BKKIOKOTOR 



SKMM'HYLLIWANS. 



7M 



called Mrk ing Nut. Tho genus is characterised by having poly- 

 gamous flowers ; calyx 6-cleft; petal* 5, oblong, sessile; sjamens 6 ; 

 ,li urceolar ; ovary (no, sesmle, girded by a tumid ring ; styles 3 ; 

 Minnas obtuse, emarginate. Nut compressed, heart-shaped, Mated on 

 a depressed thickened torus. Pericarp bard and thick, containing 

 between the inner and outer layer* cells full of a corrosive rcsinou* 



M . 



& Anofantium has long been known for the corrosive resinous 

 juice contained in the nut ThU juioe U at first of a pale milk-colour, 

 but when the fruit a perfectly ripe it is of a pure black colour and 

 Tery acrid, and in both respects resembles that of several other plants 

 of the same family, as in the Cachew-Nut species of Kkia and some of 

 the varnish-trees. The juice is employed in medicine by the natives 

 of India, and to mark all kinds of cotton-cloth. The colour i- 

 im proved snd fixed by a mixture of quicklime and water. 



SEMIONOTUa [Finn.] 



SKMIOI'AL. [OPAL.1 



SKHIPH YLL1D1ANS, the third division of Lamarck s Gastropods, 

 consisting of those whose brancbiio are placed under the border of the 

 mantle and disposed in a longitudinal series on the right side of the 

 body alone. The Semiphyllidians respire water only. The two genera 

 placed by Lamarck under this division are PUurobranfhta and Un\brclla. 



The hferobrmckiala of Cuvier consisted of the genera Phyllidia 

 and DifkylUdia only ; but M. Hang arranges under that order the 

 Semiphyllidians as well as the Phyllidians, and the following is his 

 definition of the Jnftrobranchiala : 



Animal furnished with a foot for creeping, always very large ; 

 hranchiie in the form of a long succession of foliations, at the lower 

 part of the body between the projecting border of the mantle and 

 that of the foot, either all round the body or on the right of it only ; 

 the organs of generation always on the same individual ; one or two 

 pairs of tentacles. 



Sometimes a shell either internal or external. 



If. Rang thus defines hU second family of the Inferobranchiata : 



Animal with the bronchia; on the right side only (with the exception 

 of the genus Ancylta, which is sinister). 



Sometimes a shell, either internal or external, and in the last case 

 set on the back (reeouvrante). 



Under the Semiphyllidians M. Rang arranges the following genera : 

 Ancylta, Plnnbranduco, Pleurobrancluu, .VptriceWo, L'mbrdla, and 

 Stplutnaria. 



A*cyhu, Geoffroy Animal oval, conical, slightly recurved back- 

 wards ; mantle not ample, not covering the head, and delicate upon 

 the borders ; bead Tery large, furnished with two tentacles, which are 

 stout, cylindrical, contractile, with eyes at their internal base, and 

 approximated at their external side by a foliaceous appendage; mouth 

 below, with tome appearances of labial appendages on each side , foot 

 elliptical, large ; bronchia; in a sort of cavity in the middle of the 

 right side, between the foot and the mantle ; vent at the left side. 



Shell delicate, covering the animal, nearly symmetrical, obliquely 

 conical backwards; the base oval, more or less elongated; the apex 

 pointed, but not marginal, and rather inclined to the right (Rang.) 



The species are found in fresh- water springs and streams; they 

 creep on stones and aquatic plants. 



A. imratut. Animal pale yellowish, obscurely sprinkled with 

 black; front and abdomen reddish; eyes black; sole of the foot 

 spotless and palid. 



Shell concentrically plaited, subdiaphanous ; epidermis black-green 

 sprinkled with black ; apex sub-obtuse, posterior ; aperture roundish, 

 elliptical. Length three lines. 



It is found plentifully in the ditches of the island of St. Vincent, 

 closely adhering to dried leaves by excluding the air. 



Aiteylia irroratu$. 



1, animal ereepinir, majrained ; 2, animal reverted ; S, 4, rhell ; 5, Bgnre o 

 the foot ; , branchial la alto ; 9, animal with Ibs >hcll taken off. 



A. raJiatta. Animal yellowi.h, sprinkled with black, with three or 

 four great pale spoU on the back ; face reddish ; abdomen obscure. 



Shell oval-elliptical, glassy, diaphanous, concentrically sub-plaited 

 radially striated ; epidermis evanescent 



It U found with the preceding. 



Ancylut raJiatvi. 



a, animal creeping, magnified ; l>, natural length of the shell ; c, >hcll mag. 

 nified. (Guildlng.) 



There are 1 4 recent species of A ncyltu, and 8 fossil. 



Pleurobrancluea, Meckel. Animal oval, elongated, flat below, convex 

 above, pointed behind; no trace of a mantle, only a slight long and 

 narrow expansion of the skin at the middle of the right side. Head 

 very large, with the mouth at the extremity of a proboscis. Two 

 [iirs of auriform tentacles ; the anterior ones at the extremity of a 

 muscular transverse frontal band ; the posterior ones rather farther 

 backwards, and very much separated from each other. Foot very 

 large, more extended behind than before ; a single bronchia fixed at 

 the right side and entirely exposed. Termination of the organs of 

 generation in a common tubercle in front of the branchiic ; the anus 

 kbove these, and in the middle of their length. (Hang, after 

 De ISlainvillo.) 



P. Meetdi, Pleurobranchidium Mecldi De Blainr., is an example. 



I'll unbraiichira Ueckrli. 



Plcurolranduu, Cuv. Animal oblong, fleshy, convex above, with a 

 very large and overspreading mantle. Foot large, equally out- 

 spreading, and thus leaving a wide canal all round the body. Head 

 distinct, furnished with a veil uniting on each side with the borders of 

 the foot, and with two tubular tentacles, which are split anteriorly ; 

 mouth at the extremity of a proboscis ; branchim composed of a 

 double row of lamella;, forming a plume on the posterior right side, 

 between the mantle and the foot ; anus carried by a small tube behind 

 the brauchia). Organs of generation in front 



Shell sometimes rudimentary membranous, with a tolerably distinct 

 apex, hidden in the thickness of the mantle. 



/ A 



riturohranrliui, side view. 



I, veil ; <, month t tiic extremity of a probwcin ; r, tentacles ; f, branchta ; 

 A, oriflco of the organs of generation ; i, petition of the anu ; *, niantU ; 

 I, foot. (Rang.) 



Such is the- definition of M. Rang, who includes Dcrthtlla under 

 the genus. 



The PUurobrancki have been found at depths varying from the 

 surface to 30 fathoms on rocky coasts, stones, and sea-weeds. 



Shell of Pltn':rane>ivt mmihranarrtii. 

 a, external view ; t, internal view. 



