4 
E " 
294 & Di W yman's Notice of | | i 
four of them (Nuttall says three) in each fascicle are larger 
than the rest, but the upper and lower spines are the largest. 
ese spines are rather poisonous; wounds inflicted by them 
are almost certain to fester. In other respects, it agrees with 
Nuttall's description ; but it has a distinct woolly head, which 
is, however, small, and depressed, in the centre of the plant. 
There are no flowers now on the specimen, but the scars left 
by them exist. On these scars several seeds remain, exactly 
as may be seen on other Melocacti, of which the fruit has 
dried off. The scars are behind the fascicles of spines, near 
the axis, and not in the centre of the fascicle as in Echino- 
cactus, and, from their close proximity to the woolly. head, 
were probably immersed in the edge of it.. Nuttall observes 
that they are seldom laterally clustered; there were, however, 
two young plants laterally attached to my specimen, which 
I have removed ; and, although they are very dry, I shall take 
every pains to revive them. 
From this examination, it is clear that this plant will have 
.. to be restored to the genus Melocactus, in which Nut 
originally placed it. The native name of the plant is Choyas. 
x 
—. Boston, 14th April, 1845. 
Pa J 
ART. x ies OF: Wo SPECIES OF ances PELA By JEFFRIES 
mmunicated peo 17,1846. ^ 
Tue genus eh Froelich, is eyiioo jiu with that 
of PrwTASTOMA of Rudolphi. — According to its organizati p, 
it ranks: Nematoid entozoa, or Coelelmintha of Owe 
Lamarck, led into error doubtless, by the external resem 
of some of the species to Tania, associates * them with his 
Vers planulaires, which are nearly synonymous with the 
Parenchymata of Cuvier, and Sterelmintha of Owen. Lin- 
* guatuke are met with in various parts of the animal em 
so many 
.! Animaux sans Verteb. Tome III. p. 592. Rudolphi gave the 
TASTOMA, supposing that t En. cmm the lodgment of the hooks were 50 
xa Re 9 AU 
Ww 
$ 
