34 



ADDER'S T O N G U E A D E O N A. 



discovered by him in that great bone repository, the 

 gypsous formation of Montmartre. 



In few instances could we point out a more illustra- 

 tive example of the application of his favourite hypo- 

 thesis, which he calls "laloides correlations dcs formes" 

 or that of Harmony of Forms ; the proper application 

 of which enabled that illustrious naturalist and other 

 anatomists to restore, and as it were repeople, the 

 earth with animals which have long since disappeared 

 from its surface. 



Three portions of the head only have as yet been 

 discovered among the multitudinous bones obtained 

 from the plaster quarries ; yet these alone, from their 

 contour land dentition, are sufficient, when applied 

 to the analogical test of the law before spoken of, to 

 determine characters sufficient to distinguish them 

 from any known animal either recent or fossil. 



This animal may at once be distinguished by the 

 following characters : Its general form must have 

 assimilated to the hedge-hog, but larger; each jaw 

 was furnished with four incisors, trenchant, and rather 

 oblique, with conical canine teeth above and below, 

 thicker and more projecting than the other teeth ; the 

 tooth a straight one, the lower oblique and couched 

 forwards. The " molar teeth appear to have been 

 fourteen in each jaw; six were discovered in one side 

 of the upper jaw, the first trenchant, the second en- 

 circled by a crest, the third apparently so ; the other 

 three like the posterior molars of the Anoplotherium. 

 In the lower jaw, the two first molars are pointed 

 and trenchant; the third similar, but longer and 

 wider ; the next three in form the same as the oppos- 

 ing teeth in the upper jaw ; the last is oblong, and 

 seems to have tubercles in the form of unequal trans- 

 verse hillocks. 



This animal, though probably not larger than a 

 rabbit, appears to have closely approximated to the 

 Anoplotherium. 



The gypsum quarries, from which these relics were 

 exhumed, belong to the tertiary formation, above the 

 calcaire grassier and London clay. 



ADDER'S TONGUE (Linnaeus). A very small 

 species of fern found in pastures on chalky clays. The 

 leaf is an elongated cup, with one lip lengthened out 

 to a point. The capsules are fixed on a central spike 

 resembling a tongue, hence the name ; capsule, round- 

 ish, one-celled, opening transversely, seeds angularly 

 round. 



ADELIA (Linnaeus). A genus of three species 

 of stove evergreen shrubs, natives of Jamaica. Lin- 

 naean class and order, Dicecia Monadelphia ; Natural 

 order, Euphorbiaceae. The flowers of these shrubs 

 are very small ; calyx, from three to five divisions in 

 the male flowers ; stamens, thirty-one. In the female 

 flower the ovary is surmounted by three stipules. 



ADENANDRA (Wendland). A genus of ever- 

 green shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope. 

 Linnaean class and order, Pentandria Monogynia ; 

 Natural order, Rutacece, There are ten species, some 

 of them very beautiful. 



ADENANTHERA (Linnams). A family of 

 evergreen shrubs, natives of India. Linnaean class 

 and order, Decandria Monogynia ; Natural order, 

 Leguminosts. Species two. Generic character : 

 Calyx abbreviated, with five teeth ; corolla of five 

 regular petals ; stamens ten, equal in length, and 

 separate ; anthers terminated by little glands ; fruit a 

 long pod, containing round seeds. The species which 

 compose this genus have the leaves bipinnate, the 



flowers, very small and in bunches : one species, A. 

 pavinonina, is a large and beautiful tree, the seeds of 

 which are round, of a bright red, and are used as food 

 n some parts of India. The fruit is also used for 

 necklaces and other ornaments. 



ADENANTHOS (R. Brown). Greenhouse ever- 

 green shrubs, natives of New Holland. Linmean class 

 and order, Tctrandria Monogynia ; Natural order, 

 Protenccfs. Generic character : Calyx superior, tubu- 

 lar, four divisions ; stamens four ; style one ; fruit a 

 nut containing one seed. Species three. 



ADENOCARPUS (Decandolle). A genus of de- 

 ciduous ornamental shrubs, natives of Eumpe. Lin- 

 naean class and order, Monadelphia Decandria ; Natu- 

 ral order, Leguminosee. Generic character : Calyx, 

 bilabiate, the upper bifide, the lower trilobate. Corolla, 

 papilionaceous. Stamens, tenunited, with one dis- 

 tinct. Fruit a compressed pod. The valves covered 

 ivith little pedicelled glands. This genus comprises . 

 six species. 



ADENOPHORA (Linnosus). A genus of peren- 

 nial herbs allied to campanula, chiefly natives of Sibe- 

 ria. Linnaean class and order, Pcnlandria Monoynirt ; 

 Natural order, Campamtlacea/. Species fourteen. 



ADEONA (Lamouroux). A genus of the third 

 order of the third class of Cortidferoits Polypidoms, so 

 called from being composed oi two substances ; tho 

 one exterior, which may be termed the rind or incrus- 

 tation ; and the other called the axis, placed in the 

 centre of the former, and supporting it. The or- 

 ganisation of the stem of the adeonas is articulated 

 and surmounted by a fan-shaped expansion, both sur- 

 faces of which are impressed with small scattered 

 cells, pierced with round or oval holes. Lamou- 

 roux, who has closely studied the interesting pro- 

 ductions of these wonder-working creatures, appears 

 to consider this genus as the natural connecting link 

 between the corallines and the flexible polypidoms, 

 that are entirely of a stony fabric, comparing it to a 

 millepore r t fixed to the axis of an isis or of a mopsea ; 

 and although no rind has been discovered attached to 

 specimens brought to this country in a dried state, 

 there is every reason to imagine it does exist in a 

 fresh and living state. Supposing that these beings 

 do not change by desiccation, we must admit that in 

 Australia these polypidoms afford us a new example 

 of organised creatures which have no place in our 

 classification of natural history, a circumstance not rare 

 in that division of the world. 



The difference between the fan-formed expansion 

 and the stem in the animal is so great, that natu- 

 ralists, at first sight, were tempted to look upon the 

 two parts as distinct beings ; it is, however, easy 

 to prove that they belong to the same animal. 



Peron, who had seen them in the very site of their 

 growth, frequently convinced himself that they were 

 identically the same polypidom. If the base of the 

 fan-formed expansion of the adeona be attentively 

 observed, it may be seen to extend itself into the 

 stem, and only gradually to change its nature ; when 

 that change is completed in the stony articula- 

 tions, the same stony substance forms the expansion, 

 differing only from the articulations by possessing 

 cells that are not found in the stem. These facts most 

 conclusively establish that the stem of the expansion 

 of the adeonas, notwithstanding their disparity of form, 

 cannot be the productions of different animals. 



The stem of this polypidom is irregularly cylin- 

 drical, sometimes branching, composed of calcareous 



