688 



CANDY TUFT-CANTHARID^. 



It succeeds well in our green-houses, and is propa- 

 gated by cuttings planted in sand under a glass, and 

 assisted by a little hot-bed heat. 



CANDY TUFT. Is the Iberis semperflorens of 

 Linnams. It is a genus consisting of above twenty 

 species, some of jhem undershrubs and perennial; a 

 few are biennial, and above a moiety of them are 

 annuals. They are natives of the south of Europe, 

 and have long been introduced into this country lor 

 ornamenting flower borders and green-houses. The 

 shrubby sorts are readily propagated by cuttings, 

 and the annual sorts only require sowing in the open 

 ground about the end of March. 



CANE-BRAKE. Isthe Arundinnria macrospenn rt 

 of Michaux. It is a large coarse growing kind of 

 reed indigenous to North America, and is ranked in 

 the third class and third order of the sexual system, 

 and in the natural order Graminets. 



CANELLA (P. Brown). A genus of two spe- 

 cies of lofty growing tropical trees. Linnaean class 

 and order Dodecandria Monogynia; and natural order 

 Guttifercc. Generic character : calyx three-lobed ; 

 corolla, petals five, roundish, somewhat leathery ; 

 tube shorter than the stamens, and truncated ; stigma 

 in two or three divisions ; berry two or three celled ; 

 seeds in pairs, and heart shaped. These trees are 

 highly ornamental ; both foliage and flowers being 

 ample and show}'. 



CANIS (the dog). A well known and exceed- 

 ingly interesting genus, or, more strictly speaking, 

 group of digitigrade mammalia, belonging to the 

 carnivora, or flesh-eating division properly so called, 

 of Cuvier's order carnassiers. The characters of this 

 genus are: six incisive teeth and two canines in each 

 jaw, six cheek teeth in each side of the upper jaw, 

 and seven in the under, making in all forty-two teeth, 

 of which there are twenty in the upper jaw, and 

 twenty-two in the lower. The first three cheek teeth 

 in the upper jaw and the first four in the lower are 

 trenchant or tearing teeth. That immediately behind 

 the canine in the upper jaw is very large, with two 

 sharp trenchant points toward the outward edge, and 

 a small tubercle on the inner side ; the others are 

 smaller, but ' they are all furnished with trenchant 

 tubercles. The muzzle in all the wild varieties is 

 elongated, the tongue is soft, the ears erect ; the fore- 

 feet with five toes, the hind one with four only. Of 

 the domesticated species the varieties are exceedingly 

 numerous ; and it is altogether impossible to refer 

 them to any species at present known in the wild 

 state. Particular accounts of them will be given in 

 the articles DOG, WOLF, Fox, JACKALL, and some of 

 the allied genera ; while their relative position in the 

 system will be pointed out in the article MAMMALIA. 



CANNA (Linnaeus), commonly called Indian 

 shot, perhaps from the roundness and hardness of the 

 seeds. Linnwan class and order Monandria Mono- 

 gynia, being the first genus of the sexual system, and 

 gives a title to an order in the natural system namely 

 Cannece. Generic characters : calyx double, each 

 three-parted, somewhat coloured, superior ; corolla 

 of one petal, three-cleft, irregular, rather gaping ; 

 stamens, filaments like petals, having an anther 

 attached to the margin ; pistillum also like a petal, 

 with a linear stigma fixed on the edge ; capsule infe- 

 rior, membranaceous, roughly muricated, of three 

 cells, and three valves ; seeds many, globular ; albu- 

 men hard. One species of this genus has been known 

 in Europe ever since 1561 ; and many new ones 

 have been introduced lately. The foliage of all of 



them is beautiful, and their high-colon red flowers are 

 attractive. (.'. jiittcnn, and C. sjieciosa are hardy, but 

 most of them, particularly the C, Indica, require a 

 stove or warm green-house. All the species are 

 increased by dividing the roots, or by seeds, which 

 ripen well in this country. 



CANNABIS (Linnnteus). This is the plant which 

 produces the hemp of commerce. Linnujan class and 

 order Muncecia llexandria ; natural order Urtirca. 

 Generic character: male flowers in panicles, calyx of 

 five sepals ; corolla none ; anthers four-furrowed, 

 two-celled ; female flowers aggregated, scales hollow, 

 germen round ; styles two, thick at the top, hairy ; 

 caryopsis or seed-vessel contains the seeds, which 

 have the embryo inclosed between two thick cotyle- 

 dons. Hemp has been long cultivated in the north-- 

 crn parts of Europe ; its stem yielding the strongest 

 filacious material of any known plant (except, perhaps 

 the Phormium tencix, or New Zealand hemp). 



CANTERBURY BELLS. A large growing 

 species of Campanula, common in gardens. 



CANTHARIDJE (Leach). A family of coleop- 

 terous insects belonging to the section Heterotivera, 

 and sub-section Tracliciules of Latreille. The head 

 is large and rounded posteriorly, the thorax is gene- 

 rally narrowed behind, and the clasvs of the feet are 

 very deeply notched, appearing double ; the wing 

 covers are depressed at the sides. These insects 

 counterfeit death when alarmed, and several of them 

 emit from the joints a caustic fluid secreted by organs 

 not yet observed by anatomists. The type of the 

 family is the vesicatory cantharis or blister-fly of the 

 shops. Many of the other species likewise possess 



Blister Beetle. 



similar powers. The insect just mentioned, was 

 indeed placed by Linnaeus in his Systema Natnra: 

 in the genus Meloe, or oil-beetles, although in his 

 Materia Medica he had described nsCanl/iarix cccndco- 

 viridis, thorace teretiusculo, whilst the insects of which 

 this author composed his genus cantharis, were the 

 harmless insects known by the common names of 

 soldiers and sailors (Telephorus, De Geer). Geoffroy, 

 however, adopted the long established medicinal 

 name of cantharis for the vesicatory beetles, but 

 incorrectly called the Telephori, by the generic name 

 of Cicindela. And in the former respect, the nomen- 

 clature has been retained by the French and English 

 entomologists ; but Fabricius having employed the 

 name of Cantharis for the soldier beetles, and having 

 given the name of Lytta to the vesicatory beetle, the 

 Germans who have generally adopted his nomencla- 

 ture, still employ the latter name. 



The common blister-fly Cantharis vcsicatoria, is 

 generically distinguished by the possession of com- 

 plete wings and wing covers, by having the joints of 

 the tarsi entire and not bilobed, and the thorax 

 nearly ovoid ; the body is long and narrow, with the 

 head rather larger than the thorax : the second joint 

 of the antennae is very small. This insect varies? 



