ar HDtctt0nar at mmatrlf $ature. 457 



countries visited by H. M. S. Samarang, 

 says, " Octopi, of enormous size, are occa- 

 sionally met with among the islands of the 

 Mei'a-co-shirna group. I measured one, which 

 two men were bearing on their shoulders 

 across a pole, and found each braclmim 

 rather more than two feet long, giving the 

 creature the power of exploring a space of 

 about twelve feet, without moving, taking 

 the mouth for a central point, and the ends 

 of the arms for the periphery." " On moon- 

 light nights among these islands, I have 

 frequently observed the Sepice and Octopi in 

 full predatory activity, and have had con- 

 siderable trouble and difficulty in securing 

 them 4 so great is their restless vivacity at 

 this time, and so vigorous their endeavours 

 to escape. They dart from side to side of 

 the pools, or fix themselves so tenaciously to 

 the surface of the stones, by means of their 

 sucker-like acctabula that it requires great 

 force and strength to detach them. Even 

 when removed, and thrown upon the sand, 

 they progress rapidly, in a sidelong shuffling 

 manner, throwing about their long arms, 

 ejecting their ink-like fluid in sudden vio- 

 lent jets, and staring about with their big, 

 shining eyes (which at night appear lumi- 

 nous like a cat's), in a very grotesque and 

 hideous manner." 



OCYPODA. A genus of Brachyurous 



Crustaceans, inhabiting the sea-shores of 

 warm climates in both hemispheres. They 

 derive their name from the rapidity of their 

 motions ; those who have observed these 



AMERICAN BAND CRAB. 

 (OOTPODA ARENARIA.) 



animals in their native haunts declaring that 

 they run so fast that a man can hardly over- 

 take them. They form holes for themselves 

 in the sand immediately above the level of 

 the wash of the sea, and in these they reside 

 during the summer, but they pass the winter 

 in a state of hybernation. There are several 

 species, differing but little from each other : 

 the one here figured is Oc>/poda arenaria, or 

 SAND-CHAB : length about two inches; colour 

 yellowish. In the summer their general time 

 of quitting the burrow to seek their food is 

 the night ; but towards the end of October 

 they retire inland tohybernate in the earth; 

 and when they have found a suitable place, 

 they dig a hole like that which they had 

 occupied on the edge of the sea, enter it, 

 and close up the entrance so thoroughly that 

 no trace of it can be seen. There they remain 

 till the warm weather brings them forth, 

 when their instinct again teaches them to 

 repair to their marine residences. 



CEDEMERID^E. A family of Coleopterous 

 insects, of a moderate size, and generally of 

 lively colours. In the perfect state they 

 frequent flowers and hedges : they fly with 

 agility, but walk slow : they are, however, 

 enabled to retain firm hold upon the leaves 

 and stems of plants, by means of their dilated 

 tarsi. The body is long and narrow, with the 

 elytra broader than the head and thorax; the 

 antennae moderately long and filiform ; the 

 head elongated in front, and inserted deeply 

 in the thorax, without any distinct neck. 



(EDICNEMUS. A genus of Grallatorial 

 birds, having the tip of the bill inflated both 

 above and beneath ; the groove of the nostrils 

 half the length of the beak : legs reticulated, 

 with a short membrane at the base of the 

 three toes. Mr. Gould, in his 'Birds of 

 Europe,' considers the genus as connecting 

 the Bustards and Plovers, and observes that 

 while the normal or typical groups are 

 abundant in species, the aberrant forms, 

 which appear to be created for the purpose 

 of filling up the intervening chasms, are 

 restricted for the most part to a limited 

 number of species : thus, while the Bustards 

 and Plovers comprise a vast multitude of 

 species, the genus (Edicnemus contains at 

 most but five or six, and these confined en- 

 tirely to the Eastern hemisphere. Their 

 English name is derived from the usual 

 habitat being arid and stony districts, where i 

 they pick up slugs and insects. [See STONE j 

 CL-I:LEW.] 



OESTRUS. A family of Dipterous insects, I 

 or flies, whose larvae are known by the name 

 of hots. The perfect insects resemble large 

 meat-flies in form, are very hairy, and have 

 these hairs coloured in rings, like Humble- 

 bees ; but the duration of their lives is so 

 short in this condition that they are seldom 

 seen. They deposit their eggs on the body 

 of various herbivorous quadrupeds ; each 

 species almost invariably confining its at- 

 tacks to a certain species of animal. The 

 egg is, in some cases, deposited by the parent 

 in situations where the larva may burrow 

 into the flesh, where it finds its nutriment in 

 the inflammatory tumours it occasions. In 

 other instances, the eggs or larvae, deposited 

 upon spots which the animal is in the habit 

 of licking, are taken up by the tongue, con- 

 veyed to the mouth, and thus pass into the 

 stomach. And the species which inhabits 

 the Sheep, are found in the frontal sinuses of 

 the skull. Hence they are called cutaneous, 

 gastric, or cervical, according to the locality 

 in which they are bred. When full grown 

 they quit the body, and fall to the ground ; j 

 beneath the surface of which they undergo 

 their transformations. [See GADFLY.] 



CETIIRA. The name of a genus of Crus- 

 tacea whose general organization nearly 

 approaches that of the Crabs. They are 

 from two to three inches in length, and the 

 whole surface of the body is extremely 

 rugged. The species (Ethra scruposa is a 

 native of the Indian Archipelago. 



OIDEMIA. A genus of Wading Birds, 

 containing the Scoter Duck and others. [See 

 DUCK : SCOTER.] 



