B L E 



513 



B L I 



and frequent rocky coasts, where they may often be foun 

 in the pools of water left by the tide, hiding themselve 

 among the weeds and in the crevices of the rocks. 



The genus Blennius of Linnaeus, in Cuvier's Regne Ani 

 mat, is divided into the following subgenera: Myxodes 

 Salarias, Ctinus, Cirrhibarba, Muramoides, Opistogna 

 thus, and Zoarcus ; which will be noticed under the prope 

 heads. At present we confine ourselves to the Blennies 

 properly so called, of which, according to Mr. Yarrell 

 we have five species frequenting our coasts. The first, B 

 Mnntagui (Montagu's Blenny), is generally of an olive 

 green above, spotted with pale-blue shaded to white ; belly 

 white, pectoral fins spotted with orange. The head, viewed 

 laterally, forms an obtuse angle in front, and is furnisher 

 with a transverse conic or angular fimbriated crest. The 

 dorsal fin has thirty rays, pectoral twelve, ventral two, ana 

 (which extends from the vent to the tail) eighteen, and the 

 caudal (which is rounded) fourteen. It is found on the 

 south coast of Devon. 



[Blennius ocellaria.] 



B. ocellaris (the ocellated Blenny, or Butterfly-fish) is 

 scarcely three inches long, the head is rounded, the part 

 anterior to the eyes very short, and above the eyes two 

 slender fimbriated appendages are situated ; body elongate, 

 dorsal fin extending from the back part of the head to the 

 tail, and consists of twenty-six rays, of which the first is 

 considerably longer than the rest, the nine following dimi- 

 nish in length to the eleventh, which is shortest, the twelfth 

 nearly double the length of the last, from this the remaining 

 rnys gradually increase in length to about half-way, and 

 then decrease towards the tail ; a large dark-brown spot 

 extends from the sixth to the ninth ray. The pectoral fins 

 have each twelve rays, ventral two, anal seventeen, and 

 caudal eleven. The body is of a pale-brown colour, varied 

 with patches of a deeper hue ; the pectoral and ventral fins 

 arc darker than the others. This species frequents the 

 coast of Devonshire and elsewhere, but is not common. 



B. gattorugiae (the gattoruginous Blenny) is about five 

 or six inches in length ; it is elongate, rather robust ante- 

 riorly, the forehead slopes considerably from the posterior 

 part to the anterior ; the head is grooved between the eyes, 

 and furnished with two branched membranes situated just 

 above the eyelids, the dorsal fin extends from the back part 

 of the head to the tail, the central part is very slightly nar- 

 rower than the rest. The fins and body are of a dark red- 

 dish-brown colour, the belly and hinder portion of the former 

 is of a paler brown. The dorsal fin has thirty-three rays, 

 the pectoral fins are broad and rounded, and have each 

 fourteen, the ventral fin two, and the anal twenty-three ; 

 the tail is slightly rounded, and has eleven rays. It has 

 been found in Poole Harbour and other parts : not common. 



B. pholis (the Shanny). In this species all the rays of 

 the dorsal fin are nearly of equal length, except the eleventh 

 and twelfth (which are short) ; the number of these rays is 

 thirty-one, pectoral thirteen, ventral two, anal nineteen, 

 caudal eleven ; the colour is very variable, but consists of 

 shades of brown. B. pholis may however be readily distin- 

 guished from any of the known British species by the ab- 

 sence of the appendages on the head. 



B, palmicornis (the crested Blenny). This species may 

 be known by its elongated even shape, the uniform length 

 of the rays of the dorsal fin, the form of the tail (which has 

 the external rays shortest, the others increasing in length 

 to the middle, thus being somewhat lanceolate in shape), 

 and the four appendages of the head which are all fimbri- 

 cated; two of these appendages are placed one ovei each 

 rye, and connected by a transverse fold of skin ; behind 

 these are placed the other pair, which are of a larger size ; 



the fin rays are, dorsal fifty-one, pectoral fourteen, ventral 



three, anal thirty-six, and caudal sixteen. 



This species appears to be very rare on our coasts. (Sea 



Yarrell s History of British Fishes.) 

 BLE'PHARIS, in Entomology, a subgenus allied to 



Mantis^ belonging to the order Orthnptera. 



BLE'PHARIS, a genus of Acanthopteryginus fishes 

 which according to Cuvier belongs to the seventh family of 

 that tribe, called Scomberoides. They may be distin- 

 guished by their having long filaments to their second 

 dorsal, and to their anal fin rays, ventrals much prolonged 

 the spines of the first hardly piercing the skin ; body "ele- 

 vated, the profile with the ordinary degree of curvature. 



BLE'PSIAS, a genus of Acanthopterygiuus fishes, be- 

 longing to the section having hard cheeks. Of this genus 

 but one species (Villosus) is known, which belongs to the 

 Aleutian Islands. Generic characters: head compressed, 

 cheeks mailed, fleshy barbels under the lower jaw, gills 

 with five rays ; one dorsal fin divided into three unequal 

 lobes ; ventral fin very small. 



BLE'SOIS, LE, the district of which Blois was the capi- 

 tal. [See BLOIS.] 



BLETHI'S A (Bonelli), a genus of Coleopterous insects, by 

 some authors associated with the family Harpalidce, and by 

 others with the Elaphridfe. It is our opinion that the former 

 classification is more correct, and that the latter family is irot 

 a natural one. Generic characters : head large, eyes slightly 

 prominent, mandibles obscurely toothed: palpi with the two 

 terminal joints of equal length, the terminal rather ovate, 

 truncated at the apex ; mentum emarginate anteriorly, the 

 emargination with an obscure bifid lobe ; antenna) short, 

 the three basal and base of the fourth joints naked ; thorax 

 rather short, rounded at the sides ; elytra elongated, very 

 convex and impressed with numerous small excavations; 

 anterior tarsi of the male with four slightly dilated joints. 



Of this beautiful genus but one species has been found in 



his country, Blethisa multipunctata ; and apparently only 



wo others are yet known on the continent. The species 



ust named frequents marshy situations, and is often found 



:rawling upon willow-trees ; it is about half an inch long, 



and of a rich bronze or brassy hue, by which characters, 



combined with the numerous indented points on the elytra, 



t may easily be distinguished. 



BLIGH, WILLIAM, the commander of the ship Bounty 

 at the time when she was piratically seized in the South 

 Seas. 



The description given by Captain Cook of the bread-fruit 

 nd edible fruits of various descriptions in the South Sea 

 slands induced a number of the West India merchants 

 o take measures for introducing them into the West India 

 olonies. On the advantages likely to result from such a de 

 ign being strongly represented to George III., orders were 

 r iven to prepare a vessel for the purpose. The arrangements 

 'ere superintended by Sir Joseph Banks, who christened 

 he vessel' the Bounty.' Bligb, then a lieutenant, who had 

 Iready sailed with Cook in those quarters, was appointed 

 o the command, and sailed from Spithead for Otaheite on 

 he 23rd December, 1787. On the 26th of October follow- 

 ng they reached their destination, and remained at the 

 sland until April 4th, 1789, the crew enjoying the most 

 nreserved intercourse with the natives during the whole 

 f this long period. 



Lieutenant Bligh, in his journal dated March 31st, says, 

 To-day all the plants were on board, being in 774 pots, 39 

 ubs, and 24 boxes. The number of bread-fruit plants was 

 015, besides which we had collected a number of other 

 lants ; the avee, which is one of the finest-flavoured fruits 

 n the world; the ayyah, which is a fruit not so rich, but of 



fine flavour and very refreshing ; the raltah, not much 

 nlike a chestnut, which grows on a large tree in great 

 uantities ; they are singly in large pods, from one to two 

 nches broad, and may be eaten raw or boiled in the same 

 manner as Windsor beans, and so dressed are equally good ; 

 lie orai-ab, which is a very superior kind of plantain.' 

 lie whole were under the care of competent persons chosen 

 y Sir Joseph Banks. Laden with these valuable plants 

 lie vessel proceeded on her voyage to Jamaica. On the. 

 norning of the 28th of April the captain was seized in his 

 abin, while asleep, by Mr. Christian, who was the officer of 

 :ic watch, and three other individuals ; his hands were tied 

 ehind him, and he was threatened with instant death 

 ' he gave the least alarm. The mutineers then brought 

 im on deck in his shirt, and gave orders for the boat to be 



NO. 209. 



[THE PENNY CYCLOPAEDIA.! 



VOL. IV.-3 U 



