Popular liictianarp ot Tmmatrtf fixture. 49 



of their speed. The horses arc never cas- 

 trated, and are alone used for the saddle, the 

 mares being kept for breeding. It has been 

 remarked that Barbs grow ripe, but never 

 old, because they retain their vigour to the 

 last ; they are also said to be long-lived, and 

 remarkably free from diseases. 



BARBARYAPE. (Pftftcciw IIMIIM.) This 

 species of Ape, which grows to the height of 

 nearly four feet, is remarkable for docility, 

 and, by force of discipline, is made to exhi- 

 bit considerable intelligence. Its general 

 colour is a palish olive-brown ; the face is a 

 swarthy flesh colour. It is common in Bar- 

 bary and the lower parts of Africa, and is also 

 found in considerable numbers on the rock 

 of Gibraltar. This species was well known 

 to the ancients, and it has been the " show- 

 man's ape" from time immemorial. Though 

 morose and sullen in confinement, it is re- 

 presented as social, active, and courageous 

 in its wild state, and is particularly distin- 

 guished for its attachment to its young. 



BARBEL. (Barliu wXgaris.) A fresh- 

 water malacopterygious fish, usually fre- 

 quenting the deep and still parts of rivers, 



swimming with great strength and rapidity, 

 and living not only on aquatic plants, worms, 

 and insects, which it obtains by boring and 

 turning up the loose soil of the banks with its 

 snout, but occasionally by preying on smaller 

 fishes. It is said to receive its name from 

 the barbs or wattles attached about its mouth, 

 by which appendages it is readily distin- 

 guished, as well as by the great extension of 

 the upper jaw beyond the lower. It is some- 

 times found to weigh from fifteen to eighteen 

 pounds, and to measure three feet in length : 

 its more general length, however, is from 

 twelve to eighteen inches. The general co- 

 lour of the upper part of the head and body 

 is a greenish brown ; the scales are small, 

 and in general of a pale gold colour, edged 



! with black on the back and sides, and silvery- 

 white on the belly ; the pectoral fins are a 

 pale brown, the ventral and anal fins are 

 tipped with yellow ; and the tail is slightly 



| forked, and of a deep purple. The Thames 

 produces Barbel in abundance, and of a large 

 size. " So numerous are they about Shepper- 

 ton and Walton," says Mr. Yarrell, " that 

 one hundred and fifty pounds weight have 

 been taken in five hours, and on one occasion 

 it is said that two hundred and eighty pounds 

 weight of large sized Barbel were taken in 

 one day." The flesh of the Barbel is very 

 coarse and unsavoury ; the fish, consequent- 

 ly, is held in little estimation, except as 

 affording sport for the angler. 



BARBET. The Barbets are a family of 

 birds belonging to the order Scansorcs, or 



Climbers, and are distinguished by their 

 large conical beak, which appears swollen, 

 or, as it were, puffed out at the sides of its 

 base, and by being bearded (whence the 

 name) with five tufts of stiff bristles, directed 

 forwards. They inhabit Java, Sumatra, c., 

 and sport about in all positions on the trunks 

 and among the branches of trees, in search 

 of insects or their larvae, on which they feed: 

 some of them are said also to devour small 

 birds and fruits ; the typical genera, how- 

 ever, appear confined to the former food. 

 The plumage of some of the species is very 

 brilliant. 



VFRSIOOLOR,) 



(BtJOCO 



BARIS. A genus of Coleopterous insects, 

 which feed upon the dead parts of tree*. 



BARKING BIRD. (Pteroptocltos.) This 

 Tenuirostral bird, which is common in Chiloe 

 and Chonos, islands in the SouthAmerican 

 Archipelago, is called by the natives Guid- 

 guid ; "but its English name," says Mr. 

 Darwin, " is well given ; for I defy any one 

 at first to feel certain that a small dog is not 

 yelping somewhere in the forest. Just as 

 with the Chencau, a person will sometimes 

 hear the bark close by, but in vain may 

 endeavour, by watching, and with still less 

 chance by beating the bushes, to see its 

 author ; yet at other times the Guid-guid 

 comes fearlessly near." Its manner of feed- 

 ing and its general habits are very similar to 

 those of the Cheucau. Both species are said 

 to build their nests close to the ground, 

 amongst the rotten branches. [See CHEU- 

 CAU.] 



BARNACLE. A name given to the cirri- 

 pedes sometimes found adhering to the bot- 

 toms and sides of ships, &c. [See BALANUS.] 



BASILISK. (<ui7ucu.) The Basilisk 

 of modern naturalists has no affinity to 

 the malignant serpent of the poets whose 

 very aspect the ancients believed to be fatal 



