JBtctumarg oi 



19 



citement of fear, anger, or love, the skin as- 

 sumes an endless succession of varying hues. 

 They are of more slender proportions than 

 the chameleon, and more agile in their move- 

 ments ; they feed chiefly upon flies and other 

 insects, and inhabit the neighbourhood of 

 marshes and other moist places where insects 

 mostly abound. The head is long, straight, 

 and flattened ; the body and tail are long 

 and slender, both being covered with small 

 round scales, which give the skin the appear- 

 ance of fine shagreen. The hind legs are 

 rather longer than those before ; and each 



considerably in their general formation ; 

 some presenting a light, slender, and grace- 

 ful form, probably a fleet and active inhabi- 

 tant of the dry land, having much of the 

 contour of the gazelle ; while another was 

 heavy, bulky, and short-limbed, with a flat- 

 tened tail, as if aquatic in its habits. But it 

 seems fully demonstrated that these animals 

 were all herbivorous, differing but little in 

 this respect from the Tapirs and Rhinoceroses 

 at present existing. 



ANOPLURA. An order of parasitic in- 

 sectsthe Louse and its allies ; whose pre- 



largest of them not being more than a foot 

 long. 



ANOMIA. A genus of marine Mollusca 

 remarkable for the perforation of one of its 

 valves by a large aperture ; through which a 

 strong tendinous ligature passes, to be in- 

 serted into a third plate, by which the ani- 



animals are subject to them, and that almost 

 every quadruped and bird is infested with 

 some one or other of these parasitic insects. 



ANSERES. The third order of the Lin- 

 nsean class Area, thus characterized : A 



mal adheres to fofeign ' bodies. They are i smooth beak, covered with skin, gibbous at 

 usually found attached to oyster and other ! ' h e base, and broader at the point ; feet 

 shells. This family has long been known in | formed for swimming, having palmated toes 

 a fossil state, and contains many species. ] connected by a membrane ; the legs thick 

 They may be divided into two genera ; the I and short 5 and the body bulky, plump, and 

 inarticulate, and the multarticulate : in the downy : food fishes, frogs, aquatic plants, 

 inarticulate Anomia, the hinge of the under i worms, &c. The Goose furnishes a ready 

 valve forms a large cavity, the corners of I example. 



which make two prominences or joints, and ANT. (Formica.) A well-known genus 

 the upper valve is indented into it by corre- | o f Hymenopterous insects, famed from all 

 spending depressions : in the multarticulate antiquity for their social and industrious 

 Anomia the hinge lies in a long straight line, j habits, for their love of order and subordina- 

 and is set with many teeth. tion, and for being a pattern of unremitting 



ANOMURA. A section of Decapod Crus- ' industry and economy. They are di.stin- 

 taceans, consisting of many genera; the ha- i gushed from other Ilymenojitcra by their 

 bits of some of which, as the Hermit or Sol- | habit of residing under ground in numerous 

 dierCrab (the type of the genus Payurus), ! societies, and by the existence of neuters 

 are highly curious and interesting. [See a . mon * h e m .. by which class the labours of 

 UKRMIT Ci 



HAB.] 

 ANOPLOTHERITJM. A genus of extinct 



the community are chiefly performed. The 

 males have always four wings ; the females 

 are larger than the males, and only possess 



quadrupeds, found in a fossil state, and j wings during the pairing season ; but the 



which seem to range between the Pachyder- neuters have none at any period. 



mata and the Ruminantia. They had six 



incisor, four canine, and four molar teeth, 



in each jaw, forming a continued line ; and 



the feet had only two toes, sheathed by sepa- 

 rate hoofs ; but the toes had separate meta- 



carpal and metatarsal bones, as in the hog, 



instead of springing from a single canon 



bone, as they invariably are among the Ru- 



ANT (FORMICA RUFA), MALI AMD FEMA.LS 



The common European Ants are, in gene- 

 ral, either black or red, and they are of dif- 

 ferent sizes. Some are furnished with stings, 

 and others are wholly destitute of them : 

 such as have stings use them for their defence ; 

 and such as are unprovided with these wea- 

 pons have a power of squirting an acid pun- 

 gent fluid, which inflames and irritates the 

 skin like nettles. The eyes are extremely 

 black ; and under them are two small horns 

 or feelers, composed of twelve joints, all co- 

 vered with fine silky hair. The mouth is 

 composed of two crooked jaws, which pro- 

 ject, anfl in each of which appear incisures 

 resembling teeth. The breast is covered with 

 fine silky hair, from which project six legs, 



minantia. The skull partook of the form of 

 that of the Horse and the Camel, not having 

 a prolonged snout. It is observable, that 

 among the remains which have been dis- 

 covered there are several species, varying 



