729 



SCRUPARIA. 



SCYLLARID/E. 



730 



coldest point at which vegetation occurs at the poles, and the hottest 

 parts of the tropics. In the torrid zone of both worlds they are very 

 abundant, and form a 26th part of the flowering plants of Europe and 

 a 36th of those of North America. In Australia and New Zealand 

 they are common, and the barren shores of Tierra del Fuego produce 

 several species. Sci-ophulariacece are in general suspicious plants. 

 Several of them are active poisons, and though all do not possess 

 deleterious properties, they are all more or less acrid. Some are 

 esculent, but they require great caution in their preparation as food : 

 heat or vinegar appears to lessen or destroy their injurious principles, 

 and these agents should be employed in preparing them for use. 

 Amongst those which are edible are the Mimulus lutea and M. guttatua, 

 the former being eaten as a pot-herb in Peru, and the latter as a salad. 

 [MiMOLUS.] Achimena Cochinchinensia, when pickled, is much esteemed 

 in the country where it grows aa an article of diet. Many of the 

 species of this order are used in medicine : the Digitalia purpurea, 

 or Purple Foxglove, has a powerful influence on the system; and is 

 a valuable remedy in many diseases. [DIGITALIS.] Gratiola officinalis, 

 the Hedge Hyssop, is also an active medicine, and so efficacious was 

 it once esteemed that it received the name of Gratia Dei. Scro- 

 jihularia, the genus which is the type of the order, derives its name 

 from the resemblance of the tumid roots of some of the species to 

 scrophulous swellings of the neck, to which they were applied upon 

 the absurd supposition that nature thus pointed out the remedies for 

 diseases. & nodota has a bitter taste, and a decoction of its. leaves 

 is used for curing the scab in swine. & aquatica is called by the 

 French Herbe du Siege. [ScnopHULARiA.] There are 176 genera and 

 1814 species 14 are British genera. 



SCRUPARIA. [POLYZOA.] 



SCRUPOCELLARIA. [PoLYzoA.1 



SCURVY-GRASS. [COCHLEABIA.] 



SCUTELLA. [EcmsiDJS.] 



SCUTELLA'RIA (from the Latin ' Scutella,' a little saucer, in 

 reference to the form of the calyx), a genus of Plants belonging to 

 the natural order Labialm. It has a campantilate bilabiate calyx, 

 the lips entire, the upper one with a concave scale on its back. The 

 tube of the corolla much exserted, 2-lipped, the upper lip concave. 

 The filaments simple; the anthers of the two longer and inferior 

 stamens 1 -celled, of the shorter and superior stamen 2-celled. The 

 species are annual or perennial herbs, rarely shrubs. 



& galericulata, Skullcap, has branched divaricate stems, leaves on 

 short petioles, oblong, lanceolate, cordate below, crenate, serrate ; 

 flowers axillary, opposite, and on short pedicels. The corolla is large 

 and blue. The whole genus is remarkable for being provided with a 

 curved elongated support to its nut. This species was once con- 

 sidered efficacious in certain fevers. It is plentiful in Europe, Asia, 

 and North America, in humid places, and in Britain. 



S. minor, Smaller Skullcap, is a humble glabrous plant, with its 

 leaves on short petioles, the lower ones broadly ovate, the middle 

 ones ovate-lanceolate with the base cordate, the upper ones lanceo- 

 late, rounded at the base ; the flowers axillary, opposite, secured ; 

 the corolla almost glabrous, with the throat hardly dilated. It 

 is a native of Europe and Siberia, in damp places, and of Great 

 Britain. 



S. laJ.erif.ora, has erect fleshy stems, petiolate, ovate-lanceolate acu- 

 minated leaves rounded at the base; the upper floral leaves hardly 

 exceeding the calyxes, the racemes axillary and terminal, the flowers 

 opposite and secund. It is a native of North America, on the margins 

 of ponds, and was once extolled aa a remedy for hydrophobia, but 

 on no good grounds. 



Most of the species of Sculellaria are very pretty ornamental plants, 

 and will grow in any common soil. 



(Babington, Manual of British Botany ; Lindley, Flora Medica.) 



SCUTIBRANCHIATA. [MALACOLOGY.] 



SCYLLA'RIDiE, or SCYLLA'RIANS, a tribe of Macrurous Deca- 

 pods, established by M. Milne-Edwards on the genus Scyllarus of 

 Fabricius, and forming one of the most remarkable groups, distin- 

 guished at the first glance by the singular conformation of the external 

 antenna;. 



Jaw-Foot of Scyllarut. 



The antenna) are inserted on the same line below the eyes ; the first 

 pair are slender, and present nothing remarkable ; their first joint is 

 nearly cylindrical and much stouter than the two following ones 

 finally, they terminate by two very short multi-articulate filaments. 

 The external antenna; are foliaceous and extremely wide ; the piece 

 which carries the auditory tubercle is confounded with the epistoine, 

 and followed by four joints, the second and fourth of which are 



amellar and extremely large. The buccal frame is small, and the 

 jaw-feet are moderate and nearly pediform. 



M. Milne-Edwards divides the tribe into three genera, Scyllarus, 

 Thenus, and Ibacw. 



Scyllarus, Fabr. The Scyllari, properly so called, difler, observes 

 Milne-Edwards, from the other crustaceans of the same tribe iu the 

 jeneral form of their body, which is much more elongated than that 

 of the others, and diminishes but very little in width towards the 

 tail. The carapace is 'much longer than it is wide; the lateral borders 

 are parallel. The orbits are situated very far away from the median 

 line, very near the external angle of the carapace, but not reaching it ; 

 they are circular, and directed upwards. 



S. eijitinoxialis is of a yellowish colour mingled with red. Length 

 about a foot. It ia a native of the Antilles. 



Sryllarut l 



Thenui (Scyllarus, Fabr. ; Thenin (?), Leach). Body very much 

 depressed, and much narrowed from before backwards. Ocular 

 peduncles very long. Eyes going beyond the carapace laterally ; the 

 orbits, directed outwards, occupy the external angle. Sternum much 

 wider than in ScyUariu. Abdomen with nearly the same proportional 

 length as in those crustaceans. 



T. orientalit. Length about eight inches. 



Thenus ttricntalia. 



Ibacus, Leach. Carapace much wider than it is long, and with a 

 lamellar prolongation on each side, whicli covers the greater portion 

 of the feet. The orbits, instead of being placed near the external 



