SAXIFRAGE. 



SCAI.AUIA. 



Vratnlaeta, but ftorifragaeea ara distinguished by possessing a leu 

 number of carpel*, and by the absence of glands at the baM of the 

 carpel*. They are for the moat part mountain plant*, chiefly remark- 

 able for the delicacy and beauty of their flowers, which are usually 

 whit*. They inhabit the mountainous district* of Europe and the 

 northern part* of the world, and constitute the chief beauty of the 

 vegetation in high alpine stations. 



The whole order i* represented by De Candolle a* possessing astrin- 

 gent properties. The Jfatckera Americana is remarkable for iU 

 l>owerful astringency, and U used in medicine under the name of the 

 North American Alum-Root [HKCCHKRA.] Ckrytoplrnitim U reputed 

 to poaaeaa both aperient and diuretic properties ; but these cannot be 

 very powerful, aa it is uaed in the Voagea as a snlud, under the 

 name of Crrason de Roche 1 . [CiiRYSorLENicx.] 



SAXIFRAGE. (SAXIFBAGA.) 



SAXIFRAGE, GOLDEN. [CHBTSOI-LBNIUM.] 



SCABBARD-FISH. [T.ENioiow.] 



SCABIO'SA (from < scabies,' the Latin word for scab or itch, which 

 disorder the common sort is aaid to cure), a genus of Plant* belonging 

 to the natural order Diptatetr. The inner calyx consists of 5 bristles, 

 the outer one U membranous and plaited ; the receptacles scaly. The 

 fruit nearly cylindrical, with 8 excavations; the corollas 4-5-cleft, 

 with 4 rtamens. The specie* are perennial or suffruticose herbs with 

 variable leave*. 



.S. media, the Devil'*-Bit, has an abrupt root appearing as if it were 

 bitten off at the end, the heads of the flower and fruit nearly globose; 

 the outer calyx hairy, 4-cleft ; the lobes ovate acute ; the inner calyx 

 consisting of 5 bristle*. The corolla is 4-cleft; the lower leaves 

 toothed, the upper ones entire ; the stem and both sides of the. leaves 

 hairy or glabrous. The flowers are dark violet or purple, varying to 

 flesh-colour and white. It is a native of Europe to the Caucasus, and 

 is very plentiful in Great Britain. In cultivation the plant becomes 

 much more branched than in a wild state. In days of superstition it 

 was fabled that the devil, envying the good this plant might do man- 

 kind, bit away part of the root, and hence its common specific name. 

 According to Bergen, the root U astringent, and an infusion of it is 

 bitter, but not unpleasant A strong decoction of it was formerly an 

 empirical secret for gonorrhoea, Linnicus says the dried leaves are 

 used to dye wool yellow or green. It is usually regarded as the 

 [lMrr<io/uu> of Dioscorides (4, 173), but Fraas thinks the plant of 

 Diosoorides i* the .*'. A mlnrotioidet. 



S. Columbaria ha* the outer calyx membranous, plaited, and 

 notched, the inner one of 5 nerveless bristles ; the corolla 5-cleft, the 

 radical leaves oblong, stalked, crenate, entire, or lyrate ; the upper 

 leaves pinnatifid, with linear segments. The flowers are purplish, the 

 involucres narrow. It is a native of Europe, the Caucasus, and 

 Siberia, and is very common on chalky soil in Great Britain. It is a 

 very polymorphous plant 



X grandijtora has a branched downy stem, with rather villous leave*, 

 the radical one* oblong crenated, the cauline ones pinnatifld, with lan- 

 ceolate linear spreading segment* ; the corollas amply radiant, of a 

 cream-colour or white, with reddish tubes; the calyx consist* of 5 

 reddish-brown bristles. It is a native of Barbary, Italy, and Sicily, in 

 field*, and U worth cultivation. 



(Don, DiMamytlmta Plant ; Lindley, \'eyf table Kingdom; Babing- 

 ton, Manual of Hritah Botany.) 



SCABIOUS. [SCABIOBA.] 

 SCAD. [SOOilBERIDA] 



SCALARIA, a genus of Mottutca, the species of which are called 

 Wentletrap*. 



Lamarck arrange* Scalaria between Vernuttu and Delphinula. 



Cuvier observe* that the Sfalaria, which he place* between Turri- 

 itlla and Cycloitotna, have, like the Turritelltr, the spire elongated 

 into a point ; and, like the Mphinulte, the mouth completely formed 

 by the last whorl ; this mouth i* moreover surrounded by a bourrelet, 

 which the animal repeat* at interval*, so a* to form a succession of 

 step-like elevations. 



M. Da Blainvilie gives Scalaria it* position between J'rolo and 

 Vcrmttut. 



M. Rang makes it come between FUurolomaria and Melanoptit. 



Mr. Swalnson hss arranged it as the first genus of his sub-family 

 Turoina, the fourth of his family Tu>-bid<r. [TunniMDJl] 



The animal i* very spiral, furnished with a proboscis, two tentacles 

 provided with a filament, and carrying the eyes upon an external con- 

 vexity. Foot short and oval. Male organ very slender. 



Shell ftubturriculate, with the spiral whorls more or leas close, 

 fumi-hed with elevated longitudinal ribs, which are interrupted and 

 marly trenchant; aperture round, rather small, the borders united and 

 forming a delicate and recurved bourrelet 



Operculmn horny, delicate, rather Urge, and pauci-spiral. (Rang.) 



M. De Blainvilie divides the genus into the following sections : 



A. Specie*, the whorls of whose spire are contiguous. Ex. 



8. communu. 



B. Species, the whorls of whose spire do not touch each other 



in any direction, or which are disjointed. Genus A dona, 



Thu first of these sections comprises the False Wentletrap* of 

 collectors, and the second those designated by them as True 

 Wentletrap*. 



There are about 100 recent species of fealaria known. 



Species of this genus, which U marine, have been found at depths 

 ranging from 7 to 80 fathoms in sandy mud. The True Wentletraps 

 are found in the seas of warm climates : some of the false (Scalaria 

 communu, for example) occur in the European seas and upon our 

 own coasts. The animal exudes a purple fluid when molested. 

 The species are found in Greenland, Norway, Great Britain, the 

 Mediterranean, the West Indies, China, Australia, the Pacific, and 

 the seas of Western America. 



.->'. jirdiota (Turbo tcalaru, Linn.; Acioua icalar'u, Leach). The 

 shell conic, umbilicated, contorted into a loose spire, pale-yellow, with 

 white ribs, the whorls disjointed and smooth, the last vcntricose. It 

 is found in the East Indian seas ; China. 



Precious Wcntlotrsp (Seaiarta prttiota). 



a, front, showing the month ; 6, back ; e, view ihowtng that the whorU are 

 disconnected. 



This elegant shell, so much sought after by collectors, was known 

 among the French as the Scalata, La Vraie Scalata, and Lc Veritable 

 Ksoalier ; among the German* a* the Rechte Wendeltreppe, among 

 the Dutch as the Oprechte Wendeltrap; among the Belgians as the 

 Wendeltrap, and to the English as the Wentletrap, Wendeltrap, and 

 Royal Staircase. The specific name given to it by Lamarck was at 

 one time well deserved on account of its rarity and the great price 

 which a fine specimen would bring in the market, especially when it 

 exceeded two inches in height: such a specimen has been until in 

 former days for 2400 livres, or 100 lonis ! But those times are gone 

 by ; the shell is no longer rare, and good specimens only fetch shillings 

 where they once brought pounds. A very fine example however still 

 commands a considerable sum. That in Mr. Bullock s museum, sup- 

 posed to be the largest known, brought 271. at his sale, and was, in 

 1815, estimated at double that value. 



S. communu (Turbo clathrut, Linn., the Common Wentletrap) has 

 the shell turrctod, imperforate, white or pale fulvous ; the ribs rather 

 thick, smooth, and suboblique. There is a variety of this species 

 with the shell rather longer, rosy -violaceous, and with purple-spotted 

 ribs. Length of the common variety about 16 lines, of the rosy- 

 violaceous variety 174 lines. (Lam.) 



