CHINESE ROSE CHIRONECTUS. 



white, with more or less of a brownish tinge. Besides 

 this very soft fur, there are bristly hairs scattered 

 thinly over the body of the animal, which are of a 

 black colour. This animal is found chiefly upon the 



margins upon those dry and sterile plains which lie 

 between the Andes and the Pacific, intermediate 

 between Chile and Peru, though it is met with to a 

 considerable extent over both these countries. From 

 the tenderness of its covering, it is not, though a 

 stronger and larger animal, so able to bear the severity 

 of winter in the Andes as the Chinchilla, though it is 

 not so decidedly an animal of the plains as the viscacha 

 of Paraguay. It is possible that both species may 

 occur both in the east and the west of the mountains, 

 though, for great part of the ridge, the summits are so 

 elevated, the weather upon them so severe, and the 

 passes so difficult, that they form nearly as impassable 

 a barrier to all animals that cannot fly as the same 

 extent of the ocean itself. It is highly probable that 

 there are more species, or, at all events, varieties of 

 this family, at one place or another of the country in 

 which the known ones occur ; but on this, as on very 

 many other points in the natural history of South 

 America, our information is still very imperfect, 

 though it is making a very rapid progress, especially 

 of late years, and since the Spanish colonies threw 

 off the yoke of the mother country. 



CHINESE ROSE is the Hibisctis rosa Sinensis of 

 Linnaeus. It is in no way connected with the Rosa 

 indica, which is a species of the common European rose; 

 but it is so called because the form, colour, and number 

 of the flowers of the Hibiscus, when seen at a distance, 

 resemble, in their native country, the rose tree of 

 England. This hibiscus is indeed a highly ornamen- 

 tal plant, and as the flowers are of different tints, even 

 on the same plant, they are great favourities of the 

 Chinese, as well as of European residents in India, 

 who plant them in the shrubberies round their houses. 

 They strike root readily from cuttings. 



CHIOCOCCA (Willdenow). A genus of West 

 Indian shrubs lately introduced into our collections. 

 Linnsan class and order, Pentandria Monogynia ; 

 natural order, Rvbiacece. Generic character: calyx 

 pitcher-shaped, ti ve-toothed ; corolla funnel-shaped, 

 throat bearded, stamens included ; stigma entire ; 

 berry pulpy and two-seeded. This is called the 

 snowberry-bush, from the colour of the fruit. It is 

 easily propagated by cuttings treated in the ordinary 

 manner. 



CHIONANTHUS (Linnaeus). Fine ornamental 

 North American trees and shrubs, common in our 

 pleasure-grounds. Linnaean class and order, Diandria 

 Monogynia ; natural order, Oleinee, Generic character : 

 calyx four-parted, persisting ; corolla tube short, limb 

 cut into many linear divisions ; stamens have short 



27 



filaments seated within the tube ; anthers heart- 

 shaped and erect ; style short ; stigma three-cleft ; 

 drupe one-seeded. This handsome plant is called 

 the fringe-tree, from the elegant form and position 

 of its flowers. The leaves are also large and showy. 

 Plants are raised from imported seeds, or propagated 

 bv unif'timr on the common ash. 

 ' CHIRONECTES. A genus of spinous-finned 

 fishes belonging to Cuvier's thirteenth family, or those 

 which have the pectoral fins pedunculated. They have 

 the carpal or wrist-bone so much produced as to form 

 a peduncle to the fin, which has some slight resem- 

 blance to an arm, to which the fin itself serves as a 

 sort of hand. The present genus bears some resem- 

 blance to the frog fishes, or anglers, which are re- 

 markable for their grotesque form. They have pro- 

 minent appendages to the head, which form a crest, 

 sometimes terminating in a sort of membrane, and at 

 other limes in a sort of fin. Their head and body are 

 compressed ; their mouth opens vertically ; their gill- 

 flaps consist of four rays, and there is no gill-opening, 

 but a small hole behind the dorsal fin. They have 

 four gills. Their dorsal fin occupies the whole length 

 of the back. They are furnished with a very large 

 swimming bladder. Their intestinal canals are of 

 mean length and without any caeca ; but their sto- 

 machs are very large, so that they can, upon occa- 

 sion, puff themselves up like a balloon. 



They are found chiefly in the muddy bays and 

 estuaries of tropical seas, and, contrary to the habits 

 of most fish, they do not retreat with the tide. There 

 are, indeed, few fishes which can bear the absence of 

 water longer ; for they may be kept on land for two 

 or three days, with little falling off of their activity. 

 They obtain the name of frog-fishes, from their hop- 

 ping along the surface of the mud at low water, very 

 much after the manner of these reptiles ; and in some 

 of the bays on the north coast of Australia, where 

 the violent rains wash the soil into the sea, they 

 may be observed at low water hopping about in great 

 numbers. Their pectoral fins, which have a great 

 deal of muscular action, are made use of as feet on 

 their march over the mud ; and though they do not 

 use these alternately in stepping, they can spring to 

 the height of several feet, and the distance of a yard 

 or two. This curious mode of marching is by no 

 means an idle sport with them ; for immense numbers 

 of insects hover over the mud in those hot climates, 

 and these fishes spring up and make prize of them. 

 There are a considerable number of species, which 

 are chiefly distinguished by the different appendages 

 to the skin, some of which are spines, and capable of 

 inflicting rather unpleasant wounds, though in this 

 respect they are not so formidable as some of the 

 allied genera. They are by no means handsome 

 fishes, nor does it appear that they are eaten even by 

 the rudest people. 



CHIRONECTUS. A genus of marsupial ani- 

 mals, of aquatic habits, and but for the fact of its being 

 maruspial, while the otters are not, it bears a consi- 

 derable resemblance to the otter, and is called the 

 little otter by European settlers in those parts of the 

 world where it is found. 



The characters are : six incisive teeth in the upper 

 jaw, and eight in the under ; two canines in each ; 

 the number of grinders indefinite ; the muzzle pointed ; 

 the eyes directed laterally ; the ears naked, and mem- 

 branous ; five toes on all the feet, of which the hind 

 ones only are webbed ; no nail ou the thumb of the 



