726 



STERNBERGIA-STOMOXYS. 



more exerted in proportion as they overcome a 

 greater opposition. This case of the wings of birds 

 is quite in point, and it is a perfectly general one. It 

 is one, too, which conveys a great deal of useful in- 

 formation, by teaching us that there is " no royal road" 

 to the accomplishment of anything ; but that the 

 best and the only way to make sure of success is to 

 make ourselves acquainted with all the difficulties 

 and the means by which they may be overcome. 

 There is no retreat in which we can lay so sure a foun- 

 dation for knowledge of this kind as the school of 

 nature, and there is no department of nature more 

 instructive or more pleasing in this respect than the 

 birds, especially those birds which have their place 

 and office in nature clearly marked out, and are ener- 

 getic and open to our observation in their working. 



The terns are, in an especial manner, birds of this 

 instructive character. Their place in nature is a 

 very peculiar one, and their labours are exceedingly 

 severe. They are also admirably shaped and or- 

 ganised for this labour. Their bodies are of the very 

 best form for rapid motion in the air. Their strength 

 and weight are concentrated in the wings ; and as 

 the feet have a very secondary function to perform, 

 they are small, and the muscles attached to them are 

 very feeble. The plumage of the terns is remarkable 

 for the compactness of its structure and the smooth- 

 ness of its surface ; and it is less disordered by wind 

 or rain, or by collision with solids, than that of most 

 birds. Their muscular fibres, too, are remarkably 

 tough and strong, and they are but little loaded with 

 fat, or with superfluous matter of any kind. These 

 circumstances render them of comparatively little 

 value to man as food indeed, we may say of no 

 value, for there is little flesh upon the birds, and the 

 little that there is, is of a very unpalatable nature. 



Thus formed, they are sent forth to find their food 

 in places where no other bird, or other vertebrated 

 animal, could by possibility live. Even in those 

 places which they frequent there is, however, a 

 surplus of the production of life, and that surplus 

 requires regulation as well as the surplus of the most 

 fertile places, Thus, when we look upon it with 

 anything like understanding, there is really as much 

 perfection in the adaptation of the tern to the barren 

 atrand as in that of the ox to the meadow. 



STERNBERGIA (Kitaibel). A genus of bulbs, 

 belonging to Amaryllidecs, natives of the South of 

 Europe. They do very well on warm borders in this 

 country. 



STERNOXI (Latreille). A sectional name given 

 to the two serricorn coleopterous families Buprestida: 

 and ElateridtE, in consequence of their both agreeing 

 in possessing a more or less acute and produced point 

 at the posterior part of the prosternum, which in the 

 latter family is employed as an instrument for en- 

 abling the insects to recover their ordinary position 

 when laid upon their backs. In the Buprestidcs this 

 point is broader, and is not employed in this manner. 

 STEVIA (Cavanille). A genus of Mexican pe- 

 rennial herbs, belonging to Composite. The species 

 are nearly hardy, but liable to be destroyed by severe 

 frost. 



STILLINGIA (Linnaeus). A genus of herbs, 

 shrubs, and trees, natives of North America and 

 India. The flowers are monoecious, and the plants 

 belong to Euphorbiacece. In the greenhouse, the 

 species if potted in light rich soil thrive well, and are 

 easily propagated by cuttings. 



STIPA (Linnaeus). A genus belonging to the 

 Gramincte, commonly called feather-grass, and ad- 

 mitted into flower gardens as ornamental. 



STOCK. A well known flower-garden favourite, 

 the Mathiola incana of Dr. R. Brown. There are many 

 cultivated varieties, as the ten-week, which is an an- 

 nual, the Brompton, &c., all highly prized for the . 

 beauty and fragrance of their flowers. 



STCEBE (Linnaeus). A genus of undershrubs 

 from the Cape of Good Hope, belonging to Com- 

 posite. The species thrive in any light rich soil, and 

 may be propagated by cuttings, but are plants of no 

 great beauty. 



STOMAPODA (Latreille). An order of mala- 

 ostracous podophthalmous Crustacea, of small extent 

 jut very singular structure, which both, as regards 

 the variations of organisation itself, and the curious 

 analogies clearly exhibited with other and distant 

 :ribes of animals, renders this a very interesting group. 

 The branchiae are not affixed at the sides of the thorax, 

 and placed in a particular cavity prepared for them, as 

 in the crabs and lobsters, but where there exists par- 

 ticular organs of respiration, they are found under the 

 Form of membranous ciliae, attached to the sub-abdo- 

 minal appendages. These animals have the teguments 

 slender and transparent, and not of that firm con- 

 sistence which is found in the lobster. The carapax 

 or shell is often divided into two parts, one bearing- 

 the 1 eyes and antennae, the other the appendages of 

 the mouth and the thoracic legs'; in other groups it 

 is formed of a single piece, and exposes a certain 

 number of the terminal thoracic segments ; the abdo- 

 men is in general very much developed, and always 

 composed of seven joints ; the eyes are affixed upon 

 movable footstalks, the internal antennae are always 

 terminated by two or three filaments, the organs of 

 the mouth are formed nearly as in the Decapods 

 (lobsters, &c.), but the foot-jaws have the form of 

 large claw-like legs, those of the second pair (or first 

 pair of leg-like organs) very often much larger than 

 the other legs, and used in prehension ; the two legs 

 of the first pair have the same form as the foot-jaw?, 

 the others are either filiform and furnished with a 

 lateral appendage or rudimental ; each of the five 

 basal abdominal segments is provided with a pair of 

 false swimming-legs, like those of the Macrura, the 

 sixth segment having on each side an appendage ter- 

 minated by two plates, forming, with the seventh 

 abdominal segment, an apparatus for swimming. 



These Crustacea are essentially marine, and die as 

 soon as they are taken out of the water ; they are 

 generally natives of tropical seas, not extending 

 beyond the temperate zones. Their economy is not 

 yet ascertained, but it is evident that those which are 

 provided with claws (Squilla) employ them in seizing 

 their prey, in the same manner as the orthopterous 

 insects forming the genus Mantis. These species 

 generally frequent very deep water, but others, desti- 

 tute of swimming apparatus, and the body very broad 

 and slender, are generally found at the surface of the 

 ocean, where they float about with very little indivi- 

 dual motion. 



There are two sections, or rather families, in this 

 order, named Unipeltata and Sipeltata, having respec- 

 tively for their types the genera Squilla and Phyllo- 

 soma (which see). 



STOMOXYS (Geoffroy). A genus of dipterous 

 insects, generally placed in the family Conopidte, but 

 more properly in that of Muscidce, having the pro- 



