1021 



MYCETOCHARUS. 



MYRIAPODA. 



1022 



one tree, and he does not doubt that upon a square league of the 

 wild countries frequented by them above two thousand may be found. 

 They were in great abundance near pools of stagnant water shaded 

 by the Mauritia flescuoaa. All the species are natives of South 

 America. 



Araguato (ifyceta Vrrintu}, 



MYCETOCHARUS. [CISTELIDES.] 



MYCETOPHAGUS, a genus of Tetramerous Xylophagous Cole- 

 optera. 



MYCETOTODA, or MYCETOPUS, a genus of Conchiferous 

 Afollutca with elongated valves, established by M. D'Orbigny, and 

 referrible to the family Naiadie of Lamarck. M. D'Orbigny states that 

 this genus perforates like the PMadce. [NAIADS ; PHOLAD^E.] 



MYCTERIA. [JABIKC.] 



MYCTERUS, a genus of Heteromerous Coleoptera. 



1IYDAS, a genus of Dipterous Insects. 



MYDAUS. [MusiEtuxE.] 



MYOALE. [SORECID.E.] 



MY'GALE, a genus of Spiders, the species of which have their eyes 

 placed closely together at the anterior extremity of the thorax. They 

 spin their webs in the form of tubes, in which they reside concealed 

 in holes in the ground, or under stones, or the bark of trees. In 

 consequence of the representations of Madame Merian, some kinds of 

 Mygale have become celebrated as bird-catching spiders. Mr. W. S. 

 M'Leay has however shown that Madame Merian's drawing is not to 

 be trusted, since the Mygale there figured is a subterranean spider, 

 and makes no net in which to entrap small birds. The same distin- 

 guished naturalist has observed a spider belonging to the genus Epeira 

 eating a young bird of the genus Zosterops, which had been entangled 

 in its net in a garden in Sydney, Australia. In a communication of 

 Mr. M'Leay's, published in the 'Annals of Natural History' for 1842, 

 he remarks on the subject of bird-catching spiders as follows : " My 

 conviction is that Madame Merian has told a wilful falsehood respecting 

 My<ja.le, or rather hag painted a falsehood ; and that her followers 

 have too hastily placed confidence in her idle tales. My conviction is 

 that no Mygale can catch birds in its net; for, as I have said in the 

 paper printed in the 'Zoological Transactions,' it makes no geometrical 

 net. Nay, further, I have proved that the genus Nephila, which lives 

 in a geometrical net, does not catch birds either here or in the West 

 Indies ; and moreover, I have ascertained that birds are not the proper 

 food of thin New Holland Epeira." The Mygale lonica, a Grecian 

 species, forms a very ingenious trap-door with which to close up the 

 mouth of its tube. 



MYGINDA. [AQ.0IFOLIACE.E.] 



MYIOTHERA. [MERDLID^I.] 



MYLODON. [MEOATHEKIIDA] 



MYOPHONUS. [COKVIDJJ.] 



MYOPORA'CEvE, Myoporads, a natural order of Plants, distin- 

 guished from Verbenaceie by little except the ovules being pendulous 

 and the albumen more abundant. The plants referred to Myoporacece 

 are chiefly shrubs of little interest, inhabiting the Australian regions 

 and othei parts of the southern hemisphere. The most remarkable 

 thing connected with them is the presence of cysts of oil in their 

 leaven, which thence have a dotted structure. 



Avicennia lomentoia, the White Mangrove, a shore plant rooting in 

 mud, ia curious species. Brown describes its roots as creeping to a 



considerable distance, often curved above the ground as much as six 

 Feet before they fix themselves, and throwing up naked suckers out of 

 the mud in great abundance, which look like shoots of asparagus. It 

 s used at Rio Janeiro for tanning. It exudes a kind of green aromatic 

 resin, which is eaten by the natives of New Zealand. 

 The order contains 9 genera and 42 species. 



MYOPOTAMUS, a genus of Animals belonging to tlie order 

 Sodentia and the family Hyttricid&. [HysTKlciD^E.] 

 MYOPTERIS. [CHEIROPTERA.] 

 MYOSOREX. [SOBECID.E.] 



MYOSO'TIS (from /j.Ss, a mouse, and ur, the crude form of oSj, an 

 ear), a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Boraginacea. 

 [t has a 5-parted calyx ; the corolla salver-shaped, contorted in esti- 

 vation ; the throat closed- with scales, the limb 5-fld, obtuse ; the 

 stamens included, with filaments very short; the style simple; the 

 nuts smooth, externally convex, keeled within, attached by a minute 

 lateral spot near their base. This genus is distinguished from all the 

 other Boragineous genera by the possession of a contorted jestivation 

 of the corolla. The species are annual or perennial, rough or smoothish 

 plants, with blue flowers in terminal racemes, which are revolute before 

 expansion. About 50 species have been described, which inhabit the 

 more temperate parts of Asia, Africa, and America, and are abundant 

 in Europe. Eight species are found in Great Britain. 



M. paluatris, Great Water Scorpion-Grass, or Forget-Me-Not, has the 

 calyx open when in fruit, and shorter than the pedicel, with straight, 

 adpressed bristles ; the teeth short, triangular ; the limb of the corolla 

 flat, longer than the tube ; the lobes slightly emarginate ; the pubes- 

 cence of the stem spreading. It is a native throughout Europe, and 

 also of Asia and North America. In Great Britain it is found in ' 

 humid meadows, bogs, banks of rivers, rivulets, and ditches. This 

 plant has a large bright blue corolla with a yellow eye. It is a beautiful 

 plant, and when once seen will be seldom forgotten. It is probably on 

 this account that it has obtained its common name Forget-Me-Not. 

 Amongst the young it is regarded as emblematical of true affection. 

 A variety is described with white flowers. 



The following are the remaining British species of this genus : 

 M. repent, Mouse-Ear, with narrow lanceolate teeth ; lobes of the 

 corolla slightly emarginate ; the pubescence of the stem spreading. 

 Found in boggy places. 



M. ccespitoaa, with narrow lanceolate teeth ; the limb of the corolla 

 equalling the tube ; the lobes entire ; the pubescence of the stem 

 adpressed. Found in watery places. 



M. suaveoleris has an attenuated calyx ; the limb of the corolla 

 longer than the tube ; the root-leaves on long stalks, pointed. Only 

 found in Scotland on the summits of the Breadalbaue Mountains. 



M. sylvatica has a calyx rounded below, deeply 5-cleft, closed when 

 in fruit ; the limb of the corolla longer than the tube, flat ; the root- 

 leaves bluntish. Found in shady places. 



M. arvensia, Field Scorpion-Grass, has the calyx half 5-cleft ; the 

 limb of the corolla equalling the tube, concave. Grows in cultivated 

 land and thickets. 



M. collina has the calyx open and ventricose when in fruit. Found 

 on dry banks. 



M. versicolor has the calyx closed and oblong when in fruit. It 

 has small flowers, at first pale-yellow, afterwards blue. Found in 

 meadows and on banks. 



None of the species are used in medicine or the arts. 

 (Babington, Manual of British Botany.) 



MYOSU'RUS (from yuDj, a mouse, and olpd, a tail, the seed being 

 seated on a long receptacle " which looks exactly like the tail of a 

 mouse "), a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Ranuncu- 

 lacece. It has a calyx of 5 sepals, prolonged into a spire at the base ; 

 the petals 5, with a filiform tubular claw ; the capsules closely imbri- 

 cated upon along filiform receptacle, not bursting; the seed pendulous; 

 the embryo inverted with the radicle superior. The only species of 

 this genus is M. minimus, which has a simple leafless single-flowered 

 stem 2 to 5 inches high. It has a very long receptacle, numerous 

 carpels, and linear leaves. It grows in damp places and in fields. It 

 is a native of Europe and America. The American plan* has been 

 described as M. Shortii, but there is every reason to believe it is the 

 same as the British and other European plants. (Babington, Manual 

 of British Botany.) 



MYOTHERA, a genus of Dentrioatal Passerine Birds, the species of 

 which, on account of their habits, are known by the name of Ant- 

 Catchers. 



MYOXUS. [MUBIDJ5.] 

 MYRAFRA. [FRINGILLID*.] 



MYRIACAN'THUS, a genus of Fossil Fishes, from the Lias of 

 Dorsetshire. (Agassiz.) 



MYRIANI'TES, a genus of Fossil Annelida, from the Lower 

 Silurian Strata of Lampeter, in South Wales. (Murchison.) 



MYRIAPODA, an order of Invertebrate Animals belonging to the 

 class Articulala. This order is represented by such species as the 

 Centipede and Gally-Worm. They may be regarded as an interme- 

 diate form between the lower and higher forms of Articulate animals. 

 They agree with the Annulose forms in the longitudinal extension of 

 their trunk, in the similarity of the segments from one end of the 

 body to the other, and in their cylindrical form. On the other hand , 



