414 



Crotfurg of Natural 



yoked by injuries. In this he shows a dis- 

 position the very reverse of that of the Bull- 

 dog, who seldom waits for aggression, but 

 savagely and insidiously makes the first 



attack. So famous was great Britain for 

 its Mastiffe when the Romans were its 

 masters, and in such high estimation were 

 their strength, courage, and sagacity held 

 by the Roman emperors, that a resident 

 officer was appointed, for the purpose of 

 breeding them, and transmitting to the im- 

 perial city such as he thought capable of 

 sustaining the combats in the amphitheatre. 

 Strabo says that the Gauls trained British 

 mastiffs for war, and used them in their 

 battles. According to Dr. Caius, three were 

 a match for a bear, and four for a lion. 



A remarkable variety, if not a distinct 

 species of this animal, is the Thibet Dog. 



MASTODON. A genus of extinct quad- 

 rupeds, the remains of which in a fossil state 

 show that it was a pachydermatous animal 

 allied to the elephants. It lias received its 

 name from the conical projections on the 

 surfaces of the molar teeth. Some of these 

 were natives of the Old World ; but by far 

 the largest in size have been found on the 

 American continent. The skeleton of one, 

 termed the Mastodon gigantcus, which was 

 lately exhibited in London, under the 

 name of the Missouri Leviathan, and is now 

 in the British Museum, must have con- 

 siderably exceeded in its dimensions the 

 largest elephants now existing. In some 

 parts of North America the fossil remains 

 of this stupendous animal are abundant, 

 particularly in the saline morass popularly 

 termed the Big bone Lick, in the northern 

 part of Kentucky. There are no traces 

 within the period of tradition or history of 

 the existence of these animals as a living 

 genus. When and how they perished, if 

 ascertained at all, must be revealed by geo- 

 logical data. It is worthy of remark, that the 

 skeletons seem to have been unmoved since 

 the death of the animal ; some, in fact, which 

 were found near the banks of the great 

 rivers, appearing in a vertical position, as if 

 they had sunk down or been imbedded in 

 the mud. 



Among many curious traditions which 

 were believed by the native Indians concern- 

 ing this gigantic animal and its destruction, 

 the following may be noticed : The Shawnee 

 Indians believed that with these stupendous 

 quadrupeds there existed men of propor- 



tionate dimensions, and that the Great 

 Being destroyed both with thunderbolts. 

 Those of Virginia state that as a troop of 

 these terrible quadrupeds were destroying the 

 deer, the bisons, and the other animals created 

 for the use of the Indians, the Great Man 

 slew them all with his thunder, except the 

 big Bull, who, nothing daunted, presented his 

 enormous forehead to the bolts, and shook 

 them off as they fell, till, being at last 

 wounded in the side, he fled towards the 

 great lakes, where he is to this day. 



MAY-FLY. [See EPHEMERA.] 



MEADOW BROWN [BUTTERFLY]. 

 A name given by collectors to Butterflies of 

 the species Hii>parchia janira. 



MEAL [MOTH]. The name given to the 

 Pl/ralis farinalis. 



MEDUSA. The name given to a genus 

 of marine animals, in the class Acalepha, 

 which present to the eye, when floating in 

 their native element, an umbrella-shaped 

 disc, from beneath which a number of ten- 

 tacula or filaments depend. In the cen- 

 tral part of the concave side of this disc is 

 the stomach, in the middle of which is the 

 mouth, opening downwards, and surrounded 

 by four leaf-like tentacula. The Medusae 

 are commonly known by the name of " sea- 

 blubber," "jelly-fish," &c. They receive 

 nutriment by means of innumerable mi- 

 nute pores ; and in their stomachs are found 

 small Crustacea, mollusca, and even fishes. 

 At certain seasons many of them sting and 

 inflame the hand that touches them ; and 

 their tentacula seem to possess considerable 

 muscular power, capable of drawing to- 

 wards the mouth almost any thing that 

 comes within their reach. They swim by 

 muscular contraction of the margins of the 

 disc. Many of the Medusae are phospho- 

 rescent, and give that luminous appearance 

 to the sea which has been so often described 

 and variously accounted for. [See ACA- 

 LEPII.E.] 



MEDUSA'S HEAD. A name sometimes 

 applied to those species of Star-fishes which 

 have the rays very much branched. [See 

 EURYALE.] 



MEGACEPHALON. The name of a 

 singular genus of birds allied to the TalcgaJla 

 and Leipoa, and doubtless resembling these 

 genera in habits. One species (M. maleo) is 

 known ; it is a native of Celebes, but is rare 

 in collections. 



MEGACHILE. A genus of bees, popu- 

 larly named leaf-cutters, from their habit of 

 cutting off pieces of the leaves of the rose, 

 elm, and other trees, and using them in the 

 construction of the cases in which they de- 

 posit the pollen and honey necessary for the 

 food of the larvae. There are several spe- 

 cies ; but one of them will be amply suffi- 

 cient for us to describe. Megachilv, WiUugh- 

 bietta: the WILLOW BEE. The male is 

 about half an inch long ; colour, black : 

 the face densely clothed with bright yellow, 

 the vertex with pale ferruginous hair : the 

 antenna; have the apical segment compressed, 



