CEP 
CER 
nual, and a native of Italy, France, Ger- 
many, and Denmark — with us on Houns- 
low-heath, Ashford-common, near Hamp- 
ton Court, CuiseUiurst, &.C. It flowers frojn 
June to Aucnst. 
CEPHAELIS, in botany, a genus of the 
Pentandria Monogynia class and order : 
flowers ill heads, involucred ; corol tubular ; 
stigma two -parted ; beiry two-seeded ; re- 
ceptacle chaffy. There are 12 species ; 
found chiefly in the West Indies. 
CEPHALANTHU.S, in botany, button 
wood, button tree, or pond dogwood, a genus 
of the Tetrandria Monogynia class and or- 
der. Natural order of Aggregatae. Ru- 
biaceae, Jussieu. Essential character : ca- 
lyx common, none ; proper superior^ fun- 
nel form ; receptacle globular, naked ; seed 
one, lanuginoiis. There are five species, of 
which C. occidentalis, American button 
wood, is a shrub, which in this country is 
seldom higher than seven feet. The 
branches come out by pairs opposite at 
each joint : the ends of which are termi- 
nated by loose spikes of spherical heads, 
about the size of a marble, each of which 
is composed of many small flowers, of a 
whitish yellow colour, fastened to an axis 
in the middle; these appear in July, and 
in warm seasons, are succeeded by seeds, 
which sometimes ripen. 
CEPHALIC medicines are remedies for 
disorders of the head. 
CEPHALOPHORA, in botany, a genus 
of the Syngenesia iEqualis class and order : 
receptacle chatfy-fleshy ; down simple ; ca- 
lyx ovate, imbricate. One species found 
in Guinea. 
CEPHEUS, in astronomy, a constella- 
tion of the northern hemisphere. See As- 
tronomy. 
CEPOLA, in natural history, the band- 
fish, a genus of fishes of the order Thoracici. 
Generic character : head short ; teeth 
curved, sharp ; body very long and com- 
pressed ; abdomen extremely short ; gill 
membrane, six-rayed. There are three spe- 
cies according to Gmelin, viz. 1. C. tsenia, 
or silvery band-fish, with red fins, very ob- 
tuse head, and attenuated tail. Tiiis fish 
swims with great rapidity, and presents a 
beautiful spectacle by the undulating flex- 
ures of its body. It lives on the smaller 
kind of crabs, and shell-fish ; and as it fre- 
quents the shores, it is often used as a bait 
for other fishes. 2. C. rubescens, reddish 
band fish ; and 3. C. Trachyptera : both na- 
tives of the Mediterranean. Dr. Shaw men- 
tions anotlier species, via. C. Hermanniasna. 
CERAMBYX, in natural history, agenns 
of insects of the order Coleoptera. An- 
tennae setaceous ; feelers four ; thorax spi- 
nous or gibbous ; shells linear. Of this 
very beautiful and finely variegated family, 
many hundred species have, by naturalists, 
been noticed and described. They have 
separated them into four divisions, viz. A. 
feelers equal, filiform ; the subdivisions in 
this class are, a. jaw cyclindrical entire ; in 
some the thorax has moveable spines, 
in others the thorax is margined ; b. jaw ob- 
tuse, one-toothed ; c. jaw bifid, horny ; d. 
jaw bifid, membranaceous ; thorax un- 
armed. B. feelers equal, capitate ; thorax 
spinous. C. feelers equal, clavate ; thorax 
unarmed. D. feelers unequal, the two 
fore-ones filiform, the hind-ones clavate. 
The larvoe of this genus resemble soft, ob- 
long, slender worms, with a scaly head and 
six hard legs on the fore part : they bore 
through the inner pai t of trees, pulverizing 
the wood, and are transformed i’lto perfect 
insects in the cavities which fney make : 
many of them diffuse a strong smell, per- 
ceivable 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 an- 
tennce are deemed short when they are 
shorter than the body; moderate when 
of equal length with the body; and long 
when they exceed the body. In the divi- 
sion 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 w'hich has not been stripped of its 
bark : it bores sei pentine cavities between 
the bark and the wood, which are larger 
in diameter as the insect increases in size, 
filling the space it leaves behind with its 
excrement, which resembles saw dust. 
CERASTIUM, in botany, English mouse- 
ear, or mouse-ear cMchweed, a genus of 
the Decandria Pentagynia class and order. 
Natural order of Caryophyllei. Essentia! 
character; calyx five-leaved; petals bifid; 
capsules unilocular, gaping at the tip. 
There are eighteen species. None of the 
mouse-ear duckweeds make much appear- 
ance, and are therefore only cultivated in 
botanic gardens. Some of them ai’e com- 
mon weeds in most parts of Europe ;, the 
smoothersorts are not disagreeable to cattle; 
the seeds are useful to birds. 
CERATE, See Pharmacy and Wax. 
CERATOCARPUS, in botany, a genus 
of the Monoecia Monandria class and or- 
der, Natural order of Holoraceae. Atrip- 
