M Y 11 O 15 A I- A N PLUM M Y S 1 S. 



ing of a fresh pit in another place. When it has com- 

 pleted its work it has now to lead a life of wearisome 

 patience. It takes its station at the foot of the pit, 

 ;md there waits until an unlucky chance brings some 

 hapless ant down the precipice, which it immediately 

 seizes with its exserted jaws, suck?, and then casts 

 away with a jerk. If the unfortunate insect should 

 happen to struggle,and endeavour to escape, it showers 

 upon it, by means of a jerk with its head, a quantity 

 of sand, which seldom fails in bringing it within its 

 reach. The nutritive matter which it extracts from 

 its prey is not converted into excrement ; this insect, 

 ;',s well as various others, having no anal aperture. 

 From its habits it may be imagined that it is enabled 

 to undergo a long-continued fasting. When it is 

 lull grown it forms for itself a perfectly round cocoon, 

 of a white shining silky matter, externally covered 

 with sand, within which it, is transformed into a short 

 curved inactive pupa. In about fifteen or twenty 

 days the imago bursts forth, in a form quite unlike 

 that in which it had previously appeared, leaving the 

 exuviae of the pupa sticking in the aperture formed 

 lor its exit out of the cocoon. There are many spe- 

 cies of this genus, some of very considerable size, 

 being larger than the largest dragon-flies. In all the 

 species the wings are most beautifully reticulated, 

 resembling the finest lace-work, and variegated with 

 dark spots and markings; giving the insect a very 

 elegant appearance. 



The other genus belonging to this family is Asca- 

 Inphus (Fabricius), the species of which constitute one 

 of those interesting groups of animals, which, whilst 

 possessing the real character of one tribe, assume the 

 Appearance of another totally distinct, exhibiting what 

 has been termed a relation of analogy in distinction 

 from one of affinity. This kind of relationship is met 

 with in almost every group of animals in a greater or 

 less degree ; and from the frequency of its occurrence 

 naturalists are led to believe that in the great and 

 natural distribution of animated nature that system, 

 in fact, which places every animal in its own situation 

 with reference to the habits and structures of every 

 other animal these analogies are not casual circum- 

 stances, but necessarily attend the higher and more 

 rlose relations of affinity. If we examine then the 

 ^sential structure of Ascalaphus, we shall find that 

 tH its oral apparatus, the structure of its wings, legs, 

 ike., a very close affinity exists between it and the 

 ;mt-lion flies (Myrmeleori). They are therefore placed 

 in the same family, this being an instance of the 

 <4osest connexion which can exist between two genera. 

 But if a person unused to the examination were to be 

 sjiown an Ascalaphus, he would immediately call it, 

 as some authors have even done, a butterfly the 

 :nitennac between long, slender, and clubbed at the 

 tips, and the wings of moderate size, and ornamented 

 with various colours, although not clothed with scales ; 

 this, therefore, is an instance of analogy, or the most 

 'listant relationship which can subsist between two 

 genera. The species are chiefly found in the south 

 of Europe. They inhabit hot sandy districts, and fly 

 quickly. 



.. MYROBALAN PLUM is the Prunus myroba- 

 lana of Linnaeus, a fruit tree, of which the fruit is but 

 very inferior in quality. 



MYRRHIS (Morison). A common British plant 

 *vell known as myrrh, esteemed for its pleasant scent, 

 inilonging to Umbellifcra. It has been long in cul- 

 tivation, and formerly was much more used than at 



present. Its leaves were used in salads, and its roots, 

 were eaten either boiled or made into tarts or sauces, 

 or candied as a sweetmeat. In the North of Eng- 

 land the seeds are employed to perfume and polish 

 oaken floors and furniture. 



MYRSINE^E. A natural order, comprising eight 

 genera, and above fifty-two species, all greenhouse 

 and hothouse plants. The plants of this order are 

 nearly allied to Primulacete, only the former are 

 arborescent, while the latter are herbaceous. The 

 genera here associated are Mcesa, Jacquinia, Ardisiti, 

 Corynocarpus,Embelia, JMyrsineManglilla, and Clai-ija. 

 Some of the Ardisias are very beautiful ; the Jacqui- 

 nias are also highly ornamental, and all of them 

 thrive under the ordinary hothouse management. 



MYRTACE./E. A most important natural order, 

 as well for the number of genera it contains as for 

 the beauty of their flowers and usefulness of many of 

 their fruits. Thirty-seven genera, and nearly three 

 hundred species, are already in our books. The myr- 

 tles and their typical allies are trees or shrubs, with 

 often angled branches and simple exstipulate leaves, 

 mostly opposite, but rarely alternate or in whorls, as 

 in some of the Melaleuccc. The substance of the leaves 

 is mostly coriaceous, and furnished with numerous 

 dot-like receptacles, containing aromatic essential oils, 

 on which their fragrance depends. The inflorescence 

 is both terminal and axillary, variable in its form, 

 generally aggregate, the blossoms being seldom soli- 

 tary. The flowers are united and regular, white or 

 red, occasionally yellow, but never blue. The tube 

 of the calyx is adherent to the germen ; the limb 

 four to six-cleft, persisting or deciduous. The 

 petals (rarely wanting) are equal in number to the 

 lobes of the calyx, and alternate with them. The 

 stamina are seated round the germen, and are, when 

 not indefinite, two or three times the number of the 

 petals, and often arranged in several series ; the 

 filaments are distinct or connate ; the anthers are 

 small, oval, two-celled, and open lengthways ; the 

 germen is inferior, and one to six-celled ; the style is 

 single ; and the stigma in general is simple and 

 entire ; the fruit is various, either dry or fleshy, 

 sometimes capsular, or baccate, or drupaceous, and 

 many or one-seeded. 



MYRTLE is the Myrtus communis of Linnaeus. 

 Of this favourite plant there are ten garden varieties, 

 differing chiefly in the form of their leaves and man- 

 ner of growth. There are thirteen other species, 

 mostly natives of warm countries. They are all easy 

 of cultivation. 



MYS1S the opossum shrimp (Latreille). A cu- 

 rious genus of podophthalmous Crustacea, forming the 

 type of the order or sub-order Schizopoda, so named 

 from the legs being cleft near the base, each com- 

 posed, as it were, of a pair of legs. The three ex- 

 ternal pairs of maxilla?, or foot-jaws, which in the 

 shrimps serve for manducation, are here transformed 

 into legs ; so that, instead of five pairs of these 

 organs, there are eight ; and as each leg is doubled, 

 or bifid, these shrimps may be said to have thirty-two 

 legs. Another peculiarity is, that the females are 

 provided with a pouch on the under side of the 

 bod}', in which they curry their young fur a con- 

 siderable period after they are hatched. The shell. 

 is slender, and none of the legs are cheliferous ; the 

 tail is terminated by a swimming apparatus. The 

 type of this genus is the Mysis Fabric} (Leach), or 

 the Cancer oculrttus of Otho Fabricius. Mr. ,J. V. 



