KURTUS LABROIDE.E. 



17 



long time after it is brought forth, the young being 

 seated on the shoulders and neck of its parent, where 

 it holds its place very firmly, and lives and reposes 

 there, except when the mother suckles it, until it is 

 strong enough for finding its own food. Not much 

 is known of its disposition and habits, and it seems so 

 peaceable a creature, that there is probably very little 

 to be known. Indeed, all the native mammalia of 

 New Holland, though they are singular, are inferior 

 in the development of their system of sensation to 

 those of every other part of the world, and their 

 resources are so few, that they will gradually dis- 

 appear as the country becomes more thickly peopled. 

 KURTUS. A genus of spinous finned fishes, 

 belonging to the family with scaly fins, and occupying 

 a place in the system intermediate between the 

 dorees and the coryphenes. They are surface fishes, 

 included in the very extensive family of the mackerel, 

 which includes many of the fast swimming and richly 

 coloured fishes of the tropical seas. Of the genus 

 under consideration only one species is known, 

 Kurtrts cornutus, so called from a small curved horn 

 which stands in front of the dorsal fin. The dorsal 

 fins are not very long, but the ventral and anal fins 

 are well produced. The scales over the whole body 

 are so minute, that they cannot be observed upon 

 the dried skin. They are very richly coloured, being 

 silvery of brilliant lustre, with golden spots on the 

 back. The pectoral fins are gold colour with red 

 margins ; and the remaining fins are very brilliant 

 sky blue, bordered with yellow or with white. The 

 body is very much compressed, and its cavity is 

 remarkably short. The fish is rare, however, even in 

 the tropical seas ; while in those of the temperate 

 countries there is not a specimen. It is not a large 

 fish, never exceeding a foot in length, and generally 

 not much more than six inches. Still it contributes, 

 along with other nearly allied genera, of which the 

 colours are also very brilliant, to give no small degree 

 of interest to the water in the tropical seas ; and as the 

 water there is not only clear in most places, but much 

 better illuminated by the more direct light of the sun, 

 the brilliant colours of the fishes are shown off to 

 great advantage as compared with any thing which 

 we can witness near our own shores. 



KYDIA (Roxburgh). A genus of East India 

 trees, belonging to the class Monaclel/ibia, and to the 

 natural order Byttneriacca;. It succeeds in our stoves, 

 and is propagated by cuttings. 



LABIA (Leach). A genus of dermopterous 

 insects, having for its type the little earwig. See 

 FORFICULA. 



LABIAT^E. A large natural order, containing 

 a portion of Diandria Monogynia, and the whole of 

 Didynamia Gymnospermia of Linnaeus. The plants of 

 this order are characterised by their didynamous 

 stamens, four little nuts or naked seeds, single style, 

 and irregular corolla. They are mostly natives of 

 extra-tropical countries, although under the form of 

 Hi/ptis, Anisomcles, Leucas, Ocymum, Sfc. ; they are 

 found in the hottest zones of jthe world. Many are 

 extremely odoriferous in the leaves ; some bear 

 handsome flowers ; but a great number are only 

 weeds. 



This order, by some writers, is called Menthaccts, 

 and the strict adherence to the normal characters of 

 this type must be obvious to every one. Indeed, so 

 striking is their similitude, that Jussieu observed 



NAT. HIST. VOL. III. 



they might be considered as forming a vast but single 

 genus ; and to this uniformity of structure may per- 

 haps be attributed their equally remarkable similitude 

 in properties. None of the Labiates are poisonous, 

 nor are any even suspected of being injurious ; the 

 betony is the most acrid of the whole. Scarcely any 

 are used as ordinary food, although many form grate- 

 ful condiments ; the stachys and the basil being per- 

 haps the only ones that are esculent as pot herbs. 

 They are all more or less fragrant, most are sweet 

 scented, but some are fetid. Their odours are in ge- 

 neral owing to the essential oils which are secreted 

 in abundance, and found in numerous receptacles on 

 their leaves and stalks. M. Fee observes, that odo- 

 riferous plants exhibit three remarkable variations. 

 In some the aromatic principle is free, and then it is 

 dissipated by drying ; this occurs chiefly in the 

 tuberose and jasmine, and it is not communicable 

 either to water or spirit, and seems to be artificially 

 retained only by the aid of fixed oils ; and occasionlly, 

 as in the lily and narcissus, it cannot be retained at 

 all. In some, the aromatic principle is in union with, 

 Cr is peculiar to, the essential oil, with which the 

 utricles or cryptae are replete ; and in this form it is 

 miscible with water and alcohol, but scarcely with 

 fixed oils. In'others again, it is in combination with 

 a resin, or gum-resin, and then it may be collected in 

 concrete masses by wounding the plants, or if by dis- 

 tillation, it deposits camphor after standing for some 

 time. The fragrance of the LabiatfE is dependent on 

 an essential oil, or odoriferous principle of the latter 

 kind, and their oil is remarkable for the quantity of 

 camphor it contains. 



LABIDURA (Leach). A genus of dermopterous 

 insects, having for its type the gigantic earwig. See 



FORFICOLA. 



LABIO. A genus of molluscs established by 

 Ocken, but named by Lamarck MONODONTA, under 

 which it will be further described. 



LABLAB (Adanson). A genus of plants chiefly 

 tropical, some of which are cultivated for their pods 

 and seeds in China, India, and Egypt. They are 

 climbing annuals, and belong to the natural order 

 Leguminosa;. This genus formerly belonged to Do- 

 lichos. 



LABROIDE^; the Wrasse family. A family of 

 spinous finned fishes, belonging to the grand division 

 which have labyrinths in the bones of the pharynx. 

 They obtain their name from the great enlargement 

 of the lips, which form a sort of roll on each jaw, be- 

 yond which the teeth stand obliquely forward ; and 

 so remarkable is this character, that if one of the 

 family has been carefully examined for only once, 

 there is never any difficulty in distinguishing the other 

 members of the family. The body is oblong, scaly, 

 with a single dorsal fin, supported by spinous rays in 

 the anterior part, and generally with a transparent 

 membrane. There are three divisions of the pharynx, 

 the two upper ones close on the bones of cranium, 

 and the lower one larger than any of these ; but they 

 are always armed with teeth, which are sometimes 

 placed like pavement, and at other times pointed, and 

 on the margins of the laminae. Their gill-lids are 

 toothed, and the gills consist of five rays. The teeth 

 in the jaws are conical, and those of the fore part the 

 longest. The stomach is a simple cul-de-sac, but it 

 joins the intestine without any caecum. The air 

 bladder is simple and very strong. 



They are fish of average size, but very active in 

 B 



