228 



MARVEL OF PERU MEGACHILE. 



came drowsy, and, making 1 a small groove in the 

 earth, in which it placed its snout, it composed itself 

 deliberately, and was soon asleep." 



With this quotation we shall close our notice of 

 the telagon, and also of the very interesting family of 

 animals to which it belongs. Next to the cat and 

 dog tribes, the martens are the most interesting of all 

 the mammalia, on account of the exertion which they 

 require to make use of in finding their food, and of 

 the development of the sentient or animal part of 

 their structure which this requires. In some respects 

 they are superior to either of those families which 

 we have named ; for they have more courage and 

 more strength in proportion to their size, and they 

 are furnished with clothing which protects them bet- 

 ter against the vicissitudes of the seasons, and espe- 

 cially against the rigour of winter in those climates 

 where the winter is more than usually severe. 



MARVEL OF PERU is the Mirabilis dichotoma 

 of Linnaeus, a tuberous-rooted South American orna- 

 mental plant, introduced to our gardens nearl}' two 

 hundred years ago. It belongs to the natural order 

 Nyctaginece. 



MASON BEES, MASON WASPS, &c. These 

 terms are applied to those solitary species of bees 

 and wasps which construct their nests of bits of earth 

 and sand. Of these, the genera Anthophora amongst 

 the bees, and Odynerus amongst the wasps, are the 

 most remarkable. We have, however, given an 

 account of the proceedings of these insects in other 

 parts of our work. 



MA STICK TREE is the Pittacut Lentiscus of 

 Linna?us, a tree indigenous to the South of Europe 

 and opposite coast of Barbary. This tree yields the 

 true mastic of commerce, its sap being obtained by 

 woundinar the bark. 



MATHIOL A (R. Brown). A genus of beautiful 

 flowering annual, biennial, and perennial herbs and 

 undershrubs, natives of different parts of the world. 

 They belong to Cruciferce, and are known by the 

 name of stock, or gillyflower, needing no description. 



MAURANDYA (Jacquin). A genus of Mexican 

 climbers, bearing didynamous flowers, and belonging 

 to Scrophularina:. They are greenhouse plants, thrive 

 in any light rich soil, and are readily increased by 

 seeds or cuttings of the young shoots planted under a 

 striking-glass. The hardiest and most showy is the 

 M. Barclayana. 



MAURITIA (Linnseus, fil.) A genus of palms 

 indigenous to South America. They are of lofty 

 growth, and when kept in our stoves require a rich 

 sandy loam, and plenty of water when growing freely. 



MAXILLARIA (Flora Peruviana). A genus 

 of South American orchideous plants, some of 

 them bearing splendid flowers. They are managed 

 like their congeners the epidendrons and oncidiums, 

 and kept in a warm damp stove. 



MAY APPLE is the Podophyllum peltatum of 

 Linniteus : the duck's-foot of North America. In our 

 gardens it is cultivated in a rich soil, and increased 

 . 'by dividing 1 the roots or by seeds. 

 - " MAY FLY. The name given to a species of 

 neuropterous insects of not very definite significa- 

 tion ; being by some authors given as identical with 

 the Ephemera vulgata, by others as a species of 

 PkrygrDiea, and by others as the Sialis nigra, which, 

 appearing in the month of May, and serving as a bait 

 for fish, seems more particularly entitled to the term. 



MEADOW GRASS is the Poa pratensis of 



Linnoeus, one of the most common of our agriculture 

 grasses, and found in every pasture and meadow ii 

 the kingdom. 



MEADOW RUE is the Thalictnim flavum o 

 Linnaeus, a British plant, and sometimes met with it 

 gardens. 



MEADOW SAFFRON is the Colchicum By 

 zantinum of Linnaeus, a celebrated medicinal plant 

 The C. autumnale is a British plant, and is sometime 

 cultivated by farmers. 



MEADOW SAXIFRAGE is the ScseU o 

 Linnaeus ; a genus of annual, biennial, and perennia 

 herbs, mostly natives of Europe uncultivated. 



MEADOW SWEET is the Spircea ulmaria o 

 Linnaeus, a common British plant, often met with 01 

 the banks of rivulets. 



MEAL WORM. The scaly cylindrical larva o 

 the coleopterous insect Tencbrio Molitor (see TENE 

 HKIONID/K) is thus named, from taking up its resi 

 dence in flour, meal, cakes, sea-biscuit, &c., in whicl 

 it does great damage, by eating or gnawing it ii 

 pieces. It is upwards of an inch long, and furnishei 

 with short but powerful jaws, and remains two year 

 in the larva state, previous to becoming a pupa. I 

 is especially destructive in barrels of biscuits on boar 

 of ships. 



MEDIC AGO (Linnaeus). An extraordinary genu 

 of annual and perennial herbs, mostly natives c 

 Europe. The flowers are diadelphous, and belong t 

 the natural order Leguminos<z. The hop-trefoil am 

 lucern, both agricultural plants, belong to this genus. 

 MEDLAR is the Metpilus germanica of Lin 

 nseus, a well-known inferior fruit-tree, frequently cul 

 tivated in gardens, and also found wild in many place 

 in England and on the continent. They are con 

 monly grafted or budded on the common hawthon 

 and thrive well in any soil or situation. 



MEDUSA is the Euphorbia Caput Medusae c 

 Linnaeus, a grotesque growing species of spurge in 

 digenous in Africa. It is a greenhouse undershn* 

 and succulent. 



MEGACHILE (Latreille). A genus of long 

 tongued bees, (family Apidce, sub-family Dasygastrei 

 or woolly-bellied,) having the abdomen of an ova 

 form, densely clothed on the under surface with hain 

 which form in the females a pollen brush, and flat 

 tened above. The maxillary palpi are composed o 

 only two joints. The abdomen, moreover, is capabl 

 of being turned upwards, so as to enable the bees t 

 make use of their sting above the surface of the bodj 

 These insects are generally called leaf-cutter bees 

 and the instinctive agility with which they contrivi 

 to clip off circular pieces from the leaves of rose-tree 

 and other shrubs with their jaws is most extraordi 

 nary : these pieces of leaves are employed in thi 

 construction of their nests ; and it is curious to per 

 ceive one of these bees flying off with a piece of \ 

 leaf as large as, or larger than, its own body. Thei 

 nests are formed in the crevices of walls, or in bui 

 rows in rotten wood ; and the cells are lined at th 

 bottoms and sides with the pieces of leaves, whic 

 are cut exactly to fit each other ; a supply of polle 

 paste is then introduced into the cell, together wit 

 an egg, and the whole is closed by several layers < 

 circular bits of leaf, the uppermost of which forms th 

 floor of the next superincumbent cell, which is sim 

 larly constructed ,- and so on, cell after cell is addei 

 until the burrow is completely filled. The mann< 

 in which the bee contrives to cut off a bit of the le; 



