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nishes evidence that Psalmody formed, in the time of Christ and his Apostles, a part of the worship of God, and the Christian church has in all ages followed this example. The book of Psalms obtained extraordinary attention among the early Christians. Theodoret, who wrote in the first half of the fifth century, says (Preface to the Psalms), that while most men paid little or no attention to the rest of the Scriptures, they were so familiar with the Psalms, that in their houses, in the streets, and in the high ways, they enjoyed profit and delight by the singing of these divine odes. The following passage is part of a beautiful eulogy pronounced upon the Psalms by Hooker; What is there necessary for man to know which the Psalms are not able to teach? They are to beginners an easy and familiar introduction, a mighty augmentation of all virtue and knowledge in such as are entered before, a strong confirmation to the most perfect amongst others. Heroical magnanimity, exquisite justice, grave moderation, exact wisdom, repentance unfeigned, unwearied patience, the mysteries of God, the sufferings of Christ, the terrors of wrath, the comforts of grace, the works of Providence over this world, and the promised joys of that world which is to come, all good necessarily to be either known or done or had, this one celestial fountain yieldeth.' (Ecclesiastical Polity, v. 37.)

The canonical authority of the book of Psalms has never been disputed.

(Patrick's Paraphrase; Rosenmüller's Prolegomena and Scholia to the Psalms; Horne's Introduction.)

PSALTERY, an antient musical instrument of the harp kind, in use among, the Jews, and supposed by Blanchinus to have been the , nebel (whence vaßλa and nablum), mentioned in several of the Psalms. Whether this instrument was square or triangular, and played on by the finger, or struck by a plectrum, seems doubtful; the probability is that it took many forms, and was acted on both ways. Blanchinus makes it square, Luscinius triangular. Accord ing to Mersenne, and after him Kircher, the Psalterion, as they denominate this instrument, adopting the Greek term, was in shape a trapezium, and similar to that which is still in use under the name of dulcimer. [DULCIMER.] PSAMMO'BIA. [PSAMMOCOLA.]

PSAMMO'COLA, M. de Blainville's name for a genus of conchifers (Psammobia and Psammotæa, Lam.) belonging to Lamarck's family Nymphacea. Animal?

Shell oval, elongated, regular, gaping but little, equivalve, subinequilateral; umbones well indicated and a little inclined forwards; often a well marked angle on the posterior or longest side; hinge somewhat incomplete; one or two small cardinal teeth in each valve; ligament external, very convex; two very distinct muscular impressions, united by a narrow pallial impression deeply excavated backwards and prolonged rather strongly beyond.

M. de Blainville proposes the following divisions of this

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and by others they are placed in the section Trimera, then tarsi having but three joints: in the classification of Latreille they constitute the last family of Coleopterous insects, being placed at the end of the Trimera.

Scarcely any of the known Pselaphi exceed one-twelfth of an inch in length, and the greater portion of them are under that size: they prey upon other insects still smaller than themselves, and are found under stones, and amongst herbage, especially in damp situations: some species are found under the bark of trees, and in putrid wood, and the species of one of the genera are found in ants' nests (the genus Claviger). They are often collected during the win ter months by shaking the moss from the roots of trees, or from old walls, over a piece of white paper or cloth. They are probably found in all parts of the world. The principal characters of the group are as follows:

Head moderately large, exserted, and most commonly of a triangular form, being broad at the base and attenuated in front: the eyes moderately prominent, sometimes wanting; palpi usually large and generally four-jointed. antennæ usually eleven-jointed, sometimes with six joints, and in one genus apparently having but one large joint, generally equal to about half the length of the insect, and increasing in thickness from the base to the apex. Thorax usually not much broader than the head, sometimes nearly cylindrical, but most commonly dilated in the middle: elytra broad, much shorter than the abdomen, and truncated behind, destitute of strim, if we except one on each elytron near the suture, and an abbreviated stria at the base about midway between the suture and the outer margin-these are almost constant. Abdomen broad, obtusely terminated, and without appendages as observed in the Brachelytra; usually four or five joints are visible beyond the elytra: legs rather long; tibiæ curved; tarsi three-jointed, the basal joint small, and the terminal joint furnished either with one or two simple claws.

The Pselaphide are composed of the following thirteen genera, which may be most briefly characterised by throwing them into a tabular form, as in M. Aubé's Monograph, published in Guerin's 'Magasin de Zoologie' for the year 1834. Section 1. Antennæ two-jointed. Division 1. Tarsi with two claws. 1. A. with the claws unequal.

1. Metopias.-Thorax cordiform; antennæ with the basal joint almost as long as the others taken together. 1. B. with the claws equal.

thorax nearly spherical; antennæ with the three terminal 2. Tyrus.-Palpi with the three basal joints obconical ; joints very slightly incrassated.

3. Chennium.-Palpi with the second joint broader than the others, and of a spherical form; antennæ moniliform;

thorax broad behind.

4. Ctenistes.-Palpi with the joints large and produced posteriorly into a spinous process.

Division 2. Tarsi with a single claw.

5. Pselaphus.-Body slightly elongated, elytra and abdomen somewhat depressed; the terminal joint of the palp: much elongated and clavate.

6. Bryaxis.-Body short, slightly convex; terminal joint of the palpi conical and somewhat dilated externally; thorax dilated in the middle and having three foveæ.

7. Tychus.-Body short and convex; the terminal joint large, the fifth joint dilated in the male; thorax without foveæ.

Shell of the same form; a single cardinal tooth in each of the palpi hatchet-shaped; basal joint of the antennæ valve or in one only.

Example, Psammotaa violacea. Psammobiæ have been found in most seas and on sandy bottoms at depths varying from 0 to 13 fathoms. [PYLORIDEA.]

PSAMMO'DROMUS, a genus of Saurians belonging to the Pristidactyl Colodonts of MM. Duméril and Bibron. [PRISTIDACTYLS.] Type, Psammodromus Hispanicus, Fitz

ing.

PSAMMOSAURUS. [SCINK.]

PSARIS. [MUSCICAPIDE, vol. xvi., p. 12.] PSARISO'MUS. [MUSCICAPIDE, vol. xvi., p. 12.] PSE'LAPHUS, according to Herbst, a genus of Coleopterous insects, but now regarded as a family, to which the name Pselaphide is applied. The Pselaphi are very minute insects and most remarkable in their structure. By some entomologists they are arranged with the Brachelytra, owing to their having the wing-cases short and truncated;

8. Bythinus.-Body very convex; the terminal joint of the palpi securiform; two basal joints of the antennæ large, the second often dilated in the males.

Those species in which the second joint of the antennæ is not dilated in the male sex, and does not exceed the basal joint in size, form the genus Arcopagus of Leach.

9. Trimium.-Body comparatively narrow and elongated; terminal joint of the palpi conical (or nearly so) and dilated on the inner side at the base; and terminated with one very large joint.

10. Batrisus.-Body elongated; antennæ inserted in a lateral groove; palpi with the terminal joint acute; thorax with three longitudinal furrows; antennæ rather long and gradually thickened from the base to the apex.

11. Euplectus.-Body elongated and subdepressed; terminal joint of the palpi ovate; antennæ short, inserted be

neath the edge of the forehead and terminating in a large knob.

Section 2. Antennæ six-jointed.

12. Claviger.-Head elongated, obtuse in front, and not distinctly separated from the thorax; eyes none; thorax with the sides slightly rounded; body ovate: no furrows or fovea on either the thorax or the elytra.

Section 3. Antennæ with but one large and elongated joint.

13. Articerus.-Head broad and notched in front, attenuated behind; eyes prominent; thorax broadest behind; body ovate.

Examples of most of these genera are found in this country. Of the genus Metopias only one species is known; it inhabits Cayenne. The genus Tyrus is found in Sweden and Germany, and perhaps in England. Of the genus Chennium but one species is known: it is found in the South of France. The curious genus Claviger has but recently been discovered in England by Mr. Westwood: it is found in the nest of a species of ant (Formica flava). On the Continent it has been long known.

Owing to their remarkable appearance, and the curious forms displayed by the various species, the Pselephida have been more carefully studied perhaps than any other group of minute insects, and have given rise to several monographs-see the Monographia Pselaphidorum et Seydmænidarum Britanniæ,' by H. Denny, Norwich, 1825, 1 vol. 8vo.; Monographia Pselaphorum,' H. F. L. Reichenbach, Lipsia, 1816, 1 vol. 8vo. P. W. J. Müller has published a monograph on the Pselaphi in the third volume of the Magazin der Entomologie, von E. F. Germar.' M. C. Aubé has likewise published an excellent monograph on the same group, which has been quoted in the former part of this arPSEUDO-AMEIVA, Fitzinger's name for a genus of the Pleodontes Strongylures of MM. Duméril and Bibron, genus Trachygaster, Wagl., Centropyx, Spix. [PLEODONTS.]

ticle.

PSEUDO-BOA, Schneider's name for a genus of serpents (Scytale, Merr.) arranged by Cuvier as a subgenus of Boa, and described as having plates not only on the muzzle, but on the cranium, like the Colubri; no fossets, a round body, and the head 'd'une venue avec le tronc,' as in Tortrix.

Mr. Swainson makes Pseudo-boa, Oppel., the last genus of the family Hydrophidæ, or Water Snakes, with the following description :

Head short, enlarged behind, and covered with large plates; back carinated with a longitudinal range of scales, wider than those of the sides.

PSEUDOBDELLA, M. de Blainville's name for a genus of Hirudinidæ, or Leeches. [LEECHES, vol. xiii., p. 383.] PSEUDOCA'RCINUS, M. Milne Edwards's name for a genus of Cancerians.

General form that of many Xanthi [XANTHUS]; carapace slightly convex, and a little embossed near the front, which is nearly horizontal; latero-anterior borders moderately curved, and armed with more or less projecting teeth; posterior portion of the carapace nearly of the same extent as the anterior, with its lateral borders straight, and directed very obliquely backwards. The basilary joint of the external antennæ is very small, the second hardly reaches the front, and the third, which is lodged in the orbital gap, does not fill it, so that the antennary fosset is not completely separated from the orbit; the terminal stem of these appendages, instead of being very short, is more than twice as long as its peduncle. The prelabial space is not canaliculated, as in Ozia, the genus which immediately precedes it in the arrangement of M. Milne Edwards, and the external jaw-feet present nothing particular. The first pair of feet are remarkable for their size, especially in the male, and have nearly the same form as in Carpilius, but are still stronger; the pincers are equally rounded and obtuse at the end; they are unequal and armed with large rounded tubercles, which, on one side (the right generally), are few in number, but of remarkable volume. The succeeding feet are of a fair length, and much resemble those of the first division of Xanthus, except that they are narrower, and that their last joint is longer. The abdomen of the male is divided into seven very distinct articulations. (M. E.) Geographical Distribution of the Genus.-The Indian and Southern Oceans.

P. C., No. 1177.

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aa. Carapace smooth, without remarkable embossments on its anterior part.

Example, Pseudocarcinus ocellatus. Length about three inches. Colour of the carapace yellowish, with a multitude of circular red spots; pincers black; four last pair of feet banded with red and yellow. Locality.-Unknown.

B. Species having the latero-anterior borders of the carapace armed with nine or ten spiniform teeth. Example, Pseudocarcinus Gigas, Cancer Gigas, Lam. Length about seven inches. Colour yellowish marbled witn red; pincers black. Locality.-The seas of New Holland.

PSEUDOCORYSTES, M. Milne Edwards's name for a genus of brachyurous crustaceans belonging to his tribe of Corystians, and bearing much analogy to Corystes [CORYSTES], and especially to Nautilocorystes.

General form approximating to Corystes, but the feet natatory, as in Nautilocorystes; jaw-feet differing from those of both.

Carapace nearly oval and fairly convex. Front narrow, advanced, and horizontal. Ocular peduncles of moderate size, and the moderate-sized orbits entirely open externally. Internal antennæ small, and completely covered above by the front, their stem bent back longitudinally, as in Corystes. Disposition of the external antennæ essentially the same as in those crustaceans, but the auditory frame placed at their base is very large. Epistome not distinguished from the prelabial space, and the buccal frame, which is entirely open anteriorly, prolonging itself laterally before the base of the external antennæ, where it terminates by a stout conical tooth, which with that appendage forms the lower wall of the orbit. External jaw-feet very wide, second joint very large, but the third small, triangular, and nearly as long as it is wide; their terminal stemlet is extremely short, and is inserted near the summit of the third joint. The sternal plastron is nearly of the same form as in Corystes. The anterior feet are stout, compressed, and of moderate length. The four succeeding feet are nearly all of the same length and very much compressed; their tarsus is lamellar, wide, and of lanceolate form, especially in the second and fifth pair. The abdomen is very narrow, and has only five distinct segments in the male; the third, fourth, and fifth rings are soldered together. (M. E.)

Example, Pseudocorystes armatus. Length two inches. Locality.-Valparaiso.

M. Milne Edwards observes that the crustacean figured by Browne ('Jamaica,' pl. 48, f. 2) under the name of the Grass-crab belongs to this genus, and may not differ specifically from Ps. armatus.

PSEUDOGRAPSUS. [GRAPSUS, vol. xi., p. 361.]
PSEUDOPUS. [SCHELTOPUSIK.]

PSEUDO'STOMA. [MURIDE, vol. xv., p. 513.] PSEUDOZOA'RIA. From the earliest times when systematic views of nature were sought, clouds have overhung the obscure confines of the animal and vegetable kingdoms. We find Aristotle perplexed regarding the animal or vegetable nature of sponge, Trembley and Ellis removing errors regarding the hydra and celluliferous polypiaria, Lamarck classing Corallina with animals, and Blainville deciding that it is a plant. Much of this difficulty arises from the various definitions which are employed to characterise animal existence. To show irritability of parts, to have the faculty of self-movement, to exhibit sensibilitysuch or other characters being assumed for animals, we shall always find in some part of the vast series of life some particular beings in which these characters become unrecog nisable (though they may exist), or equivocal, even if they do not conduct to erroneous results.

One of the modes by which systematists have eluded a difficulty, which nothing but strict and patient scrutiny can conquer, is by constituting an intermediate order of life, so vaguely characterised as to embrace the doubtful conterminous tribes of the animal and vegetable races. Hence the terms Phytozoa, Zoophyta, Nematozoa, and, according VOL. XIX.-M

to the same analogy, Lithophyta, Ceratophyta, Calciphyta, to express the stony or horny nature of the animal or vegetable structures, or even to convey some hint of their analogy to mineral aggregations.

Pseudozoaria is a term of the same order proposed by Blainville to include vegetables, many of which have been ranked with the Polypiaria. It is subdivided into two classes: Calciphyta, which are principally composed of the genus Corallina, Linn.; and Nematophyta (also called Namatozoaria), which include Conferva, Oscillatoria, Byssus, &c.

Class I. Calciphyta.

Plantlike, mostly solid, attached, but not by real or penetrating roots. Composed of two substances, the interior more or less fibrous, the exterior cretaceous and porous, and generally subject to discontinuity, whence the whole appears articulated.

Lamouroux calls the group Polypiaria calcifera.

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Amphiroa, Lamouroux.

Articulation: very distinct, the intervals fibro-cartilaginous. (Some species have verticillate branches, the others are much like Corallina.)

Example, Amphiroa fragillissima. Ellis and Solander, pl 21, fig. d.

Many of the species are Australasian.

Penicillus, Lamarck. (Nesæa, Lamouroux.) Composed of capillary radical fibres, a simple stem, and a crown of cylindrical dichotomous articulated branches. Example, Penicillus phoenix. Ellis and Solander, pl. 25, fig. 2.

Most of the species are Australasian.

Galaxaura, Lamouroux.

Articulations tubuliform, cylindrical, soft and cellular within, ramifying dichotomously so as to form a conical tuft, originating in a single membranoso-calcareous articulation. (Included by Lamarck in his genus Dichotomaria.) Example, Galaxaura rugosa. Ellis and Solander, pl. 22, fig. 3.

The species are chiefly West Indian.

Acetabulum, Lamarck. (Acetabularia, Lamarck.) Stem simple, filiform, articulated, fixed, supporting an orbicular terminal lamina, which is radiated above and below, and formed of little radiating tubes open at their ends.

Example, Acetabulum mediterraneum, Blainv.; Tubularia acetabulum, Linn. Blainville, Actinol.,' tab. 66, fig. 3.

Polyphysa, Lamarck.

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Neomeris, Lamouroux.

Elongated, tumid in the middle, attenuated towards and enlarged at the ends, by one of which it is attached. The central axis is membranaceous and fistulous; it is surrounded by a crust composed of crowded small tubular cylinders, and in the upper part small globular tubercles. The whole is enveloped in another thin calcareous crust marked by many small pits in quincunx.

Example, Neomeris dumetosa, Lamouroux, Zooph.,' tab. 68, f. 10, 11. South America.

Class 2. Nematophyta, Blainville. (Syn. Nemazoaria, Gaillon.)

Generally filamentous, gelatinous, green, unattached aquatic bodies.

Concerning these singular objects three opinions have been maintained:

1. They have been (not all, but most of them) ranked as genuine plants by Linnæus, Lamarck, &c.

2. They have been considered as of a mixed or alternating nature, so that, growing and appearing like plants, they yield seminal parts which are endowed with locomotion (as the ova of sponges) for a short period, and thus appear as animals. Agardh, Fries, and Bory de St. Vincent support views of this nature.

3. They have been described as plant-like agglomerations of animals, originally free and individualised. M. Gaillon, Annales des Sciences Naturelles,' &c., has maintained this opinion after exact and curious researches, and many eminent persons have admitted this remarkable doctrine.

M. Gaillon has proposed a classification in conformity with his views, which includes two grand divisions, viz. Monadulées (resembling Monas or polygastric animalcule) and Naviculées (resembling Bacillaria or Navicula). In the former are two families, viz. Endocystées (reproductive globules formed internally) and Ectocystées (reproductive globules formed externally). In the second division are the Diarthrosées (animalcula associated by junction) and Eleutheriées (animalcula associated without junction). first family includes ordinary Confervæ, &c.; the second, Mucor and Charæ, &c.; the third, Diatomæ, &c.; the fourth, Girodella. This whole subject appears still to need new researches. [ALGE; CHARACE.]

The

PSIDIUM, one of the Greek names of the pomegranate, which has been applied to a South American genus of plants belonging to the natural family of Myrtaceæ. The genus is characterised by having a calyx with an obovate tube and a 5-fid limb. Petals 5. Stamens numerous. Style filiform. Stigma capitate. Ovary 5-20-celled. Ovules numerous, horizor tal, attached to the margin of the placenta. Fruit baccate, covered with the tube of the calyx, and crowned by its lobes, many-seeded. Seeds in the ripe fruit nestling within a pulp. Testa bony. Embryo curved. Cotyledons leafy, very small. Radicle very large. The species are about forty in number, either trees or shrubs. Leaves opposite, quite entire, feather-nerved, not dotted. Peduncles axillary, 1-3-flowered, bibracteated. Flowers white.

Two species are alone much known. These are, P. pomiferum and P. pyriferum, which yield the fruits so well

known under the name of Guava. These two natives of South Americs and of the West Indies have been transferred to the Old World, and are as extensively cultivated in the Indian Archipelago and in India as in the countries where they are indigenous. P. Cattleianum is a species remarkable for the purple colour of its fruit, The Guava, of which the name is derived from the American word Guyaba, is much esteemed in hot countries as a fruit, and comes nearest to the pear, though its odour is not thought agreeable by many. It is also preserved and made into a jelly. The roots, buds, and leaves are astringent, and used as such medicinally. Some of the species are cultivated in hothouses, but do not ripen their fruits well.

PSILOPO'GON, Boie's name for a genus of Picida (Wood-peckers).

PSILOSO'MATA, M. de Blainville's name for his third family of his order Aporobranchiata, and placed by him at the end of that order and immediately before the order Polybranchiata, which contains the genus Cavolina. [POLY BRANCHIATA.]

The only genus of Psilosomata recorded by M. de Blainville is Phylliröe.

Generic Character.-Body free, naked, very much compressed, or much higher than it is thick, terminated behind by a sort of vertical fin; cephalo-thorax small, and provided with a pair of natatory appendages, which are triangular, compressed, and simulate a kind of long tentacles or branchiæ; mouth subterminal, of a horse-shoe shape, witn a short retractile proboscis; anus on the right side of the body; orifice of the organs of generation unique, on the same side, and more anterior than the anus. Organs of respiration?

Example, Phyllirhöe Bucephalum.

Locality.-Discovered in the Mediterranean Sea, by Péron and Lesueur.

PSI THYRUS (Saint-Fargeau), a genus of Hymenopterous insects belonging to the section Anthophila (Latreille) and family Apidae. The insects of this genus so closely resemble the Humble-bees (Bombus), that till recently they were by all authors confounded with them. The Psithyri however differ widely from the Humble-bees, inasmuch as they make no nests of their own, neither do they collect food for their young, but, like the cuckoo among birds, they deposit their eggs in the nests of others, and leave their young to be hatched and reared by them. It is the nests of the Humble-bees that they select for this purpose. Mr. Newman considered these facts relating to their economy so important, that he established an order among Hymenopterous insects, to which he gave the name Apathites (from a, without, and wálos, affection), for the reception of the present insects, which, according to him, constitute the genus Apathus, and some other genera of bees. The characters of the order Apathites, given by the author, are as follows:-larva hatched from an egg, deposited by its parent in the nest of other Apide at the time when their own eggs are laid; when it hatches, being stronger and larger than the rightful possessor of the cell, it consumes the food provided for its companion, and starves it to death; and in those instances in which fresh supplies of food are daily provided, it continues to receive and appropriate them as its own. Pupa changes in the same situation, in a silken cocoon, spun by the larva. Imago has no apparatus either on the body or legs for collecting honey; in other respects it resembles in structure each of the other orders of Apida; it enters their nest with perfect familiarity, and seems to be quite unsuspected of intrusion; it collects no pollen or honey, never builds a nest of any kind, nor takes any care of its young, but spends its time among flowers, or hovering about sand-banks in which other bees have fixed their habitations. The genera included in this order are:Apathus (or Psithyrus*), Calioxys, Melecta, Stelis, Epeolus, Nomada, Hylaus? (Entomological Magazine, vol. ii., p. 404.) The order Apathites however is very objectionable in many points of view; it is founded upon the habits of the species; whilst in fact the habits of the individuals composing the very genera placed by the author in his order are in many cases but partially known; the order moreover comprises genera agreeing in no positive points of

structure.

In Bombus the hinder tibia is compressed, smooth, and somewhat concave on the outer side, and is furnished on its edges with a fringe of stiff curved hairs, which serve to retain on the outer side of the shank the pollen collected by the insect to feed its young. The Psithyr have the tibia narrower and covered throughout with hair; they have no basket for the purpose of carrying pollen.

Four or five species of Psithyrus are found in England, and these are well described by Kirby in his 'Monographia Apum Anglia.' They are arranged by that author in his genus Apis, section **, c. 2, which section also includes the true Bombi.

Psithyrus rupestris very closely resembles the Red-tailed Humble-bee (Bombus lapidarius), but may be distinguished by the dark (almost black) colour of its wings. The Apis Albinella of Kirby is no doubt the male of this species.

Ps. campestris is black, has a yellow band on the fore part of the thorax, yellow hair on the scutellum, and a patch of yellow on either side of the abdomen at the apex. A. Rossiellus of Kirby is no doubt the male of this species.

P. Barbastellus is black, has the fore and hinder portion, the thorax, and the base of the abdomen yellow; the apex of the abdomen is white.

A. subterraneus and A. vestalis of Kirby's monograph also belong to this group.

PSITTĂ CIDÆ, PARROTS, an extensive and highly interesting family of birds, remarkable for their beautiful colours, their powerful bill, their fleshy tongue, and their power of imitating the human voice. The articulation of some of the species is so perfect, that when the bird is unseen it is difficult to suppose that the words pronounced do not proceed from the mouth of man.

That several of these birds were known to the antients, both Greek and Roman, we have abundant evidence, Not to weary the reader with quotations, we shall here only refer to Ctesias (Indic., 3; Phot. Bibl., xxii.); to Aristotle (Hist. Anim., viii., xii.), where he notices the anthropoglott, Virrakη, as the Indian bird, and refers to its powers of mimicry; to Arrian, who speaks of the oirrakos, and its imitation of the human voice (Hist. Ind., c. xv.); to Plutarch, who alludes to the same quality in his treatise, De Solertia Animalium (vol. x., p. 51, ed. Reiske; vol. iv., p. 972, Lut. Paris, 1724); to Ovid (Amor. ii. 6); Persius in the Prologue to his Satires (line 8), and Martial's delicate flattery (xiv. ep. 73),

'Psittacus à vobis aliorum nomina discam:
Hoc didici per me dicere; Cæsar ave.'

These, with the exception of the passage in Ctesias, and many more examples, will be found in the learned treatise by Mr. Vigors, On a Group of Psittacidae known to the Antients' (Zool. Journ., vol. ii.), where he reminds us that the antient writers are unanimous in informing us that the parrots known to their times came exclusively from India. 'We are informed by Elian,** continues Mr. Vigors, that they were the favourite inmates of the palaces of the princes; and were looked up to as objects of sacred reverence by the religious feelings of the people. From thence they were introduced into Europe at the time of the Macedonian conquest; and the specific name of Alexandri, applied by modern science to the type of the group, in honour of the first European discoverer of it, serves to perpetuate the name of a warrior who is said to have valued the conquests that extended the boundaries of his empire chiefly as they served to extend the boundaries of science. It was not until the times of Nero that the parrots of Africa became known to the Romans. (Pliny, Hist. Nat., vi. 29.) Some of these birds were among the discoveries made in the course of an expedition sent out by that prince. They came apparently from the neighbourhood of the Red Sea; and it is proba ble that as that country became more known, numbers of the same race were imported from it into Rome, and formed the chief part of those victims of the parrot tribes, which in after-times are said to have supplied the inordinate luxury and wantonness of Heliogabalus. The Indian group thus familiar to the antients may be identified with those

* De Nat. Anim., xiii. 18. See also Strabo (Geog., xv., p. 718, ed. Casaubon). But see Ctesias, who, in the place above quoted, notices the bird called bittacus as having the voice and the tongue of a man, alluding to its size as be

The species of the genus Psithyrus may be distinguished from those of Bombus by the structure of their hinder legs. ing about that of a hawk (epa), and to its red bill (Toppúρtov pоowTV)

• The name Psithyrus has been used for another group of insects; the term Apalhus therefore should be adopted to prevent confusion.

&c. We are further told (loc. cit.) that the bird speaks like a man in the In dian language, but that it speaks Greek also, if it is taught.

beautiful birds, equally the favourites of our modern times, which are brought to us from the same country, and which are distinguished by the rose-coloured collar round their neck, the brilliant emerald of their body, and the deep ruby of their bill. Pliny (Hist. Nat., x. 42) points out distinctly the former character. Solinus, in general the servile copier of Pliny, confirms this description, though with a slight variation as to colour (Polyhist., c. 23). Apuleius again alludes to the same characters, but more immediately and forcibly distinguishes the varying tints of the collar round the neck (Florid., lib. ii.). Oppian gives the bird an epithet. (Tоεσixρоov oρviv De Venat., vii. 488); while Ovid, in like manner, particularises both the emerald plumage and the deep-red bill' (Amor., ii., vi.). To this group Mr. Vigors has assigned the name of Palæornis.

ORGANIZATION.

The upper mandible, which is immoveable in mammals, has more or less motion in birds, as we have seen. [BIRDS, Vol. iv. p. 423.] Some birds indeed, for instance the capercailzie and rhinoceros birds, are not gifted with this motion; but mobility of the upper mandible is the rule in this class, and the want of it the exception. In the Psittacidae this power is highly developed; for the upper mandible is not connected into one piece with the skull, by yielding and elastic bony plates, as is the case with birds in general, but constitutes a particular bone, distinct from the rest of the cranium, and articulated to it.

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finest, if not the finest, living collections of these splendid birds in the world. The quantity of mealy dust discharged from the skin by the cockatoos, and other species of parrots, particularly at pairing time, is remarkable; though the separation of this peculiar matter from the skin is not confined to this family, but is effected in many birds of different orders, eagles and herons for instance. The characters of the powerful bill, and the grasping scansorial foot, which last is so constructed as also to convey the food to the mouth, will be seen below.

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Skull of Maccaw.

The advantages derived to the animal from this conformation are obvious to any one who watches a parrot taking its food or using the bill as a third extremity to assist it in climbing about its cage. In most birds there is a progressive increase in the number of the phalanges of the toes: thus the great toe has two, the next three, the middle toe four, and the outer toe five. The parrots possess a peculiar cross-bone belonging to the great toe. In common with the pigeon and some other birds, they are destitute of a gall-bladder. Their intestines are very long, and are without cæca. The soft thick tongue so characteristic of this tribe must be a highly sensitive organ of taste. It is covered with papillæ, and moistened with a salivary secretion, so that they are able to taste and select different articles of food. In some of the forms, the Trichoglossi for instance, which feed on the nectar of flowers, the brush-like tongue is fringed with tubular processes, in conformity with the suctorial mode of feeding adopted by these birds. One of them kept by Mr. Caley, on seeing the coloured drawing of a plant, made an attempt to suck the flowers, and evinced the same disposition towards a piece of printed cotton furniture. (Post, p. 90.) The accurate observer last mentioned supplied the Psittacus pusillus, Lath., a species of the same genus, with honey and moistened sugar, which it sucked with ease and apparent pleasure by means of its brush-like tongue. In the museum of the College of Surgeons there is (No. 1479 c, Physiological series) one of these tubular tongues described as the tongue of a Lory (Lorius Domicella, Vigors). The tongue is short, thick, and fleshy, as in most of the parrot tribe; but it is further distinguished by terminating in a number of very delicate and close-set filaments, which can be protruded and expanded like a brush. (Cat., vol. iii., part 1.) The plumage of this extensive family is of the most rich and varied description, embracing almost every colour and gradation of tint. The Zoological Society of London possesses one of the

Grass-coloured bird.

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Geographical Distribution and Habits.-The Parrottribe are found in great numbers in warm climates, and principally in the torrid zone. They are however abundant in the southern hemisphere, and occur even in high latitudes, whilst in the north they do not appear to be represented beyond the tropics by any species, except perhaps in tremity of America, throughout New Holland, in Van India by Palæornis. Parrots occur in the southern exIsland, in the 52nd degree of south latitude. They are Diemen's Land, New Zealand, and even in Macquarrie monogamous, and make their nests in the holes of trees, which they climb with their feet and bill. The shortness of their wings not permitting them to pass wide seas, the old and their particular species. Their food consists of fruits of new continents, and even some of the large islands, have almost every kind, and their natural voice is loud, harsh, and grating almost beyond endurance.

ARRANGEMENT AND NATURAL HISTORY.

Brisson places the Parrots in his thirteenth order of birds, consisting of those with two anterior and two posterior toes. This order he divides into four sections. the first, with a straight bill, includes the Wryneck, Woodpecker, and Jacamar as generic forms; the second, with the bill rather

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