11BJ 



VENERID.F. 



YKUATRUM. 



lino 



C. mertiriz has the shell trigonal, smooth, white; the umbones 

 spotted; posterior surfaces olivaceous cteruleaoent, anterior side 

 uguUte. 



I'mia (Cytherea) merelriz. 



There is a variety zoned with chestnut, with the sides and margins 

 white. 



Cytkerta occurs fossil below the Chalk. 



VCIKU. Shell equivalve, inequilateral, transverse, or suborbicular. 

 Three cardinal teeth, approximated, in each valve ; the lateral ones 

 diverging at the utnbo. External ligament covering the external 

 anterior fissure. 



The number of species recorded by M. Denhayes in his Tables is 

 101 recent and 43 fossil (tertiary). Of these V. vcrrncosa, V. 

 plicata, V. galiina, V. deeuaata, V. radiata, V. Bro*gniart\, V. 

 tlytera, V. geoyraphica, and V. paphia are noted as recent and fossil 

 (tertiary). 



In the last edition of Lamarck the number of recent species recorded 

 is 96, and the number of fossil 13. Woodward gives 176 recent and 

 160 fossil species. 



Although species of Venut are to be found in most seas, they are 

 most numerous in those of warm countries, and generally at a 

 moderate distance from the shore. 



V. canctUata has the shell cordate, longitudinally sulcate, girt with 

 elevated remote transverse belts ; white, spotted with bay or brown ; 

 lunule cordate. 



It is a native of the seas of America. 



H. Deshayes thinks it evident that Lamarck's species is identical 

 with VOUH dytera, Cuemn., that it ought to be suppressed, and that 

 a new name should be given to Chemnitz's variety, which is very dis- 

 tinct. The reader will find the synonyms collected, and the confusion 

 learnedly unravelled, in the last edition of the 'Animaux sans 



YtM cmtrllalu. 



I (Puilattrn) textile. Shell ovate oblong, very xmoot.li, pale-yellow, 

 ornamented with angulate-flexuoua, purplish, or ccrulesoent lilies. 

 It is a native of the Malabar coast 



I'rnut (Fullailra) tritite. 



Wo subjoin a representation of Vcnui (Pvllatlra ? Vcncrvpu t) 

 vidgaru. 



J'cntu (Pullatlra rtnerupi\) tul/arit. 



Vi nia occurs fossil below the chalk. 



VENEUU'PIS, or VKXKK1RUPIS. [LlTUOPHAUiu.t..] 



VKXICK WHITE. [BARYTES.] 



VENOM-FANGS. [Oramu ; VIP-EMD*.] 



VENTILA'GO, a genus of Plants consisting of only a single species, 

 belonging to the natural order Rhamnacea:. The calyx is 5-parted ; 

 the corolla 6-petalled ; stamens 5 ; germ 2-celled, liid in the creuulated 

 flat disc ; style 2-cleft. Samara half superior, globose, long-winged, 

 1 -seeded; embryo erect with perisperm. The species !' wadcrat 

 palana is common in different parts of India, from the peninsula to 

 the north-western provinces ; it is also found in the Indian inlands, as 

 it is figured and described (Humph., 'Herb. Amb.,' 5. t. 2) by the name 

 of J'anit riminalis. It forms a large climbing shrub with still' branches; 

 is often dioecious, with flowers having an offensive smell, not unlike 

 that of Sterculia fcetida. 



YKXT1UCLE. [HEART.] 



VENTRICULITES, a genus of Spongoid Zoophyta, proposed by 

 Dr. Mantell for species found in the Cretaceous System, whose porous 

 tissue is penetrated by distinct often large foramina, arranged with 

 more or leas of regularity. V, radiatus (Mantell, ' GeoL of Sussex,' 

 pi. 10) and V. Jiennetfia (pi. 15 of the same work) are examples 

 frequently found in chalk and the flint nodules imbedded in it. 



VENUS. [VEHKRID*.] 



VENUS'S FLY-TRAP. [DIOSJSA.] 



VERA'TRUM, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 MtlaMlutcttr. The name Veratrum occurs both in Pliny and Lucretius, 

 but whether these were the same plants as the modern genus it is now 

 impossible to say. It is also supposed to be the 'E\\jf)opos Ac wc<!j of 

 Dioscorides ; and the name White Hellebore, which is given to one of 

 the species, seems to confirm this view. The genus is characterised as 

 follows : Perianth composed of six permanent, sessile, equal parts, 

 to which are attached stamens; stylos 3, permanent, with pimple 

 spreading stigmas ; capsules 3, bursting at tneir inner margins, by 

 which they are originally united ; seeds numerous, compressed, imbri- 

 cated, winged at each cud : several of the flowers have only the rudi- 

 ment of an ovary. 



I', album, Common White Hellebore, has a thrice compound panicle 

 with ascending elliptical pieces of the perianth; the bracts of the 

 branches oblong, partial, as long as the downy peduncle. It is a native 

 of moist alpine meadows in the southern, central, and northern parts 

 of Europe, but is not a native of liritain. In company with the 

 Gcntiana lufai it is one of the most prominent features in the rich 

 pastures of the Alps of Switzerland and Savoy. The stein, which in 

 from two to four or five feet in height, proceeds from a black, fleshy, 

 wrinkled fusiform rhizoma, or rootstock, which is beset with a 

 number of small radicles. [VEHATKIA, in ARTS AND So. Div.] 



I*, ririilc, Green-Flowered Vcratrum, has paniclcd racemes, with the 

 bracts of the branches oblong-lanceolate, partial, longer than the downy 

 petiole. This is a North American species, and is found in swamps 

 and bogs from Canada to the Carolina*. It is found, according to 

 Dr. Bigelow, in the swamps around Boston, where it is called Poke- 

 Root, or Swamp Hellebore. 



V. niyrum, Uaik-Flowered Veratrum, has dense cylindrical paniclcd 

 racemes with the bracts of the branches linear-lanceolate, and very 

 long, pieces of the perianth obovate, widely spreading, and at length 

 reflexed. It is a native of dry mountainous situations in Siberia, 

 Hungary, Austria, and Greece. It will grow freely in gardens in 

 Britain, especially in a light soil. 



1'. tabadMa, Caustic Veratrum, at one time supposed to yield the 



