80 



ALPHjEUS ALTERNANTHERA. 



young ones, which are often found entire in its sto- 

 mach. In some parts of England it is called the 

 " mother of herrings," which, unless we are to suppose 

 that " mother " is a corruption of " mouther," or 

 swallowcr, is by no means appropriate. It follows 

 the general law, being excellent in flavour when it 

 first appears in the estuaries ; but dry, tasteless, and 

 unwholesome, as it descends to the sea. 



The white bait of the Thames, which is so renowned 

 among the metropolitan epicures, used, till within 

 these few years, to be considered, by writers on British 

 fishes at least, as the young of the shad. The con- 

 trary has, however, been very clearly demonstrated by 

 Mr. Yarrell, whose researches have tended much to 

 the advancement of natural science generally, and 

 which have thrown the clearest light upon some of the 

 erewhile darkest points in the economy of our native 

 fishes. The white bait has enough of the distinguish- 

 ing characters, both of appearance and interest, to 

 entitle it to be made a species, if not a genus. It has 

 more of the herring character than the shad has ; and 

 Cuvier very properly ranked it next to the sprat, 

 though it is more delicate and less seaward than that 

 fish. In the whole breeding time it inhabits almost 

 the mean line of the brackish water, seldom, if ever, 

 reaching the perfectly fresh, and being seldom met 

 with at that season when it is understood to be pela- 

 gic. See WHITE BAIT. 



All the fishes which resort to the shores, estuaries, 

 and rivers, for the purpose of depositing their spawn, 

 are highly valuable in an economical point of view. 

 Taken at the proper place and season they are finer 

 food than any other fishes ; they are taken with less 

 hazard ; and in one or another of the species they are 

 in season during the greater part of the year. Some 

 general account of their habits, qualities, and mode of 

 being captured, will be found in their order, from the 

 most pelagic, to the most fluviatal, in the article MI- 

 GRATORY FISHES. 



ALPH^EUS. A genus of Crustacea, belonging to 

 the order Dccapoda of Cuvier. The habits of these 

 animals are very quiet ; a habit so well known, that 

 if they remain long in one spot, they become the prey 

 of numerous marine animals of various species, more 

 particularly shoals of fish. The best known and most 

 remarkable species is the Alphccus avarus, which has 

 been described by Fabricius. This author first 

 established the genus from four species brought 

 from the Indian Ocean ; but many specimens have 

 since been discovered in the European seas, particu- 

 larly in the neighbourhood of Nice, in the Mediter- 

 ranean, where Rizzo found four other species, which 

 he has described. 



The Alphceus caramote, described by Rondelet, 

 was found on a muddy bank in the midst of rocks. 

 It had the four anterior feet terminated by a didac- 

 tyle claw, the carpus of the second articulated ; 

 feelers lateral, situated underneath the middle, having 

 the peduncle covered by a shell annexed to the base ; 

 the shell prolonged forward in the form of a beak ; 

 the feelers at the middle always being smaller than 

 they are laterally. They are distinguished from all 

 other crustaceae by their two pair of feelers, and 

 by the manner in which their four anterior feelers 

 terminate. 



ALPINIA (Willdenow). A genus of hot-house 

 perennial herbs, mostly natives of the East and West 

 Indies ; comprising twenty-four species, and belong- 

 ing to the first class and order, viz. Monaiulria 



nnmogyni(i of the sexual system, and to the monoco- 

 tylcdonous order ScitamnccE. Generic character : 

 calyx, tubular, three-toothed ; corolla, double, the 

 outer three-parted and converging, the inner of one 

 lip, and having a tooth at each side of the base ; 

 stamens have linear filaments, not extended above 

 the anthers, which are not crowned ; style, thread- 

 shaped, rising above the anthers ; stigma, concave ; 

 seedvessel, a berry. These plants require stove 

 treatment, a rich soil, and a high moist temperature. 



ALSODEA XThouars). A genus of two species 

 of stove undershrubs, natives of Madagascar. They . 

 belong to Pentandr'ui j\lonoyma, and to the natural 

 order Vwlacca. Generic character : calyx of five 

 sepals, somewhat imbricated : petals of the corolla 

 are equal ; urceolus, perigynous, five-lobed, bearing 

 stamens ; anthers, inserted at the bottom of the 

 lobes; style clubbed; capsule, of three valves, con- 

 taining eighteen seeds. 



ALSOPHYLA (R. Brown). An ornamental 

 green-house fern, introduced from New Holland. 



ALSTONIA (R. Brown). A genus of only two 

 known species of tropical undershrubs, natives of 

 India. They belong to the class and order Pentnn- 

 dria Monogynia, and to the dicotyledonous order 

 ApocynecE, The generic character is a calyx of five 

 divisions ; corolla salver-shaped, limb five-part c-d, 

 obliquely lacerated ; stamens included in a tube ;. 

 filaments short, anthers free, emitting pollen along 

 their whole length ; squamae not perigynous ; style 

 simple, stigma dilated ; folliculi very long, seeds 

 ciliated on both sides. 



ALSTRCEMERIA (Willdenow). A family of 

 stove and green-house perennials, indigenous to South 

 America. They belong to the lily class and order, 

 viz. Hexandria Monogynia, and to the natural order 

 AmaryttidecE. Generic character : calyx, resembling 

 a corolla, somewhat bell-shaped, six-parted, two- 

 lipped, the inner sepal narrow ; stamens inserted in 

 the base of the calyx, declining ; anthers oblong, 

 erect ; style also declining ; stigma three-parted ; 

 capsule somewhat round, six-ribbed, three-celled, and 

 three-valved ; seeds roundish. This is a highly 

 ornamental family of plants, and deserves a place in 

 every collection. The elegant position, and beautiful 

 markings of one of the most common species, A. pcle- 

 grina, has made it a universal favourite. A. ligtu is 

 highly fragrant ; and as they have all tuberous roots, 

 those of A. cdulis, are used like potatoes in the West 

 Indies. Some of them are so hardy as to bear the open 

 air, if planted under and trained to a south wall. 

 There is one peculiarity in the position of the leaves 

 of this genus which distinguishes it from all others, 

 viz. the twisted form of the petioles or footstalks of 

 the leaves, by which the inferior disk is turned to the 

 sky, and doing the office of the superior. There are 

 ten species already described ; and it is reported by 

 travellers that there are several others in South 

 America not yet introduced. 



ALTERNANTHERA (R. Brown). A genus 

 of green-house and stove herbaceous plants, natives 

 of South America. They belong to the fifth class 

 and first order of the sexual system, and to th natural 

 order of the Amaranthacecs. Their generic character 

 is having a calyx of five sepals ; stamens alternately 

 fertile and barren (hence the generic name) ; style 

 short, stigma headed ; the utriculus one-seeded. 

 There are ten species ; but none of them bear con- 

 spicuous flowers. 



