32-2 N I G H T S H A D E N O C T U I D JE. 



The following is the song of the other one : 



Guia, gu, gu, gu, 



Hajai, hajai, ttzu, ilzit, dzu, dzu. 

 Gorgut, gu&guigutguiguth. 

 Hoa goigoigoi gui. 

 Dzicka, dzicka, dzicka. 

 Davitt, davitt, daoilr. 

 Gogoch, gogock, 



Guedum, guedum, gue.dum, guedutn, gueti ! 

 Gui, goi, goi, goi, gnirrrr. 

 Golka, golka, golka, golk. 

 Hin, guiaguiaguiuguia. 

 Glockglockglockglockglockglock. 

 Gueai, gueaigueai gui .' 

 Goi, guaguaguagua guagui. 

 Heid, heid, heid, heid, hi. 

 Voi dada ! voi dado, .' 

 Gai, gai, gai, gat, gitirt, guirr. 

 Hoi, gueguegue gui. 

 Hoi goi ! 



NIGHTSHADE is the Solanum dulcamara of 

 Linnaeus, a common British weed found in hedges. 

 It is also called bitter-sweet, or felon-wood ; its fruit, 

 leaves, and stem being all poisonous. The Atropa 

 belladona is called the deadly nightshade. 



NIP A (Rumphius). A genus of palms found in 

 the East Indies. It requires, in our stoves, a loamy 

 soil and strong moist heat. 



NIPPLEWORT is the Lapsana communis of 

 Linnaeus, a common British weed, belonging to Com- 

 positce. 



NIRMID^E (Leach). A family of apterous in- 

 sects belonging to the order Anoplura, and composed 

 of the various species of lice found upon birds, to 

 which they are exclusively attached, with the excep- 

 tion of one species found upon the dog. The mouth 

 is placed on the under side of the head, and composed 

 of two lips and two hooked mandibles ; the tarsi are 

 distinct, and terminated by two equal-sized hooks ; 

 the head is generally large and triangular, semicircular 

 or crescent-shaped, and occasionally with angular 

 projections. The sexes also differ in the size of the 

 head and the antennae. M. Savigny also observed a 

 pair ot maxillae with a minute palpus, hidden by the 

 lower lip, which has also a pair of palpi. The body 

 is small and depressed, of an oval or elongated form, 

 and often varied with spots of different colours. 

 Some of the species are very peculiar in their forms. 

 M. Leclerc de Laval informed Latreille that he had 

 discovered in the stomach bits of bird's feathers, and 

 hence he believed that this constituted their food. 

 De Geer, however, found the stomach of one of the 

 species filled with blood with which it had gorged 

 itself.- It is certain that they are able to live but a 

 short time upon dead birds, upon which they may be 

 seen crawling with an evident desire of escaping. 

 The family has found but few authors who have taken 

 any interest in its investigation. Redi, however, long 

 since figured many species in a rude manner ; and 

 more recently we find, in the posthumous work of 

 Lyonn'et, reprasentations of many others. Dr. Nitzsch 

 also has published an elaborate monograph in the 

 Magazine d' Entomologie of Germar ; and S. G. 

 Children, Esq., S.R., has just published descriptions 

 of some of the arctic species brought home by Captain 

 Back. 



NISSOLIA (Jacquin). A genus of evergreen 

 shrubs and climbers, natives of South America ; the 

 flowers are diadelphous, and belong to Leguminosce. 

 The plants succeed potted in sandy loam, and may 

 be increased by cuttings. 



NITIDULID^E (Leach). A family of coleopte. 

 rous insects belonging to the section Pentamera and 

 sub-section Cercophaga, having the body small and 

 generally shield-shaped, with lateral margins ; the 

 mandibles are notched at the tips ; the basal joint of 

 the tarsi often small ; the club of the antennae per- 

 foliate, two or three-jointed, and short ; the palpi 

 short, filiform, or but slightly thickened at the tips ; 

 the legs moderately long, and the tarsi pilose. These 

 insects are of small size, and frequent decaying animal 

 or vegetable matter, some species being found in 

 rotten bones, others in the damp matter which exudes 

 from the wounds of trees, others again in boleti and 

 fungi, and some under the bark of trees. This family 

 is nearly allied to the Silphidee, or carrion beetles, 

 the connection being satisfactorily established by the 

 genera Peldis and Thymalus. Some of the smaller 

 species frequent flowers, and these are of a metallic 

 colour ; the others are of obscure hues, but are often 

 varied with spots or markings. The family com- 

 prises the following genera : Thymalus, NitidultE, 

 Strongylus, Campta, Meligethes, Pria, Carpophilus, 

 Anisocerus, Cateretes, and Mecropeplus, all of which 

 are British. The typical genus, Nitidiila (Fabricius), 

 is distinguished by the sub-depressed form ; elytra 

 rounded behind ; sides of the thorax not depressed ; 

 and the third joint of the antennae larger than the 

 fourth. There are about twenty-five British species, 

 including N. depressa (Silpha depressa, Linnaeus), 

 which is of a brown colour, with black spots. It is 

 rather less than one-sixth of an inch long, and fre- 

 quents the bark of willow trees. 



NITRARIA (Linnaeus). A genus of deciduous 

 shrubs found in the north of Asia, belonging to 

 Ficoidece. The species thrive in sandy loam, and 

 may be increased by cuttings. According to Sweet, 

 the soil should be impregnated with a little salt to 

 assist the growth, as they are maritime plants. 



NIVENIA (Dr. R. Brown). A fine genus of 

 Cape plants, belonging to the fourth class of Linnaeus, 

 and to the natural order Proteacece. Generic cha- 

 racter : involucrum of four leaves, four-flowered, fruit 

 hard ; receptacle smooth and naked ; calyx in four 

 equal deciduous divisions; scales round the germen 

 free ; stigma clubbed and erect, nut swollen, sitting, 

 and entire at the base. These plants thrive in a 

 compost of loam, sand, and moor-earth, and require 

 careful draining, and to be kept in a dry airy part 

 of the greenhouse. They are propagated by cuttings, 

 but not in heat. 



NOCCA (Cavanille). Mexican shrubs belonging 

 to Composites, formerly the Lagascas of Kunth. They 

 do well in the greenhouse. 



NOCTUID^E (Stephens; NOCTILSLITES, La- 

 treille). A very extensive family of lepidopterous 

 insects, belonging to the section Nocturna, and dis- 

 tinguished by the elongated spiral tongue ; the palpi 

 sub-compressed, terminated by a small joint ; the 

 wings of moderate length, the anterior being sub- 

 triangular, and not convoluted when at rest ; the body 

 thick, and covered with scales ; the antennae generally 

 simple ; the thorax often crested ; the abdomen 

 conical ; the nerves of the wings are very strong, and 

 the flight of the insects very rapid. " The typical 

 groups of the Noctuidce? observes Mr. Stephens, 

 " as their name imports, fly only by night, and repose 

 during the day on the crevices of the bark of trees, 

 old walls, palings, &c., though others not only fly by 

 night, but during the afternoon and at twilight. The 



