121 



CONDURRITE. 



12S 



CONDURRITE, a Mineral found in Cornwall. It is an arsenate of 

 copper of a brownish-black or blue colour. It gives out, like the other 

 arsenates, an alliaceous odour when heated on charcoal before the 

 blow-pipe. 



CONDYLU'RA, Illiger, a genus of Insectivorous Mammalia, 

 founded on the Sorex crutatvx of Linnoms. Cuvier observes that 

 Desmarest was the first who made the peculiar dentition of the genus 

 known. 



It has the following characters : Body thick, furry ; muzzle much 

 elongated, bordered with membranous crests, disposed star-like round 

 the opening of the nostrils; no external auricles; eyes extremely 

 small ; anterior feet short, large, with five toes, furnished with robust 

 claws proper for digging ; posterior feet slender, with five toes : length 

 of tail moderate. 



Incisors, _; canines, -^- ; molars, _H_ = 40. 

 4 7 i 





Teeth of Cimdj/lara crittata(f. Curier). 



Lesson observes that the generic name rests on an error made by 

 La Faille, who had represented the radiated molu with knotty swellings 

 on the tail ; but it is generally received by zoologists. The genus is 

 allied to the Moles and to Sealopi. 



The species are entirely confined to North America, as far as is 

 known at present. Speaking of some specimens of Condylura longi- 

 >< in the Museum of the Zoological Society, obtained from Moose 

 Factory, Hudson's Bay, Sir John Richardson says, "They were not 

 accompanied by any account of their habits, or notice of the exact 

 locality where they were killed ; but, as the most southern fur posts 

 depending upon Moose Factory are situated upon the borders of Lake 

 Superior, it is probable that they came from that quarter. Pennant's 

 specimen was received from New York." 



C. macmura (Harlan), the Thick-Tailed Star-Nose. The follow- 

 ing is Sir John Richardson's description of a specimen presented to 

 him by the unfortunate Mr. David Douglas, and which the latter had 

 procured on the banks of the Columbia River. 



" The head is remarkably large ; the body is thick ami short, and 

 becomes narrower towards the tail, and the hind legs are consequently 

 nearer to each other than the fore ones. The nose is rather thick, 

 and projects beyond the mouth ; it is naked towards its end, is 

 marked with a furrow above, and terminates in a flat surface, which 

 is surrounded by 17 cartilaginous processes, with two more anterior 

 ones situated above the nostrils, and a pair of forked ones immediately 

 below the nostrils. The surfaces of these processes are minutely 

 granulated. Some white whiskers spring from the side of the nose, 

 and reach about half the length of the head. There are others not so 

 long on the upper and under lips. The fur on the body is very soft 

 and fine, and has considerable lustre. It is longer than the fur of the 

 other two known species. Its colour on the dorsal aspect is dark 

 umber-brown, approaching to blackish-brown. On the belly it is 

 pale liver-brown. When the fur is blown aside, it exhibits a shining 

 blackish-gray colour towards its roots. It is longer on the hind-head 

 and neck than on the belly. The tail is narrow at its origin, but it 

 suddenly swells to an inch and a half in circumference ; it then tapers 

 gradually until it ends hi a fine point, formed by a pencil of hairs, 

 about half an inch long. It is round, or very slightly compressed, 

 and is covered with scales about as large as those on the feet, and 

 with short, tapering, acute hairs, which do not conceal the scales. 

 The hairs covering the upper surface of the tail are nearly black ; 

 those beneath are of a browner hue. The extremities are shaped 

 almost precisely like those of the C. lonyicaudata. Only the palms 

 and toes of the fore feet project beyond the body. The palms are 

 nearly circular, and are protected by a granulated skin like shagreen. 

 The sides of the feet are furnished with long white hairs, which curve 

 in over the palms. The five toes are very short, equal to each other 

 in I'-n^th, and, together with the back of the hands, are covered with 

 hexagonal scales. The fore claws are white, nearly straight, broadly 

 linear, and acute, convex above and flat beneath. The palms turn 

 obliquely outwards, which causes the fourth claw to project rather 

 farthest; but the third one measures as much, the second is shorter, 

 and the first and fifth are equal to each other, and a little shorter 

 than the rest. The hind feet are also turned obliquely outwards, 

 ami are scaly, with a few interspersed hairs above, and granulated 

 tinilemeath. The sides are narrow, and present a conspicuous callous 

 tubercle, posterior to the origin of the inner toe. The hind legs are 

 very short, and are clothed with soft brown hair, a tuft of which 

 curves over the heel. There are no hairs on the sides of the hind 

 feet, like those which form a margin to the fore ones. The hind 

 iL-er than the fore ones, and are armed with more slender 



claws, which are white, awl-shaped, curved, and acute. They have a 

 narrow groove towards their points underneath. Length of the head 

 and body 4 inches 3 lines ; of the head, 1 inch 6 lines ; of the tail, 



2 inches 6 lines, including the pencil of hairs at its extremity, 



3 inches 3 lines ; naked part of the nose, exclusive of the awl-shaped 

 processes, 2J lines," &c. (' Fauna Boreali-Americana.') 



Thick-Toiled Star-Nose (Cmtflylura macroura). 



Dr. Godman observes, that though the external ear in C. critfata 

 is destitute of auricle, it is very extensive, and is situated at a short 

 distance from the shoulder, in the broad triangular fold of integu- 

 ment connecting the fore-arm and head. 



Two or three other species are known. 



CONESSI BARK is the produce of a plant belonging to the 

 natural order Apocynaceir, a native of the western coast of Hindustan. 

 It is the Wrightia antidytenterica, and is a valuable astringent. 



CONFERVACE^;, a name sometimes considered synonymous 

 with Alga. It is limited in systematic botany to a section of Algir, 

 consisting of simple tubular jointed species inhabiting fresh water. 

 [ALG.E.J 



CONFERVITES, species of Fossil Plants, probably of the ('.on- 

 fervaceous Family, occurring in the chalk of Bomholm and the south 

 of England, in the Greeusand of Maidstoue, and Chalk-Marl of 

 Hamsey. (Mantell.) 



CONGER-EEL. [MoB.-ENiD*.] 



CONGLOMERATE. This term is most usually applied by geolo- 

 gists to designate rocks more or less distinctly inclosing displaced 

 fragments of mineral masses which had been consolidated at some 

 previous epoch, and subsequently broken up, removed from their 

 original site, and placed in circumstances such as to permit of their 

 being re-aggregated, and more or less cemented together by interven- 

 ing smaller particles. Thus the old red conglomerate on the borders 

 of the Grampians is full of fragments of the still more ancient 

 schistose and gneissic strata, worn by attrition in water, and reunited 

 into a solid rock by interposed red sands. In some volcanic regions 

 the materials thrown out by eruptions are re-aggregated into conglo- 

 merate, by the operation of water. 



The coarser conglomerates are sometimes called Pudding-Stone. 

 Conglomerates differ in their nature, and vary in the size of their 

 component parts according to the process by which they have been 

 brought into the form of conglomerate. Along the base of the 

 Maritime Alps the rivers, with few exceptions, are now forming con- 

 glomerate and sand. (Lyell's ' Geology.') Near Nice the mud, 

 pebbles, and portions of rock brought down by the torrents form 

 beds of shingle ; but the greater part are swept into the deep sea, 

 where they form strata of inclined conglomerate, about 1000 feet in 

 thickness and 7 or 8 miles in length. Volcanic eruptions also tend 

 to the formation of conglomerate by uniting masses of rock together. 

 Conglomerates, as already observed, to whatever causes owing, arc 

 characterised by being manifestly a congeries of fragments of rock, 

 of various sizes, which have undergone the process of attrition, and 

 consequently have been formed by fragments of various rocks that 

 have been carried considerable distances. [BRECCIA.] Many of these 

 conglomerates are sometimes so well compacted as to form a hard 

 rock, capable of receiving a considerable degree of polish, as we 

 observe in two colossal fragments of heads in the British Museum, 

 the faces of which are tolerably smoothed by Egyptian art, while 

 the broken parts exhibit a conglomerate consisting of irregular-Kized 

 rounded grains, and masses of quartz and other rocks. According na 

 they consist of granite, quartz, limestone, &c., they are called 

 granitic, quartzose, calcareous. In building, the conglomerates are 

 generally only employed for the coarser kinds of work, as for founda- 

 tions and the abutments of bridges. 



CONID^E, a family of Gasteropodous Mollttsca, including the 

 genera Oonut [CoNira] and I'leurotoma [Pl.EUROTOMA]. They are 



