221 



PATRINIA. 



PAVONID.*:. 



223 



gaily coloured, often tessellated, and rayed with purple, orange, or pink' 

 The animals are usually of a uniform tint of white, orange, or pale red. 

 PATRI'NIA, a genus of Plants to which the Spikenard of the East 

 ferrecl, but which has been formed into a new genus, Nardostachys. 



fX-VUDOSTACHYS.] 



PAU'SSID^E, a family of Coleopterous Insects, the precise affinities 

 of which have not yet been satisfactorily determined. By Latreille 

 the Pautai are placed between the ifcolytidce aud the Bostrichidie ; but 

 Mr. Westwood (who has devoted much attention to this group of 

 beetles, and has published a monograph on them in the sixteenth 

 volume of the ' Linmean Transactions ') is of opinion that thePattssidw 

 possess affinities with the Trogoiitarii, and are still more nearly allied 

 to the Cacujidip. 



These insects are usually of small size, the largest known species 

 being less than half an inch in length ; and their colouring generally 

 consists of various shades of brown, and they are not unfrequently 

 adorned with black markings. The form of the body is generally 

 short, rather broad, and somewhat depressed ; the head, in most of 

 the species, is free (that is, not hidden by the thorax), and joiued to 

 the thorax by a kind of neck ; the thorax is narrower than the elytra, 

 aud is almost always divided transversely near the middle by an 

 indentation, in which case the fore part is usually broader than the 

 hinder, produced at the sides so as to form projecting angles ; the 

 elytra are rather soft, and in most of the species are of subquadrate 

 form, truncated at the apex, and leaving exposed the terminal segment 

 of the abdomen; the outer posterior angle of the elytra is generally 

 furnished with a small tubercle. The legs are in most species broad 

 and compressed, and of moderate length ; the tarsi are five-jointed in 

 some, and apparently in others there are but four. The antenna! are 

 remarkable for their large size and curious forms ; in most of the 

 species they consist of a large inflated club, about equal in size to the 

 bead and thorax taken together, and varying in form according to the 

 species : the most common form of this knob is that of an oval more 

 or leas elongated, and with an angular projection on the outer side at 

 the base ; this club is joined by a smaller joint to the head. 



Between twenty and thirty species of this family are known, a great 

 portion of which are figured and described by Mr. Westwood in the 

 monograph before alluded to, and in a supplement to this monograph 

 published in the second volume of the ' Transactions of the Entomo- 

 logical Society,' to which works the reader is referred for a more 

 detailed account of these very curious insects. Of their habits little 

 is known ; they are confined to the Old World, and almost entirely to 

 the tropical portions. They are said to be nocturnal, and are supposed 

 to live in wood or under the bark of trees : most of the specimens in 

 cabinet* have been found in newly-built houses. One species is said, 

 when touched, to make discharges of some volatile fluid, in the same 

 manner as the species of Srachinu*. 



The family Patutidce contains the six following genera Paussus, 

 Jfylotonu, Platyrkopaliu, Ceraplenu, Penlaplatarihria, and Trochoideta. 

 In the first three of these genera the antennae are two-jointed, and the 

 abdomen is of a quadrate form. 



The genus Paia>u is distinguished by the absence of ocelli on the 

 head, and by the ultimate joint of the labial palpi being elongated. 



In Jfylotoriu the head is furnished with two ocelli, and this genus 

 moreover differs from Paumua in having the head immersed in the 

 thorax ; the great club of the antenna is thickest at the base, and 

 somewhat curved and pointed at the opposite extremity. 



Plalyrliopalut has all the essential characters of Pautetu, but differs 

 in having the joints of the labial palpi equal. 



In the genus Ctrapterua the antennae are large, broad, and com- 

 pressed, and appear to be composed of ten joints, most of which are 

 very distinct ; the terminal joint is the largest ; the preceding joints 

 (if we except the basal one) are transverse and all of equal width. 



In Pentaplatarthnu the antennae gradually increase in size from the 

 base to the apex, and are composed of six joints. The basal joint is 

 longer than broad ; the second is transverse ; the three following 

 joints are nearly equal in width and length, and the terminal joint is 

 almost spherical. 



The genus Troclurideiu differs from all the preceding genera in 

 having an ovate form of body ; the thorax is rather narrower than 

 the elytra ; its sides are rounded, the broadest part in front, and there 

 is apparently no transverse indentation. The head u large and 

 rounded, and deeply inserted in the thorax. The antenna; are com- 

 posed of two small basal joints, which are longer than broad, and 

 terminate in a large oval club. The legs are more slender than in 

 other species of this family, and the tarsi are represented as having 

 only four joint*. 



1'AI'XI. [CBACID-F.] 



1'A' V I A iit a small division of the natural order sKaculacete, differing 

 from jfiiruliu itself in little except its converging petals and spineless 

 ' of small trees or bushes with yellow or red flowers, 

 inliabitir.^ North America, where they are called Buck's-Eye Chest- 

 nut*. They are often cultivated in shrubberies under the name of 

 the Yellow or Scarlet Horse-Chestnut. Two species, P. Indica 

 and /'. 1'imihuma, have also been found in the colder parts of India, 

 hut they have not yet been introduced into our gardens. With 

 m tlm American species are usually short-lived and of no value for 

 timber; the former circumstance is probably owing to their being 



grafted upon the Common Horse-Chestnut, a stock that does not suit 

 them. They should always, if possible, be raised from seeds, which 

 are annually imported from the United States. 



PAVO. [PAVONID.E.] 



PAVONIA. [MADREPHYLLKEA.] 



PAVONIA (in honour of Don Joseph Pavon, M.D., of Madrid, a 

 traveller in Peru, and one of the authors of ' Flora Peruviana '), a 

 genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Malvacece. It has a 

 5-cleft persistent calyx, surrounded by au involucel from 5- to 15- 

 leaved. The ovarium has 5, and rarely 4, 1-ovuled cells. It has 

 10 stigmas, 5 carpels, capsular, 2-valved, aud 1-seeded. 



P. diurelica has cordate acuminate serrated leaves, velvety on both 

 sides, and full of pellucid dots. The flowers are axillary, solitary, and 

 sulphur-coloured. It is a native of Brazil, in the province of Minas 

 Geraes. A decoction of this plant is used in Brazil ag a diuretic. 

 This is the only species of Pavonia used in medicine ; many others 

 are however worth cultivation for the beauty of their blossoms. 



(Lindley, Flora Medico.) 



PAVO'NID^E, a family of Rasorial Birds, to which the Peacock 

 belongs. 



The genus Pavo of Linnajus stands next to Didta [DoDo] in the 

 'Systema Naturae/ and is immediately succeeded by Mdcagris, which 

 is followed by Grax, P/tasianus, Numida, and Tefrao. 



Cuvier makes his Paons consist of the true Peacocks (Pavo, Linn.) 

 and Lop/iophorus. This group is followed by the Dindons (Meleagris, 

 Linn.) ; the Peintades (ffitmitltt, Linn.) ; and ths Faisans (P/uuianiu, 

 Linn., including the Cocks aud Hens Gallus, Briss. ; the true Phea- 

 sants (Pkasianiis Colchicu*, &c., including Argiu, Teinrn. ); the 

 Crested Pheasants (Houppifires, Ternm., P/tanianus ignitux, &c.) ; the 

 Tragopans (Trayopan Satyrut, c.); and Cryptonyx. The Tetraonidce 

 immediately follow. 



Mr. Swainsou makes the Pavonida, the first family of the order 

 Raiores, according to his arrangement, consist of the genus Pavo, with 

 the sub-genera Argus, Polyplectron, find Meleagris; the genus Pha- 

 sianus, with the sub-geneni Pltasianus, Nycthemerui, and Ceriornis 

 (Tragopan) ; the genus Gattus ; the genus Lophophorus ; and the genus 

 .\tuiiida. 



In this work, Phaiianits, with its sub-genera, Tragopan, Gallus, and 

 Euplocamui, are treated of under the title PIIASIAXID.E. 



Pavo (Linn.) has the following generic characters : Bill convex, 

 rather stout, curved towards tho end, smooth at the base; cheeks 

 partially naked ; nostrils basal and open ; head plumed and surmounted 

 with an aigrette-like crest; sixth quill longest ; tail-feathers 18 ; tail- 

 coverts very long, large, and extensible in the male. 



Two species only of this magnificent genus are recorded, P. cristatus 

 and P. Japonensis. 



P. cr'utalui, the Common Peacock. This is the fcuav and Tacfa of 

 tho Greeks ; Pavus and Pavo of the Romans ; Pavon and Pavoue of the 

 Italians ; Pavon of the Spanish; Paon of the French; aud Pfau of the 

 Germans. The head is surmounted by an aigrette of 24 upright 

 feathers. In the male the tail-coverts consist of feathers with loose 

 barbs and of unequal size, the upper one shortest, each terminated by 

 numerous eyes or circlets of a metallic iridescent brilliancy : these the 

 bird has the power of erecting into a circle or wheel, which presents, 

 when the sun shines on it, an object of dazzling splendour which sets 

 all description at defiance. The female has the aigrette, but has not the 

 splendid ornament with which the male is gifted : her colours generally 

 are sombre. 



People usually talk of the peacock spreading its tail, but the rich 

 display is composed principally of the tail-coverts. White soon saw 

 the distinction. " Having to make a visit to my neighbour's peacocks, 

 I could not," says he, " help observing that the trains of those magni- 

 ficent birds appear by no means to be their tails, those long feathers 

 growing not from the uropygium, but all up their backs. A range of 

 short brown stiff feathers, about six inches long, fixed in the uro- 

 pygium, is the real tail, and serves as the fulcrum to prop the train 

 which U long and top-heavy when set an end. When the train is up, 

 nothing appears of the bird before but its head and neck ; but this 

 would not be the case were those long feathers fixed only in the rump, 

 as may be seen by the turkey-cock when in a strutting attitude. By 

 a strong muscular vibration these birds can make the shafts of their long 

 feathers clatter like the swords of a sword-dancer ; they then trample 

 very quick with their feet, and run backwards towards the females." 



This species is spread over the north of India and the islands of 

 Malaisia in its natural state. It is the Mohr of the Mahrattas, according 

 to Colonel Skyes, who describes the wild bird as abundant in the 

 dense woods of the Ghauts ; it is readily domesticated, aud many 

 Hindoo temples in the Dukhun (Deccan) have, he tells us, considerable 

 flocks of them. On a comparison with the bird as domesticated in 

 Europe, the latter, both male and female, was found by the Colonel to 

 be identical with the wild bird of India. 



Colonel Williamson, in his account of peacock-shooting, states that 

 he had seen about the passes in the Jungletcry district surprising 

 quantities of wild pea fowls. Whole woods were covered with their 

 beautiful plumage, to which the rising sun imparted additional bril- 

 liancy. Small patches of plain among the long grass, most of them 

 cultivated, and with mustard, then in bloom, which induced the birds 

 to feed, increased the benuty of the scene. " I speak within bounds," 



