833 



CEREUS. 



CEUOCOMA. 



831 



without any trouble a sufficient quantity to victual them during 

 their stay. The flesh of these geese, as they are called, is described 

 by Bass as being excellent. D'Entrecasteaux considered it much 

 more delicate than that of the European goose ; and Flinders adds 

 that on Preservation Island it formed the best repasts of his men. 



" It would seem that this bird does not often leave the coast to 

 visit the interior of the country, for M. Riche, who was lost by his 

 companions for more than two days at Espc'rance Bay, never met 

 with it in the course of his wanderings in search of them. M. Bailly 

 states that on Preservation Island it takes up its abode on the grassy 

 declivities ; and Captain Flinders found it on Goose Island, amongst 

 the grass and on the shore : ' It feeds,' he says, ' upon grass, and rarely 

 takes to the water." Its usual weight is from 7 to 10 Ibs. According 

 to Mr. Bass it has a deep, hoarse, clanging, and though a short yet 

 an inflected voice ; and to the accuracy of this observation we can 

 ourselves bear testimony." 



This bird has lived and bred in the Gardens of the Zoological Society 

 in Regent's Park, where there are at present several living specimens. 

 Our drawing is from a pair with a brood hatched in the Gardens. 



CE'REUS, a genus of plants belonging to the natural order 

 Cactaceae. It is characterised by its sepals being very numerous, 

 imbricate, adnate to the base of the ovarium, united into an elon- 

 gated tube, outer ones shorter and like a calyx, middle ones longer 

 and coloured, innermost ones petaloid ; the style multifid at the apex ; 

 the berry areolate, tubercular, or scaly from the remains of the sepals. 

 The species are fleshy grotesque shrubs, with a woody axis and soft 

 interior. They possess angles which are vertical and covered with 

 bundles of spines. The flowers are large, arising from the angles of 

 the spines. They are called Torch-Thistles. 



C. lenilit, the Old Man Torch-Thistle, is an erect plant, having a 

 stem with 20-25 vertical ribs, covered with fascicles of bristles, each 

 fascicle containing from 15-20 radiating hair-formed curled bristles. 

 Its long gray bristles give it the appearance of the head of an old 

 gray-haired man. It is a native of Mexico. 



V. flagdliformis, the Creeping Cereus, has prostrate stems with 

 about lo angles. It is very common in our gardens, and its trailing 

 sterna require the support of trellis-work. It bears an abundance of 

 beautiful red and pink flowers. It is a native of South America, 

 though now naturalised in Asia and Africa. 



C. grandiflorut, the Night-Flowering Cereus, has rooting stems, 

 with 5 or 6 angles and fascicles of bristles, with 5-8 in each fascicle. 

 It is a native of the West India Islands, and is found in many parts 

 of the mainland of South America. This plant when cultivated 

 produces very large beautiful sweet-scented flowers. They are how- 

 ever of short duration, remaining open not more than six hours. 

 They generally begin to open between seven and eight o'clock in the 

 evening, and are fully expanded by eleven or twelve, and before the 

 next morning they are quite faded. 



C. tpeciotiaimui is an erect plant, 3-4 angled, the angles toothed, 

 the prickles subulate, straight, rising from a white tomentum. It 

 is a native of Mexico, but is very commonly cultivated in our gardens, 

 on account of its large flowers, which are of a beautiful scarlet, the 

 inner petals having a violaceous colour. Nearly 100 species of this 

 beautiful genus of plants have been described, and a fine collection 

 of them exwte in the Royal Gardens at Kew. They are of easy 

 culture, and require the same general treatment as the order to which 

 they belong. [CACTACE.B.] 



CE'RIA, a genus of Dipterous Insects belonging to the family 

 fti/r/1/i.ulff. It has the following characters : Head longer than the 

 thorax ; antennae longer than the head, inserted on a petiole, the 

 second, and third joints forming an oval mass ; stylet terminal and 

 short ; abdomen cylindrical ; submarginal nervure of the wings much 

 bent, and throwing out a rudiment of another nervure. 



Five species of this genus are known ; the colouring is black and 

 yellow, which, together with an elongated and somewhat ovate form 

 of body, gives them a resemblance to wasps. Only one has been 

 discovered in England, and that is extremely rare it is the Ccria 

 ','nlrs, and is about half an inch long ; black, front of the head 

 yellow in the male, black and yellow in the female ; petiole of the 

 antenna; elongated and yellow beneath ; sides of the thorax with 

 yellow spots ; scutellum yellow, with the apex black ; the second, 

 third, and fourth segment* of tin; .tlMl'nin-ii, with their margin, of 

 the same calour ; leg* yellow ; exterior irmrgin of the wings brown. 

 It is also found in France. It appears not to have been found 

 abundant anvwhere. 



( KIUTHIUM. [EXTOMOSTOMATA.] 



CERIUM, a metal not found pure in nature. It occurs in several 

 minerals, of which the following are tin ikable 



1. Ccrite, found near Riddarhittan, in Sweden. It occurs amor- 

 phous. Its colour is pale dull red, som< 'times ginyi.-li, :nnl its streak 

 in white ; its lustre is resinous, slighth ', and sufficiently 



sparks with steel, or 5'5. Specific gravity, 4 '912. 



According to Hitsingcr it consist* of 



Silica 18 



Peroxide of Cerium 68'59 



Peroxide of Iron ...... 2 



Lime 1-25 



Water and Carbonic Acid .... 9'6 99'44 



.VAT. HIST. DIV. V'JI. I. 



In the opinion of Dr. Thomson it is a hydrous silicated peroxide 

 of Cerium. 



2. Cerine, found as above, occurs massive and in imperfect crystals. 

 Colour brownish-black, streak brownish-gray, opaque, with an imper- 

 fect metallic lustre. Hardness 5'5 to 6'0. Specific gravity, 4'173 

 Composition according to Berzelius : 



Silica 30-07 



Oxide of Cerium 28'19 



Oxide of Iron 207 



Oxide of Copper 0'87 



Alumina 11'07 



Lime 912 



Volatile Matter .0-4 



100-42 



3. Allanite, found at Alluk, East Greenland. It occurs massive, 

 and crystallised in the form of a doubly oblique prism. Fracture 

 imperfect conchoidal. It is opaque, with an imperfect metallic lustre. 

 Colour brownish-black, streak greenish-gray. Hardness, 6'0. Specific 

 gravity, 4. It is composed, according to Stromeyer. of 



Silica ' 33-021 



'Protoxide of Cerium .21 -6 



Protoxide of Iron 15'101 



Protoxide of Manganese . . . . 0-404 



Alumina 15-226 



Lime 11-08 



Water 3. 



99-432 



4. Monastic, found near Slatoust, Russia ; also in the United States, 

 where it occurs in small brown crystals, disseminated through mica- 

 slate ; at Norwich, Connecticut ; at Chester, Connecticut ; and York 

 Town, New York. It is brittle, has a hardness of 5, and specific 

 gravity of 4'8 to 5'1. It is composed of 



Oxide of Cerium ...... 26-00 



Oxide of Lantoniuin 23'04 



Thoria 17-95 



Phosphoric Acid -J.vo.~, 



Oxide of Tin 2'01 



Protoxide of Manganese 1'09 



Lime 1'07 



99-21 



5. CryptolUe is a phosphate of the Oxide of Cerium in minute 

 prisms. It is found with the apatite of Arendal, Norway. It has a 

 pale wine-yellow colour. It has a specific gravity of 4'6. 



Orthileis another mineral with Cerium [OKTUITK] ; so also are Ttli-o- 

 cerite [YTTROCEBITE] and PyrocMore [PYROCHLOKK]. 



CERNUA, a genus of Fishes belonging to the section Acantfw- 

 pterygii and the family Percuke. It includes the liuffe or Pope, a 

 British fish, which has also been named Acerina vulyarin and 1'ercn 

 Cernua. The generic character of Acerina, as given by Yarrell in his 

 ' British Fishes," is as follows : " Dorsal fin single, elongated, the 

 rays of the first portion spiuous, the others flexible ; branchiostegous 

 rays seven ; teeth very small, uniform, numerous ; head without 

 scales ; suborbital bone and pre-operculum indented ; operculuni ending 

 in a single point. 



In Acerina rulyaris, the Ruffe or Pope, the prevailing colour of the 

 upper part of the body and head is a light olive-brown, passing into a 

 yellowish-brown on the sides, and becoming almost silvery-white on 

 the belly. The lateral line prominent and strongly marked. Small 

 brown spots are disseminated over the back, dorsal fin, and tail, 

 assuming on the latter, from their arrangement, the appearance of bars ; 

 pectoral, ventral, and anal fins, pale-brown. This fish is an inhabitant 

 of fresh waters, and closely allied to the perch. It was first described 

 by Dr. Caius, who called it Aspredo, being a translation of our word 

 Ruffe (rough), which is applied to this fish on account of the harsh 

 feel of its denticulated scales. It is common in all the rivers of 

 England, especially the Thames, the Isis, and Cam, and is found in 

 the colder parts of the European continent. It is like the perch in 

 its habits. (Yarrell, lirituh Fithet.) 



CEKU'COMA, a genus of Coleopterous Insects, belonging to the 

 family Ctintharid(s (Latreille). It has the following characters : 

 Antenmc short, 9-jointed, the basal joint as long as the two following; 

 the second and next joints in succession are short and gradually 

 increase in width to the apex of the antenna," ; the terminal joint 

 forms a distinct ovate knob ; palpi moderate, all the joints of nearly 

 equal width such are the characters of the females. The males have 

 the antenna) short, thick, and the joints extremely irregular in shape 

 mid size ; those towards the base are uncommonly large, the terminal 

 joint forms a largo flattened knob, the joints immediately adjoining 

 are the smallest ; the palpi are also very much developed, the basal 

 joint* being very large. The head and thorax are rounded at the 

 sides, and of about equal width ; the elytra are narrow, somewhat 

 linear, elongate, and soft. 



The species of this genus are remarkable for the extraordinary 

 anti-mile of the males. They are European, and make their appear- 

 ance during the summer months, frequently in great numbers in the 



3 PI 



