KRYSIPHE. 



ERYTHBONnnt 





Wul<lkn.>lil.ich, lUmfen, Rnm!.ch,-lwur7.-l, Gernsel, Salsekraut, Sta- 

 kraut. In French it has the name* 1,'Alliare, L'Herbe nux Ailleta, ftc. 

 Although not often found on the tables of the middle or upper clones, 

 Mr. Nrill sayn, that " when gathered as it approaches the flowering 

 state, boiled separately, and then eaten to boiled mutton, it certainly 

 forms a moat desirable pot-herb, and to any kind of Baited meat an 

 excellent green." Linmcus says that sheep and com and poultry eat 

 H, bat that horses and goats refuse it. When enten by cows it gives 

 a disagreeable flavour to the milk. Poultry also which eat it have a 

 bad flavour when cooked. The seeds when powdered produce 

 netning, and have been employed as a sternutatory. The leaves 

 wen formerly used as a diaphoretic, and a poultice of them was 

 recommended as an antiseptic in gangrenous and cancerous ulcerations. 



A second species of Alliaria has been described as A. brachycarpa, 

 a native of Iberia. 



. ckeinmthoidei, Worm -Seed, Treacle Mustard, has oblong- 

 lanceolate leaves, slightly toothed, with stellate three-parted hairs, all 

 narrowed into a slight footstalk, the pedicles longer than the calyx, 

 two or three times shorter than the pods ; the pods patent, ascending'; 

 the seeds small, numerous. It is a native of Europe, also of North 

 America. It is found not uncommonly in Great Britain ; it inhabits 

 cultivated ground, waste places, and osier holts. It varies greatly in 

 size according to situation. The flowers are very numerous, small, 

 and yellow. It has obtained its name Worm-Seed from the fact of its 

 seeds being sometimes used as a remedy for intestinal worms. It was 

 also formerly employed as an ingredient in the famous Venice Treacle, 

 and hence the whole genus have been called Treacle-Mustard. 

 Babington marks this and all other species of Erytimnm as plants that 

 have been possibly introduced into Great Britain, though now looking 

 very like true natives. 



a, tiryatuin has linear lanceolate leaves, entire, with stellate two- or 

 three-parted hairs, the lower ones narrowed into a footstalk, the 

 upper leaves mostly sessile, the pedicles as long as the calyx, many 

 times shorter than the pod, the pod erect, the seeds large. It is found 

 in Great Britain plentifully ntjar Bath. It is also a native of the Alps 

 and of Holland.-. 



E. orientalt has elliptical heart-shaped obtuse leaves clasping the 

 stem, the radical leaves obovate, all smooth, glaucous, undivided, 

 entire. This is the Coringia orientalit of Andrzeijowski, and E. 

 nlpinnm of Baumgartner, and Brauica alpina of Linn.Tus. It is a 

 native of the south of Europe, and is found in England and Ireland, 

 in fields and cliffs near the sea. It has white or cream-coloured 

 flowers. There are about fifty species of Erysimum, most of them 

 natives of Europe, and n few in the temperate districts of Asia, Africa, 

 and America. Some of them are ornamental and worthy of culti- 

 vation. The perennial herbaceous species are well adapted for the 

 flower-border, and may be grown in any common garden soil. The 

 smaller species may be employed for ornamenting rock-work, and 

 many of them may be grown in pots with other alpine plants. The 

 perennial species may be propagated by cuttings, by dividing the roots, 

 or by seeds. The annual and biennial species may be sown in the 

 open ground. 



(Babington, Manual of Britith Botany; Don, DiMamydeouf Plants ; 

 Sowerby, Englith Botany.) 



KKYSIPHE. [Ft'.xoi.] 



EHYTHACA, a genus of Birds belonging to the family SylvMUx, 

 the order InttMora, having the following characters : Beak rather 

 broad and depressed at the base, becoming narrower towards the 

 point, and slightly compressed; upper mandible deflected and 

 notched. Nostrils basal, lateral, oval, pierced in a membrane partly 

 hid by feathers and hairs projecting from the base of the beak. 

 Wings rounded ; the three exterior quills graduated; the first only 

 half as long as the second, which is shorter than the third ; the 

 fourth, fifth, and sixth longer than the third ; the fifth the longest in 

 the wing. The tarsus longer than the middle toe ; the lateral toes 

 nearly equal to each other in length ; the outer toe united at its 

 base to the middle toe ; the claw of the hind toe longer and stronger 

 than the others. 



E. rvbccula, Syltia rubecitia, .Votacilla rubtcula, the Robin 

 Red-Breast, Robin-Redstart, Robinet, Ruddock, is so generally 

 distributed over the British Islands, and so universal a favourite, 

 that all are sufficiently interested in the bird to make themselves 

 acquainted with its habits. These may be observed in any garden, 

 lifld, or wood, for there is scarcely a hedge without its Robin 

 inhabitant, and if Knbins appear to be more numerous in winter than 

 in summer, it is partly owing to the state of vegetation at the former 

 season, which leaves them more exposed to observation, and partly 

 because they resort to the habitations of men for food, when other 

 means of supply fail The song of the Robin is sweet and plaintive, 

 I. ut not very powerful. Mr. White of Selbome, says, "The robin 

 sing* all through the year. The reason that he is called an 

 autumn songster is, because in tbo spring- and summer his voice 

 is lost in the general chorus, while in the autumn it becomes 

 distinguishable.^ 



The Robin is one of the latest birds to retire to rest, and the 

 earliest to be seen moving in the morning, requiring apparently but 

 Itt* -:. M .. 



This bird i very easily tamed, noon becomes familiar with those 



who feed it, and constantly build* its nest in places frequented 

 by man. 



Mr. Blackwall relates that a pair of Robins built their nest in a 

 small saw-pit. Soon after the lieu hnd begun to sit the sawing of 

 timber was commenced at this pit, and though this noisy occupation 

 was carried on every day close to the nest during the hatching of 

 the eggs and rearing of the young birds, the old birds exhibited no 

 signs of alarm or interruption. These birds exhibit great attachment 

 to each other, and many instances have been related to prove that 

 they pair for life. With all his interesting qualities the Robin is 

 one of the most pugnacious of birds, and not only maintains his right 

 against all intruders, but is said to kill those of his own fumily 

 when they become troublesome to him. Robins breed early in the 

 spring. The nest is composed of moss, dead leaves, and dried grass, 

 lined with hair, and sometimes a few feathers ; it is frequently placed 

 on a bank sheltered by brushwood, or a short distance above the 

 ground in a thick bush or lone hedge, sometimes in a hole of a wall 

 partly covered with ivy. The eggs are from five to seven in number, 

 white, spotted with pale reddish-brown ; the length nine lines and a 

 half, by seven lines and a half in breadth. The bird is found all 

 over England, Ireland, and Wales, it is also an inhabitant of the 

 most northern counties of Scotland. It also visits Denmark and 

 Sweden in the breeding season ; and so well does it bear cold weather, 

 that among the summer visitors to the latter country, the Robin is 

 one of the first to come and the last to go. 



It is a constant resident throughout the year in all the temperate 

 and warmer ports of Europe, abundant in Spain and Italy, Sicily, 

 and Malta, 



In the adult bird the beak and hides are black ; upper part of the 

 head, neck, back, upper tail-coverte, and tail-feathers, a yellowish 

 olive-brown ; quill-feathers rather darker, the outer edges olive- 

 brown ; greater wing-coverts tipped with buff, over the base of the 

 beak, round the eye, the chin, the throat, and the upper part of the 

 breast, reddish-orange, encircling this red is a narrow band of bluish- 

 gray, which is broadest near the shoulders ; lower part of the breast 

 and belly white ; sides, flanks, and under tail-coverts, pale brown ; 

 under surface of wing and tail-feathers dusky gray ; legs, toes, and 

 claws, purple brown. The whole length of the bird is 5J inches. 

 The female is not quite so large as the nmlc, and her colours are 

 less bright. The young birds, after their first autumn moult, 

 resemble adult females ; but the red of the breast is tinged with 

 orange, and the legs ore dark brown. The Red-Breast is subject to 

 variation in the colouring of the plumage. White and partly white 

 varieties are not uncommon. 



(Ynrrell, Britiih Bird* ; MacGillivrny, Mnntml / British Bird*.) 



ERYTHR^EA, a pretty genus of annual Plants belonging to the 

 natural order Gentianacar, and inhabiting dry sandy places in Great 

 Britain and other parts of Europe, especially near the sea, 



E. pulchella has an erect, much branched, acutely quadrangular 

 stem ; the leaves ovate, the uppermost oblong-lanceolate ; flowers, all 

 stalked, axillary, and terminal, the calyx rather shorter thau the 

 tube of the opening corolla, the lobes of the corolla elliptic oblong, 

 obtuse. The inflorescence is forked, the lateral flowers distant from 

 the floral leaves. It is found in sandy ground in England. 



. Centanrium, Common, or Lesser Centaury, has on erect branched 

 stem, elliptic oblong leaves, the upper ones acute; flowers nearly 

 sessile, corymbosely panicled ; the calyx not half as long as the tube 

 of the opening corolla ; the lobes of the corolla oval. It is found in 

 dry postures in Great Britain. It flowers in August, at which time 

 it is to be collected. The whole plant is taken up. It has a square 

 stem, with opposite entire 3-ncrved leaves. It is devoid of odour; 

 the taste is strongly bitter, but not unpleasant : 100 parts of the 

 fresh herb dry into 47; 10 Ibs. of the dry herb yield by a single 

 decoction 3 Ibs. of extract. It contains a principle called Centaurin, 

 which at present is known only as a dark brown extract-like mass ; 

 but which, united with hydrochloric acid, furnishes an excellent 

 febrifuge medicine. As a bitter, it suits irritable systems better 

 than any article of that class of medicines, and is therefore to 

 be preferred. In other respects it has the general properties of 

 bitter tonics. 



/,'. latifolia and K. lUtoralu are both British species of this genus, 

 found near the sea-shore. All the species are extremely bitter, nn.l 

 are collected by the country people under the name of Centaury as a 

 substitute for Gentian in domestic medicine. 



KKYTHRI'NA, a genus of Tropical Trees and Tuberous Herbs 

 belonging to the natural order Letfumtnoi(e. The species have ternate 

 leaves and clusters of very large loug flowers, which are usually of tho 

 brightest-red ; whence the species have gained the name of Coral- 

 Trees. Frequently their stem is defended by stiff prickles. They 

 occur in the warmer parts of the Old and New World. An Indian 

 species, . mcmotpcrma, is said to yield gum-lac. Do Candolle mentions 

 32 species ; of which E. Cruta Galli is commonly cultivated in green- 

 houses for tho sake of its splendid blossoms. 



ERYTHRINUS, a genus of Tropical Fishes belonging to the family 

 "//r. 



ERYTHRO'NIUM, a genus of Plants belonging to the natural 

 order Liliacerr. E. Dent Canit, a pretty little bulbous plant (whose 

 name, Englished Dog's-Tooth Violet, is derived from the form of its 



