i 106 



Erca^urtj of Datura! $?t' 



supposed that Carp were introduced into this | forward, but inclining to one side, and having 

 country about the year 1500 ; but this is a j apertures large enough to admit a finger ; 

 fact of very little real importance, since they j from which run their inner apartments, each 

 have long become denizens of most of our j generally twelve or fifteen inches long, and 

 fish ponds and many of our rivers. They diverging into others. In each of these cavi- 

 frequent the deepest places, and thrive best I ties they deposit ten or twelve eggs, which are 

 in such as have clayey or marly sides, and covered with a sort of paste, serving for the '< 



protection of the young insects, as well as i 

 for their nourishment. The females perform i 

 all the labour ; and the males have no ] 

 stings. In the British Museum cases, may j 

 be seen specimens of wood bored by a North ! 

 American species, or, we should rather say, ! 

 with holes made by their powerful jaws, i 

 [See APIDJ-: : BEE.] 



CARPET [MOTHS]. A name applied by j 

 insect collectors to various species of Moths, i 

 of the genera Harpalyce, Cidaria, Larcntia, I 

 Cleoria, and Aids. 



CARPINCHO. The Capybara, or Water- ! 

 hog. From the dung of this, the Mympetra 

 scutellaris, a species of wasp found near j 

 Buenos Ayres, constructs its pasteboard nest, j 

 [See CAPYBAKA.] 



CARRIER PIGEON. [See PIGEOX.] 



CARYOPHYKL^EA. A genus of Zoo- 

 phytes, belonging to the Madrephyllicea, or 

 the first section of the stony Zoantheria of 

 De Blainville. The cells in this genus of 

 Zoophytes are furnished with radiating 



PIO.) 



are well provided with aquatic vegetables ; 

 Their usual food consists of worms and other 

 insects ; but grain of various sorts, and gar- 

 j bage, are frequently thrown into the pond, 

 with a view to aid in fattening them. The 

 Carp is an extremely prolific fish, and the 

 quantity of roe is so great that it is said to 

 hkve sometimes exceeded the weight of the 

 emptied fish itself when weighed against it. 

 The age to which the Carp arrives is very 

 great, and several well authenticated in- 

 stances are adduced of their arriving at that 

 of considerably more than a century ; some 

 writers, indeed, affirm that they have been 

 known to live to the age of two hundred 

 years ! The usual length of Carp in this 

 country is from about twelve to sixteen 

 inches ; but in warmer climates they are 

 frequently more than three feet long, and 

 weigh twenty or thirty pounds. The general 

 colour is a yellowish olive, much deeper or 

 browner on the back, and the sides slightly 

 tinged with a golden hue : the scales large, 

 round, and very distinct ; the head large, 

 and the mouth furnished with a moderately 

 long cirrus or beard : above which is a 

 shorter one. The fins are violet brown, 

 except the anal, which has a reddish tinge : 

 the dorsal fin is broad or continued to some 

 distance from the middle of the back to- 

 wards the tail, which is slightly forked, with 

 rounded lobes. 



CARPENTER BEE. (Xylocopa). The 

 name given to a very large genus of Hymen- 

 opterous insects ; not one species of which 

 has yet been found in the British Islands. 

 They are generally of a very dark violet 

 blue, and of considerable size. As an exem- : 

 plincation of this peculiar exotic genus, we ! 

 may mention the Violet Carpenter Bee (X. \ 

 violacea), a very common insect about Paris, i 

 Their bodies are of a very deep blue co- ! 

 lour, smooth, and shining; their fore-wings 

 are of a deep violet colour : on their sides, 

 the hinder part of their bodies, and their 

 breasts, there are long black hairs. As we 

 have mentioned, they are not indigenous in 

 this country ; but in France and the southern 

 parts of Europe there is scarcely a garden 

 where some of them may not be found at 

 different seasons of the year. They gene- 

 rally form their nests in pieces of half-rotten 

 wood ; and the holes are not made directly 



plates, striated externally, and collected into 

 a solid conical polyparium fixed at the base. 

 In the British Museum are many very fine 

 specimens of this genus, which is found both 

 in a recent and fossil state. 



CASHMIRE GOAT. [See GOAT.] 



CASSIS. A genus of Molluscous animals 

 inhabiting an oblong shell : found in the 

 seas of warmer climates. [See HELMET 

 SHELL.] The well-known large species of 

 this genus are used as ornaments on chim- 

 ney pieces, grottos, &c., and are remark- 

 able for the triangular disc, presented by 

 the inner lip, which is thickened and spread 

 over the body whorl, and the angulated 

 outer lip ; and as this thickening of the lip 

 takes place at various stages of growth, the 

 same triangular plane is observable at differ- 

 ent parts of the spire. 



CASSIDA. A genus of Coleopterous in- 

 sects, of the family Cassididce, or Tortoise- 

 Beetles. They have a flattened body, sur- 

 rounded by a margin, which is formed by a 



