481 



PROPOLIS. 



PROTEACE.E. 



452 



ance. General character of those on the tail, that of the body hair, 

 but shorter. 



Thumb of anterior hands slender, placed far back, and extremely 

 free ; length one inch and half, extremity of its penultimate phalanx 

 ranging slightly beyond the end of the metacarpal bone of the index 

 Index one inch and a half in length, its extremity ranging with the 

 middle of the penultimate phalanx of the second finger. Length ol 

 second finger 3 inches ; that of third finger 3$ inches. Length oi 

 carpus and metacarpus 2 inches. 



Thumb of hinder hands very strong, placed forwards and ranging 

 with the fingers, 2 inches long; index 2 inches, the pointed nail 

 extending half an inch beyond : length of second finger, 3J inches; 

 of tarsus and metatarsus, 3 inches. 



Length of body and head, measured in a straight line, 1 foot 

 9 inches; of the tail, 1 foot 5 inches. Anterior limbs, exclusive oi 

 hands, 7J inches in length from the body; posterior limbs, 15J inches. 



Muzzle shorter than in the Lemurs generally ; the distance from 

 the anterior angle of the orbit to the tip of the nose (one inch and a 

 quarter) being equal to that between the eyes. Ears rounded, con- 

 cealed in the fur : length one inch ; breadth one inch and a half. 





Propitlieciu Diadema. 



Mr. Bennett remarks that Propitheeut is essentially distinguished 

 from Lemur, the genus to which it most nearly approaches, by the 

 number and form of its teeth, and especially by the form of the incisors 

 of the upper jaw, which constitute apparently a regular series, a 

 structure unknown in any other Lemuridoua animal. It is a native 

 of Madagascar. 



PROPOLIS. [BEE.] 



PROSI'MIA, the name given by Brisson and Storr to some of the 

 Lemurs. [LEMUBID.E.] 



PROTEACE^E, a natural order of incomplete Exogenous Plants. 

 It possesses the following characters: The perianth or calyx is 

 4-leaved, the sepals distinct, or cohering into a tube with a 4-cleft 

 limb ; the sepals subcoriaceous, coloured, pubescent externally, and 

 valvate in [estivation ; the stamens definite, opposite the lobes of the 

 calyx, and generally exserted with very short filaments from just below 

 the edges of the sepals; the anthers aduate, 2-celled, linear, and dehis- 

 cing longitudinally; the pollen is normally triangular, sometimes 

 elliptic or cunate, rarely spherical ; occasionally there exist four 

 hypogynous scales or glands, or barren stamens, alternating with the 

 lobes of the calyx and prefiguring a corolla ; the germen is free, often 

 stipulate, formed of a single carpel, the style simple and terminal, and 

 the ovules 1, 2, or many ; the fruit is variable, either dry or succulent, 

 and either dehiscent or indehiscent, 1, 2, or more seeded; the seeds 

 without albumen, often winged, aud furnished with a chalaza ; the 

 embryo straight and white, with two or more cotyledons, the plumule 

 scarcely visible, and the radicle inferior and short. 



The species are shrubs or small trees, with usually umbellate 

 branches, and bard, dry, divided or undivided, opposite or alternate 

 leaves without stipules, and the cuticle often covered on both sides 

 with fltomates. 



This order is very easily distinguished by the hard, dry, woody 

 texture of the leaves, by the irregular perianths having a valvate 

 (estivation, the stamens placed on the lobes of the perianth, and by 

 its dehiscent fruit. Another character by which it is distinguished 



from those which are allied to it is that the radicle points towards the 

 base of the fruit. 



Wooden Pear (Xylomelum pyriforme}. 

 1, Branch with leaves and floweri ; 2, flower separated ; 3, fruit split open. 



The following is an arrangement of the genera of this order, from 

 3rown's ' Memoir.' 



' Indehiscent Fruit. 



** Distinct Anthers. 

 *** Anthers free from the Calyx. 



Dioecious Flowers. Attlax, Leucodendron. 



**** Hermaphrodite Flowers. Pterophila, Isopogon, Protea, Leuco- 

 ipermum, Serruria, Mimetet, Nivenia, Sorocephalus, Spatalla, Adenan- 

 hoa, Quevina, Srabejum, Cenatrhenes, Ayastaclttjs, Symphionema, 

 Selleiidena. 



