ANISODACTYLI ANISOTOMID.E. 



emarginated ; style very short, stigmata lateral, ob- 

 long ; capsules several, disposed in a circle, ligneous 

 or leathery, opening at the top, one-seeded ; seed 

 hard and albuminous. 



This is a very beautiful, highly aromatic plant. 

 The flowers are dark purple, and hang from the 

 branches by slender footstalks. The ripe capsules 

 are used in China as a spice, and sold under the name 

 of " five-fingers." It flowers readily in our stoves, 

 and is propagated bv cuttings. 



ANISODACTYLI (" Unequal-toed" birds). A 

 peculiar order of birds, most of them of small size, and 

 some the most minute of the feathered tribes, being 

 less in dimensions and weight than many of the 

 insects, but still preserving all the characters of birds 

 in their parts, plumage, and modes of life, and often 

 displaying the wannest floral colours, and the richest 

 metallic reflections, which are any where to be met 

 with among the productions of nature. 



They are all bark, or at least tree, birds, and 

 most of them feed upon insects, though some are 

 understood to feed upon the honey of flowers. Some 

 are continually running in all directions along the 

 boles and branches of trees, and others are much 

 upon the wing. 



The character upon which the order is formed, is 

 that of having the outer toe united to the middle one 

 at the base ; the other two free ; the. hind one strong, 

 and capable of being bent a little inward, while the 

 outer front one can be partially reversed. All the 

 toes have the claws strong, sharp, and considerably 

 hooked, and the peculiar articulation enables the 

 bird to grasp with the foot in all directions, in the 

 line of the body, across that line, or at any angle to 

 it, so that whenever the bark of a tree will allow of 

 the insertion of the points of the claws, the birds can 

 run upwards, downwards, or round the bole ; and those 

 which feed chiefly on the trees generally have the 

 tail so stiff, and so capable of muscular action, that 

 they make use of it as a strut, by which means the 

 weight of the body makes the claws keep a firmer 

 hold. The following figure of the foot of the com- 

 mon nuthatch will show the structure of the aniso- 

 dactylic foot : . 



Foot of Nuthatch. 



As this order is founded upon the structure of a 

 single organ only the foot, it cannot be regarded as 

 a natural one for any very general purpose of utility. 

 All that it positively shows is, that the bird which has 

 it is capable of walking in a certain manner upon the 

 bark of trees, or other surfaces similar in position 

 and posture, of which it can take hold with its claws ; 

 but the particular object that it has in so walking 

 must depend on some other part of its organisation ; 

 as, for instance, on the food which its bill can take 

 and its stomach digest. For that reason it is not 

 necessary to refer from this order to the groups 

 and genera. 



ANISOMELES (R. Brown). A genus of under- 

 shrubs, natives of India and New Holland. Linnaean 

 class and order, Didynnmta Gymnosperma. Natural 

 order, Labiatce. Generic character: calyx, a swollen 

 tube, with ten ridges, and five-toothed ; corolla, up- 

 per lip small, whole ; the lower three-lobed, the 



117 



middle one margined ; stamens with short two-celled 

 anthers, unequal in length ; caryopses smooth, 



ANISOPETALUM (Hooker). A genus of one 

 species, introduced from Nepaul. Gynandria Monan- 

 dria (Linnaeus). Natural order, Orchidc<e. This plant, 

 like all the natural order to which it belongs, is curious 

 in habit and manner of flowering. Its name is com- 

 memorative of Dr. Carey (A- Careyanuni), a friend 

 of Dr. Hooker's. 



ANISOTOMIDiE. A family of insects, belonging 

 to the order Coleoptera, consisting of six genera, several 

 of which contain a considerable number of species. 

 In this family the antennae are generally moniliform, 

 or bead-shaped, somewhat elongate, and rather 

 slender at the base, gradually increasing towards the 

 apex, the terminal joint being of an elongate club- 

 shape varying in the number of its articulations ; 

 palpi various, generally filiform, the head small and 

 ovate, the body being mostly convex, but never 

 linear ; the tibiae in some of the genera compressed ; 

 the tarsi various, the four anterior ones being five- 

 jointed, and the posterior ones four-jointed. In the 

 A. TRITOMA, (Fabricius), the maxillary palpi have 

 the last joint large, transverse, and compressed ; max- 

 illae with a minute tooth at the apex ; antennae short, 

 of an ovate three-jointed club-shape, having the head 

 somewhat triangular, the thorax being elevated in the 

 middle behind ; the legs moderate ; the tibiae com- 

 pressed ; of a broad, elongate, triangular shape. Of 

 this genus only one species has yet been found in this 

 country. It is found in fungi in the spring months, 

 and is described by most writers under the name of 

 bipustulatum. It is also figured in Samouelle's 

 Entomologist's Compendium. 



A. PHALACRUS (Lati). In this genus the palpi are 

 filiform ; maxillary with the terminal joint elongate ; 

 labial very short ; maxillae with the apex strongly biden- 

 tate,or double-toothed ; antennae rather slender, distant 

 at the base, a little elongate ; the capitulum oblong ; the 

 terminal joint ovato-conic ; head small, triangular ; 

 thorax gibbous, with the hinder angles ovate ; body 

 hemispheric-ovate, or oval ; elytra entire ; legs short, 

 compressed ; tibiae short, straight, not spinous ; tarsi 

 slender ; the penultimate joint cleft. 



Stephens, in his British Entomology, describes 

 twenty-eight species of this genus. 



The Phalacri are usually rather brilliant insects, 

 and are very frequently adorned with metallic colours. 

 Unlike the other genera of this family, their body is 

 generally very convex, and incapable of being con- 

 tracted into a ball, as in Agathidium ; the club of the 

 antennae is three-jointed, and the penultimate joint 

 of the tarsi two lobed. The various species are mostly 

 found in flowers. 



A. EPHISTEMUS (Stephens). This genus differs from 

 the preceding by having the palpi stronger, the 

 maxillary with the basal joint being rather robust, 

 the terminal one elongate ; labial very short ; mandi- 

 bles, rather prominent, with the apex entire ; an- 

 tennae rather elongate, approximating at the base, 

 the two basal joints robust, the third more slender 

 than, but not so long as, the second ; the five follow- 

 ing very short, globose ; the remainder forming a 

 triarticulate club, with the terminal joint obtuse ; 

 head minute; thorax slightly gibbous, a little nar- 

 rowed anteriorly ; elytra entire, slightly attenuated 

 behind, rounded at the apex ; body elongate-ovate, 

 and sharp pointed at each end, somewhat convex-f 

 legs short ; tibiae slender, not spinose ; tarsi very 



