OVAOKR. 



ONDATRA. 



-i 



and wholesome, and that it i* known 

 by iWaMM of Cob-Nnt or Hof Nat m Jamaica. Other euphorbjaceou. 

 end* bare UM earn* utopaiiba. 



a (nmrfra b a Guyana plant with a white juice, which tarns black 

 oo drying ad b then need aa ink. 

 (LiadW rfgs Kingdom.) 



'- :: 

 ON ACM A. TBocifiJL] 



:iA. ICKXUTBMA.] 



ONAGRA'CE.*, O'Ufnttt, natural order of PolypeUlous Exo- 

 i Plaota, which, in their more complete condition, are certainly 

 by their inferior ovary, and by all the parts of the flow.r 

 _ bar, or a constant multiple of that number. Thus in the plant 

 Airarad (Jmmirm yrtudijlora) then an four aepals, four petals, 

 o lour slamene. four stigmas, four oelb to the ovary, and the 

 fruit wbesj ripe bareto into four valves. The species charact-riaed by 

 this peculiarity an chiefly herbaceous plants, inhabiting the more 

 temperate part* of UM world, and bare white, yellow, or red flowers, 

 each, far example, as UM gnat genus of CEuotheras, or Evening 

 Primroan, and UM Epflobiams, which are so common as wild plant*. 

 It b only ia tb* Fmrkria, which has a succulent fruit, and forms an 

 approach to JVyrfaxnr, that a woody structure U met with. [Fu CHSIA.] 



I, frail aearlr rlpr, sad .urmooeK-d br IU four sepsis ; !, a trsnircnc icc- 

 Ue* ef la* SSSM, to skew the toar ecus. 



Bat although grouia* QuomiiMn arc thus plainly limited, botanists 

 admit into UM order other plant* which do not poxaes* the character 

 proper to UM order, aad which an regarded as imperfect state* of it 

 Thais Htffurv. which ha* only on* sUmen, no petals, and a 1 -celled 

 urary, b regarded aa a CM* of degradation from the Onagraceous 

 type ; and hjf '' with only on* parraet stamen, one imperfect stamen, 

 aad two psteb, b coo*Wred another bat lea degraded condition of 

 UM order. fHALOXAQACULl 



A larg* proportion of (tnagracaoua phut* an ornamental, and 



(Mot**, jfflom? aad Pudui* ; tat*X*7pM*m no uarful q'ualities. 

 (CimcJu; (EnoniHu; BrUx>nrcM.] 

 Tb* order enotaln* S8 genera and 450 siwob*. 



I li:M U a Ttry Urg* g*aos of tropical and subtropical 



!MC*M Jfft 



, lepibtly in Mnlco and *ome of th* West Indian islands, 

 Bnall, aad Ptrn. Tb*y bar* usually yellow flower* spotted with a 

 rbh rrddteb brown ; omHlmes UM MOMOOW an purple, and more 

 ranly white. They belong to UM Vandeou* section of their orler 

 [ arntinc**]. aad an known by th'ir UVIIum bring broad, more or 

 U* toUd. dbtiaot fmn, UM column, and furnbned at the base with a 



i BOOM grotesque appearance. 

 , their column ba* a membranoui 



m attached to a long 



b tb* Butterfly Plant, so 

 iblance of Its flowers to 



w. m HUM mm law vonmn, ana I 

 Irtamnhtoil dbe, wfcbh aUly premnte, 

 TWr *>H* and petab an epreadint:, UM!I 

 or on *Mb aVta, aad Uwy ban two pott* 

 Tb* moat nmarfcabl* so* 







i of the mppoeed 



MM bwect opon the wing. Tbb) ia found in Trinidad, growing on 

 the bnwdMs of treea, and bran a long, Jointed, oomprewml, cpottod 

 , fro* UM apes of which awing* Hgbtly a Urge yellow and brown 

 whoae kbdhan b eompand to the body of an insect, the 

 to Ma Bead, a pair of promm arising from the column to 

 SM, and UM long narrow sepab and petala to legs. It i. 



Buttcrnj-.riunt (Oxcidium Papilio). 



ONDATRA (Lacc'nbde), a genus of Mammalian Animals belonging 

 to the family Ctutoritiit. Ondathra u the native name of the Musquash, 

 which has been adopted as its generic designation. The only species 

 of this genus is the Musquash of America. Of this animal Sir John 

 Richardson gives the following synonyms : 



Rat-Musqud of Sagard Theodat ; Cottar Zibellticut of Linnaeus ; 

 L'Ondatraof Button ; Musk-Rat of Lawson ; Musk-Bi-aver of Pennant; 

 Iftu Zilicthiciu of Linmcus and Ginclin ; Fiber /.ibellticiu of Sabinc 

 and Harlan ; Musk-Rat of Uodman ; Musquash, Watsuss, or Wachuak, 

 also Peeequaw-Tupeyew (the animal that siU on the ice in a round 

 form), of the Crce Indians. 



In a tract which has for its title, ' A Perfect Description of Virginia,' 

 1649, we find among the " Beasts great and small ... a Muske-Ilat, so 

 called for his great sweetneaae and shape." 



2 " " 



Dental Formula: Incisors, -; Molars, _ 



2 3 3 



Tcclh of Miivjiianh. F. Cuvicr. 



The bend Is short. IVxly thick and rather flat; legs very short; 

 hind feet large, not webbed. Dark umber-brown above ; sides, ante- 

 rior part of belly, middle of breast, lateral part of neck and cheeks, 

 (liming yellowinh-brown ; chin, throat, sides of the chest, and posterior 

 part of the abdomen, ash-gray ; tail comprccsd, convex on the sides, 

 with iU acute edges in a vertical plane, covered witli a thin sleek coat 

 of short hairs, which allow a number of small roundish scales, well 

 neparatrd from each other, and which as well as the hair are ilu-ky- 

 brown, to appear through them ; acute margins of the tail (which ia 

 rather thicker in the middle than at the root, and tapers gradually 

 frotn iU middle to its extremity, which is not acute) covered with a 

 close line of longer hairs dark-brown on the upprr edge and soiled 

 white on the under one. Length of head and body 14 inches; of the 

 tail. 8 inches 6 lines. 



The fur, which much resembles that of the beaver, but is shorter, 



