DAPTUS. 



principally. ku<! arc generally confined to the garden* of 

 (inHsgn or farm-houses, where the quantity of produce ii more 

 valued Uwa it* quality. Much the finet variety of this sort of plum 

 u that called the Shropshire Damson, which U extensively multiplied 

 in the nurseries by grafting. [PLUM, in ARTS AXD So. I)i v.J 



DAN^JACE.K, DatHnfoHt, a mail natural order of Plant* related 

 to the Ferns. They hare all the habit of Dorsiferous Fern*, but their 

 pore-oaaes are ringlesa and combined in mi MM, splitting irregularly 

 by a central cleft The apeciei are all tropical. It embraces the fol- 

 lowing genera -.Kau^fiana, Anyiopltrii, Datura, Kxpodntm, Marattia, 

 and about fifteen tpeciea. Agioptrr\i rvtcta is said to be employed in 

 the Sandwich Islands to perfume cocoa-nut oil The rhizome of a 

 apeciee of ifarattio is eaten by the Sandwich Islanders. 



DANBUKITE,an American Mineral It occurs crystallised. Its 

 primary form is an oblique rhombic prism. The colour honey-yellow, 

 booommg nearly white by decomposition ; streak white. Hardness 

 7'5. Lustre Titreous ; translucent, transparent. Specific gravity 2-83. 

 It U found at Danbury, Connecticut. The following is the result of 

 an analysis by Shepard : 



Silica .... 



Lime 



Alumina 



Vttria . 



Potash, Soda, and loas . 



Wifat 



56- 

 28-38 



17 

 85 



6-12 



8' 100 



DANDELION, a corruption of the French name Dent de Lion, or 

 Lion's Tooth, a common weed, with a tapering milky perennial root, 

 resembling that of succory. It is the Lcontodon Taraxacum of 

 botanist*. [LEo-rronos.l 



DANEWORT. [SAMBI-CCS.] 



DAPE'UIUM, changed by Agassiz to Paptdiia, one of the first 

 described Hritinh genera of Fossil Ganoid Fishes. To D. polittun of 

 De la Beche (' Geol Trans.,' 2nd series, vol i pi. vi.) six others are 

 added by Agaasiz, all from the Lias. 



DAPHNE, a genus of Plant* belonging to the natural order 

 nymelaeea, containing many species, inhabiting the more temperate 

 pert* of Europe and Asia. Among them some are cultivated in 

 gardens for their beauty or fragrance, others are of medicinal 

 importance, and a few are employed in the manufacture of hemp and 

 paper. We shall briefly notice the more remarkable of these. 



The genus ItapJme is distinguished in its natural order by having 

 8 or 10 stamens inclosed within the calyx, a simple stigma, a 

 succulent fruit, and a calyx, the orifice of whose tube is destitute of 

 _ 



If. Maemm, the Mezereon of the gardens, is a deciduous plant, 

 with white or purple fragrant flowers, sitting close to the stem, and 

 appearing on the naked branches before the leaves are unfolded. It 

 u a favourite in gardens, and succeeds in almost any well-drained 

 light soil where the air is not poisoned by the smoke of coal-fires. It 

 U found wild in the mountainous woods of many parts of the middle 

 and south of Europe. It is met with in woods in various coimties 

 of England. The berries are smooth, shining, and bright red. 



All the part* of this and indeed of the other species, as far as 

 they bare been examined, are extremely acrid and poisonous. If the 

 bark is bruised and applied to the skin, it produces severe blisters, 

 and is sometimes substituted for cantharides when that drug cannot 

 be employed with safety. Taken internally, the bark, leaves, and 

 fruit, act as cathartics, but require to be administed with extreme 

 caution ; for they are apt to produce dangerous and even fatal con- 

 sequences. LUUUBUS speaks of a person having been killed by a 

 down Meacreon berries ; and they are employed in Sweden to poison 

 wild animals. According to Fee, the very odour of Daphne, agree- 

 able as it is, is attended with danger ; he says that if kept in sitting- 

 rooms they will bring on headache and fainting. It is moreover 

 sMTtsrt that Russian and Tartarian women sometimes rub the berries 

 of the Mexereon on their cheeks to produce a slight irritation, which 

 of oourw gives the effect of rouge, only in a more permanent degree. 

 (Mmfctov, in ARTS AXD 8c. Dir.) 



1). laumla, the Spurge Laurel, is another British species, found 

 wild commonly in woods and hedges. It is a handsome evergreen 

 bosh, with the aspect of a laurel The leaves are placed very close 

 together ; they are of a leathery consistence, deep green, lanceolate, 

 acute, and narrowed to the base. The flowers are green, and grow 

 in little short clusters, which are nearly concealed by the leaves. The 

 berries are, when ripe, a deep purple black. We have no species that 

 grows more readily beneath the shade of trees; and as its appear- 

 ance ls highly ornament*], it would be a most useful garden plant, 

 if it were not for the dangerous berries, which children are apt to eat 

 An ointment for keeping open blisters i* prepared from this plant 



D. jxmJico. One of the plants which is reputed to have contributed 

 to the poisonous quality of the honey that was eaten by Xenophon's 

 oWlen, is very like this species, and is often cultivated as a hardy 

 evejgjeeu. 



1). (Jtudium, the Oarou-Bush, an evergreen with narrow sharp- 

 pointed erect light-green leaves, and branching clusters of white 

 TIT*** oowrni ' common plant in dry waste places in the south 

 of Europe. It will not live in the open air in England, except in the 



warmest counties. Both the berries and leaves are employed by the 

 French as purgatives. The plant also affords a good yellow dye. 



D. Oiteorum, a native of grassy places in the Alps of Switzerland 

 and the rest of Central Europe, with it trailing stems, numerous 

 small narrow blunt deep-green leaves, and clusters of rich pm-pli' 

 fragrant flowers, is one of the most beautiful of all plants, when it 

 finds a soil and climate that suit it At Bagshot, for instance, and in 

 similar situations, it is under good management quite unrivalled by 

 the other hardy shrubs among which it grows. It will not succeed 

 where the soil is otherwise than sandy and peaty, nor can it bear the 

 impure atmosphere of large towns. 



I), collina, 1). alpina, D. Neapolilana, and D. Tarlon-raira are other 

 species cultivated in gardens. The first has dull purple sweet-scented 

 flowers, and is sufficiently common in collections ; the others are rarer. 

 All are impatient of wet in winter ; but if at that season kept tolerably 

 dry will bear considerable frost, and are desirable garden plants in the 

 milder parts of England. 



In addition to the acrid and dangerous properties which appear 

 to be common to them all, some species are remarkable for the tough- 

 ness of their fibre, and for the economical purposes to which they are 

 applied. From J>. Cannabina is prepared the best kind of writing- 

 paper in China, according to Loureiro ; but it must be observed that 

 this statement, if true, is at variance with what is observed in Nepaul, 

 where the daphne-paper is very brittle and bad. 



D. Lagelta, the Lace-Bark-Tree of Jamaica, is most remarkable for 

 the tenacity of the fibre of which its bark consists, and for the facility 

 with which it may first be separated into thin layers and then into 

 distinct meshes. If the inner bark of this plant be macerated in 

 water it may be readily separated into layers no thicker than the 

 finest lace, and which after having been pulled a little sideways 

 resembles in some measure that fabric. King Charles II. is said to 

 have had a cravat, frill, and ruffles of Lace-Bark presented to him by 

 his governor of Jamaica. 



DAPHNIA, a genns of Entomostracous Cruttacea, belonging to the 

 division Branchiopoda, the order Cladocera, and is the type of the 

 family Dapkaiada. This genus is characterised by Baird as follows : 

 Head produced downwards into a more or less prominent beak. 

 Superior antennae exceedingly small, 1-jointed, and situated under the 

 beak ; inferior antenna; large and powerful 



Several other genera have been formed out of the species that were 

 formerly referred to the genus Daphnia. [BRANCHIOPODA.] 



D. Pulfx (Latreillc), the Water-Flea, is the best known species of 

 this genus. It is known by a multitude of names, the most common 

 of which is the Water-Flea, The whole of the species however have 

 this designation. The following are some of the synonyms : 



Monocviia Pulex, LinntEus. 

 Daphne pennata, Muller. 

 Daphnia ramota, Koch. 

 Pou Aquatique, Joblot 

 Cermet minimi rubri, Bennett 



Daphne Pulex, Muller. 

 Pulej- arborescent, Swammerdam. 

 Puceron Branchu, Trembley. 

 Le Perroquet d'Eau, Geoffrey. 

 Animaletti Aquatici, Kedi. 



This little creature forms a beautiful object for the microscope. Its 

 shell or carapace is transparent, and through it can be seen the whole 

 of its interior organisation. The lower extremity of the valves termi- 

 nates in a sharp spine, which is serrated at the edges. The head is 

 large; the superior antenna) are very small, whilst the inferior antenna; 

 are very large. The male is much smaller than the female, and is 

 comparatively rarely met with. It is found commonly in ponds and 

 ditches round London at all seasons of the year. It is frequent in 

 the cisterns which supply the houses of London with water. 



D. priltacea, Baird. It closely resembles the last species, but Dr. 

 Baird says, upon close examination, " The form of the head and the 

 serrated dorsal margin distinguish it very readily." 



D. Schaffcri, is a larger species than D. Pulex. It is about the 

 fifth of an inch in length and two lines broad. Their motion through 

 the water is peculiar, being a tumbling wavy sort of movement They 

 remain at the bottom of the water. They are very much infested 

 with species of Vortieella. 



D. reluta is common round London, and has a smaller head than 

 D. Pulex. It is the D. lima of Muller and A/onocuZiu niniu of Gmelin. 



There are three other species noticed by Dr. Baird in his ' British 

 Entomostraca.' D. rcticulata, D. rotunda, and D. mucronata. The 

 last is a rare species. 



(Baird, Natural Hillary of Sriliih Eniomottraca.) 



I'M'ILA [Ducss.] 



DA'PSUS, a genus of Coleopterous Insects. [Er/MORPHC&l 



DAPTKIUS. [FALCO.XID.E.] 



DA'PTUS (Fischer), a genus of Coleopterous Insects belonging to 

 the family Harpalidce. It has the following characters : Hentum 

 deeply emarginated and without any tooth-like process in the middle ; 

 antenna! rather short, and moniliform ; second joint of the labial julpi 

 somewhat oval ; four basal joints of the four anterior tarsi slightly 

 dilated, short, and triangular; body more or less elongated, the elytra 

 with their outer margins almost parallel 



l>. rittaJtu is of a pale yellowish colour, with an oblong block spot 

 on each elytron ; the head and thorax are more or less clouded with 

 brown or black in some specimens. 



This species is about a quarter of an inch in length, and inhabits 



