636 GLOBULAR! A 



to the natural order Composites, and is found wild in 

 the central countries of Europe. 



GLOBULARIA (Linnaeus). A genus of herbs 

 and undershrubs, natives of the south of Europe. 

 Linnaean class and order, Tetrandria Monogynia, and 

 to the natural order to which it gives a title, Globu- 

 lin-ice. Generic character : flowers aggregated in 

 round heads ; receptacle chaffy ; involucrum imbri- 

 cated ; calyx in five persisting divisions ; corolla in 

 five irregular divisions , stigma simple ; caryopsis 

 loosely involved in the calyx ; embryo inverted. 

 The globularias are pretty flower-border plants, affect 

 a sandy soil, and may be propagated by cuttings or 

 seeds. 



GLOBULARIA. A natural order, containing 

 only one genus, whence it derives its title. The 

 species are Alpine plants, bearing pretty blue flowers ; 

 some of them are purgative, and, as such, are found 

 in the list of drugs. The Globularies differ so little 

 from the Dipsacece in their general structure, that, 

 were it not for their free superior germen, they might 

 be associated immediately with them, at least they 

 might very well stand as a sub-type, for they are an 

 instance of the close connexion which exists between 

 these types, and thus become another evident link in 

 that beautiful chain of affinities which pervades the 

 whole vegetable kingdom, associating and assimi- 

 lating the most distant, and apparently the most 

 discordant parts. 



GLORIOSA (Linnaeus). A genus of bulbous or 

 tuberous-rooted plants, natives of India. Class and 

 order, Hexandria Monogynia, and natural order 

 TulipacecE. Generic character : corolla of six petals, 

 reflexed from the base, petals lanceolate, pointed, 

 wavy, and very long ; stamens below the germen ; 

 filaments awl- shaped, elongated, spreading ; anthers 

 incumbent ; style like a thread, inclining ; stigma 

 trifid : seed-vessel three-celled, three-valved ; seeds 

 globular, and disposed in a double series. The 

 botanist who first discovered this plant must have 

 been enchanted by the sight, because he bestowed 

 upon it the high-sounding name of Gloriosa superba. 

 It is really, however, a magnificent plant even in 

 our hothouses, and in its native bed must be indeed 

 glorious. They are flowered frequently in our hot- 

 houses with the necessary culture of planting them 

 in turfy loam, sand, and moor earth, placing them in 

 a hotbed-frame till they begin to produce their long 

 dangling steins ; then remove them to a warm part of 

 a stove where there is room for the stems to advance, 

 and be trained on a wall or to a long stake. They 

 flower in the summer, and the stem dies down in the 

 autumn, after which it is necessary that the roots 

 should be kept perfectly dry till the next spring. 

 They are then re-potted, and plunged in a brisk 

 heat of the bark-bed, and at all times moderately 

 supplied with water. They are increased by division 

 or by seeds. 



GLOSSODIA (R. Brown) is a genus of plants 

 belonging to the natural order Orchidece, and found 

 naturally in New Holland. It thrives in sandy loam 

 and moor earth, and only requires water when in a 

 growing state. 



GLOSSULA (Lindley). An orchideous plant 

 indigenous to China, lately introduced to European 

 collections. This plant is called Glossaspis by other 

 authorities. 



GLOW-WORM. A small luminous insect^ be- 

 longing systematically to the order Coleoptera, al- 



GLOW-WORM. 



though destitute of wings or wing-covers, section 

 Pentamera, family Lampyrida and genus Lampyris, 

 which see for the systematic characters of the insect. 

 One species only of these insects inhabits this coun- 

 try, namely, the Lampyris noctiluca, which is to be 

 seen amongst grass and low herbage upon banks 

 during the summer evenings, emitting a beautiful 

 clear greenish light from the underside of the ex- 

 tremity of the abdomen, not much unlike that of 

 phosphorus. It is the female, however, which is 

 generally observed to emit this light in such situa- 

 tions, the male being a smaller and more active winged 

 animal, totally unlike his sluggish partner. Some of 



The male and female Glow-worm. 



our poets have indeed supposed that this was not the 

 case, giving to the male the admiration resulting from 

 this beautiful appearance : thus Cowper, in his verses 

 on this insect, says 



" this truth divine 

 Is legible and plain. 

 "Tis power almighty bids him shine ; 

 Nor bids him shine in vain." 



And Shakspeare, alluding to the supposed cessation 

 of the luminosity before day-break, tells us that 



" The glow-worm shows the matin to be near, 

 And "gins to pale Ms ineffectual fire." 



It is, however, to the females that these writers have 

 alluded, and the especial possession of such a power 

 by individuals of this sex has led to the idea that the 

 light is given to them for the purpose of attracting the 

 roving male and disclosing to him the retreat of his 

 mate. 



That the possession of this light is of far higher 

 importance in the economy of the insect than the 

 supposed use of which Cowper sings, viz. 



" To bid the traveller, as he went, 

 Be careful where he trod ; 

 Nor crush a worm, whose useful light 

 Might serve, however small, 

 To shew a stumbling- stone by night, 

 And save him from a fall," 



cannot be questioned ; and when we remember the 

 propensity of many nocturnal insects to fly towards a 

 light, and which is exhibited not only by moths but also 

 by many species of beetles *, we may, with Dumeril, 

 regard this phosphorescent light as " the lamp of 

 love the pharos the telegraph of the night which 

 scintillates and marks in the silence of darkness the 

 spot appointed for the lovers' rendezvous." It may, 

 indeed, be objected to this supposition, that there are 

 various other species of nocturnal insects which are 

 in a condition similar to that of the glow-worm, 

 namely, the males winged and the females apterous, 



* Mr. Main states that the male glow-worms have been seen 

 in such numbers as sometimes to cover a table round a lighted 

 candle in an open room. And Mr. Bird, in his account of moths 

 captured by means of a lamp near Reading, includes, " as might 

 be expected, the male of Lampyris noctiluca," Ent. Mag. ii.4l. 



