525 



LODESTONE. 



LOMATOCERAS. 



528 



club. Upwards of twenty species of this genus are enumerated by 

 Mr. Stephens in his ' Catalogue of British Insects," and it is to this 

 group that the Gnjllus migratorius of Linnaeus belongs, a large species 

 which has occasionally been found in Britain, and which in some parts 

 of Europe sometimes multiplies to such a degree as to devastate large 

 districts. Africa at all times appears to have been peculiarly subject 

 to the ravages of these insects. Of their extraordinary devastations in 

 this portion of the globe we have records from the earliest authors, 

 and the works of the most recent travellers confirm them. Mr. Barrow 

 in his ' Travels ' states, that " in the southern parts of Africa an area 

 of nearly two thousand square miles might be said literally to be 

 covered with them. When driven into the sea by a north-west wind 

 they formed upon the shore for fifty miles a bank three or four feet 

 high, and when the wind was south-east the stench was so powerful 

 ae to be smelt at the distance of 150 miles." In Messrs. Kirby and 

 Spence's ' Introduction to Entomology ' numerous accounts of a similar 

 nature will be found. In some parts of Africa they are cooked and 

 eaten by the natives. The natives of Senegal are said to dry them, 

 and, having reduced them to powder, use them as flour. 



Gomi'hocerui (Leach). Hinder legs exceeding the body in length ; 

 antenna capitate, having a spoon-shaped club iu both sexes ; anterior 

 tibiae simple. This genus contains numerous species, six or seven of 

 which are found in England. They are usually of .-mull size, and, 

 together with the smaller species of the preceding genus, are 

 commonly called Grasshoppers. 



Acrydium (Leach). The species of this genus may be distinguished 

 by the large size cf the scutellum, which is produced posteriorly, and 

 covers the wings. They are found on hot sandy banks. 



Pneumora (Thunb.) has been established for the reception of certain 

 African Locuttidce, which have a membranous pellet between the ter- 

 minal hooks of the tarsi, the antennae filiform, the posterior legs shorter 

 than the body, and the abdomen vesicular at least in one of the sexes. 



Protcopia of Klug contains numerous apterous species peculiar to 

 South America, in which the body is long and cylindrical, the head 

 destitute of ocelli and prolonged anteriorly, the antenna? short and 

 (iliform, the posterior legs long, and approximated to the intermediate 

 pair, which are remote from the anterior pair. 



LODESTONE. [LOADSTONE.] 



LOCUSTELLA. [SALICARIA; SYLVJAD.E.] 



l.i K i.\ XI ACK.K, Loganiadi, a natural order of Exogenous Plants, 

 consisting of shrubs, herbaceous plants, or trees. It is characterised 

 by having opposite entire leave?, usually without stipules, which 

 adhere to the leaf-stalks or are combined iu the form of interpetiolary 

 sheaths. The flowers are racemose, corymbose, or solitary; the 

 calyx valvate or imbricated, inferior 4- or 5-parted ; corolla regular or 

 irregular, 4-5- or 10-cleft, with valvate or convolute aestivation ; 

 stamens arising from the corolla, all placed upon the same line, and 

 not always symmetrical with the divisions of the corolla, pollen with 

 3 bands ; ovary superior, 2-celled ; ovules absent or solitary ; fruit 

 either capsular, 2-celled, with placenta; finally becoming loose or 

 drupaceous, with 1- or 2-seeded stones, or buried with the seeds 

 immersed in pulp ; seeds sometimes winged, usually peltate, albumen 

 fleshy or cartilaginous; embryo small, with the radicle turned towards 

 the hilum or parallel with it. All the species are either tropical or 

 inhabit countries near the tropics, a few in America and Australia 

 forming the only exceptions. It would be difficult to name a more 

 poisonous order than this, of whose qualities the celebrated Nux 

 Vomica may be taken as the representative. Notwithstanding the 

 active qualities of these formidable plants, some are used in medicine 

 with great advantage. Several of the species of fibydtaM are used in 

 the east as remedies for various diseases, and the seeds of Jijiiatia 

 amara, St. Ignatius' Beans, are employed in India for cholera. Spiyelia 

 yields also several species which are employed for useful purposes. 

 The order consists of 22 genera and 162 species. It is related to 

 Apocynacea, Gentianacea, Uinchonacece, and JUtizophoracece. The uses 

 of the species will be found under their respective heads, SPIGELIA ; 

 SiiircHXOa, &c. (Lindley, Vegetable Kingdom.) 



LOGWOOD. [H^MATOXYLON.] 



LOLIGO, a genus of Cephalopodous Mottmca belonging to the tribe 

 Teuthida. It has a firm fleshy cylindrical elongated body, towards its 

 posterior extremity flanked by two triangular fins, which run to 

 the tail. The locomotive apparatus is formed of two oblong margined 

 pits placed at the base of the fuunel, and of corresponding linear 

 prominent crests on the inner margin of the sleeve. The eyes are 

 covered by an epidermic expansion pierced with a small opening; no 

 lacrymal sinus. There are ten arms, two of them tentacular, im- 

 perfectly webbed. Pen corneous, flexible, lanceolate, as long as the 

 body, terminating in an obtuse point. The Cuttle Fishes of this 

 genus are known popularly by the name of Squids. Their spawn is 

 enveloped in oblong gelatinous tubes, numbers of which are found 

 adhenLg to a common mass by their lower extremities. 



L. vulgarii has fins flanking two-thirds of the body, and forming an 

 oblong rhomb. The body of this handsome animal is cylindrical 

 anteriorly, tapering, and gradually contracted from some distance in 

 front of the middle to the caudal extremity. The angles of the fins 

 are obtuse : these organs extend quite to the tail, and join there. The 

 head is short and broad, not over prominent iu the region of the eyes. 

 The eight ordinary arms are stout and rather short, slightly webbed 



together at their bases ; on their inner side they are furnished with 

 two rows of oblique suckers with eccentric openings, of which the 

 horny hoops are armed on their broader side with teeth. The tenta- 

 cular arms are long, stoutly pedunculated, and furnished at their 

 lanceolate extremity with suckers, large centrally, small towards their 

 tips, and ranked in fours. The general hue of the animal is bluish, 

 with purplish specklings, which are numerous and areolated in the 

 centre of the back, and are close set and dark on the head and hinder 

 portions of the tentacula ; beneath it is yellowish-white. The pen is 

 lanceolate ; that of the female is said to be broader and more obtuse 

 than the male. The jaws are brown, with white tips. The body 

 grows to a length of nearly a foot aud a half ; the head and arms add 

 about half a foot to the total length. Dr. Johustou says it makes an 

 excellent bait for cod, but does not occur iu sufficient numbers to be used 

 by our fishermen. The ink is jet-black. It appears to be generally dis- 

 tributed around the British Mauds, though met with only occasionally. 



L. media has an elongated subulate body, produced and acuminated 

 posteriorly ; fins narrow aud rounded. This cuttle-fish is sup- 

 posed to be the Lesser Calamary, or Teuflis of Aristotle, an opinion 

 opposed by Professor Forbes. It is a much elongated animal, 

 subcylindrical anteriorly, diminishing gradually posteriorly, and 

 much prolonged and pointed at the tail. In specimens preserved in 

 spirits its extremity is singularly sharp and produced; the neck 

 margin of the back is prolonged into a sort of obtuse lobe ; the fins 

 are widely apart, above long, somewhat rounded, broad anteriorly, 

 tapering and converging behind, aud becoming decurreut on the tail ; 

 the head is short, very prominent in the region of the eyes, and is 

 crowned with rather short lanceolate very unequal arms, provided 

 with double rows of suckers ; these arms are very much squared at 

 their edges ; the tentacular arms are short in proportion to the length 

 of the body ; on their lanceolate extremities there are two rows of 

 large suckers, and two rows of smaller ones outside ; the mouth is 

 surrounded by an augulated membrane. It is a transparent glassy 

 creature when alive, speckled with dots of red or purple ; the pen is 

 lanceolate, narrowing above. 



L. Marmora has a shorter aud stouter body than the last species ; 

 tentacular arms longer; tail not much produced; the arms are short 

 aud stout, and provided with two regular rows of suckers ; the tenta- 

 cular arms are borne on long peduncles, which can reach to a level with 

 the middle part of the fins ; the length of the body and ordinary arms is 

 about four inches. The skin appears to have been strongly dotted 

 with purple or red. Some naturalists affirm that L. JfariMrce is 

 only the female of L. media. 



(Forbes and Hanley, History of British Mollusca.) 



LOLIGOPSIS. [SEPIAD.E.] 



LO'LIUM, a genus of Grasses, containing a few species common iu 

 many parts of the northern hemisphere, It is known by the spikelets 

 being many-flowered, distichous, contrary to the rachis, sessile. 

 Flowers not bearded at the base ; glumes 2, nearly equal, one of them 

 very often deficient in the lateral spikeleta, herbaceous, awuless ; palero 

 2, herbaceous ; the lower concave and awnless, or awued under the 

 apex ; the upper with two keels. Stamens 3 ; ovary smooth ; styles 2, 

 very short ; stigmas feathery ; hypogynous scales 2, fleshy, entire or 

 2-lobed ; rachis not jointed. 



L. perenne, the Common Ray-Grass, or Rye-Gi-a?s of the farmer, 

 with lanceolate awnless spikelets which are longer than the glume, n 

 naked stem, and a perennial root. This species is oue of the most 

 valuable of our pasture grasses. [llYE-GBASS, in AUTS AND Sc. Div.] 



L. temulentum, or Darnel, with elliptical awned spikelets, straight 

 awns longer than the paleic, glumes the length of the spikelet, aud 

 an annual root. Of this species mention is made not only in all 

 parts cf Europe, but in Japan, Australia, China, and South America; 

 it is remarkable as being the only well authenticated instauce of 

 a plant belonging to the order of Grasses, in which narcotic or 

 even deleterious properties have been found. The grains are said 

 to produce intoxication in man, beasts, and birds, and to bring 

 on fatal convulsions. According to Christison, darnel, when mixed 

 with flour and made into bread, has been known to produce headache, 

 giddiness, somnolency, delirium, convulsions, paralysis, and even 

 death. A few years ago, the same author tells us, almost the whole of 

 the inmates of the Sheffield workhouse were attacked with symptoms 

 supposed to be produced by their oatmeal having been accidentally 

 adulterated with Lolium ; and a case is on record of a small farmer 

 near Poitiers in France having killed himself by persevering in the use 

 of darnel flour for making bread ; his wife and servant, who discon- 

 tinued to eat it, escaped, but were violently affected with vomiting 

 aud purging. 



L. Italicum, Italian Rye-Grass, has the spikelets 9-14-flowered ; 

 outer palea with a long awn ; root with leafy barren shoots ; the 

 margins of the young leaves involute. It is cultivated in Britain. 



L. linicola has 7-11-flowered spikelets, exceeding the glumes; outer 

 palea longer than its awn or awuless : no barren shoots. The stem is 

 erect. Outer palea cartilaginous below, narrower than the inner, tumid 

 in front. It is found in cultivated fields in Sussex and Yorkshire. 



(Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



LOMATO'CERAS. M. Bronn has given this name to a generic 

 group embracing certain of the LimiEcan Graptolithi [GiiAi'TOi.iTHus] 

 instead of I'i'iodon, which had been assigned to them by Nilsou, but 



