3!4 



NELITRIS NEPID.E. 



called them Acer nfgundo ; but they have been 

 erected into a new genus by Moench. They have 

 been long in our ornamental plantations, and known 

 as the ash-leaved maple, and arrive at considerable 

 bulk in sheltered situations ; for if much exposed 

 thev are liable to be shattered by the wind. 



NELITRIS (Gaertner). A fruit-tree found on 

 one of the Society Islands. It was first named by the 

 younger Linnaeus, Psidium decaspermum, but now 

 N. Jambosella. It belongs to Myrtacece, and is 

 easily grown and propagated on the stove. 



NELUMBIUM (Jussieu). A highly ornamen- 

 tal genus of aquatic plants, natives of warm climates. 

 This and other plants of similar habits form the na- 

 tural order NympheaacctB, commonly known by the 

 name of water-lilies. The N. speciosum is supposed 

 to be the sacred bean of the Egyptians ; though now 

 no longer found in the Nile, that river formerly 

 abounded with it ; and, as both its tuberous roots and 

 seeds are edible, was of great use to the inhabitants. 

 It is very common over all the eastern parts of Asia. 

 The numerous canals of China are filled with it, its 

 tubers being universally used as a culinary vegetable. 

 The flowers are splendid ; and it is held in high esti- 

 mation by the Chinese, and in that empire it retains 

 a share of the sacred character it formerly held in 

 Egypt. 



NEMATOPODA (De Blainville ; LEPAS, Lin- 

 na3iis ; CIRRHIPODA, Lamarck and Cuvier). Lamarck 

 separated this class into two orders ; those molluscs 

 \vhich were attached to any object by a peduncle or 

 membranous tube, and such as were permanently 

 affixed from the moment of their birth to rocks or 

 other submarine bodies. This class forms the sub- 

 type Malcntozoaria, or the Mollusc articulata, a group 

 which corresponds with the multivalve molluscous 

 worms of Linnaeus, and the disciples of his school, 

 separating the Pliolas and Teredo from them, they being 

 true lamelli branch molluscs. Lamarck was doubtful 

 whether to place these animals as the first order of 

 his class Crustacea, under the name of sightless crus- 

 tacea, or to assign them a place at the end of the 

 Mollusca. They nearly resemble the former, since 

 we find the Cirrhipods furnished with the same system 

 of nerves, with jaws analogous, and their tentacula 

 resembling those of the shrimp. They now, however, 

 stand in the system of modern writers as following 

 the Mollusca. The first class includes the first family 

 Lepndicea or Anatifa, containing the genera Lepas, 

 (rymnolepas,Pentalepas,Polylepas, Litholepas; second 

 family Salanidcs, contains the genera Balanus, Oc/i- 

 thosia, Coma, Creusia, Chthamalus, Coronula ; the 

 second class is called Polyplaxiphora, and is formed 

 by the genus Chiton, which may be considered totally 

 distinct from all the rest of the animal series, and 

 forming the transition from the cephalopod molluscs 

 to the chetopods of the type Entomozoaria, 



NEMOPTERA (Latreille). A remarkable genus 

 of neuropterous insects, belonging to the family 

 Panorpidce, having the abdomen destitute of the 

 curious claw with which it is armed in the males of 

 Panorpa, but especially distinguished by the form 

 of their posterior wings, which are many times longer 

 than the body, very slender, and more like feathers 

 than wings. The species are found in Portugal and 

 Africa ; the type of the genus being the Panorpa 

 coa of Linnaeus, having yellow wings, with black 

 spots. The writer possesses several undeseribed 

 species from the Cape of Good Hope ; and Dr. King 



has informed him that he is preparing a monograph 

 upon the group, in which the Berlin Museum is very 

 rich. 



NEMOSOMA (Desmarest). A curious genus 

 of coleopterous insects belonging to the group termed 

 Xylophaga (or wood-eaters) by Latreille, and placed 

 in the family Eiigidce (which see for some observa- 

 tions upon the natural situation of these insects). 

 The body is long, slender, and cylindric ; the head 

 notched in front ; the mandibles strong and protruded ; 

 the tarsi long and slender. There is one species of 

 this genus, N. cylindricum, a pretty insect of small 

 size, found, but very rarely, under the bark or stumps 

 of trees, palings, &c. 



NEOTTIA (Swartz). A genus of curious her- 

 baceous plants, natives of many different parts of the 

 world. The flowers are gynandrious, and of course 

 the genus belongs to Orchidece. Two of them are 

 natives of Britain, viz. N. nidus avis, bird's-nest orchis, 

 and N. spiralis, ladies' tresses of English botany. The 

 first is found in damp woods, and the second on chalky 

 pastures. 



NEPENTHES (Linnams). A genus of two 

 species of curious half-aquatic Chinese plants, be- 

 longing to the natural order Cytinece. These plants are 

 remarkable for having the points of the leaves formed 

 into pitchers of a considerable size, with a neatly- 

 fitted lid, with a hinge. They are cultivated as cu- 

 riosities in our stoves, planted in turfy-peat soil, with 

 the pot constantly kept in a pan of water, and in a 

 pretty high temperature. 



NEPfD^E (Leach), A family of aquatic hemip- 

 terous insects, belonging to the section Hydrocorisa 

 of Latreille, having the antennae minute, and in- 

 serted beneath the eyes, by which they are con- 

 cealed from above ; the tarsi are composed of two 

 joints only ; the eyes of large size ; the anterior legs 

 in the form of a claw, the femur being large, and 

 channelled on its under surface, in order to receive 

 the interior part of the tibiae, which shut upon it in 

 the same manner as in the Mantidce ; the tarsi are 

 very short, and sometimes connected with the tibia 1 , 

 so as to form one piece. This structure indicates the 

 raptorial character of the family, which consists of 

 insects of large or moderate size, which are all inha- 

 bitants of the water, and which feed upon other 

 aquatic insects, which they seize by the assistance of 

 their fore legs, and convey to the mouth, which con- 

 sists of a short, but acute and strong articulated pro- 

 boscis, with which they are enabled to inflict a smart 

 wound. The family corresponds with the Linnsean 

 genus Nepa, and which have obtained the name of 

 water-scorpions, in allusion to the form of the fore 

 legs, which are somewhat similar to those of the 

 scorpion. The genera of which this family is com- 

 posed are Galgultts, Naucoris, Belostoma, Nepa, and 

 Ranatra, and several others recently established by 

 Messrs. Laporte and Burmeister, the second, fourth, 

 and fifth, being inhabitants of this country. The 

 genus Naucoris is described in its alphabetical situa- 

 tion ; that of Bclostoma, Latreille, is distinguished 

 by having the abdomen terminated by two setse ; the 

 tarsi are two-jointed, and the antennae are dilated at 

 the side into a comb. This genus comprises several 

 exotic species of very large size, some of them being, 

 in fact, nearly six inches in expanse, as in Belos- 

 toma grandis, Fabricius. The genus Nepa, Linnaeus, 

 has the anterior tarsi composed of a single joint, and 

 the four posted or tarsi two-jointed ; the antennae 



