ATHERIX ATLAS. 



283 



finned fishes, belonging to Cuvier's Mugiloides, or 

 mullet family, or rather intermediate between them 

 and the Gobioides, but not strictly belonging to either. 

 The species are numerous ; and the individuals are 

 also numerous on those places of the shores and 

 estuaries which they frequent. They are of small 

 size, but very delicate flavour, on which account they 

 are in much request for the table ; and, as they throng 

 in shoals very close together on their favourite sta- 

 tions, they can be caught in great numbers. 



Their general characters are : the body elongated ; 

 two dorsal fins considerably apart from each other ; 

 the ventral fins placed in advance of the pectorals ; 

 their mouth- is protrusile, and the teeth very small and 

 standing apart from each other ; they have six rays 

 in the gill-flap ; and all the species are marked with 

 a silvery band along each side. 



There are various species in the European seas, 

 the greater number of which are found in the Medi- 

 terranean ; and they are inhabitants of the warmer 

 seas rather than the colder. There is at least one 

 species, however, which is found on the Atlantic 

 snores of middle and southern Europe. This species 

 was confounded with some of the others by Linnaeus, 

 Bloch, and various other naturalists, who probably had 

 no opportunity of examining the fishes themselves ; 

 and the error has been continued by most British 

 writers or compilers on the subject. The name given 

 by Linnaeus is Atherina hepsetus, which Cuvier is of 

 opinion is a Mediterranean species ; and he gives the 

 name of Atherina presbyter to the species found on the 

 shores of the Atlantic, from the bright silvery bands 

 having something the appearance of a stole. This 

 species is found on some parts of the south coast of 

 England, especially near Southampton, where it is 

 the Atherine {A. hepsetus) of most describers, while 

 the local name is the smelt. Both are wrong ; for 

 the true smelt is a soft-finned fish, nearly allied to the 

 sea trouts, and growing sometimes to three times the 

 length of the atherine. The smelt is also found 

 much farther to the north than the atherine. It 

 resorts to the estuaries of rivers for the purpose of 

 spawning ; and, like the white bait and some other 

 species, keeps the middle of the brackish water. The 

 white bait has been described by many as the young 

 of the smelt, which is singular enough, as smelts 

 resort in shoals to spawn in estuaries where a single 

 white bait is never found, and white bait are found 

 where there are few or no smelts. 



The atherine which is found in the English Channel 

 is not more than four or five inches in length. It is 

 yellowish brown on the upper part, with small dark 

 spots on some of the scales. The under part is 

 silvery ; and the silvery bands on the sides are very 

 conspicuous. The head is depressed, and has a mesial 

 ridge : the greater part of the body is semi-transparent. 

 These fishes are understood to spawn about mid- 

 summer ; but they are caught at almost all seasons, 

 except when the weather is very cold and frosty. 



On the shores of the Mediterranean they are still 

 more numerous, and sought after with greater avidity ; 

 but the species are different. All the European spe- 

 cies are readily distinguished by the number of rays 

 in the fins and of vertebrae in the skeleton. 



Atherina hepsetus of Cuvier, the sauclet of Lan- 

 guedoc, and the cubassou of Provence, has nine 

 spinous rays in the first dorsal fin, and eleven soft ones 

 in the second ; the anal fin has twelve rays ; and 

 there are fifty-five vertebrae in the spine. The muzzle 



is rather more produced and pointed than in the other 

 species. 



Atherina Boyer of Resso, the joel of Languedoc, has 

 the head shorter and thicker than the last species, 

 and the eyes larger in proportion. It has seven 

 spines in the first dorsal, and eleven soft rays in the 

 second ; the anal has thirteen soft rays, and thre 

 are forty-five vertebrae in the skeleton 



Atherina mochon (the moc/wn) is like the sauclet in 

 general appearance. It has seven spines in the first 

 dorsal, fifteen soft rays in the anal, and forty-six 

 vertebrae in the spine. 



In size, in general appearance, and in the quality 

 of their flesh, the European species differ but little 

 from each other. Nor does it appear that there are 

 any very great differences among those of other seas, 

 which are numerous, and found in various parts of 

 the world. 



ATHERIX (Meigen). A rare British genns of 

 dipterous insects, belonging to the family Rhagionidce 

 of Leach : the antennae have the basal joint larger 

 than the second, and thickened, at least in one of the 

 sexes ; the third joint is transverse ; the proboscis is 

 not so long as the head, and porrected. These 

 insects, which have much the appearance of the 

 common flies, may be at once distinguished by the 

 much greater number of nerves and cells in the 

 wings. They are generally found in the neighbour- 

 hood of woods, and the sexes are very dissimilar. 

 Mr. Stephens records four British species, of which 

 the Ath. marginata has been figured by Donovan, 

 pi. 549, under the name of Musca Athcrix. 



ATHEROSPERME^E. A natural order of plants, 

 containing two genera, Atherosperma and Pavonia, 

 and about twenty species. It has only lately been 

 recognised by botanists as a separate order. By 

 some the genus Atherosperma is still referred to the 

 Urticece, or nettle tribe ; and the genus Pavonia, to 

 the Malvaceae, or mallow family. The essential bota- 

 nical characters of the order, as separated from all 

 others, are: flowers hermaphrodite or unisexual; 

 calyx tubular, divided at top into several segments, 

 which are usually placed in two rows ; stamens, 

 in the male or barren flowers, numerous, inserted 

 in the bottom of the calyx, in the hermaphro- 

 dite or perfect flowers arising from the orifice of 

 the calyx ; anthers two-celled ; ovaries more than 

 one ; styles and stigmas simple ; nuts terminated 

 with the style, which remains in a feathery state after 

 the flower withers ; seeds solitary. 



This order consists of trees or shrubs which are 

 found in South America and New Holland. They 

 have generally aromatic and somewhat stimulating 

 properties, but their qualities are not much known, 

 and only a few of them are applied to any use. 



The Pavonia odorata has a sweet pleasant-smelling 

 root, an infusion of which is used as a diet-drink in 

 fevers by the Hindoos. The root of the Pavonia 

 Zeylanica, a native of Ceylon, is also used for a simi- 

 lar purpose. 



ATLAS. Lcsueur was the first to constitute this 

 genus from the Atlas Peronii. It does not appear en- 

 tirely known ; but, nevertheless, ought properly to 

 belong to the same family as that of Gasteroptera, 

 The body of this marine animal is divided into two 

 portions, united by a kind of peduncle, somewhat 

 similar to the gasteroptera, the posterior is oval, the 

 anterior circularly dilated, and ciliated at its edges, 

 but provided with a very small distinct foot beneath, 



