CHRYSIPHIALA CHR YSOCHLORIS. 



Cleples. The genus Ckrysis has the mandibles with 

 one small tooth, the labium rounded and entire, the 

 maxillary palpi much longer than the labial, and the 

 thorax not narrowed in front. 



There are about thirty-five species of this beautiful 

 family found in this country, two-thirds of which 

 belong to the last mentioned genus, of which the 

 Chrysis iqnita of Linnaeus is the type. 



CHRYSIPHIALA (Ker). A Peruvian family 

 of bulbous herbs, introduced within the last fifteen 

 years. Linnaean class and order, Hcxandria Mono- 

 gynia ; natural order, AmaryUideas. Generic charac- 

 ter : perianth tubular, tube contracted in the middle, 

 limb erect, and expanded like a funnel in six divi- 

 sions ; corolla shortened interiorly, toothed, and 

 bearing the stamens ; filaments awl-shaped and erect ; 

 anthers incumbent ; style thickly spindle-shaped be- 

 low ; stigma club-shaped ; capsule three-celled, three- 

 valved, and many-seeded. This genus was called 

 Stenomison by Herbert, and Pancratium by Ruiz and 

 Pavon. 



CHRYSOBALANE^E. The cocoa-plum family. 

 A natural order of dicotyledonous plants, containing 

 nine genera and upwards of thirty known species. 

 By some botanists the order is considered as a section 

 of Rosaceai, to which it is undoubtedly allied. It has 

 also an obvious affinity to Amygdalece, but differs in 

 having irregular petals and stamens, and a style 

 proceeding from the base of the ovary. By the 

 former of these characters, as well as by the cohesion 

 which exists between the ovary and the calyx, the 

 order may be said to approach Leguminoscc, but the 

 position of the styles and ovula, and the relation 

 which the odd lobes of the calyx bear to the axis of 

 inflorescence, are sufficient to distinguish the two 

 . orders. 



The following are the botanical characters of 

 Chrysobalanccs : calyx five-lobed ; petals more or less 

 irregular, either five or none ; stamens definite or 

 indefinite, irregular in size or position ; ovary soli- 

 tary, free, its stalk cohering on one side to the tube 

 of the calyx ; ovules two, erect ; style single, arising 

 from the base ; stigma simple ; fruit, a drupe one 

 or two-celled ; seeds usually solitary, erect ; embryo 

 with fleshy cotyledons, and no albumen. 



The plants referred to this order are trees or 

 shrubs, with simple alternate stipulate leaves, and 

 flowers in racemes, panicles, or corymbs. They 

 grow in tropical countries, and are found chiefly in 

 the warm regions of Africa and America. A few 

 species are supposed to exist in Equinoctial Asia, 

 and one is said to be found as far north as the 

 pine-barrens of Georgia, in America. In the latter 

 country, however, it is to be remarked, that the 

 climate is much warmer than in most countries lying 

 in the same parallel of latitude. The order furnishes 

 some esculent fruits, but none of the plants appear 

 to be possessed of any particular medicinal properties. 

 The genera are, Chrysobalanus, Moquilia, Corcepia. 

 Acioa, Parinarium, Grangeria, Licania, Thclyra, and 

 Hirtella. 



Chrysobalanus Jcaco is an irregular shrub, eight or 

 ten feet high, which grows iu South America and in 

 the West Indies, in situations not far from the sea. 

 It bears small whitish flowers, and yields a fruit the 

 size of a plum, which is sometimes of a white, at 

 other times of a yellow, red, or purple colour, and is 

 eaten in the \Vt-st Indies under the name of cocoa- 

 plum. It has little odour, and a sweetish taste. The 



39 



root of the plant is astringent, and has been used as 

 such medicinally. Chrysobalanus hdcus resembles the 

 lemon-tree, and is found in the maritime parts of 

 Sierra Leone. It yields an esculent fruit the size of 

 a plum, which is sold in the markets. 



Parinarium cxcclsum, found on the mountains of 

 Sierra Leone, supplies an insipid fruit, eaten by the 

 negroes under the name of the rough-skinned or 

 grey plum. The kernel of the fruit of P. campestre 

 and montanum is said to be sweet and edible. 



Grangeria Bourbonia is a tree the size of an oak, 

 with entire leaves and small flowers, found on the Isle 

 of Bourbon. 



Hirtella Americana. A tree twenty-five feet high 

 found in Cayenne and Guiana, is furnished with a 

 reddish bark, and has its branches covered with fine 

 hair. Some of the species of this genus are tall trees 

 of the tropics, which support themselves on other 

 plants. 



CHRYSOBALANUS (Linnteus). This is a 

 West Indian fruit tree, called the cocoa-plum. It 

 belongs to the class Icosandria Di Pentagynia, and 

 to the natural order Hosaccte. 



CHRYSOBERYL. A very beautiful mineral, of 

 a yellowish-green tint, which derives its name from 

 a Greek word, indicative of its peculiar hue. It 

 sometimes exhibits a milk-white opalescence, which 

 appears in general to radiate from the interior of the 

 mineral, and reflects much light. It is seldom found 

 crystallised ; but the primitive form is a prism of 104. 

 41'. The most frequent secondary forms are those 



Fig. I. 



Chrysoberyl. 



in the accompanying figures. Fig. 1, is a short and 

 broad six-sided prism, or ihick table; fig. 2, a very 

 short and broad six-sided prism, acuminated on both 

 ends with six planes, set on the lateral planes, and 

 the orifices truncated. 



This mineral occurs in Brazil, in alluvial soil with 

 the topaz, or in sand-stone with the diamond. Some 

 are also procured from the United States. The beds 

 of the rivers in Ceylon occasionally present this 

 mineral ; it is there sometimes found in conjunction 

 with sapphires, rubies, and tourmalines. The finest 

 specimens of the chrysoberyl employed in this country 

 for the purposes of the jeweller, are those imported 

 from South America. 



CHRYSOCHLORIS-Golden-green Mole. A 

 genus of carnivorous mammalia, belonging to the 

 division which feed on insects. The generic characters 

 are : two incisive teeth in the upper jaw and four in the 

 under, the cheek teeth stand high, arc separate from 

 each other, arid have the form of triangular prisms. 

 Their muzzle is short and turned up ; their fore feet 

 have only three claws, of which the exterior one is 



