897 



SYN^THERES. 



SYNGNATHID.E. 



993 



The fruit is a fleshy drupe, containing a 3-5-oelled nut; the cells 

 containing but one seed, which has an inverted embryo lying in 

 albumen, and a superior radicle. The species are trees, having 

 alternate either entire or serrated leaves without stipules, and turning 

 yellow in drying. The flowers are axillary, sessile, or pedunculate 

 few, of a white or scarlet colour, and supplied with bracteas at their 

 base. Upwards of 30 species have been described. They all possess 

 an astringent principle in their leaves, and some are used in dyeing. 



S. Ahtonia, Alston's Symplocos, is the Ahtonia tketfformit ol 

 Liunreus, and was named after Charles Alston, professor of botany 

 in the University of Edinburgh. The plant is glabrous in every part, 

 and has shining coriaceous roundish-elliptic or oblong leaves, obtuse, 

 rounded at the base, and obscurely crenated at the apex. Sessile 

 flowers arranged in threes and fours. It is a native of New Granada, 

 near Santa F<5 de Bogota, and Popayan. 



f>. tinctoria, Dyer's Symplocos, Sweet-Leaf, Yellow-Leaf. Leaves 

 oblong or lanceolate ovate, serrated, glaucous, shining ; flowers axil 

 lary, 8 or 16, together. This plant is the ffopea tinctoria of Linnasus, 

 and ia a native of the Carolinas, in the United States of America. 



S. ractmosa, Racemose-Flowered Symplocos. Leaves oblong, gla- 

 brous, ferrated ; flowers arranged in racemes, mostly axillary ; nut of 

 fruit 3-celled. This plant is a native of Burdwar and Midnapore, in 

 Bengal. It is used extensively by the natives as a red dye. 



The nuts of S. tpicata are very hard, and resemble a little fluted 

 pitcher. This plant is a native of Silhet. 



SYNyETHERES. 



SYNALLAXIS, M. Vieillot's name for a genus of Birds placed by 

 Mr. Swainson in the family Certhiada. The bill is short, rather 



Synallatii garrulta (reduced from Mr/Swalnson's figure). 



Not la trt* (after th smt). 



strong, straight ; both mandibles of equal thickness, entire, and much 

 compressed ; the margins of the upper mandible indexed beyond the 

 nostrils. Frontal feathers rather rigid. Wings very short, and much 

 rounded ; the primaries scarcely exceeding the tertials. Tail broad, 

 more or less lengthened, and either graduated or cuneated ; the webs 

 soft and loose, but the shafts rather rigid ; the tips lanceolate. Feet 

 very large ; tarsus lengthened ; middle toe longer than the hinder ; 

 lateral toes equal ; claws slender, acute, and but slightly curved ; the 

 three anterior rather small. (Sw.) 



S. garrulus is brown, whitish beneath j feathers on the front of the 

 head rigid, pointed, and rufous ; lines before and behind the eye 

 whitish. Tail moderate, rounded. 



It is remarkable for its very singular nest, which is so large as to 

 form a feature in the woodland scenery of Bahia. The nest is built ill 

 low trees, formed externally of dried sticks, without any neatness, 

 usually three or four feet long, and resembling at a distance a thick 

 twist of bean-stalks thrown in the branches by accident. Sometimes 

 two of these nests appear as if joined together, and there is an opening 

 on the side, besides one at the top. 



SYNAPT^E, a family of Echinodemnata, belonging to the order 

 Ilolothwiadce. It is characterised in this order by the absence of 

 suckers. It is represented in the British seas by the genus Cldrodota, 

 which has a cylindrical and vermiform body, elongated tentacula, digi- 

 tate at their extremities. 



C. iliyitata has a vermiform body, white with orange spots, the 

 tentacula long, peduncnlated, digitate. This animal was first found 

 by Montagu on the shores of South Devon. It is very rare. Professor 

 E. Forbes, in his ' History of British Star-Fishes," says that he had 

 never seen a living specimen. 



SYNBATHO'CRINUS. [ECHIKODERMATA.] 



SYNDA'CTYLES, a group comprehending those Birds which have 

 the external toe nearly as long as the middle one, and united to it as 

 far as the penultimate articulation, This group contains the Bee- 

 Eaters (Memps, Linn.), the Motmots (Prionitei, 111.), the King-Fishers 

 (Alcedo, Linn,), the Todies (Toduu, Linn.), and the Hornbills (Buceros, 

 Linn.). 



SYNEDRA. [DiATOMACEJi.1 



SYNETHE'RES, or SYNJETHERES. [HrsTRiciD-E.] 



SYNGNATHA, according to Dr. Leach, the second order of the 

 class Myriapoda, comprising the species of that class which were by 

 Linnaeus included under the head Scolopendra. 



This order is divided by Latreille into two sections. The species of 

 the first have only 15 pairs of legs, and the body when viewed from 

 above presents less segments than when viewed from beneath ; in the 

 second section there are at least 21 pairs of legs, and the segments 

 are of the same size and number both above and beneath. Dr. Leach 

 also divides the present order into two sections or families, to which 

 he applies the names Scolopendridee and Geophilidce, which he charac- 

 terises as follows : The first (Scolopendridee) have each segment 

 of the body provided with two legs, and the hinder legs distinctly 

 longer than the others. To this family belongs the Scolopendra forfi- 

 cata of Linnaeus, a species found commonly under stones, &c., in thh 

 country and other parts of Europe. According to the author last 

 mentioned, this species constitutes the type of his genus Lithobius, 

 distinguished by the antennae being composed of 40 or more joints, 

 the two first of which are the largest; the under lip is broadly 

 notched in front, and has the margin much denticulated ; the eyes 

 are granulated ; the legs are 1 5 on each side. The genus Cryptopa of 

 Leach, of which a species (C. horlensis) is found in gardens in Devon- 

 shire, ha about 17 joints to the antennae ; the under lip is not den- 

 ticulated, and is scarcely emarginated iu front; the legs are 21 on each 

 side, and the first joint of the hinder legs is spineless; the eyes are 

 indistinct. 



In the family Geophttidce the legs are very numerous, and the hinder 

 legs are not distinctly longer than the others. The species of the genus 

 Geophilus (Leach) have upwards of 40 lega, the antenna) having 14 

 joints. Several species are found in England. They live in the ground 

 and under stones. The Scolopendra electrica of Linnaeus belongs to 

 this genus. 



SYNGNATHIDjE, a family of Fishes, embracing, according to 

 some authors, the Pipe-Fishes, the Sea-Horses, and the Winged Sea- 

 Horses. These forms are sometimes assigned to distinct families, as 

 in the following definitions : 



Syngnathidte, Pipe-Fishes. Body prolonged, slender, linear, or 

 angulated; snout greatly prolonged, cylindrical; mouth terminal, 

 vertical. Ventral fins absent ; caudal fin wanting in some. 



Hippocampida, Sea-Horses. Head and body compressed; snout 

 narrow, tubular; mouth terminal. Pectorals small; dorsal single; 

 caudal fin wanting. 



Pegasidce, Winged Sea-Horses. Body broad, depressed ; snout 

 mddenly contracted, narrow, somewhat protractile ; mouth terminal, 

 beueath. Pectorals generally large ; caudal fin small. 



They all agree in having the endo-skeleton partially ossified; exo- 

 ikeleton ganoid; gills tufted (hence the group ii named Lopliobranchia), 

 n the opercular aperture being small, and the swimming-bladder with- 

 out an air-duct. We shall illustrate this family by a short description 

 of the British species : 



