206 



MANCHINEEL MANTICORA. 



white on their inner webs ; the tail feathers are very 

 short, and of a greenish ash colour ; and the under 

 parts are yellowish white, finely pencilled with brown 

 lines ; the bill is brown, and the feet yellow. The 

 female is entirely green on the upper part, and with- 

 out the crest ; and brownish yellow on the under. 



Blue-backed Manakin (P. parceola). This species 

 is found both in the West Jndia Islands, and the 

 tropical parts of the American Continent ; and, like 

 the last, it is a very handsome bird. Its length is 

 four inches and a half. The plumage on the upper 

 part of a deep velvet black, with the back and the 

 wing coverts sky blue, and the top of the head is 

 covered with bright red feathers, forming an credible 

 crest. It is subject to some varieties in colour even 

 in the mature bird ; for specimens are met with having 

 the crest orange, and others with all the upper parts 

 green. The female is olive on the upper part, passing 

 into yellow on the under, and has no crest. The 

 young male is also without the crest, and all over of 

 a greyish olive. 





Manakin. 



Besides the species which we have enumerated, 

 there are perhaps a few others which are well estab- 

 lished, though the greater number of those we have 

 omitted seem to be doubtful. This seems to be espe- 

 cially the case with some species which have been 

 described as natives of New Holland, and others as 

 natives of Southern Africa. We do not question the 

 existence of the birds thus described, in either the one 

 country or the other ; but we incline to the opinion 

 that this genus belongs entirely to America. It is 

 an obscure genus in its general habits, and it is one of 

 which (from the causes that we have mentioned) the 

 species cannot be settled without a good deal of diffi- 

 culty. But the established species are so many, and 

 the birds are so generally distributed in the close and 

 damp forests, or, more strictly speaking, on the mar- 

 gins of (.he little openings with which these are inter- 

 spersed, that we must reckon them among the most 

 characteristic of the small birds of tropital America. 

 They are strictly tropical, both in their plumage and 

 in their geographical distribution ; and the particular 

 character of their plumage, though pure and brilliant 

 in its colours, points them out as being in part, at 

 least vegetable feeders, and as having no predatory 

 habit about them, farther than capturing small insects. 

 The omnivorous birds of those latitudes, and. gene- 

 rally speaking, all birds which are disposed to be 

 pugnacious with their winged neighbours, have metal- 

 lic glosses and reflections in some parts of their plu- 

 mage, as if they were clad in armour for the purpose 

 of fighting. This extends even to the humming 

 birds, which, notwithstanding their diminutive size, 

 are exceedingly bold and pugnacious in their dis- 

 positions, and drive their needle-like bills at the 



eyes of birds ten or even fifty times their own size. 

 The dwellers in peace, again, which annoy no bird, 

 have their plumage beautifully close and soft, but 

 without any reflections, so that their colours appear 

 the same in whatever direction the light falls upon 

 them. 



MANCHINEEL, is the Hippomane mancinella 

 of Linnaeus, a lofty West Indian tree, said to be 

 poisonous to horses. The flowers are monoecious, 

 and the tree ranks among the EuphorbiacccE. The 

 sap, w hich exudes when the boughs are cut or broken, 

 is very acrid ; it will blister and sphacelate the skin, 

 and if inserted into wounds cause death. 



MANDRAGORA (Tournefort). A genus of 

 European herbaceous perennials, belonging to Sola- 

 ncae. This is the famous mandrake of the ancients ; 

 the root is carrot-shaped and fleshy, and often forked. 

 Fanciful people have thought that when thus divided, 

 it bears some resemblance to the legs of a man ; and 

 the crafty have not failed to assist the folly of super- 

 stition by artfully increasing the similitude, and 

 attributing to the plant supernatural powers. 



MANETTIA (Meetis). A genus of climbing 

 plants, natives of the West Indies ; the flowers are 

 tetrandrious, and belong to the natural order Rubi- 

 acece. Generic character : calyx of from four to eight 

 or ten segments ; corolla tubular, throat contracted, 

 limb four-parted and hairy within ; stamens inserted 

 on the throat, and included; style simple; stigma 

 bifid; seed-vessel of two valves, seed roundish with 

 merobranaceous margins. These plants thrive in any 

 light soil, and are easilv propagated by cuttings. 



MANGIFERA ( Linnaeus). An East India fruit- 

 tree belonging to Polt/gamca Moncecia of sexual bo- 

 tany, and to the natural order Tercb'mthacecB. Generic 

 character : calyx of four parts ; corolla of five lanceolate 

 petals larger than the calyx ; stamens one fertile, the 

 others sterile ; style filiform ; stigmas headed ; fruit a 

 one-seeded drupe, flesh full of woody fibres near 

 the nut. Thid is one of the best of tropical fruits, 

 and is extensively cultivated both in the East and 

 West Indies. By cultivation they are very much 

 improved in quality ; some of them being as free 

 from stringiness as are our best clingstone peaches. 

 They contain a rich yellow melting pulp, but though 

 highly gratifying to the palate, they can hardly be 

 compared to our best peaches. The trees have been 

 long inmates of our stoves, and pretty good fruit have 

 been matured both in France and England. And 

 no doubt when the trees which we have now in cul- 

 tivation attain a greater size and age, they will fre'- 

 quently bear fruit, especially if some pains be taken 

 to assist impregnation. 



MANGROVE, is the Rhizophora mangle of 

 Linnaeus. A curious Indian tree, growing on the 

 banks of large rivers, or on the sea-coast, and even 

 within the bounds of the ocean as far as low water 

 mark. Their mode of rooting is peculiar : it consists, 

 not like (hat of ordinary trees of divisions of the stem 

 below the surface of the ground, but as it were of 

 arches of roots above it, so that a more extended 

 base is formed, and a firmer hold established in the 

 loose and swampy soil. From the summit of these 

 arched roots the trunk of the mangrove springs, and 

 attains a considerable height. Another remarkable 

 property of this tree is its habit of reproducing itself 

 viviparously : that is, its seeds germinate and emit 

 roots before they are shed from the capsules. 



MANTICORA (Fabricius). The first genus of 

 coleopterous insects in the system of Latreille, be- 



