1073 



NAUTILID.E. 



NECTANDRA. 



1078 



Fouii 



The KMynekolilei, formerly considered to be the beaks of birds, are 

 DOW, upon unquestionable evidence, proved to be the jaws of fossil 

 Xautili and A mmtmilu. Blumenbach recognised thews Rhyncholiiu a* 

 being nther the mandible* of Cephalopoda, differing from all recent 

 genera then discovered ; and M. D'Orbighy, who found some large ones 

 in the ume beds with the shell of a ffautiitu gigca, suspected that 

 those Rkyntkolitet appertained to that species. 



We here give figures of the mandibles or beaks of N. Pompiliui, 

 the structure of which is above noticed, and some of these Rfiyn- 



1, Mandible* of K'aulilui Fompilita. a, calcareous extremity of upper man. 

 dible ; ft, extended Internal horny lamina* of the same ; r, notched calcareous 

 extremity of lover mandible ; il d, external horny lamina) of the lame. 



3, Opper mandible, showing the form of the calcareous extremity, and the 

 proportions of the external and internal horny lamina*. 



4, One-half of the lower mandible, showing the different proportions of the 

 tiro horny lamina*, and the extension of the horny substance at a, upon which 

 the eakanoos matter Is deposited; a, the internal horny lamina ; ft, the external 

 horny lamina. Naturalize. (Owen.) 



r, side, and internal views. 

 1, Bide rlcw (Muschelkalk of Lunerillc). 2, Upper view (same locality). 

 S, Upper Tiew (Lias of Lymc Regis). 4, calcareous point of an under man- 

 dible (internal view), from I.uneville. (Buckland). 



The Oolite (Stonesfn Id), and the Lias of Lyme Regis and Bath, 

 will serve as examples of the British strata wherein these beak-stones 

 occur. 



Fossil A'au/t/t occur both in the Tertiary and subjacent strata. M. 

 Deahayes ('Table* ') records four fossil species (Tertiary). * Dr. Mantell 

 notices A'av/i/iu imperialii, from the Arenaceous Limestone or Sand- 

 stone of Bognor ; A*, eltgant, from the Chalk (Lewes) ; the last-named 

 peeies and N. txpanttu, from the Chalk-Marl; A', innv/ua/u, from the 

 Oault or Folkatone Marl (Kolkstone) ; and a nameless species from the 

 Shanklin Sand (Lower Oreensand). Professor Phillips records the 

 following in Yorkshire : N. lineatiu (Inferior Oolite) ; If. attacoidct 

 (Lias); A', htxayontu (Kelloways Rock); If. onnu/aru (Lias); and 

 others in the Speeton Clay and Brandsby Slate. Mr. Lonsdale 

 enumerate* A'. Iweattu (Lias); and N. obetut (Inferior Oolite from 

 Bath). Dr. Kitten ( Strata below the Chalk') records A'. tUgant, N. 

 ituffuUit, N. plicattu, N. radiaiut, N. iimpUx, If. untlulatu*, and an 

 uncertain species, the first-named species from the Upper and the 

 rest from the Lower Oreensand, Sir Roderick Murchison (' Silurian 

 System') describes and figure* one species, N. wulotut, from the 

 Caradoc Sandstone. Altogether about 100 fouil species of the genus 

 Nautiltu are known. (Woodward.) 



Dr. Buckland, in his 'Bridgewater Treatise,' thus concludes his 

 observations upon the affinities of the chambered shells of Cepha- 

 lopoda: 



" It results from the view we have taken of the zoological affinities 

 between living and extinct specie* of chambered shells, that they are 

 all connected by one plan of organisation, each forming a link in the 

 common chain which unites existing species with those that prevailed 

 among the earliest conditions of life upon our globe ; and all attesting 

 the identity of the design that has effected so many similar end* 



through such a variety of instruments, the principle of whose con- 

 struction if, in every species, fundamentally the same. 



" Thougbout the various living and extinct genera of chambered 

 shells, the use of the air-chambers and siphon, to adjust the specific 

 gravity of the animals in rising and sinking, appears to have been 

 identical. The addition of a new transverse plate within the conical 

 shell added a new air-chamber, larger than the preceding one, to 

 counter-balance the increase of weight that attended the growth of 

 the shell and body of these animals. 



" These beautiful arrangements are, and ever have been, subservient 

 to a common object, namely, the construction of hydraulic instru- 

 ments of essential importance in the economy of creatures destined 

 to move sometimes at the bottom and at other times upon or near 

 the surface of the sea. The delicate adjustments whereby the same 

 principle is extended through so many grades and modifications of a 

 single type, show the uniform and constant agency of some controlling 

 intelligence : and in searching for the origin of so much method and 

 regularity amidst variety, the mind con only rest, when it has passed 

 back through the subordinate series of second causes, to that 

 great first cause, which is found in the will and power of a common 

 Creator." 



The other genera of the family A'uu/i/uto are fossil : 



Lituita has a discoidol shell ; whorls close or separate ; last chamber 

 produced in a straight line ; siphuncle central. It contains 15 specie*, 

 which are found in the Silurian rocks of North America and Europe. 



Trochoctrtu has a nautiloid spiral depressed shell. It contain s 1 ti 

 species, which are found in the Upper Silurian Rocks of Bohemia. 



NAUTILOGRAPSUa [GRAMIIDJE.] 



NAUTILUS. [NACTIIJD.E.] 

 NAVEL-WORT. [COTYLEDON.] 



NAVEW. [BRASSICA.] 



NAVICELLA. [NERITID.B.] 



NAVICULA. [DIATOMACK.E.] 



NAXIA. [MAI IDA] 



NECRONITE. [FELSPAR.] 



NECROPHORUS, a genus of Coleopterous Insects belonging to the 

 family Silphida. The antenna; are terminated by a nearly globular 

 4-jointed mass ; the body is parallelepiped ; and the maxilla) have no 

 horny teeth. There are several species of this genus. They have 

 obtained the name of Burying Beetles, from the peculiar in 

 which they exhibit of burying the dead bodies of small animals, such 

 as moles, mice, frogs, &c., as a receptacle for their eggs and larva. 1 . 

 Their powers of perception ore very strong, and it is surprising how 

 soon they discover a dead body fitted for their purpose, round which 

 they may be observed flying, with the elytra elevated, their dorsal 

 surfaces being applied together. They soon creep beneath the body, 

 and commence scratching up the earth from thu sides and under the 

 animal, which by degrees descends into the pit which is thus gradually 

 deepened. When it has reached a sufficient depth the earth is thrown 

 over it, and the insect deposits its eggs upon the carcass, so that tho 

 larva, when hatched, finds itself in the midst of a repast, disgusting 

 enough, but suited to its taste. The larva is long, of a dirty-white 

 colour, with the upper surface of the anterior segments armed with a 

 scaly plate of a brown colour, and with small elevated points upon the 

 hinder segments. They have also six scaly legs, and the jaws are 

 robust. When they have attained their full size they bury themselves 

 still deeper in the earth, where they construct an oval cell, the inner 

 surface of which they coat with a gummy secretion. These insects, 

 like many others which feud upon carrion, have a strong odour like 

 musk. The habits of these insects have been especially studied by 

 M. Qleditsch, and more recently by various persons in France, who 

 have written upon the subject of destroying moles, and by whom 

 various points in their economy have been elucidated. 



There ore a considerable number of species of this genus, some 

 of the largest of which (ff. grandi, Fabricius) have been observed 

 in North America. There are seven British species, five of which 

 are distinguished by tho golden-coloured bands of the elytra. These 

 species vary amongst themselves in the form of the thorax, the 

 structure of the hind legs, the markings on the elytra, and the colour 

 on the club of the antenna?. One of the most common species is tho 

 Silfha Vapillo (Linmeus), in which the posterior tibia; are curved, and 

 the trochanters furnished with a strong spine. The species vary also 

 in length from half on inch to an inch and a third, which is the length 

 of If. gcrmanicut, the largest and rarest of the British specie*. 

 (Westwood.) 



NECTANDRA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Lanraeta. It has a 6 parted rotate calyx, deciduous segments, the 

 three outer rather the broadest ; there are 9 anthers, which are ovate, 

 nearly sessile, with 4 cells, arranged in a curve, and distinct from the 

 tip of the anther, the cells of the interior anthers inverted; the glands 

 are in pairs, globose, sessile at the base of the three interior stamens 

 next their back. The fruit is succulent, more or less immersed in tho 

 tube of the calyx, which U changed into a truncated cup. The llmi . T.. 

 are panicled or corymbose, axillary, lax, and pretty ample. 



N. cymlt'inum U a tree nearly 100 feet high, growing in tho woods 

 of the Orinoco, near San Fernando de Alabama, where it in called 

 Sassafras, and also in the ancient forests of the Rio Negro in lln/il. 

 The branches arc smooth ; the leaves oblong, lanceolate, papery, and 



