DIP 



upon the heads, which, in the wild sort, 

 are straight. For this purpose they are 

 fixed upon the circumference of a large 

 broad wheel, which turns round while the 

 cloth is held against them. 



DIPTEKA, in natural history, an order 

 of insects in the Linnaean system. This 

 order contains such insects as are furnish- 

 ed with two wings only ; such as flies, 

 gnats, and a variety of other insects. Un- 

 der each wing is a clavale poiser or ba- 

 lancer, with its appropriate scale. There 

 are two sections, 1. A. with a proboscis 

 and sucker, containing the following ge- 

 nera, viz. 



Conops 

 Diopsis 

 Empis 



Musca 



Tabanus 



Tipula 



and B. with a sucker, but no proboscis 

 of this there are also six genera, viz. 



Asilus Hippobosca 



Bombylius Oestrus 

 Culex Stomoxys. 



DIPTERYX, in botany, a genus of the 

 Diadelphia Decandria class and order. 

 Natural order of Papilionacese, or Legu- 

 minosae. Essential character: calyx two 

 upper segments winged ; legume ovate, 

 compressed, one-seeded. There are two 

 species, viz. D. odorata, Coumarouna, 

 and D. opposititblia, Taralea. These are 

 both tall trees ; about sixty feet high ; 

 very muc.h branched at top ; the leaves 

 are large, alternate, and pinnate ; the leaf- 

 lets are perfectly entire, two or three on 

 each side, affixed alternately on the mid- 

 rib ; the flowers are borne in racemes ; 

 which are axillary and terminal ; their 

 colour is purple, streaked with violet. 

 The almonds are fragrant, and are put by 

 the Creoles into chests, in order to drive 

 away insects, as well as for the sak;e of 

 their smell. They are both natives of 

 South America. 



DIPUS, the jerboa, in natural history, 

 a genus of Mammalia, of the order Ghres. 

 Generic character : two front teeth in the 

 upper and in the under jaw ; fore legs 

 very short, hind legs very long ; clavicles 

 in the skeleton ; tail long and tufted at 

 the tip. Shaw enumerates six species, 

 and Gmelin ten. 



D. sagitta, or the Egyptian jerboa of 

 Pennant, is about the size of a rat, and 

 was known to the ancients by the name 

 of the two-footed mouse. It is to be met 

 with in various parts of Africa, and in the 

 VOL. IV. 



DIP 



eastern provinces of Siberia. In its pos- 

 ture and movement it greatly resembles a 

 bird. It stands on its hind feet, and rarely 

 applies its fore feet to the ground, em- 

 ploying them almost exclusively in apply- 

 ing food to its mouth, in the same manner 

 as the kanguroo. It inhabits subterra- 

 neous apartments prepared by itself, or 

 found accommodated for its purpose, and 

 reposes in them during the greater part 

 of the day, choosing the night for excur- 

 sion and food. It is, in the tropical cli- 

 mates, susceptible of cold, feeds upon 

 various vegetables, such as it can procure 

 amidst the barren and sandy wilds, which 

 it prefers for its habitation, and burrows 

 with such extreme facility, that, in a 

 state of confinement, it will, in no long 

 time, work a passage through a wall of 

 brick. M. Sonnini considers the jerboa 

 as constituting a link between quadru- 

 peds and birds. The beginning of the 

 connection between the former and the 

 latter is considered by Shaw as formed 

 by the jerboa, and the last link as com* 

 pleted in the bat. In the sand and ruins 

 about Alexandria the jerboa is very fre- 

 quently to be found. It is, however, ex- 

 tremely shy, retiring on the slightest 

 alarm to its habitation, and the common 

 mode of destroying them among the 

 Arabs, as related by Sonnini, is by stop- 

 ping up all the accesses to their residence 

 but one, and watching their egress at 

 that. In Egypt they are used as food. 

 M. Sonnini kept several in a cage for a 

 considerable time, feeding them on wal- 

 nuts and other fruits. They appeared 

 extremely fond of basking "in the sun, 

 and indeed, in the sunshine, were often 

 extremely alert and playful. They were 

 mild in their dispositions even in feeding, 

 shewing no tendency to quarrelsomeness, 

 or ferocity ; but, on the other hand, they 

 exhibited little or no susceptibility of gra- 

 titude or attachment, of joy or fear, and 

 their manners were characterised by a 

 cold and stupid indifference. See Mam- 

 malia, Plate IX. fig. 5. 



D. Canadensis, is an inhabitant of North 

 America, particularly the northern states. 

 This is the smallest species of the jerboa, 

 being about the size of a mouse. Gene- 

 ral Davies had several specimens in his 

 possession, and his account of this curious 

 animal is to be found in the fourth volume 

 of the transactions of the Linnxan Socie- 

 ty. In company with several other gen- 

 tlemen, the General caught one of these 

 jerboas, in a large field, after an hour's 

 chase, during which the little creature 

 took the extraordinary leaps of from three 



C c 







