(31 



BOY in.?:. 



BOV] 



Rot primtgtniui. 

 Front vic ; t, tern from below j r, teen from behind; d, proBlc. (Curler.) 



of this pcii was "l.;:i:ii"d l.y John I'.,,-., from a !>.>g in Ireland, 

 and was described by Professor <> ]Hx:ii>x. (Hlior 



n hare since been In- -u.-i,! to l.^ht. Dr. Hubert Ball 

 described, in the ' Proceeding.- -h Academy,' fur 1839, 



remains of thin species, obtained from considerable depths in bogs in 

 Weatmeath, Tyrone, and Longford. Remains of it have alao been 

 found iu Ksscx, Middlesex, Devonshire, and other parts of Knglaud. 



Of this species Proeessor Owen says, " It has been remarked in a 

 former section that the domesticated descendants of a primitive \vil.l 

 race of cattle were more likely to be met with in the mountains than 

 iu the lowland* of Britain, because the aborigines, retaining their 

 ground longest in the mountain fastnesses, may be supposed to have 

 driven thither such domestic cattle as they possessed before the foreign 

 invasion, and which we may presume therefore to have been derived 

 from the subjugation of a native species of Ilia. 



"In this field of conjecture the most probable one will be admitted 

 to be that which points to the Dot lunyifront as the species which 

 would be domesticated by the aborigines of Britain before the Roman 

 invasion. Had the But primigeniiu been the source we might have 

 expected the Highland and Welsh cattle to have retained M>IIIC of the 

 characteristics of their great progenitor*, and to have boon distill- 

 guished from other domestic breeds by their Rupcrior size nn 

 length of their horns. The Kyloes and the Hunts are, on tin- contrary, 

 remarkable for their small size, and are ohartoterued cither by short 

 horns, as in the Sot longifrotu, or by the entire absence of these 

 weapons." 



The following fossil species have been also named : But t* 7, 

 (Hermann von Meyer), sub-Apenuine beds; Buffle Fossile de Silx'rir 

 (Cuv.); But (Bitont) bombtfront (Harlan), Big-Bone-Lick, North 

 America; Bo Pallatii (Dekay), BotmotchatusfotsiliiQ), I- 

 lot ill (?) (Fischer), Siberia and North America; But rclaunut (Robert), 

 Cussac, Haute Loire. 



Abundant remains of the Ox were found by Captain Cautley in the 

 Sewalik Mountains, at the southern foot of the Himalayas, between 

 the Sutlej and the Ganges, partly lying on the slopes among the ruins 

 of fallen cliffs, and partly in situ in the sandstone, iu company with 

 the bones of mastodon, elephant, rhinoceros, hippopotamus, hog, 

 horse (comparatively scarce), elk, deer (several varieties) ; Uarnirora, 

 canine and feline (comparatively scarce) ; crocodile, gnvitil, 

 Trionyx, and fishes. There were also portions of undescribcd 

 i/in. 



BOVISTA, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order Funyi. 

 This name was given it by Dilleuius, and is a Latinised version of 

 Bofist, its German name. In many parts of Kngland its common 

 name is Bullfice, and some writers call it Bull Puff-Ball. The genus 

 Bovista was at one time included under Lycoperdon [LYCOFERUON], 

 and the type of the genus, Boris/a /!> .died liy Liuiueus 



/,!/<"/'"''"" li'ii ista. The present Lycuperdon Jioriula is the common 

 or Wolf Puff-Ball. The difference between the genera is, that Lyco- 

 perdon has a single peridium, while Borista has a double one. 



The linrisin : ii'j<ii,t,,i. Hull Puff-Ball, Frog's Cheese, and Bullfice, 

 is interesting on account of the enormous size it attains. It ha* the 

 form of a flattened ball, at first of a perfectly white colour. 

 meus have been gathered measuring as much as 9 feet in circumference. 

 When they have attained their full size, they begin to change colour ; 

 the external peridium cracks and peels off, the inner one also bursts 

 at the apex. The interior is composed of a mass of tissue, which 

 when young is white and moist, but at length becomes coloured and 

 dry, and on being pressed emits a large quantity of powdery matter, 

 which on being examined is found to consist entirely of sporulcs. 

 On examining the mass inside it is found to con nieiils 



which are mixed with sporulcs. Burnett says, "It is probably 

 the smoke that arises from these fungi when burned, or some 

 of their allies, the l.ycoperd.>n-. whieh forms the secret method 

 advantageously employed by Home persons who keep bees, in order 

 to stupify the inserts" without killing them, while their hives are 

 being robbed of nil their honey." (ienirdc says, "The common 

 people use this fungus to kill or smoulder their bees." This practice 

 has recently led to a curious discovery. Mr. H. H. AV. lii hanl-.m. 

 a surgeon, 'inn, M Morllake. struck witb the fact of its stupifying 

 bees, was induced to try its effects upon other animal 

 dogs having been submitted to the action of smoke from t he burning 

 fungus, they were found to be narcotised in the same matin, i 

 under the influence of ether or chloroform. A dog with a large 

 tumour of the abdomen was narcotised, and whilst under its inllm nee 

 the tumour was removed, the animal giving no sign of pain. The 

 narcotic principle seeuu to be formed during the process of combustion. 

 Mr. Kirhardson found that it was capable of producing t!,. ,1. 

 animals. At present no advantage seems to be gained by adminis- 

 tering this vapour instead of ether or chloroform ; at the same time, 

 it is an interesting fact in the history of the prop, it ic.- of plants. It 

 is curious that this fungus U stated by Dr. Hadham to bean. 

 those which are eatable. He .-ay- however that " no fungus m|uircs 

 to be eaten so so<>,. thering as this," and adds, in a note, that 



he has been informed that it. is soinctim. .- ,-cru -d 



at the Freemasons' Tavern. Th> best way of < king it is "to cut it. 



into slices, and fry these in egg and bread eruml.s." In Mr. Kiehard- 

 p limente the dried fungus was employed. An Italian species, 



