103 



CRESCENTIA. 



CRICETUS. 



191 



The families contained in this section are the Sphingidce, Sesiid<e, 

 jEgeriidas, and the Zygcenidce. 



CRESCENTIA, a genus of Plants, the type of the natural order 

 Crescentiacece. It has a 2-leaved equal deciduous calyx ; the corolla 

 campanulate, with a fleshy tube much shorter than the ventricose 

 5-cleft unequal crisped limb ; 4 stamens, didynamous, with the rudi- 

 ment of a fifth ; the fruit gourd-like, 1-celled, with a solid shell, inter- 

 nally pulpy, many-seeded. The species are large spreading trees, with 

 solitary flowers rising from the trunk or branches. 



C. Cujete, Cujete or Common Calabash-Tree, has oblong acute or 

 obtuse leaves, cuneate at the base, and in fascicles. This plant is a 

 native of the West India Islands and Spanish Main. It is a tree 

 about 20 feet high, and is readily distinguished from all others by its 

 habit. It sends out large horizontal branches, which bear fascicles of 

 leaves at various distances. These leaves are from 4 to 6 inches long. 

 The flowers are scattered over the older branches ; the corolla is large, 

 somewhat campanulate and constricted below the middle, which gives 

 the upper part a ventricose character. It does not wither up as other 

 corollas, but becomes putrid, giving out a nauseous and intolerable 

 odour. The form and size of the fruit is very variable, being from 

 2 inches to 1 foot in diameter. It is covered with a thin skin, of a 

 greenish-yellow colour when ripe, and under this is a hard woody shell 

 which contains a pale yellowish soft pulp, of a tart unpleasant flavour, 

 surrounding a great number of flat seeds. The shell is of great use 

 to the inhabitants ; the smaller oblong ones are formed into spoons 

 and ladles, the larger ones form drinking cups, basins, and bowls for 

 every variety of domestic purposes. They will even bear fire, and 

 are used for boiling water in. The Caribs generally carve the outside 

 of these vessels with a variety of grotesque figures. The pulp is 

 sometimes eaten by the natives, but it is not much sought after. A 

 syrup ia prepared from it in the West Indies, which has a great repu- 

 tation as a cough medicine. The pulp is also used as a poultice in 

 cases of abscess or bruises. The leaves and branches and pulp of the 

 fruit are eaten by cattle in times of scarcity. The wood of the tree 

 is tough and flexible, and well adapted for the work of the coach- 

 maker. Ther are three or four other species, natives of the West 

 Indies and South America, having the same general characters as the 

 above. 



The species of Cracentia will grow in a mixture of loam, peat, and 

 sand, and woody cuttings will grow when placed in sand in heat under 

 a hand-glass. They do not however blossom in this country, as they 

 require first to arrive at the full size. 



(Don, Dichlamydeout Plantt ; Loudon, Encyclopaedia of flanti ; 

 Lindley, Flora Medica.) 



CRESCENTIACE/E, a natural order of Plants formerly included in 

 the Solanacea, allied to Gemeracxf and Bignoniacete. The species are 

 trees of small size, with alternate or clustered simple leaves without 

 stipules. The flowers grow out of the old stems or branches; 

 the calyx free, undivided, eventually splitting into irregular pieces ; 

 the corolla monopetalous, irregular, somewhat 2-lipped, with an 

 imbricated aestivation. The stamens a?e four in number, growing on 

 the corolla, didynamous, with the rudiment of a fifth between the 

 posterior pair, which are the longest ; anthers 2-lobed, bursting longi- 

 tudinally ; ovary free, surrounded by a yellow annular disc, 1-celled, 

 composed of an anterior and posterior carpellary leaf, with 2 or 4 

 equidistant parietal placentae, which sometimes meet and produce 

 additional cells ; ovules 0-0, horizontal ; style 1 ; stigma of 2 plates. 

 Fruit woody, not splitting, containing a multitude of large amygda- 

 loid seeds buried in the pulp of the placentae ; skin leathery, loose ; 

 embryo straight, without albumen, with plano-convex fleshy cotyle- 

 dons, and a thick short radicle next the hilum. 



CRESS, the name given to various Plants with acrid or pungent 

 leaves. Common Cress is Lcpidium tatimim ; Water-Cress, Nastur- 

 tium o&cinaU; Belleisle or Normandy Cress, Barbarea pnecox; 

 Indian Cress, Tropaolum majut. [LEPIDIUM; NASTCBTIUM; BARBABEA; 

 TmoraotuK.] 



CB KTACEOUS GROUP or FORMATION. [CHALK FORMATION.] 



CKKUSIA. [CmniPKDlA.] 



CREX. [RALLID*:.] 



CRIBELLA. [SOLASTIBIA] 



CRICACA'NTHUS, a genus of Fossil Fishes, from the Mountain 

 Limestone of Armagh. (Agassiz.) 



CRICETUS, the name of a genus of Rodents, whose economy 

 makes them one of the most interesting of the great Linnacan genus 

 Miu, or the family of Mwridce in its most extensive sense. The 

 species have the following characters : 



Molar teeth simple ; their crown furnished with blunt tubercles. 

 toes and the vestige of a thumb on the fore feet ; five toes on 

 the hind feet ; nails robust. Tail short and hairy. 



2 3 _ 3 



Dental Formula : Incisors, 







o 



t 



_ 

 molars, - = 16. 



o o 



The species are found over all the north of Europe and of Asia, the 

 temperate countries of Persia, and the deserts of Astrakhan. If the 

 Canada Pouched Rat (Hamster du Canada, Cricctus bwtariiu of 

 Denmarest, Afia hurtarlus of Shaw) is to be considered a Hamster, 

 Canada and the borders of Lake Superior must be added ; and it must 

 be remembered that the Tucan of Hernandez, an inhabitant of New 

 Spain, is considered by some to be identical with this Canada Rat 



NAT. HIST. DIV. VOr.. IT. 



(Sir John Richardson thinks on insufficient grounds). But the last- 

 mentioned zoologist places Desmarest's Canada Hamster under the 

 genus Geomys, with a note of interrogation ; and Say has given it a 

 generic distinction under the name of Pseudostoma. 



C. milgai-is, the Common Hamster, Mus Cricetw of Pallas, Le 

 Hamster of Buffon and the French (uithors. 



Teeth of Common Hamster (Oricelia Bulgaria). F. Cuvier. 



It is reddish-brown above ; black below, with three great whitish 

 spots on the sides ; feet white ; a white spot on the throat, and ano- 

 ther on the breast. Length about 9 inches ; tail 3 inches. Males 

 bigger than females. Weight of some males from 12 to 16 ounces; 

 weight of females seldom exceeding from 4 to 6 ounces. 



Common Hamster (Cricetus vulgaris}. F. Cuvier. 



Variations in colour are not uncommon. There is one variety 

 entirely black. Pennant figures one which is entirely black, with the 

 exception of the edge of the ear, the muzzle, the under-jaw and feet. 



It is found in the north of Europe and Asia (Lesson), Austria, 

 Silesia, and many parts of Germany, Poland, and the Ukraine ; nil 

 the southern and temperate parts of Russia and Siberia ; and even 

 about the river Yenesei, but not farther to the east. In the Tartarian 

 deserts, in sandy soil : they dislike moist places. Swarming in Gotha. 

 (Pennant.) 



The Common Hamsters are ill friends to the farmers. The quan- 

 tity of grain which they consume is very great, nor does the destruc- 

 tion stop with mere satiety of appetite ; the animal nover forgets its 

 hoard, and fills its two cheek-"pouches till they seem bursting with the 

 booty. They are also said to be very fond of the seeds of liquorice. 

 Their dwellings are under the earth ; their mode of forming them, 

 and the purposes to which they apply them, have been thus 

 described : They first form an entrance, burrowing down obliquely. 

 At the end of this passage one perpendicular hole is sunk by the male ; 

 the female sinks several. At the end of these they excavate various 

 vaults, some aa lodges for themselves and young, some as storehouses 

 for their food. Every young one is said to have its separate apart- 

 ment ; each sort of grain its different vault. The ' living apartments,' 

 as they may be called, are lined with straw or grass. The vaults are 

 said to be of different depths, according to the age of the constructor : 

 a young hamster, it is stated, makes them scarcely n foot deep, an old 



