0tctt0tmry at ITntmatefc $atttre. 169 



side the superior wings are of a fine ligh 

 orange-colour, but they become of a deei 

 crimson near the body ; and the part 

 towards the tips are of a pale brown, havin< 

 five white spots, corresponding with those 

 on the upper surface ; the remaining part 

 are dappled with black, with one largi 

 white and nearly square spot on the secto: 

 edge. The inferior wings are of a pale 

 yellow brown, dappled with dark brown 

 spots nearly equal in size ; and near the 

 lower border are five ocelliform spots. The 

 caterpillar, which feeds on thistles, nettles 

 mallows, &c., is a grayish brown, with yellow 

 lateral lines. The chrysalis is grayish, with 

 golden dots, and whitish brown longitudinal 

 streaks. 



" On the blue heads of the pasture sca- 

 bious (Scabiosa succisa,)" says the author oi 

 the Journal of a Naturalist, " we occasionally 

 see, toward the end of the summer, the 

 Painted Lady Butterfly (Cynthia cardui); but 

 this is a creature that visits us at very un- 

 certain periods, and is vivified by causes in- 

 finitely beyond the comprehension of the 

 entomologist, seeming to require a succession 

 and variety of seasons and their change, and 

 then springing into life we know not how. 

 This was particularly obvious in the summe 

 of 1815, and the two following, which were 

 almost unceasingly cold and rainy ; scarcely 

 a moth or butterfly appeared. And in the 

 early part of 1818, the season was not Jess 

 mgenial j a few half-animated creatures 

 alone struggled into being ; yet this " painted 

 lady was fostered into life, and became the 

 commonest butterfly of the year : it has, 

 however, but very partially visited us since 

 that period. The keenest entomologists, 

 perhaps, would not much lament the absence 

 of this beauty, if such cheerless seasons were 

 always requisite to bring it to perfection. 

 Some years ago a quantity of earth was 

 raised in cutting a canal in this county ; and 

 n the ensuing summer, on the herbage that 

 sprang up from this new soil on the bank, 

 this butterfly was found in abundance, 

 where it had not been observed for many 

 rears before. In some particular seasons we 

 lave acres of this scabious in bloom, during 

 he months of September and October, giving 

 a tender shade of lavender colour to the 

 vhole field, affording now great pleasure to 

 he entomologist, by reason of the multitude 

 )f insects that resort to it for the honey in 

 he tubular florets in the plant. Late as 

 his period is, I have seen, in some bright 



morning, besides multitudes of bees, flies, 

 ch creatures, eleven different species 



id suc 



'f lepidopterous insects, feeding and ba- 

 aueing on the blue heads and glancing their 

 'ay wings in the sunny beam." This species 

 s, apparently, found every where : and in 

 he Museum collection are specimens from 

 learly every part of the world. 



CYNOCEPHALUS. [See BABOON.] 



A group of beetles de- 

 iched from the Cefn-ionidce on account of 

 heir small size ; hemispheric, depressed, or 

 vate, and rather soft bodies, and furcate 

 abial palpi : they are of dull colours, and 

 ttached to plants in damp situations ; and 



they fly and run with agility. In some 

 species the hind legs are formed for leaping 



CYPR.33A. A genus of univalve shells, 

 called also Cowries, remarkable for the bril- 

 liancy of their colours, and for the high 

 polish of which they are susceptible. The 

 animal they contain is a Gasteropodus Mol- 

 lusc ; and the shell of one species, the Cyprcea 

 morteta, is well-known in commerce as the 

 current coin of the natives of Siam, Bengal 



OOWRIB. (CTPRJEA 8TO1-IDA.) 



and many parts of Africa : in the latter it 

 is collected by the female negroes, and is 

 thence sent to distant countries. The Cy- 

 pra-id<K, or shells of the Cypnca genus, are 

 generally semi-oval, having their mouths 

 placed in their flat part ; their spires are 

 not externally visible, the revolutions being 

 performed within the body of the shell ; the 

 aperture, or mouth, is a narrow opening, 

 running the entire length of the shell ; the 

 lips, which are near each other, are broad, 

 turning inwards, and serrated ; and the two 

 ends or extremes on the upper part are very 

 prominent. At one end there appears a wry 

 channel, or opening ; the other end has also 

 an opening, but placed perpendicularly. 

 < '!//>rieid<K abound both in the old and new 

 world, but their greatest development both 

 in point of size and number of species takes 

 place in warm climates. In the Friendly 

 Islands, permission to wear the Cyprcea au- 

 rantia, or Orange Cowry, as an ornament, is 

 only granted to persons of the highest rank. 

 Mr. Gray, F.R.S.,has published an admirable 

 monograph of the Cowries ; and the Messrs. 

 Sowerby subsequently figured all the species. 

 They are much prized by collectors. 



A family of Malacopte- 

 rygious abdominal fishes, of which there are 

 many genera, the principal being Cyprinus 

 carpio, the common Carp. They are for 

 he most part fresh-water fishes; live on 



quatic plants ; and are characterized by 

 heir small mouth, and by their feeble and 

 enerally toothless jaws. They have a 

 caly hotly, no adipose fin, a stomach destitute 

 t a <Ml de. sac, and no pyloric caeca. The 

 iflerent varieties of Gold and Silver Fish 

 he Gudgeon, Tench, Bream, Roach, Bleak, 

 linnpw, and many other well-known pond 

 ,nd river fishes, belong to this family. 



