, and also to eject
another which was placed alone in the nest, its own
eggs having been taken away. Some birds, as the
blackcap, most usually forsake a nest into which the
egg of another species had been introduced. Others
will turn out the alien egg, and even then desert their
nest.

Nothing is more certain than that the number of
cuckoos' eggs that are found is out of all proportion
small, considering the number of birds that are heard
and seen. Unlike all other birds also, the number of
young cuckoos that are ever seen in autumn is very
considerably smaller than that of the old ones ;
although, from their being very much buffetted and
persecuted by swallows and many other small birds,
they are little likely to escape observation. It is,
therefore, very difficult to conceive how the species is
continued so abundantly ; perhaps they live a great
number of years, but the following fact seems hardly
to warrant this supposition, that there is not, when
they arrive in spring, the same proportion of indivi-
duals of the preceding year that we find in other birds.
The writer has noticed that the greater number of
cuckoos, which he has examined in spring, were birds
of the preceding season, these always having a rem-
nant of the immature plumage upon the wings, two
or three of the quill-leathers, and of the greater
coverts impending over them, not having been shed ;
but it is possible that these are more frequently shot,
from their being less suspicious and vigilant than the
old birds.

We do not think it very probable that, as some
persons have imagined, the cuckoo's egg is ever suf-
fered to perish, from the bird not having been success-

192

CUCKOO.

ful in finding a suitable nest in which to place it. |
Judging from past experience in the way of birds'
nesting, we should think this almost impossible, more
especially as the cuckoo's season for laying is when
birds' nests are found in greatest abundance ; and
penetrating as she does into the very midst of thickets
and furze-brakes, we may fairly give the cuckoo credit
for being a much better hand at finding them than we
are. Although the writer of this has never actually
known an instance of the cuckoo's egg being ejected,
he has no doubt whatever of this being the sole cause
of its extreme scarcity.

A very favourite resting-place of this species is upon
an isolated tree, which commands a wide prospect
around ; and, in such situations, the female cuckoo,
concealed amid the thickest foliage she can find, sits
quietly and observes the operations of the numerous
smaller birds around her ; more particularly noticing
those which are carrying about building materials, and i
marking the place of deposit ; this, also, is probably
another reason why the cuckoo's egg should most
frequently be found in the nests of ground building
birds. — " A pair of wagtails," says Mr. Hoy, " fixed :
their nest, early in April, among the ivy which covers ;
one side of my house, and reared and took off their
young. A few days after the young birds had left
the nest, I observed the old birds apparently collect-
ing materials for building, and was much amused at
seeing the young running after the parent birds, with
imploring looks and gestures, demanding food ; but
the old birds, with roots or pieces of grass in their
bills, seemed quite heedless of them, and intent on
their new habitation. Their motions were narrowly
watched by a female cuckoo, which I saw constantly
near the place ; but the wagtails had placed their
second nest within a yard of the door, and so well
concealed among some luxuriant ivy, that the cuckoo,
being often frightened away, was not able to discover
the nest. The intruder being thus thwarted in its
design, the birds hatched their second brood, which
was accidentally destroyed a few days after. In about
ten days they actually commenced a third nest within
a few feet of the situation of the second, in safety. I
have repeatedly taken the cuckoo's eggs from the wag-
tail's nest ; in this locality.it has a decided preference
to it. I do not recollect finding it in any other,
excepting in two instances, once in the hedge-chanter's
and another time in the redstart's nest. In this vicinity,
whether the wagtail selects the hole of a pollard tree,
a cleft in the wall, or a projecting ledge under a
bridge, it does not often escape the prying eye of the
cuckoo ; as, in all these situations, I have frequently
found either egg or young." Sometimes, however, the
cuckoo is obliged to wander about a little to find a
nest ; the writer of this has noticed one, probably
when wanting to lay, to hover slowly along the hedges,
penetrating into every thick bush, and examining every
likely place to find a bird's nest: upon such occasions
the cuckoo, no doubt, deposits its egg in the first
nest it can find.

One or two cases have been mentioned, but we
think they much require corroboration, of the egg of
this species having been found in situations where it
could not possibly have been laid ; that is to say, in
domed nests, and others that were so situate that the
cuckoo could not possibly have crept into the place,
but must consequently have introduced its egg either
bv means of the bill or foot. We are very much in
want, however, of a new and well authenticated in-

stance of this ; for, in the cases which have been
mentioned, it is by no means impossible that the egg
had been surreptitiously introduced ; many school-
boys, indeed, would be greatly delighted to think that
they had so puzzled a philosopher. In all the in-
stances which have fallen under the observation of
the writer, and in all that he has ever heard of, from
direct observers (which together amount to a very
considerable number), the nest was without exception
so situate that the cuckoo could have laid its egg
into it.

Mr. Hoy relates the following fact : ' I once observed
a cuckoo enter a wagtail's nest, which I had noticed
before to contain one egg; in a few minutes the
cuckoo crept from the hole and was flying away with
something in its beak, which proved to be the eirg of
the wag-tail, which it dropped on my firing a gun at
it. On examining the nest, the cuckoo had only
made an exchange, leaving its own egg for the one
taken." It invariably, when undisturbed, destroys
whatever other eggs there may be in the nest into
which it deposits its own, though this fact has not
been noticed by writers on the subject. Whatever
other eggs, therefore, may be found in the same nest
with that of the cuckoo, were not laid, in most in-
stances, till after its deposition. Of this the writer
has the most abundant and satisfactory evidence ; he
has repeatedly known the cuckoo's egg to have been
found alone in different nests, and he has been in-
formed by a direct observer, of the following fact : a
meadow pipit's nest was found with four eirgs in it,
which, on being looked at a day or two afterwards,
was observed to contain a solitary cuckoo's egg, all
the others having disappeared. On searching about
the place the broken shells of them were, however,
found at a short distance. Another instance was
made known to him by a birds'-ncstitg boy, of whom
he purchased the cuckoo's egg. This lad found a
meadow pipit's nest with two eggs in it, and going the
next day to look at it, these had both disappeared,
and that of a cuckoo was in their place alone ; the
following day the pipit laid an egg to this, and the
day after that another, when the nust was taken I'rom
the place. A further proof of this fact may be deduced
from the circumstance, that whenever eggs are found
in the same nest with that of' the cuckoo, they are
almost invariably below their average number.

In certain cases which would appear to militate
against the above, as in that mentioned by Montagu,
in which " the hedge-chanter had four eggs when the
cuckoo dropped in a fifth," it is highly probable that
the cuckoo had been disturbed, perhaps bv the right-
ful owners of the nest, before she had had time to
finish her operations. The writer of this has seen a
meadow pipit attack most resolutely, and drive away,
a cuckoo from the vicinity of its abode ; he may
pretty safely say from off its nest, as the cuckoo rose
from the ground. It would appear, indeed, from
the last mentioned fact stated by Mr. Hoy, as well
as from some other cases that could be adduced, that
the cuckoo invariably lays her own egg previously to
destroying the others. It would otherwise seem
rather difficult to account for another fact, that of two
cuckoos' eggs being sometimes found in the same
nest ; of which three or four instances are upon
record. " In May, 1829," says Mr. Hoy, " I found two
cuckoo's esrgs in the same nest, and depended on
witnessing a desperate struggle between the parties, but
my hopes were frustrated by some person destroying

C U C K O O.

193

U." A similar instance has been related to the writer
of this article, but which also met with a like fate. It is
most probable that, in these cases, the eggs were laid
by two different cuckoos ; and the occurrence of this
fact seems to show, that the cuckoo, in a hurry per-
haps to ease herself of the burden as soon as possible,
and fearful also of being caught upon the nest by its
rightful owner, hardly looks at or notices the eggs
of her dupe before laying her own, and that, after-
wards, being unable to distinguish between her own
egg and that of another cuckoo, she destroys neither.

The writer of this is unable to say positively,
whether *he European cuckoo ever devours the eggs
of other birds, but he thinks it most probable that it
does so ; that the cuckoo sucks birds' eggs is every-
where a very common opinion throughout the country,
but the mere fact of her destroying them would be
sufficient to give rise to this opinion. A female
specimen, however, in the writer's possession, has its
plumage soiled in several places with yolk of egg,
and, though little can be deduced from this circum-
stance, he thinks it worth while to mention it. It is
quite certain that many exotic species, nearly allied
to our cuckoo, do feed very much upon birds' eggs.
Wilson says of the Coccyzus Carolinensis, that " they
are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the
eggs of other birds, like the crow, the blue-jay, and
other pillagers ;" and this is further confirmed by
Audubon, who says, of the same species, that "the
yellow-billed cuckoo of America robs smaller birds of
their egg?, which it sucks on all occasions," &c. It
is, therefore, more than probable, to judge fiom
analogy, that the European cuckoo does the same.

Having now pretty copiously disposed of all that
concerns the cuckoo's egg, we have next to detail the
singular and wonderful instinct of the young cuckoo.
We have seen that, in the American cattle-bird (see
COW-BUNTING), nature has provided for the exclusive
maintenance of the young stranger, by decreeing that
the alien egg should invariably be hatched before the
others with which it had been placed ; but the young
cuckoo bfing always a much stronger bird than its
fellow-nef.tlings (when it has any), is endowed with
the extr tordinary instinct of ejecting them from the
west. This interesting fact was first made known to
the wf.rld by the excellent Dr. Jenner, " who," as
Wilsrn observes, "has since risen to immortal
celebrity in a much nobler pursuit, and to whose
genius and humanity the whole human race are
under everlasting obligations." To this gentleman
are we indebted for the discovery of some of the most
interesting phenomena of the cuckoo's history ; and
honourable mention of his name should be made by
every writer who has occasion to treat upon this bird.
Speaking of the cuckoo's egg in the nest of the
meadow pipit, Mr. Selby observes, " As the same
period of incubation is common to both birds, the
eggs are hatched nearly together, which no sooner
takes place, than the young cuckoo proceeds instinc-
tively to eject its young companions and any remain-
ing eggs from the nest. To effect this object it
contrives to work itself under its burden (the back,
at this early age, being provided with a peculiar
depression between the shoulders), arid shuffling
backwards to the edge of the nest, by a jerk rids
itself of the incumbrance ; and the operation is
repeated, till the whole being thrown over, it remains
sole possessor. This particular tendency prevails for
about twelve days, after which the hollow space

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

between the shoulders is filled up ; and when pre-
vented from accomplishing its purpose till the expira-
tion of that time, as if conscious of inability, it suffers
its companion to remain unmolested." This latter
curious fact was first discovered by Colonel Montagu,
who (as has often since been done from curiosity),
when bringing up a young cuckoo by hand, placed
frequently another young bird in the nest with it, for
the purpose of seeing it ejected by the cuckoo, and
noticing the manner in which this is done. " Some-
times indeed," says he, " it failed, after much strug-
gling, by reason of the strength of the young swallow,
which was nearly full feathered ; but, after a small
respite from the seeming fatigue, it renewed its efforts,
and seemed continually restless till it succeeded. At
the end of the fifth day" (it had been five or six davs
hatched when taken) "this disposition ceased, and it
suffered the swallow to remain in the nest unmolested."

A nest, however, upon the ground may sometimes
be so situate, as to render it impossible for the young
cuckoo to turn out its fellow nestlings, of which the
writer of this has been told an instance wherein four
callow wagtails were found dead, apparently starved,
beneath the usurper of their abode.

The young cuckoo's plumage is exceedingly unlike
that of the adult bird ; so much so, that some of the
cabinet naturalists have even described it as a distinct
species, under the names ofCiiculus rufus and Cucuhis
hepaticus. The whole upper parts are generally of a
deep clove brown, tinged here and there with grey,
and barred with rufons brown, sometimes also margined
with whitish. There are usually three spots of white
upon the back of the head, but these are sometimes
wanting in the young females. The oval spots on
the inner webs ot the quills are reddish brown.
Throat and under parts yellowish white, with trans-
verse black bars ; paler upon the belly, a line of demar-
cation being visible, where in the adult bird the grey
ceases upon the breast. Irides, at first greyish, after-
wards liver brown, and beginning to change to yellow
about the time they leave us in September. Legs
and toes primrose yellow. The whole plumage
indeed having a pretty transversely barred appearance,
which renders them handsomer than the adult birds.

Unlike every other British bird, except the swift
and chimney swallow, they leave the country in this
their nestling plumage ; but do not, as has been sug-
gested, gradually change, without moulting, to the
adult colour ; they moult about the middle of winter,
but as they carry such an immense proportion of
feather, the change occupies a longer period than that
of most other birds, the young cuckoos having gene-
rally some traces of the immature plumage upon the
wings when they reappear in spring. As the old
females have always some transverse rufous bars upon
the sides of the neck and breast, it is probable that
these must have given rise to the supposition that
the young cuckoos do not moult during their absence,
but undergo, Hke the ptarmigan, a gradual change of
colour.

Varieties of this species sometimes occur, as in
most other birds, that is to say, variations of colour.
The writer has seen a young albino individual, and
also a very singular adult one, which was shot in
spring, whilst it was repeating its cry. This bird has
all the upper parts and breast of a bright rufus colour,
beautifully barred with black; not at all resembling,
however, the plumage of the immature cuckoo, but
more that of the female kestrel hawk ; although un-
N

194

CUCKOO.

Sestionably a mere variety of the common species
s interesting specimen much resembles a newb
discovered smaller cuckoo from the Himalaya.

Like the raven and other birds in which the egg h>
disproportionately small, the young cuckoo grows
very rapidly in the nest, and its diminutive foster
parents are obliged to labour hard and perseveringly
to satisfy its increasing voracity ; it requires even to
be tended for a longer period than any other birc
with which we are acquainted, remaining five or six
weeks in the nest ; and even long after it has flown
its assiduous nurses may be seen to follow it with
food ; and in confinement it will very rarely feed o:
itself till it is two or three months old ; at all times
indeed, even when able to pick up its own food, prefer-
ring to be fed by those to whom it is accustomed. In
a wild state, the young cuckoo that has begun to fly,
however it may seek to hide itself, may generally be
traced by a concourse of numerous small birds chat-
tering around it, among which the swallow kind are
mostly very conspicuous, seemingly endeavouring, to
the utmost of their power, to annoy it ; amidst all
which turmoil the pair that have brought it up con-
tinue constantly to bring it caterpillars and other
insects. A writer observes of one, in the Magazine
of Natural History, that " it was seen again on June
12th, on the top of a wall near to the nest ; and, while
it was sitting here, an amusing and instructive sight
presented itself. A thrush, which probably had a
nest close by, in an adjoining garden, evinced the
most passionate and marked antipathy toward the
young cuckoo, by approaching it with feathers ruffled,
beak open, and uttering an earnest cry ; some small
birds too drew near, as if to exhibit their dislike, and
abet the thrush. This is indeed quite an ordinary
fact ; small birds seem to consider the young cuckoo
as an enemy, and they persecute it with the same
unremitting hostility, and chatter round it with the
same unwearied pertinacity which they exhibit toward
a weasel or an owl. This is the more singular, as
these very birds may, in their turn, themselves become
the nurses of a young cuckoo. The same animosity
is shown by the different swallows towards the old
bird, which they frequently attack and buffet as it
flies along.

The cuckoo's food consists principally of insects,
chiefly however the larger caterpillars, whether
smooth or hairy ; these it first kills, by shaking and
knocking them violently against the bough on which it
is perched, and then renders them perfectly pliant by
passing them several times through the bill, before
it swallows them. In confinement it seems very fond
of the common house-fly, which it will readily take
from the hand of a person it is accustomed to. It
also feeds largely in spring upon the common may
chaffer (Melolontha vulgaris), and has been seen to
capture dragon flies on the wing. As the summer
advances it will attack various kinds of^fruit, as cher-
ries and currants. Most probably also, as has already
been mentioned, it devours birds' eggs ; but cater-
pillars are its principal and main food, the exuviae of
which it casts up in the manner of a hawk, in pellets,
about the size of a sparrow's egg. It is in search of
these that the cuckoo is so often seen about fruit
trees, to which it doubtless renders an efficient ser-
vice, as it not only preys upon those which have
grown to some size, but also, in the spring, may be
frequently seen deliberately picking out the newly
hatched larva? from their webs ; an operation which

has strangely enough been construed by many gar-
deners and others into " sucking the blossoms," if any
meaning can be attached to this phrase.

Whilst feeding upon a tree, the cuckoo leans very
forward upon the bough on which it is sitting, as it
examines the foliage for caterpillars, its tail being
generally raised ; and it frequently takes very consi-
derable leaps from bough to bough, considering the
shortness of its legs. The writer of this has never
seen it climb in any sort of way, nor walk up a branch,
using its feet alternately ; but conceives that the only
use of its having two toes on each foot placed back-
ward, is to enable it more firmly to grasp its perch
whilst leaning so very forward.

" The tree cuckoos," observes Sir W. Jardine,
" though often found near woods, and in richly
clothed countries, are fond of open and extensive
heaths or commons, studded or fringed with brush and
forest : here they may expect an abundant supply
of the foster parent to their young. Their gliding
and turning motion, when flying in a thicket, is simi-
lar to that of the American Coccyzus. Like them,
also, they are seldom on the ground ; but when obliged
to be near it, alight on some hillock or twig, where
they will continue for a considerable time, swinging
round their body in a rather ludicrous manner, with
.lowered wings and expanded tail, and uttering a rather
low monotonous sound, resembling the kowe of the
American bird —

' Turning round and round with cutty-coos

" When suddenly surprised or disturbed from their
roost at night, they utter a short tremulous whistle,
three or four times repeated ; and it is only on their
first arrival, during the early part of incubation, when
in search of a mate, that their well-known and wel-
come note is heard : by the first of July all is silent."
It is not, however, very often that an opportunity
occurs of studying this bird's habits so very minutely;
all are acquainted with its note, and there are few
persons residing in the country, but must have often
observed it, as, somewhat in the manner of a pigeon,
but less steadily, it wings its way from tree to tree ;
but the bird is so vigilant and shy, that very few even
of those who try to study its habits, can ever get to
notice it more particularly, excepting, perhaps, by
mere accident, once or twice only in their lives.

When first taken from the nest, the young cuckoo
is extremely savage and voracious, buffeting and spar-
ring with its wings like a gamecock, and uttering all
the time a shrill cry. They are easily enough reared
upon raw meat, but are difficult to keep through the
winter, being very tender about the moulting period,
which usually takes place about January. In the
ourse of a little time, they mostly become tolerably
attached to those they know, but are generally very
before strangers. Buffon, indeed, says, " though
cunning and solitary, the cuckoo may be given some
sort of education. Several persons of my acquaint-
ance have reared and tamed them. They feea them
on minced meat, either dressed or raw, insects, eggs,
soaked bread, and fruit. One of these tamed cuckoos
mew its master, came at his call, followed him to
.he chace, perched on his gun, and if it found a
cherry tree in its way it would fly to it, and not
return till it had eaten plentifully ; sometimes it
tvould not return to its master for a whole day, but
bllowed him at a distance, flying from tree to tree."
The writer of this article has seen a pair that were

CUCKOO.

195

tolerably tame, that were allowed the free range of a
large kitchen, where they commonly used to sit upon
the fender, warming themselves by the fire. They
are apt in confinement to suffer very much from ex-
cess of the migratory feeling, which not unfrequently
causes the death of those that are prevented from
following this natural impulse.

Upon the whole this species exhibits, when in a
state of confinement, a greater degree of attachment
to its feeder than we should be prepared to expect.
Its brain, we may remark, is very small, scarcely
weighing twenty grains, which only exceeds the
weight of one of its eyes by a grain and a half.

The old cuckoos are always the very first of our
summer migrants to leave the country, as the majority
of them retire southward in the first week in July.
Woodmen and others say that they congregate, be-
fore taking their departure, in flocks of twenty or
thirty ; and the writer of this is likewise informed,
upon very good authority, of a flock of sixteen young
ones being seen, in September, in the north of Scot-
land, flying in a south-easterly direction towards the
German ocean, which, at the place of observation,
was distant about half a mile. It is probably only in
the less populous districts that this can ever be ob-
served. Where the mass of them spend the winter
has never been specifically ascertained, though speci-
mens have been received from Egypt.

" Naturalists," says Mr. Selby, " have been puzzled
to account for this bird not performing the office of
incubation, but as their researches have principally
been directed to the anatomical structure, in which
point it does not essentially differ from many others
that perform this office, we arrive by these means at
nothing satisfactory. The above peculiarity of this
remarkable genus must not probably be looked for in
any principle of conformation, but must be explained
from their habits and economy.

" Let it be remembered these birds are migratory,
and that he period during which the adults remain
with us if very short ; but the propagation of the
species rcust be effected during that period. Now,
as their arrival does not take place before the month
of April, and the egg is seldom ready for incubation
before trie middle of May, there would not be a suffi-
cient length of time for the young to be hatched, or
(making every allowance) sufficiently fledged to ac-
company the old birds at the period of their departure,
which seldom or never extends," in the north of
England, " beyond the first week in July."

This perhaps is about as good an explanation of
the cuckoo's peculiarities as has hitherto been offered,
but it fails, like all the rest, in being quite inapplica-
ble to the case of the North American cow-bunting.
The true cause (whatever that may be) of this extra-
ordinary deviation must, we are persuaded, be the
same in both ; nor can we at present consider any
explanation as satisfactory that will not alike apply
to either. That the old cuckoos, however, should
retire southward in the very hottest part of the sum-
mer is certainly a very curious matter, and the cause
of this requires further investigation. It cannot be
for want of food, for they are then always in prime
condition ; and caterpillars, their main subsistence,
are then much more abundant than when they arrive
in spring. No observations, however, have as yet
been made upon the cuckoo in its winter quarters, and
till this has been done it is of little use attempting to
theorise upon the subject. The natural history ol

this remarkable bird still offers a wide field for inves-
tigation, and it will probably be a long time yet before
our knowledge of it can be any thing like complete.
It is, without exception, the most extraordinary bird
;hat occurs on the European continent, and as such
;t merits peculiar and close attention from all who
take an interest in natural history. Observations
upon it must be multiplied, both at home and abroad,
and a great deal must yet be elicited, before a variety
of points can be cleared up on which at present we
have little more than conjecture.

Of the genus Cuculus, a considerable number of
species are enumerated, inhabiting different parts of
the eastern continent, but chiefly Africa, and varying
in size from double that of our bird to less than half.
We know, however, very little of their habits, and
nothing but what is in entire accordance with those
of the species which inhabits Europe. Like it, they
are all understood to deposit their eggs in the nests
of other birds, but the fact, we believe, has not been
ascertained in more than one or two, and even in
these rests as yet on the authority of a single observer.
Instead, therefore, of entering here into a long detail
of colours and proportions, which are very little inte-
resting to the general reader, we will pass on at once
to give a brief account of their American representa-
tives, the members of the genus Coccyzus, which, with
one or two exceptions in Africa, are all confined to
the western division of the globe ; and we do this the
rather, as our account of the European cuckoo has
been extended to a very considerable length.

The Coccyzi, as a group, are mostly rather smaller
than the true cuckoos, which in their general appear-
ance they much resemble. The bill is, however, rather
larger in proportion, and the tarsi longer, and bare of
feathers. Their plumage is generally rufous on the
upper parts, white beneath, and more or less marked,
with white upon the tail ; and, unlike the cuckoos,
the young much resemble the adults. They are
rather more confined to the interior of woods than
the true cuckoos, and they build their own nests, and
rear their young. Several beautiful species are found
in South America, and two in the northern division
of that continent, one of which has been already
mentioned as an occasional straggler to the British
islands. This bird, the Coccyzus Carolinensis, is thirteen
inches long, and sixteen in extent of wing, the whole
upper parts are of a dark glossy drab, or what is
commonly called a quaker colour, with greenish silky
reflections ; inner vanes of the wings bright reddish
cinnamon. Tail long, composed of twelve feathers,
the two middle ones being the same colour as the
back, the others, which gradually shorten to the ex-
terior ones, are black, largely tipped with white ; the
two outer ones scarcely half the length of the middle
ones. All the under parts pure white, the feathers
covering the thighs (tibia}) being long, as in the hawk
tribe. Legs and feet light blue. Bill dusky black
above, and yellow below. Irides hazel, with the
eyelids bright yellow. The female much resembles
the other sex, but has four of the middle tail feathers
like the back, and her white is not quite so pure.

" A stranger," says Wilson, " who visits the United
States for the purpose of examining their natural pro-
ductions, and passes through our woods in the month
of May or June, will sometimes hear, as he traverses
the borders of deep, retired, high timbered hollows,
an uncouth guttural sound or note, resembling the
syllables koiue, fcowe, fcowe-kowc-fcowc, beginning
N 2

19G

CUCKOO.

slowly, but ending so rapidly that the notes seem to
run into each other, and vice versa ; lie will hear this
frequently without being able to discover the bird or
animal from which it proceeds, as it is both shy and
solitary, seeking always the thickest foliage for con-
cealment ;" a trait in its character, by the way, closely
reminding us of the European cuckoo. " This," con-
tinues Wilson, " is the yellow billed cuckoo (Coccyzus],
the subject of the present account. From the imita-
tive sound of its note, it is known in many parts by
the name of the Cow-bird; it is also called in Virginia
the Rain-crow, being observed to be most clamorous
immediately before rain.

" This species arrives in Pennsylvania from the south
about the 22nd of April, and spreads over the coun-
try, as far at least as Lake Ontario ; it is numerous in
the Chickasaw and Choctaw nations, and also breeds
in the upper parts of Georgia ; preferring in all these
places the borders of solitary swamps and apple
orchards. It leaves us, on its return southward, about
the middle of September." Mr. Audubon adds, that
" in their migrations northward they move singly, but
when removing again to a warmer latitude they
appear to be gregarious, flying high in the air, and in
loose flocks." This tends analogically to confirm
what we have already advanced concerning the
European cuckoo's migration. That species seems
also to arrive singly, and to depart southward in
small flocks.

" Early in May," says Wilson, " they begin to pair,
when obstinate battles take place among the males.
About the 10th of that month they commence build-
ing. The nest is usually fixed among the horizontal
branches of an apple tree ; sometimes in a solitary
thorn, crab, or cedar, in some retired part of the
woods. It is constructed with little art, and scarcely
any concavity, of small sticks and twigs, intermixed
with green weeds, and blossoms of the common maple.
On this almost flat bed the eggs, usually three or four
in number, are placed ; these are of a uniform green-
ish blue colour, and of a size proportionable to that
of the bird. While the feirfale is sitting the male is
generally not far distant, and gives the alarm, by his
notes, when any person is approaching. The female
sits so close that you may almost reach her with your
hand, and then precipitates herself to the ground,
feigning lameness, to draw you away from the spot,
fluttering, trailing her wings, and tumbling over, in
the manner of the partridge, woodcock, and many
other specie*." We cannot but contrast this affec-
tionate display of parental feeling with the conduct of
the European cuckoo. Some writers, however, as
Dr. Darwin and others, even state of that species,
that it sometimes builds a nest and rears its own
progeny ; but the instances they mention clearly show
thai they had mistaken a very different bird, the
nightjar, for a cuckoo ; the accounts which they
furnish accord entirely with the nidification of that
species, which indeed in the nest bears no inconsider-
able resemblance to it ; and the writer of this has
himself known an instance of a young nightjar being
mistaken for a cuckoo. Still it would be interesting,
before we entirely divest the European cuckoo of 'all
parental affection, to try whether an old caged one
would take any notice of a nestling of its own species
that was placed along with it ; to see whether it
would be moved, like other birds, by its helpless
cries, and ever place food into its mouth. We should
imagine, however, that it would not.

" Both parents," continues Wilson, "of the Carolina
Coccyzus unite in providing food for the young. This
consists, for the most part, of caterpillars, partirulariv
such as infest apple trees. The same insects consti-
tute the chief part of their own sustenance. They
are accused, and with some justice, of sucking the
eggs of other birds, like the crow, the blue jay, and
other pillagers. They also occasionally eat vuiiuiis
kinds of berries. But, from the circumstance of de-
stroying such numbers of very noxious larvae, they
prove themselves the friends of the farmer, end are
highly deserving of his protection.

" In examining this bird by dissection, the inner
membrane of the gizzard, which in many other species
is so hard and muscular, in this is extremely lax
and soft, capable of great distension ; and, what is
remarkable, is covered with a growth of fine down or
hair, of a light fawn colour. It is difficult to ascertain
the particular purpose which nature intends by this
excrescence ; perhaps it may serve to shield the
tender parts from the irritating effects produced by
the hairs of certain caterpillars, some of which are
said to be almost equal to the sting of a nettle." The
same has also been said, first probably by some com-
piler who had read Wilson's article and who thought
he might safely enough infer it from analogy, of the
stomach of the European cnckoo, but the writer of
this has dissected several, and never observed any
thing of the kind. The cuckoo's stomach is, how-
ever, lax and membranous, like that of the American
bird.

Black billed Coccyzus(C.erythrophlhalmm'). "This
species," according to Wilson, " is nearly as numerous
as the former, * * * its peculiar markings, how-
ever, and some of its habits, sufficiently characterise
it as a distinct species. Its general colour above is
nearly that of the former, inclining more to a pale
ash on the cheeks and front; it is about an inch less
in length ; the tail is of a uniform dark silky drab,
except at the tip, where each feather is marked with
a spot of white, bordered with a slight touch of dull
black ; the bill is wholly black, and much smaller
than that of the preceding, and it wants the bright
cinnamon on the Avings. But what constitutes its
most distinguishing trait is a hare wrinkled skin of a
deep red colour, that surrounds the eye," whence the
species have, though not very accurately, been named
erythropkthalmits, or red-eyed.

" The black-billed Coccyzus is particularly fond of
the sides of creeks, feeding on small shell-fish, snails,
&c. I have also found broken pieces of oyster-shell
in its gizzard, which, like that of the other, is covered
with fine downy hair." Audubon found in the
stomach of this bird, in addition to shells and water
insects, "a small black frog, which appears after a
summer shower." The sustenance, therefore, of this
species is rather anomalous, and peculiar for a member
of the cuckoo family.

" Its nest is commonly built in a cedar, much in the
same manner and of nearly the same materials as that
of the other ; but the eggs are smaller, usually four
or five in number, and of a rather deeper greenish
blue."

There is nothing known of the peculiar habits of
the other species of this division, so it would be here
little interesting to detail their colours and propor-
tions. A notice of other birds allied to the cuckoo
will be found in the articles LEPTOSOMUS, INDICATOR,
and PHOSNICOPTERUS.

CUCKOO F L O W E R - C U C U L L I A.

r CUCKOO FLOWER is the Lychnis _
LinncEus, a common British plant found in moist
meadows. It belongs to the tenth class and fifth
order of the sexual system, and to the natural order
Caryophyllca:. The Cardamine pratcnsis, another com-
mon plant in moist meadows, is also called cuckoo
flower, but the plants are in no way connected except
in habitat.

CUCUJID.E (Stephens; PLATYSOMA, Latreille).
A family of coleopterous insects of small extent and
iignivorous habits, placed between the Xylophaga and
the Longicorncs, having the tarsal joints entire and not
bilobed; the antennae are of an equal thickness, or
slender at the tips ; in some species, however, the three
terminal joints are incrassated ; the jaws are robust
and exserted, and the body very much depressed and
of an oblong form. These insects are of small size,
and are found beneath. the bark of trees, where also
the larva? reside. Their situation appears to be much
nearer to some of the Necrophagous Pentamera, such
as Ips, than to the Longicorn Tctramcra. The genera
are Cuciijns, Dendrophagus and Ulcoiota, to which Mr.
Stephens has added that of Trogosita of Fabricius.
The typical genus has the antenna? shorter than the
body, with the basal joint shorter than the head.
There are several British species, but their synonymy
is very confused. The males of Ulcoiota Jlavipcs have
the mandibles armed with a remarkable curved horn.

CUCULIN/E (Latreille). A subdivision of the
insects composing the family Apidte, or true long-
tongued bees, distinguished by the non-possession of
organs for the gathering of pollen, and consequently
compelled to resort to the ne?ts of other bees for the
deposition of their ecgs. Hence, like the cuckoo,
they may be regarded as a kind of parasite. The
iarva? of all bees are nourished by a paste formed of
pollen and honey, but in nearly one-third of the
genera of th<jse insects the females are destitute both
of pollen brushes and pollen plates. Having, there-
fore, with ii'iich artifice succeeded in introducing its
eggs in tlie/ already provisioned nests of other work-
ing bees, -he female cuckoo bee is enabled, with-
out the toil of constructing a nest, to ensure for its
proireny as much benefit as though it had been espe-
cially provided for, since the parasite larva is supposed
to hatch before the larva which is the true inhabitant
of the cell, and of course it immediately devours the
supply of pollen paste, so that when the real inhabit-
ant is hatched, its food being consumed, it is of course
starved to death. But this parasitic kind of connec-
tion exists in other groups besides those included by
Latreille in the family C'ltculines: thus some of the
humble bees* (Bombits] are in like manner destitute
of pollinigerous organs, and compose the genus Psi-
ihyrus of St. Fargeau (Apathm, Newman ; Pseu-
dobombus, Stephens) ; whilst other genera, not only
amongst the Apidcz, but also in the Andrenida; (short
tongued bees), and even in the Fossorial Injmnwptera,
are similarly circumstanced. As, however, the struc-
ture of these parasite bees (except as regards their
polUHig«ro»6 organs) is in many cases too nearly iden-
tical f with that of the bees, in the nests of" which
they are parasitic (compare Sombus and Psithi/rus,
which Mr. Curtis thinks should not be even gene-

» For an account of the genus Bom/ms, or the humble bees,
see HLTMBLK HICK.

t 'The quotation from Mr. Selby, given in p. 193, relating- to
the cuckoo, may, to a certain extent, be applied with equal
force to these cuckoo bees.

rically separated), we do not feel inclined to adopt
the step taken by Mr. Newman of uniting them all,
whether Apidce or Andrcnidcc, together tinder the name
of A pathiti -s, although, for convenience' sake, we have
followed the steps of Latreille in keeping the Cucu-
lin<£ as a distinct group. See APID;E. The genera
introduced by Latreille into this subdivision are,
Ammohates, Pliilcremits, Epcolus, Nomada, Pasties,
jMelecta, Crocisa, and Oxcea.

CUCULL^E A (Lamarck ; ARCA cccur.i.us, Lin-
nieiis). This genus nearly resembles the Linnaean
Arl-s, from which modern naturalists have generally
separated it. De Blainville, however, in this instance
as in many others, with a view to conform as closely
as possible to the system established by that illustrious
naturalist, and not to multiply genera uselessly, has
made it a subdivision of the genus Area; in this we
do not coincide altogether, as there are some manifest
distinctions of structure which indicate a different
inhabitant. The shape is more gibbous, or trapezi-
form ; the anterior side truncated obliquely, and at
the hinge (which in young shells is similar to that of
the Ark\ by growth or age, becomes displaced, or
appears obsolete, exhibiting parallel ribs, which termi-
nate it and give the teeth a more horizontal appear-
ance than in the Arks, as they are now defined by
Lamarck. But the most remarkable distinction, and
one from whence its name of hooded has been derived,
are the ear-shaped testaceous appendages, placed
internally at an angle with the anterior surface, on
one side of the muscular impression of the valves ;
these form a species of chamber or division, and are
not to be found so situated in any other species of
mollusc. The shell is equivalve, inequilateral, rhom-
boidal, heart-shaped, truncated at one end, and very
globose ; the umbones distant and separated by the
angular groove or area of the ligament, which is alto-
gether external ; the hinge linear, straight, with small
transverse teeth, having at its extremity from two to
five parallel ribs. Lamarck does not, mention that
the valves are marked with minute and strong longi-
tudinal stria?, one valve often overlapping the opposite
one, and that the margins of them are crenulated.
From this difference in the size of the valves, many
collectors have supposed examples with the ligament
broken, not true pairs ; but it is a character peculiar
to this genus, and also to some of the Arks, though
not constantly observable in either. It is a circum-
stance rarely occurring in other bivalves, and one
only to be accounted for hypothetically, by supposing
the animal to complete the enlargement of his dwell-
ing on one side first, and not on both simultaneously ;
and this is rendered the more probable, as it is found
riot to be a constant characteristic. It closely allies
this genus with them, and is a proof of the truth
exhibited, and the necessity of combining a know-
ledge of the animal with the distinctions furnished
by its dwelling, in order to constitute a correct
system of classification. This is the science of mala-
cology.

CUCULLI A (Schrank). A genus of lepidopterous
insects belonging to the section Nocturna, and family
Noctuida;, having the upper wings long and lancet
shaped, acute at the tips, the abdomen elongated,
and the spiral tongue as long as the antenna;. These
moths are called sharks by the English collectors. The
generic name is given to them in allusion to the
hooded thorax. The species are very diiHeiilt to
discriminate, from their great resemblance in the pre-

198

CUCUMBER.

feet state, the caterpillars affording the best charac-
ters for specific differences in the genus. The moths
fly very strongly. Reaumur has given us an account
of the proceedings of the larva; of one of these moths
(C. scrophularice), in the construction of its cocoon,
which is formed of particles of earth fastened together.
Having dug up one of these caterpillars which had
just completed its case, he broke off one end, in order
to see the manner in which the insect would repair
the damage. After thrusting out its body almost to
its full extent, and reconnoitering the adjacent ground,
it selected a grain of earth and fastened it into the
breach with a thread of silk ; proceeding in this way,
it almost closed the hole, the outside being built of
larger grains, and the interior of finer. Moreover,
previous to completely closing the aperture, it ga-
thered a quantity of earth on the inside, which it
thrust with its head into a silken network woven over
the part which still remained open, by which means
the whole was rendered opaque and equally firm with
the unbroken part. There are about a dozen British
species, including the typical species above mentioned,
which is one inch and three quarters in expanse.
The larva is found upon the water betony. The
larvae of all the species are handsome caterpillars, and
the chrysalides have the head-case produced.

CUCUMBER, is the Ciicumis sativa of Linnaeus,
and a well-known horticultural plant, extensively
cultivated for its green fruit.

Of the cucumber, it may be averred, that there is
no plant in cultivation which receives more care and
attention from the kitchen-gardener than this. The
earlier the fruit can be had in the season, the more
they are prized. Fruit in general are most valuable
when mature ; the cucumber, on the contrary, is only
useful when very young and green ; indeed, the
younger the fruit, when large enough for table, the
more it is esteemed.

A fine cucumber brought to table on Christmas
day, and which has been cut from a plant raised from
seed sowed after the 20th of October preceding, is
certainly the most costly fruit ever seen on the tables
of the rich. For estimating the time, labour, and
materials employed in the production of such a luxury,
the expense is certainly greater than is bestowed on
any other vegetable delicacy. It is true, a gardener
is not kept entirely for the purpose of growing early
cucumbers, this being only a part of his other more
material duties ; but, calculating the attention and
time dedicated to this sole object, the labour greatly
exceeds the worth of the production. However, as it
is one of those gratifications expected from the pos-
session of an expensively kept kitchen garden, it should
always make a part of the superintendent's duty.

As an exotic, and the production of a warm climate,
it requires an artificial temperature in this country,
more especially when cultivated during our coldest
season. This can only be afforded by fire-heat, or
that of some fermentable substance. The most com-
mon, because the most plentiful material for the
purpose, is stable litter, after being thrown to the
dunghill, which being properly prepared by frequent
turning, to allow the rank ammonious steam to
evaporate, is made into beds, covered with frames
and glazed sashes, and with suitable compost to
receive the plants.

There are various ways of forming the beds ;
somo are formed entirely of prepared dung, raised
four feet or more in height, on which the frame and

lights are set. However high this hotbed may be
raised, its heat will decline at last, and often, at the
very time a lively bottom heat is most wanted ; in
this case, linings of hot dung are applied to renew the
heat, and which require to be often repeated. The
greatest objections to this kind of hotbed are — the
heat is too strong at first, and when it declines,
sufficient heat cannot be imparted to the middle of
the bed by linings. From the first the plants are
liable to be burnt ; and from the second, chilled. To
avoid these extremes, some gardeners make a new
dungbed, of moderate depth, on the top of an old
one, and trust entirely to linings for bringing the
plants to perfection. By this plan, there is no fear
of burning the roots ; and when the linings are
timely applied, this method succeeds very well.
Others dig pits for hotbeds, having the sides and
ends of open, or pigeon-hole brick-work, leaving a
vacuity two feet wide all round, for the reception of
linings, on which the cultivator chiefly depends for a
sufficient and equable degree of heat. In this mode,
it is usual to fill the pit within the walls with brick-
bats, or brushwood, half way up, on which the pre-
pared dung and compost are laid, to receive the
plants. By these means the heat from the linings is
collected in the hollow brushwood-filled space, whence
it rises in a constant and moderated stream through
the dung and mould of the bed, gently exciting and
nourishing the plants. Others, again, to be free from
the labour of applying linings every ten or twelve
days, have a steam, or hot-air chamber, under the bed,
whence the requisite heat is derived. In short,
there are scores of different schemes for growing
early cucumbers, and all are more or less successful,
according to the degree of attention or skill bestowed
on the culture.

At one time, growing early cucumbers for prizes
given at shows, was a favourite amusement among
many gardeners round London and some other
places. The competitors were bound, by certain
rules, as to the time of sowing, viz.— not till after the
20th of October, and the prizes were awarded to the
finest and most perfect fruit. Length, regular shape,
greenness, regularly garnished with short black
prickles, finely covered with a white mealiness, called
bloom, and, if still bearing the unfaded blossom on
the end, all, or the greatest number of these properties,
combined in any one fruit, determined the judges in
making their award, and without knowing to whom
the fruit belonged till after they had given judgment.
It is hardly to be credited with what exactness these
punctilios were attended to by the judges, and what
pains were taken by the competitors to grow and
show fruit answering to the established ideas of a
perfect show-cucumber. Glass tubes, and various
other modes of confinement, were practiced to give
the proper shape. If any prickles were wanting,
others, taken from inferior fruit, were ingeniously
substituted. If the mealy bloom had disappeared, it
was restored by an easy process of puffing hair-
powder, or some such floury matter, upon it, in a box
made for the purpose ; and as it often happened
that fine fruit would be ready long before the show-
day, the growers had a clever device of keeping
them in a fresh unaltered state, by burying them
(properly packed) deep in the ground. In fact, the
business of growing and showing cucumbers for
prizes was a distinct branch of the gardeners occupa-
tion, and excelled in but by few.

CUCUMBER.

199

The ordinary process of raising early cucumbers is
executed as follows : — About the beginning of Octo-
ber, a sufficient quantity of fresh stable dung is got
together in a convenient open place, where it can be
repeatedly turned, watered if too dry, and intimately
incorporated, so that no part of the heap shall be
wetter or drier than another, but all of equal colour
and temperament. On the careful preparation of
dung intended for hotbeds, as already observed, much
of the success of their purpose depends. If the dung
be too wet, the heat rises too violently at first, and is
too soon over ; and if it has not been turned enough,
and all the rank qualities dissipated, the effluvia rising
from the bed, after being made, would be highly
injurious to the young plants.

Of such prepared dung, a seed-bed for a one light
box or frame is made about the 15th of October.
By the 20th, the heat will have risen, and its quality
judged of, whether an agreeable sweet heat, or
having a strong ammoniacal scent ; if the latter, it
must have time to pass off, or be qualified by a
covering of dry leaf-mould or saw-dust. Previous to
sowing the seed, pots, or deep pans, filled with a
compost of equal parts of fresh loam, leaf-mould, and
well rotted dry dung, should be set within the frame
to get warm. In this single seeds are dropped two
inches apart, and covered half an inch deep. The
air within the frame should be kept at about 65° or
70° of Fahrenheit.

It is usual to prefer seeds three or four years old
for early forcing, because plants from these show
fruit sooner. But some practitioners prefer new, or
such as has been saved in the same year, because, say
they, the seedliijgs are more vigorous ; and though
the plants may Vaquire more stopping, they yield at
last finer fruit, J.nd nearly as soon as plants raised
from old si

In sowing, ^t is well to place each seed on a
nodule of dec'.yed dung, as on this the first fibres
take firm hold, and which renders their removal into
pots easy and safe, and which transplanting should be
done as soon as the seedlings show their first bud of
rough leaves. The plants are placed two or three
together in each pot, watered, and immediately
plunged in the seed-bed. They should be kept
within six inches of the glass, receive fresh air daily,
and be securely covered on nights by mats fastened
to the frame.

While the seedlings are thus being reared in the
seed-bed, a fruiting-bed must be prepared for them.
The different methods of making these we have
already described ; and here it only remains to add,
that when the fruiting-bed is ready to receive the
plants, by having hills of compost laid under each
light or sash of the frame, when a due degree of heat
has risen through them, and the air within, sweet and
of proper temperature, a pot of plants is turned out,
and placed on the top of each hill, about six inches
from the glass. In doing this, the ball of roots dis-
charged from the pot is kept entire, and the compost
pressed closely round, and about an inch in thickness
over the top, among the stems. This will induce the
production of new roots from the stems, and greatly
assist the establishment of the plants in their new
abode. If heat from below, moisture in the mould,
and air within the frame, be regulated properly, and
if water (warm) and fresh air be given cautiously, and
every ray of light admitted, with sufficient coverings
on nights, the roots will soon extend themselves

through the sides of the hills, in which case additions
of compost are from time to time applied, till the
whole surface of the bed is covered, and which should
be at the general depth of about ten inches.

At this time the season is, perhaps, becoming more
and more severe, and therefore the heat must not be
allowed to fail, but rather, if possible, increased, and
so continued, to swell off the fruit. The temperature
of the bed may be lowered or heightened by the
thickness of the night coverings, and these must be
regulated according to the degree of bottom heat
obtained from the means employed, whatever these
may be.

A very material part of the management of the
cucumber plant depends on the pruning it receives.
It is a climbing vegetable ; its tendency to grow
upwards, and support itself by its tendrils on other
plants, must be counteracted in the earliest stage of
its growth, by pinching off the extremity of the
leading, or principal shoot. This appears like a bud
at the base of the first rough leaf on the first joint
above, and between the cotyledons or seed-leaves,
and soon as it is of the size of a small pea, must be
removed. This mutilation induces the production of
lateral branches, which readily take a horizontal
range, and are allowed to run till they show fruit.
But if they produce nothing but male flowers, on the
first fourteen inches of their growth, they should be
again stopped, to cause the production of a second
set of branches, which rarely fail to show fruit
abundantly.

As soon as the female flowers are fairly expanded, it
is an old custom to impregnate them by hand. In
such a situation, where neither bees nor wind can
enter, manual assistance appears to be necessary ;
for, though it is no object whether or not the seeds of
such fruit be impregnated, and though it is known
that unimpregnated fruit arrive at a certain degree of
perfection, it is also well known that a duly f'ecundi-
fied fruit swells faster than one which has had no
impact of the pollen at all. This being the case, it is
well to follow the old custom, as it certainly can do
no harm.

The compost for cucumbers should be rich and
porous ; rich, because the plant is a " gross feeder ;"
and perfectly loose, to prevent burning, by giving a
free transit to the humid warmth from below. The
openness of the compost also admits water readily,
and gives free scope to the spreading roots. Leaf-
mould, and fresh and lurfy loam, which has lain
under a heap of good dung for a month or two, and
afterwards mixed with twice its bulk of leaf-mould,
will be found very suitable.

It has been already observed, that the rank steam
of stable-dung is destructive to young cucumber
plants, as indeed it is to most others ; but after this
rankness is gone off, they appear not to be averse to
the mild effluvia arising from the body of the bed.
On this account it is a good practice, in order that
this effluvia may be evolved more copiously, to
water and hand-fork up the dung between the hills
frequently before the bed is moulded over ; and yet,
after linings begin to be applied, care must be taken
that the warm steam from them does not enter the
frame, which it is apt to do, especially if the night-
coverings are suffered to project, or hang over the
new linings. A further precaution is, to cover the
linings with boards or dry earth.

If the attempt to obtain early cucumbers has been

200

CUCUMIS — CUCURBITACEyE.

successful, perfect fruit may be had about Christmas,
or soon after ; but, as it is only adepts in the art of
forcing who can insure such a result, few gardeners
begin hotbed-forcing before the 1st of January,
especially where there are pineries in which cu-
cumbers may be had throughout the winter. But,
whenever hotbed-forcing is commenced, the same
processes as detailed above are had recourse to, even
up to the time they are planted in the open air,
except only that the beds are not made so substantial,
nor are linings so often required as in winter.

Cucumbers are successfully cultivated in the open
air by the assistance of small pitfuls of hot dung and
hand-glasses. About the beginning of April, seeds
are sown in a hotbed in quantity according to the
number of hand-glasses intended to be used. The
seedlings, when fit, are potted into forty-eight or
thirty-two sized pots, three plants in each. These
are kept in the hotbed, stopped, watered, &c., till
about the 20th of May, when the pits or ridges
should be ready to receive them. A row of pits,
each two feet square and fourteen inches deep, are
made, the earth being laid round in the form of a
ridge lengthways. The pits are two feet apart from
each other, and are filled with hot dung prepared for
the purpose, firmly beaten in, and raised somewhat
higher than the natural surface of the ground. In
the centre of the dung, in each pit, direction-sticks are
placed, which serve to point out the depth of compost
to be laid on, as well as the exact place of the hand-
glasses. Round these sticks the compost is laid in a
square form, to receive the glasses, which, for the
sake of regularity, are set by line. Next day the
heat will have warmed the compost ; a pot of plants
is turned out, and placed in the centre where the
direction-sticks stood ; water is given, and the glasses
put on, and shaded with a mat for a day or two, till
the plants have recovered the check of removal. On
the third, and every following day, the glasses should
be tilted on the south side by a brickbat, and shut close
down again on nights, and always also in inclement
weather. Three feet of the ground, on each side of
the glasses, should be dunged and digged, working
the earth towards the glasses in a ridge-like form, on
which the branches of the plants are laid when they
are laid out from under the glasses. This takes place
when the leaves and vines have filled the glasses ;
the latter are then lifted off, and the former are laid
out around, and carefully secured to the ground by
small hooks. The glasses are again replaced, but
supported by bats all round. This replacing of the
glasses is not for the purpose of attracting or keeping
in heat, but for defending the dung and stems from
immoderate and chilling rain.

This method of growing cucumbers is well imitated
by the cottager, who uses green weeds instead 6f
dung, and an old garment instead of a hand-glass.

Cucumbers for pickling may be grown without
hot-dung pits, if the plants be raised in a hotbed, and
planted out on warm borders about the end of May ;
or, on the same situation, if the seeds of the short
prickly sort be sown on well digged rich ground,
a fair yield of picklers may be obtained before the
frosts of autumn kill the plants.

There are many varieties of this plant. The
favourite kinds for early forcing are the Early Frame,
Long Frame, and the Fine Southgate. For ridging
out under hand-glasses, there are

The Kidge Cucumber, Early Cluster.

Long Prickly, Green Prickly,

Short Prickly, White Turkey, and the

White Spined, Green Turkey.

CUCUMIS (Linnaeus). A rather extensive and
useful genus of creeping or climbing annual plants,
natives of many different parts of the warmer regions
of the world. Linneean class and -Border Monceda.
Monadclphia, and natural order Cucurbttaceee. For
descriptions of this genus and its alliances, see CUCUR-

BITACKjE.

CUCURBITACE.E — the gourd family. A
natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
twenty-one known genera, and nearly two hundred
species. It is closely allied to Passiflorcc, differing
however from this order in its monopetalous corolla,
sinuous stamens, unisexual flowers and exalbuminous
seeds. It also bears some affinity to Myrtacece and
Onagrariscc. The essential characters of the order
are : flowers usually unisexual ; sepals five, more or
less united, sometimes obsolete; petals five, often
more or less united, and sometimes continuous with
the calyx, with strongly marked reticulated veins,
sometimes fringed ; stamens five, distinct or cohering
in three bundles ; anthers two-celled, very long and
sinuous ; ovary inferior, one-celled, combined with
the calyx ; style short ; stigmas three to five, two-
lobed, thick, velvety, or fringed ; fruit fleshy, more
or less succulent, crowned by the scar of the calyx,
one-celled, with three parietal placentas ; seeds flat,
ovate, enveloped in an arillus, which is either juicy or
dry and membranous ; testa coriaceous, often thick at
the margin ; embryo straight, without albumen ; coty-
ledons foliaceous, veined ; radicle next the hilum.

The plants belonging to this order are herbs,
having annual or perennial, fibrous or tuberous roots,
succulent stems climbing by means of lateral tendrils,
palmated alternate, rough leaves, and solitary or
panicled flowers of a white, red, or yellow colour.
They are found in hot climates in both hemispheres,
but chiefly within the tropics. They are most abun-
dant in India; a few exist in the northern parts of
Europe and America ; and some grow at the Cape
of Good Hope.

This order is one of the most useful in the vegeta-
ble kingdom, containing the various species of gourd,
cucumber, and melon, which are well known as arti-
cles of food ; and furnishing colocynth and elaterium,
which are valuable in a medical point of view. In
general the properties of the order may be said to be
bitter and laxative. These qualities pervade more
or less all the species of the order, and according to
the degree in which they are exhibited, the plants
become esculent or purgative. Some of the gourd
tribe contain a resinous principle in which the activity
of the plant resides, while in others its place is sup-
plied by milder ingredients, such as mucilage and
water. The seeds of cucurbitaceae are sweet and
oily, and are capable of forming an emulsion with
water. Their leaves and roots are frequently filled
with an acrid, bitter, and drastic juice.

The order has been divided by Decandolle into
two sections, Nhandirobece and the true Cucurbitacea:.
The former includes the genera Feuillea or Nhandi-
roba and Zanoma, while the latter comprehends the
genera Cucurbita, Cucumis, Bryonia, Elaterium, Mo-
mordica, Joliffia, &c.

We shall first notice the genus Cucumis, as furnish-
ing a good illustration of the properties of the order.

Cucumis sativus is familiar to every one as yielding

CUCURBITACEvE.

201

the common cucumber. Its original station has not
been accurately ascertained. It is the Ketimon or
Timon of the Indians, and is considered by many as
a native of Tartary and the East Indies, It was
introduced into this country in 1597, and is at present
in general cultivation everywhere. There are several
varieties of the plant, the most important of which
are, the green cucumber, the yellow, the white, the
variegated, and the peaked.

The common rough green prickly cucumber pro-
duces fruit six or seven inches long, of a dark green
colour, and set with small prickles. It bears well,
but not early. The short green prickly bears a
smoother fruit, three or four inches long. It is one
of the hardiest and earliest of the varieties. The
long green prickly, the early green cluster, the long
smooth green and white Turkey, the large smooth
green Roman, and the long white prickly Dutch, are
well known to gardeners all over the country.

Cucumber seeds are sown in hotbeds covered with
frames and glasses for early fruit, and in the open
ground for late crops. The earthy mould, which is
spread over the dung of the hotbed, ought to be light
and of a rich quality. The glasses should be covered
with mats or straw during the night, so as to protect
the plants from the cold. A regular supply of heat
2nd. a. due allowance of moisture are the circumstances
whii attention in their cultivation. There

are generally three crops in the year : the first in
March and April, from the plants reared altogether
in the hotbed ; the second in May and June, from
those which are raised under hand-glasses ; and the
third in August and September, from those which
have grown on ridges in the open air without artificial
hear. The early short and long prickly sorts are
preferred for the first crops. In cultivation, those
with the smoothest rind and fewest seeds are most
esteemed. The cucumber has not the sweet tasle
and delightful perfume of the melon. When fresh, it
is insipid, watery, and even in some degree nauseous.
After its outer covering has been taken off, it is cut
into thin slices and eaten with vinegar, oil, and pepper.
It is not very nutritive, but is greatly relished by
many persons. The emperor Tiberius is said to have
been very fond of cucumbers, and by proper manage-
ment he was able to procure one every day at all
seasons of the year.

The pulp of the cucumber when fresh is employed
as a cooling external application, and a pommade is
made from it which is used to soften the skin and
remove any slight scaly eruptions which may appear
on it. The seeds are made into an emulsion. When
in a young state, the cucumber is used for pickles
under the name of Girkins.

Cucumbers are produced in great quantity in some
parts of England. It is stated, that the village of
Sandy in Bedfordshire has produced 10,000 bushels
of cucumbers fit for pickling in the course of one
week.

Cucumis Melo, common or musk melon, is a plant
highly prized on account of the delicious fruit which
it produces. It was originally a native of the western
countries of Asia, and is called Retimou by the
Indians. It has been cultivated in our gardens since
the year 1570, and is extensively diffused all over
Europe. There are several varieties of the plant,
the chief of which are, the netted, the Cantalupe (so
called from, a place near Rome where it is much
cultivated), and the Maltese melon. By cultivation

the varieties of melon have of late been greatly
multiplied.

The melon is raised from seeds, and requires the
same apparatus and care as is necessary for the
cucumber. The frames and pits should be rather
deeper, and brick pits are in general preferred. For
the ^arly crops the seeds ought to be sown about the
middle of January or the beginning of February, and
sowings ought to take place again in March, so that
a succession of crops may be obtained. After five or
six weeks' growth in the first hotbeds, the plants may
be transferred to fruiting beds where there is more
space and a better supply of air. As the melons
approach to maturity, pieces of slate or tile should be
placed under each of them in order to prevent them
being injured by damp, or acquiring an earthy flavour.
Moisture ought not to be supplied in great quantity
until the fruit is perfectly set.

The melon, on account of its luscious sweet taste,
is valued as a summer fruit, and is commonly pro-
duced on our tables as an article of dessert. Its flesh
is also preserved in vinegar and sugar. It is much
more refreshing than nutritive. In France it is eaten
in great quantity both before and during dinner. In
that country it is a common addition to boiled beef.
It is a fruit by no means well adapted for weak sto-
machs, inasmuch as it is digested with difficulty. It
is apt to produce affections of the bowels and stomach,
and as a good precaution ought always to be eaten
with pepper or some aromatic stimulant. It is said
to be beneficial in some chronic affections of the kid-
neys, bladder, and chest. The pulp of the fresh
melon is sometimes applied with advantage to burns
and contusions, and when boiled it forms a good
emollient poultice. The seeds contain mucilage and
fixed oil, and are known in France by the name of
Sentences froides. They are deprived of their outer
covering and triturated with water, so as to form an
emulsion, which has been administered in ischuria,
inflammations of the kidneys and bladder, and in
inflammatory fever.

Cucumis colocynthis, colocynth or bitter cucumber,
is an annual plant which grows abundantly in Turkey,
Nubia, and the Islands of the Archipelago, and is
sometimes cultivated in other parts of Europe. The
fruit of the plant is a yellow globular berry, the size
of a small orange, containing a white spongy substance
in which numerous seeds are imbedded. The fruit,
is much used in medicine, and is imported into this
country from the Levant. It is gathered in autumn,
when it begins to turn yellow, and having been de-
prived of its outer coat is dried quickly in a stove or
in the sun. By this means the pulp is converted into
a white papery looking matter, and in this state is
commonly known by the name of Coloquintida apple.
The white spongy or medullary part of the fruit, de-
prived of its rind and seeds, is the only portion of the
plant which is employed medicinally. It is inodo-
rous, and has an intensely bitter and nauseous taste.
Alcohol extracts its bitterness, and acquires at the
same time a yellow colour. The alcoholic solution,
when evaporated, yields a resinous substance which,
from being considered the active principle of the
drug, has been denominated Colocynthine. It does
not, however, appear that the proper purgative prin-
ciple of colocynth has been discovered.

Colocynth is a drastric purgative, and as such was
employed in ancient times by the Greeks and Romans
for the cure of dropsies, apoplexy, madness, and

202

CUCURBITACEvE.

lethargic complaints. On account of its powerful
effects, it requires to be administered with great
caution. It acts chiefly on the lower part of the
intestinal canal, and in large doses is apt to produce
violent griping, and even inflammation. It has in
some instances proved fatal, by causing severe vomit-
ing and purging.

Colocynth is sometimes prescribed in substance in
doses of five or six grains mixed with mucilaginous
or farinaceous matter ; but it is more commonly admi-
nistered in the form of extract made into pills. It is
sometimes combined with camphor and hyoscyamus,
which tend to moderate its griping effects. The
watery decoction or infusion is said to be milder than
either the powder or extract, but its extreme bitter-
ness prevents its general use. The compound colo-
cynth pills, which are often sold under the name of
Dr. Gregory's pills, are composed of the pulp of
colocynth, aloes, scammony, oil of cloves, and sulphate
of potass.

According to Thunberg, the fruit of the colocynth
is rendered so perfectly mild at the Cape of Good
Hope, by being properly pickled, that it is eaten both
by natives and colonists. The seeds of the plant are
bland and nutritious, and constitute an important
article of food in northern Africa.

Cucumis citrullus formerly Cucurbita citrullus, the
citrul, is a native of the south of Europe, and grows
also in Africa and India. It is called Lanianka by
the Indians. Two varieties of this plant are men-
tioned, the Pasteque and the Water melon. In the
former the flesh or pulp is firm, while in the latter it
is watery and of a reddish colour.

The water melon is a smooth globular fruit with a
green exterior. It is cooling and refreshing, and is
frequently produced at table in summer. It is much
cultivated in the warm countries of Europe. In
Provence the fruit is highly prized, and in India it is
in great request during the hot season. In Egypt it
is used to quench thirst, and to allay febrile excite-
ment. The seeds are sown at the end of February
in hotbeds, and the plants are afterwards removed to
fruiting beds, and treated like cucumbers and common
melons.

Cucumi» anguria, round prickly cucumber, is a
native of the West Indies, and forms an ingredient in
soups. Besides this there are several other species
of cucumis, which are cultivated in a similar manner
for domestic use. They are not so important as
those already noticed, and it is unnecessary to dwell
upon them.

We shall therefore proceed to another genus,
Cucurbita or gourd, whence the name of the order is
derived.

Cucurbita Pepo or Pepo macrocarpm, the pompion
or pumpkin, is originally from India, but is at present
cultivated in most parts of Europe. It is one of the
plants which acquires in the course of a single season
dimensions of no ordinary kind. The stem, which is
herbaceous, cylindrical, and hollow, sometimes attains
a length of thirty or forty feet, and covers one-eighth
of an acre. Its flowers are large, axillary, and of a
fine yellow colour. The fruit is red, anil acquires
sometimes a diameter of two feet. There are two
varieties of the plant, one with roundish, the other
with oblong fruit. Its flesh is firm and has an agree-
able taste ; it is refreshing and slightly laxative, but
is not used in medicine.

In England the pumpkin is occasionally planted

by country people on dunghills beside their cottages,
and the fruit, when ripe, is hollowed out and stuffed
with sliced apples, sugar, and spices, so as to form,
when baked, what is called pumpkin pie. On the
continent, both the unripe and ripe fruit is used in
soups, and is fried in oil or butter. The tender tops
of this and other species are boiled as greens. The
seeds are employed in the same way as those of the
cucumber and melon.

Cucurbita melopcpo, melon pumpkin or squash, is
another species of the genus which is cultivated in
America as a culinary vegetable. It yields a large
reddish yellow fruit. A variety of C. ovifera, called
succade or vegetable marrow, is frequently cultivated
for domestic use. It bears an oblong pale yellow
fruit, which is either fried with butter or boiled and
made into pies.

Cucurbita lagenaria, or more properly Lagcnaria
vulgaris, common calabash or bottle gourd, is found
within the tropics, particularly in India, and yields
an edible yellow fruit, having a whitish pulp. This
fruit is sometimes six feet long and eighteen inches in
circumference, and is called by the Arabians Ckarrah,
There are several varieties of the plant, such as the
common gourd, the depressed and the turbinated
bottle gourd, the congourde, and the trumpet gourd.
The name of bottle gourd is given to it on account
of the shape of the fruit, and the use to which it is
applied. In Jamaica and other warm countries, the
dried outer coat or rind serves the purpose of water
cups or bottles. The fruit is not often employed as
an article of food, although it is tolerably good after
being well cooked. The pulp is sometimes applied
as a poultice, and the seeds are put to the same use
as those of the genus Cucumis.

Gourds and calabashes are propagated by sowing
their seeds in hotbeds in the month of April, after-
wards transplanting them into beds with a moderate
heat and plenty of moisture, and finally putting them
on a dunghill and allowing them room to spread.

The genus Momordica is the next to which we shall
turn our attention.

Mormordica elaterium, wild cucumber, is a peren-
nial plant found native in the south of Europe. It
has been cultivated successfully in this country, but
does not survive the winter. The fruit is oblong,
about an inch and a half long, and an inch in thick-
ness. It has a green colour, and is covered with
thick rough hairs. When ripe, a slight touch sepa-
rates it from the stalk, and the seeds and juice are
scattered in all directions and with great force through
the hole in the base where the footstalk was inserted.
Hence the name squirting or spurting cucumber which
has been given to the plant. The cause of this pecu-
liarity in the opening of the seed vessel has not yet
been fully ascertained, although many theories have
been hazarded in regard to it. The seeds when fully
ripe have a black colour, and are surrounded by a
fluid from which the substance known in medicine by
the name of Elaterium is produced. This drug is the
fecula which subsides from the juice after the watery
part is evaporated. In order to obtain it, the fruit is
collected in the month of September before it is ripe,
and is cut longitudinally, so as to allow the clear fluid
to run out without pressure. By standing the liquid
soon becomes turbid and deposits the elaterium, which
is collected and dried without exposure to light.

When pure, elaterium should be in the form of thin
cakes, of a light green colour, without any odour, and

C U L I C I D JE.

209

having a bitter and slightly acrid taste. If it is nearly
black, compact, and heavy, and breaks with a shining
resinous fracture, it should be rejected as bad. It is
often mixed with starch, an adulteration which it is
sometimes not easy to detect by its appearance.

Elaterium consists of water, extractive, fecula,
gluten, woody matter, and Elaterine. The latter sub-
stance, which is the active principle of the drug, was
discovered by Dr. I. D. Monies, and is totally
different from the Elatin of Dr. Paris. It is a white
crystalline substance, of an extremely bitter taste,
insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol. It is easily
procured from the alcoholic tincture of eluterium by
evaporating it to the consistence of thin oil, and
while still warm throwing it into boiling distilled
water.

Elaterium is a powerful or drastic purgative, which
is prescribed with good effect in cases of dropsy. It
was known to the ancient physicians, and was used
by them occasionally. When pure, it may be given
in doses of one sixth or half a grain, and its effects
should be carefully watched, as they are apt to be
too powerful. Elaterine acts well in the dose of one-
twelfth or one-sixteenth of a grain, and is much more
certain than elaterium itself. The elaterium imported
M.'J.'.L, f: "juently requires to be administered in
doses of two or three grains before it will act.

Momordica bakamina, balsam apple, is a native of
India, and was introduced into Britain in 1568. It
has a fleshy ovate fruit, which, when ripe, is of a red
colour, and bursts irregularly so as to disperse the
seeds. It is famous in Syria for curing wounds.

Bryonia is the only British genus of the order, and
it contains a very large number of species, almost
entirely exotic.

Bryonia dioica, red-berried bryony or wild vine, is
frequent in thickets and hedges in England, but is
scarcely indigenous in Scotland. It has a very large
white root, and a slender climbing stem, and bears
whitish flowers, which are succeeded by berries of a
red colour.

The plant abounds in a foetid acrid juice. The root
has a disagreeable taste and decidedly purgative pro-
perties, which are not lost by drying. When applied
externally to the skin, it causes redness, and if the
application is long continued it will induce inflam-
mation. It was much used in ancient times as a
violent purgative in cases of dropsy and insanity.
When dried and powdered, the root was administered
in doses of thirty or forty grains. In the south of
England it is still used as a laxative, after being in-
fused in gin. It is not, however, employed to any
extent now-a-days in medicine, in consequence of the
violent and even dangerous nature of its action. In
large doses it is an acrid poison, and produces death
speedily.

Bryony root consists of resinous and gummy mat-
ter, starch, albumen, extractive matter, vegetable fibre,
water, several salts, and a peculiar principle to which
the name of Bryonine has been given. This substance
has a reddish-yellow colour and an intensely bitter
taste, and has been considered the active ingredient
of the plant. It is soluble in water and alcohol, and
appears to be analogous to Cathartine.

The fecula contained in the root of the bryony,
when separated from the bitter principle, may be used
as nutriment. Cooking has a great effect on the
properties of the plant, rendering it wholesome and
denriving it of its purgative qualities.

The root of Bryonia rostrata, beaked bryony, is
Drescribed in India internally in piles. It also pos-
sesses demulcent qualities, and has been recommended
in asthmatic complaints.

The root of Bryonia epigcea, air-living bryony (so
called from living in the air and throwing out shoots
readily in that situation), was formerly considered as
calomba root, which it resembles in quality.

The root of Bryonia cordifolia is reckoned cooling.

Bryonia callosa yields small bitter seeds, which are
prescribed by the native practitioners of India in
cases of worms, and also as a veterinary medicine.
A fixed oil is procured from them, which is used for
lamps.

It only remains for us to notice a few remaining
genera, in order to complete the history of this im-
portant family.

The leaves of Feuillea or Nhandiroba cordifolia are
said to be antidotes to vegetable poisons, even to
such powerful poisons as strychnia.

The fruit of Trichosanthes palmata, palmate snake
gourd, when powdered and mixed with warm cocoa-
nut oil, is used in India for healing sores which occur
in the ears and nostrils.

The fruit of Benincasa cerifera, wax-bearing gourd,
is covered with a waxy substance, which is most
abundant at the time when it becomes ripe.

Joliffia Africana or Telfairia pedata is an African
plant yielding a fleshy fruit, three feet long and often
eight inches in diameter. It is filled with seeds as
large as chestnuts, which are said to have the flavour
of almonds, and to yield abundance of oil equal to
the finest olive oil.

CUL1CIDJ3. A family of dipterous insects,
belonging to the section Nemocera, and having for its
type the genus Culcx of Linnaeus, or the blood-
thirsty gnat. This family occupies the foremost
range amongst dipterous insects, on account of the
more complete development of the organs of the
mouth and antennae. Indeed, it is not surprising,
when we examine the structure of the gnat, that,
even in the time of Pliny, this insect should have
been selected as affording an admirable example of
the wonders of the creation. " Ubi tot sensus collo-
cavit ut in culice?" observes this father of natural
history ; and when we notice the beautiful organisation
of the proboscis, that fearful organ which causes us so
much pain, we immediately perceive its superiority, or
rather the more complete development which it exhi-
bits over the mouths of other diptera, except the Ta-
bariidae. This apparatus, although it appears to the
naked eye like a long, slender, simple and single organ,
consists, in fact, of a considerable number of fine lancet-
like pieces, enclosed in a fleshy gutter, forming an in-
strument admirably fitted for suction, and provided
with a poisonous liquid, which it instils into the wound
it makes, and which is supposed to have the effect of
causing the blood to flow more freely. Overlooking
the beautiful organisation which this insect exhibits,
how often is it that, in our rage, we destroy, or at
least attempt to destroy, the gnat, which has feasted
at the expense of our blood ? How seldom is it that,
like Reaumur, we have patiently allowed it to make
its attack upon us, in order to watch the curious
operation by which the blood is pumped up into its
stomach from our hand. In every quarter of the
globe, the gnat or mosquito, for the terms are nearly
synonymous, does not cease day and night to attack
us ; and there is scarcely a spot on which they do

S04

C U L I C I F O R M E S.

not abound. It has been considered by Isidore of
Seville, that the name is a contraction of " Cutilcx,
quod cutem laciat," an ingenious supposition, and one
fully confirmed by the habits of the species. Never-
theless, this thirst for blood is exhibited only by the
female ; and in default of this fluid, this sex, as well
as the males, content themselves with the honey of
flowers. It would seem, also, that all the species are
not similarly obnoxious, since Linnaeus affirms that
Anopheles bifurcatus does not prick with its pro-
boscis. These insects seldom appear by day, except
in dark woods, seemingly affected by the sun's rays.
At twilight, however, they sally forth to pursue their
blood-thirsty operations, and it is at this period that
they assemble in swarms in the air for the purpose of
.coupling. Shortly afterwards, the females deposit
their eggs in a very remarkable manner. The larvae
are destined to live in the water. The gnat is an
aerial being. Taking its station, therefore, at the
extremity of some floating leaf, the female deposits
her eggs, one by one, attaching them together, and
forming them, with the assistance of her hind legs,
into a curiously contrived boat-like mass, which floats
upon the surface of the water. These eggs hatch in
the course of a couple of days. The larva? con-
siderably resemble those of some other Ncmocera
having aquatic larvae (see CHIEONOMUS), differing,
however, in several respects. The body is long, and
furnished at the sides with long hairs ; the head
distinct and rounded, with two long ciliated jaws,
which are kept in continual motion, serving for
producing a current of water, which brings various
small floating particles in contact with the mouth,
which serve for the food of the larva ; the mouth is
also furnished with two long palpi, ornamented with
whorls of hairs, and, with these exceptions, the body
possesses no other distinct organs for locomotion ;
the last joint of the body is elongated, and furnished
on one side with a long tube, placed at an angle, and
enclosing a breathing apparatus. The extremity of
this tube, and of the tail itself, is ornamented with a
coronet of hairs, coated with an oily matter, and
serving to repel the water ; hence, when the larva
takes its station at the surface of the water, for the
purpose of obtaining a fresh supply of air, these hairs
expanding, serve as a kind of buoy for retaining the
insect in such position. These larva? are small semi-
transparent animals, which may be seen throughout
the summer in ditches, or other standing water, jerking
about with much rapidity. When the larva wishes
to descend, it contracts the hairs of the buoys above
mentioned, enclosing a bubble of air for future use in
respiration. They are transformed into pupae in about
fifteen days ; the front, or thoracic part of the body,
is now thickened, and exhibits beneath the rudiments
of legs and wings, enclosed in a general covering, and
the hind part of the body curved towards the breast ;
instead of the posterior tube of the larva, its external
breathing apparatus now consists of two anterior small
horns, like those of the pupa of the chironomus. It
jerks about in the water with much agility by the assist-
ance of two small swimmerets, or little oars, at the
extremity of the body, and two long hairs.

But, -how is this aquatic animal, unprovided with
legs or wings, able to creep along the sides of the
bank, or up the stem of any growing plant, to escape
out of the midst of, the water, casting off a form which
it could not live with in the air, and assuming one
which would be destroyed if it remained in the water?

This question would puzzle any person but a na-
turalist. The pupa, rising to the surface at the period
when it wishes to cast off its pupa skin, elevates the
front part of the thorax above the level of the water,
when instantly, by swelling the exposed part, the
skin bursts, and the head of the gnat appears, followed
by the thorax, which, from its increased size, enlarges
the slit, so as to allow the rest of the body to follow
with greater ease. At this critical period, the old
skin of the pupa, which is of course now hollow in
some places, serves as a support ; in fact, it becomes
in every sense a life-boat to the little animal. " The
observer, who sees how the little boat gradually sinks,
and how its margin approaches the water, forgets the
mischievous insect it contains, which, at another
time, he would crush without remorse, and becomes
interested for its fate, especially should wind agitate
the water. If it should upset, it would be all over
with it, and numbers do thus perish. The gnat,
after having fixed itself thus perpendicularly, draws
Jirst its two anterior legs out of their case *, and moves
them forward, and next the two intermediate ones ;
then, inclining itself towards the water, it rests itself
upon it ; for water is to them a soil sufficiently firm
and solid for support, although surcharged with
the weight of the insects ; for, as soon as it is thus
upon the water, it is in safety, its wings unfold them-
selves, and are dried, and it flies away. This is the
work of an instant." — Introduct. to Ent. vol. iii. 288.

Culex pipiens, female, natural size, and magnified, with the
head of the male.

The genera belonging to this family are Anopheles,
Cnlex, and (Edcs, founded chiefly upon the length of
the palpi, together with Sahethes and Mrgarhina.
The two first only are British. There are about
twenty British species belonging to the genus Culex
(including the type C. pipiens, Linnaeus), and four
belonging to Anopheles.

CULfCIFORMES(Latr.) A division of dipterous
insects, belonging to the section Nemoccra, and family
TipulidcE, and comprising many minute species, gene-
rally called midges, having, as the name implies, great
resemblance with the insects composing the family
Culicidee, or true gnats, but differing from them, iu
wanting1 a long and exserted proboscis, the mouth
consisting only of two short dilated fleshy lips, and a
pair of short palpi. The antennae are much orna-
mented with whorls of hair, which, in the males, arc
often as long as the entire antennas, and form beauti-
ful object*. The ocelli are wanting, and the eyes are
crescent-shaped ; the body is long, and the legs
slender, the tibiae not being spincd at the extremity.
Here belong the genera Tamfpiis, Chironomus (which

* A recent writer has criticised the authors from whence we
have extracted this passage, stating, that Kirby and Spence,
tit/ mistake, say It draws these out of their case. (Ins. Miscall,
p. 19.) H^d he been aware that the legs of dipterous insects
are inclosed in distinct cases, although sometimes closely applied
to the body, he would not have been so rash. Compare Swam-
mcrdaru, pi, 31, fig. f>, d, and pi. 41, fie:. 4. d.

C U L L U M I A — C U P A N I A.

see), ' SjrfuEromias, and Corclhra, Meigcn. The latter
genus is distinguished from C/iironomns, by having the
antennoB composed of fourteen oval joints in both
sexes, the terminal ones being but little different from
those at the base of these organs. The wings, when
at rest, are laid horizontally upon the back. The
type of the genus (which comprises but very few
species; is the Tipula citlicifurmis of De Geer, by
whom the history of this species has been traced
through its different stages. Reaumur likewise found
the larvs of another straw-coloured species (C. jrfumi-
cornw, in July and August, in standing water. Its
body is crystalline and transparent, long, nearly
cylindric, and rather thickened at its anterior part ;
the head is furnished in front with two recurved
jointed hooks ; and the tail is armed beneath with an
oval plunied apparatus, for swimming or respiration,
and at the tip with two hooks. The nearer this
crystalline larva (which is a beautiful microscopic
object) is to its transformation, the more distinctly
four kidney-shaped bodies are perceived, two in the
front part of the second, and two in the ninth seg-
ments of the body. It has been stated, in the Insect
Transformations, that the latter perhaps serve to
inclose the taii-.ins of the pupa, and the former the
horns of the pupa, which again encase the antennae of
the gnat (midge), both which statements appear to us
quite untenable ; because the tail-fins of the pupa,
being attached to its terminal segment, would neces-
sarily be covered by the terminal segment of the
iarva), whilst the antennae are laid along the breast,
the " antennae cases," as they are miscalled, arising
from the thorax. It is more probable that the arr-
terior pair of these bodies may, as De Geer con-
jectures (vol. vi. ]>. 39j), be air-reservoirs, which,
when the insect assumes the pupa state, become
external, and are transformed into the horns in front
of its body. Moreover, analogy induces us to adopt
this opinion, as the same organs are found employed
in respiration in the pupa of the gnat. Like most
larvae, the one which we are now describing sheds its
skin. In like manner, it seems clour, from the
statement of Reaumur, that the skin is also cast on
assuming the pupa state, as he found exuviae at the
bottom of the glass in which he kept them. The
pupa is oblong, with the thorax bulging out, and
having (wo small horns placed upon the front of
the back ; the head is closely applied to the front of
the breast, with the antennae lying behind the eyi-s,
and the legs placed along the breast, enclosed in
short cases. The tail is long, and gradually tapering
to the tip, which is furnished with two elliptic-shaped
plates employed in swimming. In this state it is
very active, jerking about with great agility, especially
when the time for assuming the perfect state ap-
proaches. It, however, usually keeps close to the
surface of the water, so as to be able to project the
thoracic horns above it, so that they are exposed to
the air, an eviden-t proof of their being employed as
organs of respiration. The insect remains in this
state ten or twelve days, when it assumes the perfect
winded state.

CULLUMIA (R. Brown). A genus of orna-
mental shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope, belong-
ing to the order Composites. Generic characters :
anthodium of one leaf, thickly set with scales. Re-
ceptacle favose, seeds smooth ; pappus none. This
plant is curious, and easily kept and propagated in
green-houses under ordinary management.

CULTRIROSTRA, a sub-order of stilt birds,
characterised by the bill being long, strong, and knife-
shaped. It includes the cranes, storks, herons, and
some of the allied g-enera. See BIRD.

CUMMINGIA^ (U. Don). An elegant, bulbous-
stemmed plant, introduced into this country from
Chili. Linnaean class and order Hcxandria Mono-
gynia, and natural order AsphodcletjE. Generic cha-
racter : calyx, bell-shaped, six-cleft, nearly regular,
spreading ; stamens inserted in the base of the
corolla ; filaments very short, united in a ring ; an-
thers forming a cone, with cleft processes at top ;
style awl-shaped ; capsule three-celled, three-valved,
with many seeds. This is the Conanthera campamdata
of Ruiz and Pavon, and of several other authors.
Three species are already known, and they succeed
when managed like other tender bulbs, that is, planted
in a frame or pit, or on a warm border ; the bulbs to
be taken up before winter, and planted again in
February. They are increased by seeds and offsets.

CUMINIUM (Limucus). An odoriferous plant,
cultivated for its peculiar qualities as seasoning in
cookery, and as a medicine. It belongs to the
natural order UmbellifcrcB. In this country it only
requires sowing in the open ground, with other an-
nual herbs.

CUNNINGHAMIA (R. Brown). A fine orna-
mental forest tree, introduced from China, It belongs
to the class Moncecia of Linnaeus, and to the natural
order Conifercs. This is the Pinus Innceolata of Lam-
bert, and the Sells jaculifolia of Salisbury.

CUNONIACE^E. A natural order" of dicotyle-
donous plants, containing eight genera and forty-four
known species. It is closely allied to Saxifrages, and
by many botanists is considered merely a section of
that order. It differs, however, in its shrubby habit
and its remarkable interpetiolar stipules. It bears
also an affinity to Baueraccce, from which it is distin-
guished by its definite stamens and the presence of
stipules.

The characters of the order are : calyx four or five-
cleft, half superior ; petals four or five, occasionally-
wanting ; stamens eight to ten, perigynous and defi-
nite ; ovary two-celled, the cells having two or many
seeds ; styles one or two ; fruit two-celled, capsular or
indehiscent ; embryo in the axis of fleshy albumen.
The plants belonging to the order are trees or shrubs
with opposite, compound, or simple leaves, interpe-
tiolary stipules, and white or red Bowers.

They are found at the Cape of Good Hope, in
South America, the East and West Indies, and New
Holland.

Little is known in regard to their properties. The
chief genera of the order are : Cimonia, Wcinmannia,
Callicoma, Dicterica, Ccratopctalum, and Arnoldia.

Of the genus Weinmannia, there are thirty-one
known species, most of which possess astringent qua-
lities : one of the species is used in Peru for tanning
leather, and its bark is employed to adulterate Peru-
vian bark.

CUPANIA (Linnaeus). A genus of lofty tropi-
cal trees, belonging to the eighth class and first order
of the sexual system, and to the natural order Sapin-
dacecE. Generic character : calyx of five sepals ;
petals cupped or flattish ; filaments awl-shaped ;
sometimes long, but frequently very short ; anthers
incumbent ; style trifid ; stigma obtuse ; capsule
leathery, and three-celled, three-valved ; cells one or
two seeded, seeds winged. This tree is cultivated

206

CUPHEA— CUPULIFER^E.

in our stoves, is grown in loam and moor-earth, and
is propagated by ripened cuttings struck in sand, and
a Httle heat.

CUPHEA (R. Brown). A genus of greenhouse,
annuals, and hothouse under-shrubs, natives of the
West Indies. Linnaean class and order Dodecan-
dria Monogynia, and natural order Salicarice. Generic
character : calyx tubular, swollen at the base ; limb
from six to twelve-toothed, the upper tooth broad ;
petals six, inserted in the calyx ; stamens from ten
to fourteen, fixed to the throat of the calyx, unequal ;
anthers two-celled ; style filiform ; stigma simple or
two-lobed, bottom of the ovarium glandular ; capsule
covered by the calyx, one-celled ; seeds like lentils.
The annual species may be sown in the open ground,
like other annuals ; and the biennial sorts should be
raised on heat, put into pots, and kept in the green-
house or stove.

CUPRESSUS (Linnaeus). A genus ofornamental
evergreen trees, commonly called cypress. They
belong to the twenty-first class of Linnaeus, and to
the natural order Coniferce. A few of this genus are
kept and propagated and managed like other green-
house plants. The hardy sorts are raised from seeds,
and nursed in pots till fit to be planted on lawns or
other parts of ornamented ground. When young
they are tender, and liable to be killed by severe
frost ; but in favourable situations, as in the south of
England, and in all warmer countries, they gain a
considerable height, and are very conspicuous trees.
They were anciently, as well as at present, in south-
eastern Europe, chosen as memorials of the dead ;
and still are the principal ornaments of cemeteries in
Greece and over all the Ottoman empire.

CUPULIFERjE— The oak family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing five or six
genera, and numerous important species. It is allied
to the willow and birch families, but is distinguished
from the former by the veining of its leaves, and from
the latter by the presence of a calyx. It bears also
an affinity to UrticefE, but differs in its many-celled
ovary, pendulous ovules, and superior calyx. By many
.botanists this order is considered merely as a section
of Amentacece. The name Cupulifereee is derived from
the peculiar husk, or cup (cupule), in which the fruit
is enclosed.

The essential characters are : flowers unisexual ;
male ones amentaceous, with from five to twenty
stamens, which are generally distinct, and are inserted
into the base of the scales, or perianth ; female ones
aggregate, or amentaceous ; ovaries crowned by the
rudiments of a superior calyx, seated within a coria-
ceous involucre, variously formed, and with several
cells and ovules, the greater number of which are
abortive ; ovules twin, or solitary, pendulous ; stigmas
several, nearly sessile, distinct ; fruit, a horny, or
coriaceous, one-celled nut, more or less enclosed in
the enlarged involucre (cupule) ; seeds solitary, two
to three, pendulous ; embryo large, with plano-convex,
fleshy cotyledons, and a minute superior radicle.

The plants belonging to this order are trees or
shrubs, having alternate simple stipulate leaves, with
veins proceeding straight from the midrib to the
margin. They inhabit chiefly the temperate parts of
the northern hemisphere, and form extensive forests
both in the old and new world. They are common
in Europe, Asia, and North America, and they are
also found in some parts of South America, and in
the northern parts of Africa. They are said to be

totally unknown at the Cape of Good Hope. Some
of the species grow on the high lands of tropical
regions.

The order furnishes many trees which are highly
valued on account of their timber. Its medicinal
properties in general may be said to be astringent
and tonic, and it includes some plants which are used
in the arts, and others which are employed as articles
of materia medica.

The chief genera are, Quercus, or oak ; Castanea,
or chestnut ; Fagus, or beech ; and Corylus, or hazel
nut.

The genus Quercus, or oak, belongs to the class
Monaeria, order Polyandria of the Linnaean system,
and is well known as supplying many important
species of forest trees. According to Michaux, there
are at least forty-four species of the genus in America,
confined entirely to the northern hemisphwe, ex-
tending from the 48th to the 20th degree of latitude ;
while in the old world there are upwards of thirty
species, which grow both in the northern and southern
parts, from the 60th degree of north latitude. The
species have been divided by him into separate
sections, according as the fructification is annual or
biennial ; and the different forms of the leaves have
furnished him with a means of further subdivision.

Of all the species, the Quercus robur, or pedunculata,
of some foreign authors, the common British oak
demands our first attention, whether we consider the
dignity of its stature, or the variety of uses to which
it is applied. It is the king of our forests, excelling
all other trees in the beauty of its growth, the
thickness of its trunk, and the hardness and solidity
of its wood. It constitutes the greatest part of the
European forests, extending from the 60th to the
35th degree of latitude. It is indigenous in our
island, and grows well in almost any soil, and even
in the most exposed situations. It delights in rich
deep earth, but the finest grained timber is said to be
produced in sandy soils. It is found both in forests
and hedgerows, but succeeds best in the former. The
flowers appear in spring, but the exact time at which
the leaves and flowers expand varies much, accord-
ing to the situation and soil in which the tree grows.
Sometimes we notice one oak in full leaf, and another,
not far from it, without any such appearance, owing
to the coldness or barrenness of the soil in which it
has been planted. The leaves are generally put forth
at a later period than those of other trees, but they
continue longer green.

The oak is usually raised from its seeds, which are
ripened in October, and well known by the name of
acorns. These may be either sown at once in the
place where the oaks are to remain, or in a nursery,
and the young trees subsequently planted out. They
are sown in the spring or autumn, in loamy well
prepared soil, and the young plants generally appear
above ground in the course of six weeks. If reared
in a nursery, they may be planted out in the course
of two years, and considerable care is necessary in
keeping the ground clean, and free from weeds. The
plants, in the first instance, are set in rows, four feet
asunder, and two feet distant in the rows, and after
twelve or fourteen years, every second plant is taken
out, and sold for hoops, or small poles. After seven
or eight years more, another thinning may be prac-
tised, the" strongest and most vigorous trees being
left to form timber at the distance of twenty or thirty
feet from each 'Hher. The plantations should be

CUPULIFER^:.

207

sheltered by means of Scotch fir, or other hardy
quick-growing trees. On the judicious thinning and
clearing of a young wood, as well as protecting it
from the severity of the climate, depends much of a
planter's success and profit. The oak might be culti-
vated very profitably on many waste lands situated
near rivers or navigable canals. When the acorns
are sown in a field, and the trees allowed to grow
naturally, we secure the best timber for the use of the
carpenter and ship-builder, and in a much shorter
time than if the plants are first raised in a nursery,
and then transplanted.

The oak attains a great age, and is said not to
reach maturity till it is one hundred years old. Some
of the aboriginal oaks of this country have been
known to exist for a thousand years. The oak
against which the arrow of Walter Tyrrel glanced,
before it killed William Rufus, was in existence less
than a century ago ; and there is still seen at Torwood,
in Stirlingshire, the oak under which the famous
Wallace convened his followers.

The oak sumeumcs ^-quires the height of 100 feet,
more especially when planted in woods. Its trunk
also attains a great degree of thickness. The trunk
of an oak growing in 1764 iu Broomfield wood,
Shropshire, was sixty-eight feet in circumference and
twenty-three feet in length. The tree was estimated
to contain 1455 feet of thick timber. The circum-
ference of the green dale oak, near Welbeck, at
eleven feet from the ground, was thirty-eight feet,
and one growing near Wetherly, in Yorkshire, mea-
sured seventy-eight feet close to the ground. Dr.
Thomson mentions that an oak was felled at Whitby
Park, Shropshire, in 1697, which was nine feet in
diameter without the bark ; its branches spread 144
feet, and twenty-eight tons of timber were contained
in the body of the tree. Dr. Plott mentions an oak,
at Norbury, which was forty-five feet in circumference,
and when it was felled and lying on the ground, a
horseman on one side of the trunk was completely
concealed from one on the other side.

While the tree thus attains a hreat height and
thickness, it also sends its roots deeply into the
ground, and is thus enabled to resist the shocks of
tempests and the war of elements.

As o'er the aerial Alps, sublimely spread

Some aged oak uprears his reverend head,

This way and that the furious tempests blow,

To lay the monarch of the mountain low ;

Th' imperial plant, though nodding: at the sound,

Though all his scattered honours strew the ground,

Safe in his strength, and seated on the rock,

In naked majesty defies the shock ;

High as the head shoots towering to the skies,

So deep the root in earth's foundation lies.

The oak is a very valuable forest tree, and is much
cultivated on account of the timber and bark which it
furnishes. Houses and ships, cities and navies, are
formed of it. To it we are indebted not only for our
maritime glory and commercial prosperity, but also
for many of the ordinary comforts of life.

From a small acorn see the oak arise,
Supremely tall and towering to the skies !
Queen of the groves, her stately head she rears,
Her bulk increasing with increasing years!
Now moves in pomp majestic o'er the deep,
While in her womb Britannia's thunders sleep ;
With fame and conquest graces Albion's shore,
And guards the island where she grew before.

The oak was held sacred by the Greeks and
Romans as well as the ancient Britons. By the

Romans it was dedicated to Jupiter, and in former
times Druidical ceremonies were frequently performed
under its shade. The fruit of the oak was used in
the early ages of the world as an article of food, and
the failure of the acorn crop was considered as a
cause of famine. Now-a-days acorns are given as
food to hogs, squirrels, and the larger gallinaceous
birds, and are said to have a great effect in fattening
them. The root of the oak is beautifully grained,
and is employed for many useful and ornamental
purposes. All the parts of the oak are astringent,
but the bark possesses this property in a remarkable
degree, and is on this account used officinally. Oak
bark is covered with a bluish-grey epidermis, and
within is of a red colour. It is peeled in spring, when
it is more astringent than in the later part of the
season. Its astringency is owing to the presence of
gallic acid and tannin, which exist in great quantity
in the inner part of the bark. As a powerful astrin-
gent, it is given internally in powder, in doses of from
two to six drachms. It may be used as a substitute for
cinchona bark in the cure of ague, and has been ad-
ministered to stop internal haemorrhages and bleed-
ing from the nose and mouth. The decoction of the
bark is used as a gargle in relaxed sore throats, and
as a lotion to indolent ulcers. An extract of the bark
is also prepared tor medicinal use.

The use of the bark in tanning leather is familiar
to all, and its employment in the construction of hot-
beds is also well known. The saw-dust of the oak is
used in dyeing all the varieties of drab and the differ-
ent shades of brown. An infusion of the bark with a
small quantity of sulphate of iron is employed by com-
mon people to dye woollen stuffs of a purplish colour.
Acorns and their cups when roasted are adminis-
tered either in the form of powder or infusion in cases
of bowel complaint and passive haemorrhages.

The only other British species of the genus is
Quercus sessiliflora. The specific name is apt to mis-
lead, inasmuch as the flowers in both species are ses-
sile. In the common oak, however, the catkin is on
a long footstalk, while in the present species it is
nearly sessile. The timber of this species is generally
considered inferior to that of the Quercus robur.

Quercus suber, the cork tree, is a tree about forty
feet high, which grows in the south of France, in
Spain, Portugal, Italy, and the north of Africa, be-
tween the thirty-fifth and forty-fourth degrees of lati-
tude. Its leaves continue green till the middle of
May, when they generally fall just before the new
leaves appear. It yields oval acorns like those of
the common oak, which are eaten by hogs with
avidity. Its timber is heavy, hard, and compact, but
not very durable. The tree is chiefly valuable on
account of its bark, the external layer of which fur-
nishes the light, elastic, and impermeable substance
called Cork, which is applied to so many important
uses. The bark is taken off every eight or ten years,
and the trees will often live for 150 years, even
though the process of removing their bark is repeated
regularly. When young, the tree does not yield
good cork, and the two first peelings are in general
not fit for use. It is only when the trees are about
forty years old that the bark becomes valuable. The
stripping of the bark takes place in the months of
July and August. Two incisions are made parallel
to each other along the whole length of the tree, and
then two others are made transversely at the extre-
mities. The outer bark is then removed, care being

£08

CUPUL1FER.E.

taken not to injure the inner cortical layer, otherwise
iio new bark would be produced. After being taken
olF, the bark is flattened by exposing its convex sur-
face to heat and pressure. It is also charred on both
sides, so as to close the transverse pores before being
sold. The carbonised surfaces are seen in bungs and
taps, but not in ordinary corks which are cut length-
wise. The bark gathered in France has been esti-
mated as sufficient to form 1 19,000,000 or 120,000,000
of corks eighteen lines long.

Cork was used by the Greeks for sandals, and is
occasionally employed now-a-days for lining the soles
of shoes. It is also employed to form surgical instru-
ments and apparatus, and is essential to the cabinet
of the entomologist.

The charcoal got from it, when mixed with lard,
has been recommended in piles. It contains a pecu-
liar principle called Subcrin, and an acid called Suberic
acid.

Quercus tinctoria is an American tree which attains
the height of eighty or ninety feet with a diameter
of four or five feet." It supplies useful timber, and its
bark is used for tanning leather. The cellular part
of the bark furnishes quercitron, a substance used for
dyeing wool and silk of a yellow colour. It is said
to be superior to woad. The decoction of quercitron
has a brownish yellow colour, which is rendered
deeper by alkalies.

Quercus cocci/era, the kermes oak, grows plentifully
in Spain, Provence, Languedoc, and along the coast
of the Mediterranean. It is a tree of small growth,
being in general not more than twelve feet high. Its
acorns are smaller than those of the 'common oak.
From this tree is gathered the vegetable kermes, an
insect with which the ancients used to dye their gar-
ments of a beautiful pink colour. Since the discovery
of America, the coccus cacti, or cochineal insect, has
supplied the place of the kermes.

Kermes is met with in commerce in the form of
little red globular grains torn on the side where the
animal adhered to the leaves or young branches of
the oak. According to analysis it consists of yellow
fatty matter, red colouring matter analogous to car-
mine ; coccine, a peculiar animal matter, and various
phosphates and muriates. The colour obtained from
the kermes is said to be more fixed than that got from
the Mexican insect.

Quercus esculus, cut-leaved Italian oak, is the small
oak or phagus of the Greeks, and the Esculiis of Pliny.
It is a native of Spain and Italy, and was used by
the Romans to form their civic crowns. Its acorns
are sweet, and are frequently eaten by the poor in
the South of France, who, in times of scarcity, grind
them and make bread with the flour.

Quercus rubra, red oak, is a native of Virginia and
other parts of North America. It extends far north,
and grows to the height of eighty feet. It yields
large acorns, which are eaten by wild animals, as well as
by horses, cows and hogs. Its bark is employed for
tanning, but its wood is not much used in building.

Quercus alba. White oak, so called on account of
the whiteness of its bark ; is a native of North Ame-
rica, where it reaches the height of seventy or eighty
feet, with a diameter of six or seven feet. Its wood
is considered in America preferable to any other sort
for building, on account of its strength and durability.
The wooden bridge which joins Cambridge and Bos-
ton, and which is nearly 3000 feet long, is supported
by posts of white oak from fourteen to fifty feet long.

Its bark contains a considerable quantity of tannin,
and an infusion of it has been known to cure ague.
Its acorns are large, oval, and sweet.

Quercus virens. Live oak, found in Carolina and
Virginia ; yields small acorns, which are eaten by
the Indians, and are used by them to furnish a sort of
oil. The acorns of Quercus ilex, evergreen oak, are
mild and nutritive, and serve for food. The acorns
of Quercus cegilops, a native of Spain and the Levant,
where it is called Velonia, are imported as a dye-stuft'.

Many other species of oak might be noticed, such
as black oak, scarlet oak, willow oak, chestnut oak,
laurel oak, dwarf oak, water oak, &c., most of which
are cultivated either on account of their wood or bark ;
but it appears unnecessary to dwell longer on the
subject, inasmuch as the properties of the oak tribe
have been already sufficiently illustrated by the ex-
amples which have been adduced. Before, however,
proceeding to treat of another genus, we shall make
a few remarks on a disease to which the oak is sub-
ject, in consequence of the attacks of insects.

The leaves, flowers, and fruit of almost all vegeta-
bles are liable to be attacked by the insect tribe ;

The flowery leaf

Wants not its soft inhabitant. Secure
Within its winding citadel the stove
Holds multitudes. But chief the forest boughs
That dance unnumher'd to the playful breeze,
The downy orchard and the melting pulp
Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed
Of evanescent insects.

In some cases their attack is followed by the
production of a peculiar substance, which is turned
to useful account in a medical or economical point of
view, and of this we have an excellent, illustration in
the genus now under consideration. Upon the leaves
of all the species of oak there are tound globular
bodies, to which the name of galls, or gall-nuts, has
been given. They are produced by various small four-
winged insects, denominated Cynips quercusfolu, or
Diplolepis gallce tinctorice, £c. The adult female insect
is furnished with a long slender spiral sting, with
which it punctures the stalk of the oak-leaf, and at
the same time deposits a minute egg, and probably
some irritating fluid. In consequence of the irritation,
which is produced by this wound, the sap is deter-
mined to the part, and the extravasated juice flowing
around the egg soon forms a soft excrescence, which
serves both for the shelter and food of the young
insect. The tumour increases very rapidly, until a
perfect gall is formed. The larva afterwards issues
from the egg, assumes the pupa state, and then
escapes as the perfect fly, by perforating the walls of
the chamber in which it is inclosed.

The best galls are those which are gathered before
the insect has escaped, and are denominated black,
blue, or green galls, on account of their colours.
There is of course no perforation in them, and on
opening them we find perfect specimens of the fly.
Those galls, on the contrary, which are collected
after the fly has escaped, are called white galls, and
are not so much esteemed, containing less astringent
principle than the entire galls in the proportion of
two to three.

The oak on which the finest galls are found is
described by Olivier, in his Travels in the Ottoman
Empire, as the Quercus infectoria, a small tree grow-
ing in Asia Minor. The galls are collected by the
poorer inhabitants, and are exported from Smyrna,
Aleppo, and vari as parts of the Levant.

C U P U L I F E R JE.

209

Oak-galls have a round globular form, and vary in
size from that of a pea to that of a hazel nut. They
contain, according to Sir Humphrey Davy, tannin,
gallic acid, mucilage, saline, and earthy matter. A
remarkable difference exists between the chemical
properties of the oak-bark and nut-galls, the latter
precipitating tartar emetic and infusion of cinchona,
which are not acted on by the former. Water
dissolves all the active matter of galls. The solution
for medicinal use ought to be prepared by simply
infusing the galls in distilled water at the temperature
of about 180°. In this way we procure all the gallic
acid and tannin in solution, without a mixture of
extractive, £e.

Galls are used in medicine, both externally and
internally, as astringents. They are prescribed in
the form of powder, infusion, tincture, or ointment.
When adn 'ully, they are often mixed

with aromatics, so as to render them more agreeable
to the stomach. In this way they are used in India
for the cure of intermittent fevers. The infusion is
employed as a gargle for relaxed sore throats, and as
an astringent lotion for ulcers, while the gall ointment
is applied as a remedy for piles. The powder, in
doses of ten or twenty grains, is perhaps the best
form of administering this medicine. Some prepara-
tions made from galls are used as styptics, to stop
bleeding from wounds, leech-bites, &c.

Galls are also employed in dyeing, and in the pre-
paration of common ink. In allusion to the latter
circumstance, it has been well remarked — " How
infinitely we are indebted to this little creature (the
gall-fly), which at once enables us to converse with
our absent friends and connexions, be their distance
from us ever so great, and supplies the means by
which, to use the poet's language, we can

Give to airy nothing
A local habitation and a name !

When any salt of iron is added to an infusion of
galls, a black colour is immediately produced, and it
is upon this principle that ink is manufactured, this
valuable liquid being merely a decoction of galls,
sulphate of iron or green vitriol, and logwood, with a
little gum, which is added to give it a consistence.

The galls formed on the common oak, qucrcus
ccmx, and other species, are small, and smooth and
reddish, and arc riot applied to use.

The next cupuliferous genus to which we shall
allude is Castanea, chestnut.

Castanea vulgaris, or vcscn, formerly Fagus castanea,
the sweet, or Spanish chestnut, is a beautiful tree, the
trunk of which often acquires a great size. It is
stately and majestic, rivalling the oak in magnitude
and duration. It is common both in this country
and on the continent. Its flowers appear in long
spikes about the month of June, and its fruit,
which is enveloped in a husk defended by prickles,
is ripened in September or October. The nuts which
it yields are familiar to every one under the name of
chestnuts. The bark of the tree is remarkable for its
deep and wide clefts, which seem to have furnished
ideas for some of the ornaments in Gothic archi-
tecture. The chestnut is not so picturesque as the
oak, but it is sometimes introduced into the paintings
of the old masters, more particularly those of Salvator
Rosa.

Chestnut trees are remarkable for the age and size
which they sometimes attain. At Tortworth, in

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

Gloucestershire, a chestnut tree grew in 1766, which
was said to be upwards of one thousand years old.
It was fifty-two feet in circumference, and was known
to have served for a boundary-mark in the reign of
King John, at which time it was five hundred years
old. On Mount ^Etna, in what is denominated the
third, or woody region, there is a gigantic chestnut
tree, known by the name of Castagno de cento cavalli,
or chestnut of a hundred horse, because it was said
to be capable of sheltering one hundred horses under
its boughs, It is believed to be some thousand years
old. It seems to consist of five large, and two
small trunks, which, in all probability, formed only-
one originally, inasmuch as there is no bark on the
inside of the trunks, nor on the sides that are opposite
to one another. The largest trunk is thirty-eight
feet in circumference, and the whole five taken toge-
ther measure one hundred and ninety-six feet round.
Although the interior is entirely decayed, and there
is a wide public road through it, still the tree bears
foliage, and even produces fruit. A hut is built
within the trunk for the habitation of those who are
engaged gathering and preserving the fruit. Several
other large chestnut trees grow on the sides of
Mount -ZEtna.

Chestnut wood was formerly in great repute for
building. Evelyn mentions, that most of the ancient
houses in London were built of it, and that a large
forest of chestnuts existed in old times in the neigh-
bourhood of that city. The church of St. Nicholas,
at Great Yarmouth, erected in the reign of William
Rufus, is roofed with chestnut. The wood serves
also for various economical purposes. It is used for
palisades, and props for vines and hops, as well as for
water-works. Pipes bored of it, and lying constantly
under ground, are said to be very durable. The
Italians make casks and tuns for wine from this
wood.

Chestnuts are mentioned by Virgil and Pliny as
excellent articles of food. They are constantly used
as such in the south of Europe at this day. Dr.
Hooker states, that in some parts of France he has
had them served up for breakfast boiled in milk.
They are farinaceous, and when boiled have a sweet
and agreeable taste. They consist of fecula, gluten,
very analogous to that found in grasses, and a saccha-
rine principle. They are used for whitening linen
cloth, and for making starch. They are much relished
by deer and swine.

There are several varieties of chestnut in cultiva-
tion. One of these, with striped leaves, is considered
very ornamental. The trees are raised from the
nuts, which are carefully selected, and placed in seed-
beds in the month of February. In these they are
allowed to remain for two years, and are then planted
in rows, two or three feet apart, and a foot and a half
distant in the rows. In the course of four or five
years they may be planted out. This treatment is
adopted when it is wished to produce fruit in abun-
dance. If, however, the trees are intended for
timber, they ought to remain in the spot where the
seeds were originally sown, being merely thinned out,
and kept free from weeds. Some, however, disap-
prove of this method, and think transplanting the
best mode of rearing the tree, whether fruit or timber
be desired. The chestnut succeeds well in almost
any soil, but thrives best in rich loamy land.

Castanea pumila, the Chinquapin, or dwarf Virgi-
nian chestnut, is another species common in the
O

210

CURASSOW.

American wood?, and attains a height of twelve or
fourteen feet. It is a hardy tree, and produces
abundance of nuts. It is sometimes cultivated in
Britain.

The next genus for consideration is Fergus, or
beech. Fagus sylvatica, the common beech-tree, is
abundant in forests in the south of England, but is
rarely found wild in Scotland. It is a handsome and
•valuable forest tree, putting forth green leaves, many
of which, more especially when the tree has been
clipped, remain during the winter, and assume a
brown colour —

The red leaf

Seared in autumn's breath, yet wearing well
A garb to hail the coming winter in.

The leaves, after they fall, do not readily decay,
and are used by the country people in France in
place of straw for their beds.

The tree is either planted in woods or hedgerows,
and sometimes attains a considerable height. Beech
woods are peculiarly dry, and agreeable for walking,
and are eagerly sought by the botanist, on account of
the many rare orchideous plants which they contain.
The leaves of the beech appear in April, and the
flowers are produced in May. They are succeeded
by an angular fruit, the size of a filbert, commonly
called beech-mast, which is ripened in autumn. There
are two varieties of beech, the one with dark red, the
other with cut leaves.

The wood of the beech is hard and brittle, and is
employed by cabinet-makers, turners, and wheel-
wrights. Carpenters' planes are made of it, and
when split into thin layers, it forms scabbards for
swords. The ancient shepherds carved their love
verses on the green bark of the tree, and they used
the wood for the manufacture of bowls.

No wars did men molest,
When only beechen bowls were in request.

Beech nuts are sweet and agreeable, and have been
used for food. When dried and powdered, they have
been made into wholesome bread. They enabled
the inhabitants of the island of Chios to endure a me-
morable siege. When roasted, they are sometimes
used as a substitute for coffee. By expression, they
yield a thick oil, which may be kept many years
without becoming rancid. This oil is used for
seasoning in some parts of France ; and in Silesia the
poor people make use of it in place of butter. Swine
are driven in autumn into beech forests to feed upon
the mast. The beech tree is propagated from seeds,
and is treated in the same way as the oak and chest-
nut. It delights in a chalky and stony soil, and,
when fully grown, affords an agreeable shade, as is
beautifully noticed by Virgil in his First Eclogue.
(For further particulars iu regard to the cultivation of
this tree, see article BEECH.)

Another genus, which is sometimes included under
this order, is Corylus, or hazel. Corylus ave/lana,
common hazel nut, grows abundantly in hedges and
copses in all parts of Britain. It flowers early in
spring, and ripens its fruit in September. The nuts,
which are known by the name of filberts, are sweet,
agreeable, and nutritive, and are common at our
tables. Of the several varieties, the frizzled filbert is
the best. The nuts contain a thick fixed oil, and
are sometimes made into emulsions. The wood is
used for various domestic and agricultural purposes.
It forms good charcoal for drawing

The young forked twigs of the tree constitute the
celebrated divining rod, which, in the ancient days of
superstition, was employed to indicate the part of
the soil in which metals and springs of water existed.

The hazel is generally raised from seed, and, in
order to produce fruit abundantly, it is regularly
pruned, and not allowed to attain a great height.
The name hazel-nut is derived from two Anglo-Saxon
words, hascl, a cap, and knutu, a nut. (We have
already given a short notice of this tree under the
article BETULINE^, in which order it is included by
some authors.)

The members of this family bear a very strong
resemblance to each other, both in their botanical
characters and medical properties. In all of them
the bark is bitter and astringent, and is used for dye-
ing, tanning, or for medical purposes. The wood is,
in general, employed as a durable timber for building.
While, in a few instances, the fruit is bitter and
disagreeable, in the greater number it is farinaceous,
and frequently contains an oily matter used in do-
mestic economy. There are no poisonous plants in
this family.

CURASSOW, or HOCCO— Crax. A genus of
gallinaceous birds belonging to the family ALEC-
TORiDjE, under which some account of the characters
of that family, and a list of the genera which compose
it, will be found.

The generic characters of the present genus are :
the bill strong, of mean length, compressed, higher
than broad at the base ; the upper mandible elevated,
arched, curved from its origin, which is enveloped
with a membrane ; nostrils basal, lateral, and partly
closed with membrane ; head ornamented with a
crest composed of feathers which are erect, but
recurved at their points ; tarsi long and without any
spur ; three toes to the front united at their bases by
a small membrane, and one toe to the rear which
reaches the ground in walking ; wings short, concave,
and rounded ; the sixth quill being the longest ; tail
composed of twelve large feathers.

The AlectondcB occupy the same place in the natu-
ral history of tropical America, which the Gallinae do
in that of tropical Asia ; and among them the genus
Crax answers to the genus gallus, or common domestic
poultry. They are found only in the rich forests of
South America, and are more equatorial in their
habits than the turkeys, though in their localities the
two genera border upon each other, and, of course, to
a certain extent occupy the confines of each other's
ground. Like the jungle fowl of the east, the Curas-
sows (Hoccos is the preferable name, for Curassow is
the trivial name of -only one variety, and it is not a
very happy one, being derived from the island of
Cura9oa,in which we believe the birds are not found)
are all perchers ; though they all seek their food
upon the ground. Like these, too, they are very im-
patient of rain, and their plumage is soon wetted ; in
fact there is in their whole economy a very great
resemblance to the fowl of the east.

That the principal ground-feeding birds of the two
most fertile regions of the world, which have nearly
the same latitude, but are almost the antipodes of
each other in point of longitude, should correspond
so nearly in their general habits and economy, is an
important point in natural history ; because it esta-
blishes the connection which there is between the
region and the inhabitants. It also lets us see wny
the gallinaceous birds of those rich tropical countries

C U R A S S O W.

211

which have strongly marked varieties of seasons, J
should be different from those of more temperate '
climates, and also of the more elevated and exposed
places of the same climates. The gallinaceous birds
which are indigenous to the latter situations, gene-
rally squat and nestle on the ground during the night
as well as in nesting time ; while those of the tropical
forests are invariably perchcrs, have their wings short,
broad, hollow, and rounded at the extremities, and
their tails large and strong ; so that, though they are
not adapted for long flight, there are no birds which
get more quickly or more easily on the wing, or fly
more nearly in the perpendicular. This is necessary,
in consequence of the greater abundance of enemies
which these birds have on the ground than the birds
of open places ; and it is also necessary that they
should perch, because during the rains the ground is
often laid under water for several days.

In a wild state the curassows inhabit the most
remote places of the forests, carefully shunning the
settlements of the colonists and the huts of the
natives ; but though they are retired they are so far
from being shy, that they fall an easy prey to the
sportsman. There are, comparatively speaking, few
birds of prey, in those close places, because there is
no scope for their wings ; and therefore the usual
safety of the curassow is gaining a branch. Thus
when the sportsman comes before a pack of them, for
they are sociable and live in considerable packs, he
can shoot as many as he chooses.

Like the corresponding races of the east, these birds
seem to tell man in as plain language as nature can
speak to him, that the phices which they inhabit
were made for him to cultivate, and that they them-
selves were made to live with him in a state of domes-
tication. For, as soon as they are brought into the
farm-yard, they become as confiding as they are timid
when in a state of nature. They breed freely, have no
disposition to wander, fatten well, and are very valu-
able for the table, as well for the quality as the quan-
tity of their flesh. When in a state of nature, they
are not nearly so prolific as our domestic poultry, the
esrgs in a hatch being only from four to six ; but we
believe that in all the species there are two broods in
the vear. There are, however, no animals, the ferti-
lity "of which is so much affected by treatment as
domestic birds, more especially poultry; and the
number of eggs which a domestic hen will lay, even
in the cold countries of Europe, is far greater than
that which a wild hen of the very same species will
lay in the jungles of South-eastern Asia. As house-
hold poultry the present genus of birds are very
successfully cultivated in South America ; but the
attempts which have been made in Europe have not
been so successful ; so that the birds are rarely seen
except in single specimens in the collections ot exhi-
bitors. What the cause of the failure may be is not
very well known ; and it is rather singular that the
cultivation of them should fail, while the pullet and
pea-fowl of Asia, the Guinea-fowl of Africa, and the
Turkey of America, all thrive so well. We believe,
however, that there is something in the quickness of
the transition ; for the Asiatic and African birds have
come gradually, and were centuries on their march
from their native localities to the west of Europe.
The Turkey, though a much more northerly bird, was
at first exceedingly difficult to rear ; and, we believe,
that it is still the most tender chick in the poultry-
yard ; and it is natural to suppose that if a bird of the

comparatively temperate parts of America is thus
delicate, one of the tropical parts must be much more
so. It is also probable that as, hitherto at least, those
who have visited the native abodes of these birds,
have had neither taste nor skill in natural history, we
may be ignorant of some circumstances which pre-
vent this very valuable addition from being made to
the birds of our farm-yards. The principal disease
which these birds have displayed in the attempts
to rear them in Europe, has been a sort of mortifica-
tion in the feet ; but whether that has been caused
by food or by locality has not been ascertained. In
a state of nature, the birds are found on ground both
hard and soft ; and they make their nests indiscrimi-
nately on or under hillocks, in rifts of the rocks, and
on the forks of thick branches of trees ; so that it is
not easy to draw any conclusion as to what sort of
locality would suit them best. Their history deserves
to be studied much more carefully than it has been,
and more with a view to domestic economy than to
mere systematic natural history. There are several
species, of the leading ones of which we shall give
a list ; and as each of them has either two or three
English names, or none, we shall give precedence to
the systematic ones.

CRAX CARUNCULATA — Wattled Curassow. This
species is found in Brazil. It is a large bird, from
two feet and a half to three feet in length. The
upper part black with green reflections, the belly
brownish, and the bill and feet black. The upper
mandible of the bill is much elevated, and furnished
at the base with a red membrane, which descends at
each side a little below the under line of the lower
mandible. It is from this that the bird gets its name.

CRAX RUBRA — Red Curassow. This is also a
; Mexican species, if, indeed, it be a species, and not a
mere variety of the other. It is nearly of the same
size as the former, and almost the only difference
between them is in colour. The upper parts and the
breast are of a red colour, marked with darker spots
of the same ; the head and neck are white, with a
round black spot at the point of each feather ; the
feathers which form the crest are white with black
borders ; the under parts reddish ; and the bill and

Kea dy assov.

feet blackish ash. The young are mottied with white

! and black, and reddish, and have the black and the

white on the head and neck reversed ; the feathers of

the crest straight, and the quills margined with white.

CRAX ALECTOR— Crested Curassow. This is the

I species which is generally referred to as beine typical

02

C U R A T E L 1; A — C U II C U L I O N 1 D JE.

of the genus; but it is not go any mure than the
others ; and it is not more crested than they are, only
its crest consists of feathers which are straight or
nearly so, and broad at the tips, while in most of the
other species those of the old birds are frizzled.
We may remark, en passant, that the use of the crest
to these birds seems to be to protect their eyes from
the beams of a nearly vertical sun, which otherwise
would prevent them from finding their food. The
upper part of this species is streaked with white and
reddish ; the breast, the belly, and the thighs are
bright russet-red, crossed by black bands ; and the
'rest of the under parts entirely russet; the bill is
whitish, and the feet reddish ash. These are the
colours of the young birds before they attain their
full size. The native birds are entirely black on the
upper part, with iridiscent reflections ; pure white on
the belly and under tail coverts ; but the colours are
subject to variation. The bill and feet are blackish,
the membrane of the bill and the naked space round
the eyes blackish yellow. The size is rather less
than the former species, though as domesticated there
are great differences.

CIIA.X GLOBICERA — Lumped Curassow. The dis-
tinguishing character of this species is, a round protu-
berant or nob on the upper mandible, immediately in
front of the membrane. The upper part, and indeed
the whole plumage with the exception of the belly,
the lower tail coverts, and the tips of the wing coverts,
all of which are pure white, is black, with various
reflections. The membrane at the base of the bill
yellow, the bill and feet black. The young have the
prominence on the upper mandible very small, and
streaked and mottled with black and white.

Such are the leading species or varieties, as usually
noticed by naturalists ; but it is doubtful whether
these be any more than mere climatal varieties ; for
we believe that they all breed readily with each other ;
they are all nearly of the same size, and their manners
are exactly similar.

CURATELLA (Linnaeus). So called because its
rough leaves are used in Guiana for polishing wood.
The genus belongs to Polyandria Digynia, and to the
natural order D'dleniacccE. Generic character : calyx
of four or five sepals, persisting, sepals roundish,
unequal ; petals rounded, hollow ; stamens inserted
in the receptacle : filaments like threads ; anthers
roundish, bursting inwardly. Style filiform ; stigmas
headed ; capsules two, of two valves, hairy, one-seeded ;
seeds oblong and naked. This plant is met with in
our stoves ; is grown in sandy loam, and propagated
by ripened cuttings.

CURCULIGO (Gaertner). A genus of tropical
herbs, belonging to Hejcandria Monogynia, and to
the natural order Hypoxideec. Generic character :
flowers bundled, somewhat spiked, and bracteate.
Corollas with tube slender, to which the styles are
united, limb regularly six-parted, spreading ; stamens
fixed to the corolla ; filaments slender, erect ; anthers
oblongly linear ; style cylindrical ; stigma a three-
lobed head ; berry longish. These plants thrive in
loam and moor earth, and are increased by suckers,
which rise from the root.

CURCULIONID.E (Leach). A very extensive
family of coleopterous insects, belonging to the section
Tetramsra, and sub-section Rhyncophora, being gene-
rally known by the English name of .weevils, and
corresponding, for the most part, with the Linnaean
genus Curcidio. The frontal elongation of the head

into a snout, or rostrum, at once enables us to dis-
tinguish them from all other beetles. The Bruchidae.
it is true, have this part of the body produced in
front, but it is very short in these insects, and c;innot
indeed be called a rostrum ; moreover, the parts of
the mouth are very distinct in the Bruchida;, and
their antenna; are filiform, or thickened ; whereas,
in the weevils, the mouth is exceedingly minute, and
placed at the extremity of the rostrum, with the palpi
scarcely visible, and of a conical form. From some
of the wood-boring insects (Xylophagn, Bostrwlndce,
and especially Scolytus), the less cylindrical form of
the body, and the greater elongation of the rostrum,
will serve to distinguish the curculionidae.

When we consider " what dire events from trifling
causes spring," and find the truth of this line con-
firmed in a thousand different ways by the agency of
the minute objects of the creation, we may perhaps
be not greatly surprised that the weevils (although
furnished with a mouth, the various organs of which
are so exceedingly minute, as to be apparently in-
capable of causing much detriment) are amongst the
greatest enemies to the vegetable stores of mankind
found amongst insects. Hence, there are no species
so interesting in their economy, and so well worthy
of being investigated in their different states, as some
of those under consideration, since it is evident that
it can only be by a positive acquaintance with the
various times and places in which these creatures
pass through their various states that we can ever
hope to arrive at certain remedies against their
attacks. We have already, in our article CALANDRA,
given an account of the ravages of one of the most
destructive insects in the family, viz., the corn weevil,
and shall not therefore, in the present instance, enter
further into the details of the habits of that particular
group.

The great extent of this family, together with the
minuteness of many of the species, render it very
difficult to arrive at a knowledge of the various
individuals of which it is composed. In the former
respect, this group offers another curious instance of
the great increase in our knowledge of the insect
world, in addition to those which we have mentioned
in former articles. At the beginning of the present
century, Latrcille stated that the family contained
800 or 900 species; Dejean, in 1821, gave 1073;
and Scho3nherr, in 1833, 3544 ; since which many
others have been discovered ; so that, in twelve years,
the number of species has been more than tripled.

The European species of this family are, for the
most part, of small size. Amongst these may be
mentioned the genus APION (which see) ; but the
Indian and Brazilian species not only acquire a very
considerable size, but are adorned with the most
splendid colours. The diamond beetle (Enlinms
imperialis) may be cited as the best known example.
This insect is of very common occurrence in the
country which it inhabits, and is brought to Europe
in great numbers ; but opticians and others, who
prize it for its splendid appearance, often demand
nigh prices for large specimens. We have observed,
that the most brilliant mode of examining this insect
is to hold it near a candle, the light being between
it and the eye, and then look at it with a lens of
about three or four inch focus, when the effect is
inconceivably rich and metallic.

The insects of this family are found in all climes ;
but the same cause which induces an increase of size

C U R C U L I O N I D JE.

in the tropical species, operates also in producing1 a
much greater extent in the number of species. This
cause is found in the nature of the vegetation of those
regions where, from its continued growth and vast
luxuriance, the herbivorous insects are more nume-
rously called into existence to support the regular
operations of nature.

Many of these insects are also singularly formed,
and of very varied colours ; the latter character is,
however, of a transient nature, depending on the
presence of minute scales or powder, with which the
body is covered. Of these, very common examples
may be observed in the splendid little green species
found so abundantly in the spring on the nettles.
The slightest touch, however, removes these beautiful
ornaments ; so that, unless the entomologist secures
them soon after their appearance in their beetle form,
all their beauty will have vanished. Hence it has
been fancifully said that the curculionidae are the
lepidoptera of scale- winged insects. Like the lepi-
doptera, also, their rostrum is tubular, elongated,
and capable of being placed in a groove or cavity for
its reception on the underside of the front of the
body. The larvue of both also feed on vegetables,
and these larva; in both are of a totally different form
from that of the perfect insects, so that we may regard
this as an instance of one of those curious rules which
.seem to exist throughout the animated kingdom,
which Latreille thus stated more than thirty years
ago : — " Nature, in general, has a certain number of
models which she re-exhibits (' reproduit '), with
certain modifications, in all the classes, and even in
the different orders of beings." This principle, which
some of our leading naturalists of the present day
have held forth, at very great length, as a novel idea,
is certainly an interesting mode of viewing nature,
even should we not feel inclined to regard it as
entitled to so much weight in regulating our classifi-
cations of the animal kingdom as some of these
authors have been induced to give to it. We will,
however, defer to some more convenient opportunity
our observations upon the nature of those affinities
and analogies which unquestionably exist throughout
nature.

In their habits, the curculionids exhibit all the
symptoms of natural weakness. Of all beetles,
tney are provided with the least available means oi
defence, and are consequently the most fearful,
avoiding both the light and noise ; even the diurnal
species are generally to be seen in a state ol
inactivity, their colours, resembling those of the
substances upon which they are often found, also
favouring their security. Unlike the majority oi
insects, if they are attempted to be seized, instead ol
Unfolding their wings and -lying away, they merely
fold up their legs and antennas, counterfeiting death,
and falling to the ground. A few of the smallest
species (forming the genus Orchcstcs) are more active,
the large size of their hind legs enabling them to
escape, by leaping to a very considerable distance,
in a manner similar to that of the turnip beetle, and
other species of the genus Haltica.

It is not often that these insects make use of their
wings ; indeed, many of the species are destitute oi
these organs, their wing-covers being in such cases
soldered together. They also creep but slowly, but
the underside of their tarsi is furnished with a kind oi
cushion, enabling them to retain their hold upon
different objects in all positions.

It is in the larva state that the curculionidse arc the

most obnoxious to mankind ; in the perfect state tney
an take but little food, and their chief care is, then,
the propagation of their race. Their larvce, like those
of the Ccrambi/cidcc, are fleshy, with their legs rudi-
mental, or entirely wanting ; but those of the Cur-
culwrndcc have the body more or less eylindric, with
the extremities somewhat narrowed, so as slightly to
resemble a spindle. The head is horny, and furnished
with a pair of powerful jaws, and other organs of a
fleshy nature. The nutriment taken by these larvae
is very diversified, those whose organs of nutrition
are most robust attacking the harder parts of vege-
tables ; thus the larva, which is termed the palmiste,
being the immature state of Calandra pa/iiiaruni,
gnaws the trunk of the palms. Other larvae, whose
mouths are less powerfully constructed, feed upon the
farinaceous matter of various seeds, or the pith of
various plants, while others devour the leaves and
flowers. A few of the more minute sorts are miners,
eating only the parenchyma of leaves. And here we
may mention a circumstance, tending to show the
incorrectness of the opinion, that those species of
insects which feed upon imported plants are not
indigenous to this country. The hollyhocks in our
garden hafve, for several years, been much injured by
the small grubs of one of these insects, which we
have ascertained, by rearing them, to produce the
Apion radio/uni, a species ordinarily nourished upon
the mallow, but which, in this instance, has preferred
the hollyhock, probably from its larger size, although
mallows were growing within a very short distance
from the hollyhocks. The instinct of the parent
insect induces her to deposit her eggs in such situa-
tions that the larvae, as soon as hatched, find them-
selves in the midst of their natural food.

We must refer to our articles upon APION, BALA-
NINUS, CALANDRA, and other genera, for addi-
tional observations upon the natural history of these
insects.

The beautiful Rhynchites Bacchus (termed by the
French agriculturists La beche) does great injury in
the vineyards, appearing in June, and devouring the
young and tender shoots, extracting the sap by means
of its long tubular proboscis. This causes the leaves
to roll and shrivel up, and in the midst of these
rolled-up leaves, surrounded by a silken covering, the
eggs are deposited, from which are produced the
larvae, which also devour the leaves. An ingenious
mode of destroying these insects has been adopted in
France, which we think might be employed with
much success in our own country in killing various
obnoxious insects, especially those which attack
trained plants. The insect, when disturbed, adopts
the general mode of defence pursued by its tribe,
folding up its legs, and falling to the earth, so that,
by holding a small gutter of paper beneath the
branch, and then shaking the latter, the insects,
being at the time on the point of depositing their
eggs, drop into the paper gutter, and are easily
destroyed.

Another species of this family, Lixus paraplccticm,
attacks the- Phcllandrium aquaticum, the larva boring
into the stems ; and it is asserted by some authors
that horses, which feed upon the infected plants, are
subject to a violent disease, which the Swedes term
stakra.

The thistle, Carduus spinosissimus, nourishes another
weevil, whose virtues were highly praised in past times
as a specific against the toothach. This insect, accord-
ingly, acquired the name of Ciircuho a?itiodonlalgictit;

CURRANT.

and it was said that, if fifteen larvre of this species, or
fifteen of the weevils, immediately after their arrivu
at the perfect state, were rubbed between the fingers
till all the moisture was gone, these fingers wouk
acquire the power of causing a cessation of pain, or
touching the affected teeth, for a period of twelve
months, notwithstanding all the washing which they
might undergo. Truly, our forefathers were not a
whit less gullible than their posterity of the present
day. When full grown, many of these larvae enclose
themselves in cocoons of silk, which, in some species,
closely resemble net-work, with open meshes.

The great Linnaran genus, Citrculio, has been from
time to time divided, by different authors, into various
other generic groups, into the details of which it
would scarcely be thought profitable were we to
enter. This may be conceived, when it is stated that
Schuenherr has increased their number to 288. We
shall, therefore, content ourselves with giving
slight sketch of the distribution of the chief subdivi-
sions into which the group is arranged, taking it in its
extended limits, and embracing the Attelabides, Bren-
lides, and Bruchides, which, together, constitute the
sub-section Rhyncophora.

1. Antennae not elbowed at the extremity of the

basal joint ; rostrum without lateral gutters,
for the reception of the basal joint of the
antennae (ORTHOCERI).

* Upper lip distinct ; palpi filiform, or thickened

at the tips.

a Antennae thickened at the tips (Anthribides).
b Antennae filiform ; rostrum broad (Bruchides).

* * Upper lip not visible ; palpi short, conical.

a Antennae filiform, with the last joint alone form-
ing a mass (B rent/tides).

b Antennae, with the three or four last joints,
forming a mass (Attelabides).*

2. Antennae elbowed at the extremity of the basal

joint, which is generally received in a gutter
at the sides of the rostrum (GONOCERI).

* Rostrum short ; antennae inserted near its extre-

mity (Brachycerus, Curculio, Hypera, Liparus,
and a very great number of other generic
divisions).

* * Rostrum long, with the antennae inserted near

the middle of this rostrum. This division
nearly corresponds with the genera Lixus
Rync/Keniu, and Calandra of Fabricius, from
which a great number of generic and sub-
generic divisions have been detached.
CURRANT, is the Ribes rubrum, &c. of bota-
nists. It is a native of Britain, and has been long
cultivated in gardens, and no domesticated plant
repays the care and trouble bestowed on it more than
this. It is not only a most agreeable and wholesome
table fruit, but its pulp and juice are convertible into
many excellent confections, and sparkling wine, little if
at all inferior to many sorts manufactured from the
grape itself.

The currant, like all its alliances, are usually and
easily propagated by cuttings. These should be
chosen from among the most healthy and moderate-
sized shoots of the previous summer ; not those
rankly luxuriant ones which sometimes rise from the
root, nor the slender, dangling growths of the top.

* We have altered Latreille's arrangement, by bringing the
Attelabides into connection with the Gunoceri, the interposition
o( the Brenthidei not appearing to us to be so natural as that
given above.

The regular form of the future tree depends much
on the proper choice and preparation of the cuttings.
They should be from twelve to fifteen inches in
length, after the knobbed part of the base.and slender
points are cut off. All the buds on the lower part of
the cutting should be carefully pruned off, leaving
only four or five at the top, and which are destined
to form the first branches. The cutting thus prepared
is dibbed firmly into the ground, about five or six
inches deep, as will allow as much for a clear stem,
surmounted by the branches, at a due height above
the surface of the ground. The cuttings may be
planted either in autumn or in early spring, at a foot
distance from each other, and on a rather shady spot
of rich soil. Here they will not fail to prosper, sel-
dom miscarrying, except from extreme drought, or by
insects which destroy the foliage and points of the
shoots.

The young plants will require no care during the
first summer, nor till they want pruning in the follow-
ing winter. At this first pruning some little skill is
necessary in using the knife, in order to get the tree
into good form. If the cutting has produced five
shoots, the centre one had better be entirely removed ,
the four remaining (or if there be only three) will be
enough of principal branches whence other shoots
will be produced to form a head. The most desi-
rable form is that of a cup ; the middle being vacant,
and surrounded by the fruit-bearing branches at about
nine inches apart from each other. This is to be
understood of the tree when it has arrived at its
required height ; because this form is gradually
attained by the assistance of the pruner, in the follow-
ing manner : — The first shoots are at the first pruning
cut down to one-third of their length ; these in the
following summer produce a number of other shoots,
some of which are reserved to fill up and complete the
form, and the rest are pruned down to about an inch,
to serve henceforth as a fruit-bearing spur. Thus
the tree becomes annually enlarged till it has arrived
at its full size, by which time all the primary and
secondary branches will be also furnished with spurs.

These spurs yield the fruit and also a birth of
shoots every year, which latter are spurred down at
the winter pruning. This treatment is, or may be
continued for half a score of years, if necessary ; only
occasionally cutting away old or worn-out branches,
and training up young ones in their places.

But there is another way of pruning currant-trees
which may be described in a few words : — no spurs
are allowed to remain on the old branches, but instead
of them a select number of summer shoots are re-
served ; and which, in consequence of their fewness,
grow strongly. These at the winter pruning are re-
duced only one-third of their length ; and the fruit
aroduced from these shoots are invariably larger and
aner than those produced from spurs. This last-
mentioned method of pruning is eligible where quality
is chiefly regarded ; and the spurring mode where
quantity is the object.

It has been a question whether or not it be expe-
dient to divest the trees of their summer shoots while
the fruit is swelling. Those who practise this process
assert, that it assists to enlarge both the bunches,
and berries, and also, by admitting the sun's rays,
leightens the flavour. This is quite feasible, as the
same thing is practised on the grape-vine; but a
martial application of the knife in this case is always
iroductive of the best results.

The best varieties of the currant arc the large Dutch

C U RR U C A.

215

white, the common white, large red, long-clustered
red, the large Champagne, and the white crystal.
They all delight in rich loamy soil ; but will succeed
any where if the ground be deep, moderately manured,
and somewhat sheltered.

The black currant is a distinct species, and also a
native of Britain. It is cultivated and increased by
cuttings, as are the foregoing ; but the method of
pruning is somewhat different. Young plants are
permitted to throw out ten or twelve branches from
the top of the stem : these are allowed to rise to the
height of three or four feet without cutting back.
From the lower parts of these many shoots are pro-
duced annually : these bear the fruit and only require
thinning, none of the young shoots ever being topped.
As a constant succession of fruit-bearing shoots rise
from below, the topmost ones which have risen too
high, are cut out to allow the lower shoots room, and
by this means the tree acquires its due form and
requisite height.

All the currants may be trained to walls or as espa-
liers : in which situations they are most conveniently
covered from birds and insects, and preserved for
table a month or two after the regular season of
such fruit.

CURRUCA (Auctorum), Warbler. A genus of
small fruit-eating and insectivorous birds, belonging
to the Dentirostral order, and Sylviadoe, or pettychaps
family, and of which the common blackcap (already
described in its alphabetical situation) may be cited
as a typical example. The bill, in the more charac-
teristic species, is ruthe.r stoutish, at least for birds of
this family, and is somewhat compressed : the gape
almost smooth ; the nostrils basal, lateral, oval, and
exposed ; wings with the first quill-feulher very short,
the second inferior to the fifth, and the third and
fourth generally the longest ; legs having the tarsi
longer than the middle toe ; toes short, and formed
for perching ; hind toe strong ; the sole dilated and
broad ; claws much curved, grooved at the sides,
and very sharp, that upon the hind toe strongest, and
of greatest length.

This is one of the numerous and very distinct
natural divisions which were formerly brought to-
gether and included in the immense Linnaean genus
Motacilla, a huge and incongruous division, which
was first reduced by Dr. Latham, who restricted that
term to the wagtails, properly so called, but who
again confounded, in his most comprehensive genus
Sylvia, every small bird of a certain size which agreed
in possessing a comparatively small and slender bill,
however in other respects dissimilar. That designa-
tion also, in its turn, has now been limited to a
particular group, the members of which exhibit some
degree of resemblance in all their characters, and
which therefore forms a most natural division ; and
the nightingales, the wheatear, the redstarts, the
accentors, the aquatic warblers, wrens, goldcrests,
and a host of others equally dissimilar (including the
present group), all of which were formerly arranged
together under the one name Sylvia, are now distri-
buted into various independent genera, each known
by a separate name, and distinguishable by well-
marked and obvious characters.

There are three principal divisions of European
warblers, that is to say, of small, soft-billed, mostly
migratory, insectivorous birds, which chiefly seek their
food about the foliage of trees and bushes ; for the
term warbler, as usually and technically applied in

works on natural history, has little or no reference to
the vocal powers of these birds, a few species wii*ch
excel in song having imparted this name to the whole
group of which they are members. If we set aside,
in the first place, the different wagtails and pipits ;
secondly, the robin and wheatear tribe ; and thirdly,
I he different titmice and allied genera, each of which
forms a very natural sub-family of the Sylviance, we
have still, apart from the flycatchers and other tribes
which usually take their insect food upon the wing,
three leading subdivisions of small, migratory, ar-
boreal, and insectivorous European birds, each of
which contains a considerable number of species, and
which, together, constitute what is called the Sylviadee,
or typical sub-family of the Sylviadce. The first of
them, comprising what are commonly called the
different " willow-wrens," a number of little delicate
birds with green plumage, and peculiar in their form
and characters, will be fully described in the article
SYLVIA ; the members of the second, which are
inhabitants of aquatic situations, breeding among the
reeds, willows, and sedges, and which are in other
respects very different from the rest, will be men-
tioned under the generic head SALICAIUA ; and the
third, the Sylvan, or fruit-eating warblers, as they are
appositely termed, a most natural group, now gene-
rally recognised under the name CUKRUCA, are the
birds we are now about to speak of. These three
generic divisions, with one or two exceptions only,
comprise the whole of the European species, which,
in books on natural history, are usually denominated
" warblers." We would restrict the term altogether
to the last mentioned genus.

The most typical of the fruit-eating warblers are
inhabitants chiefly of woods and thickets, orchards
and gardens, some of which are less so, however,
being found more along the hedges. They are all
songsters, and most of them warble for a long time
continuously, raising their voice as they proceed, and
some of them invariably terminate with a loud and
liquid flow of pleasing melody. They are mostly
migratory birds, some of them being found in summer
as far north as Lapland ; but none are known to
occur in winter, even in the most southern of the
European countries, except as stragglers ; a few of
them, however, in the north of Africa, are more
stationary. They feed upon various insects (more or
less, according to the species) ; and they are very
expert at capturing the winged ones as they fly by,
but they never dart after insects like flycatchers,
following them upon the wing, though this is some-
times done by all the Sylvias and Salicarice. The
writer of this has kept all the British species in
confinement, and when tame, and suffered to fly loose
about a room where there were plenty of flies, of
which they are all extremely fond, he has often had
occasion to observe, that, however quick they were
at catching all that flew within their reach, they had
not the slightest notion of following them into the
air, as a willow-wren or redstart would have done.
They invariably refuse earth-worms, and many sorts
of caterpillars, but some they are extremely fond of;
this, however, depends much upon the species, the
garden warbler devouring several which are rejected
by the whitethroat, and vice versa. In autumn they
subsist more upon fruit, and various berries, of which
they are very great devourers ; some of them, indeed,
feeding on little else during their whole stay with us,
ivy and privet berries, and the like, supplying the

216

C U 11 R U C A.

place of garden fruit during the spring. They all
frequently erect the feathers upon the crown of the
head and throat, and whilst doing so, not unusually
emit a sort of check, or tchut, which varies a little in
the different species, and much resembles the sound
produced by tapping two pebbles together. This
note must be familiar to most persons residing in the
country. It sometimes indicates suspicion, or fear,
as it is uttered whenever they espy an enemy, but is
also expressive of various other emotions. They are
mostly shy and hidling in their habits, concealing
themselves amidst the thickest foliage. Their colours
are chaste and unobtrusive, and they would in general
be very little noticed, were it not for the almost
incessant warbling of the males. They chiefly nidi-
ficate in low bushes ; the blackcap and the garden
warbler, however, often build in a forked branch,
at four or five feet from the ground, and the lesser
whitethroat sometimes at the height of nine or ten
feet, but all of them most commonly near the ground.
The nest is of rather flimsy construction, but firmly
put together, composed chiefly of the dry withered
stems of catch-weed or goose-grass (Galium aparinc),
woven into a kind of basket-work ; in some species
always with a little green moss on the outside, and
lined with fine dry grass and horse-hair, with the
addition, in some species, of small fibrous roots.

There is not a more remarkable fact, nor one
more indicative of the entire and absolute distinct-
ness of our different small birds, than that every
separate species invariably constructs its nest in a
manner so peculiarly its own, that a practised eye
would never mistake it for the nest of any other
species ; the materials, perhaps, may vary a little
according to the locality, though even this is seldom
the case, and never in any very remarkable degree
yet the mode of construction is always so precisely
similar in different individuals of the same species
that there is never much difficulty in identifying the
nest of any one of them. Still, however, notwith-
standing this distinctness, there is always a great
generic similitude in the nests of different birds of the
same natural genus, similar to that which obtains in
the birds themselves ; and the more the birds approxi-
mate, the more closely (as the term is) they are
allied, so in the same ratio the more do their nests
resemble ; each, however, still preserving some pecu-
liar distinctive characters by which it may be always
known. Indeed, if we trace also the various inter
mediate links, which almost imperceptibly connec
the most dissimilar forms together, we may almos
always observe a regular gradation in the nests, simi
lar and corresponding to that which prevails in th<
birds. The same gradation is likewise very often
observable, even in the very notes and songs of birds
in the nature and disposition of their colours an
markings, and in the colours and markings of thei
eggs. A practised, ear will at once distinguish ever
separate species by its peculiar notes ; as in the genu
Currucn, the subject of the present article, those of al
the different species of a natural genus may have a
very strong generic similitude, yet each is alway
readily distinguishable from all the others. As we
meet with no mule productions in a state of nature
no intermediate specimens, so we find no interme
diate nests, nor hear intermediate notes ; each pre
serves in every respect its specific characters. I
will be conceded that the most remarkable generi
resemblances are those of the nests ; yet so truly doe

bis obtain, that, in many instances, both generic and
pecific divisions may almost as safely be deduced
rom an examination of these as from the study of the
)irds themselves. In the present instance we have not
entured to give a generic description of the nests of
all the species of Curruca, although that of each
eparate species presents invariably certain marked
)eculiarities, by which it may always be at once dis-
inguished from those of any of its congeners, how-
ver, on a superficial view, these may resemble it. A
common species of Curruca in the south of England is
THE GARDEN WARBLER (C. hortensis), one of the
most delightful songsters of this or any country, but
which, notwithanding, is most wonderfully little known
to people in general. In size and form it very closely
resembles the black-cap, indeed so much so, that an
albino or white specimen of either could not very
readily be distinguished. It is, however, somewhat
shorter than that bird, and rather more thickly made ;
all over of an almost uniform olive-brown colour,
rather paler about the throat, and inclining to white
upon the belly, and usually having a dash of grey
upon the sides of the neck. This is one of the latest
of our summer migrants to arrive in spring, and also
one of the first to depart, in this respect differing
widely from the black-cap, which is always one of
the first of the summer birds to make its appearance,
and one of the very last to leave us ; a difference, by
the way, which is singularly enough observable in
several migrant birds, that are nearly allied to each
other. The garden warbler is never abundant in this
country till the trees are in full leaf, but its presence
is always soon announced hy the delightful flow of
soft and pleasing melody which it pours forth, often
from the top of some tall pear-tree, or, if not in a
garden, generally from amid the branches of an elm.
Sometimes he commences with some low twittering
notes, not much unlike the song of the swallow, and
raising his voice by degrees,through a series of charm-
ing and most delightful flute-like modulations, he ends
with the full rich whistle of the blackbird, but delivered
in a more hurried cadence. He usually continues
singing about three or four minutes, when he stops as
if to take breath, and almost immediately commences
again ; deep, rich, and mellow, his lovely warble is
heard nearly throughout the day, and occasionally
even after sunset, singing nearly throughout the sum-
mer, and as the season advances often both beginning
and ending with the same loud blackbird notes. As
in all other birds, some individuals are much finer
songsters than others.

The garden warbler does not appear to be quite so
generally dispersed over the country as the blackcap,
though it may be more so than is commonly sup-
posed, as it is often confounded with that bird. It is
certainly very abundant in many parts of the south
of England, and particularly near the metropolis ;
and Mr. Selby states that it is found " throughout
the greater part of Scotland, particularly where the
wooded districts margin the lakes and rivers." Mon-
tagu traced it through the greater part of England.
Both this species and the blackcap frequently com-
mence singing a few seconds before they settle, as
they fly from tree to tree, continuing their song unin-
terruptedly after they have alighted. Indeed, these
two species resemble each other most closely in their
general habits, and the history of the latter, as given in
the article BLACKCAP, applies in almost every respect
to that of the garden warbler. They are both great

C U R R U C A.

217

devourers of fruit, which they prefer to insect food ;
insomuch that, in confinement, when they first begin
to get a little tame, they will frequently descend from
their perch to eat fruit from the hand, when a buz-
zing fly has no attraction for them. In some of the
species, as the white-throat and babillard, the reverse
is the case, as, though extremely fond of fruit, these
will sooner come down to a fly. The garden warbler
is, perhaps, a greater devourer of caterpillars than any
of the others, and in confinement will eat seven or
eight in succession, of the caterpillars of the large
white cabbage butterfly (Pontia brassier), which the
others will not even touch. Its most favourite fruit
seems to be the Kentish cherry.

Allied to this bird and the blackcap (C. atricapilla),
there are several continental species, most of which
have the outer tail feathers white. One of these, the
C. sarda, chiefly inhabiting Italy and Spain, is said to
be a charming songster. Another, the C. mclanoce-
phala, has very little melody to boast of. The C.
Ruppellli is a beautiful species, the male of which has
the head and throat black, divided by a white line ;
this chiefly inhabits Barbary, and occurs, but only as
a straggler, in the south of Europe. Further south
we have the C. Heinekia, which, with the common C.
atricapilla, is resident throughout the year in Madeira,
and is said to be a fine songster. The C. nisoria is a
European species, remarkable for its curiously spotted
plumage ; and the C. orpkea, an inhabitant of the
south of France, is a very pleasing songster, resem-
bling in its habits the common whitethroat ; this bird
also has the crown of the head black, and is remark-
able for generally nesting in society. The two last-
mentioned species are of larger size than the rest.
' AH account of the babillard or lesser whitethroat
(C. garrula) has been given in its alphabetical situation
(see BABILLARD) ; closely allied to it are the C. pas-
senna and C. Icucopigon, both European birds. These
three are of smaller size, and more restlessly active
than the others. Their habits are intermediate be-
tween those of the blackcap and whitethroat. The
last-mentioned bird (C. cinerea) is exceedingly com-
mon throughout the British islands, arriving in the
southern counties about the middle of April, and
frequenting hedgerows and commons that are covered
with furze or brushwood. It is more a bush bird
than any ',i the others, and frequently rises singing a
little aw,iy into the air, a habit which is peculiar to
it and perhaps the spectacle whitethroat (C. compi-
cillat t), a smaller but very nearly allied Italian species.
Th se too have the bill shaped somewhat differently
from the typical or blackcap form, approaching more
a a miniature of that of the blackbird ; in this, and in
the habit of singing upon the wing, approaching to
the Dartford warbler or furze wren, a species we shall
presently describe, and which belongs to a separate
subgenus. The whitethroat is an extremely lively
:iiid active little bird, almost perpetually singing, and
ever erecting the feathers upon the throat and crown
of the head, together with the tail, which gives it a
characteristic appearance. The adult male has the
irides yellow, the crown and region of the eyes dark
grey ; the whole upper parts reddish brown, tinged
with grey ; and the wing coverts and tertiaries
broadly margined with mahogany. The throat is
white, and the breast faintly tinged with rose colour,
the latter hue being wanting in the female, which all
over inclines more to reddish brown ; tail rather long,
the exterior feather being a little shorter than the

rest, and having its outer web and tip white. All the
birds of this genus may be readily known, as soon as
hatched, from the other tribes of warblers, by their
having the inside of the mouth and gape invariably
red ; they leave the nest before they are half fledged,
and skulk about the bushes, being only for a short
time fed by the parents, who very soon commence
again the work of nidification, and commonly rear
three broods in a summer. The whitethroat, like
the rest of the genus, frequents gardens and orchards
in the fruit season, being a great devourer of cherries,
currants, and the other smaller fruits. It appears to
be a very long-lived bird ; for Mr. Sweet kept one
in confinement for fifteen or sixteen years, at the end
of which time it is described to be as active and lively
as at first, to sing as merrily, and to show no sign of
old age. They are very tame and familiar, and rather
a hardy bird in confinement, and very amusing from
their liveliness, singing with great spirit and energy
against any other bird ; but, like the rest of the
genus, they are very subject to a partial loss of feather
during the winter. This species is exceedingly
abundant upon open commons and furze-brakes,
where its habits closely resemble those of the

FURZE WHEN or DARTFORD WARBLER, as it is
generally but not very appropriately called (C. meli-
gophilus provincialis). This species was separated
from the others by Dr. Leach ; it is of small size,
with a bill like that of the whitethroat, but longer in
proportion ; the tarsi also are rather longer than in
the typical Currucae, the tail is much elongated, and
the wings are short and rounded ; in all which
respects it approximates to the genus Malurm, an
African group of warblers ; it does not, however,
construct a domed nest like those birds, but in its
nidification and eggs closely resembles the whitethroat
and other currucae.

This curious little bird was first discovered in
England, near Dartford, in Kent, whence it has been
usually denominated the Dartford warbler. It is rare
however in that neighbourhood, although generally
speaking, wherever it is found, it occurs in abundance.
It is plentiful enough upon some of the commons in
the southern counties, inhabiting only the very thick-
est furzes, where its habits are so very shy and hiding
that a person might traverse for months various situa-
tions where it literally abounds, without being once
aware of its presence. It has consequently been
usually considered a very rare bird, though it certainly
is an extremely local one. Perhaps it is no where
more abundant than in the adjoining districts of
Surrey and Sussex.

This bird is a little larger than the common wren,
but much longer including the tail, its total length
being about five inches and a half, of which the tail
measures almost half. Its weight is about two drachms
and a half. The eyelids are yellow, inclining to
orange ; irides reddish yellow, whence in Sussex they
are provincially called " Red-eyes." The bill almost
black ; base of the upper mandible whitish. The
whole upper parts dusky brown ; cheeks dark asii
colour ; two outer tail feathers tipped, and the outer
one also edged with white. The throat, neck, and
breast, dark cochineal red, inclining to purplish red ;
in the young of the year, the feathers of these parts
have each a fine streak of white. Legs and toes yel-
lowish brown. This bird, when flying, has a very
dark appearance, seeming to be almost black. It
differs from the other species in being resident in this

218

CURSOR1US — CUSTARD APPLE.

country throughout the year ; and, perhaps, the best
time to see it is upon a line frosty morning, at which
time it appears extremely active and lively ; it is
constantly in motion ; erecting the crest and tail, and
uttering a low note, resembling cha, cha, cha; it also
sings prettily, sitting on the topmost branches of the
furze, but the song wants variety, being always the
very same over and over again. Sometimes it mounts
singing a little way into the air, or suspends itself over
the furze ; but at the least alarm it will descend into
the covert, and it will be a long time before you can
get another sight of it. It trusts entirely to conceal-
ment for protection, threading the intricacies of the
thickest bush with great rapidity ; and if in a solitary
detached bush, you may knock about for ever without
bringing it out ; it will sooner suffer itself to be taken
by the hand. Both nest and eggs of this bird are very
like those of the whitethroat, and the young quit the
nest in the same manner, before they are half fledged :
at this time the artifices of the parents to draw an
intruder off are very amusing ; they make the same
harsh sound as the whitethroat, and will almost suffer
the hand to touch them, and then, perhaps, will fall
from the spray, and tumble along the ground, as if
fluttering in the last struggle for existence.

In confinement its habits resemble those of the
whitethroat and its congeners, and it feeds on the
same food ; this it will frequently take while suspended
to the wires with its head downward. It will also
sometimes climb along the wires, a habit which,
among the British warblers, is peculiar to this species
and the lesser whitethroat. Both these little birds,
also, in the cage, frequently perform somersets in the
air, throwing themselves over backward ; and both of
them, at times, will utter a singular sort of rattling
note peculiar to themselves. The furze wren is found
in some parts of Germany, and is very common in the
south of France ; from its abundance upon the com-
mons in Provence, it has received the trivial name of
Provincial^. Buffbn was the first to describe it, which
he did under the name of " Ic Pilchou de Provence."

CURSORIUS— Swift-foot, a genus belonging to
the pressirostral division of Echassiers,w stilt-birds, of
which the generic characters are as follow : bill slen-
der, conical throughout, and with a moderate gape ;
wings very short, or of mean length, second quill the
longest, the coverts as long as the quills ; tarsi long
and slender ; toes three, all horned to the point, and
without any web.

These birds form a sort of intermediate link be-
tween the ostriches and the plovers, they are birds of
the deserts, shy and retired in their manners.and found
only in the warm parts of the eastern continent ; but
one of the species, at least, is discursive over a great
range of surface, and makes a dash into the southern
parts of Europe, and even into England. They are,
perhaps, the fleetest footed of birds ; and, if they are
not come upon by surprise, or in places which are
new to them, and in which they get bewildered and
entangled among bushes, they are out of the reach of
fire-arms in no brief space, so that very few of them are
found. Of their time and manner of nesting, number
of young, and other points of their economy in their
native wilds, we are altogether ignorant. Three
species, at least, are known.

CURSORIUS ISABELLICUS — common Swift-foot. A
native of the northern parts of Africa: Isabelle yellow,
or reddish cream colour, on the upper part, white on the
uader ; top of the head red ; two black rays over each

eye, separated by a patch of white ; wing coverti
bordered with ash colour, quills black ; bill black ; legs
ash colour, length between nine and ten inches.—
Sometimes, but very rarely, straggles into England.

CURSORIUS BICINCTUS — two collared Swift-foot.
Also a native of Africa. Upper part brownish ash, each
feather margined with reddish white ; middle coverts
of the wings reddish, quills black ; rump white, under
parts reddish ; a narrow black collar on the lower part
of the neck, and a broader one on the breast ; rather
larger than the former.

CURSORIUS ASIATICUS — Coromandel Swift-foot. A
native of India. Brown on the upper part ; top of the
head, back of the neck, and breast, maroon red ; lower
belly and quills black ; coverts of the wings ash-coloured,
with white tips, and a black spot near the tip ; thighs
and coverts, and feathers of the tail, also white ; bill
black ; feet yellow. This species is rather the small-
est of the three ; but there is no great difference in
size between any of them. The last two have not
been seen in the west of Europe.

CURTISIA (Hortus Kewensis). This is a tree
from the Cape of Good Hope, named in honour of
W. Curtis, founder of the Botanical Magazine, and
other works relative to plants. It belongs to the
natural order Cclastrinece, is treated as a greenhouse
plant, but had never flowered in this country before
1831 ; according to the late Mr. Sweet, at the Cape
it is called the Hassagay Tree.

CUSCUTA (Limueus). This genus is one of the
most curious vegetable parasites known. Two species
are indigenous in Britain, and there are six or seven
foreign species. It belongs to Pentandria Digynia,
and to the natural order Convolvulacets. Generic cha-
racter : calyx of four or five lobes. Corolla some-
what globular, persisting, four or five cleft, and having
scales at the base : stamens growing to the tube of
the corolla ; capsule two-celled, opening at the base ;
cells two-seeded. The dodder, as it is called in Eng-
land, rises from its seed like any other dicotyledonous
plant, and is supported by its own roots until its stems
can lay hold of some other plant. This it holds in a
firm embrace, inserting small fibres or suckers into the
bark of its supporter, whence it draws nourishment
after its own roots are dead. The nurse often dies
under the burthen and exhaustion caused by the para-
site, which is not very nice in its choice of a foster
parent ; heath, furze, broom, or thistles are equally
relished by the incumbent ; and, if introduced into the
greenhouse by accident, riots among the plants there
as unceremoniously as if it were on its native com-
mon. The dodder is sometimes raised as a curiosity ;
seeds are sown in pots, and when the seedlings are
strong enough, they are placed close to the side of
some soft-wooded, worthless plant, which they soon
lay hold of and cover, extending a considerable dis-
tance around, if not prevented. The plants flower
abundantly, and some of the species are fragrant.

CUSTARD APPLE. (The fruit of a genus
found in the East and West Indies, called Anona by
Linnaeus, because so named by the inhabitants of the
Island of Banda, where some of the species are found.
Indeed these fruit-trees are cultivated in gardens all
over India, on the continent as well as on the Islands
in the Indian Sea. In value and quality the fruit
may be compared to some of our common pears, but
with a less firm pulp, so soft, indeed, as to be easily
sucked out of the skin. The Anona cherimolia, a
native of South America, is said to be a fruit of very

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

2i9

prsat excellence, and by some preferred to all
ouiers. The sour and sweet sops of the West Indies
are the muriated and squamose fruited custard apples ;
and are found useful even in that region of tine fruit-
Some of the species have fruited in our stoves ; and
no doubt were their culture more attended to, by
working the plants, and allowing space for their roots
and branches, the fruit may be brought to a conside-
rable degree of perfection. These plants require a
rich loamy soil, and are propagated by ripe cuttings
struck in sand.

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM, comprehends the J
skin and its appendages, hair, wool, bristles, spines,
horn, hoofs, feathers, shells, crusts, scales, and other
analogous structures.

Tiie skin is composed of three layers of integu-
ments viz., the Epidermis, or cuticle ; the Rcte
witwfium, or mucous web ; and the Cutis vera, or true
skin.

The epidermis, or cuticle, which is the external
layer, is a dense semi-transparent, partially elastic
membrane, which is common to all animal and
vegetable bodies. It is everywhere continuous in its
course, being reflected inwards into the mouth,
nostrils, windpipe, gullet, and other open passages.
By Dr. Munro, it was traced down as far as the
cardiac region (upper portion) of the stomach of a
horse, and by many physiologists it is supposed to line
the whole tract of the alimentary canal. It invests
the roots, stems, leaves, and flowers of all plants,
forming an external covering, which protects them
from the action of fluids, and from the extraneous
effluvia which are constantly floating in the atmo-
sphere. In thickness and texture, both in animals
and vegetables, it varies exceedingly. It is very thin
in birds, and along the mesial abdominal line of fish.
In some animals, however, as the elephant and
rhinoceros, it is so thick and impenetrable, that it
constitutes an urmour of defence which resists the
assault of arrows, swords, javelins, and even musket-
balls. It is thinnest in the human body around the
lips, at the tip of the tongue, and at the extremities of
the ringers ; hence the sense of touch is most ex-
quisite in these parts. It is thickest in the palms of
the hand and in the soles of the feet, where, from
repeated pressure, it is often converted into a dense
horny substance. This thickness, however, is not
altogether the result of pressure ; for, even in the
new-born infant, the cuticle in the palms of the hands
and the soles of the feet is thicker than in any other
part of the body. Its thickness, in like manner,
varies in different plants. In the leaves of the pearly
aloe it is very thin and delicate ; around the trunk of
the plane-tree very thick and coarse. Although
insensible, this integument is still to be regarded as
a part of the living system, for it is constantly under-
going decay and renovation. From the human body
it continually exfoliates in small scales, and in some
persons in very large patches, especially after sick-
ness, on account of the vessels, which may be
regarded as the connecting link between it and the
subjacent layer, having become debilitated. At
certain seasons of the year some animals, as serpents
and caterpillars, cast their skin in an entire sheath.
It is the same with plants. From the birch and
currant tree the cuticle peals off constantly in small
scales ; from the elm it is detached in large flakes.
The connexion between the cuticle and the subjacent
layer of skin is very close ; it is, however, readily

separated by blisters and by heat. Alcohol alflo
loosens it in many of the inferior animals, as may bo
observed by immersing worms in this liquid. When
the cuticle of the blistered surface has been thus
destroyed, it is very speedily renewed — more speedily,
indeed, than any other tissue of the body.

The skin, being the outer covering of the body,
and affording it a surface of protection, does not
readily absorb extraneous matters ; yet, when the
epidermis or cuticle is removed, and the subjacent
layer laid bare, then absorption takes .place very
rapidly ; hence, in order that the operation of
inoculation or vaccination shall take effect, the virus
must be introducod below the cuticle. This has
been a subject of some contention ; for, although the
cuticle does obviously permit the trausudation of
sensible perspiration, the pores through which it
passes are certainly not perceptible. The fact of cuti-
cular absorption (says Dr. Milligan, after reviewing
the experiments of many philosophers) may be thus
stated : — The cuticle has no absorbing orifices open-
ing on its surface, and the substances supposed to be
taken up by these really make their way into the
body by the action of the absorbing vessels of the
lungs and subjacent cutis vera; yet, from the imbib-
ing faculty common to the cuticle with dead or unor-
ganised matter, many substances may, by long macer-
ation or exiernal violence, find a passage through it
without any laceration being visible. It may be pro-
per, however, to observe, that pores running in a
spiral direction have been discovered in the cuticle of
the whale ; and, arguing from analogy, it may perhaps
be inferred that similar spiral pores exist in the
human cuticle, although so minute as to escape
demonstration. The eminent Amici has, by the aid
of his powerful microscope, shown that oval orifices,
or stomata, as they are called, exist in the cuticle of
plants, especially of those which have a green colour.
No such stomata have, however, been detected in
aquatic plants ; their use, it is presumed, is to exhale
water and absorb air. There are many provisions in
animals to preserve the cuticle in a healthy state,
which consist principally in secretions of an* oily or
viscid nature. In fish and mollusca it is defended
from the action of the water by a viscid or glutinous
secretion, which is continually poured out on the
surface. This secretion keeps the skin of whales soft
and smooth, like oiled silk, and enables them and
other aquatic animals to emerge from the water with
the cuticle dry. It is in some cases glairy and
adhesive, as in the common slug ; or mucous and
slippery, as in the common eel. The cuticle of
animals is, in the living body, readily distended, as
may be observed by its extension in tumours, or
swellings of subjacent parts. It is, however, less
elastic in plants. When overtight, it causes contrac-
tion of the stem, as may be often seen in the plum or
cherry-tree ; and when subjected to pressure from
unnatural excrescences, it is frequently ruptured ; so
also, when the trunk of a tree, as the oak or the elm,
has attained a certain size, the surrounding cuticle
cracks, and the surface of the trunk becomes rugous.
Immediately below the cuticle, and intermediate be-
tween it and the cutis vera, is the second layer of the
skin, which was supposed by Malpighi to be formed
of a peculiar mucus, wherefore it was called the
RETE, or CORPUS MUCOSUM. Other authors regard
it as a vascular net-work ; and M. Gall supposed that,
it consists of matter similar to the brown matter which

2-20

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

exists in the brain. It may be described as a thin
extended puJpy layer. It is the seat of colour, being
white in the European, copper-coloured in the
American, and black in the negro. Haller, Camper,
and Blumenbach, doubted its existence in very fair
persons. It is certainly not seen distinctly excepting
in the negro.

The different complexion or colour of mankind, in
different regions of the globe, has, it is notorious,
given rise to various opinions and speculations ; by
some, being referred to a difference in original or-
ganisation ; by others, being ascribed to the influence
of climate, food, and other secondary causes. That
this rete mucosum is, however, really the seat of
colour, there appears to be no doubt ; and the
following ingenious theory in explanation has been
proposed by Blumenbach : — The human body, it is
well known, throws off a vast quantity of carbonic
acid ; that is, carbon in combination with oxygen gas.
He supposes, then, that this carbonic acid is in this
mucous layer decomposed, the oxygen is set free,
and the carbon or colouring matter deposited on the
mucus, which combines with it. This decomposition
is presumed to be determined by the intense light
and heat of a tropical climate ; those parts of the
body, therefore, which are protected from the light
and heat of the sun, are not so dark as those which
are more exposed. The palms of the hand, and the
soles of the feet, are not in the negro so black as the
face, neck, and back of the hand. African ladies,
•who live in the shade, have a much paler complexion
than those who are much occupied in the open fields.
It is darker in some parts of the body than in others,
as in the eyelids and arm-pits. According to Cuvier,
the shell of molluscous animals, the crust of the
lobster, and other Crustacea, occupy the place of this
layer. It also degenerates into the thick dense
horny substance, which form the beaks and claws of
birds, and the claws of other animals. Under the
cuticle of plants, the corpus mucosum is also found,
and is described as the cellular integument (envelope
ccllulaire).

It is very obvious, in mosses and ferns, and is in
plants also the seat of colour, being green in young
stems, and white in those which are colourless.
Mirbel remarks, that leaves consist almost entirely of
this substance, covered on each side with cuticle.
The stems and branches of both annual and perennial
plants are invested with it ; but in woody parts it is
dried up and re-produced continually, such parts only
having that reproductive power. The old layers
remain, are pushed outwards by the new ones, and
form at length the rugged dry dead covering of the
old trunks of trees. In the Quercus suber, a species
of oak abounding in dry mountainous districts in the
south of France, and in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and
Barbary, this herbaceous envelope is remarkably
thick, light, and .porous, and constitutes what is well
known as the cork of commerce, a substance which was
well known to the Greeks and Romans, who used it as
stoppers for vessels (Pliny,Hist. Nat., lib. xvi. cap. 8.),
although it was not extensively applied to this pur-
pose until glass-bottles were introduced, which was
generally done in the fifteenth century. In this part
of the plant the principal changes of the sap take
place, and an operation is effected which is of vast
importance in the economy of nature. Already it
has been stated, that the human body throws off
continually a certain quantity of carbonic acid gas ;

by the respiration alone about a pound of carbon is
got rid of daily ; mammalia, and inferior animate,
likewise expire it ; as do also plants when in the
shade. This being a very noxious, indeed poisonous
gas, it may reasonably be asked, how the atmosphere
is purified from it, and the earth rendered fit for the
abode of living beings ? Herein the wisdom of
creative Providence is beautifully illustrated. Car-
bonic acid is composed, it has been said, of carbon
and oxygen ; the carbon is the basis of vegetable
bodies, the characteristic ingredient of all kinds of
charcoal. When the sun shines upon a plant, its
leaves absorb the carbonic acid from the atmosphere,
and decompose it ; and this takes place in the herba-
ceous envelope ; here the oxygen is set free, and the
carbon left to be appropriated to the basis of the
plant. The vegetable creation, therefore, is con-
stantly purifying the atmosphere, yielding for every
volume of carbonic acid which it absorbs an equal
volume of pure oxygen. Upon this principle, some
have supposed that, in the beginning of the world,
plants were created before animals, and gradually
purified the atmosphere, so as to render it fit for their
abode. Be this as it may, the provision is exceed-
ingly interesting, and calculated to excite the admi-
ration of every reflecting mind.

Underneath this mucous layer, or rete mucosum, is
the cutis vera, or true skin, which exists in all animals;
but is less distinct in mollusca and Crustacea. In
quadrupeds it appears to consist of solid fibres, which
cross each other in every direction ; in fish it seems
an homogenous and continuous membrane. Over this
integument, an infinite number of blood vessels, and
the extremities of nerves are distributed ; so that it is
properly speaking, the seat of the sense of touch. It
is provided also with a vast number of little eminences
or papillae, which were discovered by Malpighi in the
foot of a pig, in each of which the extremity of a nerve
is supposed to terminate. These papillae are particu-
larly conspicuous in the parts most appropriated to
the sense of touch ; as the tips of the fingers, the point
of the tongue, and the lips. They are also well seen
in the bills of aquatic birds, as the swan, goose, and
duck, and doubtless enable these birds to find the
food concealed in the mud. They are also larger
upon the lips of fish ; on the toes of birds which, like
those of the parrot kind, use their feet as organs of
prehension; and round the lips of the shrew, the mole,
and animals that burrow under ground. The vessels
of this true skin throw off the watery part of the bloou
in the form of insensible and sensible perspiration ;
the former escapes imperceptibly, the latter percep-
tibly. By some it is considered doubtful whether the
vessels of insensible are the same as those of sensible
perspiration ; the fact that the dog perspires insen-
sibly, but does not perceptibly, favours the idea of the
two kinds of perspiration being dependent on a dif-
ferent set of vessels. The cutaneous perspiration serves
several important purposes in the animal economy ; it
keeps the outer skin or cuticle moist and supple ; it
favours the exercise of taste and touch ; and regulates
by its evaporation the temperature of the body. The
cutis vera is also supplied with a number of little
organs called follicles, which secrete an unctuous and
sometimes sebaceous matter, varying in consistence,
odour, and other qualities in different animals, arid
which, as already premised, preserve the skin in a
healthy state. The vessels also of the true skin secrete
carbonic acid, which is discharged from the surface of

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

'2-21

the body : so that, besides being the organ of touch
the function of the skin is vicarious with that of the
lungs, serving to remove the superfluous carbon from
the system. It serves the same purpose even with
fish ; for Spallanzani and Provencal found that the
skins of fish produced carbonic acid as well as their
gills. Although in plants an epidermis or cuticle, and
envelope analogous to the rete mncosum, is found to
exist, they do not appear to possess any integuir.ent
analogous to the cutis vera, which, in descending the
scale of organisation, may be said to terminate with
the Crustacea. The skin then of animals is found to
consist of these three layers, which, when chemically
examined, are discovered to be composed almost en-
tirely of gelatine, an animal principle which united
with tannin, forms the remarkable substance leather.
When the skins, therefore, of animals are macerated
in bark, the tannin of the bark, uniting chemically
with the gelatine of the skins, forms this compound,
which is insoluble in water, resists putrefaction, and
becomes hard and tough when dry.

The cutaneous system of animals and vegetables
comprehends also, as already mentioned, the appen-
dages to the skin ; such as hair, wool, horn, feathers,
shells, &c. HAIR is common to all mammalia, whales
not excepted ; it also occurs, mixed with feathers,
round the head and neck of certain birds ; it is, how-
ever, absent in reptiles, fish, and mollusca, although
found to exist in many annulose animals, and even
zoophytes. Every individual hair may be described
as consisting of a hollow tube proceeding from a root
or bulb below the cuticle, and terminating in a very
fine point. The bulb is of an ovoidal shape, and con-
sists of an external and internal covering — the former
b*ing composed of condensed cellular tissue; the latter
being a simple membrane which lines the interior of
the tube. The cuticle introduces itself into the bulb,
and having become attached to the hair at its root, is
reflected back again ; hence the hair holds firmly to
the skin. The tube arising from the bulb is filled
with a soft matter called the medulla or pith of the
hair, which is the seat of a kind of imbibition whereby
the colouring matter secreted by the vessels of the
bulb is raised so as to give an uniform colour to each
individual hair. The human hair is generally either
black, brown, auburn, yellow, or red ; besides which
a white variety characterises the race of people termed
Albinos. When the vessels which secrete this colour-
ing matter, and which also nourish the hair, become
debilitated — or when the secretion is interrupted by
any violent, mental emotion, the hair turns grey, or
becomes purely white. This happened, it is well
known, to the unfortunate Louis XVI. of France, the
nijjht previous to his execution ; — also to Marie
Antoinette, the queen of France, whose hair became
white during the period of her journey fromVarennes
to Paris. It also occurred to the unhappy queen
Mary ; and many other cases of a similar description
are on record. Sometimes even after the hair has
turned grey during a period of affliction, it will after-
wards recover its natural colour — and this loss and
recovery of colour has occurred to some persons in a
verv short space of time. Black hair has been gene-
rally considered significant of a vigorous constitution ;
white, on the contrary, was called by Lord Bacon the
" colour of defect," and is regarded as a sign of de-
bility. Hence, horses with white feet, are thought
to be more tender and susceptible of disease than
those of a more uniform dark colour. When the ves-

sels which nourish the roots of the hair become debili-
tated, as in extreme old age or after sickness, the bulb
collapses, its attachment to the skin is destroyed, and
the hair is shed. This sometimes occurs irresnlarly
and in patches : sometimes the disease is universal, and
not a hair remains on the surface of the body. This
occurred to the chevalier D'Eperney, who, after four
months' studious application, and without any illness,
lost his beard, eyebrows, eyelashes, and all the hair of
his head and body. Certain kinds of diet, especially a
fish diet, is said to produce baldness. In the Shetland
islands, so common was baldness formerly, that it was
a common saying that "there was not a hair between
them and heaven." Tournefort relates, that in the
island of Mycene the inhabitants seldom arrive at the
age of twenty- one without becoming so. There are
some races of people that have little or no hair on the
surface of the body. The Mongolian, Chinese, and
American have little or none upon the chin or chest.
Hair varies considerably in shape, texture, and in all
its mechanical properties. Instead of being cylindri-
cal, it is sometimes flattened, striated, and deeply
grooved, or even beaded. It also varies much in
length, firmness, tenacity, and disposition to curl ; all
which varieties depend on some corresponding differ-
ence in the relative action of the vessels at the bull)
or root. The human hair which is most esteemed in
commerce, is about twenty-five inches in length ; and
the more it falls short of this, the less value it bears.
Its length and quantity is, in all animals, much inliti-
enced by change of season and climate. Previous to»
winter, the hair increases in length and quantity, and
this increase bears a ratio with the temperature ; hence
cattle and horses in farms near the level of the sea,
have a shorter and thinner hair than those in higher
elevations, where the temperature of the air is lower.
The fur of animals, which is sought as an article of
commerce, is thin, and would be less valuable if ob-
tained during the summer than during the winter sea-
son. The influence of climate is still more obvious.
The dogs of Guinea, and African and Indian sheep*
possess so little hair on the body, that they may be-
almost said to be naked ; — the Siberian dog and Ice-
and sheep are, however, protected by a very long and
thick covering. The fleece of sheep in England is,
entirely wool ; the Zetland and Iceland sheep, how-
ever, in addition to wool, have intermixed with it a
quantity of coarse and shaggy hair. In warm coun-
tries the elephant and rhinoceros have scarce any
lair ; on the contrary, the carcases of those discovered
n the ice of Siberia, are found covered with a sort of
wool mixed with long thick hair, very similar to the
oat of the Iceland sheep. To accommodate them-
selves to this change of season and climate, animals
:ast and renew their hair, just as birds moult, or as
lerpents and caterpillars cast their skin. Moles cast
heir winter clothing generally before the end of June.
The fleece of sheep, if allowed to fall, is generally cast
Before the end of July.

In some cases the nerves which supply the roots
of the hair serve to extend the sense of touch ;
thus the hairs which form the whiskers of the lion,
tiger, and cat, being supplied with pretty large
nerves at their roots, the slightest impression is com-
municated from their joint to their base. It is the
same with the whiskers of the seal. The hairs of
he whiskers are moved freely at the will or pleasure
jf these animals, which is not the case with the hairs
ot the rest of the body, although under certain vio-

222

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

lent emotions, fear, fright, or anger, they are observed
to become erect. This is caused by a muscular web,
which lies below the skin, and is called the panni-
culus carnosiis, the fibres of which in contracting force
the hair into an erect position. It is well seen in
dogs and cats. It commands, also, the erection of the
quills of the porcupine, and the spines of the hedge-
hog. The colour of the hair of many quadrupeds,
like the plumage of birds, changes at certain seasons
of the year. The summer dress of the Alpine hare
(Lepus variabilis] is of a tawny grey colour ; as winter
approaches, it gradually changes until it becomes
snow white. The ermine, which frequents the out-
skirts of woods and thickets during summer, is of a
pale reddish brown colour ; in August it becomes
clouded with pale yellow, and in November it is snow
white. As spring returns the white becomes mottled
with brown spots, and in the month of May its sum-
mer garb is resumed. The hair even of the human
body is somewhat lighter in winter than in summer.

WOOL is a cutaneous appendage which differs in
no respect chemically from hair ; it is, indeed, gene-
rally described as hair short and crisped. It differs,
however, from hair, in being finer in texture and in
growing more uniformly. Each filament of wool
grows at equal distances, and if not shorn, all the fila-
ments separate nearly at the same time from the skin,
for the wool completes its growth in twelve months,
and is then shed. Another peculiarity is the diffe-
rent degree of thickness which prevails in the wool
on various parts of the same animal, besides the fila-
ments are closer at their extremities or points than at
their roots. Furthermore, the fleece which grows
during winter is of much finer quality than that which
is produced during summer. The physical qualities,
however, of wool, are considerably affected by the
soil on which sheep feed. It has been shown by Mr.
Bakewell that the herbage of each district derives
from the difference of soil peculiar properties, which
when taken as food, have the power of affecting that
process of the animal economy by which wool is pro-
duced. Accordingly, the wool of sheep pastured on
chalk districts, or light calcareous soils, is hard and
harsh to the touch ; the wool of those pastured on
rich loamy argillaceous soils, is always distinguished
by its softness. The soils most favourable to the soft
quality are, first, the argillaceous, and next, the sili-
ceous ; the calcareous, whether limestone or chalk,
produces wools of a contrary quality ; so that in pro-
portion as these earths preponderate in a loose state
near the surface of different soils, their effect may be
detected, whatever be the breed of sheep from which
the wool is shorn. If the weather be fine, sheep in
this country are shorn in the month of June, although
some farmers delay the operation until July. The
wool in the state first shorn is called fleece, and each
fleece is usually separated into three sorts : 1, mother
wool, or that of the back and neck ; 2, the wool of
the tails and legs ; 3, that of the breast and under the
belly. This classification corresponds with the Spa-
nish method of sorting into rafinos, or prime ; finos, or
second best, and terccras, or inferior sort. Till within
a few years, the finest wool was imported from Spain ;
but next to Spanish sheep, the Ej^lish yield the
finest wool that can be introduced into the market.

BRISTLES and SPINES are modifications of hair ;
in the former the hair is stiff, in the latter inflexible.
The bristles growing upon the back of the hog and
wild boar form a considerable article of commerce,

being extensively used by brushmakers, shoemakers,
saddlers, &c. They are imported into this country
from Russia ; those of Ukraine being held in the
highest estimation.

HORN is a substance analogous to hair, and has,
indeed, been identified with it. When the horn of
an ox is examined, it is found to consist of fibres which
run parallel with each other from the root to the point
of the horn, sweeping along the course of whatever
curvature it may describe. Their disposition, how-
ever, varies. Instead of being straight and sweeping,
these fibres in the horn of the ram present a waved
or undulated appearance. Hence the substance of
horn appears to be made up of a conglomeration of
hairs ; but this is not always the case, for the horns of
the camelopard arid stag are truly osseous. It would
appear, indeed, that horn differs from bone in this,
that horn is composed principally of animal matter
intermixed with very little phosphate of lime or other
earthy matter, while bone consists principally of phos-
phate of lime with very little animal matter. The
density and compactness, therefore, of the horn, de-
pends on the quantity of earth or animal matter en-
1 tering into its composition. The horn of the rhino-
ceros is purely a cartilaginous or horny substance ;
here the animal matter predominates ; the horn of
deer is purely osseous, in this case the earthy matter
predominates. Horns are in most animals to be re-
garded as weapons of attack and defence ; and as
such they are instinctively used ; hence young cattle
are observed butting with their head months before
their horns appear.

The manner in which the horn is developed is as
follows : immediately below the skin, and over the
frontal bone, two tubercles may be seen in the young
calf. These gradually become more callous, and en-
large in size, shooting out conically. This growing
horn consists of three parts, an external sheath or
prolongation of the cuticle, a vascular investment, and
an internal osseous substance. The vascular mem-
brane has two different powers of production at each
surface ; the internal supplies the phosphate of lime ;
the external deposits layers of horny substance.
When three years old, the horn is smooth and hand-
some ; afterwards its annual growth is marked by a
circle or wrinkle at the base ; and, according to the
number of these, the age of the animal may be deter-
mined. Horns, however, do not always grow from
the frontal bone ; in the rhinoceros they proceed from
the nasal bone, and in many other animals they arise
immediately over the ridge of the occipital bone. In
some species, as the stag, the male only has horns ;
and, generally speaking, as in the case of the goat,
where both male and female have horns, the female
are smaller than those of the male. The horns, how-
ever, of the bull are shorter and denser than those of
the cow. Between the size of the horn and bulk of
the animal there is no correspondence ; some small
breeds of cattle have very large horns, while some
good-sized cattle, as the Yorkshire-polled cattle-, have
no horns at all. Horns vary remarkably in shape
and size. The horns of the goat are rough, angular,
and bent retrally ; those of the red deer are branched,
round, and recurved. The roe possesses horns which
are round and erect ; the fallow deer horns pal mated
at the top. The length of the horn varies conside-
rably. Cattle with long horns are said to excel in
their hide, hair, and the quality of beef; those with
short horns in the quantity of the beef, tallow, and

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

223

milk they yield. The antlers of the stag, after re-
maining nearly a year, are cast off and soon replaced.
Immediately before this occurs the carotid artery is
seen to throb, and all the vessels of the skin are
turgid, the heat of the parts being much augmented.
A tubercle is then observed below the skin, which
gradually increases in size, as it becomes converted
into bone. The cartilage being ossified, shoots up-
ward in the form of a lengthened cylinder, which
soon divides into branches. The skin being carried
along with and investing the horn, forms what is called
its velvet coat, but when fully formed, it shrivels and
peels off, and the antler presents then a smooth and
bare surface. The rapidity with which the vessels
form the antler is remarkable ; an antler weighing
thirty pounds is sometimes completely formed in the
space of fourteen days. After being fully developed,
the vessels at the base continue to deposit additional
osseous matter, which is called the burr. The accu-
mulation of this substance at length encroaches on the
arteries, and by diminishing their capacity for con-
taining blood, gradually cuts off the supply of nourish-
ment. The antler is then nourished only by its own
internal vessels. These at length shrink and become
obliterated, and the horn then adheres to the head
only as a foreign body. In the mean time the
absorbent vessels under the base of the horn, scoop a.
groove between the living and the dead matter, so
that the antler, deprived of support, falls upon the
slightest concussion. Thus are these graceful appen-
dages to the figure of this animal annually cast and
reproduced.

BEAKS, NAILS, CLAWS, SPURS and HOOFS, are of
the same composition as horn, consisting principally
sf gelatine with only a trace of earthy matter. The
horny substance of the beak differs from horn in its
colour not being so fixed. The colour of the bills of
many birds varies with the season, and changes also
after death : the colour of the horns of cattle is per-
manent. Nails differ from horn only in not being
tubular, but deposited in flat plates. They occur in
the toes of quadrupeds, birds, reptiles, and pass into
claws. Spurs occur chiefly in gallinaceous birds ;
they are softened by heat, and may be easily bent
into particular shapes. Hoofs are peculiar to herbi-
vorous animals, forming a solid base and protection
to the foot.

FEATHERS, which are the characteristic appendages
to the cutaneous system of birds, form a covering
which not only protects them from the inclemencies
of the weather, but winch, when large, as in the wings
and tail, serve as instruments of motion. The struc-
ture of a feather is exceedingly curious. Each feather
consists of a tube or barrel, from which proceeds the
shaft or stock, on each side of which are affixed barbs
or flat filaments tapering to a point. The tube or
barrel takes its rise like hair in the tissue immediately
below the cutis vtra, and passes by a tubular opening
through the other layers of the skin, which are so
folded downwards and inwards as to form a sheath,
which invests the bulb or vascular part of the feather.
The tube or barrel is a hollow, horny, transparent
cylinder, consisting of two layers, an external and
an internal. The external is a circular plate, exhibit-
ing linear impressions which run round the barrel in
a transverse direction ; the internal consists of fibres
running longitudinally. It is largest in anserme and
gallinaceous birds, as the turkey, swan, goose, &c.,
for which reason the quills of these birds are best

adapted for making pens. By being formed into a
hollow cylinder, the barrel of the feather is rendered
stronger, lighter, and more capable of resisting flexion,
than it otherwise would be. Its cavity indeed in
some birds of flight, as the condor, eagle, and hawk,
is continued some way into the shaft, and is, like the
bones of the skeleton, filled with air, which enters
into it during respiration through a minute orifice at
the extreme point or end of the quill. Within the
barrel is a dry jointed membranous substance, which
is the remains of the vascular pulp which originally
contributed to the growth and nourishment of the
feather. The shaft which is prolonged from the
barrel consists of a cuticular layer, disposed likewise
in a circular and longitudinal direction, the central
portion of which is filled with a pithy substance like
cork. Its outer surface is slightly convex, its inner
nearly flat, with a groove running along the middle.
From each side of the shaft proceed the barbs, which
are placed with their flat sides towards each other,
whereby a power of resistance is derived which
enables them when flying to encounter the impulse
and pressure of the atmosphere.

They derive this power of resistance, says Dr.
Roget, from the flattened shape of these filaments,
which allows them to bend less easily in the direction
of their flat surfaces than in any other, in the same
way that a slip of card cannot easily be bent by a
force acting in its own plane, though it easily yields
to one at right angles to it. Now it is exactly in the
direction in which they do not bend that the filaments
of the feather have to encounter the greater resistance
and impulse of the air; it is here that strength is
wanted, and it is here that strength has been bestowed.
But this is not all : in birds of flight and water birds,
the barbs are.by their adhesion to each other, rendered
firm, and this is effected by a very curious mechanism.
When viewed under the microscope, a number of
minute fibrils or processes are seen arranged along
the margin of the laminae, so curved as to interlace
with or clasp one another whenever they are brought
within a certain distance. Those fibrils which pro-
ceed along the side of the laminae in the direction
from the quill and to the extremity of the feather are
long, flexible, and bent downwards ; those which
proceed from the adjacent lamina, from the extremity
of the feather towards the quill end, are shorter,
firmer, and turn upwards, so that when the long fibrils
are forced far enough over the short ones, their
crooked parts fall into the cavity made by the crooked
parts of the other, just as the latch that is fastened to
a door enters into the cavity of the catch fixed to the
door-post, and there hooking itself fastens the door.
These little teeth, like processes or barbules, are
wanting in feathers not intended for flight ; hence
they are not found in the feathers of the ostrich, nor
do they interclasp each other in the manner above
described in the feathers of the peacock's tail, nor in
those placed around the ear of the owl. The feathers
of nocturnal birds of prey have the barbs covered
with long silky down, whence, it has been observed,
arises the slow and silent flight of these birds.

The mode in which feathers grow or become deve-
loped has been attentively examined by several natu-
ralists, especially by M. Cuvier, whose memoir in the
Memoires du Museum, torn, xiii., comprehends almost
all that is known on this intricate subject. On quit-
ting the egg, the body of every bird is found covered,
excepting the under part of the belly, with a sort

'224

CUTANEOUS SYSTEM.

of down consisting of minute filaments collected in
tufts, which are implanted in a bulb or follicle which
contains the sheath of the feather. When the sheath
protrudes through the skin it has the appearance of a
thorn or little cone, within which may be observed
the medulla or that central gelatinous cord which
may be considered to form the different parts of the
feather. Upon its protrusion the tufts just described
generally fall off, excepting in the eagle, vulture, and
other rapacious birds, to the feathers of which it re-
mains attached for a considerable time resembling
fine down. From the medulla or pith the barbs are
first discovered proceeding from it in very delicate
and thin filaments ; then the shaft or stalk of the
feather makes its appearance, to which they soon
become attached ; the whole being enclosed within
the sheath, the barrel end of which is filled with a
glairy fluid. In proportion as this fluid becomes
converted into the barbs and shaft, the central cord
withers and corrugates. The sheath is at length
burst open, and the medulla appears encircled by the
barbs and shaft. These parts being formed, the re-
maining part of the medulla becomes enveloped with
the matter of the quill which is a continuation from
the shaft. The quill therefore is the last part formed,
and continues to increase in length for some time
after the full growth of the barbs and shaft. When
feathers have reached their full growth they become
dry, and only the tuber or medulla within it continues
to absorb moisture at its termination or bulb. It
gradually, however, ceases to receive this nourish-
ment ; its attachment to the skin then becomes
loosened ; and the feather is cast, and again in the
manner described renewed. This periodical change
of plumage is termed moulting-, during which period
inrds generally become sickly and much debilitated.
Immediately below the feathers of aquatic birds, in
the region especially of the chest, other small and
very delicate feathers are found which are called
down, which serves to protect the body from the
action of the water, and which, not being good con-
ductors of heat, likewise preserve the temperature of
the body. The down of the eider duck is esteemed
the most, valuable. These birds pluck it from their
breasts to line their nests with it. So elastic is it
that a quantity weighing only three quarters of an
ounce will spread over a larger surface than the
crown of the greatest hat. That found in the nest,
which is termed live down, is much more elastic than
that plucked from the dead bird, and is more highly
esteemed.

The colour of the plumage of birds varies exceed-
ingly, being in many species, especially in tropical
climates, of dazzling brilliancy. The iridescence of
the plumage is referable to the same cause as the
colours of very thin plates, which has been explained
in the article COLOUR. It is, however, remarkable
that the colour of the plumage of certain birds under-
goes a change at different seasons of the year.
Among aquatic birds, the black guillemot ( Una Grylle]
is of a sooty black in summer, with a patch of white
on each wing ; as winter approaches, the black gra-
dually disappears, until the plumage becomes white,
mottled with ash-coloured spots. Again, the ptarmi-
gan or mountain grouse (Tetrao lagopus) has an ash
coloured plumage, which, however, changes in winter
to a snow-white ; a providential change, says Mon-
tagu, for, were the surface of the ground not
consonant with their colour, few would escape the

searching eye of the falcon or the eagle in the lofty
and exposed situations they are found to inhabit. It
has therefore been wisely ordained that the young
first appear, like their parents, in a mottled plumage,
similar to the lichen-covered rocks they frequent,
and continue in this dress till the approacii of winter,
when old and young become equally white as the
surrounding snow. In the Scottish Highlands this
change commences about the month of September ;
large patches of white appear on the feathers of the
wings and back ; these extend, and in the month of
January the bird is of a pure white. The return of
colour commences by the appearance of black spots,
which enlarge ; they become of a brownish hue,
until the colour and the summer plumage is com-
pletely resumed. This change of colour is, however,
sometimes limited to a certain part of the body.
Thus the cheeks and throat of the little auk (Ak-a
alle) are black in summer, and become of a dirty
white in winter ; the head of the black-headed gull
(Larus ridibundus}, as the name indicates, is black in
winter, and becomes white in summer.

SHELLS and CRUSTS are a part of the cutaneous
system of the Crustacea, besides which they occur to
several of the annelides, as the serpulaand dcntalium.
They consist simply of layers of earthy matter inter-
posed between membranes of animal matter. This
deposition takes place between the epidermis or
cuticle and the cutis vera or true skin. It occupies
the place of the rete mucosum above described.
Crusts differ from shells only in being more brittle, in
consequence of being composed of a greater quantity
of earthy matter. In shells the carbonate of lime
predominates ; in crusts there is also a considerable
portion of phosphate of lime. The size, texture, shape,
and colour of shells, display an infinite variety. The
shield of the snail is semi-transparent and elastic, the
shell of the volutes opaque and hard as marble. River
shells are not so diversified in form and colour as
land and sea shells ; but so numerous and varied
are the characters of shells, that their study and
classification constitutes, under the term CONCHOLOGY,
a complete department of natural history.

The crusts of the Crustacea like the hair of quad-
rupeds, or feathers of birds, are cast periodically, and
when injured or destroyed are easily renewed. When
this change occurs in the lobster, his shell grows soft,
the sutures open, and the claws burst at the joints.
Thus loosened, the animal, by a trembling motion, or
sort of spasm casts off his case, and then retires in a
state of nakedness to the hollow of rocks. The re-
leased body then makes a sudden growth, and in about
eight and forty hours a fresh concretion of humour is
deposited over the whole surface of the body, which
soon hardens into a crust, which is adapted in every
part to the increased size of the animal. This change
takes place annually. Besides in the Crustacea, pro-
perly so called, crusts occur in certain insects, echino-
dermata or sea urchins, and starfish.

Lastly. SCALES are the cutaneous appendages or
covering proper to fish ; they are found also in every
part of the body of certain reptiles, and also upon the
feet of birds. They are composed of the same matter
as the cuticle which extends over them ; and they
vary considerably in size, form, colour, and relative
position. Such are the appendages, which constitute
a part of the cutaneous system of the different classes
of animals which inhabit the earth, the air, and the
waters ; and which afford a protection adapted in the

C Y A M U S — C Y C A D E JE.

1225

best possible manner to their different and individual
exigencies.

CYAMUS (Latreille). A genus of crustaceous
animals belonging to the section Edriophthalma and
order Lasmodipoda, and having for its type a curious
species, which is found upon the bodies of living whales,
being the Oniscus ceti of Linnaeus. This genus consti-
tutes a distinct division in the order to which it belongs,
to which Latreille has given the name of Ovafia, oval
bodied, in order to distinguish it from the other divi-
sion of which CAPRELLA (which see) is the type, and
which is remarkable for the long and slender form of
the body. These animals were considered by M.
Savigny as being nearly allied to the Pi/cnogonida,
and forming with them the passage between the crus-
tacea and arachnida. The body is composed of a
small somewhat oval-formed head and six transverse
segments, the abdomen being very minute and rudi-
mental. The head is furnished with two moderate
sized and two minute antenna?, with an oral apparatus,
concerning the various organs of which authors are
somewhat at variance. At the base of each of the
smaller antennae is a small depressed cup-like spot
covered with a membranous substance, and which
has been regarded as the organ of the sense of hear-
ing. The eyes are two in number and granulated,
although Savigny calls them " yeux lissees," whilst
the yeux composees, which he mentions between the
antennae, are not discernible. The legs, or the limbs
representing those organs, are of varied form, the first
pair being slender and terminated by a claw and a
moveable ringer, the second, fifth, sixth, and seventh
pairs are greatly dilated and terminated by a large
joint, and a moveable recurved finger ; but the most
' curious portions of the animal are the organs repre-
senting the third and fourth pairs of legs, and which
consist in two or four pairs of long and slender ap-
pendages, which have been considered to be organs
of respiration ; these are, moreover, furnished on the
underside of the body of the females with four large
plates serving as a pouch for the reception of the eggs.

We are indebted to M. Rousse! de Vanzeme
(whose memoir upon another whale parasite, Cetochilus
australis, we have in an article upon that genus noticed,)
for the most complete account hitherto published of
this curious group of parasites, and which were ob-
served by him in his voyage to the whale fisheries in
the Southern Ocean. Previous to the publication of
his memoir in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles
for May 1834, one species only had been described,
although Latreille in the Regne Animal had men-
tioned the existence of two other species inhabiting
the Indian seas and the ocean near the Cape of Good
Hope. M. Roussel, however, not only distinctly de-
scribed three species living upon the whales of the
Southern Ocean, but also observed their respective
habits.

Sometimes these creatures are so abundant upon
the whales, that the infested animals can be easily
recognised at a very considerable distance by the
white colour which they impart to the whale, and
which is visible when it rises to the surface. When
these parasites are removed the surface of the body is
found to be deprived of the epidermis, and as it were
corroded. They are ovoviviparous, producing eggs
which are received into and hatched within the pouch-
iike plates on the undersides of the centre of the
body, at times eggs alone, at others both eggs and
young, and at others young only being observable in

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

the pouch. Cyamus ovalis and gracilis are stationary,
being found in great numbers agglomerated upon the
corneous eminences of the SaUena mysticetus. C.
erraticus is, however, organised for its wandering
habits, being of a slender form and with stronger legs
serving for prehension. The young ones appear
with all the characters of their kind, only the head is
rather large, and the supposed branchial appendages
instead of being long and slender are short and some-
what globose ; the females of C. ovalis cover their
young with their bodies, whilst those of C. eiraticus
abandon their young conformably to their own mode
of life ; and in C. gracilis the females, males, and
young are all found mingled together.

CYANELLA (Linnaeus). A bulbous genus from
the Cape of Good Hope. Linnaean class and order :
Hexandria Monogynia, and natural order Asphodelcee.
Generic character : corolla of six-spreading unequal
petals, inner ones longest : stamens below the ger-
men ; filaments united on a fleshy cup at the base ;
anthers erect, five are equal, bursting at vertical
pores ; the sixth twice the size, and oblong. Style
declining ; capsule three-celled, three-valved, and
many seeded. The flowers of this genus are of
various colours, handsome and sweet-scented. The
plants are kept in a pit or frame, or may be planted
in front of a hothouse, where they will succeed if
defended from frost.

CYANITE, a mineral which derives its name
from a Greek word, indicative of its sky-blue colour.
When pure, it is idio-electric, as some crystals by
rubbing acquire negative electricity, — and others with
a similar surface positive electricity : hence the name
disthene, given by Hauy to this mineral on account
of its double electrical powers. It occurs massive,
and disseminated ; and is sometimes regularly crys-
tallised. The primitive figure is an oblique, four-sided
prism. It is found in various parts of Europe, Asia,
and America. The Shetland Islands produce some
very beautiful specimens, and it is readily distin
guished from actynolite by its cleavage and infusi-
bility.

CYANUS. Is the Centaurea cyanus of botanists
a common plant in corn-fields, provincially called
blue-bottle.

CYATHEA (Smith). A West-India fern, of tree-
like stature, and highly ornamental. It was described
as a SpJuBroptcris by Bernhardi and Wallich, and
Peranema by Don.

C YBI (JM, a genus of spinous-finned fishes, belong-
ing to the mackarel family, SCOMBKROID^E, which see.

CYC ADE^,— the Cycas family. A natural order
of dicotyledonous monochlamydeous plants, contain-
ing two genera, and nearly thirty known species.
Much difference of opinion has existed among bota-
nists as to the particular situation which this order
ought to occupy in the natural system. By some it
has been included in the monocotyledonous or endo-
genous class of vegetables. In so doing these authors
have laboured under an obvious misapprehension as
to the real structure of the cycadeae. The order may
be said to have a nearly equal relation to the flower-
ing or flowerless plants ; agreeing with the former in
the presence of the sexes and the completeness of
the vascular tissue, and with some of the latter, such
as ferns, in the peculiar gyrate vernatim of the leaves,
and the imperfection of the spiral vessels. By Lind-
ley, Cycadcce are included along with Con/feres under a
section of vascular plants, to which he has applied

226

C Y C H R U S.

the name Gymnosperma:, and which are distinguished
by the seeds being naked, and the vessels of the wood
having large apparent perforations, to which nothing
similar is seen elsewhere.

This order was by some botanists in former times
included under the fern tribe, in consequence chiefly
of the mode in which the leaves are developed. Lin-
naeus originally considered it as belonging to the
palm tribe, to which it appears at first sight to have
an affinity in its large 'pinnated leaves, and simple
cylindrical stem. It differs, however, totally from
palms, in being dicotyledonous, and in having an
essentially exogenous stem, a gyrate vernatim and
naked seeds, which grow on the margin of a contracted
leaf. The order to which Cycadece bears the closest
resemblance is Coniferts, or the pine tribe. With this
order it agrees in the structure of its seeds, the form
of its inflorescence, the arrangement of the veins of
the leaves, the imperfect development of spiral ves-
sels, and the apparent perforation of the vessels of
the wood.

The essential characters by which the order is dis-
tinguished and separated from all others are : Flowers
naked, dioecious, terminal ; sterile flowers monan-
drous, collected into cones, each floret consisting of a
single scale or anther, bearing the pollen on its under
surface in two-celled cases ; fertile flowers, either col-
lected into cones or surrounding the central bud in
the form of contracted leaves without pinna;, bearing
the ovules on their margin ; ovules solitary, naked,
with no other pericarp or covering than the scales or
contracted leaves upon which they are situated ; seed
with a horny integument; albumen Hesav. solid;
embryo inverted, the radicle being next the apex of
the seed, from which it hangs by a long1 stalk or funi-
culus with which it 1ms an organic connection.

The plants belonging to the order are trees with a
cylindrical undivided trunk, increasing by the deve-
lopment of a single terminal bud, ancl covered with
the scaly bases of the leaves, which are pinnated, with
a gyrate vernatim and parallel veins. They are na-
tives of tropical regions, and are found in America
and Asia. They also grow at the Cape of Good
Hope, 'and in Madagascar. In general they possess
mucilaginous properties.

The genera ol the order are cycasand Zamia.
Cycas circinalis, broad-leaved cycas, is a native of
the East Indies, especially the Molucca Islands,
where it attains a height of fifteen or twenty feet.
The tree is called Indu by the natives. Its trunk is
covered with the scars whence the old leaves have
fallen, and from the top of the stem grows a crown of
most beautiful foliage. It bears a drupaceous, smooth,
reddish, orange fruit about the size ot a walnut. The
outer pulpy portion is about half an inch thick, and
surrounds the inner horny Coat, which covers a beau-
tiful membranaceous lining of a rich brown colour.
The tree was introduced into Britain by the Earl of
Clarendon in the year 1700. It is very ornamental
in our green-houses, but requires much space for the
full display of its leaves.

The fruit of the tree, is used in India as an article
of food. From the soft centre of the stem a fari-
naceous substance is procured in many respects simi-
lar to the sago obtained from the sago palm. In
preparing this substance, the stem is cut into pieces,
several feet long, which are afterwards split longitu-
dinally, so as to expose the pith ; this is taken out,
mixed with cold water, and then beaten with a wooden

pestle in a large mortar or trough. The mixture,
after being allowed to stand for some time, gradually
deposits 'a sediment, which is easily separated by
decantation. This substance which may be denomi-
nated spurious sago, is merely the starch contained
in the pith.

The nuts after being dried for a month in the sun,
are beaten in a mortar, so as to separate the kernels,
which are afterwards made into a kind of flour :
much used by poor people in India as a nutritious
article of diet, and called by them Indum podi.

In some Catholic countries the leaves or this plant
are carried in procession, and used to adorn temples
on Palm Sunday, in place of those of the date palm.

Cycas rcvoluta, revolute-leaved cycas, is a native of
China and Japan, where it attains the height of five
or six feet. It produces leaves four or five feet in
length, which crown the trunk and form a magnificent
basin ten or twelve feet broad at the base. The tree
produces an orange-coloured drupe, nearly as large aa
an apricot, containing much white transparent muci-
lage, and enclosing an oval-shaped nut. The fruit
has a mealy sweetish taste, and is eaten by the Ja-
panese.

From the pith of the young stem of this species
also, a kind of sago is procured, which is highly
esteemed in the countries where the tree grows.

The plant is cultivated in stoves in this country,
into which it was introduced in 1799.

Cycas inermis is another species found wild in
China, where it is also much cultivated for its beauty.
Its trunk is five feet high, and it bears an egg-shaped
fruit of a red colour. In Tonquin, a valuable sago is
made from the pith.

The genus Zamia resembles the last in many re-
spects. It includes upwards of twenty species.

Zamia spiralis, yields large nuts, which are said to
be eaten roasted by the natives of New South Wales.
Zamia cycadis, bread-tree Zamia, is a native of South-
ern Africa. By the Caffres and Hottentots the pith
of the tree after being buried in the earth for some
time, is made into cakes which are used for food.

CYCHRUS (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous
insects belonging to the section Pentamera and family
CdrabidfE. These insects are of a moderate size,
having the body robust and destitute of wings, the
upper lip notched, the upper jaws long and rather
slender, the maxillary and labial palpi with the last
joint large and spoon shaped, the tarsi are alike in
both sexes, and the body is much narrowed in front.
They are generally of a black colour, and are found
under the bark of decaying trees, and beneath moss
and dry leaves lying at their roots, more especially
in mountainous regions. They appear exclusively to
inhabit Europe, Asiatic Russia, and North America.
Dejean describes nine species, but there is only one
indigenous to this country, namely, the Ro&tratus of
Linnasus, a species having so much resemblance to
some of the darkling beetles (Melasoma] that Linri&us'
was misled as to its true relationship with the Carabi,
and placed it in the genus Tenebrio. The robust
structure of the mouth, however, and especially the
great development of the palpi, prove that its habits
are not less ravenous than the remainder of the family
to which it belongs. It is found not uncommonly in
the spring under dead leaves in the woods and com-
mons near London, and is about three quarters of an
inch long, and of a black colour, the elytra having a
granulated appearance. It owes its specific name to

CYCHLA— CYCLOPS.

'227

the front of the head being elongated into a kind of
beak. Two other species, C. elongatus and attenuatus,
have been mentioned as inhabitants of this country,
but without sufficient authority.

CYCHLA, a genus ofspinous-finned fishes, belong-
ing to the family LABROID^E, which see.

CYCLAMEN (Linnaeus). A genus of European
tuberous rooted herbs, cultivated for the beauty of
their flowers. The genus belongs to Pentandrin
Monogynia, and to the natural order Primulacecc.
Generic character : calyx bell-shaped, divided half
way down into five parts ; corolla base swollen, throat
a little prominent, segments of the limb reflexed ;
stamens borne on small filaments inserted in the tube ;
anthers connivent and arrow-shaped ; style filiform
and protruding ; seed-vessel a berry, but opening at
last into five parts ; seeds seated in the pulp. These
plants were called sow-bread by the ancients, in allu-
sion to the tubers being sought for and eaten by hogs.
The Persian is the only greenhouse species, but all
deserve to be kept in pots, and placed where they
may be seen to most advantage. They yield abund-
ance of seeds by which they are easily increased,
provided the seed is sown soon as it is ripe.

CYC LAS (Lamarck), TELLINA (Linnaeus). This
genus of molluscs has been separated from the genus
Tcllina, in consequence of certain well-defined distinc-
tion: these, nevertheless, though sufficient to separate
them from that genus, have led to some speculation on
the part of modern malacologists ; and we find in tho
French school that the genus Cyrena of Lamarck, the
genus Cornea and Corbicula of Megerle, and the
Galaihea of Cuvier, are all considered as subdivisions
.of the genus Cyclas ,• and though we do not advocate
an useless multiplication of genera, we cannot alto-
gether agree with that arrangement ; however, as the
general habits of these molluscs, as well as their
organisation, nearly correspond, we give the following
description in accordance to the French school : —
The shells of this genus are small, of a very convex
oval form ; valves very thin, and always without
three primary teeth on either of them ; apices never
eroded or decorticated ; some species are so thin and
fragile as to be transparent ; the valves smooth or
transversely striated ; shell transverse, equivalve,
apices protuberant ; primary teelh very small, almost
obsolete, sometimes two on each valve, of which one
is plaited in the middle of the one valve, and some-
times two plaited or folded teeth on the other. These
constitute Lamarck's genus Cyclas. Such species as
have a suborbicular form, the cardinal teeth rather
variable, and always very small, if not altogether ob-
solete, with the apices not eroded, form the genus
Cornea of Megerle. The species of a subtrigonal, or
an elongated oval shape, having the apices eroded,
and more anterior, with three cardinal teeth, the two
posterior of which are bifid, constitute Lamarck's
genus Cyrena, and those having the lateral teeth
dentated, but corresponding in other respects, form
the genus Corbicula of Megerle. The species of a
subtrigonal form, with two-grooved cardinal teeth on
one valve, three on the other, the middle one being
larger and callous, form Lamarck's genus, Galathca.
All these molluscs inhabit fresh water, generally
buried in the mud ; the two last sections only are
known in Europe : the greater number of the others
being from the Indian rivers, but every part of the
world presents species of the first division; the shells
are generally provided with an epidermal coat. The

animal has its body of an oval form, the edges of the
mantle plain, the tubes short and united, the foot
large, compressed at its base, and terminated by a
species of foot, or appendage answering that pur-
pose. This genus is classed in the third class Ace-
phalophora, third order Lamellibranchiata, eighth
family Conchacea.

CYCLICA (Latreille). An extensive division of
coleopterous insects belonging to the' section Tetrn-
mera, distinguished by the generally short and rounded
form of the body. They differ from the Rkyncophora
or weevils, in not having the head produced into a
rostrum ; from the Xyhphaga, by having the antennae
not clavate ; from the Platysoma, by the body not
being flattened ; from the Longicornes, in the antenna;
being shorter than the body ; and from the Eitpoda,
in having the hinder part of the thorax as wide as the
base of the elytra.

For the particular characters of this division as
well as for an account of the families of which it is
composed, we must refer to our article headed CHRY-
SOMELID.^, where, in consequence of this division
nearly corresponding with the Linnaean genus Chry-
somela, we have thought it more convenient to give
a description of this group.

CYCLOBRANCHIATA is the name given to
an order of molluscs having the organs of respira-
tion branchial, in the form of tufts, more or less deve-
loped, symmetrically arranged near the vent, which is
situated in the median line of the posterior part of
the animal's body. The skin is naked, though some-
times intercalated. This order includes the genera
Don's, Onchidoris, and Peronia ; of the second class,
Paracephalophora. they will be described in their
respective places.

CYCLOPS (Muller). A genus of minute aquatic
crustaceous animals, considered by M. Edwards as
entitled to the rank of an order, to which he has given
the name of Copepodd. These little creatures, which
abound in fresh and standing waters, are seldom more
than one-eighth of an inch long, and may constantly
be observed jerking about by the assistance of their
long tails. In their forms they somewhat resemble a
lobster in miniature, the thoracic part of the body
being of an oval form, furnished with a single eye in
front (whence the generic name of the group). This
part of the body is divided at its hinder part into
several segments, which are succeeded by an articu-
lated tail or abdomen, from the base of which in the
females depends on each side a large membranous
bag containing the eggs. The abdomen is forked at
its extremity, each division being furnished with
strong setae ; the upper antennas are very long and
multiarticulate, but the inferior are short and four-
jointed. The legs, which are very short, consist of
five pairs, each leg being divided into two cylindrical
branches. From their curious forms, great agility,
and odd motions, these little insects form conspicuous
objects in the exhibitions of the solar microscope,
with which instrument so much instruction and amuse-
ment is capable of being produced. The upper and
long antennae perform the offices of legs, and the
lower pair of these organs, from their being kept in a
continual rapid motion, produce a kind of whirlpool,
which brings into its vortex the minute particles upon
which they feed. At the period of coupling the
males are extremely active. The eggs which are of
a brown, blue or green colour, varying according to
their age, become transparent when nearly readv to
P'2

228

C Y C L O P T E R U S — C Y C L O S T O M A.

produce the young ; and it is an extremely curious
circumstance, which has been well confirmed, that a
single act of impregnation is sufficient for several
successive generations, A female cyclops in the
space of three months gives birth to not less than ten
distinct broods ; and if we calculate only eight broods,
each having only forty young, it will be seen how
immense must be the increase of these creatures.
The duration of the egg state varies from two to ten
days, according to circumstances, such as the degree
of temperature, the period of the year, &c. When
hatched, the young have only four legs, with the body
of a rounded form, and destitute of tail. Muller, the
celebrated Danish writer upon these and other allied
animals, not knowing them to be the young of the
cyclops, formed them into a distinct genus with the
name of Amynionic. Shortly afterwards they acquire an
additional pair of legs, and these for the same reason
were formed by the same author into the genus
JVauplius. After the first shedding of their skin they
are said to possess all the organs of their perfect form,
but of a diminished size, especially as regards the
antenna; and legs ; and that after the third moulting
they become adult ; but in this manner of reckoning
it will follow that two pairs of legs must be developed
without a corresponding moulting having taken place,
and this is so contrary to what is observed amongst
the invertebrated animals that the correctness of such
observation may perhaps be questioned. The chief
food of these animals consists of minute particles of
animal matter floating in the water, but in default of
this they will feed upon vegetable substances in a
decaying state. When one of the antennae is cut oif
no change at first takes place, but at the following
moulting the loss is repaired by the production of a
new antenna.

There are numerous species belonging to this
group, of which the Monoculus (juadricornis of Linnreus
(a name improperly changed by Dr. Leach to C.
vulgaris) is the type ; it is very variable in its colours,
being sometimes reddish, at others green, bluish, or
whitish. It is a very common species. Some of the
species (forming the genus Calanus of Dr. Leach,
including the C.finmarchianus of Muller,) have the
inferior antennae obsolete, whilst others (forming our
genus Cunthocampus, having for its type the C. sta-
jihylinus,} have the abdomen of the females recurved
with a spine beneath at the base, and in some there
is but a single egg-pouch (forming our genus Diapto-
mus\ and of which the C. caslor is the type.

CYCLOPTERUS, a genus of soft-tinned fishes,
belonging to the order with the ventral fins under the
pectorals, and to the third family of the order Disco-
hales, and including the lump-fish and some others.
The following are their most remarkable generic
characters : —

The rays of the ventral fins are dispersed all round
the lower part of the thorax, and united by a single
membrane of considerable strength into a concave
oval disc, which the fish employs as a sucker for
attaching itself to the rocks. This is their most
remarkable character ; and it is from it that they get
the name of Cyclopterus, or fin all round. Their other
characters in brief are : the mouth very large, with
small pointed teeth in both jaws, and also in the pha-
rynx ; their gill lids small, their gill flaps with six
fays ; their pectorals very large and united below the
throat so as to unite with the disc formed by the ven-
trals ; their skeleton is soft and very imperfectly ossi-

fied ; and their skin viscous and without scales, but
powdered over with small hard grains. Their stomach
is large with numerous caeca ; their intestine and air
bladder of mean size. They are usually divided into
two sub-genera, the chief distinction being the form
of the dorsal fin.

'1. LUMP FISHES. These have a first dorsal fin
more or less visible, but always very low and with
simple rays ; the second dorsal has the rays articu-
lated, and is placed immediately over the anal fin ,
the body of these fishes is very thick and clumsy, and
also very soft, and not very manageable in the water ;
but they are enabled to hold on upon the rock* by
means of the ventral disc, and thus catch the food
which is brought to them by the current of the water,
and the}' are much less liable to be injured by the
current beating them against the rocks than if their
bodies were of firmer texture.

COMMON LUMP FISH (Cyclopterus lumpus). This
species is common on all the coasts of the British
islands, and in most parts of the North Seas. The
back is sharp and raised, the belly flat, the body of
the fish deep, the dorsal and anal tins short, and the
sides marked with rows of osseous tubercles. The
length is usually about eighteen inches ; the colours —
dusky on the back, and re<i on the under part ; the
flesh is soft, oily, and tasteless, and seldom used as
human food ; but as the fish is as lumpish in its mo-
tions as in its form, it very readily falls a prey to
sharks, seals, and other predatory inhabitants of the
waters. It is not understood to eat fish, but rather
medusa; and other soft and gelatinous animals which
float about freely in the water, and are brought to the
eddies where it fastens itself upon the rocks. It is
sometimes apt to vary in colour, and hence there are
different names for it. There are, also, however, one
or two smaller species, all inhabiting the North Seas,
but of no use or interest whatever.

2. CYCLOGASTKR. These have one dorsal fin, of
the same length as the animal. Their bodies are
smooth, elongated backwards, and considerably com-
pressed, and they are much more active than the
former subgenus.

SEA MOUSE (Cyclopterus muxciilus). This is a
small fish, about seven or eight inches in length,
found on the shores of the Channel ; and gets its
common name from its colour and the activity of its
motions. •

THE LIPARIS (Cyc/opterus liparis). This species
grows to a much greater size than the former, being
frequently eighteen inches in length. It is a very
northerly fish, and found on the icy coasts, though it
sometimes makes an excursion as far southward as
the shores of England and France. Its muzzle is
rounded ; its head broad and flat ; its mouth large
with two small fleshy beards to the upper lip. The
back and fins are brown, the sides yellow, and the
belly white. The flesh of this species is eaten by
some of the northern people, but it is of very inferior
quality. There is another species found in the north,
chiefly in the White Sea, which is different from this,
and has been called Cyclopterus linctus, the sides
of this species are striped longitudinally with brown
and white, and it differs from the former in a few
other particulars ; but it is a fish of no interest or
value.

CYCLOSTOMA (modern authors), (Helix of
Linnaeus, Turbo of Mulier). The shells constituting
this genus are all of them terrestrial, and from the

CYDONIA— CYMOTHOIDE^;.

great variety of their forms have been blended by
former writers on conchology with other genera. It
now, however, comprehends a well-defined separation
from the Helices, being easily distinguished by the
aperture or mouth being constantly circular, whence
the name is derived : the margin is thin, sharp, and
outwardly reflexed at right angles with it. The
germs Cyclosloma is not, however, the only spe-
cies of mollusc possessing a round mouth ; the Sca-
laria, Dclphimila, and Paludina, have it also ; the two
former have likewise the reflexed lip, but the annular
processes or previous terminations of the aperture in
the Scalaria, and the pearly substance of the other,
distinguish and prove them to be marine ; while the
Paludina, not possessing a reflexed lip, but a smooth,
sharp margin, is evidently a fluviatile shell. These
molluscs vary considerably in form, some being tur-
rited, some quite cylindrical, others flat at the spire,
or convex, and can only be recognised with certainty
by their round aperture and reflexed lip. Their ex-
terior never having tubercles or spines, and by their
possessing a perfect calcareous operculum, not spiral,
and the summit sub-centrical, another distinguishing
character may be observed in tho left side of the
aperture, having its origin much detached from the
spire. The genus is subdivided into such species as
have the spire slightly elevated, as in the C. elegants ;
those whose spire is very prominent, as in the C. fas-
fiatfi ; those umbilicated and trochiform, as the C.
volvulus ; and, lastly, such as aro much depressed, and
planorbicular, as the C. planorbicula. They inhabit
the Indian, African, and American continents ; and
about twenty-five recent species are described, with
, eight or ten fossil.

C YDONI A (Tournefort) is the common quince of
gardens. It is said to be a native of Cydon in Crete,
hence the generic name. The quince is too austere
in flavour, and disagreeable in scent, to be regarded
as a table fruit, but it is useful in combination with
others for adding a piquant flavour, and it is also
useful for several purposes of the confectioner.

It may be propagated by cuttings, layers, or by
suckers, which rise from the root. The tree is of a
middling size, and very irregular growth, requiring
pruning to keep it in form. It is just possible that
this beautiful fruit may be capable of amelioration by
cross impregnation with the pear. The only difficulty
in the way of accomplishing this result is that the trees
do not flower at the same time, so that some manage-
ment must be had recourse to either to accelerate
the flowering of the quince or retard that of the pear.
Whether such a thing be practicable we have yet to
learo, but the thing deserves consideration.

There are four varieties of the quince, viz. the
pear-shaped, the apple-shaped, the Portugal, and the
eatable. The Portugal is preferred for marmalade, it
yielding a higher colour. They may be grafted on
each other, and all thrive in any kind of loamy soil.
Quince stocks are often used by nurserymen for some
particular sorts of pears, on which they do better than
on their own stocks.

C YMBIDIUM (Swartz). Agenus of fine flowering
and sweet-scented herbaceous perennials, natives of
China arid both Indies. The flowers are gynandrious,
and of course the plants belong to the natural order
OrcliideeE. Generic character : sepals distinct, spread-
ing and gaping ; three superior ones somewhat hollow
and broad, inferior, narrow, and deflexed. Labellum
concave, rather lobed, articulated with the base of

the column. Column jointed, winged, and obtuse ;
anthers terminate and hooded ; pollen masses behind
in two lobes joined to glands. Some of the species
of this genus are remarkable for the brown colour of
their flowers, and their night-evolved perfume. The
C. Shiense is a strong-rooted bulky plant, and requires
a large pot to allow vigorous growth in order to
flower strongly. This is a great favourite among the
Chinese, who grow them well ; very fine ones are
sometimes valued at 100 dollars ! Of such the flower
scape or stem rises to the height of four or five feet,
with flowers from bottom to the top. This plant is
an instance of that remarkable property in all flowers
of a brown colour, being most odorous by night. The
cymbidiums require to be planted in sandy loam and
moor earth, and grown in a pit or frame, and removed
into the greenhouse or conservatory when in flower.

CYMBULIA (Peron, Lamarck). A cartilagi-
nous shell of crystalline transparency and firm con-
sistency, in the form of an elongated slipper, or
French wooden shoe (sabot), truncated at the sum-
mit with a lateral opening at the anterior part,
conical at the posterior where the animal adheres,
having the faculty of concealing itself altogether in
its glassy covering. The animal's body is sub-cylin-
drical, provided backward with a filament, by which
it is attached to the shell ; on each side is a large
natatory appendage ; it has two eyes and a kind of
proboscis. It is arranged in the second class, Para-
cephabtphora, first order Aporobranchiata, first family
Thecotomtita.

CYMOTHOID^E (Leach). A family of crnsta-
ceous animals, belonging to the di vision Edriophthalma,
and order Isopoda, and distinguished by having the
antennae short, and inserted in pairs one above the
other. The body is of an oval form, convex or
depressed, the abdominal portion divided into several
segments, of which the basal ones are very short, and
the terminal one large and broad ; the legs are short,
and very robust, being terminated by a hooked joint.
These animals composed the Fabrician genus Cymo-
thoa, but were arranged by Linnaeus under the genus
Onucus. They have, indeed, somewhat the appear-
ance of wood-lice, but their habits are very distinct,
being parasitic upon various kinds of fishes inhabiting
the ocean, to which they attach themselves by means
of their strong-hooked feet, and then suck their
blood ; hence the ancients gave them the names of
(Estrus and Axilus, from the resemblance between
their habits and those of the breeze flies. On the
under side of the body of the females are fixed several
membranous pectoral imbricated scales, covering the
eggs, and in which the young are hatched. Dr. Leach
divided this group of animals into numerous genera,
but which may be reduced to those of Scrolls (having
the eyes placed upon tubercles), Nelocyra, and Cymo-
t//oa, to which Synodus and Limnoria may be added.
The last-named genus comprises a minute animal,
which burrows into the wood of which the submarine
buildings of several of our dockyards are composed,
committing great devastation in such situations. In
the genus Cymothoa the eyes are not elevated on
tubercles, and are formed of minute facets ; *he
abdomen is six-jointed, and the mandibles not por-
rected. The type of this genus is the Oniscns a^/rnm
(Linnreus), a species known to Aristotle, who says of
it — " Fishes are attacked by a sea-louse, which is not
oroduced from the fish, but from the mud." It re-
sembles a wood-louse, but the tail is larger.

230

CYNANCHIUM-CYNIPIDjE.

CYNANCHIUM (Linnaeus). A genus of herbs
and climbing perennials, natives of many different
parts of the world. Linnaean class and order Pentan-
dria Digynia, and natural order Asclepiadete. Generic
character : corolla five-cleft and rotate ; corona like
petals, alternating with anthers, or simply five-lobed ;
or double, in which case the exterior is ten and inte-
rior five cleft. Some few of the species were formerly
called Asclepias, and are hardy ; some are stove,
others greenhouse plants. They may all be increased
by cuttings or divisions of the roots.

CYNARA (Linnaeus) is the generic name of the
ARTICHOKE, which see.

CYNIPIDJE, Nob. ; (Diploleparus, Latreille). A
family of hymenopterous insects, belonging to the
section Securifera (or those which are not furnished
with a poisonous sting), and placed by Latreille in the
midst of his group of parasitic species, which he has
termed Pu/nvora, notwithstanding the circumstances
that the species of which the family is composed are
herbivorous in their larva state. These insects are
small four-winged flies, formed by Linnaeus into the
genus Cynips. The wings are furnished with but
few nerves, the lower pair having but a single longi-
tudinal nervure ; the antennae are moderately long
and slender, or slightly thickened at the tips, and
composed of from thirteen to fifteen joints, not being
elbowed in the middle. The abdomen is short, com-
pressed, and of a rounded form, and the ovipositor,
which is rather long, is rolled in a spiral manner
within the curve of this part of the body, its extremity
being only exposed, and which, when not in action,
is lodged in a groove at the extremity, formed of
two flattened plates.

Much confusion has occurred in the name of this
group of insects owing to the incorrect nomenclature
introduced by Geoffroy, and adopted by Latreille,
the Linnaean name Cynips having been applied to the
insects composing our family CkalcidicUe (which see),
and the new name of Diplolepis given to the Linnaean
Cynipes. In a paper upon this subject, published in the
Zoological Journal, the author of this article corrected
this synonyme, and has the gratification to have been
followed by Latreille in his last work, where the family
Chalcididce is described under the name of Chalcidites,
although the gall-flies, instead of being similarly
named Cynipites, are termed Gallicola:, in allusion to
the habits of the family, of which the species, or at
least their retreats, are well known to every observer
of nature under the form of galls and excrescences of
different shapes upon various kinds of trees. The
insects are of small size, and, as it were, hunch-
backed, owing to the small size and low position of
the head, and the elevated thorax. The galls which
we have mentioned are the result of wounds inflicted
by the parent Cynips upon the leaves, or bark of
various plants, in the act of depositing her eggs,
and which are thrust into the wound thus made.
How their growth, however, is effected, is a point in
the natural history of these insects not yet deter-
mined, and it is only by the microscopic observation
of some of our vegetable physiologists that we can
hope to obtain a satisfactory solution of the question.
It is indeed difficult to conceive how a minute egg.
deposited in the middle of a leaf, shall, in a short
time, be found removed from such situation, and fixed
in the centre of a vegetable mass, sometimes as much
as an inch from its original position, such mass being
in some cases dependent from the leaf at the extre-

mity of a slender thread, somewhat like a cherry at
the end of its stalk. It is equally curious to consider
the great virulence of the fluid deposited by the
parent with the egg, and which has evidently the
effect of irritating the plant to such a degree as to
cause it to throw out these monstrous appendages.
It was indeed supposed by the early naturalists that
these galls were caused by the larva; when newly
hatched, gnawing the leaf, thereby causing its juices
to flow, by which it was soon surrounded, and which
soon became inspissated ; but as the galls are often
found fully formed even before the egg is hatched,
this opinion is untenable. But, even to the philoso-
phical Redi, these insects proved a stumbling block ;
for, notwithstanding all his splendid discoveries and
observations, whereby he so satisfactorily disproved
the doctrine of spontaneous generation, he fell into the
strange idea, in order to account for the development
of these galls, that there existed in the trees and
plants a vegetative kind of power, or soul, charged
with the care of producing the grubs ; and if, says
Reaumur, we are not disposed to admit that a merely
vegetative power would produce a gall and a gall-
worm, he was even disposed to believe it to be still
more sensitive. How humiliating is it to the proud
intellectual powers of the mind, that so absurd an
idea could have entered into the mind of Redi. Our
great philosopher, John Ray, after noticing this fancy
of Redi, and the received opinion that some insects
were produced from plants, tells us that " Signior
Malpighi, in his Treatise of Galls, under which name
he comprehends all preternatural and morbose tu-
mours and excrescences of plants, doth demonstrate,
in particular, that all such warts, tumours, and ex-
crescences where any insects are found, are excited
or raised up either by some venenose liquid, which,
together with their eggs, such insects shed upon the
leaves, or buds, or fiyiits of plants, or, boring with
their terebraa, instil into the very pulp of such buds
or fruits, or, by the contagious vapour of the very egga
themselves, producing a mortification or syderation
in the parts of plants on which they are laid ; or
lastly, by the grubs or maggots hatched of the eggs
laid there, making their way with their teeth into the
buds, leaves, or fruit, or even the wood itself of such
plants on which the eggs were laid. We conclude,
therefore, that galls and other tumours of plants are
nothing else but morbose excrescences raised up by
the force of the egg there laid, disturbing the vegeta-
tion and temper of the plants, and perverting the
motion of their humours and juices, wherein the in-
closed eggs and animalcules are cherished, nourished,
and augmented, till their proper parts being mani-
fested, explicated, and hardened and strengthened,
they are, as it were, new born, affecting to come forth
into the open air." — Wisdom of God, p. 249.

Some authors have considered that these galls are
leaves or buds modified into galls by the action of
the stimulating matter left in the wounds, whilst a
more recent writer has supposed the orifice of the
wound or the egg itself to be covered with gluten*,
which gluten prevents the sap that flows through the
puncture from being scattered over the leaf, and the
sap being thus confined to the space occupied by the
eggs, will expand and force outwards the pellicle of
gluten that confines it, ("and which, of course, forms a

* We do not well understand how the sap can flow through a
puncture stopped with gluten.

CYNOGLOSSUM.

231

covering or c6ating to the entire gall,) till becoming
thickened by evaporation and exposure to the air, it
at length shuts up the puncture, stops the further
escape of the sap, and the process is completed.
When, however, we consider the large size of some of
these galls and the very minute quantity of gluten
which must be deposited with it, we do not see suf-
ficient cause for adopting this idea ; moreover we
cannot but suppose that a more irritating fluid than
mere gluten is deposited, in order to produce such
active and violent ejects upon the plant. It', indeed,
the Cynips did not belong to the Hynienoptcra, we
might feel less hesitation in thus expressing ourselves ;
but when we know, from experience, the poisonous
fluid with which even the terebrant Hymenoptera are
furnished, it is difficult not to believe that it is to this
stimulus that the production of these galls are attri-
butable ; but, again, admitting the orifice to be stopped
by gluten, we see but little difficulty in supposing that
the vegetative matter, of which the gall is formed,
should not require a coating of gluten any more than
though it were a leaf or a bud. But when this theory
is applied in detail, we find it still more untenable ;
indeed, its author was obliged to admit that, in the
hairy bedeguar gall of the rose, " the gluten, it would
appear, is not sufficiently tenacious to confine the
tlowing sap within the dimensions of any of the little
clustered globes containing the eggs, for it oozes out
from numerous cracks or pores in the pellicle," and
" shoots into a reddish-coloured fibrous bristle :"•
and from the natural tendency of the sap of the rose-
tree to form prickles, these are all studded over with
weak pricklets ; which formation is supposed to be
, of great utility by affording warmth during the winter
to the enclosed insects. Without stopping to inquire
why the gluten of the bedeguar should not be
strong as that of the much larger oak gall, we will
only observe, in conclusion, that the circumstance
that many of the different kinds of galls are so irre-
gular in their forms, bearing resemblance to leaves
and buds, that it is impossible to apply to them, or
indeed to any other than perfectly globular galls, the
theory of the gluten : and it is not philosophical to
suppose that the globular galls should be produced
by one operation, and the other kinds by a distinct
ono.

One of the best known species of galls is that em-
ployed in the manufacture of ink, and which is fouuc
upon the oaks growing in the Levant. This gall is
of a globular form, and on opening it, its interior wil
be found to be of a very solid consistence, having £
rounded cell in the centre, in which the fly (Cynipi
gall<s tinctnrice) in its winged state may often be
found. The form and solidity of galls vary according
to the situations in which they are found, as the leaves
peduncles, buds, bark, root, &c.: some being round
others irregular, some smooth, others covered witl
hair, whilst many resemble buds or minute artichokes
their size is also very varied *.

It is a curious circumstance that the eggs of thes
gall-flies, like those of the saw-flies, increase conside
rably in size previous to the exclusion of the larv
which is sufficient to show that the membranou
covering in which they are enclosed is of a very dii
ferent texture from that which envelops the eggs o
insects in general. The larva hatched from thes

- * We must refer to our article CUPULIPKTUE for various detai
relating to the economical usages to which galls arc applied.

ggs are white, fleshy, inactive grubs, destitute oflegs,
hich would, of course, be useless to them, but pro-'
ided with jaws for eating the hard substance of the
all. Sometimes one only inhabits a single gall, but

others a single gall is the abode of numerous larvse.
n some species the larva; undergo their transfbrma-
ioris, and the perfect insect is produced within the
all ; but in others the larvse make their way out of
ne gall when full-grown, and fall to the earth, where
liey become pupae. The exit of the insect in either
tate from the gall is indicated by a small circular
>rifice at the side of the gall. These gall insects are
nuch subject to the attacks of a parasitic group o.
lies, of nearly the same size, belonging to the family
,'halcidida;, and having the ovipositor long and ex-
erted, their colours being highly metallic and beau-
iful ; they compose the genus CaU'mimne.

One of the species of this genus is employed in
Greece in a very serviceable manner for hastening
he maturity of the fig. This species, which is the
Cynips pseties, deposits its eggs in the seed vessel of
his plant, and the inhabitants place a quantity of the
;arly figs which had been attacked in the neighbour-
iood of the more tardy ones ; so that the insects
when quitting the former, covered with the fecunda-
ory dust, introduce themselves into the latter, so as
:o cause the more speedy ripening of the fruit. This
irocess is termed caprification.

Hitherto all the species of this family have been
:onsidered as inhabiting galls, but in a memoir which
he author of this article has lately published in the
Mdgazine of Natural History, we have given the
history of a species which we discovered to be parasitic
upon the aphides of the rose, in which respects it
forms an interesting point of connection between such
of the IcIi)winin>nidiE,zs the Ap/iidius,(sec BRACONID^E,J
and the true gall-flies.

Oak-apple gall and Cynips qnercusfolri.
The family comprises the genera Cyrtvps, F'>gitcs,
Ibaiut, Anncharix, and a few others, which we have
proposed in the memoir above referred to ; these
genera rest chiefly upon structural differences. The
typical genus, Cynips, has the abdomen compressed
and the antennae filiform ; the submarginai cells are
three in number. The oak-apples are produced from
one of the species of this genus, Cynips quernts-
folii, and the bedeguar, (which see,) is the result of
(he wounds of the Cynips roscc, a species of moderate
size, of black colour, having the legs and abdomen,
except, at the tip, red.

CYNOGLOSSUM (Linnaeus). A genus of
herbaceous herbs, mostly biennials, and natives of
Europe. Two of the species are British, and called,
from the shape of the leaves HauniFs-tongne. It be-
longs to the fifth class and first order of Linnaeus, and
to the natural order Boragincce. The cynoglossums
are used as open border flowering plants, but do not
possess much beauty. They are increased by seeds.

282

CYNOSURUS-CYPERACE^E.

CYNOSURUS (Linnaeus) is the dog's-tail grass
of British farmers, and a useful grass both in meadows
and pastures, and when prevalent enhances the value
of hay.

CYNTHIA, (Fabricius). A handsome genus of
lepidopterous insects, belonging to the section
Diurna, and family NymphalidcE, having the wings
scalloped, the anterior triangular, and somewhat
hooked ; the antennae have an abrupt, short, terminal
club ; the larva is spinose, and the chrysalis orna-
mented with golden spots, and of an angulated form.
The only British species is the Papilio cardui of
Linnaeus, termed the painted lady ; it is of a rosy
buff colour, with black and white markings, the lower
•wings being marbled beneath, with four eyelets ; the
larva feeds solitarily upon various kinds of thistles,
nettles, &c. beneath a silken web ; the chrysalis is
of a greyish colour. It appears in the spring, and
again in August, but its appearance is very irregular,
several seasons intervening before it is again met
with. This is one of those species which with certain
trifling alterations are met with in almost every quarter
of the globe,

CYPELLA (Herbert). A bulbous-stemmed her-
baceous perennial, introduced into this country from
Buenos Ayres. It belongs to Iridece. This bulb
requires to be planted in a warm border, where it
flowers and ripens seed in summer, but should be
protected from frost in winter.

CYPERACEjE— the sedge family. A natural
order of monocotyledonous or endogenous plants
containing nearly thirty genera, and between four
and five hundred known species. It bears a strong
affinity to Graminece or grasses, and by superficial
observers would at once be referred to this family.
It differs, however, in its solid and angular stem, in
the absence of a diaphragm at the articulations, in
the flowers being covered by a single bractea, and in
the embryo lying at one end of the albumen, within
which its cotyledonary extremity is included. In its
general habit this order is also allied to Junceee and
Restiacece. Its essential characters are : flowers
hermaphrodite or unisexual, each with a glume or
chaffy scale ; perianth either wanting or resembling
bristles, rarely membranaceous ; stamens hypogynous,
definite, generally three ; anthers fixed by their base,
entire, two-celled ; ovary one-seeded, often surrounded
by bristles ; ovule erect ; style single, trifid, or bifid ;
stigmas undivided, occasionally bifid ; fruit a crusta-
ceous or hard nut ; albumen of the same figure as
the seed ; embryo lenticular, undivided, enclosed
within the base of the albumen ; plumule incon-
spicuous.

The plants belonging to the order are herbs with
fibrous roots, angular stems generally without joints,
sheathing leaves, the sheath being entire, and spirate
glumes, the lowermost of which are sometimes empty
and sterile. They are extensively distributed all over
the globe, and are found growing in marshes, ditches,
and streams, in woods and meadows, on the sands of
the sea-shore, and on the tops of mountains. In the
northern regions, cyperacese are numerous, and bear
nearly an equal proportion to the true grasses, but as
we approach the equator the number of the species
diminishes much, and at the same time the character
of the genera becomes changed.

By some authors the order has been divided into
four sections : — I. The true Cyperacea;; II. Scripea;;
III. Sclcrina: ; IV. Caricincc. The chief genera are,

Cyperus, Scirpus, Sclerina, Carex, Uncinia, Schcenus,
Rhynchospora, Eleocharis, Cladium, Mariscus, Erio*
p/torum, and Kyllinga.

The plants of this order possess in general mucila-
ginous and demulcent properties, but they are not
much used in medicine. They are not celebrated for
their nutritive qualities, and are scarcely eaten by
cattle. In these respects a wide difference exists
between them and the grasses. They are by no
means ornamental, and are not used in agriculture.
In some sandy districts they are useful in binding the
soil.

Of the genus Cyperus, whence the name of the
order is derived, there are 287 species already de-
scribed, and of these only two are natives of Britain.
Most of the species are tropical, and their number
gradually diminishes as we recede from the tropics.
Some of them yield tubers which are esculent.

The root of Cyperus longus, sweet cyperus or
English galingale, has an agreeable aromatic odour
and an astringent bitter taste, and has been used as
a tonic and stomachic. Cyperus rotundits, a native of
the south of Europe and Asia, produces bitter tuber-
ous roots about the size of a nut, which are said to be
employed successfully by the Hindoos in cases of
cholera. On account of their fragrance they are used
in Greece to keep away insects from clothes. The
tubers of C. perennis, after being dried and powdered,
are used by the Indian ladies for scouring and per-
fuming their hair. The root of C. odoratm has a
fragrant odour and a warm aromatic taste. C. hydra
is a troublesome weed in sugar plantations in the
West Indies. The tubers of C. esculcnhts have an
agreeable sweet taste, and are eaten in Spain, Italy,
and Egypt. They consist of starch, fixed oil, sugar,
albumen, gum, malic acid, vegeto-animal matter, and a
substance analogous to tannin, various salts of potash
and lime, and some oxide of iron. The starchy
matter constitutes the chief portion of the root. The
fixed oil which has an amber colour, and a slightly
aromatic taste, forms a sixth part of it. In Germany
the tubers when roasted are used as a substitute for
coffee. C. papyrus is interesting on account of being
the plant which yielded the papyrus of the Egyptians,
whence the English word paper is derived. This
plant is now rare in Egypt, and is not cultivated as
in former times, when it constituted a source of riches
to the inhabitants of the borders of the ancient lakes
of Meuzaleh and Bourlos. It is still found growing
in marshy places in some of the countries bordering
on the Mediterranean. The papyrus or paper of the
ancients was made from the cellular substance or
inner rind of the stem, thin slices of which were laid
over each other transversely, moistened and subjected
to considerable pressure. They were afterwards exposed
to the rays of the sun, so as to acquire a sufficient
degree of dryness, and were ultimately sized. The
slices cohered together by means of the mucilaginous
matter which enters into their composition. This
paper was formerly made on a large scale at Alexan-
dria and other Egyptian cities, and yielded a con-
siderable revenue both to the manufacturers and the
government. The mode in which it was prepared
was for a long time lost, and has been only recently
discovered by some Egyptian travellers.

This plant was used by the Egyptians as medicine,
food, and fuel. Sugar was procured from it, and its
fibres were manufactured into canvas and ropes.
The top of the stalk, with th« umbel of flowers,

CYPHONID^E— CYPRINOID^E.

233

adorned the temples and crowned the statues of the
gods. Boats were made from the plant, and its root
was frequently chewed.

Scir})iia is another genus of the order, some of the
species of which are applied to economical uses.
Scirpus laciwtris, lake club-rush or bull-rush, is frequent
on the margins of lakes and ponds in Britain. Its
stems constitute a considerable article of trade in
consequence of being used for mats, chair-bottoms, &c.
They are employed by coopers to fill up the spaces
between the seams of casks. Scirpus mantimus,
another British species, is eaten by cattle. Its roots
have been ground and used instead of flour in times
of scarcity. Scirpus tuberosus, the water-chestnut of
the Chinese, yields tubers which are eaten either
boiled or raw. Many other species of the genus are
used for domestic purposes, such as stuffing cushions,
and forming the wicks of candles.

Eleocharis ccespitosus, scaly-stalked spike-rush, is
abundant in moist heaths in this country. It is called
Dfert.-hair in the Highlands, and in spring yields an
abundant food to sheep on the mountains.

The genus Carex furnishes numerous species which
grow in swamps, bogs, fens, and marshes, and which
are often with great difficulty distinguished by bota-
nists. The known British species amount to sixty-
three. With the exception of a few species, they are
of little use or beauty. In Kent the larger species
are used for tying hops to the poles. In Italy they
are put between the staves of wine casks, and are
used for the purpose of covering Florence flasks.
The roots of Carex arenaria, disticha, hirta, are slightly
aromatic, and possess diaphoretic and demulcent
properties. They are used as a substitute for sar-
saparilla, and are commonly known by the name of
German sarsaparilla. The first of these species is
common on the shores of Britain, and is useful in
binding together the loose sand. Carex sylvatica,
when carded and dressed, is used by the Laplanders
to protect their feet from cold. Carex Fraseri is the
handsomest species of the genus, resembling at a
short distance, when in flower, some of the lily tribe.

The various species of Eriophrium receive the
name of cotton grass, on account of the silky tufts of
a wool-like substance which cover their seeds, and
which render some of them peculiarly conspicuous in
almost all marshy grounds in this country.

CYPHONID^E. A sub-family of coleopterous
insects. See CABRIONID^:.

CYPRESS. See CUPRESSUS.

CYPRICARDIA (Lamarck), CHAMA (Gmelin).
This genus of shells has been separated from the
CharruE, by Lamarck ; it nearly approximates to the
genus Cardita in form, but may be easily distinguished
from it by having three teeth beneath the apices, like
those of the C. Venus, in addition to the callous
lengthened tooth or ridge ; the ligament is very long,
but slightly or not at all projecting, the abdominal
impression sometimes placed anteriorly. The animal,
according to Poli, is nearly similar to that of the Car-
dita, in consequence of which modern authors have
made this genus a sub-division of the genus Carditn.
The species appear to inhabit rocks, only occasionally
covered by the influx of the tides, in the warm lati-
tudes. The genus is placed in the third class, Ace-
phalophora, second order Rudista, sixth family Sub-
mytilacea.

CYPRINA (Lamarck), VENUS (Linnaeus). This
f$enus of molluscs appears intermediate with the

genera Cyclas and Venus. The Cyprince are, in gene-
ral, of a large size, much resembling the Vcneres. but
are distinguished from them by having one impressed
lateral tooth on the front side, sometimes obsolete, the
callosities of the hinge are large, arched, terminated
near the apices by a cavity, sometimes very deep ;
the ligament is external, partly fixed beneath the
apices. From the molluscs of this genus possessing
a lateral tooth, though it is sometimes obsolete, and
their being covered with an epidermis, they may be
conjectured to inhabit rivers at their junction with
the sea. The form of the shell is regular, longi-
tudinally substriated, equivalve, inequilateral, the
summits very much recurved forward and often con-
tiguous ; the muscular impressions sub-circular, very
distant, united by a straight ligula, marginal, and
a little sinuous towards the anterior ; the impression
of the retractor muscle, anterior to the foot, very large
and united to that of the adductor muscle ; the shell
possesses an epidermis, and in substance it is thick
and heavy. The animal has been described by Fa-
bricius, but it requires a further knowledge of its
organisation to enable us to adopt his definition,
which is very obscure ; it is, however, by analogous
reasoning placed in the third class Acephalop/iora,
second order Rudista, eighth family Conchacea, Not
more than two or three recent species are known,
and about seven fossil. It inhabits northern climates,
and one species is a native of Iceland.

CYPRINOID^E— The Carp family. The first of
the five families into which Cuvier divides his first
order of soft-finned fishes, or those which have
abdominal fins, that is, which have the ventral fins
attached to the abdomen behind the pectorals, and
unconnected with the bone of the shoulder.

This family have the mouth small, the jaws feeble,
with little opening, and very often without teeth, but
with teeth on the pharynx, which compensate a little
for their absence from the jaws. Their bodies are
scaly, and they have not the soft dorsal fin which is
found in the salmon family. They are the least
carnivorous of all the finny tribes. They are all
inhabitants of the fresh water, and there is such
resemblance among them, that it is often difficult to
distinguish the one from the other. Most of them
are esculent, but their flesh is not of the first quality.
Cuvier divides them into eight genera : Ciprinus, the
carp; Cobitis, loche ; Anableps ; Pacilia; Labias ;
Fundulus ; Molinesia; and Cyprinodon ; some short
account of each of which will be given in its place in
the alphabetical order of this work.

The genus Cyprinus is farther divided into eleven
sub-genera: Carp, properly so called, which is the
typical sub-genus ; Barbus, the barbel, of which an
account will be found in the article BARBEL ; Gobio,
the gudgeon : Tinea, the tench ; Cirrhinus ; Abrama,
the bream ; Lubes ; Catastomus ; Leuciscus • and
Gonorhynchus. Some account of such of these as
have any interest for the general reader, will also be
found, either under their generic names, or their
English ones, where they have any ; and, therefore,
the remainder of this short notice may be restricted
to a very brief mention of carp, properly so called.

CARP (Cyprinus). These have the dorsal fin longer
than the other, with a toothed spine for the second
ray of the dorsal and caudal fin. Some have fleshy
beards, or filaments at the angles of the upper jaw,
and others are without.

COMMON CAHP (Cyjmnm carjrid). This species

1234

C Y P R I P E D I U M - C Y R T A N D R A C E X..

has four beards to the mouth, the lateral line a little
bent, and the tail forked. It is not understood to be
a native of England, but to have been introduced as
a pond-fish about the latter part of the fifteenth
century. It is found native in the lakes and ponds of
the south of Europe, and it is much more common in
France and in Germany than in this country. Its
flesh is tolerably good, and it is serviceable as a
pond-fish, because it is remarkably tenacious of life,
and therefore can be carried over land from one
place to another. Instances are mentioned of its
having been carried alive from Straslmrg to Paris,
by keeping a little humid moss in contact with the
gill-lids ; and, indeed, it will live a long time without
even that simple operation.

Carp is not a fish of the troubled waters, and its
motions are as restrained as those of the element in
which it lives. Placid streams, which creep along
without anv perceptible current, the moats and
trenches of* ruined castles, shaded and mantling
ponds, which are left to the operations of nature, and
in which aquatic plants accumulate, are the favourite
localities of carp. It feeds quietly upon those sub-
merged vegetables ; and from the quietness of its
Jiabits, and the little fatigue which it undergoes, it
lives to a great age, not less, it is said, than a hundred
years, by which time its back is understood to get
entirely white. It is not timid, but rather fond of
society, and capable of being so far educated, as to
come and be fed at stated hours, on being whistled to
by its master. The stilly part of the Rhine, near
Strasburg, contains immense numbers of carp, in
which a considerable trade is carried on with Paris ;
and it is found as far to the eastward as Persia ; but
it is understood to prefer more temperate climate?,
and does not grow to so large a size in very warm
countries. Specimens have been mentioned of nearly
four feet in length, but it is rare to meet with one
more than two. Though the carp feeds a good deal
upon vegetable matter, it also eats worms and aquatic
insects, and, as is sometimes said, it swallows the mud
at the bottom of .its haunts for the sake of the larvae,
and seeds which are contained in that. Hence the
flavour of its flesh varies, much depending on the
nature of its food. Carps spawn in June, and are
very prolific.

Besides the common carp, there are mentioned,
the King of the Carps (Rex cyprinorum], but it is
doubtful whether this is a species ; yet its scales are
remarkably large, often an inch in length, and it
appears to be more northerly than the other ; also,
the Ann-Carolina Carp, of Lacepede, a Chinese spe-
cies, very handsome and beautifully coloured ; and
the Green-violet, of the same author ; but little is
known respecting them.

Of those which are without beards to the jaw, the
most celebrated is —

The GOLDEN CARP (Cyprinus auratus'). This is
the well-known gold fish from China, and needs no
description. A silver fish from Asia is also men-
tioned, but it is possible that this may be nothing
more than the former discoloured by age.

CYPRIPEDIUM (Linnaeus), is one of the most
interesting of the Orchidetz. The C. calceolus is a
native of Britain, and one of the most curious of her
productions. Generic character : sepals patulate and
distinct, the upper ones often united like a helmet,
the two lateral ones divaricating ; labellum inflated ;
upper part of the column trifid, lateral lobes bearing

anthers, middle one sterile and glandular ; pollen
granular. This, as well as the American species,
should be planted in moor earth, in a frame or shady
border, and defended from severe frost and heavy
rain. They sometimes ripen seeds, by which they
may be increased.

CYPRIS (Muller). A genus of minute crusta-
ceous animals belonging to the sub-class Enlonuistracn
and order Branchiupoda (which see). These little
creatures swim about with great velocity in standing
and fresh waters, their bodies being inclosed in a kind
of bivalve case united by a hinge, which enables them
to close their shells on the approach of danger. They
have only six legs, and the antennae are terminated
by a whorl of hairs like a pencil ; the body is with-
out distinct articulation, terminated posteriorly by a
soft tail. According to Jurine, who has observed
these insects with much attention, the antennas are
employed in swimming, and the two fore legs are
used when the animal creeps upon the surface of
aquatic plants. He says that the second pair of legs
are employed in establishing a motion in the fluid,
whereby small particles of food are directed to the
mouth ; the tail is divided by two fillets, which are
folded together when coming out of the shell ; the
eggs are enclosed in two large bags at the sides of
the body beneath the shell : the female is occupied
for about twelve hours in depositing them upou
aquatic plants. As in the Cyclops, J urine observed
that several generations are capable of being pro-
duced without more than a single coupling having
previously taken place. There are numerous species,
inhabitants of our standing waters. The allied genus,
Cythera of Muller, has eight legs, and the antenna.' are
not terminated by a brush ; the species of this genus
are confined to the salt water of tho ocean.

CY11ENA, (Lamarck). A genus of shells, united
to the genus Cyclas by de Bluinville, of which he
makes it a subdivision with considerable propriety.
These shells are iound in rapid rivers and streams ; they
are thick and .solid, shells, sometimes of great size ;
the apices eroded or carious, covered with a green or
brownish epidermis, and admirably constructed to
endure the rough treatment they experience from
their peculiar habitations ; their classification will be
seen under the article Cyclas.

CYRTAN BRACED, a natural order of dicoty-
ledonous plants, containing only a few genera and
species. By Don and some other botanists it is
denominated Didy»wcarpe<e. It is closely allied to
Gcsneriece, from which, however, it differs in its deeply-
lobed placentas, its siliquose fruit, and the want of
albumen. It also bears a strong .ifiinity to Bignoni-
acefe and Pedalineee, from which it is distinguished by
its herbaceous growth, its minute, indefinite, wingless
seeds, its one-celled ovary, and the membranous tex-
ture of its fruit and placentae. Its essential characters
are : calyx bell-shaped, five-cleft or five-leaved, equal ;
corolla tubular, irregular, five-lobed, somewhat two-
lipped, the lobes imbricated in aestivation; stamens
four, didynamous, of which two are sometimes sterile ;
anthers two-celled ; ovary superior, elongated, sur-
rounded by an annular disc, one-celled, with two
many-seeded placentas, each of which consists of two
diverging plates ; style filiform ; stigma two-lobed,
and consisting of two plates ; fruit capsular or suc-
culent, the former siliquose and two-valved, one-celled,
with double longitudinal placentas, which often cohere,
so as to give the appearance of two cells ; seeds very

CYRTAN THUS — DAFFODIL.

2,15

numerous, minute, suspended, naked or connate ; albu-
men none ; embryo straight cylindrical ; radicle next
tlio hilurn.

The plants belonging to the order are either terres-
trial or parasitic, and usually herbaceous and stemless.
They are sometimes shrubby ; their leaves are gene-
rally opposite and radical, while their flowers are
umbellate and often of a purple or pink colour.

They are found chiefly in the tropical regions of
the Old World. Their properties have not as yet
been determined.

The chief genera are Cyrtandra, Didymocarpus,
Chirita, and Incarvillea.

CYRTA1NTHUS (Hortus Kewensis). A genus
of Cape bulbs, belonging to Hexandria Moiwgynia,
and to the natural order AmaryUidctB. Generic
character : spatha few, or many-flowered on an
umbel ; corolla tubular, curved, enlarged above, limb
erect and six-cleft ; stamens inserted in the tube ;
filaments like threads ; anthers incumbent ; style
protruding ; stigma trifid ; seed-vessel three-celled.
This genus, like many other bulbous plants from the
same country, do well when grown in a pit or frame.
While dormant, very little water should be given,
but a large share when in full growth. Tnrfy loam
and sand, or moor earth, is a suitable soil, and it is well
to shift them just before they commence the summer
growth. They are increased by seeds or offsets.

CYTHEH1A (Lamarck), VENUS (Gmelin). This
genus, notwithstanding the number of its species, was
blended by Linnceus with the genus Venns, contri-
buting to render that an overgrown and badly denned
family. Lamarck observes that a great difficulty
exists in discovering the characters of some of the
species, the shades of difference between them being
so slightly defined ; he has, however, pointed out i\a
a general guide to distinguish them from the genus
Venus, that they have all of them four primary teeth
on one valve, and only three united on the other, with
an isolated cavity, oval, and parallel to the margin,
the lateral teeth divergent to the summit. They are
all marine shells, solid, regular, equivalve, inequi-
lateral, apices equal, recurved, and slightly project-
ing. We are not positively determined upon the
propriety of adopting this genus in its present form,
but give Lamarck's definition until other reasons can
be adduced for changing his arrangement. Our ob-
ject being rather to illustrate the genera of modern
authors than to introduce new ones of our own creation,
which would lead to endless controversy, we never-
theless shall always freely express our opinion where
it is founded upon our own experience, or the well
authenticated observation of intelligent naturalists.

CYTINE^E. A natural order of dicotyledonous
plants, containing only a few genera and species.
This order exhibits, in some degree, the structure of
both the vascular or flowering, and the cellular, or
flowerless class of vegetables — agreeing with the
former in having a distinct floral envelope, and
obvious sexual organs, and with the latter in the
absence of spiral vessels, and the peculiar structure of
its seeds, in which no appearance of radicle or
cotyledons can be detected. Among the phsenogatnic
tribe of plants, this order bears the closest affinity to
Aristolochio;. Its essential characters are : flowers
dioecious, monoecious, or hermaphrodite ; perianth
adherent with the ovary, the limb in several divisions,
which are imbricated in asstivation ; stamens adhering
ia a solid central column, from the apex of which

sometimes arise horned processes ; anthers adnate.
either bursting longitudinally and externally, or
having their inside cellular, and discharging their
pollen by orifices at the apex ; ovary adnate, with the
tube of the perianth one or many-celled, with broad
parietal placentas, which are covered with an inde-
finite number of minute ovules ; fruit an inferior
pulpy berry ; seeds extremely minute.

The species belonging to this order are curious
parasitical brown or colourless plants, having simple
stems, which are covered with a few scales in place
of leaves, and bearing flowers which grow in spikes
or heads, and are sometimes solitary. They are
found in the south of Europe, and also in the eastern
Archipelago.

In general, the properties of the order may be said
to be astringent.

The chief genera are Cytinus and Rofflesia.

Cytinus hypocistis, rape of cistus, is a fleshy pale
yellowish plant, found parasitic on the roots of several
species of Cistus in the south of Europe. The astrin-
gency of the plant is owing to the presence of gallic
acid. An infusion of it is said to precipitate gelatin.

Rafflcsia Arnoldi, or Titan, a native of Sumatra and
Java, where it was first discovered in 1818, is perhaps
the most extraordinary vegetable production in the
world. It has neither stem nor leaves, and consists
only of an enormous flower, three feet and a half in
diameter, and fifteen pounds in weight, which grows
as a parasite on the stem of a kind of vine. The
flower consists of five petals, of a brick-red colour,
and from a quarter to three quarters of an inch in
thickness. In Java it is used as a powerful as-
tringent.

A minute botanical description, and an accurate
figure of the plant, are given in the thirteenth volume
of the Transactions of the Linnaean Society.

CZACKI A (Andrews). An herbaceous perennial,
a native of the south of Europe. It belongs to Hcx-
andria Monogynia, and to the order Aspkodelece. This
plant was formerly known by the names ofAntkericum
liliastrum, and Hemerocallis liliastrum ; but is now as
above, C. liliastrum. It is a good border flower, likes
a rich soil, and is propagated by dividing at the root,
or by seeds.

DACRYDIUM (Solander). A New Zealand
genus, belonging to the class and order Monaecia
Monadelphia, and to the natural order ConifercE.
This tree is nearly allied to the genus Cypress, and
has been, since its introduction into our greenhouses,
called the New Zealand Spruce. It grows well in
loam and moor earth, and may be propagated by
cuttings planted in a pot of sand covered with a hand-
glass. It was called Thalaima cupressina by Sprengel.

DACTYLIS (Linnaeus), is the generic name of
the common British grass, called COCKSFOOT (which
see).

DAFFODIL, is the ordinary name of a very
common British plant, and which is one of the earliest
ornaments of our cottage gardens, as well as of many
of our woods and meadows. It is one of the most
conspicuous species of the Narcissus family, and of
course ranks among the Amaryllidece. Many varieties
of the daffodil are in cultivation, differing from each
other chiefly in bulk, and in the structure of the
flower. But no change has yet taken place in the
original colour of the flower, it still retaining its deer>
vcllow hue.

'286

DAHLIA-DAPHNE.

DAHLIA (Cavanilles). A large south American
tuberous-rooted herbaceous plant, introduced via
Spain in 1789. It belongs to the class and order
Syngencsia superflua of the sexual system, and to the
natural order Composite. This plant is now so com-
mon as to need no specific description. It is met
with everywhere, in the garden of every cottage as
well as of every palace, and among cultivators, in
sach quantities that it is truly astonishing to conceive
where a vent can be had for them. No plant has
been more extensively cultivated than the dahlia, and
no plant has repaid the labour and care bestowed on
it with more varied forms and colours than this. In
form and stature it is a Proteus ; in tints it is a
vegetable prism. Neither is the form nor colours
constant in the same individual. The first flowers
will be single, and of one colour, and the last double,
and of another hue ; and such is the versatility of the
self-colour of a parent, that its seedlings will be
edged, or striped, or blotched, and altogether as unlike
the mother as change of colour can make them.

The dahlia partakes very much of the nature of
the potato ; they are natives of the same quarter of
the world, flourish with us during our summer, and,
being both tuberous-rooted plants, liable to suffer
from frost, require to be taken from the ground and
winter-stored in the same secure manner.

There are many different plans resorted to in grow-
ing the dahlia. Every cultivator aims at having plants
of diminutive tature, bearing numerous, large, and
richly-coloured flowers. For this purpose, the follow-
ing rules are laid down by the most successful growers :
About the 20th of February, the tubers ate taken out
of the dry sand, or from off the shelves in and on
which they have been stored for the winter, and
partly buried in the bark-bed of a hothouse, or the
dry soil of a mild hotbed made up for the purpose.
Here they very quickly produce shoots. When these
are about four inches long, slip them off, and pot
them singly in proper compost, replunge them in the
bed, where they may remain till the season allows of
them being turned out into the borders.

The young plants can seldom be placed out of
doors with safety till after the middle of May ; and if,
at planting time, they be tall or slender, they should
be staked, to prevent injury from wind ; and as they
gain height and volume in the course of the summer
very strong staking will be necessary.

They should not have too rich soil to grow in ;
dung should never be used, because this only en-
courages luxuriance of stems and foliage, without
either expediting flowering, or causing an increase of
size or beauty of the blossoms. The following com-
post is much used and approved of: — One-fourth
mellow loam, one-fourth leaf mould, one-fourth fresh
turf soil, and a like quantity of pit or river sand of
pure quality and white colour.

A very extensive and successful cultivator was
asked the other day whether or not the dahlia-fancy
was nearly over ? He replied, it was only beginning !
for, notwithstanding the vast number of magnificent
varieties now in cultivation, they would soon give
way to other various tinted kinds which are every
year raised from seeds. All are endeavouring to raise
a blue variety — an object, according to Professor
Decandolle, which is never likely to be seen.

DAHOON, is the specific name of a species of
holly found in Carolina, and introduced into our
gardens a? far back as 1726.

DAISY, is the IBellis pere nnis of Linnaeus, and one
of our most common British pasture plants. Its
humble growth, and pretty little composite flowers,
are one of the principal spring ornaments of every
piece of turf. There are three garden varieties of it,
viz. the large double, the double quilled, and the proli-
ferous, or hen-and-chicken daisy, all common in (lower
borders, and sometimes planted as edgings to them.

DALBERGIA (Roxburgh> A genus of stately
trees and twining shrubs, natives of the East Indies.
Linnsean class and order, Diadelphia Decandria, and
natural order Leguminosce. Generic character : calyx
bell-shaped, five-toothed ; keel split at the base ; pod
on a membraneous footstalk, not opening, and con-
taining from one to three seeds. These plants grow
well in sandy loam, and are propagated by cuttings
struck in sand.

DALE A (Linnaeus). A geniis of annual and
perennial herbs, natives of central America. They
belong to Monadelphia Decandria, and to the natural
order Leguminosce. This genus is allied to Psoralia
and Galega. Several species of it are kept in our
greenhouses, and propagated by cuttings, but which,
if exposed to much humidity, are liable to drop off.

DALECHAMPIA (Linnaeus). A climbing tropi-
cal genus of plants, natives of Brazil, belonging toJDoj?-
cia Diandria, and natural order EiiphorbiacccE. These
are seen in stove collections, and are grown in loam
and moor-earth, and are easily propagated by cuttings.

DAMMARA (Rumphius). A genus of lofty-
growing forest trees, of the Pinus family, found at
Amboyna and in New Zealand. This was called
Pinus dammara by Lambert, Agathis loranthifolia
by Salisbury, but now a separate genus as above.
Rooted plants grow freely in sandy loam and moor-
earth, but are very difficult to strike from cuttings.

DAMPIERA'(Robert Brown). A New Holland
genus named in honour of Captain W. Dampier, a
celebrated navigator and botanist. It belongs to
Pentandria Monogynia, and to the natural order
Goodenoviae. It is easily propagated by cuttings.

DANDELION, is the Leontodon taraxacum of
botanists, and one of our most common and conspi-
cuous British weeds. It annoys both the farmer on
his arable land, and the gardener among his crops ;
to the latter it is a disgrace, if suffered to flower.
Nature has done much for this plant, even the
smallest portion of its root, forms a new plant, and its
seeds, being furnished with a most elegant flying
appendage, are transported far and wide by the wind.
On the continent, the leaves, when blanched, are
preferred to endive ; and it is said that, when the
roots are oven-dried and ground to powder, they are
no bad substitute for coffee. Goats, sheep, hares,
and rabbits, are fond of the leaves ; but it is by
no means a desirable plant either in meadows or
pastures.

DAPHNE (Linnaeus). A rather extensive genus
of highly ornamental shrubs, natives of many different
countries, though chiefly European. Linnajan class
and order Octandria Monogyiiia, and natural order
Thymelete. Generic character : calyx corolla-like,
funnel-shaped, withering without dropping off, four-
cleft ; stamens inserted in a double series on the tube ;
anthers roundish ; style very short ; stigma headed :
drupe many-seeded. There are above twenty species
of the genus, and many varieties, some of them
exceedingly ornamental. Some are stove, others
reenhouse, and the greater number hardy. A few

D A P H N I A.

237

are propagated by layers and cuttings, but most are
increased by grafting' on the common wood-laurel
(D. laureola], or on the mezereum. Some of the
smaller sorts grow well in moor-earthy soil, prepared
for American plants, but most of them thrive in any
light soil.

DAPHNIA (Miiller ; MONOCULUS, Linnaeus). A
genus of small crustaceous animals belonging to the
sub-class Entomottraca, order Branchiopoda, and sec-
tion Lophyropoda. The body is of an oblong oval, and
compressed form, evidently enclosed in a bivalve shell,
attached to the skin, having its aperture beneath the
body, and its hinge above the back. The head is
distinct, and produced beneath into a kind of snout,
furnished with a single central small eye. From each
side of the head arises a large antenna-like organ,
having a long basal joint, at the extremity of which
each antenna is divided into two long articulated
branches, each of which supports a number of long
bristles. The functions of these organs in swimming,
being, in fact, the only external apparatus employed
in this motion, has induced M. Straus to regard them
as forelegs, although it is evident, as Midler and Jurine
observed, that they represent the upper antenna; of
the typical crabs. And here we may take occasion to
notice the great difficulty existing in the determina-
tion of the nomenclature of these and other organs, in
groups of animals which recede so entirely from those
which, by common consent, are considered as the
types or normal divisions of the class — and, indeed,
the remark is applicable in every other branch of
the creation. We mention this subject because Dr.
Johnston, the celebrated naturalist of Berwick-upon-
,Tweed, has recently published some observations
bearing upon this view of the question in the Maga-
zine of Natural History, which deserve attention. —
Speaking of one of the species of the shark parasite,
Pandarus alntus, he says : " The student who is anxious
to see how ingeniously the few and simple organs of
this creature can be analysed and resolved into parts
corresponding with the complex organs of the crab \
ami lobster, must consult the interesting memoir of j
Milne Edwards (in the Dictionnaire des Sciences j
Naturelles, vol. 28). I must acknowledge that the
analogies seem not a little imaginary, and the nomen-
clature derived from them is at least faulty, in so far
that it gives, or is apt to give erroneous ideas relative
to function ; the feet-jaws are not subservient to man-
ducation in any way ; the animal is suctorial, and
requires no jaws, and these organs are used solely to
obtain fixedness of place, while the thoracic feet again
are not organs to walk or creep on, but are only cal-
culated for swimming, which, we can conceive, it may
often have occasion to do." Although we admit to
its full extent the soundness of Dr. Johnston's remarks,
in examining an animal per se ; we certainly do feel,
when investigating the same animal with reference to
the structure of the remainder of its class, that the
great difficulty with which the subject is surrounded
ought to make us hesitate before we condemn a series
of names which the strictest analogy has proved to be
correct. Let us, however, look at the matter with
reference to some of the better known examples of
the class. Examine a lobster and a crab, and the
mouth is found to be externally composed of several
pairs of flattened organs, having a transverse motion,
and evidently acting as jaws, whilst the large pair of
fore legs is terminated by great and powerful claws.
Now, examine a spiny lobster (which is not uncom-

monly to be met with in the fishmonger's shop, belong-
ing to the genus Palm urns], and the claws are no
longer to be seen ; in their stead a pair of limbs are
found, having indeed the same number of joints as
claw-legs, but formed like the following legs, and
evidently being employed in locomotion. But will it
be said that the least stretch is, given to our fancy
when we assert that the leg of the Palinurus is the
claw of the lobster in a modified state of development,
or that the former analogically represents the latter ?
Should we incur the chance of ridicule if we describe
the claw of the lobster as a leg, although it be em-
ployed only in prehension, and not in locomotion ? —
Let us, however, now examine one of the little leap-
ing shrimps, so common on the sea coast, and of which
one species abounds in fresh water (Gannnarvs pulex\
and we find the mouth deficient in a certain number
of pairs of organs, but that the legs have obtained an
increase of the same number of pairs ; whilst the
examination of such genera as Sergcstes, Sicyonia, &c.,
clearly demonstrate the transition of structure and
function from mouth organs to legs. Will it be said
that we are adopting a faulty nomenclature, because
we employ a term for these thus transitory organs,
which indicates that they are liable to this singular
kind of transition ? We are aware that, by the un-
thinking, and by those who would lead the unthinking
by the employment of arguments resting upon general
and, as we may say, vulgar observation, rather than
upon accurate but difficult analysis, we should be
ridiculed in asserting that the sucker of the butterfly,
and the under-jaws of a beetle, are the same organs
in a different state of development, and in applying
to both the same term ; but we contend that the argu-
ments which we have above brought forward are
applicable to one case as well as the other; that there
is no fanciful theory to be built upon this strict appli-
cation of the rules of analysis and its consequent an-
alogy, and that when, by the application of the former,
and the adoption of the latter, we arrive with certainty
(and here, as we said in the outset, lies the great diffi-
culty) at the conclusion that a certain organ in one
animal is the representative of an organ in another ani-
mal, we are at liberty in a strictly philosophic view of
the subject to apply to both the same name, although
in common parlance it is necessary, perhaps, to use
different terms indicating the precise functions of each
organ.

Within the shell of the Dnphnia are to be observed
ten small leg-like organs, having the second joint
vesicular, the eight anterior ones being terminated by
a dilated joint, margined with hairs, and serving as
oars, the anterior pair appears, however, to be em-
ployed more especially in prehension ; the posterior
pair of legs is differently constructed. By a curious
provision the eggs are deposited in a dorsal kind of
pouch beneath the shell within which they are hatched ;
at the end of the fifth day the young have acquired
sufficient power to take care of themselves, and are
expelled by the female.

These animals, of which there are numerous species,
are found in fresh and standing water, where they
swim about with very great agility, their large branch-
ing antennae giving them a curious appearance, hence
they form interesting objects for the microscope. —
Their history has been traced, notwithstanding their
minute size, by several eminent observers, the works
of Messrs. Schaeffer, Ramdohr, Straus, and the elder
.lurine may be especially mentioned. By Swammer-

238

dam, also, they were noticed under the name of Putex
aquations nrborescens, the latter name being given to
them in allusion to their branching antennae. It has
been observed as a remarkable circumstance, of which
but few instances occur in nature, that a single impreg-
nation is sufficient for several (six or more) genera-
tions. An analogous law occurs amongst the plant
lice (APHIDES, which see). Occasionally these insects
abound in stagnant water to such a degree as to im-
part to it their own tint ; and as one of the species is
of a red colour, the colour thus imparted to the water
has been supposed to have been caused by blood.

The type of the genus is the species above men-
tioned, or the Monoculus pulcx (Linnseus). It is about
one-twelfth of an inch long, and in spring is of a red
colour, which towards the summer becomes rosy; but at
other seasons it becomes of a greenish white colour.
It is very abundant.

DARNEL, is the Lolium temulentum of Linnaeus,
a species of grass too often found in autumn-sowed
crops of corn. If its seeds, which are nearly as large
as those of rye, are mixed with wheat, and made into
Hour therewith, it renders the bread bitter and un-
wholesome. Indeed, the plant is the dread of
farmers, and the seeds are detested by the miller ;
nor is there any easy way of ridding the wheat of it,
if thrashed together. Hand-picking the sheaves, as
they pass through the hands of the binder and
thrasher, is most effectual, because neither sieve, nor
skreen nor fanners, can separate the darnel from the
wheat ; and if a single grain of the former be seen in
the sack at market, the value of the latter is very
much reduced.

There are two old popular errors relative to this
plant which are not entirely discredited at this day.
The first is, that it is the plant whence the cultivated
wheat was originally obtained, and that wheat may
be grown till it all turns again to darnel ! This is
truly ridiculous ; for, except being in the same natural
order, no two plants can be more unlike in quality
than the Lolium temulentum and the Triticum hyber-
nmn, or common wheat.

It is said to be sometimes used in the manufacture
of low wines, for the purposes of the compounder of
strong liquors ; but this requires confirmation, as it is
«o strongly poisonous.

There is another grass which is sometimes con-
founded with darnel, because it is sown and reaped,
and appears in the sample along with true darnel.
This is the Bromus secalinum, a plant yielding seeds
little inferior to small oats, and of fully as good
quality. This last is called ray, and the other is
called by its right name, darnel, though they are
often mistaken for each other. The one is sweet and
wholesome, the other bitter and stupifying.

DARTER — Anhinga. — A genus of web-footed
birds belonging to the pelican family, and in many of
their appearances and habits nearly allied to the
cormorants. The species are not very well made
out ; but as the nearly allied genus of the cormorants
is subject to considerable varieties of colour, both
with age and with season, it is probable that the birds
which have been noticed as differing a little from
each other are all of (he same species.

The species which is best known, if not the only
species, is the white billed anhinga (Plotus melano-
gaster), which is found in the humid parts by the
rivers, pools, and lagunes near the snores in the
southern part of the United States, in Brazil, and

DARNEL— DARTER.

other parts of South America ; and also on the humid
parts of the west coast of Africa to the south of the
desert.

Darter.

The length is about two feet ten inches ; the wings
long ; the tail very long, the head and neck slender ;
the bill long and perfectly straight ; the mandibles
enlarged at the base, tapering to points at the tip,
and finely serrated in the tomia ; the upper mandible
slightly channelled on each side ; the nostrils linear
in the channels, and concealed by a membrane ; the
tarsi short, but very thick and strong ; all the toes
webbed, the web of the hind toe joining the inner one
as in the cormorant and all the birds which dash into
the water for fish ; the toes armed with crooked
claws. The head is smooth, the colour of the belly
white, all the other parts raven black, except a few
mantlings of white on the tail.

It reposes on trees, where it also nestles, finds its
food in the waters, and is rarely seen on the ground.
When in a state of repose, the long neck is folded
back upon the shoulders, and the bird stands upon
the top of the tree rather than perches. Its perch or
nest is seldom far from the water ; and when the
weather is very sultry, it may be often seen standing
on a branch which projects over the water, and ex-
panding and moving its wings and tail, as if producing
a current of air to cool it. On these occasions it
is said to contemplate its own image in the stream,
but that wants confirmation, though many birds are
known to be much interested with looking-glasses.
If disturbed while thus fanning itself, it drops head
foremost into the water as if shot, or rather struck by
lightning, and instantly disappears, producing very
little rippling, as its pointed bill, slender head and
neck, and finely tapered shoulders, divide the water
with the greatest ease. After a little time it ascends
and shoots out of the water like an arrow at a con-
siderable distance from the place at which it dived.
At other times they fly high over the waters, and
with powerful wing, darting down occasionally and
capturing fish, which they do with great rapidity and
certainty.

They are social birds, always found in packs, and
sometimes in pretty numerous flocks ; and though
they are thus numerous in the same locality, they are
generally fat, as they resort only to those places
where they find plenty of food. They frequent only
the perennial waters ; they do not need to fatigue
themselves by migrating from place to place. Their
nests are rudely formed of sticks in the tops of the

DARWINIA—DASYURUS.

trees, in a manner resembling those of the cormorants
but as the places in which they build (often in the
mangroves) are not very accessible on account of
their swampiness, and as they are besides not a little
pestilent, the family habits of the birds are not very
well known. They are birds, however, which form a
feature of the peculiar localities which they inhabit.
They are not much disturbed, as their flesh is rank
and bad.

DARWINIA (Rudge). A genus of two orna-
mental shrubs from New Holland. Linnae;m class
and order Decandria Monogynia, and natural order
Rhamnece. Generic character : — calyx like a tubular
coralla, limb five cleft ; corolla none ; stamens very
short, in a double series on the throat of the calyx ;
anthers oblong ; style long and protruding. Easily
propagated by cuttings.

DASYCHIRA (Hiibner). A genus of lepidopter-
ous insects, belonging to the family of Moths, Arctiidce,
having the wings rather long, and the palpi very short
and hairy. The spiral tongue is obliterated, and the
fore legs very hairy ; the caterpillars are very hairy,
being furnished with pale tufts of hairs, which render
them very conspicuous, and from which they have
obtained the name of tussocks ; the cocoon is of a
close texture, having the hairs of which these tufts
are composed worked into its meshes. There are two
British species, the dark tussock (Borqbyx fascelina,
Linngeus), about two inches in expanse ; and the
pale tussock (B. pudibundn, Linnceus), a common
species in the neighbourhood of London, rather
larger than the preceding, having the wings of a
•whitish ash colour, the anterior pair having a central
lunate spot, and three waved streaks of a brown
colour. In Kent, the caterpillars are found in the
hop gardens, and are called hop dogs.

DASYPODA (Latreille). A genus of hymen-
opterous insects, belonging to the section Mettifera,
and family Andrenida;, or short -tongued bees. The
species are of moderate size ; the hind legs, especially
in the females, are, as the generic name implies, very
hairy, the basal joint of the tarsi being very long, and
furnished with a complete brush of hairs ; the wings
have two complete sub-marginal cells ; and the
tongue is lance-shaped, and folded back upon the
upper surface of the horny mentum. There is only
one British species of this genus, and which was
dedicated to Swammerdam by Mr. Kirby, in his
History of the English Bees, in which work we find
the following account of the habits of this pretty and
interesting species : — " No person, at first sight,
would take the male and the female of M. Swammer-
dnmdla for the same species, so widely do they differ
in most particulars ; nor should I have suspected
that there was any connection between them, had I
not discovered their retreat. In the month of
August, 1797, I saw a female take her flight from a
grassy declivity of a southern aspect, which was
much entangled with roots and shrubs. Upon ex-
amining this spot more narrowly, I discovered a
number of small burrows, each of which had a little
heap of sand, which had been excavated from it, lying
before it. In some of these burrows I saw our
melitta (Swammcrdamellci) sitting, with her head at
the mouth, enjoying the sunshine. At the same time
I observed many other insects flying about the spot.
Upon my attempting to take them, they disappeared,
but they soon returned to their amusement. With
some difficulty I at length succeeded in taking one,

and it proved to be the male." — Vol. i. p. 176. The
body is of a black colour, clothed with pale fulvous or
ochreous hairs, the abdomen of the female with three
whitish belts, and the hind legs with orange hairs. It
is rather a rare species, although occasionally met
with in certain localities in some quantities. The
food of the larvae consists of pollen paste, stored up
in cells by the female, which prefers the pollen ot
such flowers, as Crepu, Hceracium and Leontodon.

DASYPOGON (Meigen). A genus of dipterous
insects, belonging to the section Tanystoma and family
AsilidcE. The body is long and thickened, often
woolly ; the antennae are shorter than the head, with
the terminal style distinct and conical, not terminated
by a bristle, and the proboscis is straight.

This is an extensive exotic and European genus,
forty-four European species having been described by
Meigen ; two only have, however, been found in this
country'; namely, D. punctatm (Fabricius), which is
exceedingly rare ; and D. brcvirostris, forming the
type of Mr. Stephens' genus Lcptarthrus, established
upon the very slender form of the posterior tarsi in
the males. This species is of a black colour, with
the four posterior tibiae red at the base. We have
met with it in the beginning of July, in some abun-
dance, amongst grass, in the Devil's Ditch, on New-
market Heath.

DASYTES (Paykull). A genus of coleopterous
insects belonging to the section Pcntamera, subsection
Seiricornes, and family Mdyridce, having the antennae'
as long as the head and thorax, the body narrow and
sometimes linear, the claws of the tarsi generally fur-
nished with a membranous appendage, palpi filiform,
and body destitute of the vesicular lobes visible in the
Malachii. The name of the genus is of Greek extrac-
tion, and is given to these insects in consequence of
the numerous hairs with which they are clothed. But
little is known of the early history of these insects,
which, in the perfect state, are generally found upon
grass and umbelliferous flowers, in hedges, trees, &c;
The species are numerous, and often prettily varie-
gated in their colours ; the indigenous species are of
small size. Dejean, in his new Catalogue, gives
seventy-four species, the majority of which are Euro-
pean and Brazilian. Stephens gives eight British
species, of which the D. cceruJeus of Fabricius is one
of the prettiest, being of a bright blue colour. It is
about a quarter of an inch long, and is found on the
southern coast. Some of the other species present
various curious peculiarities of structure, such as the
legs spined and twisted, the body quite linear, &c.

DASYURUS (rough and hairy tail) a genus of
marsupial mammalia, peculiar to Australia, and in
some of the species peculiar to the larger island,
New Holland, and in others to Van Diemen's Land.
It is worthy of inquiry what geological epoch of a
country requires the presence of the marsupial or
pouched mammalia in it ; but the reasonable conjec-
ture, from the fact of at least one marsupial animal
being found in a fossil state in Europe, while within
the period of history there has not been a living one
found native nearer than America, would lead to the
supposition that they are adapted for rather an early,
age, as respects the formation of the peculiar locality,
if, according to what appears to be the most rational
theory on the subject, we are to suppose that coun-
tries like their productions have a beginning, a dura-
tion, and an end ; and that as they in all probability
outlive races of animals, just as races outlive genera-

240

D AS Y U RUS.

tions, the earth will be able to produce country after
country, for a succession of changes, of the term of
whose performance we can frame no conjecture, before
the powers of the globe become unfit for the produc-
tion of another new land ; and so the ages of its
duration are at last numbered, and it is by some great
power, which is still an instrument in the hands of
its maker, scattered in viewless atoms through the
regions of space. This is a subject of great interest
as well as curiosity, to which we shall briefly revert
in the article Marsupiata, and more at large in the
general article Mammalia, so that we must in the
mean time confine ourselves to a very short notice
of the genus, of which the systematic name stands at
the head of this article.

The animals of this genus, some of which are how-
ever but imperfectly known, are almost, if not alto-
gether, the only carnivorous mammalia of the exten-
sive countries in which alone they are found ; for
there is little doubt that the dingo, or wild dog, (which,
however, may be said to be in a state of domestica-
tion, bearing the same relation to the domestication
of the dog in Europe, as the state of the native of
Australia bears to European civilisation), the dingo is,
probably, nay certainly, an importation by the Malays,
•which have long resorted to the north-eastern parts
of New Holland to fish for trepang (Holothuria), for
the supply of the Chinese market,

It is a remarkable fact that the carnivorous animals
of Australia should be more so than the marsupial
animals of other countries, while animals that are
wholly herbivorous are also in the same country
furnished with similar appendages. But though the
fact is striking, we are not in the present state of our
knowledge able to deduce from it any conclusion
which enables us to connect any thing in the physical
geography of Australia, which peculiarly adapts it to
the habits of those pouched animals. We cannot let
slip this first opportunity which has occurred in the
order of alphabetical arrangement of noticing these
singular animals, which unite indications of a physio-
logical nature more than any other class of animals,
without mentioning how desirable it would be to pay
somewhat more attention than is usually paid to those
circumstances, of a nature bearing upon both (of
course) which link peculiar animals to their peculiar
localities. In many instances, there is no doubt that
the abundance of its most favourite food which the
locality affords, has a very considerable influence in
determining the animal towards that locality ; but this
can hold true only in the case of migrant animals, and
will not apply to such genera as that under conside-
ration, which have uo means of crossing the sea by
which their country is surrounded. The genus Dasy-
urus must be a native of Australia ; and what is
more, as there are some which are met with in the
smaller island only, and some only in the greater, and
as the differences between these are of too decided a
character for our admitting the possibility of the one
being a climatal variety of the other ; and, further,
as there has been no artificial training calculated in
the least to change either one or other of them, the
question becomes one of still greater interest to every
one who would wish to obtain a solution of the most
interesting problem in the whole range of national
history — why animals should, in their physiological
structure, differ from each other ? — why should almost
the whole of the native mammalia of Australia bring
forward their young by a double gestation, the one in

an internal uterus, and the other in an abdominal
pouch, while in Southern Africa, the latitude of which
is the same and the climate not very dissimilar, there
is not a single animal having even a fundamental ves-
tige of this double gestation.

The genus Dasyurus has been, by various natural-
ist.*, divided into several genera; but as there are very
strong resemblances between them all, we shall in-
clude our brief notices of them all in one article. In-
deed, there is a characteristic physiognomy which
runs through the whole of the marsupial animals, what-
ever may be the character of their food, their habits,
their size, and even the forms of their bodies, which
shows them to be a race actually belonging to a dif-
ferent system, and apparently a different epoch, from
the common placental mammalia, of one internal
gestation. "Whether their fur be rough or smooth, it
does not appear of the same texture as that of our
mammalia ; and there is, generally speaking, a rug-
gedness in their appearance, and a want of specula-
tion in their expression, which makes them look as if
they were not at home in the present period of the
world's history, and did not form an appropriate part
of its economy.

Their generic characters are : six grinders or cheek
teeth in each jaw, of which the two anterior ones are
compressed and trenchant, and the remaining four
tuberculous, resembling those of insectivorous mam-
malia ; their incisive teeth are small in size, eight in
the upper jaw, and six in the under ; and they are
furnished with four canines ; but the teeth altogether
have a ragged appearance compared with those of
the placental carnivora, and at the same time there is
an apparent want of vigour in the jaws. They have
on all the feet five toes, which are long, and very dis-
tinct in their phalanges, and armed with crooked
claws, with the exception of the thumbs on the hind
feet, which are little else than rudimental, and without
any claws. The last phalange of the hind toes is
furnished with a tuft of long hair, which extends for-
wards, and covers the claws. Sexually, the male
agree with the opossums in the bifurcation of the
organ, and in some other particulars, and there is that
air of correspondence which we have remarked, as
being characteristic of all the marsupiata ; but they are
without the climbing feet of the opossums, which,
from the reversed thumb, are enabled to take hold of
branches much in the same manner as the ai-ai.
The ears are rather short and covered with hair ; the
tail is long and hairy, generally thick at its insertion,
and in some of the species it is compressed laterally ;
but it is not prehensile in any of the species, neither
areany of themcapableof climbing for their food. They
live much in concealment, and resemble in their habits
the fox and the polecat, more than they do any other
of the mammalia of Europe. They are all ravenous
in proportion to their size ; but their food vaiies consi-
derably. The structure of their cheek teeth shows that
they all can subsist upon insects ; and it is probable
that these constitute the principal food of the smaller
ones. But those which are ot more formidable size
prey upon the smaller kangaroos, the ornithorhynchus,
and bats, which are very numerous in some parts of
the country. They also prey along the shores, eat-
ing indiscriminately mollusca, fish, and any carrion or
garbage however putrid. They are also said to plun-
der the poultry yards of the colonists in waste places,
and also to destroy lambs. Their dispositions are bad,
but even the largest of them have not courage in pro-

D A S Y U R U S.

241

portion to their strength, and it is doubtful it' they
ever incline to attack the large kangaroo, or even the
emu, unless they can ccuno upon it by stealth ; the
colonists have given them the names of those Euro-
pean and other animals to which they fancied they
had the greatest resemblance, such as cats, wolves,
hyaenas, leopards, and other names ; but there does
not appear to be a single native animal, or any one of
those genera, in the whole of Australia.

There are at least eight species of the genus, three
of which are natives of Van Diemen's Land, and the
other h've of New Holland ; but it is probable that
as the latter country becomes better known, more
species may be discovered.

Dasyurus cynocephahts. This species is of Van
Diemen's Land, and it differs so much from the others
in some of its characters, that it has been made a
separate genus under the name ofT/iylncimis. It is an
animal of considerable size, being about three feet and
a half in length, exclusive of the tail, which measures
about two feet. It stands one foot one at the shoul-
der, and one foot eleven at the rump, — the marsupial
animals being almost, without exception, higher and
more stoutly made in their hinder parts than forwards,
which forms a very distinguishing character between
them and the generality of animals which are not
marsupial.

The tail of this species is very peculiar, and dif-
ferent from that of all the others of the genus, being
compressed or flattened sideways. The covering of
the animal is smooth and short, of a dull yellowish
brown in the ground colour, paler on the under part,
and mixed with grey on the back ; and across the
loins and rump there are six or seven transverse bands
of black, two of which extend down the thighs. This
animal squats on its hams in the attitude of a dog, but
its expression is dull and stupid, and it has neither the
sagacity nor the activity of the predatory animals of
Europe. It is generally found near the shores, and
lodges in deep caverns and clefts of the rocks, so that
it is not often seen in proportion to its numbers.

Dasyurus ursinus. This is also a native of Van
Diemen's Land, and not found, so far as is known,
in the larger island. It is smaller than the former
species, and different in all its characters and habits,
so that the generic distinctions between them appear
to be correct; and it is probable that, when they come
to be better understood, it may be necessary to sub-
divide them into more than two genera, though they
will still require to be kept together as a very natural
group.

The present species is about two feet and a half
long, and the tail about nine inches, and unlike that
of the last species, it is naked on the under side, and
slightly prehensile. The whole body and upper part
of the tail are covered with shaggy black hair, marked
on the back with a few obscure white blotches. It is
in consequence of this rough covering that it gets the
name of the bear ; and its peculiarly repulsive aspect
has procured it from the woodsmen of Van Diemen's
Land, who are not over chary in their vocabulary, the
name of "the Devil." Its manners, like those of most
of the genus, are very little known : it lives in obscu-
rity, and though, from the character of its teeth, which
are the same as those of the former, it in all proba-
bility feeds a good deal upon insects, reptiles, and its
fellow-lodgers the bats, yet it is said to range more
extensively, to be more fierce and daring, and to com-
mit greater depredations upon poultry and lambs than

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

the former one ; still, however, when seen, for that is
not often, as it is in the depths of caves during the
day, it is near the shore, and very generally close by
the margin of the waters.

It is worthy of a passing remark, as throwing some
light upon the natural state of Australia, and this is a
subject to which much attention should be paid, be-
cause we are in possession of its history, clearly and
fully from the very first time that a sod of it was broken
by the spade, that both the human inhabitants and
the predatory animals of this part of the world were
found only on the margin of the waters, chiefly on the
sea-shore, but also, at least seasonally, on the banks
of the rivers, and that the chief subsistence of both
was fish, and at some seasons of the year shelled
mollusca. This may, perhaps, account for the very
small number of even these species of predatory
animals in regions so extensive, and also for the extir-
pation of them from the larger island, supposing them
once to have been found there, at least it is a remark-
able instance of man and the predatory animals being
rivals for the very same food in the very same locali-
ties ; and we may naturally suppose that rude as were
the aborigines of these countries they would exert
themselves to extirpate the dasyuri with the same
assiduity that the wolf and the fox have been hunted
down in Europe, and the former extirpated in many
parts of it. The wars of wild men against wild ani-
mals, would not only be an exceedingly curious sub-
ject in itself, but if it were properly studied it would
throw considerable light upon the progressive his-
tory, at least, of the predatory part of the animal
kingdom.

Dasyurus minimus. This is also described as a
native of Van Diemen's Land, and has been much
more readily met with than either of the other two.
It is a very small animal, not above four inches in
length, and the tail short, with very short hair, the fur
on the body is soft to the touch, and reddish at the
points. Its head is conical, and its muzzle very small.
Altogether it has fully as much resemblance to the
opossum as to the other members of this group. Very
little, however, is known of its history.

Dasyurus macrourns. This species is found in New
Holland, and was for some time described as belong-
ing to the weasel family, and named as such by Shaw
who was long employed in the naming of beasts,
though sometimes not very happily ; but then the
fault was not his, as he had only the skin to name them
from, and of course had no means of judging of their
structure, or assigning them a place in the system, in
accordance with their nature. This species is styled
the spotted marten, and sometimes the wild cat by the
colonists, which has led those who make up works
from popular sayings, without having the means of
ascertaining their truth, to include the cat among the
native animals of Australia, though there is no reason
to believe that there is a single individual of the feline
group indigenous to the country.

This species is about a foot and a half long, with a
tail nearly the same length. Its fur is very thick, and
soft to the touch, the colour otter brown, relieved with
spots of pure white, which are very small on the back,
but yet larger on the sides, and the belly is entirely
white. The head is maroon red, and the feet yel-
lowish. The two incisive teeth in the middle are more
produced than the others, which gives the mouth of
the animal a ragged appearance. This is a nocturnal
animal,

Q

242

DATE P A L M — D A U C U S.

There is some obscurity about the distinctions of
the other species, as it is doubtful whether some of
them which have been described from single specimens
may not be the young of the one under consideration.
The investigation of those disputed points could have
little interest for the general reader, and therefore we
must refer such as are anxious to be belter acquainted
with the carnivorous mammalia of Australia, to the
systematic works ; and, from the zeal and ability of
many of those who are now investigating the natural
history of the colony in all its departments, we have
no doubt that information w ill soon be obtained which
will be highly satisfactory ; and, therefore, it would be
ill-judged on our part to hazard conjecture while in
expectation of the truth.

DATE PALM is the Phcenlv dactylifera of
Linnaeus. This is one of the most useful of the
palms, it yielding every year great crops of fine rich
fruit, forming not only a valuable part of the food of
the lower orders of society, but a vast surplus for
exportation to other countries.

Persia, Palestine, and the northern states of Africa
appear to be the most congenial climates for the
successful culture and growth of the date tree. In
some of those countries there are extensive groves
of them, furnishing employment and wealth to the
generally indolent natives. The stem is not so lofty
as some of the other palms, but it is comparatively
much thicker and very rugged from the persisting
bases of the fallen fronds. When the fruit are ripe,
they are shaken from the pendent spadix by one man,
while others hold a cloth, extended below, to receive
the falling fruit. These are afterwards sorted and
prepared for packing in jars or boxes for sale.

Young date trees may be raised from the stones of
the imported fruit ; and as they have much divided
and persisting foliage, they add an interesting variety
to the stove collection. If planted in a tropical con-
servatory, and allowed time and space, there is no
doubt but they would flower and fruit in this country,
which would, at least, be a great curiosity to British
botanists.

DATISCE^E. A natural order of dicotyledonous
plants containing only a few genera and species. In
its habit ami the structure of its fruit, it bears a close
resemblance to Acxedaccfe, and seems to be a con-
necting link between that order and Urticece. Its
essential characters are : flowers dioecious ; perianth
of the male flowers divided into several pieces, that
of the females free, toothed ; stamens several; anthers
two-celled, membranous, linear, bursting longitudi-
nally ; ovary one-celled, with polyspermous parietal
placentas ; stigmas equal in number to the placentas,
recurved ; fruit capsular, opening at the top, one-
celled, with polyspermous parietal placentas ; seeds
enveloped in a membranous, finely reticulated integu-
ment ; embryo straight, without albumen, its radicle
turned towards the hilum.

The plants belonging to this order are strong hardy
herbs, with alternate compound leaves without stipules,
and axillary racemose flowers. From their resem-
blance to hemp, some of them receive the name of
bastard hemp.

They are found in the northern parts of America
and Asia, as well as in the Indian Archipelago, and
the southern countries of Europe.

Their properties, so far as known, are bitter and
tonic.

The chief genera are Datisca and Tetrameles.

DATURA (Linnaeus). A genus of herbaceous
annuals, natives of many foreign countries, one of
which the 1). stramonium has become naturalised and
grows wild in England. They generally bear large
white or purple flowers, but are of a short duration.
They belong to the fifth class of Linnaeus, and to the
natural order Solanece. Seeds.

DAUBENTON I A (Decandolle). South American
evergreen shrubs, belonging to Diadelpkia Decnndria,
and natural order LegummoscE, Generic character : —
calyx bell-shaped, five-toothed ; keel obtuse ; pod on
a footstalk ; linear, with four longitudinal wings ;
pod contracted between the seeds. This genus has
been consecutivaly called Pisridia, Robinirr, Aschyno-
mene, till settled by Decandolle as above. These
plants thrive in loam and moor-earth, and are easily
propagated by cuttings in the usual manner.

DAUCUS (Linnaeus). Is the generic name given
to the family to which the common carrot belongs.
The genus ranks in the fifth class and second order
of the sexual system, and in the natural order Umbel-
lifercE. Some few are annuals, but they are mostly
biennials : of all our cultivated culinary vegetables,
no one shows the effects of domestication more deci-
dedly than the carrot. It is found wild on every dry
hedge-bank, every where in Britain, as well as on the
continent. In its wild state, it is a diminutive plant,
with an underground stein, no bigger than a small
radish. In former times the daucus was held in
high estimation as a medicine ; a decoction of it
being considered useful as a diuretic, or solvent of the
human calculus. It might be at first introduced into
the garden of the herbalist for its medical properties
only, and there showing a tendency to incn ase in
bulk, might be in the course of time removed from
the simpler's shop to the green larder of the cook.

The improvement of the plant in bulk must have
been gradually accomplished. It is unreasonable to
suppose that a wild plant would suddenly, in any
season or in any place, swell from a mere stick to a
portly tuber at once.

How or when it became a culinary plant is, per-
haps, not now known ; but looking at the wild one on
its native bank, and on the full-grown Altringham
variety on the green grocer's stall, we are compelled
to acknowledge that there is not a stronger proof of
the ameliorating effects of culture exemplified in the
whole range of vegetation.

And it is not only an improved bulk of the common
wild plant that has been the only result of skill and
industry, many varieties have been originated by
attentive cultivators ; so that there are large and late
sorts for feeding cattle, and small, early, and more
delicately flavoured sorts for the table ; in all fif-
teen varieties, differing in size, colour, shape, or earli-
ness.

Cultivation. As carrots may be used at any stage
of their growth, and as they are most tender when
young, seed is sown at many different seasons. The
first sowing may be made about the twentieth of
February ; but this sowing should occupy only one
or two narrow beds on a dry, finely-digged, south
border. Here the seedlings may be forwarded and
protected from the keen winds of March by a tliin
covering of dry fern leaves or pea-straw ; and in
order that such covering may not harbour slugs, snails,
and worms, it should be from time to time dusted with
hot lime, which will save the seedlings from destruc-
tion. Carrots are also sowed about the same time on

D A V I E S I A— D E A T H ' S - II E A D M () T H.

slight hotbeds and under glazed frames, to get them
ready for table as early in the year as possible.

The principal crop of carrots either in the garden
or fields may be sowed any time between the twen-
tieth day of March and the tenth of April ; and suc-
cessive sowings should be made in every month till
September. This is, however, only necessary where
young carrots are constantly required in every month
of the year.

The seed requires to be prepared for sowing by
being well rubbed between the hands until divested
of the fringe of little hooks with which they are in-
vested when gathered ; otherwise they cling to each
other so closely, that they cannot be equally distri-
buted by the sower. When prepared, the seeds may
be sowed either in shallow drills one foot apart, or
broad-cast on beds three and a half feet wide with
alleys between. Whichever way the seeds are sown
the plants will require to be thinned to eight-inch
distances apart either by hand or hoe. This thinning
is usually performed in dry weather, and when the
plants are two or three inches high. When this is
done the crop only requires to be kept free from
weeds during summer, and until fit to be taken up
for storing.

Carrots are usually taken from the ground about
the end of October. A dry day is most suitable,
because the tubers are easier freed from the earth ;
and being sorted and topped, and quite dry, are then
stored in sand in a dry shed or hovel for winter and
spring use.

Carrots thrive best in deep sandy loam, and are
larger or smaller, according as this is rich or poor.
Their form indicates that a deep loose soil is requi-
site ; and, therefore, deep digging or trenching the
ground intended for carrots is indispensably neces-
sary. It is not customary to dung for this crop ;
because if not trenched in very deep, the tubers are
liable to be deformed, becoming forked rather than
straight. The roots are liable to be disfigured by the
larva of an insect which eats into the rind ; this de-
fect occurs mostly in old garden ground ; and more
especially to the crops sowed in March. If sowed on
fresh loamy land they suffer less from the worm ; and
the sowings made in April and May are not eaten so
much as the early crops.

The garden varieties of carrot are as follow : —

Early Horn, Long Orauge, Fine Surrey,

Scarlet Horn, Short Orange, Altringhatn.

There are also three or four other varieties named
from places where they are most successfully culti-
vated. But the early horn is always chosen for
the first crops, whether on hot beds, or in the open
ground, and also for the last sowings in August and
September ; and which latter, if they gain any useable
size, require covering from frost. For principal crops
in gardens or fields, the long orange and Altringham
are preferred, because of their larger growth and fit-
ness tor farming purposes.

Some cottagers, and even professional gardeners
who are situate on stiff-clayed soils, are obliged to
have recourse to a peculiar mode of culture, in order
to procure large and handsome carrots. On the
ground intended for them, ranks of holes are made
by line with an iron-shod taper dibber, fifteen inches
in length ; the holes are filled with fine rich compost,
and on the surface of each two or three seeds are
dropped and slightly covered. When the plants
have risen out of harm's way, one only is left in eiifh

hole to grow to perfection. The leading radicle finds
a tree course downwards, and the whole root neces-
sarily receives a fine form, and arrives at considerable
magnitude.

DAVIESIA (Smith). A genus of New Holland
evergreen shrubs, Linnaean class and order Decandria
Monogyiaa, and natural order Leguminoses. Generic
character : calyx bracteate, bell-turbinate, tm--
toothed. Corolla, vexillum inversely-heart-shaped,
erectly rerlexed. Keel having short wings. Style
straight and persisting. Pod compressed, one-seeded,
lower suture dilated, and somewhat trapezium-shaped.
These pretty plants thrive well in our green-houses
potted in loam and moor-earth, and are propagated
by cuttings struck in sand under a hand-glass and
without bottom heat.

DAY LILY. Is the genus Hemcrocallis of Lin-
naeus and other botanists. They (the four species)
are hardy, herbaceous plants of rank growth, and suit-
able for borders of shrubberies, and among plants of
tall growth.

DEADLY CARROT. Is the Thapsia villosa of
Linnaeus, an umbelliferous genus, found in the south
of Europe, two species of which are considered
highly poisonous.

DEADLY NIGHTSHADE. Is the Atropa
Belladonna of Linnaeus. It belongs to Pentandria
Monogynia, and to the natural order Solanece. It is
a strong growing plant, with large ovate leaves, purple
bell-shaped flowers, succeeded by dark-red coloured
berries, as large as small cherries. The plant is often
found growing in rubbish of old buildings, and on
waste ground about farm-houses.

DEAD NETTLK. Is the Galeobdolon luteum
of Smith, a common British plant found in moist,
shady places : it receives its name from its resem-
blance to a nettle, but without its stinging property.

DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH. The largest species
of lepidopterous insects found in England, and syste-
matically known by the name of Acherontia atropos.
By Linnaeus, indeed, it was placed in the genus Sphinx,
but as it differs in several material points from the
majority of the insects of which that genus is composed,
Ochsenheimer, a German lepidopterist, separated it
under the generic, or rather, perhaps, subgeneric name
of Acherontia. The specific name Atropos (the third of
the fates in the heathen mythology, who was supposed
to cut the thread of life,) is given to it in reference to
the very peculiar markings upon the back of the thorax,
which, as the English name indicates, very closely re-
sembles a skull or death's-head. And here we "may
be allowed to notice the admirable plan introduced bv
Liniurus of giving to each distinct species of animal,
a name, consisting of a single word, whereby in gene-
ral, some peculiarity of the creature is indicated.
Before the introduction of this system it was neces-
sary, in mentioning any animal, to give a short de-
scription of it, as for instance, of the insect in ques-
tion, it would have been necessary to speak of the
•' Acherontia atrofws" as " a large moth having a
skull marked upon the back." Whereas by the con-
cise and elegant terms invented by Linnasus, all this
circumlocution is avoided, and by the employment of
a generic and a single specific word, the animal is
known through the whole of the scientific world.

The Death's-head moth measures from four to five
inches in expanse, the fore wings are of a dark brown
colour, variegated with grey, brown, and black, with
a white central spot ; the bind \\n-xs are clay-Coloured

Q2

244

D E A T H WAT C H.

with two deutiite black fascia ; the abdomen, which is
very robust, is also clay-coloured with black bands,
and a black central dorsal line. The thorax is
blackish grey, with a large central, pale, irregular

Death's head Moth.

patch, in which are two round black spots. " This
grand species," observes Mr. Haworth, Lepidoptera
Britannica, p. 56, " is at once the largest and the
only one as yet discovered of this order of insects
which is endowed with the powers of voice, almost
every individual of the insect world, the hymenopte-
rous part excepted, is mute. My tutor in entomology
once had a male and female of A. atropos brought him
alive in the winged state, both of which, when he had
occasion to destroy them, uttered plaintive sounds,
which he compared to the squeaking of a mouse."
He then proceeds to give an account of the various
sounds produced by insects, all of which we may
observe are not caused, as in the vertebrated animals,
by the aid of air which is respired, but by some ex-
ternal apparatus designed for such particular purpose.
The cry of the Death's-head moth does not appear
however (as Messrs. Kirby and Spence observe) to
be produced by the wings, for when they as well as
the thorax and abdomen are held down, the cries of
the insect become still louder ; according to Schrceter,
the noise is accompanied by the rubbing of the tongue
against the head, — whilst Roesel considers that it is
produced by the faction of the head and thorax.
Reaumur, however, thought it was caused by the
friction of the tongue against the palpi, as he found
that it ceased when the tongue was unfolded by the
assistance of a pin ; as was also the case when the
palpi were prevented from touching it : so also, on
cutting off one of the palpi, the noise became more
feeble. M. Passerini, however, has lately investigated
the subject anatomically, and traced the origin of the
sound to the interior of the head, in which he disco-
vered a cavity at the passage into which the muscles
are placed for impelling and expelling air : the cause,
as he thinks, of the sound in question. M. Dumeril
has since discovered a sort of tympanum stretched
over the cavity, like, as he says, to the head of a
drum (tendue comme la peau d'un tambour). Other
opinions have been given by Messrs. Lorrey and
Duponchel, for which we must refer to Mr. Stephens'
invaluable work, vol. 1, p. 117. The caterpillar of
this insect, also, if alanned, draws suddenly back,
making at the same time a rather loud noise, some-
what like the crack of an electric spark.

Our readers will not require to bib reminded of the
numerous instances in which the accidental appear-
ance of insects in more than ordinary numbers has
been regarded by the vulgar with astonishment and
alarm : hence it is not surprising that the sudden
visitation of the Death's-head moth should be regarded
as ominous and as the forerunner of death. Latreille,
(Hist. Nat. 14, 128,) tells us that it appeared one year

in Briltany in great numbers, and as at this period
an epidemic malady was niging with much violence,
the mortality was attributed by the ignorant to the
harmless moth.

Another peculiarity connected with the history of
this moth, consists in its attacking bee-hives, ravaging
the honey, and dispersing the inhabitants. It is sin-
gular that a creature, with only the advantage of size,
hould dare, without sting or shield, singly to attack
in their strongholds a people so numerous and so well
armed with means of defence ; and still more singular
that, amongst so many thousands of bees, it should
always contend victoriously. Huber, who first noticed
this circumstance, thus reasons upon the subject. —
" A moth is the dread of superstitious people, may it
not also exercise a secret influence over insects, and
liave the faculty either by sound or some other means
of paralyzing their courage. May not such sounds as
inspire the vulgar with dread, be also the dread of
bees." The same author states, that he was eye-wit-
ness of the curious fact that the bees, as if expecting
their enemy had barricaded themselves by means of
a thick wall of propolis and wax, completely obstruct-
ing the entrance of the hive, but penetrated by pass-
ages for one or two workers at a time, thus securing
themselves, by an admirable sagacity, against the in-
efficiency of their weapons and their courage. " The
art of warfare amongst bees," he adds, " is, therefore,
not restricted to attacking their enemies ; they know
also how to construct ramparts as shelter from thoir
enterprises, from the part of simple soldiers they pass
to engineers," instructing us that at the season when
the moth appears, when too wasps and bees attack
the hive, it is advantageous to narrow the entrances
to the hive, so as to prevent the depredations of these
obnoxious insects.

The moth appears in the winged state at the close
of the autumn, the caterpillar being full fed at the end
of September, and a very few weeks only being re-
quired to bring the moth to perfection. The cater-
pillar is very large and handsome, being of a pale
greenish yellow colour spotted with black, with seve-
ral lateral oblique stripes of beautiful blue and green.
It feeds upon the potato, as well as occasionally on
the jasmine, artfully concealing itself in the day time
on such parts of the stems of the plants as are best
covered with overshadowing leaves, but although they
feed well, and complete their transformation to chry-
salis, it is difficult to obtain them in the winged state,
generally dying during their pupation. " Perhaps,"
observes Mr. Haworth, " in a state of nature they
perform their extraordinary metamorphoses deeper
in the ground, and consequently in a moister and
more equal temperature than most other species of
Lepidoptera; and, if so, the cause of their perishing
in our breeding cages is, undoubtedly, owing to their
having in these cages too scanty and too dry a soil."
We have known specimens obtained in the winged
state, by placing them upon potatoes growing in pots
in the open air, plunged into the earth, and the plant
covered with gauze. The caterpillar has a curious
horn upon the back, near the extremity of the body.

DEATH WATCH. A small coleopterous insect
belonging to the section Pentamera, family Ptinidte,
and genus Anobium, which lives in timber and wood-
work, and makes a slight noise, somewhat like the
ticking of a watch. As in the Death's-head moth, we
have here an instance of that lamentable pronene?s
amongst the vulgar and uneducated, for investing tlie

D E C A C E R A — D E C A P O I) A.

'245

most simple and harmless objects with the most fea
ful powers. Swammerdam, speaking of this insec
says, " I have likewise the small beetle, which bavin
firmly and strongly fixed its foremost legs, and bet
and put its head through the space between their
makes a continued noise in old pieces of wood, wali
and ceilings, which is sometimes so loud that upo
bearing it people have been persuaded that nocturna
hobgoblins, ghosts and fairies wandered about then
I think that this may be properly called Sonicephalui
or the noisy-headed beetle." Hereon we may observ
that Swammerdam's countrymen, the Dutch, do no
from his account appear to be so far gone in super
stition as the English, by whom this noise is con
sidered ominous of death. Thus Gay, in one of hi
pastoral dirges, says —

The wether's bell

Before the drooping flock toll'd forth her knell,
Ihe solemn death-watch clicked the hour she died.

And S\"ift thus satirically alluded to the same insect

A wood worm,
' That lies in old wood, like a hare in her form,

With ttcth or with ci:iws it will bite or will scratch,

And chambermaids christen this v-.nn a Death-watch i

Hccause, like a watch, it always cries click ;

'Ihen woe be to those in the hini-e who are sick,

For sure as a frun they will five- up the ^host,

If the maggot cries click when it .scratches the post.

The insect, generally considered as the real death-
watch, and of which various figures have been pub-
lished in popular works upon natural history, is the
Anobium tcsselatum, having the wing-covers of a dark
brown colour, spotted with tesselated markings.
Tliis species, however, is found in old standing trees ;
whereas it is evident that the insect in question must
be one which feeds in-doors upon timber worked up
into articles of furniture. At the present time (the
beginning of July), clicking is to be distinctly heard
upon the ceiling and window-frames of houses in the
country produced by various specimens of this insect
(which we have figured from living specimens),
and which is of a much smaller size, and more uniform
colour than the preceding, being the Anobium striatum.
This noise has been considered to be the call or signal
by which the sexes are mutually attracted to each
other, and as analogous to the call of birds. The
general number of successive distinct strokes is from
nine to eleven, given in pretty quick succession, and
repeated at uncertain intervals ; and in old houses,
where the insects are numerous, they may be heard
during the warm weather almost ever}' hour of the
day. The noise exactly resembles that made by
beating moderately hard with the finger on a table,
or rather, we should say, to scratching the top of a
chip-box with the point of a pin. Mr. Stackhouse
long ago observed the manner in which the noise
is produced. The insect raises itself upon its
hinder legs, and, with the body somewhat inclined,
beats its head with great force and agility against the
place on which it stands. On disturbing it, the head
is drawn close to the front of the thorax, so as to
have the forehead quite perpendicular ; the legs are
folded up, and the antennas lodged in recesses
between the head and thorax, so as to be quite
imperceptible. From these, and other recorded
observations, it is evident that, in its perfect state,
the insect makes this ticking noise, and also that the
noise is produced when (he insect is at large. We

have, however, more constantly heard the noise in
the interior of wood-work, and it has hence ap-
peared more than probable that the noise (and it is
now frequently to be heard within the wood, when
the insects are arriving at their beetle state) is
caused by the newly -hatched beetle eating its way
through the wood to arrive at the daylight. The
metamorphosis of the anobia take place near the
surface, the larva taking the precaution of making
its way so close to the surface, that only a very little
space remains for the perfect anobia to bore
through. Hence we infer that the noise is pro-
duced by the action of the jaws of the beetle upon
the wood, and in this manner only can we account
for the fact of the ticking being heard (see Mag.
Nat. History, September, 1834) throughout the
winter, at a time when the insect is in the larva
state, the larva itself also producing the same noise
by the similar action of its powerful jaws, in gnawing
away the wood, so as to leave but a feeble barrier
through which the perfect insect can pierce with
facility. Olivier indeed supposes that it is for the
purpose of ascertaining the thickness of this barrier
that the noise is occasioned. We, however, would
refer it to the simple action of gnawing, which, of
course, is applicable both to the larva and perfect
states. There are not fewer than eleven species of
beetles described by Stephens as belonging to the
onus Anobium, and it is probable that the majority
possess the same powers of making the licking
noise above described ; but it is evident that the true
death-watch must be that species which resides in
old wood furniture, and which we have figured
jeneath.

Death Watch, natural size and magnified.

There is also another insect common in old wood
urniture, books, &c., both sexes of which have the
ower of making a ticking noise, but not so loud as
he others. This is the Atropos ttgnariut, for an
account of which see our article ATKOPOS.

DECACERA. In the arrangement of modern
malacology constituted the second family of the first
rder CryptodibrancMata ; first class, Cephalophora, in-
luding the genera Loligo and Sepia.

DECAPODA— Ten-legged. An order of crus-
aceous animals, comprising all the larger species of
ic class, and well characterised in having ten legs ;
le head intimately united with the thorax, and covered
y a large shell or shield ; a month, consisting of
umerous pairs of organs, of which the outer pairs, in
ome of the species are elongated ; but the most cha-
acteristic trait consists in the existence of gills or
ranchia1, more or less numerous, fixed in a peculiar
avity beneath the sides of the shell.

This order is divided into two sections, namely,
ic Brachyura, having the abdomen shorter than tlie
icrax, beneath which it is folded in repose, arid not
urnished with a terminal fan-like tail : the common
rab is an example of the first section ; and second
e Macroura having the abdomen longer than the

246

DECIDUOUS CYPRESS -DEER.

thorax, beneath which ii is not folded at rest, and is
furnished with a fan-like tail. The lobster, prawn,
&c. are examples of this section. See also Crustacea
and Brachyura.

DECIDUOUS CYPRESS. Is the Schubertia
disticha of Mirbel, the Taxodium distiehum of Richard,
and Cupressus disticha of Linnaeus. Richard's name
is most generally adopted. It is one of our most
beautiful deciduous forest trees.

DECU MARIA (Linnaeus). A genus of North
American twining shrubs, belonging to Dodecandria
Monogynia, and to the natural order Myrtaceae.
Generic character : calyx bell-shaped, limb of from
seven to ten teeth. Corolla consisting1 of from seven
to ten oblong petals. Stamens numerous, filaments
filiform, anthers twinned : style cylindrical ; stigma a
many rayed head ; capsule valveless, many-celled,
seeds oblong. This plant is used in gardens for
covering trellises or naked walls, grows in any soil,
and is propagated by cuttings.

DEER — Cervus. A genus of ruminant mammalia,
having solid horns, which consist entirety of bone,
without any case or sheathing of horny matter ; so
that, though they are the most largely developed and
splendid head-gear in the whole of the animal king-
dom, they are in truth not horns but bones, covered
in their early stage with skin and hair, exposed when
they come to maturity, and ultimately healed off at
the close of the season ; the peduncle to which the
horn is attached being a complete cicatrix, and not a
sore, and it soon skins over, under which skin a new
horn begins to sprout soon after the old one is shed,
comes to maturity, and is shed again ; and so on
during the life of the animal.

These annual horns belong only to the male in most
of the species ; but in the rein-deer the female also is
furnished with horns, only smaller than those of the
other sex. The case of this species supplies us with
a physiological fact, from which we can form a pretty
accurate judgment of the connection which this im-
mense annual production of horns, that is of the matter
of bone, has with the general economy of the animals.
The horns of the two sexes come to full maturity at
nearly the same time, that is, as the pairing time ap-
proaches, or the " rutting time" as it is called in the
case of animals of this genus. As soon as this im-
portant period in the economy of the animals is over,
the horns of the male begin to loosen at their bases,
which they do first at the circumference, and gradu-
ully inward, till they drop off. The horns of the female
again remain the whole of the winter, and do not drop
off until her grand labour in the continuation of the
race is accomplished — that is, not till after she has
dropt her fawns. What purpose these horns may
answer in the economy of generation, it is not easy
to say ; but as they continue in the male only till
pairing, and in the female during the whole period of
gestation, and as they drop off in both as soon as these
great labours of the year is over, it is evident that they
have some connexion with the sexual system of both,
and that in the female this connection is with the
uterine, and not with the mammary system.

In all the ruminatia, as will be more particularly
explained in our general article upon that most valu-
able class of animals, there seems to be a much greater
concentration of the energy of the animal upon the
time, the act, and the progress of reproduction, than
there is in many other races, though we find it more
«r less in most of those which are exclusively vege-

table feeders, and it always becomes less and less ;:s
the animals become more carnivorous. Though we
might expect this, it is so important a fact in physio-
logy, that we shall offer a passing remark upon it. —
All the grazing, or vegetable feeding animals, have
labour in the procuring of their food, and those which
browse the thin herbage upon the thirsty plains have
considerable labour ; and, therefore, they are com-
pactly made, clean limbed, and fleet-footed. But not
one of them requires to take its food by force or effort,
to chase it as the dog does, or spring upon it as the
cat. The food being fixed to the ground is peaceably
taken ; and, therefore, the general habit of the animal
is not a habit of excitement. Unless, therefore, the
animal lives under the exciting heat of an inter-tropical
climate, we can hardly suppose that there would be
sufficient excitement in it to bring it up to a degree
of energy required for nature's greatest work. On the
other hand, the carnivorous animal is kept in a state
of constafit excitement, in watching for, in coursing,
in capturing, and very often in fighting severely be-
fore it overcomes that upon which it feeds ; and,
besides this, the food of the carnivorous animal is
more stimulating than the grass, the green leaves, the
withered branches, the bark, and, in the case of some
the present genus, the dry lichen, upon which the
ruminatia feed. It should seem, therefore, that a
means is required of keeping up throughout the year,
a portion at least of this energy which requires to be
called forth at one period of it ; and the elaboration of
horns appears to be the means by which this energy
is kept up in the genus Cervus.

This genus affords many other confirmations of
this, in the different productions of the appendages of
the head — to which, by the way, it is belter to give
the name of antlers than of horns, even though the
antler is strictly speaking the " brow snag " of the
horn ; attire is the hunter's name for them. In
proportion as they inhabit near the equator, the horns
are small ; and as we come toward the polar countries
they increase in size, and acquire their maximum in
the extreme north, where a single pair of horns of the
American elk, or moose deer, often weigh as much
as sixty pounds. In the south, too, the females never
have any horns, nor even in the polar countries till
we come to the very last species, the rein-deer, which
dwells with man, and is a most useful servant of all
work, and means of subsistence to him in climates
where no other vegetable feeder can exist.

In the north, too, we find the deer of much larger
stature than they are in warmer climates ; and this is
an additional confirmation of the necessity of furnish-
ing the vegetable feeders of the extreme latitudes with
some permanent energy beyond that which is required
for the mere purpose of feeding, in order that they
may continue their race, keep their post, and preserve
the balance of nature in those climates where life has,
for full four months of the year, to maintain itself
against cold sufficiently intense for freezing mercury,
while for two or three months in the opposite part of
the year, every living thing is scorched by the ardour
of a never- setting sun. It is in these grand adapta-
tions that we see most strikingly the oneness of the
system of creation, and catch glimpses of that splendid
science, that incomprehensible wisdom of design, which
runs through the whole, and which preaches more
eloquently than the tongues of men or of angels.

Those who have not thought much upon such sub-
jects may be apt to imagine that, as the horns of deer

DEER.

S47

are in highest perfection at the time when the ener-
gies of the animals are required for the performance
of those functions, at the close of which the horns drop
off, the energy is most occupied in the horn, at the
very same time that it is required for the other' pur-
pose ; and that, therefore, the horn is a source of divi-
sion and weakening of the energ}', and not a concen-
tration and strengthening of it. But when they call
to mind that it is during the growth, and not when
full grown, that the horn exhausts the energy of the
animal, that the growth is most rapid in the early
Mage, and that the growth ceases when the skin comes
«>ii' and the bony part of the horn is left bare, it will
nt. once be seen that there is no ground whatever for
such a supposition, but quite the reverse. There is
something very analogous to this in the flowering of
plants, which will probably suggest itself to the reader,
but the introduction of it here would be out of place.

With the exception of these climatal adaptations,
the deer form a more distinct and perfect genus
.than any of the other ruminantia, or, indeed, than
almost of any group of any other order whatever; and, '
therefore, though there have been some attempts to
separate them into sub-genera, the distinctions upon J
which these have been founded are more fanciful than
real. The species are tolerably distinct, even when
they are fonnd in the same countries ; but even there
••ach species affects a different pasture ; and, there-
fore, though we describe them according to their
different appearances, the real distinction is one of
sociality.

Here we are somewhat unexpectedly brought back
to the physiological doctrine which we are attempting,
for the first time we believe that it has been attempted,
to explain — or, perhaps, to speak more becomingly,
which we are seeking to bring to the notice of those
who are capable of explaining it; for the explanation
points much farther than even most physiologists are
in the habit of looking, or even dreaming (for they
dream homewards, and not on the long view) ; and
\ve >rery much suspect that, if clearly worked out with
constant adherence to the facts, and the whole volume
of nature open to the investigator, it would be found
us wide as the entire working creation, both animal
and vegetable.

We may just notice that among birds, the gallina-
ceous ones, and others which, though not exclusively
vegetable feeders, as indeed no birds are, yet never
fight with what they eat, are the ones in which the
male undergoes the greatest change of plumage as the
pairing season comes on.

There is yet another point : among those birds
which change their plumage toward the pairing time,
the species in which the males are polygamous have
the greatest and the richest change of feather in them.
So also in the deer there is one species which is not
polygamous, and in this species there is less develop-
ment of horns, and also less excitement in the season
of heat than there is in those where the males are
polygamous.

The chief ground of specific distinction in the genus
( 't-rrits is the form and production of the horns ; and
this we might be prepared to expect from what has
been already stated, or if we are to take the forms of
the horns as an observed fact (which of course it is),
it is a further argument in favour of what has been
stated.

Deer have been in all ages of the world among the
most interesting of its wild inhabitants. There is

majesty in their appearance, there is fleetness in their
march ; their flesh is more esteemed than that of
any other animals ; and when they are " in pride of
grease" as it is called, they are in higher condition
than any other animals ever are in a state of nature,
or can be brought to by all the arts of the most, skil-
ful cultivator. Beeves and muttons may be fatted ad
nauseam; but after a moderate point, as the fat accu-
mulates the flavour goes ; and a haunch of venison
from the hill is, in point both of juiciness and of flavour,
superior to all the beef or mutton that ever was fatted.
As a proof of its superior wholesomeness we may add,
that, even in the hottest weather, venison is hardly
ripe in double the time in which beef or mutton would
be putrid. The common-blue bottle fly tells tales in
this respect : that insect is attracted by the scent of
incipient putridity, as blue bottles may be observed
most plentiful about those butchers'-shops where both
the shop and the meat are in the worst, condition.

The fleetness and watchfulness of deer, the bold-
ness with which the males turn on their pursuers when
pressed to extremities, and their value when caught,
have m^de them at all times the most favourite game
with the hunter, both for killing1 with missiles in the
woods, and for running down by dogs in the open
places. Indeed, it is highly probable that it was the
deer which taught mankind the use of the bow in many
countries in the earlier periods of their history, though
Canning in his exquisite satire, " The Progress of
Cruelty," bestows the honour of having suggested this
invention upon the pig — in his eager desire to eat
which, the wild man applied the barken string to the
bended branch, laid the pointed reed across, drew
with all his might, let slip, and

Twang sounds the string, the hissing arrow flies,
And darkness seals the gentle porker's eyes.

While great part of England was covered by exten-
sive forests of timber, the shooting of deer formed, in
the season, the occupation of kings, and feudal lords
and their vassals, and, except in trying their weapons
upon each other, it was almost their only amusement.
It also formed a stock theme with the romancers and
poets of the time ; and, though it is partly true and
partly fabulous, there are few of the remains of the
lore of the middle ages which has had more readers
and admirers than the story of Robin Hood and his
band in Sherwood Forest. Nor in the more open
parts of the country was the wholesale slaughter of
the deer by driving in one way or other a less cele-
brated employment ; and when " the stout Earl of
Northumberland*' wished to bring the feud with the
Douglas to an issue, he had recourse to a deer-stealing
incursion upon the grounds of the latter : —

To drive the deer with hound and born,

Earl Percy took his way;
The child may rue that is unhorn,

The hunting of that day —

as is said and sung in the very beautiful and truly
national ballad of Chevy Chase. Innumerable other
instances might be cited to show the importance which
our forefathers attached to these animals ; and it is
probable, nay it is certain, that to the fondness both
of men of rank and of men of no rank for deer, we are
indebted for the brightest ornament not only of Eng-
lish literature, but of the literature of all nations. —
William Spakspeare was a deer stealer, and as such
was driven from his native county to seek shelter in
the British metropolis, and make his way there the

248

DEER.

best way he could ; and, from the miserable doggrel
in which he vented his indignation against those who
had punished him, there is every reason to conclude
that if Shakspeare had remained in the country, he
never would have been the author of one readable
line Therefore, the deer may be said to have given
us more than man by force of armies, or by strength
of reasoning, could have given us — it has given us
Shakspeare.

Deer belong more to wild than to cultivated nature ;
and more to the rude and early stages of countries than
to the more polished and advanced periods. They are
also inhabitants of northern climates rather than of cen-
tral ones ; and in the extreme south are unknown as na-
tive animals. They are found throughout the continent
of Europe and Asia, and in the more proximate Asiatic
isles ; but there is not a vestige of them or of their
remains in any of the islands of the great South Sea,
in Australia, or in Africa, as native animals. They
are found, indeed, in the north of Africa, on the slopes
of the mountains of Atlas, but there is not the least
doubt that though now naturalised there, they were
originally imported : there is not a vestige of them to
the south or the east of the desert of Sahara, though
all that part of Africa swarms with antelopes ; and
the southmost of the Asiatic isles in which they are
met with is Timor, where the species is very small,
and by no means abundant.

In America, their grand head-quarters is the north,
though they continue downwards along the mountain
slopes, and in the extensive forests, a good way into
South America ; but although there are several
species in that part of the western continent, it does
not appear that there is even there any one which
can, with propriety, be called an Antarctic or southern
deer. Thus we may regard them as being properly
animals not merely of the northern hemisphere, but
of the extreme north, for the species which are found
there are of far greater size than those farther to the
south, and also more abundant in numbers.

Although some of the species are Comparatively
tame, and one in particular, the rein-deer of the north
of Europe, is in a state of complete domestication,
yet, as a genus, they cannot be ranked among
domestic animals, and they fade away before the
procuress of cultivation. In the state of nature, they,
generally speaking, frequent grounds which are
rather rich, and most of them either the woods or
thoir margins. Some of them are fond of marshes,
and the banks of streams, and even take to the water
at a certain season of the year, and all of them can
swim. In locality and food the species differ a good
deal, so that we shall mention these particulars along
with our notice of the species themselves.

The following are the generic characters : eight
incisive teeth in the lower jaw, but none in the upper ;
no canine teeth in most of the species, though some
have them in the upper jaw ; six grinders above and
below on each side ; head long, terminated by a
muzzle, and with the upper lip more or less elongated
and prehensile in the different species ; the ears
very large ; the eyes bright and clear, with the pupil
elongated ; sub-orbital sinuses, or slits under the eyes,
in the greater number; tongue soft ; no gall-bladder;
the female with four mammae in the groin.

As, in the former part of this article, our physiolo-
gical remarks on the use of the horns in the economy
of the animal took our attention from the description
of them, and as that is a sort of technical matter,

which it is sometimes reckoned unclassical not to
know, we shall mention a few of the particulars
The ring of irregular protuberances which surround
the horn at its base is called the burr ; the main stem
of the horn is called the beam ; the divisions on the
upper part of the beam are called branches, or snags ;
and the branches next the brows, of which there is
one, two, or three, according to the species, and
there are occasionally, but rarely, some irregularities
in the same species, are called antlers ; and the
first of these is called the brow-antler, and the second
the bezantler. The rudimental horns, which appear
the first year, but they do not make their appearance
till the year is out, that is, till the summer after they
are dropped, are called prickets, and the little pro-
tuberances on them, which mark the rudimental
antlers and branches, are called dags, which name is
also sometimes given to the prickets. In some of
the species, and it is most remarkable in the southern
ones, the beams and branches are all slender, and
nearly round in their sections ; but in other species,
and most conspicuously in the most northern ones,
the beams, and in some also the antlers, have flattened
extremities, which are called palms ; and when the
beam is much palmated, the terminating branches
are usually short snags. In the stag, when full grown,
snags appear on the front edge of the upper part of
the beam, or the forward branch, in which case the
animal is called a " fore-hand stag."

During the time of its growth the horn is sentient,
and bleeds when wounded, and a wound upon it will
sometimes occasion the production of an additional
snag. The following is an account of the progress of
the horn : — At first a slight protuberance appears
covered by the skin, where a great number of vessels
are spread, for a considerable degree of heat is per-
ceptible under it. Soon the protuberance rises, and
in some species branches off into ramifications. After
a certain period, the development is arrested, the
skin, which had continued to stretch and extend over
the whole production, loses its heat, dies, becomes
dry, and finishes by tearing off in rags. At length
the horn itself becomes detached, and falls ; a slight
hemorrhage follows from the skin, or the part of the
frontal which sustained it. In the course of twenty-
four hours, in healthy deer, the vessels which emitted
the blood are closed, a thin pellicle covers the
wound, and immediately the reproduction of a new
horn becomes apparent ; the extremity of the vessels
swells, a burr expands around the base where the late
horn stood, resembling those on the bark of trees
when they have received wounds which begin to
cicatrize ; the burr widens, while the vessels which
proceed from the bone deposit osseous matter.
Hitherto the development of the horn has been
uniform, the vessels have extended in a certain
direction, always the same in each species ; but
when they have arrived at a certain point, they
separate, some continuing as before, while others
turn into new, but always invariable directions, if no
accident impedes them. The horns of each year
come up with a branch or snag more than in the
preceding year, so that they serve for a sort of
register of the age of the animal. No male deer is
said to be " of the first head," till there are five snags
or branches ; and after that he is counted, and ranks
in hunters' honours by the number. When he ia
" a stag of ten," he is accounted a noble animal.

In giving an account of the various species of deer

DEER.

240

we shall take them as nearly as possible in the order of
their locality from the north southward, subdividing
them at the same time into a sort of three groups,
which, however, are also local groups — those which
are found both in the eastern continent and in
America — those which are found in the eastern con-
tinent only — and those which are found in America
only.

I. DEER COMMON TO BOTH CONTINENTS.
REIN-DEER (Cervus tarandus). This species is
the Keen of the Laplanders, and the Carabou of the
natives of the extreme north of America. There
have been doubts raised as to its identity in the two
continents, but these doubts do not appear to be well
founded, as in both countries the manners and general
appearance of the animal are the same. It is the
mqst polar of the whole genus, subsisting where no
other ruminant animal could subsist, arid upon food
which could support scarcely any other animal ; and
it is as gentle in its manners as it is endearing, being-
all in aTl to the Laplanders, where no other animal
can be of use to them, either for labour, or, in as far
as ruminant animals are concerned, for food. In the
more northerly parts of Europe it is alone, but in the
north of America it blends with some of the other
species. This is not, however, owing to any difference
in the animal, but to the difference of the countries.
The winter in Lapland is much milder than in the
north of America, even in latitudes much farther to
the south ; and the Lapland summer is not so burning
as that of America ; therefore there is a difference
in the seasonal shifting of the quarters of the animal.
In Lapland it goes to the mountain in summer, and
descends to the valleys in winter ; and as the sea is
not frozen even at North Cape, the cold of the
Lapland winter is not excessively intense. At the
north of America, on the other hand, the sea is com-
pletely frozen over, the cold is extreme, and, from
the depth of the snow, food for the rein-deer there is
altogether inaccessible. Iu consequence of this, it
migrates more to the south, or farther in latitude than
in Europe.

Rein-deer.

Rein-deer vary considerably in size ; and we have
this proof, that though they are docile, and breed in
a domestic state, that state is not quite congenial to
them ; that they are always of more diminutive size
when domesticated than when wild, even though
they should happen to be better fed. In the wild
state, the full-grown male is equal in size to the full-

grown stag, or perhaps even larger, but its legs are
more clumsy, its body is more squat, and, altogether,
it is a much less graceful, as well as a much less
courageous animal, than the stag. In the general
shape of its body, it bears some slight resemblance to
a calf. The neck is very short, the head carried in a
line with the back, and, altogether, the aspect of the
animal is heavy. Its body is covered with two sorts
of hair, one having considerable resemblance to the
hair of the rest of the genus, and, like that, having a
narrow neck at the insertion of each hair into the
skin. This form of the individual hairs is, so far as
we are aware, common to the whole genus, and
might, on that account, be made a character, as it is
not met with in almost any other animal. The hair
has something the form of an old-fashioned lance,
which was thickened toward the handle, to give it
stiffness, then had a narrow place for the hand to
grasp, and beyond that another thick portion for
fixing, or setting on the rest. In the hair of the deer
the latter portion is inserted in the skin, a small part
close to the skin is a mere filament, and then the
remaining, or principal part of the hair, is thick, and
tapers to a point. In consequence of this formation,
the hair easily separates ; but it lies flat, and does
not stand on end when the animal is excited, as hairs
do which are thick at the roots. This answers to not
unimportant purposes. In the first place, when the
animal is exposed to rain, the hairs fall flat over each
other, and throw off the water like a roof; and in
the second place, these flexible-rooted hairs give way
to the air much better than stiffly-rooted ones would
do, and, in consequence, the animal is less fatigued
while making its escape from its enemies. Besides
this hair, which is common to all the genus, the rein-
deer has short woolly hair among the roots, as is the
case with most animals of very cold climates. In
winter, there is a third kind of hair, which is long,
only thinly scattered over the upper part of the body
chiefly, and of a whitish colour.

The colour of the rein-deer hardly admits of any
definite description, for there are great varieties even
in the wild state, and, as we might expect, the colours
of the domesticated ones vary almost as much as
those of cattle. There is what is understood to be a
sort of typical marking, namely, brownish, with white,
round the mouth and the horns, and also on the
shoulders, extending in a bar to the flanks and rump,
and under the tail, and white also round the hoofs.
The belly, and insides of the limbs, are also generally
white ; but some of the wild ones, and many of the
tame, are white all over. The fawns are generally
brown on the upper part, reddish on the under, and
dappled with white spots.

The horns of the male are generally much pro-
duced and broadly palmated, being sometimes as
much as four feet long ; those of the females are
much smaller, and have the palms narrower. No
fixed account or representation can be given of the
form of the fawns, but in general the beams are
thrown back from the forehead, and then bent
forward with a considerable sweep. On their front
sides they bear two branches, which are sometimes
simple antlers, and at other times palmated or
snagged. The remaining snags are on the back of
the curves.

The males drop, or, as it is called, mew their horns
about the month of November ; and the females,
when not in fawn, drop theirs at the same time ; but,

230

D E E It.

as already mentioned, the females which arc in lawn
do not drop their horns till they have brought forth.
It' the male is mutilated, it has the effect of making
the horns remain on for one whole year ; but after
this they are shed at the same season as those of the
entire animals ; and, as is the case with cattle, they
increase rather than diminish after the operation.
This might be expected, inasmuch as the energy
which is divided in the entire animal goes wholly to
the formation of horns in the other. The rutting
season is in October, at which time the males growl
something in the same manner as fallow-deer. They
have an apparatus in the throat, which we believe has
not been detected in any other of the genus, namely,
a membranous sac, between the thyroid cartilage
and the os hyoidcs, opening by a slit into the larynx,
and capable of being inflated with air, somewhat
similar to that in the howling monkeys ; but what
effect this may have on the sounds which they utter
has not been ascertained.

The fawns are usually dropped in May, they are
one or two, but rarely three ; when dropped they
have rndimental horns, and these become snags an
inch in height in the course of two weeks, so that in
this respect they differ from all the deer of warmer
climates.

They are excellent swimmers, and ride so lightly
in the water, that, half their backs are above the sur-
face ; their broad feet strike with great force, and
impel them so fast in the strongest currents and across
the broadest rivers, that a boat well-manned can
scarcely keep pace with them. When defending
themselves, they strike downwards with the horns,
but do not gore ; they kick with violence, and repel
the wolf with success ; but their most dangerous
enemy is the glutton, who is reported to drop down
upon them from the branch of some tree while they
are off their guard, and both that animal and the
bear are apt to watch in trees, and drop down upon
them as they pass. The feet of the rein-deer pro-
duce a cracking noise when they run, by the hoofs
striking against each other.

Rein-deer are remarkably well provided with the
means of finding their way. The nictitating mem-
branes of their eyes move with nearly the same faci-
lity as those of birds ; so that they can proceed
directly against the heavy falls of snow which are so
common in that country in the early part of the win-
ter. Their sense of smelling is equally acute ; and
by that alone they can not only find their way in the
darkest nights, but conduct their master with perfect
safety in his sledge, at times and through places where
human sagacity would be utterly at fault.

There is no animal, indeed, so serviceable to man
in any country as the rein-deer is to the Laplander ;
and if he were deprived of it he could not by possi-
bility exist. With its assistance, however, his con-
dition is more comfortable than one would readily
suppose, and there is nothing which he could substi-
tute in the place of this most useful animal. It feeds
upon those plants which form almost the extreme of
vegetation,— the buds and twigs of the small arctic
shrubs, and the lichens which grow abundantly where
nothing else will grow ; and thus he does not require
to sow grasses, prepare meadows, or cultivate any sort
of vegetable, but may be said to obtain the labour
of this excellent servant for nothing. All that he has
to do is to protect his little herd from the bear and
the glutton, and guide them to their changes of pas-

ture as the different seasons of the year require. In
the wild state they are gregarious, and when domes-
ticated they are perfectly social, very mtich attached
to eacli other, and obedient to the orders of ilie herds-
man ; an elder of the herd generally takes the lead,
ml the rest follow him with a most willing obedience.
The herdsman teaches this leader to obey his whistle,
and the rest will follow after, at almost any signal,
such as a stamp of the foot, or even a look. They
draw the sledge over the snow with great rapiditv,
and apparently with less fatigue than any other ani-
mals of draught. No doubt the hard and smooth
surface of the snow is a sort of railway, or at least
bears some resemblance to it ; but still it is no small
feat for two deer to draw a man in a sledge over
"three skies" of the Lapland mountains in twenty-
hours. A " sky" is a mode of estimating distance
understood in most mountainous countries ; it was
once very general in the islands of Scotland, and is
still used in those places where there are no roads.
It means a new horizon, which the traveller obtains
every time that he comes upon the top of a new hill.
These skies are, of course, of very different lengths ;
but from the character of the country the average
length of three taken together may be reckoned at
not less than one hundred miles ; and we are not
aware of any other means by which a man could be
drawn the same distance over snow during twenty-
four hours of a sunless night.

But this is not the only advantage which the Lap-
lander derives from the rein-deer : the flesh of the
animal is the most substantial part of his food, and its
milk serves him in various ways. It is used recent ;
it is coagulated into cheese, the whey is used for
drink ; and we believe in some instances fermented
and distilled into a liquor something analogous to that
which the Tartars make from the milk of the mare.
The skin of the rein-deer, which is warm and strong
and pliant, serves for a clothing, for blankets, for
covering the sledge, and for almost every purpose for
which we apply cloth or leather. The tendons, which
are very tough, furnish thread ; the horns are manu-
factured into a variety of domestic utensils ; and even
the intestines of the animal have their domestic uses,
while the tongues, which are considered luxuries in
most countries, give even the poor Laplander an ex-
port trade, and make even him a citizen of the world.

There is no country in Europe so much infested
with the plague of flies as Lapland, especially in the
swampy and shady places, where the gnats are almost
as tormenting as the musqnitoes in tropical countries ;
to escape from these the Laplander and his herd take
to the open hill in the summer ; but even there the
animal is not secure from insect annoyance. Even
in the most elevated and airy of its mountain pas-
tures, the rein-deer gad-fly (CEstris tarundus, Linnaeus,)
finds out the herd, and the hum of a single insect is
sufficient to throw the whole into a state of the
greatest agitation. The object of the fly is to deposit
its eggs under the skin of the animal, which it gene-
rally succeeds in doing ; and it is said to be when
the rein-deer are about two years old that they are
most annoyed by this insect.

Estimated by this, his most valuable possession,
the Laplander is often a man of no small wealth, for
his herd sometimes amounts to as many as a thousand ;
and as two is the average production of each, and the
number of females far exceeds that of males, this herd
furnishes him with an abundant supply of all the

Elk

D E E R.

251

necessaries of life ; and from the different numbers
which different individuals possess, and some being
without any, there are grandees and paupers in the
wastes of Lapland, as well as in the most fertile and
thickly populated countries in the world.

In Lapland properly so called, and in all the
country northward to the Gulf of Bothnia, we believe
that there are now few rein-deer in a wild state, if,
indeed, there are any ; neither are they met with in
the southern or lowland parts of Sweden ; but
in the central province of that country they are still
to be found in considerable numbers. It does not
appear that the species ever existed in Europe to the
south of the Baltic, though as we proceed eastward
and the cold extends farther to the south, we find
rein-deer farther to the south also. They range east-
ward over the whole continent to Asia, and north-
ward to all the isles of the Frozen Ocean, whose icy
plains afford a ready passage ; and from the struc-
ture of their feet they are well adapted for making-
rapid way upon the ice ; and, indeed, it forms a better
passage than the land, as it is more level, and always
covered with a coating of snow. They are met with
in Spitzbergen, which is near the eighteenth parallel
of latitude, where man, notwithstanding his flexibi-
lity to climate and his mental resources, is unable
to endure the winter. On their migrations rein-
deer no doubt frequently meet with their polar
neighbour the white bear ; but we believe he is
unable to come up with him on the ice.

The circumstance of no trace even of the bones of
the rein-deer being found in a fossil state in central or
southern Europe, decides that in all ages of the world,
this has been strictly a polar animal ; and the fact of
its seeking the verge of the Frozen Ocean, and jour-
neying upon the ice, proof against the very extreme
of the winter's cold, readily accounts for the fact of
its being found both in Europe and in America. The
continents approach one another very closely on the
side of Siberia ; and even in the summer months the
ice is so little way to the northward of Behring's
Strait, that even then it would be no very arduous
march for a reindeer to pass from Asia to America,
or the reverse. It is probable, however, that the
intercourse, if it is still kept up, takes place during the
winter ; because at that season the animals descend,
while in summer they seek the elevated spots.

These circumstances and the facts which we have
mentioned of the variations of colour to which rein-
deer are liable, clearly establish that though there
may be variations in the average colour of the rein-
deer of Europe, and the Carabou, as it is called in
America, that they are the same identical species.
The horns are said to differ at least in some of those
which have been considered as varieties in America ;
but these appendages differ so much even in the same
herd, and sometimes in the same animal, for the one
horn is often very differently shaped from the other,
that no species or variety can be founded upon any
variation of these. Whether the rein-deer passes
along the polar ice from Spitzbergen to Greenland,
we have no means of ascertaining. It is possible,
though not very likely, that with the exception of this
one break of its range, this most polar of all the rumi-
natia has unbroken command of the entire circuit
of the earth ; and on this, its peculiar locality, as well
as for its usefulness to man, in the land of his greatest
necessities, the rein-deer is one of the most interesting
of animals.

Before we pass to another species it may not be
amiss to notice merely for the purpose of showing
how unlikely it is to be true, that some naturalists
have described the fossil horns found at Etampe in
France, to which horns an animal has with most gra-
tuitous ingenuity been added, under the name of
Cervus Guetardi, as belonging to the reindeer ; but
from what we have said of the variable nature of the
horns, as well as from what we may call the demon-
stration by the late Cnvier, who was at once the most
learned and the most cautious judge in such matters,
there seems decidedly to be no truth whatever in the
assertion.

THE ELK (Cervus alces). This is the next in order
in geographical position, its locality lying immediately
to the southward of that of the reindeer, and the two
bivoculating with each other on their confines in the
eastern continent, and still more in the western.
The elk, which was once pretty numerous in central
Europe, is now rare in that quarter of the world,
though it is still not unknown. In America it is
much more abundant, and inhabits further to the
south, its head-quarters being the vicinity of the great
lakes, and the forests on both sides of the St. Law-
rence ; the whole of Canada in fact with New
Brunswick, and also westward, at least as far as the
RockyMountains.which come down upon the northern
ocean, or rather the Polar Sea to the westward of the
debouchure of Mackenzie's River, in about 135°
west longitude. It is not mentioned that the animal
has occurred to the westward of those mountains, and,
though not impossible, it is not by any means so pro-
bable as that the reindeer should be there ; for besides
the elk having a less polarly situated locality, its
habits are different. The reindeer is adapted to the
dry lichen-clad hill in the summer, and to the snow
in the winter ; while in summer the elk is more in
the marsh, and sometimes actually in the water feed-
ing on the submerged grass, and ever and anon blow-
ing somewhat like a whale, and in winter it is more
in the forest.

Still there is no reason to suppose that there is any
specific difference between the elk, or moose deer as
it is called in America, and the elk of the eastern
continent. No doubt black elks and reddish elks,
and sometimes also white elks, have been described ;
but the elk is subject to very considerable changes of
cojour with age, the very old ones being apt to turn
almost black ; while the young ones are chestnut
coloured, and there is little doubt that the white indi-
viduals are albinos.

We cannot resist quoting the following very accu-
rate and highly graphic description of the elk, from
the pen of Colonel Hamilton Smith, whose monograph
on the ruminantia forms the greater part of the fourth
volume of the English translation of Cuvier's Animal
Kingdom, published in the name of Griffith, which
monograph most justly called forth the highest eulo-
gium from the illustrious author of the original work.
" This animal is the largest of this genus, being
higher at the shoulders than the horse ; its horns
weigh sometimes near fifty pounds ; accordingly, to
bear this heavy weight, its neck is short and strong,
taking away much of the elegance of proportion so
generally predominant in the deer ; but when it is
asserted that the elk wants beauty or majesty, the
opinion can be entertained by those only who have
seen the female, the young, or the mere stuffed speci-
mens ; tor we who have had the opportunity of view

DEER.

ing the animal in all the glory of his full-grown horns,
amid the scenery of his own wilderness, no animal
could appear more majestic or more imposing. It is,
however, the aggregate of his appearance which pro-
duces this effect ; for when the proportions of its
structure are considered in detail, they certainly will
seem destitute of that harmony of parts which in the
imagination produces the feeling of beauty. The
head, measuring above two feet in length, is narrow
and clumsily shaped by the swelling upon the upper
part of the nose and nostrils ; the eye is proportionally
small and sunk ; the ears long, hairy, and asinine ;
the neck and withers are surmounted by a heavy
mane, and the throat furnished with long coarse hair,
and in younger specimens encumbered with a pendu-
lous gland ; these give altogether an uncouth charac-
ter to this part of the animal. Its body, however, is
round, compact, and short ; the tail not more than
four inches long, and the legs, though very long, are
remarkably clean and firm ; this length of limbs and
the overhanging lips have caused the ancients to
fancy that it grazed walking backwards. The hair
of the animal is coarse and angular, breaking if bent."

The elk is an inhabitant of northern latitudes ; in
Europe between the fifty-third and sixty-fifth degrees,
making a part of Prussia, Poland, Sweden, Norway,
Finland, Lapland, and Russia. In Asia it is found
farther south, from thirty-five to beyond the fiftieth,
spreading over Tartary, and abounding in Japan, if
indeed the denomination of elk is not misstated for
that of a rusa, or an undescribed species. In America
it resides between the forty-fourth and fifty-third de-
grees, round the great lakes, and over the whole of
Canada and New Brunswick.

Its movements are rather heavy, and the shoulders
being higher than the croup it does not gallop, but
shuffles or ambles along, its joints cracking at every
step with a sound heard to some distance. Increas-
ing its speed, the hind feet straddle to avoid treading
on its fore-heels, tossing the head and shoulders like
a horse about to break from a trot to a gallop. It
does not leap, but steps without effort over a fallen
tree, a gate or a split fence. During its progress it
holds the nose up, so as to lay the horns horizontally
back. This attitude prevents it seeing the ground
distinctly, and as the weight is carried very high
upon his elevated legs it is said sometimes to trip by
treading on its fore-heels or otherwise, and occasion-
ally to give itself a heavy fall. It is probably owing
to this occurrence that the elk was believed by the
ancients and the vulgar to have frequent attacks of
epilepsy, and to be obliged to smell its hoof before it
could recover; hence the Teutonic name of elcud
{miserable), and the reputation especially of the fore
hoofs as a specific against the disease.

During the winter months the elk resides chiefly
in hilly woods, in snowy weather seeking the covers,
and in clear the open spaces. In summer it frequents
swamps on the borders of lakes, often going deep into
the water to escape the sting of gnats, &c., and to
feed without stooping. Its usual food in winter con-
sists of the buds and bark of button-wood, spruce,
and juniper pines, birch and maple, and under the
snow it seeks stink wood (Anagyrisfcetida) and mosses,
but this is always with difficulty, for then it is obliged
to spread the fore legs, or even it is said to kneel.
The branches of trees it turns down with the horns
very dexterously ; but to get at the ground we have
been assured by Huron and the Canadian hunters,

when the snow has fallen only a foot or two in depth,
that the herd, led by an old male, shovel it back, and
throw it over their heads, the snow falling on either
side, as it slides from the inclined planes of the back
of their horns ; meantime the fore feet of all are
equally engaged in striking it from under them.

During a part of the year the herd consists of an
old female, two adult females, two young females, and
two young males; but during the snowy periods, at
least in America, one or more adult males are cer-
tainly among them, very old males alone keeping
aloof until the rutting season, unless the winter be
very severe. Several of these families keep near
each other, and in very cold weather they seek cover
together, and remain closely pressed against each
other, or trot in a circle till they have beaten the
snow down. When the rutting period commences,
which is about the beginning of September, the old
males seek the females, and expel the young, who
are obliged to keep aloof while the animals remain in
heat. At this time they will swim rivers in pursuit
of the females, or after them to remain concealed in
some of the Lake Islands. The males are then very
pugnaceous ; they bellow often and sink in flesh.
The gravid females bring forth about, the middle of
May, at first one, but ordinarily two calves, of a
brown red colour. These are so simple and void of
fear that in the first months they are easily taken, and
if in the water, where they willingly go to avoid the
flies, they will suffer persons in a canoe to come up
to them and take them by the head without appearing
in the least frightened.

The dags, prickets, or incipient antlers are the first
year not more than an inch in length ; the second
they rise to a foot ; the third they are forked, and
the fourth they assume six snags and are somewhat
flattened ; the fifth year the blade is still small, but
their expansion from that time forward is uniform,
though it does not appear that the number of snags
ever exceed twenty-eight. In a very large specimen
which we saw shot, there were twenty-two, the length
from the head to the tip twenty-seven inches, and
from tip to tip across the horns three feet six ; the
two lower snags on each side separated by a deep
indenture : the weight about thirty-three pounds.
Old elks shed their horns in January and February,
and, if lean from a severe winter, in March ; the
younger later, till the month of May. They are
again completely restored in the former by the end of
June, and in the latter in August.

" An elk killed in Sweden is said to have weighed
1200 pounds, but this must have been a very extra-
ordinary animal ; their height is about six feet. A
white specimen from Swedish Lapland, in the Munich
Museum, five years old, is six Rhineland feet at the
shoulder. A female figured by Mr. Heriot was
seventeen hands high ; the large male above alluded
to was scarce four inches more, or about six feet, but
he was very deep at the shoulders. Another, whose
antlers were still more deeply indented at the base,
that is with the parts corresponding to the brow and
bezantlers of the stag, separated from the main blade
by a deep intersection, was not more than seventeen
hands and a half high. His head, from the nose to
between the ears, two feet three inches ; distance
between the eyes eight inches ; length of the ears
nine inches and a half ; the lower branches or snags
were bifurcated and thirteen inches long, and their
united amount was seventeen, with the rudiment of

D E

an eighteenth. The hunters named him a black
moose, and from the greater length of head in pro-
portion to his height, and the particular form of the
horns, insisted that this was a different species from
the brown. There is however no character sufficiently
distinctive to claim our assent to this assertion, for it
is known that considerable variation in the horns
occurs from various causes, although it must be ad-
mitted that the almost complete separation of the
lower parts into the form of branches is a very pro-
minent character in most if not all the American
specimens, while a similar formation is rare in those
of Europe, but the colours of the hair differ with the
season ; and if this specimen belong- to a different
species, both would be of that species, the result
proving only that the European is not of the same.
The two here mentioned were dark, almost black,
with grey hairs intermixed, but that with the largest
horns had the greatest intermixture of grey ; they
were killed on the borders of the Saquenai, in Lower
Canada, where both they and a herd of buffaloes were
considered as strangers. The darkest was shot in
September, and the grey in November, which may
account for the difference of colour.

" During the time that their horns are sprouting,
the animals remain most in willow covers, returning
to the evergreen woods when they are restored ; their
period of life does not exceed twenty years.

" They are hunted in North America chiefly during
the early part of winter, and towards the spring.
While the snows are not deep they are not easily
attacked; but when they begin to harden, and the
hunters run on snow-shoes, they endeavour to turn
the game towards ravines, or where it is drifted deep.
The Huron hunters have assured us that when this is
effected he is sure to be soon entangled, and to
flounder in it ; but that they must be on their guard,
and run instantly upon the deep snow to fire at him
as he turns, because he will endeavour to double on
his own track, and charge all that are then in his
way. When first discovered, he is often found sitting
on his hams like a dog, voiding his urine before he
rises to escape. Against the bear and the wolf, he
stands at bay with his horns, acting offensively only
with his fore or hind feet ; his kick is very powerful
and quick ; it is said that a small tree is splintered
by it.

" The Indians are great admirers of the flesh, to us
it appeared superior to the stag's ; but under the cir-
cumstances which admit of this kind of banquet, it
may be doubted whether a similar judgment would
be passed in the comforts of a home ; the nose and
the tongue are admitted to be the best parts. Mr.
Pennant states that they were once used to draw
sledges in Sweden, but that it afforded to malefactors
the facility of escaping, and that therefore the use of
them was prohibited. The hide furnishes excellent
leather and buff skins for belts."

It has sometimes been alleged, that the very large
deers' horns which are found abundantly in the bogs
of Ireland, and sometimes, though more rarely, in
similar formations in Britain, are horns of the elk ;
and it has thence been inferred that at one time the
elk was very plentifully found in the former island,
and by no means rare in the latter. But there is no
reason to conclude very dogmatically from the horns
themselves, because, as we have already said, they
are subject to great variations even in the same
country and at the same time ; and therefore we can

E R. 258

satisfactorily draw no conclusion from them as to
what may have been the animal whose remains are
so common in these deposits. But we have conclu-
sive evidence that the animal to which those horns
belong, and which must have been at least as large as
a cart-horse of the present day, was a stag and not
an elk ; because the skeleton has been found, and
the relative proportions of the bones are exactly those
j of the stag ; but whether of the stag which is still
found in the old continent, and which has degene-
rated in consequence of change of climate in the lapse
of centuries, or of some more gigantic variety which
is now extinct, we have no means of ascertaining ;
and therefore it would be idle to offer any conjectures
on the subject.

That Ireland and many parts of Scotland, more
especially the western islands, and the isles, have
undergone a very remarkable climatal change is cer-
tain. They are now almost entirely denuded of tim-
ber, except a few wretched copses of underwood, and
a few artificial plantations ; and in both, black or red
peat bog has come in the stead of what once were
forests of the most gigantic trees. When those
forests were in their prime — and glorious forests they
then must have been, for the writer of this article has
traced the remains of a single tree full 150 feet in
length — when they were thus in their prime it, is
natural to suppose that they were inhabited by deer
worthy of them ; and that from whatever cause, or
by whatever catastrophe, the goodly forest and its
gallant inhabitants have faded away. It is generally
said that the invaders of Ireland wantonly consumed
the forests with axe and fire-brand, and as wantonly
exterminated the deer, but this wants confirmation ;
and besides it does not come within the pale of natu-
ral history, and would not explain the phenomena lit
question although it did. Wrhen we look at the
grand features of the natural world, we may put aside
the small results of man's working ; for there is a
maturity and a decay in certain states of countries
which man cannot greatly, or perhaps even sensibly,.
either accelerate or retard. Besides, we know of no
such catastrophe in the parts of Scotland to which we
have alluded"; and there we find a few lingering rem-
nants of the forest which tell us of its former existence,
and that it has yielded to the powers of nature, and
not to the hand of man. In many places there are
the roots of yews with a small circle of the external
or last formed wood still undecayed, and sometimes
with green foliage the size of a feather upon some por-
tion of the ample circumference. These were in the
rich bottoms no doubt, but at all events they are now
in the wilderness ; and some of them measure fifteen
or even eighteen feet across, so that they must have
been giants in their day. Besides, in situations which
are too bleak, and beaten by the winds and rain of the
Atlantic, for suffering fungi to sprout and moss to
accumulate for (such are the beginnings of a peat
bog), there are still immense trunks lying bleaching,
white and sapless, and unfit for affording nourishment
to even the smallest fungus which can grow upon a
fallen tree. This is not, however, the place to enter
upon such subjects, though it is difficult to discuss the
natural history of deer without at the same time
thinking of the progressive history of forests, and
being carried back in imagination to times when our
country had far more of a natural majesty in it than
it has at present, notwithstanding its arts and its
wealth ; and though our habits are such that we

«54

DEER.

would not willingly part with these, yet it is refreshing
sometimes to glance back in imagination to those
glories of the land which are gone for ever, until some
convulsion of the globe shall depress our islands to
" the oozy bottom of the deep," and let them rest
there during the night and sleep of lands until another
convulsion of nature shall again upheave them, like a
giant refreshed, and fitted anew for giant plants and
gigantic animals.

II. DEER OF THE EASTERN CONTINENT.

The two species which we have enumerated, namely,
the reindeer and the elk, are the only two which can
be considered fully established as inhabiting both the
eastern continent and the western ; and though the elk
inhabits more southerly and in richer pastures than
the reindeer, yet it is sufficiently far in the north for
allowing the supposition that it may have passed from
continent to continent upon the ice. Those which
remain to be considered are the deer of temperate
and of warm countries, which inhabit too far to the
south for interchanging between the continents ; and
though there are exceptions as regards particular
places, which are explainable by the different charac-
ters of those places, yet we may in general say that
the size of the animals, and especially the develop-
ment of the horns, diminish as we approach the
southern limit.

In most countries, however, which are adapted to
the race, and from which that race has not been ex-
terminated by natural or artificial means, we may say
that there are in general three species of deer, one
affecting more the forests, another the open savannahs
or rich plains, and the third the more elevated and
airy wastes. We may thus style them according to
their pastures — forest deer, field deer, and hill deer.
We have types of all the three in this country, though
it is possible that the field deer, the one with which
we are most familiar, but which partakes not of the
majesty of him of the forest, or of the airy beauty of
the mountaineer, may be an importation. We shall
first notice these three in their order, and then briefly
mention the foreign varieties.

THE STAG (Cervus ekiphus). This is the deer par
excellence in all works on " the noble art of venerie,"
and in all allusions to the bold foresters of merry
England. It is the red deer, and the male is called a
hart, and the female a hind.

The characters are, the horns round in their section,
furnished with three antlers on each beam, turned to
the front, and curved a little upwards ; then the top
of the beam terminates in a number of snag?, all at
nearly the same elevation, and increasing in number
with the age of the animal. In summer the general
colour is yellowish brown, with a black bar across the
shoulders, and a row of pale yellow spots on each
side. In winter the colour changes to a uniform red-
dish brown; but the hinder part of the rump, the tail,
and a small portion of the feet above the hoofs (which
we term the fesses), are always of a pale yellow. —
Both sexes have canine teeth, which are rather long,
and bent in the male, but the female has no horns. —
The young fawns are of a rich yellowish brown, dap-
pled with white spots ; and it is from their ground
colour that dyers give the name of fawn to a peculiar
shade of colour, intermediate between brown and
yellow. The colour deepens much with age ; so that
in winter the old stags are nearly black ; but they
retain the mark on the crupper and fesses.

The stag is by much the largest of European deer,

and the probability is, that the large horns above
alluded to have belonged to the very species which is
still met with in some parts of our own country, and
more abundantly on the continent of Europe, where
forests are far more extensive, and have been less dis-
turbed. The rutting time of the stag is in September,
the young one being driven off by the mothers in
August, and during this season the males are in such

Stag or Red Deer

a state of excitement, that it is not only highly dan-
gerous to approach them, but the}' sometimes ill-treat
and even kill the females. The hind goes a few days
more than eight months with young, and drops her
single fawn, for she has rarely two, in the month of
May. It used to be fabled, that the stag wa« remark-
able for length of life ; but it does not appear that it
lasts longer than about twenty years. It is found less
or more in all places of Europe, where there is cover
adapted for it, except in the extreme north and in very
hot places near the sea. It is also met with in western
Asia, in some of the mountainous islands of the Medi-
terranean, and on the slopes of the mountains of Atlas
in northern Africa, where it appears to have been im-
ported, probably by the Romans. But it has degene-
rated in that part of the world : it is smaller in size,
more brown in the colour, and the horns terminate in
forks, instead of the numerous snags which they dis-
play in colder countries. In these respects if approxi-
mates the characters of the Indian deer ; and would
lead one to conclude that, the stag is very general on
the eastern continent, only in the course of years it
has been much modified by difference of climate.

We must not infer from the vast number of stag:s'-
horns which are found in a fossil state, that there has
been an equal number of stags ; for, as they come to
their full head at five years old, each furnishes fifteen
sets of horns, if it lives to complete its twentieth year ;
and, therefore, making reasonable allowances for casu-
alties, we may say that there are probably ten times
as many sets of horns as there have been stags.

D E Ji R.

253

R'lt still the numbers have not only been very con-
siderable, but the stag, probably larger than at present,
as already mentioned, must have been a very old in-
habitant of jnany parts of Europe, and of these king-
doms among others ; and he appears to have shared
the fate of some other animals which have now perished
as races, in certain catastrophes, the nature of which
we do not, of course, very well understand ; but from
which a portion of stags escaped, perhaps, on account
of their fleetness. In the cave of Kirkdale in England,
in some parts of France, and in Italy, the remains of
the stag are found, blended in one ruin with the bones
of the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus,
the hyaena, and the bear ; which is a demonstrative
proof that the whole must have at one time been
corn-habitants of the localities where their bones are
found. Hence there arises the curious question, to
what circumstances, chemical or otherwise, is it owing
that the elephant, the rhinoceros, the hippopotamus,
and the hyaena, have perished, while the bear and the
stag have remained to the present time ?

It will be foreign to our purpose to enter upon the
formal discussion of this curious question, which be-
longs fully as much to geology as to natural history ;
and for the geological solution of which the data are
but scanty. But we may remark in passing that these
curious charnel houses, which carry our thoughts to
times long gone by, are all, we believe, contained in
fresh water deposits ; which abundantly shows that no
ocean flood could have borne on its tide those animals
which we now regard as foreign to the several locali-
ties ; and as the elephant, the rhinoceros, and the
hippopotamus are all semi-aquatic, found always low
down — and as the hyirna is a burrowing animal, and
neither it, nor any of the other three, is well fitted for
flight ; while the stag is fleet, and the bear can climb,
we can suppose that, these two animals could make
their escape from a local flood, by which the others
were borne to those entombments in which their
bones are found. But what was the catastrophe ? —
So far as we can judge, there has not been one but
many; and they do not appear to have been attended
by the action of any cause which disturbed the solid
strata of the earth, any further than perhaps mechani-
cal laceration of the surface; and, generally speaking,
if we search upward along the rivers near which those
deposits are accumulated, we might trace somethiu
like the empty basin of what has once been a lake,
which lake, by the bursting of its barrier, might have
produced exactly the same kind of result with which
we meet. — But we have to do with living animals, and
not with the memorials of those that are dead.

In Britain the stag, which was once so abundant, is
now very rare ; and tlie few that are met with in Eng-
gland arc objects of curiosity rather than any thin
else ; and, though royalty still keeps up stag hounds,
stag hunting even by these is a most ungallant and
even ignoble sport, a sport from which the " merry
men" of old would have turned away in mostbaronly
indignation. The deer is carted to the field, hunted
to a stand still, and then carried home again ; and
thus ends the sport — equally unmeaning and unmanly.

In former times it was far otherwise ; and nowhere
is this most dashing of all exploits in the field described
with more vigour or more truth of attention to the
other animals incidentally mentioned, than in Scott's
.beautiful national poem, " The Lady of the Lake.'
We shall quote a few lines of the opening : —

The state, at eve, had drank his fill.

While danced the moon on Munan's rill,

And deep his midnight lair had made,

In lone Glenartncy's ha/el shade ;

But, ere the sun his beacon red

Had kindled on B< n-Voirhch's head,

The deep-mouthed bloodhounds' heavy bray,

Resounded up the rocky way,

And faint, from farther distance borne,

The echo of the hoof and horn. —

Yelled on the view, the opening pack,

Rock, glen, and cavern paid them back.

To many a mingled sound at once

The awaken'd mountain gave response .

A hundred dogs bayed deep and stroug,

Clattered a hundred steeds along ;

Their peals the merry horns rung out,

A hundred voices joined the shout;

With whoop ! and hark ' and wild halloo !

No rest Ben -Voirlich's echoes knew.

Far from the tumult iled the roe ;
Close in her covert cower'd the doe ;
The falcon from her cairn on high,
Cast on the rout a wondering eye,
Till, far beyond her piercing ken,
The hurricane had swept the glen.

Considered merely as poetry the passage which
we have quoted is very beautiful ; but Scott had so
keen an eye and so warm a heart to every scene and
every production of nature, that it was only with him
to glance at a subject, and it instantly became enve-
loped in a flood of light. We have the habit of the
stag quaffing the clear stream by moonlight. " The
hart by water brooks ;" next we have him plunging
into the forest for his nocturnal repose. Then at grey
dawn we have the whole cavalcade of the hunters to
horse ; and the bloodhound sent forward to find the
slot, and track und start the deer. But for this part
of the business we must refer to the article DOG. The
hunt hurries forward after the staunch deer finder ;
but not a hound gives tongue till the game is in view ;
when the whole open like thunder ; and it is hurry
scurry, and neck or nothing if the ground is in ;t
state of nature. Nor is the character of the other two
species of deer given with less truth ; the roe on the
mountain top speeds off like the wind to those cliffs
where no bloodhound could track him, nor pack run
him down. On the other hand the doe, or female of
the fallow-deer, a feeble and frightened creature,
crouches down among the bushes, as if to escape by
her insignificance from that fate from which her limbs
are unable to bear her away. Last of all we have the
falcon, perched securely on the rock, and equally safe
in mountain castle, and her impetuous wing, looking
down in utter astonishment, and contempt if you
will, at all this coil and clatter among helpless and
ignoble creatures, who must be content with walking
and running on the humble earth, while she can cleave
the air as swiftly as an arrow.

In different parts of the world, as we have already
mentioned, the stag varies in size as well as in colour,
but its average height is about three feft and a half,
and its general colour reddish brown above, and
whitish beneath, with some black about the face, and
a list of the same down the hind part of the neck and
between the shoulders. The greatest known weight
of a British stag is that of one which was killed in
Aberdeenshire, namely, three hundred and eighteen
pounds, exclusively of the entrails, head, and skin.
It is alleged that, in Bavaria, the animal frequently
exceeds this weight. In Siberia, and some parts of
America, it is usually of very large dimensions ;
whereas in China, Corsica, and some other parts of
the world, diminutive varieties are found, which, in
bulk, scarcely exceed a dog of ordinary size. Indi-

viduals also occur of a very dark or blackish brown,
some of a lighter yellowish brown, and some entirely
white. The usual number of branches on the horns
of a well-grown stag is six or seven, but some have
more, and one variety is characterised by the superior
amplitude of its horns. In most cases, the males only
have horns ; and after their sixth year, when they
arrive at maturity, they shed them annually in spring,
when they seek the most retired places, and feed only
during the night. The annual reproduction of these
appendages constitutes, in many points of view, one
of the most remarkable phenomena of animal physi-
ology. First, it affords a most striking proof of the
power of the nutritive senses, and the natural growth
which depends on it in warm-blooded animals, since
the horn of a stag, which may weigh twenty-five
pounds, is completely formed in ten weeks •, secondly,
it exhibits a singular instance of a limited duration of
life in a part of the system, entirely independent of
the life of the whole ; and thirdly, it manifests a
change of calibre in particular vessels ; for the
branches of the external carotids, which supply the
horn with nourishmeut, are remarkably dilated
during its growth, and recover their former area
when that process has ceased ; fourthly, it bespeaks
a peculiar sympathy between the growth of the horns
and the generative functions ; because castration, or
any essential injury of the organs of generation,
impedes the increase, alters the form, and interrupts
the renewal of the horns.

There are certain technical names given to the
stag, according to his age, which are worthy of being
noticed. The young, whether male or female, is
styled a calf, and for a few months there is very
little distinction between the sexes. At the age of
six months, the bassets, or rudimental horns, begin to
appear in the male, but they do not advance farther
that year than two cylindrical knobs. In the second
year they are longer and pointed, in which state they
are spikes or dags, and the wearer of them is called a
brocket. In the third year the horns put out two or
three tynes or branches, and the deer becomes a
Kpayad. The crown, or surroyal, appears on' the top
of the beam the fourth year, and tnen he is a
staggard. The fifth year he becomes a stag, which is
the only year that he technically retains the name of
a species ; for the sixth year he becomes a hart, and
so remains for the rest of his life. In the sixth year
he is called a hart of ten, when he is? considered still
too young for being legitimate game ; but after his
seventh year he is said to be crocked, or palmed, or
crowned; after which he is fair game. The number
of snags or tynes in the crown of the horn seems to
depend a good deal on the richness of the pasture,
and on their having proper shelter and food during
the winter. In former times, specimens were found,
both in England and in other countries, with more
than thirty snags on the crown of each horn ; but we
believe that half that number is of comparatively rare
occurrence.

The female passes through a succession of stages
as well as the male, but they are not so important ;
and, besides, regular sportsmen never make game of
the females. The female of the first year is a calf,
of the second year, a brocket's sister ; and the third,
and ever after, a hind.

Stags do not mew or shed their horns immediately
after pairing, though there is reason to believe that
the decay of the horn begins at that period. The

crowned harts are the first to shed theirs, arid always
the older the earlier. Something depends upon the
season and the pasture, but the average time may be
reckoned about the end of February. The harts
often shed theirs a month or six weeks later, and the
younger ones a month or six weeks later still. The
technical word for the horns is attire ; and when
these are shed, the animal is said to " lose his attire."
In this state he is comparatively defenceless, and
retires into the shadiest parts of the cover, or into
the most remote or unfrequented parts of the pasture,
where there is no cover. He remains there during
the summer, and about the month of August the
horns are completed ; and he clears them of the skin
of velvet with which they were covered, by rubbing
them against trees or rocks, or against the ground
The hind is in retirement in a different part of the
pasture during the same time, where she attends to
her calf with truly maternal solicitude, and shows
considerable address in drawing off any apparent
danger from the place where it is concealed. The
young of the former year and the brockets form a
third association, but they also retire when they shed
their horns.

In the rutting season the harts fight desperately
with each other, but it is only when two of the same
age come into contact with each other that this
occurs, for the weaker always gives place ; and
indeed there seems to be a provision of nature to
prevent these rencontres, for the fury of the rutting
season comes upon them in the order of seniority,
which is also the order of strength. In their battles
their horns often get so entangled, that the two are
thereby held together till both perish. The great
agitation into which they are thrown at this period
completely exhausts them, which is not to be won-
dered at, when we consider that they abstain almost
entirely from food, and run about the pastures
" routing" or roaring, as if they were mad. Imme-
diately when the stimulus is over, they withdraw in a
state of great exhaustion, and remain quiet, eating a
great deal, especially acorns, if they can find them ;
and this is the reason, probably, why they attain a
larger size in oak forests than in forests of pine, or on
the open hill ; and it may in part account for their
superior size in former times both in Britain and on
the continent. In England, those noble animals are,
as we have already hinted, comparatively few ; but
the case is different in the mountainous parts of
Scotland, especially in the central Grampians, be-
tween Athol on the south, and Badenoch and
Strathspey. There are a few in the south-western
Grampians, and also in the mountains northward of
Lochness ; but there is nothing which can be con-
sidered as a deer-forest in either of those places, or
anywhere in Scotland, or, we may add, in Britain,
except the forest of Athol, or, more strictly speaking,
the forest of Minigag. The eastern part of that
forest contains some of the loftiest mountains in
Scotland, and it gives rise to various branches of the
rivers Dee and Don towards the eastern side, of the
Spey towards the north, and of the Tay, more
especially the Bruar and the Tilt, towards the
south. There are extensive natural forests of pine in
the upper glens or valleys of the eastern rivers, but
the deer are not quite so abundant there as they are
in the south, where the exposure is warmer and the
pasture better. Glen Tilt and Glen Bruar, espe-
cially the former, are the principal winterings ; but

DEER.

2.07

the deer, if all together, have a range of not much
leys tliun 100,000 acres of hill, and on this there are
certainly nor. fewer altogether than 7000 or 8000
ht-ad, ofd and young, the greater part of which are
the property of the Duke of Athol ; and the great
hunts, or rather slaughters, most frequently take
place in Glen Tilt, though the more laborious opera-
tion of "deer-stalking" is pursued in other places.
On the great hunts, they are driven by a circuit of
people, who bring them to a pass or narrow, whore
the marksmen are posted, so that they can select and
make sure of their victims. This is not a very manly
sport, but it is very efficient " pot" hunting ; and the
nature of the ground renders it impossible to adopt
any more sportsman-like mode.

It is understood that, from the care bestowed upon
them by all the proprietors, red deer are becoming
more numerous on those mountains ; and though the
hill is quite open, and the keepers are but few, there
is comparatively little poaching ; and, indeed, it is
rendered unnecessary, because the deer are always
straying so far out upon the spurs of the hills, that
any one who is so inclined may occasionally have a
shot ; and to attempt shooting deer on the open
Grampians, as a matter of profit, is nearly out of the ;
question.

When poaching is attempted, it is generally in the
winter, or in the latter part of the autumn, which
usually has all the horrors of a very severe winter in
those exposed and upland places ; and there have
been in--tani'< -s in which adventurers, who went to
spend the night on the hill for the purpose of
Staining deer illegally, have had the most terrible
justice executed upon them by the storm. The snow
storms on those mountains nearly rival in violence the
" temporales" of the Andes : the snow makes the air
as dark as midnight ; and the wind drives with the
voice of thunder among the crags, and sweeps the
waste with the force of hurricanes, so that men are
rolled before it like chart, hurled over some pre-
cipice, and lost, — until the crow and the raren point
out the place of their bones in the ensuing summer ;
tor the snow in which they are buried in great part
preserves their bodies to become food for these dark
and dusky-coated scavengers of the desert.

Such is the situation and character of the most
extensive forest of red-deer which now occurs in this
country. In England there are remains in some of
the royal forests, and perhaps in a few other places,
but they are comparatively few, and do not stamp the
principal character upon the locality as they do on
thr> Grampians.

FALLOW-DEER (Cervus dama). This species is
smaller, feebler, and more tame and common-place in
all its characters than the stag. There are no canine
teeth in either sex. The male only has horns, which
are round in their section, with two pointed antlers,
and the summit ; almated lengthways. The colours are
variable, but they are in general brown, dappled with
white. The horns of the male fallow-deer, or buck,
are divergent, terminated above by a flattened longi-
tudinal palm, toothed with what are termed advancers ;
trie base of the beam round, with basal and median,
or brow and bezantlers, pointing forward. It has no
canine teeth, and the nose is terminated by a muzzle.
In size it is inferior to the common stag. In summer
both sexes have the back, flanks, and thighs, of a
fulvous-brown colour, diversified with numerous white
•pots. In winter these parts are wholly brown ; the
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

buttocks are always white, with a black streak on
each side ; the tail is longer than in the stag, reaching
to the houghs, black above, and white below ; a dark
line passes along the back ; the belly, inside of the
limbs, and under the throat, white ; the head, neck,
and outside of the legs, reddish grey.

! allow

The male of the fallow-deer is usually called a
buck, the female a doe, and the young a fawn. The
buck fawn has no appearance of horns the first year,
but they come up in simple snags the second, at
which time it is a pricket. The third year there are
two branches, and the palm begins to be formed on
the top of the beam ; but it is not properly formed
till the fifth year, when the animal becomes a buck of
the first head, which answers to the stag of the former
species. The horns have now attained their prin-
cipal shape, except on the margins of the beam,
where they every year acquire additional snags,
which are called spillers, or advancers, but they con-
tinue to increase in size. As is the case with the
stag, they drop their horns in the spring, and both
that operation and the rutting conies on about two
weeks later. The period of gestation in the doe is
eight months ; she becomes fertile the second year,
and ceases to be so about the fifteenth. The fawns,
at a dropping, are one, two, or three, according to
circumstances.

Fallow deer are gregarious ; but the bucks live
apart except during the rutting time, and in winter,
when most gregarious animals live indiscriminately.
Where the herd is large, it is, however, generally
divided into packs, each under the guidance of the
oldest or most powerful buck. This species is so well,
known as the common park deer of Britain, that a
minute description of it is not necessary. It is not
known, and probably never was known in a totally
wild state in this country ; and this in part accounts
for the diversity of colour we meet with. In the
south of Europe it grows to a much larger size than
with us ; and hence it has been supposed that it is
native there ; but the point is not fully ascertained,
and it may be an importation from the west of At;ia.
In the central countries of Europe, wild ones are fevf,
and there are none to the northward of the Carpa-
thian mountains. But in all parts of Europe, where
there are extensive parks, there are fallow deer in a
R

DEE I*.

state of semi-domestication ; and where there is cover
in the neighbourhood, they often escape in such
numbers as to become an annoyance to the farmers.

The flesh of the fallow deer is understood to be
more delicate and juicy than that of either of the
wild sorts in this country ; and it is in consequence
in high request as a luxury. The animals them-
selves, though destitute pf the grandeur of the stag
and the gracefulness of the roebiujjf, are very orna-
mental in parks ; and where undisturbed, they are
very tame and gentle throughout the greater part of
the year, and not nearly so formidable in the rutting
season as stags. The sound of their voice is low as
compared with that of the others, an4 it gets the
technical name of groaning. Bucks when b,unted do
not take the country in breadth as the stags do, but
run in circles, and very frequently take the water,
though they are not such bold swimmers as the stag.
The chase of them, both from the grounds they fre-
quent and from their own characters, is not so strik-
ingly effective as that of the stag, but it requires more
care, as they are apt to throw out the hounds and
leave them at fault.

Though the existing fallow deer appears to be a
native of the south, at least of the south of Europe,
though certainly not of tropical countries, yet the
large deer, of which the remains are found in the fresh
water deposits, are usually referred to this species, or
at least to one resembling it, on account chiefly of
the form of the horns ; and it is a little puzzling
that the fallow deer which appears to have a more
southerly habitation than the stag, should have pal-
mated horns, approaching more nearly to the charac-
ter of those of the polar deer than those of the stag
do ; but, as is the cuse with all animals which have
been very long in a state of total or partial domestication,
and which accompanied men in their migrations from
country to country, it is by no means easy to ascer-
tain whether the fallow deer has degenerated in size
from the fossil specimens, or whether its horns may
not have altered their character from being simply
forked as most of those of the deer in warm coun-
tries are, to that palmated form of the upper parts of
the beams which they now display.

The ROEBUCK (Cervus caprcolus). This is the
most light and handsome of all our deer ; and in some
respects it approaches the antelopes, the ancients
giving it and some of the species of that genus indis-
criminately the name of Dorcas, that is " bright eye ; "
no lachrymal sinuses, scarcely any tail, the colour a
greyish yellow, varying more to reddish or brownish,
but always with a large white disc on the buttocks.
The horns are rather small and cylindrical, with a
small antler on the middle of the beam pointing for-
ward, and a second one higher up and turned to the
rear. The roebuck is pretty generally distributed,
being found in all the temperate parts or Europe and
Asia, and even it is said in India, though there it has
been confounded with some of the Indian species
which resemble it a good deal in the forms of their
horns. This is the smallest species in Europe, not
exceeding four feet in length, and standing about
two feet high at the shoulders. There are coloured
varieties, one very red, and another yellowish brown,
yad a third nearly black ; but they all have the cha-
racteristic white disc, at least in the winter, and the
luil is never more than an inch in length. Their sum-
mer and winter clothing differ a little both in colour
and in texture. In winter the fur is completely soft

and tinged with grey on the neck and head, and the
disc is much less conspicuous ; but in winter the hair
thickens and hardens, and the colour deepens, espe-
cially on the upper part.

The manners of the roebuck are different from
those of the species hitherto described. They are
not gregarious, and therefore do not make the same
appearance in proportion to their number as the
deer. The male is also monoganous, and remains
attached to one female for life, the two keeping
company, or at least being near to each other all
the year round, and the rutting season not being
accompanied with that violent excitement which takes
place in the others, more especially in the stag.

The period of gestation is also different, and so is
the time of shedding the horns in the male. Rutting
time is in the beginning of November, and the female
goes little more than five months, while the fallow
deer goes eight months, and the hind a little more.
The pairing is thus about two months later than in
the others, and the fawns are dropped about two
weeks earlier. The male also sheds his horns soon
after the rutting time, and acquires the new ones
during the winter, so that he is in his apparel for a
much longer period of the year than either the hart
or the fallow buck.

The doe drops two fawns, for which purpose she
retires into the closest cover that she can obtain, but
at the end of about two weeks she makes her appear-
ance with them in company ; but she hides them if
danger appears, and shows considerable address in
enticing enemies away from the place of their con-
cealment. They are generally, if not invariably, a
male and female, which continue with their parents
during the summer ; but previous to the rutting time
they are driven off' to shift for themselves, and to keep
company with each other for life, which is from about
twelve to fifteen years, if no casualties occur ; but as
roebucks prefer the open hill to the shelter of the
forest, many of them perish in severe winters.

They are much more destructive to young planta-
tions than either the stag or the fallow deer, as they
prefer the tender twigs and buds of these to grass ;
but they are lively and vigorous creatures ; and few
sights are finer than that of a roebuck bounding
among bushes, or up a hill side among tall heather.
This plant is often as tall as himself, so that when he
alights he is concealed, but at every bound he rises
to some height clear of it, and puts one in mind of
what is stated pf the antelopes in the coppices of
Southern Africa. The roebuck leaves a strong scent ;
and therefore he is more easily found than the stag,
where stags are not numerous ; but he is not more
easily caught. As the stag runs out, he is sure to
fatigue himself ; and though he recovers if he can
reach the water, and makes a formidable resistance
when he stands at bay, yet, if the dogs are staunch,
and the ground practicable, he is almost sure to be
taken ; the roebuck on the other hand shows artifice :
he dashes off at first, but if pursued he doubles,
bounds sideways to some cover with immense leaps,
and With the velocity of a bird, and couches down till
the chase pass him, and then, bounding from his cover,
he is off in another direction. The same roebuck has
been known to be hunted through several counties ;
and of these one is mentioned by the late Mr. Bewick
of Newcastle. It had been hunted out of Scotland
through Cumberland and various parts of the north
of England, and at last took shelter in the copses on

DEER.

tiifi Tync ; there it was frequently seen, and as fre-
quently hunted. But no clogs could come up with it
in speed ; and its arts were equal to its agility, as it
swam the river, or in some other way escaped. The
chasing was continued during1 the sojourn of a very
severe winter ; and upon one occasion it crossed on
the ice, and by so doing was so much strained, that it
was easily taken alive. After being kept for some
weeks in the house it was again turned loose, but all
its enterprise and all its cunning appeared to have left
it ; for after being chased only a little way it lay down
in the middle of a brook, and was killed by the dogs.
This anecdote shows that the peculiarly elastic cha-
racter of the roebuck is quite incompatible with do-
mestication. It is also very difficult to confine this
species within enclosures, in consequence of the height
to which it can leap ; and as its flesh is not consi-
sidered quite so good as that of the others, and far-
ther, as there is not so much of it, it is left in a great
measure to its native freedom on the hills. It should
seem that the roebuck by being less excited in the
rutting season than the others does not come into such
high condition preparatory to that season.

In England, roebucks are now very rare ; and as
there is cover for them in most of the places where
they might be looked for, they are not easily found.
In the Scottish mountains, however, they are more
abundant, though scattered, and rarely seen more
than one at a place at the same time. They are not
met with in exactly the same places as the red deer,
but rather where there is an admixture of hill and
rock and copse. They are also, at certain seasons
of the year, met with further down than the red deer
generally are, but they do not hesitate to take an
occasional dash into the inhabited parts of the country
when the winter is very severe on the hills ; but on
these occasions they generally have all their arts about
them ; so that it is but a passing sight which one can
obtain. It is also more difficult to get a shot at a
roebuck than at a red deer. In Scotland they are
found as far north as Sutherland and Caithness ; but
their chief haunts are in the neighbourhood of those
places which have been described as abounding most
with red deer ; only from the peculiarity of their
manners, and the fact of their feeding in the copse
and on the twigs, rather than browsing the herbage,
they are not often seen, to which their habit of lying
close till the danger be passed, contributes still farther.

There is no account of the horns of the roebuck
being met with in the same accumulations as those of
the other deer in this country ; but they have been
found in some parts of France, though it is said that
there are some peculiarities in the fossil remains which
are not found in the living animals ; and thus, though
there is a similarity established, there is not a perfect
identity, so as to warrant us to conclude that the roe-
buck of our times existed and inhabited at the same
period and in the same country with those now ex-
tinct animals the Paleot/ierium and the Mastodon,
whose remains are found in the same accumulation of
peat, near the river Somme in France.

Such is a short account of the three species of deer
which are met with in the wilds or in the parks of our
own country ; and they are the ones whose manners
we have the best access to study.

THE AHU, or Tartarian roebuck— Cervus pyg argus.
This is the roebuck of the middle latitudes ot Asia,
and of part also of the east of Europe. It is a larger
animal than our roebuck, and differs from it in having

th« hair longer, and the horns more developed, &nrt
more furrowed and tuberculated in their basal parts.
It is very generally distributed over the margins of
the waste, from the mountains which divide Persia
from the central countries of Asia, to some distance
into Siberia ; but it is not found in those parts of
that extensive region which have a decidedly polar
climate. In the summer season it keeps to the moun-
tains, among the cliff's of which it bounds with great
vigour ; but in the winter it descends to the plains.

Like the roebuck it has no lachrymal sinuses, and
the tail is still more deficient, being nothing more than
a mere tubercle. The colour on the back is brown in
summer, and that on the under part is yellowish. On
the hinder part of the thighs and around the rudi-
mental tail, there is a disc of white, larger and more
conspicuous than in that of the roebuck ; and this
mark is constant amid all the varieties of colour in
the individuals, and all the changes from age or cli-
mate ; and the old and young, and also the summer
and winter appearances are so different, that animals
in these states have been described as distinct species.
A space round the nose and sides of the under lip is
black, but the lips themselves are white ; and those
characters also remain constant.

The hair of this species is exceedingly thick, more
so, perhaps, than that of any other. In summer it is
stiff and erect, allowing the air to reach the skin,
notwithstanding the great thickness of the covering.
In winter it gets shaggy, and falls more closely on the
body, forming a very warm covering. It does not
appear that at this season it gets any of that long in-
termixture in its coat to which the name of " snow
hair" may be applied without much impropriety ; but
its general coat becomes dry and bleached to a hoary
colour at the points, which answers nearly the same
purpose.

In all the field animals of central Asia, from the
Himalaya northward, there is some provision of this
kind ; and the great change of seasons to which this
part of the world is subject, is at once the necessity
and in all probability the cause of this provision. In
summer, the heat is excessive ; and the plains are
completely burnt up, so as to wear the aspect of vast
floors of indurated clay ; and at that season there is
no rain except on the mountains : and as the last
plants upon the margin of the desert, or in that kind
of shelter which makes an incipient desert of the
whole country, are always of a saline nature, the
ground is covered with saline incrustations. It is at
this season that such animals betake themselves to the
mountains, while the wandering horde of Tartars with
their cattle, move farther to the north, and reach the
lower parts of the plains or steppes, where there is
still some moisture to be found.

In winter the cold is as proportionably severe as are
heat is ardent in summer ; for in plains the elevation
of which is not great, and which lie on the same
parallel of latitude with the south of Italy, and the
centre of Spain, where snow is rarely seen upon the
plains, and where there is very seldom ice upon even
the shallow pools, the rivers are so completely frozen
over, as to afford pontage to the inhabitants.

So great a difference between the summer and the
winter naturally produces a corresponding difference
in those animals which, like the aim, are freely ex-
posed to the weather all the year round ; and this
climatal difference is quite sufficient to account for a.t
the external differences which are traceable between

Ra

200

DEER.

this roebuck of central Asia, and the roebuck of
Europe. As we are not very intimately informed on
the subject of the natural history of this part of the
world, it has not been ascertained with certainty
that the manners of the animal under notice corre-
spond exactly with those of the roebuck of the west ;
but the structural resemblance, we may almost say
identity, is so great as to leave little doubt upon the
point. It is probable that this animal is found over
the greater part of the high lands in Asia, and that it
is modified in its coat in different parts there to as
great an extent as the difference between it, as de-
scribed in the south of Siberia, and our roebuck ; and
what gives more probability to the supposition of its
being but one species from India to Britain, is the
fact that in the milder climate of India, there is nearly
the same deviation from the Tartarian type as in the
milder climate of Europe. Our roebuck is smaller
than the Tartarian, shorter and smoother in its coat,
and with the horns less developed. The Indian
variety is described as being still smaller than ours,
more smooth in its coat, and with the horns less deve-
loped. These circumstances would lead us to infer
that the roebuck is more generally distributed over
the eastern continent than any other of the larger
mammalia which remain in a state of nature. There
is still, however, a good deal to be done in order to
trace the connexion between the different localities
in which it is found, and to mark the gradation by
which the characters of the one locality run into those
of the other. But these points are not impossible, for
they only require observation ; and as it is highly
probable that lines of communication may soon be
opened up through central Asia, we shall not much
longer remain in such deep ignorance as we are at
present respecting that portion of the country which
may be saiu to connect the four distinct characters of
land and climate of which Asia is composed. Siberia
sloping toward the northern sea, China to the eastern,
India and Persia to the southern, and the central coun-
tries of Asia toward the great salt-lake of the Caspian.
All these four are very different in their different
characters, and in their vegetable productions ; and
therefore they must produce corresponding modifica-
tions in the characters of animals ; and if we could
once see clearly how one species, such as the roebuck,
common to the whole, has been modified by each, we
should be furnished with a key to much of their natu-
ral history, the knowledge of which we never can
obtain by local and individual observation, however
assiduous and however accurate. Nor would the in-
formation be confined to the present time only ; for
as it is well ascertained that the roebuck has inhabited
even the west of Europe along with some of the lost
animals, and as the fossil horns resemble those of the
Asiatic more than the modern roebuck of Europe,
this species, well made out, would be at least one
means of carrying our knowledge backward to the
time when they existed.

The NEPAL STAG — Cervus WUlichii. This species
is found in the upper valleys of the Himalaya, and
partakes partly of the characters of the common stag,
and partly of those of the roebuck ; but more of the
former. The horns are circular in their section, each is
furnished with two brow antlers turning upwards,which
with an additional snag higher up the beam, form a
sort of bifurcation. The beam rises with a contrary
flexure, bent backwards, and then slightly forwards.
Tn»J size of the full-grown animal is large ; the colour

on the upper part yellowish brown ; lachrymal sinuses
large; the ear short and broad, the tail very short, sur-
rounded with a very large white disk. The legs fawn
colour, the hoofs black, very fine in their texture, and
sharp pointed, resembling those of the mountain an-
telopes. The history of this species, its habits, the
change of its colour, and the texture of its fur with
age or with seasons are, however, very imperfectly
known. Its most remarkable external character is the
position of the disc, which is more above the tail than
below it, whereas the contrary is the case in most of
the other species.

*In the south of Asia and the Asiatic isles, there are
two distinct groups of the genus Cervus, which differ
in some respects from the deer of Europe, and the
different members, whether we are to consider them
as species or as varieties, which compose each group,
have certain characters in common which enable us to
generalise and thereby shorten, at least, a part of the
descriptions of them. As these are known only in
Asia, at least, as native animals (for some have been
imported into Europe in the living state), we can
describe them only by their names as known to natu-
ralists. The one group is styled Rusa and the other
Ax'is, which we shall shortly notice in succession.

ROSA. The general characters of this group are :
the horns round, with a brow antler and a single snag
near the tip, but without any bas-antler or branch on
the middle; they have a broad muzzle, and large
lachrymal sinuses. The males have canine teeth, and
rugged manes ; the tail is also longer than in any of
the European deer ; and some of them at least are of
larger size. They are the upland or woodland deer
of India, and the larger islands of the East ; and in
their manners they in general more resemble the stag
than any other of our species of deer. There are
several species of them named in the books ; but some
of them are known only as museum specimens. It is
certain, however, that the animals are very plentiful
in the tangled and unfrequented parts both of India
and of the islands. Indeed, it is probable that some
of the species may inhabit the southern side of the
mountains considerably to the westward ; for one is
mentioned by Aristotle, of the size of a stag, and with
a mane on the withers, and a horn resembling the
roebucks.

The GREAT RUSA — Ccrvus hippelaphus. This is
one of the species the habitat of whieJi is not very well
known, though it is probable that it exists in many
parts of continental India ; but the specimens which
have appeared in Europe have been obtained from
the islands, chiefly from Java. The hair is coarse and
hard ; and, after the first year, that on the throat,
cheeks, and neck, is long and shaggy, the latter form-
ing an erectible mane. In summer the colour is yel-
lowish, and the disc on the buttocks nearly obliterated,
but in winter the colour on the upper part becomes
gray-brown, and the disc becomes more conspicuous.
Different specimens have, however, varied so much in
their colours, as well as their size, that the species is
not very well made out.

The SAMVER OF BENGAL— Cervus Aristotelis. This
species is much better known than the former, being
met with in many parts of India, especially in the val-
ley of the Ganges. Its characteristic distinction taken
from the horns, is that of having the branch or second
antler very far up upon the beam, and turned to the
rear, instead of forming a fork with the tip of the beam,
as in most others of the group.

.IDJKIIv

DEER.

261

The burr of the horn is very broad and pearled ;
the first antler is cylinder-shaped, strong and straight,
and stands nearly vertically upon it, measuring about
ten inches in length ; the beam bends from the back
of it obliquely outwards, arid to the rear, and with a
sweep turns its point backwards ; near the summit, or
at more Th;in two-thirds oi' its length, is the second
posterior and internal branch, short and pointing
upwards. In the British Museum there is a specimen
measuring about twenty-three inches, which is very
rugous and robust. The horns stand upon a broad
und short pedicle ; the lace is straight, the nose pointed,
the muzzle sunill, and the suborbital opening is very
considerable. The ears are broad, with white hairs
standing up around the orifice; the tail is black, reach-
ing half way down the ham, and is well furnished with
hair. The throat and neck are covered with long
coarse dark brown-grey hair, reaching partially over
the shoulders, susceptible of being raised like a lion's
mane, when the animal is excited. The shoulders,
head, back, rump, and buttocks, are dark-brown in
summer, and almost black in winter ; outside of the
ears sepia ; the belly whitish, as also a ring round the
nostrils and mouth, separated from the brown by a
deeper shade, which spreads up the face ; the inside
of the limbs and legs fawn colour, darker over the
knees down the front; the breast is black. The male
is nearlv the size of the elk, and indeed is so named
in India by the Britisli sportsmen. They represent
him as being excessively strong and vicious. Some of
them, on a shooting expedition, had crossed an arm
of the Jumna to a woody island in quest of game ; —
they were on the back of an elephant, and entering
the jungle suddenly roused an old male of this species.
On seeing the elephant he started up with a long shrill
pipe or whistle, which caused others to rise and dart
into cover, while he stood at bay with his bristly mane
on end, in a most threatening attitude : but before the
sportsmen could prepare proper shot, he wheeled
round and dashed through the underwood with the
facility of a rhinoceros. Captain Williamson evidently
met the same species. He describes the stag as arriv-
ing at the size of a Lincolnshire cart-horse, fifteen or
sixteen hands high, shining black, with tanned points
(of the hair r1) One of these, he says, heads a score
of females, who are of a mouse colour. He likewise
calls it an elk, and adds, that they reside in the Prauss
jungles. But though this species gets the name of the
elk, there is no resemblance between them, farther
than the generic character. This is decidedly a spe-
cies of the warmer climates ; and though we are but
little acquainted with its habits in wild nature, it doe:
not appear to be so social as the elk ; indeed, the deer
of warm countries do not in general appear to congre-
gate in such numbers as those of temperate and polar
climates.

MALAY RUSA — Ccrvus equmus. This is also a large
species ; and though the specimens hitherto brought
to Europe have been obtained from the Suuda Islands
there is every reason to believe that it inhabits the
Malay Peninsula, and probably also some parts o
India. When full grown, it is described as being o
the size of a horse, with the horns tapering, and the
second snag, which is turned to the rear, very small
The horns are of a very bright reddish brown ; botl
sexes have canine teeth ; and the frontal bone is mud
flatter than in most species of deer. The colour is
grevish brown, paler on the under part ; rust colon
on the haunches, and the tail ; the insides of the legs

vhitish, the muzzle black, arid the chin white. The
bllowing is Hamilton Smith's description of a speci-
men exhibited some years ago at Exeter Change. —
' The animal was then about two years old, and his
rorns were simple, or in the brocket state ; the next
year its new horns showed the bifurcation of the surn-
nit, to be as in the Black Rusa of Bengal ; that is
near the summit on the internal posterior side. It was
hen four feet, or something more, at the shoulder; and
still higher at the croup ; its eyes were large, dark,
and mild : the suborbital slit opened at pleasure, and
was remarkably expanded when it drank, with a per-
ceptible action of the air passing in and out as before
noticed. The ears, broad and pointed, were nearly
naked within, and whitish-grey without, the face, shoul-
ders, back, and thighs were of a dark brown-grey ; the
nair rough and bristly on the neck and throat. This
colour was darker, and the hair very long, especially
the second year, when the crest or mane on the neck
and throat hung very heavy and thick ; the breast and
belly were of a dark ash, almost black. A consider-
able disk of a clear rusty, or orange, colour, expanded
over the buttocks, lined the inferior side of the tail,
and was separated by a black line from the grey of the
thighs. The tail, about a foot in length, was black
above ; the joints of the legs, the inside of the thighs,
and their anterior side were yellowish dun, and the
legs from the joints downwards buff; the chin was
white, with a black spot at the corner of the mouth,
on the lower lip, and a bar of the same colour above
the nostrils, which were placed on a black muzzle ;
the cheeks and space round the eyes were buff, pass-
ing to grey."

The horns are of a dark colour, rugous, robust, but
shorter and less curved than in the Hippelaphus ; the
anterior antler, and posterior snag, are both short and
obtuse, but from the size of the first, or brocket horns,
of the animal being near eight inches long, it is pre-
sumed that they become, it not much prolonged, at
least very bulky : his second horns were about four-
teen inches. This species resembles the Bengal Rusa
in many particulars : both have the forehead flat, and
the face straight ; the muzzle small, with spots of black
on the under lip, and a ring round the nose ; the ears
naked inside ; the horns short, stout, and similarly
formed ; the same mane and dark breast. In fact,
the only obvious differences are the presence of a disk
on the buttocks of the present, which does not appear
on the former, and that of dimensions ; but even in
this particular there can be no great disparity. It
may be, therefore, that ultimately these two will be
marked as only varieties of one species.

There are some other species or varieties described
as inhabiting the Malay peninsula, or the adjacent
isles ; but it is by no means unlikely that some of
them are the females of the species now described :
and, indeed, there is some reason to suspect that all
the Rusas are merely climatal varieties of one very
widely distributed species, which may be called the
stag of South-Eastern Asia, or the Indian stag ; we
shall, however, mention two others, which differ con-
siderably from those which have been enumerated,
and which are the most remote from continental Asia
in their localities.

The MAUIANA RUSA — Cervus Manama. This
species inhabits the group of the Mariana or Ladrone
islands, which lie between twelve and twenty degrees
north latitude, and a hundred and forty-four and a
hundred and forty-eight east longitude. There is every

262

DE

reason to believe that it is not originally a native of
those islands, but has been imported from the conti-
nent of Asia, probably from China. A specimen was
brought to Paris, by Quoy and Gainard, in Freycinet's
voyage of discovery, of which the following is a de-
scription : — " It is more robust, but not much taller
than the roebuck, with round divergent horns standing
on a low pedicle, having two antlers, the basal nearly
vertical, and at its junction with the beam a small
process, not unlike a trilobed tooth ; the other is pos-
terior and internal, and compared with the size of the
head, the horns are large and heavy, being about thir-
teen inches long ; their colour is ashy, and they are
extremely rugged. Between the horns the skull has
a longitudinal eminence, and before the orbits, near
the base of the nose, are two longitudinal convexities,
very remarkable, and the species is destitute of canines,
by which character it approaches to the true axis ; the
face is almost black, with a streak running down from
the horns, between the eyes, to the nose ; the muzzle
small and black, and the colour of the whole body
dark brown, slightly mixed with grey, at least such are
the colours now discernible, the specimen being in a
bad state of preservation ; the tail is about four inches
long, and black. A fawn brought from the same island
in the above museum is fulvous-brown, without spots ;
the throat is whitish ; a white spot at the end of the
lower jaw, and one at the base of the ear. The inside
and anterior border of the thighs and buttocks are
white, and the legs buff." This species, like most of
those of the islands, is described as being very tame
and gentle in its manners, which gives additional
ground for supposing that it is not an aboriginal
animal, but has been carried to the islands from con-
tinental Asia.

Rus A OF TIMOR — Cervus Peronii. Only the head, we
believe, of this species has been brought to Europe ;
and from the little acquaintance that we have of the
interior of the island of Timor, nothing is known of
its habits in its native country. It is understood to
be smaller than any of the rest of the group, dark
coloured, with slender horns, and the second snag
forming a more regular fork with the tip than in the
other species of the group. This is the most southerly
inhabiting deer in all the eastern continent or its
islands ; for the next land which we meet with to the
south of Timor is New Holland, in which there are
no deer, except such as may have been very recently
imported by the colonists.

Axis. The animals of this group stand nearly in
the same relation to the fallow-deer of Europe, as the
rusas do to the stag. They are smaller in size, and
less vigorous in structure ; they have no canine teeth,
and their skins are, generally speaking, dappled with
white spots. Generally speaking, they inhabit lower
down than the deer formerly described.

The SPOTTED Axis — Cervus Axis. The chief dis-
tinction between this species and our fallow-deer is in
the form of the horns, which are round in their section
through and without any palm. The horns stand
nearly vertical, only with a slight bend forward, and
the points inclined towards each other. They have
a basal antler pointed forwards, and another on the
middle of the beam turned backwards ; the muzzle is
black, and there are no lachrymal sinuses. There is,
indeed, so much resemblance between this species and
fallow-deer that when their horns are shed, it is dif-
ficult to distinguish the one from the other. The chief
marking colour is in the dorsal, line, and the disk on

E R.

the buttocks. The dorsal lino in the axis is very
deep-brown, and marked with white spots, while that
on the fallow-deer is paler, and has the spots only on
the margin. The disk in the fallow-deer is white, that
on the axis is yellowish. The two sexes are also more
equal in size than the fallow-deer, the female being
larger than the doe, and the male not larger than the
buck. There are, however, considerable varieties
both in size and in colour.

Axis Deer.

These deer are very plentiful in the lower districts
of India, where they inhabit the margins of the jun-
gles ; they are known by the general name of hog-
deer, and are much prized by the sportsmen of the
east. We believe they are seldom met with in the
countries above the Ghauts, or passes of the moun-
tains, as the large deer are seldom met with below ;
and, indeed, in all their characters, and in all their
habits, they correspond so much with fallow-deer that,
notwithstanding the different form of the horns, it is
difficult to refrain from considering them as the same
species ; and, perhaps, as the parent stock which has
supplied the fallow-deer to the western world. Several
varieties have been described, but they appear more
accidental than otherwise, so that it is unnecessary to
mention them particularly.

There is still another group of deer, belonging to
the south-east of Asia and the Oriental Islands,
which have very peculiar characters, and which are
decidedly distinct from any of the rest. Their most
remarkable characters are, that the males have the
horns upon peduncles, which can be traced upon
prominent ridges down the forehead almost to the
nose and canine teeth in the upper jaw, which are so
long that they protrude beyond the lips. They have
also very deep lachrymal sinuses. The tongue is very
long, and they can "protrude it upwards as far as the
eyelids. They appear to be intermediate between
the deer, properly so called, and the musks ; and it
is doubtful whether they shed their horns seasonally
like the other deer. They have been brought chiefly
from the Sunda and Philippine islands ; but there is
also a species in Nepal. There is some difficulty
about the different species, but there seems no doubt
that several of them are distinct, and those which are
obtained from the Philippine islands, from the Sunda

DEER.

2(>3

islands, and from Nepal, are all different from each
other. They are elegantly formed creatures, am!,
notwithstanding their produced canine teeth, they
have a very mild and gentle aspect. The following
is the description of the Sumatra species or variety : —
The body is compact ; the legs remarkably fine and
slender ; the muzzle is rather broad ; and the canines
assume the form of inverted tusks, sharp at their
points, turned towards the animal, and outwards.
Two rib-like eminences ascend from above the nose
over the eyes, and, elevating themselves from the
head, in the form of slender pedestals, to the height
of two and a half inches, terminate in a flattened
summit. Upon these the horns are placed, about
three or four inches long, forked at top, with the

Eoints turned inwards, and with a small branch at the
ase pointing forwards ; between the ribs the skin of
the face is doubled into a fold, which has the appear-
ance of a third or central rib ; the fur is fine and
dose, of a greyish brown, paler beneath ; the breast,
inside and anterior face of the thighs, are whitish ;
the tail is short, dark above and white below.

The Malay name of this animal is Kijang, or
Muntjak, the "latter of which has been adopted as the
specific distinction. They are understood to live in
pairs, in the same manner as the roebuck. Several
varieties of them have been imported from Sumatra,
from the Philippines, and from other parts of the
Indian Archipelago, the history of which is not very
clearly made out: but the following is the description
of one from the Philippine islands : — " The peduncles
and the horns are about one-fourth the length of the
head, and thicker than those of the kijang, and the
ridges which terminate in them extend down only as
far as the eyes. The rest of the face is flat, with the
forehead slightly arched ; there is a dark streak on
the anterior base of the pedicles, and between them
the hair is black, forming a spot with the point
downwards, and leaves a crescent of a dirty buff
between them ; this colour spreads round the orbits
and on the cheeks ; the lachrymal sinus is dark ; the
ear> rather short and obtuse, whitish within, dull buff
outside ; the colour of the coat is wholly brown sepia-
grey, clearer on the throat, and darkest on the neck
and eyes ; the tail is three inches long, black above
and white beneath." There are several museum
specimens from the Oriental Islands, which appear to
differ from each other ; but as some of them are only
fragments, their characters are not fully made out.
There is one, however, of which a pretty distinct
account is given : —

THE NEPAL MUNTJAK, or Musk-deer of Nepal
— Cervus moschatus. In the Oriental Collections for
January, &c. 1798, vol. ii., Sir William Ousley figures
an animal, under the name of Musk-deer of Nepal,
from a drawing executed by a native artist, with the
following dimensions, communicated by Colonel Iron-
side : — Length, from between the ears to tail, two
feet four inches ; height, two feet ; length of head,
seven inches ; of the tail, six inches and three
quarters ; of the tusks, two inches and one-eighth ;
the hair bristly and thick, two inches long. By the
illuminated plate, the animal must be entirely dull
fawn colour, with the superior part of the tail alone
dark ; the horns, placed upon high pedicles, are dark,
simple, without branches, and pointing to the rear ;
the limbs are very slender ; the spurious hoofs small ;
tno neck rather short. The habitat and character of
tne hair render it probable that it is a distinct species ;

and although no reason is assigned ibr the name of
musk-deer, that being the designation of the natives,
render it probable that it is impregnated with a
musky smell. Altogether, these are rather singular
animals. The length of the canine teeth is a very
remarkable character, and one which is somewhat
puzzling, as, along with this armature of the mouth,
the animals are remarkable for the gentleness of their
manners. The fact of the horns being shed only once,
or at most twice during the life of the animal ; and if
this is fully established, it will be sufficient ground for
taking these animals out of the genus Cervus, and
establishing them into one entirely peculiar ; but, in
the meantime, we want information respecting them.
There is no doubt, however, that they have many
peculiarities ; and as they are found in so many parts
of the East, and with different characters in the
different localities, they may perhaps, when better
understood, throw additional light on the zoology of
the legions to which they belong. It is understood
that they are gregarious, and very timid and gentle
in their manners ; that they do not live in large
herds, but in small packs or families in the woods ;
and though they unquestionably partake more of the
characters of the deer than of those of any other
genus, they are undoubtedly very peculiar, and there
are no animals in the east the more perfect his-
tory of which would be more desirable. This is
the more to be desired, from the fact, that there does
not appear to be anything analogous to them, either
living or fossil, in any other part of the world. There
are many points, however, in their structural history
of which we are in a great measure ignorant, and
which will require to be cleared up in a satisfactory
manner before we can confidently decide whether
they are to remain as part of the genus Cervus, or
whether they ought to form an entirely new genus.
The zeal and assiduity with which the natural history
of the East is now prosecuted cannot leave this point
long unsettled.

The species which we have now noticed comprise
all the deer of the eastern hemisphere ; and if we
imagine a straight line drawn from Spain to the Island
of Timor, all the countries in the hemisphere which
lie to the north-east of this line are inhabited by deer,
though partially mixed with antelopes in several of
the middle regions, while all to the south-west is the
proper country of the antelopes. It is true that deer
thrive well in the Mauritius and the Isle of France,
but they are imported animals there ; and we believe
there were no ruminantia in those islands when first
discovered.

III. DEER OF AMERICA.

It only remains now to give a short notice of those
species of deer which are found in the American
continent, and not in any other part of the world, and
we shall take them in order from north to south,
though some of them inhabit nearly the same regions.
There is, however, some confusion in these species,
arising from differences of colour, having been perhaps
incautiously made specific.

THE WAPITI — Cervus strongyloceros. This species
is now well known in Britain, from living specimens
being kept in the different zoological gardens ; but it
is probable that another described species should be
referred to this one, namely, the Canadian Stag
(Cervus Canadensis), of which there are also varieties
mentioned. We shall quote Hamilton Smith's de-
scription of the Wapiti as being the best, both on

264

DEER.

account of the describer, and of the fact (a very
important one), of his having seen the animal in its
native locality : — " Our wapiti resembles the common
stag in nearly all his proportions, but his size is far
superior, being at the shoulder from four feet four to
four feet eight inches, the superiority of bulk appearing
chiefly in the magnitude of the body. The hind is
similar to the stag, with inferior proportions ; the
colour of both in the summer season is fulvous brown
on the back ; a black spot on each side of the
corners of the mouth descends on the under lip,
round the eye brown, and down the face darker ; the
neck also is darker than the body, being mixed with
a purplish brown tint on those parts ; the limbs are
anteriorly dark, and lighter from behind ; under the
horns long hairs form a sort of dewlap, also darker in
colour ; the buttocks and tail are pale fawn colour,
separated from the brown of the thigh by a dark
streak ; the tail is short, but varies from two to four
inches in length ; the suborbital sinus is long, open
and naked next the eye ; the ears are long, lined
with white hair within, and dark coloured externally ;
inside of the limbs and on the belly the hair is close
and buff-col oured.

" The specimens seen in Europe appear somewhat
different in their colours from those in America, no
doubt in consequence of confinement and grooming.
The long hair of the throat, and also much of that on
the ridge of the neck and sides, dropping off. This
description, derived from comparing several living
specimens both in Europe and America, is the sum-
mer habit. One individual in his winter fur was of a
chocolate brown red, mixed with grey, all over the
body ; the neck, thickly furnished with long hair, and
the woolly soft fur on the forehead, were sepia-brown ;
the chin pure white, and the buttocks and tail also
nearly white.

" Comparing this account with our notes taken on
the spot during a winter in America, we find a stag
reported to have been brought from the Missouri, but
which in reality might have been taken in the north-
ern districts of the state of New York, in the vicinity
of the great lakes. He was three years old, four feet
six inches high at the shoulder ; the nose and legs
sepia-black, turning on the neck and back to dun
brown ; the croup and tail nearly white ; the body
short and thick like the trunk of an ass ; the legs
shaped as in a calf, very perpendicular on the buttocks,
with appearance of callosities on the knees ; the croup
somewhat more elevated than the withers ; the neck
much arched and adorned with some long hair, the
full expansion of that part not taking place till the
fifth year ; the muzzle broad and black ; the eyes
dark, and the aspect mild ; the horns were greatly-
deformed. On the 17th of February, another sketch
was taken of the same animal, his horns were begin-
ning to shoot anew, the cicatrix of the former not
quite healed, and their form resembling a flattened
globe ; his face was covered with woolly hair, ex-
tremely thick ; on the side of the hinder legs, near
the true heel, a gland imbedded in hair secreted an
unctuous fluid, which seemed to cause uneasiness, and
we were informed that while the horns are expanding
the animal frequently rubs the points of the antlers
against them ; the colour of his fur was a sepia-grey,
extremely shaggy. This individual was, according to
Mr. Skudder, exactly similar to the specimen shot on
Long Island, and might therefore be considered the
Canadian variety ; and the drawing, compared with
v

the stuffed specimen in Paris, if it be not the identi-
cal animal, closely resembles it.

" The horns of this species acquire a surprising de-
velopment, expanding with such rapidity that at one
period their growth exceeds an inch and a half per
day. In the Long Island specimen, of six antlers each
measured above three feet in length, and the bur and
beam were exceedingly large, but in some individuals
they arc asserted to exceed six feet. One specimen,
of which we have a drawing1, shows them nearly five-
feet long. The base and tertian, or brow and royal
antlers, are invariably the longest in both the varieties.
These seem to be instruments of use, for with them,
when a small dead pine, or a bar of a split fence six-
teen or eighteen feet long, lies in their way, they will
lift and toss it clear over their backs.

" In England, where they have propagated, it appears
that some care is required for their preservation, since
to an alleged neglect of this kind is ascribed the loss
of no less than twelve head of the herd belonging to
the king. In Canada they feed on some buds of
coniferous trees and grass, and in summer on aquatic
plants, which they seek under water while sheltering
themselves in that element from the bites of flics. It
was in the act of feeding in this manner that we had
a view of the Canadian stag. We were in a canoe
ascending the Chaudiere, at a point where the river
bends suddenly on opening into a small lake. A hunter
among us made a warning sign for silence and pointed
a- head, but nothing appeared on the surface of the
water ; the bateau men, hosveven understood the sign,
and grasped their muskets, but with so much precipita-
tion and noise as to alarm the game, which now again
put his head above water, and seeing the canoe sprang
forward towards the bank with his month full of weeds.
At this instant he was fired at, but he gained the shore
very near us, and dashed with elevated antlers into
cover, as was thought, unhurt ; he appeared quite black,
with large expanded horns, but no further observations
could be made. We were then informed that at this
period (August) they are often killed while feeding
under water, but the canoe must be so placed as to
glide with the current and without noise close to
them ; the game only raising its head to breathe from
time to time, takes no notice of an object which ap-
pears motionless.

" On the banks of the Missouri they are said to live
in small families of ten or twelve individuals, headed
by an old male, who is reported to be monogamous •
the rest beside the hind being calves and semi-adults.
The females are capable of procreating very early,
one born in England having produced a calf at eight-
teen months old. This circumstance militates against
the opinion of the Indians respecting their longevity.
The males do not bellow, but when the}' are alarmed
or excited send forth a loud piercing whistle, to all
appearance from the suborbital slit. They mew their
horns in the latter days of February or during March,
and require little more than three months to recover
them, notwithstanding their enormous size." — Animal
Kingdom, vol. iv. p. 98, &c.

From the character of its native country, thore is
little doubt that the wapiti might be added to the
ornamental animals of this country ; and though it
wants the majesty of the stag, the beauty of the roe,
and the softness "of the fallow deer, yet its size and
the grandeur of its apparel would render it a highly
interesting variety in the more extensive parks.
NORTH-WESTERN STAG— Cervus occidentals. It is

DEER.

265

at least probable that, though the wapiti varies in
colour from black to brown, there is another stag,
more of a mountaineer, in North America, to the
westward of the great central valley ; and though this
species displays very considerable variety in the ex-
tent of its range, it is probable that it occurs in the
Canadian mountains, and is the animal described as
the Canadian stag, more uniformly red in the colour,
and more light in its make than the wapiti. It has
been seen at different parts of the west coast, and
perhaps ranges along the Stony Mountains as far as
California, its horns are smaller than those of the
wapiti ; and it has a character somewhat peculiar,
namely, that the bezantler, or second on the beam, is
longer than the brow antler. The horns are about
three feet from burr to tip, very much furrowed and
pearled ; the brow antler turned downwards over the
face, the bezantler forwards or upwards ; and the
royal, or tip of the horn, consisting of snags from a
common centre, as in the stag. There are varieties of
colour, but the following is about the average : face
dark brown, cheeks and space round the eyes buff,
chin and inside of the limbs white, muzzle broad and
black, lachrymal sinuses long, ears long, dark outside
but inside and margin white, neck, back, Hank and
hams brown, legs ochre-yellow, tail in some of the
varieties long, in others short. Additional information
is wanted, however, in order to determine whether
there are several species or only one diversified by
climate.

THE VIRGINIAN DEER — Ccrvns Firgiwanus. This

is what is usually styled the fallow deer of America.

It is a very light and handsome species. It stands

about three feet three inches in height at the shoulder.

The horns are inclined forwards, with their points

turned toward each other, so that they arc not further

apart than the liases. The burr is small, and near it

on the inner side of the beam rises a short antler

inclining inwards. The first horn is a simple pricket

The second has a forked summit, and then in the fifth

year there are two or three snags on the posterior or

curved part of the beam. On mature age the upper

part of the beam becomes pal mated, and the snags

become double pointed ; the burr also extends, and so

does the brow antler, but the horns are subject to very

considerable varieties. In summer, the hair of hot!

sexes is of a bright yellow cinnamon colour, whicl

changes to a fine brownish grey during the winter

the hairs of that season being annulated with brow

and buff. The belly, inside of the thighs, the inter

nal face of the fore legs, above the knees, and the

posterior, inner border of the buttocks, are white

the throat, breast, and under part of the tail, of th

same colour ; the upper part of the tail dark, and the

legs fawn colour; the ears are long and pointed, out

side of a brown grey, inside well lined with white

hair; the forehead, face, and cheeks, brown with

slight mixture of grey ; round the eyes, lips, and chin

fawn colour ; the muzzle small and black, no spot o

the corner of the mouth, but the winter hair of th

belly and under part of tail long and silky, and th

bristles on the inside of the hinder joint or tibi-tarsa

articulation of a deep rust colour. In this animal th

eyes are peculiarly bright, soft, and beautiful. Th

fawn is of a lively fulvous brown, marked during th

first year with numerous white spots. They rut i

November and December, when the neck of the buc

swells, and gestation lasts near nine months, th

females dropping two or even three fawns. The buck

ose their attire about the same period as the stags
f Europe ; they bray, but with less noise, and live in
erds from the southern confines of the great lakes
nd the St. Lawrence to the Floridas and westward,
n the interior to an immense distance. According
o Professor Harlan, this species displays great enmity
ovvards the rattle-snake,, which it contrives to crush
y leaping, with the fore-feet conjoined, and dropping
lerperidicularly on the serpent, bounding away again
vith great lightness, and repeating this attack till the
ineiny is killed. This species of deer is subject to con-
iderable variations, probably arising from difference of
tolour, but the specific distinctions are very uniform.
[ts flesh is very palatable and wholesome, and its skin,
which is soft and flexible, is used for many purposes
n domestic economy, and is said to resemble that of
the chamois more than the skins of any of the com-
mon deer of Europe. It is altogether an interesting
animal, and forms a very decided feature in the natu-
ral history of the districts in which it is found. It is
rather more of a lowland animal than the red deer of
the Rocky Mountains, but it possesses more elegance
of form and more activity of habit than our fallow
deer, at the same time its manners are gentle, and
there is no doubt that it could be easily domesticated
in its native country, and probably in Europe.

THE MexiCAN DEER — Cervus Mexicanus. This
is rather a doubtful species, or at all events the part
of America of which it is a native is not very clearly
made out, though it is probable that it inhabits the
table land, more or less, the whole way from Mexico
to the southern extremity of the American continent ;
and that though it is a mountaineer in the tropical
parts, it descends to the plains in Patagonia. The
animal itself is little if at all known, but the horns
have been in various museums for a considerable
time ; and as they are peculiar, it may not be amiss
to give in substance the description of them, partly
from Shaw and partly from the celebrated Grew, by
whom the animal is styled the Indian Roebuck. It
is probable that the same pair of horns still to be seen
in the British Museum are those mentioned by Grew.
They are of a bright yellow colour, so irregularly and
widely palmated as to cause a suspicion that they
once belonged to an unknown species of reindeer, or
to a second species of elk. They are nearly seven-
teen inches long, spreading diagonally from the head
and reclining back ; there is no burr at the base, only
a broad, ascending, tuberculated, and toothed beam.
At two inches from the base an antler issues from the
anterior part in a vertical direction, flat and ending
in two points ; about three inches higher the beam,
being somewhat prismatic in form, widens, and a
broad flat branch throws up four snags in the form of
a palm, the foremost plain, the next toothed, the third
plain, and the fourth bifurcated ; behind these a fifth
assumes a still more singular form, it ascends in the
same direction with the others, terminating in three
processes, and from its external posterior side throws
out an horizontal branch which bifurcates again, the
inferior being the longest and hanging downwards ;
this is the right horn ; the left, after the basal antler,
throws obliquely forwards a flat broad branch dividing
into two processes, then vertically one with three ex-
ternal processes, and then a third likewise with three
external processes, but these three branches flatten
also at the base into a kind of palm obliquely facing
the other.

Cuvier describes the horns as strongly curved for-

266

D E E R.

•wards, spreading outwards, and converging towards
each other at the extremities ; an antler at the ante-
rior face of the beam, pointing vertically, and furnished
with strong denticulations ; a spiller or antler at the
posterior part of the beam, divided into several small
branches ; these horns flatten into a sort of palm
from the second antler, and at their base are deeply
grooved and strongly tuberculated. The head which
Cuvier describes is that of a very old specimen, which
was furnished with a muzzle, but had uo canine teeth ;
and in these and other partkulars it appears that the
animal bears so strong a resemblance to the Virginian
deer, that it is probably only a variety, and that this
deer extends throughout all the temperate parts of
America, being subject to some variations arising
from differences of climate and pasture. The follow-
ing are descriptions of some of the museum specimens
of the horns. In the collection of the late Mr. Brooks
there was a pair of a bright golden yellow colour,
very robust, rising from the burr with strong pearls,
and" a small antler in front ; behind this, and in con-
tact with it, a second snag, strong, vertical, notched,
and grooved ; the beam then bends out at an angle,
horizontally and laterally, and then curves forward.
On the superior edge are three bifurcated snags, two
vertical, and the third bent forwards ; but what seems
to confer a decisive character on these honis is,
that beneath these, on the inferior edge of the beam,
a sixth heavy snag hangs down perpendicularly,
widened and flattened at the base, and evidently
much worn by friction, while the animal grazes ; this
is the character on the left ; the right is similar, except-
ing the extreme points, which appear to have been
injured in the development. In the British Museum,
there is another similar pair with the worn clavate sus-
pensal snags, but less in proportion. These two speci-
mens seemed to justify the appellation of Cervus cla-
vatus for a new species, but they are the companion
of several others in the British Museum. There are,
however, so many uncertain points in the history of this
species, that it must be received with much caution.

THE LARGE-EARED DEER — Cervus macrotis. This
is also an American species, resembling the Virginian
and Mexican deer, and also in some respects the
wapiti ; but according to the descriptions of Harlan
and Say, it is different. The upper part is light red-
dish brown, and the sides and tore part of the nose
ash colour ; the back intermixed with blackish tipped
hairs, which form a distinct line on- the neck near the
head ; tail reddish-cinereous black at the tip ; this
part is somewhat compressed, and almost naked be
neath ; the hoofs are shorter and wider than those o
the Virginian deer, and more like those of the wapiti
the horns slightly grooved and tuberculated at base
with a similar antler, as in the Virginian ; the beam
less curved forwards, is bifurcated near the summit
again divided, the anterior of the second bifurcation
being somewhat longer than the posterior ; the ear
very long, extend to the principal bifurcation, abou
half the length of the whole horn , the lateral inciso
teeth are larger in proportion to the intermediate than
in the Virginian ; eyelashes black ; lachrymal aperture
also larger, and the hair coarser, and undulated, an<
compressed like that of the wapiti. The species i
found in the most remote north-western territories o
the United States, and from the context of this de
scription it appears evident that the Guazupuco dee
is nearest allied to it, and that the guazuti and th
Virginian are clearly of the same group.

THE LONG-TAILED DEER — Cervus macrourus. This
pecies is described as being larger than the red deer
jr stag of Europe, darker in colour on the upper
>art, and having the belly white, the tail, from which
t gets its specific name, different from that of most
pecies of deer, is about eighteen inches in length,
)lack on the upper part, but with broad white mar-
gins, and carried erect when the animal runs. The

Cervus macrourus.

horns are short, and altogether of small size and flat-
tened, but not palmated. This species of deer is
described as being very numerous in the dry plains
near the banks of the river Kansas in North America.
This river is one of the western branches of the
Missouri, and drains by its different forks a region of
500 miles in length by more than 100 in breadth.

THE GOAZUPUCO DEER — Cervus paludosm. This
species inhabits the low and swampy regions of South
America, and is described by D'Azzara as having
horns rather large and cylindrical, terminated by a
fork, with an anterior antler some way up the beam,
simple or bifurcated, pointing forwards and then ver-
tical ; his muzzle is large, figured like that of an ox ;
the eyes large and full, with a lachrymal fold beneath ;
the forehead below the horns flat ; the ears terminat-
ing in a point ; the pedicles of the horns are one inch
high, and the horns about one foot four inches in
length, with never more than five snags ; mammae
four, disposed in a quadrangle ; the eyelashes black,
surrounded with white, which passes along the side of
the face, and surrounds the muzzle and the mouth ;
a black velvety spot in the angle of the lower lip,
another shading the nose on the upper ; a black trian-
gular one on the nose, and another between the eyes,
united by a dark line between them. Inside of the
ears, under jaw, and cheek, white ; a black spot on
the interval of the hoofs of all the feet, ascending to
the second joint ; a black band passing along the
breast, and another en the upper part of the tail.
The size of this animal is nearly the same as tbut of

DEER.

267

the European stag, being four feet high at the shoul-
ders, and four inches higher at the crupper. The
prevailing colour on the upper part is reddish bay ;
the tail is of medium length, and I he two incisive
teeth are larger than the rest. The females are
smaller than the bucks, and without the black line on
the breast. The fawns are ot a uniform dun colour,
and without any spots. The hair on the posterior
part, of the abdomen, and all the way between the hip
and the under side of the tail is very long, white for
the greater part of its length, but with dark points.

This species is most abundant in the swampy
regions of Paraguay, in the centre of South America,
and according to the account given by D'Azzara, the
season of rutting and also that of shedding the horns
are not so determinate as in the deer of the northern
hemisphere. This is not to be wondered at, if we
consider the character of the country which these
animals inhabit. When the rains set in, a very great
extent of the surface is laid under water, by which
means the deer are dispersed to the margins of the
temporary lakes, where they find abundant food ; and
as the dry season comes on, and the waters subside,
they retreat upon the remaining portion of the marsh,
which is seldom dried up even in the hottest season.
These animals may, therefore, be regarded as enjoy-
ing a perpetual summer ; and, therefore, as is the
case with most animals which enjoy this, their breed-
ing is not confined to one particular season, but is
distributed over the whole year. We still know too
little of the natural history of South America for
being able to decide with precision the geographical
situation of this or any other species ; but it is pro-
bable that the one under consideration is very gene-
rally distributed over all the swampy grounds.

THE GUA/ETI DEER — Cervus campestris. This
is also a South American species, but inhabits the dry
plains rather than the bushy margins of the marshes.
This is smaller than the former species, being only
about two feet six inches at the shoulder, and two feet
eight and a half at the croup ; the horns are a foot
long, slender, with the beam suberect, a branch ante-
riorly placed, bent upwards, and posteriorly one or
two snags towards the summit ; the eyes are large
and brown, with a suborbital fold ; the ears erect and
pointed ; the fur smooth and close, is reddish-bay, the
hair being reddish-bay at the point, and dull brown
at the base ; the inferior parts of the body, the under
side of the head and tail, which measures six inches,
are white, as also the hinder part of the buttocks, and
internal face of the thighs, a circle round the eyes and
inside of the ears. The hair on the lower part of the
abdomen is not so much produced as in the species
last described.

It is understood that this species is also very gene-
rally distributed over South America, and that it is
particularly abundant in Patagonia, the plains and
valleys of which are much more perenially green than
those of the more tropical parts of America. It
resides in the open plains, is remarkably swift ; and
the male emits, when pursued, a strong smell of
onions ; which, however, is supposed to result more
from feeding on bulbous roots than from any natural
quality in the animal, as some specimens which have
been kept alive in Europe and fed upon grass, have
not emitted the same odour. The horns of this, and
indeed of most of the South American species of deer,
are, however, subject to so much variation, that there is
some difficulty in making them out. The horns of

deer are, indeed, perplexing matters. As we havo
already said, there are, at least, ten times as many
pair of horns as deer ; and these pairs are not only
all different by nature in different years, but they arc
liable to accidental differences from hurts or other-
wise ; and we have further reason to believe that not
only difference of climate varies them, but that they
are farther varied by differences of seasons. They
are seasonal productions, as well as annual plants ;
and the feathers of birds are, and we know that these
are, affected by the character of the season. Farther
we know that, in the same species, and even in tb«
same group of deer, the horns are less produced in
warm climates than in cold ones ; and it follows, by
parity of reasoning, that they should be less produced
in warm seasons than in cold ones. These and many
other circumstances render it very questionable
whether the form of the horns ought to be taken as
the characteristic of the different species of deer ;
and it is certainly true that much perplexity has been
occasioned by the horns of the less known species,
and particularly by shed horns, the owners of which
are altogether unknown.

THE CABIACOU DEER — Cervus nemoralis. This
species is considered as a variety of the Virginian
deer ; though it is understood to inhabit more south-
erly latitudes, being abundant in the woods of tropical
America. In the United States this animal is called
the roebuck ; and it bears considerable resemblance to
the roebuck of the eastern continent. The following
is Hamilton Smith's description from specimens, of
Virginian origin, which were kept in the hospital
gardens at New York : " The horns not more than
eight inches long, somewhat vertical, rugous at base,
with a small antler not above an inch in height, rising
vertically at a short distance up the anterior part of
the beam, which at the insertion of the antler, bent
back, and then being slightly flattened, turned inwards
and forwards in a slightly uncinated bend, throwing
oft' a posterior short snag, which constituted a bifur-
cation ; the buck and does were nearly of the same
size and colours ; the head rather round, not so pro-
longed as in Guazeti, and the body longer than the
roebuck, about twenty-eight inches high at the shoul-
ders and thirty at the croup ; the neck, shoulders,
sides, and back, were of a yellowish brown grey ; the
inferior part of the belly, edge of the buttocks and
under tail white; the face darker brown grey ; leaving
the region round the nose, lips, and chin likewise
white, with a black spot on the nose, one at each side
of the mouth, on the upper lip, and one at the corner
of the lower lip ; the space round the orbits and
cheeks, dun, with a little whitish favour behind the
eye ; the ears moderately long and pointed, were
brown-grey outside and whitish-grey inside ; the eyes
full, dark, and soft, with a small suborbital fold beneath ;
the muzzle small, round, and black : from the knees
downward to the fetlock was a dark streak, but the
rest of the limbs ochry ; and the tail about four
inches long, was dusky above, without any long-
white hair at the edges.

" While engaged in making the sketch, they were
fed with bread, and the buck, jealous of the does
sharing the dainty, showed his propensity to leap, for
he drove them off by butting them, the head turned
sideways, not unlike a goat in play, rising for the
purpose high upon his hind legs, and not by running
with the head low like the stag. It being in the
month of March, their mewing period, he broke one

268

DEER.

horn oft' in this sport, an .. then made several surprising
vertical bounds, but only one drop of blood escaped
from his head, and he stole away in a crouching gait
under a shed.

" This species is common in all the warmer parts of
the American continent which abound in forests.
The mahogany-cutters of Belise often meet with it in
the woods. It is very lively, but at the same time a
most gentle creature, easily tamed, and very familiar
in confinement. We are still, however, in want of
information respecting it, and also several others of
the forest deer of America, the haunts of which are
very difficult to explore."

Besides the species which have been enumerated,
there is an entire group of deer on the American con-
tinent which differ altogether in the form of their horns
from the deer of the eastern world, as well as from
those species which we have described. They are
generally styled brockets, from the circumstance of
their horns never acquiring any branches, but remain-
ing as single dags, similar to the prickets or first horns
of the European stag. The deer of this group are
mostly of small size and light make ; they are very
numerous in some parts of the country ; and as the
females very much exceed the males in numbers, it
has sometimes been alleged there are species of deer
in America the males of which have no horns. This
is certainly, not true, but the horns of this group are
insignificant as compared with those of most of the
genus. The animals themselves are generally below
the middle stature of deer ; their nose is pointed, and
their muzzle small, consisting of a glandular termina-
tion at each side of the nostrils. Their lachrymal
sinuses are small, and their colours are generally
uniform, the prevailing one being bright reddish
brown. They inhabit the thick swarnpy forests, and
are found only in the warmer parts of the continent.
Several species are mentioned, but we are in want of
precise information respecting them.

THE PITA BROCKET — Cervus rufus. This is a
very lightly formed and handsome animal. The male
or buck is styled Giiaru Pita in Brazil, and it is rather
taller than the roebuck of Europe, but more lightly
made. The head is very pointed, and the muzzle
small, but giving an enlarged appearance at the sides
of the nostrils. There is a lachrymal sinus before the
eye, and the male has canines ; the horns are always
simple with a small burr at base, and the pricket
about five inches long ; the body is of a lively red-
dish bay, excepting the face and feet, which are red
brown ; the lips, chin, surface between the under jaws,
under part of the tail, and lower abdomen, are white ;
the throat and internal face of the thighs whitish grey ;
the tail with the hair is nearly nine inches long, and
red bay above ; a circle round the eyes is occasion-
ally paler than the rest of the head •. the females have
the same colours, but are smaller in stature. These
animals are found chiefly or entirely on the eastern
side of central America, from Honduras to the south-
ern extremity of Brazil, along which line the low
country is generally very much wooded, and therefore
adapted to their habits. They are gregarious, living
in large herds, and are almost the only ruminating
animals which are so, and at the same time of a
strictly forest character. The males are polygamous ;
and, as already mentioned, their numbers are few
compared with'those of the females. They are much
preyed upon by the aguars, and also by the larger
species of boa. "

The APAUA BROCKET— Cervus simplicicornis. This
is a smaller species than the former, standing only
about two feet and a half at the shoulder, and being,
as is understood, destitute of canine teeth. The pro-
file is remarkably straight, and the horns, which are
small and shorter than the ears, are continued in the
same line with it. This is a red deer as well as the
other, but its colour is brighter, its tail shorter, and
furnished on the under side with longer hair. There
is a dark ring round each eye, and the mouth is dusky.
The specimens of this species which have been exa-
mined and described in Europe, have been chiefly
brought from Brazil, where they are understood to
inhabit more on the open plains than the species last
described. They appear to vary very considerably
in their colours with age, so that there is some uncer-
tainty about their natural history.

The BIRA BROCKET — Cervus ncmorivagus. This
as its name imports, is a wanderer in the woods. It
has sometimes been confounded with the apara, but
it ;s a much smaller and more gentle-looking animal.
It is only about a foot and a half high at the shoulder.
The horns are straight, smooth, solid, and pointed ;
rather more than half an inch in diameter, and not
exceeding two inches in length. The tip of the ear
is rounded, and the lachrymal sinus is very small.
General colour on the upper part greyish brown, the
hair being brown, with yellowish white points. The
lips, the chin, and the middle of the breast are white ;
the belly, the whole of the fore-legs, with the excep-
tion of the outside of the knees, and a space round
the eye are buff coloured, the outsides of the hind legs
are fawn ; the animals are remarkable for the gentle-
ness of their appearance.

The species of which we have given an enumera-
tion comprise at least the greater number of living
deer which now inhabit the earth, though it is by no
means improbable that in America, both North and
South, in the central mountains of Asia, and in the
Oriental isles there may be species with which we are
not acquainted, and it is possible that some of those
which are now described as species may be only acci-
dental varieties ; for most species, and particularly
those of the warmer climates, are subject to albinoisrn,
and also to occasional differences in the forms of
the horns.

There is no genus of animals more interesting to
the naturalist, in every point of view, than the deer.
With the exception of Africa and New Holland, they
are found upon every large portion of land on the
surface of our globe ; and they appear to have existed
coeval with some of the races of animals which are
now extinct. They have even a fossil history, to
which it is of some consequence to attend ; and for
this purpose we shall briefly mention the principal
ones whose remains have been found in the earth.

FOSSIL DEER. The most remarkable of these is
probably that which has been so frequently met with
in the bogs of Ireland, and which has been styled the
IRISH ELK from the form of its horns, though in the
rest of its anatomy it approaches more to the charac-
ter of a stag. The horns of this fossil species so far
resemble those of the elk, that they have large palms
which are placed edgeways to the front, and extend
wide in a horizontal direction. But they differ in the
number and extent of the snags upon the posterior
margins of the palms, not being more than eight or
ten, while in the mature elk the number is sometimes
as many as forty. They differ also in having a brow

DEERINGIA— DEILEPHILA.

269

antler projecting from the beam of the horn imme-
diately over the burr, which antler is enlarged towards
its extremity in all the specimens, and in some of them
it is forked. It is understood that these deer in so
far resemble the reindeer as that both sexes were fur-
nished with horns, and horns of immense dimensions ;
the entire length of some of them, including the por-
tion of the cranium between, being not less than ten
feet. But though the horns are of this immense size,
it does not appear that the animals themselves have
been proportionally large ; for the bones of the head
are not larger than those of a full-grown stag. This
species appears to have been very numerous in Ire-
land, three heads having been found in a single acre;
and Molyneux mentions that in less than twenty
years thirty had been picked up. These animals have
been contemporary with the fossil elephant, which is
now extinct as a living inhabitant of Europe ; and
though they are more abundant in Ireland than any-
where else, they are by no means confined to that
island ; they have been, however, found in the Isle of
Man, and several parts of Great Britain, in France,
on the banks of the Nile, and in the valley of the Po ;
and there is no doubt that proper research would find
them in many other parts of Europe ; so that we have
every reason to conclude that at some very remote
period of history, when the state of the country was
very different from what it is now, they were very
generally and abundantly distributed.

Another fossil species is the fallow-deer of Scania,
in Sweden, mentioned in the memoirs of the academy
of Stockholm, for 1802. These bones, which were
found in a fresh water deposit, arc much larger than
those of the existing fallow-deer ; and yet they ditier
so much from the horns of the reindeer that they can-
not be referred loan accidental variety of that species.
They have a single brow antler upon each horn,
placed on the beam, between four and five inches
above the burr, but small and perfectly simple, and
thus totally different from the antlers of reindeer,
while the palms of them are vastly larger than those
of the horns of fallow-deer.

In the south-west of France there are found the
remains of a deer bearing very considerable resem-
blance to those of the reindeer of the present day, but
the animal itself has been considerably smaller, not
exceeding the common roebuck. These remains are
found in the sands of Etampes, and also in caves, at
Breugens in the department of the Lot, at which
latter place they are mingled with the bones of the
horse, the rhinoceros, and various other animals. The
horns stand more erect than those of the reindeer ;
and though there are several points of resemblance,
there is question that the owners of these remains
have belonged, if not to a different species, at least to
different variety, from the common rein-deer. The
existence of those remains in the same charnel-house
with the bones of the rhinoceros, is a singular and
somewhat puzzling point in the natural history of our
globe. The reindeer is now found only within the
arctic circle ; and the rhinoceros only in tropical
countries. The fact of their remains being found to-
gether, leaves no doubt that they have been co-inha-
bitants of the temperate parts of Europe. Thus the
geologists are put upon the horns of a dilemma ; be-
cause neither the assumption that Europe was once
colder than it is now, nor that it was once warmer,
will meet this case, in as much as, so far as our
present knowledge extends, we have the remains

of the polar animal and the tropical in the same
grave.

In the fresh water formation of calcareous matter at
Montabuzard, there are found the remains of a species
of roebuck, together with two species of lophesdon,
and one of mastodon, both of which are now extinct,
in all parts of the world ; so that we know nothing of
the kind of country which was adapted to their habits.
This fossil species resembles, in many respects, the
deer of the Oriental islands, and more especially the
deer of Timor, which is the most remote from Europe
in its habitat of any with which we are acquainted.

On the deposits near the northern shore of the
Mediterranean, there are also various species of deer,
some of which resemble the deer of the eastern islands ;
and, what is singular, their remains are mingled with
those of timers and panthers, which are now natives of
warm countries only, as well as with those of the Alpine
hare, which are now found living in only the coldest
regions of the world. These particulars are highly
curious ; but they set all our theories at defiance, and
render it impossible to say probably what may have
been the condition of Europe at some former period
of its history.

DEERINGIA (R. Brown). A genus of East
Indian biennial herbs, belonging to the natural order
Ainaranlhacca;, and nearly related to the Cclosia or
cockscomb.

DEILEPHILA (Ochsenheimer). A genus of
lepidopterous insects, belonging to the section Cre-
piiscularia, and family Sphmgidcs, or hawk moths,
having the wings entire and acute, the spiral tongue
rather elongated, and the antenna: short, and gradually
hut distinctly clubbed in the males. These insects
have much the appearance of the insects to which the
genus Sphinx is restricted by recent authors, but the
species are generally smaller, and more robust in
appearance, owing to the comparative shortness of
the abdomen. Mr. Stephens divides the genus " into
two sections, corresponding with their diversities of
habit and structure ; the larva; of the second section
have the power of elongating or contracting the
anterior portions of their body, thence called elephant
sphinxes — a term which has been applied to all the
species, but improperly." In addition to the external
characters of the perfect insects, by which these
two sections are distinguished, it may be added, that
in the first of them, the caterpillar is completely
covered with minute pale spots upon a dark ground,
its anterior segments are not capable of being pro-
truded to a considerable distance, and the horn upon
the extremity of its back is rough, and the chrysalis is
superficially buried ; whereas, in the second section,
the caterpillars are not minutely spotted, a large eye-
like spot appearing on some of the front segments,
which possess a very considerable power of pro-
trusion ; the horn upon the back is smooth, and the
chrysalis enclosed in a cocoon of leaves on the
ground. There are eight species of this fine and
handsome genus indicated by authors as natives of
this country, but two at least of them appear to
have been species introduced with imported plants.
Of these the D. celerio, which feeds upon the vine,
has been the subject of much controversy amongst
entomologists, amongst whom Mr. Stephens (Brit.
Ent. vol. i. p. 128.) who contends against, and a
writer in a late number of the Magazine of Natural
History, who argues in support of their introduction
as reafinhabitants of this country, may be especially

270

D E LP H AX.

noticed. The following observations upon the Ui-i/e-
phila Euphorbia:, one of the rarest and most beautiful
species of the whole section, will, we are sure, be read
with interest. This species is found upon the sand
hills of Braunton Burrows, near Barnstaple, in Devon-
shire, in the month of June. On its first appearance
the wings are small, clumsy, shapeless appendages,
and are more soft and yielding than the lightest silk
which undulates with a breath, often remaining for
some time stationary in a vertical position upon the
stem of the spurge, allowing its wings opportunity to
expand and strengthen as they droop behind it. In
half an hour the wings are brought forward, and
assume their usual position. About half an hour after
sunset the Deilephila appears on the wing, circling
over the various branches of spurge scattered over
the surrounding waste, until a mate is found. The
eggs are coated with a gummy substance, by
which means they are easily attached to the small
leaves of the spurge. They hatch in a fortnight,
producing small black caterpillars, which shortly
afterwards acquire a red head and tail*. Subse-
quently they grow very fast, gaining at each moulting
additional beauty, by having red dorsal lines, and a
great number of minute yellow spots, two lateral ones
on each segment* being much larger. When full
grown, Mr. Curtis informs us that " they are so
conspicuous, that their numbers are reduced by marine
birds which feed upon them ; they are full grown
about the middle of September, when they descend
into the sand, and become chrysalides, forming a loose
case of earth around them, from which the moths
emerge the beginning of the following June. Some-
times, however, they remain in the pupa state two
seasons, as many lepidoptera do — a wise provision of
nature to prevent any accident from destroying the
•whole brood. The sand hills where the larvae are
found being of great extent, must have been collected
by the winds and storms, to which they are constantly
exposed. During the winter the whole soil is fre-
quently removed so as completely to alter the surface
of the country. A great number of the pupae must
consequently be destroyed, or buried at a considerable
depth below the surface, where probably they lie hid
until they are brought to light and life by the
influence of the elements." — Brit. Ent., second edition.
These circumstances mentioned by Mr. Curtis will
enable us, in some degree, to account for the irregu-
larity in the appearance of these insects mentioned to
the author of this article by Mr. Raddon, the gentle-
man by whose exertions the majority of specimens
have been obtained, and since published by him in
the Entomological Magazine. Since 1819, he has,
however, been unable to obtain but a single chrysalis,
and the person by whom this was found informed
that " the valley in which you desired me to search
is completely filled up by the sand, and the whole
surface completely altered by the wind." The late
Captain Blcmer was not able to capture one, although
he resided some years upon the spot ; and Mr. Cocks,
in a letter to Mr. Raddon, says, " it is now ten years
since I took the larva, and although I have regularly
been in the habit of visiting the locality every year
several times, 1 have never been able to take it since ;"
although, in 1814, they were so plentiful, that Mr.
Raddon found not less than a hundred minute larva;

* Abridged from the Entomological Magazine, No. 9-

upon an armful of spurge, which he hud cut at dusk
the preceding evening. The rarity of the insect is
also greatly increased by the difficulty of rearing it.
The late Mr. Fuseli, the lloyal Academician, who was
a zealous entomologist, was enabled only to obtain
one moth from upwards of twenty chrysalides.

The only species abundant in the neighbourhood
of London is the 1). Elpcnoz, the caterpillar of which
feeds upon the ladies' bed-straw in Hackney marshes,
Battersea Fields, &c.

DELPHAX (Fabricius), a genus of homopterous
insects belonging to the family Fulgoiida;, having the
antennae inserted in a notch on the lower margin of
the eyes, and being about as long as the head, with
the first joint shorter than the second. The ocelli are
distinct ; the head is produced in front into a short
pointed and flattened snout, and on its underside it is
elongated into a tubular proboscis, directed towards
the breast, and which is the instrument by which tlie
insects are enabled to inflict wounds on the leaves and
twigs of plants, and to suck up the fluid which flows
therefrom.

There are numerous British species belonging to
this genus, of small size, found amongst grass and
rushes, some of them occasionally do not have their
wings developed fully : whereas the same species in
certain seasons, and under peculiar circumstances, of
which we are unable to ascertain the nature, acquires
full-sized wings and wing covers, which latter are,
however, not more coriaceous than the former. Mr.
Curtis, not aware of this remarkable peculiarity, has
formed the subapterous individuals into a distinct
genus, under the name of Criomorphtu.

One species of this genus, the Delphax saccharivora,
or the Cane-fly of the West Indies, is exceedingly
injurious in its ravages upon the young and growing
sugar-canes in Grenada, and some other of our Went
Indian possessions. A correspondent of the Magazine
of Natural History (vol. vi. p. 407), thus describes the
nature of its attacks : — " For these last six months,
(back from March 1833), the island of Grenada has
been infested with a species of insect that threatens
not only great injury to the present crop of sugar-cane,
but also to render the labours of the planter entirely
abortive for the next crop. I am not aware that any
species of insect hitherto noticed has been found so
formidable, either in number or destructive qualities,
as the cane-fly, which is now propagating, and so
rapidly over-running the sugar plantations in this
colony. The insect, formed with a snout and beak
ending in a bristle, attacks the cane in all stages of its
growth, but is more particularly injurious to plants or
ratoons when they are young and tender. The under
surface of the leaf, and towards the mid-rib, or the
course of the larger sap vessels, is selected by the
insect for the scene of its operations. There it makes
an oblique puncture, resembling that which would
result from a lancet introduced in the same direction.
Into each of these punctures from five to fifteen eggs
are deposited, and each egg is placed transversely
with respect to the direction of the fibre of the cane,
which serves to overlap them, and thus afford a pro-
tection from the many enemies they have amongst the
insect race. The aperture is then covered by a very
slight substance, resembling that which protects the
eggs and young of various species of spider. This
substance is always to be observed attached to
the posterior part of the body of the insect. When
the insect appears on the surface of the leaf after its

DELPHINIUM — DENTAIU A.

•271

first tvaiisl'ormation, it seems dull and inactive, and is
generally covered with a light floss of the substance
already mentioned ; but having changed its skin, which
it leaves perfect and attached to the leaf, it becomes
lively, active, and voracious, and joins in the works of
propagation and destruction. There can be no doubt,
or at most but little, that the Aphides (as the writer
erroneously termed the insect to which they, indeed,
bear much resemblance in their habits), do not select
the sugar-cane merely as a medium for the deposition
of their eggs, but that, like millions of other creatures,
they also regale themselves with its sweets, and from
their numbers, literally to bleed the plant to death. —
Like most of its tribe, it produces the substance called
honey dew, so much so, that the upper surface of the
leaf infected is covered over with it. This substance
when dry, becomes black and of a light texture, which
being nearly insoluble in water, destroys and interrupts
the action of the atmosphere, and aids in the general
destruction of the plant."

DELPHINIUM (Tournefprt). An extensive
genus of herbaceous plants, natives of many different
parts of the world. Linmean class and order Poly-
andria Trigynia, and natural order Rdiiiniciilacece.
Generic character : calyx corolla-like, of live sepals,
the upper one spurred ; corolla of one or four petals,
the upper one having a posterior horn, the lower
sometimes cleft ; stamens below the germen ; filaments
dilated at the base, and short ; anthers terminal, oval,
two-celled, cells bursting outwardly ; styles three or
five, and short ; stigma cmarginatc ; capsules one,
three, or five, having membraneous follicules, and with
a placenta fixed to the suture ; seeds angular and
albuminous. From the peculiar form of one of the
petals, these plants have received the English name
of larkspur, and whether annuals or perennials have
always a place in flower gardens. The first are
every year raised from seed, the second are increased
by dividing the root. The flowers are not only re-
markable in form and variety of colours, but also for
the intensity of their various tints ; the double D.
grandiflorum is perhaps the deepest blue of any flower
we possess.

DELPHINULA (Lamarck ; TOKBO-DELPHINUS,
Linnaeus). This genus of shells, possessing the round
aperture of the genus Turbo, probably induced Lin-
naeus to consider it of that family ; but the united mar-
gin of the mouth at once distinguishes it from the tur-
bines. In many respects it approximates to the genii
Scalaria, like which it has its whorls sometimes drawn
out and detached ; but its nacreous substance, in ad-
dition to the following distinctions, clearly proves it a
not allied to the family. The shell is solid, conical,
or sub-discoid, umbilicated, thick, pearly within and
under the external coloured coating : the aperture i
entire, round, or sometimes trigonal ; the whorls of the
spire rugged on the outside, and angular on the side
of the umbilicus (which is filled with short spines
proceeding from the interior side of the whorls not
observed by Lamarck), no columella is visible, a cal-
careous operculum externally tuberculated, which also
Lamarck presumed to exist, but probably had not
seen ; the exterior of the whorls is armed with spines
depressed and singularly palmatcd at the summits
tubercles, or scabrous striae, which we have said, give
it a ragged appearance. Its pearly substance proves
it a marine shell, and distinguishes it from the terres
trial genus Cyclosioma, though its rounded opening
would otherwise entitle it to be ranked with them, ir

o far as that distinction holds good. Common as this
hell is, it is remarkable that the animal is unknown,
mt every reason exists to rank this genus in the second
;lass, ParacfpJtalop/wra ; second order, Asiplionobran-
•hiata -, second family, Cricostoma. It appears to occupy
natural position in following the genus Turbo, and,
receding the genus Turritella. All the known species
nhabit the Indian ocean, and abour four are described.
There are, however, more known in a fossil state. De
France, indeed, enumerates thirty in the formation
irior to the chalk stratum.

DEMETKIAS (Bonelli), a genus of coleopterous
nsects, belonging to the section Pentmnera, family
Carabldec, and sub-family Bruchinidcs, having the body
ong and flattened, the tarsi have the penultimate
oint bilobed, the chin is obscurely toothed in the
centre, and all the palpi have the last joint rather
dilated at the base, and pointed at the extremity.
There are but few species of this genus which seems
to be confined to Europe, two only are British ; the
ype, Carabux atricapillus (Linnaeus), is of small size,
and chiefly found under the bark of trees. It is of a
.nifT colour, with the head and breast black, and thorax
reddish.

DENDROBIUM (Swartz). One of the most
elegant of the epiphytes found in the East Indies and
New South Wales. It belongs to the class and order
Gi/namlria Monandiia, and to the natural order Orc/ii-
dcec. It may be increased by division of the root,
and though its natural station be on the stems of trees
when wiM, it grows well in pots of moor turf. It
thrives best in a moist stove, and flowers frequently.

DENTALIUM (Linnaeus, and modern authors).
This very singular genus of molluscs is so generally
well known that an elaborate description of them
would be superfluous. The shell is a conical testa-
ceous tube, nearly regular, slightly curved, gradually
attenuated towards the posterior end, and open at
both extremities, resembling an elephant's tusk in
miniature, whence its name. Some species are lon-
gitudinally ribbed, others with slightly marked annular
ribs, formed by the different stages of growth ; but
the greater portion of these shells are smooth on the
exterior. The animal's body is lengthened, subver-
miform, enveloped in a fistulous mantle, terminated
by a belt or thickened band, pierced in its centre by
an orifice with fringed edges ; the foot altogether an-
terior, probosciform, terminated by a conical append-
age, received into a species of cup with festooned
edges ; the head is distinct, oval, a terminal mouth in
the middle of a digitated lip, a pair of lateral jaws
armed internally with very singularly formed dental
processes. The D. elepkttntininn illustrates the spe-
cies having ribs or striae longitudinally placed ; the
1). cnlnlis those which are nearly smooth, or merely
presenting the striae of progressional growth ; and to
these may be added such species as are narrowed
towards their orifice, and the interior doubled bv
another tube, forming DC France's genus EntaHiiw.
The precise position these molluscs should occupy in
the system of malacology cannot at present be finally
determined upon, as a further examination of the
animal is indispensable. The comprehensive mind of
the great Swede suggested their being allied to the
Carinaria and Patella, and modern authors have there-
fore placed them provisionally in the third sub-class
Ptmtcephalophara fiermaphrodtfe, first order Cirr/io-
branchiala.

DENT ARIA (Linnaeus). A genus of tuberous

27.2

DEODARA-DESMODIUM.

rooted herbs, chiefly natives of Europe. Linnueau
class Tclradynamia, and natural order Cruclferte.
These plants are nearly allied to Cardamine, but differ
in having tooth-like scales at the root. They grow
readily in light soil, and are increased by dividing
the roots.

DEODAR A. The specific name of a cedar found
in India by Dr. Roxburgh, and introduced into this
country in 1822.

DERMESTID^E, a family of coleopterous insects
belonging to the section Pentamera, and sub-section
Nccrophaga. This family is of small extent, but com-
prises several very obnoxious species of beetles. The
body is generally oval, rounded at each end and some-
what convex, the antennae short and clavatc, sometimes
varying in the sexes ; the legs short, with the tarsi
five-jointed, and not contractile as in the Byrrhidce,
the tibia being long and narrow. The genera are
Dermestes, Ctesias, Mcgatoma, Attagenns, Limnichus,
Trogoderma, Globicornis, and Anthrenus. The last
named genus, as well as Aspidiphorm and Throscus,
seem to unite this family with the liyrrliidae or pill-
beetles, with which they are associated by some
authors. Of these genera the only one which offers
any interesting observations in respect to their econo-
my, is the first, which is the type of the family, and
which has received its name from the circumstance
that the species of which it is comprised especially
attack dried skins, the Greek word derma signifying
a skin. The mischief which they thus often occasion
to very costly materials, has occasioned them to be
well-known. The perfect insect, on the contrary,
seems only to live for the purpose of continuing its
kind, being often found upon flowers, and if it fre-
quents animal matter, it is only in order there to
deposit its eggs instead of producing fresh ravages.

It is chiefly in collections of natural history, and in
the warehouse of the furrier, that these injuries are
committed ; in the former they entirely destroy pre-
pared beasts, birds, and insects, and in the latter all
kinds of skins, of which they gnaw the surface so as
to cause the hair entirely to fall off. They also attack
the carcases of animals exposed in the fields, devour-
ing all the fleshy and tendinous parts, so as to make
perfect skeletons of their prey. They also feed
upon bacon (whence the name of the typical species
Dermestes lardarius), feathers, horns, &c. Indeed, it
is difficult to guard against their attacks : they elude
our search by their small size, and our precautions
by their perseverance. Nevertheless, in the great
economy of nature, it cannot be denied that these
animals tend towards the general good by destroying
those kind of putrifving matters, and converting them
into a material serviceable for the support of plants,
inasmuch as that the air and moisture do not come
into action towards the same end so quickly. With
the assistance, therefore, of the Silphce, Histercs, We-
crophagi, &c., these insects effect the i eduction to their
former elements of such portions of carcases as the
flesh-fly has spared, which attacks only the flesh when
in a fresh and moist state, and leaves the skin entire.

The Dermestidce seem to prefer dark situations, where
they remain inactive, and move only when disturbed,
with a trembling kind of gait ; they are seldom seen
on the surfaces of the substances upon which they
feed, but conceal themselves. The larvae are long,
diminishing towards the tail, and terminating in a trun-
cated cone, having, also, two scaly horns on the last
segment of the body ; they are covered with long

hairs, and have a scaly head armed with powerful
toothed jaws. They change their skin several times,
according to Gcedart amounting to ten : the extivia?
retain their form so as easily to be mistaken for the
larva? themselves ; the back of the head, and several
of the front segments exhibiting only a longitudinal
slit. The larvae, when full-grown, seek a convenient
retreat, preferring the remnants of the matters upon
which they have been feeding. The pupa is white,
with the eyes, and several transverse markings of a
brownish colour. When touched, it moves the abdo-
men with considerable force; the perfect insect, ap-
pears in about a month. The larva of Dermcstcxjief/i't
has a tail nearly as long as the body, composed of long
red hairs. The best remedy against the attacks of
these insects is the employment of arsenic in the pre-
paration of zoological specimens.

The genus Dermestes is distinguished by having the
antennae eleven-jointed, shorter than the thorax, alike
in both sexes, with the last joint of the papillary palpi
shorter than the maxillae. There are four or five
British species, including the bacon-beetle D. lardnrius
which is of a black colour, with the base of the elytra
dirty ashen colour, having three small black spots. It
is about a quarter of inch long, and is very common
in houses, &c. D. murinus is generally found in moles,
hawks, and other carrion hung up in fields or against,
walh. D. vulpinus infests the hides imported by ship-
loads direct from the Brazils, and so great is tho
damage which it occasions, that we are informed that
the sum of ten thousand pounds has been offered as a
reward for its destruction.

DESMANTHUS (Willdenow). A genus of
aquatic herbs and shrubs found in the East and West
Indies. Linna-an class and order Poll/gamut Monaecia,
and natural order Leguminosts, Generic character :
calyx five-toothed ; corolla with five distinct or united
spatulate petals; inferior flowers apetalous ; stamens
ten, rarely five ; pod evenly lengthened, and full of
seeds. This genus was formerly ranked among the
Mimosas, but separated by Willdenow. The terrestrial
species thrive in loam and moor earth, and are propa-
gated by cuttings ; the others are grown in water.

DESMODIUM(Decandolle). An extensive genus
of herbaceous and shrubby plants, natives of America
and Asia. They belong to Diade/phia Dccandria,
and to the natural order Leguniinosce. Generic cha-
racter : calyx bracteate, somewhat two-lipped, the
upper one cleft, the lower one in three parts ; vexil-
him roundish ; keel obtuse; wings short; lomentum
jointed, with intervening compressions. Tm^e plants
are raised from seeds or cuttings, and are kept in
stove collections. Among them we find the moving
plant of Bengsl, formerly called Hrdysannn gyrnns,
but now Desmodium gyrans. This plant is an annual
or at most a biennial, having pinnate leaves, that is,
one pair of small opposite leaflets, with an odd one
of much larger size. These leaflets have a sponta-
neous motion when the plant is in a high temperature,
say between seventy-five and eighty degrees of Fah-
renheit,, and at the same time in bright sunshine.
The one slowly rises, while the other is depressed,
thus alternating in position for hours together. These
motions are only noticed when the plant is in the
highest vigour, not being observable in very young
or in very old plants. It is a phenomenon not yet
satisfactorily accounted for by phytologists, but it
has all the appearance in its action of that of a
hydraulic machine.

DESMONCUS — DIAMOND.

273

DESMONCUS (Martial). A genus of South
American palms belonging to Moncecia Polyandria of
Linnaeus, and to the natural order Palnue. Generic
character: spatha double ; flowers sitting. Males —
calyx tritid, corolla three-petaled, stamens six. Females
— calyx and corolla urceolate ; stigmas three, sitting ;
drupe one-seeded, shell having three pores in the
shape of a star at top. This palm thrives in loam
and moor earth.

DEWBERRYis the vulgar name of the Rubus
caBsiun, a small trailing plant found on barren ground,
bearing fruit resembling those of the bramble, only
much smaller.

DIADEM A (Ranzani). A genus of molluscs
united to the genus Coronula, of which it forms a sub-
division, and is there described.

DIAMOND, a mineral body of great value and
hardness, first discovered in Asia. The primitive
form of this precious stone is the regular octoedron,
each triangular facet of which is sometimes replaced
by six secondary triangles, bounded by curved lines ;
so that the crystal becomes spheroidal, and then pre-
sents forty-eight small facets. These two peculiar
characters of the diamond are exhibited in the sub-
joined figures.

The diamond has been found of a great variety of
colours, but those that are decidedly colourless, and
those that approach to a rose tint, are most esteemed.

Many stones when rubbed exhibit very distinct
electrical effects, and they will attract or rep . light
bodies which are brought into their neighbourhood.
The diamond, when excited, exhibits positive elec-
tricity ; whereas the other precious stones, if rough,
afford negative electricity. In general, however, it
does not retain this electricity for any considerable
length of time.

The diamond becomes phosphorescent when ex-
posed to the rays of the sun. Many diamonds, how-
ever, do not possess this property, although agreeing
in colour, form, and transparency, with those which
readily become luminous. The continuance of the
phosphorescence varies from five or six seconds to a
full hour, and this even when the stone has not been
exposed more than a few seconds to the rays of the
sun. It is phosphorescent under water, as well as in
the air. The diamond, when exposed to the blue
rays of the prism, becomes phosphorescent ; but when
exposed to the red rays is not so. The spark from a
charged jar produces the same effect as exposure to
the sun's rays. Exposure to the light of a wax candle
also produces phosphorescence.

Prior to the commencement of the eighteenth cen-
tury, all the diamonds employed in Europe were im-
ported from the provinces of Golconda and Visapour,
in Bengal, and a lew from the island of Borneo.
They always occur in detached crystals in alluvial

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II,

soil ; and this circumstance, no doubt, tended to give
currency to the fiction of the " Valky of Diamonds "
in the Arabian Tales.

Diamonds of any great value in a commercial point
of view, were first brought from Sruth America in
1720, and we may now briefly point out the modes of
discovering them both in that country and Asia. In
Brazil the natives collect the disintegrated sandstone
met with at the bottoms of rivers and ravines, and, by
washing, separate the clayey matter from the grains of
quartz and diamond. The residue is ciref'ully examined
for the diamonds it may contain, which are distin-
guished by their adamantine lustre, »ad regular forms.
In the district of Cuddapah, in Hind istan, the mode of
working the diamond mine is as follovs : — After all the
superincumbent strata, and the large stones in the
diamond bed, are removed out of the mine, the small
gravel and other constituents of the bed are then car-
ried to a short distance, and put into a cistern, about
eight feet square, and three deep. In this situation
water is poured upon it, which separates the lighter
loamy particles. The gravel and small stones which
sink to the bottom, are then thrown into a heap beside
the cistern, from which they are conveyed to a smooth
plane of about twenty feet square, made of hardened
clay. Upon this the whole is thinly spread. The
gravel in this position being slightly moistened, six or
seven people go over it several times in succession.
The first time they pick out only the large stones ;
the second and subsequent times, the smaller gravel
is carefully turned over with the flat of the hand,
whilst they as carefully watch for the spark from the
diamond, which distinctly marks the situation of this
valuable gem.

The locality of the diamond differs, however, in a
geological point of view, very considerably in different
parts of the world ; and, as such, the modes practised by
the natives for procuring these precious gems. Thus
we find that the diamond mines, as they are called,
situated at Banaganpilla, are scarcely any thing more
than holes in the surface of the soil. None are deeper
than twenty feet, and when a gallery is excavated
under the rock, it is so low that the people are obliged
to work in it sitting, a mode of operating which an
Indian prefers to every other. The solid rock of the
hills is an agate, consisting chiefly of a coarse grey
hornstone, with rounded pebbles of the same species,
or of jasper. At some depth, this rock becomes a
ferruginous sandstone, the grains of which are finely
cemented together. Through this solid rock they are
obliged to make their way before they arrive at the
bed in which the diamonds are usually found. They
commence at different places as their fancy leads them,
with a spot about twenty feet square, which, with iron
instruments and steel wedges, they break into slabs
and fragments, of from one hundred to five hundred
pounds weight. In this way they descend to the
diamond bed, which is fifteen or twenty feet under
the surface ; this bed extends round the whole hill,
and is as regular in its thickness and extent as the
unproductive beds in the same place : it consists of a
conglomerate, composed of siliceous pebbles, quartz,
calcedony, and jasper.

The diamond, on account of the splendour of its
lustre, its peculiar play of colour, its hardness, and
lastly, its rarity, is considered as the most precious
substance in the mineral kingdom, and is particularly
valued by jewellers. The diamonds purchased by
jewellers are generally in grains or crystals, and some-
S

'274

DIANCHORA— D1ANTHUS.

times coarsely polished. It is also used in the form
of a powder by lapidaries, for cutting and engraving
upon harder gems ; by watchmakers in their jewelled
timekeepers ; and by glaziers for cutting glass. The
diamonds chosen for cutting glass are all crystallised.
The faces are curved, and hence the meeting of any
two of them presents a curvilinear edge. If the dia-
mond be so placed that the line of the intended cut is
a tangent to this edge near its extremity, and if the
two surfaces of the diamond laterally adjacent, be
equally inclined to the surface of the glass, then the
conditions necessary for effecting the cut are complied
with. In addition to the cutting and engraving of
glass, the diamond has been very advantageously em-
ployed in drawing minute lines on the surface of steel,
by which all the beautifully variegated tints of the
rainbow may be produced.

The largest known diamond is probably that men-
tioned by Tavernier, originally in the possession of the
Great Mogul. Its size is about that of half an hen's
egg : it is cut in the rose form, and, when rough, is
said to have weighed nine hundred carats. Among
the crown jewels of Russia is a magnificent diamond,
weighing J95 carats. It is the size of a small pigeon's
egg, and was formerly the eye of a Brahminical idol,
whence it was purloined by a French soldier ; it passed
through several hands, and was ultimately purchased
by the empress Catherine for a sum equal to about
one hundred thousand pounds sterling.

There is only one other diamond which our space
will permit us to notice. This is the celebrated " Pitt
diamond." It was brought from India by an English
gentleman of that name, who sold it to the regent
duke of Orleans, by whom it was placed among the
crown jewels of France. It weighs rather more than
136 carats, and was purchased for one hundred thou-
sand pounds. This country is not celebrated for the
size of the jewels which adorn the regalia of the sove-
reign ; but there are some beautiful models in the
British museum of those we have described. For an
account of the chemical constituents of the diamond,
see the First Division of this work.

DIANCHORA (Sowerby). A fossil species of
shell, the animal of which is consequently unknown.
The shell is thin, adherent, regular, symmetrical, equi-
lateral, subauriculated, inequivalve, one valve hollow
within, and convex externally ; the other flat, articu-
lated by two very distant condyles. It belongs to the
order Palliobranchiata.

DIANELLA (Ker.) A genus of tuberous rooted
herbs, indigenous to New Holland. Linnsean class
and order, Hexandria Monogynia, and natural order
AsphodelccE. Generic character : corolla rotate, regu-
lar, six-parted, and deciduous; stamens below the
germen, filaments bent, and thick at the top ; anthers
linear and erect ; style filiform ; stigma simple ; berry
globular, and many-seeded. These plants grow well
in sandy loam, and are increased by dividing the roots.

DIANTHUS (Linnauis). A very numerous and
beautiful tribe of herbs, much esteemed for the ele-
gance of their flowers and for their fine scent. Lin-
naean class and order, Dccandria Digynia, and natural
order Caryophyllece. The pink, clove, carnation, and
sweet- William are all well-known favourites, and met
with in every flower-garden ; and some of the florist's
varieties are highly valued and sold at high prices.

Carnations and pinks receive the greatest attention
and care from the florist ; the former is the Dianthus
Caryophyllus of botanists, and the improved variety

of the clove of florists. It ranks as the chief of stage
flowers, as it combines elegance of form with variety
and delicacy of colours, and to these is added the
most delightful fragrance. To have flowers in the
greatest perfection, new plants must be raised every
year ; not but that old plants will continue to yield
flowers for several years ; but these being those of
branches, are never so large or so fine as such as are
produced on the central stem of a maiden plant.
Young plants are obtained by layering the lower
branches of the last year's layers ; and though these
be only the points of the secondary shoots, yet when
separated from the parent stock, they become, as inde-
pendent beings, ten times more vigorous and ampli-
fied than if they remained on their original roots.

The cultivation of choice carnations forms a prin-
cipal part of the florist's business. They are usually
named, and the superior sorts, especially if they are
new, sell at high prices. New varieties are obtained
from seed ; but very fine stage or prize-flowers occur
but as one in a thousand interiors. A seedling of pro-
mising merit, may, by judicious culture, be advanced
to rank with the best : and it is by accident, and such
means, that our present stock of (hie carnations has
been in course of time obtained.

The standard choice sorts are perpetuated by
annual layering. This is performed about the time
or soon after the plants are in flower ; but if layered
before, or as soon as the shoots are ready, the better.
If cultivated as stage flowers, they are kept in pots,
and of a pretty large size, in order that their branches
may be conveniently layered. If cultivated iu beds,
there they are also layered ; because there must be
an annual supply of young plants as well for beds as
for pots.

Carnations are layered like other plants ; the lower
branches, which would not flower till the following
year (supposing them to be left on the parent stool),
are chosen ; an incision is made with a keen pen-knit'e
entered a little below the tjiird or fourth joint from
the top, and passed up the middle of the shoot as far
as the next joint. This separated piece is called the
tongue, and when the little piece below the bottom
joint is cut square off, it is ready to be fixed in the
soil. In layering, a little fresh compost is usually laid
round the plant to receive the layers. In this," little
furrows are made, and in which that part of the layer
between the tongue and the root is bent down and
firmly fixed by a little hooked stick. The layer is
then covered with about three-quarters of an inch of
the compost ; and at the same time the point of the
layer is gently raised upright, taking care that the
tongue be kept apart from the place whence it was
cut, and pressing the soil pretty closely over, and
around the point of the layer to keep it in place.

New roots are soon produced at the lower end of
the tongue, and towards the end of September are fit
to be taken from the stools and planted in beds or pots
previously prepared for them.

Some florists are very curious in forming their car-
nation compost j mixing together many different sub-
stances, as loam, sand, leaf-mould, and rotten dung of
various kinds. Such a compost may be very suitable,
but many successful cultivators use only the freshest
maiden loam, made sufficiently rich and porous by a
third part of thoroughly decomposed stable or old
hot-bed dung. In this, carnations, whether in pots or
in beds, thrive and flower in the highest perfection,
provided they receive all other necessary treatment.

D I A P E R i D M — D I C E 11 M A.

275

The management of carnations consists not only in
placing the layers in suitable soil, but in taking care
that if potted, the pots be well drained, so that water
rnay not stagnate within, which would materially check
the growth and spoil the beauty of the flowers. Water
must be always supplied moderately, and without
excess of either moisture or dryness. The layers
when taken off the stools are first placed in small-sized
pots, and usually shifted twice into larger, before they
are brought to flower. The most perfect cleanliness,
keeping free from weeds, and defending against snails,
slugs, ear-wigs, and wood-lice, are all indispensable,
through the whole course of their growth. When the
stems are advancing to flower they are often attacked
by the green-fly or aphides ; these must be banished
by tobacco-smoke, or some other means not hurtful
to the plants. Props must also be timely fixed to tie
the sterns to, as they advance in height ; and as
several flower-pods will appear on the same stem, all
but the topmost, or the two topmost, should be cutoff;
this is for the purpose of encouraging the principal
flowers to bloom in greater beauty and amplitude.

In order to assist the flowers to expand regularly
and handsomely, florists exercise certain manipula-
tions which are exclusively their own ; these are
called hooping and carding. The calyx or flower-cup
is liable to burst irregularly, that is, it will be rent
lower down on one side than on the other ; to pre-
vent this, two expedients are practised : the first is
causing the divisions of the flower-cup to open
equally by assisting the backward ones with the point
of a penknife ; and the second is by hooping, that is,
by fixing a band of matting or soft string round the
middle of the flower-pod, by which means the divi-
sions of the calyx are made to burst regularly. These
precautions regulate the bursting of the calyx ; and
in order that the corolla, or coloured petals of the
flower may be expanded laterally and symmetrically,
circular cards (having a hole in the centre to embrace
the calyx) are fitted on immediately behind the
spreading petals of the corolla, the card acting as a
support to the petals, which naturally incline to fall
back. By these means the petals are exhibited in a
plane ; besides which every tint and form are seen to
the best advantage, and when so dressed up by the
skill of the professional florist, are certainly objects of
great beauty.

These practices are only followed by flower-fanciers
who exhibit their flowers at shows for prizes, and at
which there is sometimes the most intense and lively
competition.

Pinks receive nearly the same treatment as carna-
tions, only instead of being layered, they are propa-
gated by cuttings, technically called " pipings." This
is usually performed in June or July, or as soon as
the best sorts can be ascertained by view of their
flowers. See article PINK.

The annual sorts of Dianthus are raised from seed ;
and all the other species and varieties may be propa-
gated by layers or cuttings without difficulty.

DIAPERIDJ2. A family of coleopterous insects
belonging to the section Heteromera, and sub-section
Taxicorncs of Latreille ; the head is disengaged from
the anterior margin of the thorax, which is either
square or cylindric, and, as well as the elytra, not
dilated into a flattened margin, as in the Cossyphidee.
Latreille places in this family the Phaleriae, and some
other genera which appear to belong to the family
E, in which family, indeed, the whole of

the present group is arranged by Mr. Stephens, whilst
Mr. Curtis considers the Diaperidce as nearly allied
to the Hclopidce; the perfoliated or serrated antennae,
which are never monili form .will well distinguish them.
The other genera are Uloma, Diaperis, HypophUeus,
Trncliyscclis, Coxclitx, and Eledona (Boletophagits,
Fabricius). The family is not extensive, as regards
the number of species, some of which are elegantly
marked and coloured, in which respect thev certainly
approach the Helojrida:. The species are of small size,
and are, for the most part, found in fungi, Boleti, under
the bark of decaying trees, &c. The typical gennsDia-
pem.Geoftroy.is distinguished by the antennae.of which
the three basal joints are slender, the remainder broad,
transverse, and distant from each other. The type of
the genus is the Chrysomela boleti of Linnaeus, of a
rounded form, and black colour, having the base and
extremity of the elytra, as well as a central interrupted
fascia, orange-coloured.

DI APHORA (Stephens ; CYCNIA, Hiibner. Steph.)
A genus of lepidopterous insects, belonging to the
family ArctadcB, and consisting of a single species, the
Bombyx mendica of Linnaeus, having the wings short,
and clothed with but few scales, whence the English
name of the moth (spotted muslin) ; the palpi have the
terminal joint slender and obtuse. The name of the
genus alludes to the great diversity between the sexes
of this moth, the male being of an ashy brown colour,
whereas the female is white, with black spots. It is
about an inch and a half in expanse. We have already
on several occasions noticed the occasional periodical
delay which takes place in the development of insects,
and this moth offers a still more curious instance, it
being recorded by Marsham, that out of thirty-six
caterpillars hatched from a brood of eggs, all of which
fed together and spun their cocoons at the same
period, twelve only appeared at the usual season ;
twelve more were produced the following year, and
the remaining twelve the third season, as perfect
and healthy as those produced at the first. The moth
is not uncommon in marshy districts near London,
appearing at the middle of May.

DIAPRIA (Jurine). A genus of minute hymen-
opterous insects belonging to the family Proctntru-
pidte, and distinguished by the beautiful antennae of
the males, which have the joints globular and con-
nected together by slender articulations and orna-
mented with whorls of hairs. They are found in
grass, upon trees, &c., and are supposed to be para-
sitical upon other insects.

DIAZOMA (Savigny). A genus of molluscs
united to the genus Botryllus.

DICERAS (Lamarck). A fossil genus of mol-
luscs, approximating to the genus Chama, from which,
however, it differs by being regular, equivalve, never
attached by the lower valve, and the distinct character
of the hinge.

DICERATA. The second family of the second
order Polybranchiata. Second class Paracej)halophi>ra.
The general characters of these molluscs is their
possessing two tentacular retractile appendages placed
on the upper part of the body in a kind of sheath,
situated at their base ; a membranous wing or sail,
more or less extended above the mouth, the organs
of respiration in the form of little branches, exter-
nally placed.

DICERMA (Decandolle). A genus of under-
shrubs, indigenous to India. Elegant diadelphous
plants, formerly called Zornia and Hedysurum, by
S2

276

DICHELESTIUM — DIDELP II US.

Linnaeus, Lilt since new named as above. They are
easy of management and propagation, like other stove
plants.

DICHELESTIUM (Hermann). A curious
genus of parasitic, entomostracous, crustaceous ani-
mals, belonging to the order PaEcihpoda, and section
Siphonostoma, having the body long and narrow, com-
posed of seven segments, the first of which is larger
than the rest, with a pair of slender filiform antenna;,
a pair of short didactyle claws, a tubular sucker, three
kinds of feelers, four short legs for prehension, termi-
nated by several toothed hooks ; the second and third
segments are lunate in form and furnished with very
short legs ; the sixth segment is long and somewhat
cylindric, and the last small and oval. The animal
of which this genus is composed is rather more than
half an inch long, and insinuates itself into the flesh
and the gills of the sturgeon, as many as a dozen
having been found upon one fish. Of this number
three of the specimens were one-third smaller than the
others, with the body curved : one of them lived three
days when removed from the fish. They are enabled
to retain firm hold of their prey by means of their
strong frontal pincers.

DICHLAMYDE^E, a subdivision of dicotyledo-
nous plants, including those which have a double
floral covering, or both a calyx and corolla. The
greater part of the handsome flowering trees and
shrubs are found in this division.

DICHONDRA (Forster). A genus of evergreen
creepers, natives of the West Indies. Linnsean class
and order, Pentandria Digynia, and natural order
Convolvulaceiz. This succeeds well with ordinary
stove management, and may be increased by cuttings.

DICKSONIA (Heretier). A genus of exotic
ferns, so named in honour of James Dickson, a British
cryptogamist of great abilities and unwearied indus-
try. It belongs to the order FiKces, and one of the
species is a tree fern from St. Helena.

DICLIPTERA (Vahl). A genus of tropical
plants, mostly under shrubs, belonging to the class
Diandria, and to the natural order Acanthacece. Gene-
ric character : calyx bracteate in four or five divisions ;
corolla two-lipped, the lowest nearly entire ; anthers
two-celled ; capsule roundish, nearly one-celled, dis-
sepiment ultimately free, to whicn the seeds are
attached. This genus is nearly allied to Justicia, but
differs in the structure of the capsule. It thrives in
rich light soil, and is propagated by cuttings.

DICLYTRA (Borckhausen). A diadelphous
genus of plants found in the north of Asia and
America, and belonging to the natural order Fuma-
riaceas. Some of the species were at first called
Fumaria, and others Corydalis ; but these, together
with five others, are now known by the name first
above given.

DICOTYLEDONES, or EXOGEN^E, a divi-
sion of vascular, flowering, or phaenogamic plants, in
which the vessels are arranged in concentric layers,
the youngest of which are external, and the cotyle-
dons of the embryo are opposite or verticillate : the
dicotyledonous plants have a more or less conical
trunk, consisting of bark, wood, and pith ; the wood
being contained between the other two. The thick-
ness of the trunk is increased by an addition of new
matter between the wood and bark. They have
reticulated leaves which are distinctly articulated with
the stem. The veins of the leaves are much branched ;
the flowers have generally a double perianth (dichla-

mvdeous), and frequently exhibit a quinary divisiua
The embryo is furnished with two cotyledons (hence
the term dicotyledonous), which after germination,
frequently assume the appearance of leaves. By
these characters the plants of this division are distin-
guished from those of the monocotyledonous class.

DICTAMNUS (Linnaeus). Hardy ornamental
herbaceous plants, said to be natives of Crete, but
long cultivated in this country under the name of
Fraxinella. The flowers are decandrious, and accord
in character with those of the natural order Rutaccce.
There are two species, both of which grow any where,
and are raised from seeds. Dictamnus is also a specific
name of an origanum (marjoram), commonly called
Dittany of Crete.

DICTYOPTERA (Leach). The family of the
cock-roaches (Blattidee], on account of the flattened
oval form of the body, the five-jointed tarsi, and several
other less important characters, was considered by
Dr. Leach as sufficiently distinguished from the other
orthopterous insects to warrant its separation as a
distinct order, to which he applied this name. His
arrangement has not, however, been followed in this
respect. See BLATTA.

DIDELPHUS — Opossum. A genus of marsupial,
or pouched animals, inhabiting the American conti-
nent, and the first animals of this singular order which
are known to naturalists. Their generic characters
are ten incisive teeth in the upper jaw, and eight in
the under, the intermediate ones in the upper jaw
being longer than the rest ; the three front grinders
compressed, and the last four tuberculated ; those
above triangular, but the under ones oblong, and two
canines in each jaw, making in all fifty teeth, which is
a greater number than is possessed by quadrupeds
of any other genus. Their gape is wide, and the
appearance of the mouth ragged ; but their bite is
feeble, compared with the size of their biting appa-
ratus. Their tongues are beset with horny tubercles,
like those on the tongue of a cat ; and their tail is in
part naked on the under side, and prehensile. Their
ears are large and naked, and their aspect is alto-
gether very peculiar. Their hind feet have the thumb
or fifth toe long, and capable of acting in opposition
to the other four, so as to lay hold like a hand. The
four toes which act together on the hind feet are fur-
nished with nails ; and when not used in grasping,
the nailless one is turned to the rear, like the hind
toe of a bird. Their legs are short in proportion to
the size of their bodies ; they plant their feet upon
the round pad of the sole when they walk, and their
rate of motion on the ground is but slow. In trees,
however, which the greater number of them chiefly
inhabit, they have much power of themselves, and
climb and hold on with much address. Their eyes
have the irides yellow, and the pupils are vertical,
like those of the fox. It has been said of them that
they have a gape like a pike, the ears of a bat, the
feet of an ape, and the tail of a serpent ; and, cer-
tainly, taking their characters all in all, they differ
very much from the placental mammalia. The diffe-
rence extends not only to the form of the body, and
the structure of those parts upon which the classifi-
cation is founded, but it extends to the very covering,
the hair of the opossum being unlike that of most
other animals. It is neither sleek nor frizzled ; and it
has more resemblance to whalebone than to common
hair, and on the naked parts there are sometimes
scales. This uncouth sort of covering the seini-

DIDELPHUS.

277

transparent ears, which appear reddish when seen
against the light, the yellow sinister eyes, the short
legs, and the singularly formed feet, give these ani-
mals a repulsive appearance, which is in no wise
diminished by the very fetid and offensive odour
which they give out. The different species vary
considerably in their habits ; but they may be gene-
rally described as nocturnal animals, the principal
part of which inhabit trees, in the holes of which they
lodge ; and they prey upon birds, lizards, and other
small animals. Some of them also haunt the margins
of the waters and feed upon shelled mollusca and
Crustacea.

All the species have the general characters of mar-
>9upial animals, the most remarkable of which in the
skeleton are the two marsupial bones attached to the
pubis, which support the pouch. The whole of the
opossums have not, however, a distinct and produced
pouch, into which the young can be received, and,
therefore, there are some distinctions between them
in the economy of their gestation, which can be more
fully explained when we come to mention the species.
We shall have occasion to notice the general subject
when we come to the article MARSCPIATA ; and,
therefore, we shall in the mean time confine ourselves
chiefly to the popular description of the species.

They are, as we have said, all nocturnal animals ;
and they are all carnivorous ; but they do not possess
the same degree of power and energy as the carni-
vorous animals, properly so called ; and they are
remarkable for stupidity, or at all events they do not
display the same cunning as the fox, though their eyes
resemble those of that animal. The habit is different,
however ; for the opossums, generally speaking, seek
their prey in trees, whereas the fox is an animal
which, though fond of brakes and other cover, is in-
capable of climbing. The form of their hind feet
enables them to lay hold of a branch, and retain
that hold, while they have perfect a command of the
head and anterior extremities for other purposes.
Thus they can make use of the crooked claws with
which their fore-feet are armed, to help them in the
capture of their prey. At settlements near the
woods, where they are plentiful, these animals are
sometimes apt to play the weasel in poultry yards ;
and, like that animal, they suck the blood of their
victims.

It is not a little singular that marsupial animals
should be found in two zones of the earth, which lie
nearly on opposite meridians, the centre of the one
about 120° east, and the other about 60° west of the
meridian of London ; and that in all the districts
between them there should be no animal of this cha-
racter, or even approaching to it. What stage ol
the geological duration of countries may answer to
animals of this singular order, it is not easy to say
for, though we admit that a few specimens have been
found fossil in our own latitudes, it is impossible fo
us thence to conclude that the animals belong either
to an early or a late stage of the country ; for we
have them in the rich woods of South America, ane
in the comparatively barren extent of New Holland
while there are none in Southern Africa, which is
inter mediate between these, and partakes of the
characters of both.

We shall now briefly enumerate the species ; anc
.first those in which the female is furnished with a dis-
tinct abdominal pouch for the reception of her young
during a portion of the period of ger-tation, and as a
place of safety occasionally till they are able to shift

or themselves. Of these there are three tolerably
veil established.

THE VIRGINIAN OPOSSUM — Didelphus Virgimana.
This species is by far the best known, at least to
the people of this country, from its abundance in the
southern parts of the United States. But as it is very
generally distributed over America as far as the bor-
ders of Patagonia, or at all events to the margins of
the Pampas, the name Virginian is by no means de-
scriptive of it: indeed there is nothing tends more to
confuse the nomenclature of natural history, than the
naming of natural productions, whether animal or
vegetable, after places, or after individuals of the
human race. The first method ties the production
down to the place named ; and though there may be
no great harm in naming a particular breed of cattle,
sheep, or pigs, after the place which is most famed
for their production, yet in cases like the one under
notice, it is very absurd, — the Virginian opossum
being found over a range in latitude of certainly not
less than five thousand miles, while the individuals
are far more numerous in South America than -in
North, if the whole surface of each be taken.

The usual size of the opossum is the same as that
of a cat ; its covering consists of a mixture of black
and white hairs, with the ears having the one part
black and the other white. The head often entirely
white. It is very generally distributed, inhabits the
woods, is not timid in the vicinity of settled places,
prowls about in the night, killing poultry, sucking
eggs, and committing other little depredations ; but
we need hardly add that, to man, it is quite harm-
less. The young, which are often as many as seven
in number, are exceedingly light and small, at the time
of their birth, that is, the time of their first birth, when
transferred from the internal uterus to the pouch. The
gestation in the uterus lasts twenty-six days, at the
end of which the young have no vestiges of eyes or of
ears, and are, indeed, little else than small lumps of
gelatinous matter. They do not open their eyes till
about the fiftieth day ; but they readily find out the
teats in the pouch, and attaching themselves to these,
they increase in size. They remain in the pouch, or
at feast resort to it occasionally as a place of safety,
until they are grown to about the size of rats.

The Virginian opossum, extending as it does over so
vast a range in latitude, is subject to much variation of
colour. There is also considerable difference between
the appearance of the young ones and those which
have arrived at perfect maturity. The body of the
young animal is generally of a yellowish-grey, mixed
with some hairs entirely white, and others entirely
black ; the last of which are most abundant along the
back, and give that part of the animal the appearance
of being marked with a dorsal line. A band of a
similar colour descends from each side of the neck
to the fore-legs ; these legs and also the hind ones are
covered with black hairs, and the tail is covered
with scales, with a few short and weak hairs thinly
interspersed. The hands, that is the prehensile parts
of the hind feet, the ears, and the point of the
muzzle are naked. The skin on the soles of the fret
is violet black ; but the toes and nails are flesh-
coloured. The whiskers, which appear to be used as
instruments of touch, as is the case with all mamma-
lia which seek their prey by night ; and it is pre-
sumed also, that the toes, which have a very delicate
covering, are highly sensitive. The eyes are small,
without any external lids, and are remarkable for their
convexity and consequent projection jcyond their

276

DIDELPHUS.

sockets ; and from this peculiar structure of the eye,
it is probable that the animal sees only at short dis-
tances, but that its vision there is quite microscopic.

Virginian oppossum.

From the structure of the nose it is presumed that the
sense of smell is very acute ; but it cannot be very
delicate in our way of estimating ; for in that case
the animal would be perfectly intolerable to itself, the
odour which it emits when disturbed or threatened
being described as one of the most offensive in nature.
But there is no subject upon which we are more in
the dark, and more likely to remain so, than that of the
senses of animals. We know the operations of our
own senses very imperfectly ; and in the case of
smelling in particular, we are unable to say what is
the specific difference of affection in our organs,
which makes us turn with feelings of pleasure to the
odour of roses or of new hay, and shun with pain and
aversion that of such an animal as the opossum.
Now, if we know little of these matters in our own
case, where the pleasure is mental, and, whether we
understand its foundation or not, a result of reason
and experience, and given us as one of the means by
which we are to understand the properties of things,
and apply them to our uses in the most pleasing, and
at the same time, in the most economical manner for
the good of the whole ; — if we are thus ignorant in
our own case, where we have something of more im-
portance than the mere animal sensation to guide us,
what can we know in the cases of the other animals ?
and not knowing, how can we reason ?

Still, this is a subject upon which it is exceedingly
difficult for any body to refrain from speculating, and
it is nearly, if not altogether, as impossible for any
body to be right in such speculations. We are,
however, thus far certain, that no animal can feel what
we call mental pleasure from sensation, apart from the
office which that sensation may supply in the mere
economy of the animal. Thus, for instance, there is
no material eye, except that of man, which can see
beauty in form or in colour, neither is there any nos-
tril, save his, which can scent fragrance, and derive
from it those emotions of delight, which we never fail
to experience when the healthful breezes come to us

sporting over beds of flowers. But, if we cannot sup*
pose animals have the pleasures of sense, which are
mental or supplemental to the mere excitement of the
bodily organs, we cannot suppose that they should
have the opposite feeling of deformity to the eye, and
ungrateful odour to the nose. Upon this principle
we can readily perceive that, offensive as the smell of
the opossum is to our feelings, it may itself be alto-
gether insensible to that odour which instinct teaches
it to give out, probably as its chief means of defence.

In many parts of South America the opossum is
so abundant, that it prowls about in the villages, and
even in the towns. D'Azzara mentions that they are
frequently found lying dead iu the villages near the
shores of La Plata, and even in the streets of Monte
Video. He was the first to get a correct account of
the marsupial apparatus of the female, which we shall
give in nearly his own words. " The female has the
whole length of the belly cleft or slit, and appearing
like a person's waistcoat buttoned only at the top
and bottom. This cavity the animal has the power
of firmly closing. Within it are thirteen teats, ex-
tremely small, one in the centre, and the rest ranged
round it."

Before the female comes to maturity, this marsupial
apparatus is but little developed, there being only a
slight fold of skin on each side the abdomen. Alter
the young are weaned, the marsupium also collapses,
and it is gradually reproduced as the time approaches
when it is to receive a new litter. There seems
indeed to be, so to speak, an alternation of the t\vo
systems of gestation in these curious females. The
uterus is the place where impregnation is effected,
and where the germ is developed, at ieast in its early
stage ; but as this takes place when they are in a
much more rudimental state than any young animals
which pass at once from the uterus to an external
mammary system, there is a degree of excitement
required in the marsupial apparatus which is not
needed in the case of those animals which produce
their young comparatively mature, and capable of
taking the teat at intervals as nature requires. The
perfect marsupial animals, or those which have the
internal and external periods of gestation pretty
nearly of the same length, remain on the teat, like
any moveable excrescence, until they are completely
developed ; and it has been ascertained, that in some
of the species at least, there is a sort of umbilical cord
which connects the young with a sort of placental
substance in the body of the teat, until it acquires its
form and some of its functions as an animal, at which
time it breaks this second connection with the mother,
or is born a second time, now an independent animal,
capable of drawing milk from the teat, and in due
time of finding its food. But this second gestation in
the marsupium is clearly as essential to the perfect
development of the animal as the first gestation in
the internal uterus ; and we can no more imagine an
opossum to come to maturity, if it enjoys only the
first, and has not its full time in the second, than we
can imagine the untimely birth of any other animal to
become mature.

This is a most extraordinary piece of nature's
economy, and a part, the design of which we are
unable, in the present state of our knowledge, to
comprehend, and yet it is one which very powerfully
and pressingly tempts us onward to inquire.

Now, we perceive that this double gestation, by
means of the internal uterus and the abdominal pouch,
stands as it were midway between the single internal

DIDELPHUS.

-270

gestation of the ordinary mammalia and the internal
elaboration of the egg, and external, and we may say
unconnected evolution of the chick, by the process of
incubation, in birds. The common mammalia require
the interim! warmth, protection, and action of the
mother, with perfect exclusion of the atmosphere
from contact with the body during the whole time
that the fetus is coming into form. The bird requires
that the egg shall be matured in the ovary and oviduct
of the mother ; but when this is once accomplished,
the connection, that is, the material connection,
as conveying substance from the one to the other, is
cut off for ever as between the parent bird and the
future chick, which is still a formless embryo in the
egg ; so that the egg may be hatched, for the evolve-
mcnt of all the necessary membranes and vessels, and
the chick itself may be brought forward by the heat of
another bird, or by any heat, if properly applied.
We have therefore a second life, as it were, in the
young bird, in the action of which the parent bird has
no necessary concern ; and, if placed in favourable
circumstances, by the exclusion of atmospheric air and
the light, we know not for what length of time the
egg of a bird might not be preserved with the prin-
ciple of life within it, ready to be called into action
by the necessary stimuli, and capable of restoring the
species again to the world, even though, by any catas-
trophe, all the ancestors of the egg were swept away.
It is not so, however, with mammalia, for they would
necessarily perish, not only with the individual, but
with any circumstance which might affect the internal
health of the mother during the period of gestation.

The marsupial animal is intermediate between
these ; and we may reasonably suppose, that as the
second stage of its progress in organisation takes
place externally of the mother, and partially exposed
to the atmosphere, we may very naturally conclude
that this marsupial foetus, being in less intimate con-
nexion with the system of its mother than an uterine
one, must not be so subject to suffer with the suffer-
ings of her system, but that the mother, with the
young in the marsupium, must be able to undergo
greater privations, and bear greater hardships, than
the uterine mother. We know, also, from the
observed fact, that a marsupial mother can bring
forward not only two, but perhaps three successions
of progeny at the same time. There have been found
some in the internal matrix, and some others in the
marsupium, so differing in size and development, that
they must have been the products of separate impreg-
nations. No doubt, we have cases of superfcetation
among uterine animals, as, for instance, in the common
hare, but the authenticated ones are very few in
number ; they are probably all referrible to the
category of " monstrosities of habit'' which take place
in animals, as well as monstrosities of form ; and, at
all events, they form the exception, and the rare
exception— not. the rule. During marsupial gestation,
on the other hand, reimpregnation is so common,
as to be the rule, and not the exception ; and it
accords with the economy of nature that such should
be the case. There is, therefore, evidently an
absolvernent of the system of the marsupial female
from what would be called the labour of maturing the
succession, at that very time when this labour
falls most heavily upon the uterine mother, and
renders her more helpless than at any other state of
her mature and undecayed existence.

Hence we see that the marsupial animal is fitted
for contending with, and triumphing over, hardships

which the common mammalia eouSd not so well
endure ; and if, having found this power in the
animals, we can discover a corresponding occupation
for this power in the countries where such ai.inuds
are found, or in the situations in which they have to
preserve their lives and find their livings, then we are
in possession of two elements which will enable us
to approach at least to the outworks of this the most
impregnable point in the whole physiology of ani-
mated nature.

Now, it will not fail to occur to every reader, who
has the slightest general acquaintance with the
economy and relative distribution of productions on
the surface of our earth, that the three grand localities,
or, strictly speaking, the two only, for New Holland
and the Oriental Isles, and south-eastern peninsula of
Asia, may be considered as one great district, which
is cut off from much migration of land-animals by the
intervening seas, but over which birds migrate with
the changing monsoons in numbers, which to us,
lying as we do at the outskirts even of the migration
of Europe, Western Asia, and Africa, would be
perfectly incredible, if we did not know the fact from
the most undoubted authority ; it will readily be seen,
that this tract, and also the eastern side of America,
which, from the great cordillera of the Andes running
near the west coast, comprises by far the greater part
of the continent, are countries beyond all others
stocked with tree birds ; and not only this, but that,
generally speaking, quadrupeds, with the exception of
these animals, are few, and of only trifling dimen-
sions. Australia, which, from the dryness of its surface
at one season, and the torrents in which rain falls at
others, may be regarded as having the extreme
character of this species of country ; and the qua-
drupeds there, with a few very trifling exceptions,
are all marsupial, whether they feed on animal matter
or on vegetable, and whether their chief prey be
sought on trees or on the ground. In South America
the character is less extreme, but still it is not less of
a tree-bird country than any part of the East, at least
in those regions which are covered, as much of it is
covered, with extensive and luxuriant forests. The
changes of season are very great in all those countries ;
and therefore, the labour which the animals have in
finding their food is sufficient to account for the
absolvement of the females from that portion of
systematic labour in bringing their young to maturity
which we have seen that they enjoy. This is not the
place for entering fully into the question ; but as all
the principal genera of marsupial animals occur in the
order of the alphabet before the general article
MARSUPIATA, we shall collect the leading points of
the evidence in the particular articles, which will
enable us to sum them up more briefly, and with a
better chance of being understood, than if we brought
a question so curious and so complicated into one
article. We shall therefore now resume our notices
of the species Didelphus.

The CRAB-EATING OPOSSUM — Didelphus Cancrivora,
This animal has more the figure of a rat than the
former. Its forehead is nearly straight, and its muzzle
much pointed. The general colour of the head is
white, with a few scattered bristly hairs, as whisker?,
on the upper lip and on the posterior part of the
cheek, and one or two over each eye ; the eyes and
ears are also black, which form a striking contrast
with the general white colour of the face and head.
The ground colour on the neck, the back, and sides,
is yellowish, sprinkled or grizzled with black and

280

DIDELPHUS.

white, the black hairs being shorter than the yellowish,
and the white ones longer, but with a portion of black
at the points. These long hairs form a sort of line
along the back, and when the animal is excited, it has
the power of erecting them. The legs and feet are
wholly black, with the exception of the last joint and
the claws, which are white ; the tail, which is covered
with scales and very short hair, is black at the base,
and white for more than two-thirds of its length
toward the tip. It is tapering to the end, and
prehensile.

Crab-eating opossum

This animal is remarkably low upon the legs. Its
whole length is about thirteen inches, exclusive of
the tail, and its height not above six inches, while,
from its applying the whole length of the hind feet to
the ground, and having the fore ones short and
crooked, it is much lower at the shoulders and the
crupper than at the middle of the back. It has been
observed principally on the warm shores of South
America, where it resides in the holes of the rocks
above water, and seeks its food chiefly off crabs and
other crustaceous animals. Its hind feet are well
adapted for grasping, like hands, and its fore paws,
which have sharpened crooked claws, and the toes
much divided, are also good prehensile instruments ;
but, in addition to these, it is said to render its tail
available, by thrusting it into the holes which the
crabs inhabit, and drawing them forth to their
destruction.

The FOUR-EYED OPOSSUM — Didelphns Opossum,
is the only other known species which has the
nmrsupium fully developed. Like the former, it is an
inhabitant of the warmer shores of South America,
but it is a more inland animal, and its food is different.
It is rather smaller than either of the former, being
about a foot in length, with the tail about one foot
two inches. Its head is pointed, the whole of the
profile forming a straight line. The ears are large,
round in their form, and very thin in their substance.

The prevailing colour in the upper part is reddish
brown, mixed with grey on the back, but purer on the
head. On this dark colour there are placed two
circular spots of white in front of the ears, and it it
from these two spots that the animal gets the name of
four-eyed, just as some breeds of dogs in this country
get the same appellation from two brown spots on a
black ground immediately over the eyes. The under
part is dull white ; a small portion at the root of the
tail is covered with the same hair as the upper part
of the animal, while the remaining part of that organ
is nearly naked and scaly. The female has six or
seven teats in the pouch, and in these animals there is
a different arrangement from the teats of common
mammalia ; in them they are arranged in pairs right
and left, while in these marsupial animals there is one
central, and the others surrounding.

The Opossumt which have no pouch inclosing and
concealing the teats, are smaller than those in which
the females are furnished with that appendage ; but,
though the teats are exposed, the young are placed
upon them, and adhere and grow there in a manner
not very different from those which are enclosed in
the pouch ; and the abdomen is supported by
marsupial bones in a similar manner. This circum-
stance shows that the pouch, that is, the external
duplicature of the pouch, is not the essential part, but
merely a protecting membrane ; for it does not
appear that the species that are without it carry their
young with more difficulty than the others.

The MEXICAN OPOSSUM, or CAYOPOHN — Didelphui
dorsigera. This species is about seven inches and a
quarter in length ; the eyes and surrounding spaces are
brown, there is a line of the same colour up the middle
of the face, and the sides of the head are brownish
ash. All the upper part of the body is greyish yel-
low, and the under side yellowish ; the ears are
surrounded with yellow at the base, and the tail is
spotted with brown and yellow, having a part near
the insertion covered with hair, and the remainder
naked and scaly. This is the species which is described
under the name of the slender -tailed opossum by some
naturalists.

The MARMOT OPOSSUM — Didelphus murina. This
species is less than the larger of European rats. —
It is the marine opossum of Pennant and Shaw ; and
though smaller in size, it does not differ greatly in its
general appearance from the species just mentioned.
The muzzle is rather more pointed, the ears rounder,
and the head more convex ; the eyes are situated in
the middle of a transverse band of black, which is
broader above than under their openings, and does
not extend far beyond their openings laterally. —
The upper part of the body is a mixture of fawn and
ash colour, the under part is whitish, but with a mix-
ture of fawn which is gradually less and less con-
spicuous as it approaches the central part of the
abdomen. These little animals are, however, subject
to very considerable variations in the colour of their
attire ; and they have, on this account, sometimes
been described under different names. The females
are furnished with about fifteen teats, situated among
the folds of skin in the groins ; and the young ones,
after they are discharged from the uterus, adhere firmly
to these, like little round buttons, until they acquire
the developed form of organised animals. The power
of adhering to the mother is very wonderful in all the
marsupial animals, but more especially in those which
are not provided with a developed pouch ; and after
they have acquired some form, and are detached from

DIDERMUM — DILLENIACE^E.

281

their permanent connection with the teats, these little
animals may be observed holding on by the sides and
legs of their mother, with a firmness that would »ot
be expected in creatures which are apparently so
small and so helpless. The species now under notice
are inhabitants of the woods, in which they prey upon
very small animals ; and the mother may be seen with
ten or a dozen little ones, riding on her sides or back,
and she holding them on with her prehensile tail while
she moves from branch to branch.

The THICK-TAILED OPOSSUM— Didclpfnts macroura.
This is a species considerably larger than the former,
and though it has hitherto been described as a native
of Paraguay, it is probable that, like the rest, it may
be pretty generally distributed over the warmer parts
of America. It. is larger than the species last described,
being about eleven inches in length. The tail is very
thick for so small an animal, being not less than three
inches in girth at the root. It is covered with hair
of smooth texture for the first third, and the remain-
ing two-thirds towards the tip are scaly, and it is all
black, except an inch and a half at the point, which is
of a white colour The upper part of the body, the
under part of the head, and round the eyes, are bright
cinnamon brown ; the face and the feet are of the
same colour, but deeper. The cinnamon colour in
the female is brighter than that in the males. The
teats of the female are contained in an elliptic fold, and
there are frequently more on one side than on the
other. This species is said to be a little more ener-
getic in its characters than some of the rest of the
genus ; but its manners, like those of most of the
others, are imperfectly understood.

SHORT-TAILED OPOSSUM — Didelphus brachyura.
This is a very small species, not exceeding five or six
inches in length, and with the tail only about two
inches and a half. It is understood to be that which
is described by Buffon under the title of the Touan.
The upper part of the body is blackish ; the cheeks,
hroat, flanks, and inside of the thighs and paws are
iright red ; and the centre of the under part pure
.vhite. The female has not fewer than fourteen teats
situated in the folds of the groin, which are absorbed
when she ceases to suckle. The odour which the male
emits, when irritated, is described as being very un-
pleasant. In some parts of the country these animals
live in holes of the ground, which they dig for them-
selves, but in other situations where the surface is dif-
ferent, and there are hollow trees, they burrow in these.
Delphinus pusilln. This species, though named by
authors, and particularly described by D'Azzara as
his No. 6 of these curious animals, is not so clearly
established as most of the others. It is described as
being about seven inches in length, exclusive of the
tail, the last three inches of which part is naked and
prehensile. A circle round the eyes is black, with white
markings of the eye-brows, separated by a triangular
spot of a dusky hue. The general colour of the body
is that of the shrew, or a sort of dark mouse colour ; it
is described as inhabiting near the dwellings of the
Indians in Paraguay, and throughout the greater part
of the valley of La Plata, and having many of the
characters of a common field-rat or mouse, at the same
time that it retains the marsupial structure and charac-
ters, and the general appearance of the rest of the
genus.

Such is a brief outline of most of the particulars
which are known respecting the appearances, habits,
and localities of this genus generally, and also respect-

ing the individual species of which it is made up. In
an economical point of view they arc animals of small
value, though the foetid odour of the living animal
does not extend to the flesh, which is eaten by the
Indians ; but in a natural history point of view, they
are far more interesting and important.

DIDERMUM (Savigny). A genus of mollasc*
united to the genus Synoicum of modern authors.

DIDYMOCARPE^E. See CYRTANDRACE*:.

DIGITALIS (Linnteus). A well-known germs of
European herbs, some of which are biennials, though
the chief part are perennials. Linnaean class and
order Didynamia Angiospermia, and natural order Scro-
phularia. The foxglove is common on every hedge-
bank, and no wild plant is more ornamental than this.
In the gardens there is a white variety, though this is
also found wild in some places. Two plants, namely,
Isojilexis Canariensis, and /. sceptmm, were formerly
ranked among the foxgloves, but are now separated
by Dr. Lindley. All are easily propagated by seeds.

DIG1TARIA (Scopoli), is the common finger-
grass of Britain, and elsewhere.

DILATRIS (Linnaeus). A genus of greenhouse
perennials from the Cape of Good Hope. Class and
order Triandria Monogynia, and natural order Hcenw-
doraceee. Generic character : calyx corolla-like, of
six petals, hairy without, and regular ; stamens six,
inserted in the base of the calyx ; three of them short
and sterile, and three long ; style filiform ; stigma
simple ; capsule three-celled ; seeds three or six pel-
tate. The bulbs or tubers of this plant thrive best in
sand and leaf-mould, and are increased by offsets or
seeds.

DILL. Is the Anethum graveolens of Linnaeus, and
is cultivated as a pot or sweet herb in gardens : it
belongs to the same family as the fennel, so much used
as a sauce for mackerel, &c.

DILLENIA (Linnaeus). A beautiful and large
forest tree, a native of India, named in honour of
J. T. Dillenias, once botanical professor at Oxford.
It belongs to Polyandria Polygynia, and gives a title
to one of the Jussieuan orders, viz., Dilleniaceee. —
Generic character : calyx of five, leathery, persisting
sepals ; petals five, and somewhat leathery ; stamens
very numerous, inserted into the receptacle ; anthers
oblong and erect ; style none ; stigmas level, persist-
ing, and disposed in a circle; berry many -seeded and
many-celled. This is one of our first-rate stove plants,
and may be propagated by cuttings, or, which is better,
by imported seeds, sown as soon as they arrive in this
country. Mr. Sweet observes of this plant that the
leaves are so delicate, that tobacco smoke, or a tem-
perature below sixty degress of Fahrenheit, injures
them very much.

DILLENIACE^E, a natural order of dichlamy-
deous dicotyledonous plants, containing sixteen known
genera, and about one hundred species. It is closely
allied to magnoitaceae, from which is is distinguished
by the want of stipules and the quinary arrangement
of the parts of fructification. It also bears an affi-
nity to RanunculacetB, but differs in its habit and in
its persistent calyx.

The essential characters of the order are : perianth
with an imbricated aestivation ; sepals five, persistent,
two exterior and three interior ; petals five, deciduous
in a single row, hypogynous ; stamens numerous,
hypogynous, arising from a torus, either distinct or
polyadelphous, and either placed irregularly round the
pistil or on one side of it ; filaments filiform, dilated

28-2

DILLWYNIA— DION^EA.

either at the base or apex ; anthers adnate, two-
celled, the cells generally opening longitudinally and
internally ; ovaries definite, more or less distinct, with
a terminal stj'le and simple stigma ; fruit consisting
either of from two to five distinct unilocular carpels,
or of a similar number cohering together, the carpels
being either berried or two-celled ; seeds ovate,
arranged in a double series at the angle of the carpels
or cells, two or many, sometimes solitary, surrounded
by a pulpy arillus ; testa hard ; embryo minute, lying
at the base of fleshy albumen.

The plants belonging to this order are : trees,
shrubs, or under-shrubs. Their leaves are almost
always without stipules, alternate, rarely opposite,
commonly coriaceous, with strong veins running
straight from the mid-rib to the margin. Their
flowers are solitary, in terminal racemes or panicles,
and often of a yellow colour. The greater part of
these plants are found in New Holland. Some of
them grow in India and in the southern parts of
America and Africa.

In general they possess astringent properties.
The order has been divided into two distinct sec-
tions : I . Delimacetc, or Delimete, including the genera
Delima, Tetracera, Davilla, &c., in which the filaments
are filiform, dilated at the apex, and bear on each side
a round distinct cell of the anther. 2. Dillcnas, com-
prehending the genera Dillenia, Hibbcrtia, Pleurandra,
Candollea, Culbertia, &c., in which the filaments are
not dilated at the apex, and the anthers are elongate
and adnate.

The genus Dillenia, whence the name of the order
is derived, furnishes six known species, some of which
are applied to useful purposes. DWenia speciosa is a
splendid tree, forty or fifty feet high, found in the
forests of Malabar and Java, which bears beautiful
yellow flowers, larger than those of the water lily, and
yields a pulpy acid fruit, the size of a large apple.

The tree has a thick stem and rugged bark, and
when wounded discharges an astringent watery fluid.
The calyx of this species, as well as that of Dillenia
scabrella, when in a young state, has an agreeable acid
taste, and is used in curries by the inhabitants of some
parts of India.

Hibbcrtia volubUis is a green-house plant, well
known for the beauty of its flowers and the peculiar
fetid odour which they emit. Hibbertia dentata is a
very ornamental green-house plant, and is admirably
adapted for trellis ; when supported with a stake, it
will reach the height of six or eight feet, and has a
beautiful appearance with its rich yellow flowers,
which continue to expand during all the summer
months.

Decoctions of the leaves and bark of Davilla rugosa
and elliptica are used in Brazil as astringent washes
for wounds and ulcers, and are applied to swellings of
the legs which often occur in warm countries.

The leaves of Delima sarmentosa and several other
pecies of that genus are so covered with asperities,
that they are employed in China in place of a file, and
are used for polishing furniture.

The fruit of many plants of this order when mixed
with water is used in India as an acidulated drink in
fevers.

DILLWYNIA (Smith). A genus of Australian
evergreen shrubs, consisting of above eleven species,
all introduced since 1794. They are decandrious
plants, and belong to Lcgimrinosce. Generic character :
calyx of two lips, and five-cleft ; corolla standard

broad, unequally two-lobed ; petals and stamens in-
serted in the middle of the calyx ; style crooked ;
pod bellied, two-seeded ; seeds like a string of beads.
These plants thrive in moor-earth, and require well
drained pots. Cuttings root freely in sand.

DILUVIUM. A term employed by geologists to
describe one of the principal deposits which is found
on the surface of our globe. A diluvial soil owes its
existence to the violent action of water, or some other
powerful agent operating for a considerable length of
time on masses of the hardest bodies. Thus we find
the most compact rocks, such as basalt, worn away
and converted into an impalpable powder by natunil
processes, and at other times great blocks of granite
removed from their earth-bound sites, and carried to
distant plains, where such masses could not originally
have been placed.

DlMEKA(Latreille). In the first edition of the
Regne Animal, the curious little family of coleop-
terous insects PsclapMdec, was raised to the rank of
a section under this name, from the incorrect observa-
tion of the tarsi, which were supposed to be only two-
jointed. As, however, the observations of more recent
authors proved themtobe at least three-jointed, thesec-
tion has been suppressed in the late works of Latreille.

D1NETUS (Sweet). A genus of climbing plants,
annuals, and perennials- They are pentandrious, and
belong to the natural order Convolmdacece. Generic
character : calyx in five parts ; corolla bell-shaped, in
five equal erect segments ; stamens as long as the
corolla, filaments joined to the tube ; anthers roundish ;
style bifid ; stigma headed ; seed-vessel two-celled,
four-seeded. The perennial species are increased by
cuttings ; the annual species are either greenhouse or
open air plants, climbing quickly and producing flowers
in autumn. This genus was formerly called Parana
by Burmann, but separated by the late Mr. Sweet.

DIOCTRIA (Meigen). A genus of dipterous in-
sects belonging to the family Asilidce. (See this article
under that of BOMBYLID^:.) The antennae are placed
upon a peduncle with the terminal style minute, and
the basal joint longer than the following. The body is
also long and narrow. They fly with great strength,
and some of the British species have the wings black,
and glossed with blue, which gives them a very exotic
appearance. Their habits are similar to those of the
AsilL

DIODON — globe fish. Agenus of fishes belonging
to the order Plectognathes, and family Gymnodontet,
an account of which will be found under the last of
these words.

DIOMEDIA (Cassini). A West Indian genus of
evergreen shrubs, bearing yellow compound flowers,
formerly ranked among the Bnphalmums by Linnaeus.
These plants have silvery leaves, grow in light com-
post, and are propagated by cuttings.

DION^EA (Linnaeus). This genus of plants con-
sisting of only one species, is found in Carolina in North
America. It belongs to Decandria Monogynia, and to
the natural order Droseriaccce. The flowers are by no
means striking, but the foliage is most remarkable, not
only in form, but for its irritable properties, and con-
sequent spontaneous motion. Each leaf is composed
of three parts ; a lower principal leaf, with two leaflets
at its end. The leaflets are somewhat semicircular,
and articulated close together upon a gland-like body
at the point of the principal, as already stated. The
articulations act like hinges, permitting the leaflets to
fall back from each other, and remain in a nearly hori-

D I O N Y X — D I O S C O R M.

283

ontal position. While so spread open, should a
lirsty or honey-seeking fly, or other insect, venture
etvveen the leaflets so as to touch the gland, they
istantly start up together with considerable force, and
hitch the prisoner ; nor can the intruder easily extri-
ate itself, because the inner edges of the leaflets are
:irnished with opposing ranks of short bristles, which
hut into each other like the teeth of a rat-trap ; so
liat a fly has no means of escape, more especially as
he leaflets do not open again for many hours. Tho
ame motion is produced by touching the gland with
he point of a straw or other body.

Some naturalists are of opinion that this extraordi-
lary mechanism of the plant is a provision for supply-
ug itself with putrified animal food ; and have gone
;o far as make the plant catch morsels of raw beef or
nutton, with a view to fattening, or increasing its
,-olume. Nay, more, that the plants so feasted grew
he better for it ! — but this requires confirmation.

The vulgar name of the Dioncea is " Venus's fly-
Tap ;" it is a low inconspicuous marsh plant, and, when
cultivated in nurseries for sale, is planted in bog-earthy
:urf in a pot kept constantly in a pan of water, as the
plant must never be allowed to get dry; but by no
means should it be ever flooded. Whether kept in a
greenhouse or frame, they should have a hand-glass
placed over them, to ensure a more equable degree of
moist air : at the same time fresh air is necessary, th
hand-glass never being kept quite close.

DIONYX (Dejean). A curious genus of minute
coleopterous insects, belonging to the family Psela-
phidte, allied to Statists, but having the labial palpi
armed laterally with several spines ; the antennae have
the four last joints very long. A single specimen ol
this curious insect has only yet been discovered : it
was captured by Dejean, on the wing, in the even-
ing, in the department of Aude, during his militar}
campaigns.

D1OPSIS (Linnaeus). A genus of dipterous insects
belonging to the great family Muscidte, and distin-
guished from every other dipterous genus by having
the eyes and antenna) placed at the extremity of horny
slender footstalks, rising from the sides of the head
and being in some species as long as the entire body
which gives these insects a very remarkable appear
ance. They are of great rarity, and seldom found ii
collections. They inhabit the tropical climates o
India and Africa, and but little is known of their habit?
Above a score distinct species are described in a
monograph upon the genus, published in the last par
of the Transactions of the Linnean Society.

DIOSCOREA (Linnaeus). A genus of herba
ceous plants, some few of which are eminently usefn
to the inhabitants of the countries where they natu
rally abound. LinnJEan class and order, Diced
Hexandria, and natural order Dioscorece ; Generi
character : perianths superior, six-cleft, persisting
stamens inserted into the base of the perianths
filaments awl-shaped ; anthers two-celled ; styles sim
pie ; capsule triangular, three-celled, in each two com
pressed winged seeds. The D. alala is the yam o
India. The tubers are as large as a child's heac
rough and black exteriorly, but when boiled, remark
ably white and mealy within, and very little inferio
to the best potato. They affect light sandy land ; an
in some of the East-India port towns, may be had i
considerable quantities for ship's stores, which kee
well for a month or two on board ship. In our ho
house collections they are grown in light soil, an

ained up to stakes or upon a trellis, and are in-
reased by parting the roots. These, however, are
ever cultivated for use.

DIOSCORECE, the yam family,a natural order ot
monocotyledonous plants, containing five or six known
enera and upwards of fifty species. It is nearly
Hied to Smilacea; in structure and habit, but differs
n the character of its ovary, its capsular fruit, and in
ts albumen, having a large cavity. In many respects
t approaches the dicotyledonous structure.

Its essential characters are : flowers dioecious ;
>erianth six partite ; in the sterile or male flowers
here are six stamens inserted into the base of the
egments of the perianth ; in the fertile or female
lowers, the ovary is three-celled, each cell containing
>ne or two seeds ; style deeply trifid ; stigmas undi-
rided ; fruit leaf-like, compressed, with two of its cells
ometimes abortive ; seeds flat, compressed ; embryo
mall, included in a large cavity of the cartilaginous
ilbumen, near the hilum.

The plants of this order are twining shrubs, with
ilternate, occasionally opposite leaves, which are
generally reticulated with veins, as in the dicotyledo-
nous plants. The flowers are small, spiked, and have
rom one to three bracteas.

They are found in tropical countries in both hemi-
spheres, and possess in general mucilaginous and nutri-
tive properties.

The chief genera of the order are, Dioscorea, Raja-
nia, Testndinaria, Oncus, and AZchma. Tamus, or the
alack bryony, which was formerly included in this
order, is by Loudon and others referred to a distinct
order, called Tamcae.

Dioscorea furnishes numerous species which are
found in the East and West Indies, and in North and
South America. They are commonly known by the
name of yams, and are interesting as furnishing large
fleshy, sweet tubers, which are considered an import-
ant article of food in all tropical countries.

Dioscorea saliva, the common yam, is largely culti-
vated in the West Indies, where it serves for food to
the negroes. It yields large thick tubers a foot broad,
which have a mealy taste, and are esteemed nutritive
and easy of digestion. They are eaten instead of
bread, either roasted on the embers or boiled. The
flour got from them is made into puddings. The flesh
of the yam is white or purplish arid viscid, but becomes
farinaceous and mealy when dressed. The fresh
juice of the root is acrid, and excites itching on the
skin. There are many varieties of the root. Dios-
corea aciJeata is by some looked upon merely as an,
improved variety of the common yam. It is exten-
sively cultivated, and yields tubers which are fre-
quently three feet long, and weigh thirty pounds.
All the edible species and varieties of Dioscorea are
propagated in foreign countries like the common
potato, but they arrive much sooner at maturity.
They are planted in August, in rows two feet apart,
and eighteen inches distant in the rows, and they are
ripe in November or December.

Tcstudinaria elephantipcs, common elephant's foot,
is a native of the Cape of Good Hope, and is fre-
quently cultivated in green-houses in this country.
This plant has a singular appearance on account of its
large fleshy root, a foot in diameter, which rises above
ground and is covered with angular brown knobs
having a tesselated aspect. The name testudinaria is
derived from the resemblance between this root and
the clumsy shell of some huge tortoise. The term

284

DIOSME.E — DIOSPYRUS.

elephantipes, or elephant's loot, has also been appliec
on account of the remarkable appearance of this root-
stock. The stem of the plant is slender and climb-
ing, and presents a remarkable contrast to the root.
The flowers are small and insignificant. The Hot-
tentots, in time of scarcity, use the fleshy inside of the
root as a sort of yarn.

DIOSME^E— The Buchu family. A natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing nearly
twenty genera, and upwards of one hundred and
twenty known species. It is closely allied to Rutaceee,
and by many botanists is considered merely a section
of that order. It differs, however, in the peculiar
structure of its fruit, and in having two ovules in
each cell. It also bears an affinity to Xanthoxylece,
Simarubaceee, Humiriacecc, and Auranliacece.

The essential characters of the order are : flowers
hermaphrodite, regular or irregular ; calyx consisting
of four or five divisions ; petals as many, distinct or
united, rarely wanting ; aestivation generally twisted,
convolute, rarely valvate ; stamens equal to, or double
the number of the petals, sometimes, by imperfection,
fewer, hypogynous, or rarely perigynous, placed on
the outside of a disc or cup surrounding the ovary,
and either free, or combined with the base of the
calyx, or sometimes wanting ; ovary sessile, stalked,
its lobes equal to the number of petals, or fewer ;
ovules twin and collateral, or one above the other,
very rarely four ; style single, sometimes divided at
its base into as many parts as there are lobes of the
ovary ; stigma simple or dilated ; fruit consisting of
several capsules, either cohering firmly, or more or
less distinct ; endocarp, or internal skin of the fruit,
entirely separating from the sarcocarp (or fleshy
matter under the skin), which opens internally by two
valves ; the endocarp also two-valved, the valves
opening at the base, but connected by a membrane
•which bears the seeds ; seeds twin or solitary, with a
testaceous integument ; embryo with a superior radicle,
which is either straight or oblique ; no albumen.

The plants belonging to this order are trees or
shrubs, rarely herbs. They are furnished with exsti-
pulate, opposite, or alternate simple or pinnate leaves,
which are covered with pellucid resinous dots. Their
flowers are axillary or terminal, and of a white or
reddish colour.

The greater part of them inhabit the tropical parts
of the globe. They are found abundantly in the
warm regions of America, at the Cape of Good Hope,
and in New Holland. A single genus is found in the
south of Europe.

By some authors this order has been divided into
sections according to the countries in which the
plants are found. Thus we have, first, the European
section, including the genus Dictamnus, found in the
south of Europe ; second, the Cape section, including
the numerous species of Diosnia, Adenandra, &c.,
found at the Cape of Good Hope ; third, the Aus-
tralasian section, comprehending the genera Boronia,
P/iebalium, Correct, Erioslemon, &c., found in New
Holland and Van Diemen's Land ; and, fourth, the
American section, including the genera Evodia,
Galipea, &c., which grow in South America, the
West Indies, New Zealand, the Friendly Islands,
and Mexico. To this last section are referred the
Cusparieee of Decandolle. This division of the order,
according to the geographical distribution of the
plants, is found to agree most remarkably with the
character of their fructification.

In general th-r plants of this order abound in
essential oil, and possess aromatic, tonic, and antispas-
modic properties. Many of them have been used in
medicine.

The genus Diosma, or Buchu, furnishes upwards
of seventy species, almost all of which are natives of
the Cape. They have a powerful and offensive
odour, which is nevertheless relished by the Hotten-
tots. Many of them have been recommended as
antispasmodics and tonics.

The leaves of Diosma crcnata (Barosma cremtlata
of recent authors) resemble much those of senna, and
are used in medicine under the name of Buchu
leaves. They have been introduced into the Dublin
Pharmacopoeia. The emit a strong aromatic odour,
have a pungent taste, and yield by distillation a
volatile oil. They possess diuretic and tonic pro-
perties, and have been recommended in the form of
infusion and tincture in some diseases of the bladder.
Their activity seems to be owing to the volatile oil
and resin which they contain. Diosma ericoides and
other species are used by the Hottentots to scent
the ointments with which they anoint their skin.

Galipea, or Cusparia febrifuga (Bonplandia trifbliata
of Willdenow), is a handsome South American tree,
and yields the well-known Angostura or Cusparia
bark. This bark occurs in commerce in pieces from
six to twelve inches long. It is of a fawn colour, and
is covered with a whitish rough epidermis. When
powdered, it exhibits a yellowish brown hue. It has an
aromatic, bitter, and somewhat astringent taste. Ac-
cording to analysis, it consists of cinchonia, and a small
quantity of brucia, combined with igasuric acid, muriate
of ammonia, gum resin, extractive and volatile oil.
The term Angostura bark is derived from the common
name of the town of St. Thomas, near the Straits of
the Orinoco, whence it is exported ; while Cusparia
is derived from the native name of the tree. A
spurious kind of cusparia bark is sometimes met with
in commerce, which possesses poisonous properties,
and appears to be the product of a species of strychnos.
The epidermis of this false Angostura bark is covered
with rust-coloured warty excrescences ; its powder is
of a very light yellow, and it has neither the odour
nor the aromatic flavour of the true bark. The li-
chens which grow upon it, and the effect of different
hemical agents, are also sufficient to distinguish it.

Angostura bark possesses all the tonic properties
of Peruvian bark, and is used as an aromatic bitter in
tomach complaints, as well as in intermittents and
dysentery. It is frequently combined with rhubarb,
magnesia, and carbonate of potass, and is prescribed
n the form of powder, infusion, or tincture.

Evodia febrifuga, Ticorea febrifuga, and Ilortia
Brazilians, yield barks which are used in Brazil in the
ure of intermittent fevers.

The root of Dictamnus albus, or Fraxinella, has a
)itter aromatic taste, and was formerly used medici-
nally as a sudorific and vermifuge. This plant abounds
so much in volatile oil, that the atmosphere sur-
rounding it actually becomes inflammable in hot dry
weather.

DIOSPYRUS (Linnaeus). Is the date-plum, a
^nus of trees and shrubs, indigenous to many diffe-
rent parts of the world. Linnaean class and order,
Polygamia Diaecia, and natural order Ebenacece. In
our collections they are placed in the stove or green-
louse, and are in these places treated like other
ihuits. The hardy ones are seen in our shrubberies,

DIPLOLEPIS-DIPPER.

28.5

and grow to good-sized shrubs. Some of the species
are cultivated for their fruit in the eastern parts of
Asia, and the D. cbenum yields the valuable timber
called ebony.

DIPLOLEPIS. A name introduced by Geoffroy
for the gall-flies, which LimiEeus had previously termed
Cynips. The former name, notwithstanding its incor-
rect application, having been adopted by the French
entomologists, has occasioned much confusion between
these insects and those of the family Chalridida:, which
Geoffroy misnamed Cynips. See the articles CHAL-
CIDID^: and CYNIPID.S.

DIPLOPTERA (Latreille). A division of sting-
ing hymenopterous insects, comprising the various
species of wasps, and distinguished by having the
upper wings folded longitudinally when at rest. The
antennae are generally elbowed and thickened at the
tips : the eyes are notched on the inside. The collar
is produced behind on each side as far as the base of
the wings, ihe upper pair of which have two or three
closed submarginal cells ; the body is smooth and
polished without hairs (as in the bees) and, generally,
of a black colour, more or less spotted with yellow or
brown. The character upon which this division is
founded, and from which it received its name (doubled
wing), is one of those curious instances where we find
a peculiarity of organisation which cannot, so far as
we are enabled to perceive, have the slightest influence
upon the habit of the species, and yet it is so con-
stant that we look in vain throughout the whole of
the extensive order Hymenoptera for any other in-
stance of folded wings except in the group in ques-
tion : and yet, if we look at the habits of the species,
we find them to be sufficiently diversified to induce
us to suppose that we might here find sufficient cause
for such a marked peculiarity : but this is not the case.
Thus, we find the Odyneri perfectly resembling the
CrabronidcE and Cercmdes in the economy of burrow-
ing into sand and wood, in order to form the cells in
which they lay up a provision for their progeny, which
are to be hatched from eggs deposited at the same
time with the food ; whilst, on the other hand, in the
true wasps, we have a social economy, similar to that
of the hive.

The Diploptera then, in respect to their habits,
form two groups ; but Latreille has established two
sections from the structure of the antennae, which in
the first {Masarides) have the terminal joints soldered
together, so as to form a club ; whereas in the second
( Vespides), including both the Odyneri and Vespae, the
antennae have the joints distinct and composed, as
usual, of thirteen joints in the males, and twelve in
the females.

DIPLOTHEMIUM (Martius). Is a genus of
Brazilian palm, to which country it is confined ; nor
is its history much known.

DIPPER — Cinclus. A genus of birds belonging
to the dentirostral division of Cuvier's great order
Passeres, and to the thrush family in that order. The
singular appearance and very peculiar habits of these
birds render them objects of much attraction, not
merely to professed ornithologists, but to all who are
fond of observing the children of nature in their wild
state. Accordingly these birds have received a great
many popular names ; and systernatists have been as
much puzzled, in what part of their artificial cabinets to
give them a place. The fact of these birds having sepa-
rate names in both the ancient and both the modern
languages, which are spoken in Britain, is sufficient
to prove the attention which they must have attracted

even at a very early period. This bird is tho Mwy-
alchen y dwfr of the Welsh, and the Gobha uisge of
the Scotch Highlanders ; in England it is the water
ouzel, the penrith ouzel, the water crake, the water
crow, the water colly, and a variety of other names ;
and with the Scotch it is the water pyet, the water
craa, and various other names. In fact, in this
country alone, it has got as many names as might
suffice for a tolerably well-stocked aviary.

The generic characters are, the bill of mean length,
sharp in the cutting edges, straight, elevated in the
culmen, rounded at the extremity, and with the point
of the upper mandible bent over that of the lower.
The nostrils are lateral at the base of the bill, longi-
tudinal, and in great part covered with membrane.
There are three toes to the front and one to the rear ;
the tarsi are short, but longer than the middle toe.
The wings are short and rounded, the first quill being
short and merely a supporter to the second, and the
third and fourth the largest in the wing. It is doubt-
ful whether there is any more well made out species
than one. Several have 'mdeed been mentioned, but
without sufficient grounds, as it should seem ; and that
which is mentioned as being an inhabitant of the
peninsular Crimea on the north of the Black Sea, and
named after Professor Pallas, by Temminck, differs
from that met with in this country only in the colour,
being all over of a rich, reddish brown, while our
one is pied. The habits of the two are, however,
described as being so nearly alike, and so little is
known of the one named after Pallas, that a descrip-
tion of the one which, though not common in any
part of Britain, is pretty widely distributed over it,
will suffice for popular purposes.

Cinclus aquations, the dipper, is very generally dis-
persed over Europe, seems capable of enduring all
climates, and is understood to be resident all the year
round in most of the localities in which it inhabits.
With us, it may be described as being chiefly a moun-
taineer ; but it is not so on many parts of the conti-
nent, for it is found in Holland, in Jutland, and in
many of the comparatively flat districts on the south
of the Baltic and in Russia. It is also met with in
the south, as in Spain, Italy, and the island of Sar-
dinia, being particularly abundant by the banks of
the smaller streams in the Pyrenees and the Alps. It
is not, however, confined to the south and middle
parts of Europe, for it is met with in the Faro islands,
and it is not improbable that it may occur in Iceland.
It occurs also in northern and central Asia, from
Siberia to the north of Persia, though, from the habits
about to be described, it is not found in the dry
deserts.

The dipper bears some resemblance in its general
shape to the common wren, only the tail is shorter in
proportion. The whole length, if we take the average
of full-grown birds, is about eight inches, the stretch
of the wing about ten or eleven, and the weight about
two or three ounces. The colours arc, the head and
back part of the neck amber brown ; the back and
scapulars black, but with blackish grey on the margins
of the feathers ; the throat, a small patch on the eyes,
the sides of the neck, and the upper part of the breast,
white ; the lower part of the breast and the rest of
the under part of the body is chestnut-brown, passing
into dark brown nearly black toward the vent, and
having the under tail-coverts of nearly the same grey
as the margin of the feathers on the back. The bill
is blackish brown ; and the tarsi and toes grey, some-
times inclined more to yellow, and sometimes to

285

D I P P E R.

blackish blue. The female is very like the male,
except that the head is darker brown, and the white
on the breast dull coloured. The young- are grey on
the head and part of the back, and have more white
on the breast, but it is broke by mottlings, and they
have also some white on the margins of the wing-
feathers.

Dipper.

These birds breed early in the season, and con-
etruct their nests in general with a great deal of care.
The nest is formed under a projecting stone in a hole
of the rock, or even in a hole of the wall, if the situa-
tion is sufficiently retired and near the water. This
nest usually consists of a great quantity of materials,
generally vegetable, as the stems and leaves of aquatic
plants, dry moss, and the leaves of trees ; but the
structure is differently described by different authors,
and may be different in different circumstances and
under different exposures. Of course we do not know
the instinct which leads birds to build nests differing so
much from each other as they are in different species,
or indeed what leads them to build nests at all ; but
as they must in some manner be regulated by cir-
cumstances, they will, of course, make their structures
in accordance with these. If the nest is immediately
under a projecting roof, it is natural to suppose that
though the bird might give it a dome in a more ex-
posed situation, it might be satisfied with a natural
one where that presented itself. The eggs are de-
scribed as being four or five, of a pure white colour,
semi-transparent, long in their shape, and very much
pointed at their small ends. This is sufficient to show
that there is not much philosophy in an opinion
•ometimes advanced, that the form of the egg bears
some analogy to that of the bird ; for the dipper is in
every way a short bird in its body, its wings, and its
tail. The young dippers are ravenous eaters ; and the
nest with young in it is easily detected by their chirping.

Dippers are with us found only in the streams of
hilly countries, which run over beds of sand or gravel,
and have their waters clear and transparent ; and it is
an especial frequenter of those little pools between the
rapids, where trouts resort to deposit their spawn. —
The spawn of fishes, their fry, when young and in the
breeding pools, and water insects, are understood to
form the chief subsistence of the dipper ; and us
this kind of provisions is found more early in
the season than almost any other food for an animal
feeding bird, the dipper is enabled to find food for its
young sooner in the year than those birds which resort

to the hill and the brake in those localities. Indeed,
though it is confined to the margins of streams, and to
those of streams of a particular character, and there-
fore not distributed in breadth over any part of the
country, the dipper runs less hazard from famine than
most other birds, except in severe winters, when it is
frozen out. This, too, is a circumstance of rare occur-
rence in most of the haunts of the dipper ; because,
in most of those localities in which it delights, which
are the dells of the secondary hills, not far from
the low country, but always above those places at
which the bottom begins to be oozy, and the water
turbid with mud, there are always springs breaking
out from such a depth as that they seldom freeze ;
and there are many little animals which intrust their
young to such springs, and thus, in case of necessity,
furnish the dippers with food until the frost breaks.

If the rivulet is open, the dipper is perfectly inde-
pendent, because it can procure its food under the
water as readily as on the bank. It is true that it is
not web-footed, and consequently it is not a swimmer,
neither are its general characters those of a water bird.
Still it is a bird which can turn the water to great
account, and it seems to know this as well, for it is
apparently never happy but when the water is imme-
diately within its reach, and always happy when it is
so. It is seldom seen at any great distance from its
favourite rivulet ; and when it is found at some little
distance it is timid, as if it were without the security
of that which forms its castle. When, however, it is
near the water, it is far from being a shy bird ; but,
though it is very easily seen, it is by no means easy
to catch.

Its usual action when sitting on the points of the
little pieces of rock and detached stones in the pools,
consists of a continual bending down of the head, and
a flirting up of the tail at the same time ; and it is
from this peculiar motion of the head, and not from
the fact of its getting into the water, that it is called
the dipper. From the shortness and broadness of its
wings, and the compactness of its body, it gets very
quickly into flight, and it skims along the surface of
the water, almost touching with its wings at every
stroke ; and, when flying in this manner, it appears to
get on more rapidly and with less fatigue than when
it is higher above the surface. It is highly probable
that all birds which have this habit of skimming along
the surface of the water, find a relief in so doing, not
only from the cooling, but from the greater resistance
which is there offered to the down stroke of their
wings, from the difficulty with which the air escapes
from between the wing and the water.

The dipper can get under water with great facility,
and walk along the bottom, and probably also come
to the surface, and take wing from the water ; though
in general it comes to the bank for this purpose. Its
plumage is very waterproof, and it is never wetted or
ruffled by these immersions, one of which would effec-
tually prevent the flight of any ordinary land bird. It
has sometimes been objected to this under-water habit
of the dipper, that as it cannot swim on the surface
like the aquatic birds properly so called, or run on the
surface like some of the long-toed birds, it cannot get
below, because it is specifically lighter than the water,
and has no purchase of the feet from which to thrust
itself down ; but the dipper turns its head and it*
wings to very good account in performing this opera-
tion. The dipping motion of the head gets that part
under water ; and the wings are partially under water
at the §ame time. Then the elevation of the head,

DIPSACEjE — DIPTERA.

287

and the raising of the wings, converts these into levers
for the depression of the body ; and by this means it
gets very speedily under water, — so speedily, indeed,
that it appears to run down the bank to the bottom
with no more apparent effort than what is necessary
for simple progressive motion. When it is overhead
in the water, the wings, and partially also the head are
used with great neatness and effect ; and the upward
stroke of the wings, even in that case, serves to keep
the body to the bottom against any difference of gra-
vitation there may be between the bird and the same
bulk of water. In this way it can pick up and even
pursue its food below water as easily as a common
ground bird can do on the surface of the earth ; and
as, when below the surface, it always holds the wings
recovered, that is, at such a distance from the body
as that they can strike first either upwards or down-
wards, it can move with equal celerity in any direction.
This need excite no surprise ; for though wings are
not the usual instruments of motion below water, yet
the difference between the wings in the air and in the
water is more a question of their being proof against
the action of water than of any thing else, because in
the matter of specific gravity, it requires no very great
degree of mechanical acumen to perceive, that it is
not more difficult for a bird, by muscular exertion, to
keep itself down in a fluid specifically heavier than
itself, than it is to keep itself up in a fluid specifi-
cally lighter ; and, as the difference between the spe-
cific gravity of the dipper, and that of water, is really
less than the difference between the specific gravity
of any bird and air, the dipper has an easy task.
We forgot to mention that the dipper is a sort of song-
ster in the early part of the year, though not a very
melodious one ; yet it is cheerful to hear a bird sitting
on a stone in the brook and singing, when the banks
of that brook are covered with snow. The summer
note is a mere chirp.

DIPSACE^;. The teasel or scabious family, a
natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
eight genera, and nearly one hundred and twenty
known species. It is closely allied to Composites, but
differs in its distinct stamens and pendulous albu-
minous seeds. It also bears an affinity to Calycereee,
from which it is distinguished by its free anthers and
inverted embryo. It bears likewise a relation to
Valerianeee, but differs in its habit, its capitate flowers,
and in having an involucellum. By these characters
it is also separated from Caprifoliacece.

Its essential characters are : calyx superior, mem-
braneous, resembling pappus, surrounded by a scarious
involucellum. (This involucellum is a peculiar organ,
resembling an external calyx, and may be said to cor-
respond in some degree with the partial involucre ol
the umbellifertf.) Corolla monopetalous, tubular, in-
serted in the calyx ; limb oblique, four or five lobed,
with an imbricated aestivation ; stamens usually four,
inserted into the tube of the corolla, alternate with it
lobes ; anthers distinct, two-celled ; ovary inferior, one-
celled, with a single pendulous ovule ; style filiform ;
stigma simple, longitudinal or capitate ; fruit dry, in-
dehiscent, one-celled and one-seeded, crowned by a
pappus-like calyx ; albumen fleshy ; embryo straight
radicle superior.

The plants belonging to this order are herbs or
undershrubs, with opposite or verticillate leaves, and
densely capitate flowers, which are surrounded by a
many-leaved involucre.

They abound in the soutn of Europe and north o
Africa. Some are also found at the Cape of Good

Hope and the Levant. In general they shun cold,
and do not reach a great elevation above the sea.

Their properties are not deserving of much atten-
tion. Many of them are bitter and tonic, some are
used on account of their astringency in dyeing, and a
Few possess febrifuge virtues.

The chief genera of the order are Dipsacus, Scabiosa,
Knautia, Marina, and Pteroccphahis.

The genus Dipsacus, or teasel, includes thirteen
species, of which three are natives of Britain. Dip-
sacus fullonum, fullers' teasel, is so called on account
of being used in dressing cloth, for which purpose the
hooked scales of its receptacle are admirably adapted.
These are fixed round the circumference of a large
broad wheel, which is made to revolve, while the cloth
is held against them. By long cultivation in a poor
soil, the hooks of the receptacle are said to disappear.
By some botanists this species is looked upon merely
as a variety of Dipsacus sylvcstris, or the common wild
teasel. Dipsacus pilosus, small teasel, is the hanu
sorriest species. Its seeds are eaten by small birds.
The axils of the leaves of the common teasel usually
contain a quantity of limpid water, which is sometimes
very acceptable to travellers.

The genus Scabiosa, or scabious, includes sixty-one
known species,only two of which are natives of Britain.

Scabiosa succisa, Devil's-bit scabious, is common in
meadows and pasture land. It derives its name from the
circumstance of its root being as it were cut or bitten
off abruptly. It is said to yield a green dye, and also
to be sufficiently astringent for tanning.

Scabiosa alropurpnrca is rather a handsome species,
bearing dark purple flowers, and is cultivated as a
border annual or biennial. The leaves of Knautia
arvensis, common field scabious, have a sharp and
rather bitter taste, and were formerly recommended
in cutaneous diseases.

DIPSACUS (Linna3us). A genus of European
herbs, one of which is the well-known clothiers'-brush,
or teasel, found wild as well as cultivated in England.
It belongs to the fourth class and first order of Lin-
naeus, and gives a title to an order in the natural sys-
tem, namely, Dipsacecc. Some of the species are
admitted into the flower-garden, and are raised from
seeds. The cultivated teasel is, like the rest, a bien-
nial, and is sowed in drills, and kept clean and
thinned by the hoe in the first year ; in the second,
the plants are also kept clean, and when the heads
are ripe, they are cut for sale.

DIPS AS (Leach). A genus of molluscs now
forming a subdivision of the genus ANODON, under
which it is described.

DIPTERA. An order of insects belonging to
the great division Haustellata, or those furnished with
a tubular proboscis, and distinguished by the presence
of only a pair of membranous extended wings affixed
to the centre of the sides of the thorax, and generally
furnished near their insertion with a pair of short
clubbed organs, termed halteres or balancers, respect-
ing which, as. analogically representing the posterior
wings of the four-winged insects, entomologists are at
variance ; the mouth is provided with a sucker com-
posed of from two to six scaly lancet-like pieces, and
enclosed in a canal upon the upper surface of a fleshy
proboscis, or covered by one or two inarticulated
plates which serve as a sheath (Hippobosca). The
body is composed, as in the other six-legged insects,
of three principal divisions representing the head,
thorax, and abdomen. The ocelli, when present, are
generally three in number ; the antenna1 exhibit various*

388

D I P T E R A.

<legrees of development, from the exceeding length
in the MacrocereB and Megistocerte to the scarcely
visible size in the Hippoboscce. In the TipididcK we
find these organs composed of numerous articulations.

A, Antennae of Tipula , B, of Tabanns ; c, of Musca.

In the Tabanulee and Berida: they are very short, and
the terminal articulations become almost indistinct,
so that in the Mu&cidce, &c., where they are very
short, and appear to be composed only of three joints,
having a terminal bristle, it is impossible not at once
to perceive that the terminal joints are, with the
exception of those composing the seta, so entirely
soldered together that their union is not visible. The
eyes are lateral, and in many instances those of the
males are much larger than in the females, uniting
upon the crown of the head. In others they are so
large as to occupy nearly the entire head, leaving but
a small space only for the mouth.

In those species which have the mouth more per-
fectly developed than the rest, and which consist of
the blood-thirsty gnat and gadfly, we find a series of
•organs, greatly modified of course as to their form,
in order to fit them for their functions, but which, as
to their number, correspond with those of the mouth
of the true mandibulated insects, so that it is equally
impossible for us to arrive at any other conclusion
than that the parts of the mouth of the fly represent,
in an altered state of development, the parts of the
mouth of the beetle. We accordingly find that the
mouth iu Tabanus consists of a large fleshy organ,
having a fleshy pair of lobes at its extremity, and
>which, being the lowest part of the mouth, corresponds
with the lower lip of the beetle. At the sides of this,
and rather higher in the mouth, is attached a pair of
lancet-like organs, having a pair of large biarticuiate
palpi arising from the base,— these constitute the
maxillae and the maxillary palpi. Still higher in the
mouth another pair of lancets appears, which repre-
sent the mandibles, whilst a larger horny piece, chan-
nelled beneath for the reception of the others, and
which forms the upper lip (labrum). Within the
mouth another very fine lancet appears, analogous to
the tongue of the grasshoppers, an organ seldom de-
veloped to any extent in the coleoptera. When we
consider the habits of these insects, it is evident how
necessary it is that the organisation of the mouth
should be fitted for a different employment from that
of masticating. These habits are essentially suctorial,
and the food of the insects is essentially fluid ; broad
horny organs would therefore be useless, whereas a
series of acute instruments for puncturing and pene-
trating deeper and deeper into the food, and a fleshy
canal, up which, by suction, fluids easily pass, is what
would exactly be looked for in the workmanship of
an omniscient and all providing Artificer.

In other groups of dipterous insects, and more
especially in those which prey upon their companions
(Atiltda-, JEmpid<e, &c.), we find diminished forces

in the organisation of the mouth, the lancet-like man-
dibles have vanished, but all the remaining organs
appear in full development. In the Syrphidce the
maxillae become smaller, and in Musca they are

A, Mouth of Tabanus ; B, of Musca.

completely lost. In the (Edridtc the entire mouth is
sometimes completely obliterated. The legs are ge-
nerally long and slender : some instances occur when
then are disproportionately long, whilst in others they
are more or less thickened and spined. The wings
agree in their veining with the anterior pair of the
Hymenoptera rather than with those of the Neuroptera,
only there are fewer transverse nerves. In one group
however, Neinestrina, the wing is reticulated nearly as
much as in the Neuroptcra. In comparing the upper
wing of a bee with the wing of a fly, no particular
resemblance is to be traced betsveen the direction
and position of the veins, but if both the front and
hind wings of the bee be compared together with the
wing of some flies, as the Syrphidcet and particularly
Aphrites, we are enabled to trace a very great resem-
blance between them in this respect. M. Macquart
employs this circumstance as a forcible argument in
support of the opinion that the balancers of the Dipteru
do not represent the lower wings of the bee. Tho
uses to which these balancers are applied are not yet
decidedly ascertained ; the insect moves them with
extreme rapidity, especially when a buzzing- noise is
produced, and it U important to observe that they
are placed close to the mouth of a pair of tin1 lin-uthiny
pores. Many species are moreover provided at the
base of the wings behind with a pair of membranous
doubled organs, somewhat like the valves of a shell,
which are termed alvlets; one of these is attached to
the wing, and the other to the sides of the thorax.
The size of these alulets is in inverse proportion to
that of the halteres. The abdomen is generally
attached to the thorax by a portion only of its basal
diameter, it is composed of from five to nine visible
articulations, and is generally pointed at the extremity
of the females, enabling them the more readily to
introduce their eggs into the situations in which they
are deposited. In those species which have the ab-
domen composed of the fewest segments, those which
appear to be wanting are transformed into a kind of
ovipositor, consisting of a series of little tubes sliding
one into another like a telescope. The sexual organs
of the males are external in many species, and folded
beneath the abdomen. The legs are terminated by
a tarsus consisting of five joints, the lust of which is
armed with two small claws, and very often with two
or three membranous lobes or pulvilli. It is by the
assistance of these terminal organs of the foot that
the fly is enabled to perform the curious mechanical
feat of walking with the back downwards, against
gravity, upon the ceilings of rooms, highly polished
ss, &c. From the experiments of Sir Everard
Home, it has been generally considered that this was
effected by the formation of a vacuum, by means of

D I P T E R A.

289

the close application of the margins of these soles of
the feet as we may term them, and the subsequent
muscular raising1 up of their central parts ; but the
following remarks by one of our most acute modern
observers, Mr. Blackball, published by him in the
Appendix of the last volume of the Linniean Trans-
actions (in correction of a memoir previously pub-
lished by himself, in which he had adopted the
vacuum system), will be read with interest, as showing
what interesting sources of inquiry are opened to the
student of nature, even in the commonest objects of
the creation.

In experimenting upon the house-fly, he observed
that individuals frequently remained fixed to the sides
of an exhausted glass receiver after they had entirely
lost the power of locomotion, and an evident disten-
sion of the abdomen had been occasioned by the
exhaustion of the aeriform fluids it contained. To
detach them from these stations, the employment of
a small degree of force was found requisite.

" In prosecuting this subject, clean phials of trans-
parent glass, containing spiders and various insects
in the larva and imago states, capable of walking on
their upright sides, were breathed into, till the
aqueous vapour expelled from the lungs was copiously
condensed on their inner surface. The result was
remarkable ; the moisture totally prevented those
animals from obtaining any effectual hold on the
glass, and the event was equally decisive if a small
quantity of oil was substituted for the aqueous
vapour. A similar consequence ensued, also, when
the flour of wheat, or finely pulverised chalk or
gypsum, was thinly strewn on the interior surface of
the phials, the minute particles of those substances
adhering to the tarsal brushes of the spiders, the
pulvilli of the perfect insects, and the under side of the
feet of the larva?. These facts, far from corroboratin
the mechanical theory, appeared quite inexplicable,
except on the supposition that an adhesive secretion
is emitted by the instruments employed in climbing.
The next point to be determined, therefore, was,
whether spiders and insects in the larva and imago
states, when moving in a vertical direction on clean
glass, leave any visible track behind them ? Careful
and repeated examinations, made with lenses ol
moderately high magnifying powers, in a strong
light, and at a favourable angle, speedily convincet
me that my conjecture was well founded, as I never
failed to discover unequivocal evidence of its truth
though, in the case of the spiders, considerable diffi-
culties presented themselves in consequence of the
exceedingly minute quantity of adhesive matter
emitted by the brushes of those animals. On sub-
mitting this secretion to the direct rays of the sun, h
the month of July, and to brisk currents of air, whose
drying power was great, I ascertained that it did noi
suffer any perceptible diminution by evaporation
under those circumstances. Now, it is reasonable to
infer, from the foregoing researches, that the hair-like
appendages constituting the brushes of spiders, am
occurring in such profusion on the inferior surface o
the pulvilli of insects, are tubular."

The larvae of the diptera, as well as the perfec
insects, have characters peculiar to themselves
In many of these larvae the head is of a flesh)
substance, without any determinate form, whils
in the majority of the larvae of other orders the
head is horny and consistent in form. The breathing
pores have also a peculiar disposition ; instead o
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

eing placed in pairs upon the first, fourth, and
ollowing segments of the body, as is generally the
:ase, the anterior pair are found upon the second
egment, whilst all the rest, from two to eight in
lumber, arc brought together upon the terminal
egment. Those larvae, which are constantly foot-
ess, or but rarely provided with fleshy appendages,
lave the mouth armed with two points formed
bi piercing the matters upon which they feed. In
he transformations which these insects undergo in
heir passage to the perfect state, there is less diver-
sity than in the organisation of the perfect insect,
[nsects in general are oviparous, but there are of
course exceptions to this rule, and two of the most
remarkable are to be found in this order. We have
already, in our article upon the BLOWFLY, detailed
one of these exceptions, in which the eggs are
hatched in the body of the parent, and produced in a
living state. The other occurs in the forest-flies
[Hippoboscida:), in which group not only are the
iggs hatched within the body ot the female, but the
arva there acquires its full growth, and assumes the
pupa state, being ejected from it in the shape of an
egg as large as the abdomen of the parents, and from
which the perfect insect, instead of the larva, makes
its escape.

The larvae of the diptera in general offer so great a
simplicity of structure, as to cause an uniformity of
appearance ; nevertheless, those which reside in the
water arc more diversified in their characters, being
furnished with organs of nutrition and respiration
very unlike those of the terrestrial larvae ; for an
account of which we must refer to our articles upon
CHIUONOMUS, CULICIDA:, COKETHRA, &c.

In passing to the pupa state, these larva? employ
two principal modes. In the greater number there is
no shedding of the skin ; the skin of the larva
hardens, contracts, and becomes an oval cocoon,
within which the pupa is disengaged, appearing at
first merely as a gelatinous mass, but afterwards
exhibiting in some degree the different parts of the
perfect insect, the eyes and wings being folded upon
the breast. In the others the metamorphosis is
effected by the larva shedding its skin, and the insect
then appearing in the form of an inactive incomplete
pupa, like that of the former, but not inclosed in a
cocoon. In some of the latter, as in the aquatic
species, the pupa retains its activity, jerking about
with much agility in the water, whilst many are quite
inactive.

In their perfect state, the insects of this order are
scarcely less numerous, in point of species, than any
other order of insects ; but, if we look at them with
respect to the number of individuals, we find them
infinitely to exceed any other. The clouds of midges,
for instance, rising at eventide over the marshes, like
the incense of the Temple, equally pay homage to
the Divinity, in showing forth His mighty power;
whilst myriads of flies of every kind are to be found
in every quarter of the globe, traversing plants and
every animate object, and more particularly all that
has ceased to live.

This immense profusion with which they are
dispersed over the globe causes them to fulfil two
very important functions in the economy of nature ;
first, they serve for food to a vast number of the
higher animals. Charged with a Divine mission by
Him " who giveth food to the young bird," the swallow
and the sparrow destroy them by myriads, and the
T

DIPTEROCARPE.E.

fly-catcher and the humming-bird alike find in them a
constant shedding of manna ; whilst, on the other
hand, they cease not in effecting the disappearance of
all "substances in a state of decomposition, both
auimul and vegetable. They are universal scaven-
gers ; and so great is their activity and the rapid
succession of their generations, that Linnaeus might
well say that three flies can consume a horse as fast as
a lion. Amongst such a vast number of objects, it is
not surprising that some should be found obnoxious
to ourselves or our properties. Many species, ac-
cordingly, cease not to make man their prey, by
sucking his blood, whilst some either attack our cattle
in like manner, or deposit their eggs upon their
bodies, within which the parasitic larvae feed ; others
deposit their eggs, or young, upon our food and upon
our growing corn.

Many species reside in woods, in meadows, marshes,
and in our habitations, others move with dancing feet
upon the spray of the waves, and even upon the snows
of the polar regions. Many are attached to plants,
upon the flowers of which they abound, sucking the
honeyed sweets, without giving the preference to any
particular plant, whilst some are confined to a single
species of flower ; but it is upon the star-like anthemis
of our meadows that the majority seem to revel with
the greatest delight. During the summer and autumn
the flies are attracted to our orchards, in order to
destroy our fruits, whilst some species delight in the
honey dew of the aphides, or the fluids which escape
from the wounds of trees. The domestic fly alike
feeds upon all kinds of household provisions ; and
other species, which so closely resemble it in size and
appearance as to deceive an ordinary observer, are
parasitic upon the nests of various solitary bees.
Nothing, indeed, can be more amusing than to watch
one of the latter following the laborious insect, the
young of which she is about to supplant by her own,
peering about into the mouth of the nest, and cautiously
making her entrance, in order to deposit her own
eggs, when the bee has, with great toil, completed her
nest, and deposited her store of honey-paste for the
food of her own progeny.

The order was established by Aristotle, the great
father of zoology, under the name which is still retained
for it ; and since the days of Linnseus, by whom its dis-
tribution was attempted, various naturalists have con-
tributed to raise it to the rank which it has now attained,
although it has not been a general favourite with our
amateurs. It is to Reaumur and De Geer that we are
indebted for our knowledge of the transformations of
many of these insects ; whilst Fabricius, Latreille,
Meigen, Fallen, Wiedemann,. Robineau des Voidy,
aud Macquart, have successively established families,
tribes, genera, and species ; the works of Meigen and
Macquart having especially contributed to this end.

The following is .the arrangement proposed by the

latter in his valuable " Histoire Naturelle des Dip-

teres," published during the present year, and which

we have adopted, vftth this variation only, namely,

that, with Latreille and Leach, we have considered

the forest-flies as forming a primary section of the

order, whereas M. Macquart has placed them merely

as a family of the great group of Muscidce.

. Section I. (Ovipara or Larvipara; DIKTEHA, Leach.)

: i 'Head distinct from the thorax ; sucker enclosed

in a labial canal ; claws of the tarsi simple, or

with one tooth ; the transformation to the pupa

state not taking place within the body of the

parent.

Division 1. (NEMOCERA). Antennae having six or
more distinct joints ; palpi with four or five
joints.

Fam. 1. (Cnlicida;). Sucker with six lancets,

Fam. 2. (Tipiilidcc). Sucker with two lancets,

Division 2. (BRACHOCERA). Antennae having three

distinct joints ; palpi with one or two joints.
Subdivision 1. (Hexachatu}. Sucker with six

lancets. Fatn. Tabanides.

Subdivision 2. (TetracJueta) Sucker with four
lancets.

A (Fam. Cacnomyidce, Sendee, Stratio-

vn/f/cE.')

B (ram. Mydasida;, Asi/itla; Hybot'id<r,
Empidce, Henoj>id<£, Nemexlrinidie,
Sombyliidfe, Anthracidce).
C (Fam. Therevidce, Lt-ptida:, Doli-

chopida;, Syrp/iidtz).

Subdivision 8. (Dichcetd). Sucker with two
lancets. This subdivision comprises an im-
mense assemblage of species, constituting the
Linnaeatn genera Oestrus, Conop.i, and Mtflfoa,
after the removal of the Syrphidce -, but, owing
to the numerous divisions and subdivisions ne-
cessary for its investigation, having but little to
interest the general reader, we shall not here
detail them.

Section II. (Pupipara ; HOMALOPTRRA, Leach).
Head immersed in the front of the thorax ; sucker
enclosed in two valves ; claws with many teeth.
The transformation to the pupa state undergone
in the body of the parent fly.

Fam. 1. (Hippoboscidte). Head frontal.
Fam. 2. (Nycteribiidce). Head dorsal.
DIPTEROCARPEjE— the camphor tree family.
A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
only a few genera and species. It is closely allied
to ElceocarpccE. but differs in its petals not being
fringed, and in the want of albumen. It bears also
an affinity to Malvacea;, from which it is distinguished
by its stamens being either distinct or only partially
combined, by its long narrow two-celled anthers, and
its pendulous ovules. To Gutfifcrce it has also some
affinity, but it is separated by its stipules and the
contorted aestivation of its corolla. This order may
be at once recognised by the enlarged leafy and
unequal segments of the calyx while investing the
fruit. Its essential characters are: calyx tubular,
five-lobed, unequal, without bracteas, and imbri-
cated ; petals sessile, combined at the base with a
twisted aestivation ; stamens indefinite, distinct, or
imperfectly polyadelphous ; filaments dilated at the
base ; anthers awl-shaped, two-celled, opening longi-
tudinally towards the apex ; ovary superior, few-
celled ; ovules in pairs, pendulous : style and stigma
simple ; fruit coriaceous, one-celled, indehiscent or
three-valved, surrounded by the enlarged foliaceous
calyx ; seed single, without albumen ; cotyledons
twisted and folded, or unequal and obliquely incum-
bent ; radicle superior.

The plants of this order are large and elegant
forest trees abounding in resinous juice. Their leaves
are alternate, involute, with numerous parallel veins
running from the midrib to the margin. They have de-
ciduous oblong stigmas which terminate the branches
in a taper point, and their flowers are generally large.
They are found only in the eastern islands of the
Indian Archipelago.

This order, though small, is important on account

DIRC A— DISCOBOLUS.

291

of the resinous juice which it furnishes. Its properties
may be said to be stimulant and balsamic.

The chief genera of the order are, Dipierocarpus,
Dryobalanops, Shorea, and Valeria.

Dryobqlanops Cuniphora is interesting on account
of yielding the camphor of Sumatra. In that island
this tree is confined to the country of the Battas,
which extends about one degree and a half to the
north of the equator, It is also found in Borneo in
nearly the same parallel of latitude. The camphor
is found in a concrete crystallised state in fissures
and cavities in the interior of the tree. It is less
volatile than the common camphor of commerce,
which is the product of Laurus Camphora, a native of
Japan and China. On account of its scarcity it bears
a very high price. It is little known in this country,
or even in Europe. An oil is procured from the
camphor tree by incision, which is supposed to be the
first stage of the formation of camphor.

An account of camphor and its medical uses will
be given under the article LAXJRINEJE.

Shorea robusta affords a balsamic resin, which is
used in the Indian temples.

By boiling the fruit of Vateria Indica, a tree com-
mon on the Malabar coast, a kind of tallow rises to
the surface which concretes on cooling. It is whitish,
greasy to the touch, and has rather a disagreeable
odour. It is extremely tenacious and solid, but melts
at the temperature of 97^° Fahrenheit. In the town
of Mang-alore it is sold for about twopence halfpenny
a pound.

DIKCA (Linnaeus). A small deciduous shrub,
native of Virginia, in which country it is called leather-
wood, perhaps from the toughness of the fibres of the
inner bark. The flowers are inconspicuous, are octan-
drious, and the plant belongs to the natural order
ThymdaECE. It is usually planted among North Ame-
rican plants, and is propagated by layers.

DISA (Bergier). A genus of curious flowering
plants, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. Linnsean
class and order Gynandria Monogynia, and natural
order Orc/iidece. These plants thrive best planted in
a pit with other Cape bulbs or tubers, in soil com-
posed of loam, moor earth, and sand. They only
need water when in a growing state.

DISCINA (Lamarck). This genus of molluscs
has been so called from each valve presenting, near
the centre, a remarkable and very distinct orbicular
disk ; that on the superior or upper side is smooth and
pierced, exhibiting in its centre a small papillary ele-
vated summit, giving it much the appearance of a
patella : it is also surrounded by a margin longitudin-
ally marked with delicately radiating striae. The disk
of the lower margin is very white, obliquely crossed
by a notch or cleft, open on both sides. Although the
valves of the shell are of an equal size, they are not
exactly similar, the upper one being rather more con-
vex, and the lower without striae round its disk : there
are no traces of hinge, ligament, or muscular impres-
sions visible. It is found on the British coast affixed
to stones. Sowerby observes this genus should be
entirely expunged. Lamarck having constituted it
from examples of the Orbicula, without mature con-
sideration, it therefore must now form a subdivision of
the genus Orbiculina.

DISCOBOLUS, so called from the ventral fins,
forming a disk on the under part of the body, by
means of which the fishes are enabled to hold on upon
the points of rocks, and there catch their food, which

is brought to them by the currents. They form the
third family of Cuvier's soft finned fishes, with the
ventrals under the pectorals. They are fishes of
small size, and altogether uninteresting for econo-
mical purposes. They are, however, curious on
account of their form, and of the habit which we have
mentioned. There are only two genera in the family,
and the species are not numerous.

LEPADOGASTEII — the Sucker. The members of
this genus are very small fishes ; their pectoral fins
are very large, and reach the middle of the under
part. They are composed of very strong rays, a little
divergent in the front, and united by a membrane
which is elastic, and which also includes the ventrals.
Their bodies are smooth and without scales, the head
depressed, and the muzzle projecting and capable of
distension. Their gill openings are small, with four
or five rays in the gill-flap. They have one soft dor-
sal fin immediately over the anal. Their intestinal
canal is short, straight, and without those appendages,
which would show that they are animal feeders. They
have no air bladder, notwithstanding which they
swim with considerable rapidity. There are several
species found in the European seas, and on the British
shores ; but on the south and west rather than the
east. The following are the British species.

L. CORNUBIENSIS — the Cornish Sucker, is about
four inches in length, and reddish, with dusky spots.
When full grown there are two eye-shaped marks
behind the eyes, with a brownish marginal ring, a
bright purple disk, and a small spot of intense blue in
the centre. There are also four little fleshy filaments
in front of the eyes, and the snout is produced, rounded
and flattened. They are met with on the coast of
Cornwall, and also in some parts of the Hebrides ;
and there is no doubt that if they were of any value
to the fishermen they might be found upon all the
rocky shores which are washed by the Atlantic, espe-
cially where a current of tide sweeps along. They
are met with at low water adhering to the rocks, by
means of their disk.

L. BIMACULATUS — Two-spotted Sucker. The
length of this species is only about an inch and a half,
and the body is more slender and the snout more
pointed than in the former, and it is furnished with no
appendages in connection with the eyes ; the general
colour is pink spotted with white ; and when mature
there is a spot of purple with a white margin behind
each pectoral fin. This species is found in the Channel,
and does not app.ear to be so decidedly a current fish
as the other ; but it adheres to stones and shells.
These two species have the dorsal and anal fins dis-
tinct from the caudal ; but there are several species
which inhabit the Mediterranean which have these
appendages united. There is nothing, however, in
their history which can particularly interest the general
reader.

CYCLOPTERUS — Circular Fin. The most remark-
able structural character of this genus is that from
which it is named. The ventral fins are united into
one disk, which surrounds a considerable portion of
the under side, forming a very efficient sucker, by
which they can fix themselves firmly to rocks, to the
bottoms of ships, or to the bodies of the larger fishes.
Their mouths are large, and furnished with small
pointed teeth in both jaws, and also in the pharynx.
Their gill openings are small and closed below, with
six rays in the flap. Their pectoral fins are very large,
and they are continued and united under the throat,
T2

•29-2

D I S P E II I S — D I V E R.

in front of the disk formed by ihe pectorals. Their
bones are soft, and their skin viscous and without
scales ; but it is sprinkled with minute grains of a hard
substance. Their stomachs are very large, their
intestines long and abundantly furnished with caeca,
characters which indicate habits very different from
the former genus, with which they have sometimes
been confounded.

DISPERIS (Swartz). An orchideous genus from
South Africa, which succeeds, if potted, or planted in
a pit in compost made of a mixture of loam and peat
earth.

D1SPORUM (Salisbury). A genus of perennial
herbs from China and Nepal. Class and order Hex-
andria Monogynia, and natural order Melanthacece.
Generic character : corolla of six petals, bell-shaped,
nectariferous holes at the base of the segments ; sta-
mens under the germen ; filaments very short ; style
abbreviated ; stigmas three-capsuled, three-valved ;
seeds membranous. According to Sweet, these
plants are hardy enough to stand on a warm border,
if sufficiently defended from frost.

DIURIS (Smith). A genus of curious plants from
New Holland, belonging- to the natural order Orc/ii-
dece. They are much easier cultivated than the
South American species of the same order ; only
requiring to be potted in moor-earthy soil, and kept
in a pit or green- house safe from frost.

DIURNA (Latreille). A section of lepidopterous
insects, corresponding with the Linnaean genus Papilio,
or butterflies, being distinguished by having the mar-
gin of lower wings not furnished at the base with a
scaly bristle for retaining the upper wings in their
proper situations, these, as well as the second pair, be-
ing generally perpendicularly elevated during repose ;
the antenna? are generally terminated by a club, and
the larvae have sixteen legs. The perfect insect, always
furnished with a spiral tongue, flies by day, and the
under surface of the wings is not less beautifully varie-
gated than the upper. Having, under the article BUT-
TERFLY, entered at length into the natural history of
these beautiful insects, we shall here simply give a
slight sketch of their distribution into groups, esta-
blished upon their diversities of structure.

Fam. 1. — Papilionidcz. Anterior legs not abbre-
viated, fit for walking, alike in both sexes. Pupa
angulated, suspended, and braced across the
middle. Antenna? not hooked at the tip. Here
belong the genera Pujrilio, Zelima, Parnassius,
Thais, Picris, Pontia, Colins.

Fam. "1. — NymphaMee. Anterior legs abbreviated,
not fitted for walking ; ungues bifid ; pupa
angulated, and merely suspended by the tail ;
middle cell of the lower wings closed. Genera :
Cetfwsia, Argynnis, Melittea, Vanessa, Libyihea,
Biblis, Nymphalis, &c.

Fam. 3. — HdiconMce. Pupa smooth, suspended
only by the' tail ; anterior legs imperfect ; dis-
cordal cell sometimes open. Danais, Heliconia,
Acreea, &c.

Fam. 4. — Lyccenidce. Anterior legs semi-abbre-
viated ; claws minute ; pupa smooth, braced,
larva onisciform. Genera . Polyommatus,
Tkecla, &c.

Fam. 5. — Hesperiid<£. Anterior legs not abbre-
viated ; antennas hooked at the tips ; pupa
smooth, braced, and folliculated. Genera :
Hespcria, Thymelc, &c.
These characters, it will be seen, are in some degree

derived from the preparatory stages of the insects ;
indeed, these considerations afford much more import-
ant clues to the classification of insects than thev were
imagined to possess by the earlier authors upon this
branch of natural history. Of those who adopted a
contrary opinion, Schrank may especially be noticed.
He consulted metamorphosis in its various modifica-
tions, in his arrangement, and on its importance as a
guide to minor sub-divisions, he has the following in-
genious observations, quoted by Dr. Horsfield in his
Lepidoptera Javanica : — " Metamorphosis, in its larva
state, may, and I think must be taken into the charac-
ters of the genus, in the absence of other sufficiently
distinctive notices. Those botanists who have derived
their systems primarily from the fruit, have neverthe-
less a regard for the flower, and by this means recipro-
cally elucidate existing obscurities. Caterpillars are
the flowers of the lepidoptera. They are, indeed, not
always present when the perfect insects are before the
examiner. But is the case different with the botanist:*"
And Mr. MacLeay says to the same effect : "As the
knowledge of the whole life of an insect must make
us better acquainted with its nature than a mere
description of one of its forms, in the same proportion
ought metamorphosis to outweigh every other prin-
ciple of arrangement."

DIVER — Colymbus. A genus of web-footed birds,
and one of the most aquatic of the whole order.
They appear in structure and in habits as literally
made for the water, and the water only ; and they
have equal command of themselves on and under the
surface of that element. They are chiefly natives of
the northern hemisphere, and of the more northerly
seas, being birds peculiarly fitted for contending with
the storm in the water itself, and probably getting to
a greater depth than that to which the water is dis-
turbed by the waves. They are especially abundant
about projecting headlands in the northern countries,
where the current runs strong, and the surf and spray
occasionally beat with great violence. But amid the
turmoil of the storm, the divers appear as much at
home in the foaming water as the small birds do in
the groves on the gentlest morning of May. In such
situations they may be seen driving about, now appear-
ing in the trough of the waves, now boring through
the ridges, now on the wing for a little space, but
anon plunging into the water. At such times and
in such places the fry of fishes, which remain and
feed much nearer the surface than stich as are full
grown, are collected in abundance, and many of them
lose command of themselves in the troubled waters,
so that they are brought helpless to the line on its
slope upon which the wave turns ; for it is to be
understood that waves do not roll onward in rapid
progressive motion as they have the appearance of
doing to a spectator, they merely swing in times pro-
portionate to their lengths, that is to half the distance
between the bottom of the trough and the top of the
ridge, as measured on the slope ; and as the turning
point, or rather line, taken in the length of the wave,
is the place of no upward or downward motion, it is
there where the small fishes and other surface animals
are accumulated while the storm lasts ; and it is to
profit by those accumulations that the divers are
found driving through the waves on such occasions.

Cuvier makes the divers a family consisting of
three genera, the divers properly so called, the grebes,
and the guillemots ; but as the word diver is in this
country restricted to the genus Colymbus, and as the

DIVER.

•293

guillemots have some differences of habit, we shall
restrict this article to the divers properly so called.

Their characters are : the bill of moderate dimen-
sions, straight, compressed, and very sharp at the
point ; the nostrils at the base, lateral, oblong, and
half closed by a membrane ; the legs placed far be-
hind, with the tarsi compressed or flattened sideways ;
three front toes very long, and webbed to their points,
and the hind toes short and united to the inner toe
by a rudimental web. The legs are articulated very
far backwards and wide of each other, so that though
they act powerfully in the water they are very ill
adapted for walking on land ; and when the birds
attempt this, they are obliged to carry their bodies in
nearly a vertical position, and roll them along with
their steps, which are both short and awkward. The
wings aie short, but remarkably close in their feather-
ing ; and the tail is also very short and rounded.
The form of the body is long and flat, the breadth
being greater than the depth ; and the head and neck
are comparatively slender, the former gradually fining
off into the strong and sharp bill, which answers
equally for seizing the prey or transfixing it by a
thrust. The plumage over their whole bodies is re-
markably close and compact, and how long soever
they remain in the water they are never wetted.
They spend the greater part of their time in the water
unless when they have nests ; and as they are very
energetic in their motions, they are very voracious in
their eating. They are also very miscellaneous feeders,
capturing fish, small marine animals, and not refusing
vegetable food if it comes in their way. Their sum-
mer quarters are chiefly in the north, where they
form their nests upon small islands, or projecting
headlands where they are subject to be but little dis-
turbed. Their eggs are usually only two in number,
and as is the case with the greater number of sea
birds they make no formal nest. It is a fact worth
attending to, as showing the difference between de-
pending on the land and depending on the sea, that
the eggs of land birds are, generally speaking, much
more numerous than those of sea birds, while the sea
birds themselves are much more numerous than land
birds. Sea birds indeed, though they have at all
times considerable labour in the finding of their food,
have yet plenty of it at most seasons ; and besides,
they are exempted from many of the casualties which
land birds have to suffer ; and not the least of these
are the attacks of beasts and birds of prey. From
both of these the sea birds are comparatively free,
and perhaps they owe some part of their safety to
the unpalatableness of their flesh ; for many of them
are so rank that it is doubtful whether even a starved
raven, the least dainty perhaps of animals, would
condescend to make a meal of some of them ; and as
for the sea eagles and ospreys, they are more partial
to a fish dinner.

In the divers, the sexes do not differ greatly in
appearance ; but the young differ so much from the
old birds that they have been formed into separate
species ; and not only this, but as the young require
three years before they assume the proper plumage
of maturity, and as they continue growing all this
time, one species has sometimes been multiplied into
four, by giving separate specific accounts of birds of
one year, birds of two years, birds of three years, and
birds in their plumage of maturity. We shall notice
one or two of the leading species.

THE GREAT NORTHERN DIVER— C.glacialis. This

is a very large species, and one which attracts a good
deal of attention. Its bill is upwards of four inches
in length, with a strong ridge or keel above the nos-
trils, and with the under mandible deepest in the
middle, a form which gives much stiffness and power
to that part of the organ. The size is subject to
considerable variation ; but the largest are from two
feet and a half to three feet in the length of the body,
and from four feet and a half to five feet in the stretch
of the wing's ; and when they are of this size, and fat,
they weigh from twelve to fifteen pounds. The head
and neck are black, but the neck is surrounded by
two white collars freckled with black, the upper part
is black powdered with white spots, and the under
part white. In winter those birds frequent the north-
ern parts of both continents ; but they breed in the
marshes, or the fresh water pools, and not on the
rocks. We believe few of them nestle on the main
land, even in the northernmost part of Scotland ; but
they are by no means rare in the western islands and
the Orkneys, and they are met with in Norway,
Sweden, and the north of Europe generally, and also
in Iceland and Greenland, and in fact in all the coun-
tries joining the Arctic Seas. In their breeding
places they love retirement, and their nests are
usually concealed among reeds or other tall aquatic
herbage. Their eggs bear some resemblance to those
of the goose, only they are very slightly spotted with
black.

The Great Northern Diver.

To capture the eggs of the great diver, or the young
birds, if the mother is near, is a matter of some hazard,
just as the finding of the nest and getting at it are
matters of some difficulty. It should seem that, in
placing the nest, inaccessible ground, as well as con-
cealment, were the object of these birds ; for they are
generally in places where they can neither be reached
in boats nor on foot ; and if they are reached, and the
old bird is near, she makes a very determined, and at
the same time, a very formidable resistance. Her bill

294

is darted out with nearly as much rapidity as that of
a bittern, and as the bird is heavier, the bill thrusts like
a bayonet, so that both bird and nest are tolerably
well secured from the predatory quadrupeds of those
places. In the summer season these birds subsist almost
entirely on the smaller species of surface fishes, or the
young of the larger ones ; and, notwithstanding their
size and weight, in the capture of their prey their
adroitness is very great. They have equal address in
avoiding danger, which renders it very difficult to
shoot them on the water ; for as they dive, the shot
glances, and they are safe. Sometimes, however, they
are taken, or rather take themselves, on the baited
hooks of the fishermen's lines, and at other times they
get entangled in nets at greater depths below the
surface than one would be apt to suppose.

In winter they migrate southwards, and on their
migratory journeys they are capable of lofty and rapid
flight. The young are the most prone to take these
excursions ; and as they make their way to the inland
lakes of France and Germany, and sometimes even
as far as Switzerland. The descriptions of these young
ones have led to some of the confusion which there is
about the species. They are not rare upon some
places of the north coast of Scotland in the winter
season, but they seldom make their appearance on the
English shores unless the winter is very severe.

These birds, and indeed all the diving birds of the
Polar seas, are remarkably well defended against the
cold to which they are exposed in their dives. Their
skins are remarkably strong and tough ; and the down
upon them among the roots of the feathers is very
close. They have also a pretty thick layer of fat all
over the body, immediately under the skin. Their
skins are so strong, and the down upon them adheres
so firmly, that the people of the northern islands dress
and tan them, and make of them very warm and
durable articles of clothing.

The voice of these birds is strong, harsh, and
peculiar, and resembles more the barking of a dog
than the sound uttered by almost any other of the
feathered creation. They are in short altogether very
extraordinary birds.

RED-THROATED DIVER — Colymbus septcntrionalis.
This is a much smaller species than the former, but it
is more elegantly made. The length does not exceed
two feet, or the weight much more than three pounds.
The bill is about three inches long, slender and
pointed, of a black colour, and slightly curved upwards.
The crown of the head and back of the neck are
purplish black with raised white margins to the
feathers. The sides of the neck and head and cheeks
are dark grey ; the upper part is very dark olive with
the margins of the feathers paler, and the coverts of
the wings dusky with white spots. The front of the
neck is brownish-red, from which the name of red-
throated diver is derived; the rest of the under part is
silvery white with a black bar on the vent. The young
differ considerably, not only from the old, but in the
different stages in their own growth. At first they
are all over dusky on the upper part, and dull
white on the under ; and next the grey on the head
appears, and the back is spotted. The third change
which they undergo is the acquiring of the mature
plumage, and the reddish brown on the throat.

In some parts of the country, Orkney, we believe,
this species is called the rain-goose ; because when
it screams, or rather croaks, the people of that country
say that it predicts rain. It is probable, however, that

DIVING WATER SPIDER.

there is not very much truth in this prophecy ; and
yet many birds, both of the land and the sea, are
apt to be clamorous before foul weather. ,

Like the former species, this one breeds in the
marshes. It is more abundant in the more northerly
of the Scottish islands, and more discursive to the
British bays and estuaries in the winter, being found
in the Thames, though not very frequently. The
eggs of this species are very much elongated, of an
olive brown colour, and marked with a few dusky
spots. The nest is made with some care of moss and
grass, and the female lines it with down from her
own breast.

Red-throated Diver.

THE BLACK-THROATED DIVER — Colymbus arcticus.
This one is a little larger than the former, being about
three inches longer, four inches more in the stretch of
the wings, and nearly a pound heavier. The front,
the throat, the fore neck, and the back and rump are
black ; the sides of the neck mottled black and white ;
the sides of the back and scapules black with white
spots. The habits agree pretty nearly with those of
the others, the nests being also on the margins of
lakes ; the eggs are also two in number ; but unlike
those of the last species, they are white. The young
are dusky above and white below at the first ; the
head next becomes grey, and the sides of the head
spotted with black ; and the last stage of the plumage
is the appearance of the black on the fore neck, and
the black and white mottlings on the sides of the
back and the scapulars.

DIVING WATER SPIDER (ARGYRONETA,
Latreille), a genus of pulmonary arachnida, belonging
to the family Arane'idce, but forming, according to
Walckenaer, a distinct family named Naycudcs. The
four central eyes form a quadrangle, the two lateral
ones on each side touching each other, and placed upon
a slight eminence ; the first and fourth pairs of legs
are the longest. The type species Aranea aquatica
(Linnseus), is very common, and of a brownish black
colour, with the abdomen silky, and with four im-
pressed spots on the back. It resides in slow running
waters and ditches, in which it swims about with a
bubble of air attached to its abdomen, and spinning a
most beautifully constructed web of white silk, in the
form of half the shell of a pigeon's egg, or like a diving
bell, with the mouth downwards, as its retreat, at the
bottom of the water, and which is attached by nume-
rous threads to the surrounding plants. In this it
'devours its prey, and deposits its bundle of eggs.which

D O C K — D O G.

295

it watches with great caro. In this also it passes the
winter, having first closed the mouth. The males as
well us the females construct these cells.

DOCK. The vulgar name of a British weed
called by botanists liii»n\i: Including the different
sorts of sorrel, there are nine or ten species oi' Ituwex
in Britain ; the large leaved are called docks, and the
small leaved are called sorrels.

DODO — Didus. A genus of birds inhabiting, or
rather said to have inhabited, the island of Madagas-
car, but which is now extinct, and indeed the existence
of it at any time, as answering to the descriptions
which are given by the older writers, is somewhat
doubtful. The first description, or rather the only
one which even pretends to be founded on actual
observation, was given by the Dutch, when they first
visited that part of the world ; and of which an oil
painting was made about the same period. The de-
scription and a copy of the painting were given by
Cluseus in his account of exotic birds ; the picture
was also copied by Edwards ; and from these sources
the bird got into the popular books as a living inha-
bitant of the earth. But the remains of it are very
scanty, and it is doubtful whether they have all be-
longed to the same kind of bird ; there is a foot in
the British Museum, the mutilated remains of a head
in the Ashmalean Museum of Oxford, and a skull, a
sternum, and sonic bones of the extremities were sent
to Paris, which last were discovered in a cave in the
small island of Rodriguez, about a thousand miles to
the eastward of Madagascar, about fifty years ago.
The foot is webbed, and very like the foot of a
penguin ; and if there ever was such a bird as the dodo,
it must have been, like the patagonian penquin, nearly
incapable of flight. The account given in the books
is, that at the time when the Dutch first visited this
Archipelago, that is, Madagascar and the small isles
to the eastward, these birds were found in abundance ;
but the result of all subsequent inquiry has been no-
thing more than the fragments which we have men-
tioned. There have been two species of this bird
mentioned ; but one of them, Didus solitarius, and
indeed another, Didus Nazarcnus, are certainly spuri-
ous, and as no more of the third can be found, it
scarcely belongs to popular natural history.

Didr.- inept us.

This species (Didus inept us), of which we give
a figure, without vouching for its being a likeness of

any bird that ever lived, is described as being one of
the largest of the feathered race, but the most uncouth
and unwieldy of the whole. Its colour is said to
have been black, with only a thin covering of feathers,
and the head covered with a membranous hood.
Only four or five short black feathers in the place of
wings, and a tuft of curly feathers instead of tail.
The tarsi short, very thick and stout, and covered
with brown scales ; the toes very short, webbed, and
without any claws. The bill very large, yellow at
the base, black at the tip, and blue in the middle
portion of its length.

The recent discovery of the apteryx (see the arti-
cle APTERYX) on the island of New Zealand, and
the fact that only the one specimen of that curious
bird had been seen by Europeans, gave some ground
for believing that there might possibly be in the
southern hemisphere, which is remarkable for the
singularity of many of its animals, some such bird as
this same dodo ; but the form given to the bird in the
picture, and the weight ascribed to it, namely more
than fifty pounds, are rather contradictory of any
hope of seeing it. The organisation of the apteryx
is no doubt peculiar ; as the bird can neither fly nor
swim, and from the shortness of its legs cannot be a
very swift walker ; but the apteryx has still an orga-
nisation which one can understand, and perceive that
it is not badly adapted for the situations in which it
is said to be found, the rocky and stony places on
the east side of New Zealand. The dodo, as de-
scribed, has on the other hand no distinct system of
locomotion, and is quite a bird of the ultima thulc, fit
for neither land, sea, nor air. The feet are webbed,
but there is nothing to answer to them in swimming ;
the absence of wings forbids the notion of an air bird,
and the feet are not adapted for walking.

DOG — Canis. A genus of carnivorous mammalia,
and one of the roost interesting of the whole class.
It consists of several sjenera, or rather perhaps sub-
genera; the dog properly so called, the wolf, the fox,
the jackall, and the hyecna, all of which produce
hybrids, and, generally speaking, we believe fertile
hybrids with each other; but though this warrants
the consideration and description of all these animals
as one group, and though they have many characters
in common, yet they are so numerous, and the pecu-
liarities of each are so distinct, that we shall perhaps
best observe clearness of description, and propriety
of arrangement, if we treat of them under their com-
mon names of DOGS, FOXES, HYAENAS, JACKALLS,
and WOLVES. These five divisions fail into two
classes, which are founded upon their principal habits--.
The dogs and wolves have the pupil of the eye round,
and they are social in their predatory huntings ; and
though these huntings are not confined to the day,
yet they are, generally speaking, more of diurnal than
of nocturnal animals. The foxes and hysenas, on the
other hand, are less social in their characters, the
foxes especially are of solitary habits, and they arc
more nocturnal than otherwise, though the time at
which they seek their prey is early morning rather
than during the darkness of the night. The whole
of the group however consists of animals which
are peculiarly flexible in their characters ; and, the
human race excepted, perhaps yield more to clirnatal
£>nd local circumstances than any other family of
carnivorous mammalia. They are found in all cli-
mates, and they appear to have wonderful facilities of
adapting themselves to the climate, being almost des-
titute of hair in the very warm latitudes, but becoming

296

DOG.

clothed with remarkably thick fur when carried to
cold climates. This change, not in the same species
merely, but in the same individual animal, is so re-
markable that some of the dogs which were carried
out by our voyagers and travellers to the polar regions
of North America, and wintered in the extreme cold
there, acquired a fur of so remarkable a thickness that
while they crouched by the winter fires their fur was
burnt in holes half way down to the skin without
their being at all sensible of the heat.

The character of the genus are, that they are digi-
tigrade in their walking, or walk upon their toes, the
claws of which are not retractile, or used in any way
as prehensile instruments in the capture of their prey,
which in these animals is uniformly captured by
speed, and following either by sight or on the scent,
the strength of the prey determining whether it shall
be hunted singly or by a combined pack. The teeth
are, six incisors in each jaw, and one strong canine in
each side of each, with six teeth above in each jaw,
and seven in each below. The first three behind the
canines in the upper jaw, and the first four in the
lower, have trenchant or cutting edges, adapted for
bruising flesh; the great carnivorous teeth which
follow these have two points in the upper jaw, with a
small tubercle on the inner side. The two last teeth in
each side of both jaws are also tuberculated at their
summits. In those varieties which are found in a
state of nature the muzzle is generally elongated, and
the gape wide, the effect of the jaws in killing the
prey being that of a snap, in which the rapid motion
of the jaw gives effect to the weight ; and these spe-
cies or varieties (for it is exceedingly difficult in this
species of animals to say what is a species and what
a variety) the ears are generally erect ; but in the
domesticated ones the varieties are so numerous that
it is hardly possible to give any description of them.

No specific form or character of covering can be
taken as generally characteristic of dogs ; for though
their characters are always expressive of the family,
as distinguished from every other race of animals,
they differ so much from each other, in size, in shape,
in the character of their covering, and are so in their
propensities, that they have absolutely nothing of
external character which will apply to the whole race.
The length of their jaws and muzzle, and the shapes
of their ears, are exceedingly variable ; but the tongue
is always smooth, and instead of lacerating, like that
of the cat family, its application to wounded or dis-
eased parts has rather a healing tendency ; they have
live toes on the fore-feet, and generally four on the
hind ones, though in some of the varieties there is a
partial development of the fifth one. The females
go sixty-three days, and the litter consists usually of
three, four, or five, though sometimes of as many as
ten or a dozen ; the puppies are always produced with
the eyes closed, and do not open them for ten or
twelve days after. They live on the average about
fourteen or fifteen years, but there are great differ-
ences arising from climate, breed, and other circum-
stances.

If we take the domesticated races, and it is doubt-
ful whether there are any dogs which have not been
partially domesticated, though some have unquestion-
ably degenerated, there are no animals which show
BO much attachment to man ; and the anecdotes
which are recorded of the fidelity of dogs would fill
many volumes. Perhaps justice is not more effectually
done to their characters in a general, and we may say
unphilosophical view, than in the following passage

which we quote from Mr. BurclielTs Travels in
Africa : " Our pack of dogs," says Mr. Burchell,
" consisted of about five and twenty of various sorts
and sizes. This variety, though not altogether inten-
tional, as I was obliged to take any that could be
procured, was of the greatest service in such an expe-
dition, as I observed that some gave notice of danger
in one way, and others in another. Some were more
disposed to watch against men, and others against
wild beasts ; some discovered an enemy by their
quickness of hearing, others by that of scent ; some
for speed in pursuing game 3 some were useful only
for their vigilance and barking ; and others for their
courage in holding ferocious animals at bay. So
large a pack was not indeed maintained without add-
ing greatly to our care and trouble, in supplying them
with meat and water, for it was sometimes difficult to
procure for them enough of the latter ; but their ser-
vices were invaluable, often contributing to our safety,
nnd always to our ease, by their constant vigilance,
as we felt a confidence that no danger could approach
us at night without being announced by their barking.
No circumstances could render the value and fidelity
of these animals so conspicuous and sensible as a
journey through regions which, abounding in wild
beasts of almost every class, gave continual opportu-
ties of witnessing the strong contrast in their habits,
between the ferocious beasts of prey, which fly at the
approach of man, and these kind but too often injured
companions of the human race. Many times, when
we have been travelling over plains where those have
fled the moment we appeared in sight, have I turned
my eyes towards my dogs to admire their attachment,
and have felt a grateful affection toward them for pre-
ferring our society to the liberty of other quadrupeds.
Often, in the middle of the night, when all my people
have been fast asleep around the fire, have I stood
to contemplate these faithful animals lying by their
side, and have learnt to esteem them for their social
esteem to mankind. When wandering over pathless
deserts, oppressed with vexation and distress at the
conduct of my own men, I have turned to these as
my only friends, and felt how much inferior to them
was man when actuated only by selfish views.

" The familiarity which subsists between this ani-
mal and our own race is so common to almost every
country of the globe, that any remark upon it must
seem superfluous ; but I cannot avoid believing that
it is the universality of the fact which prevents the
greater part of mankind from reflecting duly on the
subject. While almost every other quadruped fears
man as its most formidable enemy, here is one which
regards him as his companion, and follows him as his
friend. We must not mistake the nature of the case :
it is not because we train him to our use, and have
made choice of him in preference to other animals,
but because this particular species feels a natural
desire to be useful to man, and from spontaneous
impulse attaches itself to him. Were it not so, we
should see in various countries an equal familiarity
with various other quadrupeds, according to the
habits, the taste, or the caprice of different nations.
But everywhere it is the dog only takes delight in
associating with us, in sharing our abode, and is even
jealous that our attention should be bestowed on him
alone ; it is he who knows us personally, watches for
us, and warns us of danger. It is impossible for the
naturalist, when taking a survey of the whole animal
creation, not to feel a conviction that this friendship
between two creatures so different from each other

DOG.

297

must be the result of the laws of nature ; nor can the
humane and feeling rnind avoid the belief that kind-
ness to those animals from which he derives continued
and essential assistance is part of his moral duty."

The breeds of the dog, in a state of partial or com-
plete domestication, are so numerous however, and
the propensities of different breeds, and of different
individuals of the same breed, are so varied, that
there is no possibility of giving any thing like a
general character of the race, while even a judicious
selection of the tales of their biography would rill
many volumes. It is impossible not to admire the
sagacity and the strength of attachment which many
animals of this genus evince ; and as they appear,
when properly domesticated, to merge all their own
attachments and interests in devotedness to the cause
of their masters, it is exceedingly difficult to account
for their conduct upon any of the known principles of
animal physiology.

That there is nothing at all approaching to what
we call reason, or a process of judgment, as men judge
of cause and effect, in the sagacity of dogs, is certain,
because instances are recorded of the effects of their
sagacity, which totally surpass all reason, and abso-
lutely appear as if they were the results of some occult
principle, to the nature of which we have no clue.
The power of sensation in these animals, especially of
the sense of smell in such of them as in a state of
nature make use chiefly of that sense, in obtaining
their prey, is perfectly wonderful ; and they appear
to know not only the slot or scent left by an animal,
•where there is no impression upon the grouud in the
least cognisable by human senses ; but they appear
to recognise a difference of scent, not only in different
animals of the same species, but absolutely in different
inanimate substances ; and what is more wonderful,
they appear to know the direction in which that which
they pursue or follow, has proceeded, even when it
has long gone by. We have well authenticated in-
stances of dogs having been carried within carriages,
over long distances, where they had no means of
examining a bit of the road ; and yet of their return-
ing when liberated, with the most unerring certainty,
to the places from which they were originally carried
in this artificial manner. A dog too who has had any
experience in following on the scent, will not continue
for any length of time on the back scent, or direction
opposite to that in which the chase is gone, but after
a trial or two with his nose, will double round and
follow the forward scent or direction which the animal
has taken. This is, perhaps, the most extraordinary
case of animal sensation witn which we are acquainted,
and it shows how admirably nature can adapt the
qualities of animals to the necessities of their modes
of life ; and also how economical nature is in the dis-
tribution of even these wonderful endowments. Dogs
which find their prey by the sight never have this
wonderful acuteness of smell ; and those which have
this in perfection have not the powerful sight of those
which are without it, neither are they, generally speak-
ing, so swift-footed. But those which have the sense
of smell most powerful arc, generally speaking, more
persevering and staunch than the others, and can
follow their game over longer distances, and also find
it again much more readily in the case of losing it.

Dogs are, generally speaking, social to some extent
or other, even in those conditions which we may con-
sider as more nearly approaching to a state of rude
nature ; and, in the formation of their social unions,

for the accomplishment of particular purposes, their
instincts are not less wonderful than in the acuteness of
their sense of smelling. We shall mention one instance
of this, the authenticity of which may, we believe, be
relied on ; though it is not easy to account for it upon
any known principle either of instinct or of reason, or
of that imaginary principle which they who seek to
explain that in animals which is not explainable, are
in the habit of gratuitously endowing them with. All
attempts at explanation of this kind are unwise in
principle and ineffective in practice ; and, therefore,
attempting them does not admit of any defence on
the score of sound judgment. In all parts of nature,
in the vegetable and the mineral kingdoms as well as
the animal, and even in the simplest substances, or at
all events the most apparently simple substances which
we meet with in those kingdoms, there are puzzles
every bit as inexplicable as the keen senses and won-
derful sagacity of the dog ; and we need not vex our-
selves at being unable to explain the rationale of these
upon any principles analogous to those of which we
understand the working, until we have explained why
every plant and every animal is, within certain limits,
true to its specific type; and why every crystallisable
mineral is faithful to the primary form of its crystal.
Throughout the whole of nature, we know very little
of the " whys " and " wherefores," and perhaps we
should best consult our wisdom and our dignity if we
made no attempts to waste our time in speculations
in those departments of nature respecting which we
must remain for ever ignorant. But to proceed to our
anecdote, of which no explanation can, we believe, be
given : —

A gentleman residing in the county of Fife, and
not very far from the city of St. Andrews, was in pos-
session of a very fine Newfoundland dog, which was
remarkable alike for its tractability and its trustworthi-
ness. At two other points, each distant about a mile
from each other, and at the same distance from this
gentleman's mansion, there were two other dogs, of
great power, but of less tractable breeds, than the
Newfoundland one. One of these was a large mastiff,
kept as a watch-dog by a farmer, and the other a
staunch bull-dog that kept guard over the parish mill.
As each of these three was lord-ascendant of all
animals at his master's residence, they all had a good
deal of aristocratic pride and pugnacity, so that two
of them seldom met without attempting to settle their
respective dignities by a wager of battle.

The Newfoundland dog was of some service in the
domestic arrangements, besides his guardianship of
the house ; for every forenoon he was sent to the
baker's shop in the village, about half a mile distant,
with a towel containing money in the corner, and he
returned with the value of the money in bread. There
were many useless and not over civil curs in the vil-
lage, as there are in too many villages throughout the
country ; but in ordinary the haughty Newfoundland
treated this ignoble race in that contemptuous style
in which great dogs are wont to treat little ones. —
When the dog returned from the baker's shop he used
to be regularly served with his dinner, and went
peaceably on house duty for the rest of the day.

One day, however, he returned with his coat dir-
tied and his ears scratched, having been subjected to
a combined attack of the curs, while he had charge of
his towel and bread, and so could not defend himself.
Instead of waiting for his dinner as usual, he laid
down his charge somewhat sulkily, and marched off;

298

DOG.

and, upon looking after him, it was observed that he
was crossing- the intervening hollow in a straight line
for the house of the farmer, or rather on an embassy
to the farmer's mastiff. The farmer's people noticed
this unusual visit, and they were induced to notice it
from its being a meeting of peace between those who
had habitually been belligerents. After some inter-
course of which no interpretation could be given, the
two set off together in the direction of the mill ; and,
having arrived there, they in brief space engaged the
miller's bull-dog as an ally.

The straight road to the village where the indignity
had been offered to the Newfoundland doe passed
immediately in front of that dog's master's house, but
there was a more private and more circuitous road by
the back of the mill. The three took this road, reached
the village, scoured it in great wrath, putting to the
tooth every cur they could get sight of; and having
taken their revenge, and washed themselves in a ditch,
they returned, each dog to the abode of his master ;
and, when any two of them happened to meet after-
wards, they displayed the same pugnacity as they had
done previous to this joint expedition.

It should seem that in this case there was a mere
momentary concert for the accomplishment of one
object among three dogs differing considerably in their
habits, and that when this momentary purpose was
accomplished, the wonted animosity of the three
returned, and they fought as readily with each other
as ever. But it docs not appear that all casual, or
apparently casual interferences of dogs for the benefit
of each other, pass off in this momentary way ; for
there is another well authenticated anecdote of two
dogs at Donaghadee, in which the instinctive daring
of the one by the other caused a friendship, and as it
should seem a kind of lamentation for the dead, after
one of them had paid the debt of nature. This hap-
pened while the government harbour or pier for the
packets at Donaghadee was in the course of building,
and it happened in the sight of several witnesses. —
The one dog in this case also was a Newfoundland,
and the other was a mastiff. They were both power-
ful dogs ; and, though each was good natured when
alone, they were very much in the habit of fighting
when they met. One day they had a fierce and pro-
longed battle on the pier, from the point of which
they both fell into the sea, and, as the pier was long
and steep, they had no means of escape but by swim-
ming a considerable distance. Throwing water upon
fighting dogs is an approved means of putting an end
to their hostilities : and it is natural to suppose that
two combatants of the same species tumbling them-
selves into the sea would have the same effect. It
had, and each began to make for the land as he best
could. The Newfoundland being an excellent swim-
mer very speedily gained the pier, on which he stood
shaking himself; but at the same time watching the
motions of his former antagonist, which, no swimmer,
was struggling exhausted in the water, and just about
to sink. In dashed the Newfoundland dog, took the
other gently by the collar, kept his head above water,
and brought him safely on shore. There was a pecu-
liar kind of recognition between the two animals ;
they never fought again, they were always together ;
and when the Newfoundland dog had been accident-
ally killed by the passage of a stone waggon on the
railway over him, the other languished and evidently
lamented for a long time.

We must not wonder at this permanent attachment,

apparent gratitude, and apparent memory of grief,
because there are very many instances of dogs who
have not only refused to quit the bodies of their
human masters, but have laid themselves down on
their graves, refusinsr all consolation and all nourish-
ment, and actually continued there till they perished
of hunger. Now, it' we find instances in which dogs
have done this for human masters, or more strictly
speaking human companions, we can hardly question
its existence as between one dog and another, if the
proper circumstances shall call it into exercise. The
companionship which the dog feels for man is still
part of the character of the animal as a dog , and,
therefore, though we do not so well understand the
manner in which it is brought about, we have every
reason to believe that it must be stronger as between
dog and dog, than as between a dog and any other
animal. But the communications of animals with
each other, and the means which social ones have of
forming those connexions with each other which may
be called simple attachments, as not being connected
either with their feeding or with their physiology, are
matters very difficult to be explained.

Perhaps no description of the general character of
any animal is more accurate than that of the dog by
Buffon ; and therefore we shall prefer giving a por-
tion of it in substance to any thing which we could
originally write ; and we do this the more readily,
that popular description is almost all that can be
written, except as referring to particular species.
The dog, independently of the beauty of his form,
his vivacity, force, and swiftness, is possessed of all
those internal qualifications that can conciliate the
affections of man, and make the tyrant a protector.
A natural share of courage, an angry and ferocious
disposition, renders the dog in its savage state a for-
midable enemy to all other animals : but these very
readily give way to very different qualities in the
domestic dog, whose only ambition seems the desire
to please : he is seen to come crouching along, to
lay his force, his courage, and all his useful talents at
the feet of his master ; he waits his orders, to which
he pays implicit obedience ; he consults his looks,
and a single glance is sufficient to put him in motion ;
he is more faithful even than the most boasted among
men ; he is constant in his affections, friendly without
interest, and grateful for the slightest favours ; much
more mindful of benefits received, than injuries offered,
he is not driven off by unkindness ; he still continues
humble, submissive, and imploring ; his only hope to
be serviceable, his only terror to displease ; he licks
the hand that has been just lifted to strike him, and
at last disarms resentment by submissive perseve-
rance.

More docile than man, more obedient than any
other animal, he is not only instructed in a short time,
but he also conforms to the dispositions and the man-
ners of those who command him. He takes his tone
from the house he inhabits ; like the rest of the
domestics, he is disdainful among the great, and
churlish among clowns. Always assiduous in serving
his master, and only a friend to his friends, he is
indifferent to all the rest, and declares himself openly
against such as seem dependent like himself. He
knows a begsrar by his clothes, by his voice, or his
gestures, and forbids his approach. When at night
the guard of the house is committed to his care, he
seems proud of the charge ; he continues a watchful
sentinel, he goes his rounds, scents strangers at a dis-

DOG.

299

tance, and gives them warning of liis being on duty.
It' they attempt to break in upon his territories, he
becomes more fierce, flies at them, threatens, rights,
and either conquers alone, or alarms them who have
most interest iu coming to his assistance ; however,
when he has conquered, he quietly reposes upon the
spoil, and abstains from what he has deterred others
from abusing ; giving thus at once a lesson of courage,
temperance, and fidelity.

From hence we see of what importance this animal
is to us in a state of nature. Supposing, fora moment,
that the species had not existed, how could man,
without the assistance of the dog, have been able to
conquer, tame, and reduce to servitude every other
animal? How could he discover, trace, and destroy
those that were noxious to him ? In order to be
secure and become master of all animated nature, it
was necessary for him to begin by making a friend
of part of them ; to attach such of them to himself,
by kindness and caresses, as seemed fittest for obe-
dience and active pursuit. Thus the first art employed
by man was, in conciliating the favour of the dog ;
and the fruits of this art were, the conquest and
peaceable possession of the earth.

The generality of animals have greater agility,
greater swiftness, and more formidable arms, from
nature, than man ; their senses, and particularly that
of smelling, are far more perfect : the having gained,
therefore, a new assistant, particularly one whose
scent is so exquisite as that of the dog, was the gain-
ing a new sense, a new facultv, which before was
wanting. The machines and instruments which we
have imagined for perfecting the rest of the senses,
do not approach to that already prepared by nature,
by which we are enabled to find out every animal,
though unseen, and thus destroy the noxious, and
use the serviceable.

The dog, thus useful in himself, taken into a parti-
cipation of empire, exerts a degree of superiority over
all animals that require human protection. The flock
and the herd obey his voice more readily even than
that of the shepherd or the herdsman ; he conducts
them, guards them, keeps them from capriciously
seeking danger, and their enemies he considers as his
own. Nor is he less useful in the pursuit ; when the
sound of the horn, or the voice of the huntsman, ealls
him to the field, he testifies hi* pleasure by every little
art, and pursues with perseverance those animals
which, when taken, he must not expect to divide.
The desire of hunting is, indeed, natural to him, as
well as to his master, since war and the chase are the
only employ of savages. All animals that live upon
flesh hunt by nature ; the lion and the tiger, whose
force is so great that they are sure to conquer, hunt
alone and without art ; the wolf, the fox, and the
wild dog, hunt in packs, assist each other, and partake
the spoil. But when education has perfected this
talent in the domestic dog, when he has been taught
by man to repress his ardour, to measure his motions,
and not to exhaust his force by too sudden an exer-
tion of it, he then hunts with method, and always
with success.

Both the origin and the progressive history of the
dog, are matters which defy all investigation ; neither
can it be said whether all the varieties now existing
are or are not from one original stock. Or even
whether the wolf be not a closely allied species, and
perhaps identically the same. It is useless, however,
to enter upon any investigation upon this question ;

for the data are too few for warranting a conclusion
either one way or another. Dogs appear to be the
most obedient of all animals, both to natural circum-
stances and to artificial treatment ; and so there is
no knowing how far the differences which are
observed among them are owing to the one of those
causes or to the other. Of those dogs which are left
as it were in a state of nature, or which are not bred
or trained in any particular way, there are even
greater differences than there are among those which
are trained and kept with care. So much is this the
case, that those who are in the habit of travelling
much in the wilder parts of the country, know the
different districts as well from the appearance of the
dogs as from any thing else.

Dogs even appear to learn from the general man-
ners of those with whom they associate, as may be
observed even in common society. Dogs kept by
the vicious, whether they are kept for fighting,
poaching, or other ruffian practices, or not, are inva-
riably vicious dogs ; and, on the other hand, dogs
which live vuth persons of mild manners and regular
habits, when not chained up, which is a species of
slavery to which dogs are very adverse, are always
mild.

No doubt much depends upon the breed when in
a state of domestication ; but there is a wonderful
disposition to accommodate themselves to circum-
stances, in the greater number of the race ; and
when we refer to other countries in which dogs are
either in a state of nature, or have been neglected
and allowed to run wild, we find that they also par-
take of the characters of the places where they
reside. It is this readiness with which this genus of
animals yield to every kind of circumstance, whether
that circumstance tend to improvement or deteriora-
tion, which renders the progressive history of the dog
so utter an impossibility ; for though we meet with
wild breeds in various parts of the world, which are
savage in their dispositions, and exceedingly difficult
to be tamed ; yet these are just as likely to be the
descendants of races which were once tame, as the
best bred dogs are to be the descendants of races
once wild.

The dog is at all events an old inhabitant of the
world ; and perhaps there is no animal more gene-
rally distributed. Whether dogs existed in a wild
state at any period of European history we have not
the means of ascertaining ; but it is certain that they
were in Europe at times long gone by, when the state
of the country was very different to what it is at
present ; for their bones are found in those deposits
which contain the remains of the rhinoceros, the
tiger, and the hyaena ; and though we cannot form
very correct notions of how animals not now found
in any but warm countries should have once inha-
bited both continental Europe and the islands, yet
we have in India an example of the same races of
animals living at least in the near vicinity of each
other. But there are many links wanted in the chain
before we can in a satisfactory manner connect this
oldest epoch of canine story in Europe with the
present history of the race.

The uses oi' this race of animals are so well known,
that it is needless to mention them ; but still it is
doubtful whether they be turned to exactly the most
profitable account ; and while the savage and his dog
are much more nearly upon a par in point of under-
standing, than any other man and any other animal,

DOG.

yet it is doubtful whether the dog has had his fair
share of the advantages of civilisation, so as to be
able adequately to perform his part in the labours of
civil society. In the very lowest state of society (we
speak of nations, and not of individuals or classes in
the same nation,) the dog is, of course, a hunter for
his master ; and in the forest, and even in the flood,
the dog is by far the more independent and the more
successful hunter of the two, and could subsist a good
deal better without the man than the man could
subsist without him.

As society advances a little, the dog becomes an ani-
mal of draught ; and we find him employed in this state
by the people of the extreme north, both in Asia and
in America ; and as those very northerly tribes are not
exactly inhabitants either of the land or of the sea,
but rather of the line where these meet, at least
during the time that the snow is on the ground, they,
of course, can make use only of an animal that can
subsist upon such animal food as they can then obtain
from below the ice. In some of the southern islands
the dog is bred for another purpose. In New Zea-
land, for instance, there are two species or varieties
of dogs,— a large one, which is left free to seek his
own food in the woods, as he best may, and a smaller
one, which the natives keep in a state of domestica-
tion. The large one howls at the approach of the
New Zealanders ; and all dogs which are not recog-
nised by man as associates in some way or other,
growl, or howl and yelp, rather than bark as dogs do
in a domestic state. This change of the voice of the
dog in consequence of domestication, is an exceed-
ingly curious matter ; but it is a fact, and barking is
among dogs as much an effect of Civilisation, as
correct language and eloquent speaking are among
men. There is still a closer similarity. The style of
the language, not the mere propriety of the words,
but the tone in which they are uttered, is no bad
index to the general character and disposition of
human beings ; and so in like manner there is no
better indication of the general character of a dog
than his voice. The larger dog of New Zealand is
not, however, useless to the inhabitants of that coun-
try, for it is their principal animal food. Dogs are also
eaten by many of the islanders in the Pacific Ocean ;
and in China they are regularly fatted for the table,
and their flesh sofd in the butcher's shops. It is also
mentioned as an instance of the wholesomeness ol
dogs' flesh, that the celebrated Captain Cook was
mainly recovered from a very severe illness at sea, by
the broth and flesh of a dog.

Indeed, there is no reason why these animals shoulc
not be cultivated as articles of food in every country
It is a pretty general law in the wholesomeness ol
animal substances, that if the labour of the animals is
not too severe, so that their muscular fibres
thereby rendered too rigid for mastication, their flesh
is juicy and racy, and easy of digestion, very much
in proportion as they are carnivorous. This holds
especially in the case of gut-birds and gizzard-birdi
among winged game , and even among the fishes, the
few which eat vegetable matter are not nearly so goot
or so wholesome as those which not only eat anima
food, but eat one another. A cod, for instance, is
very king of cannibals, and yet he is a most valuabl
fish , and the prince of our river fishes, the salmon
is so fond of eating up his smaller associates in th
stream, that he may be caught by an imitation of on
of them made of a bit of wood and painted. It

pite, therefore, of all our prejudices, and prejudice
)f some sort or other lies at the bottom of all our
elf-inflicted miseries and privations — in spite of
prejudice, it is really a grave question, and one in
which we have the analogy of nature pointing to the
affirmative, whether the dog ought not to be regularly
)red and fed for the table, as a matter both of good
aste and of sound domestic economy. As matters
stand at present, it is pretty well understood that all
dead dogs are not thrown away, but that not merely
he humbler classes, who must be contented with a
)enny pie or a twopenny sausage, but more dainty
>alates, are, every day that the sun rises, fain to
omfort their stomachs with some such viand as a
; savoury pate," containing a portion of a dog,
and it may be with a portion of a cat, which cat
Tiay have been doomed to suffer the torture of St.
Bartholomew at the hands of some cat stealing and
skinning hag.

These matters are at least worthy of some consi-
deration, the more so when we call to mind how
comparatively few of the vast numbers of the young
of those very fertile animals are brought up alive, and
how many of them are cast away almost as soon as
they are dropped, and thrown on laystalls and in
ditches, and not unfrequently in the streets of the
most crowded neighbourhoods, offending the eye,
and tainting the atmosphere with corruption and
disease. And it must be that the taint of such
exhibitions fall more heavily than upon the mere
atmosphere, because they display a recklessness for
animal life which is more numerous in its instances,
more loathsome in its displays, and every way more
revolting than even that brutal cudgelling of donkeys
which some of our legislators have seen meet to
select as the special subject of their wisdom. We
do not commend the beating of the animals in
question, nor would we be understood as wishing to
say anything in disparagement of that wisdom — that
strong impulsive gravitation of sagacity by which any
one subject is chosen in preference to another as the
butt of experimental legislation. But, when we com-
pare the two cases together, it is impossible not to
see that there is an occasional attempt made to strain
at the gnat and swallow the camel.

The disregard of animal life, more especially canine
life, which is produced by this incessant murder of
the innocents, is much greater than that resulting
from any other cause ; and it has this enormity in it,
that it goes directly to corrupt the very young, and
give them countenance and encouragement in the
perpetration of cruelty, and of cruelty to that race of
animals which, being more directly the associates of
man than any other animals, should not, in a pet
individual, or even in any dog considered as pro-
perty, or of whom any one can say " my dog," and
quote the adage, " Love me, love my dog," — not in
any of these lights, but generally as a race, and
because of the superior endowments with which, as a
race, nature has furnished them, it is our first duty
toward animated nature to foster and cherish them ;
but, instead of this, we are strangely taught that it is
matter of course, nay, matter of duty, to take them in
their helpless state and drown them in cesspools or
kennels, or batter them about in the street with more
gratuitous cruelty than we would ever think of bat-
tering that which never had any life.

Any ignominy offered to the body of that which
once was alive, whether the living thing is an elephant

DOG.

301

or a gnat, or any thing within the possible range ot
the scale of animated being, gives a taint to the mind
of deeper enormity, because more direct and more
lasting in its consequences than many are aware ot.
The body of every animal is all that, as a substantive
existence, is palpable to our senses ; in fact, it is the
animal to our understanding ; for, though we see the
action of lite in the living animal, we do not see the
life itself ; therefore, we never can divest the body of
an animal, or even a fragment of one, of that associa-
tion with life which is grounded upon all that we can
possibly observe. Wherefore, every indignity which
is wantonly, and in the spirit of triumphing over it,
offered to "even the mutilated fragment of an animal,
tells as a step in cruelty towards the whole of ani-
mated nature, and towards man himself among the
rest. Even the boy who kicks about the head of a
pullet, or the foot of a lamb, which has been thrown
into the street as useless, is taking one step in cruelty ;
and it only requires a sufficient number of steps,
however small they are individually, to debase him to
the commission of murder or parricide.

As this question, or rather the many important
<]uestious which this view of the subject opens up, are
new, it may be necessary to caution the reader,
who has been accustomed to only the common bio-
graphical gossip, or the systematic dreams and con-
jectures on the natural history of the dog, that
this bears more directly on the spirit of the part of
that history which will come vrithin the scope of
reason and certainty, than anything else which we
could say on the general subject ; while, in addition
to this, it bears very strongly upon one of the most
important questions in human conduct, both in an
individual and a national point of view ; and we have
taken it in conjunction with the cruelty practised
towards the donkey tribe, in order that the ethical
part may thereby be rendered more clear and more
striking.

In the first place, this cruelty is done to the animal
in a state so young, that it can have done no harm,
and might be urged on to do good by kind treatment ;
whereas, in the harsh treatment of the donkey, there
is generally some sort of plea of urging it on to
speed, and therefore the cruelty here becomes cruelty
onlv by being excessive ; whereas the other is en-
tirely gratuitous cruelty in the very smallest atom of
it. In the second place, the cruel treatment of the
donkey presupposes that there is a feeling of the
present usefulness of the animal ; and this, again,
requires that the person who perpetrates this kind ot
cruelty is more advanced in life, and also in vice,
than the mere children who perpetrate that other
cruelty, which societ}', with one consent, look upon us
a very innocent matter of course. Now, there is
always more harm done by corrupting the innocent,
than by plunging those who arc already initiated a
little deeper into vice.

So, also, when we look at the youth, the infancy
we may s-iy, of the puppies and kittens which are
thus daily destroyed, we find that this tendency to
disregard animal life, and therefore to treat animals,
including human beings, with cruelty, operates against
animals when they are in their most helpless, though,
at the same time, their most interesting state. There
is no question, therefore, that this wanton destruction,
in their helpless days, of those animals which stand
to man in a relation of companionship so much
closer, and more nearly equal, than is found in any

other case, must have the effect of producing indiffer-
ence to human children ; and this is the gravamen
of the evil, both in the conduct of the grown up,
toward children, and in the conduct as between child
and child. It is in early childhood, far more early
than we are in the habit of supposing, that the die of
human destiny is cast ; and if we habituate the young
from their infancy to scenes of cruelty, and cases of
uncalled for indignity offered even to the dead bodies
of helpless and unoffending animals, we may rest
assured that we are shaking with more perilous and
certain destruction the two main pillars which uphold
the fabric of a sound and wholesome population, than
by any single perpetration by the random villains of
mature age, which will occasionally spot and deform
even the best societies. This must suffice for the
moral argument, though it is eminently deserving of
far more, and might be made the principal theme of
as useful a book as ever was written by man. But
we must shortly advert to our proper subject, the
physiological view of the case, which is, however,
inseparably connected with the moral one.

As we have already seen, in our brief notice of the
countries where dogs are found, they are distributed
over the whole earth, from the equator to the thick-
ribbed ice at the poles, and to the remotest isles of
the ocean, often where there are no mammalia except
themselves, except it may be some rats, or other
murine animals ; and, though it is incidental, yet it is
proper to add, as a corroboration of what we are
about to state, that the incredible numbers, and the
wonderfully rapid breeding of those small animals,
offers another subject well worthy the attention and
the profoundest examination of every one who wishes
to look on the works of the Almighty with an eye of
usefulness and gratitude. We have seen, also, that
the dogs can accommodate themselves more com-
pletely to circumstances than any other race, more
completely than man himself. In, or nearly approach-
ing to, a state of nature, they may be said to be
tempered to every wind of heaven — proof to all
temperatures — invincible by fatigue, and patient and
enduring under hunger. They are, in short, the
mammalia of the greatest labour ; and one little dog
will perform greater feats in the sum total of activity,
during a single day, than the strongest lion in the
wilds of Africa could endure in a w"fcek. Besides, the
foot of the dog is for the earth only, to run, to walk,
to leap, or to unearth his prey, or dig, or otherwise
trim his habitation. In point of fecundity, dogs are
also exceedingly prolific, and they are no more
seasonal in their breeding than the human race are,
We have said that a litter consists of about a dozen
sometimes, and there is no doubt that, with proper
treatment, it might amount to this at all times, which
might be averaged at something like at least a ten-
fold increase in the year, after making ample
allowance for contingencies.

That there is purpose everywhere in nature, any one
who is not grossly ignorant must admit. But, here is
an animal, more completely distributed over all the
earth, more completely adapted to all change of
circumstances than any other creature upon the
earth, endowed ,vith more sagacity than any other
creature upon the earth, not excepting even man.
himself, if he neglects the cultivation and use of his
mind, and capable of breeding more rapidly than any
other creature of the same size : — here is, in short
the chief jewel in nature's living casket. Can we

302

DOG.

suppose that there is no purpose here ? Is it con-
sistent with any thing else which we see in nature,
that that animal, which is endowed and furnished
above all other animals, should be the only one
which the Almighty has thus bountifully endowed and
furnished, but all in vain ?

It is impossible to come to any conclusion so absurd
as this, and therefore we must look abroad in nature,
and examine what purpose those animals are intended
to serve in wild nature, or in countries which have all
the richness of virgin soil. Then, if we are able to
see our way clearly in this part of the inquiry, we
have still another branch remaining, which is highly
important, as tending to prove that usefulness to man
forms part of the original design which runs through
the whole system of nature : and, besides its value in
a merely natural history point of view, it is a very
strong collateral proof of the truth of the book of
Revelation, because it shows that the dominion said
to have been given to man is no emanation of human
vanity, but a real declaration by Him who cannot lie :
" God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
. likeness : and let them have dominion over the fish
of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created
man in his own image, in the image of God created
lie him ; male and female created he them. And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it : and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every
Jiving thing that moveth upon the earth. And God
.•said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing
seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and
«very tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding
seed ; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every
. thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is
life, I have given every green herb for meat : and it
was so. And God saw every thing that he had
made, and behold, it was very good."

Such is the original declaration ; and the benedic-
tion of the whole being " very good" involves in it
the notion of the general purpose and adaptation
running through the whole, fitting all the individual
parts for each other, and the aggregate for rational
man, as the means of knowledge and the subject of
enjoyment.

From what we know of countries in a state of
nature, we observe, that in them the working of
nature is everywhere in excess ; they are clothed
with thick forests, the action of which keeps up a
continual evaporation and precipitating of moisture
by the air ; and as the whole of the vegetation which
results from this great energy of the powers of nature
is adapted for being food to some living creature or
other, the quantity of life existing in such countries
is beyond what we can well imagine, if we did not
actually see it. It is not the mere surface only which
is inhabited, for the trees of the forests are tenanted
to their very tops, not only with the smaller kinds of
living creatures, but with tree birds and tree mammalia,
up to the rnaccavv, which feeds on the topmost fruits,
and the sloth, which keeps down the exuberance of
the topmost leaves, clinging to the twigs, and back
undermost, grazing against the sky, as if it were a
sort of ruminating animal turned upside down.
It would be impossible to enumerate all the details

of this exuberance of nature in the early ages of
countries, and in all probability before they became
the abodes of the human race ; but we have, in those
memorials which remain buried in the ground, the
clearest evidence that such has been the state of
many parts of the world in which the natural vegeta-
tion has given place to that which man cultivates for
his use ; and the elephant, the rhinoceros, the large
species of stag, and those older animals of more
singular forms, and some of them of more ample
dimensions, together with those remains of plants
which are buried in the soil, clearly show that, even
to high latitudes, even the northern hemisphere, this
vast exuberance of nature has at one time been
general ; and, as the remains of man have never been
met with in those sepulchres of the times of old, we
may reasonably conclude that this state of things was
actually anterior to the peopling of the several
regions with human beings.

In a state of things where production was so much
in excess, it is natural to suppose that destruction
must have been equally so, for the two go hand
in hand ; and the excess of life is really an excess of
change, the transference of organic matter from the
body of one living creature to that of another. Now,
as the earth can be cleared of animal matters only by
the labours of animals which prey upon animal
substances, and as the habit of the cat family is to
lie in wait and prey chiefly upon living animals ;
and further, as their structure adapts them rather for
great momentary efforts than for continued exertion,
they are fit only for keeping down the excess of
living animals, and that only in particular situations.
But, in such a state of things as that which we are
considering, the number of dead animal substances
with which the earth must have been strewed, and
some of which must have been buried under the
earth by the deposits left by the waters, there
appears a very obvious necessity for a large supply
and general distribution of those animals which
belong to the dog tribe, and the other divisions of the
great genus Cants, the fox, the hyaena, the jackall, and
the wolf. We accordingly find that these animals
have been very numerous in almost every part, at
least of the eastern world, though some of them, as
the hysna, have long perished from the northern
parts, and others, as the wolf, are fast disappearing.

But, when we take note of the places where
these animals are still to be found, we perceive that
they are, general!}' speaking, countries in which there
is a strong action in nature, and a proneness to
return to the wild state. We are, in the meantime,
concerned only with the dog ; and the chief places
where dogs are found in a wild state are those in
which, if culture is even for a short time neglected,
in consequence of hostile devastation or of any other
cause, the surface is speedily overrun by thick forests
or tangled jungles. Those places are India, some of
the eastern isles, and many of those in the Pacific. —
Every one who has at all attended to the subject must
be aware how speedily every neglected spot of India,
which is at all within the reach of the periodical rains,
is converted into jungle. A single year suffices in
many situations to bring a covering of bamboos at
least sixty feet high ; and as the larger species of cats
are adapted for acting on the margin, and in the open
glades of the forests, where, though they require cover
for their concealment, they also require scope for their
priug, it follows that the beating of the forest must

DOG.

303

be left to predator}' animals of different structure. So
also those larger cats cannot prey on wide plains, be-
cause they have no concealment in which they can
lie in wait ; and, therefore, a race of animals to scour
the grounds are there required, not only to clear away
the decaying substances, but to keep down the num-
bers of the browsing animals, and of those birds which
seek their food upon the ground. In all such situa-
tions \ve have the proper work cut out for the genus
Cttnin, thouu'li. of course, the tribes of that genus are
adapted to different haunts, and possess different
habits. What they were original! y we do not exactly
know ; but from their superior sagacity, and the ease
and speed with which they adapt themselves to cir-
cumstance-, it is easy to see that they are exactly the
animals to conform their habits to every change of
place, and thus to preserve their existence, after those
races which, though more powerful in the individual
animal, and also in the individual effort, are much less
Capable of enduring changes.

It. is farther worthy of remark, that animals of this
tribe have greater adaptation to all varieties of prey,
as v.eil as greater aptitude for all varieties of food,
than any other of the predatory tribes ; thuir social
habits, and the readiness with which they collect at
the sound of each other's voices, make them a match
in their collective capacity, for any animal which we
could suppose to inhabit their common localities.
These localities are the intermediate ones, neither the
marshy banks of the water nor the bleak hills ; and as
the more powerful of the pachydermatous animals,
such as the elephant and the rhinoceros, are found in
the marshes, which are also the resorts of the larger
of the genus Box, the dog tribe can always muster
in sufficient numbers to master any animal which they
have in general to encounter, and as they have more
staunchness than any other animals whatever, the
killing of a portion of their numbers by the animal
attacked, does not turn them from their purpose.

Nor is their habit of miscellaneous feeding of less
service to them. This Mjries in the several tribes,
and also in the several varieties of the same tribe, or
even with change of circumstances in the same indi-
viduals ; but. generally speaking, they can eat that
prey which they have previously killed, or they can,
in case of necessity, eat the most offensive garbage ;
and also, in case of emergency, subsist in whole or
in part upon vegetable substances. They have also
some skill in what we may call animal medicine ; for
when a dog gels diseased either from improper food,
or from a surfeit, to which latter he is often subject
after lonir fasting, he knows as exactly the vegetable
substance which will set him to rights, as a human
gourmand of experience knows what to order from his
apothecary under similar circumstances.

It is in different parts of India chiefly that the dog
is still found in what may be considered a perfectly
wild state, or living in the woods toward the moun-
tains, without any apparent disposition to approach
the habitations of the human race ; and those which
have this habit, are still very retired, so much so as to
be not very often seen, though they are known to
exist, and that in considerable numbers, all the way
from Nepal to the southern heights, and probably to
the extremity of India, in all situations where there is
sufficient cover for them ; but though these dogs are
well known, and have been seen and described by
Europeans, more especially since Indian zoology has
been so laudably and so successfully prosecuted by

British officers, especially those at the out-posts, and
detachment stations in the wilder parts of the country,
still, with all the knowledge that has been acquired,
it is impossible to say whether those dogs existed
originally in the mountains and forests oi' India, or
have been allowed to escape in the course of some of
those wars by which that country has been so often
wasted. We shall have occasion to mention the
appearance of this race, when we come to give our
list of the leading varieties, so that all we require to
do here is to mention that no particular conclusion
can be drawn from these regarding what may be the
actual habits of dogs in a state of nature. There are
oliier ownerless dogs in the Indian villages, and also
in the towns, which resemble more in their manners
those varieties which live in the service of man ; and
these are more social than the dogs of the hill forests.
They are advantageous rather than otherwise ; be-
cause they come and assist the adjutants and other
large birds in clearing away the refuse, which other-
wise infects the air in an Indian town or village. In
this operation they are assisted by the jackalls. which,
thouuh they do not. make their appearance during the
day, begin to yelp in the neighbouring thickets as the
dn*k sets in ; and come during the night to perform
their labours, which are far from being without their
value.

The circumstances now mentioned \\ith regard to
India tend to show the natural uses of the dog in
tropical climates; and this is about the utmost extent
to which we can go on that part of the subject ; be-
cause every where else the dog is to some extent or
other associated with man, and made to render some
sort of service at the bidding of his master. In the
more thinly inhabited countries which are wooded,
and consequently contain numbers of small quadru-
peds, there are many of those half-domesticated dogs
which seek their prey by ranging ownerless in the
woods ; but, generally speaking, they are of the same
variety with those that obey human masters. The
islands where the larger breed of dogs is kept, or at
least captured as game, are almost the only places,
wit.li the exception of India, where the wild rangers
of the woods and the domesticated ones are of different
varieties; and, as the wild dogs there are sought after
for food with nearly the same eatrerness as game is
in this country, they may be considered as in part
answering the purposes of flocks and herds to the
inhabitants.

In the rest of the world, the other members of the
genus Cants come in the place of the wild dogs which
have been mentioned ; and in the extreme north the
foxes and wolves, are very abundant ; the latter espe-
cially are described as being, in the Esquimaux conn-
try, the determined and destructive enemies of those
domestic dogs which are so eminently serviceable to
the people there.

In more advanced states of society the uses of
dogs are so familiar to every one, that it is unneces-
sary to repeat them ; but the probability is that
enough is not made of the strength and power of
enduring fatigue in those animals. It is true that
they are used for drawing trucks and small carriages ;
and though very many of them are in the hands of
persons who do not treat them kindly, yet they have
more apparent zeal in the performance of their work,
and do more of it in proportion to their size, and the
cost of their maintenance than any other of our
working animals ; and they at the same time act as

804

DOG.

guardians of property, when their masters have occa-
sion to leave it with them. Considering these things,
it would, perhaps, be desirable to pay a little more
attention to the kind of work which dogs could be
made to perform, and the best modes of training and
applying them to the performance of it. We shall
now give very short notices of the leading varieties.
This is a part of the subject in which it is not pos-
sible to be systematic, for those reasons which have
been already explained, and therefore we shall take
the grouping of M. F. Cuvier, which is founded
chiefly upon the greater or less elongation of the
muzele ; but there is little dependance to be placed
on the accounts which authors give of the way in
which the varieties have beeu produced, either by
change of climate or otherwise.

Dogs, of the first division, have the muzzle con-
siderably elongated, and the capacity of the cranium
comparatively small ; many of them are very hand-
some in their forms ; but they are not accounted so
intelligent as some of tiie others.

Dogs, of the second division, have their muzzles
shorter than those of the first, and the capacity of
the cranium much larger in proportion ; among them
are to be found the species which are most service-
able to man, and we may mention the shepherd's
dog as an instance.

Those of the third division have the muzzle still
shorter ; and they are, generally speaking, stouter
jnade than any of the others, and some of them are
more ferocious.

The character on which these divisions are founded
is a very imperfect one : and the varieties in each, in
eome instances, differ more from each, both in appear-
ance and in character, than those of the different divi-
sions. It may generally be said that the long-nosed
varieties bite by snapping, and give a very powerful
bite from the length and quick motion of the jaw ;
but they do not keep their hold ; that those of the
third division bite by seizing and retaining their hold,
and performing a good deal of their operations by
shaking their prey, while they retain a firm hold
with the teeth ; and those of the second division
incline more to the one mode of biting or the other,
according to circumstances.

1. LONG-MUZZLED DOGS. The species which are
most nearly in a state of nature belong to this divi-
sion, and we shall take them first in order.

THE WILD DOG OF NEPAL (Canis primezvus). This
variety, which was first accurately described by Mr.
Hodgson, extends over a very large portion of India ;
and as the country is inhabited by many races, it is
known by different names in different districts. In
Nepal and the adjoining countries where it is found
upon all the lower ridges of the Himalaya, from the
Sutledge to the Burhampootra, it is called Buansu ;
in Bengal it is Dhok ; and with the Mahratlas of the
Deccan, it is K»l&ur. Over so wide a range as fifteen
hundred miles in latitude, and more than a thousand
in longitude in some places, it must have conside-
rable climatal differences ; and there seems also to
be some slight difference in its appearance upon the
elevated grounds, and in the valley of the Ganges ;
but all its more essential characters are the same
wherever it has been observed ; and one of these
characters is peculiar, the want of the second tuber-
culated tooth in the lower jaw. Mr. Hodgson is of
opinion that this is the parent stock of all the domes-
ticated dogs ; and it is for this reason that he has

given it the name of primavus ; but the hypothesis is a
mere assumption, which does not admit of proof, and
therefore the name is somewhat objectionable. The
chief climatal difference is that in the elevated and com-
paratively cold country of Nepal, it has much thicker
and stronger fur, and is darker in the colour than in
the more southerly parts of India.

This dog certainly belongs to the long-nosed divi-
sion ; for the character of that division consists more
in the compressed form and small capacity of the
scull, than in the mere elongation of the muzzle.
Its nose is not very sharp ; its eyes are obliquely set
with round pupils, and brown irides. The ears are
long, erect, and a little rounded at the tips. The
body is rather slender, but deep in the chest ; and
the legs are long, very strong, and rather thick ; the
tail is tapering, and borne with no recurvature. The
neck is long. The whole character has, indeed, a
considerable resemblance to that of a Persian grey-
hound, in a rude and savage state, and exposed to the
vicissitudes of a very variable climate. The colour
is, generally speaking, a sort of reddish brown, a little
darker toward the tip of the tail, and also between the
eyes and nose.

These dogs prey equally during the night and
during the day, but their chief dependence seems to
be upon the scent : they hunt in small packs of eight
or ten ; and when in pack they are described as giving
tongue in a sharp savage bark, unlike that of any
domesticated dog, or of the fox, or the jackall ; but
when they pursue their prey singly, they only utter
an occasional growl. They are animals of great
vigour and perseverance, and seldom fail in running
down antelopes, deer, and other swift-footed game.
As we have already mentioned, this species is wild as
well as fleet, and therefore it is seldom seen. When
a pack are met with, they do not attack human
beings, and thus they are quite harmless to the inha-
bitants ; but when they are assailed, they defend
themselves, and turn on their assailants with great
courage and vigour. When old ones are taken they
do not appear to be susceptible of acquaintance with
mankind ; but when the young are reared in a kennel
with other dogs, they recognise their masters and
associates, and evince nearly the average intelligence
of the usual sporting breeds which are used for run-
ning down game.

The Pariah dogs which we have mentioned as
abounding in and about the villages, have sometimes
been referred to this division ; but they have many
more of the characters of the more capacious-headed
dogs of the second division ; so that, though in some
respects they stand intermediate between the present
variety and the various bred dogs of India, it does
not appear that these can be considered as bearing
any general relationship to them, though it is not
unlikely that there may be crosses and mongrel
breeds. The Pariah dogs themselves are, indeed, a
mongrel race ; and it cannot well be otherwise ; for
they mix freely, and without quarrelling with the
domestic dogs.

All the native dogs of India, we may remark,
appear to be different from any of the European
breeds ; though among them there are hairless races
something like those which are found in Egypt and
the parts adjacent.

THE MALAY DOG seems to be nothing else but
the wild dog of India, farther changed by still greater
difference of climate ; and as it is pretty generally

ij >.i|li

DOG.

305

understood tnat the eastern islands even as far as the
Archipelagos of the central Pacific, it is highly pro-
bable that the dogs there are still originally of the
same variety.

THK AUSTRALIAN DOG OR DINGO. This seems
still, in its essential characters, to be the same dog ;
and as there is no placental animal of nearly the
same dimensions in Australia, and the Malays have
long frequented the northern parts of that country, it
has in ail probability been imported by them ; though

The Australian Dog.

as the natives of Australia had no memory or tradi-
tion beyond their personal observation when they
were first visited by Europeans, it is not at all likely
that they could have remembered the importation,
more especially as their topographical knowledge
appears just as limited as their natural history. The
following is the description of the Australian dog :
the head is much elongated and compressed, and
tapers abruptly towards the muzzle, having much the
appearance of a fox, with short erect ears. In the
general proportion of the body he resembles the
shepherd's dog. His body is thick with hair ; his
tail bushy ; the hair is of two sorts, one woolly and
grey, the other silky and of a deep yellow. The
colour is deepest on the top of the head, and on the
upper parts of the neck and tail, and the back ; the
under parts of the neck and tail are paler ; the muzzle
and face and inner side of the hams are whitish. The
tail has eighteen vertebrae (dogs in general have nine-
teen). The length of the body from the point o
the nose to the commencement of the tail is two feet
five inches. This dog possesses great agility, and i
full of courage ; when running he carries his head up
and his tail raised or extended horizontally ; and he
is very voracious, seizing upon every kind of anirna"
food that comes in his way. According to the de-
scription, the dingo is altogether rather smaller in
size, shorter in the legs and neck, and by no means
so fleet as the wild dog of India ; but still the differ-
ences in these respects are not sufficient to refute the
notion of both being originally the same race ; anc
we may see why they should be different, both in
appearance and character, when we reflect on the
difference between the countries which they inhabit
From the great numbers of deer, antelopes, jungle
fowl, and game of all sorts, India is a remarkably gooc
dogs' country ; and we have experimental proof in
the fact of there being two irreclaimed races in sup-
plement to all the tame ones. Australia, on the other
NAT. HIST. — Vor,. II.

land, is just as bad a dogs' country as we could well
suppose. Most of the small animals are climbers
and even a sort of fliers, or leapers a great way from.
>ranch to branch by the help of the extended mem-
)ranes attached to their legs ; they also live in hol-
ow trees, and places where dogs cannot easily get at
them ; and thus the only game which is left for the
dogs is the kangaroo, which is a fleet jumping animal,
iar from numerous, and capable of breaking "the skull
of a dog by the stroke ot its immense claw, when it
kicks out in running. These may be among the
reasons why the dingoes were originally found almost
wholly in attendance on the bivouacs of the natives ;
and it also explains why this animal, which is said to
have been a favourite with the poor natives, has be-
come a notorious sheep biter, and even an enemy to
domestic dogs, since sheep and other European ani-
mals were introduced into the colony. On the first
introduction of sheep into the highlands of Scotland,
about the time when the old practice of honourable
cow-stealing by the men began to fall off, the curs of
many places became notorious sheep-stealers ; and
there are perhaps no dogs which will not kill sheep
when pressed for food, if they have not been taught
the contrary.

THE AFRICAN DOG. The native dogs, which are
in a state of semi-domestication among the rude na-
tions of Africa, appear to be of nearly the same race
as those which have been already noticed, only by
being more domesticated their colours are more vari-
able. Their habits are not much better known than
the general characters of the countries in which they
reside. The following are some of the particulars
which are detailed. The wild dogs of Lower Guinea
go out to hunt in large packs, and when they meet
with a lion, tiger, or elephant, in their course, they
set upon him with great fury, and usually overcome
him. In these encounters they often lose a number
of their pack. They do little or no damage to the
inhabitants. They are red-haired, have small slender
bodies, and their tails turn up upon their backs. The
wild dogs at the Cape of Good Hope also range in
large packs, and clear the whole country where they
abound of all the wild beasts, and even the domestic
flocks belonging to the several districts. What they
kill they carry to a place of rendezvous, but allow
the Europeans and Hottentots, who follow them, to
take what they think proper without resistance. The
Hottentots eat the flesh they thus obtain, and the
whites salt it for their slaves.

SOOTH AMERICAN DOG. When America was first
visited by Europeans, the Indians, both of the south
and the north, were in possession of dogs in a half
tamed state, and agreeing in many of their characters
with those dogs of the eastern continent which have
been described. Since then the numbers both of
Indians and of dogs have been very much thinned in
all the better known parts of the country ; but they
are still to be met with, and in the wilder places
where the Indians have retained their old habits, they
are still in possession of the dogs.

The South American dog resembles the wild dogs
of India rather more than those of the Asiatic isles,
of Australia, or of Africa. The muzzle is rather slen-
der, the ears short and erect, and the hair pretty long,
especially that on the tail. The prevailing colour is
grey with a tinge of brown on the back, a yellowish
tinge on the under part, and ochre-yellow spots on
the flanks. In the South American forests, where
U

306

DOG.

peccaries and other small mammalia are plentiful,
these dogs abound in the wild state, lodging during
the day in burrows, which they dig in the ground,
and seeking their food in the night. The old ones
are not susceptible of attachment, but those which are
taken young can be so far tamed that they are not
disposed to join their fellows in the woods ; but they
are not very sagacious or very tractable. The temp-
tations are so great, owing to the abundance of food,
and the close and cool cover during the burning heat
of the day, in the thick forests of America, that it is
difficult to keep any predatory animal out of these
forests; and in Surinam and the adjacent settlements,
where, in consequence of the number of rats that
infest the sugar manufactories, cats are in much re-
quest as domestic servants, the people are obliged to
cut their ears close by the head in order to keep them
at home. This has the desired effect both in the dry
weather and in the rain, as the leaves and branches
tickle the inside of the ear in the one case, and the
rain gets into it in the other, both of which is very
much disliked.

NORTH AMERICAN DOG. This variety differs a
little from the former; its expression is milder, and he
is understood to have a keener scent, and to be more
active in the chase, not being so much a dog of the
woods as the South American, and being under the
necessity of chasing swifter-footed game.

From these varieties we can form some idea of a
dog in something like a state of nature ; and it is
worthy of remark, that though these dogs inhabit
regions which are almost the opposites of each other
in longitude, and are found both to the north and to
the south of the equator, yet there is a very great
family likeness among them ; so much, indeed, that
we can hardly regard them as any thing else than
climatal varieties. They are probably the most
tropical of all the dogs in their present distribution ;
though it is inferred from the shape of the bones in
the fossil specimens which have been met with in
Europe, that this description of dog, or a variety
nearly approaching to it, was the one which lived
coeval with the more powerful carnivorous animals,
and the larger pachydermatous animals in that part
of the world. This is rather a curious fact in natural
history, and would lead us to infer that certain species
or varieties of animals have, in the course of ages,
belonged as much to eras in the history of the world
as to geographical positions.

Those which we have enumerated, with shades of
difference in other localities, which would have been
much too minute for popular purposes, are all the
dogs which we consider as remaining in any thing
like an original state, that is, a state in which their
manners and their forms have not been to a great
extent modified by the treatment which they nave
received from their human masters. Or, if they are
dogs which have been left to themselves, then they
have been so left long enough for acquiring a far more
uniform and unchangeable character in their localities
than those dogs which are in a state of complete do-
mestication. We shall now give a short enumeration
of the leading domesticated ones which belong to the
first division, or those with the elongated muzzle, anci
diminished capacity of skull, acuteness of scent, and
tractability and sagacity.

There are two sub-divisions of these domestic
varieties, one of which, the greyhound of the High-
lands of Scotland, or, perhaps, the Albanian dog

s the type; and another, of which the common grey-
mund is typical. The chief distinctions of character
)etween these are, that the first hunt their prey either
singly or in packs, and can find it by the scent as well
as the eye, though not very readily ; and the second
lunt singly, arid find their prey almost exclusively
by the eye.

THE HIGHLAND GREYHOUND. This is a very
jowerful dog, equally staunch and faithful; and, when
he Scottish mountains swarmed with stags and roes,
t was held in high estimation, as being capable of fol-
owing the deer over surfaces top rough and fatiguing
or the ordinary hound* of the low country. The

The Highland Greyhound.

general aspect of the Highland hound is commanding
and fierce. His head is long, and muzzle rather sharp ;
his ears pendulous, but not long ; his eyes large, keen,
and penetrating, half concealed among the long, stiff,
and bristly hair, with which his face is covered ; his
body is very strong and muscular, deep chested, taper-
ing towards the loins, and his back slightly arched ;
his hind quarters are furnished with large prominent
muscles, and his legs are long, strong-boned, and
straight— a combination of qualities which gives him
that speed and long duration in the chase for which
he is so eminently distinguished. His hair is wiry
and shaggy, of a reddish sand colour, mixed with
white ; his tail is rough, which he carries somewhat
in the manner of a staghound, but not quite so erect.
This is the dog formerly used by the Highland chief-
tains of Scotland in their grand hunting parties ; anil
is, in all probability, the same noble dog used in the
time of Ossian. The Scottish highland greyhound
will either hunt in packs or singly. A remarkably
fine and large dog of this description was a long time
in the possession of Sir Walter Scott, bart., and was
a most appropriate guardian for his unique and mag-
nificent seat at Abbotsford. This splendid dog was
presented to Sir Walter Scott, as a mark of the highest
respect and esteem by the late chieftain, Macdonell
of Glengarry. He preserved this race of dogs with
much care ; and, in order to prevent the degeneracy
which arises from consanguinity, he was in the habit of
crossing the breed with the bloodhound from Cuba.

D O

and also with the shepherd's dog of the Pyrenees,
which is distinguished for its size, beauty, and docility,
Sir Walter Scott's Maida was the offspring of a sire
of the latter species, and a dam of the Scottish high-
land race, and certainly was one of the finest dogs
ever seen in that country of the kind, not only on
account of his symmetry of form and dignified aspect,
but also from his extraordinary size and strength.

This fine specimen of the dog probably brought on
himself premature old age, by the excessive fatigue and
exercise to which his natural ardour inclined him ; for
he had the greatest pleasure in accompanying the
common greyhounds ; and, although from his great
size and strength, he was not at all adapted for cours-
ing, yet he not (infrequently turned, and even ran
down hares. Maida lies buried at the gate of Abbots-
ford, which he long protected ; a grave stone is placed
over him, with the figure of a dog cut on it by Mr.
John Smith of Melrose, and bears the following-
inscription : —

Mairta, tu marmorea dormis sub imagine Maidse
Ad januam domini. Sit tibi terra levis !

This powerful and splendid variety of dog was, in
the olden time, employed in hunting the wolf, as well
as the deer ; but the circumstances of the Scotch high-
lands have changed, the wolf is no more, and the deer
is so rare in most places that it ceases to be an object
of sport, except to the few who have it as property.
The stocking of the hills with sheep has also dislodged
the deer, and rendered the deer dog a forbidden visitcr.
Gentler sport has succeeded, and the soft sportsman of
the south, with his pointer and his Joe Manton, have
come instead of the driving dog and the daring high-
lander.

THE IRISH WOLF-HOUND. This race has also be-
come nearly extinct, though there are still a few. It
was, probably, larger than the highland greyhound,
yet it still bore a considerable resemblance. The
occupation of this variety is also gone ; for there are
no deer inferee naturae in Ireland, and through some
mismanagement, dreary and wasteful bogs have come
in the stead of her forests, and the memorials of her
deer must be sought under these wasteful and neg-
lected accumulations. The following is probably the
last general description, from nature, of the hound.

In 1790, Mr. Lambert saw eight of them in the
possession of Lord Altamont. They were the sole
remnant of their race, which had then degenerated :
the hair was short and smooth, brown and white, or
black and white. One of the largest dogs was sixty-
one inches long from the muzzle to the point of the
tail, which latter was, of itself, seventeen inches and
a half in length. The ears were six inches long and
pendulous. The height from the toe to the top of
the fore shoulders, twenty-eight inches and a half;
the circumference of the breast thirty-five inches, and
of the belly, twenty-six. All were good tempered ;
and in former generations the race are said to have
borne a great resemblance to the greyhound. If this
latter fact is well authenticated, it throws some light
upon the progressive history of this first division ; for
the dogs of this subdivision stand something inter-
mediate between the greyhounds, properly so called,
and the wild dogs ; and so, if there is a return from
the greyhound to the type of this subdivision, there
might be a return in this to the type of the wild dog.

There are dogs evidently resembling these in other
countries, such as the large and rough greyhound of
Russia, and that of the low lands of Scotland ; but

G. 307

a particular account of them would not add much to
the natural history of the genus.

ALBANIAN DOG. If the wolf dogs of Ireland and
the Scotch Highlands were celebrated in the middle
ages, the Albanian dog was not less so in the classic
times of old. They are the veritable hounds of the
Goddess Diana ; and whatever it may make with
reference to the goddess, it is good evidence of the
excellence of the dog, that one presented by the
immortal huntress to Procris, her favourite, was so
staunch, that it never missed its prey. These appear
to have been dogs in high estimation, through all the
mountainous parts of Greece, and the breed is still pre-
served, especially in the wild country after which the
animal is named. This dog is about the size of a
mastiff, his hair is of a very fine consistence, very
thickly set, resembling fur, and of a long and silky
texture, generally of different shades of brown ; his
tail is long and bushy, which he carries somewhat in
the manner of a Newfoundland dog ; his legs are
strong, shorter, and with more bone than those of the
greyhound, on which account he seems formed for
strength rather than for excessive speed. The head
and jaws are elongated, with the nose pointed, some-
thing like that of the Greenland dog, but rather
longer. This dog in former times was used in hunt-
ing the wild boar and the wolf, as well as in fighting ;
and was also reared in pastoral districts to protect
their folds from wolves and thieves. We may natu-
rally expect that there should be some climatal varie-
ties in other parts of Europe of a dog which has been
so long known to history. One of these probably is

THE SPOTTED DOG, DALMATIAN, OR HUNGARIAN
DOG. This is more an ornamental than a useful dog ;
as it is soft in its manners and far from being intel-
ligent ; but it is very handsome and very good-
natured, and therefore it is much used as an atten-
dant on carriages. It is so well known as to require
no further description. In form, this dog bears a
slight resemblance to some of the hounds, or the
smooth pointers, but he has none of their valuable
qualities.

THE FRENCH MATIN. This dog is very different
from the last mentioned, and possesses properties in
some respects superior to any other dog of the divi-
sion, on which account he is a great favourite in
France, where his fidelity and his courage equally
recommend him. His general characters are, — the
head elongated, and the forehead flat ; the ears pen-
dulous toward the tips, and similar to those of the
greyhound ; the hair is generally of a yellowish fawn
colour, with blackish, slate-coloured, oblique, and
parallel indistinct rays all over the body. He is a
very active and muscular dog, standing about two feet
high, and three feet long. He is possessed of great
courage, and displays much ferocity in attacking wild
boars and wolves, in the hunting of which he is
frequently used, and evinces great perseverance and
eagerness in the chasing of them. The principal use
of the matin in France is the tending of flocks, in
which service he has all the qualities of the shepherd's
dog of this country ; he is likewise employed as a
house-dog, and is extremely assiduous and watchful
in that capacity, protecting his master's property to
the last extremity. In France he is held in higher
estimation than any other of the watching or guard-
ing dogs. But we must turn to the varieties which
are still more deficient in scent and sagacity, but have
that deficiency compensated by additional swiftness,
great quickness of ear, and considerable acutencss of

-308

DOG.

vision. The general name of these is greyhounds,
though that name is also given to the large and
powerful wolf-dogs of the former subdivision, which
have both the body and the muzzle much elongated,
and are remarkable for their speed when on the chase.
There is this difference between them, however, that
the dogs formerly mentioned, are much stronger, do
not, in general, run so swiftly, but can continue much
longer.

THE GREYHOUND. The greyhound is the very
model of animals for symmetry ; and while his limbs
are peculiarly muscular, though lightly made, there is
no dog, and perhaps no animal, which has such elas-
ticity of the spine. In many of the cat tribe that
organ can be powerfully exerted for a short time ;
and in some of the vivcrridce it acts powerfully for a
continuation of leaps ; but in no animal do the spine
and the limbs play so beautifully to each other as in
the greyhound. The general character of the animal
agrees with this elasticity of motion ; for there are
few which are so actuated by fits and starts. The
figure of the greyhound is so peculiar, so little likely
to be confounded with that of any other dog, that it
is quite unnecessary to go into any description of it.
In ancient times the greyhound was reckoned a very
valuable present, by the ladies especially, who regard-
ed it as a very gratifying compliment. As far back
as the time of King Canute, it was enacted by the
forest laws, that no person should presume to keep a
greyhound under the degree of a gentleman ; the
sovereign regarding that animal as being peculiarly
suited only to a person of elevated rank. In Charles
the First's reign, greyhounds were held in very high
estimation. The Isle of Dogs, which is now con-
verted into the reservoir for the West India shipping,
derives its name from being the receptacle of spaniels
and greyhounds of Edward the Third ; and was select-
ed from its contiguity to Waltham and the other royal
forests.

Much of the superiority of our present breed of
greyhounds we owe to the judgment and perseve-
rance of Earl Rivers and others.

The Scotch Greyhound, which is in all probability
the gazehound of England, is larger than the smooth
greyhound of England and the warmer parts of Europe,
and it is also of larger size, though not so elegant, and
probably, for a short distance, not so fleet. It is
generally understood that this was the dog employed
in driving the deer in the moors of the south of Scot-
land, and the north of England, at the time when that
was so principal an occupation of the barons ; but
in the pure state this hound is now comparatively
scarce.

The Turkish Greyhound is comparatively a small
species with very little hair, so little that it does not
hide the black skin. Its ears are not quite so pen-
dent at the tips as those of the greyhound, properly
so called ; and it is so insignificant in size, that it is
only used as a pet. There is, however, a greyhound
of the chase very much used in some places of the
south-east of Europe ; and there is another in Persia,
which resembles the wild dogs more than the wild
dogs of Europe. The little Italian greyhound, which
is very handsome, is used as a pet in many parts of
Europe ; and it is a very lively little creature, but not
remarkable either for attachment or sagacity. Such
is a short outline of the leading varieties of dogs in
the first or long-nosed division.

II. DOGS WITH THE MUZZLE OF MEDIUM LENGTH.

This section also admits of several subdivisions,

according to the uses to which they are applied, and
the properties which fit them for those uses. The
principal subdivisions are hunting dogs, and dogs
which, though they have a propensity for hunting, are
more used for domestic purposes, or in some way to
assist man in his labours.

Of the hunting dogs there are two or three farther
subdivisions, the chief of which are dogs which are
used in the chase, and dogs which are used with the
gun ; the last of which are most generally employed,
except by those who sport on a large scale. The
first are hounds of various descriptions ; the others
are setters, spaniels, and a variety of others. We
shall begin with

THE BLOODHOUND. This hound is, or rather was —
for in most European countries, at least, the breed is
nearly extinct— the best on the scent of all the
coursing dogs, and perhaps, also, the most staunch
and persevering in pursuit of his game. When his
human associates happened to be of mild dispositions
and contented themselves with using him only in the
legitimate way in which a sporting dog should be
used, he was mild tempered and exceedingly tract-
able ; but the very virtues of this dog were perverted
through the vices of his masters ; and down to a
comparatively recent period, and perhaps in some
places even at the present time, the bloodhound has
been trained to hunt human beings, and so add to the
horrors of war, and the relentless cruelties of exter-
mination. This dog has been used for these purposes
in different parts of the world ; so that of the few
which remain, there are several apparent varieties.

At one period of the world's history, the commence-
ment of which was in ancient times, bloodhounds were
much used in Britain, and the breed is said to have
been very superior. According to Strabo, British
bloodhounds were used as auxiliaries in the wars of
Gaul ; and there is no doubt that this prostitution of
a noble animal to the basest of purposes, is the reason
why, from time immemorial, this dog has had a bad
name, and that " bloodhound" has been the appella-
tion for such monsters of the human race, as could
not be done justice to by any epithet drawn from
the very worst vices of mankind.

T:^

The Bloodhound.

The following particulars will throw some light
upon the character of an animal now little known, and
also the uses to which this animal was applied : — In

D O

<>ld times, when possessions were insecure, the blood-
hound was employed to trace out the thief, and
recover the stolen goods ; so that he would swim a river
in course of the pursuit, and immediately recover the
footsteps of the culprit on the other side, never ceasing
to follow him. until he was taken. Thus this animal
is put under the protection of the most ancient laws,
which enact, " that no person should stop or disturb
a bloodhound or man passing with him, to follow
thieves, or take malefactors." Theft was also so
common in this island, that a person denying access
to the hound was held participant in the crime.
There is little doubt that it was known on the conti-
nent, and also in England ; but the Scottish blood-
hound, which is said to have been of large size and
elegant proportions, was the most celebrated of all.
Conrad Gcsner, who wrote nearly three hundred years
ago, has preserved a figure of the Scottish blood-
hound, which, he says, was transmitted to him by
Henry Sinclair, Dean of Glasgow, a distinguished
character of his era ; and Hector Boyce affirms, that
it was of a red colour, or black with small spots.
There was some difference between it and the English
.bloodhound, though the properties of the latter were
also eminent.

Of the atrocities which were committed in ancient
times by using bloodhounds against the human race,
no accounts have come down to us ; but unfortunately
we have specimen enough of what can be perpetrated
in this way, in perhaps the blackest page in a volume
of human history, no part of which is very bright.
This is the history of the conduct of the Christian
white men of Europe toward the unoffending red men
of some parts of America, and, more so, to few of
the hapless sons of Africa who had been captured and
carried away to endure all the miseries of colonial
slavery. Even the great Col u in bus himself, in order
more completely to subdue the lawful owners of the
island of Hayti or St. Domingo, carried out with him
twenty-four bloodhounds as auxiliaries in his unjusti-
fiable war upon the harmless and newly discovered
natives. It is possible that all the occasions upon
which bloodhounds have been used against negro
slaves which have taken refuge in the mountains have
not been recorded ; but a single specimen of their
use by the French, some time previous to the island
being wrested from their power, will suffice. In the
last war carried on against the revolted negroes, or
Maroons as they were called, they employed blood-
hounds regularly trained against them, and they are
even said to have had the barbarity of throwing their
captives to the dogs to be devoured alive. In train-
ing the hounds to this inhuman pursuit, we are told
that they were confined in a kennel sparred like a
caue, and sparingly supplied with the blood of other
animals. The fit: lire of a negro in wicker work, stuffed
with blood and entrails, was next provided as they
grew a little older, and occasionally exhibited in the
upper part of the cage : the dogs ferociously struggled
against their confinement, and as their impatience
increased, the effigy was brought nearer and nearer,
while their usual subsistence underwent still greater
diminution. At length it was resigned to them, and
while voraciously tearing it up, and devouring the
contents, the caresses of the keepers encouraged their
perseverance. Thus their animosity to black men
was excited in proportion to their attachment to the
whites ; and they were sent out to the chase when
their training was considered complete. The miscr-

G- 309

able negro had no means of escape : he was either
hunted down and torn to pieces, his wife and children
sharing perhaps his calamity, or, if taking refuge
on a tree, he was betrayed by the yelping of the
bloodhounds into the power of his more savage pur-
suers. This, however, was not the full extent of the
evil. " But, indifferently kept in the neighbourhood
of Cape Frai^ois, the dogs frequently broke loose,
and infants were devoured in an instant from the
public way. At other times they proceeded to the
neighbouring woods, and surprising a harmless family
of labourers at their simple meal, tore the babe from
the breast of its mother, or devoured the whole party,
and returned with their horrid jaws drenched in tiie
gore of those who were acknowledged, even in the
eyes of the French army, as innocent, and therefore
permitted to furnish them with the produce of their
labours."

The stages of cruelty are progressive ; and those
who delight in the torture of animals, w ill soon be in-
different to the sufferings of mankind. Accordingly,
the ruder nations universally enjoy ferocious contests,
and are gratified with the sight of blood. Lions,
tigers, and elephants, have been encouraged to tear
each other in pieces, where mutual antipathies ceased
to operate ; but to make use of that quality in the
dog, which fits him especially for being the servant of
man — to make use of that quality as an instrument of
the most inhuman torture upon those who were already
suffering misery enough, is beyond a parallel in the
annals of atrocity.

In hunting, which was his legitimate work in those
days, when much of the country was in the condition
of forest and chace, deer numerous, oxen few, and
sheep not introduced in many places, the proper func-
tion of the bloodhound was to find the game rather
than to run it down ; and it was because he could find
the scent or slot,<is well as keep it till he came on the
game, that he was called the slot-hound or sleuth-hound.
He was also called the slow-hound, in which the
epithet slow may have in part been a corruption of
sleuth, though it also related to the rate of his follow-
ing as compared to that of the deerhounds, which, as
keeping more on the view than on the slot, run with
much more velocity. The staunch perseverance and
continued following of the bloodhound compensated
for his inferior swiftness, as without him the deer could
not, in many cases, have been found ; and if the deer
threw the staghounds out, the bloodhound was ready to
find him again. The perfection to which he could be
trained for the slot was very wonderful, and forms a
very curious portion of the doctrine of the sense of
smell. To prepare him for his labour, his no.*e was
either rubbed against the kind of animal in quest of
which he was to go, or with the hand of a man which
had been so rubbed. This being done, the hound was
let slip ; when he instantly began beating for a slot ;
and, though the scents of ever so many animals luy
on his beat, he never followed except on the right one.
It was in this that the great superiority of the blood-
hound consisted. Many other dogs of the chase can
be trained to one kind of game; but there were none
who could be trained to any kind in a summary
manner like the bloodhound.

It would be very desirable to know upon what this
capacity of being able to distinguish species in scents
depends ; but the question is, we fear, beyond the
possiblity of solution.

THE STAG-HOUND is now the largest variety of

310

DOG.

hound in Britain, and the numbers are yery few; and
for bonafidc stag hunting we may say there are none,
though there is an occasional run " for sport " at a
carted stag. Numerous packs are used upon these
occasions, which are got up more to show off the pack
than for any other purpose. The stag-hound is a
large, handsome, and tractable animal, but much in-
ferior, in point of nose, to the bloodhound.

THE TALBOT. This name is usually associated
with that of the " Old English " hound ; but, as is the
case with the "gazehound," it is not satisfactorily
known what particular animal is meant. " Talbot " is
certainly an old English name, in the same way as
Matin is a French name. We suspect, however, that
calling the talbot the old English hound is just about
as correct as it is in the manufacturers of dictionaries
to call the matin the mastiff'. The probability is, that
talbot was a general name for hounds, whether they
were used in the chase or as watch-dogs, when those
hounds were not trained to some one particular sport.

THE Fox-HocND. This species may be said to
be, at the present time, the favourite hound in Britain,
and great attention has been paid to the breeds ;
so that, whether in private kennels, or in subscription
or country packs, there is perhaps no country in which
this variety of dog has been brought to so much per-,
fection as in England. These dogs have a keen
scent, and the style of their running is very fine, and
especially the air with which they carry their heads.
Where the ground will admit of it, fox-houuds run
more in rank than any other dogs, and sometimes the
column presents a pretty long front in line. The
nose of the fox-hound is rather long, and, in propor-
tion to his body, his head is small ; his ears are pen-
dulous and long, but not so much so as those of either
the stag-hound or blood-hound. His chest is deep,
his legs are very straight, his feet round and well
proportioned, his breast wide, his back broad, his
shoulders are placed well back, his neck thin, his tail
bushy and thick, which he carries high when in the
chase. His colour is generally white, variously
patched with black brown and liver colour in different
parts of the body. Fox-hounds, and indeed all hounds
which are kept for hunting in packs, can be regarded
as in only a state of partial domestication. They
are, as it were, the military of the race, take the field
in squadrons, live apart in their kennels or barracks,
and do no civil duties.

THE HARRIER. This species resembles the fox-
hound, only it is smaller, less powerful, and, generally
speaking, not so ferocious^ Harriers are more gene-
rally kept in Britain than fox-hounds, there being
much more scope for hare hunting than for fox
hunting ; for, as the country becomes more cultivated,
foxes diminish in number, while, under the same
circumstances, hares increase. Harriers do not run
so majestically as fox-hounds, but their cry is much
more musical and agreeable.

THE BEAGLE. This is smaller than any of the
other varieties of hound, and by no means so fleet in
the chase. It, however, possesses qualities which are
in some respects superior, being more sagacious, and
possessing a much better nose, so that it can follow
on the scent in situations where the harrier would be
thrown out.

Besides those which have been noticed, there are
several other denominations of hounds ; but the
above must suffice as a general sketch of the race.

Somewhat allied to hounds are the Terriers, a

smaller breed, but much more strongly made, more
courageous, better mouthed, and, along with great
sharpness of bite, possessing no inconsiderable share
of the bull-dog property of retaining their hold. We
believe they are not used in packs, or much in the
chase in any way, their chief use being to bring
burrowing animals out of their earths ; and so staunch
are they at this, that a terrier will often draw a
badger of more than his own weight. Terriers attack
all wild animals indiscriminately, and they are not to
be turned from their purpose either by largeness of size
or by rankness of smell. They are, properly speak-
ing, the vermin dogs ; and though they are very expert
at unearthing, and very forward in attacking foxes,
hares, and rabbits, they are equally efficient against
badgers, polecats, weazels, rats, and mice. On
account of their latter propensity, they are very much
used about farms, and about houses generally ; and,
though they are somewhat irritable, they make most
efficient watch-dogs, as they are not only very for-
ward to attack, but very formidable, and exceedingly
difficult to be vanquished. There is no doubt that a
sufficient number of them would be able to overcome
the largest wild animal ; and they have a sort of
natural propensity to the hog tribe, and might, even
in smaller number than some dogs of larger size, be
efficient against the wild boar. The writer of this
article knew a gentleman who had a very fine Scotch
terrier, which not only cleared a large farm, and also
the farm-yard, of all vermin, but acted as cattle-dog
or sheep-dog, as occasion required, and was so vigi-
lant and so formidable a guardian, that no intruder
could with impunity either invade the house or
trespass on the farm, but used successfully to repel
the inroads of a very powerful and fierce boar which
used to come in a furious and formidable manner, so
much so, indeed, that he often threw the labourers in
the fields into the greatest alarm ; but if Trap happened
to get notice of the invasion, the boar, though very
large, much in the shape of a wild boar, and of that
brindled colour which indicates the nearest approach
to that formidable animal, paid severely for his
temerity ; the dog, who had been trained to keep
animals in their right places, but to kill nothing
except game and vermin, made no direct attack on
the life of the boar. He laid hold of him by the ear,
and that hold he kept till the boar, though much
stronger and far heavier than the dog, was so com-
pletely subdued, as that Trap could lead him by the
ear to his own place of abode. The dog had seldom
occasion to lead him half way ; but he used to watch
his motions, and if the boar offered to return, the dog
instantly went to meet him, and so punished his other
ear, that there was no need for a second warning, at
least during the next week.

One of the principal uses of the terrier as a
hunting dog is to accompany the fox-hounds ; and in
cases where all the earths are not carefully stopped,
a labour which it is not easy to perform in places
where there is much cover, the terrier is indis-
pensable, because his assistance is necessary in
unearthing the fox.

SCOTCH TERRIER. This dog is generally low in
stature, very seldom more than thirteen or fourteen
inches in height, with a strong and muscular body,
and short stout legs. His ears are small and half
erected. His head is large in proportion to the
size of his body, with the muzzle considerably
pointed ; he has an exceedingly acute scent, so that,

DOG.

si r

with certainty, he can trace the footsteps of all other
animals. They are variously coloured, but generally
of a sand colour, or black. Those which are thus
coloured are certainly the most hardy, and can be
depended on more. When pied or white, it is a rare
sign of the impurity of the breed. The hair of the
terrier is hard, long, and matted, over almost every
part of the body. His bite is extremely keen. There
are three distinct varieties of the Scotch terrier,
namely, the one above described ; another about the
same size as the former, but with the hair somewhat
flowing, and much longer, which gives a short appear-
ance to the legs. This is the prevailing breed of the
western islands of Scotland. The third variety is
much larger than the other two mentioned, varying
in height from tifteen to eighteen inches, with the
hair very irony and hard, and not so long as that of
the others. The best bull terriers have been pro-
duced from this breed. Amongst the higher order of
sportsmen the terrier is preserved in its greatest
purity, and with the utmost attention ; and it seems
of the areatest importance not to increase its size,
which would render him unfit for the purposes in
which he is employed, that of entering the earth, and
driving other animals out of their burrows, for which
his strength, make, and invincible ardour, peculiarly
fit him.

THE ENGLISH TERRIER. In appearance this is a
much more handsome dog than the Scotch terrier,
being much smoother in the coat, and much more
lively in the colours. Generally speaking, the back,
the sides, the neck, and the top of the head and the
tail, are black ; and the belly, the throat, and a spot
over each eye, clear reddish brown. The hair over
the whole body is very strong, but short and glossy ;
the head is small, and the muzzle of moderate length ;
the ears are also small, partially erected, and turned
over at the tips ; the tail is rather short, and blunt at
the end, so as to appear as if it had been shortened
artificially ; it is carried partially elevated, but not
recurved. Dogs of this description are very common,
and vary much both in their size and quality. The
difference between the smooth glossy coat of this
terrier, and the rough and wiry one of the Scotch, is
another instance, in addition to that of the greyhound
of the two countries, of the effect of a colder climate
in roughening, and of a warmer climate rendering more
smooth, the coverings of these animals ; and it will
be borne in mind, that there is the same difference in
the wild dog of India, as found in the southern parts
of that country, and in the mountains of Nepal.

There are several other terriers named and de-
scribed in the more extensive works on sporting
dogs ; but, though they differ in appearance, from
climate and other circumstances, their general
characters are everywhere nearly the same.

We shall now give a short account of those dogs
which are generally used in shooting, and which are
remarkable for the fineness of their scent, for their
docility, the gentleness of their manners, and the
strength of their attachment to man. Many of them
are chiefly used in the capture of ground birds, such
as partridges and grouse, and others chiefly in fowling
for water birds ; but they are so docile, so gentle in
their manners, and often so handsome, that very many
of them are kept as house or pet-dogs, and not a few
are carriage companions of persons of high rank
and when they are so, they are honoured with a place
inside, and not left to run like the spotted do:

Each dog is in its element, however, in this ; for,
while the great attachment of the riding dog is to the
riders, that of the running dog is to the horses.
When used in sporting, some of these dogs start or
spring the game, while others merely point at it.
The dogs which start game are generally called
spaniels, but sportsmen often name them according
to the kind of game which they are employed in
raising.

SPANIELS. The chief difference between spaniels
and the other dogs used in shooting is, that the
spaniel gives tongue the instant that he scents the
jame, and by that means raises it, so that the sports-
man may take aim at it on the wing, which is the
only gentlemanly way of shooting winged game. They
are comparatively weak dogs, and their bite is not
very formidable, but they are exceedingly active.
The Springer, or true spaniel, used in springing game,
bears a considerable resemblance to the setter in
shape, but is much smaller in size. The colours are
red, liver-coloured, yellow, and white ; their ears are
very long, soft, and pliable, and covered with long
and very silky and delicate hair ; the tail hangs
down, and is bushy, but it is in continual motion
while they are hunting. The Cocker is much smaller,
but far more lively and active than the spaniel, and
he is so fond of sport, that he can be kept running
the whole day long without apparent fatigue. Of the
pet spaniels there are many breeds, of which King
Charles's, and the Blenheim, or Marlborough, are
among the most esteemed. Smaller sized than even
these, there is an endless variety, but, except for
their beauty and attachment, they are of but small
value ; though all spaniels, from their restlessness,
and the proneness they have to give tongue on the

The Spaniel.

lea=t alarm or noise, make excellent watch-dogs
inside a house, they are too feeble and too delicate
for being of much value out of doors during the night.
There is one variety, however, which is an excep-
tion to this, and that variety is,

THE ALPINE SPANIEL, or DOG OF ST. BERNARD.
This is a dog far exceeding every other spaniel in
size and strength, and also in beauty and sagacity.
In the last respect, he is perhaps superior to every
other do°-. A full-grown one measures six feet form
the point of the nose to the end of the tail, and stands
at least two feet high at the shoulder. The offices
which these beautiful and highly interesting dogs
perform are very different from those to which
bloodhound has often been degraded ; and the follow-
ing account of their labours, services, and sufferings,
will be read with interest : —

312

DOG.

" The convent of the great St. Bernard is situated
at the top of the mountain known by that name, near
one of the most dangerous passages of the Alps,
between Switzerland and Savoy. On these regions
the traveller is often overtaken by the most severe
weather, even after days of cloudless beauty, when
the glaciers glitter in the sunshine, and the pink
flowers of the rhododendron appear as if they were
never to be sullied by the tempest. But a storm
suddenly comes on ; the roads are rendered impas-
sable by drifts of snow ; the avalanches, which are
huge loosened masses of snow or ice, are swept into
the valleys, carrying trees and crags of rock before
them. The hospitable monks, though their revenue
is scanty, open their doors to every stranger that
presents himself. To be cold, to be weary, to be
benighted, constitute the title to their comfortable
shelter, their cheering meal, and their agreeable
discourse. But their attention to the distressed does
not end here. They devote themselves to the dan-
gerous task of searching for those unhappy persons
who may have been overtaken by the sudden storm,
and would perish but for their charitable succour.
Most remarkably are they assisted in these truly
Christian offices. They have a breed of noble dogs
in their establishment, whose extraordinary sagacity
often enables them to rescue the traveller from
destruction. Benumbed with cold, weary in the
search for a lost track, his senses yielding to the
stupifying influence of frost, which betrays the ex-
hausted sufferer into a deep sleep, the unhappy man
sinks upon the ground, and the snow drift covers
him from human sight. It is then that the keen
scent and the exquisite docility of these admirable
dogs are called into action. Though the perishing
man lie ten, or even twenty feet beneath the snow,
the delicacy of smell with which they can trace him
offers a chance of escape. They scratch away the
snow with their feet ; they set up a continued hoarse
and solemn bark, which brings the monks and
labourers of the convent to their assistance. To

Erovide for the chance that the dogs, without human
elp, may succeed in discovering the unfortunate
traveller, one of them has a flask of spirits round his
neck, to which the fainting man may apply for
support, and another has a cloak to cover him.
These wonderful exertions are often successful ; and,
even where they fail of restoring him who has
perished, the dogs discover the body, so that it may
be secured for the recognition of friends ; and such is
the effect of the temperature, that the dead features
generally preserve their firmness for two years. One
of these noble creatures was decorated with a medal,
iu commemoration of his having saved the lives of
twenty-two persons, who, but for his sagacity, must
have perished. Many travellers who have crossed
the passage of St. Bernard since the peace have seen
this dog, and have heard, around the blazing fire of
the monks, the story of his extraordinary career.
He died about the year 1816, in an attempt to
carry a poor traveller to his anxious family. The
Piedmontese courier arrived at St. Bernard in a very
stormy season, labouring to make his way to the little
village of St. Pierre, in the valley beneath the
mountain where his wife and children dwelt. It was
in vain that the monks attempted to check his
resolution to reach his family. They at last gave
him two guides, each of whom was accompanied by a
dog, of which one was the remarkable creature whose

services had been so valuable to mankind. Descending
from the convent, they were instantly overwhelmed
by two avalanches, and the same common destruction
awaited the family of the poor courier, who were
toiling up the mountain in the hope to obtain some
news of their expected friend. They all perished.
A story is told of one of these dogs, who, having
found a child unhurt, whose mother had been de-
stroyed by an avalanche, induced the poor boy to
mount upon his back, and thus carried him to the
gate of the convent. The subject is represented in a
French print."

The WATER SPANIEL is even a more attached animal
than any of the land ones. There are two principal
varieties, the great and the small, or poodle. They
do not differ very much in appearance, only their
heads are rather larger and rounder than those of
the land spaniels, and their hair is longer, and more
curly and silky.

The following is one of the most remarkable
instances of fidelity in this most attached of all the
canine race ; and though it has been frequently in
print, we give it without the least hesitation : —

" A few days before the overthrow of Robespierre,
a revolutionary tribunal had condemned Monsieur R.,
an ancient magistrate, and a most estimable man, on
pretence of finding him guilty of a conspiracy. Mon-
sieur R. had a water spaniel, at that time about
twelve years old, which had been brought up by him,
and had scarce ever quitted his side. Monsieur R.
was cast into prison, and in the silence of a living
tomb he was left to pine in thought under the iron
scourge of the tyrant, who, if he extended life to
those whom his wantonness had proscribed, even
until death became a prayer, it was only to tantalise
them with the blessing of murder, when he imagined
he could more effectually torture them with the curse
of existence.

" This faithful dog, however, was with him when
he was first seized, but was not suffered to enter the
prison. He took refuge with a neighbour of his late
master's. But, that posterity may judge clearly of
the times when Frenchmen existed at that period, it
must be added, that this man received the poor dog
tremblingly, and in secret, lest his humanity for his
friend's dog should bring him to the scaffold. Every
day, at the same hour, the dog returned to the door
of the prison, but was still refused admittance. He,
however, uniformly passed some time there. Such
unremitting fidelity at last won even on the porter of
a prison, and the dog was at length allowed to enter.
The joy of both master and dog was mutual ; it was
difficult to separate them ; but the honest jailor,
fearing for himself, carried the dog out of the prison.
The next morning, however, he again came back, and
once on each day afterward was regularly admitted
by the humane jailor. When the day of receiving
sentence arrived, notwithstanding the guards, which
jealous power, conscious of its deserts, stations
around, the dog penetrated into the hall, and couched
himself between the legs of the unhappy man, whom
he was about to lose for ever.

" The fatal hour of execution arrives ; the doors
open ; his dog receives him at the threshold ! his
faithful dog alone, even under the eye of the tyrant,
dared to own a dying friend ! He clings to his hand
undaunted. ' Alas! that hand will never more be
spread upon thy head, poor dog ! ' exclaimed the
condemned. The axe falls ! but the tender adherent

DOG.

qannot leave the body ; the earth receives it, and
the mourner spreads himself upon the grave, where
he passes the first night, the next day, and the second
night. The neighbour, meantime, unhappy at not
seeing the dog, and guessing the asylum he had
chosen, steals forth by night, and finding him, caresses
and brings him back. The good man tries every
way that kindness could devise to make him eat ;
but, in a short time, the dog escaping, regained his
favourite place. Every morning, for three months,
the mourner returned to his protector merely to
receive his food, and then returned to the ashes of
his dead master ! and each day he was more sad,
more meagre, and more languishing.

" His protector, at length, endeavoured to wean
him ; he tied him ; but what manacle is there that
can ultimately triumph over nature ? He broke or
bit through his bonds ; again returned to the grave,
and never quitted it more. It was in vain that all
kind means were used to bring him back. Even the
jailor, who had witnessed the strength of his attach-
ment, used to carry him food ; but his affection for his
master seemed to strengthen as his frame became
weaker ; and sometime after he had ceased to take
any nourishment, he began digging his own grave in
the earth which covered the remains of the object of
his attachment, continuing in the feeble performance,
till he expired half buried in his master's grave."

There are two very favourite varieties of dogs,
which though not exactly spaniels, are yet very nearly
allied to them in their attachment, their playful dis-
positions, and their aquatic habits. These are the
great rough water dog and the poodle. The first is
a variety of which the origin cannot be very clearly
traced ; the second is understood to be a cross
between the first and the cocker. These two resem-
ble each other in their covering, and also in their
fondness for swimming and their dexterity in diving.
The hair of both is very long, and if left uncut, twists
into pendent ringlet*, while the curl on the water
spaniel is short and crisp like the curls of a wig. By
this means it is easy to discriminate the spaniel from
the other two ; and the different texture of the hair
makes it as easy to distinguish the water-dog from the
poodle. The hair on the water-dog is strong and
rough, and that on the poodle very silky, about the
same in texture as that of the cocker. They are
all sometimes called poodles ; they are deservedly
favourites as pet dogs ; and they are often trimmed
lion-wise, with only a mane, a tuft on the tail, and
one on each of the heels.

The water-dog is a highly useful animal in all
aquatic situations or on board ship. He is never so
much in his element as when he is fetching and
carrying. He brings game to land, recovers light
objects that are let overboard at sea, and will plunge
into pretty deep water, and fetch a stone from the
bottom ; they carry gloves, sticks, and other matters,
and they will return for any thing if they have been
previously shown it. This dog is of various colours,
but not unfrequently black, with the hair fading into
brown at the points.

The poodle is, generally, smaller than the water-
dog ; and its soft silky fur gives it a more delicate
appearance. It is very playful, and swims and dives
well, though it is, perhaps,' inferior in these respects
to the other. It is often of very small size and beau-
tifully white in the colour, with eyes as black as jet,
and very intelligent in their expression. In this form
it is an especial pet.

313

SETTERS AND POINTERS. The habits of all these
dogs are nearly the same ; and though they are not
so doc.ile, gentle, and affectionate, they are indispen-
sible to all who wish successfully to beat the fields or
the moors for sport with the gun. They are dogs
of fine scent and admit of very high training. They
are silent dogs, and beat or quarter the ground with
great activity, discovering the game by scenting the
air, standing still at a dead point without moving any
part of their bodies when they have discovered it, and
after the gun is up and the game down, fetching it to
their master. As there is some skill required in
breaking or training them properly, a thorough good
one is of considerable value. If the dog is not pro-
perly trained he is apt to make false points, that is, to
point at small birds and other things not worth powder
and shot ; and not only at these, but also at the forms
or places where game has recently been.

The setter is understood to be an English dog. It
is smaller than the pointer, and not so showy, but it
is said to have a better nose, and to be less liable to
injury in the feet while beating hard and stony
ground. When put to work in enclosures, the setter
generally beats round close under the hedges before
he begins to quarter the field in breadth. There are
two named varieties of setter, independently of the
numerous breeds. Indeed, as they are mongrel dogs
produced by crossing, chiefly between spaniels and
pointers, the varieties of them may be multiplied
without limit. Their hair is, in general, beautifully
curled. There is, however, a good deal of trouble in
breaking setters, and they cannot be always trusted
to after they are broke. Their propensity to stand
and point is not pure ; for they have it only as they
have the blood of the pointer in them ; and in as far
as they have the blood of the spaniel, their propen-
sity is to give tongue arid put up the game. Of
course in the natural state of the animal these oppo-
site propensities weaken each other ; and it is onlv
by careful training that the one can be rooted out and
the other established. But if this is once done, the
setter is a very valuable dog ; and though smaller
than the pointer, it quarters the ground faster, and
can continue longer.

POINTERS. Of these there are several varieties,
independently of breeds. In their general form,
pointers bear some resemblance to hounds ; but the
muzzle is shorter, the ears smaller, and partly erect
and partly pendulous ; and the difference of appear-
ance between them and setters may be observed in
the portion of the spaniel character which is neces-
sarily possessed by the latter. The Spanish pointer
is the finest of the whole, and the greatest care is
taken by those interested to preserve this breed as
pure as possible. His natural tendency is to be
silent and to point ; and therefore he not only requires
much less training than the others, but is much more
sure and steady in his point ; and he is at the same
time very obedient and docile. He has the disadvan-
tage, however, of being very delicate, both in respect
of fatigue and of management ; and thus, though a
very fine dog, he is rather an expensive one. As a
dog for the rough moors, he is inferior to the seller,
as he is unable to endure the fatigue of a long morn-
ing, and his feet are very liable to be injured. The
English pointer is a cross between the Spanish and
fox-hound and harrier ; and though in consequence
of this he is more difficult to break than the Spanish,
he is upon the whole a more valuable dog for general
purposes. He is very handsome, remarkably docile,

814

DOG.

and when he is properly trained, his nose is very good.
In the south of Germany there is a very small breed
which is an exact miniature of the English pointer.
The Russian pointer is very like the Spanish one in
form, except a remarkable peculiarity in the nose,
which is so deeply cleft as to appear cut in two, and
to procure him the name of the double-nosed pointer.
There are various other pointers, and the varieties of
the English one in shape, size, and colour, are almost
endless.

We shall now briefly notice a few of those dogs of
the second division, which are used for domestic pur-
poses, though some of them are ready enough to take
game if it comes in their way.

THE NEWFOUNDLAND DOG. This is a noble ani-
mal, and, with the exception of the water spaniel, it
takes the water much more readily than almost any
other dog. The feet of this species are webbed.
Indeed, when of pure blood, the Newfoundland is the
prince and honour of the race. His size and strength
are great, and his look dignified, so that those who
are not accustomed to him are apt to be afraid of his
approach ; but he is exceedingly mild, and has at
once the most beautiful and expressive eye of all the
race. Unless under very extraordinary circumstances
of provocation and necessity, he is never the aggres-
sor ; and though many large dogs are very prone to
tyrannise over the smaller ones, he has no such habit,
but will bear considerable indignity rather than fight
with any dog of insignificant appearance. A full
grown Newfoundland dog of the pure breed, and that
has received proper treatment, measures six feet and
a half from the nose to the tail, the length of that
appendage being two feet, and very handsome both
in its form and in the style in which it is carried.

The Newfoundland Dog,

From the one fore foot to the other, over the shoul-
ders, five feet eight inches ; girth behind the shoulders
three feet four inches ; round the head across the ears
two feet ; the upper part of the fore leg measures ten
inches ; the length of the head fourteen inches ; and
from his feet being webbed, he can swim with great
ease, and for a very considerable time. His body is
covered with long shaggy hair ; his legs are feathered,
and he has an extreme villous tail which is curvilinear.
The Newfoundland dog is but of recent introduction
into this country from the island whose name he bears,
and may be considered as a distinct race. He is
docile to a very great degree, and nothing can exceed

his affection. Being naturally athletic and activ*, ne
is ever eager to be employed, and seems deligltfed in
performing any little office required of him. From
the great share of emulation which nature has given
him, to be surpassed or overcome would occasion
great pain to him. On every emergency he is active,
the friend of all, and is naturally without the least
disposition to quarrel with other animals ; he seldom
or never offers offence, but will not receive an insult
or injury with impunity. Such is the capacity of his
understanding, that he can be taught almost any
thing that man can inculcate, of which his own
strength and frame are capable. His sagacity can
only be exceeded by his energies, and he perseveres
with unabated ardour in whatever manner he is em-
ployed, and while he has a hope of success he will
never slacken in his efforts to attain it. The amazing
pliability of his temper peculiarly fits him for man's
use, and he never shrinks from any service which
may be required of him, but undertakes it with an
ardour proportionally to the difficulty of its execution.
He takes a singular pride in being employed, and
will carry a bundle, stick, or basket, in his mouth, for
miles, and to deprive him of either of these is more
than a stranger could with safety accomplish. Saga-
city and a peculiarly faithful attachment to the human
species are characteristics inseparable from this dog,
and hence he is ever on the alert to ward off impend-
ing danger from his master, and to free him from every
peril to which he may be exposed. From the astonish-
ing degree of courage with which he is endowed,
he is ever ready to resent an insult or to defend his
friends, even at the hazard of his own life. Inclined
habitually to industrious employment, such dogs are
as useful to the settlers of the coast, from which they
are brought, as our galloway and ponies are to us. It
is easy to accustom them to daily labour. From three
to five of them are harnessed to a sledge, or other
vehicle, containing a load of wood or lumber amount-
ing to twenty or thirty stones, which they will draw
very steadily for miles with ease, and will do this
without the aid of a driver, when acquainted with the
road ; and having delivered their burden, they return
home to their masters, and receive, as a reward for
•heir labour, their accustomed food, which generally
consists of dried fish, of which they are said to be ex-
tremely fond. Indeed, the qnalifications of this dog
are very extensive. As a keeper or defender of the
house, he is far more powerful and intelligent, and
more to be depended upon lhan the mastiff, and has
been much substituted for him in England of late
years ; he may indeed with great^ propriety supersede
that breed. For his services upon navigable rivers
and as a watch dog, none can come in competition
with him , and many sportsmen have introduced him
into the field with great success as a pointer, his
sagacity and kindness of disposition rendering it an
easy task to train him. Although this variety is styled
the Newfoundland dog, there is every reason to be-
lieve that it was not found in that island when first
visited by Europeans ; and in corroboration of this it
may be observed that it does not resemble the Arctic
dogs properly so called, which are dogs with very
shaggy hair, and much more ferocious in their dispo-
sitions, although, like this one, they are employed in
labour. It has been said that this is a cross between
some sort of English dog and a she-wolf of New-
foundland ; but what species of English dog would,
with a she-wolf, have produced a dog of the size,
shape, and disposition of the Newfoundland, and at

DOG.

815

the same time web-footed, it is not easy to say ; and
therefore we strongly suspect that the origin of this
highly interesting breed must remain for ever doubtful.
ARCTIC DOGS. In all those places of the polar
countries, near the ice, which are not adapted for the
pasturage of the reindeer, the dog is the most valuable
domestic animal. These dogs have all a strong
family likeness ; and they all have the muzzle rather
elongated, the ears erect, the legs and loins very
strong, and are otherwise fitted for enduring great
fatigue. These dogs have been named after the
countries in which they are found — the Siberian dog,
the Iceland dog, the Greenland dog, and the Esqui-
maux dog ; but the differences among them are not
greater than we find among dogs of the same nominal
•variety in this country. In those dreary regions,
where winter prevails fully three-fourths of the year,
it would be impossible for the inhabitants to exist
were it not for these dogs ; and the faithful animals,
in performing their labours in drawing the sledges
over the snowy deserts, are often subjected to the
severest privations. Marco Polo, the celebrated
Venetian traveller of the thirteenth century, distinct!}'
speaks of a country in the north of Asia, difficult of
access on account of the intermediate mud and snow,
from which great quantities of furs were carried in
vehicles wanting wheels by means of dogs. The in-
formation he received on the subject characterises
the sledges of Greenland or Kamtschatka, now drawn
by these animals. In this latter country the species
employed is of a. middle size, of various colours,
white, black, grey, or black and white, of wolfish aspect,
yet not unlike the shepherd's dog or its mongrel off-
spring. Its luur is rough, its tail recurved, and the
ears pointed ; it cannot be taught to hunt, and never
barks, but howls. Though regularly trained to the
draught, the dog of {he Kamtschadaleand Greenlander
seems less tractable and domesticated than that of
civilised countries, proving perhaps how much its
nature is modified by associations with man. All
that are tljus occupied are castrated, to preserve them
more under controul. During the prevalence of ice
and snow, from five to ten of them are harnessed to
a light wicker-work sledge, about three feet long and
one in breadth. The driver is supported by a seat a
yard above the ground, and the whole frame rests on
two curved pieces of wood or sometimes whalebone,
which operate as skates in gliding over the frozen
snow. The total weight of the sledge does not ex-
ceed ten pounds, in which journeys incredibly long
are safely accomplished. The harness is made of
leather, the dogs are arranged in pairs, commonly
with a leather along the whole in front, and are fas-
tened together by straps or reins through their collars,
fixed by a hook and chain to a ring in the fore part
of the sledge. If the journey be difficult, or the bur-
den heavy, the number of dogs is increased ; and
when M. Lesseps brought the despatches of La Pe-
rouse over land from the harbour of Petrapowloski,
thirty-seven dogs were harnessed to his sledge, and
forty-five to that of the companion of his journey, the
Governor-general Kasloff. Thirty-five sledges were
in company, drawn by nearly 300 dogs. But jour-
neys of this description, though generally successful,
are not entirely void of danger. The traveller, whose
position is sidewise, and not directed forward, must
be careful to preserve the equilibrium of so slight a
vehicle ; if it inclines to the right, he must lean to
the left, and his posture must be changed when tho

inclination is reversed. The utmost vigilance is ne-
cessary not to be overset, and if this accident should
occur he must hold vigorously by the sledge, as the
dogs once in motion run straight forward, and with
greater ardour on their burden being lightened. They
are scarce to be restrained on the open way, and on
descending deep declivities. Kraschenonikoff affirms
that they are liable to be unyoked from the violence
with which they rush down. They likewise become
unruly on scenting deer, or hearing dogs in the neigh-
bouring villages. Much of the security of the travel-
ler depends on the training of the leader, and the
whole are guided by the voice and a crooked stick,
without any whip. But the fatigue of long journeys
is so great, that the dogs frequently perish under it ;
food is scanty, and shelter rarely to be obtained. Of
the 300 dogs employed by M. Lessep's party, in
crossing the peninsula of Kamtschatka, only twenty-
seven at last remained ; many died of want and exer-
tion, the others, when tied up, ate the cords and
harness from hunger, and some devoured the carcases
of those that had perished.

PASTORAL DOGS. Though these have not the
same strength as the dogs which are used for draught,
and are far from being the most handsomely formed
of their race, they are intelligent, tractable, faithful,
and highly useful in every situation where their ser-
vices are required. There are many breeds and
climatal varieties of them in different countries. In
Britain there are two principal ones; the one of them
a sheep dog, and the other more of a cattle dog ; but
as these dogs are kept very indiscriminately by the
country people in the less cultivated districts, there
are many mongrel breeds which want the more valu-
able qualities of the true one. In the case of both
too, there are two divisions, tending dogs and driving
dogs, which have been perhaps separated from each
other by the different labours in which they are em-
ployed.

In the richer parts of the country, where the land
is divided into inclosures, the tending dogs are less
wanted ; but in the wild parts, where the land is
pastured in breadth, and where the labour of the
shepherd or the herdsman, in attending to all the in-
dividuals of the herd, would be intolerable or even
impossible, they are of the greatest value ; and neither
the proper care of the flock nor that of the herd could
be rightly managed without them. They are not so
much wanted in those places where sheep and cattle
are fattened, because there it is desirable that the
animals should be subjected to as little motion as
possible, in order that they may be fit for the table
in the shortest time possible. In the breeding dis-
tricts it is different. Proper exercise is necessary to
the full development of the animal, and to that sound-
ness of constitution, by means of which alone it can
be of the best quality when fattened ; and as the pas-
tures there are wide, the dogs are indispensable for
fetching in strays, and keeping the flock together.

There is a peculiarity of structure in the feet of
these dogs which is worth attending to, as an instance
of how beautifully nature adapts every creature for
the office which it has to perform ; though this pecu-
liarity is not confined to these dogs, but belongs to
them" in common with the spaniel, the pointer, and
all dogs which have the habit of preying upon ground
game without running it down in the chase. This
peculiarity consists of a greater or smaller number of
supplemental toes or appendages at the posterior part

316

DOG.

of the foot, technically known by the name of " dew
claws." These are soft and pendent, and do not act
by means of muscles, like the toes, properly so called,
but are a sort of fringe to the back part of the foot.
In walking on hard surfaces they are of no use ; and
as they are liable to be torn and lacerated in beating
among bushes, and thus to cripple the animals, — for
wounds in the feet of dogs are more injurious to them
than in any other part of their bodies, — they are cut
off in sporting dogs when very young ; but in shep-
herds' dogs, and in pastoral dogs generally, they are
allowed to remain ; and in the hill pastures espe-
cially, which are interspersed with bogs, and places
between the hummocks of grass which consist of soft
and sludgy peat, these dew-claws, by spreading out to
their whole length by a little pressure, greatly extend
the surface of the foot, and thus enable it to bear up
the animal in situations where it otherwise would sink,
jn the same manner as people furnished with snow
shoes, can walk over snowy surfaces, in which, if they
had not these means of protection, they would sink
knee deep. This peculiarity is found wanting in all
the coursing dogs, and in all those which, in a state of
nature, find their prey upon the firm ground.

Shepherd's Dog.

In the shepherd s dog, the ears are erect, as they
are in the wild dogs, and, as in these, the muzzle is
sharp. The character of the coat, too, indicates that
they are mountaineers, or tempered to abide the
severity of the weather. In all the varieties of dogs
which we have had occasion to mention as extending
over great range of climate, whether in latitude or in
difference of elevation, it will be borne in mind that
as we get into the colder climate, whether that is
caused by difference of latitude or by difference of
elevation, the coat of the animal in the cold climate
is long and shaggy in proportion to that of the warm.
A very remarkable instance of this may be perceived
on referring to the plate of dogs, where the dog of
Nepal, or Thibet, and the dog of India, which are
really the same variety, are figured. The Indian one
will be observed to liave a smooth and close coat,
while the dog of the mountains is as shaggy as a bear.
So also in the dog of the Mackenzie River, which is
also figured, the covering will be observed to be par-
ticularly shaggy ; whereas the very same dog in the
warm parts of America has his clothing perfectly
smooth In. the shepherd's dog this accumulation of

the fur is most conspicuous on the under part of the
tail, the back, and the fore legs ; but the production
of hair varies considerably in different places ; the
shepherd's dog of the mountains being much more
! shaggy than the same animal in the plains. This
I intelligent and useful animal is one of the most obe-
dient, serene, and placid members of the canine race.
He is ever alive to the slightest indication of his
master's wishes, prompt and gratified to execute them ;
and he appears to enjoy the greatest delight when
employed in any useful service. By nature formed
with an instinctive propensity to industry, he is never
more pleased than in exerting his talents for the
benefit of man, and in giving constant proofs of his
inviolable attachment. The patience, native calm-
ness, and devoted faithfulness of the shepherd's dog,
render him insensible to all attractions beyond the
arduous duties connected with the flock under his
care. When once properly trained, he not only
becomes perfectly acquainted with the extent of his
beat, but also with every individual in the flock ; he
will very correctly select his own, and drive off those
that encroach on his boundary. This will appear
the more extraordinary when we consider the vast
extent of country and the numerous flocks com-
mitted to a single shepherd's charge, which duty
he could not possibly perform but for the invalu-
able services of this very sagacious animal. A word
or signal from him will direct the dog so as to con-
duct the flock to any point required, and that signal
he will obey with energy and unerring certainty.
The labour of a shepherd, with the assistance of a
dog, is comparatively an easy task ; but without one
we can hardly suppose an occupation more arduous.
Without, indeed, the aid of this animal, it would be
next to impossible to collect the flocks in those exten-
sive and precipitous tracts of mountain-land where
sheep delight to graze, and which are in many places
quite inaccessible to man. The shepherd's dog, from
being inured to all weathers, is naturally hardy; and,
accustomed to hunger and fatigue, he is the least
voracious of the species, and can subsist upon a scanty
allowance. If a shepherd is travelling with his flock
to a distance, his dog will only repose close to his
feet ; and should he wish to leave them for the pur-
pose of taking refreshment, he has only to intimate
his intention to his dog, and he will guard the sheep
in his absence with as much care, and keep them
within due bounds, as well as he himself could have
done. Although left alone for hours, a well-trained
dog always keeps the flock within the limits of a made
road, even, should there be no fences ; he watches
every cross path and avenue that leads from it, where
he posts himself until they are all past, threatening
every one who attempts to move that way; and, should
any of them escape, he pursues them, and will force
them back to their companions without doing them
any injury. The breed of this dog is preserved with
the greatest attention to purity in the north of Eng-
land, and in the highlands of Scotland, where his
services are invaluable. The shepherd's dog of this
country, with all his good qualities, in point of size
and strength, is still greatly inferior to those of the
Alps, and of that extensive range of mountains which
divide France from Spain, as well as to the variety
which is found in the neighbourhood of Caucasus. —
In this country there are two kinds of this dog : that
used by shepherds, which is of a small size, and the
breed used by drovers and butchers. About London,.

D

and in many parts of England, the drover's dog, which
is chiefly used in driving sheep, is without any tail :
this, however, is not the natural form of the animal ;
for the tail is destroyed when very young, not by
cutting off, but. by extracting the bone, which is tech-
nically called " stringing," and is generally performed
by pulling out that part with the teeth. After this the
fleshy part of the tail contracts to a mere tubercle,
and is wholly concealed among the shaggy hair of the
animal. Dogs which are treated in this manner are said
to endure much more exertion with less fatigue than
those in which the tail is entire ; and whether this be
the fact or not, the degree of fatigue which those dogs
can undergo is truly astonishing. Nor is their sagacity
less wonderful, for they can divide the drove into any
sections that may be required, drive one section one
way, and another another way, whatever may be the
number, and after the sections are once parcelled off'
to the purchasers, they can bring back again with
the most unerring certainty any individual which has
left its section, and joined another. Those offices
are generally performed bv barking and manoeuvring
alone, without touching the sheep with the mouth ;
or if thut operation be necessary, the dogs merely lay
hold of the sheep, and force them into the intended
direction, by holding the wool without biting the skin
or even separating that portion of the wool of which
they take hold.

Indeed, in all situations, the shepherd's dog con-
ducts matters chiefly by his voice, or what may be
called the word of command ; and he is not more skil-
ful in giving his own commands than he is apt in
receiving the commands of his master, hi which way
those commands arc understood, is no easy matter of
explanation ; but the fact is certain, that a skilful
shepherd can send his dog, if a thorough bred one, to
the flock, a mile distant, on the opposite hill, and
make him separate from the rest, and bring any num-
ber, and, as it is said, any particular individuals that
he may be directed to bring. The matter is entirely
above our comprehension ; but the fact is certain, that
these dogs know and can distinguish every individual
sheep of the flock, to the charge of which they are
appointed ; and in situations where sheep are folded
for the night, if even one sheep is missing, the dog
will, without being instructed, return and beat the
pasture for it ; and if he finds that it has stuck in the
rnire, or otherwise got into any situation from which
it cannot extricate itself, he returns to the shepherd,
and, by the style of his barking, indicates that assist-
ance is required, and leads the way to the place where
the distressed sheep is, with as much certainty as any
pilot or other human guide. This peculiarity is" not
confined to the shepherd's dog ; but belongs to it in
common with various others of the more social dogs,
or those which are more closely attached to mankind ;
and there are innumerable instances of dogs, when
they themselves have failed in rescuing persons from
perilous situations, going in quest of human assistance,
and indicating by the earnestness of their cries, that
that, assistance was immediately and urgently required.
The case of the London firemen's dog, Billy, may be
mentioned as a very remarkable one. That animal
was the first to find out any fire that occurred ; he
collected persons to assist ; 'and though he of course
could not actually put his paw to the engines, yet he
was so full of bustle and activity, and so encouraged
every one who was working by the earnestness of his
commendations, that there is no question but that he
was the means of saving a great deal of property ; for

OG. 3J7

even a dog doing his duty in so disinterested, devoted,
and hearty a manner as it was done by honest Billy,
was enough to put to shame any one who refused to
lend a helping hand. We mention the case of this
dog, because it shows that those animals might be
trained to far more useful purposes than any to which
they are usually applied, valuable as many of these
are, and those of sheep-tending, and sheep-driving
dosjs in an especial manner. When we consider that
one good shepherd's dog performs services which
could riot be performed by twenty shepherds in a
flock, which one shepherd can easily manage with
the assistance of the dog ; and, when we farther con-
sider that without the dogs, it would require many
times the number of men which are now employed to
bring sheep to the markets, and divide tnern off to
their respective purchasers, we are within the mark
when we say that we eat our mutton full twenty per
cent, cheaper in consequence of the labours of the
shepherds' and drovers' dogs.

THE CUR. This dog's name is rather at a dis-
count, and he is considered a snarling and ignoble
animal ; but still he is a very useful and very faithful
creature. He is the watch-dog of the cottager, the
playmate of cottage children, and the associate and
defendant of labouring people and their property ;
and while the man is stripped and at work, if his
faithful cur, or colly, as he is called in some places,
takes post upon his coat, that coat is as safe as if it
were under lock and key. There is also a softening
of the heart produced in the labourer when he shares
his lonely meal with his little dog ; and, as the dog
is in the tield with him in all weathers, wet and dry,
it is not easy to say to what extent he cheers and
encourages the man, and promotes as well as lightens
his labour.

But it is not in such situations alone that this dog
is valuable ; for he is in an especial manner the
caltle dog, and of the utmost value in all tho>e places
where the country is grazed in breadth, because there
he brings in the stray cattle with the same certainty
and the same success as the shepherd's dog brings in
the stray sheep. It is worthy of remark, that thosi;
dogs which are useful in the management of domestic
animals never attempt to make tneir attacks on a
vital part, or on any part where a bite would be of
serious injury. The mastiff flies at the throats of
cattle, and the bull-dog attempts to seize them by the
nose, and suffocate them, something in the same way
as the jaguar is said to do with the wild cattle in
South America ; but the curs, and other true cattle
dogs, never attack any beast in front. They inva-
riably snap at the heels, and pinch that part which
answers to what is called the "funny bone "in the
human elbow, and upon which even a moderate
pressure with the fingers causes an acute momentary
pain. One might very easily suppose that there is
an original instinct for driving cattle without biting
them in these dogs. When they snap at the heels,
they seldom if ever draw blood ; and they snap at
the one heel or the other, according to the direction
in which they wish to turn the animal. Any one who
has attended to the habits of animals must have
observed that they always run upon that which gives
them pain. If a 'horse 'in battle is slightly wounded
by a bayonet, he will run upon it to his certain
destruction ; and man himself is not exempted from
this propensity ; for, if a bayonet once wounds a man
in battle, so tar as to give him pain, he is almost
certain of running himself through upon it.

318

DOG.

How dogs become aware of this propensity in
animals it is impossible for us to ascertain, because
we do not know the notions by which animals are
governed in their instincts. Indeed, the subject is
one of those upon which all inquiry is vain, inasmuch
as we are not in possession of anything similar, in our
own experience, which we can compare to it. We
know nothing experimentally of the operation of
instinct unconnected with reason ; and, in conse-
quence of this, we can never come to any satisfactory
conclusion with regard to the motives or foundations
of action in animals. But, notwithstanding this, the
facts are undoubted ; and there is no fact better
made out, or more wonderful in its cause, than the
tact of these dogs in the driving of cattle. If they wish
to turn the beast either to the right or the left, they
pinch the heel only on that side towards which they
wish to turn it, and the degree of their pinching is
equal to the right of turning which they wish to
effect. The beast also, itself, in so far seconds the
action of the dog, because it brings round its head
towards that side on which the pain is felt, and the
joint action is sufficient to turn the beast fairly round,
and force it off in the opposite direction before it has
advanced more than its own length. If the object,
however, is to drive the beast straight forward, the
snapping is made alternately at both heels, and so long
as it is continued, the beast advances with a yawing
motion, until it is brought to the proper speed in the
proper direction, and then the dog ceases to trouble it.

This driving by the heels is a very valuable charac-
ter in those dogs, inasmuch as it is quite impossible
to drive cattle by attacking them in the head. In
that case they offer battle, or, at all events, defensive
hostilities, from their instinctive tendency to guard
themselves from injury in that quarter. Hence,
•when it is attempted to drive cattle by dogs which
assail either the throat or the nose, the cattle are
invariably driven wide, or separate from each other,
and the labour of the dog is worse than useless.

The cur is, probably, a variety, in part connected
with, or derived from, the shepherd's dog ; but it dif-
fers from the shepherd's dog in its being smooth in
the hair, while the shepherd's dog is invariably shaggy.
The legs are considerably longer in proportion to the
size of his body, which is a good deal larger than that
of the shepherd's dog, and is stronger in the make,
with the ears half pricked, and a tail having a natural
tendency to be short. Great attention is paid to the
breeding of this dog in the north of England and
southern counties of Scotland, as he is found to be a
very useful and trusty servant ; and great care is
also devoted by breaking him in for that purpose, i
Being a very sagacious dog, he soon acquires a know- ;
ledge of his master's fields, which he watches with the
utmost vigilance, and is particularly attentive to the
cattle that are in them, watching all their movements
and regularly going his rounds ; and should any
strange cattle appear among the herd, he will fly at
them with great ferocity, and force them immediately
to quit the pasture they are trespassing on. The
general colour of this dog is black and white ; but it
may occasionally be met with all black, and some-
times it may be found all white. As, however, there
is less attention paid in most places of the country, to
the purity of this breed of dogs than to that of any
other, the mongrels related to the curs, and 'used
instead of them, are exceedingly numerous, so much j
BO, indeed, that no account can be given of them.

There are several breeds of dogs connected with
those of the present division, and perhaps, also, with
those of the former, which it may be necessary to
notice. The principal of these are the following : —

The Lurcher. This is a dog which hunts singly,
and finds his game indiscriminately by the scent or
the eye. It bears some slight resemblance to the
hound, but its limbs are shorter and stronger in pro-
portion ; its form is much less elegant, and its motions
much more slow. The head is thicker and not so
much pointed ; the ears are short, erect, and half
pricked up; and the whole body is covered with
coarse and shaggy hair, which is generally either of
an iron-grey or a dull sand colour. This is a sneak-
ing species of dog, and prone to lie in wait for his
game ; and, therefore, he is a favourite dog with
poachers, who employ him under cover of night, in
the capture of hares and rabbits, and occasionally
winged game. He is not much esteemed by regular
sportsmen, and his very name is one of dishonour ;
but within his sphere of action, the lurcher is a very
sure and trust-worthy dog.

The Leymmer is a dog whose memory is almost
forgotten ; he was understood to be the produce of
a cross between the greyhound and common hound,
or talbot, partaking of the qualities of both with some
additional ones of his own in supplement. Indeed, it
almost invariably happens that, in cross breeds of dogs,
if both parents are thoroughly bred, there are new and
often very good qualities obtained by the cross. The
leymaner possessed much of the swiftness of the grey-
hound, together with a keen sense of smell, and he
was, perhaps, more hardy than either of the breeds
of which he was the joint production. It is, indeed,
a very general case that cross-bred animals are much
more hardy than either of the parents between which
they are crosses ; and they are so whether they be
what we call perfect animals, as is the case in most
if not all of the mongrel breeds of dogs, or hybrids,
which do not breed with each other, although they
breed back to the pure blood, as is the case with the
mule, between the horse and ass. This dog, notwith-
standing his strength, his swiftness, and his power of
endurance, had some of the stubbornness of the mule
about him ; and it was necessary to confine him in a
thong, and let him slip after the game had started,
otherwise he would have run broad, and been quite
ungovernable.

The Tumbler. This is also a mongrel dog, though
of what parentage is not very clearly ascertained. He
is considerably less than the greyhound, with a long
and lean body, and erect ears, but with the head more
resembling the greyhound than that of the lurcher
does. Still, however, his action is in many respects
similar to that of the lurcher. He does not run his
game fairly down in straight forward chase, like the
greyhound, but practises arts, and shows a great deal
of sagacity in catching it upon the double. In order
to do so, and to betray the game into doubling nearer
to him than it otherwise might, he counterfeits falling
down or being crippled, until the game on the return
of the double comes within his reach ; and then he
pounces upon it with a single bound much greater
than that of almost any other dog. It is from this
habit of crouching and waiting the double, which he
does with great dexterity, that he gets the name of
tumbler ; and though he is far from being one of the
most elegant or graceful dogs in coursing, he is by
no means one of the least successful.

DO

The Turnspit. It is somewhat difficult to define to
what other race of dogs these are most nearly allied.
They are, perhaps, the least graceful of the whole
tribe. Their bodies are long, their legs remarkably
short, and they are prone to become exceedingly
fat, as they are very lazy. They have, however, some
good qvialities. The following are a few of their
leading characters : — the head is rather large in pro-'
portion to the size of his body : for the most part it
has a peculiarity in the colour of the eyes, one of
which has the iris of one eye white and the other
black. The Turnspit is to be met with of all hues, but
the most usual one is a kind of bluish-grey, spotted
with black, — sometimes he is found of a slate colour.
The shape of the head is something between that of
the hound and pointer, with long ears. One variety
of the Turnspit has straight legs. He is a bold,
spirited, and vigilant little dog ; its services in Great
Britain at one time were very much valued, but by
the invention of machinery his work has been super-
seded : he is, in consequence, becoming extremely
scarce, and in all probability will very soon become
extinct, although in Germany and France he is still
used in the kitchen. Turnspits that take their hours
for labour in regular rotation, know very well how to
distinguish the roasting days from the rest ; and it is
with some difficulty that they can be made to work
on the latter, as if they had a notion that it was then
a duty that they were not in duty bound to do,
Several instances are recorded of dogs distinguishing
the days of the week ; for in the neighbourhood of
some towns there are dogs that regularly repair
thither for market days, because they know that they
can procure some booty then.

The varieties of mongrel breeds in this division of
dogs are, however, endless, so that it would be impos-
sible to give any account of them, though they are all
less or more attached to mankind, and capable of
evincing affection in some way or other. But in
towns, where the breeds of dogs are miscellaneous,
these are apt to be mongrel curs, of very vicious cha-
racter, which do not either benefit their keepers, or
tend to place the race in a favourable point of view.

III. SHORT-MUZZLED DOGS. The dogs of this
division are different in their characters from those of
either of the former ; and the differences are so
striking, that it is by no means easy to suppose that
they are of the same original race either with the dogs
that have the elongated muzzle, or with those which
have it of medium length. It is somewhat remark-
able, that among dogs which are in what may be
called a state of nature, there is no approximation to
the short muzzle ; but the origin of this race is so
obscure that nothing can be said respecting it
with any certainty. They differ from each other
according to the breeds and kinds as they are de-
scribed ; but there are certain characters which
belong in common to the whole of them. They
have not the swift motion of the long-nosed dogs,
neither have they the affectionate manners and
playful dispositions of most of those of the second
division ; and if the epithet "dog" is to be considered
as a synonyme for surliness, this is the division of the
canine race which are dogs by way of eminence ; and
thev are the onlv ones to which the French, who are
not" unhappy in their nomenclature, give the name of
(lollies. These dogs are often faithful, vigorous pro-
trctors of the property of their masters ; but they show
no kindliness or affection. The larger ones are very

319

formidable, and even dangerous animals ; and the small
ones, which are sometimes kept as pets, have little
feeling of gratitude, and are always snappish to every
body except those by whom they are immediately-
fed ; and even to them the attachment does not
appear to extend much beyond the selfish considera-
tion of being fed.

The dogs of this division are of no use whatever
in the chace, or in any way in shooting or hunting ;
they are not swift, their noses are very inferior, and
their only good qualities are the strength, the severity
of their bite, and the firmness with which they retain
their hold. As used against domestic animals, in
keeping them to their proper places, and turning them
in any direction which may be wished, they are not
efficient, neither are they safe. They do not drive
the animal, as is the case with sheep-dogs and curs,
but always attack it in front, attempting to seize its
nose or tear its throat. They are, in fact, slaughter-
ing or tearing dogs ; and they can be used only in those
characters, and not in that of friends, companions, or
assistants in any one labour. They are good only
for an attack ; and, therefore, some of them have
been employed in the most cruel and savage of those
occupations of the profligate which are very absurdly
named sports.

It is a curious fact that dogs of this description
should be known only in a state of domestication. —
Some of the wild dogs are savage enough in their
manners ; but there is none of them so savage, and we
may add, none of them so destitute of what m'ght be
called intellect in animals, as these short-nosed dogs.
It therefore becomes a curious question how these
races originated, and by what particular kind of treat-
ment on the part of man, all the nobler qualities of
the dog were merged in the single one of trustworthy
ferociousness. Nor is it less a matter of curiosity, if
we could unravel it, to ascertain why, along with this
character, dogs of this division should have greater
strength and more determined powers of endurance,
than any of their more attractive brethren. This ques-
tion we have unfortunately no means of solving ; be-
cause, thousrh we know the origin of particular breeds
we do not know the source whence they were derived,
or the .means by which they have been made to differ
so much from the rest. It is also singular that, along
with this departure from the swift motions of dogs of
the first class, and the endearing dispositions of dags of
the second, there should be in this third one an alter-
ation in the form of that most characteristic organ of
a dog, the mouth. But such is the fact. These dogs
do not bite with the same sharp snap as the others ;
but in them all there is a disposition to hold on and to
shake in pieces whatever they lay hold of. Their
object, in fact, appears always to be the mangling
and destruction of that on which their anger is
directed, and though, in the performance of this, many
of them are faithful, it is a faithfulness of ferocity. It
is for this reason that they are chiefly employed as
watch-dogs ; and it is their bad qualities, not their
good ones, which are turned to account by their
masters. They are, in short, dogs which are wanted
only in vicious and depraved states of society ; and
it does not reflect much credit upon civilised man
that there should be no such dogs found among
savage nations. If we could ascertain by what
means the different breeds which form this section
have been derived from the dogs which we know in
wild nature, or whether they have been derived at all,

320

DOG.

it would be a very curious inquiry, but, unfortunately,
we have not sufficient data for such an investigation ;
but, though we are not acquainted with the means by
which mankind has been enabled so to degrade
the more generous and noble qualities of the dog, as
they are found a great deal in these races, yet there
is no reason to doubt that the degradation is the
result of human interference. Still, it is a curious
matter, that not only the form of the head, and the
shortness of the muzzle, but that the whole structure
and appearance of the animals, which, judging from
what we see in nature, are artificial, should have been
altered so as to suit this apparently impressed and
unnatural habit. We have no means of unravelling
the mystery ; but really it is a curious matter, that,
along with a cessation of swiftness in the chace, or
play as a companion, there should have been imparted
to those dogs a strength of body, and a shortness of
muzzle, which are not possessed by any of the rest ;
and these qualities are accompanied by a correspond-
ing expression in the eye and hair of the animals. In
the larger kinds, both eye and hair express ferocity,
while in the smaller ones the expression is that of
indifference or stupidity ; and both have the body
much more thickly set, the chest wider, and the legs
farther apart, than in those of either of the former
divisions. There is also a distinctive character in the
very covering. None of them have that smooth
lengthened and curly hair which is so pretty in the
smaller spaniels, and so graceful in the larger ones
and the Newfoundland dogs ; neither have they that
smoothness and gloss which we observe in the
terriers (with the exception of the Scotch one),
which, of all dogs of the former divisions, perhaps
make the nearest approach to the present division,
though they far excel them in sagacity. The charac-
ter of the head is especially worthy of notice. In
every dog of the two former divisions, of what breed
soever he may be, and whether pure or mongrel,
there is a pleasing expression in that part ; and even
in those species, such as the greyhound, which are
the least intelligent, there is always some speculation
in the eye — something in the look of the animal,
which speaks kindness and companionship ; but a
dog of this short-nosed species, though he follows his
master, feeds at his expense, and fights desperately
for or with him, in good cause or in bad, merely
glares upon the observer, and has no speculation in
his eyes. His services as a guardian or a warrior
may procure him respect ; but his own looks do not
put in any thing like the same claim to kindness or
society, which is solicited by a single glance from the
other dogs. It is further to be remarked, that the
<logs kept by the worthless and profligate part of man-
kind are almost invariably of this short-nosed kind.

The varieties of those short-nosed dogs are not
nearly so numerous as those of either of the former
divisions, but as they are dogs which are chiefly bred
for sporting purposes, much attention has been paid
to the breeds. They may be considered as forming
three classes :— first, dogs which are wholly nntract-
able and pugnacious, and therefore never used except
as fighting dogs ; secondly, dogs which still possess-
ing much strength and ferocity, and not capable of
much training and attachment, but which are used as
watch dogs ; and thirdly, dogs of smaller breed, which
are too feeble for doing much mischief, and which
may be reckoned the most useless perhaps of all the
genus.

THE BULL -DOG. This dog in various breeds may
be regarded as the fighting dog par excellence ; and,
as the satirist said of the captain — " His very look's
an oath," so it may be said of the bull-dog — " his very
look's a bite." This dog is low on the legs, and stands
rather wide ; his chest is deep and also broad ; his
shoulders and thighs are very strongly made ; and
the muscles are exceedingly developed, more so than
perhaps in any other animal, not even excepting the
lion. The head is broad, his nose short, and the
under jaw projects beyond the upper, which gives
him a very disagreeable and fierce aspect. The eyes
of the bull-dog are very prominent and distant, and
have a very peculiar suspicious-looking leer, which,
with the distension of his nostrils, gives him also a
contemptuous look ; and from his teeth being always
seen, he has the constant appearance of grinning
while he is perfectly placid. This is the most unre-
lenting and ferocious of the canine tribe, and may be
considered courageous beyond any other creature in
the world ; for he will attack any animal whatever be

The Bull- dog.

his magnitude. He is scarcely capable of any edu-
cation, and is fitted for nothing else but combat and
ferocity. The bull-dog takes his name from having-
been employed in former times in assaulting the bull,
and is used for that purpose at the present day in
those districts where this brutal amusement is still
practised. The fury with which the bull-dog attacks
all other animals, and the invincible obstinacy with
which he maintains his hold, nothing can exceed.
The bull-dog makes his attack always in front ; and
in assailing the bull, he attempts to seize him by the
nose, the lip, the tongue, or the eye. If the dog suc-
ceeds in fastening, and the part is tough enough not
to be torn off by the bite, the dog will not quit his
hold, and cannot be shaken off by any effort of the
animal, but will adhere though the other swing him
round and round in the air. When they fight with
each other, or with other dogs, they are equally des-
perate in their hold ; and when they once fasten they
will allow themselves to be bitten ever so severely by
another dog, or beaten, and still give vent to their
anger by tightening the hold which they got at first.
There is nothing indeed which will loosen a staunch
bull-dog, but that general means of truce to all canine
hostilities, a copious effusion of cold water. This is
a curious fact in the natural history of dogs, inasmuch

I D O

a* it shows that there 13 some physiological relation
between the fury of dogs when excited to a very high
pitch and the dreadful malady of canine madness, or
hydrophobia ; for whether as displayed in the dog
itself, or in those dreadful instances of human suffer-
ing which follow from the bite of a rabid animal, there
is an indescribable horror of water, altogether inde-
pendent of the difficulty of swallowing that or any
other liquid. So remarkable is this that 'the very
sight of water appears to shake the whole nervous
system to pieces, and from the terrific expression of
it the feeling itself must be dreadful.

If a bull-dog attempts to attack or to bite any part
of an animal except the head or throat, he is con-
sidered us being of inferior breed, and not wholly a
murderer in his disposition, which is the character
that procures him the highest estimation among that
description of persons who keep bull-dogs. Those
dogs are not now so numerous, or held in such high
estimation, as they were in former times ; and we be-
lieve we may say, that the keeping of them for what
is called "sport" is confined to the very lowest and
least reputable characters, whatever may be their
nominal rank in society. Formerly, however, the
savage practice of baiting bulls publicly was very
much in vogue ; and it was then held as having no
mean place among what were called " manly sports "
in England, though they were in truth "beastly cruel-
ties." In the reign of Henry II. bull-baiting was an
amusement of the London populace. Nay, much
more recently, Queen Mary entertained the French
ambassadors two successive days with an exhibition
of this kind in the year 1559. Queen Elizabeth, her
sister, repeated it to the ambassadors from Denmark
in 1586, and: what is more extraordinary, the former
was herself among the spectators. Paul Hentzner,
still later, describes the cruel diversion of the English
people, to whom the baiting of bulls, bears, and bad-
gers was familiar ; and there is even reason to believe
that the horse was sometimes publicly worried to
death, to glut their savage appetites for a brutal spec-
tacle. On all these and similar occasions, Such as
when a bull, jointly pursued by the dogs and their
masters, was hunted down or bruised to death with
clubs, the minstrels, a miscreant crew, claimed the
slaughtered animal as a perquisite. It is long since
the worrying of bulls in London was prohibited, but
the practice was widely extended ; and the ring to
which the bull was chained for the certainty of under-
going aggravated torment, is still extant in many
towns and villages, where they are sometimes con-
verted to use. It is in all probability, from the " bull
ring" being the regular place of rendezvous for all
sorts of savage sports, and not from the form of the
enclosure used on such occasions, that the place
whore, for a time, the bull-dogs of the human race
continued the " sport," by mauling one another, first
obtained the name of the ring. These things have
fortunately, however, had their day ; and future ages
will be astonished that, not many years ago, the prac-
tice of bull-baiting was defended in the British parlia-
ment as a means of improving the spirit of the people.

THE MASTIFF. This is one of the most powerful of
the whole race of dogs, and, for the purposes to which
he is applied, one of the most serviceable. His aspect
is not quite so expressive of unmingled ferocity as
that of the bull-dog ; and when he is not aroused,
there is a considerable expression of repose, and even
of dignity, about him. Those who profess to be

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

321

most deeply learned in the pedigree and progressive
history of dogs describe the mastiff as an original
English breed ; and we believe it is true that mastiffs
were formerly much more numerous in England than
they are at present, and that in those earlier times
the breed was less contaminated by crosses, and the
animals altogether of superior quality. It is under-
stood that English mastiffs, as well as English blood-
hounds, were known and esteemed in the time of the
Romans, though it is perhaps not very easy to say
what varieties were then meant, or now far they
agree with or differ from those of the present time.
There are certainly not so many mastiffs in the con-
tinental countries as there are in Britain ; the watch-
dogs there usually partake more of the character of
the wolf-dog, or of the French martier.

As it is only in the character of a watcher that the
mastiff is valuable, it is easy to see why the use of
him in this country should have fallen off. When
police regulations were much less attended to, the
population thinly scattered, and the moral habits
of the people, in matters of meum and tuum, rather
lower, the services of the watch-dog were in general
requisition ; and both the strength and ferocity of
the dog, and the loud alarm which he is capable of
giving, were of great service, the one to check the
depredator, and the other to arouse the inmates of
the house. Though this dog, like the bull-dog,
always attacks in front, and aims his attack in a
deadly manner, yet he does not, like that animal,
attack without warning given. The bull-dog, as a
watcher, ought never to be kept in any other way
than chained, because he bites without previously
giving mouth, bites indiscriminately or capriciously
and, even when he is successful in seizing one of a
party, he gives no alarm to afford security against the
others. The mastiff, by giving an alarm, always
warns on the one hand, and calls attention on the
other ; and a thorough-bred mastiff, if not kept on
the chain, will not bite unless something under his
charge is attempted to be taken hold of by some one
with whose person he is not familiar. If chained, he
is far more ferocious, and flies indiscriminately at all
strangers that come within his reach, while, if the
animal is powerful, and the chain at all fragile, his
violence is apt to tear it asunder. It seems, indeed,
that this chaining up completely destroys the more
valuable qualities of the mastiff, and inflames -all his
bad ones ; for, when he is allowed his freedom, he
does not show much ferocity, unless the circumstances
are such that, according to his training, there is cause
and justification for his rage. In extensive yards
and manufactories, where a mastiff is duly fed and
watered, and left to his range, it is rather pleasant to
observe with what dignity, and in how business-like
a manner, he does his duty. All the people employed
about the work, and also those who come at tlie
regular hours, and in the regular way of business,
are quite unnoticed by him ; but, if any one is
prowling about, or comes when the people about the
place are all at rest, the mastiff instantly has an eye
upon him, watches his motions with the most scrupu-
lous attention, barks on the least offer of interference
with anything under his charge, and attacks whenever
interference is actually made. There are many in-
stances, too, in which this dog has taken prisoners,
and kept them, without doing them any injury,
compelling them to stand fast, without advancing or
rclreaiing, under dread of the severest penalty. Nor
X

322

DOG.

have there been wanting instances in which a dog of
this kind has thrown a refractory intruder on his back,
and held him there uninjured, though in no very
enviable situation, till the return of day, and the
arrival of those for whom he kept watch. It is also
worth while to observe a really good dog of this kind
going his rounds over extensive premises. One
would almost imagine that he has got a complete
catalogue of the property, together with plans of all
the holes and hiding places, for he leaves not a
suspicious spot unexamined ; and he does it all
peaceably, if all is right, and then returns good
humouredly to his watch-house.

The mastiff has no trick or play about him, very
little disposition to hunt any animal, and it does not
appear that his sense of smelling is at all acute. His
character is too dignified, and his deportment too
grave, for these matters, but still he has a wonderful
aptitude in acquiring a knowledge of those duties for
the performance of which his nature more immediately
fits him ; and when he has acquired this knowledge,
no servant can be more faithful, or, generally speaking,
more quiet and orderly in the performance of them.
As we have said, the period of especial necessity for
the mastiff, except in particular situations, has gone
by, but still there is something respectable in the
memory of this animal, which makes one almost
regret that the pure race have been, in many cases
where watch-dogs are still used, supplanted by
mongrels. There is one circumstance in the charac-
ter of modern depredators, as compared with those of
former times, which has rendered watch- dogs of much
less value than they were then. The depredators of
the olden time came by force, and therefore they
could be met and repelled by force ; but the modern
ones proceed by craft, and the art of silencing a
watch-dog is, we believe, part of the regular system
of education among our midnight plunderers. In
consequence of this, the dog merely serves to alarm
the timid, while against those who are bent upon
mischief he is of little or no use.

THE BAN-DOG. This appears to have been the
old name of all watch-dogs in England which were
not of the true mastiff breed, The name is evidently
a corruption of " baying-dog," that is, a dog very prone
to give tongue — one whose bark was more formidable
than his bite. Such dogs were of course mongrels,
and differed in their dispositions and qualities accord-
ing as they were more allied to one race or to
another. Of such dogs no general description can
be given, nor is any necessary.

THE CUBAN MASTIFF. This breed is very common
in the island from which the trivial name is derived,
and there it answers the purposes both of a mastiff
and a bull-dog, being used for watching, and also in
bull fights. These dogs are represented as being very
faithful, and at the same time very courageous and
staunch ; they are smaller in size, and somewhat less
dignified in expression than the true mastiff, but they
have the broad head, the produced upper lip, and the
pendent ears. Their bodies are about a mean in size
between the mastiff and the bull-dog, and they are
rather more muscular than the first of these, and less
so than the second. Their covering is very short and
close, but, as is the case with all dogs in a state of
complete domestication, their colours are very various.

There are many breeds of what may be called
useless dogs belonging to the short-nosed division, of
which it will be quite enough to mention a few of the

names ; and, indeed, they may all be regarded as in
some way or other varieties of the pug-dog, which is
a cowardly little animal, and at the same time snap-
pish, and not susceptible of much education, or much
attachment even to those who make a pet of it.

Cuban Mastiff.

The enumeration which we have given includes at
least as full a view of the leading varieties of the dog
as is necessary for the purposes of general knowledge,
that is, for those who are neither professional zoolo-
gists nor dog-fanciers, and, of course, the technical
information which they require would be useless to
the public. We shall, therefore, close this article by
one or two remarks on the dreadful malady to which
this faithful, and, in its own place, valuable race of
animals, is sometimes subject, and which, in the
bitterness of their own agony, they sometimes most
unhappily impart to human beings. This is the
malady usually designated as canine madness, from
its affecting dogs more readily than any other
animals ; and it is also called hydrophobia, because a
dread of water is usually, though not invariably, one
of its symptoms. But neither of those names is
exactly expressive of the nature and characters of this
dreadful malady — a malady which is more terrible
than any other casualty to which human nature is
subject, and which, we may add, is generally or inva-
riably communicated by dogs which are altogether
useless to their keepers, and very often nuisances to
every one else. The most usual symptoms of this
malady are said to be dulness, loss of appetite, and,
in particular, a departure from the animal's ordinary
habits. If a stick, held out by a person with whom
it is familiar, excites resentment, this is reputed an
infallible criterion. But the dog still continues
tractable, and the persons generally around it are the
least in danger 01 attack. Its voice next becomes
more of a continued howl, with the head elevated in
the air ; great anxiety appears ; it labours under
apparent suffering, and testifies the strongest im-
patience of controul. At length it eagerly hurries
from the house to which it has always been attached —
it bites every animal in the way — its pursuit is inces-
sant of all except mankind, for they are more rarely
the objects of injury ; and, when worn out with
wandering, it will sometimes return. If escaping
intentional destruction, the dog seldom survives the
fourth or fifth day, refusing all food, and dying raging
mad. It is a lamentable fact, that a mortal malady,
known by the name of hydrophobia, may be imparted

by the bite of a dog indisputably rabid ; but this
distemper does not invariably ensue ; neither can
it be correctly designated the dread of water, for
some dogs lap that fluid readily, from the fever
affecting them, though they are unable to swallow it,
Instant excision of the wounded part is always
considered prudent, where it may be safely per-
formed ; and of late, excessive bleeding, such as
repeatedly deprives the patient of sense and motion,
seems to have been practised with success. More
recently, this and some other spasmodic diseases,
which are generally found to be incurable by any oi
the ordinary modes of treatment, have been treated
by inoculation with hydrocyanic (prussic) acid, wourali
poison, and some other of those substances or prepa-
rations which are most immediately fatal to life.
The object is to produce a complete suspension of all
the functions of the system — a sort of temporary
death, as it were ; and then, if the patient can be
resuscitated from this temporary death, the disease is
found to have left him. This is a desperate means
of cure, and may be expected to be in most cases as
bad as the disease, in so far as the life of the patient
is concerned ; but, even if the application is followed
by death, the quantity of suffering is very much
abridged by it ; and as there is a ray of hope, though
a very faint one, the application is justifiable in
extreme cases, but in such cases only. The rationale
of the application appears to be this : — All spasmodic
diseases, or diseases which affect the functions of
life rather than any part of the organ'sation, com-
pletely cease when life is extinct, without continuing
in the form of putridity in the dead subject, as is the
case with diseases of the organisation. Hence, if we
can cause the life utterly and completely to cease,
even for an instant, the disease is destroyed ; and as
the life is intimately connected with the organisation,
while the disease is not, there is, as it were, a smoulder-
ing ember of the one, which lingers for a little after
the other is gone ; and if the proper stimuli can be
applied to the organisation, so as to make it re-act
and the life to return, it returns altogether freed from
the disease. How long this power of re-action may
continue, is a very nice and delicate, and must vary
with the circumstances of each particular case. But
the subject is one of the deepest interest, and emi-
nently deserving of the most minute, careful, and
scientific investigation by those whose profession it is
to watch over the health of themselves and their
fellow-men. It is of much too abstruse and delicate
a nature for popular discussion, and even in the
medical world it is new, and safe only in the hands of
the most CM nt ions and skilful.

DOG POISON is the Mtlmm ci/napium or fool's-
parsley of Linnaeus, a common British weed.

DOG'S-BANE is the Apocynum androstcmi/oliiim
of Linnaeus ; a flower-border plant of easy culture.
The Accmitum cynoctonum of Reichenbach is also
called dog-'s-bane.

DOG'S-TAIL GRASS is the Cynosurus cristaius
of botanists, and a valuable agricultural plant, as form-
ing a chief part of the herbage on upland meadows
and pastures. It is the Hendon Bent, so much prized
in the London hay-rnarkets. This grass is always
chosen as part of the mixture of seeds for laying
down permanent meadows or pasture land.

DOG'S-TOOTH VIOLET is the Erythronium
dens Cants of Linnaeus, a beautiful tuberous-rooted
perennial herb, belonging to Hcxandria Monogynia,

DOG POISON — DOLOMEDES. 333

and to the natural order Liliaceee. See ERYTHRO-

NIUM.

DOG-WOOD is the Cornim Suecica of Linnseus.
DOLICHOPID.E. A family of dipterous insects
belonging to the section Tanystmna of Latreille, com-
prising an extensive group of flies, having the body
generally compressed, the head triangular and slightly-
produced into a muzzle in front, the abdomen curved
downwards at the extremity, and the legs very Ion*
and furnished with numerous small spines ; the a£
tennse are short and composed of three joints with an
articulated bristle ; the wings have only one or two
discoidal cells, the nervures nearly resembling those
of the common fly.

These insects, which are generally found in damp
situations, seldom exceed in size the domestic fly,
have the body highly ornamented with green and
other metallic tints, and in many species various re-
markable sexual and other peculiarities are to be ob-
served which are not found in other dipterous insects.
They reside upon the leaves of plants, where their
agility and brilliant colours render them conspicuous ;
others are to be seen running along the margins of
streams ; they seldom are observed extracting the
honey from flowers, but rather sip the dew from the
leaves. They walk sideways with as much facility as
in a straight line. M. Macquart has observed one of
them which had seized the larva of one of the small
cicadas, the body of which was half hidden within the
large lips between which it was introduced, the sucker
of the mouth being at the same time employed in ex-
tracting its fluids. According to De Geer, the larva
of one of the species resides under ground, where the
pupa is transformed.

There are numerous generic and subgeneric divi-
sions established in this group, founded upon structural
characters, but which it would be tedious in a work
like the present to detail. The typical genus is Doli-
chopus of Fabricius, of which there are thirty British
species, including the Musca nobilitatis of Linnaeus.
The student should consult Mr. Haliday's Memoir,
published in the Zoological Journal, No. 19, and
that published in a late number of the German
periodical, the Isis, in which numerous new species
are described.

DOLICHOS (Linnaeus) is a genus of annual and
perennial climbing plants, found in every quarter of
;he world. Class and order Diadelphia Decandna,
and natural order Leguminosee. Generic character :
;alyx bracteate, bell-shaped, five-toothed, two upper
teeth united ; standard spreading, furrowed at the
)ase ; keel angular, incurved, and obtuse ; style flat-
tened, bearded above ; pod compressed with contrac-
tions between the seed-cells. These plants are easy
of culture, growing in any kind of light soil, and may
>e propagated by cuttings : the annual sorts by seeds.
A great many new genera have been separated from
this.

DOLOMEDES (Latreille). A genus of erratic
spiders, having the eyes arranged in a quadrilateral
losition, but somewhat broader than long, and in three
ines, the anterior of which has four eyes, and the
two posterior lines two eyes each, the hinder pair
jeing slightly elevated on footstalks ; the second pair
of legs is as long as the first ; the lip is short and
quare. These spiders do not construct a web, but
jhase and run after their prey in the same manner as
the Saltici, a very active group, the species of which
are constantly to be observed on walls, creeping very
X2

324

DOMBEYA — DORITIS.

cautiously along, and jumping from considerable dis-
tances upon flies and other insects. The Dolomedcs,
however, at the period of laying their eggs, form a
little web upon the plants, within which a cocoon-like
mass may be observed which contains the eggs.
These they guard with great caution, as well as the
young as soon as they are hatched. Moreover, when
disturbed, they run off with their egg bag. The type
of the genus is the handsome Aranca marginata, found
on the margins of streams, and figured in Kirby and
Spence's Introduction to Entomology, vol. ii. pi. 5,
fig. 4.

DOMBEYA (Cavanilles). A genus of ornamen-
tal trees, indigenous to the islands of Bourbon and
Mauritius. Linntean class and order, Monadelphia
Dodecandria, and natural order Byttncriaceae. Gene-
ric character : calyx five-parted ; stamens numerous,
growing out of the base of the tube. Ligulae long,
and linear between every three stamens ; style fili-
form, five-cleft at top, stigmas reflexed : capsules five,
one or many-seeded, two-valved, united ; seeds ob-
long. These plants are grown in loam and moor-
earth, and are propagated by cuttings in sand in a
moist heat.

DO NAG I A (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous
insects belonging to the section Tetrumera and family
Crioceridte, having the body oblong and depressed,
the antennae moderately long and of equal thickness
throughout, the posterior thighs often thickened and
toothed beneath, the jaws robust with two or three
acute terminal teeth, and the terminal joint of the
tarsi received between the lobes of the third joint.
These insects, of which there are upwards of twenty
British species, are of elegant form, and generally
ornamented with brilliant colours of a metallic kind.
They are also furnished with a silky down on the
under surface of the body, which is of service to them
by preventing them from sinking when they fall into
the water, upon the plants growing in which they re-
side often in considerable numbers. In the twelfth
number of the Magazine of Natural History is con-
tained an account of the discovery of the egg-shaped
transparent brown cases of one of the species con-
taining the perfect beetle, on the stems of Arundo
phragmites, close to the root, and immersed in the
water or mud. It is not, however, stated at what
period of the insect's existence these cases (which are
described as the winter quarters of the Donacia} were
constructed It might indeed be inferred from the
perfect beetles being found in them that they were
constructed by the beetles for their abode. But that
they were intended neither for permanent nor occa-
sional abodes is evident from the external habits of
the insects. They might perhaps indeed be supposed
to be constructed by the beetles for their winter
abodes, but, as Messrs. Kirby and Spence observe,
" it does not appear that any perfect insect has the
faculty of fabricating for itself a winter abode similar
to those formed of silk, &c. by some Iarva3. Schmid
indeed has mentioned finding Rhagium mordax and
Inquisitor (beetles nearly related to Donacia) in such
abodes, constructed, as he thought, of the inner bark of
trees ; but these, IHiger has suggested, were more
probably the deserted dwellings of lepidopterous
larva;, of which the beetles in question had taken
possession." The ciicumstance of the cases of the
Donacia being found at the root of the plants im-
mersed in the water is sufficient to prove that they
were not formed by the beetle, since it cannot be

supposed that an insect living above the surface of
the water and constantly on the wing would select a
spot for its winter abode beneath the surface of the
water. It only therefore remains to regard these
cases as the production of the larvae, within which
the perfect beetles are transformed at an early period,
so as to take advantage of the first fine days of spring ;
and indeed Messrs. Kirby and Spence expressly state
" that amongst the larva? which enclose themselves in
silken cocoons are those of the brilliant beetles fre-
quenting aquatic plants, constituting the genus Donacia
[Fabricius), and that the case of D.fasciata is fastened
by one side to the roots or surculi of Typha latifulia ;"
and the following observations from the same authors
will perhaps be regarded as sufficient authority for
our regarding the larvae as the architects of the cells,
and at the same time for enabling us to account for
the disco very, of the perfect beetles in the winter: —
Insects of the beetle tribe, especially such as undergo
their metamorphosis under ground, in the trunks of
trees, &c., are often a considerable time alter quitting
the puparium before their organs acquire the requisite
hardness to enable them to make their way to the
surface ; thus the newly disclosed imago of Cctonia
aurata remains a fortnight under the earth ; and that
of Lucanus cervus, according to lloesil, not less than
three weeks."

One of the handsomest, and, at the same time, most
abundant species, is the D. Proteus, so named from
the endless variety of colours which it assumes, vary-
ing from a rich red to copper, purple, blue, green,
bronze, &c. It is to be met with upon plants in
ditches in almost every situation, and is about one
third of an inch long. There are about twenty other
British species.

DON AX is the specific name of the arundo-donax
of Withering, a reed common in the south of Europe.
DORCUS (Macleay). A genus of stag- beetles
(Lucanidce'), distinguished by having the jaws but of
moderate size, the antennae terminated by a four-jointed
sub-perfoliated club, the head very broad, and the
upper lip distinct The only British species is the
small stag-beetle (Lucanus par allel&pipedus, Linnaeus),
which is about an inch long, a little more or less, and
of a black colour. It is found in decaying trees in
various parts of the country.

DORIPPE (Fabricius). A curious genus of crus-
taceous animals belonging to the Brachyurous decapods,
or crabs, and to the section Notopoda of Latreille, so
named in consequence of two or four of the posterior
legs being rudimental and dorsal. The shell is of mi
ovoid form, truncate behind, the claws are very small,
and the four hind legs short and slender. There are
three Mediterranean species of crabs belonging to
this genus, of which the Cancer lanatus of Linnaeus is
the type.

DORITIS, Fabricius; (PARNASSIUS, Latreille). A
handsome genus of butterflies (Lepidopte}-a diurnn],
differing from the true genus Papilio, Machaon, t-jr.,
by having the palpi evident, in front of the head, and
composed of three distinct joints. The club of ihe
antennae is short. The females have a kind of cor-
neous pouch at the extremity of the abdomen'. The
caterpillars, like those of the true papiliones, have ilia
neck furnished with a retractile fleshy appendage, but
they differ from the majority of butterfly-caterpiliais
in constructing a cocoon, in which they are trans-
formed into chrysalides. The species, of which there
are but few in number, inhabit the mountainous dis-

DORONICUM — DORY.

tricts of Europe, being- found upon the Alps, &c.
The type is the Papilio Apollo of Linnaeus, which,
like most of the species, is of a white colour, with four
eye-like spots with red and black circles.

DORONICUM (Linnaeus). A genus of herbs,
chiefly European, belonging to Syngcnesia superflua,
and to the natural order Composites. These plants
grow freely in any garden soil, and are easily in-
creased by division : they flower early in the spring.
Leopard's Bane is their English name.

DORSTENIA (Linnaeus). A genus of plants,
remarkable for their manner of flowering. Linnsean
class and order Tetrandfia Monogynia, and natural
order Urticecc. Generic character : receptacle fleshy,
somewhat concave, quadrangular or roundish, bearing
both male and female flowers. Perianthe none ;
stamens mixed with styles ; anthers two-celled ; styles
laterally bifid ; seeds naked, in cavities of receptacle.
This plant is cultivated in the stove more as a vege-
table curiosity than for its beauty, for neither its
flower or foliage can be called handsome. It is
easily increased by dividing the root or by seed.

p'ORTHESIA (Bosc). A genus of small but
curious insects, nearly allied to the COCCID^E, which
see. The species are found upon plants, the males
are adorned with a long and pencil-like tail, and the
females are covered with waxen scales of various
forms, which give them a very remarkable appear-
ance. They are of small size.

DORY, DOREE, or " JOHN DORY," — Zeus faber.
A celebrated species of fish belonging to the spinous
finned order, the mackerel family, and the genus
Zem; but because it has been in all ages a fish of
some celebrity, we have deemed it necessary to give
a short account of it under its common English name.
" John Dory," its usual name among the fishermen,
has no connexion with the name John any more than
anchovy has with the name Anne, though every one
must be aware of the punning allusion to eating dory
with anchovy sauce, as being " the legitimate mar-
riage of John Dory and Anne Chovy."

This fish was known to the Greeks and to the
Romans, and the former have left evidence of the
estimation in which they held it, in having named it
after Zeus or Jupiter, the captain-general of the gods.
Nor are we without evidence of the esteem in which
this fish was held by the monastic epicures of the
middle ages, for it was one of those fishes which they
coupled, by means of legendary fables, with the sacred
name of the founder of Christianity. Whenever we
find any fish or other animal thus connected, we may
always make certain that such fish or animal is a
bonne bouche, for the very same reason that the term
Lachrymce Christi has been applied to the most luscious
production of the vine. Thus, though those fables
are, to say the best of them, specially absurd in their
original application, they all afford some useful lesson
in the way of good eating, and there is no reason why
we should throw away this because it is connected
with an absurd fable. The ocellated spots, which
are so conspicuous in the dory, are like those less
conspicuous ones on the haddock, the marks left by
the finger and thumb of St. Peter, as he held the fish
m the one hand, and took the tribute money out of its
mouth with the other. It does uot appear that the
inventors of this fable, who no doubt had a view to
the ample supply of these half-canonised fishes, had
much regard to the apostle's character for cleanliness ;
for, if they had reflected a little, they must have per-

325

ceived how shockingly dirty the thumb and finder
must have been in order to stain fishes with indelible
black spots down to perhaps the thousandth genera-
tion, and as much longer as this species may tenant
the sea. As the one piece of tribute rnonev could
not well be taken out of the mouths of two fishes,
neither of which is, we believe, to be found in any of
the salt lakes of Judea, which are the only seas alluded
to in the Gospels, therefore the dory gets another chance
of having received these spots as a mark of such saint-
ship as credulity might suppose to belong to a fish.
It is said that St. Christopher, while wading through
an arm of the sea with our Saviour on his back, caught
a dory, and impressed the spots witii his thumb and
finger, which is of course as ridiculous as the former
story, and meant to answer exactly the same purpose.
Our common name John Dory is clearly nothing
more than a corrupt pronunciation of the French term
for the colour of the lighter parts of the fish, which is
yellow with metallic reflections, when the fish is alive,
and therefore very properly styled jaune doree, or
gold and yellow.

We shall avail ourselves of Mr. Yarrell's very ex-
cellent and accurate description of this fish in his
work on the history of British fishes ; and we do this
the more readily, that it gives us an opportunity of
saying that this work is one of the few which tend to
confer the highest honour upon the author, and ren-
der the greatest assistance to the public in the real
knowledge of the subject. " The body of the dory,"
says Mr. Yarrell, " is oval, very much compressed ;
the head large ; the mouth capable of great protrusion,
so much so, that from the point of the lower jaw,
when extended, to the posterior angle of the opercu-
lum is as long as from that angle to the base of 'the
caudal rays. The length of the head when the mouth
is not projected is nearly as long as the body is in
depth. The mouth large ; the teeth small and nu-
merous, placed in a single row in each jaw, and curv-
ing inwards ; the eyes large, situated laterally and
high up on the head ; irides yellow ; a spine behind
and over each orbit, about half way between the eye
and the first ray of the spinous portion of the dorsal
fin ; the spines of the first dorsal fin very long, the
longest half as long as the body is deep ; the mem-
brane between the spines ending in a filament three
times as long as the rays. The base of the second
dorsal fin about as long as that of the first ; the rays
flexible, and only half as high as those of the first ;
the pectoral fin small and short, ending on a line with
the anterior edge of the dark spot on the side ; the
ventrals very long and slender ; arising in advance of
the pectorals, the rays reaching as far back as the first
flexible ray of the anal ; the first spinous ray of the
anal fin is on a line with the posterior edge of the
dark spot, and with the sixth spinous ray of the dorsal ;
the flexible portion commences and ends nearly on
the same planes as the flexible dorsal. The tail is
narrow, long, and slender ; the lateral line, advancing
at first straight, afterwards rises in an elevated arch
over the dark spot, which is placed at about the
diameter of its own breadth behind the posterior angle
of the operculum. A row of spiny scales pointing
backwards are ranged along the base of the dorsal
and anal fins on both sides.

" The prevailing colour of the body is an olive
brown, tinged with yellow, and reflecting in different
lights, blue, gold, and white ; when the living fish,
just taken from the net, is held in the hand, varying

326

DORY

tints of these different colours pass in rapid succession
over the surface of the body. The membranes of the
flexible portions of the fins are light brown ; those of
the spinous portions are much darker.

" A large portion of the dorees supplied to the
London fish market is brought by land carriage from
Plymouth and some other parts of the Devonshire
coast. Being a ground fish, they are little or none
the worse for keeping till the second or third day.
Montagu, disliking the toughness of a fresh-caught
dory, says they are most palatable after keeping two
days. Fish for the supply of the London market was
not brought by land carriage until the year 1761.
Steam boats seem likely to effect another change. In
the summer of 1834, a cargo of salmon from Scotland
was deposited in the London market within forty
hours."

The dory is not a very common fish upon the
British shores ; and its appearance is apparently ca-
nricious as well as local. It belongs to warmer seas,
and therefore it is never found on the north and north
east coasts of the island, and very rarely on the east,
and not, we believe, further to the northward than
the coast of Norfolk, upon which it may be considered
more in the light of a stray than of a regular visitant.
On the south-west coast it is much more common,
being sometimes abundant on the shores of Cornwall
and Devon, though rarely further to the eastward.
In Ireland it comes round both ends of the island, as
far as Waterford on the south, and the coast of Antrim
on the north. From this we may conclude that it
should be found all along the west coast of that island.
Thefe are, however, some difficulties attending both
the places and seasons of resort of those wandering
fishes to which the dory belongs. Though classed
with the mackerel family, the greater number of which
are surface fishes, and migratory in shoals with con-
siderable regularity of season, the dory is described
by Mr. Yarrell, and all those who have the best
opportunities of ascertaining its habits, as being " a
ground fish." From the structure of the fish, the
habits of the rest of the family, and the situations in
which this particular member of it is found, we should
not be inclined to give it so deep a situation in the
waters as that of an absolute ground fish ; though it
certainly does inhabit lower down than most of the
others. According to Mr. Couch, it follows the
shoals of pilchards, and also feeds on the cuttle, which
is not, any more than the pilchard, an inhabitant of
the sea bottom ; and the same authority, and we
believe he will not be questioned as to the accuracy
of his facts, mentions that the dory is seen floating
along with the current, which again is not the habit
of a ground fish. The produced filaments, the singu-
lar shape, and the means of entanglement which the
whole external structure of the dory presents, clearly
point it out as a fish which has not much command
of itself in the water, and therefore as one which must
be to a very great extent at the mercy of every cur-
rent in which it happens to be taken. But at the
same time the structure of the fish corroborates the
facts mentioned by Mr. Couch, as to the floating of
this fish being nearer the surface of the water than
the bottom. We are not acquainted with any habitual
ground fish with a compressed body, at least with the
compressed body so placed as that its motion in the
water is, with the most extensive dimension, vertical.
All the flat fish, which are ascertained to be bottom
ones, have the breadth of the body turned the other

way, and there is not one of them furnished with fins
bearing the least analogy to those of the dory. Their
organs of motion are all constructed for acting most
effectively either upwards or downwards, and they
are in general short, and continuous round the extre-
mities in the flattened direction. The organs of the
dory are, on the other hand, chiefly constructed for
lateral motion, without any powers of ascent and de-
scent so strikingly indicated as we find them in the
flat fishes. If, therefore, the authorities are correct
in stating that the dory is a ground fish, it forms a
curious anomaly to the generality of fishes which
have that habit, and may be regarded as being as
great a curiosity in natural history as it is in the
annals of superstition and gastronomy. It is well
known that Quin, who was equally remarkable for hia
comic powers in the theatre, and his epicurean pro-
pensities at the table, contributed mainly to bring this
fish into that public notice which it has since enjoyed ;
and as the circumstances of this case are calculated to
throw some light both on the fish and the man, we
shall venture to give an anecdote riot, we believe,
generally known, which Mr. Yarrell quotes from a
manuscript of the amiable and indefatigable Colonel
Montagu. " It is now," says the colonel, " about
sixty years (at present, 1835, it is nearer eighty) since
the celebrated Mr. Quin, of epicurean notoriety, first
discovered the real merit of the doree ; and, we be-
lieve, from him originated the familiar, and we may
say national, epithet of ' John Dory,' as a special mark
of his esteem for this fish ; a name by which it is
usually known in some parts, especially at Bath,
where Quin's celebrity as the prince of epicures was
well known, and where his palate finished its volup-
tuous career. Notwithstanding the numerous anec-
dotes recorded of this gentleman, as famous for his
love of good living as for his excellence as a comedian,
and who shone equally as a ban vivant as in the cha-
racter of Falstaff, we may be allowed to record one
more in honour of both the person who brought the
doree into such high estimation and of the fish itself.
An ancestor of ours, a Mr. Hedges, was an intimate
friend of Quin, and was induced by him to take a
journey from Bath to Plymouth, on purpose to eat
' John Dory ' in the highest perfection, not only from
procuring it fresh, but with the additional advantage
of having it boiled in sea water, a matter of very
great importance to the palate of Quin. As this
journey was purposely taken to feast on fish, their
stay at Plymouth was not intended to exceed a week,
by which time they expected to have their skins full
of doree ; but that no opportunity might be lost, Quin
left strict charge with the host at Ivybridge to pro-
cure some of the finest doree he could get for his dinner
on his return, fixing the day. Whether our celebrated
epicure was disappointed in his expectations at Ply-
mouth is not recollected ; but that he might have the
provided fish at Ivybridge in the highest perfection,
and remarking that the place was too remote from
the coast to obtain sea water for dressing the dorees
anticipated, he ordered a cask of sea water to be tied
behind his carriage. Unfortunately the weather had
been stormy, and no fish of note could be procured.
Every apology was made by the host, who assured
him that an excellent dinner was provided, which, he
had no doubt, would be to his taste, but no fish. The
disappointment, however, was too great to be borne
with patience ; after having made a water-cart of his
carriage, and the appetite having been set for « John

DORYANTHES

Dory' boiled in sea water, no excuse, no apology
would satisfy Quin, and he declared he would not eat
in his house, but, like a ship in distress, threw his
water cask overboard, and pursued his journey not a
little sulky, till some fortunate stroke of' wit or some
palatable viand roused him to good humour. This
western tour of Quin's did not appear to have given
him mud) satisfaction, as may readily be imagined by
his reply to a friend on his return to Bath. Being
asked if he did not think Devonshire a sweet county,
' Sir,' said Quin, ' I found nothing sweet in Devon-
shire but the vinegar.' " Such is a specimen of
Quin's Ichthyoninn'ui, as left on record by Colonel
Montagu, and with it we shall close our short notice
of the dory, leaving the reader to judge whether the
history of the fish or the actor be the more curious
subject of the two.

DORYANTHES (Corrca do Serra). A large
herbaceous plant, a native 'of New South Wuh-s.
Class and order : Hexandria Afotiogyma, and natural
order AjnarylKdete, Generic character : flowers on a
bracteated fascicle ; corolla funnel-shaped, six-cleft ;
stamens inserted into the base of the segments ; fila-
ments awl-shaped ; anthers like fingers, erect, four-
sided ; style three-furrowed ; stigma three-sided ;
capsule three-celled, three-valved ; seeds disposed
in pairs. This gigantic herb bears cream-coloured
flowers, and does very well in a green-house. It
sometimes produces suckers, by which it may be
increased.

DORYLUS (Fabricius). A genus of singular
h yinenopterous insects, of which the males only have
hitherto been observed, belonging to the family of
j\IutiUid<E. The body is long, and the abdomen
knotted at the base ; the antennae are short and slen-
der, and inserted near the mouth, the various parts of
which are very small ; the legs are very short, with
the thighs flattened. There are at least, two species
inhabiting India and the Cape of Good Hope. The
writer ot this account has been informed by the cele-
brated African traveller, W. Burchell, Esq., that their
habits are nocturnal. The genus is represented in
South America by that of Labidus, which differs
chiefly in the structure of the mouth, and smaller size.
The type of the Dorylus is the Mutilla hclvola of
Linnsieiis.

DOVE'S FOOT is the Geranium molle of Lin-
naeus, a common British plant.

DRABA (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of small
herbaceous annuals, biennials, and perennials, natives
of the coldest and most rocky regions of Asia, Europe,
and America. They are tetradynamous, and belong to
Crucifera. Several species of this family are early
flowerurs, which gain them admittance into the
flower-gardens, and are particularly useful for rock-
work.,

DRACAENA (Linna?us). Tropical trees and
shrubs of a very unusual colour ; hence the name, as
their juice is said to furnish or resemble the drug
called dragon's blood. The flowers are hexandrious,
and the plant belongs to the order Asphodelece. Gene-
ric character : corolla spreading, regular, six-parted,
deciduous. Stamens inserted in the base of the
corolla ; filaments membranous at the base, thick in
the middle, and awl-shaped at the apex. Style rather
angular; stigma three-cleft ; berry six-furrowed, three-
celled, cells mostly one-seeded. ' These plants give
variety to the stove collection by reason of the deep
purple hue of the foliage. " Large cuttings root

-DRAGON-FLY. 327

freely by being stuck in the bark-bed in a brisk heat,"
— Sweet.

DRACOCEPHALUM (Linnasiis). A genus of
odoriferous annual and perennial herbs, mostly found
in the north of Asia, Europe, and America. Class and
order, Didynamia Gymnospermia. and natural order
Labiata;. The best known and most generally culti-
vated species of this genus is the D. Canariense, the
balm of Gilead, met with in every greenhouse, not
because of its beauty either of flower or foliage, but
entirely for its pleasant and powerful scent. It may be
propagated either by cuttings, seeds, or division of
the roots.

DRACONTIUM (Linnaeus). A genus of curious
creeping plants, natives of India, belonging to the
seventh class of Linnaeus, and to the natural order
Aroidcac. Generic character : spatha of one leaf ;
spadix cylindrical, to which the flowers are attached ;
perianthe cut into five or six petal-like scales ;
stamens inserted into the bases of the scales ; fila-
ments linear ; anthers oblong, two-celled, opening by
a pore at the top ; style elongated, three-sided ;
berry three-celled, three-seeded. These are plants
of no beauty, but curious in form. They grow in
any light soil, and are increased bv division.

'DRACOPHYLLUM (R. Brown). A genus of
handsome shrubs, natives of New Holland. Linncean
class and order, Pcntnndria Monogynia, and natural
order Epacridccc. Generic character : calyx five-
parted ; corolla tubular ; limb beardless, five-cleft ;
stamens below the germen, or fixed to the base of
the corolla ; anthers fixed by the back ; style simple;
stigma three-lobed ; five scales below the germen ;
capsule with a central placenta. These plants grow
well in the common compost of moor-earth, sand and
loam, and are propagated by cuttings.

DRAGON-FLY— Adder-bolt, or Horse-stinger.
The ordinary names by which numerous large species
of neuropterous insects, composing the families Libel-
lulidcc and AgrionidcE, are distinguished. Wherefore
such names as these should have been bestowed upon
the most harmless of insects we know not ; by the
French, the superior gallantry of whom is exhibited
even in the naming of an insect, they are termed De-
moiselles, from their elegant form and the delicacy of
their wings, which are transparent as gauze, often
ornamented with coloured spots, and exhibit, when
viewed in different lights, all the iridiscent tints of
the rainbow.

The structural characters of this group of insects
will of course be given under the systematic name,
we therefore proceed to their natural history.

Nothing can be more beautiful than to watch these
brilliant insects on a fine summer's day skimming'
over some standing water, and darting backwards and
forwards. The object of this continual flight is the
discovery and capture of small flies and other insects,
which constitute their food. Like the swallows, which
are their analogues, they have a mouth capable of
much distension, and the long abdomen acting as a
rudder enables them to effect the most perfect move-
ments in the air, so that an insect when observed has
but little chance of escape. Flies, moths, and even
butterflies are seized, and the Libelhda may often be
seen flying about with a large insect in its mouth,
more than equal in size to its own head. It is owing
to the numbers of insects frequenting such situations,
as well as to the circumstance that the Jjbellulee
are produced from aquatic larva?, that they are so

328

DRAGON-FLY.

commonly seen about water. Often two of these
insects may be observed flying together in a line, the
neck of the hinder one, which is the female, being
held by the extremity of the tail of the one in front,
or the male.

Shortly after this has been seen, in walking on the
banks of water, a rustling sound may be heard amongst
the aquatic plants growing thickly together, and which
is soon discovered to be caused by the wings of the
female touching the stems of these plants whilst in
the act of depositing her eggs on the water. During
this act the tail is beat upon the surface of the water
with rapid succession, until the eggs form a mass
somewhat like a bunch of grapes.

The larvae are soon hatched, and the insect retains
its aquatic habits until the moment when it assumes
the winged state. So long as they remain in the
water, they change their form but slightly, but
retain nearly that which they exhibit at their first
exclusion from the egg. Old Izaak Walton tells
us a marvellous story about a green caterpillar or
worm, as big as a peascod, " which I have seen, and
may therefore affirm it to be true," found upon a
privet hedge, and which was kept in a box, and fed
with privet, " but by some neglect in the keeper of
it, it then died, and did not turn to a fly ; but, if it
had lived, it had doubtless turned to one of those flies
that some call flies of prey, which those that walk by
the rivers may in summer see fasten on smaller flies,
and I think make them their food." This green
caterpillar was, however, doubtless that of the privet
hawk moth (Sphinx ligustre} ; and as this fine moth is
but seldom seen on the wing, it is not perhaps sur-
prising that the old fisherman should have supposed
that the large day-feeding caterpillar should turn to
the comparatively large day-flying dragon-fly.

The larvae of the dragon-flies have the body compa-
ratively short and thick compared to that of the perfect
insect ; they are provided with six moderately long
scaly legs. They shed their skin, and on becoming pupae
they are equally active as before, and have four small
scaly pieces, which are the cases in which the large fu-
ture wings are concealed. In their aquatic state these
insects have a remarkable apparatus attached to the
head, enabling them to seize their prey, which consists
of other aquatic insects. It is so admirably described
by Messrs. Kirby and Spence, that we give their
account, with some omissions, rather than attempt its
description afresh : — " One of the most remarkable
prehensile instruments, in which the art and skill of a
Divine mechanician are singularly conspicuous, and
which appears to be without a parallel in the insect
world, may be seen in the under lip of the various
species of dragon fly. In other larvae this part is
usually small and inconspicuous, and serves merely
for retaining the food and assisting in its deglutition,
but in these it is by far the largest organ of the
mouth, which, when closed, it entirely conceals, and
it not only retains, but actually seizes the animal's
prey by means of a very singular pair of jaws
with which it is furnished. Conceive your under
lip (to have recourse, as Reaumur did, on another
occasion, to such a comparison) to be horny instead
of fleshy, and to be elongated perpendicularly down-
wards, so as to wrap over your chin, and extend to
its bottom, that this elongation is then expanded into
a triangular convex plate attached to it by a joint, so
as to bend upwards again, and fold over the face as
high as the nose, concealing not only the chin and

the first-mentioned elongation, but the mouth and
part of the cheeks ; conceive, moreover, that to the
end of this last-mentioned plate are fixed two other
convex ones so broad as to cover the whole nose and
temples, that those can open at pleasure transversely,
like a pair of jaws, so as to expose the nose and
mouth, and that their inner edges, where they meet,
are cut into numerous sharp teeth and spines, or
armed with one or more long and sharp claws, you
will then have as accurate an idea as my powers of
description can give of the strange conformation of
the under lip in the larvae of the tribes of Libellulina,
which conceals the mouth and face precisely as I
have supposed a similar construction of your lip would
do yours. You will probably admit that your own
visage would present an appearance not very engaging
while concealed by such a mask ; but it would strike
still more awe into the spectators, were they to see
you first open the two upper jaw-like plates, which
would project from your temples like the blinders of
a horse ; and next, having, by means of the joint at
your chin, let down the whole apparatus*, and un-
covered your face, employ them in seizing any food
that presented itself, and conveying it to your mouth.
When the insects would make use of it, they unfold
it like an arm, catch the prey at which they aim by
means of the mandibuliform plates, and then partly
refold it, so as to hold the prey to the mouth in a
convenient position for the operation of the two pairs
of jaws with which they are provided. This conform-
ation BO exactly resembles a mask, that, if entomo-
logists ever went to masquerades, they could not
more effectually relieve the insipidity of such amuse-
ments, and attract the attention of the demoiselles,
than by appearing at the supper-table with a mask of
this construction, and serving themselves by its assist-
ance. It would be difficult, to be sure, by mechanism,
to supply the place of the muscles with which the
insect is amply provided, but Merlin, or his successor,
has surmounted greater obstacles. You will admire
the wisdom of this admirable contrivance, when you
reflect that these larvae are not fitted to pursue their
prey with rapidity like most predaceous animals, but

A, the pupa with Its mask extended. B, the same with the mask
closed, and discharging a current of water.

that they steal upon them, as De Geer observes, as
a cat does upon a bird, very slowly, and as if they
counted their steps, and then, by a sudden evolution

» Not only is the front piece let down as descnbed by Messrs.
Kirby and Spence, but the basal descending piece is subse-
quently capable of protrusion by a hinge at its base.

DRILUS— DRIMYS.

3-29

of this machine, take them, as it were, by surprise,
when they think themselves safe. De Geer says it
is very difficult for other insects to elude their attacks,
and that he has even seen them devour very small
fishes. As these animals are found in almost every
ditch, you will doubtless lose no time in examining
for yourself an instance of so singular a construction."

The formation of this organ varies slightly in the
different species, but the same general structure is
observable through the whole of them.

The observation of De Geer, quoted above, upon
the motions of these larvae and pupae, arises in some
respect from another remarkable peculiarity exhibited
by them, consisting of an instrument which serves for
progression, although more immediately connected
with the office of respiration. These insects have, at
the extremity of the body, an aperture serving for
the entry of a certain quantity of water, which there
undergoes a process by which the air contained in it
is rendered serviceable for respiration. The orifice
of this aperture is defended by five scaly pieces,
forming a kind of tail, and which are opened or shut
together at the will of the animal. When, therefore,
a supply of water has been taken into the cavity,
these external pieces are closed, and other internal
organs brought into action, for the purpose of extract-
ing the vital principle therefrom ; and when this has
been effected, the external pieces are suddenly thrown
open, and the internal fluid discharged with violence,
a sudden forward jerk being thereby given to the
body of the insect.

These insects live in the water ten or eleven
months preceding their final change, during which
period they change their skins several times. From
the middle of spring to the commencement of autumn,
the LibellulcE arrive at their perfect state. The
nymphs or pupae, ready to become winged insects,
are known readily by their larger size, and by the
iigure of their wing-covers, which become detached
from each other. They now quit the water, and
ascend the stems of any aquatic plant, so as to allow
their outer covering to dry and become brittle.
Some are ready to quit their old covering in the
course of two or three hours ; others are so much as
an entire day before this takes place. After this

A, the dragon-fly making its exit from the pupa. B, the sam
drying its wings.

process has taken place, the pupa attaches itself to ;
twig by means of its legs. Internal movements ar<
now perceived, and the skin splits down the back
the slit gradually increasing in size, until a sufficien
orifice is made to allow the head and legs to b<
drawn out, the head being thrown backwards, and th

erminal abdominal segments still remaining in the

)upa skin, serving to support the insect. After

emaining some time in this position, it again raises

ts head and body, seizes the stern of the plant with

ts fore legs, and draws out the remainder of the

abdomen. In this position it remains a considerable

pace of time, until its wings, which hang downwards

and which, at first, are not larger than the cases by

vhich they were covered), acquire their full size and

beautiful gauze-like appearance. At the end of a

couple of hours the insect is able to support itself in

he air on the wing.

There are numerous species of dragon-flies, of
which many are natives of this country. Some of
them, forming the modern restricted genus Libcllula,
are remarkable for the diversity of colour in the
opposite sexes, the abdomen in the males being of a
jeautiful blue, and that of the female yellow. The
argest species of the group found in England is the
Anax imperator, a noble species, a solitary specimen
f which we observed, during several weeks, hovering
over the same little pond on Wimbledon Common,
Surrey, during the present summer.

DRILUS (Olivier). A genus of coleopterous in-
sects, belonging to the section Pentamera, sub-section
Serricornes, and family Lampyrida;, having the an-
tennas remote at the base, the head not narrowed in
front into a snout, and the eyes of ordinary size in
both sexes. The females are, however, destitute of
wings, and their antennas are but slightly serrated,
whereas those of the males are very strongly pecti-
nated. The mandibles are slender and acute at the
tips, with a tooth near the extremity.

The genus is composed of but a few small species,
of which the males only, until very recently, were
known. Naturalists were also ignorant of their me-
tamorphoses. We are indebted to the Count Meil-
zinsky for the first account of the femalo, and the
transformations of the genus, which, as well as the
economy of the species, are very curious. The larva
is about three quarters of an inch long, and is found
in the interior of the shell of the common snail (Helix
ncmoralis of Linnaeus), upon (he inhabitant of which
it feeds. When full grown (about the month of
September), it remains for some time in an inactive
state, during which period it was regarded by M.
Meilzinsky to be in the state of the pupa. The
observations of M. Desmarest proved such not to
be the case. The latter author also ascertained, that,
having remained in this inactive state until the month
of May, the larva is transformed into a real pupa, in
whiclTstate it continues perfectly inactive, unless when
touched, when a drop of yellowish fluid is exuded
from the sides of the body. M. Meilzinsky, not being
aware of the connection of this insect with the well-
known Drilus Jlavescens, regarded it as a distinct
genus, to which he gave the name of Cochlcoctonus
vorax, establishing the genus upon the peculiarities
observable in the large and unwieldy females, which
are destitute of wings and wing-covers, like the
"low-worm, and which nothing but direct observa-
tion would induce any one to regard as the other sex
of the small and pretty drilus. M. Desmarest, how-
ever, assisted by his pupils, succeeded in rearing the
apterous females from M. Meilzinsky's pupae, and
not only observed the coupling of the cochleoctonus
and drflus, but also found, within one of the snail
shells, the exuvias of the male drilus, and which were
easily recognisable from the peculiar construction of

DRIMIA — DRYPTA.

the strongly pectinated antenna;, the cases of which
were distinctly observable.

DRIMIA (Jacquin). A genus of bulbous plants,
introduced from the Cape of Good Hope. They
belong to the class Hexandria, and to the natural
order Asphodeleae. Generic character : corolla bell-
shaped, six-cleft, segments revolute ; stamens inserted
into the base of the corolla ; filaments as long as the
corolla; anthers roundish; style protruding; stigma
headed ; capsule three-celled, many-seeded. Leaf-
mould and loarn mixed is the most suitable soil for
these bulbs, which require no water when dormant,
but they should be fresh potted before they begin
to grow, to ensure their flowering, and propagated by
offsets.

DRIMYS (Forster), is a tree introduced from
the Straits of Magellan by Captain King. Class
and order Polyatuiria Tetrngynia, and natural order
Magnoliacece. This tree yields the true Winter baric,
a valuable medicine, and which would be a great
acquisition if it could be cultivated in any of the
British colonies.

DROMIUS (Bonelli). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Pentamera, family
Carabidas, and distinguished from Demetrius, with
which it is united by the French authors, by its
broader outline, shorter mandibles, simple fourth joint
of the tarsi, and the greater length of the second
joint of the antennae. The species are of small size,
and are found beneath the bark of trees, in sand and
gravel pits, &c. They are very active, and often
prettily ornamented. There are about fifteen British
species, of which the synonyms are very confused.
See the Second Part of the Transactions of the En-
tomological Society of London for a valuable paper
upon the species of this genus, by Mr. Babington.

DRONE. A name ordinarily given to any mo-
derately large and sluggish fly, but strictly belonging
to the male of the hive bee. See BEE. Many
dipterous insects, indeed, so much resemble bees,
that it is difficult to convince the ordinary observer
of nature that they are not stinging insects. The
possession, however, of only a pair of wings, is
sufficient to show their harmlessness so far as stinging
is concerned. Moreover, even the true drone, al-
though a four-winged hymenopterous insect, is desti-
tute of any sting, that weapon of defence being given
only to the females and abortive females, or neuters.

DROP WORT is the Spircea filipendula, or Queen
of the Meadow, a common British plant found on
the banks of rivers, or on damp meadow ground.
Three varieties of it are in flower gardens.

DROSERACE^E, the Sundew family, a natural
order of dicotyledonous plants, containing seven or
eight genera, and between forty and fifty species. It
is closely allied to Violaceee, but differs in its circinate
vernation, in having several styles, a minute embryo,
and exstipulate leaves. It also bears a relation to
Saxifragece, from which it is distinguished by its sta-
mens being hypogynous.

Its essential characters are : sepals five, persistent,
equal, with an imbricated estivation ; petals five,
hypogynous ; stamens distinct, withering, either equal
to the petals and alternate with them, or two, three,
or four times as many ; anthers two-celled, opening
longitudinally ; ovary single, sessile ; styles from three
to five, more or less combined ; capsule one to three-
celled, and with from three to five valves which bear
the seeds along the middle or at their base ; seeds

either naked or furnished with an arillus ; enibrvo
straight, erect, in the centre of a fleshy or cartilagi-
nous albumen ; radicle directed to the 'hilum.

The plants belonging to this order are delicate
herbs frequently covered with glandular hairs. Their
leaves are alternate, and have a circinate aestivation.

They are found in marshy and inundated places,
in many parts of the world,— in Europe, East Indies,
China, Cape of Good Hope, North and South Ame-
rica, and New Holland.

Their properties are comparatively unimportant :
some of them are acrid.

The chief genera are Drosera, Dioneea, and Droso-
pJiyllum.

Parnassia, formerly included in this order, is more
properly reierred to Scucifragece.

The genus Drosera, or Sundew, contains upwards
of thirty species, three of which are natives of Britain.
They are remarkable for their viscid glandular hairs,
which detain and destroy insects. They are rather
acid and slightly acrid, and are said to be poisonous
to cattle. The leaves have the power of curdling
milk. The name Sundew is derived from the circum-
stance of the leaves supporting small drops of a pel-
lucid liquid like dew, even in the hottest part of the
day, and in full exposure to the sun.

Drosera rotundifolia, Ros solis, or round-leaved sun-
dew, is common in all the bogs of this country. It
has a caustic juice which has been used to destroy
warts or corns. Drosera communis of Brazil is stated
to be poisonous to sheep.

A famous Italian liqueur is called rossolLon account
of one of the drotcras being used in its manufacture.
Dioncea muscipula, Venus's fly-trap, is a remarkable
American plant, inhabiting the bogs of Carolina.
Its leaves are all radical, and are terminated by two
hemispherical lobes fringed with hairs. From the
inside of each of the lobes three erect, irritable bristles
proceed, which, when touched, cause the lobes to
collapse suddenly like a rat-trap. By this means
flies and small insects, attracted to the surface of the
leaves, are frequently imprisoned and destroyed.
The lobes afterwards gradually open and expand.

Drosophyllum Lmitanicum differs from the other
droseracece in growing on the barren sands of Portugal.

DRYADE^E is a section of Rosacece, and will be
noticed under that order.

DRYANDRA (R. Brown). A fine genus of
greenhouse plants, natives of New Holland. Class
and order Tetrandria Monogynia, and natural order
ProteacecB. Generic character : common involucrum
imbricated ; calyx four-cleft ; stamens resting in
cavities at the top of the calyx ; four scales below the
germen ; folliculus woody, and two-seeded. These
plants are nearly related to the Banksias, and require
similar treatment. Sandy loam and moor-earth suits
them best. Ripened cuttings, taken off at a joint,
and planted in sand on a very gentle heat, under
glass, generally make roots.

DRYPTA (Fabricius). A genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Pentamera, family
Carabidce, and sub-family Brachinides, having the neck
narrow, the head triangular, eyes prominent, the tarsi
with the penultimate joint dilated, and the second
joint of the antennas long. This genus comprises but
few species, one only of which, the beautiful D. emar-
ginata, Fabricius, inhabits this country. It is very
rare, of a rich blue colour, with the mouth, antenna-,
and legs red. It is found upon the coast.

DUCK.

331

DUCK — Anas. A genus or rather family of \vob-
footed birds, whose habits are, generally speaking,
aquatic, though some of them are more on the land,
and others more exclusively on the water. For their

relations to the rest of the feathered race, we
must refer the reader to the article BIRD, and some
of the particulars of their generic character will be
found in the article ANAS, so that all we are required
to do in the present article is to notice the habits and
lending characters of the more remarkable species.
If we take the family of Lrtmclliroslral, or flat-billed
birds, in its largest extent, it includes three groups,
which have all many characters in common, though
they have at the same time sufficient distinctions in
appearance, structure, and habit, to warrant their
being classed separately ; and indeed the genus or
group which we are now considering admits of sub-
division into sections or subgenera, and perhaps into
different genera. It is not, however, our object to
enter into any of the niceties of system, which are
usually uninteresting and unprofitable to genera!
readers, very nearly in proportion to the trouble which
they cost those writers to whom system is of more
importance than knowledge ; and thus we shall notice
them, as far as possible, under their common English
names. The greater divisions of the flat-billed family
may be said to be three — geese, swans, and ducks,
the first of these we shall notice under the article
GOOSE, and the second under the article SWAN, so
that in the meantime we shall have to notice only the
DUCKS properly so called. We may. however, men-
tion, as introductory to the first division which pre-
sents itself to us in the alphabetical order, that there
is a regular gradation in those three branches of this
extensive and important family of birds. The geese
are the least aquatic of the whole ; and in the finding of
their food they are birds of the bank and the meadow,
rather than of the stream and the lake ; and though
the name goose is properly applied to some of the
species which are marine or inhabit the sea, yet there
is no sea bird to which the term can with strict pro-
priety be applied. The geese are the most exclusively
vegetable in their feeding of the whole race, and they
very rarely eat any animal substance, neither are
they seed-eating birds, for their principal food is
grass or the green leaves of vegetables, especially
such as grow near the waters. The swans are much
more aquatic in their general habits, and seldom seek
their food upon the land, or extend their journeys far
from the water. They are, however, birds of the
fresh water only, and though they are excellent swim-
mers they find their food either in the floating sub-
stances which are found in rivers and ponds, or in
the roots of aquatic plants. They are indeed chiefly
river birds, and prefer running waters to stagnant
lakes and ponds, although they can live on the latter.
The natural habit of both these divisions of the family
is migratory, especially in the more tropical and the
more" polar parts of the world. This is easily ac-
counted for, from the simple fact of their being aquatic
birds ; for during the dry season the tropical waters
are entirely gone, and during the winter the polar
waters are sealed up by the frosts, and therefore un-
available for any kind of bird. This holds more espe-
cially with geese and swans, which are birds of the
fresh or land waters, than with ducks, many of which
are birds of the sea, or at least of the shores of the
great collections of salt water. That this should be
the case will readily appear when we consider that

the fresh waters freeze much more readily than the
sea does. There are several reasons why this should
be the case. In the first place the fresh waters, whe-
ther river or lake, are confined to the particular lati-
tudes in which they are situated ; and do not receive
any of the influence of more tropical latitudes, except
through the medium of the air and the earth. In the
second place those waters are generally speaking
much shallower than the sea. and therefore much
more subject to seasonal changes of temperature.
This circumstance is attended with very considerable
eifects upon the distribution of fresh water birds, and
is in fact one of the most effective causes in stimulat-
ing the migration of these animals. The fresh waters
are much more heated, and much more productive
both of animal and of vegetable life during the sum-
mer than the waters of the sea, and on this account
they attract the birds during this season ; but when
winter comes, the sealing up of them by the frost
puts an end to the supply, and such of the birds as
have not seaward habits are forced to make their
retreat to warmer climates during the winter.

Ducks are much more numerous in their species
and much more diversified in their characters than
either of the other two divisions of the family ; and
taking them altogether, they are perhaps the most
interesting of the whole. Upon looking back to the
article ANAS it will be seen that ducks admit of a
natural division into three groups, two of which have
very distinctive characters, while the third, which is
intermediate, partakes more or less of the characters
of both. They are also called by different names,
not only in scientific classifications, but in common
language, though the general character duck, founded
upon the mallard or common wild duck, may be con-
sidered as typical of the whole of them. Such as are
domesticated are very interesting and very valuable
birds. They are much more intelligent, and have far
more expression in their appearance than any of the
races of poultry; and from their habits, their food,
and their manner of feeding, they are much less de-
structive. Naturally they are very indiscriminate in
their eating, but they cannot be kept in good condi-
tion or fattened so that their food may be wholesome
unless they have access to pure water. Ducks which
are kept in the streets and lanes of towns, to pick up
any refuse that may be there, and left to dabble in
impure and stagnant waters, have never a handsome
appearance, neither are they wholsome as human
food , and it is worthy of remark, as showing the con-
dition of an animal in all the stages of its being, that
the eggs of those improperly treated and unwholesome
ducks are as unfit for food as the birds themselves.
There is another mode of keeping ducks sometimes
resorted to, which renders their flesh even more rank
and unwholesome than that of those which walk the
streets and dabble in the kennels ; and that is a
practice which is but too often resorted to by those
butchers which kill their own meat, of keeping ducks
in the yards of their slaughter-houses, to feed upon
the offal and garbage. For this purpose they have
generally a small nominal pond of water in the yard,
but instead of water it contains a solution of blood
and all other animal impurities, in a state of putrefac-
tion, or one approaching to it ; and therefore ducks
which are fattened in such places are absolutely filthy,
and partake as much of the nature of poison as of that
of food. While remarking on the subject, we may as
well add that pigs which are as miscellaneous feeders

332

DUCK.

as ducks, and which may be said to hold pretty nearly
the same rank among mammalia that ducks do among
birds, are often kept in the same places, and reared
in the same offensive and unwholesome way.

When ducks are kept in proper situations, have
due access to water, and are fed with proper food,
they are very profitable animals ; and though the
flavour of their flesh is peculiar, and the fat, like that
of all aquatic birds, is oily and indigestible, yet they
are far from being unwholesome. They are also
made more healthy than poultry, and we are inclined
to think that they are more prolific ; so that though
they are adapted only to particular situations, they
are birds eminently deserving the attention of country
people. If they have access to running streams, or
ponds of clean water, it is always preferable ; but the
common horse-pond at a farm-yard answers well
enough for ducks ; and as the pond itself serves many
useful purposes, it might not be amiss if such ponds
were more numerous, not only at farm -steadings, but
at the cottages of labourers ; as there are many little
animals bred in the ponds which form wholesome and
profitable food for the ducks, and at the same time
cost nothing, either in expense or in trouble. Marshes
and stagnant waters are objectionable in every coun-
try, because they poison the air for animal life, sour
it for vegetation, and foster the growth of plants
which are destructive both to the soil and to what is
attempted to be grown upon it ; but clear waters, on
the other hand, tend equally to the healthiness and
the fertility of the country.

Where there are ornamental pieces of water in
pleasure grounds, ducks can always be introduced
with very pleasing effect. This is the case not only
with all the varieties of the common domesticated
duck, but with even those species which, in their
natural habits, are the most seaward, even with those
which, in the wild state, are only seasonal or occa-
sional visitants. These migratory ducks may not
only be made to reside permanently on ornamental
waters, but they may be tamed so as to come and be
fed out of the hand, and, the pochards and gannets
especially, are so neat in their forms, so beautiful in
their plumage, and so lively in their motions, that it
is impossible not to like them. In fact, there is per-
haps no race of animals which can be turned to more
pleasant and more profitable account than the whole
family of the ducks.

But, though the ducks are thus highly interesting
in every point of view in which animals can be inte-
resting to man, they are comparatively little known,
and their history, as in the state of nature, is very
obscure. It has been but too much the custom with
writers on natural history that, when they have been
unable to point out the proper locality of any animal
at any season, they have invariably " sent it to Siberia."
put it into a sort of Arctic parchment. Thus it has
fared with many of the ducks ; but of those which
have been described as rearing their broods in the
inhospitable climes of the north, there are many which
have never been seen there. The habit of the whole
family in the breeding season is to be retired and
silent, and as all the wild ones breed in places which
are not easily accessible by man, we may naturally
suppose that they pass that season in places where
their presence is but little suspected. The writer of
this article has sometimes, when fishing on sedgy
streams in the uplands, hooked a mallard instead of a
trout, in situations where the voice of the wild duck

had not been heard for months ; and therefore he is
inclined to believe that many of those species which
are described in the books as being only winter visit-
ants are resident birds, only that they pass the sum-
mer dispersedly and in places where they have but
little chance of being seen. The males are peculiarly
retired and silent after the pairing time, and the
female does not come abroad until she is able to
launch her young ducklings upon the waters. And
there is not a finer sight in the whole of living nature
than this first launching of the ducklings upon that
element of which they are in future to be so much
the ornaments.

We shall now give a short enumeration of the lead-
ing species of these very interesting birds, beginning
with those which are the most landward in their
habits ; and without particular attention to the three
divisions which we mentioned in the article ANAS,
however, there is so regular a gradation in the whole,
that it is not very easy to say where the one begins
and the other ends. There are, however, two struc-
tural divisions which are not unworthy of attention,
as they form good indications of the habits of the
birds. They consist of those which have the hind
toe free, and those which have it webbed, and more
or less connected with the inner toe in front.

The whole of the duck tribe, whether those tha*
are more landward, or those which are more aquati'
in their habits, find their food more by the sense of
touch than by that of sight, and the bill is a very
beautifully organised instrument. It is covered by a
sentient membrane, and the edges, which come in
contact, are covered with papillae, and abundantly
furnished with nerves, so that, when a duck dabbles
in the water, the feeling of the bill enables it to dis-
tinguish eatable substances from the sludge and
pebbles with which they are mixed, and it literally
"silts" or "palts" the matters which it catches at
the bottom of the shallows.

In this character of the bill the ducks are very
superior both to the geese and the swans. They are
also much more compact in their plumage, and alto-
gether better fitted for the water. They are also
gayer in their colours, and in many of the specie?,
the males especially, are very beautiful. One exter-
nal character which distinguishes the greater number
of the ducks from all other birds, is a spot on the
secondary quills of the wings. This spot is always
different in colour from the surrounding parts, and it
generally is glazed with rich metallic reflections, on
which account it is designated the "speculum" and
the " beauty spot."

We shall now notice the leading species, beginning
with those which have the hind toe plain, or without
any membrane or web ; these also have the legs
articulated more forward, the tarsi larger and rounder,
the toes shorter, and the whole foot more adapted
for walking ; they also have the wings larger, and, as
one would say, more aerial in their structure. It
does not follow from this that they are better flyer?,
for some of the diving ducks are very alert on the
wing after they have gained their height, but the
feathering of the wings in the landward ducks is
much less compact than in the diving ones. The
latter use the wings as a fin or paddle in making their
way under water ; and to adapt it for this purpose,
there is a very beautiful compactness in the feathers
upon both sides of the wings. The wings, and,
generally speaking, the whole plumage of these birds,

DUCK.

is waterproof, and this quality is inherent in the

333

feathers, of their very nature, and not produced by
the application of the oil which is secreted by the
gland at the rump ; that the secretion of ihis gland is
used by birds in die " preening" or trimming of those
feathers, is certain ; but that it is the means by which
these are rendered waterproof, admits of considerable
doubt ; and the doubt is increased by the fact, that
the feathers on the head, and those other parts which
cannot be reached by the bill in preening, are just as
much waterproof as those which can be so reached.
It is therefore probable that the oil of the gland
answers the purpose of preventing the feathers from
adhering to the mandibles in the act of preening
rather than that of rendering- the feathers themselves
waterproof afterwards. This is a subject, however,
upon which information is still very much wanted,
though it is one which we might suppose is very open
to observation.

This arises, in a great measure, from the seasonal
habits of the birds, and it is common to the whole of
them. Whether they leave the country or not
during the breeding time, they always disperse, and
live in retirement in the fens and marshes, and,
generally speaking, in situations as inaccessible as
possible. Their nests are usual!}' concealed in tall
herbage, though there are instances of the same
species building on trees at a considerable height
above the ground. It seems, indeed, to be conceal-
ment, rather than the close vicinity of the water,
which is their object at this time. In the American
marshes, to which vast numbers of these birds resort
when the season sets in, the nests are, we believe,
chiefly upon the stumps of trees, or upon bushes, as
the ground is generally flooded about the time that
the nesting commences ; and some specimens from
that part of the world, which were at the gardens of
the Zoological Society, did not make any attempt at
nest-building until the keepers fell upon the contriv-
ance of placing a stake in the pond, upon the top of
which a nest was soon formed. The whole race are,
indeed, exceedingly cunning birds when in a state of
wild nature, although, as we have said, they are so
easily tamed, and so capable of attachment.

The great length of time which the feathers ol
flight require before they come to maturity, is another
means which prevents any of the duck tribe from
being seen ranging in the summer. They are prolific
birds, the eggs being from ten to eighteen. They
pair in spring ; the incubation lasts about thirty days,
and the young break the shell in the course of May,
sooner or later, according to the season and the
situation ; but, though the young are very active in
the water, and very fond of it from their very first
appearance, it is a long time before they become so
completely fledged as to be able to use their wings
Before this event, the old ones have mounted, anc
the whole may be said to be unfit for long flight
before the month of August, or even September
But the time which they spend in the fens am
marshy places is that at which such places abouiu
most in small animals, and when they are least coveret
with water. Thus the ducks fare plentifully ; anc
though the growth of their very close plumage
rather a severe operation, they are said to be ir
better condition while moulting than many other
birds are. In former times it was customary to
"drive" the young ducks, and also the old ones
while moulting, by a sort of general assemblage

he people in the fen countries ; and this sport, if
sport it could be called, was often so successful as
that a thousand birds were taken in one day. This
was most practised in Lincolnshire, and the other
'en counties, and was performed with a large net ;
jut it was considered so destructive of the breeds of
the animals, that the protection of Parliament was
extended to the ducks, at least for the period between
the 1st of June and the 1st of October, which
ncludes all the rearing of the young birds, and the
recovery of their feathers by the old ones. The slow
growth of the first feathers of the wings is a very
certain means of distinguishing young birds from old
ones. If, upon pulling a feather, the extremity of
the pipe or barrel has blood in it, the bird is young ;
but if the end of the feather is dry, the bird is old, at
least, it is not a year's bird, and these are always the
most delicate, the rankness of flavour, and also the
toughness, increasing with the age of the birds.

Ducks (we speak of them as in a state of nature
only) are not game, neither are they in themselves
property ; and when they are in the estuaries, or
otherwise on the broad waters, they areferte naturae,
and may be shot, or otherwise captured, by any one
who is afloat upon the water. If, however, they are
on any land which is property, they belong to the
proprietor while they remain there, arid the taking of
them in such a situation is a trespass. The places
where ducks haunt, when they are in season, are not,
however, the most inviting ones for genteel sportsmen,
and consequently trespass is not so much attended to-
as in most cases.

When the ducks flock they come to the estuaries-
and the low flats, where a considerable extent of
sludgy ground is alternately covered and left by the
tide. Such places contain, during the winter months,
a vast quantity of animal matter, partly that which
has been washed down by the autumnal rains, which
sweep a vast quantity of little animals and animal
remains from the upper country, and partly also by
small aquatic animals, which resort thither for t he-
purpose of enjoying that warmer temperature which
the top of the brackish water is known to possess
over both the salt water of the sea and the fresh of
the river. The deposits which are thus formed, and
which are the grand attractions for the dabbling
birds, are always great in proportion to the richne.--*
of the country, and the gentleness of the slope over
which the water descends. The first of these furnishes
the supply, and the second brings it down more
gradually, but at the same time more copiously and
completely, than if the stream ran with more violence.
Rivers which flow from large lakes by short courses,
and also rivers which come dashing through recks,
never form estuaries very favourable for duck>.
Hence we have only to look at the map, and study
the general features of a country, in order to ascer-
tain whether its shores are or are not well adapted
for the winter resort of these birds.

Now, when we look at the estuary of the Thames,
and also to many parts of the south coast of England,
we find that they have the duck characters in a very
eminent degree. None of the rivers come from lakes ;
their courses are, generally speaking, on a gentlo
slope with out-falls or interruptions ; the country
through which they come is rich, and there are vast
accumulations of mud. In consequence, the catching
of wild ducks, in which all the species are included,
though some of them are known by different names,

334

DUCK.

both popular and scientific, is carried on systematically
in those places, and the quantity captured is far
greater than one would suppose. There are various
methods of doing this ; but the chief, in point of
success, is the decoy ; and instances have been known
of eight hundred pounds being cleared one year by a
single decoy on the coast of Essex.

These decoys consist, in the first place, of an
expanse of water, which is called the pond, and
which is placed in the shelter of reeds, and, generally
speaking, also of bushes. The banks of the poud are
left clear for some little way, so that the birds may-
rest upon land, and, in short, this portion of the
contrivance is made as tempting as possible, as much
of the success depends upon this requisite. But,
though the ducks resort to the pond in vast numbers,
and pass the day in an inactive state, yet still great
skill, or, at all events, practice, is required in examining
the pond, because they are exceedingly watchful,
take wing on the least alarm, and do not readily
settle. The sense of smelling is remarkably acute in
those birds, as one might naturally suppose, from the
margins of their bills being so copiously supplied with
nerves. In consequence of this, when it becomes
necessary to approach them on the windward, it is
usual to carry a little bit of burning turf, the acid
smoke of which counteracts the smell of the carrier,
which would be sufficient to alarm the birds, except
for this precaution. The inland extremity of the
pond is formed into pipes, or funnel-shaped channels,
which narrow gradually, and have at the end a
permanent net placed upon hoops. This net forms
the trap in which the birds are taken often in vast
numbers at one time. In order that the decoy may
be worked in all weathers, it is necessary that there
should be one to suit each of the prevailing winds.
We need not farther go into the details of this mode
of bird-catching. The ducks are enticed by tame
ones, which are trained for the purpose ; and it is
from them that persons employed to entice others to
their injury are called " decoy-ducks."

These birds begin to be taken in October or
November, and the taking continues till the end of
February, between which time and the following
October operations are prohibited. Besides these
decoys, there are, in the places where ducks are
numerous, many of the country people who shoot
them. These are called punt-shooters, or punt-gunners,
in the creeks and openings of the streams in the
lower part of the Thames estuary ; and as they ply
night and day, according as the tide answers, their
labour is very severe. In the south of England it is
a still more serious labour ; and as the following
account, drawn up by Gilpin, is very characteristic,
we shall introduce it : — " The coast between Hamp-
shire and the Isle of Wight is peculiar, consisting, at
ebb-tide, of vast muddy flats, covered with green sea-
weed. It affords the fowler an opportunity of prac-
tising arts perhaps not elsewhere resorted to. Fowling
and fishing are indeed, on this coast, commonly the
employments of the same person. He who, in sum-
mer, with his line or net, plies the shores when they
are overflowed by the tide, in winter, with his gun,
as evening draws on, runs up in his boat among the
creeks which the tide leaves in the mud-sands, and
lies in patient expectation of his prey. Sea-fowl
usually feed by night, when, in all their multitudes,
they come down to graze on the savannahs of the
chore As the sonorous cloud advances (for their

noist: in the air resembles a pack of hounds in full
cry), the attentive fowler listens which way they bend
their course. Perhaps he has the mortification to
hear them alight at too great a distance lor his gun
(though of the longest barrel) to reach them, and, if
he cannot edge his boat round some winding creek
which is not always in his power, he despairs of
success that night. Perhaps, however, he is more
fortunate, and has the satisfaction to hear the airy
noise approach nearer, till at length the host settles
in some plain upon the edge of which his boat is
moored. He now, as silently as possible, primes both
his pieces anew (for he is generally double armed),
and listens with all his attention. It is so dark that
he can take no aim, for, if he could discern the birds,
they would also see him, and, being extremely timo-
rous, would seek some other pasture. Though thev
march with noise, they feed in silence ; some in-
distinct noises, however, if the night be still, issue
from so vast a concourse. He directs his piece,
therefore, towards the sound, fires at a venture, and,
instantly catching up his other gnn, discharges it
where he supposes the flock to rise on the wing.
His gains for the night are now decided, and he has
only to gather up his harvest. He immediately puts
on his mud-pattens (flat square pieces of board, which
the fowler ties to his feet, that he may not sink in the
ooze), ignorant yet of his success, and goes groping
about in the dark in quest of his booty, picking up
sometimes many, and perhaps not one. So hardly
does the poor fowler earn a few shillings, during a
solitary winter night, be the weather as it comes,
rain, hail, or snow, on a bleak coast, a league probably
from the beach, and often liable, without great care,
to be fixed in the mud, when he would become an
inevitable prey to the returning tide. One of these
poor fellows, I have heard say, never takes a dog
with him on these expeditions, because no dog could
bear the cold which he is obliged to suffer ; and, after
all, others frequently enjoy more from his labours
than himself, for the tide often throws next day, on
different parts of the shore, many of the birds which
he had killed, but could not find in the night."

This hazardous occupation once led a fowler into
singular distress. It happened, too, in the daytime,
which shows still more forcibly the risk of such
nocturnal expeditions : — " Mounted on his mud-
pattens, he was traversing one of these oozy plains
in search of ducks, and, being intent only on his
game, suddenly found the water, which had been
accelerated by some peculiar circumstance affecting
the tide, had made an alarming progress around him,
and he found himself completely encircled. In this
desperate situation an idea struck him aa the only
hope of safety. He retired to that part which seemed
the highest, from its being yet uncovered by water,
and, striking the barrel of his long gun deep into the
ooze, he resolved to hold fast by it, as well for a
support as a security against the waves, and to wait
the ebbing of the tide. He had reason to believe a
common tide would not have flowed above his
middle ; but, in the midst of his reasoning .on the
subject, the water had now reached him. It rippled
over his feet, it gained his knees, his waist, button
after button was swallowed up, until at length it
advanced over his shoulders. With a palpitating
heart he gave himself up for lost. Still, however, he
held fast by his anchor ; his eye was eagerly in
search of some boat which might accidentally be

DUCK.

passing, but none appeared. A head upon the surface
of the water, and that sometimes covered by a wave,
was no object to be descried from the land, at the
distance of half a league ; nor could he exert any
sounds of distress that could be heard so far. While,
as the exigence would allow, he was thus making up
his mind to the terrors of certain destruction, his
attention was called to a new object. He thought
he saw the uppermost button of his coat begin to
appear. No mariner floating on a wreck could behold
approaching succour with greater transport th;m he
felt at this transient view of the button ; but the
fluctuation of the water was such, and the turn of the
tide so slow, that it was yet some time before he
durst venture to assure himself that the button was
fairly above the level of the flood. At length, a
second button appearing at intervals, his sensations
may rather be conceived than described, and his joy
gave him spirits and resolution to support his situation
four or five hours longer, until the waters had fully
retired." This tale of tribulation in the flats may
serve as a striking counterpart to some of those of
which we read as taking place among the wild and
rocky shores in regions farther to the north ; and with
it we shall close our general notice of this very
interesting family of birds.

The species are so very numerous, and their manners
are so much alike, that it will not be necessary to go
into a minute description of each ; but we shall notice
a few in each of the two divisions. And, first,

Ducks with the hind toe free. The common WILD
DUCK, or MALLARD (Anas boschns], is rot perhaps
the most typical duck of this division ; that is to say,
it is not the one which is the least aquatic in its
habits, but still it is the bird from which the name is
taken ; and when we use the word duck, without
certifying it by some epithet, it is always this one
which is meant. This is also the largest in size, at
least of the species which frequent, this country ; and
though its flesh is not reckoned so great a delicacy as
that of some of the smaller ducks, it is the one which
appears most frequently at market. It is from the
female that the general name duck is taken, while the
male is the mallard, or drake.

Mallard.

The length of a full-grown mallard is about two
feet, the stretch of the wings about three feet, and the
weight about two pounds and a half, though there^are
some individuals which arc heavier than this. Th(
bill is greenish yellow, the irides hazel, and the fee

335

range, with a tinge of red. The head and neck are
f a dark green colour, remarkable alike for its gloss
nd for the fineness of the feathers. Below this there
s a white collar ; and the neck, breast, and shoulders,
re purplish brown. The scapular feathers are a
tiixture of silver-white and rust colour, finely streaked
ith waving lines of brown. The wing-coverts are
Lsh-coloured, with white and black on the tips, and
he primary quills are dusky black. The wing-spot,
r speculum, on the secondaries, is rich purple, with
netallic reflections of blue and green. The lower
wrt of the back, the rump, the tail-coverts, and the
our middle tail feathers, which are curled up in the
nallard, are black, with green reflections on the rump,
.nd purple on the tail. The other feathers of the tail
are dusky brown, margined with dull white. The
jmder part, from the breast downwards, is whitish
•rey, with slight mottlings of brown. The duck is
onsiderably smaller than the mallard, and wants the
;reen and white on the head and neck. The general
olour is rusty brown, lined and mottled with black,
and she is without the curled feathers on the tail ;
)tit the speculum on the wing very much resembles
that of the male bird.

SHELDRAKES (Tadoma). There are several va
rieties of these birds, the distinctions of which are
olerably well marked in a state of nature, though
each variety is remarkably true to its own particular
olour and marking. This is the case also with the
mallard in a state of nature, though, as is more or
ess the case in all animals, the colours are broken
down in the domesticated state. The sheldrakes
lave the bill much flattened toward the extremity,
jut the upper mandible is enlarged into a globulat
arotuberance at the base. This character has a
slight approximation to that of the goose, and there is
a slight similarity in the air of the birds, though the
sheldrakes are by much the more handsome birds.
One character by means of which the degree of
aquatic habit in different ducks may be judged of, is
the particular mode in which the head is carried ;.
for, in proportion as the ducks are in the habit of
diving, they have it folded on the shoulders, and
again recurved when they are in a state of repose.
Their neck is an instrument to be used wholly or
chiefly under the water, and thus it is held in that
position in which it can most easily cleave the surface,
and enable the bird to dive ; whereas those species
which carry the head with the neck more stiffened,
use the bill more on the surface, and, generally
speaking, too, they eat some portion at least of the
aquatic vegetation, as well as animal matters. The
sheldrake is a good confirmation of the truth of this,
as it has at once most of the structure and most of
the habit. There are three species of sheldrakes
found in different parts of this country, and as they
are less aquatic than the others, they are more
resident ; for it is worthy of remark, that those
aquatic birds which are most seaward in their habits
are also the most discursive from place to place.

The COMMON SHELDRAKE (T. vulpaiiser). These
are handsome birds, and birds of very quiet disposi-
tions, and not very difficult to tame in the individual,
though they do not breed readily in confinement, and
therefore would not be so profitable for domes-tic
purposes as the common duck ; their flesh, also, is
rank in its flavour. These birds inhabit the line of
the water, or near it, rather than the fens or the
broad waters ; they lurk in holes along the beachesj

836

DUCK.

in which the female deposits her eggs, which are
from ten to fifteen, and of a white colour. Th<
places where those nests are found bear some rcsem
blance to the nesting-places of the eider dueks, ant
there is a correspondence of habit. Tire females o
both cover their eggs with the down which they pul
from iheir own breasts ; but, as the present species
sits in less exposed situations than the eiders,
smaller quantity answers the same purpose. The
male, however, takes his turn at sitting, while the
female is abroad in search of her food, which is early
in the morning and late in the evening, but she is
never long absent from the nest. Their food appears
to consist principally of insects, small Crustacea, anti
the spawn and small fry of fishes. As they do not
range any great breadth of surface in quest of food,
each pair occupies some portion of the line of coasl
as a sort of preserve ; and as they do riot flock during
the great gathering of water-fowl, more than two are
seldom seen together.

The lineal dimensions of the sheldrake, and also
the weight, are nearly the same as those of the
mallard, but the gait and markings are very different.
The sheldrake has a little of the strut and swagger of
the goose. The feet, and greater part of the bill,
are of a reddish colour ; but fhe basal enlargement
of the bill, the openings of the nostrils, and the nail
on the tip, are black ; and we may add, that the
distinctness of this nail is another approximation to
the characters of the goose. The head and neck
are of a beautifully rich green ; the lower part of the
neck, the back, the rump, the tail-coverts, and basal
part of the tail-feathers, are white. There is a band
of reddish bay, which forms a collar on the lower
part of the neck, and proceeds along the sides and
Hanks, and through this band a list of blackish brown
extends to the vent. The outer half of the scapulars,
and the principal quills, are black, and the secondaries
glossed with a wing spot of green and purple reflec-
tions. In so far as colour is concerned, the sheldrake
is one of the handsomest of our aquatic birds. The
female has much more resemblance to the male than
in the common wild duck, being only rather less in
size, and not quite so bright in the colours.

The RUDDY SHELDRAKE (T. rutila). This species
has the bill and the head smaller than the former, and
the front and cheeks are white, extending to behind
the eyes ; the remainder of the head, and upper part
of the neck, rusty brown ; the body pale chestnut ;
the wing-coverts white ; the primary quills, the rump,
and the tail, black ; and the wing-spots green, with
purple reflections. These birds are exceedingly rare
in Britain, even as stragglers, for it is not the habit of
the genus to straggle much ; they are, however,
described as being very plentiful on the continental
shores of the North Sea, and also on those of the
Baltic, where the country near the coast is sand}',
and the sand blown into hummocks or hillocks, or, as
the French call them, duties, which is very apt to be
the case in such places. Among those diversified
surfaces, which are generally protected, in great part,
by a strong coating of bent, which gives place to more
kindly herbage as the sea continues to recede, which
it almost invariably does from those sandy shores.
These places generally abound in rabbits and rabbit-
holes, of which the sheldrakes take possession, and
use them as their nesting-places ; and it is for this
reason that the common sheldrake has got the name
Vulpanser, the fox-goose.

The SHOVELLER (Spathulea clypeata}. It is pro-
bable that there are varieties of this bird in those
parts of the world which are well adapted to its
habits, and at the same time far apart from each
other, but only one is satisfactorily made out as an
inhabitant of Europe ; and we still want a good
account of the wild ducks of tropical countries, and
of countries in the southern hemisphere, more espe-
cially of New Holland, which, from the quantity of
rain that falls at certain seasons, and the want of any
other means than evaporation to dry it up, must
make that part of the world, seasonally at least, a
great duck country ; and, as that is the quarter of the
world in which modern discovery has found the rara
avis, or impossible bird of the ancients, we may be
prepared to meet with some novelties when the
interior of that country is a little more carefully
explored.

The shoveller is a very handsome bird, only its
bill is disproportionally large, and very peculiar in
shape. It is about three inches in length, of a black
colour, widened toward the extremity ; and the
fibres along the margin are so much produced, that
the bill has the appearance of being surrounded all
along the gape with a fringe of hairs. This form, of
the bill is well adapted to the habit of the animal,
which is that of picking up very small animal matters
in the shallows and runs of the rivers ; and as these
fibrous appendages are very sensitive, they enable it
to detect with great nicety all substances that are
edible.

Shoveller.

The shoveller is a much more inland bird than the
heldrake, and it is also rather more discursive. It is
bund, we believe with very little difference of appear-
nce, both in the eastern continent and the western ;
>ut, so far as is known, it is a bird of the northern he-
misphere, or northern migration only, and is not met
with in any part of the south. There are, however, seve-
al ducks of New Holland, and some of New Zealand,
which have the gape of the bill bordered with mem-
)rane, and the structure of the organ suited for nearly
he same purposes as that of the shoveller ; but we are
not sufficiently acquainted with the habits of those
aces to be able to speak with much certainty re-
garding them. Their bills are in general bordered
with an entire membrane, or, at least, one forming a
ess decided fringe than that of the shoveller. On the
ontinent of Europe it is pretty abundant, and it
ireeds in the marshes of the middle latitudes ; but in
Britain it is not a very common bird, even in the
ens. In America, it, or rather perhaps they (for
here seem to be varieties in America), appear to be
much more migratory than they are in the eastern

D U

continent. This, however, does not establish any
difference in the birds themselves, but may readily be
Accounted for in the difference of the two countries.
The American, summer is more dry than the
European, and the American marshes, in the middle
latitudes, partake of this drought, or, if they do not, they
are covered with junipers and other evergreens, so
that they do not answer well for the summer resort of
dabbling birds. The northern latitudes of America,
again, are remarkably well adapted, on account of
their flatness, the abundance of water, the high
temperature, and the correspondingly great produc-
tion of small animals. Yet, in respect of latitude,
the climates to which the shoveller moves northward,
during the American summer, are not more northerly
than those in which it breeds in central Europe,
although, from the different character of the seasons,
it ranges more in the one country than in the other.
In all countries where it is known, this bird forms its
nest in the tallest and thickest tufts of rushes and
other aquatic herbage, and, generally, also in places
which are not accessible by man, or, indeed, by any
of the land mammalia. The nest is rudely formed of
withered grass, collected in considerable quantity,
and the female is a close sitter. The eggs are about
ten or twelve in number, of a pale rust colour, and the
young are led to the water by their parent as soon as
they appear. At this stage they are rather uncouth,
from the great development of the bill in proportion
to that of the body. It is always worth while to
notice the order in which the organisation of an
animal is developed, or it comes to maturity, because
this is one of the best guides to the habits of the
animal. The young shovellers have to find their
food in the water, and therefore they have the feet
and the bill in a tolerably complete state when they
come out of the shell, whereas the organs of flight
are then in a rudimental state ; and they continue
so much longer than they do in birds which are
obliged to make use of the wing at an early stage of
their existence. This slow production of the organs
of flying, is general among birds which seek their
food upon the ground, whether in the shallow waters,
the marshes, the fields, or the uplands ; but all of
them are better provided for the use of their feet, and
also of their bills, than birds of more early flight.
Thus we see how well these creatures are adapted to
the particular places in which they reside, and to
which they are, of course, drawn by this very adapta-
tion. The shoveller is thus described : the bill is
of a brownish black colour, three inches in length,
greatly widened near the extremity, closely pectinated
on the sides, and furnished with a nail on the tip of
each mandible ; irides, bright orange ; tongue large
and fleshy ; the inside of the upper and outside of
the lower mandible are grooved so as to receive dis-
tinctly the long separated reed-like teeth ; there is
also a gibbosity in the two mandibles which do not
meet at the sides, and this vacuity is occupied by
other appendages ; head and upper half of the neck,
glossy, changeable green; rest of the neck and
breast white passing round and nearly meeting above ;
whole belly dark reddish chestnut; flanks, a brownish
yellow, pencilled transversely with black, between
which and the vent, which is black, is a band of white ;
back blackish brown ; exterior edges of the scapulars,
white ; lesser wing coverts and some of the tertials a
fine light sky blue ; beauty spot on the wing, a change-
able resplendent bronze green, bordered above by a
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

C K. 337

band of white, and below with another of velvety
black ; rest of the wing, dusky, some of the tertials
streaked down their middles with white ; legs and
feet, reddish orange. The female has the crown of
the head of a dusky brown colour, and the rest of
the head yellowish white, thickly spotted with dark
brown, the spots on the breast being larger and cres-
cent-shaped. The back and scapulars are dark brown
with orange shafts and margins to the feathers. The
under part is white with a slight reddish tinge. The
wings differ little from those of the male bird, and,
indeed, in all kinds of ducks, it is in the wings that
the two sexes correspond the most with each other.

THE GADWALL (Chauliodus strepcra). The gadwall
is still smaller than the shoveller ; like that, it is an
inhabitant of marshy situations in both continents
during the summer or breeding season ; and it is pro-
bable that, in Europe, these birds follow the line of
the central marshes rather than that of the meridian.
They seldom reach the shores of Britain, and when
they do it is only to the places that are most con-
tiguous to the marshy countries on the east side of
the North Sea. They are, probably, less seen in pro-
portion to their numbers than almost any other species
of duck, as their habits are very retired, and it is
rarely, indeed, that they come out except during the
night. In America, though the birds are not very
rare, they have precisely the same habits ; and as ft
is no easy matter to range the American marshes, the
breeding plaras in that continent are not known.
The male bird is thus described— length about nine-
teen inches, breadth about thirty-three, bill two inches,
flat, and of a black colour ; markings of the plumage
exceedingly minute, giving it a sort of appearance as
if it were marked with delicate stripes, and enclosed
in a net-work. The ground colour of the head and
neck is grey, marked with brown points ; but the lower
part of the neck, the back, and the breast marked
with small black crescents ; the scapulars and flanks
pencilled with zigzag lines of black and white. Lesser
coverts of the wings chestnut ; greater coverts, rump,
and tail coverts, black. Primary quills of the wings
dusky, tail reddish, but white at the tip, which is very
much pointed ; under part white, and the wing-spot
white, with a red margin on the one side, and a chest-
nut-coloured one on the other. The female differs in
having the wing-covert duller, more brown on the
neck and back, and wanting the crescent spots on
the fore part, and the fine pencillings on the flanks
and scapulars ; she is also rather smaller in size than
the male. The nest is always constructed in a place of
great concealment, such as a thick tuft, a close bush, and
sometimes the hollow of a tree ; and the birds glide so
softly, and at the same time so swiftly through the herb-
age, that they may be close at hand without the least
chance of noticing them. These birds are not quite
so prolific as some of the others, the eggs in a hatch
being- about eight or ten in number, of a greenish
ash-colour. The flesh of the bird is held in much
estimation. This duck, though it has not the web
on the hinder toe, is a very expert diver ; and
for this reason it cannot be shot while swimming
without the greatest difficulty ; it is very watchful,
and as it plunges the instant "it sees the flash, it can
scarcely be hit by the best directed shot.

TEAL (Qucrqucdulci). There are several species to
which this name is applied in common, and they are
remarkable for the beauty of their colours, and also
for the superior flavour of their flesh ; and it is probable

338

DUCK.

that some of these have been multiplied by consider-
ing difference of age and sex as difference of species.
THE PINTAIL (Q. ficiita). This is a very beautiful
species, both in its form and its markings,— one of the
chief ornaments being the produced tail,T which is of
considerable length, pointed, of a black colour, glossed
with rich green reflections. This very handsome
species is a native both of the eastern continent and
of America ; and we shall not be able to give a better
account of its distribution and habits in the latter
continent than by the following quotation from Wil-
son : — " The pintail, or as it is sometimes called, the
sprigtail, is a common and well-known duck in our
markets, much esteemed for the excellence of its flesh,
and is generally in good order. It is a shy and
cautious bird, feeds in the mud flats, and shallow
fresh water marshes ; but rarely resides on the sea
coast. It seldom dives, is very noisy, and has a kind
of chattering note. When wounded, they will some-
times dive, and, coming up, conceal themselves under
the bow of the boat, moving round as it moves ; are
vigilant in giving the alarm on the approach of the
gunner, who often curses the watchfulness of the
sprigtail. Some ducks, when aroused, disperse in
different directions ; but the sprigtails, when alarmed,
cluster confusedly together as they mount, and thereby
afford the sportman a 'fair opportunity of raking them
with advantage. They generally leave the Delaware
about the middle of March on the way to their native
regions, the north, where they are most numerous.
On the marshy shores of some of the bays of Lake
Ontario, they are often plentiful in the months of Octo-
ber and November. I have also met with them at
Louisville, on the Ohio." In the eastern continent
this bird is pretty generally distributed, though, as is
the case with many of the tribe, its movements at
different times of the year are not generally known.
We can hardly suppose that, though it does come to
the open waters in the winter season along with the
rest, it retires very far to the north in the summer ;
because in winter it is more abundant in the south of
England than in the north ; while it is very rare in
the south of Scotland, and hardly known in the
northern parts of that country. The difference
between the seasonal migration of insect-feeding birds
'that resort to our groves and copses, for the purpose
of nidification in the summer season, and return to
more southerly climates in the winter, is a subject
upon which we stand in need of much additional
information. We are too apt to conclude that both
are subject to a similar kind produced by similar
causes ; and that the aquatic birds which come to us
in winter, or at all events make their appearance in
winter, have only a more northerly locality upon the
globe than our summer migrants. The habits of the
two races, their food, their time and manner of feed-
ing, and every thing about them, are, however, so dif-
ferent from the others, that we can establish no well-
founded analogy, or draw from the one any conclu-
sion that will rationally apply to the other. The
summer birds are, with very few exceptions, day
feeders, and retire and are silent during the night ;
and, therefore, we can readily suppose that the longer
daylight in the higher latitudes, during the summer
months, must be at least one of the reasons why they
resort to those latitudes. But/on the other hand, the
winter birds are chiefly night feeders, or at all events
feeders in the morning and evening twilights, and that
they remain inactive during the day, even when they

have the severest labour to perform. It must Iw
understood, however, that their labours in the rearing
of their broods are very light compared with those of
the warblers in the groves. They do not expend so
much care in the forming of their nests, and at that
season they have very little wing work ; neither do
they require to collect and carry food for their yoiing,
as is done by all birds whose habit it is to remain in
the nest till their feathers of flight are nearly per-
fected. Thus, the rearing of a single sparrow, or
swallow, perhaps, costs its parents more hard labour
than the rearing of the largest brood of wild ducks.
The migrations of the air birds are pretty well known ;
and thus it is 'the habits of the aquatic ones, respect-
ing which we stand in want of most information ; and
when we consider that, in places suited to them, the
duck family cun find their food in all weathers, and
bear all climates with nearly equal ease, the proba-
bility is that they will be found to breed much more
indiscriminately in the humid parts of all countries,
than is generally supposed.

The following is an outline of the external charac-
ters of the pintail. The bill of moderate length,
black in the middle, but of a bluish colour at the sides,
on which account it is called the blue-bill in some
parts of America. The head is round, and the nrrk
long and slender : the nape and hind part of the neck
are dusky ; and the top of the head and fore part of
the neck rich dark brown ; while this colour is sepa-
rated from the former by a narrow white line down
each side of the front. These lines are broader as
they advance forward, and uniting, form a pretty large
collar on the -lower part of the neck, and the upper
part of the breast The remaining part of the breast,
and the sides of the neck and middle of the back, arc-
marked with fine lines of black and white, and the
flanks and lower part of the back are mottled with
the same colours. The scapulars are long and pointed,
black in the centre, bordered with white ; and the
hand pendent over the bend of the closed wing. The
coverts are brownish and tipped with pale orange,
and the wing-spot is purple with green reflections.
The quills and feathers of the tail, with the exception
of the two produced and more finely-coloured ones
in the middle, are dnsky. The markings of this bird
are altogether very beautiful ; but as the form of the
tail is subject to some variations in different indi-
viduals, these have been sometimes elevated into
varieties without any just cause.

COMMON TEAL (' Q. crecca). This is rather a small
species ; but its colours are very beautiful, and it is
highly esteemed as food ; the flesh being sometimes
sold in the London market as high as five shillings
a pound. The male is about fourteen inches long,
twenty-three in the stretch of the wings, and about
twelve ounces in weight. The female is a fourth lighter,
and of a smaller size in proportion. The feet and bill
are dusky ; and the irides pale hazel : in the male the
head and upper part of the neck bay with a broad bar
of glossy variable green, bordered with a white line on
the under side, extending from the bill to the hind part
of the head on each side. The fore part of the neck and
breast are dull white, marked with roundish black spots.
The belly is white, the vent black ; the coverts of the
wings brown, and the quills dusky ; but the outer
webs of the secondaries are marked with a green spot,
with a white line above and below, and a black bar
over it. In the breeding season the breast of the
male acquires a slight tinge of salmon-colour. The

DUCK.

339

female is all over of a brownish ash-colour, with part
of the sides and the belly white, the vent also white,
but with a green spot on the wing-, resembling that of
the male, only less bright in the colour.

The common teal spends the winter season in a
state of very great concealment ; so that very little is
known of its breeding places. There is no doubt,
however, that, it breeds among the reedy pools near
the margins of most of the humid districts, more espe-
cially in the richer parts of the country. Indeed, it
is not uncommon in the more retired morasses in
most parts of Britain, and also of the eastern part of
the continent, generally, as there is nothing to give it
a decided seasonal migration in latitude. It is met
with as far to the north as Iceland, and as far south
as between the thirtieth and fortieth parallels of lati-
tude ; and it is highly probable that its character, in
every part of this wide range, is that of a resident
bird. In tidal rivers the teal feed chiefly when the
water is at an ebb ; and are driven from their grounds
as the tide rises, and as their haunts are among the
tall reeds some art is required in arriving at them.
The nest is carefully concealed among the herbage,
and composed of a very considerable quantity of grass
and stalks lined with finer ones, and sometimes with
a few feathers. The eggs are numerous, being from
ten to sixteen or seventeen ; they are about the same
size as pigeons' eggs, and of a dull yellowish colour.

GARGANY, or SUMMER TEAL (Q. circia). This
species is about the same size as the common teal,
which it resembles in very many of its habits, though
the body is a little more elongated, and this form is
generally accompanied by a more discursive habit.
The leading characters of the gargany are : the bill
black, the feet dusky-grey, the wing-spots greyish
green, bordered with white ; a white streak down the
side of the neck from the eye ; the back and breast
purplish brown, marked with crescent-shaped dusky
spots ; the belly cream colour ; the flanks and vent
dusky, as are also the quills and tail feathers ; the
coverts grey with white margins ; and the wing spots
green, but very inconspicuous in the female, which
has the upper part brown with dusky streaks. This
bird is, like all the rest, chiefly seen in England
during the winter only ; and for this reason, though
it is called " summer" teal, it is usually described as
a winter visitant. In France, where it is more com-
mon than in England, it begins to build its nest in
the beginning of April, whilst it begins in England a
month later than this ; so that there is little chance
of the same individual birds, being seen in both
countries ; and thus it is probable that it not only
breeds in some parts of the British islands, but in
many of them, though no whore very abundantly, and
always in a very concealed and hiding manner. The
pairing cry of the male bears some slight resemblance
to that of the corn-crake, only it is harsher, and not
nearly so loud, and it ceases before the time at which
the other begins. The nest is placed on the ground
among thick herbage , and the eggs, which are green-
ish fawn-colour, are said to be more numerous than
the common tea..

BIMACULATED TEAL (Q.. glotitans). . This species
is rather larger than the common teal. Its bill is
lead colour, with the margin and nail on the tip black ;
the feet are of a dull yellowish colour, with the webs
dusky ; the head, and upper part of the neck, are
deep black, with rich reflections of purple and green ;
and on each side of the head there are two bright

spots of rust colour, one before the eye, and the other
behind, and it is from these spots that it gets its
common name of bi maculated, or two-spotted. The
prevailing colour is n$h, passing into purplish brown,
with a wing- spot of bright green, bordered with white,
and divided in two by a black bar. This species is
very rare indeed, even as a straggler, though it is
abundant in the marshes of eastern Europe, and of
western and central Asia. Its manners are therefore
little known, though it is understood that both it and
some other species of teal, which inhabit still further
to the south-eastward in Asia, differ so little from
those of the teal of western Europe, that a particular
description of them is not necessary, at least for
popular purposes.

THE AMERICAN SUMMER TEAL, or SUMMER DUCK
(Q.. sponsa). This is one of the most beautiful of the
whole family of ducks, of gentle manners, and tamed
without much difficulty. It inhabits the warm parts
of North America, and many of the West India
islands, and remains during the breeding season.
Its habits differ from those of the European teal,
though these probably depend more on the different
nature of the two countries than of anv great differ-
ence of the birds. The chief habit is, that this one
builds very frequently in the hollows of old trees, in
consequence of which it is called the wood-duck,
while the teal of Europe builds on the ground or
among the herbage. There are, however, other in-
stances in nestling on trees in America, while the
corresponding species in Europe nestle on the
ground. This is a very neat and compact little
species, and has been introduced into the Zoological
Society's gardens by the late able and enterprising
naturalist who met with so dreadful a death in the
trap for wild bulls in the Sandwich Islands. These
birds have bred readily in the gardens, and there is
no doubt that they might be generally introduced
into this country. Their chief value, however, would
be as ornamental birds on the waters of pleasure-
grounds, for their flesh is described as being of very
inferior quality. We subjoin Wilson's description of
this bird, as it is exceedingly accurate, so much so,
that it does not admit of improvement. It is "nine-
teen inches in length, and two feet four inches in
extent ; bill red, margined with black ; a spot of
black lies between the nostrils, reaching nearly to the
tip, which is also of the same colour, and furnished
with a large hooked nail ; irides orange red ; front,
crown and pendent crest, rich glossy bronze green,
ending in violet, elegantly marked with a line of pure
white running from the upper mandible over the eye,
and with another band of white proceeding from
behind the eye, both mingling their long pendent
plumes with the green and violet ones, producing a
rich effect ; cheeks and sides of the upper neck
violet ; chin, throat, and collar round the neck, pure
white, curving up in the form of a crescent nearly to
the posterior part of the eye ; the white collar is
bounded below with black ; breast dark violet brown,
marked on the fore part with minute triangular spots
of white, increasing in size until they spread into the
white of the belly ; each side of the breast is bounded
by a large crescent of white, and that again by a
broader one of deep black ; sides under the wings
thickly and beautifully marked with five undulating
parallel lines of black on a ground of yellowish drab ;
the flanks are ornamented with broad alternate semi-
circular bands of black and white ; sides of the vent
Y2

DUCK.

rich light violet ; tail-coverts long, of a hair-like
texture at the sides, over which they descend, and of
a deep black, glossed with green ; back dusky bronze,
reflecting1 green ; scapulars black ; tail tapering, dark
glossy green above, below dusky ; primaries dusky,
silvery without, tipt with violet blue ; " second-
aries greenish blue, tipt with white ; wing-coverts
violet blue, tipt with black ; vent dusky ; legs and
feet yellowish red ; claws strong and hooked. The
female has the head slightly crested ; crown dark
purple ; behind the eye a bar of white ; chin and
throat, for two inches, also white ; head and neck
dark drab ; breast dusky brown, marked .with large
triangular spots of white ; back dark glossy bronze
brown, with some gold and greenish reflections ;
speculum of the wings nearly the same as in the
male, but the fine pencilling of the sides, and the long
hair-like tail-coverts, are wanting ; the tail is also
shorter.

BLUE-WINGED AMERICAN TEAL (Q. discors). This
inhabits more northerly than the former species,
and ranges as far to the north as the valley of the St.
Lawrence, if not farther. They return early to the
middle and southern states of the American union,
and appear in large flocks, which squat on the mud
very closely together, so that the sportsmen find them
a very profitable description of game. Their flesh is
also highly esteemed. They are, to a great extent,
vegetable feeders, and greedily consume the seeds of
Canada rice, and many other aquatic plants. They
are rather small birds, measuring rather more than
one foot in length, and rather less than two feet in
the stretch of the wings. The front and back of the
head are black ; a crescent-shaped gorget of white
extends from the eyes under the chin ; and the rest
of the head, arid part of the neck, are slate -colour,
with rich reflections of green and violet ; the lower
neck dusky, with bars of pale white ; the belly brown,
with dusky lines ; the sides of the vent pure white,
but the lower tail-coverts black ; the lesser coverts
clear blue, from which the common name is given ;
the quills dusky, the secondaries black ; the wing-spot
rich green ; the tail pointed, and two inches longer
than the closed wings. The female wants the black
on the head and the rich reflections on the neck, and
is rather smaller in size. These birds are exceedingly
abundant in all those places which suit their habits.

The common teal also occurs in America, very
little different, either in appearance or manners, from
what it is in the eastern continent. It is there called
the green-winged teal, to distinguish it from the
others, and, as is the case in Europe, it is rarely seen
during the summer months.

WIDGEON (Marccu). This bird is much larger
than the teal, and its flesh also ranks higher in the
estimation of epicures. The common species (M.
Penelope) is twenty inches in length, and about
twenty-three ounces iu weight, or double that of (he
common teal. The bill is narrow, about an inch and
a half long, of a bluish lead colour, but with a nail
on the tip almost black ; the crown of the head is
cream-colour, passing nearly into white at the base of
the bill ; the rest of the head and the neck arc light
bay, the upper part and flanks marked with waving
lines of black and white ; the coverts of the wings
brown and white; the quills dusky; the wing-spots
green ; the tail-feathers ash colour, except the two
middle ones, which are considerably produced,
pointed^ ayd of a black colour, as are abo the vent

feathers ; the legs and feet are nearly the same
colour as the bill. The female has the head rusty
brown, mottled with black, and the back deep brown,
with paler margins to the feathers.

In its general shape the widgeon more resembles
the ducks, properly so called, than any of the teal ;
but the male is subject to considerable variations of
colour, by losing his gay tints in the winter. It is
understood that the nest of the widgeon, which is
very little known, resembles that of the common teal ;
the eggs also are about the same number, and of a
dull greenish grey. In England thyac! birds are
most abundant in the southern parts of the country,
and they are described as advancing more toward
the western shore than any others of the lamily which
make their chief appearance in the winter season.
They are very generally distributed over the con-
tinent, both in Europe and in Asia, and they range as
far south as Egypt. Very little is known of their
summer habits in any locality, and therefore it is not
improbable that they are resident in many more
places than is usually supposed.

There are several other species of fresh-water
ducks, having the hind toe free, unincluded in the
membranous web of the foot, but those which we
have noticed will afford to the general reader some
notion of the leading characters of these birds ; and,
considering their numbers, and the little that is
known about many of them at that season when their
history is most interesting, it would neither suit the
space to which we are confined, nor the purpose of
this work, to enter more at large into the details.
We shall therefore proceed with a short catalogue of
the leading members of the second division.

II. WITH THE HIND TOE WEBBED. The birds of
this division carry us more to the deep waters and
the sea than those of the former ; and the general
form of their bodies, and also the structure of their
legs and wings, are all modelled to accord with this
habit ; the head is thicker, the bill more inclining
to pointed, the neck shorter, the wings rounder
and more hollow, and the whole plumage more
compact, and furnished with closer down among
the roots of the feathers. As they are all more of
a ranging character than the hind, or rather fresh-
water ducks, and, generally speaking, inhabit more
northerly, they are more under the influence of
the seasonal action of the hemispheres, and therefore
their migrations have been better observed. There
are differences in their haunts when they come
southward in the winter season, some proceeding
more inland, and others keeping more in the sea
or the estuaries ; and those which have the latter
habit perhaps keep more to the north, even in
winter, than those which have the former. It has
been thought convenient to subdivide them into
several divisions, which may either be considered as
genera or sub-genera.

SCOTEE (Oidemia), These birds are about the
size of the common mallard, but they have an
enlargement more or less turgid at the base of the
upper mandible. Their wings and tails are very
close and stiff, and not liable to be injured when they
are immersed in the water. They do not come
much upon the fresh waters, but keep the shores of
the sea, and find great part of their food by diving.
Their breeding places are not much known, but it is
supposed that they resort far to the northward in the
winter. Most of them are common to the northern

DUCK.

shores of both continents, and found in the extreme
north during the summer months. Their flesh has a
rank and fishy taste, and is inferior to that of any
utiier ducks. In former times, when the use of flesh

341

Scoter.

was prohibited with great strictness during lent, and
in many countries still, the ecclesiastical authorities
decided that scoters were a sort of fish, and so might
be eaten with impunity on the meagre days and
during lent.

THE BLACK SCOTER (O. ?iigra). The plumage of
this species is entirely black, without any mark-
ing, or even any wing-spot. There is an indistinct
knob at the base of the upper mandible, which,
together with the streak down the middle of the
mandible, is of a reddisli yellow, but the rest of the
bill is black, without any appearance of a nail at the
tip. The orbits of the eyes are yellow, and the
irides brown ; the tarsi and toes of the feet are
dusky, and the webs black. The female is rather
less than the male, and the black has a rusty tinge.
They frequent the coasts of Britain in considerable
numbers during the winter season, and are understood
to feed almost exclusively on shelled mollusca, for
which they dive in water of considerable depth, so
that they are often caught in the nets of the fisher-
men. Scoters come with the flood tide, arid any one
who has attended to the economy of nature on the
shores will at once see the cause of this. When the
tide ebbs, the shelled mollusca shut themselves up, or,
where they have that habit, plunge down into the
sand or mud ; but when the tide returns, they come
up and open their shells, and thus they are readily
captured by the scoters, which are found numerous
and active in proportion as their peculiar food is
abundant. This species is found equally in all places
of the North Seas.

THE VELVET SCOTER (0. fusca) is perhaps not
quite so abundant as the black scoter, and the one

Velvet Scoter.

has oii.ni been confounded with the other, as they are
about the same si/.e, and differ little in their habits.
They may, however, be distinguished from each other

without any difficulty. The plumage of the male
is velvet black, without any gloss, and there is a
crescent-shaped spot of white under each eye, and
wing-spots of the same colour. The irides, the tarsi,
and the toes, are also reddish ; the bill dusky at the
base and the margins, but dull yellow in the greater
part. The black on the female is not so intense, and
the under part of that sex has a whitish tinge. They
are also a little larger in size than the black scoter,
Their flesh, like I hat of the former, is rather rank in
the flavour, but still it is readily eaten by those
northern people who depend chiefly upon the sea for
subsistence.

THE SURF SCOTER (O. perspicilla). This species
is in a great measure confined to the American shores,
but is found equally on both sides of the continent,
and thus it. may be expected in the adjacent part of
the north-cast of Asia. It migrates with the seasons,
and does not a; pear to differ much in its habits from
the other two species, but it is readily distinguished
by its markings. Its general colour is black, and
there is no spot on the Ming, but the nape of the
neck, and a band across the eyes, are white ; the tarsi
and toes are blood-red, and the bill is yellowish-red,
with a grey tip, and darker margins, which are more
pectinated than in the other scoters. This species
may be said to be unknown on the more southerly
coasts of Britain, and it is very rare even on the most
northerly isles, being seldom seen as any other than
a mercty straggling specimen, in all probability helped
on its way by the north-west gales. It is necessary,
however, to speak with caution of what may or may
not be present on those rocky and formidable shores,
when the north sea is up, and lashing them with all
the violence of a wintry tempest, because these are
not times at which observations can be made, and
therefore there may be many birds which visit those
places quite unknown to naturalists.

POCHARD (Fu/igula). The birds of this sub-genus
are much more interesting to those who are fond of
water-fowl than the scoters. They are short and
dumpy in their forms, but exceedingly well made
both for swimming and for diving. When they visit
Britain in the winter, they are much more inland or
fresh-water ducks than the scoters ; and therefore,
though their breeding places are not much known,
the probability is, that they are the fresh -water
marshes and lakes of the polar countries rather than
the shores of the sea. There are a good many
species that come regularly to the fresh waters of
Britain, and also to those places of the estuaries to
which we have so often referred as the chief haunts
of water-fowls. They are also pretty generally distri-
buted over both continents, though it has not been
ascertained that any of them pass the summer far to
the south in either continent. They are understood,
however, to be much more easily kept. in a state of
domestication than those diving ducks which are
more partial to the sea ; and as they are very hand-
some and lively upon the water, as well as very
excellent eating, they are worthy of more attention
than they have hitherto received.

THE RED-HEADED POCHARD (F. ferine). This

duck is common to the two continents ; and used in
England, where it comes in the winter, to be called
the red-headed wigeon. It is, also, from some of its
colours, called the " dun bird," by the fowlers and
dealers. The weight of this duck is about a pound
and three-quarters : its length nineteen inches, and

842

DUCK.

the. extent of its wings about thirty. Its bill is rather
broader than that of the wigeon, of a deep lead co-
lour; and with the tip black ; the tarsi are also of a red
colour, and the irides orange. The head and neck
are deep chestnut, the feathers on the top of the head
being considerably produced. The lower part of the
neck, the breast, and the upper part of the back, are
dusky black ; the scapulars and coverts next the body
greyish white, pencilled with delicate lines of black ;
the exterior coverts and quills are dusky brown ; the
belly ash-coloured and brown ; and the tail, which is
short, and consists of twelve feathers, is of a deep
grev, inclining to black. The female has the upper
part of the head dusky brown ; the remainder of the
head and part of the neck pale blackish brown ; the
breast brownish ash, closely margined with whitish ;
and the back dark ash with little or no appearance of
pencilling. The bill, wings, and feet, are nearly the
same as in the male.

This species comes very plentifully to the oozy
runs and partially concealed waters of those districts
where ducks are caught in so great numbers ; and
therefore it is plentiful in the London markets, espe-
cially in Leadenhall, which is the grand mart for all
this race of birds. They are taken in decoys, but not
in the same kind of decoys or in the same manner as
the mallards, which are the game principally alluded
to, in noticing the structure of decoys in a former part
of this article. A pond is prepared for the pochards,
as well as for the others, and a situation is chosen
which shall possess in the most eminent degree the
three attractions of quietness, cover, and proximity to
the feeding grounds ; but this pond does not termi-
nate in pipes with tunnel nets permanently stretched
over them. It is technically called a flight pond,
because the birds are captured when they are first on
the wing ; and the nets, by which this is effected, are
so placed as that they may act to windward of the
birds, as ducks always fly to windward when they take
the wing. The net is kept ready extended on the
top of the reeds or other cover, upon poles, which
by means of a counterpoise at the bottom, can be
instantly erected, upon withdrawing the pins, by
which they are held down ; when this is done, the
poles rise and elevate the net to the height of about
thirty feet ; and this takes place just as the birds are
alarmed, and made to take the wing. They strike
against the net, are thrown off their balance, and are
thrown on the ground, which, all under the net, is
formed into little pens or traps, into which the birds
fall, and are unable again to take the wing. The
numbers caught in this way, atone skilful application
of the net, are often perfectly astonishing ; and they
tumble into the pens one over the other, till the lower
ones are killed, and sometimes pressed nearly flat with
the burden of their companions. It is mentioned that,
on some parts of the Essex coast, a wagon load of
pochards have been taken at one drop of the net.
This species is common to the two continents, appear-
ing in the temperate climates only during the winter ;
and resorting to the more northerly ones in the breed-
ing season. It is, properly speaking, a fresh water
duck ; but it never, in its winter haunts at least, ranges
to any great distance from the sea. This, however, is
no proof that it does not breed far inland in the
marshes ; because food is most abundant in those
marshes in the summer ; while the portions of the
rivers next the sea in the rich flat countries, abound
most in food during the winter, even in countries

where the inland and upland pools and marshes are
not frozen at that season.

CANVASS-BACK POCHARD (F. valsineria'). This is
an American species, very abundant in the States
during the season of ducks ; by far the most cele-
brated in that country ; and, indeed, according to
Wilson's account, which is very minute and circum-
stantial, it is the most celebrated as an article of 1'ood,
of all the web-footed birds. It is entirely unknown in the
British islands, and also, so far as we are aware, in the
whole of the eastern continent. It is thus described
by Wilson : " the canvass-back is two feet long, and
three feet in extent, and, when in good order, weighs
three pounds ; the bill is large, rising high in the
head, three inches in length, and one inch and three-
eighths thick at the base, of a glossy black ; eye very
small ; irides dark red ; cheeks and fore part of the
head and greater part of the neck, bright glossy red-
dish chestnut, ending in a broad space of bluck that
covers the upper part of the breast, and spreads round
to the back ; both scapulars and tertials white, faintly
marked with an infinite number of transverse waving
lines, or points, as if done with a pencil ; whole lower
parts of the breast, also the belly white, slightly pen-
cilled in the same manner, scarcely perceptible on the
breast, pretty thick towards the vent ; wing coverts,
grey, with numerous specks, blackish ; primaries and
secondaries, pale slate, two or three ot the latter of
which, nearest the body, are finely edged with deep
velvety black ; the former dusky at the tips ; tail
very short, pointed, consisting of fourteen feathers of
a hoary brown ; vent and tail-coverts, black ; lining
of the wing, white ; legs and feet, very pale ash ; the
latter three inches in width, a circumstance which
partly accounts for its great powers of swimming.
The female is somewhat less than the male, and
weighs three pounds and three-quarters ; the crown
is blackish brown ; breast, as far as the black extends
on the male, dull brown, skirted in places with pale
drab ; back dusky white, crossed with fine waving
lines ; belly of the same dull white, pencilled like the
back ; wings, feet, and bill, as in the male ; tail-
coverts, dusky ; vent, white waved with brown.
When they are on the shores in the eastern states of
America, these birds feed principally upon a succulent,
aquatic plant, which abounds very much in many
parts of the waters there. They arrive in a very lean
condition in October ; but as they resort only to those
places in which their favourite food is abundant, they
soon get very fat. Wilson says — " They are excel-
lent divers, and swim with great speed and agility.
They sometimes assemble in such multitudes as to
cover several acres of the river, and when they rise
suddenly produce a noise resembling thunder. They
float about these shoals, diving and tearing up the
grass by the roots, which is the only part they eat.
They are extremely shy, and can rarely be approached,
unless by stratagem. When wounded in the wing,
they dive to such prodigious distances, and with such
rapidity, continuing it so perseveringly, and with such
cunning and active vigour, as almost always to render
the pursuit hopeless. From the great demand for
these ducks, and the high price they uniformly bring
in market, various modes are practised to get within
gun-shot of them. The most successful way is said
to be decoying them to the shore by means of a dog,
while the gunner lies closely concealed in a proper
situation. The dog, if properly trained, plays back-
wards and forwards along the margin of the water.

DUCK.

and the ducks, observing his manoeuvres, enticed
perhaps by curiosity, gradually approach the shore,
until they are sometimes within twenty or thirty yards
of the spot where the gunner lies concealed, and from
which he rakes them first on the water, ,md then as
they rise. This method is called toiling t/icm in. It'
the ducks seem difficult to decoy, any glaring object,
such as a red handkerchief, is fixed round the dog's

middle or to his tail ; and this rarely tails to attract
them. Sometimes, by moonlight, the sportsman
directs his skiff towards a rlock whose position he had
previously ascertained, keeping within the projecting
shadow of some wood, bank, or headland, and pad-
dles along so silemly, and imperceptibly, as often to
approach within fifteen or twenty yards of a flock of
many thousands, among whom he generally makes
great slaughter." So much are those birds esteemed.
that every stratagem which the fowler can invent is
had recourse to for the capture of them ; and they
are so numerous that those employed in this way are
generally very successful.

THE SoAci' POCHARD (F. mania}. This species
is also a native of both continents, ha'-ing nearly the
same habits as the others, breeding in the northern
marshes, and migrating southward in the winter. It
is smaller than the last mentioned, or than the red-
headed pochard, being about eighteen inches long
and twenty-nine in the stretch of the wings, and
weighing rather more than a pound and a half. The
colours both of the naked parts and of the plumage
are subject to variations at different ages, and also in
different individuals. In general the bill is bluish, the
feet lead colour, the irides golden yellow, and the
win^r-spots white. The head, which is tumid, is
v green half way down the nape, the neck, breast,
and lower part of the hind neck black ; the back and
scapulars \\hite, with waving lines of black ; primary
quills brownish black ; secondaries white with black
tips ; belly white, marked with black near the vent ;
vent feathers, rump, and tail coverts black, and tail
feathers dusky brown. The female has the front and
s of the head white, the rest of the head brownish,
and the general colour inclining1 more to brown in the
male bird. In consequence of this colour of the
female, the species is sometimes called the white-faced
duck. Their principal food is understood to be small
shelled mollusea and aquatic worms; in search of
which they range the flat banks in the bays and estu-
aries ; but they are indiscriminate in their feeding,
and very easily tamed.

WHITE-EYED POCHARD (F. nyroca). This species
gets its name from the whiteness of the irides, which
give it a peculiar expression. It is about seventeen
inches in length, and two pounds weight. Mead and
all the fore part rust colour, with a collar of darker,
and a white spot on the chin. Back and wings black,
glossed with purple, and marked with small red spots.
Primary quills dusky ; secondaries with white bases,
and black tips, forming a white and black wing-spot.
Tail dusky brown. The female has the head brown,
and the back dusky, and without the reflections. This
species has the same habits as the other pochards ;
and, like them, it resorts to the " ducking grounds"
during the winter ; but it appears to come to Eng-
land from an eastern migration, and is exceedingly, if
not altogether, unknown in Scotland.

Turri:n POCIIAKD (F. crhtata}. This species gets
its name from a crest of about two inches in length,
which is pendent from the hind part of the head. It is a

migrant bird like the others, though, probably, it does
not range so far ; because though not so common in this
country as several of the others, it continues longer,
chiefly on the fresh waters, and more inland than the
other pochards. It is about a foot and a half long, and
weighs twenty-six ounces. Bill and legs black"; the
former broadened toward the tip, and with a black
nail ; irides dull, yet low: the head, neck, and cust

black, but with rich reflections of green and purple.
The middle of the back and the breast, black, without
any reflection ; the scapulars and sides mottled black
and grey ; lower breast and belly pure white ; flanks
and vent feathers black ; tail feathers dusky, wings
black, but having a white spot on the secondaries.
The female and the young are duskv brown on those
places which answer to the white in the male, and
they are without any crest.

HED-CUKSTED POCHARD (F. rufina). This sperii s
belongs chiefly or exclusively to the eastern hemi-
sphere, ranging as far as the mountains of central
Asia. It is much less known in western Europe ;
and its appearance in Britain is verv rare, and always
in the south-east, where a small flock may be seen at
long intervals. From what is known of its habits, it
appears to be less a sea bird than any other of the
pochards. The male is a particularly handsome bird.
The bill is red with a white nail, and the feet red
with black webs. The nail of the bill is much produced
and pointed, and extended over the lower mandible,
like a hook. The head and crest, the latter composed
of long silky feathers and very handsome, are rich red-
dish chestnut with purple reflections. The hind part of
the head, breast, and middle of the belly, are brown,
and the vent feathers black ; the back is brownish
ash, with tvvo crescent spots of white on the scapular?,
which nearly me'et. The sides are white, mottled
with brown at the margins ; the wing spot is also
white, and the rump and upper coverts of the tail
green with purple reflections. The female has no
creel, and the head and upper part are more inclining
to brown than in the male.

There are several other varieties of pochards, or,
at least, of diving ducks, analogous to them, especially
on the northern shores of Arnerica, and in some of
the Antarctic countries ; but too little is known
respecting them for their being admitted into a merely
popular list.

LONG-TAILED HARELD (Harelda glacialis). This
species is in many respects analogous to the pochards ;
it is a diving duck, and makes its appearance at the
same season, and U is like them, common to the colder
regions of the whole northern hemisphere. It has
sometimes been confounded with the pintail, princi-
pally, we believe, because both agree in having their
tails longer than any other ducks ; but still they arc
different in their habits, and belong to separate divi-
sions. This species has the bill very short, and black,
with a transverse red stripe ; a large patch of chest-
nut brown on the sides of the neck. Length from
twenty to twenty-one inches, owing to the elongation
of the middle tail feathers ; but the bird is only aiiout
the size of a pigeon. This bird inhabits Europe,
Asia, and America ; frequenting both the interior lakes
and the sea shores of those quarters of the world.
The birds of this species do not, like many other of
the tribes, entirely quit their northern haunts in win-
ter, but considerable numbers reside permanently in
the' polar regions. Numerous flocks, however, spread
themselves southward in the winter from Greenland

344

DUCK.

and Hudson's Bay, as far as New York, in America ;
and i'rorn Iceland and Spitzbergen, over Lapland, the
Russian dominions, Sweden, Norway, and the northern
parts of the British Isles, in Europe. The bands
which visit the Orkneys, appear in October, and con-
tinue there till April. About sunset they are seen in
large companies, going to and returning from the
bays, in which they frequently pass the night, making
a noise, which, in frosty weather, may be heard at the
distance of some miles. They are rather scarce in
England, to which they resort only in very hard
winters, and even then in small straggling parties.
They fly swiftly, but seldom to a great distance,
making a loud and singular cry. They are expert
divers, and supposed to live chiefly on shell-fish. The
female places her nest among the grass, near the
water, and like the eider duck, lines it with the fine
down of her own body. In the northern parts of the
American continent, these ducks are found in vast
numbers during the summer ; but as they are more
marine in their habits than most of the species, they
do not move farther to the south in winter, at least in
their more numerous masses, than they are compelled
to by the freezing up of the shoals and shallows,
where they seek their food. Their nests are described
as being hid in the grass or other coarse herbage ;
but never at any very great distance from the sea.
On their southward migrations, they seldom resort to
the inland marshes, but take short nights from channel
to channel in the broken parts of the shores. Their
style of flight is rapid, and they utter a singular, and
when in numbers, a very loud cry while on the wing.
Their flesh is rank in flavour, and little esteemed ;
and thus they are apt to take their flights and carry
0*1 their fishing without being much disturbed.

GARROTS (Clangula). These are northern species,
found,we believe, most abundantly in the northern parts
of the Atlantic, and therefore more plentiful on the
shores of America than on those of Europe, even in the
winter months, when they quit their polar habitations,
or rather are driven from them by the ice. The posi-
tion of the Scandinavian mountains forms a sort of
barrier, excluding the polar birds of the Atlantic from
the north of continental Europe ; and besides, the
waters of the Baltic do not partake of any of the
advantages of the Gulf Stream, and the fertility which
it brings ; and this farther arrests the progress of
those birds, which otherwise might be much more
abundant in the marshy districts of central Europe
during the winter. The general characters of the
garrots are : the bill short and narrow ; the feathers
on the scapulars produced, pointed, and apart from
each other ; the third quills passing over the prima-
ries in the closed wing, but not being loose and pen-
dent as they are in some birds. They are rather
small in size, but very active.

THE GOLDEN EYE, or COMMON GARROT (C. vul'
garis. This species is named from the colour of the
iris of the eye, which is very brilliant, of a bright yel-
low colour, und shines like a little spot of gold upon
the side of the head. They swim swiftly and beauti-
fully, dive with great expcrtness, and live upon aquatic
animals, including reptiles, and even water mice. On
the wing their motion is very swift, but their flight is
usually low, and accompanied by a peculiar whistling
or clangulous noise. Their breeding places in the east-
ern continent are little known ; but in America they
are said to build on the stumps and in the hollows of
old trees. The golden eye is about eighteen inches

long, and thirty in the stretch of the wings, and
weighs about a pound and three quarters. The bill
is of a bluish colour. The upper part of the neck,
and the head, the feathers on the top of which are
very thick and much produced, forming a sort of
crest, but not a pendent one, are of a rich glossy
green, with the exception of a white spot just behind
the gape. Below the green there is a collar of deep
velvet black, below which the whole under part in
pure white, with the exception of a few black feathers
on the flanks and thighs. The middle of the back
and the rump black, and the tail brownish ; some of
the scapular feathers produced and of-a white colour,
the rest are black, as are also the tertiary quills, which
cross over the primaries. General colour of the wings
brownish black, with the coverts and secondaries white
crossed on the middle by a black bar. The female is
brown on the head and dusky on the back, with paler
margins to the leathers. The males do not attain
the full colours of their mature plumage until the
second year.

HARLEQUIN GARROT ( C. histrionica). This species
is named from the similarly contrasted colours of its
coat. The harlequin inhabits the same parts of the
world as its congener, the golden eye, but it inhabits
more northerly, and does not appear in the low
latitudes of either continent in even the severest
winters. This does not arise from its being a scarce
bird in the high latitudes, but from its polar habits.
It is abundant on the shores of the arctic ocean both
in America and in Siberia, and also in the islands to
the south of Behring's Strait. Indeed, excepting as
an occasional straggler, it appears to keep, at all
seasons, as near to the polar ice as the water is open.
In Britain we believe it has never once appeared in
the south, or even on the main land of Scotland,
though it may at some times be driven upon those
inhospitable shores near Cape Rath, which are not
very accessible to observation during the winter
storms. It is sometimes seen in the more remote
isles of the north, though only a straggler. On the
coast of America it is a little more common, because
that coast lies nearer to the Arctic countries in which
it breeds ; but even there it is very rare on the shores
of the midland states, and quite unknown on those of
the southern.

It is smaller than the golden eye, and much more
peculiar in its markings, though that also is a gaily
coloured bird. Its length is about seventeen inches,
the stretch of its wings about twenty-six, and its
weight a pound, or perhaps a little more. The
general colour of the upper part of the body is a deep
glossy green, which in some lights appears almost
black, but in others it throws out, brilliant reflections
of lighter greeu and of purple. This green is marked
with lines of white and black, very conspicuous and
well defined,' and placed differently from similar
markings on any other birds. On each side of the
head there is a curved white line, beginning near the
nape, passing over the eye to the gape, and returning
on the cheek, where it has a reddish tinge. This
white curve is margined on its under side by a very
narrow line of intense velvet black, without any
reflections, which contrasts strongly with the ground-
colour of the head, notwithstanding the deep tint of
the green on that. A circular spot of white is placed
immediately behind the eye ; and from a little behind
that, a white line passes from the head down the side
of the neck, and another narrow line of white,

DU

margined by black, almost surrounds die lower neck
as a sort of collar. These distinct arches of white,
with the convex sides upward, reach from the shoulder
to the breast, the one next the shoulder having a
black manna on the under side, and the remaining
two a similar margin, on the upper. These arches
form nearly a continuous band, and the portion of
the breast, which they enclose is of a bluish ash colour,
relieved by lighter margins to the feathers. The
remainder of the under part is brown, with a tinge of
red toward the flanks. The scapular feathers are
pretty long, pointed, distinctly separated from each
other, of a white colour iu the middle, but with black
margins. The wings and tail are dusky black, and
the wing-spot blue, with purple reflections. The bill
is dusky, the feet are bluish, and the irides, brown.
The female lias a rusty tinge on the head and neck,
the upper part brownish, and the under part dull
white. The nesting-places are said to be in the
herbage on the marshy places of the Arctic shores,
and also near the pools of fresh water in the same
region, but never at any great distance from the sea.
If we take the whole race of ducks, in the order of
their latitudes from the equator to the pole, the
harlequin may be considered as the last, and it
certainly is one of the most beautiful. Its flesh is also
•ed as being excellent.

EIDERS (Somrrferia). On a strictly systematic
arrangement of the duck family, it is not very easy to
dete- .'. ~ ••'•'li norfect satisfaction what should be
the place of this highly interesting germs. Th%y are
much larger bints than any of the other ducks, being
as weighty as the average of the geese. They have
also some peculiarities in their structure, and more
perhaps in their manners. All the species, for we
lequainted with at least three of them, are
remarkable for the immense coating of down by
means of which they are protected from the cold ;
and thus, though they are gentle creatures, and to
appearance delicate, they arc perhaps more proof
airainst the severity of the northern winter than most
of the family. In the southern parts of England
they are unknown, but there a few which inhabit the
Fern islands on the coast of Northumberland ; and
there are some also on a few of the small islets in the
Firth of Forth. From there, northward, they are not
met with, because the shores are not suited to their
habits ,- but in the Orkneys, the Shetland Isles, and
some of the more remote places of the Hebrides, they
are found in greater numbers. Wherever they are
met with, they may be considered as resident birds
rather than as wanderers ; for, though they take long
flights when out of the breeding season, they are
understood to return to the same haunts.

It is in the more dreary and inhospitable parts of
the north that those birds are found in the greatest
numbers, and where they may be said to be quite at
home. In Iceland, in the Fern islands, and in other
northerly places, they serve many important purposes,
and the inhabitants would find their comfort much
diminished if they were deprived of the eiders. Their
eggs and their flesh serve for food ; their skins form
under clothing, which is proof against very severe
cold , and, without very serious injury to the birds,
a vast quantity of the finest down is procured from
them every year. So firm and elastic is this down,
that the same quantity which can be compressed and
concealed between the two hands will serve to stuff
a quilt or coverlet, which, while it has hardly the

C K. 345

weight of a feather, has more warmth than the
finest blanket. We must, however, shortly notice the
species.

COMMON EIDEII (£ moltissima). This is the best
known species ; it is the one of which a few specimens
are found on the British shores, and also the one
which may be said to be domesticated by the northern
people, though its domestication costs them no ex-
pense, as the birds feed entirely on sea-weed, and
other products of that element.

Eider Duck.

The common eider has been known from very
remote antiquity, and its manners have been well
described by almost all who have written on the
natural history of the north. During the summer
months they are very abundant on all the isles in the
Greenland seas ; and they are also met. with floating
in pairs or solitary at great distances from the land,
but in these cases they are usually near the ice. In
spring they swim in flocks, and in fine weather one
of those flocks is a very beautiful sight. They ride
high in the water, their attitudes are elegant, and
their motion, though swift, is smooth and gliding, and
apparently performed with great ease. They can
also make excursions on the wing ; and, though they
are heavy birds, it has been estimated that they can
move along, when they are on their high flight, at
the rate of ninety miles an hour, without apparent
effort or fatigue.

But it is perhaps when they are on their breeding
grounds that their manners are most interesting.
The nest is made on the ground, composed of marine
plants, and lined with down of exquisite fineness,
which the female plucks from her own body. The
eggs are usually four, of a pale olive green, and rather
lonirer than those of a common duck. About Iceland
the eider duck generally build their nests on small
islands not far from the* shore, and sometimes even
near the dwellings of the natives, who treat them
with so much attention and kindness as to render
them nearly tame. Two females will sometimes lay
their eggs in the same nest, in which case they
always agree remarkably well. As long as the
female is sitting, the male continues on the water near
the shore, but as soon as the young are hatched he
leaves them. The mother, however, remains with
them a considerable time longer ; and it is curious to
observe her attention in leading them out of the nest
almost as soon as they creep from the eggs. Having
conducted them to the water's edge, she takes them

346

DUCKWEED — DYNASTES.

on her back, and swims a few yards with them, when
she dives, and leaves them on the surface to take
cure of themselves ; arid they are seldom afterwards
seen on land. When the natives come to the nest,
they carefully remove the female, and take away the
superfluous down and eggs. They then replace the
mother, and she begins to lay afresh, covering the
eggs with new down ; and when she can afford no
more, the male comes to her assistance, and covers
the eggs with his own down, which is white. When
the young ones leave the nest, it is once more
plundered. The best down and most eggs are got
during the first three weeks of their laying ; and it
has been generally observed that they lay the greatest
number of eggs in rainy weather. One female, during
the time of laying, usually yields half a pound of
down, which, however, is reduced one half after it is
cleaned. It is probable that the eiders, at least in
very many of their localities, depend upon the current
of the Atlantic for their food, and also for the mate-
rials for the nests ; and that, while this circulating of
the ocean waters brings the sporae or germs of the
sea-weed, and also the small animals which are
buried in these annually renewed deposits, the drift-
grass brought by the same current serves the birds
for the materials of their nests, just as the drift-wood
serves the people for their domestic purposes. This
wood furnishes an abundant supply in places where
not a tree grows ; and the drift-grass, in like manner,
brings a store for the birds to those dreary rocks
upon which there is not a particle of land vegetation.

The length of the male eider is about two feet
three, and the stretch of the wings about three feet ;
the head is large, and the bill very peculiar ; it is
three inches long, and two plates from the side of it
extend up the forehead, with feathers between them ;
the colour of this bill is dull yellow ; the top of the
head is velvet black, divided posteriorly by a white
line on each side ; a portion of the side of the head is
pea-green, divided by a white patch ; the plumage
from this part to the throat is very thick, and the
feathers appear as if the ends were cut off; the upper
part of the neck, back, scapulars, wing-coverts, and
sides of the rump, are pare white, the under part
black ; the tail, and the primary and secondary quills,
dusky black ; the tertiaries yellowish white, and
curving down over the closed wing ; the tarsi are
short, and of a yellow colour, as are also the toes,
but the webs are black. The female is considerably
different ; it is smaller ; the bill does not rise so high
on the forehead, and the general colour is dark
reddish drab, with lighter blotches, and spots of black,
and the under part dusky, mottled with black.

THE KING EIDER (5. spectabilis). This species
does not come so far southward as the common eider,
and therefore its history is less known, though it is
probable that some individuals breed in the more
remote British islands. It may readily be distin-
guished both by the bill and the plumage, and is
somewhat less than the other. The lateral prolonga-
tions of the bill on the forehead are arched, ridged
and furrowed ; the colour of the bill and feet is £
bright reddish orange, but the terminal parts of the
plates toward the forehead are black ; the feathers
over the eye, at the base of the bill, and partly down
the sides of the neck, are bright green, meeting in
front, and gradually passing into whitish on the chin
which is marked with an angular bar of black ; the
ton of the head and back of the neck are ash-coloured

he middle of the back black ; the coverts dusky,
vith a patch of white in the centre ; the quills black,
and the tertiaries curled over them ; the tail, which
s short and wedge-shaped, black, as are also the belly
and vent, but the lower neck and breast are whitish.
The female is smaller, of a brown and dusky colour,
las the plates of the bill less conspicuous, and the
tertiaries not curled over the wing.

WESTERN EIDER (S. disparj. This is an inhabit-
ant of the North Pacific, though it sometimes finds its
way to the Atlantic, and, in a solitary instance, lias
been found in Britain. Bill black, hooked at the tip ;
ground-colour of the head and neck white, with a
reen band on the forehead, and another on the nape,
and a black collar, and the chin black ; upper part
black, gied with white, with the tertiaries much
produced, and curving gracefully over the wings ;
under part white forwards, and brown to the rear ;
feet lead-coloured, large and strong ; the whole body
elongated, and the head slender.

Such is an outline of the interesting family of the
ducks ; but it would take much space, and more
labour and research, to fill up that outline with the
requisite minuteness of detail.

DUCKWEED is the Lemna of Linnaeus, and that
well-known floating plant which forms " the green
mantle of the standing pool." It belongs to Monceda
Diandria, and to the natural order Fluvialcs. There
are four species, all indigenous to Britain.

DULCAMARA is the Solamun dulcamara of
Linnaeus, a common British hedge plant, otherwise
called bitter-sweet.

DUMB-CANE is the Caladium sequinum of
Ventenat, so called from its reputed property of tak-
ing away the power of speech, if eaten.

DURANTA (Linnaeus). Tropical evergreen
shrubs, belonging to Didynamea Angiospernria, and to
the natural order Verbenacc<B. Generic character :
calyx tubular, rather truncated, five-cleft ; corolla
funnel-shaped, tube curved, limb five-lobcd, lobes
nearly equal, spreading ; stamens within the tube ;
anthers roundisn ; style filiform ; stigma thickened ;
drupe united to the calyx. This is a pretty genus,
and thrives under the ordinary management, flowering
freely, and is raised from cuttings.

DUVALLIA (Haworth). A genus of succulent
plants, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. Linnaean
class and order, Pentandria Digynia, and natural order,
AsclepiadecB. These plants require to be potted in
dry sandy soil, mixed with lime rubbish. Very little
water is necessary, for if it becomes stagnant about
the roots, the plant is apt to rot. They are propa-
gated by cuttings, which should be dried in the sun
till the wound is healed, and then placed in dry soil
to make roots.

DYNASTES (MacLeay ; SCARAB^CS, Linnaeus,
and of the modern French authors). A genus of
coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Penta-
mera, sub-section Lameflicornes, and family Dynas-
tidce of MacLeay, in which the body is very large ami
thick, the outer edge of the jaws sinuatcd or toothed,
and the lower jaws corneous and toothed. This
genus comprises the largest and most robust of the
insect tribes, and many of the species are armed with
remarkable spines upon the head or thorax, which
gives them a very formidable appearance. They are,
nevertheless, quite harmless in their habits, residing
in their early stages on the decaying bark of trees,
their larvae resembling1 those of the cock-chaffer and

DYSCHIRIUS — DYTICID^E.

347

rose-chaffer. See CETONIID^:. Other gigantic insects
are inhabitants of tropical regions, to whose entomo-
logical fauna they impart a very decided appearance.
None arc found in this country, and only one in
France. The larger kinds are found in Guiana,
India, &c* ; those, however, found in more moderate
climates, as in China, in the neighbourhood of Buenos
Ayres, &c., are generally of smaller size.

According to M. Lacordaire, whose researches in
entomology in South America have been very exten-
sive, the habits of the various species are nearly alike.
During the day they conceal themselves in holes in
the ground, or on the decaying trunks of trees ; or
they may occasionally be seen creeping about the
footpaths in forests. At the approach of night they
quit their retreats, and fly about the trees in the
same manner as our Mclolontha vulgaris and solstituills.
M. Lacordaire supposes that it is then that they take
their food ; but analogy would induce us to suppose
that, like the Melotonlhce, it is during the day that
they feed, and that their nocturnal flights are for the
purpose of seeking their mates. They produce a
shrill noise by rubbing an elytra against the abdomen.
The females are generally more common than the
males, and are for the most part destitute of those
remarkable horns which the males exhibit, and which,
so far as we yet know, seem to be of no use to the
in~(>ct as means of defence. One of the species,

Di/nnstes let mis, is recorded by Say, the American

i • I i •

entomologist, to have occurred on one occasion in

such numbers as to have caused no little surprise in
the neighbourhood of Philadelphia, where they were
discovered, although during eighteen years an indus-
trious collector had only previously met with two
individuals. They were found in the cavity of an old
cherry tree, which was blown down by the wind.

Of" the larger and more remarkable species, the
Hercules and Elephant beetles may especially be
noticed. The former is black and polished, with
greyish elytra, in the males the thorax is protruded
into a thick and curved horn bent downwards at the
tip, and woolly beneath, being as long as the whole
body. The head is also armed with a similar but
shorter horn, bent upwards at the tip, so as to come
in contact with the former ; the entire length of this
curious beetle is nearly six inches.

Dynastes Hercules.

The fine species figured for the first time in our
plate of " Beetles," from the collection of the Rev.
I'. \\r. Hope, F.R.S., is named by that gentleman
Dynamics Hardw'wkci, in honour of general Hardwicke,
the celebrated Indian naturalist, by whom it was
brought from Nepal. It is thus described by Mr.
Hope, in his Synopsis of Ncpalese Coleoptera, "Niger,
xrtt/r/ffifji.'i, thoracc fjii/ii/riror/ii, contii dapitis crecto,
rci'ui-ro, clytrix cusfruicix, pcdibiisque mgris." Black,
with a scutelhnn, the thorax with four rather short
horns, the head with an erect horn bent backwards

at the tip, the elytra chestnut coloured, and the legs
black. It is rather more than two inches long, and
one inch wide.

DYSCHIRIUS (Panzer). A genus, or rather
sub-genus of coleopterous insects, belonging to the sec-
tion Pcntamera, family Cnrabidas, and subfamily Scari-
tides. The species are of small size, and closely allied
to Clivina, from which they differ in having the" thorax
globose, and the anterior tibiae not, or but rarely, pal-
mated at the tip. They are of small size, and are
found in damp situations, on the sea coast, and under
stones, &c. ; the species, of which there are nearly a,
dozen British species, require a more minute investi-
gation than has hitherto been bestowed upon them.

DYSDERA (Latreille). A genus of spiders, be-
longing to the quadripulmonariae of Latreille, having
six eyes placed in a curve resembling a horse-shoe,
open in front, the mouth-claws very large, and pro-
duced in front ; the maxillae straight, and dilated at
the place of insertion of the palpi. The type is the
Dysdera erytlvrina of Latreille, a species not uncom-
monly met with in England under stones.

DYTICID^E. A family of coleopterous insects,
belonging to the section Pentamera, sub-section Adc-
phaga, and comprising the aquatic species of voracious
beetles, which formed in the Linnaean system the
genus Dyticus (or as it is occasionally, but improperly
spelt, Dytiscujs}. These insects are distinguished by
their oval and depressed form, the moderate length
and slenderness of the antennae, the structure of the
legs, formed for swimming, &c. An examination
of the external structure of the body of these animals
discovers a solidity of organisation of the various
parts, from which great strength is necessarily imparted
to the insects. A sternum (or breast bone, external),
of very large size, of which the parts are so con-
structed as to form a perfect piece of armour ; a pair
of flattened coxa?, dilated and produced into a point
behind (generally mistaken for the extremities of the
sternum itself) ; posterior legs thick and compressed,
and a strong fringe of hairs to all the legs, are the
organs which chiefly tend to enable these insects to
make their way through an element in which they are
the scourge of a mass of animals more weak than
themselves. They are, in fact, the aquatic repre-
sentatives of the equally voracious land Carabidce — all
kinds of food seems good to them. They swim with
great agility, and often make their way out of the
water, not only towards the night, but in the hot sun-
shine. De Geer kept some a long time in glass vases
filled with water, feeding them upon flies and spiders.
One day one of them attacked and devoured a large
leach, but this food disagreed with it, as the following
day large morsels of the animal were discharged from
the mouth, and the Dyticus soon afterwards paid for
its gluttony with its life. Esper kept one of the
Dyticus marginalis in the same manner, feeding it
once a week, or sometimes oftener, with a piece of
raw beef the size of a nut, from which it completely
sucked the juices. It would sometimes fast for several
weeks together. It killed an individual of Hydrous
piceus, a water beetle larger than itself, piercing it
between its head and thorax, the only part of the
body not protected by the horny covering of the
animal.

This family comprises a great number of species,
of which the'majority are of small or minute size.—
These, of course, have not attracted so much of the
attention of observers as the large species, whose

D Y T I C I D JR.

habits and transformations have been recorded. The
eggs of the D. marginalii, according to Rcesel, are
hatched ten or twelve days after they are deposited.
Ju tour or five days, the larva is nearly half an inch
long, when it sheds its skin for the first time. A
second moult takes place in about the same time,
when the insect has attained twice its former size :
when full-grown it is about two inches long. In sum-
mer fifteen days is sufficient for it to attain this size,
and to pass into the pupa state, and in fifteen or
twenty more days the perfect insect is produced. —
Those larvae are found in all waters, and when the
period of their transformation to the pupa state is
arrived, they bury themselves in tne earth at the
margin of the water in which they are produced, and
form an oval cell, in which they are transformed to
inactive pupae.

The mouth of the voracious larvae is not constructed
in the same manner as that of the larvae of most
coleopterous insects ; instead of the mandibles being
short and fixed near together, they are placed at the
sides of the front of the head, being very long, slender,
curved, and acute at the tips, having a channel along
its surface with a terminal orifice, these hooks are
struck into the body of the prey of the larva, and by
their assistance it is enabled to suck those fluids for
it.s own support. The respiration of these larvae is
effected by an apparatus placed at the extremity of
the body, so that in general it is to be perceived sus-
pended at the surface of the water by means of two
hirsute filaments at the tail, between which the two
breathing spiracles are to be seen ; hence, when the
larva rises to the surface of the water, these spiracles
are immediately brought into contact with the air,
aud the ciliae of these appendages quickly drying,
serve as a buoy to retain the larva in this situation,
which, however, it is enabled instantly to quit by
giving to its body a vermicular motion, and beating
the water with its posterior part, the fringe of which
serves as an oar. When the larva is full grown, it
creeps out of the water, and Lyonnet at this period
observed that it possessed the ordinary number ol
spiracles along the sides of the body, which, of course
could not have been previously employed (the animal
breathing by its tail as before stated), but which are
given to the animal to be employed when it has
quitted the water to become a jnipa. Lyonnet satis-
factorily demonstrated that this was the fact by again
placing in the water one of those larvae, when bubbles
of air escaped from each of the breathing pores, a
circumstance which had not previously taken place.

•^ft**

A, the larva. B, the perfect Dyticus marginalia.

The period of coupling of these insects is during
the winter and spring months, after which the female
according to Lyonnet, deposits eggs more than once
each laying consisting of from forty to fifty eggs

hey are deposited without any care in the water
ingly, the period of oviposition lasting several days,
idea of the form of the larva and prrlV-ct insect
will be more readily obtained from the figures which
ve here give of them than from a detailed description.
The similarity of circumstances in which these
nsects are placed renders it necessary that they
hould exhibit but little variation in structure. The
lumber of species is but small, but they are dispersed
over a wide extent of country. For instance, a .
arge species of Cybislcr (of which genus, with one
exception, the species are extra-European) is found
Tom Senegal to New Holland, being observed at
[}uinea, the Cape of Good Hope, Madagascar,
Mauritius, and the Indian Archipelago. The species
of the genus Dyticus seem exclusively to inhabit
Europe and the north of America^ of which latter
country the productions in many respects closely
approximate those of Europe.

The sexes of these insects exhibit various pecu-
liarities. The elytra of the males are smooth and
finely punctured ; whereas those of the females, in
many of the larger species, have several deep furrows,
which are covered with a coating of hairs. The
males in some of the latter species have the three
basal joints of the tarsi of the fore Iro-s very broad,
dilated, convex above, and furnished below with tine
hairs. By means of this instrument the male retains
its situation during coupling. In the perfect insect
the respiratory apparatus does not differ from that of
other beetles ; but, in order to bring the spiracles into
contact with the air, the beetle is obliged from time
to time to ascend to the surface of the water, which is
easily effected by discontinuing the motions of the
feet, when the body, which is lighter than the water,
immediately ascends to the surface. In this situation,
with the head downwards, and the legs stretched out
at right angles, the extremity of the body is pushed
above the surface of the water, the elytra are slightly
raised at the tips from the upper surface of the
abdomen, and a sufficient supply of air is introduced
beneath the elytra, which are then closed. If the
insects wish to remain beneath the surface of the
water with their legs unemployed, they are compelled
to lay hold of aquatic plants with their tarsi.

Since the time of Linnaeus, numerous generic divi-
sions have been separated from the Linmvun genus ;
that of Haliplus, distinguished by several remarkable
peculiarities, having been first established by Latreille,
Clairvillc, Leach, and other entomologists, have added
to their number. The genera of which the family is
at present composed are, Hullphis, Cnemviotux, Pcch-
bius, Anisomcra, Hyphydntx, Hygrotits, Hydro? writs,
2fotcrus, Hydrocatit/tus, Coplotomus, LaccoplUus.Aga-
bus, Colymbctes (with numerous subgenera), Cifbittcr,
Actfutff Hydalicus, Dyticus, Lcionotus, and Eunectes ;
the majority of which comprise species inhabitants of
this country.

The typical genus, Dyticus, as now restricted, com-
prises the largest species in the family, the anterior
tarsi of which are dilated in the males, the elytra of
the females furrowed ; the posterior tibias are of
moderate size, and the claws didactyle. There are
eight or nine British species, of which the most
abundant is the Dyticus margitialis of Linnaeus, of an
oli ve- black colour ; the margins of the thorax and
elytra ochreous, with an obscure lunula of yellow
near the extremity of the latter. It varies from one
to seventeen inches in length.

EAGLE.

349

EAGLE (Aqiu/a). A genus of accipitres or rapa-
cious birds, belonging to the division of diurnal prey-
ers, and included in the great genus Frt/<:<> of tiio
older naturalises. But their characters are not only
sufficient for ranking- them as a separate genus, but
might in strict system warrant the separation of them
into two or more genera or subgcnera, at least if the
classification were to be made1 very minutely charac-
teristic of their habits. This part of the subject is,
however, foreign to our plan ; and as their relation to
the rest of the rapacious birds, and some of their
structural peculiarities have been noticed in the arti-
cles Act ii'iTKiis, Aiiirn.A, and J»IKI>, we may restrict
this article to the peculiarities of the leading species,
of which we shall endeavour to give a popular
account, as brief, but at the same time as comprehen-
sive as our limits will admit.

The eagle among birds, like the lion among beasts,
has long got credit for qualities which it does not
possess, and which it could not possess without a
direct violation of the system and purpose of nature.
As the lion was named and described as the king of
beasts, the monarch of the forest and the wild, so the
was elevated to the government of the sky, and
made the queen, or rather (for they gave to the male
that superiority which really belongs to the female)
the king of the feathered race. Not only this, but as
the eagle is capable of soaring aloft, it was made the
companion of the Gods, the constant associate of
Jupiter himself, and in some sort the emblem of his
power ; and now that Jupiter has gone the way of all
idols, and the eagle still remains in localities which
generally ha\e a great deal of wild grandeur and rude
sublimity about them, the eagle has become the
monument of her fabled master, arid is still " the bird
of Jove.''

In so far as natural history is concerned, those
fables are as absurd as they are difficult to be got rid
of by those who are fond of romancing ; but they
have their use in throwing light upon the feelings of
men in the more rude and early stages of human
society. The eagle, like the lion, was gratuitously
endowed with a great many virtues, being set down
as the most courageous, the most noble-minded, and
the most generous of birds, — as one in short who
could do nothing at all calculated to lessen the
majesty of a monarch. Whereas, in fact, unless in
so tar as that instinct which has been given them in
order that they might answer these appointed pur-
poses in wild nature, prompts them to kill and eat,
eagles are not only indolent, but they are, in reality,
cowardly birds ; that is, when their purpose is accom-
plished, they seek retirement, and relapse into a state
of perfect inaction. That they must have done so
in the early stages of their history, the same as at
the present time, docs not admit of any doubt ; for
how much soever the dispositions and opinions of
men may improve, or fall off in the course of those
fluctuations, with the accounts of which the annals of
the race are chequered, the other animals have no
opinions, and partake not either of the improvement
or of the falling off, in consequence of any direct
influence of the human race, in one way or another.
It is, no doubt true, that when society improves, and
extends its arts and its cultivation, so as to require
protection to cultivated vegetables from those animals
upon which the predatory tribes feed, and protection
to those domesticated animals on which the others
would feed, the predatory races fall off in numbers,

and ultimately become extinct, before the progress of
human art.

This fact, and any one who attends to the evidence,
will be able to discover that it really belongs to the
system of nature, and is not brought about by human
exertions in exterminating the animals, though this
may in many cases assist, is sufficient to convince any
one that there is really an opposition between those
destroying animals and man, viewing him even simply
in the light of a consumer of the fruits of the earth, —
that, when man is not there, and nature is yet boun-
tiful in consequence of the elements of fertility
abounding in any place, those powerful animals,
whether they prey upon the earth, in the air, or in
the waters, are an essential part of the exuberance
of wild nature, and have important functions to
perform in its economy. If we may so express it,
when the locality is of that generous and bountiful
character, in which it would best reward the labours
of the cultivators, but is yet without the cultivator
to earn and to enjoy the reward, the lion, the eagle,
the wolf, or whatever may be the predatory animal
whose structure and habits are best adapted to the
place, is really in the character of locum tcncns for
man ; and in this respect it may be considered as the
keeper of wild nature for man, until he shall have
arrived at the majority of knowledge and of art, and
shall be able to take the government on his own
shoulders, and prevent the bounty of nature from
being lost, at the same time that he makes his own
advances in intelligence and enjoyment.

Such being the case, all attributing to animals of any
disposition in any way analogous either to any virtue or
to any vice of man, and all attributing to them of any
plan or purpose, or any combining together, for the-
weal or the woe of each other, according to any fore-
thought plan, is an error in principle, tending to jumble
together the conduct of irrational and irresponsible
creatures, and the conduct of rational and respon-
sible man : and thus, not only destroying the philo-
sophy of both in a natural history point of view, but
laying a sure foundation for scepticism and doubt, by
shaking man's belief in the existence of his immortal
spirit and thereby laying the axe to the root of all
sound morality, all conduct upon principle, and all
hope that the mental acquirements, which man obtains
in this life shall not be lost, and buried with him in
the grave for ever.

The extent of mischief which has been done by
publishing those groundless analogies between the
irrational animals and the human race, is incalculable ;
and, unfortunately, this mischief is not confined to
those who, in the waywardness of a wandering philo-
sophy, or in the dread of future punishment, which
they seem conscious that they deserve, attack the
hopes of immortality avowedly, or with the purpose
proclaimed in the preceding view, how much soever
the parties may strive to hide it. Were it confined to
these, its pernicious effects would be within a compass
comparatively narrow ; and the avowment or even
the implication of such a purpose, would destroy the
bad effect ; because the world would see that such
arguers had motives and grounds which they con-
cealed, and did not fully and fairly examine the whole
state of things, and draw their conclusions, and form
their judgments from this examination. When, how-
ever, the general tone, and even the avowed purpose
is to maintain the doctrines upon which these false
analogies are calculated to cast doubt, the doubt so

350

EAGLE.

produced is of a much more inveterate and dangerous
character. This is, in fact, exactly a parallel to a
case which breaks down in the hands of an advocate
who is at once able and willing ; and the public, who
are the jury in this case, are sure to come to the same
decisions on its merits, as the empanneled jury do on
those of the other, — that the case has no foundation.

This is not only incidental to the natural history of any
one species, genus, or class of animals ; but it is of so
much more importance to the real happiness of men
than any thing connected with the details of natural
history, that we should not feel our duty discharged,
if we did not allude to it upon those occasions where
the imputation of modes and motives of action similar
to those of man, have been most frequently and gene-
rally imputed to the other animals. The kingship
which has been given to eagles, or rather the sup-
posed noble and honourable qualities which they have
been said to possess, in consequence of this imaginary
kingship, are of some use in throwing light upon the
progressive natural history of man himself. The only
attributes which could be observed in these animals,
are great strength or power, when the necessities of
the individual animal render it necessary. Other than
this, there could be nothing actually observed, for
other than this there is nothing to observe ; and the
additional and nobler qualities gratuitously given must
have been given in consequence of a disposition in
men in a rude state to attribute every virtue to those
who were powerful enough to destroy even though the
power was used for working destruction in the most cruel
and atrocious manner. Therefore, those royal animals
throw some light upon the characters of the kings of
early history, from their resemblance to whom they
got their titles to royalty ; and as we have the animals
still unchanged, we can, perhaps, better arrive at the
general characters of those early rulers by this means
than by any other.

In tins, we must admit, there is at least some advan-
tage to be derived, from the fact of human qualities
and dispositions having been attributed to animals ;
for those qualities and dispositions could have been
attributed only from the circumstance of a felt an-
alogy between the simple action of the parties com-
pared, at a time when the diiference between acting
by reason and purpose, and acting by instinct, was but
imperfectly understood. Such being the case, when-
ever we are put in possession of the disposition and
character which were imputed to the animal, and then
find by observation what the real character of the
animal in a state of nature is ; we can take the latter
as a constant quantity, as the same in the same race,
at all stages of the world's history ; — and from this
invariable standard, we can discover what must have
been the sentiments of the people who imputed the
qualities, in regard to the moral nature of human
actions ; and in this way, the study of animals, com-
pared with the ancient opinions of them would tell us
far more of the characters of the nations of antiquity
than are handed down to us even by the most correct
and philosophical historians of the human race. This
is an use to which the study of animated nature has not
hitherto been applied, although it is a very valuable
one. At the same time, however, it is one which
cannot be prosecuted with accuracy and success, un-
less we abandon as entirely fabulous or imaginary all
analogy of kind between man aud the animals. There
is no doubt, however, that this study would repay with
information, equally correct and curious, and at the

same time highly valuable as an auxiliary in the study
of the human race, the labour of any one who would
enter upon it with the requisite degree of knowledge,
and work it out with due patience and impartiality.

As it is new, we shall just mention two instances,
which may be taken as counterparts, of the noble
qualities which were so long ascribed by every body
to the lion and the eagle, and which are still in com-
mon circulation, and no doubt extensively credited
by those whose knowledge of natural history extends
no further than having read some of the books of
mere description. The ass and the goose are, by
universal consent, made the very emblems of stupidity
and folly ; so much so, that their very names have
become so closely linked with these unhappy con-
ditions that to apply any of them to a man would be
considered a violation of the rules of ordinary polite-
ness, even in society of not the most scrupulous de-
scription. But the ass, so far from being a stupid
animal, is a wonderfully sagacious one ; and though
i« this country, where it is abandoned to the least
reputable part of society, and badly fed, and worse
treated, it is a comparatively slow and «ometimes a
sullen animal, yet there is not perhaps one of the
domesticated mammalia which is so totally free from
vice. It is the most enduring, the most patient, the
most hard-working, the most temperate, and the most
inoffensive of all animals ; and as these qualities have
not been destroyed, even by cruel neglect and even
by more cruel treatment, we must conclude that they
are natural to the animal, that they form its disposition
as a race, and that they were its observed qualities at
the time when its name became the synonyme for
stupidity. Now, if an}7 one will consider this list of
qualities, and reflect what the moral condition of man-
kind must have been when these were held as being
expressive of stupidity, which all mankind dislike in
the application to themselves, a conclusion will be
arrived at not very favourable to society, because the
opposite qualities, turbulence, wrangling, and all the
worst passions and their worst effects, must at that
time have been accounted the signs of wisdom. The
case of the goose is nearlv similar. The goose is a
vegetable feeder, and attacks no animal, however
weak, though it defends its young with some resolu-
tion ; and the goose, so far from being a stupid animal,
is perhaps the most intelligent and the most suscepti-
ble of sensation in the whole poultry yard. This is
not the place for entering upon details ; but there are
many instances recorded of more attachment on the
part of this bird than of almost any other of the fea-
thered race. The sum of its character may be said
to be mildness ; and when, in consequence of this cha-
racter, its name became a synonyme for folly, it re-
quires no argument or investigation to discover what
qualities and what conduct must have been held in
the highest estimation among the human race.

We have deemed it necessary to premise these
few observations in order that, by detaching them
from all fancied analogy to man, we might be enabled
to view the eagles in their own natural character, and
as a most interesting and in some respects a most
wonderful branch of animated nature. When we
view them in this respect, they become as instructive
as they are delusive while mixed up with man ; and
thus, by freeing ourselves from absurdity and error,
we clear the ground for an instructive perusal of one
of the most striking pages in nature's volume ; and
we may add that there are many bright pages in that

EAGLE.

351

volume which we close to our own view by absurdi-
ties of the same class with those of which we have
been endeavouring1 to point out the impropriety and
mischievous effects.

The great distinction between the eagles and all
other birds of prey, overlooking- the differences in
particular parts of their structure, is the possession of
superior strength, together with superior power of
endurance. Some of the vultures are probably birds
of larger dimensions than the most formidable of the
eagles ; and no eagle can be compared with the
superior falcons, either in elegance of form or in
power of wing ; but there is a degree of strength for
short efforts, about the eagles, which places them in
nearly the same relation to the falcons as the lion
and the tiger stand in to those predatory mammalia
which run down their game by swiftness of foot.
There is nothing in the action of an eagle at all com-
parable to the beautiful gliding of the kite, the rapid
forward llight of the peregrine, or the lightning rush
of the jer-falcon. But still the eagle in the air is a
splendid bird, and one knows hardly whether most to
admire, the terrible stoop of those species which de-
scend from the top of the sky in the open wastes, to
strike their prey upon the ground, or of those which
descend upon the surface of the waters for the cap-
ture of Hsh. In all the species, the rush of the eagle
is of comparatively short duration, for though some
of them are described as giving chase on the wing,
and striking their prey in the air, yet these are habits
of falcons and hawks rather than of eagles. Eagles
are, however, found in so many and such different
localities in wild nature, that there are great differ-
ences of habit in those which are found in different
places. The mountaineer, which inhabits the pinna-
cles of the rocks, nestles on the most inaccessible
ledges, beats the upper valleys and moors for prey
preys only or chiefly on living animals, and strikes
them on the ground, aided by an impetus .obtained
by a rush of many fathoms through the sky, in which
the specific gravity of the bird aids the descent of the
wing, ought perhaps to be considered as the typica'
eagle. There are, however, some of the most power-
ful ones which inhabit the forests of the warmer re-
gions, or rather perhaps the margins of those forests
and they unite in so far the habits both of the vulture
and the hawk with those of the species which we
are disposed to regard as the typical eagle. It is
probable, also, that when the hawking action of giving
chase on the wing, and the vulture propensity of eat
ing carrion, are joined with the more single predatory
habit of the typical species, there is also joined less
or more of the disposition to feed upon fish. It i
probable, also, that the typical eagle depends mon
upon the eye in finding her prey than is the casi
with any of those of mixed habit ; and it is worthy o
remark that this most typical of the race is confiner
to the wildest and the barest pastures, — the mor
lofty mountains in Scotland, perhaps some spots ii
Ireland, the rocky elevations which mark the forest
of Scandinavia, and the elevated wild and bleak dis-
tricts of the Alps and the Pyrenees. On the othe
hand, those species which are found on the margin
of the tropical forests, however powerful they ma)
be, and however active in the finding of their prey
have an apparent softness about them, even when i
a state of the most powerful excitement, which thi
eagle of the mountain rocks never displays, eve
though in a state of repose. Nor is there any doub

lat though some of these are of greater size and armed
ith larger beaks and talons, there is no eagle of the
nixed character which would be able to contend in
ngle contact with the golden eagle of the wild moun-
ains of Europe. It is not in the size of the animal,
r the form of the instrument, that the superior power
esides, it is in the spirit and the muscular energy ;
nd when these are great, they tell in the whole cha-
acter and expression, and in the case of birds, even
n the very plumage. Any one who has an oppor-
unity, and this opportunity may be had in the gar-
lens of the London Zoological Society, of comparing
ogether, the harpy eagle of central America and the
golden eaglaof Europe, will have no difficulty in per-
ceiving that, though the former is the larger bird, and
Iso has the beak and the claws most formidable, yet
hat there is a fire in the eye, and a firmness in the
«vhole structure and air of the latter, which leaves not
he smallest doubt as to which would be the victor.in
.he event of each bringing the whole of its strength
against the other upon equal terms. Nor is it difti-
•ult, from the different modes in which the two must
ind their food, to see that this is a wise adaptation in
uiture. The mountain eagle has to contend with all
he violence of the mountain storm, while she sits
upon the pinnacle of the rock, beaten by the wind and
>elted by the snow. Her common flight in ranging
or her prey is not rapid or performed with effort ;
ind from the loftiness of her flight, the keenness of
icr eye, and the few objects which there are to inter-
cept her vision, her floating is neither long nor labo-
ious. When her effort comes, however, it is an
;xtreme one ; and, therefore, whether she has to
maintain her position against the violence of the ele-
ments, or descend upon her victim with that rapidity
which makes the viewless air appear to shiver for
fathoms in the rear of her, her muscular exertions
must be greater than even that which is required for
the spring of the lion or the tiger. The other eagle,
from the more rich and more sheltered pasture, from
having to beat about where trees break her horizon,
to catch the larger birds on the wing, and to sei/e
monkeys and other tree animals while they are on the
branches, requires a frame, not so knit and wound up
for the single effort, but one which is more flexible,
and can more readily accommodate itself to the varied
circumstances of a chequered scene.

The characters of the eagle are :— The bill very
strong, straight in the basal part, and curved only to-
ward'the point ; the feet very strong, supplied with
powerful muscles, and in the mountain eagles always
feathered on the tarsi. The toes very stout; and the
claws powerful and very much arched. The particu-
lar form of the foot and toe varies a good deal with
the habits of the birds. If the habit is to kill the prey
only or chiefly on the ground, the outer toe is not
reversible, though, even in them, it turns outwards
until it is at right angles to the axis of the body. In
these the under sides'of the claws are grooved, so as to
form two trenchant or cutting edges upon each claw,
which tear or lacerate while the strong muscles are
drawing the toes together with great force. When
the foot is of this stiucture, it is the sole instrument
employed in killing the prey ; and the beak is reserved
for rending it after it has been killed. If, on the other
hand, the habit is chiefly or exclusively a fishing one,
the outer toe is reversible, and the claws want the
groove, and are rounded on the under sides. If, again,
some of the disposition of the hawk is mingled, tne

EAGLE.

claws arc sharper at their points, and the bill is more
arcned at \he base. In fact, there is a great deal
of nicety in the adaptation of the weapons of these
birds to the nature of their prey, and the mode of
their catching1 and killing; it ; but all the varieties
of this adaptation would require a very intimate know-
ledge of the habits of the birds — more, indeed, than it
is possible to obtain, from the wild nature of the
general haunts of these birds, and the short time that
any one of them can be seen in a state of nature. —
The wings of eagles are, generally speaking, very long,
though less so in proportion to the weight of the
birds than in some others of the order. They are
remarkably broad and firm. The fourth and fifth
quills are the longest ; and the third, second, and first
get gradually shorter, which gives roundness, but at
the same time firmness to the extremity of the wing.
The shafts and tubes of the quills, and even the webs
are much firmer than in any other birds, and this firm-
ness extends in a great measure to the whole of the
plumage, so that no force of the wind, or even any
ordinary contact with sprays and twigs, or even con-
flict on the ground with the more powerful prey, can
very much ruffle the plumage of an eagle. In the
species which fish, and which have to plunge into the
water in the seizing of their prey, and sometimes when
that prey is heavy, to struggle with it on the surface,
the plumage on the under part of the body, and the
under sides of the wings, is very close and compact,
bearing no inconsiderable resemblance to that of
water birds.

The power of enduring hunger is as remarkable in
the eagles as any of their other powers, notwithstand-
ing the boldness with which they prey, and the
rapacity with which they feed. The one habit is as
necessary to them as the other ; for, with the excep-
tion of those which depend on the sea, which knows
no scarcity except when it is sealed up by the frost,
there are seasons at which all of them find but little
food on their pastures. Upon the mountain tops
there are few animals during the depth of the snowy
season, and of the few that are there, hardly any
come abroad. It is probable that, at those times, the
eagles doze in their eyries without any action, and
consequently with very little waste of the system ;
tor it does not appear that mountain eagles come far
down from their airy heights even at these times of
the year ; at the same time, the bones of a perished
eagle are rarely found when the season turne, and the
snow clears off. They appear, indeed, to be but little
migratory at any season. They choose their ground,
and, having once chosen it, they keep it ; nor does.it
appear that they are much in the habit of invading
the territories of each other.

They all live in pairs, which are never at any great
distance from each other, though it is said that, when
one of the pair meets with any casualty, the other
one wanders off, never to return to the same locality,
though a second pair may take possession of the
deserted eyerie. The pairs inhabit more or less
wide of each other, according to the nature of the
pasture, but they are never very near neighbours ;
nor does it appear that they have any social instinct
save that which keeps the pair together, and it is
merely the instinct of continuing the race, and nothing
more. The attachment to the young, the industry of
the old birds in feeding them, and the determination
with which both defend them, are all very great ; but
their apparent paternal attachments and labours are

nothing but results of the same lasting instinct, only as
long as the young are helpless, and not only ceasing,
but turning to the opposite propensities as soon as the
young have acquired sufficient wing and strength for
rinding their own food. There is a moral, or, at all
events, a physiological lesson, that may be drawn from
this. The storge in the human race is an animal
principle as well as it is in eagles ; and hence we
find it very strong in parents, who are, at the same
time, not only neglecting to take those steps which
would ensure the mental and moral worth, and con-
sequently future respectability of their children, but
following habitually those courses which tend, of
necessity, to the very opposite results. This is most
conspicuous on the part of ill-educated mothers, who
may be often seen pawing and fondling their children,
as a tigress paws and fondles her cubs, while she is
not only neglecting their rninds, but thwarting the
father in all his efforts to provide for them. We
mention the mother, because there is little or none of
this merely animal slorge in the other sex, as i?
proved by the total neglect of young children by the
males among savages. The moral of the whole is,
that the principle, or the instinct, does not carry the
human female to perfection, while it invariably does
the female eagle. She never slackens her attention
till her offspring are fit for the world, while, notwith-
standing the strength of the animal impulse, the
woman who acts upon impulse alone unfits her
offspring for the world by the whole tenor of her
conduct. The reader will see that out of this arises
a very powerful argument for the existence of mind,
and one equally powerful for the necessity of moral
as well as technical education. Such is one of the
lessons we may learn at the eyrie of the eagle.

When the young eagles are driven off from the
parental eyrie, it is not known whether they are yet
in possession of the pairing instinct, or at what age
they pair. That most of them do pair before they
undergo their last change of plumage is highly
probable, and this is one of the reasons why one
species of eagle has in so many instances been
multiplied into two. Even now, it is by no means
made out how many of these differently coloured
easrles, which are met with in the same locality, are
of different species, and ho\r many are exactly the
same ; and very few years have elapsed since the
daughter of the golden eagle of our own country was
invariably set down in the books as a difterent
species from the mother.

The systematic natural history of eagles is thus a
matter of great difficulty and much uncertainty ; and
when we attempt to get at their manners, so as to
classify them according to these, we are not in a
much more hopeful predicament. Every body knows
the name, and there arc many who have opportunities
of seeing the birds, not only stuffed in glass cases
but alive in cages ; but these convey very little infor-
mation on that part respecting which information is
the most desirable — the manners of eagles in free
nature ; and he who could procure materials for one
year's history of a wild eagle would merit the thanks
of every lover of birds.

It is generally understood that eagles live to a
very great age, Klein says to not less than four
hundred years, though, of course, nobody ever kept
a journal of the transactions of an eagle for anything
like that period. Instances are quoted, however, of
eagles having lived for long periods in a state of con-

ISJIHD i'KKY

King- Vulture

E A G L E.

finement ; and there is a spot on one of the southern
elopes of the Grampians, in Scotland, where the
population, that is, the race of people, has not been
changed for many centuries, and there a pair of eagles
continue to build in a lofty and inaccessible crag,
which, according to the concurrent testimony of the
people, the same pair have inhabited beyond the
period of human tradition, which, in reference to that
very crag, is as old as the days of Sir William Wallace,
which may be estimated at about the year 1300, or
535 years ago. Whether the eagles were there in
the days of Sir William, it is not easy to say ; but if
they were, it is probable that the patriotic knight
might have caused them some temporary alarm ; for
the tradition, universally believed in the district,
states, that he descended the face of the crag; nearly
perpendicular, and at least a thousand feet high,
alighted safely at the bottom, stormed, single-handed,
a neighbouring fortalice, then held by the invading
English, put the whole garrison to the sword, rallied
the country people, led them down Glen Esk, whetted
his sword anew upon a great stone by the road-side,
met the English army some ten miles down, and
totally defeated it, all within the compass of the same
four-and-twenty hours. A hint was indeed thrown
out, in supplement, by the narrator of this adventure,
with whom the writer of the present article went to
visit this same pair of eagles as nearly as possible,
that the royal birds came there along with Sir Wil-
liam, having scented, by anticipation, the feast of the
slain that was to ensue, and that they have remained
there in honour of the feast, and in gratitude to the
illustrious cause ; but the reciter had the candour to
add, that he knew few who believed this part of the
narration, and could not really find in his heart to
believe it himself. Be that as it may, it is certain
that this pair of eagles have been there for a very
long period, for the people are both observant and
intelligent. Their little glen is quite secluded, and
depends on its own productions and occurrences for
topics of conversation, and every thing that has
happened for a century or two is borne in perfect
memory. There is another circumstance. Those
ancient eagles of Wallace's Crag were much paler in
the colour than most of those which I (that pronoun
may be used once) have seen in the same mountains ;
and, while it is the habit of the species to lose some
white in its progress to maturity, it is also understood
to become hoary, through old age, before it ceases to
spread its broad wings in the upper air, and to shoot
down in its stoop, like a frost-rent fragment from the
beetling summit of the crag.

The four distinctive kinds of eagles into which the
whole race might be arranged, if we had sufficient
data for the determining of all their characters, which,
unfortunately for this very interesting branch of
ornithology, we have not, would be Eagles, par
excellence, meaning thereby the golden eagle, and the
rest of the more powerful mountaineers which agree
most closely with it in habit ; Vulture Eagles, or
those which are more in the vicinity of the woods,
and which, though large in size, are not so compactly
built, or proportionately so strong ; Fishing Eagles,
or those which chiefly or partially levy their contri-
butions upon the waters ; and Hawk Eagles, or those
of smaller size, and comparatively feebler powers.
We shall not, however, attempt to make any sys-
tematic arrangement of the eagles into these groups,
e the characters of many, indeed the greater

]SAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

353

number of them, are too imperfectly known for
enabling us to make such an arrangement anything
like perfect; and so we must content ourselves with
notices of the leading species in an order which is of
necessity somewhat miscellaneous.

GOLDEN EAGLE (A. chrygaeta). Some notion may
be formed of the appearance and expression of this
magnificent bird by examining the figure in the plate,
" BIRDS OF PREY." That figure represents the eagle
in the act of clutching, with the gripe of death, the
prey upon which she has just alighted in her terrible
stoop from the top of the sky. The aim which she
takes on these occasions is so unerring, her descent
so rapid, and her stroke so powerful, that if the prey
is not a very large animal, the death-wound is given
by the shock. It seldom happens, however, that the
life of the prey becomes extinct in the instant ; and
as the bird never touches the prey with her beak, or
even deigns to look at it after the stroke, until all
motion of life in it has ceased to the feeling which
she has of it with her feet, that where she can be seen
in the act of preying, which is not often, even in those
countries where eagles are most numerous, she is
found to remain for some time in the attitude repre-
sented by the artist. During the whole of this time
all her weight is borne upon the feet, and all her
energy concentrated in the clutch of the talons. The
head is elevated and drawn backward in what one
would be disposed to call an attitude of disdain,
though in reality it is nothing more than the bearing
of that part, so as that the whole weight may tell upon
the foot or feet engaged in completing the work of
death. The wings are held half expanded and shiver-
ing, and the tail is spread to the lull width of its
fan-like expansion. When all motion in the prey has
ceased, preparation is made for the feast, unless the
prey is to be borne off to the eyrie, which is generally
the case when there are eaglets there ; if not, and if
the bird is not disturbed, it is done on the spot, and
the process is gone about in a very systematic
manner. If one of those mammalia on which eagles
feed, as a lamb or a mountain hare— but it is rarely
the former, as eagles do not hover much over places
where there are shepherds and flocks — one foot is
planted on the throat, and the other on the lower
part of the pelvis, and a stroke of the bill serves to
divide the skin along the whole of the under part.
The skin is then dexterously turned back on both
sides, and the chest and abdomen are opened, the
blood and vital parts being the first that are devoured.
Then follow the rest ; and if the eagle is hungry,
which is generally the case, as nothing but the
craving of appetite, or the instinct of feeding the
young, can overcome the native indolence of these
birds, the whole of the flesh, usually bones and all, is
devoured upon the spot. How the golden eagle may
deal with feathered prey, the writer of this article is
unable to say, never having seen her at such a meal
in a state of wild nature ; but, as she goes so well to
work in skinning mammalia, there is little doubt that
she is equally dexterous in the deplumation of birds.

Here it may not be amiss to mention an error with
regard to both birds and beasts of prey, which is so
very prevalent as to have become an idiomatic part
of almost every language, to the users of which such
animals are known, and who have advanced so far in
the use of thought and of speech, as to have figurative
as well as literal meanings to their words. Those
more powerful of the carnivorous races, whether of
Z

EAGLE.

mammalia or birds, arc represented as though they
were constantly engaged in the work of death and
destruction ; that the lion in the desert is for ever roar-
ing and rending ; and that the mountain air can never
rest for the wing of the eagle ; that her shadow is a
constant ensign of dread, and her cry a never-ceasing
sound of fear. This is the general notion, but nothing
can be wider of the fact, and nothing would be more
in opposition to the whole tenor of nature's economy.
It is the small powers and the feeble exertions in
nature that are never at rest. Those creeping currents
of the air which we can hardly call breezes, and which
tell only upon the leaves of the aspen, are never at rest ;
but storms are not frequent, and a hurricane, even
in what may be called the hurricane countries, is an
event of comparatively rare occurrence. Just so
among birds. The sparrow is necessarily catching
caterpillars, and picking up those crumbs and that
refuse and waste which would become offensive if
allowed to accumulate, while, on the average of the
.var, the golden eagle does not feed once a-day, and
probably not once in the course of the week. Even
when eagles are on the hunt, they do not occasion
much general alarm to those animals upon which
they prey. The eagle, when " towering in her pride
of place," certainly commands in vision, and can
command in power of destruction, a very wide
horizon ; but still her command, even at this time, is
one of peace and general safety ; and as hawks and
buzzards and harriers, which are really far more
destructive, especially of moor game, than eagles, are
not very fond of beating the bushes if there is an
eagle above them in the sky, it is doubtful whether,
upon the whole, the golden eagle may not partake
more of the character of a preserver than of that of a
destroyer. Even when she has singled out her prey,
and is about to stoop at it, the fluttering wings, as
she winds herself up to the bent of her power, and
the loud note with which she begins her descent, all
tend to warn the rest of the animals, so that they lie
close ; the eagle devours the prey in silence, and she
does not stoop again on the same ground during the
same day. The consideration of these points is of
some consequence in those places where the remains
of this truly splendid race of birds are still to be
found ; and, as an eagle upon a mountain rock, or
in the mountain sky, is certainly worth something, it
would be a matter of at least some importance to
ascertain whether the evil of them so far overbalances
the good, as to warrant a price being set upon their
heads, or rather upon their feet, in most places where
there is a vestige of them left, and sheep have been
introduced.

So far as our personal experience goes — and we
have seen a good deal of those places in our own
country where the golden eagle is still to be met
with in straggling pairs, inhabiting some of the more
wild and rocky places — our judgment, founded upon
this experience, is in favour of the eagle. Even if
these birds did occasionally capture a lamb, or descend
upon a sheep that had stuck fast in the mire, and
must have perished there, eagle or no eagle, there are
surely other pleasures for mankind besides the mere
fact of eating sheep ! and as these birds never invade
those places'of which man has properly taken real
and practical possession by cultivating them, it is not
easy to see upon what well-grounded plea, either in
nature or in the economy of art, man should invade
the eagle's country in the not very reputable charac-
ter of a merely wanton destroyer. It really does not

appear that man has established any title to seek and
destroy the eagle upon the ledge of the mountain
rock, unless he has built his own dwelling there ; and
if he so builds, the eagle will confess the superiority
of this his legitimate title, and go away of her own
accord ; but, till then, it really appears that there is
a natural right on the part of the eagle, and that to
disturb her is wanton cruelty, and manifest injustice.

We strongly suspect too, that the " informations "
laid against the eagles come chiefly, if not solely, from
that most fertile of all sources of error and absurdity;
" book-learning." The stories about eagles which are
repeated again and again, are, no doubt, terrible
enough, and likely enough to mislead and prejudice
the minds of the ignorant ; but they are not the more
likely to be true upon this account, and by far the
greater number of them bear internal evidence that
neither the manufacturers nor any of the successive
i retail dealers knew any thing about the habits of
eagles, or had ever by chance seen one in wild nature,
nor could they, had they seen one in the sky, have
distinguished it from a heron, or even a wild-goose.

We ha\ e discussed the subject of the mischief done
by eagles with very intelligent sheep farmers in the
neighbourhood of their eyries, that is, as near as a
house or habitation can be to a golden eagle's nest ;
and though the general opinion among these parties
was, that eagles, as a race of destroyers and pests,
ought to be exterminated at all times, and by every
means — that, in short, the killing of an eagle was
almost, if not altogether, as meritorious a deed as the
saving of a "human life. In proof of this fact, the bell
pulls, and in some cases the handles of whips, were
finished off with eagles' feet, in testimony of the vic-
tories which had been gained over them. When,
however, we came to the main point of the case, the
real harm which had been done by the eagles, they
were invariably obliged to have recourse to other
times, and other places, for their instances. ': No
great harm had been done by the eagles since they
had possession, neither did they recollect of any which
had happened just in that part of the country ; but
they had been told, and they had no doubt of the
truth, that very serious damage had been done half a
century ago, and even in times much more recent, at
some place thirty or forty miles distant." No matter
for the place — this was the invariable account : the
eagles of the one side of the great ridge of the Gram-
pians, or of any of the other ridges, less extended but
hardly less elevated, and, generally speaking, much
more wild and picturesque, always did their mischief
on the other side. For instance, the eagles of the
glens of the Tay, the Ila, and all the southward run-
ning rivers, were always troublesome fellows to the
people of Badenoch ; while the eagles of Strathspey
hewed down the lambs and muttons in the south as
if the birds had been Samson and the flocks Philis-
tines ; and so marvellous were the tales that we were
often put in mind, that not the eagles but the nar-
rators might probably have found and armed them-
selves with the weapon of the puissant son of Manoah.
What may be done by those eagles which have a
portion of the character of the vulture in them, which
come near the banks of the streams and shores of the
creeks, and approach more closely to the habitations of
man, we have not the means of ascertaining from per-
sonal observation ; but it is very unlikely that, under
any state of things, the golden eagle can, or could be
very injurious to man. As for killing lambs, the eagles
do not come so far down, excepting at a rare and

EAGLE.

355

random dasn, on the places where tne lambs are
dropped ; and, it' any bfeeder of sheep should be un-
wise enough to send his brood ewes to the upper
glens and summits near the dwelling of the eagles, he
would stand in need of no eagles to kill the greater
part both of the young- and the dams, though crows
and ravens to clear oit' the carrion might be of service
to him.

Golden eagles are now unknown as resident birds
in a wild state in England. In Scotland they are
confined to some of the wildest spots, invariably in-
land. It is usually said that there are some in the
craguy mountains near the lakes of Killarney, in the
comity of Kerry, in Ireland ; though, from the
accounts which we have heard of their preying in the
lai<o (at least occasionally), we should be inclined to
believe that they belong to another species which is
far more common than the golden eagle, which does
haunt near the waters, and occasionally fish ; and the
characters of which may be supposed to vary a little,
according as the nature of its pastures leads it to be
more of a land prcyer, or more aquatic. Golden
eagles arc also found in the wild and rocky places
among most of the higher mountains on the continent
of Europe, though we believe that, in those localities,
they are not numerous ; and they do not range far
from those rocks in which their eyries are placed.

Golden eagles are subject to considerable variations
of colour, both with age in the individual, and in dif-
ferent individuals ; and they are also subject to con-
siderable variations in size ; the male bird being
smaller than the female, as is usual among birds of
prey, and individuals of both sexes varying a good
deal in size from each other, even when they are full-
grown. These differences of size are understood to
arise chiefly from the different supplies of food which
they get while they are in the nest, and up to the
time when they attain their full size. When young
they are exceedingly voracious, as might be supposed
of birds who have to elaborate such well sinewed
frames and such firm feathers. The parent birds, true
to the adaptation of necessity and supply, which runs
so conspicuously through all nature, labour most in-
dustriously to obtain the requisite quantity ; and where
prey is abundant, the larder of an eagle is sometimes
so well stored, as to tempt the cupidity of human
plunderers. If, however, the requisite quantity is
not to be had, even the strength and the enduring
perseverance of an eagle is of no avail, because she
can neither cultivate that on which she supports her
familv, nor entice it within the range of her excur-
sions. This is also the time at which the birds are
most discursive and most frequently on the wing, and
consequently it is the time at which she stands in most
danger of being destroyed by man ; therefore the
labour of feeding the brood sometimes devolves wholly
on the one parent, and this must farther tend to dwarf
:/,e of the brood.

Making allowance for the variations of which we
have taken notice, the following are nearly the average
external characters of the female golden eagle, which
is the more powerful bird, and therefore the typical
one, at that age when the colours expressive of youth
have disappeared, and those of old age have not come
on :— Tip of the bill and the claws black ; basal part
of the bill bluish ; naked skin or cere at the base of
the bill, and toes, which are the only naked parts of
the feet, yellow ; irides of the eyes bright orange
brown, inclining to yellow ; crown of the head and

nape of the neck bright orange brown ; sometimes, in
birds which have passed a certain age, margined with
white, which becomes broader as age increases. The
feathers on the neck narrow, pointed, and very dis-
tinct, bristling out from each other when the bird is in
a state of exilement ; chin and throat rich dark brown,
passing gradually into pale reddish brown on the
under part, in which it terminates in the vent feathers,
and feathers on the tarsi, the latter being slender
and very much produced ; upper part deep orange
brown, margin rather paler, which gives a bold relief to
the individual feathers ; coverts of the wings nearly
the same ; secondary quills clouded with various
shades of brown ; and primary quills black. Tail
purplish brown, barred across with blackish brown, and
having a broad line of the same across the extremity.
The feathers are all remarkable for the firmness of
their texture, and their profusion in the eagle feather,
which gives them something of the same appearance
as if they were imbricated scales. For some of the
particulars of the beak, the claws, the bones, and the
adaptation for flight, see the article BIRD.

In the young birds, the irides are more brown, and
the brown on the back and wing coverts is deeper, and
the margins of the feathers not so distinct or rich in
the tint. There are patches of white on the under
part ; the insides of the thighs are white ; the webs
of the feathers of the wings have also more or less
white on them ; and in the first year's plumage, a
large portion of the basal part of the tail leathers is
white. In this stage of plumage, the young have
often been described as a different species, under the
name of the " ring-tailed" eagle, though the ring,
which is at first little else than the broad brown bar
on the end of the tail, might of itself have sufficed to
identify the species. As the bird advances to matu-
rity, the white becomes less arid less every year, and
in the fourth moult it generally disappears, though
there may be a few that retain the white of youth
partially on the under part and the base of the tail-
feathers until the white of age begins to appear. The
length of the mature female is usually about three
feet, and the extent of the wings between six and
seven feet ; though specimens of much larger dimen-
sions have been mentioned.

As this bird is highly characteristic of some of the
wildest scenes in Britain, and withal very ornamental,
we shall close our notice of it by an extract from
Mudie's Feathered Tribes of the British Islands : —

" From what I have noticed of their habits, I am
inclined to believe, that eagles in general choose those
rocks, where, with an elevation and wildness which
gives them the seclusion that they seem to like in
their retreats, they have the command of a double
pasture: one, a hill, which they beat with a lower
flight when the weather is dusky, and a lower and
richer one, which they beat at a greater elevation
when the weather is clear ;— at all events, I have seen
them on the upper moors flying low on dusky days,
and again sailing majestically over the lower and
richer valleys when the day was fine.

" The eyrie of those magnificent birds, which is a
dwelling as well as a cradle for their broods, is placed
on some ledge of the rock, and rarely on a tree,
unless where the tangled roots spring from the cliff,
and offer a broad space, which can be covered with
sticks. The place is, generally, slippery with the
refuse of their prey ; and when the young are there,
it is usually well stored with provisions, which consist

EAGLE.

indiscriminately of quadrupeds and birds. The eggs
are seldom more than two, though some say that there
are occasionally three, and that in such broods there
are two females, one of which becomes an " odd
eagle" and lives solitary, growing to a very large
size, being very ferocious, and dropping addled eggs
occasionally on the mountain tops ; but the tale wants
verification.

" The eagle generally strikes her prey upon the
ground, and the stoop is almost instantly fatal to any
animal on which she pounces. The mere fall of a
body of twelve or even eighteen pounds in weight,
from an elevation of 1500 or 2000 feet, would be
powerful ; but the eagle shoots down with a great
initial velocity, and as she delivers the whole of her
momentum with the claw, she not only dashes the
animal to the earth, but plunges the claw into its body
up to the toe, dislocating the spine or breaking the
skull of the feebler quadrupeds, such as hares, and the
death of grouse and black game, whic-h form a very
large portion of the prey, is instantaneous. The
view upon which the eagle proceeds must be a steady
one, for on the ground she seldom misses her pounce,
though she often does when she attempts to hawk on
the wing, as her broad wings and forward rush are
both unfavourable to turning, so as to follow the
motions of the bird. If the prey is small, she has
the power of slackening her speed as she descends,
so as to temper the ultimate effect to the necessity
there is for it, otherwise, strong as she is, she might
be injured by the collision with the ground. An unre-
strained stoop from her greatest height would be suf-
ficient to dash even an eagle to pieces. If the pounce
is not fatal, the clutch instantly follows, in the giving
of which the whole weight of the bird — in the utmost
excitement, with the head elevated, the neck stiff, the
feathers of the head and neck erected, and the wings
shivering so as to keep the pressure on the instru-
ments of death — is upon the claws. With small ani-
mals, even when they show signs of life after the
pounce, the clutch is given with one foot only, and
the bird is less excited ; but in no case is the prey
touched with the beak, or even looked at, until all
motion in it has ceased. When the eye has guided
the descent, and the talons have taken effect, the office
of the eye is at an end, and the work of death is com-
mitted to instruments admirably fitted for carrying it
into effect. In general the prey is borne off, but in
some cases it is devoured on the spot, that taking
place, of course, at those times when the bird has
only herself to provide for.

" In winter, when her pastures are covered with
feet or even with fathoms of snow, the eagle is often
for weeks together without food. That may be one
of the causes (for all phenomena, whether of birds or
any thing else, have causes) why she drives the young
not only from the eyrie, but from her haunt generally
before the intensity of winter sets in ; and it is said,
that she drives them lower down the country, where
the chances of food are more numerous.

" Thus the instinct which we are apt to regard as an
unkind one is the very best adapted for the preserva-
tion of all ; and the eagle is, in her way, just as ten-
der a mother as any other animal. As it is necessary
for her brood to grow fast and get strong before the
inclement season sets in, she is most indefatigable
and most successful in supplying them with food, and
equally daring in the defence of them against any
intruders that may have the temerity to invade an

eagle's nest ; and when they are so far matured dial
they can kill prey for themselves, she drives them
down where prey is more easily obtained, while she
herself remains to brave the winter at the very throne
of its dominion. Herein we may see a beautiful in-
stance of that balance and reaction which can be
traced through all the works and operations of nature.
Populating and cultivating narrow the bounds and
diminish the number of eagles, but as there is a con-
stant tendency in the eagles to spread and extend
their territory and their numbers, that tendency in-
stantly acts upon the withdrawal of the restraint ; so
that when the eagle becomes necessary in order to
maintain the balances of races, and the perfection of
the whole of nature, she returns by as unerring a law
of nature as that which guides her to her prey.

" Her strength of endurance also enables her to
keep her footing and preserve her existence, under
circumstances to which the powers and the life of
almost any other animal would be obliged to yield.
The same elastic ligament, which, of its own nature,
and without effort from the bird, compresses her toes
in clutching, enables her to cling to the pinnacle of
the rock, and to cling the more firmly the ruder the
blast. The claws are not used in those cases, as (hat
would injure their points, and unfit them for their
proper functions ; but the pads and tubercles hold on
upon places where the foot of all else would give
way; and the eagle sits with closed wings and close
plumage, as if part of the rock itself, while the wind
roars and the snow drives, tearing the bushes from
their roots, sending them rolling over the precipices,
and literally scourging the wilderness with ruin. The
strength of the hill ox, the fleetness of the mountain
deer, and the resources of the mountain traveller,
are often unavailing ; and when the storm breaks,
the signal of the raven and the crow points out the
place of their bones; but the bones of the eagle are
not thus given by nature to be tugged at by ignoble
birds. Queen of the tempest, she rides as secure,
amid its fury, as when, on a cloudless and breezeless
day, she floats down the valley with easy and almost
motionless wing."

We may remark that, notwithstanding the reputa-
tion which this celebrated species long has had for
being an unreclaimable tenant of the wilds, it is by
no means unsusceptible of kindly treatment, and thai,
if taken young and duly fed, it may be gradually
brought to familiarity and even to playfulness. But
though this may be done, as probably every animal,
whether of the land, the air, or the waters, may be
familiarised by feeding, one does not exactly see the
use of it ; and the bird is certainly not only out of its
element, but out of its proper use in nature, in any
other place than on its native rocks and in its favourite
skies.

The young of this species, while they have the
white on the basal part of the tail, partially on the
under part of the body, and on the insides of tie
thighs, and also the brown on the upper part less
broken by the yellowish margins of the feathers, are
very apt to range into places where the old ones are
never seen ; and as they sometimes take up their
abode there, and build nests and breed, while still in
the young plumage, we need be little surprised that
they should have been so generally and so long looked
upon as a separate species, and described and figured
as the " common eagle." The more judicious natu-
ralists were always of opinion that they were the

E AG

same species ; and recently the fact has been demon-
strated by Selberg.

THE IMPERIAL EAGLE (A. impcnaks}. This is a
large and powerful bird, though not so compact in its
form, or perhaps so strong in proportion to its size, as
the golden eagle. Still it is a long-winged eagle and
a mountaineer, and probably approaches nearer in all
its habits to the golden eagle than any other of the
race. They are, however, easily distinguished from
each other, both by the form of the body and the
colour. The imperial eaule is proportionally shorter
in the body, ami thicker, bearing nearly the same re-
lation to the others that the hawks do to the falcons ;
and being altogether a bird of more southerly climates,
and probably less enduring habits. The chief distinc-
tions in colour arc: the nostrils transverse, a large
patch of white on each shoulder, the tail black, barred
and waved with greyish, and the ground colour of
the female brownish yellow, rather pale, and broken
by brown spots ; the crown of the head and the nape
are furnished with pointed feathers of a dull rust
brown colour margined with lighter. The under part
of the belly is a yellowish rust colour, and the whole
plumage apparently less firm in its texture and cer-
tainly less decided in its colours. The white on the
scapulars, and the black and grey tail, instead of one
of different shades of brown, always suffice to distin-
guish this bird from the golden eagle, even when that
bird is immature, ranging the country in quest of a
mute and a home, and being the ring-tail of British
drscribers, and the common eagle (I'aigle commun) of
the French, of Buffon, and even of Cuvier.

The imperial eagle is unknown in the British islands,
or in the mountains and woods of western Europe ;
neither is it very abundant even in the Alps, espe-
cially on the northern declivities of those mountains.
In the eastern Alps, in Hungary, in Dalmatia, and
so onward through Greece and Turkey, it is by no
means rare; and although its localities have not been
so clearly traced in Asia, it is probably to be met
with in all the wooded mountains of the western and
central parts of that continent, from Caucasus south-
ward, and eastward as far as the Himalaya. It is
also found in Egypt and in Barbary, though it pro-
bably does not extend southward across the desert o)
Sahara, the eagle of Guinea being apparently a differ-
ent species.

Its habits are described as being a little different
from those of the golden eagle. Though found more
frequently in elevated places, it is not so decidedly a
bird of the mountain cliffs as the other ; neither does
it beat for its prey upon the naked pastures, or at such
a height in the air. The wooded hills are its most
usual haunts, though, from the length of its wings, it
is of course not a preyer in the close forests. The
nest is constructed indiscriminately on the ledges ol
woodland rocks, and in lofty trees, though the latter
are preferred where they are equally well situated for
the pastures. The eggs are three or four in number,
and of a dull white colour. The voice of this species
is represented as being more loud and clear than that
of any of the other eagles, owing, as is said, to the
more compact structure of the trachea.

From the abundance of this species in Greece, anc
in the mountainous parts of Italy, especially Naples
and the island of Sicily, it is highly probable that this
and not the golden eagle, is " the bird of Jove," as
fabled by the ancients ; and certainly the representa-
t'ous which have come down to us from the Greeks

L E. 857

and Romans have the greatest resemblance to this
species. It appears indeed to be the eagle of painters
and sculptors all over Europe, and even in those parts
of it where the bird, in a state of nature, is altogether
mknown. Hence, in a historical point of view, the
mperial eagle is rather an interesting bird. As these
birds come into places which are rich at certain sea-
sons, and in which the greater abundance and variety
of animals probably meet with more casualties than
they do in those colder climates, for the endurance of
which the golden eagle is so well fitted, it is probable
;hat they partake a little of the vulture character, and
;ielp to clear away the carcases of animals, in the
death of which they have little or no concern. Their
young being rather more numerous than those of the
olden eagle, and equally voracious during the period
of their growth, the old birds have no small labour in
finding the necessary supply of food ; and the time
when they have young may be known by their fre-
quent appearance on the wing, and the diligence with
which they range over the pastures. These pastures
are, in general, more abundantly stocked than the pas-
tures of the golden eagle ; but as the vegetation is more
rank in the early part of the season, the prey is not
so easily discerned from a height in the sky. They
do not, indeed, fly so high as the others ; but they
have the eagle habit of stooping on their prey, and
not chasing it on the wing, or beating the bushes for
it on low flight.

THE LITTLE, or SPOTTED EAGLE — A. maculata.
This is a much smaller species than either the golden
or the imperial eagle, being one-third less in the linear
dimensions, and estimating animals as the cubes of
these, which is the proper way of comparing their
volumes, if not their strength, the little eagle is rather
less than equal to half the others in volume. It ap-
pears to form a sort of connecting link between the
eagles and buzzards ; and like the latter, and different
from the former, it has the tarsi elongated and slender.
Indeed, though the more eminent of the authorities
class it with the eagles, it appears to be more of a
buzzard in the greater number of its characters.

It is a native of the mountain forests of the southern
parts of Europe, and very common in or near the
woods of the Apennines ; but it is rarely seen in the
central countries, and never in the north. It is also
found distributed over great part of Africa, and bears
so much resemblance to the little eagle of Senegal,
and that of the Cape, and even to some which are
found in the south-eastern peninsulas of Asia, and in
the Oriental islands, that a particular description of
them does not appear to be necessary. It appears,
indeed, that eagles are peculiarly subject to clirnatal
differences of colour, as even the golden eagle, which
is probably the most local of the whole, is sometimes
spotted with white.

As this species is less powerful and also less ener-
getic than the larger land eagles, its prey is of a more
humble description. It does, of course, catch rabbits
and little birds, and occasionally a duck, especially a
young one ; but to these it adds mice, reptiles, and
some of the larger species of insects. The plumage
of the mature bird is brown, varying in depth of tint
both in the individual, with age, and in the sexes. —
The tail is dusky or blackish, with bars of paler, and
the extremity reddish. The under parts, and lower
coverts of the tail, are bright brown ; the cere and
feet yellow, and the bill and claws' black. The imma-
ture birds have the coverts of the wings, and part of

358

EAGLE.

the scapulars marked with large spots of greyish
white. They have similar spots on the secondary
quills, and the upper parts of the wings are markec
with smaller yellowish spots. It is when in this Im-
mature state that it is called the spotted eagle.

THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE — A. fucosa. Why this
soecies should be called fucosa, or " painted," it is
not easy to say, unless it be on account of the depth
of its colour ; for the tints are any thing but rich. It
general colour is a dull brownish black, with a red-
dish tinge on the breast. It is a native of New Hol-
land, and has not been found out of that country.
Its form, its air, and its linear dimensions, bear no
inconsiderable resemblance to those of the golden
eagle ; but it is more slender and feeble, and the
wedge-shaped tail, different from the broad fan-tail
of the golden eagle, indicates a very considerable
difference of habit. The broad fan-tail indicates a
bird which has the habit of frequent ascent and
descent, which is that of the golden eagle, and indeed
of all birds that have the tail of that form, whether
they be birds of high flight, like the eagle, or only
birds that leap up to their perches, or rise to avoid
enemies upon the ground. The wedge-shaped
(ail, again, almost invariably indicates a bird which
has to make its way through some sort of tanglement,
the- boughs and branches of trees, bushes, or tall
herbage of some kind. The species of eagle under
notice, of which a specimen has been at the gardens
of the Zoological Society of London, is described as
feeding on the emeu, and the young of the kangaroo ;
but in what manner it captures its prey, whether by
stooping, like the eagles properly so called, by poun-
cing on them, by level flight, from caves, or by any
other method, has not been said, neither have we any
correct information respecting the nest-building or
the other habits of the bird.

These are the principal species of eagles, pro-
. perly so called, that inhabit the land, and for the most
part feed upon warm-blooded animals only. The
probability is, that there are more in those places, the
mountains and forests of which have not yet been
explored. But tne forests of tropical countries are
not proper localities for the typical eagles ; they are
too rich and tangled for allowing these birds to act ;
and, therefore, we may rather expect to find in'them
vultures, or those short-winged fishing eagles which
feed readily upon carrion, and otherwise appear to
have not a little of the vulture in their composition.

All those land eagles have the under or concave
sides of the toes of a more trenchant and tearing
character than those that fish, the claws of the latter
having more of the character of prehensile hooks. No
doubt they can inflict very severe wounds ; and as
their points are generally finer, they can penetrate
the body of an animal with the exertion of less force.
The toes are also more adapted for -clutching, so as
to take a hold, and lift and carry a weight ; and the
tarsi are bare of feathers and covered with reticulated
scales, like those of the wading birds.

These differences of structure are very well adapted
to their differences of habit, so much so that if we
be well acquainted with the habits of any one of
either of the subdivisions, we can have no difficulty
in judging of the leading habit of any other from the
structure. The land eagles do not require the very
fine points to their claws, and in the case of those
who tenant the rocks, the fine points would be apt to
be broken or worn, notwithstanding that they are not

used directly on the surface of the stone. Their prey
is on the ground when they penetrate it with their
talons ; and thus they act against a solid resistance ;
and as this compensates for the comparative blunt-
ness of the claw, and the blunted claw inflicts >by
much the more severe and painful wound, it is the
best one for their habits. We find a parallel cuse in
the teeth of the lion, which, though large and pu\vcr-
ful, are comparatively blunt. But the fishing eagles
have to strike their finny prey against the water only,
which has no cohesion as the earth has, and there-
fore, it gives way like an elastic spring ; and if the
points of the claws were not very sharp, they would
not penetrate the skin of the fish. So, also, if they
were furrowed and grooved like the talons of the laud
eagles, which use theirs in killing the prey, and not
in clutching it for the mere purpose of lifting, they
would tear and lacerate, and, in the case of a heavy
fish, cut their way out of its substance. By being
round and smooth on their under sides, the talons of
the fishing eagles have no tendency to do this. The
articulations of the toes are also admirably fitted for
retaining a powerful hold. They contract much more
completely in the distal joints than those of the land
eagles ; they, in fact, bend till the point of the claw is
on the same level with the root, and thus every single
claw lifts like a perfect hook, while the connexion of
the foot keeps them all in their places. The strain
of the clutching is at the same time not wholly upon
the muscles which contract the toes, for the bird does
not dangle the fish with the toes, at full length, but
binds all the joints, which throws part of the strain
upon the ligament, and the rest of it is parted among
all the muscles of the leg.

There are considerable differences of structure and
habit among the fishing eagles ; some of them approach
the land eagles in many of their characters ; and the
ones that do so are long-winged, and prey upon land
animals, as well as upon the produce of the sea ;
others, which are still longer winged, are more exclu-
sively aquatic, and they have the feet most approach-
ing to that form which we have described as a proper
fishing foot ; and others, again, have the wings shorter
and broader, living more in the vicinity of those waters
the banks of which are thickly covered with trees ;
and they partake in some measure of the habits of the
vultures, and also of the hawk, — they eat carrion and
any offal -that comes in their way, and they also clut«e
jirds on the wing, and strike them in the air, which
s not a habit of the true or typical eagles. It is not,
Derhaps, very easy to follow accurately the distribu-
;ion of these ; and many of them, like those who inha-
)it the dense forests, are but imperfectly known ; but
we shall begin with those that are most nearly allied
to the land eagles.

THE ASH-COLOURED EAGLE (A. cinerea). This
species is common on many places of all the shores
of Britain, and hence it has various names. In many
)laces it is " the eagle " simply, because it is the only
>ne which makes its appearance. It is also often
jailed the " white-tailed eagle," from the colour of its
ail; in some places it is " the bog eagle ;" and in
hose parts of the lowlands of Scotland where it is
>opularly known, it is called the " erne." The name
vhich we have given it is as little objectionable as
ny ; and it harmonises with the only other true eagle,
native in Britain, which gets its name from the rich
yellowish brown on the margins of the feathers.

As is the case with the young of the golden eagle.

EAGLE.

359

the young of this has often been described as a differ-
ent species. The cause of this appears to have been
of the same nature with that which led to a similar
mistake in the case of the golden eagle. The young
birds and the old ones are, as in that species, different
in colour ; and about the same length of time elapses
before the perfect mature plumage is assumed. The
young are much more discursive along the shores than
the old birds ; and as the probability is that they do not
pair till they have passed two winters, they may be
found on the shores when a year old, in the breeding
time, when the old ones, which prefer trees to rocks
for their nesting places, are then more inland. The
young, however, before they have acquired their per-
fectly mature plumage, do pair, and have at least one
brood, and in all probability two. Thus the birds in
the one plumage appear when the others do not ; they
appear more on the shores, and there are pairs and
broods among birds in both plumages. Therefore,
these are as satisfactory proofs as can be obtained in
most cases that there are really two distinct species ;
and the fact would not have been called in question,
if it had not been ascertained by direct observation of
the change and the age at which it takes place, that
these two apparent species are one and the same.
The young was the " sea eagle" of British describers,
and called Aqniln ossifraga, or the " bone-breaking
eagle," while the adult was the " cinereous eagle " and
the " whiteitailed eagle."

This species is as large as the golden eagle, or pro-
bably a little larger ; but its form is not so compact,
it does not appear so firmly knit, and its expression is
by no means so lively or intelligent. Still it is a very
powerful bird, and if we looked only at the size of its
destructive weapons, we would be apt to conclude
that it were the more formidable bird of the two.
Both its bill and its talons are larger than those of
the golden eagle, and the talons are more crooked
and sharper at the points. But when we come to
examine both birds narrowly, we find that there are
indications of inferiority about the present species.
The beak is yellow, and, though larger in size, it seems
softer and weaker than that of the other, and not so
firmly based on the bones of the head. Its cutting
edges are also not so decidedly formed. It is straight
for a greater length at the base, and the toothed vvav-
ings, which enable the beak of the other to take so
firm a hold in tearing, are nearly obliterated. The
beak of the one resembles a smaller instrument of
steel, that of the other a larger instrument of soft
iron. The claws too, though better clutching and
retaining instruments, are not of so mangling a cha-
racter. They are a little flattened on their under
sides ; but they are without the prominent ridges
which enable the others to act with such effect.

But, after all, this eagle is a very powerful bird and
well armed for the work of destruction. As com-
pared with the golden eagle, it follows the usual law of
the difference of birds which are wholly or partially
marine, and birds which are exclusively inland. It is
found inhabiting much farther to the north, and it is
more discursive, and ranges more with the seasons.
It is found in Iceland, in the Faroe Isles, in Shetland,
in the Orkneys, in the Western Isles, and on the wild
and rocky shores of the west of Scotland generally.
It sometimes ranges into England, but it is not nume-
rous so far to the south. In summer it haunts and
hovers over the fresh water pools and morasses, where
water fowl breed in great numbers, and is very de-

structive of them ; and it also attacks the smaller
quadrupeds, and, as is said, even sheep and deer, espe-
cially in the early part of the season when they arc
sickly and weak.

As these birds are of strong wing, and capable of
enduring hunger for a long time, they extend their
winter excursions often to a great distance from their
breeding places. Those which appear in England,
and although they are not numerous, they arc found
in the most southerly parts as winter visitants, are
understood to leave the north when the sea is too
stormy for them, and they are frozen out on the
northern lands. It has sometimes been said, that the
appearance of these eagles in greater numbers than
usual is accompanied by more than the usual supply
of wild fowl.

They retire a little toward the north in the breed-
ing time. Those which breed in the far north coun-
tries build in the rocks, choosing the most elevated
and inaccessible places; and indeed they have no
alternative, as there are no trees in those countries.
In places where, there are trees in wild and secluded
situations, either near the sea or the inland waters
and marshes, though never very fur inland, they give
the preference to this. It is not understood that they
keep so constantly to the same eyrie, or even to the
same locality, as the golden eagles. There is one
particular mentioned with regard to their broods and
their apparent numbers, in which they agree with
many of the larger sea birds which build on the cliifs.
Their eggs are few in proportion to their apparent
numbers, being never more than two, and often only
one.

The general colour of these birds in the young
state, or before they have acquired the mature plu-
mage, is dark brown, with the margins of the feathers
of a lighter tint. On the lesser coverts, the scapulars,
and the throat, these margins are very pale, approach-
ing to a reddish straw colour. The under part at
this age is spotted, and among the varied spottings
there arc always some patches of white. The tail is
dark brown, as deep in the tint at the extremity as
the bar on the tail of the golden eagle ; but the other
parts are much mottled with lighter brown. The
bill at this age is of a leaden grey or bluish colour,
but very different in tint from that of the golden eagle.
As the bird approaches maturity, the feathers on the
head become paler in their tint, and the bill alters to
a straw colour ; the cere and irides acquire u tinge
of red ; and the pale margins of the feathers on the
upper parts and the throat fade off, rendering the
brown more uniform and unbroken. The mottlings
also disappear from the under part of the bird, which
becomes a deeper brown than the upper. The most
remarkable change, however, is in the tail and tail-
coverts, which, from being the darkest parts of the
bird in the early plumage, become pure white in
maturity.

This is the species of which so many marvels arc-
told by the people of the north, about its carrying
away "children, and an endless number of other
adventures. L5ut those northern people, who have
been always obliged to have recourse to tales of
wonder, in order to help them through the tedious
darkness of their long winter nights, have thrown an
air of romance around almost everything that is
connected wi'h their countries, whether in natural
history or in any thing else ; and as this eagle is one
of the most conspicuous of their native birds, we

360

EAGLE.

need not wonder that it has come in for its full share
of the exaggerations ; yet, in spite of the exaggera-
tions, it ie a bird of no small interest to all who love
nature, and wish to study its phenomena and economy
in the wildest places.

The fishing of this eagle is not so habitual, neither
is it performed in so fine a style, as that of another
and smaller species, afterwards to be described ; but
still it does occasionally fish, and that in the sea,
against the rocky and precipitous shores, which it
prefers, as it never comes upon the flat ones unless
they are in the neighbourhood of marshes, to which
it can make incursions inland. For its permanent
residence such places must be lonely, and far from
those which are thickly inhabited by mankind, so
that the sea-eagle, though much more frequently seen
than the golden eagle of the mountains, is still, like
that, a bird of wild nature in its general habits.
Though not unknown upon any of the wild or cliffy
shores of England, where they partake of that lonely
character in which it delights, this bird may be
considered as more abundant on the western and
northern shores of Scotland than on any other of
those of Britain. There it may be met with all
along the deep bays, or lakes, as they are called,
which run far into the land, and are peculiarly wild
in their character ; and perhaps there is no place
in which it is more common than about Loch Carron
and Loch Roan, and the great inland lake Loch
Murce. The latter is an exceedingly romantic spot.
The cliffs are bold and rugged, and there are trees,
some old hollow ones, of large dimensions, on the
islets in the loch, or the more romantic places in its
vicinity. Upon these, or in the bushes, which are
found higher up, chequering the grey of the cliffs
with rich green foliage in the summer months, these
eagles form their nests ; and as, in that situation, they
have both sea and land within the easy range of their
wing, they appear to be quite in their element. Their
appearance is indeed so common, and their size, and
the style of their flight, so conspicuous, that they add
not a little to the effect of scenery naturally of the
wildest character.

The breadth of the island at that part is not more
than the range of a sea-eagle's flight, and thus they
are found on the rocky shore of the east about the
Ord of Caithness, and also along the whole of the
north of Sutherland, as well as on the west. The
northern shore there, from,- Cape Rath eastward,
along the whole of Sutherland and great part of
Caithness, is as wild as can well be imagined. The
current which sweeps through the Pentland Firth
alternately to the east and the west, in consequence
of its being high water on the one side of the country
when it is low water on the other, sweeps the base's
of the cliffs with an ever-rolling flood ; and, when the
north wind blows in its fury, which it does in the
latter part of the season, just before the hills have
received their winter covering of snow, the roll of the
north sea comes in mountains, and breaks in thunder,
so that the whole line of the coast is not only, so to
speak, worn to the bones of the mountains, but these
are honeycombed into innumerable caves, many of
them reaching to a great distance below ground, and
some of them perforated at their landward extremities
by large apertures to the day, up through which
the dashing water spouts in splendid jets, sometimes
raising large stones to the height of a good many feet,
from which they fall with tremendous crashes back

again upon the aperture. The resistance of the
weight of the stone, if a large one, condenses the air
which the surge drives before it into the cavern, till
that becomes charged like an air-gun, from which
both the stone and the water are literally shot
upwards into the air ; and when fishes are abundant
near the coast, they are apt to lose command of
themselves in the turmoil of the waters, and to be
flung upon the rocks by those singularly magnificent
jets. On such a shore the sea-eagles are quite in
their element, and have associates of more aquatic
character to assist them in filling up the picture,
Gannets, and skrags, and cormorants, plunging head-
long into the waters, divers driving about through
the restless surges, gulls wheeling and wailing on
the wing, and e.-er and anon dipping down to catch
those smaller fishes which come near to the surface,
and skuas driving at the gulls, making them disgorge
their booty, and catching it ere it falls into the sea.
Meanwhile, the sea-eagle sits on the rock, eyeing the
tumult of nature, but always now and then making a
clutch at the waters for her share of the booty.

Nor in the more tranquil season of the year is the
prey of the eagle less abundant, though she then
fin da it of different quality, and in a different situation.
The s,hort summer in these northerly places is as
much a time of repose as the change from summer to
winter is one of turbulence ; and as there is little
night, and no absolute darkness, the situation is
peculiarly favourable for the breeding of those wading
and swimming birds which are twilight feeders.
Accordingly, the morasses, and the grassy and rusny
margins of the ponds and lakes, are full of the nests
of these birds, and during the time that they are
there, the sea-eagle fares as well as a fowler as she
does as a fisher at other times of the year.

THE WHITE-HEADED EAGLE (Aqidla leucocephalus}.
This is an American species, agreeing in its general
habits with the white-tailed eagle of Europe, but
differing from it in its appearance, and especially in
the position of the white, upon which the common
names of both are founded. It is usually said that
this species is occasionally, or rather not unfrequently,
seen in the north of Europe, and it may have been
observed there, though there is at least a possibility
that the osprey, which is common to both countries,
and much more frequently seen on the shores, even
in America, than the white-headed eagle, may have
been mistaken for it. They both fish, though the
osprey is by far the more habitual and the finer fisher
of the two, has its plumage of a much more aquatic
character, and dashes far more fearlessly into the
water. The old osprey, however, has the head white,
so white that it has got the popular name of the
" bald" buzzard, just as the species under notice has
got that of the " bald " eagle. On close inspection
of the birds, when they are seen together in an
aviary or a museum, it is very easy to distinguish this
eagle from the osprey, by the size, the shape, the
plumage, and the general air and character. But
when we come to examine the larger birds of prey in
wild nature, we find our aviary and museum knowledge
of much less use to us than we could wish, or even
believe, till we actually make the trial. We cannot
come so near the birds as that we can be sure of the
details of appearance upon which the specific descrip-
tions are usually formed. We are not very good
judges, even of size, when we change very much the
characters of our locality ; and one who, for the first

time, sees a large bird of prey floating high over
bold and rifted cliffs, the peaks of which shoot up
to some thousand or fifteen hundred feet in height,
as is not ^infrequently the case on those shores of
Europe which the white-headed eagle has been said
to frequent, ean form no very accurate estimate of its
size. In all such cases, whatever is seen on or over
the top of the cliffs by a spectator below, " borrows of
the cliff," and is larger to the fancy than it would be
in fact if we had it on the level ground, and could
measure it with a line.

EAGLE. 361

he inhabits ; but prefers such places as have been
mentioned above, from the great partiality he has for

White-headed Eagle.

As this bird is certainly much more characteristic
of North America than of any other part of the world,
and, a« it is there a bird of the greatest interest, we
should be doing it injustice if we attempted to describe
it in any other language than that of Wilson : — " This
distinguished bird," says this equally distinguished
naturalist, " as he is the most beautiful of his tribe in
this part of the world, and the adopted emblem of our
country, is entitled to particular notice. The cele-
brated cataract of Niagara is a noted place of resort
for the bald eagle, as well on account of the fish pro-
cured there, as for the numerous carcases of squirrels,
deer, hears, and various other animals that, in their
attempts to cross the river above the Falls, have been
dragged into the current, and precipitated down that
tremendous gulf, where, among the rocks that bound
the rapids below, they furnish a rich repast for the
vulture, the raven, and the bald eagle, the subject of
the prc'seut account. Formed by nature for braving
llii1 severest cold ; feeding equally on the produce of
the sea, and of the land ; possessing powers of flight
capable of outstripping even the tempests themselves;
nnawed by any thing but man ; and, from the ethereal
heights to which it soars, looking abroad at one glance,
on an immeasurable expanse of forests, fields, lakes,
and ocean, deep below him, he appears indifferent to
the little localities of change of seasons ; as in a few
minutes he can pass from summer to winter, from the
lower to the higher regions of the atmosphere, the
abode of eternal cold, and from thence descend, at
will, to the torrid or the arctic regions of the earth.
He is, therefore, found at all seasons in the countries

fish.

" In procuring these, he displays in a very singular
manner the genius and energy of his character, whicn
is fierce, contemplative, daring, and tyrannical ; attri-
butes not. exerted but on particular occasions, but,
when put forth, overpowering all opposition. Elevated
on the high dead limb of some gigantic tree, that
commands a wide view of the neighbouring shore, and
ocean, he seems calmly to contemplate the motions of
the various feathered tribes that, pursue their busy
avocations below ; the snow white gulls slowly win-
nowing the air ; the busy tringa? coursing along the
sands ; trains of ducks streaming over the surface ;
silent and watchful cranes, intent and wading ; clamo-
rous crows ; and all the winged multitudes that subsist
by the bounty of this vast liquid magazine of nature.
High over all these hovers one whose action instant.lv
arrests his whole attention. By his wide curvature
of wing, and sudden suspension in air, he knows him
to be the fish hawk, settling over some devoted victim
of the deep. His eye kindles at the sight, and, balanc-
ing himself, with half-opened wings, on the branch,
he watches the result. Down, rapid as an arrow from
heaven, descends the distant object of his attention,
the roar of its wings reaching the ear as it disappears
in the deep, making the surges foam around ! At this
moment, the eager looks of the eagle are all ardour ;
and, levelling his neck for flight, he sees the fish hawk
once more emerge, struggling with his prey, and
mounting in the air with screams of exultation. This
is the signal for our hero, who, launching in the air,
instantly gives chase, and soon gains on the fish hawk ;
each exerts his utmost to mount above the other,
displaying in these rencontres the most elegant and
sublime aerial evolutions. The unencumbered eagle
rapidly advances, and is just on the point of reaching
his opponent, when, with a sudden scream, probably
of despair and honest execration, the latter drops his
fish : the eagle, poising himself for a moment., as if to
take a more certain aim, descends like a whirlwind,
snatches it in his grasp are it reaches the water, and
bears his ill-gotten booty silently away to the woods.

" These predatory attacks and defensive manoeuvres
of the eagle and the fish hawk, are matters of daily
observation along the whole of our sea board, from
Georgia to New England, and frequently excite great
interest in the spectators. Sympathy, however, on this,
as on most other occasions, generally sides with the
honest and laborious sufferer, in opposition to the
attacks of power, injustice, and rapacity, qualities for
which our hero is so generally notorious, and which,
in his superior, man, are certainly detestable. As for
the feelings of the poor fish, they seem altogether out
of the question.

" When driven, as he sometimes is, by the com-
bined courage and perseverance of the fish hawks
from their neighbourhood, and forced to hunt for him-
self, he retires more inland, in search of young pigs,
of which he destroys great numbers. In the lower
parts of Virginia and North Carolina, where the in-
habitants raise vast herds of those animals, complaints
of this kind are very general against him. He also
destroys young lambs in the early part of spring ; and
will sometimes attack old sickly sheep, aiming furiously
at their eyes.

"In corroboration of the remarks I have myself
made on the manners of the bald eagle, many accounts

362 E A G

have reached me from various persons of respect-
ability, living on or near our sea coast. The substance
of all these I shall endeavour to incorporate with the
present account.

" Mr. John L. Gardiner, who resides on an island
of three thousand acres, about three miles from the
eastern point of Long Island, from which it is sepa-
rated by Gardiner's Bay, and who has consequently
many opportunities of observing the habits of these
birds, has favoured me with a number of interesting
particulars on this subject, for which I beg leave
thus publicly to return my grateful acknowledgment.

"'The bald eagles,' says this gentleman, 'remain
on this island during the whole winter. They can be
most easily discovered on evenings by their loud
snoring while asleep on high oak trees ; and, when
awake, their hearing seems to be nearly as good as
their sight. I think I mentioned to you, that I had
myself seen one flying with a lamb ten days old, and
which it dropped on the ground from about ten or
twelve feet high. The struggling of the lamb, more
than its weight, prevented its carrying it away. My
running, hallooing, and being very near, might pre-
vent its completing its design. It had broke the back
in the act of seizing it ; and I was under the neces-
sity of killing it outright to prevent its misery. The
lamb's dam seemed astonished to see its innocent off-
spring borne off into the air by a bird.

" ' I was lately told,' continues Mr. Gardiner, ' by a
man of truth, that he saw an eagle rob a hawk of its
fish, and the hawk seemed so enraged as to fly down
at the eagle, while the eagle very deliberately in the
air, threw himself partly over on his back, and, while
he grasped with one foot the fish, extended the other
to threaten or seize the hawk. I have known several
hawks unite to attack the eagle, but never knew a
single one to do it. The eagle seems to regard the
hawks as the hawks do the king-birds, only as teasing
troublesome fellows.'

" From the same intelligent and obliging friend, I
lately received a well-preserved skin of the bald eagle,
which, from its appearance, and the note that accom-
panied it, seems to have belonged to a very formid-
able individual. ' It was shot,' says Mr. Gardiner,
' last winter, on this island, and weighed thirteen
pounds, measured three feet in length, and seven from
tip to tip of the expanded wings ; was extremely
fierce looking ; though wounded, would turn his back
to no one ; fastened his claws into the head of a dog,
and was with difficulty disengaged. I have rode on
horseback within five or six rods of one, who, by his
bold demeanour, raising his feathers, &c., seemed wil-
ling to dispute the ground with its owner. The crop
of the present was full of mutton, from my part blood
Merinos ; and his intestines contained feathers, which
he probably devoured with a duck or winter gull, as
I observed an entire foot and leg of some water fowl.
I had two killed previous to this, which weighed ten
pounds avoirdupois each.'

" The intrepidity of character, mentioned above,
may be farther illustrated by the following fact, which
occurred a few years ago near Great Egg Harbour,
New Jersey. A woman, who happened to be weed-
ing in the "garden, had set her child down near, to
amuse itself, while she was at work ; when a sudden
scream from the child alarmed her, and, starting up,
she beheld the infant thrown down, and dragged some
few feet, arid a large bald eagle bearing off a fragment
of its frock ; which, being the only part seized and

LE.

giving way, providentially saved the life of the
infant.

" The appetite of the bald eagle, though habituated
to long fasting, is of the most voracious and often the
most indelicate kind. Fish, when he can obtain them,
are preferred to all other fare. Young lambs and
pigs are dainty morsels, and made free with on all
favourable occasions. Ducks, geese, gulls, and other
sea fowl, are also seized with avidity. The most
putrid carrion, when nothing better can be had, is
acceptable ; and the collected groups of gormandizing
vultures, on the approach of this dignified personage,
instantly disperse, and make way for their master,
waiting his departure in sullen silence,and at a respect-
ful distance, on the adjacent trees.

" In one of those partial migrations of tree squirrels
that sometimes take place in our western forests, many
thousands of them were drowned in attempting to
cross the Ohio ; and, at a certain place, not far from
Wheeling, a prodigious number of their dead bodies
were floated to the shore by an eddy. Here the
vultures assembled in great force, and had regaled
themselves for some time, when a bald eagle made his
appearance, and took sole possession of the premises,
keeping the whole vultures at their proper distance
for several days. He has also been seen navigating
the same river on a floating carrion, th*ugh scarcely
raised above the surface of the water, and tugging at
the carcase, regardless of snags, sawyers, planters, or
shallows. He sometimes carries his tyranny to great
extremes against the vultures. In hard times, when
food happens (o be scarce, should he accidentally
meet with one of these who has its craw crammed
with carrion, he attacks it fiercely in the air ; the
cowardly vulture instantly disgorges, and the delicious
contents are snatched up by the eagle before they
reach the ground.

" The nest of this species is generally fixed on a
very large and lofty tree, often in a swamp or morass,
and difficult to be ascended. On some noted tree of
this description, often a pine, or cypress, the bald
eagle builds, year after year, for a long series of
years. When both male and female have been shot
from the nest, another pair has soon after taken pos-
session. The nest is large, being added and repaired
every season, until it becomes a black prominent
mass, observable at a considerable distance. It is
formed of large sticks, sods, earthy rubbish, hay, rnoss,
&c. Many have stated that the female lays first a
single egg, and that alter having sat upon it some
time, she lays another ; when the first is hatched, the
warmth of that, it is pretended, hatches the other.
Whether this be correct or not, I cannot determine ;
but a very respectable gentleman of Virginia assured
me that he saw a large tree cut down, containing the
nest of a bald eagle, in which were two young, one
of which appeared three times as large as the other?
As a proof of their attachment to their young, a per-
son near Norfolk informed me that in clearing a. piece
of wood on his place, they met with a large dr;id
pine tree, on which was a bald eagle's nest and young.
The tree being on fire more than half way up, and
the flames rapidly ascending, the parent eagle darted
around and among the flames, until her plumage was
so much injured, that it was with difficulty she could
make her escape, and even then, she several times
attempted to return to relieve her offspring.

" No bird provides more abundantly for its young
than the bald eagle. Fish are daily carried thither

EAGLE.

363

in numbers, so that they sometimes lie scattered round
the tree, and the putrid smell of the nest may be dis-
tinguished at the distance of several hundred yards.
The young- are at first covered with a thick whitish
or cream-coloured cottony down ; they gradually
become of a grey colour as their plumage developes
itself, continue of the brown grey until the third year,
when the white begins to make its appearance on the
head, neck, tail-coverts, and tail,; these by the end
of the fourth year are completely white, or very
slightly tinged with cream ; the eye, also, is at first
hazel, but gradually brightens into a brilliant straw
colour, with the white plumage of the head. Such,
indeed, was the gradual progress of this change, wit-
nessed by myself on a very fine specimen brought up
by a gentleman, a friend of mine, who, for a conside-
rable time, believed it to be what is usually called
the grey eagle, and was much surprised at the gradual
metamorphosis. This will account for the circum-
stance, so frequently observed, of the grey and white-
headed eagle being see a together, both being, in fact,
ihe same species, in different stages of colour, accord-
ing to their difference of age.

" The flight of the bald eagle, when taken into
consideration with the ardour and energy of his cha-
racter, is noble and interesting. Sometimes the
human eye can just discern him, like a minute*speck,
moving in slow curvatures along the face of the
heavens, as if reconnoitering the earth at that immense
distance. Sometimes he glides along in a direct hori-
zontal line, at a vast height, with expanded and
unrnoving wings, till he gradually disappears in the
distant blue ether. Seen gliding in easy circles over
the high shores and mountainous cliffs that tower
above the Hudson and Susquehannah, he attracts the
eye of the intelligent voyager, and adds great interest
to the scenery. At the great cataract of Niagara,
already mentioned, there rises from the gulf into
which the Falls of the Horse-shoe descends, a stupen-
dous column of smoke, or spray, reaching to the
heavens, and moving off in large black clouds, accord-
ing to the direction of the wind, forming a very strik-
ing and majestic appearance. The eagles are here
seen sailing about, sometimes losing themselves in
this thick column, and again reappearing in another
place, with such ease and elegance of motion, as
renders the whole truly sublime. —

High o'er the watery uproar, silent seen,
Sailing sedate in majesty serene,
Now 'midst the pillar'd spray sublimely lost,
And DOW, emerging, down the Rapids tost,
Glides the bald eagle, gazing, calm and slow,
O'er all the horrors of the scene below ;
Intent alone to sate himself with blood,
Prom the torn victims of the raging flood.

" The white-headed eagle is three feet long, and
seven feet in extent ; the bill is of a rich yellow
cere the same, slightly tinged with green ; mouth
flesh-coloured, tip of the tongue, bluish black ; the
head, chief part of the neck, vent, tail-coverts, anc
tail, are white in the perfect or old birds of both
sexes, — in those under three years of age, these parts
are of a grey brown ; the rest of the plumage is deef
dark brown, each feather tipt with pale brown, lightest
on the shoulder of the wing, and darkest towards its
extremities. The conformation of the wing is admi-
rably adapted for the support of so large a bird ; i
measures two feet in breadth on the greater quills, anc
sixteen inches on the lesser ; the longest primaries
are twenty inches in length, and upwards of one inct

n circumference where they enter the skin ; the
broadest secondaries are three'inchcs in breadth across
he vane ; the scapulars are very large and broad,
ipreading from the back to the wing, to prevent the
air from passing through ; another range of broad flat
eathers, from three to ten inches in length, also
extend from the lower part of the breast to the wing
>elow, for the same purpose ; between these lies a
deep triangular cavity ; the thighs are remarkably
;hick, strong and muscular, covered with long feathers
lointing backwards, usually called the femoral feathers ;
:he legs, which are covered half way below the knee,
aefore, with dark brown downy feathers, are of a rich
yellow, the colour of ripe Indian corn ; feet the same ;
claws blue black, very large and strong, particularly
the inner ones, which are considerably the largest ;
soles, very rough and warty ; the eye is sunk under
a bony, or cartilaginous projection, of a pale yellow
colour, and is turned considerably fotwards, not stand-
ing parallel with the cheeks ; the iris is of a bright
straw colour, pupil black.

" The male is generally two or three inches shorter
than the female ; the white on the head, neck, and
tail being more tinged with yellowish, and its whole
appearance less formidable ; the brown plumage is
also lighter, and the bird itself less daring than the
female, — a circumstance common to almost all birds
of prey.

" The bird from which the foregoing description
was taken, was shot near Great Egg Harbour, in the
month of January. It was in excellent order, and
weighed about eleven pounds. Dr. Samuel B. Smith,
of this city, obliged me with a minute arid careful dis-
section of it ; from whose copious and very interest-
ing notes on the subject, I shall extract such remarks
as are suited to the general reader.

" The eagle you sent me for dissection was a beau-
tiful female. It had two expansions of the gullet.
The first principally composed of longitudinal bundles
of fibre, in which (as the bird is ravenous and without
teeth) large portions of unmasticated meats are suffered
to dissolve before they pass to the lower or proper
stomach, which is membranous. I did not receive
the bird time enough to ascertain whether any chyle-
faction was effected by the juices from the vessels ot
this enlargement of the esophagus. I think it proba-
ble that it also has a regurgitating, or vomiting power,
as the bird constantly swallows large quantities of
indigestible substances, such as quills, hairs, &c. In
this sac of the eagle, I found the quill-feathers of the
small white gull ; and in the true stomach the tail and
some of the breast feathers of the same bird, and the
dorsal vertebrae of a large fish. This excited some
surprise, until you made me acquainted with the fact
of its watching the fish-hawks, and robbing them of
their prey. Thus we see, throughout the whole
empire of animal life, power is almost always in a
state of hostility to justice ; and of the Deity only
can it be truly said that justice is commensurate with
power !

" The eagle has the several auxiliaries to digestion
and assimilation in common with man. The liver was
unusually large in your specimen. It secretes bile,
which stimulates the intestines, prepares the chyle
for blood, and by this very secretion of bile (as it is a
deeply respiring animal), separates or removes some
obnoxious principles from the blood. (See Dr. Rush's
admirable lecture on this important viscus in the
human subject.) The intestines were also large,

364

EAGLE.

,long, convolute, and supplied with numerous lacteal
vessels, which differ little from those of man, except
in colour, which was transparent. The kidneys were
large, and seated on each side the vertebrae, near the
anus. They are also destined to secrete some offen-
sive principles from the blood.

" The eggs were small and numerous, and, after a
careful examination, I concluded that no sensible
increase takes place in them till the particular season.
This may account for the unusual excitement which
prevails in these birds in the sexual intercourse.
Why there are so many eggs is a mystery. It is,
perhaps, consistent with natural law that everything
should be abundant ; but, from this bird, it is said no
more than two young are hatched in a season, conse-
quently no more eggs are wanted than a sufficiency to
produce that effect. Are the eggs numbered originally,
and is there no increase of number, but a gradual loss,
till all are deposited ? If so, the number may corre-
spond to the long life and vigorous health of this noble
bird. Why there are but two young in the season is
easily explained. Nature has been studiously parsi-
monious of her physical strength, from whence the
tribes of animals incapable to resist derive security
and confidence.

" The eagle is said to live to a great age — sixty,
eighty, and, as some assert, one hundred years. This
circumstance is remarkable, when we consider the
seeming intemperate habits of the bird — sometimes
fasting, through necessity, for several days, and at
other times gorging itself with animal food till its
craw swells out the plumage of that part, forming a
large protuberance on the breast. This, however, is
its natural food, and for these habits its whole
organisation is particularly adapted. It has not, like
man, invented rich wines, ardent spirits, and a
thousand artificial poisons, in the form of soups,
sauces, and sweetmeats. Its food is simple, it in-
dulges freely, uses great exercise, breathes the purest
air, is healthy, vigorous, and long-lived. The lords of
the creation themselves might derive some useful
hints from these facts, were they not already, in
general, too wise or too proud to learn from their
inferiors, the fowls of the air and the beasts of the
field."

As has been the case both with the golden and
the white-tailed eagle of the eastern continent, this
American species has, in consequence of the differ-
ence in colour between the young and the mature
birds, and the length of time which the former colour
lasts, been regarded and described as two species, the
ossifrage when young, and the white-headed eagle
when old. The confusion has been still farther
increased by the same name having been given to
the young of the sea-eagle of Europe ; and thus,
while two species have been multiplied into four, the
two proper ones have been confounded with each
other. Indeed, we are still in want of information
respecting the birds of prey in that part of North
America, especially, which lies between the valley of
the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains.

THE OSPIIEY (Aquila halueta}. This is the proper
fishing-eagle of the European shores, and also the
fishing-hawk of America, which is so well described
by Wilson. It has also been described as a buzzard,
and named the bald buzzard, from the white upon
the head. It is smaller than the eagles which we
have described in the former part of this article, arid
it is also much more aquatic in its habits, but still its

general characters are those of an eagle, and its size
and strength, though the latter is by no means so
efficient on land as many of the hawks and falcons,
entitle it to the same epithet.

The length of the osprey is about two feet, and the
extent of its wings not less than five feet and a half,
so that it is better winged in proportion than even
the most powerful of the falcons, and may rank
among the most aerial of all the birds of prey. The
beak of this bird is powerfully formed, very much
bent at the tip, furnished with a rudiment of a tooth,
and of that dark colour which is always an indication
of strength in this order of birds. The tarsi are, like
those of the true eagles, very short and strong, but,
instead of being feathered as in these, they are
covered with reticulated scales, and thus bear some
resemblance to those of the wading birds. The claws
are very large, more especially that on the outer toe,
which is reversible. They are, however, w ithout any
ridges or grooves on their under sides, and thus they
are clutching claws, and not tearing ones.

The cere, the tarsi, and the toes of the osprey, are
greyish blue, the under parts of the toes being abun-
dantly furnished with pads or tubercles. The irides
are yellow. The prevailing colour on the upper part
is blackish brown, with the exception of the nind part
of the1 head, and part of the neck, which is whitish. A
streak of deep brown passes down each side of the
neck ; and the chin and fore part of the neck are
streaked with the same colour, passing into lighter on
the breast. The rest of the under part is dull white,
passing into pale grey on the vent and tail. The
coverts are pale brown, and the quills darker ; some-
times relieved with a paler tint on the margins of the
feathers, but never possessing any of the rich and
warm browns of the land eagles. Three feathers in
the middle of the tail are brown, and all the others
have white bare on their inner webs. The outer tail-
feathers, and first quills of the wings, have their webs
very narrow and exceedingly stiff, so that they can-
not be ruffled but with the greatest difficulty. The
under sides of the wings, and the whole of their mar-
ginal parts, as also the plumage on the under parts of
the body, are remarkably close and compact, and do
not suffer the least injury by being immersed in water.
The thighs are feathered down to the articulations of
the tarsi ; their colour is pure white ; but the feathers
bear more resemblance to the hair of aquatic animals,
than to the feathers of ordinary birds. The young
birds have their colours more broken than the old
ones ; and in very mature age the colours may be
stated as being uniform brown on all the upper part
except the head, and white on the under part.

In the places which it frequents, this bird is, per-
haps, more on the wing than any of the other eagles,
but it is always found over the waters ; and so far as
is known, it commits no depredations on land. It
makes its nest in the crevices of rocks, or on the tops
of tall tree*, and occasionally on the ground among
reeds, laying from two to four white eggs, spotted
with reddish, rather smaller than those of the domes-
tic hen. Colonel Montagu once saw a nest belong-
ing to a pair of this species, on the top of a ruined
chimney on an island in Loch Lomond. It was large
and flat, formed of sticks laid across, lined with flags,
and resting on the sides of the chimney. From an
expression which occurs in some old acts of parlia-
ment, there is reason to believe that the bald buzzard
was once trained to fishing in England. It is now

EAGLE.

365

rarely met with in this country, residing chiefly near
water, especially large rivers and lakes, and feeding
principally on fish, which it catches with great eager-
ness, and on which it pounces with astonishing
rapidity, sometimes plunging two feet under the sur-
face of the water, carrying off its captive, and devour-
ing it at leisure at some distance. In the breeding
season, it is frequently seen about the Lake of Kil-
larney, in Ireland. It is found in most of the coun-
tries of Europe, from Sweden to Greece, and is very
common in Siberia, where the inhabitants foolishly
believe that a single scratch of its talons is highly
poisonous. It has been, moreover, ascertained to
inhabit Egypt, Nigritia, Barbary, and Louisiana. —
These birds are almost always observed in pairs,
except during the prevalence of severe frost, when
the waters are congealed, and when they usually
separate in quest of milder skies. During the spring
and summer months, the bald buzzard frequently is
seen hovering over the large rivers in America, or
resting on the wing for several minutes at a time, then
suddenly darting down and seldom emerging without
a fish in its talons. It then shakes off the water, like
a mist, and shapes its course to the woods. The fol-
lowing is Wilson's very graphic description of this
bird as it appears on the American waters, where,
from the deep embayment of the shores, and the vast
extent of broad waters, it is a highly interesting bird.
" The fish-hawk is migratory, arriving on the coasts
of New York and New Jersey, about the twenty-
second of September. Heavy equinoctial storms may
vary these periods of arrival and departure a few days,
but long observation has ascertained that they are
kept with remarkable regularity. On the arrival of
these birds in the northern parts of the United States,
in March, they sometimes find the bays and ponds
frozen, and experience a difficulty in procuring fish
for many days. Yet there is no instance on record
of their attacking birds, or inferior land animals, with
intent to feed on them ; though their great strength
of flight, as well as of feet and claws, would seem to
render this no difficult matter. But they no sooner
arrive, than they wage war on the bald eagles, as
against a horde of robbers and banditti ; sometimes
succeeding, by force of numbers and perseverance, in
driving them from their haunts, but seldom or never
attacking them in single combat.

'' The first appearance of the fish-hawk in spring, is
welcomed by the fishermen, as the happy signal of
the approach of those vast shoals of herring, shad, &c.
that regularly arrive on our coasts, and enter our
rivers in such prodigious multitudes. Two of a trade,
it is said, seldom agree ; the adage, however, will not
hold good in the present case, for such is the respect
paid the fish-hawk, not only by this class of men, but
generally by the whole neighbourhood where it re-
sides, that a person who should attempt to shoot one
of them, would stand a fair chance of being insulted.
This prepossession in favour of the fish-hawk is
honourable to their feelings. They associate with its
first appearance, ideas of plenty, and all the gaiety ol
business , they see it active and industrious like them-
selves ; inoffensive to the productions of their farms ;
building with confidence, and without the least dispo-
sition to concealment, in the middle of their fields,
and along their fences ; and returning, year after year
regularly to its former abode.

" The nest of the fish-hawk is usually built on the
top of a dead or decaying tree, sometimes not more

han fifteen, often upwards of fifty, feet from the
ground. It has been remarked by the people of the
sea coasts, that the most thriving tree will die in a few
years after being taken possession of by the fish-hawk.
This is attributed to the fish-oil, and to the excrements
of the bird ; but is more probably occasioned by the
arge heap of wet salt materials of which the nest is
usually composed. In my late excursions to the sea
shore, I ascended to several of these nests, that had
been built in from year to year, and found them con-
structed as follows :— Externally, large sticks, from
half an inch to an inch and a half in diameter, and
two or three feet in length, piled to the height of four
or five feet, and from two to three feet in breadth ,
these were intermixed with corn stalks, sea-weed,
pieces of wet turf, in large quantities, mullein stalks,
and lined with dry sea-grass ; the whole forming a
mass very observable at half a mile's distance, and
large enough to fill a cart, and form no inconsiderable
load for a horse. These materials are so well put
together, as often to adhere, in large fragments, after
being blown down by the wind. About the first of
May, the female fish-hawk begins to lay her eggs,
which arc commonly three in number, sometimes only
two, and rarely four. They are somewhat larger than
those of the common hen, and nearly of the same
shape. The ground colour varies, in different eggs,
from a reddish cream, to nearly a white, splashed and
daubed all over with dark Spanish brown, as if done
by art. During the time. the female is sitting, the
male frequently supplies her with fish ; though she
occasionally takes a short circuit to sea herself, but
quickly returns again. The attention of the male, on
such occasions, is regulated by the circumstances of
the case. A pair of these birds on the south side of
Great Egg Harbour river, and near its mouth, were
noted for several years. The female, having but one
leg, was regularly furnished, while sitting, with fish
in such abundance, that she seldom left the nest, and
never to seek for food. This kindness was continued
both before and after incubation. Some animals who
claim the name and rationality of man, might blush
at the recital of this fact.

" On the appearance of the young, which is usually
about the last of June, the zeal and watchfulness of
the parents are extreme. They stand guard, and go
off to fish, alternately ; one parent being always within
a short distance of the nest. On the near approach
of any person, the hawk utters a plaintive whistling
note, which becomes shriller as she takes to wing, and
sails around, sometimes making a rapid descent, as if
aiming directly for you ; but checking her course, and
sweeping past, at a short distance over head, her wings
making a loud whizzing in the air. My worthy friei|d,
Mr. Gardiner, informs me, that they have even been
known to fix their claws in a negro's head, who was
attempting to climb to their nest ; and I had lately a
proof of their daring spirit in this way, through the
kindness of a friend, resident for a few weeks at
Great Egg Harbour. I had requested of him the
favour to transmit me, if possible, a live fish-hawk, for
the purpose of making a drawing of it, which commis-
sion he very faithfully executed ; and I think I cannot
better illustrate this part of the bird's character than
by quoting his letter at large. — Beasley's, Great Egg
Harbour, 30th June, 1811. Sir— Mr. Beazley and" I
went to reconnoitre a fish-hawk's nest on Thursday
afternoon. When I was at the nest, I was struck
with so great violence on the crown of the hat, that I

366

E A G L E.

thought a hole was made in it. I had ascended fear-
lessly, and never dreamt of being attacked. I came
clown quickly. There were in the nest three young
ones, about the size of pullets, which, though full-
feathered, were unable to fly. On Friday morning,
I went again to the nest to get a young one, which I
thought I could nurse to a considerable growth, suf-
ficient to answer your purpose, if I should fail to pro-
cure an old one, which was represented to me as
almost impossible, on account of his shyness, and the
danger from his dreadful claws. On taking a young
one, I intended to lay a couple of snares in the nest,
for which purpose I had a strong cord in my pocket.
The old birds were on the tree when Captain H. and
I approached it. As a defence, profiting by the expe-
rience of yesterday, I took a walking-stick with me.
When I was about half way up the tree, the bird I
send you struck at me repeatedly with violence ; he
flew round in a small circle, darting at me at every
circuit, and I striking at him. Observing that he
always described a circle in the air, before he came at
me, I kept a hawk's eye upon him, and the moment
he passed me, I availed myself of the opportunity to
ascend. When immediately under the nest, I hesi-
tated at the formidable opposition I met, as his rage
appeared to increase with my presumption in invad-
ing his premises. But I mounted to the nest. At
that moment he darted directly at me with all his
force, whizzing through the air, his choler apparently
redoubled. Fortunately for me, I struck him on the
extreme joint of the right wing, with my stick, which
brought him to the ground. During this contest, the
female was flying round and round at a respectful dis-
tance. Captain H. held him till I tied his legs
together with my handkerchief ; the captain felt the
effect of his claws. I brought away a young one to
keep the old one in a good humour. 1 put them in
a very large coop ; the young one ate some fish, when
broken and put into its throat ; but the old one would
not eat for two days. He continued sullen and obsti-
nate, hardly changing his position. He walks about
now, and is approached without danger. He takes
very little notice of the young one. A Joseph Smith,
working in the field where this nest is, had the curio-
sity to go up to look at the eggs : the bird clawed his
face in a shocking manner ; his eye had a narrow-
escape ; I am told that it has never been considered
dangerous to approach a hawk's nest. If this be so,
this bird's character is peculiar ; his affection for his
young, and his valiant opposition to an invasion of
his nest, entitle him to conspicuous notice. He is
the prince of fish-hawks : his character and his por-
trait seem worthy of being handed to the historic
muse. A hawk more worthy of the honour which
awaits him could not have been found. I hope no
accident will happen to him. and that he may fully

answer your purpose. — Your's, Thomas Smith

This morning the female was flying to und fro,
making a mournful noise.

" The young of the fish-hawk are remarkable for
remaining long in the nest before they attempt to fly.
Mr. Smith's letter is dated June 30th, at which time,
he observes, they were as large as pullets, and full
feathered. Seventeen days atter I myself ascended
to the same hawk's nest, where I found the two
remaining young ones seemingly full grown. They
made no attempt to fly, though they both placed
themselves in a stern posture of defence as I examined
them at my leisure. The female had procured a

second helpmate ; but he did not seem to inherit the
spirit of his predecessor, for, like a true step-father,
he left the nest at my approach, and sailed about at
a safe distance with his mate, who showed great
anxiety and distress during the whole of my visit. It
is universally asserted, by the people of the neigh-
bourhood where these birds breed, that the young
remain so long, before they fly, that the parents are
obliged at last to compel them to shift for themselves,
beating them with their wings, and driving them from
the nest ; but that they continue to assist them even
after this, I know to be a fact, from my own observation,
as I have seen the young bird meet its parent in the
air, and receive from him the fish he carried in his
claws. The fliffht of the fish-hawk, his manoeuvres
while in search of fish, and his manner of seizing his
prey, are deserving of particular notice. On leaving
the nest, he usually flies direct till he comes to the
sea, then sails around, in easy curving lines, turning
sometimes in the air as on a pivot, apparently without
the least exertion, rarely moving the wings, his legs
extended in a straight line behind, and his remarkable
length, and curvature or bend of wing, distinguishing
him from all other hawks. The height at which he
thus elegantly glides is various, from one hundred to
one hundred and fifty and two hundred feet, some-
times much higher, alt the while calmly reconnoitering
the face of the deep below. Suddenly he is seen to
check his course, as if struck by a particular object,
which he seems to survey for a few moments with
such steadiness, that he appears fixed in air, flapping
his wings. This object, however, he abandons, or
rather, the fish he had in his eye has disappeared, and
he is again seen sailing around as before. Now, his
attention is again arrested, and he descends with great
rapidity, but, ere he reaches the surface, shoots off' on
another course, as if ashamed that another victim
had escaped him. He now sails at a short height
above the surface, and, by a zig-zag descent, and
without seeming to dip his feet in the water, seizes a
fish, which, after carrying a short distance, he probably
drops, or yields up to the bald eagle, and again
ascends, by easy spiral circles, to the higher regions
of the air, where he glides about in all the ease and
majesty of his species. At once, from this sublime
and aerial height, he descends like a perpendicular
torrent, plunging into the sea with a loud rushing
sound, and with the certainty of a rifle. In a few
moments he emerges, bearing in his claws his strug-
gling prey, which he always carries head foremost,
and, having risen a few feet above the surface, shakes
himself as a water-spaniel would do, and directs his
heavy and laborious course directly for the land. If
the wind blow hard, and his nest lie in the quarter
from whence it comes, it is amusing to observe with
what judgment and exertion he beats to windward,
not in a direct line, that is, in the wind's eye, but
making several successive tacks to gain his purpose.
This will appear the more striking, when we consider
the size of the fish which he sometimes bears along.
A shad was taken from a fish-hawk near Great Egg
Harbour, on which he had begun to regale himself,
and had already ate a considerable portion of it ;
the remainder weighed six pounds. Another fish-
hawk was passing Mr. Beasley's, at the same place,
with a large flounder in his grasp, which struggled
and shook him so, that he dropped it on the shore
The flounder was picked up, and served the whole
family for dinner. It is a singular fact, that the hawl«

EAGLE.

367

never descends to pick up a fish which he happens to
drop either on the hind or on the water. There is a
kind of abstemious dignity in this habit of the hawk
superior to the gluttonous voracity displayed by most
other birds of prey, particularly by the bald eagle,
whose piratical robberies committed on the present
species have been already fullv detailed in treating of
his history. The hawk, however, in his fishing pur-
suits, sometimes mistakes his mark, or overrates his
strength, by striking fish too large and powerful for
him to manage, by whom he is suddenly dragged
under ; and though he sometimes succeeds in extri-
cating himself, after being taken three or four times
down, yet oftener both parties perish. The bodies of
sturgeon, and of several other large fish, with a fish-
hawk fast grappled in them, have at various times
been found dead on the shore, cast up by the waves.
" The fish-hawk is doubtless the most numerous of
all its genus within the United States. It penetrates
far into the interior of the country up our large rivers
and their head waters. It may be said to line the
sea coast from Georgia to Canada. In some parts 1
have counted, at one view, more than twenty of their
nests \vitliin half a mile. Mr. Gardiner informs me
that, on the small island on which he resides, there
are at least ' three hundred nests of fish-hawks that
have young, which, on an average, consume probably
not less than six hundred fish daily.' Before they
depart in the autumn, they regularly repair their nests,
carrying up sticks, sods, &c., fortifying them against
the violence of the winter storms, which, from this
circumstance, they would seem to foresee and expect.
But notwithstanding all their precautions, they fre-
quently, on their return in spring, find them lying in
ruins around the roots of the tree which itself has shared
the same fate. When a number of hawks, to the amount
of twenty or upwards, collect together on one tree,
making a loud squeeling noise, there is generally a
nest built soon after on the same tree. Probably
this congressional assembly were settling the right of
the new pair to the premises; or it might be a kind
of wedding, or joyous festive meeting on the occasion.
They are naturally of a mild and peaceable disposi-
tion," living together in great peace and harmony ; for
though with them, as in the best regulated communi-
ties, instances of attack and robbery occur among
themselves, yet these instances are extremely rare.
Mr. Gardiner observes, that they are sometimes seen
high in the air, sailing and cutting strange gambols,
with loud vociferations, darting down several hundred
feet perpendicular, frequently with part of a fish in
one claw, which they seem proud of, and to claim
high hook as the fishermen call him who takes the
greatest number. On these occasions, they serve a
a barometer to foretel the changes of the atmosphere ;
for when the fish- hawks are seen thus sailing high in
the air, in circles, it is universally believed to prog-
nosticate a change of weather, often a thunder-storm
in a few hours. On the faith of the certainty of these
signs, the experienced coaster wisely prepares for the
expected storm, and he is rarely mistaken.

" There is one singular trait in the character of this
bird, which is mentioned in treating of the purple
grakle, and which I have had many opportunities o
witnessing. The grakles, or crow blackbirds, are
permitted by the fish-hawk to build their nests among
the insterstices of the sticks of which his own is
constructed, several pairs of grakles taking up thei
abode there, like humble vassals around the castle o

heir chief, laying, hatching their young, and living
ogether in mutual harmony. I have found no less
han four of these nests clustered around the sides of
he former, and a fifth fixed on the nearest branch of
he adjoining tree ; as if the proprietor of this last,
inable to find an unoccupied corner on the premises,
lad been anxious to share, as much as possible, the
company and protection of this generous bird.

" The fish-hawk is twenty-two inches in length, and
ive feet three inches in extent ; the bill is deep black,
'he upper as well as the lower cere (for the base of the
ower mandible has a loose moveable skin) and also
the sides of the mouth, from the nostrils backwards,
are light blue ; crown and hind part of the head pure
white, front streaked with brown ; through the eye, a
jar of dark blackish brown passes to the neck behind,
which, as well as the whole upper parts, is deep brown,
the edges of the feathers lighter ; shafts of the wing
quills brownish white ; tail slightly rounded, of rather
a paler brown than the body, crossed with eight bars
of very dark brown ; the wings, when shut, extend
about an inch beyond the tail, and are nearly black
owards the tips ; the inner vanes of both quill and
ail feathers are whitish barred with brown ; whole
lower parts pure white, except the thighs, which
tire covered with short plumage, and streaked down
the fore part with pale brown ; the legs and feet are
a very pale light blue, prodigiously strong, and dis-
proportionally large, and are covered with flat scales
of remarkable strength and thickness, resembling,
when dry, the teeth of a large rasp, particularly on
the soles, intended, no doubt, to enable the bird to
seize with more security his slippery prey ; the thighs
are long, the legs short, feathered a little below the
knee, and, as well as the feet and claws, large ; the
latter hooked into semicircles, black, and very sharp
pointed ; the iris of the eye a fiery yellow orange.

" The female is fully two inches longer ; the upper
part of the head of a less pure white, and the brown
streaks on the front spreading more over the crown.
The throat and upper part of the breast are dashed
with large blotches of pale brown, and the brown bar
across the eye is less deep in the tint. The toes of
both are exceedingly strong, and much tuberculated ;
and the claw on the hind toe is an inch and a quarter
in measure. The feathers on the hind part of the head
are long and narrow, and erected when the bird is
excited, as is the case in the land eagles. The eye is
without the projecting bony socket, which is common
to most of the birds of prey ; and the nostrils are very
large, triangular, and curved. The two glands on the
rump, which supply the bird with oil for lubricating
the feathers, are very large, and the contents is a fatty
matter, bearing some resemblance in consistency to
hog's lard." Thus far we have quoted Wilson's
description of this very interesting bird, — a bird
which is, perhaps, more characteristic of the Arneri
can waters than any other which is found on the
shores and recesses of that country, which is pecu-
liarly the land of lakes and streams ; and where, in
consequence, the inhabitants of the waters are of
peculiar interest.

Though there are some slight differences between
the descriptions of Wilson and the other American
describers, and those of the European naturalists that
have described this bird as the osprey of our shores,
there seems little doubt of the perfect identity of the
species in both continents. In Europe, indeed, the
bird is said to build less habitually in trees than it

368

E A G L E.

does in America ; but that does not form any foun-
dation tor a specific difference, as many of the ducks
and other aquatic birds which build upon trees in
America, build in reeds and bushes in Europe.

THE GIIEAT AMERICAN EAGLE (Falco Washing-
tonii of Audobon). We mention this species upon
the authority of the naturalist whose name we have
mentioned, though, at the same time, we have some
doubts whether the one which he describes may not
be the sea-eagle in its young plumage, or perhaps the
harpy eagle, which belongs more to the central lati-
tudes of America, and is one of the short-winged
fishing-eaeles. The description given by Audobon
certainly is that of a very different bird ; and, in
order that we may do justice both to him and to his
subject, we shall quote the entire passage. " It was,"
says Audobon, "in the month of February, 1814, that
I obtained the first sight of this noble bird, and never
shall 1 forget the delight which it gave me. Not even
Herschel, when he discovered the planet which bears
his name, could have experienced more rapturous
feelings. We were on a trading voyage, ascending
the Upper Mississippi. The keen wintry blasts
whistled around us, and the cold from which I
suffered had, in a great degree, extinguished the deep
interest which, at other seasons, this magnificent river
has been wont to awake in me. I lay stretched
beside our patroon. The safety of our cargo was
forgotten, and the only thing that called my attention
was the multitude of ducks, of different species,
accompanied by vast flocks of swans, which from time
to time passed us. My patroon, a Canadian, had been
engaged many years in the fur trade. He was a man
of much intelligence ; and, perceiving that these
birds had engaged my curiosity, seemed anxious to
find some new object to divert me. An eagle flew
over us. ' How fortunate ! ' he exclaimed ; ' this is
•what I could have wished. Look, sir! the great
eagle, and the only one I have seen since I left the
lakes.' I was instantly on my feet, and, having
observed it attentively, concluded, as I lost it in the
distance, that it was a species quite new to me. My
patroon assured me that such birds were indeed rare ;
that they sometimes followed the hunters, to feed on
the entrails of animals which they had killed, when
the lakes were frozen over, but that, when the lakes
were open, they would dive in the day-time after fish,
and snatch them up in the manner of the fishing-hawk,
and that they roosted generally on the shelves of the
rocks, where they built their nests, of which he had
discovered several by the quantity of white dung
scattered below.

" Convinced that the bird was unknown to natural-
ists, I felt particularly anxious to learn its habits, and
to discover in what particulars it differed from the
rest of its genus. My next meeting with this bird
was a few years afterwards, whilst engaged in collect-
ing cray-fish on one of those flats which border and
divide Green River, in Kentucky, near its junction
with the Ohio. The river is there bordered by a
range of high cliffs, which, for some distance, follow
its windings. I observed on the rocks, which, at
that place, are nearly perpendicular, a quantity of
white ordure, which I attributed to owls that might
have resorted thither. 1 mentioned the circumstance
to my companions, when one of them, who lived
within a mile of the place, told me it was from the
nest of the brown eagle, meaning the white-headed
eagle (Falco leucoccphahis), in its immature state. I

assured him this could not be, and remarked, that
neither the old nor the young birds of that species
ever build in such places, but always in trees. Al-
though he could not answer rny objection, he stoutly
maintained that a brown eagle of some kind, above
the usual size, had built there ; and added, that he
had espied the nest some days before, and had seen
one of the old birds dive and catch a fish. This he
thought strange, having, till then, always observed
that both brown eagles and bald eagles procured this
kind of food by robbing the fish-hawks. He said,
that, if I felt particularly anxious to know what nest
it was, I might soon satisfy myself, as the old birds
would come and feed their young with fish, for he
had seen them do so before.

" In high expectation, I seated myself at about a
hundred yards from the foot of the rock. Never did
time pass more slowly. I could not help betraying
the most impatient curiosity, for my hopes whispered
it was a sea eagle's nest. Two long hours had elapsed
before the old bird made his appearance, which was
announced to us by the loud hissings of the two young
ones, which crawled to the extremity of the hole to
receive a fine fish. I had a perfect view of this noble
bird as he held himself to the edging rock, hanging
like the barn, bank, or social swallow, his tail spread,
and his wings partly so. I trembled lest a word
should escape from my companions. The slightest
murmur had been treason from them. They entered
into my feelings, and, although little interested, gazed
with me. In a few minutes the other parent joined
the mate, and, from the difference in size (the female of
rapacious birds being much larger), we knew this to be
the mother bird. She also had brought a fish : but,
more cautious than her mate, she glanced her quick
and piercing eye around, and instantly perceived that
her abode had been discovered. She dropped her
prey, with a loud shriek communicated the alarm to
the male, and, hovering with him over our heads, kept
up a growling cry, to intimidate us from our suspected
design. This watchful solicitude I have ever found
peculiar to the female, — must I be understood to
speak only of birds ?

" The young having concealed themselves, we went
and picked up the fish which the mother had let fall.
It was a white perch, weighing about five pounds and
a half. The upper part of the head was broken in, and
the back torn by the talons of the eagle. We had
plainly seen her bearing it in the manner of the fish-
hawk.

" This day's sport being at an end, as we journeyed
homewards, we agreed to return the next morning,
with the view of obtaining both the old and young
birds ; but rainy and tempestuous weather setting in,
it became necessary to defer the expedition till the
third day following, when, with guns and men all in
readiness, we reached the rock. Some posted them-
selves at the foot, others upon it, but in vain. We
passed the entire day, without either seeing or hearing
an eagle, the sagacious birds.no doubt, having antici-
pated an invasion, and removed their young to new
quarters.

" I come at last to the day which I had so often
and so ardently desired. Two years had gone by
since the discovery of the nest, in fruitless excursions ;
but my wishes were no longer to remain ungratified.
In returning from the little village of Henderson, to
the house of Dr. Rankin, about a mile distant, I saw
an eagle rise from a small enclosure not a hundred

EAG

yards before me, where the doctor had, a few days
before, slaughtered some hogs, and alight upon a low
tree branching over the road. I prepared my double-
barrelled piece, which I constantly carry, and went
slowly and cautiously towards him. Quite fearlessly
he waited my approach, looking upon me with un-
daunted eye. I fired, and he fell. Before I reached
him, he was dead. With what delight did I survey
the magnificent bird ! Had the finest salmon ever
pleased him as he did me ? Never. I ran and pre-
sented him to my friend, with a pride which they
alone can feel who, like me, have devoted themselves
from their earliest childhood to such pursuits, and who
have derived .from them their first pleasures. To
others I must seem to prattle out of fashion. The
doctor, who was an experienced hunter, examined the
bird with much satisfaction, and frankly acknowledged
he had never before seen or heard of it.

"The name which I have chosen for this new species
of eagle, ' the bird of Washington,' may, by some, be
considered as preposterous and unfit ; but, as it is in-
disputably the noblest bird of its genus that has yet
been discovered in the United States, I trust I shall
be allowed to honour it with the name of one yet
nobler, who was the saviour of his country, and whose
name will ever be dear to it. To those who may be
curious to know my reasons, I can only say that, as
the New World gave me birth and liberty, the great
man who ensured its independence is next to my
heart. He had a nobility of mind, and a generosity
of soul, such as are seldom possessed. He was brave,
so is the eagle ; like it, too, he was the terror of his
foes ; and his fame, extending from pole to pole, re-
sembles the majestic soarings of the mightiest of the
feathered tribe. If America has reason to be prouc
of her Washington, so has she to be proud of her
great eagle.

" In the month of January following, I saw a pai
of these eagles flying over the falls of the Ohio, one
in pursuit of the other. The next day I saw then
again. The female had relaxed her severity, had laic
aside her coyness, and to a favourite tree they con
tinually resorted. I pursued them unsuccessfully fo
several days, when they forsook the place.

" The flight of this bird is very different from tha
of the white-headed eagle. The former encircles '<
greater space whilst sailing, keeps nearer to the Ian
and the surface of the water, and when about to dive
for fish, fulls in a spiral manner, as if with the intentior
of checking any retreating movement which its prej
might attempt, darting upon it only when a few yard
distant. The-fish hawk often does the same. When
rising with a fish, the bird of Washington flies to
considerable distance, forming, in its line of course,
very acute angle with the surface line of the water
My last opportunity of seeing this bird was on th
loth of November, 1821, a few miles above the mout!
of the Ohio, when two passed over our boat, movniL
down the river with a gentle motion. In a letter from
a kind relative, Mr. W. Blakewell, dated ' Falls of th
Ohio, July 1810,' and containing particulars relativ
to the swallow-tailed hawk (Falcofurcatus\d\a.t gen
tleman says — ' Yesterday, for the first time, I had a
opportunity of viewing one of those magnificent birc
which you call the sea eagle, as it passed low ove
me, whilst fishing. I shall be really glad when I ca
again have the pleasure of seeing your drawing of it
" Whilst in Philadelphia, about twelve months agi
I had the gratification of seeing a specimen of th
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

L E. 369

agle at Mr. Brans's museum. It was a male, in fine
umage, and beautifully preserved. I wished to
urchase it, with a view to carry it to Europe, but
le price put upon it was above my means."

Such is the description given by Audobon of this
ird, or rather of the effects the sight of it pro-
uced on him ; though, as we have before stated, there
re some reasons to doubt whether this ought to be
onsidered as a separate species. Indeed, in all those
laces where eagles range far over countries naturally
ide and wild, there are always some difficulties
ttending their natural history. In North America,
eagle pasture extends from the Northern Lakes
o the Gulf of Mexico, or, indeed, it may be said, all
he way to South America ; and in the course of so
ixtensive a range, and where the seasons are so very
ariable as they are in this great valley, we may be
•repared to meet many differences of appearance,
md encounter no small difficulty in ascertaining with
>erfect correctness whether individual specimens,
svhich are seen occasionally, at long distances from
ach other, and under different circumstances, be or
>e not the same species.

It has been alleged by some that the golden eagle,
or a species somewhat allied, has been seen on the
eastern slopes of the Stony Mountains ; and it is not
impossible that some such bird may visit this district,
which is very analogous to those which the same
species of eagle inhabits in Europe ; but that which
Audobon here describes is positively said to be a
fishing eagle ; and were it not for the great length of
wing which he states it to possess, one would be not
a little inclined to regard it as being probably an indi-
vidual of the following species I—-
THE HAIIPY EAGLE (Harpyia destructor). This
is also a fishing eagle, and belongs to different pas-
tures from the sea eagle, the osprey, and the other
long-winged fishers. It is a very large bird ; and its
beak and claws, which are invariably larger in propor-
tion as these birds have more of the fishing habit, are
very formidable in appearance. The general aspect of
the bird is, however, somewhat feeble, and not at all in
accordance with its size ; and there is a restlessness
about it which is not characteristic of the more power-
ful eagles, the habit of which is repose, in all cases
where they are not under the excitement of seeking
their prey. From the figure given in the plate, EAGLES,
and the following description, some judgment may be '
formed of the appearance, and partially, at least, of
the character of this large bird. Its predatory habits
are denoted by its very robust legs, and the extraor-
dinary curvature of its beak and talons ; the upper
mandible suddenly curving downwards with a strong
arch or hook towards the point, which is excessively
sharp. By this structure, and the shortness of the
wings, it is readily distinguished from the other eagles.
The usual length of an adult specimen, as that in
the Zoological Gardens, is three feet and a half from
beak to tail. The head is covered with thick downy
plumage of slaty grey, with a crest of black and grey
feathers rising from the back part of the head, which
the bird raises considerably when excited. The back
and wings and fore part of the neck are black ; the
feathers of the back terminating rather lighter ; from
the breast backwards is pure white ; and the plumage
of the legs is white with blackish bars. The tail is
ashy, banded with black ; the beak and claws are
black, and the legs, which are partly feathered, dusky
vellow. Such is the description of a specimen which
*-' A A

370

EAGLE.

was kept tor some time in the gardens of the Horticul-
tural Society of London, and afterwards transferred to
the collection of the Zoological Society. No very
satisfactory account of the native habits of an eagle can
be procured when the bird is confined, so that instead
of showing its style of flight, it has not room to spread
its wings. It is probable, too, that some of the accounts
given by travellers of the formidable nature of this
eagle are very much exaggerated ; and that its real
habits are destitute of the grandeur of the eagles of
the open air over the wilds, of which it certainly has
none of the expression. From all that we can infer
respecting the character of this eagle, we should be
disposed to conclude that it combines, in part, the
manners of the woodland hawks and the vultures ;
but as the districts over which it extends are varied
and difficult to be explored, it is not easy to speak
with precision respecting it. The curvature of the
bill, all the way from the base, is certainly a character
analogous to that of the hawks.

In the richer parts of tropical America, Africa, the
East Indies, and also New Holland, there are eagles
which bear some resemblance to this one in their
habits ; being found chiefly over or near the streams,
and feeding, in part at least, upon fish. We may
mention one or two of these, though they rest chiefly
upon museum specimens, or at best upon individuals
seen casually.

THE CARACARA EAGLE is a very common bird of
prey both in Brazil and in Paraguay. It gets its name
from the sound of its voice. It is a low-flying eagle, a
very miscellaneous feeder, and, contrary to the habits
of the more typical eagles, it comes near human
dwellings, and, ui part at least, picks up its food while
on the ground. It cannot fly high, and walks more
than birds of prey generally do. The upper part of
the head is black ; the neck brownish grey ; the
breast and shoulders of that colour, barred with
brown ; the other part of the plumage is blackish
brown, except the tail, which is a dirty white colour,
with dusky bands, and a black termination. The
changes in plumage are too frequent to give the
reader an accurate description. The caracara is so
bold as to frequent house-tops, walking about with as
little fear as the vulture ; and it is said even to carry
off the sportsman's game before his eyes. D'Azzara
.tells us that he has seen four or five of this species
hunt down red buzzards and herons ; and they are
believed to prey upon the American ostrich, lambs,
and young fawns.

THE CHILIAN SEA EAGLE. This species, though
named from the western shore of South America, is
found also on the east, and might, with equal pro-
priety, be named after Brazil, or indeed almost any
other part of the continent. The habit of naming
birds after individual localities, from which a specimen
happens to be brought, occasions no small confusion
in natural history. This bird plies along the coasts
of the sea and the margins of the large fresh waters,
but it is a bird of much less splendour in its habits
than the whit£-headed eagle of the north, or even the
osprey. It is not so much a fisher as it is a scavenger,
haunting the shores for the purpose of clearing them
of the refuse of animal matter, much in the same way
as the vultures do upon land. The plumage of a
mature bird is greyish on the upper part, with white
margins to the feathers on the back and breast, and
white on the under part, with feathers on the tarsi,
which are also of a whitish colour, pencilled with lines

of greyish brown. This formation of the feet indicates
a bird which has not the habit of plunging into the
water for the purpose of seizing its prey \Ve believe
there are several other American species resembling

The Chilian Sea Eagle.

these more or less in their habits, but the distinctions
between them are involved in much obscurity ; and
it does not appear that there is anything peculiarly
interesting in their history, or that a more intimate
acquaintance with them would contribute much to our
real knowledge of the feathered race.

SOUTH AFRICAN EAGLE. This species inhabits
the country about the Cape of Good Hope, but it is
supposed to extend over a great part of southern Africa;
indeed, over all the country to the southward of the
Great Desert. It is more of a land eagle than those
which have been mentioned as inhabiting South
America, is subject to great changes of plumage,
being tawny chestnut when young, and brown, marked
with black, when old.

THE WHITISH AFRICAN EAGLE. This species, as
mentioned by Le Vaillant, and some other travellers,
is thus described : — Whitish, variegated above with
yellowish brown, the black barred with white ; back
of the head slightly crested. About a third smaller
than the golden eagle, and of a more slender
shape ; first observed in the regions of Africa that
confine on the Cape of Good Hope. This eagle
pursues its game with such agility that hardly any
bird can outstrip it. It is partial to a sort of wood-
pigeon, whose flight is also very rapid, but which
rarely escapes its fangs. It likewise subsists on wood-
partridges, and on a very diminutive kind of antelope,
which occurs only in the forests. There, concealed
behind the thick branch of a tree, this eagle watches
his prey, which he seizes by rushing down on it with-
out noise. No sooner has he accomplished the capture
than all the crows in the neighbourhood flock around
him to share in the spoil ; but he defies alike their
approach and their clamour, so that they are con-
tented to remain under the tree on which he makes
his repast, and pick up the fallen fragments. He
never eats his game on the ground, but always bears
it to some lofty station, and plucks off1 the feathers
before he despatches it. " But what is very extraor-
dinary," observes Le Vaillant, "and seems difficult of
beliei in a bird whose ordinary food consists of birds,

EARTH N U T — E A R T H Q U A K E.

371

is, that the smallest of them may fly, or remain near
him, with impunity, and even alight on his eyrie, for
he not only does them no harm, but becomes their
protector, and defends them against other birds of
prey." But he suffers no ravenous bird to approach
his domain, chasing and harassing it. till it retires.
When tranquil, and sated with food, lie repeats, for
hours together, a weak and shrill cry. The nest is
placed on the top of the highest trees, and contains
two white cirgs, as large as those of the turkey hen,
and rounder. The male and female perform alter-
nately the function of incubation.

THE VOCIFEROUS, or SCUKAMINU EAGLE, is de-
scribed in the following terms : — Rusty brown, waved
with black ; head, neck, breast, and tail white. This
appears to be the principal rishing eagle of Southern
Africa. The craw, which is slightly visible, is covered
with long frizzled down. The female is stronger than
the male, but less brilliant in her attire. The sexes
are inseparable companions, hunting, Hying, and rest-
ing together. They subsist chiefly on fish, darting
down from the air with inexpressible celerity on such
as they perceive, striking the surface of the water
with a loud noise, and even submerging their whole
body to secure their prize. They also devour a sort
of large lizard which abounds in some of the African
rivers, and occasionally antelopes, but never birds.
Their loud and clamorous call resounds through the
vast solitudes of Southern Africa. They arc rare at
the Cape of Good Hope, and seldom met with till
about sixty or eighty leagues in the interior of the
country ; but the district in which they most frequently
occur is about the Bay of Lagoa. Like most' other
eagles, they place their nest cither on the top of lofty
trees, or on the points of rocks, and line it with wool,
feathers, &c. The eggs are shaped like those of the
turkey, but larger, and also whiter.

In many parts of India there are eagles, and pro-
bably the Imperial eagle of Europe may be found in
that country, altered by climate, as it appears that
birds of prey, contrary to the habit of the more power-
ful predatory mammalia, have their characters softened
iu the wanner countries. Many places of India, espe-
cially the Ghaut?, or rocky passes which border the
table land in the southern "parts, are well adapted f:>r
the habits of eagles. The following figure represents
what is sometimes called the Pondicherry eagle,

though it is highly probable that it ranges alone the
slopes of the mountains on both coasts. !'
said that there are ea<:!. s of a very large size in the
astern islands; and, from the character of the coun

ry, this is highly probable, though we aie but liitle
icqnainted with the fact.

THE WEDGE-TAILED EAGLE is a native of New
Holland, and is about the same proportions as the
golden eagle of Europe, but. of smaller size, and
laving the tail wedged or pointed. It is represented
is preying upon the emu, and the young of the kan-
aroo.

EARTH NUT is the Illinium Jlexuosum of Lin-
nseus, and is found in woods and sometimes in pastures.
.t has a tuberous root, about the size of a hazel nut,
of a sweetish agreeable taste, and eagerly sought, for
)y pigs ; indeed, none of the plants are to be met with
vhere piys are allowed to ran<re. The Arachis />
\CECI, a South American leguminous plant, is also called
he earth nut.

EARTHQUAKE. This is th.? most terrific of
ill natural phenomena, and yet, like many other
ihenornena which appear to deface the fair form of
nature, it in reality comes with " healing on its
v, inus." There is no question but that these extra-
ordinary convulsions of the earth's surface; are in
reality produced by volcanic powers, and that,
though lava and scoria are not at once discharged
nto the atmosphere on the site of the earthquake, yet
the best recorded accounts always speak of the great
volcanic mountains being at the same time in a state
of fearful agitation. Indeed, they have genei
jeeu found to precede very violent volcanic eruptions,
and they serve, like them, to form vents for the
escape of chemical agents, which would otherwise
tend to* burst asunder and entirely destroy our globe.
The character extr.nmlinary phenomena

will, however, be best understood by furnishing a
few details from c\c-wi, tiicir devie

effects.

The older natural historians teem with the most
exasperated accounts of earthquakes, and the mira-
culous interposition of relics in checking their
progress. Passing, however, by tnesc day-dreams of
'the earlier naturalists, we come to the great earth-
quake of 1750, which was felt in three quarters of
the globe at once, and which, for a time, c!e
the boundaries of the ocean as much as it affected
the laud. It commenced at Lisbon on the last
day of October, and, according to historians, it
began with a thick fog, which was soon dissipated
by the heat of the sun. No wind was stirring ;
the sea was calm, and the weather as warm as in
June or July in this country. At thirty-five minutes
after nine, without the least warning, except a rum-
bling noise, a most dreadful earthquake shook, by
short but quick vibration?, the foundations of all the
city, so that many buildings instantly fell.
with a scare- tise, the nature of tho

motion was changed, and the houses were thrown
from side to side.Vuh a motion like that of a
violently driven over rough stones. This second
shock :'laid almost the whole city in ruins, with
»rodi»-ir,us slaughter of the people." The eanhquake
lasted" in all about six minutes. At the moment of
.ining, some persons on the river, near a mile
lie city, heard a noise as if their vessel had
run a'Tound,' though they were tht-n in deep water ;
and at the same time they saw the houses tailing on
both sides of the river, the bed of the river Tagus
many places raised to its surface ; ships were
driven froui their anchors, and thrown together with
o-rcat violence; nor did their commanders know
A A '2

372

EARTHQUAKE.

whether the}' were afloat or aground. A large new
quay sunk to an unfathomable depth, with severa
hundreds of people who were upon it ; nor was one
of the dead bodies ever found. The bar was at first
seen dry from shore to shore ; but suddenly the sea
"came " rolling in like a mountain," and about Belem
Castle the water rose fifty feet almost in an instant
About noon there was another shock, when the walls
of several houses that yet remained were seen to
open from top to bottom more than a quarter of a
vard, and afterwards closed again so exactly that
scarce any mark of the injury was left.

At Colares, about twenty miles from Lisbon, and
two miles from the sea, on the last day of October,
the weather was clear, and uncommonly warm for the
season. About four o'clock in the afternoon there
arose a fog, which came from the sea, and covered the
valleys, a circumstance very unusual at that season of
the year. Soon after, the wind changing to the east,
the fog returned to the sea, collecting itself, and becom-
ing exceeding thick. As the fog retired, the sea rose
" with a prodigious roaring." The first of November
opened with a serene sky, the wind continuing at
east ; but about nine o'clock the sun began to grow
dim, and about half an hour after was heard a
rumbling noise like that of chariots, which increased
to such a degree that it became equal to the explo-
sions of the largest cannon. Immediately a shock of
an earthquake was felt, which was quickly succeeded
by a second and third, and at the same time several
light flames of fire issued from the mountains, resem-
bling the kindling of charcoal. In these three shocks
the walls of the buildings moved from east to west.
In another situation, whence the sea-coast could
be discovered, there issued from one of the hills,
called the Fojo, a great quantity of smoke, very thick,
but not very black. This still increased with the
fourth shock, and afterwards continued to issue in a
greater or less degree. Just as the subterraneous
rumblings were heard, the smoke was observed to
burst forth at the Fojo, and the quantity of smoke
was always proportioned to the noise. On visiting
the place whence the smoke was seen to arise, no
signs of fire could be perceived near it.

At Oporto (near the mouth of the river Douro)
the earthquake began about forty minutes past nine.
The sky was very serene, when a dreadful hollow
noise like thunder, or the rattling of coaches at a
distance, was heard, and almost at the same instant
the earth began to shake. In the space of a minute
or two the river rose and fell five or six feet, and
continued to do so for four hours. It ran up at first
with so much violence, that it broke a ship's hawser.
In some parts the river opened, and seemed to
discharge vast quantities of air ; and the agitation in
the sea was so great, about a league beyond the bar,
that air was supposed to have been discharged there
also. firus ,b

St. Ube's, a sea-port town about twenty miles south
of Lisbon, was entirely swallowed up by the repeated
shocks and the vast surf of the sea. Huge pieces of
rock were detached at the same time from the pro-
montory at the west end of the town, which consists
of a chain of mountains containing fine jasper of
different colours.

The same earthquake was felt all over Spain, ex-
cept in Catalonia, Aragon, and Valencia. — At Aya-
monte (near where the Guadiana falls into the Bay
of Cadiz), a little before ten o'clock on the first of

November, the earthquake was felt ; having been
immediately preceded by a hollow rushing noise. —
Here the shocks continued for fourteen or fifteen
minutes, damaged almost all the buildings, throwing
down some, and leaving others irreparably shattered.
In little more than half an hour after, the sea and
river, with all the canals, overflowed their banks with
great violence, laying under water all the coasts of
the islands adjacent to the city and its neighbourhood,
and flowing into the very streets. The water came
on in " vast black mountains," white with foam at the
top, and demolished more than one-half of a tower at
the bar named De Canala.

At Gibraltar, the earthquake was not felt till after
ten. It began with a tremulous motion of the earth,
which lasted about half a minute. Then followed a
violent shock ; after that, a trembling of the earth for
five or six seconds ; then another shock not so violent
as the first, which went off gradually as it began. —
The whole lasted about two minutes. Some of the
guns on the battery were seen to rise, others to sink,
the earth having an undulating motion. Most people
were seized with giddiness and sickness, and some fell
down ; others were stupified ; and many that were
walking or riding felt no motion in the earth, but
were sick. The sea rose above six feet, and then fell
so low, that boats and all the small craft near the
shore were left aground, as were also numbers of
small fish. The flux and reflux lasted till next morn-
ing, having decreased gradually from two in the
afternoon.

In Africa the earthquake was felt almost as severely
as it had been in Europe. Great part of the town of
Algiers was destroyed. At Arzilla (a town in the
kingdom of Fez), about ten in the morning, the sea
uddenly rose with such impetuosity, that it lifted up
a vessel in the bay, and threw it with such force on
the land, that it was broken to pieces. At Fez and
Mequinez, great numbers of houses fell down, and a
multitude of people were buried in the ruins.

At Morocco, by the falling down of the houses,
many people lost their lives : and about eight leagues
from the city, the earth opened and swallowed up a
village with all the inhabitants, amounting to about
ten thousand persons, together with all their cattle, &c.
and soon after the earth closed again in the same
manner as before. At Salle, a great deal of damage
was done. Near a third part of the houses were
overthrown ; the waters rushed into the city with
great rapidity; and left behind them great quantities
of fish.

In the city of Funchal, in the island of Madeira, a
shock of this earthquake was first perceived at thirty-
eight minutes past nine in the morning. It was pre-
ceded by a rumbling noise in the air, like that of
empty carriages passing hastily over a stone pave-
ment. The inhabitants felt their houses move
with a tremulous motion, vibrating very quickly. —
The shock continued more than a minute ; during
which space, the vibrations, though continual, were
weakened and increased io force twice very sensibly.
The increase after the first remission of the shock was
the most intense. The noise in the air accompanied
the shock during the whole of its continuance, and
lasted some seconds after the motion of the earth had
ceased ; dying away like a peal of distant thunder
rolling through the air. At three quarters past eleven
the sea, which was quite calm, it being a fine day, anu
no wind stirring, retired suddenly some paces ; laen

EARTH

rising with a great swell, without the least noise, and
as suddenly advancing, overflowed the shore, and
entered the city. It rose fifteen feet perpendicular
above the high-water mark, although the tide, which
flows there seven feet, was then at half ebb. The
\\;itcr immediately receded ; and, after having fluctu-
ated lour or five times between high and low-water
mark, it subsided, and the sea remained calm as
before. In the northern part of the island the inun-
dation was more violent, the sea there retiring above
one hundred paces at first, and, suddenly returning,
overflowed the shore, forcing open doors, breaking
down the walls of several magazines and storehouses,
leaving great quantities of fish ashore and in the
streets of the village of Machico. All this was the
effect of one rising of the sea, for it never afterwards
flowed high enough to reach the high-water mark. It
continued, however, to fluctuate here much longer
before it subsided than at Funchal ; and in some
places to the westward, it was hardly perceptible.

In many parts of Germany the effects of the earth-
quake were very extraordinary. Throughout the duchy
of Holstein, the waters were violently agitated, par-
ticularly those of the Elbe and Trave. In Branden-
burg, the waters of a large lake called Libsec ebbed
and flowed six times in half an hour, with a dreadful
noise, the weather being then perfectly calm. The
same agitation was observed in the waters of the
lakes called Muplgast and Netzo ; but at this last place
they also emitted an intolerable stench.

In our own island the effects of the earthquake
were very perceptible, though not felt with the same
terrific violence as on the continent of Europe. At
Kyatii Bridge, in Derbyshire, some miners who were
at the bottom of a shaft about four hundred and fifty
feet in depth, were thrown to another part of the
gallery where they were working, and the neigh-
bouring waters were violently agitated.

At Loch Lomond, in Scotland, the water was sud-
denly hurled against its banks, but immediately sub-
sided, till it was as low in appearance as any body
then present had ever seen it in the greatest summer-
drought. Instantly it returned towards the shore,
and iu five minutes' time rose again as high as before.
The greatest perpendicular height of this swell was
two feet four inches. A still more remarkable pheno-
menon attendant on the earthquake in this lake was,
that a lartre stone lying at some distance from the shore,
was forced out of its place in the lake upon dry land,
leaving a deep furrow in the ground along the way
in which it had moved.

In Loch Ness, about half an hour after nine, a very
great agitation was observed in the water. About
ten the river Oich, which runs on the north side of
Fort Augustus into the head of the loch, was observed
to swell very much, and run upwards from the loch
with a pretty high wave, about two or three feet
higher than the ordinary surface. The motion of the
wave was against the wind, and it proceeded rapidly
tor about -2(10 yards up the river. It then broke on
illow, and flowed three or four feet on the banks,
after which it returned gently to the loch. It con-
tinued ebbing and flowing in this manner for about an
hour, without any such remarkable waves as the first ;
but about eleven o'clock, a wave higher than any of
the rest came up, and broke with so much force on
the low ground on the north side of the river, that it
ran upon the grass upwards of thirty feet from the
river's bank.

QUAKE. 373

At Kinsale, between two and three in the after-
noon, the weather being very calm, arid the tide near
full, a large body of water suddenly poured into the
harbour with such rapidity, that it broke the cables
of two sloops, each moored with two anchors,
and of several boats lying near the town. But
just at the time that a great deal of mischief was
apprehended by all the vessels running foul of each
other, an eddy whirled them round several times, and
then hurried them back again with the same rapidity
as before. This was several times repeated ; and
while the current rushed up at one side of the harbour,
it poured down with equal violence at the other. A
vessel that lay all this time in the pool did not seem
to be any ways affected by it ; nor was the violence
of the currents much perceived in the deeper parts
of the harbour, but raged with most violence on the
flats. The bottom of the harbour, which is muddy,
was much altered ; the mud being washed from some
places, and deposited in others. The perpendicular
rise of the water at one quay was measured, and
found to be five feet and a half ; and is said to have
been much higher at another, where it overflowed,
and poured into the market-place with such rapidity,
that some people who were on the quay immediately
ran off, and yet could not prevent themselves from
being overtaken and immersed knee-deep in the
water. The agitations extended several miles up the
river ; but, as in the harbour, were most perceived in
the shallowest places. The successive risings and
fallings of the water continued about ten minutes, and
then the tide returned to its natural course. Between
six and seven in the evening, the water rose again,
though not with so great violence as before, and it
continued to ebb and flow alternately till three in
the morning. The waters did not rise gradually at
first ; but, with " a hollow and horrid noise, rushed in
like a deluge, rising six or seven feet in a minute, and
as suddenly subsiding. They were as thick as puddle,
very black, and stank intolerably." From different
accounts it appeared, that the water was affected in a
similar manner all along the coast to the westward of
Kinsale.

Such were the phenomena of this very remarkable
and destructive earthquake, which extended over
an immense tract of country. The earthquakes,
however, which in the year 1788 ruined a great
part of Italy and Sicily, though much more con-
fined in their extent, seem to have been not at all
inferior in violence. Sir William Hamilton, who wrote
a particular account of their effects, informs us, that
"if, on a map of Italy, and with your compass on the
scale of Italian miles you were to measure off twenty-
two, and then, fixing the central point in the city of
Oppido (which seemed to be the spot where the
earthquake had exerted its greatest force), form a circle
(the radii of which will be twenty-two miles), you will
then include all the towns, villages, &c. that have
been utterly ruined, and the spots where the greatest
mortality happened, and where there have been the
most visible alterations on the face of the earth : then
extend your compass on the same scale to seventy-two
miles, preserving the same centre, and form another
circle, you will include the whole country that has
any mark of having been affected by the earthquake.
A gradation was plainly observed in the damage done
to the buildings, as also in the degree of mortality, in
proportion as the countries were more or less distant
from this supposed centre of the evil." Another cir-

374

cumstance was particularly remarked, in which this
earthquake differed very considerably from others,
viz, that if two towns were situated at an equal dis-
tance from this centre, one on the hill, the oftier on
the plain or in a bottom, the latter always suffered
more by the shoeks of the earthquakes than the
former.

Sir William Hamilton, who was ambassador from
this country to the court of Naples, thus describes the
effects of the earthquake in that country : — " I tra-
velled (says he) four days in the plain, in the midst
of such misery as cannot be described. The force of
the earthquake there was so great, that all the inha-
bitants of the towns were buried, alive or dead, in the
ruins of their houses in an instant. The town of
Polistene was large, but ill situated between two
rivers that were subject to overflow. Two thousand
one hundred, out of 6,000, lost their lives here on
the fatal 5th of February." At Castel Nuova, the
princess Gerace Grimaldi, with 4,000 of her subjects,
perished on the same day by the explosion ; for such
it appears to have been. Some who had been dug
alive out of the ruins, told our author, that they had
felt their houses fairly lifted up, without having the
least previous notice. An inhabitant of Castel Nuova
was at that moment on a hill overlooking the plain ;
when, feeling the shock, and turning round, instead
of the town, he saw only a thick cloud of white dust,
like smoke, the natural effect of the crushing of the
buildings and the mortar flying off.

The town of Castel Nuova was so effectually
destroyed by this dreadful shock, that neither vestige
of house or street remained, but all lay in one con-
fused heap of ruins. Castillace and Milicusco, which
our author next visited, were both in the same situa-
tion. Terra Nuova, situated in the same plain, stood
between two rivers, which with the torrents from the
mountains, had, in the course of ages, cut deep and
wide chasms in the soft sandy clay soil of which it is
composed. At Terra Nuova, the ravine or chasm is not
less than 500 feet deep, and three quarters of a mile
broad. Here the accounts of the earthquake were
confused, by not having the situation of the place and
nature of the soil explained. It was said, that a town
had been thrown a mile from the place on which it
stood, without mentioning a word of the ravine ; that
woods and corn-fields had been removed in the same
manner, " when in truth (says our author) it was but
upon a large scale what we see every day upon a
smaller ; when pieces of the sides of hollow ways,
having been undermined by rain waters, are detached
by their own weight. Here, from the great depth of
the ravine, and the violent motion of the earth, two
huge portions of the latter, on which a great part of
the town stood, which consisted of some hundred
houses, had been detached into the ravine, and nearly
across it, at about the distance of half a mile from
the place where they formerly stood ; and what is
very extraordinary, many of the inhabitants who had
taken this singujar leap in their houses, were never-
theless dug out alive, and some unhurt." Our author's
guide there, who was both a priest and physician,
having been buried in the ruins of his house by the
first shock, was thrown out of it and delivered by the
second, which immediately followed the first ; and
there were many well attested instances of the same
thing having happened in different parts of Calabria.
At Terra Nuova, however, only 400 out of 1600 inha-
bitants were left alive.

EARTHQUAKE.

In other parts of the plain, situated near the ravine
and near the town of Terra Nuova, our author saw
many acres of land, with trees and corn-fields, that
had been detached into the ravine, frequently without
having been overturned ; so that the crops were grow-
ing as well as if they had been planted there. Other
such pieces were lying in the bottom in an inclined
situation ; and others again that had been quite over-
turned. In one place, two of these immense pieces
of land having been detached, opposite to one an-
other, had filled the valley, and stopped the course of
the river, the waters of which were forming a great
lake ; " and this (says our author) is the true state of
what the accounts mention of mountains that had
walked, and having joined together, stopped the
course of a river, and formed a lake."

Having thus described two of the most remarkable
earthquakes in the olden time, which are valuable
from their being well authenticated, we may now
briefly notice a most extraordinary natural pheno-
menon of this description, which occurred in 1812.
The state of Missouri, which forms one of the western
settlements of the United States of America, was the
theatre of this catastrophe ; and we cannot do better
than furnish a condensed view from the account given
by Mr. Flint, in his " Recollections of the Valley of
the Mississippi." This traveller, who visited the
country about seven years after the event, says, that
" from all the accounts corrected by one another, and
compared with the very imperfect narratives which
were published, I infer that the shock of these earth-
quakes in the immediate vicinity of the centre of their
force, must have equalled, in their terrible hea\ ings
of the earth, any thing of the kind that has been
recorded. I do not believe that the public have ever
yet had any adequate idea of the violence of the con-
cussions. We are accustomed to measure this by the
buildings overturned, and the mortality that results.
Here the country was thinly settled ; the houses,
fortunately, were of logs, the most difficult to over-
turn that could be constructed. Yet, as it was, whole
tracts were plunged into the bed of the river. The
grave-yard at New Madrid, with all its sleeping
tenants, was precipitated into the bed of the stream.
Most of the houses were thrown down : large lakes
of twenty miles in extent were made in one hour.
Other lakes were drained. The whole country to the
mouth of the Ohio in one direction, and to the
St. Francis in the other, including a front of 300
miles, was convulsed to such a degree as to create
lakes and islands, the number of which is not yet
known, to cover a tract of many miles in extent, near
the Little Prairie, with water three or four feet, deep ;
and when the water disappeared, a stratum of sand
of the same thickness was left in its place. The trees
split in the midst, lashed one with another, and are
still visible over great tracts of country, inclining in
every direction and in every angle to the earth, and
to the horizon.

" The inhabitants described the undulation of the
earth as resembling waves, increasing in elevation as
they advanced ; and when they had attained a cer-
tain fearful height, the earth would burst, and vast
volumes of water, and sand, and pit-coal, were dis-
charged as high as the tops of the trees. I have seen
a hundred of these chasms, which remained fearfully
deep, although in a very tender alluvial soil, and
after a lapse of seven years : whole districts were
covered with white sand, so as to become uninhabit-

EARWIG.

able. The water at first covered the whole country,
particularly at the Little Prairie ; and it must, indeed,
Lave been a scene of horror, in these deep forests and
iu the gloom of the darkest night, and by wading in
the \vater to the middle, to avoid these concussions,
which were occurring- every few hours, with a noise
equally terrible: to the beasts and birds as to men.
Tin? birds themselves lost all power and disposition
to fly, and retreated to the bosoms of men, their
fellow-sutl'erers in this general convulsion,

" One result of these terrific phenomena was very
obvious. The people of this village had been noted
for their profligacy and impiety. In the midst of
these scenes of horror, all — catholics and protestants,
praying and profane — became of one religion, and
partook of one feeling. Two hundred people, speak-
ing English, French, and Spanish, crowded together,
their visages pale, the mothers embracing their chil-
dren. As soon as the omen that preceded the earth-
quakes became, visible, as soon as the air became a
little obscured, as though a sudden mist arose from
the east, all in their different languages and forms, but
all deeply in earnest, betook themselves to the voice
of prayer.

" The people, without exception, were unlettered
backwoodsmen, of the class least addicted to reason-
ing, and yet it is remarkable how ingeniously and
conclusively they reasoned from apprehension sharp-
ened by fear. They remarked that the chasms in the
earth were in a direction from south-west to north-
and they were of an extent to swallow up not
only men but houses ' quirk down into the pit.' And
these phasing occurred frequently within intervals of
half a mile. They felled the tallest trees at right
angles to the chasms, and stationed themselves upon
the felled trees. By this invention all were saved,
for the chasms occurred more than once under these
felled trees. Meantime their cattle and their harvests,
both here and at New Madrid, principally perished.
The people no longer dared to dwell in houses ; but.
they passed this winter and the succeeding one in
bark booths and camps, like those of the Indians, of
so light a texture as not to expose the inhabitants to
danger, in ea-e of their being thrown down."

Our space will not admit of any detailed enumera-
tion of the early theories for illustrating the cause of
earthquakes, and it is of but little consequence, as
they are of the most vague and visionary kind. Until
very lately, they were supposed to arise from the
united action of sulphur and coal in the bowels of the
earth ; there is, however, but little doubt that
the real cause, holh of earthquakes and volcanoes,
may be traced to the blending of large volumes of
water with those metals which form the alkaline and
earthy bases. These instantly burst into flame, and
we well know that no weight, however mighty, or
material, however strong, can resist their combined
action. Those who have seen a massive iron case,
many inches in thickness, burst by the force of a few
drops of water converted into steam, will fully com-
prehend the elastic force of thousands of gallons acted
upon by the most intense combustion of potassium or
sodium.

Both earthquakes and volcanoes tend very mate-
rially to purify the atmosphere, and they have gene-
rally been found to follow long periods of disease, if
not absolute pestilence, and when indeed some such
revivifier was absolutely needed. What is still more
important, they serve as moral landmarks to show

how completely we are in the hands of that Provi-
dence whose visitations find us as surely on the firm
set earth as when we brave the depths of the ocean.

EARWIG. The ordinary English name of the
Forficula auricularia of Linnaeus, an insect so common
as to require but little description to render the reader
acquainted with it. The body is of an elon-ated
form, and is terminated by scaly forceps formed of
two long and curved horny appendages, pointed at
the tip, and having several small teeth on the inner
margin. The wing-covers are short and square, not
covering more than one-third of the abdomen ; the
wings are of large size, although but seldom seen,
being shut up by means of numerous longitudinal and
transverse folds, so as to occupy but a very small
space. This insect has so much the appearance of
some of the Staphylmidce (see BKACHELYTRA), that
Linnaeus was induced to place it in the order Colcop-
tcra, with which it indeed agrees, in having the wing-
covers united (when closed) in a straight line ; the
transformations, however, which it undergoes do not
agree with those of the beetles, the insect retaining
its powers of locomotion, and, consequently, of feeding
during the pupa state ; in which respect, as well as in
the structure of the mouth, it resembles the grass-
hoppers and other orthopterons insect.-. From these,
however, it differs so much, that Dr. Leach, M. Leon
Dufour, and others, have formed it into a distinct
order, whilst Latreille and his followers unite it with
the orthoptera, but form it into a distinct section.
In this respect, therefore, it will be seen that the
despised earwig assumes *a considerable degree of
interest, which will riot be lessened when we learn
that the generally received opinion that it creeps into
the brain of sleeping persons through the ears (an
opinion current in most countries, as we learn from
the names of perce-oreille given to it by the French,
orai-ii'urn by the Germans, and orcn-mctcl by the
Dutch) is one of those popular errors which are so
difficult to root out. That the ear-wig may on some
occasion or other introduce itself into the ear of a
person sleeping on the grass or in outhouses, is not
more unlikely than that any other insect which resides
in holes and crevices in such situations should do the
same ; but the structure of the human ear would com-
pletely prevent any insect from entering the head,
whilst the situation itself would evidently be as uncom-
fortable to the insect as it would be to the person
annoyed.

The food of the carw ig consists of vegetable mat-
ters. It does much mischief in gardens, devouring
not only fruits, but also the petals of flowers ; indeed
they are one of the greatest pests to the florist. We
have observed that they are especially destructive to
the noble flowers of the dahlia, but we are unable to
give any more effectual recipe for their destruction
than is contained in the following quaint extract from
Old Mouffet : — " The English women hate them
exceedingly, because of the flowers of close ^illi-
flowcrs that they eat and spoyl, and they lay snares
for them thus : they set in the utmost void places
ox-hoofs, hogs'-hoofs, or old cast things that are
hollow, upon a staff fastened into the ground, and
these are easily stuffed with cloathes or straw : and
when by night the savages creep into them to avoid
the rain'or hide themselves, on the morning these old
cast things being suddenly taken away and shook
forth, a great multitude of them fall and are killed with
treading upon them." The modern Londoners have

376

EBURNA-ECHASSIERS.

supplied the place of these ox-hoofs in their trim-kept
gardens with the hollow claws of lobsters, which give
their borders a very droll appearance.

As a set-off against the mischievous propensities of
these insects may be mentioned, the peculiar and
almost unique instance which the females afford of
maternal care for their young progeny. In general
the care taken and the labours undergone by female
insects in the construction of nests, are but the result
of instinct, the parent dying long before the birth of
her progeny ; but in the earwig the reverse of this
takes place. Not only do these females take great
care of their eggs, covering them over with their
bodies, brooding over them like a hen, and collecting
them with great care when scattered about, but show
great affection to the young when hatched. These
young ones differ only from their parents in their small
size, want of wings and wing-covers, and the slender-
ness and straightness of the forceps at the extremity
of the body. In the pupa state they are equally
active, and have the wings and wing-cases distinct,
but enclosed in flat sheaths of a small size applied
closely to the back. The attachment existing between
the parent and her young is reciprocal ; De Geer
having discovered a female in the month of June
under a stone sitting upon her progeny, which appeared
to be just hatched, and which nestled under their parent
like chickens under a hen. Having removed this
family into a box with earth, he observed that instead
of burrowing into the ground as might have been
expected, the young ones crowded under the body
and between the legs of their parent, who remained
quiet and allowed them to continue in this position
for hours together. He fed his captives with morsels
of ripe apple, upon which they thrived, casting their
skin several times like caterpillars. The parent did
not live long in confinement, and the young ones had
the cannibalism to eat the dead body of their parent.
After this the number of the brood diminished, with-
out any remains of the dead bodies being observed :
whence it is to be inferred that the survivors had also
devoured their dead bodies. This, however, would
most probably be occasioned by the want of their
proper food, as they never thus prey upon each other
in a state of nature. After the final moulting, the
wings are expanded to their full size, in which state
they are very beautiful objects, not only for their deli-
cate structure, but from the singular direction of the
nervures, which are quite unlike those of any other
insect.

There are numerous species of earwigs, six or
seven of which are inhabitants of this country. Little
is, however, known of their habits. See FORFJCULA.

EBURNA (Lamarck); — BUCCINUM (Linnaeus).
Lamarck has separated this genus from the Linnaean
Buccinum, of which it formed a part : he was led to do
so in consequence of the peculiar characters of the
umbilicus and of the columella, which is prolonged
at the lower end, and forms a canal occupying the
remaining part of the left side. In almost every
other respect it possesses the same characters as the
buccinum. One species, the Eburna Zcylandica, is
remarkable for the spines with which the umbilicus is
filled, and they are only to be observed in that species.
The animal closely resembles that of the buccinum.
The writer has seen specimens of the genus Eburna,
in which the channel on the right side was quite closed
and concealed, in which state it had every character
of the buccinum. Those shells are found in the Indian

seas principally, a few in the South seas, but no fossil
species have yet been discovered.

ECASTAPHYLLUM (Browne). A genus of
tropical plants belonging to Diadelphia Decandrin, and
to the natural order Leguminosce. They are evergreen
shrubs, and are easy of culture, and easily raised from
cuttings.

ECCREMOCARPUS (Ruiz and Pavon). A
genus of South Amerkan climbers, belonging to the
class Didynamia, and to the natural order JBignoniacece.
Generic character : calyx bell-shaped, limb of five
spreading divisions ; corolla tubular, swollen above,
throat contracted, limb consisting of five reflexed lobes -,
stamens included with the rudiment of a fifth ; anthers
free, fleshy, divided at the base ; style bearing a bila-
mcllated stigma; capsule oval, compressed, papery,
one-celled, two-valved ; seeds imbricated, with mem-
branaceous wings. These are very suitable climbers
for covering the columns in a greenhouse or conser-
vatory, as they are free flowerers, and easily managed
and propagated.

ECHASSIERS— stilt-birds. The fifth order into
which the feathered tribes are divided, in Baron
Cuvier's arrangement. For tke propriety of the name,
and the relations which they bear to the other orders,
we may refer the reader to the article BIRD. They
have the lower part of their thighs always naked, and
the tarsi are, generally speaking, long. These circum-
stances enable them to wade into the water without
wetting their plumage ; and as they in general fre-
quent only the shallows, there are few of them that
can swim. Some of them have the bill strong, and
these feed upon fishes and aquatic reptiles which they
seize in the water. Others have the bill feeble, and
they feed upon insects and worms. A few of them
also feed upon seeds and other vegetable substances,
and they are the species which inhabit farthest from
the waters. The greater number have the outer and
middle toe united by a membrane at the base, but the
inner toe is generally free, and the feet not adapted
for swimming. Sometimes, however, the toes are
emarginated with membrane ; and in many the hind
toe is entirely wanting, which in most is so short as
not to touch the ground when they walk. With the
exception of the ostriches, the cassowaries, the emus,
and some others, all the order are well-winged birds,
and thus capable of transporting themselves through
the air when it becomes necessary for them to shift
their pastures with the seasons. The short-winged
ones are those which are the least aquatic, but they
are very swift of foot, and capable of ranging very
freely on the surface of the ground in those parched
and semi-desert places on which they are most fre-
quently found. Those which are more aquatic in their
habits are generally migratory, either within the same
country, or from country to country, to a longer or
shorter distance, as circumstances may require.

They are divided by Cuvier into five principal
families, and some isolated genera which do not very
properly come into any of the larger and more regular
divisions. The first family, Brcvipenncs (short wings),
includes the ostriches and the allied genera, the stru-
ihiones of many naturalists, together with the apteryx
and some others. The second family, Pressirostrex
(compressed bills), include the bustards, plovers, lap-
wings, oyster catchers, and several other genera.
The)' arc not in general fishing birds, though they
inhabit the moist grounds or the margins of the waters.
The greater number of them are birds of swift foot,

E C H E N E I S.

377

and spend a great deal of their time on the ground,
though most of them are also birds of ready wing
when they do take the air. The third family, Cidtri-
rostrcs (knife-shaped bills), are, generally speaking,
birds of much larger size than those of the second
division, if we except the bustards. They are also
more aquatic in their habits, and the flesh of most
of them is very inferior for food. They include
the cranes, the storks, the herons, the boatbi'.ls,
and various others. The bills of all this species
are fitted for seizing prey of considerable dimen-
sions, which is, however, more frequently fish, rep-
tiles, or garbage, than warm blooded animals in the
living state. Some of them have the bill of immense
size, an instance of which will be found in the article
ADJUTANT. The fourth family, Longirostres (long
bills), have that organ generally much produced, but
varying much in texture and in form, according to the
kind of their food, and the mode in which they obtain
it. Some of them range along the banks of streams,
and pick up refuse, but the greater part feed upon
insects, worms, and other small animals, in or near
the shallow waters, or the sludgy mud. The fifth
family, Macrodaclylcs (long toes), includes those spe-
cies which have the toes proportionally much larger
than those of any of the other species. Some of them
have the toes without webs, or only with mere rudi-
ments ; but others have them partially webbed or
margined for their whole length, and can either run
alone: the waters or occasionally swim. The carrying
bird of New Holland, the pratincole, and the flamingo,
are the principal ones which stand apart, and do not
strictly belong to any of the five families.

ECHENEIS (Remora, or Sucker-fish). A genus
of soft-tinned fishes, with the ventral fins immediately
under the pectorals. Their most singular character
is the sucker with which they are furnished on the
upper part of the head, and by means of which they
can attach themselves to rocks, to the bodies of other
fishes, to the bottoms of ships, to floating wood, or
other substances. But though this organ is called a
sucker, it is not capable of performing the operation
usually called sucking ; that is, they do not, by
means of it, extract any part of the substance of that
to which they fasten themselves, either for the
purpose of holding on in currents, or for that of
being borne along on that which floats or otherwise
moves in the water. Various stories have been told
of those fishes arresting the course of vessels in full
sail, and doing other things equally marvellbus ; but
we need hardly add that these are wholly destitute
of truth. That a ship would not sail the faster for
having these fishes on it is true, for in equal numbers
they would have nearly the same retarding effect as
bernacles or sea-weed, but it would take a great
number of them to have any effect.

The sucker consists of a number of transverse
cartilaginous lamina1, which are directed obliquely
forwards at their external extremities, denticulated on
their posterior edges, and moveable at pleasure by the
fish.

All the>- genus have the body elongated and
covered with small scales. They have a single soft
dorsal fin placed immediately over the anal. The
head is quite flat on the upper side ; the eyes are
placed in the sides : the mouth opens horizontally,
and is rounded at the muzzle ; the lower jaw is the
longest, and both are furnished with small teeth
placed cardwisc, but with a more regular row around

the sides of the jaws ; the front edge of the vomer is
also covered with small teeth ; the gill-flaps contain
eight rays ; the stomach is a large cul-de-sac ; they
have eight or nine caecums ; their intestinal canals
are short and simple, and they are without any air-
bladder.

These fishes, in one or other of their species, are
found in almost all seas, and their peculiar form early
drew the attention of observers, and gave occasion to
those fabulous stories to which we have already
alluded. That the singular apparatus with which the
heads of these fishes are furnished answers some
important purpose in their economy cannot for a
moment be doubted, because we never find a specific
organ in any animal without a specific use to which
that organ is applied. The sucker in these fishes is
fit only for one purpose, that of adhering, and there-
fore there can be no doubt that this is precisely the
use which they make of it ; and as it is equally fitted
for adhering to fixed and to moveable substances, it is
equally efficient as an instrument of repose and an in-
strument of motion. Furnished with this simple but
beautifully-formed apparatus, they have a perfect com-
mand of themselves in all seas without the muscular
effort necessary for maintaining their position in
spile of currents, and making their way for long dis-
tances without exertion of their fins. Adhering to the
rock by means of the sucker, they can, as the flood
races by loaded with those small animals on which they
feed, remain perfectly at rest in the very turmoil of
the waters, and feed in safety where no other fish
can maintain its position. It will be readily under-
stood, that, as the sucker holds on by a perfect
expulsion of the water from the surface to which it
attaches itself, it will retain its position by not only
the pressure of the air, but by that of all the depth of
water over it, and if this happens to be equal to about
thirty-three feet, it will adhere with the force of about
thirty pounds upon each inch of the sucker. This is

§uite sufficient to retain a small and slender-bodied
sh against any rush of the water which we can
imagine to occur in the sea ; nor would it be easy to
pull any of those fishes from the rock by main force.
In consequence of this powerful means of adhesion,
it can select the swiftest and most powerful fishes in
the sea for its beasts of burden, and ride safely
through the water, without effort on its own part, and
also without very much impeding the motion of the
fish to which it adheres. It attaches itself to most of
the fast-swimming fishes which play near the surface ;
but we believe the shark, in one or other of its
species, is the one which it prefers, and it is often
seen attached to this powerful fish when racing along
the deep with more velocity than the fleetest horse
can display upon land. In these its excursions, it no
doubt finds abundance of food in those small animals
which float near the surface, especially in the warmer
seas ; and while it can be thus employed, it is itself
perfectly secure from danger, because if it once gets
hold, the fish to which it is attached can do it no
harm, however voracious that fish may naturally be.

There are several species of this fish, and though
they are very generally distributed, they are much
more abundant in the warm seas than in the cold
ones, being most plentiful near the equator, and espe-
cially in those intertropical regions, where currents of
the "water are continually setting. Except for the
peculiarity of its structure no fish of this genus is of
much interest. They are hardly ever used for food,

378

ECHEVERIA— ECHIDNA.

as the quantify of flesh on them is but small, and the
quality inferior, and in addition we may remark that
it' a fish has any thing very peculiar about it, that
arms the superstition of dislike, such a fish is apt to
be loathed, without any very reasonable cause.

E.rcmora is the species which has been longest
known ; it is found abundantly in the Mediterranean,
and is most celebrated for stopping ships in their
course, and doing other great feats. It is a trifling
fish, not above five or six inches in length, and of an
ash colour. It is found occasionally in other seas.

E. naucrates is a much larger species, often attain-
ing the length of two feet and a half or three feet. Its
back and tail are variously marked with greenish tints,
and its sides with brown. Its fins are yellowish with
brown borders.

E. lunata is about the same size, but it has the
dorsal fin very long and sometimes obliterated iu the
middle, and the caudal fin forked. It is black on the
back, and grey on the sides. It is a native of the
West Indian seas.

ECHEVERIA (Decandolle). A genus of succu-
lent under-shrubs, natives of Mexico. They are de-
candrious, andtbelong to the natural order CrassulacecE.
Some of the species have handsome flowers, and are
very hardy greenhouse plants. They succeed in the
same kind of dry soil like other succulents ; and no
plant is easier propagated, for if the upper leaves only
are laid on the surface of a pot of earth, they put
forth fibres and become perfect plants.

ECHIDNA. A very singular genus of marsupial
mammalia, forming, along with Ornithorhynchus, a
group which Cuvier has placed in the order Edentata,
or toothless animals ; but of which both the structure
and the habits are so peculiar that they do not come
very well into this, or indeed into any other part of a
system founded on the organisation. In the English
books the genus under consideration is confounded
with ornithorhynchus, under the name of hystrir, or
hedgehog ornithorhynchus ; but both the structure and
the habits forbid this union. The ornithorhynchus is
a web-footed animal, inhabiting only the waters, and.
from the structure of its mandibles, apparently dabbling
in the mud, and feeding upon the small animals which
that contains, in the same manner as the dabbling
ducks, though it is mucn more a diving animal than
any of the duck family, or than any other of the mam-
malia which find their food in the waters,and have at
the same time the four extremities so much produced,
and free of their body as to be entitled to the name
of legs. The Echidna, on the other hand, are not
aquatic ; and, though they have the mandibles or jaws
produced, and formed of a horny substance, without
any teeth except small ones on the palate, they do not
frequent the waters, neither are their bills, as they may
•without any impropriety be called, at all adapted for
dabbling in the mud. Their tongues are extensile to
a considerable distance beyond the extremity of the
mandibles ; and, therefore, the natural conclusion is,
that they are insectivorous. Very little is known of
their habits, however, for they do not appear to be
very numerous, and they burrow so rapidly in the
ground, that even when one is discovered, it is not
very easily got hold of. The back, and upper part
generally, is so thickly beset with spines, and those
spines are so sharp, that, though the animal is not
larger than the common hedgehog, it cannot be lifted
with impunity ; and, indeed, the lifting of it requires
more force than would be expected from its size, as it

is firmly fixed to the ground in an instant, and but a
few moments elapse, before it is so far down that its
back is level with the surface. For a long time tlu-si-
animals, the few that were obtained, were procured
in their native country, Australia, either from the
natives, or by other collectors of curiosities equally
ignorant, or, at all events, equally inattentive to any
other consideration than that of obtaining the curious
animal and getting a price for it; so that nothing was
known of the habits, or of that change of structure to
which it has since been found that the female is sub-
ject in the course of propagation. The researches of
more scientific and observant inquirers have, in later
times, removed the greater part, of the difficulty ; and
it is now ascertained that the animals of this, as well
as those of the aquatic genus, are true mammalia,
suckling their voung, though the mammary system is
more peculiar in them than in any other of the mar-
supialia, singular as some of these are.

In consequence of there not being any appearance
of mammary glands on the female, and no account
having arrived as to the fact of those glands being
developed only when the state of the animal requires
them, and absorbed when no longer necessary, it
became impossible for even the most skilful and
judicious comparative anatomists to determine, from
dissection of the few specimens which they obtained,
whether the animals were mammalia or oviparous
and as such forming part of a mongrel, or at all events
peculiar race, to which nothing analogous was known,
in any other part of the world, or in any other depart-
ment of zoology. The female being wholly without
teats, there being only one common cloaca, or vent,
as in birds, and some parts of the skeleton having an
approximation to the bird structure, it was perhaps
not unnatural to conclude that the animals were repro-
duced by eggs. This was farther rendered, if not
more probable, at least more tempting to the belief by-
announcements that the eggs of the ornithorhynchus
had been found on the banks of some of the Australian
rivers. It was natural, when the mode of reproduc-
tion in these animals had become a subject of great
interest to naturalists all over Europe, and when, in
consequence, there was a great and profitable demand
for the animals themselves — it was natural that there
should be a strong desire on the part of collectors to
find the eggs, because the finding of these would have
covered the finder with the glory of having been the
means of establishing the most anomalous fact in the
whole physiology of the animal kingdom. Accordingly
an ornithorhynchus was seen escaping into the water,
from a little bank in an Australian river, and presently
the eggs of a lizard were found close by, and thus
there was at least the evidence of juxtaposition that
these were the veritable eggs of the ornithorhynclms.
The finder probably could not, and the naturalists to
whom the eggs were submitted in Europe at all events
did not, institute any inquiry as to what kind of in-
teguments these eggs really had, and what kind the
anomalous animals should have,in accordance with the
other parts of their singular physiology. Latterly,
indeed, some of the British naturalists threw out a
hint that the eggs in question were very like the eggs
of lizards, or of reptiles of some kind ; but it docs not
appear that they examined them with so much atten-
tion as to enable them to decide the truth of the hint.
This is rather a matter of importance ; because it
hows the necessity of attending to the structure of
an animal in all its stages, the egg among the rest, if

ECHIDNA.

379

it happens to pass through that stage, in order Unit
the learned may escape the charge of playing the
cuckoo, by laying the egg in the wrong nest.

Before the discovery of the egg, Francis Bauer,
perhaps the finest microscopic dissector and painter
of the ago, at least since the death of his brother
Ferdinand, had given it as his opinion that these ani-
mals must be mammalia and not birds. He arrived at
this conclusion by a careful examination of the ovaries
of the female, which he found, both in their own struc-
ture and in that of the rudirnental ova which they
contained, were of the mammalia character, and by
no means that of a bird. This was going to the
fountain head, and going there most philosophically;
but the discovery, though perfectly sound and philo-
sophical, because in strict accordance with the whole
system of nature, was too fine for the eyes even of
philosophers, and as Bauer himself had been all along
more remarkable for promoting science than seeking
t-ither honour or reward for the promoting of it,
this, which was in truth the experimeittwm crucis, was
not decisive of the question ; and popularly in Britain,
and even among the scientific men of France, the fact
of juxtaposition, on which alone the story of the eggs
rested, triumphed over the philosophical demonstra-
tion of the ovaries; and up to within a comparatively
short period, namely, till the year 1833, a dispute was
carried on between the zoologists of France and of
England, in which the former contended that the ovi-
parous theory was the true one.

On the part of the British zoologists this contro-
versy was conducted with great ability by Mr. Owen,
from whose communication to the committee of science
of the Zoological Society, made on the '23rd of Octo-
ber, 1832, we shall by and by make an extract. The
dispute was not so much as to whether the animals
are or are not produced from eggs or germs of sonic
sort or other, but whether the young are suckled by
the mother. In all the marsupial animals, in which
the characteristic organs of the female are any thing
like perfect, the embryo, when it leaves the interna
uterus and is transferred to the abdominal pouch, is>
not a fully developed animal, but a mere rudiment
though a rudiment bearing no resemblance whatever
to the egg of any oviparous animal ; and this, togethe
with the character of the ovaries as above noticed
would lead to the conclusion that in echidna there is
no departure from the general economy of the divi
sion of animals to which it in this respect belongs
The real point at issue was whether these animals do
or do not suckle their young, and upon this point the
observations of Mr. Owen are quite conclusive, am
not only so, but the young have since been found ir
the suckling state, and with the horny mandibles sc
perfectly undeveloped, that the mouth, though not o
exactly the structure for drawing milk from the nipple
was yet well formed for pressing that substance fronr
pores or small openings in the gland containing it
Mr. Owen admits that though the fact of the suckling
is established it would not prove the converse, namely
that the young which was suckled had been brough
forth alive; but it goes far, and we think sufficiently
far, for proving that the animal comes as properlj
within the ordinary habits of production among mar
supial animals as the kangaroo or any other of th
class. Mr. Owen mentions the fact of the length o
time that many birds arc wholly dependent on thei
parents for their food, and also that the pigeon an
some others supply this food in part from a peculia

cretion of their own bodies; but the secretion in
lis case is from the stomach, and it is in part mixed
•ith the partially assimilated food of the old bird,
•hereas a mammary secretion is formed by a peculiar
pparatns, an apparatus which is more peculiar, and
as a more complicated operation to perform in mar-
upial animals than in those which deliver their young
rom the internal uterus in a perfectly matured state.
Thus it appears to us that the fact of the agreement
if those singular animals with the rest of the mar-
upiata, in this, the most important function of their
ives, has been completely established. The point is
jne of the most singular which was ever raised in
latural history; and had the proof gone the other
vay, it would have thrown the whole physiology of
he vcrtebrated animals into a state of uncertainty,
jy which the progress of real science would have been
greatly retarded. Those who take an interest in
mture, who love to have the beautiful plan and pur-
)ose that runs through the whole, and the perfect
agreement of structure and function in every part,
tot only as making system the instrument of disco-
vering truth, but as leading to those reverential
eelings for the Author of Nature, which are so con-
ducive to the intellectual and moral elevation and
lappiness of man, cannot fail in being grateful to
Mr. Owen as his coadjutor, both in Britain and
Australia. We shall close our general remarks by
our promised quotation from Mr. Owen: — " It affords
me much pleasure," says Mr. Owen, " to be able to
lay before the committee preparations of the mam-
mary glands from the Echidna hi/strlx, which, as the
following description will show, afford an additional
instance of the close affinity subsisting between it and
ornithorhynchus, notwithstanding the great dissimi-
larity existing between them in external form and in
the nature of their integuments. These glands were
discovered in a female specimen not quite arrived at
maturity, and which, therefore, in all probability had
never been impregnated. They are consequently
very small, as compared with those which have been
observed in ornithorhynchus, but are precisely ana-
logous in number, form, composition, situation, and
mode of termination on the outer surface of the
integument.

Echidna.

" The terminal ducts, which are fewer in number
than in ornithorhynchus, are similarly grouped together,
so. as to form a small oval arcoln, three lines in the
greater and two in the lesser diameter. Each arcola
is situated half an inch from the mesial line, and three
and a half inches from the orifice of the vestibule of
the cloaca. They are much more readily discovered
than in ornithorhynchus, in consequence of the hairs
in the Echidna being scantier and stiller, so that tl-

380

E C H I M Y S.

orifice for their transmission are larger than the
orifices of their ducts, which is the reverse of what is
observed in ornithorhynchus : this, however, may not
be the case in the fully developed gland. The areoUe
are also slightly raised above the surrounding inte-
gument, but there is no vascular rete or erectile tissue
discoverable at these parts. The lactiferous ducts,
before penetrating the corium, pass between the fibres
of a dense panniculus carnosus which is here, as in
ornithorhynchus, interposed between the glands and
the integument. The nun\ber of the ducts is about
sixty. The lobules of the gland are proportionally
shorter and broader. Their texture under the lens
appears the same as ornithorhynchus, that is to say,
minutely cellular, and in neither instance consisting of
simple caeca or elongated follicles. From their small
size in the Echidna they could not be injected.

" The smallest size which these glands have pre-
sented in Ornithorhynchus is about one-third larger than
those in Echidna, now exhibited; in this state, the ovary
and uterine tubes were small, and apparently in a
state of quiescence. When the ovary is fully deve-
loped, and the uterine tubes correspondently enlarged,
the mammary glands are about two inches in the long,
and one in the short diameter. When the ovary is
found large, but flaccid, and apparently after having
shed its contents, and when the uterine tubes are
still large, then the mammary glands exhibit their
greatest development, equalling five inches in the
long, and three inches in the short diameter, and
being nearly half an inch in thickness. In this state,
they may be readily injected ; when the lactiferous
ducts, to the number of about one hundred and fifty t
are seen to terminate in a small oval areola on the
external surface, not on any raised eminence, but on
the level integument, from which the bases grow as
freely as in the surrounding parts. Nevertheless,
from the glands being confined to the female, and
exhibiting, by their variation of size, that their func-
tion is temporary ; and as the period of theirgreatest en-
largement is shown, by the state of the uterine organs,
to be subsequent to the development and expulsion
of the foetus ; they must be regarded as being true
mammary glands destined to provide nourishment for
the newly-born animal. The peculiar development
of the panniculus carnosus over the ventral region,
both in Echidna and Ornithorynchm, will assist in
explaining the mode in which the lacteal secretion is
conveyed from the parent to the offspring. The
gland lying between this muscle and the expanded
cartilages of the ribs and the marsupial bones, is sub-
ject to compression, and the young animal need only
apply its soft and flexible lips to the areola in order
to receive the secretion."

The characters are, the muzzle or bill very slender,
terminated by a small mouth, with the tongue exten-
sile, like those of those of the ant-eaters and pango-
lins ; and the probability is that, like those creatures,
they feed chiefly upon ants and other small ground
animals, which are exceeding^ numerous in Australia.
They are without teeth in the jaws, which instead are
terminated by the horny mandibles already men-
tioned ; but in the palate they have nunierous rows of
little spines. Their feet are very short, and each
furnished with five claws, very long, strong, and well
adapted for digging. The whole upper part of the
body is covered with spines, bearing some resem-
blance to those of the hedgehog ; and when they are
apprehensive of danger, and unable to escape from it

by burrowing, they can erect their spines, and roll
themselves in a ball like the hedgehogs. Those
spines are not their entire covering, but are mixed
with hairs, and on the lower part of the body there
are hairs of a spinous form, which are tubular and
tapering to the points. Their shoulders are so formed
as that the foot can work something after the fashion
of the wings of birds ; and the articulations of the
shoulders are kept apart anteriorly by a sort of furcal
bone. In this respect their shoulders have a resem-
blance both to the lizard tribe, and to the smaller
mammalia which burrow in the ground. There are
two species, of which the habits so far as known do
not differ, the chief difference being in the covering.

SPINOUS ECHIDNA (E. hy striae). All covered over
with strong spines on the' upper part, varying from
an inch and a half in length, white for the greater
part of their length, but the points black. Those on
the tail are erected, but those on the upper part of
the body are sloping, unless when the animal is
excited. Among the bases of the spines, there is a
quantity of coarse short hair of a reddish colour.
The head and under part of the body are also covered
with short coarse hairs. This species is about the
same size as the common hedgehog ; it has been
found only in New Holland.

BKISTLY ECHIDNA ( E. setosa}. This species is a
little larger than the former, has the claws shorter,
but more hooked and pointed. The whole body is
covered with produced bristly hair of a maroon
coliur, which conceals the spines, and this thick co-
ver ng reaches as far forward as the eyes. The muzzle
is black and naked, all the under part is covered with
stiff white hairs, bearing some resemblance to hogs'
bristles. This species has been found in Van Die-
men's Land, and also in the islands which are situated
in Bass's Strait, between that island and New Holland.

ECHIMYS — spinous rats. A genus of rodent
mammalia, bearing a very considerable resemblance
to the common rats in their size, their general form,
and several other particulars, but differing entirely
from them in the nature of their covering, their haunts,
and their geographical distribution.

All the species of this genus, which are pretty
numerous, and of which we shall give a short account,
are natives of the central and northern parts of Ame-
rica. They are inhabitants of the woods, nestling in
the herbage, at the roots of trees, and not coming
about houses, or on the cultivated grounds. Their
food is understood to consist chiefly of fallen plants
and other vegetable matters.

They resemble the rat, properly so called, in the
oblong form of their heads. They have four grinders
in each side of both jaws, but they are differently
formed ; those in the upper have ridges of enamel,
arranged in the form of the letter V, while in the
under jaw they have one simple lamina, and a plaited
one. In the upper jaw all these four teeth are nearly
of equal size, but in the under jaw the front one is
nearly equal to all the other three. The distinguishing
characters of the skull are, that the suborbital bone is
very much enlarged, that there is no temporal fossa,
and that the ridge of the frontal bone is very much
produced on each side, so as to afford an ample
enfoncement to the eye. The body is elongated like
that of the true rats. The tail varies in length in the
different species, but it is always round in its section,
and often covered with scales, and in one species only
it is covered with very fine hair. On the forefeet in

E C H I M Y S.

381

all there are four toes, with a rudiment of a thumb ;
but there are five toes on the hind feet, and all the
toes are armed with very strong crooked claws.
Besides the fallen fruits which they find under the
trees, they are understood to feed, in the dry season
especially, upon bulbous and tuberous roots, of which
there is an immense number in the countries which
they inhabit. South America is the grand country
fur tuberous roots, especially those of the Amary/lidece,
of which so many have been introduced with such
beneficial effect into the gardens of Europe. The
stems of all these plants die down during the dry
season, and the plants are in a complete state of
inaction, or ripen at the same time that there is no
herbaceous vegetables, or even shrub upon the dry
plains, upon which a vegetable feeding animal can
subsist. But during this period of the absence of all
vegetable food from the surface, the bulbs treasure up
a store of the most nourishing and wholesome food,
even for human beings ; and the consequence is,
that when the breadth of the country appears to be
in a state of utter desolation and want, the small
rodent animals, which exist in the country in num-
bers, have a most abundant supply. If the time shall
ever come, when we shall be able to see the proper
coincidence between the vegetation and the animal
life of this part of the world, it will be found to be
one of the most interesting volumes in the book of
nature ; and even now, imperfect and disjointed as
our information must be admitted to be, there is no
part of the world in which the student of nature is
more highly gratified and rewarded than in South
America.

And when we duly consider this highly interesting
part of the world in all the departments of its natural
history, and in all their bearings and relations to each
other, we cannot fail to be deeply impressed with the
idea of a systematic and harmonious plan running
through the whole works of nature, and proclaiming
in language not to be neglected or mistaken, that
things have all been formed for working in concert with
each other, in furtherance of one grand plan and pur-
pose. We have here the most stupendous mountains
and the most ample valleys, watered by rivers which
have no rivals upon the face of the earth. We have
the most powerful volcanic action, and upon the more
lofty summits of the mountains, we have, perhaps, the
most terrible action of the atmosphere to be found
over the whole surface of our globe. Thus, those
mountains on that side of the country where they
are given up to the intensity of volcanic action and the
utmost fury of the storms, are rich beyond all know-
ledge in other parts of the world, in the most valuable
metallic stores ; while, in the regions which are more
tranquil in their heights, the accumulation of the
most precious gems is without a parallel in any other
land. Then, the timber of the trees, the medicinal
gums, balsams, barks, and other substances, the dye-
ing woods, the insect dyes, the fruits, the esculent
roots, and, in short, all that can grow out of the
earth, where shall we find a parallel to what is met
with, furnished by all prolific nature, without labour
and without price, in South America ? Nor can
we overlook the navigable rivers, which may be
ascended in barks of large burden, to the distance
of not less than two thousand miles, while the
navigable branches tempt commercial enterprise to
nearly the same measure in the cross direction.
All this is so temptingly wonderful, whether we seek

for information or for profit, that no thinking mind
can pass it over with indifference. Nor are the animals
less wonderful. It is true that we have not in a state
of nature the grazing animals of any other part of the
world — the bisons, of which a remnant still lingers in
a few spots of Europe, the antelopes of Southern Asia
or of Africa, or even any animal that can he compared
to the large kangaroo of Australia, to say nothing of
the vast herds of roving animals that were once found
upon the central savannahs of North America. But
what of all this ? We find originally in the luxurious
forests which have no rivals in grandeur or in the life
which they support, the sloths playing the part of
grazing animals against the sky, a sort of vegetable
feeders that spend all their time with their backs to
the ground, as if the very air in South America were
able to yield that nourishment to animal life which
requires the whole strength of the solid earth in our
less propitious portion of the globe. Nor must we
forget that while in every other part of the world
those animals which are most valuable to man in a
state of domestication, the horse and the ox for in-
stance, have, as in wild nature, always faded away in
proportion as the human race has multiplied, the case
of these very animals in South America has been quite
the reverse. The extent to which both wild cattle
and wild horses have multiplied, in the more southerly
and champaign parts of the country, and that too
while the population has been rapidly on the increase,
is really something new and eminently striking in the
study of our earth. It is impossible to turn one's
attention, even in the most casual and cursory man-
ner, to this part of the world without being impressed
with the conviction that there is in it every thing that
can stimulate the very highest powers of man, and
reward his most powerful exertions. But it is a field
only for the great of mankind, for those who can un-
derstand and appreciate its greatness ; and it is doubt-
ful whether it has yet been owned by a people who
are worthy of it. Enticing as it is, however, we must
withdraw our attention from the general consideration
of it, in order to notice the species of that genus of its
indigenous mammalia, by which these few desultory
remarks have been suggested.

E. cristata — the crested spinous rat. This species
is the golden-tailed rat of Buffon. In its size and the
form of its tail, it bears no inconsiderable resemblance
to the common rat ; but it differs much in the colour
of its covering and the form of its ears. Its colour is
maroon with a purple ground, very deep on the back,
the sides, and sides of the head, but higher on the
under part. This colour extends along the tail for a
short distance from its base ; but the principal part of
that organ is of a rich orange, and there is a spot of
the same colour on the face. There is a portion of
the tail between the maroon and the orange of a black,
colour, and the hair upon the whole of the tail is
short and fine. The head is large in proportion to
the size of the animal ; the muzzle and facial line are
straight ; the eyes are very small ; and though the
ears have large openings, they do not rise much, if at
all, above the level of the head. At the corners of
the upper jaw, there are tufts of brown hair forming a
sort of whiskers, which are longer than the breadth of
the head. The hair on the back of the animal is coarse
and strong, flattened in the section, and more than an
inch in length, and bears some resemblance to shining
pins. It continues on the sides and flanks, but is wanting
on the lower part of the body, which is covered with

.182

E C H I N A C E A - E C II I N O D E R M A T A.

softer and smoother hair. On this part of the body it is
very short, not exceeding one twenty-fourth part of an
inch in length, and the individual hairs are round in
their section, instead of being1 flattened like the longer
hairs on the upper part. The female has eight mamma:,
which indicates a progeny rather numerous, though
comparatively nothing is known of the manners of the
species. It is understood, however, that they are
subject to considerable variety of colour, cither in dif-
ferent individuals or at different ages; for some have
been brought to Europe in which the produced and
flattened hairs on the upper part were brown and not
maroon ; but as these were smaller in size than the
more richly coloured ones, it is probable that they
were in an immature state. This species lives in
the woods under trees, and is supposed to subsist
chiefly upon fruits.

Echimys dactylinus. This is ond of the largest
species of the genus, being more than ten inches
from the muzzle to the insertion of the tail, and the
tail itself is very long, not less than fourteen and a
half. The hair upon the body is hard and dry, but
not spinous ; that on the front is flattened ; but on
the hinder part it is longer and rougher ; and on the
upper part of the neck it stands up like a sort of
crest. The middle toes of the feet are much larger
than the outer ones ; the nails on the toes of the
fore feet are flat, something in the form of those of
the sapHJous ; but on the hind feet, which have five
toes, they are very strong and crooked ; the tail,
throughout the whole of its length, is naked of hair,
and scaly- The manners of this species are very
little known.

Echimys sp'mosus. This is the spiny rat of D'Az-
zara. It is much stouter in the make than the
common rat. It stands three inches three quarters
high at the shoulder, and four inches at the crupper.
The length, from the muzzle to the tail, is ten inches,
but the tail is not more than three, if as much. The
tail is wholly covered with smooth hair, which com-
pletely hides the scales with which the skin among
the roots is covered. The eyes are larger than in
most of the other species, being- not less than a
quarter of an inch in diameter. They stand out very
prominently, and are about equally distant between
the point of the muzzle and the ears. The nose is
truncated vertically ; the mustachios project only
about a quarter of an inch, and the ears do not rise
more than a third of an inch from the back of the
head. The length of the frontal base is about three
quarters of an inch ; the ears are naked, and very
flexible ; the exterior toe on the hind feet is the
largest of the whole, but the claw on it is a sort of
nail, and does not extend to the same length as those
on the other toes, the claws on the intermediate ones
being very strong and crooked, and more than a
quarter of an inch in length. The body is covered
with two sorts of hair, one soft and fine, and of a
white colour, the other cornisting of two spines
about three quarters of an inch in length. These
spines are reddish or brown for about one-third from
the point, and whitish for the remainder to the roots.
They arc very much mixed and matted with the
softer hair, and there is a tuft or bunch of them
before the opening of each ear. The spines of this
animal come off in handfuls as easily as the hair of
the agoutis. It is a burrowing animal, and forms its
hole in a bank where it may be above the reach of
the inundations, which are common in the rainy

in Upper Paraguay, and those other parts of
South America in which it is found.

Echimys hispidus. This species is about four inches
in height and seven in length, including the tail. It
is of a reddish brown colour, which is deepest, in tint
on the back, upon which also they are largest,
strongest, and most abundant. Its tail is wilhont
hair, scaly, and annulated. This species has been
brought to Europe from South America, but the
particular locality is not' known, and consequently we
are wholly ignorant of its habits.

Echbiujs dclpha'idis is- about ten inches in length
five in the body, and the same in the tail. The
tail is covered with hair to within about an inch
of the tip, and that portion has verticillate scales,
resembling those on the tail of the common rat. It
has spinous hair on the back, of a bright brown
colour, darker on the sides, and yellowish on the
belly.

Echimys Cayanemis. As its name implies, this
species is from Cayenne. The body is six inches
long ; it is bright reddish brown on the back and
sides, and pure .white on the under part. The hairs
on the back are flattened ; they are grey at the roots,
brown for some part of their length, and reddish at
the points. In this species the tarsi of the hind feet
arc much longer than in any of the former species,
which indicates that it is more of a leaping animal.

Echimys setusus resembles the former in its struc-
ture, and is of about the same size, but it is redder in
the colour, and the hair on the upper part more
resembles bristles. It is from South America.

ECHINACEA (Moench). A genus separated
from Coreopsis and Rudbeck'ui, belonging to the na-
tural order Composite. This genus has large high
coloured flowers, and is well worth a place in flower
borders ; they are increased by seed or division of
the roots.

ECHINOCACTUS (Link and Otto). A large
genus of succulent under-shrubs, chiefly South Ame-
rican. Linnoeau class and order fcosandria Monogynui,
and natural order Cactcte. This section of the cat-tea;
are all treated like the others ; that is, potted in coarse
light soil, mixed with lime rubbish, in we'll drained
pots ; allowing but little water, and a dry warm part
of the house in winter; but in the summer many of
them are the better for being exposed to the summer
sun and air.

ECHINODERMATA. The first class into
which Cuvier divides his grand division of Zoophytes,
or radiated animals ; and a very singular and far
from an uninteresting division of animated nature
they form. They are destitute of anything which
can be called a regular skeleton, and they are without
those specific organs which characterise not only the
vcrtebrated animals, but most of the divisions of the
invertebrata ; but still not even what we are accus-
tomed to call the most perfect of the first of these, or
the most wonderful in the minuteness of their bodies.
•and the beautiful perfection of their parts in the
second, are superior, in the wonderful power of
nature's mechanism, to the zoophytes generally, and
to the echinodermata in a particular manner. The
term echinodermata means that the skin, or investing
integument of the animals, is covered with processes
more or less elongated, and more or less ridged or
truly spinous, according to the different natures of
the animals.

The echiiiodermata are exceedingly complicated in

ECHINOMYIA.

38f>

their structure ; they are invested with a well-
organised skin, often armed with points, or with
spines which are articulated and moveable, and they
have an internal cavity which contains distinct
viscera. They have also a sort of vascular system,
which extends to all parts of the body, and maintains
a communication between these and the intestinal
canal, and also the organs of respiration, which are
often exceedingly distinct. There are also filaments
ramified through the system, which appear to answer
the purposes of nerves, though these are not always
so regular as the corresponding parts of the system
in some other divisions of the invertebrated animals.
Cuvier divides them into two orders : those which
have feet, or at all events organs which answer
nearly the same purpose, and those which have no
feet.

The echinodermata with feet are, of course, dis-
tinguished from the others by their organs of motion.
Their skin or covering is pierced with a great number
of small holes arranged in regular series, through
which there pass cylindrical tentacula of a membranous
substance, terminated by small discs, which are un-
derstood to perform the office of aeration. The
portions of the tentacula which are in the interior of
the body are vesicular, and a liquor which is con-
tained in their cavities is sent at the pleasure of the
animal to the external cylindrical part, by which
means that part is erected, and each of the pro-
jections answers the purpose of a little foot, by means
of which the animals perform their progressive
movements.

The echinodermata have numerous organs. They
have muscles which are very distinct, and serve to
execute movements which are often complicated as
well as rapid. They are understood to be of two
sexes, though these are often united in the same
animal, and they are exceedingly prolific.

The order under consideration consists of a good
many genera, of which the principal are asterias, or
sea star, which are common on many of the rocks on
the British shores ; encrinus ; echinus, sea hedge-
hogs, or sea eggs, which are often gathered upon our
shores, and are covered with a shell beset with
spines ; and holothuria which have an oblong body
covered with a leathery crust, and are open at both
ends — these abound in many seas, are plentiful in the
Mediterranean, and the Malays collect vast numbers
of them in the eastern seas, the Chinese being very
partial to them as an ingredient in soups. The
•whole of this division or order are inhabitants of the
sea ; and though their distribution is pretty general,
they are most plentiful in the warm latitudes, and are
never found at any great depth. In the tropical
seas, where the water is very transparent, where the
perpendicular rays of the sun carry their powerful
influence to the bottom, and where, in consequence,
the production of life is very great, these animals
present a very splendid appearance, from the pecu-
liarity of their forms, and often from the richness of
their colours. They are shown as -sea cucumbers
and a variety of other names, according to the fancy
of those persons whose notice they attract, and who
are not acquainted with the names given to them by
naturalists.

The second order, or the Echinodermata withoul
feet, are by no means so numerous as the first ; anc
they all bear some resemblance in their general form
to *the genus Holothuria. They, however, want the

small vesicular feet with which the species of that
genus are furnished, and are covered with a leathery
skin without any appendages. The genus Mol-
pudia also, like Holothuria, have a thick cylindrical
Dody, open at both ends, and they have the mouth
surrounded by osseous pieces ; Minyas, which have
the body in form of a spheroid depressed at the poles,
which are the two openings, and formed into seg-
ments along the sides, something after the manner of
a melon ; Pirapulcs, which have a cylindrical body
enlarged at the head, and a fasciculus of filaments at
the opposite extremity ; Tethodei-mes, which have the
body oval, compressed in front, and with a surface
incrusted with little grains which are often very hard ;
Siphuncuhis have the body cylindrical, and they bury
themselves in the sand of the sea — in some countries
these are much sought after as articles of food ;
Bonellia have the body oval, capable of being much
elongated and forked at its extremity, they live very
deep in the sand ; and Thalassema, which have an
oblong oval body but not forked like the former, they
also live in the sand. The genera of this last order,
which bury themselves in the sand, are generally
known by the name of worms.

The whole of the division are singular animals ;
and it is impossible to imagine anything finer than
their internal organisation, or more complicated than
the number of their parts. They are all without
heads, or feet properly so called, or any organs to
which we could impute sensation in our ordinary
judgment of animals ; but notwithstanding this, they
are so numerous that it is impossible not to suppose
that the functions which they perform in the grand
system of nature's operations, are of no ordinary
importance. Those which are not covered with a
sort of shell or crust, have very much the appear-
ance of living pieces of jelly, or at all events of very
soft fleshy matter. Many of these are of a pleasant
taste and highly nutritious quality ; but there are
others which are not only poisonous when eaten, but
which are understood to impart poisonous qualities
to those fish which feed upon them. The most inte-
resting ones met with upon our shores are the sea
hedge-hogs and the star-fish. The former are most
frequently found only as empty crusts, with all the
projecting tentacula broken off. They are in general
shaped something like an apple, with a small aperture
on the top which has been the mouth, and its still
smaller one at the opposite extremity. The more
minute apertures to which the spines have been
attached, are arranged in regular rows, reaching nearly
from the one opening to the other, something in the
same manner as the meridians do on a globe. They
are most abundant on the west coasts, and after the
Atlantic has been agitated by storms. The sea-stars
or star-fish, are found on most parts of the rocky
shores at low water, adhering to the rocks by means
of filaments ; and they are easily known by their
star-like shape.

ECHINOMYIA (Dumeril). A genus of dipte-
rous insects belonging to the great family Muscidce.
or true flies, having the nose not prominent, the
cheeks not produced into horns, the bristle at the
extremity of the antennae simple ; the second joint of
these organs is longer than the others, and the third
is broader, compressed, and somewhat triangle-shaped.
The type of the genus is the Musca grossa, Linnaeus,
one of the largest British dipterous insects, being
about the size and having much the appearance of

384

ECHINOPHORA— EDENTATA.

one of the humble bees. The head of this insec
is yellow, and the base of the wings reddish. I
makes a loud buzzing noise when on the wing. I
settles on flowers in woods. The larva, according
to Reaumur, resides in cow-dung ; the body is yellow
shining, and conical, with a small claw and two fleshy
horns at the head. In the chrysalis case (formed o
the indurated skin of the larva), which is also of a
conical form, the extremity of me body exhibits two
distinct spiracles.

We are inclined to believe that this account which
Latreille, indeed, adopted, is founded in error, the
fly in question belonging to a group of the family which
so far as has hitherto been satisfactorily observed, is
entirely composed of species parasitic upon other
insects, in a similar manner to the ichneumons.

The fly is rather uncommon ; we have, however,
met with it in the winged state at Coombe Wood.

ECHINOPHORA (Linnaeus). A genus of hardy
herbaceous perennials, one of them a native of Eng-
land, and known by the name of sea parsnep. They
belong to the natural order UmbellifercB.

ECHINOPS (Linnaeus). A genus belonging to
the natural order Composite, commonly called the
globe-thistle. They are raised from seeds, and are
suitable for filling up vacant places in the shrubberies
of the flower garden.

ECHITES (Linnaeus). A genus of tropical climb-
ing plants, some of which live in our greenhouses,
but the most ornamental are stove plants. Class and
order Pentandria Monogynia, natural order Apocyneee.
Generic character : calyx five parted ; corolla funnel
shaped ; stamens included or exserted ; anthers con-
nected in a circle round the stigma ; five scales round
the germen; style simple; stigma thick and with the
anthers form a cone. The echites are valued for their
flowers ; they grow well in loam and moor earth, and
are propagated by cuttings.

ECHIUM (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of
shrubs and herbs, the former chiefly African, the lat-
ter European. Class Pentandria, order Monogynia,
natural order Boraginece. Generic character : calyx
five parted ; corolla, bell shaped ; limb of several un-
equal segments ; stamens of different lengths ; nut
angular. This genus is of easy culture, and propa-
gated by cuttings, layers, or seeds when they are
produced.

EDENTATA— Toothless. The sixth order into
which the mammalia are arranged by Baron Cuvier.
The name is, perhaps, about the best that could be
adopted in the present state of zoological science ;
but still it is a name, the foundation of which is a nega-
tive, and therefore it is not one which can convey
much information. Further than this, it is not quite
accurate, as the greater part of the animals included
in it are not entirely destitute of teeth even in the
jaws, and of those which are the most destitute in those
parts, the greater number are supplied with appen-
dages which answer the purpose of teeth, and not a
few with teeth on the palate.

Still the animals which are comprehended in this
order are of difficult arrangement in any other way ;
and they have so few characters in common to all the
families and genera, that perhaps the best course to
he adopted was that in which the name of the order
is not tied down to any particular character of any
one of its divisions ; but rather made the explanation,
or expression, of the circumstance in which they all,
generally, differ the most from the other animals

which have the feet divided into distinct toes, and in
which all the animals of this division, how much soever
they may differ from each other, yet perfectly agree.
Some, indeed, have a greater and some a smaller
number of toes ; but in all of them the toes, whatever
may be their number, are distinct ; and they are, in
general, armed with claws, which are powerful in
proportion to the size of the animals.

Cuvier describes them as being, in his system of
arrangement, the last order of the animals — that is
the mammalia with toes, and having no teeth in the
anterior part of the mouth. He also admits that the
only character, of a positive kind, which' will apply to
them all, is that of having very large claws, not arti-
culated to the toes in the same manner as in the pre-
datory animals, but a sort of shoes with which the
toes are specially and separately furnished, and by
which their extremities are protected.

Viewing them with reference to their structure and
habits, the animals of this order may be said to form
a supplemental class of mammalia, less adapted to the
present condition of the earth than to some different
one which we may suppose to have existed formerly.
Among the monumental animals which are found in
the earth, there are some which combine in the same
specimen organs which, in the living races, belong
only to animals of different classes. We find, for
instance, that there have been creatures with wings of
more than " eagle-spread," and with claws appended
to those wings, more formidable than those of the most
powerful carnivorous animals of the present time,
while the armature of the jaws appears to have been
sufficient for all predatory purposes on the part of the
owners. We are therefore led to suppose that these
hooked claws to the wings may have been organs of
suspension, by means of which the animals fixed them-
selves for rest upon the tall plants by which their
remains are accompanied, and which appear to have
sjrown where the surface of the earth was covered
with water. None of the existing edentata are fur-
nished with any organs of flight ; and their motions
upon the earth are, in general, but slow ; still many
of them have, in the structure of the skeleton, trace*
of the bird character. Some of them have the same
articulation of the shoulder, others an approximation
io the same structure of the pelvis, and there are
others still which have only a single passage for all
excretory purposes.

None of them can strictly be said to be the inhabi-
ants of the surface of the earth ; they are either
climbers or burrowers ; or in the case of at least one
species, they are aquatic. The greater number feed
upon insects and other small earth animals, which
require no biting and little or no mastication. They
lave in general the tongue extensile, so that it is the
nstrument used in the capture of their food. The
ew that are vegetable feeders are, in their habits, the
ery reverse of those ordinary mammalia which feed
on the same substances ; they browse the foliage of
rees, and not the herbage of the ground.

In their whole aspect they are peculiar ; and their

overing, though varied in the different genera, has

et a common character. Their hair partakes of the

lature of whalebone, and many of them are covered

with scales or crusts. In their reproductive system

hey fall into both the grand divisions of placental and

marsupial animals ; some bring their young to ma-

urity internally, and others advance them only so far

n that way. They, in fact, present so many differ-

EDEN

ences and anomalies in a comparatively limited
number of genera and families, that they perhaps
throw more difficulties in the way of a clear under-
standing of the system of nature, than any other of
the vertebrated animals.

They are divided by Cnvier into three tribes ;
Tardigrada, or "slow walkers ;" Edentata, or tooth-
less animals, properly so called ; £\<\ Mimotrematrt, or
those which have but one cloaca, or vent, as in birds.

The first i'amily consists of but one single living
group, the sloths, of which some account will be
found in the article Ai ; they have only the fore teeth
wanting ; for they are provided with cylindrical
molars and with pointed canine teeth of greater
length ; they are furnished with numerous claws to
the toes, by means of which they suspend themselves
to the branches of trees, and walk or repose with the
back downwards.

Connected with this single existing genus, though
Jittering from it by being much larger in size, and
also in some other important particulars, there are
two extinct genera, both natives of the same parts of
the world in which the existing genus is found, that is
in South America. These are the Megatherium, which
from the skeleton must have been an animal of large
size, and the -Megnlonyx, which, though larger than
any of the existing species, must have been less than
the former.

These are both fossil animals, and, of course,
only their skeletons are known to us ; but these have
been found in a state of sufficient perfection for
enabling, at lea^t, some judgment to be formed of
what the animate must, I'u^e been when alive. They
appear to have held a sort of middle station between
the sloths and the ant-caters, Dreeing with the
former in many parts of the skeleton, but being
without the produced and pointed canine teeth. Of
the state of the country where such formidable
animals of this kind were necessarv (and if they had
not been necessary as p^rt of the general system they
would not have existed), we cannot possibly form
any idea, but they carry us buck to a state of things
very different from the present ; and from the
description of countries which we find the sloths and
the ant-eaters now inhabiting, we can at least form
some rude guess at that which was more general
when the larger animals of similar structure were
required for the proper working of the system. The
sloths are found only in those parts of South America
where the ground is covered with thick forests, and
subject to seasonal inundations ; and the ant-eaters
are found only in places where there is an exuberance
of ligneous vegetation, of the substance of which
small insects of various kinds, but all in general
known by the name of ants, are the natural de-
stroyers. We are, therefore, to infer that, in the
early times, when more powerful animals of similar
.structure, and therefore, as we may suppose, of
similar habits, were necessary, there must have been
upon the earth a more general and rapid production
of ligneous vegetation, which required a still greater
abundance of the wood-destroying insects than we
find in the tropical forests at the present time, and
the greater abundance of this must have rendered a
greater number of those animals which prey upon
them necessary for the proper working of the system
and the due preservation of all the races.

From the form of our globe, the place which it
holds in the system, the motions which it performs,
NAT. HIST.— Vol.. II.

TATA. sss

and the consequent mode of the distribution upon it
of that influence of the sun which is the grand
stimulus of all kinds of life, every species of produc-
tion and action upon it, wherever it may have taken
place, must have been seasonal — must "have had its
spring, its maturity, its fall, and its repose.

Without any reference to the Great First Cause
by which the universe is regulated, our earth is
under the controul of fur more powerful energies
than any of a merely terrestrial character or origin.
Jt is part of the same system, the laws of which are
not one jot. affected by anything that can take place
on the surface of the earth. The mere quantity, that
is, the weight of matter in it, is the only property of
it which comes within the general laws of the system ;
and however the volume, the combinations, or the
other apparent qualities of the matter of the earth,
may change, the quantity, as measured by the gravi-
tation, must remain the same, unless ahered by the
direct interposition of the same Being that called it
into existence. The orbital motion of the earth must
re, rain constant, with the exception of those small
variations in loni}- periods of time which the influence
of the other bodies of the system impose upon it, and
the extent and limits of which are matters of certain
and not very difficult calculation. Those variations
are so small, and the periods over which ihey extend
are so long, that they can have no effect whatever
upon any part of the economy of the earth's surface
during the life of man, or the wh<»le time of man's
history. Therefore, we may leave them out of view,
and consider the grand seasonal action of the sun
upon the earth as being at all times one and the
same, as told in the different hours of the day, and
the successive days of the orbital revolution.

We have this as an unquestionably sure foundation
in all those speculations and inquiries into nature
which are of a more general kind than the simple
examination of that which comes before our eyes as
mortals. Those speculations are by far the most
valuable portions of the subject, for they lead the
mind to immortality, and give it immortal hope,
which is of far more importance than anything which
is confined to our few years of trouble and vexation
in this world.

In consequence of this general law of the system,
which is far more immutable upon the earth than the
laws of the Medcs and Persians were upon the
subjects of those departed and all-bul-tbrgotten
states, we may be sure that the general action of the
seasons, as dependent on the sun, must have been the
same in all ages, how differently soever the surface of
the earth over the whole, or in any region, may have
obeyed or been affected by that action. The exist-
ence of these last animals which have led us to these
few remarks — and v*e regret that our limits will not
admit of our following them out, and we do this the
more that we believe the subject is but seldom
brought before the public generally, even to such an
extent as to call attention to it — the existence of
these animals speaks of a time of forests and flood-
ings ; and we know that in all places of the world
where these aiv, there are alternating periods of
drought. During the flood we may suppose that the
whole of the timber-destroying insects were swept
away ; but that, as the eggs of all are proof against
every change of nature, and many of them are actually
committed to the waters, there was always a store for
the production of fresh myriads as soon as the
8 B

386

E D O L I U S.

alternating drought set in, and the waters subsided
While the water was on the surface, and the insects
gone, we may suppose that the large animals ol
which we have spoken were aloft in the trees,
performing the same kind of operation which is now,
to a less extent, performed by the sloths, that is,
pruning the redundancy of the leaves, so that the
trees might ripen their fruits and perfect their seeds.
Then, when the rains were over, and the insects had
come to maturity in their countless numbers, every
tree on which the print of decay was set, and where
the leaves had ceased to be succulent, the same
animals may have descended to feed upon the
spoilers, in order to prevent their dead bodies from
being carried to waste by the returning waters. At
the present time we have only what may be called
partial remnants of this extreme of the working of
seasons, but still we have enough to give us at least
some insight into what must have been the earlier
state of things.

The second tribe of this singular order of animals
comprises two, or rather three genera ; the Arma-
dillos, of which an account will be found under the
name ARMADILLO ; Oryctopus (digging foot), a
singular burrowing animal of Southern Africa, called
the earth-hog by the settlers, and sometimes the
Aardocrk, or " earth-breaker," from the facility with
which it burrows in the ground ; and Myrmecophaga,
or the ant-eaters, properly so called, of which some
account will be found in the article ANT-EATER.
Besides the ant-eaters, properly so called, there is an
allied genus, the Pangolins (Manis], which are covered
with imbricated scales, shaped like feathers in some
of the species, and in all of them bare at their poste-
rior edges. These last, from the form of their bodies,
have been popularly called scaly lizards, but they
are not lizards ; they are true mammalia, only they
are very different from the mammalia of what may be
called our era of the world, which feed chiefly upon
vegetable matters, or animal ones of larger size than
the food of this, requiring to kill or crop their food,
or, at all events, to divide or bruise it, and which are
furnished with teeth adapted to the kind of food upon
which they live.

All the genera of this singular order which we
have hitherto enumerated are placental mammalia,
bringing forward their young in an internal uterus, until
they are completely formed ; so that, if the order
were arranged,-as it might certainly be with some
advantage to the' system, these would answer to the
placenta! mammalia which inhabit the world more
generally, are adapted to all its latitudes, and in their
various species to all the kinds of food which it
requires, and which are the best known, and therefore
to us the typical animals, one or other of which
naturally occurs to the mind whenever the word
mammalia is mentioned.

The remaining portion of the order, which have so
little in common with the portion which has been
mentioned, that they might as well be kept separate,
are the Monotremata, or those which, like birds,
have only one vent. There are but two genera
of them, of which some account will be found in the
articles ECHIDNA and ORNITHORHYNCHUS. They
are marsupial animals, but all their habits are obscure,
and nothing is known of the period of advancement
at which the young are delivered from the internal
uterus, though it has been ascertained that the
females have a mammary apparatus for the suckling

of their young. It is worthy of remark, that all the
existing edentata are confined to the southern hemi-
sphere, or at least the exceptions are few.

EDOLIUS (Drongo). A genus of insectivorous
birds, which were long, from their colours and other
external circumstances, obtained chiefly from stuffed
skins, referred not only to different genera, but to differ-
ent orders, until Cifvier, from a careful examination of
their structure, assigned them their proper place in
the Regne Animal. In his arrangement, which, though
not, in the nature of things, perfect, as no sagacity can
supply the want of facts, is yet by far the best that
ever was made, they belong to the dentirostral divi-
sion of his great order Passcrcs, and to the fly-catcher
family of that division. In that arrangement the
dentirostral passeres follow immediately after the
birds of prey, the shrike family taking the lead, and
the fly-catchers following immediately after.

It is impossible not to admire this arrangement.
The shrikes are actually, to a considerable extent,
birds of prey ; that is, they kill and eat birds, though
they also eat other animals, as beetles, and the larger
flies. The fly-catchers are also birds of prey, killing
their own game, instead of living upon garbage, and
picking up what they can find. Between them the
distinction applies more to the size of the prey than to
the habits of the birds ; and if an eagle, which catches
a hare — a falcon, which strikes down a pigeon — an
owl, that mouses — and a small hawk, which catches
beetles in its evening flights — are birds of prey, then
the same name may, without much impropriety, be
given to those birds which catch insects on the wing,
which, according to our common notion of things, is
a more noble sport than stealing an egg from a nest,
or filching a caterpillar out of the curl of a leaf.

The characters of the genus edolius are : the bill
stout, depressed at the base, a little compressed
laterally toward the point, and furnished with a notch
or tooth ; the upper mandible slightly keeled, arched
in the culmen, and hooked at the tip ; the lower
mandible straight, but inclining upward at the tip ;
the base of the bill furnished with long and strong
bristles, directed forwards ; the nostrils, near the base
of the bill, lateral, and half closed by a membrane,
which is concealed by the bristles ; the feet short and
feeble, furnished with four toes, the outer and middle
one joined as far as the first articulation, and the hind
toe stout, but shorter than the middle one ; the
wings of mean length, the first quill very short, the
second shorter than the third, and the fourth or fifth,
and sometimes the sixth, the longest in the wing; the
tail in most of the species forked, rarely even, arid
never wedged.

This genus of birds are all natives of the eastern
continent, and they are particularly abundant in
India and the Oriental Isles, where they are usually
seen near the shores of the sea, or the margins of the
broad waters. They are great destroyers of insects,
especially of bees, in pursuit of which they are active
on the wing during the greater part of the day.
They are in general gregarious, appearing in flocks
in the morning and toward evening, but they spend
the night and the heat of the day in the forests, their
notes of salutation, when they leave their shady
retreat, being often audible at a very considerable
distance. Their cry upon these occasions is a sort of
oud scream, in which there is not much music ; but
it is said that their love-songs, which they sing when
they are apart, have a good deal of melody in tucm,

EDO

and those of some have been compared to that of the
nightingale. As the birds are not together, however,
it is impossible to institute a comparison, and there
seems to be some tendency to overrate the musical
powers of tropical birds. The reason of that may be
seen without much difficulty. The sounds uttered by
the tree-birds and tree-mammalia in those parts of the
world are in general very harsh and disagreeable.
The screaming of parrots, the chattering of monkeys,
and the howling of the larger apes, to say nothing of
the yelling or' beasts of prey and the hissing of
serpents, or the hollow roarings of crocodiles and
alligators, are not the sweetest voices in nature.
H nee, when any bird or other creature happens to
strike up a noise which is even tolerable, the relief
which it gives is music to the car ; and there is no
doubt that this is one of the reasons why the songs
of the (bongos have been reckoned so sweet. They
are no doubt at a considerable distance in the scale
from those birds which have no love-song, or cry of
any kind, save a cherrnp or a scream, but they are
not quite so far removed as to bring them among the
songsters, properly so called.

They build their nests in the tops of the most lofty
trees. The egg?, which are usually four in number,
are rather large for the size of the birds, of a dull white
colour, with black markings. The prevailing colour
of the birds is black, with iridescent reflections of
purple, green, and other colours , but as the reflected
colours of birds do not come out except on near
inspection, they appear quite black to ordinary obser-
vation. The flavour of their flesh is rank, so that
they are of no use in an economical point of view.
Their black colour, their screaming, their restless
activity, and the offensive nature of their Mesh, have
procured them the name of " Devil's birds," which
they are designated in manv places, both by the
natives and bv Europeans. Vieillot gave the genus
the name Dicrunix, double tail, or forked tail ; but, as
many of them have not that character, it is inappli-
cable. This is one instance of the injudiciousness of
founding the name of a genus upon any one external
character ; for, if the genus is new, the probability is.
that the character will not be applicable to it. Nor
could there be, even admitting that the practice were
a wise one, on the whole, a more absurd perversion
of it, than to name a genus from the trivial circum-
stance of having a forked tail, which is common to
so many birds. Other authors have classed the birds
variously ; some of them have been named, and even
described as crows ; others as rollers ; others as
cuckoos ; and others again as shrikes ; the last of
which is near the truth, but even it is not correct,
and the birds are really a distinct, and not a badly
marked genus, both in their appearance and their
habits. The generic name edot'ms, which Cuvier has
given them, does not express much certainly, but still
it leads to no mistake, and that is a matter of some
consequence. It is perhaps not possible to find
descriptive names for one-tenth of the genera of
birds, or indeed of any other class of animals ; and
this being the case, the next best thing to be done is
to give the genera names which shall be their own,
and which shall not convey any erroneous meaning.
We shall now mention a few of the species, remark-
ing, at the same time, that, as the birds are exceed-
ingly numerous, especially in the eastern Archipelago,
the list cannot be expected to be complete.

EDOLIUS. PUELLUS. This species was described as

LI US. 387

a roller both by Latham and Temminck. It is a
native of Java, and most likely of the other islands
of the same group. It is about eight inches long :
the male has the crown of the head, the neck, the
scapulars, the back, and the upper tail-coverts of a
very intense and brilliant azure blue ; and the rest of
the plumage is deep velvet black, with the bases of all
the feathers brown. The bill and the feet are also
black ; the tail is rounded. The female has the ground
colour of the plumage on the upper part blackish
brown, with the tips of the feathers slate-grey, more
or less intense, according to the age and condition of
the bird. There arc also blue spots on the back of
the neck and various other places, and the middle of
the back, the rump, and the belly, are often entirely
blue, but never of so brilliant a tint as the same colour
is on the male.

EDOLIUS BALICASSIUS. This species was named
and described by Latham as a crow. Like the former,
it is a native of Java : its length is about ten inches.
The bill and feet are black, and the plumage also is
black, with green reflections, which are verv rich and
brilliant on the upper part. The tail of this species
is forked. The colour of the female differs from that
of the male only in the black being less pure and
intense, and the reflections less brilliant. This species
is much on the wing and very noisy, while the depth
of its black colour renders it very conspicuous. On
these accounts it is one of those which are pre-omi-
nently styled devil's birds. We believe the Malays
have some superstition about it, and reckon the
detention, and especially the killing of it, a certain
means of getting bad luck.

EDOLIUS ^ENEUS. This species has been obtained
from the continent of India, and there are some
doubts whether it may not be the female of another
species, as all the specimens which have come to
Europe have been females. The bri liant refactions
on the female of this species form rather an exception
to the general character. The whole upper plumage
is black with very brilliant and iridescent reflections
of bronze green. The under part, the bill, and the
feet are dull black.

EDOLIUS CffiRULESCENs. This is also an Indian
species, by no means rare in many parts of the
country. It has been long known to naturalists, and
was described by Edwards under the name of the
hook-tailed Indian butcher-bird. The length is about
seven inches : the bill and feet are brown. The
whole of the body-feathers on the upper part are deep
black, with reflections of blue and copper-colour 5
the under part is black, passing into whitish on the
belly. The wings and their coverts are brownish
black, with a white spot on each of the first and
second quills.

EDOLIUS PLATCRUS. This species is from the
eastern islands, though it h is been described as an
African bird. It i? the Malabar butcher-bird of some
writers, and the paradise cuckoo of others. These
names are, of course, wrong, but from the redundance
of them it is probable that the bird is generally dis-
tributed over the south east of Asia. The length,
taken from the point of the bill to the extremity of
the second feather of the tail, is about eleven inches.
The bill and feet are black. The general plumage is
black, with iridescent reflections of green, the colour
being less intense and the reflections less brilliant on
the under side than on the upper. The bristly feathers
at the base of the bill arc very long and retroflected
B B2

388

EDWARDSIA-EEL.

toward the forehead, at their points : the tail is much
forked, and the two outside feathers are considerably
longer than the others, and they are peculiar in thei
form. The webs on both sides for a portion of the
length near the middle, are very short ; but beyonc
this they expand into two palettes or discs, which
are turned round partially in a sort of spiral form
It is on account of these flat discs on the ends of the
feathers, that this species gets the name of platurus,
or " flat-tail." It does not appear that this species
is found so far inland or northward in India as some
of the others.

EDOLIUS REMIFER. This species is found in Java
and the other eastern islands, and also in India. It
is not quite so large as the one last mentioned. The
length from the point of the beak to the end of the
middle feathers of the tail, is about nine inches. The
greater part of the tail-feathers are of equal length,
forming a squared termination ; but the two outside
ones are much longer than the rest, and peculiar in
their form, for all that part of their length which
they extend beyond the intermediate feathers, they
have only rudimental necks ; and thus they project
beyond the squared extremity of the tail, like two
little rods, or spines, tapering off to mere fibres at the
points. The absence of the discs at the end of the
produced feathers, makes this species to be at once
distinguished from the last mentioned one. The
reflected colours are al*o different : the upper colour
is black with bright reflections of a very peculiar
rust-coloured brown ; and that on the under part is
dead or flat black, without any reflections. The hairs
at the base of the bill are Ions and velvety, and
incline forward at the points. The bill and feet are
quite black.

EDOLIUS LEUCOPH^EUS. This species is found in
Java, in Ceyion, and also in India. In its colour it
differs considerably from any of those which we have
noticed. The general colour of the plumage is one
uniform tint of dark leaden grey ; and the bill and
feet are of the same. The coverts of the wings are
blackish brown, and the outer webs of the quills black.
The tail is long ami much forked. The entire length
of the- bird is about nine inches. Though more
calm in the tints of its plumage, this is one of the
most active and graceful on the wing of the whole
genus.

EDOLIUS MASERUS. This is a native of the shores
of Southern Africa. It is between eight and nine
inches in length. The general colour of the plumage
is black, with much less brilliant reflections than any
of the others. The inner sides of the quills are grey
for the greater part of their length, and brown at the
points. The tail is very slightly forked.

EDOLIUS FOKTIFIRATERS. This is another South
African species, being found not unfrequently near
the shores in the colony of the Cape. It is larger
than the former one, and more brilliant in its appear-
ance. The length is about ten inches ; the bill and
feet are leaden black ; the general colour is black,
with very bright green reflections. A crest is formed
by long and straight feathers which rise in front of the
forehead, and bend forward over the bill. It is a
very handsome as well as a very active species.

EDOLIUS MYSTACEUS. This is also an African
species, about the same size with the preceding, but
it differs in colour and in the situation of the produced
feathers. The general plumage is black, with green
reflections, not quite so brilliant as those of the for-

mer ; but the wings and tail have a shade of brown
in them. The bill and feet are also black. There
are two tufts of produced hair-like feathers, which
form a sort of mustachoes close by the bottom of the
gape. The female has some white spots on the belly.

Such are the specimens of this very peculiar genus
of birds, — birds which have the general form of the
fly-catchers, and the bill not unlike that of the shrikes ;
but they have not the habits or the colours of either.
They are more social, more noisy, and seek their food
more by continued flight in the open air. The times
when they are understood to be most on the alert, are
those when the bees are setting out for their pas-
tures, and again when they are returning home. —
They do not confine themselves to bees, however, but
are very active in capturing many of the other insects
with which the shores and margins of the tropical
countries abound so much. They have few or no
attractions as cage birds, and they are not at all
tempting as game ; but still they give a great deal of
liveliness to the places which they haunt, and may
be considered as forming a feature in the scenery on
the tropical shores of the eastern world.

EDW ARDSI A (Salisbury). A genus of highly
ornamental shrubs introduced from New Zealand.
Li nnaean class and order Decandria Monogynia, natural
order Leguminosce. Generic character : calyx pot
shaped, cut 01 rent above, remains of the margin five-
toothed ; corolla standard connivent ; keel obtuse, a
little longer than the wings ; stamens imposed on a
discous ring round the germen ; style filiform, pro-
truding ; pod beaded, square, many-seeded. This
genus is nearly allied to Sophora, and is what may be
called half-hardy. They do well trained to a south
wall, if the root be protected in winter. It may be
propagated by layers, cuttings, seeds. The latter
ripen frequently.

EEL (Anguilta). A genus of soft-finned fishes
without ventral fins, of which the general appearance
is so familiar to eveiy body, and so different from
that of the majority of fishes, that it requires no par-
ticular description. In the articles ANGUILLID.* and
ANC.UILLA, in their proper place of the alphabet in
this work, there will be found some particulars relat-
ing to the general characters of the family, and to its
subdivision into genera ; and under the word MUR^ENA
we shall give some account of those species which
inhabit the sea, and which, independently of the fact
of their being salt water fishes, have other characters
sufficient to warrant their separation from the fresh
water eels, which are the true eels, and to which we
purpose to restrict the remainder of this short article.
In many points of view, eels are a highly interest-
ng genus of fishes. They are exceedingly numerous,
hey are found in almost every part of the world, they
are wholesome and agreeable as food, and many of
their habits are very peculiar. Nor are they interest-
"ng only for the truth, which is now tolerably well
established, with regard to all their leading habits, for
hey are almost equally interesting in consequence of
he prejudices on the part of people generally, and
he blunders on the part of naturalists, of which they
lave been the innocent causes.

The serpent-like shape of an eel, and the fact of its
iving generally at the bottom of the waters, and in
mud if possible, caused it to be mixed up with all the
irrjudU-cs which mankind have entertained against
he serpent tribe ; and so inveterate appears to have
)een, and in many cases still to be, this prejudice,

E E L.

that even Pennant, whose industry is at least a
strong ground of palliation for his blunders, appears
not to have been able to divest himself of the notion
that there is a spice of the serpent in the habits and
disposition of the eel, as well as a slight resemblance
in the shape. It may not be amiss to give the sub-
stance of the passage, as containing a very remarkable
admixture of truth derived from observation and error
begotten by prejudice. " The eel," says Mr. Pennant,
" is singular in several matters relating to its natural
history, and in some respects borders on the reptile
tribe ; the eel is known to quit its element, and during
the night to wander along the meadows, not merely
for change of habitation, but also for the sake of prey,
feeding on the snails in its passage ; during winter it
beds itself in the mud, and continues torpid like the
serpent tribe, is very impatient of cold, will eagerly
seek shelter in a wisp of straw flung into a pond in
severe weather, and which has sometimes been prac-
tised as a method of taking them." This does not go
quite the length of the common saying, which how-
ever is applied ironically to persons who are not over
wise, that they would answer well for " catching eels
among green barley ;" though Albertus goes the length
of saying that he had actually seen them leave the
water and take up their abode during the night in a
hayrick, where, however, they did not find a place of
safety, inasmuch as they died of cold before the
morning. That eels do avoid the colder parts of the
water at certain seasons of the year is no doubt true ;
but, as we shall see afterwards, the reason of it is
physiological rather than a mere avoidal of the cold
tor their own personal comfort. Indeed if some of
the reports, which are stated as from personal obser-
vation be true, eels are capable of being frozen up
during the cold weather. This, though singular, must
not be regarded as an impossibility ; for it is very
probable that eels pass the very cold weather, at least
in cold countries, in a state resembling hybernation.
The account of the freezing of three eels was given by
Mr. Swallow, who was a good many years ago British
consul-general in Russia. " Having," says he, "occa-
sion to go from Petersburg to Moscow, where eels
are a great rarity, he ordered some to carry as a pre-
sent ; upon being taken out of the water, they were
thrown upon the ground to be frozen, and soon ap-
peared quite dead, and almost a piece of ice ; they
were then packed in snow, and when he arrived at
Moscow, which was four days after, the eels being
put into cold water, and so thawed, discovered gradu-
ally signs of life, and soon perfectly recovered."

The supposed relationship between eels, and ser-
pents very naturally led to the imputation of the for-
mer of many of the fables related of the origin of the
latter. It was a very general belief, in ancient times,
that serpents of the most deadly venom were bred
out of the mud or slime of the Nile and other flood-
ing rivers of warm countries, when the drought set in
and the waters subsided, leaving a sediment upon the
banks, replete certainly with the germs of small lite of
various kinds, but quite incapable of itself of originating
the most tiny insect. It was observed also that other
poisonous reptiles brought forth their young alive ;
and the two characters, though the one was purely
fabulous and the other real, were jumbled together in
the supposed production of eels. It may not be amiss
to quote from a very impartial compiler an abridg-
ment of those opinions, the more so that some ot them
have been maintained by writers on natural history,

889

otherwise judicious and deserving, and that down
to the present time ; for it is only within these few
years that Mr. Yarrell, whose researches have cleared
up many important points in the economy of the ani-
mal kingdom, and especially in that of fishes, demon-
strated in the most clear and conclusive manner that
the generation of these fish takes place in the same
way as that of all fishes which are very prolific,
namely, by spawning. " The ancients," says the ac-
count which we quote, "adopted a most wifd opinion
about the generation of these fish, believing them to
be either created from mud, or that the scrapings of
their bodies, which they left on the stones, were ani-
mated and became young eels. Some moderns gave
into these opinions, and into others equally extrava-
gant ; one in particular gives instructions fur produc-
ing them by art : — ' Cut up two turfs covered with
May dew, and lay one upon the other, the grassy
side inwards, and thus expose them to the heat of the
sun; in a few hours there will spring from them an
infinite quantity of eels ;' not imagining the possibility
of water being supplied with fish, by the conveyance
of the spawn by aquatic birds of prey, in a similar
manner as vegetation is spread by many land birds.
As to their immediate generation, it has been amply
proved to be effected by the ordinary course of nature,
and that they are viviparous. Many persons have
convinced themselves of the fact, by opening and
taking from the eel a small soft whitish substance
knotted curiously together; upon being put into water
this has separated, and the young eels were perfect,
and, though not bigger than a small thread, have swam
about ; this discovery always took place the end of
summer or the beginning of autumn, and has been
adduced as a confirmation of their going down to the
salt water to spawn. Those that remain in the rivers,
or that have been carried by floods into rivulets and
ditches, of which some are to be found at all times,
produce the young in the same way." The catalogue
of absurdities with regard to the production of eels
might easily be extended to a very considerable length ;
and though it is not our intention to record the de-
tails of these, yet their number and the inveteracy
with which many of them are believed, even in our
own times, render it necessary to take some notice
of them. When it is found that prejudices of this
kind are general among many nations, and contii ued
through the lapse of ages, it showed that theie is
something like truth in the foundation of it, and these
are precisely the cases in which writers, who address
themselves to the great body of the people, should
exert themselves to the utmost in removing the ground
of the prejudice. One of the most singular errors of
public belief, with regard to the production of eels, is
that they are formed of the hairs which drop from
the tails of entire horses which find their way into
the water. The hair, according to the belief, is first
converted into a species of Filaria or ihread-worm,
the Gordhts aquaticui, of Linnteus, which is exceedingly
common in small brooks and pools, especially afier
summer showers. This animal is not thicker ihan a
moderate sewing thrrad, and about four or five inches
in length, swimming about with considerable activity,
and often twining its body into very curious knots.
It bi longs to the leech family, or rather is closely
allied to them ; for though its body is formed of rings,
it is not extensile and contractile, like that of the
leeches, neither is it provided with any sucking appa-
ratus, so far as is known. Yet this creature is, in many

3t>0

EEL.

parts of the country, believed to be in due time trans- |
lonned into the common eel, and sometimes also into ;
the lampern or lamprey, a belief in which there is of i
course no foundation. Even this is not the only ]
method in which, according to the belief of those who
have some pretensions to science, filaria have been
considered as young eels. The belief of eels bringing
forth their young alive was very general till more
than one-fourth of the present century had elapsed ;
but though it was tacitly concluded to be true, nobody
was in possession of very decided evidence of the
fact, as indeed they could not, the fact itself being
the other way. Eels are infested with many kinds
of entozoa or worms, which teed upon the substance of
their intestines. Of these, the most conspicuous is
the Eckinnrhynclius tcrcticollis, which insinuates its
head very often through the internal and middle coats
of the intestine, and there remains with the head
forming a round lump visible externally, and the body j
floating in the vessel. These are generally whitish
or yellowish in the colour, and are certainly very un-
like in shape to eels in any stage of their growth; but
still they have been described as the young of the
eel in a certain stage of their growth. A more pro-
bable species of young eel, in progress for delivery
alive, was, at least in so far as shape was concerned,
found in the intestinal Jilaria which infest the eels,
and are often found free in the vessel, and moving
about with considerable activity, and if in a fluid with
something like an eel-like wriggle. These were very
confidently regarded as being young eels ; and as the
sexual differences of the fishes had not been attended
to, the eel was set down as an animal of double sex,
bringing forth its young alive.

In the foundation of this opinion, which was stated
with the greatest confidence, there was one little
matter which might have prevented the error. Those
living creatures were iuvariably found in the digestive
organs of the eel, and never in any separate cavily or
viscus, which appeared to be prepared by nature for
the bringing forward of a viviparous progeny, or even
maturing an oviparous one, such, for instance, as the
roe of a fish. Now, though there have been instances
of extra uterine impregnation, and also gestation, so
far at least in even what are considered the more
perfect of the warm-blooded animals, these have
always been properly considered as monstrosities or
departures from the course of nature, instead of being
parts of that course. Nor even in the most simply or-
ganised living creatures with which we are acquainted,
is there any instance of the young being produced
in the stomach, or in any part of the whole intestinal
canal. Indeed, if we consider for a moment, we may
see that the natural functions of this canal- are directly
opposed to, and therefore incompatible with any spe-
cit-s of reproduction. The whole of the' digestive
apparatus is a decomposing apparatus in respect of
every thing received into it ; and, in animals of vigo-
rous stomachs, there have been many instances of
partial decomposition of the viscns by its own action
in cases of great privation of food. It is true that
entozoa breed and live there, and that though we know
but little of the peculiar mode of their production,
iilaria are apt to breed in the cerus cavities of very
many animals ; but animals which breed and live in
such places, unless they undergo transformations
afterwards, are not fitted for living any where else,
and we could not by possibility imagine them to be
so metamorphosed as to assume the habits and per-

form the functions of those very animals on which they
are parasitical. If these considerations liad been duly
weighed, they would have been decisive against the
possibility of eels being viviparous ; but it has often
happened in natural history, that a theory founded
upon even the most ridiculous prejudice, or even upon
a description attempted to be made fine by some one
possessed of more words than understanding, has been
maintained so resolutely as to defeat even the direct
observation of the maintainer.to say nothing about the
general analogy of nature, in which certain definite
functions always accompany a certain definite structure.
The peculiar migrations of eels, which are of too
striking a character to have been overlooked, even at
periods comparatively remote, might have led to
sounder conclusions with regard to the mode of their
reproduction ; but for a very long time no attempt
was made to generalise what was observed in this
way, or even to ascertain for what purposes fishes,
which at other times remain so silently at the bottom
of the waters, undertake journeys of very considerable
length, and pursue them with a determination rarely
equalled by any other race of animals. Here, also, a
general analogy of nature was lost sight of, which, if
followed out, would have certainly led to the facts of
the case. From time immemorial, it has been well
ascertained, that in the autumnal months, taking
October as the average of the British islands, eels
which have access to the streams of rivers, invariably
descend towards the sea. In ponds and stagnant
waters which have no permanent outlet, the autumnal
migration does not, of course, take place to the same
extent ; and yet if the pond is not too far removed
from running streams, it is highly probable that some
portion of the eels make their escape from it during
the autumnal rains. It seems, too, that those which
do not so escape, feel no small inconvenience from
the cold of shullo\v ponds, if the winter is at all
severe. We have understood from what we consider
as being undoubted authority, that in some ponds of
considerable extent, but no great depth, in Bedding-
ton Park, near Carshalton, in the county of Surrey,
the eels have not this means of escaping in the
autumn ; and that not many .years ago, a young man
lost his life from cold, in consequence of catching eels
in those ponds during the severe weather of a rigo-
rous winter. He used to break a hole in the ice, and
descend nearly up to his middle in the cold water ;
and the eels, appearing to be attracted by the warmth
of his body, came clustering round his feet and legs
in great numbers, so that he could take them with the
hand in almost any quantity, using a bit of sand
paper to give firmness to his grasp. He found this
kind of sport so very successful, that he pursued it,
until the water, from its cold, had so severe an effect
upon his own system, that he died. This is a very
curious fact in the natural history of eels, and shows
that, even if they can, as alleged in the case of the
Russian ones, endure being frozen without loss of life,
they are very sensitive, even to a very moderate
degree of heat, when shallow water is so far cooled
down as to be frozen over on the surface. In the
deeper lakes, which do not freeze even in our severest
winters, and from which an outlet is not easily found,
it is probable that the eels find a winter asylum in
the deeps, where they in all probability bury them-
selves in the mud during the inclement season ; and
it would be an interesting problem to ascertain whether
those eels which are cut off from regular migration

EEL.

breed as often and are as prolific as those which have
free access to the estuaries, and can pursue their
autumnal journeys without much difficulty ; but as it
is difficult to reach eels in those deep waters, the
point is one which cannot be settled without the
most careful observation.

The annual descent of the river by eels, at nearly
the same season when salmon and other fishes which
spawn inland are ascending, has been ascertained in

891

very many parts of the country ; and we believe it
is most remarkable in rivers which pass through no
lakes of very considerable magnitude, or in those
which flow by short courses from lakes to the sea.
The river Ban, in Ireland, which flows from Lough-
Nea^h to the North Sea, has been long famed for its
eel fisheries. Many years ago the fishery of this
river is represented as having- let for one thousand
pounds a-year ; eels of the weight of nine or ten
pounds being sometimes taken, and the time of find-
ing them in the river, at least in numbers, was during
the autumnal rains, while they were descending , and
we believe that, long before the subject was thought
of by professed naturalists, the fishermen on the Ban
were in the habit of considering, as a matter of course,
that the eels descended to the sea in order to spawn,
in the same manner as salmon and trout ascended the
river for the same purpose. Nor was this all that was
known of the true history of the fish by those fisher-
men, for they were in the habit of suspending ropes
of straw across the falls and rapids, in order to assist
the young eels in their ascent during that part of the
summer when th'-s movement takes place.

On smaller rivers, the greater part of the water
of which, except during floods, is taken to the mill
courses, the millers have long known how to carry on
a verv successful eel fishing with very little trouble
during the autumnal ascent. There is one stream in
Forfarshire where we have seen this fishing carried on
to a verv great extent. This stream is the Vinncy,
which flows eastward and enters the British sea in
the bay of Lunan, between Arbroath and Montrose.
The principal stream originates in, or passes through,
a number of small lakes, containing great quantities
of peat, and marl, and apparently particularly favo-
rable for the pasture of eels, which are found in vast
numbers both in those lakes and in the pools of the
rivulets which discharge their waters into them.
Marvellous stories are often told of the size and formi-
dable character of eels which are obtained in those
small lakes, when partially drained, in order to obtain
the marl by digging, and not by drudging ; and we
have often heard of eels ten or twelve feet long, as
thick as the calf of a man's leg, and capable of leaving
the impression of their bite in a steel spade. Of
course these are exaggerations, but they serve to
show the district alluded to is not only a great eel
country, but a country of great eels. Well, in autumn,
especially when it is moonlight, for the eels are
understood to like to see their way, though night
wanderers, the millers open the sluice of the mill
pond, or rather it does not require to be shut during
the autumnal rains, and place a large basket to receive
all the water of the " off-shot," the whole being
stopped and turned into that, at the point where it
would descend on the wheel. In the morning it is
no uncommon thing to find a hundred weight of eels,
or even more, in one of these baskets ; and, we
believe, that it is either a point of justice or of honour
among the millers, that they shall all take their turn

during the migration, so that he who lives farthest up
the water-way may not enjoy a monopoly to the
injury of the rest.

The accounts which have been long known of other
places are nearly the same. In Scotland, in the
neighbourhood of Linlitbgow, is a considerable lake, in
which great quantities ofeels are caught by hooks and
lines during any of the summer months ; but the prin-
cipal fishing is in the month of October, when it is found

that the eels, directed by natural instinct, discover an
irresistible propensity to issue from the loch by the pas-
sage through which the water flows from it to the sea.
In October, the person who rents the fisheries puts
into that passage a kind of chest, so formed as to
allow free passage to^the water, while it stops those
eels that exceed a certain size. This chest is every
morning emptied of its fish, which are sometimes in
such abundance as to require carts to carry them
away. This fishing continues about a month," before
or after which time few or none can be so taUen : the
chest is then removed, and the passage left free.

In Wiltshire, about Warminster, where the rivers
are smaller and more rapid in their course than in
many other parts of England, the mills placed on the
streams are numerous, and the water is carefully
directed into one channel. The persons possessing
these mills having discovered that numbers of eels
go down the river during every flood happening in
October, have devised a box which they call an eel-
grate ; this is placed in a convenient part of the river,
and thus great quantities of eels are caught. They
also find, that no eels worth mentioning can be taken
in this way at any other season of the year.

Whether the eels thus caught in descending the
river are near the breeding time, was not for a long
time ascertained, though the fact is now established
that breeding is the grand purpose for which the
descent takes place. It has been clearly ascertained
by repeated observations, the accuracy of which can-
not be questioned, made in very different parts of the
country, that eels invariably descend the rivers to the
lower estuary, wherever such a purpose is practicable.
The fact that they were found in vast numbers in the
ooze and sludge, or sand of such places, was well
ascertained for many years previous to the time that
naturalists began to inquire what brought them there.
Sludgy mud, or what is usually termed a fat beach,
from which the tide ebbs to a considerable distance,
but which is still full of stagnant pools and runs of
water, even at the ebb, are the favorite places for
them. There they lie during the cold weather, buried
under the surface, and matted together in clots ;
and there are many places where great numbers are
caught during the winter between the prongs of barbed
spears, which are pushed along the soft sludge until it
is ascertained that they have taken a sufficient load.
This is, we believe, very extensively practised in the
bay of Southampton, and at the mouths of many of the
moderately sized rivers of other parts of the south of
England ; but though not unknown in the northern
parts of the country, it is carried on less extensively
there. The fact is that, in the northern parts of
Britain, in Scotland especially, the prejudice of the
people runs very strong, not only against the form of
the eel, but against the quality of its flesh as an article
of food It may be that, in the latter respect, the eels
of cold, and especially of moss-tinged waters, are
much inferior to those of clear streams, or of those
balsamic waters which acquire a golden, or, at all

992

EEL.

events, an amber-coloured tinge, from the great quan-
tity of rich loam in a state of very minute division,
v.!iicn they hold in solution. The substances upon
which eels feed acquire a very remarkable diH'erence
of character, from difference of water and its deposits ;
and the worms which are brought in by the streams
on pastures composed chiefly of sand mixed with
peat earth, are so pale in the colour, so hard and
unpalatable, that even the hungriest trout in better
places spurns them as unworthy of his palate. How
much there may be in this, we do not know, but cer-
tainly eels are held in small estimation in the north,
and even discounting' their serpent form, they are
regarded as far from wholesome. In some places,
indeed, they rate at what is usually considered "cat's
price," that is, they are worth nothing but the skin ;
but in proportion as the flesh of the animal is despised,
it is probable that the skin rises in value. The bare-
footed cow-boys of the Scotch hills may run with any
velocity they choose across the most stony pastures
without breaking or injuring a single toe, if each ankle
is defended by a circular amulet of eel-skin ; and if
even in her tender years a girl goes to the severe
labour of the harvest field, her feeble arm never expe-
riences the very painful sickle sprain if she has it
defended by a bracelet of the serpent-looking iish.
Nay, in the case of any of these contingencies having
already happened for want of this invincible skin, its
curative power is so great that it will not only take
away the »rief of the hurt instanter, but effectually
cure it in briefer space, and with far more certainty,
than the whole fraternity of body curers, with the
entire materia mcdica to boot. These superstitions
point to some interest about the fish, which is, no
doubt, in part owing to the obscurity of its manners ;
and had we not so many proofs that prejudice bewil-
ders and leads astray in proportion to the depth of
the impression which it makes, we might be tempted
to suppose that the attention which the eel commands
would long ere the present day have led to a know-
ledge of its economy and manners.

That the eels in their annual migrations " descend
upon the heat," or that they seek water of a higher
temperature than that from which they retire, is not
only probable, but certain, though the ultimate pur-
pose which this migration answers in their economy
is physiological, not physical. In all the movements
in animals, indeed, whatever may be the ultimate pur-
pose for which they move, the primary cause, as
affecting themselves, is physical ; and it cannot be
otherwise: for to suppose that they are capable of
looking forward to the physiological result, would be
to suppose them endowed with forethought plan, and,
consequently, with the faculty of reasoning upon
cau*e and effect. As regards the animal, the movement,
whether to a greater or less distance, goes not beyond
the fact, which we observe ; and the rinding out of the
physical purpose which this movement answers, is the
business of man, the observer, and not of the animal
observed.

We know that, in consequence of a slight compene-
traiion, or lessening of the xtotal bulk taking place,
where the fresh water of a river blends with the salt
water of the sea, there is constantly a small portion
of heat given out in the brackish water which the
mixture forms, and because of this giving out of heat
the brackish water is warmer than either the fresh or
the salt. This fact tells not only in the collection of
fishes of various kinds to this part of the waters, in

order to bring their roe^ and mitts to maturity, but
also in the superior vigour of all vegetables on the
banks, along that portion of the tidal estuary in which
this brackish water plays backward and forward, at
least to some extent, with the ebb and flow of the tide.
There is another reason which not only brings fishes,
but, in the winter season, the aquatic birds to those
places of the rivers. It is between the river and the
sea that all the light and loamy, and consequently
rich matters which the rivers bring down, are depo-
sited in the channel ; for it is only the particles of
washed sand which have sufficient firmness and weight
for being carried out to sea, even to form a bar in the
salt water along the river's mouth. Now the quantity
of small animals, worms, mollnsca, small Crustacea,
insects, and others which are produced in those rich
deposits, and even brought down to them by the fishes,
is very great, and forms an abundance of food, both
for the fry of fishes, and for the aquatic birds. But
though this is somewhat different from the mere fact
of the greater heat of the water at such places, it
co-operates in producing the general result.

It is not for the mere purpose of depositing their
spawn that fishes resort to this portion of the waters,
but rather for the purpose of bringing it to maturity,
so that it may be fit for being deposited. In this we
have a means of judging of some very important dif-
ferences in the habits of fish ; and there is, perhaps,
none more worthy of attention, at least in the British
islands, than salmon and eels. The salmon is a fish
of the free waters, seldom lying at the bottom, even
for the purpose of repose, and it swims with greater
velocity than almost any other river fish, though the
strength of its exertion soon exhausts it. The eel, on
the other hand, is a bottom fish, rarely if ever corning
to the surface. It is comparatively slow in its motions,
but capable of very long continuance ; and, indeed,
in all things it is a fi.*h of very great endurance.
The salmon spawns in the latter part of the year,
before the frosts set in, and while the inland waters
in the brooks and shallows, having been acted on by
the sun of the whole season, are comparatively warm ;
therefore the salmon ascends the estuaries during the
time of the growth of the spawn, and that is deposited
as far in the interior as the fish can reach. The eel,
on the other hand, spawns in summer, earlier or later,
according to the latitude, and the character of the
river in whose estuary the operation takes place, being
in May in the rivers of the south of England, but not
earlier than June in the more northerly parts of the
country. These facts have been ascertained by actual
observation of a number of eels of both sexes, in the
progress of the spawn to maturity, in its fully matured
state, when in the act of shedding, and when imme-
diately shed, in the last of which cases, eels follow the
general law of all fishes, and are quite exhausted and
unfit for food. In what way the spawn is deposited
has not been ascertained ; but from the habit which
the animals have of burying themselves in the mud,
it is probable that they bury it to such a depth in the
ooze of the shallows, as that it is not disturbed by the
agitation of the waters. It is known, however, to be
very abundant in quantity, and, indeed, there is, per-
haps, no fresh water fish so prolific as the eel ; and
for this reason, it might be worth while to attend to
the artificial rearing of eels more than has hitherto
been done. It is partly with a view to the breeding
of those fishes for economical purposes, that the
ascertaining of the mode in which they breed is a

EEL

393

point of so much importance ; for until this fact was
made out, it is evident that any attempt to treat them
artificially could be no better than mere guess-work.
In all fishes, indeed, which are reared in ponds or
other artificial waters- for economical purposes, it is
absolutely necessary that the economy of the fishes
should be well understood.

How the eels dispose of themselves after spawning
time, whether they ascend the rivers again during the
same season, or remain a season ormore in the brackish
water, or in the lower part of the river, in order to
recruit their strength, has not been ascertained ;
though there is some reason for thinking that they
do not breed every season ; and, indeed, this is, pro-
bably, the case with a great number of fishes, espe-
cially with those which are migratory in the breeding
season. Some of the large eels have been observed
ascending the currents of rivers ; but they have not
been so observed in any thing like such runs as on
their descent. This might, perhaps, be expected, at
least in might be so, from the analogy of other fishes.
In the salmon, for instance, we know very little of
their descent to the sea, after spawning in the inland
waters, though there is no doubt that, in consequence
of their numbers, in rivers favourable to them, many
must descend, notwithstanding the numbers that are
taken. They appear, however, to get to the sea in
the speediest manner possible ; and for this purpose
they keep the middle of the stream, and do not, per-
haps, come so near the surface as when they are on
their ascent. In ascending the estuaries and larger
rivers, the salmon are generally at no very great dis-
tance from the shores, as they have there the advan-
tage of the eddy water, against which they can make
way more rapidly than they could do against the
stronger current in the main channel of the river.
One would naturally suppose that the eels would also
make their ascent near the shores, to have the advan-
tage of the eddy, and probably this is the case with the
old ones, as it is known to be with the young. It is
not near the banks that the eels are taken in such
numbers while descending the streams, it is where the
whole of the current can be received into a net, or
basket, which allows the water to pass through, but
retains the fish.

But though the time and manner of the eels which
have spawned ascending the rivers, has not yet been
clearly made out, the case is different with the youn
fry. In the larger rivers, and especially in those
which flow through places so rich in small particles,
as to have their waters generally tinged, the march
even of these is not seen ; but in the clear rivers they
have been observed, and observed in such numbers
as to demonstrate that the fishes spawn in the lower
parts of the rivers, and also that they arc exceeding!}
prolific. Unless when swollen by rains, the river Dee
which empties itself into the sea at Aberdeen, is re-
markable for the transparency of its waters, and per-
haps there is no stream of equal magnitude in the island
where the movements of fish can be better observed
At the season when the salmon are ascending, one
may stand on the old bridge and see them moving u)
the stream in a continued shoal, which continues for i
long time. In the same river the ascent of the young
eels from the sea has been described by an eye wit-
ness in the following terms : — " I know, and it has
been observed by others, that in the month of June
yearly, immense swarms of young eels make a pro
gress from the lower part of the river towards the

higher, with a quickness and unremitted assiduity that
are surprising. This phenomenon was remarked in
he river Dee, in Aberdeenshire. The eel is a fish
.hat seems (unlike the trout) to dislike running
streams, and therefore avoids that part of the river
where the current is strong. It had, probably, been
this circumstance that induced them, in the rapid Dee,
to direct their progress only along the edges of the
river close to the banks. A line followed the wind-
ngs of the river, being often suddenly deflected by
stones or other interruptions without any breach of
its continuity. This line having frequently caught
my eye, my hand was put into the water to touch the
line, with a view to examine what it was : the line
became discontinued when my hand approached ; but
it united again as soon as my hand was withdrawn.
This induced a nearer examination ; and I then per-
ceived, with astonishment, that this line was formed
by a series of small eels, moving forward with great
celerity. These eels did not exceed half an inch in
length, but were in all respects perfectly formed like
the common eel. The line might, perhaps, on an
average, consist of from twenty to thirty in breadth,
and the individuals being in dilferent degrees of for-
wardness, and close to each other, made the line uni-
form. The progress with which they advanced was
not less than four miles an hour ; and this continued
for eight days and nights together ; and there was no
apparent diminution of it when I left the place.
There was a similar line on the opposite side of the
river. The water in which they floated at the place
where I observed them was, in general, about two or
three inches deep."

In the lower part of the Thames, though that is a
good eel river, the motions of the young eels upward
cannot be so easily observed, because of the quantity
of mould which is generally suspended in the water.
This circumstance is, however, as favourable to the
breeding and security of eels, as it is unfavourable to
the observation of them. There is one place in the
river where, however, they may be seen in great
numbers, and this is at Teddington lock. The river
is, generally speaking, rather low at the time when
they reach this obstruction on their passage outward ;
and they have been observed climbing up not only
the weir, but the wooden posts with very considerable
adroitness, so as to gain the water above. We
believe that those clirnbings are generally performed
during the night, and consequently, they are not
observed to their full extent, though when the sky is
overcast, considerable numbers of them make their
passage upward during the day ; and it is on these
occasions that they are seen, and seen in sufficient
numbers to prove the fact in this river, as well as in
others.

To what height an eel can climb in making its way
up the rivers has not been ascertained ; but as they
are found much higher up than salmon, it is probable
that they can scramble up the rocks by the side of
waterfalls, which are too lofty for the leap of that active
fish. Indeed, there are some well-authenticated in-
stances of eels making their escape from ponds, either
where there was an overstock, or in consequence of
the natural instinct of getting to the brackish water,
by climbing trees, especially weeping-willows having
the points of their pendent branches in the water of
the pond. The eels ascend those branches pass the
bole of the tree, and then descend the branches on
the other side. If they find water at or near the

894

EGLANTINE — EHRETIACE^:.

extremities of those branches they soon get into it,
and make their escape ; but they frequently ascend,
and are found crawling and wriggling about in the
meadows, where also they can move to a consider-
able distance, especially if there are little pools,
which serve them as a sort of inns, or resting places,
on their way. In consequence of this power of
climbing, and also of moving over land, eels are
much more capable of distributing themselves gene-
rally throughout all the waters of humid places, than
perhaps any other kind offish. On these migrations,
and also when they are ascending the shallows near
the banks of the rivers, vast numbers of them are
seized by nerons and other wading birds. Indeed,
where they are numerous, eels arc the favourite food
of the heron ; and after a summer shower has favoured
their ascent into the upland brooks, herons may b£
observed watching for them with great assiduity, in
places where there is no heronry within many miles.
See the article HERON.

In countries farther to the south, eels are still more
abundant than they are in any part of Britain ; and
in those places they form no inconsiderable part of
the food of the larger wading birds, such as cranes
and storks. They are exceedingly numerous in the
river Po, as the lagunes and banks at the mouth of
that river, on the latter of which the city of Venice
is built, are peculiarly favourable as breeding places
for them, lu no place, however, is there any danger
of confounding fresh water eels with those which are
permanent inhabitants of the sra, and never ascend
the fresh waters, though, like the others, they appear
to resort to the shallows and brackish waters for the
purpose of breeding.

The general characters of the whole of the eel
family, which is a very natural one, are, the body
elongated, the skin very thick, generally without
any scales, and rendered exceedingly slippery, by
a mucous secretion ; their intestines are without any
caecum, and the greater number of them have air
bladders. The true eels have the pectoral fins very
far forward, and thegill openings, which are very small,
placed immediately under those fins ; the stomach,
or long cul-de-sac, and the intestine, nearly straight ;
the air-bladder very much elongated, and with a
gland placed at the middle of its length ; and they
have the dorsal fin beginning at a considerable dis-
tance behind the pectorals. The fresh water eels
have also the upper jaw shorter than the lower one,
while the sea eels have the shorter lower than the
upper, and in them the dorsal fin begins much nearer
the pectorals than in the fresh water eels.

This difference of structure in regard to the com-
mencement of the dorsal fin, shows that the two are
fitted for progressive motion of a different kind. The
pectoral fins in the fresh water eel keep the head
steady to its course ; and the portion of the back
which is without a dorsal, obeys the motion of the
head, so that the fore part of the fish can proceed
steadily in a straight line, at the same time that the
body, behind the commencement of the dorsal, per-
forms those motions which are necessary to project
the whole forward. In both the sea and fresh water
eels, the dorsal and anal fins meet at the extremity
of the tail ; and thus the whole of the posterior part
of the body is a sort of paddle, by means of which
they work themselves along, something in the same
manner as a boat is worked along by sculling with
one oar, worked right and left across the middle of j

the stern. In the British waters there arc, at
least, two species of fresh water eels, which are
distinguished as the sharp-nosed eel and the broad-
nosed eel. The colours of both these are nearly the
same ; but the broad-nosed one is rather thicker in
proportion to the length, and has the head larger and
the gape wider. It is also said to be fuller of flesh
and more juicy than the other, though this, no doubt,
depends in a great measure upon the season at which
it is taken, and the water which it frequents There
is nothing, however, so strikingly different in either
the appearance or the habits of those two species, as
to call for any particular description of them as dis-
tinguished from each other.

The great interest of these fishes is in the pecu-
liarity of their manners, and the mistakes and absur-
dities which have so long prevailed on the subject
of them. There is, indeed, another point of view in
which they are worthy of some consideration : it is
probable that before many years have elapsed, eels
may be the only fish obtainable in the lower parts of
those rivers where our great manufacturing towns
are situated, and where the refuse of gas-works, and
countless other impurities are continually discharged
into the water. Those impurities generally float on
the surface, or, at least, very near it, and thus they
are fatal to salmon, trout, and all other fishes which
swim near the surface ; but if the water is of any
considerable depth, the eel is sufficiently far down to
breed in safety.

EGLANTINE is the Rosa cglanteria of Linnaeus,
a wild species of rose common in many parts of
Europe. A bramble introduced from New Holland
in 18-25 is also called eglantine.

EGYPTIAN LOTUS is the famous Nympha:a
Lotus of Linnaeus, a magnificent aquatic plant, abun-
dant in the Nile, and in most of the tropical and
other rivers of Africa and Eastern Asia. The leaves
are ample, peltate, and mostly float on the surface of
the water ; the flowers are large and showy, and the
main stems of the plant creep in the mud, are jointed
tubers and esculent. The canals in China are in
some places literally choked up by this plant, but it
is in that empire an inexhaustible source of food for
the poorer inhabitants, who use the tubers as potatoes
are used in Europe. The order Nymphceqcece is
pretty generally distributed. The Nclumbiums of
Africa and China, the Nymphce (water-lily) of Europe
and America, and the Euryale of India, are all
included in the order. The Nymphcea nelumbo, now
called Nelumbium speciosum, was first flowered in
England at Bulstrode, the seat of the Duke of
Portland, about the year 1790.

EGYPTIAN THORN is the Acacia vera of
Willdenow. an ornamental tree, native of the northern
parts of Africa.

EHRETIA (Linnaeus). A genus of tropical trees
and shrubs, belonging to the fifth class of Linnajus,
and to the natural order EhretiacecE. Generic charac-
ter : calyx five-toothed, or cut irregularly; corolla
bell or funnel shaped, limb five-cleft ; stamens having
awl-shaped filaments inserted in the tube ; anthers
two-lobed at the base, two-celled, and protruding ;
style divided, bearing acute or obtuse stigmas ; drupe
bony, two-seeded, sometimes four-seeded ; embryo
inverted. These exotics thrive well in the hothouse,
and are easily propagated by cuttings.

EHRETIACEJS. A natural order of dicotyle-
donous plants, containing only a few genera and

EKEBERGIA— E

species. By many authors it is considered as a sec-
tion of Bm-agineas, from which, however, it is distin-
guished by its terminal style proceeding from the
apex of a perfectly concrete, four-celled ovary, and its
berried fruit. By others it is included under Cordi-
acea:. It bears an affinity to HdiotropicecE, from
which it differs chiefly in its succulent fruit.

Its essential characters are : calyx inferior, five-
parted, with an imbricated aestivation ; corolla mono-
petalous, tubular, with as many segments of its limb
as the calyx, and also with an imbricated aestivation ;
stamens alternate with the segments of the corolla, and
equal to them in number, arising from the bottom of
the tube ; ovary simple, two or more celled, seated
in an annular disc ; stigma simple, two-lobed ; fruit
drupaceous, with as many stems as there are true cells
of the ovary ; seed suspended, solitary ; embryo in
the midst of their fleshy albumen ; radicle superior.

The plants belonging to the order are trees or
shrubs with a harsh pubescence, simple alternate,
exsiipulate leaves, and corymbose flowers. They are
found in tropical regions in both hemispheres, and are
not distinguished for any important properties. The
chief genera are, Ekretia, Tourncfortia, Rhabdia, and
Bourreria,

The root of Ehretia buxifolia has a sweetish and
somewhat warm taste, and is used in India as a tonic
and alterative in enfeebled constitutions. By the
Mahometan practitioners it is considered an antidote
to vegetable poisons.

EKEBERGIA (Sprengel). A tree from the Cape
of Good Hope, belonging to Decandria Mvnngynia,
and to the natural order MeKacete. Generic charac-
ter : calyx four-cleft. ; petals four ; anthers sitting
within an annular disc ; style filiform, stigma headed ;
berry round, containing tour seeds. This genus is
placed in th<: class Monadclphia by Sprengel ; is propa-
gated bv cimhigs, and treated as a greenhouse plant.

EL^EAGNE/E— the Oleaster family. A natural
order of monochlamydcous dicotyledonous plants,
containing five or six genera, and upwards of twenty
known species. By its apetalous flowers, definite
erect ovuia, tubular inferior calyx, and leprous leaves,
this order is at once distinguished from Proteaceoe,
Thymelete, Santalacece, and CombreiacccK, to all of
which it bears an affinity.

Its essential characters are : flowers dioecious,
rarely perfect. In the sterile or male flowers, the
calyx is four-parted ; stamens three, four, or eight,
sessile ; antliers two-celled. In the fertile or female
flowers, the calyx is inferior, tubular, persistent ; the
limb entire, or from two to four-toothed ; ovary supe-
rior, simple, one-celled ; ovule solitary, ascending,
stalked ; stigma simple, subulate, glandular ; fruit
crnstaceous, enclosed within the calyx become suc-
culent ; seed erect ; embryo straight, surrounded by
a very thin fleshy albumen ; radicle short, inferior ;
cotyledons fleshy.

The plants belonging to this order are hardy trees
or shrubs, covered with minute silvery scales, having
alternate or opposite entire leaves, and axillary, often
fragrant flowers. They are found scattered over the
whole northern hemisphere as far as the equator.
A few inhabit China and Japan, and the remainder
Europe, North America, Guiana, and the East Indies.
They are not known south of the line. Many of
them furnish edible fruits and astringent barks. The
chief genera are, Ef&agniis, Hippoptue, ShephercKa,
and Con '°-~

L JE O D E N D R U M. 39*,

The genus Elceagnus, or oleaster, so named from
its resemblance to the olive tree, furnishes several
species, some of which are hardy, and cultivated in
our gardens. Elaeagnus angustifolia is a low tree
with elegant silvery leaves and yellow flowers, which
emit a strong scent, especially at night. El&agnus
Oriental/s yields a large fruit, which is used in Persia
as an article of dessert under the name of Zhizeyd.
El&agnus arborea and conferta also yield fruits which
are eaten in Nepal.

HippophcB rhamnoides, common sallow thorn, or sea
buckthorn, is found on sandhills and cliffs on the
south-eastern coasts of England. It is a thornv
shrub, four or five feet high, frequently cultivated in
gardens on account of its silvery leaves. It bears a
bright orange berry, which is sometimes preserved
and eaten, more especially in Sweden and Tartary.
It is used by the fishermen of the Gulf of Bothnia to
impart a grateful flavour to fresh fish. The whole
plant may be used to dye yellow.

EL^EIS (Jacquin), is 'a palm indigenous to South
America, and from the fruit of which an oil is
expressed ; hence it is called the oily, or olive palm.
It belongs to Dicccia Hexandria, and to the order
PalmtE.

EL^EOCARP^E. A natural order of dicotyle-
donous plants, containing six or seven genera, and
nearly twenty known species. It is verv closely
allied to Tiliacecc, from which it differs only in its
fringed petals and in its anthers opening by two pores
at the apex. By some authors it is included under
that family.

Its essential characters are : sepals four or five,
without bracteas, and with a valvular aestivation ;
petals four or five, alternate with the sepals, lobed or
fringed at the extremity ; receptacle glandular ; sta-
mens from fifteen to twenty , filaments short and free ,•
anthers long, four-sided, two-celled, opening by pores
at the extremity; ovary many celled, with two or
more seeds in each cell ; albumen fleshy ; embryo
erect, with flat leafy cotyledons.

The plants belonging to this order are trees or
shrubs with alternate, simple leaves, and racemose
flowers. They are natives of warm climates, and are
found chiefly in the East Indies and in South Ame-
rica. Some are also met with in New Holland.
Little is known in regard to their properties. The
chief genera are, Elceocarpus, Aceratium, Dicera, and
V alien.

The species of Elccocarpus are in general hand-
some, and produce showy, fragrant flowers, which are
succeeded by an edible Iruit. The hard, furrowed
stones contained in the pulpy fruit, are manufac-
tured into necklaces in the East Indies. They are
sometimes sold in our shops when set in gold.

EL^ODENDRUM (Jacquin). A genus of trees
and shrubs found in the East Indies, New Holland,
&c. Linnaian class and order, Pentandria Monogynia,
and natural order Cela^trmeas. Generic character :
calyx minutely five-lobed ; petals spreading, and
broad at the * base ; stamens alternating with the
petals, and fixed on a disk surrounding the germen ;
style very short ; drupe sapless, from two to five-
celled, with as many seeds, some of which are often
abortive. This genus has been arranged with several
other genera by different botanists, but now admitted
as fixed by Jacquin. The hothouse species are
pretty, and" those from New Holland are kept in
the greenhouse. They all strike freely from cut-

396

ELAPHRID^E — ELATINE.E.

tings treated in the usual way: The trees are called
olive wood.

ELAPHRIM (Stephens). A division of the
great Linnaean genus Carabus, comprising the genera
Notiophilus, Elaphnis, Blethisa, and Pelophlla. See
CARABID^:. This group is distinguished by the
unnotched anterior tibiae, the antennae are short and
robust. From the Cicindelidce, with which family they
were arranged by Linnaeus, they differ in their smaller
size, and in wanting an articulated hook at the ex-
tremity of the lower jaws. They reside in damp
situations, at the margins of streams, &c. The typi-
cal genus Elaphrus (Fabricius) may be distinguished
by the elevated bosses upon the elytra, and by the
rounded thorax. There are four or five British species,
of which the Cicindcla riparia, Linnaeus, is the type ;
it is about a quarter of an inch long, and of a brassy
greenish colour.

ELATE (Linnasus). A species of palm common
in India. It belongs to Moncecia Hexandria, and to
its own natural order. It has for a long period
been one of our hothouse plants. It thrives best
in sandy loam, and requires the warmest part of the
stove.

ELATERID^E. A family of coleopterous insects
belonging to the section Pentamera, and subsection
Serricornes, forming with the f&mi\y2iuj)restidce (which
see), a division under the name of Sternoxi, and dis-
tinguished by having the hinder point of the proster-
num produced into a laterally compressed point, so as
to be capable of being brought, at the will of the
insect, into close contact with a depression in front
of the metasternuin, whereby, in consequence of the
strong muscles with which these parts of the body
are armed, the animal is enabled to effect a leap to a
considerable height when laid upon its back, whence
these insects have obtained the name of skip, or
spring-jacks. The body is rather long and narrow,
the mandibles notched at the tip, the palpi terminated
by a joints larger than the preceding articulations,
the joint of the. tarsi are entire, and the posterior
angles of the thorax are acute.

This is an extensive family of insects, but little
diversified in their colours, whence they afford a strong
contrast to those composing the other family Bupren-
tidce. The shortness of the legs renders essential some
other apparatus, whereby the insects when laid upon
their backs may recover their ordinary position.
This apparatus is found in the peculiar structure of
the parts of the breast noticed above and in the
strength of the muscles with which it is furnished. In
order to effect these motions the legs and antennae are
laid close to the body in grooves prepared for their
reception ; the head and thorax are bent backwards,
until they reach the plane of position, and then the
point of the prosternum being struck with force into
the abovementioned cavity, causes a sudden jerk to
be imparted to the insect, which has the effect of
raising it to a considerable height in the air.

The habits of but few of these insects have been
hitherto known. The females are furnished with a
horny ovipositor at the extremity of the body, whereby
they are enabled to convey their eggs to their des-
tined situation in the midst of rotten wood, &c. De
Geer has described one of their larvae found in such
a situation ; it is of a scaly texture, and the tail is
terminated by a margined flattened plate, of which the
sides are notched, and the extremity cut out. The
larva of Elater striatus devours the roots of wheat, and

occasionally commits considerable devastation. It is
this state of the insect which is ordinarily known by
the name of the wire-worm.

In the perfect state, the elateridae are found upon
flowers, leaves, and shrubs, and when they are alarmed
they fold up their antennae and legs, and fall to the
ground.

Some of the South American species of the family
forming the genus Pyrophorus (llliger), are distin-
guished by the singular powers which they possess
of emitting light from two yellowish patches on the
sides of the thorax. Of. these species, which are
named by the natives Cucuji, the Elater noctilucus is
best known, and so strong is the light which they emit,
that two or three placed under a glass are sufficient
to enable a person to see the time by a watch in
the dark ; and the females are said to fasten many
of them to their dresses as glittering ornaments.
According to Brown, all the internal parts of the
insect are luminous, but there seems reason to doubt
this statement. He likewise asserts that the insect
has the power of suspending its luminosity at will.
A specimen of this insect which had evidently been
conveyed to France in American timber, in which it
had undergone its transformations, caused much
alarm to the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint An-
toine, in Paris, by flying about the houses, emitting at
the same time its light. According to M. Lacordaire,
who has observed the insect in its living state, the
chief reservoir of this luminous matter is situated on
the lower side of the body at the junction of the
abdomen and thorax. See an interesting memoir by
Mr. Curtis, in the Zoological Journal.

The generic distribution of these insects has, until
lately, been but little attended to. Messrs. Latreille,
Eschscholtz, and Stephens, have, however, latterly
proposed numerous groups, founded upon structural
characters, but in their natural history little has been
noticed in support of the establishment of these divi-
sions. There are nearly one hundred British spe-
cies, of which the Elater (Selatosomus) ceneus, distin-
guished by its fine metallic tints, the Elater (Corym-
bites) pectinicornis, having branched antennae, and the
Elater (Ludius) ferrugineus, being the largest British
species, are the most conspicuous.

ELATERIUM (Linnaeus). A genus of climbing
West Indian annuals, bearing large fruit of the gourd
kind, and for which thpy are cultivated there.

ELATINE (Linnaeus). An aquatic annual genus,
containing two or three species, natives of Europe.
Two of the species are English plant, and known by
the name of water-pepper, or water-wort.

ELATINEiE — the Water-pepper family. A
natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing
only a few genera and species. By many authors
this order is looked.upon as a section of Caryophylleae,
from which, however, it is distinguished by its capitate
stigmata, by the dehiscence of its fruit, and the want
of albumen. It bears a considerable affinity to Hype-

inecE, but differs in having a persistent central axis
in the fruit and definite stamens.

Its essential botanical characters are : sepals three
to five, persistent ; petals three to five, alternate with
the sepals ; stamens hypogynous, usually twice as
many as the petals ; ovary with from three to five
hypogynous cells, the same number of styles, and
small, capitate stigmas ; capsule three to five-celled,
and three to five-valved ; valves separating from the
dissepiments which alternate with them ; seeds numc-

ELDER— ELEPHANT.

Yous, with a straight embryo, whose radicle is turned
towards the hilum ; no albumen.

The plants belonging to this order are herbaceous
annuals with hollow stems, and opposite, exstipulate
leaves. They are fount! in marshy places in all quar-
ters of the globe. Their properties are not well
known. The chief genera of the order are Elatine,
Bergia, Merimea, and Crypta. The- species of the
genus Elatine, or water-wort, are natives of Europe,
and two of them are indigenous in Britain. The
Bcrgiaa are found at the Cape of Good Hope, and in
the East Indies, while Merimea is confined to South
America.

ELDER is the Sambucus nigra of Linnaeus, a very
common plant everywhere. It belongs to the first clas's
of Linnaeus, and to the natural order Caprifoliacece.
The wood of this small tree has a very large pith
when young, but smaller in old stems, and then the
wood is remarkably hard and durable. Water dis-
tilled from the flowers is used as a cosmetic, and a
kind of wine is made from the ripe berries. There
are six varieties in gardens, all of which are increased
by cuttings.

ELECAMPANE, is the Corvisartia helcnmm of
Merat, formerly the Inn/a helenium of Linnaeus. This
genus of plants is chiefly European ; several of them
natives of Britain. They are mostly perennials, bearing
yellow tlowers, and belong to the order Compotittc.

ELEPHANT ( Elephas). A genus of Pachyder-
matous or thick-skinned mammalia, belonging to that
division of the order to which Cuvier gives the name
of Proboscidca, or animals which have the nose or
upper lip elongated, and forming a trunk or proboscis,
or other prehensile instrument.

The elephant, has but few characters in common
with the rest of the order Pachydermata ; and indeed
that order is among the most perplexing in all the
mammalia, because the mere thickness of the skin is
not a good ground of classification. Thus it is im-
possible to give, under the title of the order, any
general account of all the genera ; and therefore it
becomes necessary to enter a little more into detail
of the characters of each genus.

There is perhaps no animal respecting which less
apology is necessary in this respect than the elephant.
In point of size and strength, it stands foremost in
the whole class of land animals ; and though its saga-
city and docility have been greatly overrated, it is to
a considerable extent tractable, and in so far a sa-
gacious animal. We use these words in an animal
sense of course, and not with any reference to docility
and sagacity as predicated of human beings ; and we
may mention that the boasted sagacity of the elephant
is vastly inferior to fiiai of many varieties of the dog.

Still the elephant is highly interesting in very many
points of view. It has been connected with the
power and state of eastern nations from very early
times ; and before the invention of fire-arms, the ele-
phant was regarded as a very powerful auxiliary in
war, and numbers of them were brought into battle,
not only in Asia, but in some parts of eastern Europe.
Even now the elephant is a useful appendage to an
Indian army ; but it is chiefly as a beast of burden,
in the transportation of artillery, and of baggage
which is too heavy for the more ordinary carrying
animals. He is also used as an appendage of state,
for which 'purpose himself and the houdah or crib,
which is fastened on his back, are both decked out in
the most gorgeous manner. But though the elephant

J97

has thus been made the servant of man for many pur-
poses, almost from time immemorial, it has never
been tamed or domesticated in the proper sense of
the word. Elephants have never lived in what may
be called companionship with society, and under the
protection of man, as has been the case with the dog,
the horse, and many other animals. There are a few
rare instances recorded in which elephants have bred
in a state of confinement, but those instances form
the exception — the rare exception, and not the rule ;
and on account of them we cannot venture to say
that the elephant has ever been a domestic animal.

There is another point of view in which the ele-
phant is of great interest, especially to those who
study the history of nature in its connection, both of
place and of time. Of living elephants there are only
two species, the Asiatic and the African, though
there are several varieties, apparently climatal, of the
former one. Of these there is not a vestige in any
other part of the world than those in which they are
at present found, unless it be the accidental bones of
one which has been brought from its native country
for the purpose of exhibition, and which, perishing
before the establishment of museums in which the
bones of strange animals are industriously collected,
had been buried by the way side. There are some
rather ludicrous instances of the bones of such ele-
phants being dug up, after the appearance of the
animal at the place had been forgotten, and gravely
considered as the bones of antediluvian or other giants
of the human race. The countries in which only the
two existing species of elephant are found, all have
the tropical character ; and as there is no evidence
of the animal being naturally out of them, we must
conclude that both are adapted to the forests and
marshes of those countries, and to them, only.

There is, however, a third species of elephant, of
which there is no living specimen, though the remains
of it are abundant. Those remains are found in very
great numbers in the northern parts of Asia, and
especially near the shores of the Polar Sea in that
quarter of the world ; but they are not found to the
northward of the Lake of Aral, so that the central plains
of Asia do not appear ever to have been an elephant's
country ; but if we suppose, as is most probable, that
the two races were co-existent at some former period,
we must suppose that that country, which is in all
probability the native one of the horse and the wild
ass, formed a sort of natural boundary between the
pastures of the southern elephant of Asia and the
northern one.

In Europe the remains of this elephant are not so
numerous as they are in Asia , but as is the case
there, they are confined to the northern parts ; and
we are not aware that any vestige of them has been
found to the southward of that parallel which forms
their southern limit in Asia, and whirh answers to
nearly about the middle of France. There are some
few of those remains in Britain, though they are not
so numerous there as in some places of the continent.
This elephant was not, like the two which are natives
of tropical countries, confined to the eastern continent,
for the bones have been met with in America, though
not in any place further to the southward than about
the parallel of the south of Spain, which, if we take
the two continents according to the average of their
present temperature, will answer to about the same
limit in point of heat as that which marks the
southern boundary of those animals in the. eastern

398

ELEPHANT.

continent We mention these few particulars in the
meantime to show that the elephant has a longer and
more interesting tale to tell, than is to be found in all
the anecdotes which are repeated of it as a living
animal, and which even though we discount the ex-
aggerations and the misrepresentations respecting
qualities which the animal does not and cannot pos-
sess, but still is not entirely divested of interest, —
passing over these in a great measure, we shall first
give some account of the appearance and characters
of the living elephant, without any distinctions as to
species, and then very briefly point out how the
Asiatic and the African differ from each other, and
how the northern or fossil elephant differs from both.

Generally speaking, the skin of the elephant is of a
dusky black, with only a few hairs scattered over the
general surface ; but on the top of the head the hairs
are much closer, and about the same length as hogs'
bristles, to which indeed they bear no inconsiderable
resemblance. A very imperfect notion of the appear-
ance and texture of the skin of the elephant is obtained
from examining the specimens which are shut up in
menageries in this country, even in those places where
they are treated with the greatest kindness and care.
Their skin is invariably callous, and often apparently
chapped or cracked into pieces, which have little or
no sensibility. But when the animal is in good health
and in its proper climate, and at its freedom, the skin
is smooth and soft, and is probably almost as sensitive
to the bite, even of a small insect, as the thinnest skin
that can be imagined. When the animal is in this con-
dition, there is indeed a wonderful power in the mus-
cles of the skin, so that by the agitation of that alone
an elephant is often capable of shaking off a wild
beast. Tliere is another difference of appearance
between the elephant of the European shores and the
elephant in its native forests, which it is necessary to
attend to for the purpose of not being misled. The
confined elephant has the skin loose and wrinkled,
and apparently too big for it, whereas in a state of
nature the skin is comparatively tight, and there is
considerable plumpness in the appearance of the ani-
mal. It is probable that this difference, by means of
which the confined elephant shows to so little advan-
tage, is owing to the action of the colder climate on
the skin ; and this is another proof that the skin of
the elephant possesses a good deal of sensibility when
the animal is in proper health. This is indeed the
case with the greater number of the Pachydei mata,
which 'really have the skin more sensitive than many
of the thin-skinned animals ; and thus, in so far as
they are concerned, the usual associating of the
epithet " thick-skinned " with the fact of want of feel-
ing is incorrect.

The head of the elephant appears rather small in
proportion to the size of the animal, but the form of
the outline (in the Asiatic elephant particularly, which
has the front-line nearly straight,) gives it an expres-
sion of intelligence. The eye adds considerably to
this expression ; for though very small in proportion
to the s-ize of the animal, it is bright and expressive.
The ears are large and pendulous, though smaller in
the Asiatic than in the African. The body is thick
in proportion to its length and considerably arched in
the line of the back, which gives the animal great
strength in carrying. The legs are also very stout
and massy. The feet are not divided into toes ex-
ternally visible ; but there are five short flat nails on
each of the fore-feet, and four on each of the hind

ones. The feet and legs, though apparently stiff and
awkward, are not so in reality. The fore-foot can
be used with considerable adroitness as a sort of
hand, in conjunction with the trunk, and both feet
are used in stamping the enemies of the animal to
death. The tail is slender and nearly naked for the
greater part of its length ; but it has a thick brush at
the point, which, in the healthy animal, reaches nearly
to the ground.

In size, elephants differ considerably ; but when
full grown they are rarely less than seven feet in
height at the shoulders, or more than twelve. When
they are below seven feet they are not considered fit
for hard service, and none are purchased for the use
of the British army in India, which do not stand this
measure. The females, which are the most docile,
are very seldom above eight feet ; but the males are
often considerably more. The following are the
dimensions of a male measured in India, which was
considered to have attained its utmost growth : from
the line of the forehead to the insertion of the tail,
fifteen feet eleven inches ; perpendicular height at the
shoulder, ten feet and a half; measure across the
shoulders from the ground on the one side to the
same on the other, twenty-two feet two inches and a
half; and height of the crown of the head from the
ground, set up as it is when the animal inarches in
state, twelve feet two inches. As the proportions of
these measures to each other may be considered as
pretty constant in adult elephants of all sizes, they
will serve to give a general notion of the form of the
animal.

The most singular organ in the elephant, and the
one which most distinguishes it from all other living
animals, is the proboscis or trunk, which, though one
would not be apt to believe so from seeing it in a
state of repose, is probably, the human hand only ex-
cepted, the most curious mechanical instrument in the
whole animal kingdom. This proboscis is an ex-
tension of the snout of the animal, of a tapering or
subconical form, and sometimes as much as ei.uht
feet in length. The two perforations in it, which
answer the purpose of nostrils, can draw in water,
or spout it to a considerable distance ; and as the
elephant cannot drink directly with the mouth, unless
when immersed in water as far as the opening, the
trunk answers the purpose of a drinking horn, as the
animal can suck it full, and then, elevating the head
and the basal part, and recurving the extremity down-
wards and inwards, blow the whole contents into the
mouth. The extremity of the proboscis is on the
upper side formed into a sort of rounded lip, which
bears some analogy to the fingers of a hand, while
the underside terminates in a single elongated tuber-
cle, which has the same analogy to a thumb. The
body of the trunk is made up of an immense number
of muscles with their tendons, amounting in all to
not less than four thousand, which is considerably
greater than the number in the whole human body.
Those muscles have their insertions in the external
and internal coverings of the trunk ; and they lie in
a great variety of directions, some longitudinal, some
nearly circular, and some oblique. The variety of
motions which may result from the union of so many
moving forces, so differently placed with regard to
each other, and of which we may suppose, any num-
ber, from one to the whole, capable of moving at one
time, is far greater than any ordinary arithmetic can
sura up. The most powerful motion of the trunk 13

ELEPHANT.

399

thatof the under side; and when it curls round, which substance, the ivory of commerce, and they often
it sometimes does so as to form two hands, one by the attain a very large size in the old males, the q'uantity

- iK~ ' of ivory in a single pair being sometimes at least one
hundred and fifty pounds weight.

In the living elephants of both varieties, the tusks are
either nearly straight, or curved upwards, or if their di-
rection be nearly thatof the line of the face they are in-
clined forward at the points. In the fossil elephant, on
the other hand (at least in all the specimens which have
been found), the curvature of the tusks is the other way,
or downwards. What may be the use of this difference
of structure it is not easy to say, because we know
nothing of the habits of the extinct elephant, and very
little of what the state of the country may have been
when it was alive; but, as the tusks in it are so
constructed as that they might act as hooks in pulling
down substances higher than itself, and as it is pro-
bable that the northern marshes were at that time
covered with tree ferns, and those other palm-like
plants, of which the remains are abundant in the
fossil state, though not a vestige of the same plants
now appears on the surface of the same regions, we
may, perhaps, venture to conclude, that those tnsks
had been employed in pulling down the fronds of
those plants, in order that the animals might feed
upon them.

The tusks of the elephant are two in number, and
they vary much with the age and sex of the indivi-
dual, and there appear to be also permanent varieties
of this kind, the cause of which is not known. In the
females they are generally much smaller than in the
males ; and it is not till the female has attained the age
of several years, that they project, beyond the month.
In India, where elephants are most used, and there-
fore more attended to than any other part of the
world, there are several distinctions made from the
size and shape of those extremities. The perfect
elephant, called pullet/ dant, has the tusks projecting
forwards and upwards. These called dauntelali, or
elephants with large teeth, vary from the projecting
horizontal, to the nearly straight tusks of the mook-
nah, which point directly downwards. Between
these two there is a great variety in the form of the
tusks. The largest teeth found in the male elephant,
are from five to eight feet in length, and from four to
eight inches in diameter, and weiyh from twenty to
eighty pounds each tooth. In the mode of their
growth, though not in their substance, their tusks
bear a much nearer resemblance to the hollow Jiorns
of the ruminantia ; and, indeed, from the vast quan-
tity of animal matter, and the comparatively small
portion of salts of lime, ivory approaches, perhaps,
as near to horn as it does to bone, and more so
than to enamel, of which the tusks of the elephant
contain little or none. In their very young si ate.
elephants have milk tusks, which have very little
adherence to the bones of the head : those drop o t'
when the animal is about fourteen or fifteen month -
old, and soon after the permanent tusks make their
appearance, and are not shed while the animal lives.
They continue growing by a new layer of ivory on
the inner surface, which is secreted by the pulpy
substance on the core filling the hollow, just as is the
case with the horn of an ox ; and as each of these
new lavers is a complete cone of ivory, extending
to the very point of the core, the solid part of the
tusk increases in length, in proportion to the general
growth of the whole.

There are no cutting teeth in the lower jaw of the

curling fold, and one by the lip and tubercle at the
end, the curl is always downwards, though it can com-
plete a ring of the curl someway up the trunk, and
leave a portion of the extremity free, by which means
the prehensile part at the extremity can act upon
what is held in the fold. The oblique muscles enable
the trunk to be twisted, so as to place the loop of the
fold longitudinally ; and with the trunk placed this
way an elephant will hold a bottle and extract a
cork with the greatest neatness. The oblique muscles
also act in elongating and shortening the trunk, in a
manner similar to that in which many of the Annelidce,
or ringed animals can elongate and shorten their whole
bodies. The trunk itself, from the great number of
its muscles, is a very powerful instrument, and by means
of it the animal can tear down a strong branch of a
tree, lift a considerable weight, or hit a very severe
blow. Upon examining the head of an elephant
either in front or in profile, it will be seen that the
insenion of the- trunk is peculiarly strong. The bones
of the lower part of the face are massy and strongly
arched ; the neck is nearly of the same thickness as
the head, and the muscles by which it is connected to
the body are very powerful. The elephant does not
butt with this powerful part of the head, as is done by
various ruminating animals : but it can push along a
very heavy weight, or break through a strong paling,
by the dead pressure of its snout. Where tame
elephants are used, this property is often turned to
considerable account ; and those elephants which
are in the service of the Indian merchants, may often
be seen doing the work of a dozen of porters, in
pushing about bales and boxes, and rolling heavy
casks. In the wild state the trunk answers many im-
portant services. With it he gathers his food and
puts it into his mouth, draws up water to quench his
thirst, or to sprinkle his body, urid collects dust, which
he throws over his skin to disperse the musquitoes and
flies that annoy him. On all occasions he is most care-
ful of his trunk, and unless when tied and picketed, he
seldom uses it as a means of offence. The males use
their tusks for this purpose, and the females endeavour,
by failing upon the tiger, to crush him by their weight.
The fact is that though elephants are exceedingly
peaceable animals in their native haunts, unless when
they are annoyed, or in the rutting season of the
males, at which time they are in a state of excitement
bordering: upon fury, and are formidable to tigers and
all other beasts of prey, and even to the rhinoceros
himself, which, though perhaps a stronger animal in
proportion to his size than the elephant, is not so
susceptible of violent passions or so active in his
motions.

Next to the trunk the most remarkable external
character of the elephant is the tusks. These occupy
the place of the ordinary canine teeth of animals, or
rather perhaps that of the two great incisive teeth in
the upper jaw, which belong to several of the rodent or
gnawing animals, and to some of which the real teeth
of the elephant bear a considerable resemblance, at
least in trie substances of which they are composed.
The teeth, or rather tusks of the elephant, are not
inserted by simple roots into the jaw or nasal bones,
they are for a considerable part of their length toward
the root hollow, and inserted on a conical core which
perhaps gives them a firmer rooting than if they were
placed in sockets. These teeth form the well known

400

ELEPHANT.

elephant, or indeed any other teeth answering to the
tusks of the upper jaw. The rest of the teeth have
their crowns, generally speaking flat, but from the
way in winch they are constructed, they are well
adapted for cutting and bruising those hard substances
upon which elephants are at times obliged to feed.
Those teeth which are the only useful ones to the
animals, in preparing their food for the stomach, may
be compared to a set of irregular chisels placed
across the jaw, and supported in the intervals by a
substance much softer, and bearing some resemblance
to the ivory of the tusks, though probably not so hard,
and containing more animal matter. The protube-
rant ridges, which we have said resemble irregular
chisels, are formed of the hardened enamel ; and
though, from the quantity of food which so large an
animal requires, they are subject to wear, they are
always higher than the intervening substance by
which they are supported; and it is probable, also,
that this substance, being in so tar elastic, gives way a
little when the food requires a powerful bite.

In the Asiatic elephant, which is the only one of
which the progress has been accurately observed, the
first grinders, or milk-teeth as they are called, begin
to cut the surface as early as nine or ten days alter
the birth. Those grinders consist of four larnime, or
ridges of enamel ; but they are altogether of soft
texture, so that they soon wear away. They are not
shed, as is the case with the milk-teeth of some other
mammalia, and with the milk-tusks of the elephant
itself; but are worn away gradually while the second
set are coining forward ; and by the time that these are
full grown, which is the end of about the second year,
the body of the first ones is completely worn away,
the roots are absorbed, and every vestige of the
teeth is obliterated. The second teeth contain
eight or nine laminae, or about double the number in
the first, and the jaws lengthen proportionately to give
them room. When the second set are perfected, and
have to perform the whole labour of mastication, by
which they are to be in time worn away, the third
immediately begin to form in the rear of them ; and
they continue growing from the end of the second to
the end of the fifth year, by which time the second
teeth are nearly exhausted, and the third occupy their
place. These third ones have twelve or thirteen
laminae, and are consequently much longer, that is,
they occupy a greater length of the jaw than their
predecessors ; and the jaw itself of course lengthens
in proportion. The third set lasts from the beginning
of the sixth year to the end of the ninth, at the last
of which periods it gives place to the fourth set, ou
which the number of laminae to each tooth is fifteen
or sixteen. This process goes on during the life of
the animal, every succeeding set of teeth consisting
of a greater number of laminae, occupying a greater
length of the jaw, and requiring at least a year longer
than its predecessor to bring it to maturity.

We have been thus particular in describing the
mode of dentition in the elephant, because there is
nothing like it in the whole animal kingdom ; and as
it evinces a power of reproduction without end in the
teeth which those animals use in feeding, it may be
considered as an indication of great longevity ; the
more so, that the teeth of most animals are the parts
of them which are apt to suffer the earliest decay.
There is something slightly analogous to this in the
cutting teeth of some of the rodent animals, especially
in those which have to gnaw bark and other hard

substances for their food ; and these are me teeth
whicn in their substance most resemble the teeth of
the elephant. Those teeth in the rodent animals
are, however, simply cutting teeth, and not used in
bruising or grinding their food ; they are therefore
simple chisels, with a layer of enamel on the front
side, and the supporting substance, which is not un-
like ivorj', placed behind, and so much lower on the
gum as to allow the cutting edge of the enamel to act.
Those teeth 'grow for life, as well as the teeth of the •
elephant ; but they do this, not by any replacement
of the old tooth by a new one, but by the growth of
the same individual teeth at the roots, as they are
worn away at the points. Thus the analogy between
them is comparatively a very slight one : and the
elephant must still be allowed to be the only possessor
of that singular reproduction of the teeth, by which
it is distinguished from every other known animal.

But though this reproduction of the teeth is, in
itself, a very decided proof that elephants are long-
lived animals, it furnishes us with iio duta whereby
we are able to ascertain the exact age to which they
live. Nor have we sufficient knowledge of elephants
in a state of nature for enabling us to get at the fact
by observation, as elephants in this state are not
often seen, except when they are to be captured for
servitude, or hunted for the sake of their tusks, the
last of which, probably, conduces the most to their
extermination. There are recorded instances, how-
ever, of elephants living to the age of one hundred
and fifty years in a state of servitude ; and if we add
half to that period, or even double it, we shall not
perhaps over-rate their duration in a state of freedom.

It is probable that the decay of elephants in old
age arises from the stiffening of the joints ; for four
or five tons constantly borne, is a heavy pressure on
the working structure of an animal. This stir!', ning
of the joints in advanced age may also, in part, have
given rise to the old fabulous belief, that elephants
are incapable of bending their legs, so as to lie down,
or even to kneel, for the purpose of repose. In the
case of young elephants this is not true, for tln-y
lie'down to sleep in the same way us oiher animals,
though probably not quite so often. When they are
old they are said not to lie down often, even for
the purpose of sleeping ; and instances are men-
tioned of elephants in India, subjected to labour,
which did not lie down far twelve months or more,
though, they occasionally slept a little on their
feet. The wild ones are said to take their occa-
sional repose leaning against the bole of a tree. IP
confinement in this country, we believe, they take
their repose leaning against the sides of their dens ;
but an elephant in a den, and exposed to tne climate
of this country, is so much out of its natural element,
that no conclusion drawn from observing it will
apply to the race in a state of nature.

The voice of the elephant, as usually heard in a
state of confinement, is almost as hollow as the roar
of a lion, though it wants the peculiarly offensive
roughness of the lion's voice, which grates so harshly
upon the ear, and puts one in mind of the rending
and mangling of the flesh of animals. But this
disagreeably hollow sound is not the only one
uttered by the elephant, or even the most common
one, where the animal is free and at its ease. The
elephant has three voices : one which is shrill, but
ends in a murmur, as if the animal were coaxing ; one
which is deep, but soft and complaining ; and one,

Eleph

ELEPHANT.

401

which is the harsh and hollow roar, which is most
frequently heard from the confined animal. The
first of these is sportive, and, so long as the animal
utters it, there is nothing to be feared. The second
is complaint, and, if the cause of it be found out and
removed, it will give place to the first, and there is
still no danger ; but the third is indignation or
revenge, or both united, and then it is not safe to
come near the animal.

From the character of their teeth, the only teeth
which they use in the preparation of their food, it is
needless to say that elephants feed only upon vege-
table substances. As is very generally the case with
vegetable feeders, they prefer succulent matters, and
especially such as are sweet, or have otherwise an
agreeable flavour. In their native forests it is pos-
sible that they do not meet with much food of this
kind, but subsist chiefly upon the coarse grasses in
the openings of the forests, and the leaves and young
branches of shrubs and trees. They are social and
gregarious animals ; and the herds in which they
assemble depend, of course, upon the extent and rich-
ness of their forest. The old and young ones associate
together without the slightest animosity ; and though
it is not ascertained that the numbers of the two sexes
are equal, or that they live in pairs, yet they are almost
invariably led on by the eldest male and the eldest
female, which move in advance, and the others
appear implicitly to follow their motions. In India
elephants are most abundant in the thick woods on
the left bank of the Ganges, along the Brahmapootra,
and in the forests of Chittagong, farther to the east.
The places of Bengal, in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the forests on the Ganges, are exceedingly
rich, and well adapted for all the more valuable pro-
ducts of the Indian soil ; and, therefore, in them
cultivation is carried closer to the forests than in the
less fertile parts of the country. The consequence
is, that elephants, though perhaps not so numerous
there as in Chittagong, are much more frequently
seen. The herds also occasionally invade the cul-
tivated fields, eating vast quantities of green sugar-
canes, rice, bananas, and other crops, and trampling
down and destroying the remainder with their great
feet. They are also very bold and very formidable
in their invasions ; and unless the people can rise
en masse, and drive them off with torches and cannon
shot, they must just look on, and behold the ruin of
their fields, until it shall please the elephants to
retire.

The keeping of an elephant is a very expensive
matter, the quantity of food required being from one
hundred to one hundred and fifty pounds' weight every
day. This is, however, the quantity estimated for a full-
grown elephant in perfect health ; and the small and
sickly ones, which are generally in this country, do
not require so much food. Chunee, whose death, or
perhaps murder, in the menagerie at Exeter Change,
some years ago, excited so much of the public atten-
tion, was a sturdy fellow in this way ; and though he
had been cooped up in menageries, and been made
to play on the boards of national theatres, kept his
health well, and grew apace till he reached the weight
of nearly four tons. No inquest was held upon him,
but it was whispered among zoologists that Chunee's
fury was not the sole cause of his death. The two
supplemental ones which were mentioned were, first,
that as the place was to be taken down and the ani-
mals removed, the removal of Chunee would have

NAT. HIST. — VOL. IT.

been a matter of great expense and labour, and not
altogether free from clanger.either to himselt'or to those
about him ; and, secondly, that Chunee required so
much food, and people had become so familiarised to
the sight of him, that he had become a losing specu-
lation. We know not what truth there may be in
these surmises, or whether there may be any truth in
them at all, though we mention them as connected
with one of the largest and most vigorous elephants
that ever was exhibited in this country. True or
false, no blame whatever can by possibility attach to
the owner. The animal was property lawfully pur-
chased ; and we know of no law to prevent a man
from killing his own elephant, any more than for
killing his own mutton.

As we hinted in a previous part of this article, the
old prejudice that elephants scorn to breed in a state
of confinement, is totally without foundation. From
the great excitement of the males during the rutting
time, it is natural to suppose that when they are in
confinement, or poorly fed, or severely worked, their
system will not be stimulated to the requisite degree ;
and, therefore, the young elephants which are born
in confinement are exceedingly few ; and no instance
of it has occurred in modern Europe. From some
accounts given both by ^Elian and Columella, it should
seem that in the time of the Romans, when elephants
were kept by them for the purposes of ostentation or
of war, there were at least a few of young produced
in confinement. But the most decisive evidence that
we have of this point is from Mr. Corse Scott, who
from his residence at Tipperah, in the eastern part of
Bengal, had excellent opportunities of studying the
natural history of elephants, and who improved those
opportunities to admiration. Mr. Scott had an ele-
phant born on his own premises, both parents of which
were in his possession for some time previous to the
commencement of the gestation. By this means Mr.
Scott established, for the first time, we believe, an
important fact in the economy of these animals,
namely, the exact length of time that the female goes
with young. This had been previously mentioned by
writers on the natural history of the elephant, but
apparently from hearsay ; but Mr. Scott ascertained
it to be from the first of July, 1793, to within a day
or two of the first of April, 1795, which may be con-
sidered as exactly twenty months ; and from all the
rest of his observations he had no reason to conclude
that the period is ever different from this. Both of
Mr. Scott's elephants were above the standard required
by the army in India ; but the female was not old, for
during the period of her gestation she increased five
inches in height.

The young elephant at its birth stands about three
feet high, and it grows nearly a foot more the first
year, two-thirds of a foot the second, half a foot the
third, five inches the fourth, rather less in the fifth,
between three and four inches in the sixth, and two
and a half in the seventh. Tnus, there is a yearly
diminution in the quantity grown ; and it is probable
that ultimately this growth ceases, though there is
every reason to believe that the oldest elephants of
both sexes are the largest.

The young begins very early to suck ; and while it
performs this operation with the mouth, it at the same
time presses the teat with the trunk to aid the flow of
the milk. In a state of nature, the female elephant ap-
pears to have very little attachment to her young, less
so than most animals ; for it is stated that when a female
CC

402

ELEPHANT.

with her young one is captured, two or three days'
absence will make her entirely forget it — though the
young one itself recognises her, and utters the most
plaintive cries for the purpose of attracting her atten-
tion. This fact, which appears to be well authenti-
cated, is pretty strong evidence against the sagacity,
affection, and other half-reasoning qualities which
fiction has attributed to the elephant.

As the pastures of the elephant are perennial pas-
tures which feel no season of want — and, indeed, such
pastures only are adapted to animals requiring so
much food, elephants have no rutting season, com-
mon or nearly common to the whole herd, for young
ones are found at all stages of their growth at almost
every season of the year. The length of time during
which the female elephant suckles her young one, has
not been accurately ascertained ; and, indeed, from
the indifference to it which we have mentioned that
she shows, it is highly probable that the period varies
much according to circumstances. There seems to be
a natural provision for this in the early appearance
of the milk teeth in young elephants, which, though
small in the first instance, appear to be capable of
masticating the softer vegetables when the animal is
only a few weeks old : this may be a necessary pro-
vision in the economy of elephants, because at certain
seasons the female may have to range farther and
faster for food than her young one is able to follow
her, while the place which she leaves may still afford
a supply sufficient for the support of her deserted
offspring.

Notwithstanding the great size and strength of the
elephant, the fury which he evinces when excited,
and the perfect safety in which he lives in forests
which contain the most bold and ferocious beasts of
prey, and the most formidable reptiles, he is no match
for man, in even the lowest degree of civilisation.
The rude man has only to kindle a fire, and the ele-
phant flies in the utmost consternation ; or he digs a
Eit, and conceals it with green boughs ; the elephant
ills into it, and his very weight and strength are the
means of his destruction. The elephant is to all
appearance safe from the paw of the tiger, the jaws
of the alligator, the crushing folds of the python, and
e poison of the most deadly serpent ; but he has
no defence against the wiles of man. The countries
which he inhabits contain, amid the luxuriance with
which they are adorned, vegetable poisons of the
most mortal character. The rude man has found out
by experience how to concentrate these, till they shall
speedily curdle the blood, or benumb the frame even
of the elephant. So he dips his weapon in the deadly
virus, bends his simple bow, sets his arrow on the
string, takes his aim with certainty, and in brief space
the giant volume of the elephant tumbles lifeless on
the earth.

The animal senses of the elephant appear to be all
very acute ; while he is in health the whole of the
skin is sensitive to very trifling causes ; and the top
of the proboscis has probably as keen a sense as the
points of the human fingers. His eye, also, is keen,
though the range of his vision is probably not very
extensive. Indeed, sight is not the most useful sense
in such places as those which the elephant inhabits ;
and the senses of animals are in general adapted to
the nature of their haunts. The sense of hearing is
a much more serviceable one, among tall vegetation,
than that of sight ; and from the size of the elephant's
ears, and the freedom with which he can move them

backwards and forwards, there is reason to conclude
that, in him, this sense is very acute. That the
sense of taste is far more keen than in many animals
that feed upon vegetables, is proved by the fact of the
elephant being so partial to sweet or racy vegetables,
and even to sweetmeats. The sense of smell appears,
however, to be the leading one, both in enabling the
elephant to find that which he seeks, and to avoid that
which it is his instinct to shun. Some naturalists have
said that the proboscis does not possess this sense, but
the saying appears to be a mistake. Every animal
which has a perforated nose, whether that nose be
long or short, uses it as an organ of smelling ; and no
good cause can be shown why the elephant should be
an exception to the general rule. From the other
functions which this organ performs, it must be very
copiously supplied with nerves ; and we have direct
evidence that the elephant chooses or rejects those
articles which are offered to him by means of his pro-
boscis ; nor is there any instance mentioned of his
having ever attempted to distinguish scent by means
of any other part of his body. But the elephant
hunters know full well how necessary it is to give the
elephant the wind, or approach him on the lee-side
only ; for if they attempt to come upon him from the
windward, he is either off, or so excited and prepared,
that he becomes the hunter, and they the hunted.

The intelligence usually attributed to the elephant
is a different matter. We cannot say positively that
the intelligence of any animal is in the ratio of the
volume of its brain as compared with that of the
whole body, because the functions of the brain are of
too obscure and delicate a nature for being made the
foundation of absolute demonstration. Still the degree
of animal sagacity, leaving intellect altogether out of
the question, bears some relation to the volume of the
brain, although we are not able to say that they follow
the same numerical proportion, or even to state the
law in a numerical series of any kind.

That there should be an increase of the one with
an increase of the other, is in perfect accordance with
the general analogy of nature, which runs through the
whole system of animal life, and forms no small part
of the beauty of that system. The power, especially
the mechanical power, of a particular organ, such as
the clutching of a paw or the turning of a proboscis,
is a local matter, and may depend on the extent to
which that particular organ is furnished with the
energy of life ; and ganglions and local nerves may
accomplish this in the largest of the mammalia, as
well as in the most minute of the insect tribe. But
that which we call sagacity does not depend on any
thing local, it' belongs to the whole system ; and,
therefore, if we are to refer it anywhere, we might
refer it to the brain, or the central mass of the nervous
system ; at least, if we do not this, we must abandon
all analogy, and set at nought the results of all obser-
vation ; well, if we compare the brain in man with
the whole mass of the body (and the human brain can
be no more mental, at the same time that it is more
material, than the brain of any other animals) ; and
if we make the same comparison in the elephant, we
find that in man, when not overloaded with fat (which
is not understood to be particularly favourable to
sagacity), the volume of the brain is to that of the
whole body in the ratio of about 1 to 212. But if
we make the same practical comparison in the ele-
phant, we find the brain to the body in the ratio
of only about 1 to 500, thus forming a very small

ELEPHANT.

403

part of what it proportionally is in man. In as
tar as the analogy of nature is concerned, what has
been now stated appears to be conclusive against any
high degree of sagacity in the elephant, even as com-
pared with other animals. It is certainly inferior to
the dog, and probably also to the pig, an animal
which we are not in the habit of rating very high in
the scale of intelligence. But the pig may be taught
as many tricks as the elephant, though it wants some
of the mechanical apparatus for the performance of
them ; and a pig has been trained to stand and point
at game, which no elephant ever did, even under the
i in mediate guidance of its mahaut, with the conducting
iron stuck in the top of its head.

Whence, then, could have arisen the very general be-
lief in the sagacity of the elephant ; and why have the
Hindus given it a place in their temples as the god,
or, at all events, the emblem, of wisdom ? The second
of these questions, probably, involves in it the answer
to the first. The Hindus are not very particular in
the choice of their gods ; and a people who can
believe that there is certain salvation in the posses-
sion, or the mere vicinity, of a fossil shell (the Sal-
gram stone, which is simply a Cornu Ammonis], or
that cow dung is the most sacred of all substances,
cannot be expected to be very skilful or accurate in
their choice of the god or any emblem of wisdom.
Among the ignorant, what is considered as a w ise
look (though proverbially a sign of folly among the
better informed) is generally held to be the certain
indication of absolute wisdom. An owl is among the
most stupid of birds, which, taken altogether, are a
stupid race as compared with the mammalia ; and yet
the owl was the symbol of wisdom among the most
polished, and, on some points, the most philosophical
people of ancient times. We have not made these
few remarks with any view to the disparagement of
the elephant, but only to correct the vulgar prejudice
respecting it, and to elevate it to its true and proper
place in the animal kingdom, by doing what we can
to reduce the accounts of them within the bounds of
sober truth and real usefulness.

When noticing the principal haunts of elephants
in the wild state, we omitted to mention, that though
they are found in places which have always too
much moisture to prevent their being burnt up, and
are seldom far from the water, and very often swim-
ming and bathing in it with apparent pleasure ; yet
they always prefer the clear waters, which have
their banks comparatively firm. They sometimes
spout muddy water over their bodies with their
trunks ; but 'they do not wallow in the mud, or walk
upon the surfaces of deep and sludgy quagmires.
Their weight and the form of their feet are both ill
adapted for such places, and they would sink into
them beyond the power of extrication. Neither are
their feet suited to rough and stony paths, nor even
to those which are very much indurated, as the soles
of them are apt to get bruised, and thus the feet of
an elephant are the first parts that fail on a long
march. Elephants also move but slowly up a hill,
evidently on account of their great weight, and
although the same weight accelerates their motion
down hill, they are very much shaken and jaded by
resisting the downward impulse. Their place of
best, or at all events of longest continued motion, is
upon level ground.

Such is a summary of the greater part of what is
known of the elephant, in a state of nature ; and it

relates wholly, or chiefly, to the Asiatic species, for
the African one is hardly known, except as a hunted
animal, for his tusks, his flesh, or both — an elephant
being a feast of many days to the inhabitants of an
African village.

But from the length of time that the elephant has
been pressed into the service of man, for purposes of
ostentation, or for labour, makes him interesting as
connected with human history. Our notice of him
in this way must be very brief, but it would be in-
complete if we did not prepare it by a short account
of the manner in which elephants are captured.
This we shall take in substance, but in a very abridged
form, from the account given by Mr. Corse Scott,
and first published in the Asiatic Researches. We
shall do this because it is the production of a man of
practice, as well as intelligence, drawn up from his
own experience as a regular elephant catcher, at a
time when these animals were in much demand in
India.

We may observe, that tne country from the Ganges
and Brahmapootra eastward to the Mug mountains,
and from Chittagong, on the bay of Bengal, north-
ward to the mountains of Assam, is remarkable for
the humidity of its climate, and the luxuriance of its
vegetation, both in forest trees and in shrubs and
herbaceous plants. It lies in the line of both mon-
soons : and thus its dry season is very short, as
compared with that of India generally. Some of the
lower parts are swampy and unhealthy ; but a con-
siderable extent consists of gentle slopes of firm
ground, covered by rich forests and under growth,
and in every respect a chosen country for elephants.

In this country the herd of elephants is taken whole-
sale, by being driven into a series of inclosures
called keddah. This in general consists of three in-
closures, formed of very strong stockades on the
outside of deep ditches ; the third, or innermost
inclosure, being usually the strongest of the three.
It requires to be elephant proof, because, when the
animals get as far as it, they are generally in a state
of great excitement.

Previous to the hunt, some of the most intelligent
of the natives, who are conversant with the woods,
and experienced in discovering the elephants without
alarming them, are sent out to find the herd, and to
note particularly the direction in which it is ranging;
for as elephants clear the pasture before them, almost
as completely as reapers, they range on a course for
the distance of many miles. When they are dis-
covered, the keddah is constructed at a considerable
distance in front of them, but in the line of their
advance ; and all things being thus ready they pro-
ceed to the capture, which is a matter requiring great
skill and attention, and by no means unattended
with danger. When a herd is discovered, about
three hundred people are employed to surround it,
who divide themselves into small parties, consisting
generally of three men, each at the distance of about
twenty or thirty yards from the other, and form an
irregular circle, in which the elephants are inclosed ;
each party lights a fire, and clears a foot-path to the
station that is next him, by which a regular commu-
nication is soon formed through the whole circum-
ference from one to the other. By this path rein-
forcements can immediately be brought to any place
where an alarm is given : and it is also necessary for
the superintendents, who are always going round, to
see that the people are alert upon their posts. The
C C2

404

ELEPHANT.

first circle being thus formed, the remaining part of
the day and night is spent in keeping watch by turns,
or in cooking for themselves and companions. Early
next morning, one man is detached from each station,
to form another circle in that direction, where they
wish the elephants to advance. When it is finished,
the people stationed nearest to the new circle put out
their fires, and file off to the right and left, to form
the advanced party, thus leaving an opening for the
nerd to advance through, and, by this movement,
both the old and new circle are joined, and form
an oblong. The people from behind now begin
shouting and making a noise with their rattles,
drums, &c., to cause the elephants to advance ; and
as soon as they are got within the new circle the
people close up, take their proper stations, and pass
the remaining part of the day and night as before.
In the morning the same process is repeated, and in
this manner the herd advances slowly in that direc-
tion, where they find themselves least incommoded
by the noise and clamour of the hunters, feeding as
they go along upon branches of trees, &c. If they
suspected any snare, they could easily break through
the circle ; but this inoffensive animal, going merely
in quest of food, and not seeing any of the people
who surround him, and who are concealed by the
thick jungle, advances without suspicion, and appears
only to avoid being pestered with their noise. As
fire is the thing elephants seem most afraid of in their
wild state, and will seldom venture near it, the
hunters always have a number of fires lighted,
and particularly at night, to prevent the elephants
coming too near, as well as to cook their victuals,
and keep them warm. The sentinels supply these
fires with fuel, especially green bamboos, which
are generally at hand, and which by the crackling and
loud report they make, together with the noise of the
watchmen, deter the elephants from coming near ; so
that the herd generally remains at a distance near
the centre of the circle. Should they at any time
advance, the alarm is given, and all the people imme-
diately make a noise and use their rattles, to make
them keep at a greater distance. In this manner they
are gradually brought to the keddah. As soon as
they all have entered the gateway, fires are lighted
round the greater part of the inclosure, and particu-
larly at the entries, to prevent the elephants from
returning. The hunters from without then make a
terrible noise, by shouting, beating of drums, firing
blank cartridges, &c..to urge the herd on to the next in-
closure. The elephants, finding themselves ensnared,
scream and make a noise, but seeing no opening
except the entrance to the next enclosure, and which
they at first generally avoid, they return to the place
through which they, lately passed, thinking, perhaps,
to escape, but now find it strongly barricaded ; and
as there is no ditch at this place, the hunters, to pre-
vent their coming near, keep a line of fire constantly
burning all along where the ditch is interrupted, and
supply it with fuel from the top of the palisade ; and
the people from without make a noise, shouting and
hallooing-to drive them away. Wherever they turn they
find themselves opposed by burning fires, or bundles of
reeds and dried grass, which are thrust through the
opening of the palisades, except towards the entrance
of the second inclosure. After traversing the first
inclosure, and finding no chance of escaping but
through the gateway into the next inclosure, the
leader enters, and the rest follow ; the gate is instantly

shut by people who are stationed on a small scaffold
immediately above it, and strongly barricaded, fires
are lighted, and the same discordant din made ana
continued till the herd has passed through another
gateway into the last inclosure, the gate of which is
secured in the same manner as the former was. The
elephants being now completely surrounded on all
sides, and perceiving no outlet through which they can
escape, appear desperate, and in their fury advance
frequently to the ditch, in order to break down the
palisade, "inflating their trunks, screaming louder and
shriller than any trumpet, sometimes grumbling like
the hollow murmur of distant thunder ; but wherever
they make an attack, they are opposed by lighted
fires, and by the noise and triumphant shouts of the
hunters. As they must remain some time in this
inclosure, care is always taken to have part of the
ditch filled with water, which is supplied by a small
stream, either natural, or conducted through an arti-
ficial channel from some neighbouring reservoir. The
elephants have recourse to this water to quench their
thirst after their fatigues, by sucking the water into
their trunks, and then squirting it over every part of
their bodies. While they remain in this inclosure
they continue sulky, and seem .to meditate their
escape ; but the hunters build huts around them close
to the palisade, watchmen are placed, and every
precaution used to prevent their breaking through.

When the herd has continued a few days in the
keddah, the door of the outlet is opened, into which
some one of the elephants is enticed to enter, by
having food thrown first before, and then gradually
further on into the passage, till the elephant has
advanced far enough to admit of the gates being shut.
Above this wicker gate two men are stationed on a
small scaffold, who throw down the food. When the ele-
phant has passed beyond the door, they give the signal
to a man, who, from without, shuts it by pulling a string,
and they secure it by throwing two bars that stood
perpendicular on each side, and which cross each other
in the form of the letter X, and then two similar bars
are thrown across each other, behind the door next to the
keddah, so that the door is in the centre. For further
security, horizontal bars are pushed across the outlet,
through the openings of the palisades, both before
and behind those crosses, to prevent the possibility
of the door being broken. The outlet is so narrow
that a large elephant cannot turn in it, but, as soon as
he hears the noise that is made in shutting the gate,
he retreats backwards, and endeavours to force it ;
being now secured in the manner already noticed,
his efforts are unavailing. Finding his retreat thus
cut ofT, he advances and exerts his utmost force to
break down the bars which were previously put across,
a little farther on in the outlet, by running against
them, screaming and roaring, and -battering them like
a ram by repeated blows of his head, retreating
and advancing with the utmost fury. After he has
fatigued himself in this confinement, strong ropes with
running nooses are laid down, and as soon as he puts
a foot within the noose, it is immediately drawn tight
and fastened to the palisade. When all his feet have
been made fast, two men place themselves behind
some bars that run across the passage, to prevent his
kicking them, and with great caution tie his hind legs
together by passing a cord alternately from one to
the other, like the figure <x>, and then fastening these
turns in the middle. A strong rope is now put twice
round his body, close to his fore legs, like a girth,

ELEPHANT.

405

and tied behind his shoulders, then the long end is
carried back close to his rump, and there fastened,
after a couple of turns more have been made round
his body. Another cord is next fastened to the girth,
and from thence carried under his tail like a crupper,
and brought forward and fastened by a turn or two to
each of the girths by which the whole is connected,
and each turn of the cords serves to keep the rest in
their places. After this a strong rope is put round
his back, and made fast on each side to the girth
and crupper, so as to confine the motion of his thighs,
and prevent his taking a full step. These smaller
ropes being properly adjusted, a couple of large cables
with running nooses are put round his neck, and, after
being drawn moderately tight, and the nooses secured
from running closer, they are tied to the ropes on
each side. While these operations are going on, the
other hunters stand before the gate of the passage,
tickling his trunk, and diverting his attention with a
spike or a bunch of cocoa-nut leaves, or sugar canes,
so that the cords, in general, are made fast without
much opposition or difficulty. Occasionally, how-
ever, he will seize hold of the ropes with his trunk
and endeavour to break them, particularly those
which are tied about his feet, or he will try to bite
them through with his grinders, but the hunters then
goad him with sharpened bamboos, or very light
spears, so as to make him quit his hold. Those who
are employed in putting the ropes round his body and
over his head, are stationed above him on a small kind
of platform, consisting of a few bars run across through
the openings of the palisades, and as an elephant
cannot see anything that is above and rather behind
his head, they are very little incommoded by him,
although he appears to smell them, and endeavours
to catch them with his trunk. As soon as the whole
of the apparatus is secured in a proper manner, the
ends of the two cables which were fastened round his
neck, are brought forward to the outer end of the
outlet, where two tame elephants, which are trained
to the business, are waiting, and to them these cables
are made fast. After every thing is prepared and
ready, the door at the end of the passage is opened,
and the ropes that tied his legs to the palisades are
unfastened.

If the elephant is not very formidable or unruly, it
is sufficient to place him lengthwise betwixt two large
trees, about thirty or forty feet distant from each
other, there to bind his legs in contact together, and
fasten them close to one of the trees with six or
seven turns of thick rope ; likewise to bind one fore
leg, to which greater liberty is given by the length
and slackness of the cordage. The two tame ele-
phants are then disengaged from the wild one, and
conducted back by the tail to take charge of another
captive. This is a very trying moment to the wild
elephant. While guided by the tuition, and soothed
by the society, of his subjugated brethren, he remains
tranquil and quiet, appearing to forget his sorrows,
and to gather fortitude under his sufferings ; but im-
mediately that his companions march away, finding
himself closely bound, a solitary and helpless pri-
soner, he is agitated with all the horrors of despair,
breaks out into a roaring which makes all the forest
tremble, and in the fury of his extravagant grief fre-
quently falls a sacrifice to the exertion which he
makes in trying to regain his liberty. During this
period, cocoa-nut leaves and plantain trees are
brought to him for food. In the agony of distress,

he tosses them contemptuously away, or tramples
them with indignation under his feet. The cravings
of hunger, however, will after a while induce him to
eat, which he does with great reluctance at first, but
becomes gradually more resigned, and after the lapse
of a few hours he will feed very heartily. Whole
herds of elephants are taken captive in this manner ;
but occasionally a small party of hunters endeavour
to seize the males, which often sally forth from the
forests alone in search of richer provisions. In this
object the hunters are frequently successful, by
observing the following plan : — The places where the
elephants feed are known to the hunters, they advance
towards them in the evening with four trained ele-
phants. When the nights are dark these stragglers
are discovered by the noise they make in cleaning
their food, by whisking and striking it against their
fore legs ; and by moonlight people can see them dis-
tinctly at some distance. When they have deter-
mined upon the particular elephant they mean to
secure, three of the trained females are conducted
silently and slowly by their drivers, at a moderate
distance from each other, near to the place where he
is feeding. These advance very cautiously, feeding
as they go along, and have the appearance of wild
elephants that have strayed from the forest. When
the male perceives them approaching, if he takes the
alarm, and is viciously inclined, he beats the ground
with his trunk, and makes a noise, showing evident
marks of his displeasure, and that he will not allow
them to approach near ; and, if they persist, he will
immediately attack and gore them with his tusks ;
for which reason they take care to retreat in good
time. But should he be amorously disposed, which
is generally the case, he allows the females to approach,
and sometimes even advances to meet them. If
from these appearances the hunters judge that he
will become their prize, they conduct two of the
females, one on each side, close to him, and make
them advance backwards, and press gently with their
posteriors against his neck and shoulders. The third
female then comes up, and places herself directly
across his tail. So far from thinking of any design, in
this situation, against his liberty, he begins to toy
with the females and caress them with his trunk.
While thus engaged, the fourth female is brought near
with ropes and proper assistants, who immediately
get under the belly of the third female, and put a
small cord round his hind legs. At this time, should
he move, it is easily broken, and if he takes no notice
of this slight confinement, nor appears suspicious of
what is going forward, the hunters then proceed to
tie his legs with a strong cord, which is passed alter-
nately by means of a forked stick and a sort of hook,
from the one leg to the other, as we have described
before. A very strong cable with a running noose,
sixty cubits long, is next put round each hind leg,
immediately above the cords, and these are secured in
their places by other cords tied round the legs above
them. It generally takes about twenty or thirty mi-
nutes inputting on these ropes.during which the utmost
silence is observed ; and the hunters who keep flat
upon the necks of the females, are covered with dark
coloured clothes, which serve to keep them warm,
and at the same time do not attract the notice of the
elephant. While the people are thus employed in
tying his legs, he sometimes caresses one and
sometimes the other of his seducers, examining
their beauties, and toying with them, by which his

406

ELEPHAN1.

desires are excited, and his attention diverted from
the hunters, and in these amorous dalliances he is
indulged by the females. He is now generally so
firmly secured by the pressure of the tamed elephants
on each side, and by the one behind, that he can
hardly turn himself or see any of the people, who
always kept snug under the belly of the third female
that stands behind, and serves both to keep him
steady, and to prevent his kicking any of the people
who are employed in securing him ; but in general
he is so much taken up with his decoyers, as to attend
very little to anything else. In case of accidents,
however, should he break loose, the people upon the
first alarm can always mount on the back of the
tamed elephants by means of a rope that hangs ready
for the purpose, and thus get out of his reach. When
his hind legs are properly secured, they leave him
to himself, and retire to a small distance ; but, as soon
as the females go away, he attempts to follow them,
but, finding his legs tied, he is roused to a proper
sense of his situation, and retreats towards the forest.
The hunters now follow at a moderate distance on
the females, accompanied by a number of people
that had been previously sent for, and who, as soon as
the wild elephant passes near a stout tree, make a few
turns of the long cables that are trailing behind him,
around its trunk. His progress being thus stopped, he
becomes furious, and exerts his utmost force to dis-
engage himself ; nor will he then allow any of the
females to come near him, but is outrageous for some
time, falling down, and goring the earth with his
tusks.

Should the cables once break by these exertions,
which sometimes is effected, and he escapes into the
forest, the hunters dare not advance for fear of the
other wild elephants, and are therefore obliged to
leave him to his fate ; and, in this hampered situation,
it is said he is even ungenerously attacked by the
other wild elephants. As the cables are very strong
and rarely give way, such accidents seldom occur.
When he has by his exertions exhausted himself, the
trained elephants are again brought near, and take their
former positions. After getting him nearer the tree,
the people carry the ends of the long cables round
his legs, then back and about the trunk of the tree,
making if they can two or three turns, so as, to pre-
vent even the slightest possibility of his escape. To
confine him from moving to either side, and for far-
ther security, his fore legs are tied exactly in the
same manner as the hind legs were. With all the
expedition possible, he is now harnessed in the same
manner as those already described, and conducted to
his proper station. As soon as each of the elephants
is thus secured, he is left in charge to a keeper, who
is appointed to attend and instruct him, and four or
five inferior servants, in order to assist and supply
food and water, till he becomes so tractable as to
bring the former himself.

The first object of the keeper is to gain his confi-
dence, and, for this purpose, he constantly supplies
him with food, and soothes and caresses him by a
variety of little arts. Sometimes, however, the keeper
threatens, and even goads him with a long stick
pointed with iron, but more generally coaxes and
flatters him, scratching his head and trunk with a long
bamboo, split at one end into several pieces, and
driving away the flies from any sores occasioned by
the hurts and bruises he got by his efforts to escape.
The keeper likewise keeps him cool by squirting

water over his body. In a few days he advances
cautiously to his side, and pats and strokes him with
his hand, speaking all the while to him, in a soothing
tone of voice, and in a little time he begins to know
his keeper, and to obey his commands.

The keeper at length by degrees becomes familiar
to him, gets upon his back from one of the tame
elephants, and as the animal becomes more tractable,
he advances gradually forward, till at last he is per-
mitted to seat himself on his neck, from which place
he afterwards regulates all his motions. The iron
hook with which they direct him is pretty heavy,
about sixteen inches long, with a straight spike ad-
vancing a little beyond the curve of the hook. When
he wishes to turn him, he catches one of his ears
with this instrument, and by pressing it into his skin
makes him move in any direction that is required.
While he is training in this manner, the tame ele-
phants lead out the others in turn for the sake of
exercise, and likewise to ease their legs from the cords
with which they are tied, and which are apt to gall
them severely, unless they are regularly slackened and
shifted. In the course of five or six weeks, the
elephant becomes obedient to his keeper, his fetters
are taken off by degrees, and generally in about five
or six months he suffers himself to be conducted by
his keeper from one place to another. Care, however,
is always taken not to let him approach his former
haunts, lest a recollection of the freedom he enjoyed
there should induce him to recover his liberty again.
This obedience to his conductor seems to proceed
partly from a sense of gratitude, as it is in some
measure voluntary ; for whenever an elephant takes
fright, or is determined to run away, all the exertions
of the keeper cannot prevent him, even by beating or
digging the pointed iron hook into his head with
which he directs him. On such an occasion, the
animal totally disregards the feeble efforts, otherwise
he could shake or pull him off with his trunk, and
dash him to pieces. Accidents of this kind happen
almost every year, especially to those keeper who
attend the large males, and are in general owing to
their own carelessness and neglect.

The males are treated with much greater severity
than the females which is necessary to keep them in
awe ; but it is too common a practice among the
keepers either to be negligent in using proper means
to render their elephants tractable, or to trust too
much to their good nature, before they are acquainted
with their dispositions thoroughly.

It will readily be understood that, in order to repay
all the labour and compensate all the risk with which
their capture is attended, elephants, when taken and
trained to docility, must be of great value ; and per-
haps we cannot give a more correct estimate, whereby
the value of an elephant may be compared with that
of other animals employed in draft or carriage, than
by stating that a male elephant full grown, of the
largest size, and in the best health and condition, can
carry about a ton weight, and travel with it fifty
miles in the course of twenty-four hours ; and that,
if properly used, he may perhaps retain this power
for a century or even more ; so that he who purchases
a good elephant may be said to purchase an estate
for his grandchild. Carrying is not the only useful
purpose to which those powerful animals can be ap-
plied ; for their weight and strength tell equally in
traction ; and in this respect their strength tells much
more in proportion to the strength of horses or bul-

ELEPHANT

407

locks than it does in carrying. In using a team of
horses, the proportional expense increases, and that
at a pretty rapid rate; in proportion to the number
used. The reason of this is obvious : the horses can-
not by possibility pull exactly together, however
nicely they may be matched in point of size and
strength. This will hold good in the case of two, and
much more in the case of a greater number ; so that
the greater the number in every horse team, the greater
the expense of every pound weight that that team
pulls along. This is a disadvantage in the employ-
ment of combinations of small animals of which no
ingenuity and skill can get the better ; and though it
is not very apparent in countries which are intersected
in every direction by roads planned on the most
scientific principles and executed and kept in repair
in the best manner (which might be, if it is not, the
case in England) ; yet if we are to suppose a country
where such roads cannot be generally made or main-
tained, then we can understand something of the value
of such an animal as the elephant.

There was a time when most of the merchandise
and produce, which was carried inland in England, had
to be carried on pack horses ; and then if the distance
was a hundred miles, or even fifty, the price of the
carriage was nearly equal to that of the common pro-
duce of the earth ; and thus, the several districts of
the country were cut off from each other ; and it was
no uncommon occurrence for the people of one district
to be dying of famine, while there was an abundant
surplus in another district, but no means of fetching
that surplus to the needy of which the expense could
at all be borne.

India is a country which from its geographical for-
mation, its physical character, and its vast extent, can
never be intersected by wheel-carriage roads as Eng-
land is. In the first place taking the mere extent
the wealth of the world would not suffice for making
the requisite length of roads for such a country. In
the second place, the transition from the lower districts
to the higher in southern India is so abrupt, tha
wheel-carriage roads are in many instances entirely
out of the question ; so much so that after the British
armies had laboured as much as they could at th
making of such roads, they found it necessary to dis
mount their guns from the carriages, and call in the
assistance of the elephant to pull them up. In the
third place, the rains in India, when they do come
come with such violence, especially upon the steep
where the construction of roads is most expensive, tha
they uproot the trees and tear the rocks in pieces
and of course no road, let it be constructed as i
may, could withstand the violence. Many place
of India must therefore, of necessity, always remair
what we may call a burthen country ; and as eithe
for a carriage on the back, or a dead pull, a
elephant concentrates into one effort a power equa
to that of a great number of other animals, th
elephant must become more valuable in India, in pro
portion as the country improves. Since the Britis
ascendancy was complete, India is in a fairer way t
improvement than it ever was at any period of it
history, long as that history is. It is now safe fron
those external invasions by which it was so often an
so cruelly plundered in former times : and we ma
hope that it is equally safe from those internal com
motions which were 'probably more calamitous an
destructive. Thus, though Iridia is among the oldes
countries upon the historic record, it is what may b

ailed an infant country in respect of the reciprocal
ntercoursc of its different districts for the welfare of

whole.

It is on this account that, with reference to India,
ue elephant has become more interesting than it was
t any former period. In the mere parade of an
.rmy, or in the march of a nabob, it may be a piece
)f gorgeous folly ; but if it can be employed to fetch
rom one district that which shall relieve the wants of
another, and stimulate, and by stimulating reward, the
ndustry of both, then the elephant takes a higher
ank in the scale of utility than has hitherto been
iven it, even by those who have doted and dreamed
about its rational powers, and even were those
)owers real, they would sink it to nothing in com-
)arison of the usefulness of the animal as a beast of
>urden, to India in a state of union and general in-
dustry. It is from a feeling of this kind that we have
)een induced to go a little more into the history of
this noble animal, (and viewing it as an animal it is
truly a noble one,) than we otherwise might have
done ; and this will justify us in adding a little more,
in order to remove a pretty general prejudice that
;here is against the elephant, on account of the sup-
posed length of time which it hurbours revenge, and
the indignity it feels at being made subservient to the
use of man. So far as we have been able to carry
our observation and experience, nature bears out the
declaration of Holy Writ that the dominion of man
over the rest of the world is universal ; and that,
whenever he fails in it, it is in consequence of his own
ignorance — ignorance either of the proper use of the
creature, or of the means of applying it to that use.

For the means of demonstration here we must again
have recourse to the grand authority for rational
information on the subject of the elephant, Mr. Corse
Scott ; and we have the less hesitation in doing so,
that while Mr. Scott conveys nothing but the truth,
and no truth but that which is really and practically
useful, he contrives at the same time to make all his
statements very pleasant reading ; so that his plain
matter-of-fact has more charm in it than the romance
of almost any other man. " In June 1 787," says Mr.
C. Scott, " Jaltra Mungul, a male elephant taken the
year before, was travelling in company with some
other elephants towards Chittagorig, laden with a
tent and some baggage, for our accommodation in the
journey. Having come upon a tiger's track, which
elephants discover readily by the smell, he took fright,
and ran off to the woods, in spite of the efforts of the
driver. On entering the wood, the driver saved him-
self by springing from the elephant and clinging to
the branch of a tree under which he was passing.
When the elephant got rid of his driver, he soon con-
trived to shake off his load. As soon as he ran away,
a trained female was despatched after him, but could
not get up in time to prevent his escape ; she, how-
ever, brought back his driver, and the load he had
thrown off, and we proceeded without any hope of
ever seeing him again. Eighteen months after this,
when a herd of elephants had been taken, and had
remained several days in the inclosure, till they were
enticed into the outlet, then tied and let out in the
usual manner, one of the drivers, viewing a male
elephant very attentively, declared he resembled the
one which had run away. This excited the curiosity
of every one to go and look at him ; but when any
person came near, the animal struck at them with his
trunk, and, in every respect, appeared as wild and

408

ELEPHANT.

outrageous as any of the other elephants. At length
an old hunter coming and examining him narrowly,
declared that he was the very elephant that had made
his escape about eighteen months before. Confident
of this, he boldly rode up to him on a tame elephant,
and ordered him to lie down, pulling him by the ear
at the same time. The animal seemed quite taken
by surprise, and instantly obeyed the word of com-
mand with as much quickness as the ropes with which
he was tied permitted ; uttering, at the same time, a
peculiar shrill squeak through his trunk, as he had
been formerly known to do, by which he was imme-
diately recognised by every person who had ever
been acquainted with this peculiarity. Thus we see
that this elephant, for the space of eight or ten days
during which he was in the inclosure, and even while
he was tying in the outlet, appeared equally wild and
fierce as the boldest elephant then taken, so that he
was not even suspected of having been formerly taken
till he was conducted from the outlet. The moment,
however, he was addressed in a commanding tone, the
recollection of his former obedience seemed to rush
upon him at once, and without any difficulty he per-
mitted a driver to be seated on his neck, who, in a
few days, made him as tractable as ever."

This account of the sagacity of the elephant we
shall conclude, by quoting some of those stories which
have been commonly related as illustrative of the
degree of intellect which he is supposed to possess,
for the purpose of gratifying the general reader. In
the eastern countries which are still under the controul
of the native rulers, the elephant is sometimes exhi-
bited in a manner similar to that in which wild beasts
were on the arena of the Roman amphitheatres. We
shall give one instance of an engagement between ele-
phants and a tiger, in which great injustice appears to
have been done to the latter animal. It is related by Mr.
Finlayson, in liis account of the mission to Siam and
Hue, and took place on a grassy spot about half a mile
each way ; the governor, the mandarins, and the sol-
diers being present on the occasion. The tiger was
bound to a stake in the centre of the plain, the claws
being torn out, and his lips being stitched together. He
was turned loose, and attempted to escape, but in vain :
he next threw himself at length upon the grass, till,
seeing a large elephant with long tusks approach, he
rose and faced the coming danger. The elephant
was, by this attitude, and the horrid growl of the tiger,
too much intimidated, and turned aside ; while the
tiger pursued him closely, and struck him with his
fore paw upon the hind quarter, quickening his pace
not a little. The elephant being brought back to the
charge, rushed on furiously, driving his tusks into the
earth under the tiger, and, lifting him up, cast him
about thirty feet. The tiger lay as if dead, yet he
had sustained no material injury ; for, on the next
attack, he threw himself into an attitude of defence,
and, as the elephant was again about to take him up,
he sprung upon his forehead, fixing his hind feet upon
the trunk of the former. The elephant was wounded,
and so frightened that he fairly ran off, and could not
be rallied to the fight again. Another elephant was
now brought, but the tiger made less resistance, it
being evident that the tosses he received must soon
occasion his death. Other elephants with tusks were
brought forward : their attack was in every instance
by rushing upon the tiger, thrusting their tusks under
him, and throwing him to a distance. Of their trunks
they were evidently very careful, rolling them cau-

tiously under the chin. When the tiger was perfectly
dead, an elephant was brought up, who, instead of
raising him with his tusks, seized him with his trunk,
and cast him to the distance of thirty feet.

Elephants in India were once employed in the
launching of ships. One was directed to force a very
large vessel into the water, but which proved supe-
rior to his strength. In a sarcastic tone of voice his
master desired the keeper to take away the lazy beast,
and bring another in his stead ; the distressed animal
instantly increased his efforts, in doing which he frac-
tured his skull on the spot.

An elephant in Delhi, passing along the streets put
his trunk into a tailor's shop, where several people
were at work ; one of them pricked the end of it with
his needle. The beast passed on ; but in coming to
the next dirty pool of water filled his trunk with it,
and returned apparently in great wrath back to the
shop, where, upon arriving, he discharged the whole
contents over those who had offended him, and entirely
spoiled their work.

An elephant in Ajmeer, which passed frequently
through the bazaar or market, as he went by a
certain herb woman, always received from her a
mouthful of greens. At length he was seized with
one of his periodical fits of rage, broke from his
fetters, and, running through the market, put the
crowd to flight, and among others this woman, who
in haste forgot a little child she had brought with
her. The animal, gratefully recollecting the spot
where his benefactress was wont to sit, laid aside his
fury, and taking up the infant gently in his trunk
placed it safely on a stall before a neighbouring
house. In the Dekan, another elephant, not having
received some arrack which had been promised by
the cornac, or governor, by way of revenge killed
him. The comae's wife, who was an eye-witness to
this, took her two children and flung them before the
elephant, saying, " Now you have destroyed their
father, you may as well put an end to their lives and
mine." He instantly stopped, relented, took the
biggest of the children, placed him on his neck,
adopted him for his cornac, and never afterwards
would permit any body else to mount him.

There was a soldier at Pondicherry, who was ac-
customed, whenever he received his share of liquor,
to carry a certain quantity of it to one of these
animals, having drunk rather too freely one day, and
finding himself pursued by the guards, who were
going to take him to prison, he took refuge under the
elephant's body and fell asleep. The guard tried to
force him from this asylum in vain, as the elephant
protected him with his trunk. The following morn-
ing, the soldier recovering from his drunken fit,
shuddered with horror to find himself stretched
under the belly of this huge animal. The elephant,
which, without doubt, perceived the man's embarrass-
ment, caressed him with his trunk in order to inspire
him with courage, and made him understand that he
might now depart in safety.

A painter was desirous of drawing the elephant,
which was kept in the menagerie at Versailles, in an
uncommon attitude, which was that of holding >his
trunk raised up in the air, with his mouth open.
The painter's boy, in order to keep the animal in
this posture, threw fruit into his mouth ; but as he had
frequently deceived him, and made him an offer only
of throwing the fruit, he grew angry, and, as if he
had known the painter's intention of drawing him

ELEPHANT.

409

was the cause of the affront that was offered him,
instead of revenging himself on the lad, he turned
his resentment on the master, and taking up a
quantity of water in his trunk, threw it on the paper
which the painter was drawing on and spoiled it.

'In Britain it was some time ago found necessary,
in consequence apparently of the declining interest
of the drama, as performed by human beings, to in-
troduce the elephant on the boards as an actor ; and
whether we may consider that this introduction did
or did not contribute to establish the taste of that
nation which produced Shakspeare, the histrionic
elephant became the most renowned actor of its
time. A female elephant was thus made to take a
part, in short to become an actor requisite to the
plot of a dramatic performance at the Adelphi
Theatre, several years since. Among her feats was
that of uncorking and drinking several bottles of
wine, and supping with her stage companions around
her. Above all, she assisted the escape of some of
the dramatis persona: from prison, by kneeling upon
her hind legs, and thus forming an inclined plane for
the safe descent of her friends ; and this she did
unmoved by the glare of numerous lights, the sounds
of music, and shouts of the admiring audience.

Among the most interesting elephants kept in this
country, without any reference to profit, was one
which was lately at the Duke of Devonshire's villa
at Chiswick. When a lady departed for India, she
asked the duke in a sportive manner, what present
she should send him from that land of marvels ; and
in an equally sportive mood, the duke replied, " Cer-
tainly nothing less than an elephant." The matter
passed over, but in due time the present came, and as
long as the elephant lived it was a very interesting
animal. It was a female, perhaps not altogether full
grown, but remarkable for the gentleness of its dis-
position ; and from the kindness with which it was
treated, and the free range that was allowed to it, it
probably came nearer to an elephant in a state of
nature than any other which ever appeared in this
country. The house erected for her shelter was of
large dimensions and well ventilated, and she had
besides the range of a paddock of considerable
extent. At the call of her keeper she came out of
her house, and immediately took up a broom ready
to perform his bidding in sweeping the grass or paths.
She would follow him with a pail or watering-pot
round the enclosure. Her reward was a carrot and
some water ; but previously to satisfying her thirst
she would exhibit her ingenuity by emptying the
contents of a soda water bottle which was tightly
corked. This she did by pressing the bottle against
the ground with her foot, so as to hold it securely at
an angle of about forty-five degrees, and gradually
twisting out the cork with her trunk, although it was
a very little above the edge of the neck; then,
without altering the position, she turned her trunk
round the bottle, so that she might reverse it, and
thus empty the contents into the extremity of the
proboscis. This she accomplished without spilling a
drop, and she delivered the empty bottle to her
keeper before she attempted to discharge the con-
tents of the trunk into the mouth. The affection of
this poor animal for her keeper was so great, that she
would cry after him whenever he was absent for more
than a few hours. She was about twenty-nine years
old when she died, early in the year 1829, which was
understood to be of a pulmonary consumption.

We shall now very briefly notice the distinguishing
characteristics of the several species of elephants.

In the INDIAN ELEPHANT, or more correctly the
South Asiatic elephant, to which the chief part of the
preceding observations apply (Elephas Indicus), the
following are the general characters : the skull elon-
gated ; the forehead flat and even concave ; the
enamel which forms the cutting part of the grinders
disposed across the teeth in a series of flattened ovals ;
the ears large ; and five horny nails on each of the
fore feet, and four on each of the hind. In this spe-
cies the females, and in some varieties the males, also,
have the tusks very short, and nearly straight ; the
ears of the female are smaller than those of the male,
and the colour is dull grey speckled with brown, and
occasionally with a little white ; and species entirely
white are mentioned, which are, in all probability,
albinos, but which are held in great and even sacred
regard by some of the natives.

In the East Indies, elephants as well as Hindoos,
are divided into castes, only there are not quite so
many of the former as of the latter. In Bengal, and
we believe, generally, in those places of India where
elephants are much used, they are divided into two
castes : Koomareah, princely, or nabob elephants ;
and Merghee, or hunting elephants. The Koomareah
or nabob race is a deep bodied, compact, and very
strong animal, having a very large trunk (which is
always esteemed a great beauty in an elephant), legs
short, but thick in proportion to the size of the ani-
mal. This variety is preferred, as it is of superior
strength, can undergo much greater fatigue, and carry
heavier burdens than the others : an elephant of
the Merghee cast, when full grown, is generally taller
than the former, but has not such a compact form ; his
legs are longer, he travels faster, has a much lighter
body, and his trunk is both short and slender in pro-
portion to his height. There appears no predilection
in any of these elephants to have exclusive connec-
tion with his own particular caste, and hence the
mixed breed is held in greater or less estimation, in
proportion as it partakes of the qualities of the Koo-
mareah, or Merghee caste. In some elephants the
tusks are large, as in the variety named Dauntelah, in
which they generally project forwards, and curve
upwards. In the variety termed the Mooknah, the
tusks are very small and straight, and point almost
directly downwards.

This species of elephant is said to be perfect when
the ears are large and rounded, but not so if the ears
are ragged and indented at the margin ; his eyes are
of a dark hazel colour, and free from specks ; the
roof of his mouth and tongue are without dark spots
of any considerable size ; his trunk large, his tail long
with a tuft of hair at the extremity, reaching nearly to
the ground. There must be five nails on each of the
fore feet, and four on each of the hind ones, making
in all eighteen ; he carries his head high : the arch
or curve of his back gradually rising from the shoulder
to the middle, descending from thence to the insertion
of the tail.

The species now under notice is peculiar to the
low grounds of Asia, southward of the central moun-
tains ; though it is not confined to the main land, but
is found abundantly in many of the islands, and espe-
cially in Ceylon. In the more remote islands of the
eastern sea, it is not met with, nor is there a single
vestige of it, or of its bones, in the whole extent of
Australia. Indeed, it is worthy of remark, that while

410

ELEPHANT.

the bones of the fossil elephant of the north, of which,
probably, not a single specimen has been alive since
the historic record commenced, are found in such
numbers, the bones of the living elephant should
rarely be met with. No doubt there is a much
stronger conservative principle in the cold atmo
sphere of the north than in the warm one of the
south, especially where that atmosphere is humid as
well as warm, as it is in all the places which are
inhabited by elephants ; and, perhaps, when we con-
sider that in the elephant countries the action of the
weather alone suffices in brief space to crumble build-
ings of stone into heaps, we should in all probability
not wonder very much, though it should speedily
reduce the bones even of elephants to their constituent
earths.

AFRICAN ELEPHANT (Elephas Africanus). In its
general aspect, this species does not differ very much
from the former. Its leading characters are : the
skull rather shorter than in the Indian species ; the
forehead rounded, and protuberant in the middle
rather than hollow ; the enamel in the grinders
formed into a sort of lozenges, which are larger and
fewer in number than those in the teeth of the Indian
elephant ; the ears are also larger, rise up much
higher above the general line of the head, and
extend farther backwards, so far, indeed, as to reach
and partially to cover the shoulders. The tusks of this
species are perhaps larger in proportion than those of
its Asiatic congener, and they are of more equal size
in the two sexes, those of the female being nearly
equal in size to those of the male. The tusks are
also of more compact texture ; so that African ivory
is of more value than Asiatic, as being susceptible 'of
a finer polish, and also stronger. We believe that
there are some rare instances in which the strength
of this animal has been pressed into the service of
man ; but they are exceedingly rare, and the animal
must still be considered as a free tenant of the forest.
It is found in all the rich and wooded countries, from
the Cape of Good Hope to the Desert of Sahara, but
not to the northward of the Desert, or in Egypt, or
indeed in any part of the valley of the Nile, or at
least of Sennar, to the northward as far as the Abys-
sinian mountains. The elephant indeed is but ill
adapted for climbing heights, from its great weight ;
and therefore we may naturally suppose, that as a
southern animal it must be bounded by such moun-
tains as those which we have mentioned.

The African elephant is inferior in size to the
Asiatic ; but it seems rather more hardy. It is equally
remarkable for the acuteness of its sense of smelling ;
and some remarkable instances are told of its powers in
distinguishing enemies. As it is hunted for destruc-
tion much more .than the Asiatic elephant, it is pro-
bably rendered more ferocious by this means ; though
it is not very easy to see upon what principle the
destruction of one animal in hunting should make
others of the same race more fierce towards the
hunters. It is for the sake of its tusks chiefly that
this elephant is hunted in the vicinity of the Cape ;
though the Hottentots eat the carcase with zest ; and
the ears, which are very strong as well as large, are
made use of as a sort of sledge. We shall give the
substance of one or two anecdotes from Sparrman,
as illustrative of the character of this animal. The
first shall be that of two farmers or boors, who began
the occupation at once without any training. On
the evening the wild elephant was observed, they

resolved to pursue it on horseback, though it was the
first time they had ever seen one. Their horses,
though equally unaccustomed to the sight as their
riders of this gigantic-like animal, yet were not in the
least frightened ; nor did the elephant indeed appear
to give himself any trouble about them, until they
were within seventy or eighty paces of him. At
about that distance, one of the party, agreeably to the
usual manner of the Cape huntsmen, leaped from his
horse, and fastening the bridle dropped on one knee,
and with his left hand sticking his ramrod into the
ground rested his gun upon it, took his aim, and fired
at the elephant, which had then got about lorty or
fifty paces further off; for when they hunt the larger
kind of animals in this country, they generally choose
the opportunity of firing at the distance of from 100
to 150 paces, both because they load their pieces in
such a manner that the ball may, as they think, do
more execution at that distance, and that they can
also gain time to mount their horses again and ride
off before the wounded animal can make up to them
to take his revenge. Our sportsman had scarcely got
into the saddle, and turned round his horse's head,
before he ascertained that the elephant was at his
heels. At this very instant the animal set up a shrill
piercing cry, which he imagined to pierce to the very
marrow of his bones, and which occasioned his horse
also to make several hasty leaps, and then gallop off
as fast again as before. In the meantime, the hunts-
man had sufficient presence of mind to ride his horse
up an ascent, well knowing that elephants and other
heavy animals are unwieldy and slow in ascending
up a hill, in proportion to their weight, and the re-
verse in descending a hill. By this means, he not
only more certainly distanced his antagonist, but his
companion had more time to advance on one side of
the elephant, where he imagined he could most easily
direct the shot at the heart, and the larger arteries
connected with the lungs of the animal. This shot
did not, however, hit in any dangerous part, as the
horse was rather unruly, and pulled at the bridle,
which the man had hanging over his right arm, at the
instant that he jumped off his horse and discharged
his piece in the same manner as the former had done.
This now turned the elephant upon this last antago-
nist, but he was soon wearied of pursuing him, as the
sportsman had an opportunity of riding away from
him up a still much steeper hill than his companion.
The two hunters now found that it would suit their
purpose better to hold each other's horses, so that
they need not get off, while each of the sportsmen
fired their pieces by turns. The elephant, even after
the third ball, still threatened vengeance ; but the
fourth shot had the effect of reducing his violence,
although he did not fall till he had received the eighth
one. Of course none of the balls aimed at him had
taken effect in a part immediately vital, because when
struck there the elephant will fall at a single shot.
We shall mention one other anecdote of the pursuit
of this animal ; and we give it because it is illus-
trative of the acuteness of the animal's sense of
smell. It was related to Sparrman by a hunter of
the name of Dirk Marcus, of course a Dutchman.
" Once," says Dirk, " in my younger days, when
from a hill covered with bushes near a wood I was
endeavouring to steal upon an elephant to the
leeward of me, on a sudden I heard a frightful
cry or noise from the lee side, and although I was at
that time one of the boldest elephant hunters in that

ELEPHANT.

country, I must confess I was in a terrible quaking, !
so much so that I believe the hairs on my head stood
quite erect. At the same time it appeared to me as
though I had several pails of water thrown over me,
without my being able to stir from the spot, until I
saw this huge creature so near me that he was almost
on the point of laying hold of me with his trunk.
At that instant I fortunately had the presence of
mind to take to my legs, and to my no small astonish-
ment I found myself so swift that I thought I hardly
touched the ground. The beast, however, was pretty
close upon my heels ; but having at last got to the
wood, and crept away from him under the trees, the
elephant could not easily follow me. I am quite
certain that he could not see me in the place where
I was at first, and that therefore he must have found
me out by the scent." So much for the escape of
Dirk Marcus, the Dutch boor, whose story no doubt
contains a good deal of the marvellous. Indeed it is
not an incurious matter in the history of mankind,
that while, upon all ordinary subjects, the Dutch are
the most matter-of-fact people on the face of the
earth, they are the greatest romancers in matters of
adventure and of natural history ; and it is possible,
indeed probable, that more unfounded but marvellous
stories of this kind originated with the early Dutch
navigators than with any other people on the face of
the earth.

But even Dirk Marcus was probably not so brave
an elephant hunter as the wild bushmen of the Cape,
whom the Dutch settlers used to be as zealous in
hunting and shooting in cold blood, as they were in
hunting elephants, or in carrying on a campaign of ex-
termination against the antelopes. The bushmen not
only shoot elephants with their poisoned arrows, bu
come to close quarters with their assagais or spears
with which they stick the great animal all over till he
is bristled like a porcupine, and the pain often causes
him to accelerate his own death ; as from his natura
instinct of falling upon and crushing the lion, when i
springs on the hinder part of his body, he falls upon
the spears, and by this means pushes them home t<
his vitals. When the inhabitants of one of the kraal
or villages of those rude people catch an elephant, i
is a day of as much joy as when the Greenlander
capture a whale. The flesh of the elephant is cut up
in ribbons, as is done with beef in South America,
and in many parts of Old Spain ; and this elephant
beef, by being suspended in the open air, and dried
in the intense heat of the sun, can be kept for a con-
siderable time, and is said not to be very unpalatable.
The trunk is an especially delicate morsel, because
the muscles in it, though "very numerous, are small,
and much more delicate in their fibres than the com-
mon muscles of motion in the body of the animal.
The feet, also, are very much prized, though chiefly
on account of the cartilaginous substance on the soles.
To a European, however, an elephant feast would,
probably, be but a sorry meal.

Independently of his living only in the wild state,
and inhabiting woods of more savage character than
those of Asia, there is a sullenness in the air and
expression of the African elephant. His head is car-
ried much lower, and less gracefully than that of the
Asiatic species ; and the apparent shortness of the face,
the want of squareness in the outline, and the bullet-

411

The greater size of the tusks, too, in proportion to
;hat of the animal, tends to increase this expression.
3ut notwithstanding all these disadvantages of appear-
nce, the African elephant is a highly interesting as
•veil as powerful animal ; and one almost regrets that,
ven for the sake of bushmen feasts and ivory trinkets,
e should have been hunted down with so much assi-
duity in those wild woods which, as they are not taken
jossession of by civilised man, might have remained
as birthright pastures of the elephant. In conse-
quence of this there are now few or no elephants
except at a considerable distance from the Cape,
though in the woods farther to the north they are still
numerous.

THE FOSSIL ELEPHANT (Elephas primogenitus). It
is doubtful whether as much interest has not been
excited, not among the students of nature only, but
even by the mass of the inhabitants in those places
where its remains are abundant, by this extinct ani-
mal, as by at least the African species of the living
one. The characters are : the skull lengthened and
the forehead concave, as in the Asiatic elephant ; the
under jaw much more obtuse than in either of the
living species ; the grinders larger, with the enamel
disposed in transverse bands or ribands set closely
together ; and the sockets of the tusks much more
produced than those of the others, as if these organs
had some more laborious office to perform. This
peculiar lengthening of the sockets, and general en-
largement of the anterior extremity of both jaws, is
conclusive evidence that the trunk of this elephant
must have been thicker at its base or junction with
the head ; and renders it probable that, if not a more
universal instrument, it may have been a more powerful
one than the trunk of either of the existing elephants.
From the skeletons, it is not probable that this lost
animal was of taller stature than his living congeners ;
but from the enlargement of some of the processes of
the bones, and various other circumstances connected
with the skeleton, there is some reason for believing
that it must have been of thicker body and more
robust frame, than are the elephants which still
exist. The following cut will furnish some idea of the
skeleton of this animal ; and any one who has seen a
live elephant will feel no great difficulty in imagining
it clothed with flesh.

shape of the cranium, all conspire to take off from
him that expression of sagacity which is, probably,
more imaginary than real iu his oriental congener.

It is not for what this animal has been in itself when
alive, and acting its part in living nature, that it claims
our attention ; for it forms a curious section in the

history of human belief, as well as in that of progres-
sive zoology. If its remains had occurred only in
those countries over which the conquests of the ancient

412

ELEPHANT.

nations of the east, or even of the Romans, had ex-
tended, then the remains might have been considered
as those of elephants which had been marched in the
trains of the conquerors, at least until science had
established those specific differences between them
which are now so well made out.

But those remains have been found most abundantly
in countries which, in all probability, the foot of
southern conquest never trod ; while in the range
of that conquest, and especially that part of it where
elephants were more likely to have accompanied the
armies, these remains are unknown. It is not proba-
ble that any southern conqueror of early times ever
crossed the Carpathian mountains, or the central
marshes, or even the southern steppes of European
Russia ; and it is equally improbable that any such
conqueror ever crossed either the central desert of
Asia or the Altaian ridge, so as to penetrate into
Siberia ; and yet it has been found that the remains
of those elephants are so numerous in many parts of
that country, that they form large banks, and almost
entire islands, in the lower parts of the great rivers
near their confluence with the Polar Ocean. These
are so numerous, and the tusks are in a state of such
preservation, that they form an article of commerce
as ivory. It is true that for a long period the natural
history of Siberia was very little known, and the vast
number of the remains of the fossil elephant there
were known only to the few savage hordes who carry
on their hunting during the summer in those dismal
wastes ; and it is still more recently that those re-
mains have been either found in an entire skeleton
with their natural connections, or that men sufficiently
skilled in comparative anatomy have joined them
bone to bone, in the same relative situations which
they must have held during the lives of the animals.

Previous to this period they had been found in
various parts of Europe, indeed partially in all parts
of it, from the shores of the Mediterranean to those
of the Icy Sea ; on the main land, most frequently in
the lower valleys, or near the estuaries of the larger
rivers. But they were not confined to the continent,
for they were observed in the British Islands, and
even in Iceland, distant as that island is from the
European shores ; but how they found their way to
such remote places is a point which has not been and
which probably cannot be determined.

Before science w.as applied to the rational solution
of natural phenomena, those bones gave rise to singu-
lar conjectures. Where only a bone or two was met
with, these were, generally speaking, considered as
human bones, as the remains of some giant race which
had peopled the world in times anterior to all memory.
This belief accorded well with the superstitions of the
northern nations, who are still inclined to ascribe the
erection of every ruin of which the history is lost,
as well as the production of many of those singular
appearances which rocks and the other permanent
works of nature exhibit in these wild places, to the
labours of the giants ; but when it came so far as the
finding of a tusk, of such dimensions as some of those
fossil tusks are, it tended to upset the theory of the
giants ; for though many of these had " terrible teeth,"
according to the generally believed legends, the tusks
of an elephant, weighing some sixty or seventy pounds
each, were rather too much for a giant even of the
first class.

In this way the bones were, in the course of time,
acknowledged to be the bones of elephants ; but as it

was not supposed, or even thought of, that elephants
of a race now lost could ever have inhabited the cold
regions in which those bones are most plentifully
found, a new belief was taken up ; and they were the
bones of the present race of elephants which had
been transported thither by some great convulsion of
nature.

Nor was there .any difficulty in finding out a con-
vulsion sufficient for the performance of this transfer ;
for in those days the fact of a universal deluge was
held perfectly sufficient for the solution of every diffi-
culty which could not be solved by any other means ;
and if any thing, be it what it might, was found in
the earth in a way that nobody could account for,
then all perplexity was solved by the simple allega-
tion that it had been " brought there by the flood."
It never occurred to those resolvers of difficulties,
that it was incumbent on them to inquire what a flood
of water covering the earth could do ; whether it
could move large bones from the valley of the Ganges
to the regions of the Pole ; and especially whether it
could place them in the situations in which they were
found. When those things came to be thought of, it
was soon discovered that the explanation by a deluge
would not satisfy the question. The bones were
placed in strata apparently deposited at different
times, so that several floods would have been required ;
and the different bones of the same animal were found
so near each other, that it was impossible not to see
that the animal must have been brought entire to
those situations in which the bones were found.

Of the fossil elephant the most perfect specimen,
and the one which put us completely in possession of
the anatomy of the animal, is that which was cast
ashore, frozen up in an icy tomb, upon the north
coast of Asia, about the close of the last century. In
the year 1799, a Tungusian fisherman observed a
strange shapeless mass projecting from an icebank
near the mouth of a river in the north of Siberia, the
nature of which he did not understand, and which
was so high in the bank as to be beyond his reach.
The next year, he observed the same object, which
was then rather more disengaged from amongst the
ice, but he was still unable to conceive what it was. —
Towards the end of the following summer, 1801, he
could distinctly see that it was the frozen carcase of
an enormous animal, the entire flank of which, and
one of its tusks, had become disengaged from the ice.
In consequence of the ice beginning to melt earlier,
and to a greater degree than usual, in 1803, the fifth
year of this discovery, the enormous carcase became
entirely disengaged, and fell down from the ice-crag
on a sand-bank, forming part of the coast of the Arctic
Ocean. In the month of March of that year, the Tun-
gusian carried away the two tusks, which he sold for
the value of fifty rubles ; and at this time (says Cuvier,
whose relation we quote) a drawing was made of the
animal, of which I possess a copy. Two years after-
wards, or in 1806, Mr. Adams went to examine this
animal, which still remained on the sand-bank where
it had fallen from the ice ; but its body was then
greatly mutilated. The Tungots of the neighbourhood
had taken away considerable quantities of its flesh to
feed their dogs ; and the wild animals, particularly the
white bears, had also feasted on the carcase : yet the
skeleton remained quite entire, except that one of the
fore legs was gone. The entire spine, the pelvis, one
shoulder-blade, and three legs, were still held together
by their ligaments, and by some remains of the skin ;

ELEPHANT'S FOOT — ELM TREE.

413

and the other shoulder-blade was found at a short
distance. The head remained covered by the dried
skin, and the pupil of the eye was still distinguishable.
The brain also remained within the skull, but a good
deal shrunk and dried up, and one of the ears was in
excellent preservation, still retaining: a tuft of strong
bristly hair. The upper lip was a good deal eaten
away, and the under lip was entirely gone, so that the
teeth were distinctly seen. The animal was a male,
and had a long mane on its neck. The skin was ex-
tremely thick and heavy, and as much of it remained
as required the exertions of ten men to carry away,
which they did with considerable difficulty. More
than thirty pounds' weight of the hair and bristles of
this animal were gathered from the wet sand-bank,
having been trampled into the mud by the white
bears while devouring the carcase. Some of the hair
was presented to our Museum of Natural History, by
M. Targe, censor in the Lyceum of Charlemagne.
It consists of three distinct kinds. One of these is
stiff black bristles, a foot or more in length ; another
is thinner bristles, or coarse flexible hair, of a reddish
brown colour ; and the third is a coarse reddish brown
wool, which grew among the roots of the long hair.
These afford an undeniable proof that this animal had
belonged to a race of elephants inhabiting a cold
region, with which we are now unacquainted, and by
no means fitted to dwell in the torrid zone. It is also
evident, that this enormous animal must have been
frozen up by the ice at the moment of its death. Mr.
Adams, who bestowed the utmost care in collecting
all the parts of the skeleton of this animal, proposes
to publish an exact account of its osteology, which
must be an exceedingly valuable present to the philo-
sophical world. In the meantime, from the drawing
(says Cuvier) which I have now before me, I have
every reason to believe that the sockets of the teeth
of this northern elephant have the same proportional
lengths with those of other fossil elephants, of which
the entire skulls have been found in other places.
Many curious and important facts are presented by
the geographical distribution of remains of this spe-
cies. They have been dug up in most of the coun-
tries of Europe, from the Mediterranean sea to the
Arctic circle. The greatest abundance of them occur
in Asiatic Russia. In the European isles they have
also been found, in Iceland, and several parts of Great
Britain and Ireland ; and their bones have even been
dug up in North and South America, and in Hudson's
Bay. We have given these particulars of the fossil
elephant, as well as of the living ones, rather more at
length than we can afford to do in the case of most
subjects, partly on account of the direct interest of
the subjects themselves, and partly because of the
mistakes respecting them, which are still current
among many people.

ELEPHANT'S FOOT is the Testudmaria ele-
phantipes of Burchell. It is a native of the Cape of
Good Hope, and remarkable for having the collet or
crown of the roots swollen to a very large size, and
covered with a tesselated bark of very curious sfruc-
ture. Both roots and stems are comparatively slender
and fugitive ; but the tuberous body is very durable,
there being some individuals at the Cape which indicate
two hundred years growth. A new layer of liber being
added every year, these may be easily counted on the
edges of the fractured portions of the exterior surface.

ELEPHANTOPUS (Linnams). A genus of West
Indian herbaceous perennials, met with in stove col-

lections, but of no great beauty. It belongs to Com-
posite, and is easily propagated by cuttings struck in
sand.

ELICHRYSUM, an exploded genus of plants of
Willdenow's, now included in that of ASTELMA, which
see.

ELK. See the article DEER for a full description
of this animal.

ELLIPSOSTOMATA (De Blainville). This
forms the third family of the second order Asiphono-
branchiata ; second class Paracephalophora. The
general character of the shells forming this family is
that of possessing a longitudinal oval aperture, some-
times transversely and completely closed by a cal-
careous or horny operculum. The form of these shells
varies, and they are generally smooth. The family
is constituted of the genera Melania, Rissoa, Phasian-
ella, Ampullaria, Helicina, and Pleurocerus.

ELMlDvE. A family of minute coleopterous in-
sects belonging to the section Pentamera and subsec-
tion Philhydrida, being of short form, and having the
legs formed for crawling, and the tarsal claws large ;
the palpi are short and the head inflexed. There
are two genera, Georyssus, Latreille, and Elmis,
(Limnius, Miiller), of which the species are found
under stones at the bottom of running brooks. In
this situation the larvae also reside. The writer has
taken some of the species of Elmis from stones in
water a yard deep. The structure of the organs of
respiration of these sub-aquatic species offers a very
interesting subject of research.

ELM TREE is the English name of the different
species of the genus Ulmus of Linnaeus. The elm is
one of our principal timber trees for usefulness, rank-
ing next to the oak. There are nineteen species
already described, six of them marked as natives of
Britain. The most valuable of all, U. campestris, the
common English elm, although completely naturalised,
is certainly not a native, as it is never met with in
forests, nor ever far from buildings, or marking the
place where buildings have formerly stood. Neither
does it ripen seeds in this country, showing that it is
a native of a warmer climate.

It has been stated that the English elm was intro-
duced into this country from Palestine during the
crusades ; but however this might have been, it is
very probable, from present appearances, that there
was once a time when it was very fashionable to plant
this tree. The oldest and finest specimens are met
with in the near neighbourhood of palaces, noblemen
and gentlemen's country-seats, and dotted over the
hedge-rows belonging to these residences. Some-
times we see them shading the old manor-house, or
sheltering the farm homestead, formerly the abode of
the wealthy yeoman, though now of a tenant who
cares nothing about trees.

Elm timber is less dural,'«5 than oak, either standing
or after being converted vo use. The tree arrives at
a great height with proportionate diameter of stem ;
but after three or four score *"*.ars, especially on light
soils, the bole begins to decay at the heart, and which
decay proceeds rapidly outwards till the trunk be-
comes a mere shell, in which state it will, however,
live and be increased in diameter for many years,
although quite hollow within.

This species is a very ornamental tree in all its
stages, more especially after it has acquired its natu-
ral character and specific habit, and the older it is
the more picturesque it becomes. When planted for

414

ELYMUS — EMBERIZA.

profit it should be felled as soon as a load (fifty cubic
feet) or a load and a half of timber is computed to be
in the bole. Better it is to fell a few years too soon
than one too late. One invaluable property of the
English elm is its tendency to stool, that is, to pro-
duce suckers from the root, which fully compensates
for its want of seed. Where once a tree is planted,
particularly in hedge-rows, there it and its young
progeny will ever remain. And it is no uncommon
case that the same hedge-row has been felled from
by the grandfather, father, and son, and yet the last
cannot perceive any diminution in the number of his
trees.

This tree is best propagated by layers. It is some-
times grafted on the common or witch elm ; but this
is a bad practice, because there can be no succession
of suckers of the right sort.

Middlesex is famous for hedge-row elms ; and there
the trees are most unmercifully shreded, that is, trim-
med up and divested of all their side branches except
a few at the top. This, though it causes the timber
to be of a knotty unwedgable character, is apt to
induce internal decay from the numerous wounds in-
flicted on the surface, some of which, if not quickly
healed over, admit moisture which penetrates to the
centre, or allows a discharge of sap, a defect to which
the elm is very subject.

There are several other species of elm, natives of
Britain and North America. The witch elm, a very
common sort, is of a more rambling growth than the
first, but the timber is less esteemed, though very
useful for many purposes in rural buildings and im-
plements. The cork-barked and Dutch elms are
admitted into our plantations for the sake of variety
only. The leaves are an ingredient in the " British
herb" tea, so much of which was lately condemned
and burnt by order of the commissioners of customs.
The inner bark of the elm, like that of many other
trees, has been, in times of scarcity, and still is com-
monly in the northern parts of Europe, ground into
powder and mixed with meal to make a coarse kind
of bread. The leaves form a good nourishing kind
of fodder, and in many parts of this island they are
given to cattle.

ELYMUS (Linnaeus). A genus belonging to the
natural order Graminetz, containing above twenty spe-
cies, most of which are found in the northern hemi-
sphere. Three of them are common in England, and
called lyme-grass. One of them, E. arenarius, is cul-
tivated on the sea-coast for fixing drifting sands.

ELYS I A (Risso). A genus of mollusks established
by Risso, and inhabiting the Mediterranean, but too
imperfectly known to be at present depended upon
from his description, and probably referable to some
genus already accurately described.

EMARGINULA — Lamarck; PATELLA FISSURA,
Linnaeus. Lamarck has constituted this genus of
molluscs from the confused genus of the Linnasan
patella. This shell is conical, more or less elevated,
and inclined to the anterior side, which is always the
least, and, opposite to the slit or fissure, elegantly
cancellated with longitudinal ribs and transverse striae,
a deep and narrow marginal fissure extending nearly
half-way to the summit ; the interior, with a muscular
horse-shoe impression, opens backwards, and is thicker
at its origin. Most of the shells of this genus are very
small, some are of an elevated, and others of a widely
depressed conical form. Lamarck only enumerates
two species, but more are now known. The animal

has an oval body, the mantle furnished with very
delicate tentacula, placed round its circumference ;
slit more or less deep at the front part, for the com-
munication with a very large bronchial cavity, in
which the branchiae are distinctly visible. Taking the
marginal fissure and its position with regard to the
other parts of the shell, very distinct species may be
distinguished ; but it is scarcely necessary to enume-
rate them in this place, as they would only interest
those naturalists who seek more deeply for minute
distinctions than the generality of our readers are
supposed to require. These shells belong to the
second class Paracephalophora, second order Cervico-
branchiata, first family Retifera.

EMBERJZA — Bunting. A very numerous genus
of birds, belonging to Cuvier's great order, Passeres,
and to the Conirostral, or cone-shape billed division
of that order, of which, in as far as the form of the
bill is concerned, they are very typical. This genus
has been extended by some authors to include a vast
number of birds, especially foreign birds, which from
time to time were imported1 in single specimens,
unaccompanied by any descriptions of their habit, and
named without much regard to the proper distinc-
tions of the buntings. Many of these, more espe-
cially the American ones, have been so well de-
scribed, and are so popularly known as buntings,
that we shall retain them, although strict regularity
of system would justify our describing them under
other names.

Bunting.

The general characters of (his genus are these :
bill very strong, short, straight, conical, compressed
in the sides, firm in the cutting edges, but without any
tooth or notch. The upper mandible narrower than
the under one, turned inward at the edges, and with a
hard or horny nob at the palatal end. It is in this
bill that the true character of the bunting consists ;
and every bird which has such a bill may be regarded
as a bunting, whatever may be its other characters.
This bill is well fitted for the breaking of shells or
the rinds of seeds, and ejecting them without losing
any of the farinaceous kernel, which, from the way
that the mandibles close, drops into the bill rather
than out of it. The wings are moderately long, the
second and third feathers being the longest, the tail
forked or lobed, and spreading out towards the

EMBE

extremity. The feet, with three toes before and one
behind, all free. The resident species have their
claws short and hooked, and adapted for perching on
trees, and also on the culms and stems of those her-
baceous plants from which they pick the seeds.
This genus live chiefly upon seeds, and consume a
vast quantity, seeking them indiscriminately upon the
plants that produce them, or on the ground ; but they
likewise eat insects. The snow-bunting runs on the
ground, but doos not perch. It has the claw, as in
the larks, with the hinder toe produced, or rather in-
termediate between the larks and the other buntings.
This genus of birds have plenty of voice, but no
song ; and as their vegetable food is better seen in
clear light, during- the heat of the clay, they are always
active, and incessantly keep up a harsh and tuneless
clattering. The air of these birds is heavy, and they
are careless, and very easily snared by the fowler. In
the autumn they get very fat, and the flesh of some
of them is highly prized. The common bunting has
rather a sober plumage ; but the others are equally
remarkable for the richness of their tints and the
beauty of their contrasts. Their want of song pre-
vents them, however, from being sought after for the
cage, so that they are neglected, and persecuted as
creatures formed merely for destroying or being
destroyed. It is true, that where small seeds are
sown and cultivated, the buntings commit consider-
able ravages ; and they likewise consume a portion
of the corn, especially of any patches that get ripe
before other parts of the field'; but during the rest of
the year they are of considerable service in con-
suming the seeds of the larger weeds which grow in the
fields, such as corn-marigold, ragwort, and other pests
of thin and badly-cultivated soils, though they are not
very welcome visitants in the garden. When seed
time and harvest are blended together throughout
the year, and seeds are sown at all seasons, the wild
birds, which remain true to the seasons, while man
forces his cultivation against them, are in so far mis-
chievous ; but in places where there are only seasonal
crops, that is not so much the case. The time at
which the granivorous birds are undergoing their moult
is when the crops are or should be ripe ; and as the
smaller seeds are preferred by all the little birds to
grain, and of course stubble lands to those which have
standing crops, against the time that they congregate
in flocks there should be always stubble for them.

THE YELLOW BUNTING (Emberiza citrinclla), Yel-
low Bunting, Yellow Hammer, or Yellow Yowley. —
This species has the tail-feathers blackish, the 'two
outer ones on the inner webs marked with one acute
white spot. The weight of the yellow bunting is, in
ordinary, about seven drachms, the length six inches
three lines, and the extent of its wing nine inches two
lines. It is an inhabitant of Europe from its southern-
most point, at least as far north as Soudmor, and it is
likewise found in the west of Siberia. In this and
many other countries it is of very common occurrence.
Its song is as little attractive as that of the common
hunting, consisting merely in a repetition of the same
note five or six times, and terminating in a more
lengthened and shrill one. But, besides their native
note, it has two particular calls, the one that of rally-
ing, which it in common utters when flying, and
during summer on the approach of evening"; and the
other expressive of its uneasiness when alarmed or
offended, especially when any one goes near its nest
or little ones. Many of them are supposed to travel

R I Z A. 415

southward during the autumn ; but those which remain
congregate in winter, mingling with chaffinches, spar-
rows, and many other small birds, approaching houses
in the day time, or even towns, or frequenting high-
ways, picking up little grains, and extracting them
from horses' dung. This combination of different
species, intent on catering, only lasts during the day ;
for some hours before nightfall the family separate,
and retire to their respective haunts, the buntings pre-
viously perching on the tops of trees, from which they
do not descend till after sunset. The male, from this
elevation, pours forth his note in the season of love,
sometimes for hours together, remaining without
changing its position. During the spring and summer
months, they frequent hedges and copses, but very
seldom the interior of forests. They alight very sud-
denly from their flight, which is very rapid, and for
the most part amidst thick foliage. The female bunt-
ing does not breed till late in the spring, and yet has
two, and occasionally three, hatches in the course of
the season. The nest, which is large and flat, and
rather simply composed, is generally placed near
the ground, sometimes under a clod, but more fre-
quently in some low bush or hedge, and consists of
straw and various dried stalks, lined with fine grass
and long 'hair. The eggs vary in respect of colour
and size, some being nearly white, and others having
a purplish hue, but all more or less marked with hair-
like streaks, and terminating with a roundish speck ;
and their number varies from three to five. The
female incubates with such ardent attachment, that
she may frequently be caught by the hand. During
the short period she is absent in search of food, the
male takes her place in the nest. The young are fed
with small seeds and insects. These birds in captivity
will live for six or seven years, and even longer ; but
they are liable to epilepsy ; and their music is too
little engaging to repay the trouble of rearing them.
Where small birds are used for the table, as almost
every description of them are in Italy, the yellow
bunting is frequently fattened for the market. In
flavour it very much resembles the lark.

The yellow hammer is one of the most common of
British birds, and it is also one of the most beautiful ;
but somehow or other it is not a favourite ; and, in
very many parts of the country, the boys seek its
destruction as a meritorious work.

THE COMMON BUNTING, or CORN BUNTING (E.
miliaris), is more a bird of the cornfields and hedges,
and less of the copses than the yellow bunting ; and
is considered, perhaps unjustly, as a great enemy to
the farmer. This species is found throughout Europe
and the northern countries of Asia, is not distinguished
either for its song or the beauty of its colours, and has
not so good a title to be admitted into the house as
the preceding. It has a very similar plumage to that
of the skylark, but surpasses it in size, being seven
inches and a half in length, of which the tail measures
three. The beak, measuring six lines, is strong, yel-
lowish on the under part in the summer ; and grey
brown during the rest of the year ; the feet, which
stand six lines in height, the same. The general tint
of the plumage is pale, reddish grey on the upper part
of the body, and yellowish white on the under,
speckled like the lark's with blackish brown spots,
broader on the back and narrower on the belly. The
quill-feathers are dark-coloured, as also the tail-iea-
thers ; the outer ones have a wedge-shaped but indi-
stinct spot of white.

416

E M B E R I Z A.

On many parts of continental Europe, the common
bunting is a migrant ; but in most parts of the British
islands it is resident the whole year, though it flocks
upon the lower fields during the winter, and lives more
dispersedly in the breeding season. In the Shetland
Islands, it appears in small flocks as a migrant during
the winter ; but as the spring sets in, and the nesting
time approaches, it entirely leaves those islands, and
is not found upon them again during the summer and
autumn. It evinces a preference to champaign
countries that abound in corn and meadows, being
very rarely found in uncultivated tracts, or even in
grass fields that are far from arable land. It may
frequently be seen on the highest part of a hedge, or
uppermost branch of a tree, uttering its dissonant
and harsh cry, which it repeats at short intervals.
These birds in this situation may be seen and heard
during the greater part of summer, after which they
may be met with in flocks, and continue so during the
greater part of winter. At the time the female is
busied with incubation, the male sits on a neighbour-
ing tree, and cheers her with his rude song, taking her
place occasionally at noon, when she is said also to
sing, perched in her turn. The nest is placed among
tall herbage, on the ground, or else in a very low
shrub, about four or five inches above the surface of
the soil, formed externally of straw, lined with fibrous
roots, or dry grass, and occasionally finished with
wool or long hair. There are from four to six eggs,
of a dirty white, spotted and veined with reddish-
brown and ash-colour. The young quit the nest
before they can fly, being fond of running on the
ground, and the parents continue to guard and feed
them till they are fledged ; but they not unfrequently
betray them from their anxiety for the safety of the
brood ; and if a person happens to approach near the
spot, they wheel round his head in a doleful manner.
They are sometimes brought into the market and sold
for larks, and, as an article of food, are not inferior to
them, but they may easily be distinguished by the
form of the bill and the tooth-like knob which they
have on the palate. The fat birds are reckoned a
great delicacy, but when they get old they are lean,
dry, and very tough. They are fattened in Rome in
the same manner as the millet. They are used by
the bird-catchers in the autumn as call-birds, and they
not only entice the foolish buntings into the snare,
but different kinds of small birds ; and they are put
into low cages without bars or roosts for this purpose.
As this species of bunting feeds its young, in great
part at least, upon caterpillars, and as its winter food
consists, in part, of the seeds of those plants which
are most troublesome to the farmer as weeds, it is
to be regarded as a serviceable bird, and not as a
destroyer.

THE FOOLISH BUNTING (E. Cia). This species
gets its name from the readiness with which it comes
at the call of any other of the genus, more especially
the yellow hammer, and the disposition which it has
to go into any sort of trap or snare. In appearance
it bears some resemblance to the common bunting,
but it does not inhabit either exactly the same coun-
tries or the same districts. It is found in summer in
the mountainous parts of southern Europe ; and
although it descends to the plains, and ranges at least
as far as the middle of Germany in the winter, it is
rarely seen near the coasts, and never, we believe ,in
the British islands. In size it is inferior to the yel-
low hammer being only six inches long, of which the

tail measures two and a half; the beak, five lines in
length, is very sharp, blackish above, and of a greyish
colour below ; the iris is dusky ; the legs are nine
lines in height, and of a brownish flesh-colour. The
head is grey, spotted with red, having small black
streaks on the top, and an indistinct black line on the
sides. The cheeks are light ash-colour ; a dusky white
streak passes from the nostrils above the eyes, a black
one crosses them, and uniting with a third that springs
from the under angle of the beak, encircles the cheeks ;
the back is reddish brown, speckled with black, the
rump light red brown ; the throat pale ash-colour, the
under part of the neck, to the middle of the breast,
grey, the rest of the under part of the body red, but
the belly is somewhat lighter ; the small wing-coverts
are dark grey, the others are black ; the anterior
quill-feathers are edged with a reddish colour, the
others, with the lowest row of the coverts, are red ;
the second row of the coverts have their points reddish
white, which form a band of this colour on the wings ;
the tail, rather forked, is black, the two outer feathers
have a wedge-shaped white spot on the inner base,
the two middle ones are bordered and tipped with
deep red. In this species, the female does not differ
very greatly from the male : in her the head is of a
grey colour, with black spots, and a reddish tint ; the
streaks are much less conspicuous than in the male ;
the ash-colour on the throat has a reddish tinge, and
is streaked with dusky black ; and the whole of the
under part is paler in the colour.

In the summer they disappear entirely from the
low and cultivated grounds, and are found only in
wild and upland places, though there they are inha-
bitants of the open waters, and not of the wooded dis-
tricts. They do not quit the low country till March
or April, so that it is probable that they have only one
brood in the year, whereas those which nestle in richer
places have, in general, if not invariably, two.

THE REED BUNTING (Emberiza Schcenidus). This
bird is nearly the size of the mountain sparrow, and is
sometimes, though very improperly, called the " reed
sparrow." It has been confounded by authors, if not
by observers, with another bird, to which it has little
or no other resemblance than their both inhabiting
the same places. In their structure, their habits, their
nests, their eggs, and even in the purpose that takes
them to the thickly matted aquatic plants, these
birds are entirely different. . The one is a genuine
warbler, having a melodious and varied, though
feeble song ; as such it feeds upon insects, resorts
to the aquatic plants for them, and does not quit
the country till the supply fails. The bird under
consideration is a genuine bunting, resident, like
the other short-clawed buntings, among tall herbage,
of which it eats the seeds, and hence it is found only
where graminiferous plants grow ; while the warbler,
makes merely its dwelling in the herbage, but does not
feed on any part of it. It is found among all the tall
aquatic plants, though mostly among ridges and reeds,
as these form the thickest matting in the shallows and
margins of the waters. The bunting is much the
larger bird of the two, nearly equal in size to the
yellow bunting, and double the weight, at least, of the
sedge warbler. The bunting's nest is very seldom
placed in the reeds, but mostly near, though it is occa-
sionally at a considerable distance, in a tuft or under
a low bush ; and when it is among reeds, it is placed
where they form a dry tuft or other support, and never
suspended to them by a basket-work of leaves, like

E M B E R I Z A.

417

that of the warbler. The eggs of the bunting are
greyish white, and not quite so numerous ; they have
a tinge of pale pink in them, and arc lined and
spotted with chocolate red, like the eggs of the other
buntings ; and those of the warbler are pale brown,
mottled with darker, and without lines. The reed
bunting is as destitute of any thing that can be called
song as the rest of the bunting genus ; and the sound
which it utters, such as it is, is delivered in daylight,
and while the bird is perching in sight of the observer.
The reed warbler on the other hand has a sweet
though subdued note, and it sings, in " shadiest
covert hid," only at early morn, or in the evening
twilight, and sometimes the live-long night.

The appearance of this species may be thus de-
scribed : length, about five inches and three quarters,
of which the tail occupies two and a half; the beak,
four lines in length, is black on the upper part, and
whitish on the under ; the iris is dark brown, the
legs rather better than nine lines high, are dark
flesh-coloured. The head is black, with reddish spots ;
a reddish white line extends from the base of the
lower mandible quite round the head ; it is widest at the
cheeks, and narrowest at the upper part of the neck ;
this part is ash-coloured ; the back is black, spotted
with white and red, the rump alternately grey and
reddish yellow ; the throat is black spotted; the rest
of the under part of the body is dusky white, with
some brown spots scattered over the breast and sides ;
the small wing-coverts are red, the large black with
red edges, in some they are whitish ; the pen leathers are
dark brown, bordered with pale red ; the tail is forked,
arid of a dusky colour ; the two outer feathers have a
large wedge-shaped white spot, and the two middle
ones yellowish brown borders. The feathers on the
head of the male never turn to so good a black after
moulting, when in the house, as in the wild state, but are
always browner and clouded with reddish white. The
head of the female is of a rusty brown, spotted with
black ; her brown cheeks are encircled with a reddish
white streak, which, passing above the eyes, unites
with another, which commences at the base of the
beak ; a dark streak passes down the sides of the
throat, which, with the under part of the body, is red-
dish white, much streaked on the breast with light
brown ; the colour of the back is lighter, but not so
clear as that of the male.

It is probable that buntings, and indeed all _ birds
that feed upon the farinaceous portions of seeds, in the
healthy state, are chiefly guided to their food by sight.
There is but very little scent in those seeds on which
buntings feed, and we do not know much about the
sense of smell in birds ; most birds appear to us to
have the sense of smell very imperfect, and in those
which have it very acute, as rooks, carrion crows,
mairpies, and especially vultures, it is so much more
exquisite than any thing of which we have experience
in ourselves, that we can say little or nothing about
it. The vcg.'iable seed gives no signs of its presence
by motion, either in producing sound, or in any other
way ; and, therefore, sight is the sense that they must
depend upon chiefly. With birds that are insectivo-
rous it is different, for most insects and their larva? smell,
and some of them smell very strong : and many of
those caterpillars which are quiescent during the day,
concealed or sticking out from the branches like little
abortive or unproductive twigs, are in active motion
during the night. Thus the hours of activity in the
two orders of birds vary considerably ; and though,

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

as all of them eat insects, and most of them vegetable
matter occasionally, they meet on the confines in a
sort of average of the two habits, yet, in the more
marked genera of the orders, the times of feeding are
almost reversed. In the* clear light, during the dry
weather, when the seeds are ripening- apace, the
buntings are all bustle, activity, and clatter, and the
warblers are songless in the "shade. On the other
hand, when night sets in, or when the weather con-
tinues wet, and the sky cloudy, the buntings chirp
dolefully about the hedges ; but the groves and thick-
ets are full of joy and song. The skylark is some-
thing intermediate, and is fondest of that weather
which first inspired him with song, — showering and
shining alternately. The reed-buntings are very ener-
getic in the air, and active in many of their motions,
especially those of the tail, which are even more rapid
than in the wagtails. The tail is forked at the ex-
tremity, and considerably produced and spread. The
habit which the bird has of clinging to the flexible
culms of the aquatic plants, with free use of its bill,
so that it may bruise the husks and pick out the seeds,
renders the powerful and ready motion of the tail as
a means of balancing, absolutely necessary. The
security and even the grace with which it rides, when
the stems are laid almost level with the water, now
on one side and then on another, are well worthy of
notice. It adheres not only as if it were part of the
plant, but it contrives to maintain nearly the same
horizontal position, with its head to the wind. In
action it is the most interesting bird that inhabits the
same locality, though not so in song. When the
autumnal winds and those of early winter have shaken
off the seeds, and the reeds themselves have been,
borne down by the floods, the reed bunting resorts to
other pastures, associating with the yellow bunting-
and the other graminivorous birds ; and in company
with them approaching houses and farm-yards, when
the weather is severe. With few exceptions, indeed,
the resident little birds seek the abodes of man in
the winter, and as instinctively come to pick up the
crumbs and grains which otherwise would be lost near
his habitation, as they resort to other places, and
destroy insects and weeds in aid of his cultivation,
during the summer. In autumn they enter the area
or decoy with the chaffinch ; in spring, when there is
snow, they approach the barns and dunghills, and
there, as well as in the open fields, and on the
hedges, they are very easily taken with birdlime or
a net.

THE SPARROW BUNTING (E. potterino). This
species must have been confounded by naturalists
with the preceding, or it would have certainly been
better known, as it is not rare either in spring or
autumn. It is a more slender and smaller bird than
the former, being only five inches long, of which the
tail measures two and a quarter ; the bill is li^ht
brown below and black above ; the iris is of a dark
chestnut colour ; the feet are three-quarters of an inch
in height and dusky flesh-coloured ; but the plumage
in general is simitar to that of the female of the pie-
ceding species. The male bird has the top of the
head red, with a grey longitudinal streak in the mid-
dle, and many black spots arising from the deeper
shade of the feathers, which appears in every direc-
tion : a dusky reddish white line passes from the
nostrils above, and also a little under the eyes, and
widening behind on the temples, chestnut-brown
breaks through a deep black, which reaches the sides
DD

418

EMBE

of the neck, and becomes a spot there ; a yellowish
white line passes from the under angle of the bill
down each side of the neck to the middle, and is lost
behind the temples with that which passes by the
eyes ; the throat is black clouded with pale grey, like
the house-sparrow ; the rest of the under part of the
body is greyish white, speckled on the sides with dark
chestnut, but the under tail coverts are pure white ;
the sides of the neck and upper part are grey-olive,
spotted with black, the rump is also the same colour,
with a reddish tint ; the small wing-coverts are a fine
red, the others have only a wide border of that colour,
the rest being black. The quill-feathers are blackish,
edged with olive-grey, the last with red ; the forked
tail is black, the two outer feathers have a wedge-
shaped white spot, and the two middle ones are edged
with red. In the female there does not appear any
black on the top of the head, as in the male, and the
colours are in general lighter ; a reddish white streak
passes above the eyes, another descends down the
sides of the neck from the base of the beak, a third,
but of a dusky black, extends from each side of the
chin to beyond the middle of the neck ; the throat is
a dusky reddish white, the under part of the body the
same colour, but continues to become paler to the
under part of the tail ; the breast and sides are
streaked with a red brown ; the nape and back of the
neck are reddish grey ; the back is longitudinally
spotted with black and reddish grey. When kept in
the house the black disappears from the head of the
male, and the upper part of the neck changes to
greyish white, spotted lengthwise with dusky black.

The favourite haunts of the sparrow-bunting are in
a mountainous country, where there are thick woods
and bushes. It is a bird of passage, which comes
some time in April and quits us in the latter end of
October or beginning of November. Its food is
grain of all kinds, and insects, when in the wild state ;
but in the house it is fed on the same food as the
reed bunting ; and resembles that bird very much in
its habits and song ; and may be taken with either the
net or birdlime. It is probable that this is only an
accidental variety ; and the same may be said of the
provincial bunting and some others which have been
named and described by authors.
. THE CIRL BUNTING (E. cirlus}. This species is
varied in colour above, and yellow beneath, and the
two outer tail leathers are marked with a white spot
wedge shaped. The cirl bunting is six inches and
a half in length. Is a native of Italy, France, and the
other warm countries of Europe, frequenting newly
ploughed fields, feeding on grains, insects, and worms,
which last it pulls out of the ground. Though not
uncommon in many parts of Cornwall and Devonshire,
it was first recognised as appertaining to the British
fauna by colonel Montagu, who met with it among
flocks of yellow buntings and chaffinches. It gene-
rally builds its nest in furze or on some low bush, and
is composed of dry stalks, roots, and a little moss,
and lined with long hair and fibrous roots. The eggs
are four or five in number, cinereous white, with
irregular long and short curved lines, frequently ter-
minated with a spot at one end. They pair in April,
and begin laying in the early part of May. At a
little distance the females might readily be mistaken
for the same sex of the yellow bunting, but are obvi-
ously different when closely compared. The note of
this species is also similar to that of the yellow bunt-
ing, but., shorter, less shrill, and the final part not

RIZA.

drawn out to such a length. The female has only a
gentle plaintive chirp. The principal food of the
young bird appears to be insects, especially grass-
hoppers; /and they will likewise eat various seeds,
canary being a great favourite. They can be tamed
very easily, and will live six or seven years in con-
finement.

The colours of the cirl bunting may be thus de-
scribed. In the male bird, the bill is bluish above
and pale on the under part ; the irides are hazel
brown ; a streak across the eye, and the throat
greenish black, with a bright yellow streak above and
a paler one below it ; gorget pale yellow ; the lowes
part of the breast and sides of the neck pale olive
green, with a soft tinge of grey, passing into pale
yellow on the belly, and again into mottled tints of
reddish or orange on the sides ; the centres of the
feathers on the head blackish, those on the scapulars
reddish orange, passing into blackish brown on the
back, and again into reddish brown on the rump ; the
darker ones margined with grey, the orange with
yellowish white, and the red with greyish white ; quills
greenish grey, with pale yellow margins ; the outer
feathers of the tail with white webs on the basal half,
other feathers blackish, margined with yellowish grey
the feet are brown, tinged with red. The top of the
head of the female is dull olive green ; the chin,
where the dusk is in the male, pale brown, with
darker streaks ; the flanks streaked with brown where
they are mottled with reddish orange in the male ;
the female is rather less, and the colours are in general
less pure and bright.

As these birds fly much in company with the yel-
low buntings in winter, they might be looked for in
warmer places, a little farther to the north than they
have hitherto been found ; though, as they are in a
great measure corn-land birds in their habits, the
sheep walks on the southern heights may impede
their progress to the countries farther to the north,
and they cannot be expected on the mountains.

THE ORTOLAN (E. hortulana}. This is a true
bunting, and considered as a luxury for the table ; it
is among the most celebrated of the whole. It is
necessary to be somewhat exact in the description of
this species (which, by the way, is rare as a British
one, and can be considered only as a straggler),
because not only the bird-catchers in those countries
where it is much in request, but even some naturalists,
are apt to confound it with other species. The true
ortolan has a wider breast and stronger beak than the
yellowhammer ; it is six inches and a half in length,
of which the tail measures two and a half ; the beak,
six lines long, is thick at the base, with a bony
tubercle at the palate, and is .of a yellowish flesh
colour ; the iris dark brown ; the legs, which stand
rather more than three quarters of an inch in height,
arc flesh-coloured ; the head and neck is greyish
olive ; the throat, and a streak on the neck, from the
angle of the beak, deep yellow ; the back and the
feathers of the scapulars chestnut brown, speckled
with black ; the rump of a dirty grey brown ; the
under part of the body reddish yellow, waved with
light brown ; the quill feathers are dark brown, with
a red border to some and a grey to others ; the tail
feathers dark, the two outer ones with a wedge-
shaped spot, the others with a red border. The female
is rather smaller than the male, of a changeable shining
ash-colour on its head, and its neck streaked with fine
black lines ; its breast, and the upper part of its body,

EM BE

are lighter coloured, the throat of the young male
birds, before they have done moulting:, is of a light
yellow, with a mixture of grey; the breast and belly are
of a reddish yellow, speckled with grey, which make
them rather resemble young yellowhammers. A bird-
fancier will distinguish the two sexes even in the nest.
There are white, yellow, speckled, and in the house
sometimes even black varieties.

Though this bird is not found in Groat Britain, it
occurs in man}' parts of Europe, as Italy, Fiance,
Germany, and even Sweden, migrating in spring and
autumn, when great quantities of them are caught,
and fattened for the market, being proverbially cele-
brated for the delicacy of their flavour. That they
may more speedily acquire the requisite degree of
plumpness, they are shut up in a room, from which
the external light is excluded, but in which are placed
a few lanterns, to enable them to see to run about,
and pick up the millet and oats that are regularly
strewed on the floor. Under this regimen they soon
get so fat, that they would speedily die if not removed
by the dealers. It is pretended that those from the
plains of Toulouse are superior to those of Italy. In
some districts of the latter country, where they are
plentiful, as, for example, in Lombardy, they are not
only prepared for the table but trained to sing; and
Saserne observes, that there is considerable sweetness
in their song. If allowed to associate, especially
when young, with other birds, they adopt some of
their notes. The female makes her nest in a low
hedge, or a vine, or on the ground, especially among
corn, composing it carelessly of plants, mixed with
leaves and dry or urecn rushes. She lays four or five
greyish eggs, with a very pale tinge of purple, and
sprinkled with very small blackish spots. They gene-
rally have two broods in the year.
; In spring these birds are easily attracted to a decoy
bush by a female of their own species, or a yellow-
hammer. In August a turfy place should be chosen
near brambles to form a small area as a decoy, like
that made for chaffinches. It must be surrounded
with a low hedge, with some oat ears fastened to it.
About the area should be placed one or several call
birds, especially a perching bird, that is to say, a bird
of the same species, with a band of soft leather round
it, and confined by a small string fastened to a peg-
stick in the ground, which prevents its going beyond
the limits prescribed. Then it should be given plenty
of food and water, in order that the birds to be caught
may be the more easily attracted within the area,
from seeing one of their own species in a place of
abundance. This kind of decoy bird is often more
necessary than any other.

The fine form and colours of the ortolan would be
quite sufficient to render it desirable, but still more so
its melodious flute-like warbling, so clear and full,
which has some resemblance to that of the yellow-
hammer, only that ihe last notes are much deeper.

THE SNOW BUNTING (E. nivalis).

This bird is

known by many popular names, such as the " snow
bunting,"" " snow flake," and " snow bird," and has
been sadly in the way of those who do not combine
a little knowledge o'f the principles of ornithology
with the mere observation of individual birds. It has
got several trivial names expressive of differences of
colour ; and it has been specifically called a lark, and
also a finch. In reality this is a polar bird, and in-
habits the arctic zone in both continents, and though
not a mountain top bird, like our ptarmigan, yet

RIZA. 419

subject, from the higher latitudes of which it is a na-
tive, to greater extremes of seasons than that, it is also
subject to similar changes in its plumage. And further,
though it does not migrate very far to the south-
ward, it is a wandering bird ; it does not change its
plumage so regularly or so completely as the flocks
that migrate, as the ptarmigan which summer and
winter in the same places do, upon the tops of the
mountains, even of the comparatively low latitude.

There is something in this well worthy the atten-
tion of those who wish to study the adaptation of
animals to those circumstances in which they are
placed ; and if this is not attended to. we name and
describe the species, and arrange them into system?,
to very little purpose. The mountaineer, whether it
be bird or any thing else, does not quit its mountains,
or at all events it does not range to a very great dis-
tance from them, or wholly quit the country in which
they are situated ; and this holds true of man as well
as of the other animals. It matters not what may be
the part of the world, for if we are any where to find
the aborigines, we must seek for them in the moun-
tains. In the Pyrennees, the Alps, the Caucasus,
and in short every lofty ridge that we can name, we
find people who have outlived all the changes on the
plains. While too the animals of the low lying places
are driven before the weather, the mountaineers keep
their ground, and, to enable them to do so, they of
course are much more changed, especially in their
covering, than animals which, from their migratory
habits, are able to endure the milder climates into
which they migrate, without those seasonal adapta-
tions.

When the violence of the polar winter sets in, it of
course whelms the pastures of these birds completely
under snow. They are, however, very irregular in
the periods at which they come on in different years,
and also in their violence. Of course the snow bunt-
ings do not leave their native north until the winter
comes, that is, till the snow comes, for the clear black
frost often continues for a considerable time before
the heavy falls of snow. In consequence of this, the
snow buntings appear in the more southerly parts of
their range, in very different plumages, according as
they come earlier or later, and this seems to be the
chief reason why they have got so many names, such
as the tawny bunting', the pied finch, the white lark,
and several others.

In the summer these birds inhabit the rocks and
peat-covered tracks of the extreme north, where they
subsist upon the seeds of rushes and other hardy
plants ; and the produced claws on the hind toes
enable them to run on the soft or moss-covered sur-
faces with more facility than they could do if these
appendages were short ; but in proportion as this
structure fits them for walking upon these surfaces, it
disqualifies them for perching upon trees. But there
are few or no trees in their native country; and when
they migrate to the south, they are ground birds
rather than perchers.

When they appear upon our shores, they prefer
those places which are most of a polar character ;
they do not affect the woodlands, neither do they re-
sort to the neighbourhood of houses, or even to the
cultivated fields, as is the case with our native birds
in the winter. They linger on the cold moors or
their margins, and as such places are not very tempt-
ing in the season of snow-buntings, it is probable that
few are seen in proportion to the numbers which visit
D D2

420

E M B E R I Z A.

the more inhospitable parts of the country. If, how-
ever, these are covered up with snow, the birds are
driven to the trodden places ; and the snow-bunting,
among the rest, comes in for a share of the droppings
of horses, which form a chief source of supply to the
birds when the ground is covered. The young of
early broods are the first to appear ; they are more
brown in the colour, have the bill yellower, and are
smaller in size than the mature birds, and hence they
have been described as a separate species.

When very severe snow storms occur at a late
period of the winter, the full-grown males sometimes
come to Britain in great numbers, and with their win-
ter plumage nearly perfect. They are then pure white,
with the exception of a portion of the back, the mid-
dle coverts of the wings, and some of the tail feathers
and the quills, which remain black. It is in this state
that they are called pied finches, or snow flakes. The
last of these names is very appropriate ; for although
most winter birds come before the storm, they are
often taken by it on their way, and arrive exhausted
amid the driving snow, when many of them perish.

Norway, or at least some part of the country to the
north of the Baltic, is probably the country from which
they generally come to Britain. Their natural flight
is in all probability to the south, and the continent of
Europe the place on which they would land if they
kept their direction. But as the length of the parallel,
and with that the falling behind the rotatory motion
of the earth, increases, they are turned to the west-
ward in the very same way that the storm is ; and
thus though the unequal motion both of snow flakes
and of snow is from the north, they really come from
the north-east, the motion of the storm giving addi-
tional obliquity to that of the birds.

The best account of their appearance in Germany
(they do not reach the more southerly parts of the
continent), is that given by Bechstein. "When the
winter is severe," says he, " these birds are seen from
December to May, in many parts of Germany,
where the)' even approach the villages. I am per-
suaded that, if attention were paid to them, they
might be seen in every direction during March, on
their passage to the north ; whilst the snow is on the
ground they are found in company with larks, on the
high roads and in the fields, they may then be taken
with horse-dung placed in a net, or covered with
birdlime, or by clearing a spot of ground of snow,
and strewing it with oats. I have had a pair in my
room six years without a cage, and they are satisfied
with food common for other birds ; if kept in a cage,
they must be fed on hemp-seed, oats, millet, rape,
and poppy seeds. They appear much delighted
whilst bathing : during the night they seem very
uneasy, hopping and running about continually.
Their strong and piercing cry resembles a loud
whistle ; their song would be rather agreeable were
it not interrupted in a peculiar manner ; it is a
warbling mingled with some high noisy notes, de-
scending slowly from shrill to deep, and a little
strong and broken whistling. Heat is so contrary
to their nature, that they cannot be preserved unless
carefully guarded from it.

As the winter sets in, large flocks of these birds
proceed from the north of the Baltic and distribute
themselves over the low country in Poland ; but in
that longitude their migration extends not further
than the Carpathian mountains ; and they begin to
disappear on their return to the north iu February

and March. On the American continent they do
not advance farther to the south than the state of
Virginia. The numbers of them that assemble in
the northduring the summer season are immense, so
much so, as to give a character even to the remotest
countries which have been visited. Countless thou-
sands are found on the ice near Spitzbergen : and
there are numbers also in Greenland. They breed
in the fissures of the rocks. As already hinted,
numbers of them frequent the north of Scotland, and
some of them are even understood to breed there ;
and in the Orkney islands they are especially
numerous. They are not unknown in England,
though we believe they seldom come further to the
south than Yorkshire. After their long flight*,
they are usually much exhausted, but they soon
recover and get very fat ; in which condition they
are styled ortolans of the north. They are inferior
in size, >tnd perhaps also in flavour to the genuine
ortolans of the south ; but still, from their numbers,
as well as their quality, they form a valuable addition
to the food of the northern people. Their appear-
ance in the British islands is supposed to betoken a
severe winter, or heavy falls of snow. These birds
do not perch, but continue on the ground, and run
about like larks, which they also resemble in size,
and in the length of their hind claws, and by some
authors they have been accordingly ranged with
that family ; but, from the peculiar structure of their
bill, they are now, with more propriety, referred to
the tribe of buntings. They sleep little during the
night and are very wakeful, and, in the months of
June and July, begin to hop about with the
earliest dawn. The male sings feebly during the
breeding season ; his call note is more agreeable,
but that of alarm or anxiety is, on the contrary, loud
and shrill. He sings from the beginning of May till
the end of Juhr, and often during the night, which
they always pass on the ground. The female builds
in the crevices of rocks, constructing a nest of
grass and feathers, lined with the hair and wool of
the arctic fox, or other quadruped, and laying five or
six reddish white eggs, spotted with brown, and
nearly spherical. The male assists in the duty of
incubation.

S^oSr^.

Snow-flake.

The snow bunting is nearly of the same size as the
lark, s"ix inches and a half in length, of which the tail
measures two inches and two thirds. The beak is half
an inch in length, with every characteristic of the
bunting species, of a conical form, rather bent at the
sides, and having a bony tubercle like a grain of barley
at the palate ; its colour in the singing season is entirely
black, at other times the point alone is black, the

EMBLICA— EMEU.

rest yellow. The legs, which stand an inch high,
are black. The neck and all the under part of the
body are white, and the head is white spotted with
brown. The back and rump are black, with pale
margins to the feathers. The quills are white for
half their length from their base, and black in the one
web for the rest of their length. The tail is forked
with three of the lateral feathers on each side white,
with a black spot on the tip, and the next four
black with a yellow border. The female is smaller
and browner in the colour. The male, in the breed-
ing season gets considerably blacker than is stated
in the above description ; and, indeed, there are
few birds of whose colours it is more difficult to
give an account that will apply to all the individuals,
or even to one individual at all seasons.

THE LARK-HE£LED BUNTING (E. calcarata).
This species is named from the great length of the
claws on the hind toes, which are nearly as much
produced in proportion as those on the lark. It is
about the same size as the former, or perhaps a very
little larger ; and it is an inhabitant of the same
countries, but of places more inland and mountain-
ous, so that it is less of an emigrant. On the con-
tinent it goes occasionally more southward during
very severe weather, and we believe it has been
observed in Britain, but only as an occasionally rare
straggler. Its habits are very little known. The
general colour on the upper part is fawn spotted
with black ; and the throat and upper part of the
breast are black in the male during the breeding
season ; but in winter the black breaks into streaks,
something similar to those in the female, but darker
and better defined.

Very many birds besides those which we have
enumerated, have been described by various authors
as buntings, and of these not a few are more allied
to the linnets. They are in general inhabitants of
the warmer parts of the world, and too little is known
of their habits in a state of nature for enabling us to
class them with anything like accuracy.

EMBLICA (Gaertner). A genus of shrubs, natives
of the East Indies. Linnsean class and order Monoecia
Monadelphia, and natural order Euphorbiacece. Gene-
ric character : flowers monoecious ; calyx six-cleft ;
stamen, filaments single, filiform, long, trifid at top ;
anthers attached by the back and with the filaments
forming a point ; styles three, united at the base, split
at the apex into several recurved divisions ; capsule
drupaceous, three berried, each two-seeded. This is
the Phyllanlhus emblica of Linnaeus, and the Nymph-
anthus of Lonrino.

EMBOTHRIUM (Forster). An ornamental shrub
found in New Holland, belonging to the natural order
ProteacecE.

EMERALD. This precious stone has long held
a high place for its colour and brilliancy, and there are
Few mineralogical cabinets that are without speci-
mens from Peru and Brazil. The emerald and beryl
have a strong resemblance to each other : thus both
are green, their crystallisations differ but little, and in
point of fracture, hardness, and weight, they are nearly
the same. Notwithstanding these agreements, they are
readily distinguished from each other by the follow-
ing characters. The emerald occurs only of a green
colour, but beryl, besides green, is also yellow and
blue ; the crystals of beryl are long, those of the
emerald are short ; the lateral planes of the beryl
are streaked, those of the emerald are almost always

421

smooth ; the terminal planes of beryl are smooth,
those of the emerald are rough ; and beryl is rather
softer than the emerald.

Many of the emeralds described by the ancients
appear to have been varieties of green fluor spar.
Even in more modern times, green fluor spar has
been preserved for emerald. Mr. Coxe examined the
celebrated emerald table in the abbey of Reichenau,
near Constance, which he found to" be a very fine
green-coloured fluor spar. The celebrated sacro
cattino di emeraldo orientate, preserved at Genoa, is in
reality but a mass of cellular glass. Many of the fine
Ethiopian emeralds, which were bequeathed to monas-
teries, appear to have been sold by the monks, and
coloured glass substituted in their place.

This mineral was named smaragdus by the
ancients. Pliny distinguished twelve species of the
smaragdus ; but under this title he includes, besides
the true emerald, also green jasper, malachite, fluor
spar, serpentine, and some varieties of gypsum.
Theophrastus also mentions the true emerald, which,
he says occurs in small quantity, and very rarely :
he enumerates along with it another mineral of a
green colour, which he informs us is found in masses
ten feet long, and is probably a variety of serpentine.
The emerald with which the hall of Ahasuerus was
paved ; the pillars of emerald in the temple of Her-
cules, at Tyre, mentioned by Herodotus ; and the
large emeralds described by Pliny as having been cut
into columns and statues, cannot be referred to the
true emerald. Indeed the confusion that prevails in,
the descriptions of this mineral in ancient authors,
has led some mineralogists to believe that the true
emerald was not known till after the conquest of
Mexico and Peru by the Spaniards. The primitive
form of the rhomboidal emerald is an equi-angular six-
sided figure, and the prismatic emerald has a strong
double refractive power.

EMEU. A very singular bird of New Holland,
classed by Cuvier in his order Echassicrs, or stilt
birds, and in the division Brevipennes, or those which
have no feathers fit for flight, but perform all their pro-
gressive motions on foot upon the ground. If Brevi-
pennes is to be retained as the name of the division,
and as it is founded upon the most remarkable exter-
nal character of the animals, there can be no other
objection to it, than that it would require to be divided
into two families, Struthionides, or fast running birds,
and another to include the apteryx, and the dodo, if
they ever should be found in the live state.

There are four distinct races of the swift running
birds, the ostrich of Africa, the rhea of South Ame-
rica, the cassowary of South Eastern Asia, and the
emeu of New Holland, the bird more immediately
under consideration. Each of these has characters
sufficiently distinct for entitling it to rank as a sepa-
rate genu?, though no generic name that is quite
unobjectionable has yet been given to the erneu.

The emeu is a very large bird, bearing some resem-
blance to the cassowary of Asia, and has been in con-
sequence often called by the same generic name. ^ It
wants, however, the horny plate, or helmet, which
characterises the other, and there are besides many
differences between them. Perhaps the other bird of
the family which it resembles the most is the African
ostrich, but still there are many points of dissimilarity.
Its body is more clumsy than that of the ostrich, its
neck is rather shorter, its legs are also shorter, and,
perhaps, stouter, and its feet have three toes,all directed

422

EMEU.

to the front, while those of the ostrich have only two.
The claws, also, have something of the form of those
of the rasorial, or scraping birds, while those of the
ostrich have more the appearance of nails. The
feathers on the emeu are all of a loose and flocculent
texture, intermediate in appearance between the fea-
thers of flying birds and loose and silky hair, matted
into small locks, but none of them have that graceful
form which is so much admired in the produced
feathers of the ostrich. The feathers are of a dull
sooty brown colour, with some markings of obscure
grey, which appear as if the darker colour had been
worn off. The head and neck are small in propor-
tion to the size of the bird, and are nearly desti-
tute of feathers. The wings are very short, of the
same sooty colour as the back, and the only feathers
which they contain are loose and hairy down over the
sides. They act as balancers when the bird runs,
but they are totally useless for flight. The bill is of
mean length, straight, and ridged on the culmen, but
does not advance in the form of a plate on the fore-
head. The young are streaked with brown and dull
white, and they retain for a considerable time a por-
tion of the down with which they are «overed*when
they leave the shell, intermixed with the young
plumage. The sides of the head are thick with this
down after the birds have attained considerable size.
They have sometimes been figured in this state as
the mature birds, and thus led to the forming of very
false notions of them. In their mature plumage, the
(wo sexes differ little from each other in colour.

The food of the emeu consists of vegetable sub-
stances, such as grass, buds, berries, and roots : and
from the structure of its toes and claws it is probable
that it may occasionally scrape the ground in search
of the last. It is, however, a very shy and timid
animal in its native haunts, the wilds of Australia ; and
it is so very swift footed, that very little is known of
it in a state of nature, farther than can be observed
when it is hunted. Of course it nestles on the ground,
although most probable in the extended copses, or
" bush" as they are called in that country, as these
are the places in which it seeks safety when hunted
by dogs, and if it can reach them it is in general safe.
The egga are about five or six in a hatch, nearly the
same size and shape of those of the ostrich, but of a
sea-green colour. They are edible, and one reason
why the number of the birds is but small as compared
with the extent of their pasture, is the assiduity with
which the eggs are sought after by the " bush-rangers,"
or runaway convicts, and the more lynx-eyed abori-
ginal inhabitants. It does not appear that these birds
form any very regular nest, or, indeed, a nest of any
kind, and the formation of nests is not a general prac-
tice with ground birds, few of the gallinaceous birds
giving themselves that trouble. What may be the
physiological cause is not known, but the physical
fact is certain, that birds are careful in the formation
of their nests in proportion as they are air birds, and
depend upon the wing for the finding of their subsist-
ence. It should seem from this that, as we have
had occasion to remark in some previous articles of
this work, the production of feathers fit for rapid or
continuous flight, is the operation which in the
feathered tribes requires the greatest care. We find
evidences of this curious fact throughout the whole
class of birds, as they all have a nest carefully
prepared, and remain longer in it, in proportion as
they are more decidedly birds of flight ; an4 even

among the ground birds which do not, as we haye
said, form elaborate nests in any instance, we have a
gradation in the rude and rudimental place for the
hatching. The ostrich may be regarded as the most
completely wingless of birds with whose manners we
are acquainted, and the ostrich deposits her oggs upon
the bare sand, though she does not abandon them then,
especially when the cold nights and the dew (for there
is dew even on Sahara) set in, as is stated in the vulgar
accounts of the bird. The emeu is not ah inhabitant
of quite such barren places as the ostrich, and she
therefore, we believe, generally, if not in variably, drops
her eggs in the bush, and both male and female sit
upon them. There have been some peculiarities
noticed of the emeu in a state of domestication, of
which we shall have to take some notice aftersvards,
but no inference can be drawn from them as to the
conduct of the birds in a state of free nature.

In their native haunts among the plains and brushes
of Australia, the emeu.s have, since the colonisation
of the country by Europeans, had two sets of enemies
to contend with, besides the native dogs, which of
course have been enemies to them under all circum-
stances.

In the open plains, it is not very easy for the colo-
nists to come so near the emeus as to make them gun
sport, and lying in wait in the bush is not a very noble
sport. Thus they, in general, prefer (we believe)
coursing the birds'with swift dogs. The dog must be
very swift in order to come up with the emeu, and
the coming up with the herd is rather more ticklish
than that with animals which are are coursed in
European sport. The emeu kicks with vast force ;
and the size and vigour of the foot are such that, if
the stroke were to take effect, it would fracture the
skull of the strongest dog, and lay him dead on the
ground in an instant ; the dog thus requires to lie
trained in a peculiar manner. He must not make his
approach directly in the rear of the bird, as in that
case, the stroke of the foot would take effect, and
the triumph of the bird would be final. He must
come to the side and seize the body of the prey, in
which case he is safe, and the emeu is subdued at
once. But even when the dog is so trained, the bird
has the better of him in the first part of the chace,
and it is only when the run is so long that it loses
wind, that it can be taken by the dog, be his racing
what it may.

This, is a curious fact in the different economy of
birds and mammalia. As a denizen of the air, a bird
is lungs all over, and docs not appear to lose wind
under any circumstances ; the fact of its falling a prey
to another bird in the air, appearing rather to be the
failure, or the inferiority of muscular exertion. But
on the ground, which is the proper arena of the mam-
malia as a class, and not that of the birds, it seems
from this case of the emeu, that the bird fails from
laboriousness of breathing. This is a very curious
subject, but we have no room, neither is the present
the place for entering into any explanation of it, — in
all probability it would not be very easily explained,
until some farther observation and investigation have
been made. Indeed the peculiar circumstances which
adapt classes of animals to their elements, have been
too little attended to by writers on natural history.

As the European settler, with his hound, is the
enemy of the emeu upon the open plain, so the native
Australian, with his spear, is its enemy in the bush.
There he lies in wait j and as, by being practised ' —

EMEU.

the earliest time that the hand has any power of
action, the aim of the spear is very certain, the bird
seldom escapes from it if it comes within spear range
of the lurking savage.

Between these enemies the numbers of the birds
are very much reduced, and it does not appear that
any attempts are made to increase their numbers by
domestication in the colony, though they are very
easily domesticated. As food, they are not indeed so
palatable as many birds of smaller growth. As they
are running birds, with no power of wing, the whole
of the growth is concentrated upon the posterior part
of the body ; and, with the exception of the thighs,
there is no part of them that contains any muscle
worth eating. When the bird is in good condition, a
great quantity of soft fat accumulates upon the rump,
and all the hinder part of the body. This fat is of the
same rank description as the fat "of a goose, or even
more so, and does not increase the value of the bird
as an article of food, at least to persons of any delicacy
of taste. As is the case with the accumulated fat
of almost all birds, it consists wholly or chiefly of
elainc, or oily fat, without any admixture of stearine,
or crystallisable matter, so that if it were cooked with
the flesh of the bird, it would be so rancid as not only
to be not edible itself, but to spoil the rest. It is,
therefore, removed before the part of the bird which
is made use of as food is cooked ; and the quantity is
so considerable, that the emeu is often hunted for the
sake of its oil, by those who care nothing for the flesh.
When the flesh is an object, it is only that on the
thighs which is so, for on the rest of the body it is so
small in quantity, as not to be worth taking off the
bones. Even on the thighs it has none of the deli-
cacy of the flesh of ordinary birds, but rather resem-
bles beef; and in the old birds it is exceedingly tough,
though in the young ones it is more tender, and far
from being unpalatable. The flavour of the legs, or
rather the thighs of these birds, being that of beef
rather than of fowl, is not an uninteresting point in
physiology, the more so that there is an approximation
to the same thing in other birds. The less that any
bird, in the general character of its class in wild
nature, is dependent on the wing, and the more that
it is dependent on the foot in its economy, the more
does its flesh resemble that of the mammalia. Thus
in a common fowl, the legs are darker in the colour,
and have more the flavour of beef than the wings, or
than the muscles on the breast, by which the wings
are put in motion. It should seem that the aerial
muscle is in all cases less loaded with blood than the
ground one ; for the darker hue and the peculiar fla-
vour may be, in great part, attributed to the quantity
of that fluid contained in the capillary vessels ; and if
the ground part of the bird is not hardened by too
violent exercise, it is probable that those dark portions
that have a relation to walking, would be much more
racy and nutritious than the paler ones which are con-
nected with the organs of flight. In capons, which
have little exercise, the legs are the best parts, and
even in common fowls, though they are perhaps not the
most in esteem, they are certainly the most juicy and
the most wholesome. Nor is there any doubt that in
the using of birds as food, every bird is more whole-
some in proportion as it is more a ground bird.

These facts are worthy of some attention, with
reference to the emeu. It is a very hardy bird,
bearing the climate of Britain very well, and if at-
tended to, would, in all probability, be much more

423

easily reared than some others of the birds which are
bred for domestic use— than the turkey for instance.
Besides, emeus are by no means chary in their feed-
ing. The pastures of New Holland, though extensive,
are any thing but rich, the grasses are scarce, the
berries are harsh, and few of the roots contain much
farinaceous matter ; so that, in a state of nature, the
emeu may be said to live upon the very coarsest food
— food far inferior to that of any sort of poultry in
this country— so that it might, in all probability, be
introduced with advantage as an economical bird.

Though timid and shy in a state of nature, it is
tamed with the greatest ease ; and when tamed, it is
exceedingly gentle. Those which the Duke of Devon-
shire had at Chiswick, notwithstanding their great
size, never showed any symptom of pugnacity, but
were mild, and even playful. In the cold weather
they amused themselves by dancing ; and in no case
did they attempt to make an attack upon any other
creature.

It should seem, therefore, that the emeu is a bird
which could be introduced into the farm-yards in this
country with great ease, and with no inconsiderable
advantage. Nor is there any doubt that if it were
subjected to no more exercise than were necessary for
the preservation of its health, the flesh would become
much more tender, and the bird really be valuable in
an economical point of view. But, in these matters,
as in all others, the mere economy of pounds, shillings,
and pence is not the only economy, any more than
mere eating and drinking are the only enjoyments of
human life. It is desirable that the farmyard should
be a study of information, and a source of intellectual
pleasure, as well as a means of profit ; and for this
reason the more animals that can be introduced into
it, the better must it be for all parties.

Hitherto emeus have been introduced into this
country only as objects of curiosity, without any
reference to economical purposes, or even to the
means by which their numbers might be most cer-
tainly and successfully multiplied. That they will
breed in the open air in our climate, is proved by the
fact of their actually so breeding at the farm which
the Zoological Society of London had between Rich-

4*24

EMMET — ENCEPHALUS.

jnond-park and Kingston. Their conduct there shows
that the male takes more interest in the rearing of the
young than is done by any of our common domestic
poultry ; and from the attention which he shows in
this respect, there is reason to believe they are mono-
gamous. While a pair of these birds were kept in a
pen at the place mentioned, the female, in the early
part of the summer, dropped at different times nine
eggs. She made no previous nest, nor did she appear
to take an}' care about dropping the eggs in the same
place. But they were no sooner dropped than the male
bird took charge of them. As they were dropped he
rolled them gently along with his bill, collecting them
together ; and set about performing the labour of in-
cubation. This he continued to do with the greatest
assiduity for the period of nine weeks. The result of
this paternal incubation was the production of five
young emeus. These birds are now so well-known
in this country, that farther description is not neces-
sary.

EMMET. A little insect, sometimes also called a
pismire. These two names were employed by our
earlier authors for the ant.

EMPETRE^E— the Crowberry family. A natu-
ral order of monochlamydeous dicotyledonous plants
containing three or four genera, and a similar number
of known species. This order appears to hold an
intermediate place between Euphorbwcece and Celas-
trine(£, to the former of which it bears a strong affinity.
It is at once distinguished by its inferior distinct im-
bricated sepals, its definite ascending ovules, its distinct
stamens, and its want of petals.

Its essential botanical characters are : flowers dioe-
cious ; sepals consisting of many hypogynous imbri-
cated scales ; stamens equal in number to the sepals,
and alternate with them ; filaments long ; anthers
roundish, two-celled, the cells distinct, bursting longi-
tudinally ; ovary free, situated on a small fleshy disk,
three, six, or nine celled ; ovules solitary, ascending ;
one style ; stigma radiating, the number of its rays
corresponding with the cells of the ovary ; fruit fleshy,
surrounded by the persisting calyx, three to nine-
celled, the coating of the cells bony ; seeds solitary,
ascending ; embryo cylindrical, in the axis of a fleshy
somewhat horny albumen ; radicle inferior.

The plants belonging to this order are small heath-
like shrubs, with evergreen, alternate or whorled, ex-
stipulate leaves, and minute axillary flowers. They
are found in Europe, North America, and the Straits
of Magellan. Many of them possess acid proper-
ties. The chief genera are, Empetrum, Corema, and
Ceratiola.

Empetrum nigrum, black crowberry, or crakeberry
is abundant on mountainous heaths in the north of
Britain. It is a small branching shrub bearing
black clustered berries, which afford abundant food
to the moor game. The plant endures cold well.
Its berries are eaten by the Highlanders, but they
are by no means a desirable fruit, and if taken in large
quantities are said to occasion headach. Although
watery and insipid, they sometimes prove very accep-
table to the traveller on the mountains. They are
used as food by the Russian peasants, and in Kamts-
chatka are boiled with fish. They are said to possess
anti-scorbutic and diuretic properties. When boiled
in alum they yield a dark purple dye. The crow-
berry is the badge of the clan Maclean, in Scotland.

EMPIDJE. A family of dipterous Jnsects, belong-
ing to the section Tanystoma of Latreille, nearly al-

lied to theAsilidce (see BOMBYLIIDA:), from which they
differ in their smaller size, less robust structure, and in
having the proboscis long and perpendicular. The
head is nearly globular, and the eyes very large.
These flies are of small size ; they are very numerous
in respect to their species as well as to the number of
individuals. Some of the species may be noticed in
the summer flying in great numbers, and with great
velocity, over standing waters close to the surface,
over which they rush as though impelled by the wind ;
others are found in trees and upon plants, where they
prey with avidity upon other insects, and so greedy
are they that we have noticed them thus occupied
even during coupling. There are numerous generic
and sub-generic divisions, resting merely on minute
structural differences.

In the typical genus, Empit, the proboscis is much
longer than the head, the terminal style of the an-
tennae biarticulate and short. The type of the genus
is the Empis borealis of Linnaeus, a species found in
Ireland, having the wings broad and black, and the
hind legs in the females plumed.

EMPLEURUM (Hortus Kewensis). A small,
ornamental evergreen shrub, native of the Cape of
Good Hope. The flowers are monoecious, and rank
in the order Diosmece. It is a greenhouse plant of
easy culture.

ENCELIA (Cavanille). A genus of two ever-
green shrubs, natives of South America, belonging to
the natural order Composites. The flowers are orange
or yellow, grow well in any light soil, and require
ordinary greenhouse treatment.

ENCEPHALUS (Kirby). A genus of minute
coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Penta-
mera, family Staphylhiidce, and subfamily Aleocharidct,
having the head small and inflexed, the thorax very
short and broad, the abdomen short and very broad,
flat above, with the margins elevated and notched, the
antenna) thickened at the tips, and the palpi with the
last joint slender. The peculiar form of the various
portions of the body above described enables the little
creature, constituting the type of this genus, to accom-
plish a mode of defence against its enemies, which,
from its singularity, will not fail to interest the ob-
server of nature. Amongst the various means by
which insects are enabled to defend themselves when
attacked, the instantaneous imitation of death is one
of the most efficacious ; this is effected by different
insects in different manners. In some cases, as in the
Ptinida:, the limbs are simply laid along the breast
and held there in a state of rigidity until the danger
is over; in others, as in the mimic beetles (Histeiidfc')
and pill beetles (Byrrkidce), these limbs are suddenly
folded up and received into cavities prepared on the
under side of the body for this express purpose ;
others again roll themselves into a ball, by bending
the head and posterior extremity of the body beneath
the breast, whereby the legs are covered, and the
insect appears like a morsel of stone or a seed. This
is the mode adopted by the genera Agaihidhtm, Lciodes,
and Clanibns, in the coleopterous order, and by the
beautiful Chrysididce in the hymenopterous order.
This manoeuvre however, as we have shown in our
article upon the latter family, does not always suc-
ceed, the insect mimic escaping, it is true, with its life,
but suffering the loss of its wings. But a more com-
mon and repeatedly observed instance of the adoption
of this kind of defence is found in the common wood
louse (Armadillo vulgaris), which, when disturbed,

ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE — ENDIVE.

rolls itself into a globular mass, so completely desti-
tute of all appearance of life, or even of animalism,
that it looks rather like a striped bead, and indeed
by ignorant persons it may be, and in fact has been,
mistaken for one of these ornaments. Swammerdam
relates an instance in which one of his maid servants,
having found a number of these insects rolled up,
began to string them with a needle and thread, but,
as may be easily conceived, the insects very soon
gave unequivocal signs of life, "being obliged," as
Ssvammerdam says, " to throw off the mask and re-
sume their motions ; on seeing which the maid servant
was so greatly astonished that she threw away the
vvoodlice and the thread, and cried out and ran away."
The encephalus has a different mode of effecting the
same object. Instead of bending the abdomen be-
neath the breast, as in the instances above mentioned,
we find it turned upwards and thrown over the back,
its flat upper surface laying close upon the elytra,
the toothed edges of the former forming a kind of
overhanging edge to a convex roof composed of the
under-side of the abdomen ; the head, moreover, is
applied close to the breast, so that the insect now
resembles a small round pebble of a shining black
colour. In the ordinary species of the Lrachcli/tra
(see the figure of the Devil's coachhorse in the arti-
cle upon that group) the abdomen is occasionally
turned upwards, but in the insect in question this
power is carried to its greatest extent, and applied, as
we have seen, to a purpose different from that for
which the attitude figured is employed, namely, the
discharging of a caustic or pungent smelling fluid or
vapour from the extremity of the uplifted abdomen.

The type of the genus, E. cow/>/«,Y/;2s, is about one-
sixth of an inch long, and is found in the winter in
moss and in damp situations.

ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE is t\\eCirc<za
lutetiana of Linnaeus, a common weed, growing in damp
shady places. It has been observed by a late writer
that, although this plant has been named after the
famous mythological enchantress Circe, it is entirely
innocuous, possessing neither deleterious or useful
properties of any kind.

ENCYRTUS (Dalmann). A genus of minute
hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section Pupi-
vora and family Ckalcididoe, distinguished by having
the deflexed nerve of the upper wing attached to the
costal nerve at the extremity of the latter, and by
having the intermediate tibiae and tarsi dilated. These
insects are of very small size, but interesting on
account of their peculiar construction, and of their
economy, being parasitic upon various species of scale
insects (Coccidcc], which they destroy in considerable
riumbers, whence they may be regarded as very ser-
viceable aids to the gardener and horticulturist. The
antenna; are subject to various remarkable modifica-
tions of form in the different species, of which there
are a very great number, and the colours of the sexes
are likewise very varied. In their motions they are
extremely active; indeed, from the quickness with
which they leap to a great distance, they are difficult
to be captured. One of the species, E. vitis, attacks
the vine fretter (Coccus vitis). The male is black
and the female red. It is figured in Mr. Curtis's
British Entomology.

ENDIVE is the Chiconum endivia of Linnaeus, a
well known salad and culinary vegetable, belonging
to the order Composites, and giving a title to one of
the sub-orders of that extensive natural order.

4-25

There are five species of this genus, one, the
C. intybus,\s British, and commonly met with by road
sides and banks of hedges. In Germany it is culti-
vated for its roots, which, when cleaned and dried, are
ground to powder, and used as a substitute for coffee.
Three species are weeds, and the remaining one is
our present subject.

This being a winter salad plant, it is needless to
sow it before the first of June ; if sown earlier it soon
runs to seed. The second and third sowings should
be made in the first and third weeks of July, and two
other sowings may be put in during August.

The seed may be either sowed on seed beds, to be
transplanted, or in drills where it is intended to stand
for good. Although endive may be successfully trans-
planted, it does better to remain where it is sown. In
tact, there cannot be a better way than sowing a
double number of drills on the same seed bed, every
alternate one to remain, and the intermediate ones to
be transplanted.

The transplanting season continues from the end
of June to the first week in October, and at this last
mentioned period the plants should be placed in
frames, under glass, for protection against the severity
of winter. Whenever or wherever planted, it should
have full room to spread ; and if in its favourite soil,
a rich light loam, fourteen inches between plant and
plant will not be found too much. When transplanted
into drills at this or any greater distance, the plants
should be dibbed into shallow furrows made by the
hoe ; not only because it gives the roots a deeper
hold of the ground, but very much facilitates the ap-
plication of water, and which, if the season be dry,
will be required not only when first planted, but occa-
sionally afterwards, to induce a rapid growth.

As endive is never used until blanched, it is, as
soon as full or pretty well grown, tied or earthed up
for this purpose. There are various methods prac-
tised for accomplishing this object ; gathering up the
leaves all round into a compact bundle, and binding
them in that state with strings of matting, is one of
the easiest methods ; or, instead of ties, drawing earth
round each plant while so held up, answers the same
purpose. Some blanch their endive by laying plain
tiles on each plant, or by a long board laid along the
rows. But it must be observed that in all cases the
leaves must be perfectly dry when tied up or covered
to prevent rotting, which would certainly happen
were they tied up wet. In ten days the plants thus
treated will be sufficiently blanched for use ; so that
to keep up a supply, a certain quantity, according to
the consumption, should be consecutively tied up or
otherwise blanched. By thus depriving the central
leaves of the plant of light and free air, the bitter
quality is corrected, and the crisp delicacy improved ;
besides, extreme whiteness is a great recommendation
at table. Being one of the principal winter salad
plants, it deserves every attention in order to have
full-sized perfect plants in that season. Those sown
at the end of July and during August are most to be
depended upon for winter use. The soil can hardly
be too rich for endive, and when allowed ample space
it arrives at a fine bulk for salads for kitchen use be-
fore the winter sets in. When frost threatens, how-
ever, the plants must be removed 1o a place of safety.
This is usually done by tying up all the largest plants
on a dry day, and raising the roots out of the ground
with good balls of earth, and replanting close together
among dry sand, in a pit or frame that can be covered

426

ENDROMIS — ENTADA..

by glass and mats in severe weather. Or if laid in a
sloping bank of dry sand, in a shed or dry cellar, the
endive thus protested will keep good for a consider-
able time. That planted in frames in October and
covered with glass, or such as has been planted on
dry borders to be occasionally covered with straw,
comes in for spring use, and lasts till succeeded by
lettuce.

The different varieties of this plant cultivated in
Britain are, the green curled, white curled, green
broad-leaved, and white and new Batavian. The
two first are preferred for their elegant appearance at
table, and the last are mostly used for stewing, but
are excellent and wholesome salad herbs.

ENDROMIS (Ochsenheimer). A genus of hand-
some moths (Lepidoptera Nocturnu), belonging to the
family BombycidcE, and to the section having the
wings entire, and forming a triangle in repose. The
body is short and thick, the wings somewhat pellucid,
the palpi scarcely visible, and the antennae in both
sexes bipectinated. The type of the genus is the
beautiful and rare moth known by collectors under
the name of the Glory of Kent, Boinbyx versicolor,
Linnaeus, which is of a rich brown colour, variegated
with black streaks, and paler markings. The female
is larger than the male, and of a paler colour. It is
found very early in the year. We have seen the
males flying with great velocity in the afternoon
towards the end of March, in Coombe-wood, Surrey,
in search of their sluggish females, which, from want-
ing the spiral spring and socket at the base of the
upper wings, are unable to effect such a powerful
flight. Mr. Haworth was of opinion that the males of
this species " assembled," as the gathering together
of many of this sex in search of an individual of the
other, is termed by aurelians ; but from the continued
' rarity of the species in our cabinets, this can scarcely
be the fact.

ENGID^E (MacLeay). A family of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Pentamera and sub-
section Necrophagat or those species which feed upon
dead animals and vegetable matters. The Eiigidce
seem to be more attached to the latter, since it is in
putrid fungi, and in the neighbourhood of decayin^
trees, that they are more generally found. Many of the
species are of a flattened form, with the body highly
polished, enabling them to make their way with facility
under the bark of trees ; indeed, some of the species
were arranged by Latreille amongst his Xylophoga,
although the tarsi do not agree with the general struc-
ture of the true Tetramera, amongst which they were
placed. It is true that many of them are not deci-
dedly pentarnerous, but their general appearance and
their habits bespeak their affinity with the more typi-
cal species, such as Engis, Ips, &c., rather than with
the longiconws or weevils. Indeed, these insects
appear to be exceptions to the system founded upon
the number of joints in the tarsi, rather than proofs o!
its incorrectness. The body is more elongate than in
the Silphidce and Nitidulidce, and the antennae are
short and terminated by a club, composed of two or
three joints.

It is difficult, in our present ignorance of the larvae
of many of the genera of which this family is pro-
visionally composed, to assign exact limits to it, or to
give other than very general characters. The lower
jaws are generally elongate, and terminated by a
strong brush of hairs ; the palpi are short, and either
filiform or but slightly clavate, and the legs are shor

and slender. Mr. Stephens adds — " The family evi-
dently requires sub-division, although in habit and
economy, so far as known, there is great similarity,
which, probably, only arises from the juxtaposition
of the genera of which it is at present composed ;
the species usually subsist on decaying vegetable
matter, either on fungi, agarics, the putrid sap of
decaying trees, or upon flowers : they are found at
the roots of grass, beneath bark, in fungi, and but
rarely if ever, in putrid animal substances." — Illustr.
Brit.' Ent. iii. p. 57.

The species are generally of small size, indeed
some of them are amongst the most minute of the
insect tribes ; the Atomaria mimdhsima being scarcely
one-hundredth part of an inch in length. The principal
genera are Cryptophagits, Atomaria, Engis, Ips, Nemo-
soma, Cerylon, and Latridius, to which Sylvanus and
Mycetophagus may be provisionally added.

The typical genus Engis has the body oblong, oval
and convex, the antennae short, thick, with a three-
jointed club ; the legs are short and stout, and the
tarsi five-jointed. There are several British species,
the type being the Dcrmestcs scanicits, Linnaeus, a
species about one-sixth of an inch long, found in boleti,
&c. Some of the exotic species are of a much larger
size, and must be of infinite service in clearing away
the putrifying masses of vegetation which abound in
tropical climates.

ENKIANTHUS (Loureiro). A genus of beauti-
ful and highly ornamental Chinese plants, belonging
to the tenth class of Linnaeus, and to the natural order
Ericece. Generic character : calyx bracteate, five-
cleft, persisting ; corolla bell-shaped and slightly five-
cleft, with five nectariferous cells in the bottom ; sta-
mens inserted into the base of the corolla ; filaments
pilose and dilated at the base ; anthers two horned,
having double pores which open at the apex ; style
filiform and persisting. Drawings and specimens
of the E. qtiinqueflora were first brought to England,
under the name of Andromeda arborca, in 1 794,
as no small plants were purchasable at Canton in
the previous year, but living plants were received
in this country in 1812. No plant is more regarded
by the Chinese as a domestic ornament than this
when in flower. Small branches of it are sold in the
streets of Canton about the first of March, and nearly
for the same purpose as holly and mistletoe are sold
in London before Christmas, viz., for decorating places
of worship, and for placing before the images of Joss
in their houses. The branches are cut from the trees
just before the flower-buds are expanded, and placed
in vessels of water, where they bloom beautifully.
The flower-buds being terminal, and each containing
four, five, or six flowers of a delicate pink colour, hang
gracefully from the point of every spray. As the
leaves are not produced in water, and as the spray is
arranged very neatly in the vessels, they are aggre-
gately a beautiful object. Every street window is
more or less decorated with these flowers in the season,
and which shows that there must be vast numbers of
the trees in the vicinity of the city, and yet not one
small plant could be round in the nurseries in the
spring of the year 1794, though twenty dollars were
offered for a potted plant. Another species, the
E. reticulata, was added to our collections in 1822;
and as they are nearly deciduous trees, hopes may be
entertained that they may be in time inured to our
climate. They are propagated by cuttings.

ENTADA (Adanson). A genus of plants found both

ENTALIUM — ENTOMOLOGY.

427

in the East and West Indies, belonging to Polygamia
Moiitecia, and to the natural order Leguminosts.
Generic character : flowers polygamous ; calyx bell-
shaped, five-toothed ; petals small and oblong ; sta-
mens ten or more, elongated ; anthers roundish ; pod
very large, compressed, jointed ; valves often sepa-
rated in two by a membrane. These are climbing
Elants, and have been called mimosas by several
otanists ; and by Forster, one of them was called
Aflenanthera, They are treated as stove plants and
propagated by cuttings. The chief peculiarity of
these plants is the immense size of the pods, those
of one variety are six or eight feet long, and, being
gently curved, resemble gigantic ci meters. Their
seeds are nearly six inches in circumference.

ENTALIUM (De France). A fossil species of
shell, of the genus Dentalium. It includes such species
us have the tube narrowed near its orifice, with an
interior tube throughout its length. The Dentalium
duplicaliim illustrates this genus.

ENTKLEA (R. Brown). A deciduous tree, native
of New Zealand, introduced in 1820. It belongs to
the natural order Tiliacece; is treated as a greenhouse
plant, where it flowers, and occasionally ripens seeds,
bv which it is propagated as well as by cuttings.

"ENTOMOLOGY. That portion of zoological
science, which treats of the insect tribes, as restricted
by the knowledge obtained by the elaborate re-
searches of modern comparative anatomists. The
term is derived from two Greek words, cntomon,
an insect, and lugos, a discourse ; the former word,
as well as the synonymous Latin word, insectum,
which we have Anglicised into insect, being them-
selves compounded of other words, signifying a cut-
ting or dividing into sections or articulations,
whence, in fact, we arrive at one of the great cha-
racteristics of these tribes, namely, the articulated
structure of the external parts of the body, which
being of a corneous texture, serve as supports for the
muscles and other internal organs, just as the internal
vertebras of the higher animals support the same
parts ; so that in these portions of the invertebrata, the
external covering may properly be regarded as the
skeleton. Now this character joined to those derived
from the respiratory, nervous, and locomotive sys-
tems, tend to separate the true articulated animals
from a ureat number of other small creatures, with
which, under the common name of insects, they are
il, even in some of the latest popular compen-
cliunis of natural history which have issued from the
press, in which the leech and snail, together with many
of the still lower animals, are introduced, without even
a sectional note of distinction, amongst insects.

If we look around, on every side, in every place,
and in every season, we behold the immense pro-
fusion with which nature has scattered the objects
of our present meditation over this world of ours.
The earth, the water, and the air, teem with insect
inhabitants ; every vegetable supports numerous
colonies ; the diminutive fungus and the gigantic
oak are alike subject to their attacks ; and as a proof
of the vast extent of the series, it may be added, that
Saint Pierre tells us, that several hundred different
species of insects visited a small rose-tree placed in
the window of his study, whilst a single forest tree
is the abode of numerous tribes and families. In
like manner they cease not in their attacks upon
animal matter, both in a dead and living state ; and,
as we have already had occasion to mention in these
pages, man himself, the lord of all, is not exempt

from annoyances from them. How necessary, then,
from the insurmountable difficulty resulting from the
almost infinite numbers of these creatures, is it that
we should bespeak the indulgence of our readers in
our attempt to lay before them, in as concise a man-
ner as possible, a sketch of the insect world. It is
not difficult to imagine the painful nature of the
researches necessary for obtaining a knowledge of
the internal anatomy and other peculiarities of crea-
tures, of which by far the greater portion do not
exceed an inch in length. And here it is that
we, in the most especial manner, discover the inva-
luable worth of the microscope, that surprising instru-
ment, by which the minute wonders of the creation
are brought as vividly before the eye of the observer,
as are the wonders of the celestial sphere by that
other philosophical wonder, the telescope. These
instruments are now, it is true, no novelties ; but we
know no more striking instances in which the powers
of the mind have worked a victory over nature. —
Speak of the powers of the steam-engine, and the
many hundred times by which the manual forces
of the human frame are increased by its operations —
and what is this in comparison with the tens of
thousands of times to which the ordinary size of the
meanest insect is increased by the assistance of the
microscope ? Still the continued employment of this
instrument is a painful operation, increased a thou-
sand fold by the minuteness of the objects, and the
extent to which it is necessary to carry the inves-
tigation of them. Look at the unwearied labours of
Lyonnet, which were for years devoted to the
anatomical examination of a single insect ; or of
those of Straus-Durckheim, whose memoir upon the
cockchafer exhibits almost an equal endurance of
observation. If, moreover, we consider that not only
does an insect combine within itself the systems of
respiration, circulation, digestion, secretion, and sensa-
tion, analogous to those of the higher animals, but also
that owing to the remarkable circumstance that the
majority of these animals undergo a series of trans-
formations, whereby these systems are completely
altered several times in their progress to the perfect
state, it is essential to extend our observations to
every period of the life of the animal, before we can
arrive at a perfect knowledge of its structure, so as to
enable us to form a proper estimate of its comparative
anatomy ; we cannot, therefore, but admit that the
difficulties attending the labours of the entomologist
are not fewer than those in any other department of
nature ; difficulties, which, from their very nature,
cannot cease to arouse the attention of the devoted
lover of nature. And hence arises the necessity of
our having recourse to the labours of our prede-
cessors in the vast field opened to us, and in the
works of Svvammerdam and Lyonnet, De Geer and
Reaumur, Latreille and Kirby, we find the materials,
not for a short essay, as ours must be, at its greatest
extent, but for volumes upon volumes.

Of all the classes of zoology, then, that of insects is
the most numerous, the most beautiful, and the most
varied ; and though it cannot be denied that no por-
tion of the science presents to those who arc igno-
rant of its merits, so many apparent points of repug-
nance ; yet which, nevertheless, so much captivates
the attention the more its merits are examined. It
is, indeed, for those who undertake its investigation,
an unceasing source of instruction and of pleasure,
open to all, requiring not, like the classes of quadru-
peds or birds, great pecuniary sacrifices in the col-

423

ENTOMOLOGY.

lection of materials ; but yet possessing for every
observer a still unopened mine of knowledge, even in
the very commonest species. Volumes have been
written upon the bee ; but still how many wonders of
the hive remain unexplained ? The domestic fly
swarms in every apartment, and yet how many points
in its economy are uninvestigated ? And, which is
not less peculiar and interesting to the student of the
insect world, he may pursue his observations without
pain to the objects of his research ; he may watch
them at their occupations, observe their manoeuvres,
and contemplate the beautiful harmony which exists
between their organisation and their economy, and
leave the contemplation " a wiser and a better man."
Here he will find life in its widest extent ; sensa-
tion and motion are here bestowed to a degree

•
-

Muscular system of the caterpillar of the goat moth (Cossus
ligniperdu).

even far exceeding that of the higher animals ;
and it is this which constitutes one of the greatest
charms of the pursuits of the entomologist. The
botanist may boast of the splendour of his flowers,
the conchologist may glory in the beauty of his
shells, and the ornithologist in the interesting econ-
omy of his birds ; but the entomologist can do more,
since the objects of his pursuit are not less splendid
than flowers. Indeed, what flower can vie with the
brilliant butterflies of South America ? — Neither are
they less beautiful than the most beautiful shells —
for what shells can vie with the splendid coatings of
the Chrysididce, or with the extraordinary forms of the
Dynastes ? — Neither are they inferior to the feathered
tribes in their varied economy, whilst the' very cir-
cumstance of their infinite numbers and ubiquity
renders their observation a matter of comparative
facility. If we notice them with reference to the
latter peculiarity (that of their varied economy), we
find them occupied in works as varied as those of
the most consummate mechanic and artist. Here we
find one suspending itself by a series of mechanical
motions, by one extremity of the body, whilst others
keep themselves from falling during their state of
inactivity, by passing a cord round the middle of the
body ; here some construct, for the like purpose, a
bed of the finest silk, whilst others, with the greatest
ingenuity, form their_domicile of other and very differ-

ent materials, differing in the different species, whose
economy is consequently different. Some unite to form
a common lodging, whilst others separately incase
themselves in a coat of wool as soon as they are born.
In many instances the patient care of the female in
the construction of her nest, and in the preservation
of her offspring, is not surpassed by the highest
amongst animals. In all these things, and in the in-
finite diversity of means exhibited by insects tending
to one common end — the preservation of each — the
supremacy and wisdom of a Divine Intelligence, creat-
ing all things — preserving all things — directing all
things — are so pre-eminently conspicuous, that it is
impossible, even whilst paying but the slightest degree
of attention to such things, to overlook the sublimity of
the science.nor not to be filled with the most profound
respect for the all-powerful wisdom and goodness of the
Creator, and, even in the midst of the most profound
grief, it is impossible to contemplate these wonders
of the creation without an assuagement of our pain.

If, moreover, we would institute a comparison
between the objects of our present contemplation,
and those of the higher ranks of nature, we shall find
here assembled all those striking peculiarities which
abound in the latter ; the piercing eye of the lynx and
the falcon, the hard shield of the armadillo, the splen-
did tail of the peacock, the imposing horns of the stag,
the swiftness of the antelope, the fecundity of the
hare, the architectural powers of the beaver, the climb-
ing powers of the squirrel, the gambols of the monkey,
the swimming of the frog, the burrowing of the mole,
and the leaping of the kangaroo ; all these things are
found amongst insects, and often, indeed, in a re-
doubled degree. Then, the eye of the fly, with its
thousands of lenses, the horns of the stag beetle and
dynastes, the splendour of the scales upon the dia-
mond beetle, the hard covering of the beetles (whence
even their ordinal name, Colcoptera, wings in a case),
the admirably constructed works of the hive, the
maternal cares of the spider, which guards its bundle
of eggs with incessant care, carrying them about with
it beneath its body ,• the ingenuity of the cocoon of
the emperor moth, constructed with an elastic aper-
ture, preventing the entrance of enemies, but allowing
exit to the inhabitant ; the numberless progeny of the
aphis, the powerful flight of the locust, the leap of
elater and grasshopper, the brilliant light of the glow-
worm, the instinct of the burying beetles (Necropha-
gus\ the mottled jacket of the larva of the clothes-
moth, formed of different coloured wool, or the excre-
mentitious covering of the larva of the Cassida, the
frothy abode of the Cercopis, the abandoned shell
inhabited by the hermit crab, and the extraordinary
gall residences of the Cynipidce ; all these, and a
thousand other not less interesting circumstances ex-
hibited, and to be exhibited more at detail in our
pages, cannot fail to convince the reader that the
class of insects does not possess fewer claims to his
attention than any other of the classes of nature.

The continued action which insects exercise upon
the other productions of nature (and we may men-
tion, in passing, as a most conclusive evidence of
such action, that the island of Grenada is now
reduced to a ruinous state owing to the attacks of the
diminutive cane-fly upon the canes, having extended
nearly throughout the island), the insurmountable
power of these enemies, owing to their minuteness,
the injuries which they inflict upon our possessions,
animal and vegetable, the benefits arising from many
of them, their extraordinary forms and transforms'

ENTOMOLOGY.

429

tions, rivalling the most striking creations of fable,
the complexity of their organisation, external and
internal, their inconceivable industry in the construc-
tion of their nests, and the foresight which they
manifest in their self-defence, all teach us that ento-
mology is well worthy of the attention of the observer
of nature.

But it will be said, why devote our attention to
objects so minute ? We reply, if the colossal alone
be worthy of notice, search elsewhere for the objects
of your notice, for here the objects are so small, that
the' full stop at the termination of this sentence, is
much larger than many of the species. But to the
eye of philosophy, what matters colossal size and
gigantic expanse? The wisdom of the Creator is
concentrated in these minims of creation, in order
the better to develope his power ; since in these
creatures, whose excessive minuteness renders it
difficult, and even impossible, to observe some of
them with the unassisted eye, how can we conceive
it possible to arrange all the machinery which exists
in the bodies of those little creatures, as perfect and
as complex as in those of the largest ? The little
beetle (Atomaria atomos), and the minute parasitic
fly (Mymar moncrs^), although not one-hundredth part
of an inch in length, possess precisely the same
number of organs, and even of joints of those organs,
as their larger brethren of the classes to which
they respectively belong. To neglect this portion
of the creation is to say, that these living machines,
in which the rules of the most perfect mechanical
knowledge have been implicitly followed, and of
which the various parts are arranged with the utmost
art, but which are nevertheless so fine and delicate
as to escape our view, are less worthy of regard than
the larger machines made precisely upon the same
model. Absurd reasoning ! Who does not regard
skill of the artificer capable of forming a minute
pocket watch with its delicate machinery, as more
worthy of notice than that of the workman who can
but construct a town clock ?

Such being the claims which the objects of the en-
tomologist's care possess upon his attention, we there-
fore proceed in the present article to state the most
efficient modes of research, whereby also, the roost
satisfactory and pleasing return may be obtained for
the toils of investigation, premising that we deem all
animals destitute of internal vertebra?, having articu-
culated bodies and articulated legs in the perfect
state, to be insects ; following, therefore, in the steps
of Linnteus and Latreille, we consider Crustacea,
Arachnida, Acari, and MijriapMla, as much entitled
to the attention of the entomologist, as beetles, bees,
or butterflies. Our reasons for this view of the
subject, together with a general sketch of the ana-
tomy and classification of the whole, will therefore
more properly fall under the general article, Insects ;
the present article being confined to the preceding
remarks upon the general claims of these_minute
animals to a share of the notice of the zoologist, to a
sketch of the plan of study to be adopted, and to a
view of the rise of entomology as a distinct branch of
zoological science, from the earliest ages to the
present time.

Entomologists, like the objects of their research,
may be classified. First, there is the amateur, whose
sole object is the procuring, either by capture or by
purchase, of a collection of handsome insects, either
to be placed in drawers, without any other arrange-

ment than that of beauty of colour or size, or in
glazed picture-frames to be hung up in his room.
This, it is true, is the lowest class of entomologists ;
jut the labours of such amateurs are not without
pleasure to themselves, and are sometimes serviceable
lo the science of entomology. The author of this
article, who has been for days confined to the desk
in the centre of this vast metropolis, can testify to
the delightful sensations with which he has inhaled
the breeze upon Shooter's-hill or Wimbledon- com-
mon, when on the way to those well-known entomo-
logical spots, Dareuth and Coombe Woods ; whilst
the best practical collector whom we have ever heard
of is Daniel Byddcr, a Spital-fields labourer, by
whom some of the most interesting of our English
insects were first discovered. And in like manner
Joseph Standish, a Brixton cobbler, from a pure love
of entomology, taught himself to draw and paint in-
sects ; and having followed up this pursuit, during his
leisure of many years, he has acquired the art of
giving to his figures of moths, a beautiful downy
appearance, so like nature, that we have known a
volume of his drawings sold for many pounds. Can
it be denied that if, amongst the lower classes, the
collecting of objects of nature, and such-like pursuits,
were more general, the vice of drunkenness and the
reign of gin-palaces, would be over?

It is not, of course, our intention, in this work, to
lay down an account of the instruments required, or
the modes of collecting insects for the information of
the mere collector. These will be found in Kirby
and Spence's Introduction, in the " Insect Miscel-
lanies ;" or in Mr. Ingpen's little manual devoted to
this subject. Suffice it to say, in this place, that
when captured and killed, either by immersion in
scalding water (as is usually done with beetles) or by
being placed in a close small box with bruised laurel
leaves (as is very serviceable with flies, moths, &c.),
the insect is stuck through one of the wing-cases (if
a beetle), or between the wings (if a fly or moth), with
a pin proportioned to its size ; the entire collection
being preserved in chip-boxes, or in a cabinet of
shallow glazed drawers, having the bottom lined with
cork and covered with paper.

Instruments for collecting Insects.

A The lanre gauze flap net. B, the sweeping or water net.
C.lne gluze forceps. 1), the collecting bottle for holding small
beetles, &c. E, the breeding cage.

Various kinds of nets are employed in collecting
insects, such as the flap-net, for catching insects
on the wing, made of fine gauze, resembling a bat-
fowlin- net, and the sweeping net, for catching insects
on -rass and low herbage, made of strong canvas,
and° resembling a landing net. When secured, the
insects are either immediately pinned, or carried home
oose in quills or glass bottles. After they are killed
and pinned, their limbs are arranged in a natural
position by means of pins and bits of card, by which

430

ENTOMOLOGY.

they are retained in their places until they are dry
enough to be placed in the cabinet. Caterpillars are
kept in boxes with gauze sides, and fed with leaves
of the peculiar plants upon which they are found,
until they 'assume the chrysalis state; and in this
manner moths and butterflies are procured with their
plumage much more beautiful than when captured at
large. Insects which may have become still' before
they have been displayed, are readily relaxed by
placing them upon damp sand for a few hours. It is
necessary that the store boxes, or cabinets, contain-
ing insects should be kept in a dry situation, other-
wise the specimens soon become mouldy. It is not
advisable to place them against an outside wall of an
apartment ; moreover, it is necessary that camphor
should be kept in little cells in the drawers to prevent
the attacks of mites or other insects, such as the
Anthrcni. (See DEUMESTIDA;.)

These hints will suffice for the practical collector
and the professed amateur ; for the more systematic
entomologist, who is not content with merely collect-
ing insects, but who is intent in classing1 his collec-
tions, arranging each in its proper place and under its
proper name, and describing such as are nondescript,
another plan of study is requisite. Of the nature of the
pursuits of this class of entomologists, Messrs. Kirby
and Spence, having previously spoken of them as pos-
sessing an agreeable and unfailing provision of that
"grand panacea for the tedium vita; " employment,
make the following observations, " with what view
is the study of the mathematics so generally recom-
mended? Not certainly for any practical purpose, —
not to make the bulk of those who attend to them
astronomers or engineers, but simply to exercise and
strengthen their intellect, — to give the mind a habit
of attention and investigation. Now for all these
purposes, if I do not go so far as to assert that the
mere ascertaining of the names of insects is equal to
the study of mathematics, I have no hesitation in
affirming that it is nearly as effectual, and, with
respect to giving a habit of minute attention, superior."
Examples are then given of the necessity for minute
discrimination in the examination of insects for the
purpose of discovering the proper name of each and
the descriptions to be given of it, if it should hap-
pen to be undescribed : but there is still another
advantage to be gained from this kind of investigation.
We will assert that no one who has studied the clas-
sification of insects, commencif.g with the class and
going regularly through the order?, sections, families,
genera,down to individual species, and neatly arranged
his insects in his cases, can leave the subject without
having gained certain principles of regularity and
ord«r, which will communicate themselves to his
every-day employment, inducing a methodical correct-
ness and precision in the details of life, which are so
superior to the careless proceedings of the thought-
less and irregular.

By the student, therefore, who would attempt the
classification of his collection, it is requisite that a
progressive series of inquiries should be made. It is
not tit that he should commence by the investigation
of isolated species, his collection must be in the first
instance generalised, since it is only by studying-
groups of insects in the mass that we can ever acquire
any general views of the science. If this be not done
we shall be constantly falling into the error of separat-
ing intimately allied groups, because their external
appearance is different, and of uniting insects which,

from the difference of their organisation, are widely
apart, because their appearance is similar. Let us
take any every-day example of the want of this
generalised view of insects ; there is an extensive
group of two-winged flies which are called drones,
they are the very personifications of luxurious idle-
ness, they do nothing but sip the nectar from the
brightest flowers, and enjoy the sunshine basking upon
the leaves of plants ; and there is an extensive group
of bees, having the same general appearance, but
being in habits the very reverse of the drones ; toiling
all day long, either in the construction of the nest or
in provisioning it with pollen paste. Now by ignorant
persons the same name is given to both groups of
insects, and not the slightest idea is entertained of
the totally opposite nature of their habits.

A, Drone-fly (Eristalis*) . B, Spring |Wild-bee (Anthophora
rchisn}.

We are the more anxious to impress upon our
readers the necessity for obtaining a generalised view
of insects, and indeed of the entire productions of
nature, because we know that many of our fellow
labourers fritter away their talents and time in the
sole elucidation of the characters of obscure species
of insects, without a thought of the higher views which
lay open before them. " English naturalists," says
Mr. 13'ichcno, " appear to me, from various causes, to
have pursued the nomenclature and examination of
species in such a way as very much to exclude from
their attention the lugher ends of science, in which
alone the bulk of mankind is interested. Ever since
the subject has* been pursued in the spirit of true
philosophy, it has almost solely been con lined to the
analytic form which, however important, is apt to
degenerate into unprofitable detail, as the synthetic
mode leads oftentimes to the other extreme of loose
and impracticable generalisation. "The necessity of
knowing particulars has made our researches into
species very minute, and has given to our operations
in the eyes of the multitude rather a puerile cast.
The method by which the name of an unknown
species and all that has beon written about it. can be
discovered necessarily involves such minute discrimi-
nation, that it cannot escape this superficial objection.
It is however an inconvenience not incident to our
subject alone, but to all the sciences more or less which
require a minute examination of particulars," And
he concludes by observing, " I am anxious not to be
misunderstood ; I do not want to disengage naturalists
from attention to the analysis of species, or to absolve
them from the labour of minute investigation which,
after all, is our chief business ; but I do wish to see
them following nature through all her varieties with
a view to generalise as well as particularise ; to
relieve the memory from the overwhelming multitude
of names which the discovery of new species has
imposed ; and to compress the result into a size
adapted to the human capacity. This may safely be
pronounced to be among the highest efforts of a
created intelligence."

ENTOMOLOGY.

431

Hence will be seen the necessity for studying col-
lections of animals, and particularly of insects, in the
mass ; for though the knowledge of species, as Mr.
Kirby has well observed, is indispensable for the
registry oi" facts and other practical purposes, yet the
knowledge of groups leads to a higher wisdom ; and
indeed it is through these that webe?t descend to the
study of species. The first tiling, therefore, requisite
is, to ascertain to what order of insects any individual
specimen may belong. For this purpose an inspection
of the mouth (for the purpose of ascertaining whether
it is furnished with jaws or with a sucker), and of the
structure of the wings, will generally suffice. The
next step is the separation of your collection into the
primary sections and families of which the orders are
composed ; and here, of course, the characters will
vary in thediilereut orders, for instance, in the order
of beetles (Coleoptcra}, the primary sections are
founded upon the variation in the number of joints
in the tarsi (or last articulated part of the leg) ;
•whereas in the two-winged flies (Diptera) this charac-
ter is constant, and the number of joints in the
antennae constitute the leading characters of the pri-
mary divisions. For the families no better rule could
be laid down than to study the characters of the
Liniuean genera, which in fact correspond generally
with the modem families of insects ; but as we have
already stated in several of our entomological
articles, the contents of these groups have so im-
mensely increased since the days of Linnaeus, that
it has become necessary to subdivide them into minor
divisions, to which the names of genera and sub-
genera have been given ; and here it will be necessary
to have recourse to such authors as Fabricius and
Latreille, Stephens, or Curtis, for obtaining- an idea of
the extent to which these subdivisions have been
carried, as well as for obtaining a knowledge of the
•various subdivisions themselves. The practised eye,
indeed, can readily reduce an extensive family of
insects into its sectional groups without any other
assistance than that derived from long experience,
because the most nearly allied species possess such
a general resemblance to each other, that it is almost
impossible to overlook their relationship ; for instance
the restricted genus Carabns comprises a very exten-
sive series of ground-beetles, varying but little in size
(compared with the variations in size which occur ir
the family), being moderately large, and ornamented
more or less with metallic tints ; so also among but-
terflies, the genus Colias comprises species being
generally of a brimstone colour. We now arrive ai
the investigation of the specific name of the jnsecf
under examination, and here lies a great difficulty
owing in general to the number of species; grea
relief, however, is afforded by the introduction of sub
divisions in the longer genera, by which we arrive
almost immediately at the name of the species itself
In general the descriptions of insects are written ii
Latin, or at least, if an author chooses to give a
specific description in his native tongue, it seems by
common consent and usage to be required that he
should commence his descriptions by a short Lath
cnaracter.which.from the almost universal employ men
of that language in works of natural history, is intel
ligible to naturalists throughout the world. More
over, the indication of the natural length and expansio_
of an insect, the addition of the country which i
inhabits, and the references to the works of othe
authors by whom the species may have been described

nd especially where it has been figured, all tend to
ender this branch of the science less intricate than it
t first appears. If, however, after all research into
le works of those authors who have especially
evoted their attention to the family or genus of
isects, to which the one under examination belongs,
; should be evident that it is a nondescript, its
escription, embodying the points of distinction
vhich it presents with reference to the already
escribed species, and whether resulting from struc-
ural variation, or from differences of colour, or of
tiiation or puncturation (as in the beetles), may be
attempted, taking as models the specific descriptions
ontained in such admirable monographs as those of
Mr. Kirby upon the English bees, or the genus
4pion, or that of Latreille upon the ants.

But the investigation of species, although valuable
or the sake of precision in the identity of the object
A'hich is the subject of observation, is by no means
ssential for enabling us to study the structure or
economy of an insect, and this brings to our notice
everal other classes of entomologists, who more
ispecially merit the title of philosophical observers
of nature. Of these the out-door naturalist first
claims our attention. Instead of running from one
end of the country to the other, climbing mountains
and descending valleys, stopping only so long as may
>e necessary to transfix the luckless objects of his
chase, and deeming himself happy only when his
collecting box is filled with specimens, the real ob-
server of nature finds materials for study even at his
own door. The former, it is true, meets with many
rarities, and even perhaps nondescript species, but
notwithstanding all his toil, has he observed a single
"act relative to the history and economy of a single
insect? Swammerdam and Reaumur toiled not thu?,
and yet their labours are read even now by all the
world, whereas the labours of the collector are but at
best sellish, and the descriptions of his new species
read only by a few amateur collectors like himself.

Seek then a spot favourable for the habitations of
insects — a sunny nook in a wood, a hot sandbank, or
the margin of a stream, and watch the proceedings
of the numberless insects which frequent these spots.

Examine, for instance, the clear water, and watch
the movements of the various aquatic insects with
which it abounds ; and especially observe the silvery
silky globe which the diving water-spider bears about
with it, and in which, in an enlarged form, it passes the
winter. Observe the mode in which the insect,

Diving: water spider, in its diving bell, fixed to plants at the
bottom of the water.

rcstin"- upon a flower, extracts the honey from its
cup- trace the flight of that sand wasp, and notice the
peculiarities of its manoeuvres in the construction of
its burrow ; examine with careful eye the movements
of that sawfly in the act of forming a channel in the
sprig in which to deposit its eggs ; or listen to the

432

ENTOMOLOGY.

chirping of the field cricket, and trace it to the
burrow, at the mouth of which it sits ready to dart
upon its prey.

Notice these things, and then say whether these
and a thousand other observations of a similar nature
are not infinitely more interesting than the mere pur-
suit and capture of specimens, or the dry technical
detail necessary for their specific determination.

" Those who have studied nature only in books,"
observes St. Pierre, " can see only their books in
nature, they look upon the natural world only to find
therein the names and the characters of their systems.
If they are botanists they are satisfied to have dis-
covered a plant of which some author has spoken,
and having assigned it to the class and the order
which he has pointed out, the}- gather it, and spread-
ing it between two bits of grey paper, they sit down
content with their knowledge and their researches.
They do not form a herbal to study nature, but they
study nature to form a herbal. It is in the same way
that they make collections of animals, that they may
learn their genera and species and treasure up their
names. But can he be a lover of nature who thus
studies her wonderful works? How great a differ-
ence is there between a dead vegetable, dry, faded,
discoloured, whose stems and leaves and flowers are
crumbling to powder, and a living vegetable, full of
sap, which buds, flowers, gives forth perfume, fruc-
tifies, and sows itself again — maintains an universal
harmony with the elements, with insects, with birds,
with quadrupeds, and, combining with a thousand
other vegetables, crowns our hills and adorns our
banks. The animal loses by death even more of its
characteristics than the vegetable, for the animal has
received a more vigorous portion of life. Its prin-
cipal qualities vanish, its eyes are shut, its pupils are
dim, its limbs are stiff, it is without warmth, without
motion, without feeling, without voice, without in-
stinct. What a difference between the animal who
enjoys the light, distinguishes objects, moves towards
them, calls the female, couples, makes its nest or lair,
brings up its young, defends them from their enemies,
congregates with its kind, and gives music to our
woods, and animation to our meadows."

But the out-door observation of these and such
like subjects by the real lover of nature — and no one
merits this name who does not bestow attention of
this kind upon the objects of his research, leads to
far higher considerations and views. Peculiarities of
economy, and herein almost every species of animal
differs from its neighbour, necessarily imply cor-
responding peculiarities of organisation", often indeed
minute, and to be sought after with great care and
labour, often with the assistance of the microscope.
The philosophically minded student will therefore
combine with the observation of habits investigation
of structure, and in this latter particular lies the
merit of such laborious naturalists as Lyonner, Swam-
merdam, or Straus-Durckheim, who lay open to our
view the minute intricacies of the internal anatomy
of various species of insects. The following observa-
tions upon the connexion between these two branches
of our subject, from the Introduction to the Mena-
geries, will be read with pleasure, from the soundness
of the views which they inculcate. " It is amazing
how much quickness the habit of observation will
impart to the whole intellect, and give it an aptitude
for understanding and enjoying the thing observed.
There is nothing, for instance, so common as to find

men wanting in a perception of picturesque beauty,
of that feeling which enables some to take great
delight in a landscape, not only for its extent, or the
grandeur of its parts, but for the harmonious arrange-
ment which is necessary to the effect of a picture, or
for some accidental circumstances of light and
shadow, or of colour, which render the prospect
more than usually attractive. Now this is strictly
an acquired faculty, and one which is produced by
the practice of looking at nature or at the monuments
of art, with the previous adaptation of the vision to
picturesque objects ; and a person who enjoys the
faculty (we say enjoy, for it is a source of real
pleasure) is said to possess a painter's eye. It is pre-
cisely in the same way that a naturalist, by constantly
observing the peculiarities of animal life, acquires the
readiest perception of the differences in the structure
and habits of the great variety of living beings, and he
perceives in each of them qualities which a less prac-
tised observer would entirely overlook. Through
these habits of observation, the science of zoology,
which comprehends all that relates to the description
of classification of animals, has been gradually estab-
lished. By diligent observations the peculiar struc-
ture of vast numbers of individual animals has been
ascertained, their habits have been accurately de-
scribed, and many ancient errors, which arose from
hasty examination, have been exploded. Thus, in
the more recent scientific works on zoology, the acci-
dental circumstances of size or colour, or locality, or
any identity in unimportant habits, have ceased to be
guides in the classification of animals, but the essential
peculiarities of their formation, which chiefly determine
their habits, have alone been regarded. We mention
this, to poirrt out that the actual observations of suc-
cessive naturalists, leading to the accumulation of a
great body of facts, have principally contributed to
the advance of zoology as a science in modern times,
for the science being wholly founded upon observa-
tion, and not upon previous calculations, or any series
of experiments, the greater our collection of facts
the nearer have we approached to systematic per-
fection."

These views FO fully coincide with our own opinions
of the necessity for continual observation of facts, that
we have not hesitated to introduce them into this
article, although they are equally valuable with refer-
ence to every department of zoology. The observa-
tion of facts has been too much neglected amongst
us ; there is, however, one passage contained in the
above extract, which appears to us to call for further
notice. We are there told that " the essential pecu-
liarities of formation chiefly determine the habits " of
animals, and a little further we meet with the remark,
that the systems of Cuvier, Blumenbach, and others,
are founded upon a consideration both of the teeth
and of the organs of touch, and therefore, " being
formed with especial reference to the tico great dis-
tinctions which determine the most important habits of
the animal, are called natural systems."

Now this passage, and numerous others which we
might quote from the works of other modern writers,
both popular and scientific, to the like effect, appear
to the author of this article to result either from
very incorrect ideas of the system of nature, or
from a carelessness of expression which leads us to
imply the existence of such incorrect ideas. Let us
not be misunderstood. These passages seem to us to
imply that, in the opinion of the writers, a certain form-

ENTOMOLOGY.

433

ation being bestowed upon an animal, certain pecu-
liarities of habit dependent thereupon are acquired.
Observe the result : — if we adopt this mode of looking
at the operations of nature, do we not immediately
fall into one of the worst errors of some of the worst
of the French philosophers ? Do we not at once
virtually deny the existence of design in the creation ?
It was upon this very point that our great philosopher
John Ray contended with such eloquence in his
" Wisdom of God in the Works of the Creation."
Asrainst the doctrine that the bodies of men and all
other animals were the effects of the wisdom and
power of an intelligent and almighty Agent, and the
several parts and members of them designed to the
uses to which now they serve, the atheist, he observes,
has one subterfuge, in which he most confides, viz.
that all these uses of parts are no more than what is
necessary to t'ue very existence of the things to whom
they belong, and that things made uses, and not uses
things, and in this spirit Lucretius says,

Nil ideo natum est in corpore ut uti

Possumus, scd quod natum est, id procreat usum :

And again —

Omnia deniquc membra

Ante fuere, utopinor, eorum quam fuit usus.

So that, in the opinion of the atheist, all this admired
and applauded usefulness of their several fabrics is
but a necessary condition and consequence of their
existence and propagation.

If it could be proved that the doctrine con-
tained in such passages as those we have quoted,
ought not to be identified with the atheistical doc-
trines above alluded to, and refuted so ably by Ray,
we would not have noticed the subject in this manner ;
but when it cannot be denied that the only inter-
pretation to be put upon the former coincides so
exactly with the latter, we think it our duty to guard
our readers, and especially our younger readers, from
uuheedingly falling into a train of thought in which
the fore-knowledge and honnonious contrivances of an
all wise Creator, with reference to preconceived and
intended uses, are virtually denied ; attributes which
it is expressly within the duty of the zoologist to hold
up to contemplation and admiration, and which the
objects of his study so continually present to his view.

Instances of structure dependent upon economy. A, fore leg
of the mole cricket, formed .for digging under ground, the arti-
culated taifcus, </, being lodged in the groove, l>, when inaction.
B, fore leg of a sand wasp, formed for burrowing in loose sand ;
the alas, a a, being employed in brushing: away the loose par-
ticles.

We have purposely abstained from entering into the
arguments adduced by Kay in refutation of these
atheistical opinions, the opposite view being fortunately
too clear to need much argument in its support. He
would be but a sorry architect who, having completed
the building of a splendid palace, had not, previously
to its erection, planned the uses of its various apart-
ments, and adapted the size and situation of each to
its intended uses.

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

We have thus seen that it is by the continued
accumulation of facts, and by noticing the adaptation
of structure to habits, or, as Ray more quaintly styled
it, the making of things to uses, that we obtain more
decided chances of attaining to perfection in our
systematic classifications. But we are enabled to do
more than this. Natural history is not a mere science
of system and names ; we have living objects for our
study. The student must, however, guard against
both extremes. It is as erroneous to consider that
person a true naturalist who contents himself with
giving a series of hard names to a collection of dried
insects or other objects, as it is to assert " that any
person, with a little care, may become a tolerably
good naturalist the first walk he takes in the fields,
without much knowledge of books."

To observe well the habits and economy of animals,
to notice, by the assistance of anatomical examination,
the adaptation of structure dependent upon such
habits, to have studied the writings of our prede-
cessors who have pursued a similiar mode of research,
and to apply the information thus obtained to the
discovery, not only of the systematic name, and the
relationships, more or less remote, existing between
the various species of animals, with reference to their
arrangement in a natural system*, but also of their
relationship with nature in general, the weight of each
in the great scale of the universe, and the mutual
dependence of animals or plants upon each other,
which constitutes that mighty whole which St. Pierre
has so well termed the harmony of nature ; this it is
which constitutes a knowledge of nature, and he, and
he only, who will look at an insect or a plant in this
manner, — he who will not rest contented with the pos-
session of a specimen, or the observation of a fact in
its economy, or the knowledge of its name and place
in the system, but will give to his views this extent,
he only is the good naturalist.

Having thus laid before our readers a notice of the
various grades in the science of entomology, or rather,
we might say, in any of the departments of zoology,
together with what appears to us to be the most
efficacious mode of pursuing the subject in each, we
now purpose to trace, as concisely as possible, the
rise of entomology, including a sketch of its present
state.

The names of various celebrated men who have
given from time to time an impulse to the science of
entomology, or who have rendered to it the most
signal services, mark the eras of the more remarkable
periods in its history. This order, founded upon the
growth of knowledge, is certainly preferable to that
established upon the lapse of years from century to
century.

Without dwelling upon the Book of Holy Writ,
from whence it is evident that the Hebrews had a
certain knowledge of the habits of various insects,
and had distinguished a certain number of them, the
first memorable era is that of Aristotle, since it is in

* Some persons have either wilfully or ignorantly confounded
the mere methodical classification of animals, i. e. their system
of names, with the natural system, than which no two things can
be wider apart. Thus, in the former, that classification must be
the best by which we are enabled with the least labour to arrive
at the name of an animal; whereas perfection in the latter can
only result from a knowledge and adoption of the numerous and
intricate relationships existing amongst animals, whether of
affinity (that close relation existing, for instance, between a
hive bee and a humble bee,) or that more remote relationship
termed analogy, of which an instance may be mentioned in the
hornet, the hornet sphinx, and hornet asilus.

EE

434

ENTOMOLOGY.

the writings of that father of zoology that the first
traces of entomology, as a distinct science, are to be
found. This era dates from three centuries and a half
before the Christian era ; and, as Latreille observes,
it is not less memorable in the history of the world as
being that in which one of his pupils, Alexander the
Great, flourished ; and, by a remarkable coincidence,
the modern Aristotle (as Cuvier has been called)
flourished during the reign of a man scarcely less
celebrated than Alexander. Aristotle noticed the
difference between masticating and sucking insects,
and many of the divisions which he established
amongst insects are adopted by the latest entomolo-
gists ; but the distinctive character of the science of
entomology of this period was the admission of a
greater number of insects as distinct species, which
were but in the preparatory state of others, which
were also observed. In like manner many species
which had not been traced to the egg-state, were
regarded as the offspring of a spontaneous gene-
ration. With insects were arranged the Annelidas and
many other animals of a widely different structure.
Entomology was, however, at this period but a sum-
mary of popular traditions, often fabulous or in part
erroneous, and more under the domain of medicine
than of zoology, mixed up, nevertheless, with some
facts which were too apparent to escape the simplest
investigation. As to the other ancient naturalists,
they have scarcely added any thing to the knowledge
transmitted to them by Aristotle. This knowledge
passed from the Greeks to the Romans, and from them
to the inhabitants of the northern parts of Europe, by
whom the Roman power was broken down. Pass we,
therefore, over a period of nineteen centuries, and
arrive at the second great entomological era when
the revival of letters led to a corresponding revival
of the so long dormant sciences. Albert the Great
devoted one out of the twenty-two folio volumes,
of which he was the author, to natural history, and
in which he treated upon insects, which he separated
from the Crustacea. Haifa century afterwards (about
1550) the simultaneous appearance of Gesner, Belon,
and Rondelet, three of the fathers of zoology, cave
a great impulse to this branch of science.. Still, how-
ever, entomology was much infected with the radical
vice of spontaneous generation, but the spirit of obser-
vation was abroad ; facts were collected, and both by
the assistance of figures engraved upon wood and of
microscopic glasses, much increase was made to the
stock of knowledge. Some naturalists even con-
fined their researches to entomology ; and in 1602,
Aldrovandus published a treatise upon this science.
In like manner, in the " Treatise of Insects," (an ex-
tensive folio volume, being the joint labours of Wot-
ton, Gesner, Penny, and Mouffet, published in 1624,
and being remarkable as the earliest work which
appeared in England expressly devoted to entomo-
logy), a great variety of figures of insects were given,
which from their rarity have been overlooked or
regarded by modern writers as entirely novel. The
work was divided into chapters, in each of which
some genus of insects was treated upon ; the first
seven being devoted to the honey bee. Still, how-
ever, there were incongruously blended along with
insects all sorts of larvae of other species belonging
to the winged orders, and likewise many of the Lin-
nsean class of genuine Vermes, and even the Hippo-
campcB. Moreover, in the works^ of this period, we
find the same continual reference to the supposed

medical virtues of almost every species of insect, an
instance of which, showing the ridiculous extent to
which these ideas were carried, has been given under
our article CurculionidcE, in the account of the Curculio
emtiodontalgieus. But better days were now at hand.
Redi, and Malpighi, and S\vaminerdam, towards the
close of the seventeenth century, laid the foundations
of a true system of entomology by the excellency of
their respective observations. The first of these cele-
brated men, by experiment, threw down the doctrine
of equivocal or spontaneous generation, and also cor-
rected numerous other errors into which naturalists in
general had fallen. The second published a variety
of researches of great importance upon the anatomy
of these animals ; whilst the third, by stripping from
the transformations of insects all of the marvellous
with which they had been invested, and more espe-
cially by the clearness of the details by which he
illustrated the extraordinary and startling fact which
he quaintly designated as " an animal within an ani-
mal," contributed more to the true knowledge and
systematic distribution of insects than any of his pre-
decessors. His work, as well as those of Mouffet,
Redi, and Malpighi, are still sought after with avi-
dity by the student ; and his pages, although contain-
ing much verbosity, are filled with the most valuable
materials — the result of the most patient attention,
devoted both to the habits and structure of the ani-
mals investigated. IF, indeed, in our days, the dis-
tribution which he proposed, founded upon the nature
of the transformations of insects, has been abandoned,
it is not less true that the considerations upon which
it was established, constitute one of the most valuable
elements for a classification of insects, according to
their natural relations with each other.

About the same period Lister, Leeuwenhoek,
madame Merian, Vallisnieri, and Ray, rendered great
service to entomology by making known, in con-
siderable detail, a great number of insects, whilst the
Memoirs of Reaumur, which appeared about the
middle of the eighteenth century, form a storehouse
of facts to which every entomologist cannot but turn
with new delight. De Geer also, the prince of ento-
mologists as he has been termed by Macleay, flou-
rished about the same period, and either as regards
classification, anatomy, physiology, or the economy
and habits of insects, his " Memoires pour servir a
1'Histoire des Insectes," written in French, although
printed at Stockholm, cannot be cited without praise.
There are other authors who have trod in the steps
of these illustrious men, but up to the present time
their labours have not been surpassed.

We now arrive at the era of Linnaeus, a name to
be revered by every naturalist. To him every branch
of natural history, entomology, in particular, are under
the greatest obligations for the strong impulse given
to them. This is not the place to detail his classi-
fication of insects, valuable as it is, and purified from
the errors with which the ancients had darkened the
subject ; but we must here pay the debt of justice and
of gratitude for the admirable system of names which
he invented, and which has now become general, for
the clearness and precision of the definitions which
he gave of the different orders of insects, for the esta-
blishment of genera, and for the promulgation of a
code of philosophical precepts relative to natural
history and botany.

The same era gave birth to other entomologists,
whose works must be cited with praise— Rosel, Schaffer,

ENTOMOLOGY

Frisch, all of whom have figured and described many
insects. Bonnet, whose researches upon the habits
and generation of Aphides are of the greatest interest ;
not only with respect to the natural history of these
animals, but also to physiology in general. Lyonnet,
to w.hose incomparable anatomical details upon the
Cossits we have had occasion repeatedly to refer ;
Fabricius, also the pupil of Linnaeus, by the vast
number of new species of insects which he described,
and the pains which he took in bringing to perfection
a novel system of classification founded upon the
structure of the organs of the mouth (that of Linnaeus
being built upon the structure of the wings), has
merited the thanks of the entomologist.

Hitherto we have seen that in the distributions
which had been proposed by entomologists, a single
organ, or series of organs, had been selected as a key-
stone of the system ; the natural consequence of which,
as might have been expected, was the constant arti-
ficial results to which such distributions were exposed.

We now arrive, however, at the era of the eclectic
system, or that of Latreille, one of the most inde-
fatigable and philosophical entomologists that has yet
appeared, who perceiving this difficulty, successfully
accomplished the task of remedying it. He did for
entomology what his compatriot, Bernard de Jussieu,
had succeeded in doing for botany. By making use
of the various characters which are exhibited by
various organs in various degrees of development in
various groups of insects, and by neglecting neither the
metamorphotic characteristics (which were the key of
Swammerdam's arrangement); nor the variations in
the structure of the wings (upon which the Linnaean
system was founded), nor the structure of the mouth
(which Fabricius had employed as above stated), he
has established amongst insects natural groups, ar-
ranged according to the affinities which they respect-
ively possess with each other. His first work appeared
in 1796; and since this period up to the present
time, the works of entomologists in general have been
directed towards the same end. Latreille himself,
until his lamented decease, ceased not to strive to
render his views more accordant with nature. Cuvier,
by his admirable comparative anatomical researches ;
Dumeril, Lamarck, Savigny, Macleay, Kirby, Meigen,
Schonherr, and a great number of other distinguished
authors, have followed in the same steps, and have
contributed to render the distribution of insects more
perfect, and more easily applicable ; or to complete
our knowledge of groups by the publication of de-
scriptions of new species, or of anatomical details of
those already known.

In respect, therefore, to precision of observation, to
the distribution of insects into natural groups, and the
classification of such groups, it is to be observed, that
in our Own times the greatest progress has been made
in entomology. Earlier classifications were founded
upon individual and isolated characters, so that the
groups which exist in nature were but vaguely exhi-
bited ; but at the present day, by the examination of
the general characters of insects, all such as are allied
together in nature are brought into contact, the effect
whereof is, that it is sufficient only to obtain a com-
plete knowledge of a single individual, in order to
gain a clue to the general structure of the whole of
the species which are arranged with it.

In like manner, the investigation of the internal
anatomy of these animals has been equally progressive,
for, instead of simply examining the structure of such

435

or such an isolated animal, entomologists, following in
the steps of the comparative anatomists, have traced
the modifications which each organ exhibits in the
whole of the animals of which the class is composed.
Cuvier led the way to this branch of the science, and
has been followed'by Marcel de Serres, Herold, Tre-
viranus, Leon Dufour, Gaede, &c. ; whilst the minute
researches of Straus-Durckheim upon the Melolontha
i'i//gf/ns, and of Mr. Newport upon the Privet Hawk
Moth, published in the " Philosophical Transactions"
for the last year, may be cited as models of patience.
Besides the last named author, the English ento-
mologist may boast of the works of several other
labourers, whose researches are not inferior to those
of any of the continental authors. The " Illustrations
of the Genera of British Insects," published by Mr.
Curtis, is a work of the highest service to the science,
displaying not only the most minute care in the dis-
section and delineation of the typical species of the
genera illustrated, but also the highest style of ele-
gance in its pictorial representations ; whilst the work
of Mr. Stephens, which may be regarded as a com-
panion to the former, presents to us a far more
complete series and description of the species of
insects found in our own island than any other country
can boast of. The "Systematic Catalogue" of the
latter author is a work exhibiting the most astonishing
exertion ; whilst the completion of Mr. Haworth's
Lepidoptera Britannica, the Australian Monographs
of Mr. George Gray, with beautiful illustrations from
the pencil of Mr. Charles Curtis, the English trans-
lation of the " Regne Animal," by Mr. Griffith and
others, the work upon the Lepidoptera of Java, by
Dr. Horsfield, together with numerous valuable me-
moirs published in the " Magazine of Natural History,"
the " Annals of Philosophy," Dr. Jameson's Edin-
burgh Journal, the Linnsean and Zoological Society's
Transactions, the Entomological Magazine, and the
Transactions of the Entomological Society of London,
all prove that the spirit of entomology is rising
strongly amongst us.

In the last place we may mention, as affording a
most gratifying fact in the history of the science of
entomology, the recent establishment of societies
expressly devoted to the cultivation of this branch of
zoological knowledge, both in Paris and London. Eng-
land, it is true, led the way by the establishment of
such a society nearly forty years ago, for the support
of which the best energies of the late Mr. Haworth
were in an especial manner, and for a great length of
time directed; but for the last twenty years nothing
had been done by it. It must, however, be admitted,
that it is to the establishment of the French Entomo
logical Society of London that we may, in a great
degree, attribute the rousing of the energies of the
many entomologists amongst us: the result of which
has been the formation of a society established upon
liberal principles, and likely to prove of the greatest
service to the science, for the cultivation of which
it has been called into existence. See further the
articles INSECTS, ARACHNIDA, and CRUSTACEA, and
the articles referred to in each.

ENTOMOSTOMATA (De Blainville). These
molluscs form the second family of the first order
Siphonostomata, second class Paracephalophora. Tho
family includes the genera Buccinum, Cerithium, Me-
lanopsis, Planaxis, Subula, Terebra, Eburna, Harpa,
Doliuni, Cassidaris, Cassis, Ricimila, Cancellarui, Pur-
mm, and lastly Concholepas, nearly all of which were
EE2

436

ENTOMOSTOMATA — EPACRIDE.E.

blended together by Linnaeus in his genus Buccinum.
As each of these genera will be described in their
alphabetical order, a more detailed account will be
here needless. The general character of the genus,
as respects the animal, has already been given under
the article Buccinum.

ENTOMOSTRACA (Muller). One of the two
principal sections into which the class of crustaceous
animals is divided by Muller, Latreille, and other
entomologists. By Linnaeus, the animals comprising
this division, and which are chiefly of small size, were
principally arranged in the genus Monoculus; but the
researches of various more recent authors, Schaffer,
Jurine, Ramdohr, Straus, Herman, and others, have
shown not only that these animals constitute various
different genera, but also orders and families. They
are aquatic animals for the most part, inhabiting fresh
water. Some of the species, however, including the
king crabs (Limulus, which is by far the largest species
in the section) are marine. Their legs, of which the
number varies, sometimes reaching more than a hun-
dred, are well adapted for swimming, being, indeed,
only employed for that purpose, for which end they
are either ramified or split, or else composed of flat-
tened joints. The branchiae, consisting of hairs or
setae, either isolated or united, forming pencils, are
attached to the legs, or to certain of them, or to the
upper or lower jaws. The shell covering the greater
portion of the body consists of one or two divisions,
and is very slender, being often mernbranaceous
and diaphanous. The integuments of the body are
rather corneous than crustaceous, in which respect they
approach the insects rather than the true Crustacea.
The mouth is very variable in its construction, con-
sisting either of jaws as in the Branchiopoda, or of a
sucker as the Pacihpoda, the majority of which latter
order are parasitic upon various species of aquatic ani-
mals. The young of the Daphniae and some other allied
genera, at their exclusion from the egg. scarcely differ,
except in size, from their parents ; whereas the Cyclops,
the PhyllopodcE, and Argulus, undergo decided trans-
formations, both in the form of the body and the num-
ber of locomotive organs ; indeed, in the latter organs
the uses as well as the number are altered in the pas-
sage to the adult state. The antennae of the Ento-
mostraca, of which the form and number are very
variable, are occasionally employed in locomotion.
The organs of generation are situated at the base of
the articulated abdomen or tail, which is never, how-
ever, terminated in an apparatus for swimming, nor fur-
nished with appendages in its lower surface, as in the
crabs and other Malacostraca, The eggs are either
carried within the shell upon the back, or are external
and borne beneath a common envelope in one or two
masses at the base of the tail. In some species the
eggs are capable of sustaining a long continued de-
siccation without losing their vitality. It is not until
after the third moulting that they become adult and
capable of reproduction. In a few instances it has
been observed, that, as in the Aphides, a single impreg-
nation is sufficient for several successive generations.
1 This section is divided into two orders, Branchio-
poda and PcBcilopoda, which see, as well as the
divisions there referred to, and also the general article
CRUSTACEA.

EOLIDA, or EOLIS (Lamarck). A molluscous
animal, without any testaceous protection. The body
of the animal is oval, oblong, like that of a snail,
gasteropod ; the head very distinct, with two or four

superior tentacula, besides two labial ; the branchia
are formed of a great number of small soft flexible
scales, imbricated on each side of the back. The
colts is one genera of the first family Trctracerata,
second order Polybranchiata, second class Parace-
phalophora,

EPACRIDE^E, a natural order of dicotyledo-
nous plants, containing between twenty and thirty
genera, and upwards of one hundred and twenty
species. It is closely allied to EricecE, or the heath
tribe, and differs from it only in its anthers being one-
celled, and not furnished with appendages.

The essential characters of the order are : calyx
five, rarely four-parted, often coloured and persistent ;
corolla hypogynous, monopetalous, the tube some-
times five-parted, the limb five, rarely four-cleft, some-
times bursting transversel}', in consequence of the
cohesion of the segments, deciduous or withering ; its
aestivation valvate or imbricated ; stamens generally
equal in number to the segments of the corolla, and
alternate with them ; filaments inserted on the petals
or hypogynous ; anthers simple, with a single recep-
tacle of pollen ; ovary sessile, usually surrounded at
the base with five distinct or connate scales, and
generally many-celled ; ovules solitary or indefinite ;
one style ; stigma simple, or sometimes toothed ;
fruit either a drupe, a berry, or a capsule ; seeds with
albumen.

The plants belonging to this order are shrubs or
small trees, which are often covered with simple hairs.
Their leaves are alternate, rarely opposite, entire, or
serrated, often stalked ; their bases sometimes dilated,
overlapping each other, and half-sheathing the st em.
Their flowers are white or purple, sometimes blue, and
grow in spikes or terminal racemes, or are rarely
solitary and axillary.

They are all natives of New Holland and the
islands of Polynesia, forming a striking feature in the
vegetation of those parts of the globe. They may
be said .to occupy in Australia the place which the
heaths do at the Cape of Good Hope. Many of the
species are remarkable for the beauty of their flowers,
and are on that account prized in greenhouses.
Some of them yield edible fruits, but in general
their properties are not known.

The order has been divided into two sections :
1. The true Epacndece, including the genera Epacris,
Sprengelia, &c., in which the cells of the ovary are
many-seeded, and the pericarp capsular. 2. Styphe-
lice, comprehending the genera Slyphelia, Lissanthe,
Leucopogon, &c., in which the cells of the ovary
are one-seeded, and the pericarp indehiscent, rarely
capsular.

The fruit of Leucopogon Richci supplied food to
the naturalist Riche when he was nearly perishing
from hunger in Southern Australia. The fruit of
Lissanthe sapida is one of the few edible fruits of
New Holland. It is of a red colour, and is as large
as a black currant, having something of the consist-
ence and taste of the Siberian crab. It is sometimes
called the Australian cranberry.

EPEIRA ( Walckenaer). A genus of spiders,
comprising the largest and best-known British species,
Epcira diadema, a handsomely marked species, ob-
served in autumn suspended in its web in our gardens.
We are induced therefore in this place to make a few
general observations upon the order of which the
spider is the type, and which were accidentally omitted
in our alphabetical arrangement.

EPEIRA— EPHEDRA.

437

As already stated in the articles Arachnida and
Aptera, the different species of spiders were placed by
Linnaeus in the genus Aranea, constituting the Sth of
the order Aptera. These insects having, with some
genera of less importance, been raised by modern
naturalists into a class of equal rank with the crus-
tracea and true insects, the Linnsean genus Aranea
may now be considered as equivalent to an order, to
which Latreille gave the name of Fileiises or Spinners,
Macleay that of Araneidce, and Leach that of Dime-
rosonuita. The name of Aranea has not, however, been
dropped, but has been employed to denominate the
modern genus, consisting of the domestic spider
Aranea domestica of Linneeus, and which may be re-
garded as the type of a group of genera to which we
have applied the family name of Arancirlce, corre-
sponding with the Araignees sedentaires tubitiles of
Latreille, or those species of spiders which spin
irregular webs, having a cylindric cell in one corner
in which the inhabitant lurks for its prey. The spin-
nerets are cylindric, placed close together in a star
and directed backwards, the legs are strong, the first
or t!.e last pair being the longest in some, whilst in
others the legs are of nearly equal length. This
family comprises the genera ClotJio, Walckenaer ;
Drassus, Walckenaer ; Scgcstria, Latreille ; Clubiona,
Latreille; Aranea, Latreille; (Tegenaria, Walcke-
naer ;) Agelena, Walckenaer ; Ryssiis, Walckenaer.
Latreille has also introduced the water spider, Argyro-
neta, into this group ; but the Baron Walckenaer has
formed it into a distinct family, which he terms
Naiades, or Aquatiles.

The other groups of spiders may be arranged as
follows : —

Section 1. Tetrapneumones, or those which have four
pulmonary sacs and four external spiracles
on the under side of the abdomen, (two
on each side placed closely together,)
and comprising the families of Mygalidce
(the gigantic bird spiders, as they have
been erroneously termed, of tropical
countries,) Ahjpidcc and Dysderidce. (See
ATYPUS and DYSDERA.)

Section 2. Dipneuwones, or those which have only
two pulmonary sacs and two external
spiracles, comprising the majority of the
order, and divisible according to the man-
ner of conduction of the web into the
families AraneidcB described above ; Tlie-
ridionidae, comprising sedentary species
which make an irregular web without
any tubular retreat ; Epeiridce (described
below) ; Thomisid<s, hunting spiders pos-
sessing the power of walking sideways ;
Lycosiclce, wandering spiders catching
their prey whilst walking about, and not
making a web, except for the reception of
the egg ; and lastly the So/riewte, differing
from the latter in the agility with which
they leap upon their prey from a con-
siderable distance.

The family of the Epciridcc, or the Araignees seckn-
laircs orbtieles of Latreille, make their Avebs in a
regular net, composed of a series of concentric
circles, crossed by straight lines diverging at equal
distances from the centre, where they in general
station themselves head downwards. Some species
hide themselves in a hole which they have formed
near the edge of the web, which hole is either

horizontal or perpendicular. The eggs are "glued
together and concealed in a large silken cocoon. The
spinnerets are somewhat conical, convergent, and
arranged in a rosette ; the legs are slender, the lower
jaws are straight and thickened at the tips ; the first
pair of legs are the longest, and then the second pair.
The eyes are disposed as follows : four in the centre,
occupying a quadrilateral space, and two on each
side. The genera are Linyphia, U/oborus, Tetragnatha,
and Epeiru.

In the genus Epeira the four middle eyes are ar-
ranged in a square, and the other four are placed in
pairs on each side. The hooks of the jaws are folded
along their internal surface, and the spinnerets are but
slightly exserted. These spiders live separately, each
individual forming its own web, which in some of the
large exotic species, as the Epeira clavipes, a native of
the West Indies, is sufficiently strong to hold small
birds, which may by accident be caught in it ; those of
our own country are capable of retaining insects of
considerable size, which form the prey of the spider ;
for this purpose they are suspended vertically between
the branches of trees or plants, or in other open spaces
frequented by insects : occasionally they are placed
obliquely, and even horizontally, as in the Epeira
ciicurbitina. No sooner is a fly or other insect caught
in the web, than it is approached by the spider, which
in a curious manner envelops it in a silken shroud, by
placing the tips of its fore legs, at each extremity
of the insect's body, so as to form the points of au
axis, round which the insect is whirled with rapidity,
a dense layer of silk being at the same time thrown
round it from the spinnerets. This genus is very
numerous in species : M. Walckenaer mentions sixty-
four species in his Table of Araneides, generally
remarkable for the variety of their colours, forms, and
economy. Of these many of the exotic species are
remarkable for the singular spines and teeth with
which they are armed.

Epeira diadema.

The best known English species is the Epeira
diadema, which abounds in our gardens in the
autumn, and which has received its name from the
elegant markings of a pale colour upon the upper
sicte of its dark-coloured abdomen. The female
places her cocoon of eggs in retired corners of
walls and similar situations, the young are excluded
in the following spring.

We must refer to our article SPIDER for a general
account of the mode in which the webs of these
insects are constructed, and for other details relative
to their economy.

EPHEDRA (Linnaeus). A curious genus of plants

438

EPHEMERA.

belonging to the natural order Contferee. Two o
them are hardy European dwarf bushes, the other is
a climber from Barbary. They are propagated by
layers or suckers.

EPHEMERA (Linnceus.) A genus of neuro-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Subulicornes
of Latreille, and forming the type of the family
Ephemeridce, distinguished by the entirely mem-
braneous and almost obliterated structure of the
mouth, the parts of which are very indistinct, the
five jointed tarsi, the small size of the lower wings
which are even sometimes entirely wanting, and the
slender threadlike appendages with which the tail is
terminated.

The name of this genus has been given in con-
eequence of the very short duration of the life of the
insect when arrived at the perfect state, it is derived
from the Greek, and signifies living only through a
day. The insects are the may-flies of anglers, whose
beautiful motions in the blaze of the evening sun,
alternately rising and falling, cannot have failed to
have attracted the notice of every observer of nature.
The body is soft, long, and slender. The antennae
are very short and three jointed, the wings are
generally carried either perpendicularly, or slightly
inclined. The legs are long and slender, without
bristles, the anterior pair being the longest, inserted
close to the head, and stretched out in front of the
body. The perfect insects generally appear in
ewarms about sunset, in fine summer or autumn even-
ing?, along the margins of streams, lakes, &c., and
occasionally in such numbers, that the ground is
shortly afterwards so completely covered with their
dead bodies, that in certain dietricts they are collected
in cart loads, and used as manure. One species,
Ephemera albipennis, is remarkable for the white-
ness of its wings, so that its swarms have all the ap-
pearance of a fall of snow. It appears to have been
this species, the proceedings of which are detailed by
Mr. A. H. Davis, in the Entomological Magazine,
and whose account, as illustrative of a remarkable pe-
culiarity in the economy of the insects of this family,
we here insert: — "On a fineevening, towards the latter
end of May, I was collecting in the neighbourhood
of Brixton, near some ponds, when I was suddenly
covered by a multitude of small species of ephemera.
They settled on me, apparently from my being the
most conspicuous object near, on which to undergo
their final transformation. Their colour was of a
dusky white and opaque. They retained their posi-
tion, without moving, enabling me to observe be-
neath the glass the process by which these fragile
creatures withdraw themselves from the comparatively
cumbrous garment which envelopes their beautiful
and aerial form. Immediately on settling, the wings
were laid flat at right angles with the body, and the
insect remained about half a minute in a state of
repose. A slight motion then appeared about the
basis of the wings, which gradually collapsed, and
were drawn alongside the abdomen. At this mo-
ment the insect resembled a piece of dirty cotton-
wool, with little form. The elevated portion of the
thorax now distended, and then gave way longitudi-
nally, exhibiting the bright brown thorax of the
insect, which was vapidly followed by the head and
anterior legs. After this effort, the insect rested a
few seconds. The next discernible motion was in
the two or three last segments of the abdomen, where
the muscle* were in violent agitation, evidently for

the purpose of extricating the fine setae which adorn
that part. The contractions continued upwards, and
the wings, freed from their flimsy covering, were fully
developed, and in an instant the delivered captive took
its flight ; the whole process strongly resembling the
drawing off of a tight glove. The whole operation
did not, in most cases, exceed three minutes ; in some
cases less. Scarcely an instant elapsed between the
full development of the insect and its taking flight,
so rapidly did they acquire consistency. I a some
few instances I observed them coupled, in which
case they soon died. I made a dozen or so find
their way into a phial ; they instantly deposited their
eggs, and died ; one only, which I believe was a male,
survived when I reached home, less than one hour
after.

" The number of the insects was truly surprising,
they covered every part of my apparel, and my face
and hands were not exempt. On my arrival at home,
my hat looked like a millers, from being completely
covered with exuviae. I had taken several of these
insects during the evening, and had put them into
pill boxes ; almost all, however, were immature, and
died without undergoing their metamorphosis, from
which it would appear that light and a free atmos-
'phere are essential to its accomplishment. The
principal swarm, however, appeared about an hour
before sunset, and enjoyed their hour's existence in
one of the finest sunsets of this glorious summer."

The singular circumstance of these insects under-
going a shedding of the outer skin, after they have
arrived at their winged state, is an apparent excep-
tion to the general rules of insect metamorphoses.
It is, however, to be observed, that many insects
appear, on bursting from the pupa state, to be enve-
loped in a delicate membrane, which is immediately
burst and thrown off. This has been often observed
by persons who rear lepidopterous insects, and it
appears to us that this envelope of the ephemera is
perfectly analogous to the pellicle of the moth, being
however, from its former consistence, retained longer
by the insect.

On arriving at the perfect state, the only operation
which these insects have to perform is the propa-
gation of their race, the imperfect and rudimental
structure of the mouth preventing their taking any
nourishment in this state. The female, immediately
after impregnation, deposits her eggs in a mass in the
water.

But although the may-fly lives only a very short
time when it has attained the winged state, its exist-
ence in the larva and pupa states has been much
longer, sometimes lasting even two or three years.
During this period it resides in the water, often con-
cealed during the day beneath stones or in holes, and
sometimes in horizontal burrows divided internally
into two canals, each having its own orifice. These
jurrows are always formed in clayey soils, covered by
:he water, which penetrates its cavities, and it has
Deen supposed that it is upon this soil that the larva
'eeds. These Iarva3 differ from the perfect insect, not
only by being destitute of wings, but in several other
particulars. The antennae are longer, the simple
yes are wanting, the mouth is provided with a pair
of corneous jaw-like appendages, the abdomen is
urnished on each side with a series of leaf-like plates,
ordinarily disposed in pairs, at the base of which
are a kind of false branchiae or gills, upon which the
racheas are laid out in a branching direction, and

EPIDENDRUM-EQUISETACEJE.

489

which serve, not only as organs of respiration, but
also of locomotion, being moved with facility. The
tarsi have but a single claw. The extremity of the
body is furnished with several short ciliated filaments.
The pupa differs only from the larva in having rudi-
ments of wing covers.

One of the species, which, from its abundance, has
been termed Ephemera vulgctta, is well known to the
angler as a famous bait for the trout. It appears in
May and June. Gilbert. White says of it : — " June
10/1771 — Myriads of May Hies appeared for the
first time on the A Ires ford stream. 'The air was
crowded with them, and the surface of the water
covered. Large trouts sucked them in as they lay
struggling on the surface of the stream, unable to rise
until their wings were dried. This appearance recon-
ciled me iji some measure to the wonderful account
that Scopoli gives of the quantities emerging from the
rivers of Carniola. Their motions arc very peculiar,
up and down for many yards almost in a perpendicular
line."

The number of species of this family ascertained to
be inhabitants of this country is about fifty, -the
majority of wh:c'i are as yet undescribed. They are
divisible into generic section?, from the number of
wings and caudal filaments, as follows : —
Genus Sac/is, Leach ; filaments 2 ; wings 4. Type,
E. biloculuta, Linn.

— Clocon, Leach ; filaments 2; wings 2. Type,

E. diptcra, Linn.

— Ephemera, Linn. ; filaments 8; wings 4. Type,

E. vulgata, Linn.

— Bracliycercm, Curt. ; filaments 3 ; wings 2.

Type, E. brcvicauda, Fab.

We presume that the latter semis was intended to
have been named Macroccrcua (long-tailed), instead
of Brai'ln/cercus (short-tailed), the tails in the typical
species being exceedingly long. The largest species
in the family is the Ephemera Swammerdamiana,
being that whose transformations and anatomy were
described by Swammerdam. It belongs to the genus
Bael'is, if indeed it be not the type of a distinct genus,
as its large size seems to indicate. The largest British
species of the family is the common rnay-fly described
above.

EPIDENDRUM (Linnaeus). A rather extensive
and curious genus of plants, belonging to the natural
order Oi-ckideae. Generic character : sepals free,
spreading, labellum clawed, claw united to the tube
of the column; the lip often three-lobcd ; pollen
masses parallel. This genus, like all the rest of the
order, are remarkable plants. One section of the
epidendra has a kind of gouty stcms^vhich are neither
bulbs nor tubers. Another section is destitute of
these swollen stems, and is more terrestrial than
the others ; some of which are epiphyte?, living on
the stems of trees, and when removed will preserve
their vitality for a considerable time, and flourish
suspended by a string without either earth or con-
densed water ; hence they are called air plants.

EPIGCEA (Linnieus). A small creeping plant
found in North America. It belongs to the tenth
class of Linncean botany, and to the natural order
Khodoracea:. It is a hardy plant, and thrives well in
our common borders.

EPILOB1UM (Linnaeus). A genus of herbaceous
plants, mostly perennials and natives of Europe. Class
and order Octandria Monogynia, and natural order
Qnagraria. One of the most common is the willow

herb, often seen in shady places in hedge banks;
nine others are natives of Britain.

EPIPACTIS (Richard). A genus of two orchi-
deous plants, both natives of Britain, found in most
woods and marshes. The E. latifolia was formerly
called Serapids latifolia by Linnaeus. They are ad-
mitted into the flower garden, where they thrive much
better than many other wild orchises.

EPIPHYLLUM (Haworth). A genus of remark-
ably showy succulent plants separated from the genus
Cactus. The flowers are icosandrious, and the plants
belong to the natural order Opuiitiaccee. These
plants are leafless, but the stems are dilated into leaf-
like forms, and bear their splendid crimson flowers on
the edges. They require a dry compost of a little
loam and lime rubbish. The pots should be small
and well drained, the plants needing but litile water.
They are readily struck from cuttings, which should
be laid to dry for some time before they are planted.
EPOMIS (Bonelli). A handsome genus of cole-
opterous insects, belonging to the section Pentamera,
family Ctirabidce, and sub-family Harpatides. separated
from ' Clilesmns, to which it is very closely allied, by
having the maxillary palpi terminated by an elongated
hatchet-shaped joint, which is more dilated in the
male than in ihe female ; the lower lip has a bind
tooth in the centre. The type of this genus, of which
there are but very few species, is the Caralnis circinn-
scriptus, two or three specimens of which existed in
the old British collections.

EQUISETACE^E— the horse-tail family. A natu-
ral order of acoryledonous or cellular plants, contain-
ing only one genus, but numerous species. This is a
remarkable order of plants, having little affinity with
any other tribes. It may be said to approach the
CycadefB and Comftrcc. It resembles the fern-tribe
in the want of the sexes and the presence of annular
ducts without spiral vessels; while its germination is
similar to that of mosses.

The essential characters of the order are : fructifi-
cation terminal, in spikes or catkins, consisting of
many-sided, shield-like scales, on the lower side of
which are from four to seven involucres. These open
longitudinally, and contain numerous round bodies
having at their base four elastic club-shaped filaments,
twisted spirally round them when dry, but expanding
when moistened.

The plants belonging to the order are branched
and leafless. Their sterns are rigid, streaked, and
hollow, and consist of several easily separated joints,
each of which is surrounded by a membranous toothed
sheath. Under the cuticle a quantity of siliceous or
flinty matter is secreted. The branches are mostly
in whorls.

The Eqmsetacecc are widely dispersed over the
globe, and generally grow in moist, marshy places.
None of the species have as yet been found in New-
Holland. It would appear from the fossil remains
discovered, that a great part of the original vegeta-
tion of our globe consisted of gigantic cqmsetums
several yards long, much larger than any of our
present species, which have generally weak stems,
and. seldom exceed three or four feet in height.

Equisctum is the only genus of the order. It
includes numerous species, and some of which were
formerly used medicinally as astringents and diuretics.
From the quantity of flinty matter which they con-
tain they are used for various domestic purposes,
such as polishing furniture. The flint in the living

440

plants amounts sometimes to thirteen per cent., and
the ashes of the plants have been found to contain
half their weight of that mineral.

Eqidsetum hyemale, (rough horse-tail), contains so
much silex or flint, that its vegetable matter has been
removed, and yet its form has been retained. It is
used for the polishing of hard woods, brass, ivory, &c.,
and may be made to act as a file. In Northumber-
land, the dairy-maids use it to scour and clean their
milk-pails. The plant is imported largely from Hol-
land under the name of Dutch rushes.

On subjecting a portion of the cuticle of this plant
to the analysis of polarised light under a high mag-
nifying power, Sir David Brewster detected a beautiful
arrangement of the siliceous particles, which are dis-
tributed in two lines parallel to the axis of the steins,
and extending over the whole surface. In general
the particles form straight lines, but sometimes they
are grouped in oval forms, and connected togethe'r
like the beads of a necklace. Many of the particles
do not exceed the five-hundredth part of an inch in
diameter. From the observations which he made,
Sir David Brewster concludes, that the crystalline
portions of silex arc not foreign substances of acci-
dental occurrence, but are integral parts of the plant
itself, and probably perform some important function
in the processes of vegetable life.

The fronds of Eqidsetum arvcnse are said to be
hurtful to such animals as feed on them in autumn.
Eqidsetum fluviat'de was eaten by the common people
among the Romans. It is said to be eaten by rein-
deer, and is used in some countries as food for cattle.

The seeds of the Equisetums possess hygrometri-
cal properties : when exposed first to a dry and then
to a moist atmosphere, they move about in various
directions, according to the lengthening or shorten-
ing of the thread-like processes which are attached
to them.

ERANTHEMUM (R. Brown). A genus of
ornamental under-shrubs, chiefly tropical. Liunsean
class and order Diandria Monogynia, and natural
order Acanthaccce, Generic character : calyx of four
equal parts ; corolla salver-shaped, limb five-cleft,
nearly equal ; stamens four, two of which are abortive,
two fertile ones protruding. This is a free flowering
genus in our stoves, thrives in a light rich soil, and
is easily increased by cuttings.

ERANTHUS (Salisbury). This is the Helleborus
hyemalis of Linnaeus, and remarkable as being one of
the first flowering plants of the early spring, preced-
ing both the snowdrop and crocus. It is a polyan-
drious plant, and belongs to the natural order Ranun-
culacece. It is the winter aconite of English authors.

EREMURUS (Bieberstein). A genus included
in the natural order Asphodeleae, and called Asphodelus
Altalcus by Pallas. It is a herbaceous perennial, in-
digenous to Siberia, and has a place in our flower
borders.

ERIA (Lindley). An orchideous genus, thought
to be a Dendrobium by Dr. Hooker, but made a sepa-
rate genus by Dr. Lindley. It receives its name from
the extreme woolliness of the flower. Grown in turfy
moor earth, and propagated by dividing the root.

ER1ANTHUS (Michaux). A genus of gigantic
grass, native of North America. It was supposed to
be a species of Saccharum by Persoon, but Michaux's
name is adopted.

ERICA (Linnaeus). Heath. One of the most nu-
merous families occurring in the vegetable kingdom.

;ERANTHEMUM — ERICE^E.

Five hundred and forty-three species are named in
published lists, besides numerous varieties. See
ERICE/E. ^

ERICEjE, or ERICINE.E. The Heath Tribe.
A natural order of monopetalous dicotyledonous
plants, containing nearly thirty genera, and upwards
of nine hundred known species. The order is allied
to Vacc'iuke and Campanulaccce, from both of which it
differs in its superior ovary. It also boars an affinity
to Epacridea: and Pyroluccce, but is distinguished from
the former by the structure of its anthers, and from
the latter by its general habit, and the structure of its
seeds.

Its essential botanical characters are, calyx per-
sistent, inferior, four or five cleft ; corolla hypogjnous,
four or five cleft, withering ; stamens definite, equal
in number to the segments of the corolla, or twice as
many, inserted at the base of the calyx of the corolla ;
anthers two-celled, the cells hard and dry, separated
either at the apex or base, where they are furnished
with an appendix, and usually opening by pores ;
ovary free, surrounded at the base by a disk or by
scales ; one straight style, and a single undivided
or toothed stigma ; fruit capsular, many celled, with
central placentas ; seeds indefinite, minute.

The plants belonging to this order are shrubs, or
under-shrubs, with evergreen, rigid, entire leaves with-
out stipules. They cover immense tracts of country
at the Cape of Good Hope, where upwards of three
hundred separate species are found. The common
heaths, or heather, form a considerable portion of the
vegetation of large districts in England and Scotland.
Heaths abound also in many parts of Europe, as well
as in North and South America, both within and
without the tropics. They are not common in
Northern Asia or India, and in Australia they are
scarcely known, their place being supplied by plants
belonging to the order Epacridece.

In general the heaths possess bitter, astringent,
and diuretic properties. The chief genera of the
order are Erica, Calunta, Andromeda, Lcduni, Rhodo-
dendron, Azalea, Arbutus, Menziesia, Kalmia, and
Gaidthcria.

Of the genus Erica, or true heath, there are five
species indigenous in Britain : Erica tetralix, cross-
leaved heath; Erica cinerca, five-leaved heath ; Erica
Mediterranca, vagans, and ciliaris.

The two first species, along with common ling,
abound in all our moors, and are the badges of
the clans of Mac Donald and Mac Alister. From
the five-leaved heath the Picts used to make a deli-
cious and wholesome liquor. In the following lines
the poet alludes to this ancient practice, when he
addresses this heath a?,

Sweet, modest flower, in lonely deserts dun,
Retiring still for converse with the sun,
Whose sweets invite the soaring lark to stoop,
And from thy cells the honeyed dew-bells scoop !
Though unobtrusive all thy beauties shine,
Yet boast, thou rival of the purpling vino !
For once thy mantling juice was seen to laugh
In pearly cups, which monarchs loved to quaff;
And frequent wake the wild inspired lay,
On Teviot's hills, beneath the Pictish sway.

At the end of the last century, this tribe of plants
consisted of three or four British shrubs, and a single
Spanish one, but when the Cape of Good Hope fell
into the hands of the British, an amazing number of
species were immediately discovered. At the pre-
sent day, the species, and the varieties produced by

ERICE

cultivation, are almost endless. All the species are
remarkable for their beauty, their elegance, or the
fantastic forms which they assume, and some are
prized for their perfume. The cultivation of them is
attended with a considerable degree of difficulty, but
they have been reared with great success in Britain.
They are propagated by cuttings and seeds, which
are planted in a peat soil, having a considerable mixture
of sand. They do not require a warm climate in
winter ; it is sufficient if they are protected from
frost. A great deal of light and air, and a regular
supply of water, are necessary for their vigorous
growth.

Callcma vulgaris, common heather or ling, is abun-
dant on all the moors in this country. In the High-
lands the plant is put to many important uses. It is
extensively used for thatching cottages, and for making
brooms. The Highlanders frequently make their
beds with it, laying the root downwards and the top
upwards. It supplies materials for fuel, and for
making ropes, and is employed also for dyeing and
tanning. It forms an excellent edging for garden
plots, and bears clipping well. From its flowers bees
extract a large quantity of honey, which, although of
a dark colour, is remarkably wholesome and nutri-
tious. Heather affords shelter to many birds, and its
seeds form the principal food of grouse. For this
purpose the seed vessel is so constructed that the
seeds are preserved for a year, or longer.

Arbutus, or Arctostaphylos itva ursi, red bearberry
or whortle-berry, is an evergreen trailing shrub, abun-
dant in the Highlands of Scotland, as well as in the
north of England and Ireland. It bears small red,
austere, and mealy berries, which are much eaten by
moor fowl. The leaves have a styptic bitterish taste,
and possess tonic, astringent, and diuretic properties.
They are used medicinally in calculous or gravelly
complaints, and in some diseases of the bladder. They
have also been recommended in dysentery, and in
consumption, combined with bark and opium. They
may be administered either in powder or in infusion.
The infusion made with cold water strikes a beautiful
blue with persulphate of iron, in consequence of the
large quantityof gallic acid which it contains. Be-
sides this acid, the leaves contain tannin, resin, gum,
extractive, woody matter, chlorophylle and water.
When digested with alcohol they form a green tinc-
ture, which is rendered turbid by water, and when
filtered passes through transparent and yellow, leaving
a green resin on the filter. In some parts of Russia
the plant is used for tanning.

Arbutus, or Arctostaphi/los alpina, black bearberry,
is another indigenous plant of this order, found on
Ben Nevis, and many other Highland mountains. It
is a trailing shrub, with elliptical leaves, which become
in autumn of a fine red colour. The flowers are pale
rose-coloured, and are succeeded by black berries,
having something of the flavour of black currants.

Arbutus unedo, strawberry tree, the arbutus of
Virgil, is a beautiful evergreen, indigenous about the
lakes of Killarney in Ireland. In Crete and the
Levant it becomes a bushy tree of very geat size.
From the beauty of its foliage this tree adds greatly to
the claims of the lake scenery of Killarney. It is now
a common ornament in our gardens, where it sometimes
attains the height of eighteen or twenty feet. In the
Botanic Garden of Edinburgh some specimens of the
plant may be seen, which, under the care of Mr.
Macnab, the able superintendent, have attained a size

441

and vigour scarcely equalled in this country. The
tree bears pale greenish-white flowers, which are
succeeded by red berries the size of cherries, and
resembling strawberries in appearance. The fruit,
which takes a year to ripen, is used as an article of
food in Ireland and the south of France. When
taken in too large a quantity it is said to act as a
narcotic. In Corsica an agreeable wine is prepared
from the berries. Several varieties of the plant are met
with in nurseries, one with deep red flowers, called
scarlet arbutus, another with double greenish flowers
and narrow leaves, and a third with entire leaves.

Arbutus andrachne, oriental arbutus, and Arbutus
hybrida, mule arbutus, have also been introduced into
cultivation in Great Britain as ornamental shrubs.

Andromeda is another genus of this order, of which
numerous species exist in America. Andromeda poli-
folia is found in marshy places in various parts of
Britain. It is a small evergreen shrub, with rose-
coloured drooping flowers, which are much concealed
by the leaves. It sometimes receives the name of
wild rosemary. Andromeda hypnoides is a moss-like
plant which covers great tracts of ground in the Lap-
land alps, producing showy red flowers. The shoots
of Andromeda ovafifolia have been known to poison
goats in Nepal. From one of the species a volatile
stimulating odoriferous oil is obtained which is used
by the Japanese for the cure of rheumatism.

Rhododendron is a genus familiar to all on account
of the beautiful species which are commonly cultivated
in gardens. Rhododendron chrysanthum, yellow or
golden flowered rhododendron, is a small plant which
grows on the highest part of the snow covered moun-
tains of Siberia, and is employed as an article of
materia medica. Its leaves in powder or infusion,
from their soporific and narcotic effects, are used as
remedies in gout and rheumatism. In large doses
they produce vomiting and delirium. From the effects
produced by the infusion, it is called intoxicating tea
in Russia. In this country the plant is scarcely ever
employed now-a-days. Rhododendron Ponticum and
maximum possess poisonous properties. Rhododendron
ferrugineum and hirsutum are common on the high
mountains of Switzerland, and terminate woody vege-
tation as we ascend. They furnish fuel to the shep-
herds, and grouse are said to eat them. Rhododen-
dron Caucasium grows on the highest parts of Caucasus,
near the limits of perpetual snow.

Azalea procumbcns is found plentifully on the sum-
mits of most of the Scottish highland mountains, and
abounds in the arctic regions. It is a low shrub,
with a woody stem and crowded leafy branches. It
has astringent properties. Azalea Pontica is a
poisonous species. The honey collected by bees
from the flowers of this plant is said to have poi-
soned some of the soldiers in the retreat of the ten
thousand through Pontus.

Kalmias are beautiful peat-earth shrubs found
chiefly in America. Kalmia latifolia, a native of
Carolina and other parts of North America, grows on
rocks hanging over rivulets, and on the sides of barren
hills. It Is one of the most elegant shrubs, and is
prized both for the beauty of its foliage and the colour
of its flowers. Unfortunately its poisonous qualities
lessen in some degree the esteem which its beauty
claims. An ointment made of the powdered leaves^has
been used in some obstinate cutaneous affections. The
wood of the plant is hard, and well fitted for various
domestic purposes. The brown powder which adheres

442

ERIGERON — ERIOGASTER.

to the leaf-stalks of almost all the species of Kalmia,
Andromeda, and Rhododendron, as well as that which
surrounds their seeds, is used by the common people
in the United States of America to excite sneezing1.
An infusion of Gaultheia procumbrens is used as tea
in North America. It is stimulating, and somewhat
anodyne. The berries are succulent and esculent, and
are sometimes infused in brandy, which is then used
like common bitters. Ledum palustre is astringent,
and when used in the manufacture of beea renders it
heady.

Menziesia c&rulea is a small shrub, found in a single
station in Scotland, but frequent in America. It
produces beautiful large purple-blue flowers, and is
well worthy of a place in our gardens. Another
species, Mcnziesia polifoita, is indigenous in Ireland,
and is frequent!}' cultivated.

This order, we have thus seen, is more distinguished
for the beauty of the plants which it contains, than
for the uses to which they are applied. Under it are
included many of the most valuable green-house pro-
ductions, and to it also is referred the heather-bell

That breathes the mountain air,

and which gives, in some degree, to thejiills of Scot-
land their wild and romantic character.

ERIGERON (Linnaeus). A genus of annual,
biennial, and perennial herbs, mostly found in Europe.
Linntean class and order Syngenesia superjlua, and
natural order Composites. Generic character : antho-
diinn imbricated; receptacle naked; florets of the
ray ligulate, and very narrow. Increased by seeds
or dividing the roots, grows anywhere in flower
borders.

ER1GONUM (Michaux). A genus of North
American herbaceous perennials, belonging to the
natural order Polygonece, Generic character: flowers
enclosed in a bell-shaped involucrum ; calyx bell-
shaped, six-cleft, segments obtuse, interior ones some-
what smaller than the exterior ; filaments like hairs,
longer than the calyx ; anthers ovate ; style scarcely
visible ; stigma filiform ; achenium three-sided and
winged. These plants when cultivated thrive best
in pots.

E1UNUS (Linnaeus). Beautify! little alpine plants,
belonging to Didynamia angiospermia, and to the natu-
ral order Scrophularince. Generic character : flowers
somewhat spiked and bracteate ; calyx regularly
five-cleft ; corolla inclining to salver-shaped, tube
cylindrical, limb spreading, five-parted, segments in-
versely heart-shaped, sometimes emarginate; stamens
short; style filiform, with headed stigmas; capsule
oblong, two-celled, two-valved, and many seeded.
The E. atpimts grows readily on old walls, and in-
creases itself readily by seeds. It is a favourite plant
for rock-work. There are two or three greenhouse
species.

ERIOBOTRYA (Lindley). A genus of Chinese
fruit trees, belonging to the natural order JKosaccee.
Generic character : calyx woolly, obtusely five-
toothed ; petals bearded ; stamens equally joined to
the calyx ; styles five, filiform, and hairy ; fruit
from three to five celled, cells many seeded. The
E. Japonica was introduced into this country about
1787, under the name of MespUns Japonica, so called
by Thunberg. It is said to be indigenous to Japan,
but it is very common in China, and is the Loquat of
Chinese fruiterers. It is a half hardy tree, and with-
stands frost with a slight covering.

ERIOCEPHALUS (Linnseus). A genus of ever-
green shrubs, introduced from the Cape of Good
Hope. They belong to the natural order Composite.
Greenhouse plants of easy culture, and propagated
by cuttings.

ERIODENDRON (Decandolle). Tropical tim-
ber trees, formerly associated with the genus Bombax.
The flowers are monadelphious, and the trees are
placed in the natural order Bombaceae. Almost all
the genera of this order are known by the capsules
being lined with a kind of silky or cotton-like wool,
which is put to various uses, but it has no.t tenacity
enough for the fabrication of cloth. In our stoves
these trees have necessarily a pigmy habit, and are
propagated bv cuttings.

ERIOGASTER (Germar). A genus of lepido-
pterous insects belonging to the section Pomeridiana
of Stephens, family Bombycida, and to the division
with entire wings, and the palpi not advanced in front.
The body in this genus is stout, and densely clothed
with woolly hairs ; the antennae are slender, and
attenuated at the extremity ; the wings are somewhat
transparent. The abdomen in the females is furnished
with a mass of down. The type of the genus is the
Pluiltena bombyx lanentris (Linn.), a species known to
collectors by the name of the small egger moth (so
named from the resemblance of the cocoon to an egg),
of rather common occurrence ; the wings are of a
dark reddish tinge, with an irregular toothed streak
beyond the middle of the wing, and with a large basal
and smaller central spot of a whitccolour. It varies in
expanse from one inch and one-sixth to one inch and
five-sixths. Like the genera Cnethocampa and Clisio-
campa (which see), to which it is nearly related ;
this moth is gregarious in the caterpillar state, living
in colonies under a common tent, from whence the
inhabitants make nocturnal exclusions in search of
food, returning before morning by means of silken foot-
roads parallel to the brandies. The caterpillar is
black and hairy, with two red hairy spots and three
white streaks on each segment. It is found at the
end of June feeding upon the sloe, birch, willow,
whitethorn, and other trees. The moth appears at
the end of February.

We have already, in our article CHRYSALIS, given
an account of a curious circumstance which has been
observed relative to the occasional duration of this
insect for several years in the pupa state.

The cocoon is hard and of an egg-like appearance,
somewhat resembling a pheasant's egg. Very little
silk is employed in its composition, moreover it is
spun with various little pin-holes, as if bored from
without, the use of which has not been ascertained.
It has, indeed, been suggested, that these apertures
might be left as air-holes for the included chrysalis,
" as the closer texture of the cocoon might, without
this provision, prove fatal to the animal." Ins. Ar-
chitect, p. 328. — This supposition can scarcely, how-
ever, be maintained, inasmuch as we find numerous
cocoons of an equally firm texture, which are not fur-
nished with such apertures. There is also another
peculiarity which has been observed in this insect,
and which is thus noticed by Mr. Haworth, in his
Lepidoptera Britannica : " When an aurelian pos-
sesses a brood of this moth, he readily learns, on the
arrival of the month of February, which of his puptu
will become winged that year. This always happens
to by far the greater number, and its approach is
denoted by the swelling of the larger belts of the

ERI 0

pupae. Those which are intended to rest until another
season do not swell until that season approaches.
This swelling cannot be produced by heat, because
all the pupae, those which do not as well as those
which do swell, are kept in an equal tempera-
ture, and experience the very same treatment. Per-
haps," he adds, " they are endowed above by some
differing principles which require the differing periods
of one, two, and three seasons to repair and bring them
to complete maturity, and render them capable of
accomplishing the full intentions of their beneficent
Creator." Without offering any opinion upon the
cause of the prolongation of the chrysalis state, we
may satisfactorily account for the swelling of the
chrysalides, without attributing it to the acquisition of
fresh matter, the swelling of the substance already
there.or to the action of heat, by considering, that imme-
diately before assuming the perfect state an increased
quantity of air is imbibed by the insect, for the pur-
pose of distending the exceedingly numerous ramifi-
cations of the newly developed respiratory organs.
" This insect," further observes Mr. Haworth, " is
probably of great service to many of our soft-
billed birds, at a season when little and insufficient
quantities of food are to be procured, especially in
severe and rigorous winters, in which the ground
remains a long time covered with snow, when this
poor moth and some other species of lepidoptera (as
soon as escaped from the pupa) stick torpid upon the
trunks of trees, where these birds readily find and
devour thorn*, and thus e>c;tpe from hunger at a
time when worms or other terrestrial food are either
difficult or impossible for them to procure ; these
birds, thus saved, are of incalculable service the fol-
lowing spring, in restraining within due limits the
insect despoiiers of the vegetable kingdom ; during
which they never fail to cheer us with their charm-
ing songs, and lessen the destructive numbers of
caterpillars in our orchards and gardens, until in
their turn they become the prey, the necessary prey,
of some insidious weasel, or birds more powerful
and rapacious than themselves ; I repeat necessary
prey, because they themselves would become too
numerous if never destroyed, to the total extirpation
of various insects, whose existence in the scale of
things is as essential as their own to keep within
appropriate bounds certain vegetables which other-
wise would multiply to the total exclusion of other
weaker and smaller, but equally necessary species ;
and so on, ad uifinitnm, until, at length, the head, and
prince, and king, of all created beings, man himself,
would feel the chusm, and experience inevitable woe."

ERIOL^ENA(l)ecandolle). An ornamental ever-
green shrub, native of the East Indies, belonging to
Syttneriacece. It is readily propagated by cuttings
struck in peat.

E RIO P HO RUM (Linnaeus) is a genus of grass-
like plants, belonging to the order Ci/pcrace<e, and is
the cotton giass common on moors and bogs in many
parts of Britain.

ERIOSPERMUM (Jacquin). A genus of bulb-
ous rooted plants indigenous in Southern Africa.
The flowers are hexandrious, and belong to the natu-
ral order Asphodelcee. Generic character : corolla
six-petaled, spreading; stamens inserted into the base

» All insects, except lepidoptera in the winged state, conceal
themselves during the time of severe frosts in places inacessible
to birds.

— E R 0 D I U M. 443

of the petals ; filaments flatted and eonnivent ; anthers
double arrow-shaped ; style triangular ; stigma three
lobed ; capsule three-sided, three-celled, cells with
several seeds. These bulbs are grown in loamy turf,
moor earth, and sand mixed, and are increased by
off-sets.

ERIOSTEMON(Smith). A genus of ornamental
evergreen shrubs introduced from New Holland.
The flowers are decandrious, and the plants are asso-
ciated with the natural order Rosaccce. They have
some resemblance to Diosma or Adcnandra, and are
equally easy of culture in the greenhouse.

ERISTALIS (Meigen), a genus of dipterous in-
sects, belonging to the section Athericera, and family
Si/rp/iidee, having the thread of the antenna; pilose, and
the external cell at the tip of the wing (situated near
the angle at the extremity), with a deeply rounded
notch at its outer side. The body is thick, the eyes
pilose, the hind legs simple, and the third joint of the
antennae large and patelliform. The early states of
these insects have been long known ; they are de-
scribed by Swammerdam and Reaumur. The larvas
are in the number of those which reside in the mud
of stagnant water, and which have been termed rat-
tailed larva3, from the extraordinary elongation of the
terminal segment of the abdomen, which is furnished
at its extremity with an organ of respiration, which is
easily brought into contact with the air at the surface,
and at the same time permitting the larva?, by the
various degrees of extension of which it is capable, to
retain its situation in various depths. Before passing
to the pupa state the insect leaves the water, buries
itself in the soft margin of the sides, the respiratory
tube ceases its functions, the body contracts, the skin
hardens, and becomes at length the covering of an
inclosed pupa, in which the organs of respiration
appear in the form of four small horns, placed at the
fnfcnt part of the body. The perfect insects delight
in flowers, of which they suck the nectar, in bruised
fruit, and in the sap which exudes from wounded trees
of which they are not less fond. The females often
deposit their eggs without ceasing their flight for this
purpose ; they suddenly drop themselves to the sur-
face of the water, leaving an egg there, and as sud-
denly rise again. In this respect they agree with the
dragon-flies. When settled upon leaves or other sur-
faces, the abdomen is alternately elevated and de-
pressed from time to time. Their flight is very strong,
and their movements, when on the wing, often very
sudden : often they may be observed suspended as it
were in the air, balancing themselves on their wings,
which are kept in so rapid a motion as to be scarcely
perceptible, darting off at the least approach of danger.
In most of the species there are many generations in
the course of the year. They are to be found in the
winged state from the commencement of spring until
the arrival of winter. There are about twenty British
species of this genus, including the Muscn intricaria,
nemorum and Arbustorum of Linnaeus. The Musca
tenax of Linnaeus, and some other species, form a dis-
tinct section in the genus, having the bristle of the
antenna? naked.

ER1THALIS (Linnaeus). A genus of two species
of trees, one is a fruit tree in Jamaica, the other
deciduous ornamental of India. They are pentan-
driotis, and belong to the order Ruliacece.

ERODIUM (Heretier). A genus of annual and
perennial herbs, formerly classed with the geraniums.
Linaaan class and order Monadefphia Pentandna, and

444 1 ERODIUS-E

natural order Geraniacece, This division of the order
have mostly regular flowers, and the seeds when united
resemble a heron's beak; hence the generic name.
They are mostly natives of Europe ; three of them
are British.

•», ERODIUS (Latreille), a genus of coleopterous
insects, belonging to the section Heteromera, subsec-
tion Melasoma, and family Pime£iid<z, having the body
short, ovoid, gibbose above, with the thorax short and
as broad behind as the base of the elytra, terminated
posteriorly on each side by an acute angle ; the pro-
sternum is dilated behind into a plate resting upon
the mesosternum. The genus comprises three sub-
genera, Erodius, Zophosis, and Nyctelia. In the first
of these the two terminal joints of the antennae are
united so as to form a small mass, and the anterior
tibiae are furnished on the outer edge with a central
and terminal spine. These insects, of which the spe-
cies are very numerous, inhabit the sandy districts of
the south of Europe, and the southern parts of Asia,
and the north of Africa. The type is the Erod-gibbus
of Fabricius : it inhabits Egypt.

EROTYLUS (Fabricius), an extensive genus of
coleopterous insects, found only in South America,
arranged by Latreille in the section Tetramera, but
which possess so many characters, both as regards
their habits and structure, in common with the Engidce,
that it appears much more natural to consider the
structure of the tarsi as entitled only to a secondary
importance. The three basal joints of the tarsi are
dilated, cushioned beneath ; the penultimate joint
being bilobed. The antennae are terminated by a
dilated club composed of several joints, the lower
jaws are armed with a corneous tooth, and the palpi
terminated by a large transverse semilunar joint. —
The species are adorned with numerous colours, in
which yellow and red, with black spots and marks,
are most prominent. From analogy with some allied
British genera, we may consider these insects, which
are of a moderate size, as inhabitants of fungi, boleti,
&c. M. Duponchet has published a valuable mono-
graph of the genus, all the species of which have been
.figured therein.

,i ERPETION (Sweet). A genus of plants separated
from the genus Viola by the late Mr. Sweet. Class and
order Pentandria Monogynia, and natural order Viola-
riecB. Its species grow well in a warm border, and
produce abundance of flowers. In sharp frost they
require covering with a mat.

ERVUM (Linnaeus) is the generic name of the
family of tares, so profusely scattered over Europe.
They are all climbing annuals, some of them trouble-
some weeds among corn. Two of them, the E. lens
and E. ervilia, are cultivated in the south of Europe
and north of Africa as human food, and have so been
from very remote antiquity. Lentils when boiled
readily dissolve into a pulpy mass of a chocolate
colour ; and we learn that " it was for a mess of this
'red pottage'' which Esau sold his birthright. In
Egypt and Syria they are parched over the fire in
pans, and commonly sold in shops, being considered
by the natives the best food to be taken on long
journeys. The use of lentils is very common on the
continent, especially by the Roman Catholics during
Lent. Lentils are also imported into London from
Hamburgh, for the use of cooks, who prize them as
an ingredient in soups and sauces." — Bur. Bot.

Tares and vetches (Vicia) afford abundant green
food for horses, sheep, and hogs ; sometimes they are

R Y T H R I N A.

made into hay, or reserved for seed, or for feeding
pigeons. The winter vetch ( Vicia saliva) is indispen-
sable^to the farmer ; when sown along with a little rye
in September, they stand the winter, and together are
the first green food fit for use in the beginning of
May ; and then most acceptable as well as serviceable
to horses which have been long kept on dry fodder.

ERYCINA (Lamarck). Only one species of this
shell is described by Lamarck, and the equivocal .
character of these shells renders it very difficult to
judge of their hinge. The shell is not quite so high
as it is long ; it is subtrigonal, regularly equivalve,
inequilateral, slightly, or not at all gaping ; the apices
well marked, and inclining rather forward ; the hinge
sublunar ; two unequal cardinal teeth, converging
to the summit, and leaving a cavity between them ;
two lateral slightly distant teeth, lamellar and pene-
trating ; the ligament interior, placed in the cavity ;
the valves exhibiting two rounded muscular impres-
sions. The only recent species described inhabits
the sands of New Holland, but several fossil are
enumerated by De France, and others are figured by
Deshayes in his work on the Fossil Shells found in
the neighbourhood of Paris. This genus belongs to
the eighth family Conchacea, first section, third order,
Lamellibranchiata, third class Acephalophora.

ERYNGIUM (Linnreus). A genus of perennial
herbs found in every quarter of the world. Linnaean
class and order Pentandria Digynia, and natural order
UmbcllifercE. Generic character : flowers in a head ;
receptacle chaffy ; involucrurn rather spinous ; petals
inflexed ; fruit chaffy or scaly, crowned with the
calyx. Several individuals of this genus are admitted
into the flower garden. Their coloured bracteas
being their most striking feature. They affect light
soil, and are increased by seeds, which ripen readily.

ERYSIMUM (Linnaeus). This genus is called
in Britain hedge-mustard, from the acrid qualities
with which it abounds. The species are mostly
European, having tetradynamous flowers, conse-
quently belonging to the natural order Cruciforce.
It is propagated by seeds or cuttings.

ERYTHR^A (Richard). A genus of annual,
biennial, and perennial herbs, chiefly natives of Europe.
They are ranked in the fifth class of sexual botany,
and belong to the order Gentianeae of the natural sys-
tem. Generic character : calyx in five parts and five
sided; corolla funnel-shaped, limb five-cleft; stamens
joined to the tube of the corolla ; anthers shed spirally ;
style short ; stigmas two, roundish ; capsule of two
valves, bent inwards, and having a placenta. The
British species called centaury, are met with on moors
or dry pastures, and are considered most elegant
native plants. When introduced into the flower
garden, where they well deserve to be, the seed should
be sown in the autumn to ensure their rising in the
following spring.

ERYTHRINA (Linnaeus). A splendid genus of
exotic trees, shrubs, and herbs, remarkable for their
high coloured flowers, hence called coral trees. They
belong to LeguminoscE. Generic character : calyx
tubularly bell-shaped, truncated, sometimes with five
or two teeth, or two lipped, often spatlmceous ; vex-
illum very long ; keel of two petals ; pod elongated
and twisted. Some of the species require the heat of
a stove ; others stand well in the greenhouse ; but
the E. cristagalli and E. laurijulia will live in the
open air if protected from the frost of winter ; for
though the steins die down, they shoot again from the

E S

root, and flower beautifully in the summer. They
may be propagated by cuttings. The seeds of E.
corallodcndrum are called Caffrarian peas by Barrow,
probably from their being eaten as such 'by these
people. The seeds of E. Abyssinica are said by Bruce
to be called karat in Abyssinia, and there used as
weights for gold, whence it is presumed we have our
word carat.

ESOX — The pike. A genus of soft-finned fishes,
with abdominal fins, in which the edge of the upper
jaw is formed by the intermaxillary bones, or where
it is not completely so formed, the maxillary bone
is without teeth and concealed in the thickness
of the lips ; generally speaking, the fishes which
compose this genus, or rather family, are voracious ;
but the three divisions of which it is made up are
very unlike each other in most of their characters.
These divisions are : Esox, the pike, properly so
called ; Belonc, the gar-fish, and E.mcetus, the flying
fish, which last we shall notice under their English
names, only remarking further here, that the pikes
are inhabitants of the fresh waters ; the other two
divisions inhabit the salt ; and the flying fishes, as their
name imports, can make their way through the air
for a short distance.

Pikes, properly so called, have small intermaxillary
bones furnished with little pointed teeth in the middle
of the upper jaw ; the vomer, the palatal bones, the
tongue, the pharynx, and even the rays of the gills, are
set with teeth ; and in the sides of the lower jaw there
are large ragged teeth, which, in a fish of large size,
are scarcely less than the canines of a small dog.
No fresh water fish bites so powerfully as the pike,
and hence it is looked upon as one which is peculiarly
destructive to other fishes, though its own flesh is in
considerable esteem for the table. The flesh is white
and firm, but rather dry : there are three species, two
of which have been found only or chiefly in the fresh
waters of North America, One of these,E.reticularis,
is marked all over with a net-work of brownish lines ;
and the other, E. estor, is sprinkled over with round
blackish dots. The manners of these two species are
but little known.

It is usually said that pike were unknown in the
English rivers previous to the time of Henry VIII.,
and that when first introduced they were so rare, that
a single pike sold for double the price of a house
lamb. But there is little probability in this account,
inasmuch as the pike is very generally distributed,
not only through the cold and remote waters of the
northern parts of the British islands, which nobody
of course ever took the trouble of stocking with fish
of any sort, but they are also distributed through the
very coldest parts of Europe. Pike have been men-
tioned, as taken in Lapland, as much as eight feet in
length ; and in one of the slow running rivers of the
Scotch highlands, we believe the Glass, we have
heard of a six feet pike being taken ; in the richer part
of the country, they are not so large in size, but
whether this be owing to less favourable pasture, or
to more habitual fishing, has not been determined.

The general aspect of the pike is repulsive. It is
a ragged, savage, and ugly looking fish, and a large
portion of the middle of its body being nearly of an
equal thickness, gives it a lumpy appearance. The
head is very flat, the eyes small, and the irides golden
yellow ; the upper jaw is broad but shorter than
the lower one, and the lower one turns upward at the
point, where it is marked by minute punctures. The

O X. 44b

teeth, as already mentioned, are very numerous, and
are exceedingly sharp. The intermaxillary bones
also allow a vast opening to the mouth, so that the
pike can seize and swallow large prey. The body is
considerably elongated, the back broad, and almost
square when the fish is in good condition : at this
time also, the colours on the back and sides are very
fine, consisting of green mottled with bright yellow,
and the gills are of a very bright red, indicating a
vigorous degree of circulation. When the fish is
out of season, these colours fade, the green turns to
grey, and the gills are dull and darkish. The pectoral
fins are situated immediately behind the gill openings,
the ventral fins are about the middle of the body, and
the dorsal and anal are far back, near the tail, which
is very stout, with a broad and much forked fin. The
whole shape of the fish evinces that the posterior
part of the body is the grand impelling portion ; and
by this means the pike is enabled to rush straight
upon its prey.

Those who treat of the manners of fishes record
many anecdotes of the uncommon voracity of the
pike. Dr. Plott says, " At lord Gower's canal, at
Trentham, a pike seized the head of swan, while feed-
ing under water, and gorged so much of it as killed
them both ; the servants observing the swan to remain
motionless, went in the boat, and found both swan and
pike dead." Gesner mentions a pike which seized
the lips of a mule while drinking in the Rhone, and
kept its hold so firmly that the mule carried it ashore.
In the year 1798, as two gentlemen were angling in
a pond, nearWarnham, in Sussex, a pike, of only about
seven pounds weight, seized a dog that was lapping
the water, and was fairly landed, holding on by the
dog ; so also in the Blackwater, near Youghall, a
yearling calf was seized by a pike, and succeeded in
landing him ; and there could be no greater proof of
his voracity than this attempt to swallow a calf, when
his stomach, upon being opened, was found to contain
a large perch and a water rat, both entire.

The pike is indeed exceedingly voracious, and seems
to be almost destitute of fear, for it has been known
to contest for prey with the otter, which is an animal
of very powerful bite. Pike, when sufficiently sup-
plied with food, grow rapidly ; they live long, and
scarcely any foulness of the water will injure them ;
they often attain a very large size. In some of the
Irish rivers, especially the Shannon, and the large
lakes through which it passes, pike seventy pounds in
weight, have sometimes been caught ; and there are
accounts of others of very large dimensions taken by
trolling. One of the largest caught in this way was
taken by colonel Thornton, in Scotland, in the year
1784. This fish was four feet nine inches long and
eleven inches and a half deep in the body, and weighed
within two ounces of fifty pounds. The colonel had
him upon the line for an hour and a quarter before his
strength was exhausted, and the tackle would not
have held him if the colonel had not been in a boat,
and thereby enabled to humour him by rowing.

The pike are fond of dull, shady, and unfrequented
waters ; but prefer a hard bottom to one covered
with mud. In summer they are found among the
aquatic plants near the shore of the pools ; but in
winter they retire into the depths, and hide them-
selves, if possible, under some projecting stone or
irregularity at the bottom. Their spawning time is
in March or April ; a little sooner or later, according
to the place and the season. For this purpose they

446

ETHERIA-

quit the large ponds and pobls,"and resortrto the
creeks and ditches, depositing their ova among the
roots of the aquatic plants ; ducks and other water
birds are particularly fond of the spawn of the pike,
and not only consume great quantities of it, but carry
it oft', adhering to their feathers, without being injured
or having its vitality destroyed. By this means pikes
often make their appearance in ponds where there
were none before ; and this fact, which was well estab-
lished before any inquiry was made into its cause,
was once the source of many conjectures.

Pennant mentions a curious method of taking pike
in the fens of Lincolnshire. The fishermen use a
basket open at the top and bottom ; this they plunge
down behind the stern of their punts or fenboats, and
by poking with a stick ascertain whether there is a
fish in it or not ; if there is one, they immediately raise
the basket, and throwing the fish into the punt, lower
the basket to catch another.

These fish may be also taken with a noose and
rod when they are basking in the shallow water, which
they do on warm days, with the back at or even par-
tially above the surface. They may also be shot,
only the gun must be levelled lower than the fish,
because of the refraction at the surface of the water,
and also of the shot glancing there ; but care must
be taken not to insert the muzzle of the gun in the
water, as the consequence would be the bursting of
the barrel, to the great danger of the sportsman.
There are many modes of capturing these fish ; and
their strength and voracity which render them too
destructive in the fish pond, are recommendations in
the eyes of the sportsman.

ETHERIA (Lamarck). This shell had probably
escaped the notice of former conchologists, from its
inhabiting the sea at a great depth, and from its being
there attached by the lower valve to rocks, or other
fixed objects. Lamarck, therefore, has the honour of
having first given a description of it. In consequence
of the irregularity of the shape, arising from the
faculty the animal possesses of affixing its dwelling to
the substance on which it was born, the general
appearance of the shell resembles that of an oyster.
It, however, is considered by Lamarck more nearly
allied to the genus Chama, possessing, like the species
of that genus, two separate lateral muscular im-
pressions (notwithstanding which, subsequent authors
have felt disposed to ally it to the Margaritacece), its
having no tooth at the hinge, and the substance of
the shell having a pearly appearance, and being
lamellar, as in the oyster, clearly separates it from
the genus Chama. These shells sometimes attain a
considerable size, and are of an extremely variable
form, as that depends, as before stated, "upon the
substance to which it becomes fixed at its birth.
The interior of the valves is generally covered with
very singular hollow globular irregularly-formed con-
cretions, like small bladders, beneath the pearly coat-
ing. These may be only accidental, but it is so
common that it appears characteristic. It has also a
sub-cylindrical callosity attached to the base of the
shell, which does not exist in a second species of this
genus, also described by Lamarck. The general
character of this shell may be described as irre-
gular, inequivalve, adhering to the lower valve ;
apices short, and appearing as it were forced into
the base of the valves ; hinge without teeth, waved,
subsinuous, unequal ; two lateral and oblong muscular
impressions ; ligament external, winding, and partly

EUGENIA. *

penetrating the shell. This genus is sub-divided
into two species, those presenting an oblong callo-
sity on the base of the valve and those which have
none. In De Blainville's System of Malacology this
genus belongs to the seventh family Camacea, third
order LameUibranchiata. third class Acephalophora. •

EUCALYPTUS (Heretier). An extensive New
Holland genus, many of them useful timber trees.
They belong to Icosandria, and to the natural order
Myrtacece. Generic character : calyx cut round in
the middle, upper part open, and seated like a cup ;
stamens numerous, inserted in a ring within the cup ;
filaments like hair ; anthers roundish ; style simple ;
capsule four-celled, and many seeded. The first of
these plants appeared in European collections about
1774, and many have been received since. They are
greenhouse and conservatory plants, having fine foli-
age, and flower occasionally. They are propagated
by cuttings, but not readily.

EUCERA (Latreille), a genus of hymenopterous
insects, belonging to the section Acitkata, family
Apidfs, and subfamily Scopulipedes. The wings are
furnished with two complete submarginal cells, the
antennae of the males are nearly as long as the body,
and the two lateral divisions of the lower lip are fili-
form, and as long as the labial palpi. The antenna) of
the males likewise exhibit another peculiarity ; the last
ten joints appearing, when placed under a powerful
magnifier, to be composed of innumerable hexagons,
similar to those of which the eyes of insects consist.
These insects fly about sunny banks, the female
making her cells at the bottom of cylindrical burrows
formed in such situations. These cells are placed two
or three inches below the surface of the ground, they
are very smooth within, and of an oval form ; in each
of them the female places an egg with a sufficient
supply of pollen paste for the future larva, which
resembles that of the common bee, and which under-
goes all its transformations in the cell in which it is
born. The entrance of each cell is closed by a cover-
ing of earth. It is chiefly from labiate plants that
the females collect the honey which they employ.
The common species found in this country, and which
appears early in spring, especially frequents Ajuga
repeiis, and Glechoma hederacca. There are but few
species of this genus, of which the type is the Apis
longicornis of Linnaeus. This insect is about half an
inch long ; the thorax and basal joints of the abdomen
are clothed with reddish hairs ; the remainder of the
abdomen blackish, and the nose yellow.

EUCLEA (Linnaeus). A genus of two evergreen
shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, belonging
to the natural order Eupkorbiacea:. They thrive well
under ordinary greenhouse treatment.

EUCOMIS (Heretier). A family of bulbous
plants, introduced from the Cape. They .belong to
the sixth class, and first order of Linnreus, and to
the natural order AsphodelccE. Generic character :
corolla wheel-shaped, regular, six-parted ; filaments
dilated at the base, partly united, anthers oval ; style
awl-shaped ; stigma simple, capsule three-celled, many-
seeded. These plants flower annually, and are more
remarkable for their mode of flowering than for either
the size or colour of the flowers.

EUGENIA (Linnams). A fine genus of fruit and
ornamental evergreen trees, natives of the warmer
parts of the world. Linnaean class and order
Icosandria Monogynia, and natural order Rubiacea.
Generic character : calyx persisting, tube oblong,

EUGLOSSA— EVANI ID

limb in four parts"; petals four, inserted into the throat
of the calyx ; stamens springing from a ring on the
calyx : filaments awl-shaped, erect ; anthers round-
ish ; style simple, filiform ; stigma obtuse ; germen
two-celled ; berry one-celled. ^Several species of the
Eugenia yield fine fragrant fruit, and are plentiful in
the market of Malacca and other towns in the eastern
islands of India.

EUGLOSSA (Latreille). A genus of beautiful
bees inhabiting South America, having the parts of
the mouth elongated into a proboscis, as long or
longer than the body, the labial palpi are terminated
in a point composed of the two last joints. Their
economy is not known. Some of them are, however,
supposed to be parasitic upon other bees.

EULOPHIA (R. Brown). A genus belonging
to the OrchidecE, chiefly natives of Africa. There are
eight species in the books, and have been all intro*
duced into our collections within these last ten or
twelve years. Two fine species from Sierra Leone
require to be kept in the stove ; the others do well
in the greenhouse.

EULOPHUS (Geoffroy). A genus of minute
but highly beautiful hymenopterous insects, belonging
to the section Tcrcbrantin, family Pupivora, Latreille,
and family Chalicidce, distinguished by having the
tarsi composed of only four joints, and the antennae of
not more than eight or nine. In the males these
organs are beautifully branched, the branches being
long, and arising from the upper side. The Ichneu-
mon peclinicornis, Linnaeus, is the type. It is of a
black colour and very minute. Geoffroy observed
the economy of one of the species, which is parasitic
in the body of the caterpillar of some nocturnal moth
(Noctua), out of which, when arrived at the full size,
numerous larvae of the Eulophus burst forth, arranging
themselves upon the leaf in a circle round the insect
which they had thus destroyed. Here they assumed
the pupa state, and shortly afterwards appeared in
the winged form, being of a fine green colour, with
the antenna? straw-coloured at the base. Several other
species have been observed, whose economy differs
somewhat from that of the preceding.

EUMENES (Fabricius). A genus of solitary
wasps ( Vcspidce), remarkable for the very narrow
form of the basal segment of the abdomen, which is
long and often pear-shaped, the lower lip is divided
at its extremity into three lobes, glandular at the tips,
the central one being the largest, heart-shaped, and
notched at the extremity. The females, unlike those
of the common gregarious wasp, separately construct
their nests upon the twigs of plants, especially upon
heaths with a very fine kind of earth. The nest is
spherical, and, according to Geoffroy, filled with
honey. There are numerous exotic species, but one
only has hitherto been found in this country, namely,
the Eumcnes atricornis, which is met with in Hamp-
shire on heathy situations.

EUMOLPUS (Kugellan). A genus of coleo-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Tetramera,
and family C/irysomclid&ydiffenng from Cryptocephalus,
to which they are very nearly allied by having the
terminal joints at the antennae dilated ; the body is
very convex, and the maxillary palpi thickened at the
tips. The majority of these insects inhabit tropical
countries ; they are for the most part exceedingly
brilliant in their colours. We have already, in our
article upon the ChrysomelidcE, given an account of
the ravages committed by a small species of this

447

genus upon the vines in the wine countries of Europe.
Vide ante, page 41.

EUOMPHALE. A fossil genus of shells esta-
blished by Sowerby, and forming one species of the
present arrangement of the genus Solarium.

EUONYMUS (Tournefort). Is the common
spindle-tree of our hedges. There are sixteen exotic
species from different parts of the world, alreadv
described ; some of the latest from Nepal.

EUPATORIUM (Linnanis). An extensive genus
of herbs, shrubs, and under-shrubs, mostly natives of
America. This genus gives a title to a sub-order in
the extensive natural order Composifcp.

EUPHORIA (Commeline). A genus of Chinese
and East Indian cultivated fruit trees; one of which
is called by the Chinese Litchce, and another Longan ;
both common in the markets of Canton. Class and
order Octandria JMonogynia, and natural order Sapin-
deaccaB. These fruits are sweet with a sub-acid
flavour, and when the outer shell is dried, the pulp
surrounding the seed shrinks from the shell and
remains good for several months. In the dried state
they are brought to this and other countries of Europe.

EUPHRASIA (Linnaeus). Euphrasia offic'malis
is the eyebright of British botany ; a common annual
frequent on dry pastures. Class and order Didyna-
mia Angiosperma, and natural order Scrophularina:.

EUPLECTUS (Kirby). A genus of coleo-
pterous insects, belonging to the minute family Pse+
lapludcE (see BRYAXIS), having the body considerably
elongated and depressed, the antenna; with the two
basal joints thickened, and the maxillary palpi conical
at the tips. The species are found in deep situations,
on moss, &c., or flying in clear sunshine. There are
about a dozen species, including the type Pselaphus
nanus of Riechenbach.

EURYALE (Salisbury). A curious aquatic plant,
a native of India, very much resembling the water-
lily in the shape of the leaves, their manner of float-
ing on the surface of the water, and in the mode of
flowering ; but the leaves are remarkably rough with
tubercles and spines, and the flowers are by no means
so conspicuous, or so beautiful. Class and order, Poly-
andria Monogynia, and natural order Nymphae'iaceee.
When cultivated in this country, the seeds are sown
in larjj-e tubs of water, and placed in a hotbed.

EURYCLES (Salisbury), a bulbous genus found
at Amboyna, and other places in the East Indies. It
is a hexandrious plant, and belongs to the natural
order AmarijUidca;. It was described as a Pancratium
by Linnaeus and Ker, and a Ciinum by Roxburgh.

EUTAXIA(R. Brown). A genus of two species of
evergreen shrubs, natives of New Holland. The flow-
ers are decandnous, and belong to the natural order
Leguminoscs. Those plants require pruning or top-
ping when young, to make them bushy, and are easily
increased by cuttings.

EUTERPE (Gaertner.) A genus of palms,
natives of the African islands, of Madagascar, &c.
and South America. They were united to the Areca
family by Jacquin and others.

EVANIID^E. A family of hymenopterous insects
belonging to the section Terebrantia, and sub-family
Pupivora, having the antenna? composed of thirteen
or fourteen joints, the mandibles toothed, the wings
veined, and the abdomen attached to the thorax close
to the scutellum. The ovipositor is either not ex-
serted, as in Evania and Pelecinus, or very long, as
in Fcenus, Aulactis, and Megalyra.

448

EVENING FLOWER — F ABA.

The typical genus has the antennas elbowed, the
abdomen very minute and compressed, and fixed to
the posterior and upper part of the thorax. The
species are of small size, and are stated to be parasi-
tic upon the species of cock roaches. The type,
Evania appendigastei; Linnams, is attached to the
Blatta Oricntalis, and is therefore not considered by
Mr. Stephens as an original inhabitant of this
country.

EVENING FLOWERis the Hetpenmiha radiata,
of Ker, a family of bulbs allied to Lria, natives of the
Cape of Good Hope. They require the same treat-
ment as other Cape bulbs, that is, potted in light soil,
and kept in a cold frame to flower.

EVERGREEN THORN is the Cralcegux pyra-
cantha of Persoon. A hardy ornamental shrub, very
frequently planted on the walls of town houses, where
its scarlet fruit are particularly showy in winter. The
fruit are seldom seen in the country, being devoured
by bird? as soon as they are ripe.

EVERLASTING is a species of Gnaphalium, so
called from the long duration of the flower after being
cut and dried.

EVERLASTING PEA is the LaOiyrus tylvettris
of Linnaeus. The broad leaved species is also called
everlasting-, and is often seen growing against the
walls of the courts of town houses.

EVOLVULUS (Linnaeus), a genus of climbing
exotic annuals, having handsome flowers, for which
they are sometimes cultivated in our stoves. They
belong to the fifth class of Linnaeus, and to the natu-
ral order Convolvulacete.

EXACUM (Linnaeus), a genus of exotic annuals
belonging to Tctrandria Monogynia, and to the natural
order Gcnlianets.

EXC^ECARIA (Linnaeus), a genus of hothouse
plants, belonging to the natural order Euphorbiacece.
They are treated like other plants of the order, and
increased by cuttings struck in heat.

EXOCARPOS ( Labillardiere), a genus of timber
shrubby, and climbing evergreen plants, found in-
New Holland. I.iima au class and order, Moncecia
Pentandria, and belonging to the natural order Osyci-
dece. These plants do well with ordinary greenhouse
management.

EXOSTEMM A (Richard). A genus of ornamental
timber trees, natives of the West Indies. Class and order,
Pentandria Monogynia, natural order Rubiacctx, These
plants were formerly arranged with Cinchona, but
separated therefrom by Richard. They are stove
plant?, grown on loam and moor-earth, and propa-
gated by cuttings.

FABA (Moench). This is the well-known com-
mon garden bean, called by Linnagus Vicia Faba, and
thereby signifying the plant to be a species of vetch.
It is now raised to the rank of a genus, but without
congeners. The flowers are diadelphous, and of
course the plant is ranged among the Lcguminosee.

The common bean is one of our most useful culi-
nary vegetables ; and as a field crop, of very great
value as horse food. There is a vast number of va-
rieties of this vegetable, as well for garden as for field
purposes ; nearly a score of each are named in seeds-
men's catalogues.

The grand object of the gardener in the culture of
beans is to have them ready for the table as early
as possible : to have a regular supply throughout the
season, and always in abundance. With this view he

should sow the first crops in the months of October,
November, and December, either on a warm and
sheltered spot, where tlicy are intended to remain, or
on seed-beds when they may be conveniently covered
in severe weather; whence they are transplanted into
drills in the open borders, or quarters of the garden,
when the wintery weather is past.

For all these early sowings, the mazagan variety is
preferred, not only because it is one of the most deli-
cate in flavour, but also because it is the hardiest of
all the garden sorts. To have a regular supply, a
pint of seed should be sowed every three weeks from
the twentieth of October to March.

In January and February, and throughout the
spring months, the larger sorts, beginning with long
pods, should be put in at different times to allow the
crops to succeed each other seriatim : the sowings to
be continued till the of May, and even longer : for, if
the white blossom or mazagan be sowed even so late
as July, a favouring season may bring forth a late crop
in the autumn.

In sowing these large seeds it should be observed
that they require a firm seed-bed. The ground should
be good, and specially prepared for them : but if this
be done two months before the^beans are put in, the
seedlings will rise the stronger for it, But if sowed
on newly digged or trenched ground, the bottom of
the drills should be trodden hard as well as the earth
with which they are covered. Even if dibbed into
firmly consolidated ground, the plants rise with greater
vigour.

Transplanting beans is practised by gardeners for
two special reasous : first, as already observed, be-
cause the earliest sowings can be safely kept through
the winter by being occasionally covered with glass
or mats. Being sown thickly together in a frame,
or on narrow beds in the open ground, they can,
when necessarily, be easily covered with a mat or
two, and, when the season permits, removed to their
final stations. Another reason is, the check which
the plants receive by the removal causes them to
flower sooner, and at the same time makes them more
abundantly fruitful. A seed-bed, moreover, requires
but a small space : and it may happen that the ground
intended for the crop, is occupied by other vegetables
not yet to be cleared off, and which it may be advan-
tageous or convenient to let remain, till the season
for transplanting the beans arrive.

The bean, being a rank growing 'plant, requires a
deep rich loamy or clayey soil, if a great crop be
looked for ; the stems, being high and heavy, require
a firm hold of the ground, to prevent them being laid
by the wind or rain ; and this is the reason that,
when planted on light garden soil, it should be well
compacted, to allow the plants a good hold.

Beans are usually sowed or dibbed in drills, the
dwarf-growing sorts at two feet, and the larger kinds
at two and a half, or three feet intervals between the
rows. The spaces from seed to seed varies with
their size ; two inches is enough for Mazagans,
though Windsors require at least five-inch distances
between. The fact is, the thinner they are sowed
the better they grow, flower, and bear. During
growth they should be kept free from weeds, and be
earthed up when necessary.

Topping is an old and serviceable practice ; if
done in good time, that is, as soon as there is a suffi-
ciency of blossom on the stem, it assists to swell the
pods and seeds, and often prevents the attack of

FABRICIA — FALCON.

449

aphides, which invariably fix themselves on the
tops.

Beans are cultivated on farms possessing a soil
suitable for them. As before observed, it is only
on naturally rich and heavy land that the culture of
beans is profitable. In some districts wheat and
beans are alternately raised on the same fields for
many years together. The wheat stubble is dunged
in the autumn, and then ploughed in ; the surface
become* mellowed by the frosts of winter, and early
in January is harrowed smooth, and the seed is im-
mediately either drilled in by a machine, or dibbed
by hand. The crop is kept clean by the hoe during
summer, and cut and carried as early in the autumn
as possible, to allow for ploughing, and sowing the
seed.

Good crops are sometimes reaped from lighter
descriptions of land, but these can only happen in
consequence of the season being what is called ' a
dripping one ;' because, if dry, a light unprofitable
return will certainly follow.

The best varieties of the common bean for garden
culture are — the mazagan, early longpod, sword long-
pod, green or nonpareil longpod, Taylor's large
Windsor, common ditto, and green ditto. Farmers'
varieties are — small horse, the pigeon, the Heligo-
land, and mazagan. The larger sorts are also grown
by farmers for the seedsmen.

FABRICIA (Gaertner). A genus of New Hol-
land evergreen shrubs, belonging to the order Myr-
tacece. Generic character : calyx nearly superior,
five-cleft ; corolla of five clawless petals ; stamens
inserted on the throat of the calyx ; filaments awl-
shaped ; anthers roundish ; style simple ; stigma
capitate ; capsule many-celled; seed small and winged.
These plants are suitable for a lofty greenhouse or
conservatory, and grow well on loam or moor earth.
They are propagated by cuttings.

FALCON (Falco). A genus of Accipitres, Rap-
tores, or birds of prey ; and in some respects the
most interesting of the whole order, and indeed of all
the feathered race. They are inferior in size to the
eagles and vultures, and also, feathers included, to
some of the owls ; but they are, of "all birds, the most
symmetrical in their forms, the most elegant in the
style of their flight, and the most courageous and
daring in the capture of their prey. It is indeed im-
possible to imagine a more beautiful adaptation than
that of the falcon to the air and the air to the falcon.
Light and graceful in their forms, firm in their plum-
age, beautifully adjusted in the relative proportions
of their different structures, the falcons are per-
fect models. Not the eagle itself has a keener or
more beautiful eye, though the eagle has to look out
for prey which is lurking on the ground ; and not any
birds, even those which are most constantly on the
wing, have their organs of flight so finely formed, and
so firm in their texture, as the falcons. Nor are their
organs of prehension and of preparing their food at
all inferior. The beak of the falcon is not a large
beak ; neither are the claws of as large a size as they are
in other birds of prey, which are less dashing, and
even less powerful in the style of their preying. Vul-
gar belief is apt to associate power with those elements
only which strike the first and unreflecting observa-
tion as being of the very highest order ; and hence, a
great beak and great claws, and the talons bent till
they are semicircles, are the common notions of power-
ful armature in a bird of prey. But there cannot be a
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

greater mistake than this, or anything more calculated
to give a false impression of that in which real power
of action consists. Mere size is in itself a disadvan-
tage ; because matter, how much soever there may be
of it, contains in itself no principle of action, and
never moves unless it is moved by a mechanical or a
vital impulse. Hence, in proportion as the beak of a
bird is large and heavy, it requires the greater quantity
of muscle to put it in action ; and we know well, from
comparing large and small animals of the same kind,
that the large one, though its mass may give it great
power for a short effort, is soon exhausted, and that
the real power of endurance is in the small. So also
in the claws of a bird of prey, curvature, beyond a cer-
tain degree, is a means of weakness, if the claw is to
be an instrument for giving a death-stroke, and not a
mere instrument of prehension. Thus, upon looking
at the claws of the harpy eagle of America, and at
those of one of the finest and boldest falcons of the
northern mountains, one would be very apt to suppose
that, from the size and curvature of the former, and
also the size of the bird, it would be invincible ; but
if one of those large and lumbering catchers of fish
were to meet in the free air of heaven with the white
falcon of Iceland, and if the spirit of the falcon
were up, for she seldom engages in mere strife, one
stroke of her comparatively small claw would tumble
the harpy to the earth. A very remarkable instance
of the comparative feebleness of those crooked-clawed
fishing birds of prey lately occurred at a collection in
London, where a large and powerful osprey had
been incautiously put into the same cage with a
buzzard ; and it had very nearly been made buzzard's
food before the keepers could separate them. Some
very characteristic species of the falcon will be found
figured in the accompanying plate FALCONS.

In order, however, fully to appreciate the beauty of
that adaptation, of which the falcons furnish so fine
an instance, we must consider the medium in which
they act, and the mode of their action in that medium.
Now, though there are considerable differences of
structure and of action among the different species or
sub-divisions of falcons ; yet they may be said to cap-
ture their prey in the free air, or to wound it there
and send it down to the earth, more exclusively than
any other birds of prey. In general flight the falcons
do not perhaps rise so high as some of the eagles ; and
it is not necessary that they should ; for while the
eagle mounts up for the purpose of surveying a large
horizon of the ground, the falcon scans a far extent
of that air in which it floats ; and its higher flight and
more powerful wing, enable it to occupy a higher
place in the sky, and take a wider range than any of
the hawks, in which the wings are shorter, broader,
and rounder than they are in the falcons, in order to
suit a flight which consists of shorter stretches with
more risings and descents.

From the rapidity of their flight, and the length of
time which they can continue on the wing, falcons
maybe said to have command of the entire globe;
though there are different species adapted to different
localities, and it may be said that the more powerful
and more splendid ones have their native localities in
the cold and temperate latitudes. There are indeed
few parts of the world without falcons of some descrip-
tion or other; but those of the warm latitudes an1,
generally speaking, of smaller size, less powerful win.,
and far inferior celebrity to the noble hawks of the
north, which was the appellation given to the falcons
F F

450

FALCON.

in earlier times, when every lord rode out with his
peregrine on his arm, and every lady with her merlin.
It must be admitted that, in an economical point of
view, hawking was by no means a profitable sport ;
but, in the days when it and similar pursuits occupied
so much of the attention of our forefathers, the state
of the country was very different to what it is at pre-
sent. The accommodations of the mass of society
were few ; arid the greater part of those, even of the
most elevated and wealthy class, were not, generally
speaking, of that delicate, expensive, and perishable
character, which we find in modern times. The
baronial castle was so massy, as to be good for several
generations without any repair ; and the same might
be said qf its homely and substantial furnishings. To
strew the floor with rushes cost not more labour than
the mere laying down of a carpet, to say nothing of
the number of hands and length of time which must
be employed and occupied in the manufacture of it,
and of all the machinery necessary for the said manu-
facture. Jt was much the same in every thing else :
the substantial implements and utensils of the people
were all of a permanent and baronial character ; and
that tftey had been used by a long line of ancestors,
gave them more merit in the eyes of the life occupants,
than the first rate fashion of modern furnishings. At
the same time there were few books, and equally few
who either could read, or cared anything about the
matter. We have seen charters granted by a Bishop,
and signed in the Bishop's name by a lady, with the
expressed declaration in the docket that the reason of
this substitution was that the bishop could not write.
When this was the case with the diocesan of an ex-
tensive, and far from a poor, province, it could not be
supposed that the common file of even the lords of
the soil could be very literary. Thus one can readily
suppose that their time hung heavily upon their
hands ; and that, in order to escape from the ennui of
their own ignorant society, they were glad to claim
kindred with the beasts of the field and the fowls of
the air in every possible way. It is true that their
attention to these did not much promote the natural
history of the creatures, in any one useful or rational
sense of the term. But we must not blame them for
this : there was little or no science of any kind in those
days, and even down to our own times, the hunters and
the hawkers have done very little towards increasing
our rational knowledge of the animal kingdom. We
believe we do them little injustice (and we have
no wish to do them any), when we say, that all that
they have done, unless where the love of natural
history predominated over the love of mere sport,
would not make above a page or two in the progres-
sive annals of the science ; while, in the more impor-
tant and higher department of tracing the connection
between any one animal and the general system of
nature, we presume they could not with justice be
found guilty of a single paragraph. Thus the use of
falcons in sporting belongs to a former people, and
though there are still a few who keep hawks, they
may be regarded as being kept more from the vanity
of ancestry than from any direct pleasure which the
keepers have in the possession or use of them. No
doubt there are a few, on the confines of the wilder
districts, where there is still little to interest except
the wild productions of those districts, who do keep
falcons and fly them ; but the very fact of those per-
sons being found chiefly in the wild places, is of itself
sufficient to show that fate.*, iry is a sport of a rude

and illiterate age of the world, and quite incongruous
with the character of the present times. At the same
time we are ready to admit that, among those who
require these birds as a means of killing time as well
as game, falconry is withal a splendid sport. The
perfect training of birds which are, when in a state
of nature, the most free and independent tenants
of the sky, the grace and rapidity with which they
perform their work, and all the circumstances of the
sport, when exercised bonafide against animals truly
wild, or left to the uncontrolled exercise of their
natural powers and resources, has many charms about
it, — not the least of which is that it carries one back
to years which are long gone by. Now, however, it
has only become an antiquary's tale, and, as such, it
forms no portion of natural history. We have indeed
falconers, who fly their " gentles" at pigeons and other
birds which are let loose from a basket or trap ; but
the hunting or hawking of that which is previously
in possession of the hunters, is a most ludicrous mat-
ter— an outrage upon antiquity, and puts one in
mind of the covering of four brick walls and a flat roof
over with stucco, in order to make a miserable coun-
terfeit of a Gothic chapel, in which the supporters
and the supported are made completely to change
places. But to return to the falcons —

The general characters of the old genus falco,
which included all the diurnal birds of prey except
the vultures, are these : the head is covered with fea-
thers ; beak hooked, and generally curved from its
origin ; at its base it has a coloured cere, more or less
hairy ; the under mandible obliquely rounded, and both
the mandibles sometimes notched ; nostrils lateral,
rounded, or ovoid, pierced in the cere and open ; the
tarsi are covered with either scales or feathers ; three
toes before and one behind, the outermost one fre-
quently connected by a membrane to the middle toe
at its base ; pointed and sharp claws, moveable, re-
tractile, and much hooked. This numerous division
of the diurnal birds of prey has been conveniently
distributed into several sections. As well as the cha-
racters which we have just stated, they are distin-
guished by a projection over the eyebrows, which
gives their eyes the appearance of being deeply
seated in their orbits, and imparts a very different
aspect to their physiognomy from that of the vul-
tures. The first plumage differs very frequently in
colour from that of the mature bird, which is not per-
fect till the third or fourth year, and even later, a
circumstance which has betrayed many ornithologists
into an erroneous multiplying of the species. In
general the female is about one-third larger than the
male, and has been providently endowed with su-
perior strength, because it is necessary that she should
both feed and protect her voracious offspring ; whereas
the smaller dimensions of the male are more adapted
to the rapidity and loftiness of flight, and is
accordingly more esteemed by falconers. Though
they are all carnivorous, they seldom, except when
pressed by hunger, which they are capable of endur-
ing a long time, feed on carrion. They have a very
acute sense of sight, and with surprising force pounce
down on their prey with the greatest accuracy and
promptitude ; manifesting, however, very different
degrees of courage in pursuit of their game. They
are capable, owing to their great strength, of carrying
birds or other animals, nearly as heavy as themselves,
to a considerable distance, sometimes as much as
forty miles or even more, for the nourishment of their

young. Many of the species eat fish, am
principally on the smaller birds, snakes,

FALCON.

451

, and others feed
and reptiles.

They never associate in flocks ; and, except during the
breeding season, even two of them are seldom seen
together. Their nests or eyries are generally built in
very lofty and inaccessible places, ; but there are a few
that form them on the ground. Many of these re-
marks apply to the hawks with short and broad wings,
as well as to the falcons properly so called; and
indeed the habits of the one race run so much into
the other on the confines, that it is not easy to draw
the line of distinction between them. This is more
especially the case in some of the foreign falcons,
which are much less noble birds than those of the
north ; and some, which have many of the external
characters, not only feed upon carrion, but occasion-
ally upon Crustacea, which is not the case with the
more typical ones of Europe.

The peculiar characters of the true falcon are — the
beak curved from its base, with a tooth, and sometimes
two, on each side of the upper mandible near its
point, and corresponding notches in the lower one. The
point of the upper one is very sharp and much hooked,
and that of the lower is rather sloping and convex, but
acting with a powerful grinding motion against the
concavity of the hook. The degree of toothing in
the mandibles does not bear any relation to the abso-
lute power of the falcons ; because the beak in them
is an instrument for dressing their prey rather than
for killing it ; and therefore the smaller species, which
prey upon little birds, and have many feathers to
pull in order to obtain a small quantity of food, have
the mandibles most complete in this respect, while
some of the most powerful of the whole have the tooth
comparatively blunt. In the wings of the true falcons
the second quill is always the longest, though the
first is ver}' little inferior to it in length. These two
have their shafts and webs remarkably firm ; and the
others, as far as the tenth, shortened gradually, so as
to form a pointed wing.

Those pointed wings are not so good for straight-
forward flight in perfectly still air, as wings which are
broader ; and therefore, when there is no wind, and
the falcon is on level flight, it always flies obliquely
or curving ; the same may be also observed in the
swallow tribe, and indeed in all birds which have the
wings much pointed. But this forrn of the wings
constitutes, or at least constituted, one of the chief
excellencies of the falcons as sporting birds. Such
wings are of course not good for mounting the air,
unless they have some resistance with which to con-
tend ; and therefore falcons " get the sky better "
directly against the wind than in any other direction ;
and, as it is the reverse with birds at which falcons
chiefly were flown, this gives the falcon great advan-
tage in capturing those which are of powerful wing
and doubling flight.

When a hawk or other bird of prey endeavours to
gain the sky by flying with the wind, it is said to
turn " down the wind;" and this was reckoned a
very great imperfection, because the bird got on so
slowly in this way, that the prey had time to escape
before it could turn and take advantage of its " rush "
from the upper air. The true falcon never turns
down the wind in this way ; and thus, when it is un-
able to come up with the prey in simple chase, and
turns off to gain a sky power, it always turns to wind-
ward, and its ascent, if seen sideways, is much more
nearly in a perpendicular direction than one would

expect. Indeed, any one who reflects on the matter
will readily understand how the wind and the falcon,
by being two forces acting at an angle to each other,
must produce a resulting motion of the falcon, in the
diagonal direction, and upon the well known principle
of the composition of forces, and the resulting force
in mechanics, send the bird much more rapidly, and
much more directly upwards, than if it had to work
its way wholly by the action of the wings. The
falcon thus gains her elevation with comparatively
little labour, and arrives at the same altitude with
much less horizontal distance than if she had a side
wind, and especially if she went down the wind, which
would then carry her horizontally away from the prey,
and render it exceedingly difficult for her to gain
such a height, as that she would return upon it with
any impetus, or indeed with any chance of seizing it.
This is a very beautiful instance of mechanical action,
and structured adaptation of the falcon to the wind ;
and we shall not admire it the less when we come to
consider that the more powerful falcons chiefly inhabit
those placqs of the earth and those descriptions of
surface where the winds are never long at rest. The
falcon is a mountaineer, not exactly a cliff bird like
thp. golden eagle, but a careerer of moor and dell,
where the differences of these are considerable, and
where, what with one diversity of surface and what
with another, there is generally a wind from some
point to act as a lever in heaving up the falcon to her
height in the sky, and that with the least possible
horizontal deviation from that prey upon which she
is j;o rush, after she turns. In this part of her action
she bears some resemblance to the eagles, though in
general she strikes in the air, and not on the earth us
the eagle does. After she turns, she remains poised
for a few moments, her wings acting the while with
great rapidity ; and there is little doubt that this
action of the wjrigs tends to excite all the energies of
the bird to their very utmost, as well as to enable her
to take her aim with unerring certainty. The moment
that she has by this means gained her excitement and
her poise, the rush with which she descends resembles
that of the lightning, and, when seen laterally, it abso-
lutely dazzles the eye. In such a case, if the breeze
is moderately fresh, and the falcon powerful, the cap-
ture of her prey is certain, be it almost what bird it
may; for she now descends, in her oblique but arrowy
path, by the cornbined energy of three forces — her
own excited action, her gravitation, and the force of
the wind. The prey seems to be well aware of this,
for, though it may be a lapwing, or a pigeon, or any
other bird which is " clever at its feathers," and which
has thrown her out at simple chase till she has aban-
doned that style of pursuit, it screams and appears
powerless and vanquished, even while the falcon is
yet so high as to appear no bigger than a lark ; and
after the scream one can hardly count moments till
the prey is struck to the ground. In the whole ac-
tion of animals of wild nature in the finding of their
food, there is perhaps none equal in point of style
and beauty of mechanical contrivance, and adaptation
to this contrivance, as this rush of the falcon upon the
wide moor, where prey and preyer are equally in their
element in free nature, and in the full possession and
practice of all their resources. We shall perhaps
have to revert to it in the course of this article.

Among falcons, properly so called, Cuvier makes a
distinction which is probably well founded ; and that
is, the distinction between falcons and jerfalcons.
F F2

452

FALCON.

The former have the beak more completely toothed
than the latter ; but the latter are the more powerful
birds, not interior certainly in point of wing, were
equally docile when trained for falconry, more hardy
from being inhabitants of colder climates, and when
genuine perhaps more esteemed. We shall now
notice a few of the principal species, and, in the first
place, we shall advert to the falcons properly so called,
which are numerous, and then to the jerfalcons, which
are comparatively few. We may remark, however, in
passing, that it is very difficult to be correct with
species in the case of falcons, more especially of those
which are natives of foreign countries, and of which
only a few specimens have been seen. There is
hardly a European or even a British species which
has not, when in different plumages, beau described as
more than one species ; and very generally the male,
which is always about a third less in weight than the
female, and differently coloured, has been regarded
as an entirely different bird. In some respects the
difference is correct ; for the female is generally, if
not always, a bird of bolder character and a more noble
preyer than the male. The falconers were well aware
of this ; for, while every honour was associated with
the name of the falcon or female, the tersel or male
was an inglorious appellation. In their early plu-
mages and before they acquired the grey, which is
characteristic of the mature birds, the female was a
red falcon and the male a red tersel, but these latter
appellations were chiefly applied to mature birds of
the species which we shall first describe.

THE PEREGRINE FALCON (Falco peregrinus) is the
falcon par excellence, because, though perhaps not
the most powerful, it was the most generally in use,
and also one of the most elegant. The length of the
female is about sixteen or seventeen inches, and the
extent of the wings an inch or two more than three
feet. The bill is bluish black, yellowish at the base ;
gape and cere yellow. The whole upper parts of the
plumage dusky black, with a cinereous dash ; the shafts
of the feathers black, and the margins slightly edged
with ferruginous brown ; the forehead pale ; the sides
of the neck and back mixed with yellowish white ; a
black patch behind the eye ; from the corner of the
mouth a broad black streak pointing downwards ;
chin ferruginous white ; the whole of the under parts
the same, with a broad streak of dusky black down
the shafts, less conspicuous on the throat and vent ;
under and upper tail coverts barred with dusky and
ferruginous white, the former dashed with cinereous ;
quill feathers dusky black dashed with cinereous ; the
inner webs with transverse oblong spots of ferruginous
white ; the under coverts of the wings alternately
barred with black and white. Tail dusky black, dashed
with cinereous, with eight pale ferruginous bars, least
conspicuous on the outer webs of the exterior feathers ;
one of the bars constitutes the extremity. The bill
and talons of this species are remarkably strong, the
former being much hooked, and furnished with a
tooth-like process on each side of the upper mandible,
which enables it to cut and tear its prey with greater
ease. The wings are very pointed, the second feather
being the longest, the first not much inferior, and the
tail short, so that the wing? when closed reach very
near the end. The legs short, strong, and pale yellow ;
the toes long, and furnished with a projecting callus
beneath at the second joint.

Though most abundant in the hilly parts of the
temperate regions of the world, the peregrine falcon,

from the vigour of its flight, is occasionally seen in aL
parts of the world, at least of the eastern hemisphere ;
and indeed the range from the middle of Europe to
that of Africa is only a morning's flight for it. It is
also as long-lived as it is fleet and discursive. One
is mentioned as having been met with in Southern
Africa, in the year 1793, wearing a gold collar dated
1610, and known at that time to have belonged to
James I. ; though more than 180 years old, it was still
in complete vigour.

Peregrine.

The peregrine falcon inhabits all the temperate and
colder parts of Europe, ranging from Iceland to the
islands of the Mediterranean, frequenting high and
rocky mountains, and building its nest, about the end
of February, in precipitous cliffs, with a southern
aspect. The eggs are generally three or four in
number, white and spotted with brown. It is rarely
met with in champaign countries, and never in those
of a marshy description. In Germany and France it
abounds, is pretty common in Holland and England,
but is seldom met with in Switzerland. There is
scarcely any part of our coasts, from north to south,
where the cliffs rise to three or four hundred feet, in
which they are not found scattered in the breeding
season, and from which they seldom retire, except as
occasional migrants, or when the young are driven to
seek for fresh quarters. The insulated rock on which
the castle of Dumbarton stands has been particularly
quoted for a breed of the peregrine falcon. The
growth of the young is so rapid that in three months
they are said to equal their parents in size. We may
also remark that they are very courageous birds,
darting suddenly, perpendicularly, and with great
rapidity, on their prey, which principally consists of
partridges, pheasants, quails, wood pigeons, &c., and
the smaller quadrupeds. They also attack the kite,
and compel it to relinquish its victim, but spare its
life, as if in contempt of such a dastardly adversary.
Various instances are recorded of their fleetness of
flight ; thus, one that eloped from its master, in the
county of Forfar, on the 24th of September, 1772,
with four heavy bells at its feet, was killed on the
morning of the !2Gth of the same month at Mostyn, in
Flintshire. Another one, belonging to a Duke of
Cleves, flew out of Westphalia into Prussia in one

FALCON.

day ; and in the county of Norfolk one was known to
make a flight at a woodcock, at nearly thirty miles
in an hour. A still more remarkable example is that
of a falcon which belonged to Henry IV., king of
France, and which, having escaped from Fontainbleau,
was found twenty-fours after in Malta, the space thus
traversed being not less than 1350 miles, and corre-
sponding to a velocity of fifty miles an hour, supposing
the bird to have been on wing the whole time. But,
as these hawks never fly by night, such a rate of pro-
gress would amount to seventy miles an hour, suppos-
ing the day to have been at the longest, or to have
lasted eighteen hours. It is probable, however, that
he neither had so many hours of light in the twenty-
four, nor that he was retaken the moment of his arrival,
so that we may fairly conclude much less time was
occupied in performing such a distant flight.

The wild gallinidse form the principal food of the
peregrine falcon ; and it strikes its prey occasionally
with the beak as well as the talons, and on the ground
as well as on the wing ; but still its principal habit is
that of a wing bird, and it often gives long and very
•vigorous chace. In their lowest descents they prey
much upon partridges, though in their upper haunts
they feed more upon the different species of grouse.
When on partridge hunting they do not beat the air,
as that would be the means of making the prey He
close and undiscovered in the herbage. The falcon
keeps watch stationed on the top of a hillock, or a
low branch of a tree ; and when a covey of partridges
rises it dashes across them, and endeavours to strike,
which it often does with so much force as to kill the
bird, and then doubling instantly, as if knowing what
it had accomplished, it seizes it before it reaches the
ground. When hunting for partridges its habits are
peculiar ; it does not beat the ground and descend
upon them, but endeavours to raise them by flying
close to the surface, in which case it makes a peculiar
sound. It is by no means unlikely, however, that
some of those low flights which have been attributed
to the peregrine falcon are really those of the harriers
or buzzards.

The gallinaceous birds, from their heavy and
lumbering flight, are very easy prey when once
on the wing, or when by any means they are once
got sight of. They are not, however, the only prey
of the peregrine ; for it gives chase to ducks, pigeons,
snipes, and other birds which have great command of
themselves in the air ; and it will continue in pursuit
of these for a considerable number of miles, including
doublings, in which last some of them are more dex-
terous than the falcon. On these chases the average
rate of flight, including doublings, may be estimated
at about sixty miles in the hour, or a mile each
minute ; but the forward rush of the falcon is pro-
bably twice as swift as this.

Of all the prey at which the peregrine flies, the
heron appears to be the hardest to master. This
arises in a great measure from the height at which
the heron flies, and which renders it very difficult for
the falcon to get the sky of him ; and as falcons can do
little or nothing to a bird above them, the heron is in
perfect safety as long as he can keep uppermost.
The heron too can ascend as rapidly on the wind as
the falcon can do against it ; and thus, as he makes
much more distance on his ascent than if he were
against the wind, the attempts of the falcon to gain
the sky always throw her to a distance. Even when
the falcon does get uppermost, her victory over the

453

heron is not so certain as that of most other birds.
The heron has still a means of defence, which is not
only good for self protection, but also somewhat
perilous for the falcon. The immensely long neck of
the heron is, during flight, either extended, if the flight
is rapid, or folded back on the shoulders, if the bird is
gliding on with easy wing ; but the heron can also
turn his neck so as to project his bayonet-like bill
upward behind the wing, at the same time that he
continues his flight. This answers two purposes ; in
the first place the head or neck of the heron are the
parts at which the falcon strikes, because, though
wounded in the wing and brought to the ground, the
bill of the heron is so formidable, and he uses it with
such dexterous rapidity, that he might defeat or even
kill the falcon at close fight, though his wing were
crippled. Now the doubling of these parts under the
wing secures them from this danger, and the only part
at which the falcon can strike with effect is the wing.
But to strike at that is also dangerous, because from
the position of the head the heron can see exactly
the direction in which the falcon is coming, and so
receive him on the point of his long and strong bill,
as a soldier receives an enemy on the point of his
bayonet. This difficulty which the falcon has in
mastering the heron, made the hawking of that bird a
very choice and even a royal sport in the days of
hawking ; and great pains were taken to preserve
herons for this purpose. Indeed at close quarters,
and when they are on an equality as to level, the
heron is nearly a match for even the golden eagle
itself, though in absolute power it is a comparatively
feeble bird. There is an account given by Colonel
Montagu, which is worth quoting in order to show
how determinedly the heron will resist, even when
subjected to that mutilation which sportsmen some-
times practice when they have made up their minds
as to which of two contending animals shall certainly
have the advantage. A female falcon of a year old,
in the possession of Colonel Montagu, which had been
taken before it could fly, and thus had had no experi-
ence in the killing of any thing but a small bird occa-
sionally, was kept a whole day without food. At the
expiration of this period, an old male heron was intro-
duced into the apartment of which the falcon had
free range; but the point of the heron's bill had been
previously sawed off. " As soon as the heron was in
motion, the falcon, who was also deprived of the
means of flight, took post on a stool which was at one
end of the room ; and as the heron, regardless of his
enemy, traversed the apartment, the falcon motionless
kept her eyes fixed on her destined prey, till, after
several turns round the room, she judged the heron
was sufficiently near to effect her purpose, when she
sprang at the head, intending to seize that part with
her talons. In this, however, she failed, the stool not
having given her sufficient elevation to reach the high
erected head of the heron. This failure might pro-
bably have cost the falcon her life, had the bill of her
antagonist been perfect; for she received a blow on
her body that must otherwise have inflicted a severe,
if not a mortal, wound from so pointed an instrument
urged with such power. Baffled in this attempt, and
having received a severe blow, it was conjectured no
further attack would be made until the calls of hunger
became more urgent. The falcon, however, soon re-
gained her station, and it was not long before we per-
ceived the heron, regardless of his foe, again pass very
near, when the falcon, in a second attempt to seize

454

FALCON.

her prey as before, was equally foiled, and again re-
ceived a severe check from the bill of the heron.
Finding her efforts had failed for want of the advan-
tages nature had assigned her, instinct directed the
falcon to a box that stood on the opposite side of the
room, which was somewhat higher. Here she again
seemed to meditate another attack by watching every
motion of the heron, who continued his rounds with a
view to make his escape ; and it was not long before
an opportunity offered for falco to make an assault
from her more elevated station. Here she had found
an humble substitute for those powers with which
nature had so amply furnished her, but of which she
had been deprived, and at last succeeded in springing
from her perch and seizing the unfortunate heron by
the head and upper part of the neck with her talons,
which instantly brought him to the ground. Now
the unequal contest was soon determined ; for in vain
did the superior weight and strength of the heron drag
and flounder with his enemy across the floor ; in vain
did he flap his unwieldy piniohs to shake off the
tyrant of the air 5 nor could even his gigantic legs
force her from the bloody grasp ; her work was short
and certain ; no efforts could compel her now to quit
her deadly gripe ; the powerful and only dreaded
arms of her antagonist were secured, and, thus dis-
armed, he became a sure and easy prey. Scarcely
was the gigantic bird prostrate on the ground, thari
death ensued ; for in this noble race, destined for
blood and slaughter, torture makes no part of its
nature, but, like what we are told of the generous
lion, exulting in death, but disdaining cruelty, in
less than half a minute did the falcon tear out the
gullet and windpipe of the heron, and regale on the
head and neck."

It has often been said that the American bird of
prey, popularly known in the United States as the
duck hawk, is the same species as the peregrine falcon
of Europe ; but this seems doubtful, and indeed, with
the exception of the osprey, it is questionable whether
the same species of any bird of prey is found in the
two continents ; or if the same in origin, it is so much
altered by climate and circumstances, as to form a
variety at all events, if not a distinct species. Wilson
says that the American bird, during the breeding
season, retires to the gloomy recesses and swamps oi
the cedar forests, in the tall trees of which it con-
structs its nest, and rears its young secure from moles-
tation. In these wilds, almost impenetrable to the
foot of man, its screams are occasionally heard min-
gling with the hoarse tones of the heron and the hoot-
ing of the eagle owl. In this respect, and several
others, the American duck hawk seems to differ from
our peregrine falcon. The anecdotes related of the
dexterity and prowess of this noble bird are innume-
rable ; a writer, in a popular periodical, describes one
pursuing a razor-bill, which, instead of assaulting as
usual with the death pounce from the beak, he seized
by the head with both claws, and made towards the
land, his prisoner croaking, screaming, and struggling
lustily, but being a heavy bird he so far overbalancec
the aggressor that both descended fast towards the
sea, when, just as they touched the water, the falcon
let go his hold and ascended, the razor-bill as instan-
taneously diving below. The nest is generally placec
upon the shelf of a rock, iri which the bird lays four
or five eggs of a reddish brown colour, a little blotched
and variegated.

The peregrine falcon appears, in different indi

iduals, and at different ages, of so many shades in
he general colouring, that it has got, perhaps, more
names than any other bird ; and some of those single
specimens which have been shot in different remote
)arts of the world, without any knowledge whatever
of their manners, and which have been described as
seregrine falcons, in all probability belonging to other
yenera.

The LANNER (Falco lanarias), is a species about
which there are some doubts ; though the descriptions
of it are so precise, and have been so often repeated,
that it' it is a variety of the peregrine it differs greatly
from the general appearance of that bird ; though it
must be admitted that the young are described ai
being very like those of the peregrine. The lanner
is described as being rather larger than the peregrine,
though smaller than the common buzzard. It is said
to measure about twenty inches in length, and up-
wards of forty in the extent of the wings. According
to Temminek, the closed wings reach to two-thirds
the length of the tail ; the middle toe is shorter than
the tarsus ; there is a black streak belo\V the eye, which
nearly or wholly disappears in the mature birds ; the
eggs are of a bluish colour, while those of the pere-
grine are yellow ; and the first and second quills of
the wings have their webs very narrow. It is said to
occur in many parts of Europe* inhabiting Iceland
and the Feroe Islands, Denmark, Sweden, the Tar-
tarian deserts, and breeding in the vicinity of As-
trachan. It is rarely niet with in this island ; but
it is said to breed in Ireland. In Hungary it is pretty
common, likewise in Poland, Russia, Austria, and
Styria. In general they build their nests in hilly
situations, either among rocks, or trees and brush-
wood. Though the lanner is a bold bird, and was
formerly used in falconry, few particulars are recorded
of its manners and habits.

The HoBBir (Falco subbuteo), is a very handsome
little bird, very much resembling the peregrine Falcon
in shape and also in manners, though from its smaller
size it subsists on hurhbler prey ; and it is also more
gaily coloured than its more powerful conqueror. The
male hobby weighs about seven ounces ; and is about
twelve inches in length. The following are the gene-
ral markings, but they are subject to differences, both
from age and in the individual. The female is con-
siderably larger than the male, weighing two or three
ounces more ; and, though thete is a very consider-
able resemblance in the general plumage, the upper
part is not so dark as in the male, and the light parts
have less of the rust-coloured tint. The male has the
bill blue ; cere and orbits yellow ; irides dusky ; the
head and upper parts of the body are of a dark dusky
brown, almost black, dashed with ash-colour ; the
feathers margined with pale rufous broU'h \ over the
eye a light stroke ; beneath the eye a black patch,
extending in a point from the Under mandible down
each side of the throat ; chin and throat white, ex-
tending round each side of the neck, and partly encir-
cles it, but is broken behind by dusky streaks, and
the white becomes more ferruginous as it inclines'
backward ; the coverts of the wings like the back, but
the feathers more slightly edged ; quill-feathers dusky
black, with oval ferruginous spots on the inner webs ;
the breast, belly, thighs, arid under tail-coverts ferru-
ginous, palest on the former, marked with dusky
streaks ; the tail like the back, barred on the inner
webs with rust colour, except the middle feathers ;
tips whitish ; legs yellow ; claws black, The female

FALCON.

weighs about nine ounces, sometimes more, and very
much resembles the male in plumage, but not so dark
above, and the lighter parts beneath not so ferruginous.
The wings of this bird are long and pointed, but do
not reach to the end of the tail when closed : the
second feather is longest. In the British islands the
hobby may be regarded as a summer bird of passage,
and it is the only British bird of prey which is so. It
arrives in England about the beginning of April, and
builds its nest shortly after upon some lofty tree ; but
it occasionally avails itself of the deserted nest of a
resident bird that builds earlier, such as the crow or
the magpie. The eggs are from two to four, which
appear to be the average, greatest, and least number
of the tribe. The young, which have more reddish
orange or bronze on the back than the old birds, are
fully feathered by the beginning of September, and in
October the whole depart to warmer climes. This
bird is a local one with us, and confined to England,
seldom reaching northward of the central heights of
the island. It is the contrast of the peregrine
falcon in its favourite haunts, and is a bird of the
cultivated land, as that is of the open wild. In-
deed, it nestles in the wood, and frequently in the
depth of the forest, if not very extensive ; but it hunts
in the fields, and though, as it comes with the summer
birds of passage, one would be apt to suppose that it
should feed on them, yet the lark is its favourite game,
which, even at its greatest height, it assails in the sky.
That height, indeed, is often so considerable, and the
one bird so intent on capturing, and the other on
escaping, that their manoeuvres can be seen better
than most chases by birds of prey.

In this attempt to capture the lark, the hobby has
to guard against two chances of escape in that bird.
In the first place, if the lark can keep uppermost, so
as to have complete command of the sky, the hobby
can make nothing of it. But in order to get the better
of this, it cannot venture upon the same bold ascent
to which the more powerful falcons have recourse
when in danger of being foiled by other game ; for the
hobby must take equal care that the lark does not get
down to the ground, otherwise its escape would be
equally certain. Every one must have noticed the
beautiful style in which the lark comes down from the
very top of the sky, by a path nearly as perpendicular
as a stone does when it falls. This is a habit with the
lark in the breeding season, and when there is nothing
to alarm it. It may be heard on a fine spring day,
showering down its enlivening song from the upper
part of the sky, when itself is almost or altogether in-
visible, in consequence of its great elevation ; but the
upper sky is the place where sounds are heard to the
greatest advantage, much better than, the}' are at a
quarter of the distance on the level surface. Thus the
lark will hear the answer of its mate while that is alto-
gether unheard by one attending only to the songster
over head; and it will drop down like a falling stone,
and run among the clods, repeating the conclusion of
its stave in a softened and inviting tone. It would
drop down from the hobby in the same manner, squat
among the clods, and remain there so still and close
that no eye could discern it, and as the hobby is just
as much fitted for catching the lark as the lark is for
escaping from the hobby, of course the hobby labours
by every stratagem to prevent this. The chief aim
of the hobby is to preserve exactly the same level
with the lark, and to prevent it from getting either up
or down ; and, if the lark were a bird of straight-for-

455

ward flight, the hobby would very soon capture it,
both because it is a bi'rd of more powerful wing, and
because it is stimulated by hope while the lark is de-
pressed with fear. But the lark wheels and doubles,
and often succeeds in throwing its pursuer out. In
time, however, it gets exhausted, and the hobby breaks
across, catches it on the double, and the chase is at
an end.

Notwithstanding its small size, this falcon does not
confine itself to such game as larks, for it flies at young
partridges, at snipes, and at many other species of birds,
some of which are larger and more powerful than
itself!. But its great boldness, its rapidity of flight,
and its power of continuance on the wing, give it
many decided advantages ; so that in the age of hawk-
ing the hobby was one of the pet falcons for small
game ; and used to afford what was considered as very
beautiful sport.

The KESTREL (Falco tinnunculus). This is a very-
beautiful bird, about the same weight as the hobby,
and having wings of nearly the same extent ; but it is
longer in body, much more slender, and feebler both
in the beak and the talons. The female, as in all
birds of prey, is larger and more finely formed than
the male. She is reddish brown on the upper part,
with arrow-head dusky spots on the head, back, and
wing-coverts, and dusky bars on the tail, the last one
broad, and the tips of the feathers margined with
cream-colour. The quills, which are twenty-two in
number, are dusky, relieved by white margins ; the
under part is reddish cream-colour, with indistinct
dusky lines. The male, after the first year, has the
head and tail grey, during which it very much resem-
bles the female, the back brighter red, and with fewer
spots, and the under part redder, with more distinct
spots. The feathers on the chin are also more pro-
duced, and a black stripe proceeding from the gape,
which gives the light grey above the eye the appear-
ance of an eye-brow. The kestrel has a very pecu-
liarly brilliant eye ; the irides of which are rich brown,
contrasting well with the dark stripe and pale feathers
at the base of the bill and over the eye. The bill is
very short, and the notch nearly obliterated, and upon
the palate there are two rows of small teeth pointing
downwards, and very much resembling those with which
the tongues of beasts of prey are beset. The whole
structure of the bird indicates that it is less adapted
for pursuing winged game, tearing flesh, and pulling
feathers, than those hawks which have long wings ;
and its habits correspond with these differences of
structure. This species gets a variety of popular
names, such as the stone-gall, the stannel, the wind-
hover, and many others, all of which allude to the habit
which it has of leaning gracefully on the air, with
scarcely any motion of the wings at some periods, and
with an exceedingly rapid motion at others. In these
cases it is generally scrutinising the ground for nests
of unfledged birds, and especially for mice ; the latter
of which form a principal article of its food. It is,
indeed, altogether less daring in its predatory habits
than any other of the falcons, and may perhaps, with-
out much impropriety, be considered as forming a
link between the falcons and the kites, and perhaps
also, though to a less extent, between the diurnal and
the twilight birds of prey ; for it may often be seen
near houses about dusk, catching the large beetles and
moths, which operation it performs very dexterously
with its foot, and contrives to convey them to its
mouth without any pause in its flight.

456

FALCON.

There are considerable varieties of colour in som<
birds, which in shape and in habit very much resembli
the kestrel as above described, and which, in fact, can
not perhaps be separated from it with much propriety
These inhabit the temperate parts of Europe and Asia
and also of North America, moving northward in the
spring, and southward in the autumn. In the part o
Europe north of the Baltic, the kestrel is a bird oi
passage, and seen only during the summer. It appears
at the same time with the white wagtail, at the time
when the crocus and the violet are in blossom ; and
it takes its departure in September, almost at the same
time with the bird which accompanies it on its arrival.
It usually constructs its nest in old ruins and towers,
and sometimes in the woods, and will occasionally con-
tent itself with the deserted nest of a magpie or rook.
Its own nest consists of sticks lined with wool or
other soft materials. The eggs, which are four or five
in number, are rather inferior in size to those of the
sparrow-hawk, and are of a dirty white colour, blotched
with rust-colour of various shades, and occasionally
•wholly covered with a deep rusty red. This species
is a common inhabitant of our own country, especially
about our rocky coasts, or in high or ruinous towers,
proclaiming its presence by a loud tinkling and grating
noise. It is frequently observed fixed, as it were, in
clear weather, in one place, and fanning the air with
its wings, being then very intent on its prey, such as
field mice, moles, frogs, &c., which it darts upon like
an arrow. It also preys on birds ; and such is the
determination and force with which it dashes along,
either in pursuit of prey, or to escape from more
powerful predatory birds, that it has been known to
break through a window, and fall stunned in the
middle of a room. When it preys on birds it pulls
the feathers with great dexterity and neatness, but
when mice are its food, it swallows them entire, and
discharges the indigestible parts by the bill in castings
or quids, in the same manner as the owls. It is far
more familiar than most of the tribe ; and very often
pounces on the call birds used by bird-catchers, and
getting entangled in their nets, loses its liberty.

The kestrel is very abundant in the Deccan, or
peninsular part of India ; and exactly identical in both
sexes with the kestrel of Europe ; but Colonel Sykes,
whose researches have thrown much light on the birds
of India, mentions being in possession of a male bird
exactly like the female of the kestrel in plumage and
size, and consequently larger than the male kestrel :
and, as this was shot from a party of five or six perched
on the same tree, and without'a male kestrel in com-
pany, he is induced to believe there is a distinct
species, in which both sexes have the plumage of the
female European kestrel. Remains of rats, mice,
lizards, grasshoppers, and a bird, were found in the
stomach of several specimens. In one stomach the
remains of no less than four lizards were met with !

The MERLIN (Falco cesalon) is the smallest of all
the British falcons, but it is one of the swiftest on the
wing, the boldest in the chase, and the most easily
*amed ; and, therefore, in the days of falconry, it was
in especial repute as a lady's hawk. The weight of
the female merlin is only about six ounces, and the
male is not more than five. There is considerable
difference in colour between the female and young
male, which resemble each other, and the male bird
in full plumage. On this account they have often
been described as different species, the female and
young male, especially the latter, being called " stone

falcons." There is one circumstance in the habits of
these birds, which, in so far, shows how likely it was
for inattentive observers to fall into this mistake. The
merlin, considered as a British bird, has very often
been described as a migrant, appearing chiefly in the
winter, whereas it is in reality a resident bird, and
performs its migrations within the country. In tho
breeding season, it resorts to the lonely moors, where
it constructs its nest in cliffs of rocks, heaps of stones,
or bushes, according as one or the other may be most
convenient. It resorts to those upland haunts about
the same time when the summer migrants, or birds of
summer movement, which winter abroad or in the lower
and more fertile parts of the country, resort to the same
places ; and it quits these upland retreats at an ad-
vanced period of the season, following the other birds
on their migration southward, though it does not ap-
pear that it quits the country along with those which
winter in more tropical climates. In consequence of
this movement, it is not met with in the southern or
lower parts of the island during the summer ; and, as
there are but few persons who frequent the moors until
the shooting season begins, the young merlins are then
seen in their first plumage, and they are seen among
stony places, which has of course got them the name
of stone falcons. When the merlin comes to the mar-
gins of the cultivated land, it is one of the severest
enemies of the partridge. Its eye is very keen,
and its motions rapid ; and thus it beats th'e fields
with more success than even the larger hawks ; and
when it gets sight of a covey of partridges, it rarelv
departs without its bird. Notwithstanding its bold-
ness and its power of wing, the merlin is one of the
lowest-flighted falcons ; and when on the cultivated
lands, it is generally found skimming over the fields,
or along the hedges, very close to the surface : and
thus, as its prey is always below it, there is compara-
tively small chance of escape. In falconry the merlin
was flown at ground birds, or at all events at low
flighted ones, and was highly esteemed for the capture
of these. Partridges have such instinctive alarm at
this little falcon, that, in order to escape it, they will
throng round a sportsman, and crouch at his feet.

It is probable that on the moors merlins follow the
same habit ; and capture on their nests many of those
uirds which breed in such places. Nor is it at all impro-
aable that a sort of reprisal is made upon the merlins
:hemselves, not in the capture of the old birds, but in
the destruction of the eggs or the unfledged young,
n the absence of the parent birds. From the nests
:hat have been examined, there is reason to conclude
;hat the broods of merlins, if all reared, would be
much more numerous than those of almost any other
alcon, the eggs being as many as six, while in most
of the others they never exceed four, and are rarely
so many. Merlins are, however, of much more rare
occurrence than those whose eggs are more numerous ;
and thus there is some reason for believing that they
nust meet with casualties in the moors, in having
;heir eggs destroyed by the hooded and carrion crows
which frequent such places. The raven may also be
an enemy to them ; though the raven is not so much
plunderer of nests as the more feeble birds of the
row tribe ; but the merlin itself would be no match
"or the raven ; for, unless by one very lucky stroke,
vhich it is difficult to get upon a bird so crafty as the
raven, even the peregrine, or the goshawk, is not a
match for this strong and determined bird, or at all
events not more than a match.

FALCON.

457

The following1 are the most frequent colours of the
male of this species : the bill of a bluish-lead colour,
with the cere at the base greenish yellow, and the
irides of the eyes dusky-brown ; the naked parts of
the legs yellow, and the claws black ; the crown of
the head is dusky brown, streaked with black down the
shaft of each feather ; on the back of the head the
feathers are white at the base, and tipped with rust-
colour ; the middle of each feather black at the
point ; the back, scapulars, rump, and wings cinereous
lead-colour, each feather marked with a long slender
line of black down the shaft ; greater quills black ; the
inner webs marked with many oblong white spots ;
those next the body are coloured like the back on
the outer webs ; the inner webs spotted as the others ;
the two first feathers are much indented towards the
point of the inner web, as if cut with a pair of scis-
sars ; the third feather rather exceeds the second in
length, and is the longest ; the throat is nearly white ;
breast, belly, sides and thighs rust-coloured, streaked
with a dusky hue ; vent and under tail coverts pale rust-
coloured ; the under wing coverts are rufous brown,
with round white spots on each web ; tail like the
back, crossed with six or seven bars of black ; the end
black for almost an inch, slightly tipped with white ;
legs yellow ; claws black.

The fema'e merlin, and the male in the immature
plumage, or that which has been designated the stone
falcon, is different from the above ; and as the bird is
one of considerable interest we shall quote the accu-
rate description of one, an immature male, by Mr.
Foljambe : — " Length of the bird in question is about
twelve inches ; bill lead-colour ; cere and irides yel-
low ; the feathers on the crown and back of the head
brownish cinereous, with black shafts ; throat cream-
colour, extending in a very narrow line over the eyes ;
cheeks, back of the neck, and breast, rufous, with
longitudinal spots of brown ; thighs pale rufous ; with
a few very narrow lines of a brown colour pointing
downwards ; the back scapulars and wing coverts
bluish-cinereous, with black shafts to the feathers ; the
prime quills have their inner webs marked with six
large white spots, the base edged with white ; the
outer web of the first feather is scalloped with white ;
the second and third feather the longest ; the wings
when closed reach within an inch of the end of the
tail ; the tail is bluish-cinereous, with four black bars,
thatat the end an inch in breadth, the others narrower;
the tip white ; the under side of the tail white, barred
as above ; the legs and toes yellow and slender."

The merlin is an exceedingly bold bird ; and when
it is in the lower cultivated parts of the country, it
does not hesitate to pursue little birds in gardens, and
even to drive them into houses ; nor is this all, for it
will sometimes make a dash at a bird in a cage, even
though the cage be inside a house ; and there are
instances of its having forfeited its liberty in conse-
quence of its daring in this way. Even when cap-
tured full grown, the merlin is exceedingly docile and
easily tamed ; and if duly fed, it is one of the most
gentle creatures imaginable. Indeed it is a very
general truth with regard to birds of prey, and the
same holds good in the case of mammalia, that the
boldest preyers are* the mosfeasily tamed, and the
most gentle when they are tamed. There is no more
remarkable instance of this in birds, than the golden
eagle and the brown owl. The owl, even though taken
young, will snap with its beak, erect its feathers, and
'defend itself, or at all events endeavour to escape when-

ever it is approached ; but the eagle will so far enter
into companionship as to follow its master, to conduct
itself decorously in a dining-room, and even to amuse
itself with those that are kind to it. The case of
the dog is a parallel one in respect of mammalia. Of
all animals of that class the dog in a state of nature is
decidedly the most courageous ; and there is certainly
no animal whatever which shows nearly the same
degree of attachment as the dog does when domesti-
cated. This is a very curious point in the physiology
of animals, as it tends to prove, and actually proves,
that if there is the requisite degree of energy in the
animal, this energy may be turned either to good pur-
pose or to bad, according to circumstances. In the
whole of the irrational animals there is not, we believe,
a single exception to this ; and it holds equally true in
the case of man, there being no question that those
who under favourable circumstances have displayed
the most noble virtues, would, under circumstances
of an adverse nature, have been the most daring in"
crime ; and there is just as little doubt that they who
have disgraced human nature by the most desperate
atrocities, would, under proper treatment, have been
the best benefactors and the noblest ornaments of
society. This fact embodies in it volumes of instruc-
tion, far more important than any mere description
of a bird or of any other animal, or any detail of a
fact, of what nature soever ; because it goes at once
to the root of the question of the proper management
of living nature, rational and irrational, so as to turn
it to the greatest possible advantage. It does more
than this : for herein the Almighty himself vindicates
his own law, and establishes the truth of that bene-
diction which he pronounced upon the new made
world — " And God saw everything that he had made ;
and, behold, it was very good."

If we could carry this short declaration along with
us in all our researches in natural history, the advan-
tages would be incalculable, and we should not, as
we too frequently do, content ourselves with a
mere description of the external appearances of ani-
mals, as if they were stocks or stones, neither should
we wage against them a war of extermination on
account of some fancied noxiousness or positive evil.
" Behold, it is VERY GOOD" is the declaration of God
himself, over everything animate or inanimate within
the whole bounds of the creation ; and as this is an
express, primary, and infallible declaration by Him to
whom every atom of matter in every possible connec-
tion, throughout all space and during all time, is most
intimately known, how shall we, how can we, how
should we, escape the vengeance of His just dis-
pleasure, if we cast it behind us when we go forth to
survey His works, and dare to set up, instead of this
eternal and infallible standard, some paltry caprice of
our own ?

Be what the creature will, it has been declared that
it is " very good ;" and it is our duty, the very pur-
pose for which we were made, to find out the proper
answer to the question, "Good for whatf" Weeds
overrun the garden, and choke those artificial plants
which man has sown or planted for his use ; but " they
are very good :" they speak to the sluggard in lan-
guage more forcible than all the laws which ever were
enacted by human legislation ; and impress upon man
that if he is to profit by the bounty of the earth, he
must be diligent in performing those labours which
are necessary for the security of this bounty. In-
sects of various kinds, and in different stages of their

458

FALCON,

multiform existence, are particularly annoying to
mankind both within doors and without. But they
also are " very good," and proclaim with voices
louder than all the heralds upon earth, the necessity
of cleanliness and care. In this manner we may go
over the whole catalogue both of vegetable and of
animal pests as they are usually called, and we should
be able to show in the most satisfactory manner, that
they are all equally deserving of that benediction
which was bestowed Upon them at the first.

'there is in this much to reprove our ordinary
conduct, and as much to teach rii how we may, if we
only will, listen to the reproof, and profit by the
lesson. We are hereby reproved for presuming to
Set up oUr limited knowledge and experience as a
standard of judgment ; and we are taught that there
is use and purpose in every created thing, however
offensive or injurious it may appear, and that it is
both our duty and our interest to find out this use.
Indeed, to find out the rises of the productions of
nature is the grand and only rational purpose of the
study of natural history ; arid if we have not this in
view, the study is an idle waste of tittle, no better
than any other Inoffensive dissipation ; and the man
who merely krtows the external distinctions between
plants in a hortus siccus, or animals iri a museum, and
can call them by all the different names which their
have got in different countries arid by different indi-
viduals, is really of no more Use, and therefore has
no more merit, than a man would have who should
make a collection of all the different forms arid kinds
of buttons that ever were worn, and be able to tell
the names of the makers and first wearers. One
Cannot help regretting that, while this perfectly insig-
nificant counterfeit of natural history has occupied
the attention of so many, the really important portion
of the subject should have been so much neglected ;
and yet this has been undoubtedly the case in almost
every department of nature. There are, for instance,
innumerable collections of shells ; but who can tell
anything about the animals by which those shells
were made and worn ? So ate there many collections
of foreign birds ; but who cah tell anything about
their manners? Even In this genUs falco, the
species with which we are familiar in this country
have been confounded, and the characters misrepre-
sented, down to a comparatively recent time ; and
when we come to those which are foreign to Europe,
all that We can, except iri a Very few Iristances,
present, is a mere catalogue of names, and a list of
sizes and colours. Strange productions of nature are
bought with great avidity as curiosities ; but it would
be a very good rule strictly to prohibit the introduc-
tion of any new plant or animal, unless its history
came along with it.- We require a character with a
strange human being, and why should we hot also
fequire a character with a strange beast or a strange
bird ?

THE LITTLE KESTREL (Falffo tinnuncnloides) re-
sembles the kestrel in its form arid habits, but it is
smaller in size. The upper part is rust colour, Or
russet ; the top of the head and sides, and back of
the head, ash-coloured ; the coverts of the wings, the
rump, and the tail-coverts, bluish-ash ; the tip of the
tail white, within which there is a large bar of black ;
the under part bright reddish, spotted and lined with
black : the beak bluish, the feet yellow, and the
claws white. This species inhabits rocky situations
in the eastern part of Europe, but is rarely seen in

the western parts, and never, so far as we have any
record, in the British islands.

RED-FOOTED FALCON (Falco rufipes). This is also
a small species, and belongs to eastern Europe, but
it appears to be rather more discursive than the one
last mentioned, and we believe it has occurred in
sortie parts of England as an exceedingly rare
straggler. A specimen of this bird, which had been
shot near Doncaster, was exhibited before the Com-
mittee of Science of the Zoological Society of London
on the 27th of November, 1832. Its characters are :
bluish ash on the upper part ; breast and belly of the
same colour, but paler ; lower part of the belly,
thighs, and under tail-coverts, bright reddish ; beak
black ; irides and feet red ; and claws yellow, with
black tips. The length of the male bird is about ten
inches and a half. The female is a little larger, and
has the nape marked with reddish lines ; the sides of
the head and the throat bright reddish ; the under
part arid the thighs reddish brown, with black mark-
ings. The plumage of the young is intermediate
between that of the mature male and the mature
female, but differs from both, and this has led to some
little confusion. They have the cheeks and throat
white ; the breast and thighs spotted with brown ;
ten or twelve brown bars across the tail ; and the feet
yellow, and the claws whitish.

The species of which we have given some account
include (as nearly as we can estimate) all the true
falcons which are native and resident in Europe, not
of course includilig the jerfalcons, which remain still
to be noticed, and which are in some respects the
most splendid birds of the genus. Of the foreign
ones we can only give a mere list ; and, from the
long confusion of the European species, which are
so generally known, and which were long so highly
esteemed by the leading people of all countries, it
would be too much to say that this list has many
pretensions to correctness. Very likely the same
species, of different sexes or ages, has been named
arid described as two ; and very likely, also, there
are many species hitherto unknown to us.

TrtE AMERICAN SPARROW HAWK (Falco spar-
berins}. This is a bird of many names ; it is the
little f'alcori, the St. Domingo falcon, the New York
merlin, the American merlin. The female is eleven
inches long, arid twenty-three inches from tip to tip
of the expanded wings ; the cere and legs yellow ;
bill blue, tipped with black ; space round the eye
greenish blue ; iris deep dusky ; head bluish ash ;
crown rufous ; seven spots of black on a white
grotuid surround the head ; whole upper parts red-
dish bay, transversely streaked with black ; primary
and secondary quills black, spotted on their inner
varies with brownish white ; whole lower parts yel-
lowish white, marked with longitudinal streaks of
brown, except the chin, vent, and femoral feathers,
which are white ; claws black. The male sparrow-
hawk measures about ten inches, and is about
twenty-one inches in the stretch of the wings ; the
whole upper parts of the head are of a fine slate
blue, the snafts of the plumage being black, the crown
exceptecl, which is marked with a bright reddish
spot ; the slate tapers to a point on each side of the
neck ; seven black spots surround the head, as in
the female, on a reddish white ground, which also
borders each sloping side of the blue ; line over
and under the eye and chin, white ; femoral and
vent feathers yellowish white ; the rest of the lower

FALCON.

parts of the same tint, each feather being streaked
down the centre with a long black drop, those on the
breast slender, on the sides larger ; upper part of the
back and scapulars deep reddish bay, marked with
ten transverse waves of black ; whole wing-coverts,
and ends of the secondaries, black, tipped with
white, and spotted on their inner vanes with the
same ; lower part of the back, the rump, and the
tail-coverts, plain bright bay ; tail rounded, the two
exterior feathers white, their inner vanes beautifully
spotted with black ; the next bright bay, with a
broad band of black near its end, and tipped for
half an inch with yellowish white ; part of its lower
exterior edge white, spotted with black, and its
opposite interior edge touched with white ; the whole
of the others are very deep bay, with a single broad
band of black near the end, and tipped with yellowish
white ; cere and legs yellow ; orbits the same ; bill
light blue ; iris of the eye dark, almost black ; claws
blue black.

This species is not confined to the United States,
and indeed it is a native of the warm countries rather
than the cold ones, being more abundant in the
southern states of the American Union than in the
northern, and being especially numerous in St.
Domingo or Hayti, and not unknown on the con-
tinent of South America. In all probability, indeed,
its colours and character may vary in different parts
of the vast range of latitude over which it extends, so
that it is possible that several of those species about
the same size, which have been named as occurring
in different parts of the American continent, are
nothing more than climatal varieties of this one ; and
as it is one of the few foreign species of which the cha-
racters are tolerably well known, we shall quote from
Wilson a short passage descriptive of its manners : —
It flies rather irregularly, occasionally suspending
itself in the air, hovering over a particular spot for a
minute or two, and then shooting off in another
direction. It perches on the top of a dead tree or
pole, in the middle of a field or meadow, and, as it
alights, shuts its long wings so suddenly, that they
seem instantly to disappear. It sits here in an
almost perpendicular position, sometimes for an hour
at a time, frequently jerking its tail, and reconnoiter-
ing the ground below, in every direction, for mice,
lizards, &c. It approaches the farm-house, particu-
larly in the morning, skulking about the farm-yard
for mice or young chickens. It frequently plunges
into a thicket after small birds, as if at random, but
always with a particular, and generally with a fatal,
aim. One day I observed a bird of this species
perched on the highest top of a large poplar on the
skirts of the wood, and was in the act of raising the
gun to my eye, when he swept down with the rapi-
dity of an arrow into a thicket of briars about thirty
yards off, where I shot him dead, and, on coming up,
found a small field-sparrow quivering in his grasp.
Both our aims had been taken at the same instant,
and, unfortunately for him, both were fatal. It is
particularly fond of watching along hedge-rows and
in orchards, where small birds usually resort. When
grasshoppers are plenty, they form a considerable part
of its food." Wilson adds a very characteristic in-
stance of the delicacy of taste of this falcon in respect
to its food : — " Though small snakes, mice, lizards,
&c.," says he, " be favourite morsels with this active
bird, yet we. are not to suppose it altogether destitute
of delicacy in feeding. It will seldom or never eat of

anything that it has not itself killed, and even that, if
not (as epicures would term it) in good eating order, is
sometimes rejected. A very respectable friend, through
the medium of Mr. Bartram, informs me, that one
morning he observed one of these hawks dart down
on the ground, and seize a mouse, which he carried
to a fence-post, where, after examining it for some
time, he left it, and, a little while after, pounced upon
another mouse, which he instantly carried off to his
nest, in the hollow of a tree hard by. The gentleman,
anxious to know why the hawk had rejected the first
mouse, went up to it, and found it to be almost
covered with lice, and greatly emaciated ! Here was
not only delicacy of taste, but sound and prudent
reasoning. If I carry this to my nest, thought he, it
will fill it with vermin, and hardly be worth eating.

" The blue jays have a particular antipathy to this
bird, and frequently insult it by following and imitat-
ing its notes so exactly, as to deceive even those well
acquainted with both. In return for all this abuse,
the hawk contents himself with, now and then, feast-
ing on the plumpest of his persecutors, who are,
therefore, in perpetual dread of him ; and yet,
through some strange infatuation, or from fear that,
if they lose sight of him, he may attack them un-
awares, the sparrow-hawk no sooner appears than
the alarm is given, and the whole force of jays
follow." This tendency which small birds have to
crowd round and annoy their more powerful enemies,
is a curious point in natural history, and one the
rationale of which is not very easily understood ; the
more so, that it does not hold in the case of the very
powerful birds of prey. Nobody we presume, has seen
a flock of birds, either great or small, following and
annoying the golden eagle, the jerfalcon, or even
the peregrine. It is true that these prey less fre-
quently upon little birds than the smaller hawks; and
therefore they do not stand so directly in the charac-
ter of enemies ; but still, as was observed by Wilson,
and is reported by American naturalists generally,
the ospreys crowd round and annoy the white-headed
eagle. The grand object seems to be, so to distract
the attention of the enemy, as that he shall not be
able to single out any one individual as his victim,
but wear himself out in a crowd, the members of
which are all equally attractive. This point, if duly
worked out, might help to explain the curious subject
of fascination, which some animals appear to possess
over their prey.

THE PIGEON FALCON (Falco coluinbanns) is
another American species, rather larger than the pre-
ceding one, and of a more bold and intrepid character.
True to this character, it is a more northerly bird,
breeding and rearing its young as far to the north as
the inhospitable rocks which surround Hudson's
Bay, and not appearing in the United States till the
month of November, when the small birds congregate.
" When," says Wilson, " the reed-bird, grakles, and
red-winged blackbirds congregate in large flights, he
is often observed hovering in their rear, or on their
flanks, picking up the weak, the wounded, or strag-
glers, and frequently making a sudden and fatal
sweep into the very midst of their multitudes. The
flocks of robins and pigeons are honoured with the
same attentions from this marauder, whose daily
excursions are entirely regulated by the -movements
of the great body on whose unfortunate members il
fattens. The individual from which the present
description was taken, was shot in the meadows

460

FALCON.

below Philadelphia, in the month of August. He
was carrying off a blackbird from the flock, and, thougl
mortally wounded and dying, held his prey fast till hi
last expiring breath, having struck his claws into it
very heart. This was found to be a male. Some
times when shot at, and not hurt, he will fly in circle!
over the sportsman's head, shrieking out with grea
violence, as if highly irritated. He frequently flies
low, skimming a little above the field. I have never
seen his nest.

" The pigeon hawk is eleven inches long, and twenty-
three broad ; the whole upper parts are of a deep
dark brown, except the tail, which is crossed with
bars of white ; the inner vanes of the quill feather
ai-e marked with round spots of a reddish brown ;
t'ae bill is short, strongly toothed, of a light blue
colour, and tipped with black ; the skin surrounding
the eye greenish ; the cere same ; temples and line
over the eye lighter brown ; the lower parts brownish
white, streaked laterally with dark brown ; legs,
yellow ; claws, black. The female is an inch and a
half longer, of a still deeper colour, though marked
nearly in the same manner, with the exception of
some white on the hind head. The femoral or thigh
feathers in both are of a remarkable length, reaching
nearly to the feet, and are also streaked longitudinally
with dark brown. The irides of the eyes of this
bird have been hitherto described as being of a
brilliant yellow ; but every specimen I have met
with yet had the iris of a deep hazel. I must there-
fore follow nature in opposition to very numerous
and respectable authorities.

" I cannot, in imitation of European naturalists,
embellish the history of this species with anecdotes
of its exploits in falconry. This science, if it may be
so called, is among the few that have never yet
travelled across the Atlantic ; neither does it appear
that the idea of training our hawks or eagles to the
chase ever suggested itself to any of the Indian
nations of North America. The Tartars, however,
from whom, according to certain writers, many of
these notions originated, have long excelled in the
practice of this sport ; which is, indeed, better suited
to an open country than to one covered with forests."
The different characters of this and the preceding
species of the American falcon, throws some light
upon the differences of character in those birds,
answering to differences in their geographical distri-
bution. This is a more northerly species than the
former, not being found at all in the tropical parts of
America, and not in the temperate parts, except
during the winter. Whereas the former is found
most abundantly in tropical climates, and does not
at all occur in the regions of the extreme north.
This species is also a far more bold and determined
bird than the other, and more decidedly a preyer
upon the feathered tribes and the smaller mammalia.
Something of the same kind occurs on the eastern
continent. The small falcons which are most plen-
tiful in the south and east of Europe, are very abun-
dant in Asia ; but the peregrine, notwithstanding its
powers of flight, and its disposition to range, is by no
means common there, and the jerfalcon is altogether
unknown.

Hence we see that, in the polar countries, the
falcon tribe take after the golden eagle as the grand
type of all the tribes, while those in the tropical
countries take more after the vulture. The former,
in proportion as they are more northerly in their

proper habitat, prey more habitually upon warm-
blooded animals, and kill their prey for themselves ;
the latter, in proportion as they are more equatorial
in their peculiar habitat, feed more upon carrion and
reptiles. In this there is a very beautiful adaptation.
The equatorial pastures may be said to be perennial,
and therefore their animals are mostly stationary or
resident the whole year, and there is no particular
period or season at which their numbers require to
be thinned. Therefore, in as far as birds are con-
cerned, scavengers only are wanted ; but because
the plains are alternately luxuriant with herbage, and
burnt up with drought, we find the larger beasts of
prey stationed there to keep down the super-
abundance of the grazing mammalia. In the polar
countries, on the other hand, very many of the birds
are migrant, and the winter is extremely severe, so
that the numbers even of the resident birds, and also
of the smaller ground mammalia, require to be
periodically thinned. Did our limits permit, it would
be easy to follow out this comparative view with
reference to almost the whole of the animated in-
habitants of the polar and tropical lands ; but we
must leave the farther prosecution of the subject to
the reader, and proceed with our list of the remaining
falcons, of which we shall not in general give English
names, as they are not very applicable.

Falco fusco-caerulcscens. This species, as its name
imports, is brown and blue. The upper parts are
bluish with brown markings ; and the upper tail-
coverts are streaked with white. The coverts and
quills of the wings are brown j the under parts
reddish with brown spots ; the throat and breast
brown with white streaks ; the beak greenish-ash,
and the feet ash-coloured. The length is about
eleven inches, and the bird is an inhabitant of North
America.

Falco ophiophagus. This name implies that the
3ird feeds upon snakes ; but very little is known
respecting its manners. It is described as being
alackish-ash on the upper part, and greyish-white on
the under ; the top of the head, the throat, and sides
of the neck reddish ; the greater wing-coverts have
white tips, but the rest of the coverts of the wings
are black. The beak blackish-blue, and the naked
>arts of the feet blue. The upper mandible has a
ooth towards the middle ; and the lower a slight
notch towards the point. The length is about
hirteen inches, and the bird is found in North
America, but its habits are not known.

Falco aUricollis. The neck of this species, as the
lame imports, is white, which is also the colour of the
lead, and the under part of the body. The upper
>art is varied with white and blackish ; the beak is
sh-coloured, and the feet yellow. The bird is thus
described ; but there are two doubts respecting it, —
irst, whether it be a distinct species ; and, secondly,
whether, granting that it is so, it be a falcon.

Falco nigricoUis. The general plumage is a mix-
ure of black with reddish and white ; the head,
neck, and tips of the greater coverts are quite black ;
and the feet are yellow. Like the species imme-
liately preceding, it was obtained from the northern
parts of South America ; but whether it be a distinct
pecics is not known.

Falco bidentatit. This species is named from
laving the bill double-toothed. It is a native of
ropical America. The upper part is of a grey
olour, brightest on the head and cheeks ; the under

FALCON.

461

part reddish, streaked with white. The throat and
under tail-coverts white ; the beak ash-coloured, and
with two strong teeth on each side ; the cere and
naked part of the feet are yellow ; and the length is
about fourteen inches. The female is marked all
over on the under part with small blue spots. The
young are brown streaked with white on the upper
part, and white streaked brown and reddish on the
under.

Falco superciliosus. This is also a South American
species, and has a naked space under the eyes. It
is described as being brown on the upper part, and
having the rump marked with black and white ; the
lesser coverts of the wings are ash-colour streaked
with black ; and the greater coverts have two white
bands near their terminations ; the under parts are
whitish waved with brown ; the eyebrows are pro-
jecting ; the cheeks naked ; the beak black ; and
the cere and feet yellow. This species, like many of
those described from single museum specimens, is
very doubtful.

Falco femoralis. This is also a South American
species, and is described as a native of Brazil. The
upper parts are bright brown ; some of the wing
coverts are marked with bars of reddish ash ; the
greater coverts are black, with white bars across at
their bases, and red tips , the primary quills have
white tips ; there are large black mustachios ; the
forehead, cheeks, thighs, middle of the belly, and
under tail coverts are bright red ; the sides of the
belly and the flanks are purplish black ; the beak
blue ; the cere yellow ; and the feet ash-coloured ;
the length is about twelve inches.

Falco diodou is another Brazilian species. The
upper parts are slate black ; the nape, the sides of
the head, and the cheeks, deep ash colour ; the throat
white ; the under parts greyish ash ; the thighs
reddish ; the wings and tail barred with black ; the
beak ash-coloureil, with two strong teeth to the
upper mandible ; the irides and feet yellow. The
length is about eleven inches. The female has the
markings less distinct. The immature birds are
brown on the upper part, with streaks and bands of
a darker colour ; they are spotted with blackish on
the under side ; and have their thighs reddish.

Falco meridionalis. Brown on the upper part ;
head streaked with red and black ; coverts streaked
with whitish ; under parts whitish with ash-coloured
streaks ; bill black ; cere and feet yellow ; length
about sixteen inches.

There are several other species found in South
America which are described as falcons, but nothing
is known of their manners. There is as little known
respecting the falcons of Africa, and indeed of all the
warmer parts of the world, and the lines ot distinction
between them and the other birds of prey are very
faintly marked, but we shall give a few of the names.
Falco melanopterus. Reddish on the upper part,
with black and ash-coloured markings on the wings ;
under part white ; beak blackish, and feet yellow.
Length about fourteen inches.

Falco Aldrovandii is a small species, only between
ten and eleven inches in length. It has been found
in Java. The upper part, and the quills next the
body, blackish blue ; the wing coverts black spotted
with red ; the lower part reddish ; the beak bluish ;
and the cere and feet yellow.

Falco chicqueca. Another small species very
common in the interior parts of India. Upper part

bluish ; nape and crown reddish ; under parts
white streaked with ash colour ; the extremities of
the tail feathers reddish with a black band; beak,
irides, and feet yellow.

Falco lophates. Upper part, thighs, and oelly of a
black colour with blue reflections ; some of the
coverts of the wings marked with white spots sur-
rounded by a reddish margin ; a white band on the
breast, the ground colour of which is maroon brown ;
a large crest on the hind head ; the beak blue, with
the edges of the mandibles yellow ; the legs ash-
coloured. The length about thirteen or fourteen
inches. Inhabits India, and other parts of south-
eastern Asia.

Falco cirratus is another Indian species with a
crest. Upper part black ; a long crest of a yellow
colour on the nape, which parts in two and hangs
over each side of the neck ; the tail feathers banded
with ash colour ; the under part white lined with
black ; beak blue ; irides, cere, and toes yellow ; the
tarsi feathered down to the toes.

Falco rnficollis. Understood to be an African
species. The upper part brown ; the head streaked
with reddish brown and black ; the tail feathers
barred with white ; the under part dull white marked
with brownish ash and black ; the throat white ; the
bill black ; and the feet yellow. Length about
fifteen inches.

Besides those of which we have given the names,
there are many falcons of which specimens have
been brought from remote parts of the world, — from
South America, from Africa, from Asia, north and
south, from Australia, from New Zealand, and from
some of the remote isles of the Pacific. Indeed it
should seem that no part of the world is without its
falcon ; though it is only in Europe and western Asia,
that falcons have at any period been trained so as to
be of the smallest service to the human race ; and
therefore those ones of which specimens are obtained
from remote countries are birds of little or no interest,
except to mere collectors ; and in the case of some of
them the collecting is as likely to be productive of
error, as of truth. This is especially true of falcons
and all other birds which are, or which at least some
time ago were brought from Southern Africa ; as any
one can find by examining Levaillant's birds of Africa,
many of which are not African birds at all ; and when
skins of animals are brought from dealers at the Cape,
the purchaser would require to ascertain very cor-
rectly whether they are or are not natives of that
quarter of the world ; because from the Cape being
a sort of entrepot between Europe and the East, all
oriental commodities and the skins of animals among
the rest are of course to be had in abundance there.
For these and other reasons we shall not extend the
catalogue of the falcons properly so called ; but we
may remark in passing that the whole of those foreign
ones appear to fall into three classes, of which the
peregrine, the hobby, and the kestrel appear to be
the European types, and, according as any foreign
species resembles the one of these more than either
of the other two, we may expect a correspondence in
its habits to that which it more nearly resembles ; and
perhaps, in the present state of our knowledge, this is
the best key which we have to the general characters
of those birds. It must, however, be received with
some modifications, because, as we have said, the cha-
racters of all the genus appear to be softened in pro-
portion as their locality is nearer to the equator. We

462

FALCON.

shall now proceed shortly to notice the remaining,
smaller and more local division of this genus of
birds : —

JERFALCONS (Hierofalco), Cirvier. This (for though
it is probable that there are three distinct species, yet
we are well acquainted with only one,) is the most
powerful, and in some respects the most interesting
of all the falcons. In the structure of its wings it
resembles them exactly ; being adapted for rising
against the wind, and not floating by the wind's mo-
tion. The beak, however, differs from that of the
other falcons, in being almost without a tooth, having
merely a bend downwards near the tip of the upper
mandible, and a very slight notch in the under. It
is in fact, at least in so far as its cutting edges are
concerned, more like the beak of an eagle than that
of a falcon ; but it still retains the curvature from
the base, and in its general structure it is a very power-
ful instrument, more powerful perhaps than the beak
of any otlwr genus, not so much on account of its
greater size as of its superior strength, and the firm-
ness of its texture.

Jenalcon.

Tins form of beak in the jerfalcon shows how un-
safe it is to form our general notions of birds upon
the structure of any general organ. It has sometimes
been supposed that, in consequence of this want of a
tooth in the beak, the jerfalcon was allied to the vul-
ture ; and some have gone so far as to say that the
first part of its compound name "jer" is no'thing else
than gcycr, the name of a vulture in the north Alps,
altered in the pronunciation. Whether this be or be
not the case, is of little consequence ; but the proba-
bility is that it is not true ; because there is no vulture
in the native locality of the jerfalcon, and we believe
there never was an instance of a jerfalcon in a state
of nature appearing in a vulture's country, even as a
straggler. There could therefore be no means by
which the rude people of former times could so com-
pare these two birds, as to decide upon their similarity
or their dissimilarity ; and therefore we must regard
such observations as this in no other light than that
of fancies, which systematic naturalists are sometimes
apt to indulge in when they know not very well what
else to say. The truth is, that there is perhaps no
bird of the whole rapacious order that differs more
irom the vulture in ij* manners, and also in its geo-

graphical distribution, than the jorfalcon does. As a
diurnal prey er, the jerfalcon tenants the arctic margin
of the land, and has to maintain its existence and find
its food amid the storms and the comparative deso-
lation of the north. And we may add, that there is
no creature within the whole compass of the animal
kingdom more admirably adapted to the scenes which
it tenants, and the atmosphere through which it has
to make its way. Its bones are more compact and strong
than those of any other known bird, being of greater
specific gravity, volume for volume, than those of the
golden eagle herself, though she too is a dweller in
stormy places, and has to beat the wilderness far and
wide for her subsistence. If we take those bones
singly, each of them is a perfect model of the maxi-
mum of strength and the minimum of their materials ;
and if we look at them in their connections, their arti-
culations, and those levers and purchases which tliry
afford to the tendons of the muscles, there is more
of the principles of mechanics to be learned from the
skeleton of a jerfalcon than from all the cqmbipations of
materials which were ever brought together by human
engineers. Then, if we proceed to examine this
matchless skeleton as it is clothed with flesh, emyrapt
in skin, and protected and furnished with feathers
we find in this bird one of the most striking, one of
the most irresistible proofs of infinite wisdom in con-
trivance, and infinite power in execution. Viewed in
this light, the jerfalcon, clutching the summit of the
ice-clad rock, or breasting the northern tempest when
it drives dark as midnight with snow, proclaims as
loudly the existence and the attributes of her Maker,
as if they were written in a book, in the most forcible
terms, and in all the languages under heaven.!

We shall afterwards say a few words on the pro-
bability of a difference of species, or at all events a
variety in this most noble bird ; but we are in the
mean time treating of it as the one well-known jer-
falcon, Falco islandicus, of most authors ; and while
treating thus generally we shall quote the following
passage from Mudie's Feathered Tribes of the British
Islands : " It has not been positively ascertained that
the jerfalcon breeds in any part of the British islands,
neither can the fact of its so breeding be denied, be-
cause, in all places, its nest is situated so high among
the crags of the rocks, that it is difficult to be seen,
and still more difficult to be reached. But, if it does
not breed there, it pays occasional visits to the north-
ern and western isles, more especially to those places
of them that abound with rock doves ; and few
sights can be finer than that of the jerfalcon driving
through a flock of these. When the falcon comes
within sight of her prey, she bounds upwards, every
stroke of -her wings producing a perpendicular leap,
as if she were climbing those giant stairs into which
nature moulds the basaltic rocks ; and when she has
' got the sky' of her prey to a sufficient height for
gaining the necessary impetus, her wings shiver for
a moment as she works herself into perfect command
and power, and to the full extent of her energy. Then
down she dashes, with so much velocity, that the im-
pression of her path remains on the eye, in the same
manner as that of the shooting meteor or flashin"-
lightning, and you fancy that there is a torrent of fal°
cons rushing for fathoms through the air. The stroke
is as unerring as the motion is fleet. If it take effect
in the body, the bird is bruised and her hunt is over ;
but if a wing only is broken, the maimed bird is
allowed to flutter to the earth, and another is marked

FALCON.

out for the collision of death. It sometimes happens '
that the mountain crow comes in for the wounded
game ; but in order to do so it must proceed stealthily
along the ground, for woe betide it if it rises on the
wing, and meets the glance of the falcon. The raven
himself never scoops out another eye, if he rises to
tempt that one ; and it is by no means improbable
that, in the early season, in those cold northern coun-
tries, when the lambs are young and the flocks weak,
and the crows and ravens prowl about blinding and
torturing, the jerfalcon may be of considerable service
to the shepherd."

The jeri'alcon is large, strong, exceedingly compact,
and very firm in its plumage. The length of the
male bird is about twenty-two iches, and the stretch
of its wings about four feet. The female is two or
three inches longer, and proportionally greater in the
extent of the wings. The ground colour of the whole
plumage is white, with narrow bands of brown on the
upper parts and the tail, and tear-shaped spots of the
same colour upon the under part of the body, inter-
spersed with lines and arrow- point spots still of the
same colour. The tail, which consists of twelve
rounded feathers, is rather long, of a dark-greyish
colour, with black shafts to the feathers, and marked
across with dusky bars, generally about twelve in num-
ber. The colours on the upper part of the male bird
are, at all ages, darker than those of the female ; and
the very old females become almost white. It is
probable also that, as is the case with the ptarmigan,
which forms part of the jerfalcon's winter food, the
white may become more pure during the winter sea-
son. The beak is of a bluish colour, but the tip is
black, and so are the claws. The feet, the cere, and
the naked space round the eyes are bluish yellow. In
the young bird they incline more to blue, and the
upper part is also much more dusky, so that, as has
oeen the case with many other falcons, the old and
the young have been sometimes described as differ-
ent species. The tarsi, which are very short, and
have reticulated scales, are feathered for the upper
part of their length. The feet and claws are not re-
markably large ; but the action of the joints is exceed-
ingly powerful and the articulation beautiful.

The extreme north of Europe, and also of some
parts of Asia, is the native locality of the jerfalcon.
On the continent it is not met with to the southward of
the Baltic, and it is rare in the southern parts of Swe-
den. Indeed, as it is completely a bird of the wilds,
it seldom makes its appearance over cultivated lands
in any country. It is not, however, a woodland bird,
but a tenant of the wild rocks ; and though it is plenti-
ful in Norway, Iceland, in which there are no woods,
is understood to be its head quarters, and the country
where it attains the largest size, and has the great-
est power, — if indeed there be not in Iceland a spe-
cies, or variety, of greater size and strength, and
whiter in the colour than the one which is met with
in continental Europe.

The jerfalcon certainly does combine some of the
habits of the golden eagle with those of the falcons
properly so called ; and the structure agrees with
this habit. Ascent and descent, the former to gain
power, and the latter to put that power in execution
are the chief motions of the eagle ; and for this pur-
pose the eagle has great strength and capacity o
action in the tail ; so that it works for ascent or

descent, something in the same manner as the wings
work for progressive motion. The tail of the jer-

463

falcon is in this respect very similar to that of the
eagle ; it is capable of being spread very wide, and
of striking either upwards or downwards against the
air, with very considerable force. At the same time,

he very different structure of the wings gives this fal-
con a far greater command of the air than the eagle.
The eagle can do execution only when her prey is on

he ground ; and she cannot rise to windward in the
same style as the falcons. The jerfalcon on the other

land can strike her prey either in the air or upon the
ground, and with the same effect in both cases. It is
jrobable that the use of these different powers pre-
dominates at different seasons. In summer the places
which the jerfalcon inhabits are full of birds, snipes,
apwings, and other birds of rapid flight, besides the
native gallinaceous birds of the northern wilds. Some
olaces too, even pretty far north, have their rocky
shores thronged with rock doves (Columba livla) ; and
during the summer season these are generally stirring.
At this season, therefore, it is probable that the jer-
"alcon lives chiefly upon birds, and kills her prey in
the air ; but that when winter comes she has to take
more to the habit of the eagle. At that season there
are comparatively few birds to be seen on the wing ;
though there are a good many ground birds, as well
as alpine hares, and other small mammalia ; and,
though we cannot be certain of the fact, it is highly
probable that during this season the jerfalcon preys
upon these.

In farther proof of this, it may be mentioned, that
it is in summer and autumn, rather than after the
winter has set in, that the jerfalcon is discursive, and
found without her arctic territory ; and this fact shows
that she must be supported during the winter by food
which she finds at home ; and that which we have
mentioned ia the principal part of what her dominions
then furnish. In this again there is some resemblance
to the golden eagle. The upland places which the
golden eagle frequents, stand to the low countries
around them in pretty nearly the same relation as the
native haunts of the jerfalcon stands to the temperate
countries farther to the south. And it is matter of com-
mon observation to those who reside near the abodes
of eagles, that they seldom or never find those birds
beating over the lower valleys in the winter. Indeed,
they are rarely seen at that season ; but as we know
that eagles stand many winters, they must have some
food, notwithstanding their power of abstinence ; and
this food they must obtain in the mountains. The
jerfalcon is, in all probability, as long lived a bird as
the eagle ; and though she is probably as capable of
enduring hunger as the eagle, we can scarcely suppose
that she can be without food for the whole length of
a Lapland or an Iceland winter, which is any thing
but a short one, and consequently she also must find
what food she acquires in the wilds during this season.
Those circumstance?, which we believe have seldom
if ever been adverted to, are worthy of attention, as
descriptive of the leading* habits of perhaps the two
most interesting birds in the whole of the feathered
catalogue. They are both tempered to the utmost
violence of the storm ; and they remain most con-
stantly in the home of that storm during the season
of its greatest violence. This is very different from
the birds of warmer countries ; and from the summer
visitants of the colder ones ; but it is common to the
gallinidse of the northern regions and the mountain
tops, as well as to the powerful birds of prey which
winter there. The great owls of the north should

464

FALCON.

probably also be included in this peculiar class of
birds ; but this is not the place to notice them ; and,
therefore, we shall reserve what we have to say con-
cerning them till we come to the article OWL, in which
we shall take occasion to examine the peculiarities of
the whole family of the StringicUe, as they are some-
times called in modern nomenclature.

In their excursions, even at that season whe"n they
spread the most, the jerfalcons are rarely if ever seen
in England, and we believe they are equally rare in
the lowland and well-cultivated parts of Scotland.
They appear, however, not unfrequently in the Shet-
land islands, rather less so in the Orkneys, and less so
still in the western islands, and the west and north-
west islands of Scotland. When they do make their
appearance there, however, they are easily known
from any other birds of prey by their colour, their size,
and the splendid style of their flight. We have been
informed by those who have been much in the open
air, and were attentive to what was going on in these
places, that jerfalcons nearly white, and others much
darker, are occasionally seen, though of course not to-
gether ; and that the paler-coloured ones are larger,
bolder, and of more powerful wing. This would lead
one to conclude that the pale ones are from Iceland,
and those of a darker colour from Norway, by the way
of the northern isles ; and, as the rate of flight in a
jerfalcon is in all probability not less than one hun-
dred and fifty miles in the hour, none of the distances
which we have mentioned would be very fatiguing.
We are still, however, in want of more information
respecting the habits of these birds ; and also respect-
ing another species, darker coloured than either of
these, which is said to occur in the northern parts of
the American continent. t

We omitted to mention that jerfalcons nestle on
the ledges or in the clefts of the rocks ; that the pair
are generally near each other during the time that
they have young ; and that the number of eggs varies
from two to four. Jerfalcons were the most esteemed
of the whole race, though the most difficult to train ;
and, therefore, they were, and in some places are still,
in great request. Even, as far from their native north
as Persia the female was used in bringing down the
most powerful birds, such as the stork and the crane,
while the male was employed against the heron, the kite
and the crow. But we must end this part of our subject,
as we have not space fully to enter into its details.

FALCONRY. The natural history of the falcons
would be incomplete without some slight notice of the
use of them in the art of falconry, and the training of
them for that art, even thougfh, as a regular sport, it
may be said to be now wholly extinct in this country,
and very much on the decline in every other. The
. fact is, that of all engines, so to call them, used for the
^ capture or the killing of game, falcons are by far the
most expensive, and require the most skilful manage-
ment, both in training at the first, and in exercising
them so as to keep them in training.

The art is not a modern one ; for it was known in
the time of the Romans ; and it is not impossible that,
as was the case with most sciences and scientific
sports, it had its first beginning in Egypt. It would
be foreign to our purpose to enter into the details of
its history, farther than to mention that, though per-
haps it may be reckoned a savage sport in itself, it is
one the practice of which pre-supposes a very con-
siderable degree of observation of the habits of animals,
and of inference founded upon this observation — more

indeed than could be expected from any rude or bar-
barous nation ; and, accordingly, we do not find that
any uncivilised people ever employed falcons in the
chase of birds, how much soever they may have
abounded in their locality. Neither does it appear
from any of the older writers that any attempt was
made to reduce the flight of falcons to any thing like
principle, until about fifty years ago.

Notwithstanding this, the division of birds of prey
into noble and ignoble, and of such of them as were
used in falconry into noble and ignoble hawks, is as
completely founded upon structural difference, as if
Cuvier himself had dissected and investigated them,
muscle by muscle, and bone by bone, in order to de-
termine in which way their active powers could be
most successfully employed, and in what respects the
one division differs from the others.

In classing those birds according to the relative
powers of their wings and their modes of using them,
the French writers, who have treated this subject with
attention, distinguish them as rowers and sailers. The
distinction between those two terms is exactly that
between the noble and the ignoble hawks ; only the
kestrel, which was not used in falconry, rather disturbs
the arrangement, by so far agreeing in wing with the
kites, though its principal characters are those of the
falcon.

In the rowing birds, the bones of the wing are re-
markably perfect ; and the bodies of the birds them-
selves are formed in such a manner as to offer the
least forcible resistance to the wind, when the head of
the bird is directed against it. The feathers are re-
markable for the strength and elasticity of their shafts,
and the closeness of their webs ; so that while the
feathers of the wings can strike against the air with
great force, they are not laid hold of by it, and car-
ried along by its current, as is .the case with birds of
more flocculent feather, and differently formed wing.
The ten quills which are nearest the extremity of the
wing, and which thus have the most rapid motion and
produce the most powerful effect when the wing acts,
are continuous, and have their barbs more firmly in-
terlinked with each other than in any other birds.
When the wing is raised, indeed, openings are made
which admit its upward motion with comparatively
little resistance, and the firm terminations of the barbs
have an advantage in this respect ; but when the wing
descends, which of course is the stroke in flying, this
most powerful part of it strikes as if it were the blade
of an oar of the best construction. Those wings are
narrow in proportion to their length, as compared
with those of birds of inferior flight ; they are also
nearly flat on their under sides, and the und'er coverts
and feathers are smooth and firm up almost to the
junction with the body. In ascending flight, the birds
do not carry the axis of the body horizontal, but have
it at an angle, with the head considerably elevated,
and the line of the body forming an angle with the
wind, which of course the bird regulates according to
the wind's velocity. A good paper kite seen in the
air during a breeze, when the boy who manages it is
running to windward, gives no bad idea of the position
and even the motion and action of the rowing bird, or
noble bird of prey, when it is rising against the wind ;
and in order to make the illustration almost perfect,
we have only to consider that the gravitation and
muscular action of the bird performs the same office
as the string of the kite, and the muscular action of
the boy in running along the ground. Such is the

FAL

structure of the wings in the rowing- birds ; and we
shall shortly mention this in the sailing ones, before
we come to speak of the peculiar mode of action in
each, and their different adaptations in the art of
falconry.

In mailing birds generally, and in the ignoble birds
of prey, tin; whole structure and texture of the wings
are different. The bones are shorter, less firm in the
joints, and less completely stretched in the act of
flying. The quills of the extreme part of the wing
are gradually shortened for about four from the
longest feather, which is never the first or second,
and is the fourth in the gos-ha\vk, which may be
considered as the typical hawk, and was the one of
the sailers that was the most esteemed in falconry.
A wing of this structure acts much less powerfully
upon the wind than one of the former. The tense
bones of the former wing enable it to strike the air
with its whole force ; but this one, in consequence of its
being looser in the joints, and less extended, "gives"
to the stroke, so that the one strikes like a firm,
though somewhat elastic rod— the other like an appa-
ratus to a certain extent jointed. The surfaces and ter-
minations of the webs of the feathers also give them-
selves more up to the air than in the rowing birds.
They are more loose and flocctilent, not only in their
clothing feathers and coverts, but in the quills beyond
the coverts. This is apparent in their very appearance.
The quills of the noble hawks are smooth and glossy
to their very extremities, while those of the others
have a dead colour, as if they were covered with
some sort of fine powder, or very short nap, and the
latter is the case. The covered part of the wing is
also broader in proportion, and more loosely feathered ;
and it is hollow not oidy in the direction of its length,
in consequence of the imperfect stretch, but it is
hollow also in the cross section. In short, it is a
wing of which the wind can take hold, just as it does
of the belly of a sail. Such a wing is of course ill
adapted either for rising or for progressive motion
against the wind, but it is equally well adapted for
g with the wind, and also for all sorts of short
action in the air, in places where the wing of a falcon
Avould not have scope for its more powerful action.
Such a wing, and the general plumage of the bird
answers to it, upon the principle of harmony which
runs through all nature's productions, is calculated
for leaning on the air, or hovering, as it is usually
called, for a far greater length of time, and in finer
style, than could be done by the rowing bird, no part
of which is adapted for taking a hold on the air.
Wings of this description are also, generally speaking,
shorter than those of the other, and this adds further
to the accommodation of the sailing bird in those
situations for which it is best fitted. Such are the
general characters and distinctions of the wings in
the two sorts of birds used in falconry.

There is also a very considerable difference in the
structure of the feet. In the rowers, or noble hawks,
the tarsi are always short, and, generally speaking,
they are short in" proportion to the power of the
bird. The- toes, also, have great power of motion,
and the claws are very sharp. In the short-winged
birds the tarsi are always longer, often pretty long in
proportion to the size of the bird ; and though the
toes are perhaps not, upon the whole, less powerful,
they are not fitted for such rapid and immediate action
as those of the other division. There are some other
peculiarities, such as more looseness in the general

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

CON. 465

form of the body in the short-winged bird, but those
of the wings and feet, as above mentioned, are the
most important ; and as the whole structure of the
bird is in accordance, those minor particulars may
easily be inferred from what has been said.

Now, if we consider either the localities of (he
two divisions, or the manner in which they obtain
their prey, we shall perceive how beautifully each is
adapted to its purpose, and how much both would be
at a loss if they were made to change places. The
falcons are birds of the open grounds, of the rocky
mountain, and the wide moor, and their prey, in so
far as it consists of birds, is killed by the stroke
delivered in the open air, and not clutched with the
talons ; for, when a falcon hunts in good style, she
strikes her prey to the ground, and descends after it.
The hawks, on the other hand, are more birds of
wooded places, where they have many turnings to
make, and do not require the straight-lined rush of
the falcons. In catching their prey, they clutch it with
the talons rather than strike at it, and the length of
the tarsus seems to assist them in this process. The
eagle, which is a broad-winged bird, and the kite,
which is a bird with wings of rather a mixed character,
form exceptions to this, as the eagle is invariablv, and
the kite generally, found in open places, though the
latter frequents the neighbourhood of woods. Both
of these, however, prey upon the ground, and are
clutching birds rather than striking ones ; but as
neither of them was trained for falconry, they do not
require a further description in the present place.

There is something worthy of remark in the
different manner in which the falcons and the hawks
attack their prey. The falcon, of whatever species it
may be, always aims its blow at the most vulnerable
part of its prey, or that which shall most instantly
occasion death ; and in birds this vulnerable spot is
the nape, immediately at the articulation of the skull
with the vertebral column, so that a stroke given
here, of the force with which even the lightest of the
falcons rushes upon its prey, is sufficient to fracture
the skull, or dislocate the neck. So accurately is
this done, that the merlin, light as it is, will strike
dead to the earth a bird heavier than itself, with so
much rapidity as that it can hardly be perceived ; for
it is no sooner in contact with the living bird than the
dead one separates from it. Hawks, and sailing birds
of prey generally, are not so particular as to the
place at which they aim their stroke ; their object is
rather to clutch their prey, and hold it by main
strength, until they have strangled, or otherwise
pressed and torn it to death. We cannot help
noticing here a remarkable coincidence between dif-
ferent divisions of predatory birds and predatory
mammalia. All the clutching and crushing mammalia,
which catch their prey by lying in wait, or by othet
stratagems, seize it indiscriminately by any part, and
either run it down, under the double effect of their
weight and the torture which they give by their teeth
and claws, or they crush and rend it. But the coursing
mammalia, which run down their prey in open chase,
invariably seize upon some vital part, as is observed
in those dogs which are in the wild state, and in ill-
bred domestic dogs, which so far return to their wild
habits and savage propensities, as to prowl about at
night and bite sheep. A practised canine thief of
this description will sometimes, in the course of a
single night, kill and bleed more than a dozen sheep
w ithout in the least tearing or breaking the carcases ;
GG

4G6

FALCON.

whereas, if any animal is seized and killed by one of
the feline or clutching- race, no matter for the species,
it will invariably be found to be mangled. Those
coincidences between animals of diH'erent classes, in
respect of their modes of action, are among the most
interesting points in natural history, because they
give us two lassons of the utmost value — the one for
our instruction in a scientific, and the other in a
moral point of view. In the first place, they clearly
demonstrate, that if we once properly get hold of a
principle, and follow it out into its details, so as to
see everything respecting organisation, locality, and
habits, we can proceed by analogy from these, and
greatly abridge the labour of acquiring a knowledge
of other parts of the system. In the second place,
they demonstrate, that the law of nature is one, that
purpose and adaptation run uniformly through the
whole creation, and that therefore the Author and
Governor is one.

It is not very easy to give, in few words, such a
generalisation of the action of these birds as can be
considered popular, and yet it is so much connected
with the action of animals generally, and with that of
feathered animals in particular, that every body
should understand something about it. It may, in
general, be said that the falcons, and birds which are
winded and feathered like the falcons, are capable of
making the greatest possible use of the air, while the
air has the least possible effect upon them ; and that
the hawks, and birds winged and feathered like the
hawks, are always in so far at the disposal of the
wind, though loss so than the majority of those birds
on which they feed, otherwise there would be no food
for the hawks, unless what they could get by stra-
tagem and lying in wait, as is done by the greater
majority of the owls.

As the air has comparatively little hold upon
either the wings or the feathers of the falcons, they
can keep their intended course with much less labour
and more certainty than those birds whose wings and
feathers take hold of the wind. This, however, pre-
vents them from being able to wheel and double so
quickly or within so small a compass as the others,
and therefore they can be effective only in situations
where they have scope for their wings. In the free
expanse of the air, however, they have advantages
which no other birds possess, and thus the wing of
the falcon may, in its proper element, be said to
triumph over every other wing. No bird that rises
down the wind can gain much additional height
without beinjf carried to a very considerable distance
in the direction in which the wind blows ; and no
bird upon whose feathers, whether those of the wings
or the body, the wind takes a powerful hold, can
fly across the wind without making a good deal of
leeway, and being thrown out of any aim which it
may have taken, while the hold which the peculiar
texture of its feathers takes on the matter of the at-
mosphere must tend very much to retard its motion
even when the air is still. But all these circum-
stances, disadvantageous as they are in forward
flight in the free air, are of use to the short-winged
birds in the way in which they in general act. Such
of thorn as look out for ground prey can, by this
means, float and hover till they have scoured the
whole of an extensive horizon ; while those which
prey in the woods and among bushes, can turn and
glide, so as to come upon their prey with greater
ease. They are also muffled, as it were, by the

formation'of the margins and surfaces of their feathers,
and thus they can range in comparative silence
those places where the sound of the firm wings of the
falcon would give instant warning of her approach.
Thus, in the free air over the wild, nothing which she
marks out as her prey can escape the bold pursuit of
the falcon, though there are many birds that in such
places can defy the hawk. On the other hand, when
the range is interrupted, or the bird flies low and
doubles, the hawk can keep sight of it and wear it
out, when all the strength, force, and rush of the
falcon would be quite unavailing.

In illustration of this, we may mention an instance
of the superiority of falconry over hawking in the
open plains, which was observed in a remote district
of the Scotch Highlands a few years ago by a friend
of the writer of this article. It was early in the
season, and long before shooting on the moors com-
mences, that our friend, in company with a resi-
dent veteran of the hill, who knew the habits of every
creature that appeared on it, had wandered nearly
as far as the water-shed in one of those wide and half-
boggy passes, which are so much resorted to by the
semi-aquatic birds which breed in the inland wilds.
When they had fatigued themselves with the heavy
footing through heather, and moss, and long grass,
they sat down upon a " a rest-and-bc-thankfnl" stone,
to survey the glen, of which the height that they
had now gained gave them the command, they ob-
served a large light-coloured bird of prey in pursuit
of a lapwing, which was doubling about in all the
ways that its very hollow wing admits of; and as the
wind was from the hill, their progress was, upon the
whole, down the glen before it. The falcon, from its
apparent size and the whiteness of its colour, was
either a full-grown jer, or one of the larger variety of
Iceland (if that is a variety) ; but still, what with the
doubling, what with the advantage of the wind on the
concave wings of the prey, the falcon lost rather than
gained, and had it persevered in this kind of chase,
the lapwing would have worn it out. After some time
spent in this hopeless pursuit, the falcon turned
round to windward, in the very opposite direction to
that in which chase had been given. Our informant
expressed his surprise that a bird of such apparent
power should thus abandon her prey. " She will
return," said his companion, " or else she is not true
either to her colour or her course ; that is not the
way in which falcons abandon their game." They
watched the course of the falcon, which had risen at
a comparatively small angle with the perpendicular,
till she seemed no bigger than a lark ; and the lap-
wing, alarmed by the pursuit, was still wheeling about
in the air at no very great distance. At last the
falcon halted and turned, and her wings began to
shiver in the air. " Mark now," said the mountaineer,
" whether she has or has not abandoned her game."
In an instant, she shot downwards with the rush of
an arrow ; the lapwing gave one shrilly wail, and
appeared to lose all command of its wings ; and in
less than a minute they heard the sound of the stroke,
and the lapwing fell to the earth, from which it again
rebounded by the violence of the fall. They of course
left the falcon to enjoy in peace that feast in the
obtaining of which she had shown so much science.

No birds are thrown into greater consternation by
the flying of a falcon over them than magpies ; and
although this kind of sport makes nothing for the
" pot," it shows in what dread the falcon is held.

FAL

The best way is to watch for a time when the mag-
pies hold one of those councils which are not urifre-
quent among these curious birds, and then to let fly
the falcon. The council is generally held at no
great distance from some cover, such as a broom or
furze bush, and (lie magpies have generally all their
eyes about them, so that they espy the falcon as
soon as she is in the air. Then it is " hurry-skurry "
for the cover, into which they creep, and lie so close
that the whole posse may be taken with the hand.
If there is no cover which they can reach, they squat
flat and motionless on the ground, and may be picked
up in the same manner. We know not how the jer
might come on in the event of being flown at the
raven ; but we once saw an instance of the common
falcon, in which it appeared to be a drawn battle
between the two, and as the companion raven was
approaching, the falcon, but for human aid, would
have been the victim.

To observe the action of these birds, whether the
flight be low or high, is a very easy matter ; and
after the principles of mechanics, and the structure of
the birds are once fully understood, it is by no means
difficult to explain the rationale of their action, and
to show how admirably cacli is adapted to the place
which it holds, and the functions which it performs
in animated nature. But after this is done the grand
diih'culty remains behind, namely, how the powers of
these, apparently the wildest and most wayward of
all living creatures, should be brought into complete
subjection to man, and made as obedient to his com-
mand, as if they were endowed with reason. This,
however, has been done, and done so completely,
and under such different cirumstances of species and
of age in the birds, as to leave no doubt that, by due
attention and proper training, man might press every
power and every faculty of the animal kingdom into
his service, — that, for instance, he might make the
porpoise, the seal, and the pike catch fish for him as
readily as the hound catches hares, or the falcon
strikes down pigeons. Nor is it at all unlikely that,
amid the vast improvement which has of late years
taken place in the mechanical use of dead matter or
the application of its chemical powers, the capabi-
lities of lite have been too much neglected ; for we
may rest assured that the use to man of every thing
in creation, if he could once find it out and know how
to apply it, is in exact proportion to its energy in the
wild state ; and this is the chief reason why the
training (for it cannot be called taming) of these
birds of prey is so worthy of attention.

For the purpose of falconry, hawks were not in
general bred in a state of captivity, and indeed the
falconers who had charge of them used many arts to
prevent them from breeding. There were three
ways of obtaining them, or rather they were obtained
at three different ages. The young birds when they
could be found in that state were taken from the
nest, while they were yet covered with down instead
of feathers. In this state they were, in the language
of falconry, called simples, and though they were
longer in being ready for use than the more advanced
ones, their education, from being begun so early, was
much more easy. Another age at which they were
perhaps more easily procured, was that at which they
were so far fledged as to be able to quit the nest, but
not so much so as to be capable of flight. In this
state they were termed branchcrs, which term was in
all probability derived from those species which

CON. 467

build their nests in trees. These were a little sooner
ready for action than the simples ; but their education
was considerably more difficult, as they had acquired
more of their natural character in 'the wild state
before their education began. The third means of
obtaining them was, catching the wild birds in nets by
means of various stratagems, which had to be varied ac-
cording to the species. The birds obtained in this way
were of course much sooner fit for sport than the
younger ones ; but the training of them was a matter
of much more difficulty. Those birds which had
acquired their natural character in whole or in part,
before they came into the hands of the trainers, were
called haggards, and the same name was bestowed
upon refractory hawks and falcons, which were some-
times in the habit of breaking away from the game
for which they were trained, or of flying off with the
game and not returning to the falconer. Birds which
had this habit were held in very low estimation ; as
may be judged of by a very beautiful, though meta-
phorical allusion in Shakspeare's tragedy of Othello,
lago had just worked up the Moor to the requisite
pitch of jealousy, and left him to the agony of his
feelings ; and in his frantic soliloquy he is made to
give utterance to the following words among others—

If I do prove her haggard,

Though that her jesses were my dear heart-strings;
I'd whistle her off, and let her down the wind,
To prey at fortune.

This passage, short as it is, contains a pretty ample
epitome of the characters of falcons, though the poet
has a double meaning in the word "haggard" in allusion
to human frailty. If she acted as a rebellious falcon,
untrue to her training and trust, then she was to be
sent, after the manner of the ignoble hawks, to pro-
vide for herself as she best could.

It would be too long to point out all the steps in
the education of hawks ; but at whatever age they
were taken, the first thing to be done was to attach
small bells to their feet, so as to accustom them to
noise every time they moved. If simples, they were
provided with eyries, which were shutters lined with
straw, placed at a little elevation for the birds of high
flight, but on the ground for the low-flighted ones ;
or, if the nest be naturally in such situations, the rock
breeders were placed on the top of a wall or heap of
stones, and those which breed in trees had a nest
for them placed in a tree at no great height. Near
the openings there were boards placed, on which they
were made to perform their first exercises, and on
which also they were fed, in order to attach them to
the place in which they were exercised. Their food
consisted of beef or mutton, but especially the latter,
which is indeed the best food for them at all ages ;
and must be freed of all the cartilage and fat, and cut
into slender and not too long shreds, but the more
recent it is and the more blood that there is in it, they
eat it with a greater relish. As soon as the low-
flighted hawks were able to descend from the board
and get up again, their food was placed on the ground.

When the unfledged young are taken from the
nest, this nursery treatment is continued for about
six weeks, and if they have been properly fed and
attended to, they are by this time able to catch such
small birds as come within their reach, which shows
at how early an age birds of this description begin to
catch prey for themselves. Up to this period the
birds are allowed the full enjoyment of their liberty,
both because they are too young for entering upon
GG2

468

FALCON.

their formal training, and because they need to
acquire some strength ; but when they are able to
catch small birds, the jesses or wops of leather are
put round the tarsi, and a ring and cord attached, by
which they are confined during great part of the
training, and the jesses remain, in order that they
may be confined by these whenever it is necessary,
as confinement by the feet is the surest way to keep
them from injuring themselves or anything else.
The branchers are much sooner ready for putting in
training than the unfledged young, but the training is
proportionally difficult, because the others have been
accustomed to noise, and the sight of men and dogs,
during their nursery treatment.

Falconers used to prefer nestlings when they could
be obtained, because their training was much more
sure as well as easy, and next to these they preferred
branchers. When none of these could be obtained,
then the object was to capture full-grown birds. The
smaller ones were obtained in common bird-nets, by
descending on the call birds ; and the goshawk,
and even the falcon were sometimes caught, but
much more rarely, though the latter was frequently
enticed by a pigeon and a tame falcon. Owls were
also made use of for the purpose of enticing the
falcons and the larger hawks into the net. The jer-
falcon, from its superior power and wildness, was
much more difficult to be taken in snares than any of
the others ; but then the jerfalcon was so much
more effective against the largerv game, and brought
so much higher a price, that even she was taken in
her fastnesses of the north, so that at one time there
was a regular export of jerfalcons both from Iceland
and from Norway.

In the case, both of the highfliers and the low,
the difficulty of the training was pretty nearly in
proportion to the value of the bird after it was
trained, though the goshawk rather formed an ex-
ception to this, being much more docile and easily
managed than even the sparrow hawk. Among the
true falcons, the merlin was the most manageable,
required less training than any of the rest, and came
more readily at the call, neither did it so soon go
out of training when not properly exercised. On
this account, and also from the elegance of its form,
and the certainty of its stroke, the merlin was a great
favourite. The hobby, on the other hand, was a
stubborn little fellow, and required nearly as much
trouble to reclaim him, that is to make him return at
the call of the falconer, as any of the larger ones,
excepting, perhaps, the jerfalcon.

When mature birds of the stubborn species had to
be trained, the first object was to reduce them low
enough ; and some nicety was required in order to
subdue the bird sufficiently, without at the same time
injuring its health. Low diet was one of the means
resorted to, the food being reduced to half the allow-
ance of a trained falcon, and its stimulating quality
diminished by steeping it in water. Aperient
medicines were also administered for the purpose of
reducing the tone of the internal part of the system,
and cold water was applied in order to bring down
the tone of the muscular system. With the jer-
falcon this training had generally to be continued for
about six weeks before the bird was sufficiently subdued,
he being kept blind-folded all this time by a hood. In
order to ascertain whether the bird was subdued or not,
they touched his head in various places, rubbing him
at the same time with a pigeon's wing in a recent

state, and fresh with the smell of that bird and its
blood. If the bird bore this teasing and temptation
without excitement, and moved his head obedient to
the hand, he was considered fit for occasional ex-
posure to the light ; but several weeks more were
necessary in order to make sure of the bird's
obedience. When this was achieved, they then taught
the falcon to know and fly at the kind of game for
which it was trained, by dressing up lures or imita-
tions of the game, and placing food in the blood
upon them. This was accompanied by teaching the
bird to come back to the arm or hand of the
falconer, which was accomplished by jerking away
the food from the wire, and then giving a little food
on the return to the hand. It is inconceivable how
much care and trouble were required in order to
reclaim a mature female jerfalcon in this way, for it
was almost as much a«, in the modern system of
military tactics, would discipline a whole regiment
for the field. Even after all this trouble had been
taken, the jerfalcon required the most watchful
attention, because it always retained a certain degree
of irritability, and therefore could be turned to proper
account only by a falconer who thoroughly under-
stood his disposition. For these reasons, even at
the time when the feudal system was at its height,
and the many were, throughout Europe, the slaves of
the few, and made to minister to their caprices, it
was not every owner of a baronial castle who could
afford to fly jerfalcons, and a good one was a
becoming present for an emperor. Matters are
somewhat changed in this respect now-a-days, and
giraffes and elephants are almost the only animals
deemed worthy of royal presentation.

The peregrine falcon was reclaimed with much
less labour than this, and in much shorter time ; and
as the peregrine could be obtained in many countries
where the jer could not, and farther, as she was
much more docile and obedient to the falconer, and
by no means liable to lose her temper, she was the
falcon in most general use for high flight ; nor are
we sure that, for all her great power and her high
price, the jer was ever complimented with the name
of a "gentle falcon;" at all events, if she had the
name she had none of the reality. In point of train-
ing, the hobby stood nearly in the same relation to
the merlin that the jerfalcon did to the peregrine,
arid as its powers are not greater than those of the
merlin, it was not held in so much esteem.

The training of low-flighted hawks was a simple
matter compared with that of falcons, and scarcely
required more days in the hands of a skilful reclaimer
than the jerfalcon required weeks. The goshawk
was the favourite, both on account of its docility
and its woodland habits, though probably the sparrow-
hawk is a bird of more spirit.

In all cases of training, the object was to have the
bird in such spirit as that it would fly at its proper
game or quarry the instant that it was unhooded, and
return again to the arm of the falconer whether it
struck or missed its prey. In addition to this, there
were many qualities of a good hawk dependent on
the animal itself as distinguished from others of its
species, but it does not appear that the labours of
the reclaimer had much to do in the production of
these. The great use which was made of cold water
in training those birds, and also in reducing them when
excited, or keeping them low and even in health at
those times of the year when they were not used in

F A S C I 0 L A R F A - F I C O I D E M.

4G9

sport, is worth attending to, the more so that the
same application very speedily takes down the heat
of the temper of other animals. When dogs fight,
there are no means of putting an end to their hostilities
so speedily and so certainly as by sousing them each
with cold water ; and it is very probable that, in many
other cases of animal irritation or stubbornness, the
same application would be equally effective. Indeed,
if in all cases in which animals naturally ferocious
have been brought into subjection and obedience,
the different steps by which this result has been
arrived at had been carefully noted and duly ar-
ranged, we should have been in possession of a body
of highly valuable practical information upon a sub-
ject of which we are in a great measure ignorant.
Nor is there any doubt that if this could be fully
and judiciously made a matter of science, very many
of those creatures which we now pass by as useless,
and persecute as noxious, might long ere now have
been useful and obedient servants, and that whether
they belong to one or to another of those classes
which have sufficient size and strength for taking a
part in labour. It is principally with a view to
recommend this, that we have written the present
article, because the subject is one upon which we
must have a great deal of practice before we can
have any theory.

FASCIOLARIA (Brugnieres ; MUREX, Linnaeus).
This genus of molluscs was classed by Linnasus with the
Murices,-and the French naturalist Brugnieres appears
to have been the first to point out the propriety of a
separation ; but he was not sufficiently accurate in
his observations, and confounded them with the genus
Fusus, also another of his own separations from the
Murices. The Fasciolarice may at once be distin-
guished from the Murices, by never havii/g any vari-
ces, though it has a canal at the base; from the Fusus,
they differ by having plaits on the columella. This
circumstance brings them nearer to the G. turbinella,
but in that the position of the plaits is transverse,
while the shells of the present genus are spirally ob-
lique. The form of these shells is fusiform, the spire
of a moderate length, the aperture oval, lengthened,
nearly symmetrical, terminated by a rather long
straight tube, the external margin sharp, and the colu-
mella furnished with two or three oblique plaits ; the
whorls of some species are nodulous, it has an epi-
dermis, and possesses a horny operculum. The name
of the genus is derived from fasciola, which word
describes its characteristic distinction. Modern natu-
ralists form a natural association of the species, as
follows : — those whose shape is fusiform, but not
tuberculated ; secondly, those of the same form but
with tubercles ; and lastly, such as are like the last
division, but with the spires turriculated. Eight spe-
cies are described by Lamarck, one only being found
in the Mediterranean, the others are principally from
the Indian Seas ; about the same number of fossil
species are known.

FERONIA (Latreille). An extensive genus of
coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Pcnta-
mera and family Carabidce, forming the type of one
of the divisions of the sub-family HARPALIDES, which
see.

FERRARI A (Linnreus). A genus of bulbous
plants introduced into Europe from the Cape of Good
Hope. Class and order Monadelphia Tiiandria,
and natural order Irideae. Generic character :
flowers in a spathc : corolla in six oblong undulated

segments, the outer ones broadest ; stamens, filaments
joined to thetubo ; anthers rather egg-shaped, double,
style filiform ; stigmas three to six, pencil formed ;
capsule below three-celled. The Ferrarias bear beau-
tiful flowers, and thrive in sandy loam ; like Lrifts,
they should be kept in a frame and perfectly dry
when not growing, but regularly watered as soon as
they present their leaves.

FERULA (Linnaeus). This is the giant fennel of
botanists, and consists chiefly of large coarse-looking
herbs, found over all the northern parts of Asia and
Europe. The genus belongs to the fifth class of
sexual botany, and to the natural order Umbellifera.
Two of the species, viz. Perslca and assafoetida,
yield the medicinal gum, known by the latter name.
The plants are cultivated in Persia, whence the drug
is exported to all other parts of the world.

FESTUCA (Linnaeus). A genus of grass found
in almost every quarter of the globe, and one of the
most useful in pastures, particularly those for sheep.
Twelve species are agricultural ; and the pure seeds
of most of them may be purchased at the shops of
agricultural seedsmen.

FICARIA (Dillwyn), is a common weed found in
damp woods. It is called pillwort, from the shape
of its little bulbs, which lie on the surface of the
ground, appearing like scattered grains of wheat. It
belongs to the natural order Ranunculacece, and was
considered a ranunculus by Linnaeus.

FICOIDE^E. This natural order contains all
those plants known by the name of fig-mary-
golds, or mid-day flowers, so denominated from
their usual time of flowering. They are herbaceous
plants or under shrubs, with opposite or alternate
fleshy, simple leaves ; of very curious and often gro-
tesque forms, and destitute of stipules. The inflores-
cence is for the most part terminal, seldom axillary,
and the flowers are regular and united. The sepals
are definite, usually three in number, but varying
from four to eight, more or less connate at the base,
and either free or adherent to the germen. The

Ficoideoe.

petals mostly indefinite and often connate, sometimes
five alternate with the sepals, and occasionally abor-
tive when the inner part of the calyx is coloured.
The stamens are indefinite and seated round the
germen ; filaments free ; anthers oblong, incumbent,

470

FICUS— FILBERT.

two-celled, opening lengthwise. The ovarium is
either free or adhering to the calyx, and consists of
as many carpels as there are sepals. The styles are
distinct and short, and the stigmata simple.

The fruit is a many-celled capsule, either free or
encompassed by the fleshy calyx. When drupaceous,
indehiscent : when dry, opening in a star-like manner
from the apex ; seeds indefinite, seldom definite, and
very seldom solitary by abortion.

The flowers are generally beautiful, and the plants
are great favourites with many cultivators. Upwards
of 400 species are already known. The M. crystal-
linum is the common ice-plant, and M. uinbcllatum is
extremely showy. They are all innocuous ; and the
succulent leaves of M. cdule,sesuvium, Portulacaatrum,
Tetragonia cxpansa, &c. make excellent substitutes
for summer spinach ; and are used as such in South
Africa. The M. crystallinum is called in Spain
Barilla moradera, and is cultivated to a great extent
for the purpose of procuring alkali for the glass-
works ; and in one year the exports of its ashes from
the Canary Islands, amounted to 600,000 francs. M.
nudiflorum grows wild in Egypt, and is there burned
for the same purpose.

FICUS (Linnaeus). A very extensive genus of
lofty trees and shrubs, chiefly tropical. Linnaean
class and order Polygamia Dioecia, and natural order
Urticecc. Generic character : receptacle fleshy,
closed, but permiable at top, androgynous ; florets on
footstalks, males three-parted ; stamens three, females
four, or eight-parted ; styles laterally divided ; seeds
contained in the pulp of the receptacle. Only one
(F. carica) of the many species yield eatable fruit,
and which is the cultivated fig of our gardens. In
the south of Europe figs are one of their most esteemed
and valuable fruits, not only from their forming an
article of diet in the season, but from their being an
important article for exportation to other countries.

The fig-tree is remarkable for yielding, in its native
country, two crops of ripe fruit in the course of
twelve months. The young fruit which make their
appearance in the autumn of one year, ripen in the
beginning of summer in the next ; and the fruit which
show themselves in the spring, ripen in the following
autumn. In this country the spring-produced fruit
rarely or never ripen in the open air ; but the autumn
fruit, if they escape the frosts of winter, ripen per-
fectly, as well on standards as on walls.

No tree is more easily increased than the common
fig ; suckers which the tree produces in plenty, make
good trees ; it also strikes root readily from either
layers or cuttings. Planted against walls, they are
usually trained with branches diverging from the root
like a fan ; but they may be trained in any form.
Standards in the open ground are trained in the
round bush form.

The best soil for figs is a strongish hazel loam on a
dry bottom, but they thrive in any good garden soil.

Much depends on pruning ; the young shoots pro-
duced in the spring do not ripen fruit, but if these
shoots be stopped by breaking off the point as soon as
they are from four to six inches long, they will pro-
duce other shoots which will bear plentifully, and ripen
fruit in the autumn of the next year. So that keeping
the tree free from old branches and stopping the
spring shoots every year, about midsummer, will keep
a constant supply of bearing wood to be depended
on. Large fig-trees on walls managed in this manner,
are well worth defending from frost by woollen net-

ting, or some other temporary curtain, to be let down
or put up when necessary. All the fruit produced
on the spring shoots, and which never ripen, should
be pulled off the tree in September, causing very
frequently other young fruit to come forth on one or
both sides of the place where the first grew. This
second birth are sure to ripen in the following
summer.

When hothouses are built for the cultivation of the
fig in this country they are brought to very great
perfection, not only as to quality and quantity at the
usual and natural seasons, but for the advantage of
having this fine fruit in every month of the year.
And this resulted only from a little extra care in prun-
ing, and the application of fire heat at the proper times
when required. The native climate of the tree is
imitated and maintained, so that its natural tendency
to produce double crops is favoured and assisted ; and
indeed, if the tree be well nourished at the root, mid
kept in a high temperature, it proves an everlasting
bearer. No fruit tree answers better in pots or tubs
than the fig ; and where there is a dozen or two of
potted plants, and a hothouse or pit always in work,
the manager may have ripe fruit at any time.

There are fourteen or more varieties cultivated
at present in our gardens ; a few of the best are as
follow : —

Brown or chestnut-coloured Ischia. Large Genoa.
Black Genoa. Black Ischia.

Small white early. Brown Italian.

Black Italian. Brunswick.

FIDDLE-WOOD is the Citharoxylum fjufKlrangu-
lare of Linnaeus, a genus of ornamental timber trees,
chiefly natives of the West Indies, and belonging to
the natural order Verbcnaceae. These stove plants
are easily propagated by cuttings struck in sand under
a glass.

FIELD CRICKET, the Achcta campestn*. See
CRICKET.

FIG TREE. See FICUS.

FILBERT is the Corylus avdlana of Linnaeus.
The name filbert is only applied to the improved
varieties of the common hazel nut, of which there are
eight or nine in cultivation. A few filbert trees are
seen in every garden, but in the county of Kent fields
of many acres are planted with them ; and to the
owners yield remunerating crops. Filbert trees are
propagated by grafting it on the common hazel, or,
what is better, by layers. When these are rooted,
they are lined or bedded out in the nursery, and there
trained up with one upright stem pruned clear of
branches. When planted in their final stations, the
stem is cut down to eighteen inches from the ground.
This height will admit of a clear stem of twelve inches
below, and which part must at first and ever afterward
be kept free from shoots, as well as suckers from the
root, which last the tree is very apt to produce. The
deprivation of shoots and suckers will cause the buds
left at the top to shoot with greater vigour. If eight
strong shoots be produced in the first summer, they
must be carefully preserved, as that number is required
to form the head ; but if less than this number come
forth, then two or three of the strongest (or the whole
if necessary) must be shortened back to half their
length at the next pruning, in order to obtain the
requisite number.

The full number being obtained, they are carefully
preserved and trained outwards and upwards; at first
nearly horizontal, but curving gradually upwards.

FILICES-FIRE-FLY.

471

The easiest mode of doing this is by using a hoop of
proper size placed within the shoots, and to which
the latter are tied in star-like order, and at equal
twelve-inch distances. Such a laterally curving posi-
tion may be much assisted and caused by the primer
ahvavs cutting at an outside bud, which naturally
grows first outward and then upward, and continued
to the height of six feet, but never higher; and the
middle of the tree is, in the mean time, kept free from
shoots and branches, so that a well-trained head be-
comes at last like a large bowl or basin.

The subsequent management of the trees, both
while gaining the desired form and after having gained
it, consists in preserving all the short spurs produced on
the branches, and shortening the small lateral shoots,
which every year rise from the same. The management
of these laterals is of trreat importance. If they exceed
the length of six inches, they may be cut back to a few
buds ; but it' less, they should be preserved entire, as
their points are generally fruitful. The special object of
the primer is to have the branches thickly beset with
fruitful spurs, and which are only reduced in length,
when, after a few years' growth, they become too
distant from the branch, when they are pruned back
to a healthy spur at their base. If any part of a
branch become accidentally naked, a strong shoot
from the bottom may be led up, and managed so as
to fill the vacancy.

When filbert trees are thus managed, and have
arrived at their full volume in width and height, they
mav be kept in the same state for mar-y years — say
twenty or thirty — by the knife only, and with the
requisite skill in using it. When the fruit are in-
tended for long keeping, they should remain on the
tree till thoroughly ripe, which is indicated by the
rich brown colour of the shell. They require to be
laid on a dry floor for a few days, and afterwards
stored in jars of dry sand, where they, the kernels,
will keep sound for a long time.

F1LICES are the first order of the class Foliaceee,
in the second grand division Ccllulares. This order
includes all the ferns, of which there are fifty-three
genera, and three hundred and eighty species. The

a. b. c. d. Part of a froud and magnified capsules of ferns.

ferns of this, and other temperate regions, are com-
paratively humble plants, their true stems generally
crrcuiiiL;- on the surface oi the ea^th, or subterranean ;
but in the West Indies, and other hot insular situa-
tions, arboreous species are found, the stems of which
rise out, of the earth, and elevate their crowns of fronds
to the height of thirty or forty feet, or even more. In
these noble examples of the class, the true structure
of the stem, arid affinities of the plants in gei.eral with
the palms, is much more obvious, even to the common
observer, than in the snffruticose and herbaceous
brakes that are now indigenous to these northern
latitudes. The fronds or leaves are usually pinnati-
fid, and more or less compound ; sometimes nearly
simple and entire, with reticulated veins. The capsules

are minute, one-celled, brown, membranous, and sur-
rounded by a thick articulated elastic ring, irregularly
mrsting, and either clustered on the lower surface of
he frond, or compound in spikes. Their expansion
s circinate, and some increase themselves by bulbs.

I

a. 4. c. Frond and fructification of ferns.

The old botanists denied that ferns had seeds ; but it
s now proved beyond all doubt, that the fine dust shed
jy the fronds are really seeds.

Ferns delight in a humid soil, and they often grow
)arasitically upon trees. The medicinal virtues of
some are highly astringent, others anthelmintic, or
>urgative ; some are said to be pectoral, and others
ire valued for their corroborant qualities. The young
eaves and roots of some are used as food ; beer is
jrewed from the roots of others ; and the fronds of
Aspidium fragrans has been used as tea.

FIMBR1A. A genus of shells constituted by
Megerle, but now classed with the genus Litcina, as
)eing properly no other than one of its species. Cu\ ier,
lowever, called it Corbitla, but a more accurate exami-
nation of the species appears to confirm the propriety
of referring these molluscs to the genus Luclna.

FINCH. (See FRINGILUD^E.)

FIORIN is the Agrostcs stolonifera of Linnocus, a
British grass, of which much noise was made some
years ago by a Dr. Richardson of Ireland, who main-
tained that it was more valuable for green winter fod*
der than any other : that it was indestructible by rain
or snow, and contained great fattening qualities. It
has been extensively tried in other countries, but has
not maintained the character first attributed to it as a
winter fodder.

FIR, is the English name of the frees included in
the genus Abies of'Salusbury. The silver and spruce
firs are the most common examples of this tribe of
forest trees. Linnaeus ranked them in his twenty-first
class Moncecia, and tenth order Monadelphia, and they
are among the most magnificent plants of the order
Conifer (E.

The firs are almost all remarkable for the regu-
larity of their growth, tapering form, and great altitude
of their boles. Their timber is also excellent, and
almost solely used in the construction of houses ; being
easily convertible, and withal durable, in consequence
of the great quantity of resin it contains.

The hemlock spruce is one of the commonest trees
of North America, and on the west coast of the middle
parts of that continent, some of the firs grow to an
amazine: size and height.

All the varieties are raised from seed, and, after being
transplanted two or three times in the nursery, are
then lit to be planted out for good. For further
particulars of this interesting genus, see ABIES and
CONIFERS.

FIRE -FLY. A name indefinitely bestowed upon
any winged luminous insect. The Elatcr noctilucns
(see ELATERID.E) ; the Fulgoree candelance and Imiter-
narite (see FULGORA), and sometimes also the winged
glow-worms (LAMPYRIDJE, which see), being alike

472

FISH.

described in popular works under this name, although
some of them are beetles.

FISH. Ichthos is the Greek name for a fish, and
from this, that branch of natural history which treats
of fishes is called Ichthyology, which means " the
voice of fishes," or the account which they can give
of themselves, not in words, of course, for fishes are
remarkable for their silence, but in such facts and
relations as human observation can collect concerning
them. Fishes form the fourth and last division of
vertebrated animals in Cuvier's structural arrangement
of the animal kingdom ; and, from the length of time,
and close and scrutinising attention which he be-
stowed upon this class of animals, his arrangement of
them must be considered as perfect a model of a
natural system as the whole mass of acquired know-
ledge, in the hands of probably the ablest and the
most candid generaliser that ever devoted his talents
to the promotion of the knowledge of nature, could
afford ; and it is well for the world that there was a
Cuvier to give a scientific form to this department of
natural history, and give to the makers of local
discoveries a foundation upon which they can build
•with safety. The advantage of this in the class of
fishes, above all other classes in the animal kingdom,
must become apparent to any one who reflects for a
moment on the field which the fishes occupy, and the
powers with which they are endowed of increasing
their numbers.

We need hardly mention, that, with few and casual
exceptions, such as the march of an eel for a few
yards over the meadow, or the passage of a flying fish
for a few yards through the air, the fishes are all
inhabitants of the waters ; and though it is possible
that the number of them in the fresh waters may not
be much less than that of the land mammalia,
or the land birds, yet this number, vast as it is, sinks
into nothing when we turn our attention to the
sea.

Any one who is in the least conversant with the
elements of descriptive geography must be aware
that the extent of the sea is much greater in mere
surface than that of the land : that, if we reckon the
•whole surface of the globe, in round numbefs, at two
hundred millions of square miles, which is not very
wide of the truth, the land occupies only about sixty
millions of these, while the sea extends over one
hundred and forty millions, or double the extent of
the land, and a third over. This, however, is not all,
nor nearly all, when we come to consider the capa-
bilities of the two for being the abodes of life. In the
first place, the land contains many portions, and those
of considerable extent, which are permanent!}' barren,
and incapable of furnishing food for a single living
creature, while many other parts of it are subject to
periodical barrenness. The sea, on the other hand,
contains no barren spot, for its waters are everywhere
nearly the same both in composition and in degree of
temperature ; and thus, taking surface for surface, and
considering the animals which are adapted for the
two great component parts, it is the land which is
Comparatively the desert, while " the waste of waters,"
as it is sometimes called, is fertility all over. But, in
the second place, even this is taking a view of the
subject too favourable for the land, and therefore un-
just to the productive powers of the sea. It is the
surface of the land only which yields food for its in-
lutbiunts, or, at most, the trers and plants which grow
out of it ; und as there certainly is not a tree or plant

upon the face of the land answering to every hundred
square feet, that is, to every square of ten feet, and
rising to the height of one hundred feet, we may
safely say that one foot of habitable depth is an ample
allowance for the land. It is not, in fact, the tenth,
or even the hundredth part of this ; but we shall
allow it to be one foot, and then let us proceed to
compare its habitable and supporting extent with the
habitable and supporting extent of the sea. To
gauge the sea is out of the question, for it is rather a
difficult task to gauge a mill-pond, if it be anything
irregular in shape and depth ; but those who have
paid the most attention to such analogies as are
attainable upon a subject so vastly great, have as-
signed to the whole of the sea an average depth of
between four and five miles. Let us, however, take
it at the depth at which fish have actually been
caught, namely, fifty fathoms, or six hundred feet
(and we are not warranted in saying that this is the
lowest limit), and we have every mile of sea equal to
six hundred miles of land, or the whole pasture of the
fishes to that of the land animals as fourteen hundred
to one. It is true, that the fishes which are taken at
these great depths are peculiar — that they have great
eyes like the owls and other nocturnal feeders among
land animals, indicating a deficiency of light in their
profound abode ; but we know not the limit, even in
the depth of the ocean, beyond which we are war-
ranted in saying that there can be no living creature.
Such is the pasture which the Author of Nature has
prepared for the fishes ; and, in order that they may
increase and multiply, so as to replenish this ample
pasture, he has endowed them with reproductive
powers of the most extraordinary character. Some
of the land animals are no doubt very prolific, but
the races which are so are very minute in their size,
and the duration of their lives is brief, they being
seasonal only on most parts of the land, and in most
situations. Some of the most productive inhabitants
of the sea are, on the other hand, of large dimensions,
and, instead of being merely seasonal, as is the case
with land animals of very numerous progeny, they
not only last for years, but, as we shall show by and
by, they do not contain in their structure that
element of death which ultimately brings the most
long-lived inhabitants of the land to mingle with its
dust. As an instance, we may mention the common
cod-fish, which contributes so largely and so whole-
somely to the food of many nations, and which, not-
withstanding the great number of hands employed in
its capture, never appears one jot less plentiful. A
single cod-fish produces, at one birth, as many as
between three millions and four millions of young ;
while the common flounder produces not much less
than a million and a half. These statements are well
calculated to stagger the belief of any one who has
not attended to the subject ; but they are the results
of actual observation in counting the number of eggs
in the roe, by those who could have no earthly object
in the matter other than the discovery of the truth.
We have thrown out these hints in order to show how
well worthy the finny tribes are of our most careful
observation and study ; and having done so, we
shall proceed to give a brief general view of the
class. In order to render this view as intelligible,
and, at the same time, as complete as the narrow
limits within which we must confine it will allow, we
shall divide it into four parts or sections : first, the
general structural definition, of a fa'sh ; secondly, a

FISH.

47-1

very brief notice of the different parts of its organisa-
tion ; thirdly, a short notice of the distribution and
habits of fish ; and fourthly, an outline of Cuvier's
arrangement.

GENERAL DEFINITION. Fishes are vertebratcd
animals, having- a double circulation, and breathing air,
but only through the medium of water; their circula-
tion is slow, and their blood, though red, is cold.
The heart of a fish consists only of one auricle and
one ventricle, answering to the pulmonary or rigiit
side ones of the double heart in the mammalia and
birds ; and the function of this heart consists in
receiving the blood from the body, and sending it to
the breathing apparatus, just in the same manner as
the right side of the double heart in the mammalia
does.

The breathing apparatus is very different from that
of animals \vhich breathe the free air. These receive
the air into the cellular tissue of the lungs, or into
the separate cells arranged along the sides of the ab-
domen (as in insects), and the vessels in which the
blood is subjected to the action of the air are ramified
over the walls of these cells. The breathing apparatus
of fishes are called gills ; and in their most perfect
state they consist of fringe-like appendages attached
to the posterior sides of certain arches of bone, which
are articulated to the os hyoides, situated on each side
of the neck, and have their ingress always by the
mouth of the fish, and their egress always in the neck,
and capable of beinsr opened and shut by means of an
apparatus which, taken altogether, is called the oper-
cu/inii, or gill-lid. The fibres or leafits of the gills
have their surfaces closely ramified over with a very
fine tissue of blood vessels, which consist in the one
part of arteries, and in the other of veins, as in the
lungs of animals which breathe free air, or not through
the medium of water. A current of water runs con-
stantly through between the arches, and bathes the
fringes on all sides when the fish breathes. This cur-
rent is alsvays from the mouth to the gill-openings; it
is promoted by the joint action of the two ; and if any
attempt is made to force a passage for the water in the
opposite way, or from the gill-openings to the mouth,
as if by holding the fish head downward with the gill-
lids open, then the fish is drowned, as certainly and
as speedily by water, as a land animal would be by
being kept th"e same length of time below the surface
of that fluid. As the current of water passes through
the gills from the mouth to the gill-openings, the
blood, which is contained in the small vessels, which
are ramified over the fringes of the gills, receives the
benefit of the air which the water contains, to the
same effect, if not in the same manner, as the blood
in the lungs of an animal which breathes the dry air
upon land.

When the blood has thus passed through the gills,
and undergone that renovating process, it is not con-
veyed back to the heart as in land animals with warm
blood, because there is no arrangement on the left side
of the heart to receive it. The blood which returns from
the different fibres of the gills, is conveyed by veins,
which gradually unite with each other into an arterial
trunk, placed along the spine, in what may be con-
sidered as the safest part of the whole cavity of the
fish ; and this cavity answers the purpose of a left
auricle in receiving the blood from the breathing ap-
paratus, and also that of a left ventricle in distributing-
it all over the body, in so far as the peculiar structure
of that body renders the distribution, of blood neces-

sary. The quantity of blood contained in a fish is,
however, much less in proportion to the size of the
fish than that contained in the mammalia or the birds ;
and so much blood is not necessary, because the
greater part of the muscles being articulated on the
spine, and inserted in the skin of the fish, appear to
require the application of blood at the one extremity
only. Thus, if a flesh wound is made in the body of
a fish, which does not reach so deep as to divide the
muscles down to the spinal column, such a wound
does not bleed ; and, in so far as we can judge, the
fish feels very trifling pain from it, in comparison to
that which a similar wound causes to an animal with
a double heart, and warm blood distributed through-
out all parts of the body. This exemption from pain
in the case of laceration of the flesh is a very beautiful
contrivance in the economy of fishes. Most of the
race are very voracious, and very indiscriminate feed-
ers ; and not a lew bite and tear in cases where they
are not capable of swallowing the object of their at-
tack. As the fish, when below the surface, is liable
to attacks of this kind in all directions, the defence of
insensibility to wounds which do not reach a vital
part, is of great service to it ; and if we attentively
examine the structure of this class of animals, and the
texture and character of their different parts, we shall
find that their adaptation to their element, and to the
circumstances of that element, is equally perfect with
that of any other living creatures.

In one respect, fishes bear a nearer resemblance to
birds than they do to any other of the vertebratecl
classes, inasmuch as their progressive motion is
through one element, without any thing more solid, or
of greater specific gravity, which they can use as a
fulcrum or starting point to their motions, as is done
by walking animals. The chief difference in this
respect is, that fishes have to make their way through
a medium which is very nearly of the same specific
gravity as their own bodies ; and thus there is nothing,
independently of their own motion, to make them
either ascend or descend. Birds on the other hand'
make their way through a medium of much less spe-
cific gravity than even the lightest of them ; and thus
in their motions they have a double operation to per-
form,— they have to keep themselves up against the
pressure of their own gravitation, and also to make their
way progressively ; the fish is absolved from the per-
formance of the first of these operations ; and thus it
can concentrate the whole of its energy upon its pro-
gressive motion ; and thus, though it has to make its
way through a much denser medium, it probably does
not require nearly so much exertion as the bird. Any
one who examines the general forms of fishes will
observe that, notwithstanding their almost endless dif-
ferences, they are all adapted for getting easily through
the water ; and, while the feathers of birds are in
many instances so constructed as to take an absolute'
hold on tho air, almost all, if not all, fishes have the
surface of the skin supplied with a mucous secretion,,
which prevents them from even being wetted so long
as they are alive, so that a fish gets through the water
with much less resistance of friction than a dead sub-
stance of the same form and weight ; and it is worthy-
of remark, how much mote difficult it is to pull the
body of a fish through the water after this mucous
substance has dried, than when the fish is instantly
dead, and this substance is fresh and abundant. As
fishes require no support against the pressure of tlu-ir
own weight, they stand in no need of wings like birds ;

474

FISH.

and, as they do not move from a fulcrum or point of
rest more stable than the water, feet would be equally
superfluous.

Accordingly, the motive powers of fishes are more
exclusively concentrated upon the spin,tl column than
those of any other vertebrated animal.*. Even the ophi-
dian reptiles form no exception to thit, though they are
in general destitute even of the rudiments of feet ; for,
as they start from a solid support in the successive por-
tions of their motion, they act against that support by
means of the scales on the under parts of their bodies
and their ribs, which may be considered as a sort of
substitute for feet ; and, though many of the ophidia
can swim well, even those which are habitually aquatic
have no proper swimming apparatus. (See the article
OPHIDIA.)

Fishes have, generally speaking, rudiments of four
extremities, two anterior and two posterior, answer-
ing to the fore and hind feet of the mammalia ; but
these are often wholly concealed within the skin, and
sometimes they are altogether wanting, especially the
posterior ones.

A fish which is considered of the most perfect or
typical form, has all these four extremities more or
less produced beyond the skin ; and their extremities
consist of membranous tissues more or less entire, and
supported by a framework of rays, which are in some
cases continuous spines, in others made up of a suc-
cession of articulations, and in many the two kinds of
rays are united in the same organ. These termina-
tions have a rude resemblance to the fingers and toes
of the human subject, or to the toes on the fore and
bind feet of the digitate or toed mammalia. Those
rayed and membranous appendages are called fins,
which is the general name for all the proper organs
of swimming or progressive motion through the water.
The fins, which answer to the fore feet of mammalia
and the wings of birds, are from their situation called
pectoral fins. They vary much in form and size in
different species, being short, or hardly, or not at all,
developed in some, but not so much produced in
others, as to answer the purpose of a sort of wings,
during a short flight, or rather leap, through the air.
They are, however, less frequently wanting than the
fins which answer to the hind feet. These last are
called ventral fins: they vary much in their situations,
being sometimes placed far back, at other times far
forwards, so as to be under, or even in advance of the
pectorals ; and in other cases again they are in a me-
dium situation. The position of ventral fins is a very
good character, not merely for the external distin-
guishing of fishes, but as an indication of the style of
their swimming, and this again leads to some know-
ledge of the nature of their haunts and habits.

The pectoral and ventral fins of fishes are not,
properly speaking, organs of progressive motion in
swimming through the water ; but they are to keep
the body in such a position as that the proper swim-
ming organ can act with the greatest advantage, and
they are also useful in the keeping or the altering of
the course through the water.

The really efficient fin in progressive motion is the
caudal fin, or that attached to the extremity of the
vertebral column, or tail, This fin is always spread
out in a kind of fan-shape, but its termination is very
various!}' formed in different species ; sometimes it is
squared over, sometimes rounded, sometimes wedged-
shaped, and sometimes forked ; but it is always
placed on the same plane with the elongated pro-

cesses of the spinal column, or in a position exactly
crosswise to that of the fan-shaped tail in birds. This
shows the difference of use in the two organs. The
tail of the bird is chiefly useful in ascending and
descending, contributing nothing to the progressive
motion, and very little even to the direction of that
motion.

Hrsides the pectoral and ventral fins answering to
the four extremities of mammalia and birds, and the
caudal fin, which though it occupies the position of
the tail in the other classes of vertobrated animals,
yet performs a far more important function than that
organ in any of them, the fishes have, in very many
species, other fins attached to the extremities of the me-
sial plane, or that plane which passes through the cen-
tre of the spinal column and its processes. These fins
are attached to additional bones, which are generally
articulated to the processes. Those which are on
the back of the fish are called dorsal, or back fins,
and those which are on the under part, and which
are always in the rear of the cavity of the body, and
of course of the vent, are called anal fins. The
dorsal fin is sometimes single, sometimes double ; and
there are many species in which the dorsal and anal
fins are joined to the caudal one, forming a sort of
finny margin round a considerable part of the mesial
plane of the body. In fact, to describe all the varie-
ties of those fins would be to enter very largely into
the detailed description of the species.

What may be considered as the natural position
of a fish, that is, the position in which the greater
number of them are placed, both when they are at
rest and when they are in motion, is yvith the mesial
plane vertical, or in the direction of the perpendicular.
The dorsal, the anal, and the caudal fins, have always
the direction of this plane ; and therefore in a fish
which has what we have called the natural position,
those fins have their planes or flat sides laterally, and
their thin edges in the direction of gravity. From
this it is easy to see that neither of those fins can in
this direction produce, or assist in producing, either
an ascent or a descent of the fish, because their action
is across the direction of gravity, and therefore it can
neither directly assist nor directly oppose that force.
They strike laterally, and as we may consider that
when the fish gives its stroke, there is a certain por-
tion of their body forwards, which keeps the direction
in which the fish moves, without any deviation either
to the right or the left, we may consider some point,
either the centre of gravity of the fish, or some point
very near it, through which if a perpendicular, or
line in the mesial plane, be supposed to be drawn
at right angles to the axis of the body, then this
line will be the centre upon which the propelling
portion of the body may be supposed to turn alter-
nately to the right and left, just as a paddle does
when it. is worked right and left across the middle of
a stern of a boat. It will also be apparent that the
greater the mass and weight of the fish which is
before this centre of motion, the progress of the whole
will be the more steady.

But though there is this analogy between the
action of the posterior part of a fish and a stem
paddle in a boat, we must not suppose that there is
any comparison of the two in point of efficiency.
The boat has no general principle of union and
consent with the paddle ; and it very often happens
that the one is the worse possibly adapted to the
other that we can well imagine. The fish on the

FISH.

475

other hand, is one complete structure, actuated by
a single principle, and having all its parts adapted to
each other with a perfection of scientific principle
which it would be vain for man to attempt imitating-,
except at the most humble distance. The fish does
not bend the posterior part of its body right and left
upon a single point, but brings it to a curve by an
immense number of vertebrae ; and in many species
the pieces composing this vertebral column are in
themselves so flexible, that the support of the muscles,
or that which is moved in the striking of the fish
right and loft as it swims, may be compared to an
elastic rod. But there is also something farther and
more beautiful in this piece of mechanism. The
muscles, or moving forces, are placed in flakes
attached to cartilaginous septa or divisions, which
proceed in an oblique, and generally in a curved
manner, from the vertebral column and its processes,
to the skin on each side ; and this succession of
muscular flakes is continued, not only the whole
length of the posterior part which we have supposed
to have the chief motion in ordinary swimming, but
from the base of the skull to the caudal fin. The
individual fibres of those muscles are placed, generally
speaking, in a longitudinal direction, and their con-
traction bends the whole fish in a graceful curve
towards the contracting side ; and in cases of great
exertion this curve may become an entire semicircle,
nay, almost an entire circle with the muzzle touching
the extremity of the tail, as may often be seen in a
salmon when it attempts to lea)) a cascade of consi-
derable elevation ; nor would one readily believe,
without actually seeing it, the height to which the
unbending of this curvature by the action of the
muscles on the other side can project the fish. This
leap is of course taken laterally through the air; and
so must be the leap of every fish when it rises to a
considerable height out of the water — that is to say,
the fish must project itself " broadside on," but it is
very remarkable that when it falls in the water, a cat
does not fall more certainly upon its feet than a fish
falls in that attitude of the body which is natural to
it in swimming. It is further not a little curious,
that if the fish falls upon land or on a rock, it does
not right itstlf in this manner, but rather alights on
the side, as may be observed of leaping salmon when
they fall on the banks, or of flying fishes when in
their attempts to escape from their pursuers they
alight on the decks of ships. The mechanical action
of fishes is, however, a matter which has been but
little investigated ; and though from the variety, the
freedom, the rapidity, and very often the gracefulness
of their motions, it is a subject fraught with a vast
deal of mechanical information, it is one which,
however desirable it would be, we cannot for obvious
reasons prosecute further in a popular work.

PUINCU-AL OUGANS OF FISHES. — We shall give
very shoit notices of the principal systems of organisa-
tion in the finny tribes, and leave the reader to
•ralise them. They may be conveniently brought
under the heads of support, protection, sensation,
motion, adhesion, respiration, circulation, nourish-
ment, and reproduction ; for we may pass over the
ins of absorption and secretion, and refer the
electric powers which are possessed by certain fishes
to the particular descriptions of the Gj/nniotits, the
Torpedo, and the various other species which have
this property.

System oj support. — This system consists of bones,

as it does in the other vertebrated animals"; but the
bones are of a softer consistency. Even the hardest of
those which properly fcrm parts of the skeleton, are
to a great extent cartilaginous, and thus flexible,
while others contain very little salt of lime. This
affords a good general division of fishes into two very
distinct and well marked sub classes ; bony fishes, or
those which have the bones more or less firm, and
cartilaginous fishes, which have the bones flexible.

It would be foreign to our purpose to enter into a
minute description of the skeleton, or indeed of the
anatomy of any part of the fishes, and the subject is
by no means an easy one, even for those who devote
their chief attention to the structure of animals. The
skeleton is in general very complicated, though com-
paratively concentrated into one mass, as compared
with that of land animals, but the greater number of
the articulations or unions of the pieces are quite dif-
ferent from these ; and it is only in the jaw-bones
and the dorsal and anal fins that we meet with any
thing that can, properly speaking, be called a joint,
or which consists of the motion of one bone imme-
diately upon another. In every other part of the
skeleton, the two adjoining pieces of bone are united
by a greater or smaller extent of cartilaginous sub-
stance ; and it is the yielding of this substance which
forms the bending of the articulation, so that there is
in the joint itself a certain degree of tendency to
spring back again when it is bent, without muscular
exertion. In mammalia and birds, the state of repose
is a certain degree of flexure in which the joints are
relaxed, and can be moved to some extent either way.
by very little external force ; but the repose of the
fish implies perfect straightness in the spinal column,
and there is no relaxing either way, because all the
muscles are equally in a state of repose, and the
joints are held in an even state by the action of the
cartilage alone. There is, perhaps, no animal in
which rest is so complete and perfectly without effort
or pressure upon any part of the body more than
another, as in a fish when it is motionless in the
water. The specific gravity of that fluid is of course
exactly equal to that of the reposing fish, otherwise
the fish would either sink downwards or rise up-
wards ; and the water presses equally upon it in every
part, so that it is impossible to conceive a kind of
suspension more favourable to perfect inaction or
waste of the system in any way, and this perfect rest
is probably one of the reasons why fishes are capable
of so much exertion at other times, and also why they
appear to have unlimited powers of growth and
endurance.

In taking the simplest view possible of the skeleton
of fishes, we may consider it as consisting of a cranium,
a spine, and ribs, together with the bones that sup-
port the lateral, the dorsal, and the anal fins. The
cranium, or bones of the head, has no investment but
the skin, and therefore its form is easily seen. It
often consists of a vast number of pieces, but these
generally soon become soldered together. The head
is, generally speaking, united to the vertebral column
by a single' tubercle, and it has very little motion;
few of the osseous fishes have any vertebra which
can be called a neck, but some have, as, for example,
the common herring, in which there are four. In
the cartilaginous fishes the vertebra of the neck are
generally soldered into one general piece. In the
rest of the column the dorsal and caudal vertebra are
easily distinguished from each other, as the latter

476

FISH.

have processes both upwards and downwards, some-
thing in the form of a double comb, while the former
have only spinous processes on the dorsal edge, and
lateral processes on each side, which form the com-
mencement of the walls of the cavity of the fish, pro-
tect a great or systematic artery, and in those species
which fiave the ribs generally attached to them,
the section of this column is sometimes cylindrical,
sometimes angular, and sometimes compressed or
flattened in the direction of the mesial plane. In
bony fishes, each vertebra is composed of two hollow
cups, of a conical form, the cavities of which are filled
with fibrous cartilage ; and in many species this car-
tilage extends through the centre of the column in
one continuous cord for its whole length. The spinal
marrow is not, as in land animals, contained within
the vertebral column, but lies along the upper side of
it, passing through the bases of the dorsal processes,
which are all double at their origin, and may gene-
rally be split for their whole length. When the car-
tilaginous substance which unites the vertebrae or
pieces of the back bone is examined, it has the ap-
pearance of a series of concentric rings ; and it has
been alleged that the number of these answers to the
number of years that the fish has lived, but of this
there is no proof.

The ribs of fishes vary much ; cartilaginous ones
have no true ribs, and in the bony fishes they are
simple, forked, or double. In the carp family they
are flat, in the cod family round, and in the herring
they are like bristles. The number of ribs, and also
of vertebrae, are good characters in distinguishing the
several species offish.

Besides the parts already mentioned, the only
portion which can be regarded as directly connected
with the skeleton, is the bony structure of the shoulder,
or that which supports the pectoral fins. These con-
sist of the two arches which, in fishes that have
regular gills, always support the posterior edges of
them, and furnish a place of resistance against which
the gill-lids close, as well as give security to the anterior
part of the cavity of the body. When perfect, these
arches are united at their under extremities by car-
tilage, and at their upper ones they are attached to
the vertical column, to the posterior part of the
cranium, or to both. To these arches are attached,
not by regular joints but by cartilaginous unions, the
bones of the pectoral fins, which usually consist
of two pieces, answering to the arnVand fore-arm,
and some small bones at the extremities of the latter,
which have some analogy to the bones of the wrist.
To these last the rays of the pectoral fins are at-
tached. The boner, which support the dorsal and
anal fins are generally detached pieces, included in
the flesh, though in some instances the dorsal is
joined to the processes of the spine, and more rarely
the anal to the same. When the ventral fins are
situated as far forward as the pectorals, or farther, they
are connected with the same bones, sometimes through
the medium of an imperfect sternum or breast bone.
When the ventrals are situated farther in the rear,
the bones to which they are attached are most com-
monly imbedded in the flesh, without any connexion
with the vertebral column.

The bones of the head are so many and com-
plicated, and they vary so much in different species,
that they cannot easily be made the subject of popular
description. The bones of the jaws are generally
very distinct from those of the cranium, and admit of

separate motions, and there are peculiar bones in the
pharynx at the back of the mouth. The bony arches
which support the gills are attached at one ex-
tremity of the os hyoides. The gill-lid consists of
several plates of thin bone, which, in the fishes which
have free gills, have a good deal of motion, and by
expelling the water when they close, not only per-
form an office in respiration similar that of the raising
of the diaphragm in the mammalia, bnt also, by the
force with which they throw the ejected water back-
wards, assist in the progressive motion of the fish.

We have already mentioned that the bones of
fishes are, generally speaking, of more flexible con-
sistency than those of land animals, and contain pro-
portionally less of the salts of lime. Their base of
animal matter is different from that of the mammalia,
as it does not appear that they contain much, if
any, gelatine. Their composition has not been de-
termined by any very accurate analysis ; but it should
seem that they are so far intermediate between the
bones of land animals and insects, such as those of
crabs and lobsters, for they contain a portion of sub-
carbonate of lime as well as of phosphate, only the
quantity of the latter is more abundant. The bones
of some fishes undergo a very remarkable change of
colour when they are boiled ; thus the bones of the
blenny become green, or rather, perhaps, they are
green without any boiling, as is the case with those
of the gar-fish (Belone), which has also often been
alleged to turn grass green in boiling, whereas it is
green whether boiled or not, only the bones of fishes
are seldom objects of common observation till they are
boiled.

Protecting organs. Under this name we do not
mean to include only those means of defence which
fish have against their enemies ; but their general
means of protection against the macerating influence
of the element in which they live. These may be
divided into the three distinct processes of skin,
scales, and spines.

The skin consists of three distinct parts, a true
skin immediately over the muscles, a mucous tissue,
and an epidermis or cuticle. In those species which
have no scales, or very small ones, the true skin is
often very thick, while in those which have the scales
large it is often a very thin membrane. It adheres
much more closely to the flesh than in any other of
the vertebrated animals. When thick it contains a
great quantity of gelatine, and as such it is useful as
food, as glue or size, and for many other purposes.
The skins of the cod and eel are instances. The
skins of fishes have none of those villi or papilla;
which are found on the skins of the land vertebrata,
and which are generally supposed to be organs of a
sense of touch, and hence it has been supposed that
fishes have little feeling of this sense. This is, how-
ever, to a very great extent hypothetical ; for even in
land animals these papillae are by no means the most
delicate organs of this supposed sense of touch, for
they are in all probability excelled by the whiskers of
nocturnal beasts of prey, the margins of the wings of
bats, and the fine and filmy terminations of the fea-
thers of nocturnal birds. It is very doubtful if there
be any such thing as an organ of touch per se in any
part of the integuments in any animal; and the more
rational view of the case is that the feeling is in the
muscle, and the only office which the external integu-
ment performs is that of readily transmitting to that
any impression made on itself. Every schoolboy who

FISH.

477

has access to the smaller streams inhabited by trout,
knows that if a trout under tlic bank be tickled, it
will press against the hand as if very much pleased
with the operation ; and that. if tickled sufficiently it
may be lifted out of the water without offering any
resistance.

The mucous tissue is understood to be the seat of
colour in all animals ; and in the fishes it is remark-
able for its brilliant tints and iridiscent reflection?,
the finest of which in general fade, when the fish is
dead, and this tissue becomes dry and rigid. The
epidermis is very soft in fishes, and very generally
covered with a mucous secretion. It extends to the
scares as well as to those parts that have none, and it
also moistens the shells of aquatic molluscain the living
stale. In fishes it appears to be seasonal, as it often
comes off in patches of considerable size, when there
is no reason to think that the fish is unhealthy.

The scales of fishes are placed on the epidermis,
or rather they consist of thin tissues of epidermis
with layers of phosphate of lime between, and it is to
this structure that they owe their fine pearly lustre.
Generally speaking they are imbricated, or placed
over each other like the tiles on a roof, with their
posterior margins free and generally rounded, and
often with a fringed margin. When they are ex-
amined by means of a powerful magnifier, they show
a very beautiful ramification of stria1, or little threads.
When the fishes are in fine condition, and especially
toward the season of reproduction, there is a beauti-
ful bloom and metallic lustre on the scales, in the
same manner as there is on the feathers of many
birds ; but when the season of reproduction is over,
and the fish are exhausted, as they always are upon
these occasions, the bloom goes off, and the surface
is dull and lustreless. The fish are unwholesome
when this is the case, and the rich and pearly lustre
of the scales is one of the surest signs of the fish being
in season, equally sure as the bright red of the gills
is that it has not been too long kept. This is remark-
ably the case with salmon, the pearly hue of which is
very lich when they first enter the estuaries of the
livers, but it wears off; and when they have spawned
they arc vernacularly termed " black fish," in which
state the capture of them is prohibited, though poach-
ers'do sometimes take them, then and sell tnem at no
small hazard to the lives or at all events the health
of the purchasers.

In many species there are osseous plates, or tuber-
cles, or spines, instead of scales ; and where these
occur they have always more the consistency of hard
bone than the internal skeleton of the animals ; nor
is it unworthy of remark, that these bony appendages
to the skin are, generally speaking, more general
among the cartilaginous fishes, than among those that
have harder skeletons. The sturgeons have the sur-
face of the body studded with osseous plates resem-
bling limpet shells ; the sharks have it granulated with
tubercles; and many of the rays have it beset with
very hard and sharp hooked spines resembling teeth ;
and all these are cartilaginous fishes, with little or no
hard matter in their internal bones.

It is farther worthy of remark, that this tendency
to accumulate the salts of lime in the form of scales
plates, tubercles, and should accompanies the
formation of gelatine, which, though found in ver}
small quantity or not at all in the bones, exists in vast
quantity in the skin; so much so that our best glue
and finest jelly are obtained from the membranes o'

ish. Nor is there any doubt that if the trimmings
of the fins of fish, which are thrown away in such
quantities, were collected and prepared by the removal
of the fatty matter (which is chiefly dame or oil fat,
and might also be turned to valuable account) and
he other foreign substances, a great quantity of an
article very wholesome and nutrition? as food, and
very useful in many of the arts, might be recovered
at little cost from absolute waste.

The protecting substances which we have now
mentioned, do not appear to be in any case intended as
direct defences against enemies ; but they, the scales
specially, answer some very important purposes in
the action of the fishes ; and it is worthy of remark,
hat those fishes which have not imbricated scales
with their margins free, are either more long and
lexible, or their fins more expanded, so that they are
ess active in swimming than those which have
Veer edged scales. The size of the individual scales
does not appear to be a matter of much importance,
so that the edges are free, because upon an equal
extent of surface small scales are probably as
advantageous as large ones.

The action of the edges of the scales is this :
when the fish bends thp body strongly to one side in
the act of swimming, the iorce of the stroke would
throw the head in the other direction, and a certain
portion of the effort would be expended in actually
driving the fish back ; and this counteracting portion
would always be the greater fraction of the whole,
the more powerful the stroke, or, which is the same
thing, the greater the flexure of the body. But
when the fish is covered with scales, the posterior
edges of which are free, any flexure or stroke of the
tail toward one side must cause a proportional rising
of the edges of the scales on the other, and the edges
thus raised must each lay hold of the water, and not
only prevent motion back wards, but give considerable
effect to the stroke.

But besides these which we have mentioned,
there are other spinous appendages to the
coverings of fish which are of a more formidable
character, and which may be regarded in the light
either of offensive or defensive weapons. These
have rather the form of spines, very sharp at the
points, by means of which punctured wounds can be
given, and they are often finely granulated over their
surfaces, so that while they penetrate they lacerate
like a file, and the wound is of a cankering and fes-
tering character ; so much so that there is a belief that
some of these species are poisonous, as is alleged of
the spine of the dorsal fin in the dragon werver,
Trcu /linos draco. That poison should be secreted on
a spine in the fin of a fish, subjected to constant
washing in the sea, and without the least vestige of
a poisoning apparatus, which is always very complete
and apparent in those animals which are known to
inflict poison, would be rather singular ; and though
it is the general belief among those who receive
wounds from these fish, there does not appear to be
any more truth in it than there was in the old story
of the deer poisoning those that were wounded by
his antlers. It seems to be nothing more than a
ragged wound which is inflicted in those cases, and
we know that such a wound given by a steel instru-
ment will often produce the most serious consequences.
These spines are placed in different parts of the
body in different fishes. In the fins on the sides of
the tail, on those of the head, on the gill lid, on the

478

FISH.

shoulder, and on various other places ; and when a
large spine of this description is observed upon any
part of a fish, it is always prudent to keep out of the
way of it, so long1 as the fish is alive, as no animal,
either of the sea or the land; is ever furnished by
nature with a weapon without being at the same time
endowed -with the faculty of using it in the most
effective manner. Even the lesser weever, which is a
little thing about five inches long, will strike upwards,
or right and left, and inflict very painful wounds
with the spine of its dorsal fin, small as it is.

Organs of motion. — We have already alluded to this,
both in the fins and in the muscles by which these
are put in motion ; we shall therefore merely make
one or two general remarks here. Every one who
examines the muscular structure of a fish, and ob-
serves that each side of the whole body, from the
nape to the tail fin, consists of a rough mass of
muscle, cannot fail to perceive the great advantage
that arises from the division of this mass into so
many different flakes, each of which is really a
separate and independent muscle, receiving its own
nerves and vessels from the spinal column without
being in the least dependent on the others, and yet
all of which can act miscellaneously and in concert
whenever such action is necessary. So also, in con-
sequence of this division of the mass into independent
short lengths, the greater part of the fish may become
not a paddle merely, with the fin on the tail, but an
action something analogous to that of a many-oared
cutter, striking right and left at the same time, and
thus making the way of the ^animal in a perfectly
straight line, while it is apparently turning along like
a corkscrew. We have a very neat example of this
in the common eel, the motions of which are close,
but performed apparently in the most smooth and
easy manner imaginable, and with the least possible
fatigue. Then if there is a cross current to contend
with, or anything else that causes more resistance on
the one side than on the other, the greater power of
the action can instantly be thrown where the greater
effort is required, and the fish can keep its course
without drifting, where any other creature would be
completely at the mercy of the current.

Nor must we overlook the advantage of this ac-
cumulation of muscles in the event of any local
injury taking place. The limbs of mammalia, and
the wings of birds, are in their several articulations
dependent on few muscles, and those of the one joint
do not assist those of the other, so that if one is ren-
dered unserviceable the whole limb is crippled. But
in the compound muscle of a fish, though one or
more of the flakes happen to be deeply wounded,
there are still many others performing the very same
office, and thus a very severe wound in one place
will not greatly lessen the swimming power. This is
of great service to fishes as a protection against each
other. As is usually said, the fishes "care not a
rush for the weather, but make themselves happy in
eating one another whether it is foul or fair." Now
this is very nearly, if not altogether, the literal fact of
the case ; and so, when numbers of them are con-
gregated together in one place, and the shoals often
amount to many millions, numbers of them must be
constantly getting bit.es ; and if they were as much
affected as land animals are when bitten or torn, the
sea would literally be encumbered with crippled fish.
Anglers often catch a trout or a salmon which pro-
bably an otter has made pay the forfeit of nearly a

pound of flesh, and yet, with a great notch in his
back, if it does not reach down nearly to the spinal
cord, a fish will take the bait, or rise to the fly with
nearly the same alacrity as if his skin was whole.

There is one other consideration worthy of notice
with regard to the general condition of the organs of
motion in fishes. They have really less work to do
than the organs of any other animals, not excepting
their neighbours of the deep. The Crustacea have a
dead weight to carry ; and, in the ca«e of a crab or a
lobster, this dead weight forms no small fraction of the
whole. So also the shelled mollusca have often to
carry about five times their own weight in the house
which they make for themselves ; and this house is
always specifically heavier than sea water, so that
those which rise to the surface require a particular
apparatus for floating it upwards. Land animals have
also their own weight to carry ; which, making allow-
ance for difference of structure, appears to be almost
equally laborious in those which walk and those which
fly. But a fish has no weight to carry ; for though,
of course, the total pressure of the water increases
with the depth, the specific gravity varies but little,
because water is not much compressible ; and from
what we experience ourselves when exposed to dif-
ferent degrees of atmospheric pressure, we can readily
understand that a fish may be as comfortable under
the pressure of a hundred atmospheres of water, as a
land animal is under that of the light atmosphere of a
mountain top. Thus the only exertion which a fish
requires to make is that which conducts it from place
to place, either in search of its food, or on those jour-
neys which many fishes perform seasonally, chiefly
with a view to breeding. This appears to be the rea-
son why fishes have so few blood vessels in the mus-
cular parts of their bodies. From what we know of
circulation, we may safely conclude that the waste of
the system, or of any part of the system, is in propor-
tion to the number of blood vessels, and the quantity
of blood which circulates through them. Now birds,
and especially mammalia, have those vessels so com-
pletely ramified through every part of their bodies,
except the solid bones (and there is blood in vari-
ous bones of the mammalia when young), the tendons
and the simple membranes, that no part of their system
can be lacerated, or even scratched, without the effu-
sion of blood, for the skin itself is full of blood vessels ;
but before red blood can be obtained from a fish, the
wound must be a pretty deep one, unless it is given
through the tissue of the gills, through which the blood
passes. We have already mentioned the names and
situations of the principal fins ; and so we have only
to say a few words upon the difference of position in
the abdominal ones, which are those that most difl'er
in position ; and this is all that is necessary to be at-
tended to in a general glance, because the relative
shape and degree of development in the different
fins properly form part of the particular descriptions
of the races. Now, in those species which have the
ventral fins placed backwards, we generally find that
the usual line of motion in swimming is nearly hori-
zontal ; and, in proportion as the ventral fins are
brought farther and farther forward, the fish in its
habit has more occasion to exert itself in raising the
head upward when it moves from place to place. In
general, too, those fishes which have the ventral fins
far backwards, have the body spindle-shaped, and the
head not very large ; whereas those which have these
fins brought so far forward as to be connected with

FI

the same arches of bone which support (he pectorals,
have the head large, and the whole of the anterior
part of the body thick and heavy, as compared with
the posterior. Some fishes are, no doubt, of such odd
shapes, and have so many extended filaments, and
other curious appendages, of which nobody knows the
use, attached to different, parts of their bodies, that we
are unable to apply any of the principles of our me-
chanics of simple forms to their singular structures ;
but still we find that, whenever the form of the rL-h i*
so simple that we can deal with it as we would do with
a common mathematical solid, we find that the above
stated principle applies ; and that, whenever the ven-
tral fins are brought forward near the throat, in aid of
the pectorals, the anterior end of the fish is always
the heaviest, and requires this additional apparatus for
the purpose of lilting it up. The plenyoptcrose fins
are at right angles to the axis of the body ; and thus,
while the posterior or progressively moving part im-
pels the fish forward, the accumulated fins under and
on the sides of the throat, strike downwards against
the water, and thus give an upward motion to the
anterior part of the body. Fishes which have this
enlargement of the head, and condensation of the
lateral or cross fins near it, are, generally speaking,
ground feeders ; and, when they are feeding, hang at
an angle with their heads lower than the hinder parts
of their bodies ; and, in this way, pick up mollus-
cous, and other small ground animals. Those fishes
which are altogether without ventral fins, and which
are sometimes styled apodul, or footless fishes, gene-
rally remain quietly at the bottom, and seldom ap-
proach the surface. They are all of the anguilliforme
or eel shape, with lengthened and slender bodies, and
the pectoral fins close to the head, and generally
lower down than in those fishes which have ventral
fins under the pectorals. The use of these pectoral
fins which are in general pretty much produced, is to
guide the head in any direction, upwards, downwards,
or laterally, and not chiefly for the purpose of raising
it, as in those which have the two sets of fins concen-
trated together near the same point. In most fishes
the motion in advance is not produced so much by the
stroke of the caudal fin as by the contrary throws of
the posterior part of the lengthened body ; and in
order that that may be a more effective swimming ap-
paratus throughout its whole length, the dorsal and
anal fins are, in general, continuous, and meet at the
extremity of the tail, where they in general form a
rounded or pointed terminal fin.

Though ground fishes, those which have this struc-
ture are not exclusively, or even generally, ground
feeders. They range the waters near the bottom, but
they range them in line, and feed upon that which
moves in the water, rather than that which is quiescent
at the bottom.

The principle now stated, and it is a very interest-
ing one, in what may be styled the mechanism of
- (one of the most interesting branches of natural
mechanics, because it presents us with motion directed
only against one resistance, that of the water), can-
not be better illustrated than bv a reference to Cuvier's
division of the Malacopterygii, or fishes with soft or
jointed rays to their fins ; and this allusion will at the
same time show the beauty of the systematic arrange-
ment, by that matchless adept in knowledge of the
structure and functions of animals.

Cuvier divides this class into three families : —
Abdominalcs, or those which have the abdominal or

S H. 479

posterior pair of fins placed backwards ; Subbrachia,
or those which have the second pair of fins placed
forwards, either immediately under the pectoral fins,
or sometimes in advance of them ; and Apoda, or
those in which the ventral fins are wanting. The
tribes of fishes which come under the first of these
families are the Cyprinidce or carp family, the Esocce
or pike family, the Silurules, the salmon tribe, and the
herrings and allied species. All of these are straight-
forward swimmers, and the greater number of them
are found near the surface of the water. They are,
generally speaking, what we are accustomed to call
handsomely proportioned fishes, rather long than
otherwise, and, generally speaking, they are rapid in
their progressive motions, and not remarkable for the
facility with which they can plunge to great depths,
or rise from them.

The second family, or those which have the ven-
tral fins concentrated near the pectorals, and, generally
•peaking, articulated to or connected with the bones
of the shoulder, comprehend the cod family in all its
genera ; the flat fishes, or different species of floun-
ders, soles, turbots, and other genera and species of
that type ; and the discoboli, or those fishes which
have the vential fins formed into a sort of round disc
on the under part of the body. All these are bank
fishes to some extent or other, or if they are not found
on banks of sand or mud, they frequent rocky places ;
and, generally speaking, feed near the bottom. la
most of the species they are not very discursive, but
remain on the same grounds, often accumulating in
vast numbers ; and one of the chief uses of the con-
centration of the four lateral fins at the anterior part
of the body appears to be, to enable them to get over
the inequalities of that bottom over which they find
their food. The flat fishes deserve perhaps a parti-
cular notice on account of the particular position of
their bodies when swimming, which is really with the
side uppermost, and not the back, though the upper
surface is coloured like the backs of ordinary fishes,
and the under surface like the belly. There, is how-
ever, a twist, at the insertion of the head, which gives
a very peculiar appearance to that part of this tribe
of fishes ; but it will be better to notice their general
characters in a separate article FLAT-FISH, than to
break the chain of illustration in the present one, or
extend it to greater length.

The third, or apodal family of this order, consists
entirely of elongated or eel-shaped fishes, which, like
the former are ground-fishes, and perhaps upon the
whole remain constantly nearer the ground than
they ; but they swim by contrary flexures of the
body, and not by the stroke of the tail, as an oar.
There is sometimes a vulgar prejudice against this
class of fishes, in consequence of their snake-like
form, and snake-like movements. The slightest at-
tention will, however, suffice to convince any one that
their motions are those of true fishes, and not of
ophidian reptiles, even aquatic ones. The motion
of these reptiles is always in the vertical plane, so
that, even when they swim, the flexures or bendings
of the body are upwards and downwards. Those of
the apoda'l fishes, even of the most snake-like of
them, are, on the other hand, always lateral, and
they have little or no power ef bending the body in
the'direction of the mesial plane, that is, in the direc-
tion of the edge of this plane. In passing we may
here remark, that the curved form given by painters
to their imaginary dolphin is perfectly inconsistent

F I S H.

uith the mechanical structure of a fish : and that
however a fish may be able to bend itself laterally,
or even obliquely, there is no provision in the mus-
cular structure of any one fish, by means of which
it is able to bend the spinal column cither upwards
or downwards. The bending of flat fish toward the
pale coloured side especially, must not be considered
as an exception to this ; for the flat fishes, as we have
said, swim 011 their side; and the finned margins of
their disc are as truly the middle of the back and
middle of the belly marking the terminations of the
mesial plane, as if they swam with that plane in the
vertical direction and not in the horizontal. These
few remarks must suffice in the meantime, for the
various motions of the different fishes are so curious,
and involve so many points in mechanics, that if we
were to allow ourselves to get entangled in the
details, there would really be no end. The subject
is simple however, and as, in addition to this, it is
highly instructive as a mechanical subject, it is emi-
nently deserving of every reader's most careful atten-
tion and most diligent study.

Organs of adhesion. — The consideration of this
branch will not detain us long. Fishes, generally
speaking, have no apparatus, excepting the mouth,
by means of which they can take hold of any one
substance, and therefore, excepting in so far as they
can counteract by means of their swimming apparatus,
they may be said to be at the mercy of the waves.
That apparatus is, however, so efficient ; and the waves
produced by surface agitations reach to so very
small depths in the sea, that, generally speaking, the
fishes may be said to be perfectly independent of
them, except some of the lighter surface fishes, and
the small fry which are occasionally caught in storms,
and stranded on the shores in countless numbers.

There are, however, countless fishes which, from
the peculiar places in which they seek their food,
and the peculiarity of that food itself, have to hold
on in the ftrength of currents, which would be too
much for the fins of even the strongest and best
formed of the finny tribes ; and those species to which
nature has assigned this habit, have of course received
an adequate means of adapting themselves to it.
The apparatus used for this purpose is a sucker, or
cartilaginous disc, which this fish can apply so firmly
to the surface of any solid object, fixed or floating, as
that no action of the water can detach it. This
sucker, when it is a mere means of stability, is placed
either on the head or the thorax. In the remora,
which has been so long celebrated, and of which so
many ridiculous stories have been told, and of which
as a genus, some account will be found in the article
ECHENIS, the sucker is of an oval form, and consists
of transverse rows of cartilaginous plates connected
by one edge to the surface of the head, and in the
other edge free, and finely pectinated. A longitu-
dinal partition divides the plates in the middle of the
head, and in the spaces between the plates, and on
each side of the partition, a row ot fleshy tubercles may
be observed. In the cyclopteri this organ is of a circu-
lar form, and consists of numerous soft papillae. It
is situated on the thorax. Instead of a separate
organ of adhesion, the ventral fins in the goby are
united, and are capable of adhering to rocks and
stones, while in the lamprey the mouth contracts and
acts as a sucker. All the species which have suckers
of this kind for the purposes of mere adhesion,
whether those suckers are placed on the upper or the

under part of the body, belong to the eubbrachian
family of the soft-finned fishes. They are generally,
if not all, fishes of feeble powers ; but the sucker
enables them to adhere to rocks over or under them,
according as it is at the top of the head or under the
body ; and while they so adhere, secure against the
current, they are enabled to capture for their sub-
sistence the fry of fishes, and other small animals
which the current carries along. Of course they are
not found in the placid waters, where this apparatus
would be of no service to them, but chiefly in
passages among rocks, through which currents set
with much rapidity.

Some of the cartilaginous fishes are also furnished
with suckers ; but the suckers which they possess
are placed on another part of the body ; and gene-
rally speaking, calculated for other purposes. They
are on the mouth, as in the lamprey, the pride, the
hag, and some varieties ; and though these are found
at least in some of the species, occasionally adhering
to stones with great firmness, yet the principal use
of the sucker appears to consist in enabling them to
extract their subsistence from the bodies of animals
to which they adhere ; and among them the hag,
which is in appearance little else than a gelatinous
sac, often sucks the substance of cod and other fishes
while they are fast on the hooks of the fisherman's
lines. See the article MYXINE.

Respiration and Circulation. — Both the organs and
the process in these have been mentioned in the
general preliminary remark?, so that it remains only
to notice the differences which are found in different
kinds of fishes. The respiratory organs are perhaps
to be regarded as the most perfect and typical of a
fish, when the gills are distinct upon the bony arches
and face, and the gill openings ample and furnished
with the most complete apparatus in the gill-lid.
This part of the apparatus is sometimes wanting, but
the gills themselves never are. When it is most
complete, then is the gill-lid itself placed on each
side of the head immediately behind the eye. articu-
lated to the bones of the head, and shutting in the
rear against the bony side of the shoulder, especially
the large bone which answers to the humerus ; and
the lower extremities of both of which are riveted
by a fleshy cartilage, and a similar substance ties
them tOjthe os hyoides; thus uniting the parts against
which the gill-lids close with those to which both
they and the gills are attached. This gill-lid is, in
its external texture, either scaly, or membranous, or
bony, and it is sometimes furnished with one or more
hard tubercles or spines. Internally, it always con.
sists of thin and flexible plates of bone, composed of
a greater or small number of pieces in different
places. When it consists of many, the one next the
head, which is often double, is called the pre-ojyerculc,
the one behind that, toward the upper part, the opcr-
cji/e, below that there is the subopercule, and between
this last a.id the extremity of the os hyaides, the inter-
opercule. The posterior margin of the gill-lid, in-
cluding under that name all the pieces above enume-
rated, or as many of them as may exist in the species,
is variously toothed, though sometimes it is plain.
In the greater number of fishes it is furnished with a
fin-like appendage, called the gill-flap, which is sup-
posed to contribute in some way or other to the
action of the lid itself, and consequently to the
breathing of the fish.

Count Lacepede founded a good deal of the clas-

FISH,

481

sification of fishes, upon the form of this organ, but
the classification has not been followed by more
scientific and discerning ichthyologists ; and indeed
the breathing apparatus, especially in its more minute
variations, is but ill calculated for being the founda-
tion of any arrangement. In the distinguishing of
species it may, like the number of rays in the fins,
and of vertebrae in the spine, be of some use, because
we believe it is pretty constant in the same species ; but
it is so obviously a character which leads to nothing,
that it cannot be made the basis of anything more
general in an arrangement which professes to assist
in the study of fishes. All fishes breathe atmospheric
air, and they effect this through the medium of
water, the quantity of which is in all cases very
much greater than that of the air, and it is every
where very much the same. So that the character
of the breathing apparatus is to be inferred from the
habit of the fish, rather than the habit from the pecu-
liar structure of the apparatus ; and even when taken
in this way there is not much in the inference. Thus,
for instance, the eel and other apodal fishes, which
move about at or near the bottom of the waters,
generally have the gill-openings very small, and are
without a gill-flap, a gill-lid, or both ; while cod and
many other bank fishes, which feed at the bottom,
have the gill-openings unusually large, and the lids
furnished with flaps. The number of rays in the gill
flap, which are technically called "branchiopterygeous
rays," are, however, admitted into the list of charac-
ters in the subordinate divisions.

In fishes which have free gills, inserted upon arches
of bone attached to the os hyoides, there are usually
eight, lour on each side, answering symmetrically to
each other, both in form and in magnitude ; but in
some there is an additional small gill on each side,
though it does not appear that any inference can be
drawn from this as to the general habits of the fish,
for it occurs in the herring, which is a surface fish,
and also in the sole, which is a bank or ground one.
The upper ends of the gill arches are attached
through the os hyoides to the general mass of bones
in the head, the under ends arc attached to the bones
of the tongue. The motion of that organ of course
moves the arches, and they are besides flexible through
their whole length. The anterior edges of the arches
toward the mouth are covered with the same kind of
integument as the rest of that cavity ; they are
generally more or less tuberculated ; and in many
species they are beset with teeth, and assist in the
operation of conveying the food to the stomach.

In the CJiondropterygii, or cartilaginous fishes, the
gills are much less perfect. They are fixed to par-
titions, which answer nearly the same purpose as
the arches of bone in the other fishes ; but the
fibres are very similar to those in the others, which
shows that though the apparatus is different in form
and arrangement, the operation to be performed is
substantially the same. Some general notice of the
structure of these fishes will be found upon looking
back to the article CHONDROPTERYGII ; but as the
subject is rather a curious one, we shall add the de-
tails of some of the species as given by sir Everard
Home. " In the lamprey," says sir Everard, " the
organs of respiration have seven external openings
on each side of the animal ; these lead into the same
number of separate oval bags, placed horizontally,
the inner membrane of which is constructed like that
of the gills in fishes. There is an equal number of

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

internal openings leading into a tube, the lower end
of which is closed, and the upper terminates by a
fringed edge in the oesophagus. These bags are con-
tained in separate cavities, and enclosed in a thorax
resembling that of land animals, only composed of
cartilages instead of ribs, and the pericardium, which
is also cartilaginous, is fitted to its lower extremity
like a diaphragm." In the hag, or myxine, there are
only two external openings, one on each side ; but
there are on each side six lateral bags, to each of
which there passes a tube from the externa. opening :
and close to the left external opening there is also a
tube which passes to the gullet, and forms a commu-
nication with the mouth. In the common chondro-
pterygii which have their mouths of similar construc-
tion to those of the bony fishes, and which seize and
swallow their prey, it may be presumed that the
ordinary mode of breathing resembles that of other
fishes, that the water is partially at least received by
the mouth, and discharged by the gill-openings ; and
the communication which there is between the gills
and the gullet in the lamprey' and the myxine shows
that they also, occasionally at least, receive water in
the same manner. But the lamprey occasionally, and
the myxine habitually, in feeding, adheres by the
mouth as a sucker ; and when this takes place of
course neither air nor water can enter by that orifice ;
and thus the whole operation must be performed by
means of the bags or cells, to the walls of which the
fibres of the gills are attached. Hence there must be
in this apparatus, a means of receiving and discharg-
ing the water, independently of all action of the
mouth ; and it is worthy of remark that in this respect
those fishes bear no inconsiderable resemblance to
insects which breathe wholly through apertures in the
sides, which have no communication whatever with
the mouth. The method in which this operation is
performed, in the lamprey and myxine, is thus de-
scribed by sir Everard Home : — " In the lamprey, the
water is received by the lateral openings of the animal
into the bags which perform the office of gills, and
passes out by the same opening ; the form of the cavi-
ties being fitted to allow the water to go in at one
side, pass round the projecting parts, and out at the
other. A part of the water escapes into the middle
tube, and from thence either passes into the other
bags, or out at the upper end into the oesophagus*
There is a common opinion that the water is thrown
out of the nostril : this, however, is unfounded, as the
nostril has no communication with the mouth. In
the myxine, the elasticity of the two tubes and the
bags into which they open, admits of the water being
received ; and the pressure produced by the action
of the external muscles forces it into the oesophagus,
from whence it is thrown out by the opening at the
lower end of that tube.

This operation appears to be performed by means
of the cartilaginous ridges which are attached to the
skin between the gill-openings. When the water is
to be received, these arches are extended outwards,
like a bow, by their extremities being moved by par-
ticular muscles ; and thus cavities' are formed, and as
instantly filled by the pressure of the water. When
this water has remained for the requisite time the
ridges are unbent and drawn inwards, and the water
is expelled ; and this operation being repeated, con-
stitutes the process of breathing in those peculiar
fishes, altogether independently of the mouth.

In the ordinary breathing of fishes by the mouth, it
H H

482

FISH.

must not be supposed that the process, even in the
mechanical application of the water to the gills, con
sists of a mere current, running without intermission
in at the mouth, and out at the gill openings ; for, as
the separation of oxygen from nitrogen in the free air
received into the lungs of land animals, requires some
time for its performance, we may naturally conclude
that more time will be required for performing the
double operation of separating the air from the water,
and then the oxygen from the nitrogen. This is also
an operation which the fish can suspend at pleasure
for a short time ; but in the generality of fishes this
time is very short. There is also rather a complicated
operation of the mouth, which aids the current of the
water when breathing. There is a sort of double
mouth, the inner portion of which (which in many
fishes is pretty far back) shuts, and shuts close on the
anterior edges of the gill arches, so that when the gill-
lid, or flap, or whatever it may be, is pressed down,
the water, which has been wholly exhausted of its air,
and is, therefore, unfit for the purpose of respiration,
is wholly expelled from the gills, and as soon as this
inner gate of the mouth is opened, and the gills
expanded, fresh and wholesome water is admitted.

In ordinary fishes, there is no return by the mouth
of the water which has once been received by the gills,
and any thing which prevents the discharge through
their openings, is just as fatal to the fish as if the sup-
ply by the mouth were excluded. If the ejection of
the water from the gills of a fish be prevented, by the
gill-cover being tied down with a string, it soon
expires in convulsions. Similar fatal consequences
follow when fish are placed in water previously de-
prived of its atmospheric air by boiling or freezing :
and when fish are kept in a small pond, whose surface
is frozen over, and where the water in that case can-
not obtain a fresh supply of air, they speedily perish.
If a small opening be made in the ice, before it be too
late, the fishes will come near it for a fresh supply.
In this manner fishes are frequently taken during
winter in ponds and lakes. The extent of surface
presented by the gills of a fish, to enable the blood to
come in contact with the air in the water, is much
greater than one would, without attentive considera-
tion, be led to suppose. Dr. Monro calculated, that
the whole gills of a large skate presented a surface equal
to two thousand two hundred and fifty square inches,
or equal to the whole external surface of the human
body. The process of respiration for the supply of
the gills is carried dn even during sleep. The number
of respirations in a minute is seldom above thirty, or
below twenty. In the same individual it is liable to
considerable variation, depending on the will of the
animal. The blood, after being renovated in the gills,
is re-absorbed by a multitude of minute vessels, which
unite together ; but, instead of returning the blood to
the heart again, to be afterwards distributed through
the body, this aorta exercises that function, and de-
scends along the inferior side of the spine, in a canal
fitted for its reception, giving off arteries during its
course, to the adjacent parts. The blood is absorbed
again by veins, which have extremely thin coats.
These are much larger in their course than at their
termination ; and besides form, in different parts of
their course, considerable receptacles for blood. Any
injury received by the gills of fishes is attended with
much pain, and a considerable effusion of blood. Some
fishermen seem to be well aware of this last circum-
stance, and cut the gills with a knife as soon as the

fish is taken. A copious bleeding takes place ; and
they find that a fish so killed will keep much longer
in a fresh state than one on which this operation of
bleeding has not been performed. There are some
other circumstances connected with the respiration
and circulation of fishes, of which it is necessary to
take notice, in order to have a full and distinct view
of the economy of those most useful and interesting
animals.

The heat of all animals is found to be in exact pro-
portion to the energy with which their system works ;
and the best indications which we have of this energy
are, the quantity of air required in respiration, and the
velocity in the pulse of the circulating blood. These
do not keep time with each other exactly, because
time is only one element in the amount of either, and
quantity is the other element, so that we must hike
our estimate from these two jointly. But respiration
admits of much more variation as to quantity, in the
same time, than circulation does ; and, therefore, there
may be many changes in the rapidity of breathing,
arising from temporary causes, without any effect upon
the pulse. If, however, we take the general habit of
any animal, we shall find that there is, upon the whole,
a correspondence between the two ; and that the heat
is in proportion to the intensity, taken jointly. This,
by the way, is the only rational view of the source of
animal heat, a subject upon which so much ingenuity
has been wasted, and so many theories have been pro-
posed and abandoned. Sensible heat, notwithstand-
ing all that may be said about it, is not a thing, it is a
mere accompaniment, the measure, or at all events
the indication, of a certain degree of intensity of action.
Nor does it appear to signify much of what kind this
action may be, whether chemical, mechanical, living,
or any thing else ; for we have not only every reason
in argument for concluding, but we have the evidence
of facts to prove, that any one of those modes of action
of any kind which we can name, might be brought up
to such a degree of concentration and intensity,
as to produce combustion in inflammable sub-
stances, or, as we say, kindle fire. We have proofs of
this in the action1 of the animal system, in those cases
of spontaneous combustion, which are too well and
too minutely authenticated for leaving any room to
doubt their truth, though, for the details of these, we
must refer to the article COMBUSTION (SPONTANEOUS)
in this work.

But whenever we would approach the subject of
animal life with any thing like knowledge, it is neces-
sary that we should always refresh our memories on
this same subject of animal heat ; because there is no
one subject in the whole wide field of physiology in
which the ignorant are so much at a loss for the way,
and the learned so deeply bcmired in their own
fancies.

As the temperature of the element in which fishes
ive is never high, and varies but little, as they have
nothing to do but move about, and eat, and propagate,
without any burden, even of their own weight, to bear ;
as they have but little blood, and that blood has a slow
and limited circulation, one might naturally infer that
they would have a low degree of temperature, and
observation shows that it is in some cases, at least,
lower than the temperature of the water in which they
reside. The deposit on the great bank of Newfound-
land, which affords food for such inexhaustible shoals
of cod, is usually, and we think with reason, under-
stood to be made by the warm current which comes

FISH.

483

from the tropical seas ; and yet cod, when taken there
at the depth of about forty fathoms, have an average
temperature of about forty-one or forty-two degrees,
or nearly that at which water has the greatest density,
though the water at the surface may be sixty degrees
or more. We are not aware that the temperature of
the water, at the depth from which the fish are taken,
has been observed at the same time with that of the
fish, but the surface temperature has ; and when we
consider that the whole, or at least the greater part,
is one current, we must conclude that at forty fathoms
or 240 feet, it must be considerably higher Uaan the
observed temperature of the fish. This is a process
on which it would be desirable to have many observa-
tions in different seas, and on different kinds of fish ;
because, as we cannot follow them in their submarine
abodes, and study them there, we should procure intel-
ligence of them by every means in our power.

The changes of temperature in sea-fish, and even
in those of the greater part of the lakes and rivers,
must be but small, even in those places where the
surface freezes over. Water begins to freeze when
it is cooled after being stationary, or about 40° in the
mass ; and though the surface sinks to the freezing
point, and ice forms, the water below does not be-
come colder in consequence of the ice on tlie top.
No doubt the ice thickens at the under side in long
continued frosts, and the frost is sometimes of such
intensity and duration as that the whole volume of
an accumulation of shallow water is frozen ; but as
long as any portion of the water remains liquid, it
must, taken in the whole, be heated rather than cooled
by the ice over it. There is some portion of heat
produced in the act of freezing, and ice is a bad
conductor, and must increase the heat under it, so
that, as it. advances downwards in a continued frost,
it may be said to drive the action of the heat before
it. No part of the sea, or of any lake, or river oi
considerable depth, freezes to the bottom in any part
of the world ; and thus, the fishes in the sea mSy be
what we call very comfortable, even when the ice is
over them.

It has sometimes been supposed that the fishes
hybernate in the depths, at those seasons and in those
places, where and when the surface of the water is
covered with ice. This may be true where the whole
volume of the water is, in consequence of its shallow-
ness, cooled down to 323, and then of course the
whole mass will be frozen, and the fishes along with
it. But so long as any portion of the water remains
liquid, there is no more reason why the fishes shouh
Income torpid in it under an icy canopy than there
is for the Esquimaux becoming torpid in their snow
houses, in which they pass the winter with more
glee and hilarity than they do the summer in their
huts and tents.

The idea of their not getting air under the ice
which is one of the usually-alleged causes of thei
hybernal torpor, is equally untenable. In a sinal
pond that has no communication with other liquu
water below the ice, this may be and often is the
case, but wherever there is a communication througl
liquid water to the sea, or any other extended surfae<
open to the air, there will be no want of air in th
liquid water, even though there should be a mile o
ice over it. The very cause by means ofwhicl
air gets at all mingled with the water, will mingh
it with all connected water, whether it happen
to be the part of the connexion which is open, or tha

vhich is covered by ice. Indeed, if we are to
ose an inland lake, with a stream flowing from it,

0 be covered with ice, and also the stream covered

1 considerable way down, then upon the common
rinciple of the pressure of fluids, the liquid water

,vhich is under the ice of the said lake, must become
sort of reservoir for air, and contains more than
he unfrozen water with which it has a liquid com-
munication.

There is therefore, nothing, either in the altered
emperature or the absence of air, which can render
t necessary for the fishes in the arctic seas to be-
ome torpid in the water, though there may be
)hysiological causes which induce this in some, or
)erhaps in many of the species. As will be seen
on referring to the article EEL, the eels of even the
warmest parts of our own country pass the winter in
a sort of hybernating state ; but the cause is abso-
utely physiological : they seek shelter in the sand, for
the very same reason that brings them down to the
jrackish water in the autumn,— namely, that the heat
may bring forward the germs of their progeny.

When our common pond fishes are affected by loss
of air during the frost, they do not hybernate ; and it
would indeed be absurd to suppose that the depriv-
ing of any animal of air could be the means of
causing it to pass into any kind of sleep. Suffocation,
the effect of which is too painful to sleep under till
the operation has proceeded so far that the sleep is
the sleep of death, is what takes place in these cases ;
and difference of climate can, in this respect, pro-
duce no difference in the result.

That many animals become torpid through cold,
and some at moderately high temperatures, is true ;
and though the occurrence is, in all probability more
rare, it is by no means impossible that animals may
be frozen and revive again after they are thawed ; but
this is a subject upon which many experiments have
not been made, and in those which have been made
the result has been failure. It is generally said,
indeed, and usually believed in America, that when
fishes are taken at the holes of the ice on the St. Law-
rence, during the intensity of the Canadian winter,
they are instantly frozen ; and that, while they are in
this state they are as brittle as the ice itself. Thus
far is most likely true ; for even in the comparatively
mild parts of this country, not only the leaves and
stems of plants, but the bones of animals when not
frozen, of course are much more easily broken than in
mild weather. But it is added that, if the frozen
fishes are put into cold water they are gradually
thawed and become alive again. An account of the
frozen eels carried to Moscow, will be found in the
article EEL, and gives (if true) some countenance to
the Canadian tale ; but the attempt has been made to
freeze fish and restore them to life again, in some parts
of North America— at New York we believe— where
it has failed. Hunter reduced the temperature of frogs
to 31° or one degree below the point of congelation ;
but we believe he did not in any case freeze them,
and unfrozen, a lower temperature than 31° always
occasioned death. Indeed there is another reason
for concluding that no animal, the blood of which
contains salts, especially muriate of soda, ran live to
be frozen and again revive, for salts, and the salt
which we have named especially, separate when the
liquid in which they are dissolved is frozen ; and thus
the probability is that freezing would decompose the
blood of a red-blooded animal. The eggs of birds
HH2

484

FISH.

cannot bear to be frozen without destroying their
vitality ; but the spawn of frogs can, and probably
so can that of fishes. This influence of changes of
temperature, especially cold, on fishes, is a subject
well worthy of investigation both in a natural history
point of view and in an economical one. It has been
found a great improvement in the quality of salmon
in the London market, to have them packed in ice ;
but if we could freeze them alive and thaw them out
as we wanted them, it would be much better. The
subject, however, we cannot pursue farther.

Organs of Nutrition. In fishes, as in all vertebrated
animals, these consist of a mouth, a gullet, a stomach,
or an intestinal canal. The mouth is, among fishes,
the only instrument which they have for catching
their food ; for though there are many curious ap-
pendages to the bodies of some of them, of which the
uses are little, if at all, known, it is not probable that
any of them assist in the actual capture, and none of
those appendages is in its structure fitted for cap-
turing. Some of the ground fishes, the common
angler, for instance, are said to make use of the fila-
ments with which they are furnished, for the purpose
of enticing other fishes within their reach ; and the
chaetodon rostratus, of the fresh waters of India, is
said to be a very skilful marksfish, in shooting flies
by means of drops of water. We shall give the
account of this in the language of Dr. Shaw ; but we
do not vouch for all the circumstances, which we
suspect are rather too clever for a fish. " When,"
says the doctor, " it observes one of these (an insect)
either hovering over the water or seated on some
aquatic plant, it shoots against it from its tubular
snout a drop of water, with so sure an aim as gene-
rally to lay it dead, or, at least, stupified on the sur-
face. In shooting at a sitting insect, it is commonly
observed to approach within the distance of from four
to six feet before it explodes the water. When kept
in a state of confinement in a large vessel of water,
it is said to afford high entertainment by it dexterity
in this exercise ; since, if a fly or other insect be
fastened to the edge of the vessel, the fish imme-
diately perceives it, and continues to shoot at it with
such admirable skill as very rarely to miss the mark."

The mouth of fishes varies much more in size and
shape than that of vertebrated animals of any other
class ; generally speaking, its opening is horizonal,
and across the mesial plane, with its action, or opening
and shutting, in the direction of that plane ; but the
flat fish form an exception to this, as will be more
particularly explained in describing them. The lips
are not often well formed, but some are firm and
fleshy, and completely surround the mouth, while
others are covered with plates of bony matter, which
fold over each other. Lips of this description often
increase the dimensions of the mouth, as they are
capable of extension and folding up. Both jaws are
moveable, though the chief motion is in the under
one, and the gape is very wide : there are few fishes
in which they are both of equal length ; sometimes
the upper and sometimes the under is the largest, and
in not a few instances one or both of the jaws are
extensile, or capable of being projected forward be-
yond the length which they have in a state of repose.
The teeth of fishes are exceedingly varied, and situ-
ated in all imaginable parts of the mouth, and
sometimes outside that opening altogether. Among
the mammalia, the number of teeth in the same
species, or even in the same genus, is generally con-

stant ; but it is very different among fish. The teeth
are often so numerous that it is difficult to count them,
especially as they occupy so many different positions.
The jaws are not exclusively employed to support
these organs, as in quadrupeds ; the tongue, the
palate, the throat, being often furnished with them.
In the saw-fish, the teeth are inserted on each side of
its flattened and projecting snout In the genus
sparus, the front teeth resemble those of the human
species. They are provided with fangs, which are
contained in alveoli. In many fishes, the teeth arc
formed* of processes of the jaw-bones covered with
enamel. Those of the shark tribe adhere merely to
the gums, or, at least, to a firm cartilaginous sub-
stance which covers the jaw. They are not formed,
as in the mammalia, by the addition of new layers,
one within the other, but apparently in a manner re-
sembling the formation of bone. They are at first
soft and cartilaginous, and pass, by successive grada-
tions, into a state of hardness and density not inferior
to that of ivory. In the skate, the teeth consist of an
assemblage of tubes, covered externally by enamel,
and connected to the jaw by a softer substance, which
probably sends processes or vessels into those bony
tubes. The teeth of fishes are in general bent in-
wards, to enable them to retain their prey. As few
fishes masticate, they have seldom any teeth which
resemble grinders, although those which live on the
harder shell-fish have teeth fitted for triturating them.
In the classification of fishes, the teeth furnish several
important characters, which are little liable to varia-
tion. In the shark tribe, in particular, the teeth
exhibit many remarkable differences in form, suf-
ficient, in the absence of other characters, for the
discrimination of the species. The form of the teeth
and their arrangements are not less various than the
places on which they are situated. Generally speak-
ing, they are individually in the form of cones, or they
are hooked. If these are placed in several rows,
they* are sometimes called carded teeth, because they
bear a resemblance to the teeth of the instruments
used in carding wool and other matters ; if they are
very small, numerous, and thickly set, they are called
velvety (en velours) ; and if long and close they are
called brushes. Sometimes, however, the individual
teeth are too minute for being seen, though they may
be felt as a sort of granular roughness upon the sur-
face. In this case they are said to be asperities.
Though the teeth of those species which feed upon
fuel, and other vegetable products of the sea, are
adapted for biting off or dividing those products, and
some of the teeth of the sharks are capable of dividing
and tearing in a dreadful manner, yet there is no
provision in the mouth of a fish by means of which
mastication or chewing can be performed. Indeed
this is an operation exclusively confined to the mam-
malia, which accordingly are the only animals which
have a grinding or a lateral motion in the jaws ; and
thus all fishes are obliged to swallow their food in the
same manner in which it is at first taken into the
mouth. The lips, in the bony fishes especially, have
no muscles by means of which they can be closed and
compressed so as to assist in the act of swallowing,
though they have often masses of considerable size to
swallow. Instead of this they have a peculiar ap-
paratus, to which we made some allusion when
speaking of the progress of the water in breathing.
Behind the front teeth, or those in the anterior part
of the jaw and the vomer, there is a reduplication of

PISH:

the internal lining of the mouth, which forms a sort of
valve ; and this valve also assists in conducting the
food towards the gullet, which is also promoted by
the teeth on the tongue and palate, which being
reflected or bent towards the opening of the gullet,
prevent any return. When it arrives at the pharynx,
or posterior part of the mouth, it, in most of the
species, meets with a third set of teeth on the pha-
ryngeal bones, by means of which it is conveyed into
the gullet. This canal is of very ample dimensions,
not much less than the whole capacity of the mouth ;
so that many fishes appear internally like a sack as
far down as the stomach. The gullet is abundantly
furnished with muscles, the action of which furthers
the progress of the food downwards ; and it is pos-
sible that in many instances the process of digestion,
or decomposition of the food, begins here, as it is
known to do in many of the reptiles. The stomach
of fishes is in general thin and membranous, differing
little in its structure and appearance from the gullet.
It frequently contains the remains of crustaceous
animals, still retaining their form, but greatly altered
in consistency. Hence naturalists have concluded,
that the food is reduced by solution, and not by
trituration. But in some fishes, particularly those
which subsist principally on shell-fish, the stomach has
thick muscular coats. Its shape is considerably
different in the different species, but the characters
furnished by this organ are seldom regarded. The
intestinal canal varies much in the different species.
In some it is straight, in others it has convolutions,
but it is never so long as in most of the mammalia.
In many bony fishes there are a sort of caecal append-
ages to the canal ; but it is in the cartilaginous fishes
only ; which, though by far the least perfect in the
ossification of their skeletons, are the most so in the
the other parts of their economy. The abdominal
viscera are enclosed in a membranous peritoneum,
which has small openings near the vent, by which any
liquid in the cavity of the body can be discharged,
but none can readily be admitted. The greater
number of fishes are, strictly speaking, monostomata,
or have only one vent or opening for all sorts of
discharges.

One remarkable viscus in fishes, to which there is
nothing correspondent in any other of the vertebrated
animals, is the air-sac, or air-bladder, which some
have and some are without, and the rea,l use of
which in the economy of the animals is not known.
Some notice of this curious viscus will be found in
the article AIR-BAG ; but we shall not enlarge upon
it, as all that is known is that it cannot have the use
which is commonly supposed — that of regulating the
specific gravity of the fish. If this bag were to be
alternately filled and emptied of air, according to
the different pressures of water to which the fish was
subjected at different depths, then, we must suppose
that the fish must have the means of filling it. A
" gas-work" in the cavity of a fish for this purpose,
is not likely, and besides there is no apparatus.
Neither is the air with which this muscle is filled, the
refuse of that from which the oxygen apart necessary
for the purposes of life, is taken in the process of
respiration ; for though the greater part of the con-
tents is nitrogen, the quantity of oxygen in it increases
as the fish to which it belongs is an inhabitant of
deeper water. As little can it be filled from the
external air when the fish is at the surface, because
its contents are not the same as the atmosphere ; and

also if supplies were taken in there it would hinder the
descent of the fish. Besides, of fishes that have
similar habits, some of them surface fishes, and others
bottom or ground ones, some have this viscus, and
others are without it. Thus, the only conclusion to
which we can come in the present state of our know-
ledge is, that we are in utter ignorance as to its real
use. The air-bag of fishes, when cleared of fatty
matter, is perhaps the purest gelatine which is
obtained from the whole animal kingdom ; and as
such, it is of much value both as an article of food
and in the arts.

Though we do not think it necessary, in this brief
outline, to give any account of those secretions of
the liver, the pancreas, and other viscera of fishes,
which assist in the assimilation of their food, and
in other parts of their economy, and which do not
appear to differ very essentially from the same pre-
cedents in other vertebrated animals ; yet there is
one peculiar secretion of the surface which is so
peculiar, that we cannot wholly pass it over in silence.
This is the secretion with which they are covered over,
and which appears to be the means by which their
bodies are preserved from injurious maceration by
the water in which they float, and by means of which
also, they are allowed to range thereon in whatever
direction may be necessary.

The last of these is a matter of more consequence
than they who have not been in the habit of attend-
ing to such subject would readily suppose. Accord-
ing to a well-known law of bodies floating in water,
if that water were to wet them completely, they
would have a constant tendency to come on shore ;
and though, in the case of a fish, this might be occa-
sioned by perhaps not a very great deal of muscular
effort, yet that effort would be a continual one, and
would wear them out more than a greater effort
made only at intervals. The friction of the water in
the case of a wet fish, would also be a considerable
disadvantage, but the grand disadvantage, however,
would be the decomposition of the epidermis, and
the consequent pain and destruction of the whole
animal. All these bad effects are prevented by the
mucous secretion.

As might be expected from their difference in
other respects, the production of this mucus is not
quite the same in the bony and the cartilaginous
fishes. The following account of it in the skate, by
the late Dr. Monro, will show how intimately it is
connected with even the most important part of the
system. " First," says Dr. Monro, " I have discovered
one very elegant serpentine canal between the skin
and muscles, at the sides of the fine apertures into the
gills. Further forwards it surrounds the nostrils ;
then it passes from the under to the upper part of the
upper jaw, where it runs backwards as far as the eyes.
From the principal part of this duct, in the under
side or belly of the fish, there are not above six or
eight outlets ; but from the upper part near the eyes,
there are upwards of thirty small ducts sent off,
which open upon the surface of the skin. The liquor
discharged from these has nearly the same degree of
viscidity as the synovia in man. But, besides the
very serpentining duct I have been describing, I have
remarked on each side of the fish, a little further
forwards than the fine breathing holes, a central part
from which a prodigious number of ducts issues, to
terminate on almost the whole surface of the skin,
excepting only on the snout or upper jaw. At these

486

FISH.

centres all the ducts are shut, and in their course
they have no communication with each other. In
these two central parts, or on the beginning of the
mucous ducts, a pair of nerves nearly as large as the
optic, terminates, and which is a curious circumstance
with respect to them, they are white and opaque in
their course, between the brain and their ducts, but
when they divide, they become suddenly so pellucid
that it is impossible to trace them further, or to dis-
tinguish them from the coats of the ducts."

In the bony fishes, the distribution of this mucous
secretion is somewhat different. The orifices from
which it is discharged are principally either on the
forehead, or along the lateral line. This line by the
way is a peculiar marking in fish. In some it is not
found, as in the lamprey ; in most fishes it is single ;
but in some, as in the launce (ammodytes), it is
double ; and there are some fishes, indeed the greater
number, which have it straight ; but in others it
makes a singular bend upward, opposite to the cavity
of the body. This line is differently coloured from
every other part of the side of the fish ; and its
colour fades sooner after death than the colour of
any other part. This, together with the accumula-
tion of the mucous ducts upon it, shows that it must
have some important connection with the living
action of the fish ; though what this connection is
has not been ascertained. The mucus itself has not
been analysed with sufficient care, but it seems to be
something in the nature of albumen, probably in
nearly the same state as it exists in the epidermis,
though it is liquid in the one case, and solid in the
other. It is indeed a substance which, though plen-
tiful, is not very easily examined, at least in such a
manner as to judge of it while the fish is living and
under the water, because it seems so intimately
connected with the nervous system of the fish, that
there is no knowing how great a change may be
produced in it by death, or even by exposure to
the atmosphere.

Organs of sensation. — The senses of fishes, like
those of all other animals, form a very important part
of their history ; and we know from various facts, that
in many fishes, not only particular senses, but sensa-
tion generally must be very acute, from the readiness
with which they are affected by slight changes of the
weather. In a trouting stream for instance, when
the sun is under a cloud, and that cloud brings, as it
very often does, a slight curl upon the water, the
trout will rise to the fly with the greatest readiness ;
and also be seen sporting about in all directions
near the surface ; but as soon as the cloud passes,
and the ripple along with it, not a trout will rise to
the most skilful angler ; and one may observe them
lying perfectly still near the bottom of the shallows.
Under those circumstances there can be little difference
of temperature in the water, for the two may succeed
each other several times in the course of a few hours,
and therefore the trout must be in some way sensi-
ble to the influence of light. The same species of
fish, and many others, are also remarkable for the
acuteness of their vision. Every angler in clear
streams knows how vain it is to tempt a trout, if
either his shadow or his reflection is thrown upon the
water ; and even if the angler is on the right side,
the passage of a countryman along the opposite bank,
or a cow coming to drink, may spoil his sport for the
day. Of the hearing of fishes we know less ; but we
do know that water is a conductor of sound in a pecu-

liar way, though, aswecannot make our experiments on
a direct parallel, our own ears being of a different struc-
ture from those of fishes, we can arrive at no very
conclusive result on the subject. As to the sense of
smelling, though some have gone so far as to say
that a trout knows a living worm from a dead one by
the smell, yet as the same sense does not enable the
very same trout to distinguish an artificial fly with a
hook in it, from a real fly upon the water, we must
conclude that this sense is exceedingly imperfect.
Of taste fishes can have but little, and indeed no
animals but such as masticate their food, or at all
events have soft tongues, have this sense in any high
degree. But fishes, at least with very few excep-
tions, swallow indiscriminately almost any substance
which is floating ; and sailors sometimes amuse them-
selves with "giving a shark his grog," as they term
it, that is throwing a corked empty bottle overboard,
in order that a shark may swallow it.

The brain in fishes, if we are to suppose that the
acuteness of sensation bears any proportion to the
development of that organ, is very small and very
soft. In the tunny it is less than one seventeen
thousandth part of the body ; and in carp, which have
it in a greater proportion than most of the species that
have been examined, it is less than the five-hundredth
part. The peculiar manner in which the brain of the
whole finny race is developed, or rather the portions
of it which have the greatest development, would
lead us to conclude that, if we are to connect the
faculties and propensities of the animal with this
organ, the chief propensities of fishes are those that
relate to mere feeding and motion.

Of the peculiar organs of sense, the eye is the most
conspicuous, and in all probability the most useful
to the animal. -As is the case with all vertebrated
animals, fishes have only two eyes, placed, generally
speaking, in opposite sides of the mesial plane. The
flat fish no doubt form an apparent exception to this ;
for in the usual way of regarding the darker coloured
side as the back, and the lighter coloured one as the
belly, the eyes are always on the upper or back part,
and towards one side of the mouth, sometimes the
left side, and in other species the right, as will be
mentioned in the article FLAT-FISH. But this apparent
deviation from the typical, and indeed the invariable
position of the eyes in vertebrated animals, is not real
in the fishes under notice. There is a twist in the
neck, or at all events in the upper portion of the
spinal column, which turns the mesial plane in an ob-
lique direction ; so that when it passes from fin to
fin in the body of a flounder, it passes through the
head in a curve, from a point between the eyes
through the mouth to the middle of the lower jaw.
In their size the eyes of fishes vary considerably ;
and though the general law be that the eye is large in
proportion as the fish inhabits the deeper water, yet
there are some exceptions. Thus in some species of
eel the eyes are so very minute, that they are barely
visible, even in a tolerably large specimen. But the
exception here is also more apparent than real ; for
though those eels do inhabit the bottom of those waters
in which they are found, yet they are never found at
any great depth. Besides, eels live partly in the water,
and partly in the mud, being as it were a sort of
water moles ; and therefore like the moles which bur-
row in the ground, and almost all animals which enter
partly or wholly into the soil, they have less need of
large eyes, and such eyes would be much more liable

FISH.

487

to injuries. We may therefore consider it as a general
Jaw that where fishes inhabit the water, and do not bury
themselves at least over the eyes in the ooze at the
bottom, the size of the eye is in proportion to the
depth. Thirty or forty fathoms may perhaps be con-
sidered as the average depth of a cod fish on the
ground banks ; and the eye of a fish of this descrip-
tion is at least as large as that of an ox. Thus the
size of the eye guides us to the position which the
fish holds in the water ; and in like manner the situa-
tion of the eyes points out in what direction the fish
looks out for its food. Those which lie at the bottom,
or swim near the bottom, and look for prey over
them, have the eyes in the upper part of the head,
and often very near to each other ; and in order to
answer this habit, the mouth of such fishes very gene-
rally opens upwards also, — that is to say, the lower
jaw projects beyond the upper one, and rises up in
front of it. On the other hand, if the fish has to seek
its food below it, the eyes are placed wide apart, and
fishes of this kind very frequently have the muzzle or
frontal line from the eyes sloping downwards as if
truncated, and the opening of the mouth below.
Fishes which follow their prey in level chase, have
the eyes placed more nearly in the situation of those
of land animals of the chase ; and in them, what-
ever may be the nature of the prey, the opening of the
mouth is pretty nearly straight.

This connection between the form and position of
the eyes, and the mouth of fishes, and also with the
depths at which they feed, and the direction in which
their food is situated with regard to them, is very
important in the natural history of fishes, and affords
perhaps a surer guide to the character of any " strange
fish " that we meet with, than half the characters
which are given, or which can be given in the systems.
Indeed, systematic ichthyology is very imperfect in
this respect ; for even where the characters of the
genus, the species, or even the larger division, are
given with the greatest accuracy, they do not of them-
selves give the slightest indication of the part of the
sea in which we are to seek for that species of fish
with the greatest certainty of success ; and it would
certainly be desirable to combine something of this
kind with the systematic view, though to carry it into
details would most likely be a work of immense labour
and much uncertainty. It would also be a good plan,
if the execution of it were possible, to connect the
qualities of the fish as food, with the characters indi-
cating the depths at which they are found j but this
is a point to which we shall have occasion to recur.

The eyes of fishes are placed \\\fossce or sockets in
the bones of the head, much in the same way as those
of the other vertebrated animals ; but they are in
general destitute of eye-lids, neither have they any
projecting arch in the form of an eyebrow, or any of
that apparatus which in the land vertebrata is employed
in lubricating and cleaning the eyes. Whether fishes
know sorrow we cannot tell ; but we are sure that
they cannot " weep over their woes," for they have
no tears. In the moon fish ( Tctrodon mola) however,
the eye is in great part covered by a circular lid, which
has merely a perforation in the middle for admitting
the light. In the greater number the skin passes
over the eye without any division, so that that organ
is as well defended as any other part of the bod}-,
only the skin over it is transparent. In removing the
skin from a common eel, there is no perforation an-
swering to the eyes. The whole skin appears of

equal strength, only there are two little patches cor-
responding to the eyes, which are transparent and
colourless.

But in some fishes there is not this transparent
spot, or window for the accommodation of the eye.
In some the texture, and even the colour, of the rest
of the skin extends to the part which covers this
organ. In the trunk fishes (Ostmcions) there are the
same striae or rugosities in the skin over the eyes, as
in that of the surrounding parts ; and in that singular
inhabitant of the northern seas (Gastrobranchus cascus,
Myjcinc ghdinosa of Linnseus,) the common integu-
ments which pass over the eyes are so exactly of the
same colour and texture as the rest, that the animal
appears to have no eyes at all until the skin is
removed.

The element in which fishes live, by the constant
motion of the water, renders the use of eyelids and
lubricating fluids perfectly unnecessary ; and their
exposure to the same fluid under a heavy pressure,
owing to the great depth, requires a far more firm
covering than the common coat which encloses the
aqueous humour of an eye which is used only in
the air. A projecting eye, or one convex outwards,
would be equally inconvenient, and thus the surface
of the eyes in fishes is flat ; but this is compensated
by the greater magnifying power of the crystalline
lens. The flat cornea of the eye in fishes, besides
being that which sustains least injury from the pas-
sage of the fish through the water, and from the
chance of striking against obstacles, has some advan-
tages in the greater quantity of light which it sends
to the sentient part of the eyes, than would be sent
by a convex surface. It is only at the middle of
such a surface that the whole of the light falling upon
it enters ; for everywhere else a portion is reflected
off, corresponding to the angle at which the circular
surface turns away from a plane at right angles to
the axis of its centre ; and by this means, great part
of the light which falls upon the external surface of a
very round or protuberant eye, is dispersed through
the surrounding atmosphere, and would be lost for all
useful purposes in vision. But when the surface of
the eye is flat, as it is in fishes, there is no more light
reflected away from one part of it than from another ;
and therefore, of such quantity of light as may reach
the eyes of fishes in the depths of the sea, there is
much less lost than there is of that which falls upon
the convex eyes of land animals. No doubt there is
a much more scanty supply of light under the water,
especially at considerable depths, than there is upon
the land ; but it is this which, more than any thing
else, shows the beautiful adaptation of the eye to the
circumstances under which it is used ; and no one
who reflects on the subject will fail to perceive that in
the coincidence of this with all the other advantages
which the fish derives from the peculiar structure of
this organ, there is evidence of wisdom far surpassing
not only the wisdom of man, but the estimation of the
human mind, in any other feeling than that of simple
adoration.

In fishes the general form of the entire eye with its
coats, its lenses, and its humours is nearly that of a
hemisphere, of which the flat side is external, and the
interior one spherical. In the skate, the superior
part is also flattened, so that the vertical diameter is
to the transverse as one to two. This flatness of
the anterior part of the eye is compensated by the
spherical form of the crystalline lens. This body is

488-

FISH.

more dense in fishes than in land animals. Monro
found the crystalline lens of an ox to be 1 104, while
that of a cod was 1 165, water being reckoned at 1000.
The crystalline lens projects through the pupil, and
leaves scarce any space for the aqueous humour. The
vitreous humour is proportionally small. The portion
of the axis occupied by each of the three humours of
the eye, in the herring for instance, may be expressed
in fractions as follows : aqueous humour \, crystal-
line lens %, and the vitreous humour ^. The spherical
form of the crystalline lens has been already alluded
to ; but the following table, from the observations of
Petit and Cuvier. will exhibit more clearly the pro-
portion between the axis and the diameter in a few
species.

The axis to the diameter in the —
Salmon as . 9 to 10 Whiting . 14 to 15
Sword-fish . 25 26 Shark . . 21 22
Shad ... 10 11 Ray ... 21 22
Pike ... 14 15 Herring . . 10 11
Barbel ... 11 12 Tench . . 7 8

Carp ... 14 15 Eel ... 11 12
Mackerel . . 12 13 Conger . . 9 10

In the eyes of fishes the sclerotic coat is firmer
than it is either in mammalia or in birds. It is here
cartilaginous, semi-transparent, and elastic, and suffi-
ciently solid to preserve its form of itself. In the
salmon it is of the thickness of a line posteriorly, and
of an almost bony hardness before. This is frequently
the case in other fishes, especially near its junction
with the cornea, where it sometimes appears like an
osseous ring. The outer layer of the choroid coat is
either white, silvery, or gold-coloured, and is very
thin and a little vascular. The inner coat, to which
the term membrana ruyschiana has been applied, is in
general black, and covered every where by mucous
substance. In the ray, however, it is transparent.
Between these two membranes of the choroid coat
there is a body of a brilliant red colour. Its form is
usually that of a cylinder, formed like a ring round the
optic nerve ; the ring, however, is not complete, a
segment of a certain length being always wanting.
Sometimes, as in the Perca labrax, it consists of two
pieces, one on each side the optic nerve. It is con-
sidered by some as muscular, and enabling the eye to
accommodate the figure to the distance of the objects ;
•while others regard it as glandular, and destined to
secrete some of the humours of the eye. This gland,
we may add, does not exist in the Chondropterygii, as
for instance in the rays and sharks. In the eyes of
fishes the iris has generally a rich metallic lustre,
usually of a golden or silvery tint. This is occasioned
by its transparency, which allows the natural colour
of the choroid or painted coat to be seen through it.
In different species. the pupil or opening of the iris
differs in shape ; but, generally speaking, it is either a
circle or an oval. In the salmon, and in some other
genera, however, it is drawn out into a sharp angle at
the fore part ; but what may be the use or effect upon
fishes of those differences in the form of the pupil, we
have no means of ascertaining, inasmuch as we cannot
refer them to certain habits of the animals, as we can
in the case of those mammalia which have the pupil
contracting in an oval form upon an axis either vertical
or horizontal. There is one species of fish, Anableps
tetrophthalmus, which has a very peculiar formation of
the eyes. This fish has in reality only two eyes, but
there is a double pupil to each, which gives it the
appearance of having four. See the article ANABLEPS.

In the skate the upper edge of the pupil is formed
into several stripes arranged like radii of a circle, of
a golden colour on their external surface, but black
on the internal one. In ordinary states of the eye
they are folded back and concealed between the
upper margin of the pupil and the vitreous humour ;
but if pressure is applied to the upper part of the eye,
they unfold and come partially over the pupil like
the blind of a window. In the torpedo or cramp
fish there is a veil of this kind which is capable of
entirely covering the eye. Of the bony fishes, and
indeed of most of the cartilaginous ones, none possess
an apparatus of this kind, though in most fishes there
is a vertical veil at the corner of the orbit which
covers a small portion of the eye. The eyes of
fishes are, generally speaking, supported on a mass
of elastic jelly-like matter, which acts as a spring,
and prevents them from receiving any concussion
even in the most violent motions of the fishes. But
in the cartilaginous fishes the support of the eye is
quite different from this. In them the eye is placed
on one end of an elastic peduncle or stalk of car-
tilaginous substance, which has its other extremity
inserted in the bottom of the orbit, and the muscles,
by acting on the eye placed on this flexible peduncle,
can gite it extensive motion in every direction, while,
when the muscles cease to act, the elasticity of the
peduncle brings the eye back to the mean position.
Fishes which have eyes of this description are
generally very voracious in their dispositions, and
this mobility of the eye gives them great command of
all the space around them.

We have occupied so much space in describing
the eyes of fishes, that we can spare but little to their
other organs of sense ; but, in respect of them less is
necessary, — first, because they are much less perfect,
and the fish appear to depend less upon them for
information and guidance ; and, secondly, because
we do not know how ears and olfactory apparatus
may act under the surface of water. Sound, as we
hear it, is heard by peculiar pulsations of the air ;
and scent, we have reason to believe, is occasioned
by particles of the odorous body which diffuse them-
selves through the air, and though we often expe-
rience scents emitted by the air to the water, we
know not what may be the effect of similar succes-
sions under the surface. When an odorous substance
is floating in a running stream, we have no reason to
suppose that any particles capable of affecting organs
of smell can be given out by it against the current ;
and if we may reason from analogy, in a case where
we can reason from nothing else, we must be led to
conclude that such emanations can make their way
through the water only to very short distances, so
that in an ample body of water it does not appear
that there can be much scent

Then, in the great body of the oceanic waters
which is the grand habitat of the fish — a field which
man has not either to plough or to sow, but from
which he may nevertheless reap, and does reap when
even moderately industrious, a most abundant har-
vest— there are other causes capable of destroying all
odorous matter. The sea contains a vast quantity of
chlorides, or at all events of hydrochlorides, substances
most destructive of the effluvia, especially the noxious
effluvia, of bodies in the air, and thus we may con-
sider the sea as the grand laver of purification for the
globe, and this fact is against the existence of much
sense of smell in fishes.

FISH

489

In the case of sight, the state of things is very dif-
ferent, and fishes may, especially from the microscopic
form of the crystalline lenses of their eyes, have as per-
fect vision at depths to which we suppose only a small
portion of the light of the sun ever reaches, as we have
in the noontide beams of the luminary. We must not
judge of the capacity of any eye for seeing under
water, from the difficulty that one has of seeing into
it ; because, without any reference to the clear or
muddy state of the water itself, the quantity of light
which the surface reflects when the rays fall obliquely
upon it, is greater than that which is not out of the
water. Of this we have a case nearly parallel, when
we stand in a very oblique position with regard to a
window, and endeavour to see what is going on inside.
The glass of the window may be nearly as transpa-
rent as the air itself, and it may be perfectly flat, so
as not to break the reflected light ; but the more
transparent, and the more flat and smooth, the more
completely does it obstruct our vision by the reflected
light, if our position has the requisite degree of
obliquity. But notwithstanding our inability to see
through the window into the apartment under these
circumstances, the people in the apartment may be
enjoying even a quantity of light which is painful to
them, and they may be capable of discovering the
most minute object, not only inside the room but
through the window.

The situation of fishes in the sea is much the same
as that of the inmates of the room in this illustration,
and we, the observers of the fishes, are like the spec-
tators out of doors, incapable of seeing what goes on,
either if our position is oblique, or if the light falls
obliquely on the surface. And we have the evidence
of direct observation in proof of this. There is no
reason why the water of the sea should be more
transparent in the regions of the equator than in
those of the poles ; and yet, from the mere fact of
the solar light falling nearly perpendicular upon the
surface of the water in those seas, they are as clear
as crystal, and one can see the whole of the opera-
tions that are going on even though the depth be
forty fathoms or more. In our latitudes we can see
but a very small depth into the sea, and therefore
the operations which go on under the surface are a
sealed book to us. But it is only we who are thus
left in the dark, for there is abundant light for every
eye which is under the water. Those who have so
practised diving that they can do it with the eyes
open, are able to see the smallest object at the
greatest depths which they can reach ; and there is
no doubt that, from the peculiar structure of the eye
in fishes, and the increase of the field of view in pro-
portion to the depth, they can see the most minute
objects at the greatest depths which they inhabit, and
that, at al! depths, sight is the sense on which they
chiefly depend. Still fishes have organs both of
smell and of hearing, and without a slight notice of
these our sketch of them would be incomplete.

The organs of smell vary more than in the mam-
malia or birds. In many, the nostrils have only the
opening on each side ; but in others, this is parted
by a septum which gives them the appearance of hav-
ing four nostrils. Sometimes the openings are round,
sometimes oval, and sometimes they are longitudinal
slits. They are either on the mouth or between the
eyes, or in an intermediate position ; and they have
occasionally the form of short projecting tubes. They
are furnished with a few muscular fibres, and so must

be capable of some motion ; but to what extent, and
for what purpose, it is by no means easy to deter-
mine.

On examining the inside of the nostril, we find in
sharks and rays a large lamina, which extends the
whole length of the opening, with smaller parallel
laminae branching off from it on each side like the
teeth of a crab ; while in most fishes of both divisions
these laminae are like rays with a tubercle in the
centre. In the membrane which lines the nostrils of
the pike, the vessels are black ; but in most fishes
they are red ; and there are between the nasal vessels
in all fishes, papilla? which discharge a thick mucus.
The olfactory nerves, at their origin, form swellings or
knots, so large as frequently to have been mistaken for
the real brain. These tubercles in skates and sharks
are united into one homogeneous medullary mass, from
each of the lateral parts of which the olfactory nerves
arise. In the flounder, the herring, pike, perch, and
salmon, there are two pair of tubercles, the anterior
of which is smaller than the other. In the cartilagi-
nous fishes, as the skates and shark, the olfactory
nerve is very soft. It is, in them, a bulb which passes
obliquely forward towards the nares, which are at a
greater or less distance from the brain, according to
the species. The spinous fishes have the olfactory
nerve very long and slender. In those which have
the snout elongated, this nerve is received^nto a car-
tilaginous tube. In those with short snouts, the
nerve is surrounded by a fine membrane only, which
appears to be the same as that which contains the fat
or oily humour that covers the brain. In the haddock,
and some other fishes, the olfactory nerve, in its course
from the brain to the nose, passes through a cineritious
ball, which resembles the cineritious matter connected
in our body to the olfactory nerve within the cranium.
When the olfactory nerve arrives behind the folded
membrane which we have described, it is dilated to
be applied to the whole of its internal and convex
surface. In some fishes no previous enlargement
takes place ; while in others the nerve swells into a
real ganglion. When expanded, it has been compared
to the retina, but the filaments of which it is composed
are more distinct.

As a specimen of the opinions which are held by
those who speak and write with not the most profound
reflection, but which sort of opinions are unfortunately
the most prevalent both in conversation and in books,
we shall quote a short passage from Dr. Shaw's General
Zoology, which, however, the reader, who bears in
mind the readiness with which artificial flies and
wooden minnows are taken, will perceive, carries its
own refutation. " If," says Dr. Shaw, " you throw a
fresh worm into the water, a fish shall distinguish it
at a considerable distance ; and that this is not done
by the eye is plain from observing, that after the same
worm has been a considerable time in the water, and
lost its smell, no fishes will come near it ; but if you
take out the bait, and make several incisions into it,
so as to let out more of the odoriferous effluvia, it
shall have the same effect as formerly. Now it is
certain, that, had the animals discovered this bait with
their eyes, they would have come equally to it in
both cases. In consequence of this smell being the
principal means they have of discovering their food,
we may frequently observe them allowing themselves
to be carried down with the stream, that they may
ascend again leisurely against the current of water ;
thus the odoriferous particles swimming in. that

490

FISH.

medium, being applied more forcibly to their organs
of smell, produce a stronger sensation."

But though we have very little ground for suppos-
ing that there is any application of the olfactory
nerves of fish which bears much analogy to the sense
of smell in animals which live in the air, yet this
apparatus is so elaborate, and so constant to its form
in the different genera and even species, that it would
be very desirable to know more about its use. Not
only on account of the light which it would throw
upon the physiology of fishes, but because the differ-
ence in this apparatus might be made good and per-
manent systematic characters. That this apparatus
is of very little use, either in directing fishes where to
find their food, or how to select it, is highly probable ;
and, therefore, in the present state of our knowledge,
or rather, we should say, perhaps, of our ignorance,
the most rational conclusion is, that those nostrils,
which, from their structure and the nature of their
internal coating, must be very sensitive in some way
or other, teach the fish to avoid water mixed with
substances which would be deleterious to its health.
In man, and in all those animals which have soft tongues
and breathe through the nostrils, there is a very close
connection between the senses of smell and taste,
especially when the taste is that of an aroma, which
affects the palate rather than the tongue, as is proved
by the fact, that if a substance having this aroma is
taken into the mouth, and the nostrils held closed, it
is not only impossible to tell what aroma it is, but
there is little or no perception of aroma at all.

Though the vulgar opinion often is, that fishes do
not hear, the contrary is established by many facts.
Pond fishes, such as trout and carp, have been trained
to come regularly and be fed at the ringing of a din-
ner bell, while others have answered to a whistle. It
is reported that the Romans, among whom pet fishes
were very common in the days of their greatest
luxury, could call any one fish by name, and the fish
would answer. Perhaps this is going a little too far ;
but from the observations which have been made in
modern times, it is certain that fishes not only hear,
but hear very readily ; and there are some other cir-
cumstances which would lead one to conclude that
they are susceptible of a good deal of education, and
capable of showing considerable attachment. In
showery weather, river fishes will often be seen feeding
and moving about with the greatest activity, and
biting as freely as the most devoted angler could
desire ; but if there comes a loud peal of thunder,
down goes every fish to the bottom, and the sport is
over for some time. So also the discharge of artil-
lery, or muskets, or shouting scares the fish ; and,
therefore, fishermen are usually silent when shooting
their nets.

In the bony fishes, and also in the cartilaginous
ones, which have the gills free, there are no external
openings of the ears ; but in those fishes which have
fixed gills, there are in the occiput two small openings,
sufficient to admit the head of a pin, which lead to
the internal ears. In fishes having the gills free, the
internal organs of hearing are situated in the sides
of the cavity of the cranium, and fixed there by a
cellular tissue, consisting of vessels and bony or
cartilaginous bridles. In fishes with the gills fixed,
those organs are enclosed in a particular cavity
formed in the substance of the head. This cavity is
situated on the side and posterior part of that which
contains the brain, with which it does not communi-

cate, except by the holes that afford passages for the
nerves. The sac exhibits many differences as to size
and form in the different species. Besides the ordi-
nary viscid fluid, there are some small cretaceous or
chalky bodies suspended by a fine nervous tissue. In
the osseous fishes these are three in number, and are
white and hard, like porcelain. In the cartilaginous
fishes with the gills free, these bodies are less nume-
rous, and their consistency is seldom greater than that
of moistened starch. The use of this peculiar part of
the auditory organs is not very well known ; but it is
supposed that they communicate to the nerves the
vibrations of the water. As the ears of fishes are
much more simple in their whole structure, than those
of land animals, and as the parts of which they are
composed are not easily examined with sufficient
accuracy, they cannot well be made grounds of syste-
matic arrangement.

Reproduction of Fishes — This, though one of the
most general and energetic of all natural operations,
is involved in very considerable obscurity ; and human
art has not been applied to the increase of the num-
bers or the improvement of breeds ; and, indeed, from
the rapidity with which all fishes multiply, this does
not appear to be absolutely necessary. Fishes are,
generally speaking, either oviparous, or producers of
eggs which are brought to maturity external of the
body of the mother, or they are ovoviviparous, that is
producing the eggs in one part of the body, and
bringing them to maturity in another, discharging the
young alive. In most fishes the two sexes are dis-
tinct, and in different individuals ; but in some few
instances, it is alleged that they are true hermaphro-
dites, or have both sexual energies in the same indivi-
duals. This is, however, an obscure part of the subject,
liable to many uncertainties ; and, therefore, we shall
not enter into any of its details. Leaving them out of
the question, we have the two divisions of oviparous
and ovoviviparous, or, as they may be more popu-
larly termed, fishes which are hatched externally of
the mother, and fishes which are hatched internally.

Of the first, which is by far the most numerous
division, and also the most prolific, the whole have
free gills, though some of them are bony, and others
cartilaginous in the skeleton. The female organs, which
are popularly designated roes, are generally double, but
sometimes single ; and the corresponding organs of
the males, which are properly called milts or whites,
are of pretty similar form, though of very different
consistency. The roe consists of a vast mass of eggs
contained in an apparently very thin membrane, which
are at first small, but gradually increase, and are
large and very distinct at the time when they are
excluded from the body. The milt contains a thickish
fluid, which merely increases in quantity, so as to
arrive at its greatest bulk when the ova or eggs of the
female are in a condition for being deposited.

It is for the purpose of bringing this substance to
maturity, that so many fishes seek the warmer parts
of the waters at certain seasons of the year ; and it is
for the purpose of depositing their spawn, that the
greater number of our shoaling fishes, which are at
other times in the deep water, or discursive through
the seas, come upon the coasts. The places to which
various species of fishes resort for these purposes, the
mode in which the eggs and milts, or spawn as the two
jointly are called, are deposited, and the substances to
which they are attached for the purposes of stability or
protection, are, however, so numerous, that it is impos-

FIS

sible to generalise them. In general the approach
toward the shore of fishes for the purpose of spawning,
is an operation of the greatest possible value to man.
At the time when the roes and milts are coming to
maturity, all the energies of the fish appear to be
excited to a more than ordinary degree ; so that at
this time, and up almost to the period when the spawn
is ripe for being deposited, the fish are in the best
condition for the table ; and thus they may be said to
come on the shores almost on purpose to be caught.
The eggs of different fishes vary much in colour ; but
those of all the species in the present division, agree
in being perfectly -globular. None of them have
shell?, but they are enveloped in a membranous integu-
ment. This integument is more or less firm according
to the species. The yolk, instead of occupying the
centre, as in the eggs of birds, is placed laterally, and
is surrounded by the glaire or albuminous matter.
Betsveen the yolk and the glaire is situated the
gerrn or embryo. The germ becomes ready for
exclusion at very different periods, according to the
species. Thus the egg of the carp is said to be
perfected in the course of three weeks, while that of
the salmon requires as many months. But in the eggs
of the same species, a great deal depends on the tem-
perature to which they are exposed. In the same
pond, those eggs are soonest hatched which have
been deposited in the shallowest water. As the em-
bryo is developed, the heart first appears, afterwards
the spine, eyes, and tail. The organs of motion are
evolved in the following order. The pectoral fins
first make their appearance, and afterwards those of
the tail ; the dorsal fins follow, and then the ventral
and anal fins. In fishes, such as the salmon, which
bury their spawn under the gravel of rivers and
brooks, the appearance of the young at first is very
singular, as they come up through the covering, while
the lower part of the body remains attached to the
remainder of the egg below.

In fishes which hatch their young, the eggs are
fecundated internally ; but observations have been
made on comparatively few fishes of this division, and
therefore our information respecting them is com-
paratively vague. The sharks and rays are the ones
to which most attention has been paid ; and the fol-
lowing remarks will show in outline the progress of
the young in these. The females have two ovaries,
or egg vessels, situated at the sides of the spine, and
containing eggs in different stages of forwardness.
An oviduct proceeds from each of these, the an-
terior extremities of which are united to the dia-
phragm and spine. Internally, these ducts are covered
with glandular papillae, and pass through a large
glandular body. After passing this body, they
dilute into a large sac. When the ova pass into
the oviduct they are carried to this glandular body,
which is supposed to secrete the glaire or albu-
minous part, and afterwards conveyed to the
uterus, where they receive the shell. At what
period the egg becomes impregnated, or in what
manner the operation is performed, are questions to
which no satisfactory answers can be returned. The
eggs are of a quadrangular form, with processes at
the four corners ; they are called sea mice by some,
but by fishermen they are called skate-purse, or
shark-purse. The shell has a horny consistence,
and may often be observed, at certain seasons, among
the rejectamenta which the sea casts, as being no
longer useful in its economy. When the young fish
have been perfected in the uterus, where they derive

H. 4*1

.heir nourishment exclusively from the egg, and not
"rom the mother, they are ejected through the open-
ngs of each uterus, at the sides of the cloaca, and
ipon escaping from the shell, enjoy immediately an
ndependent existence, and begin to search after 'new
nourishment.

The individual broods, or shoals of production, in
fishes of this description, are not nearly so numerous
as those of the oviparous fishes, though from the dif-
ferent stages of growth, at which the eggs are contem-
porneously found in the females, it is probable that
the period of production lasts considerably longer.
Such fishes have not the same necessity for migrating
in search of proper breeding grounds as the others,
and therefore the whole sea is comparatively free to
them at all times in proportion to their habits. It
farther appears that they are not so much exhausted
by the labour of reproduction, and thus their flesh
does not get so much out of season as that of the
others. This may also, in conjunction with the soft-
ness of the bones, which never know old age (see
CHONDROPTEHYGII), contribute to the large size,
inexhaustible strength, and long life of these fishes.

In the sea, it does not appear that there are any
hybrids among fishes, any more than there are among
land animals in^a state of wild nature ; but the case
is said to be different in ponds, in which carp and trout
are sometimes said to blend their several qualities.
This point, though one of some interest it' fish were
cultivated as they ought to be, is one which is involved
in very considerable obscurity.

The following table, the result of useful observa-
tions which are extracted from the Philosophical
Transactions for 1767, will give some idea of the rela-
tive fertility of several species of oviparous fishes : —

Fish.
Carp . .
Codfish .
Flounder
Herring .
Mackerel
Perch
Pike . .
Roach .
Smelt .
Sole . .
Tench .

Weight.
ox. dr.
25 5
0 0
24 4
5 10
18 0
8 9
56 4
10 6*
2 0"
14 8
40 0

Wgt. ro<

2,571

12,540

2,200
480
1,223
765
5,100
361
149
5,422

No. of eggs.

Date.

263,109

. . April 4.

3,686,760

. . Dec. 23.

1,357,400

. . March 14.

36,960

. . Oct. $5.

546,681

. , June 1 8.

28,323

. . April 5.

49,304

.. — 25.

81,586

. . Way 2.

38,278

..March 21.

100,362

. . June 1 3.

383,252

. . May 28.

From this table it appears that there is no constant
proportion between the weight of the fish and the
number of eggs, or the weight of the roe. We have
also no means of ascertaining any thing with respect
to the relation between the size of the present fish
and that of their progeny ; as, for instance, we are
unable to tell whether the fry that are produced from
the roe of a small fish, are equal to, or greater or less
than those produced by the roe of a larger fish of the
same species, or the same age. We have also no
means of ascertaining what proportion there may be
between the eggs that are deposited and the number
of fish that are hatched, and between the number
that come to maturity. The eggs are eagerly sought
after by other fishes, by aquatic birds and reptiles.
In the young state, they are pursued even by their
own species, as well as by beings belonging to other
classes. But for the numbers of eggs thus produced,
the very race of fishes would soon be extinguished
by enemies while young ; and we may add, that the
diminution of the number of eggs would cut off' a large
supply of food, and destroy that dependence which

492

PISH.

we observe in the system of nature, of the different
races of animals on one another. The season at which
fish deposit their eggs varies according to the species,
and even the habits of the individual. U is well-known
that among salmon, even in the same river, a differ-
ence of some months is observable, and we believe
that the same remark is applicable to all other kinds
of fish. In general, before spawning, fish forsake the
deep water, and approach the shore, that the roe
being placed in shallow water the influence of the
solar rays may vivify it. At that season some fish
forsake the salt water and ascend rivers ; and, after
spawning, retreat again to the ocean. The eggs of
various species of fish belonging to the oviparous
order, with distinct sexes, are used as articles of food.
Where circumstances permit, they are consumed
•while in a recent state. In other situations they are
salted, and form the well-known article of trade called
caviar. The characters which the organs of reproduc-
tion furnish in the discrimination of species have been
hitherto too much neglected. Connected as they are
with the existence of the animal, and exercising a pow-
erful controul over its habits, they ought to be examined
with care, and their appearances recorded in detail.
In the case of those fishes which are ovoviviparous,
and range over the wide seas, not requiring to come to
the shallow water for the purpose of depositing their
eggs, this might be a matter of considerable difficulty,
but much more might be recorded than has been done
in the case of the spawning fishes ; and they are not
only the most numerous, but, in an economical point
of view, by far the most valuable of the whole. We
must, however, pay some little attention to another
branch of the general subject.

DISTRIBUTION AND MIGRATION OF FISHES. These
are subjects which cannot well be separated from each
other by any analogies of the facts which we are
capable of forming ; and the observed facts are so few,
and the connexion of them is so broken, that this is
a portion of the subject upon which it behoves us to
express ourselves with the greatest diffidence.

In order fully to see the causes of the distribution
of fishes over the wide expanse of the sea in breadth,
and through the depths of its waters in profundity,
there are many elements required on which our infor-
mation is very limited. We know that in the tropical
•waters the elements of life reach to a greater depth
below the surface than they do in higher latitudes ;
and if there be any portion round either pole or
poles, which is never clear of ice, we may presume
that the number of fishes there is comparatively limited
both in species and in individuals. Indeed, from all
that we know of the matter, we may suppose that there
is in the wide ocean of every latitude a depth beyond
which no creature can live ; and that, consequently,
before such profound depths are reached, there must
cease to be any fishes. But what this particular depth
may be for any one latitude we have no certain means
of ascertaining; because it must depend upon several
circumstances, such as the solar action, in respect of
latitude, the set of any current which may happen to
pass over it, and the character of the bottom ; not
merely as respects the soil, or other substance of
which it is composed, but as respects the action which
may be going on under it. Thus, for instance, if a
sea is in the vicinity of volcanoes, and especially if it
is studded with volcanic islands, and subject to the
production of new ones, there is no doubt that the
water must be warmer, and also more subject to be put
in motion in such a sea, than in one below which no

such sources of heat are in operation. Thus, for in.
stance, there is no doubt that the Mediterranean,
toward Sicily and the shores of Naples, is in some
respects analogous to a seething pot ; and the same
may be said of the volcanic portion of the Red Sea ;
of the sea around some of the Atlantic islands ; aiwJ,
in short, of that around every land where there is vol-
canic action in the neighbourhood of the sea. If we
could go minutely into this subject, which, however,
is impossible from the want of the requisite data, we
should find that the progressive history of fishes, and
the progressive history of volcanic action, have a very
close connection with each other. In former times,
when the waters of the Mediterranean covered what
are now the plains of Languedoc, and many of the
summits of the central mountains of France were
blazing with volcanic fires, a temperature equal to
that at present under the equator may have been
given to the waters of the Mediterranean ; and this
may have been the reason why, in the accumulations
of fossil fishes, which are so remarkably plentiful iu
some parts of Italy, there are many species of which
there are no types except in the tropical seas ; and
those shells and other productions of the waters, which
are found in the Mediterranean, of more tropical cha-
racter than anywhere else, under the same parallel of
latitude, may perhaps be received as evidences of the
same fact. We mention these few particulars, not
with any intention of entering upon the investigation
of a subject of such difficulty and uncertainty ; but
merely for the purpose of showing that if the history
of the finny tribes could be properly worked out, it
would throw much more light upon many of the most
interesting points in geology than we at first would
be apt to suppose.

In considering the distribution of fish, the first
distinction, and the most obvious one which we are
required to make, is that of fresh water and salt
water fishes. That there is any permanent structural
adaptation to any of these kinds of water rather than
the other is rendered doubtful by the fact of some
fishes living by turns in the one and in the other, and
apparently keeping their health equally well in both.
We cannot adduce a more striking or more interest-
ing instance of this than that of the salmon, with
which every one is so familiar in our own country.
Yet even in the salmon, the transition from the one
kind of water to the other must not be immediate,
otherwise the fish cannot live ; for a salmon which
has been habituated to fresh water, will die of suffo-
cation if instantly put in sea water ; and a sea salmon
will do the same if instantly put in fresh water.
When, however, the transition is made gradually
enough, the fish not only sustains no injury, but it
appears, and is indeed, evidently part of the economy
of its nature to make this transition. Not only this,
but we believe, in some instances, fishes which are
never naturally found in fresh water, but always in
the sea, and that at considerable depths, have been
brought to live in water scarcely, if at all, impregnated
with salt.

The next distinction of fishes, with regard to
locality, is into littoral and pelagic, or those which
frequent the shores and shallows only, and those
which are discursive through the broad waters. The
most remarkable distinction between these is, that
the fishes of the shores and banks, like the mammalia
of the savannahs or meadows upon land, are generally
gregarious or found in jextensive shoals, while the
others have much less propensity to congregate in.

FISH.

493

numbers. It has been supposed by some, that when
coast fishes entirely disappear both from the shores
and from the surface of the water, they retire to a
considerable depth, and remain there in a state of
inaction ; but the evidence in favour of this is far
from complete, and the analogy is rather against it.
If ever so numerous a shoal from the coasts were to
spread themselves over the whole surface of one of
the wide seas, it is quite evident that they might be
so far asunder as that a ship on its passage might not
observe one of them except by accident. The
migrations of those fishes used to be very much
misrepresented, especially in the case of herrings and
some others, which were alleged to breed in count-
less numbers in the regions of the poles, and to come
annually thence, for no reason that could well be
explained, except as a bonus to the fishermen of more
southerly latitudes. We know that when those
fishes, whether herring, pilchard, mackerel, or any
other which appear thus periodically, the milts
and roes are in a progressive state ; that as they
remain these advance to maturity ; and that if the
attempt to catch them is too long protracted, they
are found to have shed their spawn, or to be in the
condition of what is called " shotten herrings," which
are empty, lean, and unwholesome. The same applies
to every other species of periodical fish with which
we are acquainted. The probability, therefore, is
that such fishes have liltle migration in latitude with
the seasons, or rather that they have none at all ; but
that, if it be their habit to feed in the clear waters,
and not on the banks as ground fishes, they make
their way as the spawning season approaches for the
nearest shore, if it happens to be adapted for their
purpose. In proof of this, it may be remarked that
they do not remain off the points, or hang in the
currents, as if they were seeking the substances with
which the latter are loaded, but that they frequent
the estuaries, the bays, and other shallow indentations
of the coasts, where the spawn which they deposit
may remain undisturbed. In addition to this, we
have the further proof of the countless myriads of
the fry, or "soil" as it is called in the case of
herrings, which is observed on many parts of our
shores in the early part of summer, and which is
sometimes overcome by violent action of the weather,
and stranded in a close and extended stratum along
the beach. This takes place on many parts of the
coast where there are none of the fishes in the mature
state, or at least where they are not generally fished
for ; and this proves that though these fishes may
accumulate in such numbers as to make the capture
of them a profitable trade at particular points only,
yet that they contrive to range a great way in line
along the coast for the purpose of spawning, but that,
as is the habit with most animals, they perform this
operation during the night, or at all events at times
when they are not observed.

Whether, after these fishes have left the coast and
dispersed themselves through the sea, it would be
worth while to fish the depths for such of them as
are net fishes, is doubtful ; but it is highly probable
that, whether their numbers would repay the labour
and expense of their capture or not, yet they may be
found at all times and at all seasons in those seas on
whose shores they spawn, if sought for at a sufficient
distance from the land. It is also doubtful whether
the same fish spawns annually, or requires two or
more years to recover its tone and bring forward its
vast progeny ; but probability is in favour of the

latter, and this probability is strengthened by the
fact that, on some parts of the coast, after several
kinds of fish, the haddock among others, have, gener-
ally speaking, left the fishing grounds, and the few
that remain are " run," " shotten," and out of season,
the fishermen have only to stand some ten, fifteen, or
twenty miles from the shore, according to the nature
of the bottom, and their industry is rewarded by fish
as abundant and in as good condition as ever.

On some places of the coast too, where the fisher-
men have a little speculation, and will listen to
general principles (for, generally speaking, they are
a superstitious and dogged race, and can hardly be
driven from an old custom, however absurd and in-
jurious to their own interest it may happen to be),
they are enabled, so to express it, to go out and
meet the fish, and thus bring them to market much
earlier and in better condition ; nor is there any
doubt that, if duly sought for, all the fish which
come seasonally upon the shores of any country
might be found in good condition in some parts of
the surrounding seas at every season of the year.
Whether this may be the case with bottom fishes,
which never come close in shore to spawn, unless
the depth there bears some correspondence to that
over the banks on which they generally reside, it is
not so easy to say, because, as they of course, in the
case of their moving shoreward to spawn, take the
bottom sooner or farther from the land, they are not
so easily or so frequently observed. It is probable
that when we come to those fishes which are abso-
lutely ground feeders, there is very little migration
for the purpose of spawning, but that they rather
deposit their spawn in the banks and shallows which
they habitually frequent ; and as those banks, instead
of being swept bare by the tide, are places of deposit
for those substances which are carried in the waters
of tides and currents, it is highly probable that a
much smaller proportion of the spawn of such fishes
is destroyed, than there is of that of those which
inhabit nearer to the surface and deposit their spawn
in the shallows. The quantity of the latter which
must annually be destroyed by birds, by young fishes,
by Crustacea, and by many other creatures which
inhabit the margin of the sea, must be greatly
beyond what we might suppose, and thus it is not
easy to say how many races of animals may be in
great part supported by the excessive production of
the roe fishes, and yet leave a sufficient number of
those animals themselves.

There is no doubt that the circulating currents
which are put in motion by the rotation and revolu-
tion of the earth, and the different actions of the sun
and moon at different times of the day, and different
seasons of the year, have a considerable effect upon
the seasonal distribution of these fishes which come
within their range, and inhabit near the surface of the
waters. But we have hardly space left even to
glance over the outlines of this ; and even if we had,
the subject is beset with very many difficulties. We
do not know the depth to which those currents ex-
tend, or how the counter currents may act under them ;
but it is very probable that the profound depths of
the great oceans are not disturbed by any of them,
or even that they have much effect in changing the
abodes of the still deeper inhabiting fishes, especially
those of the tropical ones, where, as we have said,
fishes inhabit to a greater depth than they do in the
colder latitudes, But it is natural to suppose that
when any of these are caught by the current and

494 FI

borne into colder latitudes, that they gradually come
nearer and nearer to the surface, and thus a stray fish
may accidentally be found on the shores of a tempe-
rate country, which is found only in the deep in
\varm latitudes. We may further suppose that those
strays will be found most frequently at or near the
point of confluence, where two opposite points meet,
or in the embayments of a shore, along which a cur-
rent sweeps when approaching the point of conflu-
ence. This seems to be the reason why there are
so many fishes on the south-west coast of England,
which are rarely, if ever, met with on any other part
of the British coast, and also why such fishes occur
(though more rarely) on the shores of the more
southerly of the western isles of Scotland, than on the
east coast. A similar cause appears to bring the
more northerly fishes to the north-west of Scotland,
and through between the Orkney and Shetland islands,
and so along the greater part of the east coast, in
numbers far greater than they are met with on the
west ; and if we inform ourselves well of the directions
in which those currents set, and the seasons in which
they act with the greatest force, we shall be in a con-
dition for understanding what may be called the
involuntary migrations of fishes.

But notwithstanding those currents, it does not
appear that a very great number even of the surface
fishes follow them far out of their own seas. From
the islands which lie at the south point of America,
there is a counter current eastward produced there,
though it is probable that out at sea, clear of the
islands, the general current is westward. But not-
withstanding that there is thus apparently a facility
for the movement of fish both ways, it has not been
ascertained that there is a very extensive exchange
of fish in this way between the Atlantic and the
Pacific. So also there does not appear to be any
very great interchange between the Atlantic Ocean
by the Cape of Good Hope ; nor between the Indian
Ocean and the western Pacific, either to the south-
ward of Australia or through the passages between
that great island, and the south point of the Malay
peninsula, broken and interrupted as those passages
are by the numerous islands which lie between.
It would, however, require far more information than
we at present possess, or are likely ever to obtain, to
arrive at even the elements of those vast movements
of the ocean, and their effects upon the ocean's
inhabitants.

The peculiar manner in which the tide circulates in
the Atlantic, and the portion of comparatively " slack
water," as it is technically called, which is the middle
of the space round which the current circulates in that
ocean, has no inconsiderable effect upon the distri-
bution of the fishes which inhabit it. In this central
space there is something analogous to a floating
island, only it consists entirely of aquatic plants, and
plants which are never at any time rooted at the
bottom, but which derive their nourishment by float-
ing in the water, in the same manner as the duck
weed (lemna) which mantles our stagnant pools and
ditches with green in the summer. This great float
of aquatic plants is known to sailors by the name of
the " gulf weed ;" and though it is unconnected with
the bottom, it covers a vast extent, and excepting
that it shifts a little northward and southward, sea-
sonally, the great mass of it remains pretty stationary.
This floating weed is a grand nursery for marine ani-
mals, not a few of which, especially the medusae, are
poisonous, and seem to impart that character to the

SH.

fish which feed upon them ; but still this sea-weed
forms a lodgment for very many of the floating mol-
lusca and Crustacea, and offers a convenient place oi
attachment for the spawn of the pelagic fish, the fry
from which again furnishes abundant food for othei
fishes, and also for aquatic birds. This weed does
not lie wholly quiescent ; for the boundaries arc
everywhere put in motion by the current, so that the
greater part of the mass may be said to revolve on a
sort of centre. There is a similar accumulation and
current, though from the position of the shores the
set of it is different, in the south Atlantic ; and though
the Pacific is too extensive, and has been too seldom
visited for enabling us to judge with accuracy of its
general phenomena, yet it is highly probable that
there are similar accumulations of sea-weed there
which are tenanted by similar classes of animals, and
visited by fish in the manner that has been described.
We cannot, however, enter farther into this most
interesting, but very extensive and exceedingly diffi-
cult subject ; and we have thrown together these few
particulars, more with a view of drawing the attention
of general readers to the wonders and the wealth of
the all-productive sea, than from any hope of commu-
nicating in a few pages, anything like substantial
information upon a subject, the full development of
which would form materials for the volumes of a
library. We shall close this desultory article with a
short outline of Cuvier's

ARRANGEMENT OF FISHES. The great primary
division is into two sub-classes : osseous fishes, or
fishes strictly so called, which are justlyjregariled by
Cuvier as the typical ones ; and cartilaginous fishes,
or CHONDROPTERVGII, under which word some
account of their general characters will be found.
With regard to the osseous fishes, which are by far
the most numerous, they will hardly require a notice
in any separate article ; but the distinguishing cha-
racters of the divisions of them will be found under
the names referred to in the subsequent part of this
article. The two divisions now mentioned may be
considered as sub-classes ; and Cuvier divides each
sub- class into several orders, each order into families,
and each family into genera and specie*. Referring
to the article above named for the families of the car-
tilaginous fishes, which form only one order, and
admit of arrangement into three families, we shall
now consider the list of fishes, properly so called.

These Cuvier arranges into six orders : Acanthn-
pterygii, Malacopteryga, of which there are three
orders, formed from the position of the abdominal
fins, Lophobranchii, and Plectognathi. Of the
first of these some notice has already been taken,
and reference made to the several sub-divisions in
the article ACANTHOPTERYGJI, to which the reader
is referred, so that we shall have to notice here only
the remaining five orders, which we can do more
effectively, and probably in much shorter space, than
if we were to devote a separate article to each.

It will be perceived that this arrangement is not
founded on the same character or part of the or-
ganisation throughout all the orders ; and thus there
may appear to be an imperfection about it which is
not observable in the more artificial systems of others.
But, notwithstanding this, each order is founded upon
that structural character which is the most conspi-
cuous ; and, therefore, the arrangement is, perhaps,
the best which, in the present state of our know-
ledge, can be made,

It would, perhaps, have given a little more neat-

FIS

ness to the system if it had been possible to find a
third name, founded upon some common character of
Cuvier's last two orders of bony fishes ; but these are
so unlike each other, and all the rest, that this would
not. be an easy matter. Could it be done, the true
fishes would stand in three distinct divisions ; two of
them named from the textures of the fins, or rather
of the rays of the fins, and the third of some charac-
ter which is not made out in the mean time ; so that
at present, besides the ACANTHOPTERYGII, referred to
above, there are three divisions ; and the first, and by
far the most numerous of the three, is divided into
three orders, according to the position of the fins, as
already stated.

MALACOPTERYGII ABDOMINALES have the fins with
all the rays soft or jointed, and the two posterior fins
on the under part placed far backwards, near the vent,
so that in them the position of the four fins, which
answer to the extremities of mammalia, have nearly
the same relative plane on the body that the four
legs have on these. This position indicates the
same sort of motion as that of the mammalia, namely,
motion in nearly the same plane without much ascent
or descent; or that the fishes are straight-forward
swimmers, inhabiting the waters at no great depth.
They comprise by far the greater number of the fresh
water fishes, though some of them are also inhabitants
of the sea; the whole family are valuable as food :
and some of them are in this respect among the most
choice of the finny race. Generally speaking, their
gill-openings are large, their gills perfect, and their
respiration considerable ; they do not, so far as we
know, inhabit the waters at any very great depth ;
and with very few exceptions they die very soon after
being taken out of their native element. There is a
correspondence in the general form of the body to
their habits, which renders them a very natural order.
They are spindle-shaped, or with long and tapering
bodies, a little compressed, but still oval in the sec-
tion, with the lateral line straight, the muzzle in
general small and neat, and the centre of gravity not
very far from the centre of the length. In their
shape, indeed, they are, perhaps, the most handsome
of all the fishes ; and as, from their abundance in the
fresh waters, people have been more familiar with
them than with most of the others, they are, perhaps,
the typical fishes with most people ; and when we
think of a fish, it is a form such as that of one of these
which first suggests itself to us. The order is divided
by Cuvier into five families.

The Carp family (Cyprinoides.) These are almost all
fresh water fishes, some of them are found in moun-
tain pools, where they can hardly be supposed to
have come from any other waters ; and there are a
few which are capable of making short journeys on
land. The opening of the mouth is in general but shal-
low, and the jaws have no great strength ; these jaws
are often without teeth, and the margin of the mouth
is formed by the intermaxillary bones. To compen-
sate for the want of teeth in the margin of the mouth,
the bones of the pharynx are in general abundantly
toothed. The number of rays in the gills is but few ;
the body is scaly ; they have no adipose or fatty dor-
sal fin, as we find in the silures and the salmon ; their
stomach is a simple cul-de-sac ; there are no coccal
appendages to their pylorus ; and they are, perhaps,
the least carnivorous of all fishes.

The Pike family (Esocece). Many of these are also
inhabitants of the fresh waters, but some of their
characters and their dispositions are very different

495

from those of the former family. They have no
adipose fin on the back ; the margin of the upper
jaw is formed by the intermaxillary bones ; and the
lower jaw is furnished with very large and formidable
teeth. They are exceedingly voracious fishes ; many
of them are found in the salt waters, but others inhabit
the sea ; all have an air-bag ; and with very few
exceptions they have the dorsal fin far back, or im-
mediately over the anal. The common pike may be
regarded as the typical fish of this family.

Family of Silures (Siluridce'). These are distin-
guished from all the rest of the order by the absence
of true scales, having only a naked skin, or that skin
covered in some place with bony plate. Their inter-
maxillary bones are suspended from the ethmoid bone,
and from the margin of the upper jaw ; their maxil-
laries are small, or they are produced in fibrous
appendages. The intestinal canal is ample, with
convolutions but without coeca ; the air bag is large
and attached to a peculiar apparatus of bones. The
dorsal and pectoral fins have often one strong articu-
lated spine as the first ray, and many of the fishes
have an adipose or fatty fin, the same as in the salmon.
Generally speaking, they inhabit the fresh waters, are
rather sluggish fishes, and attain a large size, but
their flesh is not held in the highest estimation.

The Salmon family (Salmonidce). This family is so
interesting in very many of the genera that we shall
have occasion to treat of it somewhat at length in an
article SALMON, so that in the mean time we shall
merely mention that in this family the body is scaly ;
there are in general two dorsal fins, the first with
soft rays, the second very small, and adipose or fatty,
to appearance without any rays ; they are furnished
with an air bladder, many of them inhabit the fresh
waters and others ascend the rivers ; they are in
general very voracious fishes, and their flesh is held
in great estimation.

The Herring family (Clupca;'). This is also a most
interesting family, and will require a separate notice
under the article HERRING, so that we need not enter
into many particulars in the mean time. No species
of this family has an adipose fin on the back ; the
upper jaw is formed as in the trout, of the intermaxil-
lary bones in the middle, and the maxillaries at the
sides, the body is scaly in all the species, and the
scales are often very silvery and shining ; they, in
general, have an air-bag, and numerous ceecal appen-
dages to the intestines. Most of them are inhabitants
of the sea, but some are met with in the fresh waters
and others ascend the estuaries of rivers.

MALACOPTERYGII SUBBRACHIATA. The general
character of this order is the abdominal fins situated
immediately under the pectoral, or immediately in
advance, or in the rear of them. In every instance,
however, all the four fins are articulated to the same
bones, namely, the bones of the shoulder ; and thus
the power of changing- its direction in motion, is con-
centrated upon the fore part of the fish. In those
species which have nearly the form of those of the
preceding order, the head is very much enlarged, and
the eyes, and, generally speaking, the gape, and also
the gill-openings, are much larger in proportion. The
whole of the order are ground fishes, or they, gene-
rally speaking, inhabit deeper water, and find their
food at or near the bottom. Most of them are sea
fishes, but some are found in the fresh waters. Their
flesh is, generally speaking, white, and very much
prized as food. There are three families in the order.

The Cod family (Gadoidece). This is one of the

496

FISSIROSTRES— FLACOURTIANCE.E.

most important family of fishes ; and, therefore, we
shall have to give some account of it under the speci-
fic name, when we shall bring together the principal
genera, in order that we may give an. account of them
111 the shortest space possible.

Flat-fish (Platoridecs). These are also very im-
portant fishes in an economical point of view, being
very abundant, readily caught, and much esteemed
for their wholesome and nutritious qualities. As there
is no scientific name generally used for them, we shall
give some notice of the principal genera and their
characters, in the article FLAT-FISH.

Discobolus. This order has no general English
name ; and the scientific one is derived from the
peculiar form of the ventral fins, which form a disc
under the thorax. The order is not a numerous one ;
and the different species which compose it are more
curious than useful. Some account of them will be
found in the articles LEPADOGASTER, CYCLOPTERUS,
and ECHENEIS.

MALACOPTERYGII APODA. Fishes of this order have
the ventral fins entirely wanting, and, therefore, they
are less fitted for ascending and descending in the
water than almost any other fish. They form but one
family, AnguilliJts, in all of which the body is elon-
gated. Notices of the principal genera will be found
in the articles ANGUILLA, EEL, SACCOPHARYNX,
GYMNOTUS, GYMNARCHUS, and the different subor-
dinate articles referred to from the one or the other
of these.

LOPHOBRANCHII. Tliis is a small but a singular
order, the leading characters of which are, that the
jaws are complete, and free or articulated, though of
peculiar shape. Their principal character, and the
one after which they are named, is the structure of the
gills, which are not in regular fringes, like those of
the generality of fishes, but formed into a sort of tuft,
which are placed in pairs upon the branchial arches,
and each individual fibre is divided or toothed, some-
thing in the form of a comb. These gills are attached
to a large gill-lid, but there is only a small hole for
the escape of the water. Their bodies are in general
covered with a coat of mail consisting of scaly pieces ;
they are generally of small size, and their bodies con-
tain little or no flesh. There are only two leading
genera, Syngnathus and Pegasus, under which name
some account of those very singular fishes will be
found. From the singularity of their forms, they are
called sea-needles, sea-horses, and a number of other
names.

PLECTOGNATHES. These form the last order of
bony fishes, and make a very near approach to the
cartilaginous ones. The name of the order, as every
one knows, signifies that the different bones of the
jaws are soldered or united to each other. This dis-
tinguishing character is having the maxillary and
intermaxillary bones united to each other, and the
whole of the palatal arch attached in like manner to
the bones of the cranium ; but the whole of the bones
are soft and flexible, intermediate between the rest of
the bony fishes and the cartilaginous ones. The gill-
lids are little else than thick skin ; and the gill-open-
ings are merely slits. The true ventral fins are
entirely wanting. Cuvier divides them into two fami-
lies which are exceedingly natural, Gynmodontes, and
Sc/erodermes, which are named from the peculiar way
in which the jaws are armed, and of which some ac-
count will be found under those titles. Generally
speaking, they are fishes of very singular form, proba-
bly the most so of any of the finny tribe. Such is a

very short outline of the systematic arrangement of
fish by the illustrious Cuvier; and with which we shall
close our desultory notice of this highly interesting,
and truly valuable class of animals.

FISSIROSTRES (Open-billed birds], one of the
sub-orders, or families, into which Cuvier divides the
great order Passcres. Its general relation to the class
will be seen by referring to the article BIRD. It is
rather a small family, but the characters of the birds
which compose it are peculiar. The bill is short, very
broad, flat, slightly curved, and deep in the gape, and
the tomia do not meet at the sides. The bill is with-
out any notch in the mandible, which is the chief
distinction between these birds and some of the fly-
catchers. They feed wholly upon insects, and are
migratory. There are only two distinct divisions :
day-feeders, which form the different swallows and
swifts ; and night-feeders, which comprises the
birds usually termed goastuckers. Some of the
details will be found in the articles GOATSUCKER and
SWALLOW.

FISSURELLA (Lamarck ; PATELLA, Linnteus).
This shell exhibits a very striking illustration of the
wisdom of the present system of classification, since
it differs in many important features from the patella,
with which Linnaeus had confounded it ; taking in
this, as in every other instance, the form of the shell,
without any reference to its parent architect. Shells
of this genus are in the form of a very depressed
truncated cone, oblong or elliptical, and perforated
at the summit, vertically towards the anterior part ;
the orifice is in connection with the animal's mantle,
and never quite circular, but more frequently long, and
oval-shaped, and sometimes resembling a key-hole,
whence they are familiarly called key-hole limpets.
The margin of the shell is thickened, and sometimes
crenulated, and the exterior surface longitudinally
ribbed, and sometimes striated transversely. There
are numerous species of this mollusc : they will admit
of a better defined arrangement than now exists.

FISTULANA (Lamarck.) All former natural-
ists considered these tubes, like those of the Asper-
gillum and Clavagella, which enclose and protect the
animal, to be the shells themselves, but it is now
satisfactorily ascertained that they are quite distinct,
that genus having their shell free and detached within
the sheath or external tube. This shell is bivalve,
and neither of its valves fixed into the partition of
the tube, which is generally testaceous, closed, and
retort-shaped at the anterior end, attenuated towards
the other extremity, where it is open. If the shell
contained have its valves similar, but not closing
together, they are what is termed gaping. The pos-
terior open extremity is divided by a thin partition,
forming internally two channels or siphons.

The animal greatly resembles that of the teredo,
but is in general shorter and more club-shaped, and
a great diversity of opinion exists as to the propriety
of separating this genus from that, since it I as been
asserted that the Fistukma has been found embedded
in wood, which it was not supposed capable of effect-
ing, and therefore a good ground for constituting a
new genus. Two fossil species are known.

FISTULARIA. See PIPE FISH.

FLACOURTIANCE^E is a small natural order of
equatorial shrubs or small trees, with alternate exsti-
pulate, simple leaves, shortly petiolated, often entire,
and coriaceous : flowers are axillary, solitary, or con-
gested, and they are regular and usually united,
but sometimes separate by abortion. The calyx is

FLAMINGO.

composed of from four to seven sepals, slightly at-
tached at the base. Petals equal in number to the
sepals, and placed alternately with them. The
stamens are equal to the sepals in number ; and occa-
sionally changed into nectariferous scales ; anthers
free and two-celled. Germen free, roundish ; sessile
one-celled, ovules many. Fruit is one-celled, baccate
or capsular, and filled with a soft pulp.

Flficourtia ramontchi is the Madagascar plum, so
called from the resemblance of its fruit to ordinary
prunes. The fruit of other species, such as F. sapida,
inermis, sepiaria, cataphracta, &c., are also eatable, and
the young shoots of the latter, which have an astrin-
gent bitter taste, are esteemed as a good stomachic
medicine.

FLAMINGO (Phcenicopterus). A very peculiar
genus of birds, forming one of the groups which Cuvier
has brought together, as detached from his regular
division of Echassiers, or stilt birds, and which indeed
differ so much from all other birds in some particu-
lars, that they form a very small but very peculiar
group, which can neither be classed with any of the
rest, nor described by any common character. Cuvier
himself describes the flamingo as " one of the most
extraordinary and most isolated of all birds. The
legs, of an excessive length, have the three front toes
palmated to the end, and the hind one extremely
short. The neck, not less long nor less slender than
the legs, and the small head supports a bill, whose
lower mandible is an oval, bent longitudinally into a
semi-cylindrical canal, while the upper one, oblong
and flat, is bent crosswise in its centre to join the
other exactly. The membranous foss of the nostrils
occupies almost the entire side of the part which is
behind the transverse bend, and the nostrils them-
selves are a longitudinal cleft of the lower part of the
foss. The edges of the two mandibles are furnished
with small and very fine transverse laminae, which,
joined to the fleshy thickness of the tongue, gives to
these birds some analogy with the ducks. The flam-
ingos might even be placed among the palmipedes,
but for the length of the tarsi and nakedness of the
legs. They live on shell fish, insects, and fishes' eggs,
which they get by means of their long neck, and by
turning their head round to employ with advantage
the crook of their upper bill. They build in the
marshes a nest of raised earth, on which they rest
astride to watch their eggs, as their long necks hinder
them from adopting any other position."

The generic characters are : the bill thick, strong,
higher than broad, toothed, conical towards the point,
miked at the base, upper mandible abruptly inflected,
and bent down on the under at the lip ; the under
broader than the upper ; nostrils longitudinally placed
in the middle of the bill, and covered by a membrane ;
legs very long, with three toes before, and a very
short one articulated high on the tarsus behind, the
fore toes connected by a web which reaches to the
claws ; wings middle-sized.

The principal species of this singular genu?, the
RED FLAMINGO (Phcenicopterus ruber,) of which
the general colour is red, and the quills of the wings
deep black, or if there be two, as is stated by some
ornithologists, they appear to be but little different,
except in size. The bird when full grown is not so
big as a goose in the body, but it has the neck and
legs longer in proportion to its general size and
weight, than those of any other bird. The length
from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail is

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

497

about four feet, or only three or four inches more ;
but when the legs are stretched out, the length from

the bill to their extremity exceeds six feet. The

Flamingo. '

neck is slender, and of an immoderate length ; the
tongue, which is large and fleshy, fills the cavity of
the bill, has a sharp cartilaginous tip, is furnished
with twelve or more hooked papillae on each side,
which bend backwards, and has a ball of fat at the
root, which epicures reckon a great delicacy. The
bird, when in full plumage, which it does not attain
till its fourth year, has the head, neck, tail and under
parts of a beautiful rose red, the wings of a vivid or
scarlet red, the back and scapulars rose-red, and the
legs rosaceous. The young, before moulting, have
their plumage cinereous, and a considerable portion
of black on the secondaries of the wings and tail ; at
the expiration of the first year, they are of a dirty-
white, with the secondaries of the wings of a blackish
brown, edged with white ; the wing-coverts at their
origin white, faintly shaded with rose colour, but ter-
minated with black, and the white feathers of the tail
irregularly spotted with bluish brown. At two years
of age the pink on the wings acquires more intensity.
In all places of the world where flamingos are met
with, they are highly interesting and characteristic
birds, the'ir great extent, their singular shape, their
brilliant colours, and the sunny skies under which the
generality of them sport over the broad waters, are
all calculated deeply to interest, and widely to gratify
the observer of nature. They are, generally speak-
ing, birds of warm climates and rich places ; but they
are not wholly confined to the regions within the tro-
pics. They are met with in the warmer parts of the
continent, but they do not appear in any case to
range more polarly than about the fortieth degree of
latitude. They are common on the African coast,
and the islands adjacent to the Cape of Good Hope,

498 FLAT

nnd sometimes on the shores of Spain, Italy, Sicily,
Sardinia, and even at Marseilles, and some way up
the Rhone, but rarely in the interior of the continent
of Europe, and seldom on the banks of the Rhine.
We trace them on the Persian side of the Caspian
Sea, and thence along the western coast as far as the
Wolga. They breed abundantly in the Cape de
Verd islands, particularly that of Sal, constructing on
the sea shore, but so as not to be flooded by the tide,
a nest of mud, in the shape of a pyramidal hillock, with
a cavity at the top, in which the female generally lays
two white eggs of the size of those of a goose, but
more elongated. The structure is of a sufficient
height to admit of the bird's sitting on it conveniently,

Flamingo.

or rather standing astride, as the legs are placed, one
on eacfi side, at lull length. The female will also
sometimes deposit her eggs on the low projection of
a rock, if otherwise adapted to her attitude during
incubation. The young are not able to fly till they
are grown ; but they can previously run with wonder-
ful swiftness. In this immature state they are some-
times caught, and easily tamed, becoming familiar in
five or six days, eating from the hand, and drinking
freely of sea water. But they are reared with diffi-
culty, being very apt to pine from want of their natural
subsistence, which chiefly consists of small fishes,
and their spawn, testacea, and aquatic insects. These
they capture by plunging the bill and part of the
head into the water, and, from time to time, trampling
upon the bottom to disturb the mud, and raise up their
prey. In feeding, they twist the neck in such a man-
ner, that the upper part of the bill is applied to the
ground. They generally shun cultivated and inha-
bited tracts of country, and resort to solitary shores,
and salt lakes, and marshes. Except in the pairing sea-
son, they are generally met with in large flocks, and at
a distance, appear like a regiment of soldiers, being
often arranged in file, or alongside of one another, on
the borders of rivers. When the Europeans first
visited America, they found these birds on the swampy
shores quite tame, gentle, and noways distrustful of
mankind ; and we learn from Catesby, than when the
fowler had killed one, the rest of the flock, instead

PISH.

of attempting to fly, only regarded the fall of their
companion in a sort of fixed astonishment, so that
the whole flock were sometimes killed in detail, with-
out one of them attempting to make its escape. They
are now, however, extremely shy, and one of them
acts as a sentinel when the rest are feeding ; and the
moment that it perceives the least danger, it utters a
loud scream, like the sound of a trumpet, and instantly
all are on the wing, and fill the air with their clamour.
Flamingos when at rest, stand on one leg, having the
other drawn up to the body, and the head placed
under the wing. When flying in bands, they form
an angle, like geese, and in walking they often rest
the flat part of the bill on the ground, as a point of
support. These beautiful birds were held in high
estimation by the ancient Romans, who often used
them in their grand sacrifices, and sumptuous enter-
tainments. Pliny, Martial, and other writers, cele-
brate the tongue as the most delicate of eatables. The
flesh is not despised, even in modern times ; but it is
alleged by some of those who have partaken of it that
it has an oily and somewhat muddy flavour. That
of the young is generally preferred to that of the
adult bird. The aerial march arrival, and the gene-
ral movement of these birds, are described as being
particularly splendid. From the high bastion which
forms the promenade at the city of Cagliari, they are
seen moving like lines -of fire along the heavens.
Those lines sometimes move on in regular order and
with uniform flight ; at other times the line halts, or
performs a slow wheeling circular or spiral course,
until they have arrived at the point where they are to
rest. Nor does the beauty of the spectacle cease
after the birds have alighted on the ground ; for they
march and wheel and perform various operations there
with nearly the same order and regularity as soldiers go
through their evolutions at a well conducted review.
Indeed, from their great and almost equal powers on
the wring and on foot, these birds are equally interest-
ing in the air and on the earth.

FLAT-FISH (Pleuronectes). One of the divisions
of those soft-finned fishes which are sub-brachial, or
have the ventral fins under the pectorals, and a very
curious, interesting, and valuable tribe of fishes ; while
their numbers in those localities which they frequent,
and the very general distribution of those localities
over the earth, tend greatly to increase both their
interest and their value.

Of the bony fishes, leaving the cartilaginous ones
out of the question, in which, however, the rays or
skates bear a considerable resemblance to the true
flat-fishes, these last may be regarded as the lowest
inhabitants of the sea, and in this respect distinct
from the others. They do not indeed dwell in the
greatest depths in absolute measurement, for there
are some of the other fishes having the head, and
especially the eyes, remarkably large as compared
with the rest of the body, that are found in deeper
water than any of the flat-fishes. The flat-fishes,
however, whether the waters which they inhabit be
deeper or shallower, are more true to the bottom,
and less prone to range than any other fishes with
which we are acquainted.

We need hardly mention that the different species
of flounders, soles, turbot, halibut, and several others,
which get different names in different parts of the
country, are the fishes to which we allude, for these
are so plentiful in all our fish markets, that their
general appearance and form is known to everybody,

FLAT-FISH.

499

Their manners are, however, worthy of some atten-
tion. If we could take a type for sea animals from
the animals of the land, \ve might be inclined to say,
leaving difference of food out of the question, that
these flat-fishes hold nearly the same place in the
waters of the ocean that the ruminant mammalia do
on the land. It is true that none of them feed on
the vegetable productions of the sea, for the fishes
which do so have the body placed with its breadth in
a different direction, and they are all fishes inhabiting
near the surface, and, generally speaking, found only
in the warm latitudes. But still the flat-fishes inhabit
what may be considered as the fattest pastures in the
sea — namely, those bottoms of mud and ooze within
a moderate range of depth, and also at similar depths
where the bottom is soil sand ; but in general they
are not found in stony places or among rocks, and it
is probable that there are none of them in situations
where the bottom is at any very great depth. It is
of course not possible to state in general terms the
distance from the shore at which the favourite
abodes of those fishes either begin or end, because
the difference of depth, and the character of the
water off shore vary so much, even within a limited
extent of coast, that each place must be determined
by actual observation. In general, however, they
have their chief resorts in those places where currents
meet and deposit banks, or where the current of a
river and the water of the sea act and react upon
each other at the bottom in the course of the tides.
Some of them, as will be more particularly explained
when we notice the species, are much more landward
than others, and found not only in the shallow parts
of the sea near the shores, but in some of the species
in the rivers and lakes of fresh waters. This is the
case with the flounder branch of the family. The
soles, which are perhaps among the least discursive
of any, are generally found in currents, and in the
estuaries of rivers, from about ten to twenty miles
distant from the land, according to the nature of the
ground ; but when the shores are very steep and
rocky, and have deep water at their bases, no such
fish are found, and it is probable that the accumu-
lation which is found at the bottom of such places
consists of matters which are not only dead, but in
such a state of decomposition as to be reduced to
their merely saline and earthy ingredients, and there-
fore unfit for being the food of any animal.

In those haunts which are congenial to them, the
flat-fishes are understood to keep very near the
bottom, and to have part of their bodies buried in
the soft sand or ooze, with only the head exposed.
Their form is remarkably well adapted to this habit,
and it is a form which differs greatly from that ot
any other vertebrated animal.

In respect of the general action of their bodies, the
flat-fish still preserve the typical form of a fish, that
is, thu action of the spine is lateral with regard to the
true mesial plane of the great mass of the body, and
different from all the land vertebrated animals which
have the principal action of their spine vertical as
respects this plane. In the flat-fish, however, the plane
of the body is turned, so that instead of swimming
with the back uppermost and the belly undermost, as
is the case with other fishes, they swim upon the side,
and with both edges of the mesial plane equally pro-
duced through the greater part of their length, and
bnly with the cavity of the body, which is generally
very short in the extended part, turned a little to

one side, and the top of the head turned a little
to the other. From this form the whole fish is enabled
to swim as one continuous flattened body, while the
eyes, which are generally very small and close toge-
ther, are on the upper surface, the mouth being placed
more or less obliquely to one side or other of the
snout, and the fins, which answer to the extremities
of quadrupeds and birds, placed on the upper and
under sides, though also a little obliquely. Generally
speaking, the kind of colour and also texture of skin
which characterises the whole back of any other fish,
is confined to the side of the flat-fish in which the
eyes are situated, and the other side, which is never
turned up in swimming, is always white. There are
some species, however, in which both sides are
covered nearly in the same manner, but there is none
in which both eyes are not on the same side of the
head, as estimated from the position in which the
fish swims.

If the skin is removed, it is found that, though the
upper and under sides are not quite the same in their
muscular texture, or in their quantity of muscular
substance, yet that they have a very near resemblance
to each other in the arrangement of their fibres.
The principal action of the body consists in bending
the spine downwards, that is in giving it a concavity
at the middle of the under side, and in some of the
species this motion appears to be so differently com-
municated to different parts, that there are several
contrary flexures of the spine at the same time. It
does not appear that the spine of these fishes is
capable of much motion laterally, or that the last is
with them the chief organ of progressive motion, as if.
is in other fishes. The tail can only strike the water
upward or downward, and therefore is effective more
as a means of ascent and descent than of forward
motion.

It is with the side or lateral fins, answering to the
dorsal and anal fins of an ordinary fish, that the pro-
gressive motions of flat-fishes are effected. These
fins, no doubt, strike the water upward or downward,
and not laterally ; but then the bendings which are
produced in the body, and in the extremities of those
fins, produce a progressive motion, though it is
slower, and performed with much more labour in
proportion to the effect than in other fishes ; because,
while the bodies of these fishes are curved vertically
in swimming, the different parts of them are subjected
to different pressures of the water, and a portion of
the action is taken off by the resistance of the other
part of the bend. The pectoral fins are rather small
in most of the species, but the dorsal and anal are
continued throughout nearly the whole lines of the
sides, or rather of the ridge of the back and under
part of the body, for these are the true situations of
the swimming fins of the flat-fish. When the fish is
laid down with its eyes upward, its natural position
in the water, that fin which is on the same side with
the eyes is to be considered as the dorsal fin ; and
the one on the opposite side, where the mouth, the
gill-openings, and the vent are met with, is to be
considered as the anal fin. In most of the spe-
cies the pectorals are situated just in the rear of
the upper angle of the gill-openings, and the ven-
tral fins in advance of these, near the commence-
ment of the anal fin, and partially twisted a little
from the side in which the eyes are. These four
fins are, however, as we have said, very small in
size, and they cannot be very efficient in any motion
112

500

FLAT-FISH

of the fishes. It is in consequence of having those
marginal iins along what appear from its position ii
the water the two sides of a fish of this kind, that th
name of Pleuronectes, or " swimmers by means o
the sides," was first given to those fishes by Artedi
This name is certainly founded upon the most re-
markable structural character of these fishes, ant
therefore it serves well enough for distinguishing
them from other fishes ; but if we are to consider the
side of a flat-fish as having the same position with
regard to the spinal column which the side of any
other fish has, then it is not by means of fins attached
to the sides, but by fins attached to the ridge of the
back and the middle of the belly, that those fishes
perform their principal motions in swimming.

Flat-fishes have the head small, and also short, in
proportion to the whole volume of their bodies ; the
opening of their mouth is also small, and the teeth
very minute. Their gills are rather contracted, and
in many species the gill-lids consist of only a single
piece. There are six rays in the gills, but their
whole volume is small as compared with that of the
fish, so that their quantity of breathing must be limited.
The cavity of the body is very small and short, but
it is prolonged in small sinuses toward the tail. They
have no air bladder ; and, indeed, if we are to adopt
the common opinion, and suppose that this viscus has
anything to do with the change of specific gravity,
and consequent ascent and descent of the fish, we
might conclude that such an apparatus would be quite
superfluous in those fiat-fish, inasmuch as their most
powerful action in swimming is an ascending or a de-
scending one. They, however, do not avail them-
selves much of this, as they seldom rise far from the
bottom, and their motions, when they do rise, are very
slow and wriggling. They cannot, indeed, make much
way without so much flexure of the body, as exposes
a considerable portion of their white sides, and thus
renders them very conspicuous objects to those fishes
which prey upon them, and they are the chief food of
several species of the voracious cartilaginous fishes.

In general they remain placidly on, or near the
bottom, sometimes with only a little portion of the
upper surface of the head exposed, and then their
colours on the upper part are generally so similar in
colour to sand and mud, that their enemies have some
difficulty in finding them out. Many of them are
very prolific : the spawn of the common flounder, for
instance, containing little short of a million and a half
of germs ; nor is it unworthy of remark that there ap-
pears to be in this class of fishes a considerable cor-
respondence between the powers of production, and
the absolute numbers and distribution. The sole, for
instance, which, though abundant in its localities, is a
much more local fish than the flounder, does not pro-
duce above a tenth of the progeny ; and this gives us
some reason for thinking that, though we are not in
possession of all the elements necessary for the full
establishment of the fact, there is a good deal of cor-
respondence between the productive power of fishes,
and their actual numbers.

Nor can we fail to admire the great degree of con-
cealment which those fishes derive from their shape
and colour. When they are on the bottom, it is not
very easy for any other species of fish to see them or
to seize hold of them even if they should ; and they
themselves are, on the other hand, placed in the very
situation in which they can use their eyes with the
greatest possible advantage, both in finding their own

food, and in escaping from becoming the food of their
more powerful neighbours. Their forms, their situa-
tion at the very bottom of the water, and all their
habits, cut them off from almost every means of safety
excepting concealment ; for they have less scope for
escaping, and are less fitted for availing themselves of
the scope they have, than any other race of fishes.

From the character of the mouth, the smallness of
the teeth, and the fact of some of the species having
teeth only on one side of the mouth.it is evident that
flat-fishes are not capable of taking prey of any great
size. So also, from what has been said of the feeble-
ness of their powers of motion, it must be evident that
they are not adapted for giving chase to any animal
which can get away from them, with even a moderate
degree of speed. Still, the whole race are animal
feeders, and in proportion to the extent of their
powers, they are voracious, Indeed, fishes of all
kinds are great feeders ; and, though some feed upon
minute substances,and others swallow fishes, much more
nearly equal to their size than one would at first sight
be led to expect, yet they all feed more greedily, and
perhaps more largely than the majority of land ani-
mals. It is probable that the muscular powers of fishes
are much less subject to fatigue than those of land
animals ; and though they spend a good deal of their
time in a state of rest, either in the volume of the
waters, or at the bottom, it is doubtful whether any
of the species have a renovation by sleeping, at all
resembling that of land animals. From the slowness
of their motions, and the little range in distance which
they require to undergo, it is highly probable that the
flat-fishes have less muscular exertion than most others
of the class ; but as it is impossible to observe their
habits with any minuteness, nothing very positive can
be declared respecting them. In all probability their
chief food consists of those molluscous animals, and
minute fishes, which the tides and currents of the
bottom carry along, and deposit on the banks, and
other places where flat-fishes abound. That they do
not feed upon any sort of ground animal, but on some-
thing which floats in the water over them, is proved
by the position of their eyes, which are probably the
chief organs in guiding them to their food. They very
readily, however, take bait in small pieces, and though
most of them prefer molluscous animals, a little bit of
almost any fish will suffice. Those which ascend the
estuaries of trouting streams are often very annoyingly
deceiving to those who use bait in angling. The flat-
fish catches very readily at the bait, and as the form
and twisting up and down of its body, render it much
more difficult to pull through the water than any
common-shaped fish, the hope of possessing a trout
'our or five pounds in weight, changes into the actual
Dossession of a flounder of not the same number of
ounces.

There are a few difficulties connected with the na-
;ural history of flat-fish, as indeed there are with every
ish, and more especially with every fish which keeps
much below the surface. It seems too, that there are
sometimes peculiarities in individual specimens of
species which are well known, such as the head
wisted the other way, or the sides of nearly the same
:olour. But still the general characters of the family
are obvious and well marked, so that there is never
any risk of confounding any one of them with a fish
of any other kind. Considered as articles of food,
here is great difference, and this applies not only to
he quality, but to the quantity, ot eatable matter

FLAT-FISH.

601

which there is, in proportion to the apparent size.
We believe that the whole tribe are wholesome,
though in some the flesh is too soft, and in others it
is too hard for their being of much value ; but upon
the whole they may be considered as valuable fishes
to man ; so is the case with almost all bottom fishes.
They are rather tenacious of life, though probably not
so much so as eels ; but they do not keep so long
after they are dead as eels do, nor do they answer for
saltinsr. Taking all these circumstances into consider-
ation, they may be regarded as forming a coast supply,
rather than one which admits of being carried far into
the interior. On the coast, however, if the bottom is
favourable for them, they are found in great abun-
dance, and some of them continue longer in season
than most other species of fish ; and this is the case
most, irenerally with those which are of the best
quality, a circumstance which farther increases their
value in an economical point of view.

This family of fishes has been differently arranged
by different describers and classifiers of the finny
tribes ; but in giving a short enumeration of the lead-
ing species, we shall follow the arrangement of Cuvier,
which has the advantage of both accuracy and autho-
rity. According to this arrangement the great genus
pleuronectes is divided into seven sub-genera; but the
character, of which we have given a short outline, is
pretty common to all those divisions. We have
already mentioned the sixth and seventh of those sub-
genera, in the article ACHIKUS, so that we have
now only the remaining five to enumerate. These
are Platessa, plaice, and flounders of different kinds ;
ffijtyog/ossus, halibuts ; Shambtu, turbots ; So/ea,
soles ; and ^lonochirus, which is nearly related to
the ordinary soles in its general characters, only it
has the pectoral iin on one side almost or altogether
obliterated. The other two divisions, Achinis and
Pegasus, are also soles, in which both pectoral fins
are obliterated.

PLATKSSA. The general characters of this sub-
genus are : a row of blunted cutting teeth in each
jaw, and very often flattened teeth on the pharynx ;
the dorsal fin reaches up only to below the upper eye.
It, as well as the anal fin, is smooth, and there is an
interval without any fin between each of these and the
caudal. Their form is that of a lozenge or rhomboid,
and most of them have the eyes on the right side of
the head. They are common in most seas, and some
of the species enter pretty largely into the estuaries
of rivers. The most plentiful species is : the fluke,
common plaice, or Dutch plaice, which is very abun-
dant in the seas and waters which are not very deep,
and have muddy bottoms. It is characterised by a
row of six or seven tubercles, forming a line on the
right side of the head, between the eyes ; its colour
above is olive, spotted with small dots of aurora
red, and the under side is white. It grows to the
length of about a foot, is understood to spawn about
the month of February, and thus it is in season during
great part of the year. It is obtained in greater num-
bers, and in more places of the sea than most of the
others ; but, though its flesh is wholesome when recent
and in good condition, it very soon becomes tainted,
so that there are more unwholesome plaice brought to
market than almost any other fish. The mouth of
this species is small, and has the lower jaw longer
than the upper ; the scales upon it are small, pressed
deeply into the skin, and firmly attached. The gene-
ral number of rays in the fins are seventy-two in the

dorsal, eleven in the pectoral, five in the ventral, and
fifty-four in the anal.

The Flounder (Platessa flesus) is about the same
size as the former, but differs in the marking of the
body, and texture and appearance of the skin. In
general the ground colour on the upper side is olive,
marked with brown, and occasionally with intermedi-
ate patches of whitish, yellowish, or reddish, but it
never has the same bright aurora spots as appear on
the back of the fluke. There are small sharp spines
along the lateral line, and at the junction of the dorsal
and anal fins with the body ; and the lateral line near
the fore part is bent upwards. This is the least sea-
ward of the whole family ; and is often found at such
a distance up the rivers as that the water has not the
least taste of salt. It occurs most frequently, however,
in rivers the feeders of which flow through rich soil,
and thus deposit great quantities of mud and silt in
the eddies of slow currents ; and it is chiefly in such
places that this fish is to be met with. The quality
of its flesh depends a good deal on the water in which
it is found ; but though it is esteemed in those rivers
which contain comparatively few fish of superior qua-
lity, it is not very superior to the fluke. From the
number of situations in which the flounder is met
with, it may be naturally supposed that there are
many differences in respect to size and appearance ;
and it is also worthy of remark that though the gene-
rality have the eyes on the right side of the head,
specimens are often found which have them on the
left, and which evidently belong to this species. It
is understood that this species, like the former, spawns
in the winter ; and therefore, like that, it is a summer
fish for the table.

The Dab (Plalessa lemanda}. The common dab is
nearly of the same size and shape as the fluke, but its
mouth is wider, its eyes are larger, and so are its
scales, which are rough or partially toothed in the
margins. Its teeth are also more large arid more
pointed, standing in an even row in each jaw. The
colour above is brownish, frequently mottled with
darker blotches, and occasionally with whitish ones.
It is a very common fish, spawning in May, and for
this reason is in best season for the table, when
the early spawners are " run " and unwholesome. Its
flesh is perhaps not so delicate as that of either of
the former two, when they can be obtained quite
fresh and alive ; but as it does not decay so soon, it
is better for supplying markets far from the coast.

There are many other species of this genus which
are less frequent upon the British shores, but their
history is rather obscure ; and it is not unlikely that
an accidentally formed or coloured variety, especially
when young, has been occasionally figured and de-
scribed as a distinct species. A larger species is
mentioned by Cuvier under the name of Platessa
lotus, which is much broader than the common ones,
the breadth being equal to two thirds of the length,
but very little is known respecting it.

All the species of Platessa are gregarious, collect-
ing in considerable numbers on favourite spots, and
seldom quitting these to range in the turbulent waters.
Their peculiar form enables them to swim in water
of no great depth, so that, in one or other of the
species, they are very generally distributed over the
coasts.

HJPPOGLOSSUS — the halibut— grows to a much larger
size than any of the first sub-genus. It is often more
thun two feet in length in the British markets, and

502

FLAT-FISH.

specimens of more than double that length are not
uncommon, while in the North Sea, where it is par-
ticularly abundant, it has certainly been met with eight
feet long1, or, as has been stated, as much as eighteen
or twenty. It is a far more hardy fish, and therefore
more discursive than the former ones. In some of
the northern countries of Europe it is obtained in
great abundance, and salted as provision against those
times when, on account of the violence of the weather,
the abundance of the sea cannot be got at directly.
Halibut, though a thick fish, and containing a great
quantity of muscle, is strong and hard, entirely desti-
tute of the delicacy of the better species of Platessa,
or of the richness of the turbot. Hence it is in little
estimation among those who are curious in fish, and
consequently sells at a moderately low price. As its
range is more discursive than that of the turbot, it is
much more easily caught, and there are many parts
of the British shores where halibut is known as
turbot, and the real turbot is termed a flounder or
fluke, and sold as such. This we believe is, or at
least was lately, the case in Edinburgh, in the
estuary below which there is understood to be good
fishing both for turbot and sole, but, either the
fishing-ground is too far off, and improperly under-
stood, or its value has been overrated, for the fishing
has not hitherto succeeded. Strange stories are
given of casualties that happen to large and over-
grown old halibut, especially in the North Seas. It
is said that their backs, which are of ample extent,
become grown over with crops of sea-weed, in con-
sequence of which they are unable to keep below the
water, and thus to float sickly on the surface, until
they are devoured by gulls and other aquatic birds.
It is no doubt true that, owing to causes which we
are not very able to explain, these fishes, as well as
many other of the inhabitants of the deep, are often
found floating dead on the waters, and soon become
a prey to those birds whose business it is to consume
the refuse of the sea ; but the fact of a grove of
marine vegetation upon the back of a living fish is
rather too much for ordinary credulity, and puts one
more in mind of a story told and credited on the
banks of one of our northern rivers, where a salmon,
having been speared with an instrument, the shaft of
which was formed of a green sapling of mountain
ash, swam down with it to the sea, and returned on
its migration next autumn bearing a beautiful cluster
of berries of the mountain ash on the top of the
spear. The fact is, that, in endeavouring to obtain
anything like good accounts of the local characters
of fishes, or any other animals, in the North Seas,
the people there are so remarkable for the extent
of their credulity, and the singular stories which
they manufacture for its gratification, that, if one
trusts much to them, there is every certainty of being
deceived, without any intention on their part to
deceive us. It is probable that there are several
varieties of halibut. The general character of all
is the lateral line arched behind the pectorals ; but
there are some in the Mediterranean which have
different characters. A small species there has the
eyes on the left side of the head, and some others
have been described intermediate in their form be-
tween the common halibut and the turbot ; and some
idea of the mass of individuals of this sub-genus
caught in the North Seas, may be formed from the
fact of their being sometimes caught upwards of two
hundred pounds in weight.

' RHOMBUS. The turbot sub-genus contains several
species, which all have the mouth entire, the teeth
numerous and slender, placed both in the jaws and
on the pharynx, which characters they have in com-
mon with the halibut, but they want the spine in
front of the anal fin, and the lunulated form of tho
tail which characterise that sub-genus. They have
also the eyes on the left side of the head, and this
character renders it probable that the left-headed
halibut of the Mediterranean may in reality be a tur-
bot, while some of the right headed turbots which
have been described are probably halibuts.

Of all the species, the common turbot, Rhombus
maximum (Platessa maximus of Linnaeus), is the most
celebrated. It is usually more than two feet in length,
and sometimes weighs more than twenty pounds. Its
general outline is between a lozenge and a circle, and
having the length and breadth nearly equal. When
in good condition the turbot is reckoned one of the
finest of sea fishes. It is covered with small scales,
and the upper and under surfaces have small tubercles
upon them, which are, however, most conspicuous
upon the upper side. The colour of the upper side
is yellowish, clouded with brown ; and that of the
under side white.

The estimation in which this fish is held as an
article of food makes it an object of great interest to
the fishermen on many parts of the coast. It is by
no means uncommon on most of the British shores,
though, as it resides more in deep water than the
flounders, and is more peculiar in its localities than
halibut, it is not so frequently taken as it perhaps might
be. It seems to be rather more abundant in cur
warmer seas than in our colder ones. But coirect
information on this point, and indeed on very many
points connected with the distribution and nature of
our fishing grounds, is still very much wanted. Tur-
bot is fished for with hooks and lines, and the bait
made use of is either mollusca, such as muscles or
limpets, both of which make very excellent bait, cr
bits of herring, haddock, or of most other fishes ; but
the bait for turbot must be quite fresh and recent.

Brill (Pleuronectes rhombus of Linnaeus) is smaller
than the true turbot ; has the body oval and without
tubercles ; and is farther distinguished from the others
by having the first rays of the dorsal fin a little free,
or in the form of threads at their extremities. The
smooth soft skin, however, as contrasted with the
rough and tuberculated one of the turbot, is however
the most obvious distinguishing character. The colour
above is yellowish spotted with brown, yellow, and white,
while there is rarely any white on the upper part of
the turbot. The flesh of the brill is inferior to that of
the turbot, both in flavour and in its other qualities ;
but still it is very superior to that of the halibut ; and
though brill docs not fetch any thing like the price of
turbot at the markets, it is still a fish which is in con-
siderable repute. The method of capture is nearly
the same with both species ; but the fishing ground's
differ, as brill often makes its way a considerable dis-
tance up the estuaries of the larger rivers, which is not
the case with turbot.

There are two or three other species or varieties of
this sub-genus, of which specimens are occasionally,
though rather rarely, taken on the British coasts,
especially on the south-west coasts of England and
Ireland. But in attending to these rare and transient
fishes, if we are to treat of fishes in a popular and
economical point of view, we must be careful not to

FLAT

confound the estimation in which they are held by
professed and systematic naturalists with that in which
they deserve to be held by the public generally.
With the naturalist every animal is esteemed very
much in the proportion of its rarity, so that one strange
fish previously unknown is received with greater
pleasure, and esteemed of more value than a whole
boat load of the very best fish that was ever brought
to market. This is all very well in so far as pro-
moting the mere science of the matter is concerned;
but as the end of all real science is usefulness, it were
desirable that at least equal attention should be paid to
that which is of the greatest value. Acting upon this
conviction, we shall briefly notice those rarer species
or varieties, even such of them as appear on the British
coast, while \ve shall pass in silence those others which
are equally rare in the general ichthyology of the
world.

The Whiff (R. megastoma). This species receives
its trivial name from the size of its mouth, which is
large, and has the lower jaw the longest. The lateral
line forms a large arch near the pectorals, and is
marked by a row of tubercles along its length. The
dorsal and anal fins are broadest toward the middle.
The length is about a foot and a half, the colour of the
upper part mottled with brown of different shades,
and the under side white with a blush or tinge reddish.
The eyes are large and stand up from the head, with
irides of a golden yellow colour. The extremity of
the tail is slightly rounded. This species has been
long known upon the south coast of England, but has
never occurred in such numbers as to render it a very
interesting fish, in the popular sense of the term. It
is more elongated in its form than most of the sub-
genus.

77/6- Top-knot (R, punctatus}. This species is still
rarer ; and if those specimens which have been casu-
ally met with have been full grown ones, it is much
smaller than any of the others, rarely exceeding five
or six inches. Its body is rounder than that of the
whiff, and the surface is rough from the scales having
little projecting teeth or spines to the number of from
four to eight on each scale. The colour on the upper
part is black with spots of brown, and small clots of
red ; and that on the under side is white. It has
been principally described from specimens taken from
the Cornish coast ; but from some of the accounts it
appears to be much more common on the Shetland
islands, at the opposite extremity of the British do-
minions. It is too rare, however, and too insignificant
to be an object of general interest.

The Scald-fish (R. aniglossns) is a small species very
local on the southern coast, so far as observation has
gone. In shape it resembles the sole more than the
turbot. We quote the following description of it
from Mr. Hanmer. " The colour of the upper side is
a pale brown or dirty white. The body has some-
thing of the same pellucid appearance as the lantern,
though in a less degree. Head rather small ; the
jaws of equal length, blunt ; the lateral line bent near
the head. The dorsal tin consists of eighty-two rays,
as does the anal, which reaches to the tail, the pectorals
of ten rays ; a double row of rays, five in each, from
the ventral fins ; behind is one or more short and
sharp spines ; the tail is rounded at the extremity ;
the rays of all the fins, including those of the tail, are
bristly, and connected by a thin fibre or pellicle, which
is easily broken. The scales are so deciduous that
the friction of the trawl alone is sufficient to remove

-FISH. 503

them ; when taken out of the net they are usually
dead, and in that bare state, which gives some pro-
priety to the name they are known by, of scald-fish.
They seem only to be known at Plymouth, and occur
there very rarely. Their length is rather more than
five inches ; their breadth not exceeding two inches ;
and are probably the smallest of the English species,
and of corresponding value."

From the accounts which are given of these smaller
members of the turbot sub-genus, it is probable that
they run more into the character of the soles, than
into that of any of the other sub-genera ; and it is
worthy of remark, that the sole and the turbot, which
are the typical fishes of their respective divisions, are
also the best in quality of all the flat-fishes ; and that
the sole especially is the one which is the most con-
stantly in season.

SOLEA. The fishes of this division are perhaps,
when we take all their qualities into account, the
most valuable of the whole of the flat fish. Individ-
ually, they are not nearly so large as turbot ; but
when in fine condition they are perhaps more delicate;
and their great abundance and long continuance in
season are considerations of great importance. There
are some different species or varieties of soles ; but
the distinctions between these are not very great ; and
there appears to be much similarity in the manners
of the whole. They are fishes of the temperate
rather than of the cold latitudes ; and for this reason
they are far more abundant on the southern parts of
the British coasts than on the northern.

The most remarkable character of the soles is that
of the mouth, which is different from the mouth of any
other fish. It is twisted, or forms a curious oblique
crown ; and that side on which the eyes are situated
has no teeth. The teeth on the other are also very
small, and arranged something like the pile of velvet.
Their general form is oblong ; their muzzle rounded,
and almost always projects beyond the mouth, the
dorsal fin begins at the mouth, and both it and the
anal fin are united to the caudal ; thus forming a
margin of fin round the whole body, with the ex-
ception of a small portion at the head end. The
lateral line is straight; and the side of the head
opposite to the eyes is generally villous. Their
intestines are long, without caeca, but often with
considerable duplications.

The species best known is the common sole ; Solea
vulgaris, which varies in length from about one foot
to nearly two, and weighs from one pound to seven,
though specimens of the latter weight are not very
common. Its colour on the upper part is brown, and
that on the under part white. The irides of the eyes
are yellow, with a trace of red. On the head the
lateral line is curved upwards, but it is straight in the
rest of the body ; the caudal finis pointed or rounded.
The scales, which are small, are rough, and fringed at
their margins with about ten small spines. These
scales are very beautiful in their structure, and much
prized as objects for microscopic display. The skin
is also strong and tough, and contains a great quan-
tity of gelatine. The flesh when of good quality is
peculiarly white and firm, and understood to be very
light and easy of digestion. Soles are generally taken
by a trawl net at considerable depth in the water,
and at the distance of from twelve to twenty miles
from the coasts. They are sought after with con-
siderable avidity.

In the warmer seas, and in the Mediterranean

504

FLAVERIA— F

among others, there are several which are but little
known on our coasts, but stray ones are occasionally
met with. Of these strays, one of the most remark-
able is Solea pegasa, which was first discovered as a
British fish by Mr. Yarrell ; though the fishermen in
the channel have been acquainted with it for some
time. The specimen described by Mr. Yarrell was
eight inches in the entire length, and three inches in
the greatest depth of the body, without measuring
the fins. This is a much greater breadth in propor-
tion to the length than the common sole ; and the
body of the fish is also more plump and fleshy, and
its head blunter, shorter, and wider. The mouth is
very much arched, the operculum formed externally
of a single piece with a circular margin. The ground
colour on the upper side a mixture of brown and yel-
low, with small spots of dark brown ; and the tip of
the pectoral fin black. There are fewer vertebrae in
the spine than in the common sole, three rays fewer
in the dorsal fin, one more in the pectoral, and two
more in the anal, but the other fins are the same, only
the tail fin is narrower in proportion. When found,
this species has generally been about sixteen miles off
the land, and on a bottom of clean sand. It does not
appear that its flesh is inferior in quality to that of the
common sole ; and indeed there appears to be no
great difference of any of the members of the sub-
genus, in whatever part of the world or locality of the
sea they may be found. It seems that the sole does
not get either into the strong current, or very close to
the land, but rather remains on the banks when there
are eddies, and deposits of matter on which it can
feed ; and it does not appear to rise to any great
height from the bottom. Indeed from the difference
in form between it and most of the others, it is pro-
bable that it is more completely a ground fish than
any of them. Soles are always gregarious, or live in
shoals on the same grounds ; but as they are seldom,
if ever, seen except when they are taken forcibly from
their dwelling places by the net, we know very little
of their economy or manners.

MONOCHIRUS. The fishes which form this sub-
genus, and which do not appear to have occurred on
any part of the British shores even as wanderers, are
soles in their general characters ; and the distinction
between them is chiefly in the pectoral fins, that on
the same side with the eyes is very small, and the
other one is either wholly wanting, or so mere a rudi-
ment as to be barely perceptible. But as it is not
easy to ascertain the precise mode and extent in
•which the pectoral fins of flat-fishes assist in their
very singular kind of swimming, it will serve little
purpose to speculate about the influence which the
peculiar form of those fins in the ones now under
consideration may have. The whole tribe or group
are amongst the lowest dwellers in seas where obser-
vation cannot well reach them ; and therefore we can
say little respecting them which is not in a great mea-
sure conjectural. It is probable, however, that the
quality of their flesh is superior in proportion as they
have less muscular labour to perform in the search ol
their food ; but they are truly a curious as well as a
useful and valuable race.

FLAVERIA (Jussieu). A genus of South Ame-
rican herbs, one species of which is used in Chili for
dying yellow. Class and order Syngencsia segregata,
and natural order Composites.

FLAX, an extensive genus of annual and perennial
herbs, found in many different parts of the world.

LINDERSIA.

The most useful is the Linum usitatissimum of Lin-
naeus ; an annual found within Britain, and much
cultivated both in Scotland and Ireland, as well as in
many countries in the north of Europe. A most
useful oil is expressed from the seeds, and the residue
called linseed cake is used as one of the most
fattening kinds of food for cattle. But the filaceous
substance obtained from the stalk is the staple ma-
terial of the linen manufacture. Lint is the common
name and is an agricultural plant. It is sowed on
clean and well prepared ground in the spring, flowers
in the summer, and ripens its seed in the autumn.
When stripped of its capsules, the stalks are tied up in
bundles and steeped in water till the woody part be-
comes fragile, so that it may be broken or bruised in
a mill, to prepare it for the various processes of the
flax dresser.

FLAX LILY is the Phormium tenax of Forster,
an economical sedge -like plant, found in New Zea-
land. It is an hexandrious herb, and belongs to the
natural order Asphodeleee. It takes its name from
being employed by the inhabitants, where it grows
naturally, in the manufacture of baskets, and it has
been introduced into Europe as a fit plant to take the
place of hemp ; as the fibres obtained from its long
leaves after maceration are said to be much more
tenacious than any other vegetable fibre known.
Whether it will be found hardy enough, for the
climate of Britain is not yet ascertained, but if it
could be naturalised and cultivated so far as to furnish
material for the manufacture of ships' cables, it would
be a valuable acquisition. The imported phormium
flax has been manufactured and tested with the best
hemp, and found of superior strength.

FLAX STAR is the Lysimachia linum stellatum of
Linnaeus, a herbaceous annual, indegenous of Italy.
It is pentandrious, and belongs to the natural order
Primulacece.

FLEA, the ordinary generic name of a genus of
small annoying insects, of which the various species
attack man, and various animals and birds. See the
article PDLEX, under which name the natural history
and structural peculiarities of the insects will be
given.

FLEABANE is the Coryza squamosa of Linnaeus,
a herbaceous biennial, native of Britain, but of no
known use — not even that attributed by its name. It
belongs to the natural order Composite.

FLEMMINGIA (Roxburgh). A genus of herb-
aceous and half shrubby and creeping perennials,
chiefly natives of India. Class and order Diadelphia
Decandria, and natural order Leguminosce. Generic
character : calyx bracteate, five-parted ; standard
striated ; pod sitting, oval, turgid, two-valved, two-
seeded ; seeds globular. Several species are in our
stoves, and are propagated by cuttings in the usual
manner. Their flowers are not very striking.

FLINDERSIA (R. Brown). A lofty timber
tree, a native of New Holland, introduced about
1825. The flowers are decandrious, and the plants
belong to Meliacece. Generic character : calyx five-
cleft and persisting ; petals obtuse and flat ; disk sur-
rounds the germen, cup-shaped, having ten plaits and
somewhat crenated ; stamens rise from the disk,
alternately fertile and abortive ; style simple, five-
sided; stigma peltate, and five-lobed ; capsule woody,
spinous, five-celled, seeds winged at the apex.

There is only one species described ; succeeding
well with ordinary hothouse management.

FLOSCUCULI— FLY- CATCHER.

505

FLOSCUCULI or cuckoo flower, is the Lychnis
Jloscucidi of Linnaeus, a common British plant abund-
ant in moist meadows, so called from its flowering
about the same time with the arrival of the cuckoo.
There is a double variety of it met with in gardens.
It belongs to the natural order Caryophyllece.

FLOS JOVIS is the Lychnis flos Jovis of Linnaeus,
a common British weed found on hedge banks and
sides of roads.

FLOWER FENCE is the Poinciana pulcherrima
of Linnaeus, one of the most beautiful of Indian plants.
It belongs to the Legummotte ; and when kept in a
strong heat flowers readily in our stoves. It is pro-
pagated by cuttings, but much oftener by seeds
brought from its native country.

FLOWERING ASH is the Ornus Eurojuea of
Persoon, a hardy deciduous tree, common in our
arborctums, and belonging to the order OleiiKe.

FLOWERING RUSH is the Butomus umbdlatus
of Linuceus, a beautiful British plant found in pools
and wet ditches.

FLUVIALES, an order of aquatic plants, other-
wise called NayadacecE or Hydragetons, and by some
botanists Potamece and Potamapheltte. Like the

Fluviales.

Lemnacece, these plants are believed to be destitute
of spiral vessels, or if not wholly absent, they are
nearly obsolete ; in Caulinia, Amici says, no trace of
them can be found. Their cellular structure likewise
remains uncondensed in its outer layers ; therefore no
cuticular integument is formed, and they are devoid
of stomata. Hence both these types descend in
structure nearly to the rudimental state of the Algcc,
from which, however, they are distinguished by
their flowers, when the other diagnostics fail.

The most useful of this order is the Zostera marina,
or grass-wrack, which forms an excellent packing for
brittle ware ; it is also platted into coverings for
bottles and oil-flasks : and lately under the name of
Alga marina it has been recommended for stuffing
mattresses, being tolerably light and soft, and intoler-
ant of vermin : a great recommendation in many
places.

FLY. A name indefinitely given to all insects
having gauze-like naked wings — as well as even to
several kinds of beetles. Thus the Haltica ncmorum
is called the turnip-fly, and the Elater noctilucus fire-
fly. If we would take the name in its most restricted
sense, the common domestic-fly, Musca domestica,
appears most entitled to it. See MUSCID^:.

FLY-CATCHER (Muscicapa), a genus of birds
placed by Cuvier in the first or Dentirostral sub-order
of the great order Passeres, and forming the second

family of that sub-order, or the one immediately fol-
lowing the shrikes in structural arrangement. The
birds, however, which the elder naturalists were in
the habit of arranging indiscriminately as fly-catchers,
are so exceedingly numerous, and differ 'from each
other in so many points, that Cuvier has divided them
into several sub-genera, of which the names are Tyran-
nus,Muscipeta, Muscicapa, Gymnocephalus,&n& Ccpha-
lopterus. When we come to give a more extended
notice of the details, we shall be enabled to point out
how those sub-genera differ from each other, while they
all agree to some extent, at least in the general habit of
feeding upon flies ; but even here the species of some
of the sub-genera are so exceedingly numerous, and
the materials we are in possession of are so scanty, that
it is impossible for us to enter into descriptions of
them, nor if we could would it be of much utility, as
the greater number are known only as museum speci-
mens, though in their native localities most species
are understood to be as abundant as the species them-
selves are numerous. The following is a description
usually given of them by those who profess to connect
the characters of birds with their external expression,
and in this instance it is almost all we can obtain.
They are birds which dwell in wild and solitary places,
and are characteristic of wild nature, and not of the
earth as cultivated by man. Their expression is ac-
cordingly sullen, and many of them have a fierce and
pugnacious air. As they are obliged to seize upon
their prey in mid-air, they are almost always perched
upon the summit of trees, and rarely descend to the
ground. As they are chasers of flies, their true coun-
try must be in the wooded regions of the globe.
Accordingly, for three or four species which are known
in Europe, we reckon in Africa a great number, also
in the warm climates of Asia, and Australasia, and
still more in America. In this last continent we find
the larger species which have been denominated
tyrants. As nature has increased the growth, and
multiplied the number of insects in the New World,
so has she opposed to them enemies more numerous
and more powerful. It is a trite observation, but one
which the study of nature illustrates at every step,
that all in this world is balanced. When evil exists,
there will always be found some equiponderating
good, and it rarely happens that any one species, or
genus, is suffered to multiply and extend to the serious
prejudice of another. We see, it is true, everywhere
a great destruction of life, but we also see an equiva-
lent reparation ; we must not take a circumscribed or
conventional view of the grand operations of nature.
It is impossible for any one who has not actually
visited them, to torm any adequate idea of the activity
of life, both animal and vegetable, in those. portions
of the tropical countries where the powers of nature
are almost unceasingly at work, or of the energy of
the same powers, and the greatness of their results
during the short summers of even the polar countries;
and, as the productions of nature all subsist upon
each other, the destroyers are always adapted to the
destroyed, so that the balance of nature is kept up.

The following passage from Buffon, though perhaps
not perfectly true to nature and philosophy in every
respect, yet affords so lively a picture of the service
which birds render in the destruction of insects, that
we shall not hesitate to give it a place in our pages :
" Without them," (that is the birds,) says this flowery
writer, " without their assistance, vain would be the
efforts of man to destroy or banish the clouds of fly-

506

FLY-CATCHER.

ing insects by which he would be assailed. Innumer-
able in quantity, and rapid in generation, they would
invade our dominions, fill the air, and devastate the
earth, did not the birds restore the equilibrium of
living nature, by the destruction of her superfluous
products. The greatest inconvenience of warm cli-
mates is the continual torment caused there by the
insect tribes. Man and the quadrupeds cannot defend
themselves against them. They attack with their
stings ; they oppose the progress of cultivation, and
devour the useful productions of the earth. They
infest with their excrements or their eggs all the pro-
visions which are necessary to be preserved. Thus
we find that the beneficent birds are not even suf-
ficiently numerous in such climates, where, neverthe-
less, their species are by far the most multiplied. How
happens it, that in our temperate climates we are
more tormented with the flies in the commencement
of autumn, than in the middle of summer? Why in
the fine days of October do we see the air filled with
mvriads of gnats? Because all the insectivorous birds
such as bwallows, nightingales, warblers, &c., have
deserted us. This short lapse of time, during which
they have too prematurely abandoned our climate, is
sufficient to cause us to be more incommoded with the
multitude of insects, than at any other season. What
then must be the consequence, if, from the moment
of their arrival — if, during the entire summer — if, in
short, for the whole time of their sojournment among
us, we continue to make their destruction a source of
amusement ?

Birds of this genus, or rather family, are found in
all the warmer parts of the world ; and some migrate
towards the poles in the summer, and it is even said
that they winter in some of the polar countries ; but
though this should be the case in some solitary in-
stances, it is contrary to the usual habits of the birds,
and forms no part of their general character. The
more powerful ones very much resemble the shrikes
both in their appearance and manners ; and, though
none of them are, expressly speaking, birds of prey,
living principally on feathered game, yet not a few
of them do occasionally prey upon little birds. The
larger species of winged insects form their chief sub-
sistence ; and, as they do not prey so much upon
beetles as the shrikes do, but upon flies and other
insects of more lofty flight than the beetles have, they
occupy a more elevated station in the forest. They
are generally found perched on high stumps of trees,
on the points of branches, and on other reconnoitring
posts from which they can scan a considerable extent
of the air ; and the moment they discover an insect
within the range of their vision, they dart upon it
wiih great velocity, and generally unerring aim ; seiz-
ing it with the bill after the manner of the swallow
tribe. Though they do not hawk or beat the air on the
\viug- like these, still there are many of them that
approach slightly to the character of the martins, and
are locally known by the same name. These usually
have the tail forked, can turn in the air much more
quickly than those which have the tail square or
rounded ; and the forked-tail ones are much more
inhabitants of open places, though we believe that
the greater part of the number build their nest in
trees.

Most of them are migrant, or at all events discur-
sive birds ; and the nature of their food renders it
necessary that they should be so. Some places of the
tropical countries abound in insects, suited for the

nourishment of these birds at all seasons of the year;
but such places are the close forests, and margins of
the streams and marshes ; and, wherever the ground
is open, the violence of the drought sweeps away the
food of such birds, and, consequently, the birds them-
selves are compelled to seek new pastures. But those
birds are so abundant in every kind of locality, more
especially in the American continent, and in some
parts of Africa, that any attempt at describing their
habits and localities, however meagre, would fill a
large volume. We must, therefore, close our general
observations, and proceed to some notice of the sub-
genera, and a list of the principal species, with occa-
sional short notices of a few of the more remarkable
and characteristic ones.

TYRANNUS (Tyrants, or Tyrant fly-catchers}. The
species of this sub-genus are very numerous — the de-
scribed ones amount to between sixty and seventy ;
and from the great extent of their native regions,w Inch
have not yet been explored, it is highly probable that
there may be many species at present unobserved.
As far as'is known they are all natives of the Ameri-
can continent ; and the greater number of them are
found in the inter-tropical countries, though there are
several which range considerably in latitude during
the summer months.

The general characters are : the bill long, strong,
and straight for the greater part of its length, but sud-
denly hooked, or bent near the tip. The culmeri or
ridge is straight or rounded. They are very brave
and daring birds, and do not hesitate to attack the
largest birds of prey, while they are bold, and gene-
rally successful in driving from their nests those birds
which plunder the eggs and unfledged young. Those
of the largest size not unfrequently prey upon small
birds, as the shrikes do.

The Tyrant Fly-catcher (Muscicapa tyrannus], is
probably one of the most characteristic species ; it is
found in the tropical parts of America, but ranges
into the United States, and has been well described
by Wilson, whose description we shall quote as being
the most faithful, and at the same time ofte which
applies in substance to several others of the species.
"This," says the American ornithologist, "is the
field martin of Maryland and some of the southern
states, and the king bird of Pennsylvania and several
of the northern districts. The epithet tyrant, which
is generally applied to him by naturalists, I am not
altogether so well satisfied with ; some, however,
may think the two terms pretty nearly synonymous.

" The trivial name king, as well as tyrant, has been
bestowed on this bird for its extraordinary behaviour,
and the authority it assumes over all others during
the time of breeding. At that season, his extreme
affection for his mate, and for his nest and young-,
makes him suspicious of every bird that happens to
pass near his residence, so that he attacks without
discrimination every intruder. In the months of
May, June, and part of July, his life is one continued
scene of broils and battles, in which, however, he
generally comes off conqueror. Hawks and crows,
the bald eagle, and the great black eagle, all equally
dread a rencounter with this dauntless little cham-
pion, who, as soon as he perceives one of these last
approaching, launches into the air to meet him,
mounts to a considerable height above him, and darts
down on his back, sometimes fixing there to the great
annoyance of his sovereign, who, if no convenient
retreat or resting place be near, endeavours by various

FLY- CATCHES.

evolutions to rid himself of his merciless adversary.
But the king bird is not so easily dismounted. He
teases the eagle incessantly, sweeps upon him from
right and left, remounts that he may descend on his
back with the greater violence, all the while keeping
up a shrill and rapid twittering, and continuing the
attack sometimes for more than a mile, till he is
relieved by some other of his tribe equally eager for
the contest.

" There is one bird, however, which, by its superior
rapidity of flight, is sometimes more than a match for
him, and I have several times witnessed his pre-
cipitate retreat before this active antagonist. This is
the purple martin, one whose food and disposition is
pretty similar to his own, but who has greatly the
advantage of him on wing in eluding all his attacks
and teasing him as he pleases. I have also seen the
red-headed woodpecker, while clinging on a rail of
the fence, amuse himself with the violence of the
king bird, and play bo-peep with him round the rail,
while the latter, highly irritated, made every attempt,
as he swept from side to side, to strike him, but in
vain. All his turbulence, however, vanishes as soon
as his young are able to shift for themselves, and he
is then as mild and peaceable as any other bird.

" But he has a worse habit than all these ; one
much more obnoxious to the husbandman, and often
fatal to himself. He loves, not the honey, but the
bees ; and it must be confessed, is frequently on the
look out for these little industrious insects. He
plants himself on the post of a fence, or on a small
tree in the garden, not far from the hives, and from
thence sallies on them as they pass and repass,
making great havoc among their numbers. His
shrill twitter, so near to the house, gives intimation
to the farmer of what is going on, and the gun soon
closes his career for ever. Man arrogates to himself,
in this case, the exclusive privilege of murder, and
after putting thousands of these same little insects to
death, seizes on the fruits of their labour.

" The king birds arrive in Pennsylvania about the
20th of April, sometimes in small bodies of five and
six together, and are at first very silent, until they
begin to pair and build their nest. This generally
takes place about the first week in May. The nest
is very often built in the orchard, on the horizontal
branch of an apple tree ; frequently also, as Catesby
observes, on the sassafras tree, at no great height
from the ground. The outside consists of small
slender twigs, tops of withered flowers of the plant
yarrow, and others well wove together with tow ami
wool, and i* made large and remarkably firm and
compact. It is usually lined with fine dry fibrous
grass and horse hair. The eggs are five, of a very
pale cream colour or dull white, marked with a few
large spots of deep purple, and other smaller ones of
light brown, chiefly, though not altogether, towards
the great end. They generally build twice in the
season.

" The king bird is altogether destitute of song,
having only the shrill twitter above mentioned. His
usual mode of flight is singular. The vibrations of
his broad wings, as he moves slowly over the fields,
resemble those of a hawk hovering and settling in the
air to reconnoitre the ground below, and the object
of the king bird is, no doubt, something similar — viz.,
to look out for passing insects, either in the air or
among the flowers and blossoms below him. In
fields of pasture he often takes his stand, on the tops

507

of the mullein, and other rank weeds near the cattle,
and makes occasional sweeps after passing insects,
particularly the large black gad-fly, so terrifying to
horses and cattle. His eye moves restlessly'around
him, traces the flight of an insect for a moment or
two, then that of a second, and even a third, until he
perceives one to his liking, when, with a sweep,
he pursues, seizes it, and returns to the same spot
again to look out for more. This habit is so con-
spicuous when he is watching the bee-hive, that
several intelligent farmers of my acquaintance are of
opinion that he picks out only the drones, and never
injures the working bees. Be this as it may, he cer-
tainly gives a preference to one bee, and one species
of insect over another. He hovers over the river
sometimes for a considerable time, darting after
insects that frequent such places, snatching them
from the surface of the water, and diving about in
the air like a swallow, for he possesses at will great
power of wing. Numbers of them are frequently
seen thus engaged for hours together over the inns
Delaware and Schuylkill in a calm day, particularly
towards evening. He bathes himself by diving
repeatedly into the water from the overhanging
branches of some tree, where he sits to dry and dress
his plumage.

" Whatever antipathy may prevail against him for
depredations on the drones, or, if you will, on the
bees, I can assure the cultivator, that this bird is
greatly his friend, in destroying multitudes of insects,
whose larvae prey on the harvests of his fields, parti-
cularly his corn, fruit trees, cucumbers, and pump-
kins. These noxious insects are the daily food of
this bird ; and he destroys upon a very moderate
average, some hundreds of them daily. The death,
of every king bird is, therefore, an actual loss to the
farmer, by multiplying the numbers of destructive
insects, and encouraging the depredations of crows,
hawks, and eagles, who avoid as much as possible his
immediate vicinity. For myself, I must say, that the
king bird possesses no common share of my regard.
I honour this little bird for his extreme affection for
his young ; for his contempt of danger, and unexam-
pled intrepidity ; for his meekness of behaviour when
there are no calls on his courage, a quality which
even in the human race is justly considered so noble.

" This bird is generally known from the Lakes to
Florida. Besides insects, they feed, like every other
species of their tribe with which I am acquainted, on
various sorts of berries, particularly blackberries, of
which they are extremely fond. Early in September
they leave Pennsylvania on their way to the south."

This very interesting bird is about eight inches
long, and one foot two inches in the expanse of the
wings. The general colour on the upper part is dark
bluish ash, the head and tail being nearly black ; but
the tip of the tail is white, and it is square at the end.
The wings are brownish, with dull white margins to
the quills and coverts. The general colour on the
under part is pure white ; but the breast is pale ash
colour. The plumage on the top of the head, though
not forming a regular crest, is capable of being
erected ; and when it is so, it displays a rich tint of
flame colour ; and it is from this that the bird gets its
kingly name. The bill is of a black colour, very
broad, and with the tip of the upper mandible de-
scending over the under one, furnished with a lateral
notch, and beset with bristles at the base. The tarsi
and toes are black streaked with grey, and the irides

508

FLY- CATCHER.

hazel. The female has the upper part inclining to
brown, less white on the tail, and the top of the head
dull orange. The young in their first plumage have
no orange on the crest.

The Great Crested Tyrant (T. crinatus) is another
American species found in the tropical parts, and also
in the temperate. It is rather longer in the bod}'
than the former species ; but less powerfully winged,
and in all its character a less bold and dashing bird.
The general colour on the upper part is dark green-
ish olive. The feathers on the head are produced
and pointed, forming a loose crest, dark brown in the
centre of each feather, but paler and ragged at the
sides. The throat and upper part of the breast are
delicate ash colour, and all the rest of the under part
sulphur yellow. The wing coverts are pale fawn
colour, and the primaries bright russet, marked with
bands of white. The tail is of the same colour as the
primaries, and slightly forked. The bill is very like
that of the first mentioned species ; and the tarsi and
toes are bluish black. The female is very similar to
the male in appearance. " The bird now before us,"
says Wilson, " is less generally known than the pre-
ceding, being chiefly confined to the woods. There
his harsh squeak, for he has no song, is occasionally
heard above most others. He also visits the orchard ;
is equally fond of bees ; but wants the courage and mag-
nanimity of the king bird. He arrives in Pennsylvania
early in May, and builds his nest in a hollow tree
deserted by the bluebird or woodpecker. The mate-
rials of which this is formed are scanty and rather
novel. One of these nests, now before me, is formed
of a little loose hay, feathers of the guinea fowl, hogs'
bristles, pieces of cast snakes' skin, and dogs' hair.
Snake skins with this bird appear to be an indispensa-
ble article, for I have never yet found one of his nests
without this material forming a part of it. Whether he
surrounds his nest with this by way of terrorem,to pre-
vent other birds or animals from entering, or whether
it be that he finds its silky softness suitable for his
young, is uncertain ; the fact, however, is notorious.
The female lays four eggs of a dull cream colour,
thickly scratched with purple lines of various tints, as
if done with a pen."

TJw Small Green-crested Tyrant. This bird is also
a native of America, and ranges into the United
States during the summer season. It inhabits the
deepest, thick shaded, solitary parts of the wood ;
sits generally on the lower branches ; utters every
minute or so a sudden sharp squeak, which is heard a
considerable distance through the woods ; and, as it
flies from one tree to another, has a low querulous
note, something like the twitterings of chickens nest-
ling under the wings of the hen. On alighting, this
sound ceases, and it utters its notes as before. It
arrives from the south about the middle of May ;
builds on the upper side of a limb, in a low swampy
part of the wood, and lays five white eggs. It leaves
about the beginning of September. It is a rare and
very solitary bird, always haunting the most gloomy,
moist, and unfrequented parts of the forest. It feeds
on flying insects, devours bees, and in the season of
buckleberries, they form the chief part of its food.
Its northern migrations extend as far as Newfound-
land. The length of this species is five inches and
a half ; breadth, nine inches ; the upper parts are of
a green olive colour, the lower pale greenish yellow,
darkest on the breast ; the wings deep brown, crossed
with two bars of yellowish white, and a ring of the

same surrounds the eye, which is hazel. The tail is
rounded at the end ; the bill is remarkably flat and
broad, dark brown above, and flesh colour below ;
egs and feet, pale ash. The female differs little from
the male in colour.

Such is all the specimen we can afford to give of
this exceedingly numerous genus of birds. We have
taken our materials chiefly from Wilson, and these of
course refer to those species which reach the United
States on their summer migrations. In tropical Ame-
rica they are very abundant ; and there are consider-
able diversities both in size and colour, and in the
form of particular parts of the structure, especially
in the termination of the tail, which is much forked
in some, square over in others, and in others again
rounded or wedge-shaped. These differences indicate
a considerable degree of dissimilarity in some of the
habits of the birds ; but except as regards difference of
size, and locality as being more woodland, or more a
frequenter of the open places, the distinctions between
them are not of very great interest ; and though their
history were as complete as it is imperfect, their num-
ber would preclude us from going into the details of
them, therefore we must pass into the next sub-genus.
MUSCIPETA (Fly-hunters). These inhabit a differ-
ent region of the world, being found only on the old
continent, in Asia or Africa. There are, indeed, some
species found in New Holland, but they differ from
the rest in the structure of their bill. This genus is
however, not very definitely arranged, the birds which
are included in it differ more from each other than
those of the former ; and therefore it is by no means
easy to determine what species ought or ought not to
belong to it.

The general characters are : the bill long, and very
depressed ; the breadth being double the height even
from the base, the culmen flat and rounded, but not-
withstanding it is flexible in many species, the mar-
gins of the bill are a little curved, and there is a
slight notch near the point. The base is furnished
with long bristles. The feeble and flexible nature of
the beak restricts them almost entirely to vegetable
food, as they are unable to divide any animal or
vegetable substance which has any degree of tough-
ness or hardness. To compensate for this want of
power, they are furnished, in many of the species,
with floating feathers, of which those of the former
sub-genus are, generally speaking, destitute. These
are attached to various parts of the head, but generally
speaking they consist of produced feathers in the tail,
or handsome crests on the head ; and in general the
colours of their plumage are more rich and gay than
those of the tyrants.

The greater number of those which may be regarded
as the most typical, or at least as the ones upon which
the sub-genus is more directly founded, are, as has
been already said, natives of Africa and the south of
Asia. There are, however, some species in New
Holland, and some others on the American continent,
which resemble the typical ones in many of their
characters ; but they haveat the same time some which
are peculiar to themselves, and therefore they should
perhaps be separated as a further sub-division of this
portion of the family. The New Holland ones are
remarkable for the breadth and flatness of their bills ;
and the American ones are characterised by much
greater length of the tarsi and shortness of the tail,
than any of the characteristic species. We shall
mention one or two of the leading ones.

FLY-CATCHER.

509

Musdpeta Paradisi. This species has been called
by various names, such as the Paradise fly-hunter,
crested long tailed pie, pied bird of Paradise, and a
number of others. It has a bluish-green crest on the
head. The body is white ; the tail wedge-shaped,
with the two middle feathers much produced in the
male birds, but considerably shorter in the female.
The body measures about six inches in length, and
the tail fourteen. It is, however, very liable to vary ;
for it occurs of smaller dimensions also, with most of
the upper parts pale-chesnut, likewise with the breast
bluish-ash. Hence it has been thrice described by
Brisson under different designations ; and hence the
Jfusdcapa Paradisi, and the Turdus Paradisiacus of
Gmelin, are both females of the present species.
Klein mistook it for a crested thrush, Mohring for a
Monedula, and Linne for a Corvus. It is a native of the
Cape of Good Hope, Bengal, and Madagascar, where
it haunts the mangroves, or the borders of rivers.
Most of this genus, or subgenus are, indeed much more
frequenters of the humid parts of warm countries
than the genus Tymnuus, so that they are much more
resident in the same locality, and live more exclu-
sively upon insects.

The Royal Fly-hunter (Musdpeta regia"), which
hus been described as the royal tody, the king of the
fly catchers, and various other names, is a very hand-
some bird. It is brown on the upper part, and white
with lines of brown on the under. The crest is
spreading, and stands over the head like a parasol,
the general colour brown, but the tips of the feathers
black, the chin and eyelids arc white, the bill brown,
and the legs flesh-colour, the length of the bird is
about seven inches. It is described as being one of
the South American species ; but it inhabits the depths
of the forests and is rarely seen.

The Miller Fly-hunter (M. pristinana) is a small
species about, the same size as the Cape tit. It is oi
a reddish brown colour ; and inhabits southern Africa,
where it gels the name of the miller, from the male
making a constant clicking sound like that of the
"clack" of a corn mill.

The species of these birds distributed over the
richer and warmer parts of the world, are very nume-
rous, and some of them are so rich in the tints o'
their colour, and so gay in their produced feathers, tha
they have, in many instances, been confounded witl
the' birds of paradise, from which, however, they an
quite distinct, both in their structure and their habits
They have also been not unfrequently confonndec
with* the todies, from which they differ widely, a
these last are syndactylic birds, having some affinit;
with the kingfishers, and none at all with any of th
fly-catching family. Their numbers are so many how
ever, and their history is so complicated and so im
perfect, that we cannot enter further into detail.

Platyrhynchus, which have the bill considerably
larger and broader, should perhaps be made either
separate sub -genus, or a section of the present one
The greater number of them inhabit the warmer part
of America. They are numerous, but there are lev
materials for any particular description of them.

Those which have the tarsi long and the tail shor
inhabit nearer the ground, and use their feet mnc
more than the others , and they in some of the spe
cies, which are not very numerous, approach to th
character of the thrush.

MUSCICAPA, or the fly-catcher properly so callec
has, like the rest of the family, the bill considerabl

epressed, but it is not so broad in proportion, and the
pper mandible has a prominent ridge on the culmen.
'he upper mandible is hooked at the tip, and gene-
ally much notched. There are strong hairs at the
ase of the bill, which partly cover the oval, basal,
nd lateral nostrils. The tarsus is about the same
ength as the middle toe, and the outer and inner toes
re, generally speaking, of the same length with each
then

The species of fly-catchers, as enumerated in the
ooks, are very many ; but as it does not appear that
ic sub-division formed by Cuvier, has been very cor-
ectly applied to them, it is not very easy to say
vhich, especially of the less known ones, should be
aken into the list, and which excluded. Indeed
he difference upon which Cuvier's sub-division is
ounded, is sometimes so light, and the softer billed
pecies are so apt to have the forms of their bills
Itered before they are placed in Museums, that the
(rawing of exact lines of distinction among so many,
vould be no easy task. The probability is, that the
rue fly-catchers are all inhabitants of the eastern con-
inent or the eastern islands, while the American ones,
vhatever names may be given to them, belong rather
o the sub-genus tyrannus.

In Europe it is the general habit of those birds to
)e migratory ; and though some of them range pretty
Par northward upon the continent, they are confined
,o the south east of the British islands. The reason
of this is perfectly obvious, and it throws some light
ipon the real cause of migration in birds. The
ilimate of Britain is warmer than that of continental
countries ; but the northern parts of Britain do not
range into nearly so high latitudes, as those of the
continent ; and they contain fewer woods and marshes,
and are thus less favourable to the production of in-
sects. So striking is the difference in this respect
that, while the damp forests and margins of the
streams in Lapland, within the polar circle, are
literally pestered with insects during the summer, to
a degree little short of what prevails in the damp
forests of tropical America, one may traverse the bare
hills and even the banks of the streams of the north
of Scotland a whole summer's day, without seeing
a single fly. The account given is highly improba-
ble, and partakes not a little of that romance and cre-
dulity which attach so much to the regions of the
north ; but it has been stated by authors who can be
supposed to have had no intention of misleading their
readers, that those birds winter as far to the north as
Lapland, though there is no well authenticated ac-
count of the same species even summering in Britain
as far to the northward as the most genial parts of
Scotland.

There are several fly-catchers which visit Europe,
and two at least which make annual excursions to the
British islands. The two British species are the
spotted fly-catcher Musdcapa grisola, and the pied
fly-catcher Musdcapa atncapilla.

TJie spotted Fly-catcher. This bird arrives late in
the British islands, seldom till near the month of
May ; and it departs generally in September. It is
about six inches in length ; brownish on the upper
part, with a trace of red on the shoulders, a pale
streak over the eye, the crown of the head spotted
with darker brown, and the quills and tail feathers very
dark. The under part is brownish, with dusky shafts
to the feathers on the breast, and dusky spots on their
webs. The bill is dusky ; the sides hazel, and the

510

FLY- CATCHER.

tarsi and toes, the former of which is rather short, are
black. It resorts only to the rich and cultivated
parts of the country, and is not found in open places
or in the uplands. It is a very familiar bird, and
appears to court the neighbourhood of houses, which
indeed are obviously the places where its insect food
is most abundant ; and as it lives on winged insects
and not on the caterpillars, it does not arrive so soon
as those birds which feed chiefly on the latter ; and it
also quits the country early, because, as autumn sets
in, such insects as are left, unless they are very small
ones, are found near the ground ; and though this
bird comes near houses, its habit is to seek for its food
in the free air. This food, which consists chiefly of
dipterous or two winged insects, is captured as they
cross the perch of the bird, so that it is a Her in wait,
and springs upon its prey, instead of giving them chase
upon the wing, as is the case with the fly-hunting
bird. In the northern parts, it is rare ; and not very-
abundant, except at favourite spots even in the south
of England, but is very plentiful in the south of
Europe. During the breeding season it frequently
makes its nest in wall trees, or in the holes of old
standard fruit trees, and if other circumstances do not
favour it, it does not hesitate to place its nest on the
ends of beams and rafters in outhouses ; on these ac-
counts it is called the beam bird, the rafter-bird, the
bee-bird, and a variety of other local names.

From their partiality to gardens and orchards, they
have been regarded as destroyers of fruit. It is a
prevailing notion in the county of Kent, that they
suck the cherries ; but individuals who have daily
watched their proceedings in the French orchards,
could never perceive that they attacked that fruit,
though frequently allured to the trees by the pre-
sence of insects. By sudden jerks and turnings they
will often lay hold on one of the latter that seemed to
have eluded their pursuit ; but in general they appear
to be shy, melancholy, and stupid birds. Their nests,
which are laboriously constructed, and which they
seem to be little careful of concealing, are by no means
models of neatness. The materials are generally
vegetable fibres, moss, wool, &c., interwoven with
spiders' webs, and lined with wool ; and the situation
is in trees or bushes, or the limb of a fruit tree nailed
to a wall, in holes in the walls of out-buildings, or
on the end of a beam, rafter, &c. The eggs are four
or five in number, and not unlike those of the redbreast,
being bluish white,with rust-coloured spots.but the latter
more distinct, and not so much confined to the larger
end, where, however, they are of a deeper tint. Both
sexes share the care of incubation. When the young
leave the nest, they are conducted by the parents to
some neighbouring wood or grove, where insects
abound, and where they may be seen darting, in every
direction, in pursuit of flies. As the note of this spe-
cies is a simple weak chirp, seldom uttered till the
young have fled, the bird is more readily discovered
than the redstart and other summer migrants, which,
perhaps, are less common. The spotted fly-catcher
has been frequently noticed in Cornwall and Devon-
shire. A correspondent of London's Magazine of
Natural History had a nest of this bird brought to
him, which he describes as follows : " It was built
upon a wooden rake, that was carelessly lying on the
ground in a cottage garden at Bransford, near Wor-
cester ; in this nest the female laid five eggs, and
even sat on them indifferent to any one passing in the
garden, till the nest was taken by a boy belonging to

the cottage. The nest is carelessly put together, yet
prettily constructed of long green moss, intermixed
with the catkins of the hazel, and fibres, the interior
lined with thin straw and wool ; eggs thickly spotted
with brown."

The Pled Fly-catcher (Muscicapa hictuosa). This is
a more handsome bird than the former, and more
energetic in its manners. Its bill is of firmer struc-

Pied Fly -catcher.

ture, and it altogether approaches more near in cha-
racter to the shrikes, than any of the other fly-catchers
do with which we are familiar in this part of the
world. An argument has been raised among natural-
ists whether this species be or be not a permanent
inhabitant of the British islands ; but it does not
appear that there is much argument in favour of their
residence during the winter. As summer migrants
they frequent a different part of the country, keeping
more inland and upland than the spotted species, and
ranging along the western slope of the central eleva-
tion of England as far as Cumberland. It is worthy
of remark that this bird follows nearly the same ground
as the red-backed shrike, the species which, perhaps,
it most resembles out of its own genus. In size it is
nearly equal to the linnet ; and its colours, which are
subject to very remarkable seasonal changes, may be
thus described, with a passing remark, that in almost
all the fly-catchers with which we are well acquainted,
and which are migratory, the winter plumage of the
two sexes is very similar, while the summer plumage
of the male bird varies much from the winter, and
that of the female undergoes little or no change.
The bill black, the irides of the eyes hazel, the front
of the head white, the crown of the head, cheeks,
eyes, and the whole of the tipper parts, black, the
the smaller wing coverts, and the greater coverts of
the primores are dusky ; the six first quill feathers,
K holly dusky, the rest white at the base, increasing till
the three last feathers are wholly white, except a spot
of black near the point of the exterior web ; the
upper parts of the bird, from chin to tail, are white,
the tail is dusky black, the two exterior feathers white
on their outer webs, and near the shaft on the inner
webs, except at the point ; the legs are black. The
female has no white on the forehead ; the whole of
the upper parts are dusky brown, the under parts
are dirty white, and in the wings the white is less
conspicuous than in the male.

The following facts, given by Selby, are calculated
to throw considerable light upon the characters of
this bird. " Its mode of life, and the species of food
upon which it subsists, also militate against the idea
of its wintering in this island, for, living entirely upon
winged insects, it would be impossible for it to pro-

FLYING-FISH.

511

cure any adequate supply of food, during the severity of
the winter season. I should even be inclined to consi-
der the few individuals met with in England during the
summer, as birds that have been driven rather out of the
regular track of their polar migration ; and the follow-
ing fact goes far towards confirming this supposition :
— In May, 1822, after a very severe storm of wind
and rain from the south east, several of these birds
made their appearance in Northumberland, and I
procured specimens of both sexes, the males being in
different states of progress towards the summer's
plumage. As the weather continued cold for some
days subsequent to their appearance, they were
obliged to resort to dunghills, and other warm situa-
tions, for a supply of their natural food. After remain-
ing for about a fortnight to recruit their strength
(for at first they exhibited great weakness),
they all disappeared ; nor could 1 ascertain that a
single pair remained in that neighbourhood during the
season of incubation. Their manners, flight, and
method of catching their prey, were similar to the
preceding species ; and they were generally mute.
The West Riding of Yorkshire appears to be a dis-
trict in which the Red Fly-catcher is oftener met with
than in any other part of the island. — It breeds there
in the holes of decayed trees, forming a nest of leaves,
bark, and hay, lined with hair and feathers. The
eggs are four or five in number, of a pale bluish-green
colour."

This is the species called the Beccafico or "fig-eater"
by the Italians ; and in that part of Europe its flesh
is held in estimation as an article of food.

The Collared Fly-catcher (Muscicapa albicollis)
is even more remarkable than the last species, for the
seasonal change of plumage in the male. In his winter
plumage, the male is exactly like the female, namely,
of a grey colour, with a white band across the wings,
but his summer or nuptial plumage is very different
from this. The colours are then pure black and
white, very strikingly contrasted with each other ; a
cap on the head ; the back, the wings, and the tail,
are black ; and the forehead, the collar, all the under
part of the body, a large spot on each wing, and a
small one within each external edge of the tail, is
white. This is a small species, found in the dense
forests of the central parts of Europe, where it nestles
in the holes of trees, and is of very retired habits, and
very rare, or at all events, very seldom seen. Indeed,
it is probable, from the difficulty of exploring a forest,
and from the fact that, within these few years, some
permanently resident British kinds have been dis-
covered, we are ignorant of many species which are
in reality not rare in those places of concealment.

Such must suffice as a specimen of the true fly-
catchers, for the species which inhabit Africa, Asia,
and the Asiatic islands, are so very numerous that the
list of their names would take up much space, and
cause little information.

Gymnoccphalus (Bald fly-catcher, or Bald tyrant).
This is an American sub-genus, and has more resem-
blance to the tyrants than to the true fly-catchers ;
but there are some doubts whether it should be classed
exactly in this part of the system or not. Only one
species is known : it is a large bird about the size of
a crow. The general colour is reddish brown with
a paler tint of the same on the under part. The front
and nape in the mature bird are nearly naked of fea-
thers ; but they are feathered in the young with slen-
der grey feathers, having their points white. The bill,

though considerably compressed, is angular and much
stronger than that of most of the present group. This
form of the bill, with the size of the head, and its
resemblance to the other members of Vieillot's genus
Coracina, would tend to the conclusion that it is a car-
rion bird rather than an insect feeder. But very little
is known of its habits. It is a native of the dense
forests in the interior of tropical America, and has
been but rarely seen in its native habitat.

Ccphalopterus has also been placed in the genus
Coracina by Vieillot. As is the case with the former
there is only one known species of this, a native of
the forests on the banks of Amazon. It is about the
same size as the former, but differing from it in colour.
The general plumage is black, with purple arid green
reflections. There is a plurne of loose and floating .
feathers on the top of the head, which form a sort of
shade or awning over the front, and are variegated
with black and white. There is also a membranous
production of the skin of the throat, but with feathers
in branches, which hang as a sort of detached gorget.
The skin, which is partially seen through these fea-
thers, is blue ; the habits are as little known as those
of the former ; but, from the appearance, it is probable
that, like the other, it is a carrion bird, and not an
insect feeder.

FLYING-FISH (Exocetus), a very singular genus
of soft-finned fishes, with abdominal fins ; and placed
by Cuvier in the pike family. They have, however,
sufficient peculiarities of character to entitle them to
some notice in a separate article. The most remark-
able part of their structure is the great length of the
pectoral fins, which are pointed, something after the
form of the wings of those birds which can skim
swiftly over the surface of the waters ; and they are
capable of being expanded by the separation of the
rays, and the consequent stretching of the connecting
membrane.

Their characters are : the head and body scaly,
with a row of carinated scales upon each side ; their
head is flattened on the upper part and the sides ; the
dorsal fins, situated immediately over the anal, and
both are considerably produced, directed backwards
at both commencement and termination, straight on
their margins, of nearly equal length throughout, and
about equal to each other. Their ventral fins are
placed in advance of the centre of gravity, broader at
the extremity than the insertion, and having their ex-
tremities concave. Their eyes are large ; their under
jaw is the longest ; both jaws have fronted teeth, and
they have flattened teeth on the pharynx. They have
six arches in the gills, and are furnished with air-
bladders of copious size.

Though from their structure they are classed in the
natural family as the pike, their characters and situa-
tion in the waters are very different from those of that
voracious fish. The pike lives the tyrant of the fresh
waters, capable of not only preying upon every other
fish which resides in them, but sometimes assailing the
aquatic birds, even the large ones, and also the mam-
malia which come to drink. There are no very au-
thentic accounts of how matters stand as to mastery
between the pike and the otter ; but it is possible that
even there, the pike may be able to keep his ground.
The pike is thus a master ; but, though a powerful,
far from a handsome one ; and in the dull and stag-
nant waters in which he chiefly resides, he appears to
be the principal one appointed for keeping down the
numbers of all the rest to the supply of food.

512

F L Y I N G - F I S H.

The flying-fishes are, on the other hand, small and
feeble ; and though, at first sight, the extraordinary
development of fins with which they are provided
might seem to give them some certainty of escape, it
rather appears that they are thereby placed in double
danger. The form of their body is, no doubt, well
adapted for swimming ; but it is questionable whether
the great size of their fins may not, upon the whole,
be an impediment to them in making their way through
the waters. The form of the dorsal and anal fins must,
by preventing the lateral motion of a considerable
length of the body, lessen the effect of the anal fin
in projecting them along. How the large pectorals
may act in swimming, it is not easy to say, though
they cannot, to any very great extent, produce pro-
gressive motion, and seem more likely to hinder it.
* At any rate the flying-fish is the constant prey of
all the voracious fishes which range over the surface
of the wide seas of the warm latitudes, in which only
or chiefly flying fishes are found. Their power of leap-
ing into the air, and sustaining themselves there for the
space of more than half a minute, and in no instance
probably exceeding, or even amounting to two hun-
dred yards in distance, is not calculated to save them
ultimately from their aquatic enemies, while it cer-
tainly exposes them to new enemies in the air ; for,
when they rise in shoals, as they often do, the preda-
tory birds, which are constantly ranging over the
same seas, make prize of numbers of them ; and it is
very probable that, as is the case with salmon when
they leap, on being nearly overtaken by seals or por-
poises, the flying-fish fall much nearer to their pur-
suers, than they are when they leap out of the water.
Indeed, when the flying-fishes leap out of the water, it
is generally observed, if the observer is near enough,
that there is a shoal of coryphenes driving them along,
very much in the same way that porpoises drive sal-
mon ; and, as the exertion of the leap, and the expo-
sure to the air, which is not their natural element,
must jointly tend to weaken them : and farther, as
they must require some time after their fall, before
they can adjust themselves to the water, so as to have
the same command of their swimming apparatus that
they had when they quitted it, this must farther help
to make them a more easy prey.

Though these fishes can project themselves to the
height of fifteen or twenty feet above the surface of
the water, and take such a direction in their leap as
can carry them to a horizontal distance of a hundred
and fifty or two hundred yards, it is quite a mistake to
call the motion " flying," or the animals which perform
it "flying-fishes." They are just as powerless in the
air, and as incapable of making any effort there, as a
wingless inhabitant of the land is. Their only power is
in the water, and they can get no impetus of any kind
but by acting against the water, as the point of resistance
from which they are propelled. They are exactly in
the situation of arrows shot at an oblique range. The
force which urges them on acts only at the commence-
ment ; and both the force of gravitation and the re-
sistance of the air begin the destruction of it the instant
they are in motion.

That there may be some advantages gained by the
elasticity of the air reacting upon the fins and scales of
a fish (and good leaping fishes are all scaly), we do
not deny ; but it would be no easy problem to deter-
mine the amount or even the nature of this. It is also
true that, as remarked by Cuvier, the produced and
expanded pectoral fins of these fishes may prevent

their falling so rapidly as they otherwise would do.
But even this acting like a parachute, and protracting
of the fall, is a delivering of the fish up to an element
which is not its own, and in which it is consequently
quite helpless.

There is no organ that can act upon the air except
a wing, and no wing can be moved but by means of
pectoral muscles which have their fulcrum in a sternum
of bone upon the under side of the animal. In birds
the power of flight is always in proportion as the struc-
ture of skeleton supports the sternum, and in propor-
tion as the muscles are concentrated upon this bone ;
and even in those mammalia, such as the bats and a
few others, which make a sort of grotesque and flut-
tering flight by means of an apparatus of this kind,
there is always a provision bearing some resemblance
to that organisation which works the wings of a bird.

In the flying-fishes, there is no such provision as
this, no muscular structure by the action of which they
j can give their pectoral fins any motion bearing the
slightest resemblance to that which wings have in
flight ; the only effect of the fin being to diminish the
rate and descent to the ground, in the same manner
as a sheet of paper falls much more slowly, when its
flat side is downward than when its edge is. The
fins are, in fact, just as passive when the fish is in the
air, as the sheet of paper is when it is let fall with its
flat side in the position which has been stated. The
arrangement of the muscles in those fishes does not
differ from that of the rest of the class ; and though
the fins are larger and a little different in their situa-
tions, there is not much more enlargement of bone, or
provision for motion in the fins in a flying-fish than
in any other. There is even less concentration of the
fins in those fishes, than there is in some of the species
which inhabit the bottom of the waters, and never by
anychance come to the surface ; for though the ventral
fins are placed farther forward than they are in many
fishes, they are still abdominal fins, and not articulated
to the bone of the shoulder as is the case with the
ground fishes.

We are therefore to regard the flight, as it is termed,
of these fishes as merely a leap, the whole exertion
producing which is performed by their action on the
water, and on the water alone ; and though, as is the
case with any other body which is projected obliquely,
they rise upward in a curve, and fall less veitically
than they rise, in consequence of the wings acting as
a parachute, they are just as much at the mercy of
the air as any other passive substance which can be
projected into it.

We have felt it necessary to state at some length
the utter impossibility of these fishes being in any
respect air animals, or real fliers, in consequence of
the many absurdities respecting them which are found
in most of the books of popular description. In
these it is represented that they not only can turn to
the right or left while they are in the air, but that they
can ascend and descend, so as to accomodate them-
selves to the waving surface of the sea, and thus
preserve an equal distance from the ridge and trough
of the wave, as long as they are in the air. In this
there is another deception which is not unworthy of
notice, as illustrative of the real phenomena of the
sea. The motion of the waves, though they appear
to roll onward before the wind, is not a progressive
motion of the water, but a mere vibration of the sur-
face, the wave swinging on the centre of its elevation
in the same manner as a pendulum swings on its point

FLYING-FISH.

513

of suspension, and following exactly the same law, so
that if the total height of the wave is between 66 and
(>7 inches, it will vibrate seconds with the same
accuracy as the pendulum of a clock; that is, each
part, of it will take one second to come to the level,
and of course an equal time to shift from above to
below, or from below to above. This motion of the
surface of the water must cause a corresponding
undulation of the air over the surface ; and if any
object whatever is simply floating in the air, and sup-
ported by that, without any exertion of its own, it must
of course undulate along with it. The Hying- fish is sup-
ported in this manner, and therefore when the air in
which the fish is, sinks down following the trough
of the sea, the fish must sink down along with it ;
and so also when the air is raised up by the other
part of the motion, or the elevation of the ridge, that
the fish must be upheaved along with it is therefore
perfectly evident. There is no question that those
motions of the sea, communicated to the air, and by
the air to the flying-fish, which simply floats in it, may
give the fish an apparently undulating, or alternately
an ascending and descending motion both in its
ascent and its descent to those who observe it looking
endways on the waves ; nor is there any doubt that
this is the real cause which has led the popular
describers into the blunder with regard to their
ascents and their descents.

On the general subject of flying-fishes we shall
take the liberty of quoting a passage from Mr.
Yarrell's very scientific work on British fishes, now
in the course of publication. . " The most recent ob-
servations on the habits and powers of the flying-fish
are those by Mr. George Bennett, the author of
Wanderings in New South Wales and other coun-
tries, \vho appears to have devoted particular attention
to the subject. ' I have never,' observes this gentle-
man, ' been able to see any percussion of the pectoral
fins during flight, and the greatest length of time
that 1 have seen these volatile fish on the fin has
been thirty seconds by the watch, and their longest
flight, mentioned by Captain Hall, has been two
hundred yards, but he thinks that subsequent ob-
servation has extended the space. The most usual
height of flight, as seen above the surface of the
water, is from two to three feet ; but I have known
them come on board at a height of fourteen feet and
upwards ; and thev have been well ascertained to
come into the channels of a line-of-battle ship, which
is considered as high as twenty feet and upwards.

" ' But it must not be supposed they have the power
of elevating themselves in the air, after having left
their native element ; for, on watching them, I have
often seen them fall much below the elevation at
which they first rose from the water, but never in any
one instance could I observe them raise themselves
from the height at which they first sprang; for I re-
gard the elevation they take to depend on the power
of the first spring or leap they make on leaving their
native element.'

" The wriier of the supplementary part to the class
Fishes, in Mr. Griffith's edition of Cuvier's Animal
Kingdom, agrees with Mr. George Bennett. He
states that the flying-fishes rise into the air by thou-
sands at once, and in all possible directions. Their
flight, as it is called, carries them fifteen or eighteen
feet out of the water; but it is an error to call them
flying-fishes, they do not in reality fly, they only leap
iiito the air, where they have not the power of sus-

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

taining themselves at will. They never come forth
from the water except after a rapid course of swim-
ming. When put alive into a vessel of sea-water, in
which there was not sufficient space to acquire mo-
mentum, they were only able to rise out of it a few
inches. The lines which they traverse, when they
enjoy full liberty of motion, are very low curves, and
always in the direction of their previous progress in
the water.

" The recent observations of both these writers
confirm the view taken by Cuvier of the powers of
flying-fishes, as described in the llegne Animal of
that author ; who, using the words flight and wings
figuratively only, says, ' their flight is never very long,
and their wings (fins) only serve them as parachutes.'

" The flying-fishes themselves feed on molluscn
and small fishes. Their flesh has an asreeable flavour,
and is often eaten by mariners on long voyages."

We have quoted these paragraphs because they
embody the testimonies of eye-witnesses, and are
selected by one who is not likely to be imposed upon
by fanciful theories. At the same time, we do not
think any appeal to the facts necessary in this parti-
cular case, inasmuch as there is quite enough in the
structure of these fishes to establish the truth of their
being incapable of flight, that is, of giving themselves
a new impulse from the air as a fulcrum. Some have
pretended to say that they fly by means of the humi-
dity of their pectoral fins, and fall in the water only
when these become dry ; but this is an absurdity
which carries along with it its own refutation. That
there is a certain capillary attraction between water
and air is perfectly true, but the degree of this attrac-
tion is not sufficient to suspend in the air any body,
however light, as may be ascertained by any one who
chooses to wet any substance whatever, and commit
it to the air. Its rate of falling in such a case will
not be found to be materially affected by the wetting
of its surface, and in the case of a substance lighter
than water it will be found that the wetting makes it
fall faster. There is as little truth in the notion that
these fishes buoy themselves up in the air by means
of any membrane connecting the fins which they ex-
tend as a sail, that is, they acquire, and can acquire
no new impulse from any such contrivance, even
granting that they were in possession of it. They
are fairly committed to the atmosphere, in which they
have not the slightest means or power of action, and
thus the}' can remain in the atmosphere no longer
than the force with which they originally project
themselves from the water can sustain them.

If it were not for the peculiar form and the elon-
gation of their tins, the flying-fishes have a good deal
of similarity to the herring. They are also of a silvery
lustre, and have a very brilliant appearance when a
cloud of them leap simultaneously into the air. In
the warm seas those displays are exceedingly com-
mon ; and after ships from this country have made
so much "southing" as to gain the trade wind or nearly
so, these fishes and their enemies of the sea or of
the air are among the most interesting phenomena of
the steady and comparatively tranquil voyage. These
fishes rise from the surface of the water in crowds as
much thronged, and projected along with as much
velocity as flocks of birds when they rise from a stub-
ble field. But though this sight is a lively and excit-
ing one, even it shows that they then are out of their
element, or in terms of the common expression, " fish
out of the water." When the flock of birds rise, they
K K

614

F L Y I N G . F I S H.

either all rise in the same direction, or they soon ac-
quire it ; and though their motion be a horizontal
spiral, or circular in the vertical direction, as it is in
the flight of dotterels and some other species, they all
keep course with each other. The motions of the
flying-fishes are, on the other hand, perfectly irregu-
lar, and they proceed in all directions just as they
happen to jerk themselves out of the water, evidently
showing that when in the air they have no power in
themselves, save what is derived from their simple
gravitation, which at last brings them to the water
upon the very same principle that it brings a stone
downwards.

It would be by no means an uninteresting point in
animal mechanics to find the peculiar action of the body
by which those fishes raise themselves so far out of the
water, and especially project themselves so far by one
single exertion. We know from actual observation
that salmon, trout, and other leaping fishes whose
motions we can observe, leap by first curving the
body to one side, and then unbending the curve by
the exertion of the whole of their muscular energy ;
and as the body of a flying-fish is organised upon the
same general principle, there is no doubt that the im-
pulse is given to them in a similar manner, by the
whole muscles being brought into vigorous play.
How far the very long pectoral fins may act in ele-
vating the fore part of the body, and how they may
be assisted in this by the ventral fins, we cannot posi-
tively say ; for the leap of the fishes from the water
is too rapid for enabling us to observe it with so much
minuteness as to be able to determine the action of
the different parts. We know, however, that there
are fishes which, by the action of the fins, can throw
themselves to a considerable height, though this is
observed chiefly in those mud fishes which leap from
the oozy bottom at low water. When Captain King
was surveying the north coast of New Holland, he
found in some of the muddy bays, at low water, such
multitudes of those jumping fishes that at first sight
he imagined they were frogs; but even in the case of
them, the impulse is given so suddenly that it is not
easy to observe the manner in which it is performed,
that is, to refer the different parts of it to the organs
which more immediately produce them. In all fishes,
however, the quantity of muscle bestowed on the body
fins, to what part soever of the body they may be
attached, is so very trifling, compared with what moves
the spine and the caudal fin, that we must refer their
principal action, whatever it may be, to this part of
their structure ; nor is there any thing in the flying-
fishes which can make them an exception to this rule,
there being no more accumulation of muscular sub-
stance, and consequently no more muscular strength,
connected with that part of the skeleton to which they
are attached, than there is connected with the same
organisation of the bone in fishes which have these
fins much less produced, and are incapable of project-
ing themselves to such heights and distances. We
shall now give very brief notices of the leading species.

Exocetus volitans, the common flying-fish, is the
one which is most common in the warmer seas of the
northern hemisphere. It is met with in the greatest
numbers from about the thirtieth degree of north lati-
tude to the equator ; but it is not altogether unknown
in seas much farther to the north. In the Mediter-
ranean, which has a much more tropical character
than its latitude would lead us to expect, this singular
fish is by no means uncommon, and it is as much

1 assailed there by the coryphene as it is in the Atlantic,
' though we believe that when in the air it is muni
more safe from the bill of the albatross. This fish,
besides the singular appearance given to it, by iis
greatly produced fins, has a stupid look, from the dis-
proportionate largeness of its eyes ; and it is not a
little remarkable that, while the shape of its body is
very much that of a surface fish, such as a mackerel,
a herring, or an anchovy, its organs of vision should
resemble in size those of the deep water fishes, which
may be supposed to have much less light in their
profound abodes than is enjoyed by the flying-fish
near the surface. The length of the common flying-
fish varies from six inches to a foot ; its ventral fins
are small, and placed in a medial situation between
the upper part of the gill-openings and the vent ; the
scales upon it are large and easily removed, and the
mouth is partially extended into a sort of tube. It is
said that there is a variety in the Red Sea very much
resembling this one in its general appearance, which
has not the habit of rising from the water ; and this
renders it probable that this habit is one of necessity
and not of choice ; that it is an attempt to escape from
enemies, and not a natural exertion for the procuring
of any gratification to the fish in a state of peace and
safety.

This is the species of which examples have occurred
on the British shores, chiefly on the south and west ;
and as these are interesting from the celebrity of the
fish, we shall again quote Mr. Yarrell for the instances
of its occurrence. " Pennant states," says Mr. Yarn II,
"that in June, 1756, one was caught at a small dis-
tance from Carmarthen, in the river Towy, being
brought up by the tide, which flows as far as the town.
Dr. Heysham, in his Catalogue of Cumberland Ani-
mals, prefixed to Hutchinson's history of that county,
says, at page 32, ' Another flying-fish was seen at
Allowby in September, 1796, by Mr. Chancellor
Carlyle, when he was bathing ; it was near the shore
and upon the surface of the water, and came within
a yard of him.' According to Dr. Fleming, another
occurred irt July, 1823, ten miles from Bridgewaler,
in the Bristol Channel, a notice of which was com-
municated to the Linnaean Society by the Rev. S. L.
Jacob.

" The following letter appears in the fortieth num-
ber of the Royal Institution Journal, addressed to the
editor.

'f ' Sir — In going down Channel on the 23rd
of August last, with light winds from the E. N. E.,
inclinable to calm, when off Portland, we were sur-
prised by the appearance of a rather large shoal of
what is commonly called the flying-fish. They were
evidently closely pursued by some one of their nume-
rous enemies, from the frequent and long flights which
they took; but it was impossible to discover what
that enemy was, though passing close to the vessel.
The fact may possibly interest some of your numerous
scientific readers.

" • Sundcrland, Dec. 2, 1825. J. C. W.'

" From the manuscript of Mr. Couch, another in-
stance may be quoted of a flying-fish, ' which threw
itself on shore, on the sandy margin of Helford River,
near Falmouth, at full two miles from the open sea,
where it was found while yet living. I was informed
by Mr. John Fox, at Plymouth, in whose collection
this specimen was in 1828, that it measured sixteen
inches in extreme length, and that the pectoral fin
was eight and a half inches long ; a size which caused

FODI A-

me to suppose it might be the E. cvolans, of which
I possess a specimen twenty and a half inches long.
There can be little doubt that this fish had been
chased out of its usual haunt by some one of those
voracious inhabitants of the deep by which they are
continually persecuted.' "

We have given this quotation from Mr. Yarrell's
work at length, because we know that he is very par-
ticular as to his authorities ; and the evidence which
he has brought together renders it highly probable
that more than one species of those curious fishes
occasionally occur on the British shores, though so
rarely and so incidentally that of course no one need
directly look out for them, farther than by having
their eyes about them, when they visit those parts of
the coast where such fishes are most likely to be met
with ; and if they do this, they have a chance, indeed
a certainty, of being repaid for their trouble, or rather
the pleasure of using their eyes, whether they may
happen to see a flying-fish or not.

As one of the distinctions of the different species
of those fishes is the number of rays in the several
fins, and as this is, we believe, very constant in each,
we shall mention them. The present one has four-
teen rays in the dorsal, fifteen to seventeen in each
of the pectorals, six or seven in each of the ventrals,
thirteen in the anal, and fifteen in the caudal.

Exocetits cvolans. This species, which has been
mentioned as sometimes occurring in the British seas,
attains a larger size than the former, being sometimes
as much as twenty inches in length. It is abundant
in the Mediterranean, and when it can be captured
it is excellent eating. It is also not unfrequent on
the coasts of Spain. Its mouth has not the tubular
form of that of the common flying-fish : its form is
more nearly that of a herring, or rather of the sardine,
its eyes are much smaller, and it is altogether a more
handsome fish. The number of rays on its fins are
thirteen or fourteen in the dorsal, thirteen in the pec-
torals, six in the ventrals, eleven to thirteen in the
anal, and fifteen in the caudal, so that, though a larger
fish, it is not so well finned, excepting in the tail, as
the common flying-fish ; and hence we are to con-
clude that though it is an equal swimmer, it is an
inferior leaper.

Exocetus exsitiens. This species has not been found
of exactly the same size as the last mentioned, though
it has been met with larger than the common flying-
fish. Its forehead is very elevated, and its ventral
fins are pointed and placed nearer the tail than in
the preceding species. Its anal fin is placed imme-
diately under the dorsal, and is a little longer in the
front portion than in the rear. It is represented as
inhabiting both the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean,
as being discursive, and found in the Red Sea, in the
Mediterranean, on the coasts of Brazil, and as far
north as the southern parts of the United States. The
rays in its fins are ten in the dorsal, fifteen in the
pec*orals, six in the ventrals, eleven in the anal, and
ten in the caudal.

Exocetus mesogastcr is a species of the West Indian
seas. Tlxs dorsal and anal fins have the form of a
sithe-blade or falchion, which completely distin-
guishes it from all the others. Its ventral fins have
six rays each, and its caudal twenty ; those on the
others have not been determined.

Exocctus Mitchcllii. This species has been found
on the American seas, and is described by Mitchell, in
his account of the fishes of New York. Its head is

F 05 N U S. 515

very like that of a herring, and the outlines of the
dorsal and anal fins are nearly parallel to those of
the body.

Exocctits Nutalii has been found in the Gulf of
Mexico. Its pectoral fins are brown at the base,
witli two transverse bands, of which the first is forked
on the outer side, and the ventral fins are marked
with three brown spots. There are some other
species of the division now under consideration which
have been figured and described, but it is doubtful
whether they may not be accidental varieties of some
of those which we have noticed. All which we have
hitherto alluded to have the muzzle and the lips plain,
or without barbules or fibrous appendages ; and we
believe that most of them have been met with on
both sides of Africa, though they are perhaps more
abundant in the Atlantic than in the other oceans.
There are a few other species, which have appendages
to the mouth, and which are, we believe, so far as is
known, peculiar to the American shores.

Exocctus comatits. This species has been observed
on the shores of the United States. Its ventral fins
are very long and pointed, and situated a little farther
forward than in most of the others. Its anal is one
half shorter than the dorsal ; it has a long barbule
attached to the under jaw, and the mouth is very
small. The rays on the fins are, pectoral twelve,
ventral six, anal six, caudal eleven.

Exocetus fitrcatus. This is found on the same
shores as the former, but it is of smaller size. Its eyes
are large and prominent, like those of the common
flying-fish ; its ventral fins, which are large, pointed,
and marked with spots, are placed at the middle of
the length. There is a barbule at each angle of the
mouth, which extends, when stretched, as far as the
base of the pectorals. This is rather a rare species,
and the ra3rs of its fins have not been counted.

Exocetus ffisciatns. This species has been ob-
served in the West Indian Seas, and it gets its trivial
name from the brown bands or fascia which cross the
pectorals. It has two long barbules on the under lip
the extremities of which are divided into three
branches, the middle one longer than the other two.
The rays in the fins of this species are, twelve in the
dorsal, ten in the anal, eighteen in the pectorals,
sixteen in the ventrals, and twenty in the caudal,
from which last circumstance we may be led to infer
that this species is the best swimmer of the genus.

We have no doubt that, besides those which we
have mentioned, there may be many species of those
singular fishes ; and though they are not among the
most interesting inhabitants of the sea in an econo-
mical point of view, we have been induced to notice
them at some length ; first, because of the singularity
of their habits ; and secondly, because, according to
many of the published accounts of them, the functions
which they are said to perform are inconsistent with
their structure, for a real flying-fish is as much a
creature of the imagination as a flying horse.

FODI A (De Blainville). A naked mollusc, one
species of which has been described, but it is so little
known, that the propriety of constituting a new genus
of it appears problematical.

FOZNUMGRjECUM, is the Trigonclla fccnum-
grtEcum, or common fenugreek of authors, an eco-
nomical plant, found wild in many places on the
continent.

FCENUS (Fabricius). A remarkable genus ot
hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section
KK2

516

FOLIAGES — FORMICID^E.

Terebrantia, and family Evttniidce, having the body
long, the ovipositor long and protruded, the posterior
shanks clubbed, and the fore wings with two sub-
marginal cells. The abdomen, which is long and
club-shaped in bath sexes, is attached to the thorax
close behind the scutellum, and, from its singular
position, it is very much elevated in flight. The
species, of which two only are found in this country
(the Sircx jaculalor of Linnaeus being the type), have
a good deal the appearance of ichneumons, which
they also somewhat resemble in their economy, being
parasites, feeding in the larva state upon other
insects. They are found flying about sand banks,
old walls and palings, prying into the holes and
crevices with their antennae, which, according to
Bergmann, they employ for the purpose of searching
for the latent grubs of certain bees, and other hymen-
optera. In this respect, therefore, they seem to
resemble the parasitic species of bees or sand-wasps ;
but it is more probable to suppose that they deposit
their eggs in the bodies of the larva?, instead of placing
them at random in the cells. In the perfect state
they frequent flowers, feeding upon nectar. They
are often to be seen hanging upon plants by their
jaws, in which position they take their repose.

FOLIAGES is the first class of the grand division
Cellulares, containing the foliose and frondose ferns

Examples of the fructification of foliaceous ferns.

and their allies. It contains six orders, viz., Filices,
EquisetacccB, Lycopodiaccce, Marsileacets, Musci, and
Hepaticae, described under their several titles.

FOOL'S PARSLEY is the Mthusa cynapium of
Linnaeus. A common British weed belonging to
UmbcllifercB.

FORFICULA(LinnEeus)— The Ear-wig. Agenus
of insects serving as the type of a distinct order,
named Dermaptera by Leach and Kirby, and Labi-
dourcs by Leon Dufour, but regarded by Latreille as
forming a section of the order Orthoptera. Having
given the general characters, and detailed the economy
of these insects, in the article EAR-WIG, we shall here
only add, that, as a group, they are technically cha-
racterised by having the tarsi three-jointed ; the lower
wings fan-shaped, and very much folded ; the wing-
covers short, square, and uniting with a straight
suture ; the body linear ; the head not concealed by
the thorax, which is shield- shaped. M. Serville has
lately established numerous genera, founded upon
exotic species, resting solely upon structural charac-
ters. The following are the British genera : —
Forficula (Linnaeus). Antennae thirteen to fifteen-
jointed ; tarsi with the penultimate joint bi-
lobed ; wings two. Type, Forficula auricu-
laria (Linnagus).

CJielidura (Latreille). Antennas twelve-jointed ;
tarsi with the penultimate joint bilobed ;
wings none. Type, Forficula albipennis (Char-
pentier),

Labia (Leach). Antennae ten to twelve-jointed ;
tarsi simple. Forficula minor (Linnseus).

Labidura (Leach). Antennae about twenty-five
jointed ; tarsi simple. Forficula gigantca
(Fabricius).

FORMICIDyE (Leach.) An extensive family of
hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section
Aculeata, and to the sub-section Hfteragyna of La-
treille, comprising the Linnaean genus Formica, or
the numerous tribes of ants. Referring to the article
ANT for numerous particulars of a general and popu-
lar nature relating to these insects, we shall, in the
present article, give the technical characters of the
family and its chief genera, and add a description of
a few of the more interesting species, with such of their
peculiarities of economy as may appear desirable.

In addition to the great character derived from the
existence of individuals of the female sex, whose
organisation has been so modified that the insects
become what are termed neuters, a peculiarity de-
pendent, as we have stated in the articles ANT and
BEE, upon the social character of the insects, the
Formicidas are distinguished by the wingless state of
their abortive females (in which respect they are
different from the bees and wasps, in which the
neuters are winged), by the great length of the basal
joint of the antenna? in the females and neuters, in
which they are elbowed at the extremity of this
joint, and by the first, or the first and second, joints
of the abdomen being knotted ; the upper lip of the
neuters is large, horny, and perpendicular, falling
between the jaws ; the eyes are rounded, or oval and
entire ; the jaws are large in many of the species,
the form of these organs varying greatly in various
species. In their structural characters the Formi-
cidce approach nearly to the Tiphice and Uon/li,
belonging to the section of the sand-wasps. The
neuters are much smaller than the males, and these
are smaller than the females ; the abdomen in the
first and last of these sexes is composed, as in the
other aculeate hymenoptera, of six segments, and
that of the males of seven joints. The females and
neuters are, moreover, furnished with a sting in many
of the species. In those species which are destitute
of a sting, the abdomen of the females is larger than
that of those individuals of the same sex in other
species which are provided with this instrument, but
in the males it is always smaller. It is a curious
circumstance, that the pupre of those species which
are furnished with a sting are inclosed in cocoons of
a whitish colour, whereas the stingless species are no*
so inclosed. These cocoons are formed of nume-
rous minute threads of silk, spun probably by the
larva. Those species which possess a sting emit a
venomous fluid into the wounds which they make,
which occasions severe pain ; whereas the stingless
species emit a reddish transparent fluid, which they
discharge upon the skin of the sufferer, causing
painful pustules. This fluid, according to De Geer,
is discharged from the anus ; but other, and we
should conceive less accurate observers, state, that it
is emitted from the mouth ; hence, probably, the
supposition that the ants first make wounds by biting
with their jaws, and then insinuate the poisonous fluid
from the anus into the wound. Of the various genera
into which this family has been divided by Latreille,
Jurine, and others, the more remarkable are, Formica,
Polycrgus, Ponera, Myrmica, and Atta.

The genus Formica is distinguished by having the
footstalk of the abdomen composed of a single joint
the mandibles triauarular and denticulated at ti'«

F O R M I C I D JE. 517

edge; the females are destitute of a sting-. This he account recorded in the Bible of the tasking of the

Israelites in Egypt to make bricks, and the refusal of
heir taskmasters to supply straw, that article being
mployed, when cut in pieces, for binding together

genus comprises about a dozen British species, the
largest of which is the hill, or horse-ant, Formica
rufa (Linnaeus), confounded by some with the For-
mica herculanea of the same author. The neuters

in this species are about one-third of an inch long, of
a black colour, with the thorax, abdominal scale, and
a large part of the head, red. Unlike the herculanea,
which builds in the trunks of trees, the F. rufa makes
its larnv conical nest in the open ground, in woods,
amassing together large quantities of sticks, straws,
earth, &c. The number of individuals of which one
of these nests is composed is very great. On dis-
turbing the nest, they sally forth in vast quantities,
assuming a most threatening aspect, and biting power-
fully with their jaws, retaining hold of whatever they
may seize upon with the greatest pertinacity. This
species, moreover, collects grains of wheat, barley,
and other small seeds, which it indiscriminately adds
to the stores of vegetable matters of which its nest is
formed, which circumstance doubtless gave rise to the
praise bestowed upon these insects for foresight in
laying up food ; but if this portion of their economy
has not for its object the storing of a due provision
during the winter months, as has been ordinarily sup-
posed, on account of ants lying torpid during the
winter, and consequently not feeding upon such sup-
plies, it is not the less interesting when regarded in
its proper light. The nest, which at first sight ap-
pears only like a confused mass of sticks, and straws,
laid without order, is nevertheless ingeniously con-
trived to throw off the rain, to defend it from injuries
of the elements, attacks of enemies, or the heat of the
sun. It has generally the appearance of a rounded
dome, the woody parts of the building being: the
most elevated; the interior of the nest, however, is
much larger, and extends to a considerable depth
under ground. Here innumerable avenues are con-
structed, and a multitude of narrower passages, placed
nearly in symmetrical order circularly, and extend-

the base
necessary for the

of the
free

dome, and which
and egress to

the

workers, which, unlike those of the other species,
appear to prefer the broad light of the day, not
fearing to execute their labours in our sight. But
there is a portion of the economy of this species
which is perhaps the most interesting, because not
observed in the other species, in the nests of which
there is but a single entrance, and which is so placed
as to prevent the ingress cither of rain or of enemies.
In the Formica rufa this is not the case ; the nest has
an infinity of entrances, through which, during the
night, whilst the insects arc all quiet within the nest
the rain might enter in torrents, or they might be
surprised by their enemies. Now, this is guarded
against in a singular manner. Towards sunset the
nest -appears in a perfect bustle, but, if attentively
examined, it will be seen that all this confusion,
in which the shifting of the outer materials of the
nest is apparently a source of disorder, has for its
object the barricading of the passages, and which is
at. length completely effected, the insects shutting
themselves within for the night. The mere outward
appearance of the nest does not convey any idea of
the manner in which the entrance of water is excluded
by day. This, however, is so completely effected, that,
even after long1 rains, the interior of the nest is not even
found to be damp lower than a quarter of an inch
from the outer covering. Our readers will remember

the mud of which the bricks were composed. The
ants pursue the same mode in the building of their
nest ; the particles of earth laying between the layers
of straw and bits of wood being moistened by the
early rains, subsequently harden by the heat of the
sun, forming a compact roof, which is again and again
covered over, until the nest acquires its full size.

Another British species, Formica sanguinca (La-
treille), is of a blood red colour, with the eyes and
abdomen black, with the wings dusky at the base ;
the neuter is similarly coloured, except that the head
is of a darker colour ; and the male is black, with red
legs. This species burrows in wood, and is one of
those species which steals the young of other species,
rearing them to perform the duties of the nest. See

also POLYERGUS.

Two of the species subject to these marauders are
the Formica cunicularia (Latreille), ttodfiuca (Lin-
naeus), both of which are inhabitants of this country.
The latter species is of a shining black colour, with
a slight ashy tinge ; its form is rather long, and it is
nearly smooth ; the three or four basal joints of the
antennae are of a red colour, as are also the legs ; the
abdominal scale is large and triangular, and the
ocelli are distinct. This species establishes its nest
under stones, moss, &c., and at the foot of trees, the
nest being almost entirely under ground. In the
nest is often to be found the larva of a Lamel/icorn
beetle, probably that of a Cetonia, or Mclolont/ia.

Amongst the exotic species of this genus are to be
found many which are extremely injurious or annoy-
ing in their habits. Of these the sugar ant of the West
Indies, Formica saccJiarivora (Linnrens), is perhaps
the most extensively prejudicial. This species esta-
blishes its nest at the root of the sugar-canes, lime,
lemon and orange-trees, where it excavates around
the roots, thereby loosening the earth, so that the
trees are either blown down by the violent gales in
those parts of the world, or are so completely deprived
of their supply of nourishment, that they soon die.
Some years ago, the injuries committed by this insect
vere so great, that a reward of 20.000/. was offered
by the planters to any one who should discover an
effectual mode of destroying them, yet nothing could
be found to stay their ravages. The aid of fire was
even resorted to in vain, the insects rushing into the
blaze in such myriads of millions, as to extinguish it.
Vain was every attempt of man to effect their de-
struction, till, in 1780, it pleased Providence to
annihilate them by torrents of' rain.

The proceedings of another exotic species, Formica
indcfessa, of which an account has just been published
by Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Sykes, in the Transac-
tions of the Entomological Society, exhibit one of
the most extraordinary instances we have ever yet
met with of the operations of that principle, or in-
stinct, as it is called, " which enables an animal to do
that which, in those things which man can do, results
from a chain of reasoning, and in things which men
cannot do, is not to be explained by any efforts of
the intellectual faculties." The species in question
was observed near Poonah, in the East Indies ; and
Colonel Sykes, after mentioning their fondness tor
saccharine matters, such as sugar-candy, preserved
fruits, &c., relates the various modes by which they

518

F O R M I C I D JE.

succeeded in overcoming the obstacles placed in their
way in order to secure those things from their attacks,
swimming over the water, in which the legs of the
tables were plunged, stepping, or rather jumping upon
the tables, when removed to a short distance from
the wall. Colonel Sykes proceeds : " The table was
now removed from the wall beyond the maximum
stretch of the largest ants, and I flattered myself I
had triumphed over their perseverance and ingenuity,
but, to my infinite surprise, in a few days the sweets
teemed, as usual, with the intruders, and I was
puzzled in no small degree to account for their
re-appearance. Accidentally passing the table, I
observed an ant upon the wall, about a foot above
the level of the sweets ; it fell, and, instead of passing
between the wall and the table, and alighting upon
the ground, the insect fell upon the table. Can it be
possible, I said to myself, that this fall is designed ?
I stood to observe with the most intense curiosity ;
another ant ascended, and dropped with similar suc-
cess ; another and another followed ; and there was
no longer doubt that instinct (if instinct I must call
it) had made them, in this instance, a match for
reason."

The genus Polyergus ( Latreille) is distinguished by
having the antennae placed close to the mouth ; the
jaws are slender and curved, the sting wanting, and
the abdominal peduncle composed of a single joint.
The type of this genus is the Formica rufescens
(Latreille). This interesting species, although very
common in France, has not yet been discovered in
this country. At the present moment, however, a few
particulars relative to the slave-trade amongst insects
may not be thought uninteresting.

A, Polyergus rufescens. B, Formica fusca.

The indefatigable Huber, to whose researches upon
tnis family of insects entomologists are so much in-
debted, was the first author who noticed the remark-
able circumstances connected with their history.
Walking in the neighbourhood of Geneva one after-
noon, he observed a troop of these ants, eight or ten
feet long, and three or four inches broad, crossing the
path, and proceeding with rapid steps towards a nest
of the Formica fusca above described. On arriving
at its entrance, the latter (which are considerably
smaller in size) attacked the strangers, but were soon
put to flight, and retreated into their nest, pursued by
the victors, some of whom commenced making an-
other breach at the side of the nest, through which the
remainder entered. In three or four minutes, how-
ever, the Polyergi returned in haste, each holding in
its jaws a larva or a pupa ; and, loaded in this man-
ner, they succeeded in arriving at their own nest.
On returning to look at the state of the pillaged nest,
Huber found some of the black ants perched upon

the adjacent grass, each holding a larva or pupa,
which it had saved from the pillage, and with which
they soon returned to their nest. The next day,
interested by this curious proceeding, our observer
returned to the spot, and again witnessed a similar
attack on another nest. Here, however, such of the
victors as could not secure a larva or pupa, united in
a body, and attacked a third nest, where they found
an ample supply. On returning to the nest of the
Polyergus, the surprise of M. Huber was infinitely
increased at observing a number of the black ants
themselves occupied upon and within the nest, and
appearing to be on the most friendly terms with the
Polyergi on their return from their marauding excur-
sion, feeding them, and touching them with their
antennae, &c. Never, observes M. Huber, did riddle
more strongly excite my curiosity than this singular
discovery ; and he fortunately succeeded in discover-
ing some of the nests close to his house, so that he
was able to observe them in a very satisfactory man-
ner. He thus noticed that the black ants were en-
gaged in repairing the nestwhicli he had opened, dig-
ging fresh galleries, and conveying into them the stolen
larvae and pupae ; whereas the Polyergi took no further
care about the latter, or the repairs of the nest, but
retired to the deepest parts of their abode. From a
long series of observations, it appeared certain that
the mixed nests belong to the Polyergi, and that
they are composed of three kinds of individuals of
this species, and of workers of the Formica fusca, no
males nor females of the latter being found in the
nest ; the larvae and pupae stolen are therefore those
of neuters, which are no sooner arrived at the imago
state than they share in the toils of their strange
masters' nests, all of which are in fact borne by them,
the Polyergi being unfitted for any other sort of
labour but war. That this is the case, is moreover
fully evident from the structure of their jaws, which
are the chief organs employed in the construction of
their abodes by the other ants, and which, in the
Polyergus, instead of being large and strongly toothed,
are slender, acute, and curved, and quite unfitted for
carrying heavy and rough materials. That the
situation of these slaves, toiling in a strange territory
for strange masters, instead of labouring for their own
community, cannot be regarded otherwise than as
unnatural, will not be denied ; but, when we reflect
that these slaves have been born in this state, without
knowing anything of a different state, that of freedom —
that they toil not more laboriously for their masters
than they would do for themselves, were they free,
their instincts being essentially industrious, whether
slaves or free— that they suffer no privations of food
or repose — that they are even charged with the
rearing of some of their own kind — and, moreover,
that the state of society, dependent upon the struc-
tural peculiarities of the Polyergus, noticed above,
requires their presence in the nest of the latter, we
shall cease to think that the condition of these slaves
is one of misery.

The genus Ponera seems intermediate between the
preceding and following genera ; unlike the former,
the insects of which it is composed are furnished with
a sting, and different from the following in having the
abdominal peduncle composed of a single knot, the
second joint being nearly as large as the following,
from which it is, however, slightly separated at the
hinder margin.

The type Ponera contracta (Latreille) is of a small

FOR M1CALEO — FOSSIL REMAINS.

size ; it lives in small congregations under stones, the
neuters being apparently destitute of eyes. " I have
not," says Latretlle, " been able distinctly to perceive
the eyes, although employing a lens of half a line
focus. I have seen a great number of specimens,
both dead and alive, and with difficulty I have only
once or twice fancied that I saw a darker coloured
spot in the place of the eyes." He elsewhere adds,
that " Nature having deprived this insect of one of its
senses, has apportioned its operations to its powers.
Hence it has not to endure the fatiguing toils of the
other species, but contents itself in its little assembly,
composed of a dozen individuals, with whatever it
can find in the immediate vicinity of its nest." We
have much pleasure in announcing the discovery of
this interesting species in the neighbourhood of
London.

The genus Myrmica is characterised by the pos-
session of a sting, by the double knot at the base of
the abdomen, by the six-jointed maxillary palpi and
strong triangular mandibles. The type of the genus
Formica rubra of Linnaeus (misnamed in the Regne
Animal rufa) is one of our common British ants. It
is of a red colour, with the abdomen smooth and
shining, the third segment being rather darker
coloured ; the first knot of the abdominal peduncles
is armed beneath with a spine. This species builds
its nest in the ground under stones, moss, &c. The
sting of the neuters is very acute.

Another small British species, M. unifasciata, so
named from the black belt across the pale-coloured
abdomen, has lately caused considerable annoyance
to the inhabitants of the houses in various parts of
Brighton, as well as in the metropolis, in which its
swarms have increased to such an extent, that the in-
habitants have been obliged, in some instances, to
quit their residences, the ants devouring or attacking
every article. Mr. Spence, by whom this subject was
communicated to the Entomological Society, men-
tioned, that the only plan hitherto discovered for
their destruction was to lay down pieces of raw meat,
which they assailed in great numbers, and then to
throw boiling water upon them.

The only other genus which we shall here notice
is that of Alfa, which we have already mentioned in
its alphabetical place, and which we again introduce
for the purpose of mentioning some circumstances
connected with one of the species which are doubly
interesting to the naturalist ; first, from their own
nature ; and, secondly, from the confirmation which
they afford of a long disputed question, and the ne-
cessity which they prove to exist of scrupulously
attending to every circumstance of time and place in
our endeavours to reconcile the statements of ancient
naturalists with the results of our own inquiries.
From the days of Solomon, who said, " Go to the
ant, thou sluggard, consider his ways and be wise ;
which having neither captain, overseer, or ruler,
prepares her bread in the summer, and gathers her
food in the harvest," it has been generally considered
that the storing up of food by the ant was for the
purpose of ensuring against want during the winter.
When, however, observers of nature began to examine
the habits of our northern European species, it was
soon discovered that ants lay torpid during the winter,
and consequently Solomon's statement was considered
to be but a figurative expression. The fact was over-
looked, that in climates similar to that in which
Solomon's observation was made, thj> winter I? not

519

sufficiently severe to render the insects torpid ; al-
though, by some more philosophical observers, it was
suggested (Kirby and Spence, II. 46) that, in warmer
regions, during the rainy season, when they are pro-
bably confined to their nests, a store of provisions
may be necessary for them. These ingenious sug-
gestions have now been proved to be perfectly correct,
by the publication of Lieutenant-Colonel Sykes' ac-
count of the habits of an East Indian species of the
genus Alta (A. providcna, Sykes, Trans. Ent. Soc.),
which lays up a store of grass-seeds (Panicum] in
the months of January and February sufficient to last
until the middle of the year. Indeed, on the 13th
October, after the closing thunder storms of the
monsoon, he found this species in various places em-
ployed in drying the remains of their stores which
had been wetted by the rain.

FORMICALEO. A name given by the old writers
on natural history to the insect known by the sys-
tematic name of Myrmeleon formicarium of Linnaeus,
or the ant-lion. See MYRMELEONID^E.

FORSKOLEA (Linnteus). A genus of annual
and perennial herbs, natives of Africa, belonging to
Urticeas. The greenhouse species are easy of culture
under the ordinary management.

FOSSIL REMAINS. This term is generally
applied to designate the mineralised remains of
organic substances, as indicating their having been
dug from subterranean situations. Whenever organic
remains, from their peculiar position in such situa-
tions, are preserved from decay for any considerable
time, it is perfectly obvious that they must be liable
to become impregnated with whatever matters may
be in solution in the fluids with which they come into
contact. Mineral substances may thus have been
deposited in the original interstices and cavities of
the organic body, without altering it in any other
respect ; or in consequence of the partial removal of
the original substance, may fill the space formerly
occupied by it, and thus produce a cast of the same.
In others the original matter appears to have under-
gone a decided chemical change, depending upon
causes but little understood ; and one or other of
these processes may have operated in producing all
the varieties we find in the composition of the seve-
ral earthy or •metallic fossils.

The earthy substances which enter into the com-
position of fossils are chiefly of the argillaceous, sili-
ceous, and calcareous kinds, in different states and
proportion*.

Thus we often find clay filling their cavities, and
forming the beds in which they are found. They are
also not (infrequent in bituminous strata, slate, and
argillaceous ironstone, and a few have been met with
in fullers' earth. Silex in different combinations
enters into their composition. Quartz, chert, agate,
chalcedony, jasper, flint, pitchstone, and semiopal,
have all been found either forming their substance or
constituting the matrix containing them. Limestone,
marble, chalk, and oolite, are the most common in-
stances of the calcareous kind. Fluate of lime has
been found composing the matrix and very rarely the
substance of fossils. Some nuclei have been disco-
vered formed of hornblende, and both animal and
vegetable substances have been detected in those
rocks designated as basalt, wacke, and trap. Fossils
are also found impregnated with metals of various
kinds ; those which are the most common are iron
ajuJ copper; lead and zinc but rarely occur, and silver

FOSSIL REMAINS.

still more rarely. They are generally found in the
states of sulphurets or carbonates. The sulphnrcts
and carbonates of iron are chiefly found entering into
the composition of vegetable remains. Ligneous
fossils of tliis kind exhibit the remarkable circum-
stance that although the texture of the wood appears
unchanged, it.s substance has been so intersected by
crystallisations that on decomposition it is resolved
into an impalpable efflorescence. Those specimens
of wood which have been mineralised by copper are
frequently exceedingly beautiful, from the brilliant
colours of the malachite which enters into their com-
position. Galena or sulphuret of lead has also been
found in fossil wood, and blende or sulphuret of zinc,
with quartz crystals investing fossil shells. Silver has
been said to exist in a fossil having the appearance of
ears of corn, found in the mines of Frankenberg in
Hesse. Many fossils are also found either entirely
unchanged, or very little altered, from their original
state or condition. Shells, bones, teeth, and vege-
tables of various kinds, are to be met with in some
alluvial deposits scarcely changed, and the remains of
quadrupeds have been found well preserved in the ice
of the polar circle. In limestone and other solid rocks
shells are sometimes found in a nearly unaltered state.
Ammonites unchanged and retaining all their pearly
lustre, and resplendent tints of the most beautiful
colours, are found in the splendid marble of Ca-
rinthia. Bones and shells occur in alluvial soils in
a dry or fragile state, occasioned by the loss of their
animal matter, this being the only change they have
undergone. In fossil fishes we sometimes find not
only the bones, but also the soft parts, and even the
scales, more or less perfectly preserved, although a
change of substance has of'course taken place. Fossil
vegetables occur either nearly unaltered or more or
less bituminised or carbonised, in alluvial strata, in
the brown coal formation, and also in some sandstones.
Sometimes the organic body is merely coated or en-
crusted with the mineral matter, and but very slightly
impregnated with it. This is most frequently the
case with those found in the calc tuffa or calc sinter.

In giving a summary of fossil remains, we shall
commence with the vegetable kingdom, and thence
proceed with the lowest in the series of animated
beings, endeavouring as briefly as possible to give an
account of the most interesting objects in each division.

Vegetable remains occur in vast abundance and in
great variety in different formations, particularly in
the coal formation. Some of these are exceedingly
well preserved, and thus afford every facility for the
determination of their characters, whilst others are so
much changed as to render it nearly impossible to
make out the classes and orders to which they belong.
In the plates of FOSSIL REMAINS in this work, repre-
sentations of several impressions of fossil vegetables
are given, principally ferns from the coal formation ;
dicy were copied from original subjects, and exem-
plify the general character of these fossils in a very
striking manner. It is scarcely possible by descrip-
tion to succeed in an attempt to give an idea of the
beauty and variety of the figures which are displayed
on the surface of many of these fossils, many of which
are supposed to owe their markings to the bark of
different trees of antediluvian existence, and of which
no trace is to be found at the present day. Some
are ornamented by regularly-arranged straight ribs
disposed longitudinally or transversely over their
whole surface ; others, by the alternate contact and

receding of gently waving lines forming areas, regu-
larly but most singularly varying in their form?, and
having, in their centres, tubercles and depressions,
from which spines or bristles, in all probability, pro-
ceeded ; others again exhibit surfaces apparently
covered with scales, disposed in an imbricated manner,
and frequently in quincunx order. Impressions of
leaves occur in rocks of different descriptions, many
of which resemble those of plants of the present day.
In some instances beautiful specimens of aster-like
flowers have been met with, and Schlotheim describes
the impressions of a flower resembling a ranunculus
from a metalliferous bed, near Frankenberg in Hessia ;
also impressions of an aquatic ranunculus or trollius
in the limestone of CEuigen. Innumerable seeds,
seed-vessels, £c., have been found in the blue clay of
the Isle of Sheppy in v,hc state of pyrites. Most of
these belong to unknown plants, and the existing
plants to which the others seem to approach are,
generally speaking, those of warmer climates. They
also occur in other formations, but usually in such a
state as to render it almost impossible to ascertain the
plant to which they belong.

The most simple of all the animal productions
hitherto found in a fossil state are, the alcyonia and
sponges. It has indeed beei. conjectured that the
primitive seas may have swarmed with innumerable
animals of the medusa tribe, whose bodies being en-
tirely composed ot a pulp or jelly, could not by any
means have been preserved, although their decay
may have had the effect of producing that peculiar
fetid odour which is emitted by some limestones.
The alcyonia are most commonly found impregnated
with flint. Sponges are also abundant in the fossil
state, and occur in great plenty in the flint of the
chalk formation, and also in the chalk itself. Very
many of those habitations of Polypi, commonly called
corals, are found in a fossil state, and frequently in
the most beautiful state of preservation. Several ge-
nera, as the astraa, madrepora, &c., are met with in
the recent and fossil state, while others, as the cyclo-
lites, turbinolia, favosites, £c., occur in the fossil state
alone. In some formations they are met with in the
greatest abundance, particularly in that part of the
oolitic strata which, from this circumstance, is called
the coral rag.

Of the next class, the radiata, very numerous and
beautiful specimens occur. The crinoidea abound in
many strata, and although found in vast abundance
are scarcely to be met with in the recent state, a cir-
cumstance which shows the exceeding difference be-
tween the animal state of the former world and the
present period. Much doubt remained as to the true
place of these animals, until the excellent work of the
late Mr. Miller removed all doubts as to their correct
situation in the system. All those remains called
entrochites and encrinites by former authors belong
this class. The animals of the asterias, or star-fish
family, from the extreme delicacy and fragile nature
of their structure, speedily decay, and hence are not
common in the fossil state. Of the echini specimens
occur exhibiting very great variety of form ; and
these, although not met with in the older secondary
rocks, are extremely abundant in the newer, particu-
larly in the chalk. Some of the species resemble
those at present met with in our seas, but none of
them, as far as can be ascertained, are absolutely iden-
tical with the recent ones. In the plates of FOSSIL
REMAINS figures are civen of two vcrv btamitui

UK:MA i>\s

.*

l!.i,ult,-.., ( •ilil|,l-i-s
•to

mil ti,,- (Imllr.Nm-iMl.

FOSSIL REMAINS.

6-21

specimens. They arc imbedded in flint, and are par-
ticularly remarkable as exhibiting many of the spines
attached, which is a circumstance of very rare occur-
rence.

The fossil coverings or shells of the mollusca arc
amongst the most abundant of the organic remains,
found in the strata of which this globe is composed.
They are not only of great variety of forms, but also
differ considerably in magnitude. Some, as the am-
monite, occur of several feet in diameter, while others
are so small as to require the microscope to develope
them. They are divided into univalve, those com-
posed of one piece or valve ; bivalve, those having
two valves : and multivalve, those with more valves
than two.

The univalves are further subdivided into unilocu-
lar, those having but one chamber, of which the com-
mon limpet is an example, and those having many
chambers, called fiom that circumstance multilocular,
which division is well exemplified by the nautilus.
Of the unilocnlar, a vast number of genera occur in
the fossil state, and many of these include numerous
species. The genera of multilocular shells are not so
numerous, but their internal structure is of such inte-
rest as to deserve more particular notice. We may
take the nautilus as our example, as being the best
known of them ; this has its shell formed into a num-
ber of chambers, each separated from the other by a
division which is perforated with a small hole. The
inhabitant is one of the sepia or cuttle-fish tribe, and
resides in the upper or last formed chamber, which is
consequently the largest. A tube, which is elastic,
and to which the name of siphunculus has been
given, proceeds from the animal, and, passing through
the perforations in the divisions and the different
chambers, terminates in the first or smallest one. It
is conjectured, that a portion of the shell is contained
within the body of the animal, independent of the
connection it has with it by means of the siphunculus,
which is membranous, and it appears probable is
capable- of rendering the animal buoyant or otherwise
at pleasure, as the air-bladder does in fishes, by its
being dilatable or compressible as occasion may re-
quire. The cells or chambers appear to contain
nothing but air, as the animal must leave the last one
formed as it produces a new one, having no other
communication than that which is kept up by means
of the siphunculus. Thus the animal, as it increases
in size, occupies a new chamber, which is the last in
order ; and in like manner all those preceding have
been left empty, so that the gravity of the shell can-
not be much greater than that of the water of the sea,
and hence the addition of a small quantity of air by
means of the siphunculus will render it buoyant, and
the expulsion or the air, and possibly the addition of a
small quantity of water, will cause it to sink. Of these
multilocular shells some few, as the nautilus, are found
living at the present time, although but rarely met
with, while the fossil species are extremely numerous.
From this circumstance a question has arisen as to
the cause of the great disproportion between the
iccent and fossil shells of this family; some maintain
that the genera now found fossil are absolutely extinct,
while others contend that they arc deep water shells,
and may still exist at the bottom of the sea, far beyond
the reach of our observation. The structure of these
shells, however, as before explained, being so admira-
bly and beautifully adapted to render them buoyant or
the contrary at the pleasure of the animal, must be

admitted as a proof that so far from being confined of
necessity at the bottom of the sea, they must (sup-
posing them still to exist) be able occasionally to rise
up to and remain for a time at the surface, and conse-
quently would in every probability be met with ; but
as hitherto not a single instance of any of these extinct
genera having been thus seen is recorded, we may
reasonably doubt of their existence at the present
time.

Of this family of shells the ammonites form a re-
markable tribe, not only on account of their beauty
and variety, but also for their vast abundance and
wide distribution in the mineral kingdom. By the
vulgar they are supposed to be petrified serpents, and
by others are considered as the types of the volutes
of the Ionic order. In India they are regarded with
great reverence by the Hindoos, as the emblem of
one of their divinities. They occur in the gault,
where their colours and pearly lustre are frequently
most beautifully preserved. They are exceedingly
abundant in the oolite and lias ; upwards of 300 spe-
cies have been described.

Our limits will not allow any further details respect-
ing the remaining members of this family. Of these
the BELEMNITE has already been described under
that head, one of the species of which appears in the
plate of FOSSIL REMAINS ; another of these curious
fossils, the harnite, is also figured. These as well as
the nummulites, orthoceralites, &c., all agree in their
general character and economy with the nautilus
already particularly described.

'Of the bivalve fossil shells the specimens are so
numerous and varied in their forms, that it would be
absolutely impossible to notice them in a single arti-
cle. The reader must, therefore, be referred for an
account of them either to their several descriptions
in this work, under their respective names, or to the
numerous treatises and works on fossil conchology.
The multivalves are, comparatively speaking, of but
rare occurrence.

From the perishable nature of insects, animals of
this class rarely occur in a fossil state. They are, how-
ever, found in considerable abundance, and in ex-
cellent preservation, in a fresh water deposit at Aix in
Provence. They are there so well preserved that their
genera, and even their species, may be determined ;
sixty-two are enumerated by M. Marcel de Serres as
belonging chiefly to the orders Diptera, Hcmiptera,
and Cokoptera. Mr. Curtis observes, on reviewing a
collection from Aix, that they are all of European
forms, and to be referred to existing genera. But
one was found to be aquatic. " The antennse, tarsi,
and trophi, are generally very obscure or distorted ;
in a few the claws are visible, and the sculpture and
even some degree of local colouring are preserved ;
the nerves of the wings in almost all the diptera are
perfectly distinct, and even the pubescence on the
head of one of them. Several of the beetles have
the wings extended beyond the elytra, as if they had
made an effort to escape by flying, or had fallen into
the water while on the wing."

Many species of crabs occur in a fossil state. They
are found in the Stonesfield strata and in the limestone
at Pappenheim. They are also extremely abundant
in the blue clay of the Isle of Sheppy, and many
remains of crustaceous animals also occur in the
chalk. But the most singular of these crustaceous
remains is a fossil which was first observed about a
century ago in the Dudley limestone. It attracted

FOSSIL REMAINS.

great notice by its singular form and by its being
totally different from all the petrifactions which had
been previously seen, as well as from every organised
body known to exist upon the surface of the earth.
There was, however, no hesitation in referring it to
the animal kingdom, but a long time elapsed before
it could be determined to what class it belonged.
There was no doubt, however, of their constituting
a perfectly natural family, and the name Entomoli-
thus was the first proposed, which was subsequently
changed into trilobiies. The body of this singular
fossil, as in the greater number of insects, and some
Crustacea, is divided transversely into three principal
parts. But the most remarkable characteristic, and
that which distinguishes it essentially from all known
animals, is its longitudinal division into three parts
or lobes by two deep furrows parallel to the axis of
the body, which remarkable structure has excited the
attention of all observers. At first the tails alone
were noticed, and as they were considered as shells
the name of concha triloba was given them, which
designation was afterwards transferred to the whole
animals by naming them trilobites, by which name
they are still known. They appear to have been
marine animals, their constant association in the same
rocks with shells and • other marine productions
leaving no doubt upon this point. They must have
had the power of multiplying prodigiously, certain
formations being so crowded with them, as to give
the appearance of their being entirely formed of
their remains. They have been divided by Des-
inarest into five genera, each of which contains
several species.

The fossil remains of fishes are found in consider-
able abundance. They occur under such different
circumstances, in such various states, and in forma-
tions of such distant periods, as to lead the curious
inquirer to expect much information of the highest
interest from their examination.

In some specimens they are found nearly entire,
the harder parts all in their natural situations with
the scales and even the skin well preserved. In others
all the other parts are removed except the skeleton,
and this is more or less perfect, and frequently only
the hardest parts remain, as the palates and teeth.

Fossil fishes are found in so great a variety of
situations in various parts of Europe, and in forma-
tions so different, as to warrant the conjecture that
they were among those animals which were of earliest
creation, and whose existence has not been since
interrupted. Among them are fish whose analogues
live in the Indian ocean and in different seas of
Africa and of North and South America. Among
the fossil fish collected at Monte Bolca, there were
four which were considered as corresponding to
species now peculiar to the sea of Otaheite.

Vertebrae of various species of fish are extremely
common, but the parts which occur most frequently
in a fossil state are the teeth. They are divided into
two groups, the glossopetra or more or less flattened
teeth, which have belonged to fishes of the shark
tribe, and the bufonites, or more or less rounded teeth,
belonging to a certain species of sparus. The figure
of a fossil fish given in the plate of fossil remains, is
from a beautiful specimen found in the chalk.

Remains of the testudo or tortoise tribe have been
detected in formations of different descriptions. In
Great Britain they have been found in the lias near
Bristol and in the oolite of Stonesfield, but the most

perfect specimens are from the clay of the Isle of
Sheppy. Cuvier and others enumerate various species
of land, freshwater and marine testudines found in
various parts of Europe, but all of them apparently
of extinct species.

Two species of crocodile have been found in the
neighbourhood of Honfleur and Havre. In England
they have been obtained from the Purbeck stone and
from the combrash in Oxfordshire. Vertebra; have
also been found in clay near Weymouth, and in the ,
chalk in Sussex. But the most remarkable remains
of amphibia are those of extinct genera of saurian
animals, which differ from the crocodiles in many
important particulars, and which astonish not only
by their variety of form, but also by their prodigious
length and dimensions. Of these the lacerta gigantea
of Sdmering, the mososaurus of Conybeare, is found
in the soft limestone of Maestricht. The length of
the skeleton is nearly twenty-four feet, the head
being a sixth part of the whole length. The tail
must have been exceedingly strong, and its width at
the extremity must have rendered it a powerful oar,
enabling the animal to resist the most agitated
waters.

The ichthyosaurus appears to have been a marine
oviparous animal, closely agreeing in the whole
osteology of the head and sternum with the saurian
tribe, except that the bones approximate to those of
fishes in various particulars — whence the name indi-
cative of its being the fish-like lizard is derived. The
extremities terminate in four swimming paws or
paddles, composed of a series of flat polygonal bones.
Several species occur, found chiefly in the lias lime-
stone of England.

The plesiosaurus is another of these singular fossil
animals. It appears from its structure to have formed
an intermediate link between the crocodile and the
ichthyosaurus. But what chiefly distinguishes this
animal is the prodigious length of its neck, by which
it must have been enabled to seize its prey when at a
considerable distance. This also occurs imbedded in
the lias limestone in England. Magnificent plates
of these last two genera have been published by
Hawkins, in his work on the ichthyosauri and the
plesiosanri, the originals of which are now deposited
in the British Museum, forming without doul)t, the
most splendid collection of the fossil remains of these
animals in existence. Various other genera have
been noticed, of these the iguanodon, a reptile of
enormous size, has been well illustrated by Mr. Mati-
tell, by whom it was discovered in the strata of Tilgate
forest in Sussex.

There is a remarkable genus of fossil flying animals
about which considerable obscurity exists as to its
proper place in the system. Blumenbach considered
it as a bird, while Cuvier referred it to the amphibia.
This is the pterodactyle or flying lizard. The skull
of this singular creature must have been very large in
proportion to the size of the skeleton, the jaws
themselves being longer than the body, and furnished
with sharp slightly incurvated teeth. The orbits of
the eyes are exceedingly large, and hence it is pro-
bable that it was a nocturnal animal, like the bat,
which it also at lirst sight very much resembles in the
wirijfs and other particulars.

The remains of birds are of rare occurrence in a
fossil state, and the few specimens yet found afford
results far less satisfactory than those obtained by the
study of the fossil bones of other animals. Species

FOSSIL REMAINS.

523

referred to the following genera are enumerated as
found in the gypsum and limestone of the Paris for-
mation?, owl, buzzard, starling, ibis, quail, tern, cur-
lew and pelican.

Among the most extraordinary fossil remains of
the class mammalia, we must mention those of the
extinct genera of the sloth kind. These, although
not numerous, deserve notice on account of their
magnitude and singular organisation. Two species
have been described : the megatherium, properly so
called, and the megalonyx. Of the first of these a
complete skeleton was found in diluvial soil near
Buenos Ayres, and sent to Madrid, where it was set
up. It is fourteen feet long, and seven Spanish feet
in height. The skeleton is so exceedingly rude and
unshapely, that the clumsy skeletons of the elephant
and hippopotamus when placed beside it would
appear quite slender and light. Some of the bones
of this extinct monster are in the museum of the
College of Surgeons — casts of which have been taken
and set up in the British Museum, where they excite
great attention. It is one of the largest and most
massive of the fossil quadrupeds hitherto discovered.
Judging from its structure it must have been exceed-
ingly slow and dragging in its motions ; and, with the
exception of its enormous claws, it appears to have
been more defenceless than any of the other large
animals. The form of its teeth prove it to have lived
upon vegetables, and its huge claws were possibly
used for digging up the roots upon which it is sup-
posed to have fed. The megalonyx agrees in its
general form and structure with the megatherium, and
also resembles it in other respects. It has been
found only in limestone caverns in Virginia.

The fossil remains of the elephant or mammoth, as
it is commonly called, are found in vast abundance.
Single bones, teeth, and even perfect skeletons occur,
and one instance is on record of the whole animal
being found in a perfect state imbedded in ice. The
circumstances of this fact are so extraordinary as to
merit a more detailed account. In the year 1799, a
Tongoose fisherman observed on the borders of the
Icy Sea near the mouth of the Neva, in the midst ol
fragments of ice, a shapeless mass, the nature of which
he could not conjecture. Every succeeding year
it became more developed, until at length it fell out
of the ice upon a bank of sand. The fisherman pos-
sessed himself of the tusks, which he sold. Two
^ years after one of the associates of the academy, o:
St. Petersburgh was informed of this discovery and
immediately repaired to the spot. He found the
animal already greatly mutilated. The flesh hac
been partly cut away by the Yakoots for their dogs
and some of it had been devoured by wild beasts
still, however, the skeleton was entire, with the ex-
ception of one of the fore legs. The head was
covered with a hard skin. One of the ears, in high pre-
servation, was furnished with a tuft of hair, and the
pupil of the eye was discernible. The skin was
covered with black hair and an under coat of wool of a
reddish yellow colour. The neck was furnished witl:
a long mane. There were stiff black bristles from
twelve to fifteen inches long, which belonged to the
mane, tail, and ears. The remains were so heavy
that ten persons had much difficulty in removing
them. More than thirty pounds weight of hairs anc
bristles were carried away. The tusks were more
than nine feet long. The remains of this singular anc
valuable relic of a former world were collected with

he utmost care, and are at present in the possession
)f the Emperor of Russia. From the wool which was
bund next the skin of this animal, Cuvier thinks it pro-
)able that the northern fossil elephants were inhabit-
ants of those cold countries where their remains are
bund. The discovery of this body in so perfect a
state also proves another important point, namely,
that these animals must have been arrested by the ice
mmediately after their death, and consequently could
not have floated there from distant southern regions.
These remains are found in the greatest abundance
in Siberia ; and one of the islands to the north of that
country abounds so much in these and other fossil
bones, that the whole island is described as appearing
to be entirely composed of them. This is doubtless
an exaggeration, but it serves to show the wonderful
abundance of these fossil remains.

The remarkable fossil genus mastodon is chiefly
confined to North America. From a nearly com-
plete skeleton discovered and set up by Mr. Wilson
Neale.of Philadelphia, we learn that the species called
the great mastodon of the Ohio was about as tall as
an elephant, but with longer and thicker limbs. It
was probably provided with a proboscis, or trunk, and
had tusks similar to those of the elephant. In one of
the depots of these remains in Virginia, was found,
inclosed with bones, a mass of roots, little branches,
grass, and leaves, in a half bruised state, the whole
enveloped in a kind of sac, which was considered to
be the stomach of the animal. From this it appears
to have lived on roots and the fleshy parts of plants,
and hence this kind of food attracted it to soft marshy
places, where its fossil remains are chiefly found. It
is more common in North America than in any other
part of the world, although its remains have also been
found in Siberia. Another species, rather smaller, is
described, which is found in Europe, and also in
North America. Remains of several other species
are also said to exist.

The fossil Pachydermata discovered by Cuvier in
the plaster quarries of Paris, are also of the highest
interest. In the Anoplof/ieria and Pal(Bothcriav;e are
presented with a view of an animal population of a
former period of the earth's existence, which has been
totally destroyed. Wherever these remains have
been discovered, there are vast superincumbent beds
of marine formation ; proving the invasion and long
continuance of the sea in the countries inhabited by
those races.

The bones also which have been found in caverns
in Germany, England, &c., although belonging to a
far more recent period, deserve attention. In the
cavern at Kirkdale, in Yorkshire, Dr. Buckland found
bones of the hyena, tiger, bear, wolf, fox, weasel, ele-
phant, horse, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, ox, deer, hare,
rabbit, water rat, mouse, and others which were con-
sidered as belonging to various birds. In the German
caverns at Gaileureuth, &c.,we meet with two extinct
species of bear, hyama, fox, polecat, and wolf. These
remains are embedded in a sedimentary deposit, which
is usually covered with a stalagmitic crust. They
occur in such abundance as in many places to be used
for manuring the adjacent lands. The animals to which
these bones belonged decidedly constituted the popu-
lation which occupied our part of the world, at the
era of the last great catastrophe which destroyed
their races, and prepared the soil on which animals
of our own era exist. Whatever resemblances certain
of their species may present to those of our own times

524

FOSSORES— FOTHERGILLIA.

it is no less remarkable than certain, that their gene-
ral character was very different, and that most of their
races have been entirely annihilated.

The species of deer known by the name of the Irish
elk, affords one instance, at least, of an animal which
has apparently become extinct since the exislem e of
man upon the earth. It occurs in a fossil state in
Ireland, the Isle of Man, England, Germany, and
France. The most perfect specimen of the skeleton
of this species hitherto met with, is that which was
found in the Isle of Man, and is now preserved in the
Museum of the University of Edinburgh. It is six
feet high, nine feet long, and in height, to the tip of
the right horn, nine feet seven and a half inches. It
was embedded in a loose shell marl, in which were
numerous embedded mots and branches; over the
marl was a bed of sand, above this a bed of peat, and
over the peat the common soil of the country.

Hitherto no remains of apes, baboons, monkeys, or
other tribes of the order Qnadrumana, have been met
with, nor any trace of their existence, unless we con-
sider that those extraordinary casts in sandstone of
the impressions of the feet of some unknown animal,
which have been found in Germany, are to be referred j
to animals of this kind. A slab of this stone, with ,
these impressions, is in the British Museum, and the
cast taken from it exhibits the appearance of the im-
pression of a large thumb, with indistinct traces of
parts of the other extremities of some animal, occur-
ring at regular distances, forming an object well worth
the attention of the curious visiter.

A fact must now be noticed connected with fossil
osteology, of the most remarkable and striking kind.
We find the remains of different genera of quadru-
peds, bird", reptiles, fishes, insects, mollusca, and vege-
tables, in the fossil state ; but hitherto no human
remains have been found, nor any traces of the works
of man in those particular formations in which these
different organic fossils have been discovered ; that is
to say, no human bones have been found in the regu-
lar strata of the surface of the globe. In alluvial beds,
peat bogs, and ancient burial grounds, they are dug
up as abundantly as the bones of any other living
species ; but not a fragment of human bone has been
found in such situations as to lead us to suppose that
man was contemporary with the more ancient races,
with the PalcEuthcria, Anoplotherio, or even with the
elephants, megatheria, and rhinoceroses of a compara-
tively recent era. Nothing has been found to indi-
cate the existence of the human race at a period
antecedent to the last general catastrophe of the
globe, at least, in those parts where the study of or-
ganic remains has been followed up by a careful
examination of the strata. It is true that several
years ago human skeletons were discovered in a com-
pact calcareous rock in the island of Guadaloupe. A
mass of this rock, containing a pretty well preserved
human skeleton, but without the head, has been de-
posited in the British museum. The rock, on exami-
nation, proved to be a mere alluvial mass, formed of
pieces of coral, that appears to have been thrown up
on shore by the sea, and afterwards cemented together
by water impregnated with calcareous matter. This,
therefore, can be no proof of the ancient existence of
man, and the writer of this article considers himself
justified in concluding that the human race was not
coeval with the fossil genera and species.

The study of fossil remains is one of the utmost
importance in geology. By it alone we are enabled I

to form precise -notions concerning the history of the
earth. Had these been totally neglected, we could
never have imagined that successive eras, and a series
of different operations had taken place in the forma-
tion of the globe. By them alone we are assured
that the covering of this planet has not always been
the same, as it is obvious that before they were buried
in its depths they must have existed at the surface.
By them we learn that certain strata have been tran-
quilly deposited in a fluid mass ; that the variations
in the strata have corresponded with those of tho
fluid ; that the translation of this fluid occasioned their
denudation, and that this denudation has taken place
more than once. Nothing of this could have been
ascertained with any degree of certainty, but for the
study of fossil organic remains.

FOSSORES (Latreille). An extensive sub-section
of hymenopterous insects belonging to the division
AciiL-ata, or those furnished with a sting in the females.
There are only two kinds of individuals in each
species, male and female, both of which are winged.
They are solitary in their habits, each species taking
upon itself the care of forming and provisioning, or,
at least, seeking a nest for its progeny. The legs are
formed only for walking or for burrowing ; the wings
are never folded longitudinally as in the wasps. In
our article ENTOMOLOGY we have figured the fore
leg of one of the burrowing species of this sub-
division, by means of which the females are enabled
to- excavate cells in the ground or in wood, in which
they then bury a certain quantity of other insects,
spiders, or larvue, which they have half stung to death,
which serve for the food of the larvae hatched from
the eggs deposited in the cells at the same lime.
These larvae are footless grubs of a fleshy consistence,
resembling a short worm or maggot: when arrived at
the full size they spin a silken cocoon, in which they
are transformed to pupa; : the perfect insect is
generally extremely active, feeding upon the nec-
tar of flowers. Some of the exotic species are of
very large size, and their stings are very painful.
Some of the species belonging to the sub-division are
not provided with organs for burrowing, and accord-
ingly are compelled, like the parasite bees, to deposit
their eggs in the already provisioned nests of other
species. M. le Cornte de Saint Fargeau was the first
author who noticed this parasitic connexion between
the species ; but by raising a theory upon too limited
observations, he considered that all the species whose
lejjs were destitute of the brush-like spines, were
necessarily parasitic. This theory was successfully
attacked by Mr. Shuckard, in the first number of tho
Transactions of the Entomological Society, by whom
it was shown that amongst the species destitute of
spines, many were wood-borers ; hence he proposed
the theory that those species, and those only, which
burrow in sand are furnished with spines ; subsequent
observations have, however, convinced the writer of
this article that Mr. Shuckard has likewise founded
his theory upon too limited observation, several
spineless "species having been detected in burrowing
in sand.

This sub- section comprises the families Scoluda:,
Sapygidce, Sphcgidte, BembicidcE, Larndce, Nyssonida;,
and Crubronidtc (including the Cerccrides). To these
groups the MutUHdae must evidently be added,
which differ only in the apterous condition of the
females.

FOTHERGILLIA (Linneeus). A genus of North

FOX.

525

American deciduous shrubs long introduced into onr
gardens. Class and order Polyandria Digyma, and
natural order Hamamalidece. Generic dun-actor :
calyx bell-shaped, truncated, whole, persisting; corolla
none ; stamens filaments thickened above ; anthers
erect, quadrangular, and two-celled ; styles two, avvl-
like ; stigma simple ; capsule hard, two-celled, cells
two-valved ; seeds single and bony. These orna-
mental plants thrive in the borders of moor earth, and
are increased by layers.

FOX (Vulpes). ' A genus of mammalia belonging
to the sub-order or section Cnrnlvora of Cuvier's great
order Carnassier in the Animal Kingdom. They are
usually considered as only a variety of the extensive
genus Canis (dog), which, in the systems, comprises
the dogs properly so called, and along with them the
wolves, and the jackals, all considered as dogs ; and
also the foxes, and the ferine, together with the wild
dog of the Cape, which last has in fact many of the
characters of the hyaenas, though its teeth are said
to be differently constructed.

General!}' speaking, foxes do not differ much in
their organisation from dogs. Like these, they have
six incisive teeth in each jaw ; one canine on each
side of both, six cheek teeth above and seven below
in each side ; the first four in the lower jaw and first
three in the upper small, but with trenchant edges.
The great carnivorous bruising teeth, situated behind
the trenchant ones, with two points and a tubercle on
the inside in the upper jaw ; but the lower jaw with
the last lobe of each entirely tubercular. The last
two teeth in both sides of each jaw wholly tubercular
on their upper surfaces, and thus indicating that the
animals are not in the highest degree carnivorous,
but can subsist upon other aliment besides flesh.
The foxes have also, li"ke the dogs, five toes on the
fore feet, and four on the hind ; and the females have
mammae both on the belly and in the groin.

The distinguishing characters of the foxes from the
dogs, and from all the other sections of the genus,
are : the pupils of the eyes closing on a vertical line,
though opening nearly to a circle ; the tail longer
and much more bushy or thickly covered with fur;
the skin altogether covered with finer and closer fur,
in some of the varieties of great beauty and esteemed
at a high price ; and the muzzle more elongated and
pointed at least than any of the others in a wild state.
The incisive teeth in the upper jaw are also more
furrowed ; they all have a foetid and offensive, though
peculiar, smell, and they burrow more habitually in
the earth. Perhaps we may add that their canine
teeth are more keenly pointed, that those in the
lower jaw are larger in proportion to those in the
upper, that they are more advanced in the jaw, and
stand more apart from each other at the points. From
this structure of the most efficient part of the mouth
in killing their prey, it follows almost by necessary
consequence that the foxes inflict a mortal wound by
a single bite, and do not mangle their prey like some
of the others. The smallness of the muzzle, the
nearness of the deadly weapons to its point, the
length of the jaws, and the consequent velocity with
which the large and keenly-pointed canines in the
lower jaw ran be moved, enable them to reach the
vulnerable part of their prey more readily, and inflict
their wound more speedily and certainly.

It is in their manners, however, that the foxes are
most distinguished from all other canine animals.
Many of the others are nocturnal as well as the foxes,

but none of them have that form of nocturnal eye
which enables the owner to see prey when above it;
and thus the eyes alone of the foxes would point out
their great propensity to robbing a hen roost, or seiz-
ing pheasants and other gallinaceous birds on their
porches, when perching near the ground. Foxes are
also more decidedly dwellers in holes of their own
excavation, or " earths," as they are technically called,
(han any others of the family, though the whole do
reside in dens and hiding places, except when they
are abroad hunting. The structure and formation of
the eye, which we have noticed, and also this mode
of lodging,, indicate, if not a cowardly, at least a
cautious animal, which will not attack any creature
that may stand on the defensive. The softness of
the fur too and the bushiness of the tail all indicate a
capacity of proceeding silently through brakes and
bushes, so as to come upon the prey unawares, and
kill it by the rapid snapping bite, before it is aroused
either for escape or for defence. Another character
which, among the whole race, is peculiar to the foxes,
is that of being quite solitary in their operations, and
never joining for any common purpose where num-
bers can make up for the want of individual strength.
We know little of dogs in a state of nature, as may
be seen by referring to the article DOG in this Cyclo-
paedia; but it is probable that in this state they inva-
riably help one another in cases of need. This is the
known practice both of the wolf and the jackal, the
first of which sometimes make attacks in very formi-
dable troops, and the latter, though not so bold and
ferocious, are generally found yelping and prowling
for their food in company with each other. But it
does not appear that the barking of foxes is ever to
be viewed in the light of an assembling call. In the
season, it may be calling and answering between
mate and mate, and at. other times it may be done
with the intention of alarming the prey, and causing
it to make so much noise that the acute ear of the
fox may hear it in the dark and steal upon it. There
seems to be in this habit enough to entitle foxes to
separate consideration as a subgenus, if not a separate
genus from all the rest; because it indicates that
foxes act a part in the economy of nature which could
not be exactly supplied by any or even by all the rest
of the race, if the foxes should become extinct.

This, if we could arrive at it with knowledge
sufficiently minute and accurate, is perhaps the real
ground upon which the distinctions of genera should
be placed ; because the part which it plays in nature
is the ground upon which to estimate the real value
of any animal ; and if this could be made the founda-
tion of our systems of classing, then those systems
would have some better claims to the merit ot being
natural than they have even when they are arranged
most strictly according to the anatomical structure,
both external and internal. That there is much in
the organisation we do not deny ; but still organisa-
tion is not life, and therefore when we have studied
that even to the utmost, there is still something in
the animal which is not exhausted, but which claims
our inquiry, and is in all probability more fitted for
rewarding it than even the other.

Foxes are found in many parts of the world ; but
they are most abundant in temperate and cold climates,
especially the latter ; so that there are probably more
foxes in the cold parts of the northern latitudes of
both continents than there arc in all the rest of the
world taken together. The character of their cover-

526

FOX.

ing indeed points them out as animals fitted to endure
the rigours of climate ; and their habits conspire with
their covering in enabling them to do this. They
are always iu cover of some kind, unless when they
can with safety to themselves, and also with " chance"
of prey, prowl about so as to keep themselves in heat.
In the north they are indeed found in great numbers,
and are obliged to be abroad at times when the wea-
ther is severe ; but in these places and at these sea-
sons, their coats are proof against all weathers , and
while the temperature remains so low that there is
no chance of thawing, a burrow in the snow is as
snug and warm as a burrow in the earth.

Foxes are not migrant in any country, and they do
not shift their quarters much with the seasons, even
in those places where there is a shifting of this kind
on the part of other animals. When the winter is
severe the wolves descend in numbers from the moun-
tain forests, and often commit fearful devastation ;
but foxes do not even invade hen-roosts more in the
winter than in the warm season, if they even do it as
much.

This constant remaining in the same locality
through the vicissitudes of the year, and being tem-
pered in their covering to the change, is in all proba-
bility one of the reasons why there is so much differ-
ence of opinion about the varieties or species of them.
Amid all the apparent variety, they are, however,
true to the habit ; and in this respect there is perhaps
less variation among foxes than among any other ani-
mals which are equally numerous and widely spread.

With all their powers of change, they appear, how-
ever, to be hardy and healthy animals, and we believe
the body of a fox that has died a natural death is a
very rare occurrence. No doubt there is, on the part
of mankind, a strong propensity to thin their numbers,
for mere sport, for the sake of the skin, and from the
havoc which they commit on the weaker sorts of
domestic animals, birds especially, and game. There
is one point connected with them which is worthy of
some attention : they do not fade before the progress
of cultivation, as many predatory animals fade ; and,
therefore, it would be worth while to ascertain whether,
in spite of his mischief in the poultry yard, reynard
be not a useful animal.

Common as foxes are, and much as they have occu-
pied the attention and drawn down upon themselves
the vengeance of mankind, there are very consider-
able doubts respecting some of the species. This is
especially the case with those foxes which inhabit the
polar climates of the northern hemisphere ; and in-
deed it is there that we might be prepared to expect
the greatest confusion on the part of those who esta-
blish a different species upon mere diversity in size
or colour. We shall notice what we consider as
imaginary species in our list of those to which they
appear really to belong ; and thus restricted, the list
will not exceed six or seven species. We begin with
the common fox. so well known in our own country.

THE COMMON Fox ( Vulpcs vulgaris}. The medium
height of the common fox is about one foot. From
muzzle to the other extremity of the body it averages
about two feet and ahalf. A fawn colour intermixed with
black and white constitutes its characteristic hue. On
the head, along the spinal column, the flanks, the pos-
terior part of the limbs, and the sides of the tail, the
fawn predominates. Greyish fawn sprinkled with white
prevails on the thighs and shoulders. The under part
of the neck and breast anteriorly, a kind of half collar

at the bottom of the neck, and a narrow spot com-
mencing at the internal angle of the eye, and descend-
ing towards the throat, are black. It is quite unne-
cessary, however, to dilate on the colours of an animal
so well known. The coat is thick, especially on the
back and tail. In winter the woolly are more abun-
dant than the silky, and the fur is more valuable at
that season. The silky hairs predominate in summer,
and their number is not so great. The physiognomy
of the common fox, its slender muzzle, large head,
and shortness of limbs in comparison of the body, are
very generally known. The organisation of the fox
and dog, with one exception, are precisely similar.
This exception is the eye, which in the fox resembles
that of our domestic cat, and not that of the dog. In
a strong light the pupil contracts, and appears only a
narrow and longitudinal section. It opens and as-
sumes a circular form only during twilight or night.
Consequently this animal, like the cat, avoids the
light, and prefers darkness and obscurity.

We need scarcely mention that the fox has been
proverbially celebrated for his cunning, and although
this feature in his character has given rise to much
exaggeration and fable, his proceedings are more
under the guidance of subtlety and craft than of
courage, or the spirit of enterprise. He chooses his
habitation in brakes, woods, or coppices, preparing
his bed under hard ground, the roots of trees, or
similar situations, where he can contrive proper outlets
to escape from danger. He does not always take the
trouble of making a hole for himself, but often procures
accommodation by dispossessing the badger. His
lodge is seldom remote from the habitations of man,
and is frequently found in the neighbourhood of some
farm-yard or village. He listens to the crowing of
the cocks, and the cries of the poultry, scents them
at a distance, selects his time with judgment, conceals
his road as well as his purpose, slips forward with
caution, sometimes even trailing his body, arid very
seldom makes a fruitless expedition. If he can either
leap over the wall, or creep in underneath, he ravages
the court-yard, puts all to death, and retires softly
with his prey, which he conceals under herbage, or
carries off to his kennel. In a short time he returns
for more, which he bears away, or conceals in the
same manner, but in a different place. In this way
he proceeds systematically, till the progress of the
sun, or some movement perceived in the house, warns
him that it is time to suspend his operations, and to
retire to his den. The nets and bird-lime of the
fowler he visits early in the morning, removing, in
succession, the birds that happen to be entangled,
hiding them in different places, where he perfectly
well knows where to find them, even after some davs
have elapsed. The young hares are hunted by him
in the plains, he seizes old ones in their forms ; digs
out rabbits from their warren ; detects the nests of
partridges and quails, seizes the mother birds whilst
sitting on their eggs, and destroys a vast quantity of
game. In procuring young rabbits from their bur-
rows, he follows their scent above ground, till he
comes to the end where they lie, and I hen, scratching
up the earth, descends on them and despatches them.
Should there be no other victims, he makes war on
rats, field-mice, serpents, lizards, toads, and moles, of
which he consumes great numbers, playing with
them, like the cat, before devouring them. He will
also eat roots and insects when urged by hunger, and
will seize on crabs, shrimps, and shell-fish, when near

F O X.

527

the sea-coast. Grapes, and other sweet fruits, he
manifests a predilection for, and will boldly attack
wild bees to get at their stores. When assailed by
the hosts which fasten on iiiin with their stings, he
retires, but only tor a few minutes, rids himself of his
opponents by rolling on the ground, and crushing all
that stick to him, and then returns to the charge, and
devours both honey and wax.

The active foresight of the fox will often prompt
him, even when sated with food, to prolong his
researches, less with the intention of discovering
fresh booty than of exploring the details of his future
resources. Thus he frequently returns to the various
holes which he has cleared, surveys them with
much precaution, enters into them, and slily examines
their different issues. He approaches objects that
are new to him with cautious slowness, and which, on
account of their novelty, excite his suspicion and
distrust. This timid prudence, however, completely
disappears in the female fox when she has young ones
to nurse and defend. The maternal instinct which,
in all species, the human not excepted, is probably
the strongest of all feelings, effaces the specific
character of the animal. There is no sentiment so
completely disinterested as this, none in which the
sacrifice of self is so instantaneous and so complete.
The mother will not hesitate a moment to endure
the utmost privation, to brave the most appalling
danger, nay, to encounter the certainty of death, for
the preservation of her infant offspring. She that,
but a little before, was all gentleness, shrinking
timidity, and fastidious delicacy, who could not bear
the winds of Heaven to visit her face too roughly, on
the sudden becomes bold, fierce, and resolute, un-
shaken by all that is trying, and unrevolted by all that
is disgusting. The female fox watches incessantly
over her young, provides for all their wants with un-
wearied assiduity, and exhibits an audacity very
foreign to her general disposition against their most
formidable adversaries.

We should be inclined to trace this maternal in-
stinct, if we might presume to conjecture at the
proximate cause of it, like many other powerful
sentiments in animal nature, to some sensation of
physical pleasure by which its exercise is accom-
panied. Those feelings, even in man, which assume
for a time the completes! domination over his consti-
tution, have sensual pleasure as their origin and
object, however remote their apparent distance from
such a source may be, however they may be glossed
over by high-sounding names, or to whatever degree
of refinement they may be spun by those mighty
casuists, vanity and self-love. Most of our feelings and
ideas, however refined and abstracted, are resolvable,
in their last analysis, into physical sensation, and the
closer their connexion is with this primal source, the
more impetuous and commanding is their influence.
If this be the case with man, it is much more strik-
ingly so with the brute creation.

Foxes are generally in heat about the month of
February. They are then heard to utter very sharp
yelpings ; which commence like the barking of a
dog, and end in a sound resembling the cry of the
peacock. Gestation continues for from sixty to six-
ty-live days. When the female is ready for parturi-
tion, she prepares a bed for her young with leaves
and hay. She produces only once a year, and has
from three to eight young at a time. The cubs are
born like dogs, covered with hair, and having the

eyes shut, and continue crowing for about eighteen
months. If the dam perceive the place of their
retreat to be discovered, she carries off her cubs, one
by one, to a more secure habitation. At about
three or four months old, the young foxes quit their
burrow. They abandon their parents with all conve-
nient speed, and at two years of age their growth is
completed.

In the days of his inexperience, a favourite lure
will ensnare him, but, when apprised of its nature, the
same expedient becomes unavailing. He seems to
smell the very iron of the trap, and carefully shuns
it. If lie perceives that the means of ambush are
multiplying around him, he quits his place of resi-
dence, and retires into some more secure quarters.
Wan, with all his reasoning and machines, requires
himself much experience not to be over-reached by
the prudence and stratagems of this wily quadruped.
If all the issues of the kennel are beset with snares,
the occupant scents and recognises them, and, rather
than fall into them, exposes hjmself to the most cruel
and protracted privation of food. In confinement,
this state of alarm is neither mechanical nor passive,
for he leaves nothing untried to escape from danger ;
and, while a claw remains, he works at a new path,
hy which he often eludes the menaced ruin. In the
fox, in short, as in the wolf, we may remark an
aptitude to acquire habits, and to be regulated by his
reflections on existing circumstances. He is compa-
ratively ignorant and careless of his conduct when
no war is waged against him ; but, when the appre-
hension of pain or death, exhibited under various
forms, has produced multiplied sensations, which
become fixed in his memory, and give rise to com-
parisons, judgments, and inductions, he acquires skill,
penetration, and cunning. If the imprudence and
thoughtlessness of youth frequently make him deviate
from the right path, the experience of age corrects
his wanderings, and teaches him to discriminate
true from false appearances. Foxes sleep much dur-
ing the day, and lie, like the dog, in a round form.
In very warm and clear weather, he mav sometimes
be seen basking in the sun, or amusing himself with
his fine bushy tail. Mngpies, crows, and other birds,
which justly consider him as their common enemy,
will often give notice of his presence by the most
clamorous notes, and follow him a long way repeating
their outcries.

The fox's skin is furnished with a soft and warm
fur, which, in many parts of Europe, is used for
muffs, boas, and lining of clothes. Vast numbers of
foxes, on this account, are taken in the Valais, and
the Alpine districts of Switzerland, insomuch, that a
Lausanne furrier is sometimes in possession of two
or three thousand skins, all procured in the course of
a single winter. Vast numbers of them are likewise
imported from Newfoundland and Hudson's Bay.
Notwithstanding the rankness of the fox's flesh, the
natives of the latter country eat it ; and even the
inhabitants of some parts of the continent of Europe
have recourse to it, during the vintage, when the
animals are fattened with the grapes.

Fox-hunting, it is almost superfluous to mention, is
a very favourite diversion with many of the nobility
and gentry of this country, and that it is more zeal-
ously and successfully prosecuted in England than in
any other country in the world. When the fox finds
himself pursued, he generally makes towards his
hole, and, penetrating to the bottom, lies till a terrier

528

FOX.

is sent in to him. Should his den be under a rock or
the roots of trees, the terrier is no match for him, and
it would be no very easy matter for his enemies to dig
him out. His stratagems and shiftings are as sur-
prising as they are various when the retreat to his
kennel is cut off, for he betakes himself to the wood*
and coppices of the country, and prefers the paths
that are most embarrassed with thorns and briars.
When before the hounds, he runs in a direct line,
and, if hard pushed, resorts to the low wet grounds,
as if conscious that, in such situations, the scent is
with more difficulty traced. He becomes obstinately
desperate when overtaken, and will turn on his adver-
sary, and defend himself to the last gasp. The
severest blows will not make him loose his hold ; and
he fights in silence until he is torn and mangled to
death. Horses and dogs both, particularly the former,
have very frequently fallen victims to the ardour of
the chace, which sometimes has continued for eight
or ten hours, almost at full speed, without the smallest
interruption, and for a distance of forty or fifty miles.

The fox can be tamed, if taken when quite young,
but seldom entirely loses his savage nature. In-
stances have, however, occurred of a domesticated fox
showing nearly as much attachment to his master as
a dog. The fox's olfactory nerves, as it is well
known, are very acute. Like the dog and the wolf,
he runs his game down by the scent. On the ap-
proach of a storm, or preparatory to a change of
weather, he howls dismally. In the summer season
the male, and more particularly the female, is very
subject to cutaneous disorders ; and it is asserted
that, if a horse lie down on the spot previously
occupied by a fox, he will likewise be infected.

Many anecdotes have been mentioned and recorded
of the craft of the fox, and some of them place the
sagacity of irrational animals in a very striking light,
and perhaps none more so than those in which the
crafty animal attempts

" To run away from death by dying,"

or rather, by counterfeiting death. One morning
early, a man in the north was going to his work
through furze bushes on a common, and came upon
a fox stretched out at length under the side of one of
the bushes. The fox was drawn out by the tail,
swung right and left, and then laid on the ground,
but not a symptom of motion or life did he show.
The man, never doubting that reynard had gone the
way of ail foxes, and nothing loth to add a fox-skin
cap to the list of his personal garniture, and the brush
to the tale of peacocks' feathers, and other ornamental
trophies, over the little looking-glass that stood
inclined from the wall of his cottage, took the animal
by the tail, and swung it over the one shoulder, at
the same lime placing his mattock on the other, to
keep up the balance ; and, having done so, onward
he trudged to mend the high-road, for the accommo-
dation of those who got foxes and their brushes in
another way, which was his ordinary vocation. The
two shoulderings were not exactly paired, and so the
mattock began to assail the ribs of the fox in no very
gracious manner. The animal had counterfeited death
to admiration, and he did not mind being carried in
the manner of a dead fox (it is remarkable that dead
animals are usually carried with the head downward) ;
but, dead as he seemed, he had no inclination to un-
dergo that species of dissection which the point of
the mattock was ever and anon giving his ribs. So

at last he gave that decisive snap, which we have de-
scribed as the characteristic bite of foxes, on that
portion of the labourer's rear which is supposed to be
more sensitive to all manner of inflictions than any
other region of the human body. The man felt that
something was the matter, but knew not very well
what ; so, throwing fox and mattock from him, he
turned round to face the foe, whoever he rni<rht be,
and, in turning, he espied his dead fox at the distance
of full fifty yards, making for the brake with all ima-
ginable speed. The man was much annoyed at his
adventure, and wished to conceal it ; only, he told it
to his fellow-labourer as a great secret, and thus, as
is generally the case with secrets confided in this way,
rendered it better worth telling than it otherwise
would have been.

We shall mention one other anecdote, which came
within the personal knowledge of the writer of this ar-
ticle, because it throws some light on the mode of action
of the fox, as well as confirms the truth of his counter-
feiting death in all cases where there is a likelihood
that it may ensue. The parsonage of Kilmorac, in In-
verness-shire, is situated in a highly romantic spot. It
is near the brow of one of the precipices which form
a gorge through which the river Beauly has, in the
lapse of ages, cut a deep channel through a great
length of rock, thus emptying a lake which must at
one time have occupied that singularly beautiful dell
known by the name of the Dream of Kilmorac. The
northern bank of this singular valley, or rather ravine,
for it is something intermediate between the two, is
richly wooded, and much of the sloping ground is a
natural strawberry bed. It swarms with all those in-
habitants, whether of the air or of the earth, which are
found in warm and wooded spots of the Highlands.
To render the collection complete, there are eagles
in some of the towering rocks, near the lower part,
and no want of goshawks anywhere ; the hill beyond,
too, is well stored with grouse, and as it is near tho
cultivated grounds, there are common hares as well
as Alpine ones. Of course this is a very favourite
retreat for foxes ; and though the wild cats are said
to keep them at bay, when they attempt to assail the
preserve, they kennel in the margins, and infest the
country around. The then clergyman of Kilmorac
was a man of great taste, very fond of society, and
very hospitable, and he accordingly endeavoured to
provide for his numerous guests all the good things
which his glebe land, on field or on hill, could afford.

A well-stocked poultry-yard is an essential requisite
in such cases ; but here foxes were so numerous, and
their covers so near, that a poultry-yard was out of
the question ; and it was sometimes necessary to
employ boys to " Hoo ! hoo ! " the fox even after the
parson's pullets were turned out to range the fields
A poultry-house was thus requisite, and the Reverend
Doctor prided himself not a little in having constructed
one which was completely fox-proof; and for a good
many years it had been impregnable to reynard, so
that the Doctor's pullets and their eggs were known
far and wide for their excellence, their abundance,
and the frankness with which they were given to
every one who courted the very pleasant society of
their owner. A frierul of ours had spent a night in
this romantic and hospitable abode ; and, while fresh
salmon from the Beauly, dressed in very delicious
steaks, formed one article for the breakfast-table, new-
laid eggs, from the strong-hold of the hens, were of
course to form another. Christian, the purveyor in

FOX.

these oases, took the key, and marched off, basket in
hand, to bring the supply ; but, when she opened the
door, a scene of the ino-1 direful havoc presented
itself. Every perch and nest-hole was bedabbled with
blood, dead hens lay in dozens on the floor, and in
the middle was a full-sized fox, stretched out at
full length, and apparently a sharer in the common
mortality. The maid never doubted the death of the
fox, but attributed it to a different cause, namely, that
he had so gorged himself on the poultry, as that he
had burst. Here were three causes to rouse the
mingled wrath and content of Christian. The fox
had, by some means or other, shown that the place
was not impregnable ; there had been terrible havoc
among- the hens ; and the fox had been gluttonous even
to the death. She pronounced his funeral oration
in certain most expressive Gaelic phrases, which we
shall not quote, and will not translate ; and then,
without further ceremony, gave him a resting place,
which she said was worse than a dog's burial. She
took him up by the tail, and swung him with all her
might into the receptacle in which were accumulated
the requisites for garden compost. The fox fell
softly, and rose again speedily, and, like Curll the
bookseller in the Dunciad ; he " scoured and stunk
along." until he gained the cover of the woods, leaving
Christian in utter consternation, and the minister
minus both his pullets and the glory of his impreg-
nable hen-house.

Common !

The entrance to this place was by a stone some
feet from the ground, with a little hole over it, and
by this the fox mu-t have gained admission, and so,
gaining admission, he had killed every fowl that he
could reach ; and he must have killed them so silently
and so suddenly, as that no noise or complaint on the
part of any one had in the least alarmed the others.
This is, we believe, the most striking peculiarity of the
fox on his predatory excursions, and the above anec-
dote shows it in a very striking light, for there were
perches so elevated that no fox could roach them ;
and as the pullets were in the habit of taking to them
in other cases of alarm, of course they would have
done so upon this invasion of the fox, if his deeds
of slaughter had been attended with any noise. We
have mentioned those anecdotes because they are
characteristic, and we know them to be true.

The BLUE Fox or Is AXIS (V. lagopus). This spe-
cies occurs only in the arctic regions, a few degrees
within and without the polar circle, particularly in
Kamtschatka, and all the country bordering on the
northern ocean. It is inferior in size to the preced-
ing, and is sometimes to be met with entirely white,
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

though it is generally of a bluish grey colour. It is
so very hardy as to prowl about for prey during the
utmost rigour of the hyperborean winter. It. subsists
on young wild-geese, and all kinds of wafer fowl and
their eggs, on hares, the smaller quadrupeds, &c., and
frequently from necessity, on wild berries, shell-fish,
or other substances rejected by the sea. They, in
some regions, burrow in the earth, and form holes
many feet in length, strewing the bottom with moss ;
but where the ground is seldom quite free from frost,
as in Spitsbergen a;:d Greenland, they live in the
clefts of rocks, two or three inhabiting the same hole.
They are in the habit of crossing from island to island,
in quest of prey, being very excellent swimmers.
They are caught in pitfalls, springes, or trap?, baited
with capalin or a bit of flesh, for the sake of their
skins, which form a light and warm, but not a durable
fur. The most interesting account, by far, which we
know of the manners of this species, is that which
Steller relates ; but we shall only give a part of the
passage to which we allude. " When we made a
halt to rest by the way," says Steller, " they gathered
around us, and played us a thousand tricks in our
view ; and when we sat still, they approached us so
closely, that they gnawed our shoe-strings. If we lay
down as if intending to sleep, they came and smelt at
our noses, to ascertain whether we were dead or alive.
On our first arrival, they bit off the noses, fingers, and
toes of our dead, when we were preparing the grave ;
arid thronged in such a manner about the infirm and
sick, that it was with difficulty we could keep them off.

" F,very morning we saw these audacious animals
patrolling among the sea-lions and polar bears, lying
on the strand, smelling at such as were asleep. If death
happened to be the case, they proceeded to dissect
him immediately, and soon afterwards all were at work
in dragging the parts away. As the sea-lions, in their
sleep, sometimes overlay their young, the foxes every
morning examined the whole herd of them, one by
one, as if conscious of this circumstance, and imme-
diately dragged away the dead cubs from their dams.

" A"S they would not suffer us to be at rest by night
or day, we became exasperated against them, young
and old, and harassed them by every means we could
devise. When we awoke in the morning, we al-
ways saw two or three that had been knocked on the
head the preceding night ; and I can safely affirm,
that, during our stay on the island, I killed above two
hundred of these animals with my own hands. On
the third day after my arrival, I knocked down with
a club, within the space of three hours, upwards of
seventy of them, and made a covering to my tent of
their skins. They were so unsuspicious, that with one
hand one could hold to them a piece of flesh, and
knock them down with a stick or axe in the other.

" From all the circumstances that occurred during
our stay, it was evident that these animals could never
before have been acquainted with mankind, and that
the dread of man is not innate in brutes, but must be
grounded on long experience.

" Like the common foxes, they were the most sleek
and full of hair in the months of October and Novem-
ber ; in January and February it was over thick ; in
April and Mnv they began to shed their coat; in the
two following 'months they had only wool on them,
and appeared as if they went in waistcoats. In Juiie
they dropped their cubs, nine or ten at a brood, in
holes or clefts of the rocks. They are so fond of their
young-, that to scare us away from them, they barked
J L L

530

POX.

and yelled like dogs, by which they' betrayed their
covert. But no sooner did they perceive that their
retreat was discovered, than (unless they were pre-
vented) they dragged the young away in their
mouths, and endeavoured to conceal them in some
more secret place. On one of us killing the young,'
the dam would follow us with dreadful howlings, by
night and day, for a hundred versts or more, and would
not even then cease till she had done her enemy
some material injury, or was herself killed by him."

This species is "very ragged and rough looking,
during the process of changing its colour, and until
near its conclusion. The change is no sooner com-
pleted, than the colour becomes uniform. It is of a
pure white during winter. A dorsal line of a darker
colour is observable in summer, with transverse stripes
upon the shoulders, from which peculiarities it lias
been occasionally confounded with the cross fox. The
paws are entirely covered with long hairs, and those
on the other parts of the body are about two inches
and a half in length.

Mr. Lloyd, in his " Field Sports of the North of
Europe," describes the arctic fox as differing very
materially from those of the common species. " He
has," says Mr. Lloyd," neither the cunning nor speed,
and he is besides less cautious and timid." And ac-
cording to the concurrent testimony of all travellers
to the arctic regions, he is so little afraid of man that
he may be readily knocked on the head with a blud-
geon. " It has happened that this species has been
killed in the most southern parts of Sweden ; but it
has been noticed that, instead of flying from his assail-
ants, as is the case with the common fox, he has stood
contemplating his approach until the fatal trigger has
been drawn, and the loaded messenger has made him
bite the ground."

This difference of character between the arctic and
the common fox, points to a difference in prey and in
manner of prey-ing. In summer he appears to feed
chiefly upon those birds which resort in such numbers
to the bogs and borders of the northern marshes to
breed ; while in winter, when the birds are gone, and
the waters frozen, he appears to resort farther upland,
and subsist upon the small burrowing quadrupeds, of
which there are vast numbers in that country, and
many of which hybernate, and thus become an easy
prey, just as the close-sitting birds do in summer
when they are on their nests ; the broad feet with
which this species are furnished serve equally for tra-
versing the bog in summer and the snow in winter ; and
the fur on the under part enables the animal to prowl
with silent footfall, so as never to startle the game.

BLACK AND SILVER Fox (V. argcntatui). The
black and silver foxes are considered by the Indians
to be the same kind, varying accidentally in the colour
of the feet. The black are very rare, and fetch a
very high price. Its skin is so rare, that Dr. Richard-
son* says " a greater number than four or five are
seldom taken in a season at any one part in the fur
countries." The skins are sometimes entirely black,
and are preferred when they have not any silver hairs
in them ; and when without any are considered the
mo«t valuable of furs, and are worth near 20/. a skin.

This animal is often the size of the ordinary fox ;
in its entire organisation it closely resembles that
well-known animal. The organs of sense, of den-
tition, and of generation, are the same, and its gait
and movements exactly similar. It walks with its
head and tail depresse'd. Its glances are pregnant

with distrust and penetration, and, in a word, it would
be completely'our European fox, if it were fawn-
coloured instead of black and silver. The hair of the
body and of the tail is long and tufted. Silken hairs
widely dispersed, extremely fine, and of a grey, ap-
proaching to black, form the immediate covering of the
skin, and the peculiar colour of the animal is owing to
silken hairs which are generally of a. brilliant black,
though occasionally terminated by a white point, and

Blade and Silver Fox.

sometimes, but rarely, altogether white. The ex-
tretnity of the tail is almost entirely white, the fore
part of the head and the sides are whitish, and some
white hairs are detached, as it were, from all the other
parts of the fur, and have no other effect, than to set
off to better advantage the lustrous brilliancy of the
black, of which it is generally composed. The eyes
are yellowish. These animals play like dogs, and
like them, express their displeasure by growling.
When the animal's hunger is satisfied, it conceals the
rest of its food, lies down, and goes to sleep. It
has a very disagreeable odour,l)ut differs a little from
that of the common fox. The exhaustion which it
suffers from heat, sufficiently indicates the countries
of which it is a native. Nearly all authors who have
travelled in the northern parts of the old world, speak
of black foxes, which has given rise to an opinion, in
which there appears probability, that the species
which we have been describing is to be found in both
continents. Some doubt, however, must be preserved
respecting their identity, until such time as it shall be
confirmed by new observations, and a more exact
comparison of characters.

Arctic Fox.

The foxes of the arctic countries, especially of
Siberia and America, where they are most abundant,
present nearly the same kind of difficulties to the
systematic naturalist as the intermediately sized cats
do in the tropical forests. They are all formed nearly
alike, and do not differ much in size and strengh ; and
thus the only palpable distinction is that of colour,

FO

which of itself leads to nothing, as no means have yet
been discovered by which the colours of animals can
in any satisfactory way be connected with their habits.

THREE-COLOURED Fox ( V. cinert'o-argcntus). This
is a native of the middle and southern regions of
America. The name it may be observed might, in
point of fact, be applied to the other species, as the
white, the fawn colour, and the black are combined
in the fur of almost all foxes. I3ut improper as it
may be, it must be retained, as it has been so long
received, and as we arc ignorant of the name which
this animal bears in the middle and southern regions
of North America. It is strange what very little
care is taken by travellers to ascertain the proper
names of the animals of those countries which they
traverse, actually when the means of such information
are entirely within their reach. The influence which
such information must exercise on the progress of
natural history, would give a double value to their
researches.. The history of any species can evidently
be the result only of a very long series of observa-
tions, which it is utterly impossible for an}' single
individual to make. To the first observations of this
description the second should be naturally attached,
for the purpose of giving them their just portion of
utility, the third to the second, and so on, until all the
necessary information is acquired. We are liable
without some such plan to endless repetitions, which
can produce nothing but regret for the labour which
has been expended on them. The knowledge of the
native name, in fact, is essentially necessary to enable
us to know of what animal any traveller speaks, and
of which, in all probability, he cites but a few charac-
teristics, very insufficient for the purposes of a clear
distinction. The ancients on this point seem to have
been much more careful than the moderns. Such
reflections as these are sure to suggest themselves to
the mind, when we come to consider the foxes of
North America. There are few animals of which
travellers have spoken more, but there are few whose
history has been treated of with less detail, and with
less attention to any thing like method.

From the range of latitude over which foxes having
the colours upon which this name is founded extend,
we may naturally suppose that there are many varieties
of colour among them. The most common markings
are described thus : Upper parts of the body greyish
black ; head greyish yellow ; ears and sides of the
neck bright red ; throat and cheeks white ; skin
black ; abdomen yellow ; tail yellow brindled with
black and wholly black at the tip. This species or
variety has been described as a South American
animal by D'Azzara ; and as a North American one
by various authors. Its colours are those of several
of the other coloured varieties blended ; and there-
fore it may be a mongrel of many breeds, which
word, as in the case of dogs, is in our opinion far
more applicable to the differently coloured foxes,
than the word " species," or even the word " variety."
The distinctions between them are all too small for
being useful in natural history.

THE RED Fox ( V.fulcus). This species is not
absolutely red, but of a bright reddish brown or
orange. It is a native of North America, and belongs
to the class of foxes which, in locality, may be con-
sidered as intermediate between the arctic ones and
those of the warmer latitudes. It was long supposed
that this was merely a coloured variety of the common
fox ; but a fine specimen presented to the Zoological

% 531

Society of London by Lord Clinton, afforded an
opportunity of contrasting the two, and the following
are Dr. Richardson's remarks : —

" On comparing a fine specimen of the English fox
with an American fox, each was observed to have dark
markings on the sides of the muzzle, posterior parts of
the ears, and fore parts of the legs ; the tails of both
have an intermixture of black hairs, and are tipped
with white. The red fox, however, differs in its
long and very fine fur, and in the brilliancy of its
colours. Its cheeks are rounder, its nose thicker,
shorter and more truncated. Its eyes are nearer
to each other ; its ears are shorter ; the hair on its
legs is a great deal longer ; and its feet are much
more woolly beneath, the hair extending beyond the
claws, which are shorter than those of the European
fox. In short, the red fox differs from the European
one in nearly the same characters that distinguish
the grey American wolf from the Pyrennean one, in
the breadth and capacity of its feet for running on
the snow, the quantity of long hair clothing the
back part of the cheeks, which in conjunction with the
shorter ears and nose, give the head a more compact
appearance. The red fox has a much finer brush than
the European one, and is altogether a larger animal."

There are, however, so many foxes in the wilds of
America, especially in the northern part of that con-
tinent, and they differ so much in colour in some of
the specimens, approach so nearly in others, and are so
exactly the same in structure, and so nearly the same
in manners, that it would be no easy or perhaps even
possible matter to form a systematic arrangement of
them ; and after such an arrangement had been formed
with the greatest care and discrimination it would be
of very little value ; because it belongs to that class
of minute distinctions which lead to no conclusion,
and which are serviceable only in so far as they
enable the showman to give a different name to every
animal in his living collection, or to every skin in his
museum, which may happen to have different colours
and markings from others. The following observa-
tions by the eminent naturalist from whom we have
just quoted, are very much to the purpose. " Foxes,"
says Dr. Richardson, " are distinguished by the
traders under the names of black, silver, cross, red,
and blue foxes. The two former are considered by
the Indians to be the same kind, varying accidentally
in the colour of the pelt. The black foxes are very
rare and fetch a high price. The cross and red
foxes differ from each other only in colour, being of
the same shape and size. Their shades of colour are
not disposed in any determinate manner, some indi-
viduals approaching in that respect very nearly to the
silver fox, others exhibiting every link of the chain
down to nearly a uniform deep or orange-yellow, the
distinguishing colour of the pure red fox. It is re-
ported both by the Indians and traders, that all the
varieties have been found in the same litter. The
blue fox is seldom seen here, and is supposed to come
from the southward." The case of the fox is by no
means a solitary instance of confusion introduced into
the nomenclature of animals, by those who hunt wild
ones without any reference to science.

THE LITTLE 'YELLOW Fox (V. coi-sac) is smaller
than the common fox, and the localities which it in-
habits are of a different character. It is not found in
woods or thickets, but in the open wastes. With some
differences of appearance, it seems to extend from the
steppes of Siberia to central Africa ; and may be the
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532

F O X- B A N E — F R A G A R I A.

"little fox" alluded to in the bible, though the accu-
sation against the little foxes there is that thoy " spoil
the vines," and there are no vines, at least in the
native localities of this one. The general colour is
greyish yellow, with some waving streaks of black at
the'root of the tail, and the tip of the tail is also black.
The place where this fox has been seen in the great-
est abundance, is on the steppes between the moun-
tains of Ural and the west end of the Altaian chain.
They are so numerous on the wide plains there, that
according to Pallas, not fewer than fifty thousand
skins have been procured in a single season in the
province of Orenburg alone. They are also found
very abundantly on all the dry and extensive plains
of central Asia, and appear to follow the line of the
arid wastes on the margin of the deserts as far as the
sources of the White Nile. It is probable that they
are found also on the dry plains of the north of India;
but the fox of the south of that country, or of the
Deccan, is described as being somewhat different.
The following is the account of it, as given by Colonel
Sykes, to whom we are so much indebted for a know-
ledge of the animals of (he Deecan.

The KOKREE (V. kokree ; Cants kokree, Sykes.)
" Upper part reddish grey, under, dull white, tail
brushy, with the tip black, feet reddish, and pupil
of the eye elongated.

" The fox of Dukhun appears to be new to science,
although it much resembles the descriptions of the
corsac. It is a very pretty animal, but much smaller
than the European fox. Head short ; muzzle very
sharp. Eyes oblique ; irides nut brown. Legs very
slender ; tail trailing on the ground, very bushy.
Along the back, and on the forehead, fawn colour ;
with hair having a white ring near to its tip. Back,
neck, between the eyes, along the sides, and halfway
down the tail, reddish grey, each hair being banded
black, and reddish white. All the legs reddish out-
side, reddish white inside. Chin and throat dirty
white. Along the belly reddish white. Ears exter-
nally dark brown, and with their fur so short as to be
scarcely discoverable ; edges of eyelids black ; muzzle
red brown." The length from the muzzle to the tail
is from twenty-two inches to twenty-two inches and
a half ; and that of the tail itself from eleven inches
and a half to a foot. The foxes of the corresponding
latitudes of Arabia and Africa have not been examined
with much care ; but from the account given by Riip-
pell, it should seem that the Nubian fox very closely
resembles this one, and that they differ from the small
fox of the dry plains of the northern and central
plains of America, chiefly in being smaller in size and
having the fur on the body less produced ; but, even
in the warmest latitudes, they retain their brush in its
full perfection, which shows that this peculiar produc-
tion of the tail and its covering answers some very
important purpose in the economy of foxes, though
what this purpose is has not hitherto been ascertained,
— indeed, we want a good philosophical account of
the tails of animals.

The CAPE Fox (V. mesomelas). This species from
its name is, of course, South African ; and it appears
to resemble the last-mentioned in some particulars ;
though there are some doubts about it. It has a long
bushy tail, and elliptical pupils according to some ;
while, according to others, the pupils are round. If the
first are correct, it is a fox ; if the second, it is a jackal.

The CROSS Fox ( V. decussatus), is considered by
Cuvier as only a coloured variety of the common fox,

which it resembles in size and in manners ; but, in our
uncertainty as to the species of foxes, it is worthy of
a separate notice. The prevailing colour on the
upper part is blackish grey, produced by hairs with
alternate rings of white and black. This colour also
extends to the outer parts of the legs, but these have
less white. There is a black cross on the shoulders,
from which the trivial name is obtained. It has been
principally found in North America, where it inhabits
far to the northward, and is found on the shores of
the Arctic Sea, not only on the American side of the
Straits, but also on the Siberian. Indeed, from the
proximity of the two continents at this place, from
the ice in the strait forming a regular bridge every
winter, and there being a permanent one from thence
to the north, it is natural to suppose that foxes which,
though not migratory, are ranging animals, and
which, as they do not migrate, may naturally be sup-
posed to disperse in the winter, when food for them
is not abundant in any one locality, will pass readily
from the one continent to the other, so as to be very
little different in both. They also, in all the spcri.-.-
probably, are subject to seasonal varieties, both in the
length and closeness, and in the colour of the fur.
Thus at certain seasons, or at all events, in certain
individuals, the /ox, which is usually called white and
silver, from the grey on the points of the hairs, is
found entirely black. In this state it is rare, and this
also seems to be the prime condition of the fur in
point of beauty ; the old coat entirely gone, and the
new one fully grown, but not begun in the least to
fade or become dry, so that it has more gloss than at
any other period. It seems also, that, whatever may
be their variety as to colour, foxes acquire a much
thicker winter covering, in proportion as they inhabit
places which are colder, and this not only over the
body, but on the soles of the feet. Not on the pads,
because these are not fitted for producing hairs, as
they are without the papilla? from which those appen-
dages grow. But the inner and under sides of the toes,
and the spaces between the pads, produce fur of so
lengthened a character, that it seems to cover the
entire sole of the foot, at least that part of it which
comes in contact with the snow. The numbers of
those animals in the northern regions are immense ;
their skins are of great value ; and we believe that
their flesh is very wholesome, and might be cleared
of the foxy odour by being buried a short time in
the ground. The northern people are not, however,
very delicate in their tastes.

FOX-BANE. Is the Acqnitum vu/paria of Rei-
chenbach, a common plant found wild on the European
alps, and belongs to the natural order Ranunculaceas.

FOX-GLOVE. Is the Digitalis pitrpitrea of Lin-
naeus, a handsome and very common British plant,
abundant on hedge-banks everywhere. It belongs to
Scrophularincc.

FOX-TAIL GRASS. Is the Afo-pecurus pratensis
of Linnaeus, one of our most useful meadow-grasses,
and one of the principal species employed in laying
down permanent pastures.

FRAGARIA — Strawberry. A genus of Euro-
pean herbs, yielding delicious fruit. The flowers are
icosandrious, and belong to the natural order Rosacece.
The strawberry has been long in cultivation, and
many excellent varieties have originated under the
practical skill and care bestowed on their culture.
The best and most convenient season for forming a
new plantation of strawberries is the month of An-

F R A G A R I A.

533

gust, because then the young plants produced on
what are called runners from the old stocks are fit to
be separated from the parent, each having roots of its
own. The best soil for the generality of the varieties
is a mellow loam, but almost any kind of garden soil
in good heart is suitable. The ground intended to
receive them should be trenched or double-digged,
and the surface enriched with some good rotten dung.
The usual order of planting is on beds of four and a
half feet wide, on which four rows of plants at twelve
inch distances between are dibbed at like distances
between plant and plant ; this allows margins of three
inches on each side. The beds are separated by two
feet wide alleys, to allow of weeding, watering the
plants, and of gathering the fruit.

The strongest runners are always chosen for trans-
planting, and in order to obtain them as strong as
possible a shallow trench is made between the rows
of old plants, and filled with a rich compost. On
this the first runners are laid and fastened down by
little hooks. The runners quickly strike roots into
this compost, and grow strongly. To encourage
them still more they should be watered along with
the mother plants in dry weather. When the sea-
son arrives for transplanting, the young plants rise
with fine root?, and strong enough to promise a good
crop in the following year.

The beds are never dug between the plants, but
only kept clear of runners and of weeds by the hoe.
The alleys are dug every winter, and a little of
the fresh soil from them thrown over the beds as a
top-dressing. It is usual to lay straw, or some kind
of clean loose litter, round the plants before the fruit
begins to ripen, to save them from being dashed with
earth by rain or when watered. When young plants
are not wanted, the bearing plants should be kept
free from runners lest they rob the swelling fruit.

This plan of keeping every mother plant distinct and
separate, is most suitable for the larger sorts ; the
alpines, and sometimes the hautbois are planted indi-
vidually at first, but afterwards allowed to run all over
and occupy the whole surface, in which state these
kinds will, in somewhat shady situations, do very
well, and continue productive for several years.

Some cultivators, instead of beds, plant the large
sorts in open order, say two feet apart every way on
well prepared ground, knowing that the more space
each plant is allowed the stronger it will grow and
flower, and bear fruit in greater numbers, and of
greater size. Besides, the side branches of the
mother-plant (not the runners) have room to ex-
tend and yield fruit in as great quantity as the
principal crown. To understand this result rightly,
it. is necessary to advert to the constitutional charac-
ter of the strawberry plant; The plant is compound ;
that is, it is composed of a principal and central divi-
sion, which yields flowers and fruit hi the next year
after it is formed. This principal is surrounded by
a secondary set of branches, which also in time yield
flowers and fruit superseding the first, which decays
and disappears alter it has ripened its fruit. The
secondary set of branches, or divisions, of the system
put forth, in their turn, a tertiary birth of branchlets,
which also in time are fruitful : and these again a
fourth set of offsets, which process is continued for
ever, if the plants are not destroyed by accident, or
by each other. During this process, the system
from this annual subdivision becomes weaker and
.or, so that at last the flowers are so few and

diminutive, that the crops are unprofitable, and not
worth their place in the garden.

This is so well known to cultivators, that they do
not consider a strawberry plantation worth its place
after the third year, and many take only two crops
from the plants, trenching them down as soon as the
crop of the second year is gathered. Here it may be
asked, how is it that plants allowed to occupy the
whole surface of the ground are suffered to be
usurpers ? The answer is, — to save trouble, and as
some of the runners are always yielding fruit for the
first time, these being passable as to size and flavour,
guarantee the preservation of the whole.

Strawberries are often planted in single rows by
way of edgings to borders. In this way they have
the advantage of full air and light, which is so far
suitable, as well for increasing the size, as for the con-
venient gathering of the fruit. People of fortune,
who wish to have the fruit in the highest perfection,
are at the expense of paving the whole surface of the
beds, leaving holes for the reception of the plants.
Others erect beds of brick-work formed like a ridge,
the sides graduated like steps, on which the plants are
placed in apertures left to admit the roots into the
compost on which the bricks are laid. These beds
have a contrivance for the purpose of irrigation, which
is of great service during the flowering season. There
is a trough formed of the brick-work along the ridge,
which being intentionally leaky allows the water to
percolate down the sides without wetting the flowers
or fruit. The reflected light of the sun from the bricks
serves also to ripen and improve the flavour of the
fruit.

Potted strawberry plants may be forced either on
hot-beds, pits built for the purpose, or in almost any
description of forcing-house, provided air, light, and
water enough can be given. On hanging shelves in
a peach-house or vinery they do well, so as they are
kept as near the glass as possible, and be not placed in
pans, stagnant water being hurtful to the roots.

Strawberry plants which have been forced are often
consigned to the rubbish heap, but by bestowing a
little care on them they may be made doubly ser-
viceable. It should be'considered that the primary
bud of the crown has only yielded fruit, and the
secondaries being at the same time advanced, they
therefore only require to be turned out of the pots
into good soil, in a north or cast aspect, where they
will make new roots, and give a small crop of fruit in
the autumn. This crop, indeed, is neither so large
nor so finely flavoured as the summer fruit, but they
give variety to the dessert, and are always useful to
the confectioner.

An autumn crop of strawberries may be obtained
byavery simple expedient ; viz. by divesting the plants
of all their first flowers, which will cause those of the
side branches to be soon afterwards developed, and
which will give their fruit in the autumn. This will,
however, be at the expense of the next year's crop.

The most esteemed sorts of strawberries are the
following, viz. : —

The Alpine red and white are both of weakly
growth, and yield fruit from well-established plants
from the end'of June till November. A light chalky
soil suits them best ; and as they succeed the earlier
sorts, they are usually planted on north borders, in
order to prolong their fruiting season.

The Virz'nurtn, or scarlet pine, is universally cul-
tivated ; it affects a strong and rather lioh loam ; i*

534

FRANKENIA-FRATERCULA.

an early sort, and forces well. It requires an open
airy s-it nation.

The liosebcrry is a variety of the preceding : very
fruitful, and grows to a large size. This also requires
rich loam and an open situation.

The Chili bears a large and well-flavoured fruit, but
without much colour. It grows strong, and requires
ample space and good ground.

The Keen's seedling bears a large showy fruit, and
is much esteemed in the market as well as at table.

The Pine is a new variety, and much cultivated in
the neighbourhood of London. It requires to be
planted singly in very open order. A loamy soil
and open exposure is most suitable to both this and
the Imperial, a kindred variety also much esteemed.

The Hautbois is an old sort, valued for its high and
peculiar musky flavour, and when well grown is cer-
tainly one of the best. There is a peculiarity in the
flowers of this sort unlike its congeners ; some of the
plants being destitute of female organs — of course
barren. These barren plants, however, are not with-
out their use, for it is found, if duly interspersed with
the others which are defective in their stamens, good
and plentiful crops will be obtained. In making a
new plantation of the hautbois, both the male and
female plants should be carefully mixed in the rows
to insure success. Air and light are particularly
necessary to this sort ; and if the flowers and trusses
of fruit be tied up to little stakes, so that they may
be above the leaves, matures them perfectly.

There are several other new varieties of strawberries
lately brought into cultivation ; such as Kny vett's New
Pine, Grove End Scarlet, Downtous, &c., all requiring
similar management.

Soon as strawberries begin to be scented, they are
eagerly preyed on by snails and slugs, to the depre-
dations of which their position near the ground and
dense covert of foliage subject the fruit. To prevent
these animals harbouring about the plants, the beds
or rows should be two or three times, during the
months of March and April, well watered with lime
water. This will, probably, either kill or banish them
before the fruiting season.

FRANKENIA (Linnaeus). A genus of creeping
perennials found in different parts of the world, two
of them being British. One is called sea heath, and
belongs to the sixth class of Linnaeus, and the natural
order to which they give, a title is described beneath.

FRANKENIACE^E. A natural order, containing
only a few genera and species, chiefly hardy herbs,

F. pulverulenta.

nearly allied to Caryophyllcce, from which it is dis-
tinguished by the fruit not having a central separate
placenta, but bearing the seeds on the inner margin

of the valve*. They are plants of no beauty, and
have no known medicinal qualities.

F 11 ATE RCU LA — Puffin. A genus of web-footed
birds, belonging to Cuvier's division of Brachypteres,
or short-winged birds ; and generally, though impro-
perly, included in the genus Alca, the penguin ; but
the characters are sufficiently different for warranting
the separation of this species from the others.

The following are the generic characters : bill
shorter than the head, deeper than long, and much
compressed ; both mandibles arched, transversely
channelled, and notched towards the tip, the upper
sharp-ridged and elevated above the level of the
skull ; the nostrils lateral, marginal, linear, naked,
almost wholly concealed by a large naked membrane ;
legs short, placed far behind, furnished only with
three toes, all directed forwards and webbed, claws
much hooked ; wings short.

In their general habit they bear some resemblance
both to the guillemots and the penguins ; but they
are less addicted to flying than the former, and, gene-
rally speaking, better winged than the latter, with
the exception perhaps of the common auk or razor-
bill. They, however, skirn along the surface of the
sea with considerable swiftness ; bnt they are bad
walkers, and not found inland, though of course they,
like other birds of the same class, resort to the shores
in the breeding time.

They are all inhabitants of the colder seas of the
northern hemisphere ; there being at least three spe-
cies, one more common on the north of the Atlantic,
another on the north of the Pacific, and a third on
the shore intermediate between the two oceans, at
least in the American part.

COMMON PUFFIN (F. arctica). This species is
well known upon many parts of the British coasts ;
and its singular appearance and loud screaming cry
have got it an endless number of local names, to
which, in the case of this bird, it is necessary to pay
some attention, although it is so constant to its type
that when it is fairly seen there is no chance of mis-
taking it. The following are the characters: the bill
compressed, two-edged, upper mandible with three
grooves, the under with two, orbits and temples
white, upper eyelids daggered or furnished with a
pointed callus. The mature male and female, both
in their winter and summer dress, have the crowri
of the head, all the upper parts, and a broad col-
lar, deep and glossy black ; the quill-feathers dusky
brown ; the breast, belly, and lower parts, pure
white. Length about twelve inches and a half,
extent of wing twenty-one inches, weight about
twelve ounces. The bill, which imparts such an
appearance of novelty to this bird, varies considerably
according to its age ; for in the first year it is small,
weak, destitute of any furrow, and dusky ; in the
second year it is larger, stronger, of a paler colour,
and discovers a faint vestige of a furrow near the
base ; but in the third and more advanced years it
exhibits great strength and vivid colours. The whole
plumage is remarkable for its closeness ; and the bird
is very compact in its form ; and when it sits on the
point of a rock, just above the surface of the water,
with its head in the position which heralds call " re-
gardant," it makes rather a handsome appearance, as
may be seen in the representation beneath. It does
not appear that these birds, notwithstanding the great
power of their bills, prey upon large fishes, though in
all probability they consume vast numbers of the

F R A T E R C U L A.

535

small fry, because they are observed to be very active
in those turbulent states of the water near the shore,
in which the fry lose command of themselves, and
are easily captured. Their principal food, however,
seems to be the smaller Crustacea and shelled rnollusca,
and the great strength of their bill enables them rea-
dily to bruise the former, and break the shells of the
latter. In respect of their feeding, they probably
form one extreme of the diving birds, being less offi-
cious than any of the others, but having the bill better
adapted to act as a bruising instrument than any other
sea birds whatever. They use the b'd1, and that very
powerfully, in their own defence ; but except in the
breaking up of that small food on which they subsist, it
does not appear that they use it for any purpose of attack.

Common Puffin.

Puffins are abundantly found in all the northern
seas of Europe, Asia, and America, and there are
many of them, during the summer at least, on the
shores of Spitzbergen ; but of course they retire from
those northern haunts during the winter; and indeed
at this season they quit the neighbourhood of their
nesting places, and become discursive over the sea,
as is the case with all those aquatic birds which resort
in great numbers to particular spots of the coast during
the breeding season. In their southern progress they
have been found about Belleisle, in the Gulf of Gas-
cony. As they take flight with great difficulty, they
are sometimes run down by boats, or driven ashore,
when suddenly caught in a gust of wind ; but they
can fly very well when they get on the wing. They
appear in many parts of our rocky coasts about the
middle of April, and commence breeding towards the
middle of May. On the Dover cliffs, and other such
places, they deposit their single white egg in the
holes and crevices ; but in other situations they bur-
row like rabbits if the soil is light, or more frequently
take possession of a rabbit's hole, and lay their egg
some feet under ground. On St. Margaret's island,
oft' St. David's, the fishermen put their hands into the
holes, and the puffins seize them so obstinately, that
they allow themselves to be drawn out. The Orca-
dians drag them out with a stick, to the end of which
is attached an iron hook. The flesh of the old bird
is both rank and fishy, but the young ones, which are
seized before they are quite fledged, when pickled
and preserved with spices, are much relished by
some, and are allowed to be eaten in Roman Catholic
countries during Lent. In some places they are taken
with ferrets. The males, as well as females, perform
the office of sitting, relieving each other when they
go to feed. The young are hatched in the beginning

of July, and the re -migration of the species takes place
about the middle of August, when none remain behind,
except the unfledged young of the latter hatches. In
one part of Akaroe, a small island oft' Iceland, puffins
breed in vast numbers, forming holes in the mould
three or four feet beneath the surface.

In the Faroe islands puffins are also very numer-
ous ; and the young, and indeed the old birds, are
eagerly sought after as articles of food ; in the cap-
ture of these birds, and the other nestlers in the rocks,
the Faroese undergo the greatest hardships, and ex-
pose themselves to the most imminent dangers. The
following account of their labours in this way, chiefly
drawn up by Sir George Mackenzie, who visited
these islands in 1812, cannot fail to be read with
interest. " The fowlers," says Sir George, ".are pro-
vided with long poles, to the ends of which are fas-
tened small rope nets. With this instrument they
generally display great dexterity in casting it over
the birds, which invariably make towards the water
when disturbed. It is this anxiety of the birds to
seek the element in which tLeir security is to be
found, which gives certainty to the exertions of the
fowler. The birds push their heads through the
meshes of the net, which, being dexterously inverted,
keeps them suspended by the neck. When a fowling
expedition is undertaken, two men fasten themselves
to a rope, so that there may be eight or ten fathoms
of it between them. One assists the other to ascend
the rope by means of a pole, at the end of which is a
hook, which is fastened to the band of the climber's
breeches, or to a rope tied round his waist, and thus
he is pushed up ; but the most common method is for
the climber to seat himself on a board fastened to the
end of the pole. They often ascend frightful clift's
without any assistance. When the first has got to a
place where he has some footing, he helps the other
up by means of the rope to which they are both fast-
ened. When they have gained the elevation where
the birds are pretty numerous, they assist each other
from cliff to cliff. It sometimes happens that one of
them falls and 'pulls the other after him, when both
are precipitated into the sea, or dashed to pieces on
the projecting rocks. When the rocks are so high
and smooth as to render it impossible for the fowlers
to ascend, they are let down by means of a strong
rope from above. To prevent the rope from being
cut, a piece of wood is placed at the verge of the
precipice. By means of a small line the fowler makes
signals to those above,- and they let him down or pull
him up accordingly. When he reaches a shelf of the
rock where the birds have their nests, he unties him-
self, and proceeds to take them. Sometimes he places
himself on a projecting rock, and, using his net with
great adroitness, he catches the birds as they fly past
him, and this they call veining. This mode of catch-
ing birds is even practised while the fowlers are sus-
pended. When a projection of the rock is between
the fowler and the place where the birds are, he
swings himself from the rock so far that he turns
round the projection. In this, great address and
courage are requisite, as well as in swinging under a
projection into a cavern. When he cannot with the
help of his pole swing far enough, he lets down a
line to people stationed in a boat below, who swing
him by means of it as far as is necessary to enable
him to gain a safe place to stand upon. Besides
being exposed to the risk of the rope breaking, the
fowler is frequently in danger of being crushed by

F R A X I N E L L A — F R 1 N G I L L 1 D JE.

5M

pieces of the rock falling down upon him.''
of the common puffin are also held in considerable
repute as articles of food ; but as there is only one in
the nest hole, as that hole is deep, and as after the
egg is dropt one of the birds is usually there, prepared
to seize whatever is intruded, the plunderer of a puf-
fin's nest requires either hard fingers or a thick glove.
With either of these, however, the bird may be easily
drawn out.

THE CRESTED PUFFIN (F. cirrata) has the upper
part of a bluish black, and the under dull brown ; the
front, the sides of the head, the chin, and part of the
coverts, pure white. There are tufts of long thread-
like feathers which rise over the eyes, and dividing
into two parts, bend over the sides of the neck.
These feathers are white ;it their bases, but yellowish
at their points. There are three furrows in the- bill ;
and a cartilaginous cere at the base of the bill, form- '
ing a sort of rosette at each angle of the gape ; the
tarsi and toes are bright orange-yellow, the webs of
the feet red, and the claws black. These are the
characters of the male bird ; and the length of that
species is about nineteen inches. The female is
rather less, has a smaller crest, and has only two fur-
rows in the bill, but in othae respects the sexes are
pretty similar.

This species is chiefly found in the sea of Kamts-
chatka, both on the American and the Siberian side,
and also on the shores of the Aleutian islands ; but
it is probable that, like their congeners of the Atlantic,
they migrate southward during the winter. Their
bills are even more powerful than those of the others,
but their food is nearly the same, being chiefly crus-
taceous animals and shelled mollusca. They are
exclusively -day feeders, and though, like the former,
they are sometimes found sitting on rocks watching
for their prey, they seldom come to land, except during
the night. They lodge in holes of the rocks, or in
burrows which they themselves excavate in the dry
banks, which are generally between three and four
feet deep, and no wider at the entrance than will just
admit one of the birds, but farther in it is wider.
One egg only is produced at a brood, which is rather
larger than that of a common duck. This species
and the former are not found in the same seas; and
though their manners are very similar, they appear
to be properly entitled to rank as distinct species.

NOHTHERN PUFFIN (F. glaciatis}. This species
inhabits more northerly than any of the others, and
has not been observed except in the Polar Sea, or
even there, but on the north coast of America.
Among the dreary islands in that region it is, how-
ever, one of the most northerly birds. The upper
part of it is black, with a collar nearly as large as that
of the common puffin ; the cheeks and sides of the
head are greyish white ; the quills brown ; the under
part white ; the upper mandible of the bill very much
elevated, and with three furrows ; the inferior mandi-
bles strongly arched ; the feet orange-yellow ; webs
red ; and the claws black. The length is nearly the
same as that of the common species, being about a
foot or thirteen inches. The probability is that its
manners differ but little from the one with which we
are familiar on the shores of this country ; but there
is not much known respecting it.

FRAXINELLA. Is the Dictamnm frax-inclla of
Persoon, an ornamental herbaceous perennial, a native
of Germany, a border plant in flower gardens, and
is easily propagated by seeds.

FRAXINUS (Linnaeus). A genus of hardy de-
ciduous trees, natives of Europe and North America.
They are polygamous, and belong to the natural
order Oleinae. Generic character : calyx four-parted
or none ; corolla of four petals four-parted or none ;
stamens short, anthers oval, two-celled, bursting out-
wardly ; stigma nearly sitting, bifid ; fruit two-celled,
compressed, winged at top. For an account of the
mode of cultivation, see Asn.

FRINGE TREE is the Ch'tonnnthus rirghrica of
Linnaeus. A deciduous flowering shrub or tree, a native
of North America. The flowers are elegant, and the
plant has always a place in ornamental plantations.

FRINGILLID^E— the Finch family. A very
numerous and interesting group of small birds, in some
or other of its many species, inhabiting all parts of the
globe, and constituting the tribe or sub-order Coniros-
tres of Cuvier. They are all seed-eating birds, some,
however, being much more exclusively so than others,
whose grand office in the economy of nature is to
assist, and that in no small degree, in keeping down
the excess of certain forms of vegetation, subsisting
on the germs of life, so copiously and abundantly
distributed by various plants, chiefly of the composite
and cruciform races, the extreme and exuberant
fertility of which would otherwise enable them to
usurp dominion over every other, and so monopolise
the soil as to render it unfit for cultivation. The
adaptation, however, as in all other similar cases, is
of course mutual, and the apparent superfluity of
seeds which are annually produced thus enables
thousands and millions of beings to enjoy existence — to
enliven and diversify the face of nature with moving
life, and to cheer the still monotony of vegetable
beauty by their lively and inspiriting song's of joy
and happiness. They, in their turn, furnish food to
other races ; and there are several of the smaller
birds of prey which draw their chief subsistence
from the various tribes, which, together, constitute
the comprehensive and very natural family of which
we have now to enter upon a description.

The general character, or that which is the most
typical of the group, is to have a sharply-pointed,
conical, and, in most cases, a strongly-formed bill, the
upper mandible of which advances a little upon the
line of the forehead ; the tomia, or cutting edges of
the mandibles, are always more or less bent inward,
those of the under one more particularly ; and the
' bill is endowed with great power of compression, the
mandibles having a separate motion, and the under one
having besides, a considerable lateral movement, by
means of all which, and with the assistance of the
tongue, the birds are enabled to crack with facility
the husks of very hard seeds, and to shell them,
rejecting the envelope while the kernel remains in the
mouth ; the feet have three toes before, and one
behind, all of which are entire, and separate to their
full extent, and they are adapted cither for perching,
or for progressive movement ; upon the ground, this
movement is, in most of the species, performed by hop-
ping, though some of them can move forward only by
alternate steps, while a few advance alike by either
method ; these latter, however, have neither move-
ment in such perfection as those which are confined
to one only.

As a group, the plumage may be described as
being generally of a firmer texture than in the in-
sectivorous races, their colours and markings being
more decided, and the male is in almost every

F R I N G I L L

537

instance clad in a much brig-liter livery than the hen
bird, the difference being most conspicuous in sum-
mer, as at the autumnal renovation of plumage the
new feathers are each fringed with a dusky edging1,
which gradually wears away from the bird in the en-
suing season.

The species are, however, so very numerous, that
it is difficult to mention any general character which
will apply alike to the whole group, which therefore
can be satisfactorily described only in its subordinate
divisions separately. There are five or six leading
modifications in the form of the bill, some of which
are accompanied with very slight differences in the
other general characters. The family may l»e said to
commence with the Tanagrince, or Tanagers, a divi-
sion pertainins: exclusively to the American continent,
and comprising several genera and a considerable
number of species, most ot' which are adorned with
splendid, some with most gaudy, colours, and which
are by far the most insectivorous of the finch family,
subsisting chiefly upon beetles, grasshoppers, and the
other larger insect tribes ; but they shell grain with
the same facility as the other Frin«illidcE. In this divi-
sion, as might be expected, we find many traces of
the JDeiilirosfral character (see article BIRD) ; and
indeed there is a regular and unbroken series of forms
connecting these birds with certain of the cotinga
family (Ampelidee), a group belonging to the Drnti-
rostrcH, and the great majority of members of which
inhabit the same countries, and display equally rich
arid showy plumage with the Tanagrhxe. In one
genus of the latter, Pyreya of authors, the Dent/rostral
icter is indeed pretty well made out ; but this
•rill be more conveniently described in
in a separate article, TANAGEII.

Painted Nonpareil.

Immediately following these, and connecting them

with the more typical finches, we have the genus

S/tizfi, of C. L. Bonaparte, also inhabiting the new

world, and containing birds of very bright and showy

plumage. Its characters are intermediate between

of the Tanagers and more typical finches, and,

like the former, they would appear, from Wilson's

liption of his "painted beauties" (or, to give it

a more definite name, painted nonpareil. Spi'«.a m«),

to be very insectivorous. This gaudy little bird is
often imported into this country, and live specimens
of it may be procured at several of the London shops
in which foreign birds are kept for sale. It is about
the size of a goldfinch ; the head, and upper part
and sides of the neck, are bright purplish blue ; eye-
lid, chin, and all the under parts, vermilion ; back
and scapulars glossy yellow, stained with rich green,
in the older individuals with red ; lesser wing-coverts
purple ; larger green ; wings dusky red, sometimes
edged with green ; rump and tail-coverts bright red ;
tail, which is slightly forked, sometimes of a purplish
brown, sometimes green ; legs and feet leaden grey ;
bill black above and bluish below ; irides brown.
Such are the brilliant tints of one of the commonest
birds of the more southern of the United States of
America.

These birds are caught in great numbers by the
American bird-catchers, and kept in confinement on
account of their beauty. The mode of catching them
is somewhat curious, as described by Audubon : —
" A male bird, in full plumage, is shot, and stuffed in
a defensive attitude, and perched among some grass-
seed, rice, or other food, on the same platform as the
trap-cage. This is taken to the fields, or near the
orangeries, and placed in so open a situation that it
would be difficult for a living bird of any species to
fly over it without observing it. The trap is set. A
male painted finch passes, perceives it, and dives
towards the stuffed bird, brings down the trap, and is
made prisoner. In this manner thousands of these
birds are caught every spring ; and so pertinacious
are they in their attacks, that, even when the trap has
closed upon them, they continue pecking at the
feathers of the supposed rival."

This species is described by Wilson to be one of
the most numerous of the little summer birds of
Lower Louisiana, where it is universally known
among the French inhabitants, and called by them le
Papc, and by the Americans the Nonpareil. " Its gay
dress and docility of manners," he says, " have pro-
cured it many admirers, for these qualities are strongly
attractive, and carry their own recommendation along
with them. The low countries of the southern states,
in the vicinity of the sea, and along the borders of
our large rivers, particularly among the rice planta-
tions, are the favourite haunts of this elegant little
bird."

The same naturalist has furnished us with a de-
tailed account of another species, the Indigo Non-
pareil (Spiza cyanea'), another beautiful summer
visitant of the United States. " This is another," he
observes, "of those rich-plumaged tribes that visit us
in spring from the regions of the south. It arrives in
Pennsylvania in the second week in May, and disap-
pears about the middle of September. Notwithstand-
ing the beauty of his plumage, the \ivucity with
which he sings, and the ease wiih which he can be
reared and kept, the Indigo bird is seldom seen
domesticated."

According to Bechstein, the song of this bird
resembles considerably that of our common linnet.

The Iift-uH Nonpareil (S/)iza rtmoiti} is also ;i
splendid species, which appears to be rather rare, and
more limited in its locality than the others. It re-
sembles the Indigo bird in size and habits, and is
found, during the summer months, along the Arkansavv
river, near the base of the Rocky Mountains, where it
is described .to frequent the bushy valleys, keeping

F R I N G I L L I D JE.

generally in the grass, and seldom alighting on trees
or shrubs. The whole head and neck of the male
are brilliant verdigris blue ; the back brownish black,
intermixed with blue ; breast ferruginous, becoming
pale as we descend ; wings variegated with black
and blue, with two white bars across ; bill and feet
horn colour.

Reed Bunting.

Allied to these birds, and connecting them, on the
one hand, with the linnets and other typical finches,
and, on the other, with the pine bullfinches and
crossbills, we have the genus Erythrospiza, containing
a number of species so similar in plumage, as to be
told apart with difficulty, and in which the predomi-
nating colour is red, of various shades of hue and
brightness. They have a very wide range of geo-
graphical distribution, one or two species being found
in Africa ; but the majority of them inhabit the more
northern parts of Europe, Asia and America. We
know little of their habits beyond -the minute and
accurate description which Wilson, the ornithologist
of the United States, has furnished us with concerning
the only species which he enjoyed opportunities of
observing. As described by him, their habits seem
intermediate between those of the common linnet and
bullfinch of this country.

One species abounds in winter in the United States,
Erythrospiza purpurca, described by Wilson, under
the name of purple finch. " This," he observes," is a
winter bird of passage, coming to us in large flocks,
from the north, in September and October ; great
numbers remaining with us in Pennsylvania during
the whole winter, feeding on the seeds of the poplar,
button-wood, juniper, cedar, and on those of many
rank weeds that flourish in rich bottoms, and along the
margin of creeks. When the season is very severe,
they proceed to the south, as far at least as'Georgia,
returning north early in April. They now frequent
the elm trees, feeding on the slender but sweet cover-
ing of the flowers ; and as soon as the cherries put
out their blossoms, feed almost exclusively on the
stamina of the flowers ; afterwards the apple blossoms
are attacked in the same manner, and their depreda-
tions on these continue till they disappear, which is
usually about the tenth or middle of May." Among
the Fringillidce of Europe, many feed very much upon

the unopened blossoms of various plants; the goldfinch
and linnet for example, on those of the furze, but the
common bullfinch (so far as the writer of this has ob-
served), is the only species which attacks and devours
the fruit blossoms, and the depredations which two
or three of these beautiful birds will commit in a gar-
den in the course of a few days, are by no means in-
considerable. In England we have hardly so destruc-
tive a bird in the orchards as the common bullfinch,
and the purple finch appears in America to perform
the same part which this species does with us. " These
birds," Wilson continues," fly at a considerable height
in the air, and their note is a single chink. They
possess great boldness and spirit, and when caught
bite violently, and hang by the bill from your hand,
striking with great fury ; but they are soon reconciled
to confinement, and in a day or two are quite at home.
1 have kept a pair of these birds upwards of nine
months to observe their manners. One was caught
in a trap, the other was winged with a gun ; both are
now as familiar as if brought up from the nest by the
hand, arid seem to prefer hempseed and cherry blos-
soms to all other kinds of food. Both male and i'einale,
though not crested, are almost constantly in the habit
of erecting the feathers of the crown ; they appear to
be of a tyrannical and dorniijeering disposition, for
they nearly killed an indigo bird, and two or three
others that were occasionally placed with them ;
driving them into a corner of the cage, standing on
them, and tearing out their feathers, striking them on
the head, munching their wings, &c., till I was obliged
to interfere ; and even if called to, the aggressor would
only turn up a malicious eye to me for a moment,
and renew his outrage as before. They are a hardy
vigorous bird." The males are all over dark crimson,
deepest on the head and chin, and lightest on the
lower part of the breast ; back streaked with a dusky
colour, and wings and tail dusky black, the latter con-
siderably forked. The female is of a brown olive, or
flaxen colour, streaked with dusky black, and having
also a little whitish about the head and under parts.

" A male," says Wilson, " of one of these birds,
which I kept for some time, changed in the month of
October from red to greenish yellow, but died before
it recovered its former colour." There is something
very obscure in the changes of hue which most finches
exhibit which are tinged more or less with red. Those
of the common linnet, and its more immediate con-
geners, we shall describe presently ; in them the red
invariably disappears entirely after moulting in the
cage, and the approach of the breeding season, though
it excites them to song, and, although they breed very
readily in confinement, never brightens their plu-
mage, in the least degree, as is the case when they are
flying wild. In a state of nature, they push forth dark
brownish-red feathers in autumn, which in spring
change rather suddenly to bright scarlet ; but the
purple finch appears in winter to be clad in a garb of
bright red. so that the fact of Wilson's bird changing
by moulting into " greenish yellow," seems rather to
have been an effect produced by the unnatural state of
confinement ; and it is very probable that it would
never afterwards have assumed its red plumage in the
cage.

A species closely allied to the purple finch, and
which Wilson erroneously supposed to be identical
with it, is the JErytftrospiza roscrt, an inhabitant chiefly
of northern Europe, but which is also found occasion-
ally in arctic America. Its form and plumage, and,

F R I N G I L L I D

539

in all probability, its habits, much resemble those of
that bird ; and T emminck describes it to frequent the
neighbourhood of rivers, particularly in Siberia : in
winter it visits the eastern parts of the south of
Europe, and is now and then observed in Hungary.

The crimson-crowned finch, Erytlirotipiza crythrina,
is another European species, but found chiefly within
the arctic circle, it does not, however, appear that it
has yet been noticed in America, though the follow-
ing species, nearly allied to it, is rather plentiful in
the district of country extending along the base of
the Rocky Mountains.

CRIMSON-NECKED FINCH (E '. frontalis}, has been
figured and described in C. L. Bonaparte's continua-
tion of Wilson's work. This bird is only one remove
from the pine grosbeak, or as it is termed by some
authors the pine bullfinch (Corythus enucleator). It
so resembles the 7£ erythrina, also, that it requires
some acumen to distinguish these apart, at least in the
state of stuffed specimens. There are many circum-
stances, however, which tend to indicate that they are
distinct and separate species. All the birds of this
jrenus so nearly resemble each other, that their speci-
fic differences are still involved in great confusion,
and it is probable they may long continue so, unless
we have some better data for determining these sepa-
rate characters than dry and distorted skins. The
four northern kinds, however, which are here men-
tioned, may be considered as pretty well made out,
as also three or four others, of which, however, no-
thing more is at present known, except the names.

We next come, in a regular series, to the pine
bullfinch of authors, a large species inhabiting both
continents, and much more closely allied to the last
mentioned birds, and to the cross-bills (Lo.n«), than
to the true bullfinches, with which it has generally
been associated. It is, in fact, a true loxia in all re-
spects, excepting the bill, and undergoes the same
very peculiar changes of colour ; the young birds,
which have once moulted, being clad in a much
brighter livery than they ever wear afterwards. Like
the" crossbills, it is an inhabitant of tb^ northern pine
forests, out of which it is hardly ever found ; but as
it has generally been considered as a bullfinch, from
a slight resemblance in the form of the beak.it will be
more convenient to describe it along with the true
bullfinches, in the general article PYKHHULA. The
true bullfinches have the plumage altogether of a dif-
ferent character and texture from this species ; and.
though considered as the type of a division of the
Fringill'ulcE, to which the name Pyrrhulince has been
given, and in which the crossbills and erythrospizse
are usually placed, they do not appear to have any
considerable degree of direct affinity with any of the
others.

The crossbills (loxia) connect the pine bullfinch
with the siskin and redpole linnets, to which they are
much more nearly allied than would be supposed from
a more casual glance at stuffed specimens. Four
species of them are now known, three of which have
been met with in the British islands, one as an occa-
sional visitant, in large flocks, and the other two as
extremely rare and accidental stragglers. They are
very interesting birds, having one of the most singu-
larly constructed bills to be found in the whole
feathered creation, and which, though considered by
some as a deformity, is in reality one of the most
bountiful contrivances, one of the most admirable
adaptations of means to end which occur in the whole

range of animated nature. For a more definite account
however, of these birds, we must refer to the article
LOXIA.

Next follow the siskins and goldfinches, and then
the canaries, all of which, however, having been al-
ready described in the article CARDUELIS, we proceed
at once now to the different

LINNETS (Linaria). The form and plumage of
the common linnet are too well known to require
a description. It is one of the commonest of British
birds, everywhere frequenting open heaths and com-
mons, and breeding in the furzTe and other bushes.
In autumn they associate in large flocks, and traverse
the more cultivated parts of the country, often alight-
ing by thousands where the plough has been at work,
in search of the many seeds of various wild plants
which are everywhere scattered and distributed ;
they are sometimes observed in company with other
species of Fringillidce, but more commonly in flocks,
composed entirely of their own species. They are
cheerful and lively birds, and very sweet and pleasing
songsters, the most musical indeed of all our finches,
excepting, perhaps, the goldfinch, though this is matter
of opinion. Great numbers of them are annually
captured by the bird-catchers, who take them with
clap-nets and call-birds, by which means they are
very readily decoyed and made prisoners.

Linnet.

The nest is generally constructed in a furze bush,
and is formed of moss and stalks of grass neatly inter-
woven with wool, and lined with feathers and hair.
The eggs are four or five in number, of a bluish white,
speckled with purplish red colour. They feed on most
of the smaller seeds which come in their way, as those
of the flax, hemp, dandelion, thistle, &c., and particu-
larly on those of the cruciform plants ; and they eat
also the leaves of groundsel, chickweed, and some
others.

They are strictly granivorons birds, at no period of
their existence subsisting upon insect food, nor will
they touch it in captivity if offered to them. Even
the young are entirely reared upon macerated vege-
table diet ejected from the craws of the old birds, and
the same obtains in the sub-genera Carduelu, Cocco-
thraustcs, and Cannrin ; though in the chaffinch,
sparrow, and bunting tribes, the young are brought
up wholly upon insects ; and even the adult birds of
these latter divisions will feed on insects whenever
they have the opportunity. Authors (in many instances
mere compilers one from" another), have made strange
confusion in describing the common linnet, having
confounded the summer plumage of this bird with the

,40

F R I N G I L L I D JE.

greater red pole ; another, and a very differently
formed species, and which is apparently unknown to
almost every British ornithologist.

The SERIN (Fringilla-scrinus Enrop<zu>i) is a curious
little finch, a native of the central parts of Europe,
and remarkable for its small and very short bill. It
is of a beautiful yellow, variegated a little with a
darker colour. In winter they are found much about
gardens upon the fruit trees, but never along the
streams and rivulets like the redpole and siskin. It is a
pleasing and most indefatigable songster, its notes being
low but very melodious, and somewhat resembling
those of the skylark, iutermixed with a little of the
canary. According to Bechstein, " they sing inces-
santly, either perched on the outer branches of a tree,
or whilst rising in the air, and gently sinking again to
the former situation, or whilst flying from tree to tree.
Their call resembles that of the canary, and their
habits are mostly similar to that species. They feed
on all the small seeds found in fields and orchards,
particularly groundsel, plantain, garden pimpernel,
and others of the same kind. In woods they seem
attached to beech and oak-trees.

" The nest," according to the same author, " is
generally placed on the lower branches of apple and
pear trees, sometimes on beeches and oaks, but never
on willows by the water side. It is constructed of
line and divided roots, mosses, lichens, principally
of those which are farinaceous, the whole being en-
twined with great nicety, and lined with a thick bed
of feathers, horse-hair, and pig's bristles. They ge-
nerally lay three or four, rarely five eggs, which are
white with spots of bright reddish-brown, which form
a zone towards the large end. The hen sits thirteen
or fourteen days, during which time the male feeds
her. He also helps to feed the young ones, which is
done by disgorging the food ; the young closely
resemble those of the common linnet, and maybe
reared easily upon soaked rape-seed. They remain
grey till after moulting, when they attain their full
plumage, but are never so beautiful in the house as
in the wild state. After being kept a few years in
the cage, the yellow on those taken full grown
becomes pale, a'nd fades at length to nearly white.
This bird will pair wiih the canary, siskin, linnet, or
goldfinch." It is not found in Britain.

The most typical of all the finches are, perhaps,
the grosbeaks (sub-genus Coccothraiisfes), in which
the bill is conical, very thick, bulging at the base,
and rapidly tapering to a point, ; each mandible being
nearly of equal thickness. The wings, in the more
typical species, have the tertiary feathers singularly
widened at the tips and abruptly ending, looking as
if their extreme ends had been cut off. They are
some of the largest of the FringilJidce, and by the
power of their mjiFsive horny bill, the larger species are
enabled to break the shells of the harder kind of seeds
and berries, upon which -they principally subsist.
Their colours are soft, handsome, and well contrasted,
without having any tendency to be gaudy, and alto-
gether they form a very well defined group.

^ The green grosbeak (C. chloris) is a very common
bird throughout the greater part of Europe, and is
everywhere abundant in the British islands, frequent-
ing hedges and the outskirts of woods. It is of the
size of, or rather larger than a sparrow, all over of a
dull olive green, brightest upon the rump, throat, and
belly, which incline to yellow, and having the outer
webs of the primary wing feathers briaht yollow ; the

wins1 coverts and tertiaries are in winter broadly mar-
gined with ach colour, which gradually wears off'
towards the breeding season, at which time the green
upon the back, and indeed the whole plumage, be-
comes very much brighter, the terminations of each
feather being shed. The female has the green and
yellow not so bright, and is altogether of a much
browner tint than the male : the young are longi-
tudinally streaked in the manner of the linnet.

This bird is by no means typical of the division of
the FringilMcE to which it appertains, being inter-
mediate between the more standard grosbeaks and
the linnets and canaries ; and is indeed commonly
known in many parts of the country by the name
green linnet. It is also called grecnbird and greenfinch.
It is rather a familiar species than otherwise, coming
much into gardens, and is seldom found but in the
neighbourhood of cultivated ground. Their song
is very simple, but subdued and pleasing, perhaps
more so from its association, and consists of two or
three soft trills, with now and then a very singular
note, which may be expressed by tc-e-c-a-a-nr, pro-
nounced slowly and clearly. In the breeding season
this bird often sings on the wintr, rising from a tree
to a little height in the air, and then fluttering to the
next tree in a very curious shuffling manner, as if
wounded. The nest is placed generally in some
thick hedge, and is composed of moss and wool inter-
woven with a lining of feathers and hair, and con-
siderably resembles that of the common linnet, but is
larger and looser ; the eggs are also much like those
of a linnet, but are rather larger, bluish-white,
speckled (chiefly at the large end), with reddish-
brown ; about four or five in number, the usual com-
plement in this family.

After breeding, and undergoing the autumnal moult,
the green grosbeaks assemble in considerable flocks,
which become very numerous about the commence-
ment of severe weather ; and they commonly associ-
ate with chaffinches and yellow buntings, and some-
times bramblefinches. They subsist upon all sorts of
seeds, and very much upon grain, which Litter is never
touched by any of the birds we have been hitherto de-

Common Bunting.

scribing ; and they appear to feed more upon the given
leaves of groundsel and other plants, than nuy other
of our finches. In confinement when taken young1,
it becomes remarkably tame ; and is often muttered to

F R I N G I L L I D M,

541

fly looso with impunity ; it learns the songs of other
birds vvitli facility, and has been known to repeat the
canary's sonf very tolerably ; one taken old, in the
possession of the writer, which has been kept for two
or three years in the same eage with several other
granivorons bird?, now imitates very accurately the
notes of a bulliinc.h, or of his companions. Tnis
species breeds readily with the canary.

HAW Gii«)sr,i:A!, (Coccothraustes riifaftris) is the
largest, and one of the most beautiful of the European
finches. Its length is about seven inches, of which
the tail measures two inches and a third. The bill
which is extremely powerful, is like a large blunt cone,
very thick in proportion to the sr/e of the body, of a
dark bluish colour in summer, in both sexes, and
pinkish white, or flesh colour, with the tip blackish,
in winter. The forehead, in the male, is yellowish
brown ; cheeks and crown of the head, light chestnut ;
beneath the chin, black, forming a large square spot ;
nape of the neck, a delicate ash grey ; back dark rich
brown, shaded with grey upon the rump : tail-coverts,
light chestnut ; under parts of the body dirty red,
shading into whitish about the vent ; the lesser wing-
coverts are black, the greater brown behind and
whitish before, which forms a pale streak across the
\vings ; quills black, tipped with steel-blue, their
inner webs having a long white spot, secondaries
steel-blue, and terminated with angles so obtuse as to
appear as if the tips had been cut olF; tail black, the
tips of the two centre feathers shaded with grey, and
all the exterior ones are white at the extremity of the
inner web.

Haw Grosbeak.

All over the plumage of this bird is very soft and
silky in its nature, more so than in any other of onr
FringilKdef, not excepting even the goldfinch ; and
it undergoes no seasonal change, as is the ease with
all the others, being equally bright in winter and
summer, and the edges of the feathers being per-
manent.

The female has the general tints of the plumage
rather duller than the cock bird, and the cheeks,
head, and upper tail-coverts are of a greyish chestnut
colour. The young, in their nestling plumage, differ
from adults considerably, the head arid throat having
a strong yellowish tinge ; there is another bar of
whitish across the wing, formed by the lesser coverts,
being also tinged with brownish white ; the rump is
of a brownish cream colour ; from each corner of the
mouth proceeds downwards a row of small black
feathers, which just trace the outline of what in the
old bird is a large black spot ; and the flanks are thickly
dotted with transverse oval brown spots, very similar
to those upon the breast of a hen missel-thrush ; quill
and tail-feathers the same as other adults.

The haw grosbeak is rare in the British islands,
and iu summer is one of the very shyest birds we
ha.ve, which has occasioned several writers to speak
of it as a winter visitant, though at the same time
thi-y were aware of its breeding abundantly in some
parts of France ; so that, contrary to all analogy or
probability, they described it to migrate northward
to spend the winter. It is properly a bird of the
woods, and even forests, but so very shy, that in some
parts of Kent and Surrey, where it is far from being-
very uncommon, it is extremely difficult to get even
a distant view of it, and specimens in summer plumage
are only to be obtained by very tedious and patient
watching. It is entirely a vegetable feeder, subsist-
ing chiefly on the various produce of different tree)?,
as the kernels and seeds of the beech, elm, ash, and
maple ; and in winter of the berries, or rather the
seeds and stones, of the juniper, service tree, and
whitethorn ; it attacks also cherries and plums, the
stones of which, by means of its powerful beak, it
breaks with the greatest ease, to feed upon the en-
closed kernels. The writer has known, also, a brood
of young ones to feed very largely upon green peas.
A \\ounded old one, which he kept for some time in
confinement, rejected almost everything but hempseed,
and invariably refused to feed on haws, the berries
from which the species has been named, which seems
to indicate that they only resort to those in times of
necessity. This bird will become extremejy familiar
in confinement, though it is necessary to guard one-
self from its powerful beak, with which it can intlicta
very severe bite.

The song of the haw grosbeak is very simple and
inward, with but little melody to attract our notice ;
it consists of a low whistling, intermixed with some
harsh tones, and is audible only at a short distance.
The nest is well built, but shallow, formed of sticks and
lichens, and lined with fibres of roots and other soft
materials. This is placed usually on the upper
branches of small trees, and often in the thick top of
a pine or other evergreen. The eggs are from three
to five, greenish grey, spotted with brown, with a few-
streaks of blackish at the larger end. We knew an
instance of one of these nests being taken in the fork
of a tree, near Richmond Park, Surrey ; and another
being placed the following year in the same identical
situation. The species is not rare in that neighbour-
hood, but upon entering a coppice, the very first bird
to take the alarm and flee away is generally the haw
grosbeak. The only chance of shooting one in
summer is the instant they take their flight from a
tree, for they are not to be discovered amid the
thick foliage. In winter they congregate in small
flocks, and frequent the hedges in bad weather,
losing much of their usual wariness.

There is a species closely allied to the haw gros-
beak which inhabits the Indian islands, and another,
a very beautiful one, with black and bright yellow
plumage, termed C. icterina, in the Himmalaya.
North America also possesses one species, and a very
characteristic aoocothrmuta, which is described by
the continuator of Wilson's Ornithology under the
name of

EVENING GROSBEAK (C. vespcrtlna]. It is a
beautiful bird, about eight and a half inches long ;
bill greenish yellow ; forehead bright yellow, pro-
longed in a broad stripe over the eyes ; head black,
shading, as it descends, to olive-brown ; back, rump,
and under parts, yellow, brightest upon the rump,

FRINOILLID^.

and tinged with olive brown upon the belly ; quill
and tail feathers black, the two exterior of the latter
having a large oval black spot ; lesser secondary fea-
thers pure white.

This bird appears to have an extensive range over
the more northern and north-western parts of Ame-
rica. By day they are described " to retire into deep
swamps, which are covered with a thick growth of
various trees of the coniferous order, and only leave
them in small parties at the approach of night. Their
note is strange and peculiar, and it is only in twilight
that they are heard crying in a singular strain. This
mournful sound, uttered at such an unusual hour,
strikes the traveller's ear, but the bird itself is seldom
seen ; though, probably, from its unacquaintance with
man, it is so remarkably tame and fearless, as almost
to suffer itself to be caught with the hand * ". The
sexes are very much alike.

CARDINALS (Guiracce}. The other American birds
allied to the grosbeaks pertain to a separate division,
which is peculiar to the new world, and intermediate
between Coccothraustes and the bullfinches. In these,
the bill is higher than broad, the upper mandible
being larger than the lower, and covering its margins
entirely, as in the bullfinches ; its form is not so
completely angular, but is very slightly curved. Red
is the predominating colour of the plumage, which
in its texture resembles more that of the true bull-
finches ; and the wings are generally short, and the
tail rather long than otherwise. The type of this
division is the

RED CARDINAL (G. Cardinalii), Cardinal Gros-
beak, or Virginian Nightingale, as it is sometimes
called ; a bird, of which caged specimens are often
imported into this country, and sold at a high price.
This species is eight inches in total length, and
eleven in extent of wing ; all the upper parts dull
dusky red, the crest {which is long, pointed, and
credible), and the whole under parts, bright vermi-
lion ; front, cere, and throat, black ; tail extending
three inches beyond the points of the wings ; bill
thick and powerful, and or a bright coral hue ; legs
and feet pale hazel. The female has the crest
shorter, and raises it less frequently, and is also of
smaller size than the male ; all the upper parts are
brownish olive, the tail, wings, and tip of the crest
excepted, which are nearly as red as in the male ;
breast and lower parts reddish drab.

" The beautiful song of this species," observes
Bechstein, " is so like that of the nightingale, that
the name of Virginia Nightingale has been given to
it ; but its voice is so strong, that it pierces the ear.
It sings through the whole year, except at the time
of moulting." They have only, however, a few of
the more powerful and shaking, or thrilling notes, of
that bird, at least, to judge by those we have heard
singing in cages. Wilson says, " to this name, as
Dr. Latham observes, they are fully entitled, from
the clearness and variety of their notes, which, both
in a wild and domestic state, are very various and
musical : many of them resemble the high notes of a
fife, and are nearly as loud. They are in song from
March to September, beginning at the first appear-
ance of dawn, and repeating a favourite stanza or
passage twenty or thirty times successively ; some-
times, with little intermission, for a whole morning
together, which, like a good story too often repeated,

* C. L. Bonaparte.

becomes at length tiresome and insipid. But the
sprightly figure and gaudy plumage of the red bird,"
(as he is commonly called in the United States),
" his vivacity, strength of voice, and actual variety of
note, and the little expense with which he is kept,
will always make him a favourite.

" This species, like the mocking-bird, is more nu-
merous to the east of the great range of the Alle-
ghany Mountains, and inhabits from New England to
Carthagena. Michaux the younger, son to the cele-
brated botanist, informed me, that he found this bird
numerous at the Bermudas. In Pennsylvania and
the northern states, it is rather a scarce species ; but
through the whole lower parts of the southern states,
in the neighbourhood of settlements, I found them
much more numerous ; their clear and lively notes,
in the months of January and February, being, at
that time, almost the only music of the season.
Along the road sides and fences I found them hover-
ing in half dozens together, associated with snow
birds, and various kinds of sparrows. In the northern
states they are migratory ; but in the lower parts of
Pennsylvania they reside during the whole year, fre-
quenting the borders of creeks and rivulets, covered
with holly, laurel, and other evergreens. They love
also to reside in the vicinity of fields of Indian corn,
a grain that constitutes their chief and favourite food.
The seeds of apples, cherries, and of many other
sorts of fruit, are also eaten by them : and they are
accused of destroying bees.

" In the months of March and April, the males
have many violent engagements for their favourite
females. Early in May, in Pennsylvania, they begin
to prepare their nest, which is often fixed in a holly,
cedar, or laurel bush. Outwardly, it is constructed
of small twigs, tops of dry weeds, and slips of vine
bark, and lined with stalks of fine grass. The female
lays four eggs, thickly marked all over with touches
of brownish olive, on a dull white ground ; and they
usually raise two broods in a season.

" The opinion which so generally prevails in Eng-
land, that the music of the groves and woods of
America is far superior to that of Europe, I, who
have a thousand times listened to both, cannot but
admit to be correct. We cannot with fairness draw
a comparison between the depth of the forests in
America, and the cultivated fields of England ; be-
cause it is a well known fact, that singing birds sel-
dom frequent the former in any country. But let the
latter places be compared with the like situations in
the United States, and the superiority of gong, I am
fully persuaded, would justly belong to the western
continent. The few of our song-birds that have
visited England, extort admiration from the best
judges. ' The notes of the cardinal grosbeak,' says
Latham, ' are almost equal to those of the nightin-
gale. Yet these notes, clear and excellent as they are,
are far inferior to those of the wood thrush, or even
to those of the brown thrush, or thrasher (Orphciis
rufus)? Our inimitable mocking bird is also acknow-
ledged by themselves, to be fully equal to the song of
the nightingale, in its whole compass. Yet these are
not one-tenth of the number of our singing birds.
Could these people be transported to the borders of
our woods and settlements in the month of May,
about half an hour before sunrise, such a ravishing
concert would greet their ear as they have no con-
ception of."

Europeans are now perfectly willing to concede

F R I N G 1 L L I D M.

543

that America produces several very fine song birds,
and some which are, perhaps, fully equal to the best
of any other country ; yet still there is some reason
to consider that the above picture is a little overdrawn.
Certain it i«, that persons from this continent are, in
general, much disappointed with the music of the
American groves, at least when they expect to find
it surpass, or even approach to that which enlivens
the woodlands and the fields of Europe. Even the
mocking- bird, unquestionably the prince of American
songsters (as we have heard a sufficiently competent
judge in these matters declare), though his own native
notes would raise him to the very foremost rank of
feathered musicians in any country, for the most part
amuses rather by the correctness of his imitations of
various discordant sounds, than charms the ear by
the harmonious melody of his voice. Wilson himself
never heard the nightingale of Europe, nor, from the
descriptions he had read of it, was he aware that it
sings much more by day than in the night ; and he,
therefore, institutes a comparison, and contrasts for-
cibly the music of the mocking bird, which is heard
above every other in open day, with the voice of the
European Philomel, of which even the bard of Avon
says (and Wilson quotes the passage), that

" —if she could sing: by day

When every goose is cackling, would be thought
No better a musician than the wren." —

But Shakspeare himself here sacrifices minute
accuracy for poetic efi'ect, as all who have lived in
neighbourhoods where nightingales pass the summer
must be well aware of. Those who are familiar with
the European bird, will at once fully recognise the
force of the following passage, quoted from Wilson's
description of the American mocking bird, and applied
to the nightingale of this continent. — " In his native
groves, mounted on the top of a tall bush, or half-
grown tree, in the dawn of dewy morning, while the
woods are already vocal with a multitude of warblers,
his admirable song rises pre-eminent over every com-
petitor. The ear can listen to his music alone, to
which that of all the others is a mere accompaniment."
But we are now wandering much from the proper
subjects of this present article, and the merits of the
so-called Virginia nightingales have, by degrees, led
us to consider those of the "leader of the vernal song"
in Europe.

" The males of the cardinal grosbeak," continues
Wilson, :' when confined together in a cage, fight
violently. On placing a looking-glass before the cage,
the gesticulations of the tenant are truly laughable ;
yet with this he soon becomes so well acquainted,
that, in a short time, he takes no notice whatever of
it ; a pretty good proof that he has discovered the
true cause of the appearance to proceed from himself.
They are hardy birds, easily kept, sing six or eight
mouths in the year, and are most lively in wet weather.
They are generally known by the names, red bird,
Virginia red bird, Virginia nightingale, and crested
red bird, to distinguish them from another beautiful
species, the red py range (Pyranga rubra), one of the
Tanagrmce.

" One peculiarity in the female of this species is,
that she often sin^s nearly as well as the male. I do
not, know whether it be owing to some little jealousy
on this score or not, that the male, when both occupy
the same cage, very often destroys the female." Upon
the whole, there are several traits here recorded of
the red cardinal, which certainly accord very strik-

ingly with the European bullfinch. Their food is the
same, each subsisting much on the seeds of various
berries, and the plumage of both is of the same pecu-
liar soft texture, unlike that of most other FringUfidce.
The female bullfinch sings quite as well as the male,
and as to quarrelsomeness in confinement, we have
known a female bullfinch to attack and destroy another
which was placed for a few minutes only in its cage.

ROSE-BREASTED CARDINAL (G. rosca), by some
writers styled G. Ludoviciana, although so far from
being common in Louisiana, as the latter name would
imply, neither Wilson nor his coritinuator, C. L. Bona-
parte, were able to furnish any instance of its occur-
ring in that territory. Not but that it may occasion-
ally be found there, as the common waxwing some-
times straggles into Bohemia, but it certainly has no
more claim to the specific title Ltidoriciana, than the
waxwing has to its common designation of Bohemian.
If names are to have any meaning at all, surely they
are not to convey erroneous impressions ; and it is
time, now that all such misleading appellations were
expunged from our catalogues of objects of natural
history, or, at least, that they were retailed only as
synonymous till more appropriate designations had
come into' general use. The rose cardinal appears
to be a more northern species than the last, but in
winter has been observed in Mexico. Wilson says,
" this elegant species is rarely found in the lower parts
of Pennsylvania, in the state of New York, and those
of New England ; it is more frequently observed,
particularly in fall, when the berries of the same year
are ripe, on the kernels of which it eagerly feeds. —
Some of its trivial names would import that it is also
an inhabitant of Louisiana, but F have not heard of
its being seen in any of the southern states. A gen-
tleman of Middleton, Connecticut, informs me, that
he kept one of these birds for some considerable time
in a cage, and observed that it frequently sang at
night, and all night ; that its notes were extremely
clear and mellow, and the sweetest of any bird with
which he was acquainted."

" Its recent discovery in Mexico," observes Bona-
parte, "is an interesting fact, and we may safely con-
clude that this bird migrates extensively according to
season, spending the summer in the north, or in the
mountains, and breeding there, and in winter retiring
southward, or descending into the plains ; being, how-
ever, by no means common in any known district, or
at any season, though, perhaps, more frequent on the
borders of Lake Ontario. Its favourite abode is large
forests, where it afreets the densest and most gloomy
retreats. The nest is placed among the thick foliage
of trees, and is constructed of twigs outside.and lined
with fine grasses within ; the female lays four or five
white eggs, spotted with brown. This may also be
called an ' evening grosbeak,' for it sings during the
solemn stillness of night, uttering a clear, mellow, and
harmonious note."

| This species is eight inches and a half long, and
thirteen in extent. The whole upper parts are black,
with the exception of the white stripes across the
wing ; neck, throat, and upper part of the breast,
black ; lower part of the breast, middle of the belly,
j and lining of the wings, of a fine lively carmine or rose
colour ; tail forked, black, with the three outer feathers
white at the tips of their inner vane? ; bill pure white ;
legs and feet light blue. These colours are not fully
acquired until the second year. The female is rather
smaller, with the bill horn colour, instead of white ;

544

FRINGlLLIDiE.

the upper parts are of an olive brown, spotted with a
darker colour ; lines over and Bunder the eye, and all
the under parts whitish, with a dark spot along the
centre of each feather ; tail brown, and not so
broadly marked with white. The male, in his first
plumage, much resembles the adult female.

The BLUE CARDINAL (G. ctzrulea'), is another
species mentioned in Wilson's work. All the upper
ports are of a rich purplish blue, but duller on the back,
where it is streaked with a dusky colour; wings black,
marked with chestnut colour and blue; tail black and
forked, slightly edged with bluish, and sometimes
minutely tipped with white ; bill of a dusky bluish
horn colour ; legs and feet lead colour.

According to Wilson, " this solitary and retired
species inhabits the warmer parts of America, from
Guiana, and probably farther south to Virginia. Mr.
Bartram saw it during a summer's residence near
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In the United States, how-
ever, it is a scarce species, and having but few notes
is rarely observed. Their most common call is a
loud chuck; and they have also at times a few low
sweet-toned notes. They are sometimes kept in
cages in Carolina ; but seldom sing in confinement."
Of a live individual he received from South Carolina,
he observes, " during its stay with me, I fed it on
Indian corn, which it seemed to prefer, easily break-
ing with its powerful bill the hardest grain. They
also feed on hempseed, millet, and the kernels of
several kinds of berries. They are timid birds, watch-
ful, silent, and active, and generally neat in their
plumage. Having never yet met with the nest, I am
unable at present to describe it."

There are several other species of this genus inha-
biting South America, though as nothing peculiar has
been related of their habits, it will be hardly worth
while here to transcribe their names, or to give a de-
tailed account of their markings. They are for the
most part birds of gaudy, or at least showy plumage,
and shy and retiring in their habit? ; generally pass-
able songsters, and subsisting chiefly on the seeds en-
closed in berries, and the kernels of the smaller stone
fruits. One species, however, we may just notice, as
as it may often be seen in cages in the London bird
shops.

The RED-HEADED CAKDINAL (G. erylhroccphala},
or, as it is often called, Paradise Grosbeak, is a Bra-
zilian bird, all over of an ash-colour, except the
head (which is adorned w ith a pointed crest,) and the
throat, which are bright crimson. It sings through-
out the whole year, but with so weak a voice that the
slightest noise overpowers it.

The next group we shall notice are the chaffinches,
birds to which the generic name Fringilla has by
some been more particularly restricted, not, however,
as we should say, -very judiciously. As a group, the
Fringil&da are especially distinguished as seed-eating
birds, and many of its forms, as the siskins, linnets,
canaries, and true grosbeaks (Coccothraustes}, are ex-
clusively vegetable feeders, at no period of their
existence touching animal food in any shape what-
ever, even the nestlings being fed entirely with
vegetable diet ejected from the craws of the old birds.
But this is not the case with the chaffinches, for the
adult chaffinch and bramblefinch of this country
(the types of the division) subsist much on insects of
various kinds, and their young are always brought
up wholly upon insects. This is in some degree
indicated by their structure ; for it will be found,

that those birds which live wholly upon grain require
a craw, or considerable dilatation of the gullet, which
forms a receptacle in which the food may macerate
and soften for some time before it is taken into the
stomach ; and where this occurs the stomach or gizzard
will generally be found smaller and less muscular
than in species where the craw is wanting, or compa-
ratively small, as will be observed bv comparing the
craw and gizzard of a common chaffinch with those
of the equally common green gr&sbeak. In the
chaffinch the craw is but very small, and in the
bramblefinch it is hardly observable, while the
stomachs of both these species are larger than in
those birds which live wholly upon grain. The
absence of a craw, we believe, in any small bird,
indicates the species to be partly, if not wholly
insectivorous, and we find nothing of the kind in the
Corvidce, or crow family, in the starling family,
Sturnidce, or even in the larks, all of which are partly
granivorous birds, though subsisting more upon animal
food ; and the whole of them being arranged by
Cuvier, together with the finches, in his tribe or sub-
order Conirostres, though they would certainly range
much more naturally as a separate and equivalent
division, which by some has been indicated by the
name Omnivori, signifying " birds which will eat all
that is eatable." There is, however, a more definite
character than the absence of craw, by which these
birds might be separated from the fringillidous races ;
we allude to a peculiarity in the plumification. In
all the Corvidce, the Sturnidce, and the larks, the
young birds shed their whole plumage at the first
moult, including the wing and tail primaries, and a
few weeks after quitting the nest ; but in the Frhigi/-
lidce, as in all the true Dcntirostres, although the fir?l
clothing feathers are in most cases changed even
more early *, the wing and tail primaries are in no
instance that we are aware of shed until the second
general autumnal change of plumage, and this holds
even in species which, as the pipits and wagtails,
moult their clothing-feathers twice in the year, as we
can safely assert from repeated and careful observa-
tion ; so that, curious as it may seem of species
which so much resemble as to be popularly (and even
scientifically by the older naturalists) arranged toge-
ther in a single genus, lark, it is nevertheless a
certain fact, that, while the true larks (Aluuda] change
their wing and tail primaries almost immediately after
leaving the nest, the pipits (or, as they are often
called, titlarks) do not shed theirs until the third
(including the vernal) time that they change their
clothing-feathers. W7e may observe, also, that there
are some species, as the swallow tribes and the
bearded reed bird, which appear to change the tail-
feathers at the first moult, but not the wing primaries.
The latter species is indeed more peculiar in its
characters than any other bird we know, and will
range naturally with no fstnii'y whatever. It is also
the only bird we know of allied to the JJeniirostrrs
which exhibits a craw, from which it differs strikingly
from all the members of that division. To return,
however, to the consideration of this character,
although its absence appears invariably to indicate
that a species is at least partly insectivorous, its
presence does not in all instances prove the reverse ;

« In the blackcap, and some other dentirostral birds, tbe nest-
ling feathers of the breast are changing even before the primaries
have attained their full length.

F R I N G I L L I D IE.

545

for tae sparrows and the buntings, which have large
craws, subsist much, and feed their young wholly,
upon insects. The true position of the chaffinch
genus we consider to be intermediate between the
typical finches and the Spizce, or nonpareils, of the
American continent.

The shape of the bill is, in the chaffinch genus,
conical, longer than deep, straight and pointed, and
having the conical edges entire ; they are of a longer
and more slender form than the grosbeaks, and the
bill is less strong and thick, and less swollen at the
base, than in those birds. Their habits are also less
arboreal, and they obtain their food more upon the
ground, where they sometimes hop about, but more
generally, when feeding, use a peculiar even walking
mode of progression, advancing by quick short steps,
as all must have noticed who have observed a com-
mon chaffinch feeding on the road. The plumage is,
in winter, generally very much fringed with terminal
edgings, insomuch that their colours often appear
different at different seasons of the year ; but, as they
increase in age, they have less and less of these
edgings at every moult, as is indeed the case with all
other birds the feathers of which are thus tipped.

The common chaffinch (FringUla ccslebs of Lin-
naeus) is a handsome and a gay and sprightly bird,
very abundant in most parts of the British islands,
and much too well knowji to require its plumage
being described. It is termed ccelebs, or the bachelor,
from the habit which the females have, in its more
northern localities, of migrating in winter a little to
the southward, while the males continue about their
summer residence all the year. This separation of
the sexes is, however, comparatively very partial in
the British islands, many female chaffinches remaining
throughout the winter, even in the northern parts
of Scotland ; but it is observed, sometimes, in cold
seasons, even in the southern counties of England ;
and indeed, flocks of hen chaffinches, from the
northern parts, may occasionally be seen in the south
of England almost every winter, while the majority
of resident individuals continue solitary. ,

The chaffinch has a simple and pleasing song,
rendered, however, more so by its associations with
early spring, this bird being one of our earliest
songsters, and occasionally treating us with a repeti-
tion of its short stave, even in autumn. There is no
variation in its music, and it consists but of a simple
run of notes, reiterated over and over again, till it
becomes tiresome. Yet this monotonous stave seems
to be admired most unaccountably by our continental
neighbours, with whom the chaffinch is one of the
commonest and most favourite cage-birds, so much
so, that Bechstein, a professed " bird-fancier," devotes
no less than seven pages of his work to a dissertation
on its song, and five or six more to the mode of cap-
turing it, and manner of treating it in confinement.
" To such an extent," he says, " is the passion for
this bird carried in Thuringia, and those which sing
well are sought for with such avidity, that scarcely a
single chaffinch that warbles tolerably can be found
in the province. As soon as one arrives from a
neighbouring county, whose notes appear good, all
the bird-catchers are after it, and do not give up the
pursuit till they have secured the prize."

" This bird," he observes, " is so great a favourite
in Germany, that not a single tone of its voice has
escaped the experienced ears of our bird-fanciers.
They have observed its nicest shades, and are con-

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

tinually endeavouring to improve and perfect it. I
confess I am myself one of its warmest admirers.
I have constantly around me the best songsters of
the species, and, if I liked, could write a good-sized
volume on all the details of its music," &c. And he
does distinguish, by separate names, as many as eight
variations, or simple modifications of its lay.

" In Ruhl," he relates, " a large manufacturing
village in Thuringia, the inhabitants, mostly cutlers
have such a passion for chaffinches, that some have
gone ninety miles from home to take, with bird-lime,
one of these birds, distinguished by its song, and have
given one of their cows for a fine songster ; from which
has arisen a common expression among them, that
such a chaffinch is worth a cow. A common work-
man will give a louis (for (sixteen shillings) for a
chaffinch he admires, and willingly live on bread and
water to gain the money." In England there are
very few indeed who think the chaffinch worth
keeping in a cage.

This species builds a remarkably beautiful nest,
placing it in various situations upon the trees and
bushes, sometimes amid the ivy, encircling their
trunks, at other times in the forks of smaller
branches, and very frequently in old apple-trees, over-
grown with lichens and moss. It is formed of differ-
ent mosses and lichens, closely interwoven with wool,
and warmly lined with feathers and hair, in its out-
ward appearance always accordant with the particular
situation. The eggs are four or five in number, of a
bluish white, tinged more or less with pink, and
marked with streaks and spots of purplish red. It is
widely dispersed, and found in all parts of Europe.

THE MOUNTAIN CHAFFINCH (F. montifringilla of
Linnaeus) we have already described under the name
of BRAMBLE-FINCH. There are other species inhabit-
ing Asia, but perfectly similar, we believe, in their
habits to the common chaffinch. Closely allied to
them are the different snow finches, which are still
less arboreal in habit, and have smaller bills ; their
colours also are more uniform and less brilliant.

THE ALPINE SNOW-FINCH (F. nivalis of Linnaeus)
is a species very common upon the Alps and Pyren-
ees, with plumage chiefly ash colour above, and
whitish beneath, mottled with black and white ; the
bill is of a glossy black. This bird and another allied
to our common hedgechanter, the Accentor alpinus,
inhabits higher up the European mountains than any
other. It is found in winter as far north as the mid-
dle of Germany, where it associates often with the
mountain chaffinch, but is even more insectivorous
than that species. It sings a great deal, though there
is nothing in the quality of its song to recommend it
to particular notice. According to Temminck it
builds its nest upon the rocks, or in their chinks and
crevices, and lays about five eggs of a pale green,
with faint lines and spots of ash colour, intermixed
with a few spots of dark green. Its food consists of
the seeds of the pine and larch, together with various
kinds of insects.

THE AMERICAN SNOW-FINCH (F. hyemales) came
under the observation of the talented ornithologist,
Wilson, and accordingly we are furnished by him
with a detailed and graphic description of its peculiar
manners. " Small and insignificant," he observes, " as
this well known species is, it is by far the most nume-
rous, as well as the most extensively disseminated, of
all the feathered tribes that visit us from the frozen
regions of the north, their migration extending from
M M

546 F R I N G

the arctic circle, and probably beyond it, to the shores
of the Gulf of Mexico, spreading over the whole
breadth of the United States, from the Atlantic ocean
to Louisiana ; how much farther westward I am un-
able to say. About the 20th of October they make
their first appearance in those parts of Pennsylvania
east of the Alleghany mountains. At first they are
most generally seen on the borders of woods, among
the falling and decayed leaves, in loose flocks of thirty
or forty together, always taking to the trees when
disturbed. As the weather sets in colder, they ap-
proach nearer the farm-house and villages ; and on
the appearance of what is usually called falling wea-
ther, assemble in larger flocks, and seem doubly dili-
gent in searching for food. This increased activity
is generally a sure prognostic of a storm. When deep
snows cover the ground they become almost half
domesticated. They collect about the barn, stable,
and other out-houses, spread over the yard, and even
round the steps of the door, not only in the country
and villages, but in the heart of our large cities,
crowding around the threshold early in the morning,
gleaning up the crumbs, appearing very lively and
familiar. They have also recourse at this severe sea-
son, when the face of the earth is shut up from them,
to the seeds of many kinds of weed that still rise
above the snow, in corners of fields, and low shel-
tered situations, along the borders of creeks and
fences, where they associate with several species of
Bparrows. They are at this time easily caught with
almost any kind of trap ; are generally fat, and, it is
said, excellent eating.

" I cannot but consider this bird as the most
numerous of its tribe of any within the United States.
From the northern parts of the district of Maine, to
the Ogeechee river in Georgia, a distance, by the
circuitous route in which I travelled, of more than
1800 miles, I never passed a day, and scarcely a
mile, without seeing numbers of these birds, and
frequently large flocks of many thousands. Other
travellers with whom I conversed, who had come
from Lexington, in Kentucky, through Virginia, also
declared that they found those birds numerous along
the whole road. It should be observed, that the
road sides are their favourite haunts, where many
rank weeds that grow along the fences furnish them
with food, and the road with gravel. In the vicinity
of places where they were most numerous, I observed
the American kestrel (Tinnunculus sparverius), and
several others of his tribe, watching their opportunity,
or hovering cautiously around, making an occasional
sweep among them, and retiring to the bare branches
of some old cypress, to feed on their victim. In the
month of April, when the weather begins to be warm,
they are observed to retreat to the woods, and to
prefer the shaded sides of hills and thickets ; at which
time the males warble out a few very low sweet
notes, and are almost perpetually pursuing and fight-
ing with each other. About the 20th of April, they
take their leave of our humble regions, and retire to
the north, and to the ranges of the Alleghany, to
build their nests, and rear their young. In some of
these ranges, in the interior of Virginia, and north-
ward about the west branches of the Susquehanna,
they breed in great numbers. The nest is fixed on
the ground, or among the grass, sometimes several
being within a small distance of each other. Accord-
ing to the observations of the gentlemen connected
with the Hudson's Bay factory, they arrive there

I L L I D JE.

about the beginning of June, stay a week or two, and
proceed farther north to breed. They return to that
settlement in the autumn, on their way to the south."

The above very interesting account supplies us with
a tolerably precise and definite knowledge of the snow-
finches, as a group, and what little we have been able
to collect concerning the European species accords
exactly with it. They are inhabitants of colder
situations, and live more upon the ground than the
true chaffinch, and do not, like them, nidificate in
trees and bushes ; they serve to connect the chaf-
finches with some of the genera allied to the sparrows,
between which and them there is a gradual concate-
nation of intermediate forms, from the consideration
of which we might proceed, by an unbroken series, to
the buntings and snowflakes, and thence to many
other Fringillidcs. The members of this family are
indeed so numerous, that it would be a hopeless
endeavour to describe them all, and they are so
generally similar in their economy, differing only in
minor characters, which are important only in furnish-
ing means by which they may be naturally arranged,
that the describing many more of the species would
become a very tedious repetition, if it has not been so
in some degree already. An account of the sparrow
races will be found in the article entitled PASSEB,
and the bunting tribes are described under EMBERIZA.

There are, however, a great many tropical species,
many of which are adorned with gaudy plumage, and
which are imported in considerable numbers into this
country ; and, though we are altogether strangers to
the habits of most of them in a state of nature, it may
be as well, before we conclude the article FRINGIL-
•LIDJE, just to mention a few of the more conspicuous
of them, at least of those which are commonly
exposed for sale at the London bird shops.

The Whidahbirds,(genus Videra of some naturalists)
are an African group, the males of which are remark-
able for an astonishing development of plumage in
the breeding season. In winter they resemble the
other sex, and are not very unlike a common linnet ;
but they moult their plumage twice in the year, and
the following is a description of the adult male of the
commonest species, V. paradisea, in his summer garb.

Whidah Finch.

The bill (which is intermediate in character between
those of the finches and buntings) is of a lead colour ;
irides chestnut ; the head, chin, front of the neck, back,
wings, and tail, glossy black ; back of the neck pale
orange ; breast, thighs, and upper part of the belly
white, the lowerpart black ; the two middle tail-feathers

FRITILLARY-FROG.

547

measure fourteen inches, are very broad, and termin-
ate in a long filament ; the two that follow are also
very broad in the middle, but narrower and more
pointed at the end, and also end in a similar long
filament ; the other side feathers arc much shorter,
but the two next to those which are elongated are a
little diverging, and arch over like the tail of a cock,
are glossy, and more brilliant than the others.

This beautiful species, according to Bechstcin, comes
from Angola, and other parts of Africa, and is par-
ticularly common in the kingdom of Whidah, in
Guinea, whence it has derived its name. They are
lively birds, constantly in motion, always waving
their long tails up and down, and often arranging
their feathers, and they are very partial to bathing.
They are healthy birds in confinement, and require
to be kept in a large cage, that their handsome tail
should not be injured. The}7 sing a little, and their
notes though somewhat melancholy are very agreeable .
THE DOMINICAN WHIDAH (F. screna) is a smaller
species than the last, rarer, and with a still longer tail.
It is sold in London at a very high price, and sings
as agreeably as the other. A third species, the shaft-
tailed Whidah (V. fegia) has a tail rather shorter, but
is equally beautiful, and is not less admired than the
two former.

THE AMANDUVAD (Fringil/a amandeva of Linnaeus)
is a beautiful little finch, which is brought to Europe
in great numbers by the vessels trading with India.
It inhabits Bengal, Java, Malacca, and other countries
of tropical Asia, and also Africa, is about four inches
long, of which the tail measures one and a third ; its
bill is short and thick, and of a deep bright red ;
irides also red ; the males are several years before
their colours become fixed, and the plumage attains
its utmost stage of beauty ; the head and under part
of the body are then of a fiery red, the upper part of
a dark grey, but the feathers having a broad red
edge, the latter colour seems to prevail ; in the game
way thy rump appears to bo of a brilliant orange,
though the extreme tips only of the feathers are of
that colour all over ; many of the feathers arc also
terminated with shining white spots, which are
largest upon the wings, and which impart a re-
markably pretty appearance to the bird. The females
are smaller, and not so bright, and from the time the
species takes to arrive at its full beauty, it is rarely
that in a large cage-full of them one can find two that
are exactly alike.

They are remarkably social little birds, and sing
very sweetly, their run of notes resembling exceed-
ingly those of our pleasing vernal songster, the
•willow wren (Sylvia trocJiilus] ; and what is singular
however many may be confined together in the same
cage (and in the London shops we may often see
thirty or forty), they never sing together, but in turns
the rest keeping quite silent to listen to th.e little songs-
ter. They are very active, often bowing and spreadin^
their tails like a fan, are fed upon canary seeds, and mil-
let, and will live from six to ten years in confinement
THE WAXBILL (Loxia astrilda of Linnaeus) is
allied to the last, but has a smaller bill, and exhibits
a considerable degree of affinity with the beardec
reed bird. It is a little larger than the gold crestec
regulus, its length being but four inches and a half
of which the tail feathers measure two ; the bill is
dark red ; a band which crosses the eyes, togethe
\vith the centre of the breast and belly, are red ; the
remainder of the lower parts are grey and the uppe

)rown, being everywhere streaked with soft transverse
lairs, which become finer as they approach the head ;
ail pheasant shaped. The waxbill inhabits the Canary
sLuids, Senegal, Angola, the Cape of Good Hope,
and may be found even as far as India, whence they
are brought in considerable numbers to Europe ; they
are much admired for their gentle and tame disposi-
ion, soft plumage, and elegant shape, and are gene-
rally kept, like the amanduvads, about a dozen
together in one cage. They are fed on millet, which
brms their chief subsistence in their native country,
,o the damage of the fields which are sown with it.
They are said to approach the villages as familiarly
as our sparrows, and are readily caught in traps.
Their song is hardly worthy of notice.

The wild habits of the tropical Fringillida are in
general but very little known, and they require to be
studied, with a view to the generic classification of the
jirds, which as yet has hardly been attempted, nor
an it be accomplished satisfactorily from a mere
txamination of their stuffed skins. It will probably,
nowever, be a long time yet before we understand
much of the peculiar economy of these interesting and
beautifully plumaged tribes.

FRITILLARY is the Fritillaria impcrialis of
Linnams, a large genus of bulbous flowering plants,
chiefl\T introduced into our flower gardens from Persia
and the warmer parts of Europe. They belong to
TulipacecB.

FROG (Rana), a genus of Batrachian reptiles, the
typical genus, and the one from which the name is
taken, Batrachos being the Greek name for a frog.
In the Linnsean system, the genus Rana included not
only the frogs properly so callpd, but the tree frogs
(Hyla\ and the toads (Ba/o) ; and Cuvier, as he has
done in many other instances, has retained the Lin-
mean arrangement for the whole genus, or rather
family, but has divided it into three sub-genera, an-
swering to those which we have mentioned ; agreeably
to that arrangement, we shall notice the three, each
separately under the common English name, and thus
the present article will be restricted to a very short
account of the true frogs.

The general physiology and relations to the other
parts of the animal kingdom will be found treated at
some length in the article BATRACHIA, so that it
will not be necessary to repeat them here, but merely
to give some general hints and short notices of the
leading species, the whole number of which is too
extensive for the space to which we are restricted,
and some of the species are so little known, that
nothing very interesting to common readers can be
said concerning them.

The general characters of frogs are : — The body
thick, and a little compressed, elongated, moist on the
surface, covered on the upper part with a few small
tubercles, and generally granulated on the under
surface.with the exception of that of the thorax which
is smooth. On each side of the back, just above the
loins, some of the species have an angular fold. The
fore feet have four separate toes, or toes without any
webs, the thumb being larger than the others, and in
the males undergoing a peculiar enlargement at the
pairing time. The hind feet are much longer, not
much less than the length of the body ; and they are
five-toed and palmated in all the species. The upper
jaw is furnished with a single row of small and finely
pointed teeth, and there is also a row of similar teeth
across the palate. The tongue is short, thick, aod
M M2

548

FROG.

fleshy, adhering to the sides of the under jaw, but
capable of being elevated against the palate, so as
completely to close the communication with the nos-
trils. It will be perceived that this structure of mouth
is a simple swallowing one ; and that a frog can
neither bite nor masticate. This points immediately
to the kind of food on which it must subsist, namely,
food which it can take into the stomach without any
preparation ; and in the taking of this food, frogs are
of considerable service to man on the land, and not
altogether useless in the water. The different species
of slugs, which are so very destructive in gardens,
and to many culinary and other useful plants, form
one principal article of the food of frogs ; and, there-
fore, frogs are deserving of much encouragement, in
consequence of the value of their labours ; and, while
their labours are thus valuable, they themselves harm
nothing. They do not burrow in the earth, neither
do they eat any vegetable substance so far as is
known ; and, therefore, while they tend to preserve
vegetation in the moist places of the garden, and
indeed ia all places of it on those damp and dewy
nights in which slugs are so mischievous, they are
always worth protecting ; and not only so, but it is
worth while to keep a little pond for their aquatic
amusements, nor, perhaps, is it altogether amiss to
have a bit of stagnant water in some waste place, in
which they may breed ; for, though the nuptial songs
of the frogs are not the most melodious in the world,
there is an association of cheerfulness with their
croaking — their song, such as it is, is a song of hope ;
it tells us that the season of growth and beauty is
coming, and in the case of the common frog, it tells
this very early in the season.

There is another reason why some attention should
be paid to frogs, and that is their value as an article
of food. Both the common frog and the green frog,
which is specially called the esculent one, are fit for
this purpose ; and, though there is a prejudice against
them in Britain, it is an exceedingly ill-grounded and
foolish one. It is even worse than this, because it is
a remnant of that ancient political animosity which
existed so long between England and France ; and
which, unfortunately for both nations, kept the nearest
and most powerful neighbours, whose best interest it
was to be at peace, as they could mutually serve each
other at the least expense, in a state of constant war,
or, at all events, in a panic of mind always prepared
for battle. This part of the prejudice is nearly ex-
ploded ; and it would be just as well to explode the
other part ; and as we do not now hate Frenchmen,
so neither should we loathe frogs. The hind legs
and thighs of the frogs are the only parts which are
eaten ; because they are the only parts which contain
much muscle ; and this muscle is firm, white, well-
flavoured, and exceedingly nourishing. This is, in fact,
the case with the muscle of all esculent reptiles, and
it arises from the quantity of gelatine, of a very pure
description, which exists in all the parts of them.

Frogs have no trace of ribs in their skeletons ; the
sternum is formed at the under part of a cartilaginous
appendage, and it terminates in a disc under the
larynx which is united to the clavicles, while a disc
at the other extremity, immediately in front of the
belly, is attached to the abdominal muscles only. —
The bones of the skull are of a prismatic shape, flat-
tened above, and enlarged posteriorly ; all the bones
of the skull and face are soldered into one piece. —

e head is articulated by two condyles to the ster-

num, so that the head has very little motion on tne
neck. The sacrum is long, pointed, and compressed,
but there is no os coccygis, nor any production bear-
ing the least resemblance to a tail. This is the more
curious, because the young of all the species of frogs
have tails as their only organs of motion ; and one
species — the Surinam frog — has this organ so large in
proportion to that part which is afterwards to be de-
veloped into the perfect frog, that the young was long
considered as a kind of fish.

There is something in the muscles of a frog worthy
of more attention than it has hitherto received. The
principle of animal life in frogs appears to be in a
very extraordinary manner obedient to external cir-
cumstances ; to be much less concentrated upon a
peculiar organisation than that of many other verte-
brated animals ; and to make at least an approach to
some of the modifications of action, which can be
made to take place without the presence of any tiling
which we can call either animal life or organisation.
It was by operating on the muscles of a dead frog,
and finding that they were excited to action by pecu-
liar applications of different metals, that galvanism,
or humid electricity — electricity by chemical de-
composition, was at first discovered ; and though the
muscles of other animals, even the warm-blooded ones,
including those of man among the rest, can be excited
by the same kind of action, yet they cannot be so
strongly excited by so small a degree of it in propor-
tion ; and they do not preserve the capacity of being
excited for solonga period after the death of the animal.

There is another circumstance in the life of animals
of this family, which is also worthy of attending to,
and that is the time that they will live, and the mus-
cular parts — indeed, almost any remaining parts—
perform their functions after other parts are taken
away. Almost any animal can admit of having one
or more of the extremities removed, and still continue
to live ; but any serious abridgment of the internal
parts is in most animals attended by a total suspen-
sion of all motion in the remaining muscles. But a
frog will not only live but leap about after the head
and the greater part of the viscera are removed ; and a
male frog will continue the operation of fecundating
the eggs for a good many hours after his head is cut
off. This, and also the circumstance previously men-
tioned, tend to show that there is some connection
between electric action and the action of life in the
bodies of animals ; and when we bear in mind that the
life of animals is always the more easily destroyed
the more that it is concentrated upon one perfectly
organised system, and the more vigorously that that
system requires to act in order to maintain itself in
the living state ; then, though we cannot see where to
draw it, there is a line of distinction somewhere to be
drawn, between organisation as a congeries of mate-
rial substances, and action as giving what we call life
to those substances ; and that as when we chemically
analyse the bodies of animals, we find them made up
of the common elements of matter ; so when we pro-
ceed to the virtual analysis of this connection between
the organised body, and the action of life in that body,
we feel, though we know not well how to express the
feeling, that as the substance of the body is a particu-
lar modification of that substance which we can with
perfect propriety generalise under the name of matter,
so the life of the body — the merely animal life — is
also a particular modification of that which we can
generalise under the name of action in matter.

FROG

649

This is a very important consideration in more
points of view than one. In the first place it is the
analysis by which we must work out the theory of
production in all organised beings, whether plants or
animals, if ever we are to have any thing like rational
science upon this highly interesting subject. In the
second place it draws, more clearly than could be
drawn by any other means, the line of distinction be-
tween matter and mind, and assigns to each the limits
of its proper province. This is probably the more
important consequence of the two, because even the
ablest and best-intentioned of those philosophers who
have treated, either of the mind of man as immortal,
or of the material creation as demonstrating the being
of God, have not been able fully to disentangle them-
selves from the meshes of materialism.

Frogs are exceedingly numerous ; and in their
productive powers they are more prolific than any
other vertebrated animals, with the exception of fishes.
Three or four hundred is a very ordinary year's pro-
duce from a single pair ; and the number is often as
many as a thousand. This extraordinary power of
multiplication cannot, upon the general principle of
the system of nature, have been given without corre-
sponding uses. In the case of frogs, those uses are
two-fold, extending both to what they eat, and what
eats them. We have already attended to the first of
these, in so far as man is concerned, and also taken
some slight notice of the second to the same extent.

This is not, however, the proper view to take of the
system of nature, if we are to understand that system
aright. We are not to suppose that creation is im-
perfect until man puts his hand to it ; for, though it
has a capacity to be turned to his use to as great an
extent as he can possibly stretch his knowledge, yet
the system is in itself perfect without him ; and wild
nature goes on without the smallest embarrassment
or difficulty in those places which have never been
trodden by a human foot. We must, therefore, seek
for those uses to which the past productiveness of
frog applies, without any particular reference to man
and his operations.

Now the number of small molluscous animals which
the frogs consume,and of which the productive powers
are also very great, and also the numbers of larvae
and other minute beings of the waters which they re-
move both in their tadpole and their mature state,
would be productive of unseemly mischief were it not
for the frogs. On the other hand, the frogs them-
selves supply food for a vast number of other crea-
tures. Birds and fishes eat the eggs while they are
in the waters, at that season when there is hardly
any other supply. The tadpoles have many enemies ;
and the full-grown frogs contribute largely to the sup-
ply of fishes, of more powerful reptiles, and of many
species of those birds which live on the banks of the
rivers. The eggs and tadpoles of frogs are also sub-
ject to various casualties from the seasons. They are
often frozen, at least the eggs are ; but whether this
destroys the principle of life in them, is not so clearly
ascertained. A frog itself can be brought to as low a
temperature nearly as that of freezing, without being
destroyed ; but in the experiments which have been
made, we believe that actual freezing has been in all
cases fatal. A more certain means of destruction is
drought ; for, as both humidity and atmospheric action
are necessary to the quickening of the eggs, they of
course perish if the water in which they have been
deposited dries up. So also if the little pools and

runs of water into which the tadpoles distribute them-
selves are dried up, they, as breathers through water,
must perish. We need not add that, for the keep-
ing down of the excess of that on which they feed,
for the supply of those animals which feed on them,
and for compensating for those chances of destruction,
their great fertility is required. Nor must we deem it
strange, or at all contrary to the beauty of the system
of nature, or the benevolent plan of its Author, that
there should be a provision for those reciprocal opera-
tions of destroying and being destroyed ; for all the
tribes of beings must live upon each other ; and it is
this mutual support that forms the beauty of the sys-
tem, and which enables it, taken as an entire system,
to be self supported, which it could not otherwise be.
At a superficial glance, -we might deem this mutual
destruction ; but really it is the perfection of the sys-
tem, and without it this earth would have required
another earth to victual it, that would have required
a third, and so on without any end to the succession.
— in other words the system of things would have
been absurd and impossible. Human society forms
no exception to this, for the more that the individuals
of that society depend upon one another, the more
abundant and the more secure are their enjoyments,
and the more are they disposed to cultivate all the
kindly charities of life.

We need not describe the appearance of the eggs
or spawn of frogs, as it is familiar to every one who
walks in the fields in the spring months. It is, how-
ever, worth while shortly to advert to the transforma-
tion which these animals undergo. When they come
out of the egg, they consist of an oval head, having
a small mouth with a sort of horny mandibles, and au
elongated tail, which bears some resemblance in shape
to the posterior part of a fish, and has its principal
motions lateral, as is the case with fishes. In this
state they breathe by means of gills, not very unlike
those of fishes, as they consist of little tufts of fibres
fixed to the edges of small cartilaginous arches, and
the water passes through the fibres much in the same
manner as it does through those of fishes. In this
stage of their existence, the cavity of the body ex-
tends some way into the tail ; and the animal really
bears some sort of resemblance to a compound of a
reptile and fish. It was a long time before the real
state of the case was generally known ; and hence
the ridiculous stories of the spontaneous generation
of frogs, and of showers of them falling from the sky,
of which we read in the older authors. But any one
who chooses to observe water in which there are tad-
poles, and they are so abundant that there are few
stagnant pools without them, may see the progress of
the transformation. The hind feet are the first to be
developed ; and they are produced not from the tail,
which contains no part of the perfect frog, but from
the posterior part of the head, which head in the tad-
pole state is both head and body, as respects the ma-
ture frog. After their first appearance these hind feet
grow apace, and during their growth the tail hardly
diminishes ; but by the time that the feet can act in
swimming, it will be found that the tail has changed
both its external action and its internal structure. It
has become thicker laterally, its fin-like margin has
disappeared, and it does not act on the water with
that lively motion which it had in the finless tadpole.
Internally it has lost its muscular texture, and become
a reservoir of a sort of fatty substance, which by some
process that we do not very well understand, furnishes

FROG.

the animal with food during the last stage of its trans-
formation, that is of the final development of the fore
feet, the shortening and change of the intestines, the
development of the lungs, and the absorption of the
gills ; during which changes, at least in the very last
stages of them, the animal can of course neither
breathe nor feed in the water. Thus this curious
accumulation of nourishment in the tail bears some
slight resemblance to that which is provided for the
chicken in the egg ; and the moment that the change
is completed, the tail is absorbed, the gills are gone,
the lungs perfected, and the former tadpole no longer
capable of breathing in that element in which it has
hitherto lived, leaps out of the water a little frog. —
The numbers of them that leave the ponds or streams
on such occasions are very great, so many as that in
particular cases four or five acres of ground have been
observed entirely covered with them. Those migra-
ting myriads are very frequently thinned by birds, or
where serpents abound, by those species which fre-
quent moist places, and the banks of rivers. It is proba-
ble that those migrations may havegiven rise to the old
stories of showers of frogs ; because, whether young or
old, frogs are always most active when the air is humid.
After their transformation, they are no longer
capable of breathing through the medium of water ;
and there is a change in the way in which they re-
ceive the air. While tadpoles they take in the water
and air along with it, by the mouth ; but when they
acquire their perfect form, they do not use the mouth
in breathing, at least in the process of inspiring or
taking in air. They do this through the nostrils ; and
after the cavity of the mouth is filled, they elevate the
tongue first, to close the nostrils, and then gradually
to occupy the cavity, by which means the air is forced
into the cells of the lungs, and when it has performed
its office, then it is expelled, not by the action of a
diaphragm, but by the simple contraction of the ab-
dominal muscles. This is a slow process ; but the
system does not require very powerful action ; and,
when they are sporting in the water, it can be sus-
pended for a limited time.

Frogs in their proper state cannot be considered as
inhabitants of the water, though they all resort there
more or less, but with different degrees of frequency in
the different species. Still they are not found in very
dry situations, but in marshy and boggy places, and on
the margins of lakes and rivers. They resort to the
water for food, which principally consists of aquatic
insects, worms, and the very young fry of fishes; they
also resort there for the purpose of breeding, and, as
it is seen from their gambols in the water, they some-
times resort there for mere amusement.

Frogs, in most of the species at least, are under-
stood to arrive at full maturity in about, five years ;
and to live for about fifteen or twenty ; but the latter
point of course is not very well understood, and from
the enemies to which they are exposed, it is probable
that but few of them live out the full number of their
years, and die of old age. They are susceptible of
some attachment ; and there have been instances in
which frogs h'ave been rendered so tame as to come
when called, and take their food out of the hand of
those with whom they had become familiar. We shall
now very briefly mention a few of the species.

THE COMMON FROG. This species requires little
description. It is by far the most abundant in the
British islands, the most hardy, and the earliest
Breeder They are found in many, indeed in most

countries, but with some variation of size and colour.
Their general colour is a dull brownish red, some-
thing resembling the tint of a withered leaf; with a
black spot on each side of the head, and produced on
the sides of the neck. When their several labours of
pairing are completed, they quit the parts in which
they have deposited their numerous progeny ; and,
during the latter part of the spring and the summer,
they may be seen hopping about in moist and shady
places, especially in moist states of the atmosphere.
When the air is very dry, they resort much to the
waters, it appearing that they do not feel comfortable
if their skins become dry ; while they hide themselves
in the tall aquatic plants, they are very quick and
dexterous in the capture of water-flies, which they
watch with keen eye, and spring upon with certainty.
When the temperature sinks below a certain degree
in the autumn, they all disappear ; and it is under-
stood that they take up their abode in the water, in
that element in which they are first awakened into
life, and in which they spend the first form of their
existence, and undergo their transformations. This,
if not absolutely demonstrated* in all cases, as in the
nature of things it cannot be, is yet very likely, and
very agreeable to the analogy. They neither feed
nor breathe during this period of the year ; and as the
peculiar texture and secretion of their skins protect
them as completely from the action of the water as if
they were fishes, they enjoy a much more uniform
temperature, and, in cold weather, a warmer one than
they would do in holes of the earth. It is not a little
curious that animals which cannot be produced or
come to their ultimate form but in the water, should
resort there in order to bring forward their rggs or
spawn ; and yet this is in accordance with the general
analogy. The young are, for some time after they
come into life, to be fishes in their element, and in the
more important purposes of life ; and, perlnips, one
might naturally expect that the eggs from which those
young are to be produced, should have some resem-
blance in the mode of their maturing to the spawn of
fishes. It has sometimes been said that at the time
when frogs betake themselves to the water for the
purpose of hybernating, their mouths grow together,
by the one lip forming a complete adhesion to the
other. This, however, is not the case, and it is not
necessary. The mouth of a frog is not, as we have ob-
served, used in the breathing of the animal, but serves
merely as a prehensile apparatus in the capture of -
he food ; and when not used for that purpose, it closes
not only water-tight but air-tight. When the animal
ceases to eat, it has no occasion to open the mouth ;
and that of course remains closed. It does not appear
that they feed in the spring before the time of pair-
ing ; and thus they corne out of their hybernating
places, with the spawn or eggs fully matured, and
ready to be excluded and fecundated, nor do they
quit the waters, or eat, or move, until that operation is
iilly performed ; and they are absolved from all
'amily cares, quit the breeding waters, and leap
about until the close of another season shall send
hem anew to their hybernating places, to perform the
same operations. The common frog is the most pro-
lific of all the British species ; and its tadpoles afford
an abundant supply of food to various species of birds
which breed in trie marshes.

THE GREEN or ESCULENT FROG (R. esculenta). —
This is not the only esculent species, for the common
frog is equally palatable and wholesome, though it

FROG.

551

does not contain quite so much muscle on the hind
legs. It is not nearly so abundant in Britain as the
common one. It is of a more handsome form, and
more finely coloured. The muzzle is pointed ; the
posterior part of the body narrow, and the spine at
that part arched. The upper part is green, marked
with three longitudinal lines, the one on the middle of
the back, forming a furrow, and the two lateral ones
elevated ridges or margins. These lines are distinct
and of a yellow colour ; the upper part of the body
is whitish, marked with blackish spots.

This species is far more abundant in France than
in Britain ; and in the vicinity of Paris, and in many
other parts of the country, it is the common frog of
ordinary parlance. It is a very active animal, and as
is indeed the case with all frogs, it swims in the same
way that man does, giving the most powerful stroke
with the hind legs, but keeping stroke with the fore
ones also. It is also an adroit leaper, and will leap
to a very considerable height, and catch a fly or
other winged insect with great accuracy. The very
warm weather is mentioned as the time when it is in
the most active state ; and it can bear the strength of
the sun on the warmest days of summer. It then
takes post among the aquatic herbage on the margins
of the pools and streams, and sits watching for its
prey, with its head immoveable, its legs prepared for
the leap, and its eye intently looking out, and undaz-
zled by the most powerful heat of the sun. When a
fly comes within the range of its powers, which it
appears to be capable of estimating with very great
exactness, it darts with the speed of an arrow, and
very seldom misses its object. Without reference to
the estimation in which it is held by the continental
gourmands, the edible frog is far from being an unin-
teresting reptile ; but as it has no value for the larder
in Britain, it is not studied or appreciated to the ex-
tent which, in a natural history point of view alone,
it seems to deserve.

NATTER-JACK FROG (R. rubcta). This is also a
British species, though understood to be more rare
and local than the esculent frog ; but, for the reason
mentioned in noticing that one, it is probably much
more abundant than is generally supposed. It differs
in its habits from the other two British frogs, being
found chiefly on the heaths and commons which are
comparatively dry, with only occasional pools and
bushes. It is to be found on most commons of this
description south of the Thames, and also in some
parts of the midland counties. It is covered with
small punctured tubercles, which give it something
the appearance of a toad. It is much more broad
and blunt posteriorly than the other frogs, and its
hind legs are shorter, feebler, and much less supplied
with muscle. Its gait is peculiar, not being either
the leaping of a frog or the crawling of a toad, but
something intermediate between the two, a lumbering
and unseemly sort of walk, by which, and by its
tuberculated skin, it is easily known. The colour on
the upper part is yellow, marbled with brown, and
there is a tolerably well-defined yellow line down the
middle of the back. It is an obscure-living reptile,
and not often seen, so that little or nothing is known
of its manners.

Tin: DOTTED FROG (R. punciata) is ash-coloured
on the upper part with small green dots. The feet
are marked by transverse bands, and the toes of the
hind feet are webbed for only part of their length.
It has been obs-erved in the neighbourhood of Paris,

and in some other parts of France, but it is as rare
there, and its manners are as little known, as the
natter-jack in England. The species which have been
seen are very small, not exceeding one inch in length ;
but whether it attains a larger size than this is not
known.

THE PLAITED FROG (R. plicata). This is also a
small species, about the same size as the dotted frog.
It is a native of the warmer parts of France, and pro-
bably of the north of Europe generally. It gets its
trivial name of plaited from having two transversely
oblique plaits or folds upon each plane. Its colours
are, brown on the upper part, and grey on the under.
The toes of its fore-feet are entirely free, and those of
the hind feet are only half webbed. Those semi-
palmated frogs indicate a much less aquatic habit than
those which have the toes completely webbed.

ALPINE FROG (R. Alpina}. So little is known of
the species which has been described under this name,
that it is not very easy to decide whether it be really
a distinct species, or only a coloured variety of the
common frog. This is the more puzzling, that, in the
mountainous parts of this country, the frogs are small
and very dark in the colour. The writer of this
article has often seen them in the Highlands of Scot-
land, but did not at the time examine if they had any
characters specifically different from those of the
common frog. The Alpine frog is described by
Laurenti as being wholly black, and as being found
only in the mountain of Schneeberg, in Austria, a
mountain which is famed for the richness of its
botany.

These are the principal species of European frogs
that have been noticed and described ; but the pro-
bability is, that there are many more species ; for
here, as in the case of the whole class of reptiles,
the information which we possess bears no proportion
whatever to the extent of the subject. In the case
of the extra-European frogs, it is, as might be ex-
pected, still worse. Many species have no doubt
been named, but little is known of them, and our
limits will permit us to mention only a few.

SURINAM FROG, OR JACKIE (7^. paradoxn). In
the tales of describers of animals, this is one of the
most notorious, if not celebrated, of all the foreign
frogs. The trivial name paradoxa is absurdly ap-
plied, and should be discarded, were it not that it is
a memorial of the credulous folly of former naturalists,
and may be a beacon to their successors. There is
no " paradox " about this frog, or indeed about any
animal, for all are equally well adapted to the pur-
poses which they answer in nature, and the paradox
is the sole property of the ignorant describer. Hence
it were advisable that the paradoxes of naturalists
should be treated in the same manner as the para-
doxes of the Vicar of Wakefield. " The world said
nothing at all about my paradoxes," said the simple-
hearted Vicar ; and truly it were wise, that not the
public only, but the naturalists themselves, said
nothing at all about their paradoxes.

The paradox, while it remained one, was this :
Other frogs are tadpoles, which have something of
the fish about them, and these tadpoles turn to frogs ;
but in the case of the Surinam frogs the order of
things was completely reversed. The story was,
that this creature, after having been once a frog,
afterwards turned to a fish ; that the fish was much
larger than the frog, and that it was eaten by the
natives under the name of " Jackie," or the frog-fish.

552

FROG.

By what sort of metamorphosis it first became a frog,
they did not state, and in all probability they never
inquired. They saw the frog, and they saw the fish,
as they considered it to be. The fish was very con-
siderably larger than the frog, and that a large animal
should grow small was the paradox ; and as they
could not go this length in their simple belief, they
believed in something a good deal more paradoxical,
namely, that in this frog the process of nature is
reversed, and that it is frog first, and larva or tadpole
afterwards. Such a reversal of the order of nature
would have been truly marvellous, because there is
nothing analogous to it, throughout the whole system,
in any member of any class of that system which
undergoes transformation, and change of element and
breathing apparatus. Many creatures breathe through
the medium of water when they are in their first or
larva state, and afterwards, when they undergo their
changes, and arrive at their perfect or final form,
the only form under which they are capable of pro-
pagating their species, and which they are to retain
till they die, become breathers of the free atmosphere.
This is the case with all the frogs, and indeed with
all batrachian reptiles ; and the story of a frog turning
into a fish was about as ridiculous as that of the
bernacle shell turning into a wild goose, which was
so gravely believed, that learned men set it down in
print that they had actually seen the process going
on in some duck-pond or other in England, where a
bernacle, which is entirely a production of the sea,
could not by possibility exist. Now, the Surinam
frog is just as guiltless of becoming a fish, as those
curious mollusca, which bear their shells at the end of
long peduncles, which are fastened to a rock, or,in pre-
ference to floating wood, a ship's bottom, or anything
else, are of changing to geese, though the reporters
in both cases stand in some jeopardy of at least a
metaphorical transformation of this kind.

This story, like the former, and many others
equally absurd, passed current in the books down to
about the year 1816, when Mr. W. M. Ireland studied
the frog through its change from the rudimental tad-
pole to the perfect reptile ; and Sir Everard Home
gave some demonstrations, aided no doubt by the
scalpel, the microscope, and the pencil of the highly-
talented and most indefatigable Francis Bauer, of the
internal structure of the tadpole in two different stages
of its growth. The actual observations by Mr. Ireland
might have been enough to set completely at rest a
question upon which rational men could have but one
opinion ; but still, as it is difficult to drive the nail of
conviction into some heads without the hammer of
heavy authority, it was as well that Mr. Ireland's
clear and satisfactory account was fortified by the
demonstrations of Sir Everard. The following is the
substance of Mr. Ireland's communication, which was
published in Brande's Journal for 1816 : — When first
seen by Mr. Ireland, the tadpole was about four
inches and a half long by about an inch broad ; had
a large head and small mouth, very much resembling
those of a fish, though the rudiments of two legs were
evident just behind the head. In about a fortnight
the length of the animal had increased to eight inches,
and its breadth to about two and a half; and the rudi-
ments of the legs were developed into nearly perfect
members, with five-clawed toes, united by a mem-
brane, evidently the future hind legs of the animal.

On examining its internal structure during this
fortnight, the intestinal canal appeared very long and

J VJ.

coiled up, and the rudiments of the lungs were seen in
the posterior part of the belly.

Tadpole of the Surinam Frog, a quarter its length.

In about three weeks the fore legs made their
appearance, the head and mouth assumed their ordi-
nary figure, the former being considerably smaller,
and the latter larger than before ; and the animal,
which till now had lain at the bottom of the vessel in
a torpid state, became more active and lively, and
usually remained suspended in the water, with its
mouth above the surface. By this time the intestinal
canal was wonderfully altered in extent and appearance,
being contracted apparently to less than half its
length, and having but very few short convolutions,
and nearly the whole of the cavity of the belly was
filled with fat.

Surinam Frog, nearly full-grown, one half of real length.

In about six weeks the animal was greatly contracted
in size, being little more than three inches long by
about an inch in breadth, and had become a perfect
frog, except some small remains of the tail, which had
been gradually sloughing off or absorbed, and the
disappearance of which had so greatly contracted the
animal's length.

THE BULL-FROG (R. pipieni). This is a very
large species, by much the largest of the genus,
measuring not less than eighteen inches from the
muzzle to the extremities of the hind feet. The
upper part is dull green, mottled with black, and the
under part whitish grey, with black spots. There is
a copper-coloured circle on each side of the head,
which surrounds the tympanum, and points out the
place of the ear. It usually posts itself at the mouth
of its hole, by the side of the water. It is difficult to
take, being very agile, and capable of leaping to the
distance of ten or twelve feet at one bound. It is
also very voracious, feeding chiefly upon fish, though
it is also accused of swallowing ducklings, and even
goslings, in their very young state. The real bull-
frog does not appear to be very common, as not more
than a single pair usually occurs in the same pool
or patch of marshy ground. Cuvier is of opinion
that various species of frogs are confounded under
the general name of bull-frogs in the United States,
where these reptiles are of great annoyance to those
who reside near marshy places, which places are by
no means of rare occurrence in America. The com-
mon name of bull-frog is given from the resemblance
which the croaking of this species bears to the bellow-
ing of bulls. It is equally loud, if not louder ; and
as it is carried on incessantly during the night, sleep
is out of the question with the stranger who first
takes up his quarters in the neighbourhood of the
bull-frogs' haunts.

FROG-HOPPER— FULGORID.E.

553

THE PITPIT-FROG (R. halecina). Rather smaller
than the former ; green above, with brown spots, and
yellow dots in the centre. This species has been
confounded with' the bull-frog ; but, besides the dif-
ference in colour, it is much longer in proportion to
the thickness, and still more agile, being capable of
leaping fifteen or eighteen feet at one bound. It is
very common in the marshy places of the southern
states of America, and its noise is even more dis-
agreeable than that of the bull-frog properly so called.
This, however, is one of the bull-frogs of America.

EYE-SPOTTED FROG (R. ocellata). This is a very
large species, and inhabits to the southward of the
former one, as that appears to do of the common bull-
frog. It has been found in Guiana as well as in those
parts of North America which border on the Gulf of
Mexico, and which are remarkable for the abundance
of aquatic reptiles of all kinds. Its general colour,
on the upper part, is brown, and that on the under
part white ; and there are very distinct eye-spots on
the flanks and sides.

GRUNTING FROG (R. grunniens). This species is
very nearly equal in size to the bull-frog. Its colours
are a mixture of brown and bluish and reddish, with
yellow spots in the rear of the eyes. It is found in
the Floridas, and also in shady places of the West
Indian islands, where it is vulgarly called a toad. It
seldom comes abroad except during the night. The
country people, in some of the islands, are said to
rear this species in a domestic state, and they find its
flesh very nourishing. It is very active in the rainy
season, and can jump over an inclosure five feet in
height ; but during the dry season it becomes inert,
and passes its time in a sort of hybernation ; thus
affording evidence that the dry season, notwithstand-
ing its excessive heat, is the real winter in tropical
climates.

THE NOISY FROG (R. clamitans}. This species has
been found in the marshes of Carolina, not far from
Charleston. In form it approaches the common
frog of Europe, and its length is not above two inches.
Its colour is dull ash, irregularly spotted with small
black points ; and, notwithstanding its comparatively
minute size, the din which it makes is said to be more
intolerable than that of even the larger frogs.

Such is at least a specimen of the foreign frogs,
but it comprises only a very small portion of the
number. The Surinam frogs and the bull-frogs are,
however, the most renowned, the former for their fabu-
lous history, and the latter for their intolerable noise,
in the practice of which they actually drown the bel-
lowing of the night herons, the hissing of the serpents,
the yelping of the prairie dogs, and the whole concert
of villainous sounds which vex the ear of night in the
wilds of America. There are several species in South
America, in the south of Asia, in the Oriental Isles,
;" <hort, in every part of the world ; and it should
seem tin. these foreigners are, generally speaking,
more noisy than the natives of Europe. It is said,
that one brought from the Mauritius to Paris sere-
naded in so strong and harsh a key, as to drive the
evening promenaders from the whole Champ de Mars,
so that they were under the necessity of putting a
summary stop to his music.

We shall not enlarge more upon this exceedingly
numerous, and by no means unvaluable genus of rep-
tiles ; but we may have occasion to notice a little
more of the duties which the batrachia have to per-
form in the general economy of nature, when we come

to notice the other two genera or sub-genera, which
we propose to do under the titles TREE-FROG and
TOAD, in their proper order in the alphabet,

FROG-HOPPER, or CUCKOO SPIT-INSECT. The
small insect known under the systematic name of
Cercopis spumaria. See the article CERCOPID^:.

FROG ORCHIS is the Gymnadenia viridis of
Richard, a common British plant found in damp mea-
dows. It is the Satyrium viride of Linnaeus.

FUCHSIA (Linnaeus). A genus of beautiful
flowering shrubs, natives chiefly of South America.
Class and order Octandria Monogynia, and natural
order Onograrice. Generic character : calyx tubular
and coloured, the limb five-cleft ; petals fixed to the
throat of the calyx, connivent, and convolute ; sta-
mens included, joined in a double series to the tube
of the calyx, or protruding alternately short and
longer ; anthers oval and erect ; pollen glutinous and
triangular ; style filiform ; style headed or four-cleft ;
berry four-celled, four-valved, and many seeded.
This is one of our most common greenhouse plants,
and will stand in the open air if defended from frost.
It is easy of propagation by cuttings, and deservedly
a great favourite. There are nearly a score of differ-
ent species and varieties of it in our collections.

FULGORID^E (Leach). A family of hemipterous
insects belonging to the sub-order Homoptcra,Latrei\\e,
and to the division Cicadaria;, being destitute of organs
for producing a sound, having the antennae inserted
beneath the eyes, only three-jointed, terminated by a
long slender bristle ; two ocelli or none ; legs formed
for leaping, and the front of the head produced into
a kind of snout, variable in size and form in the
various species. Here belong the genera Fulgore,
Otiocerus, Lystra, Cixius, Pceciloptera, Issus, Anotia,
Asiraca, Delphax (which see), Derbe, and several
other genera recently established upon structural
characters.

Of the habits of these insects but little is known,
they are herbivorous in all their states, sucking the
juices of plants by means of their long-jointed proboscis,
which is ordinarily concealed, laying along the breast.
In the typical genus Fulgora, are placed the largest
species of the family, having the ocelli distinct, and
two in number; the antennae are destitute of appen-
dages, and the front of the head is produced into a
large hollow snout-like proboscis, respecting which
great differences have prevailed amongst naturalists ;
this part of the body being generally considered as
emitting a very bright light, whence the insects have
derived the name of lantern flies. And it is said,
that the luminous matter is diffused through the hol-
low semitransparent projection of the head. Of these

Fulgfora laternaria.

the Chinese Fulgora candelaria, and the South Ame-
rican F. laternaria are the more conspicuous. If
this be the case, it must be evident from the large

554

F U L I C A.

size of the insects, which measure several inches across
the wings, that the light must be very distinct, and
that the appearance of the trees studded with these
living lights must be exceedingly beautiful. The
chief testimony in favour of the existence of this lumi-
nosity is Madame Merian, who tells us that the
Indians had brought her several of the Fulgorce
laternaria, which, by day-light, exhibited no extraor-
dinary appearance, and she inclosed them in a box
until she should have an opportunity of drawing them,
placing it upon a table in her lodging-room. In the
middle of the night the confined insects made such a
noise as to awaken her, and she opened the box, the
inside of which, to her great astonishment, appeared
all in a blaze ; and in her fright letting it fall, she was
not less surprised to see each of the insects apparently
on fire. She soon, however, divined the cause of this
unexpected phenomenon, and removed her brilliant
guests to their place of confinement. She asserted
that the light of one of these Fulgora: was sufficiently
bright to read a newspaper by ; and though the tale
of her having drawn one of these insects by its own
light is without foundation, she, doubtless, might have
done so it' she had chosen.

Notwithstanding this positive statement, it is to be,
observed, that from the accounts of some recent ob-
servers, there is great reason to distrust its correct-
ness— no one author or traveller having distinctly
asserted that these insects are in the least luminous ;
whilst several, as M. Lacordaire, M. Richard, and
Dr. Hancock, who have seen these insects alive, have
not observed them to be luminous. One species of
this genus, of small size, the Fulgora Europcea, is
reputed to be an inhabitant of this country.

FULICA — Coot. A genus of birds belonging to
Cuvier's sub-order Maci-odactyles, or long-toed birds ;
and as a Linnaean genus including the GALLINCJLES
and the SULTANA-HEN, under which names we shall
notice these birds ; and thus we shall be enabled to
restrict our present notice to the coots properly so
called.

With this restriction the generic characters are
given as follows : — The bill middle-sized, strong,
conical, straight, compressed, much deeper than broad
at the base, the ridge projecting in front, and dilated
into a naked plate ; both mandibles of the same
length, the upper slightly curved and widened at the
base, the lower forming an angle ; nostrils lateral in
the middle of the bill, longitudinally cleft, half closed
by a membrane, and pervious ; legs long, slender,
naked above the knee, all the toes very long, con-
nected at their base, and furnished along their sides
with scalloped membranes ; wings middle-sized. The
coots are more decided residents in the water than
even the gallinules, being rarely seen on land, living
and travelling in the liquid element, and swimming
and diving with equal facility. But they inhabit
fresh waters, gulfs, and bays, and venture not into the
deep and open seas. Although individuals of the
same species vary considerably in dimensions, the
sexes are with difficulty distinguished, and in appear-
ance the young differ very little from the adults.
Their food chiefly consists of aquatic vegetables and
insects.

COMMON COOT (F. o.trd). This is a general resi-
dent in the old continent, and also in America ; and
it remains in the British islands the whole year with-
out migrating. The size is nearly the same as that of
A common fowl, the average length being eighteen

inches, and the spread of the wings about twenty-
eight. The weight varies from a pound and a half
to two pounds, according to the condition of the bird.
It breeds early in the spring, the female generally
constructing her nest of a large quantity of coarse dry
herbage, as flags and rushes, well matted together,
and bound with softer and finer grasses, in u bush of
rushes, surrounded by the water. By heaping the
materials together, she raises the fabric sufficiently
above the water to prevent the eggs from getting wet ;
but as this sort of structure very often renders it too
conspicuous to the buzzard, and other birds of prey,
the old females, instructed by experience, place it on
the banks of the streams, and among the tallest flags,
where it is much better hidden from the view. It
being kept in a buoyant state, a sudden flood, attended
by a gale of wind, has been known to drive it from
its moorings, and to float it from one side of a large
piece of water to the other, with the bird still sitting
on it. The female lays from twelve to twenty-one
eggs at a time, and mostly hatches twice in a season.
The eggs are about the size of those of a pullets, and
of a pale brownish white, sprinkled with numerous
dark spots, which run into blotches at the thicker
end. These eggs are sold in Holland, before they
are sat upon, and fetch a considerable price in the
market. The incubation lasts twenty-two or twenty-
three days. The young soon alter quitting the shell
dive and plunge into the water swimming about with
great ease, and, though they do not return to the nest,
nor take shelter under their mother's wings, they still
for some time gather about her, skulking under the
flags. At .first they are covered with a sooty down,
and are of a shapeless appearance ; and before they
have learned to shun their enemies, they are fre-
quently sacrificed to the rapacity of the pike, the
moor buzzard, the kite, and other birds of prey. In
the isle of Sheppy this species breeds very abundantly,
and the inhabitants will not suffer their eggs to be
taken, as the bird forms a considerable article of food.
On meagre days they are eaten by the French ; but,
though skinned before dressing, they are not very
palatable to every appetite. The common coot is a
very poor traveller, and waddles with much apparent
difficulty from one pool to another, with an awkward
gait. It usually lies concealed among the water
plants during the day time, rarely venturing abroad
except in the dark, or at night in quest of herbage,
seeds, insects, or fishes, the light very probably
dazzling its imperfect vision. It can seldom be forced
from its retreat by the sportsman and his dog, and
rather than spring up it will bury itself in the mud, or
if compelled to rise from being very closely pursued,
it rises with much fluttering and apparent difficulty.
As the foot of the coot has sometimes been described,
by those who do not take into account the functions
which an organ has to perform along with the shape of
that organ, we shall quote a passage from Mudie's
Feathered Tribes, as illustrative of the action of the
coot's foot. " The legs," says Mr. Mudie, " are placed
farther backwards than in any of the birds that live
chiefly on land, but they did not appear to be farther
back than they are in reality, from the degree to
which the tarsal joint is extended when the bird
walks.

'• It has been said, and the saying has no doubt
been founded on that very bending of the tarsal joint,
and the tendency that the toes have to collapse the
instant that the foot is off the ground, that the coot

FUMARIACE^!.

walks with great labour and difficulty. But the foot
of the coot is another of those instances, of which
thore are not a few in the structure of birds, in which
the very master-pieces (so to speak) of nature's
mechanics are considered clumsy, for no other reason
than because we will not examine them, and find out
why they are thus constructed. The coot's toot has
a compound function to perform, and therefore it
must be a compound instrument. We look at it only
in one of its uses, or rather we look merely at its
form, (for when used either way it is used cleverly),
and hence we draw the conclusion — from our own
ignorance. In order that the coot may properly iill
that place which appears to be assigned to it in the
economy of nature, it must swim, and also walk, and
even climb a tree upon emergency ; and though it is
not launched upon the broad waters like those pelagic
swimmers that fish, or capable of procuring its food
by the touch of a dabbling bill like the swimmers in
the shallows, it must swim to considerable distances,
and with some rapidity. In order to do that, it must
have the centre of gravity considerably in front of the
articulation of the legs, so that these may act in the
wake of the body, and have the advantage of the
eddy. It must also swim clean, and without those
projecting feathers which are found on the sides of
the gallinule, and which, though they assist in making
it buoyant when moving slowly, would either impede
a quick motion, or be flattened to the sides, and have
their buoyancy destroyed by it. The form of the
body, the position of the legs, and the extent of the
toes, with their lobed margins, answer these purposes
remarkably well, and the coot is a very efficient
swimming bird. But, again, the coot has to walk,
and so that is a lifting motion, while swimming is
merely a pushing along, the weight being supported
by the water, some modification is required. The
swimming foot is converted into a very efficient
walking foot, by that very bending of the tarsal joint
which, to us, makes the leg appear so awkward.
The bending of that joint, without any muscular
effort, pulls the tendons that compress the toes, and
slackens those that resist that compression because
the former tendon passes over the outside of the
bend at the tarsal joint, and the latter along the
inside. The toes are very long ; and the tendons
pull them to their extremities, so that the centre of
support in the foot is thrown far before the articula-
tion of the tarsal, and by the action of the same
spring the weight of the body, is, at every step, dis-
charged from and received by the points of the toes,
which it could not be, if the tarsal joints were not
bent. The toes being free, too, and not joined by a
continuous web, enables the spring of each to act to
the full range of its articulations, and the foot to
adapt itself to any form of surface upon which the
bird may have occasion to walk. Even the produced
hind toe has its uses in throwing the foot upwards, and
also in walking upon grassy and other elastic surfaces."
The foreign species of coot which have been enu-
merated by various authors, differ but little from the
common coot excepting in size. That of Java is very
similar to the European. But the Indian one men-
tioned by Colonel Sykes, merits notice in the terms
in which the colonel himself describes it. It " differs
only from the Javanese specimens in being larger,
and a shade lighter below. Much larger than the
common coot of Europe, but with the same coloured
Indes (crimson),and does not otherwise differ. Length

555

inclusive of tail eighteen to nineteen inches : tail two
inches. It has the habits of Podiceps (Grebes) and,
with the _ gizzard, long caeca, and general internal
organisation of a duck, seems to belong to the order
Natatores (swimming birds). Water weeds and
coarse sand found in the stomach."

The only species which Cuvier admits in the Regne
Animal as different from the European, is the crested
coot of Madagascar (F. cristnta). It is all over of a
bluish black colour ; bill white, but red at the base ;
frontal plate red, rising up and forming a crest ; feet
black ; and length about seventeen or eighteen
inches. The habits quite unknown.

FUMARIACE.5J. A natural order containing six
or seven genera, and many species. The plants asso-
ciated by their general similitude to Fumaria, to form

Fumaria lutea.

this type, are non-lactescent herbs, with sometimes
tuberous roots, and brittle glabrous stems. The
leaves are usually alternate, compound, sometimes
cirrhose, and destitute of stipules. The inflorescence
is racemose, the pedicels furnished with bractese, and
the flowers irregular and united. The calyx is free,
small, and membranaceous, and formed of two sepals
which are deciduous. The petals are four, set cross-
wise, deciduous, either discrete or coalescent by their
claws, the two external ones alternate with the sepals,
and either one or both saccate at the base ; the two
inner ones alternate with the outer, hardish at the
tops, where they are coloured by a terminal spot, and
connected so as to enclose the anthers and stigma.
The stamens are six in number, the filaments diadel-
phous, united into two bundles, which alternate with
the two inner petals, and are therefore opposite the
outer ones. The anthers are six, the lateral in each
bundle being one-celled, while the central ones are
each two-celled. They are small, erect, and open
longitudinally. The germen is formed of two con-
nate seed-vessels, the style filiform, and the stigma
two-plated and parallel with the internal petals.

The Fumariaceae are innocuous plants, inodorous,
herbage bitter, and which has been esteemed slightly
diaphoretic and aperient. F. officina/is is the Fumits
terrce of the older herbalists, so called from the light
and smoke-like cloudiness of its foliage, whence the
modern generic name Fumaria. Curyda/is bulbosa,
which has thick roots abounding in fecula, is resorted
to by the KalmucB in winter as food.

656

FUNGI — GADOID M.

FUNGI. This extensive collection of plants forms
the ninth order of the class Aphyllce, belonging to the
grand division Cellulares. It contains all the mush-
rooms, mildews, &c., found on decayed vegetable or
animal matter. Many doubts have been entertained
of the exact nature of these plants, some believing them
not vegetable but animal productions, while others
have denied that they are either, but some fortuitous
effects of nature. But all these speculations have
been shown to be based on error, and no one now
denies that fungi are truly plants.

Fungi and insects have not inaptly been called
" the scavengers of nature," for both labour, and with
astonishing effect, in the removal of refuse matters,
which, were they left on the surface of the earth,
would be found not only useless incumbrances, but
injurious tenants. The fungi are for the most part
parasitic plants, and chiefly grow on dead or decay-
ing substances. These they help to disintegrate and
dissolve, and speedily remove, converting the exuviae
of one generation into manure and vegetable mould
for the support and sustenance of the next. For
these duties, their minute seeds and wandering habits
particularly suit them. See Mucou, MUSHROOM, &c.

FUNKIA (Sprengel). A genus of hardy peren-
nial herbs, natives of China and Japan, introduced in
1794, under the name of Hemerocallis, but separated
therefrom by Sprengel. Generic character : corolla
bell-shaped, swollen at the base, contracted above
the germen, limb in six divisions, somewhat gaping ;
stamens filaments inserted into the bottom of the
tube declining ; anthers incumbent ; style declining ;
stigma obtuse ; capsule three-celled, many seeded.
Propagated by division.

FURCRCEA (Ventenat). A genus of tropical
perennials allied to the Agaves, being succulent and
treated as aloes usually are. They belong to the
natural order Bromeliacece.

FURZE is the Ulex Europcsa of Linnaeus, a well
known plant inhabiting waste ground and commons.
It is extensively cultivated in some places where the
land is poor, and cut every second or third year and
made into faggots for the use of lime and brick kilns.
It is also used as fodder for horses, being mown when
very young, and bruised in a mill to soften its spines.
Although its principal flowering season be in May
and June, it flowers at every other season, it being a
rare thing to see a patch of a dozen plants without
some one or other of them being in flower.

FUSUS (Bruguiere ; MOREX, Linnaeus). This
genus of shells has very properly been separated
from the confused Linnaean genus Murex, in which
was included all the species not having thickened
bands, without distinguishing the genera Pynila,
Pleurotoma, and others, now forming well defined
genera. The shells of this genus, as it is now esta-
blished, are of a fusiform or spindle shape, whence
the name ; the whorls ventricose at the lower extre-
mity, and without varices, or longitudinal thickened
bands on the spire or body. The columella is rarely
plaited, as in the Fasciolarue and TurbinellcE, the right
lip exhibits no slit, as in the Pleurotomts, and the
long produced turretted spire clearly distinguishes
them from the Pyruloe. These molluscs may be de-
scribed generally as being turretted, with a transverse
or nodulous keel, sometimes striated longitudinally ;
the columella plain ; aperture canaliculated at the
base, and ending in a channelled beak, frequently
onger than the spiral whorls ; the right side of the

aperture in adult examples is always toothed or ere*
nulated ; it possesses an epidermis, and an oval shaped
horny operculum, with a lateral summit. Lamarck
enumerates thirty-seven recent species all marine
shells, three or four of which inhabit the northern
regions, the others are only found in the eastern seas.
France furnishes numerous fossil species, and they
are also often found in this country. For their clas-
sification, see MUREX.

GAD-FLY. A term of indefinite signification
applied to various species of dipterous insects which
are troublesome to horses and cattle. In the Intro-
duction to Entomology, Messrs. Kirby and Spence
apply it to the species of CEstridce, giving to the Ta-
banida; the name of horse-flies ; but in " The New
World of English Words throughout the Artes and
Sciences," published in 1658, we find the "gaddefly"
described as a certain insect which stings cattle, called
also a " brie," and the " brie or brieze" is therein de-
scribed as a kind of fly, called a horse-fly or gad-fly.
Now as the Tabanidce alone sting or rather bite cat-
tle, and as the term breeze has certainly occasionally
been applied to the insects of the other family, it will
prevent all further confusion by describing the two
groups of insects, and their respective modes of tor-
menting these useful animals, under their scientific
family names.

GADOID^E— the Cod family. A family of soft-
finned fishes with sub-brachial fins, or with the two
under lateral fins, which answer to the hind legs of
the mammalia, situated on the throat immediately
under the gill-openings. They compose the first of
the three families into which Cuvier divides the soft-
finned fishes which have their under fins below or in
advance of the pectorals, and the bones which support
those fins are joined immediately to the bones of the
shoulder. The family consists only of two genera, —
the great genus Gadusor cod, and the genus Macrourus,
to which the continental ichthyologists give the
name of grenadiers. The last genus consists of only
two species, and these are but little known. They
inhabit the depths of the Mediterranean, and of some
parts of the temperate regions of the Atlantic. They
are not very often caught, and their manners are
obscure ; but we shall have to give some short notice
of them in a subsequent part of this article.

The genus Gadus on the other hand is exceedingly
numerous both in species and in individuals ; and
taking them altogether they may be regarded as the
most valuable fishes in the sea in an economical
point of view. They are caught in vast numbers,
many of them are of large size ; and though there are
differences of flavour in the different species, and
even in the same species, according to the ground on
which it happens to feed, and the condition in which
it is when taken, the flesh of the whole is light, whole-
some, and agreeable. It possesses another advantage
over that of most fish, that it admits of being more
perfectly cured by salting, and in this way, either
salted moist, or dried, it furnishes a vast quantity of
food for the inhabitants of those countries where,
from the nature of the seas, or from the countries
being situated inland, fish in the recent state cannot
be obtained. If we take this genus altogether,
perhaps they are more wholesome and also better
flavoured than almost any other fishes ; and, though
this circumstance lessens their value in the estimation
of those who are curious ia fish, yet they are, gene-

GADO

rally speaking, cheaper than any other product of the
sea, or even of the land, which remains equally long
in season. The flesh of the whole of them is remark-
able for its whiteness ; and they are on this account
called white-fish, and the establishments for the cap-
ture of them the white fishery.

They are rare, if found at all, in the tropical seas ;
but they are very abundant in the cold and temperate
ones, the north Atlantic, up almost if not altogether
to the polar ice, being the grand place of their
resort. When they are most in season they are,
generally speaking, gregarious, resorting to the banks
in countless multitudes ; but it is generally understood
that when they quit those banks they do not remove
to any very great distance, so that by judicious man-
agement on the part of the fishers, it is probable that
some of the species might be found in abundant
numbers and in good condition all the year round.

In a genus so numerous there must of course be
different degrees of productive power in different
species, but taken on the whole they are among the
most prolific of fishes. The common cod fish, which is,
taking both quantity and quality into account, the
most valuable of the whole, multiplies at the rate of
between two and three millions at a single spawning ;
so that it is altogether impossible for any fishing
which men can carry on very much to thin their
numbers.

The general characters of the cod family are :
the body moderately elongated but tapering con-
siderably to the tail, and a little compressed laterally ;
the skin covered with soft scales, of medium size or
rather smaller, but the skin of the head without any
scales ; the jaws and the posterior part of the vomer
covered with teeth, which are of unequal size, but
generally rather small, and placed in several rows
arranged card fashion, or the tooth in the one row
against the interval in the other ; the gills and gill-
openings are very large ; the gills consisting of seven
rays ; all the fins are soft, with the exception of a
single ray in the anal fin in some of the species ; in
general there are two or three dorsal fins, of which
one or two are in rear of the vent ; the caudal fin is
very distinct ; and the ventral fins are attached to the
throat, and pointed at the extremities. In some of
the species the gape is very wide ; in all the stomach
is in the form of a large pouch, very strong, and there
are numerous coscal appendages, and a long intestinal
canal. They are all provided with a large air bag,
which is sometimes notched or toothed at the sides.
The species are so numerous, however, and differ in
so many of the details of their character, that it is
impossible so to frame a general description as that
it will meet them all.

Though these fishes are seasonably gregarious upon
the banks, in the same manner as the flat fishes, they
inhabit places of somewhat different character even
then, and at other times they are much more discursive
through the waters. It does not appear that they
feed much upon ground substances, but rather upon
the fry of other fishes ; but in this respect the habit
varies considerably along with the species. In some,
as in the common cod, the young are rarely seen
near the shores, but appear rather to reside near the
banks. Others, again, in their young state, literally
swarm on the shores, and in the harbours, and appear
to prefer running water, whether of tide or of current
to that which is more still.

While some of the species are foomd only on barks,

. 557

or where there are rich bottoms, others of them fre-
quent rocky grounds, and those which do so are,
generally speaking, smaller in size and firmer in their
flesh than the inhabitants of the banks. Taking the
British seas altogether, there are perhaps more species
on the south coasts ; but the numbers increase north-
wards. The sea on the east coast, which is full of
banks, the mouths of the rivers, and also in mid-
seas where the currents of tide meet and form their
deposits, these fishes are very abundant. In this sea
they are, however, usually found at a good many
miles distance from the land, unless it be in the
species which resort to the shores, and which are
always inferior in quality to the far sea ones. In the
western seas they are perhaps even more numerous ;
and along the west coast of Ireland, and especially on
the west of Scotland among the isles, where the dis-
turbed currents of tide have deposited numerous
small banks, they are found in numbers which are
almost incredible, not on the banks only but in the
channels, and openings of the sea lochs, or deep and
narrow bays by which the coasts there are so much
indented. They are also exceedingly numerous
among the northern islands ; arid perhaps there are
as abundant fishings near the Shetland islands as in
any other part of the British seas. Indeed, white
fish of some species or other, either fresh from the
sea, or dried in the sun, or salted, forms a very large
item in the every day food of the people there. The
same may be said of Iceland, of the Faroe islands,
and of many parts of the coast of Norway. The
grand head quarters of the race, at least of the com-
mon cod, in an especial manner, seems to be the great
banks of Newfoundland, which are, perhaps, taken
altogether, the largest deposits of sand, gravel, and
mud, which is any where to be met with. From this,
they spread themselves in the direction of the current
of the water, which may be said to set from this bank
across the Atlantic, and to extend as far to the south
as the shores of the bay of Biscay. The species
which are most abundant differ a good deal at dif-
ferent places of this wide range of the sea ; but still,
taken on the whole, they are more numerous here
than in any other part of the world ; and they give
a value to those seas which no other seas can be said
to possess.

When we say that the range of these fishes extends
as far southward as the bay of Biscay, we must not
be understood as implying that they are distributed
in equal numbers through the whole of this range ;
for the numbers diminish as we proceed southwards,
while the great mass may be regarded as not extend-
ing much further to the south than the coasts of
Scotland. The species most abundant and best, to
the south of this, is understood to be the common
cod ; and there is no fishing on the south coast of
England for any of them which can be regarded as
very productive, unless it be for the whiting, which is
far from being one of the most valuable. Some rare
ones are occasionally met with on the southern shores
that have not been noticed in the north ; but then, on
the other hand, there are several so numerous in the
north as to be taken both for local consumption and
for sending dried or salted to other markets, which
are very rare in the south. We shall be better able,
however, to notice the few particulars with regard to
locality which our limits will afford, when we come to
speak of the different species. The genus has some-
times been divided into as many as seven sub-

558

GADOIDS.

genera ; but we shall not formally notice their distinc-
tions. »

COMMON COD (G. morhua). This is the species
which is most valuable as an article of commerce.
The fins are large, the body is thick toward the head,
and tapering to the tail ; the first ray of the anal fin
is spinous ; the colour above is grey freckled with
yellow ; and that below is white. The lateral line
is straight till opposite the vent, but bends toward the
tail, where it becomes white and broad. The ter-
mination of the caudal fin is nearly straight. It is
understood that, in the British seas this fish deposits
its spawn in the spring ; but from the fishing season,
as afterwards to be mentioned, on the great bank of
Newfoundland it is probable that the spawning time
there is different.

The following account of the fishery on the great
bank of Newfoundland will show the immense value
of the common cod in a commercial point of view : —
On the east and on the south of the island there are
several banks of sand, that rise from the bottom of
the river, the greatest of which extends nearly ten
degrees from south to north. The stillness and com-
paratively mild temperature of the water, in their
vicinity, attracts so many shoals of cod that the fish-
eries which are established there supply that article
to the greater part of Europe. These animals quit
the banks about the end of July and during the month
of August. The fishing season begins in April, and
ends in October. The length of the cod seldom ex-
ceeds three feet, and the conformation of its organs
is such as to render it nearly indifferent to the choice
of its food. The voracity of its appetite prompts it
to swallow indiscriminately every substance which it
is capable of gorging; glass and even iron have beon
found in its stomach ; by inverting itself, it has the
power of discharging these indigestible contents.
The fishermen range themselves along the side of the
vessel, each person being provided with lines and
hooks. As soon as a fish is caught, they take out its
tongue, and deliver it over to a person in whose
hands, after having undergone a certain degree of
preparation, he drops it through a hatchway between
decks, where part of the back bone is cut off, and the
cod, in order to be salted, is thrown through a second
hatchway into the hold. Whenever a quantity of
fish, sufficient to fill one of the vessels, has been taken
and salted, she sails from the banks to the island and
unloads her cargo. The ship returns again to her
station, and in the course of the season completes
four or five different freights. The fish are dried on
the island, and larger vessels arrive from England to
convey them to the European markets. Much care
and attention are required in packing this article ;
the greatest precaution is used to preserve it from
the moisture of the atmosphere. A person denomi-
nated a culler, or inspector, attends the loading of
each vessel, in order to see that all the fish are com-
pletely cured before they are put into the cargo,
which might otherwise be'soon damaged. The price
cf dried cod at Newfoundland is commonly fifteen
shillings the quintal, and is sold in Europe for about
a pound sterling. In a vessel with twelve men there
must be 10,000 fish caught, salted, and brought into
market from the middle of April to July, else the
owners will be excluded from all claim to the esta-
plished bounty. Such a crew, however, takes usually
during the season more than double that quantity.
The English merchants, who are engaged in these

fisheries, supply the sailors upon credit with whatever
they stand in need of, and are repaid at the end of
the year with the produce of their industry. Several
hundred thousand pounds are thus annually advanced
on an object of commerce before it is taken from the
bosom of the deep. About 400 ships, amounting to
36,000 tons' burthen, and 2000 fishing shallops of
20,000 tons, are usually employed during the fishing
season. Twenty thousand men from Great Britain
and Ireland are engaged in this trade, and several
thousands of them, who remain on the island during
the winter, are occupied in repairing or building boats
and small vessels, or in erecting the scaflblds for dry-
ing the cod. The persons that are not seafaring men
have been distinguished by the appellation of plan-
ters. Some idea of the value of the Newfoundland
cod fishery may be formed, by its being mentioned
that the British alone have taken in one year as much
as nearly 100,000,000 pounds weight, yielding a gross
revenue of at least 2,000,000/. sterling.

The fisheries on our own shores do not, and can-
not, afford anything like such a revenue as this from
foreign trade ; but, from the way in which the
northern parts of the island especially are divided by
bays, and from the fish surrounding the shores there
in almost every direction, the fishing, if properly
carried on, would be far more valuable, in a local
point of view, than if there were some one fishing
ground of much greater extent than even the whole put
together.lt is to be regretted, however, that this fishery,
widely spread as it is, easily as it might be carried on,
and inexhaustible as one of the supplies of human life
from the vast productive powers of the fish, has never
been prosecuted with that skill and industry which its
importance demands. We have already said, that there
is none of the genus so abundant on the south coast
of England as to afford more than a very moderate
local supply ; and, though the banks between the
shores of England and the Netherlands are frequented
by numbers of cod, which grow to a large size, and
are understood to be finer in flavour than the east
coast ones more northerly, and toward and beyond
the middle latitudes of the island, yet it does not
appear that anything farther than a local supply can
be obtained even there. Toward the land, both on
the British and the Netherlands side, the cod-fishing
ground is intercepted by water apparently rather
hallow for cod, and which is accordingly more occu-
pied by flat fish, by soles perhaps, more than any
ather species toward the British coast, and by turbot
probably toward that of the Netherlands. With the
exception of the supply for the London markets, and
that is, in a great measure, in the hands of monopo-
lists, the white fishing appears to be sadly neglected
on the east coasts of England ; so that it is doubtful
whether a single barrel of white fish is salted for
foreign sale annually between Dover and Berwick,
while the quantity carried into the interior is astonishi-
ngly small, considering the extent and rapidity of
and-carriage which is now established in every part
of the country. This is probably more sincerely to
ae regretted than it is to be remedied ; but, from the
nrice at which excellent cod is often sold at the coast
owns farther to the north, it is extremely probable
that proper attention to the fisheries might procure
for any man, at any spot within the four seas, a fair-
sized cod fish, in good condition, at an average price
of not greatly, if at all, exceeding one shilling. The
price on. the" coast, at the places to which we allude,

GADOIDS.

may be from fourpence to sixpence, when the fish is
most plentiful and-in best condition ; and surely, if a
proper system were established, the same amount
might carry it halfway across the island.

On the southern part of the east coast of Scotland,
and indeed as far to the northward as the Moray
Firth, cod can be regarded as affording no more than
a local supply, and that only to a short distance
inland, as is the case in the southern part of the
island. Cod is not indeed a very favourite fish on
that part of the coast. It is said to be of inferior
quality to that taken on the banks farther to the
south ; and, at all events, it is chiefly bought by the
poorer classes of the people, who get it cheaper on
the spot, in consequence of its being held in compara-
tively low estimation ; but. this circumstance greatly
lessens the inducement to fish for it, and, consequently,
the quantity taken. The haddock, another, and,
when taken on the proper ground and in prime con-
dition, a far more delicious species, is the favourite
white fish on the last-mentioned line of coast ; and so
much is it esteemed above every other production of
the sea, that even the sole and turbot fisheries, for
both of which there are understood to be good
grounds in many places, have never been able to
create such a demand as to induce the fishers to carry
them on expressly, and with a requisite degree of
knowledge, experience, and vigour.

This preference may be said to extend nearly the
whole way to the north-eastern extremity of Scotland ;
for, though cod is caught in considerable abundance,
the greater part of it is, we believe, dried, with the
exception of what may be consumed in the fishing
villages and their immediate neighbourhood. And
here, as on the more southerly part of the east coast,
the haddock is still the favourite fish for local con-
sumption ; and when we come to notice the charac-
ters of that species, we shall probably be able to show
that this preference given to it is not a mere preju-
dice, but that it is really better there than on almost
any other part of the British shores. When we come
to the Pcnlland Firth, and to the various bays and
banks among the Orkney and Shetland Islands, we
have arrived at the grand rendezvous of the northern
members of the cod family ; and though the common
cod is not the most abundant, or probably the most
highly prized in those seas, it is taken in considerable
numbers, and exported, cured, or more properly
speaking, dried. The fishermen there, being of
northern extraction, or descended from the sea-kings of
old and their followers, are more adventurous and at
home upon the waters than in many other parts of
the country. But it is singular enough that they will
not bear transportation to other localities; for colonies
of them, which have been carried to the western islands
at considerable expense, for the express purpose of
establishing fisheries, and teaching and stimulating
the natives, have, in the course of a few years, sunk
into the same state of indolence and disregard of the
vast and almost constant harvest which the sea around
them affords. They have, after the lapse of a very
few years, lolled indolently on the land, contenting
themselves with daily meals of potatoes and salt, and
leaving the remains of the boat high and dry, to be
beaten and consumed by the wind and rain, while two
hours' use of that boat would have provisioned their
families for a week, and one good season, duly im-
proved, might have rendered them independent for
life. Nor is there any more unfortunate demonstra-

tion of the truth, that men will not exert themselves
unless they are pinched, and also stand in some jeo-
pardy of degradation, than the fact that, in many places
where the sea is most rich in fish, and they are nearest
to the land, the fewest are taken out of it.

As a proof of the advantage that might be derived
from those western isles' fishings for cod, we may
mention, that the late Sir Hector Mackenzie of Gair-
loch established at Gairloch, on the west coast of
Ross-shire, a fishing village, to which there belonged
twenty boats, each having about four hundred hooks
on the lines, and that this small fishery produced every
year twenty thousand cod fit for exportation, besides
an ample supply to the villagers and the neighbour-
hood from the under-sized cod, and the otker fish
accidentally taken on the cod-lines. The cod there
are rather small in size, averaging about five pounds
weight each when they are cleaned, have the heads
removed, and are ready for salting. They are, how-
ever, of very superior quality — proportionally thicker,
firmer in the flesh, and more delicate in the flavour,
than Newfoundland cod. Whether this fishery is still
carried on, we are not informed ; but, as the adven-
ture was Sir Hector's own, and he was at that time
the only proprietor who had spirit enough for such
an enterprise, it is possible that even this may now be
abandoned. But, when it was in the condition we
have mentioned, it was generally understood that,
by an additional number of boats, the produce might
have been more than doubled ; and thus two hundred
thousand pounds weight of excellent fish might, from
this little spot alone, have been added to our annual
store, while many industrious men and their families
might have earned a comfortable living, by winning
this treasure from the deep, and adding it to the
wealth of the country.

This is one very small and local proof of the great
advantage which might be derived from the countless
myriads of this species of fish which throng around
those remote shores of our island ; and we are within
the mark when we say, that the ground alluded to is
not anything like a tenth, or even a twentieth, of what
might be successfully fished, so that, from the Hebrides
alone, we might annually derive not less than two
millions of pounds of fish ; and as at those small
fisheries, for which salt could be procured at a
small expense from Liverpool, by the return of the
vessels, the quantity would be superior to that which
is obtained at Newfoundland, and would consequently
fetch a higher price in the market.

Once, a good many years ago, we observed, on the
beach to the northward of the village in the Island of
lona, a pile of dried cod, which must have consisted
of many thousands ; but whether the fishing is still
carried on there, we have not heard, though we think
this rather doubtful, because it was described as being
in a languishing and expiring state at that period.

It is true that the winds are both inconstant and
turbulent among those western isles, and thus there
might be both loss of lines and danger to boats ; but
the islanders are hardy boatmen enough, and show
no little skill in their craft, as they can guide a little
shallop dry through the waves, and so they would
not, if they had good craft, run any very imminent
hazard. Somehow or other, however, they do not
set much value upon the produce of the sea ; and that
more than any chance of loss or fear of danger, seems
to be the real reason why the fisheries there are not
turned to account.

560

GADOIDS.

When on their migrations or feeding excursions in
the currents, these cod swim near the surface. One
can not only see them in crossing the shoal in a boat
but they give a whitish tinge to the water at a dis-
tance, and seem a sort of " blink " on the sky. One
can also find them out by the number of sea-birds —
gannets and gulls chiefly — which are whirling about,
and screaming on the shore ; and ever and anon
plunging down ; but it is doubtful if they are nearly
so successful in cod-fishing as they are with herrings,
the shoals of which are still more numerous, swim
near the surface, and are more easily taken out of the
water. Altogether the shoals of cod give no small
interest to the seas, of which we are speaking ; and
the only regret is, that they should be turned to so
little account, in comparison with what might surely
be done.

We had almost forgotten to mention that the oil
which is obtained from the liver of the cod, answers a
very important purpose in the arts. It is valuable as
a lamp oil ; but that is not its only or its chief value,
for there is no oil equal to it for the dressing of lea-
ther, for which purpose it is almost exclusively used
by the best manufacturers.

THE HADDOCK (G. aglefinus). The haddock is
a much more handsome fish than the cod ; the head
and gill openings are not so disproportionally large ;
and the body is altogether of a finer shape, and the
colours brighter. The upper jaw is longer than the
under one ; the tail is forked ; the lateral line is black ;
and there is a black spot on each side, behind the
pectorals, which the legend says are the marks of the
thumbs of St. Peter, when he took the tribute money
out of its mouth, which shows that the founder of the
legend could have known nothing of the geography of
the fish. The colour of the upper part of the haddock
is dusky, and that of the belly pure white. The frontal
line slopes, and the eyes are large and bright. The
fins are the same in number, character, and arrange-
ment, as those of the cod ; but the extremity of the
caudal fin is forked, and the whole air and appearance
of the fish are different. The haddock is also a much
smaller fish ; the cod measuring, when full-grown, or
at least understood to be so — for the full growth of a
fish is a very indeterminate matter — as much as
three feet, while the haddock is seldom found of above
half that length. The quantities of matter in them
are nearly in the proportions of the cubes of the
lengths ; but the head of the cod occupies so much of
its volume, that there seems to be proportionally more
flesh on a well-grown haddock than on a cod of the
same length. The spawning time is in spring, as well
as that of the cod ; but the haddock, perhaps, comes
into season earlier than the other. On those shores
where this fish is best and most esteemed, it comes
into season on the usual grounds in May, and con-
tinues till the middle or end of January. There is
some reason, however, to doubt whether the same in-
dividuals spawn ever}' year ; for it has been ascer-
tained by actual trial that, by going a few miles farther
to seaward than the annual fishing grounds, haddocks
in good condition may be found in April, or, perhaps,
even in March. We want more information as to the
retreats of our white fish, and whether we could or
could not obtain a supply in good condition, all the
year round, by a judicious shifting of the ground. —
There is another thing to be attended to, and that is
the length of time over which the spawning extends,
which is probably a much longer one than we gene-

rally suppose ; and thus those which have spawned
in the early part of the season, may have retired and
got into good condition again before the others have
got through that grand labour of the year.

Haddocks are certainly found in finest condition in
the clear and deep water off the rocky shores ; and it
is worthy of remark, that they appear to be best in
the places of any eastern sea which are intermediate
between those in which the cod are best. We have
already mentioned that the cod, on the southern banks
between the shores of England and the Netherlands,
and those, again, about the north-east of Scotland,
on the coast of Caithness, are better than on the
shores of the middle of the island. Haddocks are
good upon all the coast from the rocky parts of
Yorkshire to the Ord of Caithness, and a little be-
yond ; but they are very superior upon a certain
intermediate portion, namely, on that which extends
from the Red Head, a little to the north of Arbroath,
to the mouth of the Dee at Aberdeen, where the
bold rocky shore and the deep and clear water
terminate. On the most bold and rocky portions of
this shore they are better than on the others, and
they are also got nearer to the land than when the
shores are of a tamer character. The east coast of
the county of Fife is not high, but it is rocky, and
they are pretty good there ; and so are they off the
wild and caverned shores near the Red Head. The
coast of Kincardineshire, which is all bold, with the
exception of clear, sandy, or pebbly beaches in the
bottoms of a few small bays, is perhaps the place
where they are found in the very highest perfection.

This is the part of the coast where the partially
roasted and nartially smoke-dried ones, known by the
name of " Finnin Haddocks," are prepared in the
best style, partly because the fish themselves appear
to be finer than they are anywhere else, partly be-
cause they can be prepared in a more recent state,
and partly because the people have a superior
method of preparing them. To have them in the
highest perfection, however, they must be eaten on
the spot, and before they are cooled after the original
preparation, for those very superior ones cannot be
removed to any distance without losing much of their
flavour, and those which can bear carriage have to
be salted and much more dried, both of which
operations spoil their flavour.

If they are to be of the finest zest possible — and
when they are, it is difficult to imagine anything
more delicious — they must be brought from the sea
the same morning they are to be eaten. Small ones
should be selected, if sufficiently plump and well-
grown, and the flesh should be touched as little as
possible. Indeed, a haddock, under all circumstances,
is a delicate fish, and cannot bear to be tumbled
about, or handled, or sluiced with water, without sus-
taining very serious injury, which, by the way, may
be one of the reasons why it is difficult, if not im-
possible, to get anything like a good haddock in
London.

Holding them by the head, they should be cut
open, and wiped clean by gentle pressure, but not
washed ; and when they are split so as to be fiat,
they should be suspended on wooden spits from the
top of a cask, of which both the ends are taken out,
and the cask so built in at the side of the kitchen
range, or in any other convenient place, so that there
may be room for a fire below. The best wood for
the fire is the twigs of juniper ; and the smoke and

G A D O 1 D JE.

561

heat should be received into the cask, a cloth being
placed on the top to confine both •, but the flame
ought not to rise so as to scorch them. In this way
they should be done slowly, and the action of the
smoke so hardens the surface, that not a drop of
the juice escapes. When properly done, the know-
ledge of which is a matter ot experience, and can-
not be explained in words, they are to be removed
from the cask, the heads separated without touching
the bodies, and these rolled up closely in clean
cloths, only one in a cloth, great care to be taken
not to press or break them, and they ought to be
eaten while hot. The spurious ones, which are sent
to a distance, are more or less salted, and exposed to
the air, and they are merely smoked, without being
cooked, as is the case with those that are genuine.
These last can of course be obtained only at very
particular parts of the coast ; and of those places
where the fish themselves can be had, there are only
a few w here the art of dressing them in the best style
is known.

Like the cod, the haddock is a gregarious fish, and
if the fishermen find any upon a particular fishing
ground, they in general make sure of finding num-
bers. They are, however, much more discursive and
capricious than cod, and by no means so true to their
grounds for a succession of seasons ; though they are
understood to be much more true to the haunts in
the clear and deep water near the shores, than they
are upon the margins of the out-at-sea banks, where
their pastures border on those of the cod. The
reason of the two not being found in abundance in
the same localities is understood to be that the cod
prey upon the haddocks, which is not at all unlikely,
as cod are exceedingly voracious, have a very capaci-
ous swallow, and are miscellaneous in their eating
oven to the degree of preying upon each other.
We need not be surprised at this, however ; for the
males of many of the mammalia are prone to devour
the young, nor are there wanting among them
instances in which the female makes a meal of her
own offspring. The haddock is not quite so voracious
as the cod ; but still it has not much to boast of on the
score of abstemiousness.

THE TORSK (G. callarias) is a medium sized species,
a native of the northern seas, and found most abund-
antly in the Baltic, especially near the mouths of the
great rivers. It is spotted all over, and is very much
esteemed for the table. It has been mentioned as a
British fish ; but the fact of its being so is a little
doubtful, at least no specimen has, so far as we know,
been seen of late years, or indeed since the species
of fishes were so well made out, and discriminated as
they are now. The fact of its being found at the
mouths of the rivers in the Baltic, where the water
contains very little salt, is rather against its being
met with in the open ocean, or in any part of the
British seas, except as an accidental stray.

THE BIB (G. luscuii) is a small species, not more
than a foot in length, which is occasionally met with
in the British seas, but is by no means common, nor
does it appear to be abundant or of frequent occur-
rence in any locality. When it does occur as a
British species, it is, however, found indiscriminately
on the most northerly and the most southerly shores
Its colour is olive on the back and silvery on the
under part. The first ray of each ventral fin is pro-
duced in a sort of bristle-shaped elongation. The
body is broad but flattened on the sides ; the ex-
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

remity of the caudal fin is nearly square across ;
here is a membrane which partially covers the eyes;
he jaws have only a single row of teeth curved
nv.'ards into the mouth ; and the scales are larger
than on most of the genus. Its flesh is reckoned
.vholesome and good ; but so little is known of its
manners that we are unable to say whether it is or is
not gregarious.

THE POUT (G. barbatns) is about the same size as
the last mentioned species, and like that it is rare on
the British coasts ; but in appearance and colour it
is different. Its back is much arched and the whole
body high in proportion to the thickness. Its general
colour is dull white, with the fins black, and a dark
spot behind the pectoral fins. The first dorsal fin is
of a three-cornered shape, with the first ray produced
in a sort of fibrous appendage ; and the caudal fin is
squared over at the end. The scales on the body are
very small ; the back is furnished with a sort of keel
or ridge ; the lateral line is broad, curved, and of a
white colour. The mouth is much smaller in pro-
portion to to the size of the fish than in most others
of the genus ; and the lower jaw is marked with a
row of punctures, seven or eight in number. The
English fishermen call it the " whiting pout." It is
but little esteemed as food, and probably upon this
account it is not seen in proportion to the numbers
in which it actually exists. It occurs in the Mediter-
ranean, and also in the more northerly seas ; and is
understood to inhabit at considerable depths, and
to hide itself in the thick beds of sea-weeds.

THE POOR (G. mimitus) is a small species, about
half a foot in length, and very slender in the body ;
light brown on the upper part, and whitish on the
under. The lateral line is very narrow and straight.
It is found in the Gulf of Venice, the Mediterranean,
and the Atlantic, where it resides in the deep waters
during the winter months, but comes to the shores
in the spring. In itself it is of little or no value ; but
its appearance is, on some of the coasts, hailed with
joy by the fishermen, who, upon its coming, prepare
for the capture of the larger and more valuable
species of the genus, w hich appear soon after it, and
appear to follow it and feed upon it, which brings them
near to the land.

The species which we have now enumerated are
the principal and most valuable of those which con-
stitute the sub-genus Cod, properly so called, with
those systematists who sub-divide the family into
sections ; and the sub-genus is styled Morhua, from
the trivial name of the common cod. We shall now
proceed to the other sections, still retaining the com-
mon generic name Gadus, as the family are all
nearly allied to each other.

But before we do this there are a few observations
in supplement to this division which may not be un-
interesting to the reader, some of which refer to the
common cod, and others to this division or to the
family generally ; and the great value of these fishes
renders every thing that can tend to illustrate their
character of considerable public interest.

Of the common cod, there appear to be three
varieties in the British seas ; but whether the differ-
ences have or have not been wholly produced by
locality and nature of ground, we have not the means
of ascertaining. The southern cod, that which is
found on the banks off the English coast from the
Spurn to Kent, and which also occurs in the Eng-
lish Channel, though not so abundantly, appears to
N N

562

GADOIDS.

be resident in those seas, and is very rare in the
north. It is more of a yellowish colour than that of the
northern cod, its head is smaller and longer, and it
perhaps also attains a larger size. On the banks we
believe it is always taken by the hook and line ; but
in the Channel it is hauled for.

On the rocky grounds in the middle latitudes on
the east side of the island, and probably also on the
west, in the channel between Britain and Ireland,
there is another variety, known as " rock cod," which
it of a much redder colour, smaller in size, and much
firmer in flesh. This one frequents much the beds of
sea weed, and is understood to feed a good deal upon
Crustacea, especially crabs at the time when they
cast their shells. The head of this is not quite so
much elongated as that of what we have from its
locality called the southern cod, but it is rather more
so than the head of the northern. It does not appear
that this variety is very discursive from its locality ;
for though it can be had abundantly on the rocky
bottoms on the northern part of the English coast, and
the southern part of the Scottish, it is found only as
a straggler in the south ; and \ve believe that the
same is the case in the north. In as far as popular
observation is concerned, these two varieties are easily
distinguished from each other; but they agree in all
the characters upon which naturalists found the
species.

The third is the northern cod, and which is some-
times called " Scotch cod," it being most plentiful on
the coast of Scotland, though, as we have mentioned,
the rock or red cod is also found there, and this one
occurs on the more northerly parts of the English
coast. This one has the head much larger in pro-
portion, that is to say, much thicker and rounder ;
the gape and the gill- openings are also wider, and
the body tapers nearly the whole way from the gill-
openings to the caudal fin. This is the one which is
found both on the east and west coasts of Scotland. It
appears to be more discursive than the others ; and
it is probably the same which is met with on the bank
of Newfoundland, and generally in the Atlantic out-
side the British islands. Its quality is understood to
depend a good deal on the place where it is taken,
being best where the water is deepest and has most
current, though the size is perhaps inferior there.
Even in this, however, there is no specific difference
from the others ; and from what we know of the
effects of different waters in changing the qualities of
trout, and other fresh water fishes, we may naturally
suppose that not cod only but all others will be
affected by similar causes in the sea.

The other point to which we would call attention,
and it is by far the more important of the two in a
general point of view, is the geographical distribu-
tion ) not only the cod, properly so called, but all the
more valuable species of the whole genus, are con-
fined to the temperate and cold latitudes of the
Atlantic. The same may be said of the herring
family, and indeed of all those fishes which have
value in a commercial point of view, or in any other
point of view than that of merely supplying the peo-
ple who live near the shores.

The only species, we believe, which is met with in
any part of the Pacific is the coal-fish, to be after-
wards described, and though it is exceedingly nume-
rous upon many parts of our coasts in the young state,
and especially "so in the north when full-grown, it is
far from being the best of the genus ; so far indeed

that, in point of flavour and also of nutriment, it may
probably be accounted the very worst of the whole.

The fishes of this family, besides being inferior in
their qualities, are also far more prolific than any
others ; and as they are, either seasonally or in the
different species, both littoral and pelagic, they occupy
a greater breadth of sea as their pasture than any
others. The common cod has been already men-
tioned as an instance of very great productiveness,
but it is by no means the most productive of the
family. The ling, a more northerly fish, and one
which is in some respects superior, very superior
when salted and dried, has still more eggs in the roe
than the cod, the number being between nine and
ten millions, a rate of increase on which all the fishing
that can be practised cannot have the slightest per-
ceptible effect ; for, if it had scope for full working,
it has power enough for turning the whole matter of
the earth into ling in the course of a very short period
of years. This is of course, practically speaking, im-
possible, but still the power exists, and the existence
of such a power is constantly seen working for the
benefit of man, in so far as he has industry and skill
for taking advantage of it.

One cannot fail in being struck with the peculiar
fact that all this vast productiveness of food in the
sea should be concentrated into the northern part of
the Atlantic ; for the vast shoals of the cod family,
and we may add those of the herrings, are confined
to between the fortieth and sixtieth degrees of north
latitude, or are found only accidentally and straggling
beyond those limits.

This, however, is not the only or even the especial
peculiarity of this portion of the sea ; for, though it
is foreign to our present purpose, we may just remark
in passing that the Atlantic is, above all others, the
ocean whose showers and gales produce fertility on
the adjoining lands. It is especially the ocean of
tides and currents ; its shores abound more than any
others in creeks and bays ; and the quantity of sup-
ply which it receives from rivers is greater than that
of any equal extent of sea, scarcely less indeed than
that of all the other seas on the surface of the globe.
It is thus the best for navigation, and the promotion
of that intelligence and industry which are the results
of a free, easy, and speedy communication between the
inhabitants of different lands. This is a very delight-
ful subject ; but it would be contrary to the plan of
the present work to enter farther upon it in detail,
though we heartily recommend it to the attention on
our readers, and so revert to our more immediate
ubject.

If we were to follow the sub-divisions of the genus
Gadus, the next is Merlangus, the whiting section,
agreeing with the cod in the number and arrange-
ment of their fins, and differing, in the common cha-
racters of classification, only in having no beard or
fleshy appendage to the lower jaw, whereas the true
cod have one, and some of the others, to be mentioned
afterwards, have more. The typical species is,

THE WHITING (G. merlangus}. This is a very
common species on most parts of the British shores ;
and by fishing nearer the shores at one season, and
farther out at another, it may, generally speaking, be
caught in tolerable condition the whole year round.
It is a smaller fish than the more valuable of the true
cod, and its flesh is, generally speaking, soft and
rather insipid; but when in very prime condition,
which it is in the spring and summer months, it is

GADOIDS.

568

esteemed as light and delicate. Like all other fishes,
the whiting varies much in length, but the average is
about a foot. The upper jaw is the longest, and the
teeth in that jaw are long. The colour on the upper
part is pale brown; the sides and belly are silvery,
more or less marked with pale yellow ; and the lateral
line is straight and white. The whole fish has a
rather delicate and semi-transparent appearance.

The whiting does not perhaps range so far to sea-
ward at any season as some others of the genus. In
the summer months, at least, it remains much closer
in than the others, feeding on the fry of herrings and
other iishes which deposit their spawn near the shore ;
it also feeds on Crustacea and mollusca. Indeed,
though the whiting is a delicate fish to appearance, it
partakes of the voracity and miscellaneous feeding
which are characters of the whole tribe. Different
from what is the case with most of the others, the
whiting is understood to be fattest and in best con-
dition upon the tlat shores and rich bottoms, though
its flesh is said to be firmer when it inhabits the rocky
grounds. Whiting, though far from being so sub-
stantial as an article of food as many of the others, is
understood to be more light and easy of digestion,
more so indeed than perhaps any other fish ; and
thus it is an aliment well adapted for invalids. Whit-
ing is generally eaten fresh ; but it is also salted,
though it does not answer quite so well for that pur-
pose as those species which have firmer flesh.

THE COAL-FISH (G. carbonarius}. This is a very
common species, found upon most parts of the British
shores, though much more rarely on the southern
than the northern. It is a very active fish, and found
most abundantly in rocky places, or in currents and
tideways. When young it occurs in vast shoals at
the entrances of harbours, and in all places where
there are runs of water near the land ; in which
places vast numbers are caught, with rod and line, by
the boys and idlers, but they are of no great value.
In this state it is small, not in general larger than a
sprat, and by no means so well llavoured as sprats
are when they are newlv taken, but it can be longer
kept. In this state it is the " podlie " of the Scotch
coasts, the fishing for which, at the ends of the piers
and jetties of harbours, is reckoned the most inglo-
rious of all fishing. In this young state the upper
part is dusky, and the under part dull white , but the
colours of the full-grown fish are different.

When full-grown it reaches the length of two or
even three feet. The upper part, including the cau-
dal fin, is then black, but dull and with a tinge of
leaden blue toward the sides. The under part, in-
cluding the ventral and anal fins, is white ; the head is
small, and the form of the body rather elongated.
The tail is very broad arid forked, and the fish keeps
the water which is put in motion by the tide or other-
wise, and swims with much vigour and rapidity. In
this state, as well as when young, these fishes take
the bait very greedily, and thus are more easily caught
than almost any others ; but they are tough and lea-
thery, so that they are nowhere very marketable.
They are, however, used both in the recent state and
salted ; and from their cheapness, they are eaten in
great numbers by the labouring people on the poorer
islands and parts of the coast. The Shetland isles
are their head-quarters, in so far as the British domi-
nions are concerned ; and so numerous are they on
the coasts of Scotland and its islands, that they have
about a dozen local names in different parts. In the

Shetland isles they are called piltocks, and as the
cows are said to eat herrings on some parts of these
islands, so the poor people very generally, and at all
meals, eat piltocks. It is reported that a traveller in
those isles, meeting a boy in the forenoon, and not
getting a very ready or clear answer to some other
questions, asked him what he had had for breakfast
that, morning. " Piltocks," was the immediate answer.
" What do you expect for dinner?" asked the travel-
ler. " Piltocks." " And what for supper ?" " What
could any body get at our time but piltocks?" This
is the species which is mentioned as being numerous
on the northern shores of the Pacific ; but we believe
that specimens brought from there have not been
verv carefully examined in Europe.

THE POLLACK (G. pollachius) does not grow to the
same size as the coal-fish ; and is not found in places
of exactly the same character ; but still it is very
common on the rocky parts of the coasts. As is the
case in the coal-fish, the lower jaw is longest. The
eyes are large, the irides of a brown colour, the upper
part is dusky green, the sides marked with yellowish
streaks, and the belly white ; the line of the back
slopes from the first dorsal fin ; and the tail is squared
over. The average length when full grown is under-
stood to be about a foot and a half. These are very
active fishes, and sport about in the utmost violence
of the sea. They are often found in vast shoals, and
are easily taken ; but their flesh is not held in much
estimation, excepting where the better species are
not to be had.

THE GUEEN POLLACK (G. vireus). This species
is by no means uncommon in the larger tidal estuaries
of the northern parts of Britain, and it is frequently
caught but not much valued. It is more abundant,
and more attended to on the coasts of Norway. The
upper part and upper fins are green, and the under
part white, the fins being marked with numerous black
spots. The teeth in the upper jaw are numerous, and
very strong in proportion to the size of the fish which,
on the British shores at least, is rarely if ever so much
as a foot.

These are the principal species of that section or
sub-genus, of which the whiting is considered the
type ; and, taking them altogether, they are of far less
value in an economical point of view than the former,
or than many of those that remain still to be noticed.
They are, perhaps, more active than any of the others,
and they come in greater numbers near the shores,
and into the tideways, and are much more easily
caught. The next division is that of which the com-
mon hake is the only known species ; and, from the
trivial name of that, the division is called Mcrluccim;
the distinguishing character is having only one anal
fin. '

THE HAKE (G. merluccius). This is a much more
southerly species than most of the genus ; and is men-
tioned by Cammeron as abounding in the southern
hemisphere. It is also met with in the Mediterranean
more plentifully, perhaps, than any of the others. On
the coasts of S'cotland, especially the east coast, it is
very rare ; it is less so among the more southern of
the western isles, and also on the south coast of Eng-
land. But the west coast of Ireland is the part of
the British dominions where it is most plentiful, espe-
cially the coasts of Mayo and Galway. It is an ac-
tive fish, ranging and discursive, and thus appearing
only seasonally on the coasts; but it is gregarious,
and when it does appear on its regular grounds, and
NN2

564

GADOIDS.

not merely as a stray, it appears in great numbers. —
It is at all times rather a harsh fish, and when not in
good condition it is peculiarly tough and dry. It is
best when salted and dried ; but even then it is hard,
and requires to be beaten to a sort of fibrous powder
before it is dressed. It is a large fish, very often
caught of the length of three feet or more.

The next division is that of which the ling is the
type ; and, from the trivial name of that fish, the
division is styled Molva, or sometimes Lota, after the
burbot. The leading three characters are — the head
flattened ; the body elongated ; the second dorsal and
anal fin long, and their rays of nearly equal length.

THE LING (G. molva), has the body long in propor-
tion to the diameter, but very plump and compact in
flesh. The upper jaw is longer than the under ; the
caudal fin is rounded at the extremity, and marked
with a dusky bar. In the characters of all this
division, there is, indeed, a slight approximation to
those of the eels. The upper part of the ling is olive
grey, and the under part white, which is also the
colour of a narrow margin on the dorsal and anal fins.

The ling spawns in spring, at the same time with
the cod, so that the two are in season together. In-
deed, they inhabit nearly the same parts of the sea,
only the ling is rather the more northerly fish of the
two. On the north coasts of Scotland, and among
the northern isles, it is equally numerous with the cod,
if not more so ; but southwards it is rather more rare ;
and rarer still toward the south of England. It does
not appear that there is any southern variety, or, in-
deed, any variety at all of the ling, as there is of the
cod ; and, therefore, we know it chiefly as a northern
fish. It is, as has been already remarked, among the
most prolific of all fishes, and it has been observed of
fishes of the same family, that those which have the
body most elongated, are in general the most prolific.
In those seas where it is found, the ling is taken for
a supply of fresh provision as well as for salting ; but
as it is the most marketable of all the salted and dried
fish of large size, which are prepared in the north of
Scotland and the northern isles, it is chiefly salted and
dried there, the process being frequently no more
than spreading the split fish upon the rocks, and wa-
tering them from the sea. It attains a larger size
than the cod, though it is not so thick at the anterior
part. From three to four feet is the usual length of
ordinary sized ling, but specimens five feet in length are
not uncommon. The summer is the fishing time ; and
when the liver of the fish is white, the fish itself may
be considered as in condition ; but if the liver is co-
loured, it is not wholesome. The liver of the ling
gives an oil similar to that of the cod, and applicable
to the same purposes; indeed, it is probably finer and
more transparent. Altogether the ling is one of the
most interesting and valuable fishes in those seas
•which it inhabits, and it is quite a treasure to the
northern people.

BURBOT (G. lota). The jaws in this species are of
equal length, and the caudal fin is oval, and even a
little pointed at the termination, something approach-
ing in shape to that of an eel. The length varies from
one foot to three, and upwards ; the ground colour
is brownish, with blotches of pale yellow and olive.
The first dorsal fin is short, and consists of eleven
rays ; the second fin extends along the back, almost
to the caudal fin, which is another approximation to
the eel family. It is a river fish, and not a sea one ;
and as a British fish it has been found in the slow

rivers of the rich parts of England only. Different
from those which inhabit the sea, it spawns about the
middle of winter ; and it differs from the eels in
spawning in the cold season, and not descending the
rivers, so far as has been ascertained, for the purpose
of maturing its spawn. The common English name
"burbot" is a contraction of "bird-bolt" a kind of
short arrow shot from a cross-bow, which this fish is
understood to resemble in shape, and after which it
has accordingly been called. It is also named the
" eel-pout," and the " coney-fish." It is understood
to lie in watch for its prey, agitating the barbels on
its mouth, as if they were moving to attract the small
fishes upon which it preys ; and when they come
within its reach they are seized and swallowed. Its
gape is large, and it is furnished with seven rows of
teeth, so that there is little chance of escape for any
thing that once gets within its jaws. Its body has the
same slippery covering as that of the eels, so that
though taken in the hand, the hold of it is not easily
retained. Its flesh is very white, and much prized
for its flavour ; but the roe, the individual eggs of
which are very large, are understood to be unwhole-
some, and difficult of digestion. It is furnished with
a very large air-b.ig. On the continent it is found
much more abundantly than in Britain, and it also
occurs farther to the north, being known in Sweden
and Norway, while in the more sluggish-currented of
the German rivers it is very abundant. It is a sin-
gular fish : the general organisation is decidedly that
of the cod family ; but the form, some parts of the
organisation, and also both the habits and the locality,
approach to those both of the eels and the blennies.
It may be considered as among the most anomalous
of all the British fishes.

The next division are the Gades, of which the trivial
name of the common gadc, Mustcla, has been taken
for the sub-generic name by many, and the name
Gadus bv others. In the south of Scotland the com-
mon pike is called the " ge-d," but it must not be con-
founded with the gadcs of the. cod family. The cha-
racters are — the first dorsal fin very small, and the
head of moderate size. There are several species
which come under this division.

FIVE BANDED GADE (G. niustela). This species
has, as the trivial name imports, five filaments or bands
on the anterior part of the head. Of these four are
on the upper jaw, and one on the under. Two of the
upper ones are on the tore part of the mouth, and the
other two immediately over them. The remaining1
one is on the middle of the lower jaw, similar to that
in the common cod. It is a sea fish, found on tiie
coasts both of England and of Scotland, but more
frequently on the former, where it is called the "sea-
loche," the " whistle fish," and the " rockling," the last
of which names points out the kind of ground on
which it is most common. It also occurs on the
coasts of Germany, and in the Mediterranean. It is
about a foot and a half in length, generally olivt:
above, and whitish on the underside ; but its colours
are subject to considerable variations, and it is often
found spotted, and sometimes nearly white all over.
It is chiefly found among the seaweed about rocks,
where it feeds on Crustacea and mollusca.

THREE BANDED GADE ( G. tricirratus). This spe-
cies is about the same size with the former, but, as
the name implies, it has only three appendages, one
of which is on the lower jaw, and two on the upper.
Its colour is also different; and all the rays of the

G.ERTNERA —

dorsal fin are short, while in the five-bauded species
the first one is long. The yonng fish is reddish brown
but after it grows the length of seven or eight inches
it becomes reddish yellow, with large dusky spots.
It is, perhaps, more common on the British shore
than the former ; but its haunts and manners are
similar, and some regard it only as a variety.

SILVERY GADE (G. argettfariiu). This species has
been but little noticed, and in Britain only on the
south coast. Its manners are accordingly very little
known. The specimens which have been met with
have been very small, not exceeding two inches in
length ; and the colours were bluish green on the
upper part, and silvery on the under. It may pos-
sibly be the fry of the five banded gade ; and indeed
there is some obscurity about the species or varieties
which come under this division. They are, however,
of little importance for popular purposes, as none of
this division of the genus are of much value, and it
would be inconsistent with our plan to go into the
niceties of museum specimens.

The next division of the genus is that of which the
tusk is the type ; and, from its trivial name, the divi-
sion is called Brosmus. Some of the species are a
little confined and obscure, but others are well made
out, and of much interest and value.

THE TUSK, OR COMMON TUSK (Erasmus}. This
species must not be confounded with the torsk,
which is a spotted variety of the common cod, having
the same arrangement of fins, one-barred on the
lower jaw, and all the characters of the common cod,
except being spotted with brown, which the common
cod is not, though often with dull yellow. As a
British fish, the tusk is chiefly found in the most
northerly seas, where it attains the length of about
two feet. It is a bank fish, and caught in the same
places as the common cod and the ling, the last of
which it most nearly resembles in flesh. As is the
case with ling, it is not so much relished in the recent
state as cod, but, when salted and dried, it is a very
superior fish, and tusk and ling are often associated
together. It has the small dorsal and the anul fin
lengthened, the ventral fins fleshy, the pectorals and
caudal rounded at their terminations, and most of the
fins margined with white. The colour on the upper
part is dusky, that on the sides yellowish, and that
below white. It is one of the most northerly of the
whole of the cod family as a British fish ; but on the
banks among and near the Shetland islands it is far
from rare.

Some other species of tusk have been mentioned,
as one of a yellowish colour, occurring near New-
foundland, but not common, and another in the Me-
diterranean, with a single dorsal fin. The first may
be merely a coloured variety of the tusk of the north,
and the other seems to be somewhat doubtful ; at
least, it would be rather singular to find in the Medi-
terranean a fish which is known only in the extreme
north even as British. This, however, is not a
point for popular discussion.

Another division is named from the fork-head, the
trivial name of which, Physcis, is used as the general
name of the division. The species are somewhat
involved in obscurity.

THE COMMON FORK-HEAD (G.physds] is a species
occasionally met with on the south-west coast of
England, but it is rather of rare occurrence. It is
usually found about a foot in length ; it has large
eves, with white irides j the first dorsal fin is trian-

G A L A N T H U S. 565

gular, with the first ray produced ; the ventral fins
are twice the length of the head, placed far forward
on the throat, and each consisting of a single ray,
forked, or divided into two braches. The lateral line
\s curved, and the extremity of the tail rounded.
The head is very large. The one now mentioned
appears to be a southern fish, and is not met with on
any of the northerly coasts of Britain. There are
some others, which have been confounded with the
hake, and also with the blennies. One, the Phico of
the Italians, occurs in the Mediterranean, and on the
west coast of Spain, and an occasional stray appears
on the south coast of England. The head and
pectoral fins are red in the spring months.

THE THREE-FORKED HAKE, of British authors
(Raniceps trifurcatus], has the head flat, the mouth
wide, the first dorsal fin very obscure, and is said to
be about two inches in length. Little is known
respecting it, and it does not appear to be a fish of
very much interest.

The genus which Cuvier appends to the cod
famil}', without positively including them in it, are
the Grenadiers (Macrourus of Bloch, Lepedoliprus of
Risso). They have the muzzle depressed, and ad-
vanced farther forward than the mouth. The first
dorsal high, but short ; the second dorsal and the
anal long, and joining the caudal. The whole skin is
covered with hard scales, armed with spinous pro-
cesses ; and the teeth are very small. It does not
appear that these fishes, the history of which is
rather obscure, have any very striking resemblance to
the more typical members of the cod family. They
live in very deep water both in the Atlantic and the
Mediterranean, but probably not so far north as even
the south coasts of Britain. It is said that they make
a sort of growling sound with their gill-covers when
taken out of the water.

Such is an outline of this most interesting family
of fishes, short and imperfect it must be admitted, but
still all that our limits will afford, and, in some of the
species, all that we have any data for.

G^RTNERA (Roxburgh). A genus of climb-
ing plants, natives of India and China, formerly called
Hiptage mandablota by the botanist whose name they
now bear. The flowers are decandrious, and the
plants rank in the natural order Malpighiacece. They
Hower in our stoves, if allowed room, and are
propagated by cuttings.

GAL AGO, a genus of mammalia, belonging to the
order Quadrumana, or those which have the four
extremities formed for grasping. Arranged by Cuvier
in the family of the Lemuridee, or those four-handed
animals, which have the cutting teeth in one or other
of the jaws different from the apes. The other genus
to which they are most nearly allied is that of the
Levies or slow lancers ; but they differ in many par-
•iculars, and they inhabit a different locality. The
lovies are found only in the south-east of Asia and
in the eastern islands, while the galago belong ex-
clusively to Africa and the islands near its eastern
shore. We shall, however, save repetition, and
place the relations of these animals in a clearer light
ay considering them along with those other genera
,n one general article LEMURIDEE, to which accord-
ingly the reader is referred.

GALANTHUS (Linnzeus). The G. nivalis is
the well-known snow-drop, of which there are only
two species. It belongs to the natural order Ama-
ryllidece.

566

GALATEAD.E — GALEOLARIA.

GALATEAD^E (Leach ; or more properly
GALATHEID.E). A family of macrourous ten-footed
Crustacea, nearly allied to the lobster family, distin-
guished by a broader and flattened form, by the
lateral portions of the tail being formed into plates
capable of opening and shutting like a fan, and by the
spurious condition of the fifth pair of legs ; the two
anterior legs are large, and often very much flattened ;
the terminal segment of the tail is bilobed. The
species are all marine, and some of them, although
belonging to the section Macroura, have all the
appearance of the crabs or Brachyura.

In the typical genus (Galathea, Fabricius) the tail
is extended, the carapace or shell oval or oblong,
rugose, or transversely striated and ciliated ; the
middle antennae extended, and the claws are elonga-
ted. These crabs, or nocturnal animals, some species
residing in rocky situations at a considerable depth,
whilst others prefer a flat bottom at an equal depth,
where they are found amongst Algae, Fucus, &c.
M. Risso has published the description of a fossil
species found in the excavations near Nice, which he
names Gal. antiqua. According to M. Bosc, the
mode in which the renewing of the shell is effected is
very different from that which ordinarily occurs, this
author asserting that it is by means of a general dis-
location of all the articulations or scales of the body,
together with the rapid production of intermediate
plates, which become soldered to the old covering,
that this is effected. We need only to refer to our
article on the Crustacea in general for an account of
the ordinary mode in which the moulting of these
animals takes place, and which we should conceive,
from analogy, must also occur in the genus under
consideration.

There are two British species belonging to this
genus, the names of which have been much confused
by Dr. Leach. The typical species is the Galathea
strigosa (Fabricius ; Spinigera, Leach). It is of a red
colour, variegated with blue ; the rostrum acute,
seven-spined ; the claws short, spinose, and com-
pressed.

A third British species, Galathea rugosa ( Fab.), forms
the type of Leach's genus Mitneda, The other genera
are Grimotca, JKglea, Calypso, Pisidla, and Porcaellana,
the last of which is at once distinguished by the tail,
which is folded under the body as in the Brachyura ;
the shell, moreover, is flat and orbicular, or sub-
quadrate, and the claws triangular and nearly flat.
The type is the Cancer platychelcs of Pennant. It is
found upon our rocky coasts.

GALATHEA (Lamarck; VENUS, Linnaeus).
This very elegant mollusc inhabits fresh water rivers.
Its general character is as follows : — The shell is
equivalve, subtriangular, the primary teeth furrowed,
two on the right valve, joined at the base, three on
the other valve, placed triangularly, the intermediate
one being advanced, separate, thick, and callous ; the
muscular impressions are lateral, and appear double
on either side. In its native state this shell is covered
with a greenish epidermis, beneath which the surface
is of an ivory white, highly polished, and from two to
four delicately coloured violet rays, diverging from
the apex to the margin, which is also slightly tinged
with violet, particularly at those points of continuation
of the rays which indicate the local position of the
animal's excretory ducts of colouring pigment. In
the arrangement of recent malacologists this shell is
described as a species of Cyclas, to which it certainly

bears a close affinity. It may also claim an union
with the genus Cyrena, which is now also united to
the genus Cyclas, the distinctive characters being too
finely developed to warrant a separation of the genera.
Sowerby has very properly changed the name of this
genus to that of Potamopliila, Galathea being the name
given by Fabricius (and likewise adopted by Lamarck)
to a genus of Crustacea. All the species of these
molluscs inhabit fresh water, being located in the mud,
and consequently but rarely met with in the ordinary
course of seeking shells. The greater number are
from India. Several fossil species have been de-
scribed by Defrance and Brocchi ; and Mr. Gumming,
by whom malacology is so highly enriched, has dis-
covered several species, hitherto unknown, of this
genus and its congeners. In the general system we
have adopted as our guide, in order to assume a given
arrangement, this genws is classed in the third class
Acephalophora, third order Lamellibranchiata, eighth
family Conchacea.

GALAXIA (Linnaeus). A genus of Cape bulbs,
bearing beautiful flowers. They belong to the order
Iridece, and are grown in sandy loam and leaf mould,
kept dry when torpid, and watered only when they
are growing. They are usually kept in a frame, or
in the greenhouse.

GALBANUM is the Bubon galbanum of Willde-
now, a Cape of Good Hope shrub, which yields a
gum much used in medicine.

GALE, or SWEET GALE, is the Myrica gale of
Linnaeus, a plant common in the northern bogs of
Britain and Ireland, valued for its fine scout.

GALEOBDOLON (Smith), G. luteiim, is the
yellow dead nettle of English botany, a weed common
in moist shady places. It belongs to Labiate.

GALEODES (Olivier— SOLPUGA, Liechtenstein),
a remarkable genus of arachnidous animals, forming
the type of a distinct family Galeodidee or Sofyugidee,
in the order Adelarthrosomata, having somewhat the
appearance of large spiders, but possessing a pair of
large compressed claws attached in front of the mouth
having the finger moveable. The palpi are large, and
resemble antennas or legs, the eyes are attached in
front of the thorax, and the abdomen, which is fleshy
and very hairy, is composed of nine joints. The palpi
are furnished with a small organ of a whitish colour,
which is only exerted when the animal is irritated. They
run with great rapidity, throwing up the head in an
attitude of defence when attacked, and are reputed
venomous, whence the name of the typical species,
fatalis (Fabricius). With the exception of a spe-
cies found near Havanah by M. Poey, the species of
this genus inhabit the hot sandy countries of the old
world. Figures of some of the Egyptian species with
anatomical details, are represented with the highest
degree of accuracy in the great work upon Egypt,
undertaken by order of Bonaparte.

GALEOLARIA (Lamarck). This genus of mol-
luscs nearly approximate to the Vcrnrilia, but the size
of the shell, the peculiar structure of the aperture,
and, more especially, the extraordinary operculum
have induced Lamarck to constitute the present
genus. Their tubes are found adhering together at
the base in crowded groups or tufts, open at the sum-
mits ; the aperture is orbicular, terminating on one
side in a spatulous tongue (lingulmn spalulatuni) ; the
operculum is squamose, furnished on the upper side
with small testaceous pieces or valves, from five to
nine in number, the middle one dentated at the

GALEOMMA-GALEOPITHECUS.

567

truncated part of its summit, the others a little toothed
on their internal margin ; the whole of them attached
to the edge of the operculum on one side only.

GALEOMMA (Daudin). This shell is found in
the British Channel, and one species described by
Turton. It is equivalve, inequilateral, transverse,
with the front margin gaping in an oval form ; the
hincfo without teeth, and the ligament internal.

GALEOPITHECUS— Flying cat. A genus of
Cuvier's order Carnassicr, and the division Cheiroptera
of that order, which division comprises only the
present genus or family, and the fur more numerous
one of the bats. The epithet " flying- cat," as applied
to these animals is of course absurd, and so is "flying
lemur," which has also been given to them.

As little can these animals be classed as having
much resemblance to the bats, cither in their external
structure or in the form and arrangement of their
teeth. In the bats, the toes of the fore feet are very
much produced ; the flying membrane is expanded
on them, and there are large pectoral muscles which
give them motion in the air, very inferior to that of a
bird, no doubt, but still bearing a slight resemblance
to it. In the animals of the present genus, on the
other hand, the toes of the fore feet are not more
produced than those of the hind ones ; the membranes
are not proprely flying membranes, and there are no
pectoral muscles by means of which the animals can
take a stroke in the air so as to have continuous
flight. In bats, though the flying membrane is often
so far continued on the upper part of the hind legs,
the hind feet are always free ; but in the genus
galeopithecus, the hind feet are as much connected
with the membrane as the fore ones, and the intervals
of the toes are webbed by a continuation ol similar
membrane. In the anterior part of the membrane
there is also considerable difference. The head is
always free in the bats, and so is the greater part of
the neck. But in the present genus, the membrane
extends as far forward on both sides of the head as
the jaw, or even the gape. There is thus absolutely
too much of the membrane for the purposes of flight-
the animals are so entangled in it that they cannot
by possibility fly, or take one stroke in the air with
the membranes. They are thus not flying animals at
all ; and the membranes can answer no other purpose
than that of a parachute to bring them up when they
leap farther than their weight could otherwise be
supported. Their whole motion cannot, however, be
derived from the leap, which is at first taken from a
solid point of support, and they can gain no new
impetus till they alight on a second support and leap
again.

From the way in which they are entangled in the
membrane, it is also obvious that, while it is extended
they can make no use of any part of their bodies
farther than merely opening and shutting the
mouth.

Any one who is in the least acquainted with the
principles of animal mechanics, must at once see al
this. There is no wing, or fin, or foot, or any other organ
for motion of any animal, which has bones attachec
to pieces of the skeleton, or of the membranes to
which the organs of motion are articulated at a dis-
tance from each other. There may be many bone:
from different parts of the body to support the point
to which the organ of motion is articulated, some very
fine, instances of which will be found noticed in the
article BIRD, and there may be any number anc

arrangement of the bones in the moving part, further
away from the body than this point. But the
primary articulation of the organ, is always one single
attachment, and the proximal part of it a single bone ;
and if the motion is to be a powerful one, the head
of that bone is always a trocltanter, and the joint a
single ball and socket joint. There is no exception
to this in any one organ of motion in the whole
animal kingdom in cases where the organs are sup-
ported by bones, which is the case in all the verte-
brated animals ; and it would be just as impossible
for an animal to move with its fore and hind legs
tied together with natural membranes, as if they were
tied with ropes. In the case of the bats, the hind
legs have no motion in flight ; for the whole of the
flying membrane is put in motion on the shoulder-
joint, and the only use of the hind leg in those
which have the membrane extended to it, is to act as
a point of support and rest. As little could these
animals use the neck, by bending it in any one way
which the membranes are stretched ; for these brace
it with equal firmness on both sides, and hold it tightly
in the same position, just as the shrouds on the two
sides hold the mast of a vessel. Every animal which
can really fly, that is, which can take a new impulse
from the air as a fulcrum, has its head, and its feet,
if it has feet in addition to the organs of flight, which
is generally the case, free when it flies, otherwise it
would be helpless and imperfect. The same observa-
tions which have now been made apply to what are
called flying squirrels, to the marsupial animals of
Australia which have extended membranes, and to
every animal which stretches a membrane by mean*
of two feet on each side. Not one of them can fly ;
and therefore the application of the epithet flying to
them is improper, as tending to mislead the ignorant.

The teeth of the Galeopitheci, are as peculiar as
their membranes, — their mouths being the most com-
pletely insectivorous of any in the whole class of
mammalia. Their cheek teeth are all tuberculated
in their crowns. Their canine teeth are no higher
than the cheek teeth, and they are tuberculated.
They have two front teeth in the upper jaw, which
are also tuberculated ; and they have six fore teeth
in the under jaw which are formed something like
combs.

These animals are found only in the islands on
the south-east of Asia, where they inhabit trees, and
arc rarely, if ever found on the ground. One prin-
cipal part of their food is insects, of which, from the
structure of their teeth there can be little doubt ;
another is said to be the leaves of the forest trees ;
and in the case of the succulent ones, this is by no
means unlikely. It is, however, added by some de-
scribers that they eat birds ; but this is by no means
so probable, — we are not acquainted with any bird-
eating mammalia, which have not canine teeth adapted
for wounding, and also something in a more rearward
part of the jaw which may be considered as a carni-
vorous tooth, of some kind or other.

These animals have five toes on each of the feet;
the fore and hind feet are formed very like each
other ; and all the toes are articulated in the same
plane, so that none of them acts against the other, or
has the least resemblance to a thumb. The feet are
turned laterally, and by no means adapted for walk-
ing ; and, as is the case with the sloths, their most
powerful action is inwards, especially of the hind
feet. They can hang suspended by these feet to a

568

branch ; but enough of attention has not been paid
to their anatomy for enabling us to ascertain whether
this is done wholly by muscular effort, or whether it
in part depends on an elastic ligament. They leap
from tree to tree, or at least from one branch to
another ; and the females — which have pectoral
mammae, carry the young partly in the membrane
and partly embraced by one fore leg.

There are several museum species ; but there is
not more than one real one very clearly made out.
It is about the size of a cat, reddish grey on the
upper part and reddish on the under ; but it is under-
stood that the young are differently coloured from
the old ones, and that they go through several
differences of colour before the\r arrive at their full
growth. They are found in the Philippines, the
Pelew islands, and various other groups in the eastern
seas ; but it does not appear that they occur on the
main land of Asia. They are said to have a strong
and unpleasant odour ; but the islanders where they
are found seek after them with avidity, and eat their
flesh with considerable zest. They are different in
many respects from all other known animals, and not
the least singular part of their history is that they
are confined to so very limited a locality ; and that
we have no reason to suppose that they are in any
way a remnant of a race which had once been more
widely distributed and consisted of more species ;
for the islands which they inhabit cannot be regarded
as remains of a former continent ; but are rather
independent formations of more recent date than even
the continent of Asia. We want more information
respecting them for any thing like scientific detail.

GALERUCID^E, a family of herbivorous beetles
belonging to the section Tetramcra, and sub-section
Cyclica of Latreille, and nearly allied to the Chryso-
melida (which see, for general observations on those
groups), but distinguished by having the antennae in-
serted close together, and exposed at the base, the
joints being sub-cylindrical, with the terminal ones
generally somewhat thickened ; the body is oval, or
rounded, and the palpi have the terminal joint more
or less conical. These insects, which are generally
of a small, or but of moderate size, are herbivorous in
their larva and perfect state ; the typical species seem
to prefer aquatic plants, and herbs growing in damp
situations, upon which we have found some of the
larvae ; whilst others are found upon plants in hedges
and fields, especially preferring the Cruciate. The
genera are Adorium, Adimonia, Auchenia, Lupei-us,
Calomicrus, Galeruca, and Haltica, with the numerous
sub-generic divisions of the latter genus, which com-
prises the troublesome turnip-fly (Haltica nemorum).
(See HALTICA.) The typical genus Galeruca (Geof-
froy), comprises those species which have the legs of
equal size, the hinder pair not being formed for leap-
ing ; the antenna? with short sub-conical joints, the
second being only half the length of the third ; the
elytra are oval and convex. The species of this
genus are rather numerous, and of dull colours. The
typical species, Gal. tanaceti (Linnxus), being entirely
black and rugose ; it is rather common, and creeps
very slowly. It takes firm hold, however, upon the
plants on which it is found, by means of the cushions
with which the underside of the feet are furnished. —
It varies in length from one-third to half an inch.
There are twelve other British species.

GALIUM (Linnaeus), an extensive genus of Euro-
pean annual, biennial, and perennial weeds, some of

GALERUCID.E — GALLINID^.

which are, however, pretty, and frequently met with
ornamenting waste grounds or drv banks, and fami-
liarly known by the name of ladies' bed-straw. The
G. aparine, or cleavers, is one of our most common
hedge-bank plants, and well known from the circum-
stance of its seed-vessels or burs cleaving to the dress
of persons coming in contact with it. It belongs to
the natural order of Rubiacece.

GALLINID^E (poultry, and birds resembling
poultry). A very numerous and well defined order
of birds, consisting of numerous genera, and probably
in strict systematic arrangements, of several distinct
families ; but we shall be enabled to shorten our de-
scription of them, by bringing into this article the
whole, except such as we have already described in
the articles ARGUS, CURASSOW, and some others. In
Cuvier's system, the pigeons and doves are included
as a section of the order ; but they are sufficiently
distinct and peculiar for being made the subject of a
separate description and we shall include them all in
one general article, PIGEON, which will be found in
\ its place in the alphabet.

In the meantime, therefore, we have to deal only
with the GallinidtE properly so called ; and we shall
first offer a few remarks on the general characters of
the order, and then enumerate the leading genera,
adding particular descriptions of those species which
may appear to be most worthy of attention. The
legs of these birds are all formed for walking, and the
upper parts are, accordingly, well supplied with mus-
cles ; but the muscles in them are not so completely
concentrated upon the legs, as they are in the ostrich
family, and other birds which have no power of flight.
On the other hand, the gallinidai, though not in any
ca50 birds of long flight, are remarkable for the faci-
lity with which they can take the wing, and also
descend. The peculiar structure of their wings, as
adapted for the accomplishment of those purposes,
will be found explained in the article BIRD ; and we
shall, probably, have occasion, in the sequel of this
article, to advert to some of the variations of structure
which characterise particular genera or species. The
front toes are mostly united at their base by a short
membrane, and toothed along their margin ; the upper
mandible arched, the nostrils pierced in a broad mem-
branous space at the base of the bill, and partially
covered with a cartilaginous scale. They have short
wings, a heavy gait, a bony sternum, diminished by
two notches, so deep and broad that they occupy
nearly all its sides ; its ridge obliquely truncated for-
wards, so that the sharp point of the fork is united to
it only by a ligament ; circumstances which, by greatly
weakening the pectoral muscles, render their flight
laborious. The general number of the tail feathers is
fourteen, but it varies from that to eighteen or twenty.
From the structure of their larynx being simple, their
note is seldom agreeable. Their crop is very wide,
and they have a very vigorous gizzard. Nearly the
whole of the species lay and hatch their eggs on the
ground, on bits of straw, or herbage carelessly put
together.

In many of the genera, though not in all, the males
are polygamous, each having a number of females in
his train ; and as is the case with all birds which have
this habit, the males fight battles of gallantry with
great courage and determination, and the females, as
is also the case in the other races, fall to the lot of
the victor. This peculiarity in polygamous birds has
never been very satisfactorily explained upon physio-

G A L L I N I D M.

569

logical principles ; but it should seem to have at least
some connexion with the preserving of the spirit and
vigour of the race. The monogamous ones do not
show this pugnacity, but dwell apart and in peace
with a single female, and their brood, to which in
general they are much more attached than the more
warlike polygamists. It is from this habit of shedding
his blood for the sake of the other sex, on the part of
the common domestic cock (gallus], that duels and
strifes in the matter of females of the human race
came to be called " gallantry," which again became
expressive of all particular and marked attentions to
the sex, and subsequently bravery in a general sense.
In the polygamous species, the males take no share
in preparing the nest, or rearing the young, which are
for the most part very numerous, and capable of run-
ning immediately after issuing from the shell. The
female guides and protects them till they moult, and
calls them together by a particular cry for feeding. —
The males are furnished, in most species, with spurs
on their tarsi. They walk and parade very majestic
and graceful, and run nimbly ; but they fly with dif-
ficulty, and a whirring noise. Though they chiefly
subsist on grain, and the seeds of plants, yet they like-
wise eat insects, grubs, and worms, which are mace-
rated in their crop. Their gastric juice, it appears,
will not dissolve entire grains; for those of barley, for
example, inclosed in tubes, or perforated spherules,
are not affected by its action ; but, should the same
grains be by any means broken.or ground, they dissolve
very speedily. The food undergoes previous tritura-
tion in the gizzard, a very strong muscular viscus,
whose internal coat is hard and cartilaginous. How-
ever, as this is not the sort of animal substance suited
to the reception of glands, or to secretions, the gastric
iuice in this family is not supplied by the stomach it-
self, but by the gullet, in which the feeding glands are
placed, and from which it trickles down into the sto-
mach. Spallanzani, from this peculiarity of nature's
economy, appears to have been struck with the resem-
blance between the stomachs of gallinaceous birds,
and the structure of a corn-mill ; for, while the two
sides of the gizzard perform the office of the mill-
stones, the crop, or craw, may be compared to the
hopper. When our domestic fowls are abundantly
supplied with food, they speedily fill their crop ; but
its contents do not pass immediately into the giz-
zard ; and at all times they enter in very small quan-
tities, in proportion to the progress of trituration. —
The principal part of the species belonging to this
order are very quickly, and without much trouble,
tamed, and on account of their flesh, their feathers,
and eggs, are very useful to mankind.

So valuable, indeed, are they in both respects, that
it is doubtful whether they are more prized as domes-
ticated, and in the species which form the ornament,
and at the same time contribute not a little to the
wealth of the farmyard, or in the others which are
still under nature, or at most in a state of prolation,
not of domestication.

The range of these birds, in the different genera
and species, is greater than that of perhaps any other
order in the whole class. We find them resident all
the year round in the very extreme of latitude, upon
the wilds of Lapland, in that dreary wilderness which
forms the northern portion of America, and on the
tops of the most lofty mountains in our own country.
There they abide, habitually higher than any other
living creature, and changing their colours, so as to

resemble lichen-clad stone in the summer, and the
unstained white of the mountain snow in the winter.
Then, when we come to the less elevated but more
extended heath, which is still a wilderness, we find
other races which make such situations their perma-
nent abodes ; and where, notwithstanding the many
enemies to which they are exposed, they breed in
vast numbers. So also when we come to the hollow
in the wilds, the bushy margin of the wild morass, we
find that it too has its peculiar race of gallinaceous
birds ; for there the black cock is as constant to his
locality as the ptarmigan is to the summit of the lofty
mountain, or the red grouse to the upland moor. As
little does the pine forest lack its bird of this order ;
for in the vast assemblages of pine and other trees of
giant growth, which fill the dells and frown over the
steeps of the Scandinavian mountains, the wood grous,
one of the most splendid birds of the whole, is found
in such numbers as to form a considerable article of
export trade. This fine speciecs was once native,
and, according to the older accounts, not rare, in the
northern parts of our island ; but it has disappeared
for these many years, and there is no doubt that it is
now extinct. We believe that attempts have been
made to introduce it artificially into the artificial pine
woods, but they have not succeeded, whether from
the circumstance of the bird not meeting with its pro-
per food in these places, or from any other, we are
unable to say. This much, however, is certain, that
the native pines, among which the wood grous was
wont to dwell, in the Highlands of Scotland, rivalled
in quality those among which it still dwells in Nor-
way and Sweden ; and that the planted pine which
have come in their stead are very different and very
inferior. We have heard it remarked that the planted
pines, and especially the spruces, none of which, we
believe, were ever natives of the Highlands, destroy
the bilberry, the heath-berry, and the juniper, which
are understood to furnish these birds with a consider-
able portion of their food ; but what truth there may
be in this, we have not the means of ascertaining.

When we descend to lower elevations and richer
pastures, these birds still accompany our steps, and
we have no sooner taken leave of the grouse at the
margin of the moor, than we find the partridge on the
first cultivated ground, and it continues with ns till
we come almost to the threshold of the rustic
dwelling, to the close vicinity of the town, or to the
shore of the sea ; and though the quail is now
rarely, if at all, resident in the British islands, we
find it inhabiting still lower down ; but the quail is
a more discursive bird from country to country than
those which we have mentioned.

All the gallinidae which can be considered as of
polar or northern extraction seem to be common to
the two continents, or at all events not to differ much
more than the mammalia of which the same genera
are common to both ; and from the readiness with
which most of the birds of this order adapt themselves
to circumstances, and take a type from those circum-
stances, we might be prepared to expect at least as
great differences as there arc between the grous of
the eastern continent and the grous of America, even
though both may have been originally of the same
stock.

When, however, we come to the southern latitudes
where the wide seas cut off the continents from each
other, so that they are too distant for land birds gene-
rally, and for gallinaceous birds especially, passing

570

GALLINID.E.

from the one to the other, we find that they are all
different. Of the species which are best known as
migrant birds in Europe, the greater number are from
the south-east of Asia, the common country of the
domestic cock, the peacock, and at least all the more
gaily dressed species of pheasants. In Africa we
have the Guinea fowl, and in America, the most cha-
racteristic bird is perhaps that which has been, ab-
surdly enough, called the " Turkey," as if it had come
from quite another part of the world.

All these birds of the warmer and the tropical lati-
tudes are more of woodland birds than the majority
of the northern ones ; and though they all feed, and
most of them nestle, on the ground, they are, generally
speaking, perchers ; and so strong is this habit in them
that even those which have been domesticated from
time immemorial retain it, and always, if they can,
mount to a perch for the night.

Such is the geographical distribution of the leading
members of the order ; and it will not fail to occur to
the reader that they are most abundant in those
places of the world which are also the chief native
haunts of the ruminating mammalia. Indeed, in as
far as there can be a resemblance between birds and
mammalia, there is a considerable resemblance be-
tween the gallinidse and the ordinary ruminantia ;
and it would not perhaps be any very great stretch of
fancy to trace a resemblance between the camel
family of the ruminating animals and the ostrich
family. The gallinidee, like the ruminants, are all
feeders upon the ground ; and although the mam-
malia are by no means so miscellaneous in their
feeding as the birds, but confine themselves more
exclusively to vegetable substances, yet the birds
prefer vegetable food when they can find it properly
suited to their taste. There is even a coincidence
between the sections of the one order and those of
the other, which is too striking for being overlooked.
Those of both which are most homeward, and inhabit
the fattest pastures, have the flesh most tender and
delicate, and the human stomach can bear it for the
greatest length of time ; while those which are more
distant and shy in their inhabiting have the flesh of
higher and more pungent flavour, but less congenial
to the stomach. A person in good health could
contrive to dine daily, for a long time, upon beef or
barn-door fowls, but would soon tire if wholly confined
to venison and grouse, or even pheasants.

There is something very pleasant, and not a little
worthy both of remark and of admiration, in those
natural coincidences. Those things, whether of the
animal or the vegetable kingdom, which are capable
of furnishing man with the most abundant, the most
nourishing, and the most wholesome food, are the very
ones which come> of their own nature and instinct,
the nearest to the place of his abode. It is impos-
sible not to perceive in this that there is an express
provision for man in the very arrangement and system
of nature ; and that, if he will but take the trouble of
observing and knowing all the powers and productions
of nature around him, it will succeed and reward his
exertions, and beacon the way to farther knowledge
and more complete enjoyment.

Nor is it less worthy of attention, that there is
always a corresponding beauty which accompanies
utility in these matters. The orchard, the corn-field,
the meadow, and the down, are associated with so
many pleasurable feelings, that the very mention of
them is music to the ear ; and every feeling of rural

innocence, and full abundance, and beauty, and happy
content, is linked with the thought of the bleating
flock and the lowing herd. The poultry-yard, too,
has its charms ; and if there be no crowing, and
cackling, and gabbling, in the neighbourhood of a
farm-house, or of any residence in the country, a
heavy sense of desolation comes over the mind.
Neither must we despise the sounds given out by the
wilder species of this order. The sound of the wings
of partridges, and their soft clucking cry when they
"jug" in the field, and invite each other to the com-
mon safety and the common shelter, have something
delightful in them. They are sounds which are heard
only in the land of plenty ; and the feeling of fertility,
and all the joys which it brings arise whenever those
sounds are uttered.

It is not, of course, to be supposed that there can
be much internal resemblance between the gallinidae
and ruminating animals, because the feeding and
digestive organs of birds differ much, taken on the
whole, from those of the mammalia. But there is
some resemblance. The gallinidso have, generally
speaking, three stomachs, and their intestines are
more lengthened than those of most birds, and
furnished with two caecal appendages about six
inches in length. These three stomachs are the craw,
or pouch, into which the food is taken, as into little
more than a simple store, where it is sent gradually
to the other parts of the digestive apparatus. In this
viscus the food undergoes very little change, though
it may be partially softened. This craw opens
laterally from the gullet. The second stomach is a
dilatation of the gullet itself, and is furnished with
glands which secrete a peculiar fluid ; and it is here
also that the drink of the birds mingles with the food.
The third stomach is the gizzard, the texture of
which is very strong and muscular, and the inner
coat so hard and compact, as to have the appearance
of firm cartilage. This viscus can exert a very
powerful action, so powerful as to grind down glass
and metals in a very short time, without appearing to
sustain any injury. It is into this part of the struc-
ture the small stones and gravel are taken along
with the food. The precise office which these per-
form in the digestion of the animal is not accurately
known, but there is every reason for believing that it
is very important ; for it has been ascertained, by
actual and repeated trial, that some of the order,
the pheasants, for instance, can thrive as well on half
the quantity of food, when they have free access to
gravel, that they require when they have no such
access. The inference of course is, that the gravel
must, in some way or other, double the digestive
powers of the bird, inasmuch as they enable it to
draw equal, or even superior nourishment, from only
half the quantity of food, but those assisting matters
never substantially add anything to the nourishment.
We have, however, already alluded to Spallanzani's
somewhat whimsical comparison of this gizzard to a
corn-mill, though it does not exactly hold, as the
gizzard, which may be considered as the one mill-
stone, grinds the others as well as the food, and the
gastric juice afforded by the glands of the second
stomach is mixed with the food before it reaches the
gizzard ; so that, if the action of it is a grinding action,
it is not " dry -grinding," but rather resembles beating,
or kneading in a mortar, along with a solvent fluid,
which aids in rendering the harder substance.

We shall now very shortly mention the general

GALLINID^E.

571

arrangement of these birds. Cuvier makes seven
families :

1. ALECTORS (Alectoridts), of which we have given
some slight notice under that title. Of this family
there are four genera ; Curassows ( Crax), which
have been already noticed ; Pauxi (Oura.v] ; Guan
(Penelope) ; and Parraqua (Otialida).

2. OPISTHOCOMUS (the Hoazin of Buffon), of
which there is but one species, and very little is
known of it.

•'i. PEACOCKS (Pavo), forming1 two genera, the
peacocks properly so called, and Lophapkorut.

4. TUIIKEYS (JMWfOgri*).

ft. GUINEA FOWL (Nitmida),

o'. PHEASANTS (Phaimniis], of which there are
four genera : Common Fowls (Gall us) ; Pheasants
(Pha&iamti) ; Hoitppifcm, Tragopon, and Cryptonix.

7. GUOUSE (Ti'truo), of which the genera, and also
ihe species, are much more numerous than inmost of
the others. As it would exceed our limits, and be
inconsistent with the plan of this work, to go into all
the details, we shall advert most particularly to those
that possess the greatest interest ; and, for this rea-
son, we shall begin with those that may be con-
sidered as most typical of the order, and, at the same
time, of most value to man.

GALLUS. — The common Cock, or common domes-
tic poultry. This is the genus from which the order
is named, and must, therefore, be considered as the
typical one ; and it is so well known as not to require
much description. The most general characters of the
male bird are, a fleshy crest on the crown of the head,
which usually consist's of a single pectinated lamella,
or plate, which is called the " comb ; " but it is some-
times double, or even formed into a kind of rosette.
The sides of the base of the under mandible are also
each furnished with a pendent lobe, of the same ap-
pearance and texture as the crest, and these are
called '• wattles." When the bird is in " prime fea-
ther," these appendages are of a bright crimson ; but
when moulting, or otherwise in bad condition, they
are pale ; and when the bird is exposed to severe
cold, they are purple or bluish. The tail consists
of fourteen feathers, seven on each side, which fold
backwards against each other, like the leaves of a
book, when the bird is on the ground or in a state of
repose. The tail-coverts are much produced, and
hang over the tail feathers in very graceful arches ;
and they are often richly glossed with metallic reflec-
tions of bronze, purple, or green. The feathers on
the neck are also very much produced and pointed.
These feathers are called the " hackle." In a state
of repose, they form a mantle on the neck and upper
part of the shoulder ; but when the bird is excited
and shows fight, they are erected, and break the force
of any stroke aimed against that part of the body. All
the varieties have a naked space on the cheeks and
round the eyes, which is of the same texture as the
comb and wattles, and varies in colour in the same
way. This character belongs to the female as well as
the. male ; but in the female the crest and wattles are
merely nulimontal, excepting in some individuals
which have become barren, and they acquire a sort of
neuter appi-arunce, intermediate between that of the
male and the fertile female. The male is furnished
with a horny spur on the tarsus, which is his weapon
of war ; and this, which is only rudimental, if at all
visible, in the fertile female, sometimes appears in
those that have become barren. When the female

has put on any of these appearances of the male, it
may always be concluded that her barrenness is con-
firmed, and that she has ceased to be useful in a
domestic point of view.

It would be in vain to attempt any description of
the varieties of common poultry, as they occur in a
domestic state. But though they have been famili-
arly known and very abundant, in all parts of the
eastern world pretending to any degree of civilisation
and domestic economy, ever since, and even before
the earliest historic records, it was long before any
knowledge of their native country was obtained.
Inured to almost every climate, from the greatest
heat to the most intense cold, they appear to have
accompanied the human race in all their migrations ;
and as they are remarkably obedient to circumstances,
even to those that are too minute for being observed
by mankind, they take a type from countries, and
even from districts. They vary much in size, and
their tints and shades of colour are endless. Some
have the tarsi bare, while others have their feathers
down to the division of the toes. In some, the crest
on the top of the head is replaced by a tuft of fea-
thers, which is often very handsome ; but in some of
the varieties, these feathers grow so long as to hang
down over their eyes and obstruct the vision of the
birds. Some have the comb and the wattles quite
black, and when this is the case, the same colour
extends to the periosteum, or membrane covering the
bones, in all the skeleton. There seems to be a re-
markable susceptibility to colour in the periosteum of
these birds, which is soon communicated to the sub-
stance of the bones ; for when dye-stuffs are mixed
with their food, the tint of the dye tells upon the
bones. In many of the varieties, too, there are mon-
strous productions of the feet. Thus, for instance, a
fine breed which are met with chiefly in the county
of Surrey, and known as %< Dorking fowls," have five
or six toes upon each foot. This formation is not,
however, confined to that particular breed, but occurs
in probably all breeds, for " a ten-toed hen," is an ex-
pression known in many parts of the country ; and
in the witching times, when charms and counter-
charms were in repute, and all singular productions
of nature were called in to help in the matters of
weal or woe, the ten-toed hen had her use, much in
the same way that the crowing of the cock was un-
derstood to send quietly to their repose in " the Red
Sea," during the day, those spirits of nocturnal fear
which ventured to walk the earth when the clarion-
sentinel of the village was slumbering on his perch.
Absurd as these matters are in themselves, they suffice
to show the interest which our ancestors took in those
birds ; and, indeed, there is no animal which makes
a more conspicuous figure in ancient history and fable
than the common cock. His beauty, his bravery, his
usefulness, and, as much as anything, his cheerful and
early call, when the grey of morning has barely
streaked the east, all conspire to render him one of
the most interesting of birds. We give the following
quotation from Pliny, as a specimen of the opinions
of the ancients : " Next to the peacock," says he,
" the birds which are most sensible to glory are those
active sentinels which nature has produced to rouse
us from our matin slumbers, and send us to our daily
occupations. They are acquainted with the stars,
and every three hours they indicate by their crowing
the different periods of the day. They retire to
repose with the setting sun, and from the fourth mili-

572

G A L L I N I D JE.

tary watch they recal us loudly to our labours and
cares. They do not suffer the day-beam to surprise
us without timely warning. Their crowing announces
the hour of morning, and the crowing itself is an-
nounced by the clapping of their wings. Each farm-
yard has its peculiar king ; and amongst these mo-
narchs, as amongst princes of our race, empire is the
meed of victory. They appear to comprehend the
design of those weapons with which their feet are
armed. It is not uncommon for two rivals to perish
in the combat. If one be conqueror, he immediately
sings forth his triumph, and proclaims his own supre-
macy ; the other retreats and disappears, ashamed of
his defeat. The gait of the cock is proud and com-
manding ; he walks with head erect and elevated
crest. Alone of all birds he habitually looks up to
the sky, raising at the same time his curved and
sithe-formed tail, and inspiring terror in the lion
himself, that most intrepid of animals. Some of
these birds seem actually bora for nothing but war-
fare and battles ; some have rendered the countries
which produced them famous, such as Rhodes and
Tanagra. The second rank is assigned to those from
Melos and Chalcis, — birds truly worthy of the homage
they receive from the Roman people ! Their repasts
are solemn presages ; they regulate daily the conduct
of our magistrates, and open or close to them their
own houses. They prescribe repose or movement to
the Roman fasces ; they command or prohibit battles ;
they have announced all the victories gained through-
out the universe ; in a word, they lord it over the
masters of the world. Their very entrails and fibres
are not le.ss agreeable to the gods than the richest
victims. Their prolonged notes in the evening, and
at extraordinary hours, constitute presages. By
crowing all nightlong they announced to the Boeotians
a celebrated victory over the Lacedemonians ; thus
did the diviners interpret it, because this bird never
crows when he is conquered."

The cock is more stately in his march than any
bird, or, indeed, than almost any animal. His tread
is slow and firm, his step long, and his whole frame
expressive of energy and vigour. The eye of the
cock is lively and animated, his air proud and inde-
pendent, without anything ferocious or menacing. He
is a being confident in his own strength and courage,
conscious of his own worth, but not disdainful of
others. Sure of his own superiority, and of the
right which he assumes, he knows how to maintain
them in everything of importance, and how to relax
in matters of lees consideration. Though the cock
reigns and rules like a bashaw over his harem, yet he
is an attentive husband and a tender father. The
females and their young are to him a people that must
obey, but they must at the same time be governed
with mildness. Their weakness and his strength secure
submission on the one hand, and protection on the
other. He desires no food for himself but as much
as will suffice to support his strength ; and should
he chance to meet with anything delicate, he touches
it not, but calls his family around him, who answer
immediately to the voice of their master who sum-
mons them, and of a husband and father who invites.
His acquisition he shares between the mothers and
the children, answering to their murmurs of gratitude
by lower and gentler accents. His progeny are pro-
tected by his acting either on the defensive or offensive
against every enemy that assails them. He repels
and combats with all intruding animals. And acts as

a master with the other birds of the poultry-yard, and
compels them to keep at a respectful distance from his
establishment. But his greatest wrath and irritation
he exhibits against one of his own sex and species ;
he will contend with him until his adversary retreats
by flight or is destroyed, or his own strength fails.
He claps his wings, if successful, and utters several
shrill and reiterated crows, in token of his success.

From the cock being of a warm and vigorous con-
stitution, one will suffice for fifteen or twenty-hens.
To those, however, who are engaged in the breeding
of poultry the choice of a cock is of great importance.
He is judged to possess all the necessary qualities
when he is of a fine shape, but middle size ; when he
carries his head boldly and erect, has a quick, lively,
and animated eye, a powerful and clear voice, and a thick
and short bill. He should have a bright and polished
red comb, a membranous wattle, of considerable size,
and equally high coloured with the crest. The wings
should be strong, the chest broad, the plumage very
dark red or black, the thighs very muscular, the legs
stout, and armed with long spurs, the toes provided
with claws slightly crooked, and strongly acerated.
He should also be alert and petulant in his demean-
our, as well as prompt in defending the females;
attentive in soliciting them to eat, in keeping them
together during the day, and assembling them in
the evening for rest.

At the age of three or four months the cock has
arrived so far to maturity as to be able to propagate,
which lasts in perfection four or five years, though he
may live to the age of ten, and in some rare instances
to fifteen years. The larger species and varieties of
cocks are more slow in their development, and their
prime, in all probability, lasts longer. When the
cock becomes aged he must be turned out of the
farmyard, as no longer worth}' to figure there, and a
young and vigorous one placed there in his stead.
When the poultry-yard is divided between two or
more cocks, peace reigns but a short time among
them. Their jealous and impetuous character soon
breaks out in frequent and bloody quarrels, combat
follows instantaneously on provocation ; the two ad-
versaries stand opposed to each other with erected
plumes, keeping the neck extended and the head low ;
with fixed and sparkling eyes they observe each other
in silence ; on the slightest movement from either
they erect themselves, dart upon, and tilt their bodies
against each other ; this manoeuvre is repeated until
the most adroit and the strongest has torn the comb
of his enemy, and overwhelmed him with blows from
his wings, or gored him with his spurs. Some cocks
are of a very quarrelsome and peevish disposition,
they beat and annoy the hens, and are continually
disturbing the establishments of their neighbours.
The most simple method of quieting these refractory
subjects is by passing a piece of leather over the foot,
close under the spur ; they then become as quiet as
men who have got irons on their hands and feet. The
cock is a very clean bird, is careful of his dress, and
may frequently be seen engaged in cleansing, comb-
ing, and polishing his feathers with his bill. If, like
the warbler or the nightingale, whose melody is
created by love, he has no ambition to be distinguished
by the excellence of his music, it is certain that he is
very fond of exhibiting the strength, the sonorousness,
and the compass of his voice. He listens after crow-
ing, to hear if he is answered, and should another
cock reoly he recommences immediately, and appears

G A L L I N I D M.

573

to defy him to raise his voice higher than his own.
This emulous cry, repeated by all the cocks of a
•village, on an obscure night, has often struck the ear
of the wandering traveller, and proved the happy
means of directing him to the right road. It is very
generally imagined that the cock is not designed by
nature to share in the solicitudes of incubation and
the education of the young ; but on a little more
closely examining matters, we are forced to relinquish
this opinion, at least as a habit to which there are no
exceptions.

This leads us to a remarkable peculiarity in the
physiology of these animals. It has been known from
very remote antiquity, that changing the male bird of
this species into what is called a capon, by depriving
him of his sexual powers, greatly improves the quality,
and even the quantity of his flesh. This is general
in the case of mutilated male animals, provided the
mutilation takes place at that early period of life
when the external indications of sex have not yet dis-
played themselves, and the bird is in that state which
may be regarded as neuter. The change which the
female undergoes in respect of quality of flesh when
it arrives at maturity, is not in any species of animal
so great as that in the male ; but still there is a change,
and the flesh of the female is neither so good nor so
abundant as that of the mutilated male. By pre-
paring the capon at this early stage, and before any
decided sexual character is acquired, the flesh is
secured in the best condition, and the operation is
performed with little or no risk.

Now, the remarkable physiological part of this
business is, that, the capon acquires so much of the
disposition of the female, that he may be made to
attend on young chickens, and watch and nurse them
with all the solicitude of a hen. Experiments on this
subject, which were made some time ago in France,
are detailed by M. Parmentier, who mentions that
capons have been trained not only to attend chickens,
but to hatch eggs, an office in which the entire male
bird never takes any concern. A strong and active
capon is chosen for this purpose ; the feathers are
removed from the belly, he is rubbed with nettles,
and made intoxicated with toast and wine. For two
or three days this treatment is repeated, during which
they keep him shut up in some narrow and confined
place ; he is then put into a cage with two or three
chickens, which feed with him, hide under his belly,
ami, by their down, calm the smarts which the pullin
of the feathers and the nettles have occasioned. He
grows attached to them in a very short time, and calls
them back when they quit him. Their number is
augmented daily until he has as many as the volume
of his body and the amplitude of his wings will cover
As soon as the intended number is completed, he
must be left two days longer with them in a large
cage, and then permitted to proceed forth conducting
his flock, and he will prove as careful and attentive to
them as the most assiduous female. Capons do not
undergo the annual change in their plumage as other
birds. Their voice loses its strength and clearness
they seldom attempt to make it heard, and are
very melancholy and sad in their disposition. They
are treated with great severity by the cocks, and the)
are held in detestation by the hens. They woulc
very speedily fall a sacrifice to the persecutions o
their companions, if they were not withdrawn to fulfi
the object of their destiny by man, who has degrade(
them for his own purposes! This object is simply to

at, drink, and sleep, that they may get fat as soon
r possible for the use of the table, as they themselves
can have no enjoyment in the matter. Sometimes
lens are caponed as well as cocks, and the flavour of
heir flesh is very much improved in consequence.
The epicurism of man has suggested various modes
of fattening fowls excessively, all which are unnatural,
and more or less cruel. The result, in fact, is
always to produce disease, and more particularly of
the liver. All those artificial modes of forcing animals
nto unnatural states either of general fat, or of the
growth of some particular organ, are the results of
vitiated tastes, and were more common in the dark
and barbarous ages than they are now. There is a
aw which runs through the whole economy of those
living creatures which are used as human food, and
from that law there appears to be no deviation. It is
this : No animal can furnish healthy food for man
unless it is itself healthy at the time when it is pre-
pared as food. Hence, those who violate this law,
and seek to gratify a depraved luxury by bringing
on disease in that which they eat, certainly lay, in
this misguided sacrifice to the lowest of their animal
appetites, a sure foundation for disease in themselves,
and bitter repentance when it is too late.

In many parts of the world, especially in Egypt,
and partially in France, and there is no doubt that it
could easily be practised in any country, chickens are
hatched by artificial heat in ovens, and reared by
human care. This is so perfectly artificial a matter,
that it forms no part whatever of Natural History,
further than as it shows that after the mature egg is
dropped, the real labour of the parent-bird is at an
end ; and that both substantively and actively, in so
far as the egg is concerned, it contains all that is
requisite for the development of the new being, and
wants only the action of any heat, of the proper de-
gree, to bring it to maturity. As this is, perhaps, the
only opportunity which we may have of adverting to
the progress of the development of the young of a
bird, which is a curious matter, we shall here take a
very rapid glance at it.

The germ, or as it is called, the cicatricula, in the
recent egg, and before incubation, is very small. It
is placed on the surface of the spheroid of the yolk ;
and, by a peculiar structure of the egg, it always
keeps the upper side, in what situation soever the egg
may be placed. The white of the egg is much less
susceptible of putridity than the yolk, or rather than
the membrane in which the yolk is enclosed ; and if,
from the egg's lying long in one position, the yolk
descends till the membrane comes wholly, or very
nearly into contact with the shell, an action is apt to
be excited in the membrane, different from the living
action that commences in the cicatricula ; and as
every action in a living body or a germ of life, be it
of which kind it may, which is not a living action, is
an action of death and putridity, the life of the egg
may be destroyed by this means ; and it may give
out that odour of sulphuretted hydrogen, which is so
very noxious. This may happen in the process of
hatching, as well as in an unmatched egg ; for if the
action of the membrane is too much for that of the
embryo chicken, the life may be extinguished at the
very time that it is just beginning to develop itself
Hence, hens, especially in the earlier stages of their
sitting, are observed to turn their eggs, or if they do
not this, the chance is, that some of the number will
be addled and produce nothing.

574

GALLINIDjE,

The point which indicates the germ in the egg, is
very properly termed the cicatricula, " the little
union," for the real germ is then so small, that it doe
little more than indicate that there is in the egg, the
union of a rudiment of life to be nourished, and a
nourishing apparatus to bring it forward. There i
thus some resemblance between the contents of the
egg and those of the internal uterus of a viviparous
animal when gravid. The living part is foetal, and
the nourishing part is placental, in the one case as well
as in the other ; and there is the same double mem-
branes, the same mysterious confine which both unites
and separates, in the one case as in the other : and
when pulsation begins, it is not the same in the vessels
of the placenta and those of the chicken, any more
than it is in the case of an uterine mother. This is
the nice point, and could we see the first throb of ele-
mentary action here, one of the most marvellous
of nature's secrets would be in our possession. But
here there is a veil, behind which it is not given to
mortal eyes to look. " Is the first impulse given by
the placenta to the embryo, or by the embryo to the
placenta ?" This is the grand question, but we cannot
answer it.

The case of the egg is far more wonderful than
that of the living mother in placental connexion (or
must we limit the expression to juxtaposition ?) The
egg may be carried to a long distance ; it may be
hatched in an oven, under another animal, by any
heat indeed ; and there is a tolerably well authenti-
cated story of a tailor, who hatched the egg of a
goose under him on his shop-board, and thus was in
possession of " a tailor's goose that could fly ;" and
the especial wonder is, that the mother should be able
to deposit the faculty of maturity in the egg along
with the germ of the chicken. Truly this same egg
is a wonderful thing ; there is more in it than in all
the products of wisdom and skill which man ever
made, or ever can make. But we cannot afford to
dwell upon it even in contemplation. The reader
may — and should.

At the end of about twelve hours after the incuba-
tion commence?, the cicatricula begins to act, slowly
to appearance at first, but more rapidly afterwards,
though the first start is the grand point in the pro-
gress. After there is an action begun, we can con-
ceive how it may go on, because the elapsed time,
however short, gives us a judgment of experience
upon which to anticipate the future ; but a beginning
is a mighty mystery.

The parts develope in succession, some earlier than
others, but they are at first all apparently formed of
gelatine, though the predominating matter in the egg
itself is albumen. The progress of growth is so slow
and gradual, that it is not in itself an object of obser-
vation ; indeed, growth is thus far like life, that we
can see it only in its effects. The vertebral portion
of the chicken is the first that we can trace, which we
can do in that which is to be the head, and also the
spine, even on the first day of action ; and this is a
direct proof that vertebrated animals are really, in the
order of time, organised upon the spine, which points
strongly to the brain, and its continuation in the first
predial of the action of young life, though we are
unable to regard the point as altogether settled. On
the second day the vertebrae show rudimental exist-
ence, and about the same time the heart, as the centre
of the vascular system, begins to be formed, clearly
proving that that system is secondary and subordi-

nate to that whose centre is the brain. The neck and
breast are formed on the third day ; and the eyes and
liver are formed on the fourth. The stomach and
veins are formed on the fifth day ; and the lungs and
skin on the sixth. On the seventh the bill and
intestines are formed ; and on the eighth the ven-
tricles of the heart and the gall bladder. On the
ninth the thighs and wings are formed, and on the
tenth the whole of the parts which constitute the.
chicken are in their places, and have already assumed
the form which characterises them. They are de-
veloped still more on the subsequent days, acquire
all the growth of which they are susceptible in this
state, and the chicken becomes sufficiently strong t<»
break the shell, which takes place after the lapse of
three weeks. The principle of life introduced by the
act of the male into the egg already commenced in
the female ovary, most probably contributes to
organise it for the end which nature has purposed.
But immediately after this egg is laid the principle of
life slumbers in it, until awakened by the caloric
communicated by the sitting hen ; it. then in connec-
tion with this last agent, gives motion to the embryo
which it is commissioned to animate. It communi-
cates to it the faculty of increase, of employing in its
organisation and nutriment all the substances which
are enclosed with it in this isolated- matrix, which,
however, fulfils all the same functions as those of the
mammalia. The yolk of the egg then augments in
quantity at the expense of the albumen, the fluid part
of which it absorbs. It becomes a nutritious milk,
which is carried into the liver, elaborated there, and
finally passes into the circulation. To the nineteenth
day of the incubation, the yolk forms in the egg a
distinct body from the chicken shut up in a separate
capsule. The only communication which they have
together is by vessels which hold the place of the
umbilical cord ; but it is introduced altogether on the
nineteenth day into the abdomen, and so increases by
its presence the volume of the chicken, that there is
not sufficient room afterwards for it in the lymphatic
bag where it was. It then bursts and the pulmonary
organs come in contact with the air, which has
penetrated into the egg, to fill the space occasioned
there by evaporation. The chicken respires, whines,
its vital force acquires more energy, it moves, its
limbs are developed, its bill is brought into action, its
shell is broken, and it then issues forth.

In all those places of Europe where the tempera-
ture is at all moderate, the common hen produces a
reat number of eggs in the course of the year ; but
always the more if properly attended to in propor-
tion as the climate is warm. In the extreme north,
is in the northern parts of Siberia, in the very ex-
:remity of Lapland, and in Greenland, and of course
n the very north of America, they do not breed ; but
jonsidering that they are originally from Judea, they
lave a remarkable range of climate. In order that
:he produce of a hen in eggs may be the greatest
possible, she should have abundance of wholesome
bod, but not be fattened beyond a certain extent, for
the eggs of over-fat hens are both few and imperfect.
The hen should be placed in a situation rather warm
and sheltered, have access to cold water and to
gravel, and be allowed plenty of exercise, but in no
case alarmed or driven when treated in this manner.
A hen of a good breed will furnish about two eggs
very three days, and if not allowed to sit, she will
continue with little intermission for ten months of the

G A L L I N I D JE.

575

year, that is to say, in the course of this period she
will produce about 200 eggs. No hen can rear above
one-tenth that number of chickens, which shows the
advantage of those artificial means of hatching which
are resorted to in countries where human labour is
not too valuable for being devoted to such purposes.

Numerous conjectures have been formed as to the
species of India, which is the parent stock of the
common fowls ; but these are, of course, very vague,
and indeed the wild ones are almost as much varied
in the different parts of the south east of Asia, and
the eastern islands, as the tame ones are in Europe.
Tcmminck is of opinion, that the common domestic
breed (some of the more striking varieties are under-
stood to be from other sources) are hybrids, between
two species still found in the eastern islands, and
which agree more in the females with our domesti-
cated ones, than is the case with any others of the
wild ones. There are the Jago cock found in Su-
matra and Java ; and the Bankiva cock, found in
the woods of the latter island. In both of these the
females have rudimental combs and wattles as ours
have, and this is said not to be the case with the other
wild ones.

THE JAGO COCK (G. gigantcus) is at least double
the size of the common cock of Europe, with the comb
and wattles red, as in the common cock. The colours
are rich, not unlike those of the finer specimens of
the common one. It stands very high on the legs,
and inarches in a very stately and majestic manner.
The Europeans in India, call this magnificent species
the Kulm cock, but the common belief in India is,
that it is not indigenous in that country, and we be-
lieve that it is not. found in the wild state there, unless
under circumstances which lead to the conclusion,
that it had strayed into the woods, as animals are apt
to do in such climates. Some of these great cocks
are highly valued as game birds ; and the true game
are known by having the irides white or pale straw
yellow. A cock of this variety in the possession of
Colonel Sykes, stood twenty-six inches in height,
and measured twenty-three inches from the point of
the bill to the insertion of the tail. The hen is a
third smaller. When tired, this species rests itself
on the iirst joint of the leg, in which position it is as
high as the common species. Colonel Sykes brought
a hen and two cocks to England in 1831. They bore
the voyage and the climate very well, and by Septem-
ber, 1832, the hen had reared two broods. There is not
the least doubt that they would agree with the climate
of Britain quite as well as the common variety ; and
it is known that they have for some time been intro-
duced into different parts of Italy and France, where
they have succeeded very well.

THE BANKIVA COCK (G.bankiva) is a much smal-
ler species, only about ten or eleven inches from the
point of the bill to the insertion of the tail. The
feathers on the nape, the neck, the back, the coverts
of the wings, with the exception of the greater ones,
are of a purplish maroon brown ; the greater coverts
of the wings black, with metallic reflections ; the tail-
coverts Ions:, arched, and of a yellowish colour, with
bright metallic reflections of reddish, the quills of the
wings black, margined with red ; and all the under
part black, with metallic reflections. The naked parts
red, of a bright tint ; the bill and feet grey, and the
irides of a straw yellow.

THE BANTAM COCK (G. pusUtus) is originally from
the same parts of the world with the Bankiva cock ;

resembles that one much in size, and is supposed to
be a mere variety of it, inhabiting more elevated
places, as it is found in the allied genus of the phea-
sants, that the mountain species even under the equa-
tor, and where they are understood to perch for the
night, have the tarsi feathered, which is the chief ex-
ternal distinction between the Bantam cock and the
Bankiva. The exterior sides of the tarsi in the Ban
tarn are covered with very long feathers, which reach
down as far as the toes. The Bantam thrives well in
a state of domestication, and is a valuable little breed,
the male being exceedingly bold and pugnacious in
proportion to its size.

THE JUNGLE COCK (G. Sonneratii) is very abundant
in the woods of the higher jungles in the south of
India, especially in those of the Western Ghauts on
the Malabar coast. There are two species or varie-
ties. The one is long-legged, and inhabits the thick
woods in the mountain valleys, to the height of about
2000 feet above the level of the sea. The comb is
very much toothed, the lower mandible furnished with
wattles ; the feathers of the neck produced, and spot-
ted with white, furnished with membranous or carti-
laginous tips, which appendages occur also in the
female. Along with the white spots, these feathers
in the male are mottled with black and dull reddish
brown. The breast, abdomen, and back, are grey,
streaked with white ; the coverts of the wings are red-
dish chestnut, with the feathers terminating in carti-
laginous discs of a fulvous colour ; and the quills and
tail-feathers are deep black. The female is smaller
than the male, and is wholly destitute of the comb
and wattles. The head in this sex is completely co-
vered with feathers, and the colours of the body are
duller, and marked with brown and red. This appears
to have been the first species or variety which was
found very abundantly in the wild state in the woods
of India, and hence it was considered as the parent
stock of the domestic fowl ; but the difference in the
primal, and the first (we believe) of this species being
rarely domesticated in India, are against the suppo-
sition ; and if the parent stock is still to be found in
that country, it must in all probability be sought in
one, or other, or both, of those to which Temminck
has referred it.

It must not be forgotten, however, that the com-
mon fowl apparently is a distinct species, and in many
varieties, is, perhaps, more abundant in India than in
any other country. In those parts of the country
where there are few Europeans, they can be bought
for about twopence each. They often resemble the
jungle fowl in colour, but they are uniformly without
the cartilaginous discs on the feathers of the neck and
coverts.

The other variety of Indian wild fowl is found in
nearly the same localities, but at a much greater ele-
vation, occurring in the scattered plantations as high
up as 4000 feet above the level of the sea. The male
in this one has a great deal of red on the plumage ;
and the female is brownish red, and without any car-
tilaginous spots. The eggs are shaped like those of
the common fowl, but smaller in size ; the crow and
call of the cock have no inconsiderable resemblance
to those of the Bantam.

THE NEGRO COCK (G. morion) is very probably
nothing more than an accidental variety, at all events
it is met with only accidentally. The comb and
wattles, and also the skin and periosteum are quite
black ; and this gives the bird a dull and rather un-

576

G A L L I N I D JE.

sightly appearance ; but the flesh is quite as palatable
and wholesome as that of those which have the most
gay and brilliant colours.

THE FORK-TAILED COCK (G.furcata). The chief
peculiarity of this species or variety is the form of the
tail, which is not folded the one half upon the other, as
in most of the species, but flattened and forked at the
termination. This is a native of Java, and the Javese
give it a name different from any others of the genus.
The feathers of the nape and neck are brown at their
bases, blue with purple reflections in the middle of
their length, and golden green, dotted with black, at
the points. The feathers on the back are also brown
at the base, but the rest is blackish, with gold
coloured reflections, and the extremities margined
with brownish yellow ; the body of the feathers on
the wing-coverts resembles that on those of the back,
but the margins are bright red ; the quills are blackish
brown, and the tail feathers golden green ; the crest
is entire in the margins, and there is only one wattle
under the lower jaw ; these, and the other naked
parts of the head, are bright purple ; the feet and
irides arc yellow, and the spurs upon the tarsi are
very sharp. The length of the male bird, including
the tail, is about two feet; that of the female does
not exceed fourteen inches. The female has no
vestige either of comb or of wattle ; the naked skin
round the eye is reddish yellow ; the top of the head
and the neck are brownish grey ; the upper parts are
blackish golden green, streaked and spotted with grey-
ish brown ; the throat white, the under parts brownish
ash ; and the quills brown, bordered with reddish.

Those which have been enumerated are only a few
out of the countless numbers that have been figured
and described ; but the birds are so prone to break
into varieties, that there is no depending upon a
single specimen, or even upon several specimens, for
the establishment of a species, or even of a variety, ex-
cept a merely accidental one, which may break out
in one as well as in another. Nor shall we go into
any enumeration of the varieties of the domestic
breed that are generally described. The habits of
the whole genus Gallus, indeed, so much resemble
each other, that the account of one may answer for
the whole. There is, however, one result of their
proneness to sport varieties, which may be worthy of
some slight notice, and that is the monstrous forma-
tions which they sometimes assume, and which appear
to be more singular than those of almost any other
race of animals. " In 1802, a Jew exhibited for
money, at Posen, in Poland, a hen with a human face,
which was hatched in a farm near Wryesnier, and
which he had received in payment of a small debt.
He declared that another chicken, altogether similar,
had been in the same brood, but that it died soon
after its birth. The animal which he exhibited, and
which I have myself seen, was alive, and in excellent
health. It had 'attained its full size, for it was more
than a year old. Its body was covered with feathers
of different colours, and it resembled other hens in
every respect, except the head ; this was of the usual
size but denuded of feathers, and covered with a blu-
ish skin. The cavities of the eyes were completely
like those of human eyes ; they were surmounted by
two small arches of down, which formed very regular
eyebrows. The upper part of the bill was shorter
than usual ; it had but one blunted point, and the
nostrils were underneath it, so that, although it was
horn, it presented the perfect resemblance of a very

well-made nose ; below this nose was a very regular
mouth with lips ; two rows of very white teeth, close
and pointed, and a rounded tongue, completed this
most extraordinary litsus naturce. This resemblance to
a human countenance had something in it extremely
disagreeable, and even horrid ; but was perfect,
and had no need of the assistance of imagination to
be recognised." The Gazette de Sante, in the year
1810, published an account of another phenomenon of
this kind. But the resemblance to a human counte-
nance was not quite so perfect as in the last, yet was
nevertheless very obvious. The writer of the article
says, " The place where the bill should be presents a
human profile, resembling that of an old woman ; the
bill is entirely wanting ; the jaws are shortened, so as
to terminate in a point where the nostrils are placed
in other hens ; they are covered with flesh, and re-
semble lips. The crest, on a face view, forms a kind
of nose, so much the more remarkable as the nostrils
are placed at the point where this nose terminates,
and are united to the jaw. A fleshy excrescence, not
seen in other hens, is attached below the under jaw,
and represents a sort of chin ; this chin is naked, with
the exception of a few hairs, and the naked skin which
forms it is prolonged as far as the ears, as in the com-
mon hen. The eyes are round and black, and sur-
rounded with an iris of a very lively red. Under the
eyes the skin is flesh-coloured, mingled with blue, and
naked, with the exception of a tuft of hairs, forming a
kind of mustachio towards the ears, and concealing
the apertures." Many other instances of a similar
kind are recorded ; but those which we have quoted
must suffice as a specimen, the more so that they are
mere curiosities, from which no useful conclusion can
be drawn.

PHASIANUS — Pheasant. This is a very interesting
genus, most of the members of which are alike re-
markable for the elegance of their forms and the
beauty of their plumage. They are not by any means
so social as common poultry, and none of the species
can be said to be in a state of complete domestication.
They are nearly allied to common poultry, so much
so that when domestic hens become wild in parks,
which they often do when they have free range in
large ones, they produce hybrids with the common
pheasant ; 'nut whether these hybrids can breed with
each other, as is the case in crosses with mere varie-
ties of the same species, or only back to the pure
blood, as is the case with mules between different
species, has not been ascertained in a satisfactory
manner. In this case, however, as in all similar ones,
it is the domesticated female and the male in the wild
state that produce the hybrid; and we believe that
there is no instance of one between even one of those
domestic cocks that become wild in the woods and a
female pheasant. Nor is it understood that the hens
go astray after other lovers in the wild places until
the males of their own race are gone.

The leading characters of the pheasant genus are :
the bill rather short, but thick and stout, naked at the
base, and bent down at the tip. The nostrils lateral
at the base of the bill ; the ears covered with feathers ;
the feet with four toes, three to the front and one be-
hind, fitted for walking and for scraping the earth, as
is the habit of many of the order ; the tarsi of the
male furnished with spurs as in the common cock ,
the tail lengthened, wedge-shaped, and composed of
as many as eighteen feathers, which are in some of
the species very much produced. The wings are

G A L L 1 N I D JR.

577

short and hollow ; and though the birds are much
better fliers than common fowls, especially when these
are in a state of domestication, their flight is heavy
and fluttering, and apparently produced with con-
siderable effort.

All the known species are natives of Asia, and
they are inhabitants of woods or wooded places,
where they perch in trees during the night, but they
feed and nestle upon the ground. As is the case
with most of the order, their nests are very rude and
hardly deserving the name. The broods are numer-
ous, but the numbers vary a good deal with the cha-
racters of the climate. The young, when they first
make their appearance, are covered with soft down ;
and they can run and pick up their food almost as
soon as they break the shell. There are several spe-
cies and varieties of pheasants, besides hybrids be-
tween the different ones, and between the male and
other gallinidae ; and though in general they are, as
wild birds, more constant to their colours than domes-
ticated birds, there are often coloured varieties, and
even albinos.

THE COMMON PHEASANT (P. Colchis} is so called
from the country whence it is said to have been
first brought to Europe, which is generally under-
stood to have been from the banks of the river
Phasis, in the ancient state of Colchis, or the modern
province of Mingrelia. They are now, however,
pretty generally introduced as ornamental birds into
all the morg warm and temperate parts of Europe ;
and on the continent they are found as far north as
the countries adjoining the northern bay of the Baltic,
and in Asia as far as Siberia. In all places where
they are found, their appearance and their flesh are
both highly prized, but they cannot be considered of
much value in an economical point of view, as they
can hardly be said to be in the possession of the real
cultivators of the ground, and breeders of domestic
animals for economical purposes. It furnishes our
tables with a very delicate article of food, and adorns
our parks and thickets, which it greatly enlivens.
From its having short wings, it flies rather heavily,
and to a short distance at a time. It is with difficulty
tamed, being naturally very shy, living in a very soli-
tary manner, and, except in the pairing season, it
seems averse to consort even with those of its own
species. Yet when these birds are in the constant
habit of being attended in the coverts by a keeper,
they will immediately attend his whistle to be fed ;
nay, will follow him in flocks, and will scarcely allow
the peas to run into the trough before they begin to
eat ; and those that cannot find sufficient room at one
trough will follow him with the same familiarity to
another. They are fond of buck-wheat and corn, but
will frequently feed on the wild berries of the woods,
and on acorns. They feed their young on insects,
worms, and the pupre of ants. They are fond of the
shell er of woods and thickets, but will very frequently
breed in clover fields. The nest is made on the
ground, and is generally composed of dry vegetables
very carelessly put together. The female endeavours
to conceal it from the male, and lays from ten to six-
teen eggs, which are somewhat smaller than those o)
the common hen, and of a greenish grey colour spot-
ted with brown. The incubation lasts rather more
than three weeks ; and as soon as the young break
the shell they follow the mother like chickens. Should
they not be disturbed, the parents and their brood
remain in the hedge-rows and stubble for some time ;
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

but if molested or scared, they will quit those places
and betake themselves to the woods, and come forth
only to feed in the morning and evening. In a con-
fined state the female neither lays so many eggs nor
hatches and rears her brood with so much care and
vigilance as in the fields. In a mew she will rarely
dispose her eggs in a nest, or sit on them at all ; so
that the domestic hen is usually entrusted with the
charge of hatching and breeding the young. The
female pheasant is less careful in calling her brood
together than the partridge, even when enjoying
greater freedom ; but she will shelter as many as seek
protection under her wings. After all, about one-
third of the young race never attain to full growth ;
for many fall a sacrifice to the first moulting, and
several to a disorder which proceeds from the presence
of a species of fasciola in the trachea called "oscitans"
or " gapes." A very considerable number of their
eggs is sometimes destroyed by the mowing of clover
near woods which pheasants frequent. As the cold
weather approaches, these birds begin to fly at sunset
to the branches of the oaks, which they roost among
during the night ; and this they more frequently do
as the trees lose their foliage, and winter advances.
The males on these occasions make a noise which is
technically called " cocketing," which they repeat
three or four times ; but the hens utter one shrill
whistle only on flying up, and then remain silent.
The sportsman reckons the pheasant a bird of easy
conquest, owing to its size and awkward noisy flight ;
and it is even reputed stupid, because, when roused,
it will often perch on a neighbouring tree, and have
its attention so rivetted on the dogs as to suffer the
sportsman to approach very near. The old cocks,
however, have been observed to have recourse to
various stratagems, in thick and extensive coverts,
before they are compelled to take wing ; and Le Roy
has remarked, that they regulate the hours of their
repast by the seasons. The crowing of the males,
which commences in the beginning of March, may be
heard very frequently at a considerable distance.

There are many species or varieties of pheasants
(for in these birds it is not a very easy matter to distin-
guish what is a species and what a variety) found in
the south-east of Asia, from the islands northward to
China. One of the most remarkable of these, in size,
in the peculiarity of its plumage, and in the richness
produced by various contrasted tints of a few original
colours, will be found described in the article ARGUS,
and some idea of the appearance of a few of the more
elegant ones may be formed upon inspecting the
plate " PHEASANTS." The manners of the whole are
pretty similar; though, as might be expected, the
more recent importations from warm countries are
not quite so hardy as those which have long been
inured to cold climates. We shall give very brief
notices of a few of the more remarkable.

THE GOLDEN PHEASANT (P. pictus). The painted
pheasants are natives of China, from which they have
been introduced into the parks and aviaries of Europe.
They are reared in this country with as much ease as
the common species, and they appear to be more
familiar in their habits. On their first introduction,
this was not supposed to be the case, and therefore
they were nursed with very great care, and the suc-
cessful breeding of them was considered even as
something very fortunate, notwithstanding all the care
which was bestowed on them. That it was fortunate
is very true, but the fortune lay exactly the other way
00

578

G A L L I N I D

from that which the parties supposed, for they were
so much encumbered by the excess of human atten-
tion that their native powers were rendered much less
efficient than they would have been had they been
left altogether alone.

This is a matter worthy of great attention, in the
case both of animals and of plants, because there is
always more danger that exotics shall, upon their first
introduction, be killed by over-kindness than that
they shall suffer from neglect. The more beautiful
any living or growing thing is, the more are we dis-

Cosed to associate it with delicacy of frame ; and
ence we are apt to poison both plants and animals
by our heat and conlined air, when, if we left them
to shift for themselves in a state of nature, they would
not only live but become vigorous, and speedily adapt
themselves to our climate. — The male bird, when in
full plumage, is nearly three feet in length, of which
the tail forms two-thirds. The female is not only
smaller and has a much shorter tail, but the whole of
her plumage is less gay and splendid. The young
males resemble the females, and are not invested
with all the richness and brilliancy of their attire till
they have moulted a second time. The females, on
the other hand, at the age of five or six years, some-
times put on the male plumage. From the head rise
some long bright yellow feathers, which hang grace-
fully over its hind part, the colours of which, together
with the sides of the neck, are orange and black.
The distinctive golden tinge is mixed with green on
the back of the neck , the feathers of the back are
bright yellow, bordered with crimson ; deep blue sur-
mounts the base of the wings, which are beautifully
varied with chestnut, brown, and red. The feathers
of the tail are chestnut and black ; and above the
base bright scarlet, which is the colour of all the
under parts except the neck, the latter being dusky
brown. The iris, bill, and legs are bright yellow.
They feed on rice, hemp-seed, wheat, or barley, and
they will also eat cabbages, herbs, and fruits ; but
they are particularly fond of insects, the difficulty of
procuring a sufficiency of which is supposed to be a
principal cause of the many disorders to which they
are liable. The female begins to lay her eggs early
in March, which very much resemble those of the
Guinea pintado, and are redder than those of the
common pheasant. The flesh of the present species
is considered superior to that of any of the others.
The painted or golden pheasant will breed with the
common, but the offspring is infertile in the hybrid,
though there is no doubt that, as is the case with all
mules, it might be made to breed back to the pure
blood of either parent. From their known hardiness
and their extreme beauty, it were highly desirable
that these birds should be multiplied in all ornamen-
tal grounds ; and it is still more to be desired, though
the means of gratifying the desire are not very appa-
rent, that such a feeling should be disseminated among
the uneducated ranks of the people, as that they
should respect those birds, not only as t'he property
of their lawful owners, which it is a crime against the
laws of society to invade, but that they should respect
the beauty of such birds as among the public orna-
ments of their country, the injuring of which is a
violation of a much higher law than any which man
can enact, and that the consequence of the invasion
of this is their own moral degradation, and certain
wretchedness and misery.

THE SILVER PHEASANT (P. nyclkcmcrus}. This

species, which is sometimes called the pencilled phea^
sant, is still more hardy than the pieceding one, and
has been reared and domesticated with nearly as little
care as the common fowl. Its robust constitution
approximates it more to common domestic poultry
than the other pheasants. Its education requires
only very moderate attention. The form of its caudal
plumes, and the mode of their insertion, also present
great analogies with the domestic cock. The plu-
mage is less brilliant than that of the golden pheasant,'
and is about four or five inches shorter. The cheeks
are bright red, and the top of the head has long black
feathers falling backwards. The back, wings, and
upper part of the tail, are of silvery white pencilled
with black; the under parts are purplish black. It
has two long tail-feathers of pure white ; the bill is
dusky yellow, and the legs are deep red. The trachea
of this pheasant is straight through its entire length,
and grows narrow only towards the lower larynx,
as in the cocks. The upper part of each bronchus
has three demi-rings, w hich are separated by two wide
membranous intervals. The upper larynx and hyoid
cartilages are also similar to the same parts in the
cocks. The male bird of this species is of a warm
constitution. The pairing time is about the latter
end of April. The female attends with great assiduity
to her young brood, when she has sufficient liberty.
The incubation lasts rather more than three weeks.
The number of the eggs varies from ten to sixteen ;
and sometimes, but very rarely, to eighteen. The
colour of the eggs is yellowish red, often bordering
on black, and they have small brown points on them.
It has been brought into almost all trie countries of
Europe from the north of China, and thrives very
well with but little attention.

The plumage of the silver pheasant is by no means
so brilliant as that of the golden pheasant ; but from
the delicacy of the colours and the fineness of the
pencilling, and also from the greater lightness of its
ibrm, it is doubtful whether it be not the more elegant
bird of the two. In length it is usually about four
inches shorter than the golden ; and its other dimen-
sions are less in the same proportion. The two,
however, from the striking differences of their colours
make a very agreeable contrast.

THE RING-NECKED PHEASANT (P. torquatus). This
is likewise a native of China, and closely resembles
the common pheasant naturalised in our woods. M.
Temmuick. however, has pointed out the distinctions
with great nicety. There is a white collar about the
neck of this bird, from which it takes its name. In
1831 one of the Zoological Society's specimens, which
laid eggs the preceding year, exhibited the pheno-
menon, occasionally observable among birds, of the
female assuming the characteristic plumage of the
male. The upper parts of this species are blackish,
clouded with yellow, and streaked with white ; the
top of the head is yellow, clouded with green ; over
the eyes are two white markings ; the sides of the
hind head, the upper part of the neck and the throat
are green, with brilliant purple reflections; and, as
already hinted at, there is a large white collar on the
neck, which extends towards the sides. The breast
is reddish purple, clouded with violet ; the middle of
the under part whitish yellow, spotted with violet ;
and the abdomen black, with metallic reflections.
The wing-coverts are grey, clouded with green; and
the quills olive, waved with large bands of black.
The tail-coverts are bright green, the feet grey, and

G A L L I N I D /E.

579

the bill and irides yellow. The length of the male is
about nine and twenty inches. The female is much
duller in the plumage, and is marked over the eyes
by a streak of short black feathers.

REEVES'S PHEASANT (P. Reevesii). This is like-
wise from China, and was unknown in England, at
least in the living state, until the establishment of
gardens for the reception of animals by the Zoological
Society of London. A specimen, sent to the garden
by Mr. John Reeves of Canton, arrived in safety, but
another one died by the way. The bird is from the
north of China. Is is a splendid species, the middle
feathers of the tail in the male bird measuring between
five and six feet in length. It is Phasianus vencratus
of Temminck.

There are numerous other pheasants, most of them
finely coloured, of which specimens have been brought
from China, especially from the northern parts of that
country. The north of China seems indeed to be
remarkably well adapted as a pasture for pheasants ;
for the species or varieties which have been obtained
from thence are larger and finer in their plumage
than those of the south of China, or even farther to
the south. And it is highly probable that in this
grand head-quarter of the genus, there still exist
many species which are unknown to Europeans.

The north of China has a very severe winter, as
cold as it i? in the middle latitudes of Sweden, which
is considerably more rigorous than it is in the extreme
north of the British islands, while the heat in summer
is as great as in northern Africa, near the borders of
tho desert. So great a range of temperature in the
course of the year must be very trying to the consti-
tutions of the wild animals ; and those which can
bear such alternations of heat and cold must be re-
jarded as especially hardy. This is an important
consideration in the natural history of the finer spe-
cies of pheasants, because it furnishes the most con-
clusive proofs that those most elegant and highly
ornamental birds could be introduced without diffi-
culty into any part of the British islands, at least
without the least chance of injury from the winter.
This is a consideration well worthy the attention of
those who wish to combine beauty with usefulness in
the stocking of their parks ; but it is one upon which
our limits prevent us from enlarging further, and so
we must pass on to another genus of the family.

PAVO — the peacock. This is a genus which has
been long known and generally admired, and it is, in
some respects, one of the most beautiful of birds.
The generic characters are : the bill naked at the
base, convex in the upper part, thickened, and bent
downwards at the tip ; the nostrils open ; the cheeks
partially bare of feathers ; the feathers of the rump
elongated, broad, capable of being spread out like a
large fan, and marked with ocellated spots of beautiful
form and most brilliant colours ; the true tail is wedge-
shaped, and consists of eighteen feathers, the exfend-
ing of which assists greatly in producing the regular
fan formed by the feathers of the rump ; the head is
furnished with a crest ; the feet have four toes each ;
and the tarsi are furnished with conical spots.

COMMON PEACOCK (P. cristatus). The crest on
the head is compressed laterally. The body of the
male is golden green, glossed with bronze reflections ;
and the wing-coverts green gold, glossed with bronze
and blue, the colours in all these parts being remark-
able for the beauty of their iridescent play of different
eoiours. The under parts of the body are dusky, but

clouded and relieved with green gold. On each side
of the head there are two stripes of white. The
upper tail-coverts, or rump-feathers formerly alluded
to, are very long, and adorned with various colours
and beautiful eyes and arches. Indeed there is not a
flower in the garden, a metal, a gem, or a tint in the
rainbow, which does not find its rival in one part or
other of the peacock. The details of the markings
could not be enumerated, except in a very lengthened
description ; and this description, however it might
be laboured, would convey but a very faint idea of
the splendour of the original. Some of the pheasants,
which we noticed in enumerating the leading species
of the last genus, are tame in words compared with
what they are to the eye ; and therefore it would be
vain to hope, by means of words, to convey any idea
of the peacock. Perhaps the most expressive com-
)liment which has been paid to this bird is a mytho-
ogical one ; the ancient fabulists having deemed the
seacock the only animal fit for being yoked to the
jar of the queen of heaven. But splendid as this bird
is, much description is not necessary ; for it is so
common and so hardy, that, in almost any part of the
British islands, only a very short journey is necessary
to get a sight of it.

The ordinary length of the full-grown peacock,
from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the tail,
when in the finest condition, is about four feet. The
female is considerably less ; and her train is not only
very short, but destitute of those resplendent beauties
which ornament the male ; her crest too is much
shorter, and her whole plumage partakes of a sober
cinereous hue; her throat and neck are green, and the
spots on the side of the head are larger than those of
the male. The females of this species, however, like
those of the pheasant and of some other birds, have
occasionally been known to assume the male attire.

As is the case with most birds in a state of domes-
tication, peacocks often exhibit considerable variety
in their colours. Some, for instance, have the wings
crossed with small striae ; others have the wings,
cheeks, throat, and anterior parts of the belly, and
also the wing-coverts white; and specimens in a state
of perfect albinoism have occurred, in which scarcely
one departure from white could be discerned in the
whole bird, except that the white on the eye-spots
of the tail seemed a little duller than in the other
parts of the same feathers.

From the number of peacocks which are still found
in India, especially in the richly wooded dells of the
western ghauts, not a doubt can be entertained of
India being the native country of these splendid birds.
Some of the places which they inhabit there are pe-
culiar and picturesque in a very high degree. There
are often circular valleys, or as one might almost call
them cauldrons, so narrow that the eye of one stand-
ing on the brink can overlook their whole extent, so
deep and so steep in the sides that it is impossible to
descend into them, and with the outlet so rough and
so choked with vegetation that a passage that way is
equally difficult. In those singular places, peacocks
may be often seen in swarms ; and the brilliancy of
their colours adds greatly to the other characters of
those curious places. Of course they feed on the
ground, in the openings between the trees ; but the
places of their repose, both when resting for the day
and for sleeping in the night, are upon the topmost
branches, where they make a very brilliant appear-
ance.

O O 2

580

G A L L I N I D JE.

In this country the peacock is a very hardy bird,
braving, out of doors, all changes of the weather, and
roosting in the lofty trees, instead of seeking the same
humble shelter as the common fowls. It is worthy
of remark, as a peculiarity in the natural history of
those splendid natives of tropical climates, that they
are found wild in the forests or the north of Europe. Of
course they are not indigenous there, but have escaped
from confinement, finding the forest more congenial
to their habits than the vicinity of human abodes. It
is in Norway that they are understood to spend the
summer months ; but in the severity of the Scandi-
navian winter they are frozen out, and are obliged to
take their departure for more genial climates. It
should seem, however, that the cause of this is want
of a due supply of food, rather than incapacity to
bear the severity of the winter. At that season of
the year they are said to migrate into Germany, where,
though the winter is still cold, they seem to meet
with a more abundant supply of food. This fact,
which appears to be well authenticated, is deserving of
attention by those who are interested in promoting
the natural decorations of the British islands ; for if
wild peacocks can live in Norway, and have volunta-
rily taken up their summer abode there, there is little
doubt that they could, if the numbers were carefully
increased, summer and winter in almost any part of
our islands ; and if we had our forests stocked with
peacocks, it would add greatly to their beauty and
interest.

When in a state of nature, and in the native
localities of the south, the peahen is described as
breeding only once in the year ; but the accounts
state that the eggs are very numerous, consisting of
as many as twenty-five, or even thirty, at a hatch.
These eggs are of a whitish colour, with dusky
speckles ; and the female is understood to deposit
tnem in some concealed spot, where they may be
secure not only from beasts of prey and snakes, but
also from the male, who is very apt to destroy them.
In our northerly climate, and in a state of domestica-
tion, the peahen is not nearly so prolific. The num-
ber of her eggs seldom exceeds five or six, and her
time of incubation varies from twenty-five to thirty
days, according to the temperature of the place and
the season of the year. In the warm parts of Europe
sne is more prolific. For instance, in Greece, she
lays from ten to twelve eggs ; and, in the absence of
her male, she will likewise produce barren eggs,
which the ancients termed " zephyrian," as they were
supposed to result from the genial stimulus of the
vernal gales. When pleased or delighted, and in
sight of his females, the cock erects his tail, unfolds
his feathers, and frequently turns slowly round, as if
to catch the sun-beams in every direction, accom-
panying this movement with a hollow murmuring.
His cry at other times is very unpleasant, which is
frequently repeated, especially before rain. He sheds
his superb plumes every year, and then, as if con-
scious of his loss, he courts the most obscure retreats,
lill the returning spring renews his lustre. The
young acquire the perfect brilliancy of their plumage
in their third year ; but in cold climates, they require
attention in rearing, and should be fed on grass, meal,
cheese, crumbs of bread, and insects, until they are
seven or eight months old, when they will eat wheat,
and various kinds of grain, like other gallinaceous
birds. In this respect, however, the peacock is
extremely capricious and there is scarcely any kind i

of food which it will not, at some time or other, pur-
sue. Tender plants and insects are often eagerly
sought for at a time that it has a sufficiency of its
natural food at command ; and during the indulgence
of these unnatural appetites, walls cannot easily con-
fine it ; it strips the tops of houses of their tiles or ,
thatch, lays waste the labours of the gardener, roots
up his choicest seeds, and nips his favourite flowers
in the bud. In India one of its most mischievous
propensities is picking at the eyes of children, which
it probably takes for some glistening object of prey.
It lives about twenty-five years, according to Aristotle,
but Willoughby and others allege that it is capable
of existing for near a century. When full grown it is
not readily injured by cold, and an instance is quoted
of one which was found quite frozen, and had lain
for some days in the snow, in the court yard of a
house in Dunkirk, in the year 1776, and which, by
the application of a gentle heat, recovered from the
accident, and continued to live as if nothing particu-
lar had happened. These birds are also found to .
thrive in North America, notwithstanding the severity
and duration of the winter season. In our cold cli-
mates, however, they seem to be incapable of very
extensive flights ; but they roost aloft in trees, or on
the tops of houses or steeples, whence they utter their
discordant scream. Though long naturalised in Europe,
they are of eastern origin, occurring in the greatest
profusion in the neighbourhood of the Ganges, and
in the extensive plains of India, particularly in Guze-
rat, Cambay, the coast of Malabar, the kingdom of
Siam, and the island of Java. As early as the days
of Solomon they were imported into Judea by the
fleets which that monarch equipped on the Red Sea,
and which, in all probability, traded to the coast of
Malabar. From India they were brought into Asia
Minor, and subsequently into the isle of Samos, where
they were formerly much multiplied, and consecrated
to Juno, but from which they have now wholly dis-
appeared. In the time of Pericles they still fetched
a high price in Greece. According to ^Elian, thirty
years after their first importation into that country,
they were exhibited at Athens as a show to strangers;
and he adds, that multitudes flocked to see them from
Lacedemonia and Thessaly. Alexander had never
seen peacocks till his Indian expedition, when he
found them flying about in the wild state on the banks
of the Hyarotis, in the Punjaub, or land of streams,
and he was so delighted with their splendid appear-
ance that he decreed a severe penalty upon any one
of his army who should kill or even molest them.
He carried them with him on his return, however ;
and it appears that they had bred freely, for toward
the close of Alexander's short but brilliant reign,
Aristotle speaks of them as birds familiarly known in
Greece. The account of their importation into the
country of the Jews, at a more early period than this,
which is stated in the English translation of the Bible,
is in all probability a mistake of the translators ; be-
cause, if the living birds had been introduced there, it
is highly probable that they would have found their
way into other parts of the western world. They
were not introduced into Rome till about the time of
the decline of the republic ; and, according to the
account given by Pliny, the orator Hortensius was
the first who introduced them at table, in a feast which
he gave to the company or college of augurs. His
example was, however, soon followed by others ; and,
as the luxury of the Romans consisted fully as much

G A L L I N I D JE.

08 1

in the mere ostentation of expense as in the real gra-
tification even of the palate, they were even in great
demand for the more splendid "feasts, and rose to a
most exorbitant price. When the Roman emperors
had lost even the savage virtues of the earlier ages,
in more ostentatious dissipation, they took a pride in
having at their tables large dishes wholly composed
of the heads and brains of peacocks, for the introduc-
tion of which there could be no imaginable motive
but the great expense. With the epicures of modem
times, the peacock is in small favour; and though the
young are eaten, but not much in request, the full
grown birds are not. Their flesh is tough, and has
not A very agreeable flavour. The hardness of the
flesh has, however, one advantage (if advantage it can
be called) in hot climates, it resists putrefaction longer
than the flesh of almost any other animal.

In the American continent, or even in Africa, there
is no trace whatever of these birds as natives, but
they have been introduced into both. The Portu-
guese, when they had the ascendant both in India
and in Africa, introduced them into the latter country,
where they were highly prized by the native princes.
At later periods of history they have been introduced
into various parts of America arid the West Indian
islands. In all countries they are regarded more in
the light of mere ornaments than of any thing else.

Though these birds are hardy ;n enduring the
weather, they are very sensitive to its changes, and
give note of some of those before there are any indi-
cations which are palpable to the majority of the
human race. In summer the screaming of peacocks,
especially towards the close of the day, is understood
to prognosticate rain, and they are not the only birds
which naturally perform this sort of augury.

THE THIBET PEACOCK (P. Thibetamis of Linnaeus)
ought perhaps to be referred to another genus, and
Temminck has done so, designating it by the generic
name of Polyplectron, and specifically as Polyplectron
chinquis. Cuvier, however, retains it in the genus
Pavo, to which it is certainly allied. Its colour on
the upper part is a bluish black, with metallic lustre ;
the feathers being bordered with golden green, be-
yond which there is a fringed margin of deep black.
The top of the head is covered with short feathers of
a soft velvety texture, of a golden green colour with
blue reflections ; and these feathers are surmounted
by a tuft of twenty long and thread-shaped feathers
with whitish shafts, and a row of bluish green points
along each side, which give the crest the appearance
of being toothed. The colour of these lateral points
of the crest is very brilliant. The neck, the throat, and
the lower part of the breast, are of a greenish blue of
a very bright lustre, the feathers having at the end a
gold coloured eye-spot bordered with bright blue.
The lesser and middle coverts of the wings are green
with blue reflections ; and the larger coverts are
greenish black, bordered with golden green. The
quills are yellowish maroon, with the shafts and tips
greenish black. The upper tail-coverts are bright
golden green marked across with cheveron bars of a
yellowish colour ; the tail-feathers bright green
covered with brown. The under parts are black,
with golden reflections; and the bill and feet are
black. The secondary quills are ornamented with
very brilliant blue spots, and the produced upper
coverts of the tail with similar spots of green, two
upon each feather ; but the feathers are not nearly
so much produced as those of the common peacock.

These birds are singularly beautiful ; they are less
than the common peacock, but larger than pheasants.
They are found in the mountainous country between
India and the Chinese territory ; and, according to
some of the authorities, they are also found farther
south, in the Malay peninsula, and also in the islands.
One of their most remarkable peculiarities is the
number of spurs on the tarsi of the male, which are
sometimes as many as six upon one leg ; and there
are often more on the one leg than on the other. The
feathers of the tail are erectible and may be expanded
like a fan, in the same manner as those of the pea-
cock ; but though there are more eye-spots on the
single feathers, the appearance altogether is not nearly
so splendid. The plumage of the female is much less
brilliant than that of the male, and the tail-feathers
are not nearly so long. The young birds are of an
earthen grey colour, with lines and spots of brown.
After the first moult, the colours are not so broken
and irregular, and the positions of the spots on the
wings and tail can be traced. After the second moult,
they become more distinct and better defined, and
display the rich gold and blue and green, which are
so ornamental in the mature birds. It is not, how-
ever, till after the third moult that the colours attain
their highest perfection. Even in the state of nature
this species is by no means wild ; and when in con-
finement, it is very soon reconciled to its condition,
and breeds as freely as any other of the race. Alto-
gether it is a very beautiful and highly interesting
bird. The quality of its flesh as an article of domes-
tic economy has not been mentioned, but the proba-
bility is that, from the similarity of the general
appearance, it may in the adult state partake of the
harshness of that of the common peacock.

Varieties of the peacock have been mentioned as
occurring in the East of larger size and more brilliant
plumage than the common variety found in Europe ;
but the probability is that they are only accidental, or
at most caused by a more congenial climate ; for it
has been noticed that peacocks in the north of Scot-
land are inferior in point of beauty to those of the
warmer parts of England ; and it is known that those
which are met with in Norway and Sweden are
smaller in size, and less beautiful in plumage than in
the south of Europe.

THE JAPAN PEACOCK (P. muticus of Linnaeus)
appears, however, to have some distinct characters.
We might indeed expect this from the simple fact of
its being a native of the Japan isles ; for it should
seem that there is nothing native in those singular
islands, whether animal or vegetable, exactly like the
productions of any other country, how much soever
it may agree with them in its common generic cha-
racters. The Japan peacock is very nearly of the
same size and general character with the common or
Indian one; and like that, it has the tarsi armed with
a spur on each. The crest, however, is of a different
character, being composed of ten graduated feathers,
which are reflected backwards. The cry is also dif-
ferent from that of the common species. We are not
aware that any living specimen of it has been, at least
of late years, brought to Europe.

LOPHOPHORUS. This genus, which has no very
accurate English name, is an inhabitant of the moun-
tainous parts of the north of India. The characters
are: the head surmounted by a crest, consisting of
detached silky feathers of unequal length, and reflected
backwards ; the tail is rounded, and the coverts are

582

G A L L 1 N I D M.

not produced, us in the peacocks ; the colours of the
male have a very brilliant metallic lustre ; arid the
tarsi ire furnished with spurs.

Lophophorus re/'u/gens is about the size of a turkey.
The general colour is black ; but the crest and feathers
of the back are relieved by very brilliant reflections of
gold and bronze colour, and also bright blue and bright
green ; the tail-feathers are red. The prevailing
colour of the female and the young birds is brown,
clouded with grey arid yellowish. The most remark-
able character of these birds, and one in which they
differ from all the rest of the order, is that of the bill,
which is altogether a long one, and the upper mandi-
ble projects a considerable way over the under one,
and is truncated at the tip. This mandible is much
arched, very strong, and advances on the front of the
head between the feathers. It has a strong rounded
ridge all along the culmen, with a groove on each
side. The under side of it is very much hollowed,
and the upper mandible shuts so completely into it as
to be invisible when the bill is closed. What parti-
cular purpose this singularly-formed bill answers in
the economy of the bird has not been ascertained,
but it must refer to some peculiarity in the food or
the mariner of feeding. The legs are rather short
but very strong, and the feathers on the tibia? are so
much produced as to hang down nearly as far as the
spurs on the tarsi.

Lophophorus Cuvierii has the same characters of
bill as the other species or variety ; but the crest is
pendent backwards, and the feathers on the upper
part are margined with white. It is also smaller in
size than the other, though larger than any of the
pheasants. The feathers on the tibiae are also less
produced. The female is less than the male, of a
brown colour, and with white edges to the feathers
on the breast.

Both these species belong to nearly the same loca-
lity, and both are mountain birds, found chiefly, if not
exclusively, in the mountainous countries between
India and China, not, we believe, on the more lofty
ridges and summits of the Himalaya, but on the secon-
dary hills and in the upland valleys. In the south
of India, and even in Bengal, they are unknown as
native birds ; for even at Calcutta they are brought
from the north, and esteemed as curiosities.

Lophophorus Cuvierii.

It does not appear indeed that there is, on the
mountains within and near the tropics, any gallina-
ceous birds agreeing in character with the ptarmigan
and othor species of mountain grouse of the north.
In air and appearance the present birds corresponds
in part with the peacocks, in part with the common
fowl, and in part with the pheasants; but they differ

so much from any one of these, that they arc properly
made a distinct species.

TKAGOPON. This genus was by the elder natural-
ists included among the pheasants, under the title of
the " horned pheasant," from two appendages of the
head to be afterwards noticed ; and it was also called the
Nepal pheasant, from the country in which it was first
discovered. In all its characters, and in irs general
air and appearance, it is, however, very different from
the pheasants ; and in the shape of the body, and the
carriage of the head and neck, it much more nearly
resembles a common fowl. The forehead and cheeks
are almost naked; the hind part of the head has a
crest of loose detached feathers inclining backwards ;
there is a slender horn sticking out behind each eye ;
and the wattles under the throat are capable of being
extended. The upper parts of the male bird are
bright red, spotted with white, the white being sur-
rounded with a ring of black ; and on the coverts of
the wings and upper part of the tail those spots are
larger and more distinctly eye-shaped than on any
other part of the body. The neck and breast are
orange, with white spots surrounded with black ; and
those soots become larger on the flanks and thighs.

Nepal Horned Tragopon (Pheasant).

The quills and tail-feathers are brown, clouded with
a darker shade of the same colour, and the tail is
pointed and consists of eighteen feathers, the two
parts folding upon each other as in the common fowl.
The tarsi are long and strong, armed with short but
sharp spurs in both the sexes, but the female is with-
out the wattles and horny appendages, and of a brown
colour. The naked parts of the feet are bluish white,
the toes and claws long but not much arched, and
the hind toe is articulated so far up on the tarsus as
not to touch the ground in walking. The whole air
of the bird, which is rather larger than the common
fowl, is expressive of vigour, and that structure of the
feet to which we have alluded points out that it is a
swift runner, as these organs approach very nearly to
those of some of the more flat-footed of the running
:>irds. The habits are not much known, but the lengtn
of the toes would indicate that the bird frequents the
margins of the waters, or otherwise upon soft and
soggy grounds. Hitherto it has been found only in
the north of India, but how far its geographical dis-
tribution extends we arc uninformed. It dors not
appear, however, that there is any trace of it in cen-
:ral or in western Asia, though we want information
respecting the natural history of those mountains
which, extending from the Himalaya to the Altaian

(i A L L I N I D JE.

ridge, divide the Chinese livers iioui those that How
westward to the central lakes.

CREPTONYX — crested pigeon of Latham. The
birds of this genus are of small size, not exceeding
that of the common quail. Thev are inhabitants of
India and the eastern islands, Iwt they are hiding
birds of the margins of the close jungles, and little is
known of their manners. As this species (for there
is only one species known with certainty) bears some
resemblance to birds of several genera, it has been
called by different names, such as the green partridge,
the green grouse, and some others ; but its generic
characters do not warrant its union with any of these.
The characters are : the bill stout, strong, and com-
pressed ; the two mandibles of equal length ; the
edges of the upper one straight, except a little curva-
ture towards the point. The nostrils longitudinal,
placed in the middle of each side of the base of the
upper mandible, and partially covered with a naked
membrane. There are three toes turned to the front,
partially to their bases with a small membrane, and
the hind toe is without p claw, articulated high on
the tarsus, and does not touch the ground in walking.
The tarsi are long, and without any spurs in the male ;
the wings are short, rounded, and hollow, the first
quill is very short, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth are
the longest in the wing. The known species,

Creptojiyx crislata, inhabits the Sunda islands, and
also many parts of the south of Continental Asia.
The upper parts are of a bright green colour. Six
black feathery bristles rise in the form of a ruff on the
front ; the top of the head is white, but furnished
with long plumes of a reddish colour, which form a
loose crest inclining over the occiput. The cheeks
and neck are black ; the coverts of the wings brown
of various shades, varied with russet and black. The
under parts are blackish violet ; the bill greyish above
and fawn-coloured on the under side ; the hides yel-
low, and the feet fawn-coloured. The tail is of mean
length, and carried flat, not folded together as in poul-
try. The female is of a dull green colour on the upper
part ; the naked skin round the eyes is reddish ; the
wings resemble those of the male, but are less bright
in the colours. The under parts are blackish brown,
and the feet are reddish. This last circumstance has
caused the sexes to be described as separate species ;
but the truth respecting them is now pretty well as-
certained. A smaller species of a red and yellow
colour, between five and six inches in length, while
the green one is about ten inches, has occurred as a
museum specimen, and been reported to be from the
Guzerat, or rather from that extensive tract of ground
near the Runners of Cutch, which is seasonally flooded,
. and which is at other times so very rich in ground
birds of various genera ; but we believe nothing is
known with certainty respecting this bird, as to even
where it came from, or whether it be or be not an
accidental variety.

The species which we have hitherto enumerated
may be said to comprise one of the natural groups of
the gallinidse with regard to geographical distribution.
In a native state they are not found to the westward
of the Persian mountains, or of that cross ridge in
central Asia to which we have alluded ; for though
the common pheasant is described as having been
brought from Colchis, the probability is that it was
tin imported species there, and it does not appear to
liave been found in the west of Asia further to the
south. Those Asiatic birds excel all the rest of the

order in the beauty of their plumage, in the form of
their bodies, and in the boldness and pugnacity of the
male birds, both in their affairs of honour "and in,
defence of the females and young. There arc dif-
ferences of flavour and other qualities in the flesh ;
but all the species are not only eatable, but whole-
some, and, generally speaking, superior. The more
they are in a state of nature, the flesh has always a
finer flavour, but it is more tender, and also more
abundant when they are domesticated. There are
also degrees of hardiness among them, especially on
their introduction into climates colder than their na-
tive ones ; but still they are all what might be consi-
dered hardy birds ; and there is probably no species
of them but which might be introduced with advan-
tage into all climates, excepting those which have the
very extreme of severity. They are all polygamous ;
their broods are numerous ; and as in polygamous
animals, the number of females always exceeds that of
the males ; they are equally valuable for their eggs
as for their flesh ; and on both these accounts, as well
as on account of their beauty, they are eminently
deserving of attention. There still remain several
genera to be noticed, as birds of the warmer climates
of Africa and America, before we come to speak of
those of the cold and temperate regions of the north-
ern hemisphere.

GUINEA FOWL (Jfunada). This is originally an
African species, or at least a native of the south west
of Asia only, in addition to the African continent. It
has however been pretty generally introduced into
various parts of Europe, Asia, and America, as a do-
mestic bird. In a domesticated state, the Guinea
owl (which is also called the pintado) is not so pro-
fitable as the common fowl, chiefly because the fe-
males are much less attentive to their young, and the
number bred with the same labour is consequently
smaller.

The characters of this bird are : The bill short and
stout ; the upper mandible curved, convex, arched in
the culmen, and covered at the base by a warty
membrane ; there is a sort of carunculated wattle
suspended from the under mandible, and the nostrils
are placed in the membrane, at the base of the upper
mandible, and half covered by cartilage ; the head
is generally naked, or thinly scattered with a few
hairs, and with a strong callus, or horny crest. Some
of the species however, which we shall notice after-
wards, are distinguished by crests of feathers ; the
tarsi are smooth, and the feet have four toes, three to
the front, which are united to their bases by a short
membrane, and one in the rear articulated higher
up on the tarsus than the front ones ; the tail short,
and drooping towards the ground, the external fea-
thers on both sides being very short, and gradually
increasing in length to the fourth on each side ;
there are at least three species, if we admit the pos-
session of a crest of feathers as a sufficient distinction,
and the common species, as is the case with most of
the domesticated gallinidse, is broken into several co-
loured varieties, which do not however appear to be
deserving of particular notice, at least as species.

The common Guinea fowl (N. meleagris) has the
body greyish blue, sprinkled with small white spots ;
head and" upper part of the neck naked, a conical
tubercle, with its tip reflexed on the crown, and a
broad geminated membrane near the gape. One
variety has the breast white, and another has the
whole body whitish, with rounded white spots: other

G A L L 1 N I D £.

varieties also occur, and a hybrid has been produced
between a male pintado and a domestic hen. The
young are pretty birds, somewhat res£mbling red par-
tridges at an early age : the adult male is much
larger than the common cocK, and measures about
twenty-three inches in length ; the male has a loose
wattle of a bluish colour, but that of the female is red.
These birds in a wild state associate in numerous
flocks, manifesting a partiality to marshy and mo-
rassy situations, where they subsist almost wholly on
insects, worms, and seeds, laying about nine eggs, but
breeding probably more than once in the year. In
many of the scorching districts of Africa, in Numidia
for instance, they fly in troops during the day, and
perch at night on trees. They abound in the fertile
plains of Arabia, according to Niebuhr, and are so
numerous near Tahama, that the children knock them
down with stones and sell them in the town. In the
year 1508, vast numbers of them were transported to
America by the Genoese ; they have now so greatly
multiplied, and become so habituated to the climate,
that in the Spanish possessions they roam at liberty
in the midst of the savannahs and woods. They
sustain without injury the cold of our northern
climates, notwithstanding the great heat of their
native country, and might possibly be as successfully
introduced into our woods and parks as the pheasant ;
but it is very troublesome to get them to incubate and
rear the young in the poultry yard, as they frequently
desert their charge, and drop their eggs under hedges,
or in other concealed places. The hen pintado when
sufficiently fed will lay about one hundred eggs, if
care be always taken to leave one in the nest. The
eggs of the pintado are smaller than those of the
common fowl, of a rounder form, reddish white, ob-
scurely freckled with a darker colour, and are consi-
dered a very delicious morsel. As ancient and
modern epicures have boasted the flavour of this spe-
cies, it has been reared for the table in all ages, and
frequently by the intervention of the common, or of
the turkey hen, either of which proves a more vigi-
lant and careful nurse than the female pintado.

When Guinea fowl are kept in a domestic state,
they do not seek their own food with the same assi-
duity as common poultry ; and thus they require
some attention in this respect, which adds to the ex-
pense of keeping. Once or twice a day they must
be regularly supplied with food, which consists of
buckwheat, barley, or millet ; they eat when in the
fields grasshoppers, worms, beetles, and ants, and cut
up and destroy the tender buds and flowers. They
cat considerably more than the common poultry,
probably, in consequence of the shorter length of their
intestines. A male pintado will serve for ten females.
The female generally lays at the latter end of May or
the beginning of June, and the eggs are usually from
eighteen to twenty-four in number : the shell of the
egg is of a yellowish white colour, spotted with small
brown points, and is very hard ; they are deposited
by the female in a retired place, under some bush ;
she seldom sits with any assiduity, nor when the
young are disclosed does she display any great affec-
tion for them ; it is therefore found more profitable to
have their eggs hatched by a common hen : the in-
cubation lasts three weeks, or rather better. As we
before hinted, the young are very delicate and diffi-
cult to bring up, requiring much attention in the
article of food ; they should be placed where there
are insects, and in a dry situation. On the top of the

head, the casque, and the barbels of the lower jaw, arc
not distinguished before the birds are six or seven
months old. Near the time these appendages begin
to make their appearance, and the epoch is critical
for the young pintados, they become liable to mala-
dies, from which they cannot be preserved but by
great care and proper nourishment. A considerable
difference between the pintado hen and the cem-
mon one is, that the intestinal tube is much shorter in
proportion in the last, being but three feet long, with-
out reckoning the cceca, which are six inches each :
they proceed widening from their origin, and receive
the vessels of the mesentery, like the other intestines.
The largest intestine is the duodenum, which is more
than nine lines in diameter ; the gizzard is like that
of the hen, and small gravel stones are found there, as
in that bird ; indeed, nothing else is found there
sometimes, the consequence apparently of the animal
having died in a languishing state, and passed the
latter moments of its life without eating : the internal
membrane of the gizzard is very much wrinkled, and
very slightly adherent to the nervous tunic, and of a
corneous substance, or something very analogous to it.

The crop is about the size of a tennis-ball when in-
flated ; the intermediate canal between the crop and
gizzard is of a harder and whiter substance than that
part of the intestinal tube which precedes the crop, and
does not exhibit nearly so great a number of apparent
vessels : the heart is more pointed than it is com-
monly found in birds, the lungs are as usual ; it has,
however, been remarked in some subjects, that on
blowing into the trachea, to put the lungs and air-
vessels in motion, that the pericardium, which appears
more loose than usual, became inflated as well as the
lungs. In the cavity of the thorax, the trachea re-
ceives two small muscular cords, about an inch long,
and two-thirds of a line broad, which are implanted
there on each side. These two muscles adhering on
one side to the bottom of the trachea, and on the
other to the clavicles, are peculiar to all the species of
gallinids ; they serve to keep the trachea fixed to the
middle of the aperture of the thorax : the lower part
of the trachea, and the lower larynx of the pintados,
differ very considerably from these same parts in
cocks and pheasants. The entire tube of the trachea
in the pintados, from the glottis to the distance of an
inch from the lower larynx, is formed of complete
rings, in the intervals between which are membranes.
This part of the trachea is susceptible of being
elongated or shortened by two pair of muscles, which
accompany it through its whole length ; but at the
distance of an inch from the lower larynx the rings
are broad, perfectly cylindrical, and soldered as it
were one upon the other. On each side of this tube
towards the lower part are five membranes, which are
followed by three rings of the lower larynx, from
which the bronchiae depend. These last are formed
of flat semi-rings, which gradually diminish in length ;
there are thus some imperfections connected with the
Guinea fowl as an inhabitant of the poultry yard ;
but where elegance and variety, as well as mer«
profit, are objects of consideration, it can be advan-
tageously introduced.

The crested Guinea fowl (N. cristata) is chiefly-
known as an African bird. It is less in size than the
common Guinea fowl : the bill is horn colour, fur-
nished at the base of the upper mandible with * blu-
ish cere in which the nostrils are placed. It lias no
carunculated appendage to the lower mandible like

G A L L I N I D M.

the common species ; but there is at each side of that
mandible a longitudinal fold, forming a sort of small
appendage ; the throat, the upper part of the neck, and
the hind portion of the head are denuded of feathers,
and the naked skin is deep blue on the latter part and
sides of the neck ; it is greyish blue in the region of
the ears ; and it assumes a crimson tint toward the fore
part of the neck. This species gets its name from a
crest of feathers on the upper part of the head : the
plumage is black, powdered over with very small
spots of bluish white bordered with bright blue ; the
neck and breast are black, and the crest on the top
of the head is also black, and composed of downv
feathers with their webs quite disunited : the wing-
coverts are blackish brown, some of the secondaries
being marked with four white rays, and others having
their exterior webs bordered with black : the beak
is ash colour, the cere bluish and smooth, and the
naked membrane on the head and neck is thinly scat-
tered with very delicate hairs. The length of the
male bird is about eighteen inches.

This species is represented as inhabiting the hottest
parts of the interior of western Africa, where they are
said to be found in very large flocks upon the margins
of the sandy deserts. One of these flocks consists of
some hundreds, made up of many united broods ; for
it appears that these birds, though when domesticated
they do not agree well with the other gallinidae, are
yet very sociable with each other. Their numbers
are so great that they make the deserts re-echo with
their discordant cries. Towards the rising of the
sun and close of day their piercing cries are most
frequently heard : the manners of these birds are like
those of the last and the following species, and they
equally feed on all kinds of grains, worms, insects,
and berries.

The mitred Guinea fowl is distinguished from the
others by a horny crest or casque on the top of the
head. Its manners and habits are similar to those of
the common Guinea fowl ; its cry differs very little
from that of that bird, and is equally discordant and
continuous ; in size it is alike, measuring twenty-one
inches ; its casque rises about an inch and a half above
the top of the head, in the adult state ; but in the
young birds it is less curved backwards, and less an-
gular. There are no distinct wattles in this species,
nor any fleshy appendage to the lower mandible, but
merely two slight folds of skin, one directed from
near the eye toward the gape, and the other from the
same point down the side of the neck ; these, how-
ever, are but little produced, and therefore they are
not very conspicuous. This species or variety has
been found in the island of Madagascar, and it is
pretty generally distributed over the continent of
Africa, at least such is the opinion of naturalists.

We believe that we have now enumerated all the
principal species, and most of the leading varieties of
the gallinidae of the eastern world, which may be con-
sidered as having their native localities confined to the
southward of the central mountains of Asia, and the
Mediterranean. They form as it were a southern
division of the order in this hemisphere ; there is also
what may be regarded as forming, in a geographical
point of view, a middle latitude division, which are
found in the wild state, in the same localities as one
or another of those which have been described, and
also in higher latitudes than any of the others are met
with in a state of nature ; but before we advert to
these, it will be necessary very shortly to notice the

southern division of those which inhabit the American
continent, though from what we have already remarked
in the articles ALECTOIUD.E and CUKASSOW, we
may confine our present notice to a mere enumeration
of the species ; they all belong to the family

ALECTORIDA: ; and fall under the following di-
visions : —

Ourax, the pauxi. These birds are inhabitants of
the warmer parts of tropical America. They are
large birds, and when in a state of nature and undis-
turbed by human intrusion, they are very tame, on
which account Buffon, and some others, have most in-
correctly brought a charge of stupidity against the birds.
This is very incorrect ; for though they are birds of
gentle manners, very easily tamed, and capable of
much attachment, when in a state of domestication,
they are most attentive to their young ; and although
in the openings of the wild woods they are quite un-
suspicious, and allow sportsmen readily to get within
shot of them, yet, when the neighbourhood becomes
peopled, they become shy.

The male bird of this species measures about two
feet ten inches in length, and in size and weisrht it
very much resembles the domestic turkey. It has
the bill very short and stout, and considerably hooked.
This bill is covered with a membrane at the base,
which extends a considerable way up the forehead,
and is met by soft and tufted velvety feathers. In
this naked membrane, immediately at the base of the
bill, there is a tubercle, of an oval shape, about the
same size as the bird's head. This tubercle is of a
bright blue colour, and of the hardness of stone, on
which account the French give them the name of
the " stone birds." (Oiseaux a pierre.)

The species to which we allude (for there are more
than one), is the Crax pauxi of Linnaeus. According
to the accounts given by those who have good op-
portunities of observing, this bird nestles on the
ground, and leads about its young, and calls them to
it by a cry, much in the same manner as the ph^a-
sants. At first the young live on insects, and tht-n,
when they grow large, on fruits, grains, and, in fact,
on every thing on which poultry can be fed. When in
a state of domestication, and she has become well ac-
customed to the climate, the female brings up her little
ones extremely well ; but it often occurs that great
quantity of the eggs are abortive, which proceeds
from not giving to these birds sufficient liberty. By
fastening their wings, and leaving them a large space,
shaded on one side, the broods will thrive extremely
well. The eggs are white, and about the size of those
of the turkey. The hen turkey may be employed
both to hatch these eggs and educate the young, as
the time of incubation is the same with both birds.
The little ones are covered with a brown down, and
the globe which should surmount the head is not ap-
parent at this early age. Alter the first moulting it
shows itself, by a small tubercle, which increases in
proportion as the bird advances in age. Both the
male and female are provided alike with this appen-
dage, but, in the latter, it is somewhat smaller. The
globular excrescence which we have mentioned as
adhering to the base of the upper mandible, is of a
bony texture in the adult birds, and ramified over
with grooves. The interior is composed of small
cells, which the bird appears to have the power of
filling with air through an opening in the interior of
the upper mandible ; tnough what purpose this curi-
ous appendage answers in the economy of the birds

A L L I N I D JE.

nas not been explained. The young have it round ;
but in the mature birds it rises up in a crown, and
has some resemblance to a pear standing on the thick
end, and is altogether about two inches and a hall' in
height. One of the cries of these birds resembles
the syllables -po-hic, very loud and clear ; but they,
in common with most of the family, also utter a hum-
ming or murmuring sound. The call is common to
the two sexes, and it is clear and sonorous, and heard
a considerable way off. In the male there are con-
volutions in the trachea, bearing some slight re-
semblance to what we meet with in some of the swans
and other birds which dabble in the waters ; and this
renders it probable that the cellular appendage to
the bill may answer some purpose analogous to that
of the enlargement of the bronchial end of the tra-
chea in these other birds. After the trachea has fol-
lowed the same direction with the gullet, as far as
the entrance of the thorax, it returns upward, over
the right great pectoral muscle, at some distance from
the crest of the sternum, continues its direction over
the entire length of this muscle, forms a curve there
in passing to the distance of two lines behind the
sternum, over the tunic which retains the entrails ; it
then proceeds the length of two inches and a quarter
over the left pectoral muscle, there makes a turn on
the side of the sternum, passes anew behind this
bone, above the first curve, then turns anew, follows
its direction over the right pectoral on the side of the
crest of the sternum, and passes over the right cla-
vicle into the cavity of the thorax. There is a muscle
on each side of the trachea, which serves to lengthen
or shorten it. The tube adheres, in its entire length,
to the pectoral muscle, by a very fine cellular tissue,
and is immediately covered by the skin. The upper
and lower larynx do not differ from the same parts in
the peacock, but a very apparent socle is found at
the bottom of the upper larynx, at the aperture of
the glottis. The tube of the trachea is composed of
slender rings, distant from each other about two lines.
The spaces between the rings are membranous. It
is understood that this convolution of the trachea is
not wholly confined to the male bird, but occurs in
the female also, though to a rather smaller extent.

One or two other species of this genus are men-
tioned ; but they do not require a very particular
notice. They are :

Ourax mitu, which has been improperly confounded
with the curassows. It has the upper parts black, w ith
violet and purple reflections, but the margin of each
feather dead black, without any reflection, the upper
part of the head is covered with short velvety fea-
thers, of dead black, and there is a crest of frizzled
feathers, not very long, and of an intense black on
the hind head and neck. The coverts of the wings
are black, with white tips. All the under parts are
brilliant black, with the exception of the belly and
under-tail coverts, which are maroon brown. The
feet are reddish, and the bill is red, surmounted with
a horny casque of the same colour, which runs a
little way upon the forehead. The irides are black-
ish. The length of the full grown bird is from twenty-
eight to thirty inches. The young have the black
colour less pure, the red in the bill and feet duller,
and the casque on the bill less elevated.

Two or three other species have been mentioned,
but they are known only as museum specimens, which
have no interest for the general reader, and even
these are a little confused. Indeed thev are not often

seen by the European colonists, even in those coun-
tries which they inhabit, as they arc much more shy
than many of the other gallinidae, and especially than
the curassows. These last are found very generally
in the court-yards in Brazil, in Guiana, and in Mex-
ico ; but the pauxis are rarely seen there, nor are
they very common in collections. They inhabit the
vast forests with which so great a breadth of the fer-
tile regions of tropical America is covered ; and as
the only inhabitants of the open parts of those forests
are the different tribes of Indians, who range the
wild woods with much more ease than Europeans, the
birds are chiefly sought, after by them as game. With
few exceptions, such as the cultivation of a little
cassava and Indian corn, those wild tribes subsist en-
tirely upon the produce of the forests ; and, aided
by the ivourali poison, and their bows and blowing
tubes for throwing arrows and darts, they are very
expert marksmen, and can bring down a bird, or
arrest the speed of a land animal, with perhaps greater
certainty than an European can do with his musket.
The poison is of great service to them in this respect
because the least movement w ith the poisoned weapu.
very speedily throws the animal into a complete
stupor, or kills it, if only a small one. The arrows
and darts are so contrived, that the point which is
armed with the poison, and of which the hunters keep
a store, taking great care to preserve them from damp,
is so contrived, that the moment it fastens in the
body of an animal, the shaft or handle drops off, so
that it may again and again receive fresh points, and
bring down fresh game before the hunter takes the
trouble of picking up the first ones. We believe
that the birds of this genus are the game most highly
prized by those Indians, though many of the larger
species of parrots are also very good eating, and as
they are more in sight than those birds of the deep
forest, they fall more to the lot of Europeans in tra-
versing the wilds.

PENELOPE (the Guan or Yacou). This is also a
species inhabiting the tropical parts of America,
chiefly to the south of the Isthmus, and between the
Andes and the eastern sea. Guan, or quan, and
yacou, are names given to it by the natives of those
countries in which it is found. The systematic name,
Pejielope, is not very well chosen, because it has
been applied to the widgeon, a bird which is very
unlike the present genus ; and the widgeon again got
its name from the Greek fable, of a red-headed duck
having saved Penelope, the wife of Ulysses, from
drowning when she was a girl. It does not appear
that either the widgeon, or any bird of the present
genus, ever practised so much gallantry ; as the
names have been generally introduced, however, it
would not be advisable to change them.

The characters of the present genus are, the beak
of mean length, and nearly straight, depressed at the
base, so that the breadth exceeds the height, and
with the upper mandible sharp and curved at the
tip. The forehead, a space round the eyes and the
chin, are bare of feathers ; the nostrils are placed on
each side of the bill, near the middle of its length,
and have only a small part toward the front open ;
the tarsi are slender, and not longer than the middle
front toe ; there are three toes to the front, united
by membranes at their bases, and one to the rear
articulated much further up on the tarsus than the
front ones. The first four girdles of the wings arc
gradually staged, or the one regularly longer than

G A L L I N I D JE.

557

the other, like steps ; the fifth and sixth are the
longest in the wings, which are, consequently very
much rounded. They are also short, so that the
birds are incapable of an extended flight. The naked
part of the throat is furnished with a sort of wattle,
the middle part of which is marked with warts or
tubercles. The tarsi are covered with reticulated
scales ; and this, as well as the peculiar form of the
bill, point them out as ground birds, inhabiting moist
places and the margins of the waters. Their colours
are subject to great variations, in different birds, and
in the same bird, in different ages and at different
seasons, so that it is exceedingly difficult to deter-
mine species and varieties, as difficult indeed as in
tbe case of the common cock ; and it is possible that
the circumstance of having or wanting a crest may
not form a specific difference in the one genus any
more than it does in the other. When these birds
take to the wing, their flight is near the ground, ou
the level, and of brief continuance. In the extensive
and dense forests of those places in which they in-
habit, they perch on the inclined branches of trees,
and run so quickly by the aid of their short wings,
that a man cannot overtake them. They pass the
day concealed in thickets ; but they are astir morn-
ing and evening, when they resort to the outskirts of
the forests, without, however, entering into the open
plains, or other exposed situations. They are easily
reconciled to domestication ; and they subsist on
grains and fruits like the rest of the gallinaceous
birds. But when they swallow Indian corn, they
void grains entire. They may be reared with profit
in the poultry yard, for their flesh is excellent ; but
they are averse to close confinement, and should be
allowed to be much in the open air. They utter, in
a shrill, but subdued, and nasal tone, the sound of
pee. They construct nests of small twigs, which
they carefully conceal in a close bush or tree neitr
the ground. The eggs are generally about eight in
number. They live in pairs, and also in families,
which appear very much attached to each other, for
if there are several found in a tree, they will remain
till they are all shot one by one. When they perch,
or otherwise repose, they support the breast on the
folded legs. We shall briefly notice the leadingspecies.
The Crested Gitan (P. cristata). This species
was long confounded with the turkeys, with which it
has hardly any character in common, except that both
are gallinaceous birds. It has also sometimes been
called a peacock, to which it has if possible still less
resemblance. Buffon gave it the name of yacou,
which we believe is what it is called by the Abori-
gines of Brazil, while gnan or quan is its native name
in some other parts of South America. The upper
parts are blackish green, with metallic reflections of
olive and bronze colour. The rump and tail-coverts
are deep red. A black streak extends from the
angle of the lower mandible to the ear. The cheeks
are in great part naked and of a bright red colour.
There is a small crest of loose feathers on the hind
part of the head ; and a large pendent wattle hangs
from the gorge which is of a fine red colour, and
capable of being elongated and contracted according
as the bird is excited or not. This appendage is
nearly double the size of that on the throat of the
turkey ; but the bird has the power of withdrawing
it so completely, that it scarcely differs from the
naked skin of that part to which it is attached. The
breast is of an olive colour, and the rest of the under

parts reddish, the margins of the feathers on both
being white. The bill is black at the tip and blue
at the base, the naked skin round the eyes violet,
the iris orange, and the feet are ash-coloured. The
length of the full grown male is about two feet and a
half. The female is rather smaller, less bright in the
colours, and has the feathers on the head, the crest,
and the scapulars, bordered with white. The young
birds have the head and neck completely covered
with reddish downy feathers ; three stripes of
maroon brown also of downy appearance, one large
one along the head and upper part of the neck, and a
smaller on each side. The upper parts are deep red
clouded with paler, and the under parts are reddish
white. In this stage of its growth it has been
described as a separate species ; but it is now well
ascertained to be only the young of this one.

The male in this species, as is the case in many
others of the Alectoridce, has a flexure of the wind-
pipe. After having accompanied the gullet to the
anterior part of the sternum, the wind pipe, or trachea,
rises over the right pectoral muscle ; but it advances
only two inches in that direction and repasses over
the same muscle, and reaching along the crest of the
sternum, enters the cavity of the thorax and proceeds
toward the lungs. The rings of cartilage in this
organ are separated by pretty broad membranes ; and
toward the larynx it opens like a funnel. The larynx
is attached to the process of the ot hyo'idet, or bone of
the tongue, and consequently it is connected with
that organ, as in the pauxi, the turkey, and the
peacock, while in the common cock, the curassow,
and the different species of pheasants, the larynx is
not supported by the bone of the tongue, but merely
attached to the membranes of the gullet. This
difference of structure in the upper larynx of the
trachea has a considerable influence on the intonation
of voice in the birds ; as those which have it fixed to
the tongue, are incapable of the same flexibility and
clearness of utterance as those which have it free.
It must be understood, however, «hat in birds, the
lower or bronchial larynx is the real organ of voice,
that is the organ at which the sound they make
originates ; though of course this original sound is
modified by the nature of the tube through which it
passes, and also by that of the upper orifice from
which it is communicated to the air and rendered
audible. A convoluted trachea gives depth to the
note of birds, in the same manner as a long tube
gives depth to any other wind instrument ; and it is
also evident that one which is capable of much
motion in its several parts, or has one part wider
than another, must roughen the sound, and in this bird
the last effect is further increased by the upper
larynx and surrounding parts being covered by
tubercles. We are not, however, to suppose that the
peculiar structure of the trachea in these birds is con-
fined to the mere modulation of the sounds which
they utter ; for these are but a very secondary part
of their economy. But they inhabit regions which
are seasonably flooded to a very great extent ; and
though their haunts are not then explorable, it is
highly probable that they feed under water, in the
shallows, for as they are ground feeders, they cannot
well feed anywhere else at those times ; and there-
fore the convoluted and extended trachea in them
may enable them to keep the head longer immersed,
just as it does in those dabbling birds which have it
formed in this manner. But the wilds of the forests

588

GALLINID.E.

in tropical America are not very explorable at any
season, and when flooded they are forbidden grounds,
so that we have no means of knowing the conduct of
the ground-feeding inhabitants at those times, farther
than by analogy^ and the analogy is rather loose, as
no other countries have exactly the same physical
characters.

The Whitting or Hissing Gwn (P. pipile) varies
more in colour than even the former one, and there-
fore descriptions of it founded on colour are apt
to be more contradictory. The upper parts are black
with metallic reflections of purple and violet. The
nape is furnished with a crest of long thread-like
feathers, which are white with black shafts. There is
a large white band on each side of the neck. The
greater and middle coverts of the wings are white
with black tips and shafts. The under parts are
black with some streaks of white on the breast.
There is a small naked space on the cheek of a blue
colour, and the pendent wattle on the throat' is also
blue. The quills of the wings are black with metallic
reflections ; the feet are red, and the bill bluish at
the base and black at the tip. The full grown male
measures about twenty-eight inches. The female is
rather smaller in size, and less bright in the colours ;
and has the feathers of the crest mottled with black
and white. The young are of a maroon brown
colour, with the naked space round the eyes leaden
grey. The feathers in the crest are shorter than in
the mature birds, and also brown.

This species ranges from Guiana to Paraguay, and
from the base of the Andes to the shores of Brazil ;
and in a bird extending over so wide a territory, we
may expect considerable climatal differences. Ac-
cordingly individuals have been mentioned as occur-
ring in Brazil, in which the webs of the quills do not
extend the full length of the shafts, but leave a
portion of these naked like a spine. Some individuals
have been kept in confinement in Europe, in which
state they were very quiet and inoffensive birds.
The sound emitted by this one is a sort of hissing
whistle, not nearly so loud or harsh as that of the
former species ; and the authorities state that the
trachea goes straight to the lungs without any con-
volution.

Tlie Marail Guan (P. marail). This species is
called the green pheasant in Guiana. It is a well
distinguished species, and remarkable for the brilliant
metallic lustre of its plumage. The upper part is
rich blackish green ; the crest, which is large and
tufted, is very bright green, with white margins to
the feathers ; and there is also a band of small silky
feathers of a bright green colour, that extends from
the lower mandible at the gape to the eyes, and
these feathers have white margins as well as those of
the crest. The nape, the upper part of the neck, and
the breast are also bright green, with white margins
to the feathers. The coverts of the wings are
iridescent green, and the quills "black. The under
parts, the belly and the under tail-coverts are
brownish fawn colour ; the bill black, and the naked
parts on the sides of the neck and the appendage to
the throat are very clear bright red, thinly scattered
over with black hairs. The feet are reddish and the
claws black. It is smaller than the other species,
being only about twenty-six inches in length when
full grown. The colours of the female are less
brilliant than those of the male, and her whole
plumage has a slight reddish tinge. The young in

the early stage are covered all over with downy
feathers of a russet colour.

According to Sonnini this species of guan is very
easily tamed, and so familiar in a state of domestica-
tion, as to be absolutely troublesome. It soon knows
those people who are about it and kind to it ; and it
is so fond of being caressed that it runs about their
feet, and is in danger of getting trampled on, or
tumbling them down in their attempts to avoid it.
It utters cries of persuasion similar to those uttered
by a common hen when she collects her chickens.
When in a state of nature it is a quiet and gentle
bird, frequenting solitary places, and feeding chiefly
upon wild fruits. In their general habits they almost
constantly perch upon trees, though they feed on
the ground. Their short and hollow wings are ill
adapted for forward flight, which they make with
even more labour and noise than a common barn
door fowl ; but they leap to their perches or from
them with considerable ease and agility, and they
run very swiftly, making use of their half expanded
wings to row them along, as is the case with ostriches.
In many of their habits they approach more nearly
to the jungle fowl of India than to any other of the
native gallinidae of South America. In many of their
habits, as well as in their generic characters, they
differ from these. The males are monogamous, and
show no disposition to fight or quarrel with each
other, or indeed with any other creature. They
live generally in pairs, and shun the society not only
of all other birds, but of each other, except the pair
and the family during the first year. The female
makes her nest in trees, and the eggs vary from two
to five. In the morning they are very early birds,
and their cry is heard as the dawn is breaking ; but
though loud it is hoarse and disagreeable. During
the day, however, they are seldom heard, and in their
native haunts in the forests, they are very seldom
seen.

The hoarse voice of this species appears to arise
from the convolutions of the trachea, which are some-
what different from those of the crested guan, and
approximate more to the wood-grouse and the spoon-
bill : the texture of the organ is nearly the same in
both, being composed of rings alternating with mem-
branous partitions ; it ascends along the neck as far
as the union of the coracoid bones, then it passes into
the interior on the left side of the gizzard, returns in
front of the left coracoid, as far as the furcal bone, at
its union with the sternum, where it returns back
again and proceeds to the lungs. The anterior part,
which extends forwards, has a peculiar inusde attached
to it, by which it is secured to the crest of the ster-
num and also to the pectoral muscles.

Though the number of eggs in this species is less
than that of some of the others, they hatch twice in the
year, in December or January, when the rainy season
commences, and in May or June, when it is over. The
nests are carefully concealed in thick bushes ; and,
different from many of the gallinidae, the mother feeds
them for some time in the nest. This lasts for about
two weeks, by which time their feathers have begun
to sprout ; and the mother descends with them, and
tends and feeds them on the ground, until they are so
far fledged as to be able to perch. Their first food
consists of insects, small seeds, and fruits, for which
the parent bird scrapes the ground in the same man-
ner as the common hen ; she also calls them to her
by similar cries, and gathers them under her wings for

G A L L I N I D

shelter or protection. The voung are very easily
tamed, and they readily find" their way back to a
home in which they have been ted and otherwise
kindly treated ; but they are not fond of passing the
night within doors, preferring a perch on trees, if there
are any in the neighbourhood.

THE PARRAQUA (Ortalida). This genus has been
confounded both with the former and with the true
pheasants ; but its characters are sufficiently distinct
from both. They are very noisy birds, and the name
parraqua is nearly expressive of their cry : with the
true pheasants this bird has few characters in com-
mon, and it is easily distinguished from the genus
Penelope. The culmen of the bill is more elevated
and curved, and the tip more enlarged and arched.
There are no elongated naked appendages to the
throat, and very little naked skin, only a narrow band
extending downward from each comer of the gape ;
the space between these stripes is covered with black
skin, not feathered but beset with hairs. The upper
parts are mottled with grey, green, and red ; the
front, the top of the head and the upper part of the
neck are deep red ; the coverts of the wings are red,
with the exception of six of the middle ones, which
are iridescent green, and the quills are of the same
colour, but not so brilliant. The lower part of the
neck and the breast are olive grey ; the bill black
but greyish at the tip ; a bluish circle of naked skin
around the eyes, and the feet reddish ; the length is
about twenty-two inches. The young are smaller in
size, and have the red spots on the upper parts more
conspicuous, while the under part is brownish, with
grey margins to the feathers. These birds construct
their nests on small and tufted branches, at about
seven or eight feet from the ground ; they lay from four
to six eggs. When the young are disclosed they de-
scend in a short time from the nest, and the mother
conducts them in a similar manner to the common hen.
The usual aliments of these birds vary very much ;
but when young, and having just quitted the nest,
their food principally consists of worms and small in-
sects,which the mother procures for them by scratching
up the earth : they quite abandon the mother when
they are grown large and are able to fly. Besides
fruits, seeds, and in all probability, insects, these birds
occasionally feed upon the young and tender grass,
with which the savannahs begin to be covered after
they have been watered by the rains. The feeding
time is early in the morning, before the hrat of the
sun becomes strong ; for after that they retire to the
shelter of the woods, and as they seek the cover of
the very thickest foliage, it is with difficulty that they
can be seen during the day ; but in the evening, when
it begins again to get cool, they come out of their
hiding-places, and utter their loud and harsh cries :
they feed a second time in the evening, and when light
fails them, they return to their perches in the trees.
They are found in the western valleys of the Colom-
bian states, as well as in the valleys of the larger
rivers further to the east and south. Humboldt in
his travels among the ridges of the Northern Andes
and their spurs, found them in the deep and romantic
valley of the Magdalena, perched in flocks of sixty or
eighty upon the withered trees, and making the neigh-
bourhood to resound with their harsh and piercing
cries.

The trachea of the parraqua is more convoluted
than that of the crested or the marail guan : it passes
<jver the Jeft coracoid nearly the entire lit-iulit of the

589

great pectoral muscle, doubles back nearly the
length of this muscle along the external surface of
the peritoneum, and is reflected forward, divides,
turns backward, and proceeds to the lungs. Hum-
boldt measured the length of this tube both in the
male and the female ; and the difference is so great,
that were the fact not known to be otherwise, they
might be taken for different species. The difference
of the bodies of the birds is not more than an inch or
two in length ; but the convoluted trachea of the male
is nearly three times as long as the unconvoluted
trachea of the female ; the former measuring fifteen
inches and a half, and the latter only five and a half.
HOAZIN (Opisthocomus). This is a bird of the
same countries with the Alectoridce, but it unquestion-
ably belongs to a different family. Doubts were at
one time entertained as to its existence ; and now
that the fact of there actually being such a bird is well
established, its place in the system has become a little
puzzling. It was first described by Fernandez as a
Mexican bird, about the "same size as a turkey, stand-
ing higher than the currassow, and of a different form
and air : it was described as having a tufted crest
of feathers, white on the one side, and black on the
other, a curved bill, the breast yellowish white, and the
wings and tail marked with dark spots and stripes : the
back, the neck, and sides of the head of a rusty brown
colour, and the feet dull raven grey. The same
writer added, that its voice, which bears some resem-
blance to the sound of its name, is very powerful, and
resembles something between a croak and a howl : he
adds that it inhabits the deep forests, and perches
upon trees near the banks of the waters, waiting for
serpents, which constitute the chief part of its prey :
the same author mentions a smaller bird somewhat
similar, but feeding differently, and eatable, though by
no means delicious ; the other being altogether unfit
for this purpose. It does not appear that there is
much truth in any of these statements ; and it is
probable that Fernandez confounded together two
birds of very different species, the one an aquatic
fishing bird, and the other some such bird as the one
under consideration, though very imperfectly known
to the describer. Later writers have been induced to
class this genus with the omnivorous birds ; but it
does not appear, at least from any thing that is known,
that it partakes much of this character. There is,
however, only a shade of difference between some of
the omnivorous birds and some of the gallinidae ; for
of the former some are easily tamed, and of the latter
not a few are very miscellaneous in their feeding : it
is probable that when this bird comes to be better
known it mar be found to require a distinct place.

The generic characters are, the bill short and stout,
convex in the culmen, curved and compressed laterally
towards the tip, but enlarged at the sides towards the
base, and with the lower mandible strong and angular
at the point. The nostrils are placed in the middle
of the surface of the bill, and partially covered above
with a membrane ; the feet are stout and muscular,
with short tarsi, and four toes, entirely divided to
their bases, and with the two lateral ones unequal,
arid all bordered with rudimental membranes : the
middle toe is as long as the tarsus or longer, the wings
are of mean length, concave and rounded, the first
quill being very short, the next four increasing by
regular stages, the sixth being longest in the wing:
the tuft on the head is composed of narrow feathers,
\\ hidi are red in the basal half, and black in the distal

590

G A L L I N I D &.

When the bird is in a state of repose they hang down
as far as the middle of the neck ; but when it is ex-
dted it can raise them so that they stand out from the
hind head. At the same time it expands the tail in
a fan-shape, and, in fact, it has some of the air and gait
of the peacock, but differs mnch in colour.

There is only one known species, the sasa of Son-
nini, the "crested pheasant" of Latham, and Opis-
thnrornus cristatus of Illiger, the last of which names is
retained by Cuvier, who remarks justly that Vieillot
{.nves a very inaccurate representation. The upper
parts are of a blackish-brown colour : the top of the
iiead is reddish, furnished with a crest of feathers,
coloured as already noticed : the back of the neck is
blackish, with a white line on the shaft of each fea-
ther : the larger and middle coverts of the wings have
white tips, the lesser coverts have their exterior webs
xvliite, and their interior brown : the first four quills
of the wings are wine-red with brown points ; those
next them are bordered with brown in their outer
webs, and those next the body are altogether black-
ish-brown : the tail-feathers are greenish-black with
white tips : the chin is brown, the lower part of the
neck and the breast'are reddish-white, the rest of the
under parts wine-red, and the bill and feet brown :
the length is about twenty inches.

The manners of this species are unknown ; and it
should seem that the birds themselves are not very
abundant. Sonnini mentions that there are but few
in number in those parts of Guiana through which he
travelled. Occasionally he has met them in small
flocks, not exceeding six or eight in number. He
never found them in the deep woods or in elevated
situations ; but on the inundated savannahs and
other marshy places, where he did not observe them
on the ground, but on the leaves of the arborescent
arum (Arum arborescem of Linnaeus), which grows to
the height of five or six feet, and is very plentiful in
the marshes of the tropical countries. It is on the
succulent berries of this arum that these birds are de-
scribed as having been chiefly seen feeding. This is
a little singular, and shows that there is a consumer
provided for almost every substance. The milky
juice of this arum is of so acrid a nature as to blister
the hands of those who touch it ; and yet, according
to the accounts, these birds make the plant their con-
stant habitation and their regular food, eating the
leaves and flowers at those limes when there is no
fruit upon it. The same author, to whom we are
indebted for the only exact description of the bird,
whether it be or be not the hoazin of Fernandez, fur-
ther mentions that they are always found perched on
the trees in the marshes, and that they repose in pairs
close to each other. Their voices are loud and
harsh, and bear so much resemblance to the word
sasa, that the natives of Guiana know them by that
name. In the same trees, or rather arborescent
plants, they form their nests, externally of small |
branches, and internally lined with down ; the last of j
which is certainly not a custom with any of the com-
mon gallinaceous birds. The hatch consists of five or
.six eggs ; but the state of the young has not been
very particularly examined. The flesh of these birds
lias so strong a flavour of musk as not to be at all re-
lished by Europeans, and we believe that it is not
much, if at all, eaten by the natives. It is worthy of
remark, that in this musky flavour it agrees with the
flesh of the mammalia and reptiles which inhabit the
waters of tropical America and their borders.

The genera of which we have now given some
slight account, but respecting many of which more
accurate information would be highly desirable, com-
prehend nearly the whole of the gallinaceous birds
which are found only in the tropical parts of the Ame-
rican continent. With very few exceptions, and those
apparently exceptions of mere variety, they are all
larger than the races of the same order which in-
habit the southern parts of the eastern continent.
Their plumage is also of a more sombre character,'
though, in many of the species, the glosses, and
even the tints, are exceedingly rich. The appendages
to their heads and necks will also be observed to be
peculiar, and more unlike what we are accustomed
to in the native birds of Europe, than any thing which
occurs in the genera of the south and the east. We
may also add that, taking them as a whole, their
manners are much more gloomy ; they have not the
same briskness and spirit, and their flesh is very in-
ferior in an economical point of view.

There is still one genus which, though it resembles
the quails in some particulars, and is included by
Cuvier in the grouse family (Tetraonidce), may be
mentioned here for the sake of including in one arbi-
trary division the same geographical locality. This
species is

TINAMOUS (Cryptttrus). The characters of this
genus are : the bill straight, slender, depressed,
broader than high, and blunt, and rounded at the ex-
tremity. The upper mandible enlarged on the
upper part, and margined at the tip. The nostrils
placed in the middle of the bill, in long nasal grooves,
oval in their shape, and open. The legs are rather
long, and the tarsi are often furnished with hard
tubercles on the hinder edges. There are four toes,
entirely divided, all of them rather short, and the hind
toe reaching the ground in some species, but not
in others. The claws on the toes are small and
flattened. The w ings are short and rounded ; the
first four feathers increase in length by regular
stages ; and the fifth and eighth are the longest in the
wing. The tail consists of ten feathers. It is short
in all the species, and merely rndimental in some of
them, on which account the name crypturus, " ob-
scure tail," is applied to the genus.

It will easily be inferred from the characters which
we have described, that those birds are very different
in their habits from the other gallinidae of the wanner
regions of America. The shortness and roundness
of their wings render them incapable of long flights,
and the shortness of the tail or the want of it unfits
them for ascending and descending with the same
ease as the perching birds, which, whatever may be
the character of their wings, always have the tail
well formed. Their structure points out their pecu-
liar habitat, which is the wide and extended plains,
or the margins of the forests, but not the forests them-
selves. They are found as far north as Mexico ; and
also in Guiana, but they are much more numerous in
Brazil, and in the plains of Paraguay. There they
are found in vast numbers, living and multiplying
much in the same manner as partridges ; though, as
the physical circumstances of their native country
are different from those of many of the places which
partridges inhabit, we may expect corresponding
differences in their structure. Accordingly thejr run
with much greater swiftness than any of the partridge
tribe, so that in their speed they bear some resem-
blance to little ostriches; and in the course of the

GALLJNID^B.

591

year they range over no inconsiderable extent of sur-
face. This becomes necessary ; for during the latter
part of the dry season the produce of their pastures
is exhausted, and during the rains a considerable ex-
tent of those pastures is laid under water. Neither
the one nor the other of those circumstances occurs
in the same district at the same time ; so that the
birds have a sort of seasonal movement between
the higher and the lower grounds. From their being
obliged to walk more vigorously and migrate further
than the partridges of the eastern continent, the flesh
of the old birds is not so tender as that of partridges.
Still, however, they are much esteemed, and eagerly
hunted by the guassows or peasantry of South Ame-
rica. They are naturally unsuspicious, and not afraid
of the iiunters, who thus procure them in great num-
bers. They indeed disperse themselves during the
day ; but they assemble in flocks during the night.
They form their nests of dry leaves under the bushes,
in a very rude manner ; and some idea of their fer-
tility may be formed, when it is stated that they breed
twice in the year, and have from fifteen to twenty in
a hatch. They eat all manner of seeds, small fruits,
berries, and insects ; but though they often resort to
the woods and copses in search of these, they do not
perch or pull them from the bush, as they pick them
up from the ground, that being their proper feeding
place ; and they scrape the earth in the same man-
ner as poultry. The soil, in such a country as South
America, affords a rich pasture for rasorial, or scrap-
ing birds, because the heavy rains beat down a num-
ber of seeds and- other matters, and so incorpo-
rate them with the soil, that they require to be
scraped out. Altogether, though there is a resem-
blance between this genus of birds and the partridges,
both in form and in use in the economy of nature, yet
it is impossible to help admiring the beauty, and per-
fection with which each is adapted to her peculiar
diversity, and suited to the peculiar physical charac-
ter of its own country. Nor is it unworthy of remark,
that the small mammalia which inhabit nearly the
same places of South America, as the tinamous, are
also all feeders on the ground, and the greater num-
ber of them are burrowing animals, which scrape the
earth not merely for the purpose of forming habita-
tions, but for that of finding them food, at least at
certain seasons. The reader who wishes to see more
of this analogy between the ground birds and the
ground mammalia of the dry plains of South Ame-
rica, may compare what has been now said with what
will be found noticed in the articles ARMADILLO and
CHINCIIILLID^E, in their places in the alphabet in
a former part of this work. There are a good many
species of this genus, of which we shall give some
short notice : —

Crypturus magoun. This species has been called
Brazilian ; but it occurs in perhaps equal abundance
in other parts of South America. The groundcolour
all over is olive-brown, slightly striated across, with
black above, greyish red beneath ; crown rufous ;
the secondary quills transversely striated with ru-
fous and black. Size of a common fowl. About
eighteen inches in length ; the body more compact
and thicker than that of the pheasant. The birds of
this species inhabit Brazil and French Guiana, where
they roost on the low branches of trees, two or
three feet from the ground. The female lays from
twelve to fifteen eggs, of the size of those of a hen,
and of a beautiful green colour, in a nest formed on

the ground, among the thick herbage, and carelessly
composed of moss and dried vegetables. The young
run, almost as soon as they arc hatched, after the
mother, and hide themselves* on the least appearance
of danger. Their cry, which is a sort of dull whistle,
may be heard a great way off. Many of them are
shot, and many caught, when roosting on the trees.
The flesh and eggs are esteemed great dainties.

Crypturus rufescens, the reddish tinamou, called
also the guazu, has the ground colour greyish red,
transversely, striped with black and white above,
margin of the wings rusty red ; region of the ears black,
breast pale yellowish red, waved with brown be-
neath. Sides and abdomen greyish. Fifteen inches
and a half in length. This bird is a native of Para-
guay, and the most beautiful of its family residing
among thick herbage, which it seldom quits, except
on the point of being trampled on or struck with a
stone. Its cry, which is heard at a considerable
distance, is a lugubrious whistle. The female con-
ceals her rude nest among dry stalks, in a tuft of grass
or under a bush, and the eggs are said to be not quite
so numerous as those of the former species. The
eggs are of a delicate violet colour, and of nearlv
equal thickness at both ends. When these birds are
alarmed they erect the feathers on the head, some-
thing in the form of a crest. They are found in
Brazil as well as in Paraguay.

Crypturus nanus, is a small species found also in Bra-
zil and Paraguay. The upperpartsare of a brownish co-
lour, with the extremities of the feathers on the back and
rump black, and beautifully waved with greyish white.
These last feathers are, in some specimens, very much
enlarged, and have reddish spots of red between the
black ones. The top of the head is mottled with red
and grey, with the middle of the feathers black ; the
cheeks and sides of the neck are greyish ash colour,
with black borders to their feathers. The nape and up-
per part of the nape brownish ash with black centres.
The small and middle coverts are reddish cream
colour, rayed with black, and with large white spots ;
the quills black, with rust-coloured borders to their
outer webs ; the throat and middle of the under part
are whitish, with obscure black streaks ; the breast
is cream-yellow, streaked with brown ; the feathers
on the rump are loose and downy, and form a sort of
silky tuft ; the bill is brown, with the base of the
lower mandible yellow, and the feet are yellow.
The full grown male of this interesting little species
is only about six inches in length. The female is an
inch shorter; the colours incline more to red, and
the black spots on the upper part are not nearly so
conspicuous.

Crypturus obsoletus is another species found in the
«ame localities with the last-mentioned ; but it is
larger in size. The upper parts are blackish-brown,
clouded with red ; the top of the head and the upper
part of the neck blackish-ash ; the sides of the neck
and the throat reddish-ash ; the back of the neck, the
breast, the flanks, and the belly, are bright rust-
coloured red ; and the feathers on the flanks and
belly are produced so as to clothe the thighs ; their
ground colour is rust-red, and they are strongly rayed
with black. The feathers of the tail are exceedingly
short, and entirely hidden by the coverts. The bill
and feet reddish-brown. The length of the full
grown male is about eleven inches and a half. The
female is smaller and duller in the colours. This is
described as a very swift -footed species.

592

G A L L I N I D JB.

Cryptunu noctivagut. This is a Brazilian species,
and gets its name from its habit of stirring and utter-
ing its cry during the night, or, at all events, very
early in the morning and very late in the evening.
The upper part is dull greyish ash, clouded with
orown and reddish and streaked with black. The
top of the head and the rump are rusty brown, and
the coverts blackish brown. The throat is whitish,
the breast pale rose colour, and all the rest of the under
part russet. The bill brown, with the base of the
under mandible whitish and the feet brownish ash.
The full grown male is between thirteen and fourteen
inches in length.

There are about as many more known species as
those which we have mentioned ; and it is probable
that there are several others which have hitherto
escaped observation ; but none of them appear to
dift'er so much from each other as that a further enu-
meration would be interesting to the general reader.
The vast number of species, however, and the fact of
the whole of these species being confined to the Ame-
rican continent southward of the isthmus of Darien,
are worthy of notice, as indicating the peculiar state
of nature in the greater number of her productions
in that part of the world. They are indeed so unique,
so different from those of other countries, even from
those of Africa, Holland, and the eastern islands which
have the same latitude, that they especially recom-
mend themselves to every one who wishes to study
the relations which subsist between a country con-
sidered in its structure and meteorology, and the or-
ganised beings, whether animal or vegetable, which
that country produces.

We have next to mention an American genus,
which, in an economical point of view, and for the
purposes of domestication, is certainly more valuable,
upon the whole, than any other, except common
poultry, and, in the individual bird, far more valuable
than even these. If we except the potato, this bird
must be regarded as by far the most valuable natural
production of the American continent which has been
introduced, and, to a great extent, naturalised in
Europe. We need hardly say that we allude to

MEI.EAGIUS, the turkey ; neither need we give any
long description of the external appearance of a bird
of which there is but one species, that species gene-
rally known, and more rarely breaking into varieties
than any otner with which we are acquainted.

The generic characters are : the bill short and
thick ; the head and upper part of the neck covered
with a naked skin, beset with tubercles ; the throat
furnished with a longitudinal pendulous and knobby
wattle, which is partially covered with hairs. There
is also a conical fleshy knob, thinly scattered with
hairs on the tip, and it arises from the junction o$
the bill with the forehead. When the bird is in a
state of repose, and not disturbed nor alarmed, this
appendage is short ; and when the bird is strongly
excited, it enlarges till it covers the whole bill, and
hangs two or three inches over its tip. The neck is
of moderate dimensions, both as to length and to
thickness ; and to the lower portion of it there is at-
tached an appendage of a fleshy texture, furnished at
the end with a brush of hard black hairs, about nine
inches long.

There is, as we have said, but one species, the
common turkey (Mekagru gallo-pavo), which is a
favourite bird in o.ur farm yards, though much inferior
to what it is in a state of nature ; and, indeed, those

who have seen only the domestic bird in Europe,
even in those places where it seems to thrive best,
can have no idea of the splendour of its appearance
iti a. state of nature. The male is then, when full
grown, little less than four feet in length, and at
least five in the extent of the wings. The body is
thick, rather lengthened, and covered with feathers,
which are very abrupt at their terminations. The
webs of these feathers at the basal part consist of
sooty-coloured down, beyond which they are dusky,
and terminate in a broad band of rich metallic lustre,
the colours of which are very varied when the light
falls variously upon them — changing from bright gol-
den colour, through different shades of copper, bronze,
violet, and purple. On the back the feathers have,
beyond this, a terminal band of velvet black, without
any reflections. The metallic glosses are richest on
the upper parts of the back, and the black deepens
towards the rump and tail-coverts, though on the
latter there is a broad band of bright coppery lustre,
and a slight bay margin beyond the velvet band ; and
the last ones have more of the bay colour, crossed
with narrow bars of metallic green. The feathers
on much of the under part are dark, and glossed with
reflections, but of less intensity than those on the
back. The wings are hollow and rounded, and do
not reach beyond the insertion of the tail. They
consist of twenty-eight quills each, of which the first
is very short, and the fourth and fifth the longest in
the wing. The coverts next the scapulars are like
the feathers on the body ; those next the quills are
copper and violet, beyond which there is a black band
and a whitish tip. The bastard wing, the coverts of
the primaries, and the primaries themselves, are black-
ish, banded with wkite ; the second are white, banded
with black, but with a trace of rusty yellow, which in-
creases on the tertiary quills, and is there marked
with some metallic reflections. The tail is com-
posed of eighteen hard and strong feathers, of a
rust colour, mottled with black, crossed by narrow
lines of the same colour, and with a broad black bar
nearly at the tips. These tail-feathers are very strong,
and more than fifteen inches in length in the full
grown bird when in a state of nature ; so that when
the tail is spread out like a fan, as the bird is excited,
and parades, struts, and wheels about, the tail, though
it wants the rich tints and light and airy spread, like
that of the peacock, is far from being destitute of
grandeur. The legs and feet are very stout and
rather long, the tarsi measuring about six inches.
They are covered with imbricated scales of a five-
sided shape, and have a strong and compressed, but
rather blunt, pointed spur on the insides. The three
front toes are connected at the base by a membrane,
the middle one being about four inches in length, each
of the lateral ones about two inches, and the hind
toe, which touches the ground only with its tip, is
about one inch in length. The female is consider-
ably smaller ; and the head and neck are covered by
irregular feathers of a dull grey colour. The feathers
on the back have the tips rusty ; the tubercle over
the bill is merely rudimental, and the tuft on the
lower part of the neck is generally wanting alto-
gether. There is, however, a concealed rudiment of
it, and when the females become barren, which is
said to be pretty frequently the case with the wild
birds, this appendage makes its appearance, though
it is always much more slender than in the males.
The hunters who are engaged in the capture of wild

G A L L I N I D M.

593

turkeys learn to distinguish such birds, and select
them with great care, as they are reckoned finer food
than either the males or the fertile females. At one
season of the year, generally about tho month ot
March, both of these, and more especially the males,
become so lean, that they are hardly fit for the table,
while, at this season, the barren females are under-
stood to remain in as prime condition as at any other.
What proportion these barren females, which there
is some reason to suppose are more numerous in this
genus than in any of the others, may bear to the
total number of the birds, has not been ascertained ;
but it would almost appear as though a natural provi-
sion were made in this race of a surplus for human
food, in the same manner as a similar surplus is often
obtained by artificial mutilation in domestic poultry,
and in some other animals.

When America was first discovered, the wild tur-
key was found in abundance along the whole range
from Canada to near the isthmus of Darien, though it
does not appear ever to have been met with further
to the south ; and even in Mexico it was less plenti-
ful, and of inferior quality, clearly indicating that its
rtue home is in the temperate latitudes. The absurd
name of " turkey" is given to it only in England ; and
it originated in the time of Henry VIII., when every
thing of foreign production which was highly es-
teemed, had the same epithet given to it. It even
found its way into the Latin dictionaries, as Gallus
Numidicus, as if it had came from the north of Africa ;
and so prevalent was the error that the eminent
naturalist Ray, and after him the honourable Daines
Barrington, described it as a native of Africa, and the
tropical parts of Asia, whereas it is not found in either
of these quarters of the world, neither is it a tropical
bird.

The settlers in North America, appear to have
been much more intent upon killing the wild turkeys,
and cutting down their favourite forests, than in attend-
ing to their natural history, or inquiring whether they
it. not have been profitably preserved in a country
which, like the United States, must continue, compa-
ratively at least, thinly peopled for ages.

It is now rare in the southern states, Florida,
Georgia, and the Carolinas ; very rare in the states
of the centre of the Union ; and in the north-east
it has bjeen extinct for a century and a half. The
western states on the Mississippi, and its affluents,
where the woods are still remaining, are now the head
quarters of these birds in a state of nature ; and it is
not supposed that the birds are at all known in the
elevated parts of the Rocky Mountains or the country
beyond. We shall here make an extract of the ac-
count of their manners in the wild state, as given by,
or rather to, Prince Charles Lucien Buonaparte, as
it is the most circumstantial that has appeared, and
as the turkey is known with us only as a domestic,
and, in fact, as a degenerate bird.

" The wild turkeys," say these describers, " do not
confine themselves to any particular kind of food ;
they eat maize, all sorts of berries, fruits, grasses,
beetles, and even tadpoles ; young frogs, and lizards,
are occasionally found in their crops ; but when the
pecan nut is plenty, they prefer that fruit to any other
nourishment ; their more general predilection is,
however, for the acorn, on which they rapidly fatten.
When an unusually profuse crop of acorns is produced
in a particular section of country, great numbers of
turkeys are enticed from their ordinary haunts in the

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

surrounding districts. About the beginning of Octo-
ber, while the mast still remains on the trees, they
assemble in flocks, and direct their course to the rich
bottom lands. At this season they are observed in
great numbers on the Ohio and 'Mississippi. The
time of this irruption is known to the Indian's by the
name of the turkey month.

" The males, usually termed gobblers, associate in
parties, numbering from ten to a hundred, and seek
their food apart from the females ; whilst the latter
either move about singly with their young, then nearly
two-thirds grown, or, in company with other females
and their families, form troops, sometimes consisting
of seventy or eighty individuals, all of whom are
intent on avoiding the old males, who, whenever
opportunity offers, attack and destroy the young, by
repeated blows on the skull. All parties, however,
travel in the same direction, and on foot, unless thev
are compelled to seek their individual safety by flying
from the hunter's dog, or their march is impeded by a
large river. When about to cross a river, they select
the highest eminences, that their flight may be the
more certain ; and here they sometimes remain for a
day or more, as if for the purpose of consultation, or
to be duly prepared for so hazardous a voyage.
During this time the males gobble obstreperously, and
strut with extraordinary importance, as if they would
animate their companions, and inspire them with the
utmost degree of hardihood ; the females and young
also assume much of the pompous air of the males,
the former spreading their tails, and moving silently
around. At length the assembled multitude mount
to the tops of the highest trees, whence, at a signal
note from a leader, the whole together wing their
way towards the opposite shore. All the old and fat
ones cross without difficulty, even when the river ex-
ceeds a mile in width ; but the young, meagre, and
weak, frequently fall short of the desired landing, and
are forced to swim for their lives ; this they do dex-
terously enough, spreading their tails for a support,
closing their wings to the body, stretching the neck
forwards, and striking out quickly and forcibly with
their legs. If, in thus endeavouring to regain the
land, they approach an elevated or inaccessible bank,
their exertions are remitted, they resign themselves to
the stream for a short time, in order to gain strength,
and then with one violent effort escape from the
water. But in this attempt, all are not successful ;
some of the weaker, as they cannot rise sufficiently
high in air to clear the bank, fall again and again into
the water, and thus miserably perish. Immediately
after the turkeys have succeeded in crossing a river,
they for some time ramble about without any apparent
unanimity of purpose, and a great many are destroyed
by the hunters although they are then least valuable.

" " When the turkeys have arrived in their land of abun-
dance, they disperse in small flocks, composed of indi-
viduals of all sexes and ages intermingled, who devour
all the mast as they advance : this occurs about, the
middle of November. It has been observed, that, after
these long journeys, the turkeys become so familiar as
to venture on the plantations, and even approach so
near the farm-houses, as to enter the stables and corn
cribs in search of food ; in this way they pass the
autumn, and part of the winter. During this season
great numbers are killed by the inhabitants, who pre-
serve them in a frozen state, in order to transport
them to a distant market. Early in March they begin
to pair ; mid, for a short time previous, the females
PP

594

G A L L I N I D JE.

separate from, and shun their mates, though the latter
pertinaciously follow them, uttering their gobbling
note. The sexes roost apart, but at no great distance,
so that, when the female utters a call, every male
within hearing responds, rolling note after note, in the
most rapid succession ; not as when spreading the
tail and strutting near the hen, but in a voice resem-
bling that of the tame turkey, when he hears any un-
usual or frequently repeated noise : when the turkeys
are numerous, the woods from one end to another,
sometimes for hundreds of miles, resound with this
remarkable voice of their wooing, uttered responsively
from their roosting-places. This is continued for about
an hour ; and, on the rising of the sun, they instantly
descend from their perches, and the males begin to
strut, for the purpose of winning the admiration of
their mates.

" If the call be given from the ground, the males in
the vicinity fly towards the individual, and, whether
they perceive her or not, erect and spread their tails,
throw the head backwards, distend the comb and
wattles, strut pompously, and rustle their wings and
body feathers, at the same moment ejecting a puff of
air from the lungs. Whilst thus occupied, they oc-
casionally halt to look out for the female, and then
resume their strutting and puffing, moving with as
much rapidity as the nature of their gait will admit.
During this ceremonious approach, the males often
encounter each other, and desperate battles ensue,
when the conflict is only terminated by the flight or
death of the vanquished. This pugnacious disposition
is not to be regarded as accidental, but resulting from
a wise and excellent law of nature, that always studies
the good of the species, without regard to the indivi-
duals. Did not females prefer the most perfect of
their species, and were not the favours of beauty most
willingly dispensed to the victorious, feebleness and
degeneracy would soon mark the animal creation ;
but, in consequence of this general rule, the various
races of animals are propagated by those individuals
who are not only most to be admired for external ap-
pearance, but most to be valued for their intrinsic
spirit and energy.

" When the object of his pursuit is discovered, if
the female be more than one year old, she also
struts, and even gobbles ; she turns proudly round
the strutting male, and suddenly opening her wings,
throws herself towards him, as if to terminate his
procrastination. But should he meet a young
hen, his strut becomes different, and his move-
ments are violently rapid ; sometimes rising in air,
he takes a short circular flight, and on alighting,
drags his wings for a distance of eight or ten
paces, running at full speed, occasionally approach-
ing the timorous hen, and pressing her until she
yields to his solicitations. Thus are they mated for
the season, though the male does not confine himself
exclusively to one female, nor does he hesitate to
bestow his attentions and endearments on several,
whenever an opportunitiy offers.

" One or more females, thus associated, follow their
favourite, and roost in his immediate neighbourhood,
if not on the same tree, until they begin to lay, when
they change their mode of life in order to save their
eggs, which the male uniformly breaks if in hi? power,
that the female may not be withdrawn from the gra-
tification of his desires. At this time the females
shun the males during the greater part of the day ;
the latter become clumsy and careless, meet each other

peacefully, and so entirely cease to gobble that the
hens are obliged to court their advances, calling
loudly and almost continually for them. The female
may then be observed caressing the male, and imitat-
ing his peculiar gestures.

The cocks, even when on the roost, sometimes
strut and gobble, but more generally merely ele-
vate the tail, and utter the puff, on which the tail
and other feathers suddenly subside. On light or
moonshining nights, near the termination of the breed-
ing season, they repeat this action, at intervals of a
few minutes, for several hours together, without rising
from their perches. The sexes then separate ; the
males, being much emaciated, cease entirely to gob-
ble, retire and conceal themselves by prostrate trees,
in secluded parts of the forest, or in the almost im-
penetrable privacy of a canebrake. Rather than
leave their hiding-places, they suffer themselves to be
approached within a short distance, when they seek
safety in their speed of foot ; at this season, however,
they are of no value to the hunter, being meagre and
covered with ticks. By thus retiring, using very little
exercise, and feeding on peculiar grasses, they recover
their flesh and strength ; and when this object is
attained, again congregate, and recommence their
rambles.

" About the middle of April, when the weather is
dry, the female selects a proper place in which to
deposit her eggs, secured from the encroachment of
water, and, as far as possible, concealed from the
watchful eye of the crow : this crafty bird espies the
hen going to her nest, and, having discovered the
precious deposit, waits for the absence of the parent,
and removes every one of the eggs from the spot that
he may devour them at leisure. The nest is placed
on the ground either on a dry ridge, in the fallen top
of a dead leafy tree, under a thicket of sumach or
briars, or by the side of a log ; it is of a very simple
structure, being composed of a few dried leaves. In
this receptacle the eggs are deposited, sometimes to
the number of twenty, but more usually from nine to
sixteen ; they are whitish, spotted with reddish brown,
like that of the domestic bird. Their manner of
building, number of eggs, period of incubation, &c.,
appear to correspond throughout the Union, as I have
received exactly similar accounts from the northern
limits of the turkey range to the most southern regions
of Florida, Louisiana, and the western wilds of Mis-
souri. The female always approaches her nest with
great caution, varying her course so as rarely to reach
it twice by the same route ; and on leaving her
charge, she is very careful to cover the whole with
dry leaves, with which she conceals it so artfully as
to make it extremely difficult, even for one who has
watched her movements, to indicate the exact spot ;
hence few nests are found, and these are generally
discovered by fortuitously starting the female from
them, or by the appearance of broken shells, scattered
around by some cunning lynx, fox, or crow. When
laying or sitting, the turkey hen is not easily driven
from her post by the approach of apparent danger ;
but if an enemy appears, she crouches as low as pos-
sible, and suffers it to pass. A circumstance, related
by Mr. Audubon, will show how much intelligence
they display on such occasions : having discovered a
sitting hen, he remarked that, by assuming a careless
air, whistling, or talking to himself, he was permitted
to pass within five or six feet of her ; but if he ad-
vanced cautiously, she would not suffer him to come

G A L L I N I D JE.

within twenty paces, but ran off twenty or thirty
yards with her tail expanded, when, assuming a stately
gait, she paused on every step, occasionally uttering
a chuck. They seldom abandon their nests on ac-
count of being discovered by a man, but should a
snake, or any other animal, suck one of the eggs, the
parent leaves them altogether. If the eggs be re-
moved, she again seeks the male and recommences
laying, though otherwise she lays but one nest of
eggs during the season. Several turkey hens some-
times associate, perhaps for mutual safety, deposit
their eggs in the same nest, and rear their broods
together.

" When the process of incubation is ended, and the
mother is about to retire from the nest with her young
brood, she shakes herself violently, picks and adjusts
the feathers about the belly, and assumes a different
d ; her eyes are alternately inclined obliquely
upwards and sideways ,• she stretches forth her neck,
in every direction, to discover birds of prey or other
enemies ; her wings are partially spread, and she
softly chucks to keep her tender offspring close to
her side. They proceed slowly, and, as the hatching
generally occurs in the afternoon, they sometimes
return to pass the first night in the nest. While very
young, the mother leads them to elevated dry places,
as if aware that humidity during the first few days of
their life would be very dangerous to them, they
having then no other protection than a delicate, soft,
hairy down. In very rainy seasons wild turkeys are
scarce, because, when completely wetted, the young
rarely survive. At the expiration of about two weeks
the young leave the ground on which they had pre-
viously reposed at night under the female, and follow
her to some low large branch of a tree, where they
nestle under the broadly curved wings of their
vigilant and fostering parent. The time then ap-
proaches in which they seek the open ground or
prairie land, during the day, in search of strawberries
fmd subsequently of dewberries, blackberries, and
grasshoppers ; thus securing a plentiful food, and
enjoying the influence of the genial sun. They fre-
quently dust themselves in shallow cavities of the soil
or on anthills, in order to clean off the loose skin of
their growing feathers, and rid themselves of ticks
and other vermin. The young turkeys now grow
rapidly, and in the month of August, when several
broods (lock together, and arc led by their mothers
to the forest, they are stout and quite able to secure
es from the unexpected attacks of wolves,
, lyuxe?, and even cougars, by rising quickly
from the ground, aided by their strong legs, and
hing with ease the upper limbs of the tallest tree,
Amongst the numerous enemies of the wild turkey,
the most dreaded are the large diurnal and nocturnal
Is of prey, and the lynx (Felis nifa), who sucks
their eggs, and is extremely expert at seizing both
parent and young : he follows them for some distance
in order to ascertain their course, and then, making
a rapid circular movement, places himself in ambush
before them, and waits until, by a single bound, he
can fasten on his victim."

As already mentioned, the turkey was introduced
into England in the early part of the sixteenth cen-
tury. It came first from Mexico to Spain, and then
fioin Spain to England in 1524, and it soon spread
over the other countries of Europe, at first as curiosi-
ties, but afterwards as articles of food. Who was
the first to feed on a turkey in the British islands has

595

not been recorded, but in France it was first served
up at the nuptial feast of Charles IX. in 1570, about
forty years after its first introduction into that country.
It is probable that by this time the numbers had con-
siderably augmented ; and, though the fact is not esta-
blished by evidence, it is probable that the general
stock of European turkeys are from those that came
from Mexico, and their 'being inferior in Mexico to
what they are in North America, that is in the valley
of the Mississippi, may in part account for the decided
inferiority of the European ones, which applies to
quality, and still more to weight. Wild turkeys,
weighing between twenty and thirty pounds, are
mentioned as not being unfrequent ; while we believe

those of Europe do not exceed the half of that weight.

It is worthy of remark, as showing the general
difference between the physical condition of the two
continents, and the adaptation of its own natural pro-
ductions to each, that, while the cock of the Indian
jungles, and the pheasants and other gallinidse of the
warmer countries of south-eastern Asia, which have
been introduced into our climates, have not deterio-
rated it, but have been improved by care, at least in
some of the species, the turkey, which is a native of
temperate climates in America, and even of climates
which have their winter as severe as it is in Lapland,
should not have stood the change so well. It seems,
however, that the turkey is more a bird of wild nature
than the gallinidas of the south-east ; for even in the
United States those which are kept in a domesticated
state are inferior to the wild ones, both in size and in
beauty of plumage. In some parts of that country,
where wild ones are still to be met with in the neigh-
bood, we believe it is customary to improve the breed
by procuring the eggs of the wild ones, and hatching
them under the domestic ; and as a turkey hen may,
by proper management, be made to continue sitting
until she has hatched two broods or even three, one
hen may, if the eggs can be procured, hatch a num-
ber of those half wild ones in the course of one sea-
son, if they are removed and reared by hand as soon
as they are hatched.

In this country the rearing of turkeys requires
more care than that of any other bird in the poultry
yard ; and some attention is necessary in order to
preserve the eggs. In Europe these are laid in the
spring, and are generally from fourteen to eighteen
in number ; white is the general colour, but freckled
with yellow and reddish. The hens naturally seek
obscure places, where their eggs may be safe from
the male bird, as he is very prone to destroy them.
The hen also is sometimes known to destroy her own
eggs, although in general she is a very persevering
sitter. It appears, however, from various accounts,
and among the rest, from an anecdote related in the
Memoirs of the Academy of Stockholm, that the
cock turkey is not incapable of performing the duties
of a nurse. M. Carlson remarks on this occasion,
that the total neglect of their young, ascribed to male
birds that associate with a plurality of females, is not
general. Geese are of this description, and yet the
gander protects the young with the greatest care.
But the instance of a turkey cock sitting on eggs
seems the more singular, because both in a wild and
tame state the males are accustomed to destroy the
nests of the females, in order that they may have
them sooner free for pairing ; and, for this reason,
the cock is carefully separated from her while she is
hatching. In some temperate and warm countries
P P2

596

G A L L I N I D JE.

the hen also lays eggs in the autumn, which are
generally used in cookery, as a brood is seldom per-
fected from them ; whereas, those deposited in spring
not being more numerous than the mother can hatch,
are usually allowed to remain under her care. The
young require to be watched with attention, as they
are liable to perish from hunger or redundant mois-
ture. In this island they are bred in great numbers,
in Norfolk, and some other counties, whence they are
driven to the London markets in flocks of several
hundreds, the attendants managing them with great
facility by means of a bit of red rag tied to the end
of a long stick, which, from the antipathy which they
bear to that colour, effectually answers the purpose of
a scourge. The quality and size of those reared in
Norfolk are reckoned superior to those from any other
part of the kingdom.

It is sometimes said that though the turkeys reared
in Scotland are of smaller size than those of England,
they are proportionally fuller of flesh, and in better
condition. What degree of abstract truth there may
be in this we cannot say ; but it agrees with the |
analogy of the birds in their native condition in :
America ; for those of the southmost and warmest !
part of the range, are less full of flesh and much !
tougher than they are further to the north. A turkey J
certainly rates higher in comparison with a goose in
Scotland than in the south of England ; but there
are two ways in which this may be accounted for —
the superiority of the turkey or the inferiority of
the goose ; and both of these are so equally applica-
ble, that it is impossible to decide between them.

The genera which we have noticed in the geo-
graphical section immediately preceding, are wholly
American birds, just as those which we noticed in the
first geographical section were wholly birds of the
eastern continents ; and it is not a little remarkable
that the American section of the gallinidse should be
chiefly confined to that part of the continent which
has the least chance of having had any natural inter-
change of productions with any other part of the
world, but of which the inhabitants are all tempered
to the peculiarities of the country itself. If natural
history were to be followed out to its geographical
arrangement, America southward would make a very
distinct province, and present very peculiar and well
defined features ; and, even in the present state of
our knowledge, and totally as, till within these few
years, the geography of animals has been neglected,
the peculiarities of this part of the world force them-
selves on the attention of even the least observant.

We are now to proceed to what may, upon the
whole, be considered as the gallinidae of the great
northern geographical province of the world ; and as
in the high latitudes, the east of Asia, and the west
of America, are not farther from each other than
Norfolk is from the coast of Holland, we may
naturally expect an interchange and consequent
similarity in their native animals. There are dif-
ferences no doubt, which are sufficiently striking for
being specific in most cases, and even generic in
many ; but still the whole may be said to belong to
the same natural families ; nor are we aware that
there is in Polar America any bird, or even any
species of mammalia, to which there is not something
in the northern parts of the eastern continent so
nearly corresponding that they may be considered as
the same in all their more prominent and more impor-
tant characters, and similar in all their leading habits.

This is especially the case with that family of the
gallinidae which remains to be considered, which
Cuvier retains as the Linnaean genus TETBAO
(grouse), but which he divides into sections or
sub-genera, and others divide into separate genera
under distinct names. The best way perhaps, there-
fore, in order to make popular description moot the
views of both parties, would be to consider these
birds as a family, consisting of grouse, properly s;>
called, and of birds resembling grouse ; and thus the
proper name for the whole would be

TETRAONID^E. The only general character which
Cuvier mentions as applicable to the whole of these
birds, is that of having a band of naked skin over the
eye, and this band generally of a red colour, the tint
being rich in proportion as the birds are in high con-
dition. This family, in one or other of the numerous
genera and species which compose it, is very generally
distributed over the globe ; and with the exception of
South America, where their place is occupied by the
timanous, already described, they are found in every
land of any considerable extent, and some of them
in pretty remote islands of the sea. In some instances
they are domesticated ; but, generally speaking, they
are in a state of free nature. They are very abund-
ant and prolific in all places which are adapted for
them ; their flesh is both delicate and richly flavoured,
and therefore they are highly prized for the table.
On this account they are much hunted as game in all
parts of the world ; and in the British islands they
are the only wild and native birds which are
recognised as game.

They admit of subdivision into three very distinct
genera, or perhaps subordinate groups, and some of
these groups admit of farther subdivision, before we
come to species. These groups arc, Grouse, properly
so called, Partridges and Quails. If we take them
according to their general distribution in latitude,
we may perhaps say that the quails inhabit the most
southerly ; the partridges next ; and the grouse, in
one or other of their species, the most northerly — in-
deed, among the most northerly of land birds which
remain in the same localities throughout the year.
They are, however, often found incorporated together
in the same latitude, though not exactly in the same
locality. The quails, true to their geographical dis-
tribution, inhabit lowest down, where the climate is
warmest ; the partridges in the champaign countries,
which are a little more elevated, though it is not
easy to draw a definite line between them and the
quails ; arid the grouse inhabit the greater elevations ;
and as they are among the last resident birds near
the pole in latitude, they are also in more temperate
countries, where they are found in such, the last birds
near the sky. We shall not, however, notice them
in their usual arrangement, which is usually taken
from grouse as the typical genus to the quail ; or in
the geographical one from the quail to the grouse,
which we have now mentioned ; but shall begin with
the partridge, as the best known in common locali-
ties, and the one which is most generally distri-
buted.

PARTRIDGES (Perdix). The characters of this ge-
nus are, the bill short, stout, compressed, and naked
at the base ; the upper mandible arched, convex, and
much curved toward the tip ; the nostrils at the base
of the bill lateral, and half covered by an arched
membrane ; the three front toes united by membranes
as far as the first articulation ; the tail, consisting of

GALLINID.E.

lourteen or eighteen feathers, is short, rounded at
the extremity, and drooping- downwards ; and the
wings are also short, rounded, and hollow. Par-
tridges are stationary in some countries, and shift
their abodes with the seasons in others. They are
very numerous in warm and temperate regions of the
globe, living in pairs, and steady in their family at-
tachments. The greatest number reside in the fields
and in open tracts of country, with the exception of
some, which prefer the outskirts of woods in the
neighbourhood of water. Their food consists of
grain, seeds, bulbous plants, insects, and worms.
They run more frequently than fly, get up from the
ground with some difficulty, and make a whirring
noise when on the wing. They have numerous
broods generally ; and the young, as soon as they
are hatched, run about — indeed, they may be often
seen running with a portion of the shell adhering to
their bodies. The species and varieties of partridges
are very numerous, so that we can afford to notice
only a few of the leading ones.

The partridges of the eastern continent admit of
subdivision into two sections : — the true partridges,
which have the bill and tail short, and no produced
spurs on the tarsi ; and the J'rancolins, which have
the bill and tail produced, and spurs on the tarsi.
The former are strictly monogamous, and fight few
battles of mere gallantry, though they fight stoutly
for their pastures ; but the second are very pugna-
cious in some of the species. As a whole race they
inhabit warmer latitudes than the true partridges.
We shall notice them in order, and first the true
partridges. Besides these there is a third division,
the Colitis, or partridge of North America, which are
perchers, having the bill short and stout, and some of
them are migratory.

The Common ur Grey Partridge (P. cinerea). The
male of this species, when full grown and in good
condition, weighs about fifteen or sixteen ounces, and
the female about two ounces less ; the length of the
entire bird thirteen inches, breadth twenty ; the eyes
are hazel ; the bill in the young is brown, in the old
bluish white ; the legs also are yellowish when
young, and, as they increase in age, turn to a dark
bluish white. The age of partridges is discovered
by the bill and legs ; and another method is, from
the appearance of the last feather of the wing, which
is pointed after the first moult, but in the following-
year is quite round. The general colour of the plum-
age is brown ash, elegantly mixed with black, and
each feather is streaked down the middle with buff-
colour ; the chin, cheeks, and forehead are tawny,
and palest in the females. Under each eye there is
a spot, with small warty excrescences, and above and
behind the eye, towards the ear, is a naked skin of a
bright scarlet, which is not very conspicuous, except
in old birds ; the legs of the male are furnished with
u blunt spur or knob behind, and the breast with a
crescent of a deep chestnut colour, which takes place
the beginning of October ; this mark the female
wants, and her feathers are in general not so distinct
and bright. It is said the partridge, if unmolested,
Jives from fifteen to seventeen years ; others dispute
this computation, and maintain that they live seven
years, and give over laying in the sixth, and are at
their full vigour when two years old. Partridges
pair about the third week in February, and some-
times after being paired, if the weather be extremely
severe, they all gather together, and again form the

covey. _ They begin to lay about six weeks after be.
ing paired. According to Ray there are one-third
more male than female partridges hatched ; and it is
well known the old cocks will drive the young cocks
cff the ground, and afterwards frequently fight until
they kill each other. In this respect partridges differ
from pheasants ; they will have a certain ran»c to
themselves, whilst pheasants will hatch and live
quietly with their broods close together. When too
many birds are left, these contentions are sure to
happen ; and the consequence is a scanty produce,
for the female is so pursued, that she drops her o»»-s
in various places, forming no nest, and perhaps never
laying two eggs in the same spot. So well aware
was the duke of Kingston of this circumstance, that
he always had the partridges netted upon his manors
as soon as they were paired, and destroyed all the
surplus cocks. Mr. White, the naturalist of Sel-
borne, relates that a friend, who was fond of setting,
used frequently to take small coveys of partridges,
entirely consisting of cock-birds ; these he pleasantly,
and not inaptly, used to term Old Bachelors. The
late Mr. Doughty of Seiston, who was an excellent
and most observant sportsman, once preserved an
overstock of old partridges, and declared that he did
not believe, for two seasons following, there was a
covey of young birds upon a tract of near three
thousand acres of as fine breeding land as any in the
kingdom ; he shot, and encouraged the destruction
of this stock of ancients by all possible means ; and
the result was, that the partridges bred again as
abundantly as formerly. The amorous nature of par-
tridges has given rise to very strange accounts ; we
are unprepared to controvert, and less inclined to in-
vestigate, this peculiar propensity ascribed to them.
The female lays her eggs on the ground, scraping to-
gether a few bents and decayed leaves, which are
strewed roughly in the hollow made by an ox or
horse's foot. This nest is formed upon hedge-banks,
in com or grass, but more particularly in clover
fields ; and the number of eggs laid are from fifteen
to twenty-five, of a greenish-grey colour : the number
of eggs is much reduced when the bird is either very
young or very old, and also when the first eggs have
been destroyed and a second hatch produced. There
have, however, been instances of amazing fecundity
in the partridge. On a farm occupied by Mr. Pratt,
near Ferling, in Essex, in the year 1793, a partridge
nest was found in a fallow field with thirty-three
eggs ; twenty-three of the eggs were hatched, and
the birds went off; four more had live birds in them i
the number of the eggs was ascertained before hatch-
ing, to decide a bet laid by a person who refused to
credit so unusual a production ; the female covered
all the eggs ; seven of which in the centre were piled
in a curious manner. A nest was found in 1798 at
Elborough, Somersetshire, in a wheat field, with
twenty-eight eggs. In June, 1801, at Welton-place,
Nottinghamshire, the seat of Mr. Clarke, a partridge's
nest was found in a plantation, containing thirty-
three eggs.

Upon Sion-hall farm, in Essex, belonging to Colonel
Hawker, in 1788, the following extraordinary inci-
dent of a partridge depositing her eggs, was known
to many persons. This bird chose the top of an
oak pollard to make her nest ; and this tree, too, had
one end of the bars of a stile, where there was a foot-
path, fastened into it ; and by the passengers going
over the stile, before she sat close, she was disturbed

G A L L I N I D M.

and first discovered. The farmer, whose name was
Bell, apprised us of the circumstance, which he
laughed at, as being the report of his workmen, and
saying that it was only a wood-pi<reon they had mis-
taken for a partridge. But Master Bell, who had
killed some hundreds of partridges, so positively
affirmed his having beheld the bird upon the nest on
the tree, and also, at another time, having told the
eggs to the number of sixteen, that he was persuaded
to ride to the spot, where the partridge was seen
sitting. In a few days she hatched the sixteen eggs,
and her brood scrambling down the short and rough
boughs which grew out all around from the trunk of
the tree, reached the ground in safety. The female
sits three weeks, and during that period undergoes
a considerable moult, for the feathers of the belly
drop : the great hatch is about the first ten days in
June ; the earliest birds begin to fly towards the lat-
ter end of that month.

Partridges are not every year equally plentiful :
in general, when the season is dry during May and
June, the birds are numerous ; on the contrary,
heavy and frequent rains during the time of laying
and incubation, may chill or drown the eggs. If
the weather is wet when the young first leave the
shell, the cold benumbs the little strength they then
possess in their legs, and they die whilst the mother
is leading them in search of food to sustain life. At
this time too much drought is likewise unfavourable ;
the ground cracks from the heat, and into these cre-
vices they fall and inevitably perish ; and this latter
spreads a more universal destruction than the former,
especially in clayey lands. The old partridge has
other dangers to encounter from weasels, stoats, &c.,
crows, magpies, curs, and shepherds' dogs ; all of
which suck the eggs, not to mention the shepherds
anfl farmers themselves, who, in some counties, very
kindly destroy them. It is not, under all these dis-
advantages, an unfair calculation to suppose that
one half of the broods in any one year are never
reared. When the eggs are destroyed in any of the
above ways, the partridges frequently lay again, and
the produce of these second hatchings constitute
those small birds that are not perfectly feathered in
the tail until the beginning of October, and always
continue a puny, sickly race, that seldom outlive
the rigours of the winter. The affection for ito
young, which the partridge shows, is peculiarly
strong and lively ; by her mate she is greatly aided
in the care of rearing them ; together they lead them
out, call, and point out to them their proper food,
and assist them in finding it, by scratching the ground
with their feet : they frequently sit close to each
other, covering the young with their wings like the
hen ; in this situation they are not easily sprung, nor
will the sportsman who is attentive to the preserva-
tion of his game, disturb a scene so interesting ; but
should the pointer come too near, or unfortunately
run in upon them, there are few who are ignorant of
the confusion which ensues. The male first gives the
signal of alarm, by a peculiar distressful cry, throw-
ing himself at the same moment more immediately
in the way of danger, in order to mislead the enemy ;
he flies, or rather runs along the ground, hanging his
wings, and exhibiting every symptom of debility,
whereby the dog is decoyed, by a too eager expecta-
tion of an easy prey, to run further from the covey.
The female flies off in a contrary direction, and to a
greater distance, but soon after secretly returning

she finds her scattered brood closely squatted among-
the grass ; and, hastily collecting, she leads them from
the danger, before the dog has had time to return
from his pursuit. Mr. Markwick says he has seen,
when a kite has been hovering over a covey of young
partridges, the old birds fly up at the kite, screaming,
and fighting with all their might to preserve their
brood. It is no uncommon thing to introduce par-,
tridges' eggs under the common hen ; when she has
set the regular time, if the young do not appear, the
feathers are glued to the inner surface of the shell,
from being exposed to too great heat from the hen.
To remedy this, dip the eggs five or six minutes in
water, and the moisture will soak through the shell
and loosen the feathers ; and this kind of bathing may
also, perhaps, refresh the young bird, and give it ad-
ditional strength to break its prison. It is said that
the partridge, bred under a hen, retains through life
the habit of calling when it hears the clucking of
hens. The first food for the young partridges should
be the eggs of the small ant ; afterwards fresh curds,
mixed with lettuce, chickweed, or groundsel. It will
be some time before they can eat grain readily.

Even when fostered by hand, the partridge seldom
forgets its wild origin, and, at its full growth, soon
acquires a habit of estranging itself from the house,
however intimately it may have been connected with
the place and its inhabitants, in the early stages of its
existence. This species of partridge is very generally
distributed over the eastern continent, most abun-
dantly in the temnerate regions, though it also occurs
in high latitudes,^ and, seasonally at least, in hot
countries, such as Egypt, and the coast of Barbary.
In a bird which is so generally distributed, consider-
able varieties of colour may be expected, and two of
these varieties have sometimes been described as sepa-
rate species : these are the Damascus partridge, which
is only about half the size of the common variety, pale
ash colour above variegated with black and red, and
yellowish white on the under side ; and the hill par-
tridge, which is smaller than the common variety, and
darker in the colour. These and some others can be
regarded as little else than climatal varieties, and
there are instances also of albinos, or specimens
nearly or altogether white.

The Red-legged or Guernsey partridge (P. rufus*),
is larger than the common one ; and the following are
its characters : the bill and irides are red, the fore-
head is grey-brown, the hind head is red-brown, the
chin and throat white encircled with black, to which is
added a band of white over each eye to the hind
head; the forepart of the neck and sides of it are
cinereous, with two spots of black on each feather, the
hind part of the neck red-brown, the back, wings, and
rump greyish brown ; the breast pale ash colour ;
belly, sides, thighs, and vent red ; the sides marked
with similar streaks of white, black and orange ;
quills grey brown, with the outer edges yellowish ;
the tail composed of sixteen feathers, the four middle
ones grey brown, the next on each side the
same, but rufous on both sides ; the legs are red,
and the male only has the blunt knob or spurs
behind them. This species is abundant in the south
of France, and generally in the warmer parts of the
south of Europe ; and it is probable that it may be a
climatal variety of the Greek partridge, which is very
abundant in Greece, in the islands of the Archipelago,
and in the west of Asia. It is not understood as
being a native of any part of the main land of Britain ;

G A L L I N I D JE.

599

but it is common in the isles of the channel, and it is
on this account that it has got the name of the
Guernsey partridge. It has been introduced into
various parts of the south of England, with different
success in different instances, though in many parts it
is now fully established. It is generally reported
that when the red-legged partridge establishes itself,
the grey partridge disappears, and it probably is driven
off by the stranger, which is the larger and more
powerful bird. It is doubtful, however, whether the
exchange be a wise one. The red-legged partridge
is certainly larger than the common partridge, and it
is also a more handsome bird ; but it is questionable if
its flesh is as good for the table ; it is whiter in the
colour than the flesh of the grey partridge, but it is
inferior in flavour and not so juicy. It seems indeed
to be a law in wild birds, that those which have the
flesh exceedingly white have it with less flavour : it is
also a much less social species than the last ; and the
same degree of union does not exist among its flocks.
The male does not partake in the incubation, and
leaves the care of the family entirely to the female :
she forms her nest in the fields and bushes, and lays
from fourteen to eighteen eggs, of a dirty yellow,
marbled with large red spots, and powdered over with
small ash-coloured points.

THE GREEK PARTRIDGE (P. saxatilii). The upper
parts of this species are bluish grey, the front and
naked skin round the eyes black, the cheeks, throat,
and upper part of the neck pure white, divided by a
band of black ; the scapulars and principal coverts ash
colour with yellowish tips ; the top of the head and
sides of the neck ash grey ; the flanks furnished with
grey feathers, crossed by alternate bands of black and
white, and reddish brown at the terminations ; all the
under parls yellowish, fourteen ash-coloured feathers
in the tail, the five lateral ones on each side with red
tips ; and the bill, a small circle round the eye ; and
the feet red. The length of the male bird is about
fifteen inches. The colours in the female are less
bright. This species, if species it be, and not merely
a variety, differs from the Guernsey partridge in
nothing but in being rather larger, and more inclining
to ash-colour : it is found in the south of Europe, and
also in the west of Asia, in which last country and in
Greece it is very abundant ; and in some places the
people engage the males in pitched battles. There
are several other partridges mentioned as occurring in
the south of Europe, but they have no great claims to
popular distinction. The rock partridge, for instance,
is very like the Guernsey ; and, indeed as the charac-
ter of the ground changes, there are considerable
changes in the partridges. This holds in Asia as well
as in Europe, where the red partridge, or Greek par-
tridge especially, appears to be broken down into a
number of varieties. We shall merely mention one
or two of the names : —

Hcys Partridge occurs in Arabia, and also in
Nubia and Upper Egypt. Upper part clear grey ash
clouded with cream-colour ; head reddish ash ; wing-
coverts cream-colour, finely streaked with brown ;
quills brown marked with white on their outer webs ;
tail-feathers rather long and reddish ; under part
reddish brown, beak yellow, feet ash-coloured ; length
only eight inches.

Yellow-bellied Partridge. Inhabits west of Africa,
south of the Desert. Upper part deep grey, marked
with black and red ; under part the same colour,
unbroken except by a yellow band across the belly ;

bill ash-coloured ; feet yellow ; length about nine
inches.

Eyed Partridge. An Indian species. Pore part
bright red ; back banded with black and white ;
rump marked with triangular spots of chestnut ; wing-
coverts olive with black spots.

From the specimen which we have given of those
foreign partridges, and if mere differences of size and
colour were to be made grounds of specific distinction,
the list might easily be extended to several dozens.
There is, however, no interest for the general reader
in such distinctions, because the main character of the
birds and their manners vary little, notwithstanding
those modifications of external appearance ; and when
the character and habits of one species or one variety,
such for instance as the common grey partridge, has
been well explained, it will answer for all the rest ex-
cepting in the very trifling circumstances of locality
and colour.

THE FRANCOLINS need not detain us long. We
have already mentioned that their enlarged bills,
longer tails, and spurs on the tarsi distinguish them
from the true partridges ; and that it is generally
these birds, and not the real partridges, which are en-
gaged in pitched battles for gambling purposes. One
species at least inhabits the south of Europe, and
indeed the name francolin is nothing else than the
Italian Francolino, which means " free," and as applied
to birds, it really means such as are not free, at least
to all the people, but such as are prized as game, and
protected accordingly.

It is not, however, in the differences of structure to
which we have alluded that the chief distinctions be-
tween the partridges and the francolins consist. The
partridges are birds of the open champaigns, reposing
at night on the ground. The francolins prefer the
shade of woods, and perch for the night in trees.
They also feed more upon animal matters, such as
mollusca and worms, and they resort more to marshy
places, and find part at least of their food by search-
ing the mud of these with their bills. The difference
in their structure accords with their habits. The en-
larged tail enables them to rise with more facility
than the partridges ; and the more powerful bill ena-
bles them to poke in the mud and mire. Their voices
are also much louder and harsher than those of the
partridges ; and they utter loud calls in the morning
when they leave their perches, and in the evening
when they return to them. But though they perch
on trees for the night, the females nestle upon the
ground, and rear their young very much after the
manner of partridges, at least until they are so far
fledtred as to be able to fly to a perch.

Collared Francolin (P. Francolinus). This is the
species which is found in the south of Europe.
The upper part is black, rayed with white ; the top
of the head and the nape black, with yellow edges to
the feathers ; there is a white band under the eyes ;
the forehead, the space over the eyes, the throat, and
all the under parts are deep black ; but there is a
broad distinct collar of maroon brown round the neck.
The coverts of the wings are brown, with rays and
spots of red, and the quills are black. The under
tail-coverts are red ; and there are large white spots
on the flanks. The bill is black, the legs are reddish,
and the spurs brown. The length of the full grown
male bird is about twelve or thirteen inches. The
female is rather smaller, of a yellowish fawn in the
ground colour, streaked with red, grey, and brown on

600

GALLINID^E.

on the upper part, and with brown on the neck and all
the under part of the body.

Pondicherry Francolm. This species is also
called the Pondicherry partridge ; and indeed all the
francolins and also the colins are partridges in com-
mon speech. As its name imports, this species is
found in India, but it is of course not confined to the
neighbourhood of Pondicherry. It came first from
that place to France, and is one instance of the ab-
surdity of calling animals after confined localities.

The upper parts are red, with zigzag bands of
white ; the top of the head reddish ash ; the back of
the neck grey, and streaked with black ; the primary
quills are pale ash, the secondaries red, with white
round eyes ; the rump is grey, mottled with black and
white ; the tail-feathers are brilliant red, bordered
with black, except the two middle ones, which are
russet, finely pencilled with brown, and crossed by
four bands of yellow ; the chin and upper part of the
throat are yellow, with minute black spots ; the breast
pale rose-colour, waved with black ; the belly white,
with crescent-shaped black spots ; the flanks are red-
dish with white spots ; the bill is blackish, and the
feet red. The length of the male is about ten inches.
The female is pale fawn-colour, streaked with black
on the upper part ; the quills have black tips, and the
coverts of the wings have nine or ten bands of white,
with black at the ends ; the head, the neck, and the
upper part of the breast are brownish white, spotted
with black ; the lower part of the breast is white, and
the belly brown with black lines.

Pearled Francolin. This is another eastern
species, being found both in India and China. Upper
part deep golden red ; top of the head black with red
margins to the feathers ; front yellow ; and sides of
the head white, with a black spot on each : the quills
black rayed with white ; the coverts bright red,
barred with black ; the back of the neck and the
breast black, and spotted with white, from which the
name "pearled" is derived ; the abdomen black, with
small points of reddish ; the bill black, and the feet
red. Length eleven inches : the female is smaller.
She has a black streak behind the eye ; the feathers
of the upper part margined with bright brown, and
irregularly spotted with white.

There are many other species or varieties described
in the catalogues, but those to which we have alluded
must suffice as a specimen : nor should we, even if
we were to detail the whole with the greatest minute-
ness, be thereby adding materially, or almost in any
degree, to the quantity of useful knowledge ; we
should be merely mentioning a few more varieties of
colour, and slight differences of size ; for the habits of
the birds are so nearly alike, that when we have
mentioned in what they differ from the true par-
tridges, we have told almost the whole tale of their
natural history.

THE COLINS, or partridges of North America, differ
in many of their habits, both from the partridges and
the francolins of the eastern continent, or rather they
combine many of the habits of both. They inhabit
indiscriminately the open places and the woods, and
sometimes parks, and at other times seek a sequestered
repose upon the ground. The nest is, accordingly,
sometimes in a bush, and sometimes in a tuft in the
open prairie; but it is always formed of the same mate-
rials, and put together in the same rude manner. It is
composed of a few sticks, lined with withered stalks
and grass. They are very prolific, the eggs in a

single hatch being rarely fewer than fifteen, and often
as many as five and twenty. When one brood have
broken the shell, the male, at least in some of the
species, takes the rearing of them, while the female
proceeds with another hatch. All the hatches of the
season are united into one flock, but as the birds are
sought after with much avidity, both by the settlers
and by the aboriginal inhabitants of the forests, and
as they have besides many enemies, their numbers
are very much thinned every season, before the time
of reproduction again comes round.

These birds, many of which are recent additions to
natural history, and of most of which the history is
very imperfect, have been indiscriminately called
partridges and quails. They have many points of
resemblance to both ; but in strict propriety they
belong to neither ; and thus they have been formed
into a separate genus, under the name Ortyx. Some
species have been mentioned as inhabiting South
America, at least as far to the southward as Guiana,
and the valley of the river Amazon ; but there seems
to be some little doubt on the subject. It may, how-
ever, be true that they pass gradually from the more
typical ones of the north to the tiraanous of the south ;
but we are not yet in possession of any connected
chain of data that will bear out such a conclusion.
This consideration, as well as that of space, which the
interest of this order of birds has already tempted us
to exceed, force us to confine ourselves to the mere
naming of one or two of the species.

THE VIRGINIAN QUAIL, OR PARTRIDGE (Orty.r
Virginiamis), inhabits the temperate parts of North
America, and generally perches on trees. According
to the accounts, this species appears to have at least
one of the habits of the partridge, that is, it follow?,
rather than it crosses, the progress of cultivation and
improvement. In this respect it is very different
from most of the animals or the wild forests of Ame-
rica. These have, in general, fled before the march of
the axe and the plough ; and no more vestige of them
remains in the places which are settled than if they
had never been there. But the quail (as it is termed)
is said to have come to settled places in which it was
quite unknown Vhile they remained in a state of
nature. This is the case with the partridge, but with
the partridge only among our analogous birds. The
common quail has disappeared from England, and
occurs only as a visitant, or if as a resident, is very rare.
The grouse is also now unknown in many places where
it was once abundant ; but the partridge is more
abundant than ever ; and as the heath plants give
way before the sheep farming, and the harsh tufty
sward yields to the plough, the heath birds depart,
and the partridge occupies their place. Sucli is re-
ported to be the case even with Canada ; and the
birds have come in from the west, and not yet made
their appearance in the valley of the St. Lawrence,
below the fall of Niagara ; but they have been de-
scribed as resting in the fields of Upper Canada
after dark, and uttering cries similar to those of
partridges when they jug.

The Virginian quail, which must be widely ex-
tended, as it has also been called the northern quail,
the Maryland quail, and the Mexican quail, has the
upper part yellowish red, with ash-coloured and black
borders to the feathers, and large black spots with
red borders down the back. The scapulars and
coverts are variously marked with ash-colour, brown
and black. The smaller coverts are russet with.

O A L L I N I D JE.

601

black lines. The quills black ; the tail-coverts bluish
ash ; the front black ; a double white line over the
eye ; the throat white with some black streaks ;
spots of white, russet and black on the head and neck ;
the breast reddish white, with cross streaks of black ;
the belly white with several spots of black ; and the
flanks red with small oval white spots, surrounded
•with rings of black. The bill black at the tip and
reddish at the base, and the feet brown. It is a small
species, the length being only between eight and nine
inches. This species has been brought alive to
Britain, has bred readily, and is domesticated in
some parts of England, in Suffolk we believe, or at
all events it is understood as being permanently
established there.

Califarnian Quail (Ortyx Callfornica). This spe-
cies, as the trivial name imports, is from the west
coast of North America ; but it is also found in
Mexico, and appears to have been described under
different names. The colours are various shades
of brown, slate blue, and ash grey, picked out with
red, black and white, and finely mixed and con-
trasted. The male has a black crest on the top of the
head, part of the feathers of which curl forward. The
female is without the crest, and has all the colours
less bright.

Many other species or varieties have been named,
•id it is probable that many more may yet be dis-
co veied in a country so wide and wild, and so well
adapted to the habits of such birds, as North America.
But so little is known respecting them, and they
appear to differ so little in manners, that they can-
not be made interesting in a popular point of view.

QUAILS (Coturmx). The quails are smaller in
size than the partridges, have the bill slender, no red
membrane over the eye, and no spurs on the tarsi.
In other respects, they bear a considerable resem-
blance to the partridges. The true quails are all
natives of the eastern continents, and they are not
found in the very cold latitudes. Although a more
minute race than the partridges, the quails are more
active birds, more discursive and prone to migration.
They seem to admit of two divisions, the quails,
properly so culled, which have hind toes more or less
produced ; and those which have no hind toe, and
which, for that reason, Temminck called Hemipodius,
or halt-footed. There is one structural character in
the quails which is worthy of being borne in mind, as
it explains, in part, why they are much more dis-
cursive in their habits than the partridges, and others
of the family, or indeed than most of the gallinidie.
They have the first quill of the wings as long as the
others, and thus their wings being lees rounded are
better adapted for long flight.

Common Quail (Coturnix major) has the upper
part mottled with brown and grey, with a whitish or
reddish streak along the middle of each feather. The
top of the head is mottled with black and red, and
marked with three longitudinal stripes of brownish
white, the two lateral ones passing nearly over the
eyes. The throat is black ; the breast russet ; the
belly and thighs whitish ; the bill black, and the feet
flesh-colour. The length of the full grown male is
between seven and a half and eight inches. The
female bus the breast white, spotted with black.
Quails are subject to considerable varieties of colour,
some being found much darker than the average, and
others nearly all over yellowish white. The young
of the year resemble the female, after which they vary

considerably in colour. Food and confinement have
a good deal of effect upon their colours ; for when
they are kept under restraint and fed upon hempseed
all their colours merge in one uniform brown. They
are much longer winged in proportion to their size
than most of the gallinida?, the extent of the wings
being about double the length of the body, while in
the others it rarely exceeds one and a half. The
common quail is found pretty generally throughout
continental Europe, ranging nearly as far to the north
as Lapland. It is also found in Asia, and is abund-
ant in the south of Siberia, but is not met with in that
country so far north as the shores of the Arctic Sea, or
even in such high latitudes as it occurs in some parts
of Europe. In China, and the countries farther to
the southward, the common quail is very abundant,
and there are also other species. They extend unto
the eastern islands, and are very abundant in some
parts of Africa. Though quails are more accustomed
to running than flying, and although, for the most
part, they are incapable of remaining for any length
of time on the wing, without experiencing lassitude
and fatigue, it is nevertheless certain that they under-
take pretty extensive migrations, and in immense
flocks, passing from the colder to the warmer latitudes
in autumn, and retracing their way in spring ; and
there is reason to believe that their passage, notwith-
standing the opinion of Colonel Montague, usually
takes place in the course of the night, for they are
accustomed to sleep, or at least to repose, during the
greater part of the day, hiding themselves in the
tallest grass, where they are sometimes run in upon
by dogs before they are flushed. They are met with
in many parts of this island, but seldom in any con-
siderable numbers. They leave us in August or
September, are supposed to winter in Africa, and
return early in the spring. On their arrival at Alex-
andria, such multitudes of them are exposed for sale,
that the crews of merchants vessels are fed on them,
and complaints have been laid at the consul's office
by mariners against their captains, for giving them
nothing but quails to eat. They have been known,
when having wind and weather in their favour, to
perform a flight of fifty leagues across the Black Sea
in the course of a night. On the western coast of
the kingdom of Naples, in the vicinity of Nettuno,
sometimes quails have appeared in such prodigious
quantities, that a hundred thousand have been caught
in one day, and within the limited space of three or
four miles. The principal part of them were con-
veyed to Rome, where they are in great request, and
fetch a very high price. Along the shores of Bovena,
especially on the lands belonging to the bishop of
Frejus that border on the sea, they alight in such
vast numbers in the spring, that for the first two or
three days they are occasionally found so exhausted
as to be caught with the hand. In some parts of the
south of Russia they so much abound, that during
the periods of their migration they are taken by
thousands, and are sent in casks to Petersburgh and
Moscow. The English import not a few from France
for the table, all of them males. They fight fiercely
for the females, whom they abandon when incubation
commences. The hen bird scrapes a hole in the
ground, generally in a corn field, and consigns
to it from eight to twenty eggs, of a bright green
colour, dotted with minute blotches of brown or
black. The incubation lasts three weeks ; and
the young, which are produced covered with down,

602

G A L L I N I D JE.

run on coming out of the shell, and are much sooner
able to provide for themselves than the you
partridges are. To such of them as happen to be
produced on a strong argillaceous soil, drought is very
unfavourable and they are very apt to die in con-
sequence of getting entangled in the fissures. The
mother continues by them till the autumnal migration,
at which period solitary quails are seldom met with ;
but, though living in small flocks of four or five, when
started they disperse in different directions, and
quickly reassemble near the spot from which they
were roused. The young utter a feeble and plaintive
cry when they wish to flock together. That of the
adults is more harsh and grating, and the males are
readily decoyed by the quail-pipe, with which the
fowler imitates the call of the female. From the
pugnacious dispositions of the males, they were ex-
hibited by the Athenians and Romans, in regular
combats ; and in China, Sumatra, and some districts
of Italy, the practice of quail fighting is still cherished.
As quails are reckoned very delicate eating, and are
capable of receiving a considerable quantity of fat,
they are killed in great numbers for the table ; but
they will not breed in a domesticated state.

Chinese Quail. This species is of course
abundant in the country after which it is named ;
but it is not confined to that country, but ranges
pretty extensively over the Philippines, and the other
islands to the eastward of China. It is a very small
species, not above four inches and a half in length ;
but it is a pretty little bird, easily tamed, and the
Chinese are reported to make use of it for the pur-
pose of warming their hands, and likewise rear it for
fighting. The colours are : upper parts of the body
brown, sprinkled with black spots, and white lines,
throat black, arches on the neck white, the middle of
the belly chestnut.

New Holland Quail. About seven inches in
length. Upper part clouded chestnut streaked with
black, and with white shafts to the feathers, under
part reddish ash, with black crescent spots placed
cross-wise.

There are numerous other species or varieties
described by authors or preserved in museums ; but
it does not appear that they have any marked
cnaracters in which they differ much from the com-
mon species.

HEMIPODIUS. As already mentioned, these birds
differ structurally from the quails in being entirely
without hind toes. They are in general inhabitants
of dry and sandy places, in running upon which the
hind toe would be an incumbrance to them rather
than any thing else ; and hence we find that in all
birds which inhabit sand}' places the hind toe is either
wanting, or merely rudimental. These birds are
little known, because they have no European
type, and also because they frequent those parts of
foreign countries which Europeans visit the least.
They appear to be altogether confined to the southern
and eastern world, and to have a locality in that
direction more remote from Europe than any other
of the gallinidae. Among them may be mentioned
the fighting quail of Java, which the inhabitants of
that country engage in gambling battles, as was done
with game cocks in barbarous times and places of the
western world. We must not, however, wonder at
the Javanese for being so deeply interested in the
issue of a battle between those comparatively small

birds ; because, among the natives of that country
nothing is more common than for a man to stake first
all his property, and then the freedom of his wife and
children, upon the issue of a duel between two black
beetles, whose battle takes place in a little chip box.

The Heteroclyte (Syrrhaptes) may be considered
as forming the last of this division of the order ;
and, indeed, it is not very easy to find out its proper
place in the system, as it is not, strictly speaking,
either a quail or a grouse, though, according to the
description, it partakes of the characters of both.
There is but one species, which inhabits the exten-
sive sandy plains of central Asia, to the southward of
the lake of Baikal ; and for the knowledge of it
naturalists are indebted to Professor Pallas. And as
for its habits we know very little of them, excepting
that it lives in very bare and desolate pastures, and
must, from its structure, depend much more on its
wings than on its feet in searching for its food ; and
this peculiarity takes it not only out of the properly
established groups of partridges, grouse, and quails,
but out of the order of Gallinidce altogether, with
which, however, they may use the wing in perching,
in migrating, or for other purposes ; without almost
one exception they make use of the foot in searching
for their food. The feet of this bird are peculiar : the
tarsi are very short, and so are the toes, and they are
completely feathered, so as to have the appearance
more of a defence against extreme heat or extreme
cold than any thing else. The wings are much
longer than in most of the order ; and they are dif-
ferently formed, being adapted for long flight and
ready turning when in the air, as the first quill is the
longest. The two middle feathers of the tail are
also considerably produced.

The generic characters are : the bill short, slender,
and conical ; the upper mandible slightly arched,
with a channel on each side of the culmen, and the
nostrils basal and lateral, and covered with the
feathers of the front. The feet with only three toes,
all to the front, united by membrane almost as far
as the claws ; the tail-feathers increase in length in
regular stages from the sides, except the two middle
ones, which are elongated and very narrow.

Pallas' heteroclite (Hetcroclitus turtaceus of Vieil-
lot) is the only known species. It is yellowish ash
on the upper part, with black margins to the feathers,
and a number of crescent spots of black along the
back. The top of the head is marked by a line of
similar spots ; the sides of the neck are orange yel-
low, of which the tint is brighter on the throat. The
coverts of the wings have purple red on the tips ;
and the quills are black, with orange yellow on the
margins of the webs. The tail-feathers are yellowish
ash, with white tips, except the two produced ones,
which are black. The belly is yellowish ash, and the
rest of the under part whitish, the former bordered
with a large band of black. The bill is yellowish,
and the claws black. The length of the male bird
is about a foot. The female differs little in size or
in markings, but is very easily distinguished from the
other sex by wanting the produced tail-feathers
which form so peculiar a character in the male.

The Tartars call this bird Tsadlscha ; and describe
it as being rare, or, at all events, rarely seen. They
are wild, and the people can kill them only with
their arrows ; and as they inhabit the wild and bare
places, where there is no pasturage, and little other

G A L L I N I D JE.

inducement of any kind for the people to resort to
them, the birds are but very little known, even in
their native locality. Their food is, accordingly, but
little known ; but it is supposed to consist, in part
at least, of small insects, which are among the chief
productions of the wilds. Those who have observed
them with the greatest care, represent them as walk-
ing very slowly, and with apparent difficulty, so that
they are obliged now and then to squat down for the
purpose of resting themselves. On the wing they
arc a good deal more active, Hying rapidly, and at
a considerable elevation ; but they do not con-
tinue long on the wing at a time. Their habitation
is among- the bare and shifting sand of the deserts ;
and, in addition to insect food, they scrape the sand
for those small seeds which are drifted into it by the
winds ; -and which, from the perfectly sterile nature
of the soil into which they are brought, would be
lost, were it not, for these birds. Delanarie mentions
that, in his passage across these wilds, toward the
Chinese frontier, he often came upon the females in
tnc act of incubation ; and that he found them such
close and pertinacious sitters, which would not quit
their eggs till the very last extremity. The nest he
mentions as very rude, consisting of a small hollow
in the sand, lined with a few such withered leaves
of hard grass as can be picked up in the places
which the birds inhabit. The eggs are represented
as being uniformly four in number, which is different
from that of any species of gall'midce, which is well
made, and forms another reason for doubting whether
these birds have been referred to their proper place
in the system.

Such is nearly the sum of all the information that
we possess respecting one of the most singular oi
birds, both in its structure, and in the regions which
it inhabits. How it may summer and winter in
those dismal wastes, it is not easy even to con-
;ecture ; but it shows that the sterility of a region
must bo extreme indeed if it cannot furnish support
10 sonic living inhabitant. This bird appears to be
ut home amid bare stones and loose sand, and in such
place.-; only ; for, according to the accounts, it never
resorts to the more fertile places. Nor is it at al
impossible that, even where it inhabits, the end o
autumn and the beginning of winter may be the sea-
son of plenty, as well us it is in those places where
there is a crop and harvest of vegetation upon the
and. The seasonal winds sweep over those re-
;is with great violence, as is testified by the storms
which rage upon the lake Baikal, where the winds o
the desert and of the inland country may be said to
meet; and they must, while the heat of the sam
continues, bring with them a number of seeds, ant
along with these, or rather in them, a number of the
gs of those insects, the appearance of which, ii
such deserts, could not otherwise be very easily ac
counted for. But we must proceed with our notice
of the remaining group or family of the Gallinidce.

GROUSE. Grouse admit of division into two sec-
tions ; the grouse properly so called, which are in-
habitants of woods, heaths, and other places which
are wild, but not destitute of vegetation ; and wild
grouse, which, as the name implies, are found chierly
in the arid wastes. The former have what may be con-
sidered as a polar habitat ; or, in more temperate
climates, they are found only in elevated and com-
paratively cold places. The latter are found farther

603

o the south, as there are no arid or sandy places in
countries which have polar latitudes. The reason of
his is very evident ; but still it is worth mentioning,
as helping to carry us on towards a proper under-
standing of the adaptation of animals to their haunts.
The grouse, properly so called, notwithstanding
.heir differences of appearance, form altogether a
very natural and well defined family. They are con-
veniently divided into three sub-genera, or sections :
— Tctrao, in which the toes are bare of feathers;
Bonascits, in which the toes and tarsi are feathered
on the upper sides ; and Lagopus, in which they are
•leathered down to, and also under and between, the
All of them hare the tarsi feathered, which
forms a distinction between grouse and partridges.
The first inhabit most southerly and lowest down,
bordering on the pastures of the partridges ; the last
are the most northerly and the most lofty inhabi-
tants ; and the second,' or those with half the tarsi
feathered, are intermediate between the other two.
They are all birds of the north of the one continent
or the other, or they are common to both ; which
latter appears to be the case only with the feathery-
footed race which inhabit the extreme north. All
the grouse are highly interesting birds, as they in-
habit the wild places only, and do no harm to man ;
and they breed very rapidly, and all furnish choice
dishes for the table, but our limits will not admit of
more than a few brief notices. In doing this we shall
take the bird of the eastern continent, and the one of
the western, which appears to agree most nearly with
it in immediate succession.

TETRAO or grouse, with the tarsi bare of feathers.
Black cock (T. tctrix.') This species belongs to
the eastern continent, where it inhabits the low and
sheltered moors, and the borders of streams and
marshes. It is a bird of considerable size. The male
is about two feet in length, and three feet in the
stretch of the wings ; and when in prime condition,
which is in the early part of winter, the weight is
from three to four pounds. The upper parts of the
body are black, glossed with rich reflections of pur-
ple, blue, and bronze green. The blue is finest on
the neck, and the green on the feathers of the tail,
purple being the prevailing lustre on the back. The
under part is deep and dead black, with the excep-
tion of the under tail-coverts, which are white. A
spot on the reverse of the wing, the tip of the bas-
tard wing, the bases of the quills, except the first
four, and the tips of the secondary quills are also
white. The wings are broad ; and the tail consists
of sixteen feathers, the external ones a little pro-
duced, and curling outwards, so as to form a peculiar
fork. The naked space over the eye is of a very
bright scarlet colour, and granulated. The female
is about one-third less in the lineal dimensions than
the male ; the tail is not so much produced, and the
forking is barely perceptible. The general colour is
brown, deeper on the back than any other part, and
mottled all over with black.

They frequent the sequestered places where there
are brushwoods and copses ; and perch during the
night, though they feed upon the ground. In autumn
they eat wild berries and seeds, in winter the buds
of trees, and it is probable that during the time when
the buds are over, and the seeds and berries not ripe,
they feed, in part at least, upon insects and worms.
In autumn and winter the males live in flocks and

604

G A L L I N I D JE.

at peace ; but when the warm season sets in, and they
put on the rich glosses of their nuptial plumage, they
iight lustily for the females, as is the case with ail
polygamous birds. At this period, which is earlier or
later in the year, according to the season and the
place, but seldom before March or after April, in the
British Islands, they are astir by the streak of dawn,
crowing, uttering a harsh grating sound, like that of
the sharpening of a knife, and otherwise making as
much noise in the cold as they can. The eggs are
about eight in number, and less than that in the case
of a second brood. The nest is rude and on the
ground, and the female does not perch until her
brood are able to perch along with her. During this
time the male remains in the close vicinity of the fe-
males, watching them and their broods with great
attention ; and, when the broods are matured, he
joins the other males for the season of celibacy. If
the male is killed early in the season, the females join
the neighbouring harems ; but they remain true to
the same male for the season if he remains alive. The
external distinctions of sex do not appear in the
young till the season is far advanced.

The black cock, or black game, are found in many
parts of the British Islands ; but more abundantly in
some parts of Scotland than in England. They are
also not uncommon on the continent, but there also
they prefer the more northerly countries, though not
the extreme of the latitude.

In Sweden and the other cold countries of the
north, where the snows fall heavy and lie long, the
black cock betake themselves to snow-houses, as is the
case with the other ground birds, and with many of
the human race, as, for instance, the Esquimaux, in
the extreme north of America. They form burrows,
with a breathing aperture, or often with two, in order
that they may escape from the predatory mammalia.
During their retreat in these places, they eat very
little, and do not require it, as the temperature is low
and uniform, and they have no action that can occa-
sion any waste. These birds are highly prized as
game, though their flesh has not perhaps so much
flavour as that of some of the others.

The Dusky Grouse (T. obscurus) is the American
species, which appears to agree in most particulars
with the black cock of the eastern continent. In
size and colour it is very nearly the same as the
European species ; but the tail of the male bird is
very differently formed. It consists of twenty broad
feathers, the tips of which individually are rounded, as
is also the general outline of the tail. The colours of
the female also resemble those of the females in Europe,
only there are more white mottlings on the chin. The
size of the female also bears nearly the same propor-
tion to the male as in the European species.

The form of the tail in this species indicates a more
constant habit of ascending and descending than that
of the black-cock, a more woodland bird in short ;
and this is confirmed by the locality and the habit in
so far as observation has gone. The birds are found
in the elevated places of the rocky mountains ; and the
iirst known specimen was obtained in 1820, by Major
Long, at an elevation of 2000 feet, above the level of
the sea, and to the westward of the water-shed between
the rivers of that place to the Pacific and the branches
of the Mississippi. We are not aware that any spe-
cimen has been met with, either in the central valley or
in the hills towards the Atlantic. The habits of the

bird sue altogether unknown, further than can be in-
ferred from its being a grouse, and inhabiting mountain
thickets.

The Wood Grouse (T, urogallus) is a species peculiar
to the eastern continent, and it is one of the most ce-
lebrated both for its size and its beauty. It was once
an inhabitant of the forests in the north of Scotland ;
but it is extinct there now ; though very common to
the north of the Baltic, and also in most of the pine
forests immediately to the south. In those places
where it is abundant, several species are noticed, dif-
fering from each other in size, colour, shape of the
head, and some other particulars ; but these are of too
trivial a nature to be admitted into a hasty general
sketch, in which we must confine ourselves to the
average or prevailing character.

The neck and upper parts of the body are of a
dusky colour, waved across with ash-colour ; the
under part is also dusky, but rather paler in the tint,
and marked with white spots ; and the under part of
the union of the wings with the body is also white ;
the breast is green with rich bronze reflections ; and
the tail is black with two white spots near the tip of
each feather. The length is about two feet nine, and
the extent of the wings about three feet. The female
is about half afoot shorter than the male, and propor-
tionally less in all her dimensions. She is mottled all
over the upper part with dull red, black and white ;
the throat and breast brighter red. The young males
resemble the female till the first moult, when they
begin to show a little green on the throat.

This is truly a splendid bird, equal in size to the
turkey, at least on the average, as reared in confine-
ment. The common weight is about seven or eight
pounds, but specimens have been found as heavy as
fifteen pounds.

These birds are chiefly confined to what may be
considered as the northern zone of the eastern con-
tinent, that is, not to the south of the Altaian moun-
tains, on the east of Asia, or of the arid flats north-
ward of the Caspian, in the west, while in Europe
they are very rare to the south of the Carpathian
ridge, and not abundant even on the northern slopes
of these mountains. The great pine forests of the
north are their favourite haunts ; and they disappear
when those forests cease to exist.

Their principal food appears to consist of the
berries of the juniper, the vacciniums, and other
small fruit-bearing shrubs of the high latitudes, and
also of the buds and young sprouts of pines, the
buds and succulent leaves of various plants, and pro-
bably also worms and insects. These birds, like do-
mestic poultry, swallow small pebbles, and scratch
the soil with their feet. They resort to the copses
for food in the morning and evening, and during the
day they retire into the thickest recesses of the woods.
About the beginning of April their breeding season
commences, when they perch with little interruption,
and when the male may be seen, at sunrise and in
the evening, much agitated on one of the largest
branches of the pines, with his tail expanded and
raised, and his wings drooping, sometimes walking
backwards and forwards, with his neck stretched out,
his head inflated, and his eyebrows of a deep crim-
son. His wooing call commences by a sort of ex-
plosion, instantly followed by a sound like the whet-
ing of a scythe, which ceases and recommences al-
ternately for about an hour, and is then terminated

G A L L I N I D /E.

605

by a similar explosive noise as at the beginning. He
is apparently so deaf and insensible, during this sin-
gular exhibition, that, though at other times very
wild and vigilant, the sportsman may gradually ap-
proach him, and take a fatal aim. This ardour of
temperament continues till June. The female de-
posits in an artless situation in her nest on the ground,
and among moss, from eight to sixteen eggs, which
are about the size of those of the common hen, but
move obtuse at the ends, and yellowish white, sprink-
led \viih yellow spots irregularly. When she quits
her nest in search of food, she covers the eggs over
with leaves or moss. The young, immediately on
their exclusion, follow her with great agility, and she
leads them to procure wild berries, and the pupae of
ants. The brood follow the mother for nearly two
months, at the expiration of which period the young
males entirely forsake her, living till the beginning of
spring harmoniously together, when they separate
and affect solitude, never approaching but in the
spirit of hostility, every male being jealous of an in-
truder, and resisting him with determined obstinacy.
In the provinces of Smaland and Gothland, in Swe-
den, a hybrid but barren offspring is produced be-
tween the present species and the black grouse. The
flesh of the former, though very dark coloured, is
much relished by epicures, when it has not contracted
too much of a bitter flavour, by copiously feeding on
juniper-berries ; and it is often conveyed in winter,
in a perfectly eatable state, from Norway to this
island. The eggs are accounted preferable to those
of every other bird, and arc very much in request.
But all attempts, it appears, have failed to habituate
the species to contincrnent in a poultry yard.

The Cock of ll/c Plains ( T. urophasianus). This
aperies is mentioned, by the writers on American
ornithology, as approaching most nearly to the wood
grouse of the eastern continent. That it does so in
size is true ; but both its appearance and its habits are
different. It is not, strictly speaking, a woodland bird,
but rather an inhabitant of the margins of the woods ;
and we believe the older hunters in North America
used to give it the name, " The Prairie Turkey."
The tail is very different from that of the European,
which is narrow and tapering, and does not indicate
so frequent a habit of ascending and descending as
the broad-tailed bird of the east. This, like the other
American species formerly mentioned, is understood
to range to both sides of the Rocky Mountains ; and
as far at least as California to the south. It is men-
tioned as being but very indifferent as an article for
the table, although it is of such large size. Its food
appears to be the leaves and buds of various plants,
which are found in the wild places where the bird
itself has been met with.

The male, when full grown, measures thirty inches
in length ; the female is considerably less. The
general colour of the plumage of both birds is brown-
ish black ; but the female has the fore neck and
breast streaked with greyish white ; and the feathers
of the neck in the male, but not in the female, are
produced, something like those of the hackle of the
common domestic cock. The pairing time of these
birds is in the spring ; and the late Mr. Douglas,
who is an excellent authority in such matters, says
that " small eminences on the banks of streams are
the places usually selected for celebrating the wed-
dings ; the time generally about sunrise. The wings

of the male are lowered, and buzzling on the ground ;
the tail spread like a fan, somewhat erect ; the bare
yellow oesophagus inflated to a prodigious size, fully
half as large as his body ; and from its soft mem-
branous substance being well contrasted with the
scale-like feathers below it on the breast, and the
flexile silky feathers on the neck, which, on these
occasions, stand erect. In this grotesque form he
displays, in the presence of his intended mate, a
variety of pleasing attitudes. His love-song is a con-
fused, grating, but not offensively disagreeable tone
— something that we can imitate, but have a difficult^
in expressing, ending in a deep hollow tone, not un-
like the sound produced by blowing into a large
reed." These birds build in the plains, on a tuft on
the ground, or near water. The nest is carelessly
put together, and is constructed of twigs and dry
grass. The colour of the eggs is wood-brown,
blotched irregularly with chocolate brown at the
larger end ; they equal in size those of the common
hen, and in number they vary from thirteen to seven-
teen. The time of incubation is about twenty-one
days ; and shortly after the young are hatched they
quit the nest.

These birds appear to belong chiefly, if not ex-
clusively, to the west side of America ; and the places
of their habitation are those naked plains where there
is no vegetation exceeding a bush of very humble
growth. It is impossible, therefore, that they can be
perching birds, as the wood grouse of Europe is, sim-
ply because they have nothing on which to perch.
Their wings are feeble and of small dimensions in
proportion to the size and weight of their bodies ;
and their progress through the air is, consequently,
effected rather by a fluttering motion, than by a di-
rect and continuous flight. They rise flutteringly at
first, giving a few hurried strokes with their wings ;
and after flying for a short distance, with a wriggling
course, and making much whirring sound witl their
wings, they again alight.

During the summer, and greater part of autumn,
these birds continue in families ; but when the cold
weather begins to set in, the families form into packs,
which sometimes amount to several hundreds. Seeds
and small fruits are their food at this season, and they
get fat ; but, as already noticed, the quality of their
flesh is very inferior.

Richardsmis Grouse (T. Richardsonii). This is
another American species of the Rocky Mountains,
and, like the preceding species, understood to be
most abundant to the westward of the summits. It is
a much more upland and woodland bird than the last,
more graceful on the wing, more active in its motions,
and far more valuable as an article of food. The
sides of the head and throat black, with pure white
spots ; feathers on the breast black, with pure white
spots ; white spots also on the flanks, and the under
tail-coverts white ; tail, sixteen feathers, rather long,
rounded. Female smaller, less black, but more rusty ;
general colours duller. Nest in bushes, eggs not so
numerous as in many of the other species. The male
is dull lead-colour and brown, variously blended and
contrasted. The female is yellowish brown and
black, with some white streaks. The weight is be-
tween two pounds and a half and three pounds.

April is the pairing time ; and the nests are placed
on the copses on the hills, but not high upon the moun-
tains. The eggs are from a dozen to twenty, as

606

G A L L I N I D M.

large as those of a hen, and with red spots on both
ends. The female sits about three weeks. They
eat buds and berries ; their voices are soft and mur-
muring ; their flight straight forward, steady, and
graceful. They perch in the thick pine trees, and
when they are to take wing from a perch, they get
an impetus by dropping down, and then dash onwards.

Sharp-tailed Grouse (T. phasianellus} is remarkable
for the narrow and pointed form of the tail. It is
rather a northerly species on the American conti-
nent, being met with in the wild country to the west-
ward of Hudson's Bay, but it also occurs in the
Rocky Mountains.

The male is sixteen inches long and twenty-three
in extent of wings. The ground colour is blackish
with markings of rust colour and white. The female
is rather smaller than the male, and mottled with
black and rusty yellow. The nest is rude, and placed
in the cover of some bush. The female lays from
nine to thirteen eggs, which are white with blackish
spots. The young are hatched about the middle of
June ; they utter a piping noise resembling that of
chickens. From want of suitable food or some other
cause, it is found impossible to rear them in a domestic
state, however carefully they are attended to. These
birds are very plump when in good condition, and
weigh upwards of two pounds.

Franklin's Grouse (T. Franklinu). This is the
spotted grouse of the Rocky Mountains, and bears
some resemblance to its Canadian congener. Gene-
ral plumage, alternate bars of black and greyish
brown, very bright and glossy ; head, neck, and
breast nearly black, and tail entirely so, but with
white spots on the upper and under coverts, and
spots of the same colour on the flanks. Nest on the
ground in concealment ; eggs five to seven, the size
of those of the wood-pigeon, and dull white. The cry
harsh, resembling that of the Guinea fowl. Rather a
mountaineer, and found in the north and west parts
of America.

Canada spotted Grouse (T. Canadensis) inhabits
Canada, the northern parts of the United States, and
the north of America generally. It is a woodland
species, resembling the wood grouse of Europe in
some of its habits. Has a strong flavour of spruce in
winter, but is better in the summer months. Nestles
on the ground, but perches in trees, and takes to
them for safety when alarmed. Length fifteen inches ;
general colour of the male black and grey.

Red Grouse (T. Scolicus). General colour chest-
nut brown ; eyebrow notched, very elevated ; carun-
cle on the brow crescent-shaped and scarlet. Six-
teen feathers in the tail, the external ones black at
the bases. Colours of the female less bright, with
zig-zag black lines, and little or no red in the eye-
brow. Young, bright russet with black stripes and
spots. Length of the male sixteen inches ; weight
nearly a pound and a quarter.

Inhabits open heaths and not woods, remaining on
the ground, and never perching. It occurs on the
mountains of Wales and the north of England, but
more plentifully in the highlands of Scotland, and in
the waste of North Britain in general. They are
likewise met with in the Hebrides, the islands of the
Clyde, and in the bogs and mountains of Ireland ;
but those noticed by Buffon as natives of France,
Italy, Spain, &c., seem either to form distinct species
or at least varieties. Linnaeus appears to have been

unacquainted with them, and Gmelin regarded them as
a variety of the ptarmigan. In this country they feed
on the mountain and bog berries, and, should there be
none of these, on the tops of the heath. The number
of eggs which the female lays is from eight to fourteen,
and not unlike those of the black grouse, but smaller,
in a rude nest on the ground. The young brood
continue with the hen till the winter, when they unite
in flocks, sometimes to the amount of thirty or fort}',
and are then, from their shyness, very difficult to be
shot. They sometimes descend, when the winter is
very severe, from the hilly tracts, in prodigious num-
bers. The shooting of them is a very favourite
diversion in autumn by our gentry, on the Scottibh
moors, and their flesh is esteemed a dainty, but very
soon becomes tainted, especially if the birds are not
drawn immediately on being killed. Several instances
are recorded of their being reared in a domesticated
state. Besides the beauty of this species, the abun-
dance of its numbers, the interesting character of the
places in which it is found, and the facilities of access
to them from all parts of the British islands, it pos-
sesses the recommendation of being truly a British
species.

BONASIA. With the upper sides of the toes fea-
thered, but not the under.

Hazel Grouse. Feathers on the head somewhat
long ; but the species is much disposed to break into
accidental varieties. Upper part brown, with red,
black, and white spots. Length about fourteen inches,
wings twenty -one in extent. It is a mountain species,
and found pretty generally in the elevated woods
throughout Europe, from the Carpathian Mountains
to the Strait of Gibraltar, but not in the extreme north.
It roosts in thick trees ; feeds on heath tops, berries,
and buds. The nest is placed on the ground under
a tree, or thick tuft of heath. The eggs vary from
twelve to eighteen, are rather larger than those of a
pigeon, yellowish white with irregular brown spots.
The incubation lasts three weeks ; the young run
about as soon as they break the shell ; and the mother
calls them to her with a cluckiiig sound. The flesh
is dark outside, and whitish internally ; it is much
prized, and is reported to be the only viand upon
which a German prince will consent to feast twice in
succession.

Ruffed Grouse (B. umbellus}. The head furnished
with a crest ; the upper part varied with brown, red,
and black ; the under rusty white, with brown moon
spots on the breast ; feathers on the scapulars enlarged,
and deep azure ; tufts on each side of the neck of a
bright black, glossed with steel blue, and capable of
being much distended. The crest and ruff are barely
visible in the female. Very common in the eastern
parts of America. The female breeds twice in the
year ; the nest among dry leaves under a tree ; eggs
from nine to sixteen ; incubation three weeks ; gene-
ral food grains and fruits. In the breeding season
the male makes a flapping noise with his wings, which
has been compared to the beating of the drum, and
also to distant thunder ; but it often costs the bird his
life, by betraying him to the hunter.

There are some more species or varieties in this
section, but what have been mentioned must suffice
as a specimen.

LAGOPUS. Tarsi and toes completely feathered,
so as to fit the bird for enduring the greatest severity
of cold in its feet.

G A L L I N I D JE.

607

Ptarmigans (L. variabilis'). Ash-coloured and
white in summer, almost entirely white in winter,
except the tips and shafts of the primary feathers which
are black, with white tips ; a black spot between the
be;\k and eyes of the male ; eighteen feathers in the
tail ; feet covered with feathers. Ptarmigans haunt
the lofty heights of mountainous countries in Europe,
Asia, and America, as the Alps and Pyrennees, the
Highlands of Scotland, Siberia, Greenland, Hudson's
Bay, Canada, &c., descending within the range of
vegetation to feed on the buds of trees, the young
shoots of pines and heath, mountain berries, rhodo-
dendron, insects, &c., but returning, when satiated,
and even in winter, to their almost inaccessible re-
treats, which are generally screened alike from the
sun and the wind, and are often formed of holes in
the snow. They live quietly during winter, in family
parties of from six to ten individuals ; but they se-
parate and pair in June, resorting to a lower resi-
dence on the hill, and breeding apart. Each pair
scratch a circular hole, of about eight inches in
diameter, at the foot of a rock or bush ; and the
female, with hardly any other preparation, lays from
six to twelve eggs, larger than those of the partridge,
of a reddish-grey hue, and spotted with black. In
three weeks these are hatched, and the young come
forth covered with down, which is brown, black, and
yellowish, on the head and upper parts of the body,
and of a whitish yellow on the under. The mother
defends her young with great courage and intrepidity,
and hesitates not to fly on those who seek to carry
them off. Contrary to what has been observed of
most other gallinaceous birds, the male is assiduously
Httentive to his mate when breeding, roaming about
the nest, frequently uttering his cry, and carefully
fetching her food, without, however, taking her place
on the eggs. As soon as the young are produced,
the parents conduct them to a more elevated station,
where their growth proceeds rapidly. A great num-
ber of them fall a sacrifice to eagles and hawks.
The ptarmigans skulk under bushes or projections of
the rocks at sight of these formidable invaders ; but
tney seem not to dread the approach of man, until
they have experienced his hostile power, after which
they endeavour to elude his attacks. Picot de Pe-
rouse says he has watched their manners in the
rennees, and that they are by no means so stupid as
described by Gesner, but court independence and
shun danger with the sagacity that is common to
animals. In some of the Highland districts their
gay summer attire assimilates them to their native
rocks, and their winter livery to the snow by which
they are surrounded, so that they are less readily
discriminated by the sportsman. They fly heavily,
but run swiftly." The cry of the male, which may
often be heard in the night, somewhat resembles
the croaking of a frog, and that of the female that of
a young fowl. In this island they occur on the sum-
mils of the Grampian ridge, and also, though rarely,
on the loftiest hills of Cumberland and Wales. These
birds, being naturally very shy, cannot be domesti-
cated without very great care and attention ; but
rare instances are known of their breeding in con-
finement. The young bird, in flavour, is not inferior
to that of the black cock, and the fowler has been
known, even at the risk of his life, to hunt them.

Willow Grouse (L. saliceti). This species is found
in the north of the two continents, but on different
grounds from the mountain ptarmigan. We give the

following account of it from Dr. Richardson :— " The
willow grouse inhabits the fur countries.from the fiftieth
to the seventieth parallels of latitude, within which
limits it is partially migratory ; breeding in the val-
leys of the Rocky Mountains, the barren grounds, and
arctic coasts ; collecting in flocks on the approach of
winter, and retiring southward as the severity of the
weather increases ; considerable bodies, however, re-
maining in the woody tracts as far north as latitude
67°, even in the coldest winters. It is tolerably abun-
dant in the sixty-fifth parallel all the year, and assem-
bles in vast flocks on the shores of Hudson's Bay in
the winter time." The species seems to be iden-
tical with the willow-grouse of the old continent,
which inhabits the greater part of Scandinavia, Kam-
tschatka, Greenland, and Zealand, and also the val-
leys of the Alps. In America these grouse shelter
themselves in the winter in thickets of willow and
dwarf birches, on the banks of marshes and lakes, the
tops and buds of the shrubs constituting the prin-
cipal part of their food at that season. Denuded
sandy spots are favourite resorts in the day time ;
but they pass the night in holes in the snow. When
pursued by a sportsman or bird of prey, they often
terminate their flight by diving precipitately into the
loose snow, endeavouring to escape by working their
way beneath the surface, which they do with con-
siderable celerity in thick, windy, or snowy weather ;
they are very shy, and they often perch on the tal-
ler willows, when it requires a sharp eye to distin-
guish them from flakes of snow. In the breeding sea-
son they feed mostly on the berries of iheEmpetrum
nigriim, Vaccinium vitis idaca, and Arbutus Alpina, which
are exposed by the first thaws, and do not disappear
until replaced by the new crop. At the commence-
ment of this period they begin to lose their snow-
white winter dress, the male changing first, his head
and neck becoming red, and, when viewed from a dis-
tance, contrasting so strongly with the white body as
to appear as if they were stripped of their feathers,
and quite raw. The beginning of June is the period
of incubation, and the female then moults, the delay
being admirably suited to her habits, and well calcu-
lated to ensure her safety. The male puts on his
coloured plumage as soon as the rocks and eminences
most exposed to the sun become bare, and at a time
when he is accustomed to stand on a large stone, and
call, in a loud croaking voice, to the females, that hide
themselves in their white dress among the unmelted
snow on the more level ground. Like most other
birds that summer within the arctic circle, they are
more in motion in the milder light of night than in
the broad glare of day. The eggs are bright or
dark yellow, with chestnut-brown spots or dots.

Rock Grouse (Lngopus rupestr'is) is another species
found in both continents. It resembles the ptarmi-
gan in many particulars, but is smaller in size, or more
black and brown, and less ash colour in its common
plumage. It is met with in the extreme north of
America, Greenland, and in Scandinavia ; and is,
in fact, the most northerly of the Gallinidee. It breeds
late in the season.

PTEROCLES form the last genus of the Gallinidee.
They are peculiar to the warm latitudes of the eastern
continent, and generally inhabit waste and sandy
places. Their most general characters are : the
wings long, and adapted for considerable flight ; the
tail pointed, and the feet naked ; the tarsi stout, and
the three front toes short — the hind one often want-

608

GALLINULE.

ing. The space round the eye is generally naked,
but it wants the fine red colour which appears in the
grouse. The more particular characters are : the
bill of mean length, compressed, slender in most of
the species ; the upper mandible straight in the prin-
cipal part of its length, and curved only near the
tip. The nostrils basal, half closed above with a
membrane, and covered with the feathers of the front.
The three front toes united by membrane as far as
the first joint. The hind toe often wanting, or a mere
rudiment, and in all cases articulated so far up on the
tarsus as not to touch the ground in walking. The
claws, with the exception of that on the hind t«e, are
rather obtuse and broad. The tail is long and
wedge-shaped or pointed, the two middle feathers
being often produced beyond the others. The wings
long and pointed, the first quill being the longest.
As there is none of the genus resident or visitant in
the British islands, they have no appropriate English
names ; for the compounds of the word " grouse,"
with other epithets which have been given to them,
are not applicable. The French call them gangas.

P. Alchata, the " pin-tailed grouse" of Latham,
is found in the south of Europe, .but only in hot and
sandy places. It is yellowish, rayed with black on
the upper part, with the points of the scapular feathers
bluish. The lesser coverts are streaked with red and
brown, and have white tips. The head and neck are
ash colour, and the throat black, with a large collar
of pale orange, bordered with black. The under
parts are whitish. The tail-feathers are white at the
terminations, and the three middle ones slender and
longer than the rest by three inches. The length
is thirteen or fourteen inches. They are far more
numerous in the dry places of the north of Africa
and southwest of Asia than they are in the south of
Europe. The young are eaten, but the old birds are
of small value. We can afford space only to mention
one or two of the others.

P, Tachypoetes (Namaqua) is bright red, brown,
and black on the upper part ; purplish on the under,
and about ten inches in length. It is found in the
sultry deserts of Africa, where the flocks, which are
numerous, often guide the traveller to the springs,
pools, and water-courses ; but if the birds clear the
horizon, without wheeling or halting, it is a sign that
there is no water near ; and a very painful sign in
such a country.

P. quadricinctits (the " Indian grouse" of some
authors) is a native of India. The upper parts are
yellowish, rayed with brown and black ; the coverts
of the wings yellow, with a broad band of white
and one of black ; the forehead white, crossed at the
top with a black band ; the back of the head russet,
with black lines. The breast rays with white and
black, forming four narrow cinctures ; the under parts
white, with black lines ; the bill yellow, and the feet
and claws brown. The length of the male is about
nine inches and a half. The female is smaller and
paler in the colours.

P. arenarius (sand grouse of authors) inhabits the
sandy places of western Asia and Africa, but is also found
in some of the more arid spots of the south of Europe.
Upper part yellowish ash, spotted with blue and yel-
low. The belly, thighs, under tail-coverts, and tail-
feathers black ; the breast reddish ash, with one black
band across. Length twelve to fourteen inches.
This is understood to be a migratory bird, for which
the form of its wings is well adapted. Its range is

from the sandy steppes in the south of Russia, to the
borders of the African desert on the Nile, and, pro-
bably, also on the Niger. The hind toe is wholly
wanting in this species, but there is sometimes a rudi-
ment of a claw or spur in, or, at least near, its place.

There are several more species or accidental varie-
ties of these singular birds ; but they differ from
those that have been named in so few particulars ,
and the manners of them are so imperfectly known,
that we shall not name any of the remaining ones.
Thus we must close our very brief sketch of the
Gallinidce, an order of birds which, in as far as vahn-
to man is concerned, has no equal in the feathered
race. It would have been pleasant to us to enter
into many more details, but we trust that what has
been said will be useful in itself, and lead to the
desire and the attainment of further knowledge.

GALLINULE (Gallinula)— the "water hen."
A genus of Echassiers, or stilt birds, belonging to the
long-toed or macrodactylic division. The characters
'are : the bill shorter than the head, compressed,
conical, and generally higher than broad at the base.
The mandibles are of equal length, both compressed
at the extremity, and the upper one curved at the tip.
The nostrils are placed laterally in the bill, at about
the middle of its length, and they are longitudinal
and in part covered by membrane. The tarsi are
long, and so are the toes, of which there are three to
the front and one to the rear, the front ones bordered
with a straight membrane. The wings are of mean
length, and hollow ; the first quill is shorter than the
second, and the third and fourth are the longest in
the wing.

It is not very easy to assign to these birds their
proper place in the system. They have been united
with other races by different authors, but they do not
harmonise properly with any. They have been con-
founded with the rails, and also with the coots ; but
they differ from both in structure as well as in habits.
Their habits are as perplexing as their generic charac-
ters. They are not, strictly speaking, land birds or
water birds ; and as little can they be included in any
of the ordinary sections of those which are termed
shore or beach birds ; for these last are in general
short-toed birds, fitted for running upon sand or gravel.
These birds are more aquatic than the rails, but less
so than the coots, for they do not launch themselves
upon the water and remain at comparative rest there,
though they dash along readily and swiftly both on
the surface of the water and under it.

They are birds which inhabit closely by the banks
of streams, rivers, and lakes, where there is abundant
vegetation, consequently only in the low land or
warmer parts of cold countries. At some seasons of
the year they inhabit so very closely, that it has been
often alleged that they migrate ; but there appears to
be no good ground i'or the allegation. If the rails
and coots are separated, as they certainly ought to be,
there are only two species, the common water hen
and the sultana water hen, both of which are found
in Europe, though the sultana is understood to be
originally from Africa. These two agree in their
habits, though not in their localities, or in their size
and colours ; and, on account of these differences,
many authors have made them separate genera, re-
stricting Gallinule to the common species, and calling
the other Porphyrio. Both differ from the rails, and
agree with the coots in having a horny plate or shield
advanced upon the front, though not so conspicuously

GALLINULE.

609

as in the coots ; and they differ from the coots in not
having the toes with broad and lobed webs, or any thing
more than a simple projection of the skin along each
margin. The whole structure of the feet, and the place
of their insertion, are indeed quite different in the
coot and the gallinule. The foot of the coot has the
oblique motion of a swimming foot, and is articulated
far backward ; the tarsus is flattened, so that it may
be brought forward with less resistance of the water ;
and the body of the bird is shaped a good deal like
that of the goose. The body of the gallinule is more
like that of a common fowl ; and though the feet are
placed rather farther back than in birds which never
take to the water, they are still walking feet ; and
the long and elastic toes enable the weight of the
body to be thrown far forward. They are, in fact,
feet very admirably adapted to the places which the
birds inhabit — tall and matted vegetation by the
banks of the waters. The gallinule is of much more
robust make than any of the rails ; its legs are much
stouter, its toes more elastic, and the hind one espe-
cially much more produced, pointing out that it has
to travel upon more yielding surfaces. The haunts
of the bird, when compared with those of the species
with which it has been confounded, agree exactly
with the differences of structure. It is not so much
in the water, or in so broad water, as the coots, and it
is more so than the water rails.

THE COMMON GALLINULE (Gallinula chloropus)
is the only British species. It is not very abundant,
or at all events very frequently seen in any part of
the country, but still it is pretty generally distributed
both in the southern and the northern parts of the
island. The general size is about the same as that of
a pigeon, and the weight, when in fine condition,
about a pound ; but at some seasons of the year it is
very lean, and weighs much less, not above ten or
eleven ounces. The length from the point of the
bill to the extremity of the tail is about fourteen
inches, and the stretch of the wings about twenty-one
inches. The bill is greenish-yellow at the tip, and
reddish-white at the base. The shield or plate, which
advances on the forehead, changes its colour with the
season. In the breeding time it is a brilliant vermil-
ion colour ; but when the grand labour of the year
is performed it changes to reddish-white. The head is
rather small for the size of the bird, and it is black,
with the exception of a white spot under each eye.
All the upper part is dark olive-green, of very glossy
lustre ; and the general colour on the under part is
dull leaden-grey. The crest feathers are black ; those
on the belly and thighs have the points dull white ;
and there are produced feathers streaked black and
white, which grow from the sides, and hang over the
flanks and thighs. These last-mentioned feathers ap-
pear to act in some way as floats when the bird takes
to the water. The hem of the wing, the margin .of
the tail, and some of the under tail coverts, are white.
The garter, or portion of the tibia immediately above
the tarsal-joint, is red ; but the tarsi and the toes
are different shades of green and greenish-yellow,
from which the bird gets its trivial name of chloropus,
or " green foot." The toes are very long, the middle
front one measuring not less than three inches from
the articulation to the point of the claw ; and they are
very broad on their under surfaces, owing to the bor-
dering margins being at that part.

The body is long, and has its principal cross dimen-
sion placed differently from that of those birds which
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

float on the water. These are generally broader than
deep, and flattened on the under side, so as to present
the greater base to the water, and thus float the
more lightly altogether, and with the less pressure on
the individual parts. The feathers are remarkably
close, and their coats well supplied with down, espe-
cially on the under side ; their gloss is also such that
the whole bird is water-proof, or at least can resist
the action of that liquid for a considerable time.

During the day it lurks among the herbage on the
banks of rivers and streams of running water, prefer-
ring those that have firm banks and clear currents to
those that are stagnant and bordered with ooze. In
the evenings it is more active, moving about in search
of its food, which consists chiefly of small animals
which in those moist places come out only after the
heat of day is over. It also eats seeds and other
farinaceous vegetable matters. In search of these it
ranges the stubble fields, and at that season gets fat,
and has its flesh much better flavoured than at other
times of the year.

The nest is composed of a large quantity of withered
reeds and rushes, closely interwoven, and the birds are
particularly careful to have it placed in a most retired
situation close by the brink of water ; and the female,
it is said, never quits it without covering the eggs
with the leaves of the surrounding herbage. Latham
and Pennant say, she builds upon some stump of a
tree which is only a short distance from the ground,
or a shrub by the side of water : she may, no
doubt, sometimes vary the place of her nest, accord-
ing as particular circumstances ma)' command, but
she generally prefers the other mode of building it.
She has commonly two hatchings in a season, and
lays from six to eight eggs at a time. The eggs ave
irregularly and thinly marked with rust-coloured
spots on a yellowish white ground, and are about two
inches in length. The young brood remain but a
short time under the nurturing care of the mother :
but as soon as they are able to crawl out, they seek
the water and shift for themselves. Although the
water hen is no where numerous, yet one species or
other of them is common in almost every country.
It is not yet ascertained whether they migrate from
this country to any other, but it is well known that
they make partial Sittings from one district to another,
and are found in cold mountainous tracts in summer,
and in lower and warmer situations during winter.
On examination of several specimens of this bird, in
full feather, they were found, like most birds of plain
plumage, very little different from each other.

SULTANA HEN (G. porphyrio). These birds have
been described as a distinct genus by several writers ,
and they certainly have characters different from the
common gallinule, though they approach much nearer
to it than the rails or coots, with both of which it has
been confounded. The characters are, whether we
consider the birds as a species or a separate genus :
bill strong, hard, thick, conical, nearly as deep as
long, and shorter than the head ; the upper mandible
dilated as it penetrates into the skull ; nostrils lateral,
pierced in the corneous mass of the bill, nearly round
and pervious ; legs long and stout ; the toes very
long in some species ; the anterior quite divided, and
edged with a narrow membrane ; wings of moderate
dimensions. These birds, like the common gallinule,
reside in or near fresh waters, haunt the extensive
rice fields of the south, and prefer grain to aquatic
herbs, their formidable bill being well adapted to
QQ

610

G A M B O G I A— GAM M ARID JE.

remove the husks, and break the straws, while their
legs, and very long retractile toes are equally suited
to lay hold of the stalks of the plant, and to carry the
ears to their mouth. They move with grace on the
liquid element, and run with equal facility on the
ground, or on the leaves of water plants.

Various species, or varieties of the Sultana hen have
been mentioned, but there is only one which is well
known ; and it must serve as a specimen. This one
is, the purple water hen (Gallinula porphyrio of
Latham). The upper mandible closely identified
with the skull ; the middle toe clawless, and longer
than the tarsus ; all the plumage blue, the frontal
plate terminating behind the eyes. This definition is
sufficiently characteristic of the beautiful species in
question, which is nearly eighteen inches long, and
about sixteen high, and which occurs on the marshy
banks of rivers and lakes, and in the flooded fields of
Calabria, Sicily, the Ionian islands, Dalmatia, the
southern provinces of Hungary, and, though rarely,
ia Sardinia. It feeds on grain, plants, and roots, and
is partial to fruit and fish. The nest is placed in the
thick herbage of flooded or swampy fields, and is
composed of bits of sticks and fragments of plants.
The female lays three or four eggs. The Greeks and
Romans tamed and fostered this interesting bird,
introduced it into their palaces and temples, and
allowed it a considerable range of flight. According
to Sonnini it abounds in Lower Egypt, appearing in
the rice fields in May, and the following months, and
sometimes breeding in the deserts. The tibia? of the
Sultana are naked much further up than those of the
common gallinule ; the tarsi are larger and very
strong ; and the toes are so much produced, as to bear
an almost unnatural proportion to the size of the
head. The body is handsome, however, and is
wholly that of a land bird, so that it is probable
these birds are not much in the habit of swimming.

GAMBOGIA — is the Garcinia gambogia of Des-
vaux, and the tree whence is obtained the yellow
pigment called gamboge, The tree is large and
handsome, the fruit is eatable, pulpy, and sweet ; in
the East Indies it is believed to be a provocative of
appetite, and as such is much esteemed, and enters
into the composition of many sauces. The resinous
juices are obtained by wounding the bark, when they
exude, and, becoming concrete on exposure to the
air, the small lumps — the gummi guttas of commerce,
are collected for sale. The plant belongs to the
natural order Guttiferae.

GAMMARIDJE. A family of crustaceous animals
belonging to the order Amphipoda, and comprising
the leaping shrimps, of which the genus Gammarus is
the type. The body is compressed at the sides, curved,
and composed of a series of equal sized segments,
in which respects it is at once distinguished from the
true shrimps and prawns, the anterior segments of
which are soldered together into a large thoracic
shield or shell, and as this structure prevails likewise
in the lobster and crab families, these animals have
obtained the names of shell-fish, although they have
no more to do with the true fishes than any other
perfectly distinct group of animals which happens
to be aquatic in its habits. In the shrimps, lobsters,
and crabs, moreover, we perceive only five pairs of
legs, but the mouth is furnished with three pairs of
foot jaws. Whereas, in this family, and indeed in
the other groups of sessile-eyed, hard-shelled crus-
tacea (except the Lasmodipoda), the body is furnished

with seven pairs of legs, attached in pairs to the
seven segments succeeding the head ; but the mouth
possesses only a single pair of foot-jaws, so that it is
quite evident not only that certain organs which, in
the Decapods, are mouth organs, are transformed in
the Amphipoda into legs, but also that the part of the
body which, in the former, constitutes the head, is
composed of several segments soldered together.
It is to the inimitable researches of Savigny (which
cost their talented author his eyesight) that we are
indebted for the most satisfactory demonstration of
these curious analogies, which we shall have occasion
to allude to more at large in our article on INSECTS.
The name, Amphipoda, is given to the group in allu-
sion to another leading character, namely, that of
having the legs of different forms, some of them, the
anterior, being claw-shaped, and the others simple.
Considerable variation, however, occurs in the form
of the claws, and also in the particular legs which are
clawed, and it is upon these, and various other struc-
tural characters, that the genera have been formed.
In the typical genus, Gammarus (Latreille), the four
anterior legs are formed into small claws, and the
upper antennae offer a character which is unique in
the order, that of having a small articulated seta at
the internal extremity of the third joint. The typical
species, Gammarus pulex (aqtiaticus, Leach), is a
small leaping animal, found in great quantities in
ditches, ponds, and springs of fresh water, exceedingly
active, and varying much in size. Its motions are
effected in a manner similar to those of the spring-
tailed insects, Podurce, by bringing the tail, which is
terminated by several appendages, beneath the breast,
and then letting it go with force, thus giving, as it
were, continual fillips to the water, in which it re-
sides, and by which means it is impelled forwards.
Another species is much more slender in its form,
and its lower antennae are very strong, and as long
as the body. This insect forms the type of the
genus Corophium, Latreille, which is further charac-
terised by having none of the legs provided with a
large claw. It is the Cancer grossipes, Linntcus,
(Corophium longicorne, Latreille), and is about an inch
long. It inhabits the coasts of various European
countries, and is called Pernys by the inhabitants of
the coast of La Rochelle, where it resides in holes,
which it makes in the mud, covered with the wood-
work erected by the muscle-catchers. The Coro-
phium appears at the beginning of May, and imme-
diately commences warfare against the Nereids,
Amphinomce, Arenicolas, and other marine annelida
which take up their abode in the same places. It is
very curious to observe, at the rising of the tide,
myriads of these Crustacea swimming about in every
direction, and beating the mud with their long
antennae, and turning it over, in order to find their
prey. When they have discovered one of these
annelida, often ten, or even twenty, times as large as
themselves, several of them unite together to attack
and devour it. They do not cease this warfare until
they have thoroughly searched all the mud. They
likewise attack mollusca, fishes, and even the carcases
of large animals left in the mud. They also ascend
the hurdle fences inclosing the muscles, as well as
upon the latter ; indeed the muscle catchers pretend
that they cut the threads which retain these shell-
fish, so as to cause them to fall into the mud, so that
they may the more easily devour them. They ap-
pear to multiply during the whole of summer, as the

G A N N E T.

611

females are found, charged with eggs at different
periods. The wading birds and many fishes devour
them in their turn. They appear to quit the coast
at the end of September, and almost simultaneously,
for, at this time, not a single individual is often to be
found in the places where they had only a few days
previously swarmed. A more extended account of
the muscle fishery of La Rochelle, and of the attacks
of these insects, is to be found in the tenth volume
of the Encyclopedic Methodique, contained in a
letter from M. d'Abigny to Latreille, and from which
the above details are given.

Another curious genus in this family is Cerapus, of
which an account has been already given. Amongst the
other numerous genera, we shall only notice that of
Talitrus, Latreille, in which the upper antenna are
very short, the lower long, with the terminal division
annular, and the four anterior legs not distinctly claw-
shaped. The typical species is Talitrus locusta,
which is very abundant on our sandy shores, burrow-
ing into the sand, and, unlike the majority of the
order to which it belongs, seldom or never entering
the water. It serves as food to many of the shore
birds, which feed upon it with avidity. The follow-
ing notice of its habits by Dr. Kidd, is from the En-
tomological Magazine : — " Under the sea-wrack, were
shoals of that little jumping shrimp, with a large head,
which is found upon nearly every coast ; on lift-
ing up a handful of sea-wrack, they swarmed and
leaped about like fleas — some of them being scarcely
bigger. These little fellows are the best anatomists
in the world, in a single night they will turn a small
animal into a more beautifully white and clean and
perfect skeleton than can be obtained by any other
means. They are of all sizes, from half an inch long
to no size at all."

GANNET (Sula). A very interesting and highly
characteristic genus of sea birds, belonging to Cuvier's
order of Tutipalmce, or those which have the web, or
swimming membrane, extended to the entire foot, and
including the hind toe as well as the three front ones.
All birds which have the feet of this structure, have
them turned obliquely inward, so that they have
an awkward appearance when on the ground, and the
birds have an ungainly and wriggling walk. They
are remarkably well adapted however for rising from
the surface of the water, which is an action that these
birds often have to perform, as the whole of them
subsist chiefly by fishing, and by dashing down from
the sky on their prey, and not pursuing it in the
water, as is the case with the diving birds.

The following are the characters of the genus : the
bill straight, slightly compressed, pointed, and a very
little arched at the point ; the edges are lined with
small teeth, which are inclined backwards like barbs.
The nostrils are nearly closed, and capable of being
entirely so ; the throat is naked, and is covered with
black skin, which also extends round the eyes, has
much the appearance of Indian-rubber, and like that
substance is very extensible ; the claw of the middle
toe is toothed like a comb ; the wings are long,
though perhaps not so much so in proportion as they
are in some of the entire-footed birds, which range
the wide and fertile expanse of the tropical seas.
They are timid birds, and peaceable and inoffensive in
their manners ; and they are at the same time heed-
less of the approach of danger. On this account they
have had such names as " fools," and " boobies,"
bestowed upon them ; but all such epithets given to

animals are absurd ; man is the only member of the
animal kingdom that is, or that can be, a fool.

There is only one species known in the British
seas ; and that is the only one of which the characters
are ascertained with any thing like accuracy, and to
which the name " Gannet" applies. To it, therefore,
our present notice must be chiefly confined.

The common Gannet (Sula Bassanus), which is also
called the Solan goose, (which is only an incorrect
pronunciation of" Sula goose," the name of the bird
on the coast of Norway and in the Faroe islands,) is
remarkable for the vast numbers in which it assembles
on some parts of the British shores during the breed-
ing: season. The lofty rock of the Bass in the Frith
of Forth, Ailsa Crag in the Frith of Clyde, and
man}' of the detached rocks and lofty headlands along
the northern and western parts of Scotland are so
thronged with these birds in the season, that they
appear as if covered with snow.

The full grown gannet weighs about seven pounds ;
it measures about three feet in length, and six feet in
the extent of the wings ; the bill is nearly straight,
except towards the point, where it declines a little,
and is about six inches in length ; the edges of the
mandibles are a little jagged irregularly and sharp ;
the colour dirty yellowish white ; near the base of
the upper mandible is a sharp process and suture,
which enables the bird to move it a little in the act of
swallowing large fish ; there are two longitudinal
grooves along the sides, running the whole length,
but no nostrils ; the irides are pale yellow ; the skin
is bare round the eyes and of a bluish colour ; the
chin is of a dusky colour, destitute of feathers, capable
of great distension, and forming a kind of pouch ;
except the crown of the head which is buff colour, the
whole plumage is white ; the tail feathers are strong
and pointed, and twelve in number ; the bill is of a
bluish grey colour, when alive ; the legs are of a
dusky colour, singularly marked, with the front bluish
yellow, which divides at the feet, forming a line of the
same colour ; along the ridge of the two front toes,
the united membrane is unusually strong, and almost
as transparent as glass.

The northern regions of the two continents are the
chief haunts of this species. Individuals are observed
in hard winters, on the coasts of England, France,
and Holland, but they breed abundantly on the Bass
island, in the Frith of Edinburgh, on Ailsa, oft' the
coast of Ayrshire, the Sketting isles, on the coast of
Kerry in Ireland, the islands of St. Kilda, Shetland,
Orkney, Faroe, &c. In the summer season the rocks
of St. Kilda are quite covered with these and other
sea-birds, and appear at some distance like hills co-
vered with snow. In the Orcadian and Shetlandian
seas, although common, the gannets of that range
chiefly breed on the stack " Sula's Skerry." In those
districts which we have just mentioned, the gannet
arrives in March, and remains till September ; nor is
it known in this hemisphere to breed much further
south than the coasts of Scotland. Some few of them
remain about their breeding stations all the winter,
but they are supposed to be the old ones, which are
unequal to the distant flight undertaken by the others.
They do not depart or arrive all at the same time.
A few of the forerunners are first seen about the
Bass ; and a short time afterwards the main body
follows in several successive divisions. As this bird
must, previously to taking wing, let itself fall, it re-
quires a steep and precipitous breeding place. From
QQ2

612

G A N N E T.

a considerable height it observes its prey, and darts
upon it with amazing velocity and force : its nest is a
rude and large assemblage of all sorts of materials, as it
lays hold of any thing fit for the purpose, whether on
the land or floating on the waters, as grass, sea-weeds,
shavings of timber, shreds of cloth, and frequently ar-
ticles picked up at a very considerable distance, or
else from the nests of its neighbours. The female
lays two eggs, but occasionally only one, which are
white, of a rough surface, a long shape, and remarkably
small for the size of the bird, being scarcely larger
than those of a duck. The male and female incubate,
and by turns go out fishing. It is reported currently,
though erroneously, that they not only hatch their soli-
tary egg by means of their foot, but that they place it
on one end in such a manner, that if a person over-
turn it, he cannot make it stand as before. Dr. Har-
vey, the celebrated naturalist, who visited the Bass,
and has described it in very elegant latinity, strangely
enough asserts the latter circumstance. Under their
bill, in the dilatable skin, these birds can fetch four or
five herrings at a time, besides sprats, which the
young extract from the mouth of the parents, with
their bill, as with pincers. The young are begun to
be taken in August, and are relished by some as a
delicate morsel, but the older ones are tough and
rancid. The fowler who seizes the young, is often let
down by a rope, from the top of a cliff, and is some-
times stationed on the slippery projection of a rock,
with a perpendicular precipice of more than 400 feet
beneath him. About New Holland and New Zea-
land, gannets are said to be met with in great abun-
dance. On the coast of Newfoundland they also
breed, and migrate southward along the American
shores, as far as South Carolina. They unite in
small flocks of from five to fifteen in number, when
they pass from one place to another ; and except in
very fine weather, they fly low near the shore,
doubling the capes and projecting parts, and keeping
nearly at an equal distance from the land. They rise
high into the air during their fishing, and sail aloft
over the shoals of herrings and pilchards, much in the
same manner as kites. When they observe the shoal
thickly crowded together, they close their wings to
their side, and precipitate themselves head foremost
into the water, dropping almost like a stone. In this
act they never fail to rise with a fish in their mouth,
their eye being so correct.

The following account given by the late colonel
Montagu, of the habits and structure of the gannet,
is interesting as among the most circumstantial that
has been published, more especially as the veracity of
the narrator is above all question : " A gannet," says
colonel Montagu, " was brought to us alive on the
twentieth of March, in the year 1807 ; it took no kind
of food for seven days ; it was then crammed with both
fish and flesh, and soon after began to devour all
white fish greedily, but did not choose to pick up
even a plaice when the back was uppermost. It was
remarked, that when the bill was held so as to close
the mandibles for a considerable time, respiration be-
came laborious, there being no nostrils. When the
bird was placed on the water of a pond, nothing could
induce him to attempt to dive ; and from the manner
of his putting the bill, and sometimes the whole head
under water, as if searching for fish, it appears that
their prey is frequently taken in that manner. It is
probable more fish are caught in their congregated
migrations, when the shoals are near the surface, than

by their descent upon wing ; for the herrings, pil-
chards, mackerel, and other gregarious fishes, cannot
at that time avoid their enemy, who is floating in the
midst of profusion. In the act of respiration, there
appears to be always some air propelled between the
skin and the body of this bird, as a visible expansion
and contraction is observed about the breast ; and this
singular conformation makes the bird so buoyant, that
itfloats high on the water, and does not sink beneath the
surface, as observed in the cormorant and shag. The
legs are not placed so far behind as in such of the
feathered tribe as procure their subsistence by immer-
sion ; the gannet, consequently, has the centre of
gravity placed more forward ; and when standing, the
body is nearly horizontal like a goose, and not erect
like a cormorant.

" Having, by the dissection of a specimen of ihe
gannet for preservation, noticed the slight and partial
adhesion of the skin to the flesh of the whole under
parts of the body, we availed ourselves of the oppor-
tunity of paying more attention to the structure of
this bird, and, by experiments, endeavoured to dis-
cover to what extent, and upon what principle, the
inflation of the body was performed. The appear-
ance of so singular a conformation, brought to recol-
lection what Buffon relates of the pelican ; who re-
marks, that from the lungs the air passes through
auxiliary pipes into a thick vesicular cellular mem-
brane, that covers the muscles and envelopes the
body. The structure, however, of the gannet, al-
though probably intended for similar purposes, is very
different from that of the pelican, according to the
relation of that naturalist. The bill of the gannet
differs from that of most birds, for it is not only des-
titute of nostrils, but on each side of the upper man-
dible, towards the base, is a dentation that divides
the margin, and thus admits of considerable motion.
It has been customary to describe the gannet as
possessing a large pouch, like the pelican, under the
chin, capable of containing five or six herrings ; but
this is erroneous. The gullet (oesophagus} is extremely
capacious, and the skin, from the chin downwards,
extending along the neck, is equally capable of dila-
tion, so that five or six fishes, equal in size to that of
a herring, might be contained in the gullet and sto-
mach ; for there appears to be very little difference
between them ; or, in other words, the stomach is a
continuation of the gullet (oesophagus], with little or no
stricture or division.

" It is well known that many birds regurgitate
with much ease and facility ; and that instinct points
out to them the necessity of preparing the food in-
tended for the nourishment of the young in the re-
ceptacle, usually termed the craw : in this manner the
gannet, having none, can readily disgorge the con-
tents of its stomach to satisfy its young. By com-
parative anatomy it has been clearly demonstrated
that birds in general are provided with air vessels in
different parts of the body, and that many of their
bones are not destitute of this contrivance, admirably
fitted for increasing their levity, and consequent
buoyancy, as well as progressive motion through that
element in which they are intended principally to
move ; and that, too, with a velocity that far surpasses
all other parts of animated nature. Mr. John Hun-
ter (in the Transactions of the Royal Society) proves
that the air-cells, in the parts already mentioned,
have a free communication with the lungs, by means
of openings on their surface, through which the air

G A N N E T.

613

passes readily into them : and it clearly appears there
is no diaphragm that confines the air to the regions
or cavity of the breast, but that the whole of the ab-
domen is equally inflated by inspiration through the
lungs. Thus far have the scientific researches of that
anatomist contributed to our knowledge on this sub-
ject. No one appears to have noticed the pheno-
mena attendant on the construction of the gannet, or
to what further extent this circulation of aerial fluid is
carried in some particular species of birds ; a circum-
stance which demands our highest admiration, when
we contemplate the advantages of such a structure,
in conducing to the comforts, and perhaps to the very
existence, of these kinds of animals.

" Several gannets having been subjected to artificial
inflation, we shall state the result, and relate the man-
ner in which the experiments were pursued. A pipe
was first introduced into the wind pipe (trachea), and
when air was propelled through it, the whole internal
cavity of the body was inflated, but no air passed
into the external cells between the skin and the body.
An incision was then made into the lower part o£ the
abdomen into the body, very near the vent, into which
the air was forced through a pipe ; the pipe in the
windpipe (trachea) having been previously stopped,
and a similar inflation ensued, without affecting the
exterior cells. The pipe was now removed from the
windpipe (trachea), and upon the air being propelled
with force through the pipe near the vent, it readily
found its way through the larynx, producing a noise
similar to the sound emitted by the living bird. A
small opening was then made in the skin, on the left
side, about midway between the wing and the thigh,
and a pipe introduced, having stopped first those
directly communicating with the internal parts. It
was now obvious that when air was forced through
this orifice, the skin on that side, as far as the middle
line of the body, was greatly inflated, extending into
the lower part of the neck, along the larger joints of
the wing, down the thigh, and also into the cavity of
the body ; but the right side was not in the least af-
fected. The pipe at the trachea being now removed,
the air produced a similar effect upon the larynx, as
before mentioned, but not so loud. Still suspecting
that there was a communication between the sides,
by means of some valvular apparatus, the right side
was subjected to the same experiment ; the result,
however, negatived our expectation, the effect pro-
duced being similar in every respect.

" From a repetition of these experiments upon
several subjects, it became evident that there was a
communication between the lungs and the cellular
membrane that covers the greater part of the body, as
well as with the whole cavity of the body, but that,
on account of some valvular contrivance, the skin
could not be artificially inflated through the lungs,
although air would readily pass in a contrary direc-
tion. It is also clear that there is no direct com-
munication between the sides. In order to examine
this extraordinary structure, we made a longitudinal
incision the whole length of the body, a little on one
side of the keel, or what is commonly termed the
breast bone ; by this means the membrane that con-
nects the skin to the body, and cuts off the commu-
nication between the sides, was easily examined ;
but nothing was observed indicating that a communi-
cation could be effected, even at the will of the bird.
On each side, nearly equidistant between this pec-
toral membrane and the back, is situated another

ongitudinal one, very similar to the last, but per-
forated ; between this and the pectoral are about
nine irregular transverse membranous septa, that
bold the skin firmly to the body, having a free com-
munication with each other. The skin is also fur-
nished with a transparent cellular membrane, the cells
being regularly perforated close to the base of each
feather. At the upper part of the breast is a large
bag, which extends some way up the neck ; this is
attached to the skin by the septa of innumerable
small cells, but no opening into this cellular bag
could be discovered ; the introduction, however
of a small pipe through an artificial aperture, clearly
demonstrated a passage to the lungs, as the whole
internal cavity of the body was inflated, and the air
issued from the trachea. Upon opening this bag, the
passage of communication with the internal parts ap-
peared to be under the shoulder-blades (clavicles), as
a thin perforated membrane was perceived at the bot-
tom, leading to the thorax, not directly into the
lungs, but near the part where the trachea divaricates,
and afterwards communicating with the lungs. It
could not, however, be discovered where the air
could find a passage from the great magazine into
the cellular bag, and yet there is every reason to
conclude that at this part some valvular passage must
exist.

" Pursuing our researches, we observed at the bot-
tom of each lobe of the lungs a considerable opening
for the passage of air into the cavity of the body.
But what arrested our particular attention was a
wonderful provision of nature for the protection of
the vital parts, by guarding the viscera with a strong
integument that preserves them in a proper degree of
moisture, and contributes to the due secretions for
lubricating those parts, so essential to the functions
of their delicate nature, which might otherwise be
too quickly carried off, by the constant circulation
of fresh air that nearly surrounds them ; for this in-
tegument is held only by ligaments to the back and
front, leaving all other parts free for inspired air. The
liver and intestines are firmly attached to the sur-
rounding- integument ; the heart is enveloped by a
similar covering, which is only partially connected to
the common one. In the trachea nothing very re-
markable occurs, except two small glands, about the
size of a pea, at the lower extremity. The tongue
is so extremely diminutive, as scarcely to be entitled
to that denomination. The clavicles, or what is
commonly called the merry-thoughts, which are
usually affixed to the point of the keel of the breast-
bone by a ligament, is in the gannet so firmly united
as to appear a part of it. From what has been al-
ready observed, it will not be unreasonable to con-
clude, that the gannet is endowed with such singu-
lar properties, for very different purposes than those
of long and continual immersion, of which we have
before stated it appears to be incapable. But such a
power of inflation must contribute greatly to lessen
the concussion in its rapid descent upon water, in
order to seize its prey. Besides, as the enlargement
of the surface, without materially adding to the spe-
cific gravity, must greatly contribute to its buoyancy,
both in air and water, it is well adapted for residing
in the midst of the most tempestuous sea, floating on
its surface in perfect security, and following those
shoals of fishes on which depends its whole existence.
Thus, when all other birds are compelled to seek
shelter in bays and creeks, the gannet is enabled to

614

G A N N E T.

brave the severest weather in all seasons, without
attempting to near the shore.

" This contrivance may also be of the most im-
portant service to an animal which is constantly
exposed, even in the most inclement seasons, and
cannot quit its station without starving. Nothing
could possibly conduce more to its security against
intense cold, or be better adapted to preserve the
necessary temperature of animal heat, than the inter-
mediate air dispersed between the skin and the body,
since that element is found to be a non-conductor of
caloric. Upon this principle, what animal can be
more securely protected against cold, or retain its
vital heat so effectually, as the gannet, or such birds
as are almost surrounded with a body of confined air,
divided by cells, and intersected by membranes
between the skin and body, and that skin so amply
covered with a light porous substance, filled also with
air, and impervious to water ? The gannet is capable
of containing about three full inspirations of the human
lungs, divided into nearly three equal portions, the
cellular parts under the skin on each side holding
nearly as much as the cavity of the body. Now, as
a full or extraordinary inspiration of the human lungs
has been considered to occupy a space of about sixty
cubic inches, so the gannet is capable of containing
not less than one hundred and eighty cubic inches
of air at one time, subject to the will of the bird,
under certain impressions."

The following account of this very singular organi-
sation of the gannet, which, though possessed in com-
mon with the cormorants and some others, is yet so
much more remarkable in the gannet as to be deserv-
ing of particular attention, is from the observation of
Messrs. Owen and Yarrell, read to the Committee of
Science of the Zoological Society in 1831. " In the
examination," say these able comparative anatomists,
" our attention was chiefly directed to the air-cells,
which, in this bird as in the pelican, have a most ex-
tensive distribution. We commenced by gentle but
continued inflation through the trachea, a pipe having
been introduced into the upper larynx: in a short
time the integuments of the whole of the lateral and
inferior parts of the body rose, and the air-cells
seemed completely filled, especially that which is
situated in front of the os furdforme. Being thus
satisfied that they all had a free communication with
the chest, we next proceeded to see at what points
these communications took place, and in what degree
the air-cells communicated with each other. For
that purpose the air-cells on the left side of the body
were laid open, and shortly after those of the oppo-
site side collapsed, indicating the existence of aper-
tures of communication, although the septum which
ran along the middle line of the body appeared at
first sight imperforate. There was a free communi-
cation between the lateral air-cella of the same side
of the body from the os furdforme to the side of the
pelvis i but the air-cells in front of the os furdforme
remained still tensely inflated. The lateral air-cells
had a free communication with the cavity of the chest
at the axilla, at which part the air had entered these
cells during the inflation. The pectoral muscles and
those of the thigh presented a singular appearance,
being, as it were, clearly dissected, having the air-
cells extended above and below them ; the axilliary
ressels and nerves also passing bare and unsupported
by any surrounding substance through these cavities.
We traced the air-cells down the side of the humerus,

ulna, and metacarpal bone, into all of which the air
entered, and even into the bone corresponding to the
first phalanx, which agrees with what Mr. Hunter has
described in the pelican. As none of these proceed-
ings had any effect on the air-cells in front of the os
furdforme, which still continued distended, it was evi-
dent that inflation by the humerus could not have
filled it, except through the medium of the lungs
themselves. We next proceeded to detach the inte-
gument from this air-cell, to see its shape and extent ;
this required to be done with great care, as it ad-
hered pretty closely to the skin and roots of the
feathers : it was of a globular form, about four inches
in diameter, and communicated with the thorax at
its anterior aperture below the trachea. Numerous
strips of muscular fibres passed from various parts of
the surface of the body, and were firmly attached to
the skin ; a beautiful fan-shaped muscle was also
spread over the external surface of the air-cells ante-
rior to the os furdforme. The use of these muscles
appeared to be to produce instantaneous expansion
of the air from these external cells, and by thus in-
creasing the specific gravity of the bird, to enable it
to descend with the rapidity necessary to the capture
of a living prey while swimming near the surface of
the water. With respect to the general anatomy of
this bird, it may be observed that we found the two
glands at the termination of the trachea, which are
noticed by Montagu, and which exist in addition to
the ordinary pair lying above the bronchia;. The
stomach corresponded exactly with the figure given
by Sir Everard Home (Comp. Anat.. p. xlvi.), the
pyloric orifice being provided with the bilobed valve,
which is there represented, though not described in
the text ; it evidently opposes a too ready egress of
the contents of the stomach."

We have given these observations in the words of
the observant authors, and we shall not point out
the small discrepances which might perhaps be found,
upon Examining what those first quoted have said,
with an eye of severe criticism. The fact is, that
there is no'part of the animal structure of the real
use of which we know less, than of that power which
some animals have of inflating their bodies in whole
or in particular parts. The air under the skin of
the thorax in the gannet must render the whole
body of the animal more buoyant, and as little can
there be any doubt that it. can take off the concussion
which the bird would otherwise experience when it
plunges down from a height upon its prey ; and that
it has some pretty severe labour to perform, is almost
a necessary inference, from the strength of the skin
and its internal membrane, and the number of points
at which it is tied to the muscles, the keel of the
sternum, and other parts. But it is rather too much
to assume that this apparatus has any thing to do with
the preservation of temperature in the bird. There
is no such provision in the whole animal kingdom.
If dry cold is to be guarded against, that is, cold in
which water does not reach the skin, then fur and
down are the provisions ; and if moist cold, the pro-
tection usually consists of a layer of fat under the
skin, the latter theory of its action is what is most
likely ; and when we consider what injury the human
body may receive by plunging into water from a height
of not more than twenty or thirty feet, we can at least
guess at what the gannet encounters, when it not
merely falls, but shoots down with an impetus from
more than ten times the height. The gannet always

GARCINIA— GAULTHERIA.

615

meets the water with the breast in its plunges, be-
cause the head penetrates with little resistance ; and
the elapsed time between seeing the prey and seizing
it must be the least possible. Altogether the gan-
net is far more a bird of the mere surface of the water
than any other of the entire-footed birds which plunge
down upon aquatic prey. Altogether it is one of the
most interesting of our shore birds, both in its own
appearance and habits, and in the character of those
places where its countless myriads take up their
abodes. No one should visit the wilder parts of our
shores without some previous knowledge of the gan-
net. The gannet is eaten, but it is both tough and
rank. In some places it is eaten in order to whet the
appetite, in which case it is salted and smoked.

The Common Booby (Sula cmnmunis) is not so in-
teresting a bird as the gannet. It is larger than a
common duck, but less than a goose. Its body is
greyish-white, with black tips to the quills, and the
tail brownish ; but it is very subject to varieties of
colour. It ranges over the whole Atlantic, from the
confines of the polar ice to the equator. It is a very
fearless bird, and so familiar, that if it is fatigued by
being long on the wing, it will alight on the hand,
and allow itself to be taken. It is, however, pretty
safe from the effects of human cupidity ; for its flesh
has so rank a taste, that men must be reduced to the
greatest extremity before they can prevail upon them-
selves to eat it.

GARCINIA (Linnaeus). A genus of beautiful
fruit trees, natives of Malaya and the neighbouring
isles. It belongs to Dodccandria monogynia, and to
the natural order, Gnltiferts. Generic character :
calyx of four sepals, persisting ; petals four, round-
ish, concave ; stamens seated below the germen,
nearly united at the base ; anthers oval ; style none ;
stigma from four to eight, lobed ; berry four, six, or
eight celled ; each containing one seed.

The G. Mangostana, or mangostcen, as it is fre-
quently called, is one of the choicest fruits, being the
most delicious, and, at the same time, the most
wholesome. It is about the size, and has much
the appearance of a large pomegranate, consisting
within of a soft, transparent, juicy pulp, in which
the flavour of the grape and strawberry are com-
bined. The plant is in our stoves, where it grows
freely in light loam and moor earth, and kept in a
strong heat. Ripened cuttings strike roots in sand
under a glass, in moist heat.

GARDEN BALSAM, is the Balsambia horten-
si;; of Rivinus, formerly the Impatiens balsamuia o!
Linnaeus. This is a well-known ornamental plant
They are raised annually from seed sown in a hotbec
in March, and afterwards placed and nursed in pots
till they flower.

GARDENIA (Linnaeus). A genus of beautifu
evergreen shrubs, natives of China and other places
in the cast. Class and order Pentandria monogynia
and natural order Rubiacecs. Generic character
calyx, in five divisions ; corolla, salver-shaped
tube cylindrical, segments of the limb oblique
anthers, sitting ; stigma, two-lobed ; berry two
celled ; seeds in several series. This genus is
much valued by collectors ; their beautiful white
flowers and rich scent, particularly the double
and single G. Florida, are among the choicest o
Chinese plants, and much care is bestowed in bring,
ing them into flower. They are propagated by cut-

GARLIC, is the Allium sativum of Linnaeus, a
^ell-known culinary plant. See ALLIUM.

GASTERIA (Haworth). A genus of succulent
>lants, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. The
lowers are hexandrious, and the genus is arranged
n the natural order, Hemerocallidece. Generic cha-
racter ; corolla tubular, nectariferous at bottom,
imb regularly six cleft, or somewhat gaping ;
stamens inserted into the receptacle ; anthers ob-
'ong and incumbent ; style simple ; stigma three-
obed ; capsule three-celled, three-valved, with a
central placenta ; seeds three-sided, or compressed
and winged. These plants were formerly associated
with the aloes, but have been separated by Duval
and Haworth, They are grown in sandy earth and
ime rubbish, and require but little water, as their
eaves are very thick and fleshy.
_ GASTEROPHILUS (Leach). A genus of para-
sitic dipterous insects inhabiting the stomach of the
borse, belong to the family CEstridees ; the grubs or
larvae of which are ordinarily termed Bots. See the
article Box.

GASTEROPODA. Lamarck's fourth order of
molluscs, including all the animals, having straight
bodies, never spirally formed, or entirely concealed
in a testaceous covering. They possess a muscular
disc under the belly, attached to the body, nearly its
whole length, which acts as a foot in progressive
motion, and gives rise to the name of the order.

GASTEROPTERA (Meckeli). A naked mol-
lusc, whose body appears divided into two parts, the
posterior globular, merely, as it were, connected by
peduncles to the anterior, which is very small, en-
larged on either side into a large muscular expan-
sion, transversely oval, slightly grooved backward and
forward, which renders it as if bilobated, and, acting
as a foot, serves for the purpose of swimming ; the
lateral bronchia are altogether exposed. It is found
in the seas of Sicily, and is probably the species
described by Rafinesque, under the name of Sarco-
ptcnis — meaning fleshy wings. Gasteroptera means
wings on the belly. Those naked molluscs, occu-
pying formerly a separate existence in the system of
natural history, almost totally unconnected with shell-
bearing molluscs, presented, no interest beyond the
wonderful and beautiful organisation they exhibited ;
by the present combination of them in the general
arrangement of Malacology, they serve as illustra-
tive links, which prove, beyond all manner of doubt,
the propriety of adopting a system based upon the
immutable wisdom of Nature's architect. The French
naturalists have placed this genus in the fourth family,
Akera. Third order, Monopleurobranchiata, Second
class, Pamrcphalophora.

G AS TRO D H yE N A. A genus of Molluscs, esta-
blished by Spengler ; the shell is equivalve, some-
what wedge-shaped ; the anterior opening oval,
oblique, and very large ; the posterior one nearly
closed ; the hinge is linear, without teeth, and mar-
ginal. This mollusc penetrates hard substances in
the manner of the pholas. It seldom exceeds half
an inch in length, and inhabits the British coasts.

GAULTHERIA (Linnaeus). A genus of small
evergreen shrubs, natives of North America, Nepal,
and New Zealand. The flowers are decandrious,
and belong to Ericete. The G.procumbens is a very
common plant in American borders, requiring a
moor-earth soil, where it propagates itself abun-
dantly.

616

GECARCINUS — GECKOID.E.

GECARCINUS (Leach). A genus of land
crabs, belonging to the Decapod Crustacea, and sec-
tion Quadrilateres of Latreille, having the body some-
what square, the third and fourth pair of legs longer
than the second and fifth, and the antennae concealed
by the front of the carapace or shell ; the second and
third joints of the outer foot-jaws are large, flattened,
and curved. The typical species is the Cancer ruri-
cola, Linnsus, a native of the West Indies, and gene-
rally known under the name of the violet crab, or
Tourlourous of the French. They reside in the
mountainous districts, but as soon as the rainy season
sets in, in May and June, they make their way to the
sea, in order to deposit their spawn in the water, in
such vast numbers that the roads are covered by
them. They resemble a vast army marching in bat-
tle-array, keeping steadily onwards in a direct line,
without allowing any obstacle to impede their steps,
scaling even the walls of houses which happen to be
in their route, and travelling chiefly by night. When
arrived at length at the sea-shore, they are much en-
feebled, and dash into the water with great eagerness,
which they repeat several times ; they then retire
to some neighbouring wood or other covert, and, in a
short time afterwards, the females again return to the
water, and commit their eggs to the waves, which are
alive with fishes waiting for this annual treat, and by
which a very great deal of the spawn is devoured.
The crabs then return to their old quarters by the
same route, but this, in their still enfeebled state, is a
difficult task. When arrived there, however, they
have to undergo another annual labour, namely, that
of moulting, and which takes place in their subter-
ranean burrows, the mouths of which, it is said, they
close. See further the articles CRAB and BRA-

CHYURA.

GECKOID^E, GECKOS (Ascalabota). The fourth
family into which Cuvier divides the saurian or tailed
reptiles. They are, strictly speaking, the nocturnal
lizards, and they may all be included in one genus,
though the species, which are very numerous, differ
from each other in so many particulars that they ad-
mit of arrangement into several sub-genera. Their
relations to the other families of the order and orders
of the class will be found detailed in the article
REPTILE, in its place in the alphabet.

Their form is not so light, nor their motions so
volatile, as those of the true lizards. They are flat-
tened, especially in the head, which gives them a
heavy appearance, and their motions are dull and
crawling. Their feet are of mean length, or rather
short, and their toes are of nearly equal length, and
often peculiarly formed. As is the case with all noc-
turnal animals that seek their prey chiefly on the
surface of the earth, their eyes are very large, and
the pupils close on vertical lines as in the cat. Their
eyelids are small and drawn in between the eyeballs
and the orbits, which gives them a very singular ap-
pearance- Their tongue is fleshy, and not extensile
beyond the mouth. Their jaws are furnished each
with one row of teeth, very small in size and closely
set ; and they have no teeth on the palate. Their
skins are covered with small granulated scales,
like shagreen, but these are interspersed with
larger tubercles, and the scales on the under part
are generally of a larger size and imbricated. Some
of the species have pores upon the thighs, and
others have not ; the tail has circular plaits or folds,
a» in the genus Anolis; but when it is once broken

off, the new tail which grows in its place is destitute
of folds, and also without tubercles in those species
which have the original tail tuberculated.

Reptiles of this genus inhabit the warmer regions
of both continents, and the species are very numerous.
The appearance of these animals is peculiarly loath-
some ; they noi. only inhabit places which are dark
and obscure, but those which are rank and offensive ;
and as they bear no inconsiderable resemblance to
toads and salamanders, they have had the stigma set
upon them of being venomous. That it poisons by
stinging or biting, or any other species of offensive
apparatus, or instrument of attack, is not true, and
cannot be true, of any species of gecko ; for none of
them possesses a sting of any description, and the
teeth in all are so very minute that they are incapa-
ble of penetrating the skin of any animal of moderate
size. That some of them discharge a poisonous
liquor is, however, well understood, but this liquor is
discharged from pores in the feet ; it is of so very
virulent a nature as to inflame or even blister the
skin when they run across it ; and it is particularly
dangerous to those who have eaten any provisions over
which these animals have passed. The poison of the
geckos appears, therefore, to be very similar to the
poison of some species of toads ; being in both an
exudation from the skin, and not appearing to be,
generally speaking, a means of capturing their prey,
or of attacking any other animal, as is the^case in
animals which have stings or poison fangs. This
circumstance, together with the toad-like aspect and
clumsy gait of these creatures, is in all probability
the reason why they are looked upon with so much
aversion by most people ; and this is, no doubt, also
further increased by the foul places in which they
reside, and their nocturnal habits.

Offensive as they are, however, they are not en-
tirely useless, even in the domestic economy of those
places where they are most abundant. These are,
as we have said, the warmer regions both of the east-
ern continent and of America ; and if the greatest
domestic cleanliness is not observed in such places,
the habitations of the people are very much pestered
with spiders, and also with a variety of insects, both
winged and crawling. Such of the winged ones as
are diurnal in their habits are, in a state of repose, in
holes and crannies during the night ; and it is at this
time that the nocturnal ones crawl abroad. These
minute creatures constitute the principal food of the
geckos, which ^eek- after them with so much assiduity
that in many places where the habits of the people
are slovenly, they are encouraged for the purpose of
keeping the houses as clear of the others as possible,
though, according to our notions of domestic cleanli-
ness, the cure would be considered as even worse
than the disease.

The toes of the geckos are generally bordered with
membranes for the whole or the greater part of their
length. The under sides of them are generally
covered with regular rows of small scales, the edges
of which take a very firm hold of the substances over
which the animal passes. The toes, with the exception
of the thumb or inner toe, which is very small in some
of the species, are also, as has been said, of nearly
equal length ; and they spread as it were from a
centre, something in the same manner as the rays of
a fan, from which structure they become double
grasping feet, or what may perhaps be termed " crab
feet," which can hold on upon very slight inequalities,

GECKO ID .E.

not only on the upper sides of bodies, but also on the
perpendicular and even the under sides. By means
of this peculiar structure of the feet, and not by
suckers as has sometimes been supposed, they can
contrive to make their slow march a very sure one
on all sorts of surfaces where they are likely to find
their food. They can crawl up the walls of houses,
and also along the roofs and ceilings with their backs
undermost, though it is possible that in the latter
case they are assisted by the peculiar structure of
their claws ; and yet the mechanism of those claws
\vould lead one to suppose that they are used for
other purposes. They are hooked and very sharp at
the points, and also retractile, something after the
manner of the claws of cats, so that in the ordinary
march of the animals they do not touch the ground.
This renders it probable that their points are pre-
served in order that they may assist in some way in
capturing their prey ; and it is at least possible that
the acrid liquor with which the feet are provided
may assist in this operation ; but this point, like the
habits of the animals altogether, is not a little
obscure.

The peculiar structure of the feet in the geckos
renders it very doubtful whether any animal, at least
any vertebrated animal, makes use of suckers upon
the feet as a means of progressive motion. The me-
chanics of nature, though in every respect superior to
the mechanics of human art, never violate any well
established law of mechanical action. It is not indeed
to be expected, or indeed to be believed, that they
could in any way do this ; for our laws of mechanics,
as established from experiments on dead matter, are
not only of the same class but perfectly identical with
the same laws as they obtain in the living world. That
this must be the case may be seen by a moment's
consideration. The living animal, or if the expression
be preferred, the principle of life in an animal, has to
contend with exactly the same kind of difficulties,
and overcome exactly the same kind of resistances as
we have in our mechanical operations. The proper-
ties of matter, considered as such, are the same in
both cases ; and there is much less difference between
an animal balancing or suspending its whole body or
any particular part or organ of it and one balancing
or suspending any piece of matter, than would at first
be supposed. The doctrine of the centre of gravity,
and the combination of pressures and resistances, are
the same in the one case as in the other; and the
only difference consists in the superior .construction
of the animal's apparatus, and a greater certainty with
which that apparatus can be applied.

This is a very beautiful, and far from an uninstruc-
tive part of the science of natural history ; and if the
describers of the actions of animals had always been
well informed in those mechanical principles, which
have been established by experiment or by mathema-
tical demonstration, before they had proceeded to
their professional Utbours as naturalists, the books on
this most interesting subject, in its most interesting
branch, would not have been so replete with error
and absurdity, and assumption in violation of all me-
chanical principle, as we too frequently find them.

We are distinctly to understand then, that the
labour which an animal has to perform by means of
the structure of its body, is precisely the same in
kind with that which we have to perform, in balanc-
ing, supporting, and moving from place to place,
those pieces of matter which we do so act upon,

either as parts of our machinery, or for other pur-
poses. But between us and our machine considered
on the one hand, and the life and organisation
of the animal considered on the other hand, there is
a very remarkable difference. Our materials and our
art are separate from each other; and we have to
learn the means of using from the nature of the thing
used and the use intended. We never can be sure
how far even our best information may fall short of
what there is to be known respecting any one
material, and therefore our very best art is a second
rate species of bungling, as compared with that
displayed by the most apparently simple and humble
animal. The reason is, that in the animal the living
principle elaborates its own organ, or at all events
the two originate and corne to maturity in so close
union with each other, that we cannot separate them
even in imagination. If we see even a detached part
which we believe to have once belonged to an
animal, as a bone, a shell, or any thing else, even
though that bone or shell remains only in form and
the substance has become a species of stone, or a
petrifaction as we call it, we can no more refer that
remain to any other than an animal organ, than we
can say that a block of granite or a bar of iron is a
product of life, or remain of some strange animal of
antediluvian years.

Carrying this principle with us, and viewing the
peculiar structure of feet and the ordinary rate of
motion in the geckos, we can hardly fail in feeling
some doubt as to the accuracy of the common motion
of animals, and those, generally speaking, much
swifter footed animals securing their footsteps by
means of suckers. This is tolerably well made out
by the analogy. The placing of the sucker so as
that it would lay hold, and the removal of it again
after the hold is taken, requires some time, as we may
perceive in leeches and animals which usually perform
their march by means of suckers, when they are out
of the water and incapable of swimming. The sucker
is never in them a point of momentary rest, from
which they are thrown by an impetus of recoil, in the
same manner as a walking animal is thrown into
progressive motion by the recoil of its feet touching1
the ground. The posterior sucker serves as a point
of resistance, from which the whole body of the
animal is pushed forward by being elongated, and
this takes some time, so again the anterior sucker is
an instrument of prehension, by means of which the
animal holds on until it draws up the length of the
body to a very small fraction of what it previously
had : and when the greatest contraction is made,
and the posterior sucker again fastened, the anterior
part of the body is again advanced, and the motion is
continued by those curious steps as long as the
necessity of the animal may require, or its ability
admit. Nor do we know any fully established
instance in which suckers are used as even fulcra of
motion, except by annulose animals which have the
power of alternately lengthening and shortening their
whole bodies in order to produce motion, instead of
having separate organs for that purpose, as is the
case in all vertebrated animals, however different those
organs may be iu form, or however rudimental in
some cases.

If any saurian reptile, or other vertebrated animal,
were to have suckers as instruments of motion, the
geckos are unquestionably the animals with whose
habits, according to all that we know on the subject,

618

GECKOID^E.

they would best agree ; and we may add that, of the
whole race they appear to be the ones in which such
organs, if they could be usefully applied in walking,
would be most essential. The 'inarch of these
creatures is very slow ; it is taken over many kinds
of surfaces, and surfaces placed at all imaginable
angles to the horizon ; and as the sucker in the
common descriptions of it is understood to act by
atmospherical pressure, which is of course equal in
all directions, it would of course be equally service-
able to the geckos, when back uppermost on the
floor, back undermost on the ceiling, or ascending or
descending the wall. If the sucker were the best
apparatus for this purpose we may rest assured that
the gecko would have it ; but it has no such pro-
vision ; and the rows of scales upon the under sur-
faces of its toes, and their marginal membranes, are
quite incompatible with a perfect expulsion of the air
from under the foot. It is possible, however, that
those margins, whether they extend wholly or partially
along the toes, may act as lateral branches of the toes,
and press downward by muscular action, so as to
enable the under surface of the foot to embrace more
of the asperities of the surface along which the animal
walks ; and the scaly irregularities upon the under
side of these feet are so very numerous that it would
not be easy to say at how many points of a surface
one foot at the same instant lays hold.

The subject of climbing, and walking, or running
with the back undermost in animals which have not
the power of grasping, is a very interesting one in
the natural history of animals ; but in this respect
there is a wonderful resemblance between common
naturalists, or describers of animals, and common
portrait painters. They succeed tolerably well in mak-
ing out a. face — a surface and the remarkable features
which distinguish one individual from another to com-
mon observation — but if there is a hand or a foot in
the case they make sad work of that ; and just as the
face-painter's hand could not work if formed as he
represents it, and the foot could not walk, even so
the generality of animals could not budge an inch by
means of such organs of locomotion as the naturalists
in question are pleased to assign to them. It were
therefore to be desired that much more minute
attention should be paid to the actual structures of
animals, and especially to the feet, in which the dis-
play of mechanical principle, and perfect adaptation
of that principle, are not only more beautiful in
themselves, but come nearer to our practical useful-
ness in mechanical arts than any other parts of the
animal fabric. The internal operations of animals —
circulation, respiration, digestion, secretion, sensation,
and the others, though very wonderful in themselves,
and well worthy of being studied, both as portions of
general knowledge, and as means of enabling us to
economise animal life, and deal kindly with it, have
yet little or no application to our common arts,
because we have no operation to perform, external of
our own bodies, which is of the same kind with these ;
and our own internal operations are carried on, not
only without our care, but often in spite of our
ignorant and ill-directed attempts, which if they were
not as futile as they are faulty, would do harm and
not good.

The external actions of the animals, — those which
we may regard as the uses of the structure of any
particular animal in nature, are not only much more
in accordance with what we are called upon to do,

but they are really our models ; and many things
might be mentioned which men have derived no
little celebrity for contriving or inventing, which
might have been discovered at once, and in far
greater perfection, in the structure of the very best
known animal. When we express it in words, it
sounds somewhat oddly ; but it is nevertheless true
that if the most skilful mechanician is set on horse-
back, there is really much more instruction in
mechanics to be got from the horse than the man,
if the student but knew the way of finding it out.

The feet of mammalia bear in many respects so
much general resemblance to our own organs of
motion, and prehension, that at least we believe we
have some notion of them. The feet of birds are
also tolerably open to our scrutiny ; and though our
oars and other contrivances for propelling bodies
through water, are very imperfect as compared with
the swimming apparatus of fishes, yet there is some
resemblance. There is curious point in this resem-
blance, or rather, perhaps, it is a want of resemblance
which is worth notice. We propel all our oared craft
by a sort of lateral fins, and steer by the rudder as a
sort of tail fin ; while the fishes are propelled chiefly
by the tail, and, in part at least, guided in their
motions by their lateral fins. But to return : the
feet of reptiles, and even those curious substitutes
which we find in the scales and flexures of the body
of those which have no feet, far more nearly resemble
those machines which we use in supplement to our~
hands, than the feet of the higher orders or verte-
brated animals. Hence they are far more deserving
of our study with a view to the perfection of art ;
and when we notice how small and simple an appara-
tus in these animals suffices for the accomplishment
of a great number of purposes, we cannot fail to
perceive how much even our best machines must be
loaded with unnecessary lumber in which mere com-
plication of parts is often mistaken for that perfection
of which it is the very opposite.

In this way animals which are so apparently
humble in their sphere of life, and so repulsive to our
common feelings as the majority of the gecko family
are, may still be made the instruments of useful
instruction, if we would but study their forms, and
observe how those forms are applied in their modes
of life. It is true that geckos are what we call filthy
creatures : they crawl in the mud, and search for larva)
and other things, on which they feed in the most
loathsome places, so that they often visit the abodes
of man, or at least traverse his apartments in no very
cleanly plight. They also poison provisions with the
tread of their feet, as has been already mentioned ;
but for all this they are the workmanship of the same
Author as the most elegant race upon earth ; the pur-
poses which they answer are part of the grand scheme
of nature's working ; and our wisdom lies, not in
avoiding them as odious, but in studying them as one
page, though a singular one, of the book of instruc-
tion. The greater part of the race have the toes
flattened, and with enlarged margins throughout their
entire length, and supplied on the under sides with
regular scales and folds ; but the number of toes
varies ; and on this as well as on other grounds they
are conveniently divided into five sub-genera, of
which we shall give a mere enumeration, without the
details of the species, the greater number of which
are merely museum ones, and as such perfectly
useless in the study of living nature. These five sub-

G E C K 0 I D &.

genera 'are named by Cuvier, Platydactyli, Hemi-
dactyli, Thccadactyli, Ptyodactyli, and Spherioduclyli ;
and the lasts admits of some farther sub-division
besides that into species.

PLATYDACTTLI, flat toes, have the toes enlarged
at the sides for the whole of their length ; and fur-
nished on their under surfaces with transverse scales.
Some of them have not claws on all the toes, and
have the thumbs or inner toes small as compared with
the rest. Those which have this structure of the feet
are the handsomest of the family ; they are beset with
tubercles, and ornamented with bright colours. All
the known species are natives of the isle of France :
some are without pores in the groin ; one species is
violet on the upper part, and white on the under, with
two colours parted by a black line along the flanks ;
others again are grey with eye-spots all over, brown
at the edges, but with white centres ; and others have
the pores very conspicuous.

A. Facetanun, the wall gecko, is the species with
which we are best acquainted. Its general habitat
is the basin of the Mediterranean, on all the shores
of which sea it is found, though more abundantly in
some places than in others. It is the stel/io of the
ancients, though different from the reptiles to which
modern naturalists give that name, it is known by
dili'erent names in different countries ; but we be-
lieve the most common one has some resemblance in
meaning to the English name " toad-lizard." It is
found in Egypt, in the states of Barbary, on the east
coast of Spain, but not on the west of Spain or Por-
tugal ia the same latitudes. It is also found in France,
in Italy, in Greece, and throughout the Levant, and
is understood to be the kind of reptile which Solomon
describes as taking up its abode in the palaces of
kings, which does not prove much with regard to the
cleanliness of royal dwellings at that period of the
world's history. It is an unpleasant animal to look
on ; its colour is deep dull grey ; its head very rough ;
all the upper part of its body studded over with
gnarly tubercles, each of them consisting of three or
four smaller ones, placed close together, and appa-
rently running into each other. Its habits are as un-
pleasant as its appearance ; it is a thing of the night,
lying concealed while it is light, but crawling out at
dusk something after the manner of a toad, searching
for flies and other creatures on which it feeds, with its
curious cat-like eyes, and probably using its crooked
claws to assist in their capture. Deserted houses,
neglected corners, mouldering ruins, and all places
which in consequence of man's neglect are rank with
impurities, and consequently abound in that insect
food which it seeks, are the favourite haunts of this
crcal urc. And it appears to have borrowed not a
few of die gloomy circumstances which are connected
with the times and places of its appearance ; for it
has been very generally set down as one of the most
pestilent of creatures, and one which it was a charity
even to nature to destroy by every possible means.
In this ctise it has fared much the same as the toad
has done, which, like the wall gecko, is no beauty,
though it is a very useful scavenger, tending not a
little to the destruction of creatures which would taint
the air, and thereby contributing more to man's com-
fort than some of the animals which he cherishes with
the fondest admiration.

It gets its name from the facility with which it can
ascend the walls of houses, and pass along the roofs
and ceilings ; and in some parts of the countries which

610

it inhabits, it is found very useful in clearing the
houses of mosquitoes and spiders. There appear to
be several varieties of this species, or at all events
several species closely allied to it in habits, though
they differ a little in some of their external characters.
Of these may be mentioned one found in Egypt and
Barbary, which has the tubercles entire and round,
and more prominent on the flanks than any other part
of the body. All these varieties are equally harmless
as to attack ; but they are all equally offensive in
their manners, and it is understood that they all distil
from the toes that acrid liquor, which has* been de-
scribed as poisoning provisions, though this property
is perhaps stronger in some of the others, and probably
this one has the liquor more acrid in the warmer than
in the colder places of its abode.

A. gecko, the gecko, is an Indian species, and is
the one upon which the name gecko is founded, which
is described as being as nearly the sound uttered by
the animals. This species has no thumb claws on
any of the feet ; it is covered with flattened and
rounded tubercles on the upper part of the body, the
colour of which is reddish marked with round spots of
white ; the lower part of the tail is covered with
square scales, which are imbricated or placed over
each other like tiles. It is represented as abounding
in all the oriental Archipelago, but is unknown in the
western part of the old continent, and in America.

A. viitala is another species inhabiting the same
countries ; its general colour is brown, with a white
stripe down the back, which parts into two branches
on the head, and also at the insertion of the tail ; and
the tail is surrounded with white rings.

A. homaloccphala, the margined gecko, is found on
the continent of India, and also in the eastern isles ;
its head and body are bordered with a white mem-
brane, its tail is furnished with lobes of the same, and
its feet are webbed. Other species of the same
country are mentioned as having the tail without any
lobes on the sides ; and there are also some of this sub-
genus which have claws on all the toes, and some of
them are entirely without tubercles.

HEMIDACTYLI. This name does not mean literally
that the animals are "half-toed," but simply that
the expansion in breadth extends only to half the
length. This expansion consists of an oval disc upon
each toe, furnished on the under part with two rows
of scales, in the form of a chevron, or having an angle
in the middle. From the middle of this disc, the
second joint of the toe rises, which is very slender,
and carries the claw, which however has an articula-
tion, thus forming a sort of third joint. All the
known species of this sub-genus are described ns
having claws on all the fore-toes, and a row of pores
near the vent ; and the scales on the under side of
their tails very much resemble those on the bellies of
serpents.

There is one European species of this sub-genus,
usually called the warty gecko, which is found in the
same countries with the wall gecko. It is of a red-
dish colour ; and the tubercles on the back are small
and conical, but with blunted points. There are va-
rious species and varieties very much resembling this
one in the warm parts of Asia, and some also in Ame-
rica, and the West India islands ; but their manners
are little known, and not very interesting.

THECADACTYLI, sheath-toed. These have their
toes broadened throughout their whole length, and
furnished w ith transverse scales ; but they are divided

620

G E C K 0 I D JE.

longitudinally by a deep furrow on the under side, the
anterior part of which can entirely conceal the claw,
which is the reason they are called sheath-toed. They
generally speaking want claws on the inner toes only;
and their tails have small scales both on the upper and
the under surfaces. As an instance of this division,
we may mention the smooth gecko ( A. perfoliatus),
which is found in the West Indian islands, and is
there sometimes called the Banana lizard, from its
being found lurking in these plants. Its colour is
grey mottled with brown ; its scales very small on the
upper part, and without any tubercles ; the tail is
long, and furnished with circular folds as in many of
the other species, but it is very little ; and when once
broken off the new one, which grows readily, is very
frequently quite different from the original one, and
has caused the animal to be described as being more
than one species.

PTYODACTYLI, fan-toed, have the points only of
the toes widened by marginal expansions, and these
have their under surfaces marked with striae, radiating
from a centre like a fan. The middle of each is
divided by a longitudinal furrow, in the end of which
the claws are placed. There are claws on all the
toes, very sharp and crooked. Some have the tail
round, and all the toes free, or without any connecting
membranes, and these are of course inhabitants of the
land only. Others have the tail with margins, and
the toes partly webbed, and they are probably, in
part at least, aquatic. Of the former, one of the best
known species is

A. lobatus, the house gecko. This species is
rather smooth in the covering, having the scales and
tubercles both very small. It is of a reddish grey
colour, with small spots of brown on the upper part.
It is a hideous, or, at all events, an ungainly animal
in appearance, and the sound which it utters is a
hoarse croaking like that of a frog. It is found
chiefly on the south-eastern coast of the Mediter-
ranean, and is peculiarly abundant in Syria and
Egypt, where it has been long known, and generally
disliked. It appears to shun the light of day and
the beams of the sun much more than the wall gecko,
and the exudation from its feet is far more pestilent than
that of that reptile. Indeed, it is not improbable that
the greater part of the poisoning quality which has
been attributed to the other really belongs to this, and
that they have been confounded with each other.
The passage of the house gecko over the skin,
though its feet produce no laceration, or any me-
chanical effect whatever, is attended with very severe
pain and inflammation, which extend to other parts
besides those over which the creature passes. So
much is it dreaded on this account in some countries,
that in Cairo it is branded with the name of Abu-burs,
" the father of the leprosy." That it can produce the
disease which is thus fathered upon it is not at all
likely, though it certainly does occasion much pain
and inconvenience. It is probable that this is the
one alluded to by Solomon, as taking up its abode in
the houses of kings, with the same confidence as the
coney (the jerboa) makes its holes in the rock. The
minor pests of cold countries like ours, which, where
the strictest attention is not paid to cleanliness, are apt
to visit us on our couches, and invade our slumbers
with a more vexatious species of annoyance than that
occasioned by more powerful enemies, are bad enough ;
and it has been said, that " the man who braves a
bomb will yet tremble at a bug." These, however,

are nothing to such a nightly visiter as the house
gecko. It is like Caliban's curse ; it blisters the
people all over, and it is as tenacious of its abode at
the present day as it was in the reign of king Solo-
mon. It is true that, in our common translation, the
spider is the creature mentioned as the sure tenant of
the royal palace ; but, as the spider does little harm
anywhere, though* sometimes accused of it, and
usually remains in the middle of her nets, leaving
the inhabitants of even the most dingy dwellings in
peace, it is more likely that this pestivorous spider-
eater was the creature alluded to. There is great
difficulty in expelling the house gecko, or even of
finding out where it is during the day, but its croaking
and its crawling arc equally offensive during the
night ; and when it does come into contact, there is
nothing but to submit, and let it run across, for any
attempt to seize it with the hand is attended with
very painful consequences, as, when alarmed, it sheds
its poison more copiously than when left alone.

Nor is the very offensive danger of this loathsome
reptile directed against the skin alone, for it prowls
about wherever the people deposit their food, and is
said to be especially fond of salt meat. It is not the
quantity that it eats which is the offensive part of the
matter, for its powers of mastication are but limited,
but it paddles over everything, leaving the taint of
its feet wherever it passes ; so that, unless the people
have made certain that no house gecko could pass
over any provisions that may have remained in the
house during the night, they have no security that
those provisions shall not be poisoned ; and thus,
whether the fact is so or not, the uncertainty of this
species of feeling is equally bad ; because they who
live in constant apprehension of any disease, be it
what it may, always run a risk of some malady or
other arising from their own apprehensions. After
all, it is very probable that the ungainly appearance
of this animal is the cause of no inconsiderable part
of the bad name which it has gotten, because the
reports of the mischief arising from it have been
chiefly gleaned among a people who are equally
remarkable for their ignorance and their superstition.
A. fimbriatus, the fringed gecko. This is a
specimen of the other section of this sub-genus. It
has a produced margin not only to the sides of the
tail, but also along the flanks. It is an inhabitant of
the island of Madagascar, and is reported to live in
trees, making use of the fringed borders of its body,
and the partial webs of its feet, as parachutes in leap-
ing from branch to branch. There are several others
which bear a considerable resemblance to this section
in some particulars, but differ in others. One of
these is the whip-tailed gecko, which inhabits some
parts of the Andes, and is understood to be at least
partially aquatic. It is of a black colour, and about
a foot in length.

SPHERIODACTYLI. This sub-genus consists of
a small species, which have the points of the toes
formed into little palettes or discs, and the claws
always retractile, but without the four-shaped plates
which characterise the preceding sub-genus. In some
instances the palate seems double, by being cleft in
the anterior part. They are principally found in the
East Indies and southern Africa.

Others, which are chiefly American species, have
the palettes round and undivided. Among them we
may mention the spitting banded gecko, which is a
small species, prettily marked with transverse bands

GEISSOMERIA— GEOLOGY.

621

of brown, divided from each other by deep red. It
is found in several of the West India islands, as are
also some other species or varieties about the same
size, but differently coloured.

There are several other saurian reptiles which
agree with the geckos in most of their characters, but
differ from them in not having the toes enlarged, in
having claws upon all the toes, and those claws not
retractile. Of these we may just mention

Stcnodactyli, which have the tail round, the toes
striated below, and toothed on the sides. The prin-
cipal species having these characters is found in
Egypt. Its covering is smooth, of a grey colour,
spotted with white.

Gymnodactyli, as the name imports, have the toes
naked and slender, but the name is usually restricted
to such as have the tail round, which are American
species. The others, which have so peculiar a cha-
racter of the tail, that they ought, strictly speaking,
perhaps to form a separate genus, are

Phyllurus, leaf-tail. These are inhabitants of New
South Wales. Their toes are not enlarged like those
of the geckos, but the tail is flattened in the form of
a leaf. This organ is so exceedingly brittle, that it
is rare to find a specimen having it entire. One
species (P. Cuvierii), which is found in marshy places
in the neighbourhood of Port Jackson, and lives
there upon aquatic insects and larva;, is covered over
with pointed tubercles. Its head is elongated, its
jaws pointed, its colour on the upper part marbled
with brown, and its tail in the form of a fibrous and
partially twisted leaf. Another species (P. J\filii'), is
smaller than the former, but longer in the legs, blunt
in the head, and of a brick-dust colour on the upper
part, so that it is not easily distinguished from the
ground which it inhabits. The enlarged portion of
the tail is near the extremity, and it has a very
strange appearance, as if it were an appendage not
natural, or apparently of any use to the animal, but
added to render its appearance more singular.

GEISSOMERIA(R. Brown). An elegant flower-
ing shrub, introduced from Brazil, belonging to Di-
dynamia angiospermia, and to the natural order Acan-
thacecE. Generic character : calyx bracteate in five
unequal parts, the back segment largest ; corolla
funnel-shaped, limb of two lips, the upper one tvvo-
lobed, the lower three-lobed ; anthers linear and two-
celled ; stigma thickish ; seed vessel two-celled and
four-sided. These plants require a rather rich soil,
in which they produce the scarlet flowers in abund-
ance in the stove. They are propagated by cut-
tings.

GENIPA (Tournefort). A genus of South Ame-
rican fruit trees, belonging to the fifth class and first
order of the Linmean system, and to the natural order
Rubiacece. Generic character : calyx truncate entire ;
corolla salver-shaped ; anthers rather protruding ;
stigma clubbed ; berry four-celled ; seeds immersed
in pulp. This genus is nearly allied to gardenia, and
is treated in the same way. In their native country
they yield eatable fruit, but it is not much esteemed.

GENISTA (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of
evergreen, and deciduous, some of them creeping
shrubs, and chiefly European. The flowers are mo-
nadelphou?, and belong to the natural order, Legn-
mino&a. The greater number of them were known
by the common English name broom, so useful to the
tidy housewife, to the dyer, and to the brewer, before
hoos were substituted. See SEEDS.

GENTIAN A (Linnaeus). A very numerous genus
of herbaceous plants, valued for their dwarf-habit and
beautiful flowers. They are pentandrious, and give
a title to one of the natural orders, viz., Gentianece.
They succeed pretty well in any light, rich soil, or
moor earth ; some of them require to be kept in pots
during winter, that they may have the protection of
a frame.

GENTIANECE. A natural order, containing
twenty-two genera, of which there are a great many
species. The gentians, which are the type of the
order, are mostly dwarf herbaceous plants, with deep
blue, and different shades of orange flowers. They
are all pretty, and some of them extremely
beautiful, though the most of them are difficult of
cultivation. The Chironias, Erythrceas, Spigelias, and
Menyanthus, are all interesting families, and highly
regarded by all lovers of plants. Some of the gen-
tians are medicinal, containing an extremely bitter
principle, of which the Villarsias, Chirayitas, and
Waltens, partake, but in a weaker degree. The root
Spigelia Marylandica is infused in wine as a febrifuge,
and in water as a vermifuge.

Collectively considered, the Gentianece are hypo-
corollous Primulacca;, with opposite, simple, regular
flowers; stamens alternate, with the lobes, and the
germen superior, and formed of two carpels. The
leaves are opposite, rarely compound, sessile, or
petiolate, and destitute of stipules. The outward
symptoms sometimes observed to follow the ad-
ministration of what has been supposed to be
gentian, have proved to be owing to the Veratrum
album, which grows in the same districts, having been
collected for it in mistake. The base of the famous
Portland powder is said to be gentian.

GEODORUM (Jacquin). An elegant flowering
genus belonging to the Orchidece. Generic charac-
ter ; sepals spreading, the lower one longest and
broadest ; labellum hollow and swollen, not jointed
at the base ; column freely jointed, apex obtuse ;
masses of pollen in two lobes ; glands united.
These curious plants are grown in pots of sandy loam
and moor earth, and do better in a frame in summer
than in the hot-house. They were called Limodorum
by Roxburgh and other botanists.

GEOLOGY, the science which treats of the struc-
ture of our globe ; its compound title being derived
from two Greek words, implying a Discourse on the
Earth. Some modern writers have employed the
term " geognosy" as descriptive of this science ; but
it will be obvious that the knowledge o£ the earth
which is here implied, can hardly be satisfactorily
conceded to observers who have scarcely penetrated
its crust. We prefer, therefore, the less assuming
title placed at the head of this article for presenting
our account of the labours of those persons who have
distinguished themselves in this branch of science,
referring our readers to the articles ALLUVIAL, DI-
LUVIAL, STRATA, &c., for a view of the separate
details, which would otherwise swell this article to
an inordinate length.

It is natural that man should feel a deep interest
in the history of the globe on which he is placed,
and, indeed, we find that theories for illustrating the
structure of the earth, and explaining the changes it
has undergone during the lapse of ages, are as old,
if not older, than any that are to be found for illus-
trating any other branch of natural history. But the
geologist of the olden time, unfortunately, commenced

622

GEOLOGY.

his labours by forming a theory, which he afterwards
endeavoured to support by twisting nature to agree
with his own preconceived views of the organisation
of the earth — thus beginning where he should have
ended. Now, however, a better directed philosophy
teaches us first to investigate the laws of nature and
attend to her phenomena ; and then, and not till
then, seek to combine the facts which actually pre-
sent themselves into one intelligible whole. So that
•we first interrogate nature by the light of science,
and then from the answers that are obtained, we
conclude what must have been the probable chain
of events which led to the complete formation of the
vast system of wonders that we now behold.

Foreign travel, and an intimate acquaintance with
every part of the globe, is commonly considered ne-
cessary for the progress of the geological student ;
such, however, is not the fact, as our own island will
furnish all that is necessary for illustrating the funda-
mental parts of this science. Within a few days'
journey of the metropolis may be seen vast temples
reared by the hand of nature, and admirably fitted
for illustrating some of her geological mysteries,
which far excel all the dreams of Arabian fiction.
One of these extraordinary natural structures has
already been described in the article BASALT, where
our readers will also find a description of the gigantic
causeway, which is supposed at one period to have
united Britain to the sister kingdom. But the geo-
logical wonders which may be thus traced rising from
the bed of the ocean, are equalled, if not surpassed,
by the submerged forests that are still traced with
their earth-bound vestments in the very heart of our
island, and where successive kingdoms of ocean and
dry land have been depositing their varied produce
of inhabitants for countless ages. Traces of animals
and vegetables that are now the exclusive property
of another hemisphere, are frequently laid bare in
every part of Great Britain ; and many that have left
no other records of their existence, save those that
the labours of the geologist have brought to light.
We may take the formation of coal as an example of
the extraordinary changes that have gone on in the
immediate neighbourhood of the earth's surface. The
black, glossy, and compact mass which we call coal,
is now pretty generally admitted to be of vegetable
origin. It is altogether unlike wood in its general
character, and yet, from the abundance of vegetable
bodies with which it is associated in some districts,
and the gradual transition that is occasionally found
between bodies perfectly analogous in their character,
there can be but little doubt of the fact. One school
of geologists supposing it to be formed by the power
of heat, acting on vegetable bodies under great pres-
sure : and another supposing it to be produced by
the mere effects of time and chemical change. But
we must now examine somewhat in detail the various
hypotheses that have been offered by the most emi-
nent writers for explaining and illustrating the struc-
ture of the earth.

The first theory of geology which deserves to be
noticed is that of the Rev. Dr. Thomas Burnet.
This celebrated author was a man of considerable
genius, and his work, entitled Tellurius Theoria Sacra,
though it cannot command the assent of the philoso-
phic mind, will be found to display much learning
and a very romantic imagination. According to
Dr. Burnet, the earth was first a fluid heterogeneous
mass. The heaviest parts descended and formed a

solid body. The waters took their station round this
body, and all lighter fluids rose above the water.
Thus, between the coat of the air and that of the
water, a coat of oily matter was interposed. But as
the air was then full of impurities, and contained
great quantities of earthy particles, these gradually
subsided and rested upon the stratum of oil, and
composed a crust of earth mixed with oleaginous
matter. This crust was the first habitable part of the
world, and was level and uniform, without mountains,
seas, or other inequalities. In this state it remained
about sixteen centuries, when the heat of the sun,
gradually drying the crust, produced at first super-
ficial fissures or cracks ; but, in process of time, these
fissures became deeper, and increased so much that
at last they entirely penetrated the crust. Immedi-
ately the whole split in pieces, and fell into the abyss
of waters which it had formerly enveloped. This
wonderful event, according to Dr. Burnet, was the
universal deluge. These masses of indurated earthy
matter, in falling into the abyss, carried along with
them vast quantities of air, by the force of which
they dashed against each other, accumulated, and
divided in so irregular a manner, that great cavities,
filled with air, were left between them. The waters
gradually opened passages into these cavities, and in
proportion as the cavities were filled with water,
parts of the crust began to discover themselves in
the most elevated places. At last the waters ap-
peared nowhere but in those extensive valleys which
contained the ocean. Thus, according to this theory,
our ocean is a part of the ancient abyss, and the rest
of it remains in the internal cavities, with which the
sea has still a communication. Islands and rocks
are the small fragments, and continents the large
masses, of the antediluvian crust ; and as the rupture
and fall of the mass was sudden and confused, the
present surface of the earth is full of corresponding
confusion and irregularity.

The following passage from Burnet's work has
been highly eulogised by Steele, and certainly it
merits praise ; it is a funeral oration over the globe :
" Let us now," says he, " reflect on the transient
glory of the earth ; how, by the force of one element
breaking loose on the rest, all the beauties of nature,
each work of art, and every labour of man, aro re-
duced to nothing ; all that once seemed admirable is
now obliterated ; all that was great and magnificent
has vanished ; and another form and face of things,
plain, simple, and uniform, overspreads the earth.
Where are now the empires of the world ? where the
imperial cities, the pillars, trophies, and monuments
of glory ? what remains, what impressions or distinc-
tions do you now behold ? what is become of Rome,
the great city ; of eternal Rome, the empress of the
world, whose foundations were so deep, whose palaces
were so sumptuous ? her hour is come ; she is wiped
from the face of the earth, and buried in everlasting
oblivion. But not the cities only, and the works of
men's hands, but the hills and mountains and rocks
of the earth are melted as wax before the sun, and
their place is nowhere found ; all have vanished and
dropped away, like the snow that rested on their
summits."

The " elegant romance " of Burnet was succeeded
by the work of his countryman, Mr. Woodward, who
in 1695 published " Essays towards a Natural History
of the Earth, and Terrestrial Bodies." Though he
possessed a much better acquaintance with minerals

GEOLOGY.

623

than his predecessor, and on this account had greatly
the advantage of him, he produced a work far less
ingenious and interesting. He also proceeded on the
supposition of theMosaic history being literally true.and
ascribed the present aspect of our globe to the sole
influence of the general deluge. He supposed that all
the substances of which the earth is composed were
once in a state of solution ; that this solution took
place at the flood; that on the gradual retiring of the
waters, the various substances held in solution, or
suspended in them, subsided in distinct strata, accord-
ing to their specific gravities ; and that these are
arranged horizontally, one over the other, like the
coats of an onion. As this theory was soon found to
contradict some of the plainest and most unquestion-
able facts which the geologists observed, it has had
few admirers, and its refutation has been usually con-
sidered as obvious and easy.

In 1696, Mr. William Whistoii, a man of uncom-
mon acuteness, and of still greater learning, published
a " New Theory of the Earth," from its origin to the
consummation of all things. He supposed the earth, i
in the beginning, to be an uninhabitable comet, sub-
ject to such extremes of heat and cold as that its i
matter, being sometimes liquefied and sometimes |
frozen, was in the form of a chaos, or an abyss sur- |
rounded with utter darkness. This chaos was the
atmosphere of the comet, composed of heterogeneous
materials, having its centre occupied by a globular,
hot, solid nucleus, of about '2000 leagues diameter.
Such was the condition of the earth before the period
described by Moses as the " Creation." On the first
day of the creation every material of this rude mass
began to be arranged according to its specific gravity.
— The heavy fluids sank down, and left to the earthy,
watery, and aerial substances the superior regions.
Round the solid nucleus is placed the heavy fluid,
which descended first, and formed the great abyss,
upon which the earth floats as a cork upon the fluid
metal mercury. The great abyss is formed of two
concentric circles, the interior being the heavy fluid,
and the superior water; upon which last the cirth or
solid crust we inhabit is immediately formed. So
that, according to this theorist, the globe is composed
of a number of coats or shells, one within the other,
of different materials, and of different densities. The
air, the lightest substance of all, surrounds the outer
coat, and the rays of the sun, making their way
through the atmosphere, produced the light which
Moses tells us first obeyed the divine command.
The hills and valleys are formed by the mass of
which they consist, pressing with greater or less
weight upon the inner coat of the earth ; those parts
which are heaviest sinking lowest into the subjacent
fluid, and making valleys, and those which are the
lightest rising higher, and forming mountains.

Such Mr. Whiston supposed to be the state of our
globe before the deluge. Owing to the superior heat,
at that time, of the central parts, which have been
ever since cooling, the earth was more fruitful and
populous anterior to that event than since. The
iter vigour of the genial principle was more favour-
aide to animal and vegetable life. But, as all the
advantages of plenty and longevity which this circum-
stance produced were productive only of moral evil,
it pleased God to testify his displeasure against, sin,
by bringing a flood upon a guilty world. The flood
was produced, this theorist supposed, in the following
manner : — A comet, descending in the plane of the

ecliptic to its perihelion, made a near approach to the
earth. The approximation of so large a body raised
a strong tide, and produced such a commotion in the
abyss concealed under the external crust, that the
latter was broken, and the waters, which had been
before pent up, broke forth with great violence and
were the principal means of producing the deluge.
In aid of this, he had recourse to another supposition,
which was, that the comet, while it passed so near the
earth as to produce these effects by the force of
attraction, also involved our globe in its atmosphere
for a considerable time, and deposited vast quantities
of vapour on its surface, which produced violent and
long-continued rains : and, finally, that this vast body
of water was removed by a mighty wind, which dried
up a large portion, and forced the rest into the abyss
from which it had been drawn, leaving only enough
to form the ocean and rivers which we now behold.

In the early part of the eighteenth century the
celebrated John Hutchinson formed a theory of the
earth, which he professed to derive exclusively from
Scripture. He supposed that when the earth was
first created, the terrestrial solid matter was entirely
dissolved in the aqueous, forming a tenacious chaotic
mass ; that the figure of this mass was spherical, and
on the outside of this sphere lay a body of impure
air"; that within the enclosed sphere of earth or water
was an immense cavity, called by Moses the deep ;
that this internal cavity was filled with mephitic air,
similar to that on the outside ; that on the creation
of light the internal air received elasticity sufficient
to force its way through the external covering ; that
immediately on this the water descended, filled up
the void, and left the earth in a form similar to that
which it bears at present ; that when it pleased God
to destroy mankind by a flood, he caused, by his own
miraculous agency, such a pressure of the atmosphere
on the surface of the earth, that a large portion of it
was forced into the internal cavity which it had for-
merly occupied, and expelled the waters from it with
great violence, spreading them over the surface.

Mr. Hutchinson supposed that after the divine
purposes were answered by the deluge, the globe, by
a process similar to that which first took place, was
restored to the form which it now bears.

In 1740, the abbe Moro, an Italian philosopher,
published a theory of the earth, which he chiefly
derived from the works of Ray, which appeared in
the preceding century. He supposed that the surface
of the earth, as we now behold it, and especially the
mountainous parts, arose originally from the bottom
of the ocean. At first, according to him, these
mountains contained neither strata of shells, nor any
'organised fossils ; but by mean of subterranean con-
flagrations, earthquakes, and volcanoes, these sub-
stances were thrown up in confused heaps, after
which they successively subsided according to their
different specific gravities, and thereby necessarily
disposed themselves in different strata. He also
maintained that these submarine eruptions, while
they threw up huge and irregular masses of matter,
also ingulfed marine plants and animals of every
kind, which subsided in like manner, and thus formed
new mountains, and new beds of stones, sand,
metals, and other minerals, intermingled with the
remains of vegetable and animal bodies, all which
remained under the sea till some new agitation threw
them above its surface. He supposed that the waters
by which the earth was originally overflowed, sub-

624

GEOLOGY.

Bided by degrees, the dry land appearing first in
places adjacent to that where the first man was placed
at the creation ; that the land extended itself
gradually, a considerable time elapsing before the
waters had returned to their proper bed, during which
time the shell-fish, multiplying in great abundance,
were universally distributed by the waters of the sea ;
and that when the bottom of the sea was raised up
by the earthquakes that accompanied the deluge, and
formed the mountains, whole beds of such shells were
thrown up and distributed as we now behold them.

About the year 1744, M. le Cat, a French philo-
sopher, proposed a theory of the earth, differing from
all which had preceded it. According to him, in the
beginning, the substance whence metals, stones,
earths, and other mineral bodies were ultimately to
be formed, was a soft mass, consisting of a species of
mud. The earth was a globe, or regular spheroid, and
its surface was smooth, and free from hills and valleys.
The sun and moon were afterwards created. The fluid
which covered the mud became agitated by the flux
and reflux to which it was subjected by attraction,
and the mud was variously and violently moved.
This agitation increasing, a part of the mud became
exposed and dried. Continents were thus formed.
The materials of the earth being compact and solid,
the sea continually excavated its bed ; and from the
continual retreat of it, and the excavation of the
earth, he considered this globe as doomed to be at
last so perfectly undermined as to produce a con-
fluence of the sea from hemisphere to hemisphere.
Le Cat professed to believe the Sacred Scriptures,
and discovered an anxious desire to show that his
theory was consistent with them ; but it must be obvi-
ous that it is as inconsistent with the structure and phe-
nomena of our globe as it is with the Mosaic history.

About the year 1750, appeared the Tellianned'of
M. Maillet, a French writer of some note. He
taught, that the earth was once covered water, which,
by means of strong currents, raised in its bosom all
those mountains which different countries bear upon
their surface ; that this water has been ever since
continually diminishing, and will continue to diminish
until it shall be quite absorbed ; that our globe, being
then set on fire, will become a sun, and have various
planets moving in its vortex, till its igneous particles
being consumed, it will be extinguished ; that then it
will roll through the immensity of space, without any
regular motion, till it is again covered with watery
particles, collected from other planets, when it will
fix in the vortex of a new sun, and again go through
the same course of motions and changes, being sup-
plied with fresh inhabitants, resembling those by
which it is tenanted at present ; that the earth has
probably been undergoing revolutions of this kind
from all eternity, and will continue to go through a
succession of them without end. This absurd theory,
if theory it may be termed — not more hostile to re-
velation than to sound philosophy, seems to have
gained but few adherents, and but little celebrity.
But no one has preceded to the forming of a theory
of the earth with the pomp and circumstance of
Buffon. It merits attention, not on account of its
accordance with present appearances, or as affording
plausible solutions of observed phenomena, but from
the eloquence with which it is adorned, the extent of
information it displays, and the popularity it derived
from these sources. He supposes the planets in
general to have been struck off" from the sun by a

comet ; that they consisted of fluid matter, and
thence assumed a spherical form ; and that by the
union of projectile and centripetal forces, they are
restrained in their present orbits. After this he sup-
poses that the earth gradually cooled, so that the
circumambient vapours were condensed upon its
surface, while sulphureous, saline, and other matters
penetrated its cracks and fissures, and formed veins
of metallic and mineral products. The scorified, or
pumice-like surface of the earth, acted on by water,
produced clay, mud, and loose soils, and the atmo-
sphere was constituted of subtile effluvia, floating
above all the more ponderous materials. Then the
sun, and winds, and tides, and the earth's motion, and
other causes, became effective in producing new
changes. The waters were much elevated in the
equatorial regions, and mud, and gravel, and frag-
ments were transported thither from the poles ;
hence, says Buffon, the highest mountains lie between
the tropics, the lowest towards the poles ; and hence
the infinity of islands which stud the tropical seas.
The globe's surface, once even and regular, became now
rough and irregular ; excavations were formed in one
part, and land was elevated in another ; aiul during
a period of many ages, the fragments of the original
materials, the shells of various fish, and different other
exuviae, were ground up by the ocean, and produced
calcareous strata, and other low-land depositions.
These relics of marine animals we find at such heights
above the level of the sea, as to render it more than
probable that the ocean once entirely overwhelmed
the earth.

Every one who contemplates the earth's surface
must trace upon it marks of the most dire and
unsparing revolutions, which, from the present order
of things, it appears impossible should re-occur,
except by the united and continuous agency of the
most active powers of destruction. This, says Buf-
fon, arose from the soft state of the former crust of
the earth, and those causes, now imbecile and slow
in their operation, were then more effectually exerted,
and results were obtained in a few years for which
centuries would now be insufficient. This amusing
theorist next proceeds to contemplate the production
of rivers, which he regards as having cut their own
way to the ocean, as gradually wearing down the
mountainous lands, filling up valleys, and choking
their exits into the ocean by the transportation of
finely-divided materials. Thus everything is slowly
returning to its former state ; the mountains will be
levelled, the valleys heightened, excavations filled up,
and the ocean will again cover the earth.

Buffon's theory was warmly opposed, soon after its
publication, by Raspe, a geologist of Germany. He
also opposed the theory of Moro, before mentioned,
though he considered it as approaching much nearer
the truth than the igneous fable of the French
naturalist. He insisted, that the opinion of continents
and mountains having been thrown up from the bot-
tom of the sea solely by submarine conflagrations and
volcanoes, was abundantly refuted by close observa-
tion. He contended, likewise, that in veins of sand,
marble, chalk, and slate, there are found no indica-
tions of a burning soil, but rather of a sedimemt
disposed by the agitation of the sea. Accordingly,
he maintained, that the strata, of which the shell or
surface of the earth is composed, were originally
formed at the bottom of the sea by the constant agi-
tation of the sea, and the continual production of

GEOLOGY.

plants and shells ; that the subterraneous explosion?,
and earthquakes, breaking through the bottom of the
sea, not only formed banks, hills, and submarine
mountains of its broken parts, but also frequently
raised up such large portions of the beds of the ocean,
with its incumbent strata, as to form islands or dry
mountains. At certain periods, he supposed, that the
presence of so large a body of water would cause it
to break through the cavities made by previous erup-
tions, and at others, the violence of the subterraneous
explosions would be so great as to remove mountains
from one place to another ; while the heat of the
internal fires causing these explosions would be so
intense as to melt, calcine, or vitrify, all adjacent
substances.

In 1773, Dr. William Worthington published a
theory, in which great learning and piety and a con-
siderable share of ingenuity are combined. He
maintained that the earth, in its primitive state, was
plane and uniform ; and that all mountains, and every
thing irregular and rugged on the surface of it, are
the result of the curse pronounced on the ground
after the Fall of Man ; that the melancholy lapse of
our first parents, was immediately followed by earth-
quakes and every species of convulsion, which pro-
duced these dreadful effects on the surface of our
earth ; that the antediluvian earth greatly abounded
with water, much more than at present, and that the
greatest quantity of it was collected round the poles ;
that at first the poles of the earth were perpendicular
to the plane of its orbit, and at right angles with the
plane of the equator ; that the centre of the earth
was then the centre of gravity ; that the deluge was
produced by the centre of gravity being removed
twenty-three degrees and a half nearer to one of the
poles, which led to a corresponding deviation of the
poles from their former position, and thus threw the
great body of water accumulated round them on
those places of the earth where little had existed
before, and by these means drowned them. This
event, he supposed, increased the irregularity of the
earth's surface, and produced many of those pheno-
mena, which so plainly establish the reality of a
general deluge.

In 1778, Mr. Whitehurst published "An Inquiry
into the Original State and Formation of the Earth."
This theorist supposed, that not only our globe, but
the whole of the planetary system, was once in a state
of fluidity, and that the earth acquired its oblate
spheroidal form by revolving round its axis in that
state. In this fluid state the component parts of the
earth were suspended in one general undivided mass,
"without form and void." These parts were endued
with a variety of principles or laws of elective
attraction, though equally and universally governed
by the same law of gravitation. They were hetero-
geneous : and by their attraction progressively
formed a habitable world. As the component parts
of the chaos successively separated, the sea univer-
sally prevailed over the earth ; and this would have
continued to be the case had it not been for the sun
and the moon, which were coeval with the earth,
and by their attractive influence interfered with the
regular subsiding of the solid matter which was going
on. As the separation of the fluids and solids in-
creased, the latter were moved from place to place,
without regularity, and hence the sea became un-
equally deep. These inequalities daily becominj
greater, in process of time dry land was formed, an
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

divided the sea ; islands gradually appeared, like
sand-banks above the water, and at length became
firm, dry, and fit for the reception of the animal and
vegetable kingdoms. He supposed that mountains
and continents were not primary productions of
nature, but of a very distant period from the creation ;
that they are the effects of subterraneous fires and
commotions, and were produced when the strata of
the earth had acquired their greatest degrees of
firmness and cohesion, and when the testaceous
matter had assumed a stony hardness ; and, finally,
that the marine shells found in various places, on and
below the surface of the earth, were for the most
part generated, lived and died, in the places in which
they were found ; that they were not brought from
distant regions, as some have supposed ; and, conse-
quently, that these beds of shells, &c., were originally
the bottom of the ocean.

John Whitehurst, whose geological views we have
thus briefly adverted to, was a native of Congleton,
in Cheshire. He passed much of his time in Derby-
shire, and investigated with considerable -ability the
stratification of that county. In the course of his
inquiries, he has assiduously collected facts, among
which his account of the mineral treasures of Derby-
shire still retains much value for its accuracy and
scientific truth.

Two or three years after the appearance of Mr.
Whitehurst's publication, M. de Luc, of Geneva,
dissatisfied with the theories which had previously
been proposed, offered another, which occupied con-
siderable attention in the scientific world. He sup-
posed that the ocean once covered our continents ;
that the bottom of the old ocean was full of moun-
tains, which neither the main waters nor any other
cause known to us formed, and which he therefore
calls primordial. These mountains rose above the
surface of the waters, and formed islands. These
islands and the ancient continents were fruitful and
well-peopled ; and the ancient sea had tides, currents,
and tempests like the present ocean. These powers
acting upon the soft matters which are known to have
formed the bottom of the ancient ocean, produced
accumulations of calcareous substances, which, in
process of time, became more or less mixed with
marine bodies. The rivers, in the meanwhile, carried
from the land into the sea the scattered remains of
animal and vegetable productions ; the sea itself
washed them from its coast into its bosom ; and these
materials, transported by currents, became a second-
ary soil upon its primordial bottom. Fires and
elastic fluids, formed by chemical decomposition,
made various openings in the bottom of the ocean,
whence proceeded torrents of liquid substances and
larva ; which gave rise to the volcanic mountains
observable on the surface of our continents. The
continents which existed in a state of population and
fertility, while the sea covered those which we now
inhabit, though they did not form a solid mass, but
were, properly speaking, vaults, which covered im-
mense caverns, maintained their elevation above the
level of the ocean by the strength of their pillars ;
which, being of primordial matter, were solid, and
stable : but the changes which the subterranean fire
produced at the bottom of the ancient sea, opened
passages for its waters into the interior of 'the earth ;
the violent excitement produced by this eruption
shook the pillars of the primitive earth ; which,
sinking into its caverns, the old continents disap-
RR

69,6

GEOLOGY.

peared, and their surface descending below the level
of the waters, a general inundation ensued. This
was the general deluge. The sea now covered all
the globe, except the islands of its ancient bottom,
which increased in number and magnitude, until the
weight of the water, added to that of the superior
vaults, crushed the inferior ones, and deepened more
and more the new bed of the ocean ; so that, at last,
by a motion rapid, but not violent, all the waters
retired from their former bed, and left our continents
dry. Secondary mountains and other irregularities
were afterwards produced by volcanic commotions,
and maritime currents and convulsions.

Next to the theory of M. de Luc, appeared that
of Mr. Milne, which, though it did not engage so
much attention, was framed with considerable inge-
nuity. This gentleman declared himself a warm
friend to revelation, and professed to have formed a
system in strict conformity with the sacred history.
In some respects he agreed with Mr. Whitehurst ;
in others, he adopted the opinions of M. de Luc ;
while, with regard to a third class of his doctrines,
he claimed to be original. He supposed that the
earth, immediately after the fall, and in consequence
of the curse pronounced against it, underwent a total
change by means of the elementary fire lodged at
that time near its centre, and that hence arose the
irregularities which now appear in the earth's surface.
There are other geological writers who have accumu-
lated many interesting facts, and whose insulated
observations are truly curious and valuable ; but their
general hypotheses are of so chimerical a cast, as
rather to resemble eastern allegories than European
philosophy ; and we are now to proceed to examine
the theories promulgated by Professor Werner of
Freyburgh, and Dr. Hutton of Edinburgh. Each of
these distinguished writers has been ably supported
by the proofs, illustrations, and comparative views, of
acute and eloquent controversialists. Thus two dis-
tinguishing sects have been formed under the appel-
lations of Wernenans and Huttonians.

The disputes and differences of these contending
geologists would now be prematurely noticed. They
each profess to proceed, as rigidly as the subject
allows, in the path of induction ; to reject mere hypo-
thesis, and raise their theories upon accumulated
facts ; and yet, by a strange perversion of facts, they
arrive at conclusions diametrically opposite.

The first principle of the Wernerian theory assumes
that our globe was once covered with" a sort of chaotic
compost, holding either in solution or suspension the
various rocks and strata which now present them-
selves as its exterior crust. From some unexplained
cause, this fluid began first to deposit those bodies
which it held in chemical solution, and thus a variety
of crystallised or primitive rocks were formed. In
these we find no organic remains, nor even any
rounded pebbles ; but in the strata which lie upon
the crystalline, or first deposits, shells and fragments
occasionally occur. These, therefore, have been
termed transition strata, and it is imagined that the
peopling of the ocean commenced about this period.
The waters upon the earth began more rapidly to
subside, and finely divided particles, chiefly resulting
from the disintegration of the first formations, were
its chief contents ; these were deposited upon the
transition rocks chiefly in horizontal layers. They
abound in organic remains, and are termed by the
Wernenans jftoetz, or secondary rocks.

It was now conceived that the exposure of the
primitive, transition, and secondary rocks, to the
action of wind and weather, and to the turbulent state
of the remaining ocean, produced inequalities of sur-
face, and that the waters retreated into lowlands and
valleys, where a farther deposition took place, consti-
tuting clay, gravel, and other alluvial formations.
There are also certain substances which, instead of
being found in regularly alternating layers over the
earth, are met with in very limited and occasional
patches. Rock salt, coal, basalt, and some other
bodies, are of this character, and these Wernef has
called subordinate formations. Lastly, subterraneous
fires have sometimes given birth to peculiar, and
and sometimes very limited products ; and these are
called volcanic rocks. Such is Werner's account of
the production of rocks, which he arranges under the
terms primitive, transition, secondary, alluvial, subor-
dinate, and volcanic formations.

A number of delicate distinctions and accurate
minutiae of description attend this theory, which we
cannot notice in this brief view, and which do not
affect the general conclusions. If we examine the
stratification of our globe, we shall doubtless find that
certain substances do occur in a certain order of
arrangement, and that they appear to have been suc-
cessively deposited, one upon the other, in the manner
Werner would have us believe. He, therefore, and
his disciples, have perhaps given a satisfactory account
of their own country ; but when we examine other
parts of the earth's surface, so many incongruities are
discovered, and so much is at variance with their
leading doctrines, that we are obliged to give them
up in favour of views more generally applicable.

Dr. Hutton gives a very different account of the
present order of things. Looking upon the face of
nature, he observes everything in a state of decay ;
and as she has obviously provided for the regenera-
tion of animal and vegetable tribes, so the philosophic
mind will descry, in this apparent destruction of the
earth's surface, the real source of its renovation.
The lofty mountains, exposed to the action of the
varying temperature of the atmosphere, and the
waters of the clouds, are, by slow degrees, suffering
constant diminution ; their fragments are dislodged ;
masses are rolled into the valley, or carried by the
rushing torrents into rivers, and thence transported
to the sea. The lower and softer rocks are under-
going similar, but more rapid, destruction. The
result of all this must be the accumulation of new
matter in the ocean, which will be deposited in
horizontal layers. Looking at the transition rocks of
Werner, he perceives that, though not strictly crystal-
line, they appear made up of finely-divided matter,
more or less indurated, and sometimes very hard in
texture, and of a vitreous fracture ; and that this
hardening is most perceptible when in contact with
the primitive or inferior rock, which often pervades
them in veins, or appears to have broken up or
luxated the superincumbent masses. According, then,
to Dr. Hutton, the transition and secondary rocks of
Werner were deposited at the bottom of the ocean, in
consequence of operations similar to those which are
now active, and the primary rocks were formed be-
neath them by the action of subterranean fires ; their
crystalline texture, their hardness, their shape, and
fracture, and the alterations they have produced upon
their neighbours, are the proofs of the correctness of
these views. It is by the action of subterraneous

GEOMETRIDJE — GEONOMA.

627

fire, then, that rocks have been elevated, that strata
have been hardened, and that those strata have
resulted, which an examination of the earth's surface
unfolds. The production of soils, and of alluvial
land, is considered as dependent upon causes the
same as those referred to in the other theory.

It will be observed that Hutton refers to fire as
well as water for the production of our present rocks ;
the former consolidating, hardening-, and elevating ;
the latter collecting and depositing the strata.

We have thus brought together a brief outline of
the principal systems, or rather hypotheses, that have
been employed to illustrate the history of our earth ;
but very considerable light has been thrown on the
changes which it has undergone by those geologists
who have peculiarly directed their attention to the
remains of a former world that are so richly embedded
in its surface. This part of the subject has, however,
been fully discussed in the article FOSSIL REMAINS,
to which we must refer our readers, as well as to the
various articles relating to geology as they occur in
their alphabetical order. To those who wish for an
intimate acquaintance with all the facts bearing on
this subject, we would recommend a study of the
voluminous but interesting " Transactions of the
Geological Society," which, added to the printed
labours of Phillips, Conybearc, Ure, Buckland, Boue,
Lycil, and Cuvier, contain the most extraordinary
collection of facts that has yet been brought together
in any branch of natural history.

GEOMETRIDJ3 (Stephens). A veiy extensive
family of lepidopterous, nocturnal, or rather semi-
nocturnal, insects, known to collectors by the name of
slender-bodied moth, by which term they are well dis-
tinguished from the BombycidfE (feathered full bodies)
and Nocluidcc (thread-horned full bodies) From the
other families of moths, Tortricidae, Tencidce, &c.,
they are distinguished by their larger size. Mr.
Stephens has described more than three hundred
British species belonging to this family, divided into
upwards of sixty genera. The family is further cha-
racterised by the antcnncc of the males being gene-
rally feathered, and those of the females simple ; the
palpi are mostly short and three-jointed, and the
spiral tongue varies considerably in length, some-
times, indeed, being obsolete ; the legs are long and
slender, the posterior tibiae being furnished with
two pairs of spurs, one being placed in the centre,
and the other at the extremity ; the wings are of a
large size, generally horizontally extended, and much
variegated with markings of various colours, whence
these insects are amongst the most beautiful of the
Lcpidoptera. The name of the family is derived
from the Greek words ge, the earth, and meter, to
measure, and is given to these insects on account of
the peculiar motions of the caterpillars, which are
ordinarily termed " loopers" by collectors, and which,
when creeping along, somewhat resemble a pair oi
compasses alternately opened and shut. An ex-
ample of this kind of caterpillar has been figured in
the article ABRAXAS. When unemployed in walk-
ing, they stretch themselves out in a straight line
adhering to the twigs by their hind legs only, and, in
many instances, so completely resembling bits o!
sticks, as to deceive the beholder. A figure of the
caterpillar of the swallow-tail moth (Ouraptyx sambit-
ccria) is. given in our article CATERPILLAR.

Some of these caterpillars also possess the power
when alarmed, of throwing themselves from the

eaves or twigs, having first attached thereto the end
>f a silken thread, by means of which they suspend
hcmselves in the air ; this thread, which proceeds
rom the mouth, is lengthened or shortened at will ;
\nd it is by means of this thread that the caterpillar
Icscends from the tree to the earth to undergo its
chrysalis state ; it also employs the same thread to
remount to its original situation when the danger is
massed ; this motion being effected by the insect seiz-
ng hold of the thread with its intermediate legs, be-
.weeri which it accumulates a greater or less mass,
n proportion as it advances. Some species form for
themselves slight cocoons of silk under ground, others
amongst the leaves, and some are naked in the chry-
salis state, and are suspended only by the tail. In
their perfect state these insects offer but few particulars
.vorthy of remark. Unlike the majority of the moths,
some of these slender bodies fly during the after-
noon. They abound in woods and hedges, and their
flight is much lighter than that of the Bombyddce or
Noctuida. The males of some species present the
curious character of being apparently six-winged, the
lower wings being provided with a large flattened
oval appendage, somewhat like a miniature wing.
These form the genus Loliuphora of Curtis. In se-
veral other of the species the females are destitute
of wings, as in the Plialccna, brumata, defoliaria, pc~
daria, &c. The first of these species, as the name
implies, is found in the winter flying, during the
month of December, about the leajjess whitethorn
hedges, in search of its mate. In the Regne Animal
Latrcille united these insects in a single " sous-
genre." Mr. Curtis has, however, divided them into
two families, PhalcEnidcc and Geometridce, in which
the antenngeof the males are either feathered or merely
ciliated, or even simple ; but this step, as Mr. Stephens
observes, is " evidently unnatural," since some genera
have the male antenna? simple, though closely allied
to insects having strongly pectinated antennae, whilst
some females have pectinated antennae, although
placed with others in which they are simple, and in
which some of the males have them scarcely pec-
tinated.

With the exception of the variations of structure
and peculiarities of habit above noticed, which, of
course, constitute the leading characters of the sec-
tional and generic divisions established in this family,
it must be evident that in so large an assemblage of
objects possessing so many characters in common,
the distinguishing marks must be of a comparatively
trivial nature ; hence, it will not be necessary for us,
in a work of this nature, to indicate the names of
the numerous generic divisions introduced into the
family, and still less to describe them, and shall,
therefore, only notice that the genus Geomelra, as
now restricted, comprises a beautiful group of moths,
called " thorns," in which the wings are all angu-
lated, and the male antennae pectinated ; that one of
the most beautiful, although one of the commonest
species is the Abraxas grossulariata, figured in our
first volume ; that another beautiful species, being
the largest of the family, is the swallow-tail moth,
above noticed, in which the hind wings are furnished
with short tails, and that there is a very extensive
and pretty group in the family, known by collectors
under the name of the carpet moths, in which the
wings are of a white or pale colour, with numerous
undulating bands of slate-grey and other colours.

GEONOMA (Willdenow). A genus of orna-
RR2

C28

GEORGINA— GEOTRUPIDyE.

mental palms found in South America. They have
been introduced into our stove collections, and are
found to grow best in sandy loam, placed in strong
heat.

GEORGINA (Willdenow) is the well known
DAHLIA, which see. The latter name was given by
Cavanilles.but changed to the original name by Willde-
now ; but it does not appear to be generally adopted,
as Dahlia still prevails among modern writers.

GEOTRUPID^E (Mac Leay). A rather extensive
family of coleopterous insects, belonging to the section
Pentamcra, and sub-section Lamcllicorncs, forming
part of the vast genus Scarabcsus of Linnaeus, and dis-
tinguished by the following characters : — The body
is generally very convex, and orbicular or suborbicu-
lar ; the thorax broader than long, and often armed,
as well as the head, with horns ; in the males the
scutellum is distinct ; the anterior tarsi fully de-
veloped ; the legs inserted at equal distances apart ;
the jaws exposed, horny and curved ; the antennas
mostly eleven-jointed.

To this family belong the genera Bolboccrus,
Typhceus,Geotrupcs,Lethrus, Elcphastornus, Ichodceus,
Athyreus, and several other exotic genera. Of these
the three first are Britishv but the third alone will
claim any particular notice in a work like the present.

The typical genus, Geotrupes (Latreille), derives
its names from two Greek words, signifying burrow-
ing in the earth, a habit possessed by the insects in
an especial manner, for which purpose their fore-legs
are endowed with very great muscular power ; and
and as they are broad and externally notched, they
are well adapted for the mode of life of the insects.
The body in this genus is, moreover, highly polished
and rounded, so as to present but slight obstacles in
the act of burrowing. The antennae are eleven-
jointed, the second joint being shorter than the third ;
the basal joint of the tarsi is also very short ; the
mandibles are exposed, and toothed at the tips ; the
last joint of the palpi is scarcely larger than the pre-
ceding, and the thorax is not armed with horns. The
type of this gen.us is the well-known insect which is
to be constantly observed flying about at dusk, espe-
cially in the neighbourhood of newly fallen dung, and
striking against every thing which may happen to be
in its way, whence we have obtained the saying, " as
blind as a beetle." This insect is the Scarabcrus
stercorarius of Linnaeus ; it is of a shining black
colour, and of an oblong oval form, but the under-
surface exhibits a very splendid mixture of varying
purple, green and steely blue ; the elytra are deeply
striated, and the striae are ornamented with small
impressed dots. The length of the insect varies
from two-thirds, to an entire inch.

These insects seem to prefer still dull evenings for
their flight, at which time the humming noise which
they make is very considerable. Probably at such
periods the effluvium arising from the stercoraceous
matters which they inhabit, is more widely dissemi-
nated through the atmosphere, so as to cause the in-
sects to congregate together more numerously. They
dig holes to a considerable depth in the ground under
the dung, around which they have been flying, and
of which they bury a portion, depositing an egg in
the midst of it, which serves for the food of the larvaj
when hatched. Thus do they take their share, as
•well as by feeding upon such matters themselves, in
the general economy of nature, " not only dispersing
the dung, but actually burying it at the roots of ad-

jacent plants, and, by these means, contributing con-
siderably to the fertility of our pastures, supplying the
constant waste by an annual conveyance of fresh
dung, laid at the very root, by their canals ; also
affording a convenient passage for a portion of it,
when dissolved, to be carried thither by the rain."

Our great dramatic bard has mentioned these in-
sects more than once, and, in so doing, has proved his
knowledge of the habits of the various objects of
nature to have been as extensive as of the workings
of the mind of man — and indeed we are happy in
taking as early an opportunity as possible of vindi-
cating our poet from those who would tell us that
he always sacrificed nature to poetic effect. Such,
unquestionably, was not the case, and wheresoever he
speaks, not only of animals, but even of flowers, it is
always with a perfect knowledge of the habits of the
one, or of the time of flowering, &c., of the other.
We trust soon to have the pleasure of seeing the
talents of Shakspeare, in this respect, fully established
by the publication of a series ot essays from the pen
of a distinguished naturalist, and we scarcely know
any subject so capable of being made not only in-
teresting, but highly instructive.

Macbeth, on the evening of the murder of Banquo,
by murderers whom he had hired for that purpose
says —

" Ere the bat hath flown

His cloistered flight -, ere to black Hecate's summons
The shard-borne beetle, with his drowsy hum.
Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done
A deed of dreadful note."

Now, every one admits that the shard-borne beetle
is the Geotrupes stercorarius, and not the Melolontha
vulgaris ; but commentators are not equally agreed
as to the meaning of the term shard-borne, and as it
involves the natural history of the animal, we shall
not hesitate to enter into a little detail upon the sub-
ject ; in fact there is scarcely a single passage in
Shakspeare (except, perhaps, the " Aroint thee
witch," in the same play) which has been more com-
mented upon than the above, not only by the com-
mentators, but also by naturalists, amongst whom we
find Spence, Mac Leay, Heinekcr, Bennet, &c. Now,
the word shard is rendered by some authors a broken
piece of tile or earthen vessel, and so Shakspeare
himself has used it in Hamlet, thus, " Shards, flints,
and pebbles should be thrown on her : " and, by an
easy process, the same word would be used for scales,
as, where Gower speaks of a dragon " whose shardes
shynen as the sonne ; " and thus the scales or elytra
of the beetle would be termed its shards ; but Toilet,
who opposes Malone, Steevens, Nares, and others,
says " the sharded beetle means the beetle lodged in
dung* and he cites various passages in support of
such assertion ; thus Bacon says " Turf and peat and
cow-shards are cheap fuel and last long ; " and in
Dryden's Hind and Panther, " Such souls as shards
produce, such beetle things ; " and in " A true report
of Capteine Frobisher, his last voyage, &c. to the
Orkneys," wo find " They are destitute of wood, their
fire is turffcs and cowe-shardes." Moreover, Mr.
Mac Leay states that shard is the common name for
cow-dung in the north ; Mr. Spence, consequently,
supposes that Shakspeare originally wrote sham-
born. And, indeed, we find in Merrett's rare Penai,
p. 201, the description of this very beetle, " Scara-
bffius stercoracius vel fimetarius, a dung beetle or
shard-bug." Hence the conclusion which these
authors draw is, that Shakspeare alluded not to the

GERANIACE^-GERRIS.

acaly appendages of the beetle, but to its residence in
dung, and, consequently, that we should read it the
shard, or dung-born beetle, instead of the shard or
elytra-borne beetle.

But Shakspeare has elsewhere spoken of these
beetles with the same epithet. In Cymbeline, Act
III., scene 3, Belarius comes out of his cave in a
rock, and says—

" We house i' the rock

And often to our comfort shall we find
The sharded beetle in a safer hold
Than is the full-winged eagle."

Now, singularly enough, this passage is capable of
being read with a similar double signification, both
with reference to a covering by scales or elytra, and
a lodging in dung ; thus the interpretation given to
this passage by Steevens, Malone, Holt, White, and
Archdeacon Nares, is, the beetle covered by elytra
is safer, as opposed to the full wings of the eagle ;
whilst by Toilet (who supports the interpretation of
the word shard into dung), the humble earthly abode
beneath dung of the beetle, is opposed to the lofty
eyry of the eagle.

With all due deference, however, to these learned
commentators and naturalists, we are inclined to be-
lieve that in their attempts to illustrate their author,
they have laboured to show the extent of their own
researches, rather than studied the passages in which
these words appear, and endeavoured, by such study,
to trace the application of such passages. With this
object in view, let us therefore now examine the
words of our author, whose wonderful knowledge of
the English language was such, that he would neither
make use of useless words, nor yet employ right words
in wrong places.

The murder of Banquo was perpetrated previous
to the evening feast. Macbeth, therefore, alludes to
the period when it should take place, by speaking of
the flight of the bat, and naturally connecting it with
another twilight-flying animal, adds the passage in
question, which we interpret, " The beetle flying with
raised scales, and making u drowsy hum during its
flight, tolls a natural curfew bell." If we were to
adopt the other interpretation, we should find nothing
to indicate the .flight of the beetle. Whilst, on the
other hand, the word shard born, i. c. born in dung,
would be an useless surplusage.

In like manner, in the other passage we find Shak-
speare's knowledge of the habits of this insect still
more perfect, since, instead of regarding it, with
Steevens, &c., as applying only to the safety of the
beetle, in consequence of its scaly covering, as con-
trasted with the extended wings of the eagle, or with
Toilet, as applying only to the underground abode of
the beetle, we read the passage, having at the same
time regard to the residence of Belarius in a cave,
thus, " The beetle, with its wings folded up beneath
its scales, is safer in its burrow in the ground than is
the full-winged eagle." Is it possible for a finer simile
to be employed ? Belarius himself, a banished noble-
man, living as an obscure peasant, deprived of every
wordly greatness, comparing himself with the monarch
who had banished him. The one leading a life of quiet-
ness in a cave, the other of constant turmoil and alarm
on a throne. But there is still another passage, which
we shall quote. In Antony and Cleopatra, Act III.,
scene 2, Agrippa, speaking of the love of Lepidus for
Caesar and Antony, says, " Both he loves ;" to which
Enobarbus adds, " They are his shards, and he their

629

beetle ;" i. e., their love is so reciprocal that theymay.
be said to be as much a part of the same body as are
the elytra upon the back of a beetle. Any other in-
terpretation of this passage, in favour of the employ-
ment of the word dung for shard, would be ridiculous

The shard borne beetle.

Mr. Stephens has described ten species of this
genus as inhabitants of this country, but it is possible
that a few of them may be varieties of the others.

GERANIACE^E. This natural order is divided
into two tribes, and contains five genera and above
300 hundred species. They are innocuous plants, in
general slightly acid, and sometimes also astringent ;
hence a few have been used as astringents and vul-
neraries. They are also more or less fragrant, secret-
ing resins and essential oils : in some the secretions
are so abundant that, in the Sarcocaulon L'Heretieri, the
stems burn like torches, and yield a most agreeable
perfume during their combustion. The roots of G.
maculatum are used, when boiled in milk, as a remedy
for the diarrhoea in children ; and at Philadelphia it
is in great repute. Erodiwn cicutarium and moscha-
tum are also sometimes employed as aromatic bitters,
and Pelargonium cucullatum as an emollient ; from P.
odoratusimum a fragrant essential oil has been dis-
tilled, said to resemble the ottar of rose, or at least to
be as agreeable as it, and the under-ground tubercules
of P. hirsutum are esculent, and are prized as food by
the Arabs ; but, notwithstanding their several do-
mestic uses, the Gcraniacece are chiefly esteemed for
the beauty of their flowers, being deservedly great
favourites, and some of the most fragrant and admired
denizens of our greenhouses and gardens.

GERRIS (Latreille). A genus of hemipterous
insects, belonging to the section Geocorisa, and family
HydrometridcB. The body is long and narrow, the
antennae half the length of the body, and four-jointed,
the rostrum four-jointed, the second pair of legs
"inserted at a considerable distance from the anterior
pair, and very long. This genus, although introduced
into the section Geocorisa, or land-bugs, owing to the
structure of the antenna?, is aquatic in its habits ;
from the true Hydrocorisa, or water-bugs (Nepa, &c.),
its long antennae, and the want of ciliated hairs to the
legs, as well as its inability to live under water, suffi-
ciently distinguish it. By every one who has had an
" eye to nature" these insects must have been observed,
gliding along the surface of water with great agility,
by oft-repeated strokes of the long slender legs, turn-
ing in all directions, and seizing upon every smaller
insect which may happen to fall in their way. The
form of the body resembles that of a London wherry;
and on examining more minutely the structure of the
insect we shall find it admirably adapted for the per-

630

GERVILI A— GIRAFFE.

formance of its motions, and the consequent support
of its habits. The under surface of the body is thickly
covered with a fine layer of silvery hairs, which ren-
ders it impervious to the action of the water ; but it
is requisite that, for an insect residing upon the sur-
face of the water, and feeding only upon such stray
morsels as may happen to be floating there, that quick
motion, and a power of suddenly turning in various
directions, should be given to it. In the wherry we
find these motions effected by long oars, acted upon
from the sides of the boat and a rudder at its stern ;
and this is the case with the insects in question. Mr.
Curtis says, " These insects, by rowing with their
posterior feet, glide over the water," but this is incor-
rect. It is the middle legs, placed at the sides of the
body in the centre, which perform the office of oars,
being for this purpose much longer than the other
legs, the hind pair acting at the same time conjointly
as rudders. 1 he fore legs are short, and formed for
seizing the prey, which is immediately brought to the
mouth.

The type of the genus is the Cimaz lacustris of
Linnaeus. The are several British species, but their
characters are not sufficiently elucidated, since we are
convinced that the supposed apterous species upon
certain occasions acquire wings, as is the case with
the other genera of the family.

GERVILI A (Defrance). This genus contains
several species of fossil shells, found in the depart*
incut of La Manche : the animal and, of course, all
recent species are altogether unknown : it is classed
immediately preceding the genus AVICULA, which
see for its classification.

GESNERIA (Linnaeus). Under-shrubs and tu-
berous-rooted herbs, mostly natives of the West
Indies ; class and order Didynamia Angiospermia and
natural order Gesneriea. Generic character ; calyx
attached to the germen, five-cleft ; corolla tubular,
full at the upper part, limb nearly equally divided,
often two-lipped, spreading or reflexed, upper lip
two, lower one three-lobed ; stamens have ovate,
two-celled anthers ; style with a two-lobed stigma ;
capsule of one cell, containing minute chaffy seeds.
These plants require a light rich soil, and may be
propagated by cuttings.

GESNERIE^E. A small natural order of tropical
h«rbs with large downy leaves, and bearing purple
or scarlet flowers. The inflorescence is spicate,
branching or paniculate, seldom solitary ; the
flowers irregular ; the calyx is free, half adhering or
joined to the germen ; the corolla is perigynous or
hypogynous, irregularly five-lobed, somewhat two-
lipped, the upper one two-lobed, the lower one three-
lobed ; the disc is annular, perigynous and studded
with glands ; the stamens, four in number and did y-
namous, inserted in the tube of the corolla; filaments
free ; anthers two-celled ; the germen is formed of
two connate carpels, containing many seeds ; style
one, bearing a headed stigma. The Gesncrieae are
very ornamental plants, but their economical value is
little ; some have been used as dyes, and the fleshy
fruits of others are eatable : they are sweetish and
mucilaginous, but not much prized.

GEUM (Linnaeus). A genus of hardy herbaceous
perennials, chiefly natives of the northern parts of the
world : two of them are common British plants, where
they are called Avens. They belong to the natural
order Rosacete : a species of saxifrage is also called
geum.

GIANT FENNEL, is the Ferula communis of
Linnaeus ; one of genus of large herbaceous plants
belonging to Umbellifera:.

GILLIESIE^E. A natural order, allied to the
Asp/iodelcte, but separated by Dr. Lindley. The
order contains only one or two genera, viz., Gillicxia,
and Mcma, both Chilian plants, with small incon-
spicuous, irregular liliacious flowers, grass-like leaves,
and tunicated bulbs, by which they differ from the
Asphodelece. They are neither ornamental nor useful,
although, from their structure, curiously interesting
plants.

GILLYFLOWER, is the Mathiola iucana of
R. Brown. This, under the name of stock-gilly-
flower, is one of the oldest favourites of the florist.
Under cultivation the flowers become double, and
vary into many different colours : they are at the
same time delightfully fragrant. Some of the species
are annuals, and other biennial. They belong- to the
natural order Cruciferce.

GINGER, is the Zingiber officinale of Roscoe.
A plant which yields a useful spice and condiment.
The tuberous root is the useful part, obtained by cul-
tivating it in fields on a large scale in the East In-
dies, and forms, at present, an important article of
commerce from both Indies. It belongs to Scita-
mincce.

GINSENG, is the Panax quinquefolia of Linnaeus.
As a drug, it has been from time immemorial extolled
in China as a universal panacea or remedy for all ills.
Pere Jartroux says that the most celebrated physi-
cians of China have written volumes on the Gin-seng,
which they affirm to be able to ward off or remove
fatigue, to invigorate the enfeebled frame, to restore
the exhausted animal powers, to make old people
young, and, in a word, to render man immortal—" if
any thing on earth can do so." Hence the name Gin-
seng signifies, " the dose for immortality." Osbeck
says the Chinese take it every night and morning in
their tea or soup, and that he never looked into apo-
thecaries' shops but they were always selling gin-seng.
The plant is a native of North America, as well as of
Chinese Tartary ; it grows chiefly in desert places,
difficult of access, or at least the venders tell strange
tales of dangers encountered by those who collect
the root, perhaps with the design of enhancing its
value ; and it has been known to cost its weight in
Sold.

GIRAFFE (CamelopardaUs). A very singular genus
of ruminating mammalia, one of the most singular in-
deed of the whole class, and an inhabitant of very
peculiar pastures. The history of this animal, in
different ages of the world, is as checkered as its
appearance is peculiar. That it was known to the
ancient Romans, and brought among other African
animals to Rome, there is little doubt ; and it was
from the Romans that it received the generic name
which it still retains, though in common language it
is now known by the less exceptionable one of giraffe.
Camelopard is of course compounded of the two
words camel and panther, with neither of which this
animal has a very close analogy. It no doubt belongs
to the same order with the camel, is found in the
same parts of the world, and feeds on substances not
very different ; but its general aspect is very different
from that of the camel, and to those who have seen
the more common animal and not this one, the asso-
ciation of the idea of a camel with the name would
give a very erroneous impression. It is worse with

GIRAFFE.

631

the other part of the name, parti, which means leopard
or panther, or in fact any of the larger spotted animals
of the cat tribe, with which the giraffe has nothing in
common, farther than it is also a spotted animal.

The first account which we have of the giraffe being
publicly exhibited to the Romans, was by Caesar at
the Circensian games ; but from the representations
ot'it that remain in ancient mosaics, especially in the
Przenestinc pavement, in which it is represented both
browsing the branches over it and in grazing the more
humble vegetation under, there is reason to believe
that it had not been rare in the subsequent period of
Roman history. The Romans obtained their wild
animals for exhibition chiefly from northern Africa,
where no giraffes are now to be found ; and this
would lead us to conclude that northern Africa has
undergone considerable changes since that period,
and that, as the desert has encroached upon what was
formerly the most fertile possession of man in Egypt,
so it has, in like manner, encroached on the pastures
of wild animals all round, until many of those which
which were common over great part of the African
continent at one period of history, are now confined
within comparatively narrow bounds.

The giraffe is mentioned by several ancient writers,
but the earliest correct account of it which has come
down to us, is that given by Heliodorus the Greek bishop
of Sicca, in Ma JE'thiopica ; " The ambassadors of the
AxeomitsB (the Abyssinians)," says the bishop,
" brought presents to Hydaspes, and, among other
things, there was an animal of a strange and wonder-
ful species, about the size of a camel, which had its
skin marked with florid spots ; the hinder parts from
the loins were low, like those of the lion, but the
shoulders, fore-feet, and breast, were elevated above
proportion to the other parts ; the neck was small,
and lengthened out from its large body like that of a
swan ; the head in form resembled a camel's, but was
in size about twice that of a Lybian ostrich, and it
rolled its eyes, which had a film over them, very
frightfully. It differed in gait from every other land
or water animal, and waddled in a remarkable manner ;
each leg did not move alternately, but those on the
right side moved together, independently of the other
and those on the left in the same manner, so that
each side was alternately elevated. This animal was
so tractable as to be led by a small string fastened to
the head, and the keeper'could conduct it wherever
he pleased, as if with the strongest chain. When it
appeared it struck the whole multitude with terror,
and it took its name from the principal parts of its
body, being called by the people, extempore, camelo-
pardalis."

The word giraffe, which has been adopted as the
iijodern name, is understood to be African, though il
is said to be derived from an Arabian corruption o
the original term. It is of little consequence, how-
ever, by what name this animal may be called ; for
there is no danger of confounding either its appear-
ance or its characters with those of any other known
animals.

It stands alone ; and though it is decidedly a ru-
minating animal, and one of the most gentle of the
whole order, though timid and exceedingly difficul
to capture when in the wild state, it has little in com
mon with any other. The length of the neck, the
callous appendages on the knees and the sternum
give it some resemblance to the camel ; and the heac
also has some slight analogy to the head of that ani

mal ; but here the resemblance ends. The body,
vhich is very handsome, is peculiar in its form ; and
he legs, though they exceed in length those of every
•cnown animal, partake of the joint characters of those
f the horse and the antelope ; while the tail is not
inlike that of the ox tribe. The feet agree with
hose of the horse, in being without the spurious hoofs
vhich mark most of the ruminant animals, and in the
peculiar enlargement of the base ; but the hoofs are
lividcd, and thus the foot altogether is different from
;hat of the horse, and also of the camel, which has
he foot of a very different texture, and is not adapted
'or the same fleet motion as this animal. Some idea
of the form of the animal, and its altitude while
jrowsing the young branches of its favourite acacia,
and which it seizes by its prehensile tongue, may be
obtained by inspecting the plate GIRAFFE, where the
animal is very faithfully and forcibly represented in
two attitudes, and the artist has succeeded in delineat-
ing the mild expression of the animal as well as the form.
Many attempts have been made to trace resemblances,
or, as they are called, affinities, between the giraffe and
various other ruminating animals ; but it does not ap-
pear that any of them have been tolerably successful, for
while the likeness has been apparently made out in one
part, there has always been so palpable a contra-
diction in some other part, as to render the whole of
very little value. The characters of the genus, or
rather of the group, or sub-order, — for though there is
but one known species, and we have no evidence that
there ever was more than this one, it requires this
distinction, — are the head in both sexes furnished with
a species of horns, which consist of prominences of
the frontal bone, which rise parallel to each other to
the height of about six inches in the male, but rather
less in the female. They contain no true horn in
their substance, but are merely a cellular enlargement
of the bone, of nearly equal thickness throughout the
whole length, and with the upper extremity formed
like a sort of cushion, and beset with a sort of bristly
hairs. Those appendages to the head are of course
never shed, they are not at any time bare of
skin, nor does the animal use them for any known
purpose either of defence or in its more peace-
able economy. These curious horns, or rather ap-
pendages, for they contain no horn in substance, un-
less the stiff hairs on their extremities are to be con-
sidered as such, are not absolutely continuations of
the frontal bones, for in the young animal they are
united by a distinct suture ; and there is a third ^tu-
bercle of bone, much broader but not near so high
as the others, articulated on the middle of the frontal,
intermediate between them. The only known spe-
cies is,

THE GIRAFFE (Camelopardalis girafa). This, when
full grown, is by much the tallest of animals if mea-
sured from the hoofs of the fore feet to the top of the
head. From fifteen to eighteen feet is mentioned as
being the height of the majority, though specimens
have been seen as high as twenty feet. A consider-
able portion of this height arises from the length of
the neck, though the shoulder is also high, much
higher in proportion than the rump. Some have said
that much of the apparent height of this part of the
body is owing to the great length of the spinous pro-
cesses of the scapular vertebrae ; but though these
processes upon the anterior part of the spine are
long, and thus afford firm points of insertion to the
muscles of the shoulder, yet the great height is in

632

GIRAFFE.

the legs and the neck, which answer to each other.
Behind the animal is not so high, and in that part it
appears lower than it really is, as the hind legs are
partially bent when the animal is browsing at the full
stretch of its neck. On the other hand, when it feeds
on the ground, which it can do much more easily
than is generally supposed, it has to diminish the
height forwards by setting the fore feet apart from
each other, as is done by the young of the horse in
their first attempts to graze.

Altogether the appearance of these animals, though
peculiar, is very graceful. The body is short, com-
pact, and well filled up and rounded. The limbs are
clean, but at the same time strong and muscular, and
the form of the neck and its union with the head are
very symmetrical. The head is light and airy in
appearance, and has not the least appearance of being
a burden on the neck, as is the case with some other
ruminants. The ears, which are long and have a
good deal of motion, are handsomely formed. The
eyes are large and clear; and it is placed in a peculiar
manner, occupying so prominent a place on the sides
of the head that they command perhaps more of the
horizon than those of any other animal. In this re-
spect they bear some resemblance to the eyes of the
hare ; and they appear .to answer a purpose some-
thing similar— that of watching against danger from
behind, which is the" chief danger to which this fleet
and strong but inoffensive and gentle animal is
exposed.

The* colours of the giraffe are disposed in a very
pleasing manner. The ground colour is whitish, but
with a tinge of warm cream colour, and the spots,
which are brown and nearly square in shape, give it
the appearance of being cross-barred with the paler
colour. When young the sexes resemble each other
in their colours ; but as they advance, the spots on
the male become of a dark brown, while those on the
female retain more of their original rust-coloured tint.
Both are, however, subject to some varieties of colour,
perhaps in proportion as they are differently exposed
to the action of the sun.

The hair on the body is short, and lies flat and
smooth on the skin ; but the neck and upper part of
the back are furnished with a short mane. At each
side of the commencement of this mane on the occi-
put, there is a bony tubercle on the skull, which
tubercles appear as the rudiments of a second pair of
horns ; so that if we include the flat one in front,
there are bases for five horns on the head of the
giraffe, though there is not a true horn on any of them.
The tail is strong, reaching beyond the heels, sort
haired for the greater part of its length, but furnished
with a handsome brush of strong hairs at the tip.
The true hoofs are firm and strong, and of a black
colour, and, as we have already observed, there are
no false hoofs. Though the animal is by no means
rare in its native localities, it is so shy in a state of
nature, and so well formed for getting speedily out of
sight, that its economy is but little understood. The
common report is, however, that the female goes
twelve months, and never has more than one at a
birth.

Giraffes, at least as well ascertained, are confined
to Africa, though some of the authorities mention
them as also occurring in Asia, but in what par-
ticular place of Asia is not stated ; it is not impossi-
ble, however, that they may exist in some unexplored
parts of the warm regions of that quarter of the world,

which resemble in climate, seasons, and productions,
their African haunts. The pertinacity with which it
was long maintained that no lion existed in any part
of India, and the discovery of several of these animals
after the country became a little better explored,
should teach us to pause before we positively decide
what tropical production, whether animal or vegeta-
ble, does not exist in so extensive and so varied a
country as India.

At present, however, we know the giraffe only aa
an African animal ; and there chiefly as an animal of
the southern parts, at least to the countries to the
southward of the desert. It is not found on the coast
of Guinea, where there are more frequent rains and
greater fertility but a less healthy climate, than far
into the interior, and nearer the Great Desert ; nor does
it appear that the giraffe is any where found on low
and marshy grounds. Indeed the form of its feet,
and its structure taken altogether, are ill adapted for
such places ; and any one who examines even a tole-
rably well executed figure would at once decide that
the giraffe inhabits dry pastures, and breeds upon firm
ground. Its numbers in central Africa, south of the
desert and south-west of Abyssinia, have not been
very clearly ascertained ; but it certainly does range
in latitudes from about that parallel southward to the
confines of the Cape Territory, where it is not unfre-
quently met with in the woods near Orange River.
The natives, especially the wild bushmen, hunt it
with considerable avidity. The flesh of the young
ones is described as being both tender and of good
flavour ; and though the old ones may, from the
vigour of their muscles, and the heavy exercise which
these undergo, be a little tougher, we may naturally
enough suppose that they would be acceptable to a
people who do not hesitate to make a meal of the
lion himself. The most valuable parts are, however
understood to be the skin, as an article of domestic
economy, and the marrow of the long bones as a
luxury in the way of eating. The skin is described
as being very tough, hard, and durable ; and to those
who like luxuries in the way of fat, the marrow is said
to be a bonne bouche. It is generally in the way of
curiosities, however, that the skins of these animals
find their way, by the Cape of Good Hope, to
Europe ; and it was not till a comparatively recent
period that these were common even in museums ;
and they were generally so mutilated that it was not
easy to make out the characters of the animal from
them. An opportunity was afforded some time ago
to the curious in this country of correcting any mis-
takes that may have been made in this way, by the
arrival of a living specimen, as a present to his late
Majesty George IV. This one lived for some time
in this country ; but either the climate, the food, or
both, did not agree with it, and it died. Its remains
have, however, been preserved ; for being presented
to the Zoological Society of London, that society had
the skin stuffed, and the skeleton set up in its proper
arrangement and attitude ; so that any one who
chooses to visit the Society's Museum in Bruton
Street may have an opportunity of studying a giraffe
" skin and bone," if not in flesh and blood and its
living economy.

In their native country those animals show their
peaceable disposition in being partially gregarious.
They are found in small flocks of about five or six ;
and from what has been said of the period of gesta-
tion, and the single young one at a birth, these cannot

GIRAFFE.

633

be considered as families, or any other associations
than those arising from simple attachment of the spe-
cies to each other, upon the common principle of so-
ciality among gregarious animals. This circumstance,
together with the mildness of these majestic creatures,
renders it highly probable that they might be domes-
ticated by proper treatment ; and though the best
use to which a giraffe could be turned is rather an
indeterminate problem in domestic economy, there
is no question as to the great ornament which these
animals would afford, if it were possible to breed them,
or even to keep them, in collections of ornamental
animals. It is probable, however, that before this
could be done, they would have to pass through suc-
cessive gradations of climate, and that even then the
experiment might prove a failure.

Giraffes do not appear to live in the very close
forests, near the river banks, where the giant vegeta-
tion of Africa has its growth. Their locality is rather
in those places which may be considered as holding a
mean proportion between the excess of tropical vege-
tation and the final sterility of the plantless wilder-
ness. Those confines of the forests which are on the
margins of the deserts and karoos, seem to be their
chief localities. Those places are generally scat-
tered over with trees, chiefly acacias, which do not
form a perfect brush of underwood at the bottom,
as is the case with the shrubs nearer the desert or
the plain, and which brushy woodlands answer better
for sheltering a lion or other powerful beast of prey,
than the acacias in questioi.. Still these acacias do
not grow to any considerable height ; and the young
branches are pendent and succulent, and it is upon
them that the giraffes subsist, at least for a consider-
able portion of the year, — for that portion when the
ground under them is destitute of verdure and hard-
ened like a brick.

Under ordinary circumstances, the giraffes browse
their favourite acacias in peace and safety. It is
true that the poisoned arrow of the Bushman some-
times finds them in these places, by his stealing upon
them from tree to tree, till he gets within range ; but
probably this happens less frequently than in the case
of any other African game. The eyes of the giraffe
are, as we have said, admirably placed for keeping
watch against danger from behind ; and the stem of
the tree which the animal is browsing, forms no bad
defence to it in front. Then, if it is once alarmed, and
trots or ambles off at its peculiar pace, which though,
as mentioned by the old bishop of Sicca, it has a
shambling appearance, is yet very swift, and it is one
of those species of motion which an animal can con-
tinue for a long time. And if the giraffe is once
alarmed and takes to flight, it is not very safe any
more than very easy, to attempt coming up with him ;
but the reason of this we can notice to more advan-
tage by and bye.

The lion appears to be the only wild animal of
which the giraffe needs to have any fear ; and as the
lion attacks only from an ambuscade, like the Bush-
man, the same defence, or watchful protection, which
guards against the one, serves also to guard against
the other. The lion does not in general prey at
those hours when the giraffe is feeding ; and il
he did, he could not spring upon the giraffe in any
way but from behind, as there is the protection of the
tree in front. It is said also, that even the claws ol
the lion, unless when he can get upon the ridge of the
animal, and bold on upon both sides do not penetrate

so far into the very hard skin of the giraffe, as to pre-
vent that animal from shaking him off; and if it should
succeed in this, the fate of the lion is as certainly
sealed as when the elephant stamps, kneels, or other-
wise crushes him to death, though it is sealed in a
manner somewhat different. The defence of the
iraffe is kicking ; and from the vigour of its muscles,
the length of its legs, and the consequent velocity of
the hoot, when it comes to the position in which it
can take effect, the kick is a truly formidable one, and
it can be repeated with great celerity. The full effect
of one kick is said to be sufficient to break the skull
of a lion, strong as it is, and this is by no means un-
likely, for the stroke of the kangaroo, which is a much
lighter animal, can break the skull of a dog. The eye
of the giraffe also sees to the rear, and can guide this
its formidable weapon, both as to the time and the
direction of the stroke ; so that there is danger to
any thing that may come within its reach. Even if
the first kick should not be fatal, another can be made
to follow so soon, that the stunned foe is killed or
crippled before he can recover himself. The animal
does not appear, however, to put this powerful wea-
pon to the proof, except in cases of necessity ; for its
first attempt at safety is flight, and that is in most
cases sufficient.

The times at which the lion is said to attack these
animals with the greatest chance of success is, when
they seek the water-courses for the purpose of drink-
ing. This is usually in the morning ; and the lion
lies in wait at some place more elevated than that of
his intended prey. When it reaches down for the
purpose of drinking, all the advantage which its
eye gives it when the neck is elevated is gone ; and
from the position of the fore-legs during this opera-
tion, it could not kick with the same force which it
does when on the level ground, and in full command
of itself. In this situation, the lion sometimes suc-
ceeds in fastening upon its back ; and though the
animal bounds off with great speed, the weight of the
lion, and the pain of the laceration, which he inflicts
both by claws and teeth, ultimately bring it to the
ground, and when once there it is altogether helpless.
Sometimes, too, when the giraffe, finding its food
become scanty in those more open places which it
frequents at other times, seeks the beds of the streams
for such trees as may still remain there in a state suf-
ficiently succulent for its subsistence, the lion, who
has been crouching in a bush upon some commanding
point, will sometimes spring to the attack, and chiefly
from his elevation above the giraffe, succeeds in
making it his prey. In general, however, we believe
we may repeat that, with the exception of the elephant,
which the lion seldom attacks, and of the rhinoceros,
and the hippopotamus, which set him at complete de-
fiance, or rather are perfectly indifferent to him in the
peculiarity of their habitations, and the strong mail of
their skins, the giraffe is less preyed upon than any
other animal.

The giraffe, however, has its head quarters in a
country which is very little known to modern travel-
lers ; as it has at most been visited only on the con-
fines. Its principal country appears to lie nearly in
the direction of the meridian, about twenty degrees
east longitude from Greenwich ; and it is rarely found
near the coast along the whole extent. Although
therefore the animal itself is now well known, its
manners in those wild forests are to a great extent
matters of mere guess-work, upon which it would be

634

GLADIOLUS — GLAREOL A.

equally unnecessary and unwise to enlarge. It seems,
however, to be peculiarly fitted for making rapid way
over rough and stony grounds, where scarcely any
other animal could keep its feet even at the slowest
pace ; and its peculiar mode of ambling, in which it
lifts two feet at each side alternately, and bounds
along, almost as if it were a sort of biped, fits it re-
markably well for clearing the large stones which en-
cumber the surface of a country, so alternately burnt
up by drought and scourged by heavy rains as that
through which it has to pass.

We omitted to mention, when speaking of the cha-
racters of this singular animal, that it has neither a
muzzle nor lachrymal sinuses ; that it has twelve
grinders and eight cutting teeth in the lower jaw, and
twelve grinders without any cutting teeth in the
upper ; and that the female has four mammae, which
are situated in the groin.

GLADIOLUS (Linnaeus). A genus of tuberous
plants, and one of the finest ornaments of the flower-
garden. The flowers are triandrous, and belong to
the natural order, Iridete. Generic character : spatha
two-valved, grassy ; corolla six-parted and rather
gaping ; stamens rising upward, bearing anthers at-
tached to the filaments by their back, at a point a
little above the base ; stigma trifid, recurved ; cap-
sula oblong, three-sided ; seeds winged. The Asia-
tic and European species have been long in our gar-
dens, and known by the names of the sword-lily, or
corn-flag ; but a vast accession of species have been
received from the Cape of Good Hope, some of which
are most elegant plants. The European sorts do
very well in the open borders ; but the Cape species
require to be treated like other bulbs from the same
country, that is, potted in sandy leaf-mould, kept dry
when dormant, fresh potted in October, and after-
wards placed in a frame and regularly watered after
they begin to grow.

GLAPHYRIDJ5 (MacLeay ; ANTHOBII, La-
treille). A sub-family of coleopterous insects, be-
longing to the section Pentamera, sub-section Lamcl-
licornes, and family Scarabce'idcs, belonging to the
group which feed upon the juices of trees or flowers
(Thalcropliaga), having the mandibles horny, con-
cealed by the clypeus, the upper lip advanced, and
. the lobes of the maxillae membranous. These insects
appear to be confined to the old world, frequenting
flowers, principally the vernal species, preferring that
of the LiliacecB ; and, from the hairiness of their
bodies, they must be very serviceable in promoting
the fecundation of plants.

The genera are : Glaphyrus, Amphicoma, Antklpna,
Chasmoptcrus, Chasme, Diclicla, Lepitrix, Pachyenemus,
Anisonyx, and so.rae others ; the majority comprising
insects of small size, but considerably variegated in
their colours.

GLAREOL A (Pratincole). A very peculiar genus
of birds, ranged by Cuvier in his order Echassiers, or
stilt birds, and forming one of those three small fami-
lies which stand in a great measure apart from the
rest. Those doubtfully classed birds are the carrion
bird of New Holland, the flamingo, and the genus
under consideration, none of which agrees in all
respects with the proper stilt birds ; and two of them,
the carrion bird and this genus, are not stilt birds at
all, for they have very short legs ; and it does not
appear that they arc in any way fitted for wading, or
given to such a practice, though all the three families
frequent the margins of the waters.

The characters of the present genus are, the bill
short, conical, arched in its whole length, with the
gape wide, and in its general form bearing a very
considerable resemblance to the bills of the gallinidae,
with which, however, the birds have little in common ;
and they have even less resemblance to partridges,
although they have, strangely enough, been called sea
partridges, both in Britain and in other countries.
Their wings are very long and pointed, longer, in-
deed, than the wings of any known species. In some
of the species, too, the tail is very much forked ; and
the whole apparatus of flight in the birds bears a con-
siderable resemblance to that of the swallow tribe,
with whom, also, they have been confounded by some
naturalists, though they do not appear to have any
natural affinity to these birds. Their flight, indeed,
is something after the style of the swallows, or rather
of the terns, but they differ from these in not having
the feet webbed, except fora small space between the
outer and inner toe. Their legs are of medium length,
with scutcheoned scales on the tarsi ; and not reticu-
lated ones, as in the true wading birds. They have
three toes to the front, and one to the rear, the latter
of which touches the ground when they walk. They
frequent the margins of the water, along which they
usually fly in flocks, and utter loud and piercing cries j
their food is understood to consist chiefly of worms
and aquatic insects, the last of which they capture on
the wing, beating the surface of the water for them
something in the manner of swallows.

These birds are remarkable for the closeness and
compactness of their plumage, upon which there
scarcely appears a loose feather to retard their flight,
even in the under covering of their wings. Indeed,
their covering is altogether so compact, that it is not
easy to discover in it much difference between feather
ana feather. Their colours are not gaudy ; but they
are in general rather rich, and well contrasted, so that
on the whole they are very handsome birds.

They appear to be chiefly confined to the eastern
continent, to the east part of Europe, and to central
and southern Asia ; but some of them are also met
with in the south-eastern isles. Their power of flight
is indeed such, that a few hundred miles, more or
less, does not appear to make any material difference
in the ease of their journeys. The species which is
best known in eastern Europe, if, indeed, it is not the
only species which is found there, does not rome to
the British shores, or even beyond the valley of the
Danube, and not, as it should seem, even near to the
head of that valley as a regular visitant. But still one
will sometimes make a dash across ; and as they have
no western locality, there is no doubt that they come
from those eastern countries which we have incnti-
tioned ; and when they do come into Britain, they do
not, as is the case with most of those eastern strays,
alight on the east coasts of the country, or in latitudes
corresponding to those which they inhabit when in
their proper home. If one crosses the north sea, the
chance is that it will not alight until it is on the most
westerly of the Hebrides, or the northmost in the
Shetland islands ; and there, when one does come,
which, however, is but rarely, it appears to be quite
at home with the gulls and terns, which are abundant
in these remote places. Such as come there show
few signs of fear, and thus they become an easy prey
to collectors of birds, by whom they are much prized
on account of their rarity. There are several species,
though some of them are not very clearly made out.

GLAUCUS-GLOBE THISTLE.

635

G. torquata (Collared Pratincole). The length
of this species is about nine inches and a half ; the
plumage is subject to considerable varieties of colour.
It inhabits the banks of large rivers, inland seas, and
lakes, in the provinces which confine on Asia, and in
most of the southern countries of that continent ; is
very common on the salt lakes and extensive marshes
of Hungary ; and is a stated or accidental passenger
in some parts of Italy, Germany, France, and Swit-
zerland, but is scarcely ever met with in Holland and
Great Britain. One, we believe, was shot near Liver-
pool, and another specimen was shot in Unst, the most
northerly of the Shetland islands, by Mr. Bullock.
This bird darts with wonderful rapidity on flies and
other insects that live among the reeds and rushes,
and seizes them whilst it either flies or runs. It is a
noisy restless bird ; and the female seeks out the tall-
est tufts of herbage for her nest, where she lays from
three to eight eggs.

Though this bird is subject to very considerable
varieties of colour, some of which appear to be per-
manent, and yet attended with no other difference of
character or of habits, yet the following may perhaps
be considered as the prevailing colours of the full-
grown birds of both sexes, which do not indeed appear
'to differ much from each other. The top of the head,
the nape of the back, the scapulars, and the wing-
coverts, of a greyish brown colour. The throat and
fore part of the neck white, with a light rose-coloured
tint, and this portion is surrounded by a very straight
and well-defined band of black, which returns toward
the angles of the gape ; and it is from this that the
bird gets the name of collared. The space between
the eye and the bill is black, but there is a small cres-
cent-shaped spot of white behind the eye. The breast
is brownish white, the under coverts of the wings bright
maroon red. The under part of the body white
clouded with russet; the under tail-coverts pure
.white; the tail-feathers black, but with brownish
orange margins, and the quills of the wings margined
with the same colour, and deep blackish brown in the
centre. The bill black at the tip and reddish at the
base ; the irides reddish brown ; the feet reddish
ash ; and the circle round the eyes bright red. There
is a variety of a greyish brown, deeper or paler in the
tint, with the white on the throat clouded with bright
russet ; and this variety sometimes has the black collar
broad, sometimes marked by a white line, and some-
times consisting of a row of spots. The young birds
are brownish ash on the upper part, waved with
darker, and with whitish margins to the feathers ; the
throat dull black ; and the breast and belly dark grey,
with brown spots. In this state of the plumage they
have often been described as different species.

G. grullarta (Australian pratincole). The upper
parts of this species are reddish fawn-colour ; the
quills black ; the breast russet ; the throat, fore part
of the neck, rump, and tail-coverts white ; the belly
and flanks maroon brown. The anterior part some-
times marked with blackish spots, forming a sort of
collar. The tail-feathers squared over at the end ;
the first quill very long and narrow ; the bill reddish,
and black at the tip, and the feet reddish; the length
about nine inches ; and the closed wings reaching
nearly three inches beyond the point of the tail.

G. laclca (cream-coloured pratincole). All the
upper parts of the body and the wings pure whitish ash;
the quills and under sides of the wings deep black ;
all the under parts of the body pure white ; all the

tail-feathers, with the exception of the outer ones,
have a black spot upon each, which forms a large
angular space on the closed tail. The bill is black
with reddish margins, and the feet brown. The length
of this species is much less than the others, it being
not quite six inches. It is understood to inhabit
India.

There are several other species of those birds men-
tioned by describers, as being distinct from those which
have been enumerated ; but when the differences
consist in the colours or the markings only, they may
be disregarded, from what we know of the proneness to
variety of colour in that species with which we are
best acquainted. The peculiar form and comparative
shortness of the tail in the Australian one, leave little
doubt that it is entitled to rank as a distinct species ;
and which differs from the others not only in size but
in the peculiar form of its tail, which is much less
produced and forked than in the collared species, but
much more so than in the Australian one. These
birds are a very peculiar race, but their motions are
so rapid, and the marshy places which they inhabit
are generally so inaccessible, that our knowledge of
them is very limited.

GLAUCUS (Forster). A naked mollusc found in
nearly every sea, but which has, hitherto, been erro-
neously figured and described with the fuot uppermost.

GLECHOMA (Linnaeus). A genus of two
creeping perennial herbs, natives of Europe, and
well known by the name of ground-ivy. The G.
liedcracca was once much esteemed as a medicine,
and administered in pectoral diseases. Ground-ivy
tea is still taken as an article of diet by poor people,
and occasionally as a medicine ; and cases ure on
record in which it has been useful for liypochondriaca!
patients. It belongs to Labiatcc.

GLEDITSCH1A (Linnaeus). A genus of hardy
deciduous trees, natives of North America and
China. Class and order Po/i/gamia Diwcia, and na-
tural order Legumnosce. Generic character : (lowers
bisexual ; calyx three to five-parted ; petals from
three to five, two sometimes united ; stamens from
three to eight ; filaments filiform, free below ; anthers
erect, oval, two-celled ; style simple, short ; pod
often very long, interrupted by contractions between
the seeds, the latter merged in pulp, rarely one-
seeded ; the male flowers have a calyx in four or eight
parts ; corolla none ; stamens four to eight. These
trees are admitted into arborctums and ornamental
plantations. They have the habit of the Acacia
(Robinia), and some of them are remarkable for
their large branched thorns, by which their boles are
effectually defended from all climbing animals. Not
even a bear could ascend the G. horrida with im-
punity.

GLOBBA (Roscoe). A genus of fine plants, be-
longing to the lirst class and order of Limueus, and
in the natural order Scilam'mca; of Jussieu. Generic
character : calyx somewhat tubular and three-cleft ;
corolla double, the exterior three-parted, the interior
one-lipped, with two teeth at the base ; stamens with
linear filaments, not produced beyond the anthers ;
style filiform, bearing a concave stigma ; capsule as-
sociated. These plants are easily cultivated in the
stove, grown in sand and peat earth. In India and
China they affect the sides of ponds, and there grow
luxuriantly.

GLOBE THISTLE, is the Echinops spharoce-
p/ialus of Linnceus. Like all other thistles, it belongs

636 GLOBULAR! A—

to the natural order Composites, and is found wild in
the central countries of Europe.

GLOBULARIA (Linnaeus). A genus of herbs
and undershrubs, natives of the south of Europe.
Linnaean class and order, Tetrandria Monogynia, and
to the natural order to which it gives a title, Globu-
lin-ice. Generic character : flowers aggregated in
round heads ; receptacle chaffy ; involucrum imbri-
cated ; calyx in five persisting divisions ; corolla in
five irregular divisions , stigma simple ; caryopsis
loosely involved in the calyx ; embryo inverted.
The globularias are pretty flower-border plants, affect
a sandy soil, and may be propagated by cuttings or
seeds.

GLOBULARIA. A natural order, containing
only one genus, whence it derives its title. The
species are Alpine plants, bearing pretty blue flowers ;
some of them are purgative, and, as such, are found
in the list of drugs. The Globularies differ so little
from the Dipsacece in their general structure, that,
were it not for their free superior germen, they might
be associated immediately with them, at least they
might very well stand as a sub-type, for they are an
instance of the close connexion which exists between
these types, and thus become another evident link in
that beautiful chain of affinities which pervades the
whole vegetable kingdom, associating and assimi-
lating the most distant, and apparently the most
discordant parts.

GLORIOSA (Linnaeus). A genus of bulbous or
tuberous-rooted plants, natives of India. Class and
order, Hexandria Monogynia, and natural order
TulipacecE. Generic character : corolla of six petals,
reflexed from the base, petals lanceolate, pointed,
wavy, and very long ; stamens below the germen ;
filaments awl- shaped, elongated, spreading ; anthers
incumbent ; style like a thread, inclining ; stigma
trifid : seed-vessel three-celled, three-valved ; seeds
globular, and disposed in a double series. The
botanist who first discovered this plant must have
been enchanted by the sight, because he bestowed
upon it the high-sounding name of Gloriosa superba.
It is really, however, a magnificent plant even in
our hothouses, and in its native bed must be indeed
glorious. They are flowered frequently in our hot-
houses with the necessary culture of planting them
in turfy loam, sand, and moor earth, placing them in
a hotbed-frame till they begin to produce their long
dangling steins ; then remove them to a warm part of
a stove where there is room for the stems to advance,
and be trained on a wall or to a long stake. They
flower in the summer, and the stem dies down in the
autumn, after which it is necessary that the roots
should be kept perfectly dry till the next spring.
They are then re-potted, and plunged in a brisk
heat of the bark-bed, and at all times moderately
supplied with water. They are increased by division
or by seeds.

GLOSSODIA (R. Brown) is a genus of plants
belonging to the natural order Orchidece, and found
naturally in New Holland. It thrives in sandy loam
and moor earth, and only requires water when in a
growing state.

GLOSSULA (Lindley). An orchideous plant
indigenous to China, lately introduced to European
collections. This plant is called Glossaspis by other
authorities.

GLOW-WORM. A small luminous insect^ be-
longing systematically to the order Coleoptera, al-

GLOW-WORM.

though destitute of wings or wing-covers, section
Pentamera, family Lampyrida and genus Lampyris,
which see for the systematic characters of the insect.
One species only of these insects inhabits this coun-
try, namely, the Lampyris noctiluca, which is to be
seen amongst grass and low herbage upon banks
during the summer evenings, emitting a beautiful
clear greenish light from the underside of the ex-
tremity of the abdomen, not much unlike that of
phosphorus. It is the female, however, which is
generally observed to emit this light in such situa-
tions, the male being a smaller and more active winged
animal, totally unlike his sluggish partner. Some of

The male and female Glow-worm.

our poets have indeed supposed that this was not the
case, giving to the male the admiration resulting from
this beautiful appearance : thus Cowper, in his verses
on this insect, says

" this truth divine
Is legible and plain.
"Tis power almighty bids him shine ;
Nor bids him shine in vain."

And Shakspeare, alluding to the supposed cessation
of the luminosity before day-break, tells us that

" The glow-worm shows the matin to be near,
And "gins to pale Ms ineffectual fire."

It is, however, to the females that these writers have
alluded, and the especial possession of such a power
by individuals of this sex has led to the idea that the
light is given to them for the purpose of attracting the
roving male and disclosing to him the retreat of his
mate.

That the possession of this light is of far higher
importance in the economy of the insect than the
supposed use of which Cowper sings, viz.—

" To bid the traveller, as he went,
Be careful where he trod ;
Nor crush a worm, whose useful light
Might serve, however small,
To shew a stumbling- stone by night,
And save him from a fall," —

cannot be questioned ; and when we remember the
propensity of many nocturnal insects to fly towards a
light, and which is exhibited not only by moths but also
by many species of beetles *, we may, with Dumeril,
regard this phosphorescent light as " the lamp of
love — the pharos — the telegraph of the night which
scintillates and marks in the silence of darkness the
spot appointed for the lovers' rendezvous." It may,
indeed, be objected to this supposition, that there are
various other species of nocturnal insects which are
in a condition similar to that of the glow-worm,
namely, the males winged and the females apterous, —

* Mr. Main states that the male glow-worms have been seen
in such numbers as sometimes to cover a table round a lighted
candle in an open room. And Mr. Bird, in his account of moths
captured by means of a lamp near Reading, includes, " as might
be expected, the male of Lampyris noctiluca,"— Ent. Mag. ii.4l.

GLOW-WORM.

637

and yet, being also night-fliers, the females are des-
titute1 of any light. But here the analogy will not
hold in both cases : in the moths the males are
furnished with beautifully feathered antennae, and so
long as we are ignorant of the uses of these organs,
it is not too much to assert that they may give to their
possessors powers of appreciation or senses which
those species which have simple antennae are desti-
tute of; and this is the case with the male glow-worm,
although in various popular works, lately published,
these organs are represented as much feathered as in
the moths.

In the " Journal of a Naturalist" we find the gene-
rally received opinion endeavoured to.be supported
by the structure of the thorax of the male glow-worm,
which is so formed that when at rest no portion of his
eyes are visible ; but the head is margined with a
horny band or plate, under which the eyes are
situated, and which prevents all upward vision, as
well as greatly to impede the view of lateral ob-
jects ; so that by confining his view in his nightly
flight to what is before or beneath him, his search is
greatly facilitated. It is true that the structure of the
thorax of the female glow-worrn is similar to that of
the male ; but it is only when at rest that its position
is such as is described by the author of the " Journal."
The membrane which connects the head with the an-
terior cavity of the thorax is in these insects much more
pliant and extensile than in any other beetles with
which we arc acquainted ; so that when employed, the
head is as much exserted as in other beetles ; so that
when taken in conjunction with the large size of his
eyes, the male glow-worm possesses a greater field of
sight, owing to the flexibility of the membranous
neck, than most other beetles. But it has been fur-
ther objected, that the popular theory cannot be main-
tained ; first, because in the earlier stages of the exist-
ence of the female insect it is slightly luminous* ; and,
secondly, that the males also possess in a small degree
the same power. The principle of gradual develop-
ment, however, is surely a sufficient answer to the
former objection, and we cannot see why the circum-
stance of the males being luminous should be a reason
why they should not be attracted by other lights ;—
moreover, why should not the female be supposed to
possess a similar propensity of approaching luminous
objects as the male ? In some of the exotic species
the males are as luminous as the females, and the
latter furnished with wings ; and can it be supposec
that the latter would not be attracted either to a lamp
or to the light of the male ?

The habits of the glow-worm have been recordec
by various authors ; the most interesting accounts
which we have met with are those given by Mr. Wil-
son, in his Entomologia Edinensis, by W. H. White
in the Magazine of Natural History for November
1835. The latter gentleman having collected some
females towards the end of June, confined them, with
a male, in a glass jar, with sand two inches deep a

* It is evidently of the early and not the perfect state of th
insect of which the author of the " Journal of a Naturalist'
speaks, when recording their motions at the end of September
and which he regarded as indications of a migration to winter
quarters by the perfect insect, addinir, that " it we conclude tha
the summcr-light of the glow-worm is displayed as a signal taper
the appearance of this autumnal li^ht can have no such objec
in view, nor can we naturally assign any use of it to the crea
tute itself, unless, indeed, it serves as a point of union i
these supposed1 migrations, like the leading-call in the fligh
of night-moving birds."

he bottom, covered with moss, kept damp. After
arious experiments, he discovered a female half
uried in the shell of a «nail (Helix nemoralis], in the
ct of feeding upon the inhabitant ; he accordingly
upplied his captives with snails, upon which they
hrove well, eating for the whole day without inter-
mission, after which they fasted for eight days.
About the middle of July he observed one of the
emales depositing her eggs amongst the moss ;
a week after which she died — the remainder also died
t the beginning of the following month. " The
iggs," he proceeds, " were of a pale yellow colour
when deposited, and instantly emitted light ; and I
bund, when I had occasion to sprinkle the moss with
.vater, that the eggs emitted a stronger light ; they
jecame a little darker in four or five days. On
August 27th, the larva? began to appear. They were
rather lighter in colour than the eggs, but became
gradually darker as they advanced towards maturity.
They had, when young, the power of emitting light
or otherwise at pleasure. In sixteen days three of
the larva? ceased to eat (snails ?), and retired to one
side of the jar for the purpose of moulting or casting
their skins, in which operation they appeared to suffer
much ; they became very weak and languid, and
ceased to emit light. The operation being at length
overcome, two whole days passed before they ap-
peared to have strength to partake of food ; but after
they had once or twice taken nourishment, they be-
came more lively and vigorous, emitted a much
stronger light, and seemed to make amends for their
long fasting by eating, if I may so speak, with double
voracity. On the 10th of May following (making a
period of nearly nine months in coming to perfec-
tion) three of the larvae ceased to take food, and,
as I thought, to prepare for another moulting ; which
indeed was the case, but instead of a lively worm I
soon found (on the 13th) that one of them had be-
come a chrysalis, and the other two changed into the
same state on the 15th. The chrysalis, at first, ap-
peared of a yellowish colour, but soon deepened
into a reddish-brown. In the course of ten days
several other larva? entered into the chrysalis state ;
whilst others, to my great astonishment, still con-
tinued in their larva? state till the May following,
making a period of one year and nine months ;
whether this was owing to any improper treatment,
or whether they required longer time to arrive at
maturit3r, a second experiment may be the means of
convincing me. But to return to my chrysalides ;
the first, a female, arrived at perfection on the 30th
of May ; the second, a male, on the 3rd of June, and
the third, a female, on the 5th. The skin of the chry-
salis is so transparent, that the perfect insect, whether
male or female, is easily distinguished through it."

The larva of the glow-worm very much resembles
the perfect female in its form ; it may, however, be
distinguished by its larger size, and its colour, which
is velvety black, with the posterior angles of the seg-
ments dirty red, and by the rudimental structure of
its antenna? and legs ; the former, instead of being
composed of eleven joints, having only four ; and the
tarsi, instead of being five-jointed, consist of a single
short piece. The mandibles, on the contrary, are
much more developed in the larva? than in the per-
fect insect, being sickle-shaped, and very acute in the
former. The pupa resembles the perfect insect, ex-
cept that the limbs are laid along the breast, and
inclosed in a thin pellicle, the female pupa, of course,

638

GLOXINIA— GLYCYRRHIZ A.

exhibiting no rudiments of wings or wing-covers,
which are possessed by the male pupa.

The nature of the lumindus matter of the glow-
worm has much excited the attention of philosophers.
By Forster it was stated that the light was so strong
and continuous in oxygen gas, that one might read
by it with facility ; and M. Beckerheim not only as-
certained the correctness of this statement, but also
discovered that the insects were capable of living not
only in the different gases (muriate and sulphurous ex-
cepted, in which they die in less than eleven minutes),
but even in vacuo ; also that hydrogen gas became
detonating in consequence of the presence of these
insects ; that the light is produced by small lumin-
ous particles, which the insect can cover with a mem-
brane, so as to stop the external appearance of lumin-
osity ; and that after the removal of these luminous
particles from the body of the insect, without en-
dangering its life, it has continued to live, but with-
out any re-appearance of light. Dr. Caradori, an
Italian chemist, instituted an extensive series of ex-
periments, which are detailed in Griffiths's Animal
Kingdom, upon the Lampyris Italica, for which, how-
ever, we cannot devote more space than to give the
following short particulars : — The phosphorescence is
a property independent of the life of these insects, and
it is attached rather to the degree of softness of
the phosphoric substance, dryness suspending the
light, whilst softening in water regenerates it, but
only after a certain period — a remark also made
by Reaumur and Spallanzani upon the Phelades
and Medusa. He also tried upon the Lampy-
rides and their phosphorescent matter the action
of the different saline and spirituous fluids, in
which they have exhibited the same sort of pheno-
mena as the other phosphoric animals, the phosphoric
matter undergoing a dissolving action only through
the medium of water.

But phosphorescent matter is not of itself lumin-
ous, it being necessary that it should be brought into
contact with oxygen ; and Dr. Burmeister overcomes
this difficulty by the following remark : — " If we ima-
gine oxygen combined with the tatty substance or
its albumen, respiration gives it luminousness ; by
means of respiration oxygen is deposited in the cor-
poreal substance ; each inspiration, therefore, makes
the beetle shine ; and, again, next to respiration the
circulation of the blood appears to have considerable
influence upon the light, for we know that the sub-
stance emits the light only when moist. Carus has
also observed that upon each pulsation, and conse-
quently upon each fresh wave of the blood, the light
shines brighter*."

It only remains. for us to mention the species of
these interesting insects. Hitherto one only has been
decidedly found in this country. By Stewart and
Marsham, indeed, the L. splendidula was introduced
as a native species, but incorrectly ; the specimens
belonging to the latter having proved, according to
Mr. Stephens, to be only a stunted specimen of L.
noctiluca, our common species, and which appears to
be generally distributed throughout England ; near
London we have found it at Combe Wood and Rich-
mond Park, in Surrey, and it has been found on Ken-
nington Common, at Hendon, &c.

* Handbuch der Entomoloffie, § 282, translated by W. E.
Shuckard, under the title of " A Manual of Entomology, from
the German of Dr. Hermann Bnrmeister."

There are, however, several other European species.
The L. splendidula (found in the middle of Germany
and south of France, and which is smaller than //
noctiluca'). L. zenckeri, L. Mauritanica, and L.
senr/ci, agreeing with our British species in the ap-
terous condition of the female and full-winged males.
In L. hcmiptera, however, the male has truncated
elytra, and the female is entirely apterous. Dejeau
has accordingly formed it into a distinct genus, named
Geopyris ; whilst in L. Italica, Piedmontana, Illyrica,
and Lusitanica, the female does not differ externally
from the male, both having wings and elytra, although
some entomologists, as Rossi, Illiger, and Carus, speak
of apterous females of L. Italica ; but they have evi-
dently mistaken the larva for the female. These
specie?, with other exotic ones, constitute Dejean's
new genus, Colopholia. — Catal. des CoKopt., p. 301.

GLOXINIA (Heritier). A highly ornamental ge-
nus introduced from South America. Class and order
Didynamia Angiospermia, and natural order Gesncriece
Generic character : calyx superior, in five nearly
equal parts : corolla tubular, swollen, bent, limb ob-
scurely two-lipped, four or five lobed ; stamens in-
cluded, with the rudiment of a fifth ; filaments inserted
on a disc upon tooth-like glands, fixed on the germen ;
anthers two-lobed ; style with a double-plated stigma ;
seed-vessel two-valved. The gloxinias thrive in a
light rich soil. Individual plants flower best. G.
maculata is increased by dividing the root. G. spe
ciosa flowers abundantly, and strikes freely by cut
tings. This plant is constitutionally curious, as leaves
taken off close to the stem, placed in soil, and placed
in heat, will emit roots and a bud, which shoots up
to form a perfect plant.

GLYCYMERIS (Lamarck ; MYA SILIQUA, Linn.)
The few species of this genus yet known, have been
blended by previous authors with the Mya, from
which their hinge however clearly distinguishes them ;
they are doubtless allied to the So/en and Saxicava,
from the first of which they differ, having teeth at the
hinge ; and from the latter by the ligament being
placed on the shortest side of the shell, which is
transverse, widely gaping on either side ; hinge cal-
lous without teeth, and with externally projecting cal-
losities. The animal is unknown, and only two
species are described by Lamarck, inhabiting the
North Seas. The genus has been confounded with
several others, and much obscurity exists respecting
them. Many of the species appear to have been
described by Daudin under the name of Cyrtodcriia.

GLYCYRRHIZ A (Toiirnefort). A genus of Eu-
ropean herbs, some of which are cultivated, as the
common liquorice for instance. The genus belongs to
Legitwinosa;. Liquorice is much cultivated in Spain,
whence our chief supplies are drawn : it. has also for
many years been partially grown in England, planta-
tions being formed at Mitcham, Battersea.Fulbam, and
other places in the neighbourhood of London ; and
formerly it was cultivated to a considerable extent at
Poutefract, in Yorkshire ; Worksop, in Nottingham-
shire ; and in other provincial districts. Stow informs
us, that the " planting and growing of Licorish began
about the first year of queen Elizabeth's reign." One
hundred weight of the root will afford twenty-eidit
pounds of the extract, commonly known as Spanish
liquorice, which, when purified, becomes much more
agreeable in flavour, and is known as liquorice lo-
zenge. It enters into the composition of severa.
pectoral medicines, and is used to cover the nauseoui

GMELINA— GNAT.

639

taste of aloes and other drugs ; but its chief consump-
tion is among the porter-brewers. By the analysis of
Robiquet, it has been shown that the sweetness of
liquorice depend upon a peculiar form of sugar, which
he calls Glycyrrmsdn or Glycion. The roots also
abound in amylaceous fecula, aud contain a new crys-
talline substance, and a resinous oil, besides phosphate
and malate of lime and woody fibre. G.f/xtida differs
from the other species, by having a very disagreeable
scent : the whole plant, when bruised, exhales a fetid
odour.

GMELINA (Linnaeus). A genus of East Indian
trees, introduced into this country within the last
twenty years : class and order Didynamia Angio-
spermia, and natural order Verbenaccce. These plants
grow freely in sandy loam, mixed with a little moor-
earth ; and cuttings placed in sand under a glass,
strike root readily.

GNAPHALIUM (Linnams). A very extensive
genus of beautiful and curious plants met with in
every quarter of the globe. Class and order Syn-
genesia supcrflua, and natural order Composite. Ge-
neric character : anthodium imbricated, the inner
scales channelled and partly coloured ; receptacle
furrowed and downy ; florets of the ray imperfectly
female and slender ; pappus hairy, rough, pencilled
or featherj at top. This genus, called, from the firm
texture and durability of the flowers, Everlasting,
contained formerly many more species than are now
enrolled under the above name. The new genus,
HcUchrysum, and many species of Melalasia, have
been separated from GnaphaKum, They are culti-
vated iit moor earth, and are easily raised from
cuttings.

GNAT. A name applied to various small spe-
cies of dipterous insects, having a long slender body
and legs, and belonging to the Linnaan genera
Tipula and Culcx. More strictly, the name is given
to such as are furnished with a long proboscis em-
ploj'ed in sucking blood, forming the last-named
genus, whilst, for the smaller species of TipuMa;, the
name of midge is more applicable. We would, if
possible, wish that all the species of animals were
furnished with vernacular names, feeling convinced
that much more instruction is gained by the employ-
ment of such names, which, to a certain degree, fami-
liarise the objects designated, and which is in fact the
plan adopted in Germany ; but the poverty of our
language will not permit this. Still there are in-
stances in which vernacular names may be reclaimed,
and this appears to us to be one of them. To the
CulicidccE, therefore, we restrict the name of gnat ;
and to the Chironomi, Corethrce, and other minute
Tipulidans, that of midge.

We have already, in the article CULICIDE.S, given
a short and generalised sketch of the characters and
natural history of the family of the gnats. In the present
article, therefore, we shall confine ourselves to those
particulars which are at once brought to mind by the
mention of the word gnat, namely, their blood-thirsty
propensities, and the structure of the apparatus by
which these propensities are indulged. In the gene-
rality of insects which fly by night, we perceive a
general inclination to fly towards, and to be be-
wildered by light ; but this is not the case with the
gnat. We have repeatedly watched its motions in a
lighted room, and whilst the moth and the midge
have been dashing round the candles, scorching their
wings and burning themselves to death, the gnat has

been leisurely flying about the room in search of its
prey, and at length settling upon our hand with a
touch so slight as not to be perceptible. This latter
circumstance, indeed, is so remarkable that it can
scarcely be regarded otherwise than an instance
of remarkable instinct. If it were, at such a time, to
fly about with as loud a hum, and as blustering a
motion, as at other times, its visit would at once be
detected, aud death or disturbance would be the con-
sequence ; but instead of this, it exhibits in its coming
as much wariness and care as a cat about to spring
upon a mouse. We have, in the general article,
DIPTERA, mentioned the remarkable circumstance
that, amongst the whole order, it is only those species
which subsist upon blood, that have the various organs
of the mouth developed to their full extent. In page
288 of the present volume, we have given a figure of
the mouth of one of these blood-sucking species, and
requesting our readers to refer thereto, we will
shortly describe the structure of the mouth of the
gnat, which is similarly organised, premising only
that its real structure has only been very recently
ascertained, and that whilst Leuvvenhoeck supposed
it to consist of only four pieces, Reaumur of five, and
Swammerdam of six, it is in reality composed of
seven distinct organs, exclusive of the palpi ; hence
the figures given by Reaumur, are somewhat in-
accurate in their minute details. In the mouth of
the tabanus we perceive a large fleshy sheath,
with terminal lobes, but in the gnat this organ is
greatly elongated, so as to form a tube, or rather
canal, capable, however, of being bent in the middle,
and furnished at its tip with two minute lobes or lips.
The six lancet-like pieces described in the mouth of
the tabanus exist, but under a more elongated form,
in the gnat ; and the pair of large flat palpi are also
present, but variously modified in their form, and
composed of four or five joints ; thus in the male and
female anopheles, they are as long as the proboscis,
the two terminal joints being much larger iu the males
than in the females, whilst, in the true gnat (Cnlex
propre) they are as long as the proboscis only in the
males, and very much feathered, whilst, in the female,
they are very' short ; other differences exist iu the
other genera of the family Culicidcs.

When, therefore, the gnat has taken its station upon
the hand, or other part of the body, and ascertained,
by the delicate structure of the small fleshy lips at the
extremity of the external canal of the proboscis, the
part most fit for attack, the internal lancets are pro-
truded from the tip to a small distance, and, by their
conjoined forces, a puncture is made in the skin, with-
out, however, being felt by the victim ; by degrees
the lancets are pushed deeper and deeper into the
skin, the outer sheath becoming more and more
elbowed in the middle, the bent part being directed
towards the breast until the lancets being entirely
buried, the base and tip of the canal are almost
brought together, the intermediate parts uniting and
forming a straight line. Hence it is evident that the
analogy supposed by Swammevdam to exist between
this sheath or canal, " and the silver pipes (canula;')
used by surgeons, through which they pass their
lancets into parts deep-seated, in order to prevent
their wounding any other part than that which they
intend to cut," does not exist ; nor does the blood
run up this canal, but ascends by capillary attraction
into the stomach by means of the fine lancets. All
this time the action of the gnat is not perceived, nor

640

GNIDIA— GO AT.

is it until after it has taken its departure, satiated wit
gore, that the irritating action of the fluid, which i
instils into the wound, in order to cause the blood t
flow more freely, begins to be felt. We believ
vinegar applied to the wounded part to be a service
able remedy in assuaging the pain.

GNIDIA (Linnaeus). A genus of ornamenta
shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope. Class am
order Octandria Monogyma, and natural order Thy
melees. Favourite green-house plants requiring mucl
care, as they are killed by either too much or too
little water. Cuttings of the young wood root best
Moor-earth is most suitable for them.

GOAT (Capra). Agenus of ruminant mammalia
agreeing with the rest of the order in their genera
structure, but differing in so many particulars, am
corresponding so well with each other in the majority
of these, as to form a very distinct as well as a highly
interesting family. Of all animals which are rearet
in a state oT domestication, goats are the most pictu-
resque in their appearance, the most lively in their
manners, and the most hardy in their constitutions.
Of all four footed animals which have hard hoofs,
they are the surest footed ; and this agrees with their
native localities. They are the inhabitants of the
rocks, the tenants of the mountain-top, and the pre-
cipice, browsing on that vegetation which is inacces-
sible to any other race of ruminant mammalia. In
this respect some of the antelopes approach nearly to
them, as for instance the chamois, or rock antelope
of the Alps ; but fleet as that animal is, and great as
is its power of endurance, it is by no means equal to
the mountain goats. It is probably on account of the
vigorous constitution of those animals and their con-
sequent power of enduring the utmost severity of the
elements, that the ancients chose Capricorn, or the
goat, to represent that sign of the zodiac which the
sun occupies during the greatest depth and utmost
severity of the northern winter.

Goats, in one or other of the species, are found in
almost every region of the world ; and they are very
obedient to climate in many of their appearances ;
but wherever they are found they are a lively, brave,
and healthy race. Their skins are remarkable for the
firmness of the texture, and the strength with which
the hair adheres to them. Generally that hair is long
and shaggy, but fine in its gloss, and remarkable for
preserving that gloss for a long time after the
death of the animal. In some peculiar climates
this hair is longer and of finer staple, as in the goat
of Angola, which country by the way is remarkable
for the length and beauty of the hair in some other of
its mammalia. In some other countries again, as for
instance on the northern slopes of the Himalaya
mountains, there are goats which are furnished with
two sorts of hair, one which is rough and bristly, cal-
culated for throwing off the heavy snows which fall
upon their upland pastures during the winter ; and
another which is shorter, of finer staple, and superior
perhaps to the covering of any animal for the pur-
poses of domestic economy. The animals which are
thus provided are the Cashmere goats, or rather the
goats which furnish the materials of the splendid
shawls known by the name of Cashmere ; for the goats
themselves are rarely met with on the south side of
the summits, and will not live in the valleys or plains
of the lower and warmer parts of India. The wool
of those goats, which forms, as it were, their inner
clothing, is not near so fine in the staple as the wool

of many of the sheep ; but there ia a durability, am
also a facility of fixing permanent dyes upon ifj botl
of which render it of great value in an economica
point of view. And it may be said with truth thai
there is no tissue woven of any sort of material which
lasts so long, preserves its colour so well, or is so dif
ficult to be soiled, as a genuine shawl made of the
hair of the cashmere goat. On this account these
articles are esteemed the most valuable productions
of the oriental loom ; and as such they are favourite
presents among persons of distinction in that country,
the favourite abode of pomp and luxury ; and though
in point of beauty and design, and fineness of texture,
many productions of the looms of Europe are supe-
rior, yet in durability the very best of them fall short
of the genuine productions of India, if made of the
unmixed covering of the shawl goat of the Himalaya.
Goats, in all the varieties of their species, are un-
derstood to be remarkably healthy and wholesome
animals. Among their native rocks they browse upon
vegetables much too hard for almost any other of the
ruminant animals ; and it is understood that scarcely
any plant, be it what it may, is deleterious to a goat.
It is also said that they are not only proof against the
poison of reptiles, but that they feed with impunity
upon those possessing the most deadly venom. Thig
last is not very clearly made out, though it is by no
means unlikely ; because there are proverbs respect-
ing it in some languages. Thus for instance, in the
Highlands of Scotland, there is an old proverbial ex-
pression for gratuitous malignity, which states that it
s " like the goat eating the serpent." As goats are
more vigorous in their motions, and probably more
energetic in their whole character than probably any
other ruminant animals, the flesh of the full grown
ones, especially the males, is more tough, and it has
a peculiar flavour which many persons do not relish.
Its colour is remarkable for depth, indicating that
there is more blood in a goat than in almost any.other
animal ; and it is remarkable as a physiological
'act, that this general distribution of blood and con-
equent redness of appearance in the muscles of
inimals, is always in proportion to the degree of
:nergy with which those muscles are exerted, or ca-
>able of being exerted. When prepared as hams the
lesh of male goats, though exceedingly hard and pe-
culiar in its flavour, is much relished by some persons ;
and in any one who wishes to "make a day" in
climbing the rocks of a goat's country, there are few
locket companions more worthy of being recom-
mended than some slices near the knuckle end of a
goat's ham. At first indeed they look more like
lices of flint stones, or rather of mountain jasper, than
>f any thing else, and they require some vigour in
mastication. But, notwithstanding this, and notwith-
tanding their saltness and peculiar flavour, it is
stonishing how those slices of goat's ham stimulate
he salivary glands, moisten the parched throat, and
Hay thirst when one is breasting a steep mountain
nder the ardour of a mid-day sun.

The flesh of female goats when in proper condition is
olerably good ; that of young kids forms a delicious
nd withal a savoury stew ; and when goats are kept
or the purposes of domestic economy, and the males
re mutilated as is done with oxen and sheep, they
et very fat, and their flesh is described as being
xcellent. The milk of goats is reckoned superior
n many respects to that of any other animal. It
ontains less oil, and on this account it sits lighter

GOAT

641

upon the stomach. Hence consumptive people are
not unfreqnently recommended to go to the goat-
feeding districts, as a dernier ressort against that, most
direful of human maladies. With them, however, it
is the whey after cheese or curds have been made,
and not the entire milk, which is recommended ; and
even then it is probable that the fine air of the goat-
country exerts as salutary an influence as the supposed
medicine ; but whether this be, or be not the case,
is not much worthy of inquiry ; because if valuable
life can be saved (and as consumption is a disease of
the young, the life of consumptive patients is always
valuable), any circumstance that may bring them to
the pure air of those cliffy regions, which goats inha-
bit, is always worthy of being cherished.

It is a fact worthy of notice, that the remains of the
goat, and also those of the sheep, have not been
found in any of the accumulations of fossil animals ;
though, with the exception of Australia, which is very
peculiar in its zoology, goats are found native in all
the more extensive countries of the world. In all
regions they inhabit the most wild and inaccessible
places ; and yet they seem to have a stronger attach-
ment to the human race than almost any other
animals ; they are playful and familiar ; and it is highly
probable that the goat was among the first animals
that man employed in a domestic state. An instance
of this is mentioned by a very accurate naturalist, re-
lative to the wild goats of the Alps : he and his party
landed on a wild and romantic spot on the bank of
the lake of Thun, where those animals are numerous,
and left comparatively in a state of nature ; but he
and his companions had no sooner landed than, these
wild goats came bleating about them with their kids,
and even entered the boat, and resisted being driven
from it. They did this too evidently from mere at-
tachment to the travellers, because the pasture was
rich, and the said travellers had nothing in the shape
of food wherewithal to tempt them,

The introduction of the goat and the ram into the
zodiac by the very earliest astronomers, shows that the
people who first cultivated the science of the heavens
were familiar with these animals ; and indeed there is
reason to suppose that the human race, trom very
nearly the dawn of their history, domesticated and
found advantage in those animals. The account
given of the deluge in the book of Genesis, is too
scanty for supplying any adequate materials for na-
tural history ; but it is recorded that the ark rested
on the tops of the mountains. We have also evidence
in Britain, and almost in every country, that the
mountain tops were the habitations of men before
they took possession of the plains ; and that in those
early times the plains were covered with thick forests,
inundated with water, or so full of bogs and quag-
mires, as not to be fit for human abodes. In many
places, both of England and of Scotland, we have
evidence of early inhabiting and cultivation upon
heights which are now bleak and wasted ; and even
the roads and stations of the Romans, though they
must be referred to a comparatively recent period of
history, are usually found upon the high grounds. In
America too, when that country was first discovered
by Europeans, the most civilised races of the natives
were found upon the mountains ; and generally
speaking, when we look at the whole earth, we find
that, with the exception of the lines of the shores, and
the banks of the larger rivers, the people inhabited

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

the mountains, while the low grounds were abandoned
to tangled forests and wild animals.

This circumstance naturally connects itself with the
goat and the sheep as mountaineers, and renders it
probable that both of these were domesticated at an
earlier period than the ox, which, inhabiting lower
down, may not have been brought under the dominion
of man until the pastoral life had been partially
changed for the agricultural. Accordingly we find
that these animals make an important figure in the
mythologies of many ancient nations. Pan, which is
a symbolical personification of the productive energies
of nature, was furnished with the attributes of a goat ;
in like manner the Lybian Jupiter was furnished
with the horns of a ram. The JEg\», which was
equally the breast-plate or shield of Jupiter and of
Minerva, was originally nothing but a goafs-skin ;
and by the fable of those two divinities, the goat was
thus connected with supreme power and supreme
wisdom, which shows the estimation in which the
character of the animal was held. Under the Jewish
rituals the goat was an important animal, and used as
the appropriate symbol of atonement in the splendid
rites ordained by the Supreme Lawgiver himself.

The skin of the goat appears to have been early
used as an article of clothing ; and the first cloth, or
rather felt, which was made by the northern nations,
appears to have been chiefly formed of the hair of
this animal, mixed with shorter fur, matted together,
and stiffened with the gum of trees, so as to be proof
not only against the weather, but in a great measure
against the weapons of their enemies. This species
of garment is very frequently alluded to by the
ancient poets and historians.

The war tunics of the Cimbri, which, in their wars
with Marius, are represented as being such strong de-
fences, were of this material ; and the Roman auxiliaries
had winter dresses of the same, in Britain, and all the
other colder provinces of the empire. Even when
weaving from spun thread took the place of the more
ancient matting, it is highly probable that the long
hair of the goat was used in preference to the shorter
wool of the sheep. We have further evidence of the
early domestication of the goat, in the fact that all
Celtic tribes, which are justly regarded as the most
ancient races of many parts of Europe, bred and cul-
tivated goats long before the introduction of sheep.
In the Highlands of Scotland and in Wales, the goat
was the original domestic animal ; and in both
countries there are many districts called by the name
of Gower, which is Celtic for goat, and many families
have the same surname, whereas no name of the sheep
is used except in cases where the use of it is compa-
ratively modern. All these circumstances render the
history of the goat a highly interesting one ; but it
is long, and the details are hardly fitted for a work
like the present, though a volume of great interest
might be written on the domestic history of the goat.

Goats as a genus are distinguished from Antelopes
by the bony nucleus, or core of the horns, being, in
part at least, cellular, and the cells communicating
with the frontal sinuses of the cranium. The horns
are more or less angular, or ridged, with transverse
knots and wrinkles. Their usual position is upwards
and backwards ; they are found on both sexes ; but
on the female they are much smaller in size, and more
smooth in their surfaces than in the males. The line
of the forehead is a little convex ; the eye is very
SS

642

G O A T.

lively and expressive ; the iris being- generally browr
or yellowish, and the pupil large and oblong, as in
other grazing animals. There are no sinuses or
openings under the orbits of the eyes, as there are in
most of the deer and antelopes, neither is there any
muzzle, the naked part being confined to a small
space between the nostrils : the ears are narrow and
rather rounded at the tips ; the tail is short, usually
naked on the under side, and frequently carried erect.
In almost all the species the males have a long beard ;
and even in such as have the body covered with
comparatively short hair, the hair on the throat arid
dewlap is long. The hair of goats is not coarse, but
it is very strong, smooth, and straight in the staple ;
and in almost all the species there is a fine woolly
down among the roots of the longer hair. This
down, where it is in considerable quantity, is of great
value in the arts ; and indeed the whole covering of
the goat is remarkable for its durability. The legs of
goats are much stouter in proportion than those of
the antelopes. They are furnished with a callous
appendage at the joint, and the hoofs are high and
solid. The females have two mammae forming an
udder in the groin ; they go five months with young;
the female is capable of propagating at seven months
old ; and the birth usually consists of two kids, which
are perhaps the most sportive of all young animals.
The male does not come to perfect maturity until the
expiring of a year ; and then a single male is suffi-
cient for a rlock of a hundred females. At five or
six, the male is reckoned old ; but the full life of the
goat may be estimated at about fifteen years. At all
times, but more especially during the rutting season,
he-goats emit a peculiar smell, to which the name of
hircine has been given, from the word hircus, a he-
goat. In the rutting season the males follow the
habit of all gregarious animals, in battling keenly with
each other for the possession of the females ; and
though their mode of conducting those battles of
gallantry is very different from that either of bulls or
of rams, it is still very characteristic as well as pic-
turesque. Bulls attempt to gore and toss each other
with their horns ; and rams, retreating to a consider-
able distance from each other, return with so much
acquired velocity, as sometimes mutually to fracture
the skulls of each other, and when they miss their
aim, they tumble and sometimes break their legs ;
goats, on the other hand, rise up in their combats, and
throw their whole weight in a curious oblique motion,
which is very effective, so much so indeed, that a
goat is more shunned by dogs and other carnivorous
animals than the larger ruminantia. It gives its
stroke very suddenly, and as it generally delivers its
whole weight with great impetus against the ribs of
the enemy, its attack is equally severe and difficult
to be guarded against.

The tendency of the whole race is to climb to as
high situations as they can. In a state of nature the
whole of them inhabit the tops of the mountains,
probably nearer the line of perpetual snow than any
other mammalia of equal size. In a domestic stale
they also seek cliffy places, from which they do not
descend unless for the purpose of drinking ; and
where goats are kept they add not a little to the pic-
turesque effect of mountain scenery. When mixed
with sheep on the same pastures, they invariably take
the lead, and their more timid companions generally
follow in their track. They are bold, impudent, and
exceedingly capricious ; always on the alert, and

remarkably observant of every object around them ;
and if that which they see is novel or dangerous, they
instantly put themselves in an attitude of attack.
They are among the most sure-footed of animals, and
can pass along ledges of rocks of very narrow dimen-
sions, upon the brink of the most frightful precipices.
If two of them meet in any such situation as that now
noticed, where there is no room for either of them to
turn, the one crouches down and allows the other to
leap over it, after which it rises again, and both pur-
sue their journey with perfect safety. Bingley men-
tions a case of two goats meeting on the Torus, or
projecting round moulding of the ramparts at the
citadel of Plymouth, where the footing was very nar-
row, and the rampart overhanging the sea ; but the
one contrived to crouch down, and allow the other to
leap over it so that both pursued their dangerous
journey in perfect safety, and in the presence of nu-
merous spectators.

All their senses are very keen : they see to a great
distance, and notice every thing around them; and
their sense of smelling, though themselves smell
strongly, is very acute. In feeding they are very in-
discriminate ; and many plants which are not only
shunned by other ruminating animals, but act as
poison to them, are not only eaten with impunity but
relished by goats. There have been instances in
which tame goats have chewed tobacco ; and in the
wild state they eat the most bitter and narcotic plants,
such as euphorbium, hemlock, henbane, and even
digitalis, without suffering any injury. Few plants are
more disrelished by cattle than the common ragweed,
and therefore the pastures on those lands in upland
and humid situations, are very much infested by it ;
but goats clear it off, if allowed to browse the plants
before they come into flower. There are many of
the compusitce which are the pests of onr pastures,
and which are, generally speaking, biennials, making
roots the one year, and bearing flowers the next,
which might probably be cleared off, by pasturing with
goats at proper times. The alternation with each
other of animals, one set of which can eat the plants
that are disliked by another, is an important point in
the economy of our grazing districts, though it docs
not appear to have received that attention to which it
is entitled. Indeed those who devote their attention
to the rearing of domestic animals for profitable pur-
poses, in general so confine themselves, both in theory
and practice, to one species, that they neglect all
others, and thereby seriously injure, and sometimes
actually ruin the pasture grounds. It will be readily
understood, that if a pasture land abounds in a plant
which is disliked by any kind of grazing animal, that
plant will be left, while those upon which the animal
feeds are eaten up ; and by this means the plant
which is injurious to the pasture will seed and mul-
tiply, and in time overrun the ground, and choke and
extirpate those other plants which are accounted more
valuable. There is not the least doubt that in this
way many of the upland districts of the British islands
iiave been converted from grass land to heath, and
thereafter followed the natural progress from heath to
peat, in consequence of having been grazed by black
i-attle only. In those districts where sheep-grazing
las been introduced, which, in the north at least, is a
much more recent species of grazing, the quantity of
leath has diminished ; though in the more steep and
d places the sheep tracks have opened the surface
to the rains, so that entire mountain sides have been

G O A T.

64,3

swept down to the naked rock, and ruined by the
debris and rubbish the meadows at their bases. In
situations where there is also a sprinkling of goats, it
does not appear, at least so far as our observation has
gone, that either of these consequences takes place,
at least anything like so speedily ; hence the admix-
ture of cattle, sheep, arid goats, and the judicious
adaptation of the numbers of each to the natures of
the pastures, is a point well-worthy the utmost atten-
tion of those who are proprietors of our mountainous
districts, or otherwise take an interest in it. If the
habits and feeding of useful animals, and the nature of
soils and climates, and the progressive history of their
vegetation were a little more studied,it would be all the
better for the country ; for there is no doubt that this
species of ignorance does more real injury than is
generally believed.

If plantations are an object, as they always are
near the sea, for the sake of the bark and charcoal
which can be afforded by judicious coppice cultiva-
tion, goats cannot be introduced without occasioning
mischief, in consequence of the proneness which they
have to bark the trees in winter, and gnaw the buds
and twigs in the spring.

All the species of wild goats, which are not indeed
very numerous, are remarkable for their activity among
their native rocks; and though in forward running
they are not probably equal to many of the antelopes,
their single bounds, and the situations in which they
take them, are superior to those of any other animals.
If there is the least hold for their feet, so that they
can get a point of rest for an instant, and thereby ac-
quire an impetus, they will ascend a perpendicular
wall or precipice fifteen feet in height ; and it is
astonishing how little hold will sustain them, and how
speedily they will renew their leaps. It is generally
said, and the saying is probable, that when they do
lose their balance, and fall from the precipices, they
contrive to fall upon their horn?, in the same manner
as a cat alights on its feet, and that they thus can
tumble from a height of fifty or even a hundred feet
without sustaining the slightest injury. Those which
are found in the more elevated and rocky mountain?,
are represented as being able to ascend a considerable
way between the perpendicular sides of a ravine.
How they do this, and contrive to bound from side
to side of the chasm, is not easily explained upon any
principle of common animal mechanics ; but it has
been so frequently stated by authors whose descrip-
tions are generally to be credited, that it cannot well
be denied. How far the elasticity of the horns may
aid them in this singular species of ascent, is not a
matter that has been determined, or one which is easy
to determine ; but still the goat does ascend by leap-
ing against one of the opposing faces of the rock, an<:
alighting on the opposite face ; so that the whole o
the motion bears some analogy to an oblique billiard
ball strikincr alternately on opposite cushions of a
table, though the horns strike the one side and the
feet the other. How these act so as to give an up-
ward motion to the animal is a point not easily deter-
mined ; but it is one which is worthy of study.

The boldness, dexterity, and hardihood of the goa
among rocks, renders the wild goat one of the tn<>?
hazardous species of game for the mountain hunters
They are exceedingly vigilant ; and when alarmed or
rendered suspicious, they can escape upwards, auc
they are said sometimes "to throw themselves down
upon the hunters, and tumble them upon the rocka

n which case the hunter is dashed to pieces while the
mountain goat falls on its horns, and escapes unhurt.
Goats utter various sounds according to their age.
md the feeling with which they are impressed at the
ime. The kids or young ones bleat, and their bleat-
ng, though sharp, is not unpleasant. When the older
ones are alarmed, they utter a peculiar sort of whistle ;
and their general sound when preparing to repel dan-
ger is an indescribable sort of spluttering. In those
wild places the females are strongly attached to their
voung ones ; and a she-goat of the mountain tops can
defend her kids from the wolf and the eagle with
equal success.

Altogether they are animals of great interest,
whether we regard their picturesque form, their
vigorous action, or the readiness with which they can
be domesticated, and the strength of their attachment
to man when they are in that state. There is another
point connected with the domestication of goats which
is worthy of attention ; and that is the great prone-
ness which they have to break into varieties, accord-
ing as their pastures differ. This tendency is one of
the most remarkable evidences we have of the capacity
of domestication in animals ; and it is remarkable
that the most domesticated variety differs from what
we consider the unbroken natural species ; it is
always the more gentle in its disposition. Some re-
marks on this subject will be found on looking back
to the article CAT, in a former part of this work ; and
we may repeat, that animals of that species which
differ the most from the common brindled wild cat,
such, for instance, as the three-coloured tortoise-shell
cat, and the cat of Angora, are the most gentle in
their manners. It is exactly the same with goats ;
and wherever there is a great departure from what is
considered as the wild type, there is a corresponding
gentleness of manners and attachment to mankind on
the part of the animal.

The species of goats are but few compared with the
numbers of the animals, and their general distribution
over the globe ; and from the tendency above men-
tioned of breaking into varieties, it. is not very easy
to say which ought and which ought not to be consi-
dered as a species. We shall therefore confine our
observations to those which are the most definitely
ascertained.

THE WILD GOAT (C. ^gragrns), is generally under-
stood to be the parent stock of all the domesticated
varieties of goats, much as these differ from each other

in ijo.u.

It is the pasenz of the Persians, and the bezoar goat
of some other" eastern nations, a concretion called

bezoar bein;

sometimes found in its stomach.
S S2

The

C44

GOAT.

horns of this species are of a brownish ash colour,
uniformly arched backwards, but little divergent, and
with a slight recurvature toward the points. In their
section, the}' are compressed laterally, with sharp
angular edges to the front, and with a sort of furrow
which renders the edge sharper. These horns make
an angle with the frontal bone ; and are marked
with projecting tubercles, between which the surface
is slightly striated. Some of the authorities describe
these tubercles as increasing with and indicating the
age of the animal, but the point is not fully ascer-
tained. Indeed the animal is naturally so wild, and
can make its escape so readily, in places where it is
not so easily followed, that it cannot be subjected to
very accurate examination. On the posterior edge
the horns are rounded ; in the male they are some-
times three feet in length ; but they are usually
smaller in the females. The general colour of the
male is greyish brown, with a dark line along the
back and a black tail : the front of the head is black-
ish, darkest towards the nose, and reddish on the
sides : the beard and long hair on the throat are red-
dish brown. The female is smaller than the male,
and paler in the colour.

The wild goat is chiefly found on the eastern
mountains, — in those of Caucasus, Persia, and various
parts of Hindostan. That it exists in Europe is not
very clearly made out. The ibex inhabits some of
the more lofty mountains, where there are abundance
of domesticated goats ; and as the domestic he-goats
breed readily with the female ibexes, it is very pro-
bable that those specimens, apparently intermediate
between the common goat and the ibex, which have
occasionally, though rarely been met with, are only
hybrids between the wild and the tame goat. Indeed
both the wild goat and the ibex vary so much in dif-
ferent countries, that is not very easy to draw a clear
and satisfactory line of distinction between them.
Indeed direct crosses between the domestic goat and
the ibex are not uncommon in Switzerland ; and the
males of this cross are not only capable of breeding
back to the pure blood of the goat, but are much
esteemed for that purpose, as being larger in size than
he-goats of the pure breed. Indeed it is probable
that there is no muleism in the matter ; but that the
ibex and the goat may breed freely, so as that the
mixed progeny may among themselves be prolific ;
for, of all the larger domestic animals, goats are
probably the most free breeders.

The great distinction of the species is in the horns,
and these are gradual. The ibex of the Alps has
the horns remarkably square ; that of Caucasus has
them more rounded ; while the Abyssinian variety
makes an approach to the mountain wild goat, and
that again to the domesticated ones.

In animals which are so flexible to climate, it is
not easy to establish either a local or a progressive
nistory with any sort of accuracy ; and, therefore, we
must either adopt the plan of endless detail, naming
the goat of every locality, which is at once the most
useless of all operations in natural history, or we
must be contented to mention only two or three of
those which have the most striking differences ; and
thev are all different in country as well as in appear-
ance, except m so rar as they 'have been transported
from one locality to another. In this respect the
removal of goats does not appear to be so successful
as that of some other animals. It is generally under-
etood that the goats of the Himalaya will not live

even in the most hilly districts of peninsular India
although the' temperature there is said not to be very
different from that of their native mountains. The
vegetation differs very greatly, however ; for, when
we ascend the Himalaya as far as the region of the
native goats, we meet with a vegetation which is
quite European in its character ; whereas, in the
south of India, the mountain jungles are in part
at least composed of bamboos. There is another
thing. The goats of the Himalaya, especially those
most valuable ones which inhabit the northern slopes
of the mountains, and which are said not to he met
with any where to the southward of the summits, inhabit

Jemlah Goat.

a country rendered moist from the stores of snow
on its mountain tops, as well as occasional showers
puring the summer. In the south of India, on the
other hand, both in Dukhun and in Mysore, but more
especially in the latter, there are many of the more
elevated districts in which there is no rain for a
considerable part of the year, and where the mon-
soon sometimes misses, and there is no rain for two
years. Now, the Cashmere goat, or shawl goat, as
it is called, is an animal well provided, by the nature
of its covering, for enduring changes of the weather,
and especially the falling of rain, and, from being
thus qualified, it is not adapted for the burning
drought which sometimes visits the central parts of
southern India, above the Ghauts or passes of the
mountains. Some specimens of this far-famed goat,
which, after all, is merely a variety of the common
one, have been brought to Europe, and, both in Eng-
land and in France, they have bred freely. In 1828,
a Mr. Tower obtained from the Society of Arts in
London their large medal, for having produced a
s:oat's-hair shawl equal to those of Cashmere, though
both the growth and the manufacture of this country.
This gentleman kept his Cashmere goats on a farm
in Essex, and, from four first imported, his flock
amounted, in a few years, to more than two dozen.
We believe that those goats did not feed upon the
rich pastures, or relish the vegetation of the ordinary
razing-grounds, whether native or exotic. The dry
common was their favourite place of resort, and their
most common food was furze, the prickly shoots of
which they preferred to every other vegetable.

Considerable attention was paid to the keeping of
these animals, and the fine wool was obtained by
combing their common, or longer hair, with an in-
strument not very unlike the currycomb used for
trimming horses. We believe that the fine wool is

GOAT.

645

procured in the east by a process nearly similar ;
and it is possible that the*fact of its being- perfectly
ripened on the back of the animal may contribute to
its superior strength. It doe's not appear that the
long hair is cast at the same season.

This experiment, and we believe those made in
France have been as successful, from many circum-
stances connected with it, is well worthy the attention
of those who cultivate natural history with a view to
the promotion of domestic economy. At one time, it
was very generally understood that the Merino sheep,
producing the fine wool, could not be profitably bred
in any part of Europe except Spain. It has been
found, however, that the produce on the sandy plains
of Saxony is finer than that from the original Spanish
stock ; and so useful has the discovery proved, that
in very many of the dry and sandy districts to the
northward of the Carpathian mountains it has com-
pletely changed the character of the people's economy.
In a great part of Poland, where woods are compara-
tively few, where the soil consists of sand and gravel,
containing no mines, and where the people must, in
consequence, subsist entirely on the surface-produce
of the ground, that ground had been completely
worked in tillage until it became comparatively unpro-
ductive, unless at a few spots advantageously situated.
The first consequence of this exhausted state of a
country is the falling off in the food of domestic
animals, and a consequent diminution of their num-
bers. This, of course, diminishes the quantity of
animal manure, and that diminution immediately tells
upon the land in inferior crops. When this progress
begins.it is of a growing nature ; and therefore there
is not, in the power of common agriculture, any
means of hindering it. It is the case with several of
the poor and dry districts of England, which are far
from fuel, and deficient in manure ; and, though it is
probable that the whole is in a state of improvement
as regards the cultivation of vegetables, it is highly
probable, nay, absolutely certain, that many parts of
it are fast declining in value. Now, we know no
means by which calamities of this kind can be
arrested upon the large scale, and the land brought
back to fertility lor tillage, but the depasturing of it
by some species of ruminating animals. Hence it
becomes very desirable to know, not only what
ruminant can be bred with present advantage in any
particular district, but what can, while it compensates
the breeder for his labour, turn the tide-ruin from the
land, and gradually bring it back to fertility.

The case of Poland, to which we have above
alluded, and also of the light lands on both banks of
the Oder, form experiments exactly in point. In
very many instances, the farmers, especially those
who migrated from Saxony, when so much of that
state was annexed to Prussia, have ceased to be

train farmers. Indeed, they found the crops unpro-
table, except on the rich bottoms, to which the sub-
stance of higher grounds is washed by the rains of
autumn and winter. Thus they became shepherds,
naturally imported the same valuable breed of sheep
which had already succeeded so well in Saxony ; and
thus, while their wool is a more marketable article,
more easily carried to market, and really more pro-
fitable than the corn, a sward is gradually coming
over many places, which, when the scanty crops of
rye were cut down, remained nearly plaritless through-
out the year. As this has succeeded so well in the
case uf sheep, it would be at least worth while to try

Cashmere goats upon the bleak and dry commons of
this country, because there is a point of sterility in
such commons at which any attempt to graze them
with sheep is a failure.

These remarks apply not only to the Cashmere
goat, but to almost every species of the genus ; and
any one who considers that we have, within the four
seas, a thousand climates, and all varieties of soil,
from the rich meadow, which scarcely any continuance
of tillage will exhaust, to the plantless "mountain-top
capped with snow, it is not easy to point out from
which place of the world a ruminating animal could
be brought which would not find some spot in these
kingdoms very nearly corresponding to its native
locality.

This is one of the strongest inducements which can
be held out for the scientific study of this useful class
of animals in conjunction with the nature of those
places of which they are natives, or to the circum-
stances of which time has, at all events, tempered
them. Probably we shall resume it a little when we
come to the article RUMINANTIA ; but it is an ex-
tensive subject ; in many respects it is a new one ;
and we cannot resist the present opportunity of
recording our opinion of its usefulness, and earnestly
recommending our readers to promote it by every
means in their power. Having done so, we shall
return to say a very few words on the varieties and
species of goals, which are in themselves matter of
far minor importance.

Egyptian Goat.

THE COMMON GOAT (C. hircus, is found in almost
every quarter of the world, though in considerable
variety in the different districts, and almost every one
is so familiar with its most common form, that a
description of it is not necessary. In many parts of
continental Europe, and those especially in which
other means of subsistence and wealth are the most
difficult to be procured, the common goat is of very
great service. On the poorest pastures she-goats
yield a good deal of milk, which, though it contains
but little cream or oily matter, is both agreeable and
wholesome. We mentioned already some of the
uses of the bodies of these animals ; and we may
add, that the skin is an article of great commercial
value. That of the kid is the most flexible, the most
handsome, and the most durable for light gloves and
shoes ; and this answers well with the condition of
kid's flesh, and the rapidity with which goats breed,
that flesh being without any of the rankness and

446

GOAT.

hardness of that of the mature animal, and being in
fact more juicy and delicate than lamb. In foreign
countries, where goats are abundant, the skins of the
mature ones are used for many purposes, being a sub-
stitute, and a very durable substitute, for various
kinds of cloth. There is no skin which takes so fine
a dye as goat-skin, and there is none of the same
lightness and flexibility which is so strong. In
Turkey, and other parts of the East, it is still used for
the manufacture of what is called Turkey or Morocco
leather ; and though European manufacturers do
what they can to produce imitations in sheep-skin,
those imitations are vastly inferior to the genuine article.

Goat-skin is used for many purposes in the arm}'.
It forms the cover of the dragoons' holsters, and used
to form the knapsack of the foot soldier. The whitest
wigs, those which give a lawyer a sufficiently snowy
head without the unseemly addition of hair-powder,
are made of goats'-hair, bleached and baked ; and
there is no doubt but that an excellent wool might be
obtained by combing any variety of the domestic goat
at the proper season of the year. The goats of
Angora, arid of many parts of Syria, produce that
hair which is spun into camlets, of which the con-
sumption was at one time very great. They are now
imitated with sheep's wool of a peculiar staple, spun
in such a manner as to give the threads the hard
appearance of the genuine camlet wool of the Levant ;
but the best of these imitations are vastly inferior to
the real camlet, both in the fastness of their colour
and in the time that they last. If a man gets a real
camlet cloak, which has actually grown on a Turkish
goat, he not only has a good garment for life, but
may have a tolerable one to leave to his heir ; where-
as a single season, and often a single day, will, in
many instances, completely spoil the best imitation.

In general, there is a traceable resemblance be-
tween the domestic goat and the wild goat of the
mountain rocks ; but the male is of inferior size, and
the hair is of coarser texture, which is perhaps one
of the most remarkable instances of change in the
clothing of an animal. It is one, however, for which
we ought to be prepared ; for domestic goats, though
they are principally attended to in upland districts,
never are so high -on the mountains as the wild ones.
They are thus subjected to a less rigorous climate ;
and the tendency of a warmer climate is always to
roughen, as well as to thin, the hairy coverings of
animals. The horns, even in those varieties which
most resemble the wild ones, do not incline so much
backwards, and the tips are very generally turned
outwards. The colours of these are various : some
are black, or blackish brown, while others are sand
colour, and others again are black and white. Those
which may be considered as deviating the least from
the natural state and habits of the genus, have the
hair long and shaggy, although of fine staple, and re-
markable for its strength » bat there are others in
which not only the shape, but even the number of
the horns, differ from those of the wild goat ; the
coverings of their bodies are smoother, and tints of
brown and reddish are blended with their colours.
Some, also, have the ears pendulous ; some are
without horns ; and some have more than two horns,
of which ast the Plate, GOATS, contains a specimen.
To enumerate the various races of goats, all of which
are, more or less, referrible to the same type, would
be an endless, and not a very instructive task. The
Persian goats have horns resembling in form those of

the wild goat, but smaller in size. These goats have
the ears small and erect, and a conspicuous tuft of
hair between the horns. The general colour is
brownish ash, with rust-coloured points to the hairs.
The Welsh goats, which are so well known as to be
identified with the principality, are of large size, and
the.hair fine and long, and usually of a white colour.
The horns of the males are of large size, often more
than three feet in length. They stand nearly vertical
in the greater part of their length, but bent outward
at the tips. The dwarf goat is understood to be
originally from western Africa, but it has thriven
well in South America and the West Indian islands,
where great numbers are to be found. They are,
however, very much intermixed with other breeds,
but always have a covering of short and close hair.
This hair is varied with fawn colour and white on
many parts of their bodies ; but the produced hair
on the beard and neck, and also the tail, is not un-
frequently black. This variety is commonly without
horns, and the ears are small and erect. It is very
liable to break into differences, so much so that
instances have occurred of the females having four
mammae. This race of goats is, generally speaking,
more timid than most of the others. It is not a little
remarkable, that the goats in Sweden, and those
in the mountainous parts of Spain, bear a close
resemblance to each other. These are generally
Without horns, with Ion? hair and upright ears.

Angora Goat.

In central Asia, where goats are much used in a
domesticated state, there are many varieties, one of
the most celebrated of which is the Cashmere goat, to
which we have already alluded. It is remarkable for
the length, whiteness, and silky texture of its hair.
The horns are not so rugged as those of the common
goats ; and the ears are generally dark-coloured, and
partially pendulous. The legs are very cleanly
made ; and altogether they are handsome animals.
The under fur or wool, which is the valuable part of the
covering, is white, readily dyed, and retains its colours
with great tenacity. It is understood that this breed
is confined to the higher parts of the Himalaya ; and
that when the valley of Thibet is arrived at, there is
an inferior breed, which is, however, still valuable as
a wool goat, though its wool is not of the same deli-
cate texture as that of which the fine shawls are
made. This breed has been introduced into France.
The horns are not so brown as those in the former ;
the ears are less in size, and the legs are stouter in
proportion to their length. The colour is more sub-
ject to variation from dark spots than that of the true
Cashmere goats. The goats of Angora (see the cut)
have the hair white, and generally long and very

GOAT.

647

soft ; and their general expression is slightly that of
the sheep. Their ears are large and of a buff colour;
and the horns are upright in the males, but smaller
and bending downwards in the females. The Syrian
goat (see the cut on page 64:3) also has the hair long,
but not so fine as that of the Angora goat. The
Egyptian goat more resembles the goats of Europe
(see cut, page 645). All these varieties have small
horns. Some of the goats farther to the east have
the horns much larger, as the Jemlah goat (see page
644).

The other members of this genus, which may be
considered as differing in certain respects from the
goats of common language, and partaking in part of
the characters of the antelopes, are those to which
the general name of Ibex has been given, but which
has been qualified with different names in the species
or varieties which are found in different parts of the
world. Of these, one at least is European, one African,
and one Asiatic ; though the African one is met with
in some of the adjoining parts of Asia, as for instance
in Arabia. They are all mountaineers, and inhabit
fully as high as those species of which the wild goat
is considered as the stock and type ; but they are less
numerous in individuals than the goats, if we include
the domesticated varieties along with the wild ones.

THE IBEX (C. Ibex). This animal is found, though
rarely, in the Alps, still more rarely in the Pyrenees,
and, "as it is understood, in some other mountainous
parts of Europe and Asia. The male has considera-
ble resemblance to the goat, but has the head smaller
in proportion, though the whole body is larger. The
eyes of this species are large, round, and brilliant,
and even fiery in their expression. The length of
the full-grown male is about five feet, the height at
the shoulder about two feet eight inches, and that at
the rump about two feet ten inches. The horns are
Hut, with longitudinal ridges on the sides, and trans-
verse furrows across ; they incline backwards and
outwards. It has been said that the transverse ridges
of the horns mark the age of the animal, but the fact
is not absolutely made out. When young, the ibex
is light greyish ash, but the colour deepens when it
comes to maturity ; and it is then brownish in sum-
mer, and greyish in winter. Those animals have but
little beard, not much dewlap on the throat ; and their
hair is at no time long and shaggy, but resembles
that of the deer more than the goats. The dorsal
line on the back is darker coloured than the rest of
the covering, with the exception of the face, part of
which is nearly black ; the ears are small and erect ;
and the whole air of the animal is lively and vigorous.
The ibex being esteemed a valuable prize by the
Alpine hunters, has been almost exterminated on the
Pyrenees ; and it is comparatively rare on the Alps,
except in some of the more elevated places of the
Tyrol. The female when full grown has the horns
about as large as those of a three year old male ; and
the prevailing colour is brown. The rutting season
is in autumn, at which time the scent of the males is
peculiarly strong. The sexes remain in company during
the winter ; but, as the spring advances, the females
retire to the cover of the Alpine thickets, where they
produce their kids. This takes place about April or
May, and the young are very active, and carefully
guarded by their mother.

The hoofs of the ibex are very firm in their texture,
and are furnished with a sharp margin, like those in
the chamois. The animals are very expert in leaping,

and the time between the leaps is so short that the
animal resembles an elastic substance taking various
bounds from mere elasticity, instead of an animal
which has to renew its effort every time it touches
the earth. When pursued they take to the glaciers,
along which they can bound with great rapidity, and
clear chasms of a good many feet, though in general
they do not resort to such surfaces, as they furnish no
food. They are gregarious, though the flocks seldom
exceed a dozen, and rarely amount to so many, even
in those places where the remains of the race are sup-
posed to be most abundant. During the night, in
stormy weather, and generally speaking in the winter,
they resort to such woods and copses as are found in
elevated places ; and it is understood that they sub-
sist, in part at least, upon twigs and bark, and even
upon lichens. In fine weather they resort more to
the open places, and are more scattered. The months
of August and September are those in which they are
in finest condition, and most earnestly sought after by
the hunters. The flesh of the old ones is inferior to
venison, but superior to that of full-grown goats ; and
that of the young is peculiarly fine. Altogether the
ibex is an interesting animal, and it is not the less so
from being found only in the most wild and inacces-
sible places, and being sought for at the very extreme
of peril to the hunter. One almost regrets the success
of ibex hunters, notwithstanding their boldness, and
the hazards to which they expose themselves ; fur
the animals are too fine for being upon the verge of
extirpation.

THE IBEX OF CAUCASUS (C. Caucasica) inhabits the
mountains after which it is named ; and though it,
upon the whole, has a considerable resemblance to
the ibex of the Alps, there are differences between
them. This species is broader and shorter in the
body ; of a darker brown colour on the upper part,
and whiter on the under. The head is generally
greyish, but with a black space round the mouth.
The chin and upper part of the throat are whitish
grey, but the breast is black, as is the dorsal line.
The fronts of the legs are black, and there is a whitish
streak on them behind ; the horns are nearly two feet
and a half in length, of a dark brown colour, and very
solid. The hair, though not so much produced, is
hard and rough, and thickly interspersed with grey
wool among the roots. The females are smaller, and
have their horns less ; and in the male they are not
so much roughened by transverse furrows arid ridges
as in the common ibex. The characters of the two
species are very similar, and indeed it is doubtful
whether this be not the more energetic animal of the
two. Hitherto it has been observed only in the ele-
vated parts of the Caucasus, but it is highly probable
that it may exist in some of the other elevated moun-
tains of central Asia.

THE IBEX OF ABYSSINIA (C. Jaela). This species,
which appears to have been known to some of the
ancients, and which is mentioned by some of the
Jewish and Arabian writers, differs more from the
two formerly mentioned species of ibex than they do
from each other. It stands higher on the legs ; and
the hair on the greater part of the body is shorter
and closer. The general colour is dun ; and there is
little beard on the chin of the male ; but the throat
and upper parts of the fore legs are furnished with
long hair. The backs and fronts of the legs are marked
with short and dark lines. The ears are very small,
the forehead is rounded, the horns are larger than

648

GOAT-MOTH — GOBIOID.E.

those of the ibex, and each one is curved to nearly
half a circle. They have a round edge to the front,
and numberless small transverse furrows on the sides.
This species, of which the natural history is not very
satisfactory, is understood to be abundant in the
mountains of Abyssinia and the elevated grounds on
both sides of the Red Sea, so that it does not inhabit
such elevated places as any of the other two species.
We are, however, in want of further information re-
specting the wild animals of those parts of the world.

Such are a few particulars in descriptive history of
those species of the genus Capra which appear to be
best made out. Many others have been mentioned
by different describers ; but the tendency which the
whole genus has to break into varieties, both of size
and colour, renders it necessary to speak of them with
a good deal of caution. It is possible too that where
wild ones meet, there may be numerous crosses be-
tween them, which further adds to the confusion.
Notwithstanding these circumstances, the goats are
an interesting genus of animals, both because they
appear to have been among the first, if not the very
iirst, ruminating animals which man domesticated ;
and also because they take up their habitation in
those places of the earth which, though they are the
most sterile, are at the same time the most sublime ;
and there is a spirit about the animals themselves
which increases their interest.

GOAT-MOTH (Phalaina, Bombyx, Cossuss, Lin-
naeus). Cossus ligniperda of modern entomologists.
The name of one of the largest species of British
night-moths. It is of a grey colour, with numerous
dark spots and lines on the wings. The larva, which is
supposed to have been the celebrated cossus of the
Roman epicures, feeds on willow-trees, which it bores
in all directions, sometimes rendering them so weak as
to be overthrown by the first high wind. This larva
is a large fleshy looking grub, and emits so strong a
scent, that its presence in a tree may be known to
persons accidentally passing, hence the origin of the
English name. It is this insect which has been the
subject of a series of the most elaborate dissections
by the celebrated Lyonuet, and which have rendered
his name immortal.

GOBIOID^E. The Goby family, the twelfth
order into which Cuvier divides the Acanthopterygii,
or fishes with spinous rays to their fins. They belong
to that division of the order which has a portion of the
bones of the pharynx formed into cells partly cartilagi-
nous and fitted with covers, by means of which a portion
of water can be retained for the purpose of moistening
the gills. All the fishes which have this peculiar
form of the mouth, are remarkable for being able to
live some time without water. They are, generally
speaking, ground fishes, capable of crawling about
from pool to pool, when the tide of the sea or the flood
of a river leaves them ; and some of them are capable
also of making their way across the banks, and even of
performing short journeys upon land. An account of
one of the most remarkable of these will be found in
the article ANABAS.

The Goby family have the spines of the dorsal fin
slender and flexible, they have the same internal struc-
ture, namely an intestinal canal without caeca, and no
air bladder. There are several genera in the family,
one of which will be found noticed under the article
BLENNY, and another under the article ANARRHICHAS,
and others in the words referred to in those articles.

Though curious in their habits, none of these

families are very interesting in an economical point
of view ; and they are, generally speaking, very
small in size.

THE TKUK GOBIES (Gobius] nave the ventral fins
united throughout their whole length, so as to form a
concave disc. The body is lengthened ; the head of
moderate size ; the cheeks puffed out, and the eyes
near each other ; they have two dorsal fins, of which
the one is long. In general they prefer places having
a clayey bottom, in which they excavate passages for
their winter habitations. In spring they prepare a
sort of nest, in which the spawn is deposited and fe-
cundated, after which it is covered with sea-weed, to
preserve it from the attack of enemies. There are a
good many species inhabitants of the European seas,
none of which are of much size, or any value, except
as food for other fishes.

The black Goby, or rock fish (G. niger"), is rather a
rare fish on the British shores ; and the following is
the description of it, as given by Mr. Yarrell, from
the manuscript of the late colonel Montagu. "The
head is large, the cheeks inflated, and the lips very
thick ; the mouth is wide, and furnished with numerous
small and very short teeth in several indistinct rows in
both jaws ; the under jaw is roughened by them like
a rasp ; the eyes are high up on the head, and ap-
proximate ; the upper part of them dusky, partaking
of the colour of the head, the lower part of the irides
golden : between the eyes are two small pores, the
anterior one more than double the size of the other,
but not distinguishable without the assistance of a
lens : the nostrils are placed before the eyes, on the
outside of each of which is a small fleshy appendage,
rather elevated : the cheeks and opercula of the gills
are furnished with lines of very minute papilla;, which
appear like spines ; most of these lines are transverse,
but some run longitudinally, observable only with the
aid of a glass. On the top of the head a longitudinal
sulcus runs as far as the commencement of the first
dorsal fin. The colour is uniformly dusky in the
matured fishes, except from the chin to the vent,
which is whitish, with some deep purplish black
between the gills beneath ; the ventral fins usually
more or less black. It is, when fresh, covered with a
thick mucous secretion ; but after having been in
spirits, the fish becomes extremely rough to the touch
if rubbed the reverse way. This roughness is occa-
sioned by the scales, which are large in proportion,
being ciliated at their free edges.

" The ventral fins, which supply the great generic
character, are connected, forming a funnel-shaped
appendage of twelve branched rays ; and the anus is
furnished with an elongated tubercle. We never
could discover that the black goby ventured into fresh
water, and with us certainly spawns in the sea.
With respect to the union of the ventral fins, it would
seem to be for the purpose of forming an instrument
of adhesion ; but in no instance have we observed
that they adhered either to rocks, or to the bottom ot
the glass vessel, in which they have been kept alive
for several days."

This species is found on the rocky shores, in all
parts of the country, from Cornwall to the Orkney
islands. The spawn is deposited on rocks ; the
young are plentiful in the summer, and the full grown
ones do not exceed five or six inches in length. The
ventral fins form a perfect disc.

The double-spotted Goby. This species nas been
named by Mr. Yarrell, from two dark spots on each

G O D W I T.

649

side, the one under the first dorsal, and the other near
the base of the tail. It is a small species, only be-
tween two and three inches in length. It is found
on many parts of the coast. The body is brown.

Tlit spotted Goby. This species when full grown
is about three, inches in length ; and is plentiful in
the estuary of the Thames ; but it is not used for
any purpose except as a bait for other fish. The
ground colour is pale yellowish white, freckled with
small rust-coloured spots.

There are several other species or varieties ; but
they are too minute and unimportant to be entitled to
any particular notice ; and we shall mention the more
interesting of the remaining genera that compose the
family under their generic names.

GOD WIT (Limosa). A genus of Echassiers, or
stilt birds (grallidce or waders), and which belong to
the true marsh birds. They are of the longirostral,
or long-billed division ; and both in their structure
and their habits, they hold a sort of intermediate
place between the snipes and the avocets.

The generic characters are : the bill very long,
soft and flexible throughout the whole of its length,
slightly recurved or turned upwards, depressed, and
flattened toward the tip. The two mandibles of the
bill have furrows toward the sides. The upper man-
dible is longer than the under one ; and there is a
sort of knob on the inner side of it at the tip, against
which the point of the lower mandible acts ; and
thus, though the bill is soft and flexible, it is capable
of breaking a small shell, or bruising any of those
little animals upon which the birds feed. The knob
in the godwits is not, however, so well developed as
in the snipes, and this forms one of the characteristic
differences between the two genera. The nostrils
are pierced in the furrow, and partially closed by
membrane. The legs are long and slender, and bare
of feathers to a considerable distance above the tarsal
joint. There are three toes to the front, and one to
the rear ; the three front ones are rather long, and
the middle and outer ones united by membrane as
far as the first joint. The hind toe is articulated
upon thv tarsus higher up than the others. The
wings are of mean length, best adapted for rapid and
whirling flight, the first quill being the longest.

Marshes and the oozy banks of stream0 are the
favourite haunts of the godwits. They are never to
be met with in the open country, or on the margins
of clear waters which have pebbly banks and beds.
They are more aquatic in their habits than the snipes
and woodcocks, but less so than the avocets, as they
do not, like these, get into the runs of water, but dab-
ble or poke in the silt and sludge. They get the
generic name Limosa from their searching the slime
of the pools and streams, and they are sometimes
called " ooze -suckers," though they of course do not
actually suck the ooze and sludge, but merely search
it with their bills for the mollusca, worms, and other
small animals which it contains. Sight can be of no
use to them, and thus they depend on the sentient
properties of the bill, as an organ of feeling or touch.

They are birds which consume the surplus produce
of places which are very peculiar, and not only widely
apart from each other, but subject to great seasonal
changes. Thus the godwits are all birds of passage,
shifting from one region to another as the seasons
alter the characters of those places in which they find
their food. At one season of the year the frost drives
them from the more northerly parts of their range,

and at another the drought drives them from the
more southerly. They are not, however, so exclu-
sively migrants in latitude as those birds which feed
upon vegetables, or upon larvae and other animals,
which depend in a great measure upon the seasons
of vegetation. Their food is in the sludge, and there
are so many and such varied little animals there, that,
if there be the requisite quantity of moisture, in
countries which are perennially suited to their habits,
they remain all the year without migrating ; and such
countries are generally about the middle of the tem-
perate latitudes. They breed in the marshes, a con-
siderable way inland, if the situation suits them ; but
in the winter they descend nearer to the seas, and
may be met with in the oozy bays and estuaries,
though not decidedly in the salt water. When inland
they conceal themselves among the aquatic plants in
which they nestle ; and when they come to the sea,
they are abroad only at those times when the state of
the tide is favourable for their very peculiar mode of
feeding. The mornings and evenings are the times
at which they are most upon the alert ; and then they
may occasionally be seen running about with great
velocity, and poking in the soft and moist earth for
those little creatures upon which they feed. They
are, however, better known by their cry, which is
shrill and peculiar, and bears some resemblance to
the bleating of goats. Godwits belong to that class
which the epicures term " gut-birds ;" as such they
are highly prized ; and when they make their appear-
ance in the London markets they fetch a high price,
partly on account of their real value and partly from
their rarity. There are several species, and two at
least are British, though these, on account of their
variations in plumage with age or with season, have
been described as four or more.

THE BLACK-TAILED GODWIT (L. melannra) is the
species best known to British ornithologists, and it
certainly still breeds in the fens, though in fewer
numbers than formerly. At one time or another it
has got a great variety of names, and has been called
a snipe, a woodcock, a plover, and many other things
which it certainly is not.

The chief cause of the confusion which there is in
the names and descriptions of tlie bird, appears to be
the changes of plumage to which it is subject ; but
there are some characters which remain constant in
all those changes, and by them it may always be
known. The chief, and they are sufficient for the
purpose, are the bill and the tail. In the bill, the
curvature upward is so very slight that it cannot be
discerned by the naked eye, without the application
of something straight to it, and it is probably on this
account that this bird has sometimes been called a
snipe. The point of its bill is, however, not nearly
so much thickened as in the snipes, which shows at
once that the godwit seeks its food in softer mud,
and therefore is closer to the margins of the waters
than the snipes. One sees a very beautiful gradation
in these birds, the snipes are very near the water, the
godwits are close upon it, and the avocets are in it
altogether. In the tail the permanent character is
the colour ; black in the two-thirds next the point,
and white in the basal third. If these characters are
attended to, the bird cannot be mistaken, whatever
may be the colours of the rest of its plumage.

In its summer plumage the head of the godwit is
reddish brown, streaked longitudinally with dusky
black. The lower neck behind, the back, and the

650

GOD VV I T.

scapulars, are of a black colour, cross barred and
, more or less margined with brown. The wing coverts
are brown, the lesser ones having white margins ; the
quills are dusky brownish black with white at their
bases. A streak of a dull whitish colour passes over
the eye, below this the cheeks, throat, fore neck, and
breast, are pale reddish brown, and all the rest of the
under part pure white ; such is the black-tailed god-
wit in its nuptial attire. .In winter, however, its
colours change so much that we ought not perhaps to
blame those who, before the habits of birds were so
well known as they are now, called it by another
name, and described it as a different species. In
winter, the whole of the reddish brown on the fore
part of the bird fades into pure white ; the brown on
the upper part becomes pale grey, and the black
., dusky brown ; even the flying feathers of the wings
become dusky or brownish, which is not the case in
many of those birds which otherwise change their
colour entirely with the seasons. Even the black in
the tail fades considerably at this time ; but it still
maintains as much depth as to preserve the character
of the bird. The black-tailed godwit is about seven-
teen inches in length, and three quarters of a pound
in weight when in good condition, but the individuals
vary in size and weight at different times of the
year.

As noticed formerly of the genus, the black-tailed
godwit is an exceedingly shy and hiding bird. It is
all day in the tall herbage ; and as it nestles and
hides itself in the tufts and hummocks of the sludgy
parts of the fens, it is very rarely seen in proportion
to its numbers ; and those numbers do not appear to
be great, neither is the bird much distributed over
the country. In north Holland it is by no means a
rare bird, and it is probable that of those which ap-
pear in the fen districts of England during the winter
the greater part come across from Holland ; for,
though this species is by no means a very discursive
bird, or much given to migrate, the distance from
Holland to Norfolk is not long for a flying creature ,
and the wind may often bring those to England which
are shifting their grounds as the marshes of Holland
begin to freeze, just in the same manner as that wind
helps the birds of Siberia in an occasional visit to our
shores. These birds breed inland in the fens, their
nests are hidden, and the eggs, which are very rarely
seen, are four in number. The young of the year
have the plumage much more dingy and mottled than
the old birds, so that they have occasionally been
described as a distinct species. Indeed so long as
colour was made a principal specific distinction among
those long-billed fen birds, there was no determining
how many there were ; for summer and winter, young
and old, and in some cases male and female, all had
sufficient difference to mark them in this way. We
shall offer some general remarks on these birds, and
their localities and movements, in a general article

LONGIROSTRES.

THE BAR-TAILED GODWIT (Limosa ntfa) is the
only other species which has been observed in Eng-
land ; and it is known only as a winter visitant.
Even as such it is very capricious, appearing some
years in considerable numbers, and in other years
scarcely at all. It is generally said that this species
comes most abundantly in those seasons when the
other is rarest. This fact, which wants further con-
firmation before we can implicitly rely on it, might
lead to something important in the distinction of the

two, respecting the causes why they migrate ; because
it would imply that a different kind of season drives
each species from its continental haunts.

The bar-tailed godwit has its permanent characters
in the same parts of the body as the black-tailed one.
Its bill is considerably more curved, although even it
has not a very great curvature, at least nothing com-
pared to that of the avocet The tail is throughout
its length white in the ground colour, and regularly
cross-barred with black, The tarsi are also shorter
in proportion ; and there are considerable differences
in the tints of the plumage, although in this respect
there is still a good deal of resemblance. In the
summer plumage, the reddish brown on the head is
more entire, and there is more reddish brown on the
back. The summer tint of the fore neck and breast
is also a more lively red ; and there is no white on
the bases of the quills. In winter the general plum-
age becomes greyish, and the red-brown on the breast
fades to a greyish white. In this state, however, it is
easily distinguished from the black-tailed species.
The young of the year are entirely white on the
under part, except the fore neck, which is mottled
with greyish. The upper part is mottled with brown
and greyish white, and the black bars on the tail are
much smaller, and not nearly so well made out. In
this state a random individual sometimes comes to our
eastern shores about the middle of autumn. These
are smaller in size than the mature ones, and have
been described as the cinereous or .ash-coloured god-
wit, of which Bewick gives a very faithful represen-
tation.

We have been thus particular in pointing out the
distinctions between those two species of birds, and
the various changes of plumage in each, not only for
the purpose of so far correcting the pointed blunders
which are in circulation respecting them, but because
they are among the most curious of our fen birds ;
therefore information is desirable to those who have
the opportunity of examining the fenny districts per-
sonally, which, of course, are those on the spot, and
familiar with fen travelling. To ordinary persons,
how zealous soever they may be in matters »»f natural
history, there is a sort of taboo upon the fens ; for he
who could set at perfect defiance the briars and
brambles of a common, the heath of a mountain, or
esenthe ocean surges themselves, would hesitate a
little to advance on concealed ground, where the
very next step might plunge him neck deep in sludge
as black as Styx.

GREAT MARBLED GODWIT (L.fcdoa) This is an
American species ; and, as Wilson's description of it
is the best, we shall quote from it as much as we deem
nece-ssary for our purpose. " This bird," says Wil-
son, " is a transient visitant of our sea-coasts in
spring and autumn, to and from its breeding place in
the north. Our gunners call it the straight-billed
curlew, and sometimes the red cuilew. It is a shy,
cautious, and watchful bird ; yet so strongly are they
attached to each other, that, on wounding one in a
flock, the rest are immediately arrested in their flight,
making so many circuits over the spot where it lies,
fluttering and screaming, that the sportsman often
makes great destruction among them. Like the cur-
lew, they may also be enticed within shot, by imitat-
ing their call orwhistle ; but can seldom be approached
without some manoeuvre. They are much less
numerous than the short-billed curlews, with whom,
however, they not unfrequently associate. They are

GOLDEN ROD— GOMPHOLOBIUM.

651

found among the salt marshes in May, and for some
time in June, and also on their return, in October
and November ; at which last season they are usually
fat, and in high esteem for the table. The female of
this bird has been described by several writers as a
distinct species from the male ; the chief difference
consists in the undulating bars of black with which
the breast of the male is marked, and which are
wanting in the female.

" The male of the great marbled godwit is nineteen
inches long, and thirty-four inches in extent ; the bill
is nearly six inches in length, a little turned up to-
wards the extremity, where it is black, the base is
of a pale purplish flesh-colour ; chin and upper part
of the throat whitish ; head and neck mottled with
dusky brown and black, on a ferruginous ground ;
breast brown, with wavy lines of black ; back and
scapulars black, marbled with pale brown ; rump and
tail coverts of a very light brown, barred with dark
brown ; tail even, except the two middle feathers,
which are a little the longest ; wings pale, ferrugin-
ous, elegantly marbled with dark brown, the four first
primaries black on the outer edge ; whole lining and
lower parts of the wings bright ferruginous ; belly and
vent light rust colour, with a tinge of lake. The
female differs in wanting the bars of black on the
breast. The bill does not acquire its full length be-
fore the third year." It is not very clearly ascertained
whether there are any more distinct species than this
one in North America. It is not, however, unlikely,
because North America is very extensively adapted
to the habits of such birds. The same mistake has
been committed with regard to the above species,
as in those of England. Either the young, the fe-
male, or the male in a different plumage from
what it generally appears in, in the same locality,
has been described as the marbled godwit. In all
probability it is the young, for the young of all these
jirds have the plumage much more mottled and
broken than the old ones.

Species have been mentioned as occurring in
Siberia, and also in the east of Europe ; but it is
doubtful whether these are true godwits. They ap-
pear rather to be snipes ; and the shades of distinc-
tion between snipes and godwits are, in some species
of snipe, so fine, that casual observation of the one
without having the other to compare with it, is very
apt to occasion mistakes. One who goes to a distant
country requires to be a most experienced ornitholo-
gist before venturing to decide positively on rninuto
specific differences, especially in such birds as those
now under consideration. The snipes are puzzles in
themselves, and the difference between snipes and
godwits is equally puzzling ; arid in some cases it
must, in part at least, be decided by locality. Indeed
the only way in which one can get a clear and, satis-
factory view of the distinctions between those genera
which inhabit nearly, but not altogether, the same
grounds, is to take the differences of ground along
with the differences of inhabitant. Now the snipes
are very generally distributed, at least, over large
tracts of the land, while the godwits are few in num-
ber, and their localities far more limited. The dif-
ferent structure of the bill is the chief organic dis-
tinction which leads us to this. The bill of the
snipe is a boring bill, and from its straightness, and
its consolidation at the tip, qapable of penetrating
mud of some consistency. The bill of the godwit,
on the oth.ejLh.aud, is a scooping bill to a very slight

degree, and not fitted for such boring as the bill of
the snipe. If we carry the comparison a little farther
from the godwit to the avocet, we find in that bird the
scooping bill in its utmost perfection ; and the avocet
may accordingly be considered as the very last land
bird which feeds in the waters ; because beyond what
the avocet scoops standing in the rivers, there remains
nothing more to be done till the bird actually floats
and dabbles, as is the case with the ducks.

In these birds we have the land birds fining off to
a vanishing line, at which they gradually glide into
the water birds ; and it is not a little curious that in
proportion as the shade in distinction between land
and water becomes finer, the birds become fewer in
species and numbers, and more limited in their geo-
graphical distribution. Snipes are abundant ; god-
wits are far less so ; and avocets are the least so of
any, so that the number of species and of individuals
is in exact proportion to the extent of pasture.

This is a beautiful instance of harmony and design
in creation ; and as we meet with it at a point where
we are prepared for doing so, it strikes us the more
forcibly. This, however, is the rational and instruc-
tive, as well as the delightful way of studying natural
history ; and really nobody but a poulterer has any
business to know any thing about birds, unless he
knows as much about the places which those birds
inhabit.

We may mention here, because it will save room in
another place, that there is one species of bird which
is not uncommon in the north of Europe, and whichhas
been called the lesser godivit, and the Jadreka snipe,
which, though it is not, properly speaking, either a
snipe or a godwit, was not unhappily named by Lin-
naeus, Scolopax limosa, " the godwit snipe." The
following is the description of this bird as given by
Latham ; and we believe it is correct in the details,
though perhaps not entirely so in localities. " Length
seventeen inches •, weight nine ounces ; bill near
four inches long, dusky, the base yellowish ; irides
white ; the head and neck are cinereous ; cheeks and
chin white ; back brown ; on the wings a line ot
white ; vent and rump white ; two middle tail feathers
black ; the others white at the ends, which increases
on the outer feathers, so as the exterior ones are
white for nearly the whole length ; legs dusky.
This bird inhabits. Iceland, Greenland, and Sweden.
Migrates in flocks in the south of Russia ; seen about
Lake Baikah; and is said also to have been met with
in England." This bird, which has the feet partially
webbed, is very justly considered by Cuvier as inter-
mediate between the godwits and the avocets.

GOLDEN ROD is the Solidago virgaurea of Lin-
naeus, one of a large genus of herbaceous plants, com-
mon in every botanical collection.

GOMPHOCARPUS (R. Brown). A curious
flowering genus of flowers from the Cape, closely
allied to the old genus Asclepias. It flowers and pro-
duces seed plentifully in greenhouses, and is thereby
easily propagated, or it may be increased by cuttings
in the usual manner.

GOMPHOLOBIUM (Smith). A genus of fine
flowering plants from New Holland. It belongs tc
the tenth class of Linnaeus, and to the natural ordei
Leguminosce. Generic character : calyx five-parted,
parts nearly equal, broadly lanceolate ; corolla stan
dard, large, expanded, and emarginate ; style incurved
and deciduous ; pod globular, and full of seeds.
These plants grow best in very light sundy loam, re-

652

GOMPHUS — GOOSE.

quire very moderate watering. Young cuttings root
readily in sand, or they may be raised from seeds
which ripen occasionally.

GOMPHUS (Leach). A genus of large dragon-
flies (LIBELLULID^E, which see for the characters),
having for its type the Llbeliula vulgatissima.
. GONEPTERYX (Leach). A genus of butter-
flies, separated by Dr. Leach from the genus COLIAS
(which see), chiefly on account of the angulated wings.
The type is the brimstone butterfly of collectors,
Paftilio rhamni of Linnaeus, a handsome species of a
fine brimstone colour, found in most of the woods
near London, and which makes its appearance very
early in the spring.

GONOLEPTES (Kirby). A remarkable genus
of arachnidous animals, belonging to the family Pha-
langiidcE, having the hind legs very much thickened,
elbowed and spined. The species are of a compara-
tively large size, and are for the most part natives of
South America.

GONOLOBUS (Michaux). A genus of climb-
ing perennials, natives of South and North America.
The flowers are pentandrious, arid, from the curious
form of the parts, are arranged in the natural order
Asdejriadca:. The plants are propagated by cuttings
in the usual way.

GOODENIA (R. Brown). A genus of fine
flowering herbs and under-shrubs, natives of New
Holland. Class Pentandria, and natural order
Goodenovice. Generic character : calyx five-cleft ;
corolla tubular, and one or two-lipped, limb in five
parts, with colourless margins ; anthers distinct ;
stigma a simple indusium, somewhat ciliated ; capsule
two-celled, with parallel partitions ; seeds flat. They
are easily propagated by seeds which ripen plentifully,
or by cuttings.

GOODENOVICE. A small natural order, con-
taining five genera, and above twenty species. The
genera are natives of the South sea islands; are
herbs or under-shrubs, and are all rather pretty plants,
and well worth cultivation.

GOOD NIGHT. An Indian hoihouse-climber ;
is the Argyreia or silverweed of Loureiro, and the
Argyreia bona-nox of Sweet ; formerly the Lettsomia
bona-nox of Roxburgh. Generic character : calyx of
five conniving sepals ; corolla cylindrically funnel-
shaped ; limb plaited, nearly five-lobed ; stamens in-
cluded, unequal ; filaments joined to the tube, thick
at the base ; anthers erect, and arrow-shaped ; style
filiform ; stigma double. Natural order Convolvulacece.
GOOSE (Anscr}. A genus of web-footed birds,
oelonging to the flat-billed or Lamellirostral division,
and the Anatidee, or duck family. A slight notice of
the relations in which the geese stand to the rest of
the family, and also to some of the other orders
which they approach, will be found in the article
ANSER ; and their general relations are noticed in
the article BIRD. They are, however, too import-
ant, both in nature and in a state of domestication,
to be passed over in the slight manner in which they
are there noticed, and therefore we shall advert to a
few of the more remarkable ones here.

Geese are very numerous, as well in species, or,
at all events, in varieties, as in individuals. ,They
are most abundant in the polar countries, and much
more abundant in those regions of the northern
hemisphere than of the southern. It is true that we
know much less of the birds of the far south than of
the far north ; but the habits of geese are such as to

warrant us in concluding that they are by no means
numerous in that part of the world. Geese are, with
few exceptions, completely web-footed, and they all
can swim. Swimming is not, however, their proper
and peculiar, or, in general, even their chief motion.
If the structure of a goose, and the way in which the
legs support the body, are compared with those of a
duck, especially one of the diving ducks, which range
farther upon the waters, and are more constantly
there than the common ducks, we shall perceive a
very remarkable difference in the purposes for which
they are best adapted. The bodies of such ducks
are, as one would say, "boat-built;" that is, they
are evidently formed for getting through the water
rapidly at a small expense of effort ; their legs, too,
are placed far backward, so as to strike against the
water, which follows in the wake, and this gives great
advantage to the stroke, much more so than if it
were given more in advance. Besides, they have
the oblique motion, which throws the foot to a
distance from the body, and partially turns it in such
a way as that it can be brought forward with the
least resistance. They are thus, strictly speaking,
swimming birds ; and though all of them have con-
siderable power of wing, they are not less expert in
the water than those birds which can fly compara-
tively little, although they are better at walking
along the ground. The goose, again, is properly
a walker, although the power of swimming is added,
and in some of the species the two powers are nearly
equal, and there may be some in which the swimming
predominates.

Geese are also much more exclusively vegetable
feeders than the rest of the family, at least with the
exception of the swans ; and the swans are much
more aquatic in the feeding than the geese, for which
habit they are well adapted by the greater length of
their necks. Geese never dive, nor do they, in
many instances, feed below the surface of the water,
though they often feed, while swimming, on the
seeds and succulent leaves of aquatic plants.

The generic characters are : the bill shorter than
the head, higher than wide at the base, diminishing
toward the tip, and thus having a slightly conical
form. The teeth, in the margins and toward the tip
of the bill, are conical, and the point of the upper
mandible is generally furnished with a nail of harder
consistence than the rest, and sometimes differently
coloured. They are, generally speaking, polygamous,
but there is no great external difference between the
sexes. The old males are indeed rather larger than
the females, but, before they reach maturity, the two
sexes are very much alike both in size and colour,
though this colour is, in many of the species, different
from that of the mature ones.

The natural habitats of the geese are the dampj
meadows, and those tufted marshes which abound
with plants, and they do not much frequent clearwaters
with pebbly shores. This species of pasture naturally
points out why geese, in a state of nature, should be
very migratory birds. In winter the land vegetation
is covered with snow in every part of the northern
regions, and this covering of snow generally extends
to the shallow pools, and those tufts of vegetation
which supply food for geese before the winter sets
in. There is thus, therefore, nothing for them to eat
on the landward part of the regions, in which they
spend the breeding-time in the summer in the greatest
number. The sea is, therefore, the only pasture

GOOSE.

653

which is left, open to such a bird as a goose in the
high latitudes. In the extreme north the sea also is
covered with ice, and with snow over that ice ; and,
even where this is not the case, geese arc incapable
of finding their food in the sea, even though clear of
snow and ice to the high-water mark, which it seldom
is, while the snow lies thick in the northern parts
even of this country. Thus, in Scotland, though vast
flights of geese pass over the country in winter, the}'
never alight, in the northern bays and estuaries, or on
those deep lakes which have snow down to the
water's edge. They come gradually southward, dis-
persing themselves over such of the inland pools and
marshes as are not frozen, and as far to the south-
ward, as long-continued frost and snow follow them,
they move on ; so that, in the course of a very severe
winter, wild geese, of some description or other,
range over almost the entire surface of the British
islands. Their flight is high ; and, though they do
not alight except at such places as afford a prospect
of food, yet there is no doubt that, from their situa-
tion at the top of the sky, they scan the whole
horizon in their passage. It is doubtful whether any
of them cross such mountains as the most lofty and
broad-based of the Grampians, though they do make
their way from the northern glens to the southern
ones. Indeed, those marshy ponds, ivhich are usually
found about the parting of the water where two glens
meet, are the places of favourite resort, more espe-
cially in the earlier part of the migration. The mode
of flight is peculiar, but it can be better explained
afterwards, when we are noticing those species most
common in this country ; but an attentive perusal of
what we have said will easily show the reader why
the geese necessarily leave their northern pastures
during the w inter, and also that, during this migra-
tion, they preserve, as nearly as they can, the same
kind of feeding-grounds along its whole extent. It
will also be seen, that those feeding-grounds are not
frequented by any other race of migrant birds which
the rigour of winter drives from the north, and hence
one important use of geese in the economy of nature
may be learned.

But there is another branch of the subject which is
equally deserving of investigation, and that is, why,
when they have escaped from the rigour of the
northern winter, they return again ? It has sometimes
been satirically said, that " A Scotchman is no goose,
for, when he migrates from the north, he seldom
migrates back again ;" and though this is only a little
bit of pleasantry, there is more knowledge of natural
history, to which it may be made a sort of artificial
memory, than one would at first sight be apt to sup-
pose. The Scotchman does not migrate northward,
because he finds the southern pasture perennial, and,
by parity of reasoning, the goose migrates northward,
because to it the southern pasture is merely seasonal,
and not perennial ; and while barrenness sets in in
the south, plenty begins to return in the north ; and
thus the geese are as true to their feeding instinct, or
rather, as much impelled by the want of food in their
voyage northward as in their voyage southward.

There again we may see, that how well soever the
peculiar circumstances of the northern summer — the
plentiful supply of food, and the long day, may assist
those birds which migrate northward in summer, in
the rearing of their brood, by enabling them to pro-
cure more provisions than they could possibly do in
the south ; yet it shows that the fact of migrating is

not, as nas sometimes been supposed, a consequence
of any instinct, or propensity, arising out of the dis-
position to breed. This is a very important point to
be established, because the migration of birds appears
a very mysterious subject ; and as the tendency of
the unreflecting part of mankind is to solve all mys-
teries by their own mode of procedure, that is by fore-
thought, purpose and plan on the part of the creature,
this is a very dangerous ground, inasmuch as it makes
those animals rational, by placing them not only on a
level with man, but considerably higher ; and thus
virtually destroying the foundations both of religion
and of moral obligation, — a consequence which many
of those who have been the warmest advocates of the
doctrine, would be the last to countenance by open
means, however powerfully their unwise and un-
guarded assertions may indirectly promote it. From
what has been said in the case of the geese, it is per-
fectly evident that their impulse, both southward and
northward, is the momentary, and merely animal one
of the desire of food, and the impossibility or difficulty
in finding it ; and that when a goose makes a spring
journey from Lands' End to Labrador, its speculation
does not at any one time extend a moment into the
future.

The circumstances of the southern and northern
countries, as contrasted with each other, are of them-
selves sufficient to show that famine follows, or forces
a goose northward to plenty in the summer, as well
as southward to plenty in the winter. We take the
argument in this article GOOSE, instead of in any
other part of this work ; because the goose is a very
generally distributed bird ; because its migrations
when in a state of nature are very decided ; and be-
cause those seasonal changes, in consequence of
which it must migrate or perish, are more general,
and certainly more imperious than in the case of any
other bird.

As the congealing influence of cold forces these birds
from the north, so the drying influence of heat forces
them from the south. Early in the summer, when
the east winds continue cold and dry for a succession
of weeks, the pools disappear, and the vegetation on
the upland places is retarded. This state of things
continues gradually northwards as the year advances ;
and a different state of things gradually mingles with
it, and becomes a maximum in respect of it, after a
certain limit is passed, till, when we come to the ex-
treme north, this new state of things entirely predo-
minates over the other.

We use the word " summer" upon this occasion, as
a general name for all that part of the year during
which the productive power of the earth is on the in-
crease ; and according to this mode of division, all
the remaining part of the year is winter. There are
many cases in which this is a far more convenient mode
of viewing the differences of the year, than the division
of it into four seasons. Everywhere, at least without
the tropics, there is a summer and a winter ; but spring
and autumn differ greatly in the different latitudes of
the range. In the extreme south of it, spring and
autumn may be considered of longer duration than
summer and winter, while in the extreme north, the
duration of both of these seasons is not only very
much shortened, but in some cases nearly, if not alto-
gether, obliterated. There are instances even in the
north of Scotland, in which the wild plants come into
bloom within a week or two after the melting of the
snow, and other instances in which winter comes in

651 GO

so rapidly, that the corn in the ear, before it has ye
come to maturity, is buried under the snow. In con-
sequence of this we must look at the extremes as
being the points that turn the two migrations of the
birds, and the mean latitudes as being a mere passa^
or thoroughfare. Now at the times when in such a
country as England, the pools are dry, and the grassy
surface is burnt up, the snows of the northern sur-
faces are melted. But the melting of the northern
snow?, especially on surfaces that are comparatively
flat, is a very different operation from the watering ol
the ground by rain. In hilly districts, there are very
frequently heavy falls of rain accompanying the break
of the storm; because the great differences of level,
and consequently of pressure as well as temperature,
occasion varied motions and clashings of different
strata of the air. On the northern flats, however, the
case is different. The snows simply melt, and melt
gradually ; and the water stagnates, and stagnates
upon surfaces which have been warm by the snow,
while the air is comparatively cloudless, and the sun
heats strongly. This state of things is exceedingly
favourable to vegetation ; and such a powerful
growth is soon produced as preserves this humidity for
the greater part of the summer ; and thus geese find
abundance of food in those northern wilds to which
they resort as their breeding quarters.

In tropical climates the causes and also the direc-
tions of those birds are different, because they follow
the periodical rains ; but still the original inducement
to migrate with the seasons is substantially the same
in the one part of the country as in the other.
It is food which the birds follow after in those regions
as well as in the others ; though that which drives
them in both directions in the tropical countries is
drought, and not cold.

We have a proof of the most important fact above
stated, namely, that the want of food is the grand
cause of migration in those geose which are domes-
ticated in our farm yards, and on our commons.
There is no question that all the original varieties of
tame geese are from the common wild goose, though,
since foreign races were imported, some diversity has
been produced by crossing ; and as geese, like all
animals in a state of domestication, are subject to very
considerable variations in size, and colour, there are
differences between the domestic geese of different
districts, but still these are all the same in habit ; and
unless when they occasionally join the wild ones,
which they do only in those remote parts of the
country where wild ones are numerous, and human
inhabitants few, they show no disposition to migrate,
provided they are supplied with food ; and then, if the
dry common happens to be burnt up, their migration
is only to the next humid meadow, where they find
a sufficient supply of grass. We shall now briefly
notice the principal species or varieties.

THE COMMON WILD GOOSE, or GREY LAG GOOSE
(A. palustris}. This is generally understood to be
the parent stock of all the domestic species of Eu-
rope ; and according to the accounts, it is now much
less plentiful in England, even during the winter, than
it was formerly. This is no doubt, in a great part,
owing to the drainage of the fens, the increase of cul-
tivation, and the greater breadth of land which has
been covered with artificial plantations of trees ; for
the wild goose loves humidity, but shuns alike the
corn fields and the woods. In some parts of the north
of Scotland this goose still rears its young ; but it is

OSE.

doubtful whether there are any absolutely wild in the
fens of England : though as geese are reared in much
greater numbers, and more in a state of nature there
than they are at the farmyards, and on the commons
in other districts, they no doubt approach more nearly
to the wild state.

The size varies a good deal ; but the average
length is fully two feet and a half, or even more ; the,
extent of the wings about five feet ; and the weight
about ten pounds. This last circumstance, however,
differs a good deal with the season. When the birds
first make their appearance, they are very much ex-
hausted, and their flesh is so lean and tough, that it is
by no means desirable. There are various reasons
why this should be the case. The length and fatigue
of the passage, for their excursion is at least five hun-
dred miles, and in many cases more, without any
food by the way, is of course one cause ; and another
is to be sought in the very circumstance of their being
driven from their northern haunts by their want of
food. They do not of course move till they feel the
pinch of hunger (for no animul does this), and thus
they begin their journey in an exhausted state. Such
of them as remain in the southerly places till the
spring, are, however, in much finer condition ; and
though they are never so fat, the flavour of their flesh
is superior to that of tame geese, and more nearly
resembles game ; and when they have been well fed,
and not fatigued by laborious flights, they are tender
as well as of good flavour. The colours of the com-
mon wild goose usually are : — the legs and bill flesh
colour, with the nail on the upper mandible and the
claws dull white. The eyes are grey, as also are the
head, neck, and principal portion of the body. The
coverts of the wings, and also the quills, have white
edges, and the tips of the latter are black. The se-
condary quills are more or less black, and the tail is
of a dusky colour, bordered with white on the edjres
and at the point. The breast and the belly are white
with grey mottlings.

This species of goose is not so well winged in pro-
portion to its weight as the smaller ones which visit
the British Islands ; and hence it is probably a more
southerly bird in all its migrations, though it has
been ascertained that some of these others still
breed in the wild and remote parts of the north of
Scotland. The flights of those birds, more especially
on their southern migrations, and toward the middle
of the latitudes over which they migrate, are by
no means uninteresting. They fly in flocks contain-
ng from about fifty to a hundred individuals, pursue
heir flight at a very considerable elevation, and
rarely, if ever, alight to rest during the day, unless in
ilaces where there is a considerable supply of food.
Their peculiar cry may often be heard during the
day, when they themselves are either entirely out of
sight, or so elevated as to appear like specks on the
sky ; but when they alight they are comparatively silent,
and as they feed chiefly during the night, contrary to
he habit of geese when resident, and in the tame
state, they are not often seen in proportion to their
numbers. There is a considerable difference in their
mode of disposing themselves when they alight merely
"or rest, which they do at certain wayfaring places ;
and when they alight for wintering or for a more
jrolonged stay. In the latter case they observe no
)articular order, but spread themselves over the pas-
ure, whereas, in the former, they always alight in
ine, and have a watchman or commander, a little

GOOSE.

C55

detached from the rest. After they have rested for two
or three hours, this one utters the same signal cry
which is given out whenever a single cry is heard as
they fly along, and as soon as this is given they are
all on the wing, and in the order of their aerial inarch.
Their flight is conducted with great regularity, for
they always proceed either in a line a-breast, or in
two lines, joining in an angle at the middle. They
take the lead in this order by turns generally, the
foremost falling back in the rear, when tired with
cleaving the air, and the next in succession occupying
its place. They are seldom within reach of a fowling-
piece in these lofty flights ; and even when they move
in a lower track, they file so equally, that one dis-
charge rarely kills more than a single bird. Their prin-
cipal food consists of aquatic vegetables, and most
sorts of grain. They breed in heaths, or in plains
and marshes, as formerly in the fenny districts of
England, and in various other Countries, the female
nestling on tufts of cut rushes, or dry herbage, and
usually laying from five to nine eggs, and very rarely
so many as twelve or fourteen. They are of a dirty
greenish colour, and are hatched in about four weeks.
The young ones are taken in considerable numbers
some years, and are then very easily tamed. The
old birds, however, are extremely shy, and possessing
the senses of hearing and vision in a pre-eminent
degree, frequently contrive to elude the approaches of
their pursuers. They often during the day take up
their abode in the fields of young corn, which they
damage to a very considerable extent ; but they remain
there during the day only, arid when night sets in,
they invariably take to the water, where they are
secure from the invasion of the fox, an animal which
has long been proverbial as the destroyer of geese ;
and though the usual time for preying to the fox is
the night or in the morning, he is so fond of geese as
that he will sometimes steal upon them even at
mid-day.

Many writers on the economy of these animals
have stated that the species, in a wild state, is generally
diffused over the world ; but it is probable that in
this there is a good deal of exaggeration ; and it is
not unlikely that even in the northern hemisphere
this has been confounded with others, in like manner
as those geese which are subject to differences at dif-
ferent ages and in different individuals have un-
naturally been multiplied into different species.

This, which, as we have said, is understood to be
the parent stock of most of our domestic varieties,
has been so long in a state of domestication, that it
reaches beyond the earliest records of history ; and
though, by some means or other, the goose has got
credit for being emblematical of folly, there are some
instances recorded of singular services performed by
it to the human race. Geese are very watchful birds ;
and when any thing strange appears, they set up a
loud gabbling. It is in this way that the geese of the
Rinnan capitol are recorded as having saved Rome
from being captured by the Gauls, and thus they
were long respected by that very superstitious people.

When domesticated, highly fed, and left perfectly
at case, geese grow to much larger size than they
ever attain in a state of nature. Various arts, and
often very cruel ones, have been, and are still, re-
sorted to, for the purpose of fattening them for the
table, and especially for enlarging their livers, which,
when thus unnaturally enlarged, and consequently
diseased, are much prized by a peculiar class of epi-

cures, although it is impossible that any part of
animals which are treated in this manner can be
wholesome. One mode of managing them is to nail
the webs of their feet to a board on the floor near a
strong fire, to sew up the vent, and forcibly to cram
them with rich food, until they are at the point of
death by suffocation ; by this means the liver grows
to an enormous size, and the goose itself increases in
weight to twenty pounds and upwards. The fat of
geese principally accumulates externally ; and, gene-
rally speaking, it is difficult of digestion, and there-
fore unwholesome. In upper Languedoc, towards
the Cevennes mountains, in France, there is said to
be a breed which accumulates a great lump of fat on
the lower part of the belly, which touches the ground
when they walk. In other places there have been
breeds that have showed considerable departures
from the type of the wild goose, not only in colour,
but in size and other particulars, which are under-
stood to be less subject to those casual- changes. It
is mentioned that, a good many years ago, one family
near Highworth, in the county of Wilts, were in
possession of a breed of geese, which they nursed and
fattened in such a manner, that they attained to a very
extraordinary, and almost incredible size, insomuch
that some of them would weigh from twenty even to
thirty pounds. The owners could scarcely be in-
duced, on any consideration, to part with an egg of
this breed ; and they sold the yearly produce of the
flock to a few opulent families in the neighbourhood,
at the rate of a shilling the pound. As an important
department of the poultry establishment, the goose,
we need hardly observe, is cultivated in almost every
civilised quarter of the world, and, when under pro-
per management, forms a profitable article of the
farmers' produce, its quills, down, flesh, and even dung,
being all turned to account. In this island these
birds are nowhere kept in greater quantities than in
the fens of Lincolnshire, several persons there having
as many as a thousand breeders. They are stripped
once a year for their quills, and no fewer than five
times for the feathers. The first plucking for both
commences about Lady-day, and the other four are
between that and Michaelmas. It is alleged that, in
general, the birds do not materially suffer from these
operations, except cold weather happens to set in,
when numbers of them die. The old ones submit
quietly to be plucked, but the young ones arc very
noisy and unruly. These geese breed, in general,
only once a year, but if well kept, sometimes twice.
Each has a "space allotted to it, in rows of wicker
pens, placed one above another, during their sitting,
and the gozzard (goosekerd) who drives them to water
twice a day, and brings them back to their habitations,
is said to place every bird in its own nest The num-
bers of geese that are driven from the distant coun-
ties to London for sale are scarcely credible ; for a
single drove frequently consists of two or three thou-
sand. In ancient times they appear to have been
conducted much in the same manner from the interior
of Gaul to Rome. The drivers are provided with
long sticks, having a piece of red rag fastened to the
end of them as a lash, and a hook is fastened at the
other. With the former, of which the geese seem
much afraid, they are excited forward, and with the
latter, such as attempt to stray are caught by the
neck and kept in order. Such as are lame are placed
in a hospital cart, which usually follows each large
drove. Their progress is at the rate of about eight

6.56

GOOSE.

or nine miles a day, reckoning from three in the
morning till nine at night. Those which become
fatigued are fed with oats, and the rest with barley.
However simple or awkward the goose may appear,
it is by no means destitute of either sagacity or affec-
tion ; and some singular instances are recorded of its
attachment to animals of another class, and even to
persons. The young, or green geese, as the)' are
called, destined for the table, should be put into a
place that is almost dark, and fed with ground malt,
mixed with milk, when they will very soon, and at
very little expense, be fit to be killed. Barley-meal
may be mixed with water, should milk prove scarce,
which they may constantly have by them to eat as
they choose ; and, in another part of the shed, some
boiled oats and water, kept in a pan, to which they
may resort, when inclined to change their food. This
variety is agreeable to them, and causes them to thrive
very speedily. Michaelmas, or stubble geese, should
immediately after harvest be turned out on the wheat
fields, where they pick up very fast ; but when
taken up to be fattened, they should be fed with
ground malt, mixed with water, or boiled barley and
water ; and thus treated they grow fatter than would
at first be imagined, and acquire a more delicate
flavour than those in the London market. The old
breeders may be plucked thrice a year, and at an in-
terval of seven weeks, without inconvenience ; but
young ones, before they are subjected to this opera-
tion, muat have attained to the age of thirteen or
fourteen weeks, otherwise they will pine and lose
their good qualities. It is scarcely necessary to add,
that the particular nature of the food, and the care
that is taken of the birds, materially contribute to the
value of the feathers and the down. In those neigh-
bourhoods where there is a good supply of water,
they are not so subject as elsewhere to the annoy-
ance of vermin ; and they furnish feathers of a supe-
rior quality. In regard to down there is a certain
stage of maturity, which may be easily discovered,
as it is then easily detached, whereas, if removed too'
soon, it will not. keep, and is liable to be attacked by
insects and their larvae. Again, the feathers ought
never to be plucked long after the birds are dead,
and, at the latest, before they are quite cold, else they
will contract a bad smell, and get matted. Under
proper management, and when unmolested by pluck-
ing, &c., the tame goose will live to a great age, even,
it is alleged, to fourscore years, or perhaps a century.
It is, however, seldom permitted to live out its natu-
ral life, being sold with the younger ones long before
it approaches that period. The old ones are called
cagmags, and are bought only by novices in market
making ; for from their toughness they are utterly un-
fit for the table. . The tame goose lays from eight to
twelve eggs, and sometimes more, which the careful
housewife divides equally among her brood geese
when they begin to sit. Those of her stock which
lay a second time in the course of the summer, are
seldom if ever permitted to have a second hatching ;
but the eggs are used for household purposes. In
some countries the domestic geese require much less
care and attendance than in this. Thus, among the
villages of the Cossacks, on the Don, they leave their
noines in March or April, as soon as the ice breaks
up, and the pairs joining, take flight in a body to the
remote northern lakes, where they breed and con-
stantly reside during the summer ; but on the begin-
ning of winter, the parent birds, with their multiplied

young progeny, all return and divide themselves
every flock alighting at the door of the respective
place to which it belongs. The accuracy with which
they thus return to their several homes denotes more
intellect than is generally ascribed to them. Another
quality which they eminently possess is vigilance ;
for nothing can stir in the night but they are roused,
and immediately commence cackling ; and on the
nearer approach of apprehended danger, they set up
their shriller and more clamorous cries. Geese are
capable of considerable attachment ; and some of
those attachments are of a peculiar nature, being
shown not only to birds and to human beings, but to
horses, cows, and other mammalia, and sometimes
even to those whose habit it is to prey upon geese.

THK CANADA GOOSE (A. Canademis). This spe-
cies, which is also called the cravat goose, from its
peculiar marking, is larger than the common goose ot
the eastern continen1,«though it is not much heavier,
and rather a handsomer and better winged bird. Its
length exceeds three feet, and the extent of its win«s
is more than five feet ; the bill is two inches and a half
long, of a dark colour, nearly black ; the irides are
dark hazel ; the head and neck black, with a crescent-
shaped white spot on the upper part of the eyes, which
extends on each side of the head as high as the line
of the eyes. This is the cravat from which the bird
receives one of its names, and it is peculiar to this
bird among the whole tribe of the geese. The lower
part of the neck, anteriorly, is white ; the back, the
wing-coverts, and the upper part, generally greyish-
brown, with white tips and margins to the feathers ;
the rump, the tail, and the primary quills, are black ;
the upper tail-coverts, and also the under ones on the
rump, are white ; the sides are pale brownish-ash ;
and the naked parts of the feet, and the webs of the
toes, are blackish-ash. There is no difference in the
colour of the two sexes, and very little in the size.

This species is the common wild goose of America,
and it is as remarkable for its seasonal migrations
there as the grey goose is in the eastern continent.
In former times the flights of these geese were exceed-
ingly numerous, and extended over the whole of the
United States. But the Americans, perhaps copying
the wild men of the woods, whom they have displaced,
are much more disposed to shoot indiscriminately
every wild animal, whether useful or injurious, and, if
the former, whether it be or be not in season, than
the people of Europe ; and the Canadian goose has
come in for a share of this work of extirpation.

No accounts have been given of the flight of those
birds along the line of the Rocky Mountains, but they
are observed on the west side of that ridge, and they
are very plentiful to the eastward, their breeding places
being in the extensive swamps to the northward of
the American lakes, though they extend northward to
the very shores of the polar sea. The swamps in
this part of America afford, during the summer
months, an asylum for marsh and aquatic birds of all
descriptions, which it js difficult for man successfully
to invade, and from which it is impossible entirely to
extirpate their winged and summer-visiting inhabit-
ants. In the summer months there are very extensive
districts of this part of America peculiarly adapted as
resting-places for aquatic birds, which are, at the
same time, quite impracticable for human beings, the
time when a passage can be made over them being
when they are frozen ; and the fur animals are
the chief prize of the hunter at that season.

GOOSE.

657

From this species being called the common wild
goose in America, and the grey goose being the
common wild goose of Europe, it is not very easy to
say which of them is meant, when it is stated that
the wild goose freqnents Spitzbergen and the extreme
north of Siberia. There is no doubt, however, that
the present species ranges to the extreme north of
the American continent. Indeed, if what Pennant
records of them be true, their breeding places in
America are farther north than any which are regu-
larly inhabited by Europeans, or much frequented by
the hunters during the summer. " The English at
Hudson's Bay," says Pennant in the Arctic Zoology,
" depend greatly on geese, and in favourable years
kill three or four thousand, and barrel them up for
use. They send out their servants, as well as
Indians, to shoot these birds on their passage. It is
in vain to pursue them. They therefore form a row
of huts, made of boughs, at musket-shot distance
from each other, and place them in a line across the
vast marshes of the country. Each stand, or hovel,
as they are called, is occupied by only a single per-
son. These attend the flight of the birds, and, on
their approach, mimic their cackle so well, that the
geese will answer, and wheel, and come nearer the
stand. The sportsman keeps motionless, and on his
knees, with his gun cocked trie whole time, and never
fires till he has seen the eyes of the geese. He fires
as they are going from him, then picks up another
gun that lies by him, and discharges that. The
geese that he has killed he sets upon sticks, as if
alive, to decoy others. He also makes artificial birds
for the same purpose. In a good day, for they fly in
very uncertain and unequal numbers, a single Indian
will kill two hundred. Notwithstanding that every spe-
cies of goose has a different call, yet the Indians are
admirable in their imitations of every one. The
autumnal flight lasts from the middle of August to
the middle of October. Those which are taken in
this season, when the frosts begin, are preserved in
their feathers, and left to be frozen for the fresh pro-
visions of the winter stock. The feathers constitute
an article of commerce, and are sent to England.
The vernal flight of the geese lasts from the middle
of April until the middle of May. Their first appear-
ance coincides with the thawing of the swamps, when
they are very lean. Their arrival from the south is
impatiently attended ; it is the harbinger of the
spring, and the month named by the Indians the
goose moon. They appear usually at their settle-
ments about St. George's day, O.S., and fly north-
ward, to nestle in security. They prefer islands to
the continent, as farther from the haunts of man."

This species of goose shows equal disposition to
be domesticated as the wild goose of Europe, if,
indeed, not greater. It has accordingly been domes-
ticated in many parts of America, and also in Eng-
land, and various other parts of Europe. The follow-
ing extract from Wilson will enable the reader to
contrast the manners of the Canada goose with those
of the wild goose of Europe :— " The flight of the
wild geese," says he, " is heavy and laborious, gene-
rally in a straight line, or in two lines approximating
to a point. In both cases the van is led by an old
gander, who, every now and then, pipes his well-
known honk, as if to usk how they come on ; and the
houk of" all's well " is generally returned by some of
the part}-. Their course is in a straight line, with the
exception of the undulations of their flight. When
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

bewildered in foggy weather, they appear sometimes
to be in great distress, flying about in an irregular
manner, and for a considerable time, over the same
quarter, making a great clamour. On these occasions,
should they approach the earth, and alight, which
they sometimes do, to rest and recollect themselves,
the only hospitality they meet with is death and de-
struction from a whole neighbourhood, already in
arms for their ruin. Wounded geese have, in nume-
rous instances, been completely domesticated, and
pair with the tame grey geese. The offspring are
said to be larger than either, but the characteristic
marks of the wild goose still predominate. The gun-
ners on the sea-shore have long been in the practice
of taming the wounded of both sexes, and have some-
times succeeded in getting them to pair and produce.
The female always seeks out the most solitary place
for her nest, not far from the water. On the ap-
proach of every spring, however, these birds discover
symptoms of great uneasiness, frequently looking up
into the air, and attempting to go off. Some, whose
wings have been closely cut, have travelled on foot in.
a northern direction, and have been found at the dis-
tance of several miles from home. They hail every
flock that passes overhead, and the salute is sure to
be returned by the voyagers, who are only prevented
from alighting among them by the presence and
habitations of man. The gunners take one or two
of these domesticated geese with them to those parts
of the marshes over which the wild ones are accus-
tomed to fly, and, concealing themselves within gun-
shot, wait tor a flight, which is no sooner perceived
by the decoy-geese than they begin calling aloud
until the whole flock approaches so near as to give
them an opportunity of discharging two, and some-
times three loaded muskets among it, by which great
havoc is made."

It is not very often that this species of goose makes
its appearance in England in the wild state. When
they do come, they come in considerable numbers,
true to their gregarious character, and they come
after very severe and long-continued storms, about
the depth of winter. On their arrival they are very
much exhausted, and easily taken ; and cases are men-
tioned in which a whole flock has been taken alive
and shared among the farmers, where they at once
associated with the common domesticated geese, and
showed no disposition to migrate, or even to escape.

THE SNOW GOOSE (A. hyperborea). This is another
Nortli American species, and, as the name imports,
belongs to the far north of that country. The old and
the young have been described as different birds,
and in some instances they have been confounded
with other geese which appear to have their native
locality different. It is to be understood that the
native locality of a migrant bird is that in which it
nestles, and this one appears to abound nearly round
the whole shores of the North Sea, or, at all events,
from Hudson's Bay westward to Nova Zembla. It is
here worthy of remark, that the longitude of Nova
Zembla, which is sixty degrees, or four hours of time
east of Greenwich, is the point of division between
the two sections of polar migrant birds, just as the
North Sea is the counter division, and the average of
this, in the polar latitudes, is just about as many de-
grees of longitude west as the former point is east ;
so that one-<hird of the circumference belongs to what
may be called the European section, and two-thirds
to what mav be called the Asiatic and the American.
T T

658

GOOSE.

In the middle latitudes, that is, about fifty degrees
north, those sections meet in the Siberian flats, and of
course often exchange even aquatic birds with each
other ; and when any of those birds which do not
breed in the north of Europe, or in the islands to the
westward, are driven to this country by stress of
weather, it is highly probable that, though we are
most familiar with them in America, as having pos-
session of the north part of it, they do not come to us
from America, but from Siberia.

This division of the birds in longitude upon the
eastern continent is a point which deserves attention,
as tending to assist in settling the localities of birds
in two extensive districts, neither of which it is pos-
sible completely to explore. The reason why this is
a point of division evidently is, that the mountains of
Ural begin at the North Sea, and extend southward for
a distance of nearly twelve hundred miles. Those
mountains are lofty, their summits are rugged, their
sides, or at least their skirts, are covered with pine
forests ; and thus they form a sort of barrier which
no migrant bird, and more especially a goose, is likely
to pass. We have no space for entering upon the
investigation of this point in the geography of birds ;
but, as it has not been hitherto mentioned, we place
it before our readers, in order that those who are
fond of such subjects may turn their attention to it,
as being one which is of special importance in any
attempt to decide the locality of those rarer migrant
birds which severe storms occasionally bring to our
island.

We believe that all the heavy birds of long flight,
which visit us in winter, and are not absolutely sea-
birds, at home and free denizens upon the broad
waters, come from Siberia ; and we do not think it
difficult to show that, without an extraordinary effort,
an effort, indeed, for which it is" not easy to imagine
an adequate physical cause, no such bird could, by
possibility, reach England from the extreme north of
America by coming south-eastward.

The reason of this is not only worthy of being
stated, but it forms a very essential part of the history,
in their state of nature, of all the geese which visit
the British islands, and the species are not few, and
the birds themselves are all valuable.

In the first place, and for a reason which will in
part explain why our winter-visiting birds come from
the north-east, and not the north-west, we get all our
more violent winter storms from the same quarter.

The polar atmosphere, that is, about the latitude
of the average north of both continents, is carried
eastward by the earth at the rate of about three hun-
dred miles in the hour, while in the middle latitudes
of Europe it is carried about six hundred miles east-
ward at the same time. The consequence is, that, if
we suppose a bird to fly south, with the air, of course,
as the medium of its flight, it will always have less
eastward motion than the air into which it comes ;
and we need not add, that this deficiency of eastward
motion must tell as a westward motion upon the
bird. Thus, even granting that there were no storm
to drive it westward, a bird would move westward
even in attempting to fly southward through the still
air ; and, as the very same difference of motion in
the air is that which brings the storm from the north-
east, the storm and the bird very naturally' accompany
each other. If we suppose a migrant bird to come
from the north of America, we have.this cause against
the probability of its doing so, and to this we may

add the interruption occasioned by the Atlantic.
We do not say positively that no birds (we are not
speaking of sea birds) come to Europe from America,
but the argument is against their doing so, and we
are not aware of any physical cause in favour of it.
But, to return to the bird under notice : —

The length of the snow goose is about two feet eight
inches, and the extent of the wings about five feet : the
bill is three inches in length, remarkably thick at the
base, and rising high in the forehead, but becomes
small and compressed at the extremity, where each
mandible is furnished with a whitish rounding nail ;
the colour of the bill is a purplish carmine ; the edges
of the two mandibles separate from each other in a
singular manner for their whole length, and this gib-
bosity is occupied by dentated rows resembling teeth,
these and the parts adjoining being of a blackish
colour ; the whole plumage is of a snowy whiteness,
with the exception, first, of the fore part of the head
all round as far as the eyes, which is of a yellowish
rust colour intermixed with white ; and, secondly, the
two exterior quill-feathers, which are black, shafted
with white, and white at the roots ; the coverts of
these last, and also the bastard wing, are sometimes
of a pale ash colour ; the legs and feet of the same
purplish carmine as the bill ; iris dark hazel ; the tail
is rounded, and consists of sixteen feathers ; that and
the wings when shut, are nearly of a length. The bill
is very singularly formed ; the edges of the upper and
lower gibbosities have each twenty indentations or
strong teeth, on each side, the inside or concavity of
the upper mandible has also seven lateral rows of
strong projecting teeth : and the tongue, which is
horny at the extremity, is armed on each side with
thirteen long and sharp bony teeth, placed like those
of a saw with their points directed backward : the
tongue, turned up and viewed on its lower side, looks
very much like a human finger with its nail. This
conformation of the mandibles, exposing two rows of
teeth, has probably given rise to the epithet laughing,
bestowed on one of the varieties. This peculiar
structure of the bill is attended with a peculiarity in
the feeding of the birds. Their chief food is the
roots of reeds and other strong aquatic plants ; and
they root these up in the marshes in the same way as
hogs root up the meadows.

Brent Goose

THE BUENT GOOSE (A. bernicld) is a much
smaller species than those hitherto described. It
measures very little more than two feet in length, and
about four and a half in the extent of the wings. Its
general colour is brownish, with ash-coloured margins
to the feathers. This extends over the upper part,
the lower part of the neck and the breast, while the
remainder of the under part is dappled with ash

GOOSE.

659

colour and grey. The head and upper part of the
neck are black, with the exception of a spot on each
side of the neck immediately behind the throat, which
is white, as are also the vent-feathers and the upper
and under tail-coverts. The lower part of the back
and the rump are also black. The tail-feathers, the
quills, and also the feet, are dusky. The bill is dark
horn colour, narrow and short, not exceeding an inch
and a half. The eyes are light hazel, which form a
very striking contrast with the black of the head.
The most remarkable external character, however, is
the white spot on the back of the neck, and next to
that the uniformity of the upper plumage. In the
females and young birds, the colours are not so well
marked, and the neck spots are mottled with dusky.

This is a more discursive bird than the larger geese,
being: better winged in proportion to its weight, which
is only about one half, seldom exceeding five pounds,
while the three species previously enumerated may
be said to average ten. The brent goose breeds
chiefly in the very extreme north. It is found both
in the eastern and western continent, and in all pro-
bability it ranges round the whole shores of the polar
sea, the islands in which are its favourite resting
places. It migrates southward in the winter, as far
at least as the middle of France ; and when the win-
ters are peculiarly severe in the northern countries,
brent geese often come in immense flocks, and are
very destructive to the wheat fields. Buffon mentions
that in 1740 and 1765, which were winters of great
severity, brent geese attacked the corn fields in
France in such multitudes that the whole inhabitants
were raised en masse, and had no small labour in
driving off and destroying these unwelcome strangers.
In mild seasons these birds do not come so nume-
rously as the common wild geese, neither are they so
destructive ; for, if the marshes are open, they prefer
the roots of marsh plants to the braird of' the wheat
fields. We may mention here, as closely connected
with the habits of this goose, that the chief attraction
of geese to the polar marshes, is not the developed or
green vegetation, which appears in those countries
during their brief summer, it is the hybernating
roots. In those countries the plants, marsh plants
especially, work more by roots than by seeds ; and
though the leaves when they come up are generally
coarse, the roots contain a vast accumulation of
nutritious matter, far more than those of the larger
marsh plants of more temperate countries. This is
accumulated as a store for the action of the year,
which, under the influence of a never-setting sun, is
exceedingly rapid ; and the moment that the snow
melts and the ice breaks up, the geese are on the
grounds, where, by partaking of this rich and abundant
supply, they are soon in high condition, notwithstand-
ing their long journey. They breed soon after their
arrival, and their broods are out in time to nibble the
young leaves of the plants.

BERNACLE GOOSE (A. leucopsis). This species of
goose is of some celebrity in the annals of fabulous
natural history, being the one which was anciently
described as being bred not in the common way in
which birds are, but growing out of the beruacle
shell, which is a well-known pedunculated or stalked
molluscous animal, having shells at the extremities of
the stalks. Those animals are rooted, and they
attach themselves to the bottoms of ships and to
floating wood, as they are thereby carried from place
to place. There is always a great deal of drift wood

in the North Sea ; the storms, while they collect it in
some places scatter it to others, so that the pieces
float in all directions, and have very often bernacles on
the under sides of them. In violent and long con-
tinued storms these bernacled logs of wood are fre-
quently cast ashore ; and the same circumstances
often exhaust the bernacle geese, who do not corne
southward in very great numbers, unless the storm
drives them. Their exhausted or dead bodies are
often cast ashore along with the bernacled logs ; and
thus, at that time, when stories were believed, not in
proportion as they were true, but in proportion as
they were wonderful, the bernacle shells were set
down as producing the geese which came ashore
along with them. If this wonderful matter had been
confined to the sea-shore, there might have been some
plea for it ; but several persons have pretended that
there were eye-witnesses to the changing of bernacle
shells into geese in the larger ponds in some of
the middle counties of England, where neither
bernacle shell nor bernacle goose is likely ever
to be found. There is a satirical allusion to this in
Butler's Hudibras ; but as Butler never was single in
his wit, if he could by any means double or treble it,
he transferred the strange metamorphosis to the
gannet or Solan, quasi Solon goose, as a hit at the
foolish pretence at wisdom, which he was lashing.

" As bernacles turn Solan greese,
I' the islands of the Orcudes."

The bernacle goose is still smaller than the brent
goose, being less than two feet in length, and only a
little more than four in the stretch of the wings ; but
it is not an unhandsome bird. From the tip to the
corner of the gape, the bill is scarcely an inch and a
half long, black, and crossed with a pale reddish
streak on each side ; a narrow black line passes from
the bill to the eyes ; the irides are brown ; the head
is small, and, as far as the crown, together with the
cheeks and throat, white ; the rest of the head and
neck, to the breast and shoulders, is black. The
upper part of the plumage is prettily marbled or
burred with blue grey, black, and white ; the feathers
of the back are black, edged with white ; those of
the wing-coverts and scapulars blue grey, bordered
with black near their margins, and edged with white ;
the quills black, edged a little way from the tips with
blue grey ; the tail-coverts and under parts white ;
the thighs are marked with dusky lines or spots, and
are black near the knees ; the tail is black, and five
inches and a half long ; the feet and legs are dusky,
very thick and short, and have a stumpy appear-
ance. This structure of the feet answers well,
however, with some of the habits of the bird, as
it is much more of a swimmer than most of the
geese ; and it does not migrate so far or so much
inland. It is not uncommon during winter in
the Orkney and Shetland islands, where it is called
the clack, or "claik" goose. This word, which is
merely a provincial orthoepy of the common word
" clack," and alludes to the clacking gabble of those
geese, has been represented to Baron Cuvier ; and
he has set it down in the Regne Animal as the Scotch
name for a goose generally, which it is not. The
mistake is a trifling one ; but it deserves correction,
as Cuvier's name must carry it far and wide, and pre-
serve it long. It has not been ascertained that the
bernacle goose breeds either in the islands or in any
part of the north of Scotland, though it has been
T T2

GtfO GOO

ascertained that the brent goose does breed in Suther- |
land. There is, however, a difference of habit in the
two : the brent goose frequents the fields and meadows,
and is altogether more inland than this one.

THE BEAN GOOSE (A. scgctum). This species is
the wild goose of the more northerly parts of Britain ;
and it gets its name, not from any partiality that it
has for beans, but from the nail on the tip of its bill
bearing some slight resemblance to a small black
horse bean. In its general characters it bears a very
considerable resemblance to the grey lag, or common
wild goose, and, on that account, some naturalists
have confounded them. They are distinct species,
however, and the bean goose does not come quite so
far to the south as the other ; though it occasionally
makes its appearance in great numbers, which are
very destructive to the fields of autumn-sown wheat,
which they are very prone to. From the confusion
that there has been of this with the other species, it
is not very easy to reduce the accounts of them to
any thing very precise ; and so it may bo that in all
parts of the British islands this is the most abundant
species. That it is in the north is certain ; and it
has been met with in the extreme south. It breeds in
many of the more northerly of the Hebrides ; and
probably also in Orkney and Shetland, though there
are no distinct accounts of the nests in those islands.
The bean goose varies considerably in size ; but,
generally speaking, it is about two inches shorter,
and three or four inches less in extent of w ing than
the grey goose. The bill is also smaller in propor-
tion, and more compressed towards the tip. It is of
a pale flesh colour, or orange, with the exception of
the nail, which is black, and which, as has been said,
is the foundation of the trivial English name. This
black nail is indeed the principal distinction ; for, in
other respects, excepting size, which is not a charac-
ter, there is often a great resemblance between this
and the other wild goose. Both mandibles of the
bill are toothed rather more strongly than in the
other. The eyes are hazel or brownish. The head
and neck are ashy brown ; the whole of the under
part, as far back as the legs, is of the same colour,
but paler, though on the thighs the colour is deeper.
The forehead speckled with white, behind which the
feathers are dusky brown. The back is ash-colour ;
the lower part of the belly, upper, and under tail-
coverts white ; the scapulars brown ash-colour, edged
with white ; the greater quill-feathers black ; exterior
webs grey ; secondaries cinereous grey, margined
with black on the outer webs. The coverts are grey
excepting the larger ones, which are grey, tippeci
with white. There appears to be some little varia-
tion in the plumage of these birds : in some the bil
is of a dull brownish red ; the upper part of the back,
scapulars, and wing-coverts brown, dashed with cine-
reous, and tipped with white ; greater quills plait
dusky black ; secondaries grey, tipped and marginec
with white. On the elbow of the wing there is
callous knob. The windpipe is enlarged about the
middle, and its branchings into the lungs are shor
and inflated. These characters are quite sufficien
to distinguish this species from all the others ; anc
there is another 'character about them which is pecu-
liar, that they are more impatient of restraint, and
therefore not so easily tanned. They come to the

British islands in the autumn, spread themselves over
the country, frequenting the pools on the moors, but
dispersing themselves during the day in the fields of

S E.

autumn wheat, on which they levy pretty heavy con-
tributions. Their mode of flight is exactly similar to
hat of the grey geese ; and in autumn and early
winter numerous flights of them are observed en chc-
wow over the middle parts of Scotland. In many
districts they remain during the winter in the inoor-
and pools, feeding in the day on the adjoining fields,
and retiring to the water at night. In moonlight
ights they are a tempting game to the rural sports-
man ; and as there is no game-law by which a wild
g-oose is protected, they occasion those rustics to pass
many a cold and anxious night. They are exceed-
ingly vigilant, so that if there is not some cover be-
tween, they see the sportsmen before the sportsmen
see them. Hence banks of turf are erected in favour-
able situations, behind which the shooters lie in wait
wilh long Spanish-barrel guns ; but it is doubtful
whether the sport is, upon the whole, a profitable one.
There is no poaching in the case, however, for poach-
ing is a child of game-laws ; and those who shoot
bean geese in these places shoot them for themselves
or for presents, and not for sale. When wounded in
the wing only, they make a bold resistance, and bite
almost as sharply as a toothed animal. Their feathers
are also exceedingly close ; and it is difficult to shoot,
them effectually, unless in the rear, or when their
wings are elevated. Indeed, when obtained, the
prize is one of glory rather than of gain to the rustic,
for the flesh of the bean goose is more hard and tough,
and in every way far inferior to that of the grey.

THE WHITE-FRONTED GOOSE (A. alblfrons). There
are some doubts whether this species, which comes
to Britain in winter rather as an accidental straggler
than as a regular visitant, may not be the young of the
snow goose. At least this is the opinion of some of
those who have written on the subject. When
they come to the British islands they do not attack
the corn fields, but confine themselves to the more
humid parts of the marshes ; and as the small flocks
that do make their appearance are generally of one
character, the probability is in favour of their being
distinct, though they certainly have the same habit
in feeding as the snow goose, and are the laughing
geese of those who describe British birds.

The length is about two feet four inches, the extent
of the wings about four feet and a half, and the
weight about five pounds. The bill is thick at the
base, of a yellowish red colour, with the nail white.
A white patch is extended over the forehead from
the base of the bill and corners of the mouth. The
rest of the head, neck, and the upper parts of the
plumage in some specimens are dark brown, and each
feather is margined more or less with that colour ;
the primary and secondary quills are of the same, but
much darker, and the wing-coverts are ting-od with
ash. The breast and belly are dirty white, barred
with irregular patches of very dark brown, and tipped
with lighter shades of the same colour. The tail is
horny ash-coloured brown, and surrounded with white
at I he base ; the legs yellow.

THE RED-BREASTED GOOSE (A. ru/ico//i.i). This
is unquestionably an eastern species, and in the
British islands it occurs only as a straggler. It is
one of the most beautiful of the whole genus, both in
its figure and in the markings of its plumage. It is
above twenty inches in length, and about three feet
ten inches in breadth. The bill is short, and of a
brown colour ; the nail is black ; irides yellowish
hazel ; the cheeks and front dusky, speckled with

GOOSE.

661

white; and there is awhile spot occupying the space
between the bill and the eyes with a black stripe be-
neath it, and is bounded above, on each side of the
head, by a black line which falls down the hinder
part of the neck towards the back; the chin, throat,
and crown of the head are also black. Two stripes
of white fall down from behind each eye, on the sides
of the neck, and meet in the middle ; the other parts
of the neck and the upper part of the breast deep
rusty red, and the latter terminated by two narrow
bands of white and black. The back and wings are
dusky ; the greater coverts edged with grey ; sides
and lower part of the breast black ; belly, upper and
under tail-coverts white ; legs dusky.

So far as is known, this species of goose belongs
only to the eastern portion of those Arctic regions in
which this genus of animals have their principal abode,
at least we have no distinct account of their occur-
rence in America. The very few specimens which
have hitherto been found in the British islands have
been met with on the eastern side, and in the south-
ern parts rather than in the northern. This is of
itself sufficient evidence that the birds do not come
to America, or from the polar regions of western
Europe, but that they find their way across the low
countries to the southward of the Baltic.

Red-Breasted Goose.

THE EGYPTIAN GOOSE (A. Egyptica). This also
is a very beautiful species, resembling in its general
form and characters the bernacle and brent geese,
though its colours are more brilliant and the turn of
the wing is furnished with a small spur. It has been
long known in Egypt, and in ancient times it was
much venerated in that country on account of the
attachment which it has for its young. The ancient
Egyptians style it the fox goose, but it is not easy to
say for what reason. It has no character in common
with any species of fox ; and though foxes are par-
ticularly fond of all species of geese, it does not ap-
pear that they have any more partiality for this one
than the rest. It is understood to be rather discursive,
and on that account it is with difficulty retained in
a domesticated state. It also suffers more from severe
cold than any of those species which are natives of
the north ; and hence we may conclude that it does
not in any of its migrations reach the cold latitudes.
The length of this species is two feet two inches and
five-eights; breadth four feet four inches; weight six
pounds. The bill is of a reddish colour, and, includ-
ing a protuberance on the base of the upper mandible,
is two inches in length; the nail black, nostrils dusky,
irides pale yellow; a dark reddish chestnut patch
surrounds the eyes and the base of the bill ; the

crown of tfie head and the cheeks are of a dull dirty
white, mixed with indistinct spots of rusty brown";
the rest of the head, from the nape downwards over
the whole neck, is of a dingy chestnut mixed and
tipped with a lighter colour. There is a reddish
chestnut patch on the breast, the upper part of which,
with the shoulders, scapulars, and sides, are pale
brownish yellow, beautifully marked or pencilled with
dusky waved lines ; the lower part is less distinctly
marked, and appears of an ash grey colour; the belly
white, as also are the wing-coverts ; the greater ones
are crossed or barred with a black line about half an
inch from their tips. The secondary quills are clear
reddish chestnut ; those of the primaries which join
them forming the speculum, which in varied lights
are either of a resplendent green or purple; the rest
of the first quills, the back, and tail are black ; the
under coverts of the latter pale chestnut ; the legs
are long, and, as well as the webs, are of a pale flesh-
colour ; nails black.

The information which we have with regard to the
Egyptian goose in a state of wild nature, is not very
clear or satisfactory ; but the general assertion is that
it ranges in Southern Africa, nearly as far as the Cape.
If this is correct, it is an instance of a migratory
goose performing all its movements in warm latitudes,
and being driven both ways by heat and drought, and
never by cold. The rains, in different parts of Africa,
occur at different seasons, and as, though the rains are
in general heavy when they do come, the drought is
so severe and continued, as to burn up the vegetation
and dry up the water, such aquatic birds as perform
their migrations wholly within that continent, must of
course move on y northwards and southwards.

MADAGASCAR GOOSE (A. Madagascariensis). This
is one of the southern geese, and is a very beautiful
bird. The upper parts are blackish with rich green
reflections, and there is a large spot of bright sea
green colour, surrounded with a black margin, upon
each side of the neck ; the forehead, the cheeks, the
throat, and the under parts are pure white ; the lower
part of the neck and the flanks mottled with russet
and brown ; the upper mandible is yellowish ; and
the under one and also the feet are black. This dif-
ference of colour in the two mandibles, is a very de-
cided external mark of distinction in this species from
all the rest of the genus. The length of the male
bird is nearly three feet and a half ; the female is
smaller, and the green spots on the neck are obscure
or wholly wanting, while the upper part of the body
is mottled with grey and brown, and the under part
is pale greyish. The young resemble the female.

JAVA GOOSE (A. Javaneiisis). This is also a very
handsome species, wholly tropical in its locality,
though not confined to the island of Java, but occur-
ring in the other islands of the Sunda group, and also
in continental India; but, as is the case with many
other animals which are common to these localities,
its appearance varies in the different places. The
upper part of this species is black, with very rich and
brilliant reflections of green ; the forehead and top of
the head are blackish brown ; the neck and the under
part are white, lightly spotted with greyish ; and
there is a broad and well defined gorget of black on
the lower part of the breast ; the scapular feathers,
the flanks and the rump, are finely rayed with black ;
the quills and tail-feathers are dusky, with a large
black spot on the point of the former : the lower tail-
coverts are white crossed by u baud of black. This

662

GOOSE.

is a small species, not exceeding1 a foot in length ; and
it partakes a little of the characters of a duck.

COROMANDF.L GOOSE (A. Coromandeliand). This
is a still smaller species, not being above eleven inches
in length, and it is possible that it may be only a
climatal variety of the former. The upper part is
blackish brown, with faint green reflections ; the base
of the bill is surrounded with small white feathers ,-
the top of the head is dusky with green reflections ;
and the back of the neck is spotted with the same
colour oil a sand-coloured ground ; the cheeks, the
front of the neck, and the under parts are pure white ;
the quills are dusky with white tips ; the bill is black,
and the under sides of the toes dull yellow. Those
parts which have green reflections in the male are
dusky brown in the female.

THE CHINESE GOOSE (A. Cygnoides). This
species is not called cygnoides, or swan-like, from any
actual resemblance that it has to a swan in any other
respect than in colour ; and that is not constant, for
though it is sometimes entirely white, it is subject to
great variety of colour. Though specimens have
been brought from China, it is perhaps not very cor-
rectly styled the Chinese goose, inasmuch as it is
found in many other parts of the south-eastern world,
from China to the Cape of Good Hope, and as it is
said, from New Zealand, though it does not appear
to be met with in New Holland.

Several other species of southern geese are men-
tioned as being found on the Falkland Islands, on
Terra del Fuego, and some other places of the
southern lands ; there have also been others brought
from South America ; but all these are too little
known, we are too little acquainted with the migra-
tions of birds in the southern hemisphere, and those
migrations are in themselves on so small a scale com-
pared with the migrations in the north, that all that
could be said about those birds would be little else
than a description of colours. There are, however,
some other species which require a brief notice, be-
cause they deviate in some respects from the typical
characters of the genus.

Those species which deviate from the proper cha-
racter of the geese in many points, but which still
essentially retain that character in others, may be
divided into two sections : First, those which form a
sort of intermediate link between the geese and the
swans ; and, secondly, those which form a similar
link between the geese and the wading birds, more
especially the crane family, or perhaps the herons.
We shall take them in the order now stated, without
being very particular as to the correctness of the
names, because though we are not quite satisfied with
the existing ones, we do not feel ourselves called
upon to contrive new ones, as our object is not to
make systems but to give useful information.

THE GAMBIA GOOSE (A. Gambensis). This spe-
cies is originally from the banks of the river Gambia,
in Western Africa, and, besides the name which we
have given it, it is called the spur-winged goose. It [
:s about the size of the wild goose, but its legs are
stronger and longer, and it is, altogether, more of a
walking bird. Its bill and feet are of a reddish yellow
colour, and the basal part of the upper mandible of
the bill is furnished with a double tubercle ; the crown
of the head and the neck are wood brown ; the ear-
coverts and sides of the throat are white, mottled
with brown ; the lower part of the neck, the sides of
the breast, and all the upper part, are black in certain

light.?, but in other lights the black disappears, and
Ihey show the most brilliant iridescent reflections of
green and bronze. This rich play of colour is most
conspicuous in the scapular feathers and in the quills
next the body, but the margins of all the feathers on
the upper part partake of the same. The turn of the
wing, from the bastard-wing inward to the elbow
joint, is white ; and on the wrist joint, at the origin
of the bastard wing, or the turn of the wing, as it is
usually called, there is a strong white spur of a horny
texture, inclining upwards and inwards. All the
under part of the bird is white. This seems to be a
very discursive species ; for, though there is no doubt
that Western Africa is its western locality, it has
been found as an exceedingly rare straggler in the
British islands, and a specimen was shot near St.
Germains, in Cornwall, in the summer of 1821. The
fact of finding a tropical bird, which is not usually a
migrant in England, during the summer, is somewhat
curious, though it accords with the general habit of
birds which do not winter with us, but yet come re-
gularly. Of the habits of this very handsome bird,
in its native country, we know little ; neither do we
know with precision to which of the species of geese
that we know better we can connect it with the
closest affinity. Probably the Egyptian goose is the
nearest, and it also is an African species, remarkable
for its beauty, and having a tubercle, though not a
spur, on the turn of the wing. This one is usually
considered as one of those which have a slight ap-
proximation to the swans, but in what this approxima-
tion consists, has not been clearly made out. Cuvier,
however, places it in that division ; and we may
remark, that Buffbn, Latham, and some others, have
confounded it with the Egyptian goose.

THE SWAN GOOSE (A. Cygnoides) is certainly in-
termediate iu appearance between the swans and the
geese ; and it is usually described as a swan, al-
though, as Cuvier mentions, it domesticates, and
even breeds with common geese in farm-yards, so
that it lives much more upon the land than in the
water, and has the habits of the geese, and not those
of the swans. It is by no means a rare bird in
Western Africa ; and it has been, to a considerable
extent, domesticated in France. The following is
the description of it : — This bird is rather more than
three feet in length, and of a size between the swan
and the common goose. It is distinguished from
others of the goose tribe by its majestic walk and
long neck, by having a large knob on the base of
the upper mandible, and a skin (almost bare of
feathers) hanging down like a pouch or a wattle un-
der the throat ; awhile line or fillet is extended from
the corners of the mouth over the front brow ; the
base of the bill is orange ; irides reddish brown ; a
dark brown or black stripe runs down the hinder
part of the neck from the head to the back ; the
fore part of the neck and the breast are yellowish
brown ; the back, and all the upper parts, brownish
grey, edged with a lighter colour ; the side*, and the
feathers which cover the thighs, are clouded with
nearly the same colours as the back, and edged with
white ; the belly white ; and the legs are of an
orange-colour. These birds, it is said, were found
only in Guinea ; they are now become pretty com-
mon in a wild, as well as a domesticated state, both
in warm and cold climates. The female is of inferior
size to the male ; the head, neck, and breast, are
fawn-coloured, the upper part being somewhat paler ;

GOOSEBERRY.

668

the back, wings, and tail, are dull brown, with pale
edges ; belly white. In other respects they are
similar to the male, but they have a smaller knob
over the bill. This very handsome and highly
ornamental bird appears to be capable of enduring
almost every variety of climate, and of breeding
freely in them all ; and we do not know, within the
whole range of the poultry-yard, a finer ornament
than the swan goose. It has been pretty generally
introduced by those who attend to ornament as well
as to use in their domestic birds ; and we believe
that it begins to be distributed in the wild state over
some parts of Europe.

The birds which seem to connect the geese with
the wading birds, but which still retain the principal
characters of the goose genus, are southern birds,
being found in South America, arid still more strik-
ingly marked in Australia. The length to which the
present article has extended leaves room to do little
else than to mention their names.

THE OJRINOCO GOOSE (A. jubatus). This species
appears to be pretty extensively distributed over
South America, and though it has got the name of the
Orinoco goose, we believe that it was first discovered
in Brazil by Spix. It is of a variegated colour. The
head, neck, chest, and vent-feathers, and also a mir-
ror or spot in the wings resembling those in the
cheeks, are white. The feathers on the occiput and
back of the neck are produced and pointed, giving
something the appearance of a mane. The upper
part, and also the under part, are reddish ; the wings
and tail are of a black colour, with violet reflections ;
and the turn of the wing is furnished with a horny
spur, something similar to that on the geese in the
corresponding latitudes of Africa. The habits of this
species are not very well known, though it is reported
to partake as much of the character of a wading bird
as of that of a swimming one.

THE HALF-WEBBED GOOSE (A. scmipalmatus) is a
native of New Holland. The upper parts are grey ;
the head, neck, and thighs, are blackish brown ; there
is a white collar round the neck, and the upper part
of the rump is of the same colour. The length of
the bird is about two feet nine. The webs extend
only half the length of the toes, and thus it can walk
much more easily than those which have the feet
completely webbed. It also perches on trees, and in
some of its habits approaches to the herons. We
have not, however, a very full account of its charac-
ter in its native locality.

CEHEOPSIS. This bird, which has no very definite
English name, the colonists of its native Australia
not being the best of all nomenclators, ought, per-
haps, to range in a separate genus ; but still it has a
good many characters in common with the geese,
and more especially with the one last mentioned.
It has the bill short, strong, and covered with a cere
or naked skin, extended towards the point, which is
arched and truncated. The lower mandible is sloped
off at its extremity ; the nostrils are very large, pierced
in the middle of the bill, and entirely open. Four
toes directed to the front palmated with notched
membranes. The middle toe is shorter than the tar-
sus ; and the fourth toe, which turns to the front,
is furnished with a very large claw. The coverts
of the wings are as long as the quills, of which the
first is a little shorter than the other ; there is a blunt
spur on the turn of the wing ; and the tail is broad,
rounded at the point, and composed of sixteen feathers.

The cere and the naked skin, to the eyes, are yel-
lowish ; the principal colour of the plumage is grey-
ish ash, darker on the upper part than on the uiulor.
The coverts of the wings are blackish. The quills
are dull brown at their tips. The naked parts of the
legs, which extend a considerable way above the
tarsal joints, are yellowish orange ; but the toes and
claws are black.

The body of this bird is much shorter than that of
the true geese, and is more of a triangular shape, or
tapering from the anterior part of the sternum to the
tail. The pectoral muscles are large ; the windpipe
is also large, but of uniform dimensions throughout,
and resembling those of the herons and bitterns.
The stomach is a true gizzard, indicating that the
bird is principally a vegetable feeder. In some of
the accounts the head of this bird is represented as
being covered with naked skin, but such is not the
fact ; it has been brought to this country, and we
believe that broods have been reared under the
management of the Zoological Society of London.
Still, however, the characters of the bird, or rather
its habits in a state of nature, are but imperfectly
understood ; and we are still in want of much inform-
ation respecting it.

There is one structural difference between this bird
and the typical geese, in which the two species noticed
immediately preceding also agree, and that is the dif-
ferent form of the keel of the sternum. In the geese
that part of the bone is not low ; but it is of uniform
height throughout great, part of its length, and nearly
straight in its inferior outline ; whereas in the species
now mentioned, the great development of the ster-
num is forwards, as if the muscular power of the birds
were more accumulated on the immediate organs of
flight, and the lower outline is much more curved.
In this respect the sternum, which in birds is a most
characteristic part of the skeleton, approaches in
shape to that of the long-flighted wading birds, the
herons, storks, and others of that tribe ; and as there
is generally a correspondence between the organ and
the formation, we may naturally suppose that these
birds combine the habits of wading birds with those
of geese ; and thus they are enabled to summer and
winter, without migration, in countries which are sub-
ject to great variations in respect of moisture and
drought. Too little is known, however, of the habits
and movements of the tropical and southern geese
for enabling us to speak positively respecting them ;
and this article has already extended as far as the
birds, important as they are, will bear.

GOOSEBERRY, is the well known Ribcs gros-
sularia of Linnaeus. It is found wild in many places
in Britain, and has been long cultivated in gardens for
its very useful fruit, both green and mature. Of the
Grossularia or aculeate Ril>cs, there are fifteen or
sixteen known species, the fruits of all which are eat-
able, but the varieties of R. uva crispa, are the most
valued, and those in most general culture : the rough
and smooth gooseberries (.lylvcstrix and saliva], con-
sidered the two chief varieties of Riies uva crispa, are
often esteemed distinct species ; the former being the
R. grossularia, and the latter the R. uva crispa of
Linnaeus. De Candolle, however, believes them to
be specifically the same.

In Britain, gooseberries are much cultivated, espe-
cially in Lancashire, where from prizes being offered
by the provincial Horticultural Societies, berries have
been produced, each weighing an ounce or an ounce

CG4

GOOSEFOOT— GRACULA.

and a half. Gooseberries, although grown, are nut
very common in the gardens either of Southern or
Northern Europe : the heat of the summers in Spain
and Italy being too great, and in Norway and Sweden
the seasons are too rapid for the full development of
the fruit. In England, as already observed, goose-
berries are much esteemed, both as a dessert and
kitchen fruit ; and the facility with which, when
in an unripe state, they can be preserved throughout
the year in bottles, from which the air has been ex-
cluded by boiling, renders them very servicable as a
winter fruit. Gooseberries also, when preserved with
sugar, make very good jams and jellies ; and, when
fermented, an excellent wine is produced, which
sparkles when the cork is drawn, and is known as
English champagne.

The pleasant acidulous flavour, of the gooseberry
depends upon the presence of a malic acid blended
with sugar ; and upon the varied proportions in which
these two principles are developed, depends the fitness
of the several varieties for dessert or kitchen use, for
preserving or for making wine.

The cultivation of the gooseberry is exceedingly
simple : young plants are raised from cuttings, taken
from the trees in autumn, and planted then or at any
time during winter. The cuttings are prepared by
trimming off all the buds from the lower part, leaving
only four or five at the top to form the future branches.
The cuttings should be chosen from the strongest
shoots produced from branches, not from the suckers
from the root : the bottom and point is cut off, leav-
ing the extermediate part fifteen or eighteen inches
long ; six or seven inches of the bottom part is in-
serted into the ground i the like length forms the
stem, and the branches issue from the top. Some
pains are bestowed to give the branches a right direc-
tion to form the future tree. If they rise too erectly
they are bent a little horizontally by hooks ; if too
inclining, they are held up by forked sticks. The
branches should be trained first outwards and then
upwards, leaving the centre open and rather thin of
branches. The summer shoots are produced along
the branches, and which are annually pruned down to
about an inch at the base. This is the chief culture
gooseberry-trees require.

GOOSEFOOT is the Chenopodium of Linnaeus
and other botanists. They are found in all quarters
of the globe, though mostly innocuous ; some of
them have a most offensive scent and flavour, and
are used medicinally as anthelmintics ; and many of
them are used as spinach. The seeds of C. quinoa,
or petty rice, are used as food in tropical America.

GORYTES (Latreille). A genus of hymeno-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Aculeata, and
sub-section Fossores, and family Crabronidce, having
three complete sub'tnarginal cells, of a squarish form,
and of nearly equal size, the second of which re-
ceives two recurrent nerves^; the mandibles are in-
ternally unidentate, and the antennae are somewhat
thickened at the tips. These insects have much the
appearance of small wasps, but they are solitary in
their habits. Some of the species have the fore legs
furnished with spines, and these are supposed to be
the constructors of their own nests, whilst others are
destitute of these appendages in the female sex, and
are, consequently, regarded by M. le Comte de Saint
Fargeau as parasitic, and are accordingly considered
by this author as belonging to distinct genera, the
characters of which he has detailed in a valuable

monograph upon the group, published in the Annals
of the Entomological Society of France.

GOSSYP1UM (LinniEus). A beautiful and very
useful genus of annual and perennial herbs and shrubs,
chiefly natives of India. The flowers are monadel-
phous, and rank in the natural order, Malvaceae.
The great commercial importance of the cotton plant,
or rather plants, for several of the genus yield cotton,
makes its history interesting. In China the G. reli-
giosum is chiefly cultivated, it yielding the yellow
coloured cotton of which nankeen cloth is made.
G. herbaceum is cultivated in many parts of the old
world as well as in the new. G. Jjarbadense is a
herbaceous annual, extensively cultivated in that and
other West India islands. But the plant which
affords the finest cotton, cultivated at the Isle of
Bourbon, in the East Indies, and in South America,
is probably what is called by Roxburgh, G. obtusif<>-
lium. This is a large, handsome evergreen shrub,
much resembling in foliage and manner of growth tlm
Judas tree of our gardens. The plants are put in
about eight feet distances from each other, and in re-
gular rows, and the ground is kept clean among them
by the hoe. The plant begins to flower very early,
or as soon as it is a foot or two high. The flowers
are numerous, and followed by capsules, containing1
the seeds, wrapped in cotton. When the capsules
burst the cotton and seeds are liberated, and then
collected into baskets by children, who carry them
to the warehouse to be, in the first place, freed from
seeds, and afterwards packed in bales for sale. The
seeds are separated from the cotton by children, by
means of a small machine held on the lap. A crank
handle, turned with one hand, moves two small metal
cylinders, which revolve against each other so closely,
that while the cotton, fed in by the other hand, passes
through, the seeds are discharged behind.
" It appears from parliamentary returns that the
annual imports of cotton into this country are much
above 227,000,000 Ibs. These returns give some
idea of the immense value of this plant in the manu-
facture of whose seed-down there is invested a capital
in Great Britain alone of 56,000,000/., giving direct
employment to upwards of 830,000 of our population,
and being manufactured into goods of the annual
value of 36,000,000/.

GOURD is the name of the fruit of the Cucnrbita
potira of Linnaeus. They are creeping plants, with
gross stems, large leaves, and monstrous fruit. Their
generic name is given from the circumstance that the
shells are formed into various vessels for domestic
use, such as bottles, basins, bowls, &c. Many of the
species are cultivated as articles of food or drink, or
medicine. Some of the bottle gourds (Lagcnaria)
grow to a very large size, forming flasks six feet long,
by a foot and a half in circumference ; and, when
quite young, are made into spoons. The Arabians
call the plant charrah, and the poorer people often eat
the fruit, boiled with vinegar, or fill the shell with
rice and meal, and thus make it into a kind of pud-
ding. Some of the bottle gourds have a bitter ca-
thartic pulp, which may be used instead ofcolocynth ;
but others, especially the cultivated varieties, have
a sweet and esculent flesh. These latter are some-
times called sweet calabashes ; but they must not be
confounded with the true calabashes, which are species
of Crescentia.

GRACULA — Crackle. The French ornitho-
logists call birds of this genus martins, and with them

GRACULA

there is no impropriety in the name, because they do
not call those swallows martins, to which we give that
name, and their martinets in the swallow family are
our swifts, not our martins. In Britain, however, the
name martin would be very improperly applied to the
genus Gracula ; because it would immediately suggest
ttie notion of those familiar little birds which build
their nuptial bowers with so much industry and inge-
nuity in the angles of our windows, whereas the genus
which we are now very shortly to notice, are very
different both in their appearance and their habits.

There are perhaps no birds of which the nomen-
clature is so confused as those of this genus, as
scarcely two of those who have treated of them sys-
tematically, have agreed in applying the same name
to them. In adopting Gracula, we follow Cuvier ;
ut it is doubtful whether his generic characters will
:![.')ly to all those birds which the continental writers
ine.'ide under the general name of martins. This
part of the system is indeed not a little difficult,
because the shades of characteristic distinction are
very s.null and exceedingly numerous. In Cuvier's
arrange -iient, the grackles belong to the dentirostral
division of Panscres ; and he arranges them near the
choughs. They are all birds of omnivorous habits,
though the principal food of very many of them con-
sists of locusts and grasshoppers, in the destruction of
the former of which they render important services
to those countries in which they are found. The
greater number are natives of the grand head quarters
of the more splendid birds of omnivorous character;
namely, the oriental Archipelago and the Oceanic
isles ; but some of them are found in the east and
. south-east of Asia, others probably in Africa, and cer-
tainly in Madagascar ; and there is at least one
species which comes periodically into eastern and
central Europe, and in very rare instances makes a
dash over into the British isles.

They resemble various other genera of the same
part of die system. They have been classed in part
at least with the thrushes, but they less resemble these
than they do some others. If we consider them in
respect of their food, they come perhaps nearest to
the ant-caters ; and if we have reference to their ge-
neral habits, they bear no inconsiderable resemblance
to the starlings : like these last mentioned birds they
are gregarious, appearing in numerous Hocks ; and it
is this part of their habit which renders them so valu-
able in destroying the countless hosts of the locusts.

The generic characters are : the bill conical, and
much lengthened, without any cere at the base, and
with a slight notch at the tip of the upper mandible ;
both mandibles very much compressed, with sharp
cutting edges, and a little arched , the nostrils oval
at th(> base of the bill, and partly covered by a fea-
thered membrane ; the feet have four toes, the middle
front one shorter than the tarsus, and united to the
outer one at the base ; the first quill of the wings
merely nidi mental, and the second and third the
longest in the wing.

In their manners they are very familiar birds, little
afraid of the immediate presence of human beings,
and not much of the discharge of musketry. Indeed
they will alight and feed in the fields, in the very
middle of the people that are at work there, and
pursue their useful labours as if they were fellow-
workers with man. Their food is by no means con-
lined to locusts, but extends to all the larger species
oi insect?, which are so destructive to the produce of

the fields in the wanner regions of the world. The
young are very easily tamed, and readily taugnt to
repeat words ; indeed when domesticated and kept in
the fai«n yard, they imitate the cries not only of all
the kinds of domestic poultry, but of sheep, goats, and
almost of every other animal of which they hear the
voice. It is probably in consequence of this fami-
liarity in the manners of at least one of the species,
that Temminck gave them the generic name of pastor,
by which the only one occasionally visiting this
country is generally known. The species are nume-
rous ; but our limits will admit only of mentioning
one or two, which plan we must follow in the case of
all the omnivorous birds of the same country which
the grackles inhabit.

COMMON GHACKLE (G. trintis). How this bird
came to be called tristis, "the sad," it is not easy to
say ; for in truth it is about as lively a bird as any of
which we are acquainted. The usual length is about
ten inches. The upper part marron brown ; top of
the head furnished with long black thread-shaped
feathers ; a triangular naked patch behind the eye ;
the principal quills black at the points and white at
the bases ; the tail-feathers brown, with the outer
webs of the lateral ones white toward the extremities ;
the throat, neck, and upper part of the breast, deep
grey, the rest of the under part dull white ; and the
bill and feet yellow. This species is very generally
distributed, both through continental India and.
through the islands ; and it is as serviceable in de-
stroying those insects which attack vegetation above
ground in those countries, as the common rook is for
destroying the under-ground depredators of our fields ;
and where the inhabitants, inattentive to the uses
of birds, have been inconsiderate enough to seek to
exterminate the grackle, the same consequences have
followed as when the same inconsideration in our
own country has led to the destruction of the rook.
When our rooks have been thus destroyed, the under
ground swarms of coleopterous larvae have cut oh"
both corn and grass, at half an inch depth below the
surface, so that in brief space hundreds of acres were
perfectly bare ; and just in the same manner the de-
struction of the grackles, and birds of their class, has
been almost instantly followed by a desolating flood
of locusts, which left behind them no green thing.

In the islands of Bourbon and Mauritius, these
birds are held in the highest estimation. In former
times, the produce of the fields was in the progress of
being destroyed by locusts, the eggs of which, pre-
viously unknown in the island of Bourbon, were intro-
duced with some plants from Madagascar, and they
bred so rapidly, that the whole island was threatened
with desolation. Poivre, the then governor, to whose
science and patriotism the island owed so much,
learning the great services which these birds per-
formed in India, had a number of pairs introduced
and distributed over the islands. They bred very-
fast, were diligent in their labours ; and in a few years
the locusts seemed extirpated. When this took
place the gracklcs began to dig and examine the
newly sown fields; and the colonists, concluding that
they did so for the purpose of eating the seeds, used
every means to exterminate them, and soon succeeded.
They, however, had reason speedily to repent, for no
sooner were the grackles destroyed, than the ravages
of the locusts began. Upon this a second importation
took place, and in order to prevent a recurrence of
their former folly, special laws were enacted for their

GRAINS OF PARADISE-GRANATEiE.

666

protection. They soon again cleared the island of
locusts, and also the cotFee plantations of those
grubs which are so injurious to them. They next
proceeded to attack the corn fields and orchards, and
even to kill the young of pigeons and other domestic
birds. This shows how rapidly they multiply ; and
the consequence was, the enactment of a sort of Mal-
thusian law, for a positive check to prevent their
numbers from exceeding the quantity of their legiti-
mate food ; and thus regulated, we believe, they did
good without any admixture of evil.

PAGODA GIIACKLE (G. pagodarum}. This species
is very plentiful in most parts of India, and has ob-
tained its trivial name from perching on the temples.
It is bluish-ash on the upper part, clouded with fawn
colour toward the extremities of the wing-coverts.
The top of the head and neck are furnished with long
and silky feathers, of a black colour, with bronze re-
flections ; but the shorter feathers on the head are
buff colour variegated with white. The quills are
black with bronze tips ; and the tail-feathers bronze
colour with white tips. The under part is buff with
paler margins to the feathers. The under sides of
the wings are white clouded with ash colour ; arid
the base of the bill is black, but the greater part of
the length of it, and also the feet, are yellow. The
length is about eight inches.

ROSY CRACKLE (G. roseus}. This species is
much more discursive than any of the others ; and as
such it has been long known in the ornithology of
Southern Europe. It used to be considered as a
thrush, and was styled the rose-coloured thrush, by
the earlier describers, while Selby, and some of the
later ones, taking up the name given by Temminck,
have called it the rose-coloured pastor. Its generic
characters are, however, those of the grackles. It is
about the size of the starling, that is, about eight
inches long. The head, which is furnished with a
large and handsome crest, is of a black colour, and so
are the neck, the wings, and the tail ; and all the rest
is of a rosy tint, or rather something between peach
blossom and salmon colour. The wing-coverts are
inclining to brown with rich metallic reflections ; and
the feathers on the head, the crest, and the neck, are
velvety in their texture, but with obscure reflections
of purple and green. The female has the crest
shorter, and the whole body inclining more to brown-
ish grey. The young are brown mottled with grey ;
their legs are also brown, whereas the legs of the full
grown birds are of a reddish colour. These birds
come into Europe only in the summer ; but they are
exceedingly active and voracious, destroying vast
numbers of the larvae of the larger insects. They
corne along with the oriole?, fly-catchers, and other
birds which migrate from central Asia, as the ground
there gets dried and parched by the ardours of the sum-
mer's sun. In general, those summer birds which mi-
grate in longitude rather than in latitude, and come
westward approaching the central heights of Europe in
greater or smaller numbers, according to the character
of the season, do not reach beyond those heights, ex-
cepting as stragglers ; but they are all birds of powerful
wing, and sometimes find their way to Britain. It is
worthy of remark that, while our regular summer
visitants, which come in numbers, have their localities,
in which they are often very abundant, though quite
unknown out of them, the stragglers, which come but
rarely, come indefinitely to all parts of the islands,
plainly showing that the birds are not, in any sense of

the word, " at home " with us, but are without the lo-
cality of their proper instincts, and therefore unable
to select the places of their resort. These birds are
handsome and beautiful ; and when one happens to
alight in the country, it is eagerly sought after as a
prize of no ordinary value.

WHITE-EARED GRACKLE (G. auricidaiis). Upper
parts rich bronze colour ; head, neck, throat, upper
part of the breast and coverts of the wings brilliant
black ; the top of the head furnished with long and
silky feathers ; a flesh-coloured naked space surround-
ing the eye ; the ear-coverts white ; the rump and
under part pure white ; the bill and feet yellow. This
species is about eight inches long, and is found in
some parts of India, bu more abundantly in the
oriental isles.

CRESTED GRACKLE OF CHINA (G. cristatella}, has
the whole plumage of a dull bluish black, with the
exception of the tail-feathers and the quills, which
have some white, the primary quills at their bases
and the other quills at their tips. The head is fur-
nished with a crest of long black feathers ; and the
bill and feet are yellow. This species is about eight
inches and a half in length. It is found in the east ot
Asia and the isles.

SILKY GRACKLE (G. sericeus). This is a small
species about seven inches in length. The upper
parts are ash-coloured, with the coverts and quills
black at the points and white at the bases. The
head is yellowish white, almost yellow on the crown ;
the upper part of the neck yellow, and the under parts
greyish white ; the bill is purple red, and the feet
reddish yellow. In the female the quills and coverts
are brown, the top of the head black, and the forehead
mottled with brown and white, which is also the
colour of the flanks ; the bill and feet are brown. In
consequence of this, the two sexes have been some-
times described as different species.

There are various other species or varieties in
the genus, but as they differ little in their habits, a
description of them would be merely one of colour,
and have no general interest.

GRAINS OF PARADISE is the Amomum grana
Parodist of Willdenow. These grains are stomachic
and stimulant, but far less grateful as a spice than
either cardamoms or ginger ; they are often, how-
ever, substituted for the former, and have even been
called the greater cardamom. The officinal carda-
mom is the fruit of the Al/rinia cardamomum.

GRAMINE^E. A truly natural order of plants, and
one in which a very general resemblance obtains.
According to London's Hortus Britannicus, this order
contains one hundred and fifty-eight genera, and one
thousand and seventy-one species. For the facility
of studying this extensive family of plants, it lias
been divided into sub-orders, sections, and divisions ;
but, notwithstanding this, long and intense study is
required to enable a student to become an accurate
practical graminesest.

It is hardly necessary to add, that the grasses are
directly and indirectly the most valuable of all other
tribes of plants for the use of man. To offer proofs
of this would be to write histories of pastures, fodder,
cattle, bread, corn, &c. &c., a knowledge of which is
contemporaneous with our very being. All the prin-
cipal and most useful species may be found described
under their proper names.

GRAN ATE^E. A small natural order, containing
at present only one genus, POMEGRANATE, which see.

GRAPE— GRASSHOPPER.

GRAPE. The fruit of the cultivated vine, so well
known as to need no description. For the cultiva-
tion see article VINE.

GRAPE HYACINTH is the Muscari of Des-
fontaiae, and the Hyacinth us muscari of Linnaeus, a
common flower-border bulb.

GRAPSUS (Lamarck). A genus of crustaceous
animals belonging to the Decapoda Brachyura, and to
the section Quadri/ateres of Latreille, having the shell
or carapax nearly square, the legs Hat, the eyes placed
upon short foot-stalks at the anterior angles of the
shell, and the antennae covered by the front of the
latter. The abdomen is seven-jointed in both
sexes. These crabs, of which many species are de-
scribed, are, with a single exception, inhabitants of
the seas of the East and West Indies. At Cayenne
they are called ragabeuruba, that is, soldiers. During
the day they hide themselves under stones and other
bodies in the sea ; some, however, frequent rivers
subject to the tide, but these generally are found upon
the moist banks out of the water. It is said that
they even climb up the trunks of trees, and seek re-
fuge beneath the bark. They assemble in consider-
able numbers, and at the approach of danger retire to
the water, striking their claws against each other with
violence during their retreat. The only European
species is the Grapsus marmoratus of Fabricius, which
is found upon the coasts of France and England.

GRASSHOPPER. The ordinary name given to
an extensive group of insects, forming portions of the
great Linnseau genus, GRVLLUS (which see), and
distinguished by the power which they possess of
leaping to a considerable distance. In our article
upon the CEHCOPID^E, we have entered at some
length into the various saltatorial powers possessed
by insects, and have shown that in the greater num-
ber it is to the peculiar construction of the hind legs
that they are indebted for such powers. In the in-
sects now under consideration this is particularly the
case, and as they are abundant in the summer and
autumn months in every field and upon every bank,
no insects are more easily discovered, owing to their
perpetual chirping, nor are any more capable of
showing the beautiful mechanism with which the
motions of the insect world are provided than these.
For rapid motion through the air with closed wings,
it is proper that the body of an insect should present
in its form as little resistance as possible ; we lind,
therefore, the body of the grasshopper long and
compressed. But it is the instruments by which this
motion is imparted to the insect which now especially
merit our attention. These are the hind legs, which
are attached to the body, nearly in the centre, at the
sides, by means of very powerful muscles, and which,
instead of being short and formed for laying hold of
objects, like the four anterior and intermediate legs,
are longer than the entire body, and seem, when the
insect is merely creeping about, to be dragged along
without assisting in progression. The thigh is the
strongest part of the legs, its basal portion being the
thickest, and it gradually becomes more slender to
the tip. Along its outer surface there are several
ridges, which must evidently impart considerable
strength to the limb, and the space between these
ridges is likewise ornamented with oblique ridges,
which give it a beautiful appearance. On looking at
the limb from behind, a depressed space is observed
along its entire length, margined on each side with
strong spines, of which we shall subsequently notice

C67

the use ; the shank,is more cylindric and slender than
the thigh, smooth internally, but generally spined on
its outer edge, and armed at its extremity with several
very strong short spurs. This part of the limb is of
the same length as the thigh, and is terminated by a
short jointed tarsus, having two strong claws at the
tip. We will now suppose the insect creeping upon
the ground, and suddenly menaced by the approach
of danger. For the avoidance of this danger it is
necessary that a sudden spring should be made, and
it is also necessary that for doing this the body
should be thrown upwards in a greater or less angle,
according to the distance to be gained. Now this is
effected in a very peculiar and interesting manner ;
the thigh, in its ordinary position, is placed at an
obtuse angle with the front part of the body, and the
tarsus is placed at an obtuse angle with the shank ;
thus :

Great Green Grasshopper.

the tip of the shank or tibiae is then suddenly brought
into contact with the base of the thigh, being retained in
its position during the subsequent stroke by means of
the spines upon the margins of the hinder edge of the
thigh ; but the tarsus is, during this operation, kept
in an horizontal position ; the obtuse angle, therefore,
between it and the external extremity of the shank
becomes, by degrees, a right angle and then an acute
angle ; the more the thigh is lowered the more acute
being the angle between the tibia and tarsus ; by this
means the strong spurs at the extremity of the tibia
are fully exposed and brought into action, being now,
in fact, the support of the hind part of the body, and
offering a very firm point upon the plane of position.
A violent stroke is then made by the muscles of the
hind thighs, the body is prevented from moving in a
backward direction by the spurs of the tibia, and the
body is accordingly propelled forwards and upwards,
in proportion to the angle made by the tarsus and the
tip of the tibia. But the grasshopper is often assisted
in its motions by other organs, for no sooner is it in
the air than it expands a pair of wings of a delicate
gauzy texture, which had been previously folded up
by means of many longitudinal wing-ribs, arranged
like the ribs of a fan, beneath a pair of narrow wing-
covers, often elegantly marked and coloured. We
have been thus particular in explaining the mode by
which the leaping of the grasshopper is effected,
having only met with a short and insufficient expla-
nation of it in the works of writers upon popular en-
tomology.

We have said that the grasshopper is easy to be
traced, from the chirping noise which it makes, but it
is necessary to notice that it is only by one sex, the
males, that this noise is produced. The same peculiarity
also exists in the not less noisy CICADA (which see),
although the apparatus by winch the sound is pro-

606

GREBE.

duced is quite distinct. In the house and field cricket
(see the article CIUCKET), which are very nearly
related to the grasshoppers, both forming, in tact,
portions of the genus Gryllus of Linmeus, we have
noticed the structure of the wing-covers, and in those
species of grasshoppers, which have long and slender
antenme, the structure is very similar. De Geer,
speaking of the great green Gryllus viridissimus, which
is common near London, thus describes the structure
as well as the mode in which the sound is produced :
— " In that part of the right wing-cover of the male,
which is folded horizontally over the trunk, there is
a round plate, made of very fine transparent mem-
brane, resembling a little mirror or piece of talc, of the
tension of a drum. This membrane is surrounded by
a strong and prominent nervure, and is concealed
under the fold of the left wing-cover, which has also
several prominent nervures answering to the margin
of the nismbraae or ocellus. There is every reason
to believa that the brisk movement with which the
grasshopper rubs these nervures against each other,
produces a vibration in the membrane augmenting
the sound. The males in question sin? continually
in the hedges and trees during the months of July and
August, especially towards sunset and part of the
night. On approaching them they immediately cease
their song." But the majority of English grass-
hoppers belong to a distinct section, having short and
rather thick antennae (and belonging to the same
division as the locust), and in these the chirping is
produced in a different manner, the thighs being
rubbed alternately briskly against the closed wing-
covers, which causes the regular breaks in the chirp-
ing ; moreover, near the base of the hind legs, De
Geer discovered a cavity partially covered by mem-
brane, having a semi-circular aperture, which must
evidently contribute in a considerable degree to pro-
duce and augment the sound.

The larva) and pupa) slates of these Insects are very
similar in form to that of the imago, 'the former being
destitute of wings, and the pupa) having only rudi-
mental wings and wing-covers ; hence, although in
these states they are able to leaf) to as great a distance
as when winged, they are incapable of chirping.

GREBE (Podiceps). A genus of Palmipede, or
web-footed birds, belonging to Cuvier's family of
divers, or short-winged birds, and placed as the first
of that family in his arrangement. They are very
peculiar birds in their structure and habits, and on
that account they are highly interesting. They are,
in one respect, the first of the aquatic birds; but they
do not take up the connexion from the birds with
sentient bills, whereof the avocet is the last. Thev
take it up more from the herons, which find their
prey by wading in the shallows, and seizing it in the
free waters by means of a hard, firm, and sharp-pointed
bill, which they can use with great precision.

The grebes seize the principal part of their food in
a similar manner, only they have the power of com-
mitting themselves to the water, and seizing the prey
when they are under the surface, and often at the
depth of a good many feet. For this purpose they are
admirably adapted, not only in the ibrm and action
of their organs of motion and prehension, but in the
general form of their bodies, and in the texture of the
feathers with which they are covered.

As the grebes take up the character where it is lef
off by the herons and those other birds which, wading
but not swimming, capture their prey in the waters

)y a firm bill directed with very certain aim, so they
ran?fer it to the sea divers properly so called, to
hose birds which subsist by following their prey
under the surface in the free range of the oceanic
A-aters.

The grebes are not, however, sea birds, though

hey can upon emergency make their way in salt

water. They are inhabitants of the smaller lakes

•\nd ponds, especially those which are tangled with

)lants ; and they are admirably fitted for making

heir way under water in such places. We must,

lowever, mention the generic characters before we

>roceed farther with the general description.

The bill is of mean length, though generally longer
than the head; it is straight, conical, and compressed
or cylindrical in its section. The upper mandible is
awl-shaped, and abruptly curved toward the point.
The nostrils are lateral, and pierced in the middle of
ihe length of the bill ; oblong and open externally,
but capable of being firmly closed internally by a
membrane ; and they have a communication the one
with the other. The feet are articulated far back-
wards ; the tarsi are very much compressed, and
have membranous margins. There are four toes on
each foot, three to the front and one to the rear;
these toes are margined by broad and very peculiar
membranes, which are, however, divided down nearly
to the articulations ; and it is on this account that
the name of Podiccps, or " divided foot," is given to
the genus. Of these toes the external one is the
longest ; and the fourth, or hind toe, is very com-
pressed, bordered with membrane, articulated rather
upon the inner side of the tarsus and touches with
the point only when the foot of the bird is on the
ground.

From this form of the feet, their distance laterally
from each other, and the oblique motions of the joints
both of the tibiae and the tarsi, the grebes are very
clumsy and imperfect walkers. Their legs axe arti-
culated far behind the centre of gravity of the body,
and thus they are unable to support it in a horizontal
position, or any thing approaching to it. Those who
think of no ot»ier use or office in a foot than that of
walking upon the solid earth, would be apt to regard
the foot of a grebe as the most unformed and awkward
of all organs with which any animal could be furnished ;
but when we come to consider the use which the
grebes make of this apparently awkward foot in the
most important operations which they have to per-
form, we at once see that there is not in the whole
range of the animal kingdom, wide and varied as it
is, a finer instrument than the foot of the grebe. No
human knowledge of the principles of mechanics
could contrive such an instrument, and no human
dexterity could form it, even though in possession of
the plan. Oars and paddles, and other implements
for the moving of boats and other craft through the
waters, have been made of various forms and used
with different degrees of erl'ect in proportion to the
power necessary for putting them in motion. Among
them all, however, there is nothing which can be at
all compared with the foot of the grebe, even if we
leave its self-motion out of the question, and look
upon it merely as a mechanical instrument. When
the bird is under water (and it is rarely a surface
swimmer) the foot is both oar and rudder. In giving
the stroke which impels the body forward, the foot
acts with the maximum of power in the direction
which gives the power the maximum of effect. In

GREBE.

669

recovering the foot, that is in bringing it in advance
through the water preparatory for a second stroke,
the mechanism performs its office with equal perfec-
tion. When the full bent of the stroke is given, all
the joints and membranes of the foot are at their
greatest degree of tension, so that the foot strikes as
if it were one expansion of solid matter, and the
membranous border of the tarsus, together with the
flat surface of the bone, assist in giving additional
effect. As soon, however, as the stroke is given the
whole foot relaxes, the tarsus turns with its thin edge
to the front, and thus the foot is advanced and a new
impulse given before the momentum of the body is
visibly diminished. No feathering of an oar, even
by a most expert rower, can at all compare with this
recovering of the grebe's foot, though that manoeuvre
with the oar is a sort of humble imitation.

Grebes being chiefly inhabitants of those waters in
which there is a good deal of vegetation, derive con-
siderable advantage from the division of the foot, and
they get additional power from the great length of
the toe. The wings also keep stroke with the loot ;
and from their hollow shape and their linn texture,
they may assist a little in the forward tin it ion, yet the
chief use of them is in directing the course of the
bird, especially in ascent and descent; so that, thus
furnished, the grebe has nearly the same command
of itself in the water of the tangled pools as the divers
have in the free water of the ocean.

The form, the covering, and indeed every thing
connected with these birds, is a beautiful instance of
the adaptation of structure to habit. No plumage
resists the water better, or gets through it with less
friction. Indeed the surface of the grebes is strongly
repcllant of water when thev are alive ; and though
it is not easy to say in what this property of the fea-
thers of binl« which swim under water consists, the
knowledge of it would be exceedingly useful in deter-
mining by \vhat means, other tlvm mere form and
smoothness of surface, a vessel conld be propelled
through the water. The grebes afford a very con-
vincing proof that this property is not obtained by
the application to the feathers of an oil secreted by
the glands on the rump of birds ; but that, on the
other hand, it must extend to the whole surface, to
every feather, down esen to the finest filaments of
the webs. That ii i< something connected with life
in the birds we are certain, because the dead feathers
of those birds are soon wetted : and that it is not put
on by any action of the bill, becaii«e it is just as per-
fect in those parts which the bird tannot reach with
its bill as in those which it can reach.

There is another provision in the covering of the
grebes which shows how well they are organised for
bearing the temperature, as well as the other influence
of the water. They are covered immediately under
the skin with a considerable layer of fat ; and that fat
is of the same oily nature as the fat on the under
sides of many swimming birds, and also on the bodies
of whales. This fat gives a disagreeable rancid, or
what is usually termed " a fishy flavour" to the flesh
of grebes ; but it is possible that, as is the case with
many of the marine birds, this flavour might be, in
great part at least, removed by burying for some time
in fresh mould. This flavour appears to be a subject
respecting which there are very general mistakes.
The term " fishy " seems to be a misnomer, for it
is not easy to see how feeding upon fish could com-
mutacate this flavour ; because it is the flavour of a

substance which has undergone two complete changes,
first, assimilation by the digestive process, and secondly,
secretion by those tissues in which it is lodged. The
way in which the particular nature of the food of ani-
mals modifies the qualities of their flesh is, however,
a subject upon which much information is wanted
before any definite conclusions are arrived at.

These birds are very miscellaneous feeders. They
do catch fish, but their bills are not adapted for the
capture of very large fishes ; and they are known to
feed on many other substances, such as spawn, water
beetles, crustaceous and molluscous animals ; and it
has been alleged that they sometimes eat the more
succulent roots of vegetables, though this is some-
what doubtful. They also swallow their own feathers,
which they are careful to pull out the moment that
they begin to decay; and as these feathers, mixed
with the elytra of beetles, and other indigestible mat-
ters, are often found in pellets in their stomachs, it
has been supposed that they " cast " these pellets in
the same manner as owls and other birds of prey cast
the indigestible " quids " of their food.

From their structure, grebes are very awkward
upon the land; and therefore they come ashore as
seldom as possible, and they are comparatively seldom
on the wing. At those seasons when they have
recourse to the sea. and the wind blows strongly in
shore, they, like the other diving birds, have con-
siderable labour in keeping themselves from being
strangled, which they endeavour to do by swimming to
windward. But though these are times of labour to
them, they are also times of plenty ; for the agitation
of the water brings up a areat quantity of those sub-
stances on which they feed, and so tosses about the
smaller fishes that they also become an easy prey.

The nesting-places of grebes depend a good deal
on the nature of their pastures ; those which are more
seaward, or inhabit waters destitute of vegetation,
nestle in holes of the banks ; whereas those which
frequent the reedy and sedgy pools inland form their
nests of vegetable substances, concealed in a tuft near
the water's edge, and not nnfrequently over its sur-
face, if the standing vegetation is capable of support-
ing the nest. Those nests consist of a great bunch
of vegetable matters, but, as the whole of these are
the produce of the waters, they are much coarser
than the nests of those birds which seek their mate-
rials on hind. The nests of grebes are sometimes
flooded, ami the wind sometimes breaks them from
their moorings, and drifts them to other places of the
pools, without having sustained much injury. On
these accounts there have been many mistakes re-
specting those nests. It has, for instance, been said,
that they are purposely wetted, and that the fermen-
tation produced by the humidity of such a mass of
vegetable matter generates heat, which greatly
assists in hatching the eggs. Now, this mistake,
which is a very common one, involves two errors ;
one, in the physiology of warm-blooded animals,
and a still greater one in the physiology of plants,
or rather, perhaps, in the phenomena of decaying or
decayed vegetable matter. So far as we know, there
is no egg of a warm-blooded animal that ran be
quickened into life by any action of heat, if accom-
panied with moisture at the same time ; and, on the
other hand, the vegetables which grebes, and all
other birds which use vegetables, construct their
nests of, are past that state in which any moistening of
them would produce either heat or fermentation.

670

GREBE.

There must be sap in vegetables, in order that either
of those operations may take place, for a sapless
vegetable merely dissolves mechanically in the water
by maceration.

The other mistake is, that of supposing that grebes
have forethought purpose, and thus build their nests
so as to rise and fall with those waters which are
subject to differences of level ; that, in some circum-
stances, the heavy nest of a grebe, when placed so as
to touch the surface of the water, may descend if the
water is lower ; and, as the weight is in the great
volume, and not in the specific gravity of the dry
leaves and stems, it is just as likely that such a nest
will be raised by an elevation of the water ; but that
the grebe has any forethought purpose in this, is
just as absurd as it would be to suppose that a grebe
should go and examine whether a pond had a sluice
to it or not, before beginning to build her nest ; and
not only this, but, before she could do what is said
of her by purpose and contrivance, she would require
a good deal of topographical knowledge ; for the
characters of the surrounding country, and that to a
distance far exceeding any grebe's journey, very fre-
quently determines whether the surface of a pool or
lake shall be constant or variable.

We shall now give a short glance at some of the
species of grebes ; and, as they resemble each other
very much in their habits, we shall make our remarks
brief.

RED NECKED GREBE (Podlceps rubricollis). In
he British islands this species is not very common,

and we believe it has not been seen excepting in the
winter. Still this circumstance does not warrant us
in saying positively that it is a migrant, because
grebes are not much on land at any time, and there
is much more concealment for them upon the waters
in summer than in winter. Besides, all our pool-
breeding birds seek toward the cold and upland pools
in the summer, because those pools are not so liable
to be dried up as those in the warmer, more cul-
tivated, and more thickly inhabited parts of the
country. This is a species of the same instinct
which brings the warblers to ou groves, and sends
the wild geese to the polar regions ; but, when we
have stated that it is an instinct, we have stated the
ultimate point which our knowledge reaches, and can
assign no reason why it is such.

Besides being rather rarer than most of the other
grebes, this one is a more clumsy and heavy bird, and
not so handsome as the smaller species. Its length
is nearly a foot and a half, and its weight about a
pound and a half ; the bill is the same length with
the head, black for the greater part of the length, but
yellowish at the base. The crest on the hind head
is very short, and there are no rough or long feathers
on the sides of the head. This structure would lead
us to suppose that this bird is less expert in using its
bill in the waters than the crested ones, because
almost all birds that seize their prey rapidly in the
free waters, whether their bodies happen to be
immersed in the waters or not, have a crest on the
hind head, which appears to guide the bill in the
same manner as a dart or arrow is guided by the
feathers. The upper parts are of a brownish black
colour, but the secondary quills and basal part of the
primaries are white. The cheeks and throat are of
a grey colour ; the breast reddish chestnut : and all
the rest of the under part white, with a fine silky
gloss. I ndeed, the under parts of grebes are so glossy,

so finely feathered, and so durable, that they are
often prepared and used in the same manner as furs.
The female differs little in plumage from the male, but
the young do not acquire the red colour on the breast
till after the second moult. The timeof moulting in thi$,
and indeed in all the species, is the autumn ; and, so far
as has been observed, there is very little difference in
the summer and winter plumage. Indeed, as grebes are
almost constantly in the water, and thus subject to
much less variation of temperature than laud birds,
their differences of season are also less. Though, as
already stated, these birds have not been seen, except
in winter, analogy would lead us to conclude that
they do breed somewhere within our shores, for we
are acquainted with no species of grebe which is
known to be migrant, and there are no genera of
birds, so well derined and so peculiar as the grebes
are, of which some species are migratory and others
not. In many parts of the world, where lakes and
marshy pools are better adapted to its habits, and
more retired and solitary, this grebe is more plentiful
than in the British islands ; and there is reason to
believe that it is resident all the year round in most,
if not all, of those places, though there it is little
observed during the summer.

THE CRESTED GREBE (P. cristatus~), though more
common and frequently seen than the red-necked
species, is yet by no means a common bird in the
British islands, and, in consequence of the drainage
of many of the upland pools, it is not nearly so com-
mon at the present time as it was formerly. On the
continent of Europe, and in some parts of Asia, it is

tar more frequently met with, though its habits unfit
it for those countries which are burnt up by drought
in the summer months. It must be understood, how-
ever, that, though an aquatic bird, it is not a fen bird,
and therefore it is met with most abundantly in the
upland pools of the midland counties, where the
waters divide and run to the opposite seas. It is
more aquatic than the red necked species, or, at all
events, it frequents broader waters, where it is more
easily seen ; and there are few of the large lakes in
any part of the temperate latitudes of the eastern
continent where it is not to be met with. Grebes
resembling this, and perhaps originally of the same
stock, though partially altered by climate, are also
met with in America ; but the waters in North
America cover such an extensive surface, that the
exploring of them is no easy task, and therefore we
are ignorant of the numbers and the manners of many
of their habits.

This species, though handsome in its form, arid
not apparently so thick and heavy as the former,
is a much larger and weightier bird. It measures
about one foot nine inches in length, and two feet and
a half in the stretch of the wings, and weighs from
two to three pounds. The bill is about two inches
and a half in length, which is more than the length
of the head ; and the colour is dull red on the basal
part, and pale yellowish brown on the middle of the
upper mandible and the tip ; the legs and feet are
dusky black, with a yellowish tint on the inner
surfaces of the tarsi ; the irides, and naked skin
round the eyes, are bright crimson, and so is a stripe
of naked skin during the breeding season, which
extends from the opening of the bill to the eye ; at
other seasons this stripe is lead-coloured, and the tint
of the circle round the eye fades ; the crest is
divided into two rounded lobes, and the ear-coverts

GREBE.

671

are produced, and form a sort of short ruff or mantle
on the upper part of the neck ; the crest and top of the
head are dusky black , the cheeks are white, with the
exception of a dusky streak extending from the eye
to the crest ; and the ear-tufts are rust-coloured, with
deep black margins ; the general colour of the upper
part is dusky brown, with the exception of the se-
condary quills, and a small portion at the turn or wrist
of the wing, which are white ; the chin also is dusky
brown ; but all the rest of the under part is pure
white, of exquisite texture and gloss, so that the skin
of this species is highly prized for ornamental pur-
poses. The female is rather smaller than the male,
snd has the crest shorter, and the colours on the
upper part paler. The young, in their first plumage,
are without the crest and the tufts, and have waving
lines of brown on the sides of the head.

The nest is formed as near the water as possible,
and generally on the side of some tufted island most
remote from the land. It consists of a great quantity
of herbage, and contains four eggs, of nearly the same
size as those of a common pigeon ; when first laid
those eggs are white, but they are very soon soiled by
the mire, which adheres to the feet of the parent bird
when she goes into the water to feed, and also as she
waddles across any sludge that may be between the
water and the nest.

Crested grebes are very industrious birds, and cap-
ture great numbers of small fishes and other inha-
bitants of the waters. They are said to be especially
partial to young eels, which form great part of the
food of the young while in the nest. The slow and
wriggling motion of those eels naturally render them
a more easy prey to the grebes than the fishes of greater
activity are. These birds are not very often seen, and
it is exceedingly difficult to procure specimens oi
them, in consequence of the alertness with which they
dive, and the short time that even the head remains
above water when they come up for the purpose ol
breathing. They are, however, the most common ol
all the larger grebes ; and in winter they come down
nearer to the sea coast than some of the others.

THE TUFTED GREBE (P.cornutus), This species
is not quite so common in Britain as the crestec
grebe ; and it is more active as well as smaller, anc
therefore, not so often seen in proportion to its num-
bers. It measures about fourteen inches in length
arid more than two feet in the expanded wings, so
that it is better winged than the former. The bill is
only about one inch long, very stoutly made, reddish
at the base, dusky in the middle part, and greenish
grey at the tip. The colours of the irides form a very
certain and invariable character in this species. They
consist of two circles, the inner one crimson, and the
outer one white. The naked space round the eye i
also white ; but the streak from the eye to the gap<
becomes crimson in the breeding season. At thi
season too the reddish colour on the basal part ofthi
bill is much brighter than at other times. The cres
from w hich the bird gets the name of horned or tufted
the first of which is a very inaccurate expression, i
divided into two pointed lobes or branches, and of a
dusky colour. The crown of the head is of the same
and the ruff or ear-tufts chestnut, passing into dusky
black on the margins ; and both crests and tufts hav
a slight reflection of metallic green. The general co
lour on the upper part is brownish black ; the for
part of the neck and breast are rust-coloured, and th
sides and flanks the same, only much paler in th

mt ; all the rest of the under part is pure white ; the
oung are without the crest and ear-tufts, and the f'e-
nale has them smaller than the male. The breeding,
eneral habits, and haunts of these birds, differ so
ittle from those of the former species, that the details
)f them are unnecessary.

THE EARED GREBE (P. auntus}. This species is
till smaller than the former, being only about a foot
ong, and less than two feet in the stretch of the
vings. The name " eared " is not very aptly applied ;
or the tufts on the head of this species have just as
ittle connection with ears as those of the last men-
ioned species has with horns. They rise from above
and behind the eyes, stand up separately behind the
lead, and are pale chestnut-coloured, with an orange
inge. The ear-tufts, which are very short in this
species, are also orange tinged chestnut at the bases,
)ut they are sooty black at the tips, as are also the
lead, nape, and upper parts generally, though broken
jy a few mottlings of dull brown on the scapulars and
middle of the back. This black fades into chestnut
all round its under margins, and that again into pure
white on the middle of the under part. The irides
are scarlet ; and in the breeding season the streak
uefore the eye is crimson. These birds are also very
generally but not thickly distributed ; and their habits
bear a considerable resemblance to those of the others.
THE LITTLE GREBE (P. minor}. This is in some
respects the most interesting of all the grebes ; and
as a British species it is perhaps the most numerous.
It is found in all latitudes of our mainland, where the
situation suits it, and also in the islands. Its motions
in the water are exceedingly agile ; and in the style
of its swimming it something resembles a frog, only it
gets on with much more rapidity. Where the banks
of the pools and streams are bare, it is rarely met
with ; but it is not uncommon in the humid parts of
the lower country, where aquatic vegetation is luxu-
riant. As it inhabits nearer the dwellings of mankind
than the others, it is not so timid. It is indeed a

Little Grebe.

bold and very voracious, but at the same time far
from an ill-tempered bird. It has often been kept in
a state of confinement, if not absolutely tamed ; and
if properly supplied with food, it makes a very inter-
esting ornament to a garden pond ; small fishes are

67-2

GREBE-COOT.

its favourite morsels $ but it will cat other anima
food, and occasionally vegetables. There was one
lately kept at the Gallery of the Scientific Exhibition
in the Lowther Arcade, Strand, London, which was
far from being the least curious piece of mechanism
in the place ; and it had the advantage of self-motion
In that gallery there is a very long trough rilled will
water, for the purpose of making hydraulic experi-
ments ; and the little grebe used to dash along, arounc
and under the floating models with great rapidity
bobbing up its head at the one end, and again at the
other before one knew where to look for it. It is but
an ungainly walker upon land ; but in its own element
it is a very handsome bird.

The usual length is about ten inches, the stretch ol
the wings about sixteen, and the weight about sixteen
ounces. The bill is scarcely an inch long, brown ; irides
reddish hazel ; the whole upper parts are of a rusty
brown ; pale on the rump ; cheeks are of the same
colour as the fore part ot the neck, which is grey ; in
others of a light rust-colour ; breast and belly glossy
•white, mottled with ash-colour and light rusty ; in
some the rust-colour is wanting, especially in the fe-
males ; but both sexes are subject to vary in plumage
according to age ; legs dark dull green. As is the
case with all the genus, the nest consists of a great
quantity of materials, and the birds are in the habit o{
covering up their eggs when they quit the nest for the
purpose of feeding ; the nest is also always so placed
us that the bird can escape to the water in case of
danger ; but when no danger appears the female is
very constant to her eggs. Though these grebes are
exceedingly voracious, as was said, and levy heavy
contributions on the fry of fishes, the pike, the tyrant
of our pools and slow running waters, sometimes re-
taliates, by seizing and swallowing the little grebes j
nor is this to be wondered at, because that fish has
been known to seize the heads of swans while
dabbling, and the noses of quadrupeds while drinking.
The foreign species of grebes are numerous ; but
little is known of their manners, so that we shall
merely mention the names of one or two.

THE PIED-BILLED GREBE (P. Carolinensis] is a
native of North America ; brown on the upper part,
and dull white on the under ; the throat black ; a
white circle surrounding the eyes, and a black spot at
the base of the lower mandible ; the breast mottled
with olive ; the beak ash-coloured, with a black ring
surrounding it about the middle ; the feet black. The
length of the full grown bird about ten inches. The
young have the upper part dark brown ; the sides of
the neck, the bell}', and the rump, reddish ; and the
breast dull white with a large black spot.

THE DOUBLB-TUFTED GREBE (P. bicomis). A
native of South -America, length about twenty-three
inches. The bill long and slender ; the crest divided,
of a bluish black with metallic reflections ; the upper
part dark coloured ; the front of the throat black ; the
under part \viiite.

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS' GKEBE (P. Philippcnsis) in-
habits the eastern islands. It is about a foot long ;
blackish clouded with purple on the upper part, with
two red lines on the cheeks and sides of the neck;
under parts blackish ash : bill ash-coloured at the
base and point, but black in the middle.

THE HOARY GREBE (P. poliocephalus). Eleven
inches long ; brown on the upper part, with the fea-
thers on the hoad and cheeks produced and tipped
with white ; the under part silvery white : found in
some parts of Australia.

THE WHITE-WINGED GREBE (P. dominions) inha-
bits South America and the West Indies : blackish
on the upper part, greyish on the under spotted with
brown ; principal quills white with brown tips ; bill
black, and feet brow n, a very small species, not above
six or seven inches in length. There are many others,
some of which are found as far to the southward as
the very extremity of South America, but those which
we have enumerated, must serve as a specimen of'
birds, whose habits are so nearly alike that size and
colour are the leading specific distinctions.

GREBE-COOT (Podoa). A genus of fin-footed
birds, bearing some resemblance to both the genera
of which their English name is compounded ; but still
having sufficient characters to require their separation
from both. They were at one time confounded with
the darters which, however, belong to another part of
the system, being entire webbed birds, and closely
allied to the pelicans. The present genus consist
chiefly of two species, the one African, and the other
American. The characters are : the bill as long as
the head, straight, cylindrical, with the point bent
downward and notched, the culmen distinct but de-
pressed ; the cutting edges of the upper mandible a
little enlarged, those of the under straight, and angular
toward the point. The nasal grooves deep and long ;
and the nostrils placed in the middle of each side of
the bill, lengthened and entirely opened ; the feet
short and placed far backward, and with the tarsi
rounded, instead of being flattened and margined as
in the grebes , the three front toes united by a lobed
membrane, but the hind toe free ; the wings of mean
length and pointed ; the first quill shorter than the
second, and the second and third the longest in the
wing ; the tail is very large, which forms a remarkable
distinction between these birds and the grebes. Their
manners have been but little studied ; but it appears
that they are not nearly so uquatic as either the
grebes or the coots.

AMERICAN GREBE COOT (P. Sunnamensis). This
bird is found in various parts of South America. The
upper parts are dull brown, but the crown of the head
is furnished with long and pendent black feathers ;
the cheeks are yellowish brown ; the sides of the neck
streaked with black and white ; the eye streak white,
xtending the whole length of the neck ; the quills
laving a black band at the ends with a narrow white
margin; the bill ash-colour ; the feet yellowish brown
with the lobes streaked with black and white. The
ength about thirteen inches. It is described as
laving the head and neck constantly in motion ; and-
t is further added, that it is a dexterous fly-catcher.
Little is said of its manners, however, and it is doubt-
ul how far that little can be implicitly believed.

AFRICAN GREBE COOT (P. Scncgalcnsu). This
species is found in western Africa. It is about the
size of a duck. The upper parts brown, mottled with
jlack on the middle of the back and sides of the
neck ; the top of the head and upper part of the neck
)Iackish ; a white streak from the gape over the eye
and down the sides of the neck ; all the under part
white with the exception of some mott lings of black
on the flanks ; tail slender, but very stiff. The manners
of this species are just as little known as those of the
"ormer. These birds have got the name of Jin-foot,
which is by no means a correct one, because it is the
distinguishing character of the sub-order to which
hey belong, or at least to several genera, belonging
)oth to this and to other parts of the system.

GREEN DRAGON — GRITS.

678

GREEN DRAGON is the Arum dracontium of
Linnaeus, a curious North American herbaceous
])lant, long introduced into our gardens, and easily
increased by offsets from the roots.

GREVILLEA (R. Brown). A fine genus of ever-
green shrubs, natives of New South Wales, Linnoean
class and order Tetrandria MmogyraOt and natural
order Proteaccce. Generic, character : calyx irregu-
larly four sepalled, inserted obliquely ; small solitary
glands below the germen ; stigma obliquely de-
pressed ; folliculus one-celled, which is central and
two-seeded. As greenhouse plants this genus thrives
well in an equal mixture of loam, sand, and moor
earth, and is readily propagated by cuttings struck in
sand. Above thirty species are named in books.

GREW I A (Jussieu). A genus of evergreen shrubs,
mostly indigenous to India. They bear polyandrious
flowers, and the genus is arranged in the natural
order TilincecE.

GRIELUM (Linnaeus). A small genus of perennial
herbs, from the Cape of Good Hope, belonging to
the natural order Rosaccce. They are impatient of
moisture, requiring to be grown in sandy gravel and
the pots well drained, and propagated by cuttings
and seeds.

GR1FFINIA (Ker). A genus of bulbous plants
from South America, belonging to Amaryllideee. There
are three species described, and, like other tropical
bulbs, require a light, turfy soil, kept dry while dor-
mant, bur. allowed plenty of water when growing.

CROMWELL is the Lithoxpcnmnn officina/e of
Linrucue, a common medicinal or dyer's plant, belong-
ing to Boraginece. The lithosperma are remarkable
for the stony hardness of their pericarps, which have
all the brittleness and lustre of porcelain. This mem-
brane, when analysed, is found to contain a larger
quantity of earthy matter than any other organised
substance.

GROSSULARIE^E. A natural order, containing
only a single, though a well known, genus, namely,
the Itibcs, or Gooseberry. They are unarmed or
thorny shrub?, with round or irregularly angled lig-
neous stems and branches : simple lobed, alternate
leaves, but destitute of tendrils and stipules. The
utility and excellence of the gooseberry and currant
are well known. None of the other forty-seven
species equal these, although the fruit of some others
aft of some importance. The berry of most of these
is sweet, watery, and acid, but that of liibcs nigriim,
xand a few more, is tonic and stimulant, which appears
to have some connexion with the presence of glands
upon the leaves of those species. See GOOSEBERRY.

GROUNDSEL is the Scnccio vulgaris of Linnaeus,
a verv common European weed.

GROVE DOCK is the Rumex ncmolapatlium of
Ehrharr,

GRUB. A name generally given to any fleshy
dingy-coloured larva, whether proceeding from eggs
deposited by a beetle, moth, or other insect. It has
been attempted to distinguish grubs from maggots,
by considering the former as the offspring only of
coleopterous insects (beetles and weevils), and the
latter as having no feet ; but as the larvde of all
weevils, and many other beetles, are destitute
of feet, and as the word, as generally employed,
is quite incapable of strict systematic employment,
we would prefer leaving it in its ordinary inde-
tiniteness rather than limit it incorrectly, as has been
done.

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

GRUS — Crane, or rather, p«rhap?, GRVIDJE, the
Crane Family, as we shall include in this article a bird
or two, which are not, strictly speaking, cranes, though
nearly allied to them in various respects. We have
already described, in the article AGAMI, a species
which is closely allied to the cranes, though perhaps
even less aquatic in its habits.

The cranes are the first and most typical genus in
Cuvier's Cultrirorostral, or kniieshape-billed division of
JBckasiiei'ti or stilt birds.

The generic characters are : the bill straight, and
not very wide at the gape, and the nasal groove,
which is deep, and lined with membrane, occupies
nearly one half of its length ; the legs are very long
and strong, naked for a considerable way above the
tarsal joints, and fortified with shield-like scales,
which are not, however, reticulated, as in those birds
which are in the habit of having their legs habitually
in the water ; the toes are of moderate length, the
outer and middle one united by a short membrane at
the base, and the hind toe is articulated so far upward
on the tarsus as barely to touch the ground with its
point when the animal walks ; all the species have
the head and part of the upper neck more or less fur-
nished with projecting feathers ; the tongue is fleshy,
broad, and pointed ; the wings consist of twenty-four
quills ; their stomach is a true gizzard ; and the inferior
larynx has only one muscle on each side.

By Linna3us and his followers the cranes were
confounded with the herons, the storks, and various
other genera, but their manners differ from these,
and there is a corresponding difference of structure.
Storks, according to their different species, feed more
upon garbage, and those remains of animal life which
are left on the subsiding of the waters in the flooded
countries. They are also exceedingly voracious birds,
and their gape arid throat are very capacious. Herons
are more exclusively fisher?, and never seek their food
but on the margins of the waters, into which they
wade to some distance. The cranes, on the other
hand, though somewhat miscellaneous in their feed-
ing, subsist in great part upon vegetables, as the
gizzard would indicate, although we had no other
evidence. Cranes are also much more handsome
birds than either storks or herons. They are very
tall in stature, their bodies are light and elegant,
their gait is majestic, and their crests are much more
handsome than those of the other crested birds of
the division. Generally speaking, they inhabit the
warmer temperate countries, and are migrant with
the seasons ; but some are found far to the north in
summer, at least as far as the shores of Hudson's
Bay and the banks of the Siberian rivers. There are
several species, each of which is worthy of a short
notice ; and we shall begin with the only one which
breeds in Europe, and once bred in considerable
numbers in England, though it now rarely appears
even as an occasional visitant.

This shows that England has undergone a consi-
derable change, not only in respect of more abundant
population, but in respect of the character of the
country, especially in those places which these birds
frequented. Cranes are riot marsh birds, but they
are frequenters of the margins of marshes, though,
in places where they are abundant, they spread them-
selves over the corn-fields, and often do considerable
damage by feeding on the tender blade of the young

crop

THE COMMON CEANE (G. cinerea] has the body
U U

874

GRUS.

generally of an ashen-grey colour, with the throat,
the fore part of the neck, and the hind head, dusky ;
the crest or cap on the head, and also the quills,
black. The bird is about the size of a turkey in the
body, and weighs about ten pounds, but, from the
great length of its legs, it is nearly five feet in height.
Common cranes are very discursive birds, and
range seasonally from the north of Europe to the
south of Asia and the north of Africa, and in the lat-
ter country they are said to extend their migrations
as far as the Cape of Good Hope. On these excur-
sions they fly high in the air, though they experience
some difficulty in getting on the wing from the
ground. Before taking their spring, they run some
paces, raise themselves a little at first, and then un-
fold a powerful and rapid wing. In the air they form
very nearly an isosceles triangle, possibly for the
purpose of cutting the element with greater facility.
When attacked by an eagle, or the wind is likely to
break their order, they close in circles. Their
passage frequently takes place during the night,
which is known by their sonorous voice, which
announces it, and the head of the troop often utters,
to indicate the route he is taking, a cry of appeal, to
which all his followers answer. Their voices, even
on these nocturnal voyages, are exceedingly loud,
probably owing to the length of the wind-pipe, and
the convolution near its bronchial extremity. When
they cry during the day they are generally under-
stood to forebode rain, as is the case with the cries of
many other birds which feed partially on those worms
which the approaching humidity brings to the surface,
not only when the rain actually falls, but when, from
the changed state of the air, the evaporation is much
diminished. When they are peculiarly noisy and
tumultuous, and fly near the ground, occasionally
alighting, it is considered as a pretty certain indica-
tion of a tempest. On the other hand, when they
rise high, and fly onward in regular order, it is
regarded as a sign of fine weather. In getting on
the wing, the apparent difficulty which they expe-
rience does not arise from the want of space in which
to move their wings, for their legs are sufficiently
ling for allowing these to act with perfect freedom,
even when the feet are firmly on the ground. They
appear to run forward, for the purpose of getting an
impetus of the whole body ; and when that is
acquired, they jerk themselves into the air by the
elasticity of the legs, and move off in very good
style, and they are capable of passing over many
miles without alighting. When they assemble on
the ground for the purpose of repose, which, after
a long flight, they take with the head under the
wing, they have always sentinels appointed to
give the alarm in case of danger. Those sentinels
stand on the one leg, as is also the habit of the
storks ; and the peculiar structure by means of which
this resting on one foot is probably a greater relief
to them than resting on both feet, because the balance
is then preserved by means of the ligaments, which
act by their elasticity as matter, and not by living
exertion, as is the case with muscles. The distal
extremity of the femur, or thigh bone, where it arti-
culates with the bones of the leg, has a hollow or
depression, which, in ordinary cases, receives a pro-
jection of the leg bones, and when this projection is
received into the hollow, the bones, taken together,
are shorter than when it is displaced. When, how-
ever, this joint, which is the proper knee-joint of the

bird, though the tarsal-joint is usually so called, is
much bent, the projection slides out of the hollow,
and bears upon a more elevated part ; by this means
the two bones together become longer, which lightens
the ligaments, and the resistance of the elasticity of
these makes the leg much firmer at this joint than if
it were extended, and consequently the one leg, bent
as far as it will bend at this joint, forms a very steady
support. Many birds have this structure, and are
able to rest on one leg for a considerable time, but
none have it in such perfection as the cranes and
storks.

The common cranes are understood to build in the
northernmost parts of their range, and probably as far
to the north as Lapland in some instances. They are
very common in Sweden, and particularly abundant
in the marshes of Central and Western Russia. In
some parts of Poland they invade the crops, espe-
cially those of buck-wheat, in such numbers, that the
farmers find it necessary to employ people to drive
them off. The nests are formed in bushes and tufts
of tall aquatic plants, close by the margins of the
waters. The eggs are only two in number, of a
greenish colour, and blotched over with brown spots.

The ancients were very familiar with the manners
and migrations of these birds, and mixed them up
with their superstitions. The positions of the moun-
tains, both in Europe and in Asia, where they ap-
proximate the narrow straits which connect the
Archipelago and the Black Sea, naturally bring the
whole of the migrant flocks over Greece ; and the
plains of Thessaly, and the other more fertile parts,
were, and are still, their resting-places, after crossing
both the Northern and the Southern Seas. In those
days the flesh of the crane was a luxury, and it is
also recorded among the dishes served up in old
times in England. In the old birds it is black and
tough, but said to be at least tolerable in the young
ones.

THE GIGANTIC CRANE ( G. gigantea). This spe-
cies is also styled the Siberian crane, though the
name is scarcely appropriate, inasmuch as the bird
appears to be found in the northern parts of both
continents. It is a much more northerly inhabitant
than the common crane, and in the eastern continent
it probably does not get farther south in the winter
than 'the latitudes of the Caspian and the lake Aral,
while in the summer it ranges far to the north along
the banks of the Siberian rivers in all places where
there are marshes. In America it has been observed
in the marshes near Hudson's Bay, or at all events a
bird has been observed there so like that of the north
of Asia that there is no specific distinction between
them. It does not appear that this crane occurs in
the European division of the northern migration ; but
it is probable that it ranges from Hudson's Bay west-
ward to Nova Zembla, migrating with the seasons,
though not reaching the tropical countries.

The general colour of this species is snowy white,
with the ten first quills black, and the bill and feet
reddish. It is a very majestic bird, and when it raises
its long neck it stands four feet and a half high. The
young of the year are of an ochre colour, with the
forehead, bill, and legs, greenish brown ; and very
old birds have a yellowish tinge on the back of the
neck. These birds have been most observed in
Siberia, where they feed upon fish and lizards, frogs
and other reptiles ; they are very vigilant birds, shy
and cunning, and it is difficult to get near them, as

G R US.

675

they move off when the slightest noise is made or
alarm given. This is, in all probability, the reason
why less is known of them than of the common cranes
in the more southerly parts of their migrations. The
nest is constructed in the most inaccessible situations,
and carefully concealed among reeds or other tall
herbage. The eggs are two in number, about the
she of those of a goose, ash-coloured in the ground,
and spotted with pale brown. From the concealment
of the nest, it is not easily discovered, but when it is,
the female defends her eggs and also her young ones
with great boldness, and on such occasions, from her
strength, the power of her bill, and her dexterity in
the use of it, she makes a stout defence against both
men and dogs.

THE NUMIDIAN CRANE (G. virgo"). This species
is generally styled the demoiselle crane, as is sup-
posed from the comparative lightness and elegance
of its form. It is not near so large as the last
mentioned species, being only about three feet three
inches in height, and the form of its body is light and
slender. Of the height, the legs and neck make up
y very great proportion, as they are exceedingly long.
The general colour of the body is bluish grey, but
the crown of the head and tips of the primary quills
are black. Behind the eye on each side there arises
a tuft of white feathers, which unite and form a sort
of crest on the occiput. From the lower neck and
breast there are long and slender black feathers which
hang over the others, and are very silky and flexible
in their texture.

Though called the Numidian crane, and probably
more abundant in Northern Africa than any other
part of the world, these handsome birds are not con-
lined to that country. During the overflowing of the
Nile they are by no means rare in Egypt ; and in
autumn they are sometimes met with as far to the north-
ward as Constantinople. Indeed they are met with
on the southern shores of the Black Sea, the Caspian,
and lakes Aral and Baikal ; though it does not appear
that they reach so far northward as the summer haunts
of the great Siberian crane. They are found on the
banks of rivers and lakes, where they feed chiefly
upon fish. They are brisk and lively bird?, gentle in
their manners, very easily tamed, and capable of
some instruction. In the wild state indeed they are
very prone to a sort of dancing motion ; and in con-
finement they may be taught to dance and perform
several other feats at the bidding of their keepers.
They are very attached, fond of being caressed, and
strut about with apparent pride when they are noticed.
In the south-east of Russia, and in the country ex-
tending thence to the Caspian, which abounds in salt
lakes, they breed on the margins of these ; and the
females are said not to conceal their nests so much
as some of the other species. They can not only be
made to join other domestic birds in farm yards, but
there have been many instances of their breeding
freely in a state of confinement. They are hardy
and also long-lived, and Buftbn mentions one which
was hatched at Versailles, and lived four and twenty
years. There are some in the gardens of the Zoolo-
gical Society of London, which are very tame ; and
there is no doubt that they could be pretty generally
introduced wherever ornamental birds are kept with
proper attention. They are very industrious and
successful fishers, however, and would of course lay
the fish ponds under heavy contributions.

THE CROWNED CRANE (G. parvonma). This also

is an African species, inhabiting to the southward of
the desert, or at least found most abundantly in that
part of the country. It has been styled the Balearic
crane, which appears to be a misnomer, as there is
no evidence that it breeds in the Balearic isles, on
the east coast of Spain, or even visits them. The
rich and humid parts of Western Africa are its
favourite haunts, and there it is a very tame and
familiar bird. It can be tamed, and is as fond of
attention as the preceding species ; and the natives
of Africa regard it with a sort of veneration, and
endeavour to prevent it from being destroyed. In
confinement it bathes frequently in cold water, and
will eat either vegetable or animal food, though it
prefers small fishes to every thing else. It is an ex-
ceedingly showy bird ; slate blue on the upper part
of the body, with the tail-feathers and quills black
and bright brown, and the coverts of the wings pure
white. The sides of the head are naked, and so is a
portion of the throat, from which there hangs a sort
of wattle, all which naked skin is rose colour, or
bright red. A close round tuft of black feathers
covers the front and crown of the head, from behind
which there rises on the occiput a beautiful crest or
crown of yellow thread-like feathers, which are twisted
spirally and have black points. The bill and feet are
black, and the irides are almost without colour. Its
ordinary walk, though majestic and stately, is slow ;
but when it spreads its wings as a means of balancing
itself, it can run with great rapidity. It is also a bird
of long, powerful, and very elevated flight. Its cry is
a loud and hoarse clang ; but when pleased it can
also utter a sort of clucking sound. From its form,
its size, the strong contrast of its colours, its measured
gait, and its familiar manners, it is one of the most
attractive birds in an aviary. Like the rest, however,
it is of very little value as an article of food ; and there-
fore it can be considered only as an ornamental bird.

Respecting the other birds which resemble the
cranes, less is known. They are natives of South
America, especially of the plains of Paraguay ; they
are,

COURLAN, or COURLIRI (Aramus}. The characters
are : the bill longer than the head, hard, strong, com-
pressed laterally, straight for the greater part, but
slightly curved toward the tip, where it is a little
enlarged. The upper niandible is slightly furrowed,
and the under one is enlarged at the middle, angular,
and pointed. The nostrils are linear at the sides of
the bill near the base ; the tarsi are long ; there are
four toes divided to their bases, the front ones smooth
on their under sides and slender, and the fourth are
articulated on the hinder part of the tarsus, but in
such a manner as that it bears upon the ground.
The wings are of mean length, the first quill very
short, and the third the longest on the wing. Those
characters indicate a difference in haunt and in habit
from the cranes; and though the manners of the birds
are very little known, it is understood that they are
peculiar, that they do not enter the waters even as
waders, or fish, but live npon snakes and other reptiles
on the humid parts of the land. There are at least
two known species, A. caran and A. scolupacca. The
first is blackish brown on the upper part, with a tinge
of purple on the back and rump, feathers on the head
and sides of the neck brown with white centres ; lower
parts brown, spotted with white on the belly ; bill
yellow with black tip ; irides red ; and feet ash colour ;
length about two feet three inches. The second spe-
ll U2

676

GRYLLOTALPA-GRYLLUS.

cies has the plumage deep brown, with reflections of
red and green on the quills and coverts ; the upper
part of the neck white ; the bill reddish ash, with a
blue tip ; and the feet blackish; the length about two
feet nine inches.

CAURALE (Eurypyga) inhabits Guiana. The head
black with white lines, the neck yellowish brown, the
upper parts beautifully marked with brown, red, and
yellow. It is found along the banks of the rivers, but
very little is known respecting it farther than that
it is a handsome bird, and does not readily fall within
any genus of which there are species in the east.

GRYLLOTALPA (Latreille.) A genus of or-
thopterous insects belonging to the section Saltatoria,
and to the family of the Achetidce, or crickets ± the
type of the genus being the Gryllus gryllotalpa, Lin-
naeus, or the Gryllotalpa vu/garis of recent authors,
generally known by the ordinary English name ot the
mole cricket. See the articles CRICKET and ENTO-
MOLOGY, in the latter of which the curious fore-leg of
this insect, formed for burrowing under ground in
the same manner as the mole, is represented.

GRYLLUS (Linnaeus). Under this name Linnaeus
comprised a very extensive group of insects belonging
to the modern order Ortlioptera (part of the Hemip-
tcra, Linnaeus), and forming, in recent classifications,
the section Saltatoria, or those furnished with hind
legs fitted for leaping, as described in our article
GRASSHOPPER. This group of insects, however, com-
prised three very distinct sections, and these have
been raised to the rank of families by more recent
authors, although the nomenclature of such families
is very confused.

The first of these families comprises the crickets,
of which an account will be found, p. 176 of the pre-
sent volume. It is named Achcetidce by Leach, but
by Latreille Gryllides, and by Mac Leay Gryllina.

The second family comprises all the grasshoppers
which have long antennae. These are the Grylli
tetligonicB of Linnaeus, the Gryllidce of Leach, the
Locustaria: of Latreille, and the Locitstina of Mac
Leay. We have already, in our article npon the
CRICKETS, alluded to the incorrect application of the
latter names, which ought surely to be given to the
family containing the destructive locust, and which is
the type of

The third family, named Gryllus locusta by Lin-
naeus, Acrydii by Latreille, Acridina by MacLeay, and
Locustidce by Leach, and which is distinguished from
the grasshoppers belonging to the second family by
the shortness of the antenna?, which are filiform,
prismatic, or sometimes slightly thickened at the tips.
To this family belong a very great number of small
species, common in this country, found amongst
grass and in hot sandy places, and to which the name
of grasshoppers is applied, as well as to the species
of the former family. Further details relative to
these insects will, however, be found under the head
LOCUSTIP^:. It only remains for us. therefore, in
this place, to give an account of the species belong-
ing to the second family, or the true Gryllidce.

In addition to the principal characters derived
from the great length of the setaceous antennae, the
tarsi are only four-jointed ^ the ovipositor of the fe-
males is long and often sabre-shaped, and the upper
wings of the male exhibit a glass-like area, described
more at large in our article GRASSHOPPER. From
the cricket family they are distinguished by the wings
being deflexed when at rest ; the mandibles are not

so much toothed, and the- exterior lobe of the max-
illae larger than in the last-mentioned insects.

These insects, at least such as inhabit this country,
are comparatively of a large size, considerably ex-
ceeding the other grasshoppers in this respect ; indeed
the typical species may be regarded as our most
gigantic insects, although the exotic Lncustida: con-
siderably exceed them in bulk, as well as in strength
and compactness of structure. There are about a
dozen native species, but the exotic and tropical
species are far more numerous, as well as more
beautiful in their colouring. Mr. Kirby united them
into a single genus, to which he applied the name of
Acrida ; but more recent authors, who have extended
their investigations to the entire family, including the
exotic species, have established numerous generic
divisions, and the native species are now distributed
into the following six genera, in the work of Mr.
Stephens, published during the past summer, viz. :
Ephippigera, Micropteryx, Xiphidion, Meconcma,
Dccticus, and Phasgonura. The last-named genus is
distinguished by having the crown of the head acute
produced in front, between the antenna: ; the eyes
large and prominent ; the wing-covers large in both
sexes, those of the males having a small ocellus ; the
ovipositor of the female long and straight, and the
under side of the thorax armed with two spines and
four lobes. This genus comprises the common groat
green grasshopper (Gryllus viridissimus, Linnaeus),
which is nearly two inches long, and found at the
beginning of autumn in grassy places and in hedges by
the sides of woods. We have found it not uncom-
monly in Battersea-fields. Lehmann, in his memoir
" De sensibus externis insectorum," &c., p. 23, records
some curious observations upon this insect, made by
an Italian naturalist with a view to ascertain their
powers of hearing. These insects, which fill the
meadows with their singing, immediately become
silent on our approaching the spot, so that it is dif-
ficult to trace their retreat, unless the greatest caution
is used in seeking them. Brunelli tried various ex-
periments with numerous individuals, which he kept
in a chamber, and which kept up a constant chirping
all day long. A knock at the door, however, imme-
diately silenced them. He also learned to imitate
their chirp, and when he performed this outside the
door of the room, a few only would at first reply, but
by-and-bye the whole joined in the chorus with all
their force ; on tapping again at the door, they were
silent and alarmed. He also placed a male in a little
cage in his garden, and set a female at liberty, which,
as soon as she heard the chirping of the male, ap-
proached and leaped upon his cage, which was also
the case in whatever part of the garden the female
might be.

These insects are, like the locusts, herbivorous,
feeding, in all their states, upon grass and herbs,
although, when confined together in a small box, they
will devour each other. This, however, appears to
be the result of fear, rather than a natural appetite.
We once caught one of them, which, being held by
one of its hind legs, gave a sudden spring and jerked
off its leg, which was placed with the insect in a
bottle ; by the following morning, however, we found
that this'portion of itself was half devoured. The
long ovipositor with which these insects are furnished,
enables them to deposit their eggs at a considerable
depth in the earth, in small rounded cells. The young
ones, when hatched, resemble their parents in form

G R Y P H (E A '— GUILLEMOT.

677

as well as in activity ; they are, however, destitute of
wings and wing-covers. In the state immediately
preceding- tlieir arrival at that of the imago, the
wings and wing-covers appear as rudimental upon
the back of the second and third segments of the
body.

The other genera do not merit particular notice
in a work like the present, being distinguished only
by slight structural differences.

GRYPHCEA (Lamarck and modern authors).
This genus of molluscs has hitherto been considered
an Ostrea, to which in fact it bears a great resem-
blance, but the texture of the shell is more finely
lamellar, and the peculiar characters of the lower
valve, which is very deep and cariuated, its summit
terminated in a long spirally recurved beak, slightly
turned to one side, the edge sharp and angular, and
the fact of its never being attached to other bodies,
or if it is, only at one small point, clearly in our
opinion distinguishes it from the genus Ostrea, though
Sowerby, in |'his Genera of Shells, points out
some strong grounds of objection to Lamarck's sepa-
ration. The shell is inequivalve, the lower valve
very large, concave, of an oblong elongated form,
carinated or ribbed, and terminating in a spirally re-
curved beak; the upper valve is small and Hat, fitting
into the lower one at a small depth from its marginal
edge, another characteristic distinction from the
Ostrea. The hinge is without teeth, it has an arched
and oblong cardinal cavity, and there is only one
muscular impression on each valve, as in the oyster.
Recent examples are rare, and only one species is at
present described. In a fossil state they are abun-
dant. The animal is unknown. This genus is placed,
in the French system, immediately after the oyster,
in the first family Ostracea, of the third order Lamel-
librnnchiata, third class Acephalophora.

GUAIACUM (Linnaeus). The G. officinale is a
West Indian tree, which produces the medicine called
gum guaiacum. Class and order Decandria Mono-
gynia, and natural order Zygop/tylleae. The wood is
remarkably hard, and known in commerce as Lignum
vita:, so much used in turnery for ornamental pur-
poses. The timber of G. arboreum is also very solid
and ponderous, especially when buried, so that the
natives of Cumana believe it becomes converted into
stone. The plants in our stoves grow freely in a
mixture of loam and moor earth, and may be increased
by cuttings struck in sand.

" GU ARE A (Linnaeus). A genus of West India
timber trees belonging to the eighth class of the
sexual system, and to the natural order MeliacecE.
The G. trichilioides has been long an inhabitant of our
stoves, and may be increased by ripened cuttings
struck in sand.

GUATTERIA (Ruiz and Pavon), A genus of
tropical shrubs and one tree, known by the name of
lance-wood. Class and order Polyandria Polyffinia,
and natural order Anonacece. They are managed
and increased much like other stove plants.

GUAVA is the fruit of different species of the
Psidium of Linnaeus. Class and order Icosandria
Miinogynia, and natural order Myrtaccce. They bear
the fruits called sour-sop and sweet-sop in the West
Indies, and for which they are cultivated. Several
of the sorts are readily fruited in our stoves or green-
houses, and are increased by layers, cuttings, and
seeds.

GUDGEON (Cyprinus gobio). A genus of soft-

finned fishes, with abdominal fins belonging to the
carp family ; one species only is known in the British
waters, but it is probable that there mav be another.
With us they are found only in the slow running
streams of pure water, in the southern part of the island.
They are small fishes, seldom exceeding eight inches
in length, and rarely as much, but they are light and
much esteemed as food, especially "for invalids, it
being understood that they are remarkably easy of
digestion. They keep near the bottom, and feed
upon water insects, small mollusca.and the spawn and
young fry of other fishes. They are usually found in
shoals ; and are so remarkable for the readiness with
which they can be taken with almost any bait, that a
person who can be imposed upon by shallow devices
is proverbially termed a gudgeon. They spawn in
May, in the shallows, it being understood that their
ova require much heat to bring them to maturity,
which may be the reason why they are not found in
our northern or upland rivers. They afford some
sport to those bungling anglers who can catch nothing
else ; for it is a common saying, that anybody can
catch gudgeons. It is usual to collect them by
scratching the bottom of the water with a rake, which
brings them together in search of what food may
happen to turn up for them.

GUELDER ROSE is the Viburnum opulus of
Linnaeus. A well-known flowering shrub, indigenous
in Britain, of which two varieties are cultivated in
gardens.

GUERNSEY LILY is the Nerine sarnicnsis of
Ker. A bulbous-stemmed fine flowering plant, com-
mon in every florist's collection.

GUETTARDA (Linnaeus). A genus of South
American trees belonging to Rubiaccce. The flowers
are fine and nearly related to gardenia.

GUILANDINA (Jussieu). A genus of Indian
shrubs, with decandrious flowers, and belonging to the
order Leguminosce. It is otherwise called the nicker
tree, or bonduc, has been long in our collections, and
is increased by cuttings rooted in sand.

GUILLEMOT (Urid). A genus of web-footed
birds, belonging to Cuvier's short-winged or diving
family ; much less fitted for getting through the water
than most of the others, and no great adepts at walk-
ing on the land. They are thick and clumsy birds ;
and very much at the mercy even of storms when in
the sea. They inhabit the northern seas, and seldom
come southward, except when compelled by the
violence of the weather. They dive with great
address, and also catch their prey with no inconsider-
able adroitness. They form as it were a link between
those birds which may be said to be equally fitted for
the air and the water, and those others in which the
aquatic habit predominates. During storms they are
frequently cast ashore in a state of complete ex-
haustion, and sometimes they are thrown so high
upon the rocks by the surge, that they are unable to
get down again, or to escape, in consequence of their
awkwardness and the shortness of their wings. In,
general, however, they endeavour to make as far to
seaward as possible, and thus ride out the storm on
the water. They are seldom found on the inland
waters, or far up the estuaries of rivers, but. when they
appear in Britain, or rather in the British seas, they
are chiefly on the rocky shores. On all parts of those
shores they are more abundant than the divers pro-
perly so called ; but they are not more productive,
inasmuch as the female lays only one eg£.

678

GUILLEMOT.

The generic characters are : the bill of a middle
size.or rather short, very stout, straight, pointed, com-
pressed laterally, sharp at the tip, and with a distinct
notch near the extremity of the upper mandible ; the
nostrils are at the base of the bill, lateral, longitudinal,
half closed by a feathered membrane, which acts
partially like a valve ; the legs are short, placed far
backward with slender tar*i, and only three toes, all
turned to the front, and webbed. The wings are
short, but very closely feathered, and capable of acting
like fins under the water. They are social in the
breeding times, and the females place their single egg
in a hole of the rock, and sometimes on the bare
ledge, without even a rudiment of a nest. They
moult twice in the year ; and when in their complete
winter plumage, there is a little difference in the
plumage ; and in this respect the young do not
differ from the old birds. There are three or four
species, though one of them has been separated
from the genus by Cuvier, and perhaps such ought
to be the case.

FOOLISH GUILLEMOT (U. troile}. This species is
known by a number of provincial names ; and it gets
the English epithet above quoted from the fact that,
in places where the birds congregate, and are seldom
molested, they will sometimes allow themselves
to be taken with the hand. The length is about
eighteen inches, the stretch of the wings two feet four
inches, and the weight from a pound and a half to
two pounds. The body is of an oval form, of nearly
equal thickness at both ends, which is very different
from the shape of those birds which get most speedily
through the air. It is, however, in great part the
general shape of the grebes and divers, and also of
the diving ducks ; so that it seems the best one for
getting along when wholly immersed in the water.
One of the most remarkable differences in external
appearance between this bird and the grebes and
divers, is the shortness and thickness of the neck,
whereas these have it slender and graceful. The
head, however, is long, and the bill pointed, and thus
well calculated to divide the water before it. The bill
appears much shorter than it really is, because of the
feathered membranes of the nostrils, which advance
half way between the gape and the tip, and thus the
bird can make a wider mouth than one would at first
sight suppose. The plumage on all the fore part is
remarkably close and smooth, and of a blackish brown
colour ; the upper part is the same but paler, and
there is some white in the tips of the secondary
quills ; the under part is pure white, and has the fea-
thers as close and smooth as those on the head and
neck ; and this white comes round the elbow of the
wing, so that the colours are strikingly contrasted.
In winter the fore neck, the throat, the chin, and par-
tially the cheeks, become white, and the dark brown
on the rest of the upper part becomes dull grey. The
young birds have the winter plumage and not the
summer ; arid thus they are readily made different
species by those who do not attend to the changes.

This species is found in all the northern seas of
both Europe and America ; and when they are frozen
out in the extreme north, they resort to the shores as
far south as the coast of France. They are not so
common on the southern shores of Engfand, though
they breed about the middle latitude of both sides of
the island.^ In Orkney and Shetland they are met
with all the year round. They approach the lonely
island of St. Kilda about the beginning of February ;

and by the people there, who live much on sea-birds,
and at some seasons of the year have the streets of the
village paved with feathers, their appearance is
hailed with pleasure. It is said that on their arrival
they are caught by what seems a very shallow device :
the bird-catcher lies down on a ledge of the rock
during the night, with a piece of white cloth tied
round him ; the birds see the cloth more easily than
the rock, and alighting on it one after another, num-
bers of them are captured. In their favourite places
they nestle thickly together in the breeding season,
depositing their single egg on the bare rock : this egg
is of large size, and beautifully mottled with black,
blue, green, yellow, and white. The colours are,
however, subject to great variation ; and in birds
which build upon the exposed rocks, it is very com-
mon to see the coloured eggs which are placed high
up, much paler than those which are low down. The
females seldom quit the egg during the whole period
of incubation, but have their supply of sprats and
other small fishes brought to them by their partners.
In places where sprats or herrings, rr other small
fishes, which appear in large shoals, are periodical in
their visits, their coming is always attended by an
unwonted supply of guillemots.

THE BLACK GUILLEMOT (U.grylle\ is less than
the former, but proportionally thicker in the body. It
is fourteen inches long, about twenty-two in the
stretch of the wings, and not a pound weight. Its
general colours are black above, and white on the
under part and cheeks, and with a white patch on the
middle of the wing. It continues, resident on many
parts of the British shores during the whole year ;
but the upper parts become so much paler in the
winter, that the bird might be easily mistaken for a
different species ; except during the breeding season,
it is seldom seen but on or in the water. It flies low,
and cannot take the wing from the ground without
considerable difficulty. The feathers upon it are
remarkably close, and [the Greenlanders use its skin as
an article of clothing, though its smell is very rank, as
is also the flavour of the flesh. The breeding is very
similar to that of the first mentioned species, but the
egg is smaller, and not nearly so rich in the colours.
The young are mottled as compared with the mature
birds ; and having been observed in this state in re-
mote places, it has been described as a different
species, under the name of the " marbled guillemot."
Like the former, this one is found in all the northern
seas, both of the eastern and the western continent, at
least so far as those seas have been explored ; and it
should seem that this one especially, forms attach-
ments for life ; for it is rare to meet with a single
bird or an odd number ; and where there is a number
it is usually a number of pairs, each pair keeping to-
gether, and apparently assisting each other in their
fishing. It is more active as well as more shy than
the former species, and therefore not so easily caught.
The Greenlanders, however, do contrive to capture
great numbers, which they eat with a zest, of which
we can form no notion.

These appear to be the only well established spe-
cies of true guillemot ; but there is another which is,
generally speaking, a still more northerly inhabitant,
and which resembles them in many particulars. This is,

THE ROTCHE (Mergulus mclanoleucos). Cuvier
gives the name of the " Greenland dove" to this bird
onlv, but that name is also applied to the black
guillemot, This is a smaller bird, being only about

GUINEA PEACH — GULL,
nine inches long, sixteen in the extent of'the win^s,
and five ounces in weight. Its hill is not so decidedly
a fishing bill as those of the guillemots, and its wing's
are more powerful in proportion to its weight. Thus

The Rotche.

it is much more of an air bird, and more discursive
than either or them. In summer, it is generally met
with in the openings of the polar ice, dipping into the
water, and probably feeding upon those small animals
which inhabit the well known green-water of those
seas, and are in fact the cause of its particular colour.
The numbers of those birds which are met with in the
extreme north, during the summer season, is almost in-
credible ; and their flesh is represented as being much
belter flavoured than that of the guillemots. When
they visit the British shores, which is chiefly in the
winter, they remain nearer the land than the others ;
and upon land they walk much better. The bill in
this bird is very short, not the length of the head ;
and therefore we may conclude that it is not fitted for
following its prey to any very great distance through
the water. In the summer plumage, the breast, the
under part, the tips of the secondary quills, and a
spot above the eye are white ; and all the rest pure
black. In winter, the throat, sides of the neck, arid
flanks, become white, and the black on the upper part
changes to brownish. These alterations are seldom
complete however in the birds which visit our shores,
though they are understood so to be in the north.
Some of them remain to breed on our most northerly
islands, but by far the greater number remove nearer
the pole. In their breeding, there is a difference
between them and the guillemots, which would be of
itself a sufficient generic distinction : the female lays
two eggs, whereas no female guillemot lays more than
one. Those eggs are of a spotless greea colour, and
never placed but in some hole or crevice of the rock.

GUINEA PEACH is the Sarcocephnlus esculcn-
tus of Afzelius. A cultivated fruit of Sierra Leone.
It belongs to the fifth class and first order of Linnaeus,
and to the natural order Rubiaceae.

GUINEA PLUM is the Parinarium excelsum of
Don. A lofty fruit tree common at Sierra Leone.
The genus belongs to the Chrysobalanc<E.

GULL (Lams). A genus of web-footed birds,
belonging to the long-winged division, and one of
the most characteristic which are to be met with on
the sea. They are exceedingly numerous, much on

(>79

the wing, and particularly noisy. They are birds of
powerful wing, and also well adapted for walking on
the shores, and some of them migrate inland at
certain seasons of the year, and in certain states of
the weather. Those which have this habit mingle
freely with land birds in seeking their food on the
newly-ploughed lands near the sea. They find their
sea-food indiscriminately in the waters and on the
shores ; and when they alight on the water they
can ride buoyantly so as to rest themselves. But
they are air-birds rather than aquatic ones, though
they derive the principal part of their food from the
sea.

Gulls are found on the shores of all latitudes, and
they are very discursive, and often met with far from
the land, not so far, indeed, as the albatross, the tro-
pical bird, the petrels, and some of the terns, but
still a considerable way from the shores. When those
birds which are discursive over the sea are taken by,
severe gales, they have no such means of rest as land"-
birds have under similar circumstances. Generally
speaking, the land bird can get some shelter, some
elevated object which the wind does not agitate, in
the lee whereof it can pause with some sort of
repose until it recovers its powers ; or, even if it can-
not do this, it has the solid ground on which it can
crouch down, and there in so far recover itself, while
the wind sweeps over it. On the sea, however, there
is no such refuge for a weary wing ; and, therefore,
those birds which are discursive upon the broad
waters are much more buffetted by a gale, when
caught in it, than the land birds are. The wind
sweeps over the surface of the waters with much
more velocity, in proportion to its general violence,
than it does over the surface of the land, because,
from the general level of the watery surface, and also
from the extent to which it yields to the action of
the wind, there is far less friction between the air and
the water than there is between the air and the land,
whatever surface the land may have. Any one may
be convinced of this by standing, first on the lee, and
then on the windward shore, of even a moderate
expanse of water, say a river not broader than that
one can readily see across it. Standing on the wind-
ward shore, it will appear to be only a moderate, or,
at all events, a brisk gale ; while standing on the lee
shore, when the wind comes from the water, it will
appear a violent tempest. The difference of violence
will also tell in the different degrees to which the
surface of the waters is agitated. On the windward
there may be barely a ripple, while leeward there
is violent agitation ; and there is a gradual increase
of the waves all the way, clearly proving that the
wind gains power in blowing across the water, which
it does not gain in blowing across the land.

In the case of gulls, and other air-birds of the sea,
which, though they go to considerable distances, are
not absolutely " far at sea" birds, but merely coasters
which venture a good way from the hind, though they
still own that land as their home, they are always
taken on a lee shore when a storm gets the better of
them. If the wind blow from the land, they can fly
against it, and so make for the shore, with considerable
labour, no doubt, but still without any drifting, such
as happens to them when they attempt to fly before
a wind with which they cannot keep pace. Indeed,
it is only such a wind that completely takes the
power out of those birds, and so drives them before
it, like wingless things, until their mere gravitation

680

GULL.

(their wings having1 lost all power) brings them down
to the surface of the water. This often happens to
the gulls, because, in those seasons when they are
most discursive, that is, when they associate to visit
their breeding-places in the spring, and when they
take their departure from them in the autumn, the
winds are most inconstant.

The birds are no doubt well protected, by the
nature of their plumage, when the wind deprives
them of the use of their wings, and brings them in
contact with the water ; and though the water is in
agitation, and the waves are swinging in mountains,
or yeasting high in broken water, there is still a safety
for the sea-birds on the surge which those who have not
•tudied the matter are probably not aware of. It is
true that the gulls, and other surface-birds which do
not dive, and thus penetrate the curling crests of the
waves, have not so much safety as the divers ; but
still there is one part of the wave upon which the
Btorm-beaten bird can find shelter, and generally also
food. This is a very curious circumstance in the
agitation of the sea, and it holds even at great
distances from the shore. Waves are merely vibra-
tions of the water, and in the slope of each wave,
somewhere about the middle of its height, or in a
line, if the wave is linear, which does not partake in
the violent motion with which the crest and the hol-
low alternately change places. The wave turns
upon this point or line, just as a vibrating balance
turns on its axis, or as a pendulum swings on its
point of suspension. This centre of motion in the
vibrating wave is comparatively at rest ; and as it is
approached either from the ridge or the hollow — and
it is of little consequence which, for these alternate
with each other— there is comparatively little motion
of the water. It is true that, in violent gales, more
especially when they blow in gusts, waves are never
simple ; and thus the centre of one wave, which, if there
were but that one, would be a point of comparative
rest, is itself in motion upon another wave. Notwith-
standing those circumstances, there is a most conve-
nient resting-place for the sea-bird upon the troubled
waters ; so that it actually is in less danger, and
suffers less fatigue, than if the surface were waveless
under the same violence of the wind. Indeed, if we
^yere to suppose a gull, which can ride in the storm
till it has recovered itself, to be placed on smooth ice,
und even half the violence of wind to beat upon it,
it would be swept away like a thistle-down, and de-
stroyed by the violence of the motion. But, upon
the point of motion in the wave, the turning point, as
it were, the bird rides secure, and in the alternations
it has the shelter of the lee, and when it is most ex-
posed to leeward, the wind only beats it against the
soft resistance of the water, without much tendency to
drive it from its place.

This circumstance is well worth attending to by
every one who wishes thoroughly to understand the
economy of the long-winged sea-birds, and how well
they and the water and the storm are tempered to
each other. In almost every account which has been
written, even by eye-witnesses, of the conduct of
gulls and similar birds, when unable to keep the sky
in a gale, there is wonder expressed at the miraculous
escapes which the creatures make. As seen from the
shore, they appear at one moment to be whelmed in
the foaming crests of the waves, and plunged to utter
destruction ; but, no sooner does the vibrating wave
turn, than they are found upon the lee side, rocking

in perfect security, and without a single feather being
wetted. Not only this, but that, every vibration of the
wave, and the consequent rest, or comparative rest,
of its centre of vibration, brings food to the birds*.
The little fishes, the small floating animals, and the
general waste of the sea, are all thrown to this point ;
and one who has the opportunity, and attends care-
fully to the action of gulls, may often perceive them
floating and feeding at their ease amid the turmoil of
very formidable waves. So beautifully does nature
adapt every creature to those circumstances in which
she places it.

We have mentioned these circumstances, because
the gulls, from their size, their numbers, and their
general distribution, are the birds in which they may
be most easily verified by direct observation ; and,
having done ^his, which forms a most interesting sea-
study at those times when the sea is most worthy of
being studied, we shall proceed to make a few
remarks on the birds themselves. There are two
distinct genera to which the common English name
of gull is given. They have not much in common,
farther than that both are air-birds belonging to
the sea ; and, indeed, they stand in so opposite
relations to each other, that, while the one genus are
"gulls," the other genus are "gullers ;" that is, they
live by plundering the gulls properly so called. We
shall, however, save some room, and make our
account of them both more complete, by taking the two
genera consecutively in one article. The gulls, pro-
perly so called, form the genus Lams ; and the
others, the skuas, form the genus Lestris, that is,
robbers or plunderers.

GULLS PROPERLY so CALLED (Lams). These are
often divided into two sections ; but, as the divisions
consist only of those which are larger, and those which
are of smaller size, they are of little consequence.
We shall, therefore, consider them as one only. The
generic characters are : the bill long, or middle-sized,
strong, hard, compressed, sharp-edged, hooked to-
wards the tip, lower mandible forming a salient
angle ; nostrils lateral, in the middle of the bill,
longitudinally cleft, straight, and pervious ; legs slen-
der, naked above the knee ; tarsus long, three fore
toes quite webbed, the hinder free, short, placed high
on the tarsus ; tail-feathers of equal length ; the wings
long. The birds of this genus are diffused over
almost every maritime country ; but in the northern
and southern extremities of the world they breed
most freely, and with least disturbance. Flocks of
them haunt the sea-shore in search of living or dead
fish ; and such is their voracity, that scarcely anything
comes amiss to them, for they will greedily feed on
putrid carcasses of whales, and the refuse of the tide,
and they will contend with one another for the most
loathsome fare. In the eager indulgence of their
ravenous propensities, they swallow the hook along
with the bait, and, like other predacious birds, they
throw up pellets of feathers, and other indigestible
matters ; nay, when harassed or alarmed, they with
great facility bring up their food, and, should they be
allowed to recover from their surprise, they will again
swallow what has been disgorged. Like ail voracious
animals, gulls are capable of enduring hunger for a
long time ; and though their favourite food is animal
substances, want will bring them to feed readily upon
vegetables. The old ones are generally unbroken in
the colours of their plumage, though different parts
of the body are of different colours. The young are

GULL.

681

almost invariably mottled, and as they do not acquire
the adult plumage till three years, and differ a little
in each year, there has been a great deal of unneces-
sary multiplication of species. The full-grown ones
moult twice in the year, and the principal seasonal
distinction is more white in the winter than the
summer. Between the sexes there is little difference,
except that, the male is larger than the female. Some
species breed on the cliffs, and others in the marshes
and by the margins of the pools inland, it being un-
derstood that the rock-breeders are more exclusively
iishers, while the marsh-breeders feed more upon
garbage, worms, and other small animals. All of
them are, however, very miscellaneous in their feed-
ing, and they have been not inaptly styled the vultures
of the sea. When they congregate in numbers to
breed, they are exceedingly clamorous ; and they
often collect at other times in vast numbers at parti-
cular places of the shore, when they are equally
noisy. It is understood that these clamorous meet-
ings are certain indications of bad weather, more
especially when the marsh-breeders quit the sea and
fly inland. The flesh of old birds of all the species
is tough, and rank in the flavour, though it is readily
eaten by the Greenlanders, the Esquimaux, and other
tribes of the extreme north. The fact is, that the
flavour of rancid iish-oil, which is so offensive to us,
is the choicest relish to these people. The young of
some of the species are sold in the markets in various
parts of this country, and are not unpleasant food.
The eggs of many are also eaten in great numbers.
There is still some doubt as to the number of species,
and, from what we have mentioned of the changes of
colour, the subject is one of considerable difficulty,
therefore we shall mention only the principal ones.

BLACK-BACKED GCLL (L. marinus). This species
is found generally diffused over the seas of both
continents and in both hemispheres ; though on our
own shores at least it is not so plentiful as several of
the others, occurring most frequently in pairs, and
seldom in flocks of more than a dozen. It remains in

Black-backed Gull.

the same haunts all the year round, but those haunts
are rather particular spots. It is the largest species
of the genus, measuring at least two feet and a half
in length, and six feet in the stretch of the wings,
and weighing about five pounds. The shoulders are
bluish black, the feet flesh-coloured, the bill yellow
with a red spot on the projecting angle of the lower
mandible. The quills are black, marked with white
bars, and have white tips. The young till the third
year are mottled with brown and white. It does not

associate with the other gulls, and seldom admits
them near its haunts. It feeds chiefly upon fish, but
it also attacks ducks and other birds. It is exceed-
ingly ravenous, attacking all manner of garbage and
carrion, whether cast on shore or floating on the
water ; and it will often tear fish from the hooks on
the fishermen's lines. Its usual cry is exceedingly
harsh. The young may be tamed ; but they require
a great deal of food, which they devour so greedily as
to remain for a considerable time afterwards motion-
less, with the head almost buried in the feathers.
The greater number of the northern ones breed far
north ; but there are others which breed on the shores
of England, as far south as Lundy Isle in the Bristol
Channel. The eggs are three or four, of an olive
colour with spots of dark brown and purple ; they
are eaten, but they are not very palatable. The
northern people eat the young, and use the skins of
the old birds for clothing.

BURGOMASTER GULL (L. glaucus). This also is a
large species, though smaller than the former. It is
about twenty-eight inches long, more than five feet in
the stretch of the wings, and weighs about four pounds
and a half. In summer the back, shoulders, and
coverts of the wings, are bluish ash ; and the quills
have white shafts and tips. The bill, which is very
long and strong, is of a fine yellow, with a scarlet
spot on the angle. The irides are yellow, and the
naked margin of the eye is red. In winter the head
is mottled with brown ; and the young birds are mot-
tled with light brown and white. All the parts of
the plumage, except those which have been men-
tioned, are pure white. This is a very voracious bird,
common in the northern seas, but rare in temperate
latitudes. It sometimes visits Holland, and occasion-
ally, but rarely, the British islands. It is described
as a rock breeder, and the eggs are said to be green-
ish with black spots. It is in winter only that the
burgomaster comes southward.

THE COMMON GULL (L. canus). This is the
" wild sea-mew " of the British shores ; and though it
is not so landward as some of the others, it is found on
most parts of our shores. It is about seventeen inches
long, and thirty-six in the stretch of the wings, weighing
about a pound. In the mature bird the back and
scapulars are clear bluish grey, the primary quills
black, and the secondaries grey, both with white spots
on the tips. The young are subject to considerable
changes of plumage in their successive years, and
have been described as different species. The com-
mon gull is not a rock breeder, that is, it does not
breed on the high cliffs, neither does it retire to the
inland marshes, it breeds in concealed places along
the shores. The eggs of the common gull are two in
number, nearly the same size as those of a hen, but of
an olive brown colour, marked with dark reddish
blotches.

Common gulls are more completely scavengers of
the sea than any others of the race which frequent
the British shores. They do not refuse fish where
such come in their way ;" but they watch more for the
offal both of the land and of the sea. Near the estua-
ries of large rivers, especially that part of them where
the water of the estuary meets the tide, and the ani-
mal remains produced by both are accumulated,
thev are found in greater numbers than almost any-
where else. They, however, distribute themselves
generally along the beaches where there is an alter-
nate covering and uncovering of the bottom to some

682

GULL.

extent, because much more food is left for them there
than where the shores arc abrupt and precipitous.
They also throng about the fishing villages, where
there is usually a great deal of garbage, and where in
consequence the common gulls are scarcely less fa-
miliar than poultry are in the inland villages. It
appears also that they know instinctively where there
is food for them on the land as well as where food is
most abundant for them at sea ; for though the times
when they leave the shores en masse are understood
to be those immediately preceding storms, yet they

Common Gull.

visit the fields at other times when bad weather cer-
tainly does not follo\v their appearance. They are
tamed without much difficulty if supplied with plenty
of food, which indeed is the case with all rapacious
birds. In places near the sea tame ones are very
useful in gardens, which they clear of slugs, worms,
and other destructive little animals, very successfully ;
and in such places they will pay their regular visits
to the sea, and return of their own accord. On
emergency they can be made to eat grain ; but that
is not a favourite food with them. As is the habit of
all gulls, they disgorge the contents of their stomachs
when alarmed, and if the alarm is soon over they re-
swallow. Whether this arises from the attacks made
on them by the skuas it is impossible to say, because
there are many sea birds which the skuas do not as-
sail that have this habit. The petrels, for instance,
always discharge a quantity of oil from their stomachs
when thej' alight on a ship, or get into any other un-
usual situation. The flesh of these birds is not re-
lished by most people ; though some of those who
reside near the sea consider it as not unpalatable
after having been buried for four and twenty hours in
fresh mould and then washed with vinegar.

KITTIWAKE GULL (L. tridactylus). This species
is about the size of a pigeon ; fifteen inches in length,
about three feet in breadth, and more than half a
pound in weight. The adults in their winter plumage
have the upper parts bluish ash ; the cheeks finely
striated with black ; the exterior quills bordered and
terminated with the same ; some black on the other
quills ; and all the rest of the body white. The bill
is greenish yellow, and the feet olive brown. The
leading character is the absence of a hind toe, in the
place of which there is a mere clawless tubercle.
The manners of these birds are peculiar. During the
winter season they quit the shores, and are understood
to disperse themselves over the northern seas, where
their chief place of repose is on the ice. In spring
they return in vast crowds to the rocky shores, where
they breed in society, and literally encumber the air

with the multitude of their wings. On the cliffy
parts of the east coast of Britain they are exceedingly
numerous, so much so that any number either of the
young ones or the old ones may be caught. They
often sit so thick upon the rocks as to make these
appear from a distance as if covered with snow.
Their eggs are sought after with some avidity. They
form nests constructed of coarse vegetable rubbish.
The eggs are deposited in June, of a dingy greenish
or whitish colour, marked with ash-coloured spots.
When the young have left the nests, but are unable
to fly, the shooting of them is a favourite sport in
places where they are abundant. It is said of them,
as it is of smoke-dried gannets, that they serve as a
whet to the appetite ; but an epicure who despatched
a dozen upon one occasion, declared that he had no
more -appetite when he left off than when he began.
They are more gentle in their manners, and as it is
said more cleanly in their habits, than several of the
other gulls, and instances have been known of their
being tamed and evincing considerable affection for
their masters. As they are among the most elevated
breeders of all the gulls that frequent our shores, as
their breeding rocks are usually of the most sublime
description, and as the birds themselves are very nu-
merous and by no means unhandsome, they are
worthy of being studied with considerable attention.

THE SILVERY GULL (L. argentatus] is also called
the herring gull. It has the feet of a pale flesh-colour ;
the irides and bill yellow, the latter with an orange
spot on the angle. The upper part is bluish ash
colour, and the quills dusky with black tips and
some white spots on the back ; the sexes are alike ;
the young have the bill of a horn colour, and the
plumage mottled. The quills, in this young state,
are dusky, without any black on the tips, or any
white spots ; and this plumage continues with very
little alteration till the autumn of the second year.
At that time, the feet acquire a reddish tint, and the
bill becomes yellowish, the white is a little more pure,
and the moldings more of an ash colour. The dusky
hue which, in the first plumage, marks the end of the
tail, also begins to break with white at this moult.
In the third autumn, the entire ash colour, and white,
with the black on the tips of the quills, the white
spots, the flesh-coloured feet, the yellow bill, and the
straw-coloured eyes, are acquired, after which there
is no farther change in the plumage. In the spring
of each year, while the bird is advancing to maturity,
there is some change in the plumage, but it is very
slight, thereby proving that though the gulls do moult
twice in the year, the grand moult is the autumnal
one.

In all their plumages these gulls resort to the
breeding grounds in the season ; and as they do riot
congregate on those grounds at any other time of the
year, there is little doubt that they breed before they
assume the adult plumage. This is not uncommon
among several genera of aquatic birds ; and it used
to be considered as a conclusive argument that the
young and old were of different species. These birds
are very abundant and very generally distributed
over the shores, not only of the seas, but occasion-
ally of the inland lakes. The greater number breed
in the north, and form large nests of dry herbage on
the ledges of the rocks. In the Orkney and Shet-
land islands their nests" are exceedingly numerous ;
and when the herring fishing sets in they are such con-
stant and such numerous attendants, ready to snatch

GULL.

683

their share of the produce, that the fishermen can
hardly drive them away. In winter they range con-
siderably southward, and are not uncommon about
some of the lakes in Switzerland, and farther east
they reach the Black Sea, the Caspian, and the Me-
diterranean ; while on the American shores they
range as far southward as the West Indian islands.
They get the name of herring gulls from the fact of
their being seen in vast clouds hovering over the
shoals of herrings, keeping up an incessant clamour,
and as occasion offers darting down and twitching
out of the water those fishes which are near the sur-
face. The flesh of this species is like that of most
of the others, tough and unsavoury ; but in those
Catholic countries where it is found in the spring
months, it is sold in the markets during Lent, as be-
longing to that class of birds which the pope and
cardinals have seen meet in their wisdom to consider
as fish, and allow to be eaten at all times when the
flesh of such birds as are not catholically fish is prohi-
bited under the most enduring penalty.

THE IVORY GULL (L. eburneus}. The ivory gull is
not only the most beautiful of the race, which are
upon the whole rather handsome birds, but it is one
of the most beautiful of sea-birds of whatever genus.
It dwells in the extreme north, and does not quit the
icy seas unless compelled by the violence of the wea-
ther. It appears only occasional!}', and indeed as a
strasrgler, on the most northerly islands belonging to
Britain ; for when driven southward by a winter of
more than usual severity, it generally dashes onward
to a greater distance. It occasionally alights in Hol-
land, against which the winter winds from the polar sea
set much more directly than they do against the British
shores ; and this is the reason why some polar birds
which are rare with us, not only visit Holland regu-
larly during the winter, but extend their migration up
the valley of the Rhine as far as the Swiss lakes.
With us the winds of the polar sea are turned by that
general westerly or south-westerly current of air from
the Atlantic, which, though it deprives us of the visits
of those northern birds, gives us a much milder winter
than the same latitudes of the continent. The length
of the ivory gull is about twenty inches, the wings at
least four feet, and the weight upwards of a pound.
It is a bird of very elegant form, and perhaps there is
no wing which cleaves the air with so much apparent
ease as that of the ivory gull. Its colour is equally
fine ; it is of the most intense, and indeed indescrib-
able white, far purer than the snows of its native
regions ; and nothing can exceed the compactness,
the softness, and the exquisite gloss of its plumage.
Though it is called the ivory gull, ivory, or indeed any
other substance with which we are elsewhere ac-
quainted, gives but a faint notion of its extreme
purity. The feet are dark coloured, with the tarsi
very stout, and the tibia; feathered down to the tarsal
joint, whereas in most of the other gulls there is a
considerable extent of garter or naked space above
this joint. This species is a marsh breeder, but
breeds only in the extreme north, though there it is
understood to range round the entire circumference,
being as common between Asia and America, as it is
between the latter continent and Europe. The
young, of which the particulars are not very accurately
known, are said to be mottled, with the black predo-
minating in the first year, the white in the second,
and acquiring their entire plumage in the third. It is
probable that the appearance of some of those mottled

ones in places pretty far to the south, and also that o
some of the other gulls breeding southward in their
immature plumage, may have led to the statement
made by some of the continental ornithologists, that
those gulls generally breed in the south of Europe.
On the contrary, there is no reason to believe that a
single nest of this species was ever found at any dis-
tance, if at all, without the polar circle. We might
be prepared to expect this from the character of the
feet, and also from the intense and unbroken white-
ness of the colour. There is no southerly breeding
gull, which has the feet feathered as these birds have,
so as to endure the utmost severity of the winter's
cold ; and there is no gull which breeds in the south
that has the plumage on the upper part so well suited
for resisting alike the intense cold of the winter, and
the continual action of the summer's sun. The nest
is described as being on the ground, rudely constructed
of vegetable remains, and the eggs as being four in
number, and of a white colour.

LAUGHING GULL (L. ridibnndns). This is a well-
known species, and one which is very generally dis-
tributed. It is a bird distributed over many latitudes ;
and where there are marshes and pools, it resides as
much of the year inland as on the sea. In summer,
they collect in great numbers at favourite pools,
especially those which contain island?, for the purpose
of breeding ; and at those times tadpoles and other
productions of the water, together with worms, slugs,
and other things which they pick up on the humid
grounds, form the chief part of their subsistence.
There are some places, both in England and in Scot-
land, where they still breed in great numbers, but
more abundantly in the latter country. It is not
easy to find out what circumstance may determine
them in those parts where they have their nests ; for
there is a place in Strathmore, where pools of consi-
derable extent, containing islands, many tufts of
herbage, and to a great extent concealed by planta-
tions, are very numerous, and, to all appearance,
equally well adapted for the nesting places of those
birds ; but from time immemorial they have resorted
to one particular part in such numbers, that, when
they are alarmed, and take the 'wing, they appear
from a distance as if it were the smoke rising from
some mighty cauldron. But while they are thus
abundant, to absolute crowding, on this particular
pool, it is rarely that an individual is seen upon any
of the neighbouring ones, and there never is a nest
anywhere but at this one spot. This little lake is
also far from being the most secluded ; for one side of
it is open to the cultivated fields, and not very far
from human habitations. The birds, however, do not
appear to heed this, for the}' alight near the houses
with all the familiarity of magpies, and search the
fields with the same assiduity as rooks. What may
be the absolute quantity of specific service which they
perform to the farmers, it is not easy to say, but it is
a fact that, in that particular part of the country, the
crops rarely, if ever, suffer from grubs or other ground
insects. The birds, in their chosen habitation, are
exceedingly noisy, and their cries are plaintive and
wailing, but still they give a lively and picturesque
effect ; and it would be pleasant to see gull-pools in
more parts of the country. The length of this specie?
is about fifteen inches. The colour of the adult on
the upper part is clear bluish ash. The head, the
neck, and the wing-coverts, pure white ; a black spot
in front of the eyes, and another on the ear-coverts ;

684

GULL.

the outer edges of the quills and tail-feathers pure
white, and the rest of the plumage white, with a rosy
tinge. The young are mottled with brown and
white, and have the tips of the quills and tail-feathers
black. They pass however through two changes of
colour, like the rest of the gulls, and therefore they
are apt to be mistaken. These birds are easily do-
mesticated, and are very ornamental as well as very
serviceable in gardens, by clearing them of slugs,
snails, worms, and other destroyers of vegetation,
while the birds themselves injure nothing. It is un-
derstood,that contrary to the habit of the others, which
admit of being thus kept, these birds do not require
to visit the sea, though they must be fed artificially
during the winter, an attention which their summer
labours well repay. For winter food bread soaked in
milk, or even in water, is very suitable for them ; and
they are not so voracious as the larger and more
seaward gulls.

In the winter season they resort to the sea
coast, but it appears to be chiefly from want of food ;
and though they can swim, and are often seen flying
over the waters.watching for what the sea may cast up,
yet they are as frequently met with in company with
the running birds along the beaches. In the breed-
ing season they are very plentiful in Cambridgeshire,
and in some of the fens of Lincolnshire, resorting to
the most swampy parts, along with ruffs, red-shanks,
and snipes, whose nests are intermingled with the tall
tufts of bog-grass. The gulls trample down the grass
on the tops of the small insulated hillocks, and
there form a flooring for their eggs, which are
generally three or four in number, and usually of a
deep olive colour, mottled with brown, and dusky
blotches ; but they are liable to vary. The females
sit insulated on these about a foot or rather more
above the swamp or surface of the water. Though
thus seen at a considerable distance, they can better
observe the approach of an enemy, and cannot be so
easily shot. At the ceremonious feasts of the great
in former times, the young gulls of this'species were
served up at the tables. There is considerable in-
terest about these birds, as being one of the links
which more immediately connect together the birds
of the fresh waters and those of the sea.

ICELAND GULL (L. Icelandicus). This species
bears considerable resemblance to the burgomaster
gull, formerly described, only it is smaller, more
handsome in its form, proportionally longer in the
wings, and altogether a more handsome and a more
active bird. The colours are nearly the same in
their distribution as those of the burgomaster, only
the ash-colour on the back is paler and purer in the
tint. The bill is much shorter and far more slender ;
the brown in the plumage of the young birds is also
paler. This species does not appear even in the
northern parts of the British islands, except as a rare
winter visitant ; and there is not much known of its
manners in its native north. It is understood to be a
rock breeder, and to nestle in the cliffs of Iceland,
Jan Mayen, Spitzbergen, and Greenland.

SMALLER BLACK-BACKED GULL (L.fuscus). This
species is sometimes called the herring gull, as well as
the one already mentioned, but much darker; and there
is one peculiar character by which it is distinguished
from all the other gulls. Its feet are yellow, while in
the others they are reddish or dark coloured. The
upper parts are deep bluish grey, or slate black ; the
top of the head, the region of the eyes, the hind head,

and sides of the neck are white, streaked with line* of
clear brown ; the forehead, lower part of the hack,
tail, throat, and all the under parts are pure while ;
the closed wings extend two inches below the point
of the tail, having the quills black with white tips,
which form a spot on each side ; the wing-coverts are
also blackish with white tips ; the irides and bill are
yellow, the latter with a red spot on the angle of the
lower mandible ; and there is a red spot round the'
eyes. The bird is about twenty-two inches long, and
weighs about as many ounces. The young have the
upper parts mottled with brown and yellow, the bill
blackish brown, and the feet dull yellow. These birds
are very generally distributed over all the northern
hemisphere, perhaps more so than any other of the
gulls : their habits are very similar to those of the
silvery gull ; and like that they follow the shoals of
herrings, and thus have an equal claim to the appella-
tion of herring gulls. They breed in great numbers
on some of the .rocky shores of the British island?,
more especially in Orkney and Shetland, but they are
found on the Black Sea and the Caspian ; and indeed
generally wherever the place is adapted for gulls,
even as far to the southward as the tropic, and occa-
sionally within it.

THE BLACK-HEADED GULL (L, atracillus'). This
gull is about the same size as ridlbundus, so that the
two have often been confounded together ; and one
principal cause of the confusion appears to be, in the
winter, the time when they are most seen by na-
turalists and describers, the characteristic differences
of their plumage are considerably faded. This species
has the bill and feet deep lake red, while those of the
laughing gull are bright vermilion. The laughing
gull also has white on the primary quills, while this
bird has none ; and the head of this one is far darker
in the summer, being almost black. It is a very
handsome bird, and the colours contrast strongly
with each other ; the cape upon the head, which
extends a little way down the neck behind, is not
absolutely black, but very deep lead-colour ; the rest
of the upper part is lead-colour, but not so dark as
the cape ; the quills are deep blac*k, without any
white, and the under part is altogether white, with
very delicate reflections of rose-colour, which last
fade off in a very short time after the bird is killed.
In winter the forehead becomes white, with the ex-
ception of a few feathers at the base of the bill ; the
upper parts also become grey, with the exception of
the primary quills, which merely change to a deep
brown, differing little from black ; in the winter
plumage the under sides of the wings, as far as the
primaries, also become silvery white, giving a re-
markable appearance to the bird when it is seen from
below, and, for that reason, this is the gull which is
most generally introduced into paintings of the sea,
whether those paintings happen otherwise to repre-
sent its localities or not. Its localities are, however,
pretty extensive ; for, though its head-quarters are in
the North Seas in the breeding season, it finds its
way as far as the Mediterranean in winter, and that
in considerable numbers. It is a rock-breeding bird,
forming its nest in the same way as the silvery gull,
and indeed resembling that one very much in its
general manners.

BKOWN HEADED GULL (L. capistratus). The
characteristic distinction of this species is a brown
mark on the upper and hind part of the head. The
bird is about fifteen or sixteen inches in length, but

GULL.

685

it is much more slender in its form than the black-
headed gull ; the bill and feet are also much smaller
than in that species, and indeed proportionally smaller
than in any other of the gulls, so that they make a
partial approach to those of the terns, and, as we
might expect, there is a corresponding- approach in
the manners of the birds; for this gull is much more
habitually seaward, captures its food more exclusively
when on the wing, and, consequently, is less on the
beaches, and feeds less upon garbage, than most of
the genus. It ranges over the northern seas, and,
though not common on our southern shores, it is by
no means rare in the north. The bill, the feet, and
toes, are brownish red, with the webs of the latter
brown ; the top of the head is purplish brown, termi-
nating in black, but not extending so far over the head
as the cap of the black-headed gull ; there are also a few
mottlings of white in the front margin of the cap ; the
neck, breast, and all the under parts, are pure white ;
the upper surface of the wings is pale greyish ash, and
the under greyish white ; the primary quills are white
in the centres, margined with black, the black margins
being broadest on the inner webs. Its colours are
understood to be subject to the same winter changes
as those of the other trulls, and the young to have
the same kind of mottled plumage, only varying with
the tint of the old binls, for the darker mottlings of
the young are always paler in those species which
have the entire colour paler in the old birds ; and
this is one means by which, when they are all
mottled, the young of the different species may be
distinguished from each other. From the lightness
of its form, the softness of its colours, its habitual
motion on the wing, and its frequently twitching
down to snatch from the waters those small substances
on which it feeds, this is far from being the least
interesting of the gulls.

SAEINE'S GULL (L. Sabini). This bird is an in-
habitant of the extreme north, and has the legs
feathered, though not to the tarsal joint, as the
ivory gull has. Its structure, however, indicates a
far northern bird, the length of the tarsus being an
inch and a half, and the tibia feathered as already
stated. These are small gulls, breeding in the dreary
islands on the shores of Greenland, and associating
with terns and other birds. They are described as
picking up the principal part of their food along the
water-line on the beach, and seldom fishing. They
live in society, numbers of them breeding at the same
place, and they defend their young with great resolu-
tion. The eggs are two in number, placed on the
bare ground near the margin of the waters, and not
liiirh upon the rocks. These eggs are about an inch
and a half in length, rather rounded at the ends,
olive in the ground colour, but thickly blotched over
with brown. They are hatched about the beginning
of July, and the pairs are remarkably attached to
each other. No account of a very satisfactory nature
has yet been obtained of the changes to which they
are subject in the winter.

LITTLE GULL (L. minutui). This is by much the
smallest of all the gulls, being only about two inches
in length, but it is a well winged little bird, and very
discursive over the sea. It does not come to the
British islands except as an occasional visiter. It
appears also to be more a Siberian bird than an
inhabitant of the Atlantic seas. The plumage of the
adult birds, in the winter, is bright bluish ash on the
upper part ; hind head, nape, and patch on the eye

and ear, dark ash ; quills bluish, with a large white
bar on the tips ; coverts of the wings, and all the
under parts, pure white ; bill and irides brown ; feet
red ; the wings extend an inch beyond the point of
the tail. In the summer plumage, in which it has
been described as the Siberian gull, it has a black cap
on the head, and a spot of the same colour behind
the eye, and the wings ash-colour, with white tips.
The young are mottled.

ASH-HEADED GULL (L. cirrocephalus). This is
described as a Brazilian species, but, in all probability,
it ranges over great part of the Atlantic. It is four-
teen inches in length. The bill and feet are red ; the
upper parts, and the throat and neck, are bluish a&h ;
the forehead white ; the first seven quills of the wings
black, with white at the bases, and when the wings
are closed, the black feathers project beyond trie
coverts, forming a spot on each side ; the coverts,
the tail-feathers, and all the under parts of the body,
are pure white.

Many other species and varieties have been de-
scribed as inhabiting the seas of different parts of the
world, but little is known of them farther than has
been obtained from the inspection of a few museum
specimens ; and it does not appear that there is any
great difference of habit among them which may not
be found in one or another of the species that have
been enumerated. At all events, these include the
whole that have hitherto visited the British shores
either habitually or occasionally. We have been
somewhat minute in our notice of them, as gulls are
birds which are highly characteristic of the sea, and
peculiarly attractive to those who only occasionally
see tiie great waters. When a "sea-bird" is men-
tioned by way of eminence, a gull, a tern, or a petrel,
is always meant.

SKUAS (Lestris). Though, in the northern parts
of these islands, the places where the people are
most familiar with sea birds, and most interested in
them, the members of this genus are called gulls, and
though the older naturalists included them in the
genus Larus, yet they are quite distinct both in their
structure and their habits ; and we have introduced
them here because it will not only save repetition,
but enable our readers to see more clearly the rela-
tion between them, which is in some respects a curi-
ous one.

We mentioned that the gull may be considered as a
sort of vulture of the sea, and partakes of the voracity
and cowardly, or rather inoffensive, character of the
land vultures, although the great black-backed gull is
alleged to take advantage of the weakness of living
prey, in the same way as is said of the condor. There
is another point of resemblance between them which
is perhaps as striking, and that is the great length
and curvature of the wings, both in the gulls and the
vultures, which appear to fit them for floating long
upon the wing, and seeing their prey at great distances.

Now as the gulls are thus, to some extent, the vul-
tures of the sea, so the skuas may be regarded as to
a similar extent the eagles and hawks of the same.
They are strong, bold, and plundering birds ; and
besides their peculiar mode of plundering the gulls,
to be hereafter noticed, they rob other birds -of their
eggs, and commit various depredations, which con-
duct on their part has, not inappropriately, gotten
them the generic name of Lestri, or robbers. In their
breeding places, which are in countries far to the
north, rarely if ever to the southward of the Orkney

686

GULL.

islands, the larger ones repel all intruders with great
resolution, and are formidable even to man himself.
In this they differ from all other sea birds, many of
which are very clamorous when their nesting places
are invaded, as for instance gannets, cormorants, and
all the species of rock-building gulls. With these,
however, it is only clamour; but the larger skuas can
make formidable attacks, and their numbers overcome
the sea eagles themselves. But while they are thus
bold in the defence of their homes and broods, they
are not rapacious against other birds. They partake
perhaps fully more of the vulture than of the eagle, and
the larger refuse of the sea, the dead bodies of seals
and whales, and all other unclean things which float
upon the ocean, are food for the skuas.

The generic characters are : the bill of mean length,
stout, hard, cylindrical, with sharp cutting edges, com-
pressed, curved, and hooked at the tip ; the base of
the upper mandible covered with a cere, as in the
birds of prey ; but the lower mandible with a salient
angle at the middle of its length, as in the gulls ; the
nostrils situated near the point of the bill, diagonal,
straight, and partially closed with membrane ; the
tarsi small, and the legs naked to some distance above
the knee ; the toes three to the front and one to the
rear, the former completely webbed, the latter almost
entirely free, and all the four furnished with large
and long crooked claws, the hind toe much smaller
than the other three ; the tail slightly rounded, and
with the two middle feathers rather longer than the
rest ; the wings of mean length, and the first quill
the longest in the wing ; the body very compact and
robust, much more so than that of any other sea bird,
and the colours, in some of the species at least, par-
taking of the reddish and blackish browns which are
so prevalent in land birds of prey.

The most remarkable character of the skuas is the
habit from which they have obtained the name of
Lestris, and which has been very properly substituted
for the old name of Stercorarius. The last of these
was given from the foolish belief that these birds fed
upon the " mutings" of other sea birds, especially the
gulls, whereas it is the food from the stomach, and
not the refuse after the purposes of the other bird
have been served, which is the object of the Lestri.
They must be considered as birds of prey as well as
the land Accipitres ; but there is this difference be-
tween them, that while land accipitres are invariably
murderers, the skuas are simply robbers ; and, less
daring, as one would say, than the others as well as
less bloody, they do not hesitate to join the more
cowardly craft of stealing with the more darin? one
of open robbery. The flight of these birds is by no
means so gliding and apparently easy as that of the
gulls, although even then it has an appearance of more
power about it. The gull glides away, with soft
wing, as if it were a mere passenger upon its organs
of flight. The skua bounds and bounces with a jerk-
ing and uneven flight, as if it had other work to do in
the air besides locomotion ; and it has other work
there, for the air is the scene of its robberies. It is
no unamusing sight to observe the gulls and skuas,
especially in the currents among the northern islands,
where herrings and the fry of fishes are caught in the
turbulent water, and brought near the surface in great
numbers. The gulls whiten the air with their num-
bers, make the whole concave of heaven ring with
their wailing cries, and plunging down catch fish after
fish with great rapidity and apparent ease. The

darker coloured skuas are in the meantime hovering
about, keeping a steady eye upon such of the gulls
as have been successful in their fishing ; but keeping
the upper part of the sky, and not themselves conde-
scending to come down for the purpose of capturing
a single fish. They leave this part of the business to
the gulls ; and when a gull has got its load, for it can
swallow a considerable quantity, and rises to the
upper part with heavier flight than usual, in order to •
bear off the produce of its industry to its mate or its
brood, the war cry of the skua is soon heard and im-
mediately it dashes at the gull, repeating again its
summons to " stand and deliver." If the summons is
not answered the skua strikes at the gull, and most
likely tumbles it headlong by the force of the stroke,
though without doing it any mortal or material injury.
But this seldom happens, for the terror of the gull
makes it discharge the contents of its stomach the
moment that the skua comes driving at it ; and the
instant that this is done the skua leaves the gull, and
plunging down with great rapidity catches the prize
before it reaches the water. This habit of taking the
prey from the preyer is not wholly confined to the
skuas ; at least the American ornithologists describe
the whiteheaded eagle of that country as hovering
about and treating the osprey in this manner, not
making the osprey disgorge the morsel which it has
swallowed, but compelling it to drop the fish which it
is bearing off in its talons. It seems that this habit,
whether it belongs to eagle or to skua, requires as
much courage on the part of the bird practising it as
the habit of attacking birds in order to kill them.
Indeed it requires more, for most of the birds of prey
have some particular art or stratagem by means of
which they come upon their prey, and despatch it with-
out giving it time to defend itself; and it is well known
that when another bird can stand upon the defensive
a bird of prey will sneak off in a cowardly manner.
Thus, however fond the common kite is of chickens,
it dares not approach a brood hen ; and even the
golden eagle itself, if it ventures to stoop at a raven,
turns craven and is off' if it once perceives that the
eye of the raven is upon it. Hence it should seem
that it requires greater courage in a bird to become a
robber than a murderer, and accordingly the more
powerful skuas are among the most daring and cou-
rageous of the feathered race, and may be said to be
in their own localities the monarchs of the sky.

There are several species of this genus, some of
which generally, and others occasionally, visit the
northern isles, and some of the remote coasts of Scot-
land ; and stragglers also occasionally find their way to
the English shores, especially at those times when pil-
chards, sprats, and other small fishes, are shoaling
near the land. Their chief places, however, are those
at which the gulls congregate in the greatest numbers ;
though even at these places, the skuas have their pe-
culiar nesting grounds, and mix with the gulls only
when the latter are engaged in fishing.

COMMON SKUA (L. catarractes). This is the largest
species of the genus, and the one which is most
abundant and best known upon the British shores.
It is a large and powerful bird, not much inferior to
the eagles in size and strength. The length is about
two feet or upwards, the neck is short and strong, and
the whole body has a firm appearance. The extent
of the wings is between four and five feet, and the
weight of the bird is about three pounds. The basal
part of the bill has the form of that of the gulls, only

GU

the cere reaches as far as the nostrils ; and the por-
tion to 'the front of these is very hard and strong,
resembling in shape the tip of the bill of a hawk or
eagle. It should seem that the cere has something
to do with the production of a bill of more than ordi-
nary strength 'and firmness of substance, at least all
bills which are furnished with regular ceres, have
those properties in a higher degree than those which
are not so furnished.

The whole upper part of this bird is deep brown,
with dull rust colour on the margins of the feathers,
by means of which each feather is distinctly made out,
something similar to what is the case in birds of prey.
The colour on the under part is the same but lighter ;
and the head and throat are marked with streaks of
greyish ash. The tips of the secondary quills, and
the' bases and shafts of the tail-feathers, are white,
but the remainder of these feathers are deep brown.
The tarsi and toes are covered with black scales,
which are placed shield-wise rather than articulated ;
the claws are large and crooked, especially those on
the inner toes.

These birds are natives of the high latitudes of
both hemispheres, though we believe the only part of
the south where they have been met with is on the
islands to the southward of America. In the north
they are pretty generally distributed, though they
are rarely seen to the southward of the Orkney
islands, and are not very common even there. They
are more abundant in Shetland, and still more so on
the coast of Norway, in the Faroe islands and in Ice-
land. Where they associate in numbers they commit
great depredations on the nests of the bank-building
birds, and are sometimes accused of attacking the
birds themselves. Indeed in Orkney and Shetland,
where they are called sea eagles, and various other
formidable names, they are accused of attacking lambs.
It may be that they attack those animals ; and they
no doubt feed very readily upon the dead carcases of
such as perish in the pastures ; but that a skua can
carry off any thing in its claws, strong and crooked
as they are, is impossible, because those claws have
nothing against which they can act, the hind one
being too small and feeble for this purpose ; and in
birds which carry their prey with the feet, the hind
toe and claw are always strong, and when the foot is
more exclusively a carrying than a killing foot, the
outer front toe is reversible. The tarsi and feet alto-
gether of the skua are too feeble for enabling it to
use its crooked claws in any very offensive manner ;
and the muscles with which the thighs and legs are
furnished are comparatively trifling, the strength of
the bird is in the wings and the neck ; and the most
obvious use of the crooked claws is that of enabling
it to hold on upon the oily and slippery carcases of
dead whales and other carrion, upon winch it feeds
voracious! y.

We believe there is no well authenticated instance
of a skua attacking any large and living bird, or other
animal, for the purpose of making a meal of it ; and
indeed its bill is not adapted for cutting or tearing
recent flesh. Hence the most rational theory of its
economy in the north is that which regards^ it as a
protector of the flocks and not a destroyer. There is
no question that the eagles and falcons, and occasion-
ally the larger owls, of those remote islands prey upon
the young and the diseased of the sheep ; but if the
skuas take up their nesting place in the neighbour-
hood (and they are social in their breeding places),

L L. 687

those predatory birds dare not appear within some
distance. The skuas breed in the moor rather than
the marsh ; and some of them are on the alert at all
times, ready to give notice of the appearance of an
enemy. No sooner is the signal of danger given,
than it is answered by the sound of a hundred wings ;
and the skuas instantly surround the intruder, and
drive at him on all sides. Theirs is a warfare for
which birds of prey are not prepared ; and indeed
birds of prey are no soldiers : the skuas shoot them-
selves like javelins at the enemy, and from their
weight, the strength of their make, the firmness of
their bill, and the rapidity of their flight, a single
stroke taking effect would finish an eagle. Even man
himself does not invade the habitations of those birds
without danger, because they assail him as readily
as any other enemy ; and it is customary to guard
against them by a sharp-pointed stick, or one with an
iron spike rising above the head, upon which the
birds are said sometimes to descend and transfix
themselves.

Though these birds assemble in considerable num-
bers upon the breeding grounds, they are understood
to be also always in pairs ; and when the young are
full grown, and begin to disperse themselves over the
ocean, it is understood that they also take their de-
parture in pairs. Not the skuas only, but also the
common gulls, and most sea birds which crowd to the
rocks, the marshes, and the moors during the breed-
ing time, disperse themselves over the sea toward the
close of summer, and many of them go to consider-
able distances. It has often been a matter of specu-
lation where or how they procure food on those long
marine journeys ; but there is, altogether independent
of the fishes, a harvest of the sea at that particular
season, and a harvest arising from the birds them-
selves ; so that at this season the birds so far imitate
their neighbours under the water, the fishes, that they
" enjoy themselves in eating one another," with only
this difference, that these fishes eat live fish, whereas
the birds eat dead birds. It will be recollected that
the whole year's brood of terns, petrels, and all other
long-winged birds, disperse themselves over the sea
at this season of the year, and that very many of
them do so before they have acquired the average
strength of their species. Multitudes of these be-
come exhausted, tumble into the water, die there, and
supply food for the rest ; and the common skua,
being" the most powerful and the most daring of the
sea birds, of course comes in for the lion's share.

POMARINE SKUA (L. pomarinux). This species is
the next in size and power to the common skua, and
it is a more northerly, inhabitant. As a British bird
it is only a straggler ; but it straggles into the southern
parts of the country as well as the northern. In the
winter of 1831, a live specimen was sent to the Zoo-
logical Society of London from Devonshire, where it
was taken, very much exhausted, apparently with the
fatigue of a long journey. The upper parts of this
species are of a uniform deep brown ; the feathers of
the nape are long and pointed, like those on the
necks of the eagles, and they are bordered with a
bright yellow. The throat, the hind part of the neck
and the belly are white ; there is a large band of
brown spots on the breast, and similar spots on the
flanks and under tail-coverts ; the bill is of an olive
colour, with a black tip ; the irides are yellowish, and
the feet black. The length of the bird is about seven-
teen inches ; but the two middle feathers of the tail,

688 GU

which arc slender and pointed, extend about three
inches more. These are the colours of the mature
bird. After the second month the whole plumage on
the upper part is brown ; the produced feathers on
the neck brownish yellow ; and those in the tail con-
siderably shorter than in the mature bird. In the
first plumage the head and nape are dull brown, with
lighter brown borders to the feathers ; there is a
black patch in front of the eyes ; the back, the scapu-
lars, and the wing-coverts are brown, bordered with
deep russet and striated dark lines ; the breast, the
belly, and the flanks are brownish ash, marked with
zig-zags of russet ; the vent, rump and tail-coverts are
marked with large bands of russet and dusky ; the
bill is greenish blue, with the point black ; the feet are
bluish ash, with black webs ; and the middle feathers
of the tail are not above half an inch longer than the
others.

The proper home of this species is the seas of
North America ; but the fact of its being found in
Britain, however rurely, shows that it is a bird of
very powerful wing, and discursive in its habits. In
its general manners it resembles the common skua,
but it is a less powerful bird, and therefore does not
so readily attack the larger gulls. It is, however, a
bird of more light and elesrant form, and, if not more
rapid in short flight, at least capable of remaining
longer on the wing, and thus ranging farther seaward.
The smaller gulls and the terns seem to be the birds
which it principally attacks ; and there is no doubt
that the specimens which straggle to the European
shores overfly themselves in their pursuit of these,
and thus are unable to return to their native locali-
ties. This skua appears to stand in nearly the same
relation to the common skua as the more powerful
falcons stand in to the eagles ; and in its plumage,
and the form of -its body, though not in its bill and
its feet, it bears no inconsiderable resemblance to
those falcons. Nor is it unworthy of remark and
inquiry into the relations, that there should be a cor-
respondence between the different species of those
sea-birds which are unquestionably the most bold and
predacious in their wa}', and the most bold and pre-
dacious of the land birds. This is one point upon
which the analogy of the sea and the land might be
studied to very considerable advantage ; and the
result of such a study would be the discovery of how
far those two great divisions of the earth's surface
tell upon each other, through the medium of the air,
in so far as animal life is concerned.

RICHARDSON'S SKUA (Z/. Richardsonii). This spe-
cies is, next to the common skua, the best known in
the British seas of all the genus, and, indeed, it is
found farther to the south than that one. As has
been the case with many of our sea-birds, there have
been very considerable mistakes and blunders con-
cerning this one. It is the arctic gull of many de-
scribers, and the arctic skua of some who approximate
to a little more accuracy, but still it is not, in reality,
either the one or the other. It resembles the com-
mon gulls more than either of the former species,
having the plumage less decided, and altogether less
of a hawk-like appearance. The head is blackish
brown, with the dark colour extending on the check
a little below the eyes ; the general colour of the
upper part is brown, not so deep as in the larger
skuas, and with a trace of ash-colour in it ; the sides
of the neck are buft'; the throat, and all the under
part, white, but gradually passing into greyish ash-

LL.1

colour toward the vent-feather* ; the bill is bluish
ash, with the cere whitish, and the feet are the same
colour as the bill ; the webs are much larger than in
the two former species, and the whole character of
the bird is more that of a swimmer ; the wings are
very long, and the two middle feathers of the tail are
still farther produced than in the pomarine skua ;
the entire length of the bird, tail and all, is one foot
nine inches, but the nine inches are occupied by the '
tail, and three of these by the produced feathers in
the middle. The young of these birds are of a brown
colour, and have the tail-feathevs much shorter than
the mature ones. As has been said, they are not
rare on the northern shores of Britain, and they
extend as far to the southward as those of Yorkshire.
They come to the British shores in April or May,
along with the terns and the smaller gulls, upon which
chiefly they levy their contributions. They are un-
derstood to pair for life ; and they breed in this
country, taking their departure in August or Septem-
ber, when the other sea-birds break up tlieir summer
encampments. They are not so exclusively sea-birds
as the common skuas, but occasionally range inland,
feeding upon worms, molluscous animals, and other
small productions of the land. On the shores, how-
ever, they are very much given to plundering the
smaller gulls, which they do with as much vigour and
success as their more powerful congeners plunder
the large ones. They are very plentiful in the
western islands, where they make their nests in bogs
and marshes, concealing them in tufts of herbage.
The eggs are described as being only two in number,
ash-coloured in the ground, and mottled with black.
Altogether, these are very interesting birds, not only
as they are the most abundant British species, but as
they combine, to a certain extent, the appearances
and the habits both of the skuas and the gulls.

ARCTIC SKUA (L. parasiticus). This is the species
with which the preceding one has been confounded,
and the description of the one has been so blended
with that of the other, as to occasion no little con-
fusion. This one does breed occasionally in some of
the remoter parts of the British islands, but it is rare
compared with the former. It is by much the lightest
and most handsome bird of the whole genus, and is
at the same time the smallest. Its length is about the
same as the last, but the tail is in this one twelve
inches in length, leaving only nine for the body, and
the bird is not above one-third of the weight. The
head is furnished with a cap of dark blackish brown,
which does not reach below the eyes ; the general
colour on the upper part is clear brownish ash, the
quills and tail-feathers being darker ; all the under
parts, together with the region of the eyes, the neck,
and the breast, are white, but waved with ash-colour
on the flanks ; the two produced feathers of the tail
are sometimes five or six inches longer than the rest,
and they are remarkably slender and pointed, which
gives the tail a very peculiar appearance. This
lengthening of the tail-feathers gives the birds some-
thing the appearance of terns when they are on the
wing ; and, as the wings themselves are very much
pointed, as well as very long, they can sport about in
the air with all the activity and evolutions of the
swallow tribe. They are indeed the swiftest fliers in
all the genus, and their rapidity of motion makes up
in some measure for their interior strength. They
never venture to attack the larger gulls, but they are
very vigilant in levying their imposts on the smaller

GULO.

680

ones and the terns ; and, as the smaller gulls, and
especially the terns, are more rapid fliers than the
large gulls, the arctic skuas are more rapid in pro-
portion. Their proper localities are more northerly
than those of the species with which they have been
confounded, and, generally speaking, they do not
come so far inland. They are birds of pleasing
colours, handsome form, anil rapid flight, and, alto-
gether, they possess no inconsiderable degree of
interest. Indeed, though the skuas have been most
unjustly accused of being fouler feeders than any
other of the feathered race, there are perhaps no
birds better denned as a genus, more characteristic
of the localities which they frequent, and, altogether,
more interesting to the student of nature. Majestic as
the sea is in its own phenomena, and restless as are its
waters, the sea would lose much of its interest, were
it not for the countless myriads of birds which sport
over its surface, and feed upon its produce. Anyone
who has visited a favourite resort of sea-birds, while
they were there, and again after they had quitted,
and spread themselves over the ocean, can tell how
desolate those places are, notwithstanding their
majesty as a part of nature in repose, when they are
without their gulls and their skuas.

GULO — Glutton. A genus of mammalia, belong-
ing to Cuvier's great order, Carnafsier, or those which
feed upon animal substances, and to the third divi-
sion of that order, Carnivora, or those which are more
or less in the habit of killing warm-blooded animals for
the purpose of feeding on their flesh. Of carnivorous
animals, all the genus Gulo belong to the plantigrade
division, or those which walk on the entire length of
the tarsus, or sole of the foot. Animals which have
this structure, have of course the command of one
joint less of the leg in the air, than those which walk
on the toes ; and, therefore, their walking march is
much slower : generally speaking, too, they are lower
on the legs, and from applying the whole length of
the legs to the ground, they seem lower than they are
in reality. These circumstances are, however, at-
tended with a firmness upon the legs in those animals,
which is perhaps peculiar to them ; and many of
them have the spine very long and elastic, so that
they combine the motion of a leaping animal with the
action of the spine of a snake, and thus advance with
far greater celerity than from their apparently short
legs one would be apt to suppose. See PLANTIGRADA.

Zoologists have sometimes been at a loss in what
part of the system to class the animals composing the
genus gulo. Some have arranged them with the
weasel tribe, others with the bears, and others again
with the badgers ; but though they have some cha-
racters in common with the bears, and also with the
badgers, they are clearly separated from the weasel
family, because that family are digitigrade, or walk on
the toes, and are consequently far swifter in their
movements than animals of the genus gulo. Cuvier
places them, and we think with great judgment, the
very last of the plantigrade division, by which means
they are brought next to the martens, with which the
digitigrade division begins ; and in this arrangement
they immediately follow the badgers. This genus, in
so far as we are acquainted with it, for the habits of
some of the species are not a little obscure, and they
all dwell in wild places, remote from the habitations
of men, and live in comparative concealment, may
be said to partake a little of the form of the badger,
and of the disposition of the martens ; for they are

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

certainly the most decidedly carnivorous of all the
plantigrade animals.

Their generic characters are : three false grinders
in each side of the upper jaw, and four in each side
of the under, situated in front of one carnivorous
tooth, which has very trenchant points, and is well
made out. Behind this there is only one small tuber-
culated tooth in each side of each jaw. This is exactly
the mouth of the martens ; and it indicates as great a
power of tearing flesh, and as little adaptation for
living upon insects or vegetable matter, as is to be
found in the whole order of carnivorous animals.

Notwithstanding this carnivorous disposition (for in
wild animals, that is, in animals in a state of nature,
" As is the structure so is the habit," is a maxim which
never fails), these animals seem dull-and heavy, espe-
cially in their motions ; and though many of them
can, by the help of their flexible spine, leap a consi-
derable way, there is none of them that can pursue
its prey successfully in regular chase. They are
generally animals with a large head, and the jaws
not greatly produced, so that they are remarkable
rather for holding on by the staunchness of their bite,
than for giving a powerful snap, as is done by long-
muzzled animals. The ears of this genus are, in
general, but little developed, which leads to the con-
clusion that they find their prey by the sight and not
by hearing. The tail is short in the more charac-
teristic species, but longer in some of the others ; and
instead of the pouch under the tail, which in the
badger secretes so offensive an odour, they have a
simple fold of the skin. All their feet are furnished
with five toes, and those toes in general with strong,
crooked, and sharp-pointed claws. Those claws are
not decidedly prehensile, like the claws of the cat
tribe ; but still some species at least can readily
climb trees by means of them, and also keep their
hold upon the backs of their larger prey, in the same
manner as is done by lions and other members of the
cat family. It is to be understood when we speak of
a plantigrade animal, that the expression applies more
particularly to the hind feet, or at all events, that the
elbow joint in the fore-feet acts in the same manner
as the tarsal joint in the hind ones, and that thus,
though such animals as the genus gulo are ungainly
walkers, the whole of the hind legs come well into
play when they leap. These animals are remarkable
for the fineness and the thickness of their fur ; and
some of them have, in respect of colour, a different
arrangement from almost every known species, not
only of mammalia, but of warm-blooded animals ge-
nerally. Their colours are very often much darker
on [the under part than on the upper, whereas in
every other case of difference in the colour, of the
two the upper part is invariably the darker. This
remark applies, of course, to the unbroken colours in
a state of nature, and not to those variations which
take place in domestic animals. There are several
species of this genus, some of which occur in both
continents, and some only in one, some in the ex-
treme polar latitudes, and some in tropical countries,
and there are instances in which the number of false
grinders differs from the typical number above stated,
and where the food also varies from that of the more
typical species ; but the characteristic ones are in-
habitants of the north, both of the eastern continent
and of America.

COMMON GLUTTON (G. vulgnrh}. In this species
the length from the nose to the tail is about twenty-
XX

690

G U L O.

eight inches, and from the trunk of the tail about
seven inches and a half. The tail has a covering of
long and thick hairs, which are of a reddish colour,
having a black tip. The hairs on the back, head,
and belly, are of the same colours, but of a much
liner and softer texture. The throat is whitish, marked
with black. Along the sides, from the shoulder to
the tail, is a broad band of ferruginous hue. It is to
be observed, however, that the animal varies con-
siderably in colour; and in consequence of this varia-
tion they have been multiplied into several species,
or at all events several varieties. Generally speak-
ing, those which inhabit the close forests are darker
in the colours than those which inhabit more open
places ; and this is what one would naturally be led
to expect from the fact that the upper part, which is
most exposed to the light, is generally paler than the
under. It seems also that in America they are upon
the whole paler in the colours than in Europe. This
may arise from the American forests not being in
general so close as those of northern Europe. But
in America they vary considerably, and there is little
doubt that the paler ones, which are known and de-
scribed under the name of Wolverine, are nothing
more than coloured varieties, to which the name of a
very ridiculous imaginary animal, invented by the
heralds, has been applied.

The common glutton is an inhabitant of all the
arctic regions, Scandinavia, Canada, the northern
parts of the United States, and, probably, Siberia,
and the central and western parts of polar America.
But though an animal of the extreme north, and un-
known in any country considered as temperate, it
does not hybernate, but is on the alert, and feeds as
rapaciously during the winter as at any other time.

The name glutton was originally applied to this
species in consequence of the voracity of its appe-
tite ; and though the old accounts of it are very
greatly, and even ludicrously, exaggerated, yet there
is no question that it can eat more, and probably more
frequently, than any other animal of its size. The
old stories went so far as to say that it sometimes
gorged itself until not the stomach, but the external
skin actually split open ; and that, to prevent this cata-
strophe, it used to rub itself between two close grow-
ing trees, and thereby both promote digestion, and
also get rid of the superabundant part of the food.
This, of course, is highly absurd ; because there is
no animal in a state of nature which takes its natural
food to a single ounce or atom beyond the quantity
at which that food ceases to be wholesome , and
though man. acting upon his own fallible propensities,
and not upon the pure instinct of nature, may some-
times die of surfeit, this is a case which is quite un-
known among the other animals. It is true that many
of those species which, from their own peculiar nature
and that of their food, are subjected to long periods
of abstinence, fall into a state of stupor after a hearty
meal ; but this is not disease ; and though the animal
is thereby rendered incapable of active exertion for a
time, it suffers no injury. In fact, after it has fed
heartily it has no use for exertion until it is again
hungry : and therefore it is a wise provision of nature
that it should at those times remain still, and not
alarm those animals upon which it feeds, and of which
it is not the destroyer but the regulator.

The glutton is scarcely capable of catching any
animal by pursuit, and therefore its habits are those of
a Her in wait. Small mammalia and birds are under-

stood to be its ordinary fare ; but in cases of emer-
gency, it can prey upon larger animals, upon the
different species of arctic deer, and even on the rein-
deer itself. Indeed, from its mode of attack, the size
and strength of its prey do not appear to be matters
of very material consequence. The glutton is, as we
have said, well adapted for climbing trees, and its
length and lowness, the extent of its feet, and the
sharpness of its claws, enable it to hold on upon a
branch, crouching so that it is not easily seen. The
deer and other animals usually have tracts or pas-
sages through the thick parts of the wild forest ; and
so prone are all animals which feed on vegetables to
follow in each other's footsteps, that sheep, horses,
and rabbits, and even mice, are road makers, although
the surface upon which they make the road, by suc-
cessively following each other, may be quite level
and uniform. The same instinct which leads the
glutton to prey upon those animals leads it to the
track along which they pass ; and, getting into a
branch which overhangs this track, it drops down on
the shoulders of the passing animal, where it keeps a
firm hold with its sharp claws, tearing and lacerating
all the while with its very formidable teeth, at that part
where the neck joins the shoulders. The pain pro-
duced induces the animal to set off at great speed, and
the excitement increases the discharge of blood from the
wounded part, so that, as is the case with the larger
prey of the lion, the strength and fleetness of the
animal contribute to its destruction ; and the glutton
continues in its place of attack until the prey tumble*
down completely exhausted, and incapable of making
any farther resistance.

But notwithstanding the voracity of this animal,
and the stratagems to which it has recourse to com-
pensate its want of swiftness, the glutton is capable
of being tamed ; and instances are mentioned in which,
when properly fed, it has shown not only no disposi-
tion to ferocity, but seemed grateful for the food given
it and the attention paid it. We might expect this ;
for there is no animal more ferocious than the dog,
even in a semi-barbarous state. A tame one, which
was kept at Dresden, and exhibited as a performer of
tricks, would eat thirteen pounds of flesh in a day
without appearing to be satisfied. That which Buf-
fon possessed, on the contrary, consumed only four
pounds of meat daily ; and another, which belonged
to the Hudson's Bay Company, was contented with
the ordinary allowance of a mastiff dog. This is the
only species, at least the only well made out one,
which is met with in the arctic countries.

GRISON (G. vittatus). This animal is a little larger
than the European weasel ; and it is the one which is
most remarkable for light colour on the upper, and
dark on the under side of the body. The upper part
of the body and tail are covered with hair alternately
annulated with black and white, but which, from the
mixture, produce a grey appearance, much in the
same way as grey is produced in the badgers. The
whole of the under part of the body and the inside of
the legs are black. A white line on each side of the
head passes above the eye to the ear, below which
the head is black, but above it is white. The ears,
which are of a white colour, are very small, and have
no produced lobe ; the tongue is rough ; the pupils of
the eyes are round, indicating a day preyer; and the
sides of the mouth are furnished with small musta-
chios. The fur is of two sorts, one short and woolly,
and concealed among the roots of the long silky hair,

G U L O.

(J91

\\hich last gives the animal its colours,as above stated.
The toes are large, and halfway united by membranes.
The tail, which is one-third the length of the body,
is borne horizontally. The animal conceals itself in
holes, and when attacked gives out a strong and most
offensive smell. This proceeds from a fluid like
honey, secreted by two glands near the anus; and the
possession of these is of itself perhaps enough for a
specific and even a generic distinction.

It is found only in South America ; and the names
of different European animals have been, not very
judicious! v, applied to it by different authors. D'Az-
zara calls it the "little ferret ;" Buffon, the " Guiana
]Hil( -cat ;" and Thuuberg, the " Brazilian bear ;" — all
of which names are liable to mislead. It is exceed-
ingly ferocious in a state of nature, a very hearty
feeder withal, and as it is quick in its motions, that
s, on the alert and can leap well, it commits great
iepredations upon the smaller mammalia and the birds
of that country which it inhabits. Its distribution
throughout South America is very general, and it is
ar from rare iu any country. It can be tamed ; and
f properly fed its manners are gentle, but if it is
illowed to become hungry it does not hesitate to attack
any animal which it can master that comes within its
reach. One which was in the possession of M. F.
'uvier had been tamed—at least, to a certain degree.
It did not appear to distinguish one person from
another, was very fond of play, and for that purpose
all comers were alike to it. It seemed to derive
Measure from being stroked down the back with the
land. When invited to play, it would turn over,
return with its paws the caresses addressed to it, bite
rently the fingers it could seize, but never so as to
uirt or wound them. One might almost have ima-
rined that it felt the degree of resistance which the
skin was capable of making, and proportioned the force
of its bite accordingly, when it meant only to express
ts joy. It knew the fingers of a person without seeing
them. Notwithstanding, this animal preserved its
erocity for all those living beings that could become
ts prey. Even when satiated with food, it testified,
n a lively manner, the desire of getting possession of
such animals. One day it broke the bars of its cage
to attack an animal that was within reach, which it
mortally wounded. When it could catch a bird it
cilled it directly, and kept it by for provision, as was
ts custom to do with the meat it received, after having
satisfied its appetite.

TAIUA (G. barb(trtts). This animal inhabits the
•same countries with the grison, which it resembles in
nanners but is larger in size. It is found not. only in
he South American continent, but also in the West
Indian islands, where it is called the greater weasel.
The general fur all over the body is black, or brownish
jlack ; but the head and neck are often more or less
grey, and there is a large patch of white on the throat
' furc part of the neck. The ears are very short
and white ; the length, exclusive of the tail, is about
two feet ; and the tail, which is covered with longer
lair near the body, is about fifteen inches in length.
The feet have five toes each, and the form is rather
peculiar. The middle toe and the one on each side
of it are united together as far as the claws, while the
outer and inner ones, which are very short, are de-
tached at the articulation of the others. This animal,
as it is more powerful, is described as being propor-
tionally more predatory than the grison. Like that
t i.« a burrowing animal; and as it lives in a state of

still greater concealment than its congener, its man-
ners are not much known. From the following notice
in the proceedings of the Zoological Society's Scien-
tific Committee, May 31, it should seem that there are
at least several coloured varieties of this animal, if not
several distinct species, to be met with in South
America- " A living individual," says the report,
" apparently referable to the Gulo barbarus, Linnaeus,
was exhibited. It was presented to the Society bv
Edmonstone Hodgkinson, Esq., of Trinidad, who de-
scribes it as being 'playful and gentle, although easily
excited, and very voracious. It is exceedingly strong,
as is indicated by its shape, and it. has the same anti-
pathy to water as a cat.'" Mr. Hodgkinson suspects
that it is a native of Peru. He obtained it in Vene-
zuela, where it was presented to him by the president,
General Paez. The name he received with it was
"the Guache ;" but this appellation, it was observed
by Mr. Bennet, was probably erroneously applied to
the present animal, belonging rather to the Coati, the
orthography of which is variously given, as Coati, Co-
iiatl, Quasje, Q.uacJn, and Guachi. The latter term
occurs in the " Personal Narrative "of the Baron Von
Humboldt, where it evidently refers to a nocturnal
species of Nasua.

The form and general appearance of the animal were
remarked to be altogether those of a Mustela,to which
genus it is probable that it should be referred, together
with the typical Gulo barbarus. A specimen of the lat-
ter was placed on the table, from which the living ani-
mal was shown to differ, by the absence of the large
yellow spot beneath the neck : a remarkable distinction
in this group, but on the occurrence of which, unless
confirmed by several specimens, it was considered im-
proper to propose regarding it as a distinct species.

ORIENTAL GLUTTON (G. Orientalis) is a native of
the mountains of Java, and probably also of other parts
of the East. It was first noticed by Dr. Horsfield,
but does not appear to be by any means uncommon
in that country. The natives call it Ni/cntek. In size
it is rather smaller than the pole-cat of Europe, and
it is much more slender in the body than the glutton.
The fur is thick, consisting of long hairs, closely ar-
ranged, silky at the base, of a brown colour, and some-
what gloss}', slightly tinged with reddish brown. In
some lights it appears diversified with a greyish and
tawny colour. This fur covers almost the entire body
and head, and the whole of the tail and extremities.
The sides of the head, neck, throat, breast, and a broad
patch on the top of the head, which passes gradually,
decreasing in breadth, to the middle of the back, are
white, with an obscure tint of cream colour, of different
decrees of intensity. This colour, also, exists less
distinctly in a longitudinal band, along the lowest part
of the abdomen. The tail is almost half the length of
the body, is somewhat bushy, and terminated with
bristly hairs.

There are several other species understood to be
natives of the East, of which specimens and drawings
have been brought to Europe ; and in some of them
the animals themselves have been obtained in the live
state. Modern naturalists are inclined to refer both
the Oriental and South American ones to a different
genera from the glutton of the Arctic regions ; but as
they appear not to have made up their minds exactly
with regard to the genera to which the different species
should be referred, or how many of them should be
made what is technically called the types of new
genera, those matters of arrangement cannot be ron-
XX2

692

G U L O.

dered very interesting to the general reader. That
there are many carnivorous animals in the tropical
forests belonging to the plantigrade division of which
we have no good account, and of many of which we
have yet no account at all, there seems little reason to
doubt ; and from the extent of those forests and their
tangled nature, interlaced as they are with climbing
plants, and crowded with prickly ones, the exploring
of even a portion of them is attended with much diffi-
culty, and no little danger. But the vast quantity of
food for such animals which those forests afford, and
the general law of nature that there is always some
proportion between the quantity of prey and the
numbers of the preyers, necessarily leads to the con-
clusion which we have stated. It is probable that
these animals do not exactly take up the character
of our badgers and continue it to the character of our
martens, as the title of glutton is supposed to do in
the north ; because we must no more suppose that the
succession of beings in a tropical climate must follow
the gradation which it does in ours, than we must con-
sider the tropical animal as having an individual type
in our climates. From all that we know in the mean-
time, it is not improbable but that the animals in ques-
tion may form a sort of gradation from the AILURUS
(see that article), which has the claws partially retrac-
tile, to the Paradoxurw, of which some account will
be found in its place in the alphabet. Indeed, there
is a disposition to refer those Oriental animals which
have hitherto been regarded as gluttons to the genus
Jast mentioned ; but much more information is required
before this portion of the animal kingdom can be so
well known as that we shall be warranted in speaking
positively concerning it. One of the animals, once
referred to the genus Gulo, and now to Paradoxurus,\$,
THE MASKED GLUTTON (G. larvatus). This one
is from the east, but. what particular locality is not
exactly known, although it is somewhere either in
India or the eastern islands. It is larger and stronger
than the European polecat ; olive brown and grey in
the general colour, but with the tip of the tail and
the extremities of the feet black. The general colour
of the head is black, but there is a large white streak
from the forehead to the nose, some mottlings on the
cheeks, and a paler band round the throat from the
one ear to the other. The head of this one resembles
not a little the dasyurus of Australia, and the body
and tail have some resemblance to those of a cat.
The essential characters are, however, different from
either of these animals.

THE RATEL (G. mellivora) is found in Southern
Africa, but it is also a native of India, It is about
two feet in length from the nose to the tail, and the
tail is about eiglit inches long. The body is marked by
a broad ash-coloured stripe, which extends from the
forehead the whole way to the tail, and at each side
of this there is a grey stripe which separates the ash
colour from the black on the under part of the body.
According to the accounts, this animal does not live
so much upon other animals as upon honey, which il
obtains by attacking the nests of the wild bees, and
in this, it "is said, they make use of another animal
which acts as a guide. Towards sunset it is particu-
larly attentive in watching the motions of these
industrious insects, following with great care the
direction in which they fly. In its predatory range
it is not unt'requently assisted by the Cuculus indicator
a bird which excites its attention by a loud grating
cry, flying at the same time slowly forward to the

>lace where a swarm of bees have taken up their
ibode. The ratel follows the sound with great attcn-
ion, and, having plundered the nest, leaves enough,
jehind as a reward for the services of its guide.
Owing to the toughness of its skin, it has little to
dread from the stings of the insulted bees. The
tests, however, which are built on trees, are beyond
Is reach. In the first transports of its rage it gnaws
and bites the trunk, and these bites are sure marks .
Y>r the inhabitants that a bees' nest is to be found
;here. Such is the account given of this animal in
Southern Africa; and we shall add that given of it
DV General Hardwicke as a native of India. " The
claws," says the General, " are unequal, those of the
fore feet very long and awl-shaped, the three middle
ones much longer than the two lateral ; the interior
toe very remote from the rest ; the claws of the hind
toes remarkably short, nearly equal, and bearing no
comparison to the strength of the fore feet.

" This animal is found in several parts of India
along the courses of the Ganges and the Jumna, in
the high banks, which in many parts border thc^e
rivers. It is rarely seen by day, but at night visits the
neighbouring towns and villages inhabited by Moham-
medans, and scratches up the recently buried bodies
of the dead, unless they are quickly covered with
thorny bushes.

" The natives, when encouraged by the expectation
of purchasers, dig the animals out of their subter-
raneous retreats, and take them alive. The full-
grown ones are with difficulty secured, and seldom
bear confinement long, but roll and beat themselves
about till they die. When taken young, they are very
manageable, docile, and playful. It is a bold animal,
its hide remarkably thick, and its strength too much
for most dogs of common size. Its general food is
flesh in any state, but it is remarkably eager after
birds, and living rats seem almost equally acceptable.
It has an inclination to climb upon walls, hedges, and
trees. This, however, it seems to execute clumsily,
but seldom falls, and will ramble securely upon every
arm of a branching tree that proves strong enough to
bear its weight without much motion. This species
burrows with great facility, scratching the earth like
a dog with the fore feet, and expelling the loosened
soil to the distance of two or three yards backward.
In ten minutes it will work itself under cover, even
in the hardest ground, and is restless till it can form
such a retreat to sleep in. It sleeps much by day,
is watchful during the night, discovering inquietude
by a hoarse call or bark proceeding from the throat.
The hair is short and wiry, nor has it any of the soft-
ness of fur. It is known to the natives of Hindostan
by the name Bcejoo."

Other species of smaller dimensions, and found in
various tropical climates, have been mentioned by
different authors. The illustrious Humboldt, for in-
stance, mentions one which he observed in the
Andes, and to which he gave the name of Gnlo
Quitensis. It is of small size, black in the colour,
with a white band along each side, and the tail
marked with white and black. There are also several
other species, among which we may mention one of
very peculiar shape, and of a chestnut colour, which
was preserved in the late Bullock's Museum. This
one measured about two feet three inches in the
length of the head and body, and a foot and a half in
the tail, which was very bushy. The body was long
i and lanky, but the legs were very stout, and the

G U M ARABIC T R E K — G Y M N O P L E U R U S.

693

claws large and very much crooked. Altogether, its ap-
pearance was peculiar, though abundantly expressive
of ferocity, but where it came from was unknown ;
and we have not heard that any living1 specimen has
been seen. There have also been found, in some of
those ancient charnel-houses of Europe which contain
the bones, or partly the bones, of animals not now-
found in that, quarter of the world, along with those
of others which are extinct everywhere, certain bones
which have been referred to the gluttons, and from
which one might conclude that, at some period of
European history, they were much more plentiful in
species and in individuals than they are now ; and
there seems to be some sort of evidence of this in
the fact of their remnant being driven, as it were,
to the verge of the extreme north.

On a portion of zoology that offers so many diffi-
culties, and respecting which the accounts are so
imperfect, and so much at variance with each other,
it might not be wise to hazard any very positive con-
clusion. But, from all the evidence, it should seem
that there are three distinct families of those animals,
each taking a type from a particular locality, and
differing entirely from the others. First, there is the
northern one, consisting of onlv the common glutton,
and its coloured varieties, at least we know of none
else. Secondly, there are the South American spe-
cies, which seem to partake of the general character
of the mammalia of that quarter of the world, in
being different from all the rest. It is possible that
the typical animals to which these are allied are the
genus J\Icphitis of Cnvier, which are so remarkable
for the off'ensiveness of the smell which they give out
when disturbed. Thirdly, the eastern animals, which
have for their best known type the Civets, which are
also furnished with a scenlcd secretion, but which, to
some at least, is considered agreeable. More inform-
ation is wanted, however, before we can accurately
arrange these extraordinary animals.

GUM ARABIC TREE is the Acacia Arabica of
Willdcnow. A native of the East Indies.

GUM CISTUS is the Cist us ladaniferus of Lin-
naeus. A flowering shrub, long one of the ornaments
of our gardens. It belongs to the natural order
Cistinete.

GUM SUCCORY is the Chondrilla juncea of
Linuaius. A herbaceous perennial, native of Europe,
belonging to Compositee.

GUM TREE is the Eucalyptus robusta of Smith.
A timber tree indigenous in New Holland, and
belonging to the natural order ]\hjrlacc(E.

GUSTA VI A (Linn.fns). A genus of plants named
in honour of Gustavus III., king of Sweden, the patron
of his learned subject Linnaeus. Class and order
Diadelpliia Poli/andria, and natural order Myrtacece.
Generic character : calyx superior, turbinated, whole,
or very obtusely toothed ; petals four, six, or eight,
large and ovate ; stamens shorter than the petals,
united at the base ; anthers oblong and erect ; style
filiform ; stigma simple ; seed vessel leathery, round-
ish, from three to six-celled, and without valves.
There is only one species described. It succeeds in
our stoves, and is propagated by cuttings rooted in
strong1 heat.

GUTTIFER JE. A natural order containing about
a dozen genera, many of which are highly interesting
plants. They are trees or shrubs found in the hottest
parts of the world ; the leaves are opposite, leathery,
entire, with short petioles, a strong midrib and often

with parallel costula: extending to the margin, and
without stipules.

The inflorescence is in general axillary and race-
mose, but sometimes terminal and paniculate, or
crowded and lateral. The calyx is from two to six
sepaled, often persistent, roundish, membranaceous,
frequently irregular and coloured ; petals from four
to six, rarely more; stamens numerous, indefinite, and
inserted below the germen ; the germen is superior
and free ; style none or very short, and the stigma

| peltate and radiate with the style cleft. The fruit is

j dry or succulent, either baccate, capsular, or drupa-
ceous, and one or many celled, one or many seeded.
Among them is the mangosteen, considered one of the
most delicious of fruits. The flowers of all the order
being showy, the foliage good, and the properties
interesting, every species deserves cultivation.

GYMNADENIA (Richard). A genus of hardy
herbaceous plants, belonging to the natural order
Orc/ridcce. They were formerly included in the genera
of orc/iis and sati/rium, by Linnaeus, but separated by
Richard and Sprengel. When cultivated they are
kept in shady borders of bog-earth.

GYMNA'RCHUS. A genus of soft-finned fishes
without ventral fins, belonging to the eel-shaped fa-
mily, but having little resemblance to the common
eels. The generic characters are, the body elongated
and scaly, the gills with but little opening, as in the
genus Gymnotus ; but there is all along the back a

i soft rayed fin, contrary to the gymnoti, and, unlike
them also, there is no fin between the vent and the

' tail, and the tail terminates in a point. The head is
conical and without scales, the month small, and fur-
nished with a single row of trenchant teeth in each
jaw. There is but one known species, G. Niloticus,
which is, as its name imports, a native of the Nile,
but nothing is known of its habits.

GY3V1NEMA (R. Brown). Climbing ornamental
plants from the East Indies, formerly called Asclepias,
Asclepiadeee.

GYMNOCLADUS (Lambert). An ornamental
shrub or tree, a native of Canada. It belongs to
LeguminoscE, and is increased by cuttings of its roots.
GYMNOPLEURU.S, (Illiger). A genus of
coleopterous insects, belonging to the section Penta-
mcra, sub-section Lamellicorncs, and family Scara-
beeidcB ; distinguished by having the body depressed,
the elytra deeply notched, or sinuated, near the
shoulders, the middle legs widely apart, the four pos-
terior tibia ciliated with small spines, and the last

| joint of the tarsi as long as all the remainder toge-
ther ; the thorax has an impression on each side. The
type of this genus, of which there are numerous spe-
cies, is the Atcuchus pilularius of Fabricius, which has
obtained its specific name from the curious manner in
which the eggs are deposited, and which is thus
described by Catesby, as observed in a North Ame-
rican species, known by the name of the tumble-dung
beetle ; like our dung beetles, Geofrupes, these in-
sects bury their eggs in dung, but the latter form the
mass in which they are enclosed into small balls. " I
have attentively admired their industry," he proceeds,
" and mutual assisting of each other in rolling their
globular balls from the place where they made them
to that of their interment, which is usually the dis-
tance of some yards, more or less. This they per-
form breech foremost, by raising their hind parts and
forcing along the ball with their hind feet. Two or
three of them are sometimes engaged ia trundling

094

G Y M N O T U S.

one ball, which, from meeting with impediments on
account of the unevenness of the ground, is some-
times deserted b}' them. It is, however, attempted
by others with success, unless it happens to roll into
some deep hollow or chink, where they are con-
strained to leave it ; but they continue their work by
rolling off the next ball in their way. None of them
seem to know their own balls, but an equal care for
the whole appears to affect all the community. They
form these pellets while the dung remains moist, and
leave them to harden in the sun before they attempt
to roll them. In their moving of them from place to
place, both they and the balls may frequently be seen
tumbling about over the little eminences that are in their
way. They are not, however, easily discouraged ; and
by repeating their attempts, usually surmount the diffi-
culties. They find out their subsistence by the excel-
lence of their organs of scent, which direct them in their
flight to newly fallen dung, on which they immedi-
ately go to work, tempering it with a proper mixture
of earth. So intent are they always on their employ-
ment, that though handled, or otherwise interrupted,
they are not to be deterred, but immediately on being
freed, persist in their work without any apprehension
of danger. They are said to be so extremely strong
and active, as to move about, with the greatest ease,
things that are many times their own weight. Dr.
Burchell was supping one evening in a planter's house
of North Carolina, when two of them were con-
veyed, without his knowledge, under the candlestick.
A few blows were struck on the table, and, to his
great surprise, the candlestick began to move about
apparently without any agency ; and his surprise
was not much lessened when, on taking one of them
up, he discovered that it was only a chafer which
moved."

It has been the good fortune of the writer hereof
to examine a living specimen of the North American
species, whose habits are recorded in the above ex-
tract, and which was brought to this country from
the United States, having lived during the passage
without taking anv food.

GYMNOTUS" (electric eel). Gymnotus, literally
means " naked back," and, as applied to a fish, it im-
ports that there is no dorsal fin. The electric eel, so
celebrated in natural history, is not the only species,
even when the genus is cleared of some which do not
belong to it ; it is, however, the one which is most
interesting, and therefore our attention shall be chiefly
directed to it.

The characters of the genus are : the gills partly
closed by a membrane, but this membrane opens in
front of the pectoral fins ; the vent placed far for-
ward, so that the anal fin extends the greater part of
the length of the body, and generally to the very ex-
tremity of the tail. There is no dorsal fin, and even in
the gymnotus, properly so called, there is no caudal fin,
though the anal fin extends under the tail to its ex-
tremity. The skin is without any perceptible scales ;
the intestines are much folded, and have numerous
cseca. They have a double air -bladder, one branch
of which extends far back into the cavity of the abdo-
men ; the other is oval, consisting of two lobes, and
lies immediately over the gullet. All the species
which are known are inhabitants of the rivers and
fresh water pools of South America. That which
has attracted the greatest attention is

THE ELECTRIC EEL (Gymnotus electricus). From
the singular power with which it is furnished of giving

electric shocks, often very severe, as well as from the
very peculiar apparatus upon which this power ap-
pears to depend, the electric eel is not only one of
the most extraordinary of fishes, but it is one of the
most wonderful productions of living nature ; and if
it were possible to carry our physiological analysis so
far as to ascertain what connexion there is between
the action of life in the animal and the charging and
discharging of its electric, or rather galvanic battery,
it would bring us one step nearer to that mysterious
relation which there unquestionably is between elec-
tric action and animal life.

This singular fish is of considerable size, being very
frequently between two and three feet in length, and
instances are mentioned of specimens five feet, or even
six feet, in length, being found. It is a thick and
heavy looking fish too, riot possessed of the " lithe "
form of the common eels ; the body is pretty uni-
form in thickness throughout, though it is rather
more compressed than the body of an eel ; and when
the length is about four feet, the circumference at the
thickest point is more than fifteen inches, and the depth
in the side about seven. The head is full of little vesi-
cles, which secrete a sort of slimy matter, wherewith
the body of the fish is lubricated ; and similar organs,
though smaller in size, are scattered over different
parts of the body and tail. When we say the tail of
this fish, we of course mean all that part of it which
is behind the vent; for as there is no caudal fin,
there is no specific tail other than this portion of the
body. So copious is the discharge of this matter,
that when the fish is kept alive as a curiosity, which
it often is, in troughs or large tubs of water, in its
native country, the water requires to be frequently
changed. From the feeding of those specimens, it is
ascertained that the food of this curious fish consists
indiscriminately of worms and small fishes ; for it
eats either of these with equal avidity.

It is far from a handsome fish ; and its colour is
dull, being an obscure blackish green, with a few dark
stripes, barely perceptible. Its tail, even in point of
muscular vigour, is a most powerful instrument, and
amply compensates for the deficiency of fins. In
the northern parts of the South American continent
it is very common, being found equally in the great
rivers, the small streams, and the stagnant pools ;
and in those places where the water forms the only
pathway, as it not unfrequently does in the wilds of
those countries, this fish is a most formidable crea-
ture. The vigour of the animal, its serpent-lik-e
form, its dark appearance, and the violence with
which it gives its shocks, all tend to make it an object
of terror ; and those who are fond of fanciful writing
have endeavoured to persuade their readers that the
same energy of the sun which, in those lands of ex-
treme heat and fertility, matures the choicest fruits,
and calls forth the beauty and the perfume of the
finest flowers, also gives deadly strength to the boa,
the most fatal poison to the bush-master, and this
strange electric action to the gymnotus.

The apparatus in which evidently this power is
lodged, is a very singular one, and consists of four
organs, which are situated longitudinally in the tail
of the fish (which, as we have said, constitutes by far
the greater part of it), and those organs amount to
between a half and a third of the whole volume of
the tail, — indeed they occupy a full third of the whole
volume of the fish. The larger organ occupies the
middle of the side, and extends to the extremity of

G Y M N O T U S.

the tail ; and the two are separated from each other
by the muscles of the back. The small ones are
under these, and extend nearly the same length, but
are altogether much smaller, and very slender toward
the tail. The two smaller organs are separated from
each other along the mesial line by the bones of the
anal fin, and the muscles which give motion to that
fin ; and there are also small muscles between those
small organs and the skin. The larger ones are sepa-
rated from the skin, or rather united to it by loose
cellular tissue only, so that upon the skin being re-
moved they are seen at once. The organic part of
this singular apparatus consists of a vast assemblage
of cells, which fancy can easily conceive to have
some analogy to the phials in an electric battery, or
rather perhaps to the divisions of a galvanic one, for
the cells are, like those divisions, filled with a liquid.
The partitions of the cells consist of flat longitudinal
septa, crossed by nearly similar partitions. The
septa extend nearly the whole length of the fish,
and have their breadth not much less than half the
diameter of the body. They consist of thin and deli-
cate membranes. These septa are, in the large organs,
nearly straight and parallel to each other for the
greater part of their length, and in consequence of
this they are^not all the same length. Neither are
they at the same distance apart throughout the whole
of their breadth. They are widest externally, and
converge toward the interior. Whether the number
is the same in large and small specimens has not
been clearly ascertained ; but such may be the case.
In a fish two feet four inches long there were thirty-
four at the broadest part, and they were nearly half
an inch apart externally. In the smaller organs the
septa are curved or serpentine, and much nearer each
other ; so that though only half an inch in breadth in
the specimen alluded to, this organ contained forty.
The space between every two septa appears to be a
distinct organ ; and these organs are divided cross-
wise by remarkably thin partitions, which are near to
each other ; so that Dr. Hunter counted two hun-
dred and forty in an inch in length. The minute
cells formed by those transverse partitions are filled
with a fluid ; but what the particular nature of this
fluid is in the living animal, or how it acts upon the
partitions, so as to produce the electric energy, has
not been, and possibly cannot be ascertained. Still
there is a wonderful resemblance between those or-
gans and galvanic troughs ; but the incomprehensible
part of the matter is, how the animal contrives to
make those troughs act. If the animal is touched
with one hand only, that is, if it is touched only in
one place, no shock is felt ; but if it is touched at two
places considerably apart from each other, the shock
is very violent. Humboldt states that he felt more
pain from the shock of a large gymnotus than from
that of a powerful electric spark ; and when he placed
both feet upon one newly out of the water, at some
distance from each other, he received a most violent
shock, and felt pain for the rest of the day, not only
in his legs, but in almost every joint of his body.

It appears, from the experiments of Dr. William-
son, Mr. Walsh, and many others, that nearly the
same substances are conductors and non-conductors
of the shock of the gymnotus, as are conductors and
non-conductors of common electricity. It may with
perfect impunity bo touched with a glass rod, or
with the hand wrapped up in a dry silk handkerchief ;
but metals, water, and all moist bodies, conduct it

readily. The shock is conveyed to a considerable
distance from the animal, so that it can strike the
smaller fishes dead, or, at all events, deprive them of
motion at the distance of fifteen feet. One of the
experiments made by Dr. Williamson is worthy of
mentioning. He took a common cat-fish, which is
a very vigorous fish, put it into the water, and
placed his hand in the water, watching what would
occur. The gymnotus swam up to the cat-fish, but,
in the first instance, turned away without doing
anything. It speedily came back, however, and dis-
charged its battery at the cat. While it did so, the
Doctor felt a severe shock in his fingers, and the cat
turned on its belly, and remained motionless. With
several other fishes the result was similar ; but, though
stunned, it does not appear that they were killed, or
even received any permanent injury, for, when in-
stantly put into water apart from the gymnotus, they
speedily recovered. Hence it is probable that the
shocks given by this fish serve only to benumb its
prey until it can swim up and devour them. In-
stances are mentioned of fishes of this formidable
genus of much greater dimensions than those to
which we have alluded ; and the Indians say that
swimmers are often drowned by the stroke of a large
gymnotus, and that the most powerful quadrupeds
share the same fate.

That the shocks are voluntary on the part of the
animal, that is, given or not given, according as it is
disposed, is a proof that, though the electric battery
is a mechanical or organic structure, the working of
it is a function of life. This is farther proved by the
fact, that, when these fishes have been provoked, and
made to discharge their batteries repeatedly, until
they are exhausted, they may be taken in the hands
with little more danger than any other fish, for it
appears that the electric organs take some time to
recover their tone. " In America," says Humboldt,
" they take advantage of this interval, and catch
these fishes with but little risk. They force wild
horses to enter the ponds inhabited by the electric
eels. These unfortunate quadrupeds receive the
first discharges ; stunned and overthrown, they dis-
appear under the water, arid the fishermen take pos-
session of their assailants either with their nets or
with the harpoon. The combat is finished in about
a quarter of an hour."

The water in which Humboldt saw experiments
made on those eels was of a much higher temperature
than the water of Europe in the open air ; and
Humboldt rationally concludes that the inferior tem-
perature is the cause of the weakened power in those
individuals which have been tried in Europe. The
gymnotus is not the only electric fish. That power
in the torpedo has been known from remote anti-
quity ; and it is also possessed by a species of Silurus,
by one of Trichmrus, and by one of Tctraodon. In
all (notices of which will be found in their respective
places), the organs appear to be substantially the same,
but there appears to be none which in the power of
its shocks comes nearly up to the gymnotus. The
following account, by Humboldt, of the method of
taking the gymnotus, is so characteristic and so well
told, that we shall make no apology for laying it
before our readers : — " Having," says Humboldt,
" remained for three days to no purpose in the town
of Calabozo, and received but a single eel, and that
rather weak, we resolved to proceed to the banks of
those pools in which gymnoti abound, and make our

696

GYNANDROPSIS — GYRINIDJi.

experiments in the open air. We came first to a
small village named liastro de Abaxo. The Indians
conducted us thence to the Cano de Beru, a reservoir
of miry and stagnant water, but surrounded by rich
vegetation. We were greatly surprised when they
informed us that they were going to catch about
thirty half-wild horses in the neighbouring savannahs,
to employ them in fishing for the electric eels. The
idea of this sort of fishing, which they call embar-
basear coucaballas (deadening by horses), is singular
enough. The word barbasee signifies the root of any
poisonous plant, by the contact of which a great
mass of the water receives, in an instant, the power
of killing, or, at least, of intoxicating and benumbing
the fish. These come to the surface of the water
when they have been poisoned by this means. As
the horses, driven here and there through a pond or
pool, produce the same effect upon the alarmed fishes,
the Indians, confounding cause and effect, apply the
same appellation to the two kinds of fishing. While
our host was explaining to us this strange system of
fishing, a troop of horses and mules arrived. The
Indians had made a sort of enclosure around them,
and, pressing them closely on all sides, forced them
to enter the water. I shall but imperfectly depict
the interesting spectacle presented to our view by the
combat of the eels against the horses. The Indians,
provided with very long reeds and harpoons, placed
themselves around the basin. Some of them mounted
upon trees, whose branches overhung the surface of
the water. They all prevented, by their cries and
the length of their reeds, the horses from attaining
the shore. The eels, stunned and confused by the
noise of the horses, defended themselves by the re-
iterated discharge of their electric batteries. For a
long time they seemed likely to gain the victory over
the horses and mules. These were seen in every
direction, stunned by the frequency and force of the
electric shocks, to disappear under the water. Some
horses, however, rose again, and, in spite of the active
vigilance of the Indians, gained the shore exhausted
with fatigue, and, their limbs being benumbed by the
electric commotions, they stretched themselves at full
length upon the ground. I could have wished that a
skilful painter had had the opportunity of seizing the
moment when the scene was most animated. The
groups of Indians surrounding the basin — the horses
with their manes bristling, terror and anguish depicted
in their eyes, trying to escape the storm which sur-
prises them — the yellowish and livid eels, which, like
huge aquatic serpents, are swimming on the surface
of the water, and pursuing their enemy — all these
objects presented, without doubt, the most picturesque
assemblage imaginable. I remember the superb pic-
ture of a horse entering a cavern and frightened at
the view of a lion. The expression of terror is not
stronger there than what we witnessed in this unequal
contest. In less than five minutes two horses were
already drowned. The eel, more than five feet long,
glides under the belly of the horse or mule ; it then
makes a discharge from the entire extent of its
electric organ. It attacks at once the heart, the
viscera, and particularly the plexus of the gastric
nerves. It is not, therefore, surprising that the
effect it produces on a large quadruped should exceed
that produced upon a man whom it touches only at
one of his extremities. I have my doubts, however,
whether the gymnotus kills the horses immediately.
I rather believe that the latter, stunned by the reitera-

tion of the electric shocks, fall into a profound lethargy.
Deprived of all sensibility, they disappear under the
water ; the other horses and mules pass over their
bodies, and they perish in a few minutes. After this
commencement, I was afraid that the sport might
terminate very tragically. I did not doubt that, by
degrees, the greater part of the mules would be
drowned. Eight francs is paid for each of them, if
the master happens to be known. But the Indians
assured us that the fishing would be soon at an end,
and that nothing is to be dreaded but the first attack
of the gymnoti. In fact, whether the galvanic ener-
gies are accumulated in repose, or the organ ceases to
perform its functions, when fatigued from too long
use, the eels, after a certain time, resembled dis-
charged batteries. Their muscular motion is still
equally active, but they have no longer the power of
giving electric shocks. When the combat had lasted
a quarter of an hour, the mules and horses were less
affrighted ; they no longer bristled up the mane, and
the eye was less expressive of fear and suffering.
They were no longer seen to fall backwards ; and
the eels, swimming with the body half out of the
water, and now escaping from the horses instead of
attacking them, began themselves, in their turn, to
approach the shore." The Indians, and also the
negroes, eat the flesh of those singular fishes, but it
is said to be hard, flavourless, and not very nutritious.
After this celebrated species, the other gymnoti can
hardly bear to be mentioned.

GYNANDROPSIS (De Candolle). A genus of
tropical herbs, belonging to the natural order Cappa-
ridece, separated from Cleome by De Candolle.

GYPSOPHILA (Linnaeus). A genus of annual
and perennial herbs, natives of Europe. They bear
decandrious flowers, and belong to the natural order
CaryophyllecE. The smaller species do well on rock-
work, and the larger have a place on flower borders.
They are propagated by cuttings or seeds.

GYRINIIX-E. A family of coleopterous insects
belonging to the section Pentamera and sub-section
Hydradep/taga, or water-beetles, and distinguished
by the minute size of the antenna?, which are clubbed,
and shorter than the head, the second joint being
dilated externally into a kind of ear ; the two fore
legs are long, and advanced in front like arms, but
the four posterior legs are very short and compressed,
but broad, forming two pair of short strong oars.
The eyes are four in number, two being placed above
and two below ; the palpi are very small ; the tho-
rax short and transverse ; and the elytra oval, de-
pressed, and obtuse at the extremity, leaving the tip
of the abdomen exposed.

This family corresponds with the genus Gyrinus
of Linnaeus, and, unlike the Dyticidez, to which they
are nearly allied, these insects are distinguished by
the metallic brilliancy of their covering ; living for
the most part upon the surface of the water, they
receive the impressions of the light in a more direct
manner than the Dyticidce, and are accordingly orna-
mented with tints of a brassy or bronzed metallic
hue, which glitter in the sun in the highest degree.
The velocity with which they execute their evolutions
upon the surface of the water is really surprising,
and has obtained for them the name of tourniquets
by the French, and whirlwigs and water-flies by the
English. Sometimes, indeed, they remain stationary
for a time, so that it seems easy to secure them, but
on the least motion they are instantly alert, escaping

HABENARIA— HALESIA.

with surprising agility and diving to the bottom of
the water. The situation of their eyes adds greatly
to their defence, enabling them to see objects both
above and bclo\v them. One of our most popular
writers on natural history thus describes their pro-
ceedings : — " Water, quiet still water, affords a place
of action to a very amusing little fellow (Gyrimts nata-
tor), which, about the month of April, if the weather
be tolerably mild, we see gamboling upon the surface
of the sheltered pool ; and every school-boy who has
angled for minnows in the brook, is well acquainted
with this merry swimmer in his shining black jacket.
Retiring in the autumn, and reposing all the winter
in the mud at the bottom of the pond, it awakens in
the spring, rises to the surface, and commences its
summer sports. They associate in small parties of
ten or a dozen, near the bank, where some little pro-
jection forms a bay, or renders the water perfectly
tranquil ; and here they will circle round each other
without contention, each in his sphere, and with no
apparent object, from morning until night, with great
sprightliness and animation ; and so lightly do they
move on the fluid, as to form only some faint and
transient circles on its surface. Very fond of society,
we seldom see them alone, or, if parted by accident,
they soon rejoin their busy companions. One pool
commonly affords space for the amusement of several
parties, yet they do not unite or contend, but perform
their cheerful circlings in separate family associations.
If we interfere with their merriment they seem greatly
alarmed, disperse or dive to the bottom, where their
fears shortly subside, as we soon again see our little
merry friends gamboling as before." — Journal of a
Naturalist, vol. i. p. 307. When they dive to the
bottom of the water in the manner above described,
they carry with them a little bubble of air affixed to
the extremity of the body. Also they are sometimes
to be found flying, their well-formed wings permitting
such an operation, whilst the high polish of the body
protects them from the action of the water.

With the exception of a few exotic species, the
insects of this family are of a small size, seldom ex-
ceeding a quarter of an inch in length, and the
largest ones do not reach one inch. Some of the
species are found on the margins of the ocean.
They emit, when touched, a disagreeable scent,
arising from a milky fluid which exudes from the
different parts of the body, and which is not readily
dispelled.

The structure of the fore loirs indicates their mode
of life, serving as arms to convey the food which they
tind floating upon the surface of the water, and which
consists of sm;tll dead insects, &c., to the mouth.

The number of species of this family does not
exceed fifty or sixty, and of these not more than eight
or nine are found in this country ; of these the
Gi/rinm natator is the most common species. It is
of a brilliant bronzy-black colour, with the sides of
the body and antennas metallic ; the margins of the
elytra and legs are reddish. The elytra are orna-
mented with lines of impressed spots. It is about a
quarter of an inch in length.

HABENARIA (R. Brown). A genus of tuberous
rooted herbs, indigenous to the northern parts of the
world, some of which were formerly called orchis ;
they all belong to the natural order Orc/iidcee. They
are cultivated in shady borders or in frames.

HABRANTHUS (Herbert). A genus of hardy

697

and greenhouse bulbs, some of them remarkable for
the fine scent of the flower. They belong to Amuryl-
lidea;. They are treated like other bulbs.

H^EMANTHUS (Linnseus). A highly orna-
mental genus of African bulbs, called blood-flower,
from the deep colour of their blossoms. They belong
to the sixth class of Linnseus, and to the natural order
AmaryllidccE. Generic character : spatha of four or
six valves, involving many flowers, and persisting ;
flowers in a dense bunch ; corolla tubular at the base;
limb six-cleft, regular and erect ; stamens imposed on
the tube of the corolla protruding ; filaments awl-
shaped ; anthers incumbent ; style simple ; berrv
three-celled : these bulbs thrive best in sandy loam
and moor-earth, requiring no water but when in a
growing state, and are increased by offsets.

H^EMATOPOTA (Meigen). A genus of dip-
terous insects, belonging to the family Tabanidte,
and distinguished from the gad-flies ( Tabanus proper)
by wanting the ocelli, and by the antennae, of which
the terminal portion consists but of four joints, some-
times cvlindric and subulated, the first being thick,
and nearly oval, in the males. These insects, which
abound in the neighbourhood of woods, are exceed-
ingly tormenting to persons walking in such situa-
tions, settling upon the exposed parts of the body
with a touch so slight that their presence is not per-
ceived until they have contrived to insert their power-
ful proboscis into the flesh, causing a very acute pain.
They are of smaller size than the Tabam, and their
wings are elegantly ornamented with dark spots and
rings upon a pale ground. There are several British
species, the type of the genus being the Tabanus
pluvialis of Linnaeus. The name of the genus is de-
rived from two Greek words, signifying sucker of
blood.

H^EMATOXYLON (Linmeus). The H. Cam-
pechianum is the logwood of commerce, and belongs
to the natural order Legumiiiosce. Logwood is
astringent, and both in decoction and extract
has a sweetish taste, which makes it preferable to
many other vegetable astringents as a medicine. The
chief use of logwood is, however, as a dye-stuff; and
for this purpose large quantities are imported into
this country every year, from the British West Indies,
Mexico, and the United States.

H^MOpORACE^E. The name of a natural

order containing ten genera, and above twenty-four

species, chiefly cultivated in greenhouses. The name

of this order, says Dr. Lindley, is derived from its

blood colour, indicating its most striking peculiarity :

the roots of several species of H&modorum, Wuchcn-

dorfia, and Hentiera, yielding a brilliant crimson dye.

j The species have equidistant leaves, and six stamens,

with anthers turned towards the ovarium ; in which

! last character they differ from the closely allied order

' of Irideee. They are found, with few exceptions, at

the Cape of Good Hope and New Holland.

HAIR GRASS. Is the Aimjiemosa of Linnaeus,
one of the British grasses.

HAKE A (R. Brown). A pretty extensive genus^
of Australian plants, belonging to the fourth class of
sexual botany, and to the natural order Proteacea:.
The flowers are sweet-scented, and are desirable
greenhouse plants, thriving in sandy loam and moor-
earth, and propagated by cuttings.

HALESIA (Linnaeus). A genus of North Ame-
rican shrubs or small trees, vulgarly called from the
shape, colour, and position of the flowers, snowdrop

HALICTUS— HALIOTIS.

tree. They belong to Dodecandria, and the natural
order Styracineas. They are interesting shrubbery
plants, and are increased by layers or by cuttings of
the root.

HALICTUS (Latreille). A genus of hymeno-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Aculcala,
sub-section Mellifera, or bees, and family Andremdce,
or short-tongued bees. The characters of this genus
will be found under the article ANDRENID^E ; but as
no account is there given of the economy of the spe-
cies of the genus, we will take this opportunity of
supplying the deficiency, chiefly from a valuable me-
moir, published in 1817, upon two of the species, by
the Baron Walckenaer, a celebrated French naturalist.
There is an extensive colony of one of the species esta-
blished at the foot of the wall of the barracks in the
turnpike-road near the entrance to Kensington palace,
where we have often noticed the insects. Never-
theless the species are solitary in their habits, the in-
dividuals having no tie upon each other, and the con-
gregation resulting merely from a convenient locality.
It is a curious circumstance, that it is only during the
night that the bees construct their nests, which con-
sist of a perpendicular passage, extending to a consi-
derable depth, and then branching off into several
other shorter passages, at the bottom of each of which
a mass of pollen paste is deposited with an egg, the
ball of the former being about the size of a pea, and
serving for the support of the larva when hatched.
During the day either the male or female bee re-
mains at the mouth of the burrow, in order to prevent
the entrance of enemies, such as cuckoo-flies (Tachi-
nte), and ichneumons, or ruby-tailed flies (Chrysidid&i).
On the return of its partner, which takes two or three
circular flights round the mouth of the burrow, the
sentinel immediately withdraws into the nest to make
way : moreover it is worthy of notice that, instead of
alighting upon any adjacent object, as is generally
the case with burrowing insects, the halicti fly at
once into the nests ; a circumstance attributed by
Walckenaer to the desire to elude their enemies, of
which there is a fearful catalogue, the most ferocious
being the Cerceris ornata, of whose habits we have
given an account under that genus. The preceding
observations relate to the Halictus terebrator of
Walckenaer, or the Melitta fulvo-cincta of Kirby,
one of the smallest species of the genus ; but in the
other species observed by Walckenaer, Halictus cca-
phosus, or the H. 6-cinctus of Latreille, which is one
of the largest of the species, the habits are different
in some respects,— large, strong, and fearing but
little for the enemies which prey upon their smaller
brethren, this species works by day, and during
the greatest heat. The entrance to the burrows is
large enough to admit two individuals at once, where-
as in the other species it is only of the size of the
head of the insect. The direction of the burrow is
also different, and, instead of diverging into several
channels, it terminates in a large round cell, two
inches and a half in diameter and three inches high,
filled with earthen cocoons, attached loosely together,
leaving various channels between them. When
examined, it is found to consist of about a score of
earthen cocoons, each having the mouth closed, so
that the enclosed inhabitant has no communication
with the external air. The inner walls of the cocoons
are finely polished.

HALlMODENDRON (Fischer). This genus
of plants was formerly called Robinia by Linnaeus and

Heritier, and Caragana by Lambert : but finally de-
scribed and renamed by Fischer. It belongs to Legu-
mi no.10!, and forms a pretty shrub in flower borders :
may be increased by seed or by grafting on the t'ara-
gajia arborescens. The plants are natives of Siberia,
and are there called salt or sea trees.

HALIOTIS (Linnaeus, and modern authors).
This well-known but elegant mollusc constitutes a,
well-defined genu«, numerous in species, and remark-
able for their ear-like form, whence the derivation of
their name, sea-ear. As this shell is to be met with
in every collection, a minute description of it, in
scientific language, would here be useless ; we will,
nevertheless, give its general characters. The sub-
stance of the shell is internally brilliantly nacreous ;
it is extremely depressed, more or less of an oval
shape, with a very small spiral termination, and very
flat. The aperture is the full size of the shell ;
its edges continuous, the right one thin and tren-
chant, the left flattened, enlarged and sharp, parallel
to the left side ; a series of holes exist, which
serve for the passage of the two-pointed lobes
of the animal's mantle. There is only one great
muscular impression. The animal is entirely cr-
vered by its shell. As the increase of the animal's
size requires an extension of its protecting covering,
a new hole is commenced, appearing at first only a
notch on the margin, afterwards completed as the
growth of the shell continues, and others are formed
in succession, while the perforation nearest the spire
is carefully closed in the same succession, leaving,
however, in almost every instance, six holes at the
same time open. When the animal is at rest it ad-
heres, like the patella, to the rock or substance on
which it is found, and can only be detached by a sud-
den effort, as they have resisted the application of a
lever, till every portion of their shell was so far
broken as no longer to furnish a point of resistance.
An ingenious naturalist has calculated that it would
require at least a ton weight to force these shells
from their resting place, could the substance of them
withstand the application of the necessary mechanism,
such is the perfect vacuum formed by the animal.
There are probably few of our readers who, in the
early part of life's dream, have not witnessed this
philosophical fact by the simple application of a pirce
of wet leather to any heavy substance ; as the subject,
however, is most ably explained in the First Division
of this work, we need not here go into it, but pr<-
ceed with a description of the animal constructing
the haliotis. Its body is of a very depressed oval
shape, slightly spiral backward ; it is provided with
a large foot, doubly fringed round its circumference ;
the head flattened, tentacula conical at the base, and
a little flattened ; the eyes are placed at the summit
of prismatic peduncles, situated on the external edge
of the tentacula ; the mantle is very thin, deeply
divided on the left side ; the two-pointed lobes form,
by their junction, a canal to conduct water into the
bronchial cavity, situated on the left side, and inclos-
ing two very long, unequal, bronchial combs. These
molluscs adhere to rocks nearly on a level with the
sea, and, during the fine summer nights, wander to
feed on the herbaceous plants that grow near the
shore. Their flesh is considered good eating, and in
Guernsey they are sold in the market in common
with other shell-fish. Larnarck sub-divided this
genus, separating from it those species which were
imperforate (or without holes) ; his Slowatia is an

HALIPLUS

instance ; this Linnaeus named, with great propriety,
Haliotis imperforata. Leach also formed a genus,
which he named Padollus ; but these have all been
united by the modern French naturalists, who make
them merely sub-divisions of the Haliotis. These
molluscs inhabit the seas of all parts of the world,
and vary greatly in size, the writer of this article
having possessed them from the 10th of an inch to 18
inches in length. A number of the latter magnitude,
some years since, were brought to this country, it was
said from California ; but of late years no such large
examples have been imported from any country what-
ever. It is believed that no fossil examples of Halio-
tis have ever been discovered. The genus is ranked
in the second class, ParacephalophoTO, third order,
Scutibranchiata, first family, Otidea, in which the organs
of respiration are constantly situated on the animal's
left side. This genus might, doubtless, become more
clearly defined by an elaborate classification of its
species in their natural proximities ; but it would be
impossible to point out any thing more characteristi-
cally marked than these molluscs are from every
other known.

HALIPLUS (Latreille). A genus of coleo-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Pcnlamera,
and family Dijtlcidcc, and distinguished from the other
genera of this family of water-beetles by having the
base of the hind legs covered by a large shield-like
plate composed of the dilated coxse of these organs ;
the palpi are also terminated by a minute conical
joint, in which respect they resemble the minute
species of Ecmlndndas (belonging to the adjoining
family Cardbidai), which are also sub-aquatic in their
habits, whence these insects have, by some systema-
tise, been considered as forming the point of con-
nection between the two groups. The species are
very numerous, of very small size, and may be con-
stantly observed swimming about with great agility
in almost every running or standing water ; the type
of this genus being the Huliplus clcvatus, which is at
once distinguished by the elevated lines upon the
elytra.

"HALLERIA (Linnaeus). Ornamental green-
house shrubs, from the Cape of Good Hope. The
flowers are didynamous, and belong to the natural
order Scrophiilannecc. The plants grow freely in an
equal mixture of loam and moor-earth, and are propa-
gated by ripened cuttings in sand.

HALL1A (Thunberg). A papilionaceous genus
of plants cultivated in the greenhouse, and succeeds
with the ordinary treatment thereof.

HALORAGEJ^. A natural order, containing,
according to the Hortus Britannicus, seven genera,
and about twelve species, which, according to the
same authority, arc mostly obscure weeds, distin-
guished from OnagraricB by their naked and solitary
ovula. They are natives of moist places or ponds, in
various parts of Europe and North America. Some of
the species of Haloragis are tropical. They are not
known to possess any medicinal properties.

HALORAGIS (Forster). A genus of small
New Zealand plants, belonging to Octandria Tetra-
•, and to the natural order to which they give a
title. They require greenhouse management.

HALTICA (Geoffrey). A very extensive genus
of minute coleopterous insects, belonging to the sec-
tion Tetmmcra, and family (Haleruc'ultc, distinguished
by the large size of the hind thighs, which enable the
nsects to leap about with great agility. They are

— HALTICA. 699

for the most part ornamented and varied with brilliant
colours and shining bodies, and commit great havoc
upon the leaves of vegetables, both in the larva and
perfect states. The greatest number of species are,
however, found in South America, but these are for
the most part of a much larger size than those found
in our own country. From the extent of the genus
it has become necessary to subdivide it extensively.
Illiger did this in the Magazin dcr Entomologie, pro-
posing nine sections, which more recent authors, as
Latreille and Stephens, have regarded as so many
distinct genera.

It is to this genus that the small insect belongs,
which is generally known under the name of the
Titrnip-jiy*, but which, as there are several hymeno-
pterous flies which likewise feed upon the turnip, it
would be more proper to distinguish as the turnip-flea,
naming it thus in allusion to its leaping agility. The
ravages of this minute insect upon this valuable plant
are unfortunately too well known to agriculturists to
need much description. The insect is indeed one
of the most formidable that can attack a crop. What
possibly can be more harassing to the fanner than to
see a fine thriving field of turnips just appearing in
leaf, destroyed in the course of a day or two by ene-
mies which are so minute as almost to escape detec-
tion, and so obscure in their habits, as up to the latest
moment to have escaped in this respect the observa-
tion even of practised observers of insects ? Whilst
doubting too whether his crop may possibly recover,
the unfortunate agriculturist may lose his season for
second sowing, or he may again encounter a similar
risk by resowing his land. Plans have been, and still
continue to be tried, with partial success, and in con-
sequence thereof they have been published to the world
as unerring remedies ; but so long as the real economy
of the creature remains unknown, it is impossible to
arrive at any other conclusion than that such success
has been obtained by chance, particular circumstances
of locality or season having produced effects which
have been attributed to some much more general
cause, but which have been found totally inapplica-
ble when those particular circumstances have ceased
to exist.

Under these circumstances, the Doncagtcr Agricul-
tural Association, in 1830, proposed the turnip-fly aa
an advantageous subject of inquiry, and a series of
inquiries were issued, directed to numerous agricul-
turists and entomologists, seeking for information from
both relative to the subject. A great variety of in-
formation, of a very valuable nature, was thus ob-
tained, and from the published Report of this associa-
tion, the following particulars are concisely derived :
— It appears that although the months of May and
June are stated as the period of the first attack, the
insects appear much earlier, and are ready to attack
the turnips first sown. It is evident, therefore, that
the beetles have previously undergone their prepara-
tory changes elsewhere than upon the turnip plant;
and this is an important fact, a point gained in the

* This insect is systematically described under the name of
Htiltina nemnnim, Linnseus (by whom it was placed in the.
genus Cftryxomela) : it is of an oblong oval form, slightly depress
ed above, of a black colour, the elytra having a greenish tinge,
and each being ornamented with a broad longitudinal stripe of
a pale brimstone colour. It is about one-twelfth of an inch lonsr.
There are also several other species very nearly allied to it', hav-
ing similar habits, and being not le«s injurious, some of whieli
possess the pale stripe on the elytra, while in ethers it is want-
ing. They may all be distinguished by the thickened hind-leg's.

700

HAM AM ELIDE

economy of the insect, which has been too much over-
looked. Again, it is staged that no period of sowing
is too late, provided the weather be warm, for the
attacks of the insects; hence the season for the ravages
of the insect may be said to coincide with the season
of vegetation itself. As to the stage of growth of the
plant, it appears clear that the mischief is caused
during the growth of the cotyledon leaves ; if the
plant is sufficiently strong to put on its second series
of rough leaves, the insect, although it may continue
its attacks, has not sufficient power to do much
damage. It likewise appears that it is in hot, and
especially in hot damp weather, that the insect is
most prejudicial. As to soils, the correspondents
agree that no soils whatever on which turnips can be
(-•iikivated at all are free from the insect ; and in like
manner no manure at present known will prevent its
approach, although that manure which most effectu-
ally promotes the rapid growth of the plant, and the
throwing out of the rough leaves, will at the same
time be the most effectual defence against the insect.

Turnip Fly.

As to the mode of sowing to be adopted, the answers
are decidedly in favour of the drill system over broad
east, by bringing the plant more immediately into
contact with the manure, and by forcing forward the
plants from the thickness in which they stand in the
rows ; and lastly, that regular management, and a
high state of cultivation, are highly important in en-
suring regular success, lands in the best condition
escaping best. The turnip-fly, moreover, feeding
also upon many hedge weeds, and sheltering itself in
rough grounds, nothing would tend more effectually to
prevent its accumulation than by early clearing off both
its shelter and food as far as possible. Thus much is
given as relates to the attacks of the insect, but of its
natural history no decisive information was obtained
by the Doncaster Agricultural Association. It is said
that " this part of our inquiry is by far the most im-
portant; and, important as it is, cannot in the present
state of information be fully answered." Can it be
doubted that this is not the most important part of the
inquiry ? How is it possible that successful remedies
can be applied whilst some persons assert that the
insect is produced from eggs placed by the parent
beetle upon the turnip seed, and others that it is
thrown into the earth with the manure ? The report
proceeds: " Under these circumstances all speculations,
as to the abode and habits of the infant turnip-fly,
must be vague and unsatisfactory. We need not say
how very important it is that these facts should be
ascertained, and that we should know where the
enemy is generated and nurtured, as well as the length
of time occupied in each transformation. An exten-
sive series of experiments undertaken on this subject
might be of the utmost advantage, and eventually
prove a national benefit. It is possible that in its
infant stages the insect may be destroyed more effec-
tually than in any other ; and at all events an accurate

knowledge of these facts would confine the efforts
and experiments of the farmer within certain limits,
from which they must now, in our ignorance, be con-
tinually diverging, and much time and effort now
wasted on impossible experiments would be saved."
To this, therefore, the natural history view of the
question, it is our duty to direct, in an especial manner,
the attention of our readers.

It only remains for us to notice the most advisable
remedies suggested for preventing or alleviating the
attacks of the insect. Of such as relate to the steep-
ing of the seed, or the mode of the sowing of the seed,
we are silent, as it is quite clear, from what is known
of the habits of the insect, that they are untenable,
save as relates to the more quick forcing of the growth
of the plant. An expedient which seems partially
successful consists in sowing with the turnips the
seeds of some other plant, which may be more grateful
to the taste of the insect, as when Swedes and white
turnips were sown together the former escaped. Fu-
migation and the burning of stubble on the wiadwaid
side of the field has been found to answer, as has also the
scattering of vegetable ashes or soot upon the plants ;
repeated watering of the plants also, where practicable,
has been found successful ; but the most universally
practised method, and apparently much more certain
of success, is to spread quick lime over the young plant,
as soon as out of the ground, spreading it on and around
the plant, and repeating: it as often as wind and rain
shall have cleared it off, until the plant be out of
danger. Lime is so common that it can be had in all
situations, and it is so cheap that the cost need not
embarrass the farmer. The labour is so comparatively
small that it is capable of being generally adopted,
and if the fly should not appear the lime can be used
for other purposes. It seems also to be advisable
that the lime should be laid on in a hot state rather
than after it is slaked. It would be easy and very
desirable that it should be spread by some machine
rather than by the hand. Some of the correspondents,
indeed, urged an objection against this plan, that the
quick lime injures the plant and prevents its growth,
but from the more decided observations of others, the
Association recommend " That as soon as the plant
appears above ground it be dusted with quick lime,
and this repeated as often as rain or wind beats it off,
and the fly re-appears."

We hadi written thus far when we ascertained that
the Entomological Society of London, by whom the
turnip-fly had been selected as the subject for one of
the prize essays established by the society, has just
received an account of the insect in question, from
the pen of Mr. Le Kenx, in which an account of the
preparatory stages of the insect is given. The parti-
culars of this communication, read at the last January
meeting of the society, have not indeed transpired,
but we trust that the society will lose no time in
laying before the public a document which may prove
of such vast importance to the agriculturist.

HAMAMELIDE^E. A small natural order,
containing only two genera, and about half a dozen
species. The Hamamelis is the Witch Hazel of
North America ; and the other genus is the Pother-
gilla from the same country, both hardy shrubs and
common in our collections. Both are increased by
layers. Little is known of the general properties of
these plants. The bark of the H. Virginica, which is
bitter, has been used medicinally ; and poultices
made of it are sp.id to relieye inflammatory tumours.

H A M E L L I A — H A 11 E.

HAMELLIA (Linnaeus). A genus of West
Indian evergreen shrubs, belonging to the class Pen-
tandria, and to the natural order Rubiaceae. This is
an easily managed free-flowering genus, thriving in
loam and moor-earth, and striking root readily from
cuttings.

HAMITES (Sowerby). A shell only known
in its fossil state ; it may be considered a species of
Ammonites ; it is frequently found in the old form-
ations, though generally as an imperfect mould.
Both Sowerby and Defrance have described many
species.

HARDWICKIA (Roxburgh). A genus of lofty
trees, natives of the East Indies, and belonging to
Lcguininosce. Generic character : calyx of five sepals ;
corolla none ; stamens alternately long and short ;
anthers oval with a point ; style ascending ; stigma
headed ; pod membranaceous, lance-shaped, and one-
seeded. The plants affect rich loam and moor-earth
mixed, and may be rooted from cuttings.

HARE (Lcpus}. A genus of rodent or gnawing
mammalia. One of the most remarkable, the most
natural, and the most numerous, and to man the
most interesting of the whole class. The animals of
this genus are distributed, in one species or other,
over most countries on the face of the earth ; and
though New Holland forms a total, and South Ame-
rica a partial, exception, hares properly so called, or
the allied subgenera, which agree well with them in
their main characters, are found almost everywhere :
in the warm countries, on the margins of the deserts,
on the sandy downs by the sea shores, in the corn
fields, in the upland wilds, and on the tops of the
mountains, to the very verge of the never-thawing
snow. In longitude they extend round the whole
circle of the earth, and their range in latitude is at
least from the Cape of Good Hope to the borders of
the Polar ice.

Nor are the principal species held in less estima-
tion as human food. In the British islands, the hare
is now almost the only four-footed animal, the chase
of which in wild nature is anything else than mere
sport; and then of those species which live more in
society than the common hare, and approach more
nearly to a state of domestication, the numbers in
favourable situations are so great, that large profits
are made by the sale of them. This is especially the
case with tiie rabbit. The warrens where those ani-
mals are encouraged, in general occupy situations
which are not very fit for any other useful purpose ;
and the animals breed so fast that a supply or pro-
duce, equal to several times the number of the neces-
sary stock, may be brought to market every year ;
and their successive breeding is so rapid under favour-
able circumstances, that rabbits are scarcely ever out
of season, if the stock is properly managed ; for as
soon as one generation ceases to be fit for the market
another is ready to come in. Some of the sandy islands
in the bays and estuaries of this country are so per-
fectly crosvded with rabbits that the inhabitants scarcely
eat anything else ; and they might make the same
reply which the Shetland boy made to the third inquiry
of the traveller respecting the colefish or " piltocks,"
which are the principal food of the labouring class
in many of those northern islands. " Piltocks" was
the answer to what was got for breakfast and for
dinner ; and when the question was put as to supper,
the reply was, " Whatcou/rf I get but piltocks?" Just
so might the people of some of the sandy islands

reply with regard to rabbit?, more especially the peo-
ple of some of the islets in the Bristol Channel.

The characters of this interesting and extensive
genus are, four incisive teeth in the upper jaw, and
only two in the under ; six grinders in each side of the
upper jaw, and only live in each side of the under.
Those grinders are without proper roots, but have bony
tubercles upon the surface, broader across the JKW
than in the direction of it. The anterior one is a
little smaller than those which immediately follow it;
and the posterior one is still smaller. All these
grinders, except the last one, have their crowns
divided into two parts by a transverse furrow, but the
last one presents only a few irregularities in the sides.
The grinders in the lower jaw have their crowns
divided in the same manner as those in the upper ;
but they differ from these in having the length along
the jaws nearly equal to the breadth across it. By
this conformation of the grinders the animals are
enabled to masticate bark, twigs, and other very hard
substances ; because the grinders apply against each
other in such a manner that every one bears upon
two, which offers a much stronger resistance than if
the action were that of tooth against tooth. The
incisive teeth are long and large, and flattened on
their external surfaces. Of the four in the upper jaw
the two middle or principal ones are long, strong, and
divided throughout their length by a deep furrow, the
portions on each aide of which are rounded externally ;
so that the cutting extremity of the tooth has something
the form of a double gouge. Of those prominences
the lateral or external one on each tooth is the broadest
and strongest ; and thus this apparatus combines
the very maximum of mechanical skill and strength
in proportion to the quantity of materials. The two
shorter incisive teeth, which are external of these,
serve chiefly to support them, which they do much
more effectually than if they were of the same length.
They are rounded in their section, and stand rather
broad upon the jaw, by which means they still farther
support the two middle ones. The middle ones have
an oblique basil on their posterior faces, which brings
them up to a chisel-edge on their anterior ones ; and
while the body of the tooth is composed of bone
which is tough and fibrous, though comparatively soft,
the plate of enamel on the anterior or cutting edge is
exceedingly hard. This is by no means an uncommon
structure of tooth among rodent or gnawing animals ;
and no structure can be better adapted for their pur-
poses. This tooth wears at the top by the hard
substances which the animals divide, and are com-
pelled to divide, especially in the winter months, when
there is no longer any green food for them. But
though it wears, it has no tendency to get blunted, as
the supporting bone wears fully as fast as the sup-
ported cutting edge ; and as such teeth continue
growing at the roots, they remain fit for action during'
the life of the owner. The two teeth in the under
jaw have cutting edges, and are supported by bone
nearly in the same manner as those in the upper.

The bodies of these animals are as peculiar and
characteristic as the forms of their teeth. The fore
legs are slender, and in all the species much shorter
than the hind legs. The fore legs have five toes
armed with claws, which are strong and rather crooked.
The third toe is the longest in the foot, and the fifth,
or that which answers to the thumb, is short, placed
on the metacarpal bones, and does not touch the
ground in walking. The hiud feet have only four

702

HARE.

toes each. All the toes, and even the soles of the
i'eet, Hire covered with hair similar to that on the rest
of the body ; and this character has been considered
as a distinguishing one from the earliest periods of
natural history, and on account of it the genus has
sometimes been called Dasypoda, or hairy foot. The
tail, which is generally thickly beset with soft hair, is
always short, and in some of the species is entirely
wanting.

The ears form a distinguishing natural character in
these animals ; they are usually very long, and capa-
ble of much more motion than the ears of most other
animals. In the natural state their common attitude
is erect ; but in some of the domesticated varieties
(for the domesticated ones are very much broken into
varieties) they are pendulous. In general the ears
are naked, or very thinly covered with short hairs ;
and the membranes of which they are composed are
so thin, that they are transparent or nearly so, at
least a strong light shines through them. The upper
lip is entirely slit or divided on the mesial line ; and
this is so marked a character, that the common name
given to a divided lip is a hare lip. The external
part of the mouth is partially covered with hair. The
eyes are large, stand far out from the head, are placed
laterally, and capable of commanding nearly the
whole horizon ; that is, seeing behind the animals as
well as before without turning the head. The nos-
trils are straight ; and in the upper part there is a
transverse membrane which can occasionally be
brought down, so as nearly to close the orifice.

The females have a variable number of mammae,
in the different species or rather subgenera. The
greatest number is ten, and the least number six ; and
whatever the number is, there are always four pec-
toral, or on the breast, and the remainder abdominal
or on the belly. In the hares and rabbits, which may
be considered as the typical species, or the true hares,
the number is always ten ; and though it does not
hold universally that the number of young increases
with the number of mammas, yet it is natural to sup-
pose that the general tendency is that way.

We have already mentioned that these animals are
exceedingly prolific ; and the females of them are
among the few in which the singular process of super-
fetation takes place ; that is, a new conception hap-
pens after the young one, already in the matrix, is
considerably advanced. But though this does take
place, all the animals of this genus are true placental
mammalia, and have not in the system of reproduc-
tion, any approximation to the structure of the mar-
supial animals.

There is, however, one circumstance here which is
not a little wonderful, and which shows that we are
to seek the characters of animals in the whole animal
and not in any individual part ; that, in short, inde-
pendently of the matter of which the body is com-
posed, and the organs and the form into which that
matter is moulded, there is something, even anterior
to this matter and this form, which collects the one
and fashions the other. The animals of this genus
make a nearer approach, in their general form, their
gait when walking, and their mode of life, to the
rodent marsupial animals, that is to the kangaroos,
especially the smaller ones, than is made by any other
race, indeed than is made by any two races in the
whole class of mammalia, the one of which is strictly
placental, and the other marsupial. And in the kan-
garoos this tendency to superfcetation is far stronger

and more common than in the genus Lepus. So
strong is it indeed that, when they "are in free nature,
there is perhaps no instance of a female kangaroo
which has not two or more successions of young ones
bringing forward at the same time. We shall have
occasion to make some further remarks on this very
singular portion of the economy of nature, when we
come to the article KANGAROO, in the course of the
alphabet ; and we trust that before then we shall be
in possession of two or three little points which are
yet wanting, before the physiological history of those
most extraordinary animals is complete. The present
analogy is, however, of too striking a nature for being
passed over without notice, and therefore we have
introduced it to prepare such of our readers as may
be fond of inquiring into the wonders of Nature's
modes of working, for what we may have occasion to
advance in the article above alluded to.

The hares admit of convenient division into two
sub-genera; hares properly so called, TLeyms ; and
rat-hares, Lagowys.

HARES PROPERLY so CALLED (LejnisJ. These,
besides the common characters of the genus, as
already described, the hares properly so called, have
certain characters of their own. One of these is
colour, which, in a state of nature, is always greyish-
brown, except in some of the Alpine species, and
their colours appear to be climatal and seasonal.
Another coloured mark, which distinguishes them in
a state of nature, is a spot over or around the eye.
In many this spot is white, in all it is lighter coloured
than the surrounding parts, and it is never wanting.
The tail is also invariably white on the under side,
and generally blackish on the upper, except in the
American rabbit, in which it is reddish. With the
exception of the sides of the neck, the upper part,
including the outsides of all the legs, is generally of
the same colour as the back ; the under part is
white in almost all the species, and the tips of the
ears are black ; the body, the upper part especially,
is covered with two sorts of hair, the one long and
silky, and rather strong in the staple, the other
shorter, more woolly, and much finer, and therefore
extensively used in the manufacture of hats, in which
it is frequently employed as a substitute for the fine
woolly hair of the beaver, to which, however, it is
greatly inferior, both in strength, and in retaining the
colour given to it by dyeing. The hair of the rabbits
is still greatly inferior to that of the typical hares in
this respect, but it is also used, though hats made of
rabbits' felt are of exceedingly little value.

The other remarkable character of the true hares
which we shall mention is their extreme productive-
ness. They are capable of breeding during the first
year ; the females go only thirty days with young ;
the broods are often numerous ; and the young are
born completely covered with fur, with their eyes
open, and are very soon in a condition for finding
their own food. IVJany of the species dig burrows in
the ground to a greater or less depth ; and those
who do not, are in the habit of selecting for them-
selves particular seats or " forms," upon which they
rest, not only during a portion of the night, but
during the greater part of the day. The morning and
the evening are their principal feeding-times ; and
while the sun is bright they are but rarely seen, though,
in gloomy days, and especially after a shower, they
do come abroad, though the young do this more
frequently than the old ones. On their forms they

HARE.

sit very close ; and as these are generally chosen
upon dry knolls, or other places where there is
withered vegetation, one may pass so near them as
almost to tread on them without their rising. This
is not only the case when there is no danger abroad,
for there have been instances in which those who were
following the greyhounds, in coursing, have picked
up a live hare within a yard or two of where the dogs
had passed not a minute before. The species are
\orv numerous, but we can find room for only a few
of the more remarkable.

THE COMMON HAKE (L. timidus). It is -scarcely
necessary to describe the appearance of an animal
so common and so well known ; but the following
may be regarded as a summary of the leading
characters : — The inside of the mouth is hairy ; the
tongue and nose are very thick ; the upper lip is
cleft to the nostrils, which seem to unite, and to form
a single opening ; the eyes, which are very promi-
nent, are furnished with a nictitating membrane ; the
feet are covered beneath, a* well as above, with fur ;
the heart is proportionally large, and the caecum
about six times as large as the stomach. Under the
Mosaic dispensation, when various animals were
described as clean or unclean, according to the
Levitical ritual, the hare is described as " chewing
the cud," that is, as being a ruminant animal. That
the hare is not a true ruminant, and furnished with
the compound stomachs of that class of animals, is
certain ; but still it says not a little for the truth of
the Bible's natural history, that the hare is still a
partial ruminant, and that, while she sits on her form,
she can occasionally bring up a portion of her food,
and give it a second mastication. It might not be worth
while to notice this fact, were it not that, on account
of it, some persons have taken an exception to this
part of the Bible. Hares, even of this species, are
common in most parts of the world, though they vary
considerably in size in different places. Generally
speaking, they are smaller in hot countries than in
cold ; and we might expect this, because the general
investiture of the whole body, feet and all, with fur,
naturally points out the hare as more an animal of
cold, or, at least, temperate countries, than of warm
ones. It has been observed, however, that, in places
not very different from each other, either in climate or
in situation, there are great differences of appearance
in the common hare. We shall afterwards have
occasion to advert to the Irish hare, which recent
observation has shown to differ greatly from the hare
of Britain, near as the islands are to each other ; but
we may mention, that a very small breed exists in
the island of Islay, on the west coast of Argyleshire,
and a very large one on the Isle of Man, where indi-
viduals have been taken that weighed twelve pounds.
In England examples occur of hares weighing from ten
to eleven pounds ; but from some of the rich districts
in the east of England hares of much greater weight are
frequently sent to the London markets, some weigh-
ing as much as fourteen and fifteen pounds. The
kind provisions of nature, for the preservation of this
race of animals, are equally numerous, and calculated
to command our admiration, and afford a striking
proof, among thousands which might be produced, of
that system of compensations, that balancing of
perfections and defects, that equalising of the quan-
tity of life and destruction, on which the continued
existence of the respective tribes of animals depends.
On the one hand, if the hare is exposed to the

attacks of beasts of prey, on the other it is abundantly
fruitful ; and, if often pursued, it is also furnished with
various sources of evasion and escape. Its ears arc
so contrived, as to convey even remote sound from
behind ; and the eyes, as already mentioned, of the
class generally, are so situated as to enable it, when
it rests on its seat, to observe without difficulty, and
even without much motion of the head, a whole circle -,
and, though it sees but imperfectly in a straight line
forwards, it can direct its vision Jo whatever threatens
it in the way of pursuit, and the eyes are never
entirely closed while the animal sleeps. From the
powerful muscularity of its limbs, it can sustain the
fleetness of its course for a considerable time, while
the greater length of the hinder legs gives it such a
decided advantage in ascending, that, when started,
it always makes to the rising ground.

Its habitual timidity, and perpetual apprehension
of danger, preserve it lean and in a condition the
best adapted to profit by that speed which forms its
security. In dry or frosty weather the thick hairy
covering to its feet also gives it an advantage over
the dog which pursues it. Its close approach in co-
lour to the soil, often conceals it from the sight of
man and predacious animals ; and, in northern coun-
tries, its fur frequently becomes white in winter, so as
scarcely to be distinguished from the surrounding
snow. As if conscious of its resemblance to the
earth on which it treads, it has frequently been known,
when closely pursued by the hounds, to squat imme-
diately behind a clod, and suffer the dogs to run over
it, which they no sooner do than it instantly starts off
in a contrary direction, and thus deceives them. As
it possesses the sense of smell in a pre-eminent de-
gree, it is often aware of the presence of an enemy
before it can ascertain its danger by sight. The
doublings of its course are familiar to every sports-
man ; and though its sagacity seerns to be in some
respects at fault, especially in exhausting its strength
in the early part of the chase, and in returning to its
resting-place by the same paths, it has been frequently
observed to have recourse to stratagems, which in
the human being would bespeak not only presence of
mind, but a prompt and practical application of the
reasoning principle. If undisturbed, the multiplica-
tion of hares would prove greater than that of most
quadrupeds ; for at all seasons they are capable of
breeding, and from the first year of their existence,
while the term of gestation does not exceed thirty-
one days. The hunters allege that when the pro-
duce consists of more than one, each leveret is marked
with a star-like appearance on the forehead, which
usually disappears with the first shedding of the
coat, but sometimes continues to a more advanced
period. Sir Thpmas Brown, in his " Treatise on
Vulgar Errors," asserts, from his own observation,
that female hares frequently have in their ovaries, at
the same time, young ones of different ages, and that
after those which are mature are brought forth, those
will remain, which are very far from the term of their
exclusion. This phenomenon of superfoctation in
the hare is confirmed by Buffon, who has explained
it upon anatomical principles. However, the ob-
servation is at least as old as Herodotus. The breed-
ing-place is usually under a tuft of grass, or high
brake, a bush of heath, brush-wood, or standing
corn. The young are suckled by the dam for about
two weeks, after which they separate, and procure
their own food, making their'fonns at sixty or seventy

704

H A R E.

paces from each other ; so that when we meet with
one young hare we may be pretty certain of finding
more within a very short distance. The hare arrives
at maturity in one year, and is supposed to live eight
or nine ; but it is presumed that a small number,
comparatively, are allowed to die of old age, for
dogs of all kinds pursue them by instinct ; the cat
and the weasel tribes are constantly lying in ambush,
and practising their wary arts to seize them ; while
birds of prey are still more formidable enemies, as
against them no swiftness can avail, nor retreat afford
security ; and lastly, man, more powerful than all, sacri-
fices ereat numbers, for his pastime or his subsistence.

The hare is rarely found in very hilly or mountain-
ous situations ; neither is it often found in places
much exposed to the wind, especially when it blows
from the north or south ; its favourite residence being
in rich and somewhat dry and flat grounds. The
hare-finders and shepherds remark, that the hares on
the downs have a variety of seats, which they shift
from time to time, as the weather directs, generally
ascending to the more elevated grounds when rain
prevails. Their food consists of various vegetables,
but they seem to prefer those of a milky succulent
quality, and to be very partial to pinks, carnations,
parsley, birch, and laburnum. They will prey on the
bark of almost every tree during winter, and they
are often very injurious to young plantations. Their
cry, which has been compared to that of an infant,
is seldom heard, except in cases of distress or sur-
prise. They are taken in some countries by a call
imitative of that between the male and female.

The hare is naturally of a gentle disposition,
although not very susceptible of strong attachment,
and when taken young may be tamed with very little
difficulty. Shy and timid as it undoubtedly is in its
native haunts, yet, when domesticated, it often as-
sumes a forward and even a petulant demeanour.
In respect of disposition, however, a very marked di-
versity probably obtains among different individuals,
as has been finely exemplified by Cowper the poet,
in his account of three which he watched himself.

As an article of food the flesh of the hare has been
in high esteem from very remote antiquity; awd riot-
withstanding the additions which modern luxury has
made to the furnishings of the table, it still maintains
its character. In the opinion of Martial the epi-
grammatic poet, the flesh of the hare was superior to
that, of every other four-footed animal ; and Horace
represents the hare's " wing" as being among the
most highly prized of Roman luxuries. In those
countries of middle and southern Europe which are
but thinly peopled and partially cultivated, as com-
pared with the British islands, the number of hares
which are taken in the course of the year is immense ;
and the skins of them form an extensive branch of
commerce, being exported for the hat manufacturer,
and also used locally as very warm articles of clothing.
It is understood that the small kingdom of Bohemia
alone furnishes nearly half a million of skins in the
course of the year, and that Austria Proper furnishes
nearly double that number ; while the supply from
southern Russia and western Siberia is understood to
be still greater.

Though the hare is considered as one of the most
harmless and timid of all animals, excepting in so far
as it commits depredations upon the vegetable king-
dom, it has not escaped being made an object of super-
stitious dread ; neither is it quite exempted from those

foolish, and perhaps instinctive, prejudices which cer-
tain individuals of the human race have against cer-
tain animals which cannot in the nature of things do
them any harm. It is reported of a celebrated French
commander, who was an exceedingly brave man, that
he always fainted at the sight of a hare. In our own
country, when the belief in witchcraft was general, the
hare was regarded as one of the most formidable ani-
mals,— the one, in short, into which old women most
frequently transformed themselves, by the instrumen-
tality of the devil, in order to wreak their vengeance
on the rest of mankind. Nor has this prejudice been
entirely exploded, for there are still many of the fish-
ing villages where a hare's foot cannot be mentioned
without exciting the greatest terror, — where a hare
thrown into a boat would prevent that boat from going
to sea ; and where, if such a catastrophe were to
happen as a hare to run along the beach in front of all
the fishermen's huts, it would shut them up as effec-
tually during the day as if each were guarded by a
regiment of soldiers.

THE ALPINE HARE (L. variabilis). This is the
only species of hare which is found in the British
islands besides the common hare mentioned in the
former part of this article. The present one is far
from common in our islands, though by no means rare
in some other parts of the world. It is found, how-
ever; but we believe only on the Scottish mountains,
the wildest and most remote of these, and never lower
down than two thousand or fifteen hundred feet above
the level of the sea. It is not so long in the legs as
the common hare, probably because the places which
it inhabits contains fewer enemies which can pursue
it on the ground. It inhabits higher up than the
locality of every predatory quadruped ; and running
would be but a vain defence against the rush of the
mountain eagle, which is the chief if not the only ani-
mal which this hare has to dread in the fastnesses of
its mountains. The difference of length in the legs
is about an inch in the fore ones, and nearly tv\o
inches in the hind ; so that it is an animal of more
uniform course, and less disposed to leaping, than the
common hare. In the body its dimensions are nearly
the same ; and from the specimens which we have
examined in their native localities, we are disposed to
consider it as being altogether thicker and weightier
than the common hares of the lowlands in the same
parts of the country. One of the most remarkable
peculiarities of this animal, and one in which it agrees
with the ermine among mammalia, and the ptarmigan
among birds, is the seasonal change of its colour, ex-
cepting one part, which remains constant during the
whole year, and is its permanent characteristic colour
as a hare ; this is, the tips of the ears are black at all
seasons. In summer the colour on the upper part is
dusky, more or less inclining to fawn colour, and some-
times dappled, at least in the intermediate seasons.
In winter it is altogether white, with the exception of
the tips of the ears as aforesaid. The following
account of the changes of its fur is from the
second volume of the Edinburgh Philosophical Jour-
nal, and we believe it is correct : — " The varying hare
becomes white in winter. This remarkable change
takes place in the following manner : About the
middle of September the grey feet begin to be white,
and before the month ends all the four feet are white,
and the ears and muzzle are of a brighter colour.
The white colour gradually ascends the legs and
thighs, and we observe under the grey hair whitish

HARE.

705

spots, which continue to increase till the end of Octo-
ber ; but still the back continues of a grey colour,
while the eye-brows and ears are nearly white. From
this period the change of colour advances very rapidly,
and by the middle of November the whole fur, with
the exception of the tips of the ears, which remain
black, is of a shining white. The back becomes white
within eight days. During the whole of this remark-
able change in the fur no hair falls from the animal ;
hence it appears that the hair actually changes its
colour, and that there is no renewal of it. The fur
retains its white colour until the month of March, or
even later, depending on the temperature of the atmo-
sphere, and by the middle of May it has again a grey
colour. But the spring change is different from the
winter, as the hair is completely shed." This species,
even during the most intense cold which occurs in
those elevated and northern regions of which it is a
native., keeps up the character of the race in the ra-
pidity of its circulation and the high degree of its
temperature. Even there it is as warm as one hun-
dred and five degrees of the common thermometer,
which is nearly ten degrees higher than in the human
body. True to this activity of its system, the Alpine
hare never shows the least disposition to hybernate,
or pass into a state of torpidity, even in the severest
winters ; and for great part of the year at least (its
haunts have comparatively few visiters in the winter)
it evinces nearly the same fertility and disposition to
breed as those of its congeners which inhabit the
most fertile places. It is altogether a very interest-
ing animal, on account of the peculiarity of its haunts
and the determination, or rather the adaptation, with
which it braves the utmost severity and duration of
the winter storms. In the winter months, even when
the storms are most severe and the snow lies longest
upon the ground, those hares do not descend to the
low grounds, but reside in burrows under the snow.
Those burrows are usually made near the root of
some tuft or upland bush, by means of which a sort
of chimney is kept open for the breathing of the ani-
mal, and it feeds upon the substance of the tuft.
As it preserves its high temperature during the rigour
of the weather, it also of course keeps up its rapid
circulation, and requires a corresponding quantity of
breathing and of food. All those circumstances go
together in every animal ; for in those species which
sink into a dormant state during the winter, the
temperature sinks at least nearly to the freezing-
point in some of the species, though we are not aware
of any warm-blooded animal that recovers if its internal
temperature has been for some time below freezing.
Under the snow, and with their thick and white fur,
these animals have no uncomfortable place of residence.
Snow, till it melts, is a bad conductor of heat ;
and therefore the shelter of unmelted snow is really
warmer than that of a hole in the earth. The white
fur of the animal prevents the escape of heat from its
body to the snow around it, and the warm air which
it gives out in breathing speedily mounts up in the
colder atmosphere, producing comparatively little
effect on the breathing chimney. In a sunny day,
when the air is still and clear over the snow, the re-
treats of these animals can be discovered by the little
column of steam which ascends from the breathing-
chimney, and which forms a sort of miniature picture
of the smoke from the snow-house of an Esquimaux.
There are some characters which we omitted to men-
tion, in which the Alpine hare differs from the com-
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

mon one. Among others, the ears are shorter in
proportion ; and the silky, or long fur, is of rather
finer staple. The fur altogether is, however, the fur
of a hare, and not of a rabbit.

THE IRISH HARE (L. Hibernicus). This animal
has not, we believe, got a name of its own in general
circulation, neither was it suspected to differ from the
common hare until of late years, when the two were
examined in juxtaposition with each other. So far
as we are aware, this species is confined to Ireland,
at least no mention of it has been made by any of
the continental naturalists. The colours are very
nearly those of the common hare ; but it is smaller
in size, shorter on the legs, has the ears shorter,
and the head shorter and more rounded. Its fur
too is tender and of little value, being much more
like the fur of a rabbit than that of the hares of Bri-
tain. Indeed, though it is called the hare in Ireland,
it appears to have altogether a good deal more of the
rabbit character.

THE RABBIT (//. cuniculus). The rabbit, in a
state of nature, is considerably less than the hare ;
the ears are shorter than the head ; the tail is not so
long as the thigh ; and the whole action and motion
of the animal less vigorous and fleet than those of
the hare. The general colour in a state of nature is
yellowish grey, with reddish on the neck and brown
on the tail, with the throat and belly whitish. The
ears are grey, and without any black on the tips.
The rabbit is a native of warmer climates than the
hare ; and it is altogether an animal of different ha-
bits. The hare inhabits only where there is cover,
at least to some extent, while the rabbit is met with
in the open and sandy wastes. The hares never
burrow in the ground, but the rabbits always do ;
and they live in solitude, while the rabbits are gene-
rally gregarious. Rabbits have been known from
the earliest periods of history, and the first or ear-
liest accounts which we have of them represent them
as inhabiting the warm and sandy places of southern
climates, especially those near the shores of the sea.
We are informed by Pliny that Spain and Greece
were those countries of Europe in which rabbits were
first found ; and it is related both by him and Varro
that an entire town in Spain was overturned by the
increflible number of rabbits which lodged under its
foundations ; and Strabo tells us that the people of
the Balearic islands, apprehensive that their country
would be rendered desolate by the vast multiplication
of these creatures, sent deputies to Rome, to implore
military aid against this novel description of ene-
mies. The Spaniards, in subsequent periods, thinned
their numbers by means of ferrets, which they had
imported from Africa. It is asserted by Spallanzani,
that when the crops were wasted in Baziluzzo, one
of the Lipari islands, by an extraordinary increase of
rabbits, the inhabitants had recourse to large importa-
tions of cats, which in a very short period of time
entirely destroyed them. It is supposed that the
species was originally confined to Africa, and was
afterwards diffused over the warmer and milder
parts of Europe and Asia. It has found in its intro-
duction to America a climate more congenial to its
constitution, and in consequence has very rapidly
multiplied, especially in the more southerly coun-
tries of that continent. It does not thrive in Sweden
in the open air, but requires the warmth of confine-
ment. When only five or six months old, rabbits are
capable of breeding ; their terra of gestation is Ihirtv
Y Y

706

II ARE.

or thirty-one days, and a vigorous female w ill produce < which they are very subject to. A free circulation

about eight young rabbits seven times in the course of
a year ; so that in the course of four years her progeny
in theory would amount to one million, two hundred
and seventy-four thousand, eight hundred and forty
individuals. But we cannot average, in the first in-
stance, the amount of fertility at the maximum ; and,
secondly, as we observed in the history of the hare,
the race is obnoxious to the attacks of men, and of
various predaceous animals. If the dam does not
find a hole suited to her purpose previously to her
bringing forth, she digs one, not in a straight line,
but in a zig-zag direction, enlarging the bottom of it
every way, and pulling from her own body a quantity
of hair, with which she makes a warm and comfort-
able bed for her young. The female during the two
first days seldom if ever quits her young unless when
pressed by hunger, at which time she eats with sur-
prising quickness and returns immediately. When
she ventures abroad she covers up the hole very care-
fully, scarcely leaving any perceptible mark of it,
and conceals her charge from the male lest he should
devour them. She continues these attentions for
about a mouth, when the young are able to provide
for themselves. She seeks to avoid all damp places,
and prefers a light sandy dry soil to any other. The
ordinary term of a rabbit's existence is from seven to
ten years. On a dead level it finds it difficult to
make its burrow, as, in such a situation, the mould
must be thrown upward to the surface ; whereas, on
the side of an eminence, the declivity affords a ready
fall for the earth. As the rabbits on the island of
Sor, near Senegal, do not burrow, we are tempted to
suspect that the digging of holes for themselves in
colder climates is an acquired art, prompted by cir-
cumstances. This conjecture will appear still more
probable when we reflect that domestic rabbits never
give themselves the trouble of digging, and that when
a warren is attempted to be stocked with a domestic
breed, they and their offspring remain on the surface,
and never begin to make holes for their protection
until they have endured many hardships and passed
through many generations.

It has been observed by Dr. Darwin, that as rab-
bits cannot articulate sounds, and are formed into so-
cieties living under ground, their method of giving an
alarm is very peculiar ; for, when any danger threat-
ens, they thump on the earth with one of their hinder
feet, and produce a sound which can be heard by
animals near the surface at a considerable distance.
The females are the most vigilant sentinels, and re-
main without till all their companions have entered
their holes. These animals are very sensible to any
approaching changes of the weather, though habitually
concealed under a thick covering of earth, and will
seldom go abroad in the day-time unless it be settled
and calm ; while their presentiment of a storm in the
night-time impels them to rush out and quickly de-
vour their stated fare, that they may be safely housed
again before they are overtaken by the blast. It is
customary, in stocking a warren, to make artificial
burrows, of the diameter of the animal's body, with

of air, and cleanliness, are the best preventives of a
pining sickness, accompanied with an infectious itch,
to which the young are otherwise liable. A dry regi-
men will, in general, remove the pustules which some-
times cover their liver ; and fresh air and Jitter are
recommended for a disease in the eyes, which is apt
to carry off the females after having suckled their
young. As already mentioned, the fur of rabbits is
used in the manufacture of hats, for which purpose
the grey is usually taken. The lighter-coloured is
dressed as fur, and dyed of various colours, in imita-
tion of more valuable skins ; the wool also is some-
times spun for the purpose of being made into gloves
and stockings ; but for whatever purpose it is used, it
is tender, and therefore very unprofitable to the
wearer. The pelt, or skin after the fur has been re-
moved, is of a little more use. It is of small service
as leather ; but it can be made into colourless glue of
very good quality.

There are many varieties, that is varieties in size
and colour, of hares, of which specimens have been
brought from different parts of the world ; but it does
not appear that there is any great difference in man-
ners, except in so far as these are dependent upon
difference of climate and food. We shall therefore
give only a brief notice of a few of the more remark-
able ones ; and, as generally applicable to them, we
may mention that in the warm countries the species
which keep more to the hills are more analogous to
our hares ; and those which keep more to the low
and fertile districts are more analogous to our rabbits.
BLACK-TAILED HARE (L. nigricaudatus). This
species is American, and found in the extensive plains
which lie to the northward of Mexico, and between
that country arid what may be regarded as polar
America. The length of the head and body is about
twenty-three inches, the head to the ears four inches,
and the ears five. " The softness and general appear-
ance of the fur resemble those of a rabbit rather than
of a hare. The colouring of the under surface is
separated from that of the upper by a distinct line
about the middle of the side, which slopes upwards
over the haunches to the middle line of the back.
Behind this point, the white passing backwards along
the middle line becomes more and more blended with
black, until the colour of the upper surface of the tail
is entirely black. The ears, which are longer than
the head, are closely covered with short depressed
hairs These are in front mixed with black and yel-
low, giving a grizzled appearance ; on the hinder part
they are entirely ochraceous for about two-thirds of
the length of the ear, the terminal third as well as the
tip and the hinder fringe being white, and furnished
with much longer hairs. The long hairs fringing the
anterior edge are ochraceous, excepting for a short
distance immediately below the tip, along which space
they are black." The specimen on which the aiJove
remarks were made by Mr. Bennett, before the com-
mittee of the Zoological Society, was obtained from
California, a country of the zoology of which we knew
little till lately. The mountainous parts of this coun-

augers, for defending the rabbits against cold and i try are in general covered with forests, and some of

vermin, till they make holes for themselves. The the trees are of immense size ; but still between the

too great succulence of their diet should be corrected coast forests and the ridge of the stony mountains,

by a due mixture of hard and dry food, such as hay, there are plains of vast extent, on which there are no

barley, clover, oats, &c., to prevent scouring, which large trees, though plenty of bushes and herbaceous

frequently proves fatal to them : the same precaution vegetation. In such places we may naturally expect

will likewise save them from dropsy, a complaint a great number of rodent animals ; and as the rodentia

HARE.

707

of the open fields in North America, and indeed of
all the northern hemisphere, are chiefly of the genus
Lepus, we may be prepared to expect several new
species or varieties from this part of' America.

THE To LAI HARE, or SIBERIAN RABBIT (L. Tolai).
This species is very abundant in the dry plains of
Siberia, and in those of central Asia, as far to the
southward as the northern slopes of the Himalaya
mountains ; but in the more southerly latitudes it
keeps to the cold and elevated districts. In some
particulars of its character it resembles the variable
hares of this country, which with climatal differences
extend more or less into the northern parts of both
continents, and also along the mountain tops farther
to the south. But although this species resembles the
Alpine, Arctic, or variable hares, in a good many
points, it has also no inconsiderable resemblance to
the rabbits, and this in the texture of its fur, the form
of its body, and its manners. When the Alpine hare
is found in such situations as that chase can be given
to it, it practices the same doublings and other ma-
noeuvres which are practised by common hares. The
species under consideration, on the contrary, seeks
for some retreat in holes of the earth or crannies of
the rock, where its pursuer cannot reach it. Its size
is about the same as that of the Alpine hare, and the
general proportions of its members are not very dif-
ferent, but its head is straigliter, longer, and more
compressed. The upper part is mottled with grey
and pale brown ; the under part of the body is white,
and that of the neck yellowish; the legs are yellowish,
the tail black above and white on the under side ;
and the tips of the ears are black. It does not change
its colour with the seasons, as is the case with the
Alpine hare, but its general tint is paler in winter
than in summer.

THE BLACK-NECKED HARE (L. nlgricollis'). This
species is verv common in the stony and bushy hills
of central India ; and the Mahrattas call it Sussuh, as
is supposed from the whisking manner in which it
escapes from their sight. The upper part of the body
5s mottled reddish, the flanks, the thighs, the shoul-
ders, and the rump, mottled with greyish ; the tail
brownish grey above and white below. The outside
of the fore legs, the throat, and breast, are reddish ;
the top of the head mottled reddish ; the sides of the
head grey ; and the chin and under part of the body
white. The ears are white at the bases, reddish in
the middle, and blackish brown at the tips. On the
nape and upper part of the neck there is a large patch
of blackish brown, which extends some way down
the back, and also round the sides of the neck, so as
to form almost a complete collar. It is about the size
of a larjje rabbit ; and, besides being abundant in
India, it is plentiful in the eastern islands.

There are numerous other species or varieties found
in southern Asia ; but they differ from each other
chiefly in colour, and the manners of some of them
are imperfectly known.

THE EGYPTIAN HARE (L. Egi/pticim} is about the
size of a rabbit, but it has the curs longer in proportion
than even the common hare. It. is entirely of a (awn
colour on the upper part, with very few mottlings ;
and this colour extends to the breast. The under part
is white ; the tail black on the upper part ; the ears
reddish brown with black tips. The eye spot bright
fawn colour.

In Southern Africa there are several species, which
are, generally speaking, redder in the colour than the

hares of most other parts of the world. The Cape hare
is as large as the European one, and has the legs and
the ears much longer ; it is reddish grey on the upper
part and white on the under, with the tips of the ears
and the upper part of the tail black. The rock hare
of Southern Africa is smaller, and resembles this one
in shape ; but its colours are much brighter, and in
this respect it is usually accounted one of the gayest
of the whole family. The sand hare is another spe-
cies of Southern Africa, but, as its name imports, it
inhabits places of a different character from those
just mentioned : it has the habits of a rabbit, and is
less in size than the rabbits of Europe, but its colours
more resemble those of the Cape hares.

THE BRAZILIAN HARE (L. Brazilicnsis) is perhaps
the smallest of all the true hares ; and it is remarka-
ble for the shortness of its fur, and still more so for
that of its tail. In consequence of the almost total
obliteration of the last appendage, it has sometimes
been called Lepus ccaudata, or the tailless hare.
Some describers of animals have confounded this with
the guinea pig, which is found in the same parts of
the world, but. the two are perfectly distinct, and this
one has the proper form of the hares and rabbits,
although, in respect of size, it is a mere miniature.
The length from the nose to the tail is about a foot
and a half; and the tail, which is round and without
produced hair, is about five-sixths of an inch more.
The fur on the upper part is blackish brown and fawn,
with reddish brown on the top of the head. The
cheeks are of a greyish colour, with a light band
passing over the eyes ; and all the under parts are
white. There are some coloured varieties ; but the
history of the species altogether is not very well
made out.

These animals take after the hare rather than the
rabbit in their manners. They live in the woods, and
are not known in any instance to form burrows in the
ground, though thev sometimes take shelter in the
hollows of trees. Their general habit, however, is to
sit on tracks in the open places in the same manner
as hares.

THE RAT HARES (Lagomys), of which a separate
sub-genus is made, do not differ much from the sub-
genus Lepus in those particulars of structure upon
which the characters of genera and sub-genera are
usually founded. Their teeth are the same, and so
are their feet, in their general structure ; but all the
feet are more nearly of the same length, much less
fitted for leaping, and the animals are much smaller
in size. All the known ones are inhabitants of Siberia,
where the}' spend the whole year without any climatal
migration worthy of notice. As one means of enabling
creatures so feeble, and having their average tempe-
rature so high, to exist, these animals have a great
disposition to collect magazines of provisions against
the time when the surface of a country in which the
weather is so severe as it is in Siberia affords them
little or nothing. Their principal characters are : the
ears proportionally smaller than in the hares ; the
sub-orbibd fossae simple ; the clavicle almost perfect,
so that they have a cross motion of the fore feet, and
can bring them to the mouth something in the same
way as squirrels ; the furrow in their large incisive
teeth of the upper jaw is very distinct, and gives each
tooth the appearance of being two; their cheek teeth
are only five on each side ; their legs aro much
shorter in proportion than those of the hares and rab-
bits ; and they are altogether a much less important
YY2

708

HARE.

race of animal*. Tliere are at least three species.
The common name of all the species in the countries
which they inhabit is Pika,

ALPINE PIKA (L. Alpinus). This species has been
called the Alpine hare by Pennant and others, so that
care must be taken not to confound it with the Alpine
hare properly so called. Its general colour is reddish
yellow interspersed with much longer hairs of a black
colour. The part round the mouth is ash colour, and
the under parts of the legs and the ears brown, the
latter being rounded in their outlines. The length is
only about nine inches and a half.

This species is very abundant in Siberia, where it
is well known to the hunters, though Pallas was the
first who introduced it properly to the notice of zoo-
logists. It is found on the slopes of the steepest
mountains, and even on the most inaccessible rocks ;
but in all situations they prefer the humid copses, in
which, in rocky and mountainous places especially,
they find abundance of herbage during the whole of
the summer season. They are, strictly speaking,
ground animals, and live indiscriminately in burrows
excavated by themselves, in holes of the rocks, and
in the hollows of decayed trees. They are not gre-
garious, but are found singly, or in pairs, or in families,
according to the season. About the middle of August
they begin to collect with great diligence and industry
their store of provisions for the winter. This consists
'indiscriminately of the seeds of plants, of leaves, and
of grasses, and" they make their magazines in the
earth, in the holes of rocks, or in the hollows of trees.
These stores are not collected by each animal for
itself ; for, according to the number that may be in
any particular locality, they unite in the labour of
collecting the winter store ; and it is understood that
so true does the collecting instinct remain while the
store lasts, that none of those who bore a part in the
labour of collecting are ever excluded from their share
of the magazine, neither can any stranger invade it,
how severely soever necessity may pinch them. These
magazines are often of very considerable magnitude,
considering the small size of the animals. They fre-
quently bear a considerable resemblance to a hayrick,
seven or eight feet, high, and about the same in dia-
meter ; and when they are of this size, the animals
form a subterranean passage from their own dwellings
to the store, by which they can find their way when
the whole is buried under the snow. These animals
do not, as we have hinted, commit any depredations
upon the stores of each other, but they often do not
come off so well at the hands of the Siberian hunters,
who, when provender for their horses fails, often
plunder these industrious little creatures.

Pallas examined, with that attention which he was
in the habit of paying to all subjects connected with
the economy of nature, the stores collected against
the season of want by these provident animals. He
found that they displayed wonderful animal sagacity,
both in the plants which they selected and in the
lime at which they cut them down. There were no
thorny plants or ligneous stems ; and the whole
appeared to have been cut down at that stage of
their growth at which our grasses arc understood to
make the best hay. If grasses or other plants which
are intended for this purpose are cut down too
early, they are full of sap, which is not only taste-
less, but which ferments and rots the whole when
gathered into a heap. On the other hand, if the
stems of annual plants stand till the grand labour of

the year is over by the ripening of the seeds, the
stems which are left are sapless and afford but little
nourishment. The pikas avoid both these extremes,
and cut down their winter store when the juice of
the stem has acquired its greatest maturity and sweet-
ness. They avoid plants which are in flower ; and
indeed there are very few warm-blooded animals
that will feed upon any plant in the time of its flower-
ing. Pallas adds that, though they are comparatively
few, those animals do mix with their more substantial
food a few acid plants, or plants which have a pun-
gent flavour of some kind or other, as if it were to
give a zest or relish to the rest.

These harmless little animals are not only exposed
to the peril of famine by having their stores plun-
dered by the hunters, but they have other enemies
besides the human race. The weasel tribe, which
are very numerous in that part of the world, seek the
abodes of the pikas with much assiduity, and kill them
in great numbers ; and, as is the case with many of
. the warm-blooded animals in those northern coun-
tries, they are much infested and tormented with the
larvae of insects. Still the destroyers, whether mam-
malia or insect, appear to be as necessary for the
preservation of the animals under consideration as
we find most predatory animals are for the preserva-
tion of their prey. The powers of life are in all the
living productions of nature vigorous beyond the
average of the means by which they can be supported.
This, it should seem, is necessary for the full play of
the system, and the surplus of one race is the means
by which some other race is supported ; and the
wheel goes round till we find the most powerful of
the predatory animals becoming, in their turn, the
prey of the larvae of insects apparently the most
feeble.

THE GREY PIKA (L. ogotonna), is a native of the
same countries. It is of a pale greyish colour on the
upper part of the body, wiih the legs yellowish and
the under part white. It is very common in those
parts of Siberia which are situated near the lake ol
Baikal. It is an animal of the desert, or, at all events,
of stony places, and does not come near those which
man inhabits. Fond of sandy situations. The bur-
rows are dry, shaped after the fashion of those of
rabbits, but always with two entrances, and with
these near heaps of stones ; and in the bottom of
these burrows they form for themselves comfortable
couches of leaves and other vegetable matters. The^
are, to a rery considerable extent, nocturnal animals,
and not only so, but in their nightly excursions they
seek the most lonely places. The mountain gulleys,
and the narrow strips of land by the banks of river.*,
where they are least likely to meet with enemies, are
their chosen places ; and secure in these, they nibble
the fresh bark and buds of the shrubs. In sum-
mer they live upon the scanty vegetation which the
arid wastes of Siberia produce. As rs the case with
the former species, they collect stores against the
winter ; and the people of Siberia look upon them
as a kind of " weather-wisers," always concluding
that the storm is at hand when those little animals
collect their stores with more than ordinary diligence.
They do not collect their stores into one great maga-
zine, as is the case with the former species, but into
a number of heaps of a hemispherical shape, and
about a foot in diameter each, which may be seen
near their burrows from about the month of Septem-
ber through the winter • but as the spring approaches

HARE- BELLS— HARP A.

700

they disappear, and by the time that the snow is off
the ground they are nearly gone.

Tiiey are very quick and active in their motions ;
but they are so timid that they are not easily tamed,
and in a state of nature they are so small and feeble
that they are exposed to many enemies. During the
day they are the victims of birds of prey ; and in the
night, the time when in general they are most abroad,
they are captured by lynxes, by martens, and by
various others of the weasel tribe,

THE CALLING PIKA (L. pusillus). This is also a
Siberian animal, and it is the smallest of the whole
tribe, being only between six and seven inches in
length, and weighing between three and four ounces.
Its fur is very soft, close, and long, — brindled with
brown and grey on the upper part, with the extremi-
ties of the feet dull yellow, the under part of the body
dirty white, and the breast and lips the same colour
but purer. The ears are triangular, and margined and
pointed with white. The head is rather larger in
proportion than in the other two species, but the
animal altogether is very handsome, and its very mi-
nute size renders it an object of interest with the
curious.

Like the others, it is a social animal, and burrows
in the ground. Their burrows are in general deeper
than those of the others ; and they are usually formed
under bushes or tangled vegetation of some sort or
other. During the day they are generally concealed
in these subterranean retreats ; but they come abroad
during the night, at which time they are understood
to see as well as during the day. In the morning
and the evening they call to each other with a cry
which has been compared to that of the quail, and
which, notwithstanding the small size of the animal,
may be heard at the distance of more than a mile.
It is on this account that the epithet " calling" has
been added to their names. The uttering of this cry
seems to be a matter of considerable exertion to
them ; for it is attended with a motion of the neck
and head very similar to those of the dog when he
barks. When the weather is fine they are in general
silent during the day, but when it lowers, or is tem-
pestuous, they become noisy, and are, like many
oilier animals, a sort of natural indicators of the
weather. In the long winters of the country which
they inhabit, they form galleries under the snow, by
which they reach those shrubs on the bark of which
they feed without at all appearing on the surface.
In summer they eat grass and succulent leaves ; but
they are often reduced to great extremities in the
height of summer, when the moisture is dried up and
the plants withered from the ground. In such cases
they are sometimes reduced to feed on the droppings
of the larger herbaceous mammalia ; and they are
equally pinched for water, of which they drink freely
when it is to be had.

These are very cleanly as well as very delicate
little animals, and keep their burrows very neat.
They are prolific, the females producing about six
on the average. The time of gestation has not been
ascertained ; but, from the analogy of the whole race,
it is presumed to be very short. The young are
produced with the eyes closed and without any fur
on their bodies ; but the fur begins to appear about
the eighth day, and the growth is very rapid. In
their dispositions, these little creatures are the gen-
tlest of all imaginable animals, and though, when in
a state of nature, they are very timid, they are very

susceptible to kind usage, and even become very
tame.

When awake, the sitting position is nearly spheri-
cal, and the animal about fills the hollow of the hand ;
autin sleeping, the body is more stretched out. Like
bares, they are leaping animals, but the shortness of
the hind legs renders the leap rather slow and awk-
ward ; and they are by no means swift animals upon
the ground. From the perfect formation of their
clavicles, they have a very free cross motion of the
fore legs, and can readily bring them to all parts of
their heads. They are, indeed, much in the habit of
applying the feet to all parts of their fur, which, from
its softness and the high temperature of these little
animals, offers a very favourite nucleus for insects.
One would be very apt to suspect that so small
animals would be but ill prepared to bear the rigours
of a Siberian winter ; the reverse is however the case.
They not only remain in a state of activity during
the utmost severity of the inclement season, but
maintain when the air is far below freezing a heat of
at least 104 or 105 degrees of the common ther-
mometer. Altogether, these miniature hares are very
interesting animals ; and they are not the less so,
that they are peculiar to a region of the world which
is peculiar both in its character and its productions.

HARE-BELLS. Is the Scilla non scripta of
Linnaeus, and one of the most beautiful and common
British bulbous plants, growing plentifully in woods.
There are two or three varieties of it in gardens.

HARP A (Lamarck ; Buccinum harpa, Linnaeus).
The whole of these beautiful shells were blended in
the genus Buccinum, by Linnasus, under the name of
B. Harpa. He appears to have considered them all
of one species, but as a more intimate knowledge of
malacology enables us to point out distinctive cha-
racters hitherto unknown or overlooked, the pro-
priety of constituting a distinct genus of these mol-
luscs becomes apparent, and they well deserve being
thus honoured ; indeed it is difficult to reconcile to
common sense from what cause the great naturalist
jumbled together in his genus Buccinum, shells so
totally different, even in their form, which was his
principal, if not only rule, without we imagine the
notch at the base of the aperture to have been his
guide in this instance. One general character emi-
nently distinguishes these molluscs, that of having
longitudinal parallel ribs, which are compressed,
sinuous, and sharp ; the upper extremity of each
armed with one or more projecting detached points,
giving the spire a coronated appearance ; the form
of the shell is oval, more or less inflated ; the aper-
ture, with a notch at the lower end of the canal ; the
columella is smooth, flat, and pointed at the base, the
last whorl larger than all the others united, the right,
side deeply excavated. It is doubtful if this mollusc
possesses an operculum or not. Lamarck distin-
g'uishes eight species of this genus, all of which ap-
pear to inhabit the Indian Ocean. One species from
the Mauritius has long been distinguished by collec-
tors, in consequence of its relative rarity and very
graceful configuration ; it is called the Harpa impe-
rialis, and known by the trivial name of the many-
ribbed, or many-ridged harp — a name so appropriate
that Sowerby adopted it in preference to //. imperialis;
but excellent as //. multicostata is, it unfortunately
interferes with the established usages of olden time,
which have consecrated folly in more than one
instance, and we are obliged to bow to custom iu

710

H A 11 P A L I D JE — II A W K.

defiance of good sense. This species of harpa is one of
the many illustrative proofs of the value attached to
every thing of great rarity, and its subsequent de-
preciation when more abundantly procured ; it is
within the writer's recollection that fine examples of
this shell have been eagerly coveted by amateurs,
at prices varying from five guineas to twenty guineas,
such as may now be had equally select at three
guineas, and such as will, doubtless, be obtainable, at
no very distant period, for one-third that sum, or less.
This shell .is easily recognised from the other harps
by the short interval between its periodical additions
of growth, which constitute its designation, by form-
ing a greater number of ribs or ridges (the labial ter-
minations of the shell), which seem to indicate a more
rapid development of the animal's organic structure
than others of the same genus exhibit; this may pos-
sibly be accounted for by the local advantages of food
or climate, since similar occurrences are observable
in other genera of molluscs. Another characteristic
distinction exists, that of a small spiral keel running
round the summit of this species, which is never the
case with others of the genus. The animal of this
genus so much resembles that of the Buccinum, that
its difference is only interesting to the anatomist ; and
we, therefore, will not here describe it. More than
one fossil species of harp is described, but they are
not abundant. De Blainville places this genus in the
second class, Paraccpltalophora, first order, Siphono-
bronchiata, second family, Entomostomata, succeeding
the true Buccinum, and preceding the Dolium and
others of the same family.

HARPALID^E, or rather HARPAI.IDES. fSee the
article CARABID^.) One of the chief divisions into
which the great Linnaean genus of coleopterous
insects, Carabus, has been divided by modern authors,
distinguished by having the anterior tibiae notched
near the inner extremity, the elytra rounded at the
extremity, the antenna? not elbowed, and the anterior
tarsi dilated in the males. This is by far the most
extensive group of carabideous (or predaceous land)
insects; the species are of an intermediate size,
between the larger Carabi and the smaller Brachlnides,
They are found upon the ground under stones, de-
caying leaves, and such like situations ; they run with
great agility, and many of the species fly well, espe-
cially in the hot sunshine. Many of these insects,
whose habitations are in obscure situations, are
dark coloured, the majority being of a shining black
with pitchy or reddish limbs; hence some of the
larger species have obtained in some parts of the
country the name of black-clocks, and in others imps.
Other species, however, which are to be observed con-
stantly running about footpaths, and even upon the
pavements in the heart of our metropolis in hot sun-
shiny weather, are, as might be expected from such
a circumstance, more gaily ornamented, their colours
being highly metallic and polished. In their habits
they are essentially predaceous, feeding for the most
part upon other softer insects, although it appears to
be now clearly established (which was not the case
when Mr. Stephens published his account of the
group in question), that many of the species, chiefly
belonging to the genera Zabrus, Amara, Curtonotus,
&c., feed, both in the larva and perfect states, upon
vegetables, the species of the first of these genera
being occasionally very injurious to young wheat.
The larvae, which are longish, somewhat cylindric,
and furnished with six legs, strong jaws, and a forked

tail, are scaly grubs, having the under surface of the
body more fleshy than the upper, and reside in similar
situations with the perfect insects, but arc very dirhV
cwlt to rear to the beetle state. They feed, like the
beetles, upon other larvae and small insects. Mr.
Stephens mentions a curious circumstance connected
with these insects, worthy of more minute investiga-
tion than has hitherto been given to it. He says,
" Many of the species are greatly infested with Gordii,
a fact so generally known to the 'companions of my
youth' that whenever an 'imp' was seen basking in
the sun, it was immediately subjected to the ordeal
of a pool of water for the purpose of ejecting the
' serpent,' thus called, from his lurking place." Owing
to the great extent of the family and the great degree
of attention which has been paid to it by the late
French entomologists, it has become necessary to
divide and subdivide it to a considerable extent, of
which some idea may be entertained, when it is stated
that this single family, comprising its various sections,
genera, and species, occupies nearly three octavo
volumes, in the work of the Baron Dejean. In a
work like the present, we can of course introduce,
and that but shortly, the chief divisions. These are

1. The Patellimanes, having the two anterior tarsi
of the males dilated, the joints being square
or rounded. Genera, Chla-mus, Epomis, Pana-
gceus, Ijicinus, Badister, &c.

2. The Fcroniens, having the two anterior tarsi of
the males dilated, the joints being heart-shaped.
Genera, Sphodrus, Calathus, Agonum, Zabrus,
Steropus, Abax, Poecillus, Omaseus, &c.

3. The Harpaliens, having the four anterior tarsi of
the males dilated. Genera, Aniavdactylus, Har-
palus, Stenolophus, Trechiis, &c.

The genus Harpalus is very extensive in British
species, in which the thorax is quadrate, not punctate
throughout, the upper !ip entire, with the basal joints
of the anterior tarsi of the females not dilated. The
type is the Harpalus ruficornis, a very common spe-
cies, generally somewhat more than half an inch long
of a pitchy black colour, with the elytra opaque, and
the legs and antennae pitchy red.

HARPAX (Parkinson). A fossil mollusc, de-
scribed by Parkinson in his Organic Remains, and
closely resembling the recent genus, T}-igonia. It
certainly belongs to the family Ostrea ; but scarcely
appears to be sufficiently known to pronounce with
certainty its rank in modern malacology.

HART'S TONGUE. Is the Scolopemlrium offi-
cinarum of Smith, a common British fern. The Poly-
podium pkyllitidis of Linnaeus, another West Indian
fern, is also called Hart's tongue.

HAWK (Astur), a genus of diurnal birds of prey,
nearl)' allied to the falcons, and of which we shall not
need to give a very detailed account, from the notice
which we took of the family generally in the article
FALCON. They belong to the section which in the
days of falconry were called " ignoble hawks," though
some of them were trained for sport, and when trained
properly, highly esteemed, although they have not the
dash and splendour of the long-winged, or noble fal-
cons. One, the gos-hawk, when duly trained, was
dignified by the name of the " falcon gentle."

Hawks are pretty numerous, and found in almost
every part of the world, though there are some of
the species which are not very clearly defined or well
made out. They are sometimes designated short-
winged, or low-flighted hawks, because in their style

HAWK. Tll

stag their prey, they do not fly so high, or get | where there is no scope either for the stoop of an

thrueeh the sir with the same splendid action as the | eagle or the rash of a falcon. Generally speaking,
long-winged falcons. They are. however, stronger . they buiid more in trees than birds of the two genera
birds in proportion to their lineal dimrmiom ; and , which have been mentioned, and between which they
they are, in some respects, intermediate between the are in many respects intermediate. Their bills are
falcons and the eagles. The falcons always strike not so decidedly notched as those of the falcons ;
tneir prey in the air ; the eagles almost as. invar

dp k on the groaad ; and tbe~bawks do gomctimr* the ; length, more carved, and therefore unite a ^°*«4iiffg
one and sometimes the other, affording to circatn- { or carrying character along with the killing one.
stances. Some of them fly at a considerable deva- j They aidant of subdivision into two sections, which
rion. and bent the gronnd to cnnJoVrabk distanrf* ; may front the British species, which are the typical
bnt they reowire a great deal of action and motion of ones of the two, be styled Gos-hawks and Sparrow-
the wings, and have sneh more - twittering" in their • hawks ; and considering the difference between hawks
style of cu-ot than the falcon*, or even the eagles. , asd falcons as we have pointed them oat, the eos-
ln this respect they are perhap* the least graceful of • hawks may be considered as resembfing the ger-auv
afl the di nrnal birds of prey ; for although they are j cons, and the sparrow-hawks the common falcon*.
more bold and powerful than either the bnzzaru- Thegos-hawks are by mnrh the stronger birds of

the kites, they have not the soft wins: of the former, the two ; bnt they are k the same time heavier, and
or the light floating and ffiding motion of the latter, perhaps not so courageous in proportion to their
They are woodland birds, or. at all events, birds of - strength as some of the sparrow-hawks. Tber have
the rich and lowland districts, rather than of the np- the tarsi short and thick, and covered with shielded
land wilds; and the form of their wings, and indeed 1 scales, and are most abundant hi the wooded parts of
u.e whole of their powers and organisation accord hills. The sparrow-hawks have the tarsi longer and
wkh this. more slender, and inhabit more the lowland countries.

r characters are : the tarsi lengthened, so as
to be longer than the middle front toe. The wings
short and rownded, and thns better adapted for fre-
oaent ascent and descent than for loog-continwed

forward fight. The first quill of the wing is macii hawking was a royal and noble sport, k was
•sorter than the second, and the third is very nearly «sed for low gimr, that is, game keeping on
eowal in length to the fbwrth, which b the longest u
the wing. The middle front toe on the foot • longer
than any of the side ones ; and the daws are very

tnongh they also are

lasd countries,
wooded

TH« GOS-HAWX ( J. jWa^Aarw; b mqoesdonably
the finest of all the hawks; and in those days when

crooked and sharp at the points. They still, how-
ever, preserve the trae character of birds which kill
prey and eat it hi the recent state, at the form of their
beaks, w&iea are curbed from M-? '.^^ ar. ; -__ -^ a^.i-
dedlr it tit imiinj, beaks than those even of the

The specific distinctions of L*-*ts ar? =i"-rr« of
great intricacy, especially time of countries
which are fitrle known, and where, in many I»««aprf«.
a flBgfe specimen of the bird is all that has been
seen, and that not always by persons capable of form-
ing an accnrate judgment respecting k. This dflfi-
cu. ty arises, in great part, front the variety of eoloan
to which most birds of prey are •object,"
ages and in different sknaaons. We
this in birds which

• - -

mthearlneai-

ties, are not migrant. The general ruie we believe
it as taey advance in yean they become paler
in their c&krvs. and at the same rlr.T :^cre^~e ::." -.z~
and in strength. This B evidently the origin of that
aHrgoirical allnrion in which the eagle is said to renew
t age ; for not the eagles only, bat all birds of prey,

il-: ----- :-:.. - --. :- : .

'

As is the ease *LL_ falcons ^-: ~-^ ' ~. bat =-:-5i
I gpmasinlhmwksare fwnadnithecoU IntknaW; Isst
; they are not so atneh birds of the sntinntain, the storm,
i and the free sky, as the falcons and eagles are. They
ailiy cenntrHs, where then are woods ; anil

pnrjai - -..^

the

near k, saeh as hares and rabbits, wild
dncks, partridges, and other ground birds, which
rardy take the sky to any great height. It is longer

feathers ; the wings are considerably shorter and more
concave than those of the falcon, and thns k is not
on the air, as k often the case «ith that

after one has seen the flight of faleoss* that of
gos>oawk appears a very inferior and secondary L _

_e snort hoHov wings give it the appearance
of getting on wkh great labour; and thoagh, from
the character of ks game, widen, when wmged, is
mmmy nWrtei i'.-.^ -_^^ ;^.f. ;: ^ prei:r \^,^ <^
ks prey, k ssakes bat poor work if thrown off at a

nl u.^, >..»e::-_ ^ :: is. ^_e_
iMimbtNMl of air-birds, sneh as swallows, they drive at
k in aH directions, and so perplex and annoy k, that k
tans craven and mrart osT to the hiQs or tbe woods.
TL-. femmt m this, -^ m il the gther hk* ^ Prtv.
k by nsneA the iner bad. When fall grown, the
general colour of aB the upper pans, the ear-coverts,
and a streak rontinncd thence to the «V»Mfr. »
blackish brown; the back ssottled, the tips of the
ear-covem re&eved, and the anfik of the wings and
ua-fcaihers «%ed «ith test uuu of a i

The space between the nostril and the eye
k grey, and the rest of the nndrr part white, wkh

niBns1 -^.ti.'ei.xa

-..• nrawa ir.:

are very delicate on the long feathers of the legs, and
scsrcdy obwrmbie on the vent and nnHrr tafl-
envcats. T-t lanUn^tanV6a«hcni .-. ihcnne, y..-^*,
and edged with white. Thongh the rolnnrs are not
showy, they are very well contrasted. The irides are
grey, the naked pans yeUow, wkh a very owiek and
peneiratke eye. In the male bird, the top of tho
tts; nedk -= ^..--.i fj^ia»mt --.'.-.'* <,. -.*:-

tinge over tw greater poroon o<* the body. He

712

HAWK.

also has fewer spots on the under part, which arc
generally oval-shaped and much paler. The female
is a much superior bird, being better shouldered or
winged, and at least a third larger in size. The eggs
of the gos-hawk seldom, if ever, exceed four in num-
ber. The young are much more of a red colour on

Gos-liawk.

the under parts than the mature birds. They go
through a variety of tints of plumage, and, as is gene-
rally the case with birds which do that, the standard
colour which they at last have is not uniform. The
gos-hawk is sometimes nearly white, and at other
times tawny, with a few markings, especially the
males. This species of hawk, varying in appearance,
as is stated to be general with the race, is very exten-
sively distributed over the northern parts both of the
eastern continent and of America. It is not found in
the extreme north of either ; and in the warmer
regions it gives place to feebler hawks ; but it extends
almost to the northern extremity of Europe, to Ice-
land, and to the Faroe islands. In Asia it does not
reach to so high latitudes as it does in Europe ; but
it extends farther to the south, being common in the
hilly parts of China, and still occasionally used by
the Chinese in hawking. In England it is so rare,
that it can hardly be said to be regularly resident in
any part of the country, except, perhaps, some of the
wild hilly districts in the north ; in Scotland it is more
abundant, though even there it is by no means a com-
mon bird ; and its haunts are local and peculiar. In
the rich parts of the lowlands it is hardly known as a
resident bird, and rarely seen as a visitant ; but in
those districts of the Highlands, where remnants of
those natural forests which once covered great part
of the country are still preserved, there is a greater
chance of seeing the gos-hawk. Even there, however,
it is to be seen in wild places only ; for it shuns the
habitations of men, and even the pastures of sheep
and cattle. The margins and openings of the woods
are its principal places of resort ; and its food con-
sists of the smaller mammalia and the larger ground
birds. Before the general introduction of sheep into
the Scottish uplands, the gos-hawk was more abun-
dant than it is now, and committed very considerable
ravages upon the mountain game ; and it is doubtful
whether the sheep, which certainly do occasionally
trample on the nests and break the eggs, may not on
the whole be a preserver of grouse on the h'iHs. It
may seem singular that a hawk, and a powerful hawk,
should avoid places where sheep are pasturing, be-

ause they have neither the disposition nor the power
of offering it the smallest injury ; but it is a general
truth that all birds of prey shun every living creature
which does not come within the range of their usual

e in its external appearance, and this is one strong
proof that such birds seek their prey only by the eye.
There are a vast number of other species, agreeing
more or less with the gos-hawk in its principal cha-
racters, to be found in various parts of the world,
and as far to the south as New Holland, and the ex-
tremity of South America. Little is known, however,
of their manners, and, so far as these are known, they
resemble the manners of the common gos-hawk ; and,
therefore, the enumeration of them would be a mere
list of names, without any interest to the general
reader. We shall, however, mention one American
species, from the singularity of its common English
name.

THE LAUGHING HAWK (A, cachinnaus}. This spe-
cies has the legs and cere yellow ; eyelids white ; the
body variegated with brown and whitish colour. The
top of the head is black, and surrounded by a white
ring. It is a native of Paraguay, Cayenne, and other
parts of South America, haunting those savannahs
which are flooded and marshy grounds, and perching
on dried and elevated branches of trees, whence it is
conjectured to feed on fish, lizards, frogs, and other
reptiles. It is rather a stupid bird, occasionally utter-
ing a sound, which is expressed by its vermicular
appellation, and, when disturbed, giving a shrill and
sudden cry, as though it were laughing. Its manners
are much more soft and gentle than those of the gos-
hawk ; this is indeed a general character of all the
birds of prey in the warm regions, and it is worthy ot
remark as pointing out how nicely the energies and
resources of animals are adapted to their places on
the globe. A hawk which suits the comparatively-
warm and uniform climate of tropical America would
be but ill adapted for those burlettings by the storm
to which such a bird must submit in a northern part
of the world ; and, on the other hand, the greater
strength, spirit, and power of endurance which those
northern species possess, would be throw n away upon
an animal of warm climates, which would never have
occasion to bring them into use. It is in such
analogies that we see the beauties of nature, and
receive the most irresistible proofs that the whole of
it is one in design and in execution, and that perfect
knowledge of the whole must have existed on the
part of the Author before any part of it was called
into existence.

We shall now mention an example of the sparrow-
hawks, which differ from the gos-hawks in the manner
formerly stated. They are birds of lighter make,
more constantly on the wing, much more daring, and
do not, as is the case with the others, flit before the
progress of cultivation.

COMMON SPARROW-HAWK (A. nisns). In all the
richer and more lowland parts of Britain this species
is "the hawk;" or, if any thing additional in the
shape of a bird of prey is seen in such places, it is
one of the smaller falcons. Like the gos-hawk, the
sparrow-hawk is very generally distributed. The
male sparrow-hawk weighs about five ounces, and
the female about nine ; the former measures about a
foot in length, the latter about fifteen inches. The
bill is bluish, and dusky at the point : the cere yel-
low ; irides bright orange yellow ; the plumage of
the upper parts, in some of both sexes, are of a deep

H A W K.

713

bluish grey ; in others brown, edged with brownish
red ; the under parts of the female are more fully
marked with minute undulated lines of deep brown ;
the male is inclined to rust colour on the breast,
which in the other is whitish ; on the back of the
head, in both sexes, is an obscure broken patch of
white ; the quills dusky, barred with black on the
outer webs, and spotted with white at the base of the
inner ; the tail, like the back, with broad bars of
dusky black, the extreme point whitish ; the legs are
yellow, long, and slender.

Sparr.nv Haxvk.

The sparrow-hawk is well known for the extent
and boldness of its depredations on poultry-ya'rds,
and the immense number of birds whi<;h it kills and
eats in the fields and copses ; but though in boldness,
and slightly in its style of flight, it has a trace of re-
semblance to the smaller falcons, its general nature
arid habit are totally different. The falcons, if their
prey is not killed by the stroke, instantly kill it out-
right, by breaking the skull or dislocating the neck
before they begin to pat ; and this is also known to
be the case with the typical eagles ; for, though those
eagles which have a strong trace of the vulture in
them begin eating their living prey as if it were
carrion, the " respectable" eagles never touch theirs
with the beak until the gripe of the talons has put an
end to its life. The sparrow-hawk has also this
habit, and begins to pull feathers and tear away at
its prey while that prey is still alive. It is probably
on this account that the falconers first drew the dis-
tinction between noble and ignoble hawks ; for we
associate a degree of cruelty with this mangling and
eating of the living animal, which we do not feel
when the prey is killed outright before it is eaten ;
and there is more than mere sentiment in this dis-
tinction, inasmuch as, though death is the fi'nal result
in both cases, there is a cruelty of a degrading cha-
racter in death by protracted torture. The female
sparrow-hawk builds her nest in lofty trees, ruined
castles, elevated rocks, and other places, and she
stands accused of sometimes appropriating the de-
serted nest of the crow, or rather of the rook. The
eggs are from four to six in number, of a dull white
colour, and sometimes of a bluish tinge, blotched at
the large, and sometimes, though very rarely, at the
small end, with rust colour. Though it flies low, it

is very fierce and predaceous. It abounds more or
ess in every cjuarter of the world, being found as
liigh as Lapland, and in the Faroe Isles, though not,
as alleged, in Siberia, and again as far south as Africa.
It is common in most of the wooded and inclosed
parts of this country, but is of less frequent occurrence
in the more champaign districts. It seems to be a
partial migrant in some parts of Europe ; for Beton,
long ago, witnessed their passage, as Sonnini more
recently did, when at sea, between Barbary and
Italy. On the approach of winter legions of them
move southward, to the dismay of the smaller and
weaker migratory birds, on which they prey with
cruel assiduity, and from which circumstance the
mariners in the Mediterranean give them the appella-
tion of "corsairs." They are stationary in Egypt
throughout the year, and many of them are habituated
to a town life, usually taking up their residence along
with vultures and kites on the terraces of the houses,
arid sparing, as if by implied contract, the turtle-doves.
Indeed, we should remark that, notwithstanding its
bold and ravenous propensities, the sparrow-hawk is
more easily tamed than most birds of prey, and not
unsusceptible of attachment. It is alleged that the
young birds are very good eating, and that they are
used as food in Egypt. A case of the domestic
economy and habits of this species of hawk is so
well told by White, in the Natural History of Sel-
borne, that we cannot resist quoting it. " About
the 10th of July," says he, " a pair of sparrow-hawks
bred in an old crow's nest on alow beech in Selborne
Hanger, and as their brood, which was numerous,
began to grow up, became so daring and ravenous,
that they were a terror to all the dames in the village
who had chickens or ducklings under their care. A
boy climbed the tree, and found the young so fledged
that they all escaped from him, but he discovered
that a good house had been kept ; the larder was
well stored with provisions, for he brought down a
yo.ung blackbird, jay, and house-martin, all clean
picked, and some half devoured. The old birds had
been observed to make sad havoc for some days
among the new-flown swallows and martins, which,
being but lately out of their nests, had not acquired
those powers and command of wing that enabled
them, when more mature, to set enemies at defiance."
THE MUSICAL SPARHOW-HAWK (A. musicm).
This is an African species, and it is remarkable as
being the only bird of prey that possesses a musical
song, or which has a voice at all agreeable to the
ear ; for, though there are different sounds among
the others, they have little or no modulation, and are
generally harsh and scieaming. The sound uttered
by the goshawk in the breeding season is a slight
exception to this, for at that time it utters a sort of
whistle ; but though this whistle is clear and piercing,
it is not modulated. The song of the present species
is, however, described as being sweet. It is given
by the male only, as in the singing birds, and during
the breeding time ; and, while giving his full melody,
the bird is said to be so much absorbed by it as that
he may be approached within a few yards. We are
not very well acquainted with the whole of the
domestic habits of this singular bird ; but Levaillant,
who observed it in the woods of the interior of
Africa, mentions that, though an exceedingly shy
bird at other times, the male may be approached
while singing, with the greatest ease, and watched
and observed while the song lasts. According to the

714

H A VV K M O T H.

same authority, the Wmale bird is particularly grateful
lor this music ; and it is natural that she should, be-
cause she, of all the order, is the only female whose
mate serenades her with an agreeable song. Some
of the owls, indeed, do their best in the way of noise,
but there is not much music in their hooting. The
female shows her attachment very strongly in the
event of the male being shot ; while singing is of
course the timo for doing this ; and if it is done, the
iemale instantly flies to the place where the male
was perched — for he sings from the perch only — and
if she does not spy the body, she continues to fly
round and round ibr a considerable time, uttering the
most subdued and mournful cries ; and so much is
she absorbed by her sorrow, that on these occasions
she, too, becomes an easy prey to the fowler. Of
course it is only for specimens, to serve the purposes
of science or of curiosity, that such birds as these are
shot ; and where so much attachment is shown
among animals, of which our general feeling is so
very different, one almost regrets that they should be
•destroyed for any purposes except the most urgent
ones. It does not appear that the male shows so
much affection ; for, if the female is shot while the
male is singing, he continues his song a little, and
then flies off. This species is about the size of the
peregrine falcon, and more handsomely formed than
the common hawks. The general colour on the
upper part is grey, with brown undulations on the
under part ; the quills, which are of a short character,
are black ; and the tail, which is wedge-shaped, is
brown, crossed by bars of white ; the form of the
wings and tail point out the species as a bird of the
woods, where it lodges and nestles, the eggs being
four in number, of a white colour, and nearly round.
They are bold bird^ and commit great depredations
on quails, partridges, and other ground birds ; they
also attack hares and rabbits ; and, when other prey is
not to be had, they have recourse to mice and reptiles.
THE DWARF SPARROW-HAWK (A. minutus,* This
is also an African species. It is described as being
brown on the upper part and white on the under,
having the breast marked with longitudinal streaks of
brown, and the belly with cross bars of the same
colour. Though small in size, not exceeding the
common blackbird, this species is daring. It not
only drives off the more powerful of the den-
tirostral birds, such as the larger butcher-birds,
but it attacks the kite and the buzzard. Crows are,
however, the most marked objects of its persecution,
for it chases them with eager impetuosity, uttering a
cry which has been compared to that of the kestrel.
The lesser birds are its ordinary food ; but when a
sufficiency of these cannot be procured, it has recourse
to some of the larger sorts of insects, particularly of
the mantis and locust tribes. The female, which is
nearly double the size of the male, but with plumage
of duller tints, forms its nest, in rather a coarse style,
of small twigs, intermixed with leaves and moss, and
lined with leaves, wool, or moss, and lays in this
from four to five eggs. As Levaillant was sitting at
a table, engaged in preparing some birds lately killed,
one of these hawks suddenly stooped, and, seizing one
of the recently-stuffed specimens, and flying to a
neighbouring tree, began to pull the feathers, and
tear it open, but, rinding nothing but moss and cotton,
seemed indignant at the disappointment, and at length
contented itself with devouring the head, the only
part which remained in its natural state.

HAWKMOTH. The English name given to a
very extensive primary section of lepidopteruus insects
which formed one of the three genera into which that
order was divided by Linnaeus, Sphinx, distinguished
by a robust body, prismatic antennae, and strong wines,
which do not extend to the extremity of the abdomen.
They are generally of a large size, indeed the species
found in this country are by far the largest lepido-
pterous insects which we possess. Their colours are
generally agreeably varied, the under wings being
often banded. Owing to their strength of wing, their
flight i« very strong, whence the ordinary English
name ; during flight, moreover, they produce a strong
humming noise, which renders their approach easily
perceived. They dart about with the greatest rapi-
dity from flower to flower, preferring those that
have long and tubular corollas, into which they intro-
duce their long and spiral tongue, by which they are
enabled to reach the honey at its base ; whilst thus
employed, they remain as it were suspended in the
air in front of the flowers, their wings being kept in a
long sustained hover. That delightful describer of
every thing rural, Miss Mitford, has so well noticed
the motions of one of these insects, in her truly
national " Our Village," that we are tempted to ex-
tract a short passage. She is describing her garden,
in which she traces " the gay gambols of the common
butterflies as they sport around the dahlias, or watches
that rarer moth which the country people, fertile in
pretty names, call the bee-bird * ; that bird-like insect
which flutters in the hottest days over the sweetest
flowers, inserting its long proboscis into the small
tubes of the jasmins, and hovering over the scarlet
flowers of the geranium, whose bright colour seems
reflected on its own feathery breast ; that insect
which seems so thoroughly a creature of the air, never
at rest, always when feeding self-poised and self-sup-
ported, and whose wings in their motion have a sound
so deep, so full, so lulling, and so musical ; nothing so
pleasant as to sit amid that mixture of the flower and
the leaf, watching the bee-bird."

The caterpillars of these moths vary considerably
in their forms, especially in the anterior part of the
body, in some this part is susceptible of great elon-
gation like the trunk of the elephant, whence those
species have obtained the name of elephant hawk-
moths. This motion is effected when the insect is
feeding and in search of food, at which time the neck
assumes a narrow conical form, truncated in front, the
head and face forming the truncated part ; when in
repose they withdraw this elongation, so that the front
of the body then seems clavate. Other species do
not possess this peculiarity, but elevate the anterior
part of the body even as far as the first or second
pro-legs, assuming an attitude like that of the fabu-
lous sphinx, as represented in our article CATER-
PILLAR. The last segment but one of the body is
furnished with a horn, which varies considerably in
form, in some being straight, slender, and smooth, in
others, as in the death's-head hawkmoth, being curved
and very rugose, whilst in others it is linear and not
persistent, existing only during the early stages of the
caterpillar's existence, its place being subsequently
occupied by a very small eminence. In the sphinx
Hippophaes, an inhabitant of Dauphiny^ the larva,

* In a note this insect is said to be the Sphint ligttslri, r,r
privet hawkmoth, bat it is evidently intended for the Sphiii*
utellntarum, or humming-bird hawkmoiii.

HAWK WEED-HEDGEHOG

715

either to avoid the giare of light or the attacks of
enemies, hides itself during1 the day time beneath the
dead leaves lying; at the roots of trees, coining forth
to feed only at night. The caterpillars of the hawk-
moths are smooth, and furnished with sixteen legs,
the ten posterior being termed pro-legs ; they are of
a cylindiic form. They live solitarily, and feed upon
the leaves of vegetables, eating much at a time and
then making a long fast. They are at first very active,
and, when approached, fall from the leaf upon which
they were placed, suspending themselves by a thread ;
when more aged they become very sluggish, moving
only the head or the hind part of the body. It is in
the earth or upon its surface covered with leaves that
they undergo the chrysalis state, and make their
cocoons, which, however, contain but little silk. In
those species which have the proboscis very long in
the moth state, the chrysalis is furnished with a curved
appendage at its breast, in which the proboscis is
rolled up. The chrysalis state generally lasts seven
or eight months, but in some species (including the
giant Atropos) it does not exceed a fortnight. In
general there is but one generation during the year,
but the humming-bird hawkmoth (Sph. stellatarum) is
found in the perfect as well as in the larva state from
the spring until the first frosts of winter. See, for
structural and sectional details, the article SPHINX, as
well as those upon the DEATH'S-HEAD HAWKMOTH
and DiciLEi'Hu.A.

HAWK WE ED is the Hieracium Alpinum of
Linnaeus, one of an extensive genus of herbaceous
plants, common in every dry pasture all over Europe.
HAWORTHIA (Duva'l). An extensive genus
of succulent plants, natives of the Cape of Good
Hope, and separated from the genus Aloe by Duval.
The Hawortkias differ in habit from the generality of
the Aloes, and there is also some difference in the
form of the corolla.

HAWTHORN is the Cratagus oxyarantha of
Linnaeus, one of our common hedge plants, and much
admired for the beauty and scent of its Mowers. There
are several rich coloured varieties in the gardens.

HEART'S EASE is the Viola tricolor of Lin-
naeus, a common British plant, of which numerous
varieties are in the gardens, and now ranked as a
florist's flower. See VIOLARIE^:.

HEART SEED is the Curdiospcrmum corindum oi
Lirinaus, a genus of climbing plants mostly found in
tropical countries.

HEATH is the common name of that beautiful
family of alpine plants called by botanists Erica
They inhabit the northern, and a few of the loftiest
hills in the south of Europe ; but their grand habitat
is on the southern promontory of Africa, where thou-
sands of acres are covered with heaths in incredible
numbers, and with hundreds of different species, above
six hundred of which are already described.

HEBENSTREITIA (Linnams). A genus of
undershrubs indigenous to the Cape of Good Hope
Class and order Didynamia Angiospermia, and natura!
order Verbenacea. Generic character : calyx of one
leaf, tubular, emarginate, opening lengthwise below
corolla, a cylindrical tube, limb one four-cleft lip ; sta-
mens inserted into the throat of the corolla ; filaments
short ; anthers incumbent and bursting transversely
style filiform ; stigma simple ; seed-vessel niembra-
naceous, one-celled, two-valved, and two-seeded
Greenhouse plants, and propagated by cuttings.
HEDERA (Linna3us.) A genus "of plants, the

H. helix being the well known ivy. There are only
hree species of the genus as yet in the books ;
ne found in the Canary islands, and another in
famaica. The British species is found everywhere in
woods, and ha.s several remarkable characteristics ;
hough destined to creep on the ground, it steals
a permanent support from whatever is higher than it-
self; thus far it is a parasite, but it extracts no aliment
Tom its supporter. Its embrace, like that of the Boa,
s sometimes fatal ; it is an aspirant as long as there is
any thing to surmount, but becomes stationary w hen
t has reached the topmost point. It is indispensable
in picturesque scenery ; it clothes and supports in its
turn the tottering wall. Its berries afford a rich re-
past to numerous birds, and its melliferous flowers to
swarms of insects, and yet its leaves are disrelished
by every caterpillar, however voracious, but eaten
greedily by sheep, by which, were it not for its climb-
ing tendency, it would be quickly extirpated if ap-
proachable by the flock. Sheep suffer, however, for
their temerity in denuding the ivy, as it causes a pre-
mature shedding of their fleece early in the spring —
so say the shepherds. The ivy is sacred to the owl,
the wren, and many other birds. There are several
varieties, among which the Irish is conspicuous.

HEDGEHOG (Erinaceus\ A very singular genus
of insectivorous mammalia, belonging to Cuvicr's great
order Carnassier, and, in the structure of their teeth,
the least carnivorous, perhaps, of the whole order.
The most striking external character of these animals
is the spines w ith which their bodies are covered, and
this has been taken as a popular ground of classifica-
tion ; and the name hedgehog, or urchin (Herisson in
French), has been applied to other spiny mammalia,
such as the porcupines, which are rodentia ; to the
Dcodin among fishes ; and to the Echinus, or sea-
egg, which is a zoophyte, belonging to the pedicallated
echinadermata. The proper hedgehog, however, be-
longs to the flesh, or animal-matter eating division of
mammalia.

Hedgehog.

This is a very peculiar genus in the structure, in
appearance, and in manners ; and though the form of
their teeth, and various other structural particulars,
throw them into different parts of the system, hedge-
hogs appear, in their general relations to the system
of nature, to occupy nearly the same place in the
northern countries as the armadillos do in South
America ; and it is not a little remarkable that two
races, adapted for acting a similar part in countries so
unlike each other, should both have a hard covering
on the upper part of their bodies, though the covering
of the armadillos consists of flat plates, and that of
the hedgehogs of detached spines.

The generic characters of the hedgehogs are : the
cutting-teeth slender, arid sharp-edged or emarginated ;
the canines weak, and shorter than the cutting-teeth,
so as scarcely to be distinguishable from the false

716

HEDGEHOG.

grinders ; the grinders are furnished with lubereulate
crowns ; the snout produced and pointed, terminating
in a cartilage, with an indented appendage, somethin
like the comb of the cock, on the external margin o
the nostrils ; the body contracted, and covered wit!
short and strong spines, intermixed with hairs ; th
leirs short, and furnished with five toes each, armec
with disrging claws ; the body capable of being rollet
up into a ball at the will of the animal, and, when
this is done, the spines stand out from it in all direc
tions ; the fore legs are furnished with clavicles, so
that they have a cross motion. The females have
more than two mammae, none of which are seated or
the breast.

These animals are generally of small size, and ob-
scure and timid in their modes of life. Their prin-
cipal food is worms, the larvae of insects, ground
mollusca, crickets, and beetles, and sometimes the
farinaceous roots of plants. So far as is known, they
do not readily attack any warm-blooded animal, arid
indeed the structure of their mouth is ill adapted for
such a purpose ; but they feed greedily upon carrion,
and thus assist in clearing the surface of the earth oi
noxious substances, as well as in destroying vast
numbers of those insects which are most eminently
injurious to vegetation. Hence they are of consider-
able service to man ; and as they in general remain
perfectly quiet under the hedges, and in other hiding-
places, and never do the slightest injury to anything
which is of value to the human race, they are pro-
ductive of good, and not evil, in cultivated countries.
Perfectly harmless as they are, however, various
charges of wrong-doing have been brought against
them. Thus, for instance, some have alleged that
they climb fruit-trees, and plunder the fruit by prick-
ing it on their spines ; while others allege, with equal
confidence, that they suck the cows, and wound the
udders of these animals in a painful manner. We
need hardly add that these allegations are not, and
cannot be, true ; but they are believed in some parts
of the country, and therefore they deserve notice, as
belonging to that class of absurd prejudices against
animals which cannot too soon be exploded and
forgotten.

There is' no doubt that the singular form and
covering of hedgehogs has been the cause of those
charges against them, just as the singular form of
the bill of the goat-suckers led to a charge against
them of plundering the ndders of cattle ; whereas the
bill of a goat-sucker is so utterly unfit for such a
purpose, that, if we were to fix upon a mouth that
could not suck in any way, the very best one to
choose would be that of the goat-sucker.

But it generally happens that, while the singular
appearance of an animal caused one class of super-
stitious dreamers to arm it with impossible powers of
mischief, another class of the same description of
personages was sure to endow it with virtues to
which it had as little claim. Pliny, the most labori-
ous compiler of natural history, if not the most cor-
rect naturalist among the Romans, gravely asserted
that an ointment compounded of the gall of the
hedgehog, and the brains of the bat, was the most
effective application in the world for removing hairs
from any part of the human body where their pre-
sence was not wanting ; and thus it appears, that in
tne matter of personal beauty, the Romans were just
as great fools, and, by necessary consequence, as
much exposed to the knaveries of quacks, as the

patchers and menders of personal appearance are at
the present day. This, however, is by no means the
climax of credulity with regard to the wonderful
powers of the hedgehog i for the learned Albortus
Magnus, who was not only one of the brightest stars
of his age, but had the light of a good deal of true
knowledge about him, gravely asserts that an appli-
cation for the eyes is attainable from this animal
superior to all the "Euphrasy and rue" which poets
ever sung, or dreamed, or fancied. He says, that
if the right eye of a hedgehog is taken, and fried in
oil, and applied to the eyes according to the rules of
art, and when the stars are in favourable aspect and
humour, it will so " purge the visual nerve," that the
parties will thence see just as well during the blackest
night as during the brightest day. Whether old
Albertus, who was on some occasions a wag, as may-
be seen on perusing his work De Sccretibus, meant
this in irony, is not easy to say ; but it is certain that,
no application to the human eyes could make diurnal
and nocturnal vision alike, except by rendering the
former as dark as the latter.

There are only two known species of hedgehog ;
the common one, which is found under hedges and in
corn-fields hi the richer parts of this country, and of
Europe generally ; and the long-eared hedgehog,
which we believe is chiefly found in northern Asia ;
but, though they differ considerably in their appear-
ance and structure, their habits are very much the
same. The hedgehog of Europe has twenty-one
vertebrae between the last cervical and the sacrum,
and fourteen ribs on each side, with the rudiment of a
fifteenth one. The long-eared hedgehog, on the other
land, has only nineteen vertebrae between the last
cervical and the sacrum, and thirteen ribs on each
side, with the rudiment of a fourteenth. Thus there
are seven lumbar vertebras in the common hedgehog,
while there are only six in the long-eared one. The
angular projection of the lower jaw is longer and
straighter in the long-eared one ; the bone of the
nose is also longer, and the whole anterior part of the
lead is more produced. In both animals the vertebrae
of the tail, though thirteen in number, are so exceed-
ngly short, that the tail does not appear beyond the
>uttocks. There seems, indeed, a truncation in the
)osterior part of these animals which we do not meet
with to so great an extent in almost any other. In
nimals which have the tail developed, and capable
f much motion, the spinal marrow extends into that
rgan ; and active animals, whether they have much
lower in the tail or not, have the spinal marrow con-
inued as far as the sacrum. But in the hedgehogs
he spinal marrow is not continued beyond the
eventh dorsal vertebra, so that four of the dorsal
and lumbar, and the three sacral vertebra:, merely
arry some nervous fasciculi. It is curious that the
ame deficiency in the posterior part has been found
n the toad among reptiles, and in thetetfodon among
ishes, both of which animal:-, are deficient of power in
he hinder parts of their bodies. Upon the ninth ver-
ebra there is placed a large muscular disc, consisting
)f concentric fibres, and extending a considerable way
>ver the surface of the animal, arid the contraction of
hose muscBlar rings brings the body into the form
f a ball, and also erect, so that they bristle out in
very direction those spines which, when the animal
s walking, are more or less directed backwards,
ioth species of hedgehogs get exceedingly fat toward
be winter, which season they pass in a dormant

HEDGEHOG.

717

state. A large portion of this fat collects immediately
over, and no doubt protects from the severity of the
weather, that muscular disc to which we have alluded
as being the organ by means of which the animal
rolls itself into a ball. This is a very wise provision
of nature, because this circular disc is really the most
important muscle in the whole body of the animal.
A hedgehog cannot defend itself against even a feeble
enemy by active means, neither can it escape by
running ; and, therefore, its only defence is to pre-
sent its bristling armour to the enemy ; and unless it
is put in water, it can remain with its body contracted
for a considerable length of time.

Hedgehogs have been represented as inhabiting
other parts of the world besides Europe and Asia,
as, for instance, an American species has often been
alluded to ; but, as there are many rodent animals
which have their hair or fur intermixed with spines,
the probability is, that some of these may have been
mistaken for true hedgehogs, for we believe there is
no well authenticated instance of any one being
found out of the localities to which we have alluded.
We shall now very briefly notice the species.

THE COMMON HEDGEHOG (E. Europtsus). The
common hedgehog is about ten inches in length
exclusively of the tail, which is not an inch long, and
wholly concealed by spines. It is common in most
of the temperate parts of Europe and Asia, and found
also in some parts of Africa ; at least such is stated,
hut. it. is, at all events, not numerous in that country
The nose is dusky black, scattered over with a few-
hairs, and shaped like the nose of a hog-, and, like
that, adapted fur "rooting" or turning up the ground.
All the upper parts of the body and the sides are
closely covered wiih strong spines of about an inch
in length, very sharp at the points, having the lower
part white, t.he middle black, and the tips white.
They are nocturnal, and reside chiefly in woods,
fields, and gardens, affecting the roots and decayed
trunks of trees, fissures of rocks, and heaps of stones
and rubbish that have been gathered in meadows,
During the cold season they retire into holes for
hybernating, where they wrap themselves up in
leaves and moss, and, consequently, dispensing with
those stores of provisions which it has been errone-
ously alleged they lay up for themselves. They are
never observed to drink, and they are capable of en-
during protracted hunger, even in their most active
moments. The hedgehog is mild in its manners, inof-
fensive and timid ; and the more that it is threatened
with molestation or danger, the more closely it shelters
itself under its coat of prickles. Such is the contrac-
tile power of muscle with which it is endowed, that
one will sooner be able to tear than uncoil it, unless
by plunging it into water, when it swims with con-
siderable ease. Though this little harmless creature
is not insensible to pain, it has been known to undergo
the cruel process of viviscation without a single groan.
It is said that foxes contrive to coax the hedgehogs
out of the defence of their armour, in order to devour
them ; but we are not aware that any one ever saw
this put in practice ; and therefore, the probability is,
that it belongs to that class of gratuitous instances of
cunning which have been so copiously ascribed to the
tbx. The boldest of the dogs, even the bull-dog,
which will attack the most powerful enemy, and per-
severe to the death, can make very little of the
hedgehog. There have been instances in which dogs
of this species have laid hold of the animals and

shaken them till the muscles relaxed, and the cover-
ing was contracted on the back ; but no sooner did
this take place, and it happened only when the dog
had thrown the animal so that it alighted on the
ground, than the protecting armour was again con
tracted ; and the dog, in attempting to seize the
animal a second time, had his mouth so much lacerated
with the spines as to be covered with blood, and he
was ultimately forced to give up attempting to bite
the hedgehog, and confine his attack to barking at it,
which is not an uncommon habit with dogs, and they
appear thereby to attempt frightening that which they
cannot conquer. It is, in all probability, upon this
principle that dogs which are cowardly in fight are
always the most given to barking.

During the day, hedgehogs never move aoout,
unless compelled by some accident; at this time they
rest in holes of the earth, at the roots of bushes, under
leaves, or in grass or other tall herbage, which affords
them protection ; and while thus reposing they are
always rolled up. In consequence of this habitual
retirement and repose during the day, they are less
frequent to lie seen in proportion to their numbers
than perhaps any other animals ; and therefore, even
to the country people, in those districts where they
are most abundant, a hedgehog is so seldom seen, that
when the rustics get hold of one they hardly know
what to do with it. A case occurred recently in one
of the southern counties of England, which shows
nnon how slender grounds the name of being learned
mav oe acquired among such people ; and also how
readily a mere name, which really has no meaning
whatever, is sometimes accepted as a substitute for
knowledge. Some rustics engaged at haymaking or
harvest work, it matters not which, found a hedgehog
snugly rolled up in its spherical form, and so bristled
over with spines that even their hard hands could not
touch it with impunity. What it was they were
utterly at a loss to determine ; but at length one old
woman mentioned that her Joe had been three weeks
at a Sunday school, was " lamed " in consequence,
and she was sure he could help them in their per-
plexity. The rustic scholar was sent for, and surveyed
the hedgehog with as widely wondering eyes and
month as it had been surveyed by any of the others
and while he did this the group waited as wistfully
for his response as the ancients did for those of the
Delphic oracle. Having finished his survey, he de-
clared, in the most solemn manner, " I'm sarten it's a
sum-mat." " There now," said the exulting mother,
" didn't I know as Joe wart gy' un a neame" The name
was perfectly satisfactory to the audience ; and the
simple youth was at once elevated to the rank of
village philosopher ; and it is not improbable that in.
more pretending classes, philosophic honours nave
sometimes been acquired on grounds not substantially
differing very much from those above stated ; and
therefore the'naming of the hedgehog contains a good
moral, if we only knew how to bring it out.

The whole covering of the hedgehog does not con-
sist of spines, for under them there is a close and
curly fur ; and it seems as though the insect world
took vengeance upon an animal which destroys so
many of their race, for the fur of the hedgehog is
very much infested with ticks, which are as large as
those that inhabit the fur of the dog ; and the animal
appears to have no means of getting rid of them but
by taking to the water, in which it can swim with
considerable ease. The muzzle, the borders of the

718

HEDGEHOG.

lips, the eyes, and the under sides of the feet are,
however, always naked ; and so is the tail and the
mammae of the female, of which there are five pairs.
In the eyes there is a third eyelid, which can be pro-
duced so as to cover the eye, as in the cat. The
eye and optic nerve are both very small, and there-
fore we may conclude that the sight of these animals
is very weak. Hedgehogs which have been kept in
a state of confinement, (for they are very easily tamed,
and when so, remarkably gentle) have given abundant
proofs of this, by showing little excitement when ob-
jects of sight approach them. Their scent appears,
on the other hand, to bo very acute, for they keep
constantly turning up their noses, moving the cartila-
ginous appendage, and apparently snuffing the wind
in the same manner as pigs do. They swim much
faster than they walk on the ground. Some tame
ones have been brought to subsist wholly on milk and
vegetable matter ; but it is probable that, in a state
of nature, they are very carnivorous. Some have
alleged that they occasionally kill rabbits for the
purpose of eating them, but, though a rabbit is more
easily killed than almost any animal, this is somewhat
doubtful. It is certain, however, that they eat very
greedily the carrion of rabbits, hares, dogs, and other
anirnuls ; and it is said that they contrive to break
open the skull and eat the brain of the animal before
they touch the flesh ; and this is physiologically con-
sidered as being the most carnivorous trait in the
character of any animal whatever.

They bring forth about the end of spring, and the
young vary from three to seven. They are white at
their birth, and the points of the spines are rarely
perceptible through the cuticle. Hedgehogs are
frequently introduced into houses for the purpose of
expelling the blattce, or cockroaches, which they pur-
sue and devour with great eagerness. The Calmuc
Tartars keep them in their huts in place of cats.
Some years ago, a man exhibited in the Champs
Elysees, at Paris, a large boxful of hedgehogs, which
not only unrolled themselves, but allowed themselves
to be handled and teased at his orders. There are
other instances recorded of individuals of this species
having been completely domesticated. The skin of
the hedgehog was used" by the ancients as a clothes-
brush ; and it is applied in some countries to the muz-
zle of calves which are to be weaned. Though the
flesh of this animal is generally despised as food, the
Spaniards are said to value it very much in Lent.-

The hedgehog, considered altogether, is one of the
most singular animals found in European countries.
It is met with only in climates which are compara-
tively temperate, not occurring in high latitudes or at
a great elevation upon the mountains ; and even in
those rich parts which constitute its proper localities,
it retires under ground in the winter. Its temperature
is indeed low, and its circulation sluggish at all
seasons of the year, and it seems equally incapable
of bearing extremes of heat, light, and cold, without
passing into a dormant state. Though it is generally
stated to extend into Asia, and even into the north
of Africa, those statements are at best doubtful ;
and it is probablethat the spiny animalsof insectivorous
habits which are found there are different species, or at
all events different varieties, from onr hedgehogs.

THE LONG-EAUED HEDGEHOG (E. auritus). This
species, in all its localities, is smaller than the Euro-
pean hedgehog ; and it is at once distinguished from
that by longitudinal furrows in the spines, which are

channelled longitudinally, and have the margins of
the channels marked with little knots or tubercles.
These spines are not either so long or so formidable
as those of the European hedgehog ; and therefore
they form a much less complete defence to the ani-
mal. They are further distinguished by the shortness
of their upper incisive teeth, and the length of their
lower ones ; by a tuft of long soft hair at the angle
of the gape ; and, above all, the greater length of their
eats, from which they receive their names. The
upper part of the body is covered with slender
brown spines, with a whitish ring at their base, and a
yellowish one at the point. They are not joined in
tufts or shafts at their extremity to the root, but sepa-
rated singly, and are smoothed back when the animal
is in a state of repose. The nostrils are denticulated
like the crest of a cock. The limbs are longer and
more slender than those of our European hedgehog.
The tail is conical shaped, almost naked, and rather
shorter than the common species, and the hair is
in general much finer ; in the limbs and belly it forms
a fine whitish hair ; the muzzle is furnished with four
rows of whiskers ; the tail is of a yellowish white
colour ; the iris of the eye bluish. The female has
usually two litters in the year, and brings forth from
six to seven at a birth. It hybernates in holes a few
inches below the surface of the ground. It feeds on
insects, and can eat with impunity cantharides, and
others which are so acrid and poisonous in their
nature as that they blister the skin of the human body,
and are attended with very serious effects "if admini-
stered inwardly, unless in the most minute doses imagi-
nable ; and they also occasion the greatest uneasiness
and pain to digitigrade mammalia, if these happen to
swallow them. This is a singular distinction between
the stomachs of at least some of the insectivorous
carnassiers and of those which are more decidedly
carnivorous. It has been said that bears can take
with impunity doses of prussic acid which would be
sufficient to kill a whole den of lions ; and it is cer-
tain that even if one of those poisonous beetles upon
which the hedgehogs feed habitually were to be swal-
lowed by a strong dog, it would throw him into con-
vulsions. This is perhaps one of the most wonderful
instances which we have of the adaptation of animals
to the nature of their food ; and it is not wholly con-
fined to the insectivorous and other plantigrade car-
nassiers, but is found to a certain extent in hogs, and
may exist also in other pachydermata. Even among
ruminant animals there are remarkable differences in
this respect, for goats can eat plants which would
produce the rot in sheep, and be of the most serious
injury to oxen. This, however, is a department of
animal physiology which is very obscure in itself, and
has been very little studied ; but it is at the same
time one well deserving the attention of physiologists.
In the case of the hedgehog, the powers of the sto-
mach are as well adapted as its teeth for insect food,
and for such insects even as are destructive to others
differently adapted ; if it were otherwise, its mental
impulse and its physical capacities would frequently
induce its destruction. This species closely resembles
the European one in all its manners and habits ; and
towards the close of autumn it gets remarkably fat.

It is probable that those who have described the
common hedgehog as being found out of Europe have
confounded it with this species. On the other hand,
it does not appear that this one has ever occurred in
Europe, or in Africa, except in those parts which are

HEDGE HYSSOP— HELIOCANTHARUS.

719

nearest to Asia. Hedgehogs, from their structure
and the slowness of their motions, are not at all
adapted for migration ; and therefore we may not
only expect that every specie 5 will keep closely to its
locality, but that they must be considerably affected
by the average character of the ear in that locality.
In southern Africa, in Australia, and in the American
continent, there are certainly none, for the spiny
mammalia there belong either to the rodentia or the
edentata. Hence the pendent-eared hedgehog of the
East, the earless hedgehog of America, and some other
varieties which have been founded upon mutilated
specimens, cannot be received into this genus. The
one of the Eastern Islands and that of America are
rodent animals, approaching to the porcupines in
some of their characters ; and though some of the
others feed on insects, none of them are carnassiers
in the structure of the teeth.

HEDGE HYSSOP. Is the Gratiola officinalu of
Li milieus, a medicinal plant belonging to the natural
order Scrophularince, an herb indigenous to Europe.

HEDYCHIUM (Konig;. A^beautiful genus of
East I iidian plants, belonging to the first class and order
of Linnx'us, and to the natural order Scitaniinete.
Generic character : calyx tubular ; corolla of one petal,
tubular ; limb in six parts, turned back, middle lobe
cut ; stamens, filaments filiform and jointed ; anthers
terminal ; style filiform ; stigrna funnel-shaped ; cap-
sule aggregate. This is a favourite genus of stove
plants, requiring large pots, and a lofty house to
flower in. They are increased by dividing the roots,

HEDYOTIS (Willdenow), or Indian madder, is
a genus of annual and perennial plants, natives of
India and other places. The H. diffusa was called
Oldcnlandia diffusa by Roxburgh ; and Fischer found
one in Russia, which he called Oldcnlandia ramosissima.
They belong to Rubiaccce.

HEDYSARUM (Linnaeus). A very extensive
genus of annual, biennial, and perennial herbs, chiefly
natives of Europe. The flowers are diadelphous, and
consequently belong to the natural order Leguminoses.
This genus was formerly much more extensive than
it now is, several new genera being taken from it.
It comprises some highly ornamental, and a few ele-
gant plants, admitted into the flower-garden, where
they are easily increased.

HEISTERIA (Linnaeus), is the Hois Pcrdr'tx or
//. cocdnea of Jacquin : a large West India tree
belonging to the Olacinete.

HELENIUM (Linnaeus), a North American
germs of annual and perennial herbs, belonging to
Composites. They are tall growing plants, and are
usually introduced among shrubs at some distance
from the walk. They are increased by division.

HELIANTHEM'UM (Toumefort), a very nume-
rous genus of herbaceous undershrubs, and shrubby
or creeping plants, chiefly European. They belong
to the CistinecE, and are cultivated as ornamental
plants. The American species require the protection
of a greenhouse or frame during winter : the European
one* «TOW on rork-work or on the common borders.

HELIANTHUS (Linnaeus). Annual and peren-
nial herbs, originally discovered in America. The
sunflower is in everybody's garden, and, from its
large flaming yellow flowers, is universally known.
It has often been affirmed, though there is rather
more of poetry than truth in the assertion, that this
plant is so completely identified with the luminary
from whence it derives its name, that it regularly and

i progressively follows its course. It is true that the
" golden rayed flower " does, to a certain extent,
revolve on its stem, but it is a popular error to sup-
pose that it keeps a measured pace with the sun.
The H. tuberosus is a culinary vegetable, cultivated
in every garden, and plentiful in our markets. Tho
Italians call this plant Girasole articiocco, of which
our vulgar name "Jerusalem artichoke" is a vile
corruption. The seeds of the common one, H. annuus.
are very nutricious food for poultry ; and in North
America they are made into cakes by the Indians,
arid from them an excellent oil is extracted. The
pith of the sunflower consists of pure medullion.

HELICARION (De Ferussac). A genus of
shells, now united with that of HeticoKmax, from which
it differs so slightly as not to require a separation.

HELICELLA (Lamarck). A genus now united
to that of Helix, of which it forms a species.

HELICHRYSUM (Persoon). A splendid genus
of ornamental nndershrubs, chiefty natives of Africa.
Class and order Syngenesia superflua, and natural
order Coinposilac. Generic character : anthodinm
scaled, the inner scales are furrowed and rayed ;
receptacle naked. This genus was formerly included
among the Gnaphalinms, but separated therefrom by
Mr. D. Don and others. They are handsome green-
house plants, thrive well in moor-earth mixed with
loam, and cuttings placed in the same soil take root
readily. Some of the species ripen seed.

HELICINA (Lamarck). The general structure of
these molluscs greatly resembles that of the genus
Nirita •, but they are terrestrial, some feeding on trees
and others on the surface of the earth : from the
helix they may easily be distinguished by the trans-
verse callous columella, depressed and diminished in
thickness at the lower part ; the shell sub-globular,
not urnbilicated ; opening semi-elliptical and entire,
with a sharp edge, forming an angle at the lower part
of the side, with a horny operculum. The Trochus
vixtiarius of Linnaeus might easily be confounded with
this genus ; but its being a marine shell, and the cal-
losity covering the whole of its lower surface, by
which it is rendered convex, sufficiently distinguish it
from the Hclirina.

HELICONIA (Linnaeus). A genus of large
leaved herbs, natives of South America. Class and
order Penlandria Monogynia, and natural order Mu-
saccce. Generic character : flowers included in co-
loured spathas ; partial flowers in bundles ; corolla
six-cleft ; the exterior clefts two-lipped and revolute ;
the inner convolute ; stamens inserted into the base
of the corolla ; ordinary number six, but part of them
often abortive ; filaments awl-shaped and erect ; an-
thers linear ; style three-sided ; stigma obtuse ; cap-
sule oblong, three-sided, three-celled, and full of seeds.
The heliconias are stove plants, and require rich
soil, ample space, and a strong heat to flower them in
perfection.

HELICTRES (Linnaeus). This is the Screw
Tree of the East and West Indies. Class and order
Monodelphia Dodecandria, and natural order Bom-
baccee. These plants grow and flower freely in our
stoves, and are propagated by cuttings.

HELIOCANTHARUS (MacLeay) A genus
of coleopterous insects, belonging to the subsec-
tion of Lamellicornes, and having for its types the
sacred beetles of the Egyptians (Ateiichns sEgyp-
tiorum, Latreille, Scarabeeut Sacer, Linnaeus, &c.),
having the front of the head divided by notches

7-20

HELIOCANTHARUS.

into rays, the lateral margins of the elytra entire, the
anterior tarsi obsolete, and the four posterior legs
long and ciliated, &c. These insects are nearly allied
both in structure and habits, to the genus Gymno-
pleurun (which see), depositing their eggs in balls o
dung, which they roll into holes prepared for their
reception under ground. Mr. MacLeay has de-
scribed fifteen species of this group in the Horae
Entomologies.

Perhaps there are no insects which have attracted
BO much celebrity as those now under consideration,
and which were, amongst the many objects "qualia
demens ./Egyptus coluit," under the name of the
beetles of the sun. Amongst the Egyptians, and
other nations in friendly intercourse with them, these
insects were objects of especial regard ; and when we
remember the singular character of the Egyptian
speculations, and the great interest which attaches to
the hieroglyphical discoveries of the present day, we
are induced to inquire into the causes which could
have led this celebrated people to attach so much
importance to a comparatively insignificant creature
like the heliocantharus.

Apollonius, in his work upon the symbolical wis-
dom of the ancients, has entered largely into this
subject, describing three species of scaraba3tis ; the
first or the real searabreus, or beetle of the sun pre-
sented several rays from the head, whence it was con-
secrated to the deity of the sun ; and it was supposed
that all the individuals of this beetle were of the male
sex, and when one of them felt an inclination to con-
tinue its species, it sought out the dung of a cow, of
which it composed a ball representing the globe.
This ball it propels backwards with its hind legs, the
insect looking at the same time in the opposite direc-
tion ; and hence they come to be regarded as emblems
of the sun, which appears to proceed through the
heavens in a course contrary to that of the signs of
the zodiac ; and as these scarabaei were supposed to
roll their balls in the direction towards the west, their
own motion or at least their heads being directed to-
wards the east, it was further supposed that the first
of these motions was a symbolical exhibition of the
diurnal, the second of the annual, motion of the earth
and planets. Moreover, these male scarabaei were
supposed to roll their balls from sunrise to sunset
every day, for twenty-eight successive days, after
which they buried them in the earth, in which they
were supposed to conceal themselves for twenty-eight
days, being the duration of a lunar revolution, and
during which time the race of the scarabasi was sup-
posed to be animated. On the twenty-ninth day,
which the insect knows to be that of the conjunction
of the moon with the sun, and of the birth of the
world, it opens its ball, from which a fresh race of
scarabsi make their appearance, casting the fragments
into the water. For these fanciful and erroneous
reasons, the Egyptians, anxious to delineate a being
engendered by itself— selected the scarabseus. The
second species has two horns upon its head like those
of a bull, and was consecrated to the moon, that
goddess of whom the heavenly bull, according to the
Egyptians, was a type. The third species had but a
single horn, and was of a different form. This, as
well as the sacred ibis, was supposed to be conse-
crated to Mercury. Apollonius also mentions that
the figure of a blind scarabaeus was emblematical of
the death of a person who had perished from a fever
occasioned by the excessive heat of the sun.

The first of these species is considered by Latreille
in a valuable memoir upon the sacred insects of the
Egyptians, to be that insect which he has described
under the name of the Ateuchus sEgi/pliorum, and

Ateuchu

which, having a metallic greenish tint, and being of a
larger size, is supposed by him to have attracted the
attention of this people, rather than the other species,
which are uniformly black. Moreover, the former is
only found iu Nubia and Ethiopia, which were the
portions of the continent of Africa supposed to have
been first inhabited by the Egyptians. On coming
more northward, however, other species are found,
which, occupying the station of the former, necessarily
became objects of a similar veneration. Latreille,
was only able to find figures of the former on the
mummies opened in his presence. The second species
mentioned by Apollonius appears to be a species of
Copris, or Typhaus, resembling our common English
bull comber (Typhcuus vulgaris) ; and the third is
probably a species of the former genus, allied to
our Copris lunaris.

As objects of worship these insects were sculptured
with great skill, but the figures which have been dis-
covered exhibit so many varieties, so much disfigured
by the caprice of the artist, that the determination of
many of them must be very doubtful ; still their effi-
gies must certainly have had the effect of recalling to
mind the systems of cosmogony and mythology
established by this extraordinary race of men. Har-
bingers of spring, and the types of fecundity, an-
nouncing by their reproduction the renewing of nature;
singular from their instinct and forms, and occupied
nceasingly like Sisyphus of old in rolling their balls
along, it is not surprising that these insects offered to
he priests of Egypt an emblem of the works of Osiris
or the Sun. And it was not sufficient for their super-
stition that they should be found in every temple,
upon the bas reliefs and capitals of columns, and
upon obelisks, they were engraved with other hiero-
glyphical figures upon different kinds of stone, and
ashioned into medallions of carved cornelian, en-
Braved upon split pearls, pierced in order to form
necklaces, as well as for rings and seals. The image
of this tutelar deity followed the Egyptians, and de-
scended with them to the tomb, small models of the
scarabaei being usually placed in the chests of their
sarcophagi ; and one of these, mentioned in Greaves'
Pyramidographia," was formed of a magnet, which,
.Ithough three thousand years had elapsed since it
was taken from the rock, its natural bed, still retained
ts magnetic virtue. Sometimes even the insects
hemselves were put in the coffin ; and on some of
he mummies lately opened in this country, small

&

HELIOPSIS HELIX.

models of the insects have been found close to the
body, folded under many layers of bandages.

The most precious metals were often employed in
the construction of these models, in the place of mar-
ble or granite, and oftentimes the gigantic views of
the Egyptians induced them to carve colossal statues
of them. One of such colossal figures cut out of black
granite is to be seen in the saloon of the gallery of
the Elgin marbles at the British Museum, and which
is so large that the writer could scarcely sit comfort-
ably astride upon its back. This statue is known
amongst entomologists by the name of Bonelli's horse ;
and as the anecdote relates to two distinguished en-
tomologists, and has not hitherto appeared in print,
we may be excused for occupying the attention of
our readers a moment with it. When the late cele-
brated Italian professor Bonelli was in England, he
was shown the various contents of the British Museum,
and on arriving at this statue, the equally celebrated
naturalist who accompanied him, and who at that
period presided over the zoological department of the
establishment, jocosely invited him to mount the sun-
beetle, which, from his diminutive size, his friend
thought he would not be able to accomplish. He,
however, succeeded with difficulty, and since that time
the statue has acquired the name mentioned above.

We may in a great measure account for the disco-
very of so many of the models of the sacred beetles
in mummies and sarcophagi, by recollecting that the
habits of the insect would forcibly exhibit the pheno-
mena of resurrection ; and it is to this idea that Mr.
Moore alludes in that fanciful work, " The Epicurean,"
in which he describes an Egyptian chapel, the walls
of which were ornamented with the various symbols,
by which the mystic wisdom of the Egyptian loves
to shadow out the history of the soul, including " the
Theban beetle as he comes forth after the waters
have passed away, and the first sunbeam falls upon
his regenerated wings," adding the following note
from M. Jomard, " On voit en Egypte apres la retraite
du Nil et la fecondation des terres, le limon convert
d'une multitude de Scarabees. Un pareil phenomene
a du sembler aux Egyptiens le plus propre a peindre
une nouvelle existence." And in the writings of St.
Ambrose, the Messiah is frequently compared to a
scarabffius, without any notice of the cause for such a
strange comparison, although it evidently has partly
originated in the supposed resurrection of the insect
from the mud left by the retiring Nile, and partly in a
still more fanciful reason for the application of this
emblem toChrist.quoted by Moore from St. Augustine :
" Bonus ille scarabseus tneus, non ea tantum de causa
quod unigenitus, quod ipsemet sui auctor mortaliitm
speciem indiceret sed quod in hoc nostra tiece sese
volutaverit et ex hac ipsa nasci voluerit."

Many others were the superstitions connected with
these insects entertained by the Egyptians, which it
would occupy far too much space to detail. It is far
more pleasant and refreshing to look at nature as she
really is ; and in observing the proceedings of the
Heltocanthanis, we not only find a most interesting
instance of that instinct which induces the female to
re a fit retreat for her progeny, but also perceive
the great share which these insects, like the Geotmpes,
in the general economy of nature, in places
where they abound, as in Egypt. A recent author
thus describes the proceedings of one of the species,
in the last number of the Entomological Magazine :
" Atevchus vaiiolosus flies always in the middle and

NAT. HibT. — VOL. II.

heat of the day. It walks backwards with its pellets,
in which it buries its eggs, and which are generally
made of asses' dung. The pellet is about an inch
and a half or two inches in diameter, and in rolling ii,
they stand almost on their heads with their backs to
it, guiding it with their hind feet, and occasionally
mounting to the top when they find difficulty in urging
it on, probably to destroy its equilibrium. Its wedge-
shaped and dentated clypeus gives it strong mecha-
nical powers in removing obstacles, and as I frequent! y
found it buried under stones, in looking for Carabi,
we may remark the wisdom of Providence in furnish-
ing it with a lever to raise such heavy weights."

HELIOPSIS (Persoon). Annual and perennial
herbs of America, nearly related to Buphthalmum, and
belonginer to the natural order Componita;.

HELIOTROPIUM (Linnceus). Herbs and un-
dershrubs, natives of the warmer parts of the world,
and belonging to the natural order Boraginece. The
Heliotropes or Turnsoles have long been cultivated
favourites, in consequence of the fragrance of some
of the species. The H. Peruvianum is seen in almost
every cottage.

HELIX (Linnaeus, and modern naturalists). The
common garden snail at once illustrates the charac-
ters of this genus, properly so called, though Lin-
useus, under that designation, had blended together,
in the strangest disorder, land, marine, and fresh-
water molluscs, so intermingled both with regard to
the habitat and functions of the animal, and the form and
character of the shell itself, that the naturalist sought
in vain for those concurring testimonies and distin-
guishing generic types, by which alone his mind could
be guided in the propriety of adopting one system of
classification in preference to another. Lamarck first
ventured to depart from the arrangement of Linnaeus
with respect to this genus, and at once separated
from the Helices the genera Auricula, Caracalla,
Cyclostama, Planorbis, Achatina, Anastoma, Sulinus,
Janthina, Pafudiua, Pupa, Ampullana, Lymncca,
Succinca, Sigaretus, some of the Naticce and others,
each possessing consistent, natural, and well-marked
generic distinctions, sufficiently important to authorise
their separation from the incongruous mass in which
they had been confounded. Shells of the genus
Helix, as it is now constituted, are all of them ter-
restrial, and their families innumerable ; all parts of
the globe not actually covered with water affording
nourishment to the immense variety of different
species which every where abound in the hottest as
well as the coldest climates.

Their number and beauty can only be equalled by
some families of the insect tribes, in which a similar
extent of species is observable. We have already,
under the article CONCHOLOGY, endeavoured to be-
speak some compassion towards this much persecuted
but useful animal, and will, therefore, only repeat the
unanswerable conclusion, that where great reproduc-
tive powers, or a strong tenacity of life, exist in any
class of the Almighty's creatures^ great ends are to
be worked by their agency, however humble their
powers may appear to that most self-sufficient of all
animals — man : a conviction of this is forced upon
him even by the snail, would he but once condescend
to examine the good services it renders mankind,
upon the broad principle of universal benefit, dis-
missing narrow-minded prejudice, selfish interest, and
ignorant cruelty. He would then hail this little crea-
ture as a benefactor to society, and its presence'
ZZ

7-22

H L L L E B 0 R U S - H E L O P H O 11 1 D .£.

would no longer be the signal for its barbarous de-
struction. The genus Hciu; as it now stands esta-
blished according to the modern school of naturalists,
comprehends such of the shells, so called by Linnaeus,
as present the following constant and similar generic
characters in all their species, namely, their being
orbicular, convex, or conoid, generally globular ;
aperture entire, of a greater width than length, very
oblique, contiguous to the axes of the shell, having
the margin of it disunited by the angle of the pre-
vious evolution or whorl ; the lip constantly thick-
ened or reflected inwards, a circumstance which never
takes place in marine or fresh-water shells, \vhose
general appearance, in other respects, might resemble
that of the Helix. The summit is always rounded
and smooth, never turriculated, as in some very
similar molluscs ; the substance of the shell is never
pearly, though externally and internally highly
polished.

The animal is so constantly under our convenient
observation, that it need not be here minutely de-
scribed ; and it affords so much instruction in the
formation of shells generally, that we earnestly invite
the young naturalist to walk abroad and seek from a
snail that practical information which volumes might
fail to convey so clearly or so satisfactorily.

During the heat of the day these animals conceal
themselves in moist shady places, and during winter
they hybernate in the holes of trees and walls, and
not unfrequently beneath the surface of the ground ;
some of them closing the aperture of their shell with
a false or temporary operculum, protecting them from
enemies and the change of temperature while they
remain in that inactive or torpid state. Some instances
have been pointed out already, in the article CONCHO-
LOGY, of the tenacity of this animal's life, and we
need only add, that we believe it to be a well-attested
fact, that a portion, or even the whole, of its head will
be reproduced after having been severed from the
body by accident or philosophical cruelty.

Being ourselves so much indebted to the snail for
unravelling some of the apparently mysterious ope-
rations of nature in this branch of natural history,
we cannot quit this article without trespassing a short
time longer on the space allotted to our subject, a
circumstance we have constant reason to regret,
though it is our anxious wish to compress every use-
ful information into the least possible compass. Should
any doubt yet linger in the naturalist's mind of the
propriety of adopting the system of modern malaco-
logy, founded as it is upon the organisation of the
animals constructing and inhabiting a testaceous
covering, in preference to that of former schools, in
which the capricious shape of the shell solely guided
the formation of their genera, let him examine the
labours of the snail and judge for himself— he will
there meet with such unanswerable evidence of the
wisdom of deserting hi? old prejudices, that it would
be palpably absurd still to adhere to them when
another course is pointed out to him by Nature
herself. In every case the study of nature would
be greatly facilitated by observing more narrowly the
indications she furnishes for a correct classification of
distinct genera and species, which are but too fre-
quently considered of little value, or altogether over-
looked from being often but slightly defined ; they are,
nevertheless, of the utmost importance, and enable
us to judge by analogy of that which we cannot in most
cases confirm by actual observation, since the habits

of molluscs arc so little known and so difficult to ex-
amine.

From the extremely numerous species of this
genus, all naturalists have agreed upon the necessity
of forming certain sub-divisions to facilitate a know-
ledge of the species. De Montfort pointed out se-
veral, Oken proposed others, and many other writers
have done the same ; but the Baron de Ferrussac has
the most effectively occupied himself with this group
of molluscs, and pointed out, to our thinking, the best
and the most natural arrangement of the genus Helix.
To his splendid publication, therefore, we must refer
our readers for that minute detail we cannot here give
at length, and will not be unjust enough to mutilate
by abbreviation. Of the genus but few are known in
a fossil state, and perhaps not more than three ana-
logous to recent examples. A reference to the article
FOSSIL will satisfactorily explain this fact, we will,
therefore, conclude with observing that the genus
Helix occupies a most important station in the eco-
nomy of nature, and is well worth a much more
serious contemplation than has hitherto been be-
stowed upon it, as it is one which will eventually
conduce to beneficial results as yet but little known,
particularly in this country, where snails are con-
sidered as common pests, and exterminated with in-
veterate diligence. The Linnaean genus Helix now
forms the family Limacina of modern writers.

HELLEBORUS (Linnaeus). A genus of Euro-
pean herbs, particularly well known for their imputed
poisonous qualities. Class and order Polyandria
Polygynia, and natural order Ranunculacece. Some
of them are early flowerers ; hence one is called the
Christmas rose. The whole are accounted violent
drastic purgatives, and in large doses dangerous.
They are mostly now laid aside, and with reason, as
when incautiously administered as anthelmintics death
has ensued. The H. orientalis grows plentifully on
Mount Athos at Delphi, and on the Bithynian
Olympus.

HELLENIA (Willdenow). A genus of perennial
herbs found in New Holland and China, belonging to
the first class and order of Linnaeus, and to the natu-
ral order ScitamiueeE.

HELONIAS (Linnaeus). North American herb-
aceous perennials, belonging to the sixth class of
Linnaeus, and natural order Melanthacece. These
plants are hardy, and affect a peat soil and moist
situation. They are increased by division or
seeds.

HELOPHILUS (Meigen). A genus of dip-
terous insects, belonging to the section Athericera and
family Syrphidae, having the body rather long and
nearly smooth, the hind thighs large, thickened, and
finely toothed, the face impressed below the antennae,
and the wings not carried horizontally when at rest.
These are large flies, nearly allied to ERISTALIS
(which see), being however much fewer in number of
species, the type being the Musca pendula, a name
given to it in allusion to the habits of the larva?, which
resemble those of Eristalis both in structure and
locality, as do also those of the perfect insect.

HELOPHORID^E (Leach). A family of coleo-
pterous insects, belonging to the section Pentamera
and subsection Philhydrida of MacLeay. This family
comprises a few genera of minute aquatic beetles
which seem to form the connecting link between the
true water and land beetles, having clavate antennae.
In this point of view, therefore, the family possess

H E L O P I D /E — H E M I P T K it A.

Unlike the former, the struc- | and very much reticulated, resemblin

considerable interest.

tnre of the legs, and the want of cilia\ or hairs, on
the limbs, prevents them from swimming ; so that
it is rather by walking than swimming that they pre-
serve their aquatic situation. The body is oblong
and depressed ; the antenna; composed of nine joints
clubbed at the tips ; the mandibles are destitute ol
teeth ; and the maxillary palpi very long, a character
which they possess in common with the more typical
water-beetles (Hydroph'didfB} ; they creep but slowly,
and may often be observed in muddy water and at
the roots of aquatic plants ; sometimes also in fine
weather they leave the water and take flight. The
genera are Helophorus, Hydrochus, Ochthebius, and Hy-
di-f£iia, the first of which is distinguished by the mode-
rate length of the maxillary palpi, which have the last
joint thickened and oval, and by the transverse form
of the thorax. There are eight English species, the
Silpha aquatica of Linnaeus being the type. It is
about a quarter of an inch long, and of a dull brassy
brown colour, with the elytra greyish. In Hydrochus
the thorax is long and the eyes very prominent,
whence the typical species is termed Cicindeloidcs, in
allusion to its resemblance in these respects to the
tiger beetles. In Hydraina the maxillary palpi are
very long, being nearly half the length of the body.

HELOPID.E (Stephens; HELOPII, Latreille).
A very extensive family of coleopterous insects, be-
longing to the section Hcteromcra and to the subsection
Stenelytra of Latreille ; having the antenna? inserted
near the eyes, beneath the lateral margins of the head,
nearly filiform, or but slightly thickened at the tips ;
the joints generally cylindric and slender at the base,
the third joint being elongated ; the tips of the man-
dibles have a notch ; the maxillary palpi are terminated
by a large hatchet-shaped joint ; the eyes are oblong,
and kidney-shaped ; the tarsi generally simple, as
well as the claws. These insects, which are gene-
rally elegantly marked and variegated in their colours,
arc for the most part inhabitants of tropical regions,
where vegetation abounds, the perfect insects
being chiefly found upon the trunks of old and decay-
ing trees ; the larvae, of which very few have been
observed, feed also upon the wood of such trees.
They are filiform, smooth, and shining, with very
short legs, resembling those of the meal-worm (Tcnc-
brio mo/itor). Mr. Stephens introduces the Cistelidcs
of Latreille into this family, which have the antennae
exposed at the base, the mandibles entire at the tips,
and the tarsal claws toothed. In other respects they
are closely allied to the true Helopida;. There are
numerous genera established in this family, chiefly
founded upon exotic species, of whose habits nothing
is known. The English genera are He/ops, Eryjc,
Mycetodiarus, Cislela, and Allecula, which, with the
exception of the first, belong to the subdivision of the
Cistclidcs. The genus IIclops is remarkable for having
the anterior tarsi of the males dilated. The thorax is
transverse, and applied to the base of the elytra.
There are four British species, of which the type is
the He/ops caraboides, an insect found abundantly
throughout the kingdom at the roots and under the
bark of trees and upon the broom. It is of an elongate
ovate form, of a pitchy brown colour, and thickly
punctured, the antennae and tarsi being of a dusky red.
HEMEROBIID^E (HEMEROBID.E, Leach). A
family of neuropterous insects belonging to the sec-
tion Pltuiipennes of Latreille, having the body slen-
der and much shorter than the wings, which are large

very fine net-
work ; the antenna: slender and filiform ; the palpi
only four in number, the terminal joint being thicker
than the preceding ; the first segment of the thorax
is very small, and the wings, when shut, are deflexed ;
the body is soft ; the eyes globular, and often splen-
didly metallic. They fly very slowly. These insects,
which in their perfect state seem' so delicate and
harmless, are produced from grubs which are exceed-
ingly ravenous, very much resembling those of the
ant-lion (Myrmelmnidce) not only in their appearance
but also in their ravenous propensities. Like the
grubs of the ladybirds, they subsist upon plant-lice,
which they seize with their jaws, which are long and
curved, and which they suck to death in a very short
time. Some of these larva; moreover invest them-
selves with the skins of their victims, which gives
them an extraordinary appearance. When full grown
the larva envelopes itself in a globular cocoon, com-
posed of a very fine tissue of silk, and which in pro-
portion to the size of either the larva or perfect
fly is very small. The spinnerets of the larva are
placed at the extremity of its body, as in those of the
ant-lions. These larvae are produced from eggs, depo-
sited by the females in patches of ten or a dozen
together upon the leaves or stems of various plants,
of a white colour, and raised from the leaf upon a
long glutinous footstalk of the same colour, finer
than a hair. Hence by some authors they have been
described as a remarkable species of fungi. From
their habits they are thus essentially beneficial from
the number of aphides they destroy; and it is a
curious circumstance that, like the ladybirds, they
should emit a strong and exceedingly disagreeable
smell, which remains upon the hand for a consider-
able length of time. The genera belonging to this
family are Osmylus, Xymplws, from New Holland,
Drepaneptcryx, Chrysopa, and Heinerobius.

In Osmylus, which comprises the largest British
species, (O. macidattis, F.) the ocelli are three in
number, and the antenna; moniliform. In Chrysopa
(Leach) the ocelli are wanting, and the joints of the
antennae are cylindric. There are twelve Briti-h
species, including the type Heinerobius perla (Linn.),
or the golden-eye, a very elegant species, of a green
colour, the wings clear, with green veins. It is a very
common species. The Hemerobii, as restricted by
Dr. Leach, are smaller species, having moniliform
ioints to the antennae.

HEMEROCALLIDEyE. A natural order of plants
comprising eighteen genera, and two hundred and sixty-
one species already described. They are mostly fine
showy plants, bearing their flowers in umbels or ra-
cemes, either white, yellow, red, or blue. They are
mostly inhabitants of temperate climates, and are of
little utility, with the exception of the aloe, the medi-
cal and economical uses of which need hardly be
mentioned. Here we find some of the gayest orna-
ments of the stove, greenhouse, and flower-garde1!).
The aletris, agapanthus, tritoma, &c. belong to this
order, and many other equally interesting plants.

HEMEROCALLIS (Linnaeus) is the day-lily, a
common hardy flower-border plant belonging to
Hcjcandria, and is so named from the fugacious cha-
racter of its flowers. It gives a title to the natural
order HemerocallidecE.

HEMIPTERA. In the Linmean system of
zoology the name of the second order of insects, cha-
racterised bv having the wing-covers of a consistence
Z Z 2

7i!4

HEMLOCK.

intermediate between the scaly covering of the beetles
and the membranous wings of the flies, being semicrus-
taceous, not meeting together when at rest by a straight
suture, but having some portion of the inner margin
of one wing-cover folded over the other. In the order
thus characterised by the structure of the wings alone,
were included the cock-roaches (genus Blatla), pray-
ing mantes (G. Mantis,) and locusts and grasshoppers
(G. GryUtts, Linnseus), having the mouth armed with
jaws ; and Fulgora, Cicada, Notonecta, Nepa, Cimex,
Aphis, Chcrmes, Coccus, and Thrips, having (with the
exception of the last, which has not yet been satis-
factorily examined) the mouth suctorial, furnished
with a proboscis. Hence De Geer, by a combination
of structural characters, and Fabricius, following up
his system, derived from the cibarian organs, sepa-
rated the mandibulated genera from the others, to which
the name of Hemiptera became restricted, the others
acquiring the names of Ulonata, Fabr., or Orthoptera,
Olivier. Latreille, however, adopting a system derived
from general instead of isolated characters, separated
the Hemiptera (which Fabricius termed Rhyngota)
into two great sections, the first having the wing-
covers horizontal and of unequal consistence, tlie
basal portion being coriaceous, and the terminal half
membranous, retaining for these the name of Hete-
roptera, and giving that of Honwptcra to the second
section, in which the wing-covers are deflexed and of
equal consistence throughout. Moreover, in the first
of these divisions the rostrum, or promuscis, as it is
termed by Mr. Kirby, arises at the front of the under-
side of the head, whereas in the second it springs
from its posterior portion, near the base of the fore-
legs, and sometimes appearing pectoral. Dr. Leacli,
followed by Mr. Mac Leay and some other English
authors, considered these two groups as possessing
the rank of distinct orders, the first retnining the
name of Hemiptera, and the second Hoinoptera.
Kirby, also, and Latreille, from their agreement in
possessing an articulated proboscis, have however
regarded them as belonging only to one order. Mr.
Kirby, however, gives the following observations as
indicating the chief differences between them : —
1st, " the heteropterous section usually sucks the
juices of animals, and the homopterous those of plants,"
but this is by no means correct : the majority of
the former, as well as the latter, are plantisuges ;
(in the former the hemelytra, besides their different
substance) as well as the wings, cross each other ;
while in the latter the organs of flight are deflexed
and do not lap over each other at all. The antennae,
also, of the one are often long, and do not terminate in
a bristle ; whilst in the other,with few exceptions, they
are very short and setigerous. In the Heteroptera
the body is depressed and flat ; in the Homoptera
convex and thick. In the former the scutellum is one
of the principal features of the trunk ; in the latter
not at all remarkable.

Regarding these points of distinction as of no small
importance in the establishment of distinct orders, we
find the order Hemiptera characterised by the jointed,
sucker-shaped mouth, the wings membranous, covered b\r
wing- covers, either entirely membranous and deflexed,
or partly coriaceous and partly membranous and hori-
zontal, and the tarsi never composed of more than three
joints. The mouth is composed of a fleshy articulated
canal, terminating in a point inclosing "several fine
bristles, which are employed as lancets in wounding
the substances upon which the insects feed ; it is also

furnished externally at the base with a small conical
place transversely striated, which represents the upper
lip of the other orders. When unemployed this pro-
boscis is laid along the breast, often reaching to or
even extending beyond the base of the hind legs ;
when employed it is protruded forwards.

All the insects belonging to this order undergo a
series of moultings, analogous to those of other insects,
although less in degree. They are produced from
eggs as small active six-legged larvae, having nearly
the resemblance of the perfect insects, but entirely
destitute of wings or wing-covers. After shedding
the skin several times, gaining thereby only an in-
crease of size, they appear as pupae, but still active,
and differing only from the larvae by having the wings
j and wing-covers concealed in small cases placed upon
j the back. Another moulting brings them to the
j imago state, in which their wings are fully developed.
I In the apterous, or wingless species, the transforma-
j tions merely consist in a gradual increase of size at
I the successive moultings. The pupae of the Hemt-
\ ptcra take as much nourishment as the larvae.

The majority of these insects are found in their
various states upon plants, the juices of which serve
for their nourishment ; some few however inhabit the
water (as the Nepidce and Notonectido;}, whilst others
reside upon its surface, as in Gerris, Hydrometra, &c.
These appear to prey upon other dead or floating
insects ; others fly in the air with great agility, al-
though they walk but slowly ; and some leap to a
great distance, as in the Cecrupidce. A few of the
species, one only of which is found in our climate,
attacks man, namely, the Cimex lectitlarins. The
majority are varied in their colours ; a few only (as the
Nepa grandis and large exotic Cicada*) attain a large
size ; the majority being less than an inch in length.
As above characterised, the order Hemiptera is
divisible into two sub-orders, or primary classes, the
Heteroptera and Homoptera, the distinctions of which
we have already detailed in this article.

The sub-order Heteroptera (or the order Hemiptera
of Leach, Mac Leay, Stephens, &c.) is divisible into
two primary divisions, namely, the Geocorisa, or land-
bugs, and Hydrocorisa, or water-bugs.

For the characters of the Geocorisa, see our article
upon that group, and that upon Cimex, in which the
various subsections or families are described. For
the characters of the Hydrocorisa, see the article upon
that group ; and for an account of the other sub-
order, and its divisions, see the article HOMOPTEKA,
and the various articles referred to from it.

HEMLOCK is the Coninm maculalum of Linnaeus,
a common and dangerous British weed. It belongs
to the natural order Umbelliferce, and is nearly related
to the genus Smyrnium. The death of Socrates has
conferred such a celebrity on the hemlock, that more
plants have contended for the honour of bearing death
to the philosopher than cities for giving birth to
Homer. The Coneion of the ancients was a potent
poison administered to those condemned to death by
the Areopagus. Theramenes and Phocion, as well
as Socrates, were poisoned by it ; and although the
effects recorded in history are not in correspondence
with those we should look for from the common
hemlock, it is highly probable that this was the poison
employed. That the modern Conium is identical with
the Coneion of the Greeks, is rendered probable from
its being very common in Peloponnesus, and " most
abundant between Athens and Megara," according to

HEMLOCK SPRUCE FIR— HERA CLEUM.

Sibthorpe. The other plants which have been named
as affording the Condon : viz., the Cicuta virosa,
(Enanthe phellandrium, and JEthusa cynapium, are
not found in any part of the country. The hemlock,
however, is, like others mentioned, a poison to some
animals, and innocuous to others. It is said to be
fatal to kine, but that horses, goats, and sheep, may
feed upon it without danger ; and most brute animals
can eat it when dry with impunity. Although, whether
fresh or dry, it is poisonous to man, yet thrushes will
eat the seeds, which are more potent than the leaves.

HEMLOCK SPRUCE FIR is the Abies Cana-
demis of the Hortus Kewensis. An American fir,
so called from us branches in tenuity and position
resembling the foliage of the common hemlock.

HEMP is the Cannabis saliva of Linnaeus. An
agricultural annual plant of large stature, and which
affords the hemp of commerce. Of hemp there are
two principal varieties, esteemed by some writers as
distinct species : viz., the European hemp, with oppo-
site leaves ; and the Indian, called in the Peninsula,
Bang, the leaves of which are alternate. In India,
hemp is cultivated as a luxury, and used solely as an
excitant. It possesses peculiar intoxicating powers,
and produces luxurious dreams and trances. The
leaves are sometimes chewed or smoked as tobacco.
A stupifying liquor is also prepared ; arid they enter
with opium, betel-nut, sugar, &c.,into various narcotic
preparations.

In Europe it is largely cultivated, but exclusively for
its use in the arts. Its fibres are tough and strong,
and peculiarly adapted for weaving into coarse fabrics,
such as sail-cloth, and twisting into ropes and cables.
Immense quantities are imported into this country
for the use of the navy, and large stores kept ; for it
is not a profitable crop in a well-peopled country
where corn is in great demand. The seeds abound
in oil, which is relished by the Russians as food ; in
other countries it is chiefly used by painters, or to
burn. The seeds are nutritious, and form a favourite
food of cage-birds. But hemp-seed has the very
singular property of changing the colour of the
plumage of bullfinches and goldfinches from red and
yellow to black, if they are fed on it for a long time,
or in too large a quantity.

HEMP AGRIMONY is the Enpatorium canna-
binum of Linnaeus, a British plant, found in damp
places. It belongs to the natural order Composites.

HENBANE is the Hyoscyamus niger of Litincctis,
a British biennial herb, found in rubbish heaps, or on
uncultivated ground. It belongs to Solancce. Hen-
bane is a powerful narcotic, and when taken in any
considerable quantity proves quickly poisonous to
men and most brute animals ; swine are said to be able
to eat it with impunity.

HEPATIC A (Dilwin), a genus of beautiful little
flowering plants belonging to the natural order Ramm-
culacecE. The H. tri/oba, with its varieties of blue,
red, white, and snow-white blossoms, are in every
flower-garden, and appear among the earliest gems of
the season. It was called Anemone hepatica by
Linnaeus.

HEPATIC^E, a natural order of the first class in
the second grand division Ccllulares, and comprises
small creeping plants, with their leaves arranged in
an imbricated manner. They differ from lichens in
structure, colour, and fruit ; from mosses in the
dehiscence of their capsules. Their qualities are
mild, if any, and some of them are fragrant.

HEPI ALID.fi (Stephens). A family of noctur-
nal lepidopterous insects or moths belonging to the
subsection of which Bonibyx is the type, and forming,
with the Bombycidce and two other families, the Lepi-
doptera pomcridiana of Stephens. The antennas are
very short and necklace-shaped, being simple or but
slightly pectinated, although in one of the, genera,
Zeuzera, they are stronsly pectinated at the base.
The spiral tongue, which forms so conspicuous a fea-
ture in the lepidopterous character, is here obsolete,
and even the palpi are sometimes represented only
by a slight tuft of hairs. The wings are large, narrow,
and deflexed, when at rest. The larvae are large,
naked fleshy caterpillars, which feed either on the
roots of vegetables or burrow in the soft wood of
various trees. They are furnished with sixteen legs,
eight of which are abdominal and two anal. The
chrysalis is cylindrical, having the abdominal segments
strongly armed with small hooks, whereby, immedi-
ately previous to assuming the winged state, they are
enabled to push themselves forward to the surface of
the ground, or to the outside of the tree in which
they had the instinct, whilst larvae, to form a burrow.
In their habits, therefore, these insects nearly approach
to some of the aberrant Crepusciilaria or JEgerti&z,
the larvae of which feed upon the pith of various trees,
and, like them, they are occasionally obnoxious, de-
stroying trees and other useful plants. The family
comprises the three English genera Hepialus, Cosstta,
and Zeuzera.

In the first named genus the antennae are much
shorter than the thorax, and setaceous. The cater-
pillars live under ground, feeding upon the roots of
plants. These rnoths, of which there are six British
species, are termed Swifts by collectors, owing to their
rapid flight ; the females are generally much larger
than the males, and differently coloured, although
their markings are similar. One of the species, Hepi-
alus humuii, is very common in grassy places during
the month of June. The male is of a pure silvery
white colour, but the female is of a yellowish buff
with darker markings. The male is remarkable for
its singular mode of flight, which resembles the motion
of a pendulum; and as this is continued for a great
length of time over one spot (where the female is pro-
bably stationed), and as the insect is often observed
in country church-yards, the harmless insect has got
the credit of being nothing less than the unquiet ghost
of some person over whose grave it happens to be
seen hovering, and has accordingly thence obtained
the name of the ghost moth. This species varies in
the expansion of the wings from one inch and three
quarters to three inches.

The genus Cossus contains the large dingy coloured
moth known by the name of the goat moth, from the
strong scent emitted by its larva. See GOAT MOTH.

The genus Zeuzera contains but a single British
species.the wood-leopard moth, Z.yEsew/i.distinguished
by having the basal half of the antennae in the males
strongly bipectinated, and in the females wholly,
whilst the terminal half is quite naked. The cater-
pillar feeds upon the wood of the apple, pear, an i
other trees, but it is a rare species.

HERACLEUM (Linnaeus), a genus of the largest
herbs produced in Europe. In England it is called
cow-parsnep, or kexes, and is very common in damp
meadow ground, making the hay coarse, and of less
value. To free a meadow of this plant it should he
grazed with sheep till late in the spring. The sheep

HERBERTIA-HERON.

726

eat off the head of the stem, and prevent it rising to

seed. It is certainly the Hercules of British plants.

HERBERTI A (Sweet), a bulbous genus of plants
from South America, named in honour of the Hon. and
hev. VV. Herbert, an assiduous botanist. It belongs
to Iridcce, and its species are cultivated with other
bulbs in a frame, or warm border, only requiring to
be defended from severe frost.

HERB PARIS is the Paris quadrifolia of Linnaeus,
a curious British plant belonging to the natural order
Aspkodelccc, found in damp boggy places under trees.

HERB ROBERT is the Geranium Robertianum
of Linnaeus, a common British plant found under
every hedge.

HERIADES (Spinola), a genus of bees nearly
allied to Chelottoma (which see), but having the jaws
triangular, and the maxillary palpi only two-jointed.
They are of small size, and make their nests in old
posts and trees. There are two British species.

HERITIERA (Hortus Kewensis), East Indian
trees, called the " looking-glass plant." They belong
to the natural order Byttneriacea;, and thrive in our
stoves, in loam and moor earth, and are propagated by
cuttings.

HERMANNIA (Linnaeus), a genus of orna-
mental shrubs from the Cape of Good Hope. Class
and order Monadelphia Pcntandria, and natural order
Byttncriacece. They are easily managed greenhouse
plants, growing in any light soil, and readily struck
from cuttings.

HERMINIUM (R. Brown), a common British
orchis, formerly called O-phrys monorchis by Linnaeus.
Found in damp meadows.

HERNANDIA (Linnaeus), a genus of large East
Indian trees, belonging to LaurinetE. The H.sonora,
or Jack in a box, is so called from the noise made by
the wind whistling through its persistent involucels.
The juice of the leaves is found to be an advantageous
and effectual depilatory, as it destroys the hair where-
ever it is applied, and this without pain,

HERNIA RIA (Linnaeus), or rupture wort, is a
genus of creeping and half-shrubby plants, natives of
Europe. The flowers are pentandrious, and belong
to the natural order Paronyc/iietz. They are highly
ornamental when planted on rock-work.

HERON (Ardea). An interesting order of birds,
belonging to the cultirostral division of stilt birds or
waders, and usually considered as a family, including
the various divisions of herons properly so called,
and also the bitterns and the night herons. We have
already given some notice of the bitterns in the article
BITTERN, and we have mentioned the general rela-
tions of the family in the article ARDEA, so that we
shall here require to notice only the leading species.

Herons are usually subdivided into three sections —
herons properly so called, which have the legs very
long ; crab-eating herons, which have them much
shorter ; and egrets, which have the long legs and
neck, and slender body of the true herons, but which
have often very beautiful produced feathers on the
back, by the assistance of which they float very lightly
m the air. They are all more or less migrant, and
birds of high and powerful flight ; but those which
have the produced or supplemental feathers, which
are understood to be seasonal in most of the species,
are generally regarded as being more migratory in
their habits than those which have not. . Heron's, in
one or other of their species, are found in most
countries of the world, lu all places they frequent

the banks of ponds, lakes, and rivers, and some of
them are occasionally met with on the shores of the
sea. They are stately in their march, and the vast
length of their legs, necks, and wings, makes them
appear much larger birds than they are in reality,
for their bodies are light ; and the sportsman who
sees a heron on the wing, and succeeds in bringing
it down by a shot, is apt to be astonished at the small
bird which has come to him, considering the largo
one that he observed'in the sky.

As is the case with all wading birds, they project
the feet backwards while they are on the wing, and
they generally fly so high, especially on their long
journeys, that they are above almost every bird from
which they need to apprehend any danger. Tho
falcon, indeed, is the only bird of prey which can rise
to the full elevation of a heron ; and even from this
bird the heron escapes, by doubling the neck back
upon the shoulders, as this lessens the weight of the
fore part of the body, and consequently allows the
hind part to droop till the axis points upward
obliquely at the fore part ; and it will be readily
understood that, when birds fly, the line of course
which they attempt to make is the line of the general
axis of the body, though the real course made good
deviates from this in proportion to the weight of the
bird. Herons are very light birds in proportion to
their powers of flight, and they get the sky more
rapidly than birds of more powerful wing ; and there-
fore, even in the days of falconry, when the heron
was favourite sport with the jer or the peregrine,
there was no use of flying a falcon at a heron on
migratory flight. The times chosen were generally
those in which the birds were passing between their
feeding-places and those where the}7 nestle, or, at
all events, repose. Herons do not, like storks and
cranes, rest themselves standing on the ground, at
least for any length of time. Their favourite places
are on the tops of trees, especially those which have
the upper branches lateral, and form a sort of wicker
platform. The birds stand upon these, and very
generally the whole body is seen above the tops of
the trees, in which situation the birds have a noble
appearance.

The forward flight of herons is not rapid in pro-
portion to the length of their wings, neither do they
move these with so much velocity as many other
birds, although they are stroke-fliers rather than
gliders on the wing. Birds which glide usually take
their gliding-motion after having worked their wings
very rapidly for some time ; and thus, loosely-made
birds, with light bodies and very long wings, never
glide, though they continue to keep the sky with
very slow action. The peculiar style of the heron's
flight is best seen when the bird is nearly on a level
with the observer, and retreating, in which situation
it will be seen that the body is not the centre of
motion, but that there is a point in each wing upon
which the body and the tips of the wings appear to
swing alternately, the body sinking when the tips are
raised, and rising when they are depressed ; nor are
there any birds which show this motion in so great
perfection. Herons are very industrious and success-
ful fishers, but their food is pretty miscellaneous.
They eat the spawn of fishes, worms, shelled and
naked mollusca, crustaceous animals, frogs, and the
sm-aller mammalia which inhabit near the water.
They have but one principal moult in the year, and
the sexes do not differ greatly from each other in

HERON.

'•11

appearance ; but the young- and the old are often so
dissimilar, that there are not a few mistakes in many
of the descriptions ; and this renders it necessary to
he cautious how any heron, which is but little known,
is erected into a species, or even a variety, until it
has been seen both in the young and the adult state.
Herons, though most of them frequent obscure and
lonely places, have yet a good deal of social feeling
about them. Those which, from the nature of their
pastures, are forced to migrate, usually migrate in
large flocks ; and in the breeding-grounds they are
generally crowded together, and build their nests
even closer than rooks.

THE COMMON HERON (A. cincren}. This is the
species which is best known in the British islands, in
various parts of which, both north and south, it is
resident in very considerable numbers, though it was
much more abundant in former times, when more of
the country was covered with pools and marshes, and
the h°ron was sought for as game. The lenglh of the
full-grown bird is nearly three feet and a half, and the
stretch of the wings upwards of five feet ; the weight
is between three and four pounds ; greyish-ash is the
ground colour of the body, marked with lines of black
on the neck, and the parts generally with a black bar
on the breast ; the occiput, in the mature birds, is
furnished with a long pendant black crest, which
appears to guide the head when the bird strikes
rapidly at its prey, and there are also produced silky
feathers on the scapulars ; the young want the crest,
and also the scapular appendages, and on this account
they have sometimes been considered the females,
and described as such. The colours are not constant,
for individuals are sometimes met with which are
nearly white, but which do not, in any other respect,
differ from the grey ones.

The common heron, like the raven, is found in
almost every part of the world. It (or an analogous
bird) has been observed within the arctic circle
nearly all round, in all the temperate parts of Ame-
rica, in the East and West Indies, in Egvpt, and along
the banks of most of the African rivers. Indeed,
there is scarcely any humid district on the whole
surface of the globe in which this bird has not been
found ; and it is not unknown in the isles of the
Pacific Ocean. Its favourite haunts are always
countries covered with tall forests, in the neighbour-
hood of running or of stagnant waters, as the waters
of such places are known to abound most with fish,
in consequence of the rich supply of insect and other
food upon which fishes subsist. It is capable of sub-
sisting a very considerable time without feeding,
though it often exposes itself to the severest weather
while waiting for its prey. It is a most ravenous
feeder when prey is to be had in plenty, and its
digestive powers are equal. No bird is so formidable
to the fishes of ponds, lakes, and small rivers, as the
heron. In fresh water it will strike at, and wound,
with its powerful bill, fishes which it is unable to lift
out of the water ; but it prefers smaller ones, which
it can swallow readily either standing or on the wing.
When it has advanced as far into the water as it can,
without wetting its feathers, it awaits patiently the
approach of its victims, into which it darts its bill
with undeviating aim whenever they come in contact.
Willoughby tells us that he saw a heron swallow no
less than seventeen carp, which he estimated the bird
could digest in six or seven hours, and then go to fish
again.

It is vulgarly reported that the heron has a good
deal of trouble when fishing for eels, because those
slippery animals will not remain in the stomach,
so that the bird may have to swallow the same
eel a dozen times over. This is of course incor-
rect, for the stomach of a bird of far less digestive
powers than a heron is a " bourne from which no
living traveller can ever return," or escape by any
self-exertion ; and, besides this, we believe that,
when the eels are of considerable size, so that they
twist and wriggle about the bill of the heron, the
bird always makes for the land, and finishes them
by breaking the skull either with a dart of the bill
or a stroke of the foot. That herons capture a
vast number of eels is certain, and they carry
them as favourite food for their young ; but if
an eel is swallowed as food for the swallower it
appears no more. Though the heron usually takes
his prey by wading into the water, he frequently
also catches it on the wing ; but this is only in
shallow waters, into which he darts with more cer-
tainty than into the deeps, instantly pinning the fish
to the bottom, arid thus seizing it more securely.
After having been seen, in this manner, with his long
neck under water for a minute or so, he will rise on
the wing with a trout or eel in his bill, and, after
swallowing it entire either on the shore or in the air,
will immediately return again to fish. Herons are
frequently observed to feed by moonlight, when the
fish come into the shallow waters. In fact, they are
semi-nocturnal in their habits, and they prey on sea-
fish as well as on those in the fresh waters. The
different parts of their structure are admirably adapted
to their mode of life, for they have long legs suitable
for wading, a long neck to reach their prey, and a
capacious gullet to swallow it. Their toes are long,
and armed with long hooked talons, one of which is
serrated on the edge, the better to retain the slippery
spoil. The bill is likewise long and sharp, having
serratures towards the point, which stand backwards,
and act like the barbs of a fish-hook. Its broad and
concave wings are of signal service in enabling it to
convey its load of nourishment to the nest, and to
transport its comparatively small and meagre body
to distant regions. When we add to these circum-
stances the acute vision and patient vigilance of this
bird, we shall see no reason for indulging in the
gloomy strictures of Buffon, who would represent it
as an instance of neglect and cruelty on the part of
nature, as if the supremely wise and good Creator of
all could ever destine animals to a life of wretched-
ness and misery. The heron has a very melancholy
air, is exceedingly shy, and impatient of confinement.
The young, to "a certain extent, are capable of being
tamed ; but if the old ones are captured, they ob-
stinately refuse all sustenance, and pine to death. In
this state they have sometimes survived for a length of
time. They fly very high in the air, especially before
rain, frequently soaring beyond the reach of human
vision. They are frequently inactive in the daytime,
and indulge in repose, but seldom sleep during night, at
which time they generally feed, and are very clamo-
rous and noisy. Their cry is shrill and grating,
shorter and more plaintive than that of the goose,
but repeated and prolonged into a more piercing and
discordant note when the bird feels uneasy or pain.
They are often disquieted, from being suspicious, and
naturally timid ; and the appearance of a man, though
at a distance, greatly alarms them ; nor is it easy to

728

HERON.

approach near them without raising them on the wing.
They are particularly afraid of the more powerful
hawks and of the swamp eagles, especially when they
are fishiner, and spy a bird of this kind above them ;
but, when driven to extremities, they fight with con-
siderable resolution either on the -ground or in the
air ; and, indeed, they can strike desperately with the
bill, though winged or otherwise crippled. A place
where herons breed, for the nests are scarcely ever
single, is called a heronry. The nests are broad and
shallow, formed of sticks, and lined with soft vege-
table matters, or with wool, if the birds can procure
it. They are very constant to their breeding-places ;
and Dr. Hevsham mentions an instance, in which
a dislodged colony of herons took possession of part
of a rookery, but not until after a desperate battle, in
which many on both sides were killed. The eggs of
the heron seldom exceed four, but they are sometimes
as many as six. They are of a greenish-blue colour,
and about the size of ducks' eggs. The female sits
closely during the incubation, and is fed by the male ;
and, after the young are hatched, both birds join in
the labour of feeding them, which, from their voracity
and vigorous digestion, is no easy task,

THE GREAT HERON (A. herodim). This is an
American species, resembling the common heron of
Europe both in shape and in colour ; but it is consi-
derably larger in size, and almost double the weight.
Its length from the point of the bill to the tail is four
feet four ; and the legs extend a foot beyond the tail.
The extent of the wings is fully six feet ; and the
weight not less than seven pounds, while that of the
common heron is generally less than four. It is
highly probable, however, that when the common
heron is mentioned as an inhabitant of North America,
this is the bird alluded to ; and though the size is
larger, the bill longer, and the feet differently coloured,
it is probable that the origin of the two may have
been the same.

Abounding as it does in woods and waters, above
all countries of the same extent which are met with !
on the surface of the earth, America is the very home
of the herons. The species are very numerous, and !
the birds themselves abundant; and though the woods \
of America are remarkable for the multitudes of their ',
birds, there is perhaps no race which are so characteris-
tic as the herons. It would far exceed our limits to give ''
any thing like a detailed account of the different
species or of the peculiarities of the country ; but we '
shall quote a passage from Wilson, in which the sin- '
gular dwellings of the birds are pourtrayed with more !
graphic effect than has been done or could be done !
by any other writer, even though, like Wilson, a per- j
sonal visitant. After mentioning that they are found |
in greater numbers on the Atlantic coast than in the !
central valleys, and pointing out some localities !
which are favojirite ones with them, Wilson thus pro- !
ceeds to describe their building-places. " These are
generally in the gloomy solitudes of the tallest cedar
swamps, where, if unmolested, they continue an- !
nually to breed for many years. These swamps are '•
from half a mile to a mile in breadth, and sometimes !
five or six in length, and appear as if they occupied j
the former channel of some choked up river, stream,
lake, or arm of the sea. The appearance they pre-
sent to a stranger is singular. A front of tall and
perfectly straight trunks, rising to the height of fifty j
or sixty feet without a limb, and crowded in every
duuction, their tops so closely woven together as to '

shut out the day, spreading the gloom of a perpetual
twilight below. On a nearer approach, they are
found to rise out of the water, which, from the im-
pregnation of the fallen leaves and roots of the cedars,
is of the colour of brandy. Amidst this bottom of
congregated springs, the ruins of the former forest
lie piled in every state of confusion. The roots,
prostrate logs, and, in many places, the water?,
are covered with green mantling moss ; while an
undergrowth of laurel, fifteen or twenty feet high,
intersects every opening so completely, as to render
a passage through laborious and harassing beyond
description ; at every step, you either sink to the
knees, clamber over fallen timber, squeeze yourself
through between the stubborn laurels, or plunge to
the middle in ponds made by the uprooting of large
trees, and which the green moss concealed from
observation. In calm weather, the silence of death
reigns in these dreary regions ; a few interrupted
rays of light shoot across the gloom ; and unless for
the occasional hollow screams of the herons, and the
melancholy chirping of one or two species of small
birds, all is silence, solitude, and desolation. When
a breeze rises, at lirstit sighs mournfully through the
tops ; but, as the gale increases, the tall mast-like
cedars wave like fishing-poles, and, rubbing against
each other, produce a variety of singular noises, that,
with the help of a little imagination, resemble shrieks,
groans, growling bears, wolves, and such like com-
fortable music. On the tops of the tallest of these
cedars the herons construct their nests, ten or fifteen
pair sometimes occupying a particular part of the
swamp. The nests are large, formed of sticks, and
lined with smaller twigs ; each occupies the top of a
single tree. The eggs are generally four in number,
of an oblong pointed form, larger than those of a hen,
and of a light greenish blue, without any spots. The
young are produced about the middle of May, and
remain on the trees until they are full as heavy as the
old ones, being extremely fat before they are able to
fly. They breed but once in the season. If dis-
turbed in their breeding-place, the old birds fly occa-
sionally over the spot, sometimes houking like a goose,
sometimes uttering a coarse hollow grunting noise,
like that of a hog, but much louder. The great heron
is said to be fut at the full moon, and lean at its de-
crease ; this might be accounted for by the fact of
their fishing regularly by moonlight through the
greater part of the night, as well as during the day ;
but the observation is not universal, for at such times
I have found some lean as well as others fat. The
young birds are said to be excellent for the table, and
even the old birds, when in good order, and properly
cooked, are esteemed by many. The principal food
of the great heron is fish, for which he watches with
the most unwearied patience, and seizes them with
surprising dexterity. At the edge of the river, pond,
or sea-shore, he stands, fixed and motionless, some-
times for hours together. But his stroke is as quick
as thought and as sure as fate, to the first luckless fish
that approaches within his reach ; these he some-
times beats to death, and always swallows head fore-
most, such being their uniform position in the stomach.
He is also an excellent mouser, and is of great service
to our meadows, in destroying the short-tailed or
meadow mouse, so injurious to the banks. He also
feeds eagerly upon grasshoppers, various winged
insects, particularly dragon-flies, which he is very ex-
pert at striking ; and also eats the seeds of that

HERON.

7-2!)

species of nymphae called splatterdashes, so abundant
along our fresh water ponds and rivers. The heron
has great powers of wing, Hying sometimes very high,
and to a great distance ; his neck doubled, his head
drawn in, and his long legs stretched out behind him,
like a tail, and probably serving the same rudder-like
office. When he leaves the sea-coast, and traces, on
wing, the courses of the creeks and rivers inland, he
is said to prognosticate rain ; when downwards, dry
weather. He is most jealously watchful of man, so
that those who wish to succeed in shooting the heron
must approach him entirely unseen and by stratagem."
" In our vast fens, meadows, and sea marshes, this
stately bird roams at pleasure, feasting on the never-
failing magazines of frogs, fish, seeds, and insects,
with which they abound, and of which he probably
considers himself as the sole lord and proprietor. I
have several times seen the white-headed eagle attack
and seize the great, heron ; but whether for sport, or
to make him disgorge his fish, I am uncertain."

This is the characteristic heron of the Atlantic
shores of the United States, not ranging so far to the
north as the St. Lawrence, or very far into the inte-
rior. There are many smaller herons in America
which are more discursive and migratory on the meri-
dian ; but the journeys of this one are chiefly from the
sea to the base of the Alleghany mountains and back
again.

GREAT WHITE HERON (A. alba). This species,
though inferior in size to the. former, appears very
conspicuous from its colour. Some have alleged
that it occurs, though exceedingly seldom, as a visi-
tant in Britain ; but the fact is not clearly established,
neither is it well ascertained whence it would come in
the event of its visiting our shores. It is found both
in the eastern and in the western continent, or, at all
events, there is but little difference between a bird
which is known by the same appellation in each ; and
as the manners of the great grey heron of America
are very similar to those of the common grey heron
of Europe, so the manners of those birds which arc
referred to this species very much resemble each
other.

The grey herons are resident birds rather than
migrants, or, at all events, their excursions are be-
tween the shores and the inland in the same locali-
ties. The white herons, on the other hand, are
emigrants, inhabiting climates farther to the south,
where the seasonal alternations of wet and drought
are much more marked. In the eastern continent
they appear to belong chiefly to the central migra-
tion, or that which takes the line of the Caspian and
the Black sea ; while in America their range is be-
tween the valley of the Mississippi and the humid
districts of the northern parts of South America.
They are much more numerous in America than in
the eastern continent, and distribute themselves as
well along the coast as in the central valley. They
arrive in the more southeily states early in the spring,
proceed northward, and build in the cedar swamps
nearly in the same manner as the great herons, which
they also resemble in their general manners. The
following are the characters of these birds : length
from the tip of the bill to the tail three feet and a
half ; and extent of the wings about five feet. The
feathers of the back extend, however, as much as
seven or eight inches beyond the point of the tail.
These feathers arise from the lower parts of the sca-
pulars and sides of the back. The shafts are long

and tapering, and the webs consist of delicate fila-
ments, very soft, and detached from each other. This
plumage is peculiarly graceful and waving ; and it
hangs in an elegant curve over the hinder part of the
body, completely concealing the tail. The plumes
of this heron have at times been much prized in various
parts of Europe, as graceful ornaments of the head ;
and the American Indians employ them for the same
purpose. In the lower valley of the Mississippi they
are obtained in such numbers that the Indians hawk
them about in the streets of New Holland These
produced feathers have a delicate yellowish tinge,
but all the rest of the plumage is of snowy whiteness.
The bill is about half a foot long, of a bright orange
colour, and black at the tip ; the irides are palo
orange, and the pupil very small ; the legs are very
long and stout, bare for four inches above the tarsal
joint, and altogether of a black colour ; the toes are
long, the middle and hind one stretching nearly six
inches from tip to tip ; the middle claw is toothed on
its inner edge, and the middle and exterior toes are
united by membrane for about half an inch at the
base. This structure of the foot is equally well
adapted for walking on aquatic plants and on soft and
muddy ground ; and the length and strength of the
legs, together with the extent to which they are
naked of feathers, enable the bird to wade deeply
without wetting its plumage. In the mature state,
the male and female resemble each other very closely ;
and both have their produced feathers equally long.
The young birds are different ; and they do not.
acquire their perfect plumage till they are three years
old, which indeed is the case with all the herons.
The young birds have the common clothing feathers
quite like the old ones ; but they have not the pro-
duced feathers on the back : this circumstance has
caused the old birds and the young to be sometimes
described as different species, and at other times the
ones without the produced feathers have been consi-
dered as the females ; but this is not correct, for both
sexes want these feathers while young, and both have
them after arriving at maturity.

This species of heron is very widely distributed,
being found as far to the south as India, where it is
very abundant in the rainy season, though it disap-
pears during the droii£-ht. The beauty of its plumage,
and the high estimation in which the produced feathers
have been held, have made it a bird of no little cele-
brity. It is the Egret, or great egret of common
description, though we believe the proper meaning
of that word is the ornament made of the feathers,
and not those feathers as they exist on the bird.

LITTLE WHITE HERON (A. garzettd). This spe-
cies is also very generally distributed, and is still more
discursive than the larger one. It occurs most plen-
tifully in latitudes and localities similar to those
j frequented by the other ; but it ranges farther to
the north, and also more extensively in longitude.
It is the little egret of the East, and the snowy heron
of America. The American one is indeed a little
larger in size than the eastern one, and there are some
slight differences in the colour of the naked skin ; but
those differences do not appear to be greater than
they are in the grey heron of the two continents, and
certainly they are not greater than might be expected
to arise from difference of climate.

The grand difference between the American con-
tinent and the Eastern, is worthy of being attended
to in deciding upon what is or is not the same species

730

HERON.

of animal, as occurring in the two. In the central
parts of the eastern continent, drought is the prevail-
ing character of the climate ; and in America, on the
other hand, humidity predominates just as much.
Now, in order to ascertain whether we ought to ex-
pect any animal to thrive better, that is, to attain a
larger size and a more complete development, in the
one continent or in the other, we must attend to the
nature of the animal, so as to ascertain whether a dry
climate or a humid one is the more congenial to it.
If the former, we may presume that if the animal is
native in America as well as in the eastern continent,
it will be smaller and less perfectly developed in
America ; or if it is imported from the East to
America, it will degenerate. We have a remarkable
Instance, in the case of animals of the same family, in
the genus Felis, as existing in the two continents.
There is no question that the whole of that genus are
animals which prefer drought, and many of them can-
not bear a wet climate. Hence we do not find in any
part of America animals of such power and daring as
the lions and tigers of the East.

But on the other hand, if the nature of the animal
adapts it more to a humid climate, we may expect to
find the same species more developed as native of
America than as native of the East ; or if imported
from the East into America, we may expect it to im-
prove. Here again we may take an illustration from
the mammalia of the two continents. Bears, from
their protecting coat of fat, and their strong and close
hair, which completely thatches them against the
weather, are remarkably well fitted for moist climates ;
and accordingly we meet with no land bears in the
eastern continent at all equal in size, in boldness, or
in strength, to those of America.

Now, if we apply this theory, which is very obvi-
ously true, to the case of herons, which are found only
in marshy places, we can easily see that these birds
possess such natural advantages in the American
continent, as must lead us at once to conclude that the
same species must attain a larger size and a more
perfect development there. Food for herons, and
also trees adapted for their nesting-places, are vastly
more abundant in America than in the eastern conti-
nent, and therefore the birds have more enjoyment
and less labour.

This is a point in the physiological geography of
animals, which, so far as we are aware, has not been [
alluded to by any writer on the subject ; but it is ;
one of very great importance, not in helping us to !
explain some climatal modifications of animals, which
otherwise would be a little perplexing, but as a warn-
ing against some very ridiculous prejudices which
have been taken up by the romancers in natural his-
tory ; and which, in consequence of the imposing
style in which they are stated, have gained no small
currency with the public. Taking up an exceedingly
partial view of the case, namely, that of one or two
animals, and not considering whether the climate of
the east or that of the west suited best with the nature
of those animals, these romancers of natural history
have come at once to this sweeping conclusion, that
" there is a tendency in nature to belittle all her
productions on the west side of the Atlantic." It was
somewhat natural that a sentence of condemnation so
sweeping as this should occasion some wrath on the
part of the American naturalists, though it does not
appear that they got more into the philosophy of the
case than their brsthren of the east ; and indeed, to

speak about any tendency which nature has, either to
deteriorate or to improve her productions in one
country more than another, is to utter words which
have no meaning. That the whole system of nature,
in all its parts, is equally perfect, is the fundamental
truth ; and though we cannot in all cases draw a clear
line of distinction between that which determines a
natural character, and that which possesses the cha-
racter so determined, yet we may state it as perfectly
general, that, according as any place is, so will be its
productions ; and the very beauty of the earth, and
that which gives it its greatest value to man, as mak-
ing the different nations in so far dependent upon each
other, and thus pointing out to them the bonds of
general peace and reciprocal assistance, is the diver-
sity of climate and surface, and consequently of pro-
ductions, in the several countries and their several
districts. But, important as this point is, and necessary
as it is that it should be strongly inculcated, as ex-
tending much farther than mere matters of natural
history, we must leave it, and return to the little
white heron.

Little Egret.

The length of this species is about two feet, and
the extent of the wings between three and four ; the
weight rarely exceeds one pound. All the plumage
is of the most brilliant white ; the bird is furnished
with a pendent crest, formed of a few long,
straight, and waving feathers. There is a large tuft
of similar feathers on the lower part of the neck,
which are very straight and beautiful in their lustre.
From the top of the back there proceed three ranges
of feathers, about six or eight inches in length, with
slender shafts, and the webs thin and light, and in de-
tached filaments of a beautiful silky texture. The bill
is black ; the naked skin round the eyes greenish ;
the irides brilliant yellow ; the upper parts of the
tarsi, and the naked portion above the joint, greenish
black ; and the lower parts' of the tarsi and the toes
greenish yellow. The young want the produced
feathers on the neck and the back. In the first year
they are of a dull white, with the bill, the irides, and
all the naked skin black. They build in marshy
places, and the hatch consists of four or five white
eggs.

Perhaps these are the most interesting birds of tht

HERO N.

731

whole heron family. They are particularly hand-
some ; and they are social and gentle in their man-
ners, associating midily with other birds, and capable
of being tamed without any great difficulty. Their
plumes were once in high demand for adorning the
helmets of the mailed warriors of the middle ages ;
and they are still used for decorating the head-dresses
of ladies, and the turbans of persons of rank in the
East.

In England these birds are now exceedingly rare,
though one was found in South Devon in the early
part of the present century. It was a female, sup-
posed to be a young bird of the first year, but all pure
white, with the exception of the crown of the head
and the upper part of the neck in front, which were
buff-c*oloured. Some idea may be formed of their
abundance in times gone by, from the fact, that a
thousand of them were served up at the grand feast
given by Archbishop Neville, though at present it
would puzzle all the bishops of England to collect a
dozen in the whole country during a century. (The
following quotation from Wilson will enable those
who take an interest in these very handsome birds, to
compare the American one with the eastern, to which
latter our observations have been chiefly applicable.
" On the 19th of May," says he," I visited an exten-
sive breeding-place of the snowy heron, among the
red cedars of Summer's Beach, on the coast of Cape
May. The situation was very sequestered, bounded
on the land side by a fresh water marsh or pond, and
sheltered from the Atlantic by ranges of sand-hills.
The cedars, though not high, were so closely crowded
together as to render it difficult to penetrate through
among them. Some trees contained three, others
four nests, built wholly of sticks. Each had in it three
eggs, of a pale greenish-brue colour, and measuring
an inch and three quarters in length, by an inch and
a quarter in thickness. Forty or fifty of these eggs
were cooked, and found to be well-tasted ; the white
was of a bluish tint, and almost transparent, though
boiled for a considerable time ; the yolk very small
in quantity. The birds rose in vast numbers, but
without clamour, alighting on the tops of the trees
around, and watching the result in silent anxiety.
Among them were numbers of the night heron, and
two or three purple-headed herons. Grerft quantities
of egg-shells lay scattered under the trees, occasioned
by the depredations of the crows, who were continu-
ally hovering about the place. On one of the nests
I found the dead body of the bird itself, half-devoured
by the hawks, crows, or gulls. She had probably
perished in defence of her eggs. The snowy heron
is seen at all times during summer among the salt
marshes, watching and searching for food, or passing,
sometimes in flocks, from one part of the bay to the
other. They often make excursions up the rivers and
inlets, but return regularly in the evening to the red
cedars on the beach to roost. I found these birds on
the Mississipi early in June, as far up as Fort Adams,
roaming about among the creeks and inundated woods.
The length of this species is two feet one inch : ex-
tent, three feet two inches ! the bill is four inches
and a quarter long, and grooved ; the space from the
nostril to the eye orange yellow, the rest of the bill
black ; irides vivid orange ; the whole plumage is of
a snowy whiteness ; the head is largely crested with
loose unwebbed feathers, nearly four inches in length ;
another tuft of the same nearly covers the breast ;
but the most distinguished ornament of this bird is a

bunch of long silky plumes, proceeding from the
shoulders, covering the whole back, and extending
beyond the tail ; the shafts of these are six or seven
inches long, extremely elastic, tapering to the extre-
mities, and thinly set with long, slender, bending
threads or fibres, easily agitated by the slightest mo-
tion of the air ; these shafts curl upwards at the ends.
When the bird is irritated, and erects these airy
plumes, they have a very elegant appearance. The
legs and naked part of the thighs are black ; the feet,
bright yellow ; claws black, the middle one pecti-
nated."

CRESTED PURPLE HERON (A. purpured). This
species appears to be wholly confined to the eastern
continent, and to belong to the south-eastern migra-
tion. It is very common in the marshy places of
Eastern Europe and Western Asia, in the north of
Africa, and in the islands of the Mediterranean. It
is not, however, mentioned as occurring even as a
migrant in the peninsular part of India. In the west
of Europe it is rare, and in the British islands it
appears only as a very rare straggler. It is a marsh
bird, building in tall reeds and other aquatic plants,
and rarely perching on trees. The hatch consists of
three eggs of a greenish ash colour, and without any
gloss or lustre.

Crested Heron.

This is a very beautiful bird, and one of considerable
size, the length, when full grown, being about three
feet, and the stretch of the wings not less than four.
The mature birds have a crest of long and slender
feathers on the hind head, which are of a greenish
black colour. At the lower part of the neck there
are similar feathers of whitish purple ; and the
feathers on the scapulars and upper part of the back
are also slender and produced, but they are bright
purple. The top of the head is black, with bright
green reflections ; the throat white ; the sides of the
neck bright russet; there are three longitudinal
stripes of black on the neck, one on each side from
the eye downwards, and the third behind, but not
extending to the lower part of the neck ; the lower
neck is mottled with longitudinal spots of russet,
purple, and black ; the back, the wings, and the tail
are reddish ash, with purple reflections ; the thigh*

732

HERON.

and abdomen russet, the flanks bright purple, and the
breast the same ; the bill and naked skin round the
eyes are bright yellow ; the irides orange yellow ;
the under parts ot the toes, the rear of the tarsi, and
the naked skin above the tarsal joints, yellow ; and
the scales on the fore parts of the tarsi and upper
parts of the toes greenish brown.

The young have no crest on the hind head, al-
though its place is indicated by the leathers being a
little more produced, and they also want the long
feathers on the neck and the scapulars ; they have
the forehead black, the nape and cheeks bright red,
the throat white, the hind part of the lower neck
yellowish white, with lines of black ; the back,
scapulars, wings, and tail, are blackish ash, bordered
with bright russet, and the thighs and belly white ; a
considerable part of the upper mandible is blackish,
but all the under one, and the naked skin round the
eyes, bright yellow. In this state they have been
described as a separate species, under the name of
the African Heron. In its nesting-places this bird
resembles the bitterns ; but in its food, and manner
of obtaining it, it is a true heron, differing little in
these respects from the common grey heron.

THE SQUACCO HKRON (A. rallo'ides). This species
has the tarsi much shorter than the typical herons,
and in this respect approaches to the bitterns, but, in
many traits of its character, it has more resemblance
to the herons, and, like them, it is said to neslle in
trees. It is a very beautiful bird, and, though neither
so striking or so showy in its plumage as the white
herons, which have the produced feathers, it makes a
very remarkable contrast with them. The feathers
on the top of the head are yellow, margined with
black ; the crest, which consists of long and very
narrow pendent feathers, has each feather white in
the centre and black on the margin ; the throat is
white ; the neck, the scapulars, and the upper part
of the back, bright russet ; and the produced feathers,
which are very loose and flocculent in their webs, are
rich maroon. All the rest of the plumage is pure
white. The basal part of the bill is azure, and the
tip black ; the naked skin round the eyes greenish
•grey ; the irides yellow ; and the feet yellow, with a
tinge of green ; the garter, or naked space above
the tarsal joint, is very short ; the length is about
seventeen inches.

The young, till the third year, want the produced
feathers ; they have the head, the neck, and the
coverts of the wings, reddish brown, marked with
dark oblong spots of the same ; the throat, the
rurnp, and the tail, are pure white ; the quills ash-
colour, with the inner webs white ; the middle of the
back and the scapulars pale brown ; the upper
mandible greenish brown, and the lower greenish
yellow ; the naked skin round the eyes green ; the
irides bright yellow ; and the feet greenish ash.
The nests are in trees, but the number and appear-
ance of the eggs are not very well known.

From the shortness of the tarsi, and the unfeathered
part of the tibiae above the joint, it may be inferred
that these birds do not wade so far into the waters or
fish so habitually as the more typical herons. They do
catch fish, but their food consists fully as much of in-
sects, shelled mollusca,and the smaller crustacea.and, on
the last account, they have been styled "crab-eaters."

This species is very abundant in the countries
around the Mediterranean, and in the marshy parts
of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It also comes

very frequently into Germany, Switzerland, and
France, though only as a migrant. It is also mor<j
frequently seen in England than any of the other
herons which belong to the south-eastern migration,
but still it does riot come so habitually, or in such
numbers, as to rank as a regular visitant.

In many parts of the warmer countries there are
short-legged herons which bear a considerable re-
semblance to this one, and which are also styled crab-
eating herons. So little is known respecting them,
however, especially with regard to their nesting and
their plumage in the young and adult states ; and in
those parts of their history which are known, they
bear so close a resemblance to this one, that nothing
further could be added that would be of much interest
to the general reader. There is, however, one %ther
species, which is still smaller and more discursive than
any of those already mentioned, and therefore it may
be worth mentioning.

LITTLE HERON (//. m'muta). This species is some-
times called the Danube heron, from its being fre-
quently seen in the valley of that river, though we
believe this name has been applied chiefly to the
younff, which, as in the rest of the genus, differs
greatly from the mature bird in its plumage. The top
of the head, the nape, the back, the secondary quill?,
and the tail, are of a rich black, with brilliant reflec-
tions of green ; the sides of the head, the neck, the
wing-coverts, and all the under parts of the body, are
reddish yellow, and the principal quills are blackish
ash ; the bill is brown at the point, and yellow in the
rest of its length ; the naked skin round the eyes and
the irides are yellow, and the feet yellowish green.
The length of the bird is about fourteen inches, and
the size nearly the same as that of a thrush.

The young of the first year have the bill brown
and the feet green : the top of the head brown, and
the back of the neck whitish, with numerous longi-
tudinal brown streaks ; the sides of the head, the
nape, the breast, the back, and the wing-coverts, red-
dish brown, more or less dark, and mottled over with
numerous longitudinal brown streaks. It is in this
plumage that the bird is the rayed bittern of Latham,
and some other British describers. On the second
moult the longitudinal spots begin to disappear, the
plumes on the neck are bordered with russet, and the
feathers of the wings and tail begin to turn black.

This species is still less of a wader than the one
last mentioned. It has no part of the leg bare of
feathers above the tarsal joint, and the membrane
which unites the middle toe and the external one at
their basis is very short. Still it frequents the marshy
grounds and margins of the waters, feeding upon
young fry and very small fishes in the shallows, and
also on the spawn and tadpoles of frogs, and on
worms. It is a marsh-breeder, making its nest in
bushes and tufts, and laying five or six white eggs.

It is wholly confined to the eastern continent, but
there it has a considerable range, being met with as
far to the north as Siberia, and as far to the south as
Arabia. In the south and east of Europe it is very
common, and it is by no means rare in Holland. In
France it is not so abundant ; and in England, and,
as it is said, in Germany, it is only a bird of passage.
Considering its size, it is a bird of long and powerful
flight, and some of the specimens that have straggled
to this country have been met with in the Orkney
islands. Some describers mention, that, during the
breeding season, the male utters a cry resembling the

HERO N.

783

burking of a large dog when at a distance. In those
places where it comes as a straggler it is not exclu-
sively found close by the waters, as is the case with
those herons which are more exclusively fishers ; it
ranges the moist meadows and damp corn-fields, but
the former only where the grass is sufficiently tall
for affording it concealment.

LOUISIANA HERON (A. Ludoviciana). This is, as its
trivial name imports, an American species, but to the
northward of Carolina it is seldom found on the
Atlantic shores, nor does it advance far up the valley
of the Mississippi in its northern migrations. It is
not known as a resident bird in any part of North
America, but its home is said to be in the marshy
districts of the north parts of South America. Its
length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail,
is twenty-three inches ; the long hair-like plumage of
the rump, and lower part of the back, extends several
inches farther; the bill is of considerable length,
measuring at least five inches, of a yellowish green
colour at the base, black towards the point, and very
sharp ; the irides are yellow ; chin and throat white,
dotted with rust-colour, intermingled with blue; the
rest of the neck is of a light vinous purple, intermixed
on the lower part next the breast with dark slate-
coloured plumage ; all the feathers of the neck are
long, narrow, and pointed ; head crested, consisting
of, first, a number of long, narrow, purple feathers,
and under them seven or eight pendent ones, of a
pure white, and twice the length of the former ; upper
part of the back and wings light slate-colour ; lower
part of the buck and rump white, but concealed by a
mass of long unwebbed hair-like plumage, that bends
over the tail arid tips of the wings, extending three
or four inches beyond them ; these plumes, at the
base, are of a dirty purplish brown, and lighten
towards the extremities to a pale cream-colour ; the
tail is even at. the tip, somewhat longer than die wings,
and of a beautiful fine slate-colour; the legs and
thighs, which are naked, are greenish-yellow, the
middle claw pectinated ; the whole of the under
parts are pure white ; the plumage of the male and
female is alike, both being crested.

The tropical parts of America, New Holland, and
the Eastern Islands, possess various species of herons,
of which, generally speaking, the manners are but
little known. Some of these appear to belong to the
family of the true herons, and others more resemble
the bitterns in some particulars. Of these, the Aganii
heron of the north parts of South America is a very
.splendid bird. The upper parts are bluish ash ; the
head and crest, which consists of very long feathers,
are black ; the nape and upper part of the neck
bluish, the under parts and under tail-coverts russet
brown, the bill black ; the feet yellow, the rump fur-
nished with long floating feathers of a dull blue colour;
the belly spotted with white, the length about two
feet and a half. It would, however, be impossible to
enter into anything like a popular account of those
tropical herons, both on account of the number of
the species and from our ignorance of their manners.
But there are still one or two deserving of notice,
which migrate into the more temperate latitudes
during the summer.

THE BLUE HEUON (A. carulea). There are blue
herons in different parts of the world ; and some are
met with as distant as New Zealand ; but the one
with which we are best acquainted is an American
species, resident in the tropical parts during the win-

ter, but migrating into the warmer and more southerly
portion of the United States during the summer. It
belongs to that division of the herons which have a
slight resemblance to the bitterns. It is much less
powerfully winged than some of the others. Its
length nearly two feet, and the stretch of its wings
about three. The bill black, with a bright purple
streak extending from the nostril to the eyes ; irides
grey, with a narrow ring of a silvery colour round
the pupil. The head and greater part of the neck
deep purple brown ; the crest-feathers narrow and
pointed, and about six inches in length. The lower
neck and the body generally of a deep slate blue
with reflections of lighter colour. The back furnished
with long, flat, and narrow feathers, some of them ten
inches long, and reaching four inches beyond the
tail ; and there is a tuft of similar feathers on the fore
neck or upper part of the breast. The legs are blackish
green, and the claw on the middle toe is toothed like
a comb on its inner edge. The breast, sides of the
rump, and some other of the under parts, are furnished
with a close cottony down below the proper feathers.
The sexes are exactly alike in their general appear-
ance ; but the young birds are different. Though
differing much in colour, this species appears to hold
nearly the same place on the western continent as
the squacco herons do on the eastern. When they
retire at the approach of winter, they pass into
Mexico, and all the intermediate parts; and in their
southern rambles they probably reach the plains
of Paraguay during the rainy season. In the extreme
north of the United States they are rare ; and in
the middle States they are partial to the brackish
water and the salt springs. They are tree breeders,
and nestle in the tops of cedars, in the swamps,
along with the night herons. The nests are con-
structed of small sticks, and the eergs average about
four and are of a pale blue colour.

YELLOW-NECKED HEKON (A. violncca). This is
another of the American migrants, coining northward
in the summer, and returning southward in the win-
ter. It is rather a more southerly inhabitant than
the one last mentioned, and is seldom met with farther
north than the Carolinas, and even there it is not
numerous, or much soen in proportion to its numbers,
being a very shy and retiring bird. When we speak
of the limits of a bird's migration in such a country as
America, we must be understood as speaking of those
places only to which the bird comes every year, and
comes in considerable numbers ; for among the rarer
migrants of Britain, we occasionally find a pair strag-
gling over to breed, while there is no regular summer
residence of the birds within several hundred miles ;
and in North America, where there is no sea to inter-
rupt migration, or cause a marked change of country
upon the one shore and the other, the range of migra-
tion not only naturally but necessarily varies with the
range of the seasons. If the season is backward and
cold, the range will thereby be checked ; and if, on
the other hand, it is forward and warm, the range
may be extended, in the case of a few of the birds at
least, to a very considerable distance beyond the
average. Hence this species of heron, though un-
questionably rather a southern one, is occasionally
found breeding in Virginia, and perhaps even farther
to the north ; and in those northerly parts the young
birds are eagerly sought after, being highly esteemed
as food. This bird is common in many parts of the
West India islands, and great numbers are said to

734

HERO N.

breed in the Bahamas, and to feed on the fry of fishes
and mollusca and small Crustacea, which, in conse-
quence of the currents of the sea there, are remark-
ably plentiful in the eddies of shallow water, in the
creeks, and on the banks. It appears indeed that
this species is more partial to the sea-coast, and feeds
more on Crustacea, especially on the smaller kinds
of crabs, than any other heron of the western con-
tinent.

Its length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the
tail-feathers, is about one foot ten inches, but the
flowing plumes extend about four inches farther ; the
stretch of the wings is about two feet ten inches ;
the bill is about four inches in length, of a black
colour, very stout, and having the upper mandible
with grooves, like the bill of the night heron ; the
naked skin from the gape to the eyes is pale green,
the irides flame colour, and the legs and feet yellow,
with the middle claw toothed ; the upper part of the
head is white, and the crest is pure white and termi-
nates in two narrow tapering feathers more than half
a foot in length, and under these feathers there are a
few moldings of black. All the rest of the neck and
the lower parts of the body are bright ash-colour, a
little paler at the junction of the neck ; the upper
parts are dark ash, each leather with a white border
and a black line down the centre ; the quills of the
wings slate blue with white edges, and the coverts
the same colour but with pale buff borders. From
the scapulars arise the produced feathers, which have
long and tapering stems, and very loose and floccu-
Jent webs ; they are ash-coloured with a broad streak
of black down the middle ; the sides of the head and
upper part of the neck are black marked with a white
spot on each side.

THE NIGHT HERON (A. nycticorax). This species,
which is in some of its characters intermediate be-
tween the herons and the bitterns, but which appears
to resemble the herons more in its manners, has been
arranged and described as a separate genus ; but
though extreme scientific nicety may justify those
very minute generic distinctions, it does not appear
that they can contribute very much to any useful
popular purpose ; and therefore, to prevent repetition,
and also to enable the reader to judge better of the
distinctions between it and the typical herons, we
introduce it here.

The night heron, or at all events a night heron,
is found both on the eastern continent and on the
western ; and their manners, which is really the im-
portant part of the history of any bird, appear to be
50 much alike that they may be considered as the
same species ; and not more different from each other,
even from the effects of climate, than some of those
other species to which we have already alluded.
They get the name Nycticorax, or night croaker, from
the loud and disagreeable noise which they make
during the night. In America they are vulgarly called
Qua-birds, because the noise which they make has
some slight resemblance to the sound of that syllable
when pronounced in a manner as harsh and guttural
as possible.

This bird, of which the new scientific name is Nyc-
ticorax gardeni, is very common in all the extensive
swamps of both continents. In Britain they do not
breed, and therefore we have no opportunity of ob-
serving the places of the nests, or the habits of the
birds in their breeding quarters. Temminck says
that it nestles on the ground in bushes, and very

rarely in tufts of rushes, aud lays three or four eggs
of a dull green. But Temminck is not always to be
trusted with regard to the places in which birds breed,
and consequently not more so with regard to the
mode of placing their nests, however accurate he may
be in the descriptions of the birds themselves. Wil-
son, on the other hand, says, that in America they
build in trees ; and assemble in greater numbers in
the same breeding-place than even the common
heron. His account of their manners is unquestion-
ably the best, not only in point of correctness, as
being obtained from his own observation, but as it
combines the whole manners of the bird in one very
well-drawn picture. We shall therefore quote his
description, and then offer a remark or two on some
differences which have been observed in the nestinir-
places of birds belonging to the same, or at all events
to very nearly allied species on the eastern continent
and in America.

" The night heron," says Wilson, " arrives in Penn-
sylvania early in April, and immediately takes pos-
session of his former breeding-place, which is usually
the most solitary and deeply shaded part of a cedar
swamp. Groves of swamp oak, in retired and inun-
dated places, are also sometimes chosen, and the
males not unfrequently select tall woods, on the banks
of the river, to roost in during the day. These last
regularly direct their course, about the beginning of
evening twilight, towards the marshes, uttering in a
hoarse and hollow tone the sound qua, which by some
has been compared to that produced by the retchings
of a person attempting to vomit. At this hour also
all the nurseries in the swamps are emptied of their
inhabitants, who disperse about the marshes, and
along the ditches and river shore, in quest of food.
Some of these breeding-places have been occupied
every spring and summer from time immemorial by
from eighty to one hundred pair of qua-birds. In
places where the cedars have been cut down for sale,
the birds have merely removed to another quarter of
the swamp ; but when personally attacked, long teased,
and plundered, they have been known to remove from
an ancient breeding place in a body, no one knew
where. Such was the case with one on the Delaware,
near Thompson's Point, ten or twelve miles below
Philadelphia ; which, having been repeatedly attacked
and plundered by a body of crows, after many severe
rencontres, the herons finally abandoned the place.
Several of these breeding-places occur among the red
cedars on the sea beach of Cape May, intermixed
with those of the little egret, green bittern, and blue
heron. The nests are built entirely of sticks in con-
siderable quantities, with frequently three or four
nests on the same tree. The eggs are generally four
in number, measuring two inches and a quarter in
length, by one and three quarters in thickness, and of
a very pale light blue colour. The ground or marsh
below is bespattered with their excrements, lying all
around like whitewash, with feathers, broken egg-
shells, old nests, and frequently small fish, which they
have dropt by accident, and neglected to pick up.
On entering the swamp in the neighbourhood of one
of these breeding-places, the noise of the old and the
young would almost induce one to suppose that two
or three hundred Indians were choking or throttling
each other. The instant an intruder is discovered,
the whole rise in the air in silence, and remove to the
tops of the trees in another part of the woods, while
parties of from eight to ten make occasional circuits

HERON.

735

over the spot, to see what is going on. When the
young are able, they climb to the highest part of the
trees ; but, knowing their inability, they do not at-
tempt to fly. Though it is probable that these noc-
turnal birds do not see well during the day, yet their
faculty of hearing must be exquisite, as it is almost
impossible, with all the precautions one can use, to
penetrate near their residence without being disco-
vered. Several species of hawks hover around, mak-
ing an occasional sweep among the young ; and the
bald eagle himself has been seen reconnoitring near
die spot, probably with the same design."

Sucii is the description of the manners of these
birds, by perhaps the most observant and felicitous
describer that ever lived ; and it unquestionably
points to habits very different from those mentioned
even by what are considered the most accurate of
European naturalists. Still, it by no means follows,
from this difference of the nesting-place, that the night
heron of America, and that of Europe, are different
species, or even different varieties. Particular nesting-
places are not the grand inducements which birds
have to resort to certain places for the purpose of
breeding. Food for themselves and their brood is the
grand matter, to which every thing else must be sub-
servient. This being the case, it follows as matter of
course, that the birds must build in such accommoda-
tion as the locality which abounds in food affords
them. If there are no trees in or sufficiently near the
marshes, of course they cannot build in trees, how-
ever strong that instinct might be if there were the
means of gratifying it. We believe that there is no
wild duck, breeding in any part of the eastern conti-
nent, which places its nest any where except under a
bush, or more frequently in a close tuft of aquatic
plants ; but there are many of the American species,
breeding far to the north, which are known to breed
habitually in the short bushy trees with which the
northern marshes of America abound ; and so much
has this style of building become part of the general
instinct of the birds, that some which were kept at
the London Zoological Gardens, would not breed
until posts were erected, with boxes on the top, as
substitutes for the trees. Even in what is mentioned
by Tennninck, there is a sort of evidence that the
night herons of the East would breed in trees if they
could find such to breed in ; for he remarks, that they
breed under or in bushes, and rarely in tufts of rushes.
Why the nest, in such situations, may be in many
cases on the ground under the bush, is easily ex-
plained ; for the bushes which grow on the margins
of such marshes as afford no trees, are generally so
weak and pliant that they could not support the nest
of a heavy bird ; and we know of no instance in
which a bird places her nest so as that the weight of
herself and her eggs would bring it down.

The remarkable difference between the breeding-
places of apparently the very same species of birds,
in the same continent, is a matter which ought to
teach us a little caution as to w hat circumstances we
are to consider as essential portions of the character
of a bird, and what are to be regarded only as local
or accidental, and, as such, admit of change with change
of locality. It is very probable that the positions of
nests, and the materials of which they are formed,
have been by far too much regarded as constant
characters of birds ; and therefore it would be very
desirable to know how any one species manages mat-
ters in these respects in countries affording very dif-

ferent situations and materials, before we come to any
positive conclusion on the subject. In this respect,
the case of the night herons is a very important one ;
and this is the reason why we have gone into it at so
much length, and we shall now give some account of
the appearance of the bird.

In doing this, we may remark, that there is a very
considerable difference in size between the night heron
as it occurs on the eastern continent, and as it occurs
hi America ; and that there are some differences in
this respect in different parts of the eastern continent.
Twenty-two inches is the usual length in Europe,
and twenty-four inches the usual length in India,
where the bird is by no means rare. In America the
length is twenty-eight inches, and the bulk of the
body and extent of the wings are large in proportion,
the latter measuring four feet from tip to tip.

This difference of size shows pretty clearly in what
country the bird is most at home. America is de-
cidedly the most favourable to it, and India is more
favourable than Europe. Therefore, whatever habits
the bird may have in America are justly to be
regarded as its natural habits ; and as one of the
natural habits in America is to breed in trees, and
collect in large societies in the same breeding-place,
we may very safely conclude that this is the natural
habit of the bird ; and that where this habit is not
accommodated, the bird is in so far put out of its way,
and the result is, that it is dwarfed in its dimensions.
This point may be considered as demonstrated in the
case of the species in question ; and a little careful
observation in different places, and just comparison
founded on this observation, would render the same
principle applicable to any species of bird, or indeed
to any other living production of nature. This is of
far more value than any individual description, because
it leads us immediately to the connection that exists
between the living world and the rest of nature ; and
this is the most valuable instruction which natural
history can give us.

The bill (in the American bird) is four inches and
a quarter in length, from the angle of the gape to the
point ; the naked space from the eye to the gape
bluish, and that round the eyes deep purple. The
eye is large, being three quarters of an inch in
diameter ; the iris bright pure red, and the pupil
black ; the legs and feet are pale yellowish cream-
colour, and the claw of the middle toe is toothed on
the inner side. The crest on the head and hind
head are deep blue, with green reflections, but the
forehead and a bar across the eye are white. Pen-
dent from the nape there are three very narrow and
tapering white feathers between eight and nine inches
long ; the webs of these are concave, or curled inwards
on their under sides, so that each embraces the one
below it ; and so difficult is it to derange the form of
this graceful crest, that even if these feathers are
ruffled in the skin of the dead bird, shaking them two
or three times will bring them into their natural posi-
tion. In consequence of this the three feathers
appear only as one, and the bird has the power of
erecting them when excited. The cheek, neck, and
lower parts are white, with a tinge of yellowish cream
colour, and with very pale ash-colour under the
wings. The back and scapulars are of the same rich
blue with green reflections to which we alluded as
occurring on the head. The rump, the tail and its
coverts, and the whole of the wings, are very pale
ash-colour. Thus attired, the night heron, notwith-

736

HERON'S B I L L- H E R R I N G.

standing its unmusical voice, is really a very beautiful
bird ; and from the number of noxious creatures that
it destroys, it is very far from being a useless bird.

The female differs in nothing from the male bird,
excepting that perhaps the ash-colour on the wings is
a little darker ; and those who have described the
female as being without the crest have evidently con-
founded it with the young. In the young of the year
the colour on the upper part is very deep brown,
streaked with reddish white, and having triangular
spots on the back and wings, which extend from the
middle of the feathers to the extremity. The quills
are dusky black, with a white spot on the tip ; the
belly white, with dusky streaks ; the iris bright
orang-e, and the legs and feet pale green. These
colourings differ so much from those of the mature
bird, that unless the fact had been ascertained by
actual observation, the identity of the species would
not readily be believed. In the second year the
brown on the head and back still remains, but the
whitish spots are smaller and less numerous. The
spots on the wing-feathers are also smaller, and ash-
colour appears on some of the quills. There is also
generally a greenish tinge on the scapulars, and the
under parts are whiter than in the birds of the year ;
the bill is of a blackish brown, the iris reddish brown,
and the feet slightly greenish.

It does not appear that there is any difference of
colour in birds of the same age, as they have been
seen in Europe, in Southern Asia, and in North
America ; and indeed the only difference at all per-
ceptible is that of size, already mentioned ; and we
believe that in this respect they are much more uni-
form in America than in Europe, which is another
reason for concluding that they are more at home
there.

Such are the outlines of a few of the more remark-
able birds in the very numerous and highly interest-
ing family of the herons. Had our limits permitted,
we might easily have extended the list, though the
extension would have, after all, been little else than
so much mere description of shape and colour, which,
considered in themselves, are matters of minor con-
sequence. The species which we have enumerated,
go, we believe, to the more striking characters and
habits of the genus, whether as one, or as divided into
sections.

HERON'S BILL is the Erodhtm, a genus of
plants, defined and described by Le Heritier.

HERRING (Clupea, or rather perhaps Clupeidac,
the herring family). A genus of malacopterygious,
or jointed-rayed fishes, with abdominal fins ; and, in
an economical point of view, one of the most valuable
of all the many inhabitants of the waters. They hold
nearly the same place among fishes permanently inha-
biting the sea, as the salmon family do among those
who live in fresh water, or alternately in the salt
water and the fresh ; and though none of them at
all approach the size of the more important of the
salmon, and are not so much prized, their number?,
and the various ways in which they rnay be preserved,
as well as the length of time that the preserved ones
may be kept, and the distance to which they may be
carried, add greatly to their value as an article of
human food.

In addition to the characters already mentioned, it
may he slated that the herring family differ from that
of the salmon in having no adipose or tatty dorsal
fin, but agree with the trouts in having the inter-

maxillary bones without pedicles. Their bodies arc
always very scaly ; the greater number have an air-
bladder and numerous caecal appendages to their in-
testines. They are chiefly sea fishes, but some peculiar
ones are found in large fresh water lakes, and others
ascend the rivers at least as high as the termination of
the brackish water. The species, as well as the indi-
viduals, are very numerous; and they have sometimes
been divided into different genera, though such divi-
sion does not appear to render the study of them any
easier, and therefore we shall not pay much attention
to it. We have already given some account of two
of the species, namely, of the shad, in the article
ALOSA ; and another, the ANCHOVY, we noticed
under, that title. We purpose in the present article
very briefly to mention the more remarkable of the
remaining ones.

THE HERRING (C. harengus). This is a fish so
familiar to everybody that no formal description of it
is necessary ; and yet, strange to say, it is one respect-
ing which very many absurdities have been written,
and that even by naturalists who in some respects
are worthy of commendation. The old opinion was,
that these fishes, which retire from our shores at cer-
tain seasons of the year, and return to them at others,
swam off en masse to the polar seas during the
winter months, remaining there and enjoying some
incomprehensible benefit from a frozen canopy over
them, until the returning season, which in the com-
mencement of winter had sent them from cold to
colder, brought, them back to warmer habitations to-
ward the end of summer. What they may have done,
or could have gotten, in the extreme north during the
intensity of the cold, for they continue on some parts
at least of the British shores till nearly the end of the
year, the manufacturers and retailers of these most
singular allegations have not apparently felt them-
selves bound to say. It will however be but right
to hear Pennant on the subject, because he gives
the story with all due pomp and circumstance. The
opening of course alludes to their advance from the
north, when, like so many Goths and Vandals of the
ocean, they come to overrun and take possession of
our more hospitable seas : —

" This might}' army," says Pennant, " begins to
put itself in motion in the spring. We distinguish
this vast body by that name ; for the word herring1 is
derived from the German Hcrr — an army, to express
their numbers. They begin to appear off the Shet-
land islands in April and May. This is the first
check this army meets with in its march southward.
There it is divided into two parts : one wing of those,
destined to visit our coasts, takes to the east, the other
to the western shores of Great Britain, and fill every
bay and creek with their numbers ; others proceed
towards Yarmouth, the great and ancient mart of her-
rings ; they then pass through the British Channel,
and after that in a manner disappear. Those which
take to the west, after offering themselves to the He-
brides, where the great stationary fishery is, proceed
towards the north of Ireland, where they meet with a
second interruption, and are obliged to make a second
division : the one takes to the western side, and is
scarcely perceived, being soon lost in the immensity
of the Atlantic ; but the other, which passes into the
Irish sea, rejoices and feeds the inhabitants of most
of the coasts that border on it. These brigades, as
we may call them, which are thus separated from the
greater columns, are often capricious -in their motions,

HERRING.

and do not show an invariable attachment to their
haunts." Now so far is this from being the true state
of the case, that herrings are very rare in the polar
seas at all seasons of the year ; and the few that
are met with in the extreme north belong to a smaller
and much less valuable variety than that which is
caught in such numbers on the British shores. In
truth, the habit of the herrings, and, generally speak-
ing, of the whole herring family, does not differ much
in its great principles from that of the salmon, only
the species with which we are acquainted do not
ascend the rivers as the salmon do, though some of
them approach farther up the estuaries than others.
Their proper pastures, when their only objects are
feeding and recovering their strength, after having
been exhausted by the process of breeding, are the
deep waters of the sea, at a considerable distance
from the land. They arc however, to a certain extent,
surface fishes : and surface fishes, us we might expect,
do not deposit their spawn under a very great depth
of water ; because a certain degree of action of the
solar heat and light appears to be necessary for quick-
ening the eggs into life ; and not only this, but the
maturing of the spawn within the bodies of the ani-
mals appears to require an approach towards the
shores. Hence the herrings arrive off the coasts for
some time before they begin to deposit their spawn ;
and this is the time at which they are most valuable
for food, and caught in such numbers at the different
fishing stations. Whether they breed every year,
that is, whether, after having deposited their spawn
for one year, they are ready to return with an equally
productive load the next year, is a question which we
cannot determine. It is not very probable that so
excessive a production can go on year after year ;
but as we cannot follow those migratory fish which
disappear from our coasts at certain seasons into the
depths of the ocean, we cannot speak positively on
this part of the subject. We may rest assured, how-
ever, that there is no very great migration in latitude
in herrings or in any other species of fishes which
inhabit ihe sea. It is indeed said that whales not
only migrate, but migrate almost 'from the one pole
to the other in the course of the year ; but it will be
recollected that whales are not only warm-blooded
animals, but animals of comparatively high tempera-
ture ; and that they not only come to the surface to
breed, but feed with part of the body above water.
Therefore we can easily suppose that the rigour of
the polar winter might drive such an animal after the
sun into more southerly latitudes. This, however,
implies no necessity of migration in fishes, which
keep constantly below the water, and are not only in
their own temperature, but experience very little
change in that of the medium in which they swim
during the whole year. In our seas there is a slight
difference of temperature of the surface water in sum-
mer and in winter , but it is doubtful whether this
reaches to any considerable depth, and therefore we
can assign no cause why herrings or any other fishes
should migrate much in latitude.

The most rational opinion, and indeed the only
one which has any thing like reason or philosophy in
it, is that those fishes inhabit the deep water around
our coasts at all seasons of the year when they do not
approach near the land ; and that their object in
approaching the land is that of breeding as above
stated. It is well known that they deposit their
spawn on our shores, beginning in some instances in

NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

the month of October, in others not till November
and there are instances in which the operation is not
wholly completed until nearly the end of December.
When it is entirely over, and the fishes are on their
return to the deep water, their Hesh is exhausted and
tasteless, and even unwholesome, and they are pro-
verbially known by the name of " shotten 'herrings,"
which is a common expression for any thing worth-
less ; but as long as they remain on the coast without
having actually spawned they are in good condition ;
and we have certainly seen good herrings selling at.
the very moderate rate of forty a penny as late as the
third week of December.

They approach the land in vast shoals, often
extending many miles in length and breadth, and
probably fathoms in depth ; and sometimes, when
those shoals are caught in severe gales, the fishes are
stranded in numbers beyond all imagination. This
usually happens during the violent gales which
frequently occur about the time of the autumnal
equinox, for that is the period of the year at which
herrings approach our shores in the greatest numbers.
In some of the lochs or arms of the sea, on the wesf.
coast of Scotland, they have often been cast ashore
in such numbers that they were chopped up as manure
for the land ; and the writ'er of this article remembers
a case, on the east coast of Scotland, when, during a
strong gale from the north-cast, an entire shoal was
shipwrecked. It does not appear that herrings retreat
in any considerable numbers to the cod-banks in the
southern part of our eastern sea ; and there are two
reasons why they should not : in the first place, the
water there is comparatively shallow ; and, in the
second place, the cod are most ravenous fishes, and
would doubtless make terrible havoc of a shoal of
herrings if it should come within their locality.
Hence the greater number of those herrings which
reach the more southerly parts of our east coast cer-
,ainly do come from a little way north, and, in their
passage, they keep between the cod-banks and the
land ; and as, during their migration shoreward, they
come pretty near the surface, it is natural to supposo
that, along with the surface-water, they should, to
some extent at least, drift before the wind. In the
case to which we allude, which occurred at the town
of Crail, at the eastern extremity of the peninsula of
Fife, a gentleman, on whose veracity we can rely,
was spending a day with a friend at the outskirts of
the town. The bellman passed, making a violent
clatter, with not the most musical of all instruments,
and then proclaimed, with stentorian voice, that any
one who chose to go to the shore, meaning thereby
the harbour of Crail, would get a cartload of live
herrings for a shilling. This passed without much
notice ; but by and by the bellman again came round,
proclaiming, that any one who pleased to resort to
the shore of Crail would get a cartload of live her-
rings for nothing. The second announcement, of
course, excited some speculation ; and it was soon
followed by a third one, that any one who would bo
kind enough to go to the shore of Crail would get a
shilling for taking away a cartload of live herrings.
This seemed something- very extraordinary, and the
.party set off for the shore accordingly. Upon arriving
there, they found that a shoal of herrings, on their
way probably to the Frith of Forth, and the sandy
beach between North Berwick and Dunhar, which
are understood to be favourite places for the de-
positing of the spawn, had been driven inside the
A A A

738 HERRING.

reef of the Carr-rocks, and so stranded, ana that, lei.;
by the ebb-tide, they lay in countless thousands for

.1 M J_l__lf»-_ •!_-_! . *1_

at least a mile and a half or two miles along the
shore. The reason for the announcement was a fear
on the part of the authorities in Crail that such a
quantity of animal matter remaining to putrify on the
beacn would taint the atmosphere and cause disease.

At that time there was of course no danger ; for
though herrings, as is the case with all surface-fish,
and with this family in an especial manner, die very
soon after being taken out of the water, yet many of
them were alive, and less injured than if they had
been taken in the usual way, of being entangled in
nets by the gill-lids. Thus they were there abso-
lutely as a mine of wealth ; but, unfortunately, the
people could not avail themselves of them to the full
extent of their value. There are salt-works, that is,
works for obtaining salt by the evaporation of sea-
water, at no great distance, but, unfortunately, the
impolitic, and, in cases like this, the most iniquitously
cruel duty on salt then existed ; and, though we
believe there was a drawback of the duty upon salt
which had been applied to the curing of fish, there
was no warehouse bonding, or any other means by
which a stock could be kept without actual payment of
the duty in the first instance ; and this was tantamount
to a positive enactment that no stock should be kept,

There cannot be a more severe reproof of that
ministerial cupidity, which, for the gratification of
ambition, and the most unholy purpose of deluging
the earth with 'human blood, ignorantly lays taxes
upon everything, without knowing or caring what
may be the consequences, than such a case as this.
There was an immense quantity of human food, in the
very finest condition, cast on the shore, without con-
trivance or labour on the part of man, as if it had
been a miraculous instance of the bounty of Heaven ;
and yet the people could not avail themselves of that
bounty because of the duty on salt ! At the same
time there was a Board for the Encouragement of the
British Fisheries, with well-paid commissioners, and
there were bounties given to certain successful pro-
secutors of the fishery. Fortunately for us, those
times of " the blackness of darkness" in legislation
have, in some measure, gone by, and perhaps the
period is not very remote when they will be numbered
among the fables of antiquity, which all wonder at,
but none believe. In this case there was probably,
however, more absolute loss from the want of salt
than the whole salt-duty of Scotland amounted to in
a dozen years. It may be said that the people of
Crail could have kept a stock of salt, well knowing
that, if a shoal of herrings should ground upon their
coast, and they should use the salt in curing them,
they would get the drawback. But this same system
of drawback, while it leads to many acts of villany,
is one of the most complete extinguishers of industry
and enterprise that can be imagined. If there were
no drawback, people would include the duty among
the other costs of production, and so accommodate
the article to meet contingencies, much in the same
way as if there were no duty ; but there never will
be a surplus of that upon which a payment has been
made, to be got back again under circumstances which
are contingent ; and thus the drawback has a more
mischievous effect upon any manufacture than the
same amount of duty without any drawback. There-
fore, the sooner that all such mischievous laws are
repealed the better.

In the cases alluded to, tne peop e aid wnat they
could ; they used all the salt in the towns and places
adjoining ; and they made signals, and sent mes-
sages, so that light craft came from some other
places, and carried off part of the herrings in bulk ;
but the fish are too tender for such treatment, and
only a small quantity could be taken, as there was
enough to load a navy ; and, therefore, the farmers
of the neighbourhood carted off the far greater part,
to be worked up in compost as manure.

Though there is no reason to believe that the
herrings make any longer voyages than from the
deep waters to the shore, to mature and deposit
their spawn, and back again when that operation
is completed ; yet they are, to our apprehension,
very capricious, — that is to say, they come in multi-
tudes to certain parts of the coast for a greater or
smaller number of years, and again totally abandon
it, nobody can tell why. Of course there is no
caprice in this ; for, like all other occurrences in
nature, it may have a natural cause ; and the pro-
bable one is that the herrings, by resorting to one
particular spot in such immense shoals as they do,
exhaust that spot of the proper food for themselves
and their offspring ; and are under the necessity of
seeking another haunt, until the store again accumu-
lates in such quantity as to be adequate to their wants.
Fat bottoms, where there is an eddy, or one current
running against another, and consequently a deposit,
appear to be the places which they prefer ; and
hence, the herrings in Loch Fyne, and some of the
other inlets of the Atlantic, which have the middle of
considerable depth, but the bottom rich toward the
shores, are much larger and finer than those taken in
water where there is little stagnation, and, conse-
quently, little deposit. On the east coast we find the
herrings richer in flavour in proportion as they are
nearer to the banks, though, for the reason which we
have already assigned, it is not probable that they
naturally resort to those banks where cod shoal,
although, cod are much mere bottom fishes than
herrings. The exhausting of their food at any par-
ticular spawning-place is, however, the only natural
reason that we can assign for the apparent caprice of
the herrings ; and we find it confirmed, or, at all
events, rendered more probable, by t'he conduct of
some other animals both of the sea and the land.
Haddocks are not quite so capricious as herrings ;
but they often quit a particular spot after being
abundant upon it for years. Salmon also desert
rivers, not only in consequence of the quantity of
deleterious matter in them (which is probably the
cause of their having deserted the Thames), but also
when only gravel is discharged into the stream. In
forming the Caledonian canal, it was found necessary
partially to change the bed of the river Ness, The
cutting thrown into it was clean gravel ; but in such
quantity that, though the water was not at least very
turbid all the way to the sea (about two or three
miles), there was a constant deposit of gravelly
matter on the bottom ; and the salmon, in a great
measure, deserted the river. The only probable
cause of this desertion was that the gravel covered
up the food either of the salmon or of their fry, most
probably of the latter. We must not wonder that
a salmon should cease to come for the purpose of
spawning to a place where its young cannot find food ;
for, in all cases where the parent animal does not
attend to the young, there is an instinct which guides

HERRING.

the parent to the proper nidus, with far more cer-
tainty than the reason of man can do it. These
appear to be chief natural causes of the apparent
capriciousness of the herrings, in respect of locality ;
and we have stated them at some length, because
they will, with modifications for the several races,
apply to every fish which has the same habit.

Some explanation of this kind is necessary, also, on
account of the prejudices which exist on the subject.
The disappearance of any valuable species of fish
from a part of the coast on which they have been
abundant for some time, is one of the most severe
calamities that can befal the inhabitants ; as great,
in some instances, as if the blight of total ste-
rility were to be sent upon the earth. This being
the case, and more the case in proportion as the land
is poorer, and the people more dependant on the
sea, (which is saying, in other words, that they are
very superstitious,) it is very natural that the people
should assign causes for these apparent caprices ; and,
under the circumstances, it is hardly possible that
they should assign any but superstitious and absurd
ones. But there are perhaps no evils more prone to
growth and spreading than prejudices ; and thus,
when they are entertained upon any one subject, they
very speedily taint the whole character.

Some of the prejudices which are entertained re-
specting the disappearance of herrings from different
localities on the British shores, are so very curious,
notwithstanding their absurdity, that we shall notice
them ; and we cannot do better than by quoting from
the late Dr. M'Culloch, and we shall quote as from
Mr. Yarrell's admirable work on British fishes, for the
sake of introducing an Irish anecdote mentioned by
that gentleman in supplement to the Scotch absurdi-
ties. " Ordinary philosophy is never satisfied," says
Dr. M'Culloch, "unless it can find a solution for
every thing ; and is satisfied, for this reason, with
imaginary ones. Thus, in Long Island, one of the
Hebrides, it was asserted that the fish had been
driven away by the manufactory of kelp ; some
imaginary coincidence having been found between
their disappearance and the establishment of that
business. But the kelp fires did not drive them
away from other shores, which they frequent and
abandon indifferently without regard to this work.
It has been a still more favourite and popular fancy,
that they were driven away by the firing of guns •, and
hence tins is not allowed during the fishing season.
A gun has scarcely been fired in the western islands,
or on the west coast, since the days of Cromwell ;
yet they have changed their places many times in
that interval. In a similar manner, and with equal
truth, it was said that they had been driven from the
Baltic by the battle of Copenhagen. It is amusing
to see how old theories are revived. This is a very
ancient highland hypothesis, with the necessary modi-
fication. Before the days of guns and gunpowder,
the highlanders held that they quitted coasts where
blood had been shed ; and thus ancient philosophy
is renovated. Steam-boats are now supposed to be
the culprits, since a reason must be found ; to prove
r erl'ect, Loch Fyne, visited by a steam-boat daily,
is now their favourite haunt, and they have deserted
i lochs where steam-boats have never yet smoked."
" A member of the House of Commons, during the ses-
sion of 1835, in a debate on a tithe bill, stated,.that a
clergyman having obtained a living on the coast of Ire-
land, signified his intention of taking the tithe offish;

739

which was, however, considered to be so utterly re-
pugnant to their privileges and feelings, that not a
single herring had ever since visited that part of the
shore ! "

Herrings, besides coming in great numbers to our
shores, are exceedingly prolific ; and the spawn
being deposited in the end of autumn or the early
part of winter, much about the same time as that of
the salmon, quickens early in the spring ; and, as the
summer advances, the fry are found in countless mul-
titudes along all the shores where the bottom is
shelving, and the water shallow for some distance.
Though the shoals of herrings are met with at parti-
cular points only it is probable that they deposit their
spawn along the whole line of the coast wherever the
bottom is fit for the purpose ; and thus immense
quantities of fry are met with in places where there is
no fishing. Thus, for instance, herrings are very
rarely caught in the Tay ; and yet, when stake-nets
were erected in the estuary of that river for catching
salmon, such multitudes of herring fry, or " herring-
Boil," as they are called generally, on the east coast,
though with various pronunciations of the last syllable,
got entangled in the nets, that at low water they were
sometimes found lying ankle deep ; and without
any entanglement they may sometimes be taken in
great quantities by simply letting down a basket and
drawing it up again. So common indeed are they,
that it is scarcely possible to use a small meshed net
during the summer upon any part of the coast with-
out capturing numbers of them; and the juvenile
fishers at the points of piers, and jetties, and other
situations where there runs of tidal water, catch them
indiscriminately with the fry of the cole fish. They
retire from the narrower parts of the estuaries at the
end of summer, though in some of the broader ones
they remain during the autumn, and do not rove far
from the coast during the winter. Indeed it is by no
means improbable that if the movements of grown
herrings in the sea were properly traced, it might be
•o managed that they might be taken in a condition
fit for use at all seasons of the year, at least if, as we
are inclined to believe, the spawning is riot annual.

Herrings are captured by means of what are called
drift nets, that is, nets which are left in the sea, sus-
pended from the surface, and descending only to a
moderate depth. This is the usual method of catch-
ing all the surface fishes which swim in shoals, such
as mackerel and pilchards, only the meshes of the
net vary with the kind of fish. In such nets the
fishes are not enclosed, but entangled in the meshes
through which they attempt to pass, but are not able,
neither can they retreat, as the threads of the mesh
catch hold of their gill-covers, and thus they are
often suffocated while in the net. These nets often
extend to a great length, many miles belonging to
the same proprietor in the larger fisheries ; and these
fisheries can be carried on to the proper extent only
by persons of considerable capital. A proper equip-
ment of nets, boats, and busses, with the men requi-
site to work them, requires an outlay of from fifteeu
to twenty thousand pounds ; and after all, the fishery,
at least that for sea fishery where such extensive nets
are. used, is in a great measure a lottery. Owing to
the capricious habit of the fish, they may not come to
the spot where the net is put down ; and on the
other hand, as the best fishing is about the time when
the autumnal gales are most severe, the nets may be
drifted out to sea and lost, by the action of the wind
AA A2

740

II ERRING.

upon the floats by which the drift-rope that supports
the net is buoyed up. When a loss of this kind does
occur it is peculiarly serious, as being the loss of the
season as well as the property ; and as the prevention
of such losses, especially on the coasts of the High-
lands, where the autumnal winds are very inconstant,
requires a great deal of experimental knowledge o!
the weather, and intimate acquaintance with the
various motions of the sea, the fishery cannot be con-
ducted by adventurers, or indeed by any one who has
not been bred to it on the spot ; and if half the sum
which has been given in bounties had been expended
in training men for the task, there is no doubt that
great advantage would have thence arisen.

In order to show the advantages of this fishery, we
shall give an abstract of the returns of the whole
produce of the fishery for 1815, and the four years
following. " By the report of 1815, it appears that the
quantity guttcdandcuredwasl05,372;i barrels. By that
of 1816, it amounted to 135,981 barrels, being an in-
crease in one year's fishery of 30.608J barrels. The
quantity cured ungutted, in the former period, was
54,767 barrels ; in the latter 26,670£ barrels, being
a decrease of 28,096£ barrels. The total quantity
brought under the view of the officers in 1815 was
160,139^ barrels. In 1816 it was 1 62,65 1J barrels,
being an increase on the whole of 2,5 12^ barrels.
The quantity branded for bounty in 1815 w'as 83,376
barrels. In 1816 :„ was 116,436, being an increase
of 33,060 barrels. The exports on the whole in 1815
exceeded those of 1816 ; but the gutted herrings ex-
ported in the latter year exceeded those of the former
by 12,606£ barrels. In the year 1817 the total quan-
tity caught was 192,34% barrels, being an increase
of 29,691^ barrels. In the same year the quantity
branded for bounty was 140,018^ barrels, being
an increase of 23,582^ barrels. The quantity ex-
ported in 1817 was 13~8,628£, being an increase of
30,940£ barrels. In the year 1S18 the total quantity
caught was 227,691 barrels, whereof 204,270| were
cured gutted, and 23,420f ungutted ; being an in-
crease in the total quantity of 35,347^ barrels, and of
48,494£ in the quantity gutted ; w Tiile there was a
decrease in the quantity cured ungutted of 13,I46J
barrels. In this year the quantity found entitled to
bounty was 183,089^ barrels, being an increase of
43,071 barrels. In the same year the total quantity
exported was 162,339i barrels, whereof 148,147^
•were gutted, and 14, 192" ungutted ; being an increase
in the total quantity of 23,711 barrels, and of 32,667
in the quantity gutted ; while there was a decrease in
the quantity ungutted of 8956 barrels." The vast
numbers in which these fishes are taken, and the rea-
diness with which they find a market, more especially
in the warmer countries, point out how very important
they are to this country, and how worthy their his-
tory is of being studied with the utmost attention.

It may seem hardly necessary to give a description
of a fish so well known as the herring ; but we shall
quote Mr. Yarrell's description, with a view both to
snow how a fish ought to be described, and how
admirably this excellent naturalist has described this
one, and indeed all others ; and the specimen w ill no
doubt induce such, as are fond of the study of fishes,
a study which deserves far more attention than it
generally meets with, to take Mr. Yarrell as their
guide to the whole finny tribes of the British waters.
" The length of the head," says Mr. Yarrell, " com-
pared to the length of the body alone, without the

head or caudal rays, is as one to four ; the depth of
the body, compared to the whole length of the fish, as
one to five ; the commencement of the dorsal tin half
way between the point of the upper jaw and the end
of the fleshy portion of the tail ; the longest ray
nearly as long as the base of the fin ; the pectoral fin
rather large compared to the size of the other fins.
The ventral fin arises considerably behind the line of
the commencement of the dorsal fin — this fin is small,
with elongated axillary scales, its origin half way
between the point of the lower and the end of the
short central caudal rays ; the anal fin begins half
way between the origin of the central and the end of
the fleshy portion of the tail, and extends over half
the distance between its origin and the end of the
fleshy portion, thus occupying the third quarter divi-
sion of the distance between the origin of the ventral
fin and the end of the fleshy portion of the tail ; the
rays very short ; the tail considerably forked ; the
outer rays as long again as those of the middle ; the
fin rays in number are, dorsal fin seventeen rays,
pectoral fin fifteen, ventral nine, anal fourteen, caudal
twenty, spine consisting of fifty-six vertebrae, but the
rays vary in some specimens to nineteen dorsal, seven-
teen pectoral, nine ventral, sixteen anal, and eighteen
caudal. The lower jaw is by much the longer, with
five or six small teeth extending in a line backwards
on each side from the anterior point ; four rows of
small teeth on the central upper surface of the
tongue ; a few small teeth on the central portion of
the upper jaw, and the inferior edges below the gape
finely serrated ; the eye large ; its diameter, com-
pared to the length of the head, as two to seven, and
placed at the distance of its own breadth from the end
of the nose ; the dorsal and abdominal lines of the
body slightly convex ; the belly carinated, but not
serrated ; the scales moderate in size, oval, and
thin. The upper part of the fish a fine blue, with
green and other reflections when viewed in different
lights ; the lower part of the side and belly silvery
white ; cheeks and gill-covers silvery, exhibiting the
appearance of extravasation when the fish has been
d«ad twenty-four hours ; dorsal and caudal fins dusky ;
the. fins on the lower parts of the body almost white."
LEACH'S HSRIUNG (C. Leachii). We are indebted
to Mr. Yarrell for the first distinct account of this
variety, though it had been previously noticed by
others that there were some differences in herrings.
This species differs from the common one in the
hape being much deeper in proportion to the length,
and more curved in the line both of the back and the
belly. The eye is also much larger, and the scales
mailer; the dorsal fin also is not placed quite so far
behind the centre of gravity, so that when this fish is
tried by the usual test of distinguishing a sprat from
a herring, by the drooping of the herring's head when
field by the dorsal fin, this one does not droop so
much as the other. This species is met with on
various parts of the British coasts ; but, so far as is
decided, not in such numbers in any one locality as
he common herring. It may be, however, that this
s the fish which is sometimes taken in good condition
and full of roe in the middle of winter ; and if so,
here is a chance that, if proper attention were paid to
this fishery, the herring might be obtained fresli for
at least six months of the year ; for this one comes in
season as soon as the common herring goes out. The
icrring fisheries in the western and eastern seas of
he north part of the island alternate with each other,

HERRING.

741

that of the west being over before the eastern one
comes on ; and this would lead to a conclusion that
there is a difference of species, or at all events of
variety, between the herrings of those two seas. The
usual way of explaining this was derived from the
absurd notion of the annual pilgrimage of herrings
from the pole ; and as that must be abandoned, we
can only suppose that the herrings which come near
the land at different seasons in places so little different
from each other spawn at different seasons. It is
probable that the common herring is the herring of
the Atlantic, though the other is certainly met with
there also ; and that the present species is the herring
ot the north seas, which inhabiting water of a colder
temperature, is later in bringing its spawn to maturity.
These however are points respecting which there
must l)e a good deal farther examination before the
difficulty can be cleared.

THE PILCHARD (C. pilchardus). The pilchard is
a more southerly and more local fish than the her-
ring ; being, as a British h'sh, found chiefly on the
Cornish coasts, and it is rare indeed that one is met
with beyond Dover, or even in the narrow part of the
channel. The old story assigned the same pilgrim-
age to the pilchard as to the herring ; but it is now
well ascertained to be resident on the coast of Corn-
wall all the year round, only it follows the instinct of
the genus, by coming to the shore for maturing and
depositing its spawn, and returning again to the deep
water when these purposes arc accomplished. In the
cold months, they remain in the deep water ; and
they are a little capricious in the times of their appear-
ance in numbers near the land, though not so much
so with regard to places as the herrings. Sometimes
they come as early as March and April ; but July
and August are the times of their regular appear-
ance, the great fishing being in August and Septem-
oer, at which times they are taken both with the
scan and drift net. They appear to deposit spawn
very irregularly at different times of the summer.
The motions of the shoals of pilchards are very capri-
cious ; and therefore, though they are found on the
same grounds year alter year, a good deal of experi-
ence is requisite in order to be successful in the cap-
ture of them.

The description of the -pilchard fishery given by
Mr. Yarrell is highly interesting, but our limits do
not admit of quoting. The most interesting mode is
perhaps that with the scan. This is generally used
in the sandy bays, and the fish, which are exceedingly
timid, are driven into such a situation as that they
can be enclosed by the net. When a large haul of
fishes are enclosed in the net, and brought to the sur-
face, the splutter and noise which they make in at-
tempting to escape is very great ; but when the large
scan is properly worked, and secured by grapnels,
the fish can be taken from it in portions at a time, so
that if the quantity enclosed is very great, the remov-
ing of the pilchards from the sean may ^occupy a
whole week. The number of these fish which is cap-
tured is often very great. Two thousand or three
thousand hogsheads have been taken by one scan in the
course of a year ; and as a hogshead contains from
two thousand to five thousand fish, the number is
immense. Twenty-five millions of pilchards have
sometimes been landed at one port in a single day,
which is more than a pilchard a piece to every man,
woman and child, in the three kingdoms ; and as this
is only one out of three or four ports at which this

fishery is carried on, at the south-west of England
alone, it is not too much to say, that local as the pil-
chard fishery is, it might be made to support while it
lasts the whole people of the united kingdom.

Pilchards also occur in great numbers on the south-
west of Ireland, the principal fishery being in Bantry
Bay ; and they are found, though less abundantly, on
the south-east and east of Ireland. They are like-
wise met with on the French coasts, and on those of
Spain, but less abundantly on the latter ; thereby
proving that the fishes are very local, and do not
extend into the warm latitudes.

The pilchard is thicker and smaller than the her
ring ; the scales are large, they are periodically shed,
and have a fringe at the posterior edge, which enables
them to take a powerful hold on the water when
swimming. The dorsal fin is nearly triangular ; and
its posterior edge is nearly over the centre of gravity,
so that when a pilchard is held by this fin, the head
rises, and the tail droops down, which is the very
reverse of what happens with the herring. In the
average of pilchards there is one ray more in the
dorsal fin, one more in the pectoral, one less in the
ventral, four more in the anal, and one less in the
caudal, and there is one vertebra less in the spinal
column. It is probable though however, that the
number of rays in the fins are subject to variation, as
is the case with the herring. The mouth is small
and toothless, with the under jaw projecting beyond
the upper ; and the food is understood to consist of
the smallest insects and Crustacea which inhabit the
sea. The eyes are whitish yellow, the gill-covers
bright yellow, the upper part bluish green, the sides
and belly silvery, and the dorsal and caudal fins
dusky.

THE SPRAT (C. spratlus). The old opinion that
the sprat is the young or fry of the herring, is now
exploded by all who are in the least acquainted with
the habits and characters offish, but it still continues
a matter of popular belief in many places. Indeed,
in a family of fishes which possess so much family
likeness, and yet differ so much in size, it was per-
haps natural to suppose, in the times of ignorance,
that the smaller ones were the young of the larger.
There is something in the succession of herrings and
sprats which may lead vulgar belief this way, though
to'those who reflect on the matter the conclusion to
which it leads is exactly the opposite. Sprats corne
near the shores in great numbers after the herrings
are gone, but seldom if ever so long as these remain ;
thus it was natural to conclude that the offspring fol-
lowed the parents. But then the sprats come to the
shores for the same purpose as the herrings ; and \ve
never find the young of any species of seasonal fish
making their appearance in numbers, or of a size
worth catching-, until a considerable time after the
parent fishes have taken their departure. The
herrings disappear in the beginning of winter gene-
rally, and the young herrings are not found till the
end of spring, or the beginning of summer.^ Sprats
appear in the beginning of winter, and continue the
whole winter through ; and though there is no doubt
that the young sprats are hatched some time about
midsummer, yet they are not so much observed as
the young herrings. Though sprats are small, they
are not without their value ; because they are caught
in vast numbers, arid at a season when neither
pilchard nor herring in the recent state is to be had.
They are sold cheap ; but when recent and dressed

742

HERRING.

•with due care, they make no unsavoury meai. It is
necessary, however, that they should be recent ; for
there are few fishes that are sooner injured by keeping
than sprats.

The sprat is a fish of the east coast of Britain
rather than the west, and its favourite places are the
estuaries of the rivers farther upward than the herring
usually comes. Thus, in the north, the herring,
though plentiful on the coast of Caithness, rarely
comes far into the Moray Firth ; while the best sprat
fishing is in the arm of that Frith which extends
beyond Inverness to Beauly. In the Frith of Forth
the herring, even when most frequent in thtt localit}^
seldom goes above Kinghorn, or even as far, while the
sprat ascends to the narrows about Inch Garvie ;
and on this account the vulgar name in that part of
Scotland is " Garvie herring," or simply " Garvie."
In the Thames, again, the sprat comes about the east
of Kent, and partially round the North Foreland.
On the east and north-east of Ireland, the sprat also
makes its appearance ; but it does not resort to any
part of the coast which is exposed to the full roll of
the Atlantic.

In the south of England the sprat fishing begins in
November ; but it is earlier in the north ; and the fish
is less esteemed there, because fish are more abundant
and buyers fewer there than in the south. Sprats are
caught with small-meshed drift nets, or with stow-
boats. In this case two boats have a large purse-net
between them kept open to the run of the water by
two beams, one above the other, and six farther apart ;
the depth of the whole from the surface being a matter
depending on local circumstances. The current
carries the sprats into this great net ; and when the
proper time comes, the mouth of the net is closed by
raising the lower beam. " All is fish that comes into
a net" of this kind,— sprats, dory, anything. The
quantity taken is often immense, and as counting is
out of the question, they are sold by measure, some-
times at sixpence a bushel for manure. A full-grown
sprat is about six inches long, and rather more than
an inch in depth. They are eaten fresh, preserved
in various ways, and sometimes manufactured into
counterfeit anchovies.

WHITEBAIT (C. alba). Long as this fish has been
celebrated by the more recherche ichthyophagi, for its
delicate flavour, and the impossibility of getting it in
perfection anywhere but at the few places where it
can be had recently caught, it was not until within these
few years, when Mr. Yarrell investigated its natural his-
tory, that the truth was known concerning- it. This may
seem singular ; for there is scarcely a constellation of
great men, right honourable, right worshipful, right
learned, or, we believe we may add, right reverend,
in the British metropolis, which would not from time
immemorial have considered it a ban-yan year in the
calendar, if they had not got their annual feast of
whitebait at Greenwich, or in the vicinity. It may
be true that, as the poet sings,

" dainty bits

Make rich the ribs, but banker ottt the wits 3"

but still, when we consider that the most learned
societies have been for so long a period doing the
greatest justice to this little fish in a gastronoraical
point of view, it seems passing strange that none of
them should have ever thought of being grateful to
the little lord of the feast, and showing their gratitude
by giving it a local habitation &wl i name upon the

scroll as a distinct species and perfect fish, instead of
continuing to regard it as the young of the shad ; for
if they had used their eyes with half the zeal on the
living fish that they no doubt displayed in their
palates to the dead one, they would have seen that,
if the offspring of the shad, this fish could not be legi-
timate. It is, perhaps, as well, however, that they let
this matter alone ; for we doubt very much whether
any one individual, or, with great deference, any one
society, however learned, could have done half the
justice to the subject which has been done by Mr.
Yarrell ; and we, on our part, should be doing injus-
tice both to him and to our readers if we did not
quote a portion of his description, instead of substi-
tuting any thing of our own.

" About the end of March, or early in April," says
Mr. Yarrell, " whitebait begin to make their appear-
ance in the Thames, and are then small, apparently
but just changed from the albuminous state of very
young fry. During the fine weather of June, July,
and August, immense quantities are consumed by
visiters to the different taverns at Greenwich and
Blackwall. Pennant says, ' they are esteemed very
delicious when fried with fine flour, and occasion
during the season a vast resort of the lower order
of epicures to the taverns contiguous to the places
where they are taken.' What might have been the
particular grade of persons who were in the habit of
visiting Greenwich to eat white bait in the days when
Pennant wrote, I am unable to state ; but at present
the fashion of enjoying the excellent course 01 fish, as
served up either at Greenwich or Blackwall, is sanc-
tioned by the highest authorities, from t'he court at
St. James's Palace in the west, to the Lord Mayor
and his court in the east, including the cabinet
ministers and the philosophers of the Royal Society.
As might be expected, examples numerous and influ-
ential have corresponding weight ; and, accordingly,
there are few entertainments more popular or more
agreeable than a white-bait dinner. The fishery is
continued frequently as late as September ; and speci-
mens of young fish of the year, four and five inches
long, are then not uncommon, but mixed, even at
this late period of the season, with others of very
small size, as though the roe had continued to be
deposited throughout the summer ; yet the parent
fish are not caught, and are believed by the fishermen
not to come higher up than the estuary ; where, at
this season of the year, nets sufficiently small in the
mesh to stop them are not in use. The particular
mode of fishing for whitebait, by which a constant
supply during the season is obtained, was formerly
considered destructive to the fry of fishes generally,
and great pains were taken to prevent it by those to
whom the conservancy of the fishery of the Thames
was entrusted ; but since the history and habits of
this species have been better understood, and it has
been ascertained that no other fry of any value swim
with them, — which I can aver, — the men have been
allowed to continue this part of their occupation with
little or no disturbance, though still using an unlawful
net."— Fame's British Fishes, vol. ii. pp. 127, 128.

The only other British locality in which its histo-
rian mentions that this fish is to be found, is " the
Hamble, which runs into Southampton-water ;" but,
as he very justly believes, this is owing, " rather to
the want of a particular mode of fishing, by which so
small a fish can be taken so near the surface, than to
the absence of the fish itself; which, abounding as it

HERRING.

748

does in the Thames, I have very Tittle doubt might
be caught in some of the neighbouring rivers on our
south and east coasts." This is certainly highly
probable ; and the same remark, doubtless, applies to
other fishes which are usually said to be very local.
We are, in general, very ignorant of the habits of
fishes ; and modes of fishing are the most local of all
arts ; so that in all cases in which there is any great
similarity between one part of the water and another,
it is always worth while to try, if what is got in the
one could not be got in the other also, by using the
same means.

The common whitebait net is small, only about
three feet each way in the opening. It is put over
the side of the boat, moved in a depth of from three
to five fathoms, and let down to the depth of only
about four feet. The fish come with the flood, but
never ascend beyond the brackish water. This alone
might have shown that they were not shads, as
these often go many miles up the fresh. The heat
produced by the mixing of the fresh and salt water
is the stimulating cause which brings them, and also
the reason why they move up and down with the
tide. On this account they are not very likely to be
found in any but tidal rivers, in which there is a con-
siderable range of the tidal play.

Farther down the estuary of the Thames, white-
bait are sometimes caught of larger size than on the
grounds usually fished, and they are also caught nearer
the bottom, and in deeper water ; but while whitebait
is the chief fish caught on the stations farther up, it
arrives only as a straggler in those more seaward
places ; and, as is known to be the case with the pil-
chard, and supposed to be the case with the herring,
it keeps more to the bottom as it gets farther out to
sea. Whether it might not be followed into these
localities, and taken by deeper nets than those now
used ; or rather, whether it might not be met as it
returns from them, is a point worthy of investigation
We know, that in the case of salmon, the more sea-
ward they are taken they are the better ; but this
may not hold in the case of white-bait, or, indeed, in
that of any of the herring family. Herrings, them-
selves, are better when they are taken in the quiet
Days, with fat bottoms, and the same may hold true
of "all the family. For salmon are fishes of colder
latitudes, and hence they do not select the top of the
brackish water, where the greatest heat is, for their
spawning-places, but pass into the fresh of the rivers
and even, in some instances, hundreds of miles inland
although, as an article of food, their quality deterio-
rates from the moment that they quit the fully satu-
rated water of the sea, or, at all events, the open sea
water of the places to which they resort.

Whitebait, as is the case with the whole herrin
family, are very tender in their vital system ; and
true to the general character of all animals which are
thus tender, their flavour very speedily falls off, am
they soon become putrid and unwholesome. The;;
are so very delicate that they cannot even be carriec
to any great distance in boats which are providec
with wells. They can therefore be had in perfection
only in the immediate vicinity of the places in whicl
they are caught, and the sooner they are dressec
after being taken out of the water the better. Thi
is an additional reason for ascertaining whether thej
may not be found in other rivers besides the Thame
and the Hamble. In order to contribute our humbl

mite to the ascertaining of this, we shall add a short
lescription of the appearance of these very interest-
ng little fishes ; and it would be worse than affectation
o attempt doing this in any other language than that
rf Mr. Yarrell.

" The length of the head," says Mr. Yarrell, " corn-
ered with that of the body alone, is as two to five ;
he depth of the body, compared with the whole
ength of the fish, as one to five ; the dorsal-fin com-
mences half-way between the point of the closed jaws
and the ends of the short middle caudal rays ; the
the longer ray of the dorsal-fin is as long as the base
of the fin ; the ventral-fin arises behind the commence-
ment of the dorsal, and halt-way between the point
of the closed jaws and the end of the largest caudal
rays; the tail long, and deeply forked. The fin-
rays in number are —

" Dorsal, seventeen ; pectoral, fifteen ; ventral,
nine ; anal, fifteen ; and caudal, twenty. The verte-
brae of the spinal column are fifty-six.

" The head is elongated ; the dorsal line less con-
vex than that of the abdomen ; the scales deciduous ;
:he abdominal line strongly serrated from the pectoral
5n to the anal aperture.

" The lower-jaw the largest, and smooth ; the
upper slightly crenated ; the tongue with an elevated
central ridge without any teeth ; the eye large ; the
irides silvery ; the upper part of the back pale green-
ish ash ; all the lower parts, the cheeks, gill-covers,
sides, and belly, silvery-white ; dorsal and caudal
fins coloured tike the back ; pectoral, ventral, and
anal fins, white. The only food I could find in the
stomach were the ratnains of minute Crustacea."

This description, which is equally accurate and
circumstantial, will enable any one who takes an
interest in the seasonal fish of any of our rich tidal
rivers to know this much-famed species, and if only
one is found in a river, that will be sufficient to
justify a fair trial with the whitebait net properly
constructed and worked ; for these fishes always
come in shoals to their breeding-places, and very
rarely straggle. Fro.n what Mr. Yarrell says of the
food of this, the smallest and most delicate of the
herring family, it is highly probable that the whole
family feed upon those small Crustacea and other
little creatures which float in countless myriads in the
sea, and are very much at the mercy of the currents,
so that, according as those currents shift in their
setting against each other the fishes which feed on
the living load of the water may also require to shift.
This may, in part at least, explain why the herrings
are so apparently capricious on our eastern shores.
Those shores have a current of tide from the north
parallel to the general line of the coast, while, on the
opposite coast of the continent, the tidal movement
is in the reverse direction, or to the north, as far at
least as the entrance of the Baltic. There is thus a
general eddy and deposit of whatever is suspended in
the middle of our eastern sea ; and in the different
estuaries and embayments along our east coast there
are of course smaller eddies, which in like manner
' make their deposits, though to an inferior amount.
The variable winds, and the action of the land-floods
in the upper estuaries, must have considerable effect
upon the eddy water which collects those little crea-
tures that are taken up from their birth-place on the
shores ; and the removal of the food by this means,
en masse, may co-operate with the consumption of

744

HESPERANTHA— HETEROMERA.

the fish in producing those periodical famines in some
localities which drive the fish to others. But the free
ocean, when once arrived at, is common to all ; and
the margin of the great central eddy, and of its banks,
to which these fishes retire, are not subject to the
same vicissitudes as the bays and estuaries. It is
highly probable that there are also seasonal move-
ments of great part of the food of these fishes, sea-
ward at one time, and shoreward at another. No
doubt many of even the very smallest Crustacea carry
their eggs attached to the under part of the body,
and thus continue in the free water all the year with-
out, in all probability, ever reaching the bottom.
There are other creatures, however, upon which the
herrings feed, which do deposit their eggs upon some
substance, such as rocks, and more especially sea-
weed. There is a limit of depth, and want of solar
action, beyond which no seaweed will grow, as is
found by the bottom, which the deep sea lead always
shows, being ruins, such as mud and broken shells ;
and we cannot suppose that any living creature will
place its eggs 'beyond this limit of all vegetable
action.

Even those small and floating Crustacea that hatch
their eggs on their own bodies, cannot so hatch them
in the depths, but must come both near the surface
and near the land, in order to enjoy the light and
heat of the sun, the reflected and radiated heat of the
bottom, and the stimulus of the atmospheric air. All
these come to their maximum toward the end of
summer, and thus the parent little creatures come
shoreward at that time, and during the winter. At
the same time the broods of the former year, having
enjoyed the action of the sun and air near the shore
during the summer season, begin to retreat in the
winter ; and thus, as these seasonal fishes approach
the land, they are led by one part of their food, and
they recul another.

The system is so beautifully contrived, too, that
though all the productions of our seas are seasonal,
their seasons are not all the same. Thus they come
in succession to support each other, and with that
surplus which is so very valuable to man, when he is
industrious enougn to avail himself of it. The subject
is one upon which it vs not easy to get accurate in-
formation, and it has been, for this reason, neglected.
But still there is no subject in nature more interesting
to a maritime people than the seasonal movements
and actions of the sea, of which surface-fishes, and,
above all, the herring family, are in a great measure
the keys.

HESPERANTHA (Ker). A genus of Cape bulbs,
belonging to the natural order Irideae. They require
the same treatment as the Ixia, &c.

I1ESPER11DJS (Swainson). A family of diur-
nal lepidopterons insects, or butterflies, distinguished
by several remarkable characters. They are. for the
most part, small dull=colouved butterflies, extremely
active, flying with great velocity, but resting fre-
quently upon leaves and twigs. Their hind tibiae
are furnished with two pair of spurs, as in many
moths, and the antennre are short and clubbed at the
extremity, have the tip bent into an acute hook ;
when at rest, the lower wings are elevated, the upper
pair being extended horizontally. Tiie spiral tongue
i.s as long as the entire body, which is very robust.
The caterpillars, of which a few only are known, are
longated, naked, with a large head and sixteen legs.

When full fed, they fold the adjacent leaves together
with the help of silken threads, within which they
become chrysalides, which are not angular like the
majority of butterflies, but short and smooth with
a slender transverse thread. By English collectors,
these butterflies are termed skippers, from their short
and irregular jerking kind of flight. These butterflies,
which were called by Linn;cus, Papilioncs Plcbeii
wbicoloe, were formed by Fabricius into the genus
Hesperia, from which several others were subsequently
detached. We have been surprised to observe that,
in Mr. Duncan's recent work upon British Butter-
flic^ these insects have been, for some unexplained
reason, entirely omitted. We presume that this is an
oversight, for the author will scarcely venture to
assert that they are not butterflies, although, in some
of their characters, they approach the moths.

The British species, (ot which there are ten re-
corded, some, however, being doubtful natives,) were
introduced by Fabricius into his genera Thymele,
having the antenna: terminated in a curved club with an
acute hook at the top, (comprising Hesperia Alveolus,
and Tages,) and Pamplula, having the club of the
antennae straight and terminated by an acute hook,
containing Hesperia Panv>cus,Lmea, Sylvanus, Comma,
and some others.

The exotic species are very numerous, being mostly
of a brown or dusky colour, with paler, white or talc-
like spots on the upper wings ; some of them are
furnished with long tails to the posterior wings.

HESSIAN FLY. A minute dipterous insect,
exceedingly destructive to wheat in America, belong-
ing to the genus CECIDOMYIA, which see for an account
of its ravages and figure of the insect.

HETEROCERID^E (MacLeay). A small but
interesting family of coleopterous insects belonging
to the section Pentamera, and subsection Philhydra;
the body is small and oval but depressed, the antennae
with the seven terminal joints forming a serrated mass,
the tibiae flat and spined, and the tarsi four-jointed
only. The species are found in moist situations, pre-
ferring the muddy banks of standing water, in which
they burrow by means of their tibiae, which are adapted
to that purpose. There is one genus in the family,
Heterocerus (Bosc), in which there are six British
species.

HETEROGYNA (Latreille). A subsection of
aculeate hymenopterous insects, distinguished, as the
name implies, by the diversity in appearance of the
female from the ordinary type of the order. Latreille
introduces into this subsection the family of the ants
(Formicidai), which are gregarious, and in which the
neuters or abortive females are wingless ; and the
family MutiU'idae, in which there are only two distinct
sexes, the females being wingless. This sex is generally
destitute of ocelli ; the antennae in all the species are
elbowed, and the tongue is Small, rounded, or spoon-
shaped. Notwithstanding the diversity occasioned
by the apterous condition of the females, it appears to
us that the MutiUicke are in nowise related to the
ants, and that they are closely allied to the fossorial
sand wa«ps, which they closely resemble in (heir habits.

HETEROMERA (Latreille). A section of
coleopterous insects of great extent, of which the in-
vestigation is very difficult, but which are distinguished
by having only four joints on the posterior tarsi,
whilst the four anterior tarsi are five-jointed. Latreille
divides the section into four subsections.

HETEROPTERIS

1. The Melasoma, having the elytra hard, claws '
simple, maxillae with a hook, wings generally
wanting. Families PimcliidtE, JBlapsida:, Tene-
brionidtz.

2. The Taxicornet, having the elytra Hard, claws
simple, maxillae without a hook, wings present,
antennae perfoiiated or clavate. Families, Diape-
ridce, Cossyphidce.

3. The Slenelytra, having the elytra hard, claws
simple or toothed, wings present, antenna- sim-
ple. Families, Helopidce, C'lstclldoE, SerropalpidoE,
CEdeniendtE, and Mycteridee.

4. The Trachelides. Elytra flexible, claws bifid,
wincrs present, head inserted upon a neck. Ty»i-

! -la, Pyrochroa, Mordella, A.ttfac'Ji,
Horia, and JMeloe.

HETEROPTERIS (Humboldt). A genus of
climbing and shrubby plants, natives of tropical
America, belonging to Malpighiaceez. Some of them
are handsome and easilv propagated.

HE UC HER A (Linnaeus). A genus of North
American perennial herbs belonging to SajnfragecE.
The1 in any light soil in the open borders.

HEYNEA (Roxburgh). Indian ornamental trees
belonging to the 3Ieliace<£. They are in our stove
collections, and are propaged bv ctittinss.

HiBBERTI A (Andrews) "A genus of climbing
evergreen and deciduous shrubs, natives of New Hol-
land, named in honour of George Hibbert, Esq., a
distinguished collector of plants. Class and order
Polyandria Trigynia, and natural order Dilleniaceae.
Generic character : calyx of five persisting sepals ;
corolla of five petals ; stamens seated below the ger-
inen. filaments filiform, bearing oblong anthers ; styles
three or five, diverging and bent ; seed-vessels seve-
ral united, membranaceous, one or two-seeded. These
are rather showy plants, with yellow tiowers, but
evolving a disagreeable scent. They are extremely

of culture in the greenhouse.

HIBISCUS (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of

arborescent, suffruticose, and herbaceous plants found

in every quarter of the world. Among themselves,

the H'jjucii assume so many forms that botanists

have divided them into twelve sections. They have

generally showy, some of them magnificent, flowers,

and form an interesting group in the natural order

acece. Several species have been employed in

medicine and domestic economy. The stems of

almost the whole consist of strong and tough fibres,

so that they have been manufactured into cords and

whips, such especially 05 H. carmabimu, arboreus, cly-

peaiut, and mutabilut. The leaves of the two former

are also eatable, and those of H. esculentus, as well as

lit, are esteemed as food in the Levant The

petals of H. rota sinensis are astringent, and are em-

~A bv the Chinese to make a black dye for their

hair and" eyebrows, and a blacking for shoes. The

aromatic seeds of H. abelmoschut have, been much

J as stomachics, and they are added as a cordial

by the Arabians t •_• their coffee. The mucilage pro-

i from the root of H. maiuhot is used in Japan

id to give a proper consistence to paper.

••hole are easy of propagation.

HICKORY TREE is the Carya alba of Nuttall,

a ge rth American timber trees, formerly

called Juglant iquamota of Poire t.

!UM (Linnaeus), An extensive genus
chiefly European, vulgarly known by the

— H I M A N T O P U S. 745

name of hawkweed. They are chiefly perennials,
and found every where in meadows and drv pastures.
Their colour is yellow, and resemble the" flowers of
the dandelion, only more numerous and much smaller.
A few of them, particularly the H. fruticosum, a half
shrubby one from Madeira, is esteemed as a green-
house plant, but the generality are mere weeds. They
belong to the natural order Composite.

HIMANTOPUS— Stilt or Longshanks. A very
singularly formed bird, arranged by Cuvier in the
snipe section of long-billed wading birds, but which
does not appear to range very correctly in this part
of the system, at least if we are to consider the order
in the ordinary acceptation of GralltE, or wading birds.
Cuviers Echassiers is not indeed so objectionable as
GralUe, but it is only not objectionable because it is
not definite, unless the subdivision lead us in some
way to the haunts of the birds. Indeed the birds
under consideration are so peculiar that it is not easy
to say what should be their place in the arrange-
ment.

The generic characters are : the bill long, slender,
i depressed in the basal part, but compressed toward
i the tip ; the nasal channel, extending half the length
i of the bill, and the nostrils of a lineal shape and long ;
j the legs very long, much more so in proportion to
their length than in any other bird, and as dispropor-
tionately slender as they are long. It is from this
that the bird is called Hnnantopus, which means " cord
legs," the legs being feeble and flexible as well as
long. The feet have three toes, all turned to the
| front, the outer and middle ones being united with a
broad membrane at their bases, and the inner and
middle ones by a very small membrane. It is not
easy to point out the kind of surface for which such
feet are best adapted ; but the birds are most fre-
quently seen in waste and sandy places near the
banks of rivers and the shores of salt lakes. The
wings are also remarkable for having the primary
quills much longer than any of the others. There
are at least two species, one of the eastern continent
and the other of America.

COMMON STILT (H. mektnopterus). Top of the

, head, back, and wings, black, with green reflections

in the male only ; tail dusky grey ; and all the rest

j of the plumage" white, except a few streaks of >'.

' grey on the hind part of the neck. The bill is about

two* inches and a half long, the head and neck four, the

• body four and a half, and the tail two. The legs,

! whe'n stretched out, extend at least five inches beyond

the tail ; they are bare of feathers for two or three

inches, and are of a pale red colour, as are also the

irides. The win?s are long and much pointed, and

the bird is evidently well fitted for flight. The body

of the bird is Tightly and handsomely formed, and the

colour of its neck is particularly graceful.

British bird, the stilt is a very occasional straggler ;

! and we are thus ignorant of its habits. On the con-

' tinent it is much more common, and therefore its

," habits are better known, though even there it is a

< bird of desert places.

But thoush not very often seen near the habitations
of man, it is"a bird very generally distributed. On the
eastern continent it is "found as far to the north as the
salt marshes in the south of Russia, and the confines
of Siberia. It is particularly abundant about the
shores of the Caspian Sea and the lake of Aral. It
is by no means rare in India, not only about the

746

HIMANT PUS

great salt marsh, the Runn of Cutch, but in the Dec-
can. It is met with in Egypt, and probably along
the margin of the desert to the Atlantic coast of
Africa ; and specimens have been sent from Brazil,
differing very little from those that inhabit and breed
in Europe. There is one circumstance connected
with the differences of its appearance in different
countries, which shows that it is more a bird of the
warm latitudes, which have seasons of wet and drought,
than of the temperate or the cold. In India it is
much larger than in Europe, the length being at
least six inches. Those which have been brought
from Egypt and from Brazil, are also larger than the
European ; and even those from the south of Europe
are larger than those from the north. We have
already explained, in the article HERON, why any
animal should be considered as most at home in that
country where it is most fully developed ; and the
stilt furnishes a proof of what was there stated.

Stilt.

In all these localities it is a gregarious or social
bird, occurring in flocks which, from the arid nature
of the places which they inhabit, are rather discursive
~ id often on the wing. In respect of food, it appears
to be partial to miscellaneous vegetable matters, the
larves of aquatic insects, and very small shells have
been found in the stomachs of those that have been
examined.

In all the west of Europe they are migrant birds,
and though they are not uncommon in the north of
France and the Netherlands, where they appear to
arrive by the way of the Danube to the Rhine, they
are by no means so common in that part of France
which is most directly cut off from the range of east-
ern birds by the Alps. The few that have appeared
in England have been only one at a time ; and there
is no account, or even probability, of their breeding
in this country. They have, however, bred in the
north of France ; but their principal breeding-places
in Europe are the marshes on the lower Danube and
in the south of Russia, though at certain seasons of
the year they appear in flocks about the salt lakes and
salt marshes of Hungary. Their nests are under-
stood to be in the closest herbage of the marshes ;
but though they flock they breed so obscurely that
their habits at those times are little known. The nest
is said, however, to be constructed very rudely of a

few withered stems and leaves, or other vegetable
debris ; the eggs being five or six in number, of a
yellowish colour spotted with reddish brown, and
about the size of those of a partridge.

BLACK HEADED STILT (H. nigncollis). This is
an American species, differing in some particulars
from that of the east, and as we have the advan-
tage of Wilson's observation and description of it,
it is much better known than that species, of the
existence of which naturalists have been so much
longer aware.

The black headed stilt measures about fourteen
inches from the tip of the bill to the extremity of the
tail, and the extent of the wings is about twenty-eight
inches ; the bill is about three inches long, slightly
curved upward, and tapers to a very fine point.
The upper mandible is rounded on the culmen, the
nostrils are in the form of slits, but open, and the
whole bill is of a black colour ; the front of the head,
a streak under the eye, and a spot behind it, and also
the whole of the under parts, are pure white, which
is also the colour of the actual feathers of the back,
the rump, and the wing-coverts, but these are con-
cealed by the mantle of long feathers issuing from
the scapulars ; a streak in 'front of the eye, the ear-
coverts, the back of the head, the back-neck, the
long feathers on the scapulars, and the quills of
the wings, are deep black with rich reflections of
green ; the tail is square at the end, or very slightly
forked, and the under coverts extend as far as the
feathers ; the legs are of a fine pale carmine red, the
tarsi four inches and a half long, and the tibiae naked
for a considerable distance above the tarsal joints ;
they are remarkably slender, and can bear to be bent
to a considerable curve without injury ; the feet are
the same as in the eastern species ; the wings are
very long, extending beyond the tail nearly two
inches, and they are very much pointed ; there are
some differences as to the distribution of white and
black upon the neck ; and the female, as is the case
with the eastern species, is considerably smaller than
the male. The stomach of this bird is a true gizzard,
that is to say, it is very strong and muscular, though
it appears to feed much more on shelled mollusca
and coleopterous insects than upon vegetable sub-
stances.

Wilson appears not only to have examined it with
greater care, but to have formed a more correct esti-
mate of its place and occupation in nature than hafl
been done by the naturalists of Europe ; and as there
is a very close resemblance between the two in every
thing save colour, and not very much difference in
that, we may consider the same observations as being
applicable to both.

He considers it as coming nearer to the avoset
than to any other bird ; and if the two are carefully
compared it will be found that while the avoset
brings the series to the water from the soft billed
birds, the snipes and godwits, the stilt brings it from
the harder billed birds, the plovers and sandpipers.
The avoset wades, and scoops the mud in the runs of
water, finding its food by the touch of the bill more
than by the sight of the eye ; while, though the stilt
is also a wader, it does not scoop the mud, or feed by
the touch of the bill, but catches its prey by sight in
the water, in the air over it, or on the aquatic plants.
The length of the avoset's neck, as compared with
that of its legs, points out that it is fitted for feeding

HIMAN

at the level on which it stands ; but in the stilt,
though the neck is longhand has a good deal of action,
it is still so short in proportion to the legs, that the
bird could not keep its balance, and reach with its bill
the level on which it stands. Our common name
stilt is therefore the most descriptive one that can be
given to it ; for it is really a bird " on stilts,'' that is,
elevated for action ubove the plane of the feet.

This will give us at least a notion of the climates
and localities for which the stilt is best fitted ; and if
we find these to accord with the actual ones in which it
is observed, then we may safely conclude that we have
found a clue to the use of the bird in nature, different
as it is from those birds with which we are most
familiar.

Now, the form of the legs in the stilt clearly shows
that it is to wade in water, not beyond its depth of
course, but still where its bill, long as it is, cannot
reach the bottom ; and though the slight turn upwards
of the bill shows that the food is to be taken from a
level below the common axis of the body, yet not so
far below as in the case of the avoset. The legs of
the avoset are also stout, to give it a firm base as it
wades ; whereas those of the stilt are very light and
flexible. The foot too has the character of a swift
foot, but the flexible leg does not answer to it upon
land. The lightness of the foot, however, enables
the bird to lift it in the water with very little exer-
tion, and the flexibility of the tarsus makes it far less
liable to injury from striking against obstacles in the
water than if it had been a hard bone of the same
weight. Thus, singular as this leg appears at first
sight, when we come to examine the matter a little
attentively we find that it is the very best foot for
wading in shallow water, — in the same way as every
thing in nature which our ignorance considers an
imperfection becomes a perfection.

Such is the adaptation of the bird ; and our next
step is to find the places for which it is adapted. Shal-
low waters replete with living creatures are obviously
the places ; and wherever shallow water is exposed
to powerful action of the sun, so as to have its tem-
perature considerably increased, such water instantly
becomes the stimulus to a vast number of living crea-
tures ; the larvae of the larger water flies, water bee-
tles, small Crustacea, and univalve mollusca. The
tropical countries, where they get flooded by the
rains, furnish such places at one season of the year ;
and the shallow marshy pools of more temperate
countries furnish the same during the summer ; and
it so happens that, in the northern hemisphere, which
is the great hemisphere of seasonal migration, these
alternate with each other. Thus we at once see that
the stilt should be a migratory bird, and in what
places it ought to be found. We have gone at some
length into this subject, because the bird is a very sin-
gular one, and performs a very singular office in
nature — a part peculiar to itself, as it were, in which
it has no rival ; and we have also done so because we
believe there is no English work which gives any
tolerable account of the economy of this bird, how-
ever correctly some may describe its appearance. As
lawyers say, we have " taken the argument" upon the
American 'species rather than the European one, be-
cause we can call Wilson as evidence ; and if he bear
out the case, we are sure of a verdict even from the
iii<>st fastidious reader. We shall not mutilate the
account given by the great ornithologist of America:
though it is a little lengthy.

T 0 P U S. 747

" This species arrives on the sea coast of New
Jersey about the 2oth of April, in small detached
flocks of twenty or thirty together. These some-
times again sub-divide into lesser parties ; but it
rarely happens that a pair is found solitary, as, during
the breeding season, they usually associate in small
companies. On their first arrival, and, indeed, during
the whole of their residence, they inhabit those par-
ticular parts of the salt marshes pretty high up to-
wards the land, that are broken into numerous shal-
low pools, but are not usually overflowed by the tides
during t'he summer. These pools or ponds are gene-
rally so shallow, that, with their long legs, the avosets
can easily wade them in every direction ; and as tliey
abound with minute shell fish, and multitudes of
aquatic insects and their larvae, besides the eggs and
spawn of others deposited in the soft mud below,
these birds find here an abundant supply of food, and
are almost continually seen wading about in such
places^, often up to the breast in water. In the vici-
nity o'f these bald places, as they are called, fifty
yards off, among the thick tufts of grass, one of these
small associations, consisting perhaps of six or eight
pair, takes up its residence during the breeding sea-
son. About the first week in May, they begin to
construct their nests, which are at first slightly formed
of a small quantity of old grass scarcely sufficient to
keep the eggs from the wet marsh. As they lay and
sit, however, either dreading the rise of the tides, or for
other purposes, the nest is increased in height with
dry twigs of a shrub very common in the marshes,
roots of the salt grass, sea-weed, and various other
substances, tL? whole weighing between two or three
pounds. This habit of adding materials to the nest
after the female begins sitting, is common to almost
all other birds that breed in the marshes. The eggs
are four in number, of a dark yellowish clay colour,
thickly marked with large blotches of black. Their
nests are often placed within fifteen or twenty yards
of each other ; but the greatest harmony seems to
prevail among the proprietors. While the females
are sitting, the males are either wading through the
ponds, or roaming over the adjoining marshes ; but
should a person make his appearance, the whole col-
lect together in the air, flying with their long legs
extended behind them, keeping up a continued yelp-
ing note of click, click, click. Their flight is steady,
and not in short sudden jerks, like that of the plover.
As they frequently alight on the bare marsh, they
drop their wings, stand with their legs half bent, and
trembling, as if unable to sustain the burden of their
bodies. In this ridiculous posture, they will some-
times stand for several minutes, uttering a curring
sound, while, from the corresponding quivering of
their wings and long legs, they seem to balance
themselves with great difficulty. This singular ma-
noeuvre is, no doubt, intended to induce a belief that
they may be easily caught, and so turn the attention
of the person from the pursuit of their nests and
young to themselves. The red-necked avoset prac-
tises the very same deception in the same ludicrous
manner, and both alight indiscriminately on the
ground, or in the water. Both will also occasionally
swim for a few feet, when they chance, in wading, to
lose their depth, as I have had several times an op-
portunity of observing. The name by which this
bird is known on the sea coast is the stilt or tilt, or
longshanks. They are but sparingly dispersed over
the marshes, having, as has been already observed,

748

HIPPARCHIA— HIPPOCASTANE^

their particular favourite spots ; while, in large inter-
mediate tracts, there are few or none to be found.
They occasionally visit the shore, wading about in
the water, and in the mud, in search of food, which
they scoop up very dexterously with their delicately-
formed bills. On being1 wounded while in the water,
they attempt to escape by diving, at which they are
by no means expert. In autumn, their flesh is ten-
der and well tasted. They seldom raise more than
one brood in the season, and depart for the south
early in September. As they are well known iu
Jamaica, it is probable some of them may winter in
that and other of the West-India islands." The
above is not only by far the best description of the
manners of this genus of birds, but there are few de-
scriptions of any living creature at all comparable
with it.

HIPPARCHIA (Fabricius ; SATYRUS, Latreille).
A very exterpive genus of lepidopterbus insects, be-
longing to the section Diurna, or butterflies, and family
NymphalidcE, having the antennae gradually thickened
to the tip, the club being slender and bent ; the body
is slender ; the wings large ; the palpi are longer
than the head ; several of the basal nerves of the
wings are very much swollen at the base. The
caterpillars are either naked or downy, with a forked
tail ; the chrysalides have the head forked, and the
back tubercled. There are nearly a hundred Eu-
ropean species of this genus, of which nearly twenty
are inhabitants of this country, including the wood
argus ( (Egerid) ; the wall butterfly (Megcera) ; the
grayling (Megesra) ; the marbled butterfly (Galathca) ;
the gate keeper (Tit/ionus); meadow brown (Janira) ;
the ringlet (Hypcrantkus) ; and the small heath but-
terflies (Pamphilus) ; all of which are of common
occurrence and of the middle size.

HIPPOBOSCID.& (Leach.) A family of dip-
terous insects, belonging to the section Pupipara (or
order Homaloptcra, Leach), containing the forest
flies, which exhibit such remarkable variations in
their typical structure, that they have been regarded
by some authors as forming a" distinct order. The
head is received into a cavity in front of the thorax ;
it is divided transversely into two parts, the an-
terior or smaller of which supports the mouth and
two small tubercles, almost imbedded at the lateral
angles, being rudimental antenna?. The mouth is
composed of two curved setae, inclosed in a tubular
canal, covered by two narrow elongated coriaceous
plates, regarded by Latreille as palpi. The ocelli are
wanting. The body is short, flat, and very coriaceous ;
the wings are either large or entirely wanting; the
nervures of the anterior margin are very strong, but
they are effaced behind. In the winged species a
pair of balancers are also present. The legs are very
strong, and terminated by robust curved claws, which
are toothed beneath. The abdomen is composed
of a continuous leathery-like membrane, capable
of very great distension, which peculiarity is owing
to the remarkable circumstance that the young
of these insects are singly nourished within the
body of the parent, where they not only acquire
their full size, but actually assume the pupa slate,
under which form, like very large eggs, thev are
deposited by the females. This egg-like cocoon is at
fir«t soft and white, nearly as large as the abdomen
ot the parent fly ; but by degrees it hardens, becomes
brown, of a rounded form, and often notched at one
end, which is covered by a shining kind of cap, which

is detached on the insects assuming the perfect state.
This cocoon is, moreover, entirely destitute of annular
incisions, in which respect it differs from those of
other dipterous insects. It is composed of the uncast
skin of the larva, beneath which the insect becomes
a real inactive pupa, with the limbs of the perfect
insect laid along the breast as in other species which
undergo the strict coarctate species of transformation.
These curious particulars were first discovered by
Reaumur, and have been subsequently confirmed bv
M. Leon Dufour, and others ; the former author was,
indeed, so solicitous to observe the development of
the insect from these singular eggs, as he at first
supposed them, that he carried them in his pocket by
day and took them to bed with him by night, in order
that they might have the same warmth which they
enjoy in their proper habitats. His surprise may there-
fore be imagined, when, instead ofgrubs,as he expected,
perfect flies were produced.

These insects are not less interesting in respect to
their habits : they live exclusively upon various quad-
rupeds and birds ; the horse is especially subject to
the attacks of one of these species, which has thence
been named H. cquina. This species is the type of
the genus Hippobosca, in which the eyes are large
and distinct, being placed at the sfcles of the head ;
the antennae are in the shape of tubercles with three
dorsal setae ; the wings are large. Mr. Curtis observes,
that " these flies move swiftly and, like a crab, sideways
or backwards ; they are very tenacious of life, and
live principally upon horses, attaching themselves to
the belly, between the hind thighs and under the tail,
where they are less protected by hair. It is remarked
by Latreille, that the ass fears them the most, and that
horses surfer very little from them, probably when
they have overcome the irritation which they must
at first occasion, they cannot cause much pain, other-
wise horses could not live in forests in the summer."
And Mr. Samoulle states, that " in the New Forest
of Hampshire, they abound in a most astonishing degree.
I have obtained from the flanks of one horse six
handfuls, which consisted of upwards of a hundred
specimens. Mr. Bentley informs me, from observa-
tions he made in the summer of 1818, while in Hamp-
shire, that the Htppoboscce are found in considerably
greater abundance on white and light coloured horses
than those of a black and dark colour ; and the ob-
servation was confirmed by the stable-keepers in the
vicinity of the Forest."

The other genera are, Ornithomyia, Craterina, O.vy-
ptcrum, Hcemobora, Melophagus, Feronia, lApotepna,
and probably Braula ; of these, the three first are
British, and are found upon various birds, the Craterina
hirundinis depositing its egg-like cocoon in the nest
of the swallow, where it receives all the necessary
warmth, for which it repays the poor swallow by
sucking its blood. The wings in this genus are very
long and narrow. The genus Melophagus comprises
a single species, M, ovimis, which is destitute of wings,
and attacks the sheep. It is of a dark reddish colour,
with the abdomen whitish. It is commonly called
the sheep louse, and is so tenacious of life, that Ray
states that it will exist in a fleece twelve months
after it is shorn ; its excrements even giving a tinge to
the wool, which is very difficult to be discharged.

HIPPOCASTANE^R. A natural order con-
taining only two genera, namely, JEsculus, the horse-
chestnut, and Pavia, the scarlet-flowering chestnut.
The different species of JE&culus and Pavia are

HIPPOCRATEA-HIPPOPOTAMUS.

749

commonly known under the name of horse-chestnuts,
reference being obviously made to the external resem-
blance the fruit bears to that of the Castanets, and
the very bitter astringent taste, whicn renders it unfit
for human food. The seeds are large, and abound in
farinaceous matter; hence they are very nutritious,
and some animals devour them greedily, especially
after the nuts are steeped in lime water. If allowed to
germinate they become sweeter, and then are relished
by rabbits and pigs. The bark of the horse-chestnut is
oitter and astringent, and has long been esteemed as
a febrifuge. This tree, though very common in this
country now, was unknown in Europe three centu-
ries ago. Parkinson says " our Christian world had
first the knowledge of it from Constantinople," and,
as an evidence of its rarity, Clusius states, that there
was only one tree of it at Vienna in his time. The
horse-chestnut is one of our finest flowering trees, and
on this account is frequent in park scenery.

Some of the pavias bear beautiful scarlet flowers,
and, as ornamental trees, will be very generally planted.
The timber of neither is durable, and only used by
turners. The horse-chestnut is readily raised from
seeds, and the pavias are increased by grafting on the
former.

HIPPOCRATE A (Linnceus). A genusof climbing
plants, natives of the East and West Indies. They
belong to the third class and first order of Linnaeus,
and to a natural order, to which they give a title,
namely, —

HIPPOCRATEACE^E. This is a small natural
order of plants, comprising five or six genera, being
climbing shrubs, or trees, with in general smooth stems,
opposite, simple, somewhat leathery leaves, entire or
toothed, and furnished with small deciduous stipules.
The inflorescence is axillary, paniculate, or in bundles,
and the flowers small, regular and united. The
'J'onsclla, one of the genera, are said to bear poisonous
fruit. Such of the genera as have been introduced
into British collections are propagated by cuttings.

HIPPOCREPIS (Linnrcus). A genus of annual
herbs, and trailing or shrubbv perennials, one of them
is -a native of England, and called the horse-shoe vetch
from the resemblance of its crooked pods. They
belong to the natural order Lcnuminosa, are some-
times seen in flower borders, and raised from seeds,
which ripen plentifully.

HIPPOMANE (Linnaeus). H. mancmella is the
Manchineel. A lofty tree, native of the West Indies,
so called from its effects on horses which eat of it.
The flowers are monoecious, and it belongs to the
order Euphorbiacece. The hippomane is certainly a
dangerous plant ; but the poisonous properties of
it have been very much exaggerated. The timber
is beautifully veined with browrj and white, and
capable of receiving a high polish ; but before the trees
are felled, fires are usually lighted round them, to
inspissate the sap, and render the feller's occupation
less dangerous ; for, even when the juices are not
applied to produce death, they cause intense pain,
likened to the burning of a red-hot iron. The plant
is kept in our stoves, and grown in sand and moor
earth, and is easily propagated by cuttings.

HIPPOPOTAMUS. A remarkable genus of
pachydermatous mammalia, of which there is only
one living species known, inhabiting the larger
rivers of Africa and their margins, and feeding on
the strong and coarse aquatic plants. The elephant
and the rhinoceros, among animals of this class,

bring us to the very margin of the water, though it
must be a margin where there is a strong coat of
vegetation to support the steps of such heavy ani-
mals. The hippopotamus follows these two, and
brings us actually into the water, in which the animal
chiefly resides during the day, often with nothing but
the nostrils above the surface. We shall, perhaps,
find a future opportunity of showing that the pachy-
dermata, as they remain now, are the fragments of
an animal population which was once far more nume-
rous, more widely distributed, and more character-
istic of the earth than it is now ; but we may in the
mean time remark, that pachydermatous animals are
the only large mammalia found native on some of the
more remote isles of the Pacific.

The name Hippopotamtis, or " river horse," which
has, from the earliest times been given to this animal,
occasioned many mistakes on the part of the elder
naturalists with regard to its appearance and charac-
ter ; but as the animal is now well known, it is not
necessary to advert to these mistakes of the darker
ages.

The generic characters are : four toes on all the
feet enclosed in little hoofs at their extremities , six
cheek teeth on each side of both jaws, the first three
of which, toward the front, are conical, and the three
posterior ones furnished with two rows of points on
the crowns, which, in time, wear down into a sort of
trefoil form. There are four incisors in each jaw :
the upper ones short and conical, bent inwards towards
the mouth ; the under ones long, cylindrical, and
pointing forwards. Canines in both jaws, the upper
ones nearly straight, and the lower crooked ; the two
acting strongly against each other.

The body is heavy and massive, the legs very short,
and the belly almost in contact with the ground. The
head very large, more so in proportion even to the
large body than 'the head of any other mammalia ;
but this size arises from the great production of the
bones of the mouth and those that afford insertion to
the muscles which move the jaw, and not to any
superior development of the cranial cavity, which, on
the other hand, is comparatively small. The muzzle
is large and thick, so as to cover the powerful arma-
ture of the mouth. The tail is short, the eyes and
ears small, the coat without fur, and of a dark and
repulsive colour. The whole aspect of the hippopo-
tamus is repulsive. It has a very stupid look, and
yet its air is ferocious ; and its mouth, though not in
any respect of a carnivorous character, is about as
ugly a mouth as can well be imagined.

Still the 'hippopotamus is by no means destitute of
interest, and that interest is heightened when we
reflect that, as a species, it stands alone in its genus,
and occupies a place in nature which could be filled
by no other existing animal. On land it is a very
awkward walker, not only on account of the shortness
of its legs, but because its body is specifically heavier
or understood to be so, than most other animals.
This probably enables it to keep it's footing in the
water much better than if its specific gravity were
more nearly the same. Its usual motion in the water
is not swimming, but walking, though it can swim, as
indeed most of the Pachydermata can readily do.
frequents the muddy banks of the rivers, usually
where the vegetation is rank, is seldom out of the
water during the day, but comes to the land to feed
during the night. Though dull as well as ferocious
in its disposition, it is very timid on land, as if it felt

750

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

itself not at home there ; for upon the least noise
being made, or alarm given, it takes to the water,
plunges to the bottom, and only raises the nose above
the surface occasionally for the purpose of breathing,
When it plunges into the water, it makes a great
splash, and the flood covers its descent with foam and
rippling. It also can expire the air which it has in
its lungs when under the water ; and this causes that
bubbling of the water to which allusion is made in the
account of Behemoth in the Book of Job, which, no
doubt, alludes to the hippopotamus, as the Leviathan
is, in all probability, the crocodile of the Nile. The
best authorities (for it is a question of authorities)
ascribe the Book of Job to Moses ; and from his edu-
cation in Egypt, the crocodile and the hippopotamus
must have been the aquatic animals with which he
was best acquainted. Behemoth appears to have had,
among the Hebrews, the same meaning as " brute "
has with us ; that is, a heavy animal feeding upon
vegetable matter j and " behemoth" is usually trans-
lated " cattle," in distinction to the more general
word " beast," although the use of that as a general
term is improper. " Behemoth on a thousand hills," is
the expression which, in the common version of the
Bible, is rendered " the cattle on a thousand hills."
Now there is no inhabitant of the waters to which such
an epithet can be properly applied, but the hippopota-
mus ; and it is remarkable with what truth the charac-
ters of the animal are marked by the inspired writer.
It is probable that, in the days of Moses, these ani-
mals abounded in the Nile throughout Egypt ; for
mention is made of them in the streams of the Delta
at a more recent period of history. Now, however,
they are not found in Lower Egypt, nor in any part
of the Nile below the cataracts. They do occur in
the upper parts of the river, though probably not in
such numbers as they did in former times. Burkhardt
says, " The hippopotamus is very common in Don-
gola. It is a fearful plague there on account of its
voracity, and the want of means in the inhabitants to
destroy it. It often descends the Nile as far as
Sukkat. -In 1812, several of them passed the Bahr el
Hudjar, and made their appearance at Wadi Haifa
and Dan ; an occurrence unknown to the oldest inha-
bitants. One was killed by an Arab by a shot over
the eye. The country people ate the flesh, and the
skin and teeth were sold to a merchant of Sioutt.
Another continued its career northward, and was seen
beyond the cataract of Assauan at Deran, one day's
march north of that place." Their descents to the
north are, however, of rare occurrence ; and the hip-
popotamus must now be considered as an animal of
the central and southern parts of Africa only.

Above the cataracts of the Nile, where the country
becomes broader and more fertile, these animals are
much more abundant. In Senaar they inhabit both
branches of the river, and in their nightly excursions
on shore they are very destructive to the crops, not
only eating great quantities, but trampling down the
rest with their large and clumsy feet.

They are long animals, not less than ten or eleven
feet from the nose to the tail ; but they do not stand
higher than between four and five feet. Their steps,
also, are very short, so that they make an absolute
rut in passing over sofit ground. The quantity which
they eat is enormous, much greater than that eaten
by any other known animals. The stomach can con-
tain five or six bushels, and the large intestine is at
'east eight inches in diameter. It is not without

reason, therefore, that the people dread their visits.
It is true that their digestive powers are not great,
or rather, perhaps, that thoir ordinary food contains
but little matter fit for their nourishment. Their
mouths are adapted for tearing and dividing hard and
tough plants, but not for grinding any substance to a
pulp, as is done by ruminating animals. Half their
cheek teeth are, as we have said, conical and pointed,
so as not to be in any way grinding teeth, and the
remaining ones are also but ill fitted for such a pur-
pose. Besides, though they have a compressing
motion of the jaws which is very powerful, they have
no lateral or grinding motion, and all that their mouth
can do to the food is to bruise it a little. Thus the
stomach does not dissolve any of the ligneous or
harder part of the food, but merely extracts a portion
of the juice, so that the great mass of the food passes
off in a state comparatively little changed. As com-
pared with most other animals, there is but a small
portion of what is taken into the mouth that goes to
the nourishment of the body ; and thus the animals
may be said to be always burdened with the refuse
of what they swallow. Most of the pachydermata
have the functions of digestion less perfect than those
of other herbivorous animals ; and if it is of very hard
consistency, they only draw a tincture from it. This
is the case with the horse, which, although like the
hippopotamus, wholly a vegetable feeder, differs the
most from it in many respects of any animal in the
class. The hog, which is more omnivorous, does the
same, at least when it does not get food which is
succulent, and then it fattens more than any other
animal. In England, where horses are much fed
upon dry food, there still remains so much substance
in it, that the grains which they drop on the roads
serve for food to a vast number of birds.

As the hippopotamus appears to feed upon more
coarse and rough substances than any of the order,
not excepting the elephant and the rhinoceros, neither
of which has the teeth at all fitted for tearing sub-
stances of the same toughness. The very peculiar
teeth of the elephant, if we except the tusks, which
do not in any way act in the taking or preparing of
the food ; the teeth are all grinders, or rather bruisers ;
and although the rhinoceros has two cutting teeth of
considerable size and strength in each jaw, yet the
majority are bruising teeth. Neither of those ani-
mals could therefore subsist on the same kind of food
as the hippopotamus ; and not taking their food into
the stomach in so rude a state, or of a nature contain-
ing so little nutriment, they do not require it in such
vast quantities in proportion to their bulk.

This very peculiar mode of feeding iits the hippo-
potamus for the very rudest life of all the mammalia.
Its office is to clear the rivers of those vegetable
remains which, if allowed to accumulate in countries
where vegetation is rapid, and the rains fall heavily
in their seasons, would choke up all the passages, and
turn all the flat lands into at least periodical marshes ;
and in order to fit them for this very laborious service,
they are exempted from some of those labours to
which other animals are subjected. When in the
water they are supported on all sides by the pressure
of that fluid, so that the weight remaining to press on
the feet is small, as compared with that of the whale ;
and there is also much less waste of the body of an
animal that keeps the water, than of one exposed to
the air. Besides, they are not so much infested by
those insects which are near the water, and which

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

751

give so much annoyance to many mammalia, as if
they were in the free air, though, like the other
pachydermata, they wallow in the mud. These con-
siderations -may help us in forming a guess at what
may have been the condition of the globe when hip-
popotami were much more numerous than they are
now ; for though there are adaptations to climate in
the external covering which have nothing to do with
the internal anatomy of animals, yet when we find a
skeleton of a definite type, and know the living ani-
mal to which it answers, we can always make pretty
sure of the food and manner of feeding of the species
of which we actually know only the bones.
^ The hippopotamus is found in the rivers of
Western Africa, and also in the larger ones near the
Cape, -but it has been rarely seen in the former of
these localities, though much more frequently in the
latter. It is not found near the sea in any place so
much as in the interior, and those places which have
strong vegetation, and where the banks are liable to
seasonal overflow by the water. These are the
places in which its peculiar services are most wanted,
because they are the places where the water-courses
are most liable to be choked up by vegetable remains.
Those places which are the favourite haunts of the
hippopotamus are also the favourite haunts of the
crocodile ; and on the banks of the Upper Nile, while
the one tramples down and eats the crops, the other
often carries off the people. Lord Prudhoe, who travel-
led in Sennaar in 1829, mentions numerous instances
of depredations by these formidable reptiles. He did
not see any one carried off, but places were pointed
out at which such things had occurred only a few
days before. In one of those instances a crocodile
snatched up a man who was washing clothes on the
bank of the river, and instantlym ade for the opposite
side with its prey ; but, in the passage, another croco-
dile saw the prize, and followed the first, when a fierce
battle ensued between them. Though crocodiles
usually feed on the land, they fight better in the
water, and so they plunged into the river to finish their
combat in due form. In the meantime, the dead body
of the man— drowned, not bitten, to death, which is
the habit of crocodiles — was removed and buried, so
that the reptiles had only their fight for their pains.

But though the crocodiles are thus formidable to
man on the great rivers of the interior of Africa, it
does not appear that they ofl'er the least annoyance
to the hippopotamus. That animal is truly the
monarch of the wild flood. Neither lion, nor any
other carnivorous beast, attacks it. This is not on
account of the thickness of the skin ; for, though the
skin is about half an inch in thick-ness, and stiff, it is
not hard, or destitute of sense of pain.

The skins of the Pachydermata are almost all very
sensitive to the attacks of insects ; but for even a lion
to spring upon a hippopotamus would be rather a
perilous matter, as the animal would instantly plunge,
dive, and drown the Hon. On the other hand, the
crocodile could not make much of the hippopotamus.
In the first place, no crocodile could carry off so large
an animal ; and, in the second place, the mouth and
bite of the hippopotamus are by far the most formi-
dable of the two ; and though, in its natural habits,
the hippopotamus bites only vegetable 'substances,
yet it would of course bite an animal in self-defence ;
and, from the size, the form, and the hardness of the
teeth, and the great force with which they can be
made to act, there is little doubt that its bite would

be more formidable than even that of a lion. Its
mouth is not, to be sure, a killing one, but, if applied
to an animal, it would mangle dreadfully. Thus,
while this savage and powerful, though dull and
sluggish animal, lives at comparative peace, on its
own part, with the whole of animated nature, it is
perfectly indifferent to all that are around it.

Still these animals are not without their battles ;
for it seems to be a very general law of nature, and, for
aught we know, it may have its physiological use in
keeping up their energy, that, in all'the more power-
ful animals which are vegetable feeders, the males
fight desperate battles of gallantry. Horses, bulls,
rams, and many others, are terrible in their amatory
wars, while even the most savage of the carnivora
rarely fight upon this account. The same holds good
in the case of birds ; and we believe that the pugna-
cious beetles, which are engaged with each other as
a gambling sport in some parts of the east, are vege-
table feeders. We are sometimes apt to attribute
these excitements wholly to the heat of the sun and
the season ; but the fact of such battles taking place
among the hippopotami, which are constantly bathing
in the cold flood, shows that there is something in
the nature of the animal, and that the propensity is
stronger in proportion as the animal is more vegetable
in its feeding.

When lying on the bank of a river, the hippopo-
tamus seems a vast and shapeless lump, and one
would hardly take it to be an animal. The eyes are
small, even if open ; the ears are also small ; and
though the legs and tail are very stout, they are short.
There is also a want of muscular marking on the
body, for, if the animal is at all in good condition,
there is always a thick layer of fat over it. This fat
in the recent state, and when the animal is obtained
from the water, is of some consistency ; but it con-
tains less stearine than even the fat of the hog, and
thus soon passes into oil, and becomes rancid from
the putrefaction of the cellular substance with which
it is mixed, when it is exposed to the warm air, and
especially to the direct action of the sun. The Dutch
inhabitants of Southern Africa, who call the hippo-
potamus the zee-coe, or " sea cow " (though it is
never found in the sea), are very fond of this fat,
which they call spek, the name given to the fat of the
whale, and also to that of the hog ; and when they
succeed in killing the animal, they preserve this fat
by salting it, usually allowing all the fat which they
cannot remove to drain from the muscles as oil, and
drying these in the sun, as a harsh, but not unwhole-
some food. The greater number of the Pachyder-
mata have a tendency to accumulate soft fat or lard
under the skin, and this tendency is always the
greater in proportion as the animals are more aquatic
in their habits. In this respect the hippopotamus
exceeds all the rest, making the nearest approach to
the Cetacea of any footed animal, arid hence we find
in it the greatest tendency to the accumulation of this
kind of fat. There is no doubt that it answers the
same purpose in all these animals. An aquatic habit,
or even a habit of wallowing much in the mire and
sludge of rivers, is inconsistent with the possession of
a thick furry coat, by which the animals could be
protected from changes of temperature ; and the
substitute for this is the coat of fat under the skin, fat
being, like fur, a bad conductor of heat. The transi-
tion from the water to the air, on the part of the hip-
popotamus, is almost as great a change in tempera-

752

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

ture as the instant change from midsummer to mid-
winter would be in our latitudes, and thus the animal
requires a natural protection against it, so that the
muscles, and especially the vital organs, may not be
subjected to violent shocks.

It is true that the hippopotamus seldom comes to
the land, or even to the surface of the water, during
the day, but still the night air iu such places is much
warmer than the water. Fat, when melted, does not
resist the passage of the action of heat so much as
when it is not, and the readiness with which the fat
of this animal melts in the sun may be one of the
causes which keeps it in the water during the day ;
for, when the fat of a living animal passes into oil on
or in its body, the consequences are very serious,
as the cellular tissue in which the fat is enclosed
soon putrefies, and spreads corruption through the j
system. The colour of the skin, which, though it
varies a good deal indifferent individuals, is generally
of a dingy bluish black, also tends to keep these ani-
mals under water during the heat of the day. This
colour is one which rapidly absorbs the heat;
and it is worthy of remark, that this is the pre-
vailing colour of the upper part of almost all those
mammalia which inhabit the waters, and in this uni-
formity of colour we must presume that there is a
uniformity of use. From this habit of keeping the
principal part of the body under water during the
day, which appears to be a necessary result of the
structure of the hippopotamus, it is rarely seen, and
comparatively little is known of it in proportion to
its numbers. We cannot positively state even what
is the style and rate of its march upon land ; and we
say that it must be slow, rather from our judgment of
the power of the animal, than from the fact as
actually observed. For the same reason we know
little of its habits when breeding, or whether the
males are polygamous or not. The circumstance of
their fighting would lead us to conclude that they are
polygamous, but still the conclusion is only a cou-
iectural one. For similar reasons the animal is seldom
shot, unless by very expert marksmen. Large as it
is, it offers but a small mark to the sportsman ; for,
in general, the nose, the eyes, and the ears, are the
only parts above the surface, and these are all so near
the plane of the face, that that is very little elevated.
A bullet, unless it happens to hit very obliquely, will
readily penetrate the skin at any part ; but it is
difficult to get any aim except an oblique one at the
visible part ; and if the part under the water is aimed
at, the bullet is very apt to glance.

When only the face of the animal is above the
water, the straight outline and erect ears give it some
resemblance to the face of a horse, that is in the
general contour. This may have been the reason
why it at first got the name of the river-horse ; but a
very small portion more of the animal appearing de-
stroys all similarity. The " sea-cow" of the boors of
Southern Africa is still worse, for it has no connection
whatever with any of the ruminant animals. Some
have proposed to call it a hog; but although that is
one step nearer than the horse, it also gives a false
notion of the animal, because it has none of the
habits, and very little of the appearance of a pig.

Wherever the hippopotamus is seen attempts are
made to kill it, if the people are in possession of any
arms fit for the purpose. This is done in cultivated
districts, chiefly on account of the mischief that it
does ; but the flesh, the skin, and the teeth are all of \

some value. We have already mentioned its use as food.
The skin is not of much use as leather, and in cold
climates it <>'ets hard and brittle ; but the skins ol those
that are killed in the Nile are made into a kind of
whips, which are held in considerable estimation in
that country. For this purpose the recent skin is
cut into triangular stripes, about five or six feet long,
pointed at the one extremity, and gradually increasing
in breadth till, at the other extremity, the breadth is
equal to the circumference of the intended whip at
the thick end. The stripe is then rolled into a conical
pipe, tied firmly together, and dried in the sun, after
which it keeps its shape, and is light, dry, and elastic.
The teeth, that is the large canines, are more rcmark-
able for the compactness of their bone or ivory, and the
hardness and beauty of them, than the teeth of almost
any other animals. They are not teeth growing from
roots, but tusks placed on cores, and hollow for about
half their length, like the tusks of elephants. As is
the case with all tusks which grow in this manner,
such as those of the elephant and the morse, tne
substance of them is ivory, but it is ivory of very fine
grain and remarkably hard and tough. The enamel,
of which there is hardly a trace iu the tusks of the
elephant, is very thick, and so hard that it strikes
fire with steel. They are in fact the strongest of all
known animal substances : they are very much sought
after by dentists for making artificial teeth, and when
a piece can be had of such a form as that the teeth
can be worked in the enamel, they preserve their
colour almost as well as the natural teeth. On this
account the tooth sells for about a guinea and a half
a pound, though half the tooth is unfit for the dentist's
purpose ; and from its great solidity it is very heavy
in proportion to its bulk. The teeth of the mouse
come nearest, to these, but they are very inferior.

The female hippopotamus is said to go nine months
with young, though the fact has not been ascertained
with precision ; and the young are very soon able to
take the water, in which the females arc well able to
defend them from enemies.

Though this singular genus of animals is now
reduced to one species, and that existing merely as a
fragment in one part of the world, and obviously upon
the decline, yet the remains which are met with in
the earth show that it has once been a general and
characteristic inhabitant of at least all the temperate
parts of the eastern continent. Of the middle ot
Asia, indeed, we cannot say much ; first, because that
remote and extensive country is now a. desert, and,
secondly, because it appears to be the native locality 1
of the horse, which is the least aquatic of all the j
Pachydermata. In Europe there are, however, theij
remains of not fewer than four species, varying so
much in size that we may suppose them to have been
adapted for rivers of all magnitudes, from the wide 4
sweeping flood to the small brook ; and these are not
confined to one locality, but found in Italy, in Ger-
many, in France, and in England. That they have
not been met with in other places, where the geolo-
gical character of the country indicates that the ani-
mals could have resided, arises more from the want
of observation than from any thing else. The obser-
vation is no doubt a matter of great difficulty, for no
human industry can search the ten thousandth part
of the matter deposited even in one extensive valley ;
then what can be hoped in the case of what have
obviously been the general sepulchres of nature for
thousands of years.

Hippopotai

HIPPOPOTAMUS.

753

The great fossil hippopotamus has been found in the
clay deposits of many countries, as, for instance, in
the valley of the Arrio in Italy, in the south of France,
near Paris, at Kirkdale in Yorkshire, and at Brent-
ford, in the valley of the Thames, so that it must
have been a very general inhabitant of Europe ; and
Europe must then, in the characters of its waters,
have resembled what Africa is now, in those places
where the hippopotamus is found in the living state.

Climate, at least so far as depends upon tempera-
ture, does not form any necessary or important part
of this great question ; for as we have the actual fact
of an elephant having existed in the extreme north,
with a covering better tilted for protecting it from
snow and cold than that of any animal now living,
while in its anatomy, and therefore by inference in its
mode of life, it did not differ much from the elephant,
as now found in Asia and Africa, we have no reason
to doubt that the other large pachydermata of the
north, which are also extinct, were equally adapted to
a climate even more rigorous than that of the places
where their bones are found at the present day.
There are some indications in the form of the fossil
skeletons, especially in the parts fitted for motion,
which would lead us to suppose that those hippopo-
tami of ancient days were more active than their con-
geners of the present time. There is more strength
in the heads of the bones, as well as more length ;
and both of these indicate that the muscles were more
powerful ; the teeth are also stronger, and there are
some differences in the cranial bone, which perhaps
warrant us in concluding that the animals had more
resources.

What the state of the earth was when the hippopota-
mus was common in Europe, we cannot tell, and shall
never, in all probability, arrive at in a satisfactory man-
ner. But we hare no reason to believe that the axis of
the earth's rotation had a different position from what it
has at present ; and though the obliquity of its orbit
varies, the variation is slow, and is understood to act
on their limits, or to involve in itself the means of a
return to the same angle after a very long period ol
years. Hence we cannot suppose that the seasonal
action of the sun was very different then from what it
is now ; for the notion, which has been at different
times altered of the strake of a comet, or some such
imaginary cause, tilting the axis of the earth from the
perpendicular, is not only gratuitous, but absurd.
We have no reason to believe that the earth would
be very much affected by a comet, even though it
were to pass through one, as the satellites of Jupiter
were not in the least disturbed by a comet which gol
within their sphere of action. Besides, the motion ol
the earth on its axis is not in any way affected by any
body in the heavens, or by any known quality or cir-
cumstance of the earth itself. We can see no reason
why it should be different now from what it was al
the moment of the earth's creation, or why it should
become different at any future time of the earth's
duration, oven if all the rest of the solar system were
destroyed, and the earth stood still in its orbit.

In contemplating our own country and latitude as
being inhabited by these great pachydermata, whicl
are now found only in the southern parts of the ok
continent, we must therefore assume, that the annua
action of the sun upon the earth must have been
nearly the same as it is now. That the earth ii
our latitudes must have been more humid, am
covered with a ranker and ruder vegetation in the
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

lays of those pachydermata than it is now is
jerfectly obvious ; inasmuch as such animals are
ound only in places where there is a rank vegeta-
ion. Water and vegetables are much less affected
>y changes of temperature than the solid and inor-
ganic parts of the earth, and therefore we may pre-
.ume that, in these former times, there was much
greater uniformity of the seasons — a different vegeta-
ion certainly, but one which underwent less marked
seasonal changes. The true ferns, and other plants
analogous in many of their characters to those that
are now met with only in the warm latitudes, prove
.his. But the very same circumstances must have
;ended to prevent that drain of heat from the polar
atitudes to the equatorial ones which certainly now
takes place ; for much of the action of the sun goes
off to the atmosphere by radiation, and as the air on
the surface upon which this radiation of heat chiefly
tells, is always creeping toward the equator, it must
follow that the cold latitudes are cooled by this
means, and that they are more cooled in proportion
as the equatorial parts are more converted into desert.
This inquiry is a most tempting one, and if we pay
even the very slightest attention to these remains of
the old world which we meet with at every step, we can
hardly avoid entering upon it ; but the links in the
chain of evidence are so broken that, in the meantime,
it is little else than a pleasing dream. The labour of
many hands, and the wisdom of many heads, will still
be required before the subject is so well explained as
to bring it within the limits of popular science.

The middle-sized hippopotamus is the next of the
fossil species in point of size, and it, as well as the
smaller ones, seems to be wholly extinct, nor have
any vestiges of it been found in those parts of the
world which the living hippopotamus inhabits. This
species, of which the remains have, we believe, been
hitherto found in France only, seems to have been
about the size of the common hog, and as this is found
in the calcareous tufa, which, though a fresh water
formation, is in all probability older than the debris in
which the remains of the larger one are found, we
may perhaps conclude that it became extinct at an
earlier period of the earth's history. Only mutilated
fragments of the skeleton of this" animal have been
found ; but still there are enough to show that it was
a hippopotamus, though different in some respects
both from the larger fossil one, and from that which
still exists in the living state.

The small fossil hippopotamus has been found in
greater abundance than the last species. It has been
found in the lower valley of the Garonne, and the
flats between the estuary of that river and the Pyre-
nees, in accumulations of bones at Gibraltar (the
whole rock there is, in fact, curious in this respect),
in Dalmatia, and in some other places. It is less
than the common hog ; and the worn state of the
teeth shows that it is not the young of any animal.
The tusks are crooked, rather more so perhaps than
in the living rhinoceros ; but still their shape and
curvature are quite different from those of any species
of hog ; the jaws are rather larger, and the muzzle not
so broad as in the living species. What effect
these differences may have had in modifying the
habits of the animal, we are unable to tell ; but the
general structure clearly shows that it belongs to the
hippopotami genus.

The least fossil hippopotamus is less than either o
the former. The remains indicate an animal about the
B BB

754

H I K T E L L A - H I R U N D O.

same size as that small and very short-legsred variety
of the common hogf, which was first introduced into
Europe from the east of Asia, and is usually called
the Chinese breed, though we believe it came at first
from countries more southerly than China. The
remains of this species have hitherto been found in
France only, but we have no reason to suppose that
they were confined to that country, only it so happens
that the animal remains of France have been ex-
amined with more attention than those of most other
conntries.

Such is a slight notice of all the leading points
that are known respecting one of the most singular
genera in the whole class of mammalia. They are
animals highly interesting in themselves from their
very singular mode of life, the powerful manner in
which they are armed, and the labours which they
perform in the general system and economy of nature.
But to those who wish to study the progressive his-
tory of the world, and read in a known language those
wonderful memorials of former times which are buried
in so many places of the earth, they are of still greater
importance. We find the living hippopotamus more
confined in the range of its pasture, and thus more
exclusively fitted for that pasture, than any other ani-
mal ; and when we examine what that pasture is, we
are in so far enabled to judge of what must have been
the state of the world when the hippopotamus was a
more general inhabitant.

HIRTELLA (Wildenow). A genus of West
India trees, so called, from the extreme hairiness of
the young shoots. The flowers are pentandrious, and
belong to the natural order Chrysobalanece .

HIRUNDO (Swallow, or Hirudinidcs, the Swal-
low tribe). A well defined family of birds, belonging
to Cuvier's fis&irostral sub-order of Passeres, Several
of the species are well known to every body from
their familiarity in coming close to human dwellings,
their labour in the building of their nests, arid their
rapid and graceful motions on the wing. In tempe-
rate latitudes they are all migrants, marking the
beginning of the summer by their coming, and giving
notice that it is over by their departure. On these
excursions they are generally very true to the season ;
but a stray one is sometimes tempted to visit the
warmer latitudes before our spring storms, and suffers
for its temerity. Hence the proverb, " One swallow
makes no summer," which means that we ought not to
found strong hopes upon slender foundations.

Some of the family find the principal part of their
food over the surface of the water, for the greater part
of the time that they are in their northern or summer
haunts ; and all of them resort to the surface of the
water when they arrive, and most collect in flocks
near the waters before they depart. When natural
history was but little understood, the reasons of this
were not seen, and consequently erroneous ones were
alleged. This is one very remarkable instance of the
effect of neglecting a caution which we ought never
to forget when we reason beyond the facts on the
habits of animals, or indeed on an}' thing connected
with the active economy of nature. There is but one
truth in every case, and all eke that can be alleged is
error, the proportion between which is every possible
variety to one ; and, therefore, if a conjecture is
hazarded without any grounds, it is next to a miracle
if that conjecture shall be true. Consequently, if we
have no indication or any other clue to guide us to a
reason, in any one matter of natural history, or

indeed in any one matter whatever, the chances ;ire
infinitude to one, that any reason which we may in
our fancy assign shall be the right one.

This proved to be remarkably the case in the
matter of the swallow tribe, and so inveterate was the
error that naturalists, almost without exception, and
the great Linnaeus among the rest, fell into it, although
it was at variance not only with the common habils of
air birds, but with the whole economy of warm-
blooded animals. The reason assigned for this first
and last appearance of the swallow tribe when seen
skimming the surface of the waters was, that they
plunged into the head of the stream, where they
passed the winter in a dormant state, and then came
up again in the spring ; and some learned persons
alleged that they had seen the ascent from the water
with their own eyes, and entered into the details of it
with as circumstantial minuteness as if it had been a
truth not only within the limits of possibility, which
this was not, but substantiated by general evidence to
every part of its occurrence. This very strongly
shows the danger of speaking, and especially of
writing, upon subjects of natural history, without at
least some knowledge of physiology and of the general
laws and economy of nature ; which, by the way is
the reason why we have, in this work, which is framed
and intended expressly for general readers — that is, for
the great body of the people, and not for mere natu-
ralists,— have been, upon every possible occasion, so
anxious to blend the physiology and the relation to
the rest of nature with the description of every animal.

When the least attention is given to the subject,
the absurdity of hybernation under water, in the case
of the swallows, becomes very apparent. There is no
warm-blooded animal that can so hybernate, — not
even the whale or the seal ; nor does it appear that
they can sleep there, though they, as well as many of
the aquatic birds, can sleep floating upon life surface :
but we know of no animal that does or can hybernate
on the surface of water ; and, indeed, to place an
animal on the surface of the water would be putting
it in a state of peril to which we have no parallel even
in nature. It would be at the mercy of winds and
waves, and enemies of all kinds, without any means of
protection or power of defence ; and we may safely
sajr, that it would be wholly inconsistent with the wis-
dom and goodness of the Creator, that any one race
of beings should be thus abandoned to ruin. Still a
warm-blooded animal might exist though thus cast
upon the waters. Under water is another matter,
however ; and when once any creature has breathed
the pure air of heaven as part of the natural functions
of its living system, it -can no longer bear to be
immersed in a flood of the density of water for any
length of time.

Swallows moult their feathers between the time of
their disappearance in the autumn and their return in
the spring ; and this is an operation which could not
be carried on under the water : besides, there are few
birds which hybernate in any way ; none, indeed,
which do this habitually ; for the few that have been
got under hedges and in other places of shelter, appa-
rently lifeless, have always been individuals which
met with hindrances which their powers were not able
to overcome. Even among the mammalia, the species
which hybernate are ail sluggish in their general
action, cold in their system, and slow and limited in
their circulation and breathing ; for even on the
mountain-tops, or the margins of the never-thawing ice

H I R U N D O.

755

at the extremity of our continents, we do not find such
an animal as a hare passing the winter in a dormant
state. On the other hand we find that, even in regions
near the equator, many of the reptiles which have a
cold system and a sluggish circulation remain dor-
mant tor part of the year. The necessity of feeding
and of breathing, and also the natural heat of many
animals, are in proportion to that animal's activity, for
the activity is part of the same system as the rest ;
and as birds feed more and breathe more than mam-
malia of the same size and weight, they are also more
warm in their temperament, and on that account both
less fitted for hybernation and less disposed to it.

Flying is the most severe motion which any animal
has to perform, because the flying animal has both to
bear itself up in the air and to make progress, whereas,
in the case of a walking animal, the weight is borne
by the ground, and the moment that it ceases to have
progressive motion, it begins to be at rest, or in a
state of partial repose. But, even when a bird hovers
in the air without making any progression in distance,
it is not in a state of even partial repose, as it still
has to bear itself up in the air, which, in the case of
even the lightest bird, and the one whose plumage is
the most flocculent and takes the greatest hold on
the air, requires a considerable exertion of muscular
energy.

The swallow tribe are more completely air birds,
and pass more of their time on the wing, than any
other birds which inhabit or visit the British islands.
Some of them, the swifts for instance, which are the
highest flyers, and which get their common- name
from the rapidity of their flight, are generally sixteen
or eighteen hours on the wing every day at that
time of the year when they have their broods.
During these hours, they cannot, on the average,
move over less space than a thousand or twelve
hundred miles ; and, if we consider the number of
loops and doublings which they make, the exertion,
upon one of their long days, must be as great as
would carry them at least two thousand miles in one
day, so that, at the rate of its ordinary motion in
hunting for its food in the sky, a swift could fly round
the equatorial circumference of the earth in less than
two weeks.

This is a degree of exertion with which we have
nothing at all comparable in any animal that walks
or runs upon the ground. Some of the swiftest of
these can move at the rate of fifteen or perhaps
twenty miles in the hour ; but there is none that
could continue this for several hours, or even for
one hour, without being exhausted. There is no
miracle in the motion of a flying animal, any more
than there is in that of the slowest creature which
crawls upon the earth. The principle is the same
in them all, though differently modified and fur-
nished with different organisations. And this fact
of adaptation runs through the whole, that, in proper-
tion to the action must be the means of repairing the
waste occasioned by that action ; and among these
means respiration is one of the chief. When we make
an over-exertion in speed, the lungs are the first part
of the body upon which the effects of that over-
exertion is felt ; and we pant for breath long before
we feel any weariness of the limbs. _ The fatigue o'
moderate exertion long continued is of a different
character ; it is felt in the muscles of the parts exerted
while there is no uneasy sensation in the lungs ; anc
it is worthy of remark, that the pulse is rendered both

larder and quicker, and therefore the circulation
ncreased, by that rapid exertion which fatigues the
ungs, while in the opposite case, if the pulse does not
)ecome slower it becomes more feeble, which equally
ndicates a diminished circulation.

The motions of the swallow tribe are, as we have
said, and as any one may see, very constant and very
rapid ; and their quantity of respiration and need of
bod must, according to the general law of nature,
correspond. Their labour in flight is even greater in
)roportion to the rate of their going, than that of
nore slow-flighted birds. Feathers that take much
lold on the air would be the very worst adapted for
them, and accordingly all their feathers are firm and
smooth ; so that the keeping of themselves up is a
matter which requires constant exertion. The aux-
iliary breathing which they have in supplement to the
mere action of the lungs (see the article BIRD), no
doubt prevents the exhaustion of these organs ; but
still the action of the whole bird is not the less,
and the circulation must be in proportion, otherwise
the general law of nature would be at an end, and
the living world would become a mere mass of con-
fusion.

All these circumstances show, in the clearest
manner, that swallows cannot possibly hybernate under
the water, or anywhere else. And why should they?
The very same powers which they exert every day
are competent to carry them from Britain to Africa
between sun and sun ; and, when they have this
power of shifting their place with the seasons, it would
be letting this run to waste to suppose that they
should in any manner hybernate. There is another
consideration, which, though very obvious to those
who attend to such matters, it may not be improper
to mention ; all the tribe are dark, approaching to
black ; of that very colour, in short, upon which va-
riations of temperature have the greatest effect ; and
this must co-operate with the falling off of their food,
in sending them from the northern countries when
the cold weather begins to set in.

That the swallow tribe should appear over the
waters when they first arrive in our latitudes, and
resort to the same places before they take their
departure for the season, is also quite natural, and
what, from the circumstances of the case, we might be
prepared to expect. The whole race feed upon
winged insects, which they capture while on the
wing ; and the waters are the places over which
insects appear first in the spring, and linger longest
in the autumn. In the autumn, however, the insects
are not so directly over the water as they are in the
spring ; for by that time of the year the greater
number of those insects which commit their offspring
to the waters, have performed that, the final purpose
of their brief duration in the winged state, and have
ceased to exist.

From their activity, their very general distribution,
and the rapidity with which they perform their migra-
tions from country to country, the swallows are a
most valuable race of animals ; and in all countries
they resort to the very places where their services are
most required, and perform them in a way which can
be followed by no others of the feathered race. The
common house-fly, which, though hardly known in
wild nature, follows man in all his migrations ; and
though it too has its use, its powers of multiplication
are so great, that if there were not some means of
keeping it within bounds, it would be an absolute
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750

H 1 R U N D O.

pest. It is most abundant where the situation is
most rich and warm ; and as it is a scavenger, it
resorts to those places in greatest numbers which are
kept in the worst order. But even where there is
the greatest attention paid to cleanliness, the house-
fly still makes its appearance ; and thus, the house-
rnartin comes along with it and regulates its numbers,
by feeding itself and its brood upon the overplus.
Many of the other flies which are captured in the
upper air by other members of the swallow family,
are captured while winging their way for the purpose
of depositing their eggs in situations where the grubs
would be very injurious to the. vegetable crops ; and
it is probable that, in that soft and inirky weather
before rain, during which swallows and swifts are so
busy in the upper air, some of those small insects, the
larvae of which are so annoying to cultivation, take to
high flight for the same purposes. It is well-known
that, were it not for birds of some description or
another, and the greater number of those in our lati-
tudes are migrant birds, retiring to other climes in
the winter, the vegetable productions of tlie earth
•would be destroyed in one season. Against these
little creatures man has few direct defences within the
range of his arts ; and it is on this account that the
insect-feeding birds are so very valuable. In the case
of the swallow-tribe we cannot decide by actual ob-
servation what it is that they capture as they dart
along the sky and skim the surface of the pools with
so much activity. But their activity, and the fact of
their finding their food in situations where no other
birds can, are abundant proofs of their use in the eco-
nomy of nature. Nor should we forget that it appears
to be to man that they are more especially useful ;
for with us at least they do not resort to the wild,
cold, and mountainous places, but to those which are
rich, thickly inhabited, and in a high state of cultiva-
tion. There arc many of the more n jrtherly parts of
the country where, at a distance varving from five to
ten miles from the sea, the surface rises to the height
of (bur or five hundred feet, and the climate is exceed-
ingly cold and bleak. In these places winged insects
ure few, and ihere is not one of the swallow-tribe to
l>e seen ; but when the steep is descended, though
the horizontal distance may not be above a mile or
two, insects appear in swarms, and swallows are
regular visitants. So are they in the inland villages,
which lie between those coast-hills and the central
mountains ; and they are often found upon the
latter at heights exceeding the very summits of the
province. The general history of these active and
interesting birds is, however, a subject upon which
volumes might be written.

The whole of. the race are strictly insectivorous,
and never destroy any thing that is useful to man,
however much they may contribute to the preserva-
tion of many things that are valuable. Still in their
way they are a kind of birds of prey, answering to
the diurnal action of the accipitrcs, though the prey
is different.

The general characters of the genus are well
marked and easily remembered. They are all very
thickly formed in the anterior part of their bodies, so
that the whole mass is concentrated on the axis of
the wings, and they taper off in beautiful curves
tosvard the posterior extremity. Their wings are
long and pointed, and remarkably compact in their
texture, so that they can undergo a great deal of
fatigue without injury. Their tails are produced, in

general very stiff, and in most of the species very
much forked. All the extremities of their apparatus
of flight are in fact pointed, and they can turn on
these points in a very singular manner, flying horizon-
tally or on edge, or at any intermediate angle, appa-
rently with equal ease. The power of the tail appears
to give them as much facility of ascent and descent
as they have rapidity in forward flight; and as their
prey is much more minute than that of even the
smallest of the diurnal accipitres, they are endowed
with corresponding capacities for finding it. They
beat the air with more rapidity and grace than the
birds of prey do the ground under them ; and the
smaller ones, which do not fly above the usual range
of the short-winged hawks, assail them with great
determination when they make their appearance. It
is natural to suppose that their sight is very acute.
Their feet are very small and feeble as compared
with the power of their wings, but they are not walk-
ing birds, and rarely if ever feed upon the ground.
Some of them have the foot with all the four toes to
the front, or rather all so placed that the claws shall
press toward the centre of the foot when the joints
of the legs are bent. This enables them to hold on
upon upright surfaces, to which no other birds can
adhere ; and they even, as occasion renders it neces-
sary, bring the tail and the wings to act in aid of
this. Their bills are flattened, very broad at the
base, generally hooked at the top of the upper man-
dible, and turned up at that of the lower, but they
are without any notch, and the sides rarely close
for the whole of their length. For the capture of
insects they are very efficient bills, but. they are not
at all adapted for any purpose of hostility against
larger animals. Their gape is remarkably wide ; and
as they are whisking about on the wing catching flies
one can often hear the snap of their bills.

They are sometimes arranged into two subdivisions
of swallows and swifts, of which the latter are the
more lofty flyers, and probably the more characteristic
birds ; but we shall not go into the minutiaj of the
systematic arrangement. We shall first notice those
that are to seen in the British islands, and then
name one or two of the more remarkable of the
foreign ones.

THE CHIMNEY SWALLOW (H. rustico}. This is
the only species which, with us, is called a swallow,
the others being either martins or swifts. It is un-
derstood to hatch and breed in Africa, probably to
the south of the equator, in our winter, which of
course answers to the spring in that country, and to
perform its great annual rnoult about the month of
February. Soon after this it beerins to migrate north-
ward, and arrives in England about the end of April,
at which time it is in fine plumage. The birds
speedily disperse themselves, reaching the most
northerly parts of the country by the end of the
month. They form their nests in chimneys, in out-
houses, ruins, and the faces of rocks, but not at any
very great elevation. They build with mud, and
line the nest with feathers, but do not cover it with
a dome. The eggs, in one hatch, are not more than
four in number, but in the warmer parts of the country
they breed twice, the one hatch being able to take
to the wing in June, and the other early in Septem-
ber. In more northerly places they breed only once,
and the brood are fully fledged in July, or the begin-
ning of August. They generally take their departure
about the end of September, but the time varies a

H I RU

little with the character of the year. They generally
breed in considerable numbers in those spots which
afford them favourable nesting-places and abundance
of food ; but they cannot be said to be casual at
those times, as each pursues its own prey and retires
to its own nest. When, however, the labours of the
year are over, and they begin to prepare for their
juurney, they do associate in considerable numbers,
sitting on the house-tops, o.r skimming over the hurnid
meadows, in which the birds probably at that time,
contrary to their usual habit, roost upon the ground.

The general colour of the swallow is black, with
reflections of greyish blue ; but in this respect they
are subject to some variations, for some are so pale
that, if colour alone were the criterion, they might be
taken for different species, and occasionally, thou
much more rarely, they are albinos. The throat anc
forehead are deep reddish brown, and there is a white
spot on the inner web of each of the tail-feathers
with the exception of two in the middle, which are
the shortest ; the lateral tail-feathers are very Ion
and this gives a remarkably forked appearance to
the tail, so much so, that " swallow-tailed" is a com-
mon name for any appendage which is divided in this
manner at the end. Swallows are very active am
interesting little creatures, whisking about over th
surface of the pools, and in other situations where
winged insects are numerous, on those days, and a
those times of the day, when all the children o
nature, except the insect tribes, are still. Thei
glide and dart about with great lightness, and appa
rently very little motion of the wings, so little indeed
that every single stroke appears to impel them on a;
if they were shot from a bow. Nor sire their turning:
on the wing less worthy of remark ; for they cai
double back, not merely at an angle, but at a ver\
acute angle ; and though this is done with so mud
rapidity that one cannot observe the action of th(
different parts, yet there is a sort of twitching sound
as if some of their fan-feathers struck smarth
against each other ; but this twitching sound on th
turn must not be confounded with the snap of th
bill which the bird gives in catching its prey.

THE HOUSE-MARTIN (H. urbicd]. This is perhap
the most interesting to man of the whole swallov
ttibe ; and though the house-sparrow is a much mor
constant attendant on human dwellings, it is no
nearly so interesting as this little periodical visiter
This is the "martlet" of the heralds, and was by them
described as footless, or a creature committed to thi
free air alone, and thus it became emblematic of thos

N D O. 757

ounger branches of families which the most absurd
nd unwise law of primogeniture cuts off from any
hare of the paternal estate. It is worthy of remark,
s concerns this same law, that there* is not the
lightest approximation to it on the part of any crea-
tire when in a state of nature ; and though we are
lot, of course, to take the example of any animal as
jur rule of action, yet, when the example, and the
voice of universal nature, are against us, we can hardly
>e right. Every one must remember the beautiful
allusion made by the gallant Banquo to the nests of
his bird found on the cornices of the castle of his
reacherous host ; and the reader who chooses to
turn to that exquisite passage, \\ill see with what
truth the poet has not only described the habits and
manners of the bird, but has shown the distinction
)etween it and its congener, the swift, with equal
force and truth : —

" This guest of summer,
The temple-haunting martlet, docs approve,
By his loved mansioury, that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here . no jutty, frieze, buttres.-.
Nor coigne of 'vantage, hut this bird hath made
His pendent bed and procreant cradle : where they
Most breed and haunt, I have observed, the air is delicate."

Nothing can be more graphic than this ; for we
have observed that, in those uplands of the north,
which do not deserve the name of mountains, or
even of hills, but which often consist of a species of
clay-gravel, which is perfectly sterile, and in which
the stones are so impregnated with the cold salt of
iron, that they literally consume the earth around
them, as if every stone were a canker — we have been
in the habit of observing, in such places, that there is
not a single swallow to be found ; but if some clear
stream, with alternate banks of dry sand ami soft
green sward, breaks the monotony of such a desert,
and if the lively " clack" of a mill, as is generally the
case, is heard, then the windows of the miller's house
have their swallow's nest in each corner, and may be
seen whisking across the mill-pond and along the
stream with so much industry and glee, that one feels,
or, which comes to the same thing, fancies— that a
remarkable transition from the most chilling to the
most balmy atmosphere has been made in less than a
single furlong of ground. Nor is the distinction be-
tween the swallow and the swift less true to nature.
The latter birds couple on the wing, and perform
their rites in the air ; but the nest — " the pe-.idait
bed and procreant cradle" — is the place where the
swallow performs all the labours of the season. The
most wonderful circumstance connected with those
allusions is their perfect truth, at a time when books
written professedly on natural history, by men who
assumed the character of naturalists, were full of
gross and palpable absurdities-, and those exquisite
touches of' nature which this foremost of all poets
throws into his works, and throws in with apparent!?
no effort on his part, are given by him as trni:
known to those whose occupation cannot be con-
sidered as favourable to the professional study of
natural history. Banquo, who makes these beautifully
philosophical remarks on the house-swallow, was a
brave and gallant soldier, but nothing «

The house-martin finds out the abode of man in
almost every part of the world, at least in every
part where it has a chance of finding food for itself
and its young1 ; and it is rarely found amid places
which are deserted and in ruins. It is probable that

758

H I R U N D O.

the great attraction for it is the house-fly, for that fly
is found only in the neighbourhood of houses, and i
rare, indeed, even in those wild woods where wingec
insects abound the most. It is astonishing to what
an extent so small a creature as this house-fly plays
the scavenger, and reproves, by the countless swarm
in which it appears in houses toward the latter part
of the year, the slovenliness of those to whom the
charge of such houses is committed. The house-
martin is not quite so dashing a bird as the chimney-
swallow ; its wings are rather shorter and less pointed,
and the external feathers of its tail are not so much
produced. Still the house-martin is the prettiest bird
of the two, and its familiarity makes it an especial
favourite. The whole of the upper part, with the
exception of the rump, is black, brownish-black on the
tail-feathers and the quills and coverts of the wings,
and bluish-black on the rest of the body. All the
under part is white, of a very pure tint, and the feathers
on the sides of the neck break finely into each other.
The chief difference between the sexes is, that the
breast of the female has a slight greyish tinge, while
that of the male is pure white. The tarsi and toes
are covered with whitish down, but in no very great
quantity.

Martin.

The house-martin is not only the most familiar of
our swallows, but it is also the first to reach us in the
epring, and the last to leave us in the autumn. As
the whole race comes from southern climates, return-
ing to those climates again when the season which is
favourable to their habits in our country is over, they
appear first and last in the more southerly places ;
but still they are not long in distributing themselves
over the country ; and it is highly probable that
the greater number of them frequent the same breed-
ing-places for a number of years. If they can build
.under a projection, which will keep the rain out of
their nests, they prefer such a situation ; but if not,
then they construct a dome to the nest. Those nests
are often in curious places. White mentions one
which was built in the wing of an owl which had
been nailed to a barn ; and Jesse mentions one which
had not only constructed its nest, but performed its
incubations and reared its brood, on the knocker of
the hall-door at a gentleman's house in Warwickshire.
When the door was opened the bird quitted the nest

for a little, but returned when the door was closed.
The winning ways of house-martins, their attention
to each other and to their young, and their neat ap-
pearance, all tend to render them great favourites ;
and we believe that, in those parts of the country
where there is any feeling of nature among the
people, the schoolboys would be considered as acting
as sacrilegious a part, in destroying the nest of a
house-martin, as in plundering that of a sky-lark,
whose glorious matin-song charms even the rustic into
feelings of respect and gratitude.

The structure of this swallow's nest is well known.
It is formed of mud worked with moisture, much in
the same way as the mud walls of cottages in some
countries, or as that combination of mould which engi-
neers use for " puddling," or rendering water-tight
the banks and bottoms of canals in porous soils. This
structure being usually formed in the dry and warm wea-
ther, and applied in small quantities, so that each layer
consolidates before a fresh one is applied ; the texture
is very firm and compact, and very nearly impene-
trable by water, and insoluble in it. This is also the
character of those walls which are constructed wholly
of loam or mould, in the manner which is called
building en pise in some parts of France ; for these are
more dry and durable than walls of stone or brick.

Some have alleged that there are certain glands in
the stomach of those swallows which build compact
nests, either of mud, as is done by the species under
consideration, or of gelatinous matter, as is done by
some others hereafter to be described, which secrete
a glutinous substance that assists in giving firmness
to the nest ; but the nests of common swallows do not
ontain a trace of any such matter in their compo-
sition; and it is very improbable that there is any
such matter furnished by the stomachs of those species
which construct the gelatinous nests. It is true that
we are not very well informed as to what the sub-
stance is of which those nests are constructed ; and it
s also true that there are peculiar glands in the
stomachs of those swallows, of which, owing to our
gnorance of the general habits of the birds, we do
not know the use ; but though we are ignorant of the
articular matter of which the nests are formed, and
dlso of the particular uses of those glands, it is not a
ery philosophical proceeding to apply our ignorance
of one matter as an explanation of our ignorance of
another ; and yet this has often been resorted to and
>een exulted in as something of no common scientific
depth by men of high name in comparative anatomy
and animal physiology.

The safest way of avoiding such blunders as these,
or if they deserve a gentler epithet, such per saltum
onclusions, which fairly leap across the durk place
without throwing any light upon it, is to have recourse
;o the general analogy of nature, and see whether
hat would be violated by our supposed discovery,
^ow we are not aware that there is any warm-blooded
animal which elaborates any substance in glands or
any other apparatus in the stomach, for any purpose
saving the preparation of food either for itself or for
ts young ; which last is understood to be, in part at
east, the case with the stomachs of pigeons ; nor is
t in warm-blooded animals only that we find the
stomach confined to the single function of nutrition ;
or in those invertebrated animals which elaborate
shells, and spin threads, and weave webs, and form so
many other curious structures, we always find that
there is a distinct and specific structure, or apparatus

H I RU

in the animal, specially adapted for this purpose, and '
having nothing to do with its digestive system ; but
requiring a process of secretion in addition to that of
assimilation. We mention this circumstance in order
to caution the reader against being carried away by
that analogy of double ignorance, which is more
frequently a stumbling-block than many would be apt
to suppose. That we are equally ignorant of two
subjects constitutes a certain sort of resemblance
between them in our apprehension, but it is not a
resemblance from which any conclusion can be drawn.
House-martins are very industrious little creatures ;
and in those parts of the country which are best
adapted to them, they are understood to rear three
broods in the course of the season ; one in May, a
second in June, and a third in July. The hatches do
not exceed four or five in number, and each incuba-
tion lasts about fifteen days. In the intervals the
house-sparrows sometimes take possession of the mar-
tins' nests ; and though the martins are unable to
expel the intruders, it is said that they sometimes
build them in.

THE SAND MARTIN (H. riparia.} Is the smallest
of our British swallows ; and it is snorter in the wings
and less dark in the colour than those which have
been mentioned. Its style of flight is probably as
continuous as that of any of the others, if we except
the swift, but it is not so bold or discursive. The
sand-martin, or bank-swallow as it is called, is brown-
ish black on the upper part and the breast, but white
on the remainder of the lower part, and also on the
chin and upper neck ; upon which latter the white
forms a collar nearly halfway round.

This species arrives at least as early as any of the
others, and is as late in quitting the country ; but it
differs from them in the places to which it resorts, and
also in its habits. It does not necessarily come near
the abodes of men, though if such ground is suitable
for its purpose, it is by no means a timid bird ; and it
is by no means uncommon to find the house-martin
very abundantly all over a village, and the sand-mar-
tin as plentiful in the sides of a steep bank at the
entrance of the village.

In constructing of their nests, sand-martins are
excavators, not builders ; and they choose the bold
and abrupt faces of banks, where the soil is dry and
not over-hard, but where it is not likely to be de-
composed or washed away by the rain. Firm sand
appears to suit them better than any thing else ; and
where a road has been cut to a considerable depth
through a sandy knoll, martins generally find it out
and drill it in holes for their nests. Such places are
also in general warm, and abound with flies, so that
the birds have plenty of food ; but under equal cir-
cumstances, they prefer the vicinity of water, over
the surface of which they are very industrious.

When a colony first take possession of a new bank
which has been opened to them, the scene is a busy
and far from an uninteresting one. They attack it
with mattock and shovel, the bill answering for the
first and the claws for the last. The pair work inces-
santly at this excavation ; but as the entrance is not
larger than to admit one bird, they do not work m
company but by turns, the one carrying on the exca-
vation while the other is feeding. As they labour
hard, and live upon small prey which they catch on
the wing, their life is a busy one. But still the alter-
nation of digging and feeding appears to afford them
considerable relief, as different parts of the body come

N D O. 759

into their most severe action during the two tasks.
The excavation for the nest is often made to a con-
siderable depth into the bank ; and, as is the case with
all birds which mine into deep banks, the entrance is
made sloping upwards, so as to render the entrance
of wet impossible. After the birds have excavated
these nesting places to the necessary depth, they
line the interior with vegetable fibres and feathers ;
but as they have more natural shelter from the depth
of the excavation, which is often as much as three
feet, they are not so careful in lining the nest as those
species are which breed in more open places. The
eggs are rather more numerous than those of the
house-martin ; but it is probable that the incubation
lasts longer; and it is certain that the birds take
more time before they are fledged ; and there are not
so many broods in the year. The young birds have
rust-coloured margins to the feathers on the upper
part ; and in this marking, the female is intermediate
between the young and the male.

Of the hirund'mes which we have now mentioned,
the martins are perhaps the most characteristic as
British birds; and they are probably more exclusively
birds of that migration which takes place between
Europe and Africa, nearly in the line of the meridian,
than any others of the genus ; for though birds ot
this genus are found in almost every part of the world,
north or south, most of them have more the character
of our swallows than of our martins. These foreign
species are so numerous, their habits are so little
known, and those which are known, in general agree
so closely with those of the species with which we
are familiar, that we must confine ourselves to mere
notices of a few of the more remarkable ; and before
we do so we shall advert to the swifts, as British birds,
which, though very closely resembling the swallows
and martins in their general habits, have sometimes
been arranged and described as a separate genus
under the name Cypselus.

THE COMMON SWIFT (C. apus). Though not alto-
gether footless, as the epithet apus would lead us to
suppose, is yet worse supplied in feet available to any
purposes of locomotion, than perhaps any other
British bird. It is true that some of the aquatic birds
are as ill adapted for walking as the swift is ; V\it then
their feet are all swimming feet, and thus adapied for
motion of another kind, and the reason of their an-
swering so ill for the common purpose of walking is
chiefly or entirely their superior adaptation to that of
swimming. The swift, on the other hand, is no
swimmer, and though it partakes in so far of the habit
of the race generally as to be able to strike the sur-
face of the water as it darts along on the win?, yet
even this habit is not nearly so strong in it as in the
swallows properly so called. The foot of the swiit
is remarkably short, with all the toes turned forwards,
and the tips 'of the claws directed toward the centre
of the foot ; it is thus a perching foot, but it is adapted
for sticking to the asperities of upright rocks and
walls, in which the bird is greatly assisted by the
, great length of the wings and the tail, and the pecu-
! liar structure of each, which consist of very fine fea-
thers successively overlapping each other, so as to
give great stiffness to the part, at the same time that
it is comparatively light.

Of all our birds, the swift may be said to be the
i most lofty inhabitant of the sky, and the one which is
1 most constantly upon the wing, and its structure cor-
: responds with this habit, for our swift is our best

760

H I R U N D O.

winged bird in proportion to its size. Tho weight of
the swift is about an ounce ; its length nearly eight
inches; its breadth about eighteen. The bill is black;
irides dusky ; with the exception of the chin, the
whole of the plumage is black, the chin being whitish.
The wings are extremely large, and the legs so short
that it rises from the ground with difficulty ; the legs
and toes are black, and the tail forked. The foot is
the principal structural character in which the swift
differs from the swallows.

Swift.

When \ve state that the swift is the loftiest inha-
bitant of the sky, we do not mean to say that it rises
higher than many other birds when migrating or even
when beating about for their prey, but the swift feeds
in the upper air, and is the only bird which habitually
does so. The swallows feed lower down, and the
nocturnal birds, which catch insects on the wing,
feed lower still ; but when we find swifts particularly
on the alert in their peculiar style of insect-catching,
they are always driving along and wheeling and
screeching at the very top of the sky. Of course
swifts are confined to places that are fertile and com-
paratively low, because it is in such places only that
a sufficient supply of insect food is found for any of
the race ; and it would be useless to suppose that
any bird could procure a living in the thin air over
the mountain tops ; but still we can observe that
beautiful gradation in the structure, the habits, and
the haunts of the swifts, which is traceable in all the
swallow tribe. Of our species the sand-martin is the
weakest in the body and the least powerful on the
wing, and it builds in holes of the earth, and flies low
over the surface of water and over ground which
abounds in winged insects, which rise during the day,
but not to any considerable height. The house-martin
comes next in order, building in the angles of
windows, or in the eaves of houses, and rarely
getting much above house-height in its ordinary fly-
ing. The swallow builds in the chimney, is better
winged than the martin, has the tail more forked, and
can pursue a bolder flight ; and accordingly we find
it flying higher and straining more vigorously on the
wing than either of the martins. The swift nestles
above house-height, in the crevices of steeples and
towers, and the crannies of rocks, where it constructs
its nest wholly of vegetable matter and feathers, with-
out any attempt at mud building. Though the swift
is bettor formed for activity than any of our other
summer birds, and is in reality more active, the
smaller number of its brood shows that the place
which nature assigns it is on the very confines of that
chill atmosohere in which no living creature can sub-

sist. The eggs are rarely, if ever, more than two in
number, of a white colour, and considerably elon-
gated. The female is a close sitter, and while she is
on the nest the male bird hunts very industriously in
the neighbourhood, and is ever and anon serenading
her with his harsh and discordant screech. At night
the two birds are housed in the same crevice ; but
whether the male actually takes a share in the labour
of incubation has not been very clearly ascertained.

The height to which swifts fly depends a good deal
upon the state of the weather. When the atmosphere
is pure and dry their flight is most elevated, but when
it is moist they fly much lower, and sometimes come
down so far as almost to touch the surface of the
water. In those troubled states of the atmosphere
which usually precede thunder-storms in our warm
months, they are more active than at other times, and
also more varied in the elevation of their flight They
seldom, if ever, alight on level ground, because their
short legs and long wings would make rising from
such surfaces a matter of considerable difficulty.
The swift is among the last of our swallows in coming,
and it is also the first to depart ; and this shows that
the place where they feed is the one which is the
latest in producing, and the first which ceases to be
'productive. The quantity of their motion during the
summer days is immense, for they are often sixteen
hours not only on the wing but in vigorous and con-
tinued flight, during which time they travel over as
many hundreds of miles as they fly hours. Such a
rate of flight, and power of continuance on it, ren-
ders migration a very simple matter with the swifts,
and it is not too much to say that they breakfast in
Africa and roost in England on their arrival, or
breakfast in England and roost in Africa when they
take their departure.

WHITE-BELLIED SWIFT (C. aljrinui). This species,
which is of comparatively recent observation as a
British bird, and has hitherto been noticed only as a
straggler in the south-east of the island, differs in
colour, in size, and in some other particulars from the
common swift. With us the common swift is deep
black, with only the chin dull white, though the
black becomes brownish toward the close of the
season. The Alpine swift is brownish on the upper
part, and has the belly white. It is also a larger
bird, being about nine inches long. It has the bill
black, the feet flesh-coloured, the sides mottled with
a dusky colour and white, and a brownish grey collar
on the neck.

Though a rare straggler in our island, the white-
bellied swift is a very fine bird, and perhaps has more
"dash" about it than the species with which we are
more familiar. Like the other, it is a migrant, but its
migrations are of a more southerly and easterly cha-
racter. Its range is from an indefinite distance, south-
ward, in Africa, to the average line of the Alps, though
we believe it is by no means common northward of
the summits of those mountains, excepting in the
Tyrol, where it is said to range farther to the north
than in more westerly longitudes. In coming and
going it is found in considerable numbers in the islands
of the Mediterranean, and on the coast of Italy ; but
these are not its proper habitats. It arrives in Upper
Lombardy and the adjacent countries about the
beginning of April ; but its first haunt is over the
pools and marshes, so that even this bird might have
been described as hybernating in the water, with as
much propriety as our common swallow. It remains

H I R U N D O.

over those lowland and marshy places for about a
fortnight or three weeks, after which it betakes itself
to the mountains and begins in earnest its labours for
the year. It nestles in the clefts of rocks which

stand high and beetling in mid air, among which it
dives about with great vigour and rapidity, wheeling
and sporting as if it were wholly composed of wings,
though its little crab feet are always in readiness to
clutch and maintain their hold on the least irregu-
larity of the rock, whenever they require a pause in
their aerial motions. They usually fly in society, not
in very great numbers ; but there are some curious
instances of consent among them ; for while one
clings to the rock, a second clings to the first, a third
to the second, and so on, till the whole form a sort
of chain of birds moving in the air. What may be
the reason of this singular mode of clinging to each
other it may be difficult to say, but itmust be momen-
tary, as the birds remain but a very short time in this
posture before they are wheeling and screaming with
the same activity as before.' Such of them as nestle
in the Appenines appear earlier in the season, and
set about the construction of their nests. Those
nests are small for the size of the birds, but they are
carefully put together and carefully lined with soft
feathers. In those southerly places they have two
broods in the season ; the first, consisting of three or
four, being matured about the middle of July ; and the
second, consisting of two only, about the end of
September. Those which resort to more upland and
northerly places are said to have only one brood in
the year, consisting of two eggs, as is the case with
our swift. In October they usually take their de-
parture for more southern climates ; but they are
not so constant in their time of departure as in that
of their arrival. The Italians, who are much more
given to eat small birds than we of a land t
abundant in beef and mutton, esteem the young oi
these swifts as delicacies for the table ; but after their
jnuscles have been seasoned to the sky by a journey
to Africa and back again, they, like the muscles of all
other birds inured to vigorous and continued flight
become somewhat tough for mastication.

When these birds retire to rest after the severe
labours of the day, the male and female squat down
together upon the nest ; and when they do so thej
may be touched, or even taken, with the hand. The
precise range of this species in longitude is not very
well known ; but it is not at all improbable that they
may reach as far as the east of Asia, or even to the
oriental islands ; for there are several species in
those parts of the world whose characters are not very
well ascertained ; though it should seem that some o
them, at least, bear a considerable resemblance to thi
species. It should seem, however, that the long
winged swift. (C. longipenms) is a distinct species
It has the upper part of a bright dark-green colour
with the wings and tail of a bluish green, except the
quills next the body, which are white. There is a
spot of maroon brown on the ear coverts, and the
under part of the neck is ash-coloured, with the excep-
tion of the middle of the belly, and the under tail
coverts, which are white. The rump is greenish ash,
the biFi black, and the feet reddish. The male is
without the spot on the ear coverts. The length of
the head is between eight and nine inches.

THE GREAT CHINESE SWIFT (C. Sinenat) is ano-
ther oriental species, having some points of resem-
blance to the white-billed swift of southern Europe ;

761

ut it is larger in size, and differently coloured. It is
rown on the upper part, with the top of the head
right russet, a brown band across the eyes, sur-
ounded with small white feathers. The bill and feet

are bluish grey ; and the length about eleven inches
and a half.

THE RUFFED SWIFT (C. comatus} is an inhabitant
>f the oriental islands. The upper parts, the neck,
he breast, and the belly, are bronze green ; the sides
of the head are furnished with long and straight
eathers of a white colour, which form a sort of hood
over the base of the bill, and also a kind of crest on
he nape. The feathers on the other parts of the
lead are also long and pendent, and they are bronze
reen. The quills and tail feathers are bright green
with metallic reflections ; the belly and the under tail
coverts are white ; and the bill and feet are blackish.
The tail is very much forked. It is a beautiful
species, but it is small, the length being little more
than five inches and a half. The habits and migra-
tions of these southern species are little known ; and
some of them have, in all probability, been con-
founded with the swallows, from which, however, the
real swifts can always be easily distinguished by the
shortness and peculiar form of their feet, and the ele-
vation and style of their flight.

THE GREAT SWIFT (C. giganteus) is a native of
Java, and most probably of several other south-eastern
isles. It is nearly eight inches in length ; the general
colour of the upper part is blackish brown, with the
exception of the middle of the back and the scapulars,
which are ash-colour without any reflections or gloss.
The top of the head, the nape part of the coverts of
the wings, and also of the under tail coverts, are of a
deep green with very brilliant reflections ; the greater
coverts and quills of the wings are black with brilliant
reflections ; and some of the quills have the point
and the shaft prolonged, and without webs for some
part of their length. There is a white band on the
thighs, and the tail feathers also are in part white.
The bill and feet are brown. The eastern islands
are, indeed, very favourable pastures for fissirostral
birds, because the air over them swarms so thickly
with insects , and though some of the species are
migrant in that garden of the world as well as in our
more seasonal country, they are, taking them on the
whole, much more resident ; and though it is difficult
to say which are the more characteristic birds in a
country so abounding in birds, and so curious as well
as bril'liant in some of the species, yet the Sunda
Islands appear to be especially the head-quarters of
the swifts, which are the most rapid and elevated
fivers of all insectivorous birds which seek their food
on the wing. Whether any of the swifts, properly so
called, visit New Holland, has not been so clearly
made out ; but there are some swallows in that part
of the country, though in several respects they differ
from ours. The principal one which seasonally visits
the east coast of New Holland, is, —

THE JAVA SWALLOW (H. Javanicd) ; and we can-
not perhaps do better than quote the following account
of it from Cayley, as communicated to the Linnaean
Society by Vigors and Horsfield :— " The resting-
places of these swallows are on the dead boughs of
large trees, where I have seen several of them ga-
thered together in the same manner as European
swallows on the roof of a house. I apprehend, how-
ever, that it is when their young have taken to flight
that this occurs.

H I R U N 0 O.

' The earliest period of the year that I noticed the

appearance of swallows was on the 12th of July, 1803

when I saw two ; but I remarked several towards

the end of the same month, the following year (1804)

The latest period I observed them was on the 30th o

May, 1806, when a number of them were twittering

and flying high in the air. When I have missec

them at Paramatta I have sometimes met with them

among the North Rocks, a romantic spot about two

miles northward of the former place. The natives

call the swallow Sernn-nin; they told me it built its

nest in the hollow limbs of white gum-trees, using

bark, grass, hair, or similar substances ; but when it

built in old houses, it made use of mud. These old

houses are the deserted huts of settlers who have

abandoned their worn-out farms ; and the nests are

constructed on the wall-plates, as they are called in

the colony. Of the nests, which have been brought

to me, I have observed that the outside was made of

mud, and the inside lined with feathers. Though I

have seen swallows more or less throughout the year,

yet it is my belief that they are migratory. The eyes

are black."

The American species, as we have already re-
marked, are swallows or martins, rather than swifts ;
and though in their habits they bear a very close
resemblance to the species of the eastern continent,
and some of them get similar names from the Euro-
pean settlers, it is doubtful whether any of them are
exactly the same species. They are very numerous
in some parts of the country, and they follow the
common seasonal migration of American birds, pro-
ceeding northwards in the spring, and returning south-
ward in the summer.

THE AMERICAN CHIMNEY SWALLOW (H. pelcugio'),
though sometimes called a swift in the United States,
very closely resembles our chimney swallow in some
of its characters ; but it is rather a smaller bird, and
remarkable for the length of its wings, the stretch of
which when spread out is twelve inches, while the
length is only about four and a half. The sexes very
closely resemble each other in colour, being sooty
brown, with the exception of the chin, and a streak
over the eyes, which are dull white. The naked skin
from the bill to the eye is black ; the bill is extremely
short, hard, and black ; the nostrils are placed in a
slightly elevated membrane ; the legs are covered
with a loose skin of a purplish colour, the thighs are
of the same colour and naked ; the feet are very mus-
cular ; the three fore toes are very nearly of the same
length ; the claws extremely sharp ; when the wing
is closed it extends an inch and a half beyond the tip
of the tail, which is rounded, and consists of ten fea-
thers very little longer than the coverts ; their shafts
extend beyond the vanes, they are strong, sharp-
pointed, and extremely elastic.

The following quotation from Wilson's account of
this species will show the habits of this bird, and also
what are the resources of chimney- building swallows
where the country contains no chimneys in which they
can build. " One of the first settlers' in the state of
Kentucky," says Wilson. " informed me that he cut
down a large hollow beech tree, which contained forty
or fifty nests of the chimney swallow, most of which,
by the fall of the tree cr by the weather, were lying
at the bottom of the hollow, but sufficient fragments
remained adhering to the sides of the tree to enable
him to number them. They appeared, he said, to be
of many years' standing. The present site which they

have chosen must, however, hold out many more ad-
vantages than the former, since we see that, in the
whole thickly settled parts of the United States, these
birds have uniformly adopted this new convenience,
not a single pair being observed to prefer the woods.
Security from birds of prey and other animals, from
storms that frequently overthrow the timber, and the
numerous ready conveniences which these new situa-
tions afford, are doubtless some of the advantages.
The choice they have made certainly bespeaks some-
thing more than mere unreasoning instinct, and docs
honour to their discernment. The nest of this bird
is of singular construction, being formed of very small
twigs, fastened together with a strong adhesive glue
or gum which is secreted by two glands, one on each
side of the hind head, and mixes with the saliva.
With this glue, which becomes hard as the twigs
themselves, the whole nest is thickly besmeared. The
nest itself is small and shallow, and attached by one
side or edge to the wall, and it is totally destitute of
the soft lining with which the others are so plentifully
supplied. The eggs are generally four, and while.
They generally have two broods in the season. The
young are fed at intervals during the greater part of
the night; a fact which I have had frequent opportu-
nities of remarking both here and in the Mississippi
territory. The noise which the old ones make in
passing up and down the funnel has some resemblance
to distant thunder. When heavy and long continued
rains occur, the nest, losing its hold, is precipitated
to the bottom ; this disaster frequently happens ; the
eggs are destroyed, but the young, though blind
^ which they are for a considerable time), sometimes
scramble up along the vent, to which they cling like
squirrels, the muscularity of their feet and the sharp-
ness of their claws at this tender age being remarkable.
In this situation they continue to be fed for perhaps
a week or more. Nay, it is not uncommon for them
voluntarily to leave the nest long before they are able to
3y, and to fix themselves on the wall, where they are
:ed until able to hunt for themselves. When these
jirds first arrive in spring, and for a considerable time
after, they associate together every evening in one
general rendezvous, those of a whole district roosting
:ogether. This place of repose, in the more unsettled
jarts of the country, is usually a large hollow tree,
open at top ; trees of that kind, or swallow trees, as
they are usually called, having been noticed in vari-
ous parts of the country, and generally believed to be
he winter quarters of these birds, where, heaps upon
leaps, they dozed away the winter in a state of tor- i
)idity ; here they have been seen on their rcsurrec-
ion in spring, and here they have again been remarked
descending to their death-like sleep in autumn."

PURPLE MARTIN (H. purjntred). This is also an j
American species, and in its manners it bears no
nconsiderable resemblance to the house-martin of
Europe, frequenting, like that bird, the habitation of
man in preference to more lonely and sequestered
places. It is very abundant in the United States ;
nd a solitary instance of dislike to it, recorded by •
Wilson, is so characteristic, that we cannot resist
quoting it. " I never met," says lie, " with more than
one man who disliked the marl ins, and would not
)ermit them to settle about his house. This was a
)enurious close-fisted German, who hated them be-
cause, as he said, ' they ate his peas? I told him he
must certainly be mistaken, as I never knew an
nstance of martins eating peas , but he replied, \viik

H I R U N D O.

coolness, that he had many times seen them himself
' blaying near the hit'e, and going: sciinip schnatip? bv
which 1 understood that it was his bees that had been
the sufferers ; and the charge could not be denied."
In general, however, the Americans are sensible of
the advantages which they derive from these birds
in clearing the neighbourhood of their houses of
winged ir.sects, which are particularly troublesome in
that land of marshes and forests. They arrive in the
southern states in February or March, but do not
reach the central ones till March or April ; and in
more northerly places, for their migration extends
nearly to the polar confines of the American conti-
nent, they arrive in Ma}r, and take their departure in
August. The ornithologist, to whom we are under
such obligations on the subject of all such birds in
America as come within his notice, has so well de-
scribed the accommodations that are made for those
interesting little creatures, that we should do them
injustice were we to mention them in any words
except his own. " The summer residence," says
Wilson, •' of this agreeable bird is universally among
the habitations of man, who, having no interest in his
destruction, and deriving considerable advantage, as
well as amusement, from his company, is generally
his friend and protector. Wherever he comes he
finds some hospitable retreat fitted up for his accom-
modation and that of his young, either in the project-
ing wooden cornice, on the top of the roof, or sign-
post, in the box appropriated to the bluebird, or, if
all those be wanting, in the dove-house among the
pigeons. In this last case he sometimes takes pos-
session of one quarter or tier of the premises, in which
not a pigeon dare for a moment set its foot. Some
people have large conveniences formed for the mar-
tins, with many apartments, which are usually fully
tenanted, and occupied regularly every spring, and
in such places particular individuals have been noted
to return to the same box for several successive years.
Even the solitary Indian seems to have a particular
respect for this bird. The Choctaws and Chickasaws
cut off all the top branches from a sapling near their
cabins, leaving the prongs a foot or two in length, on
each of which they hang a gourd or calabash, pro-
perly hollowed out for their convenience. On the
banks of the Mississippi the negroes stick up long
canes, with the same species of apartment fixed to
their tops, in which the martins regularly breed
Wherever I have travelled in this country I have
seen, with pleasure, the hospitality of the inhabitants
to this favourite bird."-" About the middle, or 20th
of April, the martins first begin to prepare their nest
The last of these which I examined was formed o
dry leaves of the weeping willow, slender straw, hay
and feathers in considerable quantity. The eggs were
four, very small for the size of the bird, and pure
white, without any spots. The first brood appears ir
May, and the second late in July. During the period
in which the female is laying, and before she com
mcnees incubation, they are both from home the
greater part of the day/ When the female is sitting
she is frequently visited by the male, who also occu
pies her place while she takes a short recreation
abroad. He also often passes a quarter of an hou
in the apartment beside her, and has become quite
domesticated since her confinement. He sits on the
outside, dressing and arranging his plumage, occa
sionally passing to the door of the apartment, as if tr
inquire how she does. His notes, at this time, seen

o have assumed a peculiar softness, and his gratu-
dtions are expressive of much tenderness. Conjugal
Jclity, even where there is a number together, seems
o be faithfully preserved by these birds. On the
25th of May a male and female martin took possession
of a box in Mr. Bertram's garden. A day or two
ifter a second female made her appearance, and stayed
or several days ; but, from the cold reception she
met with, being frequently beat off by the male, she
finally abandoned the place, and set. off, no doubt, to
eek a more sociable companion. The purple martin,
ike his half-cousin, the king-bird, is the terror of
crows, hawks, and eagles. These he attacks when-
ever they make their appearance, and with such vigour
and rapidity that they instantly have recourse to
light. So well known is this to the lesser birds, and
to the domestic poultry, that, as soon as they hear
the martin's voice engaged in fight, all is alarm and
onsternation. To observe with what spirit and
audacity this bird dives and sweeps upon and around
the hawk or the eagle is astonishing. He also be-
stows an occasional bastinadoing on the king-bird
when he finds him too near his premises, though he
will, at any time, instantly co-operate with him in
attacking the common enemy. The martin differs
Prom all the rest of our swallows in the particular
prey which he selects. Wasps, bees, large beetles,
particularly those called by the boys goldsmiths, seem
bis favourite game. I have taken four of these large
beetles from the stomach of a purple martin, each of
which seemed entire, and even unbruised."

This species is very swift in its flight, and wheels
and turns with much rapidity and grace. It comes
more into the towns of America than the European
swallows do into the towns of Europe ; and along
with its familiarity, the neatness with which it avoids
passengers and other objects in the streets, is worthy
of admiration. It is rather a large species, being at
least eight inches in length, and double that measure
in the stretch of the wings. The general colour of
the upper part is a rich and deep purplish blue, with
very brilliant reflections of violet ; but (he wings and
tail are brownish black. The tail consists of twelve
feathers, is considerably forked and margined with
purplish blue. The bilf is very strong, and the open-
ing of the mouth large ; the eye is very full and dark,
and surrounded by naked skin of a black colour. The
legs are very short, approaching in that character to
those of the swifts. The female is of nearly the same
dimensions as the male, but it differs a little in colour.
The prevailing tint of the upper part is blackish
brown, with purple and violet only in scattered spots.
The chin and breast are greyish brown ; the under
sides of the wings of the same colour, but darker; and
the belly and vent-feathers are dull white, marked
with dusky yellow.

THE BARN SWALLOW (H. Americana], is another
American species which has a considerable resem-
blance in its habits to our house swallow. It is a
smaller bird, and less powerfully winged than the spe-
cies last noticed ; but it is very abundant, and migra-
tory, appearing in great numbers in the narrow part
of central America, especially about Honduras, dining
the rains which occur between the months of October
and February, but as soon as the rains are over, it
takes its departure for more northerly climates. Some
remarks on the habits of these birds, made by Captain
Henderson in his account of Honduras, are worthy ot
quotation, as pointing out something peculiar in the

7G4

H I R U N D O.

habits of birds, in that very singular region of the
world "There is something," says Captain Hen-
derson, " remarkably curious and deserving of notice
in the ascent of these birds. As soon as the dawn
appears they quit their place of rest, which is usually
chosen amid the rushes of some watery savannah, and
invariably rise to a certain height in a compact spiral
form, and which, at a distance, often occasions them
to be taken for an immense column of smoke. This
attained, they are then seen separately to disperse in
search of food, the occupation of the day. To those
who may have had the opportunity of observing the
phenomenon of a water-spout, the similarity of evolu-
tion in the ascent of these birds will be thought sur-
prisingly striking. The descent, which regularly
takes place at sunset, is conducted much in the same
way, but with inconceivable rapidity ; and the noise
which accompanies this can only be compared to the
falling of an immense torrent, or rushing of a violent
gust of wind. Indeed, to an observer, it seems won-
derful that thousands of these birds are not destroyed
in being thus propelled to the earth with such irre-
sistible force."

This species of swallow is about seven inches in
length, and thirteen inches in the stretch of the wings.
The bill is black, the upper part of the head, neck,
back, rump, and tail-coverts steel blue, which de-
scends rounding on the breast. The front and chin
are of a deep chestnut. The belly, vent, and lining of
the wing, light chestnut. The wings and tail are of a
brown black, slightly glossed with reflections of green ;
the tail is forked, the exterior feather on each an
inch and a half longer than the next, and tapering
towards the extremity ; each feather, except the two
middle ones, marked on its inner vane with an oblong
spot of white; eye dark hazel. The sides of the
mouth are yellow, and the legs are dark purple.
The female differs from the male in having the belly
and vent rufous white, instead of light chestnut.
These parts are also slightly clouded with rufous, and
the exterior tail feathers are shorter. These birds
soon become exceedingly gentle, and are easily tamed;
and when kept in a room, they employ themselves in
catching flies, and picking them from the garments,
&c , it may contain ; and they may be occasionally
observed calling out of the window to their old com-
panions as they pass it.

These birds are more abundant on the Atlantic side
of the Alleghany mountains than they are in the great
central valley of North America, and in every place
they are more abundant as the country is more
thickly settled. They do not frequent the woods and
wilds, but rather the close vicinity of the farmhouses,
where they make their nest attached to the beams
and rafters of barns, and other large out-buildings ;
and so partial are they to such places, that scarcely an
outhouse to which they can find access is without
them. Sometimes one large barn will contain several
scores of nests, and though the birds build within a
few inches of each other, the greatest harmony appears
to prevail among them ; nor are they subject to the
persecution of even the most parsimonious of the
German settlers, not being accused of going " schnip
schnaup near the hif," as is alleged of their congener
formerly alluded to. On the other hand, even the
superstition of the Germans has come to the protec-
tion of these birds ; for Wilson found settlers of that
country who firmly believed that this kind of swallow
protected their burns from lightning, and that if they

wantonly killed the birds the milk of their cows would
immediately after become tinged with blood. They
build their nests, at least in the middle latitudes of
the United States, in the early part of the month of
May. The structure is a work of some labour, formed
of mud, and rendered stronger by an admixture of
fine vegetable fibres. It is in the shape of an inverted
cone, about six inches in diameter and five in depth,
as measured on the outside ; and the lip is generally
enlarged in order to allow a resting place for the
male when feeding the sitting female, or the two birds
when feeding the young. There is no dome to the
nest, and such an addition is not required, as it is
made under cover ; but the inside is carefully lined,
first with fine dry grass, and then with soft and downy
feathers. The eggs are usually four or five in number,
white in the ground colour, and mottled over with
small specks of reddish brown. They are, however,
semi-transparent, which gives them altogether a
slight reddish appearance. It is worthy of remark
that in proportion as birds take greater care in pro-
viding soft arid warm nests for their eggs, those eggs
are always more delicate, finer in the shell, and ap-
proach more to transparency. Birds whose eggs
have this character, are generally close sitters, they
are almost all birds of firm plumage and rapid wing,
and the greater number of them are migrant. The
present species have generally two broods in the
course of the season, and thus, while they remain in
the United States, their life is a very busy one.
There is also a sort of attempt on the part of the old
birds to train the young ones to something like habits of
independence.orof shifting forthemselves in the world;
for, before the young venture out of doors, they take
a good deal of exercise in flying, along with the old
ones, within side the barn or other shelter. Altogether
this is perhaps the most interesting species of swallow
which is met with on the American continent.

WHITE-BELLIED AMERICAN SWALLOW (H. viridu'),
has sometimes been confounded with the house mar-
tin of the eastern continent, but it is different in
colour. The European martin is bluish black, and
has the rump white and the legs covered with short
feathers of a whitish colour. The American species
is greenish on the upper part, has no white on the
rump, and no feathers on the legs. It is a migrant,
and arrives later in the United States than many of
the others, and it resorts to the shrubby islands in the
estuaries and rivers. The length of the bird is not
quite six inches, and the extent of the wings is about
twelva. The upper parts are light greenish blue with
a rich gloss ; the wings brownish black with slight
reflections of green ; the tail is much forked, the
two exterior feathers being about a quarter of an inch
longer than the middle ones. The under part is
pure white ; the close wings extend a quarter of an
inch beyond the point of the tail ; and the legs are
short, strong, and naked of feathers, and of a purplish
colour. The nest of this species has the principal
part formed wholly of vegetable fibres, without any
admixture of mud ; but it is lined with a profusion of
feathers, which are so disposed as to cover the eggs
when the female quits them. These eggs are four or
five in number, and of a white colour ; and it is under-
stood that the birds have generally two hatches in the
course of the year. They are not exclusively insec-
tivorous, but in the end of the season they resort to
the swamps which are thickly covered with the oan-
dleberry myrtle, and feed upon the fruit of that plant,

HISPA— HISTERIDvE.

becoming in high condition before they take their
departure for the winter. When they resort to these
]>laces, they generally do it in dense crowds, so that
though individually of small size, their accumulated
numbers make them objects of some importance to the
fowlers, who will sometimes kill from one hundred to
two hundred at one shot

There is a sand martin or bank swallow on the
continent of North America ; but as it does not
appear to differ much from the European one, it does
not require any detailed notice ; but we may remark
that it is singular that this species of swallow should
be common to the two continents, when it does not
appear that any of the rest are so. In south and cen-
tral America, there are many species of swallows ;
but this article has already extended to so great a
length, that we shall only mention one or two of the
more remarkable. Before doing this, we may state
that there is a very considerable difference between
the migratory birds of our northern hemisphere and
those of the southern one. This is what, from the
physical circumstances of the two hemispheres, as
well as from the lower latitude to which the land
extends in the south, we might be prepared to expect.
The openness of the southern ocean, which is never
interrupted by ice at any of the three points of Van
Diemen's Land, Southern Africa, and South America,
admits of a complete circulation of the ocean waters,
and of the atmosphere over them, by means of which
the characters of the equatorial and polar parts of
that hemisphere are kept within their own zones ; and
thus, though the southern hemisphere is, latitude for
latitude, colder than the northern upon the whole, yet
the seasonal differences for any one latitude are
much smaller ; and this circumstance necessarily occa-
sions a corresponding difference in the movements of
the seasonal birds. This is not the place for fully
working out all the peculiarities of this difference,
even though our limits permitted ; but without taking
this consideration along with us, we should be some-
what puzzled with the fact, that the southern swal-
lows are comparatively resident, or at all events much
more confined in their migrations than the northern
ones.

THE WHITE-BUMPED SWALLOW OF PARAGUAY (H.

Leucorrhci) is rather a social species, and fond of
coming near human habitations, and also of following
travellers and their mules and horses in crossing the
country. It is a resident species in the valley after
which it is named, and also in other parts of South
America. Its length is about five inches and a half ;
the upper part blue with reflections ; the quills.coverts
and tail-feathers dull black ; the rump, a streak over
the eye, and all the under part white. This species
builds indiscriminately in the thick heads of the palm
tree and in holes of the ground, constructing its nest
of vegetable fibres lined with hair and feathers. The
entrance is in the side, and made so narrow that no
animal larger than itself can enter, and so deep that
neither the eggs nor the young can be got out with-
out pulling the nest to pieces.

THE DOMESTIC SWALLOW OF PARAGUAY (H.domes-
tica) approaches in its manners the swallows with
which we are most familiar. It is blackish blue on
the upper part, and velvet black on the cheeks, the
quills, and coverts of the wing and tail-feathers. The
sides of the head are brownish black, the front of the
neck and flanks whitish, clouded with brown ; the
breast and belly white ; the bill black ; the feet violet

765

black in front, and reddish behind ; and the tail very
much forked. This species is very common in South
America, resorting to cabins and country houses in
thi-nly inhabited places, and to the churches and
larger buildings in the towns. It constructs its nest
externally of mud, but lines it with vegetable matter
and feathers. The eggs are two or three in number.
This swallow is more migrant than the one last men-
tioned, moving toward the equator during the south-
ern winter, and northward during the summer. Such
s a specimen of South American swallows.

HISPA (Linnaeus). A genus of coleopterous
nsects belonging to the section Tctramera, and
'amily CassulidcE, having the jaws short, with two or
three smaller minal teeth. The antennae are cylindrical,
approximated at the base ; and the thorax and elytra
often clothed with acute spines. There is one re-
puted British species of small size (H. atra], but
America is very rich in the individuals of this genus.
HISTERID^E (Leach). An extensive family of
small coleopterous insects belonging to the section
Pentamcra, and subsection Clavicornes, of Latreille,
distinguished by having the antennae short, elbowed
at the end of the first long joint, the four posterior
legs inserted widely apart, the legs spinose and con-
tractile. The club of the antenna? is nearly round,
and then jointed, and the elytra are shorter than the
abdomen, and rounded behind. The body is of a
very hard consistence, and generally of a square form ;
the jaws are very strong and horny, and the palpi
filiform. In several respects, as in the toothed legs
and widely-inserted legs, these insects approach some
of the lamellicorn beetles, but in their internal ana-
tomy they seem more nearly allied to the Silphee.
The derivation of the name of this group has some-
what perplexed entomologists ; they, however, appear
to agree that it is derived from Histrio, a stage-
player, although the cause of such derivation remains
unknown. Herbet, indeed, supposes that the short
square elytra, with red spots, in some of the species,
might have suggested the name, in allusion to the
dress of a buffoon. We, however, see a difficulty in
the matter when we look to the natural history of the
insect, which in England have thence obtained the
name of mimic beetles, from the admirable facility
with which they feign death when alarmed, by with-
drawing their antennae, and folding up their legs, so
as to resemble a small black stone, or a seed ; indeed,
one of the species is hence called Seminulum. They
feed upon bones, or other decaying animal matter,
as well as upon dung and rotting vegetables. They
creep but slowly. Their colours are shining black,
or sometimes somewhat metallic.

This family corresponds with the Linnaean genus
Ulster, which", from its great extent, and the modifi-
cations of structure in different groups, has been
divided into various genera by recent authors, amongst
whom the memoirs of Dr. Leach, in the Zoological
Miscellany, and of Dr. Erichson, in the Jahrbiicher,
are especially valuable. There are about fifty British
species divided into the genera Abrams, Orithophilus,
Hister, Dendrophilus, and Platysmna. The typical
genus, Hister, has the body depressed, the four
posterior tibia? with a double series of spines, and the
prosternum advanced beneath the mouth. The species
are very numerous, and chiefly distinguished by the
number of spines on the tibiae, the striae, and punctures
upon the elytra and thorax. The type of the genus
is the H.unicoior (Linnaeus), a very abundant species,

766

H O G - H O M O P T E R A.

of a black shining colour, varying from one-sixth to
one-third of an inch in length,
HOG. See Scs.
HOG-NUT is the Cart/a porcina of Nuttal, a
North- American tree allied to our walnut. The flow-
ers are monoecious, and the caryas are placed in the
natural order Juglandece. They are commonly called
hickory nuts, are less grateful than the walnut, but
still wholesome and nutritious. The best are those
of the C. olivcefoiinis and sulcata, the kernels of both
of which are excellent.

HOITZIA (Jussieu). A genus of handsome flower-
ing plants from Mexico. They rank as greenhouse
evergreen shrubs, and belong to Polemoniacece. Ge-
neric character : calyx five cleft, supported at the
base by several serrated bractea ; corolla, funnel-
shaped, the limb divided into five lobes ; stamens
protruding ; capsule three-celled, three-valved, and
many-seeded. These plants thrive in a mixture of
sandy loam and moor-earth, and are propagated by
cuttings.

HOLLY is the Ilex aquifolium of Linnseus, a well
known evergreen shrub, a native of Britain. The
common holly, or holrne, or hulver of which we have
many varieties, is the only British species of Ilex.
Here it seldom exceeds the size of a bush, though in
some places, both in France and England, they grow
forty or fifty feet high. Its prickly leaves fits it well
for hedges, and when Dutch gardening prevailed here
gardens were portioned out by well-clipped holly
hedges. The celebrated Evelyn had one at Says'-
court, four hundred feet long, nine feet high, and five
feet broad, which he had planted at the suggestion of
Peter the Great, who resided at his house when he
worked in the dockyards at Deptford. And in his
" Sylva," he asks with rapture, "Is there under heaven
a more glorious and refreshing object of the kind
than such an impregnable hedge, glittering with its
armed and varnished leaves, the taller standards at or-
derly distances, blushing- with their natural coral." The
finest holly hedges in Britain, or perhaps in Europe,
are at Tynningham. the seat of the earl of Hadington,
in East Lothian. The holly is a slow growing tree,
and the timber is among the hardest of the white
woods. It is much used by turners, and especially in
the manufacture of Tunbridge ware. The liber abounds
with a tenacious liquid, which, when separated by
bruising and maceration, is known as bird-lime.

HOLLYHOCK is the Althaea rosea of Cavanille,
a native of China, and one of the principal ornaments
of our gardens. The hollyhock is a biennial, and
therefore, to keep up a stock, seed must be sown
every spring, usually in a hotbed, and there nursed till
the plants are large enough to be put out in the open
borders. Thev are usually planted in shruberies.

HOLMSKIOLDIA (Retzius). A genus of two
beautiful plants, one an evergreen shrub from Peru,
and the other a climber from India. They belong to
the natural order Verbenaceee. Generic character :
calyx large, spreading, coloured, faintly five toothed ;
corolla tubular, limb divided into two short lips, the
upper one two-lobed, the lower one three-lobed, side
lobes short, middle one oblong, entire and deflexed ;
stamens protruding, bearingr oval anthers ; style fili-
form ; stigma unequally double ; berry four-lobed,
clubbed, one-celled and many-seeded. This genus
was called Hastingia by Smith, and Platunium by
Jussieu. They grow in any light rich soil, and are
propagated by cuttings.

HOMALINE^E. A small natural order, contain-
ing four genera, namely Homalium, Blackwellia, As-
tranthus, and Aristotelia. These are tropical shrubs
or small trees, with simple, entire, alternate, impunctate
leaves, and free deciduous stipules. The inflorescence
is spicate, racemose, or paniculate ; the pedicels
without bractea, and the flowers regular and united.
Little is known of the general properties of the H<>-
malineae. Aristotelia maqui is the maqui of Chili, the
berries of which are eatable ; they are about the size
of peas, of a very dark purple colour, becoming ulti-
mately black, and of an agreeable acid flavour. The
native Chilians make a wine of their juice, and in a
fresh state they are esteemed as a febrifuge, and
reputed to be serviceable in malignant fevers. The
bark is astringent, and contains so much gallic acid
that it blackens rapidly the instruments with which
it is cut. Tli is is the plant which Dombey used
with such remarkable success in Chili, in the year
1782.

HOMERIA (Ventenat). A genus of bulbous
stemmed herbs, natives of the C'ape of Good Hope.
Monadelphia Triandria,&n& natural order Iridece. Like
all the rest of the order the flowers are conspicuously
beautiful, and are cultivated like other Cape bulbs,
in a mixture of sandy loam and moor-earth ; kept
quite dry when dormant, but watered freely when
growing. This genus was formerly called Moraa,
by Jacquin and other botanists.

HOMOPTERA (Latreille). A sub-order, ac-
cording to Latreille and Kirby (or a distinct order,
according to Leach, MacLeay, &c.), of insects sepa-
rated from the Linnnean order Hcmiptcra, having the
wing-covers generally deflexed, of the same consist-
ence throughout, the antennae mostly short, and ter-
minated by a bristle, and the body convex and thick,
with the thoracic segments united into a mass, the
first very generally shorter than the second ; the pro-
boscis also arises nearer to the posterior part of the
head, sometimes even appearing pectoral. All the
insects of this group subsist upon the juices of vege-
tables, which they obtain by the assistance of their
articulated proboscis, and sometimes, as in the case o.
(he aphides and sugar-cane fly (Delphax tacharicora),
the mischief which they occasion is very extensive.
The females are furnished with a scaly ovipositor,
composed of three toothed saws, lodged, when at
rest, in a bivalve sheath at the tip of the under side o.
the abdomen. With this apparatus they are enabled
to make an incision in the leaves or stems of plants,
nto which they afterwards introduce their eggs.

Latreille divides this sub-order into the three fol-
lowing divisions : —

1. The CicadaricE, having the tarsi three-jointed,

and the antennae very short, terminated by a
fine bristle, comprising the families Cicadidce,
Fulgoridte, and Cercopidce.

2. The Aphidiens, having the tarsi two-jointed, and

the antennas longer, without a terminal bristle,
containing the families Aphides and Psyllidce.
Latreille also here places the TAripsida;, but
its organisation renders this location doubtful.

3. The Gallinsecta, having the tarsi one-jointed,

terminated by a single claw. The males have
two .wings, and are destitute of a mouth. The
female is wingless, and furnished with a
sucker. Comprising the single family Coccidce.
For an account of these families, &c., see the
several articles thereon.

HONEYSUCKLE

This beautiful genus of

HONEYSUCKLE.

flowering shrubs occupies a very prominent situation
in the shrubbery and flower garden. It belongs to
the class and order Pentandria Monogynia, and is
better known in the language of poetry as the ivood-
bine. It was common in the flower gardens of the
ancient Greeks, and we find it a never failing theme
with our earliest poets when they wished to furnish a
striking emblem of devoted attachment. Thus Chau-
cer, the father of English poetry, says,

" And tho that were chapelets on her hede,
Of fresh wodebind, be such as never were
To love untrue, in word, in thought, ne dede;
But ay stedfast ; ne for plesance ne fere,
Tho that they shulde hir hertes all to tere,
Woud never flit, but ever were stedfast."

It is probable that the common English name of
honeysuckle is derived from the facility with which
children draw forth its trumpet-shaped corolla from
the calyx, and thus suck tho honeyed sweets with
which it abounds from the nectary. This part of the
plant is so formed as in a great measure to bid defi-
ance to the industrious bee ; but the hawkmoth rea-
dily extracts the honey from the very bottom of the
flower ; and as much would still be left to waste in
the plant, there are many insects which, by a beauti-
ful natural instinct, perforate the tubes at their base,
and thus draw forth the honey in a stream.

The woodbine has a light and elegant air, better calcu-
lated to ornament rural groves than the more elaborately
finished garden; and a much more suitable climber
for the rustic porch than the stately portico. The
common honeysuckle will, howerer, grow in almost
any situation. This plant is usually propagated either
by layers or cuttings, and September is the best month
for planting them.

When we look at the little attention this beautiful
climber requires at the hand of man, it must be a great
source of regret that it is not planted in greater quan-
tities in the parks and public gardens near the metro-
polis. We have not even seen it in the Regent's
Park, and yet the delightful aroma of its^flowers, and
the pleasing tints they exhibit, would form a most
interesting feature in the shrubberies, as even the bare
trunk of a lightning-scathed tree would serve as a
support for its pendulous wreaths.

HONEYWORT is the Cerinthe major of Linnaeus.
They aro European annuals and biennials belonging
to lioraginece.

HOOKERI A (Smith) is one of our British mosses,
so called in honour of Dr. Hooker of Glasgow. A
bulbous-stemmed plant was also called Hoo/ceria by
Salisbury, but is now changed to Brodiaea grandiflora.

HOOPOE ( Upupa). A genus of birds, ranged by
Cuvier in the tenuirostral family of Passerine, and by
him restricted to twc species, both of them natives of
the eastern continent. When the characters of their
feet are taken into the account, these birds rank with
the anisodactyli, that is, with those that have the
toes of unequal length, the middle and exterior ones
united at their bases, and the hind one considerably
produced. No general conclusion can, however, be
drawn from the possession of this species of toot, tor,
though it may always be regarded as an active and
efficient one, it is modified so as to suit many kinds pi
surfaces. The structure of the feet of these birds is,
therefore, now very generally omitted in the descrip-
tions of them, or treated as only a very subordinate
matter. The generic characters are : the bill very

HOOPOE. :«7

long and slender, triangular in the section, com-
pressed, slightly arched ; the upper mandible longer
than the under ; the nostrils oval, basal and lateral,
open, and protected by feathers ; there are three toes
to the front, the middle and outer one united as far
as the first joint, and the hind one is rather long, and
has the claw quite straight, or nearly so ; the wings
are of mean length, and rounded, the first quill being
shorter than the second and third, and the fifth and
sixth the longest in the wing ; the tail is composed
of ten feathers, all of equal length.

These characters of the bill, the feet, and the organs
of flight, are all well made out, and harmonise so
much with each other, that they form a ready and
perfect key to the haunts, action, and manner of feed-
ing of the birds. The bill is properly an insectivorous
bill, intermediate in its form between the bills of the
humming-birds and those of the bee-eaters ; but the
form of the wings, which fits them more for ascent
and descent than for turning rapidly so as to catch
prey on the wing, confines the birds to a different
mode of finding their food. The feet combine the
properties of perching and those of walking feet ;
and, while the union of the two outer toes afford a
purchase for walking on soft earth, the production
and strength of the hind toe, and the shape of its
claw, adapt the bird especially for grassy surfaces.
On the ground the hoopoes march with a sort of
strut, bearing some resemblance to that of the galli-
nida? ; and yet they not only perch with great firm-
ness upon low bushes and stumps by the margins of
the waters, which form their usual roosting-places
when watching for their prey, but they can, upon
occasion, cling to perpendicular surfaces, though they
have not so much command of themselves there as
the creepers. It is worthy of remark, that there is a
considerable difference in the kind of action of this
foot and the zygodactylic foot, which shows how
beautifully each of them is fitted for its particular
purpose. The zygodactylic foot, from the complete
reversal of the outer toe", which is free to its articu-
lation, in order that it may have this position, is a foot
for rest upon vertical surfaces ; and therefore, though
the motions of these birds on such surfaces are sure,
they are very slow. Such a foot as that of the hoopoe
is, on the other hand, a rapid foot, but not adapted
for adhering t.o the same part of a vertical surface for
any length of time ; and hence birds which have it
are active in their motions, and do not dig insects or
larvae out of chinks of trees or other hiding-places,
but capture them in the free air, though such long
and slender billed ones as the hoopoe can reach that
upon which they feed either in thick herbage or at
some depth under water.

The hoopoes are also birds of very powerful wing,
though their momentary flight is not so rapid, or
their power of turning in the air so great, as that of
birds which have the wings larger and more narrow
and pointed. We must not in all cases estimate the
absolute power of a wing by the length and pointed-
ness only ; for those circumstances are adaptations to
a particular style of flight, and not to flying generally
considered ; for this last purpose, and when the flight
is mere transfer from place to place, rather than beat-
in" about in the air for food, the broad wing possesses
some advantages over the long and narrow one.
There is no doubt a limit to this ; but there is a)
proportion between the length and breadth, which
gives the maximum of power in a carrying wing ;

768

HOOPOE.

and we find in the hoopoe very nearly the greatest
advantage of this proportion. And when we advert
to the habits of the bird, we cannot fail in being
struck with the beauty of this adaptation. It is
only for transport from place to place that the
hoopoes use their wings ; for they feed standing or
perching. In transporting themselves, they have two
species of flight : the one consisting of short jour-
neys over their feeding grounds, when the character
of the season induces them to be resident there ; and
the other, migration flight, in the course of which
they are discursive, and often pass over long distances.
The wings are equally adapted for both styles. Their
breadth, their roundness, and the co-operation of the
powerful fan-shaped tail enable the birds to get up
and down with the greatest ease upon their short ex-
cursions ; while the general power of the wings is
equally serviceable on those longer flights which the
variation of the seasons render necessary.

The hoopoes are inhabitants of the banks of rivers,
chiefly of those rivers which are alternately flooded
and low, from the alternation of rain and drought.
There they feed upon beetles, and other ground in-
sects, and on the spawn of fishes and reptiles. The
number of insects which they capture is very great ;
so that they render no unimportant services to those
countries which they frequent, from their activity j
they are necessarily voracious feeders, and their
nests are somewhat rank with the remains of their
abundant food, as is the case with the bee-eaters, the
kingfishers, and most of those birds of powerful wing
and frequent flight which haunt the margins of the
rivers. As is the case with most, if not all of the
section, the hoopoes are very handsome birds, fine in
their forms and graceful in their motions. There are
only two species of them, one of which ranges for a
considerable extent over the tropical and northern
parts of the eastern hemisphere, over the southern
parts of the same, we believe principally confined to
Africa, though it also occurs in the south of Asia.

COMMON HOOPOE (U. epops) is a very beautiful
bird, measuring about a foot in length, and a foot and
a half in the stretch of the wings, and weighing about
three ounces. On the upper part it is of a rust colour,
or rather of a vinous red, with the wings and tail
black, crossed with two white bands on the wing-
coverts, and four on the quills ; the tail is crossed
by a crescent-shaped bar of white ; and the crest-
feathers, which are oranse, tipped with black, formed
of two rows, and capable of being erected at the plea-
sure of the bird, give the bird a handsome appear-
ance ; the head, neck, and breast, are brownish red,
and the rest of the under parts are whitish, streaked
with brown. . These birds are very discursive with
the seasons ; they chiefly winter in Africa, at least
in the European longitudes, while in the eastern part
they find their way southward to India. In the south
of Europe they appear in considerable numbers,
generally in small flocks, which arrive in the extreme
south about the month of March, but they do not
make their way to the middle latitudes until the end
of the spring, and they retire again at the close of
summer. In Britain they appear only as occasional
stragglers, and, from the season at which some of
them have been obtained, one would be led to sup-
pose that they are strays, who have lost the proper
line of migration, and so cannot find their way back
again to the south. Within these few years one was
shot in Cornwall in the month of December, which

is more than three months later than the time when
the regular migrants depart from central Europe.
Their straggling into this country bears some resent
blance to that of the bee-eaters, pratincoles, and
other birds which belong to the central valley of the
eastern continent, much more than to the countries
on the shores of the Western Sea. We look lor our
regular migrant birds in the warmth of summer only,
or chiefly, in the southern parts of the country ; but
such a bird as the hoopoe is just as likely to occur in
Caithness as in Cornwall, and in the Orkneys or the
Hebrides, as in the isles of the Channel. In the
eastern parts of the continent they range much far-
ther to the north on their summer excursions, and
are not uncommon in Russia, or even in Siberia.
This might, however, be expected ; for, though the
winters there are exceedingly cold, and the summers
of short duration, those short summers are very warm,
and the country is thronged with such animals as
those upon which the hoopoes feed.

Hoopoes, and also some of the other birds which
most resemble them in haunts, habits, and character,
are understood to make a sort of perpetual summer
of it, unless in the case of such strays as happen to
fall upon our winter, by missing the line and time of
their migration. In consequence of this, the birds
are understood to breed two or three times, or even
more frequently, according to circumstances, in the
course of the year. The nest is described as being
rather miscellaneous in its position, but, true to those
migrant birds of the banks of rivers, always in some
sort of concealment. It may be in a hollow tree,
among the tangled roots near the ground, in a hole
of a wall, or a crevice of the rock ; and though the
female does adapt her labour in building so as slightly
to improve the less commodious places, yet she is no
very skilful nest-builder ; and the extent of her labour
usually goes no farther than collecting, first, a few
withered leaves, and then a few feathers. The hatch
varies much in number, being as many as seven when
the situation and season are peculiarly favourable, and
not more than two when circumstances are the reverse.

In Egypt and several other parts of Africa the
birds frequent the meadows in the close vicinity of
human dwellings ; but on their northern excursions,
they are rather fond of solitary places. In Egypt
indeed they are greatly encouraged, from their labours
in destroying the insects with which the humid banks
of the Nile are infested, and accordingly they are as
familiar and have their nests as much intermixed with
the dwellings of the peopl.e as the common house
swallows have with us. The eggs are oblong, of a
bluish white colour, and marked with small spots of
pale brown. The young have to be fed for a con-
siderable time in the nest, and the feeding of them is
rather a laborious occupation for their parents. As
is the case with all birds of similar habits, the hoopoes
have no song, but they have a sort of three calls; one
a hollow booming note thrice repeated without modu-
lation ; another a little more musical, but still not
modulated, which is the love-song ; and a sharp hiss-
ing note, which is the sound of alarm. In their low
flight they jerk on the wing, flirting the tail at the
same time; and when alarmed they erect the crest
and spread the tail fanwise. They are very easily
tamed, and can be made to remain without confine-
ment if they are properly fed. Their flesh is eaten in
the south of Europe, but is not understood to be of
much value.

H O P — H O R N E T.

The species of Southern Africa is smaller than that
now mentioned, its body is nearly black all over, and
its length is only nineteen inches. It occurs in India

769

as well as in Africa ; and there are some birds there
which seem to connect the hoopoes with the bee-
eaters, but their manners are little known.

HOP is the Hiunulus lupulus of Linnaeus, a useful
and well known British agricultural plant. See Hu-
MULUS.

HORDEUM (Linnaeus). H. vulgare is the well
known barley, one of the most useful of the cereals.
The cultivation of barley is one of the principal ob-
jects of British agriculture, and is of vast importance
to the state as well as to the community at large. A
large revenue is derived from the manufacture of the
grain into malt, whence is drawn the favourite bever-
age as well as the destructive spirituous liquors of the
people. A fourth or a fifth of every well managed
farm of light land is annually sown with this grain, as
the straw is an excellent winter fodder for cattle.
Heavy clayey soils are not suited to barley, as it can
with difficulty be got fine enough for the reception of
the seed. March and April are the months for sowing ;
and when laid in in a proper manner, that is in soil
perfectly pulverised, dry, and warm, the crop is ripe
in nine or ten weeks. There are several varieties of
barley in cultivation ; but the flat-eared sort (that is
when two opposite ranks of the spike are abortive) is
the most esteemed. An average crop is from three
to four quarters, or about thirty bushels per acre.

HOREHOUND is the Marrubium alyssum of
Linnaeus. A well known medicinal herb belonging
to LahiaUc. An infusion of the leaves has been found
serviceable in chronic catarrh, and humeral asthma,
and made into a syrup or confection, or candied with
sugar they form a popular remedy for slight coughs ;
and though not used much professionally, they appear
to deserve more attention than they now receive.

HuRI A (Fabricius). A genus of exotic coleopte-
rous insects, belonging to the section Heteromera, and
subsection Trachelides, having the jaws pointed at the
tip, the ck«s denticulated, with a long bristle attached
beneath each ; the antennae filiform, and the hind legs
often very thick. This genus is the type of one of
the families into which the Trachelides is divided by
Latreille. The species are of moderate size ; the
larva?, according to a Memoir by Mr. Guilding, in the
Linnacan Transactions, destroy those of a large species
of carpenter-bee (Xylocopa), the female of which

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

pierces the trunks of dry dead trees, and then makes
her cells. The larva? of the beetle is also found in
the same situations, where it devours the food pre-
pared for the bee-grub, and thus causes the latter to
perish.

HORNBEAM is the Cnrpinus betulus of Linnaeus,
the common hornbeam of British woods, belonging to
the natural order Anicntaccee. The tree is raise°d from
seed, and is a very striking plant in forest scenery.
The timber is much used in the construction of rustic
implements of husbandry, especially yokes for cattle,
whence its name ; its catkins are sai'd to be sometimes
fraudulently mixed with hops.

HORNBLENDE. This mineral forms a very
important constituent in the granitic masses which
appear to form the giant ribs of our globe. It is of a
greenish black colour, and consists of silica and alu-
mina with magnesia. Its peculiar tint is principally
derived from oxide of iron, of which it contains from
twenty to thirty per cent. Hornblende sometimes
passes into mica; and if the component parts of the
two bodies be compared by chemical analysis, the
principal difference will generally be found to consist
in the hornblende containing the largest proportion
of iron. Those granitic chains which contain the
largest quantities of hornblende, usually split into im-
mense blocks, separated from each other by natural
seams, and appearing like the ruins of edifices con-

structed by a race of Titans. The crystalline
character of this mineral is delineated in the above
diagrams.

HORNET. The largest Hymenopterous insect
found in England, belonging to the section Acu/eata,
sub-section Diploptera, of Latreille, and family of
the wasps, Vespidee, being systematically known by
the name of Vcspa crabro. This insect, of which the
females are fourteen lines long and the males and
workers eleven, is of a rich red-brown colour, with
darker markings upon the thorax ; the head and abdo-
men buff coloured ; the basal segment (except the
posterior margin), half of the second segment, and a
triple series of spots on the following segments, brown.
The nest of this insect is in its general construction
similar to that of the wasp, although of coarser mate-
rials, and the columns supporting the layers of cells
much stronger. It is constructed either in the hol-
lows of rotten trees, such as willows, poplars, or old
oaks, or in the thatch, or under the eaves of barns,
and not unfrequently in timber-yards and other simi-
lar situations. It is difficult to obtain a sight of their
proceedings whilst building ; for if the aperture by
which they approach to it be too large, they lessen
it with a wall of the same material as their cells are
composed of, and which, according to Kirby and
Spence, consists of decayed wood, but, according to
CC C

770

HORN P O P P Y — H O U S E.

Reaumur, of the bark of the ash-tree gnawed to
pieces. With this material, moistened by a viscous
fluid which they emit, they construct a kind of fragile
pasteboard thicker than that made by the wasp, but
at the same time not near so pliant, easily breaking
between the fingers, of a buff colour, and not at all
shining. If the nest of the hornet should not fill the
cavity in which it is commenced, they protect it by a
common covering of a single piece, not being com-
posed of a series of distinct layers placed one above
another. To compensate, however, for this, the
covering is of a much stronger consistence, being
about four times as thick as the layer of the wasp
nest. Reaumur has figured a nest thus protected,
which he found in a cavity in a wall, and which, as
well as one described by St. Fargeau, in his work just
published upon the Hymenoptera (Suites a Button,
liv. 14), was attached by a footstalk, and defended at
its base by one of these coverings, which considerably
resembles in form the paper cone in which grocers
lap their moist sugar. Beneath this covering the
footstalk is dilated and supports the first layer of cells.
The subsequent layers are affixed by means of upright
pillars, of which the central one is the strongest. The
nest is of a somewhat globular form, and the cells are
much fewer in number than in the wasp's nest. This
insect devours other flies, especially bees, the honey
of which it also steals ; it also devours almost any
other kind of fresh animal substances which it can
obtain, ripe fruit, &c. From the size of the insect its
sting is very powerful, and is much to be dreaded.

HORN POPPY is the Glaiicmm jlavum of Decan-
dolle. A European herb belonging to Papaveracece.
Some of the species are annuals, others biennial ;
and are occasionally seen in flower-gardens on account
of the curious structure of their flowers.

HORSE (Equus}. A genus of pachydermatous
mammalia, but distingu'uhed from all the rest of the
order by having only one toe on the foot fully de-
veloped, enlarged, and enclosed in a solid hoof.
Hence several naturalists have made a separate
order of the horse, under the name of Solipecles,
or entire footed ; under which name the genus is made
a separate section by Cuvier in his " Animal King-
dom." Though there is only one toe fuljy developed
in the horse, there are rudiments of two others
under the skin, but they make no appearance
externally.

The general characters are : six incisive teeth in
each jaw, which when the animal is young have their
crowns marked with a single furrow of considerable
depth. There are six grinders on each side of both
jaws, which have their crowns square, and crossed
with laminae of enamel. In the upper teeth there
is a small disc of enamel on the inner edge. The
males have one small canine tooth, and sometimes
two, on each side of the upper jaw, but none in the
under ; and these canines are always wanting in the
females. Between the canines and the first grinder
there is a large open space. The jaws have much
less of a grinding motion than those of oxen and
other ruminant animals. The stomach is single, and
the intestines very long, and furnished with a coecum
of vast size. The feeding apparatus of these animals
is but ill adapted for dividing their food, it is carried
into the stomach with comparatively little preparation;
and the alimentary apparatus resembles a distilling
one more than any thing else, the nutriment of the
animal being in many instances only a tincture drawn

from the food, which passes through, in many in-
stances, without much apparent change ; and the
droppings of horses are not so offensive to the smell
as those of any other anirmil. There is another
circumstance which shows the imperfect action of the
stomachs of these animals upon their food ; and that
is the great heat which can be produced by the fer-
mentation which the dung of horses undergoes when
it is collected in heaps. This renders it a very im-
portant article in the cultivation of many plants
which require greater heat than that of the season
to force them into growth ; and by means of this
substance, the people of England and similar countries
are enabled to rear melons, and other rich fruits of
the sunny lands, in as great perfection as they arc
raised in their native countries. Nor is the advantage
derived from manure furnished by horses confined to
the forcing of those exotic plants which minister to
luxury ; for in every country in which horses are
abundant, it tells equally upon all cultivated fields ;
and wh'ile the horse is the grand power employed in
agriculture, it also furnishes the grand stimulant to
every thing that the field produces. There is no
country where horses are so numerous, in proportion
to the breadth of the land, as they are in England ;
and owing to this very circumstance, there is no
country where various soils yield so abundant a crop
of the food of man, or of that of domestic animals.
As an instance of this, we may mention the com-
paratively small breadth of land which suffices to
supply the City of London, and its attached boroughs
and surrounding villages, with culinary vegetables.
As the thing is actually done, and done in so quiet
and systematic a manner as that nobody thinks any
thing about it, we are apt to pass the matter unheeded ;
but if the problem were put in a country where (here
was no such place as London, "to find green vege-
tables for a million and a quarter of human beings,
(something like the inhabitants of the half of
Scotland), concentrated within a circle of five miles
radius," the problem would be reckoned absolutely
impossible ; for even those parts of the country which
are most thinly populated, and where, consequently,
each individual enjoys the produce of the greatest
breadth of land, the people are no where better
served with vegetables than they are in this same
London ; if, indeed, they are served as well. Th;s
does not apply to the quantity only, for it is equally
true of the quality and of the freshness ; while the
inhabitants are exempted from all trouble in the
growing of these things. Now, it is in a great
measure owing to the vast number of horses which
are employed in the metropolis that this abundant and
excellent supply is obtained ; because the quantity of
horse-manure, incorporated with the soil of the market
gardens, keeps it in a continual state of excitement,
and produces all the year round, and more especially
in the winter season, a much higher temperature than
the earth would naturally have in our climate ; so
that, with a few simple contrivances of art, vegetation
is kept up during the winter ; and by a skilful adap-
tation of plants to seasons, the market gardens are
kept in continual crop. Now without dressings, of
not only a rich, but of a warm and stimulating nature,
it would be quite impossible to do this ; and thus,
were it not for the horses, the art of those cultivators
would be, in a great measure, exerted in vain. Nor
is it in the metropolis alone, that this advantage is
felt, for it applies to every district of the country;

H OR

and, whether they are applied to the purposes of
agriculture or not, it may be said that the profitable
culture of the ground depends in a great measure
upon the abundance of horses ; and no inconsiderable
portion of the superior fertility and consequent value
of the lands, immediately abutting on the principal
Hues of road, is owing to the number of horses which
are necessarily kept for the purposes of travelling
along those lines. It becomes, therefore, a question
of some importance whether, if rail-roads and steam-
carriages should ever be introduced as the principal
channels and powers of land-carriage, the country
might not thereby sustain a loss in the deterioration
of its soil, and the consequent diminution of its agri-
cultural produce, for whicn no rapidity of communi-
cation would compensate ; for we need not say, that
rapid carriage would be of little avail if there were
nothing to carry.

It is indeed a truth at once demonstrative to the
eyes of every one who chooses to look fairly at it,
that the great triumph which British agriculture has
gained over the stubborn opposition of inferior soil
and wayw-ard climate, is owing more to the vast mul-
titude of horses in the country, than to almost any
other cause. At all events, the co-operating circum-
stances, such as improved implements and modes of
culture, and a better understanding of the nature and
character of the seasons, would have been unavailing
without this one. Nor are the evidences of the truth
of this few or difficult to be obtained. Any one who
is old enough to remember when, in the poorer dis-
tricts of the country (and it makes for the argument
that they lingered the longest there), oxen or steers
were employed to drag along the clumsy and crawling
plough, or the lumbering wain, must also have ob-
served with what strides fertility and improvement of
every kind came onward with the introduction of the
horse. So marked, indeed, has this been in some
districts, that it would almost tempt one to believe
that the tread of the solid hoof had something of the
fancied power of a magic wand about it ; and, that
the moment that it comes in sufficient number and
repetition, the golden harvest waves richly in the
autumnal wind, over slopes which were erewhile
clad with nothing but brown heather. In most parts
of England, the agriculture is owing chiefly to matters
of human arrangement, with which we have, in the
mean time, no concern, inferior, in proportion to the
natural advantages of the climate, to that of many
districts in the northern part of the island ; yet the
horse was introduced at so early a period that there
are scarcely any who remember the state of things
under ox cultivation, so as even to be able to contrast
it fairly with horse cultivation. But the writer of
this article remembers well a pretty extensive dis-
trict of North Britain, when it was in a great degree,
at least, cultivated by oxen. At that time wheat
•was unknown ; and even barley was grown in small
quantities, and of the light upland kind, called bigg or
bere, which was feeble in the straw and poor in the
ear, and very generally so late in ripening that it
was caught standing by the heavy autumnal rains,
and sprouted, so that each ear looked like a tuft of
grass on the top of the stalk. The only other crop,
with the exception perhaps of a little patch of grey
field peas, consisted of oats, not unfrequently of
the black or bearded kind, in which the quantity of
farina is small and dark coloured ; the crops of these
were often so stunted that when full grown, they did

S E. 77I

not cover the clods ; and it was not rare to find the
little shocks, which, though consisting of twelve
sheaves, were not bigger than hill sheep, standing
bleaching in the fields till Christmas.

Some two dozen or two score years rolled on, bear-
ing the spring-tide of improvement upon their wings ;
and in process of time the ox disappeared from the
plough and the wain, and was served up at the table,
while the horse put his gallant shoulder to the labour of
the wheel. The consequence is, that at the present
time, the farmers of that very district depend mainly
on the wheat crops for the payment of their rents, or.
in supplement to that, to their barley crops : and the
greater part of the oats which they grow is used for
ihe feed of those noble animals which have, in truth,
been the main-spring of the whole improvement.

Nor must it be supposed, that the introduction of
the horse as a labourer was the means of banishing the
ox ; for on the other hand, the breed of the cattle has
been greatly improved, and their numbers very much
multiplied ; so that we may say the horse has. to a
»reat extent, been the benefactor of the ox, as well as
of the owner of both. And it is easy to see the
reason : with ox culture, the quantity of manure for
the arable land is comparatively small ; and as from
the rumination and more complete digestion of the ox,
the manure is in a more exhausted state, and does not
ferment, give out heat, and act as a stimulant like
that of the horse. Horses, in order to work properly,
cannot be fed wholly on pastures ; and upon a pasture
which will support and even fatten cattle, horses
would be starved. Besides, unmixed grain and suc-
culent food disorder the bowels of horses, and ren-
der them unfit for working. Owing to these circum-
stances, the horse must be, in great part at least, fed
in the stable ; and consequently, a great, deal of
nourishment for the land is accumulated. Not only
this, but the use of horses in agriculture renders it
necessary to cultivate grasses for animal food, as well
as the cereal grasses for the food of man, and the more
substantial dry-feed of the horse. Also, the intro-
duction of beans, which, though profitable only in
strong land, do not exhaust the strength of that land
nearly so much as wheat crops do, follow as part of
the system of cultivating the land by means of horses.
In short, the great quantity of manure, which, up
to a certain point at least, increases the value of the
land in a route of geometrical progression, lays the
foundation of a vast deal of vegetable cultivation and
of animal food. We owe to it not a little of the
successful culture of that prince of roots, the potato ;
and we may be said to owe wholly to it the culture
of the turnip, the carrot, and mangel wurzel, which,
in proportion to the breadth of land which they oc-
cupy, yield a greater quantity, and we may add a
better quality of food for animals than any other
known plants.

With these, and the cultivated grasses and trefoils,
and the amelioration of the land by means of tares
and other plants, which may be cut down for green-
feed in the summer season, the horse has really
brought a mine of wealth about the farm ; and he
may be said to be a most efficient agent in feeding
evea the pigs and the poultry.

It is unquestionable that the introduction of animat
food for general consumption, and of wheaten-bread
in the poorer districts, have followed in the proportion
of, and therefore have been produced by the intro-
duction of the horse as the principal labourer ; and,
C C C2

772

HORSE.

were it consistent with the plan of this work to go
fully into the question, we feel convinced that we
could prove, in the clearest manner, that the superior
conquest of soil and climate which England enjoys
above all countries in the world, is owing to the
greater number of horses, which find so much food
for themselves, as well as for all the other domestic
animals, and for man.

The proof of this is not confined to the progressive
history of our own country, for we have a sort of in-
verse proof in the case of some other countrie-s, as,
for instance, in that of Poland. There was a time
when Poland was the granary of Europe, and at that
time Polish horses were celebrated ; but, in the many
vicissitudes which that unfortunate country has uu-
.lergone in the close of the last century and the
elapsed part of the present one, the circumstances of
it have been completely changed. One foe or one
friend, or friend and foe both, acting a part equally
unfriendly, first drained Poland of its horses, for the
supply of those armies to which its hapless fields
served as a thoroughfare ; and no sooner had this
cruel exhaustion taken place, than its agricultural
produce became diminished in quantity and altered
in kind. Up to that period a very great breadth of
Polish land, even under one of the most execrable
fiscal systems that ever cursed a section of the human
race, was employed in the growth of wheat ; and
though the produce, acre for acre, was perhaps never
anything like what it is in the very best parts of this
country, yet it was, upon the whole, abundant, so as
to enable a large quantity to be exported. Now,
however, the case of Poland is sadly altered. There
are no doubt some limited districts in which wheat
can still be grown to advantage, but these are the
districts which are annually made fat by the impover-
ishment of the rest of the land, through the agency
of the heavy falls of rain, and the flooding of the
streams and rivers. But the great breadth of the
country is absolutely unfit for wheat, not well adapted
for oats, and affords but scanty crops even of rye.
In consequence of this, a great portion of the breadth
of land has been thrown into sheep pasturage, and
considerable amelioration has taken place wherever
this has been introduced. This depasturing with
sheep will in time bring a healthy sward upon the
surface, which will retain the rich portion which the
winds and rains sweep and wash away when the sur^
face is naked ; and thus the land may, by careful
management, be renovated in the course of time. It
will take a considerable time, however, before Poland
shall again be what it once was. The circumstances
of Poland are no doubt peculiar in so far. It is,
generally speaking, a light sandy or gravelly soil,
chiefly the former ; and, although this is the founda-
tion of fertility where the land can be " kept in good
heart," yet such a soil is always hungry, and hungry
in consequence of that activity which renders it fertile
under proper management ; so that it will not be till
the number of domestic animals, and especially horses,
shall be greatly increased, that Poland will again
become a rich corn country.

We have taken this view of the utility of the horse
in preference to any direct allusion to the use of the
animal on the farm, the road, the race-course, or the
battle-field, because the use of the horse in all these
respects is palpable to every one's observation ; and
therefore, if we were to enlarge upon any of them,
we should be merely stating that which almost every

reader has daily opportunities of observing for him-
self. We have done it, too, because, at this moment,
the question is one of serious interest to all who wish
to promote the agriculture of the country. The pro-
jects which are before parliament, or in preparation,
for establishing railway communications upon all the
great thoroughfares, which shall render th'e use of
horses for the carriage of goods and passengers quite
unnecessary, are no doubt as legitimate as any other
kind of speculations ; and though it is probable that
the greater number of them will totally consume the
funds expended on their construction, without any cor-
responding advantage to the public, yet it is doubtful
whether that ought to be made illegitimate ground of
objection to them ; for, from the periodical exposure
of bubbles of one kind or other which takes place in
this country, and after which business becomes gene-
rally so much more wholesome than it was before, it
really appears that there is i'n this country a power
of producing wealth beyond the wholesome necessity
for it, just as there is in some constitutions a disposi-
tion and over-production of blood, and that a sort of
leechcraft and phlebotomy, by means of which th'e
surplus runs to waste, is as necessary in the one case
as in the other. The professional difference of the
two cases is, that lawyers, projectors, engineers,
persons cunning in making great holes in the earlh,
and multiplying brickbats without number, are the
pecuniary leeches, and fatten on the blood of those
whom they " ease," which is not the case with their
brethren of the lancet.

Nor need we offer any apology, even to the most
fastidious reader, for introducing this snfy'ect in our
notice of the horse ; for, as the horse is far more of a
domestic than a wild animal, the most important part
of his history is its bearing on the general welfare of
society.

The chief objection to the origin of those projects
is the incapacity of the parties with wFiom they ori-
inate for judging of the bearing of the project upon
the interests of society. We say it with great defe-
rence, but it is nevertheless true, that, beyond statute,
ustom, and authority, lawyers are an exceedingly
ignorant class of men, and that they should be so may
be said to be a matter of necessity, that is, a necessary
result, of their education and habits. Their official
perfection consists in taking the most narrow and
partial view of a case, and concealing all the rest as
much as possible ; and because of this a good lawyer,
that is, one profoundly versed in the small subterfuges
of law, always makes a very partial and dangerous
legislator. It is doubtful whether the matter is im-
proved by the other parties who combine with lawyers
in the concocting of such projects, because they be-
long to a class very properly called schemers, very
many of whose members and whose plans are vision-
ary. ' It should seem, therefore, that it would have
been desirable to institute somewhere an inquiry into
the effect which the general introduction of railways
on the great lines of communication is likely to have
upon the number of horses ; and, again, what effect
this is likely to have upon the agriculture of the
country. It is quite clear that no description of rail-
roads can be carried into the details of the localities,
and that they cannot be profitably used except on the
thoroughfares of great traffic, if indeed they can be so
there. Therefore, there must still be cartage and
carriage driving on the byways and country roads,
and across the farms ; and to all such carriages as are

HORSE.

773

adapted for any of these a railway must be an effec-
tive cutting off of the country from the towns, and of
the towns from each other. This is, no doubt, in a
great measure an imaginary evil, because it is one
which the country will not permit, inasmuch as folks
will continue to ride horses and drive carriages from
one end of the country to another, despite of all the
railroads that can be constructed. It is proper, how-
ever, that people generally should have a right un-
derstanding of the value of the horse, not merely as
a working animal, but in the effect which it has upon
the general productiveness and general value of the
country ; and it would be just as well if, when such a
project as a railroad is under consideration by the
legislature, some of those who profess so warm a j
zeal for the interests of agriculture would broach this j
subject, were it only for the purpose of making it
better understood.

Of the genus Eqmis there are not many species —
probably not more than four ; the horse, properly so
called, the ass, the zebra, and the quagga — though
there appears to be some varieties of the last. They
all resemble each other in the structure of their ske-
letons and the number and form of their teeth, as
well as in their digestive organs, much more than
almost any other genus of animals. The chief differ-
ences, indeed, upon which the distinctions are founded
are external, consisting in the different lengths of the
ears, the different character of the hair, more especi-
ally that in the mane and tail, the different markings,
and the general air and expression. So far as is
known, all the species are capable of intermixing so
as to produce mules ; and those mules are peifect
animals, capable of breeding back to the pure blood,
though two which are equally distant from the purer
blood will not breed with each other. Some remarks
on this subject will be found in the article Ass ; and
as we have, in that article, treated as fully of that
species as is consistent with our limits, we shall con-
fine the remainder of this article to a brief notice of
the remaining species and their leading varieties.

We may, however, observe of the whole genus,
that they appear to belong, as natives, to a different
state of the earth than that which its present surface
now presents. The wild ass, the zebra, the quagga, and
also the wild horse of Central Asia, are all found on
the margins of the great sandy deserts, or at least in
those regions where there is a great breadth of coun-
try, which is alternately drenched with rain, and
burned with drought ; or where, as in Central Asia,
the general character is dryness. In all places where
they are found natives, they are inhabitants of the
plains, and not found on mountains, among rocks, or
in close forests ; neither do they follow the lines of
the great rivers, and the rich savannahs, so much as
the ox tribe. Their solid feet enable them to bound
lightly along hard pastures and sandy plains ; and
the comparative swiftness of some of the species, and
the power of endurance in the others, fit them for rang-
ing over long distances in search of their food. Accord-
ingly, all those which still occur in what may be con-
sidered as in a state of nature, are nomadic, or shift
their ground with the seasons. They are also, like
all herbivorous animals which thus seasonally shift
their ground, gregarious in their habits, and generally
found in large flocks or droves, usually living in
great harmony with each other, though the males, as
happens among most gregarious animals, fight des-
perate battles with each other in the season heat.

Animals of this genus are so very peculiar in their
structure and habits, and differ so little from each other,
and have so few points of resemblance to any other
genus, that it is not easy to say either what are the
others to whom they are most nearly allied, or what
kind of country or condition of the world is best
suited to them. That it should be a state of the
country in which vegetable productions are rather
abundant, and dry at one season of the year, we may
naturally infer ; and it is probable that at one period
of the earth's history, they inhabited many places in
which they are not now to be found. In some points
of their characters they resemble the elephants not a
little ; but they differ greatly from them in others,
and especially in the elegance of their forms, and in
what is usually termed animal sagacity. They are
far from having the same resources as the dog family ;
and they do not come into such familiar contact with
man as to live in the house with him, to follow his
footsteps, and to watch and to be influenced by his very
looks. But still there is a wonderful degree of trac-
tability in them, and, when properly taught, there are
few animals more attached than a horse is to his rider.
And though there is a certain degree of stubbornness
in the ass, there is perhaps no animal more com-
pletely free from vice, or which endures with even
half the patience the very extremes of ill-usage.

Thus, though their history as a portion of wild
nature, is exceedingly scanty, it 5s highly interesting so
far as it goes. There is another general point worthy
of notice ; the fossil bones of horses which are dug
up in countries which now contain no horses in a
state of nature, have been found in accumulations
very similar to those which contain the bones of the
extinct elephant, and some others of the extinct pa-
chydermata. This leads us to suppose that those
other extinct animals must have been co-inhabitants
with the extinct horses ; and thus, though the evi-
dence is rather imperfect and shadowy, we get at
least a glimmering of light upon which to found a
belief thac the world has, at one time, in our north-
western parts at least, been much more a region of
pachydermatous mammalia than it is at the present
time. Our belief in this is much strengthened when
we look at the vegetable remains which appear to
belong to the same period, and compare them with
the vegetation of those places which such animals
now chiefly inhabit. Those remains consist invariably
of vegetables of larerer growth and coarser texture
than those which at present cover the surface in the
same places ; and, with the exception of the horse in
a domestic state, for we really know very little about
wild horses, those pachydermata, which are entirely
vegetable in their feeding, feed upon much coarser,
or, as we may say, rougher vegetables than any of
the mammalia, with the exception perhaps ot the
beavers, and some others of the rodeutia which gnaw
sticks. We shall now briefly advert to the species.

THE HORSE (E. CabaUus). As this is the tech-
nical species of the genus to which we have chiefly
referred in our general remarks, we do not need to
repeat any specific characters ; and, indeed, the ex-
tremes of the varieties, even in our own country,
which we may, perhaps, reckon from the Flanders or
dray-horse to the Shetland pony in point of size, and
from the same to the racer in point of symmetry, are
so numerous, that no single description could be so
framed as to include them all ; for the better that it
applied to one.it would be sure to apply the worse to

774

HORSE.

another. It is, however, well worthy of remark, and
shows the general adaptation of the animal tribes to
the use of man, that while the less tractable pachyder-
mata have perished from our temperate regions, the
horse has remained, and been taken into the service
and favour, and we may also say, the companionship
of man.

The horse, as it should seem, is an inhabitant of
the eastern continent only ; no trace of it having
been met with as showing that it existed in any part
of America, until it was carried there by the Euro-
pean settlers. But in the wide plains of South Ame-
rica, which resemble in many respects those places of
the eastern continent, in which wild horses are still
met with, the imported ones have been multiplied till
they are, perhaps, more abundant there than in any
part of the east. Multitudes of the race are> found
running wild in various parts of the world ; but in
very many cases, at least, they seem to have de-
scended from domestic generations ; and it requires
no great stretch of the imagination to presume, that
in no country has the species enjoyed absolute inde-
pendence and freedom. In the southern parts of
Siberia, in the great Mongolian deserts, and among
the Kalkas, to the north-west of China, they are fre-
quently met with in large herds roaming at will ; and
they are also found in the deserts on the banks of the
Don ; but the last are supposed to have sprung from
those horses which were turned loose for want of food
by the Russians, whilst they were engaged in the siege
of Azoph, during their barbarous conquest of the
Tartar states to the northward of the Black Sea,
which Russian ferocity and zeal for destruction found
an Eden and left a wilderness. There are also num-
bers of wild horses found at the Cape of Good Hope.
These are of small size, and, from the vicious dispo-
sition they exhibit at the approach of man, they are
reckoned almost untameable ; it is probable, however,
that those animals which have been described as-wild
horses in this colony, and in some other parts of
Africa south of the desert, are a distinct variety, allied
to the quagga, and intermediate between that animal
and the horse ; for the quagga, like the zebra, is a
wild and untractable animal, and has not been brought
into a state of regular servitude by man. The wild
horses of South America, and of the plains to the
northward of Mexico, to which we have already
alluded, are descended from the Andalusian breed.
They were originally conveyed from Spain by the first
conquerors. They are most frequently found in the
southern districts of the river Plata, as far as Rio
Negro, the country of the Patagonians, and the dis-
tricts immediately adjoining. In these parts they
are met in great numbers, some of the herds amount-
ing to not less than ten thousand animals ; and each
herd comprising many families, the stallion appropri-
ating as many mares as they can, to all of whom he
extends his most especial protection. The most pre-
vailing colour of these animals is black ; but there are
also a sprinkling of bay and dark brown amongst
tbem. Of all the countries in which the horse is
found in a wild state, Arabia produces the most beau-
tiful breed. The animals that are met with in these
deserte, though not in such large numbers as are found
in some other parts we have alluded to, are of superior
symmetry arid swiftness. The Arabians are solicitous
in catching the wild horse, which by their kindness
and attention they are not long in domesticating.

It has been very general! v believed, that Arabia

was the original country of the h6rse ; and certain
we are that there the greatest care is taken to avoid
crossing his breed, that tfte species may be kept
entire.

We shall now notice one or two of the most
remarkable breeds of horses which are found in dif-
ferent countries of the world, and also a few of those
which are of the greatest name in the British islands ;
but before we proceed to this we may remark that,
in our plate, HORSES, there are given three remarkable
varieties, in order to show the contrast. At the top
of the plate there is given the Tartar horse, remark-
able for the straightness of the frontal line, the square-
ness of the nose, the wideness of the nostrils, the beard
along the under jaw, the general shajrginess of the
coat, and the length and quantity of hair in the tail.
This appears to be the original horse of eastern
Europe, as well as of western Asia northward of the
central mountains ; for if the figure of its head is com-
pared with those of the horses on the Elgin marbles,
or any other Grecian sculptures of undoubted authen-
ticity, there will be found to be a wonderful coinci-
dence : nor are these characters entirely lost in the
Shetland pony, shown in the under part of the same
plate ; and, as we shall afterwards see, there is every
reason to believe that this pony found its way to the
Shetland Islands through Russia and Scandinavia.
In the third variety on the plate, representing a
draught or dray-horse, there is a remarkable difference
in the outline of the head, which is far more convex
than in the other ; the body is different, too ; for,
though larger, it is not nearly so compact, and the
animal is less strong in proportion to its size, and far
less enduring.

The Arab is, in many respects, entitled to take the
lead among all the breeds of horses ; though it is pro-
bably not the most handsome, according to our notions.
Its frontal line is straight, or even a little concave ;
the chest is narrow, and the balance is thrown with
great equality upon both sets of extremities. But,
the narrow chest, by means of which the fore-legs are
brought much closer to each other, though essential
to a swift running horse, does not adapt the animal
well for draught. In Arabia, and the other countries
where this horse is so much esteemed, this is not
considered a deficiency, because there the horse is
not used for the draught, and goods are conveyed on
the backs of camels. The skin of the Arab is very
fine, the hair smooth, and the form of the muscles and
the positions of the veins under the skin very conspi-
cuous. The joints are particularly well made, and
those processes of the bones to which the tendons
are attached, are very prominent, and the joints them-
selves are generally free from any defect. The limbs
of Arabian horses are particularly handsome ; and
they have little or no hair on the fetlock. The com-
mon height at the shoulder is, in general, rather more
than four feet and a half. The height of horses is,
however, usually estimated in hands— a hand being
reckoned four inches, or three hands to a foot ; so that
the usual stature of the Arab is between thirteen and
fourteen hands. The pace of these horses is rapid and
graceful ; they do not perspire much ; they last a
long time ; they can continue travelling at the rate
of from fifty to sixty miles a day ; and five or six
pounds of dourra, or the barley of that country, in the
evening, is a sufficient feed for them. When at home
in the tent, they are fed with barley-straw, chopped
short, which is something like our cut-chaff, but more

HORSE.

rudely prepared. The wina of these horses is par-
ticularly good ; and they can be pushed at their
full speed for a long distance without injury to it.
They carry their heads, and also their tails, in a
\ery graceful manner ; the position of the latter is

775

and when it is ascertained that any Arab is in pos-
session of such a horse, it may be had for a small
fraction of the price which would otherwise be set on
one of the same intrinsic worth. Crossing with
Arabian horses improves every other breed of the

often tried to be imitated in this country by means ; horse, whatever may be the size and character ; and
which are equally clumsy and barbarous. As is the | for crosses of this kind the stallion is invariably pre-

case in this country, the horses of Arabia are divided
into ignoble and noble — the former being doomed to
drudge, while the latter are used for the saddle, highly
esteemed, and much attended to by their owners.
They call the former by a name which means, " with-
out pedigree ;" and the latter another name, which
signifies a pedigree, which would be venerated even in
the Principality — " Known for two thousand years."
The tradition is, that those horses are descended from
the veritable stud of King Solomon, and have not
been once crossed or corrupted in the blood since he
sat upon the throne in Jerusalem ; but, be that as it
may, they are unquestionably noble animals, held in
great esteem, often of enormous price ; and we may
suppose that among a people so romantic and so
poetical in their language as the Arabs, the most won-
derful stories are told concerning them. " If," says
the Arabian story, " you meet one of the faithful in
the desert, mounted upon a Kochlani, and he shall
say ' God bless you,' before you can say, ' and God's
blessing upon you,' he shall be out of your horizon,
for the whirlwind toils after him in vain."

The utmost attention is paid to the breeding of
these horses, that they may not be tainted even by
accident. The coitus always takes place in presence
of a witness, who remains twenty days afterwards to
watch the female. The same witness is also present
when the colt is cast, and a regular certificate is made
out within the first seven days. If these circum-
stances are not attended to, and the legitimacy can-

not be established by the proper certificate, the
marketable value of the horse is greatly diminished,
whatever may be his real qualities as an individual ;
and contrary to the custom which takes place in the
rearing, at least of half-bred horses, in many parts of
this country, as much attention is paid to purity of
blood in the female as in the male. The best horses
are understood to be bred by the Bedouins of the
north part of Arabia ; and, though the horses often
fetch an immense price, the genealogy is invariably
reckoned from the mother. This is at least one of
the reasons why the Arabs are so careful that the
noble mares shall not be contaminated by the ignoble
horses. It is not possible in all cases to prevent an
occurrence of this kind ; but when a cross does take
place the colt loses caste, and is considered to sprmg
from the father which has no pedigree. On the other
hand, an improved cross breed between the noble
horses and the ignoble mares is very frequently en-
couraged ; but in order that the progeny in this case
may not be confounded with the true blood, it takes
the' designation of the mother ; and how much soever
it may be improved, it is still ignoble. The Arabs in
many instances breed horses for sale to the people of
other nations ; and those of the pure blood are more
readily and cheaply obtained from the people about
the towns than from the tented Arabs of the w-ilder-
ness ; for the latter have a strong affection for their
horses, and will hardly part with them at any price.
It sometimes happens, however, that there is an un-
lucky mark upon the horse, which really does no
harm except to the superstitious feelings of the owner;

ferred. This is of some advantage independently of
securing, as it is understood to secure, a better pro-
geny ; for it leaves the mares in Arabia, where they
are much more scrupulously attended to than they
would be in almost any other country ; and as the
increase of the race depends more on the number of
mares than on that of horses, the leaving of the former
in the country enables many more to be bred. In
crossing by an Arabian, or "barb," as it is sometimes
called, as being first introduced into Spain through
the states of Barbary, the first progeny always par-
takes of the good qualities of the Arabian ; but if the
other branch of the cross is very different from an
Arabian in appearance, the form of the progeny is
often ungainly in the immediate generation. But,
upon a principle which we cannot very well explain,
the succeeding generations improve in symmetry, and
do not fall off in the spirit and other good qualities
of the first cross. Thus a horse may be bred with
any fraction of pure blood in him, and render at the
same time a spirited and handsome horse for any
purpose, except the most rough and heavy ones. We
have already said that the essential character of the
Arab is not that of a draught horse of any description,
and therefore if mere strength of draught be the ob-
ject it cannot be improved by this species of crossing.

The Persian horse is evidently a cross with the
Arabian, but in which way or with what breed it is
not easy to say. According to our notions, its head
is rather handsomer than that of the Arab ; and it is
a more weighty animal, but it wants the spirit and
continuation of exertion which are so characteristic
of the other. For short distances, these horses are
nearly, if not altogether, as fleet as Arabian?, but
they have not equal wind. The Persians, however,
pay great attention to purity of blood in their best
horses; and in former times the horses of this country
were much improved by the introduction of some
stallions from Persia ; and the race, bred by crossing
with these, was once greatly celebrated for its swift-
ness on the turf; though, since the real blood was
introduced, our swift horses are vastly superior to
what they were then.

The Turkish horses resemble the Arabs still more
than the Persian ones ; and they are used almost
solely for the saddle.

The Barbary horses appear to be a cross with ler.s
Arabian blood than either the Persian or Turkish.
They have the line of the head convex, and the chest
broader ; and thus they are not so well adapted for
swift running as the Arabs ; but they are showy
horses, and understood to be very docile. Their
general height is about fourteen hands.

The Tartar horse to which we have already alluded
appears, from all the accounts we have of it, in the
different districts which are inhabited by the various
Tartaric hordes. It is, however, very general in
central Asia, and in the south-east of European
Russia, where the breeds differ a good deal according
to the nature of their pasture and food, and the kind
of treatment they meet with. Their forehead, as
already observed, has still a good deal of the Arabian

776

HORSE.

straightness of outline ; but the shagginess of their
coat points them out as natives of northern and central
Asia, where this is a common character of very many
of the mammalia. Their origin is not exactly known,
but the probability is that they are originally the
same race as the Arabians, only changed by a differ-
ence of climate. In all these varieties they are excel-
lent animals, moderate in their feeding, and almost
unwearied in their strength. The horses of the Cos-
sacks, and indeed most of those in northern Europe,
keeping to the north of the Baltic, appear to be more
or less related to this breed, though, as we come
nearer the shores of the Atlantic, they do not appear
to be quite so shaggy, at least in their summer clothing.

On the continent of Europe there are considerable
differences, those of the south partaking more of the
Arab character, and those of the north more of the
Tartar. In general, they are of light make, but
hardy ; though in the flat countries adjoining the
North Sea they are very heavy, powerful for temporary
efforts, but short-winded, and therefore incapable of
prolonged exertion.

We shall now just name one or two of the leading
breeds of horses which are found in this country. Of
these the first, at least in the sporting world, and in
respect of price, is,

The Race-horse. The English race-horse, which,
though far inferior to the Arab in point of endurance,
is perhaps the finest horse in the world for moderate
heats, such as those on the common race-grounds in
this country. They are called blood-horses ; but that
does not mean that they are pure Arabian blood, on
the other hand they are all crosses with English
mares, by which means they get an additional strength
of bone, while they get spirit from the other branch
of the cross. In order that a racer should be " first
blood," as it is called, or the nearest possible to the
Arab stock, its original descent should be a cross be-
tween a pure Arab and a mare which is the produce
of a similar cross ; but this is often less attended to
than the character of the particular parents ; and the
pedigrees of these horses are far shorter than those
of the horses of Arabia.

The Hunter is the English horse which ranks next
in blood to the "high-mettled racer." The father of
this horse is not an Arab, but one of the first blood ;
and the mother is one degree further removed from
the pure blood than the mother of the race-horse.
This horse possesses many excellent qualities, having
more bone and power than the race-horse, and also
more capacity of continued exertion, though inferior
in his speed for a momentary effort. The symmetry
of this horse, according to our notions, is perhaps
superior to that of the race-horse, because it has a
fuller cfcest, a more concave line in the forehead, and
is altogether better filled up and rounded".

The Roadster is half a cross, or a whole cross further
removed from the true Arabian blood than the hunter ;
but, according to our common notions of beauty, it is
perhaps a more handsome horse, plump, round, and
of graceful figure and action. But in consequence of
its further removal from the true Arabian type, it is
much more liable to be influenced by the character
of the mother ; and both its beauty arid its value de-
pend much more on that branch of its parentage.
Hence in the breeding ot these horses, and in those
further removed from the blood, by which the blood
of the male parent is always meant, much greater
attention should be paid to the qualities of the brood

mare ; and it is owing to want of attention to this-
particular, that so many of our horses of comparatively
low blood are so ragged in their forms and so coarse
in their manners.

These are the principal horses employed in these
kingdoms for sport and for speed ; and in many of
them a great degree of size, symmetry, and beauty
are combined, both for the carriage of private indivi-
duals, and for coaches on the high-roads ; the studs
for which latter purpose, that are in the hands of first-
class coach proprietors, containing, all points consi-
dered, some of the finest horses in the world. We
shall now mention one or two of the races which are
more remarkable for their qualities as work-horses
only, or for their small size and great hardihood,

The Dray-horse. This is the largest horse which
is found in the country. It is a portly animal, and
capable of powerful effort for a short time ; but it is
not a good winded horse, and on that account it is
wholly unfit for continued exertion. It is understood
that the first importation of this horse was from
Zealand — though the females are styled " Flanders'
mares," by which name Henry VIII. was pleased to
designate Anne of Cleves, one of his royal consorts ;
and it is said, that allusions have been made to the
same epithet in later periods of our history. Horses
of this breed are sometimes known by the title of
" fen horses ;" and though they are like most of the
domesticated varieties, liable to break into different
colours, and are not unfrequently iron-grey, or even
pie-bald, yet the prevailing colour is black. They
are more abundant in London than in any other part
of the country ; and they are chiefly used in brewers'
drays and other carriages, where a very heavy load
is dragged along with frequent stoppages. They are
unwieldy ; but, the entire horses especially, have very
well-formed necks and ample chests ; and, if their
great size is taken into account, their forms do not
want symmetry. There is a great appearance of
power about them, but the realiry does not come up
quite to the appearance ; and they are deficient in
spirit. They are, however, very showy animals ;
and in some parts of the world they are highly prized.
They are particularly so by the rulers of the native
states of India, who, like other semi-barbarous people,
esteem them as the chief element of power ; and
upon a late occasion, when lieutenant Burnes was
sent on a mission to appease the wrath of Runjeet
Singh, the sheikh-chief of Lahore, dray-horses were
considered as the most acceptable present that could
be presented to that personage. In that part of India
they are known by the style and title of English
elephants ; and Runjeet Singh was so much delighted
with the ponderous brutes, that he addressed to the
British governors of India a letter, expressing his
admiration of the animals themselves, and stating that
the sheen of their ample shoes was so splendid, that
the moon had been puzzled as to whether it should or
should not enter into competition with them, and ven-
ture to shine after their arrival at Lahore.

Some of our own writers upon live-stock have
expressed very different sentiments on the subject of
these horses. " The breed of grey rats," says Mar-
shall, in his History of Yorkshire, " with which this
island has of late years been overrun, are not a greater
pest in it than the breed of black fen-horses ; at least
while cattle remain scarce as they are at present, and
while the flesh of horses continues to be rejected as an
article of human food." It is to be understood, how-

HORSE.

777

ever, that Mr. Marshall is speaking of the general
economy of the country, and with the view to having
common horse-work, in agriculture and conveyance,
conducted in the most economical manner, and in
accordance with the means of obtaining the greatest
supply of all kinds of farm produce, and using it in
the most economical manner. In this point of view
Mr. Marshall does right ; for the dray-horse is a
horse fitted only for very particular services ; and
from the great quantity of food which he consumes,
as well as from the shortness of his wind, and the
consequent frequency of rest which he needs, he
would he the most unprofitable horse that the farmer
or the carrier could possibly keep. Even in his ap-
propriate situation, that of a London brewer's dray,
lie is really almost as much an animal of show as of
use ; and though the momentary pull that he can
take, and his power of starting a heavy load, which
power he derives from his weight, are probably
greater than those of any other breed, yet for conti-
nuance of work he is certainly inferior.

It is understood, however, that crossing between
this breed and the " rips," or ragged horses, which
are used in the country, and accustomed to stand all
weathers, produces a breed possessing part of the
weight of the one, and much of the hardihood of the
other. The horses employed in drawing coal-wag-
gons and other heavy carriages about the streets of
London, where the traction required is great, and
requires mass in the horses, and also continues and
requires wind, and bone and sinew rather than fulness
of flesh, are understood to be about the nearest cross
to the dray-horse in this respect ; and when we get
to the waggon-horses, which ply constantly in slow
draught along the roads, and creep on for very long
distances without halting, we get a nearer approxima-
tion to the common country breed, until at last all
traces of the dray-horse are lost, and we come to an
animal which can endure all labour, and stand all
weathers, but which, at the same time, is by no
means handsome, neither is it very effective at a short
dead pull. It may be of use to some of our readers
to present them with a list of the characters of a first-rate
'lorse for agricultural purposes, as given by Mr. Cul-
!ey, in his treatise on live stock. " His head should
be as small as the proportion of the animal will ad-
mit ; his nostrils expanded, and muzzle fine ; his eyes
cheerful and prominent ; his ears small, upright, and
placed near together ; his neck, rising out from be-
tween his shoulders with an easy tapering curve,
must join gracefully to the head ; his shoulders being
well thrown back, must also go into his neck (at what
is called the points) unperceived, which perhaps faci-
litates the going much more than the narrow shoulder ;
the arm, or fore thigh, should be muscular, and taper-
ing from the shoulder, met with a fine, straight,
sinewy, bony leg ; the hoof circular and wide at the
heel ; his chest deep, and full at the girth ; his loin
or fillets broad and straight, and body round; his
hips, or hucks, by no means wide, but quarters long,
and tail set on so as to be nearly in the same straight
line with the back ; his thighs strong and muscular ;
his legs clean and fine-boned ; his leg-bones not
round, but what is called lathy, or flat."

There are several breeds of named horses, which
are conspicuous for their superior usefulness in har-
ness, either as coach horses or for farm-work, among
which we may notice

The Cleveland Bays. These are, perhaps, the

j most handsome working-horses in England, and, in-
deed, in the world ; though it is alleged that of late
years they have fallen ott! When pure they contain
a certain fraction of the blood of the race-horse in
them, and, by necessary consequence, some of that of
the Arab ; but they are strong and hardy, as well as
exceedingly active. A pair of them are heavy
enough for drawing a two-horse plough in all but the
very stiffest lands ; and as they step well out, tlicv
turn the furrow with more rapidity than almost any
other horses ; while their wind is excellent, they can
continue long at work, and their keep is not very
expensive. In ordinary draught, three of them have
been known to pull a ton and a half over sixty miles'
distance in the twenty-four hours, without requiring
any rest except three moderate feeds in the course
of the journey. In the plough, the labour of a pair,
on the average, for continuance of days, is about aii
acre a day, which occupies nine hours, in two yokings,
morning and evening, with a rest at mid-day ;
and substantial food, of which the quantity re-
quires to be smaller than if the quality were inferior,
is by far the most economical, as upon such food the
horses will do more work with less fatigue, keep their
health better, and last much longer. It may not be
amiss to mention, that the entire length of furrow in
one acre is rather more than eleven miles and a half
so that they pull the plough along, and turn the fur-
row at the rate of more than a mile and a quarter in
the hour, or, making allowance for turnings, about a
mile and a half at full swing ; and if the land is free
and light, an excellent pair, with a clever ploughman,
will " slice away'' at the rate of two miles an hour ;
and with such horses, and a swing plough of the best
construction, the same quality of land may be turned
in finer style, at less than half the expense that it can
be turned by the team of "ragged-rips," and the lum-
bering wheel- plough, which is used in too many parts
of the country. Every one who employs horses in
working, ought to know that the greater the number
employed to any one draught, the greater the loss of
power upon each horse, because it is impossible for
any training to make them all pull together ; and if
the number is above five or six, or even as many, it is
perhaps not too much to say, that the entire labour of
one horse is lost. In those clumsy teams, too, which
crawl like snails along the road or the furrow, there is
a great mechanical disadvantage, which is avoided
by more light arid lively working. Every one knows
that much greater power is required to start any
motion, than to keep it up after it is started ; and as
they creep along, the whole may be said to be a
succession of starts, and these starts, in a great
measure governed, by individual efforts.

On the other hand, when a well-matched pair
move onward, keeping step as truly as a file of
grenadiers, both shoulders are constantly at their
bearing, the plough or the wheel acquires a mo-
mentum ; and so little do the horses feel it, if
they be well chosen and properly attended to,
that they will do equal work to four of the
others, without a turned hair at the end of it.
Nor is the beauty of this superior style of ploughing
by any means to be overlooked ; for if the work is
elegant, a portion of the elegance will be imparted
both to the workman and the looker-on. Where the
land is laid out in breadth, with belts of planting
between, hilU rising- beyond, and the fertilizing river
sweeping, or the sea breaking in gentle ripples to the

778

HORSE.

fresh morning air, at the bottom of the slope ; ant
where it is the custom to squad the ploughs so thai
the}' move along in an oblique line, the one a little
behind the other, as regular as the divisions of an
army marching in echelon, there is not a finer sight in
the whole compass of human occupation, or in all
the countless charms of a country which combines
the grand elements of peace, plenty, power, and
worth : and upon such occasions, the well-tuned
whistle of the ploughman, which is such favourite
music in the ears of the horses, has more natural,
and more moral melody, than all the instruments that
ever were played in an orchestra.

The different coach-horses used on the roads are
generally of this breed, though with a little more
blood, and therefore a little lighter than those which
are most efficient for agricultural purposes, and other
operations of comparatively slow draught. The fast
coaches have horses still lighter, and of course with
still more blood. They approach in many respects
to the hunter ; but when the spirit and speed can be
found combined with a good deal of bone and strength,
the combination produces a coacn-horse of the very
first quality. This race of horses is purely English
in its breeding ; and though many of them have been
exported of late years, especially to France, they are
nowhere found in such perfection as in their native
country ; this is no doubt partly owing to the supe-
riority of the roads, and partly to the better manage-
ment of the horses.

The Suffolk Punch is a most excellent horse for
agricultural purposes, and it is very much used, not
only in the county after which it is named, but in
other parts of the country. It is rather short in its
dimensions, and it wants the elegant gait, and some
of the beauty of form, which characterise the better
varieties of the breed last mentioned ; but it is re-
markably compact, firm, and strong, and good winded,
so that it can continue a long time at work. Suffolk
punches will perhaps do as much agricultural work
in a day as any horses which are employed in agri-
culture, and will continue it for as many days in suc-
cession, but they will require a longer time each day.
We must again refer to Culley for a description of
this very excellent and valuable breed of horses.
" Their colour is mostly yellowish or sorrel, with a
white ratch or blaze on their faces ; the head large,
ears wide, muzzle coarse, fore-end low, back long,
but very straight, sides flat, shoulders too far forward,
hind quarters middling, but rather high about the
hips, legs round and short in the pasterns, deep-
bellied and full in the flank. Here, perhaps, lies
much of the merit of these horses ; for we know, from
observation and experience, that all deep-bellied
horses carry their food long, and, consequently, are
enabled to stand longer and harder days' works.
However, certain it is that those horses do perform
surprising days' works. It is well known that Suffolk
and Norfolk farmers plough more land in a day than
any other people in the island, and these are the kind
of horses used everywhere in those districts." These
horses are very efficient, not only in Low Suffolk, or
the sea-coast district, which is light and sandy, and
kept in heart in a great measure by shell marl, which
makes a free soil, but also in such parts of High
Suffolk, or the stiff clay district, which occupies the
central and largest portion of the county. Very
much of this portion, however, is laid down in pas-
turage for cows.

The Clydesdale Horse is one of the best breeds in
Scotland for farming purposes, and has been long in
request both in the Lowlands of Scotland and in the
north of England. The origin of this breed is very
imperfectly known ; and though rfiey are called
Clydesdale horses, it appears to be more from the
markets at which they are purchased lying in that
district than from anything else ; for they are very
generally used, and also bred, in all the western and
midland parts of the Lowlands. They are rather
larger than the Suffolk punches, have the neck
longer, and step more out. The chest is full and
broad, the shoulder thick, the blade-bone rising up
to the chine, and not sloping so much backwards in
its anterior edge as in the fast-going road-horses.
The hoof is round and firm, usually black, or of a
deep horn colour, and the heels are wide ; the back
is s'traight and broad, but not long in proportion to
the weight of the horse, which gives real as well as
apparent compactness ; the bucks do not stand much
out, and the space between them and the ribs is
short ; the tail is firm, and finely supplied with hair,
and the buttocks come so close together as to leave
a small furrow for it. These horses are of different
colours, but the usual ones are black, brown, and
grey, the latter being often beautifully dappled.
They are not liked, with a full blaze of light in the
face ; but a small spot in the forehead, called a
" bell" in some of the districts, is considered so great
a beauty, that it is often at least tried to be produced
by artificial means, and the dealers colour it for the
market. Those horses are strong, hardy, good tem-
pered ; scarcely one of them is restive ; and they lay
their shoulders fully and fairly to the draught, and
perhaps pull better together than any working horses j
n the kingdom. It is somewhat singular, however,
that the district after which they are named is I'ar less
'amed for its ploughing than for its horses ; at least
the writer of this article never saw a furrow in
Clydesdale that would have passed muster at a
iloughing-match on the east bide of the island.

Such, in brief outline, are the principal breeds of
lorses in the more improved and fertile districts of
the British islands, though of course there are local
varieties without end. There still remain some
smaller breeds, more nearly in a state of nature,
which deserve notice. One of them is

The Welsh Horse, or Ceffal, which some suppose \
to hav«j been an importation by the Romans, and
therefore to have a good deal of the blood of the 1
Tartar horse in it. This horse is not large, neither J
is it handsome, and upon level ground it is not a 1
swift horse. Still, however, it has its good proper-
ties. It is exceedingly hardy, patient of fatigue, by
no means destitute of spirit, remarkably durable, and,
generally speaking, very tractable. Then, it is a very
goat upon the rocks, actually preferring them to
softer footing ; and, be the ascent or the descent
ever so steep and rugged, if the rider can maintain
his seat, the ceffal is sure to keep its footing ; for in
this respect, both in firmness of hoof, and in skill in
the planting of it, it is little, if at all, interior to the
mules used in the Andes. For cliff-riding, however, the
ceffal must be allowed to have completely his own way ;
for any attempt on the part of the rider to guide him
in a pathless place of difficulty would be attended
with hazard to both. It is told of a Welsh gentleman,
who was in the train of one of the kings of England,
mounted on a charger from his native hills, that,

HORSE.

779

vhen the king reproached him for being last in at a
•iding, he replied, " Hur is as coot a shentlemans as
;he pest, but hur ceffal is only a shentleman on the
•ock, and let them try a riding there." For those
iA'ho require to be much on horseback, superintending
•vorkmen, or doing anything else which does not
.require fast riding, a ceffal is worth all the fine horses

n the world, both for comfort in the use and for
durability ; and then, as to footing, one of the true
Oreed will get upon hard stones, if he can, in pre-
ference to turf. The Welsh name Ceffal, like the
[French name Ckeval, is obviously derived from, and
indeed identical with, the Latin Caballus ; and this
ks a strong proof that the horse was introduced into
Wales by the Romans. An additional proof of this
is found in the fact, that the people of the north of
iScotland, who speak a dialect of the same language
as the Welsh, do not give the horse any name at all
resembling the Latin, but apply different names to it
fin different parts of the country, clearly showing that
lit has been introduced into different places by different
(nations and at different times.

There are many breeds scattered over the wilder
districts, in various parts of the mainland of Britain,
and also in the isles, which differ considerably from

each other, being, in some instances, exceedingly
jsmall, scarcely larger than Newfoundland dogs, and
<in others of considerable size. Some of these are
jvery rugged in their appearance, and others are very

handsome ; but they all have a great deal of spirit
jand strength in proportion to their size, and they are

remarkably abstemious in their eating. On Ex-
•inoor, south of the Bristol Channel, they are found
[.completely in -a state of nature ; and we believe that,
Jin some instances at least, they are not considered as
'.property. These are generally very handsome little
ii animals, with the legs slender and beautifully formed ;

and, when properly trained and broke, and rightly
.used, they are gentle and docile, and not so apt to
'I shy and be skittish as the horses of the north. For

very light weights, or very light carriages, when well
1 matched, they are pretty little creatures ; and, as the

burden of their own flesh which they have to carry is
jj \firy light, they can do more work, and continue
|l longer at it, than one would suppose, if their size only

were considered.

In the south-west of Scotland there is another
•.breed, rather larger than these, but still handsomer in

the limbs, and remarkably hardy and sure-footed
;iThey are usually called Galloways, from the distric

of which they are natives.

In the southern part of the Western Islands, anc
'more especially in the Island of Mull, there is a very
Jfine breed of these small horses ; and these have
ibeen largely introduced into the mountainous parts o
jthe main-land. These are the Highland horses, pro
jperly so called, which have very shaggy coats, anc
•get pot-bellied, when much exposed to the severity
Juf the weather, and scantily supplied with poor food

!mt with proper treatment, their appearance is very

different, and their qualities are superior, while they

:an live well in places where the large horses of the

low-country would starve. They appear to run

gradually into smaller and more shaggy breeds, as
^ve get more northward in the islands ; and when we
bet to Shetland we meet with the very small ponies
f.o which allusion has already been made. They are

'omid, also, in the Faroe Islands, in Iceland, in Nor-

.vay, and in the upland parts of Sweden ; and as

hey all have less or more of the character of the Tartar
lorses and more of it the farther north they are found,
jve have as clear a proof as such a subject admits of, that
hey have come originally from that part of the world,
and been introduced into the islands on the nortn
and west of Scotland by the Norwegians, when they
were in possession of them.

As to the superiority of the breeds, at the two or
hree points to which we have alluded, there have
been various conjectures, even before it was fully
ascertained that no breed of domestic animals can
je substantially improved without crossing. The
Tartar horse, which, we think, circumstances point out
as the ancient parent-race of the whole, is rather
a thick-legged horse, or at all events the legs are
stout ; and it is contrary to the whole system of
animal economy, that an animal with thick legs should
be a very swift goer. We know that the thin legs
and speed of our high-breed horses were procured by
means of crossings with the Arab ; and we know of
no other means by which such a change could be
brought about. It is, therefore, highly probable,
that those handsome horses wfrh thin legs are the
progeny of the native mares by Arabian horses, cast
ashore from the wreck of different vessels of the
Armada ; for it is pretty well ascertained that, in the
disastrous rout of that vain-glorious equipment round
the island of Great Britain, some ships were wrecked
on the coast of Mull, others on the coast of Gallowu y,
and there were, probably, others wrecked on the
south coast of the Bristol Channel, which would
account for the fine limbs of the Exmoor ponies.

Having now taken a short glance at some of the
different breeds of horses in the several localities of
Western Asia and of Europe, and noticed, more
particularly, those of the British Islands, we are now
in possession of the elements of at least a very
rational theory of the emigration of those most useful
and interesting animals. Whence the Britons ob-
tained those horses which they had in their war
chariots, during their contests with the Roman in-
vaders, we have no means of ascertaining which are
perfectly satisfactory ; but as it is well understood
that there was a trade between the south of England
and the Levant at an earlier period than this ; and
as there was commercial intercourse between the
south of France,— either the present Marseilles, or
some town near the same spot, --and the countries
both to the east and the south of the Mediterranean,
at a period still earlier ; it is highly probable that
horses might have found their way by those channels
into the south of Europe, and as far as South Britain.
Indeed, it is difficult to suppose that such was not
the case, for if there was a friendly intercourse between
two nations, the one of which possessed the horse,
and the otner did not, it must have followed, almost
as a matter of course, that they who were without
this animal should stipulate for it as one of the articles
of exchange. It does not appear, however, ^that at
this period the horse was generally known, or, indeed,
known at all among the Welch mountains ; for the
Roman name of the horse there, which is general
over ail the principality, clearly points to the Romans
as having introduced it there. Here the question
gets a little embarrassed with the qm-siiou or' the
human race, in the two parts of South Britain, and
would lead us to suppose that, long before the time
of the Romans, the low country of England was peo-
pled by a race quite different from the Welch ; and

780

HORSE.

that upon the Saxon invasion, the Britons did no
escape to the Welch mountains, any more than, upor
the Danish and English invasions, the Scotch low-
landers fled to the highlands. The probability is
that in either case they would have been escaping
from Scylla to fall upon Charybdis ; but the point
though necessary to be mentioned, and well worthi
of investigation, does not properly fall within ou
present subject,

We are to urtdertand, therefore, that at very early
times there was a bringing of horses from the
Levant and the adjacent countries into the southerr
states of Europe ; and that those horses were all
brought from countries to the southward and the
westward of the Caucasus, the mountains of Armenia
and of Asia Minor. So, also, in the gradual migra-
tion of the hordes of central Asia, westward into the
valley of the Danube, and so into Germany, and
along the north of the Carpathian mountains, through
Russia and Poland, into Denmark and Scandinavia,
there was a migration of Tartar horses, which ulti-
mately found its way as far as the Norwegian Vickingr
extended their excursions.

Thus we are to understand that horses were origi-
nally imported into Europe by two channels, one in
the south and the other in the centre ; for though we
may suppose that there was something analogous to
this on the line of the Danube, yet the connexion be-
tween this line and the shores of the North Sea was,
at that time, very much, if not altogether, interrupted
by the dense forests in the central parts of Ger-
many.

The southern importation, being of a stock of horses
from near the country of the Arabs, may be re-
garded as having partaken a good deal of the
Arabian character, while those of the north were
more allied to the Tartar breed, as at present found
in the south of Russia and in central Asia.

Thus we are brought to at least not more than two
original races, one to the south of the mountains
which divide Asia in latitude, and the other to the
northward of the same.

The characters of those two races, as they now
exist in the two countries, beyond which we cannot
trace them, may or may not be climatal varieties of
one single parent stock : but the probability is that
they are. The race of the south are remarkable for
beauty and fleetness ; and those of the north for
strength and protection from cold in the thickened
hair with which their bodies are covered, as compared
with the others. Now, when we look at other races
of animals, we find that the species which are adapted
for fleet motion over long distances, and by that
means the best fitted for an extended range over de-
serts but thinly spotted with anything upon which the
animals can subsist, or plains which are subject to
seasonal periods of barrenness in consequence of the
heat of the sun and the dryness of the air, have the
legs long and slender; while, on the other hand,
those which have to walk among rocks, to climb hills
or dwell in rough and miry places, have always the
legs much stouter ; so that though they do not admit
of such rapid motion, yet the animals can stand more
firmly upon them, and use the individual foot with
more power for a single exertion. This circumstance
did not escape the penetrating glance of Burns, the
Scottish bard, for he makes use of the expression —

" Muirlnnd rams,
Wi' woo' like gaits, an' feet like tram*."

He does not, it is true, use the expression with any
reference to the point which we wish to establish ;
but then this makes his evidence all the more valu-
able. Now these characters of the Muirland sheep,
against which the subject of the poem is understood
to be cautioning her progeny, which of course mean,
"wool as coarse as the hair of goats," and "feet as
thick in proportion as the shafts of a cart," are the
very characters in which the northern, Tartaric, or
hill and bog horse differs from the southern, Arabic,
or wide and dry pasture one ; and if we find this dif-
ference between the characters of horses, and a par-
allel case in the matter of sheep, we perhaps get as
near to demonstration as such subjects will admit of,
that the thick-legged, strong-bodied, and compara-
tively slow horses are descended from the Tartar
breed, while the clean-limbed, narrow-chested, and
fleet horses are all from the south. It is doubtful
whether we have in western Europe any breed of
horses, comparatively in a slate of nature, which can
be considered as Arabians, only altered by climate ;
but there is little doubt that the Shetland pony is the
final stage of diminution in the Tartar horse, with the
blood pure ; and this is confirmed by the resemblance
in the shape of the head, and in many points of the
character of the two, for the, Shetland pony has really
more of the peculiar vigour and inexhaustibleness of
the eastern horse, than those handsome ponies which
are understood to have Arabian blood in them.

The only other point which remains, worthy of
much inquiry, is from what origin the great dray
horse, usually called the Flanders horse, has been de-
rived. The thick legs, long fetlocks, square chest,
and heavy body of this horse, forbid all possibility of
relationship between it and the Arabian, and there-
fore we must have recourse to the other origin. Now
the horses of Holstein, and of all the richer parts of
Germany and the Netherlands, near the shores of the
German Ocean, are of this character ; and they are
always larger and heavier in proportion as the coun-
try is lower and richer in its surface ; and if the
severity ofthe climate, and more especially the poorness
of the pasture, could on the one hana reduce the
Tartar horse to the small dimensions of the Shetland
lony, it is quite natural to suppose that, on the other
land, the opposite kind of feeding might bring it up
o the volume of the dray horse. We know that
>oth the Saxons and Danes invaded England and
he Lowlands of Scotland from countries where, in
)art at least, such horses might be expected, from the
modifying influence of climate and pasturage alone ;
and, therefore, while we see the Tartar horse has been
carried by the northern route to Ireland, peopling the
whole of the north with little hardy ponies ; so the
Danes and the lower Saxons carried to Britain, and
he countries farther to the south, the parent stock of
ill those working horses of the British Islands, and
he adjacent parts of the continent, which are of
icavier make than the Welsh ceffal, which, as we
iave said, tnay be considered as the breed principally
ntroduced by the Romans. The dray horse may be
considered the extreme of this breeding in size ; and
rom what we have said of the incapacity of these
eavy horses for continued exertion, it is obvious that
or general purposes it has been carried beyond the
x>int of maximum value, by more having been lost in
ime than has been gained in power.

Such is the history of the horse, in brief outline,
iewing that animal as an isolated member of animated

HORSE.

781

nature, and as accompanying man in his migra-
tion over different regions, or as spread into places
where previously unknown, bv the intercourse of one
nation with another. But the horse has another, and
in so far as we can predicate morality in a creature
unendowed with an immortal spirit, a moral history.
Many animals live in a state of perhaps more close
domestication than the horse does ; and the dog es-
pecially, being one which in a state of nature requires
more art and stratagem for finding his food, is ca-
pable of evincing his attachment to his master in a
greater variety of ways. The dog will fight for his
master, will fawn upon his master, and will watch and
defend his master's property, with a fidelity perhaps
unequalled by the human race. The horse does not
fight of himself, for his nature is the very opposite of
pugnacious ; the horse does not fawn, for the spirit
of the horse is noble ; but the horse, if the expression
may be used, stands to his rider more in the relation
of a companion and equal, than any other animal
stands to man. There is, also, in the gratified look,
the erected ears, the arching neck, and the subdued
and murmuring neigh of the horse, at the sight of
that rider with whom he has been long associated,
something more touching, or if you will, more poeti-
cal, than in the fawning of all the dogs in the world.
Then there is no danger which the horse will not
brave along with his rider ; and on those occasions
man very often borrows courage of the spirit of the
unimal. In the darkness of night, when the traveller
knows not his way, and would be incapable of reach-
ing his home, his faithful horse will carry him in safety
through the most difficult places ; and be the path
ever so intricate, and the obstacles ever so many, if
the rein is entirely given up to the horse, not a foot
of his will slip or be misplaced on the most difficult
ground, and not one of the obstacles will he come in
contact with. This is a curious point in physiology,
but it is as true as it is worthy of admiration. The
firm and entire hoof of the horse, even when shod
with iron, seems to acquire in the dark a sense of
touch equal to the most delicate finger ; and though
we cannot account for it, every hair upon the skin of
the animal appears to be instinct with all the senses
necessary for guiding him along, with the same cer-
tainty as though it were clear daylight all about him.
If the horse and the rider have been long acquainted
with each other, and have frequently made nocturnal
journeys, it is of no consequence, if the journey is a
homeward one, whether the rider pays the slightest
attention to the matter or not ; tor there have been
many instances in which an old and trusty horse has
carried his rider asleep for a distance of more than
twenty miles. There have been also instances of fa-
vourite ponies carrying blind musicians from house to
house for the purpose of giving lessons ; and indeed
it would be impossible to enumerate half the instances
which are well authenticated, of quiet and slow-going
horses finding and keeping the way without any as-
sistance from their riders ; and the .same applies to
horses habitually used in draught.

The case of horses of higher mettle, though not
more extraordinary, is more spirit-stirring ; and it is
impossible not to be struck and pleased with the ex-
pression of glee in hunters at the morning muster,
and especially at the notes of the horn ; and if the
chace is long and lagging, the winding of the horn will
spirit them up, and they will spring forward as if en-
dowed with new life.

It is in the battle-field, however, that the horse ap-
pears in the full grandeur of his character. His neck
s clothed with thunder : " the glory of his nostrils is
terrible. He paweth in the valley, and rejoiceth in
his strength ; he goeth out to meet the armed men.
He mocketh at fear, and is not arfrightened ; neither
turneth he back from the svvovd. The quiver rattleth
against him, the glittering spear and the shield. He
swalloweth the ground with fierceness and rage ; nei-
ther believeth he that it is the sound of the trumpet.
He sayeth among the sound of the trumpets, Ha,
Ha! and he smelleth the battle afar off, the thunder
of the captains, and the shouting."

Such is the description of the horse in battle, as
iven by the great Legislator of the Jews, at least
three thousand three hundred and sixty years ago ;
and even now that the instruments of war have been
rendered more powerful and terrific than they were
at the time when this description was written, the
horse still exults in, and appears to enjoy, the battle-
field as much as ever.

The invention of gunpowder has invested the mo-
dern battle-field with all the attributes of that thun-
der which the ancients regarded as being possessed
only by the chief of their gods ; but even this, after
a very little training, has no effect upon the war-
horse further than to excite his courage, and make
him more brave and bold amid the augmented terrors.
Roaring artillery, sheeted flame, curling smoke, gleam-
ing steel, rolling drums, sounding trumpets, and all the
sights and the din of the hottest conflict, never affect
either the courage or the coolness of the veteran
charger. He will bear his rider as willingly up to
the cannon's mouth, or to, or even on, the point of
the lance, with the same cheerful obedience as if he
were riding to a field of the richest pasture ; and
though beaten back, and smarting with wounds, he
will return again and again to the charge ; nor will
he quit his duty until he has made the final sacrifice,
and his bones arc gathered to the unseemly heap in
which horses and their riders lie promiscuously toge-
ther. But it is only while there is a rider on his
back that the horse continues thus obedient to his
duty ; for when the ranks are broken, and the riders
gone, horses may be seen careering over the field, as
if absolutely in quest of new riders to bring them
again into action ; and it is said that, upon these oc-
casions, the horses rarely, if ever, trample upon the
bodies of the wounded or the dead, with which the
field is scattered. If a trumpet sound, too, the rider-
less horse, if not frantic with the agony of wounds,
will follow upon the sound, but will turn away again
if he finds that the uniform of the party is not like
that of his own regiment. If his rider falls, when the
horse is at considerable speed, the horse instantly
stops, so that an exchange is frequently soon made of
a rider who has lost his horse, and a horse that has
lost his rider. Veteran horses are rarely, if ever,
panic-struck : and though they are, oF course, liable to
be taken prisoners, they never desert to the enemy,
indeed, though war is a trade which every one must
wish to see abolished, except those who remain at
home and gratify their ambition, or other lusts, by
the hardship and death of their fellow-creatures, yet,
as the characters of the horse in battle are all virtuous
without the least mixture of vice, his military glory is
as spotless as it is great.

Many anecdotes are told of the strong attachment
shown by particular horses to particular riders, with

782

HORSE.

wnom they have been long associated. Of these,
some are in all probability exaggerated, but still
enough remains to show that those animals are ca-
pable of strong attachment and warm gratitude for
kind usage ; and there have been instances in which
a reduced and degraded horse, after plying for years
at hard drudgery in the streets, has recognised at once
his former military associate, and followed him like
a dog.

The most remarkable fact of the whole matter,
however, is the evident fondness which horses that
have been accustomed to it have for the army ; and
this appears both in their fondness for particular regi-
ments, and in that for all military array, and even
military weapons. It is told that, in one of their in-
surrections in the early part of this century, the
Tyrolese captured fifteen horses belonging to the
troops sent against them, and mounted them with
fifteen of their own men, in order to go out to a fresh
rencontre with the same troops ; but no sooner did
those horses hear the well-known sound of their own
trumpet, and recognise the uniform of their own
squadron, than they dashed onward at full speed, and
in spite of all the efforts of their riders, bore them
into the ranks, and delivered them up as prisoners
to the squadron. If an old military horse, even when
reduced almost to skin and bone, hears the roll of a
drum, or the twang of a trumpet, the freshness of
hi§ youth appears to come upon him ; and if he at
the same time gets a sight of men clad in uniform,
and drawn up in line, it is no easy matter to prevent
him from joining them. Nor does it signify what
kind of military they are, as is shown by the follow-
ing case. Toward the close of last century, about
the time when volunteers were first embodied in the
different towns, an extensive line of turnpike road
was in progress of construction, in a part of the north.
The clerk to the trustees upon this line used to send
one of his assistants to ride along, occasionally, in
order to see that the contractors, who were at work
in a great many places, were doing their work pro-
perly. The assistant, on these journeys, rode a horse
which had for a long time carried a field officer, and,
though aged, still possessed a great deal of spirit.
One day as he was passing near a town of consider-
able size, which lay on the line of road, the volunteers
were at drill on the common ; and the instant that
Solus (that was the name of the horse) heard the
drum, he leaped the fence, and was speedily at that
post in front of the volunteers, which would have been
occupied by the commanding officer of a regiment on
parade, or at drill ; nor could the rider by any means
get him off the ground, until the volunteers retired to
the town. As long as they kept the field, the horse
took the proper place of a commanding officer, in all
their manoeuvres ; and he marched at the head of the
corps into the town, prancing in military style, as
cleverly as his stiffened legs would allow him, to the
great amusement of the volunteers and spectators,
and the no small annoyance of the clerk, who did not
feel very highly honoured by Solus making a colonel
of him against his will.

The DZIGGITAI (E. Hemionus). This is the wild
horse of central Asia ; and is not found in any part
of the country which slopes to either sea, but chiefly
in the elevated and sandy plains which lie to the south-
ward of the Altaian mountains, and the north west
of Chinese Tartary. The native name, which it is
difficult to spell in our alphabet so as to bring out the

correct sound of the first consonant, means " long
ear;" anil the specific name, first given to it by
Pallas, signifies " half-ass," which is not undescriptive
of its general appearance. This animal is about the",
size and figure of a mule, only it is more elegantly
made. The head is proportionably larger, and more
compressed latterly, than that of the domesticated
horse. The forehead is straight and flat ; the lips,
especially the upper one, are capable of a great deal
of motion ; the chin and borders of the nostrils are
furnished with hairs, about two inches long, forming
a sort of mustachios, which are of great service to
the animal, in preventing the sand from getting into
its mouth and nostrils, as it browses the scattered
tufts which spot the barren surface of its pastures.
The ears are longer than those of the horse ; they
are pointed, and the animal carries them very grace-
fully. The neck is more slender than the neck of
the horse, and compressed. It is furnished with a
mane of soft brown hair. The body is elongated,
compressed latterly, and arched in the spine. It
stands comparatively very high on its legs ; and the
hoofs on the feet are black, and sub-conical, evidently
fitted for walking on hard and dry surfaces. The
tail bears some resemblance to that of a cow, having
short hair for the upper half of its length, and a
brush of black hair, nine or ten inches long, at the
point. The general colour is greyish fawn ; but the
summer and winter covering differ considerably, the
summer being smooth and flat ; and the winter, long,
loose, and floculent, like the winter hair of the camel.

It appears that in former times this animal was
found in regions where it is not now to be met with.
Aristotle mentions it as being found in Syria, and
^Elian describes it as an inhabitant of India ; but it
does not appear that in modern times it has ever been
found to the southward of the mountains : it is highly
probable that it is this animal, which has been rendered
the wild ass by our translators of the Bible ; and be-
sides its great fleetness, there is one peculiarity noticed
in the Bible, which is almost decisive on the point,
that of "snuffing up the wind," in which the dziggitai
does more frequently, and with greater energy and
style, than any other animal whatsoever. It is pro-
bably also the" swiftest of all animals ; for though
the horses of the Tartars are fleet and enduring, it is
in vain to attempt following this animal, so as to run
it down, though mounted on the finest Arabian.

The Tartars do hunt it, however, both for the sake
of its flesh, which they prize highly as an article of
food ; and for its skin, of which they make excellent
leather. Their mode of catching it very much re-
sembles the Highland mode of catching wild deer,
or the Scandinavian method of hunting bears, — that
is, by a " tinchal?' or surrounding circle, which is
gradually narrowed, until the animals are hemmed in
on all sides, without the means of escaping. The
only difference is, that the Tartar circle consists of
horsemen, while the others, being in countries where
horses cannot readily act, are performed on foot.
The animals are usually found in troops, consisting
of from twenty to thirty, and sometimes as many as a
hundred. These troops are headed by a chief, whose
duty consists in watching over the interest and
safety of the party, and in cases where danger is ap-
prehended, he is ever on the alert to give the signal
for retreat. As the chief is ever the foremost to
approach the hunter, his temerity often proves fatal
to himself ; and his fall is invariably followed by a

HORSE.

783

dispersion of the troop, which affords additional facility
for the destruction of the individuals which com-
pose it. The Mongols, the Touguses, and other
nations in the vicinity of the Great Desert, esteem
the flesh of these animals as delicate food ; and,
therefore, they hunt them for the purpose of eating
their flesh. Though taken when very young, the
dziggitai has not yet been tamed by these nations, nor
does it appear very likely that they will ever be able
to do this, for some of the animals have actually
killed themselves by the shackles which have bound
them, rather than endure the restraint. It is the
opinion of Pallas, however, that underproper manage-
ment, the taming of the dziggitai is practicable, and
we cannot doubt but that he is correct ; for we do
not believe that there is any animal on the face of the
earth which may not be brought to a certain degree of
domestication. It would certainly be a most desirable
object to have these animals reduced to a state of
subjection ; for no animals in the world would make
better ponies.

The tract of country which these animals inhabit
is one which must, from its locality, have very peculiar
characters ; but it so happens, that it is the portion
of Asia, we may almost say of the whole eastern con-
tinent, with which we have the least acquaintance ; it
extends from 70° to 120° east longitude, and the pa-
rallel of 45°, or the latitude answering to the south of
France, passes nearly through the middle of it. It is
bounded every where by mountains, and no river flows
out of it to the south or the west ; and those which
flow to the north and east, flow but very short distances
across it. Towards the west it is divided into three
portions, by chains of mountains lying south-west
and north-east, the little Alti on the north, the great
Alti next southward, and the Musart mountains fur-
ther to the south, and then the mountains of Thibet
form its southern boundary. The three divisions of
it are between four hundred and five hundred miles
each ; and the central division, which occupies the
whole breadth toward the east, is more than two
thousand five hundred miles in length, and at least
eight hundred in its greatest breadth. Thus it is a
very lara;e country ; and though the rivers all rise in
the mountains, and descend towards the intervening
spaces, where they are in general lost in the sand, or
evaporated by the high temperature of a rainless
atmosphere, yet it is understood that those level por-
tions form a table land of great elevation, though how
many feet above the level of the sea has not been
ascertained.

This is, in its physical circumstances, perhaps the
most singular country on the face of the globe ; and
with the exception of vast numbers of burrowing
rodentia. which swarm in the northern parts of it, the
dzitrgitai is one of its most peculiar and characteristic
inhabitants, and seems to be, more than any other
animal with which we are acquainted, an inhabitant
of the desert, and fitted for its habitation. It is never
found in the forests or on the mountains, whether
they are rocky or clad with snow, but keeps to the
open and thirsty plains upon which there is no vege-
tation but tufts of herbaceous plants scattered widely
apart from each other. Thus, in order to procure
subsistence, it requires that extreme swiftness of foot
to which we have alluded ; and as the extremes o
summer and winter in such a country must be great
the seasonal changes of its coat fit it admirably for
enduring them. The season of heat is about the cnt

of August ; and the foala are dropped in the spring,
_enerally only one at a birth ; and they are full grown
at the age of three years. In consequence of the
extreme shyness and fleetness of the animal, as well
as of our ignorance of its country, our knowledge of
ts habits is but limited. It is ascertained, however,
hat it can travel a hundred miles or upward without
;asting water ; and also that it can bear hunger for a

g time. It is, however, an animal of wild nature
only ; though from the circumstances that we have
mentioned, it is a very interesting one. Some idea
may be formed of the energy of its character from
the fact, that in the wild mythologies of the hordes
which inhabit the borders of those deserts, it is the
animal on which the god of fire is supposed to ride —
he scorning all others as too slow for his purposes.

This animal must not be confounded with the wild
ass of the same part of the world ; for the two do not
inhabit the same places, the wild ass being nearer the
inhabited countries than this animal, and far less swift
in its motion. They are at once distinguished by the
superior symmetry of this animal, and by the voice.
The wild ass brays, while the dziggitai neighs, in
tones more loud and clear than those of the horse ;
and as is the case with horses, the different members
of the herd of those animals evince a very great
attachment for each other ; and as their fleetness pro-
tects them against all their human foes, they live in
the wide solitude of their mountain-encircled deserts,
in a state of perfect peace with all the rest of the
living world, the members of which, indeed, are few
and far between in the places which they inhabit.

THE QUAGGA (E. Quaccha] is an African species,
and very abundant in the territory of the Cape, where
it is found in large herds, especially in the interior of
the country ; and it is by no means so shy as the
species last described, neither is it so fleet. It is also
a much smaller animal, not standing above three feet
nine inches at the shoulder. Its tail resembles that
of the ass, or rather, perhaps, that of the cow, as in
the last mentioned species ; but it appears to be as
nearly allied to the horse as to the ass, though per-
fectly distinct from both. Its figure is very light,
its head and ears small, and its hoofs cylindrical. Its
colours are, the head and neck deep blackish brown,
streaked with greyish white, the streaks being length-
ways on the forehead and temples, crossways on the
cheeks, and forming triangles, or rather cheverons, on
the space between the eyes and nose. The ground
colour of the body is clear brown on the back, becom-
ing paler on the sides, and passing into pure white in
the middle of the under part ; while in the middle of
the upper, there is a dorsal line of black, extending
from the tail to the mane, and the mane is black.
There are along each side of the neck ten bands of
the same whitish colour as those on the temples.
Their cry is different from that of both the horse and
ass. Some have compared it to the barking of a dog,
and the name quagga is also understood to be an
imitation of it, though tHe word couaay perhaps comes
nearer to it.

The quagga bears some resemblance to the domes-
ticated horse in manners as well as in form. It is a
spirited little animal, and repels the attacks of such
animals as the hyaena, but it is at the same time easily
. domesticated, and a willing servant, and not weak,
considering its size. There have been instances of
carriages drawn by quaggas in the neighbourhood of
London ; and though there has not, perhaps, been so

784 HO

much attention paid to them as they df serve, they are
frequently employed for doing the work of ponies iu
the Cape colony.

Where that colony is thickly peopled they are not
found ; and they migrate, quitting the confines of the
colony for places farther northward, when the dry
season begins to burn up the pasture ; and they do
not return again until the rainy season has set in,
and vegetation again appears upon the Karoos. On
their pastures, and during their migrations, they keep
by themselves, and do not associate with the zebras,
which pasture nearly the same grounds, and migrate
in nearly the same manner. Indeed all the swifter
herbivorous mammalia partake more or less in this
migration ; and as they are exceedingly numerous,
they furnish abundant food to the lions, which often
follow them down to the fields of the settlers, com-
mitting depredations upon the domestic animals, and
not unfrequently carrying off some of the people.

THE ONAOOA, or DAUW (E. Montanus], is another
African species, which has been confounded with the
quagga, and still more frequently with the zebra,
though it is perfectly distinct from both in its appear-
ance, and also in its localities. The quagga is never
found but on the plains, for which the shape of its
hoofs particularly adapt it ; while this species is
wholly a mountaineer, and seldom descends to the
broad pastures. The distinction between it and the
zebra will be best given in the words of Mr. Burchall,
to whom we are indebted for the first satisfactory
account of it as a species. " The hoofs of animals,"
says he, " destined by nature to inhabit rocky moun-
tains, are, as far as I have observed, of a very different
form from those intended for sandy plains •, and this
form is in itself sufficient to point out the dauw as a
separate species. The stripes of the skin will answer
the purpose equally well, and show at the same time
the great affinity and specific distinction of the ass,
which may be characterised by a single stripe across
the shoulders. The quagga has many similar marks
on the head and fore part of the body ; the zebra is
covered with stripes over the head and the whole of
the body, but the legs are white ; and the wild
paarde is striped over every part, even down to the
i'eet. The zebra and wild paarde may be further
distinguished from each other, by the stripes of the
former being brown and white, and the brown stripe
being double, that is. having a paler stripe within it ;
while the latter, w hich may be named Equus monta-
nut, is most regularly and beautifully covered with
black and white stripes : add to this, the former is
never to be found on the mountains, nor the latter on
the plains."

Wilde Parde is the name given to this animal
by the Dutch settlers at the Cape ; Dauw is the Hot-
tentot name ; and Onagga is a sort of imitation of
the voice of the animal. It is less in size than the
ass ; but it is more handsomery shaped than even the
zebra. Very little is known respecting its manners,
foi it is rarely seen in consequence of the difficult
chattcter of the places which it inhabits. From the
heavy rains which fall in Southern Africa, the water-
courses are torn de?p into the rocks, so as to form
complete interruptions to any thing like a passage
among the mountains ; and thus it is difficult to ob-
tain those animals alive, and consequently their habits
in a state of nature cannot be observed, neither can it
be weU ascertained to what degree they are suscep-
tible sf domestication. As their general form has

RSE.

still a good deal of resemblance to that of the hone,
the probability is that they might be domesticated.
If this could be done, there is no doubt that from the
nature of the ground on which they keep their feet,
they would make excellent hill ponies. More must
be known of them, however, before we can come to
any conclusion respecting their characters.

THE ZEBRA (E. Zebra). This species, which is
nearly intermediate in character between the horse
and the ass, is found in all the warmer parts of Africa,
at least from Abyssinia to the southern extremity of
the continent; but now, at least, it is most abundant
toward the south. It is probable that, in former times,
it was found also to the northward of the desert ; for
it was not unknown to the Romans, but, on the other
hand, brought to Rome upon many occasions, though
perhaps not till the time of the Emperors. Dion Cas-
sius says that, in one day, the Emperor Caracalla killed
an elephant, a rhinoceros, a tiger, and a hi]ypo-tigris,
or horse-tiger, by which it is understood that the zebra
was meant. It is also mentioned that upon another
occasion there were brought from the islands of the
Erythrean Sea, some horses of the sun, which were
coloured like tigers ; and there is no doubt that these
must also have been zebras. It is also said, that upon
certain occasions the kings of ancient Persia used
also to sacrifice a horse of the sun, as an expiatory
offering ot the most important character. This last
circumstance does not prove that those horses of the
sun were natives of Persia ; but rather the reverse,
because of the value of the sacrifice of a single one in
the year. Diodorus Siculus says that the zebras were
brought from the country of the Troglodytes, or men
who dwelt in caves, which were near neighbours to
the men without heads, and the men with only one
broad foot, which they could use as a parasol upon
occasions ; and this country of the Troglodytes is
understood to have been the country on the African
side, from the strait of Bab- el-mundel to Cape Guar-
dafui, to the eastward, off which the island of Socotra,
which is probably the one alluded to in the former
statement, is situated. Be that as it may, the accounts
are sufficient to show that the zebra was known to the
Romans, and also to other nations of antiquity ; but
that, though they sought after it for its beauty of
colour, they were unable to tame it ; and that conse-
quently it must have been the same species as the
zebra of the present day, which resists every at'tempt
at domestication.

In a state of nature the zebra is rather larerer than
the ass ; and resembles that animal more in form than
either the quagga or the onagga. There is, however,
a good deal of confusion in the names and descrip-
tions ; because all the three were mixed up iu the
description of the zebra by the older naturalists ; the
quagga being regarded as the female zebra, and the
onagga, which is less than the zebra but more com-
pletely striped, as the young male. All the three
animals are, however, perfectly distinct ; and the
zebra, notwithstanding the beauty of its markings,
has no claim whatever to the known mildness of the
quagga, or the presumed mildness of the motmta'n
species. We shall quote a small portion of Button's
description of this animal, in order to show with what
caution the writings of naturalists of that period ought
to be received. The passage is short, but so circum-
stantial that one would think the author must have
been acquainted with zebras during the whole of bis
lifetime ; and yet the accounts of the three-striped

HO RSE-STI NGER— HO V E A.

78.5

animals of Southern Africa are all blended in it with
most perfect confusion. " The zebra," says Button ,
" is perhaps of all quadrupeds the best made, and the
most beautifully clad by the hand of nature. To the
figure and graces of the horse, it adds the light ele-
gance of the stag, and the black and white bauds with
which its body is ornamented are arranged with such
wonderful symmetry that we might almost be disposed
to imagine that rule and compass had been employed
in their formation. These alternate bands are narrow,
parallel, and exactly separated ; they extend not only
over the body, but the head, thigh?, ami legs, and
even over the ears and tail. They follow so exactly
the contours of the different parts, enlarging more or
less according to the development of the muscles, and
the roundness of the different forms, that they exhibit
the entire figure in the most advantageous point of
view. In the female, these bands are alternately
black and white ; in the male they are black and
yellow, but always of a lively and brilliant tint. They
also rest upon a ground of short, fine, and copious
hairs, whose lustre considerably augments the general
beauty of the colours."

These markings are : the ground colour milk or
cream white, with a slight tinge of pale buff or rust
colour ; but this ground is not absolutely constant in
the different individuals. The stripes are black, or
blackish brown, running crossways on the body and
limbs and down the face. The tail is of moderate
length; round in its section, rather slender, marked
witli a few rings of black or brown, and ending in a
brush of hairs of the same colour. Their voice is
different from that of all the other species of the
genus, being a sort of whizzing or booming sound
broken into short lengths.

In their native plains, zebras assemble in large
herds, and add much to the interest of places whose
character is otherwise both tame and dreary. They
are still found in several districts within the Cape
colony, but they appear to be more numerous farther
into the interior.

The Hottentots and Bushmen of Southern Africa
hunt the zebra with great assiduity, in order to feed
on its flesh, which they esteem a dainty ; and the
skin, besides its beauty, is firm and compact, and used
for many domestic purposes. The zebra, though
much hunted, is not a very timid animal ; but it is
of rather unsteady temper, and very prone to biting
and kicking. Hitherto there has not, we believe,
been any instance of its complete subjugation to such
a degree as that its obedience could be depended on
for any length of time ; though there have been many
instances in which one that had been long accustomed
to the society of human beings allowed certain liber-
ties to be taken with it. There was one in the Tower
of London which would suffer a boy to be set on its
back, without -either biting or kicking; and it was
sometimes in the habit of going to the Canteen for a
draught of ale, a beverage of which all the horse tribe
are particularly fond. Of those which have been
kept in other collections in Europe, some have been
comparatively mild, and others mischievous ; but we
are not aware of any case in which they have been
completely trained, or where full confidence could be
placed in them. Their heels are generally pretty
ready, and they not unfrequeutly try to get a kick
even at those who are giving them their food. It by
no means follows, however, that they are untameable,
or that they might not, if treated with sufficient skill,

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

be brought into complete subjection. Their hand-
some appearance renders this well worthy of a trial ;
for as the whole race are capable of enduring great
changes of climate, there is no doubt that they could
in time be brought to bear our winter without any
difficulty.

The female zebra is understood to go twelve months
with young ; and the young ones have the markings,
only the brown is much paler. Zebras produce mules
both with the horse and the ass : and those produced
with the horse are said to partake of some of the
docile qualities of that parent, and submit to be driven
in harness. It is also said, that in these crossings the
markings of the zebra are much more perfectly re-
tained than in the crossings with the ass ; and this is
highly probable, because the horse is far more prone
to break into different colours than the ass ; and it is
a general law, that that which is most yielding in its
own colour as a species takes most readily the colour
of another species in the case of a cross. The cross
with the ass has but little of the marking of the zebra,
and one is mentioned which was produced between a
female zebra and a Spanish ass. It continued to suck
for a year ; but as it grew it gradually lost the resem-
blance of the mother, and became vicious and mis-
chievous. Its colour was dark grey, with transverse
bands on the legs, the shoulders, and the tail. It did
not neigh, and, as M. F. Cuvier expresses it, it
" loved to wallow in the mire, and attacked all the
world with feet and teeth."

Such is a brief outline of the genus horse, in which
we have endeavoured to touch upon as many points
as appeared to be at all consistent with our limits.

HORSE-STINGER. A name improperly given
by the ignorant to the insects composing the family
LibcllutidoE or dragon flies, a perfectly harmless group
of insects.

HORSE-CHESTNUT. See HIPPOCASTANE.E.

HORSE-RADISH is the Cochlearia armoracca of
Linnaeus, a well-known culinary plant, and found wild
in many places in England. It belongs to Crucifera.

HORSE-RADISH TREE is the Moringa ptery-
gosperma of Decandolle, a common East Indian tree
belonging to the order LegnminoscE. The roots are
used as a condiment like those of horse-radish.

HORSE-TAIL is the Equisetum palustre of Lin-
naeus, a marsh plant of curious structure belonging to
a natural order to which it gives a title, Equisetacea.

HOSTA (Jacquin). A genus of Mexican ever-
green shrubs belonging to Linnseus's second class,
and to the natural order Vcrbenace<£. The species
are cultivated in our stoves, and succeed well under
the ordinary management.

HOTTONIA (Linnaeus). A small herbaceous
plant indigenous to England, belonging to the fifth
class of sexual botany, and to the natural order Pri-
mulacecE. It is usually found in wet ditches.

HOUSE-LEEK is the Sempervivum tectorum of
Linnaeus, a common British plant, frequently seen
growing on roofs of houses. It belongs to the Cras-

HOUSTONIA (Linnams). A genus of North
American herbs, belonging to Rulnacece. The
flowers are pretty, and the plants are usually kept in
pots or placed in rock-work.

HOVE A (R. Brown). A genus of evergreen or-

namental shrubs from New Holland. The flowers

are diadelphous and belong to Lcguminosce. The H.

celsi and H. purpurca are esteemed greenhouse plants,

D D D

780

are grown on liijht loam and moor-earth, and are pro-
pagated bv cutting.

HOVENIA (Thunberg). A genus of fruit trees,
natives of the eastern parts of Asia, belonging to
Rhamneae. Generic character : calyx of five spread-
ing parts; petals alternating with the segments of the
calyx and convolute ; stamens opposite the petals al-
most hidden ; style simple ; stigmas three ; peduncle
thick and succulent ; seed vessel three-berried. The
most remarkable part of the structure of the fructifica-
tion is, the peduncle after the petals are fallen be-
comes enlarged and succulent, and filled with a sweet
red pulp, having somewhat the flavour of a pear, and
are esteemed as a fruit in China and Japan.

HOYA (R. Brown). A genus of curious fleshy-
leaved climbing plants, natives of India and China,
and belonging to the natural order AsclepiadeeE.
These plants are easily propagated by cuttings, and
aro grown on loamy soil, requiring but little water in
winter.

HUMBLE-BEE (Bonibus), A genus of social
hymenopterousinsects.belonging to the section aculcata
and sub-section mellifera, distinguished generally by
having the upper lip transverse ; the proboscis not so
long as the body ; the second joint of the labial palpi
pointed, having the two terminal joints inserted later-
ally ; the posterior tibia3 terminated by two spines ;
the body thick and very hairy ; and, lastly, by the
presence of individuals of the neuter sex, with the so-
cial peculiarities necessarily resulting from such cir-
cumstances, and to which we have already alluded in
our article BEE. This is a very well-marked group
of insects, as contrasted with §ome other of the ge-
nera of bees ; but the investigation of the numerous
species of which it is composed is attended with very
great difficulty ; nor is it possible that many of the
doubts, at present existing, can be cleared up until a
more minute examination of the nests of the various
species has been made, whereby only w^e shall be
enabled to give to each species its own individuals.
Huber, Reaumur, and Dahlbom, however, have gone
far in enabling us to give a- tolerably complete ac-
count of their habits. The communities of these in-
sects, which have more the character of a republic
than that of the monarchy of the hive bee, are an-
nually dissolved at the approach of winter. At this
period the fecundated females hide themselves in the
crevices of walls, or trees, or under ground ; the
males and aged females not having this instinct, perish
with cold, so that upon the arrival of the next spring,
the former only, which had lain dormant through the
rigours of the winter, remain alive ; these, being soon
actuated by a desire to deposit their eggs, are pre-
viously compelled to construct a nest for themselves,
the workers being all dead ; each bee, therefore, has
now separately to seek a fresh abode, to prepare it
lor the reception of, and to make, a quantity of waxen
cells, as well as to get a supply of honey. The situ-
ation of the nest depends upon the species ; some of
them dig to a considerable depth underground (as the
Bombus tcrrestris], whilst others select a crevice in a
neap of stones (as liombtis lapidarius), and others (as
the Bombus mnscorum) place their nest, covered with

s? orcdrie(1 'eaves' uP°n the surface of the ground.
: first of these cases, it is necessary that a nar-
row passage, a foot or two along, should be made to
i-namber in which the nest is made, and for which
a mouse s nest, or a mole hole suits admirably. The
this retreat, as well as the sides of the pas-

H O V E N I A — H U M B L E - B E E.

sage, have to be rendered smooth. Those species,
whose nests are above ground, select a spot somewhat
hollowed out and surrounded by plants, either in the
open field, or in hedge-rows, banks, &c. ; this spot is
then cleared, and a dome of moss raised, the little
bundles of which it is formed being successively
pushed backwards till they are brought home. The
passage leading to this nest is also similarly carpeted.

Nest of humble-bee recently commenced ; a, covered entrance;

b, waxen cells in which are placed the eggs ; c, waxen envelope

commenced ; d, mossy dome commenced.

These are the chief differences which exist amongst
the humble bees, which some authors have thence di-
vided into carder bees (B. muscorum, tf-c.), lapidary
bees which also use moss (B. lapidarius, #c.), and
humble bees which do not use moss (B. terrestris, <$-c.)
As, however, these bees resemble each other in the
remainder of their proceedings, the provisioning and
enlarging of the nest, and rearing the young, we have
not hesitated to introduce them into a single article.
Having thus prepared a nest, and given to its dome
a rough inner coating of wax, the female places in the
middle of it various irregular masses of brown wax,
named by Reaumur, la pdtee, and which he compares
to truffles. Their hollow centres are destined to hold
the eggs and grubs when hatched ; and are supplied
with pollen paste. Here the larvae live in societies of
five or six individuals, until the period arrives when
they are ready to assume the pupa state, at which
time they separate, and each spins for itself an oval
silken cocoon, attached to each other in a vertical
position. Reaumur asserts that these grubs feed
upon the wax which forms their lodging ; but in the
opinion of Huber, the latter merely defends them from
outward accidents, the food of the larva consisting in
a supply of pollen moistened with honey, which the
workers take care to supply from time to time, opening
the cells, and again closing them after the young have
been fed. It is stated, that when the larva is full
grown it reverses its position, and becomes a pupa
head downwards ; in which position, also, the bee
makes its escape out of the cocoon ; but Dahlbom
states that the insect having remained in the pupa
state for five days, and then become a perfect bee,
immediately begins to gnaw the inside of its cell,
upon hearing which the female, with great instinct,
immediately approaches the cell, and gnaws round its
outside near to the top, from which labour she does
not desist until the cap or upper part of the cell has
fallen off, and the bee makes its way out of the hole
at the top of the cell. The colours of the hairs of
the insect when first disclosed are grey, but they
shortly assume their proper colours. When these

H U M B L E - B E E.

7b7

cocoons thus become untenanted, they are not allowed
to remain useless, but are said to be employed by the
bees to hold honey and pollen, the tops being pro-
vided with a rirn of wax, for which service they are
well adapted, their form now being that of an egg
with one end broken off. Latreille, however, is in-
clined to doubt this fact, because these cocoons are
of a silken nature, and. are asserted by some authors
to have the aperture by which the bees have escaped
at the bottom end. But we have seen that the latter
circumstance is at least refuted by some authors, and
the different manner in which these breeding cells
are transformed into honey reservoirs has been dis-
tinctly noticed ; thus some give them an internal coat
of wax, which would remove Latreille's other objec-
tion, whilst others add at the top of the breeding cell
funnel-shaped tubes of wax, whilst others content
themselves with merely giving the broken margin a
waxen rim. But what appears more strongly to
prove that the bees prefer making use of cells thus
already at hand, and which require but little pains
to render them useful, than to take the trouble
of making fresh cells, is the curious fact that they
contrive, out of four of such breeding cells, to construct
five honey reservoirs in this manner : having built
waxen tubes to four adjoining cells, and joined the
sides of such tubes to each other, an acute quadran-
gular space is left in the middle, and this space by
having a slight coating of wax given to it is easily
transformed into a honey reservoir. Cells, however,
thus converted are only found in the months of May
and June, in the middle of the lower layer of cells
from which the early born neuters are produced ; and
this is another reason why we are induced to believe
this fact of conversion contrary to the opinion of
Latreille, since it is evident, from the paucity of inha-
bitants and the quantity of duty which must at this
period devolve upon each, that they would resort to
all possible expedients to save labour ; and this ena-
bles us to account for another circumstance in the
history of these insects which has been turned to
their disadvantage, but which we cannot help think-
ing tells the other way. Naturalists have held up
the hive bee as exhibiting the perfection of insect
instinct, and certainly the inspection of a hive-bee's
<*.omb would lead to this conclusion. But this is the
work of a perennial association never dissolved, and
each constantly employed in perfecting the contents
of the hive, whilst the case is quite different with the
humble-bee ; the interior of its nest is all irregularity,
and its young, instead of being separately cradled in a
waxen cell, are at first herded together in a general cell.
The nest indeed is as ingeniously constructed with its
dome of wax and elegant covering of moss as the
nest of the bee, although here the community is an-
nually dissolved, and the structure, which we have
described, the work of a solitary female, endowed,
however, with a far more extensive instinct than the
inhabitants of the hive of which the various duties are
performed by various sets of individuals selected for
such particular purposes.

Previous to the completion of the inner coat of
wax, the upper portion of the dome has been observed
to be opened, on a fine sun-shiny day, " to the extent
of an inch, in order, probably, to forward the hatching
of the eggs in the interior, but on the approach of
night, this was carefully covered in again. It was
remarkable that the opening which we have just men-
tioned was never used by the bees for either their

entrance or exit from the nest, though they were all at
work here, and of course would havefound it the readiest
and easiest passage. But they invariably made their
exit and their entrance through the covert-way or
gallery which opens at the bottom of the nest, and in
some nests is about a foot long and half an inch wide.
This is, no doubt, intended for concealment from
field-mice, pole-cats, wasps, and other depredators."
— Insect Architecture, page 66.

The parent Bombus, having thus founded the nest,
formed a certain number of cells, and deposited her
eggs therein, and seen the birth of some of her
offspring, dies. The eggs first deposited produce
only neuters, which assist their mother in her labours,
but the female afterwards deposits male and female
eggs. The females produced from these eggs attain a
size larger than the workers, although smaller than
the parent. Like the neuters they join in the com-
mon works of the nest ; and like their parent becomo
fruitful, by impregnation by the males, *born at the
same time as themselves, which are also smaller than
those males produced at the end of the summer. It
may be asked, whether the development of these
females is attributable to peculiar food, as is the case
with the royal jelly of the queen bees ; but this
question, although analogy induces us to answer it in
the affirmative, owing to the difficulties of observation
of the internal economy of the nests of the Bombits
is at present undecided, notwithstanding the investi-
gations of various observers ; as the humble-bees,
unlike the hive-bees, refuse to remain in experimenting
boxes or glass cages prepared for their reception, but
return to their own quarters, so that we are obliged
in making a consecutive series of observations to have
recourse to the opening, from time to time, of natural
nests, a proceeding of danger, owing to the infuriation
and powerful stings of the insects.

The community now increases in proportion to
the number of young, middle-sized females ; the
number of males rapidly augmenting, leading to the
supposition that the former only gave birth to these
individuals ; but at the end of August, several females,
varying in number from three to eight, according to
St. Fargeau, are produced, which are destined to
survive the winter after impregnation, and become
the respective foundresses of fresh communities.
The males which are their partners are also of larger
size than their elder brethren, being born at the same
time as the larger females.

The tongue of the humble-bee is organised for
the gathering of honey, in the same way as that of
the hive-bee, with this difference, that in the former
it is furnished, near the tip, with a great number of
long hairs, forming a brush, enabling the insect to
collect a much greater quantity of honey at a time.
On arriving at a flower, the bee unfolds its proboscis, in
the manner which we have described in our article BEE ;
and removes with the elongated lobes of its maxilla3,
and its labial palpi, the petals and stamens, so as to
enable it to insert its tongue into the nectary without
obstruction ; the nectar, thus gathered, ascends by
the O3sophagus into the stomach, and is then purified.

It some times, however, happens, that the bee
selects a flower having a longer tube than its own

*Some authors assert that the young small females are born
long before the smaller males, and yet deposit eggs which pro-
duce only males, from which it would appear, as Huber asserts,
that, as iu the Aphides, a single impregnation is sufficient for
more than a single generation.

DDD2

788

proboscis, so that it is not enabled to reach the nec-
tary ; but this difficulty does not intimidate the Bom-
but, for, from a series of recent observations, made
both in this country and in France, it is certain, that
the humble-bee has the instinct to alight upon the
base of the flower, gnaw a hole through it with its
jaws, and thus extract the honey. When it has
taken its fill of this delightful beverage, it returns
home, where it has duties to perform ; for instead of
using the honey thus gathered for its own nourish-
ment, it carefully explores the cells to discover the
fitness of them, and then inserting its head and part
of its thorax into one of them, it unfolds its tongue,
compresses the wings of its body, and disgorges From
its mouth the honey, clear and bright. The hairiness
of the body of the bee renders the collection of pol-
len an easy matter, and it is no uncommon thing to
see a humble-bee come out of a scarlet poppy, a per-
fect sweep, entirely covered with the black farina ; or
out of a holly-hock, with his jacket as white as a
miller's : this pollen is afterwards gathered together
in lumps and deposited in the pollen plates, upon the
posterior tibix, by the assistance of the pollen brushes,
the structure of which is similar to those of the hive-
bee, only we here observe one of those remarkable
and interesting facts, which so amply prove the truth
of the saying, " natura maxime in rninimis observanda."
The female hive-bee takes no share in the labours of
the hive ; they do not possess pollen plates, which
would, of course, be useless to them ; but the female
Bombi, which join with the neuters in all the labours
of the nest, are like them furnished with pollen
plates. And it is owing to this necessity existing for
the social good of the community, that the female
Bombi ex'.iibit none of that savage ferocity towards
each other, which we have seen to exist in the queen of
the hive against even the nymphs of a supposed rival.
When fully established, a nest generally contains
fifty or sixty individuals ; but Reaumur counted one
hundred and fifty empty cells in one nest ; and oc-
casionally, but very rarely, the number of inhabitants
are stated to amount to two or even three hundred ;
and now it is that a division of labour takes place.
Some take the duty of increasing the size of the nest,
and, for this purpose, unite in bringing moss to the
nest, just as we see labourers digging stone from
quarries, and wheeling it one by one in barrows for
short distances, and then consigning it to the next of
their companions. In like manner, a file of bees,
sometimes amounting to half-a-dozen, is formed be-
tween the nest and the heap of moss, the heads of
the bees being turned from the nest, and towards the
moss. The bee nearest to the moss seizes and de-
taches a piece with its jaws, and rolls it into a little
bundle with its fore-legs, which it pushes under its
belly and passes to the next bee, and so on until it
reaches the nest. Others now construct pillars of
wax, supporting the columns ; others prepare the
food and feed the grubs ; others see to the neatness
of the nest, removing all useless things from its in-
terior ; and others go abroad to collect honey and
pollen, with which they return loaded, and deposit it
in the cells. Some, however, probably males, appear
to be less solicitous in working, and more disposed to
enjoy themselves with the good things of this life.
To use the words of Rusticius, " the humble-bees OH
a sun-flower are very odd mannered. They get as
drunk as Bacchus or Silenus ; then they get as sleepy
as Morpheus, and cross as Cerberus ; if you touch

HUMBLE PLANT.

one, he leans on one side, cocking up the opposite
legs into the air, and plays divers other antics, till,

with his various trials to show that he is sober and
able to fight and defend himself, he sidles, staggers,
rolls, and falls to the ground, and there lays on his
back till he has slept himself sober."

Bombus lapidarius, a, mandible of the male; b, mandible of
the female.

It only remains to notice the distinctions by which
the sexes of these insects may be known, by persons
desirous of observing their economy. The males are
of the middle size, but vary in this repect at different
periods of the year, as above stated ; their jaws are
narrow, and terminated by two teeth, and on the
outside they are clothed with long hairs ; moreover,
their colours are occasionally different from the indi-
viduals of the other sex. The females are the largest
inhabitants of the nests ; the foundress bee being also
larger than any other female subsequently produced ;
the jaws in this sex are very broad, and spoon-
shaped. The neuters, of which, according to Reau-
mur, there are two sizes, are either as large as the
males, or much smaller ; these have the jaws simi-
larly constructed to those of the females, so that it is
difficult to distinguish them, except by their size, and
it appears to us thence probable, that the description
of the larger neuters given by Reaumur is applicable
rather to the early produced and smaller females, and
which is confirmed by the statement of Huber, that
many of the spring workers couple with the early
summer males, a fact which the organization of the
former would necessarily prevent, if, as we must
infer, the analogy between the neuter hive, and
humble, bee exist in all its circumstances.

It is a curious circumstance, that a group of bees,
having all the appearance, and indeed general struc-
tural characters of the humble-bees, are destitute, as
Mr. Kirby first observed, of any apparatus for car-
rying masses of wrought pollen upon their hind-
legs, "the females and neuters of these apes exhibiting
those characters which are peculiar to the males of
the rest of the family. I suspect that they nidificate
underground." Kirby Mon. Ap. Augh. i. 210. These
bees have subsequently been formed into a distinct
genus, under the name of Psithyrus, St. Farg., and it is
now supposed by hymenopterists, that they are par-
asitic in their habits, in which respect the possession
of neuters (which have never yet been described in
any of the species) would be contrary to nature, and
it will be observed that their nidification under
ground rests only upon the suspicion of Mr. Kirby,
expressed more than thirty years ago, but which has
never yet been confirmed.

HUMBLE PLANT is the Mimosa pudica of
Linnaeus. The movements of the leaves and leaflets
of these vegetables, upon the slightest touch, have
always excited attention, but the immediate cause has
hitherto buffted all philosophers to explain satisfac-

HUMEA-HUM MING-BIRD.

789-

torily. The leaflets of the Mimosa sensitiva collapse
when touched, but the entire leaves of the pudica
suddenly drop.

HUME A (Smith). A very elegant plant intro-
duced into Europe from New South Wales. It is a
biennial, and belongs to the natural order Composifce.
It is not the flowers, but the elegantly pendent posi-
tion of its attenuated branches, which makes the
plant so much admired.

HUMMING-BIRD (Trochiliu). A genus, or
according to some naturalists, a family of tenuirostral,
or slender-billed birds, having the feet anisoductylic, or
the two outer toes united at their base, and articulated
so as to form in some respects a kind of secondary
or supplemental foot, which holds on laterally against
t lie other two toes ; while these hold on against each
other. Thus the foot takes hold two ways ; and the
owner of it can run in almost any direction upon the
bolls and branches of trees. This is the foot of the
creepers which are so well known for the remarkable
manner in which they run up and down and round
and round the trees in our own forests. But the hum-
ming-birds, though they all have this description of
foot, have it in less perfection than the creepers,
because these feed mostly when using their feet, and
the humming-birds are in a great measure wing birds.

They are a most singular genus or group, resem-
bling slightly the nectar suckers of the eastern con-
tinent, but still vastly different from them in almost
every respect ; and different indeed from all known
birds. They are the smallest of the feathered tribe,
some being not much more than half-an-inch in length ;
they are the most beautiful in the texture and colours
of their plumage ; for no matter and no other sub-
stance can come up to the richness of their tints, or
the glowing brilliancy of their metallic reflections.
They are the most active of all known birds, exceed-
ing in this respect even the swifts, they are still more
powerfully winged, in proportion to their size, than
these are ; and there are no birds which have the
sternum and the bones which give firmness to the
shoulder more finely developed. In fact, the whole
of their energy is concentrated upon this part of their
organization, and their different styles of flight are all
equally vigorous. Suspended in the air, and hovering
over a flower, their wings move with so much rapid-
ity that they are not seen, except as gleams of light
•of different colours, but all radiant, as the beams of
the sun take them at those angles at which they give
out their different lustres ; and while the rapid motion
of the wings thus renders them invisible, except as
gleams of light playing around the little body of the
bird, they make a sound similar to that of the hum-
ming produced by the wings of bees and other
insects ; and it is on account of this, that they get
their English name of humming-birds. They can
hover about in this way for a considerable time ; and
this rapid motion of the wings, when hovering, appears
to give them an impetus for flight, in like manner as
a similar, though slower motion, gives an impetus to
eagles and other birds of prey, which stoop with
great rapidity through the air. In consequence of
the impetus thus given, the humming-birds can in an
instant dart from one place to another, upwards,
downwards, or laterally, without any apparent effort.
When they take longer flights, they do not fly on a
level with steady wing, but describe a series of flat
arches, each arch appearing as if it were a separate
leap iu the air.

They are exclusively birds of the American con-
tinent, and in the rich and warm districts within the
tropics, they swarm as numerously as flies do in sum-
mer in the forests of Lapland or Canada. The known
species amount to several hundreds ; and as their
native localities are not easily explored, the unknown
species may be very numerous. Individually, they
absolutely swarm and people the whole atmosphere
with the most brilliant, though minute glories of the
living world, which are at the same time in a state
of wonderful activity ; they are not confined to
America, within the tropics, nor to the low and warm
parts of the tropical countries ; though every where
they are more numerous, and in greater variety, in
proportion as the place is more warm and fertile.
Some, however, are found high upon the table lands,
and slopes of the mountains, where the climate is not
only temperate, but absolutely cold ; others range as
far southward as the strait of Magellan, and pro-
bably, also, into Terra-del- Fuego, while others again
are found to the north of Canada, as high as the
fifty-seventh parallel of north latitude ; while on the
west side of North America they reach to latitudes
still higher. Nor must it be supposed, that even in
this cold latitude they are at all out of their place or
their element ; for when Captain King was surveying
the coast of the extreme south of America, he found
large flocks of humming-birds flying about, appa-
rently at their ease, in the middle of a snow storrn.

The texture of their plumage is indeed as worthy of
attention as the tints of colour, and the brilliant
metallic reflections ; for though they are very little
birds in all the species, and not larger than humble-
bees in the most minute one, their plumage is exceed-
ingly compact, and probably forms a better defence
against alternations of heat and cold, and of drought
and moisture, than that of any other birds whatever.
The individual feathers arc beautifully formed ; and
more compactly laid than those of any others, if we
except the under parts especially, of those birds which
are almost constantly in the water without ever get-
ting wetted. But as it would greatly exceed our
limits to describe minutely, or even to enumerate,
half or even a tenth of the species, we must observe
some method in giving brief, general notices of those
parts of the structure which come most into action,
and may be considered as most characteristic of the
whole genus.

The wings claim our first attention, as they are
most continually and most vigorously in use. Of the
birds in our own country they most nearly resemble
the wings of the swifts, but they are more curved than
these, and the birds can perform more evolutions on
the wing. The closed wings generally extend beyond"
the point of the tail, unless where that organ has pro-
duced feathers, which it has in some of the species.
The first quill is always the longest in the wing ; and
the other primary quills shorten gradually to the last
one. The secondary quills are generally speaking
very short ; and the* wings are not so much loaded
with coverts as they are in most birds. The strength
and stiffness of the wing are produced by the struc-
ture of the quills themselves. The shafts of these
are always very strong and elastic ; and in some
of the species the basal part of the shaft is so much
enlarged, that its diameter nearly equals the breadth
of the inner web. There is a sort of curvature in
the shaft, too, which, in the case of a violent strain
against the air, throws each quill partly under the one

HUMMING-BIRD.

fallowing it, so that all the rest of the quills act, in
some sort, as coverts to the first ones. The webs of
the quills are very closely set, and so completely
hooked together, that while the bends of the shafts
make openings, through which the air is admitted
when the wing is rising, the descending wing strikes
the air as if it were a solid. It is this peculiarity of
the wings which enables the birds to work them with
so much rapidity, when hovering, and which makes
them proceed in those arches to which we formerly
alluded, when they are upon long flight. The stroke
which is given at the commencement of each arch is
too vigorous for merely carrying the bird onward in
level flight, and thus there is an ascending motion at
the first, something like that of a bullet fired at a
small elevation, and no new effort is required until
the end of the arch is arrived at, when a similar stroke
carries the bird along another.

The tail, in birds of this genus, is generally power-
ful ; and it has all the varieties of termination which
can well be imagined. It is pointed, rounded, squared,
forked, very broad, and much produced in some of
the species, and consists of very few feathers, not
more than six, in some of the others. In every spe-
cies, however, the fea'hers are of the same firm
character as those of the wings, and the tail itself is
capable of a good deal of motion. It will be borne
in mind that the tail of a bird, though often described
as a rudder by which the bird is enabled to wheel
and turn in the air, answers a very different our-
pose, namely, that of ascent and descent ; and we
shall afterwards see that humming-birds require to
use a great deal of this kind of motion.

The bill is, in all the genera, long and slender; but
it has always a good deal of the insectivorous charac-
ter, though not of the character of those bills which
are used for catching prey while the bird flies open-
mouthed, as is done by the swallow tribe, and the
goat-suckers, or nocturnal swallows. In some of the
species the portion of the bill toward the point is
armed in both mandibles with small teeth sloping
backwards ; but these do not extend to the extremity
of the bill, which is always very sharp pointed, and
sometimes curved downwards at the tip of the upper
mandible, and slightly upwards at that of the lower
one. In almost all the species the upper mandible is
sufficiently broad for overlapping, and partially sheath-
ing the under one. The general form of the bill,
though always slender, and nearly of an equal thick-
ness throughout, with the exception of the tip, which
is usually very sharp and keen, varies considerably.
Systematic naturalists have sometimes divided the
birds into two sections, those which have the bill
straight, and those which have it crooked ; but it
does not appear that very much useful information
can be derived from this division ; because we are
not acquainted with any peculiarity in the habits of
the bird which depends on the straightness or curva-
ture of the bill. Besides, some of them have the
bill curved downwards, as most crooked bills are ;
others have it curved upwards at the point ; and
others again have it curved a little downwards in
the basal part, and then upwards again at the tip.
Nor is even this all ; for the teeth in the mandibles
are found in some of the straight-billed species, and
al<o in some of those with crooked bills ; which last
circumstance would lead us to believe that both forms
are made use of for catching exactly the same kind
of food, though probably not for getting at it in the

same kind of places. It really does seem, therefore,
that the most rational way of dealing with this differ-
ent shape of the bill, at least until we shall be better
acquainted with the habits of the birds, is to regard
it simply as one of the specific characters. It is much
the same with those other foundations upon which
the genus has been broken down into more minute
divisions ; — a mode of proceeding which certainly
renders the history of the genus a little more intri-
cate, and therefore more perplexing to learners and
common readers ; but other than this left-handed sort
of merit, it appears to possess none. A difference in
the form of an organ is a useful distinction, in all cases
where we can take the difference of function and pur-
pose in the organ along with us ; and there may be
cases in which a difference of structure may be an ex-
cellent guide to the difference of purpose ; but this
does not hold in such cases as the one under conside-
ration. If we leave out- the distinction of being
toothed or not toothed in the edges, the bills of all
humming-birds resemble each other in their texture,
and in the nature of their cutting edges ; and there-
fore we may naturally enough conclude that the lead-
ing work to be done is nearly the same in the case of
them all ; and that the differences in shape relate to
certain variations in the places whence the birds obtain
their food ; and these can be found only by observa-
tion, which has not yet been made ; and therefore
there is no room for speculation upon the subject.

The tongue of the humming-birds is rather a sin-
gular instrument ; and it resembles the tongues of
woodpeckers more than those of any other birds.
It is protrusile and retractile, or can be darted beyond
the extremities of the mandibles and drawn back
again. This is effected by a muscular apparatus not
very different from that which gives the same kind of
action to the tongue of the woodpeckers. It should
seem also that, in some cases at least, the tongue is
furnished with barbs very similar to those in the
woodpeckers. This tongue is described as consist-
ing, in many of the species at least, of two muscular
tubes, .which are united together for the greater part
of their length, but open towards the point of the
tongue, and form something resembling a pair of small
forceps. The muscular fibres of those hard tubes
are placed in a sort of spiral manner, so that when
they act, they lessen the diameter of the tube, but
increase its length, and this with a degree of rapidity
proportional to their number. So that this tongue
has not exactly the same texture as the tongue of the
woodpecker, nor does it appear that they contain
bone and cartilage as that tongue does. It is pro-
bable, also (for the point has not been investigated
with much care), that the barbels upon the tongue
are not composed of so hard a matter.

In no case, however, does it appear that their
tongue is, or indeed can be, an instrument of suction ;
and indeed we know of no animal in which the tongue
alone can perform this office ; and of no sucker in
any animal which is composed of a single piece.
Every sucker must act something upon the same
principle as a common sucking pump, and, like that,
it must have one part in which the vacuum is
formed, and another by which it is to be formed.
Thus the humming-bird could not suck with the
tongue unless the mandibles answered the first of
these purposes ; and they are not adapted for any
such use, but are simply a prehensile instrument,
by means of which the food is seized in some in-

HUMMING-BIRD.

stances, while the protrusile tongue, no doubt, seizes
it in others ; but whether by means of any viscid
secretion, as in the tongue of the woodpecker among
birds, and in the tongues of many of the insect-eat-
ing mammalia and reptiles, has not been ascertained ;
but it is probable that in those cases where the tongue
is forked or formed ii.to a kind of forceps, there may
be a prehensile instrument, which assists in catching
the food beyond the reach of the mandibles.

Whatever may be the fact with regard to those
minor points, and whatever may be the curvature and
structure of the vomer, or cutting edges, there is not
the least doubt that the bill of the humming-birds is
decidedly an insectivorous bill ; and that it no more
sucks any liquid substance, than the bill of the god wit
sucks the ooze and mud which it simply searches for
any little animals that may be contained in it. Thus
when we come to examine the bills of those very
beautiful and highly interesting little birds, the first
thing that we are compelled to do is to demolish the
whole of that fine structure of poetic fancy which
goes about to feed them on the nectar or sweet matter
in the bottoms of the flower cups or tubes of those
plants among which the birds sport about with so
much liveliness and brilliance ; and into which they
are ever and anon plunging their bills, and their heads
and necks up to the very wings. They do not feed
upon this nectar, unless, perhaps, they take up a por-
tion of it along with that which constitutes their prin-
cipal food. But though the birds do not feed directly
on any part or product of the flowers, they do so indi-
rectly in many instances ; for the land of humming-
birds is in an especial manner also the land of insects ;
and though some of the winged insects are larger
than the birds themselves, there are countless thou-
sands of others which are exceedingly minute. Of
these a vast number of species are found sporting in
the air ; while others are on the leaves, and espe-
cially in the flower?, with which the forests of
America so much abound. The central forests ot that
country are festooned with an endless number of
climbing plants, usually having the flowers, more or
less, bell or trumpet-shaped, many of them of large di-
mensions and of the most splendid colours ; and these
flower-cups are turned in every imaginable direction,
upwards, downwards, or obliquely ; and not a few
of them have a curvature in the narrow part of the
tube. Thus bills which are long and slender, and
also which have various kinds of curvature, are re-
quired for getting at whatever substances fit for birds'
food may happen to be in those tubes ; but from the
sharp tips of the bill, and the other circumstances
connected with these organs which we have men-
tioned, this food must be something more solid than
any sw.eet liquid that may be contained in such lubes ;
and we believe that many of them are not very remark-
able for their sweetness.

An examination of the deep cups of flowers in this
country will help us to what really is to be found in
these cups ; and when we consider the difference
between the one country and the other, and that
the air of those places of America literally teems with
life down to a minuteness, to which the eye is not
able to follow it, we can easily see what it is that the
birds seek in those gay blossoms ; for it is, and must
be, the small insects which take up their abode there.

lliiuiming-birds are, as we have said, exceedingly
numerous ; and \^ is a general law in nature, that.
rvcry production which is native in any locality, is of

value in the economy of the whole in proportion to
its abundance. We find the trees and the ground
between very amply furnished with birds ; and also
with mammalia, ad'apted for keeping down the vast
production of larger insects which is found there ;
and it is natural to suppose that there should be birds
fitted for performing the same operation on the
flowers which festoon and adorn those mighty forests ;
nor could we very readily imagine a race of creatures
better fitted for the performance of this duty than the
humming-birds are ; they are light ; they are very
powerful in the wing; their plumage can hardly be
ruffled ; and their powers of action are very great.
On these accounts they do not prey on any part of
the splendid flowers which adorn their haunts, but
are on the other hand the most efficient conservators
of them that can well be imagined ; and as the flowers
are in very great variety, as well as in countless num-
bers, just so are the birds, and their sizes, and the
different shapes of their bills ; there is no flower of
which they have not complete command, at the same
time that their powerful wings bear them from place
to place without any apparent fatigue. The Bignoni-
aceae, or trumpet-flower family, are among the plants
of which those birds appear to have especial care ,
and if the reader will turn to the article BIGNONIACE^E,
and the plate with the same title, he will form at least
some idea of the form of the flowers of which the
humming-birds appear to take especial care. Some
of these, which are climbers, are plains of great beau-
ty, with very handsome flowers ; and they are capa-
ble of making their way to the summits of lofty rocks,
and the tops of tall trees ; and when the side of an
opening in a forest, or the face of a rock, is festoon-
ed over with them, arid the humming-birds are then
in all their activity, multitude, and vaiiety, it is riot
easy to imagine a finer sight. Some of these plants
will grow as far to the northward as the middle States
of America ; and there are some, also, which can be
trained on a wall in the open air in this country ; but
still their head quarters are in the forests of central
America, both on the main land and in the islands.
In those places, the sun is never far from being
directly over head at mid-day, and sometimes it is
exactly so ; so that if we suppose the face of the
forest or precipice to be turned either to the north
or to the south, it will have the benefit of the sun from
the time of its rising in the morning to that of its set-
ting at night, only the projections of the different
festoons will produce a continual variation of light
and shade upon it. In this perpetually varying light
upon the splendid and beautiful vegetation, the hum-
ming-bird can sport on the wing, and pursue the
labour for which they are appointed during the live-
long day ; and their appearance in numbers at such
a place makes it appear as if gems of greater bril-
liancy than those of all the kings of the earth were
floating about in wanton mazes through the air.

We need hardly advert a second time to the feet
of these birds, because we have already hinted at
their general structure. They are, like the feet of
the swifts, small and weak, as compared with the or-
gans of flight ; but this is true to that system of wise
economy, which nature shows throughout all her
works, for the feet are seldom used except for the
purpose of repose. In this respect there is a consi-
derable difference between them and the feet of the
swifts ; and there is a corresponding; difference be-
tween the kind of surface and substance to which

HUMMING-BIRD.

they are applied. Neither of the birds alight much,
if at all, upon the ground ; but the swift's foot is adapt-
ed for clinging to inequalities in the surfaces of
stones and walls, and not for perching upon trees,
which the swift never does. The foot of the hum-
ming-bird is on the other hand decidedly a perching
foot, and they always alight and repose upon trees,
bushes, or vegetables of some description or other ;
and it is said that some of them repose suspended by
the claws, with the head undermost, which is the
position of sleep among some of the climbing birds,
and also of the bats and sloths among mammalia.

Small as these birds are, they are exceedingly bold
and pugnacious, attacking not only birds many times
their own size, but offering battle to man himself, when
he ventures to invade their nesting places. If the
nest is approached while the female is sitting, she will
fly out, and dart across the intruder with great rapid-
ity, and utter the same sort of sound as a bee does
when it menaces an attack in passing. If no direct
injury is offered to the nest, the female returns to it
in a very short time, and does not again quit it until
a new movement is made by the observer. They
are, indeed, very little afraid either of birds or of the
near presence of man, under any circumstances ; and
they have no great occasion to fear, because when
they are strongly excited, their motion on the wing
is so rapid, that the small ones especially can hardly
be seen. They may be heard, however, for they
utter a sort of scream, not very unlike the screech of
the swifts, but considerably more shrill and piercing.
From the small prey upon which they feed, their
sight must be very keen ; and as the sight of long
billed birds is never so microscopic as that of short
billed ones, they probably see at greater distances
than at first thought we would be apt to suppose.
They are said to aim at the eyes of those birds which
they attack ; and in this way their attacks must be
much more formidable than their size would lead us
to believe, because the point of their weapon is ex-
ceedingly keen, and they drive onward with so much
velocity, that one stroke of it, taking full effect, would
be sufficient to quench the sight of an eagle. Their
pugnacity is not by any means confined to those'birds
and other animals from which they apprehend annoy-
ance ; for the males, at least those of the sume
species, fight desperately whenever they meet. On
these occasions they appear to be in a state of the
greatest excitement, with every muscle of their bodies
in the most intense action ; and though their combats
are carried on in the air only, they seldom give over
till one falls to the ground "exhausted, wounded, or
dead.

The nests of birds which are so numerous, and dif-
fer so much from each other, may be supposed to
vary considerably in their sizes in proportion to
that of the bird ; and rather more than half an
inch in diameter may be taken as about the smallest.
It is always neatly constructed, but the mate-
rials vary in different localities, even with the same
species. The eggs are of course small, but not so
small in proportion to the size of the bird as the eggs
of many other genera ; the hatches are understood
not to be numerous, two and sometimes only one
being the number of eggs usually found in the nests ;
but they breed with a rapidity unknown in the case
of almost any other birds, the time of sitting being
about ten days, and the young being able to leave the
nest in a week after they break the shell. It is not

known, however, whether all the species come for-
ward in the same short time, for the nests of compara-
tively few have been carefully examined. All that
have been examined, have been found placed on trees,
bushes, or vegetables of some sort or another, at a
considerable elevation above the ground. One in-
stance is mentioned of a humming-bird being taken
on her nest in Jamaica, and brought on board ship.
She was tame, allowing herself to be fed with honey,
and survived until she hatched her two young ones,
but died soon after, probably for want of the proper
kind of food. The young survived their mother, and
they were fed on the same substance as their mother
had been, which was then understood to be their pro-
per, and indeed their only food ; and perhaps this
also may have been the cause why they did not live
long after their arrival in England. In those coun-
tries, however, in which they are abundant, all at-
tempts at keeping in a domestic state, for any length
of time, have completely failed ; and it is natural to
suppose that such should be the case with birds which,
in a state of nature, are inhabitants of the free air ;
and, at the same time, so very excitable as these little
creatures unquestionably are. That they, or at least
some of the species of them, can brave the severity
of the weather in both extremities of America, we
have direct proof ; and as some also have been met
with very near the line of snow in central America,
perfectly at home, and not appearing to feel any in-
convenience, we may naturally suppose that they also
can bear a climate which is cold all the year round,
at least during the night, while the heat of the sun
beats strongly during the day, which is perhaps the
severest of all climates.

Central America is, however, their proper place ;
and it seems to be something connected with the
character of the vegetation which makes it so. We
have evidence of this when we contrast North America
with the southern part of South America ; for there has
been only one or two species of humming-bird observed
to the northward of the Gulf of Mexico, or 30° north
latitude, while there are a good many not only under
the same parallel in South America, but 20° farther
to the southward. Now the character of North
American vegetation, and also that of the seasons,
ceases to be tropical at no great distance northward
of the Gulf of Mexico ; while in South America the
tropical character continues almost, if not altogether,
to the very southern extremity. Still, however, we
are not in possession of sufficient data for enabling
us to determine in a satisfactory manner why this
very singular genus of birds is found in the American
continent only, and in no other quarter of the world ;
for though, as we have said, there is some analogy
between them and the nectar suckers of the eastern
continent, that analogy is very slight, and does not
establish a single important character as common to
the two races. There is no such energy of character
about that bird, or almost indeed about any bird,
which is so great in proportion to its size, as that of
the humming-birds ; and until we go to the insect-
tribes, which have internal muscles acting to the
greatest possible advantage, to an advantage indeed
w hich cannot be obtained in the muscular structure of
any animal possessing an internal skeleton, we have
no instance of so great strength accompanying such
diminutive size as we find in the humming-birds.

These curious little birds are not more remarkable
for the extreme brilliancy of the plumage, than they

HUMMING-BIRD.

793

are for the singular production of supplemental fea- [
thers, not absolutely requisite either for clothing or
for flight, which grow from different parts of their
bodies, but chiefly from some part or parts of the
head or neck. Those feathers growing from the
sides of the head, lengthened and stiff, are sometimes
so long as to have the appearance of an additional
pair of wings, but they are, of course, without any
muscles, by which they can be moved to any extent ;
and thus they can answer no purpose, save that of a
parachute in breaking a fall, which, in birds of so
little weight, and so powerfully winged, is not very
necessary. These feathers are, we believe, found
chiefly, if not exclusively, on the males ; and the pro-
bability is, that in many cases, at least, they are nup-
tial ornaments, for we find corresponding feathers,
though seldom so much developed as some of these
appear, upon the males of many other birds about the
commencement of the pairing season, which drop off
again after that season is over. But as the humming-
birds, in tropical countries at least, breed more fre-
quently than almost any other birds, therefore with
them the season of love occupies a great part of
the year, and they in consequence wear their livery
in gorgets, crests, ruffs, or ear-tufts, that is, produced
feathers issuing from the ear-coverts ; and those fea-
thers, which are generally of some very brilliant co-
lour, are peculiar in their texture and shape, each of
them standing out like a thin but compact scale,
which is well defined in its margins, and not easily
ruffled.

As we can afford only a very brief synopsis, inter-
spersed with one or two descriptions of such species
as have been observed and described with the great-
est care, we shall follow the sub-division into five
sub-genera, or sub-families, merely for the purpose of
breaking the enumeration into shorter portions ; for
the distinctions of those sub-divisions are so perfectly
artificial, and unconnected with any well established
difference of habit in the birds, that they are of no
use in promoting the rational knowledge of them.

SUIJ-DIVISION I. — Trochilus. These have the bill
very straight, with only the tips of the mandibles
slightly bent ; the tail of moderate length, and either
square or rounded at the extremity. This sub-divi-
sion is mostly confined to the tropical parts of Ame-
rica, but they occur on the islands to the eastward,
and also to the westward of the main land ; and one
at least has been met with on the Island of Juan Fer-
nandez, which is nearly five hundred miles distant
from the shore, and another species has been observed
as far to the northward as California.

SUPERB HUMMING-BIRD (T. sitperbuz). This spe-
cies inhabits the island of Trinidad, and in all proba-
bility the adjacent parts of the country. It is bright
blue on the top of the head, brilliant purple red on
the throat, bordered with a white margin, from which
the colour gradually passes into pale grey on all the
under part of the body ; while the upper parts are
golden green, with rich metallic reflections. The
tail is rounded, and has the tip of the exterior fea-
ther on each side white. It is seen in the woods,
but not very common, and nothing is known of its
manners.

AZURE-CROWNED HUMMING-BIRD (T. quadricolor).
This is a very beautiful species, and found chiefly
in Brazil, which may be considered as the head quar-
ters of the humming-birds. The total length is about
three inches and three-quarters ; the bill is very

straight, rather enlarged at the base, and of a bright
yellow colour for the greater part of its length, but
black at the tip ; the upper part of the head is covered
with a cap of very brilliant blue, extending from the
bill to the neck, and passing in a straight line imme-
diately under the eyes ; the upper part of the body is
of a brilliant golden green, and the under part, includ-
ing the under coverts of thr> tail, pure white ; the wings
are purplish brown, and very long and falchion
shaped ; the tail feathers are greenish on their upper
surface, and purplish brown on their under, and they
are very compact and strong ; the tarsi are very
short, but the toes are furnished with claws of consi-
derable length. The young birds have the colours
much less pure than the adults. It does not appear
that the male of this species has produced feathers
upon any part during any season.

WHITE-STRIPKD HUMMING-BIRD (T. mesolcucos}.
This is also a Brazilian species, though it may be
found in other parts of South America. The mark-
ing from which it gets its name consists of a white
stripe extending from the throat, along the middle of
the under part ; another, which is slightly crescent-
shaped, immediately under the eye ; and a third,
much less defined, on the turn of the wing. It is ra-
ther a large and stoutly made species, being between
four and live inches in length, of which the bill, which
is very straight, occupies between a third and a fourth ;
the feathers on the head are scale shaped, and of a
greenish colour ; the throat is purplish red, extending
in a point on each side toward the scapulars ; the
upper part and the sides are subdued golden green,
rather more intense on the middle of the back ; the
quills are purplish brown, with a slight greenish tinge ;
and the tail feathers, which are large, and form a
slight fork at the extremity, are brownish green, w ith
a round white spot near the extremity of each feather.
The female resembles the male, except, in having the
throat and sides of the neck greyish white.

DUKE OF RIVOLI'S HUMMING-BIRD (T. Rivo/ii) is
a Mexican species, rather smaller than the last men-
tioned, and having the bill nearly of the same form,
but differing greatly in the colours. The top of the
head is intense blue ; the gorget on the throat eme-
rald green ; the general plumage deep golden jrreen,
remarkable for its varied tints in different lights ; the
gorget is separated from the cap on the head by a line
of the general colour which passes over the eye, but
terminates before it reaches the gape ; the wings are
very long and falchion shaped ; and the tail is very
broad and straight at the termination.

CORA HUMMING-BIRD (T. Cora). A figure of
this species is given in No. 3 of the plate HUM-
MING-BIRDS, from which it will be seen that it is
remarkable for the length of the two middle tail
feathers, which are longer than the body, being three
inches, while that exclusive of the bill is only two ; and
the bill, which is very slender, is less than half an inch
in length. The upper parts are green, the under parts
whitish, the gorget brilliant purple red, and the whole
plumage remarkable for its lustre. This is a Peru-
vian species, having been observed on the west side
of the Andes, between the city of Lima and the shore
of the Pacific.

DOUBLE-CRESTED HUMMING-BIRD (T. cornutiiK}.
This is, perhaps, the most brilliant species of the whole
race, gay as many of the others are. It is a Brazilian
species, found on the elevated plains to the north-
ward of the mountains wcstw arc! of Rio, which are so

794 H U M M I N

rich in gold and precious stones. Its bill is straight ;
the length of the bill and body about two inches, and
that of the tail, which is very pointed, as much more.
The centre of the forehead is covered with scaly
feathers, with very rich metallic reflections of blue and
green ; and from each side of the head in an oblique
line upwards from the eye, there arise six feathers,
which incline forward, and form a very peculiar tuft
upon each side of the head. The brilliance of those
feathers is beyond all possibility of description ; for,
according to the angle at which the light is reflected
from them, they show the colour of every gem and of
every metal when highly polished ; and the transition
from the one to the other of these is so rapid, that it
is impossible to say which is the master colour. The
gorget is a very rich purple, extending backwards
nearly to the middle of the neck, and forming a point
in front which is pendent over the breast. The breast,
the fore part of the belly, the lower sides of the neck,
and the shoulders, are pure white ; the lower part of
the belly and the upper part from the shoulders are
delicate bronze green ; the wings, which are very
long, are bronze brown, as are also the two central
feathers of the tail, but the remaining feathers of the
tail are white. The female wants the produced
feathers, but has the green on the body fully as bril-
liant as the male, and the top of the head a most
intense blue, behind which there is a patch of green
on the nape, separated from the green on the back by
pure while. Both birds are very lightly and elegantly
formed, and, taking them altogether, it is impossible
to imagine creatures possessed of more exquisite and
more varying beauties.

VIOLET-EARED HUMMING-BIRD (T. auritus}. —
Bright green in the upper part, and pure white in
the under, with the exception of the vent feathers,
which are greenish. A tuft of produced violet feathers,
projecting from the ear covert ; a black line from the
gape across the eye, the tail wedge-shaped, with the
extreme feathers white, and the four centre ones very
dark green. The female wants the produced feathers,
and has the under part greyish. This species is found
generally in the northern parts of South America.

VIOLET-TUFTED HUMMING-BIRD ( T. petasophorus}.
This is a Brazilian species, with the general tint of
the plumage golden green in various shades, the wings
brown, and the under tail coverts white. From the
ear coverts there are two tufts of produced feathers
which extend downwards and backwards. Their
colour in some lights is violet, but in others it is golden
green ; the female is of a very intense emerald green.

TUFTED-NECKED HCMMING-BIRD (T. ornatus). —
This is a very singular species, especially in the orna-
mental feathers of the male, which appear in the shape
of a large crest covering the whole upper part of the
head, and in two tufts of produced feathers originat-
ing in the sides of the neck, and in shape and size
bearing some resemblance to vines. We believe it is
the species marked in the plate HUMMING-BIRDS, by
mistake, as T. auratus, which should have been the
last-mentioned species, save one, and named auritus.
The male has the crest and produced feathers of
bright brownish red, with a circular spot of pure
green on the tip of each feather. The throat arid
breast are brilliant green, surrounded by a margin of
chestnut. The upper parts are bronze green, with
blue reflections, the under part purplish green imme-
diately below the chestnut border, and passing into a
deeper tint on the belly. The rump is greyish white ;

G-BIRD.

the centre feather of the tail greenish, and the lateral
ones chestnut red. The female wants the produced
feathers, has the gorget pale chestnut, and the tail
feathers red crossed by a broad bar of green.

THE SHIELDED HUMMING-BIRD (T. scutatus) lias
the forehead and gorget green, with a large tuft of
deep blue feathers of a downy consistency, and tipped
with yellow at the extremities on each side of the
neck. The«e are not found in the female.

DELALAND'S HUMMING-BIRD (T. Delalandii). The
male of this species is one of the most singular of the
whole, especially in the form of its crest, from the
centre of which there rises one long and narrow
feather of a bright blue colour, and white at the tip.
The upper part is bright green, the under part rich
blue, the flanks and sides of the neck grey, and there
is a white spot composed of two or three scalv feathers
over each ear covert. This species is found in Brazil.
There is another species found in the same country
which resembles this one in the form of the crest
on the male, but the colours are different.

STORE'S HUMMING-BIRD (T. Stokeii). This is, per-
haps, one of the most splendid of the w hole tribe ;
and the circumstance of its being found in the remote
island of Juan Fernandez, rendered celebrated by the
romance of Robinson Crusoe, tends to heighten the
interest. If De Foe in forming his romance had been
aware of the existence of this splendid little bird, he
would have, no doubt, turned it to great advantage.
This species is about four inches and a half in length,
of which the body and head occupy about two inches.
The head is adorned with a crest of scaly feathers, of
a rich blue colour, with purple reflections ; the whole
of the upper part from the nape to the tail coverts is
bright emerald green, the feathers scale-shaped, and
increasing in size as they approach the tail, where the
termination of the coverts is well defined. The tail
consists of ten feathers, which are long and remark-
ably strong in proportion to the size of the bird ; the
two middle ones are wholly green, the others are
green on their outer webs, and white on their inner,
except the outer ones, which have only the distal half
of the outer web green. A patch under and behind
the eye is purple with green reflections, and dotted
over with circular spots of metallic lustre, which are
variable from pale pink to deep violet, as the light is
differently reflected. The under part is white, with a
greenish tinge on the chin, and marked all over with
eye-shaped spots of bright emerald green. Alto-
gether the plumage of this bird is exceedingly rich.

VIOLET-CROWNED HUMMING-BIRD ( T. sephanoides}.
This is a migrant species in South America, at least
in the southern parts. It is about four inches long,
rather compactly made ; has the bill straight ; a
flat purple crest on the head ; the upper part golden
green ; the under part yellow on the throat, white on
the sides of the neck, and reddish white on the breast
and belly. The feathers on the fore neck and breast
are scale-shaped, and each of them is marked with a
circular brown spot. These birds, though migrant in
Chili, are described as being very hardy.

RUBY-CRESTED HUMMING-BIRD (T. moschitus),
This is a very common species ; but it is peculiar in
its attitude, and its colouring is exceedingly rich, and
varies greatly in different lights. It is between three
and four inches in length, but stoutly made, and has
the bill long and strong. There is no pioduced crest,
but the feathers on the upper part of the head to the
nape, and also those on the under part of the body

H U M M I N G - B I R U.

795

and .-ides of the neck, are scale-shaped, and remark-
able for the countless number of tints which they dis-
play. The top of the head and neck are well defined
in their contrast with the adjoining- plumage ; but it
is difficult to say what is the real colour ; when the
light is simply reflected, the colour is dull reddish
brown ; when it falls a little slantingly, so as to pro-
duce refraction, the lustre becomes metallic ; and
when the light falls so obliquely as to bring out the
full reflection, the colour is rich ruby red, and the
lustre not inferior to that of the gem. The scaly
feathers on the throat and breast are dull greenish
brown by simple reflection ; but different retractions
bring them up through every tint of golden green to
a fine topaz yellow. The remaining parts are rich
brown, except the vent feathers, which are white.
The wings are purplish brown with faint reflections
of green ; and the tail, which i? very large and
strong, and capable of very extended and rapid
motion, is delicate reddish brown, with a dark cres-
cent-shaped border on the extremity of each feather.
This species is very generally distributed, being found
in almost all the West-India islands, and also gene-
rally over the continental part of tropical America.
It builds a very neat nest, constructed of small bits of
lichen externally, and neatly lined with vegetable
down. The female differs considerably from the male.
It is small, and bright golden green above, with the
two middle feathers of the tail bronze green, and a
bar of the same on the other feathers near their basis,
while the tips, which in the male are darker than the
rest of the feathers, are white in the female. The
female also wants the rich scaly feathers, and is grey-
ish brown on the under part.

MAGNIFICENT HUMMING-BIRD (T. magnificus). The
application of superlative names either to birds or to
flowers is generally rather an unfortunate matter ; for
it very frequently happens that after the finest name
that can be thought of has been given to one species,
another species of far greater beauty is discovered,
to which only a common name can be app'ied. This
is the case with the present species of humming-bird,
which is much inferior, both in form and in plumage,
to many of the others. It is golden green above, the
same colour but much less bright on the under part,
emerald green on the throat, and gorget, and the
crown in the male, which is chestnut for part of its
length, and then white with black tips to the feathers.
The female is without the crest, and has the gorget
chestnut colour. It is a Brazilian species.

RED-NECKED HUMMING-BIRD (T. rufus). This
species is not so brilliant in its general plumage as
some of the others ; but the colours are finely con-
trasted, and the shape of the bird is handsome. The
cap, which reaches only to the top of the head, and
the feathers on the turn of the wings, are green. The
general plumage of the body is salmon colour, fading
into greyish white on the breast. The gorget of
scale-shaped feathers, which extends on each side, of
a brilliant cinnamon red, which varies in different
lights. The female is greenish in the general plu-
mage, except a few spots of cinnamon colour on the
breast.

GOULD'S HUMMING-BIRD (T. Gouldii). This is a
singularly formed and very handsome species, found
somewhere in tropical America, but the particular
locality is not known. In the form of its body and
its ornamental feathers, it resembles the tufted necked
species, which we have already described ; but it is

very different in the colours of its plumage. The
forehead is green, the crest bright red, of a chestnut
tinge, the scaly feathers on the breast very bright,
green, the wings and external feathers of the tail
greyish purple, the back and middle tail feathers
golden green, and the under part dark brownish
green ; the tufts which spring from the sides of the
neck are, however, the most singular parts of the
plumage. They are large, shaped something like the
wings of a butterfly, of a pure white, with the excep-
tion of the tips, which terminate in perfectly circular
spots of brilliant green. These spots form a border
round the under edges of the tufts ; and there are a
few feathers in front, which are much shorter than
those that give shape to the tuft, and unequal in their
lengths, so that they form detached green spots upon
the white ground of the tuft. This species, as is
indeed the case with the greater number, is known
only as a museum specimen ; but it is presumed to
inhabit the same countries as the tufted-necked one,
which it resembles in so many respects.

DUCHESS OF RIVOLI'S HUMMING-BIRD (T. Anna).
This species is an inhabitant of California, and has
only been known for a few years, while its habits are
still" unknown to us. It is not quite three inches and
a half in length, of which the bill and tail make up
nearly one half, so that the body is small. It is a
compact little bird, however, and powerfully winged.
The most characteristic marking is the cap on the
head, which is united to the gorget, with the excep-
tion of a black streak extending from the eye forward
to the gape. This cap descends toward the nape,
is produced in a large lobe on each side of the neck,
and scalloped in the lower margin of the throat. It is
composed of scale-shaped feathers, small at the base
of the bill, but gradually increasing in size to the ter-
mination, where each feather forms a scallop. The
colour is very rich purple red, changing into vari-
ous tints in different lights. The upper parts, includ-
ing the rump and the lesser coverts of the wings, are
bright golden green ; the wings are purplish brown ;
and the tail, which is slightly forked, is brown, with
the exception of the two middle feathers, which are
bronzed green, with bright metallic reflections. The
under part is yellowish white immediately below the
gorget, passing into greenish grey on the belly, and
into whitish on the under tail coverts. Enough of
the manners of the bird are not known for enabling
us to determine whether it is resident in California
all the year round, or only a summer visitant, as the
northern humming-bird is in the United States, and
the other species, which appear farther north on the
west coast of North America, are understood to be.

GOLDEN-GREEN HUMMING-BIRD (T.prasina). This
is a very small species, but it is remarkable for the
intensity of its colour, and the energy of its expres-
sion. The body and tail are about two inches in
length, and the bill is nearly two-thirds of an inch ;.
the wings are long ; the tail is stout, and strongly
supported by coverts; the crown of the head and the
throat and breast are covered with scale-shaped fea-
thers ; and there are produced feathers on the sides
of the neck, consisting of a pointed row downwards
from the eye, and a row of scale feathers from the
base of the bill, passing immediately in front of the
former; then a series of three or four enlarged scale-
shaped feathers turned backward from the gorget as
far as the scapulars. With the exception of the vent
feathers, which are whitish, the whole plumr.ge is of

796

HUMMING-BIRD.

green ; and the middle of the belly is black. The
nest and the habits of the bird are entirely unknown.
RECUR VED-BILLED HUMMING-BIRD (T.recurvirostris).
This is a much more beautiful species than the former,
and the shape of its bill differs still more from that of
the majority of the family. It is longer by nearly
one half, being about three quarters of an inch, while
the entire length is only three inches and a quarter.
Thus the body, exclusive of the tail, is little more
than an inch long. The bill is strong and black,
slightly curved downwards in the basal half of its
length, but recurved upwards, beginning at about one
the same length as the former, only the tail is shorter, j third from the tip. From the beginning of the recur-

a very deep golden green, but brilliant in the lustre,
and varying in different lights from greenish golden
yellow to intense blue. The scaly feathers on the
crest and gorget are the most brilliant. The tarsi
and toes of this species are remarkably small, but very
neatly formed. The female and the young are sup-
posed to be without the rich gorget, and to have the
under part more or less white ; but they are very im-
perfectly known ; and it is not improbable that some
of them have been described as different species.

BLUE AND GRKEN HUMMING-BIRD (T. ci/anejis).
This species is also a native of Brazil, and nearly of

and though not so handsomely formed, it is a stouter
bird. The bill is very nearly straight, of a bright
yellow colour, a little enlarged at the base, and again
near the tip, but with the points of the mandibles
very sharp. The top of the head is dull green, but
in particular lights it changes to the most intense
ultramarine blue. The throat is of varying grey
and blue, according as the light falls. The breast is
nearly the same colours as the top of the head ; the
upper parts are golden green, with reflections of blue
in some lights ; and a streak from the eye to the
shoulder on each side of the neck changes to golden
yellow in some lights. The belly is brownish green ;
the tail feathers blackish blue; and the wings purplish
grey. Nothing whatever is known of the plumage of
the young or the female.

There are two or three other Brazilian species
which resemble, in many respects, one or another of
those last enumerated as inhabiting that country ; but
as they are known only as museum specimens, and
are rare as such, we cannot be certain whether they
are really species or merely some of the others in
different states of plumage. There still remain one
or two species, however, of this division which de-
serve notice, from the peculiar structure of the bill,
which is curved upwards at the tip, nearly in the form
of that of the avocets ; but what particular purpose
this singular form of bill serves in the economy of the
birds has not been ascertained. So far as is known,
they are found only in the Andes, and chiefly in
Peru. They are both rare, and not much is known
of their history. The two differ considerably in the
markings of their colours, and the contour of the head,
and also in the curvature of the bill ; but in size, in
general structure, and in the air and expression of
the body, they are so much alike as to warrant us in
concluding that there is a great similarity in their
manners.

AVOCET-BILI/ED HUMMING-BIRD (T. (IVOCettO). Th'lS

is not a large species, but it is stouter both in the
body and the legs than most of the humming-birds.
It measures about three inches and a half in length,
of which the bill takes up rather more than half an
inch. The bill is very strong for the size of the bird,
of a black colour, straight in the greater part, but
turned upwards at the tip, where both mandibles are
flattened, and very fine and sharp at the points ; the
gape extends far backwards, nearly to the eye, though
under it in position, and indicates that the bird is in
the habit of opening its bill widely for some purpose
or other; the crown of the head, and all the upper
parts generally, including the lesser coverts of the
wings, are golden green, passing into greyish white
along the sides of the neck, the shoulders, and the
flanks ; and backward to the under tail coverts ; the
chin, throat, and upper part of the breast are emerald

vature to within a short distance of the tip, the upper
mandible is furnished on each side with small teeth
reflected backwards, evidently showing that the bill
is formed for seizing some solid substance, probably
insects of some description or other, but of what kind
or in what situation it is not easy to say. The whole
anterior and upper part of the body is brilliant
green, with rich metallic reflections, bluish in the tint
on the upper part, and bright emerald on the throat
and breast. The flanks are also pale golden green,
ending in scallops at their under edge ; and the mid-
dle of the belly is greyish white ; the downy feathers
upon the tibiae and the vent feathers are pure white ;
the tail is long and strong, but wedge-shaped ; they
are of various colours, being golden green in the
middle, bluish at the sides, and showing bright cop-
per or bronze reflections in some lights ; the tarsi and
toes are marked with alternate narrow rings of light
and dark colour ; the wings are very long, and fal-
chion shaped, and of a blackish purple colour. We
shall quote a short passage from Mr. Swainson, with
reference to this and the preceding species. " The
extraordinary formation," says Mr. S., "in the bill of
this beautiful little creature is without parallel in any
land bird yet described, and presents in miniature a
striking resemblance to that of the avocet. It is
almost impossible to conjecture rightly the use of this
singular formation ; but it appears to me not impro-
bable that the principal sustenance of the bird may
be drawn from the pendent bignoniaceae and other
similar plants, so common in South America, whose
corollae are long, and generally bent in their tube ;
the nectar, being at the bottom, could not be reached
either by a straight or curved bill, though very easily
by one corresponding to the shape of the flower.

" Bill black, depressed along the whole length, but
more especially at the tip, which is rounded, thin,
obtuse, and recurved in both mandibles, the under of
which, towards the middle, has a convex swelling,
which gives the recurvature a stronger appearance.
All the upper plumage and body beneath golden
green; from the breast to the vent is a stripe of black
down the middle ; thighs white ; tail even ; the two
middle feathers dull greenish blue, the rest above
obscure coppery brown, but beneath of a rich shining
topaz colour."

SUB-DIYISION II. — Cynanthus. The birds of this
subdivision also have the bill straight, or nearly so ;
but they differ from the former in having the tail very
long and forked. They appear to range over a
greater extent of latitude than those of the first sub-
division.

NORTHERN HUMMING-BIRD (C. colubris). This
species gets its common English name from being
found in situations much more northerly th,an any of
the others. It is the one which was first known in

HUMMING-BIRD.

797

tliis country, from its being so plentiful in North
America; and for a considerable time it was the
humming-bird. It is still the one with whose man-
ners we are best acquainted. Its colours are, golden
green above, golden red on the throat, very fine
purple brown on the wings and tail, and white on |
the under part. It is a very beautiful species ; and j
its whole length, from the tip of the bill to the ex- {
tremity of the tail feathers, is not three inches and a
half. In the southern parts of America it is station-
ary for the whole year ; but it is a much more dis- I
cursive bird than most of its congeners, and ranges
seasonally over a considerable extent of latitude,
breeding as far to the northward as Canada in the j
summer season, but retiring not only from the extreme i
north, but, generally speaking, from the whole country j
northward of the Gulf of Mexico during the winter. |
It makes its appearance in the southern states of j
America about the time of the vernal equinox, but it. is
at least a month later in arriving in the middle states,
and it does not reach Canada till the summer has
commenced. In the middle states it begins to con-
struct its nest about a month after its arrival. The
best description which we have of its manners is, of
course, that given by Wilson, and therefore we shall
not attempt to substitute another in place of it. " The
nest is generally fixed on the upper side of a hori-
zontal branch, not among the twigs but on the body
of the branch itself. Yet I have known instances
where it was attached by the side to an old moss-
grown trunk ; and others, where it was fastened on a
strong rank stalk, or weed in the garden ; but these
cases were rare. In the woods it very often chooses
a white oak sapling to build on ; and in the orchard
garden selects a pear-tree for that purpose ; the
branch is seldom more than ten feet from the ground.
The nest is about an inch in diameter, and about as
much deep ; the outward coat is formed of small
pieces of a small species of bluish grey lichen, that
vegetates on old trees and fences, thickly glued over
with the saliva of the bird, giving firmness and con-
sistency to the whole, as well as keeping out moisture ;
within "this are thick matted layers of the fine wings
of certain flying seeds, closely laid together ; and,
lastly, the downy substance from the great mullein,
and from the stalks of the common fern, lines the
whole. The base of the nest is continued round the
stem of the branch, to which it closely adheres ; and
when from below appears a mere rnossy knot, or
accidental protuberance. The eggs are two, pure
white, and of equal thickness on both sides. On a
person approaching their nest, the little proprietors
dart around with a humming sound, passing frequently
within a few inches of one's head ; and, should the
young be newly hatched, the female will resume her
place on the nest even while you stand within a yard
or two of the spot. The precise period of incubation
I am unable to give ; but the young are in the habit,
a short time before they leave the nest, of thrusting
their bills into the mouths of their parents, and sucking
what they have brought them. I never could per-
ceive that they carried them any animal food, though
from circumstances, which will presently be men-
tioned, I think it highly probable that they do. As
I have found their nests with eggs so late as the 12th
of July, I do not doubt but that they frequently, and
perhaps usually, raise two brood in the same season.

"The humming-bird is extremely fond of tubular
flowers, and I have often stopped, with pleasure, to

observe his manoeuvres among the blossoms of the
trumpet-flower. When arrived before a thicket of
these that are full blown, he poises or suspends him-
self on wing for the space of two or three seconds, so
steadily, that his wings become invisible, or only like
a mist ; and you can plainly distinguish the pupil of
his eye looking round with great quickness and cir-
cumspection ; the glossy golden green of his back,
and the fire of his throat, dazzling in the sun, form
altogether a most interesting appearance. Wrhen he
alights, which is frequently, he always prefers the
small dead twigs of a tree, or bush, where he dresses
and arranges his plumage with great dexterity. His
only note is a single chirp, not louder than a small
cricket or grasshopper, generally uttered while he
passes from flower to flower, or when engaged in
tights with his fellows ; for, when two males meet at
the same bush, or flower, a battle instantly takes place ;
and the combatants ascend in the air chirping, dart-
ing, and circling around each other, till the eye is no
longer able to follow them. The conqueror, however,
generally returns to reap the fruits of his victory. I
have seen him attack, and for a few minutes tease, the
king bird ; and have also seen him, in his turn,
assaulted by an humble-bee, which he soon put to
flight. He is one of those few birds that are univer-
sally beloved ; and amid the sweet dewy serenity of
a summer's morning, his appearance among the ar-
bours of honeysuckles, and beds of flowers, is truly
interesting.

When morning: dawns, and the blest sun again
Lifts his red glories from the eastern main,
Then through our woodbines, wet with jittery dews,
The flower-ted humming-bird his round pursues ;
Sips, with inserted tube, the lioney'd blooin>,
And chirps his gratitude as round he roams ;
While richest roses, though in crimson drest,
Shrink from the splendour of his gorgeous breast.
What hcav'nly tints in mingling radiance fly !
Each rapid movement gives a different dye ;
Like scales of bunnsh'd gold the dux/ling show,
Now sink to shade— now like a furnace glow '.

" The singularity of this little bird has induced many
persons to attempt to raise them from the nest, and
accustom them to the cage. Mr. Capper, of Fairfax
county, Virginia, a gentleman who has paid great
attention to the manners and peculiarities of our native
birds, told me that he raised anil kept two for some
months in a cage, supplying them with honey dis-
solved in water, on which they readily fed. As the
sweetness of the liquor frequently brought small flies
and gnats about the cage and cup, the birds amused
themselves by snapping at them on the wing, and
swallowing them with eagerness, so that these insects
formed no inconsiderable part of their food. Mr.
Charles Wilson Peale, proprietor of the museum, tells
me, that he had two young humming-birds, which he
raised from the nest. They used to fly about the
room ; and would frequently perch on Mrs. Peale's
shoulder to be fed. When the sun shone strongly
into the chamber he has observed them darting at the
motes that floated in the light, as fly-catchers would
after flies. In the summer of 1803, a nest of young
humming-birds was brought me, that were nearly fit
to fly. One of them actually flew out by the window
the same evening, and, falling against a wall, was
killed. The other refused food, and the next morn-
ing I could but just perceive that it had life. A lady
in the house undertook to be its nurse, placed it in
her bosom, and, as it began to revive, dissolved a little
sugar in her mouth, into which she thrust its bill, aud

798

it sucked with great avidity. In this manner it was
brought up until lit for the cage. I kept it upwards
of three months, supplied it with loaf sugar dissolved
in water, which it preferred to honey and water, gave
it fresh flowers every morning sprinkled with the
liquid, and surrounded the space in which I kept it
with gauze, that it might not injure itself. It appeared
gay, active, and full of spirit, hovering from flower to
flower as if in its native wilds, and always expressed,
by its motions and chirping, great pleasure at seeing
fresh flowers introduced into its cage. Numbers of
people visited it from motives of curiosity, and I took
every precaution to preserve it, if possible, through
the winter. Unfortunately, however, by some means
it grot at large, and, flying about the room, so injured
itself that it very soon died.

" This little bird is extremely susceptible of cold,
and, if long deprived of the animating influence of the
Miii-ln'imis droops and soon dies. A very beautiful
male was brought me this season (1806), which 1 put
into a wire cage, and placed in a retired shaded part
of the room ; after fluttering about for some time, the
weather being uncommonly cool, it clung by the wires,
and hung in a seemingly terrified state for a whole
forenoon. No motion whatever of the lungs could
be perceived on the closest inspection, though at
other times this is remarkably observable ; the eyes
were shut, and, when touched by the finger, it gave
no signs of life or motion ; I carried it out to the
open air, and placed it directly in the rays of the sun,
in a sheltered situation ; in a few seconds respiration i
became very apparent, the bird breathed faster and I
faster, opened its eyes, and began to look about with
as much vivacity as ever. After it had completely
recovered, I restored it to liberty, and it flew oft' to
the withered top of a pear-tree, where it sat for '
some time dressing its disordered plumage, and then
shot off like a meteor.

" The flight of the humming-birds, from flower to
flower, greatly resembles that of a bee, but is so much
more rapid, that the latter appears a mere loiterer to
him. He poises himself on wing, while he thrusts his
long slender tubular tongue into the flowers in search
of food. He sometimes enters a room by the window,
examines the bouquets of flowers, and passes out of
the opposite door or window. He has been known
to take refuge in a hothouse during the cool nights
of autumn, to go regularly out in the morning, and to
return as regularly in the evening, for several days
together."

The great extent of country over which this little
creature passes, and the severe and almost incessant
labour it undergoes, considering its very minute size, are ;
not among the least wonderful facts in the whole his- '
tory of animated nature. Upon examining a little more
closely, we find some circumstances connected with
it, which would convince us, if such a conviction were
necessary, that the energy of animals, taken in their
whole economy, is always in proportion to the deve- i
lopment of its circulating system. The heait of this
little bird is perhaps larger in proportion to the whole I
size than that of almost any other animal, in order
that the rapidity of circulation, which is essential j
to the performance of the great and continued mus- i
cular efforts which the bird must make, may be sup- j
ported by a corresponding nervous energy ; the brain I
is also very large in proportion to the size of the bird ;
the stomach, on the other hand, is remarkably small,
equal to a small fraction of the heart only, which

HUMMING-BIRD.

is very different from the relative size of the two or-
gans in the majority of animals. In almost every
specimen of this species which has been observed
with sufficient attention, the stomach has been found
to contain chiefly insects and their remains, which
leaves no doubt as to the principal food of at least
this species of humming-bird. One of the most ex-
traordinary circumstances connected with it, is the
varying colour of the plumage of the throat. We
have mentioned golden red as the general tint, but ac-
cording as the light falls on it, it varies through
every hue, from deep black, in every imaginable
shade of red and green, up to a glow of light, bearing
some resemblance to the white heat of an intense
furnace ; and every one of those countless differences
of colour has the same radiance of metallic mixture.

BLCE-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD (C. Lucifer}.
This is a very beautiful and delicately formed bird,
with the bill very long, and slightly arched. The
upper part is bright yellowish green, passing into
greenish on the flanks, and into a tint nearly white
on the under part of the body, which tint is purest ou
the sides of the neck, and contrasts well with the
hind neck, where the green is deepest. The most
striking character of the bird, however, is the orna-
mental feathers of the male ; these consist of small
ear-tufts of pale feathers directed backward, and not
remarkable for their beauty ; but the gorget under
the throat, hanging down over the front and sides
of the neck, is very splendid : it consists of well de-
fined scale-shaped feathers, rounded at their extremi-
ties, and very neatly imbricated. The medium colour
of these is a very pure bluish violet ; but according
to the refraction of the light, the colour varies from a
fine pink to the most intense ultramarine blue. The
wings are long and falchion shaped, of a brownish
purple colour, and slightly bordered with whitish ; the
tail feathers are nearly of the same colour as the
wings, with the exception of the middle ones, which are
greenish yellow ; the tail is much forked, and the
lateral feathers are sharp pointed, with a little portion
of the inner web, toward the tip, white. This species
has been found in Mexico, but neither the female nor
the nest has been described.

AMETHYST HUMMING-BIRD (C. ametkystinus).
This is a very beautiful species, and has been long
known as a native both of Brazil and of Guiana.
Its bill is long and straight, and its whole form neat ;
the upper parts are bright golden green, and the under
grey, passing into greyish white on the lower part of
the neck, and the under tail coverts. This last colour
forms a sort of crescent round the lower margin of
the gorget, which is composed of very compact scaly
feathers, of a bright amethyst colour ; the tail i»
deeply forked, and the lateral feathers slender and
pointed. This is the marking of the adult male ; but
in the young birds there are considerable varieties of
colour, and also in the form of the tail ; in them, the
feathers on the chin and throat have not the form of
scales, and they are white ; the tail also is not forked ;
the colour of the breast is gradually acquired ; and so
is the fork of the tail. In consequence of these
changes, the bird is liable to be considered as several
species ; and there are, if not some varieties, at least
some species, nearly resembling this one, of which
specimens have occasionally been seen. The chief
difference is in the colour of the gorget, which ap-
proaches to a ruby colour in some of them, while in.
others it has less of the reddish tint than occurs in the

HUMMING-BIRD.

common amethyst colour. There is, however, a
good deal of confusion about these birds, arising from
their agreement in some respects, and their difference
in others ; and a great deal of additional observation
will be required before this confusion will be re-
moved.

WHITE-EARED HUMMING-BIRD (C. leucotis). This
is a Brazilian species, of small size, but handsome and
peculiar in its markings ; the length is not more than
three inches ; the bill is not very long, of a yellow
colour, and slightly arched ; the forehead, before the
eye, the chin, cheeks, and upper sides of the neck, arc
azure blue, less conspicuous in the tint on the fore-
head where the feathers are small, but becoming more
brilliant downwards, as the feathers get larger in size ;
the colour on the side of the head to the rear of the
eye, is broken by an arch of white which passes over
the ear covert, and curves downward, the one nearly
meeting ihe other on the back of the neck. It is
from the last marking that it receives the name of
white-eared. The gorget on the lower neck and
breast is bright verdigris, or slightly bluish green ;
the hind head is brownish violet, which gradually
blends with the golden green on the back ; the under
part is brownish green, with a trace of grey ; the
quills of the wings purplish ; the tail feathers, which
are nearly even at the extremity, of the same colour
as the upper part of the bird ; and the vent feathers
and under tail coverts pure white. It is by no means
common in Brazil, and specimens of it are rare in
European collections.

EVENING HUMMING-BIRD (C. vesper}. This spe-
cies has been observed chiefly in the southern Andes,
or at least in those elevated plains which lie between
those mountains and the sea. Some of the colours of
this species are more subdued than they are in most of
the others ; but they are beautifully contrasted. The
bill is long, slightly curved and enlarged near the
point. The upper part is oil green, passing into more
of a golden green on the middle of the back and the
rump, but without metallic reflections. The breast
and belly are white, and so are the under coverts of
the tail ; but the flanks and the vent feathers are
greyish. There is a small streak of white behind the
eye, and another behind the gape ; the wings and tail
are deep purplish black, both very long, and the tail
much forked. The most beautiful part of the bird,
the gorget, which covers the chin and fore neck, con-
sists of scale-shaped feathers, and is of that peculiar
reddish violet, which changes into bright ruby in the
one extreme of reflection, and into rich sapphire blue
in the other.

RACKET-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD (C. plalurus}. —
There are two distinct species of these birds, both of
which have that peculiar structure of the exterior
feathers of the tail upon which the trivial name is
founded, — namely, the feathers very elongated, and
the webs gradually tapering away till they are almost
obliterated, and then spreading again into an oval
disc, which is very distant, not only from the body of
the bird, but also from the other feathers of the tail,
which, for nearly as long as the body exclusively of
the bill, are not half the length of the racket feathers.

These two species are, the racket- tailed humming-
bird, with the tarsi the same as in the rest of the
family; and the rough-legged one, with the tarsi
feathered down to the toes, or at least clothed with a
downy covering in very considerable quantity.

The racket-tailed humming-bird is deep and

rather dull green on the upper part, of uniform tint
throughout ; it is dull brown, with a greenish tinge, on
the under part ; the vent and under coverts of the
tail are pure white ; and the chin and throat and
upper part of the breast are covered with a gorget of
very bright emerald green. The two outside feathers
of the tail extend to twice the length of the others,
tapering gradually for the greater part of their length,
and then terminating in h'rrn broad discs of a black
colour, which are nearly round. The wings are long,
narrow, and falchion-shaped. Enough is not known
of the habits of this singularly formed bird for enabling
us to ascertain whether the female also possesses
those rack feathers, or whether they are peculiar to
the male. Analogy, however, would lead us to con-
clude that the latter is the case ; because there are
comparatively few birds in which the female has any
supplemental feathers in the tail. The remaining tail
feathers are gradually shorter towards the middle, and
form a slight fork ; but when the racket feathers are
taken into account, the tail is very much forked.
These birds are rare, and little is known respecting
them, farther than that they have been brought to
Europe from Guiana.

The rough-leffged humming-bird is more hand-
some in the colouring than the smooth-legged racket-
tail. All the upper parts are very rich golden green,
with the exception of a white bar on the rump ; and
the two middle feathers of the tail are of the same
colour. The gorget, which is very bright emerald
green, descends far down on the breast, as does also
the green of the back on the sides and flanks, which
passes into deep brownish green on the middle of the
belly. There are feathers on the tarsi, and also on the
tibiae, and though those feathers are formed of very
small filaments, those filaments are not downy, like
the feathering on the tarsi of the birds of cold coun-
tries. They partake of that firmness of texture which
characterises the general plumage of the humming-
birds. This covering of the feet is a peculiarity among
birds 4 and therefore it is to be regretted that we do
not know either the habits, or the native country of
this species, farther than that it is American ; and,
therefore, we can form no conclusion respecting the
purpose which this formation, of which it is the soli-
tary instance in a very numerous family, answers in
the economy of the bird. Besides the difference in
the colour and the more remarkable difference in the
tarsi, of which we have taken notice, there is a con-
siderable difference in the shape of the rackets in
which the tails of these birds terminate : in the one
with a naked tarsi, these are nearly round ; but in
the other they are oval, or rather sub-oval, with
pointed extremities.

HALF-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD (C. erricurui). This
is a very gracefully formed, though remarkably slen-
der bird. It measures about four inches and a quarter
in length, of which more than one half is occupied by
the tail, and at least a third of the remainder by the
bill. The bill is slender, a little enlarged near the tip,
but remarkably sharp pointed. It is very slightly
bent. The body is elongated, and gracefully tapered
off" towards the tail. The tarsi and toes are very
slender. The upper parts of the body, including the
coverts of the wings, and the two middle feathers of
the tail, as well as the last coverts of the taij, which,
though short, consist of two feathers similar in struc-
ture to the others, are golden green ; and all the under
part from the middle of the breast, including the

HUMMING-BIRD.

under coverts of the tail, is of the same colour. The
gorget is rich purple, or ultramarine blue in some
lights, and formed of scaly feathers ; below it there
is an irregular band of white, extending backwards on
each side of the neck till the two ends nearly meet ;
and below this there is a pretty large patch of bright
yellow, broadest on the breast, but extending on the
sides of the lower neck and the shoulders as far back
as the patch of white. The wings and tail are purple
brown ; the former long in proportion to the size and
weight of the body, but short as compared with the
tail. The tail itself is the most remarkable part of
the whole structure ; and is not very well expressed
by the English epithet, half-tailed. The French
name " singular" is more expressive of it; because
all the appendage that nature bestows upon any par-
ticular species of bird is, of course, a whole tail,
whether it consists of a number of feathers or of one
only. This one consists only of six, unless we are to
admit the last coverts to be reckoned as tail feathers ;
and even the two longest of those green ones are so
short in comparison that they appear like coverts to
the produced ones ; and they do this the more by
being of the same colour with the back ; while the
produced ones, being of the same purple brown as the
wings, contrast strongly with them. The external
tail feathers are the longest, and they diverge at the
points ; while the other two reach to about two-thirds
of their length. All these four feathers are narrow,
and of equal length throughout, only they are rounded
off at the points. By a very little contrivance, a
figure of this bird may be readily converted into a
most ludicrous caricature of a human being. All that
has to be done is to turn the figure with the tail feathers
directly downwards, lay a little slip of paper over the
head and neck of the bird as far as the shoulders, con-
tinue the same tint of green upon the paper in the
form of the collar of a coat, paint the back of a
human head above this collar, and the caricature is
complete, — representing a most singular being with a
green coat and epaulettes, and purple brown sleeves,
with trowsers of the same upon long stilt-like legs ;
for the skirts and pocket-flaps of the coat are very
well made out by the two green tail feathers and their
coverts.

BAR-TAILED HUMMING-BIRD (C. sparganurus).
This is a most singular species, and considerably
larger than many of the others. It is understood to
inhabit a considerable extent of the table-land of the
Andes, both in Mexico and Peru ; but it has not hitherto
been found in any of the coast countries or the islands.
The bill is a little bent, awl-shaped, and very sharp
at the point The upper parts are golden green, with
a slight tinge of purplish brown ; the under part from
the bill to the middle of the belly is bright emerald
green, peculiarly rich on the middle of the throat,
and composed of scaly feathers which extend along
the whole of the breast. The lower part of the belly
is all green, and the vent feathers greyish white. The
rump is clear and rich red, but without any metallic
lustre, and the feathers have not a scaly appearance.
The tail, however, is the most singular part of this
bird. It consists of two parts, standing at an angle
to each other like the letter V. The outside feather
in each branch is very long, not less than six inches.
The second feather is only about three inches and a
half, the third a little more than two inches, the
iourth shorter than that, and the last one about three
quarters of an inch. The principal colour of these

feathers is bright reddish orange, of a very brilliant
metallic lustre, and varying in different lights through
different shades from red to yellow. There is a black
bar across the end of each feather, which shortens as
the feathers shorten. This bar is carried down the
outer margin of ever}' feather except the first arid
second, and the basal two thirds of the first has also
the outer margin black. Where the margin is black,
the shaft of the feather ig also black, and where there
is no black margin, the shaft is relieved by a slender
black line upon each side. Altogether, it is one of
the most singular appendages to be met with in the
whole feathered creation ; and though we are not
very weli informed with regard to the manners of
many of the family, the strong fortification of coverts
which this tail possesses would lead us to conclude
that it is capable of some corresponding action which
is essential to the economy of the bird,

NUNA HUMMING-BIED (C. NuiHt). This species
has some resemblance to the preceding one in its
general form, and the development of the several
parts, especially the tail, but it is of much smaller
size, the bill and body only measuring two inches,
and the tail three. In its colouring it is very beau-
tiful. The whole of the upper part is a fine emerald
green, with rich golden reflections, and the general
ground colour of the under part is pure white. But
this under part is very beautifully marked with cir-
cular spots of emerald green, one upon the tip of
each feather, and these show very richly upon the
pure white ground. These are most perfect, and
become gradually faint and clouded towards the lower i
part of the belly, till the colour passes gradually into
bright chestnut on the under coverts of the tail. The
tail feathers are of considerable breadth for the six.e
of the bird, and they increase in length from the
middle to the outer ones, in the same manner as in
the bar-tailed species. The colours are, however, ,
more varied. The middle ones are purple brown on
the basal part, steel blue beyond that, and terminated
by a bar of very beautiful green. The lateral feathers
have the tips deep steel blue, and the outer web
white for the basal half of their length. The young-
have the colour broken by grey on the upper part,
and brownish red on the under. Hitherto, we believe,
specimens of this very handsome species have been
obtained only from Peru ; but it is probable that they
occur also in Brazil.

LANGSDORFF'S HUMMING-BIRD (C. Langsdorffii).
Is a Brazilian species, and as remarkable for its
beauty as for the singular form of the tail feathers. :
The bill is of moderate length, very slender and de-
pressed at the base. The upper part is a delicate
subdued golden green ; the gorget consists of scale-
formed feathers of the same general tint, but giving
out brilliant reflections in different lights. On the
under part, this is bordered by a crescent of bright
orange, which has reflections of golden yellow and of
red. The lower part of the breast is intense blue ;
the belly brownish violet ; and the vent feathers, under
the tail coverts, pure white, which ascends on the
hinder part of the flank, and, uniting on the lower
part of the back, separates the green on the rump
from that on the rest of the body. The wings are
purplish grey with a dash of orange on the turn. The
tail feathers are ten in number, six in the middle,
which are deep blue, broad at the bases and narrow
at the points, the two middle ones comparatively
short, and the others longer and more pointed in sue-

HUMMING-BIRD.

801

cession. The most singular part of the tail, however,
is the four remaining feathers. These are of the
same colour as the wings, and taper gradually to
perfect points, the inner pair being nearly twice the
length of the blue feathers, and the outer pair a good
deal more. This peculiar production of the tail fea-
thers is characteristic of the mature birds only, as is
also the brilliant green and the orange crescent on
the throat and breast. The outline of this species is
particularly graceful.

BLACK-CAPPED HUMMING-BIRD (C.polytmus). This
is another very elegant species, remarkable for the
length to which the feathers of the tail are produced.
It has been procured for this country chiefly from
the island of Jamaica, where it is far from being rare ;
but it occurs also in many others of the West India
islands, and also on the main land of South America.
Estimated by the length, it is a bird of considerable
size, for it measures nine inches from the extremity
of the bill to that of the produced feathers of the tail.
Of these nine inches, however, the tail occupies two-
thirds, and the bill one-third of the remainder, so that
the length of the body and head is reduced to two
inches. The wings are long and powerful as com-
pared with the size and weight of the body, but short
as compared with the tail ; and thus the bird, when it
hovers about, has some resemblance to a dragon-fly
on the wing. The bill is very slightly curved, lemon
yellow for the greater part of its length, and black at
the tip. The tarsi and toes are reddish yellow. The
whole upper part of the head is covered with black
feathers considerably produced, of a silky texture, and
without any metallic reflections. The rest of the
body, with the exception of the gorget and the under
tail coverts, is rich golden green ; the gorget is scaly,
and emerald green of the utmost intensity of tint ;
and the under tail coverts are grey, with greyish pur-
ple tips. The wings are deep brownish black, with a
tinge of purple. The tail is much forked, and con-
sists of ten feathers ; the middle ones are short, and
three others on each side increase in length by nearly
equal stages, while the two external ones reach be-
yond the longest of the others for a length nearly
equal to that of the bill, body and other tail fea-
thers taken together. They are rather narrow, but
of uniform breadth throughout, and the produced
part of them is flexible and waving. The general
colour of the tail is brownish black with reflections
varying from purplish grey to bright green. The
female has the under part white, breaking with the
green on the sides of the neck. The tail wants the
produced feathers, and is green, with the exception
of about half the length of each of the four external
ones towards the tip, which is white.

DUPONT'S HUMMING-BIRD (C1. Dupontii), This is
a slender species, with the bill very long, and the tail
of considerable length, though not so much so as in
the previously noticed species. The entire length is
about four inches, of which the bill and tail occupy
nearly one half. The bill is long and slender, with very
little curvature, and exceedingly sharp at the point ;
the upper part is yellowish green, of a glittering lustre,
but not metallic ; the gorget, which rises so high as
nearly to include the eyes, and extends far back on
the sides of the neck, consists of scaly feathers, and
varies from intense black to rich deep blue, according
to the light in which it is seen ; the flanks and belly
are pale brownish green, passing into whitish on the
shoulders, and pure white on the vent ; the tail con-

NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

sists of ten feathers, extending by gradually increas-
ing differences from the central ones, which are very
short, to the external ones, which are rather long, and
have their extremities slightly rocket shaped ; they
have white tips succeeded by fawn colour, and then
by a reddish tinge at the base ; the wings, with the ex-
ception of the lesser coverts, which are like the upper
part, are purple brown, of mean length, very narrow,
and falchion shaped. The bird is a native of Mexico,
and probably also of some of the other elevated plains
among the Andes.

SAPPHIRE-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD (f. sapphiri-
nus). This is rather a showy species, about three
inches and a half in length, of which the wings and
tail occupy about a half ; the body is stout for the
size of the bird, and the wings are rather long ; the
bill is long, slender, very little bent, bright yellow for
the greater part of its length, but black at the tip ;
the top of the head and all the upper parts of the
body are rich golden green, which passes into brown-
ish green on the flanks and belly, and into grey on
the vent feathers ; the chin is clear reddish chestnut,
and below that there is an extensive gorget of beau-
tiful sapphire blue extending down to the middle of
the breast, and composed of scaly feathers ; the extre-
mity of the tail is nearly even, and the colour a uniform
madder red. The female wants the red on the chin,
and is every way duller in the colours. This species
is pretty generally distributed, being found along the
whole northern-coast of South America from Brazil
westwards ; and it is not rare in its localities.

WAGLER'S HUMMING-BIRD (C. Waglerii). In its
form this bird bears some resemblance to the species
last mentioned, but its colouring is very different.
The whole plumage, including even the wings and
tail feathers, is nearly of one uniform tint, namely,
deep and rather dull emerald green, almost black in
the shade, and inclining to a dull bluish tint on the
quills and tail feathers. The body, however, possesses
very rich reflections of blue and gold, according as it
is turned to the light, and the quills and tail feathers
furnish equally rich reflections of purple. The
bill is long, perfectly straight, and slender ; and the
wings, though rather narrow, are long and falchion-
shaped. The tail is strong and broad, composed of ten,
feathers, and forked at the extremity. This species
is a native of Brazil.

SAPPHIRE AND EMERALD HUMMING-BIRD (C.bicolor).
In form this species resembles the last-mentioned,
but its colours are different. The green on the upper
part is richer ; and the colour of the throat, the
breast, and the tail, is much bluer. The former in-
deed forms a gorget of very rich blue of bright metallic
lustre, which fades gradually into bluish green on the
belly. The tail is steel blue on both surfaces, and
very little forked. The female has the throat and
breast nearly white, and the rest of the under part
only mottled with green. The young males have the
blue gorget very dull, the flanks and vent feathers of
a greenish black colour; and the whole plumage
without that brilliancy which characterises the full-
^rown male. It is found in the low and rich countries
in the north part of South America, and also in
several of the West India islands ; but it does not
occur, or at all events has not been met with, in
elevated countries, such as Mexico and Upper Peru.

FORKED-TAILED VioLETHuMMiNG-BiRD(C./Mratf MS).
This species is not so forked in the tail as some of
the others ; but as it happened to be the first forked-
EEE

802

HUMMING-BIRD.

tailed one which was known to Europeans, it has got
possession of the name. It is four inches in length ;
and as the tail is not so long in proportion as some
of the others, the body is longer, and it is also thicker.
The upper parts are golden blue in the middle, pass-
ing into golden green on the wings and the tail, and
into the same colour with a trace of brown on the
head; the vent feathers are grey; the gorget on the
throat is of a beautiful amethyst purple ; the middle
of the under part is pure white; and though the
upper part generally appears blue in some lights, it
appears golden green in others. It occurs pretty
generally in the northern parts of South America,
from Brazil westward, and also in the West India
islands ; but though it has been long known, its habits
have not been ascertained, neither have the colours
of the female or the young been accurately determined.
BLUE-BELLIED HUMMING-BIRD WITH TOOTHED BILL
( C. thalastimus). This is a Mexican species, about
five inches in length, with the tail very fully deve-
loped, and the wings very long, narrow, and bent.
There is not a great deal of variety or strong contrast
in the colours ; but they are rich and beautiful. The
general colour of the upper part of the body is very
dark green, with golden reflections of rich metallic
lustre. The gorget upon the centre of the throat
varies from deep velvet black to bright emerald green,
with metallic reflections ; and this gradually passes
into a fine azure blue on the ear-tufts. The tail is
greyish blue with metallic lustre, and crossed by a
bar of deep indigo blue near the extremity. The bill
is slightly bent, and both mandibles are toothed for a
short distance near the tip. The bill is of a black
colour, as are also the feet. The young males are
without the rich blue on the ear-tufts and the sides of
the neck ; and in them the whole of the upper part
is mixed with greyish bine, much more than in those
which are full grown. The female is understood to
have the flanks and vent feathers dull grey, and the
under tail coverts reddish white, and also to be with-
out any of the rich blue on the sides of the neck or
the lower part of the breast. This is rather a rare

species.

GIGANTIC HUMMING-BTKD (C.

This is the

are brownish green, with green reflections ; the under
parts are of a dull pale reddish, mottled with a darker
tint, and passing into dull green on the flanks. The
head and upper part of the throat have a mottled
appearance ; and though there is no beauty of colour
in the fore-neck, the feathers have the scaly form
which belongs to the males of almost all the family ;
and as their margins are of a paler tint than the cen-
tral parts, this part also appears slightly mottled.
The tail consists of ten feathers, of a greenish brown
colour, with reflections of golden green, but not very
brilliant. Altogether, indeed, this bird is more sober
in its plumage than almost any other of the family.
It is, however, a very perfect model of a flying bird.
The closed wings extend beyond the extremities of
the tail, and their form and their feathers are alike
fitted for the most vigorous flight. The pectoral
muscles are also very large, in order to give motion
to the powerful wings upon which the strength of the
bird is concentrated. The feet, on the other hand,
are remarkably small, and appear quite dispropor-
tioned to the size of the bird. In the male the quills
of the wings are said to be violet brown, without any
mixture of other colours ; and in the female they are
said to have pale russet colour on the margins ; but
there is a good deal of confusion about the descrip-
tions of these birds.

There are a good many more species described as
belonging to this sub-division ; but some of them are
doubtful, and all of them but little known, and there-
fore the list which we have given may perhaps be
considered as sufficient for the general reader. It is
only now that America, more especially the tropical
and southern parts of it, is beginning^to be examined
with anything like zeal and science united ; and as
the harvest of discovery in the natural history of
birds, and in every other department of nature, can-
not fail in being very rich, we may confidently expect
that, in the course of a few years, we shall be as well
acquainted with the habits of American animals, and
humming-birds among the rest, as we are now igno-
rant of them.

SUB-DIVISION III. — PJuethorms. The general cha-
racters of this sub-division are the bill long, tapering

largest humming-bird which has hitherto been disco- i to the point, and considerably arched ; and the tail
vered. It is at least eight inches in length, and j long and wedge shaped, or stayed by each feather
stoutly made, remarkable for the length and strength being a little longer than the one exterior of it, as in

of its wings, and the firmness and regularity of its
tail, which last organ is rather deeply but regularly
forked at the tip. From its large size, it has been
called " the Patagonian ;" and it is rather curious
that if it is not found actually within Patagonia, it is
found close upon the borders of it. The first know-
ledge that was obtained of it in Europe was from a
specimen brought by the gallant but unfortunate
Lord Byron from the country of the Araucanians,
the whole of which lies beyond the thirty-seventh
degree of south latitude. It is also common in the
interior of Chili, but it is understood to be rare
nearer the equator, and not found in the northern

the magpie.

SUPERCILIOUS HUMMING-BIRD (P. supercilosus).
The bill of this species is very long, and tapers gra-
dually to the tip, being also considerably bent. The
male and female differ considerably from each other
in size, in the general colours of the plumage, and in
the general form of the tail feathers ; the upper part
is bronzed green, with a brownish tint ; the side of
the head is marked by two patches of reddish white,
one passing from the base of the upper mandible to
the ear covert, and the other consisting of a spot im-
mediately over the eye, and ft is from the latter that
the bird gets the name of supercilious, or eye- browed ;

parts of South America, though it was once consi- the throat and upper part of the breast are covered
dered as being a Brazilian bird. Its colours are not with scaly feathers, but these have no brilliant tint,
nearly so bright as many of the smaller species ; and j the whole of the under part being a subdued brownish
it is described as being without any brilliant gorget white, very soft and delicate, but without much
or produced feathers. It is an inhabitant of the wild beauty ; the tail is wedge shaped, but contains two
woods, in which it is not frequently seen ; and produced feathers which extend an inch and a half
therefore its manners, or the changes of plumage it beyond the others, and are very straight and narrow ;
may undergo, are very imperfectly known. The top the tail is bronzed green, deepening toward the ex-
of the head, the back, and the coverts of the wings, | tremities of the feathers, which are lancet shaped, and

HUMMING-BIRD.

803

have narrow borders of a paler colour ; the length of
the bill, measured along the curve, is more than an
inch and a half; that of the body to the insertion of
the tail is three inches, which last is also the entire
length of the tail. The bird is thus rather more than
seven inches and a half in length, but as three-fifths
of this are taken up by the bill and the tail, the body
is not large. The female, taken altogether, is much
richer in the plumage than the male, which is very
unusual in this family of birds ; the upper part is
bronze green, as well as in the other, but the tint is
clearer, and it is pleasingly variegated by narrow bor-
ders of brighter green on the points of the feathers ;
the white streak under the eye is also brighter, but
the spot above it is less conspicuous ; the under parts
are of a deeper and finer brown, darkest on the chin,
and becoming paler backwards ; the tail is rounded
at the extremity, and very finely coloured ; the mid-
dle feathers are longer than the rest, but not produ-
ced, so as to break the general outline : they are
bright green, with the exception of the tips, which
are white, and immediately within the white tips there
is a broad bar of the same green as the rest, but
deeper ; the lateral feathers of the tail are reddish
chestnut in the basal part, white at the tips, and have
a black bar inside the white, which, alone with the
green on the middle feathers, forms a zig-zag band
across the whole tail ; the length of the female is less
than five inches, of which the body occupies one-half,
and the bill and tail the other half, in equal parts.
These birds are found in most of the rich parts in
the tropical portion of South America.

SCALY-BACKED HUMMING-BIRD (P. Eurynomus).
This is an elegant species, and alike remarkable for
the peculiarities of its markings, and the form of its
tail ; it has some resemblance to the last-mentioned
species, but it is rather shorter, more slender in the
body, and altogether much more elegant ; its total
length, including that of the produced feathers of the
tail, is about six inches and a half, and the bill and
tail occupy considerably more than half; the outline is
altogether exceedingly elegant ; the bill has a slight,
but very graceful curvature ; the tail is particularly
handsome in shape ; and the wings, which are very
long and powerful for the size of the bird, form graceful
curves ; the head and nape of the neck are covered
with scaly feathers of a brown colour, margined with
chestnut ; the other upper parts are of a fresh green ;
the plumes have the shape of scales, they are large,
rounded, and bordered with a dull reddish tinge ; the
principal streak on the ear coverts is black, above
which, from the eye backwards, there extends a stripe
of ochre yellow, separating this black from the brown
and chestnut feathers on the head and nape, and a
similar line extending from the gape below the eye
and the ear coverts ; the chin and throat are covered
with scaly feathers, brown in the centre, and margin-
ed with ochreous yellow ; the neck, breast, belly, and
flanks, are brownish grey, with a reddish tinge ; the
lower tail coverts are reddish chestnut ; the tail is
of a wedge shape ; the centre feathers are green, very
long and narrow, with the projecting tips white ; at
the base, the other feathers are of a deep black, with
white tips, which extend to nearly half their length.
It is a Brazilian species.

GUY'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Guy). This species is
the nearest approach we have to the supercilious
humming-bird, and indeed it has often been mistaken
for it. Nor is this to be wondered at, for it is exactly

of the same form, though of rather smaller dimensions.
It differs, however, in some other respects also. The
projecting feathers over-stretch the tail for a much
less distance. These feathers above are golden green
at the base, farther outward they are black, the tips
of the lateral feathers are fringed with white, and the
projecting narrow parts of the centre plumes are also
white. The bill is rather long, the under mandible
orange-red verging to brownish at the tip ; the feathers
on the upper parts of the body are of a brilliant me-
tallic green, and those on the crown have a reddish
border. The ground of the auriculars is black, mar-
gined above and underneath by a dull yellow line ;
the chin, in form, is like a small gorget, and is of a
bright chestnut ; the remaining under parts are deep
bluish grey, which, on the centre of the belly and on
the vent, in different lights, changes to a reddish
yellow ; the lower tail coverts are altogether white.
We have no account that can be relied on respecting
the native country of this bird.

INTERMEDIATE HUMMING-BIRD (P. intermedius).
This species is a native of Brazil ; its length is about
three inches and a half, and the general colour of its
plumage is reddish brown, but on the rump, belly,
and vent, it approaches to a senna colour ; the auri-
culars are black, and under these and above the eye
there is a pale yellow stripe ; the centre feathers of
the tail do not exceed the others in length more than
half an inch ; they taper gradually from the base, the
projecting part is pure white, the other parts are
black, and the outer one is fringed with reddish
brown ; the under mandible of the bill, at its base, is
pink, farther out it is black, then pink again, and
terminates with a black tip.

BOURCIER'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Bourcierii}. This
is a Brazilian species, and is supposed to inhabit the
mountainous districts. The prevailing tint over the
upper parts is reddish green, and it resembles the scaly-
backed species in so far as each feather on these parts
is bordered with reddish brown ; its tail is of ample
dimensions, and the centre feathers are proportionally
so ; the upper side is greenish black, deepening in
tint towards the tip, where a chestnut spot marks the
outer web ; the long feathers are tipped with white,
where they exceed the length of the tail, and under-
neath a brown tinge characterises the whole ; the
crown is reddish green, the throat white, and the
other under parts reddish grey, most bright on the
sides of the neck. In various lights traces of the
supercilious streak and that from the rictus are visible
in this species.

BROWN BRAZILIAN HUMMING-BIRD (P. sqjialidus}.
This is also a Brazilian species. From its colouring
and general appearance, so closely resembling the
supercilious humming-bird, it has been supposed by
some to be a climatal variety of that species ; but it
does not appear that there is any rational ground for
such a conclusion, seeing that it is scarcely one half
the size of the supercilious, and that it differs mate-
rially from it in other respects. The feathers of the
upper parts of the brown Brazilian humming-bird are
of a dull brownish green ; those of the throat of a dull
grey, with dark centres ; and the covering of the
breast is of the same colour, while that of the belly
and vent is of a tawny yellow. The tail-feathers are
brown, tipped with white, and the centre ones of the
same organ, so far as they extend over it, are entirely
white. Over the eye is a strongly marked reddish
yellow stripe, the auriculars beneath are deep brown,
EEE2

HUMMING-BIRD.

There are several species, or varieties, resembling
these in many of their characters, to be met with in
museums and collections, almost all of which have
been brought from central America, but their history

This species is a native of Cayenne, ft is about is so well known, that a mere enumeration of their
three inches eight lines in length. The prevailing
colour of the upper parts is brownish red, with bril-
liant metallic reflections of a green lustre on the back ;

804

and the undermost of these is joined with the rictus
by another stripe which entirely encircles the eye
and ear coverts.

LONGUEM ARE'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Longuemarcus).

the feathers on the top of the head, which form a sort
of cowl, are dark reddish brown, and the sides of
the neck are of the same colour; the under parts are
reddish yellow, a shade darker on the throat and
breast ; the under coverts of the tail are pure white ;
the tail is wedge shaped, of considerable length, but
the centre feathers do not extend nearly so much
beyond the others as in some of the species we have
just noticed.

RED-BELLIED HDMMING-BIRD (P. rufigagter). This
pretty little bird is only three inches in length from
the tip of the bill to the end of the tail. The bill
and tail occupy about two-thirds of the extreme
length, so that the body is not more than one inch
long; the crown is of a greyish colour, and above a
supercilious stripe of white extends to the ear coverts ;
the upper parts of the back and neck are of a chestnut
red, with golden green reflections ; the under parts
are also of this colour, except that it is of a lighter
shade on the throat, and changes to a yellowish white
tinge on the chin ; the tail is brown, tinged with red-
dish white ; the centre feathers are beautified with
golden green reflections, and the extending tips are
pure white. It is a native of Brazil.

DAVID'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Davidianus). A figure
of this species is given in No. 2 of the plate HUM-
MING BIRDS. It is nearly of the same size and form
as the red-bellied species. The general tint of the
plumage is brown, paler, and slightly mottled with
yellowish on the under part. The top of the head is
furnished with produced feathers, which form a crest
of considerable length ; the tail is broad and rounded.
It is found on the continental part of tropical America,
and named by Lessou after David the French painter.

HAIKY-I.EGGED HUMMING-BIRD (P. hirsutus). The
tarsi of this species are not so completely feathered
as those of the hairy-legged rocket-tail formerly de-
scribed ; but still they are sufficiently so for entitling
the bird to the name by which it is known. It is by
no means a rare species, being found in many of the
West India islands, and also in Mexico, though it is
said not to be very common in the latter country.
It is about four inches in length, of which the bill and
tail occupy about the half. The bill is regularly but
not greatly curved, rather stout at the base, and
tapering gradually to the tip ; the upper parts are of
a shining brownish green with bronze-coloured reflec-
tions, except some of the lesser coverts of the wings,
which are bluish ; the under parts are bright reddish
brown ; the tail is of a similar colour, but redder ; the
tips of all the feathers, save the centre ones, are white ;
and immediately within the white there is a broad
black bar.

SWAINSON'S HUMMING-BIRD (P. Swainsonu). This
species was first described as a Brazilian bird by
Swainson ; it is about three inches in length, and has
the upper part yellowish green, with yellow margins
to some of the feathers, and the under part chestnut ;
the middle feathers of the tail are green, the others
yellow with white tips, and within the white there is
a bar of black crossing the feathers.

colonies would be waste of time.

SAW-BILLED SPOTTED HDMMING-BIUD (P. ruevosui).
This bird has been found chiefly, if not exclusively,
in the mountainous parts of Brazil, near Rios, to which
we have already alluded as being the favourite resort
of a vast number of this curious species of birds. Its
length is about five inches ; the whole of the upper
parts are olive green, writh metallic reflections, which
are very brilliant, especially on the shoulders and
wing-coverts ; the ear-coverts, as well as a tuft of
produced feathers which passes down the sides of the
neck, are of a bright reddish brown, deeper under the
eye, and at the extremities of the auriculars, where it
contrasts beautifully in relief with a pale stripe of a
similar colour, that extends from the eye ; the wings
are of great strength, and the shafts are of propor-
tional power ; their colour is purplish green ; the
tail is rounded ; the middle feathers, as well as the
basal parts of the outer ones, are of a similar colour
to the wings ; the outer feathers, next the centre, are
of a pale yellowish brown at the tips, and in the other
feathers, taken outward from the centre, this yellow-
ish portion becomes gradually more extended, which
gives a bold relief to the dark spots on the rest of the
feathers. The bill of this bird is the most singular
part of its structure ; it is long, strong, rather broad,
straight in the greater part of the length, but curving
slightly downwards in the upper mandible, and very
slightly upwards in the under one, which is shorter
than the other ; the portion of the upper one which
extends beyond the under, forms a little hook, and
both mandibles are, for about one-third of their length
from the hook, armed with pretty strong teeth directed
backwards, and thus resembling the mandibles of the-
mergansers, and some other aquatic birds, which seize
their prey by a rapid snatch with the bill while they
are driving through the water. From this structure
of the bill, it is natural to conclude that those birds
seize their food on the wing, not by straight-forward
flight like the swifts, as the form of the tail does not
adapt them for beating the air in the same manner as
the swifts do ; but as the breadth and power of the
tail enable them to ascend and descend with great ra-
pidity, it is probable that they snatch small insects
from the flowers and leaves of plants, or even from
the ground, without alighting, and their very small
and weak feet are proof that they are not in any way
ground birds, or capable of using the foot for any
other purpose than simply that of perching. It is
worthy of remark, too, that in this species, as well as
in the others that are decidedly mountainous, we
find a breaking or mottling of the colours, which is
not found in the species which inhabit the low and
warm places. Thus we have, as it were, even in birds
which may be said to be chiefly tropical, as well as
wholly American, some sort of approximation to the
variety of colour which characterises the birds of dif-
ferent climates. On the eastern continent the tropi-
cal birds, generally speaking, have their colours en-
tire, and are remarkable either for the beauty of their
tints, or the brilliancy of their metallic lustres. The
birds of the colder climates again have their colours
more broken, more sober in the tints, less brilliant in
metallic reflections, and very seldom of that scaly

HUMMING-BIRD.

805

form which is so characteristic of many of the hum-
ming-birds ; their feathers, in ", short, have more the
structure of clothing feathers which protect them from
the general temperature of the weather, while the tro-
pical plumage which breaks the sun-beams into so
many colours by refraction appears to be more a
protection against the action of that luminary. From
this circumstance, a humming-bird, in all probability,
while it scatters the solar light around it in all those
radiant lustres that are so much admired, remains
unaffected, and able to perform its very arduous and
incessant labour, under a degree of fervour which
would send the ordinary birds of our country panting
to the earth, or compel them to seek the cover of the
thick foliage, as most of our birds do in the sultry
hours of the summer's day. The humming-birds ap-
pear to be possessed of this faculty in a much higher
degree than the larger birds which are natives of the
same climate, and inhabit the same places ; for, as is
the case with our birds, these last are driven to the
shade during the heat of the day, and the fervid sun-
beam is left to the humming-birds, as the genuine
children of the sun.

SUB-DIVISION IV. — (Campylopterus). Literally
" curved wing," but the usual name given to this
form of wings is sabre-wing, or sickle-wing, the wing
being so much bent as to have some slight resem-
blance to one or another of these implements. The
characters of this sub-division stated in brief are : the
wings much bent, with the basal parts of the shafts
very much enlarged and compressed ; and the tail is
rounded, or staged, by having the longest feathers in
the middle, and those towards the sides gradually
shorter. The bill is rather long, a little bent, and
there is sometimes a slight approximation to a tooth,
in an angular elevation near the tip of the upper man-
dible. These wings, from the peculiar form of the
shafts of the quills, are stitfer and stronger in propor-
tion to their size than the wings of almost any other
birds whatever. The greater number of them fre-
quent damp woods and the margins of streams ; and
in all probability subsist chiefly upon insect food ;
and from the nature of the places which they haunt,
specimens are rare, and the birds themselves are
rarely seen.

BLUE-THROATED SABRE-WING (C. latipennis). —
The trivial name latipennis is not given to this bird
on account of the breadth of the webs of the feathers,
but on account of that of the shafts ; though the
wings themselves are very long, and the quills very
much bent. Hitherto the specimens have been pro-
cured from some of the West-India islands, especially
from the island of Tobago ; but as that island lies at
no great distance from the lower valley of the Ori-
noco, it is probable that the same birds are also found in
that valley. The length is nearly five inches and a half ;
the bill of moderate length considered as the bill of
a humming-bird ; the wings long and powerful ; and
the tail also powerful arid of considerable extent,
though not much longer than the closed wings. The
general colour of the body is golden green, very rich
and beautiful on the upper parts, and extending over
the lesser coverts of the wings, and the middle feathers
of the tail ; but in the under part it has more of a
yellowish tinge. The common English name is given
from the gorget, which is of a beautiful violet blue in
the middle part, passing into blackish blue on the
sides, but brilliant through its whole extent. It is
composed of scale-shaped feathers, and extends from

the gape to the ear-coverts in nearly a straight line
upon each side ; but the upper part of the ear-covert
consists of two or three small green feathers imme-
diately behind and under the eye. It is rounded in
the under part, and extends only over the chin and
throat. The wings are purplish black ; and the cen-
tre feathers of the tail, though in some lights of
nearly the same gre"en as the back, are almost black
in other lights. The next pair are raven black, or
black with bluish reflections f and the three exterior
ones on each side have white tips for a considerable
part of their length. They are not so much day
birds as some others of the genus, but make their
appearance in greatest numbers in the evenings ; and
some reports state that they shift their ground with
the seasons.

Other species, differing little from this one, ex-
cepting in colours, are found in various parts of the
West Indies and South America ; but they occur
only in low-lying places ; and though there is a
Mexican species, occurring on the table-land of that
country, which resembles them in some respects, yet
the quills of its wings, though very strong in the
shafts, have not the peculiar form of these.

SUB-DIVISION V. (Lampornis). The birds of this
sub-division have the bill considerably arched ; and
the tail short, sometimes a little rounded, at other
times slightly forked, but never very far from being
even.

MANGO HUMMING-BIRD (L. Mango). This is one
of the most common species in the West-India islands,
being found in almost all of them ; but owing to the
changes of plumage to which it is subject at different
ages, it has been multiplied into a number of species.
This is the more remarkable that the bird itself is
more easily observed than almost any of the others,
being hardy and familiar as well as common. When
full grown its length is about four inches and a quar-
ter ; the back, back of the neck, flanks, and lower tail
coverts are brilliant golden green ; and the forehead
and crown, in different lights, exhibit marked and
brilliant reflections of the same colour. A stripe of
deep velvet black, shaded into the sides with a very
bright steel blue, runs from the chin to the vent. A
narrow band of white bars the thighs where they join
the flank. The feathers of the tail are broad and
rounded at the tips ; the upper middle feathers are of
a beautiful golden green with reflections of violet ;
the others on the upper part, as well as the under
ones, are also of this tinge, but with a deeper hue
according as the various lights fall upon them. In
the young birds, the plumage on the upper part is of
a paler tint, more inclining to a golden brown, while
that on the under part is white, mixed with green on
the flanks, and having a line of blackish-brown mot-
tling from the chin to the centre of the belly. With
the exception of the upper surface of the two middle
feathers, which is of the same colour with the bade,
the tail feathers are pale, but clear violet ; and in the
very young state the exterior ones have white tips.
It is greatly owing to the number of times that these
birds breed in the course of the year, and the conse-
quent appearance of individuals in all the varied
stages of plumage at the same instant, that so much
confusion has been introduced into the popular descrip-
tions of this species ; and this shows how necessary it
is that we should attend to all the habits and changes
of appearance in every animal, of which our know-
ledge is to be at all correct, even in one particular.

808 H U M M I N

TOPAZ-THROATED HUMMING-BIRD (L.Pella). This
is one of the most beautiful of these birds, and it dif-
fers from most others of the sub-divisions in having
two produced feathers in the tail, having short and
silky webs. Its wings are remarkably sharp pointed ;
and though the tail, with the exception of the pro-
duced feathers to which we have alluded, is rounded,
vet it appears that the bird can turn on these feathers,
and the sharp points of its wings, much in the same
manner that a swallow turns. Its habit also corres-
ponds ; for, instead of hovering over flowers as is
done by most of the humming-birds, this one is de-
scribed as beating along the surface of the waters,
something in the same style as the martens do, and
living upon small-winged insects. It is found in the
humid and rich parts of tropical America ; and
nothing can exceed the splendour of its plumage, as
it dashes along over the margins of the streams, or
perches on the slender twigs which overhang their
banks. It is a bird of considerable size, at least as
compared with the other humming birds ; for it is five
inches and a half in length exclusive of the two pro-
duced feathers in the tail, which are fully three inches
more. It is exceedingly difficult to say what is the
colour of the body, for it is all over one colour, and
yet in different positions of the light every part of it
is all colours. It is entirely composed of scaly
feathers, similar in texture to those which we have
noticed as forming the gorgets of so many of the
genus ; and whenever those feathers occur, we are
always certain of obtaining a great variety of colours
by exposure to different lights. The unrefracted
colour of the body is a sort of brown ; but the reflec-
tions which it gives out vary from the brightest golden
yellow to the most intense ruby red, the former being
the prevailing lustre in the under part of the bird,
and the latter that in the upper part ; while between
the one and the other there is a continual play along
the sides of the flanks, which has the most beautiful
effect that can be imagined. The prevailing colour
of the gorget is topaz yellow, which becomes emerald
green in oblique lights, deepening towards the extremi-
ties, until it passes into a margin of velvet black,
which again gradually melts into the general colour
of the body. The tail is bright chestnut on the under
side, and golden green on the upper, with reflections
of bright red. The two produced feathers are pur-
plish black, as are also the quills of the wings. The
short feathers of the tail are rounded at the extremity,
but the bird has considerable power over the two pro-
duced ones, so that it sometimes brings them together
at the middle as if they were but one feather, and at
other times extends them as if the tail were deeply
forked. The tarsi are feathered down to the articu-
lation of the toes ; and the feet, though small, are
stout and well adapted for perching.

The female is smaller than the male, and differently
coloured ; the plumage in that sex being green with
metallic lustre, but subdued by a greyish tinge. The
gorget is much less distinct than in the male bird, and
its colours vary from brown to golden yellow. The
vent feathers also are grey, the outer tail feathers
dull green, the next to them violet, and the remain-
ing ones chestnut colour. The young are without
the produced feathers in the tail. They have the
plumage above of a bright green colour, marked by
blotches of ruby reflections ; the under part partakes
more of red, and the reflections on it vary from green
to orange. The brilliant gorget does not appear

G - B I R D.

until the birds have arrived at maturity. This singu-
larly beautiful species is rendered a little more per-
plexing by changes of plumage, to which it is subject
in different individuals. These are rare ; but they
do occur in blotches of pale colour ; and when this
takes place, the remaining tint is different from that
of birds, in which there is no breaking of the colour.
Altogether, however, it is one of the most beautiful
in the whole multitude of the feathered race.

WHITE-COLLARED HUMMING-BIRD (L. mel/ivorus).
This species is common in many of the West-India
islands, and also in the adjoining parts of the conti-
nent of South America. It is fond of low and marshy
situations, where it flies low, and has some of the
habits of the bee-eaters. The male bird has the fore-
head, the cheeks, and the ear-coverts, and also the
throat, of a very rich blue, the nape and upper part
generally golden green, a crescent-shaped spot of
pure white on the hind neck, with the points directed
toward the eyes, but not reaching them, the space
from the gape across the eye being marked by a nar-
row line of black. The under parts are white, as are
also the feathers of the tail, with the exception of the
tips, and a narrow portion of the outer margins, and
these are black. When the tail is in a state of repose,
it is divided into two lobes, curving slightly outwards
from each other, and forming a sort of fork, at the
extremity of each lobe of which each feather is a little
shorter than the one immediately under it, thus show-
ing alternate narrow arches of black and white. When
the bird is in action each lobe of the tail expands, but
it still retains a slight appearance of being forked.
The upper coverts also partake of this forked cha-
racter, forming two lancet-shaped points of green,
which come out very beautifully upon the white
feathers under them. In the female the colours are
different, the under part being grey ; and the green
extending to the tips of the middle tail feathers, and
over a considerable portion of the basal part of the
rest. These last, however, have white tips, and within
the white a band of blue separating it from the green.
The colours are, however, subject to several variations
in the species generally, and more especially in the
female ; so that they are not so much to be depended
on as in many of the other species. The form of the
tail is, however, a character which is not easily mis-
taken.

BLACK-BREASTED HUMMING-BIRD (L. graminciu).
Buffbn and some of the earlier describers have named
this as if it were a Mexican species, from which it
might be concluded that its general habits differ from
those which we have just described, and to which it
bears a very close resemblance in its structure. They
are birds of humid places, and dryness is the prevail-
ing character of Mexico. The name, however, is a
mere mistake of the describers ; for the bird is found
in the West-India islands and the northern parts of
South America, where, like the others of the section,
it prefers the low and marshy grounds and the mar-
gins of the waters. According to Vieillot, it " delights
in the vicinity of inhabited places, which it rarely
quits as long as the trees and shrubs continue in
bloom ; it generally perches on a stray or withered
twig, where it expands its tail. I have never heard
it sing ; but while flying, and especially during the
season of incubation, it utters a continued cry, which
often betrays it before it would otherwise be disco-
vered. This little bird will seldom allow others to
approach the tree on which its nest is built. The

HUMMING-BIRD.

807

mocking-bird is obliged to yield to his pursuit ; he
continually darts around, and striking his bill at the
eyes of the intruder, obliges him to fly." This is
rather a stoutly made bird ; and though it is not so
brilliant as some of the others, it is still a beautiful
bird, and one of compact and graceful form, and very
powerful wing. There are considerable differences
between the plumage of the young and the mature
birds ; and as the progress from the one to the other
is gradual, the young show considerable differences
from each other. In the full-grown male, the upper
part is golden green ; and the gorget on the throat
and fore neck tine emerald green, and composed of
very handsome scale-shaped feathers, which are very
changeable in different lights, and even black, when
no portion of refracted light from them reaches the
eye. Immediately under the gorget there is a patch
of dull purplish black on the breast, gradually passing
into the green colour of the upper part, and back-
wards, and on the flanks passes into brown, while the
vent feathers are white. The tail is large and strong,
rounded at the extremity, and black at the tip ; but
the feathers are purplish brown for more than two-
thirds of their length. In the young, the upper part
of the body is golden green, as in the mature birds ;
but the green gorget on the neck is wanting ; and the
whole of that part, as well as the middle of the under
part generally, is dull black. This black is more or
less broken at the sides, as is also the green on the
upper part, and the space between is of a dull whitish
colour, with blotches of red brown and green blended
together. The middle tail feathers at this age are
deep oil-green, and the remaining ones, with the
exception of a white spot on the extremity of each,
are very like the same feathers on the mature bird.

GREEN HUMMING-BIRD (L. viridix). This species
occurs in some of the West-India islands. It is not
so striking in .its plumage, but still it is a very pretty
little bird. The whole colour of the plumage is an
emerald green, with very little metallic reflections
except on the upper tail coverts. The tail is bluish
black, with a narrow white margin on the outside of
each of the exterior feathers. It is rather a rare
species, and few specimens have been brought to
Europe.

BUFFON'S HUMMING-BIRD (Z-. Ruffonn). This is
a handsome species, though very little is known re-
specting it, not even what country it inhabits ; but it
is supposed to be Brazil. That country, however,
becomes a sort of Siberia to all humming-birds of
which the localities are imperfectly known ; for just
as it has been the custom with the describers of mi-
grant birds of the eastern continent to send to Siberia
every bird for which they could find no resting place,
so it has been very much the custom with those who
have attempted to describe the appearances and loca-
lities of humming birds, to refer to Brazil every one of
whose native country they wore ignorant. This bird
has the whole clothing feathers, with the exception of
those on the vent, between the shoulders, and in the
middle of the belly, of the scaly character. The
general colour is golden green, passing into brownish
green in some parts, and into emerald green in others,
while on the under part the tint is more inclined to
blue ; and the edges of the feathers are relieved by
greyish margins. The under covert of the tail and
vent feathers are white, the tail feathers themselves
are blackish blue, and the quills are purplish black.
The bird is stoutly made, and between five and six

nches in length ; and altogether of a more robust
appearance than very many of the genus.

PURPLE HUMMING-BIRD (L. Calignd). In its size
and form this species bears a considerable resemblance
to the last-mentioned ; but the form of the bill is
different, being almost entirely straight, while that of
he others is slightly bent. The only specimens which
lave been examined are understood to have been na-
tives of Mexico, or at all events to have been pro-
cured from that country. They have, however, been
few in number, and the bird is consequently very
rare ; because if it were even moderately abundant,
its beauty, and the peculiar tint of its plumage, in
which it differs from every other known species,
would make it sought after with avidity. Rare as it
s, however, there is no good reason for supposing
;hat the specimens which have been obtained are co-
loured varieties of any other better known species,
For the general air and character of the bird are as
distinct as the tints of its colour. The general plu-
mage is purple, varying on the upper part from pure
violet to a very intense and brilliant red, according
to the light in which it is seen ; and subdued on the
under part with a mixture of a very delicate grey,
which is really more beautiful than many of the co-
lours that are gayer and more decided in the tint.
The colour on the upper part passes from the purple
gradually to golden green on the lower part of the
back, the rump, and the upper coverts of the tail,
with the exception of the last coverts, on which again
the purple is predominant. All the feathers on the
upper part, from the'base of the bill to the tail coverts,
are of the scaly character ; and they increase in size
toward the tail. They have metallic reflections of
rich lustre throughout the whole extent, but those re-
flections rather increase in brilliance as the feathers
become larger ; and some of those toward the hinder
part show golden yellow and golden green on the
margins, and purple on the centre ; the gorget is
formed of delicate grey feathers, darker in the centre ;
the colour of the whole under part is particularly soft
and pleasant, and passes nearly into white on the
vent feathers ; the tail feathers are strong and broad,
and shortest in the middle, making a slight fork, or
rather two lobes with curved extremities ; they are
of the same purplish colour as the upper part, and so
also are the quills of the wings, but they are without
the brilliant reflections; the larger coverts of the
wings are of the same purple mixed with green, and
the green increases in those which are nearest the
body. Altogether, however, there is much less green
in this bird than in almost any other of the family.

BLACK HUMMING-BIRD (L. niger). is another spe-
cies, remarkable for the peculiarity of its colour.
The prevailing tint is deep black, dashed with a tinge
of blue on the head, and of green on the upper part
of the back, and the scapulars. The vent and tail
feathers are white, but the latter have a band of black
across the tips. The female has the general colour
much less intense, and inclining to brown ; and the
tail is black, with the exception of the outer web of
each of the exterior feathers. This is a Brazilian
species, but it is not very common.

There are various other species of this, as well as
of the other sub-divisions, which are met with in ex-
tensive collections of these singular birds ; and there
is no doubt that in proportion as the tropical parts of
America are more explored — and the exploring of
them has now become practicable, and is for other

808

reasons desirable— many more will be added to the
lists, and something known of their manners beyond
what we understand at present, which, it must be
supposed, lies within a very small compass. The ac-
count which we have given is little else than a mere
catalogue ; and we have not been able to say much
of their relations to the rest of nature, but it is all that
our limits will afford.

HUMULUS (Linnaeus). A genus of plants. The
H. lupulus is the well known hop, a British plant, but
extensively cultivated for its use in manufacture of beer
and porter. The hop belongs to the order Urticece.
The specific denomination Lupulus is a corruption of
the old name Lupus salictarius, the willow wolf, as we
are informed by Pliny it formerly was called on
account of its growing amongst osiers, to which, by
twining round, overbearing, and choking them, it
becomes as destructive as the wolf to the flock. Our
English name, hop, evidently comes from the Anglo-
Saxon hoppan, to climb, and it is admirably descrip-
tive of the habit of the plant.

Above fifty thousand acres in Kent, Sussex, and
Hereford, are estimated to be already in existence.
The duty on hops, with the uncertainty of the crops,
often raises them to an extravagant price ; hence the
temptation is great to substitute some other bitter for
the hop. This is, however, resisted by the excise
as a fraud on the revenue, but still more vehemently
resented by the public, who will tolerate, in theory,
no brewing save from genuine malt and hops. The
young shoots of the hop, blanched, are sometimes
eaten as asparagus, for which they form an excellent
substitute. From the bines a coarse sacking has been
made, and a yellow dye extracted.

HURA (Linnaeus). A genus of South American
trees, called by the English sandbox-trees. They
belong to the order Eupfiorbiacece. They receive the
specific names, Strepens and Crepitans, from the noise
which is made by the elastic bursting of their capsules.
The sap contains, like that of the Excaecarics and
other EuphorbiacccE, caoutchouc, and is very acrid.

HUTCHINSIA (R. Brown). Annual and peren-
nial herbs, natives of Europe, formerly ranked with
the Lepidiunis and Iberis, closely allied genera all
belonging to Crucifercs.

HYACINTH (Linnaeus). A beautiful and much
esteemed bulbous bed-flower, belonging to the sixth
class of Linnaeus, and natural order Asphodeliee.
This genus has been long celebrated, not only for the
beautiful fable whence its name has been fancifully
derived, but also for the immense number of varieties
which culture has produced. Of the H. orientalis,
the common species, the Haarlem florists had at one
time upwards of two thousand varieties. These
bulbs, as well as those of the tulip and narcissus,
once formed a most valuable, and still a not import-
ant, branch of Dutch commerce.

HYACINTH. This beautiful mineral was well
known to the ancients, who applied the same name
to common zircon, when it partook of the hyacinth-
red colour. It occasionally occurs in angular grains,
but is more frequently chrystallised, of which two
examples are given in the annexed diagrams.

Hyacinth may readily be distinguished from the
garnet by its crystallisation, resinous lustre, distinct
cleavage, and great weight. It occurs in every
quarter of the globe, but some of the finest specimens
have been brought from the Island of Ceylon. This
•tone readily loses its colour when exposed to the

HUMULUS— HYDR^N A.

action of heat, and, in consequence of its great bril-
liancy, it is frequently substituted for the diamond,

Hyacinth,

the colour being first destroyed by the actrorr of the
blowpipe. It is, however, rarely found of a large
size. Small crystals of quartz, tinged with iron, are
found in Spain, and have been termed " Hyacinths
of Compostella."

HYALCEA (Lamarck j AHOWIA TRIBJNTATA,
Linnaeus). This very extraordinary mollusc is of a
thin transparent horn-like substance, differing in that
respect from the common character of shells as they
are generally understood. Its form is trrcusprdated,
with hollow points, and finely striated transversely.
The valves are united, or, as it may familiarly be
termed, soldered together. They are unequal ; one
being sub-globular, ventricose, and anteriorly short-
ened, occasioning an aperture through which the
animal protrudes the two winged-shaped portions of its
body ; the other is larger, and has its under part
nearly flat. It has been fancifully called the Chariot
of Venus, from some resemblance it bears to the form
of a triumphal car in miniature ; and it has been
asserted that these molluscs have been seen sailing
before the breeze in little fleets ; that fact does not,
however, rest upon corroborating evidence, though
the substance of these molluscs render them peculiarly
fitted for such an exhibition, should it be hereafter
ascertained, by more frequent observation, that such
is the animal's habit of locomotion. Five or six spe-
cies have been described, all of them inhabiting the
warm latitudes ; and the genus Glandiolus, of D.
Montfort, is nearly allied to it in its general charac-
teristics.

HYDATICUS (Leach). A genus of coleopter-
ous insects, belonging to the family of the predaceou*
water-beetles (Dyticidts) of a moderate size, having
the anterior tarsi dilated into a rounded patelliform
plate, the elytra smooth in both sexes, and the third
and fourth joints of the maxillary palpi of nearly equal
length. There are four British species, all of which
are of rare occurrence, the type being the Dyt.
transversalis, Fabricius. In their habits they do not
differ from the larger Dyticidce.

HYDR^ENA (Kugellan). A curious genus of
minute coleopterous insects, belonging to the Hypo-
phagous water-beetles, and family Helophffridte, having
the maxillary palpi three times as long as the antennas,
by which character they are distinguished from the
remainder of the family. The species are found at
the roots of grass growing upon the margins of stand-
ing water and streams. Their legs are not formed
for swimming, and they creep but slowly. Mr.
George Waterhouse has lately published a valuable

HYDRANGEA-HYDROMETRID^I.

monograph upon this genus in the Entomological
Magazine.

HYDRANGEA (Linnaeus). A genus of deci-
duous shrubs from North America, but the greatest
favourite of the genus is the //. /tortensis, introduced
into our gardens from China about 1 788. They
belong to the tenth class of Liniuvus, and to the
natural order >' One of the peculiarities of

the Chinese hydrangea is its change of colour of the
flowers. In common soil they are pink : but, if kept
lor a season or two in peat earth, they become blue.
HYDROCAMPA (Latreille). A genus of Lepi-
dopterous insects, belonging to the section Xoctitnia,
or moths and family /' iving the spiral tongue

distinct, but differing from Rotiis and the other genera
belongi unity by the aquatic habits of

the larva, (whence the generic name signifying: water-
caterpillars) and by the structure of the insect in this
state enabling it to reside in such a situation. We
know scarcely any circumstance more interesting in
•/al physiology than that a small assemblage of

like the present, should be so completely
modified in their preparatory structure as to be able
to reside in an element which would be certain death
to the eau-rpillar* of every other lejn'dopterous insect.
In the larva - < feed upon the leaves of

aquatic plants, such as pond weed, potamogeton, &C. ;
and Reaumur has given us an account of the proceed-

ne of these insects, observed by him in the Hois
tin Boulogne, on the under surface of the floating
leaves of the last-named plant, and inhabiting a little
tnmeable nest, formed out of the leaves of the same
plant with considerable mechanical nicety. Piercing
the leaf with its jaws and gradually gnawing a curved
line, it I norsel of the leaf of the size and

shape adapted to its wants, which it at first slightly
- I ken threads to the under surface of the
main-leaf, leaving intervals between them through
which it may protrude its head. The piece already
.-del for a second piece, which it

•eurately to the former with silk, forming an
>val. but within which it introduces its body, retain-
meaus of the fleshy lec;s al the
binder part of its body, and which it carries about
with it from pi.. . using its fore legs, which

with its head it thrusts out of the aperture left at one
•Jnd. When, however, it would form a cocoon, in
\\w\\ to undergo its transformations, it uses but a

.'ce, w Inch it attaches more firmly than before.
t* under surface bcinsr applied to the under sin face of

a leaf, on account of the under side of the
cat' being concave, by which means a hollow cell is

-!. although the ire firmly united.

kVithin this tent it then spins a regidar silken cocoon,
\hieh is. of course, secure from the water, being de-
ended by its outer leat'v covering ; and in this posi-
ion it is soon transformed to a chrysalis, appearing
igaiu only when it has become a perfect insect. The
•aterpillar is of a loin: and fleshy form, its sides being
urnished with several lon^r and slender filaments, late-

.iclied to each segment, and which are em-

vternal gills for imbibing air from the

xater. The : to furnished with three pairs

laced on the three basal joints of

he abdomen. These spiracles art- of a totally ditt'e-

ent construction from the gills of the larva1, being

:iy for respiring air ; for the caterpillar

i as the power not only of rendering its cocoon water-

>roof, but also of forming it without any water being

809

introduced. Still, as if proving that the transition
from a watery to an aerial mode of respiration was
not yet effected, De Geer, who studied the insects
with great care, ascertained that it was absolutely
necessary that the cocoons should be kept under
water, as the chrysalides died on being removed into
the open air. When the time of its last transforma-
tion is arrived, the moth, still with its wings unfolded.
emerges from its cocoon, creeps up the stems of
the plant, and appears in the air, in which alone it can
now live. There are several British species of these
moths, to which, from the elegant markings of their
wings, collectors have given the names of China
marks. Some of them are sufficiently common, and
m iv be found during the summer months upon aquatic
plants. The type of the genus is the Phal<Etia Pota-
monota of Linnteus.

HYDROCHARIDE.E. a small natural order
of plants, comprising as yet only four genera, viz., Val-
tisneria, Hydrocharis, D<i>n<isoniii»i,&nA Stratiotcs, which
are all aquatics. The lilyfrog-bit, Ihidrocharis, and the
water-soldier, Stratiotcs, with the interesting I'attis-
ncria and Damasonium, form collectively the order as
above. They are distinguished from each other, as
will be seen by the generic characters given under
their names respectively.

HYDROCHARIS (LinunM> A British aquatic
herb, commonly called frog-bit or bite : class D'uvcia,
and natural order Hi/droctiaridecE. Generic charac-
ter : flowers Diivcious, calyx of three sepals, bracteate,
and coloured. Petals three, inversely egg-shaped.
Stamens triple, inserted on the abortive style; stig-
mas three, filiform, united to the inside of the stamen*.
Anthers roundish, bursting all round. In the female
flowers, the styles are six. two-parted, with abortive
filaments. Capsule six-celled, and many seeded.
This plant is often met with in wet ditches.

HYDROCOR1SA ( Latreille). A primary sec-
tion of hemipterous insects, comprising such sp
as reside in the water, and which differ from the <
corisa, or land-biiirs, by having the antenna- minute
and inserted beneath the eyes. They are predaceous
in their habits, feeding upon other insects, which they
seize by means of their fore legs, which serve as
claws, the extremities folding upon the basal por-
tions. The section comprises two families, the
pidce or w ater-scorpions, so named from the chiliferous
structure of the fore legs ; and the Notonectidee, or
boat-flies, so named from the boat-like form of the
body and the oar-like structure of the hind 1

HYDROCOTTLB (LinnausX A genus of aqua-
tic herbs, occurring in many parts of the world. One
is common in Britain, and known by the name of
pennywort. The genus is only interesting to bota-
nists, by whom it is placed in Umbcllij.

liynROLEACE.E. A natnral'order of plants,
containing a single genus only, of which there are two
species. They are little elegant plants with blue
flowers, chiefly distinguished from Conroli-ulaccic and
Polci)ionacf<.c',\n the flowers having two styles, as well
as in the two-valved capsules. The leaves are alter-
nate and simple, entire or lobed, and without stipules.

HYDROMETRIDiE (Leach). A family of
hemipterous insects, belonging to the section Hcic-
-n, and sub-section (rYoivrafl, and affording an
instance of the great difficulty attending the natural
classification of groups in natural history. From the
structure of the antenna1 and proboscis, these insects
are united with the land-bugs ; but in their habits

810

H YD ROM YS-H YDROPHILID^

and the structure of their legs, formed for aquatic
life, they are more properly Hydrocorisce, from which,
however, they differ in residing upon the surface, and
not in the water. For this purpose it is necessary
that they should be defended against the action of the
waves in the most complete manner, and which we
find effected in a two-fold manner. In the typical
genus, Hydronu'tra, the legs are simply formed for
walking, but the insect is considerably elevated by
them above the surface, and is enabled easily in this
manner to make its way through grass and the stems
of plants growing at the edges of ponds, &c., which
is its proper locality ; whereas the other genera
(Gerris, Velio) rest their bodies upon the surface of
the water, but they are defended from its action by a
coating of silky hair, over which the water glides
without affecting the body of the insect — these, more-
over, are provided with long rowing legs, which enable
them to slum rapidly along the surface of the water.
The genus Hydromctra is extremely slender, and the
head is produced into a long, narrow muzzle. The
type is the Hydromctra stagnorum, which is an opake
black colour, and more than half an inch in length.
For the characters, &c. of GERRIS, see the article
upon that genus.

HYDROMYS. A genus of rodent mammalia,
hitherto found only in the southern part of Australia,
and we believe only in Van Diemen's Land. They
are remarkable among the mammalia of that country
in not being marsupial. As they have been hitherto
seen on the south coast of Van Dieman's Land only,
it is possible that they may be importations which
have been brought there by visitors from some other
part of the world, whose appearance has been forgot-
ten by a race so totally without historic recollections,
and so prone to extirpate any strangers that come
among them, as the original inhabitants of that island
unquestionably are. Though these animals are called
liydromys, or water mice, they do not exactly agree
w ith our water mice, nor with those of any other part
of the world ; they are characterised by having five
toes on each of the feet, all free on the fore feet, and
webbed on the hind ones ; all the toes are furnished
with claws, which are small and pointed, except that
on the thumb of the fore foot, which is flattened, and
the thumb itself is but little produced ; their teeth are
also peculiar ; they have only twelve altogether,
namely two incisors, and four cheek teeth in each
jaw ; the upper incisors are united and flat in their
anterior surfaces, and the same surface of the lower
ones is rounded ; the first grinder -in the upper jaw is
always longer than the second, and the crown of the
first is composed of three, and that of the second of
two depressions, surrounded by elevated portions of
enamel ; the two in the under jaw are formed in
nearly a similar manner, and the first one is double
the size of the second. This system of teeth is among
the most simple which is met with among mammalia,
excepting in those species which are reckoned tooth-
less ; the ears are very short, and rounded ; the tail
is round, and covered with .short hair ; the body is
covered with two sorts of hair, one woolly and very
soft to the feel, and another much longer and thicker
in the single hair, and shining and silky in appear-
ance. Their covering thus makes a slight approxi-
mation toward that of the South Sea seals, which are
so abundant in the offing of the places where the pre-
sent genera are found on the shores. Only two spe-
cies have been described, and it is not very well

ascertained whether these ought to stand as distinct
species, or only as varieties, though the former is per-
haps the more correct view of them. These species
are distinguished as Leucogaster, or white belly and
Crysogaster, or yellow belly.

The first has the body about a foot in length, and
the tail about eleven inches. All the upper part is
brown, and the under part, which is also the colour of
the distal half of the tail. In this one, the hind feet
have webs for only half the length of the toes, which
would indicate an animal of not absolutely aquatic
habits. The fur all over it is very soft and delicate
to the touch.

The other species is nearly of the same size, and
differs from it chiefly in the colour of the belly, and
that of the tail, which has only the tip white. The
fur upon this last mentioned one is also considerably
finer than that upon the other ; but enough is not
known of them for warranting us to say positively
whether they are, or are not, separate species. The
places where they have been seen, have been chiefly,
if not exclusively, the small islands which lie in the
entrances to the river Derwent, and render those en-
trances so • dangerous to shipping. It is supposed
that they are not numerous ; and we have mentioned
that they may be foreigners ; and the chief point of
interest about them is, that they stand almost alone
as placental mammalia, in a country where all the
rest are marsupial, with the exception of the dog ;
and we have endeavoured to show in the article Dog
that the dingo, or wild dog of Australia, is an impor-
tation by the Malays. The curious fact of the animals
of Australia, in both of its islands, being almost as ex-
clusively marsupial as those of the rest of the world
are placental ; and the connexion which this has with
the singular physical nature of the country are, how-
ever, points which we cannot decide without much
more information than we are in possession of at
present.

HYDROPELTIDEvE. A natural order of plants,
comprising a single genus, of which there is only one
species described ; but of the properties there is
nothing certain known. Hydropeltis is an aquatic,
and intimately connected with Caltha ; and a kindred
genus, called Cabomba, bears a great similitude to the
Batrachia, even in its heteromorphoses foliage ; the
floating leaves being lobed, while the immersed ones
are very much divided. De Candolle mentions their
affinity to the Nymphceace<£, with which they are
associated bv Bartling.

HYDROPHILID.E (Leaeh). A family of cole-
opterous insects, belonging to the section Pentama-a,
and division Rypopliaga of Stephens (Philhydrkla
Mac Leay), comprising such species of water-beetles
as have the antennae short and clubbed at the ex-
tremity, and the palpi long and slender ; the mandi-
bles are bidentate at the tips, the body is oval and
convex, and the hind legs often -ciliated. Like the
Dyticidte, which also inhabit the. water, these insects
exhibit but little variation in their colours, which are
ordinarily obscure. The consistence of their bodies
is firm, and they are often armed with a strong acute
spine, which extends between their hind legs. They
are furnished with wings, whereby they are able to
transport themselves from one piece of water to
another, when they are so inclined. Their motions
in the water are .much less active than those of the
Dyticidte, the legs -not being, moved simultaneously.
This want of agility is dependant in a great measure

HYDROPHYLLE.E-HYDRUS.

upon the nature of their food, which consists of vege-
table matter, although it has been stated that they will
also feed upon small aquatic mollusca and insects ;
but this observation was made by M. Miger upon
insects in a state of captivity. M. Esper has made
another observation, which shews the weakness of
these insects when compared with the other water-
beetles. He had confined an individual of the largest
species of this family, Hydrous piceus, in a glass of
water with a Dyticus marginalia, not more than half
of its size the former, nevertheless, fell an easy prey
to the latter ; which, having detected a vulnerable
part between the head and thorax, greedily devoured
it. Unlike the Dytiddce, these insects exhibit a great
degree of care for the preservation of their race, in
the mariner in which they deposit their eggs ; which,
instead of being laid at random in the water, are
united into a mass, and enclosed in a silken cover, in
which they are carried about by the female beneath
her body until she is able to meet with a convenient
spot for their reception, and which is ordinarily the
stem of some aquatic plant upon which she attaches
her mass of eggs above the surface of the water,
whereby they are defended from the attacks of her
enemies : in this situation the eggs hatch, and the
young larvie tall into the water. Such is the mode
adopted by the smaller species ; but the larger ones
(Hyd. piceus, &c.) differ somewhat. Like the former
they are provided with spinnerets at the extremity of
the body, and they spin a bag of pure white silk, of a
very large size, having on one side an elevated twig
or branch, in which the eggs, to the number of fifty or
sixty, are enclosed in an upright position, and it is not
until they have been hatched several hours, that the
young larva; make their escape. It appears, more-
over, from the recently published researches of Lyon-
net, that the female also employs in the construction
of her nest the fibres of aquatic plants. This, how-
ever, is contrary to the remarks of M. Miger, who
informs us that the use of the elevated branch of the
nest, and which is raised above the surface of the
water, as it floats about, is of service in conveying
air into the mass of eggs enclosed in the nest. The
larvae are large fleshy grubs, furnished with six legs,
which, as well as the head, are of a scaly nature ; the
former being of a curious form, nearly flat above, and
rounded below, which gives it the appearance of being
turned upside down. They respire by the assistance
of two slender appendages at the extremity of the
body. When arrived at its full size, the larva quits
the water, and burrows into the soft adjacent earth,
where it forms a cell, having the inside smoothened,
and in which it becomes a pupa, not exceeding one-
half of its previous length ; the larva of H. piceus
being three inches long, and the pupa only one and a
half. The abdominal segments of the pupa are fur-
nished with long lateral filaments or soft spines ; its
thorax is also armed with three curved spines on each
side. By these, and by the appendages at the ex-
tremity of the body, the pupa is stated to be raised
from the surface of the cell, whereby it is prevented
from being in constant contact with the damp earth.
On arriving at the perfect state, the insect again seeks
the water, in which it constantly resides, but it is
necessary that it should come from time to time to
the surface to obtain a supply of fresh air. Authors
had remarked that at such times, unlike the Dyticida:,
which respire by the extremity of the body, it pro-
truded its antenna: out of the water, and that they

811

were applied against the body when it retired again
below the surface : but the recent observations of
M. Audouin have shewn, that it was by this motion
that a bubble of air is carried along the under side of
the thorax until it arrives at the abdominal spiracles.
The majority of these insects are of small size, but
the family comprises a few species, which are amongst
the largest of the aquatic coleoptera. The genera
are, Hydrophilus, Hydrous, Philhydrus, Tropisternus,
Stcrnolophus, Hydrobius, Volvulus, Berosus, and Limnc-
bius ; to which Mr. Stephens adds Spcrchcus. In the
typical genus, Hydrophilus, the sternum is spined, the
pectoral carina being bifid, and the antennae are ob-
tuse at the tips. The type is the Hydr. Caraboides,
Linnaeus, a very common species, found in the stag-
nant ponds and ditches, being about three-quarters of
an inch in length, and of a shining black colour.

HYDROPHYLLE^E. A natural order of ele-
gant herbaceous plants, natives of North America.
The order contains five genera, viz. Hydrophyllum,
Phacclia, Eutoca, Varronia, Nemojihila, and Ellisia.
These associated genera very closely resemble the
Boraginidece and Heliotropidae : the twin-celled basal
nectary, and one-celled ovarium, will, however, suffi-
ciently distinguish them. The fungous-stalked Pla-
centcB is also a very peculiar and characteristic struc-
ture.

HYDROUS, (Linnaeus). A genus of pentame-
rous coleopterous insects, belonging to the family
Hydrophitidte, and diti'ering from Hydrophilus, in hav-
ing the antennas acute at the tips, the pectoral carina
of the prosternum simple, and the terminal joint of
the male tarsi, which is dilated into a large triangular
plate. The type, H. piceus, is the largest of our
British water-beetles, being an inch and a half long,
of an olive black and shining colour. It is found in
ponds and stagnant waters, but not very commonly.

HYDRUS (Hydra). A genus or rather family of
serpents, which are all inhabitants of the seas or rivers
of warm countries. The name was originally applied
allegorically to a monster which Hercules is fabled to
have subdued ; and though Linnaeus transferred the
name to one of the simplest of all animals, an inhabi-
tant of the fresh waters which can be multiplied by
dividing the body into segments, those who treat of
the natural history of serpents very generally apply
it as the distinctive name of water-serpents, whether
these happen to be poisonous or not. They are
found in greatest abundance in the seas and rivers of
the south-east of Asia, of Australia, and of some of
the adjoining countries. In their teeth they resemble
the Colubrcs and Acrocohordi, but they have generally
a smaller number of teeth in the external range ; and
some have the first of this row on each side much
larger than the others, and perforated for the purpose
of conveying their poison, which is of a very deadly
nature in some of the species, into the wound inflicted
by the tooth. They live generally under the water ;
and in this they are distinguished from some other
species which are often found swimming on the sur-
face, but which seldom or never dive to the bottom,
as the true hydras are in the habit of doing. They
feed almost exclusively upon fish. Some of them
grow to a very large size ; and many, indeed the
greater part, are remarkable for the brilliance of their
colours and the elegance of their markings. Cuvier
divides them into three subgenera : —

Hydroph'is, which chiefly infest the seas, rivers, and
other waters of Bengal and the adjoining countries

812

HYL.EUS-HYLURGUS.

They usually remain quiet at the bottom, or buried
in the sand, during the day ; but at night they come
to the banks, and attack land animals, and even human
beings when they resort to the waters for the purpose
of bathing, washing, and cooling themselves. Their
characters are : a row of scales along the belly, larger
than those on the rest of the body ; the head small,
obtuse, and furnished with large plates. There are
many species of them, some poisonous and others
not ; but the whole of them are to be regarded with
suspicion. The body is compressed in the posterior
part, and well adapted for making way through the
water.

Pelamis. These have the head- covered with large
plates as in the former subgenus ; but they differ
from it in having the occiput tumified in consequence
of the length of the pedicles of the lower jaw, which
allow a very large opening to the mouth, something
in the manner of the pythons, boas, and other large
serpents which kill their prey by crushing it. All
the scales on the body are nearly equal in size, and
they are arranged like a sort of pavement. The
greater number of them are found in the tropical and
southern Pacific, in many parts of which they are
very abundant, and grow to a large size. The natives
of some of the islands in that sea eat their flesh when
they can capture them.

Chersydus have the scales upon the head and body
nearly of the same size, without any large plates
upon the head. They are chiefly found in the seas
and rivers of Java, where some of them are possessed
of very deadly poison. By some writers they have
been confounded with serpents which are perfectly
harmless, as well as singular ; and those mistakes are
the more to be regretted, when a perfectly harmless
animal is confounded with one whose powers of doing
mischief are very great. Thus Aular ccerrau of the
Javise, Acrochordus Javanensis, or wartv serpent, is
not only not poisonous, but a vegetable feeder; while
the Aular limpe, which is the banded Acrochordus of
some authors, is perhaps the most poisonous serpent
that inhabits the water. The history of the whole
race is imperfect however ; and, from the difficulty
of obtaining information, it is not easily rectified.

HYL^EUS (Fabricius). A genus of short-tongued
bees (ANDRENID*:), which see for its characters.

HYLOBIUS(Germar). A very destructive genus of
coleopterous insects belonging to the section Tetramera
and family CurcuKonidts, having the antennae twelve-
jointed, the rostrum moderately long, somewhat round-
ed with a lateral impression extending from the middle
of the eyes ; the elytra, which are not united together,
are of an oblong-ovate form, and the body is furnished
with wings ; the legs are moderately short and thick,
and the femora are armed with a spine. There are
several species, one only of which has fortunately
occurred in any abundance in this country. This is
the Curculio Metis, Linnaeus, a species varying from
five to nine lines in length, of a pitchy black colour,
with numerous yellow spots on the elytra. This
insect has rarely occurred in England, but in Scotland
it has been found in great quantities in the fir planta-
tions, in which it makes great devastation, as appears
from a letter from J. Loch, Esq., agent for the estates
of the Marquis of Stafford and Earl of Carlisle, dated
August 29, 1824, and addressed to Mr. W. S. Mac-
Leay, by whom it was published in the fourth number
of the Zoological Journal :— " There has been lately
a great failure of the young firs and larches on Lord

Carlisle's estates here. It was at first thought to be
occasioned by mice, so completely was the bark de-
stroyed. The wood-warden is now, however, per-
suaded that the mischief is done by the insects inclosed
in the box sent along with this. The destruction is
more rapid where the roots of the Scotch fir are in a
state of decay." Mr. Mac Leay then proceeds —
" This last remark indeed goes of itself far to prove
that the author of the mischief is an insect, for mice
would only attack the green and healthy bark ; and to
set the question at rest, the insect of which many
specimens were sent, proved to be no other than the
Hylobius abietis of Gertnar (Curculio pini of the Ento-
mologia Brittanica), an insect most destructive to firs.
It is very common in the pine forests of Sweden and
Scotland, but in England I believe it has only as yet
been found in Cumberland and Shropshire." Mr.
MacLeay then gives the synonymy of the insect,
which Linnaeus named Curculio pini as well as C. abietis,
observing that it inhabits the Pinus sylvestris, and de-
vours its resin ; and then, in his peculiar style, he
proceeds to describe its manners as follows : — " Tarde
incedit, arete apprehendit, tenaciter adhaeret, ore frus-
tra cutem mordere tentat captivus." Beyond these
observation little is known of the economy of this
destructive insect, and it is therefore impossible to
point out a remedy for the evil until we nave more
detailed accounts of the method in which the trees
are attacked. The naturalists in the north might,
however, easily acquire some insight into the history
of the insect, by examining the fir trees in Rivelston
Wood, near Edinburgh, where it was first discovered
during the winter season, and watching the larvae
until they make their appearance as perfect insects.

HYLURGUS (Latreille). A genus of coleopter-
ous insects belonging to the section Tetramera, and
family Scolytidce (or BOSTRICHID^E, which see), having
the elytra rounded at the tips, the thorax not hooded,
the club of the antennae sub-globose, and the body
cylindrical. These are small beetles of very destruc-
tive habits, the type of which (Dermestesjnniperdus,
Linnaeus) is figured in our first volume, p. 670, col. 2,
where fig. 3 represents the insect of the natural size,
fig. 4 ditto magnified, fig. 5 the larva or maggot, and
fig. 6 the pupa (the figures 1 and 2, of which the
names were accidentally omitted, represent the typo-
grapher beetle of the natural size and magnified, of
whose proceedings an account is given in the preced-
ing page). The pine Hylurgus is extremely injurious
to young pines, by destroying the leading shoots.
The following observations respecting it were made
by Professor Lindley, and communicated to Mr.
Curtis, with drawings of the sections of the sterns
shewing the course of the tracks of the beetle : —
" For the purpose of examining its proceedings more
narrowly, I placed a shoot of the Scotch fir under a-
glass with the insect. In about three hours after, it
had just begun to pierce the bark at the base of one
of the leaves ; its mandibles seemed chiefly employed,
its legs being merely used as a means of fixing itself
more firmly. Four hours after, its head and thorax
were completely buried in the shoot, and it had thrown
out a quantity of wood which it had reduced to a
powder, and which nearly covered the bottom of the
glass. In sixteen hours more it was entirely concealed,
and was beginning to form its perpendicular excava-
tion, and was busily employed in throwing back the
wood as it proceeded in destroying it ; there were
evidently two kinds of this saw-dust, part consisting

HYMENCEA— HYMENOPTERA.

of shapeless lumps, but the greater portion of very
thin semi-transparent lamella?, or rather shavings. I
now examined it every day till the fifth, when I found
it had emerged through the central buds at about an
inch from where it had first commenced." This spe-
cies is about one-sixth of an inch long, of a black
colour, with the elytra finely punctured in lines ; it
varies to a pale dirty buff or red colour, probably
owing to immaturity. There are numerous other
species of this genus, eight being inhabitants of this
country.

HYMENCEA (Linnaeus). A genus of plants, called
from its having united leaves. They are the locust
trees of English travellers, and found in tropical
America and Madagascar. The flowers are decan-
drious, and of course belong to the natural order
LeguminoscB. The pods of H. courbaril contain a soft
filamentose substance as sweet as honey, and having
an aromatic flavour something resembling gingerbread.
The Indians are extremely fond of the fruit, and the
monkies, as well as the children, devour it with
avidity. The gum known in commerce as gum animi
is extracted from several of the species. The heart-
wood of the courbaril is very hard and tough, and is
hence much valued for wheel work, particularly for
cogs. It will take a fine polish, and is so heavy that
a cubic foot weighs about one hundred pounds. It
is called " mountain ebony." In our stove collections
the plants are grown in loam and moor-earth, and
increased by cuttings.

HYMENOPTERA. An order of insects be-
longing to the great division Mandibulata, or those
furnished with lateral jaws, and distinguished by
having four membranous wings, furnished with various
veins, forming cells, but not assuming the appearance
of net work, the posterior pairj being smaller than
the anterior ; the mouth composed of a pair of
upper and lower jaws, and two lips, the lower of
which is elongated, and forms, together with the
lower jaws, a kind of tongue or sucker, capable of
being extended to a considerable length, and employed
in collecting honey from flowers ; the females are
furnished with a horny apparatus, at the extremity of
the body, which in some species is transformed into
a pair of saws, adapted for making slits in twigs of
plants, for the reception of the eggs, and in the
others consisting of a powerful sting, the structure of
which we have already described in our article upon
the bee. In others again, it is elongated into an
ovipositor, adapted for depositing the eggs in the
bodies of caterpillars, &c. The head is furnished,
moreover, with a pair of antenna?, which in the typ-
ical division, consist of thirteen joints in the males,
and twelve in the females ; in the rest the number of
the joints varies in the greatest degree, in some con-
sisting of only five or six, and in others of sixty or
seventy articulations. In the form of these organs
we also find great variation, the sexes differing in this
respect, in some being long and slender, in others
short and clubbed ; in some furnished with hairs, in
others branched or forked, and in the majority
elbowed at the extremity of the basal joint, which is
ordinarily long. The eyes are large, and occupy the
sides of the head ; they are alike in both sexes, except
in a very few instances, in which they are united in
the males on the crown of the head, as in some of
the diptera, they are generally round or oval, whilst
in some, as the wasps, they are kidney shaped. They
are asserted to be obsolete in a few species of ants.

813

In addition to these composite eyes, the majority of
the insects of this order are furnished with three mi-
nute simple eyelets (ocelli), on the crown of the head ;
the lower jaw and lip are furnished with palpi, which
vary in the number of their joints from six to one.
The thoracic segments are united into an oval
mass, in the front of which is to be observed an
arched piece, termed the collar ; and at the sides are
attached the two pairs of wings, the anterior pair
having a scale (squamula) at the base. The front
margin of the anterior wings is furnished, a little be-
yond the centre, with a callous point, termed the
stigma, c, from which is emitted a vein or nerve, which
runs to the tip of the wing, the space between it and
the front margin of the wings forming one or two
cells, which are termed the marginal or radial cells, «,
behind this nerve, and running somewhat parallel with
it, is another nerve connected with the former by various
short transverse nerves, the space between which
forms the submarginal or cubital cells, bbbb, varying
in number from one to four ; there are other nerves
forming basal and discoidal cells, but the former are
of the greatest importance, being employed as afford-
ing constant characters in the discrimination of genera.
There is, perhaps, nothing more strikingly calculated
to prove the beautiful order and certainty existing
throughout nature, than is exhibited by these slender
and apparently trivial nerves, which maintain their
position in every individual of a given species,
although in the adjacent species the situation of some
one or other of them may be altered. Of such im-
portance, however, is the consideration of these nerve%
that in the latest work upon the Hymenoptera (St.
Fargeau, Hist. Nat. des Ins. Hymenopt. Paris, 1836.)
we find upwards of five and twenty pages devoted to
their illustration. We have here represented the an-

terior wing of gorytes, in which we have a number of
cells ; but in some groups the number of the nerves is
greatly diminished, and in few, as the Chalcididse and
Proctotrupidse, the nerves are almost, and even abso-
lutely and entirely, obliterated. In many of these in-
sects, a remarkable apparatus exists, whereby the two
wings on each side are kept steady together in flight,
consisting of a series of very minute hooks or crotchets
discoverable under a good magnifier on the anterior
margin of the posterior wings. They have been
noticed by no other authors than De Geer
and Kirby, the latter of whom observes, that they
are much more conspicuous in the bees than in the
winged ants. The legs, which are six in number, are
inserted on the lower side of the thorax, and consist
of various pieces, which contribute to their movements.
These pieces are the coxa, a short piece connecting
the leg with the thorax, trochantcr, another short
piece articulated between the coxa and the following
piece, and which in the ichneumonidse, is divided
into two parts ; the femur, or thigh, which is long and

814 HYMEN

robust ;" the ibia, or shank, which is more slender,
and terminated by one or two spurs ; and the arti-
culated tarsus, which constantly consists of five joints,
the fifth being of a conical form, the extremity being
the thickest part, and furnished with two strong but
small claws, between which the pulvilli, or cushions,
are often to be observed. These legs, which are, in
feet, the chief organs whereby the insects are enabled
to carry on their varied economy and habits, are neces-
sarily very varied in their form, and in the appen-
dages with which they are furnished. The abdomen,
which is also of a very varied form, is attached to
the posterior part of the thorax, either by its entire
width, in which case it is said to be sessile, or by
means of a slender peduncle, or foot-stalk, which in
some groups is also long as the abdomen itself. At
the extremity of this abdomen, on its lower surface,
is attached the ovipositor, saw, or sting above men-
tioned, each of which, although varied in form, so as
to suit its intended uses, is but! a modification of the
same instrument. From the centre of the underside
of the abdomen, near its extremity, arise two plates,
each consisting of two joints, sometimes valvular,
and together forming a scabbard, sometimes more
slender, and resembling palpi, and sometimes very
long ; between these plates (which are figured in our
first vol. p. 362, col. 2, fig. 1 and 2, as they exist in
the bee, under the form of two flattened plates, with
a pair of small terminal lobes) arise two other pieces,
which are very slender, serrated at the tip in the bees,
(fig. 8 and 5), but much broader in the saw-flies, and
transversely striated, forming the saws with which
these insects are provided ; moreover, these two
pieces are received, in the bees, into a canal (fig. 2
and 4), but in the saw-flies this gutter is broad,
flattened, and divided into two separated parts, form-
ing the backs of the two saws. In the ichneumons,
these various parts are so slender, that at first sight
they appear to consist but of a single piece ; on more
minutely examining the instrument, however, it will
be found that it consists of a scabbard, composed of
two pieces, inclosing a fine hair-like bristle, which is,
in fact, the exact analogue of the stinging part of the
bee's sting, consisting of three pieces.

These insects, which constitute the fifth Linnaean
order, are unquestionably the most interesting of the
insect tribes, comprising as they do the bee, wasp, ant,
sand-wasp, cuckoo-flies, and saw-flies ; the economy
of which is so remarkable, that it has attracted the
curiosity of the most uninquisitive persons. Their
colours are seldom brilliant ; brown, yellow, black, or
grey, being their prevailing tints ; neither do they
often acquire a large size, the majority being under an
inch in length, and some being so exceedingly minute
as to be invisible to the naked eye, except when seen
creeping against the light upon a window. Many of
the species live in societies more or less numerous, as
the bees, ants, and wasps ; these assemblages con-
sisting of males and females, and neuters, the latter
being abortive females, and destined to perform the
more laborious duties of the communityt Others, as
the sand-wasps, &c., are solitary in their habits, but
their economy is not less interesting than that of the
former ; since, although not exhibiting such a variety
of remarkable physiological traits, the construction of
a nest, and the provisioning it with a supply of food
for the young when hatched, by a single insect, is
sufficient to prove that the instincts of that insect are
not less developed than in cases where a particular

OPTERA.

duty devolves upon a particular set of individuals.
We have already, in our articles ANT, BEE, CERCE-
RID.S:, FoRMicioae.HoRNET, &c., detailed many of the
more prominent features in the economy of those
insects, which it will be unnecessary to repeat in this
place. From these we find that the food laid up in
store by one class of these insects, consists of honey
collected from flowers ; whilst in another class it con-
sists of insects deposited in cells by the parent fly.
Another class have the instinct to deposit their eggs
in the already provisioned cells of the working classes,
the young of which latter are starved to death by the
previous exclusion of the parasitic grub, which devours
the supply provided for the former. Another class is
parasitic in a different sense of the word, depositing
their eggs upon or within the bodies of other insects,
chiefly in the larva state, the intestines of which are
prej'ed upon by the grubs when hatched. Others
deposit their eggs in the leaves or stems of various
plants, together with an irritating matter, which causes
the production of galls or warts, often of a large size,
upon the substance of which the larvae, when hatched,
continue to feed until they assume the perfect state ;
and the remainder place their eggs in slits in the stems
of plants upon the leaves of which the young feed.
From the nature of their food, and their abode in the
midst of it, it will be at once evident that they have
little need of locomotive organs serving for its disco-
very. We accordingly find that the majority of the
hymenopterous larvae are footless grubs, of a white
colour, and of a fleshy substance, having the parts of
the mouth small, and but slightly developed, although
in the perfect insect the same organs attain a maxi-
mum degree of development. In those larva?, how-
ever, which are external feeders, we find the necessity
for locomotion causing the addition of locomotive
organs ; the legs in the larvae of the saw-flies varying
in number from six .to twenty-two. The pupae of
these insects are inactive, having the various limbs of
the perfect insect developed, but enclosed in separate
cases, and lying along the breast. In this respect,
therefore, they resemble the coleoptera, and like them
they are in this state either enclosed in cocoons
formed by the grubs previous to their transformation,
or are naked. The species of this order is extremely
numerous. They are annual insects ; the majority of
them pass the winter season in the form of grubs or
pupae, whilst others pass this period in the perfect
state. These, however, are but few in number, and
consist of femeles which have been impregnated
during the preceding autumn, and are destined to
become the foundresses of fresh colonies, upon the
arrival of spring. In their perfect state, they feed
almost exclusively upon the honey of flowers. Some,
indeed, have been said to feed upon other insects, but
these observations have been mada upon a casual
occurrence, or upon insects which were in the act of
securing the supply of food for their progeny. In
the tropical countries, the species attain the largest
size ; there, too, they appear to be the most abundant.
The situation of this order in the classification of
insects, is especially interesting. The possession of
a pair of robust mandibles necessarily places it
amongst the mandibulata or masticating insects,
whilst the elongated structure of the lower parts of
the mouth, forming a proboscis for sucking up the
honey of flowers, seems to unite it with the haustel-
lated or sucking insects. Latreille has accordingly
placed it between the mandibulated Neuroptera and

H Y M E N O P T E R A.

815

the suctorial Leptdoptera. This order has been con-
sidered a very natural one by all entomologists. Our
great author, Ray, was the first, who had any idea of
the group, which was named by him Tetraptcra or
Quadripennia ; but he included therein the Phn/-
gnnidcB and Ephemeridae. It was not, however, until
the tenth edition of the Systcma Naturae, that the
order was reduced to its present limits. In the
twelfth edition of the same work, three hundred and
fourteen species were described, but the number is
now vastly increased. The increase in the number
of genera has kept pace with that of the species, so
that, had it not been for the philosophical institution
of family groups, by Latreille, corresponding- in many
instances with the Linnsean genera, this and the other
orders of insects would have become a perfect chaos.
The structure of the parts of the mouth, as appearing to
indicate the essential habits, might be regarded as of
primary importance in determining the classification of
the insects ; but it is essential to bear in mind the fol-
lowing circumstances, which may have the effect of
proving that too great a weight ought not to be allowed
to these considerations. We have already said that the
Hymenoptcra in general feed upon the honey of flowers
— hence, unlike the Coleoptera (in which some are pre-
daceons, others lignivorous, others herbivorous, and
others necrophagous) an uniformity in the mode of
nourishment exists ; the only variation consisting in
the employment of the sap exuding from the wounds
of plants, or the juices of fruits. If, indeed, certain
of the TcnthredinidcB (such as Tcnthredo scrophu-
larice) attack other insects, they form but an excep-
tion to a general rule, which they and some other
species infringe but rarely, and, as it would seem, only
when the excessive heat has dried up the supply of
honey. The ants and wasps also appear to offer ex-
ceptions to the rule, but it is not real, since as they
are often found upon flowers, of which they will suck
up the honey, it is presumable that this is their ordi-
nary food, and that if they destroy other insects, it is
only for the purpose of getting at the honey with
which the latter are gorged. Moreover, in the nests
of certain social wasps, and even in that of the Polistcs
Lichc'innna of Brazil, as observed by M. Auguste de
St. Hilairo, a quantity of cells, full of honey, have
been found, of which this distinguished traveller ate a
considerable quantity without experiencing any in-
convenience ; and the same has been observed in
respect to the honey found in the nests of Polistcs
g'i'/icri. The larger species of wasps will occasionally
a) tack raw meat in butchers' shops ; but this is of rare
occurrence, and can be only attributed to an occa-
sional diminution of their ordinary food ; indeed many
nests are too far distant from the habitations of man,
for the wasps which inhabit them to have recourse to
such a kind of food. In the same manner may be
explained the interesting instance of supposed instinct
exhibited by a wasp, recorded in some of the popular
works on natural history, which had captured a fly
which it was unable to" fly away with, owing to the
wind acting upon the wings of the latter, whereupon
it clipped off these wings and also the legs and then
flew off with it to devour it at leisure. Here it was
evident that the wasp had been prevented from obtain-
ing its usual supply of food, and that its instinct had
been sharpened by hunger. We were witness some
time ago of another equally interesting instance of
instinct exhibited by the same insect, which had dis-
covered some flies upon which it wished to make a

meal, revelling upon excrement, which it was anxious
not to touch with its feet or wings in seizing its prey.
It approached, therefore, as near to one of the flies
as it could, and then with a swoop, which reminded
us of the flight of the hawk, darted upon the fly, and
carried it off without soiling itself. The ants, in like
manner, although some of them have the instinct to
secure in their nests entire colonies of aphides, do not
devour them, but merely lap up with their tongues
the saccharine fluid which they emit, and which is, in
fact, merely vegetable liquid slightly modified during
its passage through the body of the aphis. All other
species of hymenopterous insects observed killing,
wounding, or dragging along other insects, caterpil-
lars, or spiders, have been ascertained to be employed,
not in providing for their own support, but for that of
their offspring. The elongation of the parts of the
mouth of the Coleoptera, has been regarded as a
character indicating carnivorous appetites ; and hence
the same idea has been applied to those hymenoptera
which have the trophi, especially the jaws, elongated ;
but observation has proved that these species are
destined to carry heavier burdens than the others ;
their prey destined for their progeny is more weighty,
and they consequently need more powerful tools for
its transport. Now the Coleoptera have no work of
this kind to perform, and consequently the analogy
cannot be supported : and this observation, as it
appears to us, offers an interesting clue to the solu-
tion of the oft-debated question, why it should be
requisite to employ characters derived from so many
distinct organs in the natural classification of any
extensive group of animals, instead of deriving them
throughout the group from a single organ.

In one order of insects, for instance, we find the
primary divisions founded upon variations in the con-
struction of the tarsi, whilst in other orders the struc-
ture of these parts is uniform. Thus it is only by
acquiring a perfect knowledge, not only of the struc-
ture, but of the habits of animals, that we can ever
hope to be made acquainted with the relative value
of this or that character, so as to be able to affirm,
with any thing like precision, that the one or the
other is of the greater importance ; and this happens
to be a question of considerable moment in respect to
the order at present under consideration, in which
some authors have distributed the families according
to their general structure, whilst others, and more
especially the Count de St. Fargeau, in the work
above mentioned, have regarded the various instincts
of the insects, as exhibited in their social, solitary, or
parasitic qualities, as of the highest value, although
these qualities may have but a very slight influence
upon the general structure of the insect; thus between
the humble bee and the parasitic humble bee ( Psithy-
rus\ there is so little general variation of structure,
that Mr. Curtis even doubts the propriety of their
generic separation, whilst St. Fargeau, looking at
their different instincts, places them in totally distinct
sections, regarding the slight modification of form in
the legs, (deflpndent, it is true, upon the pollinigerous
or parasftic habits of the different insects), of far higher
importance than that entire variation of structure
which separates such families as the working bees and
wasps, which are united together by the common tie
of sociality. As regards the order of insects in ques-
tion, this mode of viewing their classification has
hitherto been too much neglected to enable us to fol-
low it out in a work like the present, which ought to

816

HYOSCYMUS-HYPERECINE^E

convey facts rather than theories ; we have neverthe-
less thought it proper to notice the subject, which is
in fact one which materially influences every zoologi-
cal group. In the meantime it may be more condu-
cive to pur present purpose to notice the variation of
several of the more important organs, and the causes
upon which such variations are dependant. Although
the nature of the nourishment of all hymenopterous
insects be alike, it does not follow that the mouth of
all should be of an uniform structure; neither, although
consisting of the same parts and number of pieces, is
it requisite that they should be formed upon the same
model. The construction of the nest and the prepa-
ration and transporting of the materials employed
therein, as well as the form of the flowers from which
the different species collect their honey, are considera-
tions which modify, in a greater or less degree, the
structure of the organs of the mouth ; thus in those
species which collect honey from flowers for their
own support alone, as the Tenthredinidae, Ichneumo-
nidce, &c., the lower lip or tongue and the lower jaws
are short and narrow, but when the insect has to col-
lect a supply of food net only for its own support, but
also for that of its progeny, these parts are much
more developed, as is also the case when the honey
is placed at the bottom of tubular flowers, such as the
Labiates, &c., which are much frequented by some of
the long-tongued bees ; the same parts are short and
broad in the ants, wasps, &c., because they frequent
flowers composing the heads of the Umbelliferce, from
the almost flat surface of which they collect the honey,
as well as the sap flowing from the wounds of trees,
&c., without trouble ; moreover, this organ is thus
modified to serve as a trowel for the smoothening of
the inner surface of the cells in which the future pro-
geny are to be produced. Again, in those species
which have to search with much diligence for the
prey destined for the nourishment of their progeny,
the palpi (which appear to be organs of touch) are
elongated ; whereas in those whose larvae are nourished
with honey, they are short, the flowers being disco-
verable without difficulty by the sight or by the an-
tennae. Again, the mandibles vary in their form,
size, thickness, and toothing ; thus, in the females of
some genera, they are more robust than in the males,
the former sex being the sole architect of the nest,
and having to perform more laborious work than her
partner ; so in those females which have to cut the
materials for their nests, they are thicker, whilst in
those which have heavy burdens to carry, they are
longer ; but the most extraordinary instance of this
kind of variation in the last named organs occurs in
the neuters of some species of ants. Many observers
have remarked in the same nest neuters with large
and others with small jaws, the former being employed
in collecting food, and the latter remaining in the nest,
out of which they only make their appearance to
attack any enemy that may menace their community.
M. Carcel was witness of this fact (first observed by
the celebrated Huber), the former of whom was wit-
ness of the destruction of a scorpion byghese minute
but extraordinarily developed workers. M. Le Prieur
has also observed that the nests of the South Ameri-
can visiting ants (Atta, Latreille), the neuters of which
have short jaws, are defended by other workers with
exceedingly long mandibles ; which organs are em-
ployed in stopping those individuals which quit the
ranks and might thus be lost, showing them the right
way. Latreille, not being aware of this remarkable

fact, has formed these long-jawed individuals into a
distinct genus under the name of Eciton.

Many other equally interesting instances might be
given of the variations and causes of variations to
which not only these but other essential organs, as
the ovipositor, legs, &c., are subject ; but we have
advanced sufficient to prove that this branch of the
subject, which may without hesitation be laid before
the reader almost as an unopened field of inquiry,
possesses a very great degree of interest, sufficient to
repay the labour devoted to its elucidation.

The following is the classification of this order, given

to us by Latreille, to whom indeed we are greatly

indebted for our knowledge of these insects, which

were especial favourites with this celebrated author.

Section I. TEREBRANTIA ; abdomen of the females

furnished with a saw or borer.
Sub-sec. 1. Securifera; abdomen sessile furnished
with a saw ; larvae with feet. Families, Tcn-
thrinidae (saw-flies), Sinddae.
Sub-sec. 2. Pupivora ; abdomen pedunculated,
furnished with a borer ; larvae without feet.
Families, Evaniidte, Ichneumonidat, Cynipidce,
ChalcididcE, Proctotrupidee, ChrysididtE.
Section II. ACULEATA; abdomen of the females

(and neuters) armed with a sting.
Sub-sec. 1. Heterogyna; females or neuters wing-
less. Families, Fot-micidte (social), Mutillidte
(solitary).

Sub-sec. 2. Fossores; females winged, wings not
folded, basal joint of posterior tarsi simple.
Families, ScoliidcE, Sapygidce, Sphegida, Bern-
beddce, LarridtE, Nyssonida, Crabronidte.
Sub-sec. 3. Diploptera ; females (and neuters)
winged, wings folded. Families, Masaridce,
Vespidae.

Sub-sec. 4. Mellifera ; females (and neuters)
winged, wings not folded, posterior tarsi with
the basal joint large and compressed into a
pollinigerous organ. Families, Andrenidce,
Apidce, with its subdivisions, for which see our
article A.PIDM.

HYOSCYMUS (Linnaeus). A genus of annual
and perennial herbs, natives of Europe. One of them,
the H. niger, is the well-known henbane of British
wastes. These plants belong to they natural order
SokmecB. The henbane is a powerful narcotic, and,
when taken in any considerable quantity, proves
quickly poisonous to man, and most brute animals
except swine.

HYPERECINEjE. A natural order of plants.of
which Hypericum is the type. It contains seven genera,
and above ninety species. The whole abound in a
resinous juice. Their leaves are all dotted, and, what
is very remarkable, the dots are often black, even
upon the yellow petals. They are herbs, undershrubs,
or trees ; the stems are jointed, and the intermediate
joints are round or tetragonal ; the leaves opposite
simple, entire, very seldom alternate or crenate, and
either sessile or short-stalked. The inflorescence is
mostly in terminal cymes ; the flowers are regular,
united, and in general yellow ; the fruit is capsular,
or baccate, many-valved and many-celled. The
plants of this order are found in the more temperate
parts of Europe and Asia, and often in the shady
parts of woods. The genus from which the order
receives its title is the Hypericum, or St. John's Wort
of English authors, seven or eight species of which
are natives of this kingdom. j

HYPOX1DE.E — HYRIA.

817

HYPOXIDEA1. A natural order of exotic plan-is,
containing three genera and about twenty species.
Hypoxis, the genus whence the order is named, was
formerly associated with the Asphodeleoe, till sepa-
rated therefrom by Dr. Brown. It seems to be a
link of connexion between them and the Amaryllideee,
from which last it but slightly differs. The foliage
of these plants is plaited, harsh, and rigid, which cir-
cumstances seem to argue them distinct from both
AmaryUidecE and Asphodelea:. Hypoxis, Curculigo,
and their few allies at present known, are plants of
little beauty, H. stellata excepted. Their uses are
unknown.

HYRAX (Hyrax). A genus of pachydermatous
mammalia, intermediate in their character between
(ho rhinoceros and the tapir ; but so inferior to them
in the size of the existing species, that it was not until
Cuvier had demonstrated the character of the animal
from its anatomical structure, that it was admitted
into this part of the system ; and it was previously
classed by naturalists with the rodentia or gnawing
animals. No part of the structure allows it, however,
to be ranked with them, while every thing justifies
the place assigned to it by Cuvier. The general ap-
pearance is that of a rhinoceros in miniature ; and
though it has no horny production on the nose, it has
the same character of the grinders, ai-d the same
prehensile upper lip. The incisive teeth are different,
for there are in the upper jaw two large incisors bent
backwards, with a wide space between them and the
cheek teeth. The foremost cheek teeth above have flat
triangular crowns, and the posterior ones are a little
hollowed : the under ones have transverse ridges on
their crowns. In the full grown animal, there are no
canines ; but in the young state, there are small
ones, which soon drop out, and are never replaced.
The incisors in the lower jaw are four in number, and
much smaller than those in the other ; but they are,
properly speaking, tearing teeth, and not cutting ones,
though from the character of the cheek teeth, they
are made for tearing vegetable matter only ; the fore
feet are furnished with four toes in one of the known
species, and only three in the other, while the hind
feet have four toes in both ; the claws upon these toes
are, properly speaking, little hoofs, which are the
characteristic armature of the pachydermata, but the
inner toe of the hind foot is furnished with a crooked
claw ; the nostrils are oblique ; the eyes small ; the
cars short, but of considerable size ; the head large
for the size of the body ; the upper lip divided ; six
mamma; in the females, two on the breast, and four on
the belly ; and the body covered with two descrip-
tions of hair, one short and woolly, and the other long
and silky ; internally, the stomach is divided into two
portions; there is a large coecum, and various enlarge-
ments in the colon. All these characters are strictlythose
of the pachydermatous animals, and leave no doubt
as to the correctness of the modern arrangement.

It is not a little remarkable that we should rind the
remains of those smaller animals of this order in the
places where the largest ones are also found ; and ii
is especially curious that we should find both specie!
of this genus in Africa, on opposite sides of the equa
tor, and nearly under the same meridian. This woulc
lead us to conclude that at some early period of its
history, the character of a large, and probably the
principal part of the African mammalia, was pachy
dernmtous ; but that in the progress of the country
toward dryness, those heavv and comparatively slow
NAT. HIST.— VOL. II.

going animals, have given place to those ruminants,
which are found in such multitudes upon the African
plains. We have not space, however, for entering
upon this speculation, and all that we can do is to refer
it to the attention of the reader. We shall, therefore,
now only notice the two species.

CAPE HYKAX (H. Capensis). This one has fout
toes on each of the feet ; is of a greyish brown on
the upper part, and whitish on the under, and also the
insides of the ears. It has been called a marmot by
naturalists ; and the colonists of Southern Africa
have termed it the rock-badger. It is about two feet
six inches in length, from the muzzle to the extremity
of the body ; it has no tail, except a mere tubercle ;
and it stands about eight inches high on the legs. It
lives in the clefts of the rocks, where it contrives to
secure itself tolerably well from beasts of prey. The
woolly hair upon it is fine and soft ; and the silken
lair is pretty long and of irregular length, so that
ome hairs of it project much farther than others.
The soles of the feet are covered only with a thick
loft skin. It is a docile animal ; not very difficult to
ame ; playful when in a domesticated state, and capa-
)le of a considerable degree of attachment.

SYRIAN HYRAX (//. Syriacus). The chief diffe-
rence between this species and that found in Southern
Africa consists in its having only three toes on each
of the fore feet, while the other has four. It is found
as far to the southward as Abyssinia ; and is the ask-
koko of that country described in Bruce's Travels, the
fidelity of which in natural history, as well as in all
other matters, has been so fully established by the tes-
timony of more recent travellers. It has sometimes
been alleged that there are other and smaller species
of this genus ; but it does not appear that the allega-
tions are entitled to credit. The hyrax possesses
twenty-one pairs of ribs ; the elephant and tapir
twenty ; the rhinoceros nineteen ; and the solid-hoofed
animals eighteen.

HYRIA (Lamarck; MYA, Gmelin). Lamarck
separated this genus from those of Mya, Unio, and
Anodon, with which they had previously been blended.
These molluscs differ from the Unio not only in
general shape, but in the form of the cardinal tooth,
particularly thbt of the right valve. They much re-
semble the Aviculae in appearance, and probably in-
habit lakes rather than rivers. The substance of the
shell is solid and beautifully pearly ; it is equivalve,
obliquely triangular, auriculated, and the base trun-
cated and straight; the hinge with two projecting
teeth, one of them posterior or cardinal, divided into
numerous divergent parts, the anterior ones smaller,
and the others anterior or lateral, being very long and
lamellar ; the ligament is linear and external. They
possess a strong epidermis, and the animal entirely
resembles the Anodon in its organisation. Strictly
assuming Lamarck's definition of this genus, but two
or three species would be known , but more recent
authors on malacology have determined upon making
the hyria no other than a sub-division of the genus
Unio, in which also another of Lamarck's genera,
Casta/ia, is now considered only a sub-division ; and
we feel disposed to place Dr. Leach's Dipsas in the
same situation. Considering, therefore, the family
Unio, their number is immense, and daily increas-ng
by the extended researches of naturalists. The genus
Hyria, as above defined, inhabit America, and many
new species may be discovered in other parts of the
warmer climates of the south.
FFF

610

IANTHINA— IBI&.

IANTHINA (Lamarck; HELIX, Linnaeus). —
This singular shell was confounded by Linnaeus with
the genus Helix, the impropriety of which may at
once be pointed out by stating that the lantldna is a
marine, and all the Helices are terrestrial molluscs —
in general form, also, it varies from the Helix in many
respects when examined with any thing beyond a cur-
sory glance. The shell is extremely fragile — thin,
transparent, and imbued throughout its substance with
a beautiful violet colour. The form is round and
ventricose, the whorls slightly angular, spire obtuse,
columella straight and continued below the base of
the right side, occasioning an angle to be formed at
the lower part of the aperture ; a sinus or notch
exists in the margin of the lip, but it is seldom met
with in a perfect state from the extreme delicacy of
the shell ; and some authors are of opinion that it
only occurs in the female species. These shells are
found floating on the surface of the sea, suspended by
a bladder-like appendage attached to the animal's foot,
and closing the aperture of the shell in the manner of
an operculum ; from this a violet liquor is emitted
when the animal is touched or injured, whence the
name of the genus is derived. Many naturalists were
of opinion that this vesicular appendage contained
the eggs of a future generation ; but this appears
unlikely, as every species is furnished with it ; and if
the assertions of the late Sir Everard Home are to
be credited, he has seen the eggs of this mollusc dis-
persed on the exterior of the shell, and thus carried
to a certain period of their development, which he
adduces as one of the few instances known, of any
thing like a superior instinct being exhibited by mol-
luscous animals in the care of their progeny. The
facts cannot, however, long remain doubtful, as one
species is not very rare in our seas, though the other
inhabits the warmer latitudes. Supposing the notch
in the lip of the shell to constitute a distinction of sex,
no subdivision of the genus would be necessary ; and
as there are but three or four species known, that ques-
tion cannot, as yet, be conclusively answered till fur-
ther observation shall have determined the position
of the eggs, and proved, as appears most likely, that
the bladder-formed appendage to the animal's foot is
merely a wise and necessary provision of nature to
assist locomotion, since without it the specific gravity
of the shell would be greater than the medium through
which it is seen to travel or become suspended. Some
of the aquatic insects are beautifully provided with
the faculty of expelling small air-bladders to their
covering, by which their rise to the surface of the
water is facilitated, or altogether accomplished ;
and the absence of such a provision as that we
speak of in the anitnal— found in the Argonauta, has
been often urged in evidence of its being a pirate,
and not the " architect of its fairy boat." That
the wisdom of the Almighty Creator of all things is
manifested as much in the smallest work of nature as
in her stupendous productions, all rational beings will
confess— but to fathom the full extent of that wisdom,
is not allotted to man ; all he can do is by patient
investigation and continued reasoning to assign some
probable effect to certain natural indications, and this
leads him to the beautiful results of a knowledge of
comparative anatomy, and a greater reverence towards
Him, who said, Let it be, and it was.
. 1BERIS (Linnaeus). A genus of annual and bien-
nial herbs, and perennial under shrubs, mostly natives
of the south of Europe. They belong to Cniciferce,

and are well known by the name of candy-tuft, so
frequent in every flower border. /. odorata is fra-
grant as well as pretty, and the whole genus is remark-
able for the cruciform corolla becoming irregular, the
two outer petals of the external flowers in its dense
corymbose panicles being longer than their fellows,
and even ligulate.

IBIS. A genus of Echassiers, or stilt birds, be-
longing to the family of birds with long bills, and
resembling the curlews more than any other genus.
They are of larger size, however, and, generally
speaking, inhabit warmer countries, where they fre-
quent the margins of the larger rivers. The true
ibis appears to be confined to the eastern continent,
though the American genus, Tantalus, which agrees
with it in many habits, and answers the same pur-
poses in that quarter of the world, as the ibis does
in the east, has sometimes been confounded with it.
The characters of the genus are : the bill long, slen-
der, arched, enlarged at the base, and depressed at
the tip, which is rounded and obtuse ; the upper
mandible furrowed with deep nasal groves for its
whole length ; the nostrils placed in the base of the
upper mandible, and partially covered by a mem-
brane which also lines the nasal grove ; the front,
and often part of the head covered with naked skin ;
the feet very slender, and having a naked garter
above the tarsal joint ; four toes on the feet, of which
the middle and upper ones have pretty large webs,
and the middle and inner shorter ones, and the hind
toe sufficiently long for touching the ground. Some
species, however, have the tarsi short and with reti-
culated scales, and these have the tarsi and also the
bill comparatively stout. The others have the tarsi
shielded with plates, and their bills are in general
smaller.

SACRED IBIS (7 ireligiosa). This bird has been
very celebrated from comparatively remote antiquity,
for its real or supposed services to the ancient Egyp-
tians, in destroying offensive and poisonous reptiles,
and generally for scavengers' work done about the
temples and houses. For these reasons it was ad-
mitted into the temples themselves among the
numerous other animal gods of the Egyptians ; and
mummies of it were preserved with the same assiduous
labour of embalming as those of men and monkeys.
Notwithstanding this ancient celebrity, however, and
the pains which were taken to perpetuate specimens
of the carcass of this animal, those schemes did not
accomplish their purpose ; and in times comparatively
modern, there have not only been disputes about
which species is the sacred ibis ; but some have con-
trived to mystify the matter to such an extent, that,
if we did not possess the living bird to which we can
appeal for its own history, we should have remained
ignorant as to what bird received those high honours
in the olden time.

Bruce was the first who, in modern times, gave an
accurate account of the bird ; but it was not until
other evidence had been produced in corroboration
of his statements, that he received the credit to which
he is so well entitled. This bird is not confined to
Egypt, but is very generally distributed throughout
Africa It is a bird about the size of a common fowl,
with the plumage entirely white, except the quills,
the points of which are black, and the last coverts of
the wings have long and slender barbs also of a black
colour, and with violet reflections, which hang down
over the extremities of the closed wines and the tail ;

ICE PLANT— ICHNEUMON.

81P

the bill and feet are also black, and so is the naked
skin on the head and neck. These birds are very
common in the central parts of Africa, and also in
that part of the valley of the Nile which is liable to
be flooded. Sometimes they are found solitary, and
at other times they are found in groups, but seldom
more than ten or twelve are in close society with
each other. A number of these little groups are,
however, often found close to each other, especially
after the water of the Nile has begun to subside, and
the banks are for some extent covered with soft mud.
This mud they search with the most patient industry
with their bills; and in moving about while on the
ground they do not hop and run nimbly as the
curlews do, but march along with measured steps;
when on the wing they project the head forwards and
the feet backwards ; but there is not the same majesty
in their aerial journeys as there is in those of the
storks and cranes, neither do they extend their mi-
gration so far to the northward. Their flight is
powerful, however, and they rise to a great ele-
vation.

It does not appear that there is a very great deal
of foundation for that clearing of the country of poi-
sonous reptiles, on account of which the Egyptians
are said to have held the ibis in such veneration ; for
the chief ground adduced for this propensity in the
old account given by Herodotus, is the antipathy
which the ibis had to the serpent race. In conse-
quence of this the bird is said to have acted the part
of a sort of preventive service, to hinder the serpents
from smuggling themselves into the Egyptian terri-
tory. Now this is so contrary to the whole tenor of
animal conduct, that it can hardly, in the nature of
things, be true. Animals do not kill each other from
what we call antipathy, unless in the case of those
males which fight battles of gallantry for their females
— we believe the propensity goes no farther ; and the
greater number of them, whether mammalia or birds,
are vegetable feeders, and never kill other animals
for the sake of eating. On the other hand, we believe
there is no animal which kills, or even offers to injure,
any other species, except for the purpose of feeding
on that species; and, therefore, if the ibis have been
a serpent-feeder, it must have eaten the reptiles from
liking them, and not from antipathy to them. Besides,
there are not in those places of the country to which
chiefly the ibis resorts, very many serpents for the
birds to eat, either from liking or disliking. Water
serpents are not, we believe, very numerous in the
Nile ; and the land serpents of Egypt are chiefly, if
not exclusively, found in the dry and sandy places in
which the ibis seldom if ever seeks its food ; besides,
the bill of the ibis is not of a very serpent- killing
character ; for though it is stouter and harder than
the bills of the true snipes, and even than that of the
curlews, it is still a bill of the same class. Birds
with the more characteristic bill of this form feed
chiefly upon small mollusca, and other little animals
which they find on the moist surface of the ground,
or in the sludge ; and so far as has been observed in
modern times, the ibis seeks its food in similar places,
and hence we may conclude, that it feeds on sub-
stances of a similar kind. Birds which do feed on
serpents are always very long in the tarsi, which is
not the case with the ibis, and they also have powerful
bills. Cultrirostral birds, such as cranes and storks,
and the other birds of that family, are more likely to
perform this office than such a bird as the ibis. It

may be true, however, that the America species of
tantalus, which is a hard-billed bird, and does eat
reptiles, may have been confounded with the ibis in
ancient times, as it has sometimes been by modern
naturalists.

GLOSSY IBIS (7. falcinella). This is a much more
discursive bird than the preceding species ; and
though it ranges over the tropical countries, and
appears to have its head-quarters there, yet it makes
excursions over a considerable part of Europe. The
characters are : the head, the neck, the front of the
body, and the sides of the back, of a beautiful chestnut
colour ; the upper part of the back, the wings, and
the tail, are of a bronze or golden-green, as the dif-
ferent shades of light reflect upon them. The bill is
greenish black, and the tip brown ; the irides are also
green, and the legs are greenish brown. It is about
twenty-three inches in length. The young have the
head, throat, and neck feathers striped with blackish
brown before they reach their third year. These
feathers by this time are also margined with white.
The breast, the belly, the thighs, and the under
part of the neck are of a black ash colour, the upper
part of the back and scapularies brownish ash, and
the golden green reflections of the wings are of a
duller hue than in the adult birds. It haunts the
margins of the lakes and rivers, and visits, in passing,
Poland, Hungary, Turkey, and the Archipelago. It
is also met with on the banks of the Danube, and
frequently in Switzerland and Italy, and occasionally,
though more rarely, in Holland and the British
islands. It is not uncommon in Egypt, where it
appears as a regular visitant at that season when
water birds resort in such numbers to reap their por-
tion of the harvest of the Nile. As a European bird,
however, it belongs much more to the eastern migra-
tion between the valley of the Danube and the rivers
of central Asia, than to the southern migration. Its
breeding places are not correctly known ; but they
are understood to be chiefly iu Asia. The food con-
sists of insects, worms, fresh-water mollusca, and
occasionally vegetable substances ; and from the ge-
neric resemblance that there is between them, there
is every reason to believe that the food of the Egyp-
tian species is the same. The young of this species
have sometimes been described as a different one,
under the name of the green ibis. Indeed the names
ibis and tantalus have been so habitually given to
the same birds, that there is a great deal of uncer-
tainty about both genera. There is no doubt, how-
ever, that Cuvier is correct in ranging tantalus
among the birds which have knife-shaped or trenchant
bills, which are capable of mastering animals of con-
siderable power; and ibis among those which have
long bills fitted for dabbling. In the present genus
the bill is not so completely covered with sentient
membrane as in some of the others; but still there is
no doubt that the lining of the nasal groves is an
organ of sense. We shall have occasion to revert to
the place of these birds in the system when we come
to the article TANTALUS.

ICE PLANT is the Mesembryanthemum crys-
tallmum of Linnaeus, a curious annual, very fre-
quently seen in our green-houses. The plant belongs
to the natural order Ficoidece.

ICHNEUMON (Mangusta). A genus of ^car-
nivorous mammalia belonging to the family of Viver-
ridcB. The characters are : six incisors, two canines,
and twelve grinders in each jaw. Three of those in
F F F 2

820

the upper arc false grinders ; and there is one large
carnivorous tooth, and two tuberculated ones. In
the lower jaw there are four false grinders, one large
carnivorous tooth, and one large tuberculated one.
The head is long ; the muzzle pointed, the pupils of
the eye contract to a line ; the tongue is rough ;
there are five toes on each foot, and the animals are
furnished with an anal pouch of considerable size.
There are several species, all natives of Africa and
south-eastern Asia. They are animals of small size,
of prowling dispositions, but not remarkable for fero-
city. Figures of the two best known species are
given in the plate ICHNEUMON, and we shall first very
briefly notice them.

EGYPTIAN ICHNEUMON (M. Ichneumon). This
species inhabits the banks of the Nile ; and it has
been scarcely less celebrated than the ibis itself. It
is too weak and too timid for being able to attack
adult crocodiles, serpents, and the larger lizards ; but
it is by feeding on their eggs and destroying the
young that the ichneumon decreases the number of
these obnoxious creatures. It is not an animal of a
decidedly carnivorous appetite, though it occasionally
lives on animal food. When urged by its natural
instinct of destruction, it is often met with after night-
fall cautiously prowling along the rough surface of
the soil in search of its prey, and at the same time
cunningly avoiding all appearances of danger. When
it is fortunate enough to succeed in these researches,
it does not stop with the gratification of its appetite,
but goes on destroying every animate creature it can
safely attack. It is particularly fond of eggs, which
it seeks after with great assiduity, and the gratification
of its palate in this way causes the destruction of a
great many crocodiles. It is a mere fable that it
enters the mouth of the crocodile when asleep ; but
such fables are very common in all countries in the
age of superstition.

These animals possess a considerable degree of
sagacity, and have a strong disposition to explore and
scrutinise places which are new to them. The sense
of smell appears to be of great use in guiding them

I C H N E U M 0 N I D IE.

the whole length of the body. It is very common
in many parts of India, and so far from shunning the
habitations of men, it often takes up its abode in
holes of the walls of houses, or in small burrows in the
ground, which it digs with great readiness. It is
easily tamed, and when fed it is playful ; but the sight
of those animals which form its natural prey exciter it
so much that it is apt to bite, if not released so as to
be suffered to pursue them. It partakes a little in
the habits of the cat ; and one might expect as much
from all the species, inasmuch as they have the claws
semi-retractile, and use them partially in capturing
their prey. It is exceedingly fond of birds, and very
dexterous in seizing them. It jumps upon them like
a cat, with far more rapidity than one would expect
from the general appearance of the animal.

There are several other species, or at least varie-
ties, found in the eastern peninsula of Asia, and in
Java and the other islands situated around the ex-
tremity of that peninsula. The chief difference
among these is difference of colour, which renders it
not improbable that they are all originally of the same
stock. The one which inhabits Java is found most
abundantly in the forests of large trees. It is ac
active and energetic animal, not indisposed to asso-
ciate with man, but rather destructive of eggs and
young birds in the poultry-yard. From the accounts
that are given of it, it appears to be more sensitive to
kindness than the other species ; for it follows its
master like a clog, stands up on its hind legs to be
played with and caressed, and shows other evidences
of being pleased with attention. Some of the animals
which probably ought to belong to this group are

placed in other genera ; so that we shall notice the
remainder of them, and also the general relations of
the family, in the article VIVEURID^E.

ICHNEUMONID^E (Latreille). A very exten-
sive tribe or family of Hymenopteratu insects belong-
ing to the section Terebrantia, or those destitute of a
poisonous sting, and subsection Pupii'nra, Latreille, or
those which are parasitic upon other insects. In this
family the wings are furnished with various veins, the

to their prey : but their other senses are not so acute, anterior pair having several complete and closed cells.
It waits and watches with great patience, and also The abdomen, which is narrowed at the base, is in-
shows much perseverance in search of prey. On serted between the posterior pair of legs ; the antennae
these accounts, and from its comparatively gentle j are long and filiform, or setaceous, composed, for the
disposition, it is pretty generally kept in a state of j most part, of a very great number of short, cylindrical
domestication, in which it answers nearly the same ; joints. They are constantly kept in a state of vibra-
tion. In the majority the jaws are not furnished with
a strong internal too'th, and they are generally slit at
the tips. The maxillary palpi do not generally con-
sist of more than five joints, which are long and slen-

purpose as the domestic cat. In this" state they
readily know the houses of their keepers, and those
persons who feed or otherwise kindly use them,
though they do not show any sign of "the watchful-
ness and attachment of the doer. They are, however,

der ; the ovipositor, which, as we shall subsequently

not insensible, to caresses ; and though they are apt j see, is an organ of the greatest importance in the
to be sulky if disturbed when feeding, they never economy of these insects, is composed of two exter-

attempt to regain the wild state after they have been
once domesticated.

nal filaments enclosing a slender cylindric instrument
which, although apparently consisting of a single

THE INDIAN ICHNEUMON (M. Mangos). A figure I piece, is, in reality, formed of a sheath inclosing two
of this species is given in the same plate with the very delicate and serrated threads,
former, from which some general notion of the aspect These insects were named by the old authors
of the animal may be formed. It is of a dull grey j MUSCCE tripiles, from the three setae which compose
colour, arising from the marking of the hairs, which j the ovipositor, or Mnscce mbrantes, from the constant
is an alternation of rings of black and white. The ! vibration of the antenna?, which are often curled at
I is of the same colour as the body, very thick at the tips with a band of white or yellow towards the
e ba~<al part, but tapering to the extremity, a small middle; the body is generally 'long, slender, and
portion of which is yellow. It is smaller than the narrow ; the ovipositor sometimes being protruded
Aincan species, being little more than a foot in to a very great length, far exceeding that of the eutiro
length, and five inches high in the most elevated part body, and sometimes being so short that it is not ex-
t the back ; but the tail is very long, nearly equal to ternally visible, in which case the both- is oointed at

ICHNEUMONID^E. 821

the tip ; in the former case the abdomen is thickened ( mould or mildew, which, on minute examination, was

at the extremity, and obliquely truncated. The cen-
tral piece of the ovipositor is the only part which is
employed in introducing the eggs of the insect into
the bodies of those insects which are selected by the
females for their reception ; it is more horny than the
external sheaths, and of a brighter colour. Although
this instrument is very analogous in its construction
to the sling of the bee, it cannot in strictness be re-
garded as such an organ, although the ichneumon,
when held in the fingers, endeavours to employ it in
a similar manner by attempting to prick the hand ; no

effect, however, is to be apprehended from the

ill

workings of the instrument : in those species, how-
ever, which have the ovipositor short, the organ is
certainly capable of piercing the skin in tender parts,

found to be fine white sand, delicately closing up a
hole made by the wild bee, Chelostoma maxillosa, for
the reception of her cells, and which, no doubt, con-
tained the larva of that insect. The writer hereof
has, however, often watched these and other species
of the family boring into palings, without being able
to perceive the slightest trace of any operations per-
formed by other insects, although it is not to be ques-
tioned that the larvae of some insect or other were
ascertained by the Ichneumons to be in such spots, at
a depth in the solid wood. In deep holes which
were not closed, the Pimpla not only thrust in the
entire ovipositor, but in some cases the whole of the
abdomen and posterior legs, leaving out only the two
fore legs and the wings, which it spread out in oppo-

and of causing a slight pain, arising, probably, rather [ site directions, like arms. At such times the external

from the wound than from any deleterious fluid intro-
duced at the time. These insects were comprised
with some other parasitic groups, as the Chaladidte •
and ProctotrupidcE, in the Linnaean genus Ichneumon,
a name given to these insects by the ancients, from
the services which they performed to agriculturists
by the destruction of vast numbers of caterpillars,
in the same manner as the quadruped named Ichneu-
mon was supposed to destroy the posterity of the
crocodile by the Egyptians, who considered that the
former animal not only demolished the eggs of the
latter, but even killed the crocodile by introducing
itself into its body, and devouring its entrails : the
antilogy does not, however, entirely hold good, since
the Ichneumon fly merely deposits her eggs within
the body of the caterpillar, the grubs hatched from
which devour its entrails by degrees.

We are indebted to Mr. Marsham for an account
of the proceedings of one of the largest British spe-
cies, Pimpla manifestator, which is provided with a
very long ovipositor, published in the third volume of
the Linnsan Transactions, and which it may be ser-
viceable to detail as giving a general notion of the
habits of the family. This species was observed by
him on t4ie top of a post in Kensington Gardens,
moving rapidly along with its antennae bent in the
form of an arch, and kept in a strong vibratory mo-
tion, and which the Pimpla introduced into a hole
made by some insect. In this situation it remained
for a minute, and then withdrew them, and going to
the opposite side it again repeated this proceeding,
which was a third time repeated at the side of the
hole. Having again drawn out its antennae, it turned
about, and dexterously measuring a proper distance,
threw back its abdomen over its head and thorax,
lowering the long and slender ovipositor which it
introduced into the hole, remaining in this situation
two minutes ; it then withdrew its ovipositor, turned
round, and again applied its antennae to the hole as
before, and again inserted its ovipositor, repeating

cases of the ovipositor were also projected over the
back, with the ends appearing above the head out of
the hole. The Pimpla, indeed, docs not adopt indis-
criminately any hole for the reception of her eggs,
since Mr. Marsham observed that in many instances
he saw it thrust the antennae into holes and crevices
from which it almost immediately withdrew them,
and proceeded in search of others ; it is, therefore,
only in such holes that are inhabited by the insects
which are the genuine receptacles of the eggs of the
parasite, that the Pimpla selects for the deposition of
her eggs ; and that this information is obtained through
the medium of the antennae, appears certain, but in
what manner, and whether by the sense of smelling,
or hearing, or feeling, we can by no means decide.

Pimpla manifestator engaged in oviposition.

In the insect whose proceedings we have thua de-
tailed, we have seen that in consequence of the deep
retreats in which the young of the bees are lodged, it
is necessary that the Ichneumons, which are destined
to keep them in check, should be provided with an

the operation three times. On another occasion, ovipositor sufficiently long to reach them in their cells ;

Mr. Marsham observed several of these insects at ! but other species which have no di

work, but these appeared to pierce the solid wood | kind to contend against, are provided wii

with the central part of their ovipositors, which they I short ovipositor, whereby they are enabled to pene-

succeeded in doing to half their entire length, con- trate the soft and naked bodies ot caterpillars.

stantly supporting them in a straight position with have already in onr account of the family, 01 >re

their posterior thighs. It appeared truly surprising properly sub-family, Bracomdes given an account c

to see an instrument, apparently so weak and slender, | the proceedings of some of ^Ichneumons, win.

able, with the strength of so small an animal, to pierce parasitic upon the plant lice. Mr. Kirby hi

solid wood half or three quarters of an inch deep ; an account of one of the species which is eminently

but it was perceived that the operation took place serviceable in keeping in check the 1

through the centre of a small white spot, resembling domyia), which attacks the wheat wne

822

ICHNEUMONIDjE.

Having placed a number of the grubs of this mis-
chievous insect upon paper, he introduced a female
Ichneumon amongst them : she immediately began
to pace about, vibrating her antennae very briskly,
whereby she soon discovered one of the larvae, upon
which she immediately fixed herself, her antennae
vibrating very intensely ; then bending her abdomen
beneath her breast, she inserted her ovipositor, and
whilst the egg was depositing, the antennae became
perfectly motionless. The larvae when pricked gave
a violent wriggle ; this operation was repeated with
all which had not already received an egg, for only
one is committed to each larva. Mr. Kirby noticed
that when it mounted one which had already re-
ceived an egg.it soon discovered its error, and quitted
it untouched.— (Linn. Trans., Vol. iv., p. 236.)

In the preceding instances the larva of the Ichneu-
mon, when hatched, is solitary, but others are grega-
rious ; the same Ichneumon depositing several eggs
in the body of a single caterpillar ; this is particularly
the case with the little Ichneumons (Microgaster g/o-
meratus], which prey upon the caterpillars which so
often devour our cabbage, and which are the offspring
of the common white butterfly (Pontia rapce). These
caterpillars when full grown creep up the sides of
houses to the corners of window-frames, or such like
places, where they are ordinarily transformed to a
greenish chrysalis, which may often be seen sus-
pended against the wall ; but occasionally a great
number of small white grubs are observed to burst out
of these caterpillars previous to their becoming chry-
salides, (which operation, of course, causes the death
of the caterpillar) which grubs immediately encase
themselves in little oval silken cocoons attached to-
gether round the exuviae of their victim, and which
resemble a mass of yellow silk. Sometimes, instead
of bursting out of the caterpillar, they remain enclosed
in it until it undergoes its transformation to the chry-
salis state, out of which the Ichneumons burst forth in
their perfect state. This variation depends upon the
species of parasite as well as upon the growth of the
caterpillar at the period when the eggs of the Ichneu-
mon are deposited in its body ; and here we cannot
but admire the admirable instinct of these parasitic
grubs. Had they as soon as hatched attacked the
vital organs of the caterpillar, of course their supply
of food would have been destroyed, and they must be
left to perish, since they are not provided with feet.
Instead of doing this, however, they confine them-
selves to the fatty parts of the caterpillar ; and it is
not until these parasitic grubs have nearly attained
their full size, that they attack the vital organs of their
victim ; in order to escape from the body of which,
they pierce its skin, and immediately commence the
spinning of a cocoon, some bursting out on one side
and some on the other ; here they immediately com-
mence the spinning of a loose covering drawing
the silk out of the spinneret of their lower lip in the
same way as ordinary caterpillars ; these threads they
cross in every direction, forming of them a support
for their cocoons, which differ but slightly from those
of the silk-worm as regards their consistence, being
of a yellow or white colour, according to the species,
and so quickly do they complete this operation, that
in the course of half an hour each has encased itself
in its cocoon. The stems of grasses sometimes bear
the cocoons of these insects, and occasionally, but
very rarely, a small case is found in the interior of
bee-hives, from which an Ichneumon has been pro-

duced, which has probably fed upon the caterpillars
which devour the wax (Galleria cereana). Sometimes
these cocoons are banded with different colours, which
Reaumur endeavoured to account for by supposing
that the nature of the food of the grub would influ-
ence the colour of the silk first spun ; but this would
not account sufficiently for the regular bands often to
be seen in the centre of the cocoon. Thus the first
silk spun by the Ichneumon la'rva, and which forms the
external envelopes, may be white ; and the second,
forming the inner coating, brown ; but if the larva
employs this second kind of silk in defending the two
ends and the middle of the cocoon, the parts not thus
thickened will remain white ; and this is what takes
place, as may be proved by stripping off the brown
part, which is much more solid than the other part —
the silk thus employed is very fine and shining, which
gives the cocoons a polished appearance. Some
species do not, however, form cocoons ; but, on the
contrary, remain enclosed within the skin of their vic-
tim, which, of course, serves them for a coveriisjr
during the inactive period of their pupa state.

Reaumur discovered a cocoon upon the oak, of a
remarkable construction ; its form indeed resembled
that of the others, and it had a white central bund,
but it was suspended by a long thread to a leaf or
twig; the most singular circumstance connected with
it however was, that when detached from the leaf,
and laid in a box or upon the hand, it leaped to a
considerable height, varying from half an inch to
three or four inches. This motion is effected by the
inclosed larva making a sudden spring' in the same
manner as we have described in our account of the
motions of the cheesehopper ; the sudden unfolding
of the body, bringing the head and tail into violent
contact with the inside of the cocoon, so as to impart
to it a motion operating upon the surface upon which
it is placed. But wherefore is it necessary that this
larva inclosed in a firm cocoon should possess this
faculty of leaping? We may indeed suppose with
Reaumur that as the ordinary situation of the cocoon
is to be suspended in the air, it may be necessary, in
order to regain its position, in case it should be dis-
placed by the wind and lodged on the surface of an
adjacent leaf.

It is a circumstance of great interest in an econo-
mical view of natural history, that when any particular
species of insect detrimental to our vegetable produce
increases in numbers so as to be more than ordinarily
destructive, its parasi'tes are observed to increase in
a much greater degree, so as to prevent the too great
multiplication of the former.

These insects are very ramble in size ; thus some
of the British species are amongst the largest of our
native hymenopterous insects, and are destined to
check the hawkmoths and other large lepidoptera ;
others, however, are so exceedingly minute as to be
••isible only when moving upon a window against the
light. The latter, whose parasitic habits are identical
with the Ichneumons, belong systematically to the
family Proclotrupidee, and are appropriated to the
eggs of many insects. Thus Vallisnieri observed, "
have seen with my own eyes a certain kind of wild
flies deposit their eggs upon other eggs, and bore and
pierce others with an aculeus, by which they have
introduced the egg ;" and Linnaeus has accordingly
given the name of Ichneumon ovulorum to one of these
species (or rather to two, since his descriptions are evi-
dently drawn from two distinct species) ; and out of

ICHYOSARCOL I TES — IGUANA.

a mass of sixty eggs of some lepidopterous insect
found upon the osier, and brought to De Geer, not
one had escaped the Ichneumon. But it is chiefly in
destroying the larvse of other insects that the Ichncu-
monidee are serviceable, although a few instances are
recorded in which the eggs are not deposited until
the victim has arrived at the pupa, or even the perfect
state. Of those which destroy the larvae, the majority
are internal feeders, but a few have been observed
which remain on the outside of the caterpillar until
it dies ; of this kind are the larvse of a large orange
coloured species, Ophion luteum, which feed on the
caterpillar of the pussmoth (Centra vinula). We have
already given instances of the attacks of these para-
sites upon hymenopterous, dipterous, and homopterous
insects, in the cases of the wild bees, wheat-midge,
and the plant lice. Other species of these orders are
similarly infested with Ichneiimonidte as well as the
Coleoptera, but the great mass of the species belong-
ing to the family are appropriated to the order Lepi-
doptera, which they destroy in all their states, and in
every situation, whether naked and exposed like the
caterpillar of the cabbage butterfly, or buried in the
whorls of a leaf like the Tortrices, or hidden in the
substance of a leaf as the mining Tineee.

But, as if to show the endless convolutions of the
great chain of nature, these parasites are themselves
subject to the attacks of other and smaller parasites
belonging to the same family. Of these, various
instances have been well authenticated ; and it is
remarkable with what admirable precision of instinct
these second parasites must acquire the knowledge
that particular caterpillars are already attacked by
the insects which are to furnish their own progeny
with support.

Latreille has divided this family into three princi-
pal groups, from the number of joints in the palpi ; a

character which is, however, not strictly to be relied
upon in certain species.

The first ?roup comprises those species in which
the maxillary palpi are five-jointed and the labial
four-jointed, and the first submarginal cell is united
with the discoidal cell, and the second submarginal
cell is very minute, being either rounded or square,
although sometimes it is entirely wanting. This group
comprises the Ichneitmonidce of Stephens, a family of
such great extent that Gravenhorst has published a
description of the European species alone, occupying
nearly three thousand octavo pages. Here belong
the genera Pimpla, having the ovipositor very long ;
Cii/ptus, Ophion, having the abdomen sickle-shaped ;
Banchus, Hcllwigia, Joppa, Ichneumon, having the
ovipositor not exserted ; the abdomen, narrowed, and
the base and the head transverse ; Afomyia, Peltastes,
and others. Mr. Stephens has described 2123 species
of the restricted genus Ichneumon, in the seventh
volume of his Illustrations.

The second group comprises those species which
have the maxillary palpi five-jointed and the labial
four-jointed, and consists of the family or sub-family
which we have already described under the name of
BRACONIU.T:, which see.

The third group comprises those species which
have the maxillary palpi six-jointed and the labial
four-jointed, and comprises the Alysudce of Stephens,
comprising the genera Alysia, Chelomis, Sigalphus,
and others.

ICHYOSARCOLITES. A fossil genus of shells,
of which only one species is known ; in general ap-

823

pearance it may be said to resemble the Nautili, Litu-
ola, and Spirula genera ; but it has peculiarly distinct
characteristics, and merits the honour of constitu-
ting a genus.

ICICA (Aublet). A genus of South American
trees belonging to Decandrue, and to the order Tere-
binthaceee. Generic character : calyx four-cleft per-
sisting ; petals broad at the base, "seated below the
germen ; spreading stamens inserted into the bottom
of the calyx, under a circular disk ; filaments shorter
than the corolla ; anthers oval, erect, and two-celled ;
style short ; stigma two-headed ; drupe two-valved ;
nut double. The fruit of one of these trees is very
fragrant, and used as a perfume. The wood of I. al-
tissima is very durable, and used for making house-
hold furniture, boats, &c.: as stove plants they succeed
with the ordinary management.

IGUANA. A genus of saurian reptile, and the
one which is perhaps most generally characteristic of
those animals which are known by the general name
of lizards, though Cuvier makes it the name of his
third family, Sauria. The iguana?, properly so called
form the second section of the family, and are distin-
guished from the first family by having teeth on the
palate. The general characters are : the body and
the tail covered with small imbricated scales ; a range
or crest along the back, consisting of spines, or of
scales, which are erected, compressed, and pointed ;
under the throat there is an appendage of skin, form-
ing a sort of ruff in that part, the edges of which are
supported by a cartilaginous production of the
os hyoides ; their thighs have a range of tuber-
cles, like those on the true lizards ; each jaw is fur-
nished with one row of teeth, which are compressed,
triangular, and trenchant ; and there are besides two
rows of small teeth on the posterior margin of the
palar.t There are several species, and as is the case

throughout almost the whole class of reptiles, there is
not a little confusion about t'he history of at least
some of them. Those which strictly belong to the
genus are, we believe, all inhabitants of the American
continent, and chiefly of the tropical part of it, though
some are found, at least, as far north as the southern
parts of the United States.

COMMON IGUANA (7. lulerculata). This species
is found in tropical America, especially in Guiana,
and the countries westward to the shores of the Pa-
cific ; it grows to a large size, being in general three
feet long, and specimens measuring five feet are not
rare. The shape of the animal is not considered very
handsome, in consequence of the prejudice which
exists against the whole race of saurian reptiles,
which are all very harmless creatures, with the excep-
tion of the larger ones which inhabit the waters ; the
upper part is greenish yellow, marbled with pure
green, and having the tail anulated with brown ; but
the colours are variable, according to the position of
the light, and the state of excitement in the animal,
being blue, violet, green, and even black ; the under
part is of the same colour with the upper, but much
paler ; there is a crest of large spiny scales all down
the back ; a large plate on each side of the head, at
the angle of the jaws ; the sides of the neck are
covered with pyramidal scales more thinly set than
the rest ; and the margin of the enlargement, or co-
lour under the throat, is furnished with the same kind
of scales as those on the ridge of the back. This
species is very common in all the warmer parts of
America ; and it is not only very inoffensive, but of

824 ILEX— IN

considerable value to the inhabitants. It is generally
found among, or upon, the branches of trees, but it
occasionally takes to the water. It is understood to
be in u (rreat measure, if not wholly, vegetable in its
feeding, living upon fruits, seeds, and leaves. The
feiuaJes lay a great number of eggs, which they depo-
sit in the sand to be hatched. These eggs are about
the same size as those of the pigeon ; but, as is the
case with the eggs of most reptiles, the t\vo ends are
alike in form. These eggs are accounted a great de-
licacy, and eagerly sought after on that account. The
flesh is held in nearly equal esteem ; and in conse-

3 iii-iicc of this the animul is very much hunted. It is
ifficult to kill, which is a very common property of
reptiles ; and its skin is not easily pierced by a mus-
ket bullet, because if it strike obliquely, it glances off.
When attacked, they assume a formidable, though not
ft dangerous aspect ; they open their mouths, vibrate
their tongues with rapid motion, inflate their throats,
and erect their crests, while their eyes glance with
the brilliancy of live coals. All this, however, is a
demonstration for defence, and not for attack ; for
though they possibly may add insects to their vege-
table food, there is no reason to suppose that they
attack any animal of even the most moderate size. It
very often happens, indeed, that the attitude of the
iguana, and the peculiar sound which it gives, when
alarmed by its enemies in the woods, both warn man
of the danger to which he is exposed, and betray them-
selves to him as a prize.

SMOOTH-NECKED IGUANA (/. nudicollis}. This
species resembles the last-described in many respects,
but it wants the large plates on the cheeks, and the
pyramidal scales on the sides of the neck. The upper
part of the head is covered with convex plates, the
occiput is tuberculated, and the collar is smaller than
the one last mentioned, and has only a few tubercles
on the anterior margin. Some describers have repre-
sented this species as being a native of the east as
well as of the west ; but that is a mistake, for it oc-
curs in no country except tropical America, and the
West India Islands.

HORNED IOUANA (7. carnuta). This resembles
both of the preceding in most of its characters ; but it
is distinguished by an ossious point of bone which
stands up between the eyes, and is the part from
which the animal gets the incorrect name of horned.
There arc two projecting scales also in the nostrils,
but there is no plate on the cheek, and no tubercles on
the neck. The scales along the edges of the jaws
are, however, furnished with an elevated boss in the
middle of each. This species is found in the West India
islands, and especially in the island of St. Domingo.
Its food consists of vegetable substances, insects, and
small birds. The negroes hunt it with great avidity
for the sake of its flesh ; and the maroon dogs, or
blood-hounds, of the country, which used to be so
cruelly employed against the oppressed people of that
and some other of the islands, are now employed in
hunting the homed iguana. It is a day animal, and
while the light continues, it follows its prey with won-
derful assiduity ; but during the night.it remains con-
cealed in the holes of the rocks. During the rainy
season it retires, and becomes nearly, if not altogether,
dormant.

CAROLINA IGUANA (7. Aychlura). This species is
found further to the north, and, like the last-mentioned
one, it passes the inclement season in a state of re-
pose. It has no large plate on the cheek, nor spines

DIAN BAY.

on the neck ; but the plates on the tail form a sort of
armour, from whicn the animal gets the trivial name.
It does not appear to differ much from the others in
its manners.

BLUE IGUANA (I. ccerulea} is wholly of a violet
blue colour on the upper part, and the same colour,
but smaller, on the under. In size, it is considerably
less than any of the former, and the scales which form
the dorsal crest, or ridge, are much less produced. In
other respects, it scarcely differs from the rest ; and
therefore Cuvier is probably right in regarding it
as only a coloured variety. There is not indeed
a great deal of difference between the species of
iguana, and there is a similar correspondence in their
manners.

Many other saurian reptiles, besides those which
we have enumerated, have been described as iguanas ;
but there are sources of error connected with the
lizard, against which it is not easy to guard, at least
on the part of those who. take museum specimens as
the foundation of their arrangements, because lizards
change very much after they are dead, and the bodies
of many are tender and easily mutilated.

ILEX (Linnaeus). A fine useful genus of ever-
green trees and shrubs, commonly known by the name
holly. See HOLLY. They belong to the fourth
class of Linnaeus, and to the natural order Celastrinece.
Europe is the native clime of the common holly, but
there are various species found in many other parts
of the world.

ILLICIUM (Linnaeus). A genus of Chinese and
American evergreen and deciduous shrubs, belonging
to Polyandria Polygynia, and to the natural order
MagnoliaceeE. Generic character : calyx from three
to six sepaled, deciduous, sepals unequal ; petals nine,
or more unequal ; stamens inserted into the recepta-
cle ; filament very short ; anthers erect, oblong, and
ernargined ; style very short ; stigma lateral oblong ;
capsules several, disposed in a circle, leathery, open-
ing at top, and containing each one seed.

The plants of this genus are called aniseed-trees,
from their fine aromatic scent. The dried capsules
are called five-fingers in China, and in commerce
Chinese anise. When the plant grows naturally, the
capsules are used as a condiment, and chewed after
dinner as a sweetener of the breath. The bark,
when finely powdered, is used by the public watch-
men in Japan to make a timekeeper, or instrument
for measuring the hours, in order to direct when the
public bells are to sound. The 7. anisalum is a
favourite and rather hardy greenhouse plant, grows
well in loam and moor-earth, and may be propagated
by cuttings.

IMPATIENS (Rivinus). A genus of curious
annuals. These plants are natives of many different
parts of the world. The flowers are pentandrious,
and the genus ranks among the Balsaminea:. The
plants have received their generic name from the
elastic properties of their capsules, to scatter the
seeds on being touched. One of them indigenous
in England is called Noli me tangerc, or Touch-
me-not. They were formerly associated with the
balsams.

IMPERATA (Cyrilla). A genus of plants be-
longing to the GrantinecE, with elegant feather-like
spikes of flowers. Its strong reeds are used for many
purposes in the south of Europe.

INDIAN BAY. This plant is the Laurut Indica
of Limucus.

INDIAN CORN — INSECT.

INDIAN CORN is the Zea mays of Linnfcus.
This is a most important species of corn in America,
and other countries suitable to its production. Some
of the hardier varieties have been tried in this coun-
try, and, by some farmers who attended to its culture,
with considerable success. But although the produce
is great, both in grain and straw, it is not equal, all
thing-s considered, in value to our common horse bean,
and certainly not to be compared with our common
•wheat as a bread corn. It has been so long known
in our gardens, and is now so frequently seen in
our fields, that any detailed account of the plant is
unnecessary.

INDIAN CRESS is the Tropaolum majus of
Linnaeus, a well-known ornamental plant, cultivated
not only for the beauty of its flowers, but for its seed-
pods as a pickle.

INDIAN FIG is the Opuntia fans indica of
Ha worth.

INDIGOFERA (Linmeus). A genus of herbs
and shrubs belonging to Diadelphia, and to the natu-
ral order LcguminoscE. The I. tinctoria is the plant
whence the valuable dye is extracted, on which ac-
count it is extensively cultivated in India, and other
parts of the world.

In the Delta of the Ganges, where the best and
largest quantity of indigo is produced, the plant lasts
only for a single season, being destroyed by the pe-
riodical inundations ; but in the dry, central, or west-
ern provinces, it lasts two years, one, or even two,
offset crops being obtained ; and owing to this circum-
stance, the planters in the latter situations are enabled
to furnish a large supply of seed to those in the for-
mer. The seeds are sown in drills, a foot apart,
during the rainy season, and kept free from weeds.
In two or three months the crop is fit for cutting, but
the plants must not be allowed to flower, otherwise
the foliage becomes hard and unproductive ; and it
should be cut in wet weather, for if the season be too
dry the stools will not spring again ; hence from these
and other circumstances, the produce is precarious,
When cut, the herb is steeped in vats ; and after
being well macerated, and the colouring matter ex-
tracted, the liquor is drawn off into other vessels, in
which it undergoes the peculiar process of beating,
to cause the facula to subside. The faecula is subse-
quently collected, and transferred into a third set of
ttvats, where it remains for some time before it is
/strained through cloth bags, and evaporated in shal-
low wooden boxes placed in the shade. Before it is
perfectly dry, it is cut into small pieces an inch
square, and is then packed in barrels, or sewed up in
sacks for sale.

It appears pretty certain that the culture of the in-
digo plant, and the preparation of the dye, have been
common in India from a very remote period. Pliny
mentions it under the name of Indicum, and states
that, when diluted with water, it produces an admira-
ble mixture of blue and purple colours. He knew,
also, it was the produce of a vegetable, but was much
mistaken as to its mode of preparation. The indigo
plant, in its natural state, is innoxious ; but indigo,
when prepared, is a dangerous poison. The chemi-
cal changes which take place during the process of
preparation, are extremely curious. Two or three
species of this genus are kept in our stoves, and are
easily propagated bv cuttings.

INFEROBRANCH1ATA, in modern malaco-
logy, is the fourth order of De Blainville's system ; it

825

includes all such molluscs as have branchial organs of
respiration, lamellarly disposed beneath the salient
edge of the mantle ; the body is always naked, oval
shaped, and more or less tuberculated. This order
merely contains the genera PhyUidia and Lmguilla.

ING A (Plumicr). An extensive genus of ever-
green shrubs and trees, chiefly natives of South Ame-
rica, belonging to the natural order Lcguminostz.
Generic character : flowers polygamous ; calyx five-
toothed ; corolla of five petals, or parts ; stamens
united at the base, and protruding ; style simple ;
pod compressed.two-valved, seeds pulpy or farinaceous.
The genus has been separated from Mimosa to which
it bears a resemblance, and may be treated in the
same way as the stove mimosas.

INOCARPUS (Forster). A fruit-tree, common
on the islands of the South Sea ; hence called the
Otaheite chestnut. It belongs to the natural order
Sapoteee, is kept in our stoves, and propagated by
cuttings.

INOCERAMUS (Brogniart). A mollusc only
known in a fossil state ; of course the animal is totally
unknown ; in its general appearance it resembles the
Ostracece, but more nearly the genus GrypJuea. Three
species are enumerated by De France.

INSECT. The ordinary English name given to
the individuals composing the most extensive class of
animals to which Linnaeus and the older authors gave
the name Insecta, a word derived from the Latin, and
signifying an animal cut or divided into numerous
parts or segments, and equally applicable to various
species which have the chief divisions of the body
connected together by slender points of attachment;
the legs in like manner are inserted or composed of
various articulations. It is not surprising that these
characters should have attracted the notice of the
earliest naturalists, and we accordingly find the group
of insects established by the first writers upon zoology ;
not indeed with that precision of definition which the
anatomical researches of modern authors have enabled
us to apply to the group, but, on the contrary, united
with many other small invertebrated animals, which,
even in the present day, are considered as insects by
ignorant persons. On examining the body of an
insect, we find it externally covered with a strong
scaly coating, which, when internally examined, is
found to give support to the muscles and other organs,
thus becoming as it were an external vertebra ; but
the observation will immediately occur that the horny
nature of this external covering must necessarily pre-
vent the growth of the animal ; and this would cer-
tainly be the case were not the difficulty obviated in
a manner as remarkable as it is perfect, namely by
the periodical shedding of the external envelope,
forced open as it were from time to time by the inter-
nal organs, which have increased in volume since the
preceding moulting, owing to the quantity of food
taken by the creature. This shedding of the cover-
ing of the body is very variable in its effects upon
the various groups of insects, in some consisting of a
mere throwing off of the outer envelope, without any
other change being effected, save that of an increase
of size : in others, however, an increase of limbs is
obtained ; and in some, an entire change in the form
of the body is effected, and organs of flight acquired.
These latter changes are termed metamorphoses or
transformations, and are more especially applicable to
the winged groups of insects. Another important
character distinguishing this tribe of animals is to be

826

found in the highly organised structure of the eyes in
the majority, althoush in some the organs of sight
consist only in a number of small tubercular lenses,
which are moreover found in some species which also
possess the compound or facetted eyes. The head is
also furnished, in the majority of the tribe, with a pair
of articulated organs, varying infinitely in their con-
struction, termed antennae, of which the precise uses
have not hitherto been decidedly ascertained. Such
are the leading characters of the great mass of animals
to which Linnicus gave the name oflnsecta, but which
Latreille has changed into Condylopa, from the arti-
culated structure of the legs. The anatomical inves-
tigations of foreign naturalists, about the commence-
ment of the present century, threw a great light upon
the real nature of the various groups of Linnaean
insects, and upon the respective value of the charac-
ters by which the orders into which they had been
divided were separated from each other. It was
thence at once discovered, that, although the winged
orders of insects established by Linnaeus were nearly
allied amongst themselves, the wingless order (Aptera]
contained a mass of objects having the most discord-
ant organisations, and which, when properly examined,
were proved to be characteristic of groups of higher
rank even than the winged orders themselves. In
this manner the apterous Linnaean genera, Cancer,
Monoculux, and Oniscus, were formed into the class
Crustacea; Aranea, Scorpio, Phalangium, and Acarus,
into that of Arachnida; whilst Scolopendra and Julus,
as a group named Muriapoda, Lepisma and Podura,
under the name of Thysanura, and Pediculus under
that of Anoplura, have been alternately raised to the
rank of classes, or regarded as orders in the classes
Arachnida and winged insects, to which last it has
been proposed to restrict the name of insects. But
this is a step to which we would strenuously object.
We would not willingly be charged with veneration
for the works of our predecessors in science merely
because they happen to be old ; but we do object to the
spirit of innovation which cannot distinguish between
what is old and what is good ; and if the Linnaaan
group of insects is to be retained, as we submit that
It ought to be, as one of the chief divisions of animals,
we would certainly retain for it the name of Insecta,
which so peculiarly refers to the great character of
the group, in preference to that of Condylopa proposed
by Latreille. It may indeed be said that it is not
proper to apply the name of insect to a crab or a
lobster, but they are as strictly insected animals as a
bee or a beetle ; and it may be said, that if we apply
the name in this general manner we shall need some
other name to distinguish the true winged insects
from the Crustacea and Arachnida, and this it must
be admitted is the fact; and the question then
arises shall we, in order to obviate this difficulty,
throw ourselves into the other dilemma, and take
away the name of Insecta from insected animals.
We, however, see no occasion for this step. Syste-
matically, the winged insects may be named Ptilota,
as proposed by Aristotle, and the Linnaean insects
will retain their name of Insecta, divisible into four
classes, namely, the Crustacea, Arachnida, Amctabola,
and Ptilota ; the first two of which are treated upon
under their respective heads, and may therefore be
dismissed from our future consideration. The third
is a class the limits of which have been by no means
decided by entomologists, Dr. Leach placing in it
only the hexapod lice (PedicuK), and the spring-tailed

ECT.

insects (Lepisma and Poduree') ; whilst MacLeay hat
added thereto the Myriapoda, consisting of the two
orders Chilopoda (Scolopendrce) and Chilognatha (luli'
as well as certain verrnes. It would occupy us too
great a space to enter into the considerations reqni.
site for the investigation of the correctness of these
views. We shall therefore (having already treated
upon the last named insects in their alphabetic order)
now confine ourselves to the true metamorpholic or
winged insects, or the Ptilota of Aristotle. In our
article ENTOMOLOGY we have entered into some
general considerations, in order to prove that the
study of this branch of zoology is attended with great
interest, resulting from the countless tribes of insects,
their various forms, singular instincts, &c. With the
further view of enticing the reader to follow us in
our necessary details of the structure of these tribes,
we now propose to renew the subject, by laying
before him a short notice of the benefits and injuries
resulting from insects to mankind, in order to prove
to him that these little creatures are not so insignifi-
cant as he might be induced to believe them to be,
but are very capable of rendering themselves obnoxi-
ous to him, should he be disposed to consider them
as not worthy of his attention, or, on the contrary, of
being rendered highly beneficial.

Of all animals, insects are unquestionably the
most obnoxious to mankind, either personally or from
their attacks upon his property, their minute size
ensuring them success in their assaults, and scarcely
permitting the possibility of extirpation. On the
other hand, the benefits which he experiences, either
directly or indirectly, are scarcely less extensive. If
we would, therefore, endeavour successfully to combat
the former, it can evidently only be done by the
acquisition of a knowledge of their habits in every
state of their existence, and in this point of view the
study of entomology becomes of the highest import-
ance. Let us take, for instance, the turnip-fly, of
which we have given an account in our article
HALTICA, and here we find that all the numerous
investigations of the committee of the Doncaster
Agricultural Association proved useless, because the
natural history of the insect itself was not ascertained.
In like manner, it must be equally evident that the
diffusion of similar knowledge, and more especially
inquiries into the chemical properties of many insects
hitherto considered useless, might be the means of
adding considerably to the list of benefits conferred
by insects on man.

Of winged insects very few species have hitherto
been found serviceable as articles of food. It is true,
that in the deserts of Asia and Africa, where the
locusts acquire a large size, these insects are em-
ployed, when dried and preserved, as food. The
writer has tasted locusts thus prepared, and has found
them not unpalatable, but they are said to possess
but very little nutritious quality, and to produce dis-
ease when too much is eaten. The larvse or grubs of
many large beetles are also devoured by the negroes
of India and America ; and even the luxurious Romans
were exceedingly fond of a large fleshy grub, which
they called cossus, and which is supposed to have been
the larva of the goat moth (census ligniperda). In like
manner, the white ants are devoured by the savages
of Africa and America ; whilst the great quantity of
honey annually consumed in every quarter of the
world is sufficient to prove that, in this point of view,
insects are highly beneficial. It has also been re-

INSECT.

827

cently discovered, that the manna which, it will be
remembered, served the Israelites for food during
their passage through the Wilderness, is but the con-
creted juice of an Arabian tree (Tamarix mannifera),
which is caused to flow by the puncture of a small
species of Coccus, which the celebrated Prussian
entomologist, Dr. Klug, has recently described and
figured under the name of Coccus manuiparus in his
splendid work upon the insects of Arabia, and to
whom the writer himself is indebted for specimens of
this interesting insect. In medicine insects are also
of great service. Of these the Canlharis vesicatoria
is the most important, and of the properties of which
an account will be found in our article CANTHARID^.
Numerous other species were formerly introduced
into the Pharmacopoeia, but they have gradually been
disused. In a commercial point of view, silk, chermes
and cochineal are some of the most important products.
Of the former we sliall give a detailed account in our
article upon the SILKWORM ; and of the latter a de-
scription has been published in our article COCCID^E.
There are many other insects which construct silken
cocoons, and emit various coloured dyes, and which
it might be very serviceable to endeavour to intro-
duce as well as the true silkworm of the coccus cacti.
Gumlac also, wax and ink-galls, are insect produc-
tions of too great importance to be passed over
without notice. But there are other classes of bene-

The Ink-gall insect, and the insect by which it is produced.

fits resulting from the relations of insects with other
organised beings. These, although less directly
affecting man, ought not to be overlooked in a
general survey of the economy of nature. Suppose
the race of insects to be entirely annihilated, and
then observe the thousands of ills which would in-
evitably result from the putrefying masses of animal
and vegetable productions, and which are now, as it
were, reduced to their native elements solely by the
interference of the insect tribes. The entire tribes
of Silpha, Necrophagi, Dcrmcatcs, Nilidulfs, immedi-
ately fall upon the dead carcasses of animals, devour-
ing the flesh, and accelerating the dissipation of the
putrid mass, and these, assisted by myriads of flies,
which deposit their eggs in the decomposing- body in
such immense numbers, succeed, in a very few days,
in reducing the carcass to a mere skeleton. In like
manner, the Geotrupidas, Histerida:, and many other
insects, are equally serviceable (as we have already
stated in our articles upon these groups) in dissemi-
nating the excrements of animals, and rendering them
srrviceable to the agriculturist ; whilst the tribes of
insects which feed upon decaying vegetable matter
are even still more numerous. As serving for food
to some of the higher animals, as fish, birds, some of the
smaller mammalia, &c., insects are eminently service-
able in the scale of the creation. Amongst birds,
the shrikes, and the genera Sylvidte, Motacilla, An-
thura, Certhia, Muscicapa, and Hirundo, as well as

the cuckoos and pies ; and amongst quadrupeds, the
genera Stenops and OtoRcnus, which feed upon
grasshoppers, the bats, shrew, hedgehog, mole, and
especially the genus Myrmecophaga, which derive
their sole nutriment from insects. Many species of
insects are equally serviceable in destroying other
noxious insects. Of these the tribes of predaceous
beetles, sandwasps, ants, dragon-flies, spiders, &c.
are to be noticed, but more especially the larva? of
the ladybirds (Syrphidaa) and golden-eyed flies, which
destroy myriads of plant lice. All these, however,
yield to the Ichneumonidce, which annually destroy
more caterpillars than the whole tribes of insectivo-
rous birds. We must refer to our article upon this
family to show the almost universal dominion of these
parasitic tribes. In the last place, we have to notice
the great services rendered by insects in effecting the
impregnation of plants, in many of which the position
of the sexual organs is such, that, were it not for the
intervention of insects, especially bees, butterflies, &c.,
which, whilst seeking food for their own nourishment,
inconsciously perform a most important office, of
of which we have already, in our article CECDOM.YIA,
mentioned an instance ; and in our article CYNIPID.E
we have noticed the effect of insects in effecting the
more rapid ripening of the fig, by the process termed
caprification by the inhabitants of the Levant.

It is, however, necessary for us now to reverse the
picture, and to observe, that if insects are capable of
being serviceable to mankind, other species are not
less injurious to him and his property. We will first
notice such species as possess a direct influence
against mankind. Of these the various species of
lice, the flea, jigger, and the bed-bug, are pre-eminently
obnoxious. Besides these, we are condemned to
suffer from the occasional attacks of multitudes of
other species, which at all hours of the day cease not
their tormenting powers. Moreover, the hotter the
clime and the period when the body requires the
greatest portion of rest, the more numerous are the
hordes of our insect enemies. The Tabani, Stornoxes,
Asili, are all highly irritating ; but all these yield to
the gnat and the musquito, which are sometimes so
annoying and so numerous, that their victims have
sunk under their attacks. There is also another little
insect, which, in the autumn, is very annoying to
persons who walk about the fields, and which is so
minute that it escapes observation. It is called the
harvest-bug, but is in reality one of the Acandcs, of a
red colour, its mode of attack being to insinuate
itself into the flesh of the legs, where it causes an
intolerable itching, and raises the most irritating sores.
An analogous species inhabits the West Indies,
where surgical operations are required to dislodge it,
causing, if neglected, abscesses, gangrene, and even
death. The name of Scholcchiasis has been applied
to a disease in which the larvae of various species
of insects are found in the human body, but these
appear to be entirely accidental cases wherein these
larvse have been injected. A species of (Estrus, in
like manner, has been found to be parisitic within the
body of persons residing in the tropics, but this
(although it has received the name of CEslrus fwminis)
we should be rather induced to regard also as an
accidental locality selected by the insect, instead of
its real habitat. There is another tribe of insect
enemies whose attacks are not less annoying, although
not resulting, like the former, from a desire to feed
upon our bodies. Here are to be ranked the bees,

928

INSECT.

wasps, and other insects provided with poisonous
•tings, which, however, they seldom employ except
in their own defence, or to resent injuries offered to
themselves. Here also may be added the spiders,
whose powerful jaws are equally provided with a
poisonous fluid, as well as the scorpion, whose long
and jointed tail is defended at the tip with a powerful
sting. Other insects are to be ranked amongst our
minor miseries, namely, such as, by the emission of a
caustic, or disgusting fluid, operate strongly upon
our olfactory nerves. But the tribes of insects
which prey "upon our cattle is equally numerous,
including fleas of different species, ticks, gadflies,
forest flies, and especially the remarkable family of
(Estrideous flies, the larvae of some of which are or-
dinarily termed bots. Of the latter we have already
iriven an account in our article EOT. In like manner,
our poultry and our bees are subject to the attacks of
various insects, of some of which accounts will be
found in our articles upon the DEATH'S-HEAD MOTH
and the GALLERIA.

It is not, however, upon ourselves and living ani-
mals that the ravages of insects are confined, almost
every species of property being in some measure
or other liable to be injured by them. Our clothes,
and other woollen productions, are devoured by the
larvae of various species of clothes' moths, which not
only feed thereon, but also form for themselves cover-
ings of the same materials ; and the richest fars are
subject to the attacks of a similar insect ; whilst our
museums are equally ravaged by the Dcrmcstcs and
Anthrcni. Our furniture is often completely destroyed
by the timber-boring beetles and death-watches
(Anobiuni) ; and some species of white ants, in warm
climates, are so destructive in this respect, that if a
chair or table be suffered to remain for a time in the
same situation, the interior substance will be com-
pletely consumed, nothing remaining but the outside
shell, which the insect has the instinct to leave entire.
The last named insects may indeed be regarded as
amongst the most destructive of our insect enemies,
since they scarcely leave any article untouched.
Ants also are, in warm climates, almost as destructive ;
and even in our own country, one of the smallest
species of ants, Formica unifasciata, has increased to
such an extent in certain parts of London, and some
other towns, devouring all kinds of articles, that the
inhabitants have been compelled to quit their abodes.

Our provisions are also not less liable to the attacks
of insects ; bread and flour are devoured by the blattae
and meal-worms, and we have seen ship-biscuit swarm-
ing to such a degree with the grubs of a species of
Anobium as to be worse than useless. The Dermestes
feed upon our dried meats. Cheese is attacked by
mites ; and the cheese-fly, the grubs of which are
termed cheese-hoppers, from their singular motions
which we have already described in our account of
this insect Our granaries are ravaged by the corn
weevil and by the larvae of a species of tinea ; but if
we turn our attention to the species of insects which
attack such living vegetable productions as are most
gratifying to the lip of mankind, we find the cata-
logue wofully augmented.

We need scarcely mention the locust as being the
most redoubtable of our insect enemies in this respect,
although, fortunately for our coantry, their ravages'
are here unknown, except by description. Our wheat
whilst in blossom suffers from the attacks of the
Hessian fly and Ceddomya tribici, of which we have

already given an account, whilst its roots are de-
voured by the larvae of the Zabrus gibbus, which
sometimes, as in the year 1812, near Halie in Ger-
many, is produced in such numbers, that whole corn
fields are entirely destroyed. The larvae of some of
the Elatcrida, known by the ordinary name of wire-
worms, also attack its roots, as well as the roots of
various other garden plants and culinary vegetables.
The errubs of the cockchaffer in like manner often do
much injury by devouring the roots of grass, as do
also those of the Tipulce. Of the former, an instance
is recorded by Kirby and Spence, in which all the
fields of a farmer near Norwich were entirely de-
stroyed, and as many as eighty bushels were collected
by him and his men. Various other esculent roots
are also devoured by the larvae of other insects ;
amongst which the damage occasioned by the onion-
fly (Anthomyia ceparuni), the grub of which destroys
the plant when still very young, is, perhaps, the most
detrimental. In like manner the steins and the pith
of trees and plants are equally subject to the ravages
of insects, amongst which may especially be noticed
the Bostrichidee, of whose proceedings under the bark
of trees we have already given a detailed account. The
gigantic larvae of the longicorn beetles, goat-moths,
Siricidts, &c., are not less destructive by boring-
through the solid wood of various trees; whilst an
ant (Formica saccharivora), which takes up its abode
in the stem of the sugar-cane, has proved at certain
periods in the highest degree obnoxious. But it is
upon the leaves and young buds and stems of plants
that insects are the most detrimental in their attacks.
Of these the turnip-fly, Haltica nemorum, and some
other species hold the foremost rank. Entire and
extensive families of beetles (Crioccridee, Chrysomelidce,
&c.), are similarly employed in devouring the leaves
of various plants, as well as the numerous species of
saw-flies; but it is amongst the Lepidnptera that this
species of injury occurs ia the highest degree, whole
forests being sometimes entirely defoliated by various
species. In like manner the flowers and fruits of
various plants are subject to similar devastation by
insects. It would, however, require an entire enu-
meration of vegetables and their attendant species of
insects, in order to lay before the reader a complete
account of the ravages of insects upon our vegetable
productions ; since it is to be observed that, for the
most part, the latter are destined by an all-wise
Creator for the support of the former. Their ravages,
therefore, which man regards as injuries towards him-
self, are but the natural result of the ordinary work-
ings of the economy of nature. A few observations
upon this branch of the subject, and with reference
to the employment of remedies against the attacks of
these noxious insects, will not be considered out of
place. One of the most common, and at the same
time most weighty charges brought against the ento-
mologist is, that whilst he bestows endless labour and
trouble in collecting and preserving the various
species of insects, his attention is never, or but very
rarely, directed to inquiries into the most effectual
remedies against those insect scourges which nature
has inflicted upon our vegetable productions. He is
told over and over again, that to make the science
which he cultivates more beneficial to society, ana
thereby more generally known, a share, at least, of
his attention must be occupied in prosecuting expe-
riments for the purpose of discovering how this or
that insect enemy cay be combated in the most sue-

INSECT.

829

cessful manner. And, indeed, it must be admitted,
that this is a charge too well founded, although, per-
haps, a few observations may convince those who are
the most ready to bring it forward upon every oppor-
tunity, that it may be greatly palliated. In the first
place, therefore, it may be urged, that these de-
structive insects, appearing as they do in occasional
seasons in vast profusion, are produced in such my-
riads for some wise purpose, which we may not be
permitted to understand. They, like the locusts, of
which so splendid a poetical description is recorded
in the second chapter of the prophet Joel, form a
portion of the army of the Almighty wherewith he
scourges the nations ; and, although the scientific
researches of mankind might discover means of
destroying in some degree, these hosts, it may
perhaps not unreasonably be supposed either that he
would not be allowed to frustrate the designs of Pro-
vidence, or that, if this evil were removed, others
perhaps more weighty might arise in their stead. In
the second place, the minuteness of the size of these
creatures presents an almost insurmountable barrier
against those delicate inquiries and examinations of
them, during every state of their existence, by which
alone we can arrive at a knowledge of the real nature
and cause of the mischief, and be thereby, and thereby
alone, enabled to judge of a suitable remedy. In the
third place, the want of sufficient opportunity is not
the least objection which may be brought against the
charge. It must be admitted, that no effectual check
can be given to the ravages of any species of noxious
insect until its entire habits and economy have been
ascertained. Thus far in the inquiry is the stiict
province of the entomologist, whose attention ought
to be directed from day to day, and from year to
year, not to isolated spots of ground, but to whole
acres, more especially with reference to the pecu-
liarities of seasons, and to atmospheric changes ; but
here we have only gone halfway. It now becomes
the province of the agriculturist to discover a remedy,
since it seems equally clear that this ulterior branch
of the inquiry can only be prosecuted effectually by
persons perfectly conversant with the chemical nature
of soils, the action of various ingredients which may
be employed as remedies, not only upon insects
themselves, but also upon the plants which may be
attacked. Such persons too are alone able to judge
of the practicability of the application of the pro-
posed remedies, since it would be useless for an
indoor entomologist to endeavour by experiment to
discover remedies which, when discovered, cannot be
adopted from the great expense of the article itself,
or the impossibility of applying it, or the liability of
the destruction not only of the insect, but also of
the plant itself, and even instances of the latter de-
scription have been recorded.

Hence we must evidently look for the discovery of
the most efficient remedies to persons who, residing
in the county, are the best enabled to obtain a
knowledge of the economy of these destructive
insects, founded upon the most general and practical
modes of examination, and who unite the entomo-
logical knowledge requisite to trace most effectually
their habits, with a perfect and scientific knowledge
of the true principles of agriculture. Thus it seems
undoubted, that this want of sufficient opportunity for
investigation has hitherto proved one of the greatest
barriers to our proposing satisfactory remedies against
the ravages ; and knowing, as we too well know, that

the study and investigation of this branch of zoology
has hitherto been almost uncultivated amongst us, it
is not, perhaps, surprising that so little has been done.
The observer of insects has, indeed, proposed reme-
dies which the agriculturist cannot adopt ; and the
agriculturist on the other hand, ignorant of the nature
of insects, has pursued the very plan which has been
the most congenial to the habits of the insects which
he wished to destroy; as in the case of the French
gardener, mentioned by Reaumur, who thinking to
destroy the caterpillars of the cabbage-moth, buried
them just at the time when they were themselves on
the point of going into the earth to change to
chrysalides *.

Thus have we endeavoured to show not only that
in respect to their various relations towards mankind
insects possess considerable claims upon our atten-
tion, but have also been anxious to prove that a
knowledge of the habits and economy of insects in
their various states, cannot fail to be highly advan-
tageous, and, in fact, absolutely necessary, both in
order to enable us to discover suitable remedies
against the attacks of obnoxious species upon our-
selves or our properties, and also as tending to the
probable discovery of other species equally beneficial
with those already employed by man. It therefore
now becomes necessary for us to detail such par-
ticulars relative to the various stages in the lives of
insects to which we have already alluded, as are
essential to be known, in order to obtain a correct
notion of their habits in these various states.

We have already stated that the subjects of our
present inquiry, as restricted by the establishment of
the other modern classes separated from the Linnaean
insects, comprise those species of annulose animals,
which are provided in their perfect state with six
jointed legs and two antennae, and which are subject
to a series of transformations of a variable degree,
by means of which, in almost every species, organs
of flight are developed ; the latter characters consti-
tuting, in fact, the grand characteristic of the class
Plilota, or winged insects. Hence it w ill be evident,
that an inquiry into the nature of these ojhanges, and
a consideration of the peculiarities exhibited by in-
sects during their progress towards maturity, consti-
tute the first step, and are, in fact, the necessary
commencement ot our inquiries into the nature of in-
sects.

There are, it is true, inquiries of a preliminary na-
ture, having reference to the entire sub-kingdom of
annuluse animals ; such, for instance, as the question
of typical priority of the various classes, the points
of connection existing between them, and the other
animal smVkingdoms ; the supposed uniformity in
the organization of the various parts of the mouth,
so ingeniously and elaborately worked out by Sa-
vigny, Latreille, &c., or the attempts made by various
authors to reduce their varying structure to one ty-
pical form. These inquiries, however, which are the
especial province of the comparative anatomist, would
occupy too great a space in an essay like the present,
and could not, in fact, be treated in a satisfactory
manner, or even be rendered intelligible to the gene-
ral reader, without an elaborate series of figures and
descriptions. Hence we must refer our readers to the
works of these authors, and more particularly to the
work of M. Straus Diirckheim, upon the general

* From the Magrazine of Natural History.

MO

principles of the comparative structure of annulos
animals. Leaving, therefore, these abstruse bu
highly interesting and philosophical topics, our presen
inquiry will be directed in tracing the insect throug'
its various stages ; first, to a general consideratio
of the principles which regulate the metamorphose
of insects ; and secondly, to a review oi the pcculia
rities exhibited by these animals, in their passage t<
the perfect state. To these will naturally succeec
thirdly, a general view of the insect structure, espe
cially as exhibited in such perfect state, both exter
nally and internally ; fourthly, a sketch of their phy
Biological and instinctive properties ; and we shal
terminate our inquiries by, fifthly, a sketch cf th>
classification of the winged insects.

Section I. — On the principles which regulate th
metamorpfioset of insects. One of the most remarka
ble peculiarities connected with the progressive de
velopment of animals, is that for the discovery o
which we are indebted to the physiological re-
searches of modern comparative anatomists ; namely
that animals traverse through a certain series o:
grades of development, by means of which they as-
cend from the first simple beginnings of life to its
highest perfection ; these various grades being evi-
dent representatives, or analogies of the perfect
states of the still more inferior types of animals.
This singular and startling peculiarity is not a fan-
ciful theory, but has been the result of the most
accurate application of the facts, obtained by the aid
of comparative anatomy. And the consequent re-
sult of this principle is, that the higher the animal in
the chain of creation, the greater number of grades
has it to traverse. Not that by this assertion it is

intended that one animal was, at any period of its
existence, a distinct animal, but simply that certain
types of form, or various peculiarities of certain in-
ternal organisations, which are characteristic of the
perfect state of the more inferior animals, are re-pro-
duced in those of a higher rank, previous to the ar-
rival of the latter at the precise type which is their
own. " No one," observes Burmeister, " who speaks
of the embryo of man passing through the lower
grades of the animal kingdom, can have imagined
that man, at any period of his embryo life, was ever
an infusory animal— polypus, muscle, snail, worm,
crab, spider, insect, fish, turtle, snake, lizard, and bird ;
but the assertion is nothing more than that man has
once, in the progress of his development, been upon
that grade upon which the several classes beneath
him remain stationary, in the progressive develop-
ment of the entire animal kingdom." Now, the most
general form of insects is that of an articulated elon-
gated body ; but previous to its bursting into life,
whilst yet in the egg, its organisation represents that
the most inferior animals, having then no other
organs than those of nutrition ; when this release is
•fleeted, we find the animal has now ascended to the
lowest types of the articulated structure ; the earth-
worm and the leech are strictly represented by
those vermiform grubs which have no distinct head,
and which belong to the order of two-winged flies,
Diptera Will it, we ask, be asserted, that this is
H a fanciful idea, confirmed, as it is, by the fact
that the dipterous insects, when arrived at the per-
ect state, are the least perfectly developed of all
5 winged insects. Another grade is attained by
those lame, which, although vermiform, are furnished
with a distinct head, as the larv» of the Hymenoptera,

INSECT.

which represent the water Nais ; a third grade is
exhibited in those larvae which have the body fur-
nished with lateral gills, and reside in tubes ; and a
still higher is reached by those larvae which, like the
Xereis and Aphrodita, belonging to the Annelida, have
a distinct head and legs on the under side of the
body. In the following or pupa state, we find some
pupae, as those of the gnats, breathing like the crus-
tacea, by gills ; others, as those of the moths, buried
under ground, like the Myriapoda ; whilst the pupae
of butterflies are suspended like the Arachnida, in
the open air. The above, which is a brief abstract
of the analogies exhibited by Dr. Burmeister, do not,
it must be admitted, in some respects possess equally
strong grounds for adoption ; but the view of the
subject is so novel, that much necessarily remains to
be discovered ; and what has yet been adduced, can
only be regarded as an approximation towards the
truth ; neither can this view of the subject be fully
confirmed, until by the aid of comparative anatomy,
and by an accurate investigation of the nervous and
other systems of animals, the rank of each principal
division in the scale of creation has been definitely
settled. Still, however, sufficient has been advanced
to prove that this view of the subject corroborates
the principle already alluded to, that it is owing to the
development of wings that the Ptilota, or winged
insects, are necessarily subjected to a more complete
and astonishing series of transformations, than the
other atmulose animals, in which the changes (to
which, in fact, in a greater or less degree, all animals
are subject) consist in a periodical casting off of the
outer envelope. It is true, that in a few insects,
which are evident exceptions to the general rules,

this same mode of moulting takes place ; and it is
also to be observed, that during a certain and early
period of their existence the same principle exists
hroughout the winged tribes of insects which, in
such cases, represent in their imperfect state the
)erfect state of the other Annulosa. We have al-
ready said, that, owing to the external envelope of
annulose animals constituting their skeleton, and
offering from its stronger consistence a complete ob-
stacle to the increase in size of the enclosed animal,
t was necessary that this skeleton should, from
ime to time, be cast ; we have, however, still to in-
quire, how the animal which throws off so important
a portion of its organs as its skeleton, can exist, or
n what manner a new skeleton is formed. Swani-
merdam, in his really wonderful series of observa-
ions, discovered, in his endeavours to prove that all
nsects were produced from eggs, and that the cater-
illar was but an immature butterfly, that, shortly
>revious to changing to a chrysalis, the various parts
)f the butterfly were found distinctly encased beneath
he skin of the caterpillar. And therefore he has
aised the theory which has been generally adopted
y subsequent authors, that every caterpillar, at its
rst exclusion, contains within itself the germe of the
uture butterfly, and of all its envelopes, which, suc-
essively presenting themselves, are thrown off, till it
ttains its perfect winged state. This theory has,
owever, been completely opposed by Dr. Herold,
distinguished microscopic observer, who, from a
most elaborate, indeed, we may affirm, the most ela-
orate investigation of the kind, hitherto made, upon
ie cabbage-butterfly in its various states, has ar-
;ved at the contrary conclusion — that the successive
kins of the caterpillar, the pupa case, &c., do not

INSECT.

831

pre-exist as germes, but are »oitned successively from
the rete mucosum, which itself is formed anew upon
every change of skin ; these formations being attri-
butable to the action of a power which he terms
the vis formatrix.

Against the latter theory, Messrs. Kirby and Spence
have raised various objections, none of which appear to
the author of this article to be of sufficient weight to
overthrow it in favour of the old theory of S wammerdam.
The first of these objections is, that Dr. Herold em-
ploys the high-sounding term, vis formalrix, to conceal
his own ignorance of causes, when endeavouring to
penetrate within the sanctum sanctorum, which is
not permitted to vain man to enter — a plan adopted
in all ages, and instanced in the adoption of such
words as Plastic Nature, Epigenesis, Panspermia, Idea
seminalis, Nisus formativus, &c. It is evident from
these observations, that these authors would endea-
vour to fix upon Dr. Herold a charge of infidelity,
in supposing that the structure of an insect possessed
of itself a power to mould itself according to its
own formative will and power. And this is evident,
because in a subsequent page they adduce the fact,
with which every physiologist is acquainted, that
the developments and acquisition of new parts and
organs, by insects undergoing metamorphoses, have
taken place according to a law, which regulates their
numbers, kinds, and times, since the first creation.
But surely they are not authorised by Dr. Herold's
views and statements, in wielding against him this
powerful (if maintainable) argument, since it must
be evident, that by the term vis jbrmatrie, Dr.
Herold meant not to imply any power independent
of the Creator, but simply thaymnciple of develop-
ment which, under the guidance of an Almighty
hand, is constantly in operation, not only in in-
sects, but in every other branch of the creation *.
It would be as unjust to assert, if a man, whose fin-
ger had just healed from a wound, and who should
thereupon say that he had gained a fresh layer of
skin by the action of his flesh, that he was an atheist.
But in the next place, Messrs. Kirby and Spence
do not deny the facts stated by Dr. Herold, that the
organs of the butterfly are not discernible in the
larva, but gradually become visible, as the caterpil-
lar throws off its successive coverings. They assert,
indeed, that, they can easily comprehend that pre-
existent germes, by the constant secretion of new
matter, in a proper state, may be gradually deve-
loped ; but find it impossible to conceive how, by
the action of second causes, without the intervention
of the first cause, the butterfly should be formed in the
caterpillar, unless it pre-exists there as a germe or
foetus. The question is not, however, whether the
butterfly be or be not inclosed as a fetus within the
caterpillar ; but whether, as Swammerdam evidently
intended, the various skins of the caterpillar, &c.
existed as distinct and visible germes within the
newly-hatched caterpillar; and this Messrs. Kirby
and Spence endeavour to support, by the argument
which they adduce from Bonnet, that " organs that
have no existence as to us, exist as they respect the
embryo, and perform their essential functions ; the
term of their becoming visible, is that which has

* It is rather remarkable, that Messrs. Kirby and Spence,
after having thus endeavoured to brand Dr. Herold as an athe-
ist, should have expressed a supposition, that the skins of ser-
pents are formed under the old skin, from the rete mucosum,
(Vol. III. p. )Q1.) The cis formatrix of Dr. Herold, is of no
higher rank than the power implied in this expression.

been, erroneously mistaken for the period of their
existence."

The question, therefore, now assumes a new form.
It is not, as between Swammerdam (contending that
the successive skins of the caterpillar exist as distinct
and visible germes in the newly born caterpillar,) and
Dr. Herold (asserting that these skins are suc-
cessively produced from the rete mucosum), but
simply whether we are to consider with Kirby and
Spence, that these germes are pre-existent, though not
perceivable even by the application of the most power-
ful microscope, but which subsequently, " by the con-
stant accretion of new matter in a proper state, are
gradually developed ;" or with Dr. Herold, that they
do not pre-exist as germes, but are successively form-
ed from the rete mucosum. Having, however, di-
vested the arguments of the latter from the charge of
atheism which has been attempted to be forced upon
them, we really are not prepared to consider that
there are no grounds for the adoption of the latter in
preference to the former. It is true that Dr. Herold
discovered the organs of sex in the newly excluded
larva ; but these and other organs of the perfect but-
terfly, are those which, from their very nature, must
be regarded as requiring the greatest and most
gradual degrees of development ; but the case is
quite different with such temporary organs as the
skins of the caterpillar : but let us look to facts, —
Messrs. Kirby and Spence are unable to adduce any
in support of the existence of invisible germes, but ac-
cording to Dr. Herold, there is not the least trace in
the young larva of the new skin, but this first origi-
nates towards the end of the first period of the cater-
pillar's life, a few days only before the old one is
stripped off. It is then observed that the mucous
and muscular layers of the skin separate all round,
from the epidermis, and then clothe themselves upon
the superior surface with a new epidermis. The de-
velopment of this new external skin occupies two or
three days, during which the caterpillar appears
sickly, and takes but little nourishment ; the old skin
then splits longitudinally along the back, and the
caterpillar emancipates itself from its old envelope by
drawing out the body. The epidermis, all the exter-
nal visible organs, and even the mandibles and palpi,
remain attached to the old skin. This moulting is
repeated several times.

Various physiologists, and especially Dr. Vircy,
have endeavoured to trace an analogy between the
transformations of insects and the development of
some of the higher animals ; attributing, as Mr. Mac
Leay observes in his Horse Entomologies, the meta-
morphoses of insects to the shedding of an envelope
analogous to that which contains the fetus of the
more perfect vertebrata. And as every embryo, whe-
ther animal or vegetable, is inclosed in a tunic more
or less solid (its chorion), so proceeding with the
analogy, they conceive there must be some condition
for every animal, similar to the state of the foetus of
the more perfect animals, when surrounded by the
amnios of this state, and which in the hexapod insects,
they hold to be the larva, according to which the true
birth of the animal will be its exclusion from the pupa
case. This argument seems to have been derived
from an observation of Reaumur — namely, that the
larva of insects ought to be regarded as an egg of an
extraordinary kind, endowed with organs of locomo-
tion and nutrition ; and that this analogy is also re-
tained during the period of the insect's existence in

832

the chrysalis state. When we consider, however,
that many species of insects are active in the pupa
state, and that on their exclusion therefrom they
have acquired their full size, and are fitted for the re-
production of their species, we must admit that the
former view of the subject is bcarcely maintainable ;
ami that the larva fctate, which is especially that in
which the digestive system predominates, and the
greatest supply of food is taken, is more strictly ana-
logous to the period of infancy of the higher animals.

We are now to examine,

Section 2.— The peculiarities exhibited by insects in
their passage to the perfect state. Perhaps none of
the phenomena of natural history have attracted a
greater share of the attention of mankind in all ages,
than those exhibited by insects in their passage to the
perfect state. It is perfectly consistent with that
innate propensity of the human mind towards the
marvellous, that the change of a caterpillar into a but-
terfly should have been considered by the ancients as
a true metamorphosis, in no manner reconcilcable
with the ordinary process of nature. If this were
indeed the case in the darker days of zoological
knowledge, when the true nature of these changes
was not understood, it is equally certain that the sub-
ject has lost none of its interest, although, owing to
the admirable researches of Libavius and Redi, Mal-
phighi and Swammerdam, Reaumur and De Geer, all
of the marvellous has been removed, and a series of
gradual developments exposed far exceeding in pecu-
liarity those exhibited in any of the other tribes of
animals.

But it is not alone in elucidating the nature of the
changes, by means of which a caterpillar becomes a
butterfly, that the researches of these authors are
most valuable ; since this discovery naturally led to
the equally important truth that the caterpillar is pro-
duced from a creature which has at one period of its
existence resembled itself; and which, having arrived
at its jKirfect state, and been impregnated, has per-
petuated its species by the deposition of eggs, which,
when hatched, produce small voracious "animals of
variable forms, ordinarily termed caterpillars, grubs,
ormaggots.and systematically larva^plural ofthe Latin
word larva), liable to a series of moultings, varying
in number. To this state in the majority of insects,
succeeds a quiescent period, during which the appear-
ance of the creature is completely altered. The in-
sect in this state is termed a chrysalis, or aurelia, and
more generally and technically a pupa (plural, pup^e).
After remaining in this state a certain period, the in-
sect again throws off its covering, and appears in its
perfect form. It is now termed a beetle, butterfly,
bee, &c., according to its kind, but technically and
generally the term imago is applied, to designate the
adult state of all insects. These terms, larva, pupa
and imago, were employed by Linnaeus, whose no-
menclature was often fanciful, although generally
applicable ; the first, in allusion to the laroated, or
nuukcd appearance of the insect whilst a larva ; the
second, from the resemblance of the insect, during the
pupa state, to the mummy-like appearance of chiU
^ren wrapt up in swaddling clothes ; and the third,
because having laid aside its mask, and cast off its
•waddling clothes, it is now in its perfect state, and
lias become a true representation or image of its
species. Hence the four stages of an insect's exist-
ence are the egg, larva, pupa, and imago.

is true, however, that, as we have already

ECT. .

shown in our articles APHIDES and BLOWFLY, the
eggs, but very rarely, are hatched within the body
of the parent fly, and deposited as larvce ; and that, in
the Hipjwboscidce, the larva even undergoes its change
to the pupa state previous to being deposited by the
parent ; but still these insects have originated from
eggs ; and it is also true, that in some groups the
insect in the pupa state is active, and differs only
from the larva in having small tubercular rudiments
of wings upon the back (as in the orders Hcmiptera
and Orthoptera) ; and in the apterous individuals of
these orders it is next to impossible to assert whether
an individual be in the larva, pupa, or imago stt-.te.
These are, however, but exceptions to the general
rule, and do not warrant the opinion maintained in
an ingenious paper published by Mr. Newman in the
Entomological Magazine, to which we would refer
the reader ; namely, thut insects have but three
stages of existence, the fuital, the adolescent, and the
adult, inasmuch as in the majority of insects, the last
is preceded by a distinct but variable state, which we
have above noticed as that of the pupa. In like
manner, we see no sufficient grounds for rejecting
the terms larva and pupa, and employing such terms
as infancy and adolescence in their stead. Indeed, the
setting aside of words employed in a technical sense,
and universally understood, merely because they may
happen to be in a foreign tongue, or may, even in
their origin, have been somewhat fanciful, appears to
us to savour somewhat of affectation, or even some-
thingworse than this, when the perfectly quiescent and
apparently lifeless state of an insect is regarded as
analogous to the adolescence of the higher animals.

Our present inqui^, therefore, resolves itself into
four distinct heads — namely, the egg, larva, pupa, and
imago.

I. Tfie Egg. — We have already seen in the pre-
sent article, as well as in various others of our ento-
mological articles, that there is no ground for the
popular idea that any kind of insect is produced other-
wise than from eggs deposited by a parent. The
first branch of our inquiry will therefore be devoted
to the situation in which the eggs of insects are
deposited, and the extraordinary instinct exhibited
by the female in this operation, and which has been
attributed to the influence of maternal affection. As,
however, it happens that, in the great majority of
instances, the female dies immediately after deposit-
ing, and long previous to the hatching of, her eggs ;
and as, moreover, it is erroneous to attribute such
feelings as love or affection to animals so low in the
scale of existence as insects, we would refer these
proceedings to the operation of that indefinable
influence which is ordinarily termed instinct. That
this is a correct view of the matter, must be evident
from a perusal ofthe details which we have furnished
of the proceedings of the hive-bee and of the ants ;
where we have seen that insects incapable of re-pro-
duction (neuter?) are equally active in preparing
nests, &c., as the real parent. This branch, therefore,
of our inquiry, ought perhaps more correctly to come [
into our physiological view of insects, although it can
hardly be said to be out of place here.

Insects, as regards the situations in which their fggs
are deposited, may be divided into two classes; those
which, with much labour, form a residence, and lay up
a store of food for their progeny ; and those which
simply place them in situations where the young, when
hatched, will be certain to find a due supply of food.

INS

Of the former, the highest place must be accorded
to those social insects which build nests of the most
beautiful construction, serving not only for the educa-
tion of their young (which are produced from eggs
placed in separate cells), but also for the habitation
of the entire community at large. We must refer to
our articles upon the BEE (Hive-Bee), HUMBLE BEE,
HORNET, WASPS, ANTS, and FORMICID/E, WHITE
ANTS, TERMITID^:, &c., for many details which it
would be useless to repeat. We are next to notice the
sand-wasps, and many solitary species of wild bees and
wasps, which construct their nests with great labour in
the sand or in rotten wood, forming a succession of
cells generally of an oval or rounded form, in which
they deposit a supply of food either of pollen, paste,
or other insects, sufficient for the nourishment of the
larva when hatched from the egg, which is placed in
the cell with this supply. We have already given
instances of this mode of proceeding in the "articles
CERCERIS, FOSSORES, CERATINA, HALICTUS, &c.
Here also may be ranked the dung-rolling and dung-
boring beetles, whose history we have given under the
articles GEOTRUPES and GYMNOPLEURUS, as well as
the burying-beetles (Necrophagm), whose exploits in
burying small dead animals, in which they deposit
their eggs, are not less indicative of a high degree of
instinctive powers. The Cicada likewise, as well as
the saw-flies, may also here be noticed, since the
care with which the parent constructs a burrow in
the stems of plants, for the reception of her eggs, by
means of a most admirably constructed apparatus, is
equally remarkable, although the larva, as soon as
hatched, is compelled to seek elsewhere for its food,
namely, the leaves on the adjoining twigs. But the
instinct which is exhibited in the selection of appro-
priate situations for the eggs, and where the larva,
when hatched, will find a supply of food, without the
same being laid up in store by the parent fly, is found
to be possessed by the greatest number of insects.
Many species of Iarva3 will feed only upon one parti-
cular species of plant ; and the parent fly, in its per-
fect state, takes no other food than a little honey from
every flower which may be in bloom at the time ; still
it is only upon that particular plant which suits the
taste of her progeny that she deposits her eggs. Here
are to be ranked many of the tribes of lepidopterous
insects (Butterflies and Moths). Many species of
moths, as well as beetles, reside in the larva state
under the bark of trees ; the females, therefore, by
means of a long and jointed ovipositor, are enabled to
place their eggs at the bottom of the crevices in the
external bark. In like manner, the carrion flies de-
posit their eggs upon carrion ; the flesh-flies upon
flesh ; the flies whose larvae feed upon plant-lice, in the
midst of the plant-lice ; and some species of these
flies (Hemerobnis) render the security of their young
doubly secure, by placing their eggs out of danger at
the extremity of long and slender foot-stalks (fig. 9).
In like manner, the boat of eggs formed by the gnat
(see our article CULICID^E), and the egg-pouch of the
Hydrous, are alike deserving of notice. But it is
amongst the parasitic insects that this species of in-
stinct appears most fully developed. Of this we have
already given numerous instances in our articles upon
the CUCKOO-BEES, OHRYSIDID^E, CHALCIDID^E, and
especially ICHNEUMONID.S ; whilst the proceedings
of the bot-flies, and the instinct whereby, as in the
Gasterophitus equi, a particular spot upon the body
of an animal is selected for the reception of the egg,

NAT. HIST._ VOL. II.

E C T. 833

is most remarkable. It would, however, be an almost
endless task to detail the various modes adopted by
insects in order to deposit their eggs in such situations
that their progeny may be sure of meeting with an
ample supple of food.

If the instinct exhibited by the parent fly be worthy
of observation, the number of eggs which she de-
posits is not less interesting. Thus the queen bee
produces from 40,000 to 50,000 eggs in the course ot
a year, and supposing a swarm to contain 32,256
individuals, and three swarms to take place in the
season, the population of a hive would in a single
year amount to nearly 100,000 bees; and the Aley-
rodes proletella, a little homopterous insect, may give
birth in a year to more than 200,000 young. A
species of moth, according to Lyonnet, produces in
the third generation more than a million of young;
and the Aphis, observed by Reaumur and Bonnet,
produced at the fifth generation 5,904,900,000 indi-
viduals, and there may be not less than twenty
generations in the course of a year. The female
white ant, whose enormously distended body causes
her to exceed her companions many hundred times
in size, deposits sixty eggs in a minute, which is at
the rate of 211,449,600 in the course of a year.
Other insects are, however, less prolific. The silk-
worm produces only from 400 to 500 eggs, the
caddice flies less than 100; the burying beetles about
thirty, and the horsefly (Hippobosca equina) can only
be said to deposit a single egg.

The eggs of insects are generally of an oval form
(fig. 1, oval-spotted egg of the fox-moth), the outer
covering being sufficiently rigid to resist ordinary
external impressions ; others are, however, soft and
pliant. In some species they are globose, as in many
lepidoptera (fig. 2, globular-banded egg of the
vapourer-moth) ; or conical, as in the large white
cabbage butterfly (fig. 3) ; cylindrical, pear-shaped,
barrel-shaped, &c. They are for the most part
smooth ; but many are very beautiful, ornamented
with symmetrical ridges (figs. 3 and 4, egg of the
tortoise-shell butterfly), canals, dots, &c., giving them
as Reaumur observed, the appearance of embossed
buttons. There are numerous other varieties in the
form of eggs, and some are furnished with appendages
for peculiar purposes. Thus the egg of the dung-fly
(Scatophaga putris, fig. 5) has two oblique props at
one end to prevent it sinking too deep in the matter
upon which it is deposited ; whilst those of the water
scorpion (Nepa cincrca, fig. 10) are furnished with a
coronet of spines forming a receptacle for the egg,
which is deposited immediately afterwards.

The colour of insects' eggs varies very consider-
ably, although white, yellow, and green are the more
prevalent tints ; orange, red, brown, and black, with all
the intermediate shades, are to be found, as well as
blue ; and others are banded with pale circles, and
that of the pine lappet moths is blue with three brown
zones. The colours of eggs are, however, subject to
change as the inclosed larva approaches the period of
its escape, this being owing chiefly to the change ot
GGG

INSECT.

colour undergone by the latter being visible through
the slender coating of the egg.

In many species the eggs are deposited singly; in
>thers, however, they are discharged en masse, of
#hich latter, the most remarkable instance occurs in
ihe cock roaches (Blatlee), of which we have already
given an account. Others again arrange them sym-
metrically (as in the cylindrical pointed eggs of the
Semblis lutea, fig. 6), and others enclose them in a mass
of gluten, especially those species which inhabit the
water in the larva state; many species employ a
gummy matter to attach them firmly to the substances
on which they are placed ; whilst some (as the yellow-
tail moth, Arctia chryxorrhced) wraj) them in a coat-
ing of down (fig. 7), which they pull off their own
bodies by the assistance ot an apparatus fitted for
that purpose ; and the lackey motl (Lasiocampa
Neiutria) deposits her eggs in a spiral coil round the
stems of fruit-trees (fig. 8).

The period which elapses between the deposition
of the egg and the birth of the larva depends upon
the temperature of the atmosphere, as well as upon
the species of insect. Thus, whilst the early laid
eggs of the tortoise-shell butterfly hatch in a few
days, those which are not laid till autumn will not
produce caterpillars until spring. The eggs of the
meatfly hatch in a very few days, or even hours ;
eight days are required by the eggs of the painted
lady butterfly ; whilst the caterpillars of the machaon
butterfly are not hatched under a month. It is, how-
ever, a general rule, that those eggs which are depo-
sited in the autumn are not hatched until the fol1^ r'n?
spring.

The investigation of the development of the grub
whilst inclosed within the egg is attended with so
much difficulty, owing to the minuteness of the ob-
jects, that hitherto but little progress has been made
in this branch of the subject. Dr. Herold, however,
whose admirable microscopic observations we have
already noticed, has taken it up ; and the first part of
his magnificent work entitled " Disquisitiones Ani-
njalium Vertebris carentihus in ovo Formatione," has
recently appeared, and will tend to throw nvich light
upon this intricate subject. One peculiarity ought
not to be omitted relative to this part of our subject,
namely, that the eggs of the sawflies, gallflies, and
ants, increase very considerably in their size, and
alter in form previous to the exclusion of the larva,
and which is doubtless owing to the membranous
covering of the egg and to the growth of the inclosed
larvjE. In general, the embiyo catei«pillar is observed
coiled up within the egg, the head being brought into
contact with the tail.

We have said that the majority of insects die pre-
vious to the birth of their progeny, but this is not the
case with the whole. Thus De Geer ascertained
that a large species of field-bug (Pentatoma grisea)
survives this event, and that she leads her brood
about, consisting of from thirty to forty young ones,
in the same way as a hen does her chickens. Some-

what similar ooservations have been made upon the
common earwig by De Geer, as well as by the author
of" Insect Transformations," who has published the
following interesting notice in the Penny Magazine :
" About the end of March I found an earwig brood-
ing over her eggs in a small cell scooped out in a
garden border, and in order to observe her proceed-
ings, I removed the eggs into my study, placing
them upon fresh earth under a bell-glass. The care-
ful mother soon scooped out a fresh cell, and collected
the scattered eggs with great care to the little nest,
placing herself over them, not so much, as it after-
wards appeared, to keep them warm, as to prevent
the too rapid evaporation of their moisture. When
the earth began to dry up she dug the cell gradually
deeper, till at length she got almost out of view ; and
whenever the interior became too dry, she withdrew
the eggs from the cell altogether, and placed them
round the rim of the glass, where some of the eva-
porated moisture had condensed : upon observing
this, I dropped some water into the abandoned cell,
and the mother soon afterwards replaced her eggs
there. When the water which had dropped had
nearly evaporated, I moistened the outside of the
earth opposite the bottom of the cell, and the mother
perceiving this, actually dug a gallery right through
to the spot where she found the best supply of mois-
ture. Having neglected to moisten the earth for
some days, it again became dry, and there was none
even round the rim of the glass as before. Under
these circumstances, the mother earwig found a little
remaining moisture quite under the clod of earth,
upon the board of the mantel-piece, and thither she
forthwith carried her eggs. The subsequent pro-
ceedings were not less interesting; for though I
carefully moistened the earth everyday, she regularly
changed the situation of the eggs morning and even-
ing, placing them in the original cell at night, and on
the board under the clod during the day, as if she
understood the evaporation to be so great when the
sun was up, that her eggs might be left too dry before
night. I regret to add, that during my absence the
glass had been moved and the mother escaped, having
carried away all her eggs but one or two, which soon
shrivelled up." De Geer was more fortunate, and as
we have ourselves repeatedly observed, noticed the
care of the female in defending her young when
hatched.

There are other insects whose attention is devoted
to the care of the eggs and the education of the
young, especially in the social species. When the
period is arrived for the hatching of the egg, the
enclosed larva bursts through the envelope, either by
main force or by gnawing through it with its jaws
Sometimes, however, one end of the egg is provided
with a sort of cap, which is easily pushed open.

T/ie Larva. — The insect has now arrived at an
active state of existence ; it is now that it is destined,
in a more especial manner, to grow and to eat. It is to
this state that the ordinary terms caterpillar, grub, and
maggot are generally applied in a manner so inde-
finitely, that it is impossible, with any pretension to
correctness, to assign these terms to any precise
divisions of insects. In general, insects at this period
of their lives appear in the form of a cylindrical
ringed and fleshy worm, provided generally with a
distinct head and six scaly legs attached to the ante-
rior part of the body. The head, however, in some
species is not distinct, and the legs are sometimes

INSECT.

83.5

wanting ; whilst in others the terminal segments are
furnished with membranous (false or pro)-legs. In
other species, however (the number of which is but
comparatively small), the insect nearly resembles its
parents, being, however, destitute of wings. This vari-
ation naturally introduces two principal divisions
amongst insects, the former being said to have a
complete metamorphosis, and the kilter an incom-
plete one ; but as these terms have also been em-
ployed by Linnaeus and Fabricius in a more restricted
and totally different sense, and as they have been
applied to designate the entire metamorphosis, instead
of simply indicating the formation of the larva, we
prefer dividing insects, from a 'consideration of their
larvae, into two divisions, which may thence be named
Heteromorpha and Homomorpha.

In all this diversity, however, there is still a general
prevailing uniformity of structure, which, under various
modifications of form, preserves a tendency towards
one typical organisation. This typicality in larvae
consists in having the body ordinarily composed of
thirteen segments, which are for the most part of
an equal size, although when arrived at maturity,
some of the&e segments become obsolete, being con-
rerted into internal organs, or are greatly altered as
regards the extent of their individual development.
Here the entire object of the animal's existence con-
sists in its capability of feeding ; consequently, owing
to the formation of the internal digestive organs, the
body maintains throughout its various segments a
general conformity, none requiring an extra develop-
ment for the support of organs fitted for other pur-
poses. When, however, the insect has arrived at the
perfect state, its objects are completely altered, it has
now to seek its mate; it. is therefore provided with
wings, which requiring support from the segments to
which they are attached, cause these segments to be
necessarily developed in an extraordinary degree ;
the other adjacent segments being losers : the insect
has also now to perform the great object of its ex-
istence, namely, the continuing of its kind, and there-
fore the organs of generation become organs of
especial importance, and we accordingly find other
portions of the body sacrificed for their development.
The thirteen segments which compose the body of
the larva bear the following relation to the distri-
bution of the segments in the imago. The first
segment or head of the larva becomes the head of the
imago; the three following segments compose the
thorax, and the remainder become the abdomen in
the perfect insect. Dr. Ratzeburg has, indeed, lately
published a memoir, endeavouring to prove that the
two first segments of the larva of the aculeate Hymen-
oplera become the head of the imago ; but the ob-
servations of this author, as we have proved more
than once, are incorrect, and founded upon very
unphilosophical views.

In the Homomorphous division, the larvae greatly
resemble the perfect insect, differing chiefly in being
entirely destitute of any appearance of the organs of
flight. The second segment of the body also
does not exhibit the shield-like scutellum which is
found in the imago in that situation ; here belong the
various tribes of locusts, grasshoppers, and crickets
(fig. 11, larva of the cricket), bugs (fig. 12, larva of a
Pcntatoma), tree and frog-hoppers, cockroaches, prey-
ing mantes, &c., constituting the orders, Orthoptera,
Hemiptcra, and Homoptera, as well as some portions
the order Neuroptera. Some of these insects are,

however, remarkable for being destitute of wrings in
the perfect state, and a difficulty thence arises of dis-
tinguishing the larvae from the subsequent states.
The variation in their size, and the constant absence
of ocelli, as well as a somewhat less perfectly de-
veloped organisation of the antennae; these, and
some other parts of their structure, may serve to
distinguish them. From analogy with the higher ani-
mals, we might, perhaps, be induced to consider that
these insects which maintain a constant activity
throughout their existence, are much higher in the
scale of nature than those species which, like the
butterfly, are subject to so long a period of death-like
repose.

In the Heteromorphout division the larva is totally
unlike the perfect insect, being generally more or less
vermiform, and, with the exception of the head, of a
leathery-like texture. Here belong the tribes of
beetles, butterflies, moths, bees, and most other four
and two-winged flies, as well as the flea. There are,
however, various modifications of form in respect to
the head and egs of the larvae of those insects, so that
it may, perhaps, be advisable to give a sketch of their
distribution, proceeding from the more fully to the
less perfectly developed species.

A. Larixs capitatcB, or those having a distinct head,

sub-divisible into

1. Hyperhefapodtz, or those having six legs, and

a variable number of membranous prolegs.
The larva; of butterflies (fig. 14, larva of
Camberwell beauty butterfly), moths and
saw-flies (fig. 13, larva of Cimbex lutea).

2. Hexapodae, or those having six scaly legs, but

being destitute of prolegs. The larva? of
many Coleoptera (fig. 15, larva of Trichius
noblis), and some Neuroptera.

3. Apodes, or those destitute of legs and prolegs.

Many Coleoptera, Hymenoptera (fig. 16,
larva of wild bee), gnats and tipulse (fig. 18,'
larva of Tipula), and the flea (fig. 17,
larva).

B. Larvce ecapitatte, or those without a distinct

scaly head, including the majority of dipterous
insects (fig. 19, larva of the flesh fly), some
few of which are furnished with membranous
tubercles serving as prolegs.

The head, in the generally of larvae, is covered
with a corneous case, often divided by an impressed
.ine running down the middle of the face, into two
G G G2

I N S

O*l/t

.tend lobes • its form is more or less rounded, but it
of ±±C; a triangular or heart-shape ; occas.on-
allv, as in the caterpillars of some butterfly, the two
lobes are terminated by spines or tubercles. . Ihcre
are other variations in the appendage. , by jAtch this
part of the body is distinguished. In the second sec

ion above described, the head is generally ret actile,
membranous, and variable in form, and destitute of
oyeT and antenna,, as well as of the ordinary par s of
the mouth, which appears only to . consist of £ pair oj
hooks, or bristles, which are incapable ot either cutting
or grinding; the insect employs them not on ,1 j 'to pierce
the soft matters, upon the juice ol which it feeds, but
also as claws whilst engaged in locomotion.

ECT.

structure of various organs of the mouth, which it may
be interesting to notice. Thus the jaws of the ant-
lion fly, and of the predaceous water beetles, are very
long, slender, curved, and sickle-shaped, having a
small longitudinal aperture near the extremity, which
communicates with an internal canal, through which
the juices of the prey of the insect pass. Another
remarkable peculiarity exists in the elongated elbowed
structure of the lower lip of the larvae of the lihdlit-
lldce (dragon-flies), which we have already described,
and which is employed like an arm furnished with
claws for seizing their prey. Again, in those larvie
which spin for themselves silken cocoons, in which
they undergo their transformations, the lower lip is
furnished at its extremity with a minute and slender
organ (fig. 21, »')» which Kirby and Spence have aptly
termed the spinneret (fusulus), composed of several
longitudinal slips alternately corneous and membra-
nous, whereby the insect has the means of contracting
the tube, which terminates in a single orifice, and
through which the insect emits its silken threads, which,
although elaborated in two distinct silk tubes, unite
previous to their emission from the orifice of the tube.
Some larvae, indeed, spin a silken thread for the for-
mation of cocoons from a distinct apparatus at the ex-
tremity of the body. (

The liead of larvae is generally provided with a pair
of short rudimental antenna^ eve.« ard organs of the
mouth.

The antennae (fig. 20, b) ai* placed near the base
of the mandibles ; they are for toe most part totally
unlike the antennae of the perfect insect, although in
the homomorphous section they are very similar in
this respect, although shorter, and composed of fewer
joints. These organs are, however, in general very
short, and composed of three or four joints ; and in
many groups they are entirely wanting in the larva
state.

The eyet of larvae are not, like those of the perfect
insect, formed of an innumerable series of hexagonal
lenses, but consist of a small number of simple gra-
nular tubercles, placed at the sides of the head, in
the same situation that the eyes of the future insect
are to be developed ; they are, therefore, more ana-
logous to the simple eyelets of many insects which we
shall subsequently describe under the name of ocelli ;
many larvae are, however, entirely destitute of them.
Their numbers, when present, seldom exceed six on
each side, which is the number possessed by the cater-
pillars of butterflies (fig. 20, a). The larvae of the
dragon flies have eyes somewhat resembling those of
theperfect insect.

The inouth of the majority of larvae consists, like
the mouth of the perfect insect, of an upper lip (fig.
20, c), a pair of horny jaws (fig. 20, d), a second or
lower pair of jaws of less firm consistence (fig. 21, e),
furnished with an articulated palpus (fig. 2 1,/), and
a lower lip (fig. 21, g), furnished also with a pair of
articulated palpi (fig. 21, h A). Here, however, we
nave to remark that the structure of the mouth of the
larva will, by no means, lead us to a correct idea of
the mouth of the imago ; thus the jaws of the cater-
pillars of butterflies are as robust, and not very unlike
those of the larvae of beetles : but the mouth of the
former consists of a slender spiral and tubular appa-
ratus for sucking up honey, whilst that of the latter
retains much of the general appearance of the mouth
of the larva. There are some peculiarities in the

22

We now pass to the description of the other
segments of the body of larvae, and the organs of mo-
tion, and other appendages with which they are
provided. Generally speaking, these segments, which
are typically twelve in number, are of a cylindrical and
elongated form ; but various modifications occur,
some larvae being flattened, others oval, some short
and thick, others having the segments very irregular,
warty, spinose, or hirsute. The three anterior seg-
ments are, however, ordinarily distinguished by
each having on its inferior surface a pair of short
scaly legs, composed of four or five joints, which are
analogous to those of which the legs of the perfect in-
sect are composed, and generally terminated by a
small claw (fig. 22). In many larvae, as we have in-
dicated in the table given above, these are the only
legs with which the insect is furnished, although it
rarely occurs that these are wanting, the organs of
motion being the merely rudimental prolegs. These
prolegs are thick, and of a membranous construction,
so that, unlike the true articulated legs which are ca-
pable of motion only at the articulations of the joints
these are completely flexible. These legs are exclu-
sively adapted to the insect whilst it remains in the
larva state, there being nothing at all analogous to
them on their arrival at the perfect state. These legs
are furnished at the extremity with a multitude of
minute bent hooks, which are employed by the larva
in retaining its situation, upon whatever substance it
may happen to be placed, with very great firmness
(fig. 23 and 24). These prolegs are very variable
both in their structure and situation, as also in their
number varying from two to eighteen. These

I N S

variations afford grounds for classifications of the
larvae, but which it would be tedious to detail without
entering more fully into minute particulars than our
space will allow. In like manner the various horns,
spines,and protuberances must be passed over in silence,
especially as we have already in our article CATER-
PILLAR, and upon various other occasions, noticed any
remarkable variations which may occur in those res-
pects. It remains, however, to be noticed, that the
terminal segment of the body is often very different
from the preceding in its form, and that its underside
in some hexapod larva is furnished with a retractile
tubercle, which the insect sometimes employs as a
seventh leg.

In addition to the organs above described, are to
be noticed the spirncles, or apertures by which the
larvae take in a supply of air. These spiracles are
not, as in the higher animals, situated in the head,
but are arranged in a series on each side of the body,
opening into two longitudinal tubular internal vessels
called trachea, from which an immense number of
ramifications diverge to every part of the body of the
insect. These spiracles are placed in the first, fourth,
and following segments (except the last), and consist
of a small elongated opening surrounded by a callous
margin (fig. 25 represents a spiracle open', and 26 a
closed spiracle). In aquatic larvae, however, a variation
in the organization of the animal necessarily takes
place, as it is not exposed to the ordinary action of the
air. We have seen already in our article DYTICID.E
and DRAGON-FLY, how this iseffectedin these insects;
but in other aquatic larvae, as in the EPHEMERAE, the
sides of the body are furnished with elongated flattened
plates, through which a slender air tube meanders,
and which communicates with the longitudinal air
tubes above-mentioned, (fig. 32.) Other variations
occur in the larvse of the gnats (Culicidec) and midges
(Ckironomus), which we have already described. But
the most curious variation which occurs in this respect,
is found in the very common larvae of the Hdopkieus
pendulus, which has been termed the rat-tailed grub,
from the peculiar formation of the extremity of the
body, which is very slender and elongated, enclosing
a second still more slender air tube, which is capable
of being protruded, so as to be pushed to twelve times
the entire length of the body. As the insect lives in
mud. this structure is eminently serviceable in enabling
it to obtain a due supply of air.

There are, however, some considerations resulting
from the variations in the form of the larva? of insects
which ought not to be passed over without notice, in-
asmuch as the subject is one of great interest, hitherto
but little cultivated, and one of much importance as
regards the classification of the annulose sub-kingdom.
We have already observed that the immature state of
insects typified the perfect forms of those particular
grades through which the winged type may be sup-
posed to have passed in its progress to maturity.
Without arriving at this theory as stated above, Mr.
MacLea>,in his Horae Entomologies, and Messrs.
Kirby and Spence, have given a series of analogies
exhibited by the larvae of insects with other annulose
groups; the former contending that it is only by the
assistance of such analogies that the real mode of dis-
tribution (by which every variation shall have its due
weight appropriated to it), and the consequent dis-
covery of the natural system, can be attained ; thus the
larva? of the cockchafer, and other lamellicorn
beetles, represent a full-grown lulus in its peculiar

E C T 837

I mode of rolling itself into a coil on one side ; and
the same analogy is exhibited by the larvce of the
sawflies. It would lead us too far to enter more at
length into these views which, however, it wou.u
have been improper to have entirely overlooked.

We have said that it is during ti.e ia-va state tha
the chief supply of nutriment is taken by the larva
It will be proper, therefore, that we should enter into
a few particulars relative to the voracity of insects at
this period of their existence, and which, in propor-
tion to their size, far exceeds that which is exhioited
by any of the larger animals. Thus Redi discovered
that the larva? of the flesh fly had become, in the
space of twenty-four hours, at least two hundred
times heavier than before. And the Count Daudolo
gives the following as the result of the most exact
calculations made from the observations of the culti-
vators of silk, who know the exact weight of thtf
leaves devoured by the caterpillars ; 1609^ pounds
weight of leaves being consumed by the progeny
raised from an ounce weight of eggs.

First age, 6 Ibs. of sorted leaves, 1 Jibs, refuse

Second age, 18 ,, 3 „

Third age, 60 „ 9 „

Fourth age, 180 „ 27 „

Fifth age, 1098 „ 1112 „

105 allowed for evaporation

1362

Deduct fur-
ther allow-
ance for lit- issi
ter, uneaten
leaves, &c.

I206ilbs. actually devoured.

But it is to be observed, however, that the stomachs
of these insects, like that of the horse (see HORSE),
does not possess the power of dissolving these leaves
in the most perfect manner, but only of extracting a
juice from them. Indeed this very circumstance is
assigned by John Hunter (Observations on the Ani-
mal Economy, page 221, quoted by Kirby and Spence)
as the probable proximate cause for the voracity of
herbivorous larvae. And hence, of the 1206^- pounds
of leaves actually devoured, 745 pounds are depo-
sited as excrement in an indigested state. Hence it
is evident that in comparison with the stomach of the
perfect insect, in which state but very little food is in
general taken, and in some cases the insect is even
totally destitute of a mouth, the stomach of the
caterpillar, and its apparatus for taking its food, must
be fully developed ; and this is found to be the case,
the stomach occupying a considerable portion of its
interior, and the organs of the mouth being very
robust. The caterpillar of the goat moth is three
years in arriving at its full size, when it is 72,000
times heavier than when newly hatched ; and a silk-
worm, weighing when first hatched 1-1 00th part of a
grain, consumes in thirty days about 60,000 times its
primitive weight.

These particulars may suffice for the voracious
powers of individual insects. It is when they have
been produced in considerable numbers together that
these powers are rendered more widely perceptible ;
and in fact become highly prejudicial, as we have al-
ready endeavoured to shew in the early part of this
ARTICLE. An instance or two may not, however, be
here out of place. Of these, the first we shall men-
tion is the salt-marsh caterpillar of North America,
of which an interesting account has been published

638

by Dr T W. Harris, in the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural Repository. This insect is the caterpillar of a
moth allied to our ermine spot moths, being the
Arctia acria of Fabricius. It is very hairy, somewhat
like the caterpillar of the garden tyger-moth, and is
endued with a great degree of vitality, for long im-
mersion in water does not destroy life. Being often
exposed to that element, they seem provided with the
power of enduring its approaches. They feed twice
in the day, about ten o'clock in the morning, and four
in the afternoon. If overtaken by the tide while
feeding, they mount to the top of the grass, and then,
if obliged to relinquish their hold, contracting them-
selves into a circular form, they commit themselves to
the water. By this means they are washed to the
borders of the marsh, where they are left by the wash
of the sea in heaps, but alive, and in a short time
ready to re-commence their depredations upon the
meadows. The hair upon their bodies seems to pos-
sess a ivpelling power, which secures the spiracles
from the admission or access of the water, for were
this to be the case, the insect would be drowned.
Their most favourite food is the onion grass, which is
very succulent ; but they are not fastidious, and eat
with avidity 'fox' and 'bottom grass,' and even
' thatch ' and ' sedge.' By the first of August these
caterpillars have attained their greatest size ; they
now become very voracious, and continue eating all
the day and night without intermission, by which
means the hay crops are greatly detrimented. Soon
they leave the meadows aggregated in great numbers,
and commence their wandering state, or ' begin to run,'
as is the phrase, devouring every thing in their pro-
gress. Corn-fields, gardens, and even the coarse and
rank produce of road sides, afford them temporary
nourishment, until they have found a place of security
against the tide and weather. Another moth, belong-
ing to the same group, of whose proceedings an
account was published in 1782, by Mr. W. Curtis,
under the name of the brown-tail moth, Porthesia
aurijlua, is occasionally not less numerous nor inju-
rious in our own country. In the year above men-
tioned, so vast were their numbers, that the trees
were despoiled of their foliage ; and it was feared that
they would extirpate the growing corn and grass, and
starve the cattle to death in the fields. They were
regarded as the harbingers of the plague, and prayers
were ordered to be read in all the churches, to avert
the supposed impending calamity. In France, also,
the same, or nearly-allied species has so fre-
quently appeared in such prodigious numbers, to the
defoliation of the forests, that the legislature have
promulgated several ordonnances for their destruction.
The colours of larvse are very variable ; indeed
it would be very difficult to lay down many general
rules respecting them. It may, however, be observed
that those species which are destitute of legs, and are
of a fleshy consistence, have the body generally of a
white, or dirty white colour. Many caterpillars also,
which greatly resemble each other, produce moths
totally unlike, whilst moths, which are so closely allied
that it is almost impossible specifically to distinguish
them (the shark moths, genus Cucullia, for mstance),
are different in their larvae, which are consequently
resorted to as affording a more certain specific cha-
racter. Caterpillars also vary in their colours during
their growth ; and Mr. Sheppard has observed, that
the skm of the caterpillar of the privet hawk moth
after being under ground four days, was changed

INSECT.

rom a vivid green to a dull red. A similar change

of colour also occurred in a caterpillar of the puss
moth (Centra vinula), which we endeavoured to pre-
serve. From what has been said, it will be easily
jonceived that the colour of the caterpillar affords no
criterion for judging of the colours of the future moth :
the most beautifully coloured larvae, as Reaumur ob-
serves (mem. 1. page 198), producing the dullest
coloured moths ; and vice versa. De Geer has, how-
ever, given two instances in which the moth preserves
the colours of the caterpillar ; these are the magpie
moth (Abraxas grossulariatce, figured in our article
ABRAXAS), and the green Pyralis prasina. Dr.
Harris, in his memoir upon the salt marsh caterpillar,
also notices that there are two varieties of the moth
corresponding with the caterpillars from which they
are produced ; from the dark caterpillar and brown
cocoon proceeds a moth with ash-coloured wings, and
from the lighter coloured larva and cocoon is disclosed
a moth whose upper, and also sometimes the lower,
wings are white, these colours not designating the
sex. De Geer also observed that the brown cater-
pillars of the yellow underwing moth ( Triphtcna pro-
nuba) produce males, and the green ones females.

Respecting the growth and size of larvae, it is to be
observed as a general rule, that they are longer and
heavier than the perfect insect. According to the
Count Dandolo, the following is a statement of the
progressive increase in the weight of silkworms.

Grains

A hundred worms just hatched weigh about 1
After the first moulting . . 15

After the second moulting . . 94

After the third moulting . . 400

After the fourth moulting . . . 1628

On attaining the largest size . . 9500

From what we have already advanced in our obser-
vations upon the principles of metamorphosis, it will
readily be conceived that with this rapid growth a
continued shedding of the skin must be required.
Hence we find caterpillars are subject to a greater or
less number of these changes of the skin. The great
garden tyger-moth (Arctia caja) undergoing as many
as ten such moultings, Arctia dominula nine, Arctia
villica from five to eight. The ordinary number,
however, appears to be three or four, although it
would seem that the grub of the bee, and many other
footless grubs, undergo no moulting, although both
Reaumur and Swammerdam assert that the contrary
is the case. We have already, in our observations
upon the general principles of the metamorphoses,
noticed the peculiarities which occur in the caterpillar
immediately previous to and during its moulting. We
may therefore add, in order to complete the subject,
that, quitting its former skin, the caterpillar appears
very languid, and its body is soft and easily injured ;
it speedily, however, resumes its strength, and has
increased so much in size that it appears extraordi-
nary how it could have been packed in its former
covering ; its wonted voracity returns, and it now
feeds with redoubled energy, as if to make up for the
time which it had lost.

In this manner, and for a certain period of time,
the growth of the insect is continued. The period
which is required for the arrival of the larva at its full
size is very variable. Perhaps the most general rule
is, that insects are annual in their generations ; either
being hatched in the spring from eggs deposited in
the preceding autumn, and becoming chrysalides in

INSECT.

839

the course of the summer, and arriving at the perfect
state in the autumn ; or else passing the winter in
the chrysalis state, and bursting forth as perfect insects
in the spring, and then depositing eggs, the progeny
of which will not require to undergo their change to
pupae until the autumn : the duration of the larva
state of these latter will therefore necessarily be longer
than in the former ; but there are exceptions to these
rules ; thus, in many species there are many genera-
tions in a year, as in the Aphides and the flesh-flies ;
whilst, on the other hand, some larvse, as those of the
goat-moth and cockchafer, require three years before
they attain their full growth, and the stag-beetle is
stated by Rosel to extend to six years.

Having at length attained its full size, the larva is
now to undergo a change more important than any to
which it has hitherto been subject.

III. — The Pupa. The change to which we
alluded at the close of our last section consists in
another shedding of the outer skin, when the insect
appears in a totally different form, during the period
of which it is destined to remain in inactivity and
liable to destruction, were it not for the admirable
instinct which is exhibited by the larva before its
change, in the construction of a case or cocoon
wherein it is safely lodged until its final assumption
of the perfect state. We have already, in our article
COCOON, given a general statement of the proceedings
of the cocoon-forming caterpillars. There are also
many larvae which, although the pupae are inactive
do not construct cocoons, but merely secrete them-
selves in some obscure situation, or bury themselves
under ground, where they hollow out a narro\v
cave for their repose. Others again, as detailed in
our article BUTTERFLY, suspend themselves in the
open air. Another class, as described in our article
DIPTERA, retain their larva skin within which thej
become pupae. This period of inactivity is not, how
ever, universal, since there are many insects which
retain their activity, and therefore need no cocoon
for their defence. This is the case with the grass
hopper, cockroach, Cimex, Cicada, and others.

The state to which the insect is now arrived i
technically termed the pupa ; and it is this terrr
which we must be compelled to make use of in speak
inar of the present state of insects, since there is n
English word applicable to pupa? in general. Th
terms Chrysalis and Aurclits having indeed been ap
plied to the pupae of Lepidoptera, and that of nymp
partially to other pupae.

The variations which exist in the pupse of the dil
ferent groups of insects are much more striking tha
those observable in the larvae ; hence it is not sur
prising that Fabricius and his followers employed th
name which characterises the pupa to designate th
general nature of the metamorphosis, a decided!
incorrect mode of proceeding ; since by this mean
the metamorphosis of an insect is said to be perfec
when the pupa state is perfect (that is, active, an
resembling the perfect insect, except in wantin
wings) ; whereas it must be evident that this kind o
metamorphosis must, as compared with other species
be the least perfect or complete ; and, on the othe
hand, the imperfect metamorphosis, or that havin
the most imperfect pupa, must for the same reason b
the most complete and perfect change which any
the insects undergo.

Linnseus first applied these and similar terms, an
most appropriately, to designate the variations, not o
tlie nature of the metamorphosis, but of the pupa.

hey were as follows : —

1. Pupa completa, active, with all the parts of the

perfect insect. Example, Aranea, Acarus,
Oniscus.

2. Pupa semicomplcta, active, resembling the parent,

but having only rudiments of wings. Example,
Gryllus, Cicada, Cimex, Libellula, Ephemera. .

3. Pupa incompleta, inactive, but with rudimental

wings and legs. Example, Apis, Formica,
Tipu/a.

4. Pupa obtecta, with the thorax and abdomen dis-

tinct, enclosed in a scaly covering, i. e., corti-
cata, and either naked or enclosed in a cocoon.
Example, Lepidoptera.

5. Pupa coarctata, enclosed within a globular or

oval case, formed of the skin of the larva.

Example, Musca, (Estrut.

Now the true winged insects necessarily suffer
only the four latter species of metamorphosis ; although
n those species of the semicomplete kind, which have
no wings in the perfect state, it may with equal pro-
priety be said that they belong to the first section in
which the pupa is complete; these, however, must be
regarded only as exceptions, belonging in reality to
the second and not to the first section. Latreille, to
whom entomology is so much indebted, distinguishes
three species of metamorphosis, to which, with a view
to obviate the difficulties arising from the Fabrician
mode of nomenclature, he has applied a different
series of names,calling the first Metamorphosis inchoate,
dimidiata, and perfccta. The first of these terms is
applied to wingless insects, such as the ScolopendrtE,
lull, &c.,and in which the variations of the larva and
pupa states are so indistinct that the terms cannot
with propriety be employed, the metamorphosis con-
sisting occasionally of an increase in the number of
liinbs and rings (figs. 27, 28, magnified ; and 29,

natural size, representing the growth of an lulus).
In the species undergoing the metamorphosis dimi-
diata, the differences are more observable ; the larva
(demi-larva, Latreille) is apterous, but the pupa
(demi-nymphe, Latreille) is furnished with the rudi-
ments of wings. This division, therefore, corresponds
with the section Pupa semicomplcta of Linnaeus, or
the Metanwrplwis semi-completa of Fabricius.

Fio- 30 Larva; 31, Pupa of the great green English grasshopper,
'see Article GRASSHOPPER, for figure of its Imago.

The Hemiptera, Orthoptera, and many Neuroptera,
undergo this kind of transformation ; but amongst
the latter there are some— and they are chiefly aquatic,
such as the dragon-flies and may-flies— which are fur-
nished with anal or lateral plates or gills for breathing

840

. N S E C T.

in the water ; these, therefore, require to be formed into
a distinct division, the preparatory states bearing1 in
fact less resemblance to the imago than those species
which are terrestrial in their larva and pupa states,
breathing' by spiracles, and greatly resembling the
imago. As it is evident, however, that the latter
undergo a less decided metamorphosis than the for-
mer, we must place the species which have the more
decided semi-complete pupa at the head ; indeed
Mr MacLeay has separated the others, and applied
to their changes the term metamorphosis sub-semi-
completa.

55

Figs. 32, Larva; 33, Pupa; 34, Imago of Ephemera vulgata.

The third or total metamorphosis (Met. perfecta of
Latreille) consequently consists of the Linnsean groups
having incomplete, obtected, and coarctate pupae.
These are to be regarded as separate divisions.
Amongst these pupae some resemble the perfect insect,
but contracted, and as it were destitute of life ; they
have limbs, it is true, which are separate from each
other, but these limbs, as well as the entire body, are
covered with a membranous skin. This covering
exists in the other pupae, but is of a firmer consistence,
imitating a kind of bark, and to which the term cor-
ticata maybe applied, and more completely enclosing
the limbs in one general covering. To this kind of
metamorphosis, which Latreille considers as compris-
ing the obtected and coarctate pupae, he has applied
the term pupa obvoluta, observing that the expres-
lon obtecta applies to both, and that that of coarctata

too vague; but surely the structure of the dipterous
coarctata pupa (i. e., an incomplete pupa enclosed in

f skin of the larva) is much more analogous to the

;ture of the true incomplete pupa (of which some

IP", as those of museum beetle, Anthrenus, are

actually enclosed within the skin of the larva) than it

the obtected pupa of lepidopterous insects ; in-

t appears quite evident that if the coarctate

:tion must be sunk at all, it must be in favour of
the incomplete, and not the obtected, section.

Kip,. M. Larva; 36 Pnp» obtecta , 37, Imago of a butterfly
v UtppmrcMm piimpMlug) .

Tlie existence and the number of legs of the larva,

the permanent or variable form of the head, the com-
parative structure of the organs of the mouth with
those of the imago, the number of the spiracles and
disposition of the tracheae, the moultings of the skin,
and the quiescent or active state of the pupa, are all
important considerations, upon which the distribution
of insects from the characters of their metamorphosis
may be effected.

Hence the Lepidoplera are distinguished by the
number of legs, scaly head, &c., of the caterpillar
(Eruca. Latreille), and the obtected, or, as Latreille
prefers calling it, the mummy-formed pupa (Chrysalis,
Latreille) ; the Diptera are distinguished by their
worm-like larvae (Vermilarva, Latreille), and their

Figs. 38, Larva; 39, Pupa coarctata; 40, Imago of Stra'iomy
chameleon.

more or less oviform pupa (Pupa, Latreille) ; the
Coleoptera, Hymenoptera, and some Diptera, by the
scaly head of the larva (Larva, Latreille), and the
disengaged limbs of the pupae (Nympha, Latreille) ;

Figs. 41, Larva; 42, Pupa incompleta ; 43, Imago of Chrysomela
populi.

and the Orthoptera, Hemiptera, &c., by the active
imago-like larva (Demi-larva, Latreille), auo active
pupa (Demi-nympha). Thus by an ingenious arrange-
ment we have the following distribution of metamor-
phosis : —

1. Metamorphosis inchoata, equivalent to the Lin-

naean section, having complete pupa.

2. M. dimidiata, semi-complete pupa.

A. Respiration in larva tracheal. Gryllus, &c.

(M. semi-complela, Fabricius).

B. Respiration in larva branchial. Ephera

(M. sub-semi-completa, MacLeay).

3. M. perfecta. Preparatory states, Semi-larva and

Semi-nympha, Latreille.

A. Pupa with detached limbs, P. incompleta.

Linnaeus. Preparatory states, Larva and
Nympha, Latreille. (Coleoptera, $c.)

B. Pupa mummy-shaped, P. obtecta, Liilnaeus.

Preparatory states, Eruca and Chrysalis,
Latreille. (Lepidoptera.)

C. Pupa concealed by an egg-shaped covering,

formed of the skin of the larva, P. coarctata,
Linnaeus. Preparatory states, Vermilarva
and Pupa, Latreille. (Diptera.)

INSECT.

841

Mr. Newman, in the Memoir already alluded to,
has given another and equally ingenious arrangement
of insects from their preparatory states ; the names of
his groups are, however, like those of Linnreus,
founded merely upon the nature of the pupa state ;
and therefore cannot be applied as characteristic of
th3 general metamorphosis. His arrangement is as
ollows : —

Amorpha, in which the penultimate state is pro-
vided neither with mouth nor organs of loco-
motion ; consequently it neither eats nor moves,
neither does it bear any resemblance to the per-
fect state.

1. Lepidoptcra. 2. Diptera.
Nccromorpha, in which the penultimate state is pro-
vided with mouth and organs of locomotion de-
tached from the body, but so enclosed in a case
that it can employ neither. The resemblance,
therefore, to the perfect insect is very consider-
able, excepting in total want of motion.

3. Hymenoptera. 4. Colcoptera.
Isomorpha, in which all the stages are active and
voracious, and of a similar form.

5. Orthoptera. 6. Hemiptera.
Anuomorpha, in which appear the amorphous, necro-
morphous, and isomorphous characters, together
with a typical and distinct character.

7. Neuroptera.

The Amorpka, although thus divided into the two
orders Lepidoptcra and Diptera, are said to be divisible
from the metamorphosis into two distinct sections,
separated by the fact of their possessing or not pos-
sessing, in the penultimate or quiescent state, the last
skin of the antepenultimate or previous state. Those
which retain such last cuticle are termed Amorpka
dermata, and those which do not retain such skin are
termed Amorpha adermata, an evident misnomer, since
if they do not retain this last mentioned skin, they
still are clothed in their own. But in the following
page we are informed that the Amorpha adermata actu-
ally " retain two distinct coverings, thus resembling
the Amorpha dermata." When, however, we look
more strictly at the character of the metamorphosis
of these groups, and observe the ill effect which its
employment has in reference to the natural distribu
tion of insects, we shall at once see that this distribu
tion, ingenious as it is (especially with reference t
the septenary classification of insects, maintained bj
its author), and indeed any distribution of insects from
the character of metamorphosis alone, evinces th
absolute necessity of recurring to other characters
Thus, whilst one division of the Amorpka comprise
the Diptera with true coarctate pupa, the other com
prises not only all Lepidopterous insects, but ata
many Diptcra, which must be more nearly allied t
the other Diptera than they are to the Lepidoptera
Moreover, even amongst the adermatous Dipten
many species exhibit a necromorphous rather than a
amorphous appearance ; when, however, we regar<
the real character of the coarctate pupa (which corre
spends with the Amorpha dermata}, we are at one
confirmed that the real character of the dipterou
pupa is necromorphous and not amorphous. The pup
of the bee is truly necromorphous ; its larva forms, o
else is by its parents or their assistants (neuters) en
closed in a cell, where it is safely guarded ; so that i
has only to cast off its skin and appear in its naked, de
fenceless, but yet defended state. But the flesh-fly i
differently situated. Its functions in nature are such

the least waste of time would be to their preju
ce. We have accordingly seen that in its first
roduction this is amply provided against, although
n what certainly appears to be an anomalous manner,
see our articles, BLUE-BOTTLE-FLY, and BLOW-FLY. )
3uring its growth as a larva it undergoes no moul-
mgs of the skin, which are attended in other insects
vith a certain loss of time, and on arriving at its full
>rowth the same character is still retained. The
kin is not cast, but, with the most admirable foresight
n the part of the Great Contriver of both great and
mall, becomes an envelope answering all the pur-
>oses of a silken cocoon or a waxen cell, and serves
or the defence of the defenceless inhabitant enclosed
'ithin, and which, when carefully examined, proves to
e a truly necromorphous pupa.

But there are other insects belonging to the
necromorphous section, which indisputably prove the
eal identity of these apparent differences, and shew
he necessity of looking at the subject in the most
areneral manner. Thus some coleopterous pupae
example the Slaphylinidai), and some hymenopterous
mpae (example, the Chalctdidai),K[G as truly mummy-
brrned as the lepidopterous pupa, whilst other
coleopterous pupae (example, Anthrenus, Attagenus)
do not quit the larva skin, and are, therefore, amor-
ahous. Again, some necromorphous pupae (example,
:he Trichoptera), although inactive during a great
part of their remaining in that state, become as active,
previous to assuming the perfect state, as any of the
isomorpha ; and lastly, if we carefully examine the
obtected pupa of a butterfly, we shall at once perceive
that the only character which separates it from the
necromorphous, or incomplete pupa of a beetle, is,
that its lirnbs are laid more compactly upon its breast,
each, however, being inclosed in its distinct sheath.

The preceding considerations appear sufficiently
to prove that the pupa state of insects is a distinct
state, and that instead of being regarded merely as
the matured state of the larva, it would be more
correct to regard it as the immature state of the
imago. This will be still more evident from a more
precise investigation of the form and structure of
pupae.

1 . Of those species which undergo the metamor-
phosis inchoata of Latreille, the pupae differ only from
the preceding state by an increased size, and occa-
sionly an increase in the number of segments. Crabs,
spiders, centipedes, lice, spring-tailed insects (Tky-
sanurce}, are subject to this kind of metamorphosis,
which is so slight that it is impossible to decide
whether one of these animals has arrived at its perfect
state or not ; and hence, as Fabricius observed in his
Philosophia Entomologica, it is probable that many
supposed species of spiders, &c., have been formed
out of the immature states of these animals.

But there are some insects belonging in reality
to the winged tribes, but forming an exception by
being destitute of wings in the perfect state ; such
are the bed bugs, many individuals of Vclia, Hy-
drometra and Germ, likewise numerous Phasmdas,
and other apterous Orthoptera and Hemiptera.

2. Of those species which undergo the metamor-
phosis dimidiata of Latreille, the pupa has been
most appropriately termed semi-complete by Lin-
naeus, we therefore cannot approve of the alteration
of this term to sub-incomplete, proposed by Bur-
meister : the pupa being intermediate between the
larva, iu which the body is completely apterous,

842 I N S

and the imago, in which it is furnished with full)'
developed wings : and being active like the larva
and provided with these organs, but so wrapt
up as to be easily enclosed within four short cases,
which arise in pairs from the back of the second and
third segments of the body. Here belong the
tribes of locusts, grasshoppers, mantes, cockroaches,
earwigs, bugs, and treehoppers, in all which the resem-
blance of the pupa to the imago ia very distinct.
Here, also, are generally arranged the dragon-flies,
and the may-flies (Ep/iemerte), but in these groups the
likeness of the pupa to the imago is less distinct,
the organs of respiration being quite different, as
above noticed, and the structure of the mouth being
totally dissimilar. These groups, accordingly, are
said by Mr. MacLeay to undergo a sub-semi-com-
plete metamorphosis. There is another peculiarity
connected with this species of metamorphosis,
which sufficiently proves that here we are inter-
mediate between the merely rudimental and the
perfect metamorphosis, and that the perfection of
the animal is not so dependent upon metamorphosis
as in the subsequent perfectly metamorphotic di-
vision. Thus there arc many species belonging to this
section, which remain throughout their life in a
state of imperfection ; of this, a common instance

Figs. 44, Apterous imago ; 45, Winged imago of Velia rivulorum.

occurs in the Hydrometridae, or water measurers.
These insects, which are to be observed skimming
along on the surface of the water, are generally
found destitute of the slightest rudiments of wings ; •
they, however, continue their kind, but occasionally I
certain individuals will be found in company with
them with the wings fully developed. Now it is
impossible to regard the former as pupae, because
they have no rudiments of wings ; neither can we
consider them as larvae, because they are as large
as the winged individuals, and are able to pro-
pagate. Accordingly they have been generally
regarded as distinct apterous species ; but a more
extended investigation of these groups of insects
will prove the specific identity of these imperfectly
developed, but still perfect * ( as regards their
powers of propagation) individuals with the winged
specimens. Thus, there are many species, which,
instead of being generally wingless, are furnished
with short rudimental wings, and which are never-
theless capable of reproduction ; hence, as well as
from the structure of the rudimental wings, it is
evident that they cannot be pups, and yet it occa-
sionally happens that in a few individuals the wings
are fully developed ; thus the specific identity is
not questioned, why then should it be in the former?

ie principle in either case being identical.

3. In those species which undergo the perfect
norphosis of Latreille. the pupa is incapable

ECT.

of eating and walking, and may be considered as a
most characteristic state of the insect's existence.
Here belong the tribes of Coleoptera, Hymenoptera,
TMchoptera, and many Neuroptera and Diptera,
having an incomplete pupa ; the Lepidoptera having
an obtected pupa, and the remainder of the Diptera
and Strepsiptera having a coarctate pupa. We have
already noticed the distinction of these kinds of
pupae ; but as they all (including the coarctate pupae
when examined without reference to the external
covering formed of the indurated skin of the larva)
resolve themselves into one general mode of con-
struction, that of being inactive, and having the limbs
folded more or less closely upon the breast, it wil(
be convenient to examine them in one general view
Here, then, we find the form of the future insect
much more visibly impressed upon the insect than
during its previous state ; the head, thorax, abdom-
inal segments, and the various limbs, are more or less
discernible. The external covering in this state is
variable in its consistence, according to the situation
in which the pupa state is undergone ; thus in those
species especially belonging to the coleopterous, hy-
menopterous, and dipterous orders, which are safely
protected from external injuries, the pupae are sort
and the envelope membranous ; but in the Lepidoptera,
and more especially those which are naked, the pupa
(chrysalis) is of a hard texture. We have already,
in our article CHRYSALIS, given some general obser-
vations which are applicable to the construction of
this state, and which it will be unnecessary to repeat.
A clear idea of the arrangement of the limbs in the
three principal divisions of incomplete, obtected, and
coarctate pupa, will be obtained from the following
figures, in which the same letters refer to the same
organs throughout : fig. 46 representing a coleopterous,

ww wpm

Fig. 46. Pupa of the great water-beetle (Hydrous piceus).

fig. 47 a lepidopterous, and fig. 48 a dipterous
pupa ; the latter stripped from the cocoon-like skin
of the larva. The letter H referring to the head,

«» ii

Fig. 47. Pupa of the tortoise-shell butterfly (Vanessa urticae).

T the thorax, A the abdomen, a a the antennae, e e the
eyes, m the mouth, p the palpi, w the upper wings,
w w the posterior wings, 1 1 1 1 the legs.

It must, however, be borne in mind, that in
these puptp the limbs have not yet acquired their

INSECT.

843

full size, and the abdomen is not yet reduced to
the size which it will possess in the imago state.

Fig. 48. Disengaged pupa of Stratiomys chamseleon.

Pupae are ordinarily of an elongated oval form,
the thickest part being towards the head ; the body
is generally smooth, but in some instances various
spines or hairs are to be observed upon various parts
of the body ; and others, especially the chrysalides
of butterflies, are angulated, as described in our
article CHRYSALIS. In some aquatic pupae, as
described in our article CHIRONOMUS and CULICID^E,
the back of the front part of the thorax is furnished
with exserted breathing organs. The structure of the
terminal segment of the buoy is also variable ; one of
the most remarkable variations, essentially serviceable
in effecting the suspension of suspended chrysalides
has been described in our article BUTTERFLY ; and
it may here be noticed that in those species of
Hymenaptera, which have the ovipositor long arid
exserted, it is generally curved upon the back of the
abdomen, although in some it is stretched out at

Fig. 49. Pupa of an Ichneumon and Callimome

length. In many of the woodrlvoring species of
Lejjidoptera, ( as, for instance, the Goatmoth ) the
abdominal segments of the pupa are furnished with
transverse ridges of minute hooks, which are service-
able to the insect, when about to assume the imago
state, in working its way to the orifice of its burrow,
the hooks, by the alternate contraction of the
abdominal rings, being employed as anchors in
preventing the insect from falling backwards.

Fig. 50. Lateral view of the pupa of the goat-moth, lettered
as Nos. 46, 47, and 48 : and T 1, T 2. and T 3,- being the three
thoracic segments ; XX, two of the rows of hooks.

There is a curious circumstance connected with
the development of the insect structure, especially
interesting as regards the pupa state of insects,
and it is one which has hitherto received but very
little attention. In the larva state the body is
composed of the ordinary and typical number of

segments, but in tne perfect state some of the seg-
ments are not to be found. The change, therefore,
must take place at the period ol the insect's assum-
ing the pupa state. Dr. Ratzeburg, indeed,
accounted for the loss of one of these segments, by
asserting that the head of the pup^a of the bee
corresponds with the head and first segment ot
the body of the larva ; but this, as we have already
said, is certainly inaccurate, as we hare proved by
direct observation, and as is further evidenced by
the leg-bearing structure of the first segment in
many larvae. The loss must therefore occur in the
abdominal segments ; but upon this branch of the
subject we require more direct investigations than
have yet been devoted to its elucidation. As re-
gards the segmental development of the earwig,
an elaborate paper has lately been read before the
Entomological Society, but it is not yet published.

Pupae, in general, are of a dirty white colour
when their situation is under ground, or in cases
artificially constructed by the larvae. Those, more
especially which lie naked under ground, are of
a dark bright brown, whilst those which are naked,
and exposed to the action of the light, are more
variable in their tints, some being gilded as in the
aurelise or chrysalides of butterflies.

The period passed by insects in the pupa state is
very variable, the variations extending from a few days
to as many years. Ordinarily, its extent is determined
by the circumstances to which we have alluded in our
observations upon the duration of the larva state;
that it is chiefly dependent upon the temperature
of the atmosphere. Providence has wisely ordained
that the development of the perfect insect shall not
take plaoe until the season when proper food for its
own sustenance is at hand, or a proper situation for
the deposition of its eggs is to be discovered. Hence
some insects are produced earlier, and others later,
in the season ; and in doubled brooded species, or
those of which there are two generations in a year
the early brood passes but a very short time in the
pupa state, whilst the later brood remains throughout
the winter as pupa?. Hence Reaumur was enabled
by experiments with chrysalides to abridge or extend
their lethargic state by the artificial heat or cold ; the
chrysalides of various lepidopterous insects, which
would not ordinarily be produced until spring, being
placed in a hot-house, and the butterflies being deve-
loped in the middle of the winter, the contrary effects
being produced when they were placed in an ice-
house. Hence it is evident that by the action of aii
increased temperature a certain evaporation of the
fluid matter, with which the newly-formed chrysalis
is filled, takes place ; but we can by no means agree
with Kirby and Spence, that " this necessary trans-
piration, other circumstances being alike, must take
place sooner in a small than in a large pupa ;" and,
consequently, " that small pupa3 continue in that
state a shorter time than those of larger size :"
indeed, we are disposed to question the correctness
of the latter assertion, and to say, on the other hand,
that the duration of the pupa state is totally indepen-
dent of size. We could adduce hundreds of ex-
amples in support of our assertion, but it will be
sufficient for our purpose to observe that the largest
lepidopterous insect, the great Death's-head moth,
requires, according to Harvarth, but one month at
the end of autumn, when the weather has been
comparatively cold, to undergo its pupa state. If

K44

evaporation were the sole operation to which the
f»upa was sulijoct, there would be sufficient grounds
for the theory of evaporation entertained by Swam-
ii, i1 nl. mi, Reaumur, Kirby, and Spence ; but such is
not the case, for Reaumur having enclosed a pupa in a
stopped glass tube, collected only several drops o
water, which were condensed against the sides of the
tube, the pupa having only lost one eighteenth part o
its original weight. rfence the development of
the organs of the enclosed animal, by absorption
and assimilation, constitute the great operation which
tne pupa has to undergo, and this must, of course, be
of equal duration, whether the insect be a large or a
small one, although it may be accelerated or pro-
longed according to the degree of temperature of the
atmosphere.

In our articles CHRYSALIS and ERIOG ASTER, we have
noticed some curious and inexplicable circumstances
relative to the retarding of the production of certain
individuals for one or more years, although placed
in precisely similar circumstances with others which
are evolved at the ordinary and stated time. The same
fact* have been observed respecting other moths.

We are now to notice the mode in which the
insect emerges from its pupa skin. Ordinarily this
is effected as heretofore, in consequence of the
increased size of some, at least, of the segments
of the body, especially those of the thorax ; and
it is now only necessary tor the insect to give to
its enclosed body various contortions, when the
skin slits generally down the back, and permits
the escape of the enclosed insect. In chrysalides,
the slit extends gradually down the sides of the wing
cases, and on each side of the leg cases, so
that the outer skin of the chrysalis may be said to be
split into four portions ; on its exclusion, the insect
is soft, weak, and covered with moisture. The elytra
and the wings, at first, are but of a small size ; their
form, however, soon changes, their thickness di-
minishes, and their ordinary size is acquired, the air
tubes distributed throughout the body, and especially
in the wing, performing the important office of infla-
tion, and chiefly assisting in effecting the change, so
that in a very short period the insect has arrived at
its full size, and acquired the utmost perfection of all
its organs.

Fig. 5 1 . Tortoise-shell butterfly just emerged from the c _u / -*i t.

The wings of lepidopterous insects, as they lie
within the pupa skin, exhibit all the future markings
cf the butterfly and moth, but of course of a re-
duced size. The wings themselves appear perfectly
flat, and it is difficult to conceive how these organs
expand to their full dimensions, all these markings
retaining their relative sizes. The difficulty is,
however, remedied on denuding the wings of their

ECT.

scales, when their surface is discovered to be entirely
formed of an innumerable series of minute wrinkles,
giving the wing an elasticity, by which we can
stretch them to nearly double their size, by moisten-
ing them with water. If we imagine the scales
to be placed upon the upper edge of each ridge,
and that they increase in size as the wings expand,
we shall be furnished with a further clue to the solu-
tion of this interesting question, as to the mode of
expansion of the wings of the Lepidoptera.

In the aquatic pupae, which produce aerial insects,
it is necessary for the pupa to quit the water previous
to putting on the perfect state ; thus the pupa of the
dragon fly creeps up the stems of some adjacent plant ;
and that of the gnat naif portruding its body above

Fig. 52. Gnat emerging from its aquatic pupa.

the surface of the water, the skin splits down the back
and the gnat, making use of its pupa case as a boat
radually draws itself out of its case, upon which it
sits until its wings are expanded. In pupee which
are enclosed in cocoons or other cases, different
modes of escape are required. How, for instance, can
a moth, whose beautiful wings and crested thorax indi-
cate no previous struggle, make its way through the
cocoon, often as solid as the hardest wood. This is
fleeted either by the peculiar construction of the
cocoon, or by the operation of some fluid emitted by
he insect on its arrival at the perfect state. In like
manner the pupae of flies and other coarctate diptera
brce off a case, at one end of the dried skin,
)y inflating the middle of the head into a large mem-
)ranous vesicle ; and the pupa? of the caddice flies,
which are inclosed in the case in which they resided
whilst larvae, make their way through the net work
covering which they had spun to defend its entrance.
But the most curious circumstance connected with
his subject, is the mode of extrication of the males
of the Gall insects (Coccus), the pupa3 of which are
strictly coractate, the imago making its escape
>ackwards from beneath the flattened skin of the
arva, its wings being turned backwards over the head.
The development of insects is very rarely attended
with those deviations from the ordinary rule, which
re sometimes met with in other tribes of animals. It
ias, however, been recorded in the Entomological
Magazine, No. 12, that a male and female emperor
moth (Salurnia pavonia minor) were produced from a
ingle larva of an extraordinary size. Kirby and
Spence also mention that, according to Kleesius, a
erman entomoligist, two specimens of Gastropacha
quercifolia (the pine lappet moth), were produced from
me pupa, which was large, being full two inches long
nd one thick. These circumstances are sufficiently
marvellous, but the most marvellous fact of all is that
affirmed by Mr. Dale, in the Magazine of Natural
History, Nos. 19 and 34, viz., that he "once had a

INSECT.

845

specimen of Bombyx menthastri, and six of Opkiun
v'uiula, hatched from the pupts of Bombyx vlmdiis,
which is certainly a curious fact" We presume from
this statement, which is, however, sufficiently desti-
tute of precision, that these various specimens were
produced from a single pupa of the puss moth. On
throwing oft' the pupa covering, the arrival at the per-
fect state is ordinarily completed ; hut a remarkable
exception to this occurs in the Ephemera;, of which
we have given an account in our article upon these
insects. We will, therefore, only add that this occur-
rence of a subsequent moulting in this group does not
seem to warrant the conclusion, that the preceding
state is not that of the pupa, nor to overthrow the
opinion that the pupa state ought not to be regarded
as a distinct one. We apprehend, indeed, that as
the Lepidnptera and the dragon flies are known to shed
'.. similar pellicle, its existence throughout the winged
insects ought, from analogy, to be presumed, until di-
rect observation proves the contrary.
We are now to examine

Section III. — The general structure of insects as es-
pecialh/ exhibited in their perfect state. Our atten-
tion must no\v be directed to the final and perfect
state of insects, and in the first place to their struc-
tural peculiarities. This branch of the subject will
naturally divide itself into two branches, first, the
anatomy ot the external parts of the body ; and
secondly, that of the internal organs.

1. External anatomy. — Insects being animals des-
titute of any interior skeleton, it is necessary that
their external covering should be much thickened,
and rendered sufficiently strong to giv« support to the
numerous muscles which are internally attached to it.
Hence in the majority of insects this covering is of a
scaly or horny consistence. It is, however, modified
by the nature of the habits of the individual. Thus
the Aphides, Hemerobius, Ephemera, and other short-
lived insects, have the skin very soft ; whilst those
which generally take up their abode beneath stones,
under the bark of trees, in water, &c., are more
strongly defended against accidents by the solidity ol
their envelope, than those which live upon flowers.
Those, also, which reside beneath the bark of trees
or under stones, have a flattened form, whilst those
which burrow into wood are cylindrical.

The body of insects consists of a series of rings
connected and articulating with each other, by the
assistance of muscular membranes, whereby the insect
is enabled to contract or lengthen, narrow or dilate, its
body, and so give to it all the necessary movements
We have said that the external integuments of in-
sects exhibited a horny appearance, nevertheless there
is no real analogy between the scaly covering of a
beetle, and horn, their chemical properties being quite
distinct ; to be convinced of which, it is sufficient to
apply them separately to the flame of a lamp ; anc
the same distinction is proved by placing them in a
solution of potash, of the temperature of boiling
water, in which the horn will be dissolved ; but the
covering of the beetle undergoes no change, except tha
of loss of colour. The base of the latter is found, b
chemical analysis, to consist of a peculiar substance
found only in the integument of annulose animals
which has been termed chitine, and which forms th
outer covering ; albumen also, an animal extract, t
small portion of carbonate of potash, phosphate o
lime, and phosphate of iron, and an oil variable in
colour according to the colours of the organs froir

which it is extracted, form parts of the insect integu-
ment, but chitine is by far the greatest portion of the
materials of which it is composed.

By Linnteus, the body of an insect was divided
nto four parts, the head, trunk, abdomen, and limb?.
The latter, however, more properly belong to the
econd of these divisions, of which they are appen-
ages ; and the term thorax is now generally applied
o designate the Linnaean trunk. Hence we have now
o treat upon the head, thorax, and abdomen. These
hree divisions, as respectively comprising the princi-
)al organs of sensation, locomotion and generation,
ippear to be completely in unison with nature, and
mve accordingly been universally adopted and em-
ployed. That persons ignorant of the comparative
anatomy of insects should have blundered in their
rivial descriptions of insects, and miscalled any of
hese parts, can be no argument against their correct-
ness ; neither can we at all comprehend the assertions
of a recent author, who would impose, in lieu of this
distribution, a useless (as it appears to us) series of
names for each individual segment, stating that " their
wings are either thoracical or abdominal appendages,
as an entomologist pleases,"* and that, therefore,
there are no such parts in an insect as a thorax or an
abdomen.

But in addition to these three primary divisions, the
jody of insects consists of a series of secondary divi-
sions, or rings, of which the head exhibits no distinct
trace ; the thorax, on the contrary, is always divisible
into three segments ; and the abdomen is, in general,
variable in the numbers of its segments from six to
nine, exclusive of the organs of generation. On com-
paring the different segments of a perfect insect,
various striking differences will be observed, depend-
ing principally upon the presence or absence of the
appendages, or organs, which these segments respec-
tively support, as well as upon the degree of their de-
velopment. Thus when one of these segments has
attained its greatest extent and complication, and the
appendages, which it supports, have reached theii
maximum, it is presumed that the segment itself is
composed of a certain number of distinct pieces, more
or less distinct, with which it is essential to possess an
acquaintance. To arrive at this result, it is evident
that we must examine one of the thoracic segments in

* Newman on the Osteology, or External Anatomy of Insects,
a series of letters commenced in the Entomological Magazine,
and containing a great deal of very valuable matter, but written
in a style quite perplexing to a learner whilst endeavouring: to
unravel many of the statements which it contains. Thus, when
the author asserts that the limits of the abdomen have been al-
ways ideal; that the abdomen may comprise either seven, eight,
nine, ten, or eleven of the thirteen segments of an insect's
body ; and that, consequently, the wings of a beetle are gene-
rally considered abdominal ; a tyro relying implicitly upon
such a statement, would conclude that the researches of all pre-
vious anatomists had been of the most unphilosophical kind.
Mr. Newman must, however, be well aware that there is not the
least shadow of a foundation for them to rest upon. Linnaeus
and his followers, it is true, restricted the name of thorax in the
beetles, to the first segment following the head, but did it thenre
follow that all the remaining segments must necessarily be ab-
dominal? This would, indeed, be the case, if Linnajus had divi-
ded the body of an insect into the head, thorui, and abdomen ;
but this is not the fact. He says, "corpus dividitur in caput,
truncuui, abdomen, artus ;" and he subsequently gives the
thorax as a compound part of the truncus, which he says is si-
tuated "inter caput et abdomen." Thus, by speaking of the
term thorax, when used in its Linn a;an. restricted sense, as
though it had "~>een used in its now most general sense for the
whole Linnseantrur.cus, the learner is left in doubt ; and all prece-
ding authors made to appear absolute fools, and yet the authoi
himself is enabled, by the researches of these very men, *o gain
credit for having introduced a most philosophic simplicity into
the science of insect anatomy, with the majority of his readers.

84H

INSECT

preference to the others, because they are most fully
developed, and most complicated in their structure.
The pieces composing one of these segments are di-
yided by M. Audouin, who devoted a great deal of
attention to this branch of the subject, into three dis-
tinct kinds, dorsal, lateral, and ventral. Mr. Mac
Leay, however, considers them only as dorsal and
Tentntl, uniting the lateral with the ventral. The
ventral portion consists of a simple piece, of which the
form is very varied ; this is named the sternum.
Attached internally to this piece, at its posterior mar-
gin, is another single piece, variable in its form, but
generally resembling the letter Y, and appearing ne-
cessary for the support and protection of the nervous
system. This piece, as being attached to the head,
thorax, or abdomen, is respectively termed the ento-
cephalus, entothorax, and entogaster. The lateral
pieces are more complicated, each being composed of
two pieces ; the one, anterior, articulating with the
sternum, and directed upwards, constituting the epi-
sternum, behind which the other is situated, and which
is in connexion with the base of the leg, and is called
the epimeron. The upper surface of the thoracic seg-
ment is also composed of a number of distinct pieces,
which are respectively named praescutum, scutum,
sen tell urn, and postscutellum, and which successively
follow each other. Such is supposed, theoretically,
to be the structure of each segment of the body of
the insect ; and the fixed number of parts thus disco-
vered, is supposed to exist in all annulose animals,
sometimes being distinct as when the segment has
reached its maximum of development, but still more
frequently more or less rudimental, or soldered to ad-
joining pieces, as required by the variation of deve-
lopment. Some pieces may even entirely disappear,
and the segment may appear to consist rather of a
single piece, or, on the contrary, of two or even a
greater number of segments united together. Modi-
fications of this kind are traceable not only in different
insects, and in the different segments of the same
insect, but even in any single determinate segment,
when examined in the various states of the same indi-
vidual. The comparative examination of these seg-
ments of the insect skeleton has singularly simplified
the anatomical study of these animals, placing it upon
a firm basis, and more rigorously compelling the pre-
cise determination of organs which had previously
been either entirely overlooked, or had only been
regarded without reference to the analogous forma-
tions of other insects ; and hence to any organ which
happened to be singularly developed, a name was
given without the least reference to the comparative
structure of other insects, or the same comparative
parts in the other segments of the same individual.

It would carry us too widely into the field of theo-
retical inquiry, were we to show that the head, and
various abdominal segments, were organised in a
manner strictly analogous to those of the thorax ;
neither could they be done effectually without a re-
ference to the typical structure of annulose animals in
general— a vast and difficult subject of investigation.
We will, therefore, now confine our attention to .

A — The head, or the seat of the organs of sensation.

The head, or first segment of the body, is united
to the anterior part of the thorax by a distinct ar-
ticulation, and may be considered as a kind of solid
corneous case or box, having an opening in the centre
of its anterior part, where the mouth is placed. It is
of a triangular or oval shape, with the narrowed part

advanced in front, the middle of the opposite side, or
base, being occasionally prolonged into a neck. But
there are numerous modifications of this form, and
the head is often buried as far as the eyes in the
prothoracic cavity. On minutely examining the skull,
it will be found that it consists of several regions.
These are, the epicranium or skull-cap, composing
the greater part of the head, of which it chiefly occu-
pies the upper and posterior part. This 5? bounded
in front by the clypeus (c), or shield of the mouth,
which generally lies above the parts of the mouth (m],
and the under side of the head is covered by the jugu-
lum, or throat. At the sides of the epicranium are
situated the large compound eyes («•), between which,
when present, the ocelli (o), or simple eyes, are
placed, and the antennae (a) are inserted nearer to
the mouth. But all these parts will require a more
precise examination.

Figs. 53, Head of Dyticus ; 54, d'tto Oxycheila; 55, ditto Helio-
cantharus ; 56, ditto Acanthothorax.

The head is generally of a corneous, or coriaceous
texture, although at times it is membranous or vesi-
culose ; and its form is modified from oval, or glo-
bose, to longitudinal, heart-shaped, compressed, cor-
nuted, rostrated, &c. The parts of the epicranium,
and its frontal part, the clypeus, have been variously
regarded and named by different authors. Thus
Kirby and Spence divide the upper surface of the
head into the nose (rhinanum), hind nose (postnasns),
forehead, crown, occiput, cheeks, and temples, and
the under surface into the lora and jugulum ; and it
is not to be denied that, in the numerous modifica-
tions which occur in the form of the heads of insects,
there are to be found portions developed to an ex-
tent, and to which, from their analogy with the parts
of the head of the higher animals, it may seem ser-
viceable to give analogous names ; but it is impossible
to limit the extent of these parts ; aud therefore a
general definition could only be applied to each ; as,
that the forehead is that part of the head which is
between the eyes, and when the head begins to
assume a flattened form ; and the cheeks those parts
which lie at the sides of the head between the eyes
and the mouth. In many insects the head is united
to the thorax by a membranous tube or neck, consist-
ing, as in the Diptera and Hymenoptera, in which the
motions of the head are very tree, of the attenuated
fore part of the thorax. In some beetles, however,
the term neck is applied to a.narrowed portion of the
skull, which forms a kind of rotule, playing in the
opening of the thorax.

The clypeus (c) of Fabricius, or the nose of Kirby
and Spence, or the epistomis of Latreille, is an im-
portant part of the head, as occasionally, from its de-
velopment, and the consequent want of development
of the true upper lip (labrum), it takes the functions
of the latter, and serves, as the name imports, and as
it was at first employed by Linnaeus in the lamelli-

INSECT

corn beetles, as a shield for the mouth. That there
are grounds for not strictly regarding it in every in-
sect as a mouth-shield, cannot be denied ; but it

847

Figs. 57, Head of Brentus ; 58, ditto Fulgora, 59, Apoderus;
60, Diopsis.

would be equally incorrect to reject it on that
account, as it would be to reject that of labrum, or
upper lip, because the latter organ occasionally is
quite unserviceable as a lip. Still less do we feel
inclined to regard it as a nose. Its form is very
variable according to the form of the head. Thus, in
an elongated head, it will be distinct and square, or
rounded ; and in those with a shorter head it is
transverse. In the rose beetle it has a deep frontal
notch ; in the sacred beetle it is ornamented with
several scalloped notches ; in the hornet it is sub-
quadrate ; in the grasshopper rounded ; and in the
rove beetle transverse.

The organs of sense affixed to the head are : —
Fixed — a The composite eyes.

b The ocelli, or single eyes.
Moveable — c The antennae.

d The trophi, or organs of the mouth.
In relation to the mutual dependence of these
organs upon each other, and upon the general cha-
racter of the insect, we are sure that we cannot do
our readers greater service than by quoting the fol-
lowing admirable passage, by Mr. Newman, from the
Entomological Magazine : — " Professor Rang has
prettily observed, that every instrument, whether it
be for the generation or transference of power, has a
best size and a best form. Nature, in the formation
of her instruments, has always adopted that best size
and best form. If her creatures wanted but to see, a
globular eye floating in space might perhaps be the
uniform character of the animal world ; if to see and
to eat, an eye and a mouth would be given ; if to
move swiftly in the air were desirable, wings must be
supplied ; if on earth, legs must be added ; if in the
water, fins. To carry all these organs, and to contain
muscle to guide and govern them, a body must be
added. Each part of the body will be of the best
size and best form for the functions it has to perform.
We have seen that insects in their larva state have a
very uniform allowance of muscle to each segment.
In the imago the charge of supporting the whole body
in the air is entrusted sometimes to a single segment;
and, in order to supply sufficient strength for the
purpose, nature robs the neighbouring segments of
their muscle, and gives it the one which needs it.
In the head, the mouth-feelers and eyes operate in the
same manner one on another. Observe the dragon-
fly, the emperor of his tribe ; his wings rustle as he
hovers stationary and hawk-like in the air ; his appetite
is insatiable ; his food the active occupants of his own
element ; it is given to him in charge to set bounds
to the increase of the insect race ; he beholds his
prey afar off; he darts on it like the rapidity of a

lightning flash ; to devour it ere life is departed is
the work of an instant ; he sails round and round ;
he soars up and down ; when the sky is serene, he
seeks his prey, like the swallows, almost beyond the
reach of human sight. What organs does such an
animal require ? Are they not these, eyes, mouth,
and wings? How has nature provided for his wants?
Regard his head — below, it is all mouth ; above, it is
one continuous eye. Contemplate his wings— their
character is strength and lightness, power and acti-
vity. His body is slender and graceful ; like a rud-
der, it serves as an instrument wherewith to shape his
course. Porrected feelers, whether cranial, lateral,
or maxillary, would be comparatively useless to an
animal whose dependence for support is on the keen-
ness of its vision and the velocity of its flight. We
find them but little prominent ; his every organ of the
required size. The same law obtains as certainly
and unvaryingly in form. There is truly a best form
and a best size, and Nature always provides both."

a. The composite eyes. — The eyes of insects, unlike
those of the higher animals, are immovable, horny,
and unprotected by any eyelid, of a large size, and
placed at the sides of the head, sometimes entirely
occupying the sides, and sometimes being so exten-
sive that scarcely any other part of the head is left
perceivable ; moreover, it is a curious circumstance,
that the eyes are sometimes clothed on the outer
surface with fine bristles. These organs are gene-
rally hemispheric, and of a circular, oval, or kidney-
shaped form ; and when more closely examined, they

6Z

Figs. 61, Head and eyes of the bee ; 62, Part of the facetted por-
tion showing the hairs between the facets.

are found to consist of a very great number of minute
hexagonal lenses, giving the eye a reticulated appear-
ance. Each of these lenses operates as a distinct
organ of vision, and hence the number of the eyes
may be said to correspond with the exact number of
these hexagonal facets ; various calculations have
been made as to the number of these organs. Muller
has given a list of their number as derived from the
observations of Swammerdam, Leuwenhoeck, Andre,
Baster, Reaumur, Lyonnet, Goetze, Puget, and

Schelver.

Lenses.

In the ant there are ... 50
In the convolvulus sphinx . . . 1300
In the common house fly . . 4000
In the silk-worm moth . . . 6236
In the goat-moth . . . .11300
In tho dragon-fly . . . 12544

In a butterfly .... 17356

In a mordella 25088

And, according to a calculation cited by Geoffrey,
there must be not less than 34,650 of such facets in
the eye of a butterfly. WThen one of the eyes is de-

848

1 NS

inched from the head and cleaned, the lenses are
found to be as clear as crystal. Reaumur fitted one
of them thus removed to a lens and found that he
was able to see through it distinctly, the object being,
however, greatly magnified. Ordinarily the eyes are
entire, but sometimes the antennae are inserted so
close to their inner margin that the eyes are thrown
out of their ordinary form, and more or less surround
the base of the antennae. Sometimes even the eye is
thus completely divided into two parts by the antenna;
being inserted in the middle. The same thing occurs
in both respects, when the lateral margins of the head
become acute, in which case they enter the anterior
limb of the eye, and either partially, as in Dorcus, or
entirely, divide it in two parts ; thus forming an upper
and an under eye : hence these insects may be said
to have four composite eyes, which in fact appears to
be the case in the whirl wig-beetles (Gyriniu), and in
the males of some May-flies (Ephemera).

Fig*. 63, Head of Coptocephalos ; 64, ditto of Tetraopes; 65,
ditto of Dorcas ; 66, ditto of Ephemera biomlata.

Ordinarily the eyes are sessile, that is, attacned by
by their entire breadth to the head ; but in some
instances they are placed at the extremity of foot-
stalks formed of a continuation of the corneous
covering of the head, and consequently incapable of
separate motion. This is especially the case in the
dipterous genera, Achias, Diapsis (fig. 60), Plagioce-
phala, and others, in some of which the footstalks are
nearly as long as the entire body ; the same occurs
in some species of strepsipterous insects, as well as in
some exotic bugs (Heteroptera). Again, the eyes of
insects are generally either almost flat, or but very little
elevated above the surface of the head (fig. 53) ; but
in many cases they are almost globose and very pro-
minent (fig. 54), a peculiarity respecting which, and
connected with their habits, has been noticed by the
late celebrated Swedish entomologist Dalman, who
observes that the very prominent eyes of insects
generally indicate their habitation to be either in
sandy situations or upon the margins of water ; this
is exemplified in the coleopterous genera, Cicindela,
E/aphrus, Omophron, and Sterna, and in the hemi-
pterous genera, Salda and Alydtis. Moreover, insects
with prominent eyes seem to be especially rapacious
in their habits, as in the genera above mentioned,
Lit>i/Jn/ti, Hemerobius, &c.

In many dipterous insects a remarkable diversity
exists in the size of the eves in the two sexes, those
of the males being very large, and united upon the
crown of the head, whereas those of the females are
much smaller, leaving a space between them upon
the top of the head (figs. 67 and 68). The same also
occurs in the male hive-bee.

In some insects, however, the eye appears to be
completely wanting ; this is asserted to be the case in
the remarkable parasitic insect, thence named Braubi
txrca, m the eenus of beetles, Climdium, Kirby ; and

ECT.

in the ants forming the genus Ponera. In like man-
ner we have been unable to observe the least trace ot
eggs in more than one exotic species of ant ; and in
some of the Centipedes the same is stated to be the
case.

Figs. 67, Head of male ; 68, ditto of female Syrphus.

b. The Ocelli or Simple eyes (o in the figures).
These organs (sometimes also named Stemmata) are

minute nearly globular lenses placed upon the crown
of the head or the forshead, between the upper region
of the eyes. Unlike .ie composite eyes, they are
often entirely wanting, and are never present in the
image unless as accompaniments to the latter. In
their organisation they appear to be similar to the lateral
point-like eyes of caterpillars or the eyes of spiders. In
general they are three in number, placed in a tri-
angle, or more rarely almost in a line. Occasionally,
however, there are but a pair of these ocelli, as in
many lepidopterous insects, where they are present,
although concealed by hairs, in the mole-cricket, in
many bugs and smaller frog-hoppers (Cercopidfs) ; in
some of the sand-wasps (Larra, &c.) the hinder pair
are almost obsolete ; and in some of the coleopterous
insects, belonging to the family Denncstidce, there
appears to be but a single ocellus. They appear in
the ants to be connected with the development ot
the sexual character, since the neuters i j entirely
destitute of them. They are also entirely wanting to
the great mass of Coleoptera (having been only noticed
in a few small Brachelytra, Paussus cruciatus, and
some of the Dermestidte), in many bugs and water-
bugs, and also in many neuropterous insects. That
these ocelli are in fact supplemental eyes, appears
evident from the experiments of Swammerdam and
Reaumur ; the latter of whom varnished the back of
the head, covering the ocelli, in more than twenty
bees, which he then set at liberty three or four paces
from the hive, but riot one of them knew where to
find it again, nor appeared to search for it. They
flew at random to the adjacent plants, but never to a
distance ; and though they seemed to have no diffi-
culty in flying, he never saw them rise in the air as
those did whose facetted eyes he had varnished over.
The internal anatomical structure of the ocelli also
proves that they are distinctly organs of vision.

c. The Antennae (a in the figures).

We are now to turn our attention to a pair of
organs perhaps the most characteristic of the insect
tribes. These are two articulated appendages of a
most variable character, affixed at the sides of the
head, and generally between the eyes and the mouth.
Although occasionally wanting, and generally rudi-
mental in the preparatory states, these organs are
never absent in the imago state. We shall have occa-
sion subsequently to enter into the question of the use
of these organs, which have been the subject ot much
dispute amongst naturalists. It will be sufficient here

INSECT.

849

to notice that (hey are exceedingly sensitive, and are (
evidently of the highest degree of service to the
insect. From their great diversity of structure they
are employed by entomologists as affording the most
satisfactory characters to distinguish the various
genera, \-c. It is therefore essential that we should
enter more into detail respecting their peculiarities.
W,; will therefore describe them according to their
various distinctions, and, first, of their situation.

Antennae are inserted into the head, and connected
therewith by means of a ball and socket-like articu-
lation, arising generally in the face between or beneath
the eyes; sometimes also, us already described in
treating of the eyes, they arise within a notch on the
inside of these organs, which are sometimes thereby
entirely divided into two parts. They are likewise,
as regards their connexion with each other, contiguous
or inserted close together, so as almost to touch each
other, or distant when far apart; sometimes they
arise from a produced part of the head, serving either
solely as a peduncle for their support as in the dip-
terous genus, Ceria ; or as an elongated rostrum as in
the weewils (fig. 06), at the extremity of which the
mouth is placed, the antennae being inserted at its
sides ; or as a footstalk for the eyes as in Diopsis
(fig. 60), in which the antennae are placed close to the
eyes ; whereas in Achias they are frontal, and the
eyes pedunculated.

As to their composition, they are formed of a
variable number of small and generally cylindrical
pieces, externally covered with a horny or leathery
integument, according to the general consistence of
the body of the insect ; and internally softer or vesi-
culose, having an internal cavity extending through-
out the whole length of the organ, inclosing nerves
for sensation and muscles for motion ; thus forming
a series of tubes connected by a membrane, and at-
tached end to end, varying often as as to their
respective forms, and having generally but a common
motion. As to their form, antennae may be regarded
as equal or unequal , according to the equality or in-
equality in the length of the respective joints : they
may also be regular or irregular, accordingly exhibit-
ing a uniform appearance, or having the various
joints irregularly constructed. Definitions of a
few of the more important modifications of form
will be serviceable to the beginner, who would other-
wise have to contend against a series of technical
names which would be unintelligible to him, unless ac-
quainted with the Latin language, from which they
are generally derived.

Variously formed Antennae.

Filiform, when the antennae are of equal thickness
throughout their whole length, like a thread
(fig. 69).

Setaceous, when they insensibly diminish in thick-
ness to the tip (fig. 70).

Monti/form, when they are formed of globular joints
resembling a. necklace of pearls (fig. 71).

NAT. HIST. — Vor.. 11.

Cylindrical, when they are of equal thickness

throughout, with the joints scarcely discernible.
Prismatic, when they resemble a prism, or are

formed of three sides (fig. 72).
Entiform, angulated at the sides, large at the base,

but gradually terminating in a point, like a sword

(fig. 73).

Subulated, short and pointed at the tip.
Fusiform, narrowed at the two extremities and

thickened in the centre, like a spindle.
Aristate, when the antennae are terminated by a

fine bristle (fig. 74).
Dentate, when the joints are armed with short

spines (fig. 77).
Seirate, when the joints are triangular, one of the

angles being internally produced, like a saw

(fig. 76).
Pectinated, when the joints are furnished with a

long and slender tooth, general!}' arising from

the base or extremity of each, thus resembling a

comb (fig. 78).
Bipectinated, when each joint produces two long

teeth, or filaments.
Flabellated, when the branches are very long and

flattened like the rays of a fan (fig. 78 beneath).
Ramose, when several of the joints throw out

branches (fig. 79).
Furcate, when the antennas are divided into two

branches like a fork (fig. 80).
Geniculated, when they are bent at an angle, gene-
rally at the extremity of the long basal joint, like

an elbow (fig. 81).
Clavate, when they gradually thicken to the tip

like a club (fig. 82).
Capitate, when they are terminated by a knob-like

mass or head.

Perfoliate, when the terminal joints of the club are

not closely applied to each other.
Lamelliform, when they are terminated by a club

greatly produced on one side, the joints of which

form plates applied against each other (fig. 83).
Fissile, when they are terminated by a cleft

knob.

Plumose, when they resemble a feather (fig. 84).
Auricidate, when one of the basal joints is dilated

into a shield or ear partially covering the rest

(fig. 85).
Palmated, when the antennae are short, and divided

by deep incisions.
Nodose, when they are thickened in various parts,

like knots.
Verticillate,\v\\en whorls of hair are placed at equal

distances upon the joints (fig. 86).
Fasciculate, when abundle of hairs is placed on one

side of each joint.
Scnpiferous, when a single or very thick bundle of

hair is placed upon one of the joints.
H H H

850

INSECT.

As to their size, antennae are exceedingly variable,
as they are also in their length, being some-
times shorter than the head, and at others several
times longer than the entire body ; in many instances
they are as slender as a hair, and at other times
nearly as thick as the body. As to their direction,
they are generally porrected in front of the head ;
others throw them over the back ; in some they are
stiff, in others flexible ; they are straight, deflexed, or
spiral, and are often, when at rest, lodged in par-
ticular cavities prepared for their reception on the
under side of the head or thorax.

The number of joints of which these organs are
composed, merits a few observations. Coleopterous
insects have in general eleven joints ; the Heteroptera
from four to six ; the stinging Hymenoptera twelve in
the females and thirteen in the males ; but in the
Lep'uloptera, Iclmeumonidte, Orthoptera, and many
others, the number of the joints is much more con-
siderable, sometimes reaching fifty or sixty ; and in
some Orthoptera the number is much more numerous.

In a few insects the antennas are very short and
destitute of joints, as in the Hippoboacidce, and in
Dulmann's genus Articerus; 21i-articjifate(tv;o-jo'mted)
antennae are found in Paussus, Inarticulate antennae
in many Dlptera. The large sawflies (Cimbiccs)
vary in the number of their joints from five to eight.

It still remains to be noticed, that a very great
diversity often exists in the structure of the antenna;
in the opposite sexes of the same species ; this is
especially noticed in the greatly increased length of
these organs in the males, and in the various hairs,
feathers, or branches with which they are adorned
in this sex. Numerous other variations occur, such
as the incrassation of certain of the joints, or their
greater development, to enumerate which would
occupy too great a space ; but in all which these
advantages are always in favour of the male ssx.

d. The Mouth*.— (M in the figures).

If the structure of the antennae has required a con-
siderable portion of our attention, a still greater share
must be now devoted to the various and varia-
ble organs of which the mouth of insects is composed
since it is upon these variations that the most valuable
arrangements of insects hitherto proposed have in a
great measure, been established. If a beetle and a but-
terfly a house-fly, or a bug, be examined whilst feeding-
a totally different apparatus will be found in each
although perfectly adapted for the mode of feeding
1 he beetle is employed in gnawing and teariiwr
in pieces hard or fleshy substances : its instru-
ments of manducaUon are therefore horny and robust
I he butterfly, on the contrary, has to suck its
food at the bottom of the tubes of flowers, and here
in the glowing beams of the sun it revels in its ex
istence, and sips the most delicious nectar It is
necessary for this p that u should

With a long and slender instrument; but, from the

'

i II *~mo> it is castJilliai

e, that so soon as the insect has ceased fc
&e«^

d to rest between a pair of hairy appendages

i,,s*mtThIensibmee^rUSin&p8«1 ^resenti"? the mouth of
/ I, is the "PP^-r li,/, labrumtm mandfblemm ^^ throuKhout;

which will defend it from injury If we observe a
common fly sipping up a drop of spilt wine, or revel-
ling upon a morsel of sugar, it will be found that its
mouth is totally unlike either of the former, it is short,
thick, and fleshy, and acts as a sucker, the nutriment
ascending through the canal which runs upwards into
the throat. The disgusting bug, and all its brethren,
have a mouth still differently constructed, being a
long and slender-jointed canal of a fleshy or leathery
substance, but furnished internally with several slen-
der bristles, which the insect employs as lancets to
wound its prey. In the flea again the structure is
quite different.

Fig. 87 Antlia of Lepidoptera (Sphinx).

These insects may be cited as affording examples
of the chief variations which occur in the general
structure of the mouth, and to each of which, as a
variation of the mouth, a name has been applied.
Thus the mouth of the butterfly and other lepidop-
terous insects (fig. 87), is termed by Kirby and Spence
antlia ; by Fabricius lingua (an evidently exception-
able term, being only strictly applicable to a single
organ of the mouth) ; and by Latreille, spirignatha.
The mouth of the fly (fig. 88), is termed by Kirby and

Proboscis of Diptera (Tabanus).

Spence, Linnaeus, and Fabricius, proboscis. The mouth
of the bugs (fig. 89) is denominated by Kirby and
Spence, a pronmscus; but by Fabricius, Olivier, and
Latreille, rostrum, a term more properly applicable
to those insects which have the head produced in front
into a beak or snout, as the weevils or scorpion-tailed fly
(Panorpa), but which latter Latreille, for distinction,
terms proboscirostrum. The mouth of the flea is termed
a rostrulum, by Kirby and Spence ; and rostellum, by
Latreille, the latter name having been proposed by
Kirby and Spence for the suctorial organs of the
louse tribe (Pediculidai), but which Latreille terms
siphunculus. Moreover, the mouth of the bee, which
is chiefly organised upon the same plan as the biting
mouth of the beetle, but has its parts elongated so as
to lap up up the honey of flowers, is termed by La-
treille a Promuscus (although that term had been
given by Kirby and Spence to the mouth of the bug
tribes).

Throughout this great variation of structure, how-
ever, the strictest uniformity is maintained, the same

INSECT.

851

number of parts existing in all, although occasionally
rudimental or modified in various degrees, so as V

Promuscis of Hemiptera (Pentatoma).
correspond with the functions which they have to
support. As, however, these modifications of struc-
ture are permanent throughout entire groups, serving,
in fact, for the establishment of orders, according to
some authors, it would surely be absurd to deny the
propriety of assigning to each variation a distinct
and fixed name.

The mouth of the hexapod winged insects being
thus composed of a certain number of parts, may
much more easily be referred to one general type ot
form, than the mouths of the other annulose animals,
some of which have a much more complicated organi-
sation of the mouth than is to be found in insects ;
thus in the crabs we find not less than five pairs ot
jaws, whereas there are but two pairs of these organs
in insects.

The parts of which the mouths of all insects is
composed, may be reduced to six; namely, four
lateral pieces disposed in pairs, and two other organs
opposed to each other, but in an opposite direction,
and which meet each other, so as to close the mouth

The different parts of the mouth of a beetle (Blaps). 1 1, upper
lip ; m, mandibles ; m x, maxillae ; m p, maxillary palpi ; e 2, chin
or mentumj I 2, labium ; I p, labial palpi.

from above and below ; the upper one being placed
above the upper pair of lateral organs, and the lower
one below the under pair of lateral organs.

As regards the mode of taking their food, insects
have been divided by many authors into two groups ;
namely, those in which the mouth is furnished with
mandibles fit for biting, and those in which the mouth

is suctorial. All the various modifications of form to
which we have above alluded may be referred to one
or the other of these sections ; and it is upon this cha-
racter that the leading division of insects into Man-
dibulata and Haustcllata has been adopted by various
authors ; although, since in one period of an insect's
life its mouth is fitted for biting, and in another for
sucking honey (as in butterflies), it may perhaps be
alleged that too great a weight has been assigned to
the structure of the mouth. The jaws ot biting
insects have a horizontal motion ; the mandibulated
insects must, of course, be characterised by the hori-
zontal motion of their jaws, and not as might, per-
haps, from the names of the two groups, be supposed,
upon the presence of mandibles in the Mandibulata,
or their absence in the Hamtellata ; because, as we
have already said, the mandibles or their represent-
atives are to be found in all insects. It would, indeed,
perhaps be advisable to propose other terms in lieu
of these, but as they are generally understood, we
shall continue to speak of the mandibulated and
haustellated insects, when we would distinguish them
by the biting or sucking mode in which they take
their food.

Moreover, instead of treating of these two groups
separately, as has been generally done, it will perhaps
be more advantageous, as enabling us more readily to
show the modifications, which each organ undergoes,
to take the various organs seriatim — prefacing their
description by the following general observations.

In biting insects, or those which feed upon solid
matters, the four lateral pieces perform the office of
jaws, and move in a horizontal direction, the two
other pieces being regarded as lips ; the upper jaws
are more particularly denominated mandibles ; and
the lower jaws are named maxill<E, and, in general,
each of the latter is furnished with a slender jointed
appendage termed a palpus, which is never found
attached to the mandibles of winged insects ; in some
annulose insects the mandibles are, however, also
palpigerous. The maxillae are generally terminated
by two lobes, the outer one being very variable in
form. The upper lip is termed the labrum, and the
lower lip labium; but the latter is a much more
omplicated instrument than the former, and is fur-
nished, like the maxillce, with two short articulated
3alpi.

In the sucking insects, the nutriment being essen-
:ially fluid, the necessity for biting jaws is obviated.
They are therefore either obsolete or they assume
the form of lancets, arid as such have a motion quite
different from that of the jaws of biting insects. The
mouth of these insects exhibits two distinct modifica-
:ions of form. In the first, the four lateral pieces, or
he mandibles and maxillae, are converted into slen-
der, setiform, or lancet-like pieces, forming a kind of
sucker, which is received into a membranous conical
or cylindrical and articulated gutter, as in the bugs ;
or are lodged within a thick, elbowed, and fleshy
heath, as in the flies. In the second modification, the
upper lip and the mandibles are either obsolete or but
lery minute : the lower lip is no longer a distinct and
oose organ, but is attached to the head, and is distin-
guished only by a pair of large palpi ; the maxillae, on
he contrary, are greatly elongated, but very much
attenuated, being transformed into two tubular threads,
.vhich, uniting at the edges, form a kind of sucker,
j-enerally rolled up in a spiral direction, and furnished
t the base with two minute palpi. We will now
H H H2

852

INSECT.

take the organs of the month seriatim, according to
their position, commencing with that which lies
uppermost, or,

The Labrum or upper lip (I I in the figures). — This
organ is, in biting insects, a horny or leathery flattened
plate of variable form, attached, by an articulation, to
the clypeus, and serving as an upper covering to the

92
» i

Tig*. 91, Labrum of Mexacrphnlrt • g1?, ditto of Aploa ; 93, Perl-
liun/iux ,• 94, Bancitus.

rest of the mouth ; unlike the lower lip, this organ is
never furnished with palpi. In many insects, however,
it is quite membranous, and is in such cases completely
concealed by the clypeus, with which, indeed, it was
sometimes confounded by Fabricius, who also gave
to it the name of that part. It is generally fringed
with hairs. In some few Humenoptera it is furnished
with a slender appendage, to which indeed Illiger
applied the name ^labrum. In the Hemiptera the
uper lip is in the form of an elongate triangle, which
falls upon the base of the canal of the lower lip. In
the Lcpidoptcra it is so minute as not to be discerni-
ble without great care, appearing as a small triangular
piece extending downwards towards the base of the
labial palpi. In the Diptera it is either obsolete, or
exists in the shape of a corneous slender guiter, hol-
lowed beneath, and receiving the other slender lancet-
like organs.

The Mandibles, or upper jaws (w in the figures). —
These organs, in the generality of biting insects, are
the chief instruments by which the food is bitten into

they are commonly furnished. In some of the lamel-
licorn beetles, the internal base of these organs is
dilated into a broad ami flattened square plate, having
numerous transverse ridges, serving for the purpose
of bruising the leaves upon which these insects feed
(fig. 97). In some beetles also, which subsist upon the
juices of flowers, or upon the flowing sap of wounded
trees, &c., the jaws are of a membranous structure, and
quite unfitted for mastication. In the Hymcnoptera
also.the jaws, although of the ordinary form, cannot, in
many cases, be regarded as masticating organs, but
appear solely to be employed either in the construe-
; tion or the provisioning of the nest. In the Lepido-
I ptcm fchey are very minute, membranous, and trian-
; gular, and placed on each side of the labrum. In
i the Hemiptera they are very long, slender, and em-
ployed in conjunction with the maxillaB as lancets.
I They have also the same character in the Diptera ;
i but here they are often entirely wanting. They are,
I however, particularly distinct in the gnats and gadflies
(Tabanidce) fig. 88, m.

The Maxill<E, or lower jaws (m x in the figures). —
These organs are tw o in number.and are placed beneath

Kigs.95, Mandibles of The rates; pfi, ditto of Hybuma; 97 ditto
JUimela; ys, ditto Gueriuu.

pieces. They have been considered analogous to the
jaws of the higher animals, but they have a much greater
resemblance to a pair of large and robust, horny, and
notched teeth. They are inserted at the sides of the
oral aperture immediately below the lower lip, to
which, indeed, they appear to bear the same kind of
relation as the lower jaws do to the lower lip. They
are composed of a single piece, and are destitute of
any appendage. In some of the Erachclytra (espe-
cially the species ordinarily termed the devil's coach
horse, fig. 9«<) their inner surface is, however, furnished
with a small moveable exarticulate process, as is also
the case in Pussalux and Hydrous. By Linnzeus they
were termed maxillte. In beetles these organs are gene-
rally of large size, and of a horny substance. The
large and powerful instruments with which the head
of the stag-beetle is armed are the mandibles im-
mensely developed; but these organs, like many
others, exhibit great variations according to the sexes.
In the last-named insect for instance, the jaws of the
females are so short that this sex was long regarded
as a distinct species. They are usually symmetrical,
but ut many cases are dissimilar in form, aud more
particularly in the structure of the teeth, with which

100

101

Figs. 99, Maxilla of the great water-beetle (Hydrous piceus) seen
from above; 100, from below; 101, from the back.

the mandibles, from which they differ in their less firm
consistence and more complicated structure, being
formed of several parts,and especially by the possession
ofa slender articulated appendage or palpus, attached to
each. They appear to be more especially connected with
the lower lip, serving, iu some instances, as a sheath
for its defence ; in the beetles, however, they are
generally quite detached. In a table of the compa-
rative variation of the chief insect organs, Mr Mac
Leay has shewn that the maxillae are less liable to
vary than any other; hence it is important to note
the modifications to -which they are subject.

The maxillae appear typically to consist of five
pieces, exclusive of the maxillary palpi, at least those
maxillae which are the most complicated in their
structure, exhibit this number of parts. They are the
cardo or hinge (figs. 99, 100, 101 a), a most appro-
priate term, designating a transverse horny piece by
which the jaw is affixed within the mouth by mem-
branes. Strauss calls this the branche transversale.
Savigny the support, Burmeister the base, and New-
man the insertio. This piece is especially distinct
in beetles and bees. The two following pieces (b fy c)
are closely soldered together, and compose the horny
pillar between the basal hinge and the terminal lobes.
Of these two parts, the external portion (c), as first
noticed by Latreille, and since named la piece ]:alj>ifite
by Strauss, and the squama by Burmeister, bears at its
extremity the maxillary palpus (/) ; the internal or
dorsal piece * (piece dorsal of Strauss-Durckheiun, b)

* Mr. Newman appears to restrict the term maxillae to this
piece.

INSECT.

853

occupies the space between this and the membrane
which runs parallel therewith, forming the basal part
of the internal terminal lobe (d). Conjointly these
three pieces (b, c, $• d) are termed the stipes or stalk
of the maxillae by MacLeay and Kirby. The last of
these, or the fourth piece of the maxillae (d), is more
important, extending not only along the internal side
of the maxillae, but extending often considerably be-
yond the former pieces, and being very variable in its
Form ; its terminal portion (d d) has been named the
internal lobe of the maxillae by MacLeay and others,
but it is not distinct from the basal part (d). In
the predaceous beetles it is long, slender, curved at
the tip, and internally clothed with fine hairs or
bristles, and sometimes terminated by a hook, which
is occasionally articulated, as in the tiger-beetles.

Pigs. 102, Maxilla of Cicindela ; 103, ditto of Bamfais ; 104, ditto
of Blatta ; 105, ditto of Melvluntha.

This part is termed the piece mtermaxillaire by
Strauss-Diirckheim, and lacinia by MacLeay. In
some biting insects it is of a very large size, as in the
bees, in which it forms the sole terminal lobe of the
maxillae (fig. 103) ; in many instances, however, it is
greatly reduced in size, not extending beyond the
base of the palpus, in which case another organ is de-
veloped at its expense, which, as in the large water
beetle (Hydrous picem], joins the terminal part of the
maxillae (figs. 99, 100, 101 e). In the predaceous
beetles this external lobe, as it is generally called, is
often of equal size with the terminal portion of the
lacinia, or the internal lobe, and is here articulated
both at its base and in the middle (fig. 102 e e), and
is generally termed thence the internal maxillary
palpus. In the order Ortlioptera, this same outer lobe
is equally developed, but is not articulated, except at
the base (fig. 104) ; its inner surface is somewhat
hollowed, so that it falls upon the terminal lobe of
the lacinia, and defends it laterally. It is hence
termed by Fabricius the galea, a term applied theo-
retically by Strauss-Diirckheim to the outer lobe of
the maxilla; of all insects. In many insects the two
lobes are soldered together into a large flattened
membranous plate ; numerous other variations of form
occur in these two lobes, which, from their situation,
are necessarily the part most serviceable to the insect,
and consequently modified and adapted to the func-
tions and habits of each of these variations ; perhaps
the most remarkable are those exhibited by some of
the leaf-devouring lamellicorn beetles, in which the
extremity of the lobes are very broad, horny, and
armed with several strong teeth, having somewhat
the appearance of a large double tooth (rig. 105), and
by some other beetles which feed upon the pollen or
honey-flowers, and in which the outer lobe of the
maxillae are nearly half the length of the body. In the
stag-beetles it is prolonged into a fine pencil of hairs,
serviceable in licking up flowing sap. It is at the exter-
nal extremity of the stipes, and intermediate between

it and the base of the outer lobe of the maxilla, that
thepalptis (for mp) of each maxilla is attached. This
is a slender appendage, somewhat similar in its con-
struction to the antennas, but much shorter, and com-
posed of fewer joints, varying in the latter respect
from one to six articulations; I he latter number is
often found in the Hymennptera, but in the Coleoptera
four appears to be the prevalent number. In the
Orthoptera and Trichoptefa it is generally rive. These
palpi vary very considerably in the size and form of
their respective joints, although they are generally
slender arid filiform ; hence they are eminently *er-
viceable in characterising genera, now that naturalists
have discovered that smallness of size does not form
an objection to the value of the characters derived
from an organ. In the suctorial mouth, the maxilla?
are still important organs, although completely
changed in the structure; thus, in the Lepidoptera
(see fig. 87), they constitute the two long and very
slender instruments which compose the tubular and,
when at rest, spiral apparatus, which the insect em-
ploys for collecting honey. That these instruments
are really modified maxillae is proved by the modifi-
cations which these organs undergo, even in the
biting insects, and likewise by the possession of a
minute palpus attached to each at the base, which in
most Lcpiduptera is so small as to be easily overlooked,
being concealed by the hairs of the labial palpi ; in
other moths, especially in some of the PyratidcE, they
are, however, very distinct; and hence these insects
are ordinarily described as having lour palpi. In the
Diptem &nd~Hcmiptera the maxilla; are horny, scti-
form, or lancet-shaped. In the former order they
are sometimes almost obsolete, and are generally fur-
nished with a palpus, varying in the number of its
joints from five to one, but in the latter they resemble
the mandibles, and are not palpigerous. In the flea
they are dilated and palpigerous. In the Trichoptera
they are rudimental, but furnished with long palpi.

The Labiuw, or tower Up.— We have now arrived at
a very complicated organ, which generally serves to

110

Fig's. 106, Labium of Cnrnbus outside: 107, ditto inside; 108,
ditto laterally; log, ditto of Necrophaffus ; 110, ditto of Dy lints*

close the mouth from beneath, and therefore corres-
ponding with the upper lip. This organ, if regarded
analogically, with reference to the structure of the
mouth of other annulose animals, appears to be com-
posed of a pair of maxillaj, united together internally,
furnished with a pair of palpi, and covered, in a great
measure, by a large horny plate, which is generally
termed the mentum. The parts of which this organ
is composed are numerous, and the greatest confusion
has arisen in the works of authors, as to their nomen-
clature, owing to the numberless modifications which
they undergo, whereby the relative proportions and the
consequent relations of the various parts with each
other, and with the head, are greatly altered. On

854

examining the under side of the head of a beetle,
the parts of which this lower lip will be found to con-
sist are, first, a broad horny plate (ch or c 2) articu-
lated at its base, and connected at its extremity by
membrane, with a leathery piece (/ 2), within which
arises a fleshy organ (t), occasionally having its ante-
rior angles elongated (/ 0 ; the labial palpi (/ p)
take their rise between the first and second of these
pieces. The first named piece is attached to the
head by a horny piece (z), which, although appar-
ently a'rticulated in some beetles (as for instance in
the cock-chaffer, the common Chinese Mimela, &c.), is
immoveable, and forms a portion of the throat or
jugulum, but which MacLeay regards as part of the
lower lip, and calls it stipes. It is the piece prebasi-
laire of Strauss- Durckheim. Mr. Newman calls it
mentum and insertio, and regards it both as a ter-
minal part of the throat, and as a basal part of the
lower lip ; at least if we understand him correctly,
which it is certainly difficult to do, from the abrupt
manner in which his definitions of these organs of the
mouth are drawn up. The chin, or mentum (the
broad horny piece above-mentioned), is very variable
in its form "{ch or c 2), sometimes, as in the lamelli-
com beetles, serving exactly as a lower lip, and closing
the mouth ; but in other beetles it is shorter and more
transverse, and cannot be in the least degree effectual
in performing this office. Sometimes even its base is
soldered to the jugulum, the stipes being entirely ob-
solete, and thus, in fact, becoming the anterior edge
of the former. This is the case in Pausstis, Siagona,
&c. ; but its true nature may be known by the posi-
tion of the labial palpi, which always arise between
its extremity and the base of the terminal portion of
the lower lip, to which (if with MacLeay, Kirby,
Curtis, &c., we continue the analogy with the human
face), we must restrict the name of lower lip or labium,
although the same name is applied to the whole ap-
paratus. This difficulty may be obviated by terming
this piece, with Fabricus and others, ligula. The latter
piece is more membranous, and of a smaller size than i
the mentum, and often serves to close the mouth as j
effectually as the former. We therefore see no suffi-
cient reason, on this account, for not giving to it the
name of the labium, or lower lip. The form of this
organ is very variable, and sometimes, as in the tiger-
beetles, it is completely concealed by the mentum.
On examining the lower lip, internally, a distinct
membranous or leathery lining (t) will often be found,
the angles of which are protruded beyond the front
margin of the lower lip, in the form of little protuber-
ances (/ /). These are very conspicuous in many
Carabitke, and are termed paraglossae, although thev
can only be regarded as the produced angles of the
internal organ, which, from analogy, may be termed
the lingua, or tongue, and which is very distinct in
many orthopterous, and some neuropterous, insects ;
in which orders the general structure of the labium
(and its various parts) is very similar to that of the
beetles, except that in the former, the part to which
we have restricted the term labium (or ligula) is divi-
ded, longitudinally, into four branches. In the Hy-
menontera, however, the labiurn has reached its fullest
development ; and this is more especially the case in
the bee tribes, to which (without going through the
other hymenopterous families) it will be advantageous
to direct our attention. We have said that in these
tribes the maxillae co-operate with the labium, in order
to enable the insect to suck the nectar of flowers.

INSECT.

The machinery by which the lower parts of the bee's
mouth (to which, from analogy, the term tongue is

111

Figs. Ill, Labium of Geotriipes; 112, ditto of Mrlolontfia; 113,
ditto of Cicindela; 114, ditto of Gryllus outside; 115, ditto
laterally.

often, but not very correctly, applied) are protruded,
is exceedingly beautiful. It has, however, already
been described at length in our article, BEE. On re-
ferring to vol. I, p. 361, col. 2, the maxillse, and
their very minute palpi, will be observed to be ex-
tended on each side of the central piece, which, it will
be seen, arises from a short triangular piece, which
appears analogous to the part which we have noticed
above, as the stipes of MacLeay, although here, for
evident purposes, it is articulated and moveable.
The next piece is the thickened horny tubular piece,
or mentum, at the extremity of which arise the labial
palpi, remarkable for the elongation of the two basal
joints, and between which, at the base, are two short
processes, which are termed paraglosste ; the appara-
tus terminating in a long and slender many-ringed
instrument, which, in the following page, we have
called the tongue, or lingua, but its true analogy has
not been determined. By some authors it is called
the labium.

In the lepidopterous insects, the structure of the
mouth, although having a function similar to that of
the bee's, is completely altered as to the form of its
individual organs. In the latter, the maxillae and
labium conjointly operate in sucking up honey ; but
in the former (see fig. 87), the maxillae (mx) alone
perform this office, the labium (/2) being rudimental,
and attached to the head, and only distinguishable by
bearing the pair of large palpi (Ip) which bend up-
wards, and form the defence of the spiral maxillae.
In the Diptera (see fig. 88), on the contrary, as well
as the Hemiptera (see fig. 89), the labium (/ 2) i(is the
most conspicuous part of the mouth, forming the
elbowed and fleshy, or articulated and membranous,
tube or canal, in which the other organs of the mouth
are enclosed. In these orders, moreover, the labial
palpi are obsolete ; great variations occur in these
orders, and especially in the Dipiera, as regards the
form of this lower lip ; but it would lead us to too
great a length were we to notice them more in de-
tail. The forest flies, Hippoboscidee, and the flea,
exhibit other modifications of form of the lower lip.

Such are some of the more important organs with
which Nature has supplied insects, for the due sup-
port of their existence. Of their uses we shall speak
more at large when we come to treat of the physio-
logy of insects, when we shall state our reasons for
employing the terms antennae and palpi, which indi-
cate no decided use in preference to that of feelers,
which is, by many authors, assigned indiscriminately

INSECT.

855

to these two kinds of organs. We will, therefore,
only observe, that much still remains to be done, be-
fore we arrive at a perfect knowledge of the structure
of the various organs of the mouth throughout the
insect tribes. Savigny has effected much in clearing
away the obscurity in which the subject had long re-
mained ; but there is still an ample field for the em-
ployment of a steady eye and hand, in dissecting, and
especially in delineating the many modifications of
form, to which the parts of the mouth have been so
fully shown to be subject. Until this have been done
in the most Careful manner, it will not be easy to
arrive at a true knowledge of the mode in which
these modifications of form are effected, and which
alone will enable us satisfactorily to trace the analo-
gies of the various parts throughout the various
orders.

B. The Thorax, or scat of the organs of Locomotion.
This portion of the body lies between the head and
the abdomen, and supports the three pairs of legs ;
and the two or four wings with which perfect insects
are in almost every case furnished.

In the early efforts made by scientific entomologists,
to determine the various parts of the body of insects,
too much attention was paid to an organ when it hap-
pened to be fully developed, too little to the mode
in which this development was effected. Thus it
sometimes happened, that the same organ received
various names, according to its extent of develop-
ment ; and it was not until a rigid attention was paid
to the various forms which the same part exhibited in
its various modifications, that a fixed nomenclature
could possibly be applied. This has been especially
the case with the thoracic segments of insects ; and it
is only within a very few years that entomologists
have given any extended attention to this part of the
subject, or have endeavoured to introduce a fixed
series of names. Audouin, Kirby and Spence, Mac
Leay, and Burmeister, have especially laboured in
this field, in which much still remains to be effected.
Linnaeus thus described this part of the body which
he called the trunk, — " TRUNCUS, inter caputet abdo-
men, pedatus tkorace, supra dorso, postia scutello,
subtus pcclore sternoque?' In his descriptions, how-
ever, he applies the term thorax either to the large
shield which covers the first thoracic segment in bee-
tles, or to the entire trunk, as in the Hymenoptera.
This mode of description was, notwithstanding its
evident impropriety, and want of precision, adopted
by most entomologists. Illiger endeavoured to cor-
rect this nomenclature, by giving to the trunk of Lin-
naeus the term thorax, designating its upper part,
thorax superior, and its lower surface, thorax inferior.
Latreille, and others, divided this part of the body
into three distinct sections, the two posterior of which,
from bearing the wings, Chabrier united under the name
Irunc alifcrc, which Kirby and Spence adopted,
naming these two segments alitrunk ; and the first seg-
ment, which bears the fore legs (which these authors
rather regard as arms or hands), manitrunk. This
nomenclature has not, however, been adopted, al-
though Strauss-Durckheim adopts this division of the
thorax, calling the first segment corselet, and the two
others the thorax. Most of these authors, however,
regard the three segments following the head, as suffi-
ciently separate to require separate names. And the
terms pruthorax, mesothorax, and metathorax, origi-
nally proposed by Nitzsch, have been applied to them ;
indeed Audouin, Mac Leay, and Burmeister, regard

them as segments of equal rank, but as conjointly
uniting to form the thorax ; whilst Kirby and Spence
employ these terms for the upper surface only of the
thoracic segments, giving to their under surfaces the
names of antepectus, medipectus, and postpectus.
MacLeay applies the term tergum to the upper
surface, and pectus to the lower ; thus we have
"tergum of the prothorax, pectus of the mesothorax,
&<•„" Burmeister, with more uniformity and philoso-
phic acumen, gives the following series of names : —

Thoracic Segment

1. Prothorax.

2. Mesothorax.
•J. Metathorax.

Upper Surface.
Pronotum (T 1).
Mesonotum (T 2).
Metanotum (.T 3).

Under Surface.
Prosternum (T 1).
Mesostemnm (T2).
Metastenmin(T3).

This being the most simple system of nomenclature
hitherto proposed for these thoracic segments, we
shall adopt it, leaving it optional for our readers to
regard the segments, either as entirely distinct, or as
conjointly constituting the thorax, or as divisible into
two portions, corresponding with the manitrunk and
alitrunk of Kirby and Spence. We will only observe
that the blunders of unphilosophical describers of in-
sects— who contented themselves, in many cases, with
no more anatomical knowledge than would enable
them to distinguish one species from another, and
who have, consequently, employed names without
knowing or caring for their precise meaning — can be
no ground for disputing the existence of organs, still
less for asserting, as has inconsiderately been done, that
the researches of such men as Lyonnet, Leon Dut'our,
Chabrier, Herold, Strauss-Durckheim, Savigny,
Audouin, and MacLeay, "tend to illustrate a
theory, in itself evidently false, rather than to find
out and establish plain and solid truths."

The complicated machinery requisite for the due
performance of the two chief kinds of insect locomo-
tion, namely, leg-movements, including creeping, run-
ning, swimming, climbing, as well as prehension ; and
wing-movements or flying, and likewise the great
volume required by the organs of motion themselves,
have necessarily produced a great increase in the
iize of the three segments of the body forming the
thorax, which in the larva state were but equal in
size to the remaining segments ; hence we find that
the thorax in the perfect insect has become the most
robust yet compact, as well as the most complicated
in its structure, of all the body segments of an insect.
Moreover, the great diversity in the organisation of
the wings, and the occasional transfer of wing motion
to a single pair of wings, this pair being either
the anterior, as in the Diptera, or the posterior, as in
the beetles, have necessitated a concurrent modifica-
tion in the form of the thoracic segments according
thereto, as well as similar modifications resulting
from the varying motions of the legs.

It is further to be noticed, that the many parts of
which the thorax is thus composed, were provided by
entomologists with separate names, whereby the no-
menclature of this part of the body has become very
complicated, more especially as the same part has
received more than a single name, according to the
greater or less degree of its development. This has
I been more particularly the case in the " Introduction
to Entomology," wherein, although Messrs. Kirby
and Spence do not describe much more than twenty
of its distinct component parts, about forty different
words are used for them in the nomenclature of the
thorax. The chapter on Orismology is nevertheless,
as Mr. MacLeay observes in the Zoological Journal,

856

INSECT.

" more particularly valuable, and, making allowance ' in the perfect insect varies very generally and con-
fer the nomenclature of parts, deserves the special j siderably from what it was in the larva." We ha\e
attention of entomological students."

ties. 116, Upper, and 117, under side of the thorax of a beetle
(Suprestiji), T 1 pronotum, (T) 1 prosternum, T 2 mesonotum,
(T) « mesosternum, marked with lines to distinguish its
boundary, T 3 metanotum, (.T) 3 mctasternum. H, head; A,
abdomen ; w 1, elytra ; w 2, posterior wings.

Much of this confusion has been obviated by M.
Audouin, who, from his admirable comparative inves-
tigation of the structure of the segments of the body,
ascertained that they were respectively composed of
the same essential parts, and consequently that the
same series of names might be applied to each. The
following is a table of the thorax, as theoretically
supposed by him to exist in all insects.

Thorax.
(Truncus,
Linn., Kabr. "*
and Kirby)

Prothorax.

(Manitrunk,

Kirby ;

Corselet,

Strauss) .

Mesothorax.
(Meditrunk,

Kirby ;
Prothorax,

Strauss.

Metathorax.

(Protrunk,
f irby & Sp.;
Metathorax,

Strauss.)

Postscutellum.

Prothorax,
Kirby) T J.

Pectus. svi

(Prosternum ( Sternum. or hi
Burmeister.-{ EP*t"na. I or 11
Antepectus, I „ .
Kirby) (T) 2. VEPimera.
Furca, called Antefurca.
Tergum.

korki

ba
ea
Kirby) T2! vrosiscuiei. aord2

Pectus.

(Mesoster- (*£*&***• .
num.Burm •< Sternum- horh2
Medipectus,' I Episterna. 1 or 1 2
Kirby) (T) 2. ^EPlniera k or k 2
Furca, called Medifurca.
f Tergum.

(Metanotum f P«escutum a or a 3
Burmeister : J Scutum- b cr b 3
Mrtathorax I sc«tellum. core 3
Kirby.) T 3. VPostscutell.dordS

by.) (Tj 3
Furca, called Postfarca.

- It must not be imagined, however," observes Mr
MacLeay, "that the pieces of the thorax mentioned in
the above table are all perfect and distinct in every
msect. Pieces of the thorax may disappear, beim>
evanescent owing to the great development of the
contiguous segments, or by being confluent or sol-
dered together with the next adjoining pieces. To
know the pieces which are thus lost, it might be
lought that on comparing the larva with the perfect
'••sect, the position of the stigmata (spiracles) ought to
afford some clue, but in truth these are unsafe gmdes ;
«s well known that the situation of the stigmata

Ti

115

120

Figs. 118, pronotum; 119, mesonotum; 120, metanotum of a
Dyticus. In listhe subsegments are confluent. In HQand 120
the alternate subsegments are dotted to show their extent.

indeed found a clue for getting out of the difficulty
above-mentioned, but from the little attention hitherto
paid to the subject, another difficulty of a not less
formidable but of a far more philosophical kind has
presented itself, namely, that of proving, by careful
study, the relations of the several parts in the differ-
ent orders, and the variations they are subject to.

(T);

(TJ2

IT)

It 121

122

128

13

Figs. 121, prosternum; 122, mesosternum; 123, metasternum of
a Dyticus.

The total number of parts in the thorax, according
to Audouin, amounts to thirty-six; but if the simple
pieces, as the sternum, &c., be supposed to be divided
by the medial line, the number will be fifty-two ; and
Mr. MacLeay, by supposing that each of the three
sterna consists, like the terga, of four transverse pieces
similarly divided by the medial line, causes the whole
number of pieces in the thorax to mount up to seventy-
two. Authors, however, who have looked at the
composition of the thorax, without having any theo-
retical views to maintain, have found the really dis-
tinct number of its parts much fewer in number than
either of the last named authors ; thus Chabrier and
Burmeisier reckon only eighteen, Kirby and Spence
twenty, and Straiiss-Durckheim twenty-two. We
will now confine our attention successively to the
primary segments of the thorax, and show the chief
modifications which they exhibit, and then describe
the organs of locomotion.

1. The Prothorajc (manitrunk, Kirby), T 1 & (T) 1.

INSECT.

657

— This is the segment which immediately follows the '
head, and precedes the segment bearing the anterior I
pair of wings. On its under side it bears the anterior
pair of legs. It is generally larger than the head,
and smaller or narrower than the following segment ;
the reason whereof is obvious, since it has only to
support one pair of limbs, whereas the following sup-
ports two. It is to the upper surface of this piece,
when most fully developed, that Linnaeus gave the
name of thorax. It is named by Kirby prothorax,
by Audouin tergum, and by Burmeister pronotum.
But the four dorsal pieces are here confluent*,
although, as in some locusts, their situation is indi-
cated by transverse impressions across the prothoracic
shield.

The size of the pronotum (T) varies very consider-
ably as well as its form ; thus whilst in the Coleoptera,
Orthoptera, and heteropterous Hemiptera, it is of a
vcrv large size and forms a strong horny shield (see
ri-s. 11(3, 118, T 1), sometimes produced over the
whole body, and in others furnished with the most
remarkable protuberances, as in many Homoptera,
lamellicorn beetles, &c. In the Lc.idoptera and
Tiicli(>i>tcrn it is nearly evanescent, forming in the
first of these orders a narrow ring. In some Hymen-
optera. it is more conspicuous, forming, as in Xyphi-
dria, a narrosv neck, by which the head is attached to
the thorax. In this order, the front of the thorax is
covered by a narrow plate (see figs. 124, 125, c 1),
which often laterally reaches as far as the base of the
wings. This is the collare of Kirby, who contends
that it ought not to be regarded as a part of the pro-
thorax. MacLeay, Burmeister, and others, however,
give it as a portion of that segment, the former con-
sidering it as the scutellum of the prothorax, and ob-
serving that as these insects are essentially fliers, this
piece of the prothorax is employed to add strength
to the mesothurax in its support of the upper wings.
The under surface of the prothorax (T 1) consists
of a central piece or prosternum (antepectus, K.),
which is generally horny, and extends in a point
between the tore-legs, as is especially the case in the
spring beetles (Elaterida), and two lateral pieces
which are very distinct in the predaceous beetles.
These are the epimera and episterna of Audouin,
and sometimes the ora of Kirby and Spence.

In addition to the various horns or protuberances
which arise from the prothorax, but which are only
continuations of the external crust, there are several
distinct appendages to be noticed. Of these, the legs
are the most important, the basal piece of which often
appears to form a constituent part of the prosternum,
but is, nevertheless, moveable ; the first pair of spira-
cles are also parts of the prothorax.

Moreover, in some of the longicorn beetles there is
a pair of moveable spines (umbones, Kirby and
Spence), arising at the sides of the pronotum ; and
in lepidopterous insects there is a pair of scales
covered with hair, quite distinct from the wing-rovers
(teguIaeX and which the same authors term patagia,

or tippets; but which have been overlooked by all
other authors except Chabrier, who first discovered

Ti

* Hence MacLeay say.s that in all future descriptions the
four confluent dorsal pieces of the prothorax (which are almost
invariably, at least in the Colenptem, &c.,) described as the
thorax by the ('.lumbers of species should no longrer be called
the thorax but the prothorax ; but this must surely not be cor-

Figs. 124, dorsal view of the thorax of a wasp; 125, lateral vievr
of ditto, lettered as in fijrs. 118—123.

them, or else confounded (as by Burmeister, p. 77),
with the true tegulae. They are descrioed as vesicles
appearing full of liquid and of air, and are placed at
the sides of the pronotum.

2. The Mesothorax. — (Prolhorajr, Strauss-Diirck-
heim) T2 and(T)2.

This is the second segment of the thorax (or the
first of the alitrunk of Kirby and Spence), and bears
the anterior pair of wings, or their representatives,
and the middle pair of legs. In insects which have the
four wings of equal size, the mesothorax and the
metathorax, (the following segment), are equally de-
veloped ; but when, on the contrary, one pair of these
organs is more particularly developed, the segment to
which it is attached is consequently increased in size..
If this pair of wings be the anterior pair, the mesotho-
rax is greatly enlarged, this is, therefore, the case in the
Dipiera (fig! 126), where the mesothorax almost occu-
pies the entire thorax. In the Hymenoptera (fig. 124)
the second pair of wings exist, but of a smaller size
than the fore pair ; the metathorax is accordingly more
developed than in the Diptera, but is smaller than
the mesothorax. If we now look at those orders
which have the second pair of wings enlarged, we
find the mesothorax diminished, and the metathorax
increased in size to a corresponding extent ; this is
the case in the beetles, but most especially in the
extraordinary parasitic order, Strepriplera, respecting
which so much incorrect matter has been published.
The four pieces of which the upper side of each
thoracic segment is typically composed, are suffici-
ently distinct in the niesonotum; the first, or the prse-
scutum (a 2), (prophragma, Kirby and Spence) ; and

LULJJ

-Tl

the thorax but the prothorax ; but this must surely not be cor- /2/ 126

rect, since the latter name would imply both upper and lower , iat«-rnl

surface of the first thoracic sceim-nt, although the descriptions Figs. 126, dorsal view of the thorax or a Tab™**} 12,, lateiat

are applicable only to the ter-um or upper surface of this seg- view ot ditto, lettered us in figs. 1 18-12.5.

ment. Burmeister has obviated the difficulty by proposing the
term pronotum.

the second, b '2, scutum (or the dorsulum, Kirby and

861

INSECT

Spence), are both distinct, but not conspicuous parts
iti the Coleoptera, in which order the third piece,
(c 2), is very conspicuous *, being the triangular part
which is found at the base of the elytra, where they
unite together, and is ordinarily termed the scutel-
lum ; but more properly the scutellum of the meso-
thorax or mesoscutellum. Some beetles, indeed, are
said to be exscutellated, or destitute of scutellum ;
and so far as its occupying the ordinary exposed
situation is concerned, they are exscutellated ; but the
same part is to be found in a diminished form in all
beetles.

In some few insects, as the scutellata(7V(?yns), the
scutellum is so much enlarged, that it completely
covers the abdomen. The postscutellum of the meso-
thorax, (d 2), or the frccnum of ,Kirby and Spence is
also distinct, but not very conspicuous, except by
dissection.

In insects having the upper wings transformed into
horny or leathery wing-covers, the mesoscutellum is
very distinct and elevated, being evidently serviceable
in giving some kind of support to these wing covers.
In insects with membranaceous wings the mesoscu-
tellum is not so conspicuous an organ.

The upper surface of the mesothorax is very va-
riable in its consistence, according to the degree of
exposure to which it is subject. Thus in the beetles,
where it is almost entirely covered by the prothoracic
shield, or by the base of the wing-covers, it is lea-
thery, with the exception of the exposed mesoscu-
tellum. If, on (he contrary, it is naked, as in the
Hymenoptcra, Diptera, &c., it is more solid in its con-
struction. In the Diptera the prcescutum and scutum
of the mesothorax are soldered together, see fig. 126,
(a 2, b 2), forming the larger part of the upper surface
of the thorax; the scutellum (c 2) is also distinct. In the
Lepidoptera the prsscutum is small, but the scutum
(dorsulum, Kirby and Spence) very large and dis-
tinct. In the Hemiptera, as in the Coleoptera, the
praescutum and scutum are covered by the pronotum.
In the Hymenoptcra the scutum and scutellum are
similar to those of the Diptera.

On the under surface the mesosternum is generally
horny, and extends between the middle legs, some-
times as in some Coleoptera (Flatt-ricke), having an
impression to receive the spine of the prosternum ;
at other times, as in the Cetonia, the prosternum
itself is produced into a spine extending between the
anterior legs.

On each side of mesosternum extend the epimera and
cpisterna of the mesothorax, the former being termed
scapularia by Kirby and Spence ; they are generally
of small size, except in a few instances, such, for in-
stance, as the Cetonud<E, in which the former are very
conspicuous, forming the horny plate, intervening On
each side between the shoulder of the elytra °and
the posterior angles of the pronotum.

In addition to the above pieces, the paraptera, or
tegulse, being the small scales at the base of the upper
wings (see fig. 124, o o), which sometimes, as in
some of the Proctotrupida: (especially Galesus\ are of
a large size, must be noticed. They also acquire a
large size in the Lepidoptera.

The mesothoracic appendages are the anterior
pair of wings, the middle pair of legs, and the meso-
thoracic spiracles. In dipterous insects the base of
the wings are often furnished with a membranous
scale, termed the alula or winglet, which Kirby and
Spence regard as the true analogue of the second
pair of wings, and consequently as attached to the
metathorax (see fig. 126 y).

3. The Metathorax, T 3 and (T) 3 (Protrunk, Kirby
and Spence).

This is the last of the three thoracic segments (or
the second of the thorax of Strauss, or Alitrurikof
Kirby and Spence), and bears the posterior pair of
wings, or their representatives, and the third pair of
legs. Its development and consistence are variable,
dependent upon the same principles, already stated to
regulate the development of the mesothorax. It con-
sists of the same number of pieces as the preceding
segment,the dorsal pieces (composing the metanotum)
being the praescutum (mesophragrna of Kirby and
Spence in Coleoptera ; postdorsulum of the same
authors in Hymenoptera), scutum (postdorsulum of
Kirby in Coleoptera), scutellum (postscutellum and
postfraenum of Kirby), and postscutellum (meta-
phragma, Kirby and Spence). The scutum and scu-
tellum are the most conspicuous parts in Coleoptera,
being channelled longitudinally. In Hymenoptera, see
fig. 124, T3, the mesothorax is reduced in size, and
this is more especially the case in Diptera, see fig.
126, T 3 ; but in the parasitic Strepsiptera. the fore-
wings are very minute and twisted appendages, and
the second pair of wings of very large size, the meta-
thorax being so greatly increased in its dimensions that
it may be almost said to constitute the entire thorax.

The under surface of the mesothorax, or the meta-
sternum, is generally a horny covering, divisible, like
the metasternum, into various pieces ; of these the
central metasternum is generally the most enlarged
portion ; sometimes being produced into a point ex-
tending beneath the abdomen, as in Hydrous; some-
times it is flat, and occupies nearly the entire under
surface of the metathorax ; at other times, as in
Dyticus, the posterior coxae or basal parts of the hind
legs (which are of a large size), are soldered to it,
and hence the points of these parts of the hind legs
have been often termed the bifid mucroof the meta-
sternum. The sides of this metasternum in the Cole-
optera are laterally margined by a pair of longitudinal
pieces, which are the episterna, or the parapleura,
of Kirby and Spence. The construction of the various
parts of which the metasternum is composed would
require too much minute description to be available in
a work like the present ; we shall therefore only further
notice, that in winged insects having a pedunculated
abdomen, Messrs. Audouin and Latreille consider
that the piece which terminates the thorax behind is
not a portion of the metathorax, but, on the contrary,
is the basal segment of the abdomen. This opinion
appears to us to have been successfully refuted by
MacLeay and Burmeister.

The appendages of the metathorax are the pos-
terior pair of wings, or their analogous organs, the
third pair of legs, and the metathoracic spiracle.

It still remains to notice a curious apparatus, con-
sisting of a ligament, which passes through a slit at
the extremity of the postscutellum in the pedunculated
Hymenoptera, (see fig. 124, 125, xx,) in the middle of
which is an elevation of a horseshoe form, having two
apparent and one real central apertures. This ligament

INSECT.

859

termed by Kirby and Spence the Faniculus, and is
serviceable in elevating or depressing the abdomen.

We will now proceed to the description of the Or-
gans of Locomotion ; these are either wings, or their
representatives, or legs.

I. Wings, or the organs of aerial progression.

These organs, unlike the wings of birds, consist
simply of a double membrane, of a very slender and
generally transparent consistence, inclosing numerous
nervures or veins of a firmer substance. These ner-
vures are a kind of solid tubes inclosing the tracheae,
or aeriferous vessels in their interior, of which we
have already spoken in our account of the escape of
the perfect insect from the pupa skin.

These organs undergo very great modifications of
form and structure in the different orders of insects ;
their number is also liable to corresponding varia-
tions ; we say corresponding, because as one pair of
wings is sometimes so completely modified as to be
no longer serviceable as an organ of flight, the num-
ber of these wings is necessarily reduced from four
to two. These modifications occur either in the
anterior or posterior pair of wings : thus, in the Cole-
optera, the fore-wings, although ample, are trans-
formed into a pair of scales serving for the defence of
the wings, and unserviceable as instruments of flight.
The same occurs in a greater degree in the Strep-
siptera. In the Hemiptera (Heteroptera), the four
wings are of a leathery structure at the base, but are
membranous at the tip ; whilst in the homopterous
Hemiptera, and Orthoptera, the upper wings are of a
membranous nature, but much thicker than the lower
wings throughout. In the Hymenoptera, Neuroptera,
and Lepidoptera, all the wings are equally mem-
branous. In the Diptera the fore- wings are alone to
be found as organs of flight, the posterior wings being
reduced to a pair of slender knobbed filaments.
There are many cases in which the wings are totally
wanting, as in the glow-worm, many Orthoptera and
Hemiptera, &c. ; but these are to be accounted only
as casual exceptions The same may be said of
many beetles, which have the elytra, or upper wings,
soldered together ; in which case, as wings would be
useless, they are not given to the insect.

The only recorded instance in which the posterior
pair of wings have been ascertained to be developed,
without there being the least rudiment of the anterior
pair, is found in Perlamurpka hieroglyphica of Curtis,
one of the spectre insects (Phasmid<e}; also de-
scribed in the last number of the Zoological Journal,
under the name of Asckiphasma annulipes.

The wings arise respectively from the anterior
lateral angles of the ineso- and rnetathorax, articu-
lating with the scutum and episternum, that is, just
at the place where the dorsal plates of the meso-and
metanotum unite with the lateral plates of the meso-
and metasternum.

With respect to their consistence, the organs of
flight may be divided thus : —

a. Membranaceous wings.

b. Tegmina.

c. Hemelytra.

d. Elytra.

e. Halteres.

f. Pseudhalteres.

a. Membranaceous ivings. — It is by means of these
membranous appendage, that flight is chiefly effected,
the other variations of these organs serving more es-
pecially as organs of defence to the true wings. In

their most simple form, as in some of the minute llymc-
'loptera, especially the genus Pailus (fig. 128), the

128

wing consists but of the two layers of membrane,
w ithout any visible air-tubes, or nerves, which, in the
more advanced structure of the wing, are developed,
dividing it into more or less numerous divisions, like
the frames of a window. This formation is more and
more complete, and the divisions more and more nu-
merous, until we find the wing exhibiting a net work
of meshes too numerous to be counted ; this is the
case with the dragon-fly (fig. 129). In the Hymeno-
ptera, and Diptera, the wings are essentially similar in
the construction ; but the nervures, especially of the
posterior wings of the former, are less numerous,
forming but few spaces, or cells, as they are termed.
The second wings of the Hymenoptera are smaller
than the anterior, whilst in the dragon-flies, and some
other neuropterous insects, they are of equal size. If,
therefore, we regard the development of wings as the
chief characteristic of the Ptilota, or winged insects :
those species which exhibit the wings of equal consis-
tence and size, must be regarded as the types of the
tribe.

The external margin of the posterior wings exhi-
bits, also, in many insects with naked wings, minute
hooks for retaining the wings on each side together
during flight. These are especially found in the Hy-
menoptera, and are called hamuli. In the lepido-
pterous insects another structure prevails for the like
purpose ; the margin of the posterior wing being fur-
nished at its base with a long and curved bristle,
which is received into a little hook on the under sur-
face of the anterior wings, in which it plays. The
wings in this same order, offer another peculiarity,
since, instead of being naked and transparent, they are
clothed with a double layer of minute scales, some-
what resembling those with which fishes are covered.
These scales, upon which the beauty of lepidopterous
insects so entirely depends, are easily detached in the
form of a fine dust, which, when examined with the

Feather- scales from the Goat-moth.

microscope, are exceedingly variable in their form,
but generally more or less wedge-shaped, or oval :
sometimes toothed, or notched, at the broadest end,
some having a slender footstalk. The membranous

860

INSECT.

surface of the wing itself exhibits the appearance
when similarly examined, of numerous minute impreS'
sions arranged in lines, in which the base of the scales
are planted, being laid upon each other like the tile
on the roof of a house. The derivation of the name
of the order Lejiidoptcra (scaly wings), expresses this
character. It has been suggested that the form o
these scales might be serviceably employed in fur-
nishing specific characters, for the determination o
the various species of lepidopterous insects ; but this
is quite impossible, since scales of every possible form
are found upon a single individual, as may be seen
from the preceding figures, all of which represent
scales from the goat moths.

Here it will be serviceable to notice a few of the
more characteristic variations which occur in the
markings of the wings of lepidopterous insects (see
fig. 134) ; these are,

Spots (Macula:), which are r.atches of one colour
appearing ou the differently coloured wings
(134. a a).

Dots (Atomi), which are very minute points of a

different colour; when scattered over the entire

surface of the wings they are said to be irro-

rate (A).

Puncta, gutta, pustula, and plaga, are words used

for spots of various sizes.
Lines (Lin&z), narrow, generally straight marks of

different colour (c).

Streaks (Slnga?'), somewhat broader lines, gene-
rally transverse (d).

Bands (Fascitz), broad transverse marks (<?).
Vitta is a longitudinal fascia.

The four last terms are said to be undulated when
alternately curved like waves (/), and dentated
when toothed (0).
Annulets (Annutij, ring-like marks (Ji).

Imaginary wing of a Butterfly.

.

Eyelets (Ocelli), circular spots upon a differently
co cured wing, with the centre also differently
coloured (,') . ,he latter is termed the pupil
(papilla), and is surrounded by the iris
Luniileis (Liatulat), crescent-shaped marks (ft
Adjective, derived from these words are employed
m descnbing lep.dopterous and other insects. Thus
W e " W°rdS a8 maculated' frsciated, ocella-

the

fliC?' th:win?s are cl°thed with fine

/ na'\e of the ordr give" to them by

p ' I5e Wln?s of the enat areal*o

ornamented with scales along the nerves
. -

the posterior wings, the a

margin ; the

other side is named the apical, or terminal, margin.
There is, however, the greatest diversity in the shape
of the wings, especially the posterior pair in the
Lepidoptera ; some are notched, and many ter-
minated by one or more long tails. A small group
of moths have been termed Plumes, from the wings
being divided into numerous feathers, the divisions
extending to the base of the wing ; some are five-
plumed, and others twenty-plumed.

Adjoining the external margin of the wings, at some
distance beyond their middle, a callous point is to be
observed, formed by the union of the nervures of this
anterior or costal margin, which is termed the
stigma.

In our article HYMENOPTERA, we have noticed
more particularly the formation of the cells, origi-
nating in the nervures arising from the stigma, and
which have been much employed in distinguishing
the various groups of insects. That it is, in certain
families highly important, cannot be doubted ; but we
must not rely implicitly upon it as an absolute cha-
racter, since many groups, having very different habits,
and varying in other important characters, are iden-
tical in the neuration of their wings. The credit of
having selected these variations in the form of the
cells, as affording good generic characters, has ordi-
narily been given to Jurine, a celebrated Swiss ento-
mologist, who arranged the Hymenoptera in accord-
ance therewith. Frisch, however, a German, and
Harris, an English author, had long previously made
use of the same characters.

In general, membranous wings remain expanded at
all times to their full extent, but this is by no means
a constant character. Thus in the Hymenoptera, the
family of the wasps (Fespidee), and the species of the
genus Leucospis, they are folded throughout their
whole length when unemployed. In the Lepidoptera
the same occurs in the family of the Plume moths, al-
ready mentioned. The lower wings of orthoptcrous
and homopterous insects, are also longitudinally fold-
ed beneath the wing covers ; and the wings of coleop-
terous insects, are folded both longitudinally and trans-
versely when unemployed. The posterior wings of
the Earwig are similarly folded, the nervures, when
the wings are extended, forming a most beautiful ob-
ject. The position of the wings when shut, afforded
to Linnaeus the chief character by which he divided
the moths into various sections. Thus they were said
to be depressed, deflexed, horizontal, extended, diva-
ricate, &c.

Some lepidopterous insects appear to have six
wings, and have since been specifically named Hexa-
ptera/a, Src., forming the genus Lobopkora of Curtis; a
name indicative of the real character of the wings, of
which the posterior pair are furnished with a large
membranous lobe.

It still remains for us to mention a small mem-
branous appendage connected with the base of the
wings in the majority of dipterous insects, to which
the name of alula, or vvinglet, is generally given, con-
sisting of two concave and convex membranes united
together, and surrounded by a fine fringe, which fold
over each other like the valves of a bibalve shell, and
ipon which we have seen the halteres act, in a man-
icr similar to a drumstick beating on a drum. Kirby
and Spence regard them as analogous to the poste-
rior wings ; but they are decidedly parts of, and cor*,
nected with, the large wings. Somewhat similar
organs have been noticed in the large water beetle,

INSECT.

861

Dyticus marglnulis ; we have also found them equally
developed in the Hydrous piceut, at the base of the

elytra.

b. The Tenmina. — This term was proposed by
Illi<fer to designate that variation of wing-s, in which
the substance is intermediate between the true
membranous wings and the hard coriaceous elytra.
To the substance of which these kiads of wings are
composed, Kirby and Speuce gave the name of per-
gameneous, as somewhat resembling parchment, or
vellum ; and the Orthoptera and Homoptera are the
only insects which exhibit this kind of wing, or rather
wing-cover, since the posterior wings in these orders
are membranous. From elytra, the possession of
very numerous nervures sufficiently distinguishes the
teguiina, whilst their thickened substance equally se-
parates them from the membranous wings. Tegmina
arc also distinguished from elytra by the inner edges,
or anal are as folding over eacu other, instead of meet-
ing in a line down the back (see fig. 130, tegtnina of
a Blatia). Like many (or rather theoretically all)
membranous wings, tegmina are divisible into three
areas, separated from each other by strong longitudi-
nal nerves ; the external or costal, the intermediate,
discoidal, or apical, and the anal. The position in
which these organs are placed in repose, varies ac-
cording to the form of tlie body. Thus in flat insects
they are horizontal, but in thick or compressed insects
they are deflexed at the sides, sometimes at a consi-
derable angle. We have seen, that in insects having
the mesothoracic scutellum very prominent, the ante-
rior organs of flight are more or less horny, and of
very little service in locomotion, requiring some kind
of support, which is afforded by the scutellum. They
are thus circumstanced in beetles, and in the hetero-
pterous Hemiptera ; but in the tribes in which tegmina
are present the scutellum is not a prominent organ ;
they are therefore more essentially organs of flight
than elytra or hemelytra, which we now proceed to
describe ; commencing with the former, as being inter-
mediate in their formation between tegmina and
elytra.

c. The Hemelytra (see fig. 131, 132, hetnelytron of
Jlfffi-offdster urlicce}. — Under this name, Latreille
described (Hist. Nat. Crust. &c. ii. p. 1(54) the ante-
rior organs of flight of the Cimiculce, or heteropterous
Hemiptera, the basal portion of which is thick,
opaque, and coriaceous ; and the terminal part thin
and membranous ; the transition between the two
kinds of membrane not being gradual, but sudden.
The wind's covered by these limbs are membranous,
and of the size of the hemelytra. On examining an
•hemelytron, the three areas of which wings and teg-
mina are composed are here distinct ; but they do not
extend beyond the corium (or basal coriaceous part) ;
hence the apical membrane seems a piece added to
the ordinary structure ; sometimes being, in fact, ab-
sent, although the corium is distinct. In some
instances, the entire hemelytra are formed of mem-
brane, or rather the substance of the corium is so
much diminUhed that it resembles the apical mem-
brane. When at rest, the apical membrane of one
hemelytron folds upon that of the other, and the posi-
tion is usually horizontal. As to their neuration, the

••\ corium, us may be conceived from its similarity
to tiie su'i-; aii-e of the elytra, is generally almost
destitute of nerves ; but the apical membrane differs
in having more or less numerous nerves, which serve
for the distinctions of genera and sub-genera.

d. Elytra (see fig. 133). — This is the name given
to the hard scaly or horny wing covers, or anterior
wings of beetles ; they are thickened opaque plates,
generally carried, when the insect is not on the wing,
in a horizontal position upon the back, with the in-
ternal (or anal) margin (or suture, as it is technically
termed) straight, and in the direction of the middle
line of the body. They are destitute of nerves, and
are internally lined with a thin membrane. As to
their consistence, they are variable, although gene-
rally very hard and horny ; sometimes even so firm
as to be with difficulty pierced by a pin. In other
instances, however, they are flexible, or elastic,
yielding to pressure ; and in others, even soft, vary-
ing according to the variations in the consistence of
the body. As to their form, they are generally in
the figure of an oblong square, having the posterior
angles more or less rounded ; at other times they are
more triaugular.oval, or even almost semi-hemispheric.
Sometimes they entirely cover the abdomen, at others
they leave the extremity of this part exposed ; and
sometimes, as in the Brachelytra, they are very short.
As to their surface, they are flat, convex, gibbose.
They are also variable as regards their clothing ; some
being quite naked, others hairy, woolly, silky, spiny,
squamose, and rugose, like shagreen, or with impres-
sed or elevated spots, either placed irregularly (fig.
133, o), or disposed in lines (Lineato-punctate, fig.
133, j-), or with impressed lines (Elytra striata, fig.
133, f). Their colours are very variable, according
to the habitation of the insect. Thus beetles, living
in dark places, underground, and stones, &c., are
generally black, whilst those which are exposed to
the light are more variegated in their tints. As al-
ready observed, these organs, during flight, are but
little serviceable as locomotive instruments; and un-
less it were for the manner in which they are carried
at such times, it must be evident that, from their size
and substance, they would necessarily present a great
obstacle against quick motion in the air ; but this is
provided against by their being carried either in a
horizontal direction, where they are extended later-
ally, or in a vertical position, where they do not ex-
tend laterally (as in the burying beetles, Necrophagtis).
Ordinarily, as their name imports, they cover the
wings ; but in some beetles the wings are riot thus
defended, owing to the small or irregular form of the
wing-covers. In the Bmdielytra, however, in which
the elytra are of the least size, and the wings large,
they possess their ordinary function, the wings being
very much folded. In some beetles the wings are
entirely wanting ; and here the elytra are firmly sol-
dered together, thus becoming a defence for the ab-
domen, the upper surface of which is, in such cases,
sofi and membranous.

e. Haltercs (see fig. 126 and 127, z. z). — These
organs, which are usually termed balancers or poisers,
are a pair of short threads arising behind the base of
each of the wings in the Diptera (to which order they
are exclusively confined), and terminated by a small
oval or triangular knob. These organs are capable of
a very rapid motion ; and it has been usually sup-
posed that by their beating upon the winglets (alulae),
they produce the humming noise so distinctly heard
in this group of insects during flight. That they do
thus beat upon the winglets, we have already obser-
ved ; but it appears doubtful whether this action be
the cause of the sound in question, because those
Diptera which do not, either by nature or artificially,

8G2

1 N S

possess winglets, make a buzzing noise. The same
is also the case with the bees and other Hymenoptera.
Other naturalists have supposed the noise to originate
in the motion of the wings themselves, or (with more
probability) in the rushing of the air through a spira-
cle near the base of the halteres ; in which case, the
sole use of the halteres will be as poisers to keep the
body steady in flight. Thus Schelver cut off the
halteres from a fly, and found that it could no longer
fly ; hence (and from other circumstances) he consi-
dered that the halteres are connected with respiration.
For this reason, apparently, Kirby and Spence have
regarded these organs as not being the analogues of
the lower pair of wings, but as organs, per se, an
opinion likewise maintained by Latreille (Cours.
d'Entomol. 241. *). Their insertion upon the meta-
thorax, in a position with reference to the metatho-
racic spiracle analogous to that of the lower wings of
Hymenoptera, together with their occurrence, in an
order where only two mesothoracic wings are devel-
oped, are reasons amply sufficient to induce us (regard
being especially had to the law of relative and pro-
portionate development already alluded to, in speaking
of the variation in the size of the thoracic segments)
to consider the halteres as analogous to the second
pair of wings, and not as anomalous appendages.

f. Psendhalteret (praehalteres, Latreille). — We have
applied this name to a pair of organs somewhat simi-
lar in their construction to the halteres, but placed in
front of the wings, in the order Strepsiptera, a fname
signifying twisted wings, and proposed by Mr. Kirby
for the extraordinary group of bee and wasp parasites ;
in allusion to this pair of narrow, elongated, curved,
and channelled processes, which (notwithstanding the
observation of Mr. F. Bauer, that they were connec-
ted with 1t\\e fore-legs,) he regarded as analogous to
elytra. Subsequent authors, however, doubted this
analogy, and Latreille changed the name of the order
to Rlripiptcra. More recent observations have, how-
ever, demonstrated that these organs are attached to
the mesothorax, which, as well as the prothorax, are
extremely short ; and that the large pair of fan-shaped
wings are representatives of the lower wings of the
Orthoptcra, which are folded longitudinally in a simi-
lar manner, although the structure of the thorax is
very different. Latreille, however, regards these or-
gans as analogous to the mesothoracic tegulae, or
basal wing-covers, of the Lejridoplera. He likewise
considers them as somewhat analogous to the lateral
prolongation of the prothorax, observed in some
species of Ptychodce and Scenopinus (Dipterous gen-
era). As already observed, however, they have
been demonstrated to be the only mesothoracic
appendages found to exist in these insects (the wings
being metathoracic), consequently they must be re-
garded as analogous of the mesothoracic organs of
flight. During the short time that these insects pass
in the winged state, the pseudhalteres are observed to
quiver very intensely.

2. Legs, or the organ* of terrestrial or aquatic pro-
gretsion. — If we have found the organs of flight con-
structed in a manner totally unlike those of birds, we
shall discover equally great differences in the con-
struction of their legs. Thus, whilst the former are
provided with but a pair of organs for progression on

» Latreille consequently also regards the winglets as the true
analogues of the lower wings, although he admits that " ils me
semblent neanmoins partir d'un point un peu plus 6\6\£ que les
ailes."

EOT.

the land, winged insects have three pairs, spiders four
pairs, crabs five pairs, and centipedes and millipedes

136

141

more than a hundred legs. These organs arise from
the sternum of the various segments of the thorax in
the true insects, and are employed not only in walk-
ing, running, creeping, and climbing, but also in leap-
ing and swimming, as well as in various operations
connected with their economy. They consist of a
series of tubular joints, formed of a similar substance
with the remainder of the external parts of the body,
and are provided with internal muscles and nerves.
The joints have received a series of names analogous
to those of the legs of the higher animals. They are
the coxa, trochanter, femur, tibia, and tarsus. The
coxa (136, a) is the basal joint articulating with the
sternum, and very variable in form. The trochanter
(136, b] is a very small piece connecting the pre-
ceding with the thigh or femur (136, c), which in
general is the thickest part of the leg, and in leaping
insects greatly thickened, and sometimes toothed be-
neath. The next piece is the shank or tibia (136, d],
a piece generally somewhat shorter and more slender
than the femur, and often gradually thickened to-
wards the tip, where it is armed with one or two
spurs or spines (calcarea, 136, 1 38, dd], varying in their
number and size in adjacent groups. The terminal
part of the leg is termed the tarsus (136, <?), divided
into several joints, never exceeding five in number,
which is always found in the majority of insects
with membranous wings, undefended by wing-cases.
In many beetles the number is variable, as stated in
our article COLEOPTERA, and the same is the case in
the Neuroptera, &c. The under surface of these
tarsal joints is generally clothed with short hair or
down, often forming a kind of cushion or brush ; some-
times, also, the underside exhibits several small cir-
cular membranous plates or soles (fig. 139, fore tarsus
of a Dyticus}. The penultimate joint is also often
divided into two lobes, and the terminal joint is also
generally terminated by two small bent hooks
(ungues, 136, /), between which, in many insects,
there are one, two, or three small, often mem-
branaceous, appendages, termed pulvilli (fig. 141, 142,
143, zzz). In some tetramerous coleopterous insects
the penultimate joint is very minute (fig. 140). Messrs.
Kirby and Spence regard the fore-legs of insects as
arms rather than legs, and accordingly term the ante-
rior tarsus the hand, calling the basal joint the planta
or palm. That the fore-legs are highly important in
performing the economy of the insect cannot be
doubted ; they are also often of a very different

INSECT.

868

form in the individuals of different sexes of the same
species. They are often formed for seizing the prey
of the insect, and are then called raptorial (pedes
raptorii}, the thigh being thickened and spined, and
the tibia closing upon it. The hind legs are also often
peculiarly organised, as in the bees, where they are
pollinigerous (pedes polliniferi), or in the grasshop-
pers, &c., where the femora are greatly thickened,
and used in leaping (pedes saltatorn, fig. 137)*. In
some other insects they are terminated by abroad, Bat-
tened, and strong ciliated tarsus, admirably formed
for swimming, as in the water-beetles (pedes natatorii,
fig. 188). The tibia in the anterior legs are often
dilated and notched on the outer edge, as in the mole-
cricket. These legs thus become proper for burrow-
ing (/ rii. See our article ENTOMOLOGY for
figures of these variations of legs). In some lepido-
pterous insects, especially amongst the butterflies be-
longing to the family Nymphalida:, the fore-legs are
very short and rudimental, the tarsi being almost
obliterated, and quite unfitted for walking. In some
insects the various parts of the leg fold upon each
other when unemployed, and are there received into
certain channels prepared for their reception on the
under side of the thorax. This is the case with the
pill-beetles (Byrrhid&\ mimic-beetles (Histeridce), &c.
As regards the relative proportions of the legs of
insects, the general rule is, that the anterior are the
shortest, and the posterior the longest ; and as re-
gards their length, the shorter and more robust the
body, the shorter are the legs, and vice versa. In
running insects, also, the legs are longer than in those
which crawl. Generally, the legs do not much ex-
ceed the body in length, but occasionally they are
much longer. As regards their direction, the ante-
rior legs are generally directed forwards, and the four
posterior backwards. It would occupy far too much
space were we to enter into a detailed notice of all
the variations in form which occur in the legs of
insects.

C The abdomen, or tfie seat of the organs of genera-
tion.— We have now arrived at the third and last
principal division of the body which encloses the
greater portion of the intestines, the organs of gene-
ration, and their appendages. Unlike the preceding
part of the body, the abdomen, from being destitute
of locomotive organs, necessarily exhibits a much
less complicated organisation in the various segments
of which it is composed than those of the thorax, and
typically consits of nine segments, exclusive of
the anal apparatus, each being composed of two arcs,
or half segments, one upper and the other under.
These rings are attached together by membrane, and
either meet at the edges, or slide into each other like
the tubes of a telescope. The dorsal one is termed the
back (dorsnm), and the ventral one the belly {venter).
We have already seen that, in the larva state, several
segments exist which are not found in the imago ; and
the examination of the abdomen in various insects
clearly proves that these last segments are abdominal
ones. Thus, if a male ear-wig be examined, it will
be perceived that there are nine distinct abdominal
segments, exclusive of the anal forceps ; but in the
female, it will be perceived, that although, with great
care, the nine segments be discoverable, two of the
terminal ones have assumed a rudimental appearance.

* We must refer to the article CfiRCOPtofl?, where we have
entered into various details relative to this subject.

The abdomen of some beetles exhibits a curious cha-
racter in this respect. Thus, in Carabus, if the under
surface of the abdomen be only examined, it would,
appear that there are but five abdominal segments ;
but, if the back of this part be viewed, nine joints
will be discovered ; another peculiarity exists in the
stinging ffymcnoptera, in which the males have seven,
and the females only six abdominal segments. The
union of the abdomen with the thorax is effected in
two different modes in different groups. Thus, in all
insects which have the wings defended by wing-
covers hcmelytra, octeginina, (beetles, bugs, tree-hop-
pers, &c.), as well as in many insects with entirely
membranous wings, the base of the abdomen is as
large as the extremity of the metathorax, and is
united to it by membrane throughout its entire
breadth or circumference, in which case the abdomen
is said to be sessile. In the hymenopterous order,
the saw-flies and Siricidee are distinguished by this
character from the other tribes. In the other mode,
the abdomen is connected with the thorax only by a
slender portion of its base, and this is the case with
those insects to which we have alluded in our account
of the curious apparatus for elevating the abdomen,
in our account of the metathorax. Insects thus dis-
tinguished are divisible into two sections ; first, those
in which the union is effected by a very short piece,
and the abdomen is as broad as the posterior part of
the thorax, so that, as in the hairy-bodied bees, it
appears to be affixed by its entire breadth ; and,
second, those in which the connecting piece is elon-
gated into a peduncle, and the base of the abdomen
itself narrow. This is the case with many exotic
wasps, sand wasps (AmmopMla], &c. In the latter
division the abdomen is said to be pedunculated or
petiolated. The peduncle itself is liable to great
variation. Thus, in some ants, it consists of two
knots (petilus binodosus) ; in others only of one.
Sometimes it is disproportionately long ; at other
times it is saucer-shaped, bell-shaped, &c. Of the
shape of the entire abdomen little in general can be
said. It is, however, more generally triangular,
ovate, or quadrate, with the posterior angles rounded
off ; generally, too, the upper surface is more or less
depressed ; sometimes it is very short, at others dis-
proportionately long ; sometimes wider than the
thorax, but more commonly narrowed. The extre-
mity of the abdomen is generally pierced by the anal
aperture. The terminal segment is very variable in
its form, being formed with reference to the coupling
of the insects, or to facilitate the disposition of the
eggs in appropriate situations. Sometimes, also, it is
organised in a manner to become an instrument of
defence or offence. The various organs to be noticed
below form part of this segment. It still remains for
us to notice the motions of this part of the body.
Unlike the thoracic segments, which, from bearing
the organs of locomotion, are necessarily required to
be as firm as possible, and are not, consequently,
capable of much distinct motion, the abdominal seg-
ments being destitute of such organs, and having im-
portant functions to perform, are, on the contrary,
gifted with a considerable but variable degree of mo-
tion. Thus, in those species which have the extre-
mity of this part of the body furnished with offensive
or defensive instruments, it is capable of very consi-
derable movements in every direction. This is the
more noticeable in insects which have a very much
elongated abdomen ; as. for instance, the ear-wig,

«64 INS

the Staphyitnidae, &c. Insects which, on the con-
trary, have the abdomen short, and especially those
in which it is defended by the wing-covers, possess
but very little power of motion in this part of the
body. "Another circumstance, also, has much influ-
ence in the same respect ; when the segments of
the abdomen simply touch each other at the margins,
the motion is very limited ; but in those which have
the abdominal wings formed to slide into each other,
the motion is much more exteusive.

The organs of generation (with the exception of
those of the male, LibcllidoE, which are placed be-
neath the h'rst abdominal segment), are situated at
the extremity of the abdomen.

The stinj: (acxleus), and the ovipositor (ovidnc-
tut), are the onfy instruments connected with these
organs which it will be convenient to notice in a
work like the present, and these have already been
described in our articles, Hymenoptera, Cicada, &c.
Besides these, the extremity of the abdomen is some-
times furnished with additional appendages, such as the
forceps of the earwig, common to both sexes (but con-
siderably larger in male than the female), and of the
scorpion-fly (Panorpa), in which it is only found in the
male : the long and slender threads of the may-flies
(Ephemera:), which seem to be of service to these
injects in their alternate rising and falling flight,
being brought into contact when ascending, but ex-
panded during the descent; other shorter and broader
appendages are found in the dragon-flies, cock-
roaches, spectre-insects, &c., sometimes these appen-
dages are articulated, at others simple and entire.

We have now brought our review of the external
organisation of insects to a close. That it has ex-
tended to a considerable length we are aware, and
that it must be to a certain extent comparatively
uninteresting to many readers we much fear ; but it
appeared impossible to dismiss the subject at shorter
length, consistent with the increased number of organs
exhibited to us by insects, and which so far exceed
those of the higher animals. We have endeavoured
as far as possible to keep clear of those minute de-
tails which may be said to have reference to a specific
instead of a general sketch of entomology. We
have, theretore, in the next place, to direct our atten-
tion to

Siib-tection 2. — The internal anatomy of insects.

Having already stated that the skeleton (upon the
variations of w Inch much importance is placed in the
higher animals), is in insects external, we at once
perceive that our labours on arriving at the internal
anatomy of the latter have considerably diminished.

This, indeed, is one of the chief charms of this
branch of zoology ; for whilst in the other inverte-
brated animals it is almost impossible to preserve the
individuals, except in spirits ; and in the vertebrata,
except by slutting the skin, whereby the form of the
body is entirely dependent upon the fancy of the
person who" puts up" the specimen ; insects in almost
every instance preserve their form and colour with a
freshness often quite equal to the life. It remains
for us, therefore, to notice (which we shall do in the
most concise manner); the internal systems of sensa-
tion, digestion, circulation, respiration, and motion.
The generative system, for obvious reasons, will be
left untouched by us.

A The tensitiue or nervous system.— The chief
means whereby the intercourse of animals with the
external world, by the instrumentality of the senses,

EC T.

is maintained, is the nervous system, originating in
the brain or the spinal cord.

Hitherto this branch of our subject, and indeed the
internal structure of insects in general, has received
too little attention from entomologists, of whom we
are compelled to say, that mere external form and the
collecting of specimens occupy their chief attention.
Swammerdam was the first author who carefully
traced the nerves of several insects, as the bee, the
silkworm, and the Oryctes nasicornis ; but Lyonnet
was far more elaborate in performing the same opera-
tion in the caterpillar of the goat-moth. More recently
Strauss-Durckheim, L. Dufour, and Burmeister, and
especially, with reference to its gradational modifica-
tion at various periods, M. Herold in the white but-
terfly, and our own countryman, Newport, in the
Privet Sphinx, have laboured assiduously in the same
field.

144

Nervous system of the Caterpillar of the Cos.ius ligniperda. The
dotted lines indicate the situation of the nerves concealed by
the incumbent muscles.

In insects, as in the other articulated animals, this
system is quite unlike that of the higher animals, and
consists of two medullary cords or threads, exhibiting a
series of knots or ganglions, whereby they are united
together at certain distances, occupying the lower sur-
face of the internal part of the body, and being defended
from the action of the thoracic sternums by the internal
Y-like processes above described, as the pro-, meso-,
and metathoracic furcae. Sometimes the two gan-
glia of each segment are more or less distinct, and
sometimes they are united together side by side, oc-
cupying the medial line of the body ; and the same
occasionally occurs with the communicating threads
themselves. The nervous ganglia or knots are
placed at more or less equal distances from each
other throughout the entire length of the insect,
sometime?, indeed, so close, that they constitute but
two or more ganglia.

INSECT.

This is the case in the perfect, state of the heini-
pterous insect, Riinalra lincaris, for a figure of which
the writer is personally indebted to John Anderson,

Nervous system of Ranatra linearis.

Esq., of Richmond, by whom a most elaborate series
of preparations of the nervous system throughout
the entire range of the animal kingdom has been
made, in illustration of a very valuable paper read on
the 23rd of April last before the Physical Section at
Guy's Hospital, with reference to the remarkable
analogies (noticed in the early part of this article),
exhibited by the human embryo in the various stages
of its passage to perfection, with the perfect state of
the inferior animals. We trust that this admirable
memoir will he shortly published.

In the larva there are thirteen knots, corresponding
with the number of rings of the body; but these
organs, like the other internal systems, are modified
during the passage to the perfect state. Thus Dr.
Herold in his celebrated work upon the Internal
Anatomy of the white Garden Butterfly, ascertained
as the larva approached maturity, the second ganglion
became united with the first ; the fifth and sixth ap-
proach and unite; then the third and fourth ; whilst
in the pupa, the seventh and eighth have entirely
disappeared ; so that, instead of thirteen, the imago
possesses but eight ganglia.

On examining the invertebrated, or rather the ex-
ternally vertebrated structure of an insect with that
of the internally vertebrated animals, we find no part
corresponding with the brain ; or rather the organ
which might be regarded as analogous thereto, and
which, indeed, has been called the brain, namely,
the ganglia of the head, are repeatedly represented
along the entire length of the body ; consequently it
has been supposed that the nervous cord of the insect
represents the great sympathetic nerve of the latter ;
although, perhaps, it would be more correct to regard
it rather as the spinal cord.

The matter of which the nerves are composed is
a soft pulpy substance, enclosed in a simple and
transparent membrane.

The first pair of ganglia is always situated in the
h«':id of insects above the digestive canal, and is
furnished with nerves extending to the eyes, antennee,
mandibles, maxillae, and labrum. The other ganglia

NAT. HIST. — Vol.. II.

are lodged in the thorax and abdomen, or in the
former alone, and similarly placed above the alimen-
tary canal ; the two thick nervous filaments con-
necting the head ganglia with the prothoracic
ganglia are deflexed, so as to surround the oeso-
phagus, forming a kind of nervous collar. From the
thoracic and abdomial ganglia are emitted nerves
which communicate with the legs, wings, and other
organs of the body. In the larva of the goat-moth,
Lyonnet counted forty-five pairs of these nerves,
besides two single ones, thus making a total of ninety-
two, which is considerably more than are found in
the human body ; namely, seventy-eight.

In the vertebrated animals the nerves proceed
from the brain, which is enclosed in the head ; in
insects, on the contrary, we have seen that nerves
proceed from the various knots, whether belonging to
the head, thorax, or abdomen ; hence we might ana-
logically call the various ganglia and their con-
necting filaments an elongated brain. In the verte-
brated animals sensation originates in the brain; and
hence, from the concentration of this organ into one
mass (for so we may call it although divided into two
lobes), sensation is more concentrated, and the feel-
ings rendered highly acute. In insects, on the
contrary, owing to the want of concentration of the
nervous ganglia, sensation is necessarily much less
acute; and, as the nerves laterally emitted by one
ganglion generally serve for the segment of which it
forms a part, the connexion with the preceding or
subsequent ganglia being at the same time slight
in proportion to the slightness of the connecting
filaments, we are enabled satisfactorily to account
for the apparent want of sensation in insects, as
exhibited, for instance, in the cockchaft'er, which
will walk about, although some bird has nearly
emptied the body of its viscera ; or by the head or
abdomen of a wasp, which will continue to bite and
sting long after they have been separated from the
rest of the body ; or by the headless trunk of a male
mantis, which has been known to unite itself to the
other sex, as recorded by Dr. Smith, and quoted by
Kirby and Spence. Another instance is recorded by the
Rev. Mr. Bird, in a memoir published in the Ento-
mological Magazine, entitled, " On the want of
Analogy between the Sensations of Insects and our
own." — " When I was young in entomology," observes
this kindly-hearted writer, " I wished anxiously to
find the quickest mode of killing an insect. Having
captured a pretty beetle, Malachius (Bncus, it struck
me that by cutting it in two at the junction of the
thorax and abdomen, the part which gives rise to the
name insect, Insectum, Evrofwv, I should kill it in a
moment. I took a pair of scissors and divided it ; the
parts fell on a piece of white paper which lay before
me. Far from being dead in an instant, I was grieved
and surprised to see the head with the two fore-legs
attached to it begin to run about the paper. It oc-
casionally stumbled, but rose again, and exhibited, if
I may so speak, perfect self-possession. It made for
the edge of the paper ; but arriving there and look-
ing over it, seemed to think it too precipitous, and
so coasted along in quest of an easier descent, which,
nevertheless, it did not seem able to find. This
coasting and searching for a convenient place of
descent, suited to its curtailed condition with respect
to legs, of which it appeared perfectly aware, occu-
pied the head incessantly. I regarded it with asto-
nishment—' Here, then,' I said to myself as I watched
I I I

806

INSECT.

its motions, ' here lies the vitality of an insect ; the
body at any rate is dead ;' but in this I was quickly
undeceived, for in about a minute after the body had
fallen upon the paper, I saw the hind legs brought
upward, and employed in deliberately brushing and
cleaning the wing-cases, exactly as a house-fly may
be seen to clean its wings on a window pane. The
legs were then withdrawn, the case* raised up, and
true wings expanded from beneath, and all made
ready for flight, which, indeed, I expected to see ;
but the body seeming then to become aware that
there was no guide, the head, its former companion,
being in possession of the eyes, the design was aban-
doned, the winsrs folded up in their usual beautiful
manner, and the attitude of rest again assumed. This
whole process was repeated with perfect regularity
at intervals of about a minute, if I rightly remember*.
A more perfect act of a sentient creature could not
be exhibited : the head continued to run about, and
the body to clean and expand its wings, the one for
about twelve and the other for sixteen hours, their
energies gradually decaying, till they appeared to
perish, or rather to sleep. And now, I ask, which
was the beetle? where was the original creature?
had not the head and the body an equal right to be
taken as its representative? Is not all analogy be-
tween insects and ourselves destroyed by such a
phenomenon ?" And in the same view of the subject
it has been considered better to consider each nervous
ganglion as a separate and independent centre of
volition. But surely we have no authority for adopt-
ing such a view, the ganglia being united together,
and the insect constantly dying when thus divided,
instead of each portion forming itself into a new
being, like the planaria and some other iriverte-
brated animals.

The nerves, as before observed, form the medium
whereby the notice of the various transactions of
the external world is conveyed to the seat of the
instinctive or intellectual organs. The perceptions
thus obtained constitute the senses, of which sight,
hearing, smell, taste, and touch, are those which are
generally allowed to prevail. Some physiologists
(Dr. Virey, &c.), add to these love, and the internal
sense of thought or instinct.

The former of these, as a perception distinct from
the mere physical act of propagation, can scarcely
be allowed to insects. In this point of view the
subject cannot be discussed in a work like the
present. The instinctive powers of insects also appear
to the writer of this article to be on a very different
footing compared with the other senses. We shall
therefore defer our observations thereon to the sub-
seqiuMit section of this article.

That insects possess several of the senses is certain ;
but the seat of these senses is not ascertained ; nei-

.!! ^'il Apparently controverts the conclusion of Burmeister,
that after the separation of the nervous cord at any part, the
voluntary motion of the organs seated beyond the point of in-
cision i is lost, but that the irritability of the muscles, that is to
power of reaction upon external excitement, is re-
:d by these organs as long as life remains. We say appa-
rently, because when the increased size of the muscular system
«-rto iTS.8 U1 !llalachius (which is a strong flier',, is con-
n »*.»< J /S -in,the sw-imminS motion of the hind legs
us deprived of its anterior ganglia, recorded by Bui-

TZ3KEL1* Thlch the muscles of the hind legs are very
hT^SLW^' the unfoldinS *"d Aiding of the wings ma

ther can we by any possibility arrive at a certain
conclusion that the senses of these animals are iden-
tical with our own. Their entire organisation having
been shown to be so totally different from that of the
vertebrated animals ; indeed, as Mr. Mac Leay has
observed in the Horse Entomologies, there is no
reason why animals constituted upon a plan so
totally unlike our own, should not possess senses of
which we have no idea. We will, however, adopt
the general opinion, and speak of the senses of insects
as analogous to our own, the consideration of which
will form so many distinct sub-sections.

a. The Sense of Sight. — The eyes of insects are the
only organs which we can with any certainty refer to
the sense of which they are the seat. We have
already described the external structure of the eye?,
and ocelli or eyelets, and shall therefore now notice
their internal organisation, and the mode in which
vision is effected. On making a perpendicular incision
into the eye, it is found to consist of various layers ;
the external membrane is hard, transparent, and com-
posed of a multitude of hexagonal facets, each forming
a more or less distinct conical cylinder, running
towards the centre of the eye ; beneath this external
membrane is a layer of coloured matter, often of a
blackish violet hue, but sometimes green, red, or
banded, pierced with as many holes as there are
facets or pupils ; beneath this is a varnish of a black
colour, within which is another belt, the inclosed
space receiving the optic nerve, with its numberless
ramifications, a branch probably going to each facet.
The structure and functions of the eyes of insects
have been investigated with great accuracy by Miiller,
who has proved that the refractive powers of the
ocelli must be very great, each ray of light suffering
a four-fold refraction ; the first produced by the
convex cornea, the second by the anterior convex
surface of the lens, the third by the posterior convex
surface of the lens, and the fourth by the convex sur-
face of the glassy body itself; hence a very distinct
short sight, suitable for small objects, is possessed by
these eyes. In the compound eyes the effect is dif-
ferent, here, owing to the convexity of these eyes, and
the consequent obliquity of the lateral facets and their
cylinders, a much wider horizon must be embraced,
each individual facet surveying but a small space of
the entire field of vision, each thus contributing to the
perception of objects comprised within the view, those
rays of light only that fall in a right line upon a facet,
which itself forms the segment of a circle, can reach the
optic nerve of this facet, whereas all others are
withheld by the pigment which separates the indivi-
dual glass cases from each other, and partly circularly
surrounds the margin of the crystalline lens beneath
the cornea. According to Miiller, each nervous fila-
ment conveys to the bulb of the optic nerve the
impression of the ray which it has individually re-
ceived ; and as all the nervous filaments at first
separated by the pigment are at length united together
into one common and continuous bulb or nervous
expansion, the impression received by each filament is
united to those of the others in the bulb of the optic
nerve, and so a common and continuous image is pro-
duced. This author, however, further considers, that
rays coming from one point of a remote object will
illuminate throughout more than a single cone, and thus
to each luminous point without there will correspond
in the interior of the eye, not exactly a single illu-
minated point, but rather a little circle of diffused or

INSECT.

dispersed light, and in consequence an image of but
little distinctness will be reproduced on the internal
surface or retina, the distinctness of the image increas-
ing in proportion as the object approaches the eye.
It is, however, admitted, that the distinctness of the
image will increase in proportion to the number of
facets, and the length of the cones, for the longer the
cones are, the more completely will all rays entering
them obliquely be prevented from reaching their
internal extremity or apex. Upon these remarks we
would, however, be permitted to observe, that, from
the fact of each facet being the segment of a circle,
as well as from the exceedingly minute size of the
pupil-like aperture of the pigmental division of each
facet, those rays only which fall upon the centre of
each facet, and pass down the axis of each cylinder,
can reach the nervous filaments in the centre of the
eve, and thus there can be no such dispersion of the
rays and consequent indistinctness of vision above
noticed. We submit this opinion with great defer-
ence, and because it appears to us, that in the various
experiments made upon this subject, due allowance
has not been made for the external circularity of each
facet of the cornea.

Immediately in connexion with the sense of sight
ought to be noticed that remarkable property which
many insects possess of emitting a peculiar light, and
•which, as we apprehend, should be regarded as dis-
played by insects with a view to its perception by the
eyes of their associates, just as the chirping of a
cricket is adduced in favour of the hearing of its
fellows. Amongst insects, the Lampyridce (or GLOW-
WORMS, which see) and the Elatendee are the only
families which are decidedly proved to possess this
faculty; although it has been asserted to prevail in the
Fulgoridee, and some isolated species of other groups,
but there is no distinct evidence of its existence in
these latter insect. We must, however, refer to the
various articles upon these families, where we have
dwelt more at large upon the nature and peculiarities
of these luminous exhibitions.

b. The Sense of Hearing.— Linnaeus describes in-
sects in general as "Muta nisi alio proprio instrumento,
sonora ; Surda stridorem setheris licet percipiant."
From many facts, however, it is evident that insects
distinguish sounds in some manner or other, although
the greatest uncertainty prevails amongst naturalists
as to the organ of this sense. Without presuming to
offer any opinion of our own upon a point on which
so muny learned physiologists are at variance, we
shall content ourselves with noticing the production
of sounds caused by insects, which has invariably
been employed as an argument in favour of the pos-
session of the sense of hearing by these animals, and
then allude to the opinions which have been enter-
tained as to its seat.

Unlike the higher animals, insects possess no dis-
tinct vocal apparatus terminating in the mouth. The
noises made by insects may be divided into three
kinds, according to the mode in which they are pro-
duced. In the first, the sound is produced by the
mere friction of one part of the external integument
against another, whereby, when an insect is disturbed,
it forcibly rubs one portion of its body against another
in its endeavours to escape. In this manner, by the
friction of the prothorax against the base of the meso-
thorax, or the abdomen against the elytra in beetles,
a continuous and rather loud sound is produced. The
second kind of sound is produced by numerous

flying insects, and which our bard of the Seasons has
alluded to in his lines,

Yet not unpleasant is the ceaseless hum
To him who wanders in the woods at noon.

The mode in which this sound is produced has been
endeavoured to be explained in a variety of ways. We
have already alluded to these opinions in our account of
the Halteref. and shall only add, that the experiments
of Burmeister and others, together with the fact that
bees produce as loud a sound as dipterous insects,
although unprovided, like the latter, with winglets
or halteres, seem satisfactorily to prove that it is
owing to the rushing of the air through the thoracic
spiracles that the buzzing is produced. The third
kind of sound is produced by a distinct modification,
of certain organs for their express emission. We
have already described these structures in the Linna-an
genera Gri/lliis and Cicada, which comprise the only
insects thus circumstanced, and which are confined to
the males. The death's-head moth also produces a
plaintive kind of cry, as described in our article upon
that insect.

In many works we find the effects of other sounds
upon insects described, an instance of which we have
already recorded in our account of the great green
grasshopper.

As to the organs supposed to be the means whereby
this sense is produced, we find that the opinions of the
majority of authors may be divided into those by
which the seat of this sense is asserted to be wholly
unknown, and those who consider that the antennae
in some way or other perform the functions of organs
of hearing. Other opinions have, indeed, been main-
tained by several other and distinguished authors.
Thus Treviranus described a small drum-like mem-
brane* on the forehead in front of the base of each
antennae in moths, to which nerves extend, but no
analogous organ has ever been discovered in other
tribes of insects. Miiller in like manner regarded
part of the chirping apparatus of the grasshopper as
an organ of sound ; whilst Rudolphi considered the
anterior salivary glands of bees as similar organs. Of
continental authors who have regarded the antennae
as analogous to ears, the most celebrated are Sulzer,
Scarpa, Schneider, Berkhausen, Reaumur, Bonnsdorf,
Cams, Strauss-Diirckheim, Oken, and Burmeister.
Kirby and Spence adopt the same view to a certain
extent, considering it probable that the primary func-
tion of the antennas may be something related to
hearing ; they further conceive that antennae, by a
peculiar structure, may collect notices from the atmop-
phere, receive pulses or vibrations, and communicate
them to the sensorium, which, though not precisely to
be called hearing, may answer the same purpose. It
is true that the antennas have, by other authors, been
regarded as the organs of smell and of touch, the
grounds for which we shall notice in our observ-
ations upon that sense. Moreover in the higher
Crustacea (crabs, &c.), the organs of hearing distinctly
exist in the shape of oval apertures, inclosing move-
able plates, and placed at the base of the larger
pairs of antenna?, a circumstance which has been con-
sidered as affording a strong analogy in favour of the
opinion that the antennas are organs of hearing.

c. The Sense of Smell. — That insects possess, in a
high degree, this sense, is evident to every one who

* Did not Treviranus here mistake the ocelli for the ears >

868

INSECT.

knows with what pertinacity the blow-fly discovers
meat, even when concealed under napkins, in sates,
&c. That butterflies will fly down to flowers from a
considerable height, may be accounted for by the
action of their eyes, indeed we have seen butterflies
fluttering on the outside of windows, within which
were coloured bits of paper, which they evidently
mistook for flowers. In the two preceding senses
we have seen that their existence might be presumed
from the existence of luminous properties in certain
species, or by the emission of sounds by others. In
like manner the discharge of numerous and varied
ecents by many insects, induces us to admit the
sense of scent in insects, although the organ of this
sense is as little ascertained as that of hearing. Thus
the disgusting odour of the bug, the cock-roach, or
the lady-bird ; the rose-like scent of the cicindela; the
inusk-like scent of the musk beetle; the garlic scent of
many andrenae ; the goat-like scent of the caterpillar
of the goat moth ; or the strong acid smell of many of
the ants, sufficiently prove a keen perception of effluvia
in insect*. As to the organ of this sense the majority
of naturalists, Baster, Lehmann, Cuvier, Dumeril,
Audnuin, Strauss-DUrckheim, and to an extent Bur-
meister, from analogy with the vertebrated animals,
regard the lining of the spiracles as exercising this
function ; whilst Christian, Reaumur, Lyonnet, De
Blaiuville, and Latreille, consider the antennae in this
light. Marcel de Serres and Bonnsdorf, as well as
Christian, conceive the palpi to be smelling organs.
Comparetti described various cavities and cells in the
front of the head, which he regarded as performing
the office of a nose ; but his assertions have never
been confirmed. Treviranus considered the entire
mucous lining of the mouth as the organ of smell;
whilst Kirby and Spence give the name of rhinarium,
or nostril piece, to the membrane connecting the
skull and the clypeus (which they call the nose), and
have described a pair of circular pulpy cushions
under the clypeus and rhinarium, covered by a mem-
brane transversely streaked with beautifully fine stride,
as the organs of smell, which they discovered in the
burying-beetle (Nccrophagus vetpeUo) and some others.
But these discoveries are not confirmed by other and
more elaborate insect anatomists, who have discovered
no similar organ, nor do Kirby and Spence indicate
bow scents can pass through the rhinarium.

d. Tkc Sense of Taste.— II we have noticed the
flesh-fly, as affording a proof of the existence of scent
of insects, the same insect may be again cited to
prove that insects are not deficient in the sense of
taste ; indeed, to suppose that animals, having such a
beautifully constructed and complicated oral appa-
ratus as is exhibited by the mouths of insects, which
also exhibit such discrimination and fastidiousness in
the choice of their food, should be deficient in this
sense, seems not to be very philosophical, although
such has been asserted by Rudolphi and some other
physiologists. That this sense is seated in some part
of the mouth or digestive organs is, however, gene-
rally admitted. Some authors, however, have sun-
posed it to exist in the palpi, whilst others regard it
s seated in the pharynx, or at the commencement of
the throat. The tongue, however, is more generally
regarded as its real seat, this being a fleshy organ
in many insects and provided with a great abundance
of nerves, and furnished with saliva from the mouths
of the ducts of the glands lying beneath this organ,
ft must, however, be admitted, that there are many

insects in which the analogue of the tongue is not de-
veloped, or exists merely as a horny seta.

e. The Sense of Touch. — In the higher animals the
outer envelope of the body is, from its peculiar con-
struction, generally, and in all parts, adapted to
receive impressions by this sense ; but in insects, the
hard scaly texture of the external covering neces-
sarily prevents such a general system of touch, and
we are therefore compelled to search for organs
which may in an especial manner be regarded as the
organs of this sense. Here, too, however, we find
difficulties similar to those which have met us in our
researches relative to the other senses : thus the an-
tennae, palpi, wings, and tarsi, and particularly the
anterior tarsi, have been regarded as the organs of
this sense ; and, indeed, the opinion, that the first-
named organs constituted the real feelers, has been
maintained by some writers with so much zeal, that
even violent abuse has been heaped upon persons
professing a different view of the subject. It is true,
that the antennae have been generally termed feelers,
and the proceedings of some of the IchneumonidtB
have been adduced as instances in support of these
organs being capable of feeling (as detailed in our
article ICHNEUMONID/E) ; but here, as Kirby and
Speuce observe, either by means of its antenna?, it
hears a slight noise made by the latent grub, perhaps
by the action of its mandibles, or else that, by its mo-
tions, it generates a motion in the atmosphere of its
habitation, which, striking upon the antennas of the
parasitic ichneumon, are by them communicated to
its sensorium. Moreover, the ovipositor of these in-
sects is much longer (in Fceniis and Pimpla) than the
antennae ; so that, by inserting the latter into the
holes in walls, posts, &c., it is impossible that they
can reach the latent grub. Strauss-Durckheim, and
some others, on the contrary, regard the articulated
tarsi as the organs of touch ; Kirby and Spence con-
sidering them also as organs of active touch, whilst
the same authors, together with Knoch, Lehmann,
Cuvier, and Burmeister, regard the palpi as the
organs of touch, these parts being, without intermis-
sion, applied to every surface, and being terminated
by a minute transparent membrane, which is sup-
posed to be the precise seat of this sense ; although
Strauss-Diirckheim, who carefully examined it, con-
sidered it as the organ of a distinct double kind of
sense, partaking both of touch and taste. In some
bees which we are at present experimenting upon,
and which thrive upon moistened white sugar, we
notice the maxillary palui applied to the surface of
the sugar all the time that the insect continues to
feed.

B. The Digestive System.

After the food has been taken into the mouth and
been submitted to the action of the trophi, it passes
into the pharynx or entrance to the stomach. The
digestive organs are opened at each end, extending
from the mouth to the anus; sometimes they are
straight, and at others bent or twisted together ;
and, as in the higher animals, they are short in the
predaceous species, but elongated in those which
feed upon plants : sometimes they are of an equal dia-
meter throughout, but at other times variously con-
stricted. Where the number of these constrictions
is the greatest, the digestive tube consists of, 1st, the
pharynx ; 2nd, the oasophagus or gullet ; 3rd, the
craw or jabot ; 4th, the gizzard or ventriculus ; 5th,
the stomach or duodenum ; and 6th, the intestines,

INSECT.

including the intestinum tenne or small gut, the
caecum or blind gut, and the rectum or vent gut. In
addition to this variously divided digestive tube,

Figs. 146, Digestive system of Slelolontha; 147, ditto of Staphy.
linus (from L. Dufour).

there are a number of slender membranous tubes
rilled with a fluid apparently analogous to the bile;
they are, for the most part, inserted into the stomach
near its outlet, where the secretion, which is thus
discharged, acts upon the already partially dissolved
food, and converts it into a pulpy mass or chyle, the
nutritive parts of which, as it passes into the small
gut, are taken up by the inner membrane of the
latter, and passed into the cavity of the abdomen,
lying upon and around the parts to be nourished by
absorption. The indigestible parts of the food are
collected in the caecum, and thence passed out of the
body,

C. The Circulatory System.

It has been generally considered that insects were
destitute of a real and direct circulation analogous to
that of the higher animals ; but the recent observ-
ations of many distinguished authors (Comparetti,
Carus, Bowerbank, Burmeister, &c.), appear to have
fully proved that they do possess such a system.
Although there is no part in insects strictly analogous
to the heart, yet this name has been ordinarily given
to a series of large reservoirs forming a longitudinal
tube, extending throughout the entire length of the
body (commencing at the first thoracic segment) be-
neath the dorsal integuments and muscles, and which
is easily distinguished by its alternate contractions
and dilatations, similar to those of the heart in the
higher animals, which may be constantly observed in
the silk-worm and other naked caterpillars. In this
dorsal vessel, as it has been called by some physio-
logists, the blood is contained, and which, unlike that
of the vertebrata, is cold, transparent, and often en-
tirely colourless. It was, however, considered that
as no outlet had been discovered, there could be no
circulation, and yet it was supposed that the fluid in
some way or other made its escape, and was disse-
minated amongst the various internal organs, which

869

it penetrated by imbibition. Strauss-Diirckbeim,
however, discovered that there exists in the cock-
chaffer a series of orifices opening into each side of
the dorsal vessel, and furnished with valves.

Figs. 148, Larva of Ephemera, showing the central dorsal vessel,
someof the valves being- opened, the current of the fluid being-
indicated by arrows (from Mr. Bowerbank) ; 14Q, lateral view of
the dorsal vessel of Meiolontlia.

The dorsal vessel consists, according to Strauss-
Diirckheim, of eight successive chambers in the cock-
chaffer. Mr. Bowerbank says " they are about equal in
number to the sections of the body" in the larva of
an Ephemera, separated by converging valves, which
allow the blood to be propelled forward towards the
head, but prevent its returning. The blood abounds
in very minute oat-shaped particles, and is> seen cir-
culating in every part of the body, from whence,
upon each pulsation and opening of the lateral aper-
tures, it rushes into the dorsal vessel, and is conveyed
into the anterior part of the body, When the ter-
minal chamber is filled, the blood which it contains
causes the lateral valves to close, and the blood to be
propelled into the next chamber, which, at the same
time also receives a flow of blood from its own lateral
openings. In this manner the blood is forced towards
the prothoracic chamber, where it terminates, ac-
cording to Strauss-Diirckheim, in a single artery
without branches, which carries the blood into
the head, where it is poured out, and thence
flows back into the cavity of the body (in distinct
arteries, according to Mr. Bowerbank), to be again
taken into the heart, which consists of two mem-
branes, the external one of which is furnished with
numerous ramifications of the air-tubes. The various
air tubes also which are distributed throughout the
body, communicate with the blood as it is discliaiged
from the prothoracic chamber, and thus it receive as
supply of oxygen. The number of chambers in an
imago appears to be smaller than in a larva ; we have
also seen that the number of segments in the latter
are more numerous than in the former. It would
therefore form a very interesting subject of inquiry
to ascertain the mode in which, and the period when,
this loss takes place. The circulation of the blood

870

INSECT.

is most distinctly teen in the aquatic larvae, and in
the wings ot'insecu, owing to their transparency.

D. The Respiratory System.

The systems of circulation and respiration are ne-
cessarily dependent upon each other. In the higher
animals the lungs are the receptacles of the air, and
the blood rushes into these organs to be oxygenated.
In insects we hare, however, seen that the circulatory
system extends throughout the body, the great dorsal
vessel equally extending from one end of the body to
the other ; hence it is requisite that the respiratory
apparatus should be developed to an equivalent de-
gree, and we accordingly find that respiration in
insects is effected by means of two great longitudinal
vessels or canals called tracheae, running along the
sides of the body beneath the outer integuments and
muscles, and which open to the outer atmosphere by
means of short tubes, terminating in breathing pores
(spiracles or stigmata). The number of these spiracles

*ig. ISO, Respiratory apparatus of Nepu cinerea, in which (he
:>nly pair of spiracles are placed at the sides of the anus, the
lateral spiracles being obsolete or rudimeutal.

is various ; those of the larva, in which the body is
composed of a more regular and uniform series of
segments, being more numerous than the spiracles of
the imago. In the former they amount to eighteen,
that is, nine pairs; whereas, in the generality of perfect
insects, the number is, or appears to be, diminished ;
moreover, in the latter, the spiracles, owing to the
greater development of external covering, are gene-
rally more or less concealed. Spiracles are of two
kinds, simple or composite. In the former the aper-
ture is a simple orifice guarded only by hairs, which
prevent the passage of any foreign substance which
might be injurious ; but in the composite spiracle the
aperture is closed by two horny valves, which move
backwards and forwards like a pair of folding doors
at each inspiration. The former sort of spiracles are
generally found at the sides of the abdomen, where
e upper and lower arcs of each segment are united

together. The composite spiracles are, on the con-
trary, appropriated to the thorax.

The tracheae, which originate in the spiracles, are
connected with the two great longitudinal air tubes
above mentioned, which likewise emit an infinite
number of ramifications extending to all parts of the
body, like the branches of a tree. These tracheae are
of two sorts, tubular or vesicular : the former are
tubes composed of three distinct membranes, the ex-
ternal and internal layers being of a cellular texture,
and the central being composed of a cartilaginous
thread, rolled in a spiral direction, and very elastic.
The vesicular tracheae are destitute of this spiral
cartilage, and are small bags of a cellular texture,
which, when not distended with air, naturally become
flaccid. The tracheae often communicate with each
other, and penetrate all the organs, such as the legs,
wings, &c. ; they are also distributed throughout the
intestinal parts of the body, so that the air circulates
freely in the most obscure parts.

We have already noticed in our articles DYTICID^:,
CULICID.*, CHIRONOMUS, EPHEMERA, and in the
present article, various modifications exhibited by the
respiratory apparatus of the insects belonging to these
groups, which are chiefly aquatic, and in which we
perceive two principal modifications: 1st, A series of
large lateral organs which act upon the water, and
abstract from it the oxygen ; and, 2ndly, a concentra-
tion of the respiratory functions, by means of an
apparatus placed at the extremity of the body,
whereby the insect is enabled to obtain a supply of
air by protruding this part of the body above the
surface of the water, whilst it still remains with its
greater part submerged. M. Audouin has also
recently noticed another remarkable modification of
the respiratory apparatus in insects, which, although
terrestrial, are occasionally covered for a great length
of time with water. (See his Memoir upon Nepiis
fulvesccns in the Nouvelles Annales du Museum).

Fig. 151, Dorsal muscles of the anterior segments of the caterpil-
lar of Costut.

E. The Motive, or Muscular System. — The varied
structures which we have observed in the preceding
parts of this article, upon the external anatomy of
insects, are but the visible expression of certain prin-
ciples which constitute the economy of the various
species, and which are regulated in the performance
of their various functions by a series of internal
muscles, attached to the internal surface of the ex-
ternal covering of the animal. Of the extent of this

INSECT.

871

syMem of muscles, some idea may be entertained, i
when it is stated that Lyonnet discovered 40(51 in ]
the caterpillar of the goat moth, 228 being attached ;
to the head, 1647 to the body, and 2186 to the intes-
tines ; whereas, in the human body, only 529 have
been discovered ; so that this insect possesses nearly
fight times as many muscles as there are contained in
the human frame. This, however, will not appear so
extraordinary, when the greater number of legs, &c.,
in the insect are remembered.

The construction of insect muscles is similar to
those of the higher animals, each being formed of
muscle and of tendon ; the former is fleshy, whilst
the latter, which forms the coating and extremities of
the muscle, is firm, and not liable to contraction. Ac-
cording to Lyonnet, the muscles are composed of
many parallel bands, consisting of bundles of fibres
enveloped in separate membranes ; these fibres ap-
pearing to be twisted in a spiral direction. These
muscles are attached at one end to the various pro-
cesses of internal surface of the outer covering, which
serves as their fulcrum, and the other end is attached
to the organ to be moved. The size of muscles is
proportioned to the movements to be performed by
i he organs to which they are attached: thus, the
muscles of the mandibles are much more robust than
those of the maxillae : in like manner the comparative
aize of the various organs influence that of the corre-
sponding muscles. Thus, when the anterior wing is
enlarged at the expense of the posterior, the ineso-
thoracic muscles are more developed than those of
the metathorax ; and vice versa, in like manner, the
muscles of the hind legs of a leaping insect, as a grass-
hopper, are more extensive than those of the simple
walking legs. Muscles, as regards their action, are
either flexors or extensors, levators or depressors : by
the flexors, which are attached to the inner surface of
a limb, it is drawn towards the base, and conse-
quently as it were folded up ; extensors, on the con-
trary, are attached on the exterior part of the cavity
of the outer covering of a limb, and acting in an
opposite direction, so as to extend the limb. In like
manner levator muscles cause the elevation of a limb,
whilst depressors bend it downwards. To describe
in a more particular manner the musc'es of insects, or
to trace their varied action in effecting the varied
motions which are exhibited by these animals, would
occupy a far greater space than we can by possibility
devote to the subject in this already too long article.

4thly. The Physiological and Instinctive Properties
of Insects.

Having brought to a close our review of the
general structure of insects, as exhibited not only in
their preparatory and perfect slates, but also in their
external and internal organisation, it would naturally
remain for us to lay before the reader the modes of
operation by which each of these various structures
is rendered serviceable towards the fulfilment of the
ends for which the insect has been produced. This
would comprise every physiological peculiarity pre-
sented to us by the insect world, independent of mere
structural modification. But in treating of the inter-
nal systems of organs, and, indeed, partially, in our
review of the external form of insects, we have
thought it might be more agreeable to the majority
of our readers to blend together effects with causes ;
operations with the apparatus whereby they are
effected. It still, however, remains for us, as pre-
viously observed, to notice the operations of that

power, or principle, which seems totally independent;
of organisation, and to which the name of instinct is
generally applied.

It is necessary for us, however, in the first place,
to premise, that it is not our intention to enter into
any disquisition upon the nature of instinct. We
know, indeed, nothing of the real nature thereof be-
yond what is exhibited to us by the various pheno-
mena of insect life, and which have been well
described as the result of a power " enabling an
animal to do that which, in those things that man
can do, results from a chain of reasoning ; and in
things which men cannot do, is not to be explained
by any efforts of the intellectual faculties *."

Now these varied phenomena are manifested to us
in an endless variety of methods : in the affection of
insects for their offspring ; in the numerous distinct
modes in which the parent insect deposits her eggs
in the most appropriate situations; in the construc-
tion of nests ; in the various stratagems by which
insects procure their food ; in the modes of defence
employed by insects either against their ordinary
enemies or accidents ; but, more than all, in the
varied economy of social insects — bees, humble bees,
wasps, ants, white ants. All these varied phenomena
appear, however, to be resolvable to two principal
heads — the continuance of the species, and the pre-
servation of the individual : indeed, the great end and
final care of the endless labours of the social insects
can only be traced to one or the other of these causes.

If we confine our attention to the first of these
grounds of inquiry, viz. the perpetuation of the species,
we find that here, as elsewhere, the great command
" Increase and multiply " is obeyed to the fullest ex-
tent, as is manifested by the various circumstances
connected with the pairing of insects, and especially
by the precautions which the parent female exhibits
in the careful deposition of her eggs, as already
noticed in the early part of this article ; whilst the
often extraordinary and always interesting peculiari-
ties exhibited by social insects in the construction of
their nests, for their own habitations and the rearing
of their offspring, the collecting of food, and the feed-
ing of young, have been treated upon in various other
articles of this work (ANT, BEE, FOKMICID^E, HUMBLE

BEE, IcHNEUMONlD^E, &C.).

If, on the other hand, we direct our attention to
the preservation of the individual (and many of the
peculiarities of social insect life conduct us to this
branch of our inquiry), we find the subject also divides
itself into two sections, namely, the various stratagems
employed for obtaining a supply of food, and the
means of active or passive defence adopted by insects.
With a few notices of some of the most remarkable
of each of these instinctive peculiarities, we shall
close the present branch of our subject.

We have seen in the early part of this article that,
from the very nature of the functions of the insect
tribes, it is essential that the consumption by them of
animal and vegetable matter should uninterruptedly
be carried on. Hence, as well as from the nature of
insects in general, and the great care shown by the
female in depositing her eggs in the most fitting situ-
ations, there is but little occasion for any exhibition
of instinctive reasoning on the part of these animals,
with the exception of those which prey upon living

Lieut. Col. Sykes, in Trans, of Entomol. Society, p. 106.

H7-2

INSECT.

animal matter. Hero pursuit, search, or some equivalent
thereto, is necessary tor ensuring a due supply of food,
and hence we find that the predaceous tribes of'insects,
like their analogues among beasts or birds, are more
fitly organised for rapid movements than the lazy
inactive herbivorous species. If this be the case with
the perfect insects, there must be some other mode
of obtaining their food by their predaceous larva'
(especially since it is during this period that feeding-
is the great object of an insect's existence), which
are not furnished with sufficiently powerful organs of
locomotion. We have described the extraordinary
mask of the larva of the dragon-flies, which conse-
quently is an instrument applicable for such purpose ;
and the raptorial structure of the fore-legs of many
predaceous insects, the great strength of muscles by
which these organs are moved, and the many strong
spines with which they are armed, are in like manner
auxiliaries, supplying the want of powerful locomotive
organs. But there is still another class of predaceous
larvae which are compelled, in order to obtain their
own food, to resort to actual stratagems for this
purpose, which the more developed structure of the
preceding insects rendered unnecessary. The con-
structions of the spider, and especially the manosuvres
of the jumping spiders, so constantly to be noticed on
every sunny wall, leaping from a considerable distance
upon their prey, will also occur to our readers, but
which we shall more especially notice elsewhere.

The larva of a somewhat rare British species of
the Liunsean genus Cimc\r (Redwnut persunatus), is
asserted to feed upon the bed-bug ; like it, it is found
in houses, but its appearance is so extraordinary, that
it is impossible to have the least idea that it is an
insect, were it not for its slight and awkward move-
ments. It covers itself completely with a coat of
dirt and dust, so that it more resembles a lamp of
earth. Nevertheless the antenna? and rostrum are
similar to those of the perfect insect, and enable us
to decide what it really is ; moreover, on touching it
with the point of a pencil, its coat falls off' at once,
which, however, the insect soon again renews. In
this dress it is enabled to approach its prey without
their being alarmed at its coining.

There are, however, three species of insects belong-
ing to as many distinct orders, Colcoptera, Diptcra,
and Xcuroptcra, which in their larva state exhibit a
greater degree of instinct than any of the preceding,
by the construction of pitfalls, in which they lay in
wait for every stray insect which may be "hapless
enough to come within their reach. We' have already
described the burrow of the larva of the Cicindcla,
consisting of a long and tubular passage, at the mouth
of which the voracious larva stations itself, its head
just fitting the opening of this retreat with its jaws
expanded, ready to sei/.e on every passing insect.
The two other species referred to are the ant-lion
(Myrmelcon\ and a fly (RAagio vermilco). These con-
struct large funnel-shaped burrows in sandv situations
at the bottom of which they take their station, ready
to seize any ant or other insect which mav chance to
slip down the sides. The grub of the latter lies mo-
tionless at the foot of the burrow, and, snake-like
twines itself round its prey, piercing it with its stron-
hooks or mandibles. But the ant-lion is more wary
its form is most unprepossessing; it therefore buries
itself in the sand at the bottom of its hole, leaving
only us long curved jaws exposed ; and it has the
additional instinct, in case any of the insects which

fall down the sides of its trap should endeavour to
escape, to bring them within its reach by a shower of
sand. We must, however, reserve our details of their
proceedings for the article MYRMELEON.

The various modes of active or passive defence
adopted by insects, present us equally with many of
the most interesting phenomena of insect instinct.
Here we find Nature ever rich in resources, the
smallest as well as the largest objects of the animated
creation are equally beneath her care. We will run
through the various orders of insects, and notice a
few of the more remarkable of these peculiarities.
We find the predaceous beetles well enabled to de-
fend themselves, not only by the hard scaly covering
of their bodies, and the powerful organs of their
mouths, especially their strong and hooked jaws, but
also by the emission of a black and foetid fluid, which
is quite sufficient to ensure them from the attacks of
their enemies. It is this fluid, which is occasionally
volatilized on coming into contact with the air, that
the bombardier beetle employs when in danger, as
described in our article upon that insect. The pre-
daceous water-beetles also, by similar emissions, but
more particularly by their capability of flight in the
air, swimming in the water, or creeping on the land,
are enabled to avoid the attacks of enemies which
might assault them in any of these elements. We
have seen that many beetles, as the pill-beetles (lit/r-
rkidte), the death-watches (Anobium), and the mimic-
beetles (Huterida;), with many others, possess in a
remarkable degree the power of counterfeiting death,
by folding up their limbs and keeping them in a state
of inactivity. Other beetles, by the similarity of their
appearance to the sand or earth in which they reside,
readily elude our observation, as in many sand hete-
romera, The emission of similar foetid scents and
fluids by many other beetles, as the Silphidce, C/iryw-
melidee, and especially by the lady-birds, is a very
ordinary means of defence ; whilst the similarity in
the colouring of others to the leaves, stems, or bark
of plants and trees, is equally serviceable. The
threatening aspect of some, as the devil's coach horse ;
the rapidity of the movements of others, as the Hal-
tic(B, joined to their minuteness, all tend to the same
end. The larvae of the CastidaB and CriuccridtB cover
themselves with a cloak formed of their own excre-
ments, as described in our articles upon those insects.

In the Ortlioptcra we find great locomotive powers,
as exhibited by the locusts and grasshoppers, whose
strength in leaping is known to every schoolboy ; but
there are other insects belonging to the same order
equally well defended, although their locomotive powers
are but slight. Here we are to notice the walking
leaf-insects and the walking stick-insects, objects which
to an ordinary observer would appear but detached
leaves or twigs rustling with every breath of air ;
but they have life, and Nature has given them their
strange appearance w ith a view to its preservation, by
deceiving those animals which might otherwise make
them their prey. Nothing indeed can be more com-
plete than the deception produced by these insects :
the walking leaf is flat, semi-transparent, narrowed at
the head, or stalk part of the leaf, the antenna form-
ing the stem, the abdomen is dilated at the sides,
notched, like the margin of a leaf, and, to complete
the resemblance, the wing-covers lie flat upon the
back, forming by their union a straight central line,
from which proceeds various oblique nerves, like tin:
principal veins of a leaf. In the neuropterous and tri-

INSECT.

chopterous orders we find equally successful means
of defence. We have already quoted a passage rela-
tive to the dragon-fly, from which it will be seen how
completely, by means of wings, eyes, and mouth, it
is enabled to escape its enemies. The delicate gauze-
winged golden-eyed flies (Hemcrobiut), which seem
too slight to encounter even a breath of air, come
forth only at the dusk ; they, moreover, emit the
most disgusting scent; and, as a still further defence,
they have the instinct to place their eggs out of
danger, at the extremity of long and slender foot-
stalks, and their larvae cover themselves with a coat
formed of the skins of their victims.

The Phrygmiea: encase themselves, in the larva
state, in firm cases of earth, stones, shells, &c., fastened
together; and thus their soft and fleshy bodies are
secured from the attacks of fishes which, as every
angler is aware, deem them a tempting morsel.

Who is there that has not experienced how well
some of the insects of the hymenopterous order are
enabled to defend themselves by the assistance of
their sting ? We surely need not describe the pain
inflicted by this delicate instrument, which we have
described at length in our article BEE.

The Lep'uloptcra are perhaps the most defenceless
amongst insects, but, even here we find many larvte
luiviiiir instinct to enroll themselves in the leaves of
plants, or to form for themselve tents or tubes of
various materials for their abodes ; whilst others, by
the resemblance of their colours to the plants upon
which they are found, or by the hairs with which
they are clothed, are amply defended against their
foes.

In the hemipterous order we find a very numerous
tribe, composing the Linnaean genus Ciniex (the bugs),
able effectually to defend themselves by the emission
of a powerful scent, which, although occasionally in
some few species not disagreeable, is in general very
disgusting.

In the Ilemiptcra many species, as the Ccrcopida;,
are enabled to leap to very great distances, thus
avoiding their enemies ; whilst some in the larva stale
conceal themselves beneath a curious coating of froth.
The Diptcra do not present any very striking in-
stances of insect defence ; the rapidity of their motions,
as well as those of insects composing the remainiti
order Ajj/tanijilcra (the flea), ought not, however, to
be omitted.

From this review of the means of defence in the
various orders of insects, it will be seen that distinct
organs for active defence arc not possessed by the
majority of these animals, but that they are amply
compensated by equally effective modes of counter-
acting the attacks of their foes, consisting of powers
of evasion, as rapidity of flight, strength in swimming,
quickness in leaping, and velocity in running ; or ol
repulsive powers, as emission of powerful odours, the
hideousness of appearance, or simulating powers,
whereby the appearance of death or other objects is
assumed.

The various facts which we have now adduced will
we are convinced, be amply sufficient to prove how
interesting is the study of this class of animals
Here all is motion, all manifests in the strougesi
degree the desire to prolong existence, and to per-
petuate the countless insect tribe?. The constan*
dread of destruction to which, from their sinal
size, insects are so pre-emicently liable, und iigdins
which their instinct, in all states of their existence, is

brought into full action, is nevertheless necessary to
jreserve a just proportion between all the tribes of
he creation. Here indeed we may safely believe —

All discord, harmony, not understood,
All partial evil, universal good.

Under whatever aspect we consider the little ob-
ects of our present consideration, if we admire the
variety of their forms, the beauty of their colours, the
diversity in their habits, the surprising development
of their instinctive faculties, or the great part which
they take in keeping up the harmonies of nature, we
no longer marvel that so much care has been bestowed
.n their construction, or that so many good and learned
men have endeavoured to study them in their various
relations. Here we have seen structure and function
admirably adapted to each other ; here, in these tiny
wheels of the great machine of the creation, we see
developed and put in motion, even by a single glance
of the unassisted eye, but still more admirably by the
assistance of the microscope, the great resources of
the Great and Almighty Machinist of all things. It
is surely here, amongst the most perfectly organised
tribes of the lower animals, as well as in the most
stupendous objects of the animated world, that we trace
" the WTisdom of God in the works of the Creation."

" Full nature swarms with life ; one wondrous mass
Of animals or ntoms ur/fani.'i/'d,
Waiting the vital breath when Parent Heaven
Shall bid his spirit blow. The hoary fen,
In putrid streams, emits the living cloud
Of pestilence. Through subterranean cells,
Where searching sun-beams scarce can find a way,
Earth animated heaves. The flowery leaf
Wants not its soft inhabitants. Secure,
Within its winding- citadel, the stone
Holds multitudes. But chief the forest boughs
That dance unnumbered to the playful breeze,
The downy orchard and the melting pulp
Of mellow fruit, the nameless nations feed
Of evanescent insects. Where the pool
Stands mantled o'er with green, invisible
Amid the floating verdure, millions stray;
Each liquid too, whether it pierces, soothes,
Inflames, refreshes, or exalts the taste.
With various forms abounds Nor is the stream
Of purest crystal, nor the lucid air,
Though one transparent vacancy it seems,
Void of their unseen people.
Let no presuming impious railer tax
Creative Wisdom as if aught was formed
In vain, or not for admirable ends.
Shall little haughty Ignorance pronounce
His works unwise, of which the smallest part
Exceeds the narrow vision of her mind ?
As if upon a full -proportioned dome
On swelling columns heaved, the pride of art,
A critic fly whose feeble ray scarce spreads
An inch around, with blind presumption bold,
bhould dare to tax the structure of the whole.
And lives the man whose universal eye
Has swept at once the unbounded scheme of things,
Mark'd their dependence so, and firm accord,
As with unfaltering accent to conclude
That this availeth nought > Has an y si-en
The mighty chain of beings lessening: down
From infinite perfection to the brink
Of dreary nothing, desolate aV
From which astonished thought, recoiling turns .-
Till then, alone let zealous praise ascend,
And hymns of holy wonder to that Power
Whose wisdom shines as lovely on our minds,
As on our smiling eyes his servant sun."

Section 5. Classification of Insects— We have now
arrived at another branch of our subject, which, in
many respects, is especially deserving the notice o
the "student, namely— the classification of insects,
which has engaged the attention of naturalists in all
ages. This portion of entomological science divides
itself primarily into two points of view: firstly, an
inquiry into the mitim: of the various relations exist-

6J4

INSECT.

ing amongst insects ; and, secondly, »he mode of ap-
plication of these relationship!", either with a view to
the construction of an amusement most fitly adapted
for the artificial bringing together of objects, so as to
enable the memory with least difficulty to retain an
idea of their various characters, distinctions, and
names, or, with a higher view, of endeavouring to
trace out, by the strict application of their relation-
ships, the general plan by which the wondrous whole
has been so beautifully arranged.

We have heard it maintained, by men whose views
of natural history have been based upon a too partial
examination of a few isolated species of some limited
groups of animals, that, except in the relations exist-
ing between the sexes of a species, or the sexes of
distinct species which might accidentally couple to-
gether, or between a predaceous insect and the insects
upon which it preys, there can be no such thing as a
relationship amongst insects. And this view of the
subject is endeavoured to be supported by the argu-
ment, that the various species of the group which we
term a family or genus, are totally independent of
each other in all their relations of life, and that the
annihilation of one species would in nowise influence
the remaining species.

Now, all this mav be, and much is certainly true ;
but we submit, that this is a most partial mode of look-
ing at the relations of animals, even in a natural
history and economical point of view. We ordinarily
employ the term relationship to designate that bond
<it community existing amongst the members of a
family ; but there are numerous other species of alli-
ances to which we may also give the general term of
relations. And it is upon these undeniable relations,
affinities, analogies, resemblances — call them as you
will — that the classification of all animals are founded.
And the more perfect our knowledge of any animal,
in all its states, and in all its relations to all other
animals, the more correctly are we enabled to give
due weight to every peculiarity, whether structural or
functional, which it exhibits ; and thus to trace its
more or less contiguous relations with other animals.
Again, if we look at the habits of insects, we find
some exhibiting a similar predaceous economy ; others
are vegetable feeders ; some attack particular species
of animals ; others particular species of plants. Now
each of these groups of species will, both from eco-
nomy and from structure dependent uprn economy,
exhibit more close relations amongst their respective
members than the species belonging to groups pos-
sessing opposite habits. Hence we may be induced
to affirm, as has been done by a celebrated writer,
Dr. Fleming, that we shall have as many systems of
animals as there are variations of function". And thus,
animals differing from each other, except in one
isolated particular, are thought to be more nearly
related together than they are to other species,
to winch, in all their other particulars, they are
more intimately allied. But this also appears to us
to be an equally incorrect and partial view of look-
ing at nature. We have given too great a weight to
such an isolated peculiarity : we will endeavour to
illustrate this view of the subject by a reference to
the recently published volume of the" Count de Saint
targeau, upon hymenopterous insects, in which we
find the social character of these insects regarded as
outweighing all other characters. The result of this is,
that we have the ants, wasps, hive bees, and humble
bees, united together, whilbt the solitary wasps, and

j the Psitht/ri (as noticed in the article HUMDLB RKK),
and all other solitary or parasitic bees, are scparati-d ;
although their structure is in every respect almost
identical, except in the organs, which are necessarily
modified in the former, so as to be fitted for the duties
of their social character. No-v this mode of distribu-
tion appears to us to be erroneous, because too
limited in respect to the great workings of the crea-
ture. These social habits, as we have seen, are but
the results of a modification of the instinct for
securing the development of the progeny of these par-
ticular species, whilst the great object of these insects
in nature is overlooked. The solitary bee which
burrows hi rotten wood, and then forms its cell,
exhibits as much instinct as the humble bee which
is the foundress of a community. The wonders
of the hive are but the exhibition of a more highly
developed instinct in building and provisioning a
nest. " In rejecting from the family of the humble
bees," observes Saint Fargeau, " the JSitglosscE of La-
treille (which that author had always inserted in the
same group with the formei), I may remark, that in a
system (datts un syslemc') the very long tongue may
indicate a relationship between Bombus and En-
glussa. But in a natural method (une melhode natu-
relle], this length only indicates that both are destined
to gather honey from flowers having long and narrow
tubes, although their habits are in other respects
entirely different, as indicated by the structure of
their hind legs*." Here, however, the difference in
habit between these two tribes of bees are only such
as are immediately connected with their social or
solitary nature, their entire structure being in other
respects similar ; thus indicating that, except in this
single circumstance, the entire system of the two
groups must be as nearly as possible identical. Thus
too much weight appears to have been given to the
social conditions of the Bombi, and the characters of
structure resulting therefrom. And, in like manner,
the same remark may be applied to all classifications
founded on the presumed superiority of an isolated
character, independent of the question of its real
value, as proved by the functions for which it is
bestowed. And herein lies one of the great obstacles
in the way of our tracing the real relationships of
animals. Thus one author will maintain that the
metamorphoses of insects are entitled to the first
consideration ; and will hence insist that the all-
devouring locust and the suctorial bug ?re closely
allied together. Another will give the same weight
to the organs of the mouth, and, denying the relation-
ship between these two insects, will assert that the
one is more nearly allied to the mandibulated Xnu-
roptcra, and the other to the suctorial Lejrido/ilera ;
whilst a third will maintain the superiority of the
wings, and thus bring the mandibulated Hymenoptcra
and the suctorial Diptera into contact. Now all
these variations of classification do not prove that
there are no such things as relationships existing
amongst these tribes of insects ; but simpl}' that the
correct mode of applying the various characters, so
as to correspond with their natural relationships, has
not been discovered.

These relations, whether of structure or of habit,
must have presented themselves to every one who
has paid the least attention to natural objects. Let
us take an example or two. We have already asked

•"Hist. Nat. dcs Insectes HymenopUres."— Paris, 1836, p. 438.

INSECT.

875

« our readers (in treating of the defences of insects),
whet her we need enter into detail, relative to the stints
;. of hymenopterous insects, the pain arising from which
! must probably, at one time or other, have been expe-
j rienced by all ? Now every one knows that wasps,
| as well as hive bees, are stinging insects. This cir-
cumstance, then, insures the existence of one species
I of relationship (that resulting from functions) ; but if
we take the trouble to notice these two insects more
particularly, we shall find they possess numerous
other characters in common. Both are provided
with membranous wings of unequal size ; both are
social in their habits ; both are similarly organised
in the structure of their antennae, and in the number
of their abdominal rings. Here, then, we find so
many points of resemblance, that we at once admit
the existence of a relationship, or similarity so close,
that it cannot have escaped the most indifferent ob-
server. This intimate kind of relationship is termed
an affinity. But there is another kind of relationship
which must have been equally observed by every ob-
server of nature. We have already taken the wasp
and the bee as our guides, and here again they will
serve our purpose. VVhoever has walked, during the
heat of the day, in any woody situation, must have
observed various bee and wasp-looking insects hover-
ing about in the sunbeams, and darting away on
being approached with an astonishing rapidity. These
are not, however, bees nor wasps, neither do they be-
long to the same order as these insects, although they
are sometimes called drones, when seen settling
upon flowers ; which name is also given to the male
honey bee. We have given figures of these in-
sects, in order to exhibit their resemblance, in the
article ENTOMOLOGY (page 430). Here there is no
real affinity, no resemblance extending through a
series of particulars. Habits, structure, wings, legs,
antennae, are all different, when examined with preci-
sion ; and yet, on a casual glance, the general ap-
pearance of the two insects is so similar. This
distant kind of relationship is termed an analogy.
Further ; as there are instances in which a similarity
of appearance may thus exist without any real affi-
nity, as regards the structure of essential organisation,
so, on the other hand, are there numerous instances
in which a direct affinity, resulting from similarity of
the essential organs, exists between two insects,
although their general appearance be quite unlike
each other. Of this masked kind of affinity, number-
less instances might be produced. Thus an hetero-
merous insect, related by affinity to Tcnebrio and
Helops, so closely resembles some of the predaceous
beetles, that Fabricius called it a Carabus ; and Mr.
Kirby has described several allied species under the
names of Adelium, Caraboides, Calosomoidcs, and Li-
cinoides. We have further to notice, that as there
are more than one species of hive bees dispersed
over the globe, so there are other social species of
wild honey bees : in like manner there are as many
species of wasps and hornets. Each of these groups
of species constitute a certain series ; and thus we
discover some of the links of a chain extending
throughout nature. Now it is impossible to adopt
these views without, at the same time, admitting that
all these beautiful and harmonious affinities and ana-
logies could be bestowed upon animals without any
regard to some fixed system.

" Order is heaven's first law,"

and the naturalist must be blind, indeed, who cannot

trace in the beautiful gradations of form, and the
various relationships of animals, the marks, slisrht
enough in too many cases, of a universal system,
wherein just regard is paid to every peculiarity, and
every structure shown in juxtaposition with allied
structures, none being excluded. This is termed the
natural system ; but in what manner the knowledge,
of this system is to be attained, whether, as appears
generally to be supposed by a review of mere struc-
tural peculiarities, or by selecting the general
functions of each species or by taking into con-
sideration its geographical range — whether the
system be a linear series or a circular one — whether
it be supposed to resemble the intricacies of a map *
or a sphere ; whether it be resolvable throughout its
divisions in a binary (Dr. Fleming and Haworth),
trinary (Swainson), quaternary (Fries), quinary
(Mac Leay), or septenary manner (Newman); whether
we confine ourselves to the now existent species, or
have regard to the countless multitudes of extiiift
species; whether by means of any of these proposed
modes or any other, it must be evident that natural
history, and especially philosophical natural history,
is too new a subject to allow any one to assert that
his system, and his only, is superior to all the rest.
Great progress has been made of late years in this
field .; but how great is the yet untrodden portion we
have to labour at unceasingly ; and he who, by a
minute analysis of any animal, enables us to solve
any dubious point connected therewith, does more
for the elucidation of this much abused natural sys-
tem than the greatest and most ingenious theorist
who has yet taken the subject in hand.

The celebrated Cuvier, whose laborious researches
and acute reasoning made such vast strides in the phi-
losophy of natural history, and effected as great a revo-
lution in received opinions as was ever brought about
by one man in any science, was fully sensible of the cor-
rectness of these opinions. He laboured not to support
system, but to discover the truth ; and the further he
advanced, seemed the more convinced that he did not
know enough to enable him to form a system. And
if this were the case with the greatest comparative
anatomist who ever lived, how truly must the same
remark be made of those who, without having ever
touched the dissecting knife, sit down to construct,
out of the workings of their own fanciful and inge-
nious brains, the natural system. Speaking of such
theories, Cuvier, a little before his death, said, " 1
have sought, I have set up some myself, but I have-
not made them known, because I have ascertained
that they were false, as are all those which have been
published up to this day. 1 affirm still more ; for I
say that in the present state of science it is not pos-
sible to discover one, and it is for this reason that I
persevere in my observations, and that I continue to
publish them. This perseverance only can lead to
the truth. We ought to labour, not with the object
of supporting a theory, because then the mind, being
preoccupied, will perceive only that which favours its
own views ; our labours should be for the object of
discovering the truth." — Memoirs of Cuvier. The
writer of the present article, who had the honour of a
personal acquaintance with this celebrated man, can
testify how completely these were his real sentiments.

* Linnaeus, in his Philosophia Botanica, thus speaks of the
natural system as exhibited by plants, " Plants: omnes utrinque
affiaitatem monstraut uti territorium inniaji

876

INSECT.

Taking into consideration the immense number of
species of insects, which, as we have already ob-
served, so far exceed all the other animal sub-
kingdotns; it must, however, be evident, as Mr. Mac
Leay observes, that it is here, owing to their myriads
of species, that the mode in which Nature's chain is
linked — a mode, the knowledge of which comprises
all knowledge in natural history — will be most evi-
dent, and therefore most easily detected. This same
circumstance also is attended with another conse-
quence. If the species of insects (and, indeed, of
any tribe of animals) be so numerous, and their
natural distribution so difficult of attainment ; and
yet, nevertheless, if we would retain and extend the
knowledge which we already possess, either of their
structure or habits, it must be evident that this can
only be done by distributing their groups in the most
convenient mode for reference. This may, and,
indeed, must be done in an artificial method ; that is,
we select certain constant characters which may, never-
theless, possess but very little influence upon the
habits of the animal, and which, indeed, in many
cases, compel us to separate groups which we know
to be naturally allied by affinity with each other.
Thus we separate the wasps from the bees, because
the former fold their upper wings longitudinally
when not flying; and thus we divide the beetles
according to the joints of the tarsi, although in some
instances direct affinities are thereby separated.

Nevertheless, the great advantages resulting from
an artitical method are so obvious, that we find them
admitted by persons who do not hesitate to reject,
as an absurd i'ancy, the existence of a natural system.
These advantages will appear the more evident when
we investigate the actual number of insect species.
Our great and pious naturalist, John Ray (" le pre-
mier veritable naturaliste pour le resrne animal," as
the equally great Cuvier has styled him), in his
" Wisdom of God," published at the close of the seven-
teenth century, tells us respecting the number of
British insects : •' The butterflies and beetles are
such numerous tribes, that I believe in our own native
country alone, the species of each kind may amount
to loO or more. The fly kind (if under that name,
we comprehend all the flying insects, as well such as
have four, as such as have but two winffs, of both
which kinds there are many subordinate genera), will
be found in multitudes of species to equal, if not ex-
ceed, both the forementioned kinds. The creeping
insects that never come to be winged, though for
numbers they may fall short of the flying or winged,
yet they are also very numerous. Supposing then
there be a thousand several sorts of insects in this
island and the sea near it ; if the same proportion
holds between the insects natives of England and
those of the rest of the world, as doth between plants
domestic and exotic (that is, as I guess near decuple),
the species of insects on the whole earth (land and
water) will amount to 10,000, and I do believe they
rather exceed than fall short of this sum." Subse-
quently, however, in consequence of having discovered
a greater number of English moths and butterflies
he was induced to consider that the total number of

tish insects might be about 2000, and those of the
whole earth 20,000. Mr. Stephens, however, in the

st perfect catalogue of insects ever yet published
devoted to the British species, has introduced not
fewer than 10,000 native species, and perhaps 2000
or 3000 remain unnoticed.

Linnaeus, in the edition of 1761, of the Fauna of
Sweden, described 1700 species; and in the twelfth
edition of the Systema Naturae, the entire number of
these animals (Swedish and exotic), with which he
had become acquainted, amounted to about 3000;
but during the last half century the investigation of
insects has so much progressed, that Mr. Mac Leay,
in his Horse Entomological, published in 1821, stated
that there were certainly more than 100,000 of the
annulose animals (nearly synonymous with the Lin-
naean insects), preserved in the various collections.
The latest insect census is, however, that of Dr.
Burmeister, who states that there are in Germany
about 6000 plants (including Cryptogamid), and more
than 12,000 insects; so that, if this proportion be
constant, the number of known insects, according to
the 60 — 70,000 known plants, will amount to 120 —
140,000 species; and if the opinion of the latest
botanists be adopted, that about one-third of the col-
lective species of plants are known, the number
of species nhabiting the earth would amount to
360—420,000 species. Kirby and Spence, indeed,
averaged six species of insects to one phaneroga-
mous plant, and considering there may be 100,000
species of phanerogamous plants in the world, they
obtain the number of 600,000, or more probably
400,000 species of insects. There are computed to
be 28,000 species of beetles in the royal collection at
Berlin ; and from the supposed superiority of the
extent of the coleopterous order, Dr. Burmeister
considers that the actually known species of insects
may be thus distributed : —

Coleoptera . . . 36,000
Lepidoptera . . 12,000

Hymenoptera . . 12,000
Di'ptera '. . . 10,000
Hemiptera . . . 4,000
Other insects . . 4,000
Mr. Stephens's British catalogue shows the follow-
ing proportions ; but it must be observed, that the
attention lately bestowed upon the minute Hymeno-
ptera and Diptcra, have raised their numbers very
considerably : —

Coleoptera . . . 3300

Lepidoptera . . . 1838

Hymenoptera . . 2054

Diptera . . .1671

Hemiptera . . . 605

Other insects . . . 544

Now it must be evident, that unless some convenient

and easily applicable mode of classifying these vast

masses be adopted, the mind will be compelled to

remain in a state of the most profound darkness. We

will not, however, dwell upon this subject, but refer

our readers to the article CLASSIFICATION.

The annulose, or insect sub-kingdom, is divisible
into the four classes above mentioned ; viz., Crus-
tacea, Arachnida, Ametabola, and Ptilota, or winged
insects ; which last Mr. Mac Leay separates into
two distinct classes, as mentioned in our observations
on the mouth of insects; namely, Mandibulata and
Haustellata. These classes are again divisible into
orders.

Linnaeus adopted the structure of the wings as
affording the characters of his orders, which were as
follows : —

I. Coleoptera. — Wings four, the upper pair qrus-
taceous with a straight suture (beetles and
earwigs).

INSECT.

877

•2. Ilemiptera. — Wings four, the upper pair seini-
erustaceous and incumbent (bugs, locusts, tree-
hopper?, plant-lice, &c.).

3. Lt'piduptem. — Wings four, imbricated with scales

(butterflies, moths).

4. Neuroptera, — Wings four, membranaceous, anus

unarmed (dragon-flies, Sac.}.

!). Hymenvptera. — Wings four, membranaceous,
anus armed with a sting (bees, wasps, ants,
saw-flies, &c.).

6. Diptera. — Wings two, halteres two in the place

of the posterior wings (flies).

7. Aptera. — Wings none (spiders, crabs, centipedes,

fleas, &c.).

We have shown above that the possession of wings
is the chief characteristic of the Ptilota, which may
therefore be regarded as the type of the other anmilose
animals, that is we may consider them as the fur-
thest removed (as concerns their organisation), from
the other animal sub-kingdoms ; hence we find, that
the orders or first general divisions of insects are
characterised from the structure of the wings (vm^M,
a wing) ; and hence this Greek word, together with
some other prefixed to it, is employed as the name of
orders. We have thus Coleoptera, sheath-winged,
Ncnroptcra, nerve-winged, &c, ; but it soon became
evident, that the characters of the wings were too
general ; and Fabricius, a disciple of Linnaeus, fell
into the opposite error of regarding the variations of
the mouth as alone affording the most satisfactory
distribution of insects.

The system of Fabricius introduced a number of
new orders, which he was pleased to name classes ;
and to which, in addition to such of the Linnasan or-
ders as he retained, he gave a series of exceedingly
harsh names, founded upon the structure of the mouth,
as follows : —

Insects with masticating mouths.
Two pairs of jaws.

Eleutherata. Maxillae palpigerous, uncovered

(beetles).
Ulonata. Maxillas palpigerous, covered with a

galea (locusts, mantes, &c.).
Synislata. Maxilla: palpigerous, connate with the
lower lip (lace-winged flies, &c., with the
white ants and sugar lice).

Piczata. Maxillae palpigerous, distended, thin, co-
riaceous (bees, wasps, saw-flies, &c.).
Odonata. Maxillae palpigerous, horny, toothed,

labium not palpigerous (dragon-flies).
Mitosata. Jaws and maxillae not palpigerous (cen-
tipedes, &c.).

A pair of jaws resembling scissors.
Unogata (scorpions and spiders).
More than two pairs of jaws.

Polygnnata. Jaws closed by the lower lip (sea

and wood lice, Oniscus).
Klcistagnala. Jaws external, closing the mouth

beneath (crabs).

Exochnata. Jaws external, but covered by the
palpi (lobsters, &c.).

Insects with suctorial month.1!.
Glossata. Mouth with a spiral tongue (butterflies,

moths).

Rhyngota. Mouth with a membranous jointed
sheath, inclosing horny lancets (bugs, tree-
hoppers, &c.).

Antliata. Mouth with a soft mijointed proboscis
(flies, lice, and mites).

As the Linnaean system, founded upon the wings,
was found to violate nature by uniting masticating
and suctorial insects, so the Fabrician system was, in
some respects, even more artificial, as when the wing-
less sugar-lice, which undergo no metamorphose*,
were introduced amongst the nietarnorphotic lace-
winged flies, &c., and the lice and octapod mites
(Acari) were united with the two-winged flies. The
system of Fabricius has met with but few followers,
except in Germany, his chief merit consisting in
his definition of a great multitude of new species.
To the labours of the French naturalists, Cuvier, La-
treille, and Lamarck, we are mainly indebted for the
great advances made towards a more natural mode of
distribution, wherein the natural affinities of the
various groups are more or less recognised. It would
occupy too much time to trace the gradual improve-
ments, or suggestions for improvements, which have
been made during the present century, in which En-
tomology has made such rapid strides towards perfec-
tion. We shall, therefore, content ourselves with
translating for the student the characters of the
various orders of metamorphotic insects, given in the
last work of Latreille, the Cours d'Entomologie,
published shortly before his death, and which are
generally adopted. Latreille, however, has intro-
duced the spring-tailed insects (Thymnovra), and lice
(Anopltira), at the head of the class of insects which,
as above stated, we have, with MacLeay, united with
the Amctabola, as they undergo no metamorphoses.

I. Wings none, metamorphoses complete (perfect}.

larva apod, pupa inactive, mouth formed of
an inferior syphon, directed backwards, com-
posed of a bi-valved articulated sheath,
inclosing a sucker of three setae, with two
scales at the base , body very compressed,
formed for leaping. Insects parasitic (fleas).
Order, Siphonaptera, — Mr. Kirby's name,
Aphaniptcra, ought to be retained in pre-
ference either to Latreille's name, or that
of Suctoria, given to the flea by De Geer.

II. Wings, sometimes, however, obsolete; eyes

faceted, and occasionally ocelli.
1. Elytroptera. — Posterior wings, covered by the
anterior, which are either entirely or partly
crustaceous or coriaceous.
A. Mouth with upper jaws, and lower jaws ;
elytra of an uniform consistence.

"Order, Coleoptera, characterised by,
Elytra entirely crustaceous, always horizontal, with
a straight suture ; wings folded cross-wise ; external
lobe of the maxillae not helmet-shaped ; metamor-
phoses complete (pupa incomplete), beetles.

Order, Dermaptcra,

Elytra entirely crustaceous, horizontal with a
straight suture ; wings folded transversely and partly
longitudinally, so as somewhat to resemble a fan ;
maxillte with the terminal lobe helmet-shaped ; two
strong pincers at the posterior extremity of the abdo-
men in both sexes ; demi-metamorphoses (pupa com-
plete and active), ear-wigs.

Order, Ort/ioptcra,

Elytra (tegmina) coriaceous, deflexed or inclined, in
some horizontal, and folding on each other at the in-
ternal edges in the others ; wings longitudinally
folded throughout their entire length ; maxillte, with
the terminal external lobe, helmet-shaped ; abdomen
terminated by articulated appendages in both sexes
in some ; in the others, the abdomen furnished with

878

I NS

an external ovipositor ; derm-metamorphoses (pupa
complete and active, locusts, grasshoppers, mantes,
cockroaches).

B. Mandibles and maxilla; none ; a rostrum, or
«ort of proboscis, formed of an articulated sheath, in-
closing a sucker of four pieces ; elytra (hemelytra)
membranous at the extremity in some species ; demi-
metamorphoses, except in a few (pupa complete and
active),

Order, Hemlptcra.
2. Gymnnptera (naked wings).
No elytra, four or two naked wings.
A. Four wings.

a. Upper and lower jaws ; wings generally
transparent, not farinose ; tegulae, (scales
placed at the base of the upper wings)
small and tubercular.

Order, Ncuroptera, with the

Wings thickly reticulated ; the posterior of the
same size as the anterior, or longer or larger : no
cxserted ovipositor in the majority ; no sting, metamor-
phoses various.

Order, Hymcnoptera, with the
Wings horizontal, with large areas, or simply veined,
the posterior smaller than the anterior ; maxillae often
valvular, laterally sheathing the tubular lower lip, and
forming a species of rostrum (prornuscis) more or
loss elongated ; an cxserted ovipositor, or an anal
siing in the majority of the females.

b. Mandibles rudirnental ; maxillae replaced hy a
spiral rostrum (spiritrompe), formed of two
fillets, tubular, and rolled up in a spire, united
between two labial palpi ; wings farinose,
tegnla) (ptcrygodes), large, epaulette-shaped,
turned backwards,

Order, Lcpidoptera (butterflies, moths).
B. Two wings.

Order, Rhipiptera (Mr. Kirby's name,
Strep.tiptera, must be retained in-
stead of Rhipiptcra}, with

Two pseudhalteres (prebalanciers), or small crusta-
ceous moveable bodies in the shape of small twisted
elytra, placed in front of the wings, which are folded
fan-wise ; mouth with two setiform pieces, crossed
like a pair of mandibles.

Order, Diptcra, with the

Wings extended, and accompanied in the majority
by two small moveable bodies, in the form of balan-
cers, situated behind the wings ; rostrum bent at its
base, and generally terminated by two fleshy lips, in-
articulate, inclosing a sucker formed of a variable
number of sets (flies).

The first of the above described orders, Aphanip-
tera, Kirby, is, in various respects, most nearly allied
to the Diptera. It will also be observed that the
suctorial Hcmiplera are introduced into the middle of
mandibulated insects. 'Ihese difficulties are neces-
sarily attendant upon our endeavours to arrange our
primary groups in a linear series, in which it is impos-
sible to combine all these relations of groups. Thus,
it we remove the Hemiptera from the situation as-
signed to it by Latreille, and place it amongst the
suctorial insects, we shall violate its relations with the
Orthoptera, caused by the similarity in its metamor-
phosis, and in the structure of the wings.

Mr. Kirby has further separated the Phryganula:
from the Neuroptern, under the name of Trickster a.
Mr. Hahday has added another order in the last num-
ber ot the Entomological Magazine, named Th^an-

ECT.

noptera, formed of the genus Thrips, Linn. M. Laporte
has also proposed several other orders in his Etudes
Entomologiques.

The reader will find these various orders treated
upon at length in their alphabetical situations. It is
here only necessary to observe, that each, according
to its extent, is divisible into a greater or less num-
ber of groups, and gradually decreasing in value,
until our arrival at the families (of which we have
spoken more at length under our article CANCEUIDV*:)
genera, and species ; the last of which, according to
the opinions of some authors, is the only absolute di-
vision existing in nature.

In every extensive genera it has been found ser-
viceable to introduce minor divisions, which greatly
facilitate the acquisition of knowledge. We have,
however, already dwelt upon the nature of these
minor groups in our article CANCERID/E, and shall
only observe, that in the opinion of some authors (as
for instance, Mr. Vigors, in the Zool. Journal) their
existence ought not to be admitted ; or if they pre-
sent sufficiently distinctive characters, they ought to
be regarded as genera, and the next higher group of
which they form a part, as sub-families. That the
gradual approximation of form in the most extensive
groups, where, for instance, it must be admitted that
the series, from the number of species, is evidently
least unbroken, prevents us from assigning such dis-
tinctive limits to our groups, whether of genera (that
is speaking theoretically) or sub-genera, as shall com-
prise those particular species, in which the characters
of distinct genera are blended together, cannot be
denied. And the great genus of Caralndte (Fcronia)
has frequently been cited. But still even in these
kind of groups we find various types of form, which
in the typical species of each minor group are so well
marked, that if the genus were less numerous in species,
entomologists would not hesitate to consider them as so
many distinct sub-genera. But by many naturalists
the great chain of nature is regarded as formed upon
this very mode of confluent characteristics ; and were
we to admit, in those most extensive and consequently,
as we may well suppose, most perfect series of species,
the non-existence of genera or sub-genera, we should
be compelled to admit still further, that there is no
such thing in nature as any other distinct division
than that of species ; and it would be as correct, in
such point of view, to assert that a butterfly is a beetle,
as it would be to say that a Pcecillus is a Steropus.
" It appears to be the opinion of most modern phy-
siologists," observe Messrs. Kirby and Spence, " that
the series of affinities in nature is a concatenation or
continuous series, and that though an hiatus is here
and there observable, this has been caused either by
the annihilation of some original group or species, in
consequence of some great convulsion of nature, or
that the objects required to fill it up are still in exist-
ence, but have not yet been discovered ; and this
opinion is founded upon a dictum of Linnseus's ' JVa-
tura saltus non fncif..' If this dictum be literally
interpreted, according, to the evident meaning of the
word saltus, few will be disposed to object to it, since
both observation and analogy combine to prove that
there must be a regular approximation of things to
each other in the works of God ; and that, could we
see the whole according to his original plan, ive should
find no violent interval to break up that approxima-
tion ; but, if it be contended that in this plan there
is no difference in the juxtaposition of the lowest

INSECT.

groups or individuals, and never any interval between
them, I think we are going further than either obser-
vation or analogy will warrant. Were this really and
strictly the case, it seems to follow that every group
or individual species must, on one side, borrow half
its characters from the preceding group or species ;
and on the other, impart half to the succeeding.
(Query, whether every real species or group has not
some one or more peculiar characters, which it neither
derives from its predecessor nor imparts to its suc-
cessor in a series ?). But one of the most evident
laws of creation is variety, and if we survey all the
works of the MOST HIGH, we shall nowhere discover
that kind of order and symmetry that this strict inter-
pretation implies. The general march of nature,
therefore, seems to say, that there must be varying
though not violent intervals in the series of beings,
or, in other words, some conterminous species or
groups have more characters in common than others."
Very few words will suffice upon the nature of
species, a term employed to designate those groups
of animals which (save as respects sexual distinctions)
possess a perfect conformity in their characters, which
indeed they have uninterruptedly possessed since the
first establishment of species. The oldest records of
natural history, where sufficiently clear to be relied
upon, show us that in the species which are therein
described or figured, not the least variation has taken
place in them. Were not this the case, indeed, there
would be grounds for the belief that there are new
species of animals produced, which, as Ray says,
would certainly now and then, nay very often, happen
were there any such thing. But, as in the higher
animals, the species of insects are liable to variation,
as every collector is well aware ; thus, some moths,
which have the ground of their wings of a pale colour
with dark markings, will be found to have dark wings
with light marks. Variations in size are equally
common, and entomologists deem it expedient to
retain in their collections suites of individuals of each
variable species, from the smallest to the largest ;
sometimes, indeed, the latter are many times larger
than the former, a circumstance often occurring in
wood-feeding insects. In general also male insects
are much smaller than the females. The reader will
also bear in mind that this variation in size is not the
result of increased growth after arrival at the winged
state, and that the small individuals will by and bye
attain the size of their partners. This is quite con-
trary to every principle of insect physiology. It is
in the larva state that the eating and growing of these
animals chiefly takes place. And it would be as
requisite for the imago to cast its horny envelope in
order to increase its size, as it is for the larva to do
the same thing ; again, it must be self-evident that
without the sloughing, the external envelope^ could
never, from its consistence, undergo the slightest
change. Moreover, the change which the digestive
organs undergo in the passage from the larva to the
imago states, sufficiently proves the same fact. But
species often vary even in structure, not indeed in
any of the more important organs, but in the various
arms with which they are furnished. This is espe-
cially the case with the cornuted species, and those
which have the mandibles very greatly developed.
Here in many instances there appear to be a series of
individuals intermediate between the fully developed
species and the females, which are generally destitute
of these nppendagcs. This we have rtotu ed in many

879

species of lamelHcorn beetles, and in some of the
staphylinidae (Siagonium (juadricorne). The Rev. Mr.
Burrell also observed it in another species of the
same group, Itledius armatns, of which he describes
a variety with horns shorter than the head, although
usually longer, and which he is disposed to regard as
a neuter, an opinion also entertained by Mr. Haworth,
who considers that such neuters are far more frequent,
even in the hymenoptera, than hitherto imagined.
(Entomological Transactions.) Besides these, which
appear to be casual occurrences, there likewise exist
what have been termed permanent varieties in many
species, the individuals of which are found in situations
different from the ordinary type of the species, and it
has been considered that these variations have ori-
ginated somewhat in a similar manner to the varieties
of domestic animals ; but this may certainly be
doubted, because in most domesticated insects, the
common house-fly, disseminated as it is over the
whole surface of the globe, and the hive bee, we find
not the least liability to vary ; and if this be not the
case with these species, we can hardly attribute the
production of varieties in species, which are in nowise
subject to the rule of man, to a similar cause.

The characters by which species are distinguished
are very variable, partaking indeed, in this respect, of
the peculiarities which we have noticed in our obser-
vations upon generic and sub-generic groups. In
very extensive genera the distinctions of species are
so minute, that it requires the most practised eye to
separate them ; and indeed there are some groups, the
species of which are so intricately blended together,
that no two entomologists are agreed as to their
distinctness. The genus Nothwpkilus (a genus of
small Carab'ul<E\ affords an instance of this. Until
very lately it was supposed to consist of only
two British species, Mr. Curtis, however, added
another; Mr. Waterhouse, increased the number to
eighteen, in a monograph published in the Entomo-
logical Magazine ; whilst Mr. Stephens has subse-
quently reduced this number to six. The characters
which supply specific distinctions are also very
variable, size, sculpture, colour, markings, locality,
general forms, are all employed, and it often happens
that a character, which in one group of insects would
be deemed of sufficient value to characterise a genus,
is in others only serviceable as a specific mark of
distinction ; thus in the genus Rhipicera (a group of
exotic beetles, with beautiful pectinated antenna));
these organs vary in the number of their joints;
whereas we have seen, that in a whole section of
hymenoptera (Aculcata) the same number of joints
runs throughout the whole.

In describing species of insects it is usual to give
a short character embracing the most striking charac-
teristics of tha species. This is ordinarily in Latin,
that language being universally regarded as peculiarly
adapted to science, being universally understood
wherever science exists ; indeed the neglect of this
plan, which we often notice in French and German,
and sometimes in English authors, shows a disregard
to a settled and most convenient custom, enabling per-
sons unacquainted with those particular languages to
identify, in some degree, a species, although the^ more
extended description may be written in either of these
or any other tongue. It is usual also to add the length
of the body and expansion of the wings, these admea-
surements being taken in inches and lines, which are
the tenth parts of an inch.

INSECT.

To each species of insect two names are given,
nainelv, n generic, and a specific, one; as, for in-
stance, Ac/icnmtia atropos, or the death's-head moth,
an insect which we now mention in order to refer to
our article thereon for some observations upon the
advantages resulting from the employment of specific
Dimes over the old verbose mode of distinguishing
species. The names of species are ordinarily derived
from, or are, Latin words, expressive of some specific
peculiarity. Thus we have PhaUcna mori, the silk-
worm moth, or moth of the mulberry-tree ; Melo-
lontha solstitialis, the summer cockchafter ; Mutilla
Europcea, the European mutilla ; Carabus molaceus,
the violet-coloured carabus, &c. &c. From the great
advantages resulting from the specific names, it is
highly essential that they should be unchaagteable.
The Linnsean names have conseqiient^y'<and con-
stantly a pre-eminence, the great Swede having first
introduced them into natural history. In like manner,
the name imposed upon any new species by the ori-
ginal describer thereof, is retained in preference to all
.subsequent ones ; unless, indeed, some signal error
should have occurred in the imposition of the original
name. Here, however, it is necessary that we do not
permit our love of change to overcome what is really
useful. It has been said, for instance, that if a speci-
fic name be derived from a character which is after-
wards discovered to be a generic one — as, for instance,
Leistus spinibarbis, Loriccra pilicornu; or, if such
name be derived from a sexual character — as, for
instance, Eucera longicornis, Eulophus ramicornis,
' Kuloplnts damicornis, Euloj)hus pcctinicornis, &c. ; or,
again, if a name has been employed indicative of the
habitation or place of capture of an insect, and it is
afterwards discovered that the supposed habitation
was merely accidental — as, for instance, Curculis la-
paihi ; or it be discovered that the insect is not con-
fined to the supposed locality— as, for instance, Ago-
num Austriacum, Kaphi^ia Londinensis — that in all,
or any of these cases, it is necessary that new specific
names should be given to these insects. We, how-
ever, see no necessity for any such step : Loricera
pilicornu is known throughout the entomological
world under that name. The object for which specific
names are given to animals is therefore completely
obtained ; and if we would change this name, and
give it another strictly referrable to some specific pe-
culiarity, we cannot see what there is to prevent a
would-be reformer of names from throwing down the
hundreds of names, derived from the heathen mytho-
logy, given to insects, and substituting others of his
own in their stead. Let us not, however, be under-
stood to advocate error, even though long perpe-
tuated.

The name of the author by whom an insect was
first described and named, is generally placed in an
abbreviated manner after the specific 'name. Thus
the insect described by Linnaeus under the name
of Carabiu! intricatus, is spoken of as Carab. intri-
fatvs, Linn. Sometimes, however, when an insect
has been removed from the genus in which it was
originally placed, the new generic name is written,
and the name of the person by whom the removal
was made is added after that o'f the species. Thus
the Cychrus restrains, Fabr., was originally the Tcne-
brio rostratus, Linn. ; but Fabricius removed it to the
srenus Cychrus. Here, however, an evident injus-
tice takes place, as the name of the original de-
scriber of a secies ought always certainly to follow

his own name. This difficulty might be obviated in two
ways : either by writing the names of the last-men-
tioned insect, for example, thus — Cychrus, Fabr., ros- '.
tratus, Linn.; or, more correctly, thus — Cychrus '•
rostra/us, Fabr. (Tenebrio, p. Linn.) — the letter p
standing for the word part.

Generic names are, for the most part, derived from
the Greek, and are generally indicative of some pecu- 1
liarity of the genus. Thus the genus of bees, Rlacro-
cera, derives its name from two Greek words, macros,
long, and kcras, a horn ; the antennae being very long
in the males. In like manner we have plati/cerus,
broad-horned, &c. &c. Many of the Linnaean generic
names are, however, destitute of any direct applica-
tion to the insects which such genera contain, this
author having employed the old natural history names,
usually to be met with in the early authors in the most
senseless manner. Indeed, this could not be avoided '
in many instances, from the vague manner in which
the names had been employed ; and hence Linnaeus,
anxious to enlist them all again into the service of
natural history, hesitated not to employ them for ob-
jects which probably had not the least connexion with
those to which they had been applied by the ancients.
The universal adoption of the Lann&an nomenclature
throughout the zoological world has rendered these
blemishes too trifling to cause any confusion to ori- j
ginate in consequence of their adoption. For the
like reason, and in order to prevent the equally great
confusion which would arise by employing several
names for the same animal, naturalists have adopted
the plan of retaining that first proposed, unless it'j
should happen to be evidently incorrect, the subse-
quently proposed names sinking into synonyms.

We will now, in conclusion, lay before the reader
a short alphabetical list of the chief entomological
authors, with a concise notice of their chief works,
which are deemed of standard merit, and which no
entomological library should be destitute of. There
are a great number of names which we have necessa-
rily omitted, the following being the most eminent
only of the writers upon this branch of natural
history.

ARISTOTLE. — The father of natural history. He
lived about the year 330, B c., and devoted consider-
able attention to the natural history of insects, which
he separated, under the name of Entoma, from the
Crustacea, which he called Malacostraca, and divided
into three sections: 1. Those with wings, Pterota, or
Ptilota ; 2, those with occasionally wings ; and, 3.
those destitute of wings. In the first were com-
prised various subdivisions, admirably constructed,
including the present orders, Culeoptera, Diptcrn,
which two names are still retained ; and others
corresponding with the Hcmiptera, Lepidoplera,
Diptera, &c. In the second were placed the ant
and the glow-worm ; and in the third, all wingless
insects.

AUDOUIN (Mons. Victor). — Professor of entomo-
logy at the Jardin des Plantes, Paris ; author of
numerous detached entomological memoirs ; but espe-
cially known by his invaluable researches upon the
structure of the thorax.

BoisouvAL(Mons.) — A French entomologist, espe-
cially distinguished for various works upon Lepido-
ptera ; the most valuable of which is his Natural
History of Lepidopterous Insects, the first volume o.f
which has just appeared, forming part of the Suites d
Buffon.

I N S E

BURMEISTER (Dr. Hermann). — A ynung Prussian
entomologist of the highest promise. His works ex-
hibit profound erudition, an admirable ingenuity and
correctness in the anatomical details, and the greatest
carefulness in the elaboration of his materials. He
has published various memoirs of great merit ; but
is best known by his Handbuch der Eutomologie, or
Manual of Entomology, a very useful introductory
woik, in which a great quantity of materials, scat-
tered over numerous miscellaneous works, is brought
together, and admirably digested. We have already
alluded to the translation of the first volume of this
work, by Mr. Shuckard. The second volume treats
upon the descriptive portion of the Hemiptera and
Homoptera,

CRAMER. — A Dutch author, distinguished for his
beautiful work, in quarto, upon exotic butterflies, in
five volumes ; commenced in 1779.

CURTIS (John).— An English entomologist, and
author of British Entomology, or Illustrations and
Descriptions of the Genera of Insects found in Great
Britain and Ireland ; the most elegant periodical
work hitherto published. Each genus is illustrated
by a coloured figure of one of the species, and with
the details of the mouth and antennae. A figure of a
plant is added, upon which, in many cases, the insect
is found.

CUVIER (George Leopold Christian Frederick Da-
gobert, Baron). — The greatest zoologist of modern
days; born in J769, in Alsatia ; died at Paris, in
1832. In his Traite Elementaire, and Anatomie
Comparee, he carefully investigated the comparative
structures of the annulose animals, and separated the
Crustacea as a class from insects. In his celebrated
work, Le Regne Animal (The Animal Kingdom),
the details of the entomological portion were exe-
cuted by Latreille.

DE GEER (Charles. Baron). — A Swedish natu-
ralist; born in 1720; known by his admirable Me-
moires pour servir a 1'Histoire des Insectes ; a work
in seven quarto volumes, with .: gr°at number of
plates, in which the most ample details of the struc-
ture and metamorphoses of a vast number of species
are given. Mac Leay calls him the prince of entomo-
logical authors.

DEJEAN (M. Le Comte).— A French entomologist
and the possessor of one of the most extensive collec-
tions of Coleoptera ever yet made. He has published
I. a catalogue of his Coleoptera (the second edition is
now in course of publication) ; 2. a description of the
species of predaceous land beetles (CwindelidcB anc
Carabidee), in six octavo volumes, and (in conjunction
with M. Boisduval) a description of European beetles
now in course of publication.

DUFOUR (Mons. Leon). — A French author, stil
living ; distinguished for the great extent of his ana-
tomical investigations upon insects, illustrated by
figures drawn by himself. They are published in
numerous foreign periodicals, especially in the An-
nales des Sciences Naturelles.

ESENBECK (Dr. Nees Von). — Professor of natura
history at Breslaw ; author of various memoirs upon
the minute parasitic Hymenoptera ; of which his re-
cently published " Hymenopterorum Monographiae '
are the most valuable.

FABRICIUS (Johann Christian). — A German ento-
mologist, pupil of Linnaeus, and professor at Kiel in
Holstein; born 1747; died, 3rd of May, 1810, age(
NAT. HIST. — VOL. II.

C T. 881

f>3 *, especially dretingnished as the founder of the
Oibarian mode of distribution of insects (established
upon the structure of the mouth) ; but more deservedly
nown and cited as a most extensive describer of
species of insects. His chief works are Entomologia
Systematica, in four vols., 8vo., commenced in 1 794,
and in which those species of all orders with which
Fabricius had become acquainted in his numerous
oyages, are described. He visited England several
imes, and was on terms of friendly intercourse with
Sir Joseph Banks, £c. Subsequently he published as
listinct works the Systema Eleutheratorum (Coleo-
ptera); Antliatorum (Diptcra); Piezatorum (Hymcno-
pterti), and Rhyngotorum (Hemiptera, Homoptera}.

FALLEN. — A Swedish entomologist, chiefly distin-
guished by his works, entitled Diptera Suecise, and
Hemiptera Sueciae, &c. ; in which the species of these
and some other orders found in Sweden are carefully
described.

GEOFFROY. — A French author, contemporary with
Linnaeus ; especially remembered on account of his
introduction of the variations in the number of tarsal
joints, as affording sectional groups in the order
Coleoptera. His chief work is entitled " Histoire
abregee des Insectes," &c. Paris, 1764, 2 vols., 4t.o.
GRAVEN HORST (Dr. J. L. C.). — Professor of Na-
tural History at Breslaw, author of various works
upon the Brachelytra (Staphy/inidtf), and also upon
the Ichneumonidae. Ichneumonologia Europaea, in
three large octavo volumes, is his most valuable
work.

GCERIN (Mons. F. E.). — A French naturalist and
artist, author of numerous detached Entomological
Memoirs, with beautiful illustrations ; but. especially dis-
tinguished by his Iconographie du Regne Animal, in
which types of all the leading genera of animals are
figured, with an infinity of details of structure.

GYLLENHAL (Leonard). — Author of a very valua-
ble work in four volumes, octavo, entitled Insecta
Sueciae ; but comprising only the beetles found in
Sweden. His descriptions are admirable.

HAWORTH (Adrian Hardy). — An English ento-
mologist, founder of the old Entomological Society,
and author of Lepidoptera Britannica, a work con-
sisting of careful descriptions of all. the species of
lepidopterous insects with which the author was
acquainted. Died in 1834.

HUBER, F. — A Swiss entomologist, distinguished
for his interesting series of Observations upon the
Economy of the Bees.

HUBER, P. — Equally distinguished with his father
for his extensive series of Observations upon the
Economy of the Ants. His Memoirs have been trans-
lated into English.

HUBNER. — A German entomologist, author of a
valuable work containing figures and descriptions
of European Lepidoptera, (Der Sammliig Europais-
cher Schmetterlinge), in quarto.

JURINE (Louis). — A Swiss entomologist, author of
a valuable work upon the Hymenoptera, in which the
structure of the veins of the wings was employed to
characterise the genera, entitled Nouvelle Methode
de classer les Hymenopteres et les Dipteres. Vol. 1,
Hymenopteres. Geneva, 1807, quarto.

« There is some confusion in entomological works as to these
dates. Those given above are derived from information given
to the writer hereof by Dr. Fabricius of Kiel, son of the ento-
mologist.

KKK

fttt

INSECT.

KIHBY (Rev. W.>— The father of English entomo-
logists, author of a great number of detached Me-
moirs, and especially distinguished by his Monograph
upon the English Bees, a most invaluable work, and
a model for all subsequent monographers. He like-
wise published, in conjunction with W. Spence, an
Introduction to Entomology, in four volumes, 8vo.,
a work of the greatest research. His Memoirs upon
the Strepsiptera, the Genus Apion, and his Bridge-
water Treatise, are also to be noticed.

KLUG (Dr. Frederick). — A Prussian Naturalist,
conseivator of the insects of the Berlin Royal Mu-
seum, particularly devoted to the Hymenoptera, and
distinguished by his Memoirs upon the Tenthre-
ilinida- (Blattwespen\ published in the Berlin Trans-
actions, and his Jalirbuclier der Entomologie, &c.

LAMAKCK (Jean Baptiste de). — A French naturalist,
chiefly distinguished for his works upon the inver-
tebrated animals, of which the most valuable is the
Histoire Naturelle des Animaux sans Vertebres, pre-
sentant les Caraclcres generaux, &c., in seven vols.,
8vo. Paris, 1815. The class Arachnida was sepa-
rated from the insects by this author.

LATREILLE (P. A.). — Professor of Entomology at
the Jardin des Plantes, Paris. Born 29th of No-
vember, 1762. Died 6th of February, 1832. One
of the most distinguished of modern entomologists,
whose writings for nearly half a century have tended
in the highest degree to improve the science which
lie so ardently loved. From the publication of his
Precis des Caracteres gtjne'riques des Insectes, pub-
lished in 1796', until that of his Cours d'Entomologie,
he ceased not to labour towards the accomplishment of
a natural classification of insects, and to a perfect
investigation of the general structure. His most
valuable works are Genera Crustaceorum et Insec-
torum, in four volumes, 8vo., and his Histoire gene-
rale des Insectes, in fourteen volumes, 8vo.

LINN^US (Carl von). — A Swedish naturalist of
the greatest celebrity. Born 24th of May, 1707, at
Roefthult in Sweden, and distinguished as the founder
of modern Zoological Classification and Nomen-
clature. His works appeared in succession from 1735
to 1770, each being advantageously remodelled. His
Systema Naturae, in which all the animals, plants, and
minerals with which the author was acquainted, and
his Fauna Sueciae, in which the animals of Sweden
were described, are most constantly cited. Of the
former work twelve editions appeared in the lifetime
of the author; the last of which was published in
1766, and which is considered as his most valuable
work.

LYONNET (Pierre).— Author of one of the most
elaborate treatises ever published, bearing the title of
" Traite de la Chenille qui rouge le Bois de Saule,"
in which the anatomy of the larva of the goat-moth,
Couiu ligntperda, is described and illustrated in the
most complete manner. It was published in 1760, in
one volume, 4to., containing 615 pages and eighteen
plate*. The anatomy of the pupa and imago, but
in a comparatively imperfect state, have been lately
published.

MAC LBAY(Wm. Sharp).— Author of the Hora En-
tomologicae, a most remarkable and profound treatise.in
which the relations of animals are treated upon in a
peculiar manner. The work also contains a classi-
fication of the Lamellicorn beetles. He has also
published the first part of the Annulosa Jaranica,
containing a portion of the Coleoptera collected in

Java by Dr. Horsfield, whose Lepidoptera Javanica
may be considered as a continuation of the same
work.

MACQUART (Mons. J.). — A French entomologist,
who has confined his attention to the dipterous in-
sects, and has published numerous Memoirs upon
those found in the North of France, in theTransactions
of the Natural History Society of Lille. Likewise
two volumes containing A General System of Dip-
terology, with plates, in the series of works termed
Suites a Buffon.

MARSHAM (Thomas). — Author of Entornologia
Brilannica (London, 1802), of which only the first
volume, containing the Coleoptera of Great Britain,
was published. Being, in consequence of the dif-
ficulty of intercourse with the continent during the
war, unacquainted with the labours of his contem-
poraries, many of the species which he described hud
previously received names, so that those which he
proposed have been rejected.

MEIGEN (J. W.). — A German author, who has
confined his attention to the dipterous insects of
Europe, which he has carefully described in his
Systematische Beschreibung der bekannten Europ.
Zweiflug. Insekten. Aix-la-Chapelle, 1818, six
volumes, 8vo. During the last autumn he exhibited
to the writer hereof a complete series of drawings of
all the species which he has described. It is greatly
to be hoped that this valuable collection will be
published.

OLIVIER (Guillaume Antoine). — Author of various
Entomological Memoirs, and especially of the Ento-
mological articles in the great French Enc3rclopedie
Mcthodique, in which great numbers of new species
are described ; and likewise of the Histoire Gene-
rale des Insectes, of which work, six quarto volumes,
with many plates containing the Coleoptera only, have
appeared.

PANZER (G. W.). — A German entomologist, au-
thor of many works, but especially known by his
Fauna Insectorum Germanise initia, a very extensive
work, in which each species is figured. There were
1 10 numbers of this work published during the life-
time of the author, each containing 24 plates ; and
since his death, Ahrens and Herrick SchafFer have
commenced supplements.

PAYKULL. — A Swedish author, published in 1800
a valuable work, in 8 volumes, 8vo., upon the Coleo-
ptera of Sweden, the descriptions of which are very
exact. He also previously published detached Me-
moirs upon the Curabidce and Stap/iylinidce, Curculio-
nidce and Histeridas.

PICTET. — A Swiss author, who has lately published
a very complete woik upon the phyganea or caddice
flies, (order Trichoptera, Kirby).

RAY (John). — The first true systematist and author
of The Wisdon. of God, in the Works of the Creation,
and of a quarto volume, entitled Historia Insectorum,
London, 1710, and a tract with the title Methodus
Insectorum, seu Insecta in Methodum aliqualem
digesta.

REAUMUR (Rene Antoine Erchault de). — Born in
1683, at La Rochelle. He was a most astonishing
genius, devoting his attention to various branches of
philosophy ; but the most elaborate of his works was
that published under the title of Memoires pour
servir a 1'Histoire des Insectes, in G volumes, 4to.,
containing 3,672 pages, and 267 plates. This im-
mortal work is so constantly cited in every work of

INULA— IRIDINA.

88(5

entomology, in which the habits and manners of in-
sects are introduced, that it would be useless t , say any-
thing1 in its praise. Its distinguished author d Jinl 757.
REDI (Francisco). — An Italian naturalL.., who, by
his work published at Florence, in 1668, entitled
Expcrimenta circa Generationem Insectorum, com-
pletely overthrew the doctrine of spontaneous gene-
ration.

ROSEL VON ROSENHOFF fAugust Johann.). — A
German naturalist, author of various works upon
entomology, and particularly a beautiful work in 4
volumes, 4to., with many plates, in which the habits
and transformations of many interesting species of
insects are recorded. It appeared in 1746, and was
continued until 1761.

SAVIGNY (Jules Caesar). — A French naturalist,
distinguished by his elaborate researches into the
comparative structure of the mouths of insects and
other annulose animals, and author of Memoires sur
les Animaux sans Vertebres, and of the plates which
illustrate the annulose portion of the magnificent
French work upon Egypt, undertaken by order of
Napoleon. The labours of this distinguished natu-
ralist have cost him his eye-sight.
i SAINT FARGEAU (M. le Comte Lepelletier de). —
A French entomologist, who lias confined his atten-
tion to the Hymenoptera, distinguished by his Mono-
graphia Temhredinetarurn, by numerous articles in
the last volume of the Encyclopedic Methodique, and
by his work upon the Hymenoptcra in general, forming
a portion of the Suites a Burton.

SCHONHERR (C. S.). — A Swedish entomologist,
distinguished by an elaborate work, in course of pub-
lication, upon the Curculionid;e, in 6 volumes, 8vo.
and which, in fact, forms a continuation of his Syno-
nymia Insectorum, a work in 4 volumes, 8vo., con-
fined to the synonymy of the Coleoptera.

STEPHENS (James Francis). — An English entomo-
logist, and author of a most laborious, systematic, anc
synonymicul Catalogue of English Insects, of all the
Orders, and of Illustrations of British Entomology
consisting of descriptions thereof. Of the latter work
the coleopterous, lepidopterous, and orthopterous por
tions are now completed, and the Hymenoptera are
in course of publication.

SWAMMERDAM (John).— One of the fathers of en
tomology, chiefly distinguished by his Biblia Naturae
a work in 2 volumes, folio, with 53 plates, in which
the transformations of many insects were completely
traced from their various stages. This work, there
fore, in conjunction with that of Redi, completely
established the real nature of insect metamorphoses
It has been translated into English by John Hill
whose edition was published in 1758.

WIEDEMANN (G. R. W.) — Professor of Natura
History at Keil, and successor of Fabricius, whos
attention hus been chiefly confined to exotic Diptera
His chief work, Ausscreuropaische Zweifl. Insekten
is in 2 volumes, Svo., and was published in 1828.

INULA (Linnaeus). A large genus of annua
and perennial herbs, chiefly natives of Europe. Thej
bear yellow discous flowers, and belong to Composite
They thrive in any common garden soil.

IODAMIA (of De France) is a fossil shell re
united to the genus Birostrites, of which it may b
considered only a species.

1POMOZA (Linnaeus). A very extensive genu
of annual and perennial climbing plants, from almos
all parts of the world. They are nearly allied to con

olvulus, and some of them bear remarkably hand-
ome flowers. Class and order Pentandria Mwiogy-
ia, and natural order Convolvulacetz. They are, in
ultivation, usually trained to columns or on trellis-
ork, and are easily managed plants, whether in the
tove or greenhouse.

IPS (Herbst). A genus of coleopterous insects
elonging to the section Pentamera, and family
^ngidcB, having the body of an oblong-oval form, and
epressed, with the third joint of the antennae longer
ban the second, and the club large and rounded.
These insects are generally found under the bark of
lecayed trees, where they feed upon sap, for lapping
which the terminal lobe of the maxillae is elongated.
The species are chiefly confined to Europe, and are
generally ornamented with red or yellow spots upon
a black ground. The British species (of which four
lave been described, but to which number another,
rom the neighbourhood of Edinburgh, captured by
he Rev. Mr. Little, must be added) are generally
rare, and do not exceed one-fourth of an inch in
ength. The type of the genus is the Silpha ±-pus-
\ulata of Linnaeus, which is of a black colour, with
'our irregular red spots on the elytra.

IRIDE^E, a natural order of plants, comprising
already above thirty-six genera, and between four and
five hundred species. Many of the most beautiful gems
of flora are found in this order, namely, Iris, Ixia,
Crocus, Tritonia, Gladiolus, Antholyza, Tigridia,&c. &c.,
they are all plants of peculiar interest as to the modi-
fications of structure they present,both in the organs of
vegetation and fructification. They form a very natu-
ral assemblage, in all of which, excepting the crocus,
the leaves are equidistant, and rise in general from that
kind of stem called a rhizoma, either extended, as in
iris, contracted as in crocus, or still less developed, as
in those which have fibrous roots ; that is, where the
inferior caudex is at once divided from the crown into
fibres without forming even the plate of the crocus,
which is called a Iccccs if very thin, or a combus if col-
lected into a thicker mass. Thelridea are easily known
by the outward dehiscence of their erect anthers. The
germen is inferior arid three-celled, the placentae axial,
the ovules many, and the albumen hard or horny.
Although the crocus alone has aromatic stigmas, a
great uniformity prevails among all these plants in the
properties of other parts. Their fleshy root stocks
contain much fecula, impregnated with an acid bitter
principle ; hence, both Iris Germanica and pscudaconts
have been employed as purgatives and emetics ; and
/ Florcntina, from its agreeable odour, to make tooth
and hair-powder, and to keep up the discharge from
issues. Pallas says, that the roots of/, dichotoma are
eaten in Siberia; and, according to Thunberg, the
Hottentots roast and eat the roots (or rhizomas ?) of
/. edulis. The seeds of I. pseudacorus, when roasted,
form a very excellent substitute for coffee.

IRIDINA (Lamarck). Some slight difference in
the formation of the hinge of these shells induced

Lamarck to. separate them from the genus Anodcn, to
which they have since been united by more recent
writers ; the substance of the shell is also constantly
more solid than that of the Anoden. It has a brilliant
rose-coloured, peachy interior, particularly iriidescent,
and is found in the rivers of warm countries. Until
the more extended researches of recent travellers,

this shell was of great rarity ; and in Du Bois' Epi-
tome of Lamarck's arrangement, only two examples

are named : one in the present Provost of Eton's

I R I S — I X I A.

splendid cabinet, the other in that of the late Earl of
Tankerville.

IRIS i LimiH'its). A beautiful and very numerous
genus of herbaceous perennials, belonging to the class
and order Triandria monogynia of Linn&an botany,
and to the natural order to which it gives a title, viz.
Irideec ; one or other of the species are seen in every
cottage garden ; the generality being hardy, and
increase themselves spontaneously. Some of the
foreign sorts require the care of the florist, as the Per-
sian and all the bulbous-stemmed sorts. The French
national emblem, Fleur-de-lis, is found here.

IRON. The most important varieties of this
mineral will be described under the general article
MINERALOGY.

ISAT1S (Bauchin), a genus of herbaceous annuals
and biennials, natives of Europe, belonging to Cruci-
ftree. One of the species is found wild in England,
viz. the /. tinctoria, and cultivated as a dye, under the
name of woad. It was, before the introduction of
indigo, a plant of considerable commercial importance,
and extensively cultivated in Somersetshire, especially
about Glastonbury, which town received its name
from the Celtic word glas, signifying blue. The an-
cient Britons are said to have painted their bodies
with the blue colour obtained from this plant

ISOCARDIUM (Lamarck; CHAMALOR, Lin-
naeus). The molluscs constituting this genus have
been separated from the genus Chama of Linnaeus,
and the genera Cypricardia and Corditu of La-
marck's first arrangement of conchology, not only on
account of the peculiar shape of the cardinal teeth,
which principally guided his classification, but also on
account of the singular and graceful curvature of the
umbones, which are spirally turned on either side each
valve in the form of what is called familiarly a fool's-
cap, from which is derived the trivial English name
of the type of this genus, and is found in the Euro-
pean Seas ; the others inhabit the China and Indian
Seas. The hocardia, first described by Moltke, was
a few years since of great rarity and price, but is now
within the reach of every collector's purse. The
general description 'of shells of this genus is its being
equivalve, heart-shaped, globose, the umbones distinct,
and spirally recurved to the side of each valve ; two
flat primary teeth, one of which is bent and inserted
under the umbo ; a lateral prolonged callosity or
lengthened tooth ; and the ligament external and
forked on one side. De France enumerates six fossil
species, one of which is precisely analogous.

ISOLEPIS (R. Brown). A genus of annual and
perennial grass-like plants, belonging to Cyperacece.
Common in British ditches and bogs, as well as iu
similar places in foreign parts.

1SOPODA (Latreille). An order of crustaceous
insects belonging to the sub-class of Edrioplhulmous
mulacostraca, and embracing the Linnaeau genus GUIS-
CM, with the numerous sectional and generic s:r<>m>8
separated therefrom. It is distinguished by the hard
envelope of the body, the eyes not raised upon foot-
stalks, the body divided into a series of nearly equal
sized and generally flattened segments, and the legs
of nearly equal size, and fourteen in number, the ante-
rior pairs not being cheliferous, or armed with large
claws These characters « ill readily distinguish them
Irom the leaping shrimps (Gammari", &c., order Amphi-
poda), and from the order L&modipoda, as well as
Iroin the great division of Podvpthalmous Crustacea.
Ihe leys are terminated by a short curved hook or

nail ; £he under surface of the abdominal portion of
the body is furnished with flattened appendages or
plates, having the edges fringed with fine hairs-, serv-
ing, as is supposed, for respiratory organs, and covered
by a larger pair. The body is generally flattened
and of an oval form, being broader than it is thick.
The internal pair of antennae are almost obsolete in
some of the most aberrant species of the order which
are not aquatic. The females carry their eggs for a
considerable period in a membranous bag, under the
breast or between the pectoral scales. The young
when hatched are very similar in form to their parents,
and undergo scarcely any other change than that of
an increase of size produced by the occasional shed-
ding of the outer envelope of the body. The greater
number of species inhabit the water, some of them
being parasitic upon fishes. The terrestrial species
also require a certain degree of moisture, in order to
preserve their branchiae in a fit state for respiration.
Latreille divides this order into six sections as
follows : —

1. Epicarides — destitute of eyes and antennae, legs

unfitted for locomotion. This section com-
prises only a single genus, Bopyrus, Latreille,
which is often to be found under the shell of
the prawn.

2. Cymothoidee — four antennae terminated by a

multi-articulate slender thread, fore legs gene-
rally furnished with strong hooks. These are
parasitic upon fishes. Genera, Scrolls, Cymo-
thoa, IchthyophUus, jEga, and many other
genera established by Dr. Leach, including
the Limnoria terebrans, which is so destructive
in some of our ship yards.

3. Sphteromidce — antennas four, abdomen with two

articulations, swimmerets composed of two
plates, the lower being moveable. Genera,
Zuzara, Sp/usroma, and other genera of Dr.
Leach.

4. Idoteidee — antennae four, placed on the same line,

internal small, abdomen with three articulations,
destitute of lateral swimmerets. Genera,
Idotea, Stenosoma, Arcturus.

5. Asellidce — antennae four, inserted in two lines,

abdomen composed of a single articulation,
without lateral swimmerets, and terminated by
two long and slender styles. Genera Ascllus,
Oniscoda, &c.

6. Oniscida— internal antennae almost obliterated,

abdomen six-jointed with two or four terminal
appendages ; some are terrestrial. Genera,
Ligia, Oniscus, Porcellio, Armadillo. A figure
of the last named genus will be found in our
article CHILOGNATHA.

ISOPOGON (R. Brown). A genus of evergreen
shrubs from New Holland, belonging to the class
Tetrandia and the natural order Proteacece. These
are ornamental plants, but require much care in keep-
ing healthy, owing to their being easily injured l>y too
much water at the root. They may be propagated
by cuttings, but with difficulty, if they get too damp.
IVY, a well-known British plant. See HEDERA.
1XIA (Linnaeus). A beautiful flowering genus of
Cape bulbs, belonging to the Iridece. The best soil
for the ixias, of which there are many splendid species,
is a mixture of sandy loam and leaf-mould, or moor-
earih. They require no water after they have done
flowering. They should be fresh potted in October,
and set in a cold frame well protected from frost.

IXORA— J

When they have commenced growth they may be
removed to the greenhouse to perfect their flowers, in
doing which they must be regularly watered. A cold
pit, or close under a south wall, is favourable to their
growth, provided they be defended against frost.
They are propagated by offsets.

IXORA (Linnseus). A genus of fine flowering
evergreen shrubs, found every where in the eastern
parts of Asia. Class and order Tetrandria Mono-
gynia, and natural order Rubiacetz. Generic charac-
ter : calyx small, four-cleft ; corolla-tube long ; limb
regular, four-lobed, spreading. Stamens almost set-
ting on the throat of the limb, alternating with the
lobes thereof. Style lengthened out, stigma double.
Berry two-celled, and two-seeded. This is one of
the finest of our stove plants, and when grown in a
moist heat, kept free from insects, and properly
attended to, and not plunged in the bark-bed, always
flowers in perfection. It is increased by cuttings.

JABIRU. A genus of American birds chiefly
inhabiting the marshy places of the tropical parts of
that continent ; and bearing some resemblance to the
herons, but much more to the storks. See the article
MYCTERIA.

JAC AMAR (Galbula). A genus of Zygodactylic,
or climbing birds, which reside chiefly in trees, but
are not so decided climbers as many of the order.
They are in so far related to the kingfishers ; and,
like them, they have the anterior toes in great part
united, so that, though several naturalists rank them
with the zygodacty-lic birds, the real structure of their
feet is syndactylic. As is the case with the king-
fishers their tarsi are short, their feet altogether
of feeble structure, and evidently not intended for
performing any very important office in the economy
of the birds. They rest upon trees, and build their
nests in the lower brandies ; but they feed on the
wing, chiefly, if not exclusively, upon those insects
which hover over water and humid earth ; and thus
the birds are found only in marshy places, which in
such situations are very unfavourable to human life ;
and therefore, as is the case with our own kingfisher,
the habits are not so well observed, because not so
open to observation as those of many other birds. In
finding their food, they keep to the air, and do not
fish, even by twitching fishes out of the water ; and
thus their habits do not require the same smoothness
of plumage as the kingfishers, but they have all a
good deal of metallic lustre in their feathers.

The structural characters of the genus are : the
bill long, straight, or slightly bent toward the tip,
slender, four-sided, and without any notch or tooth ;
the nostrils placed laterally at the base of the bill, of
an oval shape, and covered with a naked membrane
for the posterior half of their length ; the feet very
short, with three or four toes, of which two are always
turned to the front and united as far as the third joint ;
the wings of mean length, the first three quills increas-
ing in length by stages, but the third shorter than
the fourth and fifth, which are the longest in the
wing ; the tail consists of twelve feathers, of which
the two lateral ones are very short.

These structural characters indicate a peculiarity
of action in the birds, which confines them to locali-
ties which are rather limited ; as they must find their
food without any very severe degree of labour. The
feet, as we have already observed, are quite inefficient
*or any very important active purpose ; and hey are

A C A M A R.

885

not adapted even for that slow climbing motion from
branch to branch which characterises the parrot tribe
and other tree climbers ; and as little can they cling
to the upright bole of a tree, like the woodpeckers, or
run along like the creepers, and other birds which
are active in catching insects upon the bark. As
little does the structure of their wings suit them for
coursing their insect prey through \\\Q air, by rapid
motions and sudden wheelings and evolutions, such
as those made by the swallows and bee-eaters. Their
organs of motion are all fitted for short flights, and
frequent ascendings and descendings ; and this kind
of structure and of flight naturally confines them
to those situations in which slow-flighted insects are
found in sufficient abundance. Of course it is onlv
in those rich and humid parts of the tropical countries
which may be said to be in a state of perpetual pro-
duction, without any winter's repose, and free from
drought, as take place in the less humid districts of
the same climates, that these birds can be in a situa-
tion properly adapted for them. Hence it does not
appear that they migrate to any considerable distance.
Our knowledge of them is, however, far from perfect,
and we must receive with caution many of the accounts
which have been given of them. They inhabit the
deepest recesses of the forests, and thus they are but
rarely seen ; and different from very many of the
birds of tropical forests, they are not much heard.
Their voice is very feeble, being merely a sort of
subdued hissing ; and even this is practised only
during the breeding time, which we believe is not
confined to any particular season of the year, which
licence indeed extends to very many of the forest
birds of tropical countries. Generally speaking, they (
remain at perfect rest, and in perfect silence, on the
twigs or leaves of the trees, always as solitary indi-
viduals, and never in flocks, or even in societies of
any extent. From those resting places they sally
forth with very rapid but very short flight, in order
to capture those insects which are sporting over the
water. They never rise to any great elevation when
on the wing ; and their short flights are taken in
straight lines, generally sloping upward or inclining
downward, for either of which they are remark-
ably well adapted by the peculiar structure of their
wings and tail. It has been supposed that some spe-
cies at least of the jacamar deposit their eggs in the
nests of other birds, something after the manner of
the cuckoo of Europe, but the fact is not plearly esta-
blished. All the known species are understood to be
natives of America only. They admit of division
into two sub-genera, in consequence of the different
number of toes in each.

JAMAICA JACAMAR (B. Galtmla grandu) is a na-
tive of that country after which it is named. It is
about ten inches in length. The upper parts are
golden green, with reflections of copper and bronze.
The first quills are brown : the upper tail-coverts
green, the lower ones ash colour with violet reflec-
tions. The feathers at the opening of the gape are
copper red ; the chin white ; the throat and under
parts red ; the bill and feet black, the former nearly
straight and resembling that of the king-fisher. This
one has two toes turned to the front and two to the
rear, the latter free, but the former united.

LONG-TAILED JACAMAR ( G. para disea). This spe-
cies is longer than the former, but the greater length
is in the tail rather than the body. The upper part
is blackish ' rown with a play of colours ; the »op of

880 J A C

the head is brown; the chin, the sides of the head,
the breast, and all the under parts are blackish, but
marked with white spots on each side of the belly ;
the quills and tail feathers are violet black with a play
of colours ; and the two middle feathers of the tail
are considerably longer than the rest, and each one
toward the"* side is shorter than the one within it.
The bill and feet are black. The colours of the
female want the reflections which characterise the
male ; and the two middle leathers of the tail are also
shorter in that sex.

YRLLOW-BILLED JACAMAR (G. Jlavirostris] has
the upper parts of golden green with Very brilliant
copper coloured reflections. The front and region of
the eyes blackish brown with bright metallic lustre.
The primary quills brown with the basal parts and
the inner webs yellow. The tail feathers regularly
staged, with the two middle ones golden green, and
the remainder russet. The chin is whitish, the throat
reddish, the breast copper green, the under parts
bright red ; and the bill yellow at the base, but black
at the tip. The colours of the female are much
duller than those of the .male. The length of this
species is about eight inches.

WHITE-BELLIED JACAMAR (G. leucogaster) is also
about eight inches long, and has the whole bill, and
also the feet black. The upper part golden green ;
the sides of the head dull blueish green ; the quills and
tail feathers golden green, margined with irridescent
blue. The throat and belly are white, but all the
rest of the under parts are golden green. The bill
and feet are black.

(IRKEN JACAMAR (G.mridis). This species is also
of the same size as the two preceding ones. It has the
upper part of a very rich and brilliant golden green ;
the front and region of the eyes blackish brown ; the
top of the head, arid the edges of the quills and tail
feathers deen blueish green ; the rest of the primaries
blackish. The chin ash-colour, the throat white, and
all the rest of the under parts russet. The under
parts of this one are, however, subject to considerable
varieties of colour in different individuals.

TiiREE-TOEt> JACAMAR (G. Iridactyla). This spe-
cies differs from the fonm-r in size, being only seven
inches in length ; and it ditf'ers more in the structure
of its feet, by having only three toes, two to the front
and one to the rear. On. this account it has some-
times been classed with the bee-eaters, and at other
times regarded as a separate genus. But its struc-
ture and habits are not like those of the bee-eaters,
nor does it appear that there are any good grounds
for regarding it as a distinct genus, at least in so far
as its general manners are concerned. The upper
parts are blackish brown with green reflections ; the
feathers on the crown, and at the base of the bill, are
blackish brown, with produced margins of a reddish
colour to their webs. The primary quills and tail
feathers are brown, margined externally with golden
green; the secondary quills are brown, with some
mottling of yellow; the sides of the head are brown-
ish ash ; the chin yellow : the throat black ; the mid-
dle of the breast and the belly white, with a rosy tint ;
the flanks and under coverts'of the (ail blackish, mot-
tled with russet ; and the bill and feet are blackish.
Such are the few particulars at present known re-
specting this genus of biKls ; but as the verv pecu-
liar countries which they inhabit are beginning to be
explored with equal zeal and ability, we may soon
expect more complete accounts of them and their fel-
lows of the woods.

ANA.

JACANA (P. Parra). A very peculiar, and by
no means uninteresting genus of bird?, belonging to
Cuvrer's Macrodactylic, or long-toed family of Evhax-
siers, or stilt birds ; and forming the most typical or
characteristic genus of the family. In their habits
they are somewhat allied to the rails and water-hens
of our temperate climates ; but they are all natives of
warm countries, and possess the power of running
lightly upon aquatic plants and herbage in far greater
perfection than any of our birds.

The birds of this genus are very striking! v distin-
guished from all flie other walking birds by the great
development of their feet, which are in all the species,
and in every part of the structure, very large and
strong in proportion to the size of the bird. The
tibiae are very long, stout, and naked of feathers for
the greater part of their length ; the tarsi are also
very long and strong ; and these two bones are, to-
gether, as long as the whole body of thj birds, if not
longer. The most remarkable part, however, is the
great development of the toes and claws. These to*s
are four in number, three to the front, and one to the
rear, all articulated at the same height on the tarsus,
and perfectly free, or without membranes, to their
very basis. They are furnished with very long claws,
very little bent, and tapering to points, which are ex-
ceedingly s-harp ; and this peculiarity of the claw is
more remarkable on the hind toes than on any of the
rest. From this produced form and extreme sharp-
ness of the claws, the French have given these birds
the fanciful name of surgeons, though it does not ap-
pear that they exercise those keen weapons in any
kind of phlebotomy, or in doing violence to any crea-
ture whatever : though, as M'e shall presently see,
this very singular formation is by no means without
its use in the economy of the birds. The body, as is
the case in all birds which have a running or walking
habit rather than a flying one, is borne with the axis
nearly horizontal ; and such is the extent of base ob-
tained from the great production of the toes and
claws, that it extends as fur as from the breast to the
posterior extremity of the body. The bill is of mode-
rate length, not exceeding that of the head. It is
straight, slender, slightly compressed, rather enlarged
at the point, flattened at the base, where it extends
into a sort of plate on the forehead, nearly in the
same manner as in the coots, which also belong to this
family. The mandibles are of unequal length, the
lower one being the shorter. The nostrils are lateral
about the middle of the bill, oval, and open through
and through. The wings are of mean length, or
rather long for the size of the bird ; the first and
second quills are of equal length, and the third is
often the longest in the wing. One of the most
remarkable appendages of the wing is a large horny
spur, slightly curved, and very sharp-pointed, which
is placed on the turn of the wing, and which might be
used as a rather formidable weapon ; but whether it
ever is so used has not been determined. This formid-
able armature of the feet and the wings has, however,
led some to conclude that these birds are of a pugna-
cious disposition : but the very reverse seems to be
the case ; for those who have had the best opportu-
nities of observing them in a state of nature, represent
them as being very peaceable birds, arid very much
attached to each other, especially the pairs, which
show a very strong reciprocal affection. The birds
are at all times difficult to approach, because of the
lightness and agility with which they run upon the

J A C A N A

floating leaves, and also through the tall aquatic
grasses, and the ease with which, when necessary,
they can throw themselves so far into the air as to
be able to get on the wing. The great elasticity of
their toes, and the rapid contraction of these by the
bendings of the upper joints of the limbs, are the
means by which this is etl'ected. The keen points of
the claws, too, enable them to take hold of a stem or
a leatj so as to form a point of support with very
little pressure. The spur on the wing is not of such
apparent utility, but it may also assist the bird in
holding- on upon the aquatic herbage until it has ac-
quired a footing. Any one who has observed with
what swiftness, neatness, and lightness, the common
water-hen runs along a brook, when there is only
here and there a straggling leaf or stem to afford sup-
port, can readily imagine how much more fleetly
these birds, whose feet are so much better organised
for such an office, can make their way over the
waters ; and consequently how difficult it muFt be to
obtain a sight of them, more especially as the places
which they inhabit are not the most tempting for hu-
man visitors. They belong to places where the growth
and the production of food for them is constant ; and
therefore their breeding-time is not fixed to a parti-
cular season. From the attachment which the pair
show for each other, and the fact of a pair being
generally met with, it has been concluded, not only
that the males are strictly monogamous, but that the
unions are formed for life. When one is occupied,
the other is always watching, and instantly gives the
alarm-cry when danger is. near ; or if the alarm-call is
given, not from the actual appearance of danger, but
from the apprehension of it, the one which is called
to responds that all is safe by a sort of subdued and
murmuring cry, which has something very pleasant
in it. During the day, these birds remain very silent,
unless when they are disturbed by unwelcome visiters ;
but during the night, when they are in motion, their
cries are heard at a great distance, and the sound is
by no means agreeable. Their nests are formed in
the thick tufts of marsh plants, in a very similar man-
ner to those of the long-toed birds of Europe. They
are built of rushes and other coarse aquatic plants, of
which a great quantity is collected, and placed suffi-
ciently high for being above any ordinary inundation.
The hatch consists of four or five eggs, of a greenish
colour, and mottled with small spots of dark brown,

The birds of this genus were once supposed to be
natives of America only ; but they are found in the
marshy parts of all tropical countries. In central
Africa, in India, in the Oriental Isles, as well as all the
richer parts of tropical America. They are birds
which are peculiarly characteristic of the places which
they inhabit ; and as they are rarely found in situations
which are but occasionally covered with water, and
which form the proper pastures of the cranes and
storks, they are not much given to migration. Within
their localities, their flight, when they do take the
wing, is rapid ; but they do not rise to great heights,
or fly over long distances..

Their proper function in nature appears to be that
of cleaning the leaves of aquatic plants, of which there
are vast numbers in tropical countries, from insects
and other small animals which are not available either
to flying or swimming birds. They take up the waters
as a pasture, when the fly-catchers, bee-eaters, and
other birds which can use the wing rapidly, there leave
ofl'; and they quit them at that particular stap-e where

887

they become the pastures of ducks and divers, and
other birds which seek their food at the bottom, or
submerge in the free waters. We shall now very
briefly notice the principal species, the habits of all of
which, in so far as they are known, appear to be very
much alike.

THE FAirriFUL JACANA on CHAZA (P. C/invaria)
is a South American species, and by no means rare
either in the country bordering on the Caribbean Sea,
or in the humid parts of Paraguay. It is about the
size of a dung-hill cock, and stands about a foot and
a half high. The toe? are long, the legs are of a
tawny colour, and the bill is dirty white ; a red mem-
brane extends over both sides of the base of the bill
to the temples, in the centre of which the eyes are
placed. The irides are brown ; twelve blackish fea-
thers, about three inches long, form a crest on the
nape, and the neck is furnished with black down. The
body is of a brownish colour, and the wings and tail
are brownish black. The wings are furnished with tv\o
or three spurs on the turn, which are about half an
inch in length. The under parts are dull brownish
black, as are also the feathered parts of the tibia?,
which arc however short in proportion to the naked
parts. The toes are so very long, that they are apt
to get entangled with each other when the bird walks
on level ground at a faster rate than its usual march-
ing pace, which is slow and measured. It is found
about the ruers and inundated places, where it is
understood to feed indiscriminately upon small animals
and vegetable substances. According to the accounts,
its instinct of attachment is turned to use in some
parts of South America, where the inhabitants keep
a single tamed one for the purpose of accompanying
their domestic poultry, which it defends from birds of
prey by means of the spurs on its wings. In these
cases it is said never to desert its charge, but to accom-
pany the poultry in all their movements, and defend
them with the greatest bravery.

CHILI JACANA (P. Chilensis). This species is
described as not being so aquatic in its habits as most
of the species, and it resides on the low and rich
plains, but not exactly in the marshes ; and its food
consists of insects, worms, and other small ground
animals. It measures about ten inches in length ;
the upper parts are of a rich chestnut colour ; the
forehead, head, neck, breast, abdomen, and larger
wing-coverts, are pure black ; the sides, rump, and
coverts, and feathers of the tail, are bright chestnut
red ; the quills of the wings are clouded with green
and yellow, and have black tips ; the lesser coverts
are blackish, with white tips ; the under coverts of
the wings are reddish, with the webs of the feathers
loose and flocculent ; the bill is yellow, covered for
the basal half of its length by a red membrane, which
proceeds as far as the angles of the eyes ; and then
bending upwards, forms two lobes upon the forehead,
which are not attached to the forehead, but bend in
part over the base of the bill. Those appendages in-
dicate a considerable connexion between these birds
and poultry. The eg-gs are four in number, of a
tawny colour dotted with black, and they are a little
larger than those of a common partridge. The male
and female are always found together near the nest,
and they fight with yreat bravery in defence of their
eggs and young. When they perceive any person
approaching the place where their nest is situated,
they at (irst conceal themselves in the grass or other
herbage, but their watchfulness is not thereby abated ;

388 J A C

and when they discover that the enemy has found out
the nest, they dart upon him with the most, deter-
mined resolution, and fight boldly in defence of their
charge. During the day, where they can have the
advantage of sight, they are perfectly silent, and they
do not utter their cries during the night without some
cause of alarm ; but if any one passes, or any un-
wonted noise is made, their ear appears to be as
quick by night as their eye is by day, and they in-
stantly give their call, which is audible at a consider-
able distance. On this account, some of the Indian
tribes employ them, during their wars, as sentinels
against nocturnal surprises of the enemy ; if even a
single foe approaches, let him tread how lightly
soever, the jacana is sure to give the alarm, and thus
the purpose of the assailant is defeated.

COMMON JACANA (P. jacana) is of a rich maroon
brown on the upper part, and the same colour on the
under part, only more obscure in the tint. The head,
neck, throat, and breast, are black with metallic re-
flections ; the quills are yellowish green, with black
borders ; the bill yellow, and the frontal membrane
reddish yellow. This membrane forms three lobes,
which are not attached to the forehead, and it has
two fleshy appendages at each side of the upper man-
dible. The spine on the angle of the wing is large,
conical, and of a white colour ? the legs are greenish
grey : the length is about ten inches. The j'oung
have some white on the under part, are lighter jn^the
colour, and of smaller size. This species is very ge-
nerally distributed over the warm parts of America,
and is common in Brazil, in Guiana, and in some of
the West India Islands ; it inhabits the borders of
pools and rivulets almost invariably in pairs.

BRONZE JACANA (P. esnea). This is rather a
doubtful species, and is probably the same with the
Brazilian jacana of some authors ; and also with one
or two others, which are known only in museum spe-
cimens, generally supposed to have been obtained
from Brazil.

SENEGAL JACANA (P. dnnamomia). Is a native of
Central Africa. It is maroon brown on the upper
part and deep brown on the under : the head is black,
the lower part of the neck white, the breast russet,
the bill yellow with a blueish-grey frontal membrane.

INDIAN JACANA (P. Indica), Is found in Bengal

ANA.

and other h'umid parts of India. The upper part is
brownish ash, and the lower and also the head and
neck blueish black: the quills are blackish violet;
there is a white streak over the eye ; the bill is yel-
low with a blackish-blue frontal appendage ; there is
a red spot at the angle of the gape ; the feet are
brownish ; and the length is about nine inches.

CRESTED JACANA (P. cristata). This species is
about ten inches in length : it is bronze green on the
upper part, and has the head, the neck, the lower
part of the back, the breast, and the belly, dull green ;
the rump, the flanks, the vent-feathers, and tail-
coverts reddish brown ; the larger coverts and primary
quills of the wings blackish green ; the feet and toes
green with brown claws, the bill yellow, and the
frontal appendage smooth, and of a crimson red.
This species is found in Ceylon and other parts of
the east.

LONG-TAIL.ED JACANA (P. Sinensis). How this spe-
cies came to get the name of " Chinese" it is not easy
to say ; because it inhabits not China but the eastern
Archipelago. The upper parts are reddish brown, and
the under parts deep purple brown ; the head, the
throat, and fore part of the neck are white, pencilled
with black; the hind part of the head is black, and the
back of th^ neck very rich golden yellow, the coverts
of the wings are white ; the primary quills black, and
the secondaries white with black borders : the colours
of these parts do not, however, appear to be constant ;
the tail feathers are black, and the four middle ones
are longer than the rest, and pendent over them
in a very graceful curve : the bill is blueish, and the
frontal appendages and the feet are green ; the spine
on the wing is horn colour, and of moderate size.
The total length is from eighteen to twenty inches,
of which, however, a considerable portion is taken up
by the produced feathers of the tail.

Such is a short list of the chief species of these
very peculiar birds ; and it is not a little remarkable,
that while so many birds of decided migratory habits
are confined to one or other of the two continent!!,
these stationary birds should be found in both, and
in both tropical parts of the eastern one. We have
no reason to suppose that they passed from the one
continent to the other, although their manners in
both appear to be very similar.

END OF VOL. H.

Bradbury and Evans, Printers, Wliitefriare.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY
BERKELEY

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