-popular !3tctt0narg of 'Etumatctr Mature. 



65 



Natural History of Arran by the Rev. David 

 Landsborough, the author makes the follow- 

 ing remarks on the species Bertie cucumis, 

 several specimens of which he had taken 

 during his " Excursions," to that island ; the 

 largest being three inches in length, by about 

 one inch and a half in diameter. They 

 varied, lie says, from the size of a lemon to 

 that of a lady's thimble, were very beautiful, 

 and in shape resembling an antique pitcher 

 contracted at the neck, with a graceful revo- 

 lution, or turning back at the brim ; but the 

 exact form was difficult to assign, as it varied 

 by partial contractions at the animal's plea- 

 sure. " The whole body has a tinge of pink, 

 and the eight ribs closely set with cilia are 

 beautifully adorned, having on each side an 

 edging like fine crimson lace. In the larger 

 specimens, this lace-work was studded with 

 little orange oval- shaped bodies, like little 

 grapes, attached by a capillary peduncle. 

 When the Bertie was at rest, they rested ; 

 but when the cilia began rapidly to play, 

 and the current of water, mixed at times 

 with air-bubbles, to rush through the tubes 

 of the ribs, then all the little orange bodies 

 were in quick motion, as if dancing to the 

 music of the spheres ; or, believing in fairies 

 as our forefathers did, one might have 

 fancied that they were lace-bobbins, moved 

 by nimble, invisible fairy hands, weaving 

 the beautiful lace edging with which they 

 were intermingled. Professor Forbes, how- 

 ever, says, as I had conjectured, that they 

 are the eggs attached to the placentary 

 membranes ; and I doubt not that they are 

 thus shaken by the motion of the cilia, that 

 when fully ripe they may thereby be de- 

 tached." 



Mr. Rymer Jones, in describing the beau- 

 tiful mechanism of the Bertie, has made 

 some pertinent philosophical reflections on 

 it, in language at once elegant and forcible. 

 " Man," says he, " justly prides himself, 

 among the countless triumphs of his intellect 

 over the stubborn elements, at his success in 

 having found the means of struggling through 

 the opposing surge, propelled by steam re- 

 volving wheels whose paddles urge his vessel 

 on with giant force. But man in this con- 

 trivance, as in many more, is but a bungling 

 artist when compared with Nature, when he 

 chooses to adopt machinery^ which she like- 

 wise has employed. Examine well the berde, 

 and see if any paddle-wheels can equal hers. 

 Stretching from pole to pole of this trans- 

 lucent little orb, like lines of longitude upon 

 a globe, and placed at equal distances, are 

 eight broad bands of more consistence than 

 the other portions of the body. On these 

 bands are placed thirty or forty paddles, 

 broad flat plates, for such they seem when 

 magnified, with which the little creature 

 rows itself along. But here the difference 

 lies between the art of Man and Nature. 

 Man to move his wheels must have much 

 cumbersome machinery ; the furnace, and 

 the boiler, and the Herculean arm that makes 

 the wheel revolve ; but here all these may 

 be dispensed with, for the paddles are them- 

 selves alive, and move themselves at will 

 with such degree of force as may be needed, 

 either at once, or singly, or in groups* work- 



ng with mutual consent in any way required. 

 Thus do they all work equally ; the bertie 

 shoots along meteor-like, or, if a few relax 

 their energy, wheels round in broad gyra- 

 tions, or revolves on its own axis with an 

 ease and grace inimitable." 



BETTONGIA. A genus of Kangaroos, 

 one of the species of which is called " Forest 

 Rat " by the colonists of Van Diemen's Land 

 B. cuniculus) : the end of the tail in this 

 species has a white tuft. Another species 

 (B. fasciata) was found by M. Peron on the 

 west coast of Australia, at Dirk Hartog. It 

 is very timid, and constructs galleries among 

 the thick brushwood, by cutting away the 

 lower branches and spines. It is of a brown 

 colour, the lower part of the back being 

 banded across with darker lines. 



BIBIO : BIBIONID^. A genus and 

 sub-family of Dipterous insects, distinguished 

 from all the other Tipulidce by having the 

 body and legs shorter and more robust ; the 

 antenna; cylindric,monliform,or perfoliated; 

 wings large ; and the eyes of the males large 

 and generally contiguous. There is great 

 diversity in the sexes of the genus Bibio ; all 

 the species are of small size j and their flight 

 is slow and heavy. They are found in 

 damp, marshy places, flying in great swarms, 

 and some of the species are amongst the most 

 troublesome pests to our domestic animals. 



BIMANA. [Two-handed.] The term 

 applied by Cuvier to the first or lu'ghest 

 order of Mammiferous Animals. It contains 

 only one genus, and one species, MAN ; the 

 sole created Being that can be termed truly 

 bimanous and truly bitted. The whole body 

 of Man is adapted for the vertical position : 

 he walks erect ; and thus preserves the en- 

 tire use of Ms hands for the arts, while his 

 organs of sense are most favourably situated 

 for observation and the great mental pur- 

 poses assigned to them by the Great Author 

 of Nature. [See the articles MAMMALIA and 

 MAff.] 



BIPELTATA. A name given to those 

 Crustacea which have the carapax divided 

 into two shields, the anterior of which is 

 very large, more or less oval, composing the 

 head ; and the second, corresponding with 

 the thorax, is transverse and angulatcd in 

 its outline, and bears the foot-jaws and the 

 ordinary feet. The body is very flat, mem- 

 branous, and transparent, with the abdomen 

 small, and without spines to the posterior 

 swimmeret. All the species are inhabitant* 

 of the Atlantic and Eastern Oceans. 



BIPES. A genus of Reptiles in which the 

 hind feet alone are visible, there being ex- 

 ternally a total absence of the anterior ex- 

 tremities, though the rudiments of these 

 members are perceptible under the skin. 

 This genus affords an example of one of 

 those beautiful gradations by which Nature 

 glides from one type of form into another, 

 being intermediate between the Saurians 

 (lizards) and the Ophidians (serpents). 



BIRDS. In the following observations on 

 the structure, habits, and uses of Birds, we 



