AJOWAMS. 



ALBATROSS. 



106 





AJOWAMS, or AJWAMS, the Indian name for the fruits of 

 f mbelliferous plants belonging to the genus Piychotis. They are 

 -chiefly employed in veterinary medicine. 



ALABASTER, a white stone used for ornamental purposes. The 

 name is derived from Alabastron, a town of Egypt, where there 

 appears to have been a manufactory of small vessels or pots, made 

 of a stone found in the mountains near the town. These vessels 

 were employed for containing certain kinds of perfumes used by the 

 ancients in their toilet, and with which it was the custom to anoint 

 the heads of their guests, as a mark of distinction, at their feasts. 

 There are in Horace many allusions to this custom. In like manner, 

 Mary, the sister of Lazarus, poured upon the head of our Saviour, as 

 he sat at supper, "very precious ointment" from an alabaster-box. 

 Vessels of a similar form, although not made of the white stons, bore 

 the same name amongst the Greeks and Romans. 



There are two kinds of white stone to which antiquaries and 

 artists give the name of alabaster : the one is a carbonate of lime ; 

 the other is gypsum, or sulphate of lime. Many of these ancient 

 perfume-vessels are made of the compact crystalline mass deposited 

 from water holding carbonate of lime in solution, which is found in 

 many places in almost every country. When the deposition takes 

 place on the ground, it forms what mineralogists call a atal(i<jini!v, 

 from a Greek word signifying a drop, and it is often composed of 

 layers distinguishable by different degrees of translucency, giving the 

 stone the appearance of the striped agates, called onyx. [AGATE.] 

 Hence, according to Pliny, the alabastrites was sometimes called 

 "iiyx. But it is easy to ascertain of which of the two kinds a vessel 

 is composed, for mrltonate of lime is hard, and effervesces if it be 

 touched by a strong acid ; but sulphate of lime does not effervesce, 

 and is so soft that it may be scratched with the nail The term 

 alabaster is now generally applied to the softer stone. This last, 

 when pure, is a beautiful semi-transparent snow-white substance, 



worked into vases, lamps, and various other ornaments, but it 

 is seldom foTind in masses large enough for statuary ; and, indeed, 

 artists would be unwilling to execute any great work in a material so 

 vury liable to injury. The finest quality known is found in the 

 neighbourhood of Volterra in Tuscany, and it is cut into a variety of 

 works of great taste and beauty at Volterra, Florence, Leghorn, and 

 other places in that part of Italy, whence they are sent all over the 

 world, and sold at very reasonable prices. 



Alabaster is found in Derbyshire and Staffordshire, and is manu- 

 factured at Derby into small ornaments and toys. [GYPSCM.] 



ALABAUDINE, a name for Manganese-Blende, a sulphuret of 

 manganese. 



ALABES, a genus of fishes belonging to the order Malacopterygii, 

 and family Apodes. This genus, which consists of a single species of 

 small size, a native of the Indian Ocean, resembles in most respects 

 the common Conger-Eel (J/w/vpna) of our own seas. 



ALAR I A, a genus of sea- weeds. [ALO.*]. 



ALAUDA. [ALACDIN^]. 



ALAUDINvE, a sub-family of birds belonging to the order 

 P<iterintr, and the family Conirostret, is thus characterised by 

 Mr. Swainson : 



Bill more lengthened than in any of the Fringillida; the tip 

 entire or obsoletely notched. Tertial quills considerably lengthened, 

 pointed, and generally as long as the quills. Claws very slightly 

 curved ; the claw of the outer toe always shorter than that of tin- 

 inner toe ; the hinder claw considerably lengthened, and either ne*fly 

 straight or very slightly curved. 



A lauda. (Linn.) 



Bill cylindrical ; nostrils concealed. Wings very long ; no spurious 

 quill ; the first, second, and third quills longest, and nearly equal ; 

 the rest considerably graduated ; tips of the lesser quills emarginate. 

 Tail forked. Head crested. (Sw.) 



The Larks are characterised by their having the hind-claw, which is 



like the fore-claws, somewhat straight, and longer than in the pipits 



'he wag-tails. The bill is straight, and rather short and strong, 



th.- tipper mandible being arched without any notch, and not longer 



than the under. The nostrils, situated at the base of the bill, are 



..,', and protected by small plumes and bristles directed forwards. 



Tlii' feathers on the back part of the head can be raised up at the will 



of the bird into the form of a crest. 



Various species of larks ore found in all parts of the globe, and are 

 everywhere distinguished by their vigilance aad their singing. They 

 are peculiarly birds of the fields, meadows, and other open places. The 

 irnation of their feet, except in a few instances, such as the wood- 

 lark, does not adapt them to perch upon trees. They accordingly 

 always build on the ground, making in general a rather slight though 

 neat nest, and laying about five eggs, usually of a grayish white, with 

 xpecks of a brown colour. They frequently rear two broods of young 

 during the summer. 



They are almtwt all birds of passage ; for even in Britain, where some 

 remain during the winter, the greater number flock together and 

 migrate, either southward or to the sea-coast. During these migra- 

 tions immense uuinliero of them are caught in nets for the table, parti- 

 cularly on the continent, where small birls arc rnjre sought after for 



nrpose than in Britain. 

 Localities. Kurope and America. 



Mr. Swainson considers this as the Fissirostral type. 



Example: Alauda ansnsis. This is the Alouette, Alouette Ordi- 

 naire, and AlouMe dss Champa of the French; Lodola, Lodola 

 Canterina, Lodola di Passo, and Lodola di Montaijna of the Italians ; 

 Fdd Lsrche of the Germans ; Hedydd and Uchedi/dd of the ancient 

 British ; and Skylark (in Scotch Lmrock) of the modern British. 



The Skylark is too well known, from its inexpressibly beautiful song, 

 chanted forth far up in the air when at liberty and in its natural state, 

 to require any description. 



food. Insects and their larvae, with many sorts of seeds and grain. 



Aes.'. On the ground. Eggs four or five, greenish white, spotted 

 with brown. 



Localities. All the parts of Europe ; also in Asia and the northern 

 parts of Africa, but not in the south of that vast continent (Temm.) ; 

 the whole of Europe within the temperate zone, many parts of Asia, 

 and the north of Africa. (Selby.) 



Calendula. (Linn.) 



Bill thick, much compressed ; the culmen curved and convex ; the 

 commissure arched ; the tip of the upper mandible wide above and 

 inflexed. Wings long or moderate ; the first quill very small and 

 spurious; the second nearly equal to the third and fourth; lesser 

 quills short, emarginate. Tail slightly forked. Lateral toes equal. 

 Africa. The Deutirostral type C. magnirostru, ' Ois. d'Afr.,' pi. 

 193. (Sw.) 



Sub-genera: Myrafra, Horsf. Bill as in Calendula. Wings short, 

 rounded; greater quills hardly longer than the secondaries and 

 tertials ; the first quills spurious, half the length of the second, which 

 is shorter than the third ; the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth equal, and 

 longest. Tail short, even. Legs long. 31. Javanica, ' Linn. Tr.,' 

 xiii. 159. (Sw.) 



Bruconyx, Sw. (Brachonyx). Bill as in Calendula. Hinder claw 

 very short. Wings and tarsi much lengthened. Africa, (Sw.) 



Agrodroma. (Sw.) 



Bill slender, considerably compressed ; both mandibles of equa 

 length ; the tip of the upper one not reflected over the lower, and 

 with a small notch, almost obsolete. Wings long ; the first four quills 

 nearly equal ; the rest rapidly diminishing, anil einargiuate at their 

 tips ; tertials lengthened, pointed, as long as the quills. Tail moderate, 

 even. Legs pale, long, slender. Tarsus longer than the middle toe. 

 Lateral toes equal, but the outer claw shorter than the inner. Colour 

 brown, lark-like. Distribution universal. The Insessorial or pre- 

 eminent type Agrodroma rufutcens, ' Enl.,' 661, f. L (Sw.) 

 Macronyx. (Sw.) 



Bill slender, compressed, thrush-like, entire ; nostrils large, naked, 

 the aperture lateral. Wings short ; the primaries not longer than the 

 tertials, the first four of equal length ; secondaries long, emarginate. 

 Tail moderate, even. Feet enormous. Tarsus and hinder toes very 

 long, and of equal length. Lateral toes unequal, the inner shortest. 

 Africa. The Rasorial type M. Jtaricollis, 'Ois. d'Afr.,' pi. 195; M. 

 jtavigaiter, Sw., ' Birds of West Africa,' (' Naturalists' Library,' Orni- 

 thology, vol. vii., p. 215.) 



Certhilauda. (Sw.) 



Bill slender, lengthened, more or less curved ; nostrils round, naked. 

 Wings very long ; the first quill spurious ; the three next nearly equal. 

 Tail moderate, even. Feet lengthened ; the lateral toes equal ; length 

 of the hinder claw variable, although typically short and straight. 

 Africa. The Tenuirostral type Certhilauda longiroatra, ' Ois. d'Afr.,' 

 192; C. bifasciata, Riipp., ' Atlas," plate 5; C. nivosa, Sw., ' Birds of 

 West Africa' (vol. vii., p. 215.) 



Such are Mr. Swainsou's views as to the arrangement of this sub- 

 genus. [FHIXGILLID.E.] The genus Anthm, Bechst., is placed by Mr. 

 Swainson at the end of his sub-family MotacUtinie (Wagtails), under 

 his family Sylviadte (Warblers). 



fossil Larks. 



Dr. Buckland figures a lark (Alauda) among the land Mammifers 

 and Birds of the third period of the Tertiary Series, in the first plate 

 of the illustrations of his ' Bridgewater Treatise.' He had previously 

 noticed the remains of the lark in Kirkdale Cave. (' Reliquiie Dilu- 

 vianse,' pp. 15, 34, plate xi., ff. 24, 25.) 



ALBATROSS (Diomedea), a genus of web-footed birds, comprising 

 three species the Albatross of China (D. fuliyinosa, Latham) ; the 

 Yellow- and Black-Beaked Albatross (D. chlororynchtu, Latham) ; and 

 the Common Albatross (U. exulans, Linnaeus.) The genus is princi- 

 pally distinguished by the following characters : a very strong, hard, 

 long beak, which is straight to near the extremity, when it suddenly 

 curves. The upper mandible appears composed of many articulated 

 pieces, furrowed on the sides, and crooked at the point ; the lower 

 mandible smooth ami cut short ; the nostrils lateral, and placed like 

 small rolls in the furrow of the mandible ; the feet short ; the three 

 toes long and completely webbed ; the wings very long and narrow. 

 The name Albatross is a word apparently corrupted by Dampier from 

 the Portuguese Alcatraz, which was applied by the early navigators of 

 that nation to cormorants and other lu-ga saa-birds. 



The Common Albatross is the species which is most frequently met 

 with in the seas of Southern Africa. It l<i the largest sea-bird known. 



