ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE ENDIVE. 



rolls itself into a globular mass, so completely desti- 

 tute of all appearance of life, or even of animalism, 

 that it looks rather like a striped bead, and indeed 

 by ignorant persons it may be, and in fact has been, 

 mistaken for one of these ornaments. Swammerdam 

 relates an instance in which one of his maid servants, 

 having found a number of these insects rolled up, 

 began to string them with a needle and thread, but, 

 as may be easily conceived, the insects very soon 

 gave unequivocal signs of life, "being obliged," as 

 Ssvammerdam says, " to throw off the mask and re- 

 sume their motions ; on seeing which the maid servant 

 was so greatly astonished that she threw away the 

 vvoodlice and the thread, and cried out and ran away." 

 The encephalus has a different mode of effecting the 

 same object. Instead of bending the abdomen be- 

 neath the breast, as in the instances above mentioned, 

 we find it turned upwards and thrown over the back, 

 its flat upper surface laying close upon the elytra, 

 the toothed edges of the former forming a kind of 

 overhanging edge to a convex roof composed of the 

 under-side of the abdomen ; the head, moreover, is 

 applied close to the breast, so that the insect now 

 resembles a small round pebble of a shining black 

 colour. In the ordinary species of the Lrachcli/tra 

 (see the figure of the Devil's coachhorse in the arti- 

 cle upon that group) the abdomen is occasionally 

 turned upwards, but in the insect in question this 

 power is carried to its greatest extent, and applied, as 

 we have seen, to a purpose different from that for 

 which the attitude figured is employed, namely, the 

 discharging of a caustic or pungent smelling fluid or 

 vapour from the extremity of the uplifted abdomen. 



The type of the genus, E. cow/>/,Y/;2s, is about one- 

 sixth of an inch long, and is found in the winter in 

 moss and in damp situations. 



ENCHANTER'S NIGHTSHADE is t\\eCirc<za 

 lutetiana of Linnaeus, a common weed, growing in damp 

 shady places. It has been observed by a late writer 

 that, although this plant has been named after the 

 famous mythological enchantress Circe, it is entirely 

 innocuous, possessing neither deleterious or useful 

 properties of any kind. 



ENCYRTUS (Dalmann). A genus of minute 

 hymenopterous insects, belonging to the section Pupi- 

 vora and family Ckalcididoe, distinguished by having 

 the deflexed nerve of the upper wing attached to the 

 costal nerve at the extremity of the latter, and by 

 having the intermediate tibiae and tarsi dilated. These 

 insects are of very small size, but interesting on 

 account of their peculiar construction, and of their 

 economy, being parasitic upon various species of scale 

 insects (Coccidcc], which they destroy in considerable 

 riumbers, whence they may be regarded as very ser- 

 viceable aids to the gardener and horticulturist. The 

 antenna; are subject to various remarkable modifica- 

 tions of form in the different species, of which there 

 are a very great number, and the colours of the sexes 

 are likewise very varied. In their motions they are 

 extremely active; indeed, from the quickness with 

 which they leap to a great distance, they are difficult 

 to be captured. One of the species, E. vitis, attacks 

 the vine fretter (Coccus vitis). The male is black 

 and the female red. It is figured in Mr. Curtis's 

 British Entomology. 



ENDIVE is the Chiconum endivia of Linnaeus, a 

 well known salad and culinary vegetable, belonging 

 to the order Composites, and giving a title to one of 

 the sub-orders of that extensive natural order. 



4-25 



There are five species of this genus, one, the 

 C. intybus,\s British, and commonly met with by road 

 sides and banks of hedges. In Germany it is culti- 

 vated for its roots, which, when cleaned and dried, are 

 ground to powder, and used as a substitute for coffee. 

 Three species are weeds, and the remaining one is 

 our present subject. 



This being a winter salad plant, it is needless to 

 sow it before the first of June ; if sown earlier it soon 

 runs to seed. The second and third sowings should 

 be made in the first and third weeks of July, and two 

 other sowings may be put in during August. 



The seed may be either sowed on seed beds, to be 

 transplanted, or in drills where it is intended to stand 

 for good. Although endive may be successfully trans- 

 planted, it does better to remain where it is sown. In 

 tact, there cannot be a better way than sowing a 

 double number of drills on the same seed bed, every 

 alternate one to remain, and the intermediate ones to 

 be transplanted. 



The transplanting season continues from the end 

 of June to the first week in October, and at this last 

 mentioned period the plants should be placed in 

 frames, under glass, for protection against the severity 

 of winter. Whenever or wherever planted, it should 

 have full room to spread ; and if in its favourite soil, 

 a rich light loam, fourteen inches between plant and 

 plant will not be found too much. When transplanted 

 into drills at this or any greater distance, the plants 

 should be dibbed into shallow furrows made by the 

 hoe ; not only because it gives the roots a deeper 

 hold of the ground, but very much facilitates the ap- 

 plication of water, and which, if the season be dry, 

 will be required not only when first planted, but occa- 

 sionally afterwards, to induce a rapid growth. 



As endive is never used until blanched, it is, as 

 soon as full or pretty well grown, tied or earthed up 

 for this purpose. There are various methods prac- 

 tised for accomplishing this object ; gathering up the 

 leaves all round into a compact bundle, and binding 

 them in that state with strings of matting, is one of 

 the easiest methods ; or, instead of ties, drawing earth 

 round each plant while so held up, answers the same 

 purpose. Some blanch their endive by laying plain 

 tiles on each plant, or by a long board laid along the 

 rows. But it must be observed that in all cases the 

 leaves must be perfectly dry when tied up or covered 

 to prevent rotting, which would certainly happen 

 were they tied up wet. In ten days the plants thus 

 treated will be sufficiently blanched for use ; so that 

 to keep up a supply, a certain quantity, according to 

 the consumption, should be consecutively tied up or 

 otherwise blanched. By thus depriving the central 

 leaves of the plant of light and free air, the bitter 

 quality is corrected, and the crisp delicacy improved ; 

 besides, extreme whiteness is a great recommendation 

 at table. Being one of the principal winter salad 

 plants, it deserves every attention in order to have 

 full-sized perfect plants in that season. Those sown 

 at the end of July and during August are most to be 

 depended upon for winter use. The soil can hardly 

 be too rich for endive, and when allowed ample space 

 it arrives at a fine bulk for salads for kitchen use be- 

 fore the winter sets in. When frost threatens, how- 

 ever, the plants must be removed 1o a place of safety. 

 This is usually done by tying up all the largest plants 

 on a dry day, and raising the roots out of the ground 

 with good balls of earth, and replanting close together 

 among dry sand, in a pit or frame that can be covered 



