1213 



VIPERID.E. 



VITACE^E. 



1211 



supposed power of ejecting its poison to a distance. All the Cobra- 

 di-Capellas of Southern Africa, he remarks, distil poisou from the 

 points of their fangs when they are much irritated, and are able to 

 eject a portion of it beyond the mouth by a forcible expiration ; but 

 that any power greater than that is possessed by the Spuugh-Slang, 

 Dr. Smith is not disposed to believe : the contrary nevertheless is, 

 he allows, strongly maintained both by the European and native 

 inhabitants. 



. Acantkopkii tortoi; Less. A. JBrownii, Leach ; A. anlarctica, Wagler; 

 is a native of Australia, where it was first noticed by Mr. Robert 

 Brown, the celebrated botanist The colonists call it the Death Adder 

 and the Black Snake. 



Aeanthoi'Mi tortnr, LPM. (Acanthophis Srownii, Leach ?). 

 a, head. (Lesson.) 



Head nnd tail of Acanthophii Sroirnii. (Lench.) 



M. Lesson states that this snake ia very much diffused in Australia 

 where the colonists dread it much in consequence of the mortal 

 wounds which it inflicts. Its bite, he says, has often killed convicts 

 ' than n quarter of an hour, if tho reports of the inhabitants 

 may be credited. It is, he adds, very common in the small woods and 

 andy heaths which surround Botany Bay, where M. Lesson states 

 that he ban often seen it in his excursions. 



VIPERINA. [Vii'BRiDvE.1 



VIREONI'N/E. [MUSCICAPID.E.] 



VIRGI'LIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Zcyu- 

 minosa;, named after Virgil the Roman poet. 



VIRGIN'S BOWER. [CLEMATIS.] 



VIRGINIAN SNAKE ROOT. [POLYGALA'.] 



VI'ROLA SEBI'FERA, a large tree of Guyana, which belongs 

 properly to the genus Myristica, and is in fact by some called Nutmeg 

 of Cayenne, and has the same properties as many of the other species 

 of that genus. When incisions are made into the bark, a reddish 

 glutinous juice exudes, which, when fresh, is used as a caustic, and 

 which concentrates in time. The mace is of a red colour, and within 

 it the kernel is of a whitish colour, which, when powdered and put 

 into boiling water, yields a yellowish-coloured fatty substance which 

 swims on the surface ; it is caustic in taste, and has a slight odour of 

 nutmeg. In the country candles are made of it ; hence Europeans call 

 the tree Porte Suif. 



VISCUM, a genus of Parasitical Plants belonging to the natural 

 order Loranthacea:, of which one species is found wild in this country. 

 V. album, the Mistletoe, is in many respects a production of great 

 interest to the physiologist. The seeds in germination seem to offer 

 an exception to a general law, that the radicle of the embryo shoots 

 downwards, and the plumule upwards ; for it is found that the radicle 

 of the Mistletoe invariably turns itself down upon the body to which 

 it is attached, whatever may be the position of the surface of that 

 body with respect to the earth. For instance, if a cannon ball, to 

 which mistletoe-seeds are glued on all sides, be suspended by a cord 

 some distance from the earth, both the upper and under seeds, as well 

 as those at the sides, all direct their radicle to the surface of the ball. 

 This property ensures their growing upon the branches of trees, to 

 whatever side they may happen to stick. 



In fixing itself upon a branch, the embryo of the Mistletoe curves 

 its radicle down upon the bark, and then adheres firmly to it, and it 

 is a twelvemonth before the plumule begins to extend ; this may be 

 to give the radicle time to pierce the bark and introduce itself below 

 the libei-, where it expands and acts the part of a root by attracting 

 thence the fluids which are necessary for the support of the parasite. 



It is not a little remarkable that in the structure of its ovary this 

 plant, and others of its order, should offer the singular fact of the 

 ovule not existing at the time of impregnation, nor appearing till 

 from six weeks to two months later. 



The fruit, which is covered with a viscid pulp, is made by the 

 Italians, and even in Herefordshire, iuto a kind of birdlime ; nnd as 

 it is a favourite food of tho large or Missel Thrush, it is thought to 

 have given rise to the proverb, ' Turdus malum sibi cacat." 



The plant is not of any known, use to man, and is of popular 

 interest chiefly as having been connected with Uruidical superstitions. 

 The Mistletoe of the Druids was exclusively that found upon the oak, 

 and was possibly so much valued because of its rarity; for its appear- 

 ance on that tree is now so rare, that many persons have believed the 

 Mistletoe of the Druids either to have been some other plant or to 

 have had no real existence. 



(London, Arboretum Eritannicum, vol. ii.) 

 VISION. [EYE.] 



VISMIA (in honour of M. de Visme, a Lisbon merchant), a gcnua 

 of Plants belonging to the natural order Ifypcricacece. The calyx is 

 5-parted, the petals 5, usually villous on the inside. 



V. Quianewis is a small tree with a stem about 8 feet high, the 

 leaves ovate, lanceolate-acuminate, dilated at the base, rufous beneath, 

 smooth above, filled with transparent dots. The bark when wounded 

 yields a gum-resin, which when dry becomes hard, and resembles 

 gamboge. The leaves and fruit likewise yield a similar secretion. It 

 is used in medicine as a purgative, in doses of from 7 to 8 grains. 



VITA'CE^E, or VINI'FERjE, Vineworts, a natural order of Plants 

 belonging to Lindley's albuminous group of Polypetalous Exogeus. ' 

 The species of this order are composed of sarmentose and climbing 

 shrubs, and hence the order is sometimes called Sarmentacece, of which 

 the Grape-Vine is the type. Kunth has named the whole order Ampe- 

 lidete, from S/nireAos, the vine. Jussieu, in the first edition of the 

 ' Genera Plautarum,' called this order Vites. The calyx is small, 

 with an entire or toothed margin ; the petals 4 or 5, inserted on the 

 outside of the disc, turned inwards at the edge in aestivation in a some- 

 what valvate manner, and the apex often inflexed ; the stamens are 

 equal in number to the petals, and placed opposite them, sometimes 

 sterile by abortion ; the filaments are distinct, or slightly cohering at 

 the base ; the anthers ovate and versatile ; the ovary is superior, 

 2-celled ; the style single, very short ; the stigma simple ; the ovules 

 definite and erect ; the fruit a globose berry ; the peduncles are race- 

 mose, thyrsoid, corymbose, cymose or umbellate, opposite the leaves, 

 and are sometimes changed iuto.tendrils. 



This order has acid properties, in common with Grosiulacea: and 

 llerberacea: It has also affinities with Umbellifera: and Geraniacece. 



This order iucludes 6 genera, which for the most part inhabit tho 

 warmer parts of the northern temperate zone, and are found in both 

 the Old and New worlds. Most of them are natives of Asia, one of 

 Australia, and none in Europe. The most characteristic property of 

 this order is acidity, which is most fully developed in the Grape- Vine. 

 [VlTis.] Some of the species of C iesus are used in medicine. 



