HABALUS. 



NAIA. 



Northern Seas. A representative ipeoiei hu< since been made known 

 from tiw AuUrctic Sea*. 



Genus 2. BdeUottoma. The fiahe* of this genus differ from the 

 My fine in having eyes, and more than one branchial spiracle. 



HuUer enumerates four *peeiea M certain, rim. : B. kexalrema and 

 A kttentrtma from the Capo of Good Hope ; JJeptalrema from the 



South Seai, and Ponteri from New Zealand. /(. Itombtyi in regarded 

 aa doubtful. 



(Yarrell, BritlA PitHtt.) 



MYXODES, a genus of Acanthopterygioui Fishes belonging to the 

 family (fobioda. 



MYZOMELA. [Mir.inu. 



N 



VABALOS, a genus of Plant* belonging to the order Aiteracetr. 

 ** Two of the species, N. Serpenlariui and N. albtu, are found in 

 North America, and hare, with many other plants, a repute as a 

 remedy for rattle-make bites. They have a milky juice in their roots, 

 which U very bitter. 

 NACRE. [SHELL.] 



NACRITE, a Mineral usually occurring in Mien-Slate, taking the 

 place of the mica ; so that the rock becomes a mixture of quartz and 

 nacrite. It is also found crystallised in granite. In occurs in 4-sided 

 prisms. Its hardness is 275. Colour silvery, or light greenish-white. 

 Lustre pearly, silky, splendent Translucent. Specific gravity from 

 2-788 to 2793. It occurs in Wicklow, Ireland, and in North America. 



A specimen from Brunswick, Maine, analysed by Dr. Thomson, 

 gave 



Silica 64-440 



Alumina ..:.... 28-844 



Protoxide of Iron 4-428 



Water 1.000 



98712 



The crystals from Wicklow contained less oxide of iron, but a 

 considerable portion of lime and of protoxide of manganese. 



N^ESA. [ISOPODA.] 



NAI A, Laurenti's name for a genus of highly venomous Serpents, 

 to which the species of Urau* and Aipit of Wagler belong. 



Cuvier places the form next to the Vipers ( Viptra of Daudin), and 

 immediately preceding Elajii (Schn., part). Dr. J. E. Gray formerly 

 made Naiina the second sub-family of his Viperida, Viperina being 

 the first, ffaiina, which is characterised by Dr. Gray as having the 

 " head broad behind, with plates," is immediately succeeded by 

 Klajihina, and thus the genus Naia, in his arrangement, stands between 

 Peliia (Merrem) and Sepidon of the same author. (' Annals of Phil./ 

 1825). 



Mr. Swainson, in his 'Classification of Reptiles' (' Natural History 

 of Fishes, Amphibians, and Reptiles,' vol. ii.), places the genus Naia 

 among the Urolalitla, his second family of O;>At</, or Serpents, and 

 arranges it between Ccratttt and J'laturut. He gives the following 

 as the sub-genera : Aoto, Sepidon, and Elapt, and thus cliaracterises 

 the sub-genus Naia .-Neck capable of being dilated ; head narrow ; 

 dorsal scales linear ; tail conical ; subcaudal plates arranged in two 

 rows. 



This form appears to be confined to the Old World. 



The Asiatic species, Coluber Naja of Linmeua ; Q. ccecut of Gmelin (?) ; 

 Vipera Naja of Daudin ; Naja tripudiaru of Merrem ; If. tutactnt of 

 Laurenti; Cobra de Capello (adder with a hood) of the Asiatic 

 Portuguese ; Serpent a Lunettes of the French ; Nag and Chinta 

 Nagoo of the natives ; and Spectacle-Snake of the English, may be 

 considered as the type of the genus. 



It has the following characters : Head with nine plates behind, 

 broad; neck very expansile, covering the head like a hood; tail 

 ruund. (Gray). 



The expansion of the neck and upper part of the body is effected 

 by the anterior ribs, which the animal has the power of raising and 

 bringing forward so as to dilate that portion into a disc more or less 

 large. When this dic is thus dilated in the Naia IHpudvuu, it 

 presents on the back part of it no bad representation of a pair of 

 spectacle*, or rather barnacles, reversed, for there is no trace of the 

 lateral pieces by which spectacles are attached to the head of the 

 wearer. The animal is brown above, and bluish-white beneath. The 

 following cuts will convey some idea of the form of this snake, with 

 the hood or disc expanded. 



Colonel Briggs informs ns that this active and deadly serpent is 

 sometimes worshipped in temples in India, where it is pampered with 



n, vii'W of the upper iilc of the disc or howl expanded, with the lie.l on the 

 same llnf with the body. 



Ilnd of ffnia. 



, t Me Ti< w ; b. Ken from store. 



A, view of the under side of the same. 



