APTINUS APUS. 



181 



we can see the necessity for that resemblance, in the 

 analogy of the climates. But here the parallel ends ; 

 and in the present state of our knowledge, we are not 

 able satisfactorily to continue it by a reference to any 

 other known species of bird. 



The grand deficiency is our total ignorance of the 

 internal structure, because from that alone we could 

 ascertain whether the bird feeds wholly upon insects 

 and other small animals, or whether it occasionally 

 has recourse to vegetable food. That its food is not 

 the same as the food of the emu, or the other 

 struthiones is evident from the form of the bill ; and 

 though reference has been made to the probability of 

 its feeding on the same substances as some of the 

 species of ibex, the difference of the bills is so great, 

 and that of the apteryx is so peculiar and unique as 

 to forbid any satisfactory analogy. The feet too for- 

 bid any comparison with the struthiones, or with the 

 grallidte, as they are neither adapted for swift marches 

 nor for wading. They are, as Mr. Yarrell justly ob- 

 serves, rasorial, or scraping feet, bearing more resem- 

 blance to those of some of the gallinaceous birds, than 

 to any others. They are strictly dry land feet ; very 

 robust and powerful, apparently capable of scratching 

 up earth and gravel with considerable effect, and also 

 forming a firm base either stationary or during .slow 

 motion. The bird cannot from its structure be a 

 traveller, but must find its food within a limited range ; 

 but whether it seeks its food during the heat of the 

 day, or in the twilight or moonlight, is not ascer- 

 tained. Neither is it ascertained whether it nestles 

 in the holes of the rocks, or squats upon the open 

 surface. The New Zealanders are indeed said to 

 hunt it during the night with torches and dogs, which 

 would lead one to suppose that it remains hiding 

 during the day. The information is so scanty 

 however, that not even a satisfactory guess can be 

 hazarded respecting its habits. 



From the familiarity of the natives with its name 

 of Kivi Kivi, it is natural enough to suppose that it is 

 not very rare in those localities which are suitable to 

 its habits. From this it may seem strange that, con- 

 sidering the number of Europeans who have visited 

 New Zealand, and the length of time that some of 

 thorn have resided there, and the familiar terms on 

 which (while they conducted themselves properly) 

 they have been with the natives, none of them should 

 have once seen the bird in the living state. But it 

 must be borne in mind that the New Zealanders are 

 rather a shrewd and sagacious people, and do not 

 very readily point out to foreigners those productions 

 of their country upon which they themselves set the 

 highest value. We had an instance of this when a 

 ship was fitted out to fetch home, for naval purposes 

 in this country, a load of that excellent and durable 

 timber of which their war canoes are constructed. 

 There is a much more showy tree than the valuable 

 one ; and they readily conducted our people to 

 where that grew, and a load of handsome spars, and 

 even masts, was procured with no great labour, and 

 in a short time ; but. unfortunately, when the vessel 

 arrived in the Thames, the whole cargo was rotten, 

 and good for nothing. The skin of the apteryx seems 

 to be held in even more estimation than the canoe 

 timber, and therefore the probability is that they are 

 more jealous in keeping strangers from its haunts. 

 So that the only way of arriving at the natural his- 

 tory of the bird seems to be by an independent excur- 

 sion ; and that, armed as the New Zealanders now 

 are, would be a matter of no inconsiderable hazard. 



APTINUS (Borelli). A genus of the bombar- 

 dier-beetles, belonging to the great family Carabidce, 

 and sub-family Brachinidce, separated by Bonelli from 

 the genus Brachinus, to which the species are very 

 nearly related, on account of their being destitute of 

 wings a character indicated by the name. In their 

 habits they resemble the Brachim, but they are 

 generally found in mountainous districts in warm 

 climates, as in the south of Europe, the Cape of 

 Good Hope, &c. Dejean, in his new catalogue, 

 gives fifteen species belonging to this genus, none of 

 which are found in England. A memoir, by M. 

 Solier, upon this and the allied genera, has just been 

 published in the Transactions of the French Entomo- 

 logical Society, from which it would appear that the 

 absence of wings is not an exclusive character of the 

 genus, but that the species are sufficiently distin- 

 guished from the Brachini by the presence of a tooth 

 in the centre of the chin (mentum). 



APUS (Scopoli). A very curious genus of Ento- 

 mosiracous (or soft shelled) crustaceous animals, be- 

 longing to the order Branchiopoda, section Phyllo- 

 podtu The body of these singular insects is covered 

 by a large and flattened membranous plate of an oval 

 form, with a deep cleft at its hinder extremity, and 

 bearing in front two large eyes,placed close together, 

 with a smaller one behind ; the tail is terminated by 

 two long threads ; the first pair of legs, or antennae 

 as they have been considered by some authors, are 

 very long, thread-like, and branched ; but all the 

 rest, of which there are about sixty pairs, are short, 

 compressed, and of a complicated structure, serving 

 as a branchial apparatus. 



These animals are occasionally found, in consider- 

 able numbers, in fresh water, particularly such as is 

 stationary ; in which situations they are sometimes 

 observed to be produced in so instantaneous a manner 

 that it is difficult to conceive whence they could have 

 been brought, this is more especially the case in 

 puddles of water caused by heavy rains : it is evi- 

 dent, however, that the eggs of these animals must 

 be endowed with great powers of vitality, by which 

 means alone, as in the genus Anabas, which is occa- 

 sionally observed under the same circumstances, we 

 are able to account for their sudden appearance. 

 They subsist chiefly upon tadpoles. The distinction 

 of the sexes has not been observed, some naturalists 

 even supposing them to be hermaphrodite. When 

 full grown they are about an inch and a half long. 

 The species are -very few in number, and of rare 

 occurrence. The type of the genus is the Apus can- 

 criformis of Latrcille, or " le binocle a queue en 

 filets " of Geoffrey's History of the Insects of the 

 Neighbourhood of Paris, pi. 21, fig. 4.; Scopoli's 

 name for this genus has been generally adopted, in- 

 stead of that of Binoculus of Geoffrey, although the 

 latter has clearly the priority in date. Hence, in 

 order to avoid confusion in the family name of these 

 insects with the bees, Apidts, in case we were to form 

 it from the name of the present genus Apus, Apidte, 

 we have deemed it advisable to adopt Dr. Leach'3 

 name of Lcpidurus, the other genus, as the founda- 

 tion for the name by which we propose to designate 

 the family, namely, Lepiduridcc. 



AQUAMARINE. A stone bearing this name is 

 much prized by jewellers for its beautiful green co- 

 lour. In a classified collection of minerals it is placed 

 with the topaz ; and under this title are included ths 

 mountain-given varieties of that mineral found in ths 

 soft rocks of Eibenstock, in veins and cavitie* in 



