446 



ETHERIA- 



quit the large ponds and pobls,"and resort r to the 

 creeks and ditches, depositing their ova among the 

 roots of the aquatic plants ; ducks and other water 

 birds are particularly fond of the spawn of the pike, 

 and not only consume great quantities of it, but carry 

 it oft', adhering to their feathers, without being injured 

 or having its vitality destroyed. By this means pikes 

 often make their appearance in ponds where there 

 were none before ; and this fact, which was well estab- 

 lished before any inquiry was made into its cause, 

 was once the source of many conjectures. 



Pennant mentions a curious method of taking pike 

 in the fens of Lincolnshire. The fishermen use a 

 basket open at the top and bottom ; this they plunge 

 down behind the stern of their punts or fenboats, and 

 by poking with a stick ascertain whether there is a 

 fish in it or not ; if there is one, they immediately raise 

 the basket, and throwing the fish into the punt, lower 

 the basket to catch another. 



These fish may be also taken with a noose and 

 rod when they are basking in the shallow water, which 

 they do on warm days, with the back at or even par- 

 tially above the surface. They may also be shot, 

 only the gun must be levelled lower than the fish, 

 because of the refraction at the surface of the water, 

 and also of the shot glancing there ; but care must 

 be taken not to insert the muzzle of the gun in the 

 water, as the consequence would be the bursting of 

 the barrel, to the great danger of the sportsman. 

 There are many modes of capturing these fish ; and 

 their strength and voracity which render them too 

 destructive in the fish pond, are recommendations in 

 the eyes of the sportsman. 



ETHERIA (Lamarck). This shell had probably 

 escaped the notice of former conchologists, from its 

 inhabiting the sea at a great depth, and from its being 

 there attached by the lower valve to rocks, or other 

 fixed objects. Lamarck, therefore, has the honour of 

 having first given a description of it. In consequence 

 of the irregularity of the shape, arising from the 

 faculty the animal possesses of affixing its dwelling to 

 the substance on which it was born, the general 

 appearance of the shell resembles that of an oyster. 

 It, however, is considered by Lamarck more nearly 

 allied to the genus Chama, possessing, like the species 

 of that genus, two separate lateral muscular im- 

 pressions (notwithstanding which, subsequent authors 

 have felt disposed to ally it to the Margaritacece), its 

 having no tooth at the hinge, and the substance of 

 the shell having a pearly appearance, and being 

 lamellar, as in the oyster, clearly separates it from 

 the genus Chama. These shells sometimes attain a 

 considerable size, and are of an extremely variable 

 form, as that depends, as before stated, "upon the 

 substance to which it becomes fixed at its birth. 

 The interior of the valves is generally covered with 

 very singular hollow globular irregularly-formed con- 

 cretions, like small bladders, beneath the pearly coat- 

 ing. These may be only accidental, but it is so 

 common that it appears characteristic. It has also a 

 sub-cylindrical callosity attached to the base of the 

 shell, which does not exist in a second species of this 

 genus, also described by Lamarck. The general 

 character of this shell may be described as irre- 

 gular, inequivalve, adhering to the lower valve ; 

 apices short, and appearing as it were forced into 

 the base of the valves ; hinge without teeth, waved, 

 subsinuous, unequal ; two lateral and oblong muscular 

 impressions ; ligament external, winding, and partly 



EUGENIA. * 



penetrating the shell. This genus is sub-divided 

 into two species, those presenting an oblong callo- 

 sity on the base of the valve and those which have 

 none. In De Blainville's System of Malacology this 

 genus belongs to the seventh family Camacea, third 

 order LameUibranchiata. third class Acephalophora. 



EUCALYPTUS (Heretier). An extensive New 

 Holland genus, many of them useful timber trees. 

 They belong to Icosandria, and to the natural order 

 Myrtacece. Generic character : calyx cut round in 

 the middle, upper part open, and seated like a cup ; 

 stamens numerous, inserted in a ring within the cup ; 

 filaments like hair ; anthers roundish ; style simple ; 

 capsule four-celled, and many seeded. The first of 

 these plants appeared in European collections about 

 1774, and many have been received since. They are 

 greenhouse and conservatory plants, having fine foli- 

 age, and flower occasionally. They are propagated 

 by cuttings, but not readily. 



EUCERA (Latreille), a genus of hymenopterous 

 insects, belonging to the section Acitkata, family 

 Apidfs, and subfamily Scopulipedes. The wings are 

 furnished with two complete submarginal cells, the 

 antennae of the males are nearly as long as the body, 

 and the two lateral divisions of the lower lip are fili- 

 form, and as long as the labial palpi. The antenna) of 

 the males likewise exhibit another peculiarity ; the last 

 ten joints appearing, when placed under a powerful 

 magnifier, to be composed of innumerable hexagons, 

 similar to those of which the eyes of insects consist. 

 These insects fly about sunny banks, the female 

 making her cells at the bottom of cylindrical burrows 

 formed in such situations. These cells are placed two 

 or three inches below the surface of the ground, they 

 are very smooth within, and of an oval form ; in each 

 of them the female places an egg with a sufficient 

 supply of pollen paste for the future larva, which 

 resembles that of the common bee, and which under- 

 goes all its transformations in the cell in which it is 

 born. The entrance of each cell is closed by a cover- 

 ing of earth. It is chiefly from labiate plants that 

 the females collect the honey which they employ. 

 The common species found in this country, and which 

 appears early in spring, especially frequents Ajuga 

 repeiis, and Glechoma hederacca. There are but few 

 species of this genus, of which the type is the Apis 

 longicornis of Linnaeus. This insect is about half an 

 inch long ; the thorax and basal joints of the abdomen 

 are clothed with reddish hairs ; the remainder of the 

 abdomen blackish, and the nose yellow. 



EUCLEA (Linnaeus). A genus of two evergreen 

 shrubs, natives of the Cape of Good Hope, belonging 

 to the natural order Eupkorbiacea:. They thrive well 

 under ordinary greenhouse treatment. 



EUCOMIS (Heretier). A family of bulbous 

 plants, introduced from the Cape. They .belong to 

 the sixth class, and first order of Linnreus, and to 

 the natural order AsphodelccE. Generic character : 

 corolla wheel-shaped, regular, six-parted ; filaments 

 dilated at the base, partly united, anthers oval ; style 

 awl-shaped ; stigma simple, capsule three-celled, many- 

 seeded. These plants flower annually, and are more 

 remarkable for their mode of flowering than for either 

 the size or colour of the flowers. 



EUGENIA (Linnams). A fine genus of fruit and 

 ornamental evergreen trees, natives of the warmer 

 parts of the world. Linnaean class and order 

 Icosandria Monogynia, and natural order Rubiacea. 

 Generic character : calyx persisting, tube oblong, 



