A C I S A C O N T I A. 



ACIOTIS (D. Don). Hothouse under shrubs. 

 Litnuuaii class and order, Decandria Monogynia ; 

 Natural order, Mclastoniaceee. Of this genus there 

 are two species, viz. A. discolor, various coloured ; 

 and, A. ayuatica, aquatic ; both formerly belonged 

 to Melastoma. 



A CIS (Salisbury). Bulbous-stemmed perennial 

 plants, from the South of Europe. Linniean class and 

 order, Hcxandria Monogynia; Natural order, Ama- 

 ri/llult(C. Of this family there are five species. 



ACISANTHERA (Jussieu). An evergreen hot- 

 house shrub, a native of Jamaica. Limuean class and 

 order, Decandria Monogyniu ; Natural order, Mc/ns- 

 tomaceie. G eneric character : Calyx ventricose ; corolla 

 of five petals ; stamens six, vacillating ; capsule 

 crowned by the calyx, many-seeded. 



ACMADENIA. (Wendland.) An evergreen 

 green-house shrub, from the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Linnsean class and order, Pentandria Monogynia; 

 Natural order, Rutaceas, 



ACMELLA (Richards). Biennial and annual 

 hothouse herbs, natives of warm latitudes. Lin- 

 nsean class and order, Syngencsia superflua ; Natural 

 order, Coipositce. Species, three. 



ACMENA (Decandolle). An evergreen orna- 

 mental shrub, native of New Holland. Linnaean class 

 and order, Icosandria Di-Pentagynia ; Natural order, 

 Myrlncece. 



ACNIDA (Linnaeus). Virginian hemp j an uncul- 

 tivated annual herb, native of North America. Linnaean 

 class and order, Dicscia Hcxandria ; Natural order, 

 CkenopodecB. Generic character : Calyx of the male 

 flowers in five deep divisions, from the bottom of 

 which rise five stamens ; those of the female jHowers 

 are in two divisions, and almost surrounded by an 

 involucrum of several leaflets ; ovary crowned by 

 from three to five sessile stigmas. 



ACONITUM (Linnaeus). An extensive genus of 

 hardy herbaceous plants, natives of Europe. Lin- 

 naean class and order, Polyandria Trigynia ; Natural 

 Order, Ranunculaccce. Generic character : Calyxn one ; 

 corolla, five-petaled, upper ones arched ; nectaria two, 

 pedunculed, recurved ; pods from three to five. There 

 are above 100 species, arranged into four divisions, 

 founded on the varied structure of the flowers, number 

 of seed vessels, &c. The roots are tuberous ; anc 

 many of them are very dangerous poisons. The 

 monkshood of our flower borders (A. napellus) is one 

 of the most common and showy, and one in which 

 the deleterious principle abounds. The plants of this 

 genus are very generally distributed, being found in 

 North and South America,Siberia, and Japan; Richards 

 divides them into four sections, founded on their mode 

 of flowering, &c. 



This poisonous body is of an alkaline character 

 and we are indebted to Professor Brande for its firs 

 discovery. As this vegetable poison is likely to be 

 taken through mistake, it may be advisable to poin 

 out the symptoms which rapidly follow its absorption 

 in the stomach. It is usually attended by violen 

 vomiting and diarrhoea, and the best remedy is tc 

 evacuate the stomach by large draughts of tepi< 

 water, and then to take repeated doses of olive oi 

 and milk. 



ACONTIA (Dart Snake). A genus of ophidian 

 rept'.les, very judiciously separated by Cuvier frorr 

 the genus Angids, or the snakes properly so called. It 

 their organisation they are intermediate between tlu 

 snakes and the true serpents. Like the former, they ar< 



erfectly harmless, entirely destitute of poiaon fangs ; 

 lave the teeth very minute, and are incapable of either 

 tilling a large animal or swallowing any thing of much 

 ize ; but they want those parts of the skeleton which 

 ender the snakes, properly so called, a sort of lizard'; 

 vithout external feet. (See ANOUIB.) They have no 

 scapular bones, not even the rudiment of a pelvis ; 

 and, instead of a sternum, or breast bone, their ante- 

 rior ribs are united by cartilages. The head has the 

 structure of that of the lizards ; and, as in them, the 

 ,yhole body is covered with small scales, and without. 

 ;hose bony plates Which fence the under part, and at 

 the same time serve as organs of locomotion in the 

 true serpents. 



This'genus are usually of but small si/e, gentle and 

 timid in their manners ; but not destitute of courage 

 ,vhen pursued. Their mode of defence is to dart their 

 whole body vvith.considerable force airainst their assail- 

 ants ; but they do not resort to that if they can conceal 

 themselves, and escape even with wounds. Their 

 mode of progressive motion is a curious one ; it is 

 neither, strictly speaking, a crawl, as in the true 

 serpents, nor a walk even that sort of wrigtrling walk 

 which snakes use by the help of the scapular bones, 

 the sternum, and the pelvis, though destitute of feet. 

 They carry the head and anterior part of the- body 

 erect, and work their way by means of a sort of 

 wriggling motion of the rest of it. That, and their 

 resemblance at a distance to some of the venomous 

 serpents which are found in the same countries, cause 

 them to be disliked and persecuted, just as the com- 

 mon and equally harmless snakes in this country arc, 

 because the viper is venomous, and they happen to 

 have something of the same shape. 



The species of these harmless reptiles are numer- 

 ous, and distributed over many of the warmer and 

 especially the more arid parts of Africa and Asia. In 

 the former continent they are met with in most regions 

 suited to their habits, from the shores of the Mediter- 

 ranean to the Cape of Good Hope ; and in the latter, 

 they range from the Isthmus of Suez to China. In 

 no place, and in no species, however, have they any 

 formidable weapons to use, either against man or 

 against any other animal of even moderate size. 

 Their food consists of worms, and insects and their 

 larvae ; and it is understood that they render con- 

 siderable service to the people of the countries which 

 they inhabit, by destroying noxious species, such as 

 the locust and the white ant. 



The accounts of these harmles t s creatures, which 

 have been handed down in the writings of the poets, 

 the historians, and even the naturalists of antiquity, 

 may serve to teach a little caution in crediting what 

 the same parties have recorded upon other matters. 

 According to some, they could project themselves 

 with so much velocity, as to pierce and transfix those 

 against whom their motion was directed, as if they 

 had been arrows shot from a bow, or javelins launched 

 from the most powerful engines of ancient war ; ac- 

 cording to others, their bite was the most venomous 

 of all the serpent race, and neither medicine nor charm 

 could prevent its fatal effects ; and yet these reptiles 

 were then, as they are now, incapable of killing even a 

 small animal. It is, of course, not known to which of the 

 species those accounts allude ; and it is evident that 

 they have combined in their descriptions all the species 

 of serpents, whether poisonous or not, of which there 

 was even a rumour. All species that have the struc- 

 ture alluded to are, however, alike harmless ; all have 



