papular fiHctianary at &mm*tett gtature. 675 



with which it kills them, can scarcely be 

 described. The celebrated dog Billy ' was 

 turned into a room where there were one 

 hundred rats ; the object being to decide a 

 wager Unit he would kill that number within 

 a given time. It was done in leas than seven 

 minutes. A large breed crossed with the 

 Bull -dog, and termed the Bull- Terrier, con- 

 stitutes one of the most savage and deter- 

 mined races of Dogs known." 



TERU-TERO. (Vanelhts caynnewix^ 

 This is a bird of the Plover kind, which 

 Mr. Darwin speaks of as "disturbing the 

 stillness of the night," in the Pampas of 

 South America. " In appearance and ha- 

 bits," he says, " it resembles in many respect* 

 our Peewits ; its wings, however, are armed 

 with short spurs, like those on the legs of 

 the common cock. As our peewit takes its 

 name from the sound of its voice, so does the 

 Teru-tero. While riding over the grassy 

 plains, one is constantly pursued by these 

 birds, which appear to hate mankind, and 

 I am sure deserve to be hated, for their 

 never-ceasing, unvarj'ing, harsh screams. 

 To the sportsman they are most annoying, 

 by telling every other bird and animal of 

 his approach : to the traveller in the country, 

 they may possibly, as Molina says, do good, 

 by warning him of the midnight robber. 

 During the breeding season, they attempt, 

 like our peewits, by feigning to be wounded, 

 to draw away from their nests dogs and other 

 enemies. The eggs of this bird are steemed 

 a great delicacy. 



TESTACEL7.A. [See SLCO.] 



TESTUDINATA. The name of a tribe 

 of Chelonian reptiles, of which the Tortoise 

 (Tcntudo) is the type. 



TESTUDO. [See TOKTOISE.] 



TETRABRANCIIIATA. The name of 

 an order of Cephalopotls, which are nearly 

 extinct ; the only remaining representative 

 of it being the Pearly Nautilus (Nautilus 

 pompilius). 



TETRAMERA. The name given to the 

 third general section of the Oofcoptera, 

 comprising exclusively those species which 

 have four distinct joints to all the tarsi. 

 All these insects feed upon vegetable sub- 

 stances : their larvae have generally short 

 feet, or they are wanting and replaced by 

 fleshy lobes. The perfect insect is found 

 upon the flowers and leaves of plants. The 

 larvae of many of these beetles live mostly 

 hidden in the interior of vegetables, and are 

 generally deprived of feet, or have them 

 very minute. Some of the larger kinds 

 devour the hard and ligneous particles. 



TETRAO : TETRAONID^. A genus 

 and family of Rasorial Birds. [See GROUSE : 

 PTARMIGAN.] 



TETRAODON. A genus of bony fishes 

 belonging to the order Plectognathi. Like 

 the Diodon, they have the faculty of in- 

 flating themselves, by filling with air a thin 

 and extensile membranous sac, which ad- 

 heres to the peritoneum the whole length of 

 the abdomen. When thus inflated, they 



roll over, and float with the belly uppermost, 

 without any power of directing their course. 

 Each jaw of the Tetraodon is marked with 

 a suture, so as to give the appearance of four 

 teeth. The spines are small and low ; and 



some species are reckoned poisonous. One 

 is electrical ITetraodoH tineatus), straight, 

 brown and whitish : it is found in the Nile, 

 cost on shore by the inundations, and col- 

 lected by the children as a plaything. 



TETRAPTURUS. A genus of Acan- 

 thopterygious fishes, nearly allied to the 

 A'iiMai, or Sword-fish, inhabiting the Me- 

 diterranean. The beak is shaped like a 

 stiletto 5 each ventral fln consists of one 

 jointlesa blade ; and there are two small 

 crests on each side of the base of the tail, as 

 in the Mackerel, which appear to steady that 

 powerful organ. [See SWORD-FISU.] 



TETTIGONIA : TETTIGONIAD^E. A 

 genus and family of Ilemipterous insects, to 

 which the name of" leaf-hoppers" has been 

 applied. They have the head and thorax 

 somewhat like those of the Frog-hoppers, 

 but their bodies are, in general, proportion- 

 ally longer, not so broad across the middle, 

 and not so much flattened. The thorax is 

 wider than long, with the front margin 

 curving forwards, the hind margin trans- 

 verse, or not extended between the wing- 

 covers, which space is filled by a pretty large 

 triangular scutel or escutcheon. The wing- 

 covers are generally opaque, and moulded 

 somewhat to the form of the body. The 

 eyes, which are placed at the sides of the 

 head, are pretty large, but flattish, and not 

 globular, as in the Cicadas. Notwithstand- 

 ing the small size of most of these insects, 

 they are deserving our attention on account 

 of their beauty, delicacy, and surprising 

 agility, as well as for the injury sustained 

 by vegetation from them. 



Tettigonia Vitis, which for many years was 

 supposed to be the common European " yine- 

 fretter," is a small insect, as Dr. Harris in- 

 forms us, abundant in Massachusetts, United 

 States, and in its perfect state measuring 

 only one-tenth of an inch in length. It 

 is of a pale yellow or struw-colonr ; there 

 are two little red lines on the head; the 

 back part of the thorax, the scutel, the base 

 of the wing-covers, and a broad band 

 across their middle, arc scarlet ; the tips 

 of the wing-covers are blackish, and there 

 are some little red lines between the broad 

 band and the tips. The head is crescent 

 shaped above, and the eyelets are situated 

 just below the ridge of the front. The vine- 



3 li 2 



