373 



BALANOPHORACE.*:. 



BALAS RUBY. 



374 



summer, the perfect insect proceeds. The preceding figure represents 

 a nut which has been pierced by the larva. 



Balaninm Glandium, another species of the same genus, attacks 

 the acorn in the same manner as the one above mentioned does the nut. 



BALANOPHORA'CEvE, Cynomoriums, a natural order of Parasi- 

 tical Plants belonging to the sub-class Shizanthece. They grow upon 

 the roots of woody plants, hi tropical countries, rooting into then- 

 wood, from which they draw their nutriment, as the mistletoe from 

 the branches of the thorn. None of the species have fully-formed 

 leaves ; but, in lieu of them, closely-packed fleshy scales clothe their 

 stems and guard their flowers in their infancy. Succulent in texture, 

 dingy in colour, and often springing from a brown and shapeless root- 

 stock, lialanoj.thoracece remind the observer of Fungi more than of 

 flowering plants: and in 'fact they appear intermediate in nature 

 between the two. If they have flowers and sexes, both are of the 

 simplest kind ; and their ovules, instead of changing to seeds, like 

 those of other flowering plants, become, according to Endlicher, bags 

 of spores, like those of true flowerless plants. Even their woody 

 system is of the most imperfect kind, for it is either entirely, or almost 

 entirely, destitute of spiral vessels. It is probable that numerous 

 genera and species of this singular order still remain undiscovered in 

 the depths of tropical forests, where they lurk among the herbage, and 

 are not likely to attract the attention of the mere flower-gathering 

 traveller. All the species, with the exception of one found in Malta, 

 are natives of the tropics. The species have had a reputation as 

 styptics. The Cynoinoriitm coccineum, or Fungus MelitensU, has been 

 employed for this purpose. Various species of Helo&is have had a 

 similar reputation. Poppig says the Ombrophyion is eaten in Peru. 

 The species of Sarcophyte have an atrocious odour. 



a c b d e 



Balanophoraca?. 



a, A head of flowers cut through vertically ; 6, a highly-magnified view of a 

 portion of the receptacle with two fertile flowers ; c, a male flower in the midst 

 of some fertile ones ; d, an ovary ; e t a ripe fruit ; /, a transverse section of 

 the same ; g, a verticlc section of the same ; h, a jointed hair of the receptacle. 



BALA'NTIA, from ftcL\dvTiov, a bag or pouch, the generic name 

 which the German naturalist Illiger gave to the animals commonly 

 called Phalangers (Phalanr/itta) : the latter name he reserves for the 

 Petauriitt (Petaurui) of other zoologists. [MARSCPIATA.] 



ll.V'LANUS, a genus of Sessile Cirrhipeds or Barnacles, formed by 

 Bruguieres from some species of the genus Lepas, Linn. nlanu offers 

 a great variety of form ; but the shell will be found to consist of six 

 valves, four of which are comparatively large, coalescing at the sides, 

 and forming altogether a rude hollow cone, whose aperture is closed 

 by an operculuni of four valves (between the two foremost of which 

 issue the jointed feather-like teutacula), and its base by a testaceous 

 plate. 



Tim genus is most widely diffused, and abounds upon almost all 

 bodies, whether fixxl or moveable, that offer an opportunity for it to 



attach itself to them, and are immersed in the sea. On rocks left dry 

 at low water, on ships, on timber, whether floating or at rest, on lobsters 

 and other crustaceans, on the shells of conchifers and mollusks, colonies 

 of Halani are to be found. 



Salanus Psittacus (Lepas Ps'Macns, Molina) is described by Captain 

 P. P. King, R.N., in his ' Description of the Cirrhipeda, Conchifera, 

 and Mollusca, in a Collection formed by the Officers of H.M.S. Adven- 

 ture and Beagle, employed between the years 1826 and 1830 in 

 surveying the Southern Coasts of South America, including the Straits 

 of Magalhaens and the Coast of Tierra del Fuego.' 



a, liiiliiuux Psitlacus, about one- fourth of the natural size. 

 t, The opcrcular valves, natural size. 



" This cirrhiped," writes Captain King, " which at Concepcion de 

 Chile is frequently of a larger size than 5^ inches long and 3.^ inches 

 in diameter, forms a very common and highly-esteemed food of the 

 natives, by whom it is called Pico, from the acuminated processes of 

 the two posterior opercular valves. The anterior and posterior oper- 

 cular valves, when in contact, present some resemblance to a parrot's 

 beak, whence Molina's name. It is also found very abundantly at 

 Valdivia and at Calbuco, near the north of the island of Chiloe. It 

 occurs in large bunches, and presents somewhat of a cactus-like appear- 

 ance. The parent is covered by its progeny, so that large branches 

 are found composed of from 50 to 100 distinct individuals, each of 

 which becomes in its turn the foundation of another colony. One 

 specimen, in the possession of my friend W. J. Broderip, Esq., consists 

 of a numerous group based on two large individuals. They are 

 collected by being chopped off with a hatchet. At Concepcion, where 

 they are found of larger size than to the southward, they are principally 

 procured at the island of Quinquina, which lies across the entrance of 

 the bay ; whence they are exported in large quantities to Valparaiso 

 and Santiago de Chile, where they are considered as a great delicacy ; 

 and indeed with some justice, for the flesh equals in richness and 

 delicacy that of the crab, which, when boiled and eaten cold, it very 

 much resembles." 



The spined and smooth varieties of lialunns Moniug-n!, Sowerby 

 (Acasta Montayui, Leach), afford examples of those species which live 

 in sponges. 



b, Variety without spines, and with a flat base. 



Fossil Balani have been found in the later deposits, and species are 

 recorded from the beds at Piacenza, Bordeaux, Paris, Essex, &c. 



[ClRRHIPEDA.] 



BALAS RUBY, a term used by lapidaries to designate the rose-red 

 varieties of Sjiiml. [SrisEL.] It should be carefully distinguished 



