514 



, BLESSED THISTLE BLIGHT. 



from the dorsal line to the vertical, and the colour 

 and texture which answer to those of the belly extend- 

 ing over the other side, without any very strongly- 

 marked lateral line at the turn of the muscular plates 

 in either. Although these two surfaces are in reality, 

 and with reference to the spine and the muscles, 

 the two lateral sides of the fish, yet in their covering 

 they have thus the appearance of being, all along, the 

 one the back and the other the belly. In the corn- 

 pressed ones which swim on the edge, as blepharis 

 does, the colours of the upper and under parts, the 

 back and belly, answer to those of ordinary fishes. 

 The lateral line is, in many species, distinct, and in 

 some it has a remarkable curvature upward, at the 

 place where the cavity of the fish is situated. It 

 should seem, therefore, that the coverings of the upper 

 and under sides of fishes have reference to the posi- 

 tion in which they are carried, and not to the parts of 

 the fish upon which they are placed ; while the way 

 in which the largest diameter of the section is placed 

 has reference to the place which the fish holds in the 

 water, and the style of swimming. 



The compressed fishes which swiin on edge, all 

 inhabit near the surface, and they are rapid swim- 

 mers, and rather discursive in their motions; whereas 

 those which swim on the flat of the body keep nearer 

 the bottom, swim slowly, and do not range far. The 

 fish which swims on edge, has the tail much more 

 effectively formed as a swimming organ, and the fins 

 much more firm as well as much more produced. 

 The filaments which are attached to the fins also 

 appear to be of use in steadying the fish, and prevent- 

 ing it from swinging or turning on the flat as it swims, 

 which it would have a tendency to dp, if it had not 

 these appendages to steady it. 



There is but one species of blepharis (the name of 

 which by the way is the Greek for filaments, cUiee, 

 the hairs of the eyelids). It is found in the tropical 

 seas only, and principally, we believe, in the neigh- 

 bourhood of the West Indian Islands, in some of which 

 it is called " the shoe maker," or the " cobler-fish," in 

 allusion probably to the thread-like appendages to the 

 fins. It is the Zeus ciliaris of Bloch, but it has pro- 

 bably been confounded with some oriental species to 

 which it has no inconsiderable resemblance. 



Blepharis. 



The external characters, as may be seen from the 

 figure, are : the body much compressed and elevated; 



the profile in nearly the ordinary position, the muzzle 

 not so protractile as in the dorey, the ventral fins 

 very large, the anal and second dorsal with very long 

 filaments, and the spines of the first dorsal short. 

 The large ventral fins no doubt co-operate with the 

 filaments of the anal and the dorsal in enabling them 

 to preserve the position of their short and thin bodies. 

 They, and indeed the whole of the division to which 

 they belong, are very curious fishes. 



BLESSED THISTLE is the Centmtrca lenedicta 

 of Linnaeus. An ornamental annual, indigenous to 

 Spain, and belonging to the natural order Composites. 



BLETHISA (Bonelli). A genus of coleopterous 

 insects belonging to the section Pcntamcra Adephaga, 

 family Carabida;, and sub-family ElaphricUe, and nearly 

 allied on the one hand to Elaplirns, from which the 

 species are distinguished by the somewhat square 

 thorax, and by the elytra being deeply excavated, and 

 on the other hand to ihcPelophiUt of Dejean (of which 

 genus an individual has occurred in Ireland), from 

 which it is separated by its slightly dilated anterior tarsi 

 in the males. The species of this genus are few in 

 number, Dejean only recording three, all of which are 

 natives of the North of Europe : one only has, however, 

 occurred in England, the Carabus muUipunctatus of 

 Linnu3us,and which is found in damp situations running 

 upon the mud of ponds. It is a handsome species, 

 about half an inch long, of a fine brassy colour, with a 

 brighter margin, and the elytra have four rows of deep 

 impressions. 



BLETIA (Ruiz and Pavon). A family of herba- 

 ceous, tuberous rooted perennials, natives of China, 

 West Indies, &c. Class and order Gynandria Mo- 

 nandria, and natural order Orchidcce. Generic cha- 

 racter : sepals of calyx, spreading, nearly equal ; 

 labellum open, cupped, or a little tubular, clapping 

 the base of the column, or spurred, apex dilated, 

 somewhat lobed and undulating ; column cylindrical, 

 curved and channeled before, apex obtuse, anthers 

 terminal, covered with a lid. There are nine species 

 of Bletia, all handsome, some of them splendid. The 

 B. TankervUlicE was the Limodorum Tankervillice of 

 the Hortus Kewensis, and has had various other 

 names by different botanists ; it is certainly one of 

 the finest of the Orchidese. 



BLIGHIA (Hortus Kewensis). A single African 

 tree, named in honour of Captain Bligh, who first 

 carried the bread-fruit to the West Indies. Class and 

 order Octandria Monogynia, and in the natural order 

 SapindacecE. Generic character : calyx five-parted ; 

 petals furnished with vaulted scales at the base ; disk 

 fleshy, creuated, bearing the stamens; filaments 

 thickest in the middle ; anthers twinned, two-celled ; 

 style scarcely any, stigma simple ; fruit fleshy, six- 

 lobed, three-celled, three-valved, one seed in each 

 cell. This is called the Akee tree in the West In- 

 dies ; the arillus of the fruit being richly palatable. 



BLIGHT. A term of very common occurrence, 

 implying the sudden appearance of great numbers of 

 minute grubs, especially upon fruit trees in the spring, 

 attributed by persons who have not investigated the 

 nature of insects, and their various transformations, to 

 the operations of particular winds ; thus, of an easterly 

 wind, we often hear it said that it is a blight, or that 

 there is blight in the air. In like manner, the plant- 

 lice upon rose trees and other plants, are termed 

 blight. Now, if it be granted that the wind has any 

 thing at all to do with the matter, one of three things 

 must occur : either the blight must be spontaneously 



