1267 



WIRE-WORM. 



WOHLERITE. 



1258 



and two in North America, one in China and Japan, and one in New 

 Zealand. 





lltiiitys Cltiltiitis. 

 a, cutting, with flowers and leaves ; I, flower separated ; c, carpel. 



Temiu moichata is a shrub found in Chili. The berries resemble 

 those of the coffee-plant, and are exceedingly bitter to the taste. 



Drimyi Winleri, the true Winter's Bark, is a tree from 6 to 40 feet 

 in height, and is a native of the Straits of Magalliacns and of Stateu- 

 land. This tree was brought back from the Straits of Magalhaens by 

 Captain W. Winter. He had found it useful agaiust scurvy iu his 

 ship's crew, and employed it both as a medicine and a condiment for 

 food. [WINTER'S BARK, in ARTS AND Sc. Div.] 



D. Granatmtit, New Granada Winter's Bark, is a tree about 20 feet 

 high, and grows in the mountains of New Granada and Brazil. In 

 New Granada this tree is called Agi, and in the provinces of Quito 

 and Popaya, C'anela de Parama. Several varieties have been described. 

 The bark of all nf them is aromatic and stimulating, and is much used 

 by the natives where they grow, both as a medicine and for seasoning 

 their food. 



Tatmannia aromatka is a native of Australia, especially in Van 

 Diemen's Land. It possesses the same aromatic qualities as the species 

 of the other genera of the family. 



WIRE-WORM. This name is applied indiscriminately to the larva; 

 of several species of Beetle, which are injurious to the roots of corn 

 and other plants. They mostly belong to the family of Slatrridce, and 

 the perfect insects, on account of their leaping movements, are called 

 Skipjacks. The most common form of Wire- Worm in England is the 

 larva of Mater (Cataphagiu) tputator. The last segment of the body 

 of this larva is entire and long, resembling a bit of wire hence the 

 name given to these insects. [ELATERID.E.] 



WISTA'RIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Leyuminotce, named after Caspar Wistar, professor of anatomy in the 

 University of Pennsylvania. It has the following characters : The 

 leaves are unequally pinnate, and without stipules. The flowers are 

 arranged in terminal racemes, and are of a blue lilac colour ; when 

 young they are accompanied by bracts which fall off as the flowers 

 expand. The calyx is campanulate, somewhat bilabiate, the upper 

 lip has two short teeth, the lower lip three teeth, which are subulate ; 

 the corolla is papilionaceous ; the stamens diadelphous ; a nectarifer- 

 ous tube girds the stipe of the ovary ; the legume is coriaceous, 

 2-valved, 1-celled, and rather torulose. The species are deciduous 

 twining shrubs, natives of North America and China. They grow 

 vigorously in Great Britain, and form when in flower the handsomest 

 ornament* of our gardens. The following are the species : 



W. frutaceni, Shrubby Wistaria, has the wings of the corolla each 

 furnished with two auricles; the ovary glabrous ; the flowers odori- 

 feroiu. Tail ia an elegant climbing plant, and is a native of Virginia, 



the Carolina?, and Illinois, in boggy places. The flowers open from 

 July to September. They are of a bluish, purple colour, the standard 

 having a greenish-yellow spot at the base. They give out a sweet scent. 



W. Chinewit, Chinese Wistaria, has the wings of the corolla each 

 furnished with one auricle ; the ovary villose ; the flowers large. 

 This plant is a deciduous twiner, and is a native of China, and was 

 introduced into this country in 1816. It flowers in Great Britain in 

 May and June, and sometimes produces a second crop of flowers in 

 August This species was originally called Glycine Chinentit, a name 

 which in some places it still retains. 



WISTONWISH, a common name given to the Arclomyt (Spermo- 

 philus ?) Ludomcianui. It is a native of the banks of the Missouri 

 and its tributaries. 



According to Sir John Richardson it is the Prairie Dog of Gass ; 

 Prairie Dog, or Wistonwish, of Pike ; Petit Chien, Prairie Dog, Bark- 

 ing Squirrel, and Burrowing Squirrel, of Lewis and Clark, but not the 

 Burrowing-Squirrel of their third volume; Arclomyt Ludoviciantu of 

 Ord and Say; Cynomys SocMis et Cinereia of Rafinesque-Smaltz ; 

 Monax Mutouriemii of Warden; Arctomys latrara of Harlan; and 

 Prairie Marmot of Godman. 



Mr. Say states that this interesting and sprightly animal has received 

 the name of Prairie Dog from a fancied resemblance of its warning 

 cry to the hurried barking of a small dog. The sound, according to 

 him, may be imitated by the pronunciation of the syllable ' chek, chek, 

 chek !' in a sibillated manner and in rapid succession by propelling the 

 breath between the tip of the tongue and the roof the mouth. The 

 assemblages of their burrows are denominated Prairie-Dog Villages 

 by the hunters. They vary widely in extent : some are confined to an 

 area of a few miles ; others extend to a circumference of many miles. 

 Mr. Say further observes that only one of these villages occurred 

 between the Missouri and the Prairie towns : thence to the Platte they 

 are much more numerous. He describes the entrance to the burrow 

 as being at the summit of the little mound of earth brought up by 

 the animal during the progress of the excavation below. These mounds 

 are sometimes inconspicuous, but generally somewhat elevated above 

 the common surface, though rarely to the height of 18 inches. Their 

 form is that of a truncated cone, on a base of 2 or 3 feet, perforated 

 by a comparatively large hole or entrance at the summit or in the side. 

 " The whole surface," continues Mr. Say, " but more particularly the 

 summit, is trodden down and compacted, like a well-worn pathway. 

 The hole descends vertically to the depth of one or two feet, whence 

 it continues in an oblique direction downward. A single burrow may 

 have many occupants. We have seen seven or eight individuals sitting 

 upon one mound. The burrows occur usually at intervals of about 

 twenty feet. They delight to sport about the entrance of their bur- 

 rows in pleasant weather. At the approach of danger they retreat to 

 their dens, or when its proximity is not too immediate, they remain 

 barking and flourishing their tails on the edge of their holes, or sitting 

 erect to reconnoitre. When fired upon in this situation, they never 

 fail to escape; or if killed, instantly to fall into then- burrows, where 

 they are beyond the reach of the hunter. As they pass the whiter in 

 a lethargic sleep, they lay up no provision of food for that season, out 

 defend themselves from its rigours by accurately closing up the entrance 

 to the burrow. The further arrangements which the Prairie Dog 

 makes for its comfort and security are well worthy of attention. He 

 constructs for himself a very neat globular cell with fine dry grass, 

 having an aperture at top large enough to admit the finger, and so 

 compactly formed that it might almost be rolled over the floor 

 without injury." 



Sir John Richardson observes that the Prairie Dog seems to differ 

 from other American Marmots in the length of its thumb-nail, and to 

 approach in that respect A. fulfils of Lichteusteiu. 



WITCH-ELM, or .WYCH-ELM. [ULMus.1 



WITCH-HAZEL. [HAMAMELIDACE^.! 



WITCHES'-BUTTEK. [TBEMELLIXI.] 



WITHAMITE, a Mineral occuring crystallised. Primary form an 

 oblique rhombic prism ; it is found also in small imbedded globular 

 masses composed of radiating crystals. Fracture uneven. Hardness, 

 scratches glass readily. Colour, red and reddish-white. Streak white. 

 Translucent; opaque. Specific gravity 3-137. It is not acted on by 

 acids. Before the blow-pipe intumesces and fuses with difficulty into 

 a dark-gray scoria. With salt of phosphorus it dissolves with effer- 

 vescence into a globule which contains a little silica, and becomes 

 opaque on cooling. It is found at Gleucoe in Scotland, and is regarded 

 as a variety of Epidote. [EPIDOTE.] 



WITHERl'NGIA a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 fi-olanacecc, named after Dr. William Withering. The species are 

 neither handsome nor useful. 



AyiTHERITE. [BAKTTES.] 



WITTELSBA'CHIA, the name of a genus of Plants belonging to 

 the natural order TernttrSmiaecif. The species are now referred to 

 Cochlospermum. [CocuLospERMOM.] 



WOAD. [GKXISTA; ISATIS.] 



WOHLERITE, a Mineral occuring in angular grains, and iu tabular 

 crystals. Form undetermined. Cleavage distinct in one direction. 

 Colour light-yellow, wine-yellow, honey-yellow, brownish-yellow. 

 Streak yellowish-white. Fracture more or less conchoidal, splintery. 

 Hardness 5'5. Lustre vitreous. Subtrunslucent. Transparent. Specific 



