HI 



PJEONY. 



PAQURID^E. 



is* 



extremely beautiful : they have however no smell, or not an agreeable 

 one. Being quite bardy, growing readily in any kind of soil, and 

 easily multiplied, either by seeds or by division of the roots, they 

 re generally favourites in gardens. 



All the species have an acrid principle concentrated in their roots 

 and seeds, which are accordingly emetic and cathartic in moderate 

 doses. They were formerly in great repute as a medicine; and 

 Dioscorides, whose Uaiovia. was probably both P. offcinalis and P. 

 peregrina, gives no fewer than sixteen names by which it was known. 

 PJEONY. [P.EOXIA.] 



PA'GELLUS, a genus of Fishes of the order AcaniJiopteryr/ii, and 

 family Sparidte. This genus, established by Cuvier, contains all those 

 sparoid fishes in which the front teeth are small and prickly, and 

 very numerous ; the molars are of a round form, and there are some- 

 times more than two rows of them ; but the two outer rows in these 

 cases are always much the largest. The foremost teeth form a dense 

 mass, and are compared by Cuvier to the bristly points of the carding- 

 machine used in combing wool, a character which distinguishes these 

 fishes from those of the genus Pagrus, in which the foremost teeth 

 are conical ; the molar teeth moreover are smaller than in the last 

 mentioned genus. The body is usually of an elongate-ovate and 

 compressed form, and the dorsal fins are continuous. About six 

 European and five extra-European species of Pagellus are known. 

 Two species occur on our own coast, P. erythrinui, Cuv. et Val., the 

 Spanish Bream, which is of a fine carmine red-colour above, passing 

 into rose-colour on the sides of the body, and tinted with silvery- 

 white beneath ; P. centroilontut, Cuv. et Val., the Sea-Bream, is also 

 known by the names of the Gilt-Head and Red Gilt-Head. The 

 former of these two species is very common in the Mediterranean, 

 but occurs rarely off the llritish coast. Mr. Yarrell states that he 

 has never seen above two or three specimens, and these were taken 

 with the Sea-Bream, which is also common in the Mediterranean, and 

 by no means uncommon on our own coast. 



The following is the description of the Sea-Bream given by the 

 author of the ' History of British Fishes.' The jaws are short, and 

 equal in length ; the eye is very large, irides golden-yellow ; the head 

 short ; the line of the profile descends rapidly ; cheeks, operculum, 

 and interoperculutn covered with scales ; the preoperculuin and part 

 of the apace before and under the orbit have a metallic tin-foil appear- 

 ance : two narrow stripes are observable on each side behind the head, 

 and these meet on the central line at Ihe top ; at the origin of the 

 lateral line, behind the edge of the operculum, is a conspicuous dark 

 patch made up of small spots ; the colour of the body is reddish, 

 tinged with gray; lighter on the sides, which are golden-gray, and 

 marked with faint longitudinal bauds, which extend the whole length 

 of the body : the belly is nearly white, and the dorsal and anal fins 

 are brown, each appearing as if lodged in a groove from the rising 

 edges of the skin and scales along the base : the pectoral fins and 

 tail are red, and the ventrals are gray. 



The Sea-Bream is not highly esteemed for the table. It is found 

 9 most abundantly in the summer and autumn, and apparently leaves 

 the coast in the cold weather. Mr. Yarrell moreover states that the 

 spawn is shed in the beginning of winter in deep water ; and in 

 January the young fish, which are called Chads, of about one inch in 

 length, are found in the stomachs of large fishes taken two or three 

 leagues from land : in summer, when from four to six inches long, 

 they abound in innumerable multitudes, and are taken by anglers in 

 harbours, and from the rocks ; for they bite with great eagerness at 

 any bait, even of the flesh of their own species. The food, both of 

 the young and adult fish, is not however confined to animal substance, 

 for they devour the green species of sea-weeds, which they bite from 

 the rocks, and for bruising which their molar teeth are well suited, as 

 are their long and capacious intestines for digesting them. 



The Spanish Bream is rather more slender in its form than the 

 commoner British species, the eyes are smaller, and the mouth has a 

 wider gape. The colouring is also different ; it has not the dark 

 patch which is observable on each side of the body near the head in 

 the Sea-Bream. 



PAGRUS, a genus of Fishes belonging to the family Sfpa.ri.dce, with 

 the following characters : Four or six strong concave teeth in front, 

 supported by smaller conical teeth behind them, with two rows of 

 rounded molar teeth on each side of both jaws. [PAGELLUS.] 



P. vulyarit is the Braize or Becker of the English coasts. It is also 

 called Pandora and King of the Sea-Brearns. It is not a common fish 

 on our coasts, and is easily known by its conical teeth and red colour. 



PAGURID^E, or PAGURIANS, a tribe of the apterurous section of 



the Anomurous family of Cnutacea, composed of a considerable number 



of species, the greater part of which are remarkable for the more or 



lets complete softness of the abdomen, the want of symmetry in the 



:I|IJH nJages of this part of the body, the shortness of the two posterior 



pair* of feet, and many other characters. In the greater number, the 



ill, nearly entirely membranous, and partially rolled 



ii|ui it^ilt'; and for the protection of this defenceless part the animal 



i it in the turbinated shell generally of some gastropod. The 



crab is retained in the shell by the aid of the posterior feet, and a 



I' cruitrtceoiis appendages at the end of the atTHomen. In some 



< it is further fixed by means of certain organs on the lower 



tide of the abdomen, to which we shall hereafter allude. The popular 



names by which these Crustaceans are known in Britain and the West 

 India Islands are Hermit-Crabs and Soldier-Crabs ; and in France they 

 are called Bernards L'Heriuite. They are held so firmly in the shell 

 of which they have possessed themselves, that they move about with 

 it more or less briskly according to its comparative size or aptitude. 



Organisation. The carapace is divided into many portions by lines, 

 which are more or less membranous ; one of these depressions or 

 furrows separates it transversely into two halves, the anterior of which 

 constitutes the stomachal region, and is very nearly confluent with 

 the hepatic regions, which are very small, and occupy its posterior 

 angles. The last or posterior half is divided longitudinally into three 

 portions ; the median portion constitutes the cardial and intestinal 

 regions, and the two lateral portions form the branchial regions, which 

 last are separated by a similar line from the lateral parts of the cara- 

 pace, which descend towards the base of the feet. The ophthalmic 

 ring is sometimes hidden above by a rostriform prolongation of the 

 carapace, but is always free, and has above two small prolongations 

 in the form of scales; the ocular peduncles, which are directed 

 forwards, are not retractile, and are inserted directly above the 

 internal antennae, which present very variable dimensions, but always 

 have the basilary joint either small or elongated, and are fixed by two 

 short or moderate multi-articulate filaments. The external antennas 

 are inserted on the outside of the internal ones, on the sides of the 

 ocular peduncles ; their second joint has above a spiuiform piece, 

 which is ordinarily moveable, and seems to be analogous to the palp. 

 The external jaw-feet are pediform. The sternum is nearly linear 

 forwards, and is a little enlarged posteriorly ; the last two rings of 

 the thorax are entirely free and moveable, and the last reaches beyond 

 the carapace, and is completed above by a tergal horny piece. The 

 anterior feet are large, and nearly always of unequal dimensions ; 

 they are terminated by a large manus, the claws of which are short 

 and very stout. The two succeeding pairs are very large ; the fourth 

 pair on the contrary are short, elevated above the others, and nearly 

 always terminated by a didactylous hand ; the fifth pair are equally 

 short, elevated on the sides of the body, and terminated by a more or 

 less well-formed pincer. The first five rings of the abdomen are 

 represented by horny plates of greater or less size, the first of which 

 ordinarily is nearly confluent with the last thoracic ring ; sometimes 

 this first abdominal segment is in both sexes furnished with a pair of 

 rudimentary appendages applied against the base of the posterior feet ; 

 but in general it is without them. In the male the second segment 

 also is sometimes furnished with a pair of false feet, but in general 

 only gives insertion to an appendage placed on the left side ; the three 

 succeeding segments are always deprived of appendages on the right 

 side, and sometimes present none on the left in the male ; ordinarily 

 they each support a false foot composed of a basilary cylindrical stem 

 and one or two terminal blades; these appendages, which are con- 

 sequently four in number generally, are always very small in the 

 male and rather large iu the female, whose eggs they serve to fix. 

 At the extremity of the abdomen are two horny plates, which repre- 

 sent the sixth and seventh segments, ami a pair of appendages, nearly 

 always non-symmetrical, and terminated by two stout and short, 

 branches, which are fixed to the plate holding the place of the sixth 

 abdominal ring. (Milne-Edwards.) 



Mr. Broderip ('On the Habits and Structure of Paguri,' 'Zool. 

 Journ.,' vol. iv.), points out two beautiful provisions in their auimal 

 economy. Their backs are towards the arch of the turbinated shell 

 occupied by them, and their well-armed nippers and first two pair of 

 succeeding feet generally project beyond the mouth of it. The short 

 feet rest upon the polished surface of the columella, and the outer 

 surface of their termination, especially that of the first pair, is in 

 some species most admirably roughshod, to give ' the Soldier' a firm 

 footing \. hen he makes his sortie, or to add to the resistance of the 

 crustaceous holders at the end of his abdomen or tail, when he is 

 attacked and wishes to withdraw into his castle. On passing the 

 finger downwards over the termination of these feet, they feel smooth ; 

 but if the finger be passed upwards, the roughness is instantly per- 

 ceived. The same sort of structure (it is as rough as a file) is to be 

 seen in the smaller caudal holders. The second provision he observed 

 in a very fine and large species of Pagurus from the Mauritius. Two 

 specimens were in his possession, one of which is housed in a very 

 large young shell of Pterocerta truncatum, the other (nearly a 

 foot long) is naked, and on examining the under side of the abdo- 

 men or tail of this specimen, a great number of transverse rows of 

 acetabula were to be seen, even without the aid of a glass. Dr. Bright 

 has another naked specimen, in which the same formation, which 

 must very much assist the hold of the Pagurus, is visible. 



Several dissections of the internal organs of the Payuri exist iu the 

 Museum of the Royal College of Surgeons. 



Modern writers recognise several genera of this family. 



The Payurut of Aristotle is not a Hermit-Crab ; but he describes 

 three kinds of hermit-crabs under the name KopKiViof. They are 

 termed Kap/aVas by Oppian, /Elian, and Galeu. Pliny seems to con- 

 found them with the Pinnotheres or Piiinopliyla.r, as is noticed by 

 Aldrovandus. Kondeletius, Belon, and Gesiier describe them, the 

 latter very particularly. Jouston'u account is little beyond a compila- 

 tion from the authors above named. Charlevoix (' History of 

 Hispauiola') says, "that kind which is called a Soldier (Soldat) is, 



