297 



DACRYD1UM. 



DAMSON. 



DACRYDIUM, a genus of Gymnogenous Plants belonging to the 

 natural order Taxaceas. One of the species, D. taxifolium, the 

 Kakaterra-Tree of New Zealand, acquires a height of 200 feet. 

 From its branches may be manufactured a beverage resembling in 

 antiscorbutic qualities the well-known spruce-beer. (Lindley, Veget- 

 able Kingdom.} 



DACTYLIPORA. [POLTPIAEIA.] 



DACTYLIS, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order of 

 Grasses. D. glomerata, Cocksfoot-Grass, is an extremely common 

 plant in fields and waste places, growing and flowering during a great 

 part of the summer. It has in its wUd state a coarse bluish rough 

 herbage, and a flower-stem about three feet high, divided at the 

 point into a loose panicle, each of whose divisions bears a cluster of 

 flowers at its end. The glumes are 2, sharp-pointed, keeled, and 

 rather unequal ; they inclose from 3 to 6 florets, each of which con- 

 sists of 2 rough-ribbed paleae, the lower and outer of which is the 

 broader, and tipped with a short bristle. In its uncultivated state 

 this is a coarse hard grass ; nevertheless it is readily eaten by cattle, 

 horses, and sheep. It strikes its roots to a considerable depth in the 

 soil, and on this account is capable of enduring the drought of dry 

 sandy exposed land. Hence in such situations, where scarcely any 

 other pasture can be procured, as in the naked brecks (or undulating 

 downs) of Norfolk, it is of great value. 



Mr. Sinclair assures us that Cocksfoot forms a part of the herbage 

 of pastures most celebrated for fattening and keeping the largest 

 quantity of stock in Devonshire, Lincolnshire, and the vale of Ayles- 

 bury ; and he states that in the most skilfully managed of these pas- 

 tures the foliage of the Cocksfoot was only to be distinguished by an 

 experienced eye from the various species of fine pasture grasses with 

 which it is combined. We would not however recommend any one 

 laying down artificial grass to employ Cocksfoot where other grasses 

 can be made to succeed, for we have invariably found it overgrowing 

 the sorts with which it was mixed, and forming coarse tufts which 

 neither feeding nor mowing has been able to keep down. 



Cocksfoot Grass (Dactylil glomrrata). 

 I, a spikelet much magnified ; a, a, the glumes ; 2, a floret with the paleec. 



DACTYLO'PTERUS (LaoSpede), a genus of Fishes belonging to 

 the order Acanlhopteryyii and family Loricati. It has the following 

 characters : Head flattened, large, and long, and rising suddenly from 

 the muzzle, which is very short ; inferior angle of the pre-operculum 

 furnished with an elongated strong spine ; operculum without spines ; 

 mouth small ; jaws furnished with masses of minute conical teeth ; 

 branchiostegous rays six in number ; some of the anterior rays of the 

 dorsal fin free ; subpectoral rays numerous, very long, and connected 

 by a membrane ; ventral fins with four rays ; body covered with hard 

 carinated scales. 



The fishes of this genus are classed with the gurnards ; they may 

 however be readily distinguished from the typical or true gurnards 

 by the immense size of the pectoral fins. 



Iji the true gurnards we observe three detached rays situated under 

 the pectoral fins, but springing from the same base : in our present 

 genus these rays are very numerous, immensely long, and connected 

 by a membrane. By means of these large fins, the length of which is 

 almost equal to that of the body of the animal, these fishes are enabled 

 to sustain themselves in the air for several seconds, which they often 

 do to escape from their enemies when pursued ; but in quitting the 

 waters to avoid their pursuers in that element, they not unfrequently 

 fall a prey to the frigate-birds and albatrosses. 



This genus contains but two species, one of which has been long 

 known : it inhabits the Mediterranean, and is the Triyla volitant of 



Linnaeus. It is commonly called the Flying-Gurnard and Flying-Fish ; 

 but there are other species of fish which have obtained this name, on 

 account of their power of sustaining themselves for a few seconds out 

 of the water. The other species inhabits the Indian Seas, and is the 

 Dactylopterus orientalis of Cuvier. 



Dactylopterus orientalls. 



Dactylopterua volitana, the Flying-Gurnard, varies from 1 foot to 

 15 inches in length, and is of a brown colour above, with spots of 

 a deeper tint : the sides of the body are red, and the under parts are 

 of a pale rose-colour. The large pectoral fins are of a blackish tint, 

 mottled and spotted with blue ; the ventral and anal fins are of a 

 rose-colour; the anterior dorsal is gray, with clouded markings of a 

 deeper hue ; the posterior dorsal is transparent, and its rays are of 

 a pale colour, spotted with brown. 



DADDY-LONG-LEGS. [TIPULA.] 



D^EDALION. [FALCOTJID.E.] 



DAFFODIL, the English name of Narcissiu Pseudo-Narcissus and 

 its allies, to which some recent botanists have given the generic name 

 of Ajar. [NARCISSUS.] 



DAGYSA. [SALPACEA.] 



DA'HLIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Com- 

 positce. Three species only are known, all natives of Mexico. Of 

 these, two, D. coccinea and D. Cervantesii, were formerly cultivated 

 in this country, but not sporting into varieties, and being much less 

 beautiful than D. variabilis, they are not now seen in gardens. 

 D. variabilis itself is, in its wild state, a bushy herbaceous plant, 

 7 or 8 feet high, with single purple or lilac flowers, and is by no 

 means remarkable for its beauty. In cultivation however it is so 

 readily improved in size and form, and sports into such endless 

 varieties in stature, leaves, and flowers, that it has become the most 

 extensively cultivated florist's plant of the present day. Its innumer- 

 able sorts are the glory of our gardens in the autumn, and are quite 

 unrivalled at that season of the year : they are however destroyed by 

 the earliest frosts. [DAHLIA, in ARTS AND Sc. Div.] 



DAISY, or DAY'S EYE, the little perennial plant called Bellis 

 perennii by botanists. Like most composite flowers, it has proved 

 productive of varieties when domesticated ; but they have almost 

 disappeared, except from old-fashioned or cottage gardens. [BELLIS.] 



DAL BERGI A, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Pabacea, named in honour of Nicholas Dalberg, a Swedish botanist. 

 It has a campanulate calyx, 5-toothed ; a papilionaceous corolla, the 

 petals of the keel connected to the apex; 8-10 stamens, sometimes 

 all monadelphous, with the tube or sheath cleft in front, sometimes 

 divided into two equal opposite bundles. It has a stipitate mem- 

 branous compressed legume, which is flat, oblong, and tapers to both 

 ends. The seeds, which vary from 1 to 3, are compressed and 

 remote. The species are sometimes trees, but usually climbing 

 shrubs, with impari-pinnate leaves. 



D, Sinsoo, has five alternate leaflets, glabrous above, pubescent 

 beneath. It is a native of Bengal, where the timber is much prized, 

 and is known by the name of Sissoo. 



D. monetaria, another of the species, yields a resin very similar to 

 Dragon's Blood. 



There are about 22 species of this genus, none of which are of any 

 known use except those mentioned. 



DAMA. [CERVID/E.] 



DAMALIS. [ANTILOPE.E.] 



DAMASK-ROSE. [ROSA.] 



DAME'S VIOLET. [HESPERIS.] 



DAMMARA, Dammer-Pine. [AQATHIS.] 



DAMOMITE, a Mineral found in the United States. It is a 

 hydrous silicate of alumina. [PREHNITE.] 



DAMSON, or DAMASCENE (from Damascus), a race of plums 

 cultivated in this country for the sake of their hardiness and prolific 

 habits. They are a mere form of the domestic plum, from which 

 there are no certain characters to distinguish them, except the 

 abundance of their late oval fruit, and the property they possess of 

 propagating by suckers. All the varieties are used for kitchen 



