CER 



CER 



her : flowers in heads, involucred ; corol . 

 tubular; stigma two-parted; berry two- 

 seeded ; receptacle chaffy. There are 12 

 species, found chiefly in the West Indies. 



CEPHALANTHUS, in botany, button 

 wood, button tree, or pond dogwood, a 

 genus of the Tetrandria Monody nia class 

 and order. Natural order of Ag-gregatse. 

 Rubiaceae, Jussieu. EssenVial ciiaracter : . 

 calyx common, none ; proper superior, 

 funnel form ; receptacle globular, naked ; 

 seed one, lanuginous. There are five 

 species, of which C. occidenalis, Ameri- 

 can button wood, is a shru>, which in 

 this country is seldom higher than seven 

 feet. The branches come oit by pairs 

 opposite at each joint ; tin ends of 

 which are terminated by loos< spikes of 

 spherical heads, about the sizeof a mar- 

 ble, each of which is composec of many 

 small flowers, of a whitish ydlovv co- 

 lour, fastened to an axis in the middle ; 

 these appear in July, and in \\\rm sea- 

 sons are succeeded by seeds which 

 sometimes ripen. 



CEPHALIC medicines are remedies for 

 disorders of the head. 



CEPHALOPHORA, in botanv a ge- 

 nus of the Syngenesia jEqualis qttss and 



down 

 e spe- 



istella- 

 See 



band- 



order : receptacle chaffy -fleshy 

 simple ; calyx ovate, imbricate. ( 

 cies, found in Guinea. 



CEPHEUS, in astronomy, a c 

 tion of the northern hemispher 

 ASTRONOMT. 



CEPOLA, in natural history, tl 

 jish, a genus of fishes of the oder of 

 Thoracici. Generic character : head 

 short ; teeth curved, sharp ; bod very 

 long and compressed ; abdoma ex- 

 tremely short ; gill membrane sfc-ray- 

 ed. There are three species accvding 

 to Gmelin, viz. 1. C. taenia, or a'very 

 band-fish, with red fins, very obtuseiead 

 and attenuated tail. Tins fish swim with 

 great rapidity, and presents a beatiful 

 spectacle by the undulating flexurs of 

 its body. It lives on the smaller kid of 

 crabs and shell-fish ; and as it freqijnts 

 the shores, it is often used as a bai for 

 other fishes. 2. C. rubescens, rectish 

 band-fishf; and 3. C. Trachyptera .- bth 

 natives of the Mediterranean. Dr. Saw 

 mentions another species, viz. C. fer- 

 manniaena. 



CERAMBYX, in natural history, a |e- 

 nus of insects of the order Coleoptep. 

 Antennae setaceous ; feelers four ; thoix 

 spinous or gibbous ; shells linear. >f 

 this very beautiful and finely variegatld 

 family, many hundred species have, kr 

 naturalists, been noticed and describe}. 

 They have separated them into four di 



sions, viz. A. feelers equal, filiform ; the 

 subdivisions in this class are, a. jaw cy- 

 lindrical, entire ; in some the thorax ,has 

 moveable spines, in others the thorax is 

 margined ; b. jaw obtuse, one-toothed ; 

 c. jaw bifid, horny ; d. jaw bifid, mem- 

 brunaceous, thorax unarmed. B. feelers 

 equal, capitate ; thorax spinous. C. feel- 

 ers equal, clavate ; thorax unarmed. D. 

 feelers unequal, the two fore-ones fili- 

 form, the hind-ones clavate. The larva 

 of this, genus resemble soft, oblong, 

 slender worms, with a scaly head and six 

 hard legs on the fore part: they bore 

 through the inner parts of trees, pulve- 

 rizing the wood, and are transformed into 

 perfect insects in the cavities which they 

 make : many of them diffuse a strong 

 smell, perceivable at a great distance ; 

 and some when taken utter a sort of cry, 

 produced by the friction of the thorax on 

 the upper part of the abdomen and 

 shells. The antennae are deemed short 

 when they are shorter than the body ; mo- 

 derate when of equal length with the bo- 

 dy ; and long when they exceed the body. 

 In the division C. the species violaceus, 

 so called from the colour of its body, is 

 found chiefly in fir timber which has been 

 felled some time, and which has not been 

 stripped of its bark : it bores serpentine 

 cavities between the bark and the wood, 

 which are larger in diameter as the in- 

 sect increases in size, filling the space it 

 leaves behind with its excrement, which 

 resembles saw-dust. 



CERASTIUM, in ootany, English 

 mouse-ear, or mouse-ear chichveed, a genus 

 of the Decandria Pentagynia class and 

 order. Natural order of Caryophyllei. 

 Essential character : calyx five-leaved ; 

 petals bifid ; capsules unilocular, gaping 

 at the tip. There are eighteen species. 

 None of the mouse-ear chickweeds make 

 much appearance, and are therefore only 

 cultivated in botanic gardens. Some of 

 them are common weeds in most parts of 

 Europe ; the smoother sorts are not dis- 

 agreeable to cattle ; the seeds are useful 

 to birds. 



CERATE. See PHARMACY and WAX. 



CERA TOCARPUS, in botany, a genus 

 of the Monoecia Monandria class and or- 

 der. Natural order of Holoraceae. Atrip- 

 lices, Jussieu. Essential character : male, 

 calyx one-leafed, bifid ; corol none ; fe- 

 male calyx one-leafed, keeled, permanent, 

 two-horned ; styles two : seeds single, 

 compressed, inclosed in and covered by 

 the calyx. There is but one species, 

 viz. C. arenarius, is an annual branching 

 plant, with very narrow leaves. Three 

 male flowers, sessile in each division of 



