WATER PURSLANE. 
632 
pearance, and a height of about two inches, and 
carries white flowers in August, and was intro- 
duced to Britain long ago from the south of Hu- 
rope. The mild water pepper, Polygonum mite, 
has an ornamental appearance, and a height of 
about a foot, and carries red flowers from June 
till August, and was introduced to Britain in 
1800 from North America. 
WATER PLANTAIN. See Artsma. 
WATER PURSLANH,—botanically Peplis. A 
small genus of curious small plants of the sali- 
caria family. The common species, Peplis per- 
twa, is an annual indigen of watery places 
with sandy, gravelly, or moorish soil in many 
parts of Britain. The root is fibrous; the stems 
are quadrangular, smooth, leafy, 3 or 4 inches 
long, prostrate, floating, and in many instances 
creeping; the leaves are opposite, stalked, obo- 
vate, entire, smooth, and scarcely an inch long; 
and the flowers are axillary, solitary, almost ses- 
sile, small, and reddish, and have the petals so 
concealed by the calyx as to be scarcely visible, 
and bloom from July till September. 
WATER-RAIL, — scientifically Rallus Aqua- 
ticus. A shy and solitary yet abundant bird 
constituting the type of the rail family of gralle. 
It is distinguished, in common with all its fa- 
mily, by the comparatively great length of its 
toes; and in most other respects, 1t somewhat 
closely resembles the majority of them, particu- 
larly the corn-crake, but has a longer bill than 
| any. 
| 16 inches, and its weight 44 ounces. 
_ slightly curved, 13 inch long, and of a dusky black 
| colour, but reddish at the base; the irides are 
Its total length is 12 inches, its breadth 
The bill is 
red; the top of the head, the hinder part of the 
neck, the back, the scapulars, and the coverts of 
the wings and tail, are black edged with dingy 
brown; the under parts of the body, from the 
chin to the middle of the belly, are ash colour, 
but in some individuals, supposed to be young 
ones, are margined with white; the side feathers 
are beautifully crossed with black and white, 
and slightly tipped with reddish brown; the in- 
ner side of the thighs, the belly, and the vent, are 
pale brown, sometimes speckled with bluish ash- 
colour; the under tail coverts are white; the 
quills are dusky; the tail consists of twelve short 
black feathers, edged and tipped with dusky red, 
—some of those on the under side barred with 
black and white; the legs are placed far behind, 
and have a dusky red colour; and the toes are 
long, and have not any connecting membrane. 
The flesh has a delicious flavour. The eggs are 
more than 14 inch long, and have a pale yellow- 
| ish colour, marked all over with dusky brown 
spots. This bird abounds in the marshes of Swe- 
den, Norway, Russia, and the southern and cen- 
tral parts of England, but is seen in the northern 
districts of Britain only during winter. It loves 
most such low, moist banks of ponds and streams 
as are overgrown with reeds, sedges, and other 
WATERWORT. 
furtively athwart its haunts, occasionally flirting 
up its tail, and practising great adroitness in 
diving out of the view of any possible observer ; 
it greatly resembles the corn-crake both in agi- 
lity of ground motion, and in aversion to take 
flight; it generally tantalizes and disappoints 
the sportsman, and often exhausts his patience 
and distracts his dog, seldom rising till it has 
crossed every pool and skulked through every 
avenue within the sphere of its retreats, and 
sometimes even taking to the water, swimming 
the open parts tolerably well, and flitting with 
great speed over parts which are overgrown with 
aquatic vegetation; but when once it becomes 
flushed, it fags in running, takes to the wing, 
flies very indifferently, with its legs hanging 
down, and is easily shot. 
WATER REED. See Anunpo. 
WATER SICKNESS. See Dropsy. 
WATER SOLDIER,—botanically Stratiotes. A 
small genus of aquatic plants, of the hydrocharis 
family. The aloe-like species, or water-aloe, 
Stratiotes aloides, inhabits deep ditches and pools 
in some parts of England; and is an object of 
much beauty and elegance, yet sometimes fills 
its habitats, and even places where it is artifi- 
cially planted, with such a phalanx of sword- 
like-leaves as to become almost a troublesome 
weed. It isa stoloniferous perennial; and has 
numerous smooth radical leaves, and a solitary 
central flower-stack, but no proper stem. It 
floats on the surface of the water during summer, 
sinks to the bottom after blooming, and sends 
out long simple runners on the mud; and each 
runner terminates ina bud or young plant, which 
first forms several long radical fibres, and effects | 
an anchorage in the mud, and then in summer 
rises to the surface of the water, there to go | 
through the processes of flowering; and after | 
having bloomed, it sinks in the water, matures | 
its seeds, sends out runners, and dies. Theleaves | 
have an acute form and a highly vascular struc- | 
ture, and are fringed with very sharp saw-like | 
teeth, and measure 4 inches or upwards in 
length; the flower-stalk is firm, strong, two edg- 
ed, and much shorter than the leaves; and the | 
flowers are white, large, and beautiful, and bloom 
in June and July. 
WATER STARWORT. See Cauuitricus. 
WATER VIOLET. See Fratuerroi.. 
WATERWORT,—botanically Hlatine. A small 
genus of curious floating aquatic plants, of the 
carnation family. The three-petaled or small 
waterwort, Hlatine tripetala, grows wild on the 
margins of ditches and ponds in sandy tracts, in 
many parts of Britain. Its rootsare annual and 
comprise many long fibres; its leaves are oppo- 
site, and have a roughness of surface occasioned 
by numerous minute points; and its flowers 
have a pale flesh or reddish colour, and are for 
the most part three-cleft, and bloom in August. 
An introduced exotic species is noticed in the 
coarse aquatic herbage; it runs expertly and | article WATER PEPPER. 
