- 



CTHOQLOanJM. 



CTPERAI 



of Devon and Cornwall. C. Umnrit is a native of the East, and is 

 known by the name of Puna-Crass. 



(Babington. Mammal of Brili* &rf..) 



NOOLUSSUM (from *W, a dog, and >AaW, a tongue), a 

 grail* of Plant* belonging to the natural order srv#MMe. It has a 

 6-cMt calyx ; a funnel Shaped corolla with the mouth closed, with 

 prominent blunt scale* ; the ***""* mdiHl^ filameuU very short ; 

 th* nuta roundish-ovate, depressed, muricmted, attached by their inner 

 edge. The species are herbs, with soft leaves. 



C. tfomait. Common Hound'* Tongue, has the letvea downy, acute ; 

 the lower leaves elliptical, contracting into a petiole, the upper leaves 

 lanceolate, narrowed below, suboordate, half clasping. The corollas 

 are of a dull red colour. It is a native of Asia, Africa, North Ame- 

 rica, and Europe. It U found in Great Britain in waste ground. 

 The whole plant has a disagreeable -smell, resembling that from mice. 

 It is said to post ass narcotic properties, and was at one time used 

 as a remedy in scrofula, but it is not employed in medicine at the 

 present day. 



C. momlaummt has the leaves slightly hairy, acute, nearly glabrous 

 and shining above, scabrous beneath, inferior, oblong, narrowed into 

 a long petiole, upper leaves lanceolate, slightly narrowed below, 

 cilasrilng It is found in Great Britain by road-sides and in hedges in 

 shady situations. 



About fifty other species of Cfmogtoumm have been described, 

 beside* the British ones above named. They are all coarse plants, 

 having only small flowers, so that few only are desirable for ornamental 

 cultivation. They are however of the most easy culture, and will 

 grow in almost any situation and soil The greater number of the 

 species are biennial, and may be propagated by sowing their seed in 

 spring in the open border. 



(Babington, Mammal ; Don, DieUamydeoui Plant,.) 



CYNOMORI A'CE^E, an obscure order of Rhisanths, distinguished 

 from BalamoiJtoracrcr by their distinct stamens, and the imperfect 

 perianth of the male flowers. The order is represented by Cyrtomo- 

 rimm coecimntm, the f'umytu Melitauil of the old herbalists, a plant 

 once in repute for its astringent properties, but now valued only for 

 its rarity, and the botanical interest that attaches to it Dr. Walsh 

 tell* us that " it grows most plentifully on a detached rock on the 

 south-west side of the island of Goto. It is there much celebrated 

 for it* medicinal properties : the time of the discovery of its virtues 

 is not known, but from some ancient manuscripts it appears to have 

 been at a very remote period. It had been the usage of Malta to 

 banish to Goxo all females of dishonest character, and here, according 

 to tradition, they found a vegetable substance of an astringent quality, 

 which proved very efficacious in removing the consequences of their 

 irregular life. It was prepared in earthen pots, some of which have 

 since been dug up in various places, marked with Phoenician charac- 

 ters indicating their use. The plant was also applied by them to the 

 purpose* of divination. It was laid between the breasts, and from 

 some accidental circumstances of position, ftc., they augured good or 

 bad fortune. This practice was reproved, and said to be finally 

 abolished, by a Capuchin missionary. This curious vegetable was 

 subsequently esteemed as a remedy in dysentery, and its curative 

 powers were long held in very high repute. About the year 1740 

 the Knights of Malta set such a very high value on this fungus, that 

 they interdicted the approach of any person to the place where it 

 grew, and guarded the passage with the strictest jealousy. In April, 

 when the fungus was ripe, it was carefully gathered by persons 

 appointed for that especial duty, and the precious morsels were 

 deposited in a government office, whence some portions were sent as 

 presents by the grand-master to diflerent sovereigns, and the 

 remainder distributed among the hospitals of the island. Even after 

 the English took poaaeasion of Malta, and succeeded to the territorial 

 right* of the order, and, amongst other things, to the possession of 

 this rock, a custode was appointed to take care of it as heretofore, 

 with a salary, which always makes an item in the public accounts of 

 Malta. The fungus is thus continued to be guarded and regularly 

 gathered, deposited in the state-office, and distributed among the 

 hospitals ; and when Dr. Hamilton, through the kindness of an 

 official person in Ooio, was permitted to visit this rock, be was 

 accompanied by the custode. The rock, a* shown by the doctor's 

 dutch, is difficult of approach : it is an isolated precipice, about 600 

 feet in height, detached from the neighbouring snore, and presenting 

 very steep and inaocearible sides, in some place* projecting consider- 

 ably over the sea, so that the circumference of the base is leas than 

 that of the upper part*. It stands on the verge of a noble circular 

 basin, formed by the surrounding clifls, into which the sea enters by 

 the chasms at each side of the fungus rock, the whole presenting the 

 aspect of UM enter of a volcano, raised from beneath, or extinguished 

 by the irruption of the sea." 



CYNOPTERUa. [CHCIBOITKRA.] 



C N08URU8, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order of 



C. crutmhu, a well-known pasture-grass, called by fanners Crested 

 Doptail, or Gold-Seed, U exceedingly abundant in all natural and arti 



1 grass-land. It grows with a slender smooth stem to the height 

 r two feet, and is terminated by a somewhat cylindrical spike- 

 like panicle of short clusters of flowers; each cluster consists of two 



Cmtcd Uogntail 

 (Cynonriu crittatul). 



flowered suikelets resting upon pinnate bracts. The plumes are 2, 

 about the length of the floret* ; the pale* 2, of which the lowest is 

 sharp- pointed. The styles are feathery ; 

 the fniit is a small yellow smooth shining 

 seed-like body, whence the common name 

 of Gold-Seed. 



Although this grass forms so constantly 

 :i i-.rti.m of all good pastures, it is chiefly 

 on account of the fineness and closeness 

 of its herbage that it u valuable, the 

 quantity of nay that it produce* being 

 inconsiderable. Mr. Sinclair hence ob- 

 serves, that "it is inferior for the 

 purposes of hay, but admirably adapted 

 for permanent pastures. The roots pene- 

 trate a great way under ground, from 

 which circumstance it remains green after 

 most other grasses are burnt by a con- 

 tinuance of dry weather. In irrigated 

 meadows it arrives at a greater size than 

 in any other situation." Sheep are said to 

 be leas liable to be affected by the disease 

 called the ' foot-rot' when fed on pasture* 

 containing a considerable portion of this 

 grass than on such as arc composed of the 

 more tender and soft-leaved sorts. 



C. cchinatu* is another species of tbis 

 grass, found in Guernsey and Jersey. It 

 has an erect stem, one or two feet high ; the scales of the appendage 

 with long points. It is extremely rare. 



CT'NTHIA, a genus of Ascidian ilolttuca. It consults of those 

 Ascidians whose body is sessile, and which have the branchial sac 

 plaited longitudinally, and the reticulation continuous ; branchial and 

 anal orifices opening in four rays or lobes. Their external envelope 

 or test is coriaceous. 



Messrs. Forbes and Hanley, in the ' History of British Molluscs,' 

 enumerate 13 species of this genus as natives of the seas of the 

 British Isles. 



C. riutira has the body more or less globular or botryoidal, rugose, 

 usually of a rusty red ; apertures sessile, placed apart, deeply tinged 

 with rose-red. From half an inch to two inches in length. It is 

 common on most parts of our coast, and is found attached to various 

 kinds of sea-weeds. 



C. damdicax* has a tuberous body ; the test wrinkled and furrowed 

 in every direction ; the orifices are small, deeply 4-lobed, and placed 

 on slightly prominent conical projections. It is about an inch in 

 height, and is found attached to oysters. 



C. ayyrrgata has a bottle-shaped body with terminal approximate 

 orifices. It was found gregarious in vast numbers by Professor K. 

 Forbes and Mr. M'Andrew in twelve fathoms' water at Dartmouth. 

 It was found under large stones ; and on many of the branching r. .. .1 - 

 fibres there were small, tough, globular, iinperforated, orange-coloured 

 bodies of various sizes full of granules. This form seems to be inter- 

 mediate, and between the single and social Ascidians, and " should 

 probably rank as the type of a distinct genus." (Forbes and Hanley.) 

 CYPEK'ACE-flC, Sedget, an extensive natural order of (!liiin:u -.-.in > 

 Endogenous Plants, having much the appearance of Grasses, with wliii-h 



fyjurtu 



1, iplkelct inapiiltrd ; S, flowor with lu brnct j 3, a fruit ; ^, a icilion 

 of a K-nl. 



