ABDOMINALE S A BERDEVINE. 



possible to establish this distinction in the apodal 

 larvse ; and if we admit in them a thorax and abdo- 

 men, that distinction rests on analogy only. We 

 may then assimilate that provisional state of the insect 

 to the permanent condition of the annelidon, and em- 

 ploy the term body to designate the whole animal, 

 without seeking to establish divisions which cannot 

 fall within our view. 



ABDOMINALES. A very numerous and interest- 

 ing order of MALACOPTERYGEOUS, or soft finned-fishes, 

 and the second in Cuvier's arrangement of the animal 

 kingdom. Their general external character as an 

 order is that of having the ventral fins attached to the 

 abdomen, behind the pectoral ones, and without being 

 attached to the bone of the shoulder. 



Though fishes, at least those of the soft-finncd 

 division, are classed from the position of their fins, the 

 influence of the differences of position, either upon 

 the character or the habits of the animal, is not very 

 well known. It may, however, be mentioned that the 

 abdominal fishes swim in shallower water than those 

 which have their fins in a more forward position or 

 wanting. Many of them inhabit the fresh waters ; 

 and those which are found in the sea avoid the deep 

 waters. The abdominal fins appear to keep the 

 body more steady in troubled waters than is done 

 by those which are situated anterior to the pectorals. 

 The order comprises many genera and species, which 

 may be arranged into the following families : 



CYPRINIDVE, the Carp family, Esoc^D^:,the Pike 

 family, SILURID^E, the Silure family, SALMONID.*, 

 the Salmon family ; and CLUFEAD^E, the- Herring 

 family. 



With the exception of the last family, these are 

 almost wholly fresh-water fishes ; and they are, gene- 

 rally speaking, wholesome and valuable as food. 



ABELE TREE (Populus alba, Linnaeus). A 

 large deciduous forest tree, indigenous to Britain, 



Abele Tree. 



belonging to the Linnaean class and order, D'urcia 

 Octandria. Generic character : Calyx one-leaved, five- 

 toothed, bellying , corolla five-petaled, irregularly 

 coloured, inserted into the calyx ; capsule three- 

 celled : seeds two, sub-globular, enclosed in a round- 

 ish-shaped capsule, opening with three valves. Natural 



order, Amentacece (male flowers like catkins) of 

 Jussieu. The height varying from GO to 100 feet. 



This is one of our largest British trees when on its 

 favourite soil, which is a dee'p bog or peat earth or a 

 calcareous gravel near the bank of a river or pond. It 

 luxuriates in a superstratum of porous decayed vege- 

 table matter. The roots send up numerous suckers ; 

 on which account the tree is injurious near gardens ; 

 and on pleasure grounds they are unsuitable, as well on 

 account of their suc\ers as for the labour they occasion 

 by the fall of their catkins in spring, and the early fall 

 of their leaves in autumn. Its growth is rajtid, but 

 the bole seldom exceeds forty or fifty feet in length. 

 The timber is inferior ; being light, mild in grain, yet 

 beautifully white. Though subject to the worm, if kept 

 perfectly dry it lasts many years as beams or rafters. 

 Notwithstanding the butts of aged trees are of large- 

 dimensions, they seldom turn out well at the sawpil. 

 The lower branches are liable to be broken ott' by 

 wind ; the stumps soon decay, and become a nest 

 for insects, the larvae of which are sought and bur- 

 rowed out by woodpeckers ; in the holes thus formed 

 the moisture enters, and a rotting cavity is Conned, ever 

 increasing downwards : hence the uns'oumlness of this 

 kind of timber. 



The abele cannot be recommended either as a tim- 

 ber or as an ornamental tree : but there are portions 

 of estates where nothing but alders and some sorts of 

 willows will thrive, which may be finely wooded by 

 planting this kind of poplar. The group represented 

 in the previous column must be familiar to many of 

 our readers, forming a beautiful ornament on the banks 

 of the Thames above Richmond. 



ABELMOSCHUS. The old trivial name of a 

 species of Hibiscus, and also the name applied to the 

 sixth section of that genus. 



ABERDEVINE, or EUROPEAN SISKIN (Carduelit 

 spinus, Cuvier ; Fringilla spinus, Linnaeus). A hand- 

 some little green and yellow finch, of the genus 

 or division to which the common goldfinch of this 

 country belongs. It is not quite so large as that bird, 

 and the tail is much shorter, the wings are rather 

 long, and are commonly held drooping. The bill is 

 of a pale brown, tipped with blackish brown ; the 

 iris of the eye dark hazel, appearing, unless closely 

 examined, black. The feathers on the crown of the 

 head and throat are, in the male, black ; but when 

 first put forth, at the general moult in the autumn, they 



(re edged with a greyish brown fringe, which gradu- 

 lly wears off on the approach of spring. Over each eye 

 is a streak of dingy primrose yellow ; the neck, back, 

 wings, and tail, olive-green ; paler, and more yellow, 

 on the lower parts of the back, towards the tail. 

 The feathers of the back and wings are marked down 

 the middle with a streak of dark blackish green ; the 

 sides of the head, throat, breast, and under parts, pale 

 wax yellow, inclining to sulphur yellow ; middle of the 

 parts below the breast very pale yellow colour, passing 

 into white ; across each wing are two bands of prim- 

 rose yellow, and between them one of black ; part of 

 the quill and tail feathers are edged with pale gamboge 

 yellow ; the legs and feet yellowish brown. The head 

 of the female is of a brownish colour, inclining to 

 grey where the male is black ; the cheeks and sides of 

 the neck olive-green ; and the rest of her plumage is 

 of a more dingy colour than in the male. Among 

 the females very pale varieties are not uncommon. 

 The young, as in most other birds in which the s< \i s 

 are dissimilar in plumage, resemble in their nestling 



