SPINES. 



SPURGE-LAUREL. 



be perforated, both upwards and downwards, 

 by a slender, worm-like caterpillar, whose ex- 

 crementitious castings surround the orifice of 

 the hole. This caterpillar grows to the length 

 of an inch or more, and to the thickness of a 

 goose-quill. It is smooth, and apparently naked, 

 yellowish, with the head, the top of the first and 

 of the last rings black, and with a band across 

 each of the other rings, consisting of small, 

 smooth, slightly elevated, shining, black dots, 

 arranged in a double row. With a magnifying 

 glass, a few short hairs can be seen on its 

 body, arising singly from the black dots. This 

 mischievous caterpillar, says Dr. Harris, is not 

 confined to Indian corn ; it attacks also the 

 stems of the dahlia, as I am informed both by 

 Mr. Leonard and by the Rev. J. L. Russell, 

 both of whom have observed its ravages in the 

 stems of this favourite flower. The chrysalis, 

 which is lodged in the burrow formed by the 

 spindle-worm, is slender. It is shining maho- 

 gany-brown, with the anterior edges of four of 

 the rings of the back roughened with little points, 

 and four short spines or hooks, turned upwards, 

 on the hinder extremity of the bod)'. The moth 

 produced from this insect differs from the other 

 Nonagrians somewhat in form, its fore-wings 

 being shorter, and more rounded at the tip. It 

 may be called Gortyna Zeee, the corn Gortyna : 

 Zea being the botanical name of Indian corn. 

 The fore-wings are rust-red ; they are mottled 

 with gray, almost in bands, uniting with the 

 ordinary spots, which are also gray and indis- 

 tinct; there is an irregular tawny spot near 

 the tip, and on the veins 'there are a few black 

 dots. The hind-wings are yellowish-gray, with 

 a central dusky spot, behind which are two 

 faint, dusky bands*, The head and thorax are 

 rust-red, with an elevated tawny tuft on each. 

 The abdomen is pale-brown, with a row of 

 tawny tufts on the back. The wings expand 

 nearly one inch and a half. 



In order to check the ravages of these in 

 sects, they must be destroyed while in the 

 caterpillar state. As soon as our corn-fields 

 begin to show, by the withering of the leaves, 

 the usual signs that the enemy is at work in 

 the stalks, the spindle-worms should be sought 

 for and killed; for, if allowed to remain undis- 

 turbed until they turn to moths, they will make 

 their escape, and we shall not be able to pre- 

 vent them from laying their eggs for another 

 brood of these pestilent insects. (Harris's 

 Treatise.) 



SPINES. In botany, branches that, being im- 

 perfectly formed, lose their power of extension 

 become unusually hard, and acquire a sharp 

 point. They are very different from aculei, or 

 prickles, which are a kind of hardened hair. In 

 leaves they are processes formed either by an 

 elongation of the woody tissue of the veins or b} 

 a contraction of the parenchyma : in the formei 

 case they project beyond the surface or margin 

 of the leaf, as in the holly; in the latter case they 

 are the veins themselves indurated, as in the 

 palmated spines of Berberris vulgaris. 



SPLINT. In farriery, a hard excrescence 

 growing on the shank-bones of horses. It ap 

 pears first in the form of a callous tumour 

 and afterwards ossifies. If the splint interfer 

 with the action of some tendon or ligament, the 

 1008 



hair should b removed, a little strong mercu- 

 rial ointment be rubbed in for two days, and 

 then an active blister applied. (Youatt on the 

 Horse, p. 244.) 



SPRING WHEAT. See WHKAT. 



SPRUCE PINE (Pinus Canadensis). Hem- 

 ock spruce. A tree which abounds in the 

 northern parts of Pennsylvania, New York, 

 and the Eastern States. See FIBS. 



SPUD. An implement used advantageously 

 n cutting up weeds. It consists of a chisel- 

 formed tool, about 2 inches wide on the cutting 

 edge, inserted into a handle of some 4 or 6 feet 

 in length ; it is often made use of by the far- 

 mer as a useful substitute for the walking-cane, 

 affording an opportunity of destroying weeds 

 with the utmost facility whilst walking over 

 his grounds. Every farmer ought to own a 

 spud. 



SPURGE (Euphorbia; Linnaeus named this 

 genus after Euphorbus, a physician to Juba, 

 King of Mauritania). This is an exceedingly 

 variable and a very extensive genus of plants, 

 comprising a number that are entirely unworthy 

 of cultivation. The hardy perennial species 

 thrive in any common garden soil, and in- 

 crease by divisions of the roots or by seeds. 

 The hardy annuals and biennials merely re- 

 quire sowing in the open ground. The tender 

 kinds must be sown in the hot-house or in a 

 hot-bed frame, and, when potted off, must be 

 set with other tender annuals and biennials. 

 The root of E. ipecacuanha is said to be equal 

 to that of the true ipecacuanha. E. antiquorum, 

 E. canariensis, and some other fleshy species, 

 produce the drug " euphorbium," which is the 

 inspissated milky juice of such plants. There 

 are in England 13 indigenous species, but the 

 only one necessary to be noticed is the lesser 

 spurge (E. lathyris). It is a biennial, flower- 

 ing in June and July. The stem rises from a 

 strong, fibrous root to the height of 3 to 4 feet, 

 purplish, smooth, round, hollow. The leaves 

 opposite, spreading, in fours, sessile, oblong, 

 acute, entire, and glaucous. The flowers are 

 in a terminal, solitary umbel, consisting of 4 

 repeatedly forked branches, furnished with cor- 

 date, entire bractes: the flowers are variegated 

 with yellow and dark purple. Capsules are 

 large and smooth, and, when half-ripe, are 

 pickled as capers. The seeds, when pressed 

 between moderately heated iron plates, yield a 

 fixed, acrid oil, which might be advantageously 

 substituted for castor oil. See MOLE TREK. 



SPURGE-LAUREL (Daphne laureola.) A 

 British evergreen shrub, growing in woods, 

 thickets, and hedges, flowering in March. The 

 stem is 2 or 3 feet high, with round, pale, 

 smooth, brown, upright, tough, and pliant 

 branches, crowned with tufts of evergreen 

 leaves, elegantly drooping in all directions, 

 and about 2 or 3 inches long, on short foot- 

 stalks. The flowers are deep-green, in axillary 

 clusters, with orange anthers. Their scent, re- 

 sembling saffron, with an overpowering sweet- 

 ness, is perceptible in an evening only. The 

 berries, which are oval and black, are poison- 

 ous to all animals except birds. Every part 

 of the plant is very acrid, producing, like the 

 mezereon, a burning heat in the mouth and 

 throat. The bark of its root is commonly used 



