157 



LINARIA. 



LINOTA. 



458 



valves as there are cells. The fruit is remarkable for having each of 

 its carpels divided into two cells by a. spurious dissepiment originating 

 iuside the back, so that; in reality each cell is 2-see,')ed, although from 

 the presence of this spurious partition it seems to be 1-seeded. 



But although Linacetx approach the two orders already named in 

 the structure of the organs of fructification, the vegetation is essentially 

 different, the leaves being alternate, free from all trace of a volatile 

 secretion, ami destitute of stipules, and the nodes of the stem not 

 being capable of disarticulation. The whole order contains but two 

 genera, Linum and Radiola : the former comprehends many species, 

 the most important of which is common flax, Linum usilata.nnu.m, 

 the woody tissue of whose stems is so valuable for its toughness and 

 fineness, and whose seeds furnish linseed oil. [FLAX, in ARTS AND Sc. 

 Div. ; LINUM.] 



LINA'KIA (from \ivov, flax, owing to a similarity in the leaves), a 

 genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Scrophulariacecc. It 

 has a 5 parted calyx, a personate spurred corolla, the lower li|> 3-fid 

 with a prominent palate closing the mouth. The capsules open by 

 valves or teeth at the top. The species are annual or perennial plants, 

 very rarely small shrubs, and the flowers of a beautiful appearance, 

 racemose or spicately racemose at the tops of the branches. 



L. Cymbalaria, Ivy-Leaved Toad-Fax, has roundish heart-shaped 

 leaves, 5-lobed and glabrous; the stem procumbent, slender, and 

 rooting. The flowers are solitary, axillary upon long stalks, and of a 

 pale blue colour. It is a native of Europe, chiefly ou old walls. It 

 grows abundantly in Italy and Sicily, and is found in Great Britain. 

 There are several varieties of this species. 



L. Elatine, Halbert-Leaved Toad-Flax, has ovate hastate leaves, the 

 lower ones ovate, the peduncles glabrous, stem procumbent, and the 

 spur straight. The flowers are solitary, on long slender stalks, small, 

 and of a yellow colour, with the upper lip purple. It 13 a native 

 of Europe and Africa, and is found in chalky corn-fields in Great 

 Britain. 



L. tpuria, Spurious Toad-Flax, has roundish ovate entire leaves, the 

 spur curved upwards, the peduncles hairy, and the stem procumbent 

 The appearance of this plant is similar to the last, but the flowers are 

 larger, and the whole plant not so slender. It is a native throughout 

 Europe in corn-fields, and is found in Great Britain. 



L. minor, Smaller Toad-Fiax, is distinguished by its linear-lanceo- 

 late leaves, which are obtuse, glandular, pubescent, and mostly 

 attenuate. The flowers are solitary and axillary, the peduncles three 

 times as long as the calyx, and the seeds oblong sulcate. It is found 

 in sandy corn-fields throughout Europe and Great Britain. 



L. Pelifgeriana, is known by its racemose flowers, which are of a 

 dark purple colour with darker veins. It is native of the south and 

 middle of France and of Great Britain. 



L. repent, is distinguished by ita lanceolate sepals and angular seeds 

 with transverse elevated lines. The flowers are of a bluish colour, the 

 tern erect, branched, and leafy. The seeds are much smaller than 

 either of the following species. It is found on calcareous soils, parti- 

 cularly near the sea, in Great Britain. 



L. Italica has scattered linear-lanceolate leaves, lanceolate oblong 

 sepals, and orbicular scabrous seeds, with a membranous margin. The 

 corollas are of a deep yellow colour. This species is found plentifully 

 in the west of England and near Cork, in Ireland ; it is also native of 

 Switzerland, Italy, and Hungary. 



L. vulgarig, has ovate -acute glabrous sepals, shorter than the 

 capsules and the spur. The flowers greatly resemble those of L. 

 Italica, but are twice the size. In Worcestershire this plant is called 

 ' Butter and Eggs.' Gerard names it Wild-Flax, Toad-Flax, and Flax- 

 Weed. It abounds in an acrid oil which is almost empyreumatic. 

 Taken inwardly, it induces nausea. It has been advised in dropsy, 

 but Haller and others disapprove of it. When united with milk the 

 juice ia a poison to flies. The flowers are employed in gome places to 

 give a yellow colour. 



The whole of the species of Linaria have an elegant appearance, 

 and are therefore suited for flower-gardens. They grow well in common 

 garden earth, but prefer a dry sandy soil. The seeds of the annual 

 species require to be sown early in the open border where they are 

 intended to remain. 



Linaria has also been adopted as the generic name of some species 

 of birds. [LINOTA.] 



(Don, Dicldamydeout Plantt; Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



LINAKITE, a Mineral consisting of Cupreous Sulphate of Lead. It 

 occurs crystallised. Ita primary form is an oblique rhombic prism. 

 Colour deep azure-blue. Streak pale blue. Fracture uneven. Hard- 

 ness 2*5 to 3*0. Lustre vitreous or adamantine. Transparent, trans- 

 lucent. . Specific gravity 5'3 to 5'4. It is found at Linares in Spain, 

 and at Lead Hills, Scotland. Its analysis by Brooke gives 



Sulphate of Lead 74 -4 



Oxide of Copper . . . ' . . . 18'0 



Water 47 



97-1 



UNCOLNITE. [HEULANDITE.] 



LINOUELLA. [IBFEBOBKAJTCHUTA.] 



LI'NUULA, a genus of Brachiopodous Mollusca, of which several 

 pecica have been found fossil. They are found in the Silurian, Old 

 Itexl Sandstone, and Green Sand rocks. [BuAcmorODA.] 



LI'NKIA. Nardo has proposed this name for a group of Stelleridia, 

 included in Asterias by Lamarck. (Agassiz, on Edunodermata, ' Ann. 

 of Nat. Hist.,' vol. i.) 



LINNET. [LINOTA.] 



LINOSYRIS, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Composites. The heads are not radiant ; florets all perfect and tubular ; 

 receptacle naked, pitted ; the pits with elevated dentate margins in the 

 British species ; phyllus imbricated ; pappus pilose ; fruit compressed, 

 silky, without a beak. 



L. vulgaris is an herbaceous Plant, found iu middle and southern 

 Europe and iu Great Britain. It has linear glabrous leaves, corymbose 

 heads, the involucre lax ; the stem from 12 to 18 inches high, simple 

 and leafy ; leaves single ribbed, smooth or scabrous, very numerous, 

 more or less dotted : flowers yellow. It grows on limestone cliffs. It 

 is the Chrysocoma Linosyris of Smith. 



LINOTA, a genus of Birds belonging to the family Fringillidte. 

 The genus is thus defined by Yarrell : Beak straight, conical, pointed. 

 Nostrils basal, lateral, concealed by short feathers. Wings long, some- 

 what pointed; the first, second, and third feathers nearly equal in 

 length. Tarsi short ; feet with lateral toes of equal length ; the hind 

 toe and claw as long as that in the middle ; claws slender, acute, and 

 curved. Tail forked. 



L. cannabina, the Common Linnet, is a hard-billed singing-bird, 

 which though well known under one or the other of its various appel- 

 lations to every English bird-catcher, has, in consequence of the 

 changes of its plumage and the names applied to it when it appears 

 under those changes, given rise to much confusion in our systems and 

 catalogues, and considerable error among the learned as well as the 

 unlearned. 



Mr. Selby, in his ' British Ornithology,' says of the ' Common or 

 Brown Linnet Fringilla cannabina, Linn. :' " This bird has been 

 considered by most of our authors as two distinct species, under the 

 titles of the Common or Brown Linnet and the Greater Redpole. 

 This error has evidently arisen from the altered appearance it bears at 

 particular ages, and during the different seasons of the year. These 

 changes in all probability had not been suspected, as they certainly 

 had not been traced by the earlier naturalists ; and, on the authority 

 of their reputation, succeeding writers sanctioned such mistakes, with- 

 out giving themselves the trouble of further investigation, till Montagu, 

 who united practical research with scientific knowledge, professed (in 

 the ' Ornithological Dictionary') his conviction of their forming one 

 species ; and my own observation and experiments tend to confirm his 

 opinion." Giving all due praise to Montagu and Mr. Selby for their 

 diligence and acuteness in rectifying an error which seems to have 

 been going on from the time of Willughby to the time of the publica- 

 tion of Bewick's ' Supplement,' we must say a word in favour of one 

 of the fathers of Natural History at the revival of letters. A little 

 investigation would have proved that of Bdlon at least it cannot be 

 said that the changes of plumage had not been suspected nor traced 

 by him. That acute observer, in his ' Histoire de la Nature des 

 Oyseaux ' (Paris, 1555), says, in his description of La Linote, or 

 Linotte, " Les Linotes ont la poictriue et le dessus de la teste, grande 

 partie de 1'auude, de couleur eutre rouge et oreugee : car elles ont lors 

 la couleur si vive qu'elle resemble a du sang ; mais cela, est seulement 

 sur la fin du printemps ; " having previously described the more 

 sombre state of plumage. 



Willughby, whose ' Ornithology' was edited by Ray, and contains 

 many observations by the latter, devotes a chapter (xi.) to the subject 

 ' Of the Linnet.' The first section of the chapter is headed ' Of the 

 Linnet in General," and is as follows : " The characteristic notes of 

 this kind are 1, a size of body something less than a chaffinch ; 2, a 

 testae jous or earthy colour, mixed of cinereous and dusky or brown; 

 3, a tail a little forked ; 4, a peculiar colour of the outmost feathers 

 of the tail, namely, brown, with white borders or edges ; 5, a sweet 

 note. Of Linnets we have observed four sorts in England : 1 , the 

 Common ; 2, the Greater Red ; 3, the Lesser Ked ; 4, the Mountain 

 Linnet." Here is probably thu principal origin of the subsequent 

 confusion. These four Linnets are afterwards described and dis- 

 tinguishtd at length in the same chapter under the names of 'The 

 Common Linnet, Linaria vtdyaris.' 'The Greater Red -Headed 

 Linnet, Linaria rubra major.' ' The Lesser Red-Headed Linnet, 

 Linaria, rubra minor.' ' The Mountain Linnet, Linaria montana.' 



Bechstein, under his description of the Common Linnet (Fringilla 

 cannabina, Linn. ; La Linotte, Buff. ; Der Hiinfling, Bechst.), states 

 that, instructed by long experience and the observations of many 

 years, he hopes to show in his description that the Common Linnet 

 (Fi-inyilla Linola, Linn.), the Greater Redpole (Fringilla cannabina, 

 Linn.), and, according to all appearance, the Mountain Linnet (Frin- 

 gilla montana, Linn.), are one and the same species. With regard to 

 the identity of the two first-named species, ornithologists are now 

 generally agreed : with regard to the last the better opinion is against 

 Bechstein, and in favour of the Mountain Linnet being a ^distinct 

 species. 



M. Temminck, who observes (' Manuel d'Ornithologie') that Frin- 

 gilla cannabina and Frangilla Montium have been often confounded, 

 and that he has endeavoured to distinguish them by a small number 

 of characters placed at the head of the short descriptions and of the 

 synonyms, applies the same mode of distinction to Fnnyilla linaria 



