374 BELVISIACE^E 



placed on one side, and a division passes from its point 

 to the apex of the cone. 



The very valuable researches of the late Mr. Miller 

 have thrown much light upon the probable origin of 

 these very singular fossils. They are detailed in an 

 interesting paper read before the Geological Society, 

 and which is published in the second series of their 

 Transactions, vol. ii. He observes, that " the cham- 

 bered structure of the conical shell of the belemnite 

 and its siphuncle exhibit a striking analogy with the 

 orthoceratite, the nautilus, and the ammonite. It 

 differs, however, essentially from the orthoceratite in 

 the circumstance that all the parts of its shell present, 

 on fracture, a laminar, fibrous, spathose substance, in 

 its being provided at its posterior end with a more or 

 less elongated and encompassing guard or sheath, and 

 in the siphuncle of the chambered cone being situated 

 near the margin. This last character, combined with 

 the fibrous and spathose texture of the shell, at all 

 times affords a discriminating character between the 

 chambered cone of the belemnite, even when occur- 

 ring separated from its guard and the orthoceratite." 



From this analogy of the belemnite to the nautilus 

 in the chambered parts of its shell, he considers that 

 no doubt can remain of this shell having been, like 

 that of the nautilus, intended to increase the buoyancy 

 of the animal to which it belonged ; and also that the 

 chambers of the internal cone were formed at various 

 periods, as the growth, &c., of the animal required. 

 This chambered part appears to have extended very 

 much beyond and above the upper extremity of 

 the guard or sheath, and also to have been in the 

 upper part of much larger dimensions. He also 

 conjectured that the last, or outer chamber, did 

 not appear to have possessed, at any time, any 

 great depth ; but later observations have shown this 

 opinion to be erroneous, specimens having been found 

 in Germany in which the outer chamber is of consi- 

 derable depth. The guard or sheath varies much in 

 different species ; in some being fusiform, in others 

 concave ; in some it is but slightly elongated, in others 

 of considerable length ; in some it has a round, in 

 others an elliptical circumference ; its termination is 

 either acutely pointed, conical, compressed, mamil- 

 lated, or even slightly hooked. In some species one 

 longitudinal groove is found, in others two or three ; 

 and in some impressions, may be traced which are 

 evidently the marks of muscles which have encom- 

 passed this part of the belemnite, and which show the 

 impressions of branching vessels. These appearances 

 are more particularly to be seen upon those which 

 are found in the chalk. In those which are transpa- 

 rent the guard appears to be formed of two or three 

 nearly equal longitudinal portions, which may be 

 easily separated along the line of their adhesion by 

 a slight blow of a hammer. The edges of these lon- 

 gitudinal portions are irregularly waved, and adhere 

 closely together. 



If we examine a longitudinal or transverse fracture 

 of the sheath, we find it to be formed of several con- 

 centrically superposed laminae, perfectly correspond- 

 ing in structure with those in the chambered cone. 

 Its general appearance is that of a substance radiat- 

 ing in lines from a centre to the circumference, which 

 centre is formed by the prolongation of the point of 

 the conical cavity in the upper part, and is supposed 

 to have been produced by the decomposition of the 

 nacreous matter of which it was originally formed. 



From various circumstances it is concluded, that 

 this shell was secreted by the animal much in the 



-BEMBECIDjE. 



same state as it is now found, and that it was like 

 that of the recent, and, with respect to its chambered 

 divisions, analogous genus Spirilla, inclosed in the 

 body of the animal ; and thence it is conjectured that 

 the animal to which this shell belonged was like that 

 of the Spirula, one of the cephalopodous division of 

 Mollusca, that it held an intermediate place between 

 the two subdivisions of those animals, the Nauti- 

 laceae and the Sepiaceae, uniting the internal multilo- 

 cular shell of the former with the laminated calcareous 

 mass of the latter, and that in form it resembled the 

 sepia, or cuttle-fish, having a body of an abbreviated 

 form, partly inserted into the first or upper chamber 

 of the internal cone, and connected to it by a duct 

 extending from it to the end of the siphuncle, and 

 also having powerful muscles extending over the 

 guard for its whole length, having secreting: surfaces, 

 and capable of encompassing it. 



The figure given in plate 2, FOSSIL REMAINS, is that 

 of the Belemnites elongatus, a species which is found in 

 the oolite and lias. It is taken from a remarkably fine 

 specimen in the possession of 3. S. Bowerbank, esq., 

 F. G. S., and exhibits in a very beautiful and satis- 

 factory manner the upper or chambered portion, with 

 its divisions or septa, inserted into and extending 

 beyond the elongated conical sheath, which in this 

 species is long and narrow. 



BELVISIACE^I, or BELVISIE^E. A natural 

 order of plants, containing only a few genera and 

 species : it seems to be allied to the Styracineee. The 

 characters of the order are : calyx of one piece, 

 with a divided limb, persistent ; corolla monopeta- 

 lous, plaited, deciduous ; stamens inserted at the base 

 of the corolla ; ovary adnate with the tube of the 

 calyx ; one style ; stigma lobed or angular ; fruit, a 

 many-seeded berry. 



The plants included in this order are shrubs which 

 are found in South Africa and Brazil. Their pro- 

 perties are as yet unknown. The chief genus is Bel- 

 visia, whence the name of the order is derived. 



BEMBECID^E (Leach). A family of hymenop- 

 terous insects belonging to the division Aculeata, and 

 section of burrowing sand wasps (Fossores). In the 

 Linnaean system the species were arranged with apis, 

 on account of the length of the tongue. The legs 

 are short, or but of moderate length ; the fore legs 01 

 the females being furnished at the sides with very 

 strong spines for burrowing in the sand. The collar 

 is transverse, not extending to the base of the wings. 

 The head appears transverse from above, the abdo- 

 men is of an elongated semiconical form, and the 

 upper lip is exposed. These insects are chieflv 

 inhabitants of warm climates, and their bodies much 

 resemble those of wasps, being generally variegated 

 with yellow, and black, and smooth ; the antennas 

 are inserted close together, and the jaws are long, 

 narrow, and toothed at the tips. The abdomen is 

 generally armed beneath with one or two spines in the 

 males. The perfect insects appear in summer and fly 

 with great rapidity from flower to flower, making a 

 sharp buzzing noise. Many of them emit a scent simi- 

 lar to that of roses. The habits of these insects have 

 lately been investigated with much attention by the 

 count de Saint Fargen, whose observations we shall 

 here introduce to the English reader. The females 

 form oblique cylindrical burrows in sandy situations, 

 and provision them with perfect dipterous insects; 

 Bembex rostrata, for this purpose, indifferently col- 

 lects drone-flies (Eristalis), the species of Stratiomys, 

 and large species of common flics (Musca, such as 



