BALRl'SARDUS HAI.I.KTTS. 



\Miil 'KM HION. 



STB 



from Oriental Kala (the Sappkirt), a gcui of much greater rarity and 

 ralue. [ADAMAXTt*! SPAR.] 



BALBUSAItnrs II ALI.-ETUS, a name for the Bald Buzzard or 

 Oav*Y. [FAU-OXIDJ!; OSPRET.] 



BALD Bl'ZZAKD, one of the English name* for the Osprey or 

 Fuhing Eagle, the Falco JIatitrttu of Linntcun, I'limllmi llnliirtut 

 of Savignv. [KAI.COSID.B; OSFREY.] 



BALICrBTlCHtra A f>Mwil plant in the Laminated Lithographic 

 Limestone of 1'appenheim, i named Baliottichui ornattu by Sternberg. 



BALISTES, a genus of Fishes belonging to the order Plettoynathn, 

 and family Sdtnxlrraut of Olivier. These groups are intermediate in 

 point of structure between the common or osseous tribes and the car- 

 tilaginous tribes ; for though the skeleton is in reality of a fibrous or 

 bony texture, it ossifies very slowly, and is never entirely complete ; 

 the ribs in particular usually remain imperfect throughout the whole 

 period of the animal's life. The maxillary and intermaxillary bones, 

 again, form but a simple piece, distinguished only by a slight suture 

 or furrow at the point of junction, and the palatal arch is soldered 

 firmly to the skull, and consequently devoid of individual motion. 

 The opcrculu :inl gill-rays are concealed beneath the skin, which gave 

 origin to an opinion, at one time common even among professed 

 natural into, that these fishes wanted the branchial apparatus altogether. 



The Balutrt are particularly distinguished by the vertical compres- 

 KJOII <>f the body, by having eight teeth arranged in a single row in 

 each jaw, and a scaly or granulated skin. They have two dorsals ; the 

 first composed of numerous powerful spines, articulated to a peculiar 

 bone, itself articulated to the skull, and furnished with a longitudinal 

 furrow for the reception of the spines, which can bo erected or 

 deceased at the will of the animal ; the second large, soft, or without 

 spines, and placed opposite to an anal fin of similar structure. Like 

 other genera of the same order, the linlittes have no ventral fins ; 

 notwithstanding which, however, their skeleton is furnished with a 

 complete pelvis, suspended from the bones of the shoulder. The 

 intestinal canal is large, but without cteca, and the air-bladder of 

 considerable size. These fish abound in all the seas of the torrid zone, 

 where they swim on the surface of the water, particularly in the 

 neighbourhood of rocky coasts and coral reefs, feeding with avidity 

 upon the polypi of the reefs, and shining with the most brilliant and 

 varied colours. Their flesh U at all times very indifferent food, and 

 it said to be actually poisonous during the period that the coral-worms 

 are in season. The species are very numerous. They are easily dis- 

 tinguished by the rhomboidal form of their large and hard scales, 

 which are disposed in regular rows, not overlapping one another as in 

 the generality of fishes, but merely touching at their edges, and thus 

 giving the whole body the appearance of being divided into so many 

 regular compartments. Though, as already observed, they have no 

 real abdominal fins, yet a few isolated spines are often found in the 

 vicinity of the pelvis, which hare been generally considered as repre- 

 senting these organs ; and the greater number have the sides of the 

 tail armed with one or more rows of strong spines curved forwards. 



P.A'LLOTA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order 

 Labiatae, and the tribe fStackydete. It has the anthers approximating 

 in pairs, the cells diverging, bursting longitudinally. The upper lip 

 of the corolla is erect, concave, the lower three-lobed, the middle lobe 

 cordate. The calyx is funnel-shaped, with five equal teeth. There 

 are two British species of this genus, 1). ftitida and B. rudtrali*. 

 Ji. ftitida is the most common plant, and goes by the name of Hore- 

 hound. The White Horuhound is the Marrubiumralgart, [MiRHUBUJM.l 



BALM. [MELISSA.] 



BALSAM. JlMI'ATlENS.] 



BALSAMI'FLU^E, Liquidan&ari, a natural order of plants con- 

 lilting of only one genus, Litjuitlamltar, first indicated by Theodore 

 Nees Ton Eaenbeck, defined by Dr. Blume in his ' Flora Javse,' and 

 adopted by Lindley in his ' Vegetable Kingdom ' under the name of 

 Allingiacne. It is intermediate between the Willow and Plane Tribes, 

 from the former of which it differs in having a 2 -celled fruit and .1. >wn- 

 leo seed, and from the latter in having numerous seeds. It consists 

 of lofty trees, flowing with balsamic juice, bearing the flowers in small 

 acaly heads, without cither calyx or corolla, and -having the stamens 

 in ..iir kind of head and the pistils in another. The different species 

 yield the re.xinouH fragrant substance called Liquid Storax, which is so 

 niiieh pti/.-'l l.y the inhabitant* of the East. [I.iqfiDAMBAR ; STORAX, 

 in ARTS AMD Sc. Piv.J 



I'.AI-SA'MINA, one of the two genera of which the natural order 

 Jliiltaminaeaf consist*. It differ* from Jmpalient in having all its 

 anthers 2-celled, iU stigmas distinct, and the valves of it fruitu curling 

 inwards when bursting. There are numerous species, several of \vh ieh 

 have very handsome flowers. They are chiefly found in the damper 

 parts of the East Indies; but the only one that is much known in 

 Kurope is the common Garden Balsam (llaliamina kortemit), whieh 

 in iU double state has been an object of cultivation since the earliest 

 records of modern horticulture. This plant, which is supposed to be 

 found wild in the mountainous part* of Silhet, in the form of what 

 botanist* call JlaJtamina triprtala, w one of thole species whieh not 

 only ha* a tendency to vary with double flowers, but has also the 

 power of continuing to produce them when renewal from seeds. On 

 this account it particularly deserves the attention of the cultivator, 

 wpeoially as it may be brought by art to a state of beauty equalled by 



few plants. AU that is necessary in order to secure fine Balaams, ia, 

 first to aave the seed with great care from the finest and most doul.le 

 flowers only, throwing away all whole-coloured and single blossoms ; 

 and secondly, to cultivate the plants with a due regard to the natural 

 habit* of the species. A native of the hot damp shady wood* of 

 Silhet, it is incapable of bearing much drought or bright sunshine. It 

 should therefore be rained in a hot-bed, treated with great care as a 

 tender annual, grown in rich soil, sheltered from excessive sunlight, 

 and kept constantly in a damp atmosphere, but freely and fully 

 lated. It should not however be stimulated into extremely rnpi.l 

 growth until the plants have become stout bushes and the flowers have 

 grown to the size of small peas. At that time the plants should have 

 all the heat and moisture they can bear, and the most brilliant flowers 

 the plant is capable of producing will be the result In the latter 

 stage of growth great care ia still to be taken to expose the plants fully 

 to air. 



BALSAMINA'CE-flE, a small natural order of plants belonging to 

 the Oynobasic group of Dicotyledons, and principally distinguished 

 from (rtraniacea by their many -seeded fruit and unsymmetrical II 

 They are succulent herbs, most abundant in hot countries, with simple 

 opposite or alternate leaves, and showy flowers, with a npur t.. their 

 calyx. They have no sensible properties of importanee. l.ut are the 

 ornament of the damp or swampy places in which they grow wild. 

 The order is remarkable for the elastic force with which the valves of 

 ita fruit contract and reject the seeds. 



Impatient Jfali-tanftrt. 



a, n calj-x magnified, with one of the petal* ; , the front of an anther ; r, tlir 

 back of the name ; d, an ovary cut across j r, the ripe fruit ; /, the ame in Un- 

 set of bursting and Mattering It* seed* ; f, a need ; , the same eut transversely. 



BALSAMODE'NDRON, a genus of oriental trees belonging to the 

 natural order Amyridacea;, and remarkable for their powerful KiKitnie 

 juice. They have small green axillary dioBcioux timers, a minute 

 4-toothed persistent calyx, four narrow inflected petals, eight stamens 

 inserted Mow an annular disk, from which eight little excrescences 

 arise alternating with the stamens, and a small oval drupe with fur 

 sutures, and either one or two cells, in each of which is lodged a single 

 seed. The leaves are pinnated, with one or two pairs of leaflets, and 

 an odd one. 



B. Ofiobaltamum, the Balessan of Bruce, has a trunk from ix to . -it-lit 

 feet high, furnished with a number of slender branches ending in a 

 sharp spine. The leaves consist of from five to seven senile, obovate, 

 entire, and shining leaflets, within which are placed the small flowers, 

 which grow in pairs on short slender htulkx, and are succeeded l.y 

 small oval plums. From this ix distinguished the 



B. GiUadente, supposed to be the /SoAffd^ox tietpor of Theophrastus, 

 which is described as a middle-sized tree, with the leaflet* growing in 

 three*, and the flowers singly. But it is probable that, a* these 1 .: 

 tree* are found in the same places, and produce the same substance, 

 they are in fact nothing but varieties of the same specie*. They both 

 produce three different substances : 1, Balm of Mecca, or Baku of 



