385 



DORIPPE. 



DRABA. 



rounded by a broad flat edge. This plant is a native of Pr rsia, in the 

 plains of Yerdekahst and Kumisha in the province of Irak ; and near 

 the town of Jezud Khast in very dry plains and gravelly soil, exposed 

 to an ardent aun. This plant is one of those which yields gum armno- 

 niacuru, but it is probable that there are several species of plants which 

 yield this as well as the other gum-resins of the order Umbdliferce. 



(Lindley, Flora Medica.) 



DORIPPE (Fabricius), a genus of Brachyurous Decapod Ciiistacea 

 belonging to the sub-division which have the feet of the fourth and 

 fifth pairs elevated on the back and not terminated with paddles, and 

 the eyes supported upon simple peduncles (Notopoda). The genus is 

 adopted by Latreille, Lamarck, Leach, Bosc, and Risso : it is the 

 Notogastropta of Vosmaer, and was comprehended under the general 

 term Cancer by Linneeus, Herbst, Aldrovandus, and Plancus. It has 

 the following characters : External antenna; rather long, setaceous, 

 inserted above the intermediate ones, which are folded (plie'es), but 

 not entirely lodged in the cavities where they take their insertion ; 

 third joint of the external jaw-feet (pieds-mAchoires) straight, elon- 

 gated, terminated in a point; buccal opening triangular; claws (chelie) 

 small, short, equal ; the other feet very long and compressed, the 

 third pair being the greatest ; the last two pair elevated upon the 

 back, and terminated by a small hooked nail, which is folded back 

 upon the next joint. Carapace slightly depressed (the sides wider 

 posteriorly than they are anteriorly), truncated, and spinous before ; 

 truncated, sinuous, and bordered behind ; the surface marked with 

 small humps or tubercles, which correspond exactly to the regions 

 proper to the soft parts beneath. Two great oblique openings, ciliated 

 on their edges, communicating with the branchial cavity and situated 

 below the head, one at the right, the other at the left of the mouth. 

 Inferior and posterior part of the body truncated into a kind of gutter 

 to receive the reflected abdomen, the pieces of which are nodulous or 

 tuberculous. Eyes small, lateral, supported on rather long peduncles, 

 placed near the angles of the head, and protected by its angular pro- 

 jections, which form the edges of their orbits. (Desmarest.) 



The Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, and Manilla, are among the 

 localities in which the species have been found. They haunt great 

 depths in the sea, nor has it yet been proved whether they make use 

 of the feet elevated on the back to cover themselves like the Dromita 

 with foreign bodies. It is however very probable that such is their use. 



D. lanata, Latreille, Lamarck; D. Facchino, Risso ; Cancer lanatm, 

 Linmcus ; 6'. hinutui aliut, Aldrovandus. 



It has four dentations in the front and a very strong lateral point, 

 forming at the same time the angle of the head and the external bor- 

 der of the orbit. A short point on the middle of each side of the 

 carapace. Anterior border of the thighs of the second and third pair 

 of feet without spines. Fingers of the chelae compressed and arched 

 within, having their internal edge armed with a series of dentilationa, 

 which are rather strong, oblique, equal, and white. Body often 

 covered with reddish down. 



Dorippe laiinfft. 

 a, external left jaw-foot. 



It inhabits the Mediterranean and the Adriatic seas. The inha- 

 bitants of Rimini call it Facchino. (Desmarest.) 



Foetil Dorippe. 



Desmarest (' Histoire Nnturelle des Crustacea Fossiles,' 1822) 

 describes a species, D. Riaoana, which has some resemblance to the 

 species above 6gured and described, and still more to the crab figured 

 by Herbst under the name of Cancer Frascone ; and above all to a 

 species brought from Australia by P(5ron, and named D, nodota. 

 Desmarest observes that he is the more inclined to consider it as 

 approaching very near to this last, inasmuch as he had thought that 

 the specimen which he had described might not be in reality fossil. 

 In fact, he adds, that though brown and shining, like the fossil crabs 

 which come from the East Indies, it is much lighter, more friable, 

 and not so much imbedded in the clay as they are. In his ' Considd- 

 ratioiu Qe'ue'rales gur la Classe des Crustaces ' (1825) he describes the 

 Dorippe a Quatre Dents with the synonyms D. quadrident, Fabr. 

 Latr. ; D. nodoia, Coll. du Mus. ; Cancer Frascone, Herbst. " This 

 />'ii';,./i'. from the East Indies," he adds, " has lately been brought 



HAT. HIST. DIV. VOL. It 



from Manilla by M. Marion de Proce. It so much resembles a species 

 which I have described with doubt as fossil, that I know not how 

 precisely to point out the difference. This species belongs to M. 

 Defrance, who has stated its characters in the article ' Dorippe ' 

 (fossil) of the ' Diet, des Sciences Naturelles.' " 



DORIS. [NUDIBRANCHIATA.] 



DORO'NICUM, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Compositce, to the sub-order Corymb if era, the tribe Senecionidce, and 

 the section Senecionece. It has the florets of the ray ligulate and pis- 

 tiliferous ; those of the disc tubular, with both stamens and pistils ; 

 the involucre hemispherical, of 2 or 3 rows of equal scales ; the pappus 

 pilose, wanting in the ray. The species are deciduous herbaceous 

 plants. Two are natives of Great Britain. 



D. pardaKanch.ee, with cordate denticulate leaves. It has a stem 

 from 2 to 3 feet in height, erect, solitary, hollow, and hairy. It is a 

 rare plant, and found in damp and hilly woods and pastures. It has 

 its specific name from ire!p5a\is, a tiger, and &yx f '"> to strangle, on ac- 

 count of the use said formerly to have been made of the plant for the 

 purpose of destroying wild animals. With the species of Arnica and 

 other plants of the order it has the common name of Leopard's Bane. 



D. plantaginerum, the second British species, has ovate leaves, arid 

 the stem-leaves clasping. It attains about the same height as the last, 

 and its flowers are also yellow. D. scorpioidee, D. Caucasicvm, D. Aus- 

 triacum, and D. pardalianckea are natives of the continent of Europe. 



(Koch, Flora Germanica ; Babington, Manual of Botany.) 



DORR-HAWK. [GOATSUCKERS.] 



DORSATI. [AMMONITES.] 



DORSIBRANCHIA'TA, Cuvier's appellation for the second order 

 of Annelides, which have their organs, and especially their branchia;, 

 distributed nearly equally along the whole of their body, or at least a 

 part. Chloeia (Savigny) and Cirratvlui (Lamarck), with many other 

 genera, belong to this order. [ANNELIDA.] 



DORSTE'NIA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order 

 Urticacece. The roots of several species of this genus are all con- 

 founded under the appellation of Contrayerva Root ; but as they all 

 possess nearly the same chemical composition and properties, it is of 

 little importance which particular species yields what is used. Indeed 

 by the time the root reaches Europe whatever virtues it originally 

 possessed are lost, so that it has scarcely any sensible qualities, and 

 very little effect on the system. It consists of volatile oil, extractive, 

 and starch. The first of these gives it some power over the nervous 

 system, should it not have been dissipated by time. Hence it is 

 recommended in the low stages of fever, especially of children ; but 

 Serpentaria Root may at all -times be advantageously substituted for 

 it. Contrayerva signifies antidote, and it was at one time supposed to 

 be an antidote to all poisons, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, 

 except mercury. 



DORY. [ZEUS.] 



DOTO. [NUDIBRAXCHIATA.] 



DOTTEREL. [CHAHADHIAD.E.] 



DOUCKER. [C'OLYMBID-B.] 



DOUM. [DOOM.] 



DOURA. [SORGHUM.] 



DOVES. [COLUMBID*;.] 



DOWN, the fine hair of plants, is a cellular expansion of the cuticle, 

 consisting of attenuated thin semi-transparent hairs, either simple or 

 jointed end to end, or even branched, as in the Mullein. When 

 attached to seeds, it enables them to be buoyed up in the air and 

 transported from place to place. When covering the external surface 

 of a plant it acts as a protection against extremes of temperature, 

 and probably as a means of absorbing moisture from the air. 



DRABA, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural order Crucifenv, 

 the sub-order Lataeptif, and the tribe A lysainece. It has an oval or 

 oblong pouch, slightly convex, the seeds many in each cell, not mar- 

 gined, in two rows, the filaments simple. The species are perennial 

 or annual branched herbs, with linear oblong or ovate leaves, yellow 

 or white flowers. 



D. rerna, common Whitlow-Grass, has a leafless scape, glabrous 

 above, with lanceolate acute attenuated leaves, hairy below, the petals 

 deeply cloven, the pouch oblong, shorter than its pedicel. It is an 

 exceedingly common plant, ornamenting old walls and dry banks in 

 the spring before other flowers make their appearance. It is found 

 throughout Europe, and is most abundant in Great Britain. It is the 

 ErophUa rerna of De Candolle. 



1). aizoon. Evergreen Whitlow-Grass, has naked smooth scapes, 

 linear acute keeled stiff ciliated leaven, the style as broad as the hairy 

 pod, but one-half shorter. It is a native of Bavaria, Austria, Hun- 

 gary, Transylvania, and the Carpathian Mountains, particularly on 

 Mount Chocsz. 



D. aizoides has a leafless glabrous scape, with linear rigid acuto 

 keeled glabrous ciliated leaves, the stamens as long as the slightly- 

 notched petals, the style elongated. It is a native of gravelly soils in 

 almost every country of Europe. It is a rare plant in Great Britain, 

 and has been found on rocks and walls at Pennard Castle, near Swan- 

 sea. The other British species are D. rupatrii, a rare plant found 

 on mountains in Scotland ; D. incana, also a mountainous species ; 

 and D. muralia, found on the shady sides of rocks, walls, and moun- 

 tains, but it is a rare plant in Great Britain. 



2 



