644 BUMELIA B 



to us, as being exclusively an internal shell, without 

 spire or columella, and involved or turned so loosely 

 round from its origin, is the B. aperta, figured 

 p. 643. De Blainville indeed has added to the 

 genus thus characterised by Lamarck, two other 

 species, the S. ampulla and de Ferussac's Bullcsa, 



B. ampulla. 



distinguishing the inhabitant of these species either 

 with an external or internal shell, by having the foot 

 thicker, not dilated into swimming appendages, and 

 possessing in fact distinct habits from the bullae, 

 which swim with great freedom, while the bulloea 

 climb well and swim badly. We are not, therefore, 

 disposed to adopt his classification in this instance, 

 and consider the S. aperta as a well defined species, 

 quite distinct from those added by de Blainville, 

 though upon reasonable grounds. We shall endea- 

 vour to point out in the proper places of this work, 

 that a peculiar character attaches to internal shells, 

 which may be traced in a connected series, from such 

 as are quite or nearly flat, as in the genus Umbrella, 

 to such as are like the present genus and the bulla, 

 and we think to prove satisfactorily that in most cases 

 climate and the force of habit, or the necessities of 

 nature, have led to the peculiar configuration of each, 

 never presuming, however, to arrogate to ourselves 

 the power of accounting for the wisdom of the Great 

 Creator of all, beyond reasoning by the light of 

 analogy and our own finite understandings. 



BUMELIA (Swartz). A genus of West Indian 

 shrubs and trees, consisting of fourteen species, 

 belonging to the natural order Sapotece. Some of 

 them are timber trees, and they mostly have fine 

 foliage, but their flowers are inconspicuous. 



BUNIUM (Linnaeus) is the earth-nut of the 

 provinces ; a very common tuberous-rooted plant in 

 some places, eagerly sought and eaten by hogs. The 

 flowers are pentandrious, and are produced in 

 umbels ; of course the plant belongs to the order 

 UmbellifcrcE. The foliage is attenuated, much divided, 

 and lies close to the ground. The tubers are about 

 the size of hazel nuts, and may be eaten raw. They 

 have a sweetish nutty flavour, and are said to be very 

 nutritious. They are also used either boiled or 

 roasted ; and in Italy are called ground chestnuts. 



BUNTING. See EMBERIZA. 



BUPALUS (Leach). A genus of moths belonging 

 to the great family Geometridai, or Loopers. This 

 genus was proposed by Dr. Leach in the Edinburgh 

 Encyclopaedia, and was characterised by the antennae 

 of the males being pectinated, the body slender, the 

 palpi slightly hirsute, and the wings horizontally 

 extended, and neither angulated nor indented. The 

 type of the genus is the Phnl<zna Geomctra Piniaria 

 of Linnaeus, or the bordered white of English col- 

 lectors, a pretty species, about an inch and a half in 

 expanse, with dark brown wings, having a large basal 

 whitish spot, and another towards the anal angle of 



UPRESTID^E. 



the upper wings of the same colour; the lower wings 

 (except the outer portion) are whitish, with two 

 irregular brown bands. This species frequents fir 

 plantations, but it is by no means a common species, 

 especially in the metropolitan district. We have 

 taken it on Porstsdown Hill, near Portsmouth, the 

 ridge of which is ornamented w ith rows of firs, which 

 form so conspicuous an object from the opposite coast 

 of the Isle of Wight. It is indeed fortunate that it 

 is thus rare amongst us, since it w r ill be seen, from 

 the following account, that it is capable of committing 

 considerable ravages. This communication is ex- 

 tracted from a report addressed by the inspector of 

 forests at Strasbourg to the bureau of the administration 

 of woods and forests at Paris, and is published in a 

 recent number of Silbermann's Revue Entomologique.' 

 " At the end of 1832, a malady occurred amongst 

 the fir trees in the forest of Hagenau, one of very 

 considerable extent, near Strasburg, extending over 

 7000 hectares. The firs, covering a space of about 

 forty hectares, were observed to have their leaves of 

 a yellow colour, and of a dried appearance. The 

 cause of this malady was at first sought for in vain ; 

 but during the following year, it was so much 

 increased, that more minute researches were made, 

 and it was at length discovered that it was owing to 

 the attacks of the larvae of the bupalus, which com- 

 menced its ravages at the commencement of the month 

 of May, passing from tree to tree until the month of 

 October, when it descends to the ground to undergo 

 its chrysalis state. The hundred hectares attacked in 

 1832 are now entirely destroyed without hope of 

 future vegetation." In conclusion, the inspector calls 

 upon entomologists to suggest plans for preventing 

 the extension of so serious a damage. 



BUPHAGA (piquc-bceufs cattle-pecker). A 

 genus of birds, belonging to the conirostral division of 

 Cuvier*s great and miscellaneous order pnpens. The 

 name of this bird has been sometimes given in English 

 as the beef-eater, but that is a mistake. It does not 

 eat "beef" in our sense of the word, that is the flesh 

 of dead cattle, and a bird not the size of a thrush can 

 hardly be expected to eat live oxen in the field. The 

 fact is, that it eats the eaters of the live flesh of the 

 ox tribe and the other large ruminant mammalia. In 

 the central parts of Africa, of which this bird (for 

 there is only one species) is a native, these animals 

 are terribly infested by insects which deposit their 

 eggs in the skin, and leave them to be hatched by 

 the heat of the animals ; and, these birds diligently 

 resort lo the animals which have their backs filled 

 with the larvae of these insect?, dig them out and eat 

 them. The only species is B. Africana, about the 

 length of a song-thrush, but more slender in the body. 

 It has the bill well formed for the particular office 

 which it performs. The basal part is cylindrical, 

 there it enlarges toward the tip, which terminates in 

 a blunt point. Thus they are calculated to make an 

 opening into the tumour occasioned by the larva, suffi- 

 cient to draw it out, and also to lay hold of it and 

 extract it with much more certainty than if they were 

 of smaller dimensions and sharper at the points. The 

 opening also prevents that inflammation and suppu- 

 ration which are said to attend the presence of the 

 larva in that warm climate. 



BUPRESTID^S (Leach). A splendid family of 

 coleopterous insects belonging to the section Penta- 

 mera, and sub-section Serricorncs, or those which have 

 the antennas serrated, and not terminated by a club. 



