Miscellaneous. 



256 



[September, 1911. 



theory, we meet, constantly, the remark 

 that no mosquitoes were in evidence, or 

 even the dogma tic statement that mosqui- 

 toes did not occur in the locality. Many 

 persons appear to believe that unless the 

 air is humming with the note of mosqui- 

 toes there can be no Anopheles, and con- 

 versely, that the noticeable presence of 

 noisy mosquitoes — without the occur- 

 rence of fever, is a sound argument 

 against the mosquito theory. They do 

 not realize that the noisier mosquitoes 

 are not the most dangerous. In certain 

 localities Anophelines are so numerous 

 that they cannot escape notice : but, 

 under ordinary conditions, Anopheles — 

 though present in sufficient numbers to 

 cause a serious outbreak of fever— are 

 seldom audible and still less frequently 

 visible. Anopheles is a shy and retiring 

 mosquito, keeping close to the ground 

 where its faint note cannot reach the 

 ear, avoiding the light, and leaving the 

 noisy business to its bolder relative— the 

 Culex. Its favourite point of attack is 

 the feet and ankles. I think it ex- 

 tremely probable that not one person in 

 a hundred (in Ceylon) has ever actually 

 seen an Anopheles— in the life, although 

 species of the genus are to be found by 

 one who knows where to look for them, 

 in every part of the Island — from sea- 

 level up to Nuwara Eliya. 



With regard to the remark in the 

 foregoing quotation, that the " coolies 

 slept in the open verandah and so caught 

 chills " — from the ' miasmic mist ' ; an 

 equally reasonable statement of the 

 facts would be that — owing to the op- 

 pressive atmosphere— the coolies slept in 

 the open verandahs and so were more 

 exposed to the attacks of mosquitoes. 



Opponents of the mosquito-malarial 

 theory are given to railing against 

 science and to comparing the advantages 

 of " an ounce of common sense to a ton 

 of theory." While realizing that there 

 may be different opinions upon every 

 question, and sympathising with honest 

 opponents, one can only regret that 

 ' uncommon nonsense ' is too often 

 exploited under the plausible name of 

 ' common sense.' 



A DICTIONARY OF TERMS USED 

 IN AGRICULTURE, BOTANY, 

 CHEMISTRY, AND ALLIED 

 SCIENCES : 

 For the use of Planters and Others. 



By J. C. Willis and M. Willis. 



A vast number of technical terms, 

 native names, and other words not at 

 once intelligible to most people, are used 



iu books dealing with Agriculture, 

 Botany, etc. At the request of friends, 

 we have made a preliminary list of those 

 used in Trimen's Flora of Ceylon, the 

 Tropical Agriculturist, the Circulars of 

 of the R, B. G., and other books com- 

 monly used in this Colony; and this is 

 given below, with brief explanations 

 attached. Its length will surprise most 

 people. 



A bracket is often put after a name, 

 indicating the country where the term is 

 used, e.g., Ind (ia), W, lnd (ies), &e. 



Abaca 

 Abassi 



Abattoir 



Abbassi 

 Abdomen 



Aberrant 

 Abortion (Plants) 



Abrupt 



Acajou (W, Ind.) 

 Acaju 



Acclimatisation ... 



Accrescent 



Ach dye 

 Achene 



Ach-root 

 Achlamydeous ... 



Acicular 



Acorn (W. Ind.) ... 

 Acotyledons 



Acre-foot 



Acre-inch 

 Acridiid 



Actinomorphic ... 



Aculeate 

 Acuminate 



Acute 



Adam's needle 

 Adhesion 



Adnate (anther). 



Adpressed 

 Ad valorem 

 Adventitious 



Manila hemp 



A variety of Egyptian 

 Cotton 



A place for slaughter- 

 ing animals 



See Abassi 



The lower or hinder 



part of the body. 

 Differing from normal 

 Rudimentary develop- 

 ment. 



Terminating sudden- 

 ly, not tapering 



Guarea trichilioides 



Cashew-nut 



Adaptation to a new 

 climate and country. 



Enlarging, and remain- 

 ing attached. 



Morinda citrifolia. 



A dry fruit from one 

 carpet, not opening 



Morinda tinctoria 



Without calyx or co- 

 rolla 



Needle-shaped 



Dioscorea bulbifera 



An old term for non- 

 flowering plants 



An acre of water, one 

 foot deep 



Ditto, one inch deep 



Short-horn grass-hop- 

 per 



Symmetrical, in which- 

 ever direction divid- 

 ed across 



Prickly 



Tapering to a point in 



hollow curves 

 Sharply pointed 

 Yucca, many species 

 Union of organs of 

 different kinds in a 

 flower, e.g., of sta- 

 mens to petals, 

 United to stalk by 



whole surface 

 Appressed 

 According to value 

 Appealing out of re- 

 gular order 



