AMYRIDACEJE. 



ANACARDIACE^E. 



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for which it is esteemed. This, which is produced in very large 

 quantities, is partly exported into northern countries, and partly 

 pressed for oil, or consumed for various domestic purposes. Although 

 botanists distinguish only one species of eatable almond, yet there are 

 many varieties, of which the principal are the Bitter Almond and the 

 Sweet Almond ; of each of which the French and Italians have several 

 sub-varieties distinguished by the hardness or softness of their shell, 

 and the form or size of the kernel. These have all been introduced 

 into England, but none of them are capable of ripening their fruit in 

 the neighbourhood of London, except in unusually fine hot summers, 

 preceded by mild and uninterrupted springs. 



A. Pertica, the Peach, once called the Persian Apple, because it was 

 introduced from that country into Europe, has for ages been an 

 object of careful cultivation for the sake of its delicious fruit, and 

 has almost naturalised itself in America. In the country round 

 about Buenos Ayres it is one of the most conspicuous trees, and bears 

 abundant and delicious fruit. In our gardens many varieties are 

 known, which are classed under the two heads of peaches and nectarines 

 according as their fruit is smooth or downy ; of the varieties there are 

 few that are not worthy of cultivation, but the best are, perhaps, the 

 Red Magdalen Peach, the Noblesse Peach, the Royal George Peach, 

 und the Smith's Newington or Tawny Nectarine. For a late crop of 

 peaches, the Teton de Venus may be recommended ; but not the 

 Catherine, nor indeed any of the thick-skinned October peaches, 

 which, however excellent in the south of Europe, seldom ripen, and 

 never acquire their natural flavour in this country. For preserving, 

 the Blood-Red Peach, or Sanguinole, the flesh of which is of the 

 deepest crimson, is worth a place in a garden. 



AMYRI'DACE-tE, Amyrids, a natural order of plants consisting of 

 tropical trees or shrubs, the leaves, bark, and fruit of which abound 

 in fragrant resin. It is known among the Polypetalous Dicotyledonous 

 orders by its hypogynous stamens, which are twice as numerous as 

 the petals, by the large disk in which the ovarium is inserted, by its 

 one-seeded fleshy fruit, covered all over with resinous glands, and 

 generally dotted leaves. 



The species are natives of tropical India, Africa, and America. 



This order is remarkable for yielding various fragrant resins as 

 Myrrh, Frankincense, and other products. The Frankincense of India 

 is the produce of a species of Boswellia. Olibanum is yielded by 

 HotweUia tenata. Myrrh is obtained on the Abyssinian coast from the 

 litihamodnndrun myrrha. B. OpobaUamum yields the Balm of Mecca. 

 Bdellium is produced in Africa by B. Africanum. American Elemi 

 comes from Idea Icicariba. Resin of Courina from /. ambrosiaca. 

 The Gum Elemi of commerce is said to be yielded by several species 

 of Amyri*. (Lindley, Vegetable Kingdom.) 



A'NABAS (from ctvafiaivw, to ascend), the name given by Cuvier to 

 a genus of Acanthopterygious Osseous Fishes, remarkable for the power 

 possessed by the species of living for some tune out of water, and 

 making their way on land. This power depends on a structure 

 characteristic of the family of which it is the type, part of the 

 pharaugeals being labyrinthiforui ; that is to say, divided into a number 

 of irregular lamellae, more or less numerous, forming cavities and 

 little cells capable of retaining a certain quantity of water. This 

 apparatus is so protected, that when the animals are out of then- 

 native element the evaporation of the contained water takes place 

 very slowly, and the gills are kept moist, by means of which remark- 

 able provision the fishes of this family are enabled to leave the rivers 

 and marshes where they usually reside, and to travel over laud for 

 considerable distances, creeping among the herbage or along the 

 ground. Although this fact has been but recently known to modern 

 naturalists, the ancients appear to have been well acquainted with it, 

 and Theophrastus has recorded the existence in India of certain little 

 fuhed which leave the rivers for a time, and again return to them : he 

 doubtless alludes to the Anabcu and its allies. 



The genus Anabat, of which there is but one species, the Anabcu 

 tcandent (Perca tcandent of Daldorf, Anthias tettudinew of Bloch), is 

 distinguished by a well-marked character, the borders of its opercle, 

 lubopercle, and interopercle being denticulated, whilst the preopercle 

 is not so, nor even distinctly marginated. The head is round and 

 broad ; the muzzle is very short and obtuse, the eye placed very near 

 its extremity. The mouth is small, and large scales cover the head. 

 The body is oblong, compressed centrally and behind. The lateral 

 line is interrupted at its posterior thud, recommencing a little lower. 

 The tail is somewhat rounded. The whole body is covered with large 

 scales. There is a single dorsal and an anal fin, nearly equal in height, 

 and in both the spinous rays prevail. 



In colour it appears to vary, being brown or bluish-black or dark 

 green, paler beneath and having violet fins. In form the individuals 

 are constant, and reach the length of 6 inches. 



This fish inhabits all parts of India and the Indian Archipelago, 

 living in marshes and feeding on aquatic insects, and Dr. Cantor 

 observed it at Chusan. Respecting its habits there has been much 

 discussion. In 1797 a Danish gentleman, M. Daldorf, communicated 

 an account of its habits to the Linmean Society of London, in which 

 he stated that he had observed it in the act of ascending palm-trees 

 near marshes, and had taken it at a height of no less than 5 feet above 

 the surface of the water, effecting its movements of ascent by means 

 of its fins and tail and the spines of its operclcs, in a similar manner 



to that by which it progressed along the ground. Another Danish 

 observer, M. John, published a similar statement, adding that it is 

 called in Tranquebar by a name which signifies Tree-Climber. Other 

 naturalists, who have equally observed it in its native countries, such 



Head of Anabas icandens, laid open to show the peculiar pharyngeal apparatus. 



as Reinwardt, Leschenault, and Hamilton Buchanan, whilst they record 

 its habit of creeping on the ground and living a long time out of water, 

 deny or omit all mention of its power to ascend trees. 



To the same family with Anabas belong the genera jffflostoma, 

 Polyacanthu8, Colita, Macropodus, Osphromenus, Trickopus, and Spiro- 

 branchus, of which the habits are as yet very imperfectly known, 

 though the peculiarities of their anatomy warrant us in supposing that 

 they have a similar power of living out of water. 



(lyinmean Transactions, voL iii. ; and Cuvier and Valenciennes, Jfist. 

 Nat. des Poijsons, torn, vil) 



ANABATHRA, a Fossil Tree, from Allenbank, Berwickshire, is 

 thus named by Mr. Witham, and figured hi ' Foss. Veg.' t. 8 and t. 10. 



A'NABLEPS (from avaf3\iiru, to look up), a genus of Malacopte- 

 rygious Osseous Fishes, remarkable for the curious structure of their 

 eyes, which, in consequence of the division of the iris and cornea by 

 transverse ligaments, have two pupils, and appear as if double, whilst 

 there is only one crystalline humour, one vitreous humour, and one 

 retina. There is no other example known of such a modification of 

 structure among the Vertebrata. This peculiarity of the 'Anableps has 

 given rise to several stories of four-eyed fish, with exaggerated 

 accounts of their habits. The Anableps tetrophthalmus inhabits the 

 rivers of Guyana and Surinam. Its body is cylindrical, and covered 

 with strong scales ; its head is flattened, and snout bluut. The upper 

 jaw projects beyond the lower. 



ANACARDIA'CE^E, Anacards or the Cashew Tribe, is a natural 

 order of plants, consisting exclusively of woody plants, abounding in 

 an acrid resin, which is easily discovered by bruising the leaves, but 

 which is not indicated by its being collected in transparent receptacles 

 in the leaves, as is most commonly the case. They are polypetalous 

 dicotyledons, with perigynous stamens, a simple one-seeded superior 

 fruit, and alternate leaves without stipules. 



Their juice is often used as a kind of varnish, for which it is well 

 adapted in consequence of its turning hard and black when dry. It 

 is, however, often dangerous to use, because of the extreme acridity 

 of the fumes, which are apt to produce severe inflammation in many 

 constitutions. The best-known genera of the order are, in the first 

 place, Rhvu, or the Sumach, of which so many species are cultivated 

 in our gardens ; and the Pistacias, the nuts of which are served at 

 desserts, and their juice is commonly sold in the shops under the name 

 of Mastich and Scio Turpentine. Besides these, there are the Chilian 

 Ihfcauai, which resemble myrtles, the Mango, the fruit of which 

 is so delicious in tropical countries, and the Cashew or Acajou Nut, 

 Anacardium, from which the order takes its name. 



The last, Anacardium occidentale, is a small tree found all over the 

 West Indies, where it is much cultivated for the sake of its bunches 

 of fragrant rosy flowers, as well as of its fruit. Its stem, if wounded, 

 yields abundantly a milk, which, when inspissated, becomes intensely 

 black and hard, besides which, it secretes a gum not inferior to gum 

 arabic. The nut is a kidney-shaped body, seated on a large fleshy 

 protuberance, and being, in fact, the extremely dilated disk or 

 receptacle ; the latter is sometimes red, sometimes white. The nuts 

 contain, in abundance, beneath the outer shell, the black caustic oil of 

 the order, which, when volatilised by heat, as happens in the process 

 of roasting, is apt to produce erysipelas and other disagreeable 



