ANIMAL BIOLOGY.
[1.] “Barˈna-cles.” A kind of shell fish, now recognized as belonging to the Articulata. They are provided with a long, flexible footstalk, by means of which they adhere either to fixed or floating objects. At the summit of this stalk are shelly valves, five in number, which enclose the principal organs of the animal. This shell opens and closes to admit of its spreading out and retracting a net-like organ, by means of which the animal catches its food, which consists of small crustacea. On emerging from the eggs, young barnacles are free, and are furnished with organs of locomotion, and with large eyes, but in a short time a change occurs in them. They assume the form of their parents, and attach themselves to some place of residence. In warm climates they are exceedingly abundant, and often fasten themselves in such numbers to the bottom of a vessel as to retard its progress.
[2.] “Fourteen-footed Crustacea.” The beach-fleas which are found so commonly among weeds, belong to this order, and the mantis shrimp.
[3.] “Ten-footed Crustacea.” This order is represented by the shrimp.
[4.] “Cephalo-thorax,” sephˈa-lo thoˈrax. Head-chested. The first segment of the animal contains the head and the chest.
[5.] “Carapace,” carˈa-pace.
[6.] “Epidermis,” ĕp-i-dermˈis. The thin, semi-transparent covering over the true skin. It is readily seen in the occurrence of blisters, as the fluid is always contained between it and the dermis, or true skin. It extends over the whole body, even the front of the eye.
[7.] “Acarina,” ă-ka-reeˈna.
[8.] “Pedipalpi,” pedˈi-palˈpĭ. The word is derived from two Latin words, meaning a foot, and to touch softly.
[9.] “Araneina,” ar-a-nīˈna.
[10.] “Centipedes,” senˈti-pēdes. The word means hundred-footed.
[11.] “Chitine,” kīˈtēn.
[12.] “Chilognatha,” kī-logˈna-thä.
[13.] “Chilopoda,” kī-lopˈa-dä.
[14.] “Neuroptera,” new-ropˈte-rä.
[15.] “Orthoptera,” or-thopˈte rä.
[16.] “Hemiptera,” hĕ-mipˈte-rä.
[17.] “Coccus Cacti,” cocˈcus cac-ti.
[18.] “Nopal,” nōˈpal. A plant of the genus cacti; the Indian fig.
[19.] “Cortes,” or Cortez, Fernando. (1485-1554.) The Spanish conqueror of Mexico.
[20.] “Coleoptera,” cō-lē-opˈte-ra.
[21.] “Imago,” ī-māˈgo.
[22.] “Elytra,” elˈī-tra.
[23.] Ornaments made from the sheaths of beetles. In the National Museum at Washington are many articles made by Indians and trimmed with beetle wings. There are leather capes and straps decorated with them, and head-dresses on which rows of the wings are sewed together edge to edge. Besides these, many little fancy ornaments are made of them. They may also be seen in large millinery stores, as they bid fair now to come in vogue as decorations for ladies’ bonnets.
[24.] “Lepidoptera,” lĕp-i-dŏpˈte-ra.
[25.] “The silk worm.” This insect is a native of the north of China, and a large part of the raw silk for Europe and America comes from that country. The silk worm was brought into the south of Europe in the sixth century, whence the insects, being found profitable, gradually spread into Italy and France, in both of which countries the production of silk has long been an important industry. The worms, when properly cared for, do remarkably well in this country, where, in an early day, considerable attention was given to silk culture. In colonial times the government encouraged the industry, and the production was considerable. In all the middle and southern parts both soil and climate were found favorable, and there was fair prospect of success; but for some reason the production of raw silk has fallen far behind other American industries, and certainly is not now in a flourishing condition. As late as 1844 the production was 396,700 pounds, worth $1,400,000. It has been much less since. But with our superior natural advantages, and the very fine quality of silk that can be produced, if ever the price of labor in other countries is raised to near the same it is here, it will be profitable, and capitalists ready to invest largely in the business.
[26.] Such statements as these call to mind the following doggerel couplet:
“Big fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite ’em
And these again have other fleas; and so on, ad infinitum.”
[27.] The habits of ants form a most interesting study. The males and females are provided with delicate glistening wings, the infertile females, or neuters, are wingless. The latter are divided into two classes—the workers or nurses, and soldiers. There is on the part of the fertilized females a disposition to desert the colony, but the workers, who are always on the lookout for any such manifestations, prevent it if possible. The nurses take all the care of the eggs, which are so small as scarcely to be visible to the naked eye, and which the mother never notices unless she is left alone; they also care for the young ants. When the proper time comes they cut them from the cocoons in which the pupæ envelop themselves, but from which they are unable to extricate themselves without help. Winged ants are seen most frequently in the autumn, and the greater part die before cold weather. Ants feed mostly on the sugar found in vegetable substances, and on the secretions of the aphides, or plant lice, called honey dew, which is found smeared over the leaves of plants. Some kinds of ants catch these aphides and carry them to their cells where they carefully provide for them in order that they may have the honey dew for food. Thus in their way they keep cows. The workers also have the care of building the habitations of the colony, forming the streets and chambers, repairing them, and fortifying them against the weather. The soldiers are larger, and are provided with stronger jaws. They do the heavier parts of the work, and the fighting for the colony. Some species of ants are slaveholders. They attack other colonies, and if not repelled, carry off the eggs and cocoons, which they care for, and when they are hatched and grown they are compelled to life service for their captors.
[28.] “Ascidian,” as-sidˈi-an.
[29.] “Lamprey,” lamˈpry.
[30.] “Marsipobranchii,” mar-sipˈo-brankˈĭ.
[31.] “Lamprey pie.” Lampreys were formerly held in high esteem for the table, and it was an old custom for the city of Gloucester annually to present a lamprey pie to the sovereign. Worcester, also, is famous, for its pies and potted lampreys.
[32.] The American lamprey likes best shallow places in rapidly flowing streams where there are pebbly bottoms. Out of the pebbles it builds its circular nest of stones, which vary in size from a hen’s egg to a cannon ball. It carries the stones in its mouth. The eggs are laid in these nests, and the young remain here until able to care for themselves. For full account of nest building fishes see the Christmas number of Harper’s Monthly for 1883.
[33.] “Nictating membrane.” “A thin membrane at the inner angle of the eye, capable of being drawn across the ball beneath the lid, as in birds and some ruminant animals; the third eyelid.”—Webster’s Dictionary.
[34.] “Operculum,” ō-perˈcu-lum.
[35.] “Vascular,” vasˈcu-lar. Consisting of vessels. The vascular system in animals contains the arteries, veins, and like parts.
[36.] “Elasmobranchii,” e-lasˈmo-brankˈĭ.
[37.] “Teleosti,” tē-lē-osˈti.
[38.] “The electric eel.” These animals are found in several of the rivers of South America. They are three or four feet in length, though a few have been found measuring six feet. The viscera lie close to the head, and all the rest of the body is taken up by the electrical apparatus, which consists of four batteries, two on each side. These batteries consist of horizontal membranous plates, intersected by delicate vertical plates; the spaces contain a glutinous matter. The batteries are supplied with two hundred and twenty-four pairs of nerves on each side. Humboldt gave much study to these eels, and wrote a graphic description of how the Indians captured them by driving horses into the water occupied by them. The powers of the fishes were exhausted in shocking the horses (some of which died from the effects), and the eels were caught. It is said, too, that the Indians sometimes caught wild horses by driving them into the water and capturing them while they were under the influence of the shock. Faraday calculated that the eel emitted a force as great as the highest charge of a Leyden battery of fifteen jars, having a coated surface of 3,500 square inches. The most powerful shocks are felt by touching the head of the eel with one hand, and the tail with the other.
[39.] “Blind fishes.” These are fishes found in caves, especially in the Mammoth Cave of Kentucky. They possess organs of touch so delicate that they are able to pursue and overtake fishes with eyes, that stray into their domain. It is very difficult to capture them, their sense of hearing being as acute as that of touch. They are nearly colorless and present a ghostly appearance in the water. They vary in length from two to five inches; they are viviparous.
[40.] “Sargossa Sea.” The name given to that part of the Atlantic Ocean lying between 25° and 36° north latitude, and west of the Azore islands, which is covered by a kind of seaweed distributed in great masses by the Gulf Stream. Humboldt speaks of it as “that great bank of weeds which so vividly occupied the imagination of Christopher Columbus, and which Oviedo calls the seaweed meadows.” On his first voyage Columbus passed through this sea, which caused great alarm to his companions, who thought there must be rocks or shoals near. The quantity of the weed is such as often to impede the progress of vessels.