486 



Crotfurg of $atural f^ 



of bone resumed its place. I cannot find 

 words to express the pleasure I experienced 

 in seeing, when I discovered one character, 

 how all the consequences which I predicted 

 from it were successively confirmed. The 

 feet accorded with the characters announced 



by the teeth ; the teeth were in harmony 

 with those previously indicated by the feet. 

 The bones of the legs and thighs, and every 

 connecting portion of the extremities, were 

 found to be joined together, precisely as I 

 had arranged them before my conjectures 

 were verified by the discovery of the parts 

 entire. Each species was, in fact, recon- 

 structed from a single unit of its component 

 elements." Similar deposits have also been 

 found in the corresponding strata in the 

 Isle of Wight. That these deposits were 

 formed by the agency of fresh water, or that 

 the bones which were found there were the 

 relics of animals which, like the Rhinoceros 

 and Tapir of the present day, frequented 

 the borders of lakes and large rivers, by 

 whose waters they were occasionally in- 

 gulphed, there can be little doubt. The 

 Palaaotheria were characterized by having 

 twenty-eight complex molar teeth, four ca- 

 nines, and twelve incisors, four in each jaw. 



PAL^EMONID^E. A family of Long- 

 tailed Crustaceans, of which the Prawn 

 (Palcemon) is the type. There are several 

 species ; among them some are extremely 

 small, and their habits curious. As an ex- 

 ample of this family we figure the beautifully 



marked STEXOPUS HISPIDUS, found in the 

 Eastern seas ; when alive this species, as 

 seen by Mr. Arthur Adams, is most delicately 

 marked with red and blue colours, which 

 may be loooked for in vain in the dried spe- 

 cimens. Many species of Pal<xmvnida> are 

 excellent to eat ; of which we may specify 



the Prawn. In Kalm's Travels in America, \ 

 we find a species of minute shrimp (Polos.- j 

 man fuel) and a small crab (Cancer mi- i 

 nutus) thus spoken of : " Of the latter I : 

 collected eight, of the former three, all of 



which I put in a glass with water ; the 



hrimp m 

 round the glass, but sometimes its motion 



little shrimp moved as swift as an arrow 



was slow, and sometimes it stood still on I 

 one side, or at the bottom of the glass, j 

 If one of the little crabs approached, it was ! 

 seized by its fore paws, killed, and sucked ; 

 for which reason they were careful Jo avoid I 

 their fate. It was quite of the shape of ; 

 a shrimp ; in swimming it moved always : 

 on one side, the sides and the tail moving ; 

 alternately. It was capable of putting its j 

 fore paws entirely into its mouth : its an- j 

 tennae were in continual motion. Having i 

 left these little shrimps together with the 

 crabs during night, I found in the morning 

 all the crabs killed and eaten bythe shrimps." 



PALAMEDEA. The Anhima of the Bra- | 

 zilians. A genus of aquatic Grallatorial birds j 

 inhabiting the marshy or inundated places in I 

 South America, somewhat resembling a crane, ! 

 and as large as a swan. The head is small in ! 

 proportion to the body ; and the bill, which is 

 black, not two inches long : but the most 

 distinguishing peculiarity of this bird is a ! 

 long pointed horn which grows from the 

 fore-part of the head, and is surrounded by 

 small black and white feathers. In the front 

 edge of each wing also are two straight tri- 

 angular spurs, about an inch long. Its claws 

 are long and sharp, and united at the base 

 by a membrane. Its tail is about eight 

 inches long ; and its wings, when folded, 

 reach more than half the length of the tail. 

 The head and neck are of a greenish-brown 

 colour, and covered with very soft feathers ; 

 the breast, belly, and thighs are of a silvery 

 white ; and the back is black, except the 

 upper part, which is brown with yellow 

 spots. Its food consists of grain and aquatic 

 herbs : and it has a loud and wild cry. 



PALINURUS. A genus of long-tailed 

 Crustacea, containing many of the largest 

 species. It is popularly known as the Sea- j 

 crawfish, or Spiny Lobster ; and is distin- 

 guished bythe very large size of its lateral 

 sintennaj, which are beset, like the body, 

 with sharp points. The legs are all single- 

 fingered ; not even the first pair being fur- 

 nished with pincers. The Palinurus vulgaris 

 frequents deep waters, especially off rocky 

 shores ; and is common in such situations off 

 the British coasts, especially in the south, and 

 on the like coasts of France. They not 

 unfrequently weigh ten or twelve pounds 

 each, and are in general use when in season 

 as an article of food. There are many other 

 fine species in the West Indies and Indian 

 ocean. 



PALLIOBRANCHIATA. The name of 

 an order of Acephalous Molluscs ; very li- 

 mited, both as to the number of the existing 

 species it includes, and the small number of 

 these which seem to be distributed through 

 the ocean. It includes those in which the 

 gills are situated on the internal surface of 



