198 ANNUAL PLANTS. 
fectly useless trouble on the manufacturer, and 
some small ridiculous expense upon the pur- 
chaser. ‘The mode of using it is to dissolve it in 
the hot milk immediately before the earning. 
ANNUAL MEADOW-GRASS. See Poa. 
ANNUAL PLANTS. Plants which germinate, 
fructify, and die within a single year. They have 
but one stage in the process of their development, 
or pass, by only one series of functional acts, 
through all the gradations of their existence. 
They thus present a close analogy to the various 
kinds of animals which spring from eggs, arrive 
at maturity, propagate their species, and die, in 
the course of a single summer, or, in some in- 
stances, in the course of a single day. Some an- 
nual plants, in the climate of Great Britain, per- 
form the cycle of their existence in the course of 
three months, and others perform it with diffi- 
culty, or with occasional failures in the maturing 
of seed, within the longest possible range from 
the breaking up of one winter to the commence- 
ment of the next; some can be treated as early 
| biennials, sown late in autumn and flowering 
early in spring, and others as late biennials, sown 
in the middle of summer and flowering in the 
| middle of spring ; some are perfectly hardy, others 
_ are in the highest degree tender, and many have 
| Intermediate habits at all stages between hardi- 
ness and tenderness. A few plants, such as those 
of the genera Tropzcolum and Beta, are annuals 
in a cold climate like that of Sweden or Scotland, 
and perennials in a warm climate like that of the 
West Indies. See article Acu or Prants. Some 
| annuals, as barley, oats, spring wheat, pease, and 
beans, absorb a main portion of the care of the 
British farmer ; and others, such as stocks, amar- 
anths, French marigolds, balsams, and some kinds 
of mesembryanthemums, make large demands on 
the care of the British florist. Annual plants 
collect and form their nourishment in the same 
manner as perennials; and they store it in their 
seeds in the concentrated substances of vegetable 
albumen, starch and gum. 
ANNULOSA. A name given by many natur- 
alists to that immensely numerous class of ani- 
mals whose bodies and limbs are divided into 
ring-like joints, and which are called by M. Cu- 
vier Articulata. See article Animats. The term 
is derived from the Latin annutus, a ring. 
ANOBIUM. A genus of wood-eating insects, 
of the Ptinide family. They bore most of the 
small circular holes, which so often abound in 
old furniture, and which always lessen its value 
and hasten its destruction. The species Anobiwm 
stroatum is exceedingly abundant in Scotland; 
and, in many places, is the only species of in- 
sect by which dwelling-house timber is at- 
tacked. Its colour is dull brown, inclining to 
black; its thorax is hood-shaped ; its head is par- 
tially hid‘beneath the thorax; and its elytra are 
longish and convex, and have their apex obtusely 
rounded. The perforations which it makes in 
timber indicate its size; and these are usually 
about three-fourths of a line in diameter,—some- 
times larger, and not unfrequently smaller. The 
larvee of the insect are the principal borers of the 
perforations, yet they lie ensconsed far in the in- 
terior, and are very seldom seen; and only when 
they have passed through the pupa state into the 
condition of perfect insects do they prolong the 
perforations to the surface of the wood, and 
escape to the open air. The larvee appear small, 
white, soft worms, with six short minute feet. 
The head is harder than the body, and terminates 
in two jaws resembling pincers ; and with these 
jaws, the insects gnaw the wood into the finest 
saw-dust. <Anobium striatum and Anobiwm tes- 
selatum, with perhaps two species of atropos, 
make the peculiar sound which is popularly called 
the death-watch, and which has struck alarm and 
terror into the heart of so many thousands of 
ignorant and superstitious human beings. The 
sound is made by the insects beating their head 
with considerable force against the plane of their 
position; it resembles a slight, sharp tapping on 
a table with the finger nail; and, when the in- 
sects are numerous in a house and the weather 
somewhat warm, it may sometimes be heard dur- 
ing the whole day. ‘Timber which has been 
kyanized or which retains a tolerable proportion 
of its natural juices is not attacked by these 
insects; but unkyanized, unpainted, and very 
thoroughly dried timber is peculiarly liable to 
their attacks, and may speedily be reduced by 
them to an utterly worthless condition. Akin to 
the depredations of the anobium, though totally 
different in cause, is the ruinous condition of 
timber called Dry-Ror: which see. 
ANODYNE. A medicine which relieves pain 
and induces sleep. Opium is the only anodyne 
used in farriery ; but, when administered in doses 
of one drachm or upwards, it operates also as an 
astringent. 
ANT. A well known tribe of insects, of the 
hymenopterous order. Some species which occur 
in the west of Africa and other foreign countries 
inflict ravages and perform feats of a stupendous 
and almost incredible character; and even some 
of our indigenous species, though guiltless of any 
extensive depredations, are sufficiently mischie- 
vous and abundant to be objects of painful inter- 
est to all cultivators of the soil. All the species 
are gregarious ; they live in segregations of nests 
which have not inaptly been termed cities; and 
in many instances—some of which are not a little 
remarkable—they conduct united or combined 
operations for the common good of their com- 
munities. The members of each community com- 
prise males, females, and workers, besides eggs, 
larvee, and pups. ‘The males and females, on 
emerging from the pupa state, have each four 
delicate transparent wings; and they serve prin- 
Cipally for propagating the species. The workers 
are neuters or imperfect females, and never have 
any wings; and they feed the larvee, protect the 
females, bring in provisions, make roads, con- 
