756 



CEANOTHUS CEBRIONID^. 



chinchillas, some of which are, however, different names 

 for the same animals. See the articles AGOUTI and 

 CHINCHILLA. These last mentioned animals bring us 

 onward to the barren portions of the country which 

 do not afford food even for rodent mammalia; and 

 animals of this class, from the characters both of their 

 cutting and grinding teeth, can subsist upon much 

 harder and drier food than any of the other vegetable 

 feeders. 



Taking them altogether, we find a regular set of 

 animals subsisting upon vegetable matter, varying in 

 the character of the teeth, in proportion as their 

 habitations is farther from the rivers, and varying still 

 more in the appearance and texture of their covering. 

 The cavy, which is always near the banks of the 

 streams, and very often in the banks of the water, has 

 very little hair, and the little that it has, is of a bristly 

 character, or bearing some resemblance to that of the 

 pig ; but as we quit the waters, we come to coverings 

 capable of affording still greater protection against 

 extremes of temperature, till we at last come to the 

 chinchilla, the covering of which is exceedingly close 

 and fine, and highly prized as fur. 



Of course, this succession of animals is exactly 

 adapted to the state of nature in South America; and 

 from this it follows, that that country was not natur- 

 ally adapted for ruminating animals, and yet upon 

 their introduction, cattle, in a wild state have multi- 

 plied in it faster than in any other part of the world. 

 It would be desirable to know, how far the immense 

 herds which now range the plains, have changed the 

 vegetation, and along with that the climate and even 

 the soft of the country. But it is certain, that pastur- 

 ing with cattle has a tendency to reduce the surface 

 to a perennial sward, and that this sward is a means, 

 not only of preparing the ground for the plough, but 

 of equalizing the seasons, and thereby improving the 

 climate. Thus, without intending it, the European 

 settlers have been the means of beginning a great 

 revolution in the natural history of South America, 

 to watch the progress of which, will be a most inter- 

 esting subject for future naturalists. At present, 

 however, the data are few and not well connected. 



CEANOTHUS (Linnaeus). A genus of prickly 

 shrubs and trees, natives of the tropics both in India 

 and South America. Linnaean class and order Pen- 

 tandria Monogynia ; natural order Rhamnece. Generic 

 character: calyx bell-shaped and five-cleft ; petals of 

 the corolla clawed, hollow, (rarely none); stamens 

 opposite the petals ; stigma tripartite ; capsule dry, 

 three-seeded. This is the red-wood of the West 

 Indies ; several of the species were included in the 

 genus Rhamnus by the earlier botanists, but have 

 been separated by Decandolle, Lambert, and others. 

 They are cultivated in our stoves, and increased by 

 cuttings struck in sand. 



CEBRIONIDJ2 (Leach). A family of Coleo- 

 pterous insects, belonging to the section Pcntamera, 

 and division Scrricornes, having for its type the genus 

 Cebrio of Olivier. These insects have the body of an 

 oval oblong form ; in others, however, which from 

 their small size and soft consistence ( Cyphonides),seem 

 to depart considerably from the habits of the group 

 it is of a rounded and convex shape. The jaws ter- 

 minate in a single tooth, and the palpi are of equal 

 thickness throughout or more slender at the tips ; the 

 thorax is transverse, broadest behind, with the lateral 

 angles often acute. The antenna? are longer than the 

 head and thorax, serrated or branched in many 



species, and never clubbed at (lie tip ; and the legs arb 

 not contractile. These insects seem to establish an 

 intimate connection between the skip-jack bci.-lk's 

 ( Elaterida:), and the soft winged, soldier and sailor 

 beetles, as they are termed, Tclephoridae ; thus, in the 

 typical genera, the breast-bone is produced into a 

 point behind, and received into a corresponding aper- 

 ture in the mesosternum, whilst in the Cyphaeadet, the 

 softness of the body and several other characters - 

 to lead the way to the latter family. Of the early 

 history of these insects, the majority of which arc 

 strangers to this country, but little is known. Some 

 curious circumstances have, however, been observed 

 respecting the typical species, Cebro gigas, an in- 

 habitant of Germany and France, which seems to 

 confirm the observations which have been made re- 

 specting the influence of atmospheric changes upon 

 the lower animals. Thus, Olivier observed, that it 

 was generally noticed flying with great rapidity im- 

 mediately after heavy storms; and M. Farines has 

 published a memoir upon the history of the same 

 insect, in the Transactions of the Linnaean Society of 

 Bordeaux, from which it appears that this insect only 

 makes its appearance during, or after, the heavy 

 autumnal rains, at which period of the year, if the 

 weather be fine, very few are to be observed. 



The males of this species are distinguished by their 

 long and slender antennae, which organs, in the 

 females, are not longer than the head, terminating in 

 a thick mass; indeed, so different is the appearance 

 of this sex from the males, that Latreille was induced, 

 at first, to form it into a distinct genus. The wings, 

 in this sex, are rudimental. 



This family may be divided into two sections : 

 1st, the Cebrionides having the body oblong and of a 

 firm consistence ; the legs not fitted for leaping ; the 

 jaws strongly curved and extending beyond the lip, 

 which is very short and notched in the middle, and 

 the antennas often branched. 



Here are to be ranged the genera : Physodactylus. 

 Cebrio, Anelastes, CalfirMpis, Sandalus, RAytoera, 

 Philodactyla and Atopa, with some others proposed 

 by Dr. Leach in a monograph upon this group of in- 

 sects, published in the Zoological Journal, and by 

 M. Laporte, in a memoir recently published in the 

 Annals of the Entomological Society of France. The 

 genus Callirhipis is distinguished by the long and 

 beautifully branched antennae of the males, which are, 

 however, only eleven jointed ; the same character is 

 found in the elegant exotic genus Rhipicera, but here 

 these organs are composed of from twenty to forty 

 joints. 



The genus Atopa (Fabricius ; DasciUus, Latreille); 

 comprises the only British species belonging to this 

 first section. It is the Chrysomcla Cervina of Linnaeus, 

 a very variable insect as respects its colour, being 

 clothed with pubescence, which is sometimes ochrace- 

 ous, and at others fuscous. It is nearly half an inch 

 long and is not uncommon in the woods near London. 

 The sexes of this insect have also been regarded as 

 distinct species. Mr. Curtis observes, " The scent 

 of several of the tawny specimens which I took off 

 alders and brambles, was very offensive and powerful, 

 similar to that of the house bug ; whereas, the dark 

 ones either had no scent, or smelt merely of the plant 

 on which they were found ;" adding, " Mr. Mathews, 

 A. L. S., has informed me that whilst he was collect- 

 ing Orchideae in Kent, on the 29th of May, 1825, he 

 found three specimens of our beetle at the roots oi' 



