SCATOPHAGA SCIENOIDE.E. 



613 



burrows of a small burrowing staphylinideous insect 

 (Hesperophilits arennrius) above high-water mark, he 

 found their ferocious enemy the Dytehavu pursuing 

 its work of destruction. These Dyschirii burrow 

 after, seize, shake, (as the Cicindela campestris does its 

 prey) and devour the luckless Hesperophill ; and so 

 intent are they on their purpose, that he frequently 

 observed them shaking their victims after they were 

 brought to light. 



SCATOPHAGA (Meigen). A genus of dip- 

 terous insects belonging to the family Musclda;, hav- 

 ing the legs formed for walking, and spinose, an- 

 tenna; inserted between the eyes ; the wings con- 

 siderably longer than the abdomen, head nearly coni- 

 cal in front, and rounded behind. The type is the 

 Musca Mcrdaria Linn, or the cow dung-fly, an in- 

 sect which appears early in the spring, and which is 

 constantly to be found upon the excrement of various 

 animals, and it is in such situations that they deposit 

 their curiously formed eggs, of which a figure is given 

 in vol. ii. p. 833, fig. 5. The perfect insects are ge- 

 nerally of a yellowish brown colour. There are a 

 considerable number of species nearly resembling 

 each other. 



SCHEDONORUS (Beauvois). A genus of grass 

 formerly called Festw-a in English botany. Several 

 of the species are agricultural, and form a part of the 

 mixture of seeds employed in laying down permanent 

 pastures. 



SCHIZANTHUS (Flora Perumana). A genus 

 of fine flowering annuals, bearing diandrous flowers, 

 and belonging to the natural order Scrophitlarina;. 

 Though natives of Peru, the species flower and ripen 

 seeds in our open borders, as well as if in their own 

 climate. 



SCHIZOPODA (Latreille). An order of crus- 

 taceous animals, chiefly characterised by having the 

 legs cleft from the base into two appendages, giving 

 the appearance of double legs. The species of which 

 this order is composed have been but little investi- 

 gated, with the exception of the opossum shrimps 

 MYSIS, which see. The other genera are Mulcion 

 Crytops, and probably Nebalia, Zoe and Condylura. 



SCH^ENUS (Linnaeus). A genus of bog plants, 

 natives of Europe and Australia. It belongs to Cy- 

 peracecc ; not in cultivation, but useful for making 

 bands for tying up goods. 



SCHOTIA (Jacquin). A genus of African ever- 

 green shrubs belonging to Leguminosat. The flowers 

 are beautiful, and the species are well worth cultiva- 

 tion in the coolest end of a stove. 



SCHUBERTIA(Mirbel). This is one of the most 

 beautiful of trees. It is the Cupressus disticta of Lin- 

 nseus, the Taxodium distichum of Richard, and the 

 deciduous Cypress of English authors. It is one of the 

 Coniferce, and, like the others, is usually raised from 

 seeds. 



SCIENOIDE,E. The third of the families into 

 which Cuvier divides the spinous-finned fishes ; and 

 one, the genera and species of which are so nume- 

 rous that it would form an extensive study in itself. 

 These fishes resemble the perch family in many of 

 their characters, but still they are distinct. They 

 have the body scaly, but the scales are not so large 

 as those of the perches ; they have two dorsal fins in 

 some ; the spinous rays of the anal are slender ; 

 but the principal distinction is in the teeth. There 

 are none on the vomer or the palatal bones ; their 

 gill-covers are toothed in the margin, and furnished 



with spines; and very often the bones of the face are 

 enlarged with cavities, which produces a thickness in 

 the appearance of the muzzle. The most obvious 

 division of them is into those with two dorsal fins, 

 and those with one only. 



None of the family can be said to be natives of our 

 seas, but there is an occasional straggler of some 

 of the most celebrated ones. Many of them are 

 fishes of large size, very powerful swimmers, and 

 much esteemed as food. They are abundant in the 

 Mediterranean and in the warmer parts of the At- 

 lantic, where they are among the most valuable fishes 

 for the table, and consequently the capture of them 

 is an employment of considerable profit. We can 

 afford room to notice only two of the genera, and a 

 single species of each, merely naming the others. 



SciNA. These have the head tumid, produced 

 by cavernous bones ; two dorsal fins, or one with 

 a large notch, and the soft rayed part occupying a 

 greater length of the back, than the spinous part ; 

 the whole head covered with scales ; and the air- 

 bladder with a curiously fringed margin. 



THE MAIGRE (S. Umbra). This is a Mediterra- 

 nean species, attaining the length of six feet or up- 

 wards, and seldom caught of less than three feet. It is 

 supposed to spawn in the south part of the Mediter- 

 ranean, as small ones are met with on the shores of 

 Egypt, but not on the shores of Italy, the south of 

 France, or Spain. The general colour is silvery grey, 

 paler on the belly, and inclining to brown on the 

 back. The fins are reddish brown. They are very 

 restless fishes, always moving about in small parties ; 

 and it is said they make a sort of grunting noise, which 

 betrays them to the fishermen, even though they 

 are twenty fathoms under the surface. A curious 

 circulation of the head of one of these fishes from 

 party to party at Rome, is recorded by Paulus Jo- 

 vius. The fishermen gave it to the conservators ; 

 these gave it to the nephew of Sixtus X. ; he pre- 

 sented it to a cardinal ; the cardinal gave it to his 

 banker, and the banker to his courtesan. This was, 

 of course, the ne plus ultra of transfer for the head 

 of a fish ; but it is not the most curious part of 

 the matter ; for a " dining" gentleman scented it all 

 the way, and at last shared in the feast. The head 

 was accounted the prime part, and the conservators 

 alluded to were the magistrates who had charge of 

 the city. 



Its rambling habits often lead it as far to the north 

 as the extremity of Britain ; and of late years several 

 large ones have been caught on the south coasts. 

 We shall quote Mr. YarrellVaccount of one of them. 

 " In the month of November 1834, a specimen five 

 feet four inches long, was taken by some herring- 

 fishers off the Kentish coast, and brought to the Lon- 

 don market. This fish was bought by Mr. Groves of 

 Bond Street, who very kindly gave the skin to the 

 Zoological Society for preservation. Part of the 

 flesh was eaten by several persons, and by all re- 

 ported to be good, particularly by those who pre- 

 pared their portions by stewing. When plain boil- 

 ed only, it was rather dry and tasteless. The two 

 hard bones usually found just within the sides of the 

 head in fishes, are larger in proportion in the Maigre 

 than in any other fish, and were supposed, the older 

 writers say, to possess medicinal virtues. According 

 to Belon, they were called colic-stones, and were 

 worn on the neck mounted with gold, to secure the 

 possessor against this painful malady, To be quite 



