1H1 



GYPOGERAXUS. 



GYPSUM. 



1142 



figure, but is expressly mentioned in his detailed description, and, if 

 confirmed by future observation, is clearly indicative of a specific 

 distinction. Inhabits the Philippine Islands. Described and figured 

 in Sonnerat's ' Voyage a la Kouvelle Guinee,' p. 87, t. 50. 



The colours of the three species or varieties here indicated do not, 

 says Mr. Ogilby in conclusion, seem to be materially different in other 

 respects. 



Sonnerat commences hia description by saying that the Secretary is 

 not only found in the Philippines, but that it also inhabits Africa, and 

 is known at the Cape of Good Hope. He speaks of the bird as being 

 of the size of a turkey (Coq d'Indc), and as having the bill and feet 

 of the Gallinaceous Birds, but notices that the legs are denuded of 

 feathers to just above the knee. Of the accuracy of the description, 

 as far as the alleged gallinaceous bill and feet are concerned, the 

 student will have an opportunity of judging from the African speci- 

 mens in our museums, and the living bird in the menagerie of the 

 Zoological Society of London at the Regent's Park. But travellers 

 and collectors will do well to bear Mr. Ogilby's provisional distinctions 

 in mind ; for the foirn, as we have seen, is so interesting to zoologists, 

 that every modification of it must be considered of value. Speaking 

 of the manners of the bird described in the ' Voyage a la Nouvelle 

 Guin^c,' Sonnerat says that it is sociable, and lives in a state of 

 domesticity ; that it hunts rats, and might, in this point of view, 

 become useful in the colonies, where probably it would not be dif- 

 ficult to multiply it. Although he describes the bill and feet of the 

 Secretary as being those of the Gallinaceous Birds, he states that it 

 feeds on flesh, and ought consequently to be placed in the ranks of 

 the Birds of Prey, among which, he adds, it forms an entirely 

 insulated genus. 



Gypoyeranus is, as M. Lesson has stated, and as appears by its 

 skeleton, a true Bird of Prey, with long legs : the number of the 

 cervical vertebrae, an important feature according to the views of 

 some zoologists, is thirteen, the atlas included. It is difficult to draw 

 the line . between the dorsal and cervical vertebraj in birds ; but in 

 two skeletons of the Secretary in the museum of the Royal College 

 of Surgeons (No. 1207 and No. 1207o), there are nineteen vertebra, 

 counting from the ilium to the cranium, and of these thirteen may 

 be considered cervical, because in them the costal processes are 

 anchylosed. 



The following are the generic characters of this bird: Bill 

 rather slender, shorter than the head, strong, very much hooked, 

 curved nearly from its origin, and furnished with a cere at its base, 

 rather vaulted, compressed at the point ; nostrils placed at a small 

 distance from the base, lateral, pierced in the cere, diagonal, oblong, open. 

 Feet very long, slender, the tibia feathered, but not quite to what is 

 called (improperly) the knee behind, whilst the feathers come a 

 yery little below the joint before ; tarsus long, more slender below 

 than in its upper part ; toes short, warty below, the anterior toes 

 united at the base by a membrane; hind toe articulated upon the 

 tarsus. Wings long, armed with obtuse spurs ; the first five quills the 

 longest and nearly equal 



Bill of Secretary (Gypogerama Serpcntarius). 



M. Lesson says that a single species (African) (Fako Serpentarius, 

 GmeL) composes this genus, and that attempts have been made to 

 introduce the breed into the French sugar islands (Martinique,^ &c.), 

 in the hope that it might diminish the race of the formidable Trigo- 

 nocephalut, the Yellow Serpent of the Antilles (Trigonocephalm 

 lartceol'tlus, Opp.), the most dangerous reptile of those parts, six or 

 seven feet in length, and rivalling the Rattlesnake in the intensity of 

 its poison. 



Size, about three feet in length. Eye full, surrounded by a naked 

 skin, with a series of hairs beneath the overshadowing feathers in the 

 form of an eyebrow ; eyelashes long and strong. Plumage, when 

 perfect, for the most part bluish-gray, with a reddish-brown tinge on 

 the wings; greater quills black. Throat and breast nearly white; 

 rest of the under surface black, reddish, and white intermingled, the 

 plumage of the legs bright black, with a slight intermixture of brownish 

 rays. Occipital crest, which can be raised or depressed at pleasure, 

 consisting of feathers without barbs at the base, but spreading out as 

 they advance, and coloured of a mixed black and gray. Two middle 

 tail-feathers louge.it. 



Secretary (Gypogeranus Serpentariua). 



The Secretaries live in pairs, and do not collect in flocks ; they 

 build on high trees ; but if these are not to be had, in very close 

 thickets. They run with considerable swiftness, and are approached 

 with difficulty by the sportsman. 



At first sight this bird resembles the Cariama (Palamadca cristata), 

 but this is only an external resemblance, as their internal structure 

 and habits differ much. [^ARIAMA.] Both these birds are now to be 

 seen alive in the Gardens of the Zoological Society, Regent's Park. 1 



GYPS. [VULTCRIDA] 



GYPSOCALLIS (Don), a genus of Plants belonging to the natural 

 order Ericatew. It is one of the names proposed by David Don for 

 a section of the genus Erica. These genera have not been generally 

 adopted. (Don, Dichlamydeous Plants.) 



GYPSUM, a native Sulphate of Lime. It is called also in various 

 forms Selmite, Plaster of Paris, and Alabaster. It is monoclinate, and 

 crystallises usually in right rhomboidal prisms with beveled sides. It 

 has a hardness of 1'S to 2'0. Its specific gravity is 2'31 to 2'33. The 

 crystals are remarkably foliate in one direction and cleaving easily, 

 affording laminae that are flexible but not elastic. It occurs also in 

 laminated masses often of large size. It is found also in fibrous 

 masses with a satin lustre, in stellated or radiating forms consisting 

 of narrow lamina?, and also granular and compact. When pure and 

 crystallised it is quite clear and pellucid like glass, and has a pearly 

 lustre. It is sometimes gray, yellow, reddish, brownish, and even 

 black and opaque. It is composed of one atom of sulphuric acid and 

 one atom of lime. In its crystallised form it is combined with water, 

 thus: 



Sulphuric Acid . 46'3 



Lime . 32'9 



Water . 20'8 



100-0 



Its formula is S0 3 + CaO. Before the blow-pipe it becomes 

 instantly white and opaque, and exfoliates, and then falls to powder or 

 crumbles easily in the fingers. It fuses with difficulty, and presents 

 no action with acids. 



The following are its principal varieties : 



